Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters. All those things are in the good, reliable hands of SQUARESOFT.
Chapter 11: A Bear Named Squall
"Tomorrow, we go to the amusement park!!" Selphie bounced on the whitewashed sidewalks and pointed to the immense roller coaster, visible through the gaps of the tiny roofs of the town.
Irvine gazed at the general direction, "Well, it's really near to the town."
The rest of the group looked onto the shops and stalls, "I say we go shopping…" Quistis suggested.
"No, I'm hungry! Let's go eat hotdogs…" Zell said.
His response was a sharp smack in the head from Seifer, "Do you think of anything else other then freakin' hotdogs?"
"Yes." His eyes narrowed slightly at the passing of a pretty girl in a miniskirt.
This provoked an annoyed groan from Rinoa's part.
"I say we go eat first…" Squall suggested lightly, trying to avoid the horror of going 'shopping'. He had done it several times with Sarah and the outcome was never good on his part. It was especially hard on his credit card.
"Fine… Then we'll go shopping." Quistis grinned at him triumphantly.
Selphie bounced up and down, "Yeah!!!
Lots and lots of shopping!"
Squall grunted in annoyance and unwillingness.
***
"Pass the fries."
"No, they're mine."
"Give me the freakin' fries."
"No… I like them, thank you very much."
"Look, you give me the fries or I'll shove this bottle of ketchup up your ass."
"Go ahead and try, stupid little bitch!"
"Give me the fries!"
"No!"
"Squall, give her the fries!" Seifer slammed his fist on the diner table as to put an end to their pitiful argument.
Squall looped his arm around the carton of fries protectively, "Mine!"
"You are so immature!" Rinoa sighed in infuriation.
***
"Shopping!" Quistis exclaimed, obviously in her natural element … a mall.
Selphie bounced in agreement and enthusiasm, "Shopping! Almost as good as coffee!"
The four gentlemen groaned and slapped their foreheads in reluctance. Rinoa just grinned, cool and collected, her glee didn't break out like Quistis' or Selphie's.
"Ok, let's go into a sports store or something… Please!" Seifer begged.
Irvine pleaded along side of him, "Or maybe a videogame store!"
Squall beseeched, "I don't care if we go shopping for furniture… Just please not-"
"Clothes!" The three girls exclaimed in unison.
***
"Fine Lingerie!" Quistis grinned maliciously as she dragged Seifer by the collar into the boutique.
"No… Please! Anything but an underwear store!" Squall wailed as he too was dragged in, then lastly Irvine and Zell were hauled into the store.
"Wow, this would look really attractive on you Irvy!" Selphie held up a pair of leopard-patterned underwear.
Irvine gaped, "I am not putting that on!"
"Wow, this would look so cute on you, Seifer!" And Quistis pointed to a pair of white boxers with pink and purple hearts.
Seifer wrinkled his nose and Zell miraculously disappeared behind a clothing rack (and if we followed him further we would see him dashing out of the door).
"Hey Rinoa!" Squall called, "I would pay you to try this on and show it to me." He showed a skimpy little laced outfit.
Rinoa glared menacingly at him and responded, "I would pay you to jump off a building."
He grinned sheepishly and put the scanty outfit back onto the rack.
***
Rinoa listened to the breathing next to her. He was so close that she was beginning to regret allowing him to sleep in the same bed as her. Well… She couldn't really make him sleep on the floor again, could she?
She pondered for a moment and decided she liked having him so close… like a bodyguard. She subconsciously wiggled closer to him. He was asleep, a peaceful expression on his face.
She too, slowly closed her eyes and drifted off into a dream.
The gunblade cut the air with swishing noises. It swung right and left and made nice diagonal, vertical and horizontal slashes.
The 13-year-old boy seemed in deep concentration, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"What are you trainin' for?" The 11-year-old girl asked.
"The competition coming up this fall!" He stopped for a moment and wiped his brow, "The world's strongest fighter'll be there! Seifer said he was going to join, so now I am too!"
"Oh ok…" She understood.
Deciding to take a break he went over and sat next to her under the large poplar tree in the vast field of flowers that stretched across Winhill.
"You know what?" He asked her.
After a moment of pondering, she responded, "What?"
"If I win this competition, there's a chance that I might be accepted into Balamb Garden… And if I pass my SeeD examination, I could take a shot at Commander!"
She smiled at him, "That's great!"
"Then we could get married and have a dog and two kids."
She giggled slightly and smiled. He took out a ring from his pocket, "Promise?"
"Promise." She repeated and he handed her the platinum ring.
"This is a promise ring… You give it to your soul mate." He explained, "Keep it with you always."
"Ok." She smiled and took off her silver chain around her necklace and slipped the ring in the chain.
In her sleep Rinoa's hand shifted from her side and around her neck to where the same chain and ring were still worn.
Squall's fluttered as he awakened by her silent gesture. She was so close. He slipped his arm around her sleeping body and closed his eyes once more.
***
Up… Down… Right… Left. At one hundred miles per hour, feet dangling off the plastic coated seat, the wind rushed through their hair, heart pumping fast in their throats. Nauseous feelings overwhelm them.
Finally, the ride was over. "I'm going to hurl!" Rinoa walked, dazed off of the roller coaster.
"That hot dog is resurfacing…"
The young kids looked at the seven young adults stumble and fall from the adrenaline from the last ride.
One of the young kids in the queue line tugged on his father's shirt and said, "Daddy, I don't want to go on this ride anymore."
***
"The River Of Dreams my ass." Seifer complained.
Quistis squealed in glee, "I used to love this ride!"
"Yeah, when you were five!" Rinoa tried explaining.
"Yeah, but see, this is for all ages… So we're going!!!" Quistis immediately got into the waiting line.
"Oh, is this where you're in a boat and you ride past animals on lily pads playing banjos?" Selphie asked enthusiastically.
"That's the one!" Quistis clapped her hands together excitedly.
"Ok, I really don't want to go now!" Seifer groaned.
***
"See… It's so nice in here." Quistis giggled as they passed a bear in a straw hat playing the guitar.
"Shove over Zell!" Squall complained from the backbench, in the middle of Rinoa and Zell.
Irvine, Selphie, Quistis and Seifer were crammed into the front bench, "You're one to complain about the lack of space!"
"Stop shifting Squall!" Rinoa pleaded, "I'm think I'm going to be sick from that other ride."
"Hey, hey, HEY!" Squall yelled in a panic, "Stop turning my way! Blow chunks the other way!" In his frenzy he smashed into Zell who tumbled into the water on which the boat was floating.
"AAHH!" He yelped.
"Oh shit! What are we supposed to do now?" Irvine asked.
"Zell, people'll get you out! Just… Keep your head above the water!"
"Thanks for the tips!" He yelled back sarcastically as the boat just kept floating.
***
"So what happened?" Seifer grinned as Zell walked out of a first aid cabin at the end of the park.
Zell rushed immediately to Squall and hugged him, "Thank you, man! Thank you so much for throwing me off!"
"What?" Squall asked, confused.
"The hottest girl came to my rescue!" Zell obviously seemed really hyper at this point. "She likes hotdogs, martial arts and look!!"
He fumbled in his wet jeans pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, "I got her number!"
The remaining six stared blankly and finally Rinoa spoke up, "That's… Great, Zell."
***
"200 gil for a try! Everyone is a winner!" A man threw a ball at Squall and asked, "You up to it young man."
"I don't play a cheater's game." He replied, throwing the ball back to him, knowing very well that these games were all set up.
"Ma'am is that your boyfriend?" He looked at Rinoa who was walking right next to Squall.
She blinked once or twice and was about to reply when Selphie interrupted her, "Yes!"
"Well maybe you should tell him he's a wuss. Does he fail in the regions of the bedroom?"
Once again, Rinoa was lost for words. How the hell would she know?
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Squall said through clenched teeth, "Fine, let's play you're kindergarten leveled game!"
The man grinned as he saw his prey fall into the trap. Squall handed the man two hundred gil and yanked the ball away from him.
"Knock over every bottle and you win a teddy bear."
Squall chucked the ball at the bottles, knocking every one of them down. The man's eyes bulged out in wonder. What was that guy behind the bottles thinking? He should be concentrating on keeping the freaking bottles up!
"Gimme the freaking bear, mofo." Squall grinned in triumph.
The man 'hmph'ed and handed a teddy bear to Squall. Its eyes were ebony black and it's soft, brown, velvety exterior shielded the cotton stuffing. Its half circled ears were perfect and his muzzle stuck out with a pink little nose.
"That's so cute!" Selphie squealed.
Squall looked at it and tossed it to Rinoa, "I'm not carrying this thing around. I've got a reputation to uphold."
"Oh, so you're giving it to me?" Rinoa rolled her eyes.
"Name it Squall, Rinoa." Seifer laughed.
Quistis joined in, "Yeah, this way you'll have something to cuddle at night."
Rinoa gave them both a death glare that silenced them.
Sammy-Chan: Woo… Yeah! Holy shit I am SO happy today and I'm not even sure why (Rest assured, I am not on drugs) But yeah! I feel so… Happy. *Bounces in her chair* And now I just finished another chapter! Weee hee hee hee hee!!! *Dances around* Well … anyways. Read and review!