The Death Song
by Kristel Sharp
Dancing For Garden
Samantha looked out across the stage. She was pretty scared. She was used to normal concerts, but 3000 students? That was excessive. Samantha looked out into the audience and saw Headmaster Cid and Headmistress Edea. They were in deep conversation with two other people. One was a tall, rough looking, but handsome, man in a SeeD uniform. He also had a gunblade in a sheath hanging from his belt. Commander Squall... No one said he was that good looking! The other was a woman, she was wearing a white skirt, blue top and a green sash. So, they got the daughter of the President of Esthar here? Strange, I don't see any bodyguards... I'm so stupid, I'm in the middle of Balamb Garden, who in their right mind would attack?
Samantha went back into the back stage. She saw two of the other acts. They were on before her. One was a rock band, the other was a pretty looking woman. She was going to start, but it seemed that no one knew what she was doing. People seemed to walk passed her, and not even notice her. Samantha started to walk towards her when they heard a few heart-stopping words come from the stage...
"Testing... Testing...1-2-3? Hello? Can you hear me?" Samantha guessed that it was Instructor Selphie Tilmitt. She was a pretty young woman. She had a bob, a cheeky face and was quite short. She had a childish innocence that seemed to be a weapon. Samantha had known Selphie for a while, via letters. When Selphie had unknowlingly booked Samantha's band, it had been a great surprise to finally meet. Samantha knew that there was a side to Selphie that most would rather not know about.
"Everybody say turn it on!" Selphie shouted down the microphone. There was a loud roar from the audience, the words were lost but that didn't seem to matter.
"Everybody say make some noise!" There was another roar from the audience.
"Please raise the roof for the one the only President Rinoa Heartily of Timber!" Selphie announced. The pretty young woman that Samantha had been walking towards stood up and started to walk on stage. President? Isn't her father President Caraway of Galbadia? What the hell is she going to do? Oh man, better psche myself up!
"Thanks Seph! I'll not lie to you, I'm more nervous than I've ever been in my life... *cough* But here goes..." A tune started up. If you don't know this tune you must have had your head in the sand for the passed seventeen years! Is she really going to sing Eyes On Me? Can she do it as well as her mother? Julia will be hard to beat...
Rinoa put up an excellent performance however. She was excellent, but she couldn't beat her mother. Samantha felt her nerves begin to calm. She walked towards her fellow band members. Loli was going through dance moves, Kui was checking the tapes over and over, and Jeneba was adjusting her head set mic again and again. All together they made up Pyro.
Samantha, Loli and Kui were usually just dancers, occasionally they sang backing vocals. There were a few songs on their line up where they'd be singing. Samantha had a few solos as well, which she was proud of. Being a dancer was okay but what she really wanted to do was sing. She picked up her headset and put it on. She had long blonde hair, which she'd got down with a few plaits with black plaited into them. She had a face that was mostly taken up by her eyes. She had the most amazing, and unnatural, eyes. They were large and lilac. When she was little her eyes had been grey, but at the age of thirteen they'd started to change, going from grey to blue to lilac. She often wondered why her eyes had changed. Her nose was small and her mouth always looked slightly pouty. She didn't argue.
Rinoa didn't come backstage but when she was finished the next band were called up by Selphie. Pyro were the last band on. The grand finale... Geez, this is really a bad thing. Better not screw up Sam, or else you'll look bad infront of 3000 people.The other voice in her head said:I can do anything I want! If I screw up I can just jump off the edge of Garden or live with the embarrassment. What's the worse that can happen? Sam found herself copying Loli and falling into sync with her.
"Thank you Limited!" said Selphie. Samantha froze. So soon? I'm not ready! "Now we have a special act. This is for all the boys at Garden, as I've seen their clothes. Will you please welcome the one and only, PYRO!" There was lots of noise as the girls walked onto the stage.
Samantha looked at her fellow band members. She realised that their black skirts were short enough to be belts and their bra tops her a little revealing... And the artistic ribbons that hung from the bras as well... They did look a little tarty...
Samantha looked across the audience. They were all going wild. For the first time she really relaxed. Kui and Loli took up their places spaced across the stage. Jeneba walked towards the front of the stage. There was a special ritual that they did with the audience before every performance. Wow! I can't believe that I can remember anything! I mean this is so cool!
"Hello Balamb Garden!" Jeneba shouted. Samantha knew that all the head sets were turned on. She watched as the audience started jumping up and down. Samantha knew it was her turn to say something.
"Right, we need you all to clap your hands in time... Otherwise we don't start!" Samantha began clapping her hands above her head. The crowd responded. Samantha looked over at the VIP area. She saw that most of them were sitting stony faced.
"I said everyone. Even the Garden Commander and the Heads. Don't leave everything to Instuctor Selphie please," Commander Leonhart started clapping, as did the rest of the VIPs. The audience were laughing at the look of murder on his face. Even Samantha had to smile. Loli however did the least tactful thing she could.
"And a smile would help too!" She called. The Commander turned to Selphie and Samantha's heart sank.
Suddenly the music started up, and, whether they were in trouble or not, they started to dance. They danced through five songs, when it came for a break, so they could change and get a drink. Loli sat looking sheepish.
"I think I messed up..." She said. Never? You only called the Commander grumpy... Unless you mean you screwed up the dance. I know you were half a second out on all the moves... Samantha didn't say anything.
"Sam, it's your solo, which guy you pickin' hon?" Kui asked. Samantha thought for a while. She kept on thinking about asking the Garden Commander. That would be funny, well for the rest of Garden. Maybe she should act as though to come towards him but go for the person beside him? I bet it would make them laugh to see his discomfit...
"Dunno," Samantha replied. Kui gave her an 'I-don't-believe-you' looked, but Samantha wasn't paying much attention. Suddenly they heard a back stage hand call them to go on stage. Samantha grabbed the other girls hands and pulled them onto the stage. A thunder clap was heard from the speakers, and the sound of rain. A signal that Samantha's song was starting. She looked towards the VIP box.
"Okay, okay. Me and my girls are gonna pick some of you guys out of the audience. Don't worry, you can tell us to get lost if you've got a girlfriend. And you aren't expected to dance. Loli, go pick a guy!" Loli jumped off the stage and picked a cute looking SeeD. He looked embarrassed and walked onto the stage. Loli turned off her headset to talk to him.
"Right, Kui, please grab a guy!" Samantha watched as a guy she was walking towards started to back away. He said something so Kui picked a guy next to him, with average cuteness. "Yeah, so Jeneba." Jeneba picked a completely ugly guy. He had one eyebrow, tiny watery eyes and an over large nose. Samantha saw Jeneba pull a face and shrugged.
"Now let me see..." Samantha walked towards the VIP area. Two guards started adjusting their uniform, but Samantha walked straight passed them. She saw the Commander begin to squirm nervously. Hahahahahaha, it's working! Aw, poor commander! Not such a hard nut to crack, are you? She carried on walking towards him and to her surprise he stood up. No no no no! It's not meant to work like this, I don't want to da- And to her amazement he picked up his chair and held it like a lion tamer. There were roars of laughter from the audience, even Samantha laughed hard. The Commander sat down again.
"I've got a girlfriend," He said quietly as she approached. Samantha shrugged.
"S'ok. I wasn't gonna dance with you anyway. I just thought it would be funny for the audience to see you squirm. You put up pretty well though, hon," She said. She looked at the guy next to him. Yuk! What is he wearing? A cowboy hat? That is so twenty years ago. Hang on I know him... I played at his Garden once...? Oh shit!
"Er, Irvine, um... Hey..." Samantha knew that the crowd were waiting for her. "Um... I think I'll move on to the next guy if it's all the same to you..." Samantha saw that the next guy was incredibly cute. He had blonde spikey hair and blue eyes. He wasn't even looking at her. For some reason she felt a little drawn to pick him. She knew however that he would notice her more if she did something different. She walked purposefully towards him. He looked up and she saw a black tatoo down the side of his face. You didn't think he was perfect did you?
He looked extremely shocked. Samantha smiled inwardly. She kept eye contact with him now, even though it seemed that the longer she did the more her tongue would turn to jello. She drew level with him and bent down still keeping eye contact. She held her hand out, and picked the guy next to him. The blonde haired young man seemed to sag but straightened up immediately. Aw, he was disappointed... Don't change your choice because you've gone jelloid over a blonde haired twerp! Oh damn... I have gone jelloid over him. Arg!
She got back on stage and went to talk with the others. The were all looking at her open-mouthed. She looked back open-mouthed. They all introduced their choice. Loli had picked a guy called Nick, Kui had picked a man called Nigel, and Jeneba had picked a guy called Cuthbert. Samantha tried to get over the look of distaste on her face, but couldn't help laughing. Samantha turned to her choice.
"Hi, I'm Nida," He said. Samantha turned to the crowd. They all hushed up.
"This is my song!" She shouted, the mic had been switched back on. "Nida, come over here, put your hands around my waist... That's it. Thanks," She winked at him and after a fiddly moment with the mic she whispered in his ear. "Relax, I don't bite. Though watch Jeneba, I think she might kill that guy before the end of the show..." She put the mic back on just as the intro started.
"I've been waiting here,
for you,
But you never come,
for me.
I've wanted you before,
But I was to shy,
So open the door,
baby be mine.
Cuz I know you're the one,
from the moment we met.
You were always on my mind,
I could never forget.
When I'm with you I'm gone,
To a place of bliss.
I feel myself unwind,
Just from one kiss.
I've been here for aeons,
Never giving in.
You never notice,
Too blind to see.
I've wanted you a while,
But I wasn't strong enough.
So baby smile,
I'm ready for your love.
Cuz I know you're the one,
from the moment we met.
You were always on my mind,
I could never forget.
When I'm with you I'm gone,
To a place of bliss.
I feel myself unwind,
Just from one kiss.
So never let go,
cuz baby I know,
We were meant to be,
yeah, you an' me.
I'll love ya forever,
We'll die together,
We were meant to be,
baby, you an' me.
Cuz I know you're the one,
Just from one kiss...
Nida had been quite good at picking up, and predicting what she was going to do. She guessed it was a skill that was needed when being a SeeD. She smiled at him, and he bowed. Samantha looked over at the VIP box and saw that the cute blonde guy had gone. She sighed and Nida walked back stage. Samantha got into position for the next song...
