Hola.
I know I promised earlier, but I haven't had a good time with the internet service at my apartment, so it's been a little rough the past week or so. I'm at home right now, so I have access. But my connection at the apartment won't be set up until Wednesday (we hope, we hope), so the next installment won't be until at least then if not Thursday. I wrote a lot this time, however, since all I could do was write; I just hope it's decent writing.
The end of the story is in sight; I actually skipped ahead and wrote it this afternoon. I like it a lot - but what authors don't like their own work?! There will be twenty-one chapters in this story (yeah, i know, it's a friggin novel), and then the tale is over.
So keep in touch. I'll hopefully be a little more frequent and reliable in the future, and I apologize that this has taken so long (believe me, I'm peeved at those Internet people).
Enjoy!
Chapter Eighteen
Reconstruction
The morning, bright and early, struck through the window with the force of a minor missile. Irvine groaned and rolled over, attempting to shield himself from the blast with a pillow. However, lost in cloudy confusion, he groped around and eventually noticed that what he was trying to pull over his eyes was stuck on something -
"Hey!" Selphie squealed, waking up suddenly and (predictably) grouchily. "That's my arm, you bloody idiot!"
"Mmph." Irvine decided that the sunlight was not only bright, but loud, and cruel in the mornings. He rolled over.
"Fine then." Selphie stretched, knocking him in the nose, and crawled out of bed. "Go ahead, wake me up and then go back to sleep. I don't THINK so!"
Thud. A heavy pillow flattened itself across Irvine's face.
The cowboy suddenly realized that it wasn't the sunshine that was being mean, it was Selphie, in their single bed, in Trabia, in the morning. He groaned beneath the stuffy pillow lying across his face.
"Good morning, sunshine," Selphie said in a sickly pleasant voice. "Super duper morning! Come on, get up get up get up!"
Irvine stuck his tongue out, and belatedly realized (with the taste of pillow in his mouth) that it was a useless gesture. He knocked the pillow from his face, spitting fuzz as he sat up. Selphie chortled.
"I'm gonna make you sleep on the couch," he said, shaking a warning finger.
"What?" Selphie looked playfully indignant. "You're the one who started it! YOU tried to pull my arm off."
"I thought you were a pillow."
There was a brief pause as Selphie tried to figure out what Irvine meant by this.
She burst out laughing. "You're an idiot in the morning. You thought I was a pillow?"
"Well, I ...um ... oh, forget it." Irvine smiled groggily at her. "I'm tired, alright?"
"You're dumb." Selphie launched herself out of bed.
"I love you too, sweetie-kins," Irvine called to her back.
They got ready for the day and set out together - Selphie energetically, Irvine a little grumpily - to check out the reconstruction plans. Selphie ran all about, talking to people she knew, throwing out hellos and hugs to pretty much everyone she came across. They found a sizeable crowd of students poring through what apparently used to be the library. Selphie pitched right in, and Irvine - laughing somewhat at her exuberant example - joined her.
It wasn't the easiest work. The library had been full of antique towering bookshelves, which had splintered under the weight of the ceiling, which had collapsed inward into the library when the missiles had hit. Apparently the exterior had contained large marble pillars as well, for big cracked blocks of marble remained, scattered amid the splinters of shelves and shards of books, covered with the dust of cement and insulation and the wrath of the Trabian storms.
The students at the job were a little lackluster, obviously; Irvine was sure they'd rather be out in the field, or hitting each other with weapons, or even in class - no one here was getting any sort of SeeD credit, he was sure. He glanced around, curious. There were maybe two dozen students in the library - a sizeable amount until you thought that perhaps they were the only students left here. The orphans, like Squall and Quistis, finding their refuse in Garden. Those who lived too close or too far to transfer anywhere else. The ones who were stuck with the remains while their friends moved on, forgot the past.
The task at hand was just one part of a larger job, Irvine realized - one that was going to be tough even for tough Headmaster Shain. His only work force was composed of students too bitter at being left behind in the ruins to take much initiative. The qualifications of his administrative force were only that they were too injured or crippled to assist in the rebuilding. And Irvine had no idea how Shain was funding it all - had he been able to pick up some Shumi sponsors? Had some of Trabia's investments remained after the collapse? Or was he using some gigantic credit card with obscenely good terms?
But what else could Shain do? Close Trabia down for good? Irvine could tell that deep down inside the Headmaster really loved his Garden and cared about its renewal. But this - this little sundry pecking force wasn't going to do the trick. One by one, these students would leave. The little strength Trabia had remaining would drain and dwindle until all that remained were withering marble pillars and an empty trailer.
Trabia needed a hand at more than rebuilding - they needed revitalization.
Irvine looked up from his thoughts to see a bright yellow speck in the middle of the desolate mess - Selphie was taking control of the situation.
"Okay, here's how we're gonna do this!" She hauled herself up to the top of a large chunk of marble as she yelled; one by one heads turned to look at her, standing up in the middle of the mess. "First we're going to get rid of these marble pieces. Move them all onto the trucks and take them out behind the basketball field. Those of you who can't carry the marble, start with the big pieces of wood. Work together, guys! It'll make this super easy!"
She now had everyone's undivided attention. "After we get rid of all the big stuff, we're going to sort through the books. Divide them up into piles - ruined and good condition - and then sort the good ones out, fiction, non-fiction, and reference. Someone has to find us some big, waterproof plastic containers to keep the books in until the new library gets set up. Okay?"
Selphie looked around her, nodding at each student - and then threw her hands up in the air. "Make sure you put all the wood from the bookshelves in one big pile so we can have a bonfire tonight to celebrate!"
A cheer went up from the students - a small cheer, yes, but strong for the number of mouths present.
And they got to work. The older boys (and a couple girls wanting to prove their strength) got together and worked on lifting the marble chunks into the few pick-up trucks Trabia had rented. After the first load was taken and dumped - "My back thinks we should stop now," Irvine groaned, "and that's only the first one" - they set themselves to rigging a lift-and-pulley system. After a few false alarms - "Holy Hyne, get out of the way, it's going to flatten your feet!" Ran screamed happily at an older student - they figured out an efficient way to control the marble. A round of applause to trial and error, Irvine thought with a strained grin as he pulled on the rope. But once the system was in place, the marble began to magically vanish. A couple more girls wandered over, wanting to pull rope and stare at Irvine. Selphie hid a giggle behind her hand.
She had taken most of the younger students and was organizing a stick-gathering competition; she had staked off an area for her planned bonfire and was helping to gather the larger chunks of dilapidated bookshelf. The shelves were so splintered that most pieces were easily carried by one person - even one as small as Selphie, though she was strong for her size. Occasionally she found some larger pieces and called for a few of the girls she knew to come and help her haul. The pile for the bonfire grew and grew.
"Whew!" Selphie said, wiping her forehead with one hand and reaching for the offered glass of lemonade with the other. "With this much wood, we can have bonfires for a week!"
"Or one giant bonfire," offered Lilia, a tall, strongly-shaped blond with an infectious grin, who had made the lemonade.
"We'll take out the rest of Trabia," Selphie said with a wicked cackle.
"But imagine the blaze," Lilia murmured.
"Booyaka!" Selphie stuck out her tongue, cracking a goofy smile. "I like fire."
"Oh, great," Irvine said, approaching from behind to suavely steal the lemonade; "don't you go burning things again, Seff."
"But it's sooooo much fun," Selphie whined.
The work continued to improve. While there was still a lot of marble to be moved, most of the northern half had been cleared of both marble and wood. Selphie sent a team of students there to gather books together; Rass, one of the younger and more surly students, had surprised her by producing several large plastic containers like she had mentioned. "Super!" she had squealed, and then promptly put him in charge of the book-sorting. "You know, separate them by whether or not they're readable," she said with a grin. "The ones that aren't worth saving should probably go in the bonfire - although it's a real shame to burn books - give them their own pile for now. Everything else, you know what to do with. I'll think about what to do with the ruined ones." She picked three other students seemingly at random; "Commander Rass, this is your mission team. Get to work!"
The young boy gave her a sloppy salute and started to give out orders in a manner much more like Selphie's than the stubborn, curt tone they had seen earlier.
They worked for a while, retiring for a brief lunch in the cafeteria. Most of the students were sore; the older ones coyly traded backrubs with each other while some of the younger ones took brief naps. Selphie went around, making sure no one was hurting too badly, giving out Cura spells when bruised muscles were too much to take. Irvine stretched and thought wickedly of talking Selphie into giving him a backrub. He had to settle for a brief smile as she walked past, however.
Soon they all went back to the library-field. Selphie cleaned up the last of the large wood pieces and set herself and her team to helping young Rass with the books. She listened intently - with a sparkle in her eye - as Rass explained the system he was using for book-sorting. She made a few tactful suggestions and then threw herself into the task.
Meanwhile, Irvine was supervising the last couple marble transports (under Lilia's watchful and appreciative eye). There had been a panicked moment when one of the ropes had snapped, but short and wispy Yasmine saved the day with a quickly-summoned Float spell, much to everyone's surprise. Other than that, the move had been quite successful. Irvine sighed a grateful and exhausted sigh as the last truck pulled around the corner.
"I know I shouldn't say something like this," a deep voice said, "but damn. Holy Hyne. What did you guys do?"
Irvine turned to see Headmaster Shain, impressed, looking out over the clearing that had been a pile of rubble. The students who had been in charge of the marble were - instead of slipping away one by one, like Shain had expected - rejoining the group to help in the book-sorting. Selphie was calling out cheerful orders and (very randomly) yelling "Super!" as she always did. The other students were asking her advice gladly, contributing their help and expertise. Apparently book-sorting was not the easy job it sounded like; there was always the question of whether this book was ruined, you can read all the pages except the first and the last, which are kind of blurry; or whether this book should get saved, it's in pretty bad condition but I know it's not from the fire, I had to do a report with it and I couldn't read anything; or whether this book can get thrown out, I hated it, I hated it so much (this one from Rass, with a big grin); or whether Harison's studies of GFs or Why Malboros are Bad or One Hundred and One Tricks for your Chocobo are fiction or non-fiction or even reference, because no one has read them.
Shain watched as the students came to Selphie with their questions and she provided answers, one-by-one, always cheerful, never distracted. "She's good," he said finally, as if admitting it to himself.
"Of course," Irvine said, almost insulted. "She's brighter than everyone takes her for. Besides," he said, softening his voice, "she loves this place more than anything, I think. This is an apology for her - she's sorry she left."
Shain raised an eyebrow. "Surprising," he said. "Most of the students are glad to walk out of this place."
Irvine gave a bitter laugh. "That's not it. I'm sure she's grateful that she wasn't there for the missile disaster. But while we were all out saving the world - fighting off sorceresses and armies and Lunatic Pandoras - I think Seff would have felt just as useful being here and helping with the rebuilding."
Shain gave Irvine a look - long and intense, as if he were trying to read the cowboy's mind. Irvine's eyes were clear beneath his black hat. "Well," the Headmaster said finally. "I'm not going to make you two help - but I appreciate it. We all appreciate it. I've been trying, but it's so hard." He raised his hand to rub his forehead, nervous and worried, a piece of his poise suddenly falling away and revealing a young man not much older than Irvine. "I somehow have to come up with the - funds to pay for the rebuilding - Trabia doesn't have a lot of money left. I have to feed these students, and find suitable teachers for them - let alone the reconstruction. And all those negotiations have been taking up so much of my time that I can't be - can't be out here as much as I'd like to. I stay in my little office on my little phone and try to fight the verbal battles." Shain sighed and dropped his hand, briefly glancing at Irvine. "Someone has to."
Irvine, touched by the Headmaster's genuine concern, gave him a broad grin. "Yeah, sometimes it's good to be out here and working with your hands," he admitted. "But I think it's obvious that you care about this place. You do what you can." He shrugged. "It is, in fact, your job."
Shain laughed. "Yes, true. Sometimes I remember back to when I was a cadet - it seems like ages."
Irvine wanted desperately to ask his age; but Selphie approached them, wiping dust from her hands. "Hey, Headmaster, I told them we could have a bonfire with what's left of the bookshelves - that's okay, right? I remember we had some when I was here, so I figured it was okay."
Shain nodded in greeting. "Of course. Look at what you've done here - if all you're asking for is a bonfire, I'm the lucky one. I should be paying you."
Selphie stuck out her tongue, forgetting momentarily that Shain was the Headmaster here. "If you paid me, I'd only donate it back to Trabia," she said haughtily, and then spoiled the effect by sticking out her tongue and yelling, "Booyaka!"
The bonfire that night was a spectacular success. There was actually enough wood present for three or four sizable bonfires, but Selphie liberally divided it up into two large piles and then - with her flair for dramatics and love for big explosions - ignited them both with a steady stream of Firaga spells she could only have pulled off with her Limit Break. The students were immensely pleased with the fire and spent the evening happily toasting anything that came within reach (including one older boy's hair, which did not please Selphie at all; luckily Yasmine, always fast with magic, doused him with a Water spell before anything too drastic occurred). Lilia vanished with two of her friends, only to reappear with two gigantic speakers and a slim little laptop; they rigged up the sound system, and the Trabian students danced the night away.
"This is the happiest they've been in a while," Headmaster Shain admitted to Irvine. The two men were standing in the back with a couple of the older Trabian employees, sipping beers with Cassie and a couple of the other office workers.
Irvine was watching Selphie do a goofy dance with Ran, who adored her. She had been dancing with the students all night; Irvine had been trying to catch her eye, but she only winked at him and continued to dance.
"Selphie's good at happy," he said finally; it wasn't something he had meant to say, but he meant it nonetheless.
The next day dawned in much the same fashion; Selphie leapt out of bed with surprising energy and headed downstairs. Irvine lazily headed for the cafeteria - for he was sure that in her excitement Seff would never remember to eat anything - and then followed the sounds of cheering and yelling until he found her. She was trying to get the students to help her again; they were venturing into the basement this time to examine the damage to Trabia's old storage facilities.
"Oh, hey," she said, a smile lighting up her face as Irvine handed her a donut. "We're gonna take apart the basement today!"
Seff, isn't this supposed to be a vacation? Irvine nodded at her, smiling at her exuberance.
Her smile fell slightly. "You don't have to help, sweetie. But I'm going to go down and see what I can do, alright?"
Irvine shook his head. "Of course I'll help, silly."
"Oh!" Selphie's hands flew up to her neck, where her two silver lockets hung. "Will you do me a favor - take these back to the room?" She unclasped them and carefully removed them. For a moment, they rested in her palm, shining in the sun; then Selphie gracefully placed them in the cowboy's gloved hand.
"They keep catching on things, and I don't want them to get broken or lost somewhere," she explained. "Thanks so much!"
Irvine watched as Selphie stuffed the rest of the donut in her mouth with a foolish grin and carefully picked her way down the remains of the stair case into the basement.
Pensively, he headed back to the room. Selphie was really pretty dedicated to Trabia, when it came down to it. If all of the students had one tenth of her determination ... damn. Irvine whistled to himself. He had been hoping for a nice, relaxing week, something more like the day they had spent at the Devron house. Not that he minded working. Not that he minded helping Sefie. But it would have been nice to, you know, take a break. Spend time with Selphie and just Selphie - time they hadn't really had in a while.
Jealous of a Garden - you're pathetic, Kinneas, pathetic.
An idea coming to him, he stopped in the cafeteria and took a stack of napkins. He seated himself in the corner and started to polish the lockets; Selphie's nervous habit of clutching at the ornaments had left them tarnished with fingerprints. The newer locket cleaned up quite nicely, the oil coming off easily. The older locket wasn't as easy, though; its stains were a little more ancient, and the napkin kept catching on one of the tiny hinges and ripping.
Intrigued, Irvine tried to undo the little clasp. The locket didn't budge.
Ah well, he said, turning it over carefully in his hand and beginning to carefully polish the other side, making tiny circles with the soft cloth napkin. Stupid thing keeps ... snagging ... He tugged at the napkin viciously and was really rather surprised when the locket gave up and fell open in his hand.
Shocked, Irvine turned it over. The right-hand side apparently had once held a picture. All that remained were a couple scraps of paper, one long strip tucked into the small frame; but after the dangers of time and war and fire and Selphie's childhood fingers, the fact that anything remained was a tribute to the locket's strength. Then Irvine's eyes fell onto the left-hand side. Something was written there - engraved in a careful script.
Sophia R. Miora.
Incredulous, Irvine absently began to polish at the words; and that's how he found that there was a date as well, beneath the name, hidden by tarnish and time. 12 May '54. Staring and thinking, the cowboy continued to rub at the silver, fingers making tiny precise movements. The motions died to nothing as it sank in.
Sophia Miora. Is that Selphie's mother?
"Hey, there you are."
Irvine looked up at the familiar voice; it was Lilia, crossing the cafeteria, a little friendly smirk on her face as she looked at Irvine the way women always looked at Irvine. "I saw you running away," she said, teasing. "How come you're allowed to leave when we all have to work?"
"No one's making you," Irvine said absently, glancing back down at the locket. Maybe he had just imagined the letters, and when he looked back, the clue would have vanished - but no, the graceful script still shone out from the now-polished surface.
"Hey, whatcha got?"
Lilia pulled a chair up next to him and bent forward, looking at the locket. "That's beautiful," she said breathlessly, and picked it up gently. "And ancient. Is it ...?"
"It's Selphie's," Irvine said quickly.
"Ah." Lilia paused, awkwardly, as if she were just now realizing the connection between Irvine and Selphie ... "Is Sophia her real name then?"
"No." Irvine shook his head and bent to look at the locket again. "It's her mother's name ...I think. The locket was her mother's. I'm hoping that this is her mother's name and birthday."
"Why are you hoping?" Lilia asked softly as she turned the locket over in her palms.
Irvine chuckled. "Well, Seff - Seff and I are orphans."
"I'm so sorry." Lilia covered her mouth as if she had offended him.
The cowboy shrugged. "Not a big deal, really, we've known our whole lives - nothing drastic. But Selphie's been trying to find clues to her past ..."
"And here she is, wearing one," Lilia said, giggling. "So you're going to trace it?"
"I'd like to," Irvine said, the seeds of a surprise forming in his mind. If I could find out where she's from ... with this and the name Tilmitt, I should be able to find something ... right?
He shook his head, tossing his ponytail over his shoulder. "But I'm not really sure where to look."
"Heh." Lilia stood up, clasping the locket in her hand. "Come on, then. We'll go on the Internet."
"Can you do that?" Irvine asked as he followed her.
Lilia laughed pleasantly. "Are you kidding? Genealogy is one of the most popular things on the net nowadays. We can get a company that does it professionally to look it up, if you're willing to pay a little. Otherwise we'll have to go through ourselves."
"I don't mind paying," Irvine said. "I don't know how to do it myself - I'm bonked when it comes to computers."
Lilia laughed. "Well, I can get you set up with a service, then."
They headed into the dorms; Lilia unlocked a door, saying to Irvine over her shoulder, "It's kind of messy, you'll have to excuse me." And then, with a laugh as she stepped in: "I don't normally have guys up here, you know."
Irvine scanned the room - clothing strewn all over the chairs and one side of the couch, including a couple more intimate items - and had to laugh. "That's alright."
Lilia led him through what she affectionately called "the disaster area" and into a smaller room. This one was immaculately neat; one desk, with three nice stacks of paper, and the laptop computer.
"Pull up a chair," she called, lifting the screen of the laptop and plugging it in. Irvine searched wildly for a chair that didn't have bras and underwear all over it; unable to find one, he gingerly just entered the room and stood.
"Right." Lilia was peering at the screen, her eyes narrowed. "Now what do you want - a family tree? A history?"
"Anything I can get," Irvine said, excited. "I mean, I don't know a lot about the Internet, but ..."
"Let's try this," Lilia said, clicking through screens. "It's at least a company name I know of. A friend of mine did this a little while ago; she said they send you this cute little personalized report and everything."
"Brilliant," Irvine said. "So like, what do we need to do?"
"Here." Lilia opened a screen. "Looks like we just enter all the information we have and then submit it. Here's how much it costs," she said, pointing at the screen. "You can do a single search for this much -" she stabbed with a finger "- or a double search for this much, if you want to look for both of you."
"I want a double search," Irvine decided. "But not for me. One for Tilmitt and one for the name in the locket, okay?"
Lilia grinned, biting her lip. "Bingo. Okay, enter name..."
Irvine opened the locket again, bursting with excitement. "First name: Sophia. Middle Initial, R. Last name, Miora, m-i-o-r-a. What next?"
"Place of birth?"
"Oh." Irvine's heart fell. "I don't know it."
"That's alright," Lilia said casually. "We'll just leave it blank and hopefully they'll find it for us. What else do you know?"
Irvine squinted at the locket. "Do you think this is a birthdate?"
Lilia leaned in to get a better look. "I'd say so," she said. "It could be a wedding day..."
"...but then it would say Tilmitt, right?" Irvine finished for her. "Unless the locket belongs to someone completely random."
"I'll put it as a birthdate," Lilia stated. "And we can see what they find. Anything else?"
"I don't have any other information," Irvine admitted. "And the only thing I have for the second search is the last name 'Tilmitt'. Is that enough?"
Lilia's fingers flew on the keyboard. "Should be. These searches are usually pretty good. Alright, submission form done - how do you want to pay?"
Irvine thought for a moment, and then said, "Run it through my Galbadia Garden account."
Lilia began to type, and then had a thought. "Actually ... um ... you may not want to do that."
Irvine blinked. "Why?"
Lilia sighed. "D'you read the news?" she asked, half-jesting. "After the ...um... conflict, a lot of Galbadian accounts are ...under suspicion. I guess there were a lot of orders that were corrupt - the payments never went through. Something happened with a big Galbadian bank - not that they lost money, but that some employees were caught up in a giant fraud scheme? Not saying that yours is corrupt," she added hastily. "But they'll have to check and double-check, and it'll take time. Do you have anything else?"
Puzzled, Irvine said simply, "Then put it through on my Balamb account."
"He says, casually," Lilia snorted as she inputted the information. "Wish I had enough money for two bank accounts."
"Oh, like they're full," Irvine retorted; they grinned at each other, co-conspirators.
"Here," Lilia said, gesturing at the screen. "Enter all your contact info so they can mail you what they find."
Luckily for Irvine, the directions on the screen were clear and simple - Name, account number, address - and he easily filled them out without looking like a fool.
"So like ... what happens now?"
Lilia scanned through the receipt screen. "You'll get the information mailed to you in Balamb in about five days, it says. They're assigning you a personal case worker. If you're not satisfied with what you get, you can contact someone about further research or a refund."
Irvine gave her a huge grin. "Thank you so much," he said.
"It's exciting," Lilia said, replying with a grin of her own. "And besides, we missed most of the day's work, check it out."
"Ugh," Irvine groaned. "Selphie's gonna be pissed!"
But Selphie had barely noticed they were gone; she was too busy delving into the depths of the basement, in which they had found storage rooms, rotten provisions, the remains of the laundry facilities, six Grats, a dead T-Rexaur, and three marble pillars from the library. When Irvine came up behind Selphie and put his arms around her, she jumped a foot into the air and squealed.
"Oh, you scared me, Vin," she said.
Puzzled, Irvine looked at her as she turned back to the ruins. No where have you been all day, no I was looking for you. No I missed you. Nothing.
Then again, Irvine thought, she was concentrating on Trabia. I guess that's a good enough excuse. Trabia needs more help than I do.
But the funny little twinge in his heart wouldn't go away.
"Hey," Selphie called over her shoulder. "Take a look at what I found. What do you think it is?"
Or maybe she's distracted, Irvine said, smiling as he went to follow her into the small hollow. I'll just have to save my surprise for later, when she's not preoccupied with anything else.
The next couple days continued in the same strain; Selphie woke up every morning and threw herself into whatever project she had chosen for that day, with a quick peck on the cheek for Irvine. The cowboy spent a lot of his time helping her; but he also wandered, patrolling Trabia, talking to the students he found. Selphie was so absorbed in Trabia that he almost felt forgotten - but their visit was almost over, he knew, and he could have her all to himself after that. He didn't really begrudge Trabia Selphie's attention. The poor Garden needed Selphie, and the students loved her.
Plus, he had such a surprise coming (hopefully) that he could wait a couple days.
Headmaster Shain approached him on their last day; Irvine was leaning against the wall, watching Selphie and a few students load the remains of the marble onto a couple trucks. Selphie had experienced a brainstorm over the marble; she called up a house-building company and offered it to them at a premium price. The pieces would never be good for pillars again; but the small chunks were perfect for marble trim, and they were still of high quality. The company had offered to come and pick up the supplies; Selphie had given the check to Headmaster Shain.
"Get a cup of coffee with me?" Shain said to Irvine now, his deep voice appearing out of nowhere beside the cowboy. Irvine tipped his hat in greeting and nodded.
"I want to ask you something," Headmaster Shain said over two mugs of steaming coffee; the two men sat in a booth in the cafeteria, across from one another. Irvine had come to respect the man over the last week, though he was still an odd character; now Shain idly stirred the coffee before him, obviously organizing words in his head.
"I figured as much," Irvine said. His coffee was black.
Shain gave him the small Headmaster grin. "You know they've assigned someone else to your subterfuge case," he said conversationally. "They're taking care of it, in case you were worried. You guys won't have to do it when you get back."
"That's good."
"But not what I wanted to ask you." Shain smiled. "Really, it's not you I want to ask, but Selphie's barely had a word with anyone who isn't Trabia Garden for the past week, so..."
"Don't I know it," Irvine said, laughing.
"Would she be interested in taking on the project?" Shain asked suddenly.
Irvine blinked. "What project?"
"Trabia." The Headmaster took a sip of coffee, setting it down thoughtfully. "She's done so much this week, and the students have never worked this hard. I'm willing to put Reconstruction entirely in her hands - if she's interested."
"But what about ...?"
Shain shook his head. "I don't have enough time to do reconstruction and all these administrative duties very well," he said. "It'll leave me free to get funding and support and new Instructors and Administrators and Lunch Ladies and only Hyne knows what else. And I'll pay, in addition to her SeeD salary."
Irvine blinked.
"It's a job offer," Shain said. "For both of you, if you're interested. Will you consider? And talk with Selphie?"
Irvine blinked again. "I ...yes, of course," he said hastily. "I know that Selphie just took her Instructorship at Balamb; I really don't know what her plans are. She was teaching when we were called off on mission. I don't know if she wants to go back, or ...or what," he finished, somewhat lamely.
"If she's worried about losing the cert," the Headmaster offered, "I'll let her teach a small class here so she can stay active. I won't let it expire on her if that's what she wants, don't worry."
"I'll ask her," Irvine said, and the Headmaster nodded and took his leave. Irvine remained seated, smiling vaguely at the 'waitress' as she refilled his coffee.
What an awesome opportunity for Selphie - for both of them, really. This was quite a job, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to lead something new and spectacular.
But Irvine was afraid.
I really am jealous of a Garden, he thought, laughing at himself. But Selphie at Trabia was a different Selphie. No, not different - but busier, distracted. Efficient. Driven.
Maybe it was because their time here was running out? Maybe if she had a job that she didn't have to worry about losing, she'd be a little more reasonable? Look around once in a while? Remember that Irvine existed?
That wasn't fair, Irvine told his inner self sternly.
You know it's true, his inner self replied wickedly.
He stared into his coffee cup as if it would give him the answers to all his questions. Now he had two surprises for Selphie. He'd have to wait until they got back to Balamb to let her know. And then he'd get a night to think on it.
Could he really ask her to stay behind? To stay with him and teach and do nothing else important - nothing but being with him? Or ask her to bring him along for Reconstruction - be close to him throughout that as well? That wasn't fair to her. Selphie was selfless and kind and giving, and she would never settle knowing there was a job out there that wasn't getting done. Irvine bit his tongue. He would tell her about the opportunity and wait for her reaction. And then if she asked, he could say something.
Two surprises. Irvine chuckled a dark chuckle, downed his coffee, and headed back outside.
stay tuned ... next chapter's a doozy ... coming by the end of the week, or else i'll shoot someone!take care.
7th