Meeting Love, Finding Despair
By Quis and Malice
Chapter Six
A Family Outing?
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and its respective trademarks belong to Squaresoft. We only own Shira, Luna and any other character that was not in the game.
The hovercraft sped out of Esthar and along the highway towards the Kashkabald Mountains. Their destination was a well-known spot for picnickers, secluded in the woods.
Shira smiled as she watched the scenery flash by. She had her face squished against the window as she looked at the many different colours and hues from all the greenery. She looked towards the front of the craft, watching her mummy and Seifer as they talked.
Her mother was happy, she observed. It was a memory that would remain forever in her mind. The sight of Quistis smiling, her golden hair down around her face as she laughed merrily at something Seifer said.
Soon, they were there. Seifer pulled the hovercraft to a stop, as they looked at the scenery. It was lush, vibrant, colourful and dangerous.
"We're here," he said, stating the obvious as he unbuckled Shira from her seat. She reached her chubby arms up around his neck, hugging him.
Quistis walked around to the boot of the craft, pulling out the basket and blanket. Walking towards a secluded spot in the dense woodland, she put the blanket and basket down. Her whip was in her hand as she carefully looked around the place, an old SeeD reflex she had never grown out of.
Seeing no immediate danger in the surrounding glade, she heaved a sigh of relief. As she walked back to the blanket, she noticed that Seifer had already spread it out for her, a very chivalric thing to do. An assortment of food appeared out of the basket, including a bottle of Champaign and a bottle of orange juice.
Shira smiled as she ran off to find some children to play with. "Mummy!" she said, "I'm going exploring. I'm going to catch me a red bat."
Quistis frowned. Her daughter wanted to catch a potentially harmful monster. "Shira, the answer is no. Red bats are dangerous," she said.
Shira pouted, "Then how come you brought your whip then, mummy?" she asked, "And why does Seifer have his Gunblade?"
Seifer smirked lazily, "We bring our weapons to protect you, Shira. You are everything to your mother, don't ever forget that."
Quistis caught on quickly. "Honey, we're only telling you this because we love you," she said, a pointed glance at Seifer, who chose to laugh.
The day progressed quickly. Seifer had thought of everything, right down to the swimming hole in the middle of the clearing, not far from where they were picnicking.
It was while they were swimming that it happened. A great, lumbering beast known as a T-Rexaur came lumbering through the trees, in search of a tasty meal.
Seifer was lounging on the bank; his feet dabbling in the water when he saw it. A flash of red and orange seemed to be coming at them, as a cry erupted from his throat in a curse.
"Fuck!" he swore, pulling himself out of the water, running towards his Hyperion. But it was too late. The T-Rexaur had already reached them.
"Take Shira back to the hovercraft, then go back to Esthar," he shouted, "I'll handle this myself."
He slashed angrily at the throat of the T-Rexaur as he saw from the corner of his eye Quistis running like hell for leather, Shira in her arms.
Blinding the beast, he slashed out at its tiny front arms, its tail swinging wildly as it attacked in confusion. Quistis felt the breath knocked out of her body as she got lashed with the tail.
The damage had been done. Quistis glanced at Shira, and there was blood pouring out from a gash on her face, high near the end of the jawbone.
She screamed as Seifer unleashed Shiva, its ice attack shattering the T-Rexaur. There was no time to grab the picnic stuff.
Her daughter lay in her arms, bleeding to death. She hoped never to have had such a thing happen. It was one of the reasons she left SeeD.
As she fumbled for the door key to the hovercraft, she quickly put her hand on Shira's forehead, casting a numbing spell to stop the pain. Shira was sobbing rapidly.
Seifer came up behind her, his coat all stained with blood from the T-Rexaur's attack. He helped Quistis put Shira in the car, before they sped off to the nearby hospital.
The swarm of peak hour traffic delayed arrival at the hospital.
"Come on!" Seifer shouted, starting to lose patience at the delay of the traffic. Finally, he pushed his foot hard on the accelerator, speeding towards the hospital at a rate that could earn him a ticket. Frankly, though, Seifer didn't care.
As the lights of the great Estharian hospital came into view, he pushed his foot down harder on the accelerator, willing it to go faster.
As they reached the hospital entrance, Seifer didn't wait for the engine to stop before throwing open the door and pulling Shira and Quistis out gently.
It was the worst five hours of their lives. Shira was undergoing surgery to reset the bone that had been broken by the impact of the tail hitting her jaw.
A tense silence fell on the two adults as they waited for any news. Quistis turned to Seifer for comfort, finding it in the surety of his embrace, his lips against hers. If you had told Quistis twelve years ago that she would find comfort in Seifer's embrace, she would have laughed at you.
Yet, here she was, in the darkness of night, sharing a passionate kiss with Seifer, while the storm that had broken during the first few hours of their anxious wait raged on.
A slight noise came to their left, as they broke the kiss.
"Ms. Trepe?" A white-coated doctor asked, "I need to talk to you."
Quistis had a thin, brittle smile on her face, as she followed the doctor to his office. "We've done all we can, but she can never talk the same way again."
A fat tear rolled down her face, tracing its way down through the grime covering her face.
A mute nod came as she registered the fact in her mind. "Can we take her home?" she asked, "I have staff on hand at the Palace," she said to the doctor.
He nodded.
She left the office, heading towards the paediatric ward soon after. Her thoughts were angry, blaming the higher officials for their lack of duty of care to their citizens.
A/N. Wow! This took quite a while to update, ne? Special mention to Charlie for being a sweetie and encouraging me through the writing of this chapter.