Meeting Love, Finding Despair

Chapter Eleven

Bliss

As Seifer stood there, hearing the word from her mouth, the one that meant everything to him, he slipped the ancient platinum ring onto Quistis's finger. The diamond sparkled in the light, its multi-faceted face shining prisms into the sunshine.

Quistis hugged Seifer, as he lifted her up, spinning her around. In that moment, she felt complete. With Seifer's strong arms around her, she knew that he was the one she loved.

~*~

Shira wandered around the Palace, exploring. She knew nearly every square millimetre of the living quarters, having been allowed free rein when she was only five. But then, with a mother like Quistis, who wouldn't give their daughter the opportunity.

She was alone in the world. Even though she was the apple of her mother's eye, Shira knew deep down that Quistis would desert her eventually. Since she had been two, she had known that her mother was dying.

As she pushed a panel in the wall, she felt the wall slide away. This was her hidey-hole, the one that was her haven, her refuge. The tiny room was only six feet wide by six feet long, more of a cupboard than a room, but to Shira, it was a castle.

Her favourite toys had made their way there at one stage or another. Shira was not lonely with her stuffed companions.

~*~

Seifer smiled briefly before kissing Quistis once more. He carried her gently to their bed, before helping her undress, pulling his own shirt off as he did so. Quistis glanced up at Seifer's muscled chest, the type that a god might have.

Seifer was so gentle with her as they made love that day. Their silence only moved him further, exploring her body with his hands, his firm, but gentle hands. As he slid inside her, they moved together in a perfect symphony.

Their cries became animalistic in nature as they reached their climax, then, slowing down, it became gentle, rhythmic, almost like the sensation of never wanting to leave the ocean on a calm day.

Soon, they were exhausted, and he withdrew gently. He continued to hold Quistis in his arms, long after she had drifted off to sleep.

~*~

The next few hours were spent in perfect bliss for both of them. Quistis had found in Seifer the thing she had longed for. A saviour.

There had never been so much love for one another when they'd been cadets at Garden. This was not the same 'puppy love' they had shared for one another back then.

If there'd been a moment when they knew it was their world to do what they would with it, it was now. Seifer knew he'd cherish this time when he looked back on it, years later.

~*~

Shira soon got bored of her wanderings in the secret passageways that led to the sewers below the great city of Esthar. It was a maze to her; one she knew how to work, so that she wouldn't get lost.

Soon she headed back to the familiar door, the one that led her in there in the first place. Once there, she pushed the panel open, finding herself looking down the long red-carpeted hallway.

As the tiny girl headed back to her house, she was stopped by Laguna, who picked her up.

"Hello, Laguna," she said with a smile, wrinkling her nose cutely as she was hoisted onto his shoulders with a carefree laugh.

"The same to you, Shira," Laguna laughed, as he raced the length of the hallway with the daughter of his friend.

Shira squealed with laughter as Laguna took off like a plane. But, like most things, that came to an end. Too soon were they standing before her house, too soon was the door opened.

Quistis heard the door open, hearing the hushed giggles of her daughter and the laughter of Laguna seeping through, into her bedroom.

She crept quietly out, pulling on a satin dressing gown as she did so, as well as brushing her hair softly and quickly.

Opening the door to her bedroom, she gazed at her daughter with affection. As she tiptoed into the kitchen to get a glass of water, Shira heard her.

"Mummy!" she called, running up to her and flinging her arms around her mother's waist.

"Hey honey," Quistis said, as she placed her arm gently around her daughter's shoulders, smiling as she did so.

"I went 'sploring today, mummy," Shira said, an adorable smile showing, one tooth missing where it should have been.

"That's great, sweetie," Quistis said, "Where'd you go?"

"I went 'sploring the sewers underneath the palace," Shira said honestly.

Quistis's face hardened. "Shira Akiko Trepe, how many times have I told you the sewers are dangerous honey? Mummy doesn't want you to get hurt, or even killed."

Seifer was spotted out of the corner of her eye. "Seifer," Quistis said softly, "Tell her that the sewers are no place for her to be roaming."

Seifer laughed. "Of course, Quisty, of course," he said with an impish grin, before turning to Shira and speaking. "Shira, your mother doesn't want you going down there. You might get killed, and then the sewers would stink. Rats might gnaw on your body, and we wouldn't want that, now, would we?" he said sternly, with a glimmer of mischief undetected by Shira.

He rolled his eyes at Quistis, eliciting a giggle from Shira.

"We have some very important news to tell you, Shira," Quistis began, before she was cut off by Seifer, who interrupted her.

"Can't this wait?" he asked quietly, "There's still a lot I need to tell you," he said.

Quistis looked perplexed. Finally, she complied. "Okay," she said finally, "But it doesn't mean I'm not going to get mad at you."

With a smile, Shira left the room unobtrusively. As she did so, the two adults sat down on the couch, Quistis's head in Seifer's lap.

He stroked her hair gently with his hand as he spoke to her about all he had learnt. He filled her ears with the delightful tale of his true birth, that he was the Duke.

"Hence the platinum ring, my dear," he said as he finished the story.

Quistis took in the information silently. It took a while to digest all that he had told her, yet something in the subconsciousness of her mind told her he was telling the truth.

"So, I'm to be a duchess?" she asked softly, with a glance up at his features. He looks so—handsome, so dashing, she thought.

He was thinking of the future, seeing for himself a home with Quistis and Shira, and maybe, just maybe, a child of his own.

Shira re-entered the room, looking about for a toy of hers. With a gentle smile, Quistis spoke.

"Shira, Seifer and I are getting married," she said.

Shira squealed in delight.

~*~

Later that week, they were back into their routine. Quistis was back at work, a contented smile on her face, like the cat that had swallowed the canary. It was a glorious spring day when they announced the news to some of their closest friends.

Their reactions had been shocked, surprised, pleased at best. All everyone wanted was for them to be happy.

They were going out that night, to the new pub in Esthar. It was an open microphone night, with no admission or cards needed to get in.

Seifer had a plan. So did Quistis.

Inside, it was dark and dusky, disco strobe lights flashing out in all directions, with a live band playing over the top of the din. To put it mildly, it was worse than a classroom had ever been for Quistis.

Every so often, one or two people would make their way up to the stage. Mainly females, all were singing Eyes on Me, off key at times, too low at others, nobody ever quite perfecting the glissando of notes in the music.

Finally, Seifer could take it no longer. He banged his hand down onto the table, before standing up and walking to the stage. Once up on the stage, his voice rang clear without the microphone. A mild voice that wasn't either base, tenor or baritone.

"Yeah, I know its kinda late

I hope I didn't wake you

But what I gotta say can't wait

I know you'd understand

Cuz every time I tried to tell you

The words just came out wrong

So I'll have to say I love you

In a song

Yeah, I know its kinda strange

But every time I'm near you

I just run out of things to say

I know you'd understand

Cuz every time I tried to tell you

The words just came out wrong

So I'll have to say I love you

In a song

Yeah, I know its kinda late

I hope I didn't wake you

But what I gotta say can't wait

I know you'd understand

Cuz every time I tried to tell you

The words just came out wrong

So I'll have to say I love you

In a song"

He kept his eyes on Quistis the entire time, while her gaze was locked with his. Ice blue eyes met with green eyes, and smiled.

Once the wolf whistles and catcalls were over, he returned to his seat at the end of the bar with Quistis.

She stood up, then, heading to the piano to begin to play a simple haunting tune, singing along with it as she did so. Her voice was sweet, melodic, and harmonious.

"I follow the night

Can't stand the light

When will I begin

To live again?

One day I'll fly away

Leave all this to yesterday

What more could

Your love do for me?

When will love be

Through with me?

Why live life from

Dream to dream

And dread the day

When dreaming ends?

One day I'll fly away

Leave all this to yesterday

Why live life from

Dream to dream

And dread the day

When dreaming ends?

One day I'll fly away

Fly, fly away"

She had tears in her eyes as she left the piano to a sweet round of applause. There was nothing like that same adoration when she had learnt to play it in the first place.

Back then, people had told her she'd never make it as a pianist. Looking back, she laughed merrily as she resumed her spot in the inconspicuous confines of the bar.

As they left, the pub became very rowdy again, the hushed whispers growing into a loud and unbearable frenzy of voices.

"That was?" someone asked, and was greeted with a nod.

"Aye, that was the Head of Defence and her new boyfriend, Seifer Almasy," a man confirmed, nodding his head sagely.

"Heard they're getting married soon," another voice spoke up, a feminine one this time.

This was met by a pounding of fists on the table, and men shouting.

Luckily for the two lovebirds, they were back home when the bar brawl began.

~*~

With a teasing grin on Seifer's face, he turned to Quistis. "What was that song for?" he asked bemusedly, lacing his fingers together and placing them behind his neck.

"Oh, just because I felt like it," Quistis's offhand answer made him realise he'd fallen for a very complicated woman.

"Sure you are, Quistis Gosia," he said, using her middle name for once.

"Oh, grow up, Seifer Lukyan" She retorted with a playful thwap to his head.

"Me? Never," he retaliated, grabbing her wrists playfully before kissing her fingers softly.

"We need to plan the wedding," was the last words Quistis said before dozing off contentedly.

A/N. One Day I'll fly Away belongs to Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge, and I'll have to say I love you in a song is from Jim Croce. I'm not too happy with this chapter…A lot happened in a short time, so I apologise to those who are left feeling confused.