Chapter Four: On Stage Practice
By PasifikStar
Author's Note: Once again, thank you for the reviews. They're very much appreciated! ^_^ Domo arigatoo gosai masu!
* All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters.
Squall fell face first on his bed, his arms dangling at his sides as the pillow engulfed his face in it's soft, white fluff. A day of training never wore him as much as two hours with his 'father'. Half way through the dinner, he began to make analogies in his mind between his current situation and war.
First, he would be the struggling hero. Laguna would've been the evil bad guy who'd drain people's energy by TALKING too much. And Rinoa...Rinoa would be the heroine who betrayed him because she 'loves' him. He groaned and felt two small hands press against his shoulders and squeeze them. "It wasn't that bad."
"Of course not," Squall retorted bitterly. "If you think that the damage to TRABIA GARDEN wasn't 'that bad'."
Rinoa rolled her eyes as she sat down at the edge of his bed, rubbing his shoulders over his formal uniform jacket to relieve his tension. "It was an excellent restaurant-"
"It was over priced."
"The food was great-"
"They burnt my salmon."
"The music they played was-"
"Boring."
"Squall!" Rinoa sighed. She pulled her hands back and placed them on her lap as she frowned at him. "Laguna really tried tonight and all you could do was act like a jerk."
"I wasn't acting like a jerk!" Squall replied.
"Oh yeah?" Rinoa asked, annoyed. "He asked you how was your day at work and you said 'not long enough'."
"I had a lot of work to do!" Squall answered quickly in his defense. He turned his head to look into Rinoa's disapproving brown eyes.
"Honestly, Squall..." Rinoa sighed. "He's not a bad man. He's clumsy, unrefined, a bit oafish, but he's a sweet man who just wants to get to know his son better."
"Why does he want to know me now after years of neglect?" Squall grumbled, turning his head away and glaring at the wall. "He was never even there..."
Rinoa frowned and stood up. "They could be there in your presence and still neglect you," Rinoa told him bitterly as she reached for her coat that was hanging over the back of his chair. "At least you know he was trying to do some good and still cared for you. At least he's trying to get to know you better. My father was physically there, Squall...but just because he was there didn't mean that he didn't neglect me. So don't complain to me about being neglected..."
"He didn't even come see me once-" Squall began as he turned and sat up to watch her as she shoved her arms through the sleeves of dark blue coat.
"I would LOVE to have a father like Laguna," Rinoa stated blandly, making Squall jerk his head back. "At least he regrets not being there and is trying to get to know you better...Hyne knows it's better than pretending you're not even alive."
With that, she turned on her heel and headed for his door. "Rinoa!" Squall sighed as his door slid open. "Rinoa!" She stepped through it and it slid closed. He bent over his knees, running his hand through his hair as he closed his eyes and shook his head.
Quistis heard knocking on her door. She looked over at her digital clock by her bed that flashed 1:50 AM. Reaching over, she grabbed her glasses and put them on in the dark before turning on the lights. She frowned as she sat up and put her feet over her bed, getting up and walking to the door.
She grabbed her satin dark red robe with the black flowers and put it on, tying it around her waist just before she reached her door. It slid open. "Okay, one thing has been on my mind the entire night."
Quistis' blue eyes opened as she saw Seifer standing there, looking extremely frustrated as he ran his hand through his hair. It hadn't been gelled back, and it seemed that he had just gotten out of bed. "Seifer, what are you doing here this late?" she frowned.
"Can I come in or not?" Seifer grumbled. He was wearing loose black cotton pants and a white tank top. His arms crossed over his chest and Quistis couldn't help but notice the muscles move under his skin. "It's cold in the hall way."
She sighed tiredly and stepped back. "Come on in..." she grumbled. "But if anyone sees you-"
"I'm here for a 'special lesson'." he said, shooting her a grin. She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to sit on a chair.
"What do you want, Seifer?" she asked as she stood by her bed, also crossing her arms and looking down at him.
"What the hell was with you today?" Seifer burst out. Quistis tried to hide her surprise as her arms fell to her sides. "Now, I'm not one to be cocky..."
Quistis rolled her eyes. *Right...and I'm not one to be intelligent.*
"But you seemed to be enjoying it," Seifer told her. "And I KNOW I didn't touch any of the goods."
"You didn't have to touch any of the 'goods'," Quistis retorted proudly. "What does it matter to you anyway? You said it didn't mean anything!"
"That doesn't mean I can't enjoy it!" Seifer replied.
Quistis narrowed her eyes as a sinister smirk caressed her lips. "Oh...I get it..." she smiled. Seifer looked over at her, slightly confused. "You're frustrated because I rejected YOU!"
"Hey! If anyone did any rejecting, it was ME!" Seifer shouted, jumping out of his chair and locking eyes with Quistis. "You weren't exactly begging me to stop!"
"I wasn't begging you to continue either."
"You know, maybe it was for the best that you pushed me away."
"It was for the best." she replied in a dead pan voice.
"Uh! Forget it!" Seifer grumbled as he shook his head. "Why did I bother to come here anyway?"
Quistis merely shrugged. "You wanted closure?"
Seifer's hand slammed into the wall by the side of Quistis' head, causing her to jump as he lowered her face an inch in front of hers. "Just answer this question, Quisty," he said in a low voice. "Did you REALLY want it to end?"
His eyes bore into hers as her back pressed up against the wall. Her hand was over her chest, clutching the edges of her robe closed. His hand rose and grabbed her glasses by the frames and slowly drew them back off her face. He tossed them gently over his shoulder and on to the bed.
Quistis narrowed her eyes. "What do you think?" she hissed.
A slow smirk pulled at his lips as he placed the tip of his finger on her pink lips. "What I think doesn't matter in your little world," he told her his hand trailed down her chin and on to her neck. "But for the sake of humoring you, I would say that you wanted me just as bad..."
Her eyes wavered as she could feel his breath against her cheek. "As bad as what?" She found herself saying.
Seifer grinned. Her voice was trembling. "I think you know," He brought his face millimeters from her and Quistis closed her eyes tightly. She heard him chuckle and opened her eyes back up. He pulled away from her, running a hand through his hair as he smirked. "Don't look so scared, instructor!" he said arrogantly as he stepped back and headed towards the door. "Next time, just enjoy the moment!"
Laughing, he walked out of her door and Quistis stood there, now knowing what to do. She stared into the emptiness of her bedroom as the realization dawned on her. He had just lead her on to get back at her for shoving him away. Her hands balled at her sides. "DAMN YOU, SEIFER ALMASY!!!"
Down the hall, Irvine and Selphie were heading back to their rooms, each holding some of Rinoa's novels. "Did you hear that?" Selphie asked as she looked around the empty hall way.
"Hear what?" Irvine asked as he was burying his nose in one of the books. *I will PROVE to them that these characters are based on us! Ah-hah! Stephanie says booyaka! I mean...who uses BOOYAKA!?*
"I thought I just heard someone curse Seifer." Selphie said as they walked.
Irvine smirked. "Yeah...everyone here."
"So Cid's actually making us RENT out the ball room for our rehearsals?" Zell asked. "Why couldn't he let us do it for free?"
"Because he knows we have sponsors paying for it and wants to suck up as much money for the Garden as possible," Rinoa said. "Besides, if we use it, someone else can't rent it."
"He makes a good point." Irvine relented.
"Irvine, what are you doing here?" Selphie asked as she put her hands on her waist. "You're supposed to be working on the backgrounds!"
Irvine winced. *Crap...I forgot about those...* "I wanted to see how it was going to played out first so I can get a better feel for the set?" he offered. Rinoa and Selphie narrowed their eyes in suspicion.
"Did you even buy the supplies yet?" Rinoa asked incredulously.
Irvine's eyes darted around. "Supplies...?"
"Wood? Nails? Paint?...Oh, Hyne..." Rinoa said as she ran her hand down her face. "SELPHIE!!"
"I know! I know!" Selphie said. She grabbed Irvine's hand and began to drag him out the door. "Let's go!"
"But...but don't you have to rehearse with the others!?" Irvine gasped as he stumbled along behind her.
"MY rehearsal schedule doesn't start until tomorrow!" Selphie informed him casually. "Let's go! The hardware store closes soon!"
Zell grinned and smiled. "Hey, Rin, what can I do to help? My rehearsals don't start until later this week!"
"Umm..." Rinoa thought for a moment and lifted up her clip board, flipping through some notes. "Oh! You can be my gopher!"
"A rodent?"
"An assistant!" Rinoa beamed him a smile as he nodded. "Great! Now go get me an iced mocha with whipped creme in a chilled glass with a sleeve! NOW GO!"
"Yes, mam!" Zell said, giving her a salute before running off.
"All right!" Rinoa said as she turned back to the group of main characters who were to start their rehearsals that day. "We're going to started, shall we!? First off, I'd like everyone to know that their lines SHOULD be memorized ahead of time! I'll let you bring your scripts on set the first two weeks, but after that, it's should all be memorized! Are their any problems with that!?"
"No!" the group chorused. Rinoa nodded.
"Okay, then...please stick to your schedules. Selphie and I have worked around your schedules to be sure that you can make it to the rehearsals on time," Rinoa said as she began to pace in front of the group. "If there are any emergencies or problems, please contact ME or Selphie as soon as the problem is known. Now, let's begin with the scene one, act one! Seifer!"
"Enter stage left, I know!" Seifer said as he ran over the script once more before he tossed to Raijin, who was standing in the 'wings'.
"All the other actors please clear the designated stage area!" Rinoa said. As soon as everyone was standing behind her, she directed Fujin to stand by another actor who would play the King. "Action!"
Seifer walked in front stage right, a serious look on his face as two other knights followed behind him. A younger actor ran past the stage. "No running in the halls!" he growled suddenly, causing the younger actor to jump.
"Come on, Aiden," another knight said casually. "Let the kid slide this time."
"Did anyone let us slide when WE were apprentices?" Seifer snapped back. He glared at the younger actor in a dignified way. "We'll let you go this time! But if we ever see you running in the halls once more, you're out, understand!?"
"Ye...Yes, Sir Aiden!" the actor said as he ran across the rest of the stage.
Rinoa sat on her director's chair, looking deep in concentration as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Every so often, she would stop and interject a comment. Quistis was sitting on a chair close by, watching the actors.
*He's obviously done this before...* she thought to herself as she leaned forward, the script on her lap as she watched Rinoa stand by Seifer and go through his movements with him, giving him pointers. Amazingly enough, Seifer didn't say one smart ass comment. *He's completely professional...*
"Quistis!" Zell said. The blond snapped out of her thoughts and sat up straight, looking at Zell who was standing right next to her. "Quistis, your scene is up next. Rinoa says to get ready."
"Right!" Quistis exclaimed. She jumped up, soothing out her uniform that she had been wearing from earlier that day, and put her script on her chair.
"Okay, Quistis, you're up!" Rinoa said. Quistis walked over to the shorter brunette, who was standing by her place marker. "Okay, you're going to walk over to Seifer, who has already been standing there...got it?"
"Perfectly." Quistis answered smoothly. Rinoa nodded and walked back to her director's chair.
Seifer smirked as he stood a little ways away from her. "Don't screw this up..." he said in a low voice. Quistis glared at him.
"That's quite hard to avoid since you're already in this play." she retorted proudly, earning her a glare.
"Action!" Rinoa shouted.
Quistis took a step forward, a curious smile immediately on her lips as she walked towards Seifer and circled him once. "You're not from around here are you?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Well..." she said with a large smile as she leaned over, bringing her face close to his. "I didn't think knights from where you're from get to go on vacation in a country they don't like."
Seifer snorted. "What makes you think I'm a knight?"
"The way you move...the way you talk," she replied casually as she stepped back and surveyed him. "And there are only two countries that have their knights wear THOSE brand of boots. And seeing as how one country brands all of them and yours aren't branded..."
"How perceptive of you!" Seifer laughed. "But unfortunately little girl, you're quite wrong."
"Am I wrong?" Quistis asked as she raised her eyebrow and smiled. "Or are you lying?"
The way she had said it made Rinoa smirk. "Stop!" Rinoa said. "Quistis, I loved your use of tone on your last remark! Keep that up!"
"Thanks!" Quistis said, throwing Seifer a superior look. *My first scene and I get praise! Kiss my butt, Seifer!*
*Smile you want now, princess,* Seifer thought as he gave her a sarcastic smile. *But you'll see what REAL acting is like soon.*
"It's getting late people!" Rinoa said as she looked at her watch. "It's already ten! Everyone else is free to go! Seifer, Quistis! Stay a bit, I want to talk to you both."
"Hey, we're back!" Selphie said. She walked into the ball room with a tired and worn looking Irvine behind her.
"Oh, hey!" Rinoa beamed a smile as she turned around and waved. Selphie reached her. "Did you get the stuff?"
"Yep...I did a little talk-"
"She wore them down..." Irvine exclaimed. "THREE HOURS!" he said, holding up his hand. "I think they were just giving us the things half price to get us out of there!"
Rinoa giggled and Selphie rolled her eyes. "We got such a good deal on all the equipment! And I just came back from talking to Cid. He said he'll let us use one of the spare rooms to hold our equipment. For a small additional fee of course."
"How small?"
"Five gil a week," Selphie smiled. "VERY affordable!"
"Great!" Rinoa smiled. "We can always put the extra money into the dinner party afterwards!"
"Rinoa," Quistis said behind her. The brunette turned around. Quistis was walking towards her. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"
"Oh yeah! Just give me a second," Rinoa said. She turned back to Selphie. "Okay, I'm just going to go over some notes with them real quick. I'll come by your room later to discuss some details okay?"
Selphie nodded. "Sure thing! C'mon Irvine! We still have to unload the truck!"
"What!?"
Rinoa turned back to Quistis and looked over at Seifer. He was talking to Raijin and Fujin. "Seifer!" Rinoa called. "Come on!" He nodded and told Raijin and Fujin to meet him outside.
"All right," Seifer said as he walked over, a towel around his neck as he wore a white tank top. His shirt was hung over one of the chairs. "Thoughts? Comments? Praise?"
"Hardly," Rinoa sighed. "Okay, there are a lot of scenes with just you guys. Since we're on a tight schedule, I'll need you two to practice on your own time. Is that plausible?"
"Practice on our own time!?" Quistis gasped, her blue eyes wide as she looked at her friend. "As in...privately?"
"Well...yes..." Rinoa said. "If you two could just get together between classes or after rehearsal to practice your lines together. It has to be very believable, so I want the bantering well practiced before the official rehearsals."
"Good idea," Seifer agreed. Quistis' eyes darted over to him in surprise as he stood by Rinoa and showed her some high lighted parts of the script. "I had a few qualms with this scene..."
*Practicing...alone...with SEIFER?* Quistis thought to herself. She looked over at the tall blond who was now engaging himself in a verbal disagreement with the director/writer. *I can't be alone with him!*
"Fine! You think it sounds BAD, huh?!" Rinoa growled, glaring at Seifer with such intensity that the blond took a step back. "Fine! Have these lines memorized by this weekend and we'll practice that scene! See if it sounds bad THEN!"
"Fine!" Seifer snorted. "Seriously! No man would say those things!"
"They would to!" Rinoa retorted. She turned to Quistis. "Quistis, memorize scene three, act five by this weekend's practice!"
Quistis looked taken aback, but nodded. "All right..."
"TOGETHER."
"WHAT!?" Quistis gasped.
"I want you two to get this down together!" Rinoa announced. She looked over their shoulders. "Zell!! Get my things!"
"Sure thing, Rinoa!" the happy blond replied.
She looked back at Seifer and Quistis. "When you hear those words coming from his mouth, they'll be so believable, you'll think ALL men will say them!"
Seifer snorted and rolled his eyes. "Sure...and Commander Puberty's going to ask you to marry him soon."
Rinoa narrowed her eyes and shot Seifer a challenging glare. Behind her, Zell waved as Squall walked in to pick up Rinoa. "Then Squall better get down on one knee because I KNOW he's going to ask me!"
Squall froze in his spot, his arm half way raised to wave at her and get her attention when he heard her. *She knows!? Hyne! She KNOWS!!* His eyes went wide as his heart stopped. *Did she see the ring!? Did I say something last night? It was Angelo! I bet Angelo knows and told her!...Okay, that's irrational, Squall...Angelo can't talk...*
"Hey, Rinoa!" Zell said, noticing Squall standing there, not moving. "Squall's here!"
"Huh?" Rinoa turned around. She squinted. "Zell...where?"
"Right here..." Zell trailed off as he looked around. In Squall's place was nothing but air. He looked out the doors and saw the brunette making a mad dash up the hall way. "Okay...WAS here..."
"Anyway," Rinoa said as she looked at the two blondes in front of her. She smiled widely. "By this weekend!"
With a shaking hand, Squall pulled open the drawer that was to one side of his desk. He moved away pieces of paper, stray note pads, pens without caps, and a few disks and envelopes until he found the little black box. Looking around him, as if expecting there to be some sort of spy, he opened the little box.
The sparkling diamond ring glistened in the dim lamp light of the room and he let out a sigh of relief. *She couldn't have seen it...not under all that stuff...*
There was a knock on his door and the box flew out of his hands. He stumbled to catch it as he jumped. Squall swore as the ring flew out of it's hold and fell on to the floor of his room. "Squall, I'm coming in!" Rinoa's voice said.
"NO!" he shouted as he fell to his hands and knees. *Where is it!? Where did it go!?* His hands began to feel around the ground, shaking as they searched for the ring.
"Um...is something wrong?" Rinoa asked. "If it's about the other night... it's okay...I'm over it...I didn't mean to go off on you like that."
"It's not about that!" Squall stammered as he looked under his bed. He shoved aside some boots, balls of lent, and...a bone? *Dammit, Angelo!* He threw it into the trash can in the corner.
"Are you mad...?" Rinoa asked, her voice soft and hesitant.
"No!" he shouted, still absorbed in finding the ring.
"Are you...naked?" she asked with a blush across her face.
Squall nearly fell to the floor as he looked up at the door tiredly. "NO!" he gasped. *Hyne, that hallway better be empty...*
"Then why can't I come in!?" she demanded. He could sense the annoyance in her voice, but couldn't find a plausible reason to deny her entry.
"I'm...uh...about to go take a shower!" he shouted loudly.
"So...you are naked...?"
*Why does she keep asking if I'm naked?* He paused. *Hmm...*
"I'll come by later then!" she replied. Squall let out a heavy sigh of relief and sat down on the floor against his bed as he closed his eyes. He tilted his head back against the mattress and put his foot down.
CRACK.
His eyes flew open at the sound and he lifted up his foot. Underneath the heavy soles of his SeeD issued military boots, he lifted up a gold ring with a diamond that was now currently hanging half way off the ring. He looked up at the ceiling. "Hyne...why do you hate me?"
"Irvine, it's amazing!" Quistis said as she looked at the stage that had been built in the far corner of the quad, by the gardens. It wasn't painted yet, but the stage had been assembled. Quistis herself had done the mathematical calculations to make sure it would stay up under a lot of pressure.
But the wings had been created, the back ground's basic panels were set up, as well as the sides of the stage. Irvine was standing in the shade, relishing the praise that the girls were giving him on his work. His heavy trench coat was on one of the work benches and he stood there, shirtless with only his pants and a tool belt around him.
And to add to the eye candy, he had his cowboy hat on. Zell said he looked like a male stripper. Then Irvine asked "How would you know?"
"I have to admit, Irvine..." Rinoa said as she looked over the basic product. "I had my doubts. But you've proven yourself more than worthy of the title 'stage manager'."
"Yeah...well, a lot of work still needs to be done. The curtains for one... painting it another..." Irvine said modestly. "Selphie and I got the dark red curtains from the shop yesterday like you wanted." he reported.
"Excellent!" Rinoa smiled. "How soon can they be up?"
"I wanted to paint it first so the curtain won't get stained on accident," Irvine explained. "Probably by next weekend?"
"Sounds great!" Rinoa said. "And the background and props?"
"The week after next, tops," Irvine promised. "I have to admit this was fun..."
"He's just having fun showing off to the girls," Zell grumbled. "Tell them how many numbers you scored."
"None I already didn't have." Irvine winked. Rinoa and Quistis giggled as Zell rolled his eyes and Selphie raised an eyebrow in question.
"REALLY?" the petite brunette asked. "I'm glad you're having FUN."
Irvine immediately stopped smirking. "Uh...I mean..."
"You're just like Maverick from Rin's book!" Selphie exclaimed as she wrinkled her nose. "Always chasing tail!"
"I don't 'chase tail'." Irvine told her.
"What? The tail chases you?" Selphie asked, looking up at him. Irvine opened his mouth, but quickly snapped it closed. "Good choice."
"Why don't we have rehearsal up on the stage today!?" Rinoa asked with a smile. "It's just the major actors today anyway. They might as well get a feel for the stage."
"That's a good idea," Quistis said. "I'm up for it."
"Great!" Rinoa said. She looked over at Selphie who had her arms crossed and her back turned to Irvine, who seemed to be asking for forgiveness. A smirk was on her face. "Selphie, can you tell the others that we'll have rehearsals for today here?"
"Okay!" Selphie said. She looked over at Irvine. "And YOU get back to work!"
He nodded feverishly and headed back to the pile of lumber and power tools to the side of the stage. Rinoa looked over at Quistis. "So...the big day's arrived...you all set to say the lines?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Quistis said. She looked at Rinoa doubtfully. "Rin...I have kind of have to agree with Seifer. If Aiden is the devoted knight you say he is, why would he say all those things to Ileana?"
"Because he's in LOVE!" Rinoa said, telling her the most obvious answer in her mind. "Why else!?"
Quistis shrugged. "You're the writer."
"And director!" Rinoa said. She began to head towards the stage. "Come with me. I'll show you your spot."
Within thirty minutes, Seifer had finally arrived, arrogant as always as he casually jumped on the stage. He started off the rehearsal by commenting on Irvine's craftsmanship. "Hyne...it's as bad as his acting..."
"Shut up, Seifer," Rinoa said as she jumped down from the front of the stage to get a better seat. "The stage is great!"
"Hey..." Irvine frowned as he looked up from his work. "What did he say about my acting?"
"Nothing, Irvy," Selphie assured him with a pat on his shoulder. "Just ignore him."
Irvine shrugged and tossed Seifer a long stick to act as a make shift prop. He took it and held it out, seeing how it felt in his hands. Quistis removed her glasses and cracked her neck.
"Okay!" Rinoa said as she sat on her director's chair and opened her script. "Scene three, act five...start from Quistis saying 'You found it'! ACTION!"
Quistis took a deep breath and walked towards Seifer, a look of awe on her face. "You found it!" she gasped. "You found it! I can't believe it!" She took the stick that Seifer handed to her and smiled. Her eyes squinted as tears rimmed her sapphire eyes in joy. "Thank you!" She threw her arms around Seifer's neck and held on to him tightly as she put her head over his left shoulder. "Thank you for everything..." she said, in a softer voice.
Seifer stood there and narrowed his eyes slightly. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her away. Quistis looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion. "Do you know..." he said in a low voice as regretful emerald eyes looked down at her. "Do you know how much I resent you?"
Quistis' eyes went large as she took a slight step back. Her hands falling from his shoulders, limply to her sides. "What...?"
Her eyes tried to study his. "I am a knight," he told her sternly, a serious look on his face. "I live for my duty. I am loyal to my king. But you...you make me question EVERYTHING."
He barely stood a foot from her, but Quistis could feel the emotion radiating from him as he looked at her. She was suddenly drawn into the play as she felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest. "I don't understand..." she whispered.
Seifer stepped back, removing his hands from her shoulders as he studied her with suspicious eyes. "Up until I met you, I had no doubts. No questions about my life. Then I meet you and I start to think about things I never even thought of before," Seifer said. He shook his head and looked around. "Your affect on me makes me uncomfortable. I feel...I feel as if I'm not complete when I'm not with you. And it frustrates the hell of me!"
His arms were at his sides as his face contorted with complete and utter frustration. Quistis took a step back. "I'm...I'm sorry..." she whispered as tears streamed down her face.
"No, don't be sorry," Seifer told her sternly. "I resent you because...you..." He let out a frustrated growl. "I am your enemy! I...you should hate me! I threatened to kill you before...and you still feel 'safe' with me?" he asked, giving her a look of disbelief. "I don't understand! You confuse the hell out of me, Ileana! Why? Why is it that I can't you get you out of my mind?"
Quistis blinked rapidly and shook her head. "I'm not putting a spell on you or anything!" she gasped. "I swear, I'm not!"
"You planted these ideas in my head. You just had to appear and that's all it took," Seifer said. His green eyes looked confused and unstable as stood in front of her. And Quistis saw something she never noticed. Behind the arrogance, she saw doubt and fear and worry. It pained her to see him like that. "And I resent you for doing this time! I resent you for taking me away from my duty and replacing it with you! I..."
"I'm sorry..." she mumbled again, tears stinging her eyes. Was that how he really felt?
Wild green eyes, formerly so calm and composed, typically hiding emotions with a mask of self assurance, looked at her. He walked towards her and his hands cupped her face. "I love you so much..." he whispered in a low voice as his warm hands held her pale, flushing face. "I don't know how to think any more...why did you do this to me?"
Quistis was in tears. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she rubbed them with her hands, trying to make them stop and failing. "But... you're wonderful..." she sobbed in broken gasps. "You...you have a good heart. And you're a good...friend...and...and I know you'd never hurt me...even if you say you would...Deep down..." *Deep down Seifer...you're not bad. You never were...and you never will be...*
His arms went around her and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. Seifer closed his eyes buried his face in her hair. "You are my world..." he whispered quietly in her ear. "And because of you...I see no other..."
Quistis' widened as she pulled away from him slightly. He lifted her chin up with a crocked finger under her chin and slowly pressed his lips against hers.
Rinoa's eyes widened. *Okay...that was NOT in the script...* she thought to herself. *But I LIKE it...*
The spell wound around the couple on stage as Rinoa clapped enthusiastically. Selphie and Zell also clapped as other actors who had gathered and some passer byers who had stopped to watch the rehearsal clapped.
"WATCH OUT!" a voice screamed.
It cut through their senses like a knife and Quistis whirled around. Her blue eyes went wide as he saw the large stack of lumber that had been leaning against the side of the stage falling towards them.
Two arms wrapped around her frozen body and pulled her against them, shielding her smaller frame from harm as the long wooden pieces fell. "QUISTIS! SEIFER!" a voice screamed in the distance.
For a split second, Quistis heard nothing. Her body hit the floor, an arm underneath her, breaking her fall and laying her down gently. Her eyes were shut tight as the sound of falling wooden and painful grunts echoed in her ears.
Breathing deeply, she opened her eyes. They widened as they saw Seifer over her, his face looking hurt as stage hands ran up and began to move the pieces of timber off of him. "Seifer!?" she gasped.
"You okay, Quisty?" he gasped out painfully.
"Oh, Hyne! Seifer!?" she cried tearfully. He smiled weakly. He was laying on top of her, his face inches from hers.
"Don't look so scared..." he whispered quietly. His amused green eyes flashed pain as they closed.
Then she felt his entire body's weight over hers. "Seifer!?" she screamed. "SEIFER!?"
"Two cracked ribs, dozens of bruises..." Dr. Kadowaki sighed. "But he'll be fine."
"Thank you, doctor," Rinoa said as she stood outside in the waiting room. She looked over at Quistis. "Um...can she...?"
Dr. Kadowaki followed Rinoa's gaze and nodded. "Of course. But only for a short time."
"Thank you." Rinoa smiled. She turned and walked over to Quistis, who was sitting on a hard plastic chair, bent over her knees. Her face was in her hands as Selphie had a comforting hand around her shoulders.
"How is he?" Selphie asked, noticing that Rinoa had returned.
The other brunette smiled weakly as Quistis' head shot up. Her tear streak face pained Rinoa. "Two cracked ribs and a few bruises," she reported. "He'll be okay. No internal damage."
"Oh thank Hyne!" Quistis gasped out as she rubbed her eyes with her hand. "Can I-"
"Yeah..." Rinoa cut her off, already expecting the question. "He's awake."
"Thank you, Rinoa..." Quistis said. Rinoa nodded as Quistis stood up
"We're going to go see what's going on back at the stage," Rinoa said. "Do you want one of us to stay here with you?"
"No, I'll be fine." Quistis assured them. The two brunettes nodded and walked out of the waiting room. Quistis headed into the infirmary and took a deep breath as the doors slid open.
"Don't poke it!" she heard Seifer growl. "What the hell is wrong with you, Raijin!"
"Just curious, ya know." Raijin's voice replied.
"Yeah, but you don't POKE someone's broken rib!" Seifer shouted. Quistis smiled slightly, relieved to hear his voice.
She turned the corner and found him laying on the bed with Raijin and Fujin to his right side. "Quistis." Fujin said, having been the first to notice the blond female standing there.
Seifer looked from Raijin, whom he was glaring at, to Quistis. "Well, well, well... come to thank me?"
*I see his personality wasn't hurt...* she thought to herself. "Um...yes..." she looked at Raijin and Fujin. "May I have a moment to talk to him alone?"
Raijin opened his mouth to protest, but Fujin grabbed his arm and physically dragged him out of the room. "Hey! What are you doing, ya know!?"
"PRIVATE!" Fujin stated strongly.
Raijin continued to complain, even as the infirmary doors slid open and closed. Quistis let out a deep breath and looked over at the bed. Seifer was shirtless, his chest and stomach bandaged. He was actually on his stomach and his head was resting on a pillow. His arms were propped underneath it as he looked up at her.
"Well?" he asked casually. "I'm waiting."
"Thank you," Quistis told him. "Are you...okay?"
"Hmm...I don't know, Quistis...I'm wrapped in bandages. What do you think?" he snapped.
Quistis frowned. "I was just worried about you!" she retorted as she sat on a chair next to the bed. She moved it closer to him. "When you passed out, I thought you had died on me."
"I don't DIE that easily."
Moments of silence passed. "Why did you do it?" Quistis asked suddenly.
"What do you mean 'why did you do it'?" Seifer asked, annoyed with the question. "Did you expect me to run and leave you there?"
"Part of me did."
"Then you don't know me as well as you think you do, obviously," Seifer grumbled. "I was a knight before. A real one...and knights protect people."
"You didn't have to protect me."
"If I didn't, you would be here."
"Maybe it's for the best."
"Only if the best is having to live with yourself seeing yet another person get hurt because of something you couldn't do..." Seifer mumbled.
Quistis tilted her head. "What did you say?"
"I said that my first instinct was to make sure you're safe, all right?" he snapped back. "You thanked me. You have your reason. That's what you came to do right?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then you're free to go!" Seifer told her abruptly. "Don't let me hold you back from your daily activities."
"Seifer, stop being such an arrogant bastard for a moment!" Quistis hissed. She looked over at him with narrowed eyes. "I was seriously worried when I saw you over me. I thought you could've died!"
"A few pieces of wood aren't going to kill me-"
"Just stop pretending you don't care about anything!" Quistis suddenly shouted. Seifer froze in mid sentence. Quistis narrowed her eyes at him. "I really mean it...thank you."
She leaned over and pressed her lips over his. Carefully, but none the less heated. Seifer's eyes went wide, surprised that she had actually kissed him. *Probably a thank you kiss...*
She parted for a breath. "That was for saving me." she whispered. She kissed him again and stroked his hair out of his face with her hand. She pulled away, she noticed that he, too, had closed his eyes.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"To take your mind away from the pain," she stated. She stood up and moved the chair back to it's original spot. "I'll send Raijin and Fujin in."
"Quistis!" Seifer said, reaching out his hand towards her as she left. He winced as pain shot up his arm. She turned around and took his weak hand as she headed out.
"I'll come visit," she assured him. "We can practice our lines?"
She gave him a smirk and he slowly grinned. "Sure...can't let some no talent hack take my place now, can I?"
Quistis smiled and nodded. "I wouldn't worry too much about that...No one can take your place."
"Just next time be sure to leave them in a laying position," Squall said as he looked over the stage. "Don't lean them up against things. Seifer's in the infirmary now and Quistis could've gotten hurt."
"Sorry..." Irvine mumbled.
"Just don't let it happen again." Squall sighed. He shook his head and walked away. Rinoa and Selphie were approaching them. Selphie waved energetically and Rinoa put her arms around his neck as she reached him.
He froze, slowly putting his arms around her waist. "Everyone is fine..."
"Good..." Squall said. "I already talked to Irvine."
"Thanks..."
"Are you okay?" he asked. She chuckled lightly and nodded.
"I'm fine..." she looked at him and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Everything is fine..."
Next Time: The Recovery Process! Quistis seeks advice from Rinoa while Squall, Irvine, and Zell comb the local mall in search of a way to fix the broken wedding ring. And WHO do they run into there but the lead actor himself. Irvine attempts to explain his theory on Rinoa's story's characters.