Thank you everyone for the reviews!
To Ami-M: I thought that Angelica would be a good middle name for Quistis. The reason she said her name was Angelica was because it was the first female name that sounded familiar to her.
To Iron Ethel Rackham: I considered making her fall in love with someone else but I just couldn't do it. Besides, she knows she's engaged to someone because she has the engagement ring so I don't think she would let herself fall in love with anyone. And the others do think she's dead, which is why they aren't looking for her.
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The inane chatter of the cafeteria surrounded Seifer as he stepped in, followed by Fujin and Raijin. It was lunchtime and nearly every SeeD and cadet was here, hoping to get one of Balamb Garden's World Famous hotdogs. In the front of the hotdog line was none other than Zell Dincht. He took his tray of hotdogs from the cafeteria lady and turned back towards their table. He spotted the trio and waved happily.
"Yo!" he hailed and, balancing his tray in one hand, shoved a hotdog into his mouth with the other. "If you were thinking about getting hotdogs, forget about it. I got the last ten!"
The posse watched as Zell talked, bits of hotdog and bun particles flying out of his mouth. Seifer cringed. "No problem, we weren't planning on hot dogs anyway."
"Good." Zell walked by them, a hot in one hand and his tray in the other, and sat down next to Cammi at the table. The posse headed over to the shortest line and got their food, then joined everyone at the table.
As they sat down, Seifer glanced up at the couples around him. It had been almost three weeks since he had lost Quistis and the pain was still as sharp as ever. Everyone around him seemed to have come to terms with her death but still he couldn't let her go. Of course, it was easier for them; they had each other to look to for support. They all looked so happy together. Rinoa and Squall: she with her head on his shoulder and he stroking her hair tenderly. Irvine and Selphie: her sitting on his lap while he playfully tickled her. Zell and Cammi: holding hands and staring at each other thoughtfully in between hotdog inhalations. Fujin and Raijin: yes, even the two of them seemed more "chummy." The sight of them was beginning to make Seifer bitter. He wanted to distance himself from them and retreat into a black hole where he could feel nothing.
"So," Selphie chirped after Irvine stopped tickling her, "the Garden Festival is coming up in two weeks. Can I count on all of you to help?" Grunts and noncommittal replies were all she received from the group. "Ahem, I said…" she glared at all of them, "Can I count on all of you to help?" This time everyone nodded or offered a quick yes. "Good, the first Festival Meeting is tomorrow in the Quad at 1100 hours. I know you'll all be there." She sent her glare around the table again, then returned to her normal perky self. "All right! I'll assign everyone their duties then."
"Have you decided on where the Festival will be held this year?" Rinoa asked.
"It's a toss up between Timber and Winhill," Selphie informed.
"Oh!" Rinoa exclaimed, "we should have it in Timber! I could visit all my old friends. It would be like a homecoming!"
"I was leaning towards Timber myself," Selphie admitted, "but we'll just have to see how things go."
After they finished their lunches, each couple began to drift off to attend to their own personal schedules until only posse was left sitting at the table and picking at cold food.
"Me and Fu and are going into Balamb to see a movie ya know," Raijin started, "you wanna come?"
"To the movies?" Seifer smirked, "You mean like a date?" Raijin and Fujin both turned bright red.
"NEGATIVE!"
"It's not like that, ya know!"
Seifer's smile widened when he witnessed his friend's distressed reactions. "Thanks for offering but I think I'm gonna head over to the training center and do some damage." He stood up and picked up Hyperion, which was leaning against the table. "Besides," he smirked again, "I wouldn't want to intrude on your date. I'll see ya later." He exited the cafeteria, leaving two red-faced posse members behind.
Once he stepped out of the cafeteria, his happy façade crumbled and left a depressed and broken man in it's place. He had learned quickly that it was easier to pretend to be happy than to have everyone stare at him sympathetically and try to make him feel better. Unless they could turn back time or raise the dad, there was nothing they could do for him.
He walked down the hall and stopped just outside the training center, the same place he had found himself for the past week at this time. He knew that the center would be empty save for monsters and that's how he liked it. For the past week he had been coming to the training center to let off some steam. Besides Quistis, fighting was the only thing that made him feel whole and he found it therapeutic to decapitate some Grats or eviscerate a few T-Rexaur or two. When he was here, he almost forgot about how shitty his life was. Almost. Without another moment's hesitation, Seifer pushed the doors open and disappeared inside.
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"I've decided to get a job."
James and Marta Ericson stared at the blonde woman standing before them, their morning greetings stopped in their throats. Both elderly brows crinkled in confusion.
"Why?" James asked after a moment.
"Well," Angelica started, "I've been here for two and a half weeks and I just feel like I should contribute a little more around here."
"Sweetie, you contribute plenty," Marta assured, "you help me around the house, run to the store, you've even given me more time for myself by babysitting for me."
"Still, I feel like I'm being lazy by just sitting around," Angelica told them, "and besides, a job will give me a chance to get out and do stuff."
"It that's what you really want, then we're all for it," James supported.
"Good," Angelica smiled, "because I talked to Pete at Raine's Pub yesterday about waitressing and he wants me to start today."
"What's great," Marta enthused, "what time do you start?"
"9:00," Angelica answered.
"Then you have time for breakfast." Marta retrieved a plate from the oven where it was staying warm and put it down at Angelica's place at the table. Angelica sat down and the three chatted while enjoying their breakfast. Angelica finished her food and sat the plate in the sink.
"I'd better get going," Angelica told them and grabbed her sweater from the back of the chair. "I don't want to be late for my first day of work."
The Ericsons called goodbyes to Angelica as she exited the house. Once outside, she put on the sweater to fend of the early morning chill and headed across the cobblestone plaza to Raine's Pub. To her right was the mansion that the Denton's owned. It had been converted into a hotel and anyone visiting usually stayed there. Not that Winhill got many visitors.
Mr. Denton was out front of the mansion and called out a greeting to Angelica as she passed. She waved and continued on to the Pub. Raine's Pub was named after it's previous proprietor, a woman named Raine. She had died almost twenty years ago trying to save her adopted daughter from a caterchipiller. The child had escaped, but Raine hadn't. Whenever anyone talked about her, there was an air of sadness around them. She had been loved by everyone in Winhill. After she died, the Pub had been purchased by it's current owner, Pete and his then girlfriend Sonia. Pete told Angelica that a few years ago, Sonia had left, leaving Pete to run the Pub.
Angelica reached the door of the bar and pulled it open. The bar didn't officially open until 9:00 and she was a little early, but Pete always left the door unlocked from 8:00 on in case someone wanted something to eat earlier. Two bells dangling from the ceiling jingled as the door struck them, signaling her arrival. Hearing the noise, Pete, who was behind the bar polishing a glass, looked up. He smiled and put the glass down.
"'Morning Angie," Pete greeted.
"Good morning Pete," Angelica smiled and walked up to the bar.
"You're early," Pete commented, "I like that. Show's you're eager to work." He reached under the bar and pulled out an apron. He handed it to Angelica. "Things will be slow at first, but around lunchtime it'll pick up. All you have to do is wait the tables. Think you can handle it?"
"I'm your girl!" Angelica told him enthusiastically.
"Good," Pete smiled and handed her a pad of paper and a pen. Angelica pulled off her sweater and put it behind the bar, then tied her hair back and put the apron on. She sat down on one of the barstools to wait. A half hour later her first customers took a seat at one of the tables. Angelica picked up her pen and paper, put a smile on her face and walked over to the table.
"Hello, I'll be your waitress today. Can I take your order?"
"You did a great job Angie," Pete complimented and opened the cash register. He pulled out a few bills and handed them to the tired blonde who was slumped down on a barstool against the bar. She took the gil and smiled in thanks. She then looked down at it and her sapphire eyes went wide.
"This is too much," she insisted, "I can't take all this!"
"You earned it," Pete told her, "now go home and get some rest so you can do it all again tomorrow."
"Thanks Pete," Angelica said and grabbed her sweater. "See you tomorrow."
"Bye Angie," Pete called, "Take care."
Angelica walked quickly towards the Ericson's house. The sun was beginning to set over the mountains, casting the town in a warm orange glow. A few people were walking through the streets but most were already in their homes. She reached the house and walked in to the smell of pot roast and cooking vegetables. Marta, hearing the door open, greeted her in the entryway.
"Hello Angelica," Marta said, "How was your first day at work?"
"Exhausting," Angelica smiled, "but I really like it."
"That's good," Marta nodded, "Why don't you go into the living room and relax until dinner? James is in there, maybe you can convince him to play a game of cards with you."
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Angelica questioned.
"Yes, I've got it under control," Marta assured, "you go relax."
"All right," Angelica agreed and walked into the living room. James was sitting on the couch with his glasses on reading the Winhill Weekly newspaper. He lowered the paper and looked up as she entered.
"Hi Angie," he greeted, "how was work?"
"Good," Angelica replied and sat down on a chair across from the couch on the other side of the coffee table. "I'm kind of tired though."
A smile crossed James' face. "Too tired to play a game of cards?"
Angelica's face lit up. "I'm never too tired for cards." She pulled her deck of cards out of her pocket while James folded the newspaper and got his cards out of a drawer on the coffee table. They each picked their playing cards and commenced the game. They continued playing until Marta called them for dinner.
"Just in time," James announced as they got up, "Angelica was about to beat me again."
"You could've finished your game," Marta told them.
"No, that's all right," James assured, "If I keep playing her I won't have any cards left."
The three of them sat down and enjoyed a dinner of pot roast. After the meal, they went into the living room. Marta read the paper while Angelica and James played a few more games of cards. After awhile, Angelica decided to get some sleep. She said goodnight to Marta and James and went into her room. She changed into a nightgown that she had bought with her babysitting money and crawled into bed. She was exhausted by her day's work and fell asleep quickly.
She was standing in a cavernous room in front of a large, circular object. With her were seven others, four men and three women. One woman with black hair and blue clothing was lying down in front of the circular object. Close to the woman in blue was a man with brown hair wearing a fur trimmed black jacket. She stood next to him. Behind her was a tall man with an auburn ponytail and a cowboy hat. Next to him stood a petite brunette in a yellow sundress. Next to them was a blonde haired man with a huge, dark tattoo running down the side of his face. Off to the side stood an older man with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail and a woman with short brown hair.
"OK Ellone," he said to the brunette woman, "Just get Rinoa back."
A blue light floated from the ceiling and surrounded the downed woman. The older man and the brunette turned to each other and the man ruffled the woman's hair affectionately. All eyes turned to the raven-haired woman on the ground as she groaned and got to her feet.
"I…was inside Adel," the blue-clad woman told the others shakily, "…The young Adel…"
"Ultimecia's inside Adel," the older man informed, "Exactly as she wanted. OK, this is the showdown folks! Time compression is about to begin. Love, friendship and courage! Show 'em what you got!"
The older man and the brunette woman ran out of the room and almost immediately the room began to ripple and sway. She pitched forward, as did the others, and tried to keep her balance. The room didn't stabilize and the floor began to sink, taking them with it. Suddenly, the floor turned to liquid and they fell through. She found herself, as did the others, falling through the sky amid dark globs of a water like substance that seemed to contain different scenes and faces of various things.
"Where are we supposed to go?" she shouted as the wind whipped passed her.
Before anyone could answer, they left the sky and plunged into water. The shock of the water quickly wore off and the man in the fur trimmed jacket answered as they continued to fall.
"To Edea's house!" he announced.
They continued to descend, past schools of fish and outcroppings of rocks.
"I'll…probably disappear…" the blue-clad woman despaired.
"Just stay by my side," the man with the fur trimmed jacket ordered, "I wont let you disappear!"
They fell still and suddenly burst out of the water and were in the sky again. They were surrounded by flocks of birds that screeched and wheeled away when they saw them. They continued to fall and the velocity of their descent increased until nothing could be made out but a tunnel of light surrounded by dark clouds. A bright light at the end of the tunnel began to grow as they fell and soon became unbearable. She turned her face away from the light and just before she was engulfed by the light, she saw another person following behind, this one a man with blonde hair and piercing green eyes. A tattered gray coat streamed behind him and a scar crossed between his eyes. She recognized him immediately and called to him.
"Seifer!"
Angelica sprang up in bed, her body drenched in cold sweat. She blinked rapidly in the dark and swallowed the scream that had welled up in her throat. A dream, that's all it was. But what had the dream been about? Already it was slipping away until all she could remember was a tunnel of light and emerald eyes.
Angelica checked her clock and saw that it was just after three in the morning. She took a deep breath and calmed her racing heart. Once the dream had faded to nothing more than a distant memory, she fell back to sleep.