Thanks again for reviewing. I put an original fic on fictionpress.com and the reviewers are scary over there! It made me appreciate you all the more. Thanks again and I hope you continue to review this fic. It may seem like it's almost over but it's just begun...
Just a warning, this chapter is long and jumps around a lot to show what different characters are doing. Oh, and please forgive me if there are any mistakes. I had to type this with frozen fingers. I'm not joking, the heater is broken and it's about 40 degrees in here.
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"Come on people let's get a move on! The Garden Festival is tonight and we're leaving for Winhill at 0700 sharp! This stuff has to be secured by then!"
Selphie Tilmitt's perky yet commanding voice rang out through the Quad. Several students groaned while others tried desperately to stay awake. It was 0537 and they had been awakened at 0500 hours by Selphie. She insisted that in order to make the Garden Festival run as smoothly as possible, they had to secure the stage and other pieces of equipment so that they wouldn't be damaged on the way to Winhill.
"Selphie, couldn't this have been done last night?" Seifer asked as he, Fujin and Raijin approached the cheerful brunette.
"Sure but his way we know that no one tampered with it while we were sleeping!" Selphie chirped.
"Why would someone tamper with this stuff?" Seifer inquired.
"To ruin the Garden Festival!" Selphie answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "To make it seem as if I failed as Garden Festival chairwoman so they could claim the title for themselves." Selphie's eyes darted around the room, searching for any usurpers to her illustrious title.
Seifer raised an eyebrow as he watched her. "Riiiiight."
As Selphie continued to search for an unseen foe, Seifer, Raijin and Fujin slowly walked away from her.
"She sure is a strange girl, ya know," Raijin commented once they were away from Selphie.
"AFFIRMATIVE," Fujin agreed.
Seifer smiled and nodded as they made their way to another task.
An hour and a half later, Balamb Garden was gliding south over the plains to the ocean. They were supposed to arrive in Winhill at 0830 hours. Seifer lay in his dorm room, the gentle motion and the dull hum of the Garden rumbling his mind into a relaxed state. Without thinking, his gaze drifted over to the nightstand where the picture of he and Quistis usually rested in it's silver frame. The picture was gone and at first Seifer didn't know why. He then remembered that he had put it in the drawer of the nightstand so it didn't fall off and get broken while Garden was on it's way to Winhill.
At first, Seifer hadn't even wanted to go to the Garden Festival. He had thought that being around so many happy couples (as it was customary to take a date to the Festival) would be too hard on him. He was starting to adjust more, thanks to the training center, but it still hurt so much that he figured it would be a lot better for him not to go. His original plan had been to stay in Balamb or maybe go into Deling City. He had casually mentioned his plan once at lunch and Selphie had practically tore his head off for even thinking of missing her Garden Festival. And so, here he was, on his way to Winhill with the rest of the Garden.
Since Selphie had wakened him up at such an unHynely hour, Seifer decided to try and get some rest before they reached Winhill. He knew that once he got there he wouldn't have much down time so it was best to catch a few Zs while he could. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.
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She sighed deeply as she held her head in her hands. "Seifer, if you would just concentrate, you could do this."
"I've done this stuff a thousand times Instructor," Seifer groaned, "Why do I have to learn it again? And besides, we've been at this for hours. Can't we take a break?"
"Not until you tell me how to summon Doomtrain from the Solomon Ring," she insisted and lifted her head up.
"Fine!" Seifer relented, "Summoning Doomtrain is a complicated process that I don't give a shit about!"
"Damn it Seifer!" she cursed, "You are never going to be a SeeD if you don't get this stuff down!"
"Excuse me Instructor," Seifer spat, "But how to extract a GF from an antique ring is not number one on my list of things to know."
"Well it should be!" she hissed.
Both blondes fell silent as Selphie and Rinoa approached form the front of the library, each carrying a tray. They sat the trays down on the table in front of the teacher and student.
"We thought you two could use a snack," Selphie announced cheerfully.
"Thank you Rinny, thank you Selphie," she thanked.
"How'd you get this food into the library?" Seifer questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Cammi's working today," Rinoa answered, "we explained what we were doing and she let us in. Well, we'll let you two get back to work. Bye!" The two girls left the blondes alone once again.
"Now, where were we?" she asked and began shuffling through the papers on the table in front of her.
"You were about to let me have a break," Seifer offered.
"Oh," she said, "well then, that means you were about to tell me how to summon Doomtrain from the Solomon Ring."
"Hyne woman!" Seifer exclaimed, "You're not gonna give up are you?"
She smiled sweetly. "Not until you pass that SeeD exam."
"Thank you."
She blinked a few times. "What?"
"I said thank you," Seifer repeated, although this time a little less sincere.
"For what?" She was quite confused by his sudden civility.
"For not giving up," Seifer told her, "for pushing me, for sticking by me. I may not show it, but I really appreciate it."
She looked deep into his green eyes to see if he was messing with her and was very surprised to see no signs of taunting in the emerald depths, only gratitude. "Y…you're welcome Seifer."
Angelica awoke slowly. She knew immediately that she had had another dream. She wasn't surprised, she had had one every night for the past four nights. She also knew that trying to remember what the dream had been about would only succeed in giving her a headache. The only thing she could remember for certain from each dream were those beautiful green eyes that she had come to love despite the fact that she didn't know who or what they belonged to. She was starting to think they were his eyes, the eyes of the man she was engaged to. It puzzled her though because she had seen so many different emotions reflected in those eyes: love, annoyance, hatred, evil, gratitude, arrogance, fear and hope. She had no idea why the man she was supposed to marry would have hatred in his eyes when he looked at her.
Angelica pushed the blankets off her and got out of bed. She got dressed quickly, taking care to pick out the perfect outfit. Balamb Garden was landing today and she wanted to look her best when she went to see Miss Tilmitt. She chose a peach ensemble that she had bought a few days ago when she had gone to Timber with Analise Lockheart and her children. The outfit consisted of a vest-like tank top that zipped up the front and matching colored skirt. The top was just long enough to reach the top of the skirt and the skirt went about to knee length. The outfit was topped off with a pair of knee high black boots. As Angelica looked at herself in the mirror, she decided that she liked the outfit a lot but something was missing. Without thinking, she pulled her hair back, leaving two pieces hanging down in front, and twisted it at the nape of her neck. She picked up a reddish brown hairclip and fastened the hair at the top of her head, allowing the bottom of her hair to fold over the clip. She admired the updo in the mirror and decided it was perfect.
Out it the kitchen, Marta chatted nonstop about the Garden Festival. As soon as she had known about the Festival being held in Winhill, the elderly woman had run out and bought them all tickets. Now those tickets rested in front of her as she spoke giddily about the Festival.
"They're having a concert this year," Marta explained, "and a talent show. When we went last time…"
Angelica's thoughts drifted from Marta's words to her own worries. Would Miss Tilmitt see her? She would be very busy today and probably wouldn't have time to see her. What if she did agree to see her? Would she be able to help her? Angelica's thoughts slipped away as Marta suddenly stopped her chattering and her attention was focused on the older woman again.
"Listen," Marta instructed. James and Angelica strained their ears to catch what Marta had. Suddenly, Angelica heard it. It was a low hum that seemed to be getting louder as they listened. A huge smile broke out on Marta's face.
"It's the Garden!" she exclaimed and jumped from her seat, urging the others to do the same. They did and soon the three were outside, with a large group of townsfolk waiting for the Garden to come into view. They had all been told that the Garden would come up the beach and land towards the far end of Winhill where the shops were located.
Everyone was looking towards the beach as the humming grew louder and louder. Suddenly, a huge blue ship-type vessel came into view, gliding quickly across the water. It headed straight for the beach and Angelica watched in surprise as the blue Garden lifted out of the water, revealing a golden, circular object spinning underneath. The Garden came up on the beach and headed towards the far end of town. As it passed, people could be seen waving from one of the balconies. The people of Winhill waved back as Balamb Garden landed at the far end of town. Once it was down, the crowd began to move towards it. Angelica started to follow but a glance at her watch told her it was time to go to work. She groaned in frustration. She had wanted to catch a glimpse of Miss Tilmitt this morning in hopes that seeing her would jog Angelica's memory. Guess I'll have to wait, she thought.
"Marta, I have to go to work," Angelica informed.
"Are you sure dear?" Marta asked, "it'll only take a few minutes to see the Garden up close."
"Don't worry," Angelica assured, "I'll see it tonight."
"All right," Marta agreed, "have a good day at work."
"I will," Angelica promised and headed towards Raine's Pub while the crowd hurried to see Balamb Garden close up. When she reached the Pub, she was surprised to find the door locked. Angelica looked down at her watch. It read 8:58. She cupped her hands around her face and looked through the window. Inside, the Pub was dark but Angelica could see the cook, Lili, sitting on a barstool and flipping through a magazine. Angelica knocked on the window to get Lili's attention. The dark haired woman looked up and seeing Angelica was waiting, opened the door for her.
"Where's Pete?" the blonde asked once she was inside.
"He went with the rest of those nitwits to see the Garden," Lili informed and went back to flipping through her magazine.
"You sound like you're not too happy about the Garden being here," Angelica commented and sat on the barstool next to Lili.
"I'm not," Lili stated simply. "I don't like the Garden, never have, never will."
"Why not?" Angelica questioned.
"Well, my younger sister Xu is a SeeD," Lili explained, "she joined the Garden when she was twelve. My parents tried to stop her but once you sign the papers, the Garden owns you. My father was so angry that he disowned her and my mother was so upset that she had a massive heart attack and died."
"I'm so sorry," Angelica whispered.
"Yeah well, it was a long time ago," Lili shrugged.
"Do you and your sister still talk?" Angelica asked.
"Occasionally," Lili replied, "At first, I blamed her for our mother's death. Over the years, we've reconciled but we aren't close like we used to be. She'll probably be in here later. I'll introduce you to her, you'd like her."
"Okay," Angelica agreed.
A few minutes later, the door opened and Pete entered.
"It's about time you got back," Lili said and sat her magazine aside.
"Hey, just because you don't like the Garden doesn't mean I don't," Pete informed. He looked at the blonde sitting next to the cook. "Angelica, what are you doing here? Why aren't you out at the Garden with the others?"
"I didn't want to be late for work," Angelica explained.
"Good girl," Pete praised, "but we probably won't be that busy this morning. Everyone is out at the Garden."
Lili picked her magazine back up and the three began to wait.
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"Booyaka!" Selphie exclaimed and pumped her fists in the air, "we're here! Now here's the plan. Squall and Rinny are going to talk to the mayor and do all the schmoozing. The rest of us are going to decorate and set up for the Festival!"
Everyone nodded, knowing that arguing with the petite brunette could be hazardous to their health. Squall and Rinoa turned to leave the Garden and inconspicuously, Seifer began to follow them.
"Seifer!" Selphie called, "where do you think you're going?"
The blonde man stopped and turned around. Dammit! She saw me! "Um, I was just going to duck out for a minute and explore the town, maybe get a drink…"
"Without Fujin and Raijin?" Zell questioned from behind Selphie. Seifer narrowed his eyes at the younger SeeD.
"Oh," Selphie smiled, "I thought maybe you were trying to get out of decorating." Her smiled faded and she glared daggers at Seifer. "But of course, you wouldn't do that, WOULD YOU?" Seifer shook his head quickly. "I didn't think so. Listen up everybody! No one leaves the Garden until the Quad is decorated for the Festival!"
"But Selphie…" Irvine, who was standing next to her, started. He was cut off as fiery green eyes rested on him. "Uh, never mind."
Selphie turned her jade gaze back to Seifer. "I've got a special job for you," she told the tall blonde, "You get to hang the crepe paper on the stage…with Zell."
"Noooooooooooooo!"
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"Did you see the Garden this morning?" the man at the bar asked the bartender.
"Yep," Pete nodded, "I watched it land and then went down and watched the commander and his girlfriend greet the mayor."
"The commander is Squall Leonhart, right?" the man asked.
By one of the nearby tables, Angelica could hear their conversation by the bar. When the man mentioned Squall Leonhart, the image of a man with shaggy brown hair, cold blue eyes and a scar between his eyes flashed into her head. She froze suddenly, trying to figure out where the image of the scarred man had come from and why the name Squall Leonhart had triggered it. Had the image been of Squall Leonhart?
"Angie?"
Her name snapped her out of her thoughts. "Yes?"
"Are you all right?" the man whose order she was taking, Mr. Linney, asked.
"I'm fine," Angelica smiled and finished writing down the orders while still listening to the conversation at the bar.
"He's Raine's son," Pete said.
"Raine that used to own this pub?" the man asked in disbelief.
"The very same," Pete nodded.
Angelica walked past the bar and hung up the order for Lili. She turned back to the dining room area. Leonhart. That was the name she had called Dr. Lockheart by accident. It seemed that everything was leading her back to the Garden. She suddenly couldn't wait to get off work.
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"You're doing it all wrong man!" Zell exclaimed.
Seifer stopped trying to staple a piece of pink crepe paper to the stage and glared at the tattooed man. "And what is the right way?"
"You have to staple one end, then twist the crepe paper before stapling the other end," Zell informed.
"Thank you Martha Stewart," Seifer grumbled and twisted the fragile paper as tight as he could without tearing it. He then started to staple the other end up.
"No no no no no!" Zell cried.
"What now?!" Seifer shouted.
"I didn't say wrap it up like that!" Zell told him, "I said twist it, just a little. Tsk, here, give it to me." Zell held out his hand expectantly. At that moment, Selphie walked by.
"I can't work like this!" Seifer shouted to her.
"I'm not listening!" Selphie put her hands over her ears and kept walking.
"I need a drink!" Seifer called.
"Hey Almasy."
Seifer looked down and his eyes fell on Xu. "Can I help you?"
"I'm going to the Pub in Winhill later," Xu informed, "My sister works there. If you want, I can bring you back something."
"Thank Xu," Seifer said, surprised by her generosity, "I'll take a Screwdriver."
Xu nodded but didn't leave. She continued to stare up at Seifer until he raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Is there something else you wanted?" Seifer inquired. Suddenly, a smirk emerged on his lips. "Oh I get it. I'm flattered Xu but I'm not ready to date yet."
"Oh please," Xu scoffed and rolled her eyes, "dream on Almasy. I just wanted to get some money out of you. I'll go get you a drink but I'm not paying for it."
Seifer dug in his pocket and pulled out twenty gil. He handed it to Xu. "Keep the change."
"I planned on it." Xu grinned and left the Quad.
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Angelica walked into the dining area and sat down the plates she had been carrying on their table. She looked down at her watch. 4:47. The day seemed to be dragging on forever and she had looked at her watch about every five minutes. It seemed that Pete had seen her and sensed her anticipation because he called her over when she was on her way back to the kitchen. She walked over to him.
"I've noticed that you seem to be in a hurry to leave," Pete told her.
"Yes actually," Angelica admitted, "I've got something kind of important I want to do."
"Well in that case, take the rest of the day off," Pete told her.
"Are you sure?" Angelica asked.
"It's only ten minutes," Pete said. He got into the cash register and gave her her pay for the day. "Take care Angie. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks Pete." Angelica pulled off her apron and stuck it under the counter at the bar. "I really appreciate this."
"No problem," Pete assured.
Angelica thanked him again and hurried back to the Ericson's house.
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Only a few minutes after Angelica had left the Pub, a dark haired woman entered and walked up to the bar.
"What can I do for you?" Pete asked.
"I was wondering if Lili was working today," the woman stated.
"Yeah, she's here, just a sec." Pete turned towards the kitchen. "Lili! Xu's here to see you!" When he looked back, the brunette was smiling at him.
"I didn't think you recognized me," Xu said.
"I wasn't sure at first," Pete admitted, "although the outfit should've tipped me off."
Xu looked down at her SeeD uniform. "Yeah well, you'll probably be seeing a lot more of them once Selphie let's them leave the Garden."
Lili came out of the kitchen and smiled at her little sister. "Hey Xu, good to see you."
"Good to see you too, Li," Xu smiled back.
"Hey I want to introduce you to someone." Lili looked around the Pub. "Where's Angie?"
"I let her go home early," Pete informed, "She said she had something important to do."
"Ten minutes early? Wow Pete, you're so nice," Lili quipped. She turned back to Xu. "Oh well, you can meet her some other time. Come on; let's go back to the kitchen. You can help me cook."
"Ha!" Xu laughed and the sisters disappeared into the kitchen.
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"Marta I'm home!" Angelica called as she stepped into the house. Marta hurried out of the kitchen.
"Oh, I'm glad!" Marta exclaimed, "I wanted to ask you if you could run down to the item shop and pick me up a potion of two, My knee's acting up again and I don't want it to cause me trouble while I'm enjoying the Festival."
"Sure, I'll go," Angelica agreed, "I have something I want to do too and the item shop is on the way."
Marta smiled knowingly. "You want to see the Garden up close, don't you? Well, you go right ahead. Just be back before six-thirty. We're walking with the Lockheart's to the Festival. Oh, and here." She picked up about twenty gil that had been sitting on the table. "For the potions."
Angelica's forehead crinkled in confusion as she took the money. "But aren't the potions 100 gil each?"
"Only for outsiders," Marta explained, "For people in Winhill they're only 10 gil."
"Oh, okay," Angelica acknowledged, "I'm going then. I don't know when I'll be back but I promise it will be before 6:30."
All right, be careful," Marta said.
"I will," Angelica promised and left house and headed towards the far end of town.
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"How did we get stuck pulling guard duty?" the blonde cadet, Rory, complained.
"Quit whining," the brunette, Kiana sighed, "You are driving me crazy! You know why we got this assignment, because we are the newest students, the bottom of the totem pole, as they say."
"Well it sucks," Rory stated, "I'm so bored!"
They fell silent as a beautiful blonde woman approached their position outside the Garden. She stopped in front of them and smiled.
"Hello," Angelica greeted.
"Hi," Rory smiled, his eyes fixed on the woman in front of him.
Kiana rolled her eyes. "How can we help you?"
"I was wondering if it's possible to see Miss Selphie Tilmitt," Angelica told them.
"Can I ask your name?" Rory inquired.
"Angelica," she answered.
"Angelica what?" Rory prodded, obviously more interested in getting to know her than finding out her business at the Garden.
Angelica thought for a moment. She didn't want to explain her whole situation to these people so she said the first name she thought of. "Ericson, Angelica Ericson."
"I'm sorry Miss Ericson," Kiana apologized, "but Miss Tilmitt is busy with the final preparations for the Garden Festival."
"A…are you sure there's no way I can see her now?" Angelica asked, her hope crumbling, "It's important."
"I'm sorry," Kiana repeated, "she's very busy. I can tell her you came by."
"Thank you," Angelica nodded and walked away. She hurried back to the item shop and entered.
"Hello Angie," James greeted, "what a surprise! What're you doing here?"
"Marta asked me to pick up two potions for her," Angelica informed, "her knee is acting up again."
"Are you okay Angie?" James questioned, "you seem upset."
"I'm fine," Angelica smiled.
"Good. Well, I'm done with work so I'll get those potions and walk home with you," James said.
"Okay," Angelica agreed. James got the potions, closed up the shop and the two of them headed home.
"Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Marta urged as they walked down the dirt road with the Lockhearts towards the Garden.
"Calm down Marta," James chuckled, "we're early as it is and we're almost there."
"Marta's right, let's hurry," Tifa agreed, "We wanna get good seats."
The group quickened their pace and they reached the Garden with plenty of time to spare. Their tickets were taken and they found their seats about ten rows back from the stage. They sat down to wait.
As they waited, Angelica let her eyes wander over the crowd. The first two rows were filled with SeeDs and students of the Garden. A few chairs were empty but they filled up quickly. As she watched the people file in, her eyes fell on a tall blonde man flanked by a taller dark skinned man and a pale silver haired woman. The blonde man wore a gray trench coat with red crosses on the sleeves. She watched as the man and his companions made their way to the front row and sat down between a raven-haired woman in a black dress and a man in a tan coat and black cowboy hat.
As more people poured in and the time grew closer to seven, Angelica kept her eyes on the man in the gray trench coat. She had no idea why she was so enamored with him but she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of him. She hadn't seen his face as he walked past her but she could tell he was handsome by the way every girl who walked by him would smile and wave flirtatiously. She had no idea why, but she wanted to slap every single one of them into the next town. She continued to be enamored by the blonde until a petite brunette in a yellow sundress came out on the crepe papered stage.
"Hi everyone and thanks for coming to the ninth annual Balamb Garden Festival!" the brunette chirped into the microphone, "You're in for a real treat tonight! We have a great show in store for you. We'll start off with the Balamb Garden Talent Show. I, Selphie Tilmitt, will be your host. Now let's meet the judges."
So that's Selphie Tilmitt, Angelica thought, She sure is hyper.
"Our first judge is the Headmistress of Balamb Garden, Mrs. Edea Kramer!" Selphie announced. The spotlight fell on the dark haired woman next to the blonde man in the gray trench coat. The crowd clapped and quieted down as Selphie continued. "Our next judge is Balamb Garden's resident library goddess, Cammi Jinzyle!" The spotlight fell on a brunette woman with a pigtail in the front row. More clapping was heard and a lot of cheering a whistling from the spiky haired blonde man next to her. "And last but certainly not least, the President of Esthar and my favorite soldier, Laguna Loire!" The spotlight came to rest on a brown haired man with a ponytail. He rubbed the back of his head nervously and waved with his other hand. Around the Garden, most people clapped but a lot of the residents of Winhill, especially the older ones, remained silent or leaned over and whispered things to their companions. Angelica saw Marta lean over and heard her whisper "He's got a lot of nerve coming back here," to James. She didn't know the reason for the animosity but hoped that someone would explain it later.
"Now, let's get on with the show!" Selphie announced, "Our first act is a comedian who is sure to have your sides splitting with laughter. Let's give a warm welcome to Blair Jenson!"
Angelica watched and laughed as the comedian went through his routine. After him came a baton twirler, a mime, a piano player, a juggler and a singer. Finally it was time for the last act of the talent show.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, while the judges tally up their votes, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Miss Rinoa Heartilly and her super dog Angelo!"
Angelica's head snapped up and she watched as a raven-haired woman in a blue duster entered from the side of the stage followed by a brown, black and white dog. Angelo, Angelica thought. The dog's name is Angelo. Everything keeps leading me back to Balamb Garden.
After the woman and her dog finished their tricks, Selphie announced the winner of the Talent Show as the singer, Julie Eriol. After that, the band was introduced and they began to play. Their set lasted twenty minutes and then Selphie came back onto the stage.
"That's it folks! I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to see you all next year!"
People began to leave the Garden Quad and Angelica turned her gaze back to the man in the gray trench coat. He still sat in his seat, talking to the people around him. Angelica had hoped he would walk out before they left so she could see his face and maybe make eye contact with him but these hopes were dashed when Marta and James stood up to leave. Angelica tore her gaze away from the blonde man and followed the Ericsons out fo the Garden.