Alrite! I wanted to have this chapter up as soon as possible... but I
guess that won't happen... it takes me a couple of days (usually) to
write a chapter this long... cuz I happen to be one of those people who
work for about 10 minutes, then take a half hour break... and I usually
don't get more then 30 minutes of actually writing done in a day... and I
usually only work for about... 2 or 3 days a week (if I have the time
to)... 4 if I'm really lucky... okay, so maybe I exaggerated just a
little, but other than that... ya, it takes me forever... sorry! Aite,
lets start off with the reviews again shall we?
Ghost140 - I'm sorry about the cliffhanger... but I happen to like
writing with cliffhangers... I like to watch my readers suffer! Muahahahahahaha Lol... I'm such a
loser! Ya, but anyway, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long! And I
really hope I didn't disappoint you! Well enjoy chapter 5, and thanks so
much for reviewing!
VegaKeep - When I first read you review, I couldn't help but laugh! And
then I thought about it, and I was like, "that is so true!" lol! Who
knows, maybe you're right... maybe Seifer hasn't changed... Maybe he's
still evil... ~.^ lol well, I hope you enjoy the fic so far, and thank
you for reviewing! Really appreciate it!
thugstra - you should feel special!! I like to let my readers know that I
acknowledge their comments on my fic! And I really like it when I know
they read my comments back to them! Makes me feel so special to! ^.^
Why's Squall so mean...? hmmm, good question... why is he? I think,
it's just that Seifer tried to kill him one too many times... so he's
just ticked off... hmm, don't get your hopes up too high... what if
Quistis doesn't do that 'right' think and pass Seifer? *wonders if I
would get stabbed to death* ... *pictures being stabbed to death* ...
hmmm... mizz thugstra... maybe you shouldn't read this chapter... ...
lol! Juss joking! But if it's not what you hoped for... don't come and
kill me! ='( anyway, thanks for reviewing and hope you enjoy this
chappy!
Lovelace - lol! Quistis is smarter than that ~.^ She wouldn't fall for
something like that... now would she? You know... reading about you
shaking Squall like that... makes me wonder if you'd do the same thing to
me if I made Seifer fail... hmmm... doesn't sound like a pleasant idea...
maybe you shouldn't read this chapter either... ... hmmm... lol! Juss
joking! Like I said to thugstra, if things don't go as you hoped for...
don't come and kill me!! I'm just the innocent writer who makes up what
happens to them... okay, maybe I'm not so innocent after all... but I'm
too young to die! Oh, you shouldn't have to apologize, I appreciate
constructive criticism. I wish I could be more 'particular in terms of
attitudes with every individual' like you are! It would make my fics
much more better (or so I think)... *sigh* you're so lucky!
Oh, and it's alrite if you write conversations to me rather than a
review, I still like to hear from my readers... no matter what they have
to say! Lol. Oh and I think I lied... =( I re-thought out the plan for
this fic... and I ended up saying to myself that I didn't like how it was
going, so now, I changed how I was going to end it... and in order for
that to happen, this fic will definitely be longer than I thought (my
originally plan was for it to end at chapter 5, but there's no way that's
gonna happen...) I'm so sorry! I feel terrible. I lied. =(
StarChild - thanks for reviewing! Here's chapter 5, hope you enjoy!
Starlight4u - You know, I started reading your review, and I was like,
"OH MY GOD! Someone hates me! But then I read on... and I realized what
you meant. Lol. I started laughing at myself afterwards... I'm so
stupid sometimes. Well, I tried to update this sooner, but I guess that
didn't happen, but either way, here's chapter 5, I hope you didn't have
to wait for this for too long, thanks for reviewing, and STOP CHASING ME
WITH A PITCHFORK! *takes out a bigger pitchfork* Muahaha! *sees
Starlight taking out a bigger one* Okay... that's it, I'm screwed! *runs
off screaming*
Hotaru9 - Hello to you too! ^.^ I'm so glad that you reviewed! When I
continued this fic, and I didn't see you review, I was so sad! I was
thinking, "aww... s/he (sorry don't know which!) stopped reviewing! I
miss him/her so much!" yup, I'm weird, I know. But it's not my fault!
I was born this way! (either that or I was dropped when I was a baby...
hey! I do remember this time when I fell out of a grocery cart thing...
lol) I'm happy to know that you still enjoy reading this! I know this
is a very odd Seiftis, it just came into my mind this one day, and I
decided to write it. Oh and this mission part with Irvine wasn't just
here to take up some space... *hint* *hint* But ya, I guess you have to
read on to find out how they fall for each other... (or... IF they fall
for each other) and if Seifer makes it to SeeD. Maybe he does, maybe he
doesn't. (And if he doesn't, please, please, please, for the love of
god, DON'T kill me! ^.^)
Okay, with that all done, let's continue, shall we? Recap of the previous chapters... Seifer is back, and Headmaster Cid is only giving him one more chance. If he makes it to SeeD, then he can stay, if he doesn't, well then... bye bye garden for the rest of his life. Now, everyone in the Garden doesn't want Seifer to be there... EXCEPT for Selphie who is also, the only one being nice to him. Even though Quistis despises Seifer, she's tutoring him (a slight chance that she'll get her Instructor's License back IF he passes). There are some arguments between the two, and they both end up humiliating the other one, at one point or another. During this time, Zell and Irvine have been sent on a mission, but they're clues are withering, and it seems like they'll never figure what happened, or who's responsible. Time is getting thinner for them, and if they can't solve it soon, it is their lives they have to pay with...
Last chapter ended off with Seifer and his SeeD exam. Will he pass? I don't know, you'll have to read on to find out!
-- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --
(Seifer)
Xu cleared her voice over the intercom before speaking. "Our newest members are..." Another short pause. "Derrick Aborgale, Tabitha Almans, ..."
I took a deep breath.
Xu hesitated, and more rustling from papers were heard over the intercom. I sighed in reluctance. There was absolutely no way I could possibly make it to SeeD. Why bother to wait and find out what I already knew?
I took another deep breath and exhaled. [No point waiting.] I reminded myself. I got up from my bed and walked to my closet. I pulled out a duffle bag and threw it on my already-made bed. A trail of dust was left in the air, but I didn't care. I began taking out all my clothes from the closet. There wasn't much in there, so a scattered pile of clothes were lying on my bed shortly after. A pair of jeans, an extra trench coat, aside from the one I was already wearing, a few tee shirts, and a couple of extra pants... just like what I wore for my usual attire.
I folded each article of clothing neatly and piled them in the duffle bag. The rustling of paper were no longer heard on the intercom, instead, Xu had turned it off without continuing her list... unless only two people had made it.
Next I walked up to my desk. It was completely empty except for one thing. A picture frame with a picture inside of it. I held the frame gingerly in my hands and rubbed the smooth surface of the glass with my thumb. A crooked smile formed on my face. My eyes got slightly blurry, but I didn't bother to do anything about it. I just looked at the picture.
The picture was basically the only picture that I had that I was in it. It was back at the orphanage. When I was just a little kid. I didn't remember much of my childhood, but whatever I did remember... Matron was in it. And this picture was no exception. Matron wanted a picture before I left to enter the garden. She wanted a picture of me... but I was stubborn. I didn't like taking pictures. I saw no point to them... but I remembered that day, Matron told me she wanted a picture of me because she thought I was special. A unique person, and someone who had great potential. She told me that she loved me and thought of me as her own child. I could never forget that day. Eventually, and quite reluctantly, I let her take a picture of me... only if she was in it.
My eyes got even blurrier as I held onto the picture frame longer. Matron had loved me... She believed in me... she cared for me... things I cannot do for even myself.
My thumb rubbed on picture as I looked at the little boy who was once me. His crooked smile hinted that he had never really known how to smile. His tight grasp on Matron's hand showed how much he didn't want to leave. How much he wanted to stay... but eventually. He did leave. He left to be someone else... He left to be... me. A failure.
"Ahem!" Xu's voice came back on the intercom. "My apologies for the technical difficulties. Now, to congratulate our newest SeeD members, Derrick Aborgale, Tabitha Almans, ..." again Xu paused for a moment, but this time she continued. "Seifer Almasy..." Her voice droned on, but I tuned her out.
The picture frame in my hand fell. It landed on the ground with a soft thud, followed by the sound of shattered glass. The picture slid out of the frame next to my feet.
Seifer Almasy. Did I just imagine that?
* * *
(Squall)
I stormed out the elevator towards Headmaster Cid's office after the announcements were made. Did I hear that correctly? Seifer Almasy passed?! That could not be possible! I had told Quistis to fail him. How could he have made it to SeeD?!
"Good morning Commander." Xu replied in a tired tone, despite that it was a Saturday morning. "Headmaster is in his office with Kianne and Quistis, if you would just..." I didn't let her finish. I just pushed the door open to his office.
As Xu had told me, Kianne and Quistis were there. They both sat down in front of the desk, Headmaster Cid stood behind his desk, and Matron was nowhere in sight.
"Squall. I expected to see you here. Have a seat." Cid gestured to one of the empty chairs.
I pulled the chair right beside Quistis angrily and sat down.
"Now that we're all here. Why don't we start?" Cid sat down on his own chair.
"Headmaster, could you please explain to us how Seifer managed to pass? I was there during the test. He failed to obey instructions and endangered the lives of his team members." Quistis said coolly. Like her usual Instructor-like tone. She didn't hint at any emotions, whether it be anger, shock, or joy. Something I used to do... now I let some of my feelings show... thanks to Rinoa.
"That is why I called Kianne here. Kianne, could you please explain it again?" Headmaster turned to face Kianne.
"Certainly." She smiled, then turned to face Quistis and I. "Quistis, you see, sometimes a person should not listen to what they have been told..." I cut her off.
"Being SeeD means we obey. We obey orders and commands. We do not make up our own rules in this game. If we do, it is highly likely that we would die. That is why we need authority. We need to be led."
"With all due respect Commander," Kianne looked squarely at me. "but there are times when one is given commands that need to be broken. In Seifer's case, he was ordered to stay at his stationed area, however, if he did not do what he had done, two or more of our students would have been killed. If he did not run off away from his stationed area, we might have never been able to kill our enemy." She replied in a low strict voice.
"He endangered other students' lives. They all could have died!" I hissed at her. Maybe I was angry with Kianne, or maybe I was just pissed off that Seifer would not be kicked out yet. "Isn't that right Quistis?"
Quistis nodded her head. "That correct. Seifer did endanger more lives."
"I admit he did, but he did what a person should have done in a situation like that. Orders are given, but there may be other obstacles that were not planned to be there! The leader does not always know what happens in the battlefield. Plans change, new ideas are given. The course of action during a mission depends on whatever obstacles may come. The flying beast, was one of the obstacles that were not expected. Sometimes the commands given are not necessarily the best. A true SeeD must know how to react to a given a situation, even if it means disobeying an order. Seifer proved that he can think for himself. Something that is vital to be a SeeD." Kianne argued.
I must admit, she did have a good point, but compared to my anger that Seifer would stay, it all sounded like bullshit to me.
"Instructor Lee is has a point. Therefore, Seifer is admitted to become a SeeD. He will stay in Balamb Garden. Are there any problems?" Headmaster looked directly at me.
I clenched my teeth, and my fist curled up into a ball. I didn't want that lapdog in the garden, but I guess I had to deal with it. There was no way I could win this fight. I got up abruptly and stormed out. I didn't know what Quistis was thinking, but she had a calm expression on her face.
* * *
(Selphie)
I woke up on time as usual, to hear the announcements - - if any - - that Xu had. And I was surprised to hear that Seifer had made it to SeeD. Immediately after, I ran out my dorm, still in my cute daisy pyjamas, and towards Seifer's dorm. Seify's ear perked up when I got out of my bed so abruptly, but that little sleepy head did not budge otherwise.
So here I was, pounding at Seifer's door, waiting for him to open the door. Soon the door slid open and a surprised Seifer stood there. I couldn't tell if he was surprised at me being here, or if he had heard his name over the intercom. I didn't care. I went right if for a tight hug.
"Seifer, Seifer! Did you hear?! You made it to SeeD!" I shouted with joy. But I knew he had heard. I could bet he was pretty shocked too.
He didn't say anything or do anything. So I let go of him and waved my hand in front of his face.
"Helloooo!" I stretched out the word as I continued to wave my hand in his face. Still no reaction. "Earth to Seify!"
Finally he did something. He grabbed my hand so I would stop. "I told you never to call me that." He finally said. He sounded calm. He didn't sound pissed off. Maybe the surprise finally left him.
"Just needed a way to bring you back!" I smiled at him. "Congrats! You made it to SeeD! I knew you would!" I stuck out my hand for a handshake, but he didn't take it. Instead, he pulled me into a tight bear hug.
"Thanks." Even though I was being squashed by his strength, I could just imagine the smile on his face.
"Hey Seifer!" I called out, but it sounded like muffling to me. My face was pressed against his chest. "I'm kinda dying here!" He let go of me. His face turned a light shade of red. "Hey!! You know what? As a reward, I'll take you out for dinner, on a cruise ship! Tuesday night! Okay?"
"Who else is going?"
"Oh... just Kianne... and maybe some other person... I'm not sure who it is yet..."
Seifer gave out a gruff chuckle. "You sure it's a reward for me? Or is it so you don't have to go alone while Kianne has a date?"
I blushed. He saw right through it.
* * *
(Irvine)
I woke up with the sunlight piercing through the window and to my eyes. I yawned and stretched out my arms. This was getting tiring. We still hadn't figured out who had murdered the people of this town, and we were running low on gil because of all the nights we had stayed at the hotel.
I pulled the blanket off me and got up. Tiredly, I walked into the bathroom and washed my face and brushed my teeth. I was about to jump into the shower when I remembered I didn't get any clothes. So I walked back into the room and headed to my bag of clothes. I noticed Zell was already awake and gone out somewhere. His bed was neatly made and the clothes he would wear was sitting on the chair near the bed. He did that every night. Pick out his clothes and lay it on the chair to wear the next day.
I took out my clothes that I would wear and headed back to the bathroom. I stopped midway. [Zell... his clothes. His clothes are still there. But he's not there. What the hell?!] I was interrupted by a soft, but urgent rap on my door.
"Irvine, Zell, open up! It's Mark."
I rushed to the door and let Mark in. He had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for a long while. He looked exasperated. Just as I let him in, he quickly closed the door behind him.
"Hey, have you seen Zell?" I asked. "His clothes are still here, but he seems to be gone." I pointed to his clothes on the chair.
"Shit!" Mark swore in a hushed whisper.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Zell... was that Zell? Was he walking in the hallway yesterday night?" Mark whispered while looking out the window as if looking for something or someone, before pulling the curtains closed.
"Ya. He was. He said something about forgetting to pay for the rooms..." I tried to remember exactly what he had said, but I was too sleepy. I wasn't paying attention to what he had to say.
"Fukk!" This time Mark swore a little louder. "Shit! Zell's in trouble!"
"What? What the hell are you talking about?" I whispered back to him. He motioned me to come closer to him. I did, and he began whispering.
"I figured out who we're looking for. It's that receptionist! The code spelt out receptionist! It's gotta be that girl downstairs!" Mark whispered harshly.
"What? I thought it was a guy."
"'She' is a guy! 'She's' just disguised as a girl! Fukk. The phone lines. They were cut last night. I couldn't contact you. And someone kept moving in the hallway. I didn't know who it was, but I thought it was her/him whatever. Shit. You said Zell went to pay for our rooms? 'She's' got him. That guy's got him." He whispered and the words seem to rush out of his mouth.
"What? So you're saying that receptionist got Zell?"
"You said Zell's not here..." Suddenly there was a scream from the room beside. Mark, Tony, and Gerald's room.
Mark's eyes widened. He pulled out his weapon. A short, double-edged staff. I grabbed my sniper and we both rushed to the other room. When we got there, we saw both Tony and Gerald on the ground. Tony was unconscious near one of the beds and Gerald was bleeding... a lot. He was supporting himself by having one of his hands on the chair, pulling himself up so he did not fall down. He was probably afraid that if he fell, he would not be able to get up again. Blood was everywhere, but mostly on Gerald.
"Gerald!" Mark half shouted as he rushed to him. He cast a cure spell, but nothing happened.
"That bitch! That receptionist... 'she' came through the window..." Both Mark and I looked up to the window, sure enough, it was shattered, and blood dripped from the windowsill. We feared for the worst. "'She' threw Tony against the bed... I don't even know if he's dead... 'she' stabbed me... help... I think I'm dying..." He said between deep breaths.
"Zell! Was Zell with 'her'?" I asked as I fished out an antidote in my pocket.
"No... I didn't see him... but I managed to stab 'her' back..." Mark was taking shorter breaths. I was getting scared. What if he died? "But 'she' didn't seem to feel the pain."
"Here. Swallow this! It will stop the bleeding and ease the pain!" I stuffed a pill in his mouth before he could say anything.
Next Mark poured a potion in his mouth to make the pill easier to swallow. Some of his wound started to heal immediately, but it wasn't enough to say that he wasn't in critical condition.
"'She' just went out... if you go, you might be able to catch 'her'." His eyelids began drooping.
"Gerald! You can't die here!" Mark shouted at his friend.
"Go! I'll be fine!" He tried to push Mark away, but didn't have much strength.
"Irvine, go! I'll take care of Gerald." Mark turned to face me.
"No! The both of you would kill her easier! Just go! I'll be fine!" Gerald used as much strength as he could to push Mark away. "I won't die here. I won't. Don't worry!"
Without letting them argue anymore, I grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him out the door. We ran down the stairs and to our horror saw Zell lying across the reception desk. He was completely bruised, and if it weren't for his distinctive hairstyle, I would have never known it was him. I was afraid that he could be bleeding internally. It looked like some sick bastard used him as a punching bag.
We both darted out the doors and on the street, looking around.
"Other there!" Mark pointed up to a building. On the roof a figure was trying to place a board over the gap between the building to another.
"How the hell are we going to get up there?!" I asked, but we didn't need to.
Just as the person was running across the board, the wood snapped in half. The person fell down from the building. We both ran to where the person was, but to our surprise, when we got there, we saw the person standing up, as if the fall didn't hurt at all.
"What are you waiting for?" The female voice mocked at us as 'she' lifted 'her' arms up to fight. 'She' was going to fight with fists.
"Die bitch!" Mark ran up to attack 'her', but before he could make it to 'her', 'she' punched out into the air, and a gust of wind forced Mark to slam down onto the ground.
I took aim with my sniper and shot, but before it made it to 'her', 'she' pulled out a knife from under pants and threw it straight at where I shot. The knife was covered in blood, probably the same knife that 'she' used to stab Gerald. But to my surprise, the knife cut through the bullet and headed straight towards me. I managed to just narrowly avoid the hit to my head. The bullet pieces fell down to the ground with a clanking sound.
I knew my bullet wouldn't make it to 'her', but I shot again anyway. Just as the bullet passed Mark, he ran towards the girl/guy and threw his weapon at 'her'. I suppose he was losing all hope that we would win.
The girl/guy looked as if 'she' was going to punch again, but something pulled 'her' back. 'She' moved in such a strange way that it looked like 'she' was a little string puppet that was pulled back suddenly.
The bullet hit 'her'. The double-edged staff pierced into 'her' abdomen. The strange thing was that when the bullet pierced through 'her' forehead, and mask slid off 'her' face and revealed 'her' real face. That of a man's. But the mask was not like normal. The face of the girl on it fell down to the ground and shattered. As if it were porcelain. It shattered.
I walked up to Mark. His lip was bleeding and his arm was all scarred from falling on the ground.
"You think it's over?" I asked him, while helping him pull out his weapon.
Something strange happened. The sun that rarely shined into this town began shining again. The sun's rays lighted up all the streets. The grey stone buildings no longer looked cold and dead. There were actually colours. They looked like normal buildings. All because the sun began shining into this town again.
"It's gotta be over." Mark said in relief.
* * *
(Somewhere Else)
(Someone unknown)
The string snapped from my hand as I watched the bullet pierce into my little puppet's head. I had been watching these couple of boys figuring out who my plaything had been, and finally they had found him. Because I let them...
The image began to blur and a swirling colour formed. Soon the swirling was gone, and all I was left with was a pool of water. What the image had originally been. I tossed whatever piece of the string left on my hand into the water. Just as it landed into the water, the string disappeared.
I turned around and smiled at the man behind me. He only gave me a confused look.
"Why did you let them kill P18 so easily?" He asked me.
P18. Plaything number 18. William Dafoe. Will used to be a student of mine... but I grew tired of him, so I decided to use him as a plaything. Besides, I had my fun. Maybe this time they would heed my warning.
"I got tired." I said as I examined my nails. They were painted dark blue this year. Opposed to last year's black. I always changed the colour of them every year. "Besides... I have better plans for them." A wicked smile formed on my face.
* * *
(Saturday Night)
(Quistis)
I was standing in the Secret Area, gazing out into the night sky. A lot of things had been on my mind all day long, but I didn't want to think about it. First was Seifer. He had made it to SeeD. I didn't fail him. In a strange and odd way, I didn't want to fail him. I don't know why, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Of course, Kianne was the one who marked his performance on the SeeD exam, but I was given the opportunity to voice my opinions. Kianne had passed him. I knew it before the announcements were made. I saw it on the test sheet. Headmaster wanted me to evaluated Kianne's performance, not the students. Kianne gave me the test results. I was supposed to write a comment about them or how she marked them for Headmaster Cid to see. When I came to Seifer's paper, I didn't know what to write.
I sat at my desk in my room, wondering what to write for him. Kianne didn't give an explanation why Seifer had passed, but I didn't really want to fail him so... outright. I stared at his exam paper for a long while before I wrote down what I really thought. 'Seifer did exceptionally well on his SeeD exam. Except he failed to obey instructions.' I truly did think he did a very good job... but I didn't want to leave it just at that. That would be so... unlike me. So I had to add the last part.
I sighed, and decided it was time to head back into my dorm. I walked out the Secret Area and quietly made my way out the training centre, careful not to awake any of the beasts in there. As I made it out the double doors, I saw Kianne and Selphie walking around in the main foyer.
"It's pretty empty here..." I heard Kianne tell Selphie. "but what can I expect? It is a Saturday... and not the mention the students are off from classes!"
"That's so true! Hey Kianne... how come you won't tell me who you like?" Selphie asked as they sat down the edge of the fountain.
I got curious, so I crept closer. I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but it seemed pretty interesting to me.
"Well... I'll tell you... only if you promise not to tell a single soul!" She replied like a little schoolgirl afraid to let others know who she liked.
"Okay!"
But before Kianne could say the name, Irvine walked in from the front doors. I guess he finally accomplished his mission.
"Irvine!" Selphie exclaimed as she jumped from her seat excitedly, but she quickly sat back down. "How was the mission?"
"Not that good. Tony, Mark, Gerald and Zell are all in the Balamb hospital..." he replied sadly.
"What?!" Kianne bolted upright. "What happened? Are they alright?!" I wasn't too sure why she would have been so emotional about it... or maybe...
"It was terrible...Tony and Zell are both unconscious, and Mark and Gerald's just getting his wounds patched up. They're all going to be sent back here to be treated in the Infirmary tomorrow morning though." Irvine replied. He took off his hat and held it to his chest and looked down at the ground sadly. A little disheartened. I guess it was because his whole team were injured...
Right after he said that, Kianne bolted out the door without saying another word. She ran like she hadn't ran before. As if she had to run in order so live. She was definitely really worried about them... or one of them especially.
"Are you alright?" Selphie stood up and walked up to Irvine. She placed one of her hands on his cheek and gently pushed his head to the side. She looked around his head to make sure there were no wounds.
"I'm alright, don't worry about me." He turned to face her again.
They stood in that position for a while. Both of them staring into the other's eyes. Not moving, and hardly even breathing. Suddenly Selphie broke the awkward silence. She looked away and backed up away from him. From what I could see, the look on Irvine's face showed hurt. I knew Selphie still liked Irvine... but I didn't understand why she didn't want to be with him anymore.
"Oh, here, before I forget." Irvine fished around in his pocket before pulling out a little box from his trench coat. "Happy Belated Birthday Selphie." He handed her the box. She gingerly took the little black box from his hands.
Selphie's birthday. Belated birthday. [SHIT!] I swore in my head. I had forgotten all about Selphie's birthday!! Excuses began running through my head. I didn't know what to tell her. 'I'm sorry Selphie, but I forgot about your birthday...' I knew I couldn't be that honest... I'd probably hurt her feelings. 'Selphie, I had a lot of things to do during the week, sorry I didn't give you your gift until now.' [Hmm... that seemed too wordy...]
"Thanks!" Selphie said happily. Even though her back was towards me, I could tell that she was smiling brightly.
A soft 'click' was heard when she opened the box. "Oh my! This is gorgeous!" She exclaimed as she pulled something out from the box.
The thing she pulled out shimmered in the moonlight. By the shape of it, it looked like a bracelet.
"Here, let me help you." Irvine took the bracelet from her hand and helped her put it on her wrist.
"It's so beautiful! Thank you!" She jumped up and gave him a hug.
Irvine looked shock. Selphie held onto him for a few seconds before he regained his composure and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her closer and closed his eyes, while smiling happily.
I couldn't remember the last time I saw them together so intimate. It felt like it had been forever since they broke up. I still remember that day when I found out they broke up. It was engraved into my mind. I remembered I was sitting in the cafeteria sipping on a cup of coffee while reading the news, when Selphie walked in and sat down across from me.
I had put the paper down to face her, but was surprised when I saw her eyes were eye and puffy.
"Selphie, what's wrong?!" I asked her. I was really concerned. Never had I seen her in this state before.
"Quistis... I don't know if that was the right thing to do..." She muttered to me. Fresh tears began falling from her eyes.
"What did you do? Are you alright?" I put my cup down and grabbed on of her hands, holding onto it.
"I... I... broke up with Irvine." She blurted out before resting her head down. Soft muffled sobs came out.
I didn't know what to say. So I just held onto her hand. I had never been in a situation like that before, so I didn't know what I could do. At first I didn't talk to her about it. I didn't ask her anything about it. Not even why she broke up with him. I just acted as if nothing had happened. I don't know whether Selphie liked me doing that, or if she actually wanted me to ask so that she could get some things off her chest. But either way, I didn't think it was my problem that I had to deal with. But I was wrong. It was my problem. Both Selphie and Irvine were two of my closest friends and I didn't do anything about it. So after a while, I let myself in. I pulled the mask off my face. I came out from my hiding spot. I tried to talk to them both about it... I wanted them to get back together. I knew they were happier together, and I wanted them to be happy. But it was too late. Selphie would no longer talk about it. In the end, I didn't do much help, and I still didn't know why they broke up.
"It's getting late. I better go back to my dorm." Selphie's voice brought me back into reality. She pulled away from Irvine.
"I'll walk you there." He offered.
"No. No, it's alright." She turned around and walked towards her dorm, leaving Irvine behind. I could tell that she still loved him... but still would not accept him back.
* * *
(Sunday)
(Seifer)
Selphie and I were walking Almasy down the beach. She had called me early in the morning, and practically forced me to come with her. Even though I was annoyed with her because of this, I didn't show it. I knew exactly why she had made me come with her. I knew why she didn't want to stay at the garden. Two words. Irvine Kinneas. He had returned from his mission, and I knew Selphie did not want to see him more than she had too. And being with someone else would get her mind off him, especially somebody who could care less about what happened between them. Somebody like me. But she was wrong. I did care. Not so much about that cowboy, but more of her. I cared about her. Her friendliness and acceptance of me opened up more feelings within myself. I had learned to care about somebody else besides Matron and myself.
"Seify's just so cute! Look at him!" Now she was running alongside with the playful little dog. Today he had a bright yellow ribbon tied on his tail, as opposed to yesterday's hot pink.
"He looks like a bitch."
"Seifer! Seify's not a bitch! You take that back!"
"What? I'm telling you the truth. He looks like a female dog! Especially with that thing in his tail!" I argued.
"Oh..." Selphie's face turned a light pink. She had took it the wrong way. "That thing is a ribbon! And it only makes him cuter!"
"He looks like a wuss. Heh, just like that chickenwuss." I mumbled the last part to myself and imagined Zell with a ribbon in his hair. I shivered. What a terrible mistake! Now I would have nightmares.
"Seify's so not a wuss! Right Seify? You're not a wuss, you're a cutie pie!" Selphie grabbed the dog and cradled him in her arms like a little baby. The dog barked once before jumping out of her arms.
Selphie began running after the dog. I couldn't help but think about her and her relationship with Irvine. Curiosity did strike me, but I wasn't the type to talk about something like that. I did want to know why they broke up. I did want to know why Selphie wouldn't take him back... but I knew she still loved that guy... why? Because I saw them. Together. Hugging. Last night. I was there. I was there when he walked through the door. I saw Kianne run out the doors, and I saw Selphie hugging him tightly... for a while too. But she let go... she let go of him. I wanted to know why.
"Seifer! That reminds me, here." Selphie had ran back to me while I was thinking. I didn't even noticed. She handed me a ticket. I took it out of her hands a looked at it.
"Dinner on a cruise ship? What's this?" I asked, holding the paper towards her.
"Don't tell me you forgot!!" She folded her arms across her chest and looked at me angrily.
I didn't say anything. I did forget... that is, if she even told me anything.
"Seifer! You said you'd come with me for dinner on Tuesday... with Kianne... remember?"
Right. Dinner. I didn't want to go.
"Wouldn't you rather go with someone else?" I asked. There were two reasons I asked this. One, I really didn't want to go, and two, maybe she'd rather have Irvine with her.
"Of course not! And you better not back out! Or else, I'll be really, really, really, mad at you! And you know what I'll do? I have Seify attack you! Right Seify?" She called back to the puppy that was running towards her. "You'll attack your daddy for me right?"
The dog jumped up at her, and balanced his front paws on her leg. He barked at her.
"Not me silly! Come on Seify! Attack Seifer!" She pointed at me, while looking at the dog. Again it barked. But this time, it jumped at her again.
I couldn't help but laugh.
* * *
(Infirmary - Kianne)
I held his hand in mine and gently stroke it. I prayed to god that he would wake up soon, but Dr. Kadowaki had told me the chances of him waking from the coma might take weeks. She doubted that he would get up so early... but I held my hopes up high.
I looked at the person lying on the bed, and globular tears formed in my eyes. He looked nothing like how he used to. His face was bandaged and bruised. One of his eyes looked so bruised, it didn't look like there was an eye anymore. I scanned the rest of his figure. All sorts of tubes were sticking out of him. Thankfully he could still breathe on his own and didn't need a respirator, but there were so many bags of fluids being put into him... and out of him.
A tear fell from my eyes as I worried that he might not awaken. Although he was healing drastically since last night - - the bruises on him weren't as huge - - there was a slight chance that he might not wake up... and that frightened me. What would I do if he didn't?
I leaned in towards him. My fingertips brushed the side of his face, along his tattoo.
"Zell..." I whispered. "You gotta get up soon." Another tear fell from my eyes and onto his face. It rolled down the side that was bruised. Maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks - - after all, they were blurry - - but it looked like the swelling decreased. "You just have to make it Zell... you gotta..." Another tear fell down. They were coming faster and faster now.
"Zell... if you don't get up... how do I let you know..." Another tear. "...That I love you?" A few more tears fell from my eyes.
I couldn't take it anymore. I had to close my eyes. I couldn't look at his face anymore. If I did, I knew more tears would just fall from my eyes... not like there weren't already. More tears kept on rolling out of my eyes like a faucet, just as I was about to let go of his hand and wipe the tears away, I felt his fingertips move in my hand. My eyes popped open. His hand moved again.
* * *
(Tuesday)
(Irvine)
Tuesday afternoon. I hadn't seen Selphie since I got back. I knew why. I knew she was avoiding me. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to sort things out. If not, at least I wanted to see her. But no. She didn't give me the chance. She was doing whatever possible to avoid me. She even gave up on decorating for the SeeD graduation party this Friday so that I couldn't find her. Last time she was mad at me, it took me a whole week before I could confront her... and that was only because Kianne was helping me. I was so useless. I couldn't even tell her how much I loved and missed her.
I continued walking down aimlessly through the corridors, thinking about Selphie and all the good times we had together. It wasn't before I crashed into someone before I realized that I was daydreaming.
"Watch where you're going mother fu..." There was an obvious tone of annoyance and anger in the voice.
"Sorry." I muttered, still looking down at the ground. I continued walking without recognizing who I had crashed into.
"Irvine." The voice said. I turned around to face whoever it was. To my surprise, it was Seifer.
"Oh, hey Seifer. Congrats." I gave him a weak smile. He didn't say anything else, so I turned around and continued on my way. But he called me again.
"Irvine." This time I didn't turn around. "Here." He jabbed me in the back with what seemed like paper.
I turned around to see what it was. It was a little piece of paper. He handed me the paper and I looked at it. I raised an eyebrow.
"What's this?" I took it out of his hand and read it. My eyes widened slightly. Enough for him not to notice. "A dinner on a cruise ship? What's this about?" I asked, handing the ticket back to him.
He didn't take it. "Don't ask. Just go." Without another word he briskly strode down the hallway, his trench coat flapping behind him.
I stood in the hall, confused more than ever. [Should I go?] I looked down at the ticket and back up to where Seifer had went. But he had already disappeared past the corner. I stuffed the ticket in my pocket. [What the heck, there's nothing to lose... right?]
* * *
(Tuesday Night)
"Have a nice night sir." The foreman motioned me to get on the ship after I handed him my ticket. "Just go down to the right, table 43 should be at the end." He pointed to the direction I had to go.
"Thank you." I replied as I headed into the ship.
It was very elegant. The ship had been decorated like a formal party was held on it. Everyone was dressed in proper formal attire. Thankfully I did too. I made my way to the end of the ship looking around for my table. Sure enough it was at the very end. To my surprise I saw Zell, Kianne, and Selphie there. [So Seifer was helping me. How strange.] I thought as I walked up to the table, just in time to hear Kianne say, "You look fine, don't worry." To Zell.
"Hello." They looked up at me and I smiled at them. Selphie was surprised the most.
"Where's Seifer?" She asked.
"Uh...he... umm... he..." I stuttered, thinking of something to say. "Ya, uh... he had some things to do, so he told me to come for him." I lied. Even though I felt indifferent with Seifer, he did help me get to Selphie, and the least I could have done was help him back. Otherwise, Selphie would probably get a piece of him when she got back.
"Oh..." Selphie's voice was filled with disappointment.
"Oh shoot!" Kianne exclaimed suddenly after I took a seat beside Selphie. "I left my ring in the washroom!" She got up abruptly. "Come on Zell, let's go find it." She tugged on his sleeve.
"What?! I'm not going to the ladies room!" He shouted. But it wasn't that loud because his voice couldn't strain that high.
Zell still looked pretty bad. His face was still bruised, but it was less, but still noticeable. His suit covered the rest of the bruises on his body, but just by looking at his face, anyone could tell he had been badly beat up.
What surprised me the most was how fast he recovered. Just a few days ago, he was lying in Balamb hospital in critical condition. Now here he was, walking, moving free as ever. Maybe Kianne was an angel sent to help him.
"Not to the ladies room silly! Someone probably found it by now... we should go talk to the ship captain or something." She continued to pull on his sleeve.
Although Zell was complaining a lot, she managed to pull him out of his seat and towards the other side of the ship. But I knew what she was trying to do. She was leaving Selphie and I here for some alone time.
We sat in silence for a long while. Selphie kept on looking out into the ocean, avoiding and eye contact with me. Suddenly the ship's engine started and the ship began moving. The cool night breeze blew past us.
"I wonder what's taking them so long." She finally said, still looking at the ocean. It seemed like she was talking to herself more than to me.
"They probably left." I replied.
Finally she turned to face me.
"What?!" First shock was written all over her face. Then anger. "No..." She whispered when she realized it could be true.
I got up and took Zell's unoccupied seat across from her.
"Selphie, we need to talk."
"I have to go." She placed the napkin on the table and was able to get up, but I leaned towards her and grabbed her hand.
"You can't avoid me forever Selphie. Can't we just talk it through?" My eyes pleaded her.
"Okay. Fine. What is it that you want to talk about?" She looked squarely into my eyes, but immediately turned her head to the ocean again.
"Look, Selphie I'm sorry about how things have been going between us lately..." I started, but she cut me off.
"It's not your fault." She stated out angrily.
"Selphie, just hear me out first. I know it's been rough for both of us. I know you've been avoiding me. I know okay? I just know. Selphie, you know that I still care for you..." She cut me off again.
"But I don't care for you..." The words came out slower than it actually did. My heart felt like it was ripping, slowly and painfully. I bit back the pain and continued talking.
"I care about you. I still love you. You know that Selphie. Don't pretend you don't. And don't pretend you don't care. You wouldn't avoid me if you didn't care. But I know that I hurt you before. And I know that you're afraid I'll hurt you again. So, I just want to let you know that no matter how much I love you, I'm not going to force you to love me back. I just want to see you happy... even if it means that we're not together." I bit my lip. It was painful. If she ever did choose not to be with me, it would be hell, but at least... I'd still have her as a friend. "I just want us to stay friends. No more avoiding each other. Just like old times."
There was a long awkward silence. We just stared at each other. I didn't know what else to say. I was afraid. What if she rejected me? What if we couldn't even be friends?
"What are you waiting for? Let's not waste a perfectly good dinner!" She beamed at me happily. I hadn't seen her smiled since forever.
I smiled back at her. Although it pained me to only be friends... it was the best I could hope for.
* * *
(Kianne)
Zell and I were walking down the beach as I watched the ship move further away. I smiled. [I wish you two the best of luck.] I thought in my head.
"Kianne, I thought you lost your ring..." Zell began, but I cut him off.
"Of course not silly! It's right here!" I waved my hand in front of his face.
He looked confused for a moment, but then everything clicked in. "Oh... I get it now!" He paused for a few seconds. "You didn't like the food there?"
I couldn't help but laugh. "You're so silly! Come on! Let's walk down the beach!" I wrapped my arm around his. He didn't seem to mind, but he didn't seem to care either.
"Why'd you make me come? I look like a mess! My face is still bruised." He whined.
"No you don't! You always look fine to me!" I exclaimed.
I took a step forward, but the heel of my shoe went down the wrong way. There was a snap, before I began falling. Suddenly I felt his arms around me as he pulled me back up. It was like some kind of cheesy chick flick. Where the girl suddenly trips and her prince charming pulls her back up, slowly. The girl and guy locks eye contact and stay in embrace for a moment before the guy leans in to kiss her. Too bad that didn't actually happen for me.
"You alright?" He asked, letting go of me.
"Oh ya, just fine." I brushed the hair away from my face. "Oh drat! My shoe's broken." I took off my sandals and held them in my hand.
"Maybe we should head back to the garden." He suggested.
"No! But... I want to walk on the beach..." I frowned.
"But you don't have shoes." He pointed out.
"Walking in the sand won't hurt! Besides, if we walk back, my feet's gonna hurt!" He was right though. I didn't have shoes, and if I didn't go back now, we could encounter some monsters, which would be worse. The cab I had rented earlier wouldn't come and pick us up until the ship came back... and I didn't know how long that would take.
"Here, I'll carry you back." He offered. He bent down so I could climb on his back.
I quickly took advantage of this and got onto his back. He lifted me up with ease. I rested my head on his shoulder. He felt so nice... even though I could feel some of his bruises.
"Are you sure it's alright? You're not hurt or anything?" If he was, I didn't want him to carry me anymore then.
"Naw, it's alright. You're light, so it's all good." He said as he made our way back to the garden.
He didn't know it, but I was smiling and blushing a lot. It felt like I was on cloud number nine. I couldn't help it. This oaf really made me happy.
* * *
(Garden - Main foyer)
(Rinoa)
"I can't believe Seifer actually made it to SeeD. I wonder how it's going to be like with Seifer here for good." I was sitting on the side of the fountain area and watched my legs dangle. I began swinging my legs forwards and back repeatedly, one after the other. Squall was sitting beside me, with one of his arms wrapped around my waist.
It was a Tuesday night. Normally, Squall would be busy doing something, but since it was the summer, everyone was on a break. Most of the students would go and visit their families, or go on vacations, soon. That is, after the SeeD graduation party. Actually, it was a graduation and a year- end party combined into one. Which meant, after the party, only a few students would be left in the Garden. I wanted to go to somewhere romantic, but Squall protested against it. Plus, his excuse was, 'The garden might have an emergency. It'd be good if there were still some people around to help.' But I highly doubted that would ever happen.
"..." Squall didn't say anything.
"Do you think Quistis might have let Seifer stay?" I asked, still kicking my feet.
"No."
"Why not? Quistis doesn't seem to have a grudge on Seifer anymore... maybe she purposely let him stay."
"Quistis wouldn't do that."
"Oh, it's because she'll do what you tell her to do right?" I was getting a little angry. I was beginning to wonder if Squall actually knew Quistis liked or possibly, likes him.
"What are you talking about?" He turned his head to face me.
"Oh! You know what I'm talking about Squall!" I got up angrily.
"Rinoa! I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know you know! I know you knew that Quistis liked you! She'd probably do anything for you!" My voice was rising.
"That ridiculous! Quistis would never..." He stopped talking when he saw Quistis approaching us from down the hall. I could tell she hadn't heard a word we had said, but would soon if we continued.
"Perfect timing." I said. "If you so truly believe that Quistis didn't like you. Tell her off now. Tell her you never liked her."
"Rinoa! I can't do that!"
"Which only proves you did know that she liked you! Which could mean that you like her too!" I slowly began realizing what secret I could have unravelled.
"You know I only have my eyes on you!" He hissed. Quistis was coming closer and closer.
"Then tell her." I folded my arms across my chest and gave him my most serious look.
Squall looked very reluctant, but turned around to face Quistis.
"A little late for you two to be here isn't it?" Quistis asked.
Squall looked at me one more time. I gave him a death glare, which Quistis obviously took notice. He turned back to face her.
"Quistis, I'm sorry if I ever led you on, but..." He paused. Quistis gave a confused look. I glared at the back of his head. "I never liked you. I love Rinoa. I always had, and always will."
I frowned. He had said all that... just for me. And I didn't trust him before.
Quistis' was puzzled. She didn't know how to react, then she let out a short giggle. "Of course you do! If you ever hurt Rinoa, you'd have to deal with me!"
My stopped beating. Quistis. My friend. One of my closest friends. And I had doubted her. I felt miserable. All that time I thought she hated me and wanted to take Squall away from me... all the time I hated her for thinking of that... all that time... it was only in my mind. I had doubted Quistis. And I had doubted Squall. I felt terrible.
"Quistis! I'm so sorry!" I ran up to her and gave her a big hug. Tears were falling from my eyes like raindrops. "I'm so, so, so, so sorry Quistis!"
She hugged me back. "It's alright. Don't worry about it."
"Sorry..." I heard Squall mumble.
After a short while, Quistis pushed me back. "It's alright silly! You don't have to cry!" She paused. "If it's alright with you two, I was heading out..."
"Oh! Sorry!" I sniffed. I moved out of her way and wiped the tears from my eyes. I felt Squall's arms coil around my waist.
We watched as Quistis headed out the front doors into the dark night. I spun around into Squall's chest and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so sorry Squall!" I sniffed.
"Shh... I love you."
"I love you too." I whispered.
* * *
(Quistis)
I was surprised. I never actually thought in my whole entire life that Squall would say something like that to me. But I misjudged him. The things he would do for Rinoa. What surprised me the most was how I reacted. I thought that I might bawl or get upset, but now, I feel great. Never better in my whole entire life. Maybe it was at that moment I finally realized that I had gotten over him. I finally realized that I could not have him... especially when he and Rinoa are so in love with one another. If I had ever broken them up, I'd probably feel miserable and everything.
Another thing I realized was that I no longer envied Rinoa to the extent that I hated her. I still envy her, yes. But not to the same extent. I'm happy that they have each other, but I still wish I had someone to be there for me... I wanted a genuine nice guy. Life didn't seem too bad anymore. Who knows, maybe it would take a better turn now.
"Come on Almasy, bring it back!" I heard a thick male voice call out.
I looked up and saw Seifer calling out to a dog. The same dog from Selphie's room. I remembered, when I went to give Selphie her gift, I had seen the dog with her. I was surprised. Seifer... playing with a dog?
The dog ran up to me and barked. I bent down and patted it on the head, and stroked its silky fur. I heard Seifer run up towards us.
"Seifer, never knew you had a dog." I said, not bothering to look up. I knew it wasn't his dog, but it'd be fun to hear what he had to say.
"It's... uh... a friend's." He stuttered.
"Seifer? And friends? Wow, I'm surprised!" I stood up and faced him.
"Looks like I have more friends then you at the moment." he countered.
"Touché." Seifer one, Quistis zero. "Well congrats on making it to SeeD, Seifer."
"What's this? My 'favourite' Instructor congratulating me? That's a surprise!"
"On job well done."
"That's strange, you never praised me before." He looked at me suspiciously.
"I would have if you listened."
"Only if I were your precious puberty boy. Maybe if you weren't so involved with him, I might have listened."
"Maybe if you weren't so arrogant in the first place, I might have praised you. But you wouldn't listen to me anyway." I countered.
He didn't say anything. Seifer one. Quistis one.
"I'm listening now."
I opened my mouth to say something, but then I realized I didn't know what to say, so I closed my mouth.
"That's what I thought."
So maybe it was Seifer two, Quistis zero.
"Well okay. Listen up Seifer. I know you're truly a nice guy underneath your tough exterior. I know you're just a little child who's lost. I know that you want to be free. I know you're someone unique and special. I know you want to show the world what you can do..." I was going to go on, but Seifer cut me off.
"Well it looks like you don't know me at all." Without letting me say another word, he stormed back in, with the puppy trotting along behind him.
So maybe I didn't know him that well... but if he only opened up a little more, I would probably understand him better.
* * *
(Friday Morning)
(Cid)
"Ah! Good morning Charles! This is a pleasant surprise!" I got up from my desk and motioned the gentleman and lady to the seat.
Charles was the new Headmaster of Galbadia Garden. He was nearly a decade younger than me, but somehow we managed to put aside the age difference and become close friends. The lady beside him was someone I had never seen before. She had firey red hair and was around shoulder length. She was fairly slender and was a very attractive young lady. She looked to be in her mid twenties.
"Cid! Long time no see!" He took my hand and gave it a ferocious handshake.
"And who might this young lady be?" I asked as we all took a seat.
"Oh, Cid, let me introduce to you my lovely fiancée, Elaine."
"Pleasure to meet you." I stuck out my hand for a handshake. She looked at my hand as if she had no idea what it was supposed to mean. So I just pulled back my hand.
"Elaine has never seen any other garden before and she just wanted to see Balamb so desperately..." He got cut off.
"Charles tells me that it is a wonderful and beautiful place!" She exclaimed, waving her hands in the air.
"He exaggerates." I grinned. "Would you like a tour?"
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Maybe it was just me, but she sounded somewhat sarcastic. "But..."
"But?" I asked.
"Well Cid, you know that Galbadia has been short of students lately... after that incident..." Charles explained.
The incident. Right. That was a few years ago. The Sorceress War. But somehow, Galbadia never seemed to recover from that just yet.
"We were wondering if we could borrow a student of yours." He finished.
"A student? Well, it's up to the student if he or she wishes to go to Galbadia... but who do you have in mind?" I looked at the two. They didn't say anything at first, but eventually, Elaine opened her mouth.
"Seifer Almasy."
* * *
(Friday - Afternoon)
(Selphie)
I was ironing my scarf for my pretty yellow dress - - how the scarf got wrinkled was beyond me - - when someone knocked on my door. The graduation party would be in about 4 hours, but I wanted to get ready early so I could check up on the decorating job the students did.
"Who is it?" I asked while opening the door. To my surprise, it was Seifer. He held a small box with holes. "Lemme guess, it's Seify?" I gestured to the box.
He nodded his head. "Didn't know how long you would be gone last night so I took care of him."
"Ya, I noticed when you left the note on my desk." I pointed to the note that was still on my desk. "You dognapped my dog! And not only that, you broke into my room! How'd you do that anyway?" I motioned him to come in.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out." He gave me a wicked grin.
"Ha. Funny." I said, unimpressed. "Say, you have a date tonight?" I didn't really want to go alone, nor did I really want to go with Irvine... who, surprisingly hadn't asked me to go with him yet.
"Wouldn't you rather go with someone else?" Maybe it was me, but it sounded like he was suggesting something.
"What?!"
"Never mind. I want to go alone." He replied.
"Where you suggesting Irvine?"
"No. But you did."
"I..." I closed my mouth. He got me there. "Do you think I should?" I opened the box and let Seify jump out the box. He immediately ran to his little bed and made himself comfortable.
"I'm not the person to ask these kind of things." I could tell he felt uneasy about the topic.
"No, but that makes you the perfect person to ask. Do you think I should go with Irvine? I mean, like, if I asked Quistis or anyone else, they'd probably say yes. I know you're indifferent with these kinds of situations, so I'd like your opinion."
He didn't say anything for a while. I didn't expect him to, but he eventually did.
"Everybody deserves a second chance."
I was surprised to hear him say that.
"I don't know... He's always looking at other girls..." Though it wasn't completely true, I wasn't sure if I wanted to accept him just yet.
"He's a guy. What do you expect? All guys are like that. But you're lucky, at least he doesn't hide it from you."
Seifer had a point there. It was strange to hear him say that, but it was probably even stranger for him to actually say it.
"You really think I should give him a second chance?"
"It's up to you." He opened the door and slipped out.
Maybe he was right. Irvine did deserve a second chance.
* * *
(Friday Night)
(Seifer)
The music was playing loudly, and happy couples were dancing on the dance floor. Everybody else was happily chatting away with friends. I, on the other hand was sitting alone at the table in the corner, drinking down a bottle of red wine.
I came to the party late... it wasn't as if I missed anything... and I wanted to leave early. There was nothing to do here. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Selphie dancing with Irvine. Perhaps they had got back together.
I shivered. Remembering what I had said to Selphie made me shiver. I had never said anything so corny in my life before. I didn't know why I had said that.
I poured another glass of wine for me, but nothing came out. I got up and headed to the beverage table and grabbed myself another bottle of something. I just grabbed anything in reach. I headed back to my table and read the label. Champagne. I popped the cork out and poured myself a glass. This was my third, fourth, fifth, or whatever bottle I would finish. I had lost count. My head was getting fuzzy.
"Hey hottie, care to dance?" A girl came up to me.
I couldn't tell who it was. Probably some girl I've never seen before, but either way, I didn't want to dance. My eyes were beginning to get blurry. Maybe I was getting a little drunk now.
"Not with you." The words seem to stumble out of my mouth.
"Jerk!" She hissed at me before storming off.
My head began pounding. The music, the blurriness, it was all getting to my head. I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed to go back to my dorm. I grabbed the remains of my Champagne bottle and headed out towards my dorm. On my way, I bumped into some people, but I didn't care. Nor would I remember.
* * *
(Quistis)
"Miss Trepe, my name's Monica. You used to teach me when I was 13. Ya, I made it to SeeD now!" This blonde hair girl came up to me and announced.
"Oh hello Monica! Congratulation!" I gave her a smile. I had no clue who she was, but I pretended that I did anyway. This was the fourth person who did that to me tonight.
"Oh thanks! Well, I better get back to my friends. It was nice seeing you Miss Trepe!" She yelled out as she ran to join her friends.
I needed a way out. I could not take this anymore. I quickly made my way to our table to seek refuge there.
"Tired?" Kianne asked me as I sat down.
"Very. I need something strong." She handed me a glass of wine.
"This is all I have right now."
"Good enough." I downed the drink. She poured me another glass. "And why aren't you out there with all those happy couples?"
"I have no dance partner." She gazed dreamily at the people dancing.
"What happened to Zell?" I gulped down the drink and poured another glass. "I noticed you came here with him."
She flushed red. "He went to the washroom."
"Speak of the devil." I said as I watched Zell squeeze his way back.
"Hey Quistis. Didn't know you were here." He looked down at Kianne. "You're all red. Are you sick or something?"
The comment only made her turn a darker shade of red.
"She wants to dance. Since I'm not a guy, I can't take her. Could you lead her the way?" I asked. I was only trying to help her.
"Uh... sure, but I'm not a good dancer." The two headed off.
It wasn't long before I finished the bottle. I sat there for a short while watching people, but then I soon grew tired of watching, so I decided I should head back to my dorm.
As I got up from my seat, I felt a little woozy, but I managed to make my way out of the party. I was walking down the hall when I heard someone yelling and mumbling at the same time.
"Fukk. Open up." Was what I could make out before more mumbling.
As I neared my dorm and the noise, I realized the person making the loud ruckus was Seifer. And he was slamming his fist into my door. Why he was doing that, I had no idea.
I watched him slide a card key in the slot, then muttering a string of curses and pounding at the door.
"Stupid piece of shit." He shouted, and began mumbling again.
I finally clued into what was going on. Seifer was drunk. And he was trying to get into my room. Why? Because he thought it was his.
"Seifer, go back to your own room." I said to him. My head was feeling light now. I placed my hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly he spun around and pushed me against my door. He was leaning into me, and the stench of wine was all over him.
"Seifer, get off me." I struggled to push him off, but he was much to heavy. Either that, or I was much too weak.
He leaned in closer and pressed his lips against mine. It was a sloppy kiss, but I couldn't really blame him. He was drunk.
"Seifer, get off." I managed to push him away, enough for him to stop kissing me.
He looked into my eyes, before his body slammed into mine. Pinning me against my own door. His head rested on my shoulder and he no longer mumbled inaudible words.
I turned my head and looked at his now sleeping figure. I watched how his nose moved ever so slighting every time he exhaled. And then I looked at his lips. His light pink, firm lips. It looked so delicate, so intoxicating. I couldn't help but lean in.
Slowly I pressed my lips against his in this awkward position. It felt like a little electric jolt when my lips touched his. I pulled back quickly. He let out a soft snore. I kept on staring at his lips and wondered what it'd feel like if I kissed him.
Again I leaned towards him. Again my lips touched his. This time I didn't pull back. We stood in this position for a while before I decided to go further. I wanted to know how it would feel if I deepened the kiss. So I did.
My tongue touched his lips. It was strange. Just as I did that, I felt his arm tighten around me. It was as if that light touch had woke him up. The next thing I knew, his tongue was in my mouth. But I didn't stop him.
I slipped my card key into the slot and the door slid open. We both tumbled inside, our lips still connected.
Maybe I was a little drunker than I thought I was.
- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --
- -- - --
Okay, so I admit... I lost a little motivation when I found out only a few people reviewed my story... but it's not my fault!! Okay... so maybe it is... anyway...
There you have it! Chapter five! After such a long time waiting, I finally have chapter five up! Woo hoo! Go me! ffnet's been a little screwy lately... so this chapter's probably not gone be up till a little while longer. Hope you enjoy and please review!
guess that won't happen... it takes me a couple of days (usually) to
write a chapter this long... cuz I happen to be one of those people who
work for about 10 minutes, then take a half hour break... and I usually
don't get more then 30 minutes of actually writing done in a day... and I
usually only work for about... 2 or 3 days a week (if I have the time
to)... 4 if I'm really lucky... okay, so maybe I exaggerated just a
little, but other than that... ya, it takes me forever... sorry! Aite,
lets start off with the reviews again shall we?
Ghost140 - I'm sorry about the cliffhanger... but I happen to like
writing with cliffhangers... I like to watch my readers suffer! Muahahahahahaha Lol... I'm such a
loser! Ya, but anyway, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long! And I
really hope I didn't disappoint you! Well enjoy chapter 5, and thanks so
much for reviewing!
VegaKeep - When I first read you review, I couldn't help but laugh! And
then I thought about it, and I was like, "that is so true!" lol! Who
knows, maybe you're right... maybe Seifer hasn't changed... Maybe he's
still evil... ~.^ lol well, I hope you enjoy the fic so far, and thank
you for reviewing! Really appreciate it!
thugstra - you should feel special!! I like to let my readers know that I
acknowledge their comments on my fic! And I really like it when I know
they read my comments back to them! Makes me feel so special to! ^.^
Why's Squall so mean...? hmmm, good question... why is he? I think,
it's just that Seifer tried to kill him one too many times... so he's
just ticked off... hmm, don't get your hopes up too high... what if
Quistis doesn't do that 'right' think and pass Seifer? *wonders if I
would get stabbed to death* ... *pictures being stabbed to death* ...
hmmm... mizz thugstra... maybe you shouldn't read this chapter... ...
lol! Juss joking! But if it's not what you hoped for... don't come and
kill me! ='( anyway, thanks for reviewing and hope you enjoy this
chappy!
Lovelace - lol! Quistis is smarter than that ~.^ She wouldn't fall for
something like that... now would she? You know... reading about you
shaking Squall like that... makes me wonder if you'd do the same thing to
me if I made Seifer fail... hmmm... doesn't sound like a pleasant idea...
maybe you shouldn't read this chapter either... ... hmmm... lol! Juss
joking! Like I said to thugstra, if things don't go as you hoped for...
don't come and kill me!! I'm just the innocent writer who makes up what
happens to them... okay, maybe I'm not so innocent after all... but I'm
too young to die! Oh, you shouldn't have to apologize, I appreciate
constructive criticism. I wish I could be more 'particular in terms of
attitudes with every individual' like you are! It would make my fics
much more better (or so I think)... *sigh* you're so lucky!
Oh, and it's alrite if you write conversations to me rather than a
review, I still like to hear from my readers... no matter what they have
to say! Lol. Oh and I think I lied... =( I re-thought out the plan for
this fic... and I ended up saying to myself that I didn't like how it was
going, so now, I changed how I was going to end it... and in order for
that to happen, this fic will definitely be longer than I thought (my
originally plan was for it to end at chapter 5, but there's no way that's
gonna happen...) I'm so sorry! I feel terrible. I lied. =(
StarChild - thanks for reviewing! Here's chapter 5, hope you enjoy!
Starlight4u - You know, I started reading your review, and I was like,
"OH MY GOD! Someone hates me! But then I read on... and I realized what
you meant. Lol. I started laughing at myself afterwards... I'm so
stupid sometimes. Well, I tried to update this sooner, but I guess that
didn't happen, but either way, here's chapter 5, I hope you didn't have
to wait for this for too long, thanks for reviewing, and STOP CHASING ME
WITH A PITCHFORK! *takes out a bigger pitchfork* Muahaha! *sees
Starlight taking out a bigger one* Okay... that's it, I'm screwed! *runs
off screaming*
Hotaru9 - Hello to you too! ^.^ I'm so glad that you reviewed! When I
continued this fic, and I didn't see you review, I was so sad! I was
thinking, "aww... s/he (sorry don't know which!) stopped reviewing! I
miss him/her so much!" yup, I'm weird, I know. But it's not my fault!
I was born this way! (either that or I was dropped when I was a baby...
hey! I do remember this time when I fell out of a grocery cart thing...
lol) I'm happy to know that you still enjoy reading this! I know this
is a very odd Seiftis, it just came into my mind this one day, and I
decided to write it. Oh and this mission part with Irvine wasn't just
here to take up some space... *hint* *hint* But ya, I guess you have to
read on to find out how they fall for each other... (or... IF they fall
for each other) and if Seifer makes it to SeeD. Maybe he does, maybe he
doesn't. (And if he doesn't, please, please, please, for the love of
god, DON'T kill me! ^.^)
Okay, with that all done, let's continue, shall we? Recap of the previous chapters... Seifer is back, and Headmaster Cid is only giving him one more chance. If he makes it to SeeD, then he can stay, if he doesn't, well then... bye bye garden for the rest of his life. Now, everyone in the Garden doesn't want Seifer to be there... EXCEPT for Selphie who is also, the only one being nice to him. Even though Quistis despises Seifer, she's tutoring him (a slight chance that she'll get her Instructor's License back IF he passes). There are some arguments between the two, and they both end up humiliating the other one, at one point or another. During this time, Zell and Irvine have been sent on a mission, but they're clues are withering, and it seems like they'll never figure what happened, or who's responsible. Time is getting thinner for them, and if they can't solve it soon, it is their lives they have to pay with...
Last chapter ended off with Seifer and his SeeD exam. Will he pass? I don't know, you'll have to read on to find out!
-- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --
(Seifer)
Xu cleared her voice over the intercom before speaking. "Our newest members are..." Another short pause. "Derrick Aborgale, Tabitha Almans, ..."
I took a deep breath.
Xu hesitated, and more rustling from papers were heard over the intercom. I sighed in reluctance. There was absolutely no way I could possibly make it to SeeD. Why bother to wait and find out what I already knew?
I took another deep breath and exhaled. [No point waiting.] I reminded myself. I got up from my bed and walked to my closet. I pulled out a duffle bag and threw it on my already-made bed. A trail of dust was left in the air, but I didn't care. I began taking out all my clothes from the closet. There wasn't much in there, so a scattered pile of clothes were lying on my bed shortly after. A pair of jeans, an extra trench coat, aside from the one I was already wearing, a few tee shirts, and a couple of extra pants... just like what I wore for my usual attire.
I folded each article of clothing neatly and piled them in the duffle bag. The rustling of paper were no longer heard on the intercom, instead, Xu had turned it off without continuing her list... unless only two people had made it.
Next I walked up to my desk. It was completely empty except for one thing. A picture frame with a picture inside of it. I held the frame gingerly in my hands and rubbed the smooth surface of the glass with my thumb. A crooked smile formed on my face. My eyes got slightly blurry, but I didn't bother to do anything about it. I just looked at the picture.
The picture was basically the only picture that I had that I was in it. It was back at the orphanage. When I was just a little kid. I didn't remember much of my childhood, but whatever I did remember... Matron was in it. And this picture was no exception. Matron wanted a picture before I left to enter the garden. She wanted a picture of me... but I was stubborn. I didn't like taking pictures. I saw no point to them... but I remembered that day, Matron told me she wanted a picture of me because she thought I was special. A unique person, and someone who had great potential. She told me that she loved me and thought of me as her own child. I could never forget that day. Eventually, and quite reluctantly, I let her take a picture of me... only if she was in it.
My eyes got even blurrier as I held onto the picture frame longer. Matron had loved me... She believed in me... she cared for me... things I cannot do for even myself.
My thumb rubbed on picture as I looked at the little boy who was once me. His crooked smile hinted that he had never really known how to smile. His tight grasp on Matron's hand showed how much he didn't want to leave. How much he wanted to stay... but eventually. He did leave. He left to be someone else... He left to be... me. A failure.
"Ahem!" Xu's voice came back on the intercom. "My apologies for the technical difficulties. Now, to congratulate our newest SeeD members, Derrick Aborgale, Tabitha Almans, ..." again Xu paused for a moment, but this time she continued. "Seifer Almasy..." Her voice droned on, but I tuned her out.
The picture frame in my hand fell. It landed on the ground with a soft thud, followed by the sound of shattered glass. The picture slid out of the frame next to my feet.
Seifer Almasy. Did I just imagine that?
* * *
(Squall)
I stormed out the elevator towards Headmaster Cid's office after the announcements were made. Did I hear that correctly? Seifer Almasy passed?! That could not be possible! I had told Quistis to fail him. How could he have made it to SeeD?!
"Good morning Commander." Xu replied in a tired tone, despite that it was a Saturday morning. "Headmaster is in his office with Kianne and Quistis, if you would just..." I didn't let her finish. I just pushed the door open to his office.
As Xu had told me, Kianne and Quistis were there. They both sat down in front of the desk, Headmaster Cid stood behind his desk, and Matron was nowhere in sight.
"Squall. I expected to see you here. Have a seat." Cid gestured to one of the empty chairs.
I pulled the chair right beside Quistis angrily and sat down.
"Now that we're all here. Why don't we start?" Cid sat down on his own chair.
"Headmaster, could you please explain to us how Seifer managed to pass? I was there during the test. He failed to obey instructions and endangered the lives of his team members." Quistis said coolly. Like her usual Instructor-like tone. She didn't hint at any emotions, whether it be anger, shock, or joy. Something I used to do... now I let some of my feelings show... thanks to Rinoa.
"That is why I called Kianne here. Kianne, could you please explain it again?" Headmaster turned to face Kianne.
"Certainly." She smiled, then turned to face Quistis and I. "Quistis, you see, sometimes a person should not listen to what they have been told..." I cut her off.
"Being SeeD means we obey. We obey orders and commands. We do not make up our own rules in this game. If we do, it is highly likely that we would die. That is why we need authority. We need to be led."
"With all due respect Commander," Kianne looked squarely at me. "but there are times when one is given commands that need to be broken. In Seifer's case, he was ordered to stay at his stationed area, however, if he did not do what he had done, two or more of our students would have been killed. If he did not run off away from his stationed area, we might have never been able to kill our enemy." She replied in a low strict voice.
"He endangered other students' lives. They all could have died!" I hissed at her. Maybe I was angry with Kianne, or maybe I was just pissed off that Seifer would not be kicked out yet. "Isn't that right Quistis?"
Quistis nodded her head. "That correct. Seifer did endanger more lives."
"I admit he did, but he did what a person should have done in a situation like that. Orders are given, but there may be other obstacles that were not planned to be there! The leader does not always know what happens in the battlefield. Plans change, new ideas are given. The course of action during a mission depends on whatever obstacles may come. The flying beast, was one of the obstacles that were not expected. Sometimes the commands given are not necessarily the best. A true SeeD must know how to react to a given a situation, even if it means disobeying an order. Seifer proved that he can think for himself. Something that is vital to be a SeeD." Kianne argued.
I must admit, she did have a good point, but compared to my anger that Seifer would stay, it all sounded like bullshit to me.
"Instructor Lee is has a point. Therefore, Seifer is admitted to become a SeeD. He will stay in Balamb Garden. Are there any problems?" Headmaster looked directly at me.
I clenched my teeth, and my fist curled up into a ball. I didn't want that lapdog in the garden, but I guess I had to deal with it. There was no way I could win this fight. I got up abruptly and stormed out. I didn't know what Quistis was thinking, but she had a calm expression on her face.
* * *
(Selphie)
I woke up on time as usual, to hear the announcements - - if any - - that Xu had. And I was surprised to hear that Seifer had made it to SeeD. Immediately after, I ran out my dorm, still in my cute daisy pyjamas, and towards Seifer's dorm. Seify's ear perked up when I got out of my bed so abruptly, but that little sleepy head did not budge otherwise.
So here I was, pounding at Seifer's door, waiting for him to open the door. Soon the door slid open and a surprised Seifer stood there. I couldn't tell if he was surprised at me being here, or if he had heard his name over the intercom. I didn't care. I went right if for a tight hug.
"Seifer, Seifer! Did you hear?! You made it to SeeD!" I shouted with joy. But I knew he had heard. I could bet he was pretty shocked too.
He didn't say anything or do anything. So I let go of him and waved my hand in front of his face.
"Helloooo!" I stretched out the word as I continued to wave my hand in his face. Still no reaction. "Earth to Seify!"
Finally he did something. He grabbed my hand so I would stop. "I told you never to call me that." He finally said. He sounded calm. He didn't sound pissed off. Maybe the surprise finally left him.
"Just needed a way to bring you back!" I smiled at him. "Congrats! You made it to SeeD! I knew you would!" I stuck out my hand for a handshake, but he didn't take it. Instead, he pulled me into a tight bear hug.
"Thanks." Even though I was being squashed by his strength, I could just imagine the smile on his face.
"Hey Seifer!" I called out, but it sounded like muffling to me. My face was pressed against his chest. "I'm kinda dying here!" He let go of me. His face turned a light shade of red. "Hey!! You know what? As a reward, I'll take you out for dinner, on a cruise ship! Tuesday night! Okay?"
"Who else is going?"
"Oh... just Kianne... and maybe some other person... I'm not sure who it is yet..."
Seifer gave out a gruff chuckle. "You sure it's a reward for me? Or is it so you don't have to go alone while Kianne has a date?"
I blushed. He saw right through it.
* * *
(Irvine)
I woke up with the sunlight piercing through the window and to my eyes. I yawned and stretched out my arms. This was getting tiring. We still hadn't figured out who had murdered the people of this town, and we were running low on gil because of all the nights we had stayed at the hotel.
I pulled the blanket off me and got up. Tiredly, I walked into the bathroom and washed my face and brushed my teeth. I was about to jump into the shower when I remembered I didn't get any clothes. So I walked back into the room and headed to my bag of clothes. I noticed Zell was already awake and gone out somewhere. His bed was neatly made and the clothes he would wear was sitting on the chair near the bed. He did that every night. Pick out his clothes and lay it on the chair to wear the next day.
I took out my clothes that I would wear and headed back to the bathroom. I stopped midway. [Zell... his clothes. His clothes are still there. But he's not there. What the hell?!] I was interrupted by a soft, but urgent rap on my door.
"Irvine, Zell, open up! It's Mark."
I rushed to the door and let Mark in. He had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for a long while. He looked exasperated. Just as I let him in, he quickly closed the door behind him.
"Hey, have you seen Zell?" I asked. "His clothes are still here, but he seems to be gone." I pointed to his clothes on the chair.
"Shit!" Mark swore in a hushed whisper.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Zell... was that Zell? Was he walking in the hallway yesterday night?" Mark whispered while looking out the window as if looking for something or someone, before pulling the curtains closed.
"Ya. He was. He said something about forgetting to pay for the rooms..." I tried to remember exactly what he had said, but I was too sleepy. I wasn't paying attention to what he had to say.
"Fukk!" This time Mark swore a little louder. "Shit! Zell's in trouble!"
"What? What the hell are you talking about?" I whispered back to him. He motioned me to come closer to him. I did, and he began whispering.
"I figured out who we're looking for. It's that receptionist! The code spelt out receptionist! It's gotta be that girl downstairs!" Mark whispered harshly.
"What? I thought it was a guy."
"'She' is a guy! 'She's' just disguised as a girl! Fukk. The phone lines. They were cut last night. I couldn't contact you. And someone kept moving in the hallway. I didn't know who it was, but I thought it was her/him whatever. Shit. You said Zell went to pay for our rooms? 'She's' got him. That guy's got him." He whispered and the words seem to rush out of his mouth.
"What? So you're saying that receptionist got Zell?"
"You said Zell's not here..." Suddenly there was a scream from the room beside. Mark, Tony, and Gerald's room.
Mark's eyes widened. He pulled out his weapon. A short, double-edged staff. I grabbed my sniper and we both rushed to the other room. When we got there, we saw both Tony and Gerald on the ground. Tony was unconscious near one of the beds and Gerald was bleeding... a lot. He was supporting himself by having one of his hands on the chair, pulling himself up so he did not fall down. He was probably afraid that if he fell, he would not be able to get up again. Blood was everywhere, but mostly on Gerald.
"Gerald!" Mark half shouted as he rushed to him. He cast a cure spell, but nothing happened.
"That bitch! That receptionist... 'she' came through the window..." Both Mark and I looked up to the window, sure enough, it was shattered, and blood dripped from the windowsill. We feared for the worst. "'She' threw Tony against the bed... I don't even know if he's dead... 'she' stabbed me... help... I think I'm dying..." He said between deep breaths.
"Zell! Was Zell with 'her'?" I asked as I fished out an antidote in my pocket.
"No... I didn't see him... but I managed to stab 'her' back..." Mark was taking shorter breaths. I was getting scared. What if he died? "But 'she' didn't seem to feel the pain."
"Here. Swallow this! It will stop the bleeding and ease the pain!" I stuffed a pill in his mouth before he could say anything.
Next Mark poured a potion in his mouth to make the pill easier to swallow. Some of his wound started to heal immediately, but it wasn't enough to say that he wasn't in critical condition.
"'She' just went out... if you go, you might be able to catch 'her'." His eyelids began drooping.
"Gerald! You can't die here!" Mark shouted at his friend.
"Go! I'll be fine!" He tried to push Mark away, but didn't have much strength.
"Irvine, go! I'll take care of Gerald." Mark turned to face me.
"No! The both of you would kill her easier! Just go! I'll be fine!" Gerald used as much strength as he could to push Mark away. "I won't die here. I won't. Don't worry!"
Without letting them argue anymore, I grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him out the door. We ran down the stairs and to our horror saw Zell lying across the reception desk. He was completely bruised, and if it weren't for his distinctive hairstyle, I would have never known it was him. I was afraid that he could be bleeding internally. It looked like some sick bastard used him as a punching bag.
We both darted out the doors and on the street, looking around.
"Other there!" Mark pointed up to a building. On the roof a figure was trying to place a board over the gap between the building to another.
"How the hell are we going to get up there?!" I asked, but we didn't need to.
Just as the person was running across the board, the wood snapped in half. The person fell down from the building. We both ran to where the person was, but to our surprise, when we got there, we saw the person standing up, as if the fall didn't hurt at all.
"What are you waiting for?" The female voice mocked at us as 'she' lifted 'her' arms up to fight. 'She' was going to fight with fists.
"Die bitch!" Mark ran up to attack 'her', but before he could make it to 'her', 'she' punched out into the air, and a gust of wind forced Mark to slam down onto the ground.
I took aim with my sniper and shot, but before it made it to 'her', 'she' pulled out a knife from under pants and threw it straight at where I shot. The knife was covered in blood, probably the same knife that 'she' used to stab Gerald. But to my surprise, the knife cut through the bullet and headed straight towards me. I managed to just narrowly avoid the hit to my head. The bullet pieces fell down to the ground with a clanking sound.
I knew my bullet wouldn't make it to 'her', but I shot again anyway. Just as the bullet passed Mark, he ran towards the girl/guy and threw his weapon at 'her'. I suppose he was losing all hope that we would win.
The girl/guy looked as if 'she' was going to punch again, but something pulled 'her' back. 'She' moved in such a strange way that it looked like 'she' was a little string puppet that was pulled back suddenly.
The bullet hit 'her'. The double-edged staff pierced into 'her' abdomen. The strange thing was that when the bullet pierced through 'her' forehead, and mask slid off 'her' face and revealed 'her' real face. That of a man's. But the mask was not like normal. The face of the girl on it fell down to the ground and shattered. As if it were porcelain. It shattered.
I walked up to Mark. His lip was bleeding and his arm was all scarred from falling on the ground.
"You think it's over?" I asked him, while helping him pull out his weapon.
Something strange happened. The sun that rarely shined into this town began shining again. The sun's rays lighted up all the streets. The grey stone buildings no longer looked cold and dead. There were actually colours. They looked like normal buildings. All because the sun began shining into this town again.
"It's gotta be over." Mark said in relief.
* * *
(Somewhere Else)
(Someone unknown)
The string snapped from my hand as I watched the bullet pierce into my little puppet's head. I had been watching these couple of boys figuring out who my plaything had been, and finally they had found him. Because I let them...
The image began to blur and a swirling colour formed. Soon the swirling was gone, and all I was left with was a pool of water. What the image had originally been. I tossed whatever piece of the string left on my hand into the water. Just as it landed into the water, the string disappeared.
I turned around and smiled at the man behind me. He only gave me a confused look.
"Why did you let them kill P18 so easily?" He asked me.
P18. Plaything number 18. William Dafoe. Will used to be a student of mine... but I grew tired of him, so I decided to use him as a plaything. Besides, I had my fun. Maybe this time they would heed my warning.
"I got tired." I said as I examined my nails. They were painted dark blue this year. Opposed to last year's black. I always changed the colour of them every year. "Besides... I have better plans for them." A wicked smile formed on my face.
* * *
(Saturday Night)
(Quistis)
I was standing in the Secret Area, gazing out into the night sky. A lot of things had been on my mind all day long, but I didn't want to think about it. First was Seifer. He had made it to SeeD. I didn't fail him. In a strange and odd way, I didn't want to fail him. I don't know why, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Of course, Kianne was the one who marked his performance on the SeeD exam, but I was given the opportunity to voice my opinions. Kianne had passed him. I knew it before the announcements were made. I saw it on the test sheet. Headmaster wanted me to evaluated Kianne's performance, not the students. Kianne gave me the test results. I was supposed to write a comment about them or how she marked them for Headmaster Cid to see. When I came to Seifer's paper, I didn't know what to write.
I sat at my desk in my room, wondering what to write for him. Kianne didn't give an explanation why Seifer had passed, but I didn't really want to fail him so... outright. I stared at his exam paper for a long while before I wrote down what I really thought. 'Seifer did exceptionally well on his SeeD exam. Except he failed to obey instructions.' I truly did think he did a very good job... but I didn't want to leave it just at that. That would be so... unlike me. So I had to add the last part.
I sighed, and decided it was time to head back into my dorm. I walked out the Secret Area and quietly made my way out the training centre, careful not to awake any of the beasts in there. As I made it out the double doors, I saw Kianne and Selphie walking around in the main foyer.
"It's pretty empty here..." I heard Kianne tell Selphie. "but what can I expect? It is a Saturday... and not the mention the students are off from classes!"
"That's so true! Hey Kianne... how come you won't tell me who you like?" Selphie asked as they sat down the edge of the fountain.
I got curious, so I crept closer. I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but it seemed pretty interesting to me.
"Well... I'll tell you... only if you promise not to tell a single soul!" She replied like a little schoolgirl afraid to let others know who she liked.
"Okay!"
But before Kianne could say the name, Irvine walked in from the front doors. I guess he finally accomplished his mission.
"Irvine!" Selphie exclaimed as she jumped from her seat excitedly, but she quickly sat back down. "How was the mission?"
"Not that good. Tony, Mark, Gerald and Zell are all in the Balamb hospital..." he replied sadly.
"What?!" Kianne bolted upright. "What happened? Are they alright?!" I wasn't too sure why she would have been so emotional about it... or maybe...
"It was terrible...Tony and Zell are both unconscious, and Mark and Gerald's just getting his wounds patched up. They're all going to be sent back here to be treated in the Infirmary tomorrow morning though." Irvine replied. He took off his hat and held it to his chest and looked down at the ground sadly. A little disheartened. I guess it was because his whole team were injured...
Right after he said that, Kianne bolted out the door without saying another word. She ran like she hadn't ran before. As if she had to run in order so live. She was definitely really worried about them... or one of them especially.
"Are you alright?" Selphie stood up and walked up to Irvine. She placed one of her hands on his cheek and gently pushed his head to the side. She looked around his head to make sure there were no wounds.
"I'm alright, don't worry about me." He turned to face her again.
They stood in that position for a while. Both of them staring into the other's eyes. Not moving, and hardly even breathing. Suddenly Selphie broke the awkward silence. She looked away and backed up away from him. From what I could see, the look on Irvine's face showed hurt. I knew Selphie still liked Irvine... but I didn't understand why she didn't want to be with him anymore.
"Oh, here, before I forget." Irvine fished around in his pocket before pulling out a little box from his trench coat. "Happy Belated Birthday Selphie." He handed her the box. She gingerly took the little black box from his hands.
Selphie's birthday. Belated birthday. [SHIT!] I swore in my head. I had forgotten all about Selphie's birthday!! Excuses began running through my head. I didn't know what to tell her. 'I'm sorry Selphie, but I forgot about your birthday...' I knew I couldn't be that honest... I'd probably hurt her feelings. 'Selphie, I had a lot of things to do during the week, sorry I didn't give you your gift until now.' [Hmm... that seemed too wordy...]
"Thanks!" Selphie said happily. Even though her back was towards me, I could tell that she was smiling brightly.
A soft 'click' was heard when she opened the box. "Oh my! This is gorgeous!" She exclaimed as she pulled something out from the box.
The thing she pulled out shimmered in the moonlight. By the shape of it, it looked like a bracelet.
"Here, let me help you." Irvine took the bracelet from her hand and helped her put it on her wrist.
"It's so beautiful! Thank you!" She jumped up and gave him a hug.
Irvine looked shock. Selphie held onto him for a few seconds before he regained his composure and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her closer and closed his eyes, while smiling happily.
I couldn't remember the last time I saw them together so intimate. It felt like it had been forever since they broke up. I still remember that day when I found out they broke up. It was engraved into my mind. I remembered I was sitting in the cafeteria sipping on a cup of coffee while reading the news, when Selphie walked in and sat down across from me.
I had put the paper down to face her, but was surprised when I saw her eyes were eye and puffy.
"Selphie, what's wrong?!" I asked her. I was really concerned. Never had I seen her in this state before.
"Quistis... I don't know if that was the right thing to do..." She muttered to me. Fresh tears began falling from her eyes.
"What did you do? Are you alright?" I put my cup down and grabbed on of her hands, holding onto it.
"I... I... broke up with Irvine." She blurted out before resting her head down. Soft muffled sobs came out.
I didn't know what to say. So I just held onto her hand. I had never been in a situation like that before, so I didn't know what I could do. At first I didn't talk to her about it. I didn't ask her anything about it. Not even why she broke up with him. I just acted as if nothing had happened. I don't know whether Selphie liked me doing that, or if she actually wanted me to ask so that she could get some things off her chest. But either way, I didn't think it was my problem that I had to deal with. But I was wrong. It was my problem. Both Selphie and Irvine were two of my closest friends and I didn't do anything about it. So after a while, I let myself in. I pulled the mask off my face. I came out from my hiding spot. I tried to talk to them both about it... I wanted them to get back together. I knew they were happier together, and I wanted them to be happy. But it was too late. Selphie would no longer talk about it. In the end, I didn't do much help, and I still didn't know why they broke up.
"It's getting late. I better go back to my dorm." Selphie's voice brought me back into reality. She pulled away from Irvine.
"I'll walk you there." He offered.
"No. No, it's alright." She turned around and walked towards her dorm, leaving Irvine behind. I could tell that she still loved him... but still would not accept him back.
* * *
(Sunday)
(Seifer)
Selphie and I were walking Almasy down the beach. She had called me early in the morning, and practically forced me to come with her. Even though I was annoyed with her because of this, I didn't show it. I knew exactly why she had made me come with her. I knew why she didn't want to stay at the garden. Two words. Irvine Kinneas. He had returned from his mission, and I knew Selphie did not want to see him more than she had too. And being with someone else would get her mind off him, especially somebody who could care less about what happened between them. Somebody like me. But she was wrong. I did care. Not so much about that cowboy, but more of her. I cared about her. Her friendliness and acceptance of me opened up more feelings within myself. I had learned to care about somebody else besides Matron and myself.
"Seify's just so cute! Look at him!" Now she was running alongside with the playful little dog. Today he had a bright yellow ribbon tied on his tail, as opposed to yesterday's hot pink.
"He looks like a bitch."
"Seifer! Seify's not a bitch! You take that back!"
"What? I'm telling you the truth. He looks like a female dog! Especially with that thing in his tail!" I argued.
"Oh..." Selphie's face turned a light pink. She had took it the wrong way. "That thing is a ribbon! And it only makes him cuter!"
"He looks like a wuss. Heh, just like that chickenwuss." I mumbled the last part to myself and imagined Zell with a ribbon in his hair. I shivered. What a terrible mistake! Now I would have nightmares.
"Seify's so not a wuss! Right Seify? You're not a wuss, you're a cutie pie!" Selphie grabbed the dog and cradled him in her arms like a little baby. The dog barked once before jumping out of her arms.
Selphie began running after the dog. I couldn't help but think about her and her relationship with Irvine. Curiosity did strike me, but I wasn't the type to talk about something like that. I did want to know why they broke up. I did want to know why Selphie wouldn't take him back... but I knew she still loved that guy... why? Because I saw them. Together. Hugging. Last night. I was there. I was there when he walked through the door. I saw Kianne run out the doors, and I saw Selphie hugging him tightly... for a while too. But she let go... she let go of him. I wanted to know why.
"Seifer! That reminds me, here." Selphie had ran back to me while I was thinking. I didn't even noticed. She handed me a ticket. I took it out of her hands a looked at it.
"Dinner on a cruise ship? What's this?" I asked, holding the paper towards her.
"Don't tell me you forgot!!" She folded her arms across her chest and looked at me angrily.
I didn't say anything. I did forget... that is, if she even told me anything.
"Seifer! You said you'd come with me for dinner on Tuesday... with Kianne... remember?"
Right. Dinner. I didn't want to go.
"Wouldn't you rather go with someone else?" I asked. There were two reasons I asked this. One, I really didn't want to go, and two, maybe she'd rather have Irvine with her.
"Of course not! And you better not back out! Or else, I'll be really, really, really, mad at you! And you know what I'll do? I have Seify attack you! Right Seify?" She called back to the puppy that was running towards her. "You'll attack your daddy for me right?"
The dog jumped up at her, and balanced his front paws on her leg. He barked at her.
"Not me silly! Come on Seify! Attack Seifer!" She pointed at me, while looking at the dog. Again it barked. But this time, it jumped at her again.
I couldn't help but laugh.
* * *
(Infirmary - Kianne)
I held his hand in mine and gently stroke it. I prayed to god that he would wake up soon, but Dr. Kadowaki had told me the chances of him waking from the coma might take weeks. She doubted that he would get up so early... but I held my hopes up high.
I looked at the person lying on the bed, and globular tears formed in my eyes. He looked nothing like how he used to. His face was bandaged and bruised. One of his eyes looked so bruised, it didn't look like there was an eye anymore. I scanned the rest of his figure. All sorts of tubes were sticking out of him. Thankfully he could still breathe on his own and didn't need a respirator, but there were so many bags of fluids being put into him... and out of him.
A tear fell from my eyes as I worried that he might not awaken. Although he was healing drastically since last night - - the bruises on him weren't as huge - - there was a slight chance that he might not wake up... and that frightened me. What would I do if he didn't?
I leaned in towards him. My fingertips brushed the side of his face, along his tattoo.
"Zell..." I whispered. "You gotta get up soon." Another tear fell from my eyes and onto his face. It rolled down the side that was bruised. Maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks - - after all, they were blurry - - but it looked like the swelling decreased. "You just have to make it Zell... you gotta..." Another tear fell down. They were coming faster and faster now.
"Zell... if you don't get up... how do I let you know..." Another tear. "...That I love you?" A few more tears fell from my eyes.
I couldn't take it anymore. I had to close my eyes. I couldn't look at his face anymore. If I did, I knew more tears would just fall from my eyes... not like there weren't already. More tears kept on rolling out of my eyes like a faucet, just as I was about to let go of his hand and wipe the tears away, I felt his fingertips move in my hand. My eyes popped open. His hand moved again.
* * *
(Tuesday)
(Irvine)
Tuesday afternoon. I hadn't seen Selphie since I got back. I knew why. I knew she was avoiding me. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to sort things out. If not, at least I wanted to see her. But no. She didn't give me the chance. She was doing whatever possible to avoid me. She even gave up on decorating for the SeeD graduation party this Friday so that I couldn't find her. Last time she was mad at me, it took me a whole week before I could confront her... and that was only because Kianne was helping me. I was so useless. I couldn't even tell her how much I loved and missed her.
I continued walking down aimlessly through the corridors, thinking about Selphie and all the good times we had together. It wasn't before I crashed into someone before I realized that I was daydreaming.
"Watch where you're going mother fu..." There was an obvious tone of annoyance and anger in the voice.
"Sorry." I muttered, still looking down at the ground. I continued walking without recognizing who I had crashed into.
"Irvine." The voice said. I turned around to face whoever it was. To my surprise, it was Seifer.
"Oh, hey Seifer. Congrats." I gave him a weak smile. He didn't say anything else, so I turned around and continued on my way. But he called me again.
"Irvine." This time I didn't turn around. "Here." He jabbed me in the back with what seemed like paper.
I turned around to see what it was. It was a little piece of paper. He handed me the paper and I looked at it. I raised an eyebrow.
"What's this?" I took it out of his hand and read it. My eyes widened slightly. Enough for him not to notice. "A dinner on a cruise ship? What's this about?" I asked, handing the ticket back to him.
He didn't take it. "Don't ask. Just go." Without another word he briskly strode down the hallway, his trench coat flapping behind him.
I stood in the hall, confused more than ever. [Should I go?] I looked down at the ticket and back up to where Seifer had went. But he had already disappeared past the corner. I stuffed the ticket in my pocket. [What the heck, there's nothing to lose... right?]
* * *
(Tuesday Night)
"Have a nice night sir." The foreman motioned me to get on the ship after I handed him my ticket. "Just go down to the right, table 43 should be at the end." He pointed to the direction I had to go.
"Thank you." I replied as I headed into the ship.
It was very elegant. The ship had been decorated like a formal party was held on it. Everyone was dressed in proper formal attire. Thankfully I did too. I made my way to the end of the ship looking around for my table. Sure enough it was at the very end. To my surprise I saw Zell, Kianne, and Selphie there. [So Seifer was helping me. How strange.] I thought as I walked up to the table, just in time to hear Kianne say, "You look fine, don't worry." To Zell.
"Hello." They looked up at me and I smiled at them. Selphie was surprised the most.
"Where's Seifer?" She asked.
"Uh...he... umm... he..." I stuttered, thinking of something to say. "Ya, uh... he had some things to do, so he told me to come for him." I lied. Even though I felt indifferent with Seifer, he did help me get to Selphie, and the least I could have done was help him back. Otherwise, Selphie would probably get a piece of him when she got back.
"Oh..." Selphie's voice was filled with disappointment.
"Oh shoot!" Kianne exclaimed suddenly after I took a seat beside Selphie. "I left my ring in the washroom!" She got up abruptly. "Come on Zell, let's go find it." She tugged on his sleeve.
"What?! I'm not going to the ladies room!" He shouted. But it wasn't that loud because his voice couldn't strain that high.
Zell still looked pretty bad. His face was still bruised, but it was less, but still noticeable. His suit covered the rest of the bruises on his body, but just by looking at his face, anyone could tell he had been badly beat up.
What surprised me the most was how fast he recovered. Just a few days ago, he was lying in Balamb hospital in critical condition. Now here he was, walking, moving free as ever. Maybe Kianne was an angel sent to help him.
"Not to the ladies room silly! Someone probably found it by now... we should go talk to the ship captain or something." She continued to pull on his sleeve.
Although Zell was complaining a lot, she managed to pull him out of his seat and towards the other side of the ship. But I knew what she was trying to do. She was leaving Selphie and I here for some alone time.
We sat in silence for a long while. Selphie kept on looking out into the ocean, avoiding and eye contact with me. Suddenly the ship's engine started and the ship began moving. The cool night breeze blew past us.
"I wonder what's taking them so long." She finally said, still looking at the ocean. It seemed like she was talking to herself more than to me.
"They probably left." I replied.
Finally she turned to face me.
"What?!" First shock was written all over her face. Then anger. "No..." She whispered when she realized it could be true.
I got up and took Zell's unoccupied seat across from her.
"Selphie, we need to talk."
"I have to go." She placed the napkin on the table and was able to get up, but I leaned towards her and grabbed her hand.
"You can't avoid me forever Selphie. Can't we just talk it through?" My eyes pleaded her.
"Okay. Fine. What is it that you want to talk about?" She looked squarely into my eyes, but immediately turned her head to the ocean again.
"Look, Selphie I'm sorry about how things have been going between us lately..." I started, but she cut me off.
"It's not your fault." She stated out angrily.
"Selphie, just hear me out first. I know it's been rough for both of us. I know you've been avoiding me. I know okay? I just know. Selphie, you know that I still care for you..." She cut me off again.
"But I don't care for you..." The words came out slower than it actually did. My heart felt like it was ripping, slowly and painfully. I bit back the pain and continued talking.
"I care about you. I still love you. You know that Selphie. Don't pretend you don't. And don't pretend you don't care. You wouldn't avoid me if you didn't care. But I know that I hurt you before. And I know that you're afraid I'll hurt you again. So, I just want to let you know that no matter how much I love you, I'm not going to force you to love me back. I just want to see you happy... even if it means that we're not together." I bit my lip. It was painful. If she ever did choose not to be with me, it would be hell, but at least... I'd still have her as a friend. "I just want us to stay friends. No more avoiding each other. Just like old times."
There was a long awkward silence. We just stared at each other. I didn't know what else to say. I was afraid. What if she rejected me? What if we couldn't even be friends?
"What are you waiting for? Let's not waste a perfectly good dinner!" She beamed at me happily. I hadn't seen her smiled since forever.
I smiled back at her. Although it pained me to only be friends... it was the best I could hope for.
* * *
(Kianne)
Zell and I were walking down the beach as I watched the ship move further away. I smiled. [I wish you two the best of luck.] I thought in my head.
"Kianne, I thought you lost your ring..." Zell began, but I cut him off.
"Of course not silly! It's right here!" I waved my hand in front of his face.
He looked confused for a moment, but then everything clicked in. "Oh... I get it now!" He paused for a few seconds. "You didn't like the food there?"
I couldn't help but laugh. "You're so silly! Come on! Let's walk down the beach!" I wrapped my arm around his. He didn't seem to mind, but he didn't seem to care either.
"Why'd you make me come? I look like a mess! My face is still bruised." He whined.
"No you don't! You always look fine to me!" I exclaimed.
I took a step forward, but the heel of my shoe went down the wrong way. There was a snap, before I began falling. Suddenly I felt his arms around me as he pulled me back up. It was like some kind of cheesy chick flick. Where the girl suddenly trips and her prince charming pulls her back up, slowly. The girl and guy locks eye contact and stay in embrace for a moment before the guy leans in to kiss her. Too bad that didn't actually happen for me.
"You alright?" He asked, letting go of me.
"Oh ya, just fine." I brushed the hair away from my face. "Oh drat! My shoe's broken." I took off my sandals and held them in my hand.
"Maybe we should head back to the garden." He suggested.
"No! But... I want to walk on the beach..." I frowned.
"But you don't have shoes." He pointed out.
"Walking in the sand won't hurt! Besides, if we walk back, my feet's gonna hurt!" He was right though. I didn't have shoes, and if I didn't go back now, we could encounter some monsters, which would be worse. The cab I had rented earlier wouldn't come and pick us up until the ship came back... and I didn't know how long that would take.
"Here, I'll carry you back." He offered. He bent down so I could climb on his back.
I quickly took advantage of this and got onto his back. He lifted me up with ease. I rested my head on his shoulder. He felt so nice... even though I could feel some of his bruises.
"Are you sure it's alright? You're not hurt or anything?" If he was, I didn't want him to carry me anymore then.
"Naw, it's alright. You're light, so it's all good." He said as he made our way back to the garden.
He didn't know it, but I was smiling and blushing a lot. It felt like I was on cloud number nine. I couldn't help it. This oaf really made me happy.
* * *
(Garden - Main foyer)
(Rinoa)
"I can't believe Seifer actually made it to SeeD. I wonder how it's going to be like with Seifer here for good." I was sitting on the side of the fountain area and watched my legs dangle. I began swinging my legs forwards and back repeatedly, one after the other. Squall was sitting beside me, with one of his arms wrapped around my waist.
It was a Tuesday night. Normally, Squall would be busy doing something, but since it was the summer, everyone was on a break. Most of the students would go and visit their families, or go on vacations, soon. That is, after the SeeD graduation party. Actually, it was a graduation and a year- end party combined into one. Which meant, after the party, only a few students would be left in the Garden. I wanted to go to somewhere romantic, but Squall protested against it. Plus, his excuse was, 'The garden might have an emergency. It'd be good if there were still some people around to help.' But I highly doubted that would ever happen.
"..." Squall didn't say anything.
"Do you think Quistis might have let Seifer stay?" I asked, still kicking my feet.
"No."
"Why not? Quistis doesn't seem to have a grudge on Seifer anymore... maybe she purposely let him stay."
"Quistis wouldn't do that."
"Oh, it's because she'll do what you tell her to do right?" I was getting a little angry. I was beginning to wonder if Squall actually knew Quistis liked or possibly, likes him.
"What are you talking about?" He turned his head to face me.
"Oh! You know what I'm talking about Squall!" I got up angrily.
"Rinoa! I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know you know! I know you knew that Quistis liked you! She'd probably do anything for you!" My voice was rising.
"That ridiculous! Quistis would never..." He stopped talking when he saw Quistis approaching us from down the hall. I could tell she hadn't heard a word we had said, but would soon if we continued.
"Perfect timing." I said. "If you so truly believe that Quistis didn't like you. Tell her off now. Tell her you never liked her."
"Rinoa! I can't do that!"
"Which only proves you did know that she liked you! Which could mean that you like her too!" I slowly began realizing what secret I could have unravelled.
"You know I only have my eyes on you!" He hissed. Quistis was coming closer and closer.
"Then tell her." I folded my arms across my chest and gave him my most serious look.
Squall looked very reluctant, but turned around to face Quistis.
"A little late for you two to be here isn't it?" Quistis asked.
Squall looked at me one more time. I gave him a death glare, which Quistis obviously took notice. He turned back to face her.
"Quistis, I'm sorry if I ever led you on, but..." He paused. Quistis gave a confused look. I glared at the back of his head. "I never liked you. I love Rinoa. I always had, and always will."
I frowned. He had said all that... just for me. And I didn't trust him before.
Quistis' was puzzled. She didn't know how to react, then she let out a short giggle. "Of course you do! If you ever hurt Rinoa, you'd have to deal with me!"
My stopped beating. Quistis. My friend. One of my closest friends. And I had doubted her. I felt miserable. All that time I thought she hated me and wanted to take Squall away from me... all the time I hated her for thinking of that... all that time... it was only in my mind. I had doubted Quistis. And I had doubted Squall. I felt terrible.
"Quistis! I'm so sorry!" I ran up to her and gave her a big hug. Tears were falling from my eyes like raindrops. "I'm so, so, so, so sorry Quistis!"
She hugged me back. "It's alright. Don't worry about it."
"Sorry..." I heard Squall mumble.
After a short while, Quistis pushed me back. "It's alright silly! You don't have to cry!" She paused. "If it's alright with you two, I was heading out..."
"Oh! Sorry!" I sniffed. I moved out of her way and wiped the tears from my eyes. I felt Squall's arms coil around my waist.
We watched as Quistis headed out the front doors into the dark night. I spun around into Squall's chest and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so sorry Squall!" I sniffed.
"Shh... I love you."
"I love you too." I whispered.
* * *
(Quistis)
I was surprised. I never actually thought in my whole entire life that Squall would say something like that to me. But I misjudged him. The things he would do for Rinoa. What surprised me the most was how I reacted. I thought that I might bawl or get upset, but now, I feel great. Never better in my whole entire life. Maybe it was at that moment I finally realized that I had gotten over him. I finally realized that I could not have him... especially when he and Rinoa are so in love with one another. If I had ever broken them up, I'd probably feel miserable and everything.
Another thing I realized was that I no longer envied Rinoa to the extent that I hated her. I still envy her, yes. But not to the same extent. I'm happy that they have each other, but I still wish I had someone to be there for me... I wanted a genuine nice guy. Life didn't seem too bad anymore. Who knows, maybe it would take a better turn now.
"Come on Almasy, bring it back!" I heard a thick male voice call out.
I looked up and saw Seifer calling out to a dog. The same dog from Selphie's room. I remembered, when I went to give Selphie her gift, I had seen the dog with her. I was surprised. Seifer... playing with a dog?
The dog ran up to me and barked. I bent down and patted it on the head, and stroked its silky fur. I heard Seifer run up towards us.
"Seifer, never knew you had a dog." I said, not bothering to look up. I knew it wasn't his dog, but it'd be fun to hear what he had to say.
"It's... uh... a friend's." He stuttered.
"Seifer? And friends? Wow, I'm surprised!" I stood up and faced him.
"Looks like I have more friends then you at the moment." he countered.
"Touché." Seifer one, Quistis zero. "Well congrats on making it to SeeD, Seifer."
"What's this? My 'favourite' Instructor congratulating me? That's a surprise!"
"On job well done."
"That's strange, you never praised me before." He looked at me suspiciously.
"I would have if you listened."
"Only if I were your precious puberty boy. Maybe if you weren't so involved with him, I might have listened."
"Maybe if you weren't so arrogant in the first place, I might have praised you. But you wouldn't listen to me anyway." I countered.
He didn't say anything. Seifer one. Quistis one.
"I'm listening now."
I opened my mouth to say something, but then I realized I didn't know what to say, so I closed my mouth.
"That's what I thought."
So maybe it was Seifer two, Quistis zero.
"Well okay. Listen up Seifer. I know you're truly a nice guy underneath your tough exterior. I know you're just a little child who's lost. I know that you want to be free. I know you're someone unique and special. I know you want to show the world what you can do..." I was going to go on, but Seifer cut me off.
"Well it looks like you don't know me at all." Without letting me say another word, he stormed back in, with the puppy trotting along behind him.
So maybe I didn't know him that well... but if he only opened up a little more, I would probably understand him better.
* * *
(Friday Morning)
(Cid)
"Ah! Good morning Charles! This is a pleasant surprise!" I got up from my desk and motioned the gentleman and lady to the seat.
Charles was the new Headmaster of Galbadia Garden. He was nearly a decade younger than me, but somehow we managed to put aside the age difference and become close friends. The lady beside him was someone I had never seen before. She had firey red hair and was around shoulder length. She was fairly slender and was a very attractive young lady. She looked to be in her mid twenties.
"Cid! Long time no see!" He took my hand and gave it a ferocious handshake.
"And who might this young lady be?" I asked as we all took a seat.
"Oh, Cid, let me introduce to you my lovely fiancée, Elaine."
"Pleasure to meet you." I stuck out my hand for a handshake. She looked at my hand as if she had no idea what it was supposed to mean. So I just pulled back my hand.
"Elaine has never seen any other garden before and she just wanted to see Balamb so desperately..." He got cut off.
"Charles tells me that it is a wonderful and beautiful place!" She exclaimed, waving her hands in the air.
"He exaggerates." I grinned. "Would you like a tour?"
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Maybe it was just me, but she sounded somewhat sarcastic. "But..."
"But?" I asked.
"Well Cid, you know that Galbadia has been short of students lately... after that incident..." Charles explained.
The incident. Right. That was a few years ago. The Sorceress War. But somehow, Galbadia never seemed to recover from that just yet.
"We were wondering if we could borrow a student of yours." He finished.
"A student? Well, it's up to the student if he or she wishes to go to Galbadia... but who do you have in mind?" I looked at the two. They didn't say anything at first, but eventually, Elaine opened her mouth.
"Seifer Almasy."
* * *
(Friday - Afternoon)
(Selphie)
I was ironing my scarf for my pretty yellow dress - - how the scarf got wrinkled was beyond me - - when someone knocked on my door. The graduation party would be in about 4 hours, but I wanted to get ready early so I could check up on the decorating job the students did.
"Who is it?" I asked while opening the door. To my surprise, it was Seifer. He held a small box with holes. "Lemme guess, it's Seify?" I gestured to the box.
He nodded his head. "Didn't know how long you would be gone last night so I took care of him."
"Ya, I noticed when you left the note on my desk." I pointed to the note that was still on my desk. "You dognapped my dog! And not only that, you broke into my room! How'd you do that anyway?" I motioned him to come in.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out." He gave me a wicked grin.
"Ha. Funny." I said, unimpressed. "Say, you have a date tonight?" I didn't really want to go alone, nor did I really want to go with Irvine... who, surprisingly hadn't asked me to go with him yet.
"Wouldn't you rather go with someone else?" Maybe it was me, but it sounded like he was suggesting something.
"What?!"
"Never mind. I want to go alone." He replied.
"Where you suggesting Irvine?"
"No. But you did."
"I..." I closed my mouth. He got me there. "Do you think I should?" I opened the box and let Seify jump out the box. He immediately ran to his little bed and made himself comfortable.
"I'm not the person to ask these kind of things." I could tell he felt uneasy about the topic.
"No, but that makes you the perfect person to ask. Do you think I should go with Irvine? I mean, like, if I asked Quistis or anyone else, they'd probably say yes. I know you're indifferent with these kinds of situations, so I'd like your opinion."
He didn't say anything for a while. I didn't expect him to, but he eventually did.
"Everybody deserves a second chance."
I was surprised to hear him say that.
"I don't know... He's always looking at other girls..." Though it wasn't completely true, I wasn't sure if I wanted to accept him just yet.
"He's a guy. What do you expect? All guys are like that. But you're lucky, at least he doesn't hide it from you."
Seifer had a point there. It was strange to hear him say that, but it was probably even stranger for him to actually say it.
"You really think I should give him a second chance?"
"It's up to you." He opened the door and slipped out.
Maybe he was right. Irvine did deserve a second chance.
* * *
(Friday Night)
(Seifer)
The music was playing loudly, and happy couples were dancing on the dance floor. Everybody else was happily chatting away with friends. I, on the other hand was sitting alone at the table in the corner, drinking down a bottle of red wine.
I came to the party late... it wasn't as if I missed anything... and I wanted to leave early. There was nothing to do here. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Selphie dancing with Irvine. Perhaps they had got back together.
I shivered. Remembering what I had said to Selphie made me shiver. I had never said anything so corny in my life before. I didn't know why I had said that.
I poured another glass of wine for me, but nothing came out. I got up and headed to the beverage table and grabbed myself another bottle of something. I just grabbed anything in reach. I headed back to my table and read the label. Champagne. I popped the cork out and poured myself a glass. This was my third, fourth, fifth, or whatever bottle I would finish. I had lost count. My head was getting fuzzy.
"Hey hottie, care to dance?" A girl came up to me.
I couldn't tell who it was. Probably some girl I've never seen before, but either way, I didn't want to dance. My eyes were beginning to get blurry. Maybe I was getting a little drunk now.
"Not with you." The words seem to stumble out of my mouth.
"Jerk!" She hissed at me before storming off.
My head began pounding. The music, the blurriness, it was all getting to my head. I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed to go back to my dorm. I grabbed the remains of my Champagne bottle and headed out towards my dorm. On my way, I bumped into some people, but I didn't care. Nor would I remember.
* * *
(Quistis)
"Miss Trepe, my name's Monica. You used to teach me when I was 13. Ya, I made it to SeeD now!" This blonde hair girl came up to me and announced.
"Oh hello Monica! Congratulation!" I gave her a smile. I had no clue who she was, but I pretended that I did anyway. This was the fourth person who did that to me tonight.
"Oh thanks! Well, I better get back to my friends. It was nice seeing you Miss Trepe!" She yelled out as she ran to join her friends.
I needed a way out. I could not take this anymore. I quickly made my way to our table to seek refuge there.
"Tired?" Kianne asked me as I sat down.
"Very. I need something strong." She handed me a glass of wine.
"This is all I have right now."
"Good enough." I downed the drink. She poured me another glass. "And why aren't you out there with all those happy couples?"
"I have no dance partner." She gazed dreamily at the people dancing.
"What happened to Zell?" I gulped down the drink and poured another glass. "I noticed you came here with him."
She flushed red. "He went to the washroom."
"Speak of the devil." I said as I watched Zell squeeze his way back.
"Hey Quistis. Didn't know you were here." He looked down at Kianne. "You're all red. Are you sick or something?"
The comment only made her turn a darker shade of red.
"She wants to dance. Since I'm not a guy, I can't take her. Could you lead her the way?" I asked. I was only trying to help her.
"Uh... sure, but I'm not a good dancer." The two headed off.
It wasn't long before I finished the bottle. I sat there for a short while watching people, but then I soon grew tired of watching, so I decided I should head back to my dorm.
As I got up from my seat, I felt a little woozy, but I managed to make my way out of the party. I was walking down the hall when I heard someone yelling and mumbling at the same time.
"Fukk. Open up." Was what I could make out before more mumbling.
As I neared my dorm and the noise, I realized the person making the loud ruckus was Seifer. And he was slamming his fist into my door. Why he was doing that, I had no idea.
I watched him slide a card key in the slot, then muttering a string of curses and pounding at the door.
"Stupid piece of shit." He shouted, and began mumbling again.
I finally clued into what was going on. Seifer was drunk. And he was trying to get into my room. Why? Because he thought it was his.
"Seifer, go back to your own room." I said to him. My head was feeling light now. I placed my hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly he spun around and pushed me against my door. He was leaning into me, and the stench of wine was all over him.
"Seifer, get off me." I struggled to push him off, but he was much to heavy. Either that, or I was much too weak.
He leaned in closer and pressed his lips against mine. It was a sloppy kiss, but I couldn't really blame him. He was drunk.
"Seifer, get off." I managed to push him away, enough for him to stop kissing me.
He looked into my eyes, before his body slammed into mine. Pinning me against my own door. His head rested on my shoulder and he no longer mumbled inaudible words.
I turned my head and looked at his now sleeping figure. I watched how his nose moved ever so slighting every time he exhaled. And then I looked at his lips. His light pink, firm lips. It looked so delicate, so intoxicating. I couldn't help but lean in.
Slowly I pressed my lips against his in this awkward position. It felt like a little electric jolt when my lips touched his. I pulled back quickly. He let out a soft snore. I kept on staring at his lips and wondered what it'd feel like if I kissed him.
Again I leaned towards him. Again my lips touched his. This time I didn't pull back. We stood in this position for a while before I decided to go further. I wanted to know how it would feel if I deepened the kiss. So I did.
My tongue touched his lips. It was strange. Just as I did that, I felt his arm tighten around me. It was as if that light touch had woke him up. The next thing I knew, his tongue was in my mouth. But I didn't stop him.
I slipped my card key into the slot and the door slid open. We both tumbled inside, our lips still connected.
Maybe I was a little drunker than I thought I was.
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Okay, so I admit... I lost a little motivation when I found out only a few people reviewed my story... but it's not my fault!! Okay... so maybe it is... anyway...
There you have it! Chapter five! After such a long time waiting, I finally have chapter five up! Woo hoo! Go me! ffnet's been a little screwy lately... so this chapter's probably not gone be up till a little while longer. Hope you enjoy and please review!