Loving You

By Quistis88 and Quis

Chapter Seven Of Mad Uncles, Reunions, and Arrests

Disclaimer: Do we really need this? FF8 and related places and names are copyright of Square-Enix. We only own Marquis, Gianni, Dan, Gwen and Liam. The poem in this is one by Quistis88, called When Angels Fall and Cry.

The light filtered in through the curtains, promising what turned out to be a glorious day in May. Autumn leaves were falling softly, and the symbolism of falling leaves returning to their roots was beautifully shown in the heart of Deling City. Trees were almost bare, and a chill wind whistled in the boughs.

Daniel woke slowly, feeling the sensation of something tickling his abdomen.  Opening his eyes, he felt a soft body in his arms and long blond hair that covered much of his chest.  Remembering the events of the previous night, he smiled and ran a hand down her back, and she shifted a little, her eyelids lifting.

Her blue eyes, still unfocussed, as she opened them, made Dan smile softly. How could he have done it...it felt like he'd betrayed the memory of his wife. Deciding it was pointless to argue with Aphrodite, Dan gave up. "Morning, Quistis," he said, placing a kiss on her forehead. Quistis smiled.

"Good morning yourself, Dan," she said.

"Had a good night's sleep?" Dan whispered after placing a short kiss on her lips.

"A good night, but I'm not too sure about the 'sleep' part . . . " she teased.

They both laughed at that. Quistis made to get up, and get her clothes on, but Dan pulled her back. "Love," he whispered, "Not even the cook is up yet. It's barely 0600, the house is still quiet. We've got time yet."

Quistis smiled. "If you say so, Dan," she said, giving a playful wink.

"The Commander's meeting is still at least two hours away," Quistis contemplated.  "Whatever will we do to pass the time?"

"Surely we'll think of something," Dan said, caressing her shoulder all the while.  He kissed her again, and pulled her under the covers.

**

In another bedroom, not far from Dan and Quistis's, Marquis was engaged in a rather loud talk with Laguna.

"Wassat you say?" he asked, as Laguna explained patiently what he needed Marquis to do.

"Keep an eye on any comings and goings. Keep an eye out for a woman who looks like a gypsy. Her name is Talliana deGroot, and we need to speak with her," Laguna said.

"But why?"

"Let's just say that . . . it involves a legend."  Laguna didn't want to reveal too much.

"Legend, my lad?  Legends are great fun!"

Laguna had to agree with him on that point. "Indeed, they are. Listen, if you can keep an eye on things, and report back to either Caraway or myself, then that would be a great help," he said, standing up and shaking old Marquis Vlahos's hand.

Laguna then left the room, and walked out of the house. It was time to call on his old commanding officer, Caraway.

A phone rang.

Caraway was in a furious mood for some odd reason.  He snatched up the phone.  "This is Caraway.  Start talking."

"It's Loire here," Laguna said smoothly. "We need to talk, old friend. Things are worse than what they appear. I'll be over soon."

"What are you talking about?  Be more specific," the old general growled into the receiver.  " 'You'll be over soon.'  You dying or something?"

"Er, no, that's not what I mean.  I meant, I'll COME over soon."

"Fine, then.  I'll be expecting you."

Laguna hung the phone up. Rubbing his face, he glanced in the mirror. He needed to shave. Starting down the hallway, he headed towards the en-suite in his room. After shaving, he left the house, and walked the familiar road towards Caraway's house. A sudden thought occurred to him. Julia had lived here.

He sighed.  He shouldn't be thinking about Julia, really.  He had Raine after all.  But then again, there was the keyword.  HAD.  He had them both, but because he was aspiring and foolish, he lost them both.

The guard at the door snarled. "What do you want, Estharian dog?"

Laguna blinked. "I'm here on Presidential business. What I'm doing here is none of your concern, nor your place to ask, soldier," he said calmly, as he stepped up to the door. After rapping on it several times, the housekeeper allowed him in.

"Loire," Caraway said, coming down a grand staircase to shake Laguna's outstretched hand.  "We'll talk in my office."

Glad for some privacy, Laguna agreed. Soon they were comfortably seated in front of a cozy fire, with a mug of coffee in their hands.

"Things are worse than we first thought, you see," Laguna said somewhat apologetically, "Otherwise I would not have spoken to Mad Marquis."

"Mad Marquis, is it?" Caraway scoffed.  "I'm surprised the fellow's still alive."

"Well, he's not as sharp as he used to be.  But maybe he's just trying to fool everyone else."

Old Marquis Vlahos had been one of the best spies in the world. He'd been trained and taught that fooling everyone into thinking that he was rather odd was one of his safest attributes. Laguna knew this, and so did Caraway.

Caraway stood, and went to his filing cabinet for a moment. When he returned, he held a folder in his hands.

"What's this?" Laguna asked, taking the folder and flipping through it.

"The records you asked for.  Family trees and whatnot."

"Thanks.  Didn't take as long as I thought."

"Yes, I thought it'd be difficult, too, considering the family's extensive history.  But, well, here it is."

Laguna took the folder eagerly. It hadn't been his intention to go snooping around for information on both Daniel and Guinevere, but something had niggled at the back of his mind.

"I suspect, Gerard, that things are only going to get worse. The world is standing on the edge of a Tonberry's knife. If we stray a little, there will be chaos worse than the previous two wars."

"I only fear that they are spies of some sort, enemies or something," Laguna rubbed his shaven chin.  "But they don't seem the type.  They're growing rather close to the group."

Caraway frowned.  "They're growing close to the group, or is the group growing closer to them?"

"I believe it is both," Laguna answered after a moment of quiet thought, as he gazed into the fire. "There does seem to be a convenient blank in Vlahos's SeeD records when he was stationed in Winhill. But nah, I don't know. If he's Marquis's nephew, we'll just have to trust him."

Caraway nodded sagely. "That's true, Laguna," he said.

"The boy comes from a good family, undoubtedly.  But as for the girl, I don't quite know what to make of it."

"Do you feel that you have to?  Do you not trust her?"

Caraway sipped his coffee in silence. Savouring the bitter taste, he looked into the fire, hoping to discern some meaning from it. Finally, speaking in a slow measured voice, he voiced his thoughts. "If you believe we can trust them, then I say we use every mean within our power to assist these people in their quest."

Laguna nodded. Caraway continued. "Is Rinoa here?"

"Yes, she should be at Daniel's place right now, with Squall."

"Squall," Caraway repeated the name.  "Your son, is it?  The so-called 'saviour' of the world?  He better be good to my daughter."

Laguna laughed.  "And all these years, I thought you never cared for her well-being."  The president's smile faded, remembering who Rinoa's mother was.

He had begun to realise that whatever he felt for Julia was nothing compared to whatever he felt for Raine. The name still caused him to frown with hurt whenever he heard it. Raine. Like rain falling on a roof. She had been the water he had thirsted for. Julia--she was an exotic flower, pretty and delicate to look at, but no real substance to her, despite her one-hit-wonder, "Eyes on Me".

Caraway got up from his chair and walked to his large window, looking down at the quiet streets of Deling below.  Where little Rinoa used to chase Angelo around, dodging the public transportation and whatnot, and finally, him getting angry at her for not being careful.

"What father wouldn't care about their daughter?  Even if I admit I haven't been much of a father, she's still . . . family."

Laguna nodded. He knew the feeling. "I feel the same about my son," he said. "The last time I saw him, it was at Raine's funeral, when he was a baby. It was only through Ellone's psychic powers that I saw him as he grew up."

"Grow up . . . they're all grown up now, aren't they?"  Caraway turned to look at Laguna.  "Tell me.  How did it feel to watch your child grow, even if it was through someone's powers?"  He regretted now, the many times Rinoa had asked him to play with her when she was young, but only to be pushed aside for his 'more important' paperwork and conferences.  He had yelled at her, too many times . . .

"It was like...it was like watching from a window in the cold, as a family celebrates Christmas," Laguna said, somewhat dazedly. "You know? You want to be able to pick the kid up, hold him in your arms, and whisper that he's never going to be alone again." Standing up, he crossed over to the window. "If I hadn't been sent away to war, Julia would've been mine..."

Both men sighed, Caraway sipped his coffee.  "We're getting old, aren't we, Loire?"

"Nah, not that old.  We're not grandfathers yet."

"Yet being the operative word in that sentence," Caraway grinned wryly. "But, back to business. If things are getting worse, as you believe, we will need full cooperation of Galbadia's army as well as Esthar's. And Mad Marquis promises to faithfully report to you if he sees anything out of the ordinary."

"Yes, and I am positive he'll keep to his word.  I'd stake my life on it."

"Hmm.  One often loses when one stakes too much."

Laguna shrugged.  "Well, I wouldn't know.  I'm not the gambling type."

"Nor am I."

**

It was nearly ten am when Laguna returned to the house. He felt the chill wind as he knocked on the door, and was admitted. He'd been toying with the ideas that were swimming around in his head. ...best to keep it under wraps for now.... he thought, as he climbed the stairway.

"Where have you been!?" was the first thing Laguna heard as he stepped into the meeting room, where one of Dan's butlers had directed him to.  His son was mad, all right.

"Er, sight . . . seeing . . . " he said hesitantly.

"You're two hours late."

"I'm sorry . . . " he sat down on an empty chair.

Laguna received a cold glare from Squall.

Gwen was speaking about the photographs from the tomb. Laguna let his mind wander.

Gwen carried on.  "Through further analysis, it is safe for us to conclude that the writings on the boxes and the 'weird scratches on the wall', as Zell calls them," she shot him an amused look, and he smiled sheepishly, "are connected, and is written in the same language, so to speak."

She continued. "I haven't been able to translate any of it yet, but don't worry, I'll get round to doing that, within the next few hours. Onto other things, the Estharian links report a strange being attacking them. They claim it's a Vampire, but there's no conclusive proof as to what this being is."

"A REAL vampire?" Zell squeaked.  "Like, blood-sucking and all that?"

"Yes."

Zell shuddered and suddenly felt queasy, almost not wanting to sink his teeth into the hot dog in front of him.

Rinoa's face had suddenly blanched. A...vampire? She had heard of them, but there'd been no evidence of them existing. "With all due respect, Miss Thompson, what makes you call it a vampire?"

Gwen's hands fiddled with her rings as she pondered the question. Slowly, she spoke. "I have no idea, personally, but it wasn't my words. I would, however, suggest paying a visit to, or ringing Doctor Odine."

Quistis cringed slightly.  She disliked that repulsive man, but at least his intellect made up for it.  As much as she hated to suggest it, she knew someone would have to.  "It'll be easier to get through to him for information if we go in person.  The last few times I called, they put me on hold for almost an hour.  But even if you do pay him a visit, it will still be difficult."

Laguna heard Odine's name and perked up. "If you're intending to ring the O-Labs, I can handle the call. The assistants know my voice, so they should put us through almost immediately."

Quistis looked like she could've kissed Laguna.

Squall was happy his father would actually be able to handle something.  The thought itself seemed rather mean to him, but Squall rarely saw any of Laguna's good points, other than his compassion.  He knew then that perhaps he should get to know his father more.  He was never there for him, yet his father, after meeting him again, was always there to help.  Squall's stomach churned from guilt.

"Thank you, Dad," Squall said quietly enough for Laguna to hear him. Laguna just smiled at Squall.

"And thus this meeting is adjourned," Quistis said officially. "We reconvene here at 1900 for tea, and more discussions. You're free to go explore the city or do whatever you wish to do until then."

"Come on, Irvy!  Let's go to the museum!" Selphie dragged him quickly out of the room.

"Museum?  Deling has a museum?"

"Don't you ever watch the news, Irvy?  The museum had a grand opening just last week!"

Quistis had to share a hidden smile with Dan at that. A glimmer of mischief was apparent in Dan's grey eyes, and he smiled again.

Zell grabbed Gwen's hand, and pulled her out of the room, saying something about going to show her how to T-board.

Nida wanted to go do a few check-ups on the aircraft, and Xu went with him to make sure he wasn't doing anything wrong, or anything bad.  Nida looked rather annoyed as he walked out, Xu trailing after him.

Dan and Quistis walked out the front door, and after everyone had gone, he offered her his arm and said, "I know a very nice park that's nearby.  Would you like to go?"

Quistis smiled, and took his arm. "Aye, that'd be nice," she said, as they began the long walk to the park.

As they entered the gates, Dan caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He instinctively reached for the sword he carried on him at all times, and Quistis readied her whip at the slightest hand gesture from him. "There's something, or some ONE following us," Dan said, warily.

Quistis looked around and the sunlight reflected off a silver surface caught her attention.  An eye-patch could be seen.

"Fujin!" she acknowledged the other woman, and ran to her, dragging Dan along.

So this is the Fujin of Seifer Almasy fame, Dan thought. Quistis had reached Fujin, who was limping badly.

"What's happened, Fujin?" Quistis asked.

Fujin had been standing behind a tree, and while she limped towards Quistis slowly, the other leg could now be seen.  Attached to the leg was a rather whiny Seifer.

"But the puppy looked at me!  He LOOKED at me!" Seifer seemed to be begging Fujin for something.  "You must buy it for me!  Oh, why can't you see . . . "

Fujin rolled her eyes.  "SEIFER.  CRAZY.  RHYME."

Dan exchanged a privately amused glance with Quistis. It was unexpected.

"What on earth?" he asked.

"That's Seifer, and this is Fujin," Quistis introduced.

"HELLO."  Fujin held out a hand, and Dan shook it.

"Hello, miss."  He gestured towards Seifer.  "This was the Seifer Almasy everyone was so afraid of during the war?"

Quistis sighed.  "Well, he wasn't insane back then . . . not mentally anyway.  What happened, Fujin?"

Fujin glanced around. "Come with me, even the trees have ears, and what I'm about to tell you is a long story," she said, her voice liltingly Irish in its soft tones.

"Alright," Dan said, as he started to piece together what MIGHT have possibly happened.

They found themselves staring at a slum house a few minutes later.

"You live here?"  Quistis was saddened.

"For the time being," Fujin said, using her softer voice.  "Mainly because HE," she pointed to Seifer, "eats too much sometimes."

"Where's Raijin?"

Fujin's eye closed. "Dead," she said with such heartbreaking finality that Quistis felt sympathy for the woman who seemed to have aged prematurely. "He died of an overdose..."

"Overdose?" Dan repeated incredulously.

"Lythantium," Fujin said sadly.  "He was attacked in an alley one night after work.  Some kid had a shot of that stuff and injected it into him for some reason.  It was a large amount."

"Oh, dear . . . " Quistis' eyes fell to the ground, Dan clutched her hand tightly.

"What's wrong with Seifer, then? Is he on Lythantium too?" Dan pressed gently, as Quistis placed a reassuring hand on Fujin's shoulder.

Fujin nodded mutely. "Unfortunately, yes....Which is why we're living in the slums."

Quistis sighed once again.  She couldn't believe that the once-arrogant Seifer Almasy could be reduced to . . . THIS.  It was almost heart-breaking.

"Can anything help him?"

"No, I'm afraid not.  Once it's in your system, it takes a long time to get it out.  Unless you go to a hospital for some type of medical treatment, which would be really expensive."

"I could pay for it, if it matters that much to you, Miss Akido," Dan said quietly, steadily. He was saddened to see the once-great Seifer reduced to what he was.

Fujin choked back a sob, "I couldn't ask that of you," she said.

"You don't need to, because I'm offering."

Fujin's eye gleamed with happiness.  "A-are you quite sure?"

"Certainly.  I have too much to know what to do with anyway, and I'm always up for doing good deeds," he winked.  "So, would you allow me to help him?"

Fujin seemed to argue with herself for a moment, before the ghost of a smile flickered on her face. "If you insist," she said quietly, as Seifer tried to sit his six-foot even bulk in her lap.

"Mummy? Play patty-cakes with me?"

"Mummy's busy right now.  Go play in your room."  She pushed him off roughly.  Seifer shuffled away.  "Sorry about that," she apologized to the other two.

Dan inclined his head. "It's quite alright," he said quietly, "If you want, we can help you find a better place to stay."

Fujin looked around at the dump she lived in. It didn't matter how many times she'd fixed the roof, the water STILL managed to leak in through the ceiling when it rained. But she had her pride.

"No, I'll manage here."

"All right, then."  Dan scribbled down his number on a small SeeD business card.  "Call me if you need anything, ok?"

"I will.  I certainly won't come and find you any time soon.  It's embarrassing to walk around with Seifer sometimes."  She rolled her eye again.

After giving Fujin the phone number and directions to ask for either Mad Marquis or Daniel, they departed the tiny, derelict house. Quistis started to feel the tears spring to her eyes, and she bit her lip to stop them from falling. Their perfect day had been marred, but at the same time, Quistis had to feel some surge of hope that Fujin would be like the phoenix, rising from the ashes.

After they were a good distance away, Daniel stopped and brought her into his arms.  "Don't worry, everything will be fine soon enough."  Quistis held on to him tightly for comfort.

**

Meanwhile, Squall and Rinoa were visiting Caraway.

Caraway seemed quite touched to see his daughter again, healthy and lovely, like his wife.  He even looked a little happy to see Squall.

" . . . Rinoa, how have you been?" he asked.

"I've been well."

There was an awkward silence.

"Would you play something on the piano, Rinoa, please? I need to hear your mother's songs once more," Caraway said, crossing the room to embrace Rinoa.

Rinoa smiled softly, and embraced her father. She couldn't believe how wonderful it felt for her father to hold her again.

With eyes moistened by unshed tears, she strolled to the grand piano her father had always kept in the foyer of the mansion, and sat on the bench.  It'd been a while since she had last sat here . . .

Gently fingering the keys, as she pressed them softly, she began to sing in a clear, sweet voice.

"Raucous nights below the stars

Disturbed by thousands of cigars

They watched the smoke rise to the air

Tangling upon their tidy hair"

Squall and Caraway had sat on a sofa together as they listened.  It was as if Julia was in the

room, singing for them.  Even if Squall had never heard Julia's voice in person, he'd listened to a recording that Rinoa so cherished.

She continued in the same, clear sweet voice, as the words and her fingers found the right notes, her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face as she sang. They needed this, both of them. Father and daughter, with just this simple way of going about it, had finally reconciled.

**

"Zell!  Slow down, or you'll break something!"  Gwen shouted from her accelerating T-Board, trying to catch up with Zell.

"Really?  Like a record?  I was hoping to!"

"That's NOT what I meant!"

Zell slowed down. "Relax, Gwen. You're too damn tense....It's not THAT hard."

Gwen sighed, as she finally caught up to him. "Note to self: Never let Zell Dincht teach me to T-Board"

"C'mon, I'll help you."  He extended a hand.  Gwen looked at it, perplexed.  "Don't worry, I won't let you fall."  Gwen slid her hand into his, suppressing a small smile.

"Halt right there!!" A police officer shouted after them as they sped away. Zell slowed down and stopped the T-Board. Gwen stopped abruptly, and almost fell off her board.

"What's the problem, officer?" Zell said.

"That T-Board of yours is the problem, young man."  The officer looked at the T-Boards with disgust, as if he had been the one to almost fall off.

"But T-Boards are allowed to be used in public!"

"Yes, but my radar tells me you were going over the speed limit."

"B-But we're SeeDs," Gwen stammered, trying to save the situation.

"SeeDs or not, I'm gonna have to take both of ya to the station," the crabby officer said.

Gwen looked horrified, and Zell, embarrassed.

"Er, can't you just give us a warning, officer?"

"No.  I give enough kids like you them so-called 'warnings', but do any of you listen to me?  NO!  Come on, ya bunch of . . . " he trailed off, while Gwen and Zell trailed behind him.

They were led into a small, dingy room, with an unshaded light suspended from a long chain in the top of the ceiling. The officer who had charged them strode into the room a few moments later.

"Alright, kids,"

"Heh . . . hello," Zell said sheepishly.  Gwen kicked him under the table.  Zell used a hand to rub the spot she just kicked.

"What's the big idea of zooming around in a public area with a T-Board?  Someone could've gotten HURT."

Zell threw up his hands in exasperation. "Officer, don't you have better things to do than pester SeeDs? I assure you, if you weren't so busy booking people for speedin' you'd catch a lot more criminals that way".

Gwen tapped Zell's shoulder warningly. It was embarrassing enough that they'd been arrested, but Zell giving the officer cheek would only worsen the situation.

The officer leaned closer to Zell's face and breathed on it.  He smiled in a sinister way.  "Caught one . . . didn't I?"

Zell gulped, and was offended.  "Do I LOOK like a criminal to you!?"

"YOU know the answer, kid."

Gwen tugged on Zell's sleeve.  "Zell, just let it go . . . "

"Look, I know Loire, I know Leonhart, I can get them to bail us out if you want!" Zell's voice had risen with each word, and finally, he was standing up, shouting and shaking all over with rage. An aura of light surrounded him, and Gwen's only thoughts were you poor bugger

The officer cocked an eyebrow, not understanding what was happening to Zell, nor what was going to happen to himself.  He looked to Gwen for some sort of explanation.  She only got up from her seat and went to a far corner.

Suddenly, colorful splashes of water that wasn't there surrounded the tiny room and dolphins --- DOLPHINS! --- came out of nowhere, slamming themselves onto him while Zell's fists could be seen as nothing but blurs.

"Fuck with us, and you fuck with SeeD," Zell said, as the officer tried to regain his breath after being pounded. "Never let me see your ugly face again, and I will personally make sure you regret it."

The officer cowered in the corner. He was well and truly afraid of the short man. Who would've thought someone that short could pack such a powerful punch?

"Fine, kid, I'll . . . pretend I didn't see that."  The officer wiped away the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief.  Zell grinned and pumped an arm into the air.  "Just get outta here before anyone else sees ya."

They left. As they exited the double doors of the police station, Zell spotted a rather familiar visage walk by. "Is it just me, or was that...?" he muttered to Gwen.

"Huh?"

Zell got excited.  "Holy Hyne!  It's Dr. Odine!"  He grabbed Gwen's hand and ran towards the mad scientist.

"THAT'S Dr. Odine?" Gwen questioned, having never met the bizarre man before.  "He's short, looks rude, and is carrying a bunch of shopping bags!"

The two ran up to see him. "Odine!" Zell shouted.

"Vat is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" Odine snapped, as Zell walked up to him. "I have no time. I'm late, very late..."

Dr. Odine walked away briskly, seemingly angry.

Zell looked at the ground.  "Wait, Doc, you dropped this!"  He ran after him with a small bottle of --- he looked then --- perfume?

**

Meanwhile, Nida was getting very frustrated. As much as he respected Xu, she got on his nerves. It was as though she didn't trust him to make decisions about the repairs and upgrades to the Estharian Hovercraft. Climbing out from underneath where he was tinkering, he glanced up to see Xu.

"What now?"

"Any other idiot would have this finished up and polished by now.  How much longer are you going to take?" Xu glared.

"IDIOT!?  You know, Xu, that's just the last straw.  Why do you ALWAYS degrade me like that!?"

"Show some intelligence for once in your life, and then maybe I'll stop."

Nida was offended.

"That's it, Xu....Just because I'm a mechanic as well as a pilot and the wielder of a quarterstaff, and you're the Second-In-Command, what gives you the right to berate me like this? You've got NO fucking right to berate me." Nida said all of this very calmly, standing up from where he was crouching with his tools.

"Go to hell, Nida," Xu hissed.

"Gladly"

Nida continued working silently, while Xu sat within yelling range, reading an article in a magazine.  The silence seemed even worse to Nida, and so, he spoke.  "You're not even doing anything to help.  Why are you even here?"

" . . . nothing I haven't told you before."

"Oh, and that's supposed to solve everything?" He arched his eyebrow, and Xu frowned. "Look, we may not be on the best of terms, but, Xu, I--" he fumbled for the words to tell her what he meant. "I miss the easy banter we've always had. I'm sorry we just fought."

Xu's eyebrow arched slightly, as though she was hiding a smile behind her magazine.

"Maybe you aren't the only one," she muttered, and Nida heard.

Nida became hopeful.  "I suppose you'd want to apologize now."

"Never, Nida.  Get back to work," she barked.

"Yes ma'am!" Nida snapped a SeeD salute, and went back to working on the hovercraft.

After a while, Xu put her magazine down, and stood near the bag of tools, before picking up a wrench, and sliding under the craft to see what she could do to help fix it. She'd been taught mechanics by her father, who believed that no girl ought to be ripped off at the garage.

Nida was hard at work and hadn't noticed that she had slid beside him.  When he went to reach for a different tool, he caught a glimpse of her thigh and nearly banged his head on the bottom of the craft from shock.

"Holy sh--" he stopped himself.  "What are you doing here!?"

"Something productive, unlike you.  Shut up and keep working."

"How am I supposed to get work done if you're in my work space!?"

"Get used to it."

" . . . I can't believe you!"

Groaning slightly, Nida continued to work methodically on the engine, whilst Xu tinkered about with calibrations and such. By the time lunch rolled around, both of them were hungry.

Their cheese and cucumber sandwiches weren't enough to satisfy them, and they'd not expected to be out there so long. Xu glanced up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hands. It was midday and the relentless heat from the sun was almost too much for them to bear. Nida took his shirt off, revealing a simple singlet, which was comfortable enough for him to work in.

Xu choked.

"What's the matter?" Nida looked at her, amused and maybe a little concerned.  Maybe.

"Nothing, nothing."

"It didn't sound like nothing to me, Xu. Are you sure you're alright to work under here?" he asked.

"What is it with guys and being the hero?" Xu said, almost to herself. "They want the glory, yet the minute a girl gets too involved, they dump her like a hot pancake."

"We do NOT," Nida defended.  Xu's glance told him she was far from convinced.  "Well, fine, maybe SOME of us do.  Besides, I like pancakes."

"I didn't ask you."

Nida was embarrassed now.  "Yeah, well . . . now you know anyway."

Nida had never noticed how pretty Xu looked. Though covered with axle grease, and grime from lying on her back in the dirt to do repairs, she had never looked sexier. (Or so he thought). Suddenly, as though being compelled by forces unknown to him, he reached his arm around her waist, and drew her close to him.

Xu was a little startled and fumbled the wrench in her hand.  "Nida, what's going on?"

He looked her in the eyes.  "Why don't we take a break?"

"But--" Xu started to protest, as Nida brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly.

Being kissed like that made memories float to the surface. Of her first romance, and now, with Nida. It'd been years since anyone kissed her so tenderly.

As much as she hated him (or rather, believed she hated him), Xu still possessed a small force of attraction towards the young man, and it wasn't long before her arms were around him as well.

Liam...Xu thought, wandering back to his last days. He'd been her first--and only-- boyfriend. He'd died in an explosion when a group of SeeDs infiltrated a small base in the depths of the Timber forests. She'd been too busy to go see him after that, and she'd been numb ever since that day, the pain never leaving her. This kiss, however, brought a sense of peace to her. It's like he's here

*

It'd been a long, hot day in Balamb Garden. Xu was tired, and ready to just go curl up into a ball in her dormitory, away from everything and everyone. Her life was falling into shattered remnants of glass around her. Despair crept into her soul. Why now, of all times? She'd been going along just fine, accepting life for what it was--and then HE had to happen.

He, being the most wonderful man on the planet. A SeeD, like herself, stationed in Balamb Garden awaiting new orders from Trabia. Liam Boyd was not your average looking SeeD. He had a shock of long red hair, pulled back into a ponytail, with a set of sparkling blue eyes, as though they were plucked straight from the heavens. A shapely nose with a smattering of tiny freckles was complimented by a mouth that seemed to be suppressing the irresistible urge to laugh. Not only that, he was sweet and funny, and most importantly, he was kind to her.

She remembered a time when she had been at the library, signing out one book after another, until the maximum of ten was reached.  She had had a lot of work to do.  With the books piled past her eyes, she could barely see where she was going.  It was then when she heard his compassionate voice:  "Would you like some help?" 

He was polite enough to wait for a reply, she noticed, and once she gave an approving nod, he took nearly all of the books and walked confidently beside her, all the while asking her questions such as what she was going to do with all these references and where she wanted them to be taken to.

Xu had been touched by his gentlemanliness. Smiling, she led him to her dorm. They were only separated by the heavy pile of books that Liam was carrying. "Uh, where do you want these books?" he asked.

"On my desk?" Xu suggested, as Liam smiled, and put them down.

"By the way, I've forgotten my manners. I'm Liam Boyd, and you are?"

"Xu Chang," she extended a hand.  "And don't worry about your manners.  You've got more than I've seen.  Around these parts anyway."

He chuckled.

Liam smiled, and shook the proffered hand. His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, and that just added to the charming persona that Xu was already beginning to

like. "Would you like to have dinner with me some time this week?" he said, and as he received a startled glance, he quickly amended, "If you're free, of course."

Xu smiled softly. "Of course, it'd be a pleasure, Mr. Boyd"

"Formalities should only be used for strangers," he winked.  "You may call me Liam, but that's only if you don't mind."

Xu gave a tiny smile.  "Not at all . . . Liam."

"Well, then," he said cheerfully.  "I shall see you around some time."

He smiled, and waved, whistling a tune as he left the dormitory. Xu sat on her bed after he left, and felt utterly confused.

The next few days were a whirlwind of flourishing excitement, building up to her 'date' with him on Saturday. By the time Saturday rolled around, Xu felt nervous.

Relax, this is only dinner . . . she said as she held up a blouse in front of her mirror.  Xu never really dressed up for much of anything.  It was usually the SeeD uniform or . . . the SeeD uniform.

But for Liam, she wanted to look her best, and she didn't quite understand why.

Throwing the blouse on her bed in disgust, she walked back to where her other civilian outfits were. There was a short navy blue number, which came to a halt just below her knees, with tiny sapphire beads sewn onto the hemline. The neck was square cut, and the sleeves were short capped sleeves. Pulling it over her head, Xu admired the affect of the dress. It looked...well, perfect.

After a small touch of make-up and a pair of shoes that looked as beautiful as they were painful, she was more or less ready.  It was then when a knock could be heard and she went to open the door, her heart pounding unsteadily.

Liam smiled as she opened the door, taking in how lovely she looked. "You look lovely, Xu," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek as a greeting. Xu smiled, and returned the favour.

"Thank you, Liam, you look nice yourself," she replied. She wasn't lying, either.

"Well, then . . . your carriage awaits, my fair lady."  He took her by the hand and they both walked to the parking lot.

"Carriage, Liam?  There are no chocobos involved, right?"

"None at all.  Unless you want some, of course.  We can't have you walking there, now can we?"

He led the way to the garage, where Xu noticed several different vehicles. One of them, however, seemed to be out of place. It was a sky blue convertible with leather seats. Xu gasped when she saw it, and Liam nodded.

"It's mine," he said, and Xu turned to him, her eyes shining with happiness.

Liam opened the door to the passenger side and waited until she was seated comfortably before closing the door.  Inserting the key and turning it, the engine started with a purr and Xu laughed.

"It sounds like a Moogle who's just been petted," she said, and Liam laughed. Soon they were driving down the road towards the little town of Balamb. Once they'd reached the restaurant, and Liam had parked, they found themselves sitting in what appeared to be a quaint little restaurant that seemed to be as warm as it was friendly. Low, gas lights surrounded the booths, and it reminded Xu of the old world pictures she'd seen in books.

After the delicious meal, he took her back to her dorm, where they talked about one thing after another, and Xu could feel herself becoming more and more drawn to the man she had only met recently.

By the time they'd finished talking, the moon had gone from the sky, replaced by the bright sun. Goodness, they'd stayed up all night talking. "Um," said Xu, hesitant to end this night, "It's morning now...."

"I know," Liam said lazily, "I don't wanna go though."

Xu agreed wholeheartedly. "I agree," she said, as Liam smiled up at her.

It was then that she realised it. She was in love.

She was grateful for his company and laid her head on his shoulder and he, in turn, breathed a sigh.  He looked at the books on her desk and recognized some of them as the ones he had helped her carry in.

"Have you finished your work yet?" he asked.

"I'm almost done."

"Well, if you ever need any help, with anything at all, just ask me.  I'll be here for you."

Xu smiled and leaned closer to him

She would never be sure who initiated the kiss, for as long as she lived. It appeared that both of them had had the same idea, and moved their lips closer to the others. They met in a fiery explosion, and Xu's world span out of control.

*

It felt like she was betraying his memory as she kissed Nida.

It was true that after Liam's death, she had been quite shaken and lonely.  She might seem fine, but she really needed someone who could be there for her whenever she needed someone.  But . . . Nida . . . she was confused.

What was it that drew her to him? It certainly wasn't his good looks, or his charm. Perhaps....Xu shook the thought from her head. He wasn't related to her dearest Liam, no matter how much she wished for it.

They broke apart, each feeling like something had happened that they weren't entirely sure of.