Wrongfully Accused

Chapter Six

Gripping the side of her seat Quistis tried desperately to keep her uneasiness under control. Her stomach had been acting on its own since they had left the Garden that morning. The situation was beyond frustrating, she'd never been carsick before so why now?

"This is too much!! Yo Squall, how long 'till we get to Deling?" Zell stretched out on his chair receiving irritated looks from those sitting around him.

"................."

"Earth to Squall!! I asked wha......"

"Fifteen minutes."

"But that's what you said ten minutes ago." Selphie whined.

Quistis began rubbing her temples in a futile attempt to ease her raging headache. 'Not again! I can't stand anymore of their childish antics.' Arguments had been breaking out all day and it had been up to her to end most of them. 'Why the hell do I always have to intervene? Why can't Squall get off his lazy ass and do something about it?'

"Quistis!?" Quistis looked up as Selphie poked her in the shoulder.

"Huh? What is it?"

"Tell Zell I'm right - the hot-dogs at Garden are bought in bulk, and already pre-frozen."

"What?" Quistis looked at the small girl in confusion.

"And I'm telling you Selph, you can't pre freeze the hot-dogs and simply nuke em. They'd just taste like rubber if you did that."

Irvine lent forward, staring Zell in the eye. "Hey space cadet! They DO taste like rubber. You'd have to be an idiot to eat them."

"What did you say?!?" Zell jumped up and grabbed Irvine by the collar.

"We're here." The driver announced

"Finally!" Rinoa sighed, "Two more seconds and we would've been peeling Zell off the walls.

"What?"

Irvine stood up and slapped Zell on the back.

"She got ya there buddy!"

"I'll buddy you assho....."

"ZELL!!" Squall yelled from outside the car.

"I didn't mean it like that Zell I just..."

"Save it Rinoa." Selphie said, "You and I both know there's no talking to Zell when he gets like this."

Afterwards they walked through the city in silence. No one had the energy to talk but after having spent the past four hours riding in a car the last thing they wanted to do was take a bus.

Upon reaching the hotel Quistis locked herself in her room, after turning down an invitation to join the others at the bar. Dragging herself into the bathroom, she peeled off her clothes and climbed into the shower. The heat and pressure of the water massaged her aching muscles, the tension of the days events slowly being pushed to the back of her mind. For what seemed like an eternity she stood there. A feeling of peace swept over her. Solitude always had that effect on her. The idea that she was the only person in the world, the only thing that existed, always brought a smile to her face. Yet just as fast as this euphoric feeling came it would disappear. Although she would fight to stay in her own world, the fear would eventually take over. The fear that someone would find out. That someone would finally see that, underneath her uniformed appearance, she longed to be free. To be released from the chains of her militant life.

Shaking her head Quistis hurriedly stepped out of the shower and into her clothes. 'I've got to snap out of this. I am perfectly content with my life the way it is. As nice as all that sounds, the reality is that a life without discipline is a life in chaos.'

She shuddered at the familiar quote. It was so cold, so unnerving. Yet it was an idea drilled into every young SeeD's head. It was what she lived by and, chances were, it would be what she'd die by.

Walking out of the bathroom Quistis headed towards the door but stopped short. Light from the hallway was streaming into the room. 'Shit! I could've sworn I'd locked that door.'

Immediately she was on the defense. She grabbed her whip from the side table and scanned the room for intruders. Lying on her pillow was a small white envelope with the initials Q.T. written on the front. 'I will not open the envelope, I will report this to the commander. I will not open the envelope, I will report this to the..oh who am I kidding.'

Slowly she stepped towards the side of the bed, glancing over the note, checking for any signs of danger. It may have appeared to be a harmless piece of paper, but she knew that many people resented SeeD, so nothing should EVER be left to chance.

She picked up the envelope and slowly removed the note. Skimming her eyes over the written message, Quistis suddenly became aware of another presence in the room.

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Talk about corney :S I didn't know i could write like that. It was kinda wierd. Neway, as usual i wanna know what you thought, so please review.