Chapter 4: Drinks all around
The auditorium looked wonderful. Colorful ribbons hung here and there and mood lights were placed all around.
"Great job with the decorations, Selph," Rinoa commented.
"Oh, thanks. I couldn't have done it without Irvine's help," said Selphie.
"Yeah, man. All those ribbons." Irvine said, gesturing at the ribbons on display. "I had to put up those, that, that, those, and that whole row over there," he continued, pointing to the appropriate places where he fixed up the decorations. Upon closer scrutiny, the ones Irvine put up were a bit haphazardly done.
"No offense man, but those look a bit off," Zell said.
"Aw, come on Zell, give him a break. You ought to join the festival committee instead of just wasting your time on hotdogs and that board of yours," Selphie said, once again trying to convince Zell to join her committee.
"Yeah, they could use those muscles," Quistis said, by way of greeting, joining their table which laughed at what she said. Quistis was once again in full instructor regalia, having been recently instituted back into the faculty.
Squall was his usual pensive self, generally ignoring everyone on the table. Rinoa noticed this and asked him to dance.
"Oh no, not again. Don't you remember the last time we did this?" he playfully teased but nonetheless followed her onto the dance floor. He was definitely getting better and managed to step on Rinoa's feet just once throughout the whole song. They played a slow song and Squall pulled Rinoa close to her. In each other's arms, they slowly moved to the melody of the song, unaware of the world around them.
From afar, a tall figure was leaning against the wall, downing his fifth glass of wine. He was staring at the dancing couple, mind lost in his thoughts. He finished his wine and got another glass from a nearby tray. Seifer was determined to drink out his thoughts.
Once again, his vision went towards Squall and Rinoa. Could I have loved her? Do I still love her?
From the corner of his eye, he saw the Headmaster and his wife Edea. Under Ultimecia's influence, Edea took advantage of Seifer and his dreams. She took his hopes and he believed her. I was her knight. I failed…
More and more people took the dance floor; Zell and a girl in pigtails, Quistis and another instructor, and Irvine and Selphie. Even Raijin and Fujin were joining in on the festivities. Stealing a whole bottle of wine, he made to leave the party.
"Going so soon, Seifer?" He barely heard Raijin call out to him.