Disclaimer -I can't lay claim to the cat because she's gone off and hid in
the neighbor's garage for warmth. With the wind chill being 9 degrees
Fahrenheit, I'm not going after her so she can be there's for 12 or so
hours. I own this Pepsi can in front of me, and the dog I hear in the
backyard driving the neighbors crazy with her incessant barking. Damn I
love that dog.
Author's notes- I almost always forget this....but it's always the same.
thoughts '...'
spoken words "..."
~*~*~*~*~ jumps in time
_______ -change in character/pov
West-bound Train
Selphie groaned as she rolled over under her thick comforter. She curled up into a little ball not wanting to be disturbed by anyone. Getting out of bed would mean that she'd have to face Irvine. She didn't know what she was going to say to him. She sighed as she opened her eyes when the door hissed open. 'Maybe that's him,' She thought to herself. After clawing her way out from under the oversized comforter that had somehow managed to engulf her in her sleep, Selphie fell out of bed and landed with a thud on the cold tiles of the floor. From her position, with one leg still ontop of her mattress staring up towards the ceiling, Selphie turned her head to her two guests who were definitely not who she'd expected. There was an awkward silence that Selphie wasn't sure how to break.
"Isn't that Irvine's shirt?" Xu asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah so?" Selphie asked as she pulled her foot down from the bed, and stood up. There was a small thud that went unnoticed as a small book fell onto the floor and Selphie clamored across her small room to her dresser. Xu just shrugged. Selphie yawned as she pulled out a clean dress and looked at Quistis and Xu. "You guys are here early. I thought we were going to just meet in the cafeteria."
"So did we," Quistis answered with a soft smile. "That was over two hours ago." Selphie's smile faded as she turned to the clock behind her that read 11:06.
"Oh my gosh!" She cried out as she looked at her friends in disbelief. "I can't believe I overslept this late! I need a shower," She said absently. As Selphie ran into the bathroom and turned on the water, Xu began inspecting her living quarters.
"Xu!" Quistis hissed.
"What?" The other girl smiled.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for evidence," Xu said as she glanced through the closet and then under the bed.
"Does privacy mean anything to you?" Quistis asked as she folded her arms over her chest. Xu looked up at the taller blonde from where she was knelt beside the bed and shook her head.
"Not when someone leaves their door unlocked." Quistis frowned at her friend. She looked like such a snoop down on the floor.
"Hey guys, I'll only be a few minutes," Selphie called from the shower.
"Take your time," Quistis answered as she continued to glare at Xu.
"What?" Xu asked innocently as her dark bangs fell into her eyes. "I'm just trying to see if cowboy's been here lately."
"It's not really any of your business," Quistis said as she turned from her friend and began looking at her outfit in the mirror.
"Ooh, what is this?" Xu said like she'd won a small victory. Quistis was determined to block her out. Her friend's intrusive snooping would get her in trouble one day. Judging by all the stuff she'd gotten into in the past week, that day wasn't far away.
"And to think the students here look up to you as a professionally oriented member of SeeD," Quistis sighed as she gave Xu a quick glance in the reflection to see her holding a book. Thinking that Xu had found Selphie's diary and was about to sink to a new low by reading it, Quistis turned and tried to swipe it from her grasp. Xu however, anticipated such a reaction from Quistis and ducked out of the way, just barely pulling the book from her grasp. Quistis shot her friend an perturbed glance and started to reach for the book again. "Her diary is not yours for reading!" She exclaimed through grinted teeth.
"I don't think this is her diary," Xu's face scrunched up in confusion as she looked at the front page. She tilted the book so that Quistis could see it as well. "Who's Toby?"
"What?" Quistis silently shrieked as the shower turned off. "She'll be out here any minute!" The former instructor took the book and looked at the handwriting.
"This isn't Selphie's," She whispered as she flipped through a few pages and then shoved the book back into Xu's grasp. "Put that away!"
Xu looked dumbfounded. "Why?"
"Look below the name!" Quistis cried out. Her friend did as she was told and froze.
"6 pounds 7 ounces...." Xu stopped talking and flipped through a few pages herself before looking back at Quistis. "That's a birth weight isn't it!" She cried out. Quistis just nodded quickly and turned to where Selphie was moving something in the bathroom. Xu stared at the book for only a second longer before she tossed it on the bed and took a step back. "What does that mean?"
Quistis shrugged and watched Selphie come into the room. "Why don't you ask her? You seem to be the nosy one." Selphie squeezed the excess water out of her hair and dropped the towel by the wall. She picked up her brush and hairdryer and then stopped to stare at her friends. A grin crossed her face as she noticed that both of them were avoiding eye contact with her.
"What?" Selphie asked. She watched curiously as Quistis jabbed Xu in the ribs with her elbow. Xu ran her hands down the front of her navy blue skirt as if she were trying to rid it of wrinkles.
"We..." Xu paused at Quistis' glare. "I found that little book on the floor." Selphie paled as she looked over to the bed and then crossed her arms.
________________________________________________________________________
Irvine leaned against the railing along the wall of the elevator and watched the doors slide open. His conversation with Cid had been less fruitful than he'd hoped, but at least he had the headmaster's support. His fingers shifted the papers in his hand. No one would probably believe him when he told them he was applying to be an instructor. He could hardly believe it.
"Hey man," Zell's voice startled him from his thoughts. Irvine looked up to see Zell and Fujin staring at him. He tilted his head to the side. They were really an odd couple; and Irvine wasn't comparing their heights. "Something wrong?" Zell asked as he lazily leaned against the railing behind him. Irvine caught Fujin casting Zell a quick glare and laughed. He and Selphie had made it a secret game to try and pair the people of Balamb Garden up, but even they hadn't come up with this match.
"I just finished talkin' to Cid," Irvine said. Zell's eyes grew larger.
"Is everything okay?" Zell was now standing up and fully alert.
"Yeah, I just uh needed to talk to him about gettin' a license," Irvine paused to observe Zell's stunned face. "What?"
"You're eighteen and you can't drive?" Zell looked like he was about to have a stroke. Irvine laughed when Fujin swatted him upside his head and rolled her eyes. "What was that for!?"
"INSTRUCTOR LICENSE," Fujin said bluntly as she crossed her arms and looked back to Irvine.
"How do you know?" Zell asked suspiciously.
"PAPERS," Fujin pointed to the paperwork in Irvine's hand.
"You want to be an instructor?" Zell scratched his head as he tried to imagine Irvine doing Quistis' old job.
"Why not? I need to be here as much as possible," Irvine admitted. Zell looked at Fujin before turning back to the cowboy.
Zell just cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms. "I thought you wanted to do the field work."
Irvine shrugged. "Changed my mind," Irvine quickly said as he shrugged off Fujin's skeptical glare.
"ELABORATE," She said quickly.
"Boy your not very trustin' are ya?" He joked and then continued. "'I just need a job that will keep me at or near the Garden at all times." Irvine stepped forward and waited for the doors to slide open.
"Why?" Zell was now very interested.
'I thought you had a short attention span,' Irvine though to himself. The doors started to crack. 'Finally.'
"Come on man!" Zell begged. "We're all friends here."
"I have a son. He's a little over fifteen months old," Irvine answered as he tilted his hat back.
Zell stood in shock. "No way you have a kid! I mean, you're really a parent!?" Irvine smiled light heartedly as he took in the suprised looks of the underclassmen who were waiting to get on and just happened to stumble onto the conversation. He quickly made his way through them and started walking toward the garage. "Wait up! Where are you going?"
"A place called Blue Gales. It's a little town about ten miles from where Galbadia Garden used to be. I have to go pick him up there," Irvine said as he continued walking. "I'm running late, the train'll be leavin' soon." Irvine said as he pulled out a set of keys.
Zell stood dumbfounded and turned back to Fujin. "Do you think he really has a kid?" She just rolled her eyes at the question and walked off.
________________________________________________________________________
Selphie sighed aloud. Irvine wasn't in his room, and Xu was following her closer than a tabloid reporter. She cast a glance to her taller and nosier friend. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was still uneasy about the situation with Irvine, she probably would've made her leave. It was then that she saw Zell trying to beat the lunchtime traffic to the cafeteria.
"Hey Zell!" She yelled from the dormitory entrance. He froze and looked around like a deer stuck in headlights. She and Xu hurried over to him before he dismissed her shout as his imagination and went to eat. "Hey," She said as she caught her breath. "You haven't seen Irvine today have you?"
"Like ten minutes ago. He was going to the train station," Zell answered. Selphie took off running without another word with Xu close on her heels. Zell just shrugged to himself and made a run for the hot-dog line.
~*~*~*~*~
The last warning bell sounded as the train departing from Balamb prepared to leave. Irvine paced around the SeeD car in nervousness. He wasn't nervous to see his son, he couldn't wait. He was afraid of how the other's might respond whenever he brought him back to Garden with him. Irvine spun on his heel and continued pacing. Headmaster Cid hadn't looked too pleased whenever he told him that he had a child. In all seriousness, it looked to Irvine that Cid was distraught. 'He was practically a father to me. I guess I wouldn't have been to pleased if my kid told me that he had a child before he was married,' Irvine laughed at thought. 'Toby better not come up to me with news like that. Does that make me a hypocrite?' His thoughts were interrupted when the train jerked, and then started to pull out. He gave a quick glance to the paperwork he'd yet to finish filling out. Irvine sighed and then slumped down on the along the wall. The corner of a well worn magazine stuck out between two of the cushions, catching his attention. Slowly, he pulled it free and froze at the image on the front page. It was Laguna. 'Selphie'd kill for this thing,' He smiled to himself. He read a little further down and laughed out loud. It was then that the door slid open and Selphie stepped in. Irvine dropped the magazine and stood up awkwardly.
She didn't make eye contact at first, but when she did she smiled. He could tell it wasn't forced and thus smiled himself. She took a few steps towards him and then wrapped her arms around herself and stood silently.
"I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about this whole situation, but I'm not mad at you or anything," She looked up at him to see his reaction. A broad smile crossed his features as he ran forward, startling her, and pulled her into a bear hug. She noticed for the first time that he was just wearing a SeeD issue navy t-shirt and black pants that would've made Squall jealous.
"Does this mean we're okay? I mean generally speakin' of course," His eyes seemed to plead with her to say yes. She stared up at her cowboy. He just looked vulnerable. It had to be the eyes. Those eyes would be her undoing; she smiled at the thought.
"Yeah," Selphie answered much to his relief.
"Come sit down Hun," He motioned to the couch. She smiled and sat down taking an instant notice of the magazine.
"Timber Maniacs journalist goes missing after alleged sorceress encounter. Full story on page six," Selphie began laughing aloud. "Is this yours?" She looked up to Irvine who was still trying to figure out where to put his paperwork so he wouldn't loose it.
"Nah," He chuckled. "I just found it. Thought ya might like it." Irvine settled for tossing the papers on the bed and then sat next to Selphie. "Sounds like the makings of an interesting story," He joked.
"Mm hm," Selphie replied as she leaned against him and opened it up to page six. Irvine wrapped his arm around her shoulders and stretched his legs out. He wasn't sure how things would fall into place once he had Toby, but for right now he had the company of his girl and wasn't going to dare take it for granted. He tried to read along with her about what supposedly happened to Laguna, but fell asleep with his head leaned on hers.
************************************************************************
Goatmam - Hey I know you! Thanks for reviewing this story as well!
Lady Pyrefly - There is no way I could set out and write a romance story with a sad ending. Especially if Irvine's in it. Even Darkened Ice will be happy. Not that its really really sad, cause its not...but even it'll be happy.
Zencreation - Here's chapter 2! I hope you read my other's as well. As soon as I finish Darkened Ice I'll start on the third story. I hope I can make them all work together.
Ameli Stoncius - Glad you liked it. I was hesitant to just jump into the situation like that, but taking it back too far might've hindered the story. I don't know what I'm trying to say anymore....*rubs temples* I should go to bed.
Son of Sephiroth - Thanks! Glad you like my stuff.
************************************************************************
I hope you guys like this story. I plan to make it more interesting. I just have to get everything set up and then this thing will take off......I hope. Anyway, please review. It really makes me happy and it'll make me update faster.
Author's notes- I almost always forget this....but it's always the same.
thoughts '...'
spoken words "..."
~*~*~*~*~ jumps in time
_______ -change in character/pov
West-bound Train
Selphie groaned as she rolled over under her thick comforter. She curled up into a little ball not wanting to be disturbed by anyone. Getting out of bed would mean that she'd have to face Irvine. She didn't know what she was going to say to him. She sighed as she opened her eyes when the door hissed open. 'Maybe that's him,' She thought to herself. After clawing her way out from under the oversized comforter that had somehow managed to engulf her in her sleep, Selphie fell out of bed and landed with a thud on the cold tiles of the floor. From her position, with one leg still ontop of her mattress staring up towards the ceiling, Selphie turned her head to her two guests who were definitely not who she'd expected. There was an awkward silence that Selphie wasn't sure how to break.
"Isn't that Irvine's shirt?" Xu asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah so?" Selphie asked as she pulled her foot down from the bed, and stood up. There was a small thud that went unnoticed as a small book fell onto the floor and Selphie clamored across her small room to her dresser. Xu just shrugged. Selphie yawned as she pulled out a clean dress and looked at Quistis and Xu. "You guys are here early. I thought we were going to just meet in the cafeteria."
"So did we," Quistis answered with a soft smile. "That was over two hours ago." Selphie's smile faded as she turned to the clock behind her that read 11:06.
"Oh my gosh!" She cried out as she looked at her friends in disbelief. "I can't believe I overslept this late! I need a shower," She said absently. As Selphie ran into the bathroom and turned on the water, Xu began inspecting her living quarters.
"Xu!" Quistis hissed.
"What?" The other girl smiled.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for evidence," Xu said as she glanced through the closet and then under the bed.
"Does privacy mean anything to you?" Quistis asked as she folded her arms over her chest. Xu looked up at the taller blonde from where she was knelt beside the bed and shook her head.
"Not when someone leaves their door unlocked." Quistis frowned at her friend. She looked like such a snoop down on the floor.
"Hey guys, I'll only be a few minutes," Selphie called from the shower.
"Take your time," Quistis answered as she continued to glare at Xu.
"What?" Xu asked innocently as her dark bangs fell into her eyes. "I'm just trying to see if cowboy's been here lately."
"It's not really any of your business," Quistis said as she turned from her friend and began looking at her outfit in the mirror.
"Ooh, what is this?" Xu said like she'd won a small victory. Quistis was determined to block her out. Her friend's intrusive snooping would get her in trouble one day. Judging by all the stuff she'd gotten into in the past week, that day wasn't far away.
"And to think the students here look up to you as a professionally oriented member of SeeD," Quistis sighed as she gave Xu a quick glance in the reflection to see her holding a book. Thinking that Xu had found Selphie's diary and was about to sink to a new low by reading it, Quistis turned and tried to swipe it from her grasp. Xu however, anticipated such a reaction from Quistis and ducked out of the way, just barely pulling the book from her grasp. Quistis shot her friend an perturbed glance and started to reach for the book again. "Her diary is not yours for reading!" She exclaimed through grinted teeth.
"I don't think this is her diary," Xu's face scrunched up in confusion as she looked at the front page. She tilted the book so that Quistis could see it as well. "Who's Toby?"
"What?" Quistis silently shrieked as the shower turned off. "She'll be out here any minute!" The former instructor took the book and looked at the handwriting.
"This isn't Selphie's," She whispered as she flipped through a few pages and then shoved the book back into Xu's grasp. "Put that away!"
Xu looked dumbfounded. "Why?"
"Look below the name!" Quistis cried out. Her friend did as she was told and froze.
"6 pounds 7 ounces...." Xu stopped talking and flipped through a few pages herself before looking back at Quistis. "That's a birth weight isn't it!" She cried out. Quistis just nodded quickly and turned to where Selphie was moving something in the bathroom. Xu stared at the book for only a second longer before she tossed it on the bed and took a step back. "What does that mean?"
Quistis shrugged and watched Selphie come into the room. "Why don't you ask her? You seem to be the nosy one." Selphie squeezed the excess water out of her hair and dropped the towel by the wall. She picked up her brush and hairdryer and then stopped to stare at her friends. A grin crossed her face as she noticed that both of them were avoiding eye contact with her.
"What?" Selphie asked. She watched curiously as Quistis jabbed Xu in the ribs with her elbow. Xu ran her hands down the front of her navy blue skirt as if she were trying to rid it of wrinkles.
"We..." Xu paused at Quistis' glare. "I found that little book on the floor." Selphie paled as she looked over to the bed and then crossed her arms.
________________________________________________________________________
Irvine leaned against the railing along the wall of the elevator and watched the doors slide open. His conversation with Cid had been less fruitful than he'd hoped, but at least he had the headmaster's support. His fingers shifted the papers in his hand. No one would probably believe him when he told them he was applying to be an instructor. He could hardly believe it.
"Hey man," Zell's voice startled him from his thoughts. Irvine looked up to see Zell and Fujin staring at him. He tilted his head to the side. They were really an odd couple; and Irvine wasn't comparing their heights. "Something wrong?" Zell asked as he lazily leaned against the railing behind him. Irvine caught Fujin casting Zell a quick glare and laughed. He and Selphie had made it a secret game to try and pair the people of Balamb Garden up, but even they hadn't come up with this match.
"I just finished talkin' to Cid," Irvine said. Zell's eyes grew larger.
"Is everything okay?" Zell was now standing up and fully alert.
"Yeah, I just uh needed to talk to him about gettin' a license," Irvine paused to observe Zell's stunned face. "What?"
"You're eighteen and you can't drive?" Zell looked like he was about to have a stroke. Irvine laughed when Fujin swatted him upside his head and rolled her eyes. "What was that for!?"
"INSTRUCTOR LICENSE," Fujin said bluntly as she crossed her arms and looked back to Irvine.
"How do you know?" Zell asked suspiciously.
"PAPERS," Fujin pointed to the paperwork in Irvine's hand.
"You want to be an instructor?" Zell scratched his head as he tried to imagine Irvine doing Quistis' old job.
"Why not? I need to be here as much as possible," Irvine admitted. Zell looked at Fujin before turning back to the cowboy.
Zell just cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms. "I thought you wanted to do the field work."
Irvine shrugged. "Changed my mind," Irvine quickly said as he shrugged off Fujin's skeptical glare.
"ELABORATE," She said quickly.
"Boy your not very trustin' are ya?" He joked and then continued. "'I just need a job that will keep me at or near the Garden at all times." Irvine stepped forward and waited for the doors to slide open.
"Why?" Zell was now very interested.
'I thought you had a short attention span,' Irvine though to himself. The doors started to crack. 'Finally.'
"Come on man!" Zell begged. "We're all friends here."
"I have a son. He's a little over fifteen months old," Irvine answered as he tilted his hat back.
Zell stood in shock. "No way you have a kid! I mean, you're really a parent!?" Irvine smiled light heartedly as he took in the suprised looks of the underclassmen who were waiting to get on and just happened to stumble onto the conversation. He quickly made his way through them and started walking toward the garage. "Wait up! Where are you going?"
"A place called Blue Gales. It's a little town about ten miles from where Galbadia Garden used to be. I have to go pick him up there," Irvine said as he continued walking. "I'm running late, the train'll be leavin' soon." Irvine said as he pulled out a set of keys.
Zell stood dumbfounded and turned back to Fujin. "Do you think he really has a kid?" She just rolled her eyes at the question and walked off.
________________________________________________________________________
Selphie sighed aloud. Irvine wasn't in his room, and Xu was following her closer than a tabloid reporter. She cast a glance to her taller and nosier friend. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was still uneasy about the situation with Irvine, she probably would've made her leave. It was then that she saw Zell trying to beat the lunchtime traffic to the cafeteria.
"Hey Zell!" She yelled from the dormitory entrance. He froze and looked around like a deer stuck in headlights. She and Xu hurried over to him before he dismissed her shout as his imagination and went to eat. "Hey," She said as she caught her breath. "You haven't seen Irvine today have you?"
"Like ten minutes ago. He was going to the train station," Zell answered. Selphie took off running without another word with Xu close on her heels. Zell just shrugged to himself and made a run for the hot-dog line.
~*~*~*~*~
The last warning bell sounded as the train departing from Balamb prepared to leave. Irvine paced around the SeeD car in nervousness. He wasn't nervous to see his son, he couldn't wait. He was afraid of how the other's might respond whenever he brought him back to Garden with him. Irvine spun on his heel and continued pacing. Headmaster Cid hadn't looked too pleased whenever he told him that he had a child. In all seriousness, it looked to Irvine that Cid was distraught. 'He was practically a father to me. I guess I wouldn't have been to pleased if my kid told me that he had a child before he was married,' Irvine laughed at thought. 'Toby better not come up to me with news like that. Does that make me a hypocrite?' His thoughts were interrupted when the train jerked, and then started to pull out. He gave a quick glance to the paperwork he'd yet to finish filling out. Irvine sighed and then slumped down on the along the wall. The corner of a well worn magazine stuck out between two of the cushions, catching his attention. Slowly, he pulled it free and froze at the image on the front page. It was Laguna. 'Selphie'd kill for this thing,' He smiled to himself. He read a little further down and laughed out loud. It was then that the door slid open and Selphie stepped in. Irvine dropped the magazine and stood up awkwardly.
She didn't make eye contact at first, but when she did she smiled. He could tell it wasn't forced and thus smiled himself. She took a few steps towards him and then wrapped her arms around herself and stood silently.
"I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about this whole situation, but I'm not mad at you or anything," She looked up at him to see his reaction. A broad smile crossed his features as he ran forward, startling her, and pulled her into a bear hug. She noticed for the first time that he was just wearing a SeeD issue navy t-shirt and black pants that would've made Squall jealous.
"Does this mean we're okay? I mean generally speakin' of course," His eyes seemed to plead with her to say yes. She stared up at her cowboy. He just looked vulnerable. It had to be the eyes. Those eyes would be her undoing; she smiled at the thought.
"Yeah," Selphie answered much to his relief.
"Come sit down Hun," He motioned to the couch. She smiled and sat down taking an instant notice of the magazine.
"Timber Maniacs journalist goes missing after alleged sorceress encounter. Full story on page six," Selphie began laughing aloud. "Is this yours?" She looked up to Irvine who was still trying to figure out where to put his paperwork so he wouldn't loose it.
"Nah," He chuckled. "I just found it. Thought ya might like it." Irvine settled for tossing the papers on the bed and then sat next to Selphie. "Sounds like the makings of an interesting story," He joked.
"Mm hm," Selphie replied as she leaned against him and opened it up to page six. Irvine wrapped his arm around her shoulders and stretched his legs out. He wasn't sure how things would fall into place once he had Toby, but for right now he had the company of his girl and wasn't going to dare take it for granted. He tried to read along with her about what supposedly happened to Laguna, but fell asleep with his head leaned on hers.
************************************************************************
Goatmam - Hey I know you! Thanks for reviewing this story as well!
Lady Pyrefly - There is no way I could set out and write a romance story with a sad ending. Especially if Irvine's in it. Even Darkened Ice will be happy. Not that its really really sad, cause its not...but even it'll be happy.
Zencreation - Here's chapter 2! I hope you read my other's as well. As soon as I finish Darkened Ice I'll start on the third story. I hope I can make them all work together.
Ameli Stoncius - Glad you liked it. I was hesitant to just jump into the situation like that, but taking it back too far might've hindered the story. I don't know what I'm trying to say anymore....*rubs temples* I should go to bed.
Son of Sephiroth - Thanks! Glad you like my stuff.
************************************************************************
I hope you guys like this story. I plan to make it more interesting. I just have to get everything set up and then this thing will take off......I hope. Anyway, please review. It really makes me happy and it'll make me update faster.
