Chapter 7
"I set one of the most beautiful girls up for you and you blow her away like dirt!" Avatar Fenis screamed angrily at Sifan Leonhart, "I don't have to do this, you know. I could just stay in there. Dance with Tania. Dance with Celina -Ahem- I mean...WELL, I am just trying to bring you to the brighter side of life, for God's sake!"
The wine's effect was still doing it's thing to Sifan, "If the brighter side of life means dancing with Lorena, Serena, Anna, Tania, Celina, Felicia, and every other feminine version of Tom, Dick and Harry, I think the dark side will suit me just fine..."
"Look at you. Squall Leonhart's son, sitting her semi-drunk, with your glass of champagne all by yourself, Ugh, God you're pathetic..." Avatar said, frustrated at how Sifan enjoyed being alone.
"Ah, what can I do?" Sifan said, "I am just another lone wolf..."
"Make that a lone drunk wolf..." Avatar snapped and marched away behind him.
[Sigh...they're all on to me...]
Sifan yawned. The party was almost over. In a matter of few minutes, they would all come marching out and make their way to the balamb garden's newly constructed balcony for their buffet dinner.
[Wait a second.... Avatar went BEHIND ME. The party and the girls are in the hall FRONT of me...why-]
Before he could think of anything else, icy cold water came down on his head, drenching him fully. Sifan got up and wheeled around and saw Avatar smiling maliciously, a bucket of water in his hand.
After chasing Avatar all the way to the dormitory corridor, Sifan stopped. Avatar had disappeared... and he had disappeared fast. After all, Sifan thought, he WAS a ninjitsu student.
"Hey...Avatar...I am in a mood for a little one on one..." Sifan said, unsheathing his gunblade, "How about it, kid?"
There was no reply.
"Hey, you don't have to worry..." Sifan said searching for his friend, "I am still a bit wobbly from the wine and I wont be that-"
Before he knew it, a figure from behind swept him off his feet with a sweep kick. Sifan fell down on the ground with a thud on his back. He quickly jumped back to face his assailant.
"Uh well, I was just thinking, I don't have my sword..." Avatar grinned, "But I think I'll accept..."
Sifan stood up, groping his neck, "If you had kicked me any harder..."
"...Yeah I know, your medulla oblongata would have gone splat but hey...I made sure it didn't...so...WHAT say ye, pretty boy, ye or nay?" Avatar said getting into his Zell-like fighting stance.
"You're on!" Sifan said, reloading his gunblade, "Just don't complain its gunblade versus fists..."
Suddenly, a shruiken cut through the air and raced to Sifan's fist but Sifan swung his sword and sent the shruiken into the ceiling.
Avatar smiled, "I may not have a sword but hey...we ninjas-"
"Shut up and fight..." Sifan said jumping in the air, gunblade raised above his head. Avatar moved to the side, and nanoseconds after Sifan's blade came down, swishing the air near his shoulder. Avatar immediately locked Sifan's weapon-equipped hand in a death hold. The next thing the young Leonhart knew, Avatar's knee sunk into his stomach with force. Sifan crumpled to the ground, his gunblade lying next to him.
"Aw..." Avatar said grinning again, "Don't tell me that's all the time we have today..."
"Er...unfortunately...it is..." Sifan said sitting up, his hand on his stomach.
"Ah, that's my boy..." came a voice from behind Avatar. Both of them turned to the direction of the voice. A man stood against the blue neon light, clad in a brown jacket with a furry-white collar. A glimmering lionheart hung by his side.
Squall Leonhart smiled as Avatar helped Sifan to his feet, "Hmm...you two haven't changed...still sneaking away from the crowd, just so you could fight..."
"Uh, Hi dad..." Sifan said, "Um...Nida told me you weren't coming..."
"Hmm...why would I want to miss my son's graduation...? Well, the sad thing is, I did They had to get that turbo-warp thing fixed in the Ragnarok. Well, anyway, just last minute changes. That's all. Your mother and everyone else are taking care of the farewell party back in Esthar. Irvine and Zell send their regards."
"Uh...yeah..." Sifan said, the pain still lingering, "Damn you Avatar! That one hurt..."
"Aw c'mon pretty boy, I didn't hit you that hard..." Avatar said and turned to Squall, "Hey... You saw that didn't you, Squall?"
Squall smiled, "I would've kicked him harder, Avatar."
"Very funny, dad." Sifan said.
"So...how about you two coming over to Esthar tonight?"
"I-"
"We'd love to..." Avatar said immediately before catching sight of someone across the passageway "Um, will you excuse me? I need to meet someone. The party's almost over. I'll see you after dinner..."
[Tania...or was it Celina? Heck, who the hell cares...]
Squall nodded to Avatar with a smile, and soon the ninja disappeared in a jiffy. Squall was across mid-age but he was still in good shape and often helped SeeD with a lot of missions. But some signs of aging were inevitable, he couldn't strain too long, and the skin under his steel blue eyes had tightened, but he was still as handsome nevertheless.
"Hmm...don't you have to meet anyone, son?" Squall said continued to stroll beside his son.
"Uh...no..."
Squall laughed, "That probably means 'No and I don't want to, either'...right?"
Sifan grinned, "What can I say? I'll have at least some things similar to you, if not all."
"Seriously Sifan...not a single girl?"
[Not you too...]
"I don't need em' dad..."
That amused Squall a lot. He laughed again.
"What's so funny...?"
"I was so much like you..."
"Until you met mom on a night like this..."
Squall smiled, "Ellone told me you forced her to show you all the 'interesting' parts of my life."
"Er...yeah. I remember. When mom got you to dance that night... oh boy, those blue eyes of yours just couldn't get off her, could they?"
"I danced that night, didn't I, Sifan?" Squall said, absentmindedly looking at the sky.
"Yeah...."
[She had you hook, line and sinker]
"She had me hook, line and sinker..."
Sifan looked at his father.
"What? Something I said?"
"Uh...no..." Sifan said withdrawing his look as they approached the dinner table on the balcony. Squall looked at his watch and sighed, "I'll have to meet a few people now, Sifan. I'll be with you in a few minutes, ok?"
Sifan nodded. Squall gave his son a pat on his back and went away. Sifan walked over to the balcony railing and stared at the stars that seemed to be doing their best at shining.
[Dad...he used to be such a lone wolf. Alone and lost. Then mom came along like in the fairy tales. Then his life became her. Everything in Squall Leonhart lived for Rinoa Heartilly. Don't know if it's wonderful or just plain sad. Then he slowly changed. She showed him how to live. She helped him to become everything he is. Dad, obviously, feels the same thing should happen to me. But I don't see any wonder or magic in love at all. Maybe it was because; things aren't as bad for me as they were for Dad at 17. Or maybe I don't know how it feels to be an Orphan. Or maybe I didn't grow up away from the world, as Dad had. Whatever it is, each of us had a different bringing up, but at this stage of life, we were more or less the same. Only thing, I am not as lonely as Dad was inside...and I guess that's why I don't find love so intriguing and astonishing like its some savior...]
There was sound of clapping behind Sifan, interrupting his train of thought. He turned around to see what all the commotion was about. He found out soon enough. A SeeD had proposed to another female SeeD with a diamond ring in front of all her friends and his. She had accepted.
[And of course, the crowd erupts into cheers, like its some grand finale to a game....]
They calmed down after a while and sat around a huge table, all with curvy smiles on their faces. The girl who had been proposed to, just kept looking at the diamond glittering on her finger and broke into tears and kissed her man-to-be.
[Geez...they just keep lookin' at each other's eyes as if there's no tomorrow...]
Sifan turned around and walked to a small table facing away from the rest of the crowd, overlooking the silver ocean.
"Champagne, sir?" the white-suited waiter asked with a raised eyebrow as soon as Sifan sat on the chair.
"Um.... no thanks...I'll just have a glass of water..." Sifan said.
"Will there be anyone else joining you, sir? We have this special for couples-"
"No...it will be only me, thank you." Sifan said, finishing rather abruptly.
After the waiter went away, Sifan buried his face into his hands.
[I still have another party to live through. Geez, talk about back to back parties. There'll probably be another bunch of waiters asking me all sorts of questions...Oh yeah...and then there'll be Avatar's mentor Mr. Irvine Kinneas...the co-author of my nickname 'pretty boy' asking me where's my girlfriend...Zell will probably punch me where Avatar kicked me and he'd go, 'wassup, man'... and mom of course, gets kissy kissy...and Quistis would elucidate on my garden performances and exaggerate probably everything, and then of course selphie'd be, 'woooooooohoooo, Sifoo's a SeeD' and she'll ruffle up my hair...Oh God, what a night this is gonna be...]
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"I set one of the most beautiful girls up for you and you blow her away like dirt!" Avatar Fenis screamed angrily at Sifan Leonhart, "I don't have to do this, you know. I could just stay in there. Dance with Tania. Dance with Celina -Ahem- I mean...WELL, I am just trying to bring you to the brighter side of life, for God's sake!"
The wine's effect was still doing it's thing to Sifan, "If the brighter side of life means dancing with Lorena, Serena, Anna, Tania, Celina, Felicia, and every other feminine version of Tom, Dick and Harry, I think the dark side will suit me just fine..."
"Look at you. Squall Leonhart's son, sitting her semi-drunk, with your glass of champagne all by yourself, Ugh, God you're pathetic..." Avatar said, frustrated at how Sifan enjoyed being alone.
"Ah, what can I do?" Sifan said, "I am just another lone wolf..."
"Make that a lone drunk wolf..." Avatar snapped and marched away behind him.
[Sigh...they're all on to me...]
Sifan yawned. The party was almost over. In a matter of few minutes, they would all come marching out and make their way to the balamb garden's newly constructed balcony for their buffet dinner.
[Wait a second.... Avatar went BEHIND ME. The party and the girls are in the hall FRONT of me...why-]
Before he could think of anything else, icy cold water came down on his head, drenching him fully. Sifan got up and wheeled around and saw Avatar smiling maliciously, a bucket of water in his hand.
After chasing Avatar all the way to the dormitory corridor, Sifan stopped. Avatar had disappeared... and he had disappeared fast. After all, Sifan thought, he WAS a ninjitsu student.
"Hey...Avatar...I am in a mood for a little one on one..." Sifan said, unsheathing his gunblade, "How about it, kid?"
There was no reply.
"Hey, you don't have to worry..." Sifan said searching for his friend, "I am still a bit wobbly from the wine and I wont be that-"
Before he knew it, a figure from behind swept him off his feet with a sweep kick. Sifan fell down on the ground with a thud on his back. He quickly jumped back to face his assailant.
"Uh well, I was just thinking, I don't have my sword..." Avatar grinned, "But I think I'll accept..."
Sifan stood up, groping his neck, "If you had kicked me any harder..."
"...Yeah I know, your medulla oblongata would have gone splat but hey...I made sure it didn't...so...WHAT say ye, pretty boy, ye or nay?" Avatar said getting into his Zell-like fighting stance.
"You're on!" Sifan said, reloading his gunblade, "Just don't complain its gunblade versus fists..."
Suddenly, a shruiken cut through the air and raced to Sifan's fist but Sifan swung his sword and sent the shruiken into the ceiling.
Avatar smiled, "I may not have a sword but hey...we ninjas-"
"Shut up and fight..." Sifan said jumping in the air, gunblade raised above his head. Avatar moved to the side, and nanoseconds after Sifan's blade came down, swishing the air near his shoulder. Avatar immediately locked Sifan's weapon-equipped hand in a death hold. The next thing the young Leonhart knew, Avatar's knee sunk into his stomach with force. Sifan crumpled to the ground, his gunblade lying next to him.
"Aw..." Avatar said grinning again, "Don't tell me that's all the time we have today..."
"Er...unfortunately...it is..." Sifan said sitting up, his hand on his stomach.
"Ah, that's my boy..." came a voice from behind Avatar. Both of them turned to the direction of the voice. A man stood against the blue neon light, clad in a brown jacket with a furry-white collar. A glimmering lionheart hung by his side.
Squall Leonhart smiled as Avatar helped Sifan to his feet, "Hmm...you two haven't changed...still sneaking away from the crowd, just so you could fight..."
"Uh, Hi dad..." Sifan said, "Um...Nida told me you weren't coming..."
"Hmm...why would I want to miss my son's graduation...? Well, the sad thing is, I did They had to get that turbo-warp thing fixed in the Ragnarok. Well, anyway, just last minute changes. That's all. Your mother and everyone else are taking care of the farewell party back in Esthar. Irvine and Zell send their regards."
"Uh...yeah..." Sifan said, the pain still lingering, "Damn you Avatar! That one hurt..."
"Aw c'mon pretty boy, I didn't hit you that hard..." Avatar said and turned to Squall, "Hey... You saw that didn't you, Squall?"
Squall smiled, "I would've kicked him harder, Avatar."
"Very funny, dad." Sifan said.
"So...how about you two coming over to Esthar tonight?"
"I-"
"We'd love to..." Avatar said immediately before catching sight of someone across the passageway "Um, will you excuse me? I need to meet someone. The party's almost over. I'll see you after dinner..."
[Tania...or was it Celina? Heck, who the hell cares...]
Squall nodded to Avatar with a smile, and soon the ninja disappeared in a jiffy. Squall was across mid-age but he was still in good shape and often helped SeeD with a lot of missions. But some signs of aging were inevitable, he couldn't strain too long, and the skin under his steel blue eyes had tightened, but he was still as handsome nevertheless.
"Hmm...don't you have to meet anyone, son?" Squall said continued to stroll beside his son.
"Uh...no..."
Squall laughed, "That probably means 'No and I don't want to, either'...right?"
Sifan grinned, "What can I say? I'll have at least some things similar to you, if not all."
"Seriously Sifan...not a single girl?"
[Not you too...]
"I don't need em' dad..."
That amused Squall a lot. He laughed again.
"What's so funny...?"
"I was so much like you..."
"Until you met mom on a night like this..."
Squall smiled, "Ellone told me you forced her to show you all the 'interesting' parts of my life."
"Er...yeah. I remember. When mom got you to dance that night... oh boy, those blue eyes of yours just couldn't get off her, could they?"
"I danced that night, didn't I, Sifan?" Squall said, absentmindedly looking at the sky.
"Yeah...."
[She had you hook, line and sinker]
"She had me hook, line and sinker..."
Sifan looked at his father.
"What? Something I said?"
"Uh...no..." Sifan said withdrawing his look as they approached the dinner table on the balcony. Squall looked at his watch and sighed, "I'll have to meet a few people now, Sifan. I'll be with you in a few minutes, ok?"
Sifan nodded. Squall gave his son a pat on his back and went away. Sifan walked over to the balcony railing and stared at the stars that seemed to be doing their best at shining.
[Dad...he used to be such a lone wolf. Alone and lost. Then mom came along like in the fairy tales. Then his life became her. Everything in Squall Leonhart lived for Rinoa Heartilly. Don't know if it's wonderful or just plain sad. Then he slowly changed. She showed him how to live. She helped him to become everything he is. Dad, obviously, feels the same thing should happen to me. But I don't see any wonder or magic in love at all. Maybe it was because; things aren't as bad for me as they were for Dad at 17. Or maybe I don't know how it feels to be an Orphan. Or maybe I didn't grow up away from the world, as Dad had. Whatever it is, each of us had a different bringing up, but at this stage of life, we were more or less the same. Only thing, I am not as lonely as Dad was inside...and I guess that's why I don't find love so intriguing and astonishing like its some savior...]
There was sound of clapping behind Sifan, interrupting his train of thought. He turned around to see what all the commotion was about. He found out soon enough. A SeeD had proposed to another female SeeD with a diamond ring in front of all her friends and his. She had accepted.
[And of course, the crowd erupts into cheers, like its some grand finale to a game....]
They calmed down after a while and sat around a huge table, all with curvy smiles on their faces. The girl who had been proposed to, just kept looking at the diamond glittering on her finger and broke into tears and kissed her man-to-be.
[Geez...they just keep lookin' at each other's eyes as if there's no tomorrow...]
Sifan turned around and walked to a small table facing away from the rest of the crowd, overlooking the silver ocean.
"Champagne, sir?" the white-suited waiter asked with a raised eyebrow as soon as Sifan sat on the chair.
"Um.... no thanks...I'll just have a glass of water..." Sifan said.
"Will there be anyone else joining you, sir? We have this special for couples-"
"No...it will be only me, thank you." Sifan said, finishing rather abruptly.
After the waiter went away, Sifan buried his face into his hands.
[I still have another party to live through. Geez, talk about back to back parties. There'll probably be another bunch of waiters asking me all sorts of questions...Oh yeah...and then there'll be Avatar's mentor Mr. Irvine Kinneas...the co-author of my nickname 'pretty boy' asking me where's my girlfriend...Zell will probably punch me where Avatar kicked me and he'd go, 'wassup, man'... and mom of course, gets kissy kissy...and Quistis would elucidate on my garden performances and exaggerate probably everything, and then of course selphie'd be, 'woooooooohoooo, Sifoo's a SeeD' and she'll ruffle up my hair...Oh God, what a night this is gonna be...]
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