Chapter 31
Back to Balamb
"This is taking a lot longer than I expected..." Squall thought drearily. He paced through the Garden hallway, past Quistis' old classroom for about the eighth time. His ears perked up as he heard a not-entirely familar voice mumble something from inside the room. With one final clomp of his boot, Squall stoped, and abrubtly turned around. He walked quickly into the classroom to investigate, happy to have a distraction.
As he entered, Squall took note of a cowboy hate tipped precariously over the forehead of a young man, leaning up agaisnt the back wall. Two female students at the front of the class giggled, and eyed him curiously.
Irvine looked up as Squall approched him. He smirked.
Squall couldn't imagine why he would ever want to strike up a conversation with Irvine if he didn't have to, but no one else seemed to be around at the moment... or had he been avoding everyone all day? Squall couldn't remember. But he was bored right now, so he nodded politely at Irvine.
Immediatly, Irvine began to talk about girls.
"Hmmm... tough choice…" he thought aloud. "Now, do I go for the girl with the pigtail, or the one with the bob? Or how ‘bout that brunette…?"
Squall took a seat at one of the desks, and buried his face into his open hands.
"This was a bad idea..." Squall thought.
Irvine glanced at Squall for a moment, and scrachted his chin contemplativly for a moment.
"So like.. I've been thinking about this for a while now…" Irvine began. "Maybe you should loosen up a bit? You'll be sure to get girls that way…!" he blurted out.
Squall lifted his hand.
"Yeah. You can just stop right there."
Irvine smirked again.
"Your loss" he joked.
Squall turned his back to Irvine, and started fiddling with the keyboard in front of him.
"Been a while since I've checked the Garden Network..." thought Squall. "Nothing's probably been updated... To much has been going on... Not like it was ever updated reugularly anyway, though..."
But Squall pressed the power button all the same. At the very least students wold probably be posting on the forum.
After looking through all of the sections, and seeing that none of them had been updated hardly at all, Squall wearily clicked on the last menu item.
"Garden Festival..." Squall thought. "Selphie never really got to have the Garden festival... even though she did preform that concert..."
Squall read the general annoucment part of the Garden festival page, noiting that Selphie had just updated it yesterday morning. In fact, the entire page was full of diary entries, notes, and annoucments.
"Selphie's been busy..."
************************
Garden festival information: I guess it wasn't meant to be this time, but here'll be a Garden festival next year, and the year after that and on and on! So… We're still looking for new members! (It's not like I've given up on this one yet!)
My friends!: I made a friend! I think I'll have my friends write stuff directly in here. I thought I'd have our leader, Squall, go first, but then I realized he'd never do that… So here's the order…
Previous entries: How you all doin'? This is Irvine Kinneas. Selphie asked me if I could write something. How could I refuse? Well, I'm here from Galbadia Garden due to personal reasons. I think I fit in quite well. What do you think? With so many cuties here, I look foreword to gettin' up in the mornings. (You seem like a good guy but… I don't know…)
Latest: Yo, s'up? It's Zell Dincht. …The hell do I write? Yeah, I know I said I'd write somethin' but I have nothin'' to write. Oh wait.. I-love-hot-dogs. You know, the ones that're always sold out? Anyway, that's it for me!
***********************************************************************
Days passed. Squall tired to remain busy with his duties as 'commander', but since Xu, and Quistis had stepped up to help him out, there wasn't much left for him to do except sign a few papers here and there. But it wasn't long before things started getting busy again.
As Squall exited the training center after an hour long session, he heard Nida's voice over the Garden P.A.
"Squall! er... commander! Please report to the bridge immediatly!"
Squall sheathed his gunblade and immediatly complied.
"Finally..." he thought.
***********************************************************************
"Would you take a look at that..." Nida exclaimed.
From the bridge windows, Squall, Quistis, Xu, and Nida could see Balamb city approaching fast off the horizon.
"Looks like we're almost home..." Quistis smiled.
Squall folded his arms, and gazed out on the tiny spot of land off in the distance. Garden was moving pretty fast, and they would be docked at Balamb in less than a half hour.
"Waitaminute..." Squall suddenly asserted. "Look."
He pointed towards Balamb, which came closer and closer every second. A richly colred red mass now obstructed their view of the Balamb harbor, and a large portion of the buildings.
Quistis, Xu, and Nida squinted, observing the strange object curiously.
Suddenly, Quistis gasped and turned around to face Squall, quivering slightly.
"Squall... doesn't that look like..."
Squall cut her off, completing her sentence.
"Galbadia Garden. I know." he said solomly.
***********************************************************************
Suspicious of the other floating Garden, Squall ordered Nida to pull up on the beach about a mile from Balamb. Galbadia Garden was docked in Balamb's harbor, it's own blue and golden colored ring hovering around it, keeping the vessile aloft.
Squall decided to investigate what was going on in Balamb. He gathered his thoughts quickly.
"If it's true that the sorceress ... Edea, wanted to use Garden as her base... Then could she be in control of the Garden now? ... No... no... I don't think that the SeeD at that Garden would go down that easily... Would they?"
Squall shook his head and motioned for Quistis to follow him as he exited the bridge.
"What are we doing?" she asked.
"...We're just gonna check out the city" Squall replied. "Something doesn't seem right... but maybe I'm just being paranoid..."
Quistis looked at him curiously.
"Well, if something's going on in Balamb, I think Zell's gonna want to know... Maybe we'd better take him along."
Squall didn't even turn his head.
"Whatever" he replied. "Just get him at the Garden exit. Quick."
***********************************************************************
Squall, Quistis, and Zell took a careful step onto Balamb's main street. Immediately, Zell's eyes widened, and he blinked furiously.
"What the hell? What's goin' on here?"
Zell stood there, glaring at a heavily armed Galbadian military vehicle, and a guard posted right next to it. They were blocking the mainroad.
Squall's earlier suspicions were confirmed, but he still raised an eyebrow, confused.
"What is this…?" he wondred aloud. "Galbadia?"
After starring in disbelife, the trio noticed two other bystanders, Balamb citizens. One was a middle aged woman, sitting against a brick wall. Zell approached her.
"What's going on here?!" he exclaimed. She lifted her face, and Zell immediatly felt bad for yelling. It was the hotel owners wife, and the hotel owner was pacing back and forth just a few feet away. Her eyes had deep, dark lines in them, making it obvious that she hadn't slept at all in quite some time, amd fresh tears flooded her cheeks.
She recognized Zell, and faked a smile, but then expressed even more frusteration than Zell had.
"I don't know what to do! What's happening to this town!? When can we go in!? If I knew this was going to happen, I would have brought my daughter with me! I hope she's all right… ohhh… I hope grandpa's taking care of her…"
After conversing with her a bit more, Zell discovered that Galbadian soldiers were keeping Balamb under occupation. Apparently, the couple waiting outside of town had been removed to make accomodations for the soldiers in the hotel. After refusing, one of the head men had them kicked out of town indefinatly.
The hotel owner approached Zell and his wife now. Placing his hand on Zell's shoulder, he sighed unhappily. He looked tired as well.
"We were forced out of town days ago" he explained. "Our daughter's still at home, but there's nothing we can do. With all these soldiers from Galbadia, you've got to stop and wonder whether Galbadia fell to the hands of the sorceress. I wonder how the town's holding up…? Was it just a lie, about liberating the town in a few days?"
Zell shook his head angrily. These two people... all the people in Balamb were men and woman who had helped to raise him... people he'd grown up with.
"...We're going to take care of this" Zell promised the couple. "Just don't you worry about it, a'ight?"
The hotel owner and his wife nodded gratefully. Zell turned around and narrowed his eyes angrily.
"Who KNOWS what's going on inside town..." Zell thought. He couldn't bare the thought of his friends and family suffering like the citizen's of Timber had... esspecially now that Edea, the sorceress, was in control of Galbadia.
Zell looked to Squall, who'd been observing the guard for a while now. Zell looked at him questioningly, and mouthed, 'what next?'
Squall looked back and forth between him and the guard. Finally, Squall waved Zell over, and motioned for him and Quistis to follow him.
Squall approached the soldier causually, and asked, "What's going on?"
The guard was very young, and by the tone of his voice, it was obvious that the uniform had gone to his head. He stood at attention, and spoke harshly to Squall.
"This town is under the control of Sorceress Edea! The town is off limits while we conduct our investigation! It will last for several days! Once we're through with our investigation here, you're next. So just stay out and stay put!" he barked.
"So it's true... Galbadia Garden has been taken over by Edea and Galbadia... and it's mobile just like Balamb Garden..."
Squall tried to look around the gaurds head, seeing if he could catch a glimpse of hat was going on aorund town. The soldeir immediatly put up his hand to block Squall's view.
"You guys look suspicious. What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"What's Galbadia doing in a town like this?" Squall demanded in return.
The gaurd stuttered slightly, but answered harshly.
"W-What do you want? Are you residents here?"
Zell now stepped in, fists swinging threateningly.
"YEAH, that's right!" he yelled. "At least residents should be allowed in!"
The guard's ego kicked in at this point. He wasn't gonna be spoken to like this... HE was a Galbadian Soldier.
"It's OFF-LIMITS! You cannot enter or leave. Do you understand!?"
Zell laughed, self-assuredly.
"Hah!? Who do you think you're talking to?" he said, positioning himself in a fighting stance.
Squall put up his hand between the soldeir and Zell. He calmly began speaking with the soldier again.
"What? What is it now?" the gaurd said, exasperated.
"You said the town was off-limits…" Squall replied. "Does that mean we can't deliver a message either?"
The soldier nodded 'yes'.
"…That's too bad. We have some info on Ellone…"
The air all around seemed to go dead silent. The guard's jaw fell open, and he blinked in shock.
"W-what?" he exclaimed. "Elle… Wait a minute!"
The guard glanced around supisiously, and spoke under his breath.
"(Tell me everything you know about her! Do you actually know who she is?")
Squall had to think quick at this point.
"Kind of… But we need to get inside to confirm something" he explained.
The soldier bit his bottem lip and looked back and forth nervously. Letting someone in who had information on Ellone... that was an automatic promotion at least. Edea wanted this Ellone ...whoever she was... found and brought to her ASAP. A top priority mission. However, he had specific orders not to let anyone under ANY circumstance into Balamb.
After one more nervous gance, he finally gave in.
"If you find out any information at all, go talk to the commander. She's staying at the hotel! You will be rewarded" he explained.
Squall nodded with fake apprciation, and the soldier moved aside, allowing the three into town.
After creating some distance between themselves and the guard, Zell tapped on Squall's shoulder.
"Hey... let's uh... just sweep through town real quick, make sure that nobody's gettin' messed with too bad."
Squall puased a moment, contemplating Zell's idea, and glancing down the street at a group of Galbadian soldiers.
"Alright." Squall agreed. "We can try to avoid confronting the soldiers if nothing else... Just duck into this house right here."
Zell opened the front door to one of the homes on mainstreet. It sunk down into the street just like all the other homes. Squall and Quistis went down the stairs, and into the house after Zell.
Zell immediatly grabbed the attention of the house's resident. An older gentleman with whitening hair. A girl in the back of the living area starred at the floor sadly, rocking back and forth on the ball's of here feet.
The old man pointed to the young girl, his granddaughter.
"Since her parents are away, I'm packing her bags, so that she'll be able to stay next door" he explained. Zell nodded. The young girl was the hotel owner's 12 year old daughter.
Zell looked to the girl, and back at the old man, and smiled wryly.
"Don't know what will become of Balamb… I'm sure the sorceress and Galbadia don't give a rotten hoot ‘bout this here town" the old man sighed.
"Don't you even worry about ol' crap-brained Galbadia or their stupid sorceress!" Zell cried. "We're SeeD! We'll mop the streets with their asses!"
The old man chuckled slightly, but regained his compuser, and scolded Zell.
"Please... watch your mouth in front of my grandaughter Zell... You're setting a bad example, and she's upset enough as it is."
"Aw, com'on gramps... you know how frusterated I get about things like this!" Zell moaned. "They've got the whole DAMN TOWN in their control!!! Why, do you know what they threatened to do to Fisherman's Horizon?! They..."
Squall stepped in.
"Zell. That's enough. They look like they're alright for now, so let's move on."
Zell was about to defend himself again, but a young voice sounded from the living room...
"Mommy and daddy haven't come back…" she whispered loudly. then her voice became more agressive... and louder...
"I can't take it! I can't take it anymore…"
Zell gulped, feeling guilty, and follwed Squall and Quistis outside as the young girl began sobbing...
***********************************************************************
Outside the Galbadian soldiers were still patrolling the streets dutifully. Only one other person remained out on the street who wasn't from Galbadia.
A lady wearing a long yellow skirt and a brightly colored barret recognized Zell. She waved him and his group over to her, and she took a seat on the bench next to the repair shop, right across from the soldier's, who didn't seem to be paying them any heed.
"So, you here to... " the lady looked around carefully before continuing, in a slight whipser. "(liberate town, Zell?)"
Zell rubbed the back of his neck, smirking confidently. The woman smiled.
"Well, whatever's in the store is basically all we have left" she glanced at Squall and Quistis, speaking to all three of them now.
"Thanks to Mrs. Dincht, there hasn't been much of a panic, but there's not much we can do."
She sighed.
"Those Galbadian soldiers… They're just trying to torture us slowly. Everyone's basically on edge. I wonder if that Ellone girl is really here? I know it sounds terrible, but if she's here, I wish they'd find her. That's just how I honestly feel."
Zell nodded, solomly, understanding. But he, Squall and Quistis all felt the same intuition when it came to the matter of Ellone...
"If the sorceress wants Ellone... " Squall thought, "We want her more..."
Suddenly, one of the soldier's took note of the four people across from him. H frowned and yelled out at them.
"HEY! If you're done with your errands, go home! If I see you loitering, I'll have to take you in!"
Zell nearly shook his fist in the direction of the guard, but he thought better of it. Instead, he, Quistis, and Squall waited for the soldier to turn around again, and they listened to his convrsation.
"The commander is suspicious of small towns like this. But how in the world are we supposed to find this girl Ellone if we only have her name to go on?" the soldier said.
Another soldier waved his hand.
"I think she'll turn up. She won't be able to run from sorceress Edea. Then the world according to Edea will begin" he laughed. "Along with our Galbadian rule..."
The first soldier still shook his head,
"If we only had a little more information about this girl…" he lamented.
The other soldier lifted his head, and scratched his chin.
"hmm… Galbadian rule… has a nice ring to it."
One of the soldier's glanced at Squall again and jabbed his finger in the direction of a house.
'NOW', he mouthed harshly.
Squall put his hands up, admitting defeat.
"alright alright..." he muttered.
Zell nuged Squall and Quistis.
"Hey, we can take it easy at my pad for a few minutes..." he offered. "Like Angelica said, Ma's been helpin' people out, so she'd probably want to know that we're here..."
"We can't stay indoors with the rest of Balamb, though..." Squall thought. "We need to find a way to get Galbadia out of here..."
***********************************************************************
Zell threw open the door to his house.
"MA, I'm home!…" he yelled. But as he stopped to take a around, no one seemed to be there.
"Huh?" he said, scratching his head.
Zell ran into the back of his home, in the sitting area. He was relived to see his mother there, conversing with one of their neighbors, and her son.
"Ma, you're safe!" Zell cried joyfully.
Zell's mother looked at him with surprise. She was overjoyed to see her son.
"Zell! How on earth did you get into town!?" she asked happily.
Zell smirked confidently
"It's all in the brains, Ma." he explained. "We just said we had some info on Ellone. Piece O' cake!"
Squall shot a quick, mean glance at Zell, but kept his mouth shut.
Zell's mother sighed.
"What a relief…" she said. "I was worried you might have beaten up one of the guards. The soldiers have threatened that the sorceress will burn the town to the ground should there be any disturbance."
Zell narrowed his eyes.
"Over my dead body" he thought.
*------------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------*
(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story)
Squall approached Mrs. Dincht.
"Sorceress Edea? Is she here?" he asked.
Zell's mother shrugged her shoulders.
"I noticed a woman with the Galbadian army. Gray hair, patch over one eye…"
Squall lowered his head, thinking. That wasn't Edea she was describing...
"Must be Fuijin" Squall observed. Fujin and Raijin were easy to spot... Esspecially with Fujin's unusual, sliver hair.
"So they're here…?" Squall said to himself.
Zell laughed.
"Leave it to me. I'll get rid of those jokers!"
"Could Seifer be here too?" Squall thought.
Zell's mother continued.
"They say the town will be released in several days. I wonder if it's true? The whole town's on edge. The residents, the soldiers…"
She shot a authoritative glance at her son.
"Control yourself Zell. It's not like you'll be able to resolve things by fighting."
"MA!" Zell cried. "You know me... cool as ice!"
Zell's mother surpressed a chuckle.
The other woman in the room forced a smile.
"Thank you for having us over during these troubled times" she said to Mrs. Dincht. She then looked to Zell.
"Zell, I'm sure the whole town is counting on you, but don't strain yourself or take any chances..." she said with concern. She paused a moment, and said. "But maybe just one SOCK in the nose might be good."
Zell smirked.
"Wait, wait, wait… I thought you were concerned about me!?"
The woman shruged playfully.
"Well, those soldier's should get what's comin' to them" she laughed.
Zell puffed out his chest and swung his fists.
"Hah! Just wait. I'll show ‘em what I'm all about!"
Suddenly, the woman's son, known affectionatly as the Big bad rascal in Zell's neighborhood, jumped up and down excitedly.
"Yo, Zell!" he cired out. "I've been practicin' my special move for a day like this!"
The young boy took a step back, brought his hands up and began slashing and hacking at the air with his arms and legs.
"HYEEE-YAA SuuuPER-MIRICALE KiiiCK!!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
After everyone had unplugged their ears, Zell smiled. He wouldn't have admitted it, but Zell knew that this kid was just like him when he was that age.
"Don't worry. It's my special move, so I'll only use it if I have to!" the rascal said. He then looked around and shrugged.
"Well, I'm off to check things out!"
And with that, he escaped from the group before his mother could grab on to him, and ran out the Dincht's front door.
His mother slapped her forehead in frusteration.
"That boy! I told him to stay inside! Zell, if you see my son, just drag him back here, please."
"No prob!" Zell said. "We've gotta go give the Galbadian's what-for anyway..."
***********************************************************************
"So, what do you think, Squall?" Zell asked as the three exited his home. "What's our next step?"
"We could potentially do several things..." Squall thought. "But our best bet is to find Fujin and Raijin... try to figure out what exactly they plan on doing with Ellone, and see if we can get them to leave Balamb..."
Zell and Quistis looked at Squall for a moment, as he bent his head down, thinking to himself.
"HEH-LOW!" Quistis yelled, shoving Squall in the arm. "Would you mind filling the rest of us in sometime soon?"
Squall snapped back to attention, but merely eyed Quistis curiously.
"What's with her..." he thought. Squall merely shrugged it off though.
"Zell, your mom said that Fuijin... or at least someone who LOOKS like Fujin is here..." Squall said.
"I seriously doubt that it could be anyone else..." Quistis said. "Silver hair? An eyepatch? com'on. It's gotta be her."
Squall nodded in agreement.
"That's what I think." he agreed. "And if Fujin's here..."
"Then Raijin's probably here with her" Zell inserted. "Like I said, the both of em's here, and we'll get rid of em'... they're still siding with Seifer as far as we know..."
"Yeah..." Squall agreed. "But Seifer might be with them too, and if he's Edea's knight..."
Quistis' eye's widened and she stopped in her tracks.
"You think Edea's here?"
"Maybe." Squall said plainly. "But let's just focus on finding Fujin or Raijin first. Even if Seifer and Edea aren't here, we still need to get these soldier's out of Balamb..."
Quistis and Zell nodded in agreement.
"Good." Squall said plainly. "Let's head towards the hotel... we'll have to dig around for information... try to get in as many places as we can..."
***********************************************************************
After ducking past the gaurds on the main street, Squall and his companions made their way to the Balamb Hotel. More gaurds stood in the way, but didn't bother them until they came to close...
"What do you want!?" the first one yelled. "If it's the commander you're looking for, I have strict orders not to let anyone through."
"Commander..." Squall thought. "If we could get to whoever that is... "
Squall looked up at the guard, and began speaking in a low voice.
"Look... we've been sent here becuase we have information on someone named Ellone... it's imparitive that we speak with whoever's in charge."
The guard riased an eyebrow immediatly at this, but didn't seem as impressed as Squall had hoped.
"What?" he barked crudely. "Information about Ellone?"
He looked over to his partner.
"Hmm…more rumors?" he sugested.
The second guard seemed wary as well, but more easy going.
"You know that we'll get a salary cut if we let'em through without confirmation."
The first laughed slightly and hung his head.
"Yeah I know… in this army your salary gets based on just how the boss is feeling… I guess it goes with the territory when you can't choose your own boss."
Squall rolled his eyes and sighed in irritation.
"NOBODY get's to choose his own boss..." he thought.
Zell became even more impatient, as the two gaurds discussed the situation. He finally snapped.
"Yo, Listen! We have top secret info! Bring the commander out here!" he yelled.
Both looked at Zell suddenly, narrowing their eyes.
"These guys are kinda suspicious huh?" the first guard said under his breath.
"Yeah, totally!" the second agreed.
They both nodded, formulating a plan in unison, without even speaking.
"Have some respect for the captain! The captain is currently on patrol!" the gaurd suddenly yelled.
"The captain will be sure to reward you. He'll also take full responsibility… go talk to the captain." the second said.
Squall was about to protest, but he was cut short.
"GO TO THE CAPTAIN FIRST." the gaurds both stated firmly.
Squall, once again frusterated and confused by the laziness and lack of motivation rampent in the Galbadian army, admitted defeat. He backed away, and attempted to regroup with Quistis and Zell.
Zell was, however, occupied. Another one of Balamb's residents had approached him.
"Zell! You sure came back at a good time. Do something about these soldiers! They walk about like they own this place! If only my hubby were still alive… He would've shown them for sure!"
A slightly heavy-set woman conversed with Zell about how the soldeir's had done this and that... Zell finally had to innterupt her.
"Don't worry... We're taking care of it" Zell assured her.
He turned around to see Squall and Quistis waiting for him.
"My, my, my... Quite the celebratey here, aren't we Zell?" Quistis teased. Zell blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Yeah, well... y'know..." Zell said, trying to hide his pride.
Squall faked a loud cough.
"A-hem" he choked out. "Can we get on with it?" he huffed.
Quistis and Zell came to attention.
"Ok," Squall said. "They won't talk to us until we find this 'captain'... Whoever he is."
Zell poked up his hand slowly. Squall shot him an irritated glare.
"Zell... don't raise your hand.... we aren't in class. Just spit it out."
Zell blushed slightly.
"Uh, well... I was just thinking... Why should we go on a wild goose chase looking for soldiers, when we're looking for Fuijin and Raijin... shouldn't we find them?"
Squall paused a moment, head bent down. Had he become distracted that easily? Had he actually let the idiocity of the Galbadian soldier's make him loose sight of their objective...?
"I must be getting tired..." Squall thought. "We have been here for a few hours now... and it's not like I've been sleeping that great lately..."
Quistis raised an eyebrow at Squall. He looked terrible.
"Poor guy looks like somebody went and cast 'Zombie' on him" she thought, compassionatly.
Quistis turned to Zell.
"Well, Zell..." She began. "It's obvious that... um... in order to find Fuijin and Raijin, we have to build a slight confidance with someone in charge, so we can... erm... you know... pump them for information about their plans, or, uh... who's working for them..."
Zell looked confused.
"Yeah, but didn't Squall just..."
"Garden Code; Article 8: Line 15!" Quistis quickly inserted.
Zell raised an eyebrow, extremly confused at this.
"What?" he asked.
"'SeeDs are not to question commanding SeeDs during missions, training, or other specified Garden/SeeD activities, as regards actions, orders, and conduct'" Quistis recited.
Zell scratched his head, looking at his feet.
"oh..." he said. "But...I don't remember that part of the Code..." he uttered, unsure of himself.
Quistis patted Zell on the shoulder, reassuringly.
"Well, it's no surprise Zell... you did only score a 76% on the Garden Code memorization test..."
Zell gave an embaressed smile, still confused.
"Yeah... I guess so..." he said.
Quistis galnced behind her shoulder at Squall, who was smirking ever-so slightly, and winked at him.
It took all of Squall's self-control to not laugh.
"Garden Code Articles never exceed 12 lines..." he thought, following Quistis and Zell. He called ahead to them.
"Hey, Zell..."
Zell turned his head.
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you scope out the situation ahead, while me and Quistis stay back. Signal to us if the coast is clear."
Zell saluted him.
"Will do, Commander!"
And with that, a clueless Zell ran ahead, down to the docks of Balamb.
Squall caught up to Quistis, and they walked side by side for a moment.
"Line 15?" Squall asked, striaght faced.
Quistis chuckled.
"That was pretty good, wasn't it?" she said cheerfully.
Squall smirked again.
"Well, since we're expanding on the Garden CodeBook today, care to share Line 16?" he asked.
Quistis smiled.
"Oh, certainly..." she said. They both stopped. Squall folded his arms, and Quistis placed her hands behind her back.
"A-hem!" she coughed. "'Garden Code; Article 8: Line 16: Commanding SeeDs should be eternally grateful to any subordinate who get's them out of embarresing situations...'" Quistis said, trying not to laugh.
"'...Esspecially good-looking ones.'"
She topped off the joke with a wink.
Squall rolled his eyes... But not harshly. If Quistis didn't know any better, she would've thought that the expression was almost... playful.
"And would the 'good-looking ones' be in reference to the Commanders, or their subordinates?" Squall teased.
Quistis suddenly fell silent. Not only did she find herself lacking a comeback, but for once in her life, Quistis broke out in a blush before Squall did.
"Well... I... um... I suppose..." Quistis stuttered.
"Holy Hyne!" she thought. "I never thought in a million years he'd flirt BACK at me...! What am I supposed to say?!!"
Squall was confused. Quistis had never been one to be shy... at least not like this. Why would she choose now, when he was actually comfortable joking around with her, to get so... un comfortable.
"Did I say something... wrong?" Squall thought. He shook his head.
"...Whatever."
Quistis glanced around nervously.
"Oh... I ..uh... I think I hear Zell... We'd better catch up to him!" she said suddenly. Getting ready to run up ahead, she impulsivly siezed Squall's hand.
As she did, Quistis stopped dead in her tracks, and fell utterly silent. She shot her face up quickly, and Quistis' eyes met Squall's. She gazed at him, just standing still. Her eyes went wide with fear, embaresment, and even anger.
From Squall's vantage point, Quistis' expression was firece, but unreadable. Squall couldn't tell if she was mad, or afraid, or what. But the look on her face was extremely intense.Quistis whole upper body began to quiver, and she swallowed, attempting to remove a lump in her throat, which blocked her voice.
The seconds that she stood, gazing up into Squall's confused eyes, seemed like hours. A million thoughts passed through her head. What was she thinking? Why didn't she release his hand? Why'd she grab it in the first place?
She suddenly flung Squall's hand away from her, and ran ahead, hiding her face from sight. Her boots clomped loudly on the stone walkway.
"Now what was THAT about..." Squall wondered. He didn't even connect her grabing his hand with the sudden and awkward behavior... He merely assumed that it was meant to get his attention.
"What was that look for? And why'd she just stand there for so long?"
Squall was extremly confused.
***********************************************************************
Quistis brushed back her hair with a stern look on her face as she caught up to Zell.
"Hey!" Zell greeted. "Uh.... I thought you were staying behind until..."
"Changed our mind" Quistis abrubtly inserted. She seemed irritated to Zell.
Squall approached them shortly, and Quistis avoided eye contact. Squall thought about saying something, but once again his embaressment and private nature haulted the attempt.
"...We might as well find the 'Captian'" Squall said gruffly.
Zell felt slightly uncomfortable, sensing that something was amiss. However, before he could fully understand the feeling, he noticed a young man squatting besides some of the Galbadian Military vehicles.
It was one of Zell's friends from town. He usually helped out the mechanic, as an apprentice, whom he always referred to as 'Boss'.
The assistant noticed Zell and smiled.
"Zell! YES you're finally here! You have to avenge my boss! Those Galbadians broke the bosses arm! All he did was ask a question!"
Zell shook his fists angrily.
"Well... what was he asking?!" Zell cried.
"He wanted to know what was to become of Balamb! Oh man… If only I were as strong as you, Zell."
The young man hung his head for a moment, shamefully. Soon, though, he put his hand to his chin.
"That's it!" he cried. "I'll set a bomb in this car and… oh man… I can't use the skills my boss taught me for that kinda stuff…"
Zell patted his friend on the back. He then looked up and noticed that Squall and Quistis were walking away without him.
"Hey! Wait up guys!" he cried.
"...Maybe I should start thinking about a possible confrontation..." Squall thought. "We may need to fight... I just wonder if we could hold our own here..."
Squall looked around for something, anything, to indicate how strongly upheld Galbadia was here in Balamb. Not that the soldiers weren't enough to keep the residents out, but did they have a means of fighting against a Garden full of SeeD?
A Galbadian soldier noticed Squall and his group, glaring at them menecingly. Squall frowned and glared back at him with just as much contempt. The soldier smirked.
"Just be grateful to Galbadia that this town hasn't gone up in a sea of flames. Sorceress Edea has the power to wipe this town out, you know?" he called at them.
Squall ignored his taunts, and pressed foreward to investigate the docks.
Two soldiers were at the dock's end, one scoring the ground for something. he moaned to himself.
"All I do is just crouch all day and look for clues. Ellone's possessions… some scent for the dog to go by…"
A golden retriver sat lazily next to the other soldeir. It's mouth opened widely, yawning.
Squall approached the soldeir who was standing next to the dog. Quistis sqautted down to the dog and began petting it. Squall spoke with the soldeir.
"We're um... searching for the captain." Squall said. "Any idea where we might find him?"
This soldier seemed quite laid back, and unagressive.
"Oh, the captain?" he replied. "Yeah, he was just fishing here. He caught a few and got really excited. Said he was gonna eat 'em right away."
Squall nodded, appriciatvly. He tapped Quistis on the shoulder just as she was scratching behind the dog's ear.
She smiled at the canine.
"Cute dog." she said.
The soldeir looked down at the dog contemplativly for a moment.
"I've been told to use this dog to find Ellone" he explained. "But without her scent to go by, what can we do?"
Quistis faked a nervous smile, and waved goodbye to the soldeir and his dog. She followed Squall and Zell once again, back up to Balamb's main street.
Once they found their way back up to the street Zell lived on, Squall glanced at his house, and then up at the sky... The sun was setting.
"Zell... it's getting late." Squall said. "We might need to spend the night, before finishing up our buisness here."
"Which we're still unsure of..." Squall thought to himself.
"Do you think your mom would let us stay at your place until tomorrow?"
Zell shot a questioning glance at Squall.
"...Yeah... I guess..." Zell said. "But... YOU AREN'T GOIN' IN TA MY ROOM!" he asserted.
As Squall and Zell talked, Quistis looked around curiously. She sniffed.
"WHEW!" she exclaimed. There was a strong odor in the air.
Squall and Zell stopped for a moment.
"...Smells like... rotten fish..." Zell complained. He looked over to the chimey of his house to see thick smoke rising from it.
"...The hell?" Zell asked aloud.
***********************************************************************
As Zell, Squall and Quistis entered Zell's house, the stench became stronger.
Zell's mother appraoched them, covering her nose.
"Just now, a man came in and asked if he could use the kitchen… I think he cooked some fish. The whole room is filled with this strange odor." she said.
Zell winced at the smell. It wasn't terrible, but it was strong.
"Must've been pretty bad fish to give off this odor." Zell's mother said. "I wonder if he's really going to eat it? Said he was going to eat it with his men. Hope nothing happens to them…"
Zell laughed.
"I DO." he said.
A loud voice from the back of Zell's house rang out.
"Pewweww… this stench is clogging up my pours!"
***********************************************************************
After the smell had cleared, Squall decided that it was definatly time to find a place to stay.
"Zell..." he said. "We really need to stay here tonight."
Zell moaned slightly.
"We can't stay at the hotel… So I guess we have no choice." Zell took a deep breath for his next sentence.
"Let's just go to my room and rest." he said begrudingly.
Squall and Quistis both withheld a chuckle. Zell blushed.
"It's not like I'm inviting you guys, ok? It's cause we have no choice!"
Zell reluctantly lead Quistis and Squall up into his room. He peeked in carefully, making sure everything was in order. Quistis nudged him in irritation.
Zell finally opened his door entirely, revealing his bedroom. The three entered slowly.
Squall folded his arms and examined the room.
"So this is Zell's room" Squall said, mocking interest.
Quistis looked around, somewhat confused.
"It's so clean for a guy's room..." she said.f course. She was shocked at how immaculate Zell's room was.
Quistis continued to look around curiously. She noticed a large T-board leaning up against his wall.
"Hey? Zell, I thought you had your T-board confiscated?"
Zell, still trying to get comfortable with other people in his room, glanced quickly at his hovering T-board, and back at Quistis.
"Heh-heh" he chuckled. "Once you reach my caliber, you've gotta have more than one"
Quistis smirked for a moment. Upon taking another look at the T-board, however, she began giggling uncontrolably.
Zell scratched the back of his head.
"What?" he asked. "What's so funny?"
Quistis surpressed her laughs just long enough to speak.
"I just remembered something" she said. Quistis then turned to Squall. "Do you know about Zell's famous ‘incident'?" she asked.
Squall raised an eyebrow.
"What incident?" he asked.
Quistis chuckled once more, placing her hand on her knee to steady herself.
"Well," she began, "Zell was riding his T-board around the hallways of Garden. Suddenly he made a sharp turn right into the women's rest…"
Zell went wide eyed and cried out immediatly.
"ARRGHH!! Enough of that story!!!"
***************************************************************************************************************************
End Chap. 31
That was pretty long. but I guess it's a fitting length since I haven't just sat down to write like this in such a long time...
Not much happening here storywise, other than building suspense. Next chapter, Squall has an interesting conversation with one of his closest friends. Just an interesting tidbit I added to give this section of chapters a personal touch. However, chapter 33 is where it ALL comes out.. and boy, oh boy, do I mean ALL. (Well, ok... everything having to do with Squall, Quistis, Irvine, Zell, & Selphie at least... But it's still a LOT.)
Now, by-the-by, I did get a review stating that I was quite long-winded, and I just want to say this...
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
You seriously have no idea how much I've wanted someone to say that I was writing TOO MUCH!
Honestly though, I think I agree with that assesment. I did ask in earlier chapters that people tell me if I was getting to 'wordy', but the only response I got was 'THIS STORYZ R0X0RZ MAH B0XORZ!!!1! WRITE MORE OR SUX0RZ TAH j00!!!!' (or, for those of you needing this broken 'l337' translated; 'This piece of writing is quite enjoyable, please continue your fine piece of work without any alterations, or I shall be ever-so displeased')
So that's something I will work on. It'll sure help shorten this thing up a bit....
By the way, here's something extra I whipped up. Enjoy
If you decided to take different groups into Balamb, here's what the conversations might look like whilst in Zell's abode.
Party: Squall/Zell/Rinoa
Squall: So this is Zell's room
Rinoa: Looks at picture on shelf: Is that your grandfather, Zell?
Zell: Yep! He's the person I look up to the most! He played a big role in the last war. He wasn't just strong. He knew when to attack, when to retreat… Any kind of situation, he maintained his composure and stayed cool…
Squall: …So basically, the opposite of you.
Zell: Yo, Squall!!! Why you dissin' me!?
Rinoa laughs
Rinoa: It's probably none of my business but… Maybe you're being a little too ‘cool', Squall…?
Squall: …
Zell: Heh, heh, heh… She got you there Squall. Why don't you try to show a little more passion…? You know, like me!
Party: Squall/Selphie/Zell
Squall: So this is Zell's room.
Zell: Don't go around touchin; everything, OK!? I like to keep things clean and…
Selphie: Whoo-hoo!
Zell: Yo! I just finished sayin' not to touch anything! And now you're on my bed!
Selphie: Well, fine then! I didn't think you were so… anal. You should feel honored that a very, cute girl sat on your bed, you know! He should thank ME! Right Squall?
Squall:
-Maybe you're right
Zell: You're siding with her, Squall…?
Selphie: Wow! Now you're gettin' it, Squall! …And Zell just doesn't understand anything… (Plops down and lays, arms sprawled on Zell's bed)
Zell: Y-Yo!
-OR-
Squall:
-No, you're annoying him.
Zell: Yeah, stop annoying me.
Selphie(gets mad): So are you saying that I'm an annoying person!? (Looks around) That's it. squall and Zell, you're both going down a rank.
Zell: WHAT!? You… you're kidding, RIGHT!?
(FYI, I'm pretty sure that she will ACTUALLY take your SeeD rank down a notch if you choose the negative response in the game... Don't take my word on that though...)
Party: Squall/Zell/Irvine
Squall: So this is Zell's room
Irvine: Well, it's not very interesting, hangin' out in a guys room anyway… Whoa! What is that!? These are some o' them old-school rifles!
Zell: Those are my grandpa's! Don't even think about it.
Irvine: Oh man oh man! These are so COOL!
Zell: …heh heh… Well… Alright.. .Go ahead and check ‘em out.
Irvine somehow sets them off.
Zell: YOOOO!! The HELL you doin'!!!?
Squall: (….I knew he would…)
***************************************************************************************************************************