It took Edea an hour to fall asleep because of her thoughts about SeeD. It seemed like she only got a few hours of sleep when morning began. She awoke to find Cid packing a few things in his suitcase. She sat up in bed and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm leaving today. We need some money to build the Garden, right?" Cid said.
Edea nodded her head in understanding, and then got out of bed to enjoy her usual morning shower. The routine procedure continued on after she got out of the shower and got dressed. She walked down the hallway to the children's bedroom and opened the door. Inside the room, she saw that Squall was all ready fully dressed, but Selphie was having some trouble, falling over trying to pull her shorts on, and Seifer was in the midst of getting dressed. Edea smiled and asked, "Are you children ready for breakfast?"
"Yes, Matwyn." Squall said, but the other two complained.
"Hey, wait for me!" Selphie and Seifer said at the same time.
"Of course, children." Edea said to Selphie and Seifer. "I would not leave you behind."
Then, Edea walked over and helped Selphie get dressed. Seifer finished getting dressed on his own. In no time, the three children were ready to go. Edea led the way down the hall toward the kitchen, with Selphie skipping ahead. Squall stayed close to Edea, but kept his distance at the same time. Seifer moved up closer to Edea in an attempt to make Squall mad, but his efforts failed. "Geez, what's wrong with you?" Seifer asked the quiet one.
Squall remained quiet, as the three of them entered the kitchen. He took a seat at his usual place at the end of the table. Seifer took his seat across from Squall, while Edea joined Cid at the stove. "You have not left yet?" She asked, curiously.
"I need a good breakfast before I start this journey. Besides, you may need some help." Cid said.
Edea smiled at that, and then began preparing breakfast. At the table, Seifer set to work on trying to make Squall mad. He began kicking his feet underneath the table. Each time, he made his feet go a little higher, until they were able to kick Squall's legs. Squall sat motionless, while Seifer kept kicking. He, eventually, looked up from the table and over at Seifer, who just smiled. He pulled one of his legs back underneath his chair, and then kicked forward with all of his might, hitting Seifer's shin head on. "Ow!!!" Seifer yelled, as he pulled his leg up so he could clutch his shin.
Edea and Cid both turned around to survey the situation. "What happened?" Edea said, as she walked hastily to Seifer.
"He… He…" Seifer sniffed. "He kicked me! It hurts!"
"Matwyn," Squall started. "If I didn't do it, he would've kept kicking my legs."
"Squall, you shouldn't retaliate. You should have asked for my help." Edea said.
Squall shook his head, and then said, "No. I have to take care of myself, so Sis can come back." With that, Squall slid off of his chair and left the kitchen.
Cid and Edea exchanged glances, and then Edea tended to Seifer's shin, casting Cure on the purple bruise. "Hey! I'm hungry! I want some food!" Selphie interrupted the scene from the other end of the table.
"Selphie, we almost forgot about you." Cid said with a smile, as he walked back to the stove.
"Tee-hee! How can you forget me?" Selphie smiled back.
"You're right. How could we forget?" Cid responded.
After Edea's Cure spell took effect, she returned to the stove to help Cid. Ten minutes passed and Seifer and Selphie got their fills, and then Edea began filling Squall's plate. She carried the plate out of the kitchen and began looking for Squall once again. As she thought, he was in the playroom, glancing out of the window. "Squall, here's your breakfast." She said, holding up the plate.
Squall turned around and walked, slowly, over to Edea. Once she was within his arms reach, he took his breakfast from her, and then returned to the window. Edea watched him the whole time. She felt as if she should say something to him, but decided that it would be best to just leave him alone to work things out by himself. She turned around and left the playroom, closing the door behind her. She stayed at the door for a moment, wondering if what she did was right, and then she headed back to the kitchen. Along the way, she encountered Cid walking in the opposite direction with his suitcase. "You are leaving already?" Edea asked.
"Just thought that I should get an early start." Cid said. "Will you be all right?"
"I will be fine. You just worry about yourself."
"That's a promise." With that, Cid walked past his wife and exited the orphanage.
Edea watched him, until he was out the door, and then she continued on to the kitchen. Once she reached the doorframe, she was nearly bowled over when Selphie ran full throttle out of the kitchen. Seifer followed her shortly after, taking his time. Once the coast was clear, Edea walked into the kitchen and began clearing the table.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Outside of the orphanage, Cid walked casually away from the old stone house. He walked across the great plains of Centra, dodging monsters on his way to the chocobo forest. After a half a dozen attempts from the monsters, he reached the forest and began calling for a chocobo with the whistle that he got from the chocoman that last time he visited. An adult chocobo appeared in no time and Cid was on his way. He rode across the plains and across some shallow water. He passed by an old looking tower that supposedly was the home to some legendary guardian force. Cid paid no attention to it, determined to get to the next beach. Upon reaching the beach next to a forest, there was a ship with white sails docked at the beach. Cid rode over to it and dismounted the chocobo. From there, he climbed aboard the ship and was greeted by its inhabitants. The leader saluted Cid and said, "Good to see you again, sir."
"Likewise." Cid said. "I need you to take me to the mainland."
"Yes, sir." The leader saluted, and then turned to one of his men to give him an order.
"How's Ellone doing?" Cid asked.
"She's fine, sir." The leader assured. "She's in the back of the ship with Watts and Zone. Would you like me to bring her out here?"
"There's no need. Ok, let's go the mainland."
SquallJechtLeonhart: Well, this is Chapter 12. How do you all like it? The next chapter or so will be about Cid's journey to collect the money. Just thought that I'd let everyone know. So… send me some reviews please. Oh… I guess I should do a disclaimer, huh? Ok… I do own any of these characters. Only the story itself is mine. So, do not use this for any commercial purposes and such.