Selphie hadn't got much sleep the previous night- then again, she very rarely does. Usually she bedded down at around 1 AM, only to be up again at 5:30, bright and breezy as always. Many people often wondered where she got her energy from- and, honestly, so did Selphie herself. On this night, however, something was deeply troubling her. Clutching her favourite teddy bear (she may have been nearly 18, but she couldn't bear to be parted from him for too long), she lay awake all night, thinking one thing over and over again... I've let Squall down… I've let Squall down… She'd been the only one who Squall had told about his parentage, and she blabbed all to Seifer. Sure, she'd been drugged at the time, and it was the first and only time she'd been tortured, but that was no consolation to her. She had the following day off, as all of the SeeDs from the mission did (they'd de-briefed the previous day), and she lay in bed until 10 AM, at which point she heard a knocking on her door. She sat upright.
"Come in," she said, still a little down. It was Irvine- her best friend, and the man she secretly had a crush on. At least I hope it's secret… Selphie thought to herself. Selphie and Irvine's relationship had been spectacularly hard to define- while it was clear that Squall and Rinoa were lovers, no one could make up their mind about Selphie or Irvine. People often joked, Rinoa in particular, that they would make a lovely couple, but Selphie and Irvine would just deny it, Selphie coming up with a jokey statement like "with him? He'll only ask me when every other girl in Garden's turned him down!" While Irvine would say, "Man, she's like my sister!" However, deep down, Selphie really wanted to be with Irvine the same way Rinoa was with Squall... What she didn't know was that Irvine felt about her in exactly the same way. Maybe he's come here to tell me, Selphie secretly hoped. Irvine plonked himself down in her sofa, which was in considerably better condition than his, and swung his feet up on her bed.
"If you're here to try to cheer me up again," she started, "then I really don't feel like it, Irvy." Irvine simply smiled, and sat down on the bed next to her. He took of his hat and plonked it on her head.
"Hey," he said, playfully, "who said anything about trying?" He grinned at her, hoping to elicit a smile, but to no avail- she was still as glum as when he'd tried to cheer her up the previous night. Come on, Sefie, he thought, just one smile. You don't know how much this is hurting me, seeing you depressed… What he was about to say would not improve matters.
"Ya know," he started, trying to lighten the mood, "I was just talking to Squall in the infirmary, and he said he really wanted to talk to you." Selphie couldn't contain herself, and started crying. She buried her face in Irvine's shoulder.
"He hates me, doesn't he?" She asked, sorrowfully. Irvine puts his arms around her to comfort her.
"No, of course he doesn't!" He said, reassuringly. "How could anyone hate you? You're the most popular person in this Garden!"
"Seifer hates me," she retorted.
"Seifer's a weirdo," Irvine said, "he doesn't count. Look," he said, drying her tears with his gloved hand, "you were under torture. We all were. Hey, even Squall himself couldn't have held out forever." Selphie smiled, and nodded. "Squall said he urgently needed to see you."
"I'd best not keep him waiting, then!" Selphie tried to put on her normally constant happy face, but deep down, she dreaded Squall's reaction.
Squall was jotting down a few things, and keying instructions into a calculator when Selphie walked in. In her paranoid state, she thought Uh-oh, is he calculating my punishment?
"Hi!" Squall greeted her from his bed, unusually chirpily, Selphie thought. "Sit down, I've got something I need to tell you." Selphie sat down nervously, still fearing the worst. She decided to take the initiative, and spoke first.
"S-Squall," she said, hesitantly.
"What is it, Selphie?" Squall asked, unsure why she was being so defensive. Selphie gulped, and started talking.
"When we were in the prison, S-Seifer told me that he told you that I-I told him, about you, a-and S-Sir Lag-" Squall waved a hand and shushed her.
"It's alright, Selphie." Selphie obviously didn't hear him that well, as she carried on regardless.
"I just wanted to say that I know you must be mad at me, and if you want to-" Squall decided to be a bit more forceful this time.
"Selphie?" He said, cutting Selphie off and making her jump, "I said it's alright. You were under duress. I wouldn't have expected anyone to stay quiet." Selphie allowed herself a brief smile.
"R-Really?" She asked. Squall nodded.
"I saw the whole thing," he said. As Selphie was about to ask him how, Squall pre-empted her. "Seifer had me sat behind a one-way mirror, forced me to watch everyone else being tortured. His idea of a sick joke. I saw what he put you through, and, as Zell would say, it sucked!" Selphie chuckled briefly at this.
"But if you didn't want to talk to me about that," she asked, "what did you want me for?" Squall sat up on his elbows, showing Selphie his notepad.
"You remember Matron telling us she had plans for the old orphanage, right?" Selphie nodded as Squall continued talking. "Well it seems that she's almost finished renovating it, and she's turned it into a small beach chalet, complete with pool, that she's planning to rent out." Selphie started smiling.
"Then where do I come into it?" She asked, genuinely curious.
"It turns out the builders have finished," Squall said, "and Matron wants six people to stay there for a few days to test everything. As luck would have it, me, you, Rinoa, Irvine, Zell and Quistis all have the next five days off, and we've been asked to be her guinea-pigs." Selphie couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Five days for free in a beach chalet?" She asked, giddy with excitement. Squall nodded, and she giggled, even more excited.
"I've got a shopping list here of everything we need. I've asked Cid, and he's allowed you and Rinoa to use the Ragnarok to fly to Esthar and pick up everything on this list. You'll have to be quick, however, we leave in 24 hours." Almost bouncing off the ceiling with excitement, Selphie grabbed the list off Squall.
"Yes sir!" She shouted, before hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you so much!" She said.
"It's nothing," he replied. "Now you'd better get going or you'll be late!" Selphie giggled again, staring at the list, before skipping out of the room, singing "we're gonna have a beach party" over and over. Squall lied back down on his bed and smiled. The difference a few moments of giving can make, he thought to himself. The old him would have fobbed her off to Irvine to deal with, and when that didn't work, he'd only have fobbed her off again. I'm becoming too much like my old man, he thought to himself. But is that really a bad thing? Just so long as I don't start getting leg cramp. He rolled over, forgetting his injury, and grimaced as a bolt of pain shot up his left leg. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Oh, no, he thought to himself, here we go…
"Come in," she said, still a little down. It was Irvine- her best friend, and the man she secretly had a crush on. At least I hope it's secret… Selphie thought to herself. Selphie and Irvine's relationship had been spectacularly hard to define- while it was clear that Squall and Rinoa were lovers, no one could make up their mind about Selphie or Irvine. People often joked, Rinoa in particular, that they would make a lovely couple, but Selphie and Irvine would just deny it, Selphie coming up with a jokey statement like "with him? He'll only ask me when every other girl in Garden's turned him down!" While Irvine would say, "Man, she's like my sister!" However, deep down, Selphie really wanted to be with Irvine the same way Rinoa was with Squall... What she didn't know was that Irvine felt about her in exactly the same way. Maybe he's come here to tell me, Selphie secretly hoped. Irvine plonked himself down in her sofa, which was in considerably better condition than his, and swung his feet up on her bed.
"If you're here to try to cheer me up again," she started, "then I really don't feel like it, Irvy." Irvine simply smiled, and sat down on the bed next to her. He took of his hat and plonked it on her head.
"Hey," he said, playfully, "who said anything about trying?" He grinned at her, hoping to elicit a smile, but to no avail- she was still as glum as when he'd tried to cheer her up the previous night. Come on, Sefie, he thought, just one smile. You don't know how much this is hurting me, seeing you depressed… What he was about to say would not improve matters.
"Ya know," he started, trying to lighten the mood, "I was just talking to Squall in the infirmary, and he said he really wanted to talk to you." Selphie couldn't contain herself, and started crying. She buried her face in Irvine's shoulder.
"He hates me, doesn't he?" She asked, sorrowfully. Irvine puts his arms around her to comfort her.
"No, of course he doesn't!" He said, reassuringly. "How could anyone hate you? You're the most popular person in this Garden!"
"Seifer hates me," she retorted.
"Seifer's a weirdo," Irvine said, "he doesn't count. Look," he said, drying her tears with his gloved hand, "you were under torture. We all were. Hey, even Squall himself couldn't have held out forever." Selphie smiled, and nodded. "Squall said he urgently needed to see you."
"I'd best not keep him waiting, then!" Selphie tried to put on her normally constant happy face, but deep down, she dreaded Squall's reaction.
Squall was jotting down a few things, and keying instructions into a calculator when Selphie walked in. In her paranoid state, she thought Uh-oh, is he calculating my punishment?
"Hi!" Squall greeted her from his bed, unusually chirpily, Selphie thought. "Sit down, I've got something I need to tell you." Selphie sat down nervously, still fearing the worst. She decided to take the initiative, and spoke first.
"S-Squall," she said, hesitantly.
"What is it, Selphie?" Squall asked, unsure why she was being so defensive. Selphie gulped, and started talking.
"When we were in the prison, S-Seifer told me that he told you that I-I told him, about you, a-and S-Sir Lag-" Squall waved a hand and shushed her.
"It's alright, Selphie." Selphie obviously didn't hear him that well, as she carried on regardless.
"I just wanted to say that I know you must be mad at me, and if you want to-" Squall decided to be a bit more forceful this time.
"Selphie?" He said, cutting Selphie off and making her jump, "I said it's alright. You were under duress. I wouldn't have expected anyone to stay quiet." Selphie allowed herself a brief smile.
"R-Really?" She asked. Squall nodded.
"I saw the whole thing," he said. As Selphie was about to ask him how, Squall pre-empted her. "Seifer had me sat behind a one-way mirror, forced me to watch everyone else being tortured. His idea of a sick joke. I saw what he put you through, and, as Zell would say, it sucked!" Selphie chuckled briefly at this.
"But if you didn't want to talk to me about that," she asked, "what did you want me for?" Squall sat up on his elbows, showing Selphie his notepad.
"You remember Matron telling us she had plans for the old orphanage, right?" Selphie nodded as Squall continued talking. "Well it seems that she's almost finished renovating it, and she's turned it into a small beach chalet, complete with pool, that she's planning to rent out." Selphie started smiling.
"Then where do I come into it?" She asked, genuinely curious.
"It turns out the builders have finished," Squall said, "and Matron wants six people to stay there for a few days to test everything. As luck would have it, me, you, Rinoa, Irvine, Zell and Quistis all have the next five days off, and we've been asked to be her guinea-pigs." Selphie couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Five days for free in a beach chalet?" She asked, giddy with excitement. Squall nodded, and she giggled, even more excited.
"I've got a shopping list here of everything we need. I've asked Cid, and he's allowed you and Rinoa to use the Ragnarok to fly to Esthar and pick up everything on this list. You'll have to be quick, however, we leave in 24 hours." Almost bouncing off the ceiling with excitement, Selphie grabbed the list off Squall.
"Yes sir!" She shouted, before hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you so much!" She said.
"It's nothing," he replied. "Now you'd better get going or you'll be late!" Selphie giggled again, staring at the list, before skipping out of the room, singing "we're gonna have a beach party" over and over. Squall lied back down on his bed and smiled. The difference a few moments of giving can make, he thought to himself. The old him would have fobbed her off to Irvine to deal with, and when that didn't work, he'd only have fobbed her off again. I'm becoming too much like my old man, he thought to himself. But is that really a bad thing? Just so long as I don't start getting leg cramp. He rolled over, forgetting his injury, and grimaced as a bolt of pain shot up his left leg. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Oh, no, he thought to himself, here we go…