One Good Deed
By Caelia
Chapter Seven: parental controls
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Skyeli was simply too tired to study anymore. The words in the book below her were beginning to blur together. She almost smiled at the beautiful designs they were making, but stopped short as she remembered their purpose. Damn Seifer! She thought. He never even bothered to ask her what ability with Elemental Monsters was. Instructor Tilmitt had said it was one of her specialties. However, in Skyeli's mind, it was her only redeeming quality in class.
She focused her eyes on the book before her, Conquering the Elements by A. Morningstar. The book had sat on a high shelf, gradually fading over time. Skyeli ran her fingers over the rough leather cover; it seemed like everyone had stopped studying texts after the Sorceress War. The Garden had its first real taste of action then and the students made one of two decisions in the aftermath. Quit the training program and seek out a peaceful life, or remain at Garden but seek action and fighting. She was always surprised to see how much evil remained in the world.
Skyeli stood on the balls of her feet and reached up to return the book to its resting-place on the top shelf. She never noticed the doors of the library opening to reveal Seifer; she didn't hear him creeping up behind. And she most certainly forgot that she was in a library when he grabbed her around the stomach.
"Hyne above! What the fuck?" Skyeli shrieked as she spun around and hit Seifer across the chest with the large volume she was holding. "Was there a purpose to that?" She glared at him. Seifer started to speak, but a chuckle came out instead, followed shortly by a spell of mad laughter. Skyeli couldn't help but offer a little smirk of her own.
The loud popping noise sobered the enraptured pair quickly. The duo snapped around to see one of the librarians. He was standing stiffly, a hand wrapped around the ruler he had smacked down on the desk, the other extended, pointing to the door.
"Tch, come on, kid. He's just pissed 'cause no one comes in here anymore." Seifer threw his arm over her shoulders and lead her out, mouthing to the librarian, "You're on my list."
As soon as they had entered the hallway, Skyeli angled her head to face him. "So, Almasy, what's the reason for this good mood?"
"I could ask you the same, but ladies first I suppose… Guess who your new instructor is." Seifer offered her his most evil smirk yet.
"Do I even have to bother?"
"Nah, it's a free one really. Squall granted his royal permission. On the requirement that I tell him the real reason for your removal from the regular program, which I did. So, by now all the little 'heroes' probably know about last night's suicide attempt."
"Um, isn't that a problem for someone who wants to keep my suicide attempt on the down low?" Skyeli asked, growing more comfortable with the muscled arm resting on her shoulder.
"Nah, I kind of figured this would happen." Seifer stopped walking and took a deep breath and explained the breakdown. "Basically, Squall will tell Rinoa, who can't keep any secret from Selphie. She, being the good girlfriend, will in turn tell Irvine. Irvine will confide in Zell, that is, if Quistis hasn't already. But, the one good part is, it won't leave that little circle, unless of course Reiko feels the need to spread a rumor. But that really wouldn't work out to her advantage because she'd be going against some of the highest ranking members at Garden plus Dr. Kadowaki, who believes nothing out of the ordinary happened last night."
"Oh, well, I guess that helps…" Skyeli redirected her eyes to the ground as he continued down the hallway. "So basically, you're in control of me now?"
"Pretty much."
"So, you shouldn't really be acting this familiar with one of your 'students', right?" She didn't know why she was asking him to remove his arm. She liked it there; maybe it was just that she didn't want to think about what it meant to like being held by Seifer.
"Ah, but this is in celebration of my victory. Not only did I get a chance at becoming an Instructor today, I also was personally invited by Squall to a lunch celebrating his engagement. Even get to bring Fujin and Raijin along…" He grinned again, to show his utter pleasure with the days accomplishments.
At this time, they reached to end of the hall and were now standing in plain view of any students passing by. Skyeli casually rolled her shoulder and Seifer took the hint easily, removing his arm from its resting-place.
"So, what's my new program?"
"Pretty similar to the old one, just more like having a private tutor. We'll have classes and do training sessions in the Training Center and in Balamb." Seifer said, praying it would be as easy as it sounded. "Also, we need to get you to pass the pre-requisite for the exam: obtain a low-level GF. We'll be doing that on Wednesday."
Skyeli just nodded in agreement. There was nothing else she could do. They had her trapped. Of course, she did know one way out. She pulled up the sleeves of her uniform to reveal her bandaged wrists. Yes, there was another way out, but she might as well stick this out. Seifer may be more helpful than he yet realized.
The ex-knight glanced down at his suddenly silent companion, noticing her staring at her wrist. "You did a good job of hiding those, I didn't even see them until now…" Seifer murmured, now as mesmerized as she was by the white wrappings. He snapped out of it quickly, though, noting that there was much to be done.
"Cover those up," he commanded. "Okay, it's about 12:30 now, why don't you just take the rest of the day off. You're probably still a little run down from yesterday and I have a couple of weeks worth of lesson plans to put together in an afternoon."
"My, my, Seifer Almasy being professional, who knew?" Skyeli teased gently, but Seifer's mood had changed beyond a tolerance for light taunting.
"That's Instructor Almasy to you," he smiled as he said it. Never thought I'd sound so much like Quistis. "So go, rest, have fun, do something. I'll see you tomorrow morning at 9am sharp right here."
Skyeli smiled and saluted, heading off to the dorms to sleep some more.
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Quistis and Selphie had remained at the table in the Cafeteria in order to discuss the SeeD exam choices with Squall. Although both women were leaning strongly towards the removal of Elemental Monsters from Esthar, they needed Squall's opinion and approval. They waited patiently while Squall spoke with Rinoa at the door. Selphie bounced around as she licked the last of her sundae out of the glass dish, while Quistis was very still with her back straight and her hands folded elegantly in her lap. Every so often she would move to push one of the strands of honey blonde hair out of her face.
Squall, aware of the two women waiting on him, stood in the doorway making plans for dinner with Rinoa. When they finally settled, Rinoa left Squall to his business.
"So what did you two want to talk about?" he asked as he approached the table.
Selphie put her dish down and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. Quistis inclined her head towards the Commander and said, "We've been through the SeeD requests and we've decided to help the Esthar government with the monster extermination."
"Yeah, and then we get to see Sir Laguna again! Tee hee…" she giggled while Squall rolled his eyes in mock disgust. Selphie sobered up and pointed to the file in question. "It says here that President Loire wants to talk to you."
Squall's face remains emotionless as he nods and stuck out his hand. "Fine, I'll get on that later. Give me the other files so I can see to filling the requests with SeeDs." He turned to leave, then, abruptly changed his mind. "Selphie, what do you think about this Paige girl? Do we let her take the exam?"
Selphie sat for a moment, contemplating her options, then turned to Squall and said, "With the suicide attempt aside, she reminds me a lot of you when I first met you. Quiet and self-contained, but very intelligent and an excellent fighter. Everyone has there moments Squall. No one knows what brought on this little suicide attempt, but maybe Seifer will get that out of her…"
The two higher-ranking SeeDs remained unimpressed.
"Selphie, was there an answer in there somewhere?" Quistis asked gently.
"Yes, I think you should give her the exam. Is that better?" she chirped.
"Much," Squall inclined his head to his two friends and took his leave. Quistis and Selphie walked with each other as far as the dorms, then split as Quistis went to see Zell and Selphie went to review her lesson plan.
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It had taken nearly twenty minutes of sweet-talking the secretary before Seifer was allowed into the file storage room. Once inside, he walked briskly over to the cabinet labeled "P". Removing his gray coat, he placed it on a near-by stool and pulled open the top drawer. Skyeli's name appeared almost immediately. He had been thinking hard about Irvine's suggestion to look into Skyeli's past. In the files he found the comments of her teachers previous to Selphie.
"Bright girl… Charismatic… Always friendly… A little spacey…" Seifer read softly aloud as he scanned the page. He was shocked by these comments; they in no way resembled the girl he knew to be Skyeli Paige. When coming across some of the other comments, he frowned. "Liar… Merciless fighter…" Seifer couldn't go on; the next part was just too much.
Jumping up, he whipped on his coat, concealing the file underneath it and exited the room. As he sped through the hallway, people were literally jumping into the bushes to avoid him. One even went as far as to throw his girlfriend into the fountain and run. He continued into the Dorm area and then up as far as the girl's hallway, stopping in front of Room 68B.
"Skyeli! Wake up and open this door right now!" he bellowed. Seifer heard a muffled response from within and then some shuffling. The door swished open to reveal a girl leaning on the doorframe in a pair of old boxers and a button down shirt, halfway unbuttoned.
She yawned and grinned. "We must stop meeting this way Sir Almasy." She stood back to allow him entrance to the small double.
Seifer charged in and sat down on her bed. Skyeli grabbed a glass of water from the kitchenette, and then went to hear what Seifer had to say. "This is serious. I was looking through your old files…"
Skyeli perked up, suddenly interested. "How did you get access to those?"
"Never mind, it's not important now," he said curtly. "What I want to know is very simple. Was it or was it not true that you were – dare I say it – a Treppie?!?"
Skyeli looked at him, aghast, but quickly regained her composure. The image was already forming in her head. A girl bouncing around the quad; she was happily assisting older students preparing for the Garden Festival. Her bleached hair was kept short and was worn in pig-tails, though the small, clusters of hair were no longer than an inch. Her wrists and neck were decorated heavily with cheap plastic jewelry. She might not resemble her role model in appearance, but one day Treppie #14 was going to be just like her idle…
"Hey! You in there?" Seifer called to her. His loud intrusion had knocked the image of herself, two years earlier, from Skyeli's head. "I hate it when you do that. You go all Squall like on me sometimes. So, going to answer the question or not?"
"Let me get this straight," she began. "You went raging through the halls and damn near broke down my door because I was a Treppie when I was 16?"
"Excuse me if I classify that as an infectious diseases. So it's true then? You were a Treppie?" He frowned again down at the folder in his hands, and then looked up at her again. "That means you were in my class with Quistis for the two months before the Sorceress War."
She nodded. "Pretty much."
Seifer sighed and met her eyes directly, looking down on her crouching form. He scooted up on the bed so he was sitting next to the headboard and motioned for Skyeli to join him there. "We have a lot to talk about. There was so much stuff in the files that was contradictory to the person you are now. And I quote, 'Happy, charismatic, role-model…' Who the hell is this girl?"
She pushed off the doorframe, and sat on the bed next to Seifer. "I suppose that would be me, before the war. Seeing that first-hand kind of changed my attitude on life," she said staring intently at the bathroom door. "But it didn't affect me enough to make me quit the Garden."
"Right," Seifer just nodded, flipping through the folder looking for the other phrases that had caught his eye. "They called you a liar and delusional, again." Skyeli didn't respond this time, she just continued to watch the bathroom door with great interest. Seifer gave her a slight nudge.
"I told you I don't know what they are talking about," she replied at last through her teeth.
"That's bullshit. Give me the truth, now. As your Instructor I command you." He forced.
Skyeli emitted what Seifer could only call a low growl. Her mind raced. There was no way she was going to tell Seifer about her dreams. That only left one option: lying. "Fine, Seifer. I guess it was just me being petty." She sighed for dramatic emphasis. Let him think I don't want to tell him, and then he'll probably believe me.
"A few months before you ran off with Headmistress Edea, I thought I was loosing my popularity to Reiko. Some I made up a bunch of ridiculous lies that seem so insignificant now, and everyone found out. They thought it was stupid, but the only thing stupid about it was that I got caught…" she trailed off. In her mind she whispered over and over again, please believe this, please believe this…
The skepticism was clearly visible in his eyes, but Seifer just nodded slowly and finally agreed. "Alright, I guess that is reasonable," his disbelief was clear in his voice, "but you sure you're over this Treppie thing? Or is that a lie too?"
She sighed. "Yeah, I'm sure." The phone on her nightstand rang. Skyeli reached over him to pick it up, brushing up against his solid chest. "Paige speaking," she spoke professionally into the phone. "Oh, hold on a second mom," she turned to Seifer. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at nine."
He just nodded and showed himself out.
Skyeli's eyes remained fixed to the door even after he had gone.
"Sky… sweetie, are you still there?" her mother's voice came crackling through the distant line. Her mother was a reminder of harder times. Her mother was a reminder of her failures, a reminder of the locket. Skyeli blinked as the thoughts faded away and found herself drawn back to the unwanted reality.
"Yeah, I'm still here. How's FH? Don't you and dad leave for that cruise soon?"
"Tomorrow morning, dear, bright and early. I was just calling to check up… You haven't talked to anyone at the shop lately have you?" he mother asked with ill-disguised worry.
"No, mom. I've been a little busy this week. I might be going up for the SeeD exam at the end of next week, it's been occupying my thoughts…" Skyeli fished for excuses.
"Oh, that's excellent dear! Do try to be careful. Don't want you getting hurt or killed anything like that…" her mother's voice trailed off.
Skyeli nodded into the phone, then realizing her mother couldn't see her, she said, "Yeah mom," as any other teenager responds to a parents' over active imagination.
"Is there anything you have to say to your father?" her mother asked trying to engage her daughter in any form of conversation.
"No, just tell him I love him and I hope he packs the Dramamine for this trip." Skyeli joked trying to lighten her mother's mood.
She chuckled, her deep and throaty laugh calming Skyeli. Reminding her of carefree days of childhood long since past. Everything seemed so easy then. She didn't remember any responsibilities. The pressure was starting to build again. She could feel it herself. She had to remember the fam …
"Seriously," her mother said, cutting into her thoughts, "I have this uneasy feeling I can't shake. Remember, dear, you guard the tradition now…"
Skyeli leaned back onto her bed, reveling in the warm spot Seifer had left. "Everything will be fine." She murmured, but there was no sincerity in her voice.
She could hear her mother's sigh of resignation over the line. "Yes, yes… Well, I suppose I should get going."
"Mom, I love you."
The silence went on for a minute or so before her mother sighed and responded. "Yes, I love you, too. Just remember who you are." With that the line went dead.
Skyeli hung up the phone and shuddered. Just like her mother to drop a bomb of that proportion on her just before she went to bed. She glanced over at the radio/clock next to the phone. Only 7:30pm and she had already slept away most of the day. Skyeli grabbed a pair of jeans and a bra then went to the Cafeteria to catch some dinner.
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He didn't like this phone call. Something inside him didn't want to make it. Squall had long since finished dinner with Rinoa and she had long since left, but still he couldn't pick up the receiver. This is stupid, he's just another idiot ex-solider. What can I possibly have to fear from him? Finally he resolved to stop acting pathetic and pick up the phone.
"Hello, this is Commander Leonhart of Balamb Garden. I would like to speak to President Loire…"
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Selphie noticed her former student sitting all alone the minute she walked into the Cafeteria. Under normal circumstances she would have walked up and sat down with her, but this time Skyeli just looked too wrapped up in thought for even Selphie to disturb her. Instead the spunky brunette took a seat across from Zell, who appeared to be taking a late dinner, and Rinoa, who was sipping at a small cup of coffee.
"Hey guys!" she squealed happily.
"Hey, Selphie!" Rinoa called back in an equally high-pitched voice.
"What's up?" Zell asked, smiling at his newly arriving friend.
"Nothing much, what are you doing here so late?" she inquired of the spiky haired boy.
"Got a mission tomorrow. One of the ones you rejected for the SeeD exam. Rinoa," he nodded towards the girl sitting opposite him, "is going too."
Selphie's eyes grew big, displaying her growing excitement. It was the one thing Zell never understood about her. She might be the ditziest person ever, but when it came to fighting she was as willing to jump in as the next SeeD.
"Wow, anything big?" she asked as she leaned over the table so to avoid missing any good details.
"Nope, just the basic scenario. Some of the Galbadian Army has forgotten that they are no longer viewed as Gods and are terrorizing the people of Timber. There's a small team of ten going in to clear out the situation." Zell explained in between bites of hotdog. Before Selphie could get some more questions in, three bells sounded to alert the attention of the students for the upcoming announcement.
Squall's secretary's voice came softly over the P.A. system. "Rinoa to the bridge please. I repeat Rinoa to the bridge…"
Rinoa's face clouded with confusion. "Wonder what he wants…?
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A/N: PLEASE REVIEW ME! I want to know what people think. Is it a believable plot so far? How are the characters? Does it make sense? Am I moving to fast? Please, I want to know what you think!
Anyway, in other notes, I'm taking a sabbatical of sorts from writing. I'm in college and it's the end of the year, so putting 2 and 2 together we get EXAMS! Yeah, so I have massive projects, and I'm not going to work on this fic again until after the May 18th. So here is the important part:
If you would like to know when I update again, leave a review with your email addy in it. If just sign the review and make a note that you would like an email, I can get your addy through ffnet. Ok?
Now!
Kelly- um, your pen name is too long. ^-^ Thank you soooooooooooooooooo much for being my beta reader! Way to kick my grammatical ass! Uh, yeah right… tee hee, anyway, thank you for also including insight on the sky/seifer scene, I really thought that was weak and you helped me fix it up! Oooooooooooootay! So, I will get in touch with you soon about Ch. 8…
DISCLAIMER: I don't own them and I'm not strong enough to fight off everyone on FF.net for them. Skyeli Paige, Caine Morningstar and Reiko Keyling belong to me, so please don't steal them. They're all a little nuts anyway. . .
