J u l i a
Chapter Nine
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N o t A l o n e
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Later that afternoon, Squall returned to Garden to find that classes were over and students idly walking here and there.
As soon as he stepped foot within the building, he remembered his previous discussions with Cid. The tension along his back and shoulders (that which he spent the better half of the day in town to get rid of) returned full force. He sighed, shouldered his gunblade, and silently made his way back up to his room.
On his way there, he spotted his friends Zell and Irvine talking off to the side of the main walkway of Garden. They saw him coming and wave in unison.
"Squall, dude, we just heard the news from Cid!" Zell exclaimed with a grin.
Irvine pushed up the brim of his cowboy hat and grinned at his stoic friend. "Yep, held a little staff meeting while you were out cooling off. The girls are all pretty excited about it, too. Congradulations, man." He heartily pounded on Squall's back.
Squall glared at the cowboy, to which Irvine merely smiled at, and roughly ran a hand through his already mussed copper-brown locks.
Zell made note of this. "You look like shit, man. What's up?"
The young commander sighed. "Nothing. Just forget about it."
Irvine smirked. "Right . . . . I thought we had all established this a year ago. Didn't we say to"
"open myself a little and say what's on my mind," Squall finished with some irritation. "Yes. And have I not been doing that?" He deadpanned. At their silence, he scowled darkly and turned away from them. "I just . . . don't want to talk about it right now. So can you guys just," his voice and eyes softened, ". . . just leave me alone. Alright?" That said, Squall stalked off.
Passing students acknowledged their commander with nods and greetings, but he paid them no attention as he passed by. They looked at him oddly and shrugged, continuing on with whatever they were doing or looked on with mild interest.
"Tch. The hell jumped up his ass and died?" Zell asked while crossing his arms over his muscled chest.
Irvine frowned with a sad expression. "We should just do what he wants. He'll come around, eventually. This news about the headmaster was pretty sudden, you know? There's no doubt that I'd be the same way if cornered with such a burden. Right?" He turned to Zell.
Zell shrugged it off and began to shadow box.
Irvine scowled lightly, but did nothing. He told Zell he'd see him later and walked off to find his little sugar muffin.
Upon entering his room, Squall walked into his bedroom and lied down on his bed as soon as he put his gunblade away. Just as he was closing his eyes to catch a little of much needed rest, a soft knock sounded on his front door. Not feeling up to moving, he felt along his bed until his long fingers came in contact with an embedded remote and pushed a button. A soft ping was heard and then the swoosh of the door as the lock was released on it and then opened.
Not a moment later did a soft, feminine voice call out to him in the next room. "Squall?"
"I'm here," he replied gruffly, tossing an arm over his tired eyes.
Another swoosh was heard as his bedroom door was opened, soon followed by the soft tapping of footsteps coming closer to his bed.
"If I'd known you would be sleeping, I'd have come a little later . . . ."
He rolled onto his side, slowly removing his arm from his eyes and looking up into the owner of the familiar voice's eyes.
"It's . . . all right, Rin," he answered wearily.
Rinoa motioned for him to scoot over and promptly made herself comfortable on the edge of his bed. She leaned back a bit and lift her slender legs one by one and gently rocked herself forward. She sighed softly and turned to meet his stormy gaze, smiling.
"Squall . . . . We're going to make this work, you and I," she began softly. "When you need me most, I'll be right there by your side. Always. If you need to talk, I'm here to listen. Even if . . . if you don't want to talk about whatever's on your mind right away, I'll wait. I'll wait forever." She smiled cheekily and brought her index finger down to lightly tap on the tip of his nose, cocking her head to the side. "Okay?"
Squall stared vacantly up into her beautiful, round, face and, just when she thought he wouldn't do anything, smiled back up at her. It was such a small twist of his lips, but it was there.
Rinoa laughed melodically. "I love when you do that, you know," she said, reaching down to trace his lips with her finger tips.
Squall's smile broadened and captured her wandering hand within one of his own, placing a small kiss onto it's knuckles.
The brown-eyed girl flushed at his gentleness and then gasped sharply when he suddenly pulled her down to lie beside him on the bed. "S-Squall?" She stammered out, turning her head to look at him, only to find his eyes closed and his head resting gently against hers.
"Shh . . . ," was all he said, pulling her closer to him and welcoming the extra body heat.
Rinoa smiled contently and leaned into his arms, closing her eyes. She was half asleep when she heard his voice mumbling softly in her ear.
"Always . . . ?" He asked, burying his head further within the hollow of her neck and shoulder.
She turned her head and placed a gentle kiss upon his lips. "Always. . . . Always."
Within each other's arms, the two slept.
Else where . . . .
"Oh no! I'm so, so sorry, Lane! I knew I felt something wrong, but . . . butARRUGHH! I'm so angry at myself right now!"
Lane and Yuffie looked on with reserved expressions as Taeon clucked about like a mother chocobo over her newborn chick, pacing every which way in front of her brother's bed.
Yuffie, remembering her friend's sudden disappearance earlier in the day, asked, "Where'd you run off to?"
Taeon stopped amid mentally beating herself up and, with teary, blue, eyes, looked to Yuffie. "I recognized an old friend from Trabia Garden and just had to run over and say hi! Next thing I know, I'm showing her around school and taking her to class. Oh, I knew I shouldn't have left you two alone!" She reached up to pull on her hair and screamed as loudly as she could.
Yuffie and Lane immediately covered their ears. When she showed no sign of stopping, Lane rushed over and clamped a hand on her mouth to quiet her down. When he looked down to scold her for being too loud, he was shocked to find that she was actually crying. As he soon as he released her, he found his neck tightly wrapped in his twin's arms. He flushed lightly in embarrassment, not used to this kind of sororal affection in front of others. Then, slowly, he reached up and began patting her back awkwardly in a comforting manner.
Yuffie stood back in shock. She had no idea that Taeon would react in this way. To the ninja, the taller girl always looked happy, but when it comes to her brother's well-being, that happiness is almost non-existent. What she found out and observed about the girl was that she was very much like herself. Like Yuffie, the twins carried the weight of an almost unbearable loss that it would probably take years for them to fully recover. Yuffie didn't have to ask them to know that they suffered together in a quiet way. All evidence lied within the depths of their eyes. Not only that, but the way Taeon would leap at any given chance to make her brother smile and the way the taller girl would jump in front of him with a fierce look in her eyes, as if protecting him from some unknown enemy. She probably wasn't aware of it, but found that Lane was. The way he laid a calm hand on her shoulder, or the saddened look in his eyes told her so. She saw that same sadness in his eyes earlier just before he collasped and she even saw it now as he gently rocked his sister in his embrace. The scene made her heart ache.
"It's okay, Tae," Lane soothed. "I'm all right."
Taeon only tightened her arms around him at the sound of his voice, angry tears trailing over the curves of her cheeks. "I-I was-s-sn't th-ere for y-you again!" She sobbed. "Not ag-gain! I . . . I-I . . . ."
"I know. I know. And it's okay. I'm okay. Shh . . . . Now calm down." Those sad eyes of his looked over his sister's multi-colored head to the ninja sitting on the edge of his bed. "You're scaring Yuffie, Tae." Her arms tightened again, making it little hard for him to breathe. "Not only that, but you're choking me, too," he gasped.
Taeon immediately released her twin before apologizing over and over again. Said twin coughed a few times before quickly regaining himself and then clamping a hand on her mouth again.
Sighing, Lane turned to Yuffie. "I'm really sorry for the troubles we're causing you. We're . . . um . . . usually not like this. So if you want to, you can leave."
A bit dazed from all the events adding up until now and still a little lost in her thoughts, Yuffie sighed and murmured an "Okay." She didn't know what she had said until Taeon practically pounced on her, fully recovered from her previous act.
"Okay? OKAY?" She wheezed, grasping Yuffie by the shoulders and then shaking her none too gently. "What do you mean by 'OKAY'? Huuuuh?"
Finally snapping out of it, Yuffie did the first thing upon being assaulted out of no where and simply defended herself. Everything happened too fast for all of them in that moment. Soon, Taeon was the one who was dazed and Yuffie was the one who wheezed. She had acted upon instinct and attacked the taller girl, which somehow ended up with herself pinning Taeon to the floor. As soon as she realized what she had did, Yuffie flipped off the girl and stood off to the side, feeling a little lost with her actions.
Lane watched all this with his mouth gaping open. Upon realizing what he was doing, he quickly shut it and took the few steps which had him leaning over a stunned Taeon, who looked up at him with wide, blinking, blue, eyes from his bedroom floor.
"Hey . . . . Are you okay?" He asked, stepping back when she slowly began to sit up.
"Hn . . . ?" She replied dumbly.
Lane looked at her with a bit of worry. "I said: Are you okay?" He repeated slowly. When she didn't respond to his question, he waved a hand before her eyes and then snapped his fingers.
She blinked and slowly looked at him and then at Yuffie.
Yuffie stiffened under her gaze and began to shift her weight from foot to foot nervously. "I-I didn't mean . . . to do that! I'm so sorry!"
Insided her thick skull, Yuffie began to mentally punish herself for her foolishness and actions. Why? Why? Why is it that whenever I'm around, my friends are always the ones to get hurt? I'm so stupid! No wonder why Cloud and Squall are always yelling at me! Aerith too! Even . . . even though she's a lot nicer than they are . . . . They're always . . . always . . . .
Almost immediately upon thinking of her friends back at Hollow Bastion, Yuffie teared up. She took one last glance at her new friends and then ran out the door. "I'm sorry!" She yelled on her way out, choking back a sob.
The twins watched the young ninja run out the door. Lane had a sad expression plastered on his face while Taeon's . . . appeared to change dramatically, not really knowing whether she should be sad, happy, surprised or mad. Finally her mouth just hung open. She stood so fast Lane jumped in surprise at the sudden movement and rounded on him so quickly he stepped back until he nearly fell back on his bed.
"Wh-what?" He asked.
Taeon pointed to the edge of the bed, the floor and then the door. She did this robotically over and over again until Lane became exasperated and told her to speak.
"D-did you not see that? Sh-she . . . ." Taeon turned to look at the door and then whirled back on her bewildered twin brother. "Holy Hyne! That was . . . kick ass!" She jumped excitedly in place before asking her brother a long stream of questions, so fast, he could hardly keep up. "Where did she learn that? Does she know martial arts? Wasn't that cool? Who taught her? Hey, where'd she go? Ah! We should go find her! Right now!"
Lane rolled his eyes to the ceiling. She obviously forgot what had just transpired here a moment ago. He smiled. Typical, idiot, sister of mine.
Next thing he knew, he was being dragged out of his room and soon they were out of the dormitories and in the main hall of Garden. Holding his hand the way she was and how firmly, poor Lane could do nothing but be dragged along like an oversized ragdoll. Finally, she stopped to ask a passing student if he happened to see their "amazing, ass-kicking, friend" before walking off in a new direction. She became so absorbed in her search that somewhere along the line, she released her vice-like grip on her twin'snow mangledhand.
Now, together, they both could search and cover some ground to find their missing friend. The two became worried after a while and meet up in the lobby to talk.
"Did you find her?" Taeon asked as she jogged up to meet her brother.
Lane shook his head.
Taeon propped a fist on her hips and ran a hand through her multi-colored locks. "Damn! We looked just 'bout everywhere! Where could she have gone?"
Lane looked in the general direction of the library and then gazed past that. His face visibly paled when he came to a new revelation. Seeing this, his twin immediately became concerned.
"Lane? You okay?" She asked.
Lane dropped his gaze and met her blue eyes. "There's one place we haven't . . . checked yet." He then began to run off toward the library. When he ran passed that, Taeon became confused and then . . . her eyes widened.
"No way!" She gasped before running after her brother.
Students where pushed roughly aside as she passed through them and grumbled obscenities at her under their breaths or out loud. She didn't pay anyone an ounce of attention, as she became totally focused on one thing: her new friend could quite possibly be dead right now. She shook those thoughts away and picked up her pace. She had just rounded another corner when she suddenly felt herself being jerked back by the collar of her shirt. She gagged and fell to the ground gasping for air.
"You stupid, fuckin', ingrate!" She yelled between breaths. She stood and was now trying to resume her search, but found herself being pulled back again, only this time more gently.
"I'm sorry, Michaels. I didn't know I pulled you that hard," a familiar voice said.
Taeon turned and glared at her assailant. She was about to go off and list every curse on this Hyne forsaken planet, but stopped herself before she even began and looked up pleadingly, with a tear streaked face, at her instructor.
Zell's immediately backed off upon seeing her face, shocked to have witnessed this side of one of his top students. With a bit of unease (as he was not used to handling emotional women) and concern, he asked, "What's wrong? I saw you running and had to stop you. School rules, ya know? Anyway, did I hurt you? Are you all right?"
Taeon shook her head frantically and tried to tell him what was going on, but all that came out was gibberish and frustrated tears.
"Y-Yuffie! . . . enter! Lane alreadyaaahhh! Hurry!" Was all she got out before grabbing her stunned instructors arm and pulling him toward the green entrance of the Training Center.
Finally, seeing that this was a pretty serious and urgent matter, Zell tightened his fighting gloves on his fist and ran with Taeon leading the way. They stopped upon entering the compound of the Train Center.
"Arugh! Damn it. Which way did he go?" Taeon practically turned circles between the two large iron gates of the Train Center.
Zell, finally able to catch his breath asked Taeon what the gist of all of this was about. She quickly explained, as best she could, what had happened up until now and then took off to the left.
"I'll go this way! If we're lucky enough, we might find them hiding out in the Secret Area."
Before she could get any further, however, Zell was there to stop her once again.
"I can't let you go alone! No matter how serious this could be, I can't allow you, a student, to go alone. So I'll go with you!" Zell reasoned.
To frustrated to speak, Taeon could only growl in reply.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but until you graduate, you'll have to make do. You ready?" At her nod, he smiled briefly before turning serious again. "Let's go!"
They opened the gate and hurried along as fast as they could, both in a hurry and too serious a mood to actually enjoy and admire one another's fighting skills. It wasn't long after they had entered into the humid atmosphere of the Training Center that they were ambushed by low level monsters. With Zell fighting along side of her, Taeon had no trouble making quick haste of disposing of the disgusting creatures that came across their path.
They were in luck so far, as they have yet to run across very high leveled monsters. Or worst yet. A T-Rexaur.
Taeon shuddered at the thought and prayed that both her beloved brother and her friend were okay and safe somewhere within the compoundmost preferably the Secret Area.
Lane crossed, carefully, over a grainy bridge on the other side of the compound, which mostly consisted of water, slime and moss. He nearly lost his footing and almost fell in the water beneath the bridge when he heard something screech off in the distance. He stopped for a moment and tried to calculate just far off the sound was and in which way it was coming from. He relaxed and deeming himself safe for the time being, he continued on his trek to find his missing friend.
Unlike his sister and instructor, who seemed to be fending off monsters almost every five minutes, Lane had yet to run across one thus far. He made the rest the way across the bridge safely and sighed.
Just a little further.
Then he heard it. The sound was indistinguishable from other monsters in the whole area, making his whole body and the ground beneath him tremble. He barely had time to dodge the swing of a thick tail before finding a place to hide and scan the beast before him.
Initiating Scan . . . . Scan Complete.
Lane's mind seem to go blank as he concentrated on his spell and sub-conciously read the monsters attributes.
. . . Level 27. Weakness: Ice. Strong Against: Poison. Alive since the beginning of time, its power and HP are very high. It's better to run if you encounter one.
As the spell completed, Lane nearly snorted at the last tidbit of info it gave him.
"Run," it said. He took a quick look around and shook his head. The T-Rexaur's oversized body and tail blocked all possible escape routes. No chance of that now . . . , he thought, gritting his teeth.
He sighed with frustration and stood out of his hiding place before facing the ancient dino head on.
Taeon froze in place at the angry roar in the distance.
"Michaels! Behind you!" Zell yelled out in warning, but it was too late.
Taeon was struck down as a Grat came out of it's hiding place behind a few trees and broken machinary, swinging it's long, spike-ended, tentacles every which way. She yelped in pain and grunted as her body hit the ground.
Zell cursed under his breath and took out the monster as quickly as possible and then ran to aid his student.
"Michaels! Hey! You all right? Shit . . . ," he growled angrily as his wondering hand found a warm, sticky, substance coming from a wound on her back. He flipped her body over as gently as he could and made a quick inspection of her wound before casting Cura on her. He was pissed. Not at his student, but at himself. If he had acted sooner, Taeon wouldn't be hurt as badly as she was. He punched the ground.
Startled, Taeon jumped at the force of his punch. She soon regretted her sudden movement and hissed when she felt a burning pain along her back. Trying her best to ignore it, she sat up and regarded her instructor warily.
Seeing the look on her face, Zell did his best to calm his anger and then pushed himself up from the ground.
"Are . . . Are you okay?" He asked gruffly.
Taeon nodded weakly. She then, with the help of her instructor, stood on wobbly legs. She shook off the sudden uneasiness she felt and steadied herself so that she no longer needed Zell's help.
He quickly did another brief examination of her body to see if she gained any other injuries before casting another Cura on her, just to make sure.
Taeon shivered as the spell worked it's magic on her abused body. She was a little sore and tired, but would live. She sighed and thanked him before looking in the direction where she heard the roar from earlier.
"Did you hear that . . . before?" She whispered.
Seeing that she was going to be okay, Zell followed her gaze. "Yeah. We had better hurry up. You ready?"
Taeon smiled at him, but stiffened when a new sensation took hold of her. She trembled and tried to shake the feeling off but couldn't.
"Michaels? What's" Zell stopped when his ears picked up the sound of a loud roar and then the soft, familiar screech of a Guardian Force as it was summoned.
"Lane," Taeon breathed. "And Levie . . . ."
They wasted not a moment longer and took off in the direction of the ongoing battle. Taeon screamed her brother's name when they came within sight of the battle and Zell prepared a few spells to cast once he got there.
"First thing's first," Zell called out before casting Sleep on the irate T-Rexaur. The spell bounced off it's scales and it angrily swooped his tail along the floor. The two jumped out of harms way and Zell tried once again.
"Sleep, you fucking beast!" He yelled, casting his spell once again.
The spell proved to be successful this time 'round. The T-Rexaur slowly began to lose conciousness as it nestled it's big head on the floor in sleep.
Lane, who'd been within the protective vortex of his GF until now, reappeared as Leviathan took his leave until called upon again.
Taeon let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her brother, then turned back to the battle at hand. She growled in frustation when she found she couldn't attack the slumbering dino physically and cursed when she realized the spells she carried would only prove to be useless in this battle. Attacking it would only wake it up again and that was not good. If she only had a Blizzaga, or better yet, the ice Gaurdian Force Shiva, she'd be rolling. Fate wasn't on her side this evening, however, as she was stuck with Ifirit instead. He'd probably cause a little damage if summoned, but in this case, 'a little' wouldn't be enough. Zell, of course, had other ideas; he charged forward, fists up and ready to pound the over-sized beast into oblivion.
The twins looked on in awe as their instructor unleashed a whole string of combos and specials upon the unfortunate T-Rexaur's head. It roared in agitation as it awoke once again and made as if to take a bite out of the raging martial artists. It snapped its jaws on empty air and instead got a face full of hard, merciless, fists of raging fury.
He kept at it with amazing speed and energy. When he found that the dino was getting tired, Zell thought it was about time he finished it off. He mentally prepared his combos with another one, which he called Different Beat. He concentrated all his energy within his clenched fists and punched the T-Rexaur before it knew what was coming, sending it clean into the air before quickly following it. While being suspended in the air by an unknown force, Zell replaced his fists for his feet and basically kicked the aging dino into oblivion and back.
Time passed all to quickly for Taeon as she tried her best to distinguish his movements before he came back down again, the T-Rexaur falling heavily to the ground. The twins grabbed onto each other to steady theirselves as the ground shook with the aftershock of the dino's fall and then watched as its body slowly disintegrated into the air, defeated.
Zell clenched his teeth with eyes closed tightly shut as he concentrated on regaining control of his energy before slumping down to the ground with a tired sigh. After gaining back his breath, he turned to the gaping twins behind him and grinned.
"Learn anything new?" He asked in jest, chuckling as he slowly stood on his feet.
Taeon stood in stunned silence before an insane grin found its way onto her grimmy face. She jumped in place excitedly and leaped upon the unsuspecting Zell.
"That was too unbelievably awesome for mere words to describe!" She screeched into his ear before quickly letting go and running back to her brother and then crushing him to her bosom.
Lane flushed in embarrassment as Zell laughed nearby. Finally, he found a way out of his sister's strong arms and then gently patted her on the head.
"Damn you, Taeon," he grumbled, his face burning with embarrassment. "It's bad enough being seen with you out in public like this already." He smiled and lightly nudged her chin with a loose fist.
Taeon scowled playfully up at him, but then quickly took on the look apprehension as she remembered why they were here in the first place. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shook him lightly.
"Lane! Did you find her? Please tell me you did?" At the shake of her twin's head and the defeated slump of his shoulders, she released him.
A thick silence descended on the three.
Taeon stared at her brother in shock and stepped away from him. She whirled around and punched a nearby tree.
"Damn it!" She yelled, tears gathering in her eyes.
A sharp yelp soon followed and everyone, startled, looked up.
There, perched high on a less than sturdy branch of the very tree Taeon punched, was Yuffie. The young ninja looked down at them with a pale face and wide, frightened, red eyes. Her eyes widened even more when the branch gave beneath her weight with a loud crack. Mouth open on a silent scream, Yuffie fell.
Everyone gasped sharply and moved forward at once to catch try catching her. Things appeared to move in slow motion for them all as Zell's foot caught itself in a pothole and sent him tumbling to the ground. Then the split branche's leaves sprung itself in Lane's face, rendering him temporarily blind. The suddenness of it all made him lose his footing and he fell back on his posterior, bruising his tail bone. Now it was up to Taeon.
She stopped at the base of the tree and held her arms open, preparing to catch the falling ninja. The force and the weight of the shorter girl combined, sent her sprawled on her back, which was still terribly sore from the battle with the Grat earlier. Her air supply was cut short as it was forcefully removed from her body in one audible whoosh. Tae's body arched awkwardly as she gasped out in pain and for much needed air.
Being the first to recover, Yuffie quickly scrambled off her friend and watched Lane come to the aid of his sister. He murmured something under his breath and waved a hand over his sister's immobilized form before helping her to sit up. He then stood and made his way to Yuffie, his movements slow and awkward due to what happened earlier.
Still alarmed by all that had transpired before her eyes, Yuffie shuffled away from Lane.
"Yuffie . . . ?" He called softly, reaching out to her.
Gray eyes meet his warily before slowly looking down at his out stretched hand. They flickered up to meet those soft, trusting, blue eyes again. After a long while, she reached out and put her cold, numb hand within his warm one.
Lane smiled and helped her up off the ground.
"Must be a shock to you, huh?" He took a deep breath and turned to her. "You can always change your mind . . . , Yuffie."
At the sound of her name being spoken, Yuffie's eyes teared up, but she would not let them fall. Not this time. Not again. She roughly swiped an arm across her eyes, doing her best to wipe away any traces of moisture and then smiled.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" She asked, arching one delicately, curved eyebrow. She took her hand from his and propped both fists on her hips while cocking her head to the side.
Dumbfound, Lane looked at her in a side ways glance. Both Zell and Taeon, who were now fully recovered from what took place just a moment earlier, stood around the little ninja with confusion written on their faces.
Yuffie straightened herself and grinned broadly. "I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! Something this petty will never bring me down!"
The three took a moment to look at each other before desolving in laughter. Yuffie hid a smile behind her hand and reached over to punch Lane in the arm lightly.
"Hey," she said, quickly gaining his attention. She smiled warmly up at him, "I'm sorry for causing everyone trouble and . . . ." She turned away to look at the ground. ". . . Thanks." She looked back up, expecting something entirely different from the happy smile on his face and then the mussing of her already tangled hair afterwards. She threw up her arms to ward him off, only to have them blocked by Taeon as the martial artist wrapped her arms around the surprised shinobi and squeezed her for all she was worth in an embrace.
The happy reunion was soon broken by Zell coughing lightly nearby. Together, they shifted their eyes over to him.
"So this is the friend I've been hearing about?" He asked.
Yuffie squinted her eyes at him and looked to her friends. Seeing the look on her face, Lane sighed.
"Yuffie, this is our instructor Zell Dincht. Instructor, Yuffie Kisaragi," he introduced.
Yuffie's eyes brightened and said the first thing that came to mind. "Chocobo!"
Lane and Taeon gasped in shock and looked warily to their instructor to judge his reaction, as he was known to be a hot head every once in a while. They both wondered if what their little ninja friend said was enough to set him off or not.
Zell did a double take before slumping his shoulders and resigned with a sigh, the complete opposite of what they expected. He straightened and scratched his head. "I . . . get that a lot, it seems." Not taking it to heart, he wiped his hand on his pant leg and extended it out for Yuffie to shake. "Nice meeting ya!"
Yuffie beamed and stepped forward. She grasped his hand firmly and shook it before releasing and returning to the twin's sides.
She cocked her head to the side again and gave him a once over. "Kadowaki was right. You can't be much older than myself; yet, here you are, Instructor." She looked at him from head to foot before grinning. "I think I like you already!"
Zell blinked his eyes at her before slowly replying. "Err, yeah. I think I like you, too, Kisaragi."
Yuffie smiled, happy to have met and possibly made a new friend. Despite the freaky tattoo on his face, Yuffie like the energy and vibes she got from him when shaking his hand. This was a person she could trust. She could just tell and feel it.
Besides, she thought with a smirk, he reminds me of another certain chocobo-haired man back at Hollow Bastion.
When she felt herself becoming sad at the thought of her home, she mentally shook herself. She'd get through this. She'd find Squall and bring him back home with her.
No matter what.
She nodded her head in determination and walked out of the Training Center with her new friends.
"Zell? Oh my, what happened?" Quistis, who had been visiting the infirmary and checking up on Kadowaki, looked up and frowned in concern as she took in her friend's dishevelled appearance.
Zell sighed. "Oh man, Quisty. You should've been there. It was some pretty amazing stuff!"
Quistis arched a brow. "Amazing? Looks like you've all been through Ifrit's hell and back." Then quite matter-of-factly, she said, "You know that isn't scheduled until a few months from now."
Yuffie's mouth almost literally hit the floor at that. Taeon smirked at her friend's reaction and tossed a glance to her brother. They had a lot of explaining and teaching to do later.
At that moment Kadowaki strolled in and nearly jumped back in shock at the sight before her.
"My dear Hyne! What in all seven hells happened to you four?" She exclaimed, slowly stepping forward.
Yuffie smiled meekly at her from behind Lane and then waved. "H-heya, um, Doctor! We seem to be always meeting under the worst of circumstances lately, ne?" She greeted lamely.
This time the doctor did jump in shock. "Y-Yuffie? Howwhy did this . . . . Oh, forget it! I don't want to know!" Kadowaki leaned against a nearby wall and did a brief inspection of them all before leveling her gaze on one particular tall, dark-haired boy with blue eyes.
Lane ducked his head like a child who got caught with his hand in a cookie jar. "I-I know. You told me to take it easy . . . ," he said softly. "But, eh, Yuffie . . . um . . . ."
Kadowaki rubbed a hand over her tired eyes before dropping it and meeting his gaze. "Let me guess . . . . Something happened between you three," she pointed at Yuffie and the twins one by one, "which caused one of you to be upset. Now, that much I can see, but as for where Zell came into the mix, I'm completely thrown off." She then laughed. "You all look like shit!"
Zell scratched his head and looked at the ground, clearly remembering what he told a certain commander earlier. Now, he could only imagine him looking a hell of a lot worse. A lot worse. He sighed and shook his head. Can't be helped now. What were the odds? He could only look forward to a nice warm shower, a good meal, and then sleep. Deep sleep.
He straightened and nodded his head in encouragement as one of his students were carted off to a vacant room to be treated by a disgruntled and very fatigued doctor.
A few minutes later all four were checked and cared for by the doctor. They were all told to stay out of trouble and the poor doctor's hair for at least a week. She made it perfectly clear not to come back unless they were on the verge of death. As soon as they were out and walking down the gray hallway of the infirmary, Yuffie and Taeon burst out laughing. Quistis and Lane both rolled their eyes heaven ward before smiling, while Zell just seemed to be spacing out straight ahead, his shoulders hunched slightly with exhaustion.
He stopped and glance down at the, now, grimmy watch on his wrist and turned to Quistis. "I'll meet you and the others later, Quisty. I'm gonna shower first. Later everyone!" He jogged off.
Taeon sighed and then looked over her shoulders to Quistis and couldn't help but smirk. "'Quisty,' eh?" The young instructor flushed at this. Becoming a bit bolder now, Taeon sashayed her way over to the blonde's side with a sly smile on her lips. "How endearing of our darling Instructor Dincht to give such a nickname . . . . There wouldn't happen to be . . . something between you two, now would there?" She asked while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
At this Quistis promptly snorted before doubling over in laughter. "M-me . . . and Ze-ell? Good Heaven's no! The two of us would never look at each other in that way!" She gasped out between breaths.
Lane went over and ruffled his twin's hair while muttering, "You idiot."
Taeon looked to her brother, perplexed.
Quistis calmed herself long enough to explain. "Zell and I are merely good friends. We've known each since we were this tiny." She showed with her hands just how 'tiny' by holding a hand about three feet from the floor before covering her mouth to let out a few more giggles. "The name 'Quisty' is what all my childhood friends know me by. I have names for them too, but I . . . don't think they'd like for me to disclose them in front of others. And besides," she smiled beautifully, "Zell already has a girlfriend. Infact, here she comes." She walked forward, passing by a dazed Taeon as she did. "Good evening, Rima! Did you come looking for Zell?"
The twins and Yuffie watched as a petite, shy-looking, brunette with a long pig-tail hanging down her back make her way toward them. Compared to everyone's favorite martial artist, this girl was rather plain and frail looking. She was decked out in Balamb Garden's official student uniform and had the appearance of the usual class bookworm. Taeon was shocked to say the least. She, of course, expected a little more of Zell's love interest, not this plain, drab looking thing. But as she got a closer look at her, Taeon found that her eyes showed a kindness that she herself didn't harbor and, her face, a plain sort of beauty.
She shrugged and smiled to herself. Maybe she just expected too much out of Zell. Afterall, he was her instructor, hero and idol. She had looked up to him ever since transfering back to Balamb with her brother. The thing with the sorceresses, just the year before, only fueled her view of him even more. Looking at the shy girl, whom she recognized as one of the librarians that worked part-time at the Library, she felt a sort of happiness surge within her. She was happy that her instructor found someone to love and wished the best for them both.
The girl smiled at Quistis and nodded at the others as she approached. "Yes. A friend of mine told me she spotted him on his way here, escorting a few students. Is he okay? Is he here, Quistis?" She asked, taking on a near fretful expression at the thought of her loved one being hurt. At the blonde instructor's reassuring smile, she gradually relaxed.
"You actually just missed him, Rima. You came from the library, right?" At the girl's nod, Quistis sighed. "No wonder! He must've went in the other direction just as you arrived." At Rima's deflated expression, Quistis chuckled and patted her shoulder. "It's okay. He wasn't injured at all, so there's no need to worry. He told me that he'd be meeting us down at the usual spot for dinner after he cleans himself up."
Rima looked at Quistis, bewildered. "Cleans up? What happened?"
Quistis sighed and shook her head. "I wasn't fully informed myself, but he came in with these three, clothes and hair full of the dust and grime one only can get from being within the compound of the Training Center." She gestured to the three behind her.
The brunette turned her head slightly and looked horrified at what she saw. Yuffie and the twins were most definately covered from head to toe in a layer of filth. She turned back to Quistis and cracked a large smile and chuckled. "He was really that dirty?" She asked.
Quistis nodded and laughed softly.
Taeon grumbled. "I'm so happy to have been a part of everyone's jokes," she said aloud, gaining the attention of everyone standing there. As if it'd do her any good, Taeon dust herself off and stepped forward with a little spring. "Well, I'm gonna hit the showers!" She turned and winked at both Yuffie and her twin. "Coming you two?" At their nods she gaily walked forward and began whistling. "See ya later, Instructor Trepe and Pig-tailed Girl!" She called over her shoulder.
Lane and Yuffie cast each other sideways glances before taking the girl's leads.
That night Yuffie ran into a slight problem. Just as she was about to leave Taeon's dorm room for the evening, she turned back to the dozing girl on the bed.
Yuffie coughed nervously. "Uh, Taeon?"
Taeon's blue eyes fluttered open as she regarded the little ninja with a face slack with sleep. ". . . Yeah?" She asked, shifting herself around so that she was lying on her stomach.
Deciding she had better say what she wanted quickly before her friend passed out on her, Yuffie asked, "Just where exactly am I supposed to sleep?"
Taeon's eyes shot open at this and sat up to gawk at Yuffie. "Don't tell me you weren't assigned a room?"
The shinobi shook her head.
Taeon cursed and punched her pillow. "Did you go to the office? Xu is the one who manages the rooms and classes, so she's the one to see for that kind of stuff."
Again, Yuffie shook her head no.
Taeon bit her lip and looked at her clock sitting on top of her bed's side shelf and sighed regretfully. "Well, it's too late now to do anything about it. The office always closes at twenty-hundred hours on weekdays and closed on weekends. Tomorrow's already the weekend, so . . . ."
Yuffie calculated the time her friend said in her head, before she breathed out dejectedly and glared at the floor. Eight o'clock. Then her eyes suddenly brightened. "You think Kadowaki's still at the infirmary? Maybe I can . . . ."
Taeon shook her head, cutting her off. "She lives off campus when Garden's stationed here at our home base and lives on campus when it's mobilized again. So she's already check on out of here for today a few hours ago."
Whatever hope Yuffie had, was completely distinguished with Taeon's words. Then she became curious. She carefully sat next to her fatigued friend and looked at her. "Mobilized?"
The martial artist shot her a strange look before explaining. "Didn't we tell you? Balamb Garden's a mobile school. Meaning it can travel to almost anywhere on the world. Ah," she sighed contently with a wistful smile. "I can't wait for you to see it, Yuffie. It's really an amazing sight." She looked to Yuffie and found her dozing off. Taeon smirked. She picked up her pillow and gently thumped the shinobi with it's fluffiness.
Yuffie glared half-heartedly at the taller girl, her grumpy expression making Taeon laugh.
Taeon, though tired as she was, thought there was nothing else to do but put up with Yuffie as her guest for tonight and possibly the entire weekend and went about seeing to the girl's comfort and a place for the ninja to crash.
She got up and walked out her bedroom door and winced at the couch in the livingroom. It was a pretty good place to sit when you just wanted to kick back and relax, but definately not a place to sleep.
There's no way I'm letting Yuffie sleep there for tonight! She thought wearily.
She stopped suddenly upon realizing something. All this time and she had completely spaced out the fact that her roommate moved out just a week before Lane found and rescued Yuffie. She silently clapped her hands in glee at her good fortune and walked to the room next to her own and pushed in the familiar passcode to her old roomy's room.
Even though she wasn't superstitious in the least, Taeon had to agree to some extent that it was an odd twist of Fate for this to have happened.
The door opened silently with a soft swoosh and left her standing within the doorway. The lights turned on automatcially upon her entering and she grinned, soon making quick work of the bed. She went about fluffing and airing out the blankets, sheets and pillows as best she could. Once satisfied with her handiwork, she went to collect her sleepy friend.
Taeon smiled broadly when she returned to her room and giggled softly to herself. This was her first time to witness her friendwhom she already considered dear to herself and her brothersleep with such an adorable expression on her face. The fact that she had already seen this same face over the past couple of weeks didn't count as her new found friend was comatosed at that time and was so far gone that her face was cold, slack, and expressionless.
She suppressed the urge to go up to the sleeping girl and huggle her in her sleep. Oh, she was straight, mind you, but when it came to cute things like this, she couldn't help but resist. She grinned and walked over to her bed, on which her friend had already made herself comfortable, and gently tapped her shoulder.
Yuffie grumbled something out, but didn't wake up. She only tightened her arms around Taeon's pillow and curled her legs up to her chest. The girl reminded Taeon of a cat she saw in town a few days back when both she and her brother went to visit their old aunt at her house. She almost 'awwed' when Yuffie whimpered softly in her sleep and then stuck her bottom lip out in a pout.
Not wanting to, but knew she would have to in order for her to reclaim her bed, Taeon pried Yuffie's vice-like grip from around her pillow and hoisted the girl in her arms. Considering that Yuffie was almost the same size as herself, Taeon staggered slightly under the girl's weight.
"Girl, you're going on a diet as soon as you begin your classes," she muttered under her breath and she carried the girl out of her room and into the next. She practically dropped Yuffie on the bed before straightening up and stretching out her abused muscles. Her back popped and she sighed.
She stepped back and looked at the slumbering girl. She couldn't quite figure out what she found wrong with this. Then she snapped her fingers and went back to her room. She began picking out a couple pieces of comfortable clothing she could lend for the night and then headed back to the other room. Not in the least bit embarrassed, Taeon quickly stripped the girl down to her underwear and redressed her properly with a pair of flannel pajama pants and a comfortable, long-sleeved, t-shirt (as it tended to get a bit cool during the night). Finally, Taeon was satisfied and bid the sleeping girl good-night before heading back to her room for much need sleep. She was out before her head hit her pillow.
In the next room over, Yuffie smiled in her sleep and thanked who ever was watching over her for blessing herself with such wonderful friends and hoped her 'family' was doing okay back in her home world. She squeezed her eyes shut against the sting of tears when she pictured the faces of Aerith, Cloud, Cid and Leon. She rolled over, hugging her pillow against her chest, and slowly went back to sleep.
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Rima: In FF8, the librarian doesn't exactly have a name. To everyone, who has played the game, she was always known as the "Pig-Tailed Girl." Even though she plays no major role in this story, I thought I should I least name the poor girl, so "Rima" it is! Another thing about her is that she had always admired and looked out for Zell from afar, until she finally got up enough courage to see and tell him how she feels in Balamb Town during Disc 3...I think. Or was it Disc 2... She even helped him out in various ways through out the game by giving him items (most times indirectly through Squall) and combo learning magazines. Anyway, because of how the ending of the game came about, I can only assume that they became girlfriend and boyfriend after the sorceresses were defeated.
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D i s c l a i m e r s a n d C o p y r i g h t s
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Julia the piano score NOT the story, Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy characters, settings and anything/everything, EXCEPT FOR the plot and storyline of THIS PARTICULAR STORY/FANFICTION TITLED 'JULIA', is and copyrighted to their respectful owners of Squaresoft, Square-Enix, Nobou Uematsu, Disney and any other who have any rightful claim. Original characters, that may come into play, settings, plot, storyline and this story/fanfiction is copyright and claimed by J.Watson aka Natsu/Natsumi.
