Disclaimer: Ya know, it seems like the hardest part is to write that first 'disclaimer' and after that it all sort of just comes... I don't own FinalFantasyVIII or Zell or Any of the Shyms (they're all Harper's) for that matter- now that that's out of the way, thank you all who reviewed it really made my day. I *heart* reviews. Oh- and the story at the end isn't mine, either :(
Etta Dincht sighed from the interior of her home's small kitchen- she was trying to prepare Zell something to eat for lunch, but being a somewhat provoking toddler fully capable of crawling, he had gotten off to who knows where. "Zelly-D! Where have you gone off to?" she demanded. A gurgling laugh came from somewhere in the house's confines, but the rounded curves of the house's architecture bounced the sound from wall to wall until it was nearly impossible to tell where the noise had come from. "Zell- I'm going to count to five. . ." Etta said warningly. No response. "One. . ." Etta crossed the front hall into the back living area. No sign of Zell. "Two. . ." She looked under the table, but he wasn't there either. "Three. . ." She retraced her steps back through the kitchen and walked into the short hallway that lead to the bedroom. Etta looked everywhere, even getting down on her hands and knees to check under the king-sized bed that took up most of the room. "Four. . ." By now, Etta was becoming worried- she had heard him in the house, but her mind was racing to flash back to a childhood memory she could not rid her head of. A time when her own parents had not been able to find her sister. A time when the sea had swallowed her sister up- a time of pain and sorrow, for Etta's sister had been her twin as well. Fraternal, not identical, but looking alike wasn't important to the special bond the twins had. "Five! Zell Dincht- you'd better be ready to come out now because if you don't, you are going to be in so much trouble, mister!"
"Ma- I be here!" Zell called and Etta could now clearly tell that his voice was coming from the second floor's storage room.
"Zell? How on earth did you manage to get up there?" Etta questioned as she gathered up her skirt and started up the staircase. Zell's tiny blonde head poked out from around the corner.
"I climb-ed stairs!" he announced triumphantly, smiling at her and reaching his arms outward for a hug. Etta's face broke into a fond smile as she scooped him up in her arms and climbed back down the stairs grinning and growling "Ma's gonna get you!" Zell shrieked and squealed- but he wasn't actually scared, it was a game that had developed between the two. "Ma's gonna gather up her naughty Zell and bake him up into a Zell pie- oh yes she is, for giving his Ma a fright like that!" She continued, reaching the bottom of the steps. Etta set Zell down on the floor and he scrambled to his feet, taking a good five steps or so before resorting back to a more familiar crawl.
"Can't catch me- I be Zell!" he exclaimed, looking behind him as he crawled rapidly towards the door. Two short raps on the door caused Zell to turn towards the door, which hit him smack dab on the side of his head as it opened. He immediately started bawling, much to the chagrin of a flustered looking Mabel Shym, standing in the doorway holding the hand of an equally distressed looking Gella, who seemed as if she might indulge in a fit of hysterics herself. Gella was wearing a new shirt, and she did seem quite happy about that. It was blue and patterned like water, with a scribbly-looking fish on the front. Underneath that were the words "Balamb Town, Balamb."
"Oh dear- Etta, I am truly sorry, I am, but Gella insisted that she would absolutely die if she couldn't visit Zell today, and I'm running late, and I don't mean to just dump her on you, but she just wanted to come over ever so badly. . ." Mabel rambled.
"No problem, really. Zell's friends are welcome all the time. As long as you come back and get her sometime within the year, we'll be fine." Etta assured her with a smile. Zell's crying elevated to a level far beyond any initial pain there might have been- he had probably been more startled than actually hurt by the door, but Etta could remedy that. "Zelly- if you're hurt that badly, maybe you should go rest instead of playing with Gella." Etta suggested. The sobs and sniffles stopped right away.
"I feel much bet-er now!" he chirped and flashed a beaming smile to prove as much. "C'mon what-er we waitin' for?" Zell stood and raced clumsily to the back living area, leaving a shyly smiling Gella to follow silently behind. She talked more now, and as it turned out, Gella was only painfully shy rather than mute. Still though, she would communicate wordlessly as much as possible and only really talked a lot around Zell.
"Well, I guess I'll be off then." Mabel sighed, but as she turned to go, her stomach bumped the door into the umbrella stand, knocking it over.
"I'll get that," Etta reassured and bent down to right the container. Mabel sighed again and left, this time without any incident. Mabel was pregnant again, with the Shym's third child, and with only three months until it was born she had been especially catastrophic lately. Etta raised herself to her feet and dusted off her apron, then set off for the back room to see what the kids were doing. She found Zell chasing Gella around and around the circular table in the middle of the room. His running was becoming more and more haphazard and Etta knew if she didn't come up with an alternate activity quickly, the entire room would be in shambles before Zell was done with it. She grabbed a book off the table and began to read from it, hoping that the two would stop to listen. "The Sugarplum Tree." Etta started. Her ploy worked and Gella and Zell sat on the ground while Etta pulled a chair out for herself. "Have you ever heard of the Sugarplum Tree? 'Tis a marvel of great renown! It blooms on the shore of the Lollipop Sea In the garden of Shut-Eye Town," just then, Zell interrupted the reading to ask a question.
"Ma? Is Shut-Eye Town close ta Balamb?" he asked, innocently, not knowing it was a fictional place. Etta smiled.
"No Zelly-kins, it's far, far away from here." Zell looked a bit disappointed.
"Oh."
Etta continued with the story. "The fruit that it bears is so wondrously sweet (As those who have tasted it say) That good little children have only to eat Of that fruit to be happy next day." The story continued to tell of a gingerbread dog and a chocolate cat that help little children get sweets from the tree. It was a short story and it was finished all to quickly. "What would you two like to do now?" Etta asked.
"Countdown!" Zell shouted happily. It was nearing Zell's birthday, and the Dinchts had made a sign for the wall that said "Days Until Zell's B-day" and underneath it were interlocking paper rings, one would be taken off each day until there were no rings left, which meant it was March 17. Etta walked over and removed the day's ring and Zell began hurriedly counting to see how long he had to wait.
"Only, One...Two...Three...Four...Five" Zell counted, and then frowned, because he couldn't count any higher. "Only more 'den five days 'til my birthday!" he exclaimed happily. Once again though, the activity was over and he wanted something else to do. "Ma? Couldja read 'The Bravest Chocoboco' to us?? Pwease?" Zell begged. It was his favorite story of all, and despite the fact that he had heard it already today, he wanted to hear it again.
"Chocobo, Zelly. Alright, I suppose," Etta gave in- she would have read it a million times if he had asked her to. Zell was the joy of her life, the least she could do was put joy into his life.
