Disclaimer: I almost forgot, I don't own FinalFantasy VIII. Wait, yes I do- it's in my Playstation console right now. . . Let me rephrase that, I don't own the copyright/trademark on FinalFantasy VIII, but I do own the game. ^-^ Thanks to all those who've reviewed (It's one fourth of the way to a hundred now!) And I have to especially thank Harpychan, LiquidSky, and Neko4. Harpy for letting me use Gella and other characters yet to be introduced, LiquidSky for constantly reviewing, and Neko4 for taking the time to get to know me in live-time conversation (IM). Now, on with the story. See- I worked on it!
With all of the excitement from the party settling down, and the weekend over with Evan back at work, everything suddenly caught up with Etta. The time was going too fast- Zell was already three now, and as amazing as it was to watch him grow and learn so much everyday, each day was bringing him closer to his fourth birthday. It wouldn't be the cheerful celebration of this past year's birthday, though, because due to Balamb's adoption bylaws, at four years old Zell had to be placed in an orphanage in order to give other adults wanting children a chance to adopt him. But Etta and Evan didn't want him to be adopted by anyone else but them. Maybe it was selfish- if they truly loved him, Etta's mind reasoned, they should be happy that if he was adopted he would have a family to care about him. But then again, if he was, the family wouldn't be the Dinchts. A small drip of moisture escaped Etta's eye at this point- she refused to admit it was a tear, she wasn't crying, she was just. . . having an emotional moment. She teetered into the small adjoining bathroom, eyes blurring with more tears, and quickly yanked a few tissues from the box on the counter in rapid succession. She roughly rubbed at her eyes with them and threw the tissues away, then splashed cold water onto her face in an effort to dissuade her eyes from becoming red and puffy. Zell had been left to his own devices the entire time, so Etta thought it would be wise to go check on him.
Etta climbed the stairs- her and Evan's gift to Zell had been his own room. They had worked long and hard at converting the second floor storage room into a room for Zell. It was on the plain side, but they had added special touches to personalize it and make it truly his. The counter that spanned the right wall of the room had been covered in a fun fabric with a fish motif. It was convenient, because when Zell got older, it could be removed to make the room grow with him. If the Dinchts were the ones to adopt him, that is. . .
Zell was doing a quite activity for once, he was seated at the counter with the fish fabric and was deeply involved in scribbling inside (and outside) of the lines of the coloring book that Gella had given him for his birthday. It was a coloring book full of monsters, and since Zell had never seen any of them with his own eyes, he was happily selecting colors at random. The creaking at the top of the stair made Zell spin around.
"Ma! Look!" Zell called out cheerfully, holding up a picture of a blue and green T-rexaur. Etta smiled, she knew that it was supposed to be red. Not that she would tell him that, she didn't want him to lose his creativity.
"Whoa, a T-rexaur! I'm so scared- come and save me Zell!" Etta pretended to be struck with fear at the 'life-like' monster.
"Don' worry, Ma, I protect yoo!" Zell bounced out of his seat and hopped up and down growling at the coloring book, obviously trying to intimidate the paper T-rexaur. His antics continued for awhile until Etta said she was no longer afraid of the monster. Zell plopped down on his new knee-height bed and looked up expectantly at Etta.
"So. . . how about we work on the alphabet?" Etta suggested. She was trying to teach Zell how to read so she could send him letters while he was at the orphanage. This brought another thought to Etta's mind. How could she tell him that he was going to have to leave for awhile?
"'Kay," Zell agreed readily, though a little reluctantly. He had a hard time with some of the letters, and it was frustrating when he had to relearn something that he didn't understand. Etta stepped out of the doorway and crossed the room to pull a bin out from under the counter. Before sliding the bin back into place, she took out a stack of scrap paper and a bundle of markers. She sat on the floor, scribbling something on the paper before holding it up for Zell to see.
"What's this letter?" Etta asked. He probably wouldn't have any trouble with this letter, he remembered up through the tenth letter, but after that he wasn't so certain. Zell squinted.
"A!" He recognized triumphantly.
"And something that starts with 'A' is. . .?" Etta prompted. Zell's face scrunched up in though as he tried to think of something that started with A.
"A-a-a . . ." Zell started, frowning. "Apple!" his eyes lit up. Etta scribbled another letter. "B!" The response was quicker this time, once Zell was confident, his speed dramatically improved. He didn't even need Etta's prompting to name something that started with 'B'. "Bite Bug! Balamb, too!" Zell was ecstatic that he had named not only one, but two things. It continued on like this, Etta hinting and prompting Zell through most of the letters, except for the occasional one that he knew. 'F' was very quickly named, and just as quickly deemed 'Fish', and 'G' was hurriedly decided to be G-as-in-Gella. They then reversed the game, Zell with paper and markers poised at ready while Etta called out a letter, this time not in any order, and Zell wrote the letter on paper. He was much better at this version, and succeeded in writing out all of the letters perfectly, except for confusing 'X' with 'Y'.
All the while, Etta's thoughts were still lingering on the inevitable departure of next year. Even if she did write, there was no way she would be able to actually talk to him or see him face to face. If he woke up at night from a bad dream, she wouldn't be there to listen sympathetically and pour him a glass of water. If he was hungry, someone else's hands would be the ones preparing his food. Etta was having a difficult time believing that she could trust someone else with the complete and total care of Zell. She looked around the room for something that could be sent along with him, something that he could carry with him, but that would also carry a special meaning from back home. There were stuffed animals and small toys, but nothing that was small enough to be carried around while still having actual meaning. Etta sighed. Zell jumped to the immediate conclusion that she was upset because he had mixed up two letters and silently promised himself that he would try harder than ever to learn every single one of the letters, and make his ma proud. He still didn't grasp the concept that Etta was proud of him just for existing. As usual, Zell's inner emotions traveled straight to his face- his lip quivered and his blue eyes widened and watered.
"What's the matter?" Etta asked kindly, reaching up to wipe the tear from his eye.
"..never gonna learn letters!" Zell wailed, throwing his arms around his ma's neck. Etta hugged him and calmly spoke words of encouragement, but her thoughts drifted to the future. There had to be something that she could give him, a physical token of the fact that he had a home and family waiting back in Balamb that would let him make it through the year he spent away. There had to be something she could give him, or make him. There had to be something she could do.
