Disclaimer: How do I not own ff8? Oh let me count the ways....
The Dinchts stood in front of the orphanage like three statues. Zell stared at the huge stone building in awe and fear, it was intimidating, like an ancient monster that would wake up and attack at any moment. He tried to back away, only succeeding in stumbling over a loose piece of stone on the ground, but thankfully was caught by the firm grip that Etta had on his small hand. An outsider might assume that she was afraid of Zell getting loose and wandering into the ocean that bordered the backside of the orphanage, but she held an equally tight hold on Evan's hand, testifying that her unnecessary strength should be accredited to reluctance, not worry. She wasn't about to turn Zell over to perfect strangers until she had seen that they weren't going to neglect him. The three of them, still linked by their hands, formed a sort of solemn processional up to the front door between two tall pillars. Though it was sunny out, and ivy grew on the cracked stone, the mood of the group was bleak and grey.
The Dinchts had left Balamb's port for Centra on March 17, Zell's fourth birthday. They had celebrated on the boat, and Zell had even gotten to see the Captain, a gruff old man that reminded Evan of an older version of his father. As long as they all ignored their final destination, the trip was fun and the mood lighthearted. But the boat was too fast, and they reached the shore of Centra in four days, and no more than three hundred feet away from a lighthouse was a large stone house. They'd begun the hike atop red stone, and now they stood in front of the door.
"You okay, Zell?" Evan asked him, seeing him on the verge of tears and clutching the wooden fish in his left hand. Zell nodded tearfully, and Etta dropped her hold on Evan's hand in order to scoop him up into a hug.
"You'll be back before you know it," she assured him, not letting herself cry. If she started crying, Zell would throw a tantrum, and she'd never get him to stop clinging to her. Evan knocked on the rough wooden door, and moments later it was hesitantly opened by a thin woman in black with a frowning blonde child peering out from behind her. He quickly turned around and disappeared into the house bellowing, "Newby!" Etta wasn't sure if he was trying to say "New boy!" or if Newby was something they called new kids. Either way, she didn't have a very high opinion of the boy.
"You're the Dinchts, I presume?" the woman inquired. At Evan's nod she smiled and said, "Come in, Cid and I were expecting you." They stepped into the house, into a room with a bed against the left wall and a faded red and gold tapestry hanging on the right wall. It wasn't a particularly impressive or stately place, but the walls and floors were clean, and the objects placed in a way that gave of the feeling that someone deeply cared for this place. From around the doorway into the next room peeked a couple of faces that looked to be about Zell's age. A blonde girl with an inquisitive look on her face, a bouncy brunette girl jumping up and down to see over the blonde's head, and an interested boy with red-brown hair standing next to her. A man slipped past the children and entered the room.
"This is my husband, Cid Kramer, and I am Edea," the pale woman introduced, with a smile. "And the little goblins around the corner are Quistis, Selphie, and Irvine," she continued with an affectionate glace towards the children. She bent down near to Zell. "You may go meet them, if you'd like." Zell looked like that was the last thing he'd want to do, but with an encouraging pat on the back from Etta, he trotted into the next room. "If you don't mind my being forward, why are you giving Zell up for adoption?" Edea questioned. Etta grimaced, and moved to the back of the room to set Zell's suitcases down near a bureau and a small table.
"Not by choice," Evan responded. Both Edea and Cid's eyebrows raised at that, and they waited expectantly for him to continue. "By Balamb law, other would-be adoptive parents must be given the chance to adopt young children, and the country achieves this by mandating that when the child is four, they have to spend at least a year in an orphanage before a Balamb resident can adopt them." Cid sighed.
"You would think that the objective would be to place children in a happy and supportive home, but it all comes down to politics," Cid commented ruefully.
"I'm sorry, but it might be best for you to leave while Zell is distracted. I can assure you that I take excellent care of all of my children, and we'll let Zell contact you whenever he wants to, by letter or by HD cable," Edea suggested. Etta looked pained at the idea of Zell being someone else's child, but Evan and her, hands clasped tightly, managed to walk through the door and out of Zell's life- at least for the next year.
"He-ey! What's yer name!" the brunette girl asked him, as soon as he was within shouting range. At the same time the blonde girl and the reddish haired boy tried to introduce themselves.
"I'm Quistis!" the blonde exclaimed.
"I'm Irvine," the boy said, looking downward. Zell navigated the steps and stopped at the bottom. The blonde boy who had been at the door was glowering from a crate in the middle of the room, as an older girl lead a brunette boy through the back door.
"Zell Dincht," Zell said shyly, but proudly. The blonde boy frowned even harder, if that was possible.
"No last name. Yoo're a orphan," the blonde sneered. Quistis looked disapprovingly at the boy.
"He's Seifer," she said, pointing at the blonde. The older girl from the doorway added,
"He's always like that. I'm Ellone, but you can call me Sis, if you want." The so far unnamed boy gave Zell a small smile, which encouraged Zell some.
"Who're yoo?" Zell asked the boy shyly. "What's a orphan?" he asked as an afterthought.
"Squall," the boy answered, just as shyly.
"An orphan... is a kid who's lost their parents," Ellone explained tactfully. Zell frowned.
"Got parents!" and trotted back up the steps into the other room to prove his point. But no one was there except for Edea and Cid. "Ma!!!! Where's Ma!?" Zell asked, wailing. Edea looked worried, but crouched down to face Zell.
"They had to leave, Zell. Cid and I can take your suitcases, and we'll find you a bed downstairs, okay?" Zell nodded numbly, eyes wide with shock, but followed Cid and Edea down a small set of steps into a room filled with narrow beds pushed right up against each other. Edea looked contemplative for a moment, then pointed at one of the beds that was neatly made up. "You can take the bed between Squall and Seifer, alright?" she told him, setting the suitcases on the bed.
"Until dinner, you can play with the other kids, unpack and explore, or whatever pleases you," Cid added.
"We'll find you when dinner is ready," Edea assured him. The two adults took this as their exit cue, leaving Zell alone in the bedroom. He curled up on his narrow bed, in between his suitcases and let two tears trickle down his face as he uncurled his hand and stared at the fish that mocked him by dancing with the name of the one place that was out of reach. Home.
