A/N: I reloaded this chapter, because Zell anonymously appears. A special
thank you to Evan'sRinoa to pointing this out.
The Presidential Palace
A camera/speaker set poked out of the door. "Yes?" a familiar voice asked.
"Hello Kiros. It's Squall. Our car got towed, and we wanted to know if Laguna could lend us one."
"Hey Squall! Sure, that should be okay. Come right on in!" he said brightly, and the door opened. Squall walked in, and the others followed. Kiros turned to them as they stopped in a hallway.
"Wait here." he said, and walked into a room off to the side. Squall turned his head to look at the view of Esthar the windows offered.
"Hey Squall! Long time, no see!" said a cheerful voice. Squall looked toward the speaker, an older man with long brown hair.
"Hello Laguna." Squall said, nodding at the older man. Laguna waved enthusiastically at the others.
"Glad to see you guys as well. How are the rest of you doing?" he asked.
"Fine." Selphie answered. Everyone else echoed the same.
"Glad to hear. So, why are you here? Oh, don't tell me, I already know."
"You do?" Squall repeated, surprised. Usually Laguna wasn't that perceptive.
"You came to see my new trophy display!"
.and he still wasn't perceptive. "Actually." Squall began.
"Well, you're just in time. I was about to lock up the room, but I'll leave it open for you!" he quickly ushered them upstairs. They tried to stop, but Laguna pushed them into a room full of oddly shaped trophies, all on a spinning stage in one corner of the room. They were pushed (literally) into seat in front of the stage. Laguna locked the door (his reasoning was he didn't want anyone to steal the trophies while he was displaying them), the stood behind a podium at the front of the room.
"Let the tour begin!" Laguna said, picking up a microphone. "Today's tour begins with the stunning 'Chicken eating contest' trophy. I remember that day. The sun was out, there were no clouds, and a huge pile of chicken was in the middle of the table." he began, in a bored tour guide voice.
"Laguna, we really needed to ask you something." Quistis tried, but Laguna cut her off.
"Now, now, questions at the end of the tour please." he said, then launched into a description of the chicken eating contest. Then they listened all about the gun shooting contest, the five mile running race (which he quit after five minutes, and drove a car), the Mesmerize race trophies and the 'Find the biggest Chocobo' scavenger hunt. Squall had had enough. He started to stand up, but Rinoa pulled him back down.
"Where are you going?" she hissed.
"No car is worth this torture. There is walking the many miles to Garden, and listening to this. I choose the lesser of the two evils." he said, and started to stand up again. Rinoa pulled him back down.
"You're not going anywhere." she told him. "It would be polite to stay here a listen."
"Rinoa, I'm bored, Irvine is asleep, Selphie's bouncing up and down and Quistis has the same look on her face that she has when people give forty- five minute reports instead of fifteen minute ones. Please, can't I just go?"
"He'd bound to wrap it up in the next five minutes. We'll leave when he's done."
"And this is a picture of the Chocobo I found. It was eleven feet, eight inches, and weighed-" Laguna's voice broke into their private conversation.
"Fine, but get comfortable." Squall muttered, and sat back to watch the performance. Fifty minutes later, he was done. The enthusiastic applause that followed definitely wasn't them commenting on the performance. Well, Selphie's might have been.
"Thanks for the...interesting show, Laguna." Rinoa said, trying to be polite.
"Yes. It was...informative." Quistis said.
"Whatever. Look, Laguna, we really need a car to get back to Garden before dark..." began Squall, standing up. Everyone else followed suit.
"Why get back before dark? You can just stay here!" Laguna said happily. Squall looked as though that was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Sure!" Selphie said, before anyone could stop her.
"That is so cool! This will be like a sleepover!" Laguna started to race out of the room, but stopped just before he reached the door. "I'll get someone to show you to some of the spare rooms. Then we can watch a movie! I have a great one, In Search of the Brown T-Rexaur!"
"Laguna, they're normally brown." Irvine pointed out. But Laguna waved his hand, dismissing the irrelevant piece of information, and raced away. As soon as he was gone, they turned as one toward Selphie.
"What?" she asked.
"Why did you have to do that?!" Irvine demanded.
"Do what?"
"Say we'll stay!" Irvine lowered his voice a bit. "He's crazy."
"You're just bias against happy people!"
"We let you stick around."
"Anyway, so what?" Selphie knew she couldn't argue that point. "It's just the evening, and with that much energy, he has to have an early bedtime."
"He'd better." Squall muttered. "The only reason I'm staying is for the 'public relations' between Garden and Esthar."
"Hyne forbid you shouldn't do your job." scoffed Rinoa.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We all came out to have some fun, personal time. Which reminds me, I'm hungry. I wonder where we go for food in this place?"
"I hope they have hot dogs!" Irvine said, grinning. "Then I can tease Zell!" Quistis looked skyward and sighed.
"Let's have an exploration game to find the kitchen!" Selphie said excitedly. "Onward march!" she said, and marched to the door. Everyone else followed at a sedated (and saner) pace. They met Ward outside the door.
"Where's the kitchen?" asked Quistis. Ward pointed down the corridor.
"Specifically where?" she asked. Ward merely raised an eyebrow.
"Oh Hyne, I forgot you can't speak. Sorry." she said. Ward smiled, and walked on. They walked the way Ward had pointed, hoping they met someone other than Laguna to show them the kitchen. Unfortunately, fate (or in this case, the author) decided their wish wasn't to be.
"There you guys are! Ward said you came this way!" called a bright voice from behind them. Everyone (even Selphie) rolled their eyes, and turned around.
"Ward can't speak." Irvine said, confused.
"Well, he generally pointed. You know what I mean."
"Where's the kitchen?" asked Quistis.
"Why are you asking about the kitchen? Do you have a weird tradition where you inspect your host's kitchen?"
"No, we're hungry." explained Rinoa patiently.
"Oh, I get it!" Laguna said. "I'd show you, but I have to find my movie. Just go that way, then turn at the first right. Or was it the first left? Well, one of those two!" And with that he literally bounded off, leaving a confused party of people behind him.
"Go where?" Quistis asked.
"That way, I think." Selphie said. They walked the way Selphie had pointed, and eventually found the kitchen.
"Finally! What's in here?" Selphie said enthusiastically. She looked in the freezer.
"Cereal, burritos and ice cream!" she said in a singing voice.
"Cereal?" asked Quistis, confused.
"Cereal." confirmed Selphie. She pulled out some Cheerios to prove her point. "And this refrigerator has milk and applesauce.
"Wow, never heard of that before." Irvine said. He looked in a pantry. "This sure is well stocked. I've found peanut butter, bread and Easy Mac."
"Just two things? How is that well stocked?" asked Squall.
"There's a lot of peanut butter and bread. About half of this is devoted to peanut butter, and the rest to bread and Easy Mac."
"Whatever." muttered Squall, unimpressed. A search of the rest of the kitchen revealed some plates, silverware and napkins, plus cups. Everyone got some of what they wanted to eat from the limited rations, and started to eat.
"Ew, macaroni and applesauce. That's disgusting, Irvine." Selphie said, as she watched him spoon huge mouthfuls of the offensive substance into his mouth.
"Not nearly as nasty as a peanut butter sandwich with Cheerios in a burrito."
"It tastes better than your noxious substance." Selphie said, rolling her eyes skyward, much as Quistis had already done.
"Wow, that's a big word. I'm impressed, Selphie." said Quistis, smiling. Selphie just sighed, and threw Cheerios at both of them.
"Don't make me separate you three. I might have to make you sit a children's table." warned Squall. Every giggled, which wasn't great for Irvine, who was taking a drink of milk. Fortunately for Selphie, who was across from him, he managed to swallow. Laguna chose that time to make his reappearance.
"Great, you found this place okay! No need to move anything."
"For what? The movie?" asked Selphie.
"Couldn't find it, so I found a great substitute. A dart game!" He held up the pieces of a dartboard, complete with darts. Squall couldn't take anymore, and nearly exploded before he remembered the politics of this particular situation. He decided to try a different tactic.
"I feel ill, and I'm tired. I'm just going to bed." Squall said. "And don't worry, I won't take any of you from this interesting dart game. I'll get part of the staff to show me a room."
"Hope you feel better!" Laguana called to Squall as he walked out and asked a passing aide to show him to a room.
"Meanie." muttered Rinoa to the others. They nodded in agreement as Laguna turned to them.
"I call blue!" he shouted.
+ + +
The next morning when Squall came down, he was greeted by the glares of his five companions.
"Yes?" he asked, confused.
"How...dare...you...leave...us...lone...during...that...game." Rinoa said, glaring daggers. Man, if looks could kill, Squall would be dead five times.
"It couldn't have been that bad." Squall said.
"Oh yes, it was." Irvine said. First, he nearly hit me five times, claiming my hat looked like the target."
"Well, that isn't much..." began Squall, but Rinoa cut him off.
"And then, one of Laguna's many stray dart went out the window, which caused the alarms to go off. The room was sealed, and the water sprinklers became convinced there was a fire, and went off."
"It took them twenty minutes to fix the system." Quistis muttered, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I want revenge!" Selphie said, jumping up and down.
"Hey, you're all up! Just in time for me to make breakfast!" said an overly cheerful voice. Everyone visible shuddered, although Laguna was oblivious to that little fact. He pulled out some peanut butter, Cheerios, bread, applesauce and Easy Mac.
"This might not be too bad." Rinoa suggested. Laguna poured the applesauce, Easy Mac and Cheerios into a saucepan. "I stand corrected."
Soon a vile aroma filled the kitchen, and they all covered their noses. Quistis was looking very green. "Here you guys go!" he said brightly, plopping some of the unidentifiable substance onto seven plates. He passed everyone a plate, put his at an empty space, and started to make some toast. He put the peanut butter on it, and passed some around. Irvine looked dubiously at the concoction Laguna had made. He put a bite in his mouth.
"Eek!" he hissed. "Water, please!" He started to grab water from everyone, swallowing it. After about twelve glasses, the purple faded from his face.
"How was it?" Selphie asked.
"Nasty." Irvine said. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with the toast, and the filled up on that. Laguna walked out of the room, and they got their chance to throw the Cheerio/Easy Mac/applesauce concoction away.
"Well, you guys probably need to get back to Garden." Laguna said. Everyone perked up considerably. "So I got my car ready. Hope in, and we'll leave."
"We?" asked Zell, hoping he had heard wrong.
"Well, I'm driving my car! And you get the personal tour. Oh, you didn't get the personal Presidential Palace tour. Silly me. Who's up for it?" he asked. Irvine grinned evily.
"Squall was just saying he wanted to know all about the palace," he said, shooting Squall a grin. Squall scowled.
"Excellent!" He grabbed Squall's hand, and pulled him out of the room. After they had left, everyone burst out laughing.
"REVENGE!" Selphie said happily, jumping up and down again. They all sat there, eating toast, waiting for them to return. An alarm went off, and they showed up five minutes later, seriously wet.
"Laguna was just showing me how to play darts." he explained. Everyone grinned, and they followed Laguna to the palace car garage, where they piled into a minivan.
"Great." muttered Squall as he was crammed into the back with Rinoa. "He's the president of Esthar, a very powerful and high tech city, and he drives a minivan?" Rinoa giggled. Selphie and Irvine looked back at them from their second-row seats.
"What?" asked Selphie. Rinoa repeated the observation, and they grinned too.
"They needed the extra safety." explained Irvine, which made them laugh harder.
"Hang on, there's a yellow light ahead." (A/N: I didn't see traffic lights in Esthar, but they had cars there, so they would probably need them. This is where my artistic license comes into play. For now, there are lights.) Laguna stepped onto the gas, and they shot ahead. They turned sharply, and nearly fell off the edge. Rinoa, Selphie and Irvine screeched.
"Nice voice, Irvine." Squall taunted.
"Shut up." he muttered. After many such random bursts of speed, and an entire personal speech about every single thing Laguna had ever done in Esthar, Squall was quelling the urge to kill someone, preferable Laguna or Irvine. Soon they were out in the open plains of Esthar, and the great structure of Balamb Garden loomed in the distance. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, this nightmare was almost over.
They pulled into the parking lot, and everyone quickly jumped out, nearly trampling Irvine in the process. Laguna tried to start the car, but it merely sputtered and died.
"Great. Looks like I'm stuck here." he said, jumping out. Squall quickly interceded, for the sake of their sanity.
"Irvine would be glad to escort you back in a SeeD car." Squall said, pointing to a nearby car.
"I would?" Irvine asked.
"That's an order, Irvine." Squall said as Laguna thanked him and jumped in. "Never, ever make me go on a tour with Laguna again. Never try to seek revenge, because I can make you pull guard duty until you're sixty, understood?"
Irvine gulped. "Yes sir." he muttered, and jumped into the car.
Thank you, kind reviewers! I couldn't get this far without you. And now, I must thank all of you personally:
Ispreno: The food? What do you mean? But hey, thanks for all the reviews! You're one of the few reviewers who has reviewed every single chapter, and that means a lot. I extend a personal thank you to you *claps*.
Verdanii: Thanks for all the reviews! Um, ffoofofun fun funfufufufunf? Wow, um, yeah. Glad you liked my story! When are you updating your story? It was great! You also reviewed all the chapters, thank you! *claps again* And about a Seiftis, I'm going to begin one today, and post it before Christmas, so keep an eye out!
The Presidential Palace
A camera/speaker set poked out of the door. "Yes?" a familiar voice asked.
"Hello Kiros. It's Squall. Our car got towed, and we wanted to know if Laguna could lend us one."
"Hey Squall! Sure, that should be okay. Come right on in!" he said brightly, and the door opened. Squall walked in, and the others followed. Kiros turned to them as they stopped in a hallway.
"Wait here." he said, and walked into a room off to the side. Squall turned his head to look at the view of Esthar the windows offered.
"Hey Squall! Long time, no see!" said a cheerful voice. Squall looked toward the speaker, an older man with long brown hair.
"Hello Laguna." Squall said, nodding at the older man. Laguna waved enthusiastically at the others.
"Glad to see you guys as well. How are the rest of you doing?" he asked.
"Fine." Selphie answered. Everyone else echoed the same.
"Glad to hear. So, why are you here? Oh, don't tell me, I already know."
"You do?" Squall repeated, surprised. Usually Laguna wasn't that perceptive.
"You came to see my new trophy display!"
.and he still wasn't perceptive. "Actually." Squall began.
"Well, you're just in time. I was about to lock up the room, but I'll leave it open for you!" he quickly ushered them upstairs. They tried to stop, but Laguna pushed them into a room full of oddly shaped trophies, all on a spinning stage in one corner of the room. They were pushed (literally) into seat in front of the stage. Laguna locked the door (his reasoning was he didn't want anyone to steal the trophies while he was displaying them), the stood behind a podium at the front of the room.
"Let the tour begin!" Laguna said, picking up a microphone. "Today's tour begins with the stunning 'Chicken eating contest' trophy. I remember that day. The sun was out, there were no clouds, and a huge pile of chicken was in the middle of the table." he began, in a bored tour guide voice.
"Laguna, we really needed to ask you something." Quistis tried, but Laguna cut her off.
"Now, now, questions at the end of the tour please." he said, then launched into a description of the chicken eating contest. Then they listened all about the gun shooting contest, the five mile running race (which he quit after five minutes, and drove a car), the Mesmerize race trophies and the 'Find the biggest Chocobo' scavenger hunt. Squall had had enough. He started to stand up, but Rinoa pulled him back down.
"Where are you going?" she hissed.
"No car is worth this torture. There is walking the many miles to Garden, and listening to this. I choose the lesser of the two evils." he said, and started to stand up again. Rinoa pulled him back down.
"You're not going anywhere." she told him. "It would be polite to stay here a listen."
"Rinoa, I'm bored, Irvine is asleep, Selphie's bouncing up and down and Quistis has the same look on her face that she has when people give forty- five minute reports instead of fifteen minute ones. Please, can't I just go?"
"He'd bound to wrap it up in the next five minutes. We'll leave when he's done."
"And this is a picture of the Chocobo I found. It was eleven feet, eight inches, and weighed-" Laguna's voice broke into their private conversation.
"Fine, but get comfortable." Squall muttered, and sat back to watch the performance. Fifty minutes later, he was done. The enthusiastic applause that followed definitely wasn't them commenting on the performance. Well, Selphie's might have been.
"Thanks for the...interesting show, Laguna." Rinoa said, trying to be polite.
"Yes. It was...informative." Quistis said.
"Whatever. Look, Laguna, we really need a car to get back to Garden before dark..." began Squall, standing up. Everyone else followed suit.
"Why get back before dark? You can just stay here!" Laguna said happily. Squall looked as though that was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Sure!" Selphie said, before anyone could stop her.
"That is so cool! This will be like a sleepover!" Laguna started to race out of the room, but stopped just before he reached the door. "I'll get someone to show you to some of the spare rooms. Then we can watch a movie! I have a great one, In Search of the Brown T-Rexaur!"
"Laguna, they're normally brown." Irvine pointed out. But Laguna waved his hand, dismissing the irrelevant piece of information, and raced away. As soon as he was gone, they turned as one toward Selphie.
"What?" she asked.
"Why did you have to do that?!" Irvine demanded.
"Do what?"
"Say we'll stay!" Irvine lowered his voice a bit. "He's crazy."
"You're just bias against happy people!"
"We let you stick around."
"Anyway, so what?" Selphie knew she couldn't argue that point. "It's just the evening, and with that much energy, he has to have an early bedtime."
"He'd better." Squall muttered. "The only reason I'm staying is for the 'public relations' between Garden and Esthar."
"Hyne forbid you shouldn't do your job." scoffed Rinoa.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We all came out to have some fun, personal time. Which reminds me, I'm hungry. I wonder where we go for food in this place?"
"I hope they have hot dogs!" Irvine said, grinning. "Then I can tease Zell!" Quistis looked skyward and sighed.
"Let's have an exploration game to find the kitchen!" Selphie said excitedly. "Onward march!" she said, and marched to the door. Everyone else followed at a sedated (and saner) pace. They met Ward outside the door.
"Where's the kitchen?" asked Quistis. Ward pointed down the corridor.
"Specifically where?" she asked. Ward merely raised an eyebrow.
"Oh Hyne, I forgot you can't speak. Sorry." she said. Ward smiled, and walked on. They walked the way Ward had pointed, hoping they met someone other than Laguna to show them the kitchen. Unfortunately, fate (or in this case, the author) decided their wish wasn't to be.
"There you guys are! Ward said you came this way!" called a bright voice from behind them. Everyone (even Selphie) rolled their eyes, and turned around.
"Ward can't speak." Irvine said, confused.
"Well, he generally pointed. You know what I mean."
"Where's the kitchen?" asked Quistis.
"Why are you asking about the kitchen? Do you have a weird tradition where you inspect your host's kitchen?"
"No, we're hungry." explained Rinoa patiently.
"Oh, I get it!" Laguna said. "I'd show you, but I have to find my movie. Just go that way, then turn at the first right. Or was it the first left? Well, one of those two!" And with that he literally bounded off, leaving a confused party of people behind him.
"Go where?" Quistis asked.
"That way, I think." Selphie said. They walked the way Selphie had pointed, and eventually found the kitchen.
"Finally! What's in here?" Selphie said enthusiastically. She looked in the freezer.
"Cereal, burritos and ice cream!" she said in a singing voice.
"Cereal?" asked Quistis, confused.
"Cereal." confirmed Selphie. She pulled out some Cheerios to prove her point. "And this refrigerator has milk and applesauce.
"Wow, never heard of that before." Irvine said. He looked in a pantry. "This sure is well stocked. I've found peanut butter, bread and Easy Mac."
"Just two things? How is that well stocked?" asked Squall.
"There's a lot of peanut butter and bread. About half of this is devoted to peanut butter, and the rest to bread and Easy Mac."
"Whatever." muttered Squall, unimpressed. A search of the rest of the kitchen revealed some plates, silverware and napkins, plus cups. Everyone got some of what they wanted to eat from the limited rations, and started to eat.
"Ew, macaroni and applesauce. That's disgusting, Irvine." Selphie said, as she watched him spoon huge mouthfuls of the offensive substance into his mouth.
"Not nearly as nasty as a peanut butter sandwich with Cheerios in a burrito."
"It tastes better than your noxious substance." Selphie said, rolling her eyes skyward, much as Quistis had already done.
"Wow, that's a big word. I'm impressed, Selphie." said Quistis, smiling. Selphie just sighed, and threw Cheerios at both of them.
"Don't make me separate you three. I might have to make you sit a children's table." warned Squall. Every giggled, which wasn't great for Irvine, who was taking a drink of milk. Fortunately for Selphie, who was across from him, he managed to swallow. Laguna chose that time to make his reappearance.
"Great, you found this place okay! No need to move anything."
"For what? The movie?" asked Selphie.
"Couldn't find it, so I found a great substitute. A dart game!" He held up the pieces of a dartboard, complete with darts. Squall couldn't take anymore, and nearly exploded before he remembered the politics of this particular situation. He decided to try a different tactic.
"I feel ill, and I'm tired. I'm just going to bed." Squall said. "And don't worry, I won't take any of you from this interesting dart game. I'll get part of the staff to show me a room."
"Hope you feel better!" Laguana called to Squall as he walked out and asked a passing aide to show him to a room.
"Meanie." muttered Rinoa to the others. They nodded in agreement as Laguna turned to them.
"I call blue!" he shouted.
+ + +
The next morning when Squall came down, he was greeted by the glares of his five companions.
"Yes?" he asked, confused.
"How...dare...you...leave...us...lone...during...that...game." Rinoa said, glaring daggers. Man, if looks could kill, Squall would be dead five times.
"It couldn't have been that bad." Squall said.
"Oh yes, it was." Irvine said. First, he nearly hit me five times, claiming my hat looked like the target."
"Well, that isn't much..." began Squall, but Rinoa cut him off.
"And then, one of Laguna's many stray dart went out the window, which caused the alarms to go off. The room was sealed, and the water sprinklers became convinced there was a fire, and went off."
"It took them twenty minutes to fix the system." Quistis muttered, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I want revenge!" Selphie said, jumping up and down.
"Hey, you're all up! Just in time for me to make breakfast!" said an overly cheerful voice. Everyone visible shuddered, although Laguna was oblivious to that little fact. He pulled out some peanut butter, Cheerios, bread, applesauce and Easy Mac.
"This might not be too bad." Rinoa suggested. Laguna poured the applesauce, Easy Mac and Cheerios into a saucepan. "I stand corrected."
Soon a vile aroma filled the kitchen, and they all covered their noses. Quistis was looking very green. "Here you guys go!" he said brightly, plopping some of the unidentifiable substance onto seven plates. He passed everyone a plate, put his at an empty space, and started to make some toast. He put the peanut butter on it, and passed some around. Irvine looked dubiously at the concoction Laguna had made. He put a bite in his mouth.
"Eek!" he hissed. "Water, please!" He started to grab water from everyone, swallowing it. After about twelve glasses, the purple faded from his face.
"How was it?" Selphie asked.
"Nasty." Irvine said. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with the toast, and the filled up on that. Laguna walked out of the room, and they got their chance to throw the Cheerio/Easy Mac/applesauce concoction away.
"Well, you guys probably need to get back to Garden." Laguna said. Everyone perked up considerably. "So I got my car ready. Hope in, and we'll leave."
"We?" asked Zell, hoping he had heard wrong.
"Well, I'm driving my car! And you get the personal tour. Oh, you didn't get the personal Presidential Palace tour. Silly me. Who's up for it?" he asked. Irvine grinned evily.
"Squall was just saying he wanted to know all about the palace," he said, shooting Squall a grin. Squall scowled.
"Excellent!" He grabbed Squall's hand, and pulled him out of the room. After they had left, everyone burst out laughing.
"REVENGE!" Selphie said happily, jumping up and down again. They all sat there, eating toast, waiting for them to return. An alarm went off, and they showed up five minutes later, seriously wet.
"Laguna was just showing me how to play darts." he explained. Everyone grinned, and they followed Laguna to the palace car garage, where they piled into a minivan.
"Great." muttered Squall as he was crammed into the back with Rinoa. "He's the president of Esthar, a very powerful and high tech city, and he drives a minivan?" Rinoa giggled. Selphie and Irvine looked back at them from their second-row seats.
"What?" asked Selphie. Rinoa repeated the observation, and they grinned too.
"They needed the extra safety." explained Irvine, which made them laugh harder.
"Hang on, there's a yellow light ahead." (A/N: I didn't see traffic lights in Esthar, but they had cars there, so they would probably need them. This is where my artistic license comes into play. For now, there are lights.) Laguna stepped onto the gas, and they shot ahead. They turned sharply, and nearly fell off the edge. Rinoa, Selphie and Irvine screeched.
"Nice voice, Irvine." Squall taunted.
"Shut up." he muttered. After many such random bursts of speed, and an entire personal speech about every single thing Laguna had ever done in Esthar, Squall was quelling the urge to kill someone, preferable Laguna or Irvine. Soon they were out in the open plains of Esthar, and the great structure of Balamb Garden loomed in the distance. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, this nightmare was almost over.
They pulled into the parking lot, and everyone quickly jumped out, nearly trampling Irvine in the process. Laguna tried to start the car, but it merely sputtered and died.
"Great. Looks like I'm stuck here." he said, jumping out. Squall quickly interceded, for the sake of their sanity.
"Irvine would be glad to escort you back in a SeeD car." Squall said, pointing to a nearby car.
"I would?" Irvine asked.
"That's an order, Irvine." Squall said as Laguna thanked him and jumped in. "Never, ever make me go on a tour with Laguna again. Never try to seek revenge, because I can make you pull guard duty until you're sixty, understood?"
Irvine gulped. "Yes sir." he muttered, and jumped into the car.
Thank you, kind reviewers! I couldn't get this far without you. And now, I must thank all of you personally:
Ispreno: The food? What do you mean? But hey, thanks for all the reviews! You're one of the few reviewers who has reviewed every single chapter, and that means a lot. I extend a personal thank you to you *claps*.
Verdanii: Thanks for all the reviews! Um, ffoofofun fun funfufufufunf? Wow, um, yeah. Glad you liked my story! When are you updating your story? It was great! You also reviewed all the chapters, thank you! *claps again* And about a Seiftis, I'm going to begin one today, and post it before Christmas, so keep an eye out!