Such Great Heights

Part Four: I Tried My Best to Leave

"You don't have to stay, you know," Selphie said as she watched Squall mope around the new wooden floor of the main hall of Trabia Garden. He had been acting like this ever since she had accidentally pointed out Rinoa getting it on with Watts on television, and Selphie couldn't help but to feel just a bit guilty about it. "You can just go back to Balamb."

Squall showed no sign that he had even heard what Selphie had said. He turned and paced the length of the floor again with his back to Selphie, stopping at the end to give an unfinished door a critical eye.

"You can't just avoid everything," Selphie murmured in Squall's general direction. "Even me."

"I want to see this finished," Squall finally answered, but Selphie didn't know if he was talking about the door or the entire Garden or something else entirely. "It's been started, now it needs to be finished."

"Do you think we couldn't do it on our own?" Selphie asked.

"I didn't mean it like that," Squall replied, running his hand through his hair in exasperation. Selphie could see his muscles tensing. "I just want to see how it all turns out."

"Or because there's nothing here to remind you of Rinoa?"

"Except you."

Selphie sighed. "Point taken." She clenched her fists, trying to figure out what to do next. "I'm not leaving, though."

"Neither am I."

"Good!" Selphie crossed her arms. "So you'll help them finish the roof."

"I'll what?"

Selphie smiled to herself. "Finish. The. Roof."

A look of abject terror crossed Squall's face – of course, since it was Squall, 'a look of abject terror' consisted of a single twitch of the upper lip. "I thought the roof was finished," he said flatly.

"It is," Selphie replied. "On this part of the Garden. There's still that big hole over the Training Center to fix."

Squall exhaled heavily.

xxxxxxxxxxx

One of the things about the dormitories in Trabia Garden that really gave the Garden its personality was the fireplaces in the common rooms. Recently, the fires had been fueled by pieces of wood salvaged from the ruins of the Garden. Selphie curled up in a cushioned chair, covered with a blanket, after spending a couple of hours outside working on the siding of the Garden in the blowing snow. Selphie wondered vaguely how she had managed to survive this when she was in Trabia all the time… she guessed that she had become soft in her time in the idyllic Balamb.

The door opened and a snow-covered Squall walked in, leaving a trail of quickly-melting slush behind him.

"You look cold," Selphie observed.

Squall scowled at her. "You've been inside—"

"I have not!" Selphie protested, snuggling under the blanket even farther. "I was outside for hours working on the siding!"

"Try being on the roof," Squall muttered.

"Done that too!" Selphie crossed her arms underneath the blanket. "While you were in here moping around, I was up on the roof."

"I was not moping."

"Okay, brooding."

Squall scowled again. He was doing that more often these days. He was also pacing more often, and that irritated Selphie more than she could possibly emphasize. And he was starting to do it again.

Selphie had tried glaring at him. She had even tried telling him to stop pacing. Neither worked, and she had to resort to violence last time – throwing a block of wood at him – but that didn't even work. He stopped pacing and even sat still for a couple of minutes, but then started his back-and-forth walking pattern.

This time, she wasn't going to be so easily thwarted.

She reached out her foot to trip him.

He stepped over it.

Frowning, Selphie had to change her tactic. As Squall neared her position, she kicked out her foot again. However, when he stepped over it, she reached out and grabbed his jacket and yanked.

Not expecting this sudden course of action, Squall fell in a sprawling mess of limbs onto Selphie's chair and, therefore, onto Selphie.

She giggled. "Hi there." Squall struggled to get up off of Selphie and out of the chair, but she attacked him with her warm blanket. "No you don't," she insisted, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding him down. "You are going to sit, because if you get up, you will start to pace, and I can't stand that!"

"Since when did your opinion matter to me?" Squall asked, rolling his eyes as Selphie continued to try to hold him down.

"Since I convinced you to come here with me."

Squall's silence was all the answer Selphie needed. And after a few moments, he stopped struggling, and they enjoyed the warmth of the fire in relative silence.