Chapter 4
surf's up

Balamb is mostly known to the outside world as a backpacker's paradise. People from all over flock here to soak it all in. The only downer is everyone else here has the same idea. We all come here and check into motels with all the comforts of home, but isn't that the reason for leaving in the first place? I just had to ask myself what is the point of that? 'What about us?' you ask? Well, we're headed for the great unknown. The only problem is that to get there we have to follow the regular tourist trail.

So here we stood at the front desk of The Traveler's Nest. The clerk was an elderly woman. She was rummaging through stacks of papers and drawers full of keys. I was leaning my elbows on the desk while rubbing my temples with my fingers in utter frustration. Okay Hyne, I'll make you a deal. All I ask is to not hear that phrase again. In return I'll give up…cursing and drinking; maybe I'll start praying. Oh hell, at this point I'll give up all that I have and join a fucking monastery. Oops, that one slipped, I promise. Okay, starting right now. If you could just make her say-

"Sorry, no vacancy," the clerk offered with a smile.

Fucking hell…deals off. I let my head drop and clasped the back of my neck in defeat. We had just spent the last hour trying to find some rooms for a couple of days. There was one last place to check out before we would resort to camping out on the beach for the night.

We walked into the Sumet Hotel looking thoroughly defeated. Selphie and I headed for the front desk while the others collapsed on the lounge couches and chairs; Seifer sitting as far away from Irvine as he could.

"Hi there! How can we help you?"

"Ah yes, we are hoping that you have vacancies," I droned out.

"As a matter of fact we do."

"Finally," Selphie mumbled.

"Do you have four rooms?" I asked.

"Yes we do. Let me get you your keys. Everything is on one level, so you shouldn't get lost. Well, here you go mister…?"

"Leon-" okay, think Squall, you left Esthar without a trace. Everyone is going to be looking for you, so don't use your real last name. "-ar-do, Mr. Leonardo," I stammered out. Selphie stared at me with a puzzled look.

"Squall that's-OUCH!" Selphie yelped out in pain.

"Yes, that's the beach right over there, and look, there are even surfers out there, Selphie," I hurriedly said while pointing out the back door to divulge attention away from myself. Okay, so I stomped on her foot with my own. I can't have Selphie blabbing that my last name is Leonhart. Ever since the media found out that I was "related" to Laguna they've been hounding me. If anyone found out that I was here, I would no doubt be hunted down and brought back to Esthar by Laguna himself.

Three of the four rooms that we were given seemed to be clustered together while one room was located farther down the hallway. I promptly choose the separated room for myself, much to Seifer's discontent. Selphie and Irvine had taken room number three. Seifer and Quistis took room number four across the hall and Zell took room five right next to Selphie and Irvine.

While walking down the hall I began thinking of how easy that was, perhaps a little too easy. Why was it that all the other places were booked up and this place was nearly empty? A sloshing sound caught my attention as I looked down at my feet. Standing puddles of water collected in the hallway. An elderly woman was washing the walls with a mop, the mop head coming precariously close to a sparking light fixture.

"Geez, that's not safe you know!" I tried warning her.

She just nodded and smiled at me. I guess that she didn't understand. A worried look crossed my face as I realized that I was standing in a puddle of water, nonetheless, I picked up my pace towards my room. When I reached the door to my room I stood there with a look of disbelief. It was supposed to be room thirteen, only the one had lost a screw and was hanging upside down next to a tilted three. The paint on the wooden door was peeling off and the door handle was rusted. I placed the key in the lock and unlocked the door, or so I thought.

I tried to open the door but found that it was still locked. Shaking it off I tried again, getting the same result. I made another vain attempt, which yielded the same result again. What the hell? Letting the frustration get the better of me, I began pounding my fist on the door. I stopped to take a couple of breathes in an attempt at letting my anger subside. I calmly placed the key in the lock and turned it slowly. Click you bastard, Click!

Thankfully the lock clicked and I swung the door open to find a very bare looking room. There was one full sized bed, one dresser, and a nightstand; no sink, mirror, or bathroom. I shook my head slowly in expectation of the bare room. This was the reason why the Sumet Hotel had plenty of vacancies; it's a real shit hole. Whatever, it's a place for the night.

I threw my pack on the bed, pulled out a towel, and made a beeline for the shower. I was in desperate need of a quick shower, seeing as how we just spent the night on a fishing boat. We had all decided to settle in first before heading out to get some food, so my shower had to be quick. I turned off the water that was trickling from the showerhead, wrapped the towel around my waist, and grabbed my room key off a hook right outside the shower stall. While returning to my room I shook my head furiously to fling the water droplets from my hair. Wisps of chestnut brown strands fell before my eyes as I came up to my door, my nemesis.

I took a deep breath and slid the key into the keyhole. I closed my eyes and very slowly turned the key to unlock the door. Nothing happened. This is unbelievable. I opened my eyes to stare daggers at the lock, if only looks could kill, or in this case melt. I tried again, this time jiggling the door handle. Still nothing happened. I was so focused on the door that I faintly noticed the scuffling of sandals as some one was walking down the hall.

I looked up from my door to see a girl walking in my direction. She was wearing a triangle top-halter style bikini that was baby blue with white and navy flower prints. Her bikini bottoms of the same material were positioned right below her hipbones, showing a fair amount of skin. Her bottoms were only slightly covered by low riding, long black board shorts with two thick red stripes running up the sides, they seemed almost too big for her as they almost approached her knees.

Her board shorts were baggy and hung precariously to her hips with the drawstring left untied. She had long raven black hair that clung to her neck and shoulders. Her skin was flawless with a deep tan, and her muscles were toned to perfection. Under one of her arms she was carrying a white surfboard with a ring of yellow and orange flames around the sides. As she walked down the hall her hips swayed rhythmically, pulling me into a trance that I couldn't pry my eyes from.

My heartbeat started to pick up as she continued walking towards me. For Hyne's sake Squall, get a hold of yourself! Our eyes meet for a brief second as she looked up. She smiled warmly at me, and it was then that I noticed I had been starring at her this entire time. I quickly looked back at my door and winced at my stupidity.

She stopped at the room right next to mine and propped her board up against the door while fishing around in her pockets for her key. I tried to bring my focus back to unlocking my door but couldn't help myself from glancing back at her and falling into an euphoric stupor. While in the midst of my daze, the key slipped out of my hand and clamored onto the floor jolting my attention away from her.

Smooth Squall, real smooth. I quickly picked up my keys and tried in vain to pretend that nothing happened. I then noticed that she began walking over to me. She took the key out of my hand and leaned up against the doorframe. A pleased smirk graced her soft lips, as she looked me over and pulled her dampened hair back behind her with her other hand. Her body was still glistening from the water droplets that graced her form.

I looked into her ebony eyes and once again found it hard to pry my attention away from her. Time started to slow as the flickering hallway lights began to fade out from my view. It's like I was honing in on her and only her while nothing else seemed to matter, well, almost nothing. Wait, what is she smirking at?

Yeah, everything except for the realization that I was only wearing a towel that had slipped down a bit and was hugging my hips. My face began to heat up as I smiled nervously and crossed my arms over my chest. She chuckled and stepped closer to the door, closer to me.

"Yeah, see these doors can be kind of tricky. You've got to…pull the door in toward you…and then unlock it," she said while expertly unlocking my door. I nodded my head slowly in embarrassment. Her proximity to me was getting the better of my senses. I guess she noticed it too as she stood there glancing up at me with her eyes. She smiled again and tossed the keys at my chest while retreating to her room.

"You're welcome," she said over her shoulder.

"Thanks," I mumbled out.

As soon as she closed her door I ran a hand down my face at my pitiful display. Great now she thinks I'm certifiable. I entered my room and shut the door behind me. I grabbed a gray tank top and my black swimming trunks from my pack and dressed quickly. Before leaving, I tucked the map away under the mattress and grabbed my sunglasses.

I caught up with the rest of the gang at a small and shaded outside eatery across the street from Sumet's. It looked like they had already ordered.

"What took you so long?" Seifer asked as I approached them.

"Took a shower." I said while sitting down next to Selphie. What, it's the truth, just not all of it. I decided that it would be best to not discuss my…delay.

"We couldn't wait any longer so we ordered some food. We just got you some rice and chicken." Quistis said.

"Thanks." I looked up and saw Zell straight across from me annihilating his plate of food that sat in front of him. I just shook my head slowly at the disgusting display. No wonder he doesn't have a girlfriend.

The meal was pretty uneventful and the food was terrible. The chicken was so dry that I thought I was eating a hunk of leather. I'm not complaining though. Hey, it's food right? Anyway, Selphie and Irvine begged me to tell them how I got hold of the map. So I told them the story and about Gepetto.

"And you believe him?" Irvine asked.

"At first, no, I just thought he was a crazy fuck. But that's the easy answer. It was easier to just dismiss him altogether. What if he's right, you know? What if there is this perfect beach secluded from the rest of the world? It's worth finding out, right?" I paused to see if anyone would shoot down my reasoning while rubbing the back of my neck. "I don't know…" I mumbled out. I guess that everyone agreed with me, since they all had thoughtful expressions on their faces.

"Look, if you guys…don't want to go through with this…just let me know, otherwi-"

"Squall, we're going with you. We wouldn't have come this far if we didn't believe you," Quistis interrupted.

Quistis is right, she always is. They do believe me, they always have. No one even questioned me when I told them about the beach just last night at the diner. That's the way it has always been though. In faith, they had always believed me, never doubting. Growing up all we had was each other, so we became a family. Granted a dysfunctional one, but a family nonetheless. And that motto "where one goes, we all go" I guess you could apply it to us.

We finished up eating and headed back to the Sumet Hotel. While everyone else went to go change I wandered around behind Sumet's toward the ocean. To my surprise there was a deck equipped with deckchairs, tables, umbrellas, and a full bar. I picked out a deck chair and tossed a towel I had picked up from my room into it. I took off my sunglasses and peeled off my tank, tossing them on my towel.

I walked down the steps of the deck onto the hot sand and realized that the temperature had risen substantially from the early morning. While heading for the water I started to notice that the wind had picked up and the waves had grown since this morning. The surfers were out in large numbers waiting for the perfect wave to come along. I waded out into the water and dove under a wave as it approached, the cool water sending a shiver throughout my body. I glided through the water with my arms stretched out above my head. As my momentum slowed, I quickly thrust my arms to my side and picked up speed again.

The sounds of the waves rolling above me flooded my senses, along with the gentle pull and tug of the water surrounding me. A few feet below my floating body was a thriving reef, a metropolis for aquatic life represented in a kaleidoscope of colors. Schools of fish expertly swam in formations and the long arms of coral plants swayed in the water. A large stingray swam beside me, probably just curious and wanted to see what I was. I took a closer look at the reef and saw two hermit crabs fighting each other for a new shell. The winner proudly claimed his prized while the defeated crab chased after him.

My lack of oxygen caught my attention as my lungs began burning. I swam up hard and broke the surface, gasping for air.

"Oh shit! WATCH OUT!"

I turned towards the direction of the familiar sounding voice only to see a blur of white barreling at a high speed right for my head.

THUD

Ouch! What the hell happened? Whoa… so sleepy all… of a sudden. Getting…sleepy…sleep…

so there you have it
ciao