I'm so sorry this took so long! I don't know why, but it seemed that 2006 started off with a big mess. Problems at work, my mother getting sick (again), my gym-pass expiring and having to terminate the automatic transfer from my account, writing other stories that hold no real priority except to get them out of my head. Friends being annoying and/or overly social while my bed keeps insisting that it should collapse in the middle of the night. I'm telling you, all of the above does not make you sleep well when you finally have a chance.
I want to apologize for the comment in the previous chapter that I forgot to remove before posting. No one's said anything about it, but I'm sure you noticed it. It was long and worthy of the M-rating, which my story don't have. I sent the chapter to a friend of mine after I made some edits, and then... well, I just forgot I made that comment. I'm really sorry if someone was offended.
I also want to make a quick apology to my beta who'll probably want to kick my behind once I post this. But I really wanted to keep the Pause's and the Silence's. I'm sorry! Don't hate me...
"Sis?" he asked, handful of candy falling forgotten to the floor. "What are you doing here?"
Squall's sister smiled offhandedly at his question and snatched a piece of chocolate from the bowl on the table.
"Oh, nothing in particular. Just dropping by to see how you all were doing."
Exchanging glances between each other, everybody eyed Ellone with caution.
Nobody seemed sure how to hand her the news about Squall's strange predicament, and - more importantly - if they should.
"Elle", Zell began. "There's something weird about Squall."
"It seems he's not quite himself at the moment. Maybe a later visit would-"
Quistis was cut short as Ellone shushed her.
"Squall, you don't mind that I talk to your friends for a moment, would you? You just stay right here and we won't be long."
Normally, when Ellone mothered him, it would have put Squall in a rather unpleasant mood as she always suspected him to run off as soon as she turned her back.
Maybe because he always would do that, yet now he simply stood there, slightly dumbfounded, mind you, but that went for all of them so no one really noticed.
"If you don't mind", Ellone said with a sweet smile and gestured at the balcony.
Once they were all outside and shivering in the cool autumn air, Ellone turned to face them.
"There is nothing wrong with Squall… per se." She cleared her throat and looked around. They all stood huddled together like a flock of sheep and she must have felt very uneasy under their bewildered stares.
"It's just that he's under a spell."
Pause
"Huh?"
"A temporary spell", she clarified.
Silence
"Oh, for the love of… It'll wear off by midnight, which is in about 35 minutes."
The others seemed to have lost all coherent thought and although Quistis had never been keen on admitting ignorance, she really couldn't blame them.
"How would you know this", she asked, trying not to sound needy for information.
"Because I'm the one who cast it."
Pause.
Shock!
"What?" Zell was the first to break free of his awe, blond hair beginning to tangle in the wind making his hair look like ruffled feathers. "Why would you do something like that?"
Ellone held her hands out to calm the temporarily tattoo-less blond, which only caused him to shy away and Ellone to sigh heavily.
"It's not to hurt him. The spell is completely harmless. Well, sort of. And it's by no means evil! Just slightly… controversial."
"Then why did you do it?" Selphie asked incredulously.
"If you would just let me finish… You all know about Squall inability to be as carefree as you. He dwells too much, holds onto things, like memories he can barely remember. I wanted him to have at least one night, a mere few hours of being free of his demons. And I wanted you to know how much he appreciates you and what you do for him, not just referring to fieldwork. You all keep him sane - how silly that might sound - and I wanted him to express himself to you. You've deserved it. Do you still think I'm evil?"
"Of course not! But if he's under a spell…?" Selphie let her question trail off as she looked at Ellone.
"I have in no way manipulated his heart, Selphie. I've only tampered slightly with his mind. Blocking away his fear."
Quistis tried to make sense of everything but failed miserably. She sure hoped this wasn't some elaborate mutiny-theory that Squall was testing.
"How? Magic is forbidden within Garden."
Ellone smiled mischievously.
"I didn't cast it in here, I only arrived ten minutes ago. This kind of spell only affects its recipient and since Squall and I share the same blood…" She wriggled here eyebrow playfully. "And don't forget, kids. It's Halloween. Magic has a lot of perks this time of year."
"But how do you... Why can you...?" Seifer stumbled on the questions he was trying to ask. The topic he was about to broach wasn't exactly his favourite and he had never really been sure about Ellone but that might just come from her being Squall's sister.
"Why I suddenly go around casting spells on people?"
"Well... Yeah."
"It's not so sudden really. You have known about my magical abilities for a while now and both my father and I thought it would be a good idea if I would hone them a little. Minimize the risk of me accidentally doing something...disastrous."
Although she was looking at no one in particular, it seemed obvious to everyone present what she was referring to even if Seifer hadn't visibly tensed up.
"I don't know any dangerous spells, and I doubt I can find anyone who will teach me even if I wanted to learn. I'm not in any way a sorceress although some may find that hard to believe. I'm just little old Elle."
The odd reality finally settled in and they all visibly relaxed. Zell even dared to approach her, even though he still looked slightly rattled.
"So, Squall will be… back to normal soon?"
"Yep", Ellone confirmed, checking her watch. "Thirty minutes, give or take. So if there's anything you want him to say or do, now's your time. The affect will wear off slowly, but until midnight he will be very cooperative… and conversational."
ooo
11.30
Squall watched his friends return from the balcony. They looked dazed and when he caught Selphie's eyes and she looked about to vomit, he frowned. Something was off.
"Are you ok?" he asked as they all gathered around him. He turned to Zell. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Zell smiled faintly and patted Squall's arm.
"That's just the make-up, man. I'm fine."
One glance at an uncharacteristic brooding Seifer (he usually lacked the attention span to maintain any longer inner monologues, and he also refrained a comment on Zell's use of make-up nonetheless) and Squall concluded that he didn't believe Zell for a heartbeat.
His eyelids twitched in annoyance at being kept in the dark, but as he caught sight of Ellone's beaming smile, he relented and sighed. Someone would tell him eventually, he was sure.
ooo
"How are we gonna play this?" Seifer whispered.
Zell shook his head.
"I don't know. I feel bad about pushing for something I know he wouldn't want me to know."
"But wouldn't it make you feel better?"
Zell frowned as he observed Squall while he talked with Selphie. No doubt she was trying to extract information about how Squall's ideal party would look like (undoubtedly fishing for both compliments and information for future use) and probably coaxing a promise or two from their defenceless Commander. But he couldn't deny that the offer was tempting.
"Hell", he heard Seifer mutter somewhere above his left ear. "I'm gonna go see if he's hexed enough to admit I'm better with my Gunblade than he is."
ooo
11.55
It was with cautious steps that Zell approached Squall. The brunet was casually tapping his foot to the beat of the music and the display of ease made Zell relax some. Squall obviously hadn't turned back yet.
"Hey, Squall. You wanna get outta here?"
Once Squall reverted back to his old self, Zell wanted to be a pal and spare him as much humiliation as possible. It'd be bad enough remembering everything in the morning; he didn't have to come to realization at the scene of the crime.
"Ok", Squall grabbed two cups of punch on the way out and handed one to Zell as they exited the Quad.
"Did you like the party?"
Innocent questions probably were no harm on Squall's integrity.
"Oh yeah! Selphie and her committee are really creative. And this punch is really good."
"Thank you."
Squall inquisitively tilted his head and added a completely uncalled for pout. "You made it?"
"Yeah, Selphie didn't trust Irvine with the booze. Thought he'd spike it too much."
"That's a very wise decision. Selphie would be so mad if no one remembered her party in the morning."
Zell tried to fight the pull at his lips. He highly doubted anyone would forget Squall dancing, no matter how much any of them had to drink.
"Speaking of wise decisions", he added seriously. Zell had decided that he would at least get the answer to one lingering question while there was still time. It had eaten at his brain for a good week and a half now.
"That mission in Esthar… why did you pick me?"
Squall pursed his lips in thought and pondered for a moment while Zell willed the seconds to go slower.
"It's a fairly simple mission, as I suppose you've noticed."
Squall stopped and turned to face him fully.
"To be honest, I could have sent anyone. But you've been inactive for a while and the Faculty has started to look over the stats of all active Seeds. I thought it would be good for you to have another successful mission under your belt to get them off your back. And besides, I trust you can pull this off without a hitch. That way I don't have to spend any time thinking about it."
Squall coughed and looked around the hallway. "Besides, I really didn't want to send Seifer."
Zell laughed, feeling relieved at Squalls concern on his behalf. The relief soon faded to make way for alarm that Garden Faculty was examining him.
It must have shown on his face because Squall gave him a thin apologetic smile.
"It's my fault they're looking you up. I keep forgetting that we are still mercenaries and that defeating Ultimecia don't automatically earn you the right to a salary without working."
"It's alright. I just didn't… I just wanted to know why you sent me."
Squall nodded and pointed absently over Zell's shoulder.
"I suppose it was here you were taking me?"
"Yeah. Good night, Squall. See you tomorrow."
"Good night. And Zell…? Thank you for getting me out of there in time. I would be a whole lot more embarrassed if you hadn't."
Zell eyes flickered down to his watch and smiled crookedly as it showed 00.05.
"You've got nothing to be embarrassed about."
Squall grabbed the tail dragging behind him, giving it a thoughtful pull.
"Maybe not, but I'm still going to confiscate Selphie's camera in the morning. Not to mention the long conversation I'll have with my dear sister…"
"You knew? About Elle?"
Squall gave an uncommitted shrug. "A little fake blonde bird may have chirped in my ear. Unintentionally of course, and I don't think she noticed."
When Squall's door had closed behind him, Zell shook his head in disbelief.
Imagine that; Squall didn't need a spell to be forthcoming, although Zell was certain that it helped.
He turned to leave but was called back by his name.
"Zell!"
Squall's head peeked out the doorway, waving the leopard-spotted t-shirt in his hand.
"Forget that you ever saw me in this."
THE END!
As you may all have noticed, this is totally lacking in the shounen-ai department. It was written without it and it stayed that way. Now, I've had requests, and although this story won't change, I realized that; Oh my, isn't it Valentine's Day soon...? How about I get back to you on that one, eh?
You can stop screaming in despair now.
Hugs, Z