Gummybears
By: SouthwestEggroll

Chapter Eleven: Of Exploding Cactaurs


Author's Note
Holy Hell. It has been a long time. I started Gummybears...Summer of 2002? And here we are, two years later, and I find this half-written on my laptop. Finishing it up was surprisingly easy...The ideas are still in my head.

How on Earth do authors finish 25-chapter stories so quickly? Geeez, I'm shabby at this.

Anyhow...I think I'll be continuing this. I'm not sure. You'd be surprised to know that I have a chapter towards the end (will probably be the 14th) and then an epilogue written. It's filling in the chapters in between I've got to work on. It shouldn't be too difficult...I'm good at bridge writing :) If I remember correctly, Gummybears should end with 16 chapters, including that epilogue.

It's been so long, but I still love this story. Going back and reading my older fiction, all I can seem to see is plot holes and grammatical errors. But Gummybears was an incredibly joy to write and even after a hundred revisions, is still a joy to read. It's the one piece I'm still insanely proud of even after so long.

Chapter Eleven
Up until about ten minutes ago, Selphie had been somewhat oblivious about her feelings for a certain man. She knew she liked him, that was easy, but love was such a big, heavy word. Yet it clicked in her head. Selphie Tilmitt was in love with Seifer Almasy, and wasn't it ironic? Thinking back, Selphie wondered if she hadn't loved Seifer all along and just never acknowledged it. It felt that way, like she'd loved him forever but simply didn't have a word to describe what she felt.

"Are you okay?" Seifer asked.

She nodded absently. "Y-yeah. Um." Her lips moved as she tried to force words from her mouth, all in vain. Seifer gave her a quizzical glance as a he wiped a smudge off his chin.

"Blah!" Selphie blurted out. "I-I'm feeling a million things and trying to put them into words, b-but I don't think there are words, s-so I don't know what else t-to say, but I think you kn-know-"

Seifer grinned. "You're talkative when you're speechless."

Still blinking at her finished stage in amazement, Selphie said, "Speechless! That's the word, I think."

"Selphie, why are there-" a voice said.

As Selphie turned, Seifer lifted his chin. Squall Leonhart froze at the sight of both of them. They'd been standing suspiciously close. Seifer looked like he hadn't slept, had no shirt, and Selphie was wearing his trench coat. He glared.

"Not in the Quad guys, come on," he said.

Seifer nearly fell down laughing, while Selphie's eyes widened painfully at the notion. Her face was as red as the crosses on Seifer's trench. Squall regarded them both with a raised eyebrow.

"I-" Seifer attempted to explain, but he couldn't stop laughing if his life depended on it.

Selphie put her hands on Squall's chest and began pushing him firmly out of the Quad, shaking her head fervently. "No, no, no, no!"

When they were outside, Selphie said, "We weren't- we didn't- You pervert!"

Squall rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Why are a bunch of a plastic Cactaurs sitting at the front gate?"

She blinked densely in response, then it hit her.

"They're here!" she shouted. She started to run, then paused. Shrugging off Seifer's coat, she handed it to Squall and asked, "Give this back to him, wouldja?" Waiting for an answer would have only slowed her down, and she took off at a sprint for the front gate.

The Commander examined the thick trench coat in his hands. It was obviously well-worn, and Squall realized he'd almost never seen Seifer without it on. And yet Selphie had it?

He'd known that Seifer had come back to Garden, but Squall had gone out of his way to avoid running into him. There wasn't any fear, just that Squall disliked confrontation. Especially with Seifer, as it was always just a game to him. Altercations between the two almost inevitably ended violently. But while Squall was utterly serious, Seifer was at all times joking. He gambled with his life, and he challenged his rivals simply for the rush a battle would bring. The brunette was certain that Seifer would never back down, never hold his tongue, even if he knew he would lose. Shaking his head, Squall decided that Seifer was too intense to contend with. He steeled himself and entered the Quad.

Seifer was pulling a shirt over his body when he spotted Squall in his peripheral vision. He acted more calmly than he felt, as the situation was quickly getting awkward. It was common knowledge that Seifer and Squall had a rocky past, but their battle had already been fought. Squall had come out on top, and now Seifer was stuck. How could he act his normal smug self in front of Squall, Commander of the mighty SeeD force?

"Selphie asked me to give this to you," Squall said, breaking the silence but definitely not the ice.

Seifer raised an eyebrow, smirked at the coat and took it. "We weren't doing anything in here. I was up late fixing the stage, and it was hotter than a heater in here."

Nodding, Squall said, "Whatever. I was joking anyway."

The taller man snorted, his lips cracking into a slight grin. "This is new."

He might have glared, but instead Squall asked, "So the rumors about you and Selphie- true?"

"Depends," Seifer said with a shrug. He slipped his coat over his shoulders. "What rumors?"

"You two are dating," he replied.

"Dating? I..." His voice died in his throat as he searched for an answer. Of course they were dating. Well, they hadn't really gone on a date. But they'd done things that certainly constituted some sort of a relationship, right? Right?! Thinking about it, Seifer had done much more serious things with girls whose names he didn't know.

Squall laughed at Seifer's confused expression, prompting a quizzical look from him.

"This is new. I don't think I've ever seen you look less than confident before," Squall explained. He smirked, glad to have spit Seifer's own words back at him.

Seifer snickered. "Selphie is much more terrifying than you are. You don't compare."

Wincing, Squall said, "I wonder what the world would say if they found out you and I- the Commander of SeeD and the Sorceress' Knight- are scared shitless by two women. "

"What's worse is that Rinoa and Selphie are harmless at first glance. No one would understand the fear they inspire." Seifer shuddered.

"Help, help- HELP!!!" came a distressed yell from down the hall. Seifer jogged in the direction of the shouts, and Squall followed. As they exited the Quad, they were greeted by a tremendous burst of confetti and glitter. Shaking some irately out of his hair, Squall squinted as the debris fell.

Selphie was sitting on her knees in the middle of the explosion, completely covered by gold and green glitter. She was spitting chunks of confetti out of her mouth and coughing violently.

"Exploding Cacaturs," was all Selphie offered in explanation.

Seifer and Squall looked at each other, then at the girl sitting in the middle of an exploded Cactaur. A second later, they were laughing together. Selphie watched them and smiled, more than a few of her fears about the two of them lifting. She'd known they didn't like each other, and she'd known they'd be tense. It was good, their laughing together. She also knew that this didn't mean everything was peachy now and they were going to start going on golfing trips together. But it meant they wouldn't rip each other's heads off after all, and that made her happy.

Rising to her feet, Selphie said, "Are you going to sit there and laugh, or are you going to help me bring these babies in? Okay guys, it wasn't that funny." They kept laughing. "It's dead, it's been killed, you murdered it and it is no longer funny, so quit it and come help me! Heeeey, do you guys hear me? This is getting ridiculous..."

When Selphie finally calmed Seifer and Squall down, she was feeling a little picked on and snippy with them. To make it up to her, they offered to help her move the exploding Cactaurs. They were heavier than they looked, and both men were surprised Selphie managed to drag one to the Quad on her own. She walked with them on every trip, partially to keep them from each other and also to make sure they didn't ruin another Cactaur. They were expensive.

"Be careful with that string," Selphie warned. "I pulled it on accident, and we all know what happened."

After two dozen Cactaurs had been moved into the Quad, Selphie looked at them with a complacent beam on her face. They were big- almost as tall as Seifer was- and when you pulled on a special string, they exploded confetti and glitter. They were going to be placed randomly throughout the dance floor, and her members were going to set them off when the band started playing.

The band.

Selphie screamed.

Seifer and Squall jumped back comically, and Squall would later swear that he'd never seen Seifer look more frightened.

"What? What, what?!" Seifer demanded.

Selphie looked at him with big eyes, tears forming in them. "I don't have a band!"

Seifer smirked, getting ready to enjoy a triumphant moment- right when Pilot walked in, a similar expression on his own face.

"Nothing to worry about, Selphie," he announced, walking toward them confidently. Seifer glared violently, putting his hand on the small of Selphie's back.

She read that easily enough- Seifer was claiming her as his. In response to that, Selphie wasn't sure if she was feeling happy or rebellious. Instead of thinking about it, Selphie gave Pilot a wide grin.

"Heeey, look who's back!" she said, jabbing him in the chest. "How's your dad?"

"Great. I told him all about you- he said he'd be pleased to meet such a great girl one day."

Laughing nervously, Selphie replied, "That's neato. Nice trip?"

"Yeah, but more importantly- I got us a band!"

Seifer crossed his arms and frowned, already knowing what to expect from Selphie. She hopped up and down a minute, then glomped Pilot gratefully. He smirked briefly at Seifer, then beamed down at Selphie, who was nearly squeezing him dead.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," he told her. "It's not a big deal. My dad knows one of the members' brothers. I mentioned we needed a band, and he made a call. The band is...Persephone?"

"Wow!" Selphie exclaimed, emanating excitement. "I love them! Their music is awesome! Oh my Hyne, Pilot! You booked Persephone! OhHyneohHyneohHyne!"

Squall watched the scene with an amused grin on his face. Seifer was glaring at a wall, Pilot was smiling like a kid with candy, and Selphie was practically dancing on her toes. He filled in a few holes and decided that Pilot must be competition for Seifer. Looked like he'd one-upped Seifer, too.

"Guess we'll have two bands then," Seifer muttered acrimoniously.

"Two?" Selphie said, blinking in confusion. She counted to one on her finger. "What...?"

"In Balamb, I ran into a band called Ruby Dragon. They're coming here to perform for Garden Festival," he answered, still concentrating angrily on a wall.

Selphie's lips rounded into a big 'O' shape.

"Did you say Ruby Dragon?" Squall asked. When Seifer nodded, he chuckled. "That should be interesting."

"Why?" Pilot asked, giving Seifer dirty, sidelong glances.

"You three haven't been listening to the radio lately, then. The lead singers of Persephone and Ruby Dragon used to date. They broke up a month or two ago, and ever since, they've been insulting each other in songs. To have them perform on the same stage..." He grinned.

"Oh, wow," Selphie said. "That will be interesting. We could have a Battle of the Bands!" She was jumping up and down again.

Pilot turned to Seifer and raised a condescending eyebrow. "May the best band win."

"I will," was the stony reply.


What was it about the Little Messenger Girl that brought such fiery emotions out of Seifer? He was pacing around his dorm, feeling like he'd died and gone to Bloody Hell. Angry, too. There was pain when he remembered the way she smiled at Plane Guy. And lately, Plane Guy had been different. A nasty, suspicious air was pulsing from him like a bad stench out of Zell's closet. It was unnerving for Seifer to see him look at Selphie the way he did, with something a little more than a crush behind his glassy blue eyes.

Slamming his fist into the wall, Seifer's lips turned into a frown. How the hell did Plane Guy manage to book a band? Only cool people know bands. And he's a punk if I ever knew one....Shaking his head, he resolved on going to the Training Center. T-Rexaurs made for great catharses.

Author's Note
Haha, those sound like a paragraphs out of a slash story. -snicker- I should've inserted things like "...and Squall couldn't help but admire Seifer's perfect build...As he took his coat, their hands brushed together....Seifer wondered if Squall wore underwear beneath his trademark leather pants...Accidentally tripping over a toolbox on the floor, Squall lurched forward and landed right on top of Seifer, pinning him awkwardly to the ground."- Just to freak you lovelies out. Wouldn't that be a nastly little twist? An entire 10 chapters with nothing but Selphie/Seifer fluff, then to end up that Seifer is gay, confused and really in love with Squall. -dies laughing- Hmm...it's not too late...-evil look-

On a slashy note, I opened up a slash fanfiction archive just over a week ago. Check it out? www.broken-epiphany.net /impulse.