As you might have guessed, casting Shockwave Pulsar didn't kill me. If it had, who would've told this story? I was, however, out for about three days until I regained my strength. When I woke up, Vaughn was at my side and Dr. Kadowaki didn't hesitate to tell me he had been there the entire time. It wasn't hard to tell. He had stubble growing on his chin and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. Even after I woke up, he refused to leave. Dr. Kadowaki had to finally chase him out so she could examine me and I was sad to see him go. He was waiting at the door however and stayed with me until I was released the next day.
After Lantana was destroyed, the magic seals holding our parents were drastically weakened and Raine, after inheriting Lantana's powers, was able to break them and release them. Of course, I heard this second hand from Kayla because I had been unconscious at the time. After releasing our parents, everyone left Esthar and put in a call to B Garden, who came and picked us up, along with Laguna Loire and Ellone who had nowhere to stay at the moment. Then we headed back to Balamb where a huge party was planned (by Aunt Selphie, of course) in honor of our win in Esthar. Luckily for me, I was released from the infirmary the day before it was to be held, so I got to go.
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I was putting the final touches on my outfit when I heard a knock on my door. I knew it was either one of two people and both of their last names were Kinneas. I opened the door and found Kayla standing there. She wore a strapless purple dress with black sandals and had her hair curled around her face like it had been at the SeeD ball.
"Wow, Kai, nice outfit," Kayla commented as she entered.
"Thanks." I was wearing a black mini skirt with a pale blue, low-cut top and black strappy sandals with low heels. My hair was pulled back with a clip and the few tendrils that had escaped were curled around my face.
Kayla sat down on my bed. "I told Tal to come and get me from here and I assume my brother will be here soon to escort you to the party."
"Yes."
It wasn't five minutes before a knock sounded at my door. I opened it and saw that it was both of the guys, come to take us to the gala. When their eyes fell on me, their mouths fell open and they spoke almost in unison.
"Damn Kai!"
"What?"
"That outfit," Tal clarified, "I'm not gonna say what I think about it because I don't want to get a beat down from your boyfriend or my girlfriend but..."
"Thank you Tal," I grinned. "You don't look too bad yourself." He was wearing dark blue jeans with a button up shirt and had his hair slicked back from his face.
"Before you get too excited over my girlfriend, you should take a look at your own," Vaughn commented as he stepped into the room and put his arm around me. He was wearing black dress slacks, a white button up shirt that wasn't buttoned at the collar and a black dress jacket over it. Of course, he had his cowboy hat on and it made the outfit that much more appealing. He bent down and kissed me quickly.
"Ready to go?"
I nodded with a smile. I heard a sound deeper in the room and turned to see that Tal had tackled Kayla onto my bed and was making out with her.
"Oh my Hyne!" I exclaimed, grabbing their attention, "What are you doing? Get off my bed! That's so gross!"
"Sorry," they apologized and got up, both of them smoothing their clothes and hair. I glared at them as they walked passed Vaughn and I and into the hallway. We followed.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Kayla exclaimed and went next door to her room. Tal followed her. "Go on ahead. We'll be there in a second."
"You better not be going in there to make out," I told them with my hands on my hips.
"We're not," Kayla assured, "I promise."
I rolled my eyes and me and Vaughn went alone to the Quad. When we entered, I saw that Selphie had done a great job with the decorations. They were three times better than the ones at the SeeD ball and everyone was there, not just SeeDs but cadets and underclassmen too. We spotted Gavin and Morgan Dincht by the entrance and waved to them as we made our way to a table. We sat down to wait for Kayla and Tal and were immediately served drinks. I sipped my champagne and watched the entrance, waiting for my friends. My watch was interrupted when my parents came and sat down with us.
"Glad to see you made it," my mom greeted as she took the seat next to me.
"Wouldn't miss it," I assured.
My dad sat down next to my mom. He nodded. "Vaughn."
"Sir."
"Better go easy on the champagne, baby girl," my dad instructed, "don't want to impair your judgement." He glanced at Vaughn.
"Daddy!"
"I'm joking," he grinned. After the sorceress had been defeated, Luke and Cale had been forced to drag my dad outside to where the Garden picked us up. Apparently I had hit him harder than I thought because even Cure spells wouldn't bring him around. My mom had been worried but luckily I hadn't been awake to see it or I probably would've felt terrible. I knew my dad was ashamed of the fact that Lantana had been able to trick him and take over his mind but no one mentioned it.
"I would never take advantage of your daughter, sir," Vaughn swore.
"He's just kidding Vaughn," my mom comforted, "we know you wouldn't hurt Kaisa."
"Never," Vaughn agreed.
"Well, we'll leave you two alone," my mom started and stood up, "see you later."
"Bye Mom, bye Daddy."
They left the table and Vaughn visibly relaxed. I grinned.
"He's not gonna hurt you, you know."
"I wouldn't put money on that statement."
"He won't," I promised, "he wouldn't risk it because he knows I'd be totally pissed."
"You are such a Daddy's girl," he teased.
"Yep."
I looked towards the entrance and saw Kayla and Tal enter. Kayla had a video camera held out in front of her and she was taping herself and Tal as they entered.
"Here we are, entering the congratulatory party for defeating the sorceress."
I laughed out loud and met her halfway across the room with Vaughn. When she saw me, she spoke again.
"Ah!" she exclaimed and turned to camera to face me, "here is one of Garden's most talked about new couples, my bestest best friend, Kaisa Almasy and my brother Vaughn."
"What are you doing?" Vaughn questioned, "A news report?"
"Hey, that's a good idea," Kayla commented. "Here, take the camera." She shoved it into Vaughn's hands and came and stood next to me. Once he turned it on us, she held up her hand like she was talking into a microphone. "Hello, I'm Kayla Kinneas." She turned to me expectantly.
"And I'm Kaisa Almasy," I stated, feigning the microphone as well.
"And we're here at the big shindig to celebrate the defeat of the evil sorceress Lantana," Kayla continued, "and we have a special treat for all you viewers out there. An eyewitness account from someone who was actually there. Mr. Leonhart, would you please tell us what you saw?"
Tal stepped in front of the camera and cleared his throat. "Ahem, yeah, well, we encountered the sorceress in her chamber..." Tal began to recount the tale of the sorceress's defeat. Kayla and I were facing towards him and nodded like reporters did when suddenly Tal turned to Vaughn. "Are you even filming me?"
Kayla and I looked over and saw that Vaughn had the camera trained on me.
"Vaughn, what are you doing?" Kayla demanded and stamped her foot. "You are the worst cameraman ever! You're supposed to be focusing on Tal."
"I like this view better," he said with a grin.
"Vaughn," Kayla grumbled and turned the camera so it was facing her as well as me. She reverted back to her anchorwoman stance. "Thank you. That was a recount of the sorceress battle by Tal Leonhart, the hottest guy in Garden."
"It is my professional opinion that that statement was false," I insisted.
"Oh really?" Kayla challenged, "and what would've made that statement true?"
"If you had said that Vaughn Kinneas was the hottest guy in Garden," I stated simply, then winked at Vaughn.
"Oh please," Kayla scoffed. "I think we're going to have to go to the viewers to solve this one." She stopped a young cadet that was passing by at the moment. "Excuse me, Kayla Kinneas, SeeD network news. I have an opinion question for you. Who is the hottest guy in Garden?"
The girl sighed dreamily. "Luke Almasy."
We followed her gaze and saw my brother sitting at a table surrounded by girls. The older ones were feeding him grapes and other fruits and the younger ones were huddled around, hoping to get a turn as he recounted his version of the fight with the sorceress. Kayla and I looked at each other.
"I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Me too," Kayla agreed.
I turned back and saw that Vaughn had focused on Luke as well. "What's wrong? Want to join him?"
"Only if you're the one feeding me."
"Dream on, Kinneas," I scoffed.
"Well, we've heard from some of the eyewitnesses to the fall of the sorceress, let's see if we can find the rest," Kayla said and we scanned the room. We found Cale sitting at a table with his dad and they were having a hot dog eating contest. Morgan and Kit sat next to Zell and Raine Leonhart and Gavin sat next to Cale, cheering him on. The only Dincht missing was Aunt Cammi, who after a brief period of lucidity, had fallen back into unconsciousness. She had been upgraded to stable and Dr. Kadowaki expected her to make a full recovery, although it was doubtful that she would ever go on a mission again.
We watched the contest until a winner was proclaimed (Uncle Zell), and then turned back to the rest of the room. We talked to mine and Kayla's parents for a few minutes, then Tal's. Uncle Squall seemed embarrassed by the camera but Aunt Rinoa was playing it up and even gave us a mock interview on sorceress powers. By that time, Vaughn was getting bored and had turned the camera back over to Kayla.
"There's Raven and Tristen!" Kayla pointed across the room, "I'm gonna go see if I can get them to say something on camera." She took off, dragging Tal with her and leaving me and Vaughn alone. As soon as they were gone, he grabbed my hand and led me out onto the balcony. The stars were beautiful overhead and the smell of the ocean rode by us on a soft breeze. Vaughn grabbed my hands in his and looked down at me.
"You're the most beautiful woman in Garden, you know that?"
I blushed. "I'm sure there are lots of people who would contradict you."
"Anyone who would contradict me is an idiot," Vaughn stated.
I smiled. "Of all the girls in Garden, how did I get to be the lucky one?"
"There's no luck about it," he assured me and dropping my hands, pulled me into his arms, "this is the way it was meant to be, me and you."
"You really think so?"
He grinned. "I know so." He started to lean down towards me and then stopped. He turned his head back towards the party.
"What?" I asked and tried to look and see what he saw. I was a step back and couldn't see into the room. "What is it"
He turned back to me. "Kayla."
"She's taping us, isn't she?"
He nodded. "Let's give her something to tape."
And with that, he bent down and kissed me.
The End