A/N: My inspiration for this next piece is a song called "The Book of Love" - particularly the version by Peter Gabriel, but there's a rendition by Nataly Dawn on YouTube that I rather like as well. ^^ I'm not used to writing Irvine's character so this was a particular challenge, not to mention the longest one yet at 441 words! I hope I did him justice, and I thought the song was a perfect fit; the lyrics are a touch cynical, but at its heart there's genuine emotion and love. I just think it's awesome.
I don't recall much of my dad before the orphanage, nor'd I ever claim to. The one memory that has stuck with me through my life, though, was watchin' my old man cry with a picture of my mom in his hands. The memory's pretty hazy, as you'd probably expect it to be, what with Guardian Forces an' all…but I know for a fact that he thought he was alone in the room. He never knew that I saw, either. I think I was stunned into silence.
…my dad wasn't an emotional guy. Sometimes, I reckoned that his heart was nothin' more than a ball of Cactuar needles held together with a couple pieces of tape. Didn't mean I didn't love 'im, and it didn't mean that he didn't love my mom. He just chose not to bother with that ol' book of love that everyone else seems to think exists. It's still on the shelf somewhere, collectin' dust.
Why'd I even bother to bring this up, you ask? One reason may have to do with this here bottle of Galbadian whiskey that Zell was so kind to give me for my birthday.
Another reason – an' I suspect the more important of the two – is that Selphie is madder than a Moomba with a thorn in its paw. How the hell was I supposed to know that she was throwing a surprise party for me? Ain't that a hoot? I ruined the surprise without knowing there ever was one to begin with. Clearly Nida didn't know either, 'cause his offer to go out for a few celebratory drinks seemed pretty damn genuine.
Hyne, I hate when Selphie's mad at me. I've always tried to do good by the girl, y'know? Maybe it's just that some things are genetic, like my ability to screw up everything that's sentimental. I can barely remember it…but my mom used to try to break my dad free of whatever kept 'im so holed up in his thoughts.
Wasn't until I saw him bawling that I realized my mom meant anything to anyone other than me.
Maybe Selphie's read more of that book of love than any of us. Maybe there's a chapter in there that talks about history repeatin' itself. If there is, I sure as hell don't want to be another example of that being true.
I just love the fact that she loves.
Yeah, I think I've got it. It's my birthday, but Seffie's gonna be the one who gets the gift. I think it's about time I took that book off the shelf an' read the introduction.