Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or its beautiful characters .. but I will one day ! x) It all belongs to SquareSoft. :salutes: -.-;;
Balamb Garden Amazing Race
Chapter Ten ll The Faeries' Gift
The world was a pure, snowy blanket of white. It covered the ground thickly in mountains of white cotton, it blossomed over the tawny branches of trees and bloomed flamboyantly all around on the buildings and hills.
Trabia was a world of white cotton candy.
Accordingly to their next challenge, each team, after awestruckly drinking in the delicious surroundings, quickly rushed off to book into a hotel. The ski resort was full of such flimsy, spoiling hotels that they couldn't help but splurge on themselves a bit. Selphie and Irvine chose a lovely, cosy building nearby the shopping plaza, and the pink and blue teams decided on the Ice Crystal, a fancy, plentiful service. Seifer, however, picked the most grand and expensive hotel Trabia could offer; Seventh Heaven.
Quistis' eyes almost popped out when the receptionist handed them a piece of paper in the grandeur lobby, "Seifer - it's three thousand gil per night."
"Yeah, I know," he replied unconcernedly, "Thanks," he added charmingly when the lady handed them a key. The receptionist blushed and gave him a smile. Exasperated, Quistis dragged him away by the arm.
"Seifer, we can't stay here," she hissed at him as he walked towards the elevators, "You're going to make us lose! The team who spends the most gets points deducted. And we've spent heaps on restaurants, five-star hotels and when you wanted that foot massage!"
"Hey don't blame me! You got a pedicure there, too."
Her blue eyes were steely and the spark in them would have frightened the students back at Garden. Seifer, however, was blissfully unaware of this dangerous sight and only exclaimed over the largeness - excuse me, hugeness - of their suite.
"Whee, look Quisty, you can bounce on the bed!"
Quistis turned to look down at him pitifully and despairingly when she realised something absolutely critical. Dropping her bag and putting her hands to her face she gasped.
"Seifer - why is there ONE bed?"
"Set, hut!"
Zell and Shizuka looked up from the snowman they were building to watch interestedly as Selphie and Irvine immediately sprang up from lying in the snow, turned, rolled back down onto their backs and began making snow angels at a rapid rate.
"Set, hut!"
And again they went, leaving a long trail of snow angels in their wake.
"You don't reckon that's the next challenge, do you?" Zell asked fearfully, still staring at them as they went about merrily making snow angels all over the ground.
"Only one way to find out," Shizuka replied frankly, finishing off the snowman's very oval-shaped head.
Within moments the pink team were rolling around in the snow, knowing they must look absurd but unable to contain their laughter at themselves as they did so.
Zell got to his feet and helped a giggling Shizuka up as well. The blonde blinked as he looked at her - she was so distractingly pretty at that moment that he couldn't help but stare admiringly. Her cheeks were flushed with the vividest of rosy pinks from the cold and her rich brown hair had clumps of white snow in it, making her look so endearing and adorable. Her deep, caramel-coloured eyes were as bright as morning stars as she laughed, her lips curved into such an attractive smile.
Without planning it, without thinking, without even knowing what he was about to do, Zell pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. He had no idea why he did it. Perhaps it was the tender feeling that was blossoming inside of him that made his limbs react so, and his mouth to say the next thing.
"You look like an angel."
"I do?" she asked tentatively, lifting her eyes daringly to look up at him while valiantly fighting a heated blush. Then she laughed shyly and quietly, avoiding his eyes, "You're always so... loud, Zell. I never thought you would say something like that..."
Zell half-smiled in spite of himself and his current all-consuming embarrassment, "Yeah... uhh... sometimes it happens. Impulsively." He looked around him awkwardly, "Must be the snow."
His head was still turned to watch some kids playing in the snow nearby, and Shizuka took the chance to study his features intently, her cheeks still rosy. She had always admired Zell Dincht yet felt so faraway from the strong fighter. And now... they were so close. She thought fondly of some of the things they'd done together and she smiled, somewhat unconsciously, purely bidden by her own emotions.
"Yeah," she said quietly with a shy smile, her heart thumping quickly as she closed the short distance between them, "The snow can bring out the impulsive side in people..."
Zell turned back to face her and caught a glimpse of her shining brown eyes before she gently pressed her lips on a corner very near his mouth. The skin there would tingle for days to come. He could only grin at her lopsidedly as the petite brunette withdrew with a furious blush, and snowflakes began to lightly fall on them. They both looked up into the sky, still in each other's embrace.
"Booyaka!"
Zell and Shizuka spontaneously snapped their attention towards the cry and to their utter amazement they saw their - friends - hidden behind a large brown log, evidently spying on them. The girls were squealing in delight at the scene they just saw, with their respective male partners attempting to shush them and casting wary looks at the couple who could now plainly see them.
" 'It's a gift from the faeries!' " Rinoa quoted ecstatically, holding out her arms to catch the snowflakes, "Hey - whoa!" She slipped and fell onto Quistis, who bumped into Selphie, and soon they were all knocked onto the ground, groaning.
"Somehow," Zell said grimly, watching them disdainfully as they elbowed each other in their haste to get up, "I think this was all planned."
Her smile widened as he held onto her hand, the snowflakes fluttering harmoniously around them.
"Maybe it was..."
"You're so cute, Squall."
Even after several months of being in her company, there were still some things about Rinoa Heartilly that caught Squall off guard and had him speechless and embarrassed. She'd called him cute on several different occasions, and that remark would've annoyed him to no end if it had come from anyone but her.
"I'm not," he mumbled lifelessly as his eyes followed the figures that skated past him swiftly. The many ice-skating rinks in Trabia were large, round, eternally-frozen lakes with a beautiful mirrored surface, like so many icy secrets whispering underneath.
Rinoa grinned as she tightened his laces and easily got to her feet. Squall stared at her, partly in awe - how on earth did she manage to balance?
She was already on the ice when she realised Squall wasn't beside her. Rinoa turned back to see that he was still sitting on the bench, watching the other skaters with a dreaded look.
"Squall? C'mon! This is gonna be fun," she chirruped encouragingly, longing to glide along the lake's smooth surface and feel the wind on her face.
"Yeah... I'm coming..." he murmured uneasily, gingerly getting to his feet. Squall wobbled a little on the crunchy snow and mentally cursed. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. The stupid little blades on his skates. Who invented them, anyway? Made walking a right pain in the -
He set one foot steadily onto the ice and felt as though the ground was about to slip out from underneath him.
Rinoa was giving him a funny look. Squall put his other foot onto the ice and his entire body shook tremulously - swearing, he threw his arms out wildly to balance himself and then crumpled backwards onto the ice noisily.
Great. Absolutely great.
Rinoa skated closer and bent down to grin at his forlorn look.
"You know, Squall, you could have just told me you didn't know how to ice-skate," she said seriously, a teasing smile on her angelic face. Squall glared at her, all fours on the stinging ice.
"Yeah, yeah, just help me up," he muttered begrudgingly, taking her hand. Her feet skillfully positioned on the ice, she pulled him up easily.
"How do you do that?" he asked, annoyed as he struggled against friction and gravity.
"Do what?"
"Balance."
Rinoa giggled, still clutching onto one of his hands while he steadied himself by holding her shoulder. A bit like when she'd pulled him to the dance floor at the SeeD dance. "Practice. Dear me, I thought SeeDs were taught everything at Garden... what if you had to approach your target on an ice rink?" Laughing gaily she glided off, leaving Squall half-bent foolishly on the ice.
Squall cringed as his legs quivered. He attempted to straighten himself up very slowly while skaters flew past him alarmingly quickly. When he was finally standing upright he moved a foot forward - and swayed to the side dangerously.
Before he fell a warm hand slipped into his' and Squall found himself rolling smoothly along the ice. Rinoa had already gone the length of the rink and had skated up behind him just in time to pull him out of his predicament.
"Just keep your feet on the ground and bend your knees a little," she told him over the noise of the wind and the skates, while she stepped and glided with apparent ease and comfort.
"Um, there's a corner," Squall stammered fearfully as they neared the curve of the rink. But no matter; Rinoa swerved effortlessly and he was swung around it. A thrill went up and down his spine and Squall found himself grinning as the cold wind blew against his face and hair. There was something about gliding at this speed that made you unexplainably happy.
"Yay!" Rinoa cheered after they had gone around the lake twice, "Now let's take this real nice and slow. Push with your left foot and let the right one follow. Don't worry, I'll still hold onto your hand."
"I'm not a baby, you know," he said scornfully, holding firmly onto her slender hand and looking at his feet.
"Oh, really..."
Squall disengaged her hand to prove his point while he scowled. For a second he was perfectly balanced, but that happy moment was cut short when he stumbled forward and immediately grabbed her again.
Rinoa smirked as she steadied him, "Not a baby, huh?"
He was sobered up.
"Okay, now just pretend as though you're walking - but don't actually step like that - let the other foot slide - "
Crash.
" - and take care not to trip."
People watched indulgently as the raven-haired girl patiently taught the taller boy with brown hair how to skate, all while clinging supportively onto his hand. Under any other circumstance he would come off as imposing and dangerous, but as he was ending up on his backside on the ice several times to the increasing amusement of the girl, passer-bys felt free to smile and chuckle harmlessly at him. It was such a spectacle that they themselves felt like cheering when Squall could finally skate steadily although Rinoa still had to lead him around the corners.
"Remember when I taught you how to skate like that?"
"...No."
Squall had a sneaking suspicion that one of his ribs were broken and he knew he had black-and-blue bruises all over his behind and knees, but was rather proud of himself as he gathered speed with quick, deft strokes along the now chipped surface of the rink. Rinoa was so overjoyed at her pupil's achievement that she forgot Squall wasn't too excellent at ice-skating.
"Squall, I'm going to let go now!" Rinoa called joyously, promptly letting go of his hand and turning her head back for a second to see him.
"What - CRAP!" he yelped as he was left behind, still flying at a speed much too quick for a beginner. Her long, black hair whipped around the curve of the rink, but Squall had no idea how to do that forsaken foot-turn-thing that Rinoa was so adept to and braced himself for the imminent collision.
Other people on the rink squeaked in sympathy as the young man went flying off the edge, landing face first into the snow.
"Well, he was doing pretty well up until now..."
If there was one thing Squall had experienced from the Amazing Race, he reflected resignedly as he lifted his head out of the snow and rolled nimbly onto his back, it would be sheer, utter humiliation.
With a mirthful countenance Rinoa skated gracefully towards him, trying her best not to laugh. She slid to a swift stop at the very edge of the rink. Squall stared up at her, hoping he looked deadly serious and "no-nonsense"-like.
"You were doing so well, Squall, what happened?" she asked innocently, her eyes glittering with humour.
She extended her hand and Squall, with a sudden devious streak, jerked her down so that she lost her balance and fell on top of him.
"Squall!"
"Not so graceful anymore, are you?" Squall mocked with a twitching mouth as she gathered herself and hit him playfully in the chest.
"You're horrible," she informed him poutingly, her brown eyes staring into his blue ones gravely, though the little spark in them was ever present.
"I know I am," he replied loftily.
"Meanie." She gave him a look, much like the one he saw her give the male dancer they crashed into the first night they'd met, and Squall couldn't help chuckling. She smiled as he laughed, her look softening. It hit him powerfully at that moment that there was nothing that made her happier than seeing him smile. That sudden thought warmed his very bones and heart and helped him become more aware of how he felt towards her - that her smile and happiness illuminated his soul with everlasting sunshine.
Squall looked into her heart-shaped face and chocolate brown eyes. The cold had imprinted a faint pink blush on her cheeks and nose and she was still smiling at him. It began to fade to give way to a more serious look as he continued to gaze at her, as though being enlightened.
His heart beat faster when he realised how close they were, that their noses were almost touching. She was no longer smiling now and was staring into his eyes with her own, love and dainty hope shimmering in those velvety brown pupils. She was blushing now, not from the cold, and he was sure he was too as he felt the heat creep up to his cheeks. He dearly wanted to have her close again - as close as they had been on that balcony that star-strewn night, and he leant forward timidly with his heart pounding with strong feeling...
SMASH.
"Heads up, Puberty-Boy!" Seifer cried out jovially as the snow slid off the side of an agitated Squall's face.
"Seifer!" they heard Quistis reprimand him severely.
Crimson-faced, Rinoa chuckled quietly and climbed off him, the snowball having brought them back to their senses. Squall, looking most disgruntled and his cheeks still a heated scarlet, also reluctantly wobbled to his feet.
"Come on, we still need to work on your skating and the challenge requires us to do a synchronized pirouette leap," she said with a little smile as she turned back to the ice rink.
Two hours went by as they leapt, slid and twirled about the ice rink, stumbling and tripping and landing haphazardly on anything but their feet. Laughter always rung out, loud and sweet, as they attempted a pirouette leap across the ice and mostly ended up on their bottoms. Arms were flailed and waved until they were finally a swift, sweeping movement.
Squall was now certain his rib was cracked and that his bruises would never fade entirely as he and Rinoa trudged back up to their hotel, his posture half-bent. It was almost twilight, a purply, bluey twilight, and both were exhausted after a day's hard effort out on the ice rink. They had managed, finally, to perform a synchronized leap across the ice, and caught it on camera after asking an onlooker to record it for them. It wasn't too graceful or refined, but at least Squall had landed on his feet instead of tumbling headfirst and skidding a few feet on his side like he had the first time.
"That's one thing you've learnt how to do today," Rinoa said jubilantly, one arm slipped into his', "Courtesy of me."
"A professional teacher wouldn't have let their apprentice sport a thousand injuries," Squall informed her cuttingly, walking very gingerly, "How did you get so good, anyway? I never knew you could skate."
"My mum taught me," Rinoa answered reminiscently, after chuckling, "When I was still a little toddler. I remember she always used to take me out to the ice rink and twirl me around. It was always our time together, you know? One of my strongest memories of her is when I fell over and she carried me to the side and kissed the wound and hugged me close, singing to me softly as she wiped my tears away. Isn't that such a sweet memory?" She trailed off, then said quietly, "I'm glad I have that memory. She died soon after that."
Squall, in all his crumpled pain, turned his head to look at her.
"Rinoa," he said with dignity in an attempt to lighten things up, "You make me feel so sad sometimes."
She looked at him suspiciously and then chortled quietly, shaking her head. With a grin Squall withdrew his arm to place it around her shoulders. She instinctively huddled closer up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and lying her tired head on him.
"But you make me feel happier a lot more," he reassured in a low voice, making her smile discreetly. He kissed her hair tenderly and she tightened her grip on him, the moisture gathering in her eyes.
A/N: Gah . . . tired. Do you like snow? I think I would love it, but I've never really seen it. -.-;; I'll get my chance one day! x) Thanks for reading and reviews are always adored. - msq.