Balamb Garden Amazing Race Chapter 12: Laughing All The Way, a final fantasy viii fanfic

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 Twelve ll Laughing All The Way

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"He's not moving fast enough!" Selphie whined restlessly, jittering about in her seat and looked forlornly out of the window, "At this rate we'll never get to Esthar." She sighed dejectedly and Irvine chuckled comfortably.

"C'mon Sef, give the guy a break. Not everyone's handled the Ragnarok before," he said coaxingly, and she brightened up.

"That's true... Hmm, maybe I should become a pilot. Then whoosh - " Selphie demonstrated with her arm, " - people would go from Trabia into Esthar like that."

Irvine looked a tiny bit apprehensive, "Ahh... and you've gotta remember not everyone's got as strong as a stomach as yours."

Selphie giggled, her sparkling eyes crinkling up jubilantly, "But then I'll have a free supply of ginger biscuits for them! Irvy... are you airsick?" she asked in a hushed tone, noticing his pale and tense countenance as the airship whizzed past fluffy white clouds and an endless blue sky.

"What? Airsick? What are you talking about, I never get sick," he mumbled quickly, but when he turned back to her she had dug out a packet of ginger biscuits.

"Eat one," she commanded, "They work." She grinned, "I never knew you got sick. How come you're perfectly fine on the Ragnarok?"

"I told you," Irvine said reproachfully, nibbling on the biscuit and feeling the knot in his stomach loosen, "I don't get airsick. It must have been... it must have been that pizza we had last night."

"Ooooh, you mean the seafood one?" Selphie said knowledgably, and he immediately felt ill again.

"Yeah... that."

"Actually, you really shouldn't eat seafood in Trabia," she said contritely, "It's mostly imported from other countries so none of it's fresh. And if it is from Trabia then it comes fully frozen from the sea, and you can't be sure how clean the water is - "

"Selphie, if you don't shut up, I am going to be sick," Zell said in a tight whisper from the seat behind them.

"Zell, do you get airsick?"

"Occasionally," he grunted.

"Here, have a biscuit!"

Despite Selphie's initial proclamation that they would never get to Esthar, ten minutes later their airship began to descend into the dazzling city, full of technicolour buildings and bright blue skyways. The pilot's voice came on over the intercom as the vehicle slowed down on the runway.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Esthar. We hope you have a pleasant stay. The time is now nine forty-five in the morning and the weather outside is estimated to be around thirty-eight degrees..."

The Balamb Garden crew tripped around the cool, sparkly air station that no doubt had the air conditioning on twenty four hours a day. As soon as they walked out through the sliding glass doors, they all shrieked like banshees and flinched.

"GAH! It's so freakin' hot out here!"

---

"Come on, let's go on the Giant Drop," Squall said eagerly, hurrying towards the one hundred-and twenty metre high tower while dragging Rinoa along with him, "It's the highest ride in the whole park, that'd definitely fulfill our challenge."

"The Giant Drop?" Rinoa repeated perplexedly, then she stopped dead as her eyes slowly went up the enormous yellow structure. She looked petrified.

"...It's tall," she said faintly.

Ten minutes later.

"That was... windy." Rinoa's knees buckled as soon as her feet touched firm, solid ground, and Squall went, "Whoa!", quickly bending down to scoop her back up.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She tilted her head up towards his concerned gaze as he held onto her, "How can you manage to stand?" she whined breathlessly, "After that incredibly hectic fall?"

Squall felt his lips curve into a smile, "Who's the baby now? Finally, my manhood has returned." When Rinoa stuck out her tongue at him, his grin became more pronounced and he pulled her up into a straighter position, "Okay, okay... can you walk now?"

"No," she said stubbornly.

"Well, what do you want me to do, your highness? And it better not be piggy-back you."

"I want fairy floss!"

As they walked to the confectionary stand they passed the games stalls, where Seifer and Irvine were shooting water into the mouths of (mechanical) clowns to pop the balloon behind it. Quistis and Selphie waved at Squall and Rinoa as they went by, both eating ice-creams.

"Rini! Hey, are you okay? You look a little peaky. What did you do to her?" Selphie accused Squall.

"What? I didn't do anything!"

POP!

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA I WON!" Seifer waved his arms in the air victoriously, his gun spraying water on the disappointed people around him, "OH YEAH, GO ME, OH YEAH - oops, sorry. Hehehe..."

The newly opened amusement park in Esthar was widely popular and full of spine-tingling, knee-knocking rides not for the faint hearted. It was where the Amazing Race was taking place that day, the challenge being only to spend the day there and go on at least two rides that went above fifty metres.

When it was almost time to leave and the scorching heat had cooled down immensely as the sun was replaced by a dark sky, the gang met up at the House of Mirrors and began a game of torch-tag.

"And so begins another one of Selphie's crazy games..."

"Hey, this isn't a crazy game!" the short girl said defensively, holding her ground, "I bet you'll all love it, especially you testosterone-driven boys. What happens is we all have a torch and we use its light and the reflection of the mirrors to cleverly tag each other out. As soon as you're hit, you're out! Well, actually, you just keep playing. But keep count how many times you get hit. Be honest!"

There was a brief pause.

"Won't people get annoyed when beams of light keep streaming from everywhere and blinds them?"

"Well, that'd tell them to leave this place all for us."

"Inconsiderate."

"LET'S STAAAAAAAAART!" Selphie shouted, her voice echoing around the building, and she flicked on her torch. The light ricocheted off the mirror, and then bounced off the next mirror, to hit Zell right between the eyes.

"AHHHH!" he yelled, flailing his arms and landing on the ground, his pink bandana swooping through the air.

"See?" Selphie said smugly as the boys' faces lit up, "It's fun. And perfectly harmless."

"That's what you think," the blonde martial artist muttered from the floor. Without warning he sat bolt right up and aimed his torch; the beam of light streamed off several mirrors at once and got both Selphie and Seifer.

"MY EYES!"

"Who's the boss now?" Zell mocked gloatingly with a superior smile.

"Oh, that's it, this game is on," Seifer said viciously, shaking his head and gripping onto his torch threateningly. He winced painfully when light hit his face again and Irvine burst out laughing evilly.

The game of torch-game started off carefully and calculatingly enough. They prowled around the corners and hid between the shadows, searching for their target in the many mirrors surrounding them. But in the end, pandemonium ensued. Soon the House of Mirrors was full of shrieking, running people and incessant light that seemed to be coming from nowhere yet was everywhere at once. The upside of this game (for the girls) was that they could just shine their torch anywhere and the light was sure to hit someone eventually.

"Quisty, save me!" Seifer cried, doing a forward somersault in mid-air and tumbling next to the sitting Quistis. (She'd gotten tagged forty times already and decided the time was ripe to surrender.)

Squall appeared hot on Seifer's heels, a torch ready in his hand.

"Um - ah - here!" Quistis flicked on her own weapon suddenly and, miraculously, the beam shot off the right mirror and hit Squall. He crumpled and groaned loudly, his eyes screwed up.

Seifer grinned, "Did I ever tell you how much I loved you, Quisty?"

"Mmmhmm."

Meanwhile, Shizuka was standing by herself in the middle of a room, blinding white light continually hitting her. She put her hands to her hips and exclaimed fervently, "Can people switch off machine-gun mode? I can't even keep count! Honestly..."

A worker poked his head into the House of Mirrors with a worried look as screams and yells were heard inside, and people who ventured in instantly ducked out with a fearful look. It sounded like a war was happening.

"What in the name of Hyne is going on in there?"

---

Much to Squall's peevishness, Laguna had engaged for all of them to lodge at the Presidential Palace during their brief stay at Esthar. Fortunately for him, though, the President was not present that day nor would he be available for the next week or so. He and his personal assistants had gone to Galbadia and Centra for prominent meetings about the new Centra city.

"It was inescapable, I assure you," one of the assistants reassured them kindly, "President Loire could not back out of it, otherwise he definitely would be here to welcome you. He was very excited about all of you coming."

"Tell Sir Laguna we said hi!"

"Yes, and please send our thanks to the President," Quistis added with a slight frown at Selphie's informalities.

They broke off in their groups and chose to have room service instead of eating together, since they were sure this would be the last time in awhile they'd get the chance for such luxury. As for eating together, that could be done any time.

"...and I want tempura, and those dim sims, and - oooh! That sushi sure does sound good..."

Their rooms were all alongside each other along the regal-looking hallway which inspired a few to play a game of "Knock and Run"; the result of this was bad-tempered people, slamming their doors and yelling obscenities.

"STOP - KNOCKING - ON - MY - DOOR!" Seifer growled out into the empty corridor before seizing the handle and slamming the offending door.

As the night progressed on, Selphie and Irvine trooped down to the kitchen for some snacks. The cooks there very generously offered them all the food possible and even showed them how certain meals were prepared. They were both rather intrigued by the demonstrations and watched in fascination while popping candy into their mouths.

"Those guys aren't just cooks, they're inventors!" Selphie declared perkily as she and Irvine poked around the table, "They should be awarded something."

Chuckling, Irvine noticed a piece of paper on the floor and picked it up, "Hey, what's this?" Selphie stuck her head over his shoulder and read it too.

When I see you, I am filled with an overwhelming force of love and passion. Your smile is so full of life it bursts into a million stars. When your deep, beautiful eyes meet mine, it is as if your soul passes into me. Your soft, fair hair just takes my breath away and I long to reach out and touch it. There are no words to express how I feel about you. I search yearningly for words and yet they are less than how I truly feel.

Forever, you will be in my heart and thoughts.

Selphie squealed, "It's a love letter!" She looked over her shoulder, "I wonder if someone dropped it. How tragic! It's so pretty."

"It's not signed or addressed," Irvine said, checking the back. He looked disappointed, "That poor cutie who's going to miss out on this romantic letter! I can see her crying her eyes out."

"How do you know a girl didn't write it for a boy?" Selphie asked, frowning at him.

"I can just tell," Irvine said earnestly, "Seriously. A guy wrote this."

"Hmph," she turned away, "SEXIST!"

"Aww, c'mon, Sef."

Selphie pegged a bit of candy at him and it rebounded off his nose, making him go cross-eyed. She grinned cheekily like a kid and he shook his head, "Happy, now?"

She tugged the letter out of his grasp and looked at it, chewing thoughtfully. As she reached the end of it her eyes lit up and she turned excitedly to Irvine, "Irvy! Do you know what I think we should do?"

"What?"

"We should plant this letter on one of the others. Come on!"

Slightly nonplussed, Irvine let himself be pulled back to the cooks. On the counter were a few trays of food, heavily covered with silver lids.

" 'Scuse me, could you please tell us where this tray is going?"

A curly-haired cook turned around, "That one? Hot dogs and pizza... Oh, I know. This one is going to one of the Balamb Garden kids. You're with them, aren't you? Is this your meal?"

"Oh, no, no," Selphie beamed, "But thanks!" When the cook's back was turned, she quickly lifted up a lid and popped the letter underneath it. Before Irvine could say a word, she grabbed his hand and hastened out.

Giggling, Selphie exclaimed, "Done, and done!" They took a few more steps towards the stairs and met a tall blonde boy coming down, who froze the moment he saw them.

"Hi!" Selphie said perkily, and Irvine waved amiably.

Cloud inwardly cringed. Oh, Tifa's going to kill me...

"Err, hi," he said dodgily, his glowing blue eyes darting around for an escape, "Umm... going up?" he asked feebly.

"Yeah," Irvine answered cheerfully, "Well, see you around!" Together he and Selphie went up the stairs, his arm around her. They made a very cute pair, Cloud noticed.

"Heeey, that guy had Zell's hair! They could be long lost brothers..."

Cloud shook his head and quickly slipped into the kitchen. He was going to have to find some sort of peace offering for Tifa when the time came for him to tell her he had been seen by another competitor, and mentally reminded himself that she had a soft spot for chocolate.

Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, Zell pulled the lid off his hot dogs and was taken-aback to find a letter waiting for him as well. Shoving one of the hot dogs into his mouth he read it.

"What the... does the chef stalk me or somethin'?" he mumbled, disconcerted. Then he realised the delicious taste in his mouth and did a double take, "Whoa, these chilli dogs are gooood!"

In a few minutes he had finished three and his eye fell upon the last one that Shizuka had ordered, as she was curious to see what was so good about hot dogs. She was in the shower and probably wouldn't come out for some time... Zell eyed the hot dog decisively. Then he shrugged and scoffed that, too.

Ah, what the heck. I'll just get her some more later.

Stuffing the last bit of bread in his mouth and feeling heartened, Zell scribbled, 'Compliments to the chef' onto the bottom of the love letter. Then he strode out of his room, whistling, stuck the letter under the blue team's door, and went back in his room jauntily, ready to make another order.

---

"...forever you'll be in my heart and my thoughts, compliments to the chef?" Squall read out loud in a confused voice, "What kind of letter is this?"

"It's a love letter, Squall," Rinoa said patiently, looking dreamy, "Well, except for the last part. You know, you could try writing me one of these some time. They're very sweet, and I'll have a printed copy of how you feel for me to cherish forever and ever."

Squall went red, "What... no way!" he said with sudden firmness, "You know I don't do these things. How corny does it sound, anyway?" he snorted and Rinoa just sighed longingly.

"How about if I write you one? Will you reply to it, dearest?" she asked sweetly.

"No."

"Meanie." She walked away to get more food from the tray and Squall took one last look at the letter. He shook his head in mystification and clamped it in between the pages of Rinoa's romance novel that she had persuaded him to take a look at.

"Ooh, Squall, try this prawn tempura, it's sooo nice!"

It was getting late and Squall went to the bathroom to brush his teeth before going to bed. Rinoa picked up her novel, calling out, "I'm going to Shizuka's to lend her my book!"

After knocking twice on the pink team's door, it was opened up by the brunette in the middle of her dinner.

"Hi, Zuka. Is that a hot dog you're eating?" Rinoa asked, ogling at it.

"Umm... yeah. Well, Zell keeps eating them and I wanted to try," Shizuka said slightly defensively, "Oooh, is this the book where the wife cheats on the husband with his best friend's godfather's nephew?"

"Yup," Rinoa said happily, "First of a trilogy! Enjoy it."

"Thanks, Rinoa!"

Shizuka shut the door and, humming lightly, she turned the pages of the novel. A piece of paper fell out and she picked it back up, reading it curiously as she swallowed the last of her hot dog.

Oh, this must be a letter Squall wrote for Rinoa! I never knew he could be so tender. That's so sweet. But why does it say 'compliments to the chef?' Does she cook for him? I'll just return this to them later.

Zell came up to the minibar and gasped, "Is that a romance novel?"

Dropping the letter onto the empty tray on the silver trolley, Shizuka turned to him with a smile, "Yeah... why, do you read these?"

"Well... kinda..." Zell rubbed the back of his hair bashfully, then dropped all disguises and pounced forward to take a look at the book, "Have you read this one called Wuthering Heights by - "

"Emily Bronte?" Shizuka finished off excitably, "That's such a good book! It's really hard to understand, though."

They launched into a lengthy discussion about romance novels and the letter lay forgotten on the tray, until a servant came up to collect it. Wheeling the trolley back to the kitchen, the letter was not touched until one of the cooks came across it.

"Oh, I'm loved!" she gushed out with a dreamy smile, "Look at this, Edna!"

All the cooks gathered around to read.

"Hey, how do you know it wasn't meant for one of us? We're all chefs here," one of them said defiantly, and a few others nodded indignantly in agreement.

"Yeah! Gimme that letter!"

An angry babble broke out until one of the younger men whistled shrilly, making them all stop at once.

"Come on you guys, what would the President think if he could see us?" he asked rationally, looking at them all seriously, "Let's just get back to work and forget this stupid letter." He plucked it up much to the women's dismay and put it in his pocket.

But later when he was preparing a tray he slipped it underneath the plate, leaving a little corner sticking out, "Bring a little love to the world," he whispered with a wink.

---

Selphie and Irvine were sleepily watching television together when there was a knock on their door. In walked a servant with a trolley.

"Room service."

"When did we order any food?" Selphie asked as Irvine got up to examine the tray. He lifted the lid and immediately let it drop with a clatter.

"Seafood pie. This must be Seifer's."

Selphie chortled and went back to the program, almost falling asleep when Irvine called her name urgently, "Sefie! It's our love letter. It actually came back to us. I wonder where it went."

Excited, Selphie ran up to him, "Hey, someone added something to it."

"Nothing too romantic."

They both looked disappointed. Then Irvine got a mischievous spark in his eyes and he snapped his fingers, "How do you feel about playing a prank on Squall and Seifer?"

Selphie grinned, "I'm all for it!"

Thirty seconds later, they stepped back to admire their handiwork.

My darling Seifer,

Forever, you will be in my heart and thoughts.

Compliments to the chef.

Love always,

Squall.

Selphie was giggling madly and Irvine folded up the letter with a gigantic grin, "Okay, time to deliver this baby."

Carefully wheeling the trolley with the letter tucked in under the plate, Irvine knocked primly on the red team's door to find them both also sleepily watching television with the lights off.

"What the - is that my food?"

"Yup. It came to our room by mistake. Seafood pie?"

"Finally," Seifer grumbled, "Thanks, man."

Irvine grinned broadly, "No problem."

"Good night, Irvine," Quistis called from the sofa. As soon as the cowboy had left, Seifer stood up and wandered to the trolley. "Honestly, Seifer, you're not really going to eat it now, are you?"

"What? I'm still hungry," Seifer said airily, lifting the lid, "Mmm, my beautiful seafood pie." He noticed the piece of paper and pulled it out, unfolding it and reading it lazily as he crammed a piece of pie into his mouth.

---

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

----

And while lights frantically switched on in the palace, Selphie and Irvine high fived each other and rolled around on the floor, laughing hysterically.

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A/N: Hehe, that love letter part was entertaining to write. xD I'm sorry I can't say much - I gotta get off soon - and I have a hiking camp tomorrow so PRAY FOR ME MY DARLINGS! x) I look forward to coming back with sore muscles and dead legs to read your reviews and comments! x) And sorry for any mistakes, no time to edit! Love always - msq.