My Happy After

...volume 5 of the Bookworms & Booya! saga...

For shy Sally Regal the expected euphoria of the perfect honeymoon is quick to change to a challenge of communication. Add to that a mysterious chest filled with ancient treasures and visits from magical creatures and pre-dating known history she is set for the adventure of a lifetime.

The characters within this story and the world they live in are the property of SQUARE-Enix®. They are used without permission and not to be seen as my property. The character of Zachari Tahlson is my own creation. He is not to be used without permission.

One › Beginning Afters ‹

I'm not alone.

That was the first thing that ran through my mind when I opened my eyes to the soft sound of breathing in my ear. And when it slowly dawned that Zell Dincht's arms held me tight against that very welcome warmth? I smiled a silly smile with a sillier giggle as a chorus of silly angels sang I'm married! inside my head.

This was day-one of my fairytale 'Happy Ever After'.

Turning in the circle of Zell's arms, I snuggled my head beneath his chin and pressed my cheek against his chest. He still wore his tuxedo's black slacks from the wedding and Balamb and Deling Garden receptions, but he'd stripped down to his undershirt. I'd put on my P.J.s - cute jersey-knit ones of pink with white bunnies.

I love bunnies!

My arms surrounded him and I sighed, remembering back to that first time I had ever slept with Zell. In the Quad at our first date. What a wonderful glimpse at the future that waited for us. But what a shock for poor little ole me at the time! I softly sniggered.

"Mornin'," Zell greeted sleepily, his arms tightening around me. He breathed in deep and let it out quickly. "What time is it?"

Shrugging, I released another happy sigh and admitted "I don't care." Then I snuggled closer and softly urged him to "Go back to sleep." I wanted to have this 'morning after' as long as possible. It didn't matter to me if we snuggled and cuddled until that night. Yesterday Sally Regal - the library girl - had married Zell Dincht, and I wanted to have this moment to romanticize and fantasize to my silly heart's content.

Before the 'timid me' woke up.

"OK," he adorably mumbled, yawning, "but we've gotta go at ten.…" Then he breathed deep and drew me a little closer, the rhythm of his breathing slowly altering to that of sleep.

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes, but only long enough to look at the sun's position in the sky - our room had a back patio that looked out over the water - and try to judge the time. I smiled and closed my eyes again. It was barely dawn - four o'clock - which meant we had at least six hours before we had to be at the dock. Then the best three weeks of my life would begin the rest of my fairytale romance: A honeymoon on a yacht with my sweetie sailing around the world.

My thumbs began a soft and calming stroke on Zell's back as I listened to him sleep, feeling his steady and slow heartbeat beating almost perfectly in sync with mine. It was the best possible moment in my imagination. For years and months I tried to picture what it would be like to be married to my sweetie, but all of it had seemed so far-fetched and impossible.

Now, cuddled against him in my silly P.J.s and him in his tuxedo slacks and undershirt, it still seemed far-fetched and impossible.

I mean, we'd stayed up most of the night dancing in the middle of our room here at Balamb Hotel, not saying a word as the reality of being married settled into every corner of our mind. Then the exhaustion from the constant emotional high had hit us like a ton of bricks. So, as Zell stripped out of his tuxedo jacket, dress shirt, and shoes and socks, I'd gone into the bathroom and changed into my P.J.s, knowing it would be impossible to sleep in my strapless dress.

Then, barely able to walk from the bathroom to the bed because of being so tired, we had scrambled into bed - too tired to even scurry under the covers - and just held each other as we drifted to sleep. I sighed. The last thing Zell had whispered before I'd drifted to dreams and future fantasies had been "...sleep tight, Sally Dincht.…"

And what an escort to dreams!

Mom had warned me that we probably wouldn't be intimate the first night. My Aunt Marie, my mom's sister, hadn't been either. The fact she was shy and modest like me made me feel better, too. Especially since she and my Uncle had been married for 10 years now and still seemed as happy as day-one. "Just don't be ashamed if you feel you should ask Zell to wait, hon. I'm sure he'll understand, and he and your Papa have already had a talk or two about what to expect."

Now, my happy and silly smile returned as I lightly kissed Zell's chest, not caring it was all t-shirt and no skin. The fact that my parents and Zell got along so well never ceased to make me more-than-happy. It was as if I had not only found a best friend in Zell, but that I'd found my parents another part of the family. Even my older brother Zack - I could just kill him for missing the wedding - had taken to Zell like a kid to a puppy.

Okay. Maybe that isn't the best analogy.

But who wouldn't have fun with Zell. So easy-going and quick to get a laugh, it was like hanging out with… with… I don't know. He was just so… wonderful. An inspiration to me to be more than the shy little girl hiding in the corner afraid to interact with life because of what could happen. Instead, he'd shown me to look for the good 'could's and make them happen, learning from the not-so-great things to make life a little more fun. A little more happy. A little more.

Even Zack had noticed enough to comment. Zell and I had just begun planning the wedding and had gone to Timber to get some ideas from my parents. Zack had actually had a free day - I think Quistis had forced him out of the office to spend time with us - and had spent it with me. Zell had gone with Dad to some travel broker to help get the honeymoon plans started while Mom had gone to re-open the pet store after lunch. So, Zack and I had gone walking around Timber joshing back and forth and reminiscing.…

"You're different than you were before, munchkin," Zack said as we stood in the center of the bridge over the train-tracks eating ice cream cones.

"I am?" I asked absently, wiping up a drip that had landed on my pale-blue t-shirt.

Zack's smile widened and he gave my arm a nudge, drawing my attention from my drip and napkin. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"The day?" I captured another soon-to-be-drip with my tongue. "The day for what?"

"The day my baby sis quit hiding in the background." To my surprise, Zack reached over to surround my shoulders with his arm and give me a hug. "But it makes me feel old, you getting married. You were supposed to be my baby sis for longer than this."

I giggled and wrapped my arm around him to rest my head against him. "I'll always be your 'baby sis', Zee. No matter what."

Zack gave me a jostle and kissed the top of my head. "You're too sweet for words, munch, and I'm glad you finally found someone that understands you."

To have Zack say that about me and Zell had ushered on a completely different type of realistic and yet romantic euphoria. I mean, if someone cynical about relationships like Zack had something encouraging to say, I knew Zell and I would be more-than-fine.

Zell mumbled in his sleep and rolled over onto his back, bringing me home from reminiscing as his hold on me loosened to only his left arm around me. I snuggled into his side, my hand resting oh-so-comfortably on his chest as my thumb again softly stroked his skin through his t-shirt. Is this really happening?

I looked up at his handsome face and smiled, carefully reaching up and lightly brushing at his blonde hair. He looked so much older when he didn't have his spike. More serious. I smiled and carefully pulled the front hair up into a spike, stifling a giggle when it remained. He would be 'Zell' whether he had spikes or not.

His arm tightened a bit around me before loosening again, causing a smile. Believing that little action to be more sweet and adorable than anything, I placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Then I sighed and relaxed against him, closing my eyes and drifting back to sleep.

***

Rock. On. Dincht.

That was pretty much the only thing my brain could hold on to as I stared at the ceiling and listened to Sally breathing and whispering in her sleep. I mean, dude! I was married! To Sally! How the hell did a screw-off like me marry someone like her? Seifer would've said "Dumb-ass luck, chicken-wuss. Nothing but dumb-ass luck."

I lowered my focus to Sally and smiled, my arm drawing her a little closer as I pressed a kiss against her forehead. Her lips tilted upward and she took in and released a deep breath as she snuggled closer. Then she relaxed against me and it made me feel better-than-awesome. Booya!-awesome.

Yeah.

Letting out a deep breath, I looked out onto the back deck. The sun reported it to be about seven. We had to have breakfast and make sure our luggage made it to the yacht so that we could be out of the dock by ten, but.… Looking down at Sally as she slept, the sleep-crease on her cheek and her hair poking out of her braids and all messy on top? I couldn't wake her.

Seifer, Irvine, and the gang would've laughed their butts clean off.

I hadn't expected it be like this. I thought I'd jump her the minute the door was closed. But I guess an entire day of being on emotional steroids and entertaining all those people knocked us out. Who knew? All day Winhill had been running through my mind, and the time in the new apartment, and all the good dreams I'd been having… Man!But I'd been so… floored with everything that I couldn't do anything but stare at her and those sexy eyes like chocolate and her timid smile and think to myself '...the hell?!'

Now, as I stared down at her sleeping against me in her sexy-as-anything bunny-pajamas and the rings on her fingers that rested on my chest, I think I was still hung up on that phrase. Three weeks, Dincht? What were you thinking? There was no way I could survive three weeks with the Mega-Phoenix without dying from an overdose of something.

Sally took in a deep breath and happily mumbled "Sally Elizabeth Dincht" before giggling and moving her arms to completely surround me. She gave a tight squeeze and then sighed deep and relaxed. Dincht… the hell?!

Yeah. I'd be saying that a lot.

I released a quick breath and then carefully pulled her arms from around me to roll her onto her other side. She mumbled something as she sighed deep, so I whispered "You sleep, kitten. I'm gonna take a shower," into her ear and kissed her cheek. She tightly hugged her pillow and then gave a happy coo of a sigh before her breathing deepened in sleep again.

Giving a shake of my head to clear the images of Sally in pink panties with bunnies -

ahem - I rolled off the bed and trudged toward the bathroom, scrubbing at my scalp and grimacing when I tasted my own foul breath. Geez, Dincht! You kissed her with that mouth?! But how was I supposed to not kiss her when she was wearing pink P.J.s with bunnies and she was sleeping in my bed and dreaming about saying her name like that?

I gave another head-shake to free thoughts of her in that leather number I'd brought, and made my way into the bathroom to crank on the shower and strip out of my tux slacks-

"Aw crap." I held them up and frowned. It was going to take me at least an hour to iron the wrinkles out, and I couldn't pack them looking like this. They'd be ruined forever, and what kind of memory would that be?

Grumbling, I tossed them onto the counter and then stripped the rest of the way to turn and step into the shower. "Brrr!" I yelped, and quickly reached out to crank the hot water.

When I heard Sally's recognizable giggle a few moments later, I tensed and couldn't even get my brain to work.

"You're supposed to wait until it's warm, silly boy." I heard the zip of her small overnight bag opening and then she warned, "I'm gonna use a little cold water," just before she wet her toothbrush and began brushing her teeth.

I swallowed hard and turned the hot water off, thanking my lucky stars that the shower door wasn't see-through.

"Awww. Your tuxedo's wrinkled," she said through toothpaste foam and toothbrush.

I smirked and measured some of the travel-size shampoo into my palm. "Yeah. That's okay, though. I'll just drop it off at the cleaners and have them deliver it to Garden when it's done."

She spat, and I nearly laughed at the mental image of Sally in her bunny P.J.s with toothpaste foam around her lips spitting into the sink.

"I can steam them, Zell. I brought a travel-sized steamer in my larger carry-on." Then I heard her continue brushing her teeth.

"That's okay. I'll make you do my laundry after the honeymoon's over." Like hell! I'm not gonna make her do my laundry! She's got her own! But how awesome was it to say something like that? I hated doing laundry, and I knew she wouldn't mind doing mine. She'd probably insist. She was just like that.

She giggled. "Zell, it's not a problem. I would hate to have you pay someone to do it when I've got the steamer."

See? I smirked. "Seriously, Meg. Don't sweat it. This is a vacation, and I don't want you working on anything but me." I grinned when she giggled again with a softly said, "Zell," that was full of toothpaste foam.

She spat again, gargled - which I would never have imagined in a million years - and then retrieved something else from her small over-night bag. When I heard the steady swush-swush-swish, I knew she had to be brushing her hair. She'd let me brush her hair a few times when we were hanging out at her apartment watching movies with Selphie, Marshal, and Janine, and it'd been the weirdest thing. Not bad-weird, just… weird. I mean, why does a guy like brushing a girl's hair? Sure it's soft and usually smells like some kind of fruit or something, but it's just… It's just hair. Yeah. Just hair, but I'd really, really liked brushing it.

Really, really liked it.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight and stepped under the cold water to keep myself from pulling her in. …wet hair… wet P.J.s… wet- Dincht!

Then she set the brush on the counter and I heard the soft collection of twangs as she put her hair up in a ponytail.

"I'm going to go sit on the back deck, sweetie."

I cleared my throat, "Okay," and balled my hands into fists as I heard the sexier than sexy pit-pat of her bare feet on the tiled floor of the bathroom. Now, erm, tell me again why we couldn't shower together? Besides the fact she'd die of embarrassment if I offered? I grimaced and scrubbed at my scalp. Oh yeah. The whole 'naked' thing. This was Sally we were talking about. The last thing I wanted to see on her face was horror.

"Chill," I mumbled. "You guys'll work up to it. Remember what Pop said? It'll be fine."

Sally was worth a few days' worth of cold showers.

***

I tucked my legs tighter against me, adjusting my arms around them as I rested my chin between them, the sound of the water against the shower walls pelting me with a question over and over and over again. 'Why? Why? Why?'

Closing my eyes and hiding my face in the blanket around my legs, I couldn't answer. When I had heard Zell's 'Aw crap', I had wanted so badly to look and see what had made him say it in such a tone of irritation. But the door had been closed. The water had been running. Plus, the idea of seeing him- I flushed and tightened my arms around my legs again. Seeing each other naked was… it was a very embarrassing thought for me still. I didn't know why. I mean, we were married. It was okay. I was… curious, but.…

I released a deep breath, remembering how the 'want' to be in the room with him and discovering why he'd said 'aw crap' had kept pushing at my insides. Then the sound of the shower door opening and closing and his yelp.… I hadn't been able to keep myself out anymore. We were married. It was okay for me to be in the bathroom with my husband. It was okay for me to brush my teeth while he took a shower. I wanted to brush my teeth while he took a shower.

If I was honest with myself, I actually wanted to take a shower with him.

Groaning with embarrassment, it immediately became a silly giggle. It was all Seifer's fault, putting the idea of fancy underwear and showers in my head. I mean, for heaven sake, I didn't need to be having thoughts like those. It was easy enough to imagine him shirtless and in boxers - like the evening I'd woken him to give him his ring - and then I remembered how it had felt to be kissed by him.…

Giggling again, I did a slight foot dance on the seat of my chair as I happily shrugged my shoulders and again whispered my new name. It'll come, Sally. You really love him. He really loves you. He's seen you in your swimsuit without your t-shirt, and you've seen him in his swimtrunks.… Sure, it's not the same as down to his nothings but, well, you love him and he loves you. Just don't think about it. Just… just enjoy Zell Dincht. It'll come when you're ready. Mom promised.

I sighed deep and lifted my head- Zell smiled, crouched as he was in front of me in shorts and a t-shirt and slicked back hair. He looked more than awesome in wet hair. I smiled. "Hi."

"Hi." He gave my big toes a pinch. "It got kinda wild out here. I wanted to make sure you weren't getting kidnapped."

My eyes crinkled at the corners as I shook my head and squeezed my legs. "Nope."

Zell chuckled and then straightened, lifting me up with his hands under my arm pits and putting me over his shoulder as I squealed. "Come on, you. Let's go have some breakfast. I'm starved."

"But I'm in my P.J.s!"

"Duh. I'm calling room service. You go take a shower and get all prettified, not that you don't look hot in your P.J.s."

I giggled and gave his back a rub. Then he set me down onto my feet in front of the bathroom and kissed my forehead before turning me toward the open bathroom door and giving a gentle push and a "Shoo." He immediately gave my bottom a pat, too, welcoming the flutter and the burning of my cheeks.

Giggling, I sent my cutest smile over my shoulder as I paused in the doorway of the bathroom. Janine probably would have said 'Wanna come?' I wanted to, but I just couldn't get the words out.

Zell sent me a softer smile. "Go on, Meg. I'll get breakfast and then we'll watch TV in bed until about nine. Okay?"

I silently nodded and then stepped into the bathroom, closing the door and leaning against it with a sigh as I pressed my forehead against the wood.

Throughout the shower, getting dressed and 'prettified', and braiding my hair I couldn't do anything but try and plan a way to try and get used to the 'naked' idea. Before I could come up with even a basic option, I had to think back on all the times I had been around Zell without my usual uniform, jeans, or workout clothes.

Considering I didn't like being outside of a desk in the short skirt of my uniform, that made it to the top-section of my 'I'm embarrassed to wear these in public' list. Since the yacht wasn't as public as Garden, the library, or even the security office, I figured it might not be as big an issue. Well, maybe 'challenge' was the better word. After all, as I'd noted before, I could wear my swimsuit in front of him without 'Beach Bunny'.

So, while we ate our breakfast and watched the Timber Wolves game on the t.v. sitting cross-legged back in the pillows, I came up with a couple possibilities. The first one was to change our clothes in front of each other, even if that meant only being in the same room, to at least break the ice. I mean, underwear sometimes covered more than bathing suits! At least for me it did. I still wore tank t-shirts over my.... well... you know.

Then, when that was accepted as a necessary initial step, I pushed onto the next one, not noticing that my expression became more and more thoughtful and my bites slower and slower.

When Zell gave me a nudge and a boyish grin while asking "Watcha thinkin'?" I flushed clear to my toes.

"I think I've got a good plan for helping with, uh, for helping me get ready for.…"

Zell surrounded me with an arm and gave me a jostle and a squeeze. "Hey, what's the deal? You're my favorite color."

I smiled, even though I felt as if I'd melt. "I know. It's because, well, I, uh, have an idea for helping me get ready to be… You know."

Confusion drew his brows together in a frown. "Uh..." He scratched at his head.

Giggling, I whispered the word "Naked," in his ear.

"Oh! That!" he said, ears and face turning pink. "Don't worry about that, Meg. I told you. We'll work up to it. We have three weeks."

I sat up a little. "Zell, I don't want to wait until the last day of the last week to be able to.…" I flushed darker, which of course made Zell's boyish smile return. "So, I've come up with a plan to help. It should only take about a week at the most. Maybe less."

The smile became more lopsided.

I giggled yet again and gave him a soft shove. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Never mind." He clicked off the t.v. and then leaned back into the pillows, arms crossed. "So what's your idea?"

You're so cute! Especially when he listened like that, even if he did look like he was silently laughing at me. I scooted closer, which of course invited him to put his arm around me - yay! - and then I focused on my hands as I numbered off the points. "The most important duty, at first, would be to 'break the ice', I think. So I thought changing our clothes would be a good way to start that, even if we just keep our backs to each other the first time."

"Can I peek?"

Blushing as dark a shade of crimson as I could, I softly giggled. "Well, I guess. Since we're married, but just don't tell me when. I don't want to know."

"You're going to peek, too, right? I mean. That's kinda the whole point?"

Okay. So it wasn't going to be as easy an initial step as I thought it would be. "Oh. Um.…" I worried my lower lip. "Yeah… I guess I would need to, huh? Hm. I suppose I didn't think that through enough."

Zell snickered and gave me a squeeze. "Sally… Chill out. You've seen me in my boxers before, so it won't be a big deal. I'll just make sure I don't wear the ones Marshal got me."

Okay, so I could get more red.

"Ooo. I've never seen that color before!"

I gasped and looked up, giving him a hard shove the same moment the embarrassment burst out in a silly giggle. I couldn't help it. I was the Giggle Queen. Just ask Zack.

Zell shoved back, which resulted in a short-lived shoving, tussling, and mild tickling instance similar to what we'd done for months already. I always loved those, though I couldn't say why. He never let me win any, and I usually accidentally hit an embarrassing spot (well, what I thought was embarrassing anyway) when trying to get him into any kind of helpless position. He mostly always went for my wrists, which was completely unfair! How could I do anything when he had me by the hands? Although I'd been working on some strategies using body weight and legs, only I didn't get the chance to use them in this match.

We had to cut it short when he wrestled me onto my back, kicking over our trays in the process. He and I burst out laughing as we quickly sat up and gathered the half-eaten pieces of toast and sausage. Thank goodness I had eaten all my eggs. That would have been really gross.

"Aw man," Zell complained, still laughing. "They're going to kill us. Look at the grease."

"I'll soak it in the sink with some soap and hot water. Don't worry about it. I'm sure they've had worse." When I met his gaze, we both started laughing again.

That laughter really made me feel more at ease. Talking about the 'getting ready to be naked' was really hard for me. But like usual, Zell being 'Zell' had found a way to push past that. See? It'll be okay. Just keep trying. What did Mom say? It takes 30 days to make a habit? Sure I didn't have 30 days, but if I tried hard enough I bet I could do this in a week, just like I'd said. I think it had taken less time than that - if I counted only consecutive days - to get to the point where I could leave 'Beach Bunny' off when in my swimsuit.

Zell followed me into the bathroom with the mattress sheet and pushed up onto the counter as I ran the water and waited for it to heat up. "So what's after the 'changing in the same room'?"

I kept my focus on my fingers under the stream of water. "Since I'm more comfortable wearing my swimsuit around you than what I was, I could wear just that at first. Maybe with shorts and no top, or just with a tank tee and no shorts. Then when we go to Fisherman's Horizon on our way to Mom and Dad's, I thought maybe I could go and pick up a bikini." My face flushed crimson.

Zell whistled through his teeth.

Sending him a glance, I rubbed the soap on the grease spots and scrubbed them under the hot water. "Like I did with my other swimsuit at first, I could wear it with shorts and a shirt. Then, when I'm more comfortable, wear it without." I sent him another sidelong glance to intercept a smile that sent a tingle all the way around and then again. "For you, you could go around shirtless and then, maybe, just with your… boxers… ahem."

Laughing, Zell hopped down from the counter and then drew me close against him, placing a kiss on the back of my neck that gave me the shivers. "Man! That sounds fun! Like a long strip-tease."

I voiced a soft protest of "Zell!" as I flicked water at him, but I had to admit he was right. That thought had my stomach flipping and flopping all over the place with nervousness and… expectation. I would give him his honeymoon.

I just had to work up to it.