Disclaimer : I don't own it.
Note : Ok, I call it dream world, but it's not really a dream. Don't worry, it'll all be explained, later on.
Quick note - Though I'm using the telepathic communication style ("Example"), it's to tell thoughts apart. The "thoughts"are Shane's and the thoughts are Tommy's. And an explanation... I don't know if Tommy can' really hear Shane's thoughts. At some point, it seems he does, but then at others, it seems he doesn't. Maybe it's only some times. I don't know and I never figured it out in the game. Sorry if it's confusing.
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(Next Day)
Damn...
Woken out of a deep sleep, I scowled at my door for a moment, trying to remember why everything looked so different. Then it hit me. Last night I graduated, and I'm a SeeD now. So this was my new room.
"Shane!" came Marah's voice, whining on the other side of my doorway.
I'm awake. "...What?" I called sleepily.
"It's our first SeeD mission. Looks like we're going to Timber. Meet us by the front gate, hurry!" she called before the sound of running footsteps marked her leaving.
Our first SeeD mission? Already? Wait...our first SeeD mission??
So I was going with her? Well, I guess she wasn't so bad, but she was pretty hyperactive. Still, not as bad as Dustin.
Groaning a little, I climbed out of bed and got dressed for the day, checking my gunblade before I sheathed it on my belt. As I left my room, I sighed as I walked silently behind a couple of cadets. I didn't mean to, but I ended up listening to their conversation as we walked.
"Ummm... We'll still be friends after we graduate, won't we?"
"What's this all of a sudden?"
I wasn't looking at them, so I didn't know who was speaking. I did know that it was three girls, though.
"Oh, ummm... Nothing really. Just wondering... I guess."
One of the girls giggled. "What do you think?"
"Let's see... I know we will still be friends, but..."
"H-HEY!"
"Take it easy, I'm just kidding!"
"Yeah, it would be really cool if the three of us were still together."
"YEAH!"
Finally getting by them, I quickly made my way to the front gate, walking along until I saw Marah standing alone. Instead of her uniform, she wore a purple leather dress with a short skirt and it was sleeveless, along with knee-high purple boots and her nun chucks hanging off her hip.
Kanoi and a Garden Faculty soon appeared, looking around and not looking pleased. "Where's Dustin?"
I raised my eyebrow at this and shrugged to them. Great, so he's coming too. Well, can't be helped, I guess.
"...One more minute..." the Garden Faculty said in a grim voice.
That's when a motorized surf board came rushing through the entrance, kin of like a skateboard, only in the air, and made it's way over to us, before stopping by the Faculty member. Dustin used his foot to flip it up and held on to it with a smirk.
"Made it!"
Like Marah, he too wasn't wearing his uniform. Instead, he was wearing long, lose yellow shorts and a yellow top with thick shoulder and chest padding, and short sleeves. On his hands were his same fingerless gloves, and on his feet were yellow, steel-toed sneakers.
"T-Boards are prohibited within Garden. Have you forgotten?" the Garden member asked grimly.
Dustin's eyes widened for a brief moment. "Oops, sorry! But this is really cool! It may come in handy on a SeeD mission, some day!"
"We'll be the judges of that." the Garden faculty said as another approached and he took the board, handing it to him. "Confiscate it." Once the other man was gone, he turned back to us. "All of you are SeeD members, but... Nevertheless, you are still students at this Garden. Furthermore, because you are SeeDs, you must set an example for all of the others and abide by the Garden rules. Understood?"
Now it was Headmaster Kanoi's turn to speak. "Well, about your first mission... You are to go to Timber. There, you will be supporting a resistance faction. That is your mission. A member of the faction will contact you at the station."
The Garden Faculty took over from here. "This person will talk to you and say, 'The forests of Timber sure have changed'. At this time, you must reply, 'But the Owls are still around'. That is the password."
"Just follow the faction's orders." Kanoi finished.
Looking around, Dustin frowned. "Uhh... Just us 3?"
"Correct. We have agreed to take on this mission for very little money. Normally we would have refused such a request, but..."
Kanoi blushed and raised an eyebrow at the Garden Faculty before cutting him off. "Enough talk about that. Well then, Shane, you're the Squad leader. Use your best judgment based on the situation. Dustin and Marah, you are to support Shane and give your all to carry out the faction's plans. Oh!" Turning to me, Kanoi produced a small round, black ball and handed it to me.
As soon as I touched it, it turned to mist and entered my body, and I recognized the feeling of a new GF.
Diablos, the dark GF.
"As I suspected. No one had ever awoken his powers like that before. It seems Diablos has found a new owner." the Headmaster mused out loud, smiling at me.
Other than the GF, I also sensed new magics within me.
Cura, second level healing magic.
Life, a resurrecting magic to revive fallen allies.
And Demi, a dark offensive magic, used to weaken a monster by a fraction of it's strength each time.
And by the looks on Marah and Dustin's faces, they had it too.
"Good luck on your first mission!" Headmaster Kanoi said firmly before he and the Garden Faculty walked off.
(Train to Timber)
Heading out of Garden, we made our way to Balamb city. We could've taken a Garden car, but wanted to build up our strength for our first real mission. Of course, Dustin was overexcited in most of the battles, taking out the monsters before Marah or I had a chance to strike, and in others, Marah actually joined him.
I was a bit confused as to how they hadn't run out of energy yet, and how they actually managed to stay alive in the battles.
It was like they were almost in Kamikaze mode!
Luckily, by the time we hit Balamb, they'd finally calmed down and we made our way to the station.
"The train to Timber will be leaving momentarily!" the station personnel called as he stood at the top of the stairs.
Just made it. I thought in relief as I paid for our ticket and we boarded.
Marah ran to a small waiting area and looked around before looking out a window as the train began it's journey, traveling into a dark tunnel. "This train is so cool!" she cried with a huge grin as she turned to face us.
Dustin nodded as he leaned against a wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "A transcontinental railroad, baby!" he said with a grin. "It even runs through an underwater tunnel to get to Timber. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Sure is…" Marah said in a confused tone, staring at him blankly.
He blushed at that. "Guess you're not interested."
No, I think you just lost her a while back. I thought with a raised eyebrow as I held my ticket.
"By the way, Shane, you need to use the ticket to get inside." he added, gesturing to the computer console in front of me.
No duh. Walking over to it, I inserted the card and waited as the computer read it. "Confirming… Access Granted." a computerized voice spoke as the door opened up.
Marah rushed in front of it before turning back to us with a giggle. "I'm gonna go check out the front!" she called before disappearing through the door.
"Let's check it out, Shane." Dustin put in before he too, disappeared through the door.
With a sigh, I moved through the door and watched as Marah looked out through a large window, and Dustin opened the door to the cabin.
"Yo, check it out! So this is SeeD's private cabin…!" he said as he stepped in. "WHOA! OHH YEAAHHH! AWESOME!" he yelled from inside.
Leaving Marah to stand in the hallway, singing some weird little train song she obviously made up, I joined Dustin inside and watched as he bounced on the cushions of a large sofa before he settled down and stared at me.
"This is so cool!" he cried.
I raised an eyebrow and moved to sit beside him. "…Glad you're so excited." I said in my usual monotone.
He calmed a little more as he held up a pet training magazine. "They even have magazines here."
My mind suddenly began to get a little fuzzy but I ignored it as Dustin babbled on about how Timber is a small city surrounded by forests that came under Galbadian occupation when they invaded. He went on about the fact that there was a whole pile of resistance factions, but when I gave him a look to continue, he shrugged sheepishly and said that was all he knew.
As if that helps at all. I thought dryly. "….Thank you, Mr. know-it-all-Dustin." I put in sarcastically.
Obviously, he didn't pick up on my tone and shrugged again with a smile. "No problem."
A buzzing began in my ears and I frowned as my mind grew a little more fuzzy, but I pushed it back and blinked a couple of times to focus. That's when Marah walked in, wiping at her eyes and swaying a little in the doorway.
"I don't…feel well." she mumbled sleepily.
I shrugged and gestured to the bunk beds in the room. "You should get some rest if you're sleepy."
She continued like she hadn't heard me and stumbled as she took a step further. "I'm really tired."
Frowning again, I looked closely at her. "You ok?" I asked carefully.
Dustin then jumped up and staggered a bit as he looked around in confusion. "Hey…? Huh? What the…?!" he cried, his voice slurring a bit. "Something's wrong with me, too…" he said, slumping back down on the couch as his eyes drooped. "I…feel…sleepy…"
The buzzing suddenly increased in my head, and I jumped up, staggering forward a bit as I held my head. I watched blurrily as Marah stumbled over to the bed and collapsed, and Dustin fell asleep where he was. "What's going on…?" I questioned out loud, wincing as the buzzing grew over powering and I stumbled into the wall by the door, leaning against it. "Ugh?! …What is this?"
Before I knew what was happening, I also collapsed, face first on to the floor. I managed to break my fall with my arms, but before I could blink, darkness overwhelmed me.
(In Another Place, At Another Time)
When I finally came to, I found myself running through the woods. Only, I didn't know these woods. I don't recall ever seeing them before, and when I tried to stop, I couldn't. I found that someone else was in control of my body.
Then I realized, this wasn't my body.
For one thing, I was wearing a blue and black Galbadian uniform, and I was carrying a large gun. Then there was the fact that the person had long black hair that fell to just past their shoulders, and I heard an unfamiliar voice speaking.
"Uhh, Tommy? You sure this is the right way?" some guy asked.
"…What the…?"
I felt confusion at my thoughts, but nothing more.
"Huh?"
"Whoo-boy! Not again!" a second male voice cut in with irritation.
"Where am I? Is this some sort of dream?"
"Hey, aren't we here to fight a war against the 'all mighty' Timber army?" a man with short brown hair and brown eyes asked, also wearing a blue and black uniform but carrying a large spear.
A black man with short black hair and black eyes, wearing the same uniform and carrying a set of swords nodded with a frown. "Yeah, so why are we wasting our time, messin' with these animals?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
The body I was in, suddenly stopped and scratched his head as he turned to look back at the others. I could pick up their names from his mind as he searched for an excuse.
Jason, the man carrying the spear, and Zack, the man carrying the swords.
"Well, uhh… You see…. It's just, that…uhhh…" he stammered.
Zack rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me we're lost again." he put in with a mild glare.
"Anyway, we're going home!" Tommy said firmly. "Deling City, here we come!"
"W-Wait! Tommy!" Jason tried, but Tommy ran off into the forest and they had no choice but to follow.
"What the hell's going on??" I wondered angrily.
They ran to a vehicle in the forest and boarded before taking the bus to a large city I'd never seen before. Stopping the truck in the road, they stepped out as Jason tried to get Tommy to move the vehicle.
"Is this guy insane?! You don't just park a truck in the middle of the road!!"
They spoke for a bit, talking about going to a bar for a drink. Apparently, Jason and Zack knew that there was another motive for Tommy to be going to the bar, but he wouldn't admit to it.
They ran off down the street and soon made their way into an Inn and went downstairs to the bar, and where a piano stood in the center of a small stage. The image of a lovely brunette woman appeared in Tommy's mind before it was forced away.
"Welcome! Your usual table is ready!" a cheery waitress said as she stood by the three men.
"Huh? Excuse me?" I blinked and then had the urge to smack myself in the forehead. For a moment, I'd forgotten she wasn't talking to me.
Tommy apparently either must've heard my thoughts, or felt something strange because he shook his head. "What?" he questioned quietly in confusion.
"What's wrong?" Zack asked with a frown.
"I…" Tommy shook his head again. "I don't know."
"What is this?"It was certainly too weird to be a dream, wasn't it?
"Huh? Tommy looked at the others in confusion as he rubbed the side of his head lightly.
"Wait a second, is your head buzzing?" Jason asked thoughtfully.
I mentally frowned at this. "My head was buzzing before I passed out. Is that what he's talking about?"
"W-What? You, too?" he asked, watching as both Zack and Jason nodded slowly.
"…Guess not."
"Yeah, ever since we were in Timber." Jason answered.
"Me, too." Zack added.
"Hey, we're just tired is all. We'll be fine after a drink or two…or three…" Jason said with a grin as he tried to cheer the others up.
"What the hell's going on?!" I mentally demanded.
"Would you shut up, pu-lease!" Tommy roared, making everyone stare at him as the waitress ran off in a panic. Looking around sheepishly, he walked over to a table and sat down on the edge of the bench.
"Is this a dream…?"
They ordered their drinks and relaxed a moment.
"So, Tommy… Kimberly should be making her appearance soon. You goin' for it, tonight?" Jason asked with a knowing grin as he took a swig of his beer.
"Yeah, go fir it." Zack put in with a nudge.
Blushing deeply, Tommy shook his head as a woman with long brown hair and brown eyes appeared out of a side door and walked over to sit at the piano before she began to play a lovely tune. She was wearing a deep red gown with a slit up one side, showing off her leg, and spaghetti straps. Staring at this friends, Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Whatever, man. Can't you see she's working?"
"Excuses, excuses…"
"Don't go back on your word." Jason scolded slightly. "Come on, go wave to her."
"Give me a break." he groaned. Standing up, Tommy made his way to the edge of the stage, sighing quietly as he stared in awe at the woman playing the piano. Ah… To be this close to Kimberly… he thought.
"Is this guy for real?"
…Uh oh… My leg's cramping up… he thought as his face grew heated. Kimberly looked up and smiled at him as she continued to play, and Tommy doubled over, clutching at his calf. Argh…
Limping around, he moved away from the piano before moving back and giving her a shy wave, making her smile grow a little. Then, he sighed and moved back to his table.
"…Sad…"
After sitting for a moment and rubbing some more at his calf, Tommy noticed when his friends turned towards him before their eyes went wide and they exchanged looks.
"Ahh…" Zack mumbled quietly.
Jason nodded. "Uhh…"
"Tommy, we're taking off." the sword wielder said quickly as they both stood and left the booth.
"H-Hey!" Tommy protested, staring in confusion at them both. "What's the rush?"
Jason looked back and smirked. "It's on us tonight. Stay a while and relax." he insisted before they both headed up the stairs.
"May I?" a sweet, feminine voice asked shyly a moment later, and Tommy spun to see who it was.
Gaping at the woman behind him, he saw it was Kimberly herself and nodded. "Aaahhh…" he stuttered as his leg cramped up again. Limping to the side, he sat down and turned to face her.
"Did I interrupt something?" she asked softly.
"N-N-Not at all!" he said quickly, shaking his head. "P-P-Please… S-Sit down." he stammered, blushing deeply as she sat beside him. Oh man! Oh man! It's really HER!!! What do I do?! Jason, Zack, HELP!! What do I say?? But man… Kimberly sure is pretty!
"What is he thinking??"
"You ok now?" she asked softly, brushing her hair over her shoulder.
Shrugging Tommy offered a weak smile. "Kind of…"
"How's your leg?"
"L-Leg? Oh! It's fine now. Happens all the time, when I get nervous." he coughed purposely, realizing what he's just said.
Giving him a small smile, Kimberly laughed silently. "Were you nervous?"
He nodded. "Oh yeah. I still am, kind of…"
"You can relax." she said with a soft look. "You don't have to get so nervous around me."
"Oh, sorry." he apologized, blushing deeply.
"Say…" Leaning towards him, she lowered her voice. "Would you like to talk somewhere more private? Everyone's staring at us…" she whispered, turning to look around the room. "I have a room here… If you'd like, please stop by."
Following her gaze, he noticed she was right and literally everyone in the room was staring at them. "I-In your room?!" he almost shouted.
"Well, I've been wanting to talk to you." she admitted, a soft blush lighting up her face. "You don't want to?" she asked, her voice bordering on disappointment.
"Of course I do!" he exclaimed with a shocked look.
Giggling, she nodded and stood up. "Then I'll wait for you in my room. Just ask at the front desk."
As she left, Tommy felt like he was going to hyperventilate. Am I dreaming? This must be a dream! No, this can't be a dream!
"This is too weird to be a dream!"
Kimberly…? Wants to talk to me…?
"…He talks to himself too much…"
And just the two of us! He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Pull yourself together, Tommy! he scolded himself.
"…Whatever."
(Kimberly's Room)
As Kimberly pulled open the door and Tommy walked in, she smiled as she shut it behind him. "Thank you for coming." she said shyly.
Eyes widening, Tommy shook his head and spun to face her. "No…Not at all, uh… Thank you for inviting me." he said awkwardly, trying to be polite.
"Have a seat." she said with a smile.
Walking over to the bed, Tommy sat down on the edge of it before he realized he was sitting on her bed and shook his head, getting up quickly and crossing over to a chair to sit on.
Of course, Kimberly witnessed all this and began to giggle at his obvious nervousness.
Getting up, he walked over to her and rubbed the back of her neck as her face turned a little disappointed.
"Leaving so soon?" she asked as she clasped her hands in front of her. "We haven't had a chance to talk yet."
"No, it's not that." Tommy said, his face turning red. "It's just that, I'm a big fan of yours, so I'm really kinda nervous, y'know?"
She nodded a little. "So that's why you came to hear my play so often."
His eyes went wide again. "You…You saw me?"
"You were always smiling while listening, right?" she asked, beginning to pace a little. "You have beautiful eyes, though they look a bit scared now." Stopping by his side, she gave him a smile. "Don't worry. I'm not going to pluck 'em out and eat 'em. I just want to talk, gazing into those eyes." Turning away, she moved over to the window. "Would you like a drink? Wine, perhaps?"
"I must be dreamin'…" he said as he walked over to stand with her. "Kimberly, Tell me about yourself. Like…your dreams for the future."
Blushing slightly, she ducked her head. "I…I want to sing. Not just play the piano, but sing, too."
"Oh, I'd really love to hear that." he admitted honestly. The idea of her singing… He really would like to hear it.
"But I can't." she said, turning away from him and looking at the floor. "I'm no good at writing lyrics…"
"Hmmm… That must be tough." he said with a thoughtful frown.
That's when Kimberly turned back to him and smiled a big, shy smile. "But thanks to you… I think I can come up with something."
"Thanks to me?" he repeated incredulously, not believing the Kimberly Heartily was thanking him.
She nodded. "Yes… The many faces you've shown me. Times when you were hurt, worried…or felt pain deep inside you… You're smiles, your face, your eyes… You've shown me something… I think I can come up with a song."
"Wow… I must be dreamin'." he said, repeating himself from before.
Taking his arm, Kimberly pinched him slightly, watching as he jumped a little. "It's not a dream, is it?"
Before he could open his mouth to say anything, a loud knock at the door came and caused them to jump apart.
"Tommy! New orders! Meet by the Residential Palace, on the double!" Zack yelled through the door.
"Can we meet again?" Kimberly asked with sad eyes.
Tommy nodded. "Of course! I have to come hear you sing!" he said with a big smile as everything went black.
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Merrick/Shayla fans, and Tommy/Kimberly fans… you will not want to read this. I'm sorry to say, they don't end up together. Also, pay close attention to Kimberly's last name, which I changed to fit the fic. The twists…Oh, the twists! LOL
Hope you liked it.
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"But seriously, Sir Tommy was so cool!"
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R+R please.
Thank you everyone.
Tenshi.