Disclaimer : I don't own anything.
Note : Yay! 3 chapters done in one day! Can I sleep now...? Please...?
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(Shane's POV)
"This is Headmaster Kanoi. I have an announcement to make. I have important news that I have to share with all of you. The Garden is being repaired right now. We'll leave FH immediately after it's finished. We're going on a journey. This is a journey to defeat the sorceress. Garden will now be used as a mobile base. The administration of Garden will be run by myself and the staff, as usual. This journey will involve many battles. A well-qualified leader is required for this."
Frowning, I listened carefully to his words. He seemed totally serious about what he was saying, but... A well-qualified leader? Who's he mean?
"Therefore, I am appointing Shane as your new leader."
I felt my eyes go wide and my heart jump into my throat. WHAT?!?!?
"From now on, Shane will be the leader. He will decide our destination and battle stategies."
No! No way! I thought furiously, growing angry. How dare he just lay this on me! And out of nowhere?!? I'm not ready! I thought, clenching my fists at my side. How could he?
"Everyone, please follow his orders. If there are any objections, please come see me in person."
I can't believe this! I thought in shock as I watched him turn the PA system off and place the microphone down before he turned to me with a knowing smile, though it was small.
"Shane, we're under your command from now on." he said gravely, his smile fading. "This is your fate. It is your destiny to lead the way in defeating the sorceress."
I growled and shook my head, shaking with barely concealed rage. How dare he! "Don't talk about this like it's been decided since my birth!" I shouted.
I don't mind fighting the sorceress. I thought, turning and leaving the bridge, ignoring his pleads to listen to him. It's unavoidable as long as I'm a SeeD member. Frowning, I made my way to my room, ignoring the many congratulations I was getting from random people I didn't even know.
As long as I'm a SeeD member? What if... I made it to my room and unstrapped my gunblade, throwing it unceremoniously into the case and stripping off the item pouch and extra rounds of ammunition. What if I quit? Pausing, I stared at my gloves and sighed. To be honest, that just wasn't an option.
"Quit... And then what?" I questioned myself, out loud, sitting on the edge of my bed as I stripped off my jacket. "What do I have left?" This place was my home, my world. If I quit, I'd be forced to leave, and I had no place else to go.
Don't even want to think about it. Just stop thinking... I chanted to myself, lying down and closing my eyes.
It only took about ten minutes before my thoughts began looping themselves again, and I opened my eyes with a grunt.
I'll just have to do what I was told... I thought darkly, realizing there was no way around it. Command the Garden and kill the sorceress.
Didn't the headmaster understand how difficult that order was to follow?
Howw does the headmaster expect me to take care of everyone? It'd be best to fight the sorceress soon, and end this nonsense. ...?!
Blinking a moment, I frowned as a thought occured to me.
But isn't she the headmaster's wife? He wants us to kill his wife?
It certainly made sense. It was our duty, but just because we had to do it, didn't mean he had to. He was backing out! He was putting me in charge, because he knew I'd do whatever necessary to accomplish our mission. He knew I wasn't as attached to her as he was.
...What does it feel to have to give an order like that?
(Quad, with the rest of the group, Normal POV)
"Hey, everyone." Hunter grinned at the group that sat in the circle. "Here's our producer, Marah."
Walking over to the group, she smacked his arm before sitting down at the head of the group, dropping a large pile of papers loudly on the ground. "Ahem! We'll be holdin' the concert as planned. This performance isn't just for us, though. It's also for Shane. Y'know, to congratulate him on his recent promotion."
"Sounds fun." Tori agreed with a smile as she pulled at the papers a little, only to realize, they were little musical scores. Blinking a moment, she pulled one out of the group and began to read it.
Kapri grinned and grabbed one herself. "So, who's gonna perform?"
"We are!" Marah exclaimed with joy, making everyone pale and stop whatever they were doing to stare at her in shock.
"Yeah, right." Dustin snorted, barely keeping from laughing.
"You're kidding." Tori said seriously. Seeing the devious look on Marah's face, she shook her head violently. "Oh, no way! You can count me out. I have no musical aptitude."
Kapri raised an eyebrow, remembering the night at Totally Talented, back on earth, when Tori had done a dance routine. No musical aptitude? "Oh, really?" she bit back the urge to grin. "This I gotta see."
"Let's just give it a try." Marah pleaded. "We've got everything ready. All we need's four people."
"This is gonna be so much fun!" Kapri giggled.
Marah grinned and turned to her. "Oh, sorry, Kapri, but you're not gonna be a member."
Biting back the pang of hurt, Kapri looked down. "You're leaving me out?" she asked quietly.
"Uh-uh. I got something more important for you to do."
Blinking a moment, she looked up and saw the knowing look on Marah's face, paling a little as she began to worry about this 'more important' job of hers.
Finally, we got set up for everyone to try out different instruments. The auditions, if you will, actually turned out surprisingly good. Tori was tap dancing, Dustin was on saxophone, Hunter was on electric guitar, and Marah was on piano.
"Ok, we have until tonight to practice for our performance." Hunter informed everyone, handing out a musical score for each instrument.
Marah nodded at Kapri. "And that's when you're up."
Nodding a little warily, Kapri had a slight idea of what they wanted her to do and felt her heart skip a beat. "You can count on me." she said softly.
"It's gonna be a blast!" Marah cried, running back over to the piano to work on the piece.
(Shane's POV)
Laying on my bed was boring as hell. I took a small nap, but in the end, I woke up early during the night, wide awake and with nothing to do. Frowning, I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
...I'm bored... I wonder what the others are up to.
Standing up, I turned to my gunblade and was about to reach out for it when I stopped. Garden was still at FH, and though I shouldn't wander around without a weapon, it was fairly safe on board, now that Lothor was gone. So really, I didn't feel like I'd need it.
Shrugging, I sighed and grabbed my gloves and jacket, slipping them on before heading out of my room. Walking down the hall, I rolled my eyes as I entered the main path leading to the main hall.
Then I stopped cold, frowning at what I was seeing.
Kapri stood in the center of the path, whispering to Tori and Dustin. They obviously saw me and hurriedly whispered something more to her before they quicklly raced off, leaving us alone.
Keeping my frown, I walked slowly up to her, noticing she was wearing the same dress as before, when we first met at the SeeD Inaugeration Ball.
"You're not going anywhere." she said sternly, smiling at me as she stood in my path.
In the moonlight, I was caught by surprise at just how beautiful she was when she smiled. I don't know if it was my imagination, or if I was still half asleep, but with the silver light shining down on her blonde hair, and the red dress highlighting her pale complexion...
"So what's up?" she asked, and though it was dark, I could've sworn I saw her blushing.
I shrugged and yawned. ...Tired...
"You look so down." she stated, tilting her head a little and allowing her blonde hair to fall over one shoulder. "Come on Shane, how old are you? You're still so young, so why don't you act like it for a change?"
....Just tired...
Ok, come on. Let's go to the concert."
...Concert? "Why not?" I sighed. I knew her enough by now that if I refused, chances were she'd follow me around all night, chanting 'concert, concert, concert...' until I was ready to jump off the deck of Garden and kill myself.
"YES!" she cheered, jumping a little, though being careful of her short skirt. "Ok, let's go!" she said with a nod, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the Garden.
As we headed out to the solar panel leading to FH, I spotted Hunter and Marah at the top of the steps. MArah stood right at the top of them, and Hunter stood a little behind her, easily out of ear shot. When he saw me, Kapri raced to talk to Marah and left us alone.
Much to my disappointment.
I don't know about you, but when Hunter's wearing that triumphant and fairly lecherous grin, I'd really rather not hear what he has to say.
"So, she convinced you, eh?" Hunter asked with a grin. Leaning in, he looked around suspiciously before whispering to me. "Looking good together. So like... I found this place... It's perfect for you guys."
Give me a break...
"It's by the stage. You can't miss it. I left an old magazine there. You can thank me later. Have fun." If it was possible, his lecherous grin grew even more. "Just let it all out tonight."
Oh man, this guy is sick! I thought with a frown, taking a step back, which he didn't seem to notice. "Are you finished?" I finally asked, hoping he'd get the hint.
Looking over his shoulder to Marah, he grinned cheekily. "I might be ther later, with a special someone, too."
Heading over to Marah, I watched with a frown as Hunter stood behind her. I felt a little like a big brother to her, and like it was my job to rpotect her from perverts like him, so I walked up behind him, knowing that my presence alone would bother him.
And indeed, he turned and scowled at me. "Come on man, I'm about to make my move." he hissed quietly.
Marah turned and smiled at me before waving. "Hey, what's up?" she asked with a grin before taking off town the stairs.
"Oh well..." I stated in my trademark monotone, though I was mentally laughing at him.
"Geez...Thanks a lot!" he groaned before chasing after her.
I knew his chances with her were pretty much shot, so making sure Kapri was with me, I headed down the stairs, making my way to where they had the stage. To my surprise, or perhaps not, since I knew these people... Tori was on one platform with tapping shoes on, Dustin was holding a saxophone on another platform, Hunter was on guitar on yet another platform, and Marah was on piano on the last platform.
Once they saw me, Marah grinned into the microphone. "Shane! You big stud! This is for you! Congratulations! Enjoy the show! Kapri, don't let him get away!" she cried before they began their performance.
...Whatever...
Surprisingly, they were pretty good, but with as exhausted as they looked, I was guessing they took all day to practice.
I took about ten minutes to listen to them before I got bored and walked off. I didn't go far, but soon found a quiet, secluded ledge that overlooked the now dark solar panels, and found a magazine by the edge. Walking over to it, I frowned.
"Ohhh, a Naughty Magazine." Kapri stated with a look that seemed torn between being disgusted and laughing.
I thought he was kidding. But then again, sometimes I wondered about him. Sitting at the edge, I looked out over the panels and sighed. "You wanted to talk about something?" I asked quietly, knowing I was in for a lecture.
She sat beside me and sighed, looking thoughtful, concerned and almost confused, all in one. "Umm...it's about your promotion. Things are gonna get real tough for you, huh?" she asked awkwardly.
I refused to look at her. I'd rather not think about it.
"Shane, I'm sure there'll be a lot of difficult things you'll have to deal with from now on. We were talking about that, and saying how you'll probably try handling everything yourself." Her tone seemed a bit scolding but with a hint of laughter to it.
I probably will... I knew myself well enough by now to know that old habits die hard.
"They know you too well." she continued with a small, fond smile. "I do, too, although I haven't been around you as long. Y'know, when you start thinking, you tend to frown like this.." she made a face.
Frowning to myself, I looked at her and knew our faces were a lot alike. Biting back laughter and how eerily similar our looks were, I swiped my arm out, acting like I was going to hit her, and watched as she quickly did a backroll, getting out of the way before she stood up and began to laugh.
To be honest, I wanted to laugh as well, but thinking back over everything she'd said, it was very sobering. With a sigh, I shook my head. "I'm out of here." I stated.
Her laughter stopped, and I paused, wondering what she'd say next. I could hear her footsteps approach and heard her as she crouched down behind me, her warm breath caressng my neck. "Oh come on! I'm sorry! But really, we were saying that...well... You can't handle everything on your own."
I felt a pressure on my back, and instantly recognized the feeling of her hands, but it was too late.
The next thing I knew, I was stumbling across the solar panels below us and spun to glare at her as she jumped down behind me. Swinging my arm out, I felt my hand ball up into a fist as I struggled to remain somewhat calm.
"That's it!" Kapri stated firmly. "Just let out anything!"
Walking up to me slowly, Kapri gave me a sad smile and I noticed how sad and watery her eyes were as she stopped not a foot away. Feeling my anger melt out of me right away, I stood there, not knowing what to say or do.
"Anything..." Her voice turned a little shaky and I felt my eyes narrow in confusion. "We want you to talk to us a little more, that's all. Y'know, if there's anything you ever want to tell us, or anything we can do, don't hesitate to let us know. I know it's not easy, but I wish you would trust us and rely on us a little more."
Am I that untrusting...? I thought in confusion. Maybe I'm this way because I'm scared. Nothing lasts in this world. It feels great to have friends who believe in you, and adults you can rely on. That's why it's so dangerous, expecially if you become used to it. Someday, you're bound to lose everything. Everyone around you will be gone. Then what are you left with? Nothing... No one... It's so miserable. I never want to deal with that again.
I can't...
Even if it means being alone... For the rest of my life.
"What a night. Great music, good-looking guy..."
I felt my face heat up as Kapri's mock innocent tone brought me out of my depressing thoughts.
"Not only is he good-looking, but he's the sweetest guy, a great listener." she said with a smile as she absently walked back and forth, looking at the sky. "Right now, he's seriously considering everything I just said. He's shy and doesn't say anything, but I know." she grinned and looked at me before her grin turned forced. "So, what do you think? None of our business?"
"I appreciate your concern..." I offered weakly. "But-"
"No 'but's!" she yelled, glaring at me. "Just think about this. This might be the only time we'll all be together. So, as long as we're together, we might as well enjoy each other's company and...just talk, right?"
I didn't like the sound of that one bit. "...Just for tonight?" Frowning deeply, I raised an eyebrow at her and crossed my arms over my chest. "Forget it. I don't want friends that won't be around tomorrow." I stated coldly.
"God, you're such a pessimist!" Kapri groaned. "There's no guarantee in the future. That's why today, the time we have now, is important. Shane, we wanna help you, as much as we can, for as long as we can. We all love you."
I was certain her face turned a deep crimson as she paused and looked down. Was there a hidden meaning in those words? My heart clenched painfully and I looked away. Just don't think about it. I told myself.
"There. I said it." she said quietly. "Please don't freak out. We just wanna live, y'know. Live through this time together, with you."
Still looking away, I found myself thinking about it, but I was still hesitant. "...Together...?"
"Keep it n the back of your mind." she said softly. "Call on us whenever you want to. We'll be waiting. Like I said, who knows what's going to happen in the future, but I have a feeling we'll be together for a while. So, what's on your mind?" she smiled weakly and stared into my eyes when I finally got the courage to look at her. "Do you have any dreams, Shane?"
Eerily, that reminded me of the last real conversation I'd had with Blake, back in Dollet, during the exam.
"Anything you want to do with your life?"
Looking at her briefly, I shrugged. ...I've never thought about it... "That's something I'd rather not talk about." I stated uncomfortably. "What about you?"
She looked at the sky and shrugged in response. "...I don't know. I guess I don't wanna talk about the future, either." Walking forward, she wrapped her arms around my waist, startling me and making me freeze up.
What the hell?!
"But right now... ...I wanna stay right here...like this." she said softly.
Taking a moment, I managed to relax and lightly wrapped my arms around her shoulder, wondering al lthe while, why this felt so right.
(Shane's Room)
After a long night, I was awake early. Trying to get back to sleep wasn't as easy as I'd hoped, after everything that happened the previous night.
Laying on my bed, I frowned when sleep didn't want to come. I guess I had a lot more to think about than I expected. I ended up thinking over everything that had happened and everything that was said.
Closing my eyes, I sighed a little when I felt myself dozing off.
Flashback/Dream
The child-like version of Shane stood under the leaky roof of the porch again, watching the same car drive past. Sobbing quietly, he rubbed at his eyes and watched the sad face of his 'sis' get smaller and smaller.
A bunch of people in white uniforms came and adopted her, saying something about how it wasn't safe for her there, and something else about her 'Uncle'.
"...Sis... I'm...all alone now..." he said as more tears made their way down his face.
A little girl with brown hair, and a little boy with frizzy, curly black hair ran by, laughing as they did so.
"But I'm doing my best..." he fisted his red shirt in a little hand. "I'll be ok without you, sis." he vowed shakily. "I'll be able to take care of myself..."
A little blonde girl ran up with blue eyes that watered on contact with his own. She let out a shaky sob, and he lost it, running off to cry alone.
End Flashback/Dream
"Shane! Shane! Please report to the bridge immediately!" Cam's voice called over the PA system, and I sighed as I dragged myself out of bed.
...What is it now?
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The same dream/flashback, but I'm trying to show little differences in each.
Yay! A little Shane/Kapri fluff! Now, the actual fluff (if you can call it that) doesn't start for a long time, but I wanted to do SOMETHING!!!
Hope you liked it.
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"Why don't we head back to Balamb?"
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R+R please.
Thank you.
Tenshi