A/N: Shoot, everyone, that was all my fault. I was EXTREMELY tired when updating this and I completely forgot to save it as a webpage document, and I uploaded it as a normal Microsoft Word Document. Super sorry, sumimasen, please forgive me.
Chapter 9
Selphie awoke due to a persistent beating on her door. Wearily, she lifted her head and mumbled, "It's open."
The door flew open and immediately the girl heard a screeching voice cry, "Your dog impregnated my dog!!" Rinoa was standing in her doorframe, pointing an accusing finger at the younger girl.
Selphie lifted her head a second time, utterly confused, and her drowsiness didn't do anything to help the matter. She closed her eyes tightly and reopened them and suddenly everything came together in her mind. She wasn't sleeping in her bed; instead she had fallen asleep at her desk the previous night. "Angelo started acting strange a few days ago, so I took her in to see the vet yesterday, and she's pregnant! Your mutt is the only other dog in the entire facility!!"
Selphie wasn't paying any attention to her however. She had just taken notice of the time. "Oh, Hyne!" Selphie squealed, jumping from the desk chair. "The exam! It's in ten minutes!"
"I'm not done talking with you yet, Selphie!" Rinoa roared.
"Sorry, Rinny!" the smaller girl said quickly. She ran to her closet, threw open the door and yanked out the first pair of jeans and shirt that were in sight. Already she could hear Quistis' scolding voice, 'Tardiness is not Rank A material!'
"Are you even listening to me!!?" Rinoa continued to yell, as Selphie ran into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. "I had to pay a veterinarian fee of one hundred and fifty gil so that some weirdo in a white lab coat and glasses could tell me that my dog is pregnant!"
"I'm sorry, Rinny, what do you want me to do about it?" Selphie yelled back through the closed bathroom door. Hurriedly, she zipped up her jeans, discarding her pajama pants on the floor.
"Well, for starters, you can pay me back for the doctor's exam!"
Selphie groaned upon hearing the word 'exam'. As fast as she could, she yanked an orange tank top on, ran a brush through her hair and opened the bathroom door.
"I don't have any money at the moment," Selphie admitted, throwing her pajamas into a hamper sitting in her closet. "Otherwise you know I would."
"Get that damn dog of yours fixed then!" Rinoa seethed, pointing at Rocks who had backed into a corner.
"What's wrong with you?" Selphie sighed, running her toothbrush under the faucet. "Your dog's having puppies, you should be happy! Excited! Something!"
"It's not your dog! I rely on Angelo in battle! She's useless when pregnant! Not only that, there is an average of six puppies in a litter. That's six more animals I have to feed, take care of, and pay for!"
"Well, then give them away when they're old enough," the girl suggested as she hurriedly started to brush her teeth. "If you nee hewp, Ah can hewp take care ob dem," she said around the toothbrush.
Rinoa rolled her eyes. "And what do you think I should do about the expenses? You SeeDs get salaries, as long as I'm here I don't get any money!"
Selphie was getting fed up with her and was on the verge of screaming at her to leave Garden and get a job. Or, for Hyne's sake, she could always apply to be SeeD. But it almost seemed as if Rinoa enjoyed freeloading around Garden, enjoying her free lodgings and meals that she recieved for being a client.
Rolling her eyes, Selphie spat the excess toothpaste into the sink, ran out of the bathroom and sat on her bed, where she began putting on her socks and boots. She turned her head and shot Rocks an apologetic look, "Sorry, pup," she said to the dog, "I'm not going to be able to take you to the Training Center until after the test, it shouldn't be too long."
"Selphie, I'm still talking to you!" Rinoa said, reminding the SeeD that she was still in the room.
"Hyne, I know, I know."
She stood away from the bed and glanced around, wondering if she needed to bring anything to the test. I knew I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night. Hyne, what demon possessed me that made me actually study…on my own free will!? Typically I can hardly bring myself to study when Quistis is breathing fire down my neck! Oh man, I don't have time for breakfast…Kadowaki would kill me if she finds out that skipped breakfast again.
Selphie continued to grumble many other incoherent things to herself as she stalked out of her room and down the hall. Rinoa, who was still following behind her, was still complaining about the veterinarian's bill, puppies, and her life in general.
Yet, since the girl's mind was in a completely different place, all she heard was snippets of what Rinoa was saying. So it sounded more like "Blah, blah, money…blah, puppies," to her than anything else.
Temporarily forgetting her phobia of the elevator, Selphie stepped inside, almost hoping that Rinoa, who was about five steps behind her, wouldn't be able to make it in time. Her hopes were crushed when Rinoa shoved her boot in front of the elevator's closing metallic doors.
"And pregnancy is a stressful part of any female's life! What if it does long term damage to her?"
"Why didn't you have Angelo fixed if you're so worried about the long term effects?" Selphie finally snapped back.
Rinoa appeared to be taken aback by this comment, and for a second she stood in the elevator next to Selphie, chewing on the inside of her lip and, arms folded and tapping an impatient finger against her upper arm.
The elevator jerked to a halt on the second floor and the doors slid open. Selphie bounded out and ran for the classroom, Rinoa still stalking behind. "Wait, Selphie, don't run from me! I'm not done yet!"
"Yes you are! I can't talk anymore, Rin!" she yelled over her shoulder.
"Oh, no you don't!"
Selphie reached the classroom door and ducked inside. However, Rinoa did the same. Edea sat at the desk, her face devoid of all emotion, and her honey colored eyes completely empty. In the room another five high-ranking SeeDs sat, awaiting her arrival. "Good of you to join us, Ms. Tilmitt," the ex-sorceress cooed.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am," Selphie said between gasps for breath, bowing low to emphasize her point.
"Why, Rinoa, do you intend to take the Rank A exam as well?" Edea asked, directing her piercing stare at Rinoa.
"N-No, I was just talking to…"
"Wait outside then," the woman said, more forcibly than she probably meant.
Wide-eyed, Rinoa nodded and darted out of the classroom.
Still panting, Selphie sat down in an unoccupied chair, next to Nida.
"Hello, children," Edea said with a wispy voice, standing up from the leather chair. "For those that do not know who I am, my name is Edea Kramer, Cid's wife."
A thin, almost inaudible 'ooh' resonated throughout the room. One of the SeeDs in particular looked very uncomfortable. No doubt he remembered her as Sorceress Edea, the woman who single handedly took over Galbadia, assassinated the president and wreaked havoc between Galbadia and Balamb Garden. Selphie on the other hand, simply knew her as Matron.
Edea nonchalantly threw a lock of her thick black hair over her shoulder and straightened out her dress. "I will be giving this exam."
The boy on Selphie's other side gulped and uneasily raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"I changed my mind," he stammered out. "I don't think I'm ready for the test."
"You're excused then," she sighed. Stumbling over his chair, the boy reached down and shakily picked up his backpack. Then, still trembling, he left the room. "Is there anyone else who wishes to not participate?"
Everyone else didn't seem to be fazed by the ex-sorceress. In unison, everyone in the room said, "No, ma'am."
"Good, good." She turned for the desk to pick up the papers, when she was distracted by something out the window. Selphie squinted to see what it was that the woman was looking at, but couldn't find it. Edea was definitely an eccentric woman. After a short silence, she realized that she was spacing off and apologized to the class.
Gracefully, she picked up the exams from the oak desk and handed them to each of the students. The exams, Selphie noted, were relatively thick and heavy. "Remember, you are welcome to leave at any time during the test. But once you give up, you are not allowed to come back for the test until next year when it is offered again."
The SeeDs nodded simultaneously. Edea glanced at the clock, and back to the students. "You have until approximately eleven o'clock to complete the test. The test is worth half of your grade. The other half is completely dependant on the final question, which will be administered after the test has been completed."
Selphie stared wide-eyed at the packet. She was giving them almost three hours to take this test, and yet Selphie was almost sure that with something that thick, three hours may not be enough.
"You may begin."
At once, everyone opened their booklet and started working their way through it. Selphie was glad to note that Quistis did an excellent job in preparing her for the questions. She knew most of the answers. Yet, as the test dragged out, she found that the questions got more and more difficult. There was a lot more math involved than she had expected. There was also quite a bit of 'What does paragraph 6, line 4 of the Balamb Garden Code state?'
She was stuck on one particular question for almost ten minutes. She sat there, debating in her mind what she should write down as an answer. Exasperatedly, she blew air through her mouth, ran her fingers through her chestnut colored bangs, and glanced up at the clock. It seemed to have been stuck at nine thirty, but she thought that there couldn't be any way that she got there only an hour ago. It seemed like an eternity. She stared angrily at the clock. The second hand went forward, once space, two spaces, then, she swore to Hyne she saw it leap back a space. She raised her eyebrows and continued to watch the second hand. Forward two spaces, back one, forward two, back one. Clock's broken…wonder how much time we have left. Does Matron have a stopwatch up there? Or is she relying on the broken clock? Hyne, if she is we'll be in here three times longer than we're supposed to!
With a growing headache, she looked back at the question and the answer came to her. Beaming with pride, she scribbled down the answer and continued on to the next question. The more she went, the more she realized that she needed food, or something to drink. A dry taste was forming in her mouth, and she had the strange desire to completely down an entire gallon of water.
Throughout the entire test, students would throw down their pencil, get an upset look on their face, and leave the room. Nida was one of them. He sighed and picked up the packet. Then he walked over to Edea, who had been sitting at the desk filing her long nails. "Finished?" she whispered.
"No, ma'am…" he admitted.
With a weak and lopsided smile, she tossed the test into the trashcan. As Nida walked past Selphie he gave her a reassuring smile and left the room.
By the time Edea said, "Pencils down," there was only one other person in the room other than her. Selphie, who had actually finished the test somewhat early, looked up from her book at the dark haired woman. On her side, a boy, who seemed to be Squall's age, seemed very anxious as she collected the two tests.
Gingerly, she placed the packets atop her desk and turned to face the two SeeDs. "Now, for the final question…" Both Selphie and boy tensed up and sat more rigid in their chairs. "Before I tell you, you must realize the risk of answering it."
Selphie gulped in a huge breath of air and listened intently.
"You have a choice right now, you may leave or answer the question, but this is the risk. If you leave, then you can take the quiz again next year, but if you stay and answer the question incorrectly you will never be able to qualify to take the Rank A exam again."
Selphie felt her jaw drop. Never be able to take the exam again? Wasn't that just a little harsh? She remembered Quistis warning her about the final question, but the instructor never actually talkedabout the risk it involved. Selphie and the boy traded nervous glances. The boy's brow was sweating from anxiety and Selphie could feel her heart sink. She promised Quistis that she would do her best to pass this exam; she couldn't give up now.
"I-I…" the boy stuttered, "I'm leaving…"
Selphie watched him ruefully as he sauntered through the doors. Now, Matron turned her honey eyes on her, staring expectantly at the girl.
"How about you, Ms. Tilmitt?" she asked delicately.
Taking a shuddering breath, Selphie looked up and said, "I'm staying."
Edea beamed and wrote something down on a clipboard. "Thank you, Ms. Tilmitt, your results should be posted at lunch."
"B-But…what about…what about the final question?"
"That was it," Matron smiled and sat on the desk.
"But…it wasn't a question!"
"Yes, it was the major part of the test, and you didn't even realize it," she smiled and crossed her thin pale legs over one another. "During a mission you have to take risks, and once you take a risk, you can't take it back. That's what the final question was testing. Were you willing to take a risk? Were you willing to give your all for something that you know could forever ruin you? And you passed with flying colors. That is the hardest part of the Rank A exam. Congratulations, Ms. Tilmitt. You are dismissed."
Breathless and speechless Selphie stared at Edea, mouth agape in pure shock. In her mind the final question was supposed to be extremely difficult. Maybe math, with huge long formulas, or one of those survival tests, perhaps even a dangerous battle with an extremely fierce monster. Never did she think that she would be tested based on her 'bravery' or 'willingness to take risks'.
"You are dismissed, Ms. Tilmitt," Edea repeated, chuckling quietly.
Selphie stood up from her desk, and as if she was treading through mud, dragged herself to the door. She was feeling lightheaded again, not just from the absence of her breakfast, but also from the sheer surprise and delight of passing at least the final part of the exam. "Oh, and Selphie, dear. Not a word of the final question to anyone," Matron called after her.
She nodded, and opened the door. Waiting for her in the hall was a very peeved Rinoa, and as soon as the girl set foot in the hall, the brunette began to pummel her with more complaints and problems. Selphie's entire brain seemed to fog over. Her eyes kept going in and out of focus without her effort, and it felt as if someone clamped their hands over her ears and was pressing with all their might on either side of her head. She couldn't hear anything, and what she could hear seemed to echo within her skull. She saw Rinoa's lips moving, but didn't understand the words coming from her mouth. The lightheaded sensation was taking over the girl and helplessly she brought her hands up to her ears, as if trying to rip away the invisible hands that already had their grips on her.
Rinoa's eyes went from angry to worried as she watched Selphie, but she couldn't respond quickly enough when the SeeD fell forward with a loud and sickening thud. She did manage, however, to catch her head before it hit the hard tile floor.
"Oh, Hyne, Selph…" Rinoa fussed, carefully slinging the younger girl's arm around her own neck and dragging her down the hall. "Someone, help!" Rinoa called down the empty hallway. "Selphie passed out!"
There was no response. It was a weekend, no one was up in the classrooms on Saturdays unless they were taking tests, and the exams were already done and taken. "Mrs. Kramer!" Rinoa exclaimed, looking in the direction of the room that Selphie had just come out of. "Mrs. Kramer! Help!"
Edea poked her head out of the door and when she saw Selphie's unconscious form slumped against Rinoa, she gasped and covered her mouth with a bony hand. "I'll call Dr. Kadowaki."
It wasn't long before a team of SeeD paramedics shot out of the elevator, carrying a stretcher. Rinoa and Edea helped place Selphie's limp body on it and followed the crowd down to the infirmary. Upon their arrival, Kadowaki gestured for them to all go inside one of the recovery rooms, and they did as she motioned, depositing Selphie on the white bed.
"How'd that happen?" Edea asked, occupying one of the stools in the room.
"I'm not sure," Rinoa said slowly, hoping that she didn't have anything to do with it. After all, she hadn't been necessarily fair to her that morning, following her around and demanding unreasonable things from her.
Kadowaki bustled into the room and looked at Selphie, then shook her head. "That's the second time in two weeks …" she sighed. "Rinoa, do you know whether or not she ate this morning?"
"Um…" the brunette flushed a light red, she knew Selphie's history of hypoglycemia. "No, ma'am. She was running late for an exam she was supposed to take."
"Will she be okay?" Edea asked the doctor, her voice faint.
"She'll be fine. But, my goodness, if this child doesn't start remembering to eat her meals, I swear I'll start feeding her through IVs."
Rinoa cringed. "I wouldn't do that…she doesn't like needles."
"Then you need to tell her to start eating!"
"It isn't as if she skips meals intentionally, Dr. Kadowaki," Rinoa said quietly. "She isn't anorexic or anything."
"I know that, Rinoa. But if she doesn't start taking better care of her body, she might end up really hurting herself. Do you realize how many brain cells are killed off due to passing out?"
Rinoa sighed, that sounded like a question that Quistis would ask. "No, ma'am."
"A lot. And brain cells do not regenerate themselves. Once they're gone, they're gone."
"I'll talk to her, ma'am."
Kadowaki studied her for a few seconds before walking back into her office. "Mickayla!" she shouted at the familiar redheaded nurse, "Get some wet towels and take them into Ms. Tilmitt's recovery room."
Edea reluctantly stood up. "I really must go," she said, still in her airy voice. "I have yet to put the exams into the computers." Then, with a sort of dignified grace, she walked from the room, her black hair swaying behind her as she turned the corner.
Rinoa sat down in the seat that Edea had occupied until then and waited for Selphie to come to. Mickayla clambered in, carrying wet towels and placed one on Selphie's forehead, then put the others in the sink.
"Will you be staying with her until she wakes up?" the red headed nurse asked.
"Yes…"
"Okay, please change out her towel every ten minutes or so until she wakes up," Mickayla smiled, then left the room.
Rinoa sighed and leaned back in the stool she inhabited. Over the speakers in the room, boring music was playing. Time clicked by on the clock, and Rinoa did as Mickayla had asked, alternating towels for her friend's forehead. It was a pretty boring job, but she did not leave, she would feel too guilty if she did.
As she switched out the fifth towel or so, she found herself talking to the unconscious girl.
"Selph, you're more trouble than you're worth," she smiled half-heartedly. "And…" her voice trailed off and became almost nonexistent, "I'm sorry about everything." She scooted the stool closer to the bed. "I should've believed you in the first place, Roxanne is a…" she didn't finish. "Anyway, I'm sorry. And I forgive you if you really do like Squall, he needs someone there for him, and I just couldn't do it anymore. I hope that you make him happy, and I hope that you're happy with him." Rinoa smiled slightly, but then it disappeared almost entirely. "However, I'm still mad about Angelo being pregnant!"
With a sigh, the older girl stood up and rubbed her hands together. "Yeah, that sounded good. Now I just have to wait for her to wake up."
"Did you really mean all that, Rinny?"
Rinoa almost jumped completely out of her skin as she looked down to see Selphie holding the white infirmary sheets almost clear up to her chin, her eyes glistening with tears.
"How long were you listening?!"
"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, sitting up, the wet towel falling from her forehead onto the sheets between her legs. "I would've spoken up sooner, but I had such a bad headache that it felt like my entire brain was pulsing inside my skull!"
"How long were you listening?" Rinoa repeated, this time sitting back down in the stool.
"Um, right about when you said that I was more trouble than I was worth."
Rinoa's face once again flushed red. "Well, that's my apology. Take it or lose it, your choice."
"Oh, Rinny! I'm so happy you don't hate me!"
"Hate you?" the brunette almost laughed. "Selph, I think you're too worried about what others think of you, because there is not one person on the face of this world that could hate you entirely. That would be a crime. Face it, you're too nice."
"Roxanne hates me."
"Well…" Rinoa started slowly. "I wouldn't say 'hate', it's too strong of a word. In Roxanne's case, she…strongly dislikes you."
"It's the same thing…" Selphie murmured, bringing the wet cloth back up to her head, trying to dab the pain away.
"Not exactly."
Selphie shrugged and looked at the doorway, "Dr. Kadowaki!" she shouted into the office, "Could I get an aspirin?"
"Just a minute, Selphie," came Kadowaki's tired voice.
"Oh, by the way…" Rinoa giggled as they waited for Kadowaki to bring the medication. "I'm supposed to tell you that you aren't allowed to skip out on meals. If you continue to do so, the doctor'll start feeding you via IV tubes."
Selphie's eyes widened in horror. "I hate needles!"
"That's what I told her."
"Do you remember when I had to get that shot when we were in Deling City because I got stung by some weird monster? The doctors thought it might have been infected."
"Yeah, you passed out there too."
"…I hate needles…" the girl repeated.
"Then no more skipping out on meals, okay?"
Selphie sighed and nodded meekly. "What time is it?"
Rinoa lifted her arm and shook her wrist so that the watch around it would slide down it. "Almost noon."
Selphie gasped and jumped out of bed, "Results are posted at lunch!" she exclaimed.
"Calm down!" Rinoa laughed. "I wouldn't leave until I had approval from Dr. Kadowaki if I were you."
The young SeeD pouted and lumbered into the main office, "Dr. Kadowaki, after I get that aspirin, can I go to the cafeteria for lunch?"
"Yes."
"Will you need to see me afterwards?"
"No, but you better eat a good lunch," the doctor warned as she filled up a small Dixie cup with water and handed it to her with a pill. Selphie nodded and washed the small white pill down, then motioned for Rinoa to follow her out the door.
"So, you were taking the Rank A exam?" the brunette asked excitedly, following Selphie to the cafeteria.
"Yeah. That was Quistis' excuse to make me take it. I wouldn't have taken it had I had a choice, but she told Cid I was planning on taking it and he excused me from detention so that I could study."
"So that's why you weren't serving detention."
"Yeah."
"Well, detention is where I decided that I should apologize to you. Roxanne was talking trash about almost everyone, so I decided that the fumes from her hairspray might've sunk too deep into her head and screwed up her brain. In her mind everyone is an insignificant worm compared to her."
Selphie laughed and straightened out her shirt. "That was a bit mean, don't you think?"
"No, it was the truth," Rinoa smiled down at her.
Still talking and giggling with each other, they turned into the cafeteria and stood in line to order their food. Selphie glanced across the menu and decided that she would order some chicken strips, whereas Rinoa ordered a sandwich.
With their trays in tow, they glanced across the cafeteria and saw Zell and Quistis already sitting at a table. Zell looked up and beaming, waved at Rinoa. When he saw Selphie, she noticed that he almost choked on his hotdog. The two girls sat down at the table.
"So, I see you two made up," Quistis smiled wide. "When did this happen?"
"When she passed out."
"You passed out again!!?" the instructor yelled. Now several heads turned to look at the group of four.
Selphie waved a hand dismissively at that topic, "Yeah, that's a long story…"
"Did you check your score yet?" Zell asked, opening another packet of ketchup for his hotdog.
"Oh, yeah! No, I haven't yet, where're the results posted?"
Quistis jabbed a thumb over her shoulder and surely enough, on the other side of the cafeteria a piece of paper was hanging on the wall. "I'll be right back!" she squealed, then bounded over to it.
Five names were listed down the paper. She trailed her finger down the short list before she found her name. 'Selphie Tilmitt…84%…A Rank'. "I DID IT!!!!" she yelled, throwing a fist into the air and jumping to emphasize her point. She probably would have started dancing in her moment of ecstasy had not so many people already been looking at her. She continued to stare unbelievingly at the list. Nida's name was on there too. 'Nida Jones….Score N/A….'
"Congratulations," a male voice said from behind.
She knew exactly who it was, and in response she turned around and hugged him tightly around the stomach. "Can you believe it, Squall? I'm an A Rank SeeD!"
The Commander chuckled, "I told you that you could do it."
She let go of him and looked back at the results. At the bottom it said, 'If you passed, see the Headmaster for your new rooming assignment and a mission schedule,' in bold letters.
"I've gotta go talk to Cid!" she exclaimed.
"Whoa there," Rinoa had walked up behind them both. "You better eat your lunch first. Don't want Kadowaki all up on your case again."
"Oh, yeah," Selphie blushed slightly and walked back to the table.
Squall and Zell traded astonished glances, and then Squall shrugged and followed them to the table that they had been sitting at. "Are you going to eat?" Selphie asked as she munched on her food.
With a sigh, Squall shook his head and ran a gloved hand through his brown hair. "No, I'll be fine."
"Man, I just moved into one room, and I'm going to have to move into a new one," Selphie complained.
"We'll help!" two voices said at once.
Sae and Arisu came over to join them, beaming. "We saw that you passed!" Sae yelled giving her a thumbs up.
"Yeah! Way to go, Selphie!" Arisu laughed, doing the same.
"We don't have much more room over here…" Quistis said slowly. "Besides, you two have a mission anyway, don't you?"
The two girls shrugged and dragged two more chairs over from different tables. Upon sitting down, Arisu reached across the table and quickly snatched one of Zell's fries while he wasn't looking.
"What's everyone's plans for the day?" Rinoa asked, looking around at everyone.
"I have to grade tests, whoopee…" Quistis replied sarcastically, taking a drink of her water.
"Renee and Seifer went into Balamb today," Sae giggled.
"Yeah, we'll probably go and bug them eventually."
"It sounds like I get to move my stuff into my new room," Selphie smiled meekly.
"I need to go shopping for Angelo," Rinoa sighed. "She'll need food, and I suppose I'll have to buy something to put the puppies in…"
"Puppies?" Zell exclaimed.
"Yes…" Selphie laughed, "It sounds like Rocks and Angie eloped while everyone else was partying."
"Is that so?" Squall asked, suddenly amused.
"You know what we should do, Squall?" Zell said, with a huge grin on his face. "We need to build them a love pad!"
"A what?"
"A doghouse! Big enough for the entire family!"
"Where would we put it?"
"The Training Center of course! In the recreation room!"
"I don't think Cid wants dogs doing their business in the recreation room. That's the main reason that there aren't any monsters in there."
"Rinoa's a good dog trainer, she could teach them to go into the main part of the T.C. to relieve themselves."
"Oh, well isn't that nice, Zell?" Quistis said with a stern look. The other girls joined in.
"Whaaaat? I thought it was a good idea!"
"Oh, sure it's a great idea! I mean, who wouldn't want to be eaten by the T-Rexaur while taking dump!?" Selphie yelled. "These are my grandchildren we're talking about!"
"I'm with Selph and Qusitis on this! Are you trying to get my grandbabies killed?"
Zell waved his arms around wildly. "No! No!"
Selphie grinned and quickly finished off her meal. "I know, I'm just giving you a hard time," she laughed, wiping her hands on a napkin and standing up. "I'll see you all later! I need to go see Cid!"
Squall followed her out of the cafeteria, and just as the two got to the door Selphie heard Rinoa yell, "I don't care! She's pregnant! She doesn't need to be doing that!"
The chestnut-haired girl giggled and bounded down the hall, seemingly walking on clouds. "Well, you're sure excited," the Commander sighed and shoved his hands further into the pockets of his black leather pants.
"Excited? I'm ecstatic! Never in a million years did I think I would be able to pass that exam!"
"You're smarter than you give yourself credit for."
The small SeeD threw her head back and laughed. "It was a trick question! If I hadn't promised Quisty that I would do everything in my power to pass, I probably would have ducked out too."
Squall's eyebrows formed an inquisitive tic, and his lips curled up at one side. "Somehow I think you wouldn't have. You're no coward."
"I'm no lion either."
The Commander snorted through his nose, "I don't know why people compare me to a lion."
"Well, it could be your last name... And it's either bravery or temporary insanity when you rush into some of the situations you've been in. Though, I have to say, jumping off of the carousel clock and hijacking a car…that's a stunt not many people manage to pull off in their lifetime," Selphie laughed, nudging him with her elbow.
"Are you mocking me?" he asked, grinning.
"Me? No! Never."
He reached over and messed her hair up.
"Why does everyone like doing that to me?" she whined, pulling away from him. "You're mean."
"I'll make it up to you."
For a second, Selphie was confused, and it showed in her expression. Finally, Squall chuckled again and said, "I'll help you move into your new dorm."
Selphie beamed and jumped into the air. "So you'll carry all the heavy stuff!?"
"Yeah."
"And all the hard to reach stuff? You'll help me get them down?"
"Yeah."
She jumped a second time, this time getting more height. "Hah! Yes, you will pay for messing my hair up!" and she took off down the hallway.
After speaking with Cid, Selphie and Squall walked out of the office and to Selphie's old dorm. Selphie clutched a manila folder two inches thick with information to her chest. "What all is in this thing?" she complained.
"Important information," Squall stated.
"That's just great. They trust me with important information?" she groaned, digging through her jean pocket for her keys. When she unlocked the door, she threw the folder down on her bed and moved to her closet. Rocks stood up from his spot in the corner and walked over to Squall, wagging his tail. The Commander glanced down and rubbed the top of the dog's head.
"They trust everyone with it, Selph."
"They should know better than to trust everyone."
"You're an A-Rank SeeD, they're pretty sure your responsible enough to look at it and make sure no one else does."
Selphie turned around, pointed a single finger at Squall, decided she was at a loss for words, then went back to her closet. One by one, she threw random articles of clothing behind her. Rocks made it a game of dodging flying objects until he found an old toy that had been previously MIA; he carried it off to his corner. "I'm going to need some boxes to put all this stuff in."
"You've got boxes in here somewhere, don't you?"
"You overestimate me, Squall," she laughed.
"You don't have any?"
"Nope."
"You know," someone said from the doorway. Both spun around at amazing speed to see Quistis standing there, toting several boxes, "You could always ask me, but no, that would ruin your fun." The blond instructor winked at the two and threw the boxes on the ground.
"Wow, Quisty! I don't know what to say!"
"Well, for starters, thank you would be nice," she smiled. "So, do you intend on just shoving your clothes into the boxes, or would you rather fold them up so that they don't wrinkle?"
Selphie blushed and didn't say anything.
Quistis smiled even bigger, "I'll fold your clothes, you put them in the boxes and tape them up. Deal?"
"Sure thing!"
Squall, having not said anything for a while, bent down next to Selphie and scooped her keys up. "I'll start moving the big things into your new dorm," he offered.
"Oh, okay. Let me know if you need any help!" Selphie laughed, "Though I'm pretty sure my help wouldn't benefit you very much."
Squall nodded, then he walked over to her television and with a grunt lifted it off of its perch and walked out the door.
As Quistis folded one of Selphie's shirts she sighed, "I won't be able to help for too long. I have to supervise a few Junior Classmens' training tonight in the Training Center. I have…" she paused to glance down at her watch, "Fifteen minutes before I have to be there."
"Wow, Quisty. You're quite the busy bee."
"Oh, you'll realize the joy of it tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Selphie looked up.
"Yeah, didn't you read what Cid gave you?"
"Hello, Quisty. You know me. That's a huge packet of papers. I probably won't read them for a while."
"Suit yourself. I would though, before tomorrow."
Quistis folded the last piece of clothing that was lying on the floor and handed it to Selphie for her to place in the box. Now that one of the boxes was full, she shut the flaps and taped it up. On the side she wrote 'Clothes' in permanent marker.
By the time Quistis had to leave, the two had managed to box up all of Selphie's clothes, and were moving on to her trinkets decorating her desk. Squall, on the other hand, had carried Selphie's television, stereo, speakers, and table into her new room. "Good luck with the rest of your moving!" Quistis called, as she left. "I'll probably help you unpack everything later!" Selphie waved her goodbye, then went back to her desk.
Squall came back into the room, wiping the sweat from his brow. He had long since removed his shirt to help him cool off. "Where'd Quistis go?" he asked, sitting on the floor to take a small break.
"She had to go supervise some training," Selphie sighed, wrapping a small jewelry box in newspaper and placing it in the box she was currently trying to fill up.
"Well," Squall said slowly, "The desk is next."
"You're going to move it by yourself?" she asked surprised.
"It's not that big."
Selphie's eyes were wide in disbelief. "No way, you need at least two people to move this sucker!"
Grunting, Squall stood back up, "Well then, if you're so worried about me, you can help me carry it."
"Um…Selphie?" a small voice said from behind. Momentarily, Selphie looked everywhere until she saw some eyes and the top of a nose peering around her doorframe. "You aren't leaving, are you?"
"Oh, Brian!" she gasped, "You surprised me. No, I'm not leaving. Just moving to a different room."
"Oh…okay." He looked uncomfortable for a few seconds, then he slowly walked into the room and stood beside Squall. "I wanna help."
Squall looked at Selphie, then back down at the boy. "You can help me with the desk, Selphie won't let me carry it myself."
"Squall! He's too little!" she exclaimed.
"It'll be fine," Squall reassured. Selphie glared at him for a few seconds. Finally, she removed all of the drawers from the desk and watched as Squall approached it.
"Okay, Brian, you pick up that side, and I'll get this side." Squall picked up his side of the desk quite easily, but needless to say, Brian was struggling. Nonchalantly, Squall moved his grip closer to the center of the piece of furniture so that most of the desk's weight was on him.
"Be careful, you two!" Selphie yelled at them as they struggled out the door. "And Squall, make sure you don't crush him when you set the desk down!!" She watched them until they disappeared down the hall, then she reluctantly went back to packing. Rocks nuzzled up against her leg, and she reached down with her spare head and rubbed his ears. "I know baby, but don't worry too much about them," she cooed.
About ten minutes later, just as she was taping up the box with all of her stuffed animals in it, Squall and Brian walked through the door. Now, not only was Squall shirtless, but apparently Brian had removed his as well, and the two bare-chested guys walked in and sat back down on the floor, Brian imitating the way Squall sat.
"Well, look at you two!" she laughed with glee. "I see your back from carrying that awfully heavy desk. High five, little dude!" she held her hand up, and bashfully, Brian hit it.
"So what's next on the agenda?" Squall asked.
Selphie looked around her room and saw that she had succeeded in putting almost everything in boxes except for her bedspread. "I guess we start taking the boxes to my new room," she said, "As soon as I pack up my sheets and everything."
"I'll give you a hand," Squall said.
"Me too!" Brian exclaimed.
The three worked to fold up her bed coverings, and once this was accomplished, they began to transfer boxes into her new dorm. Brian was constantly like a shadow of Squall. Always imitating various things he would do, the way he held himself. Even some of the things he said, Brian quickly picked up on.
As soon as her old dorm was emptied out and her new dorm was filled with boxes, all three of them took a break. Squall had plugged in the television for Brian, who was sitting on the floor watching cartoons between Squall and Rocks.
"You two worked so hard today!" Selphie laughed from her new miniature kitchen. "Who's up for lemonade?"
Without really waiting for a reply, she poured three cups and brought them into the main room, making sure not to trip over any boxes. She sat down on the other side of Squall and handed the boys each a cup. "These are my thanks for helping me move in. Sorry, I don't have any snacks."
"S'okay," Brian said quietly, taking a drink of his lemonade.
"Thanks, Selph," Squall responded to the generous offering.
She smiled and gave a small peace sign in response.
The three sat in silence and watched an old rerun of 'The Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner Hour'. At the moment, Wiley Coyote was getting ready to drop a gigantic anvil on the Roadrunner's head when a rocket he had activated earlier came from behind and hit him. With glee, Brian laughed and accidentally sloshed his lemonade on the floor.
"I'm sorry!" he immediately apologized.
"It's okay!" Selphie laughed, jumping up to get something to wipe it up with. "Don't worry about it. Hard wood floor, no harm done."
By the time Selphie got back to where the lemonade had spilled, she saw that Rocks had beaten her there and was already lapping the beverage up off the floor. "Does that taste good, pup?" she asked, patting the dog on the head.
It wasn't ten minutes later that the same thing happened again, only this time, the lemonade landed not on the floor, but on Squall. His mouth was agape in shock for a few moments from the coldness of the liquid. Selphie gasped and it took almost everything she had not to laugh. She reached to her side to pick up the towel she had gotten from the kitchen and her fingers wrapped around a cloth. She picked it up and started to wipe the sticky drink from Squall when she noticed…
"Whoops!" she looked at what she suspected to be the towel and blushed. "Um…looks like I picked up the wrong thing…" Sure enough, she had been cleaning the lemonade off of him with his shirt, which had been sitting next to her.
Still chuckling, she shrugged and began to dry his hair with it. "Oh well, you can still wear it…right?"
"I'm sorry, Squall!" Brian exclaimed.
"It's okay, kid."
"No harm done here either!" Selphie laughed, "Now instead of smelling like sweat, he smells like lemons!"
When she finished drying his hair, she looked at the shirt. It was splattered with yellow liquid and wet. Once again, she began giggling and she gave it to him, "If you don't want to wear it, I'm sure I can let you borrow one of mine…"
"No, that's okay…"
"But you shouldn't walk back to your dorm in only your jeans! There're enough rumors already!"
"I don't suppose you own any plain white shirts, do you?"
"No way! White is boring…but I have a few tees that you might fit into."
She walked over to one of the boxes that was labeled 'clothes' and started to rummage through it. All of the shirts that she pulled out, Squall noticed, had some disgustingly cute character on it, from Carebears to Happy Bunnies. The last one she found, however, was much different than the vast majority of her clothing.
"What do you have a KISS tee shirt for?" he laughed when he looked at the black article of clothing.
"Well, when Irvine and I were dating, he got tickets to one of their concerts and we were in the standing room. They started throwing shirts into the audience, and that one hit me on the head, then I was tackled by several people who were trying to grab it from me…"
"Sounds like you had fun."
"Fun? Are you kidding? I have never been so close to death in my life!"
Squall smiled. "You're an A-Rank SeeD, and the closest you've come to death is at a KISS concert?"
"You have no idea. I got trapped in a moshpit, where everyone was much bigger than me. I could've died from being smooshed, stomped, or suffocation. When I finally got out of the moshpit, I was hit in the head with a crowd surfer!"
"I've never seen you wear this shirt before," Squall said, studying the black tee shirt.
"Well, it brings back painful memories. And I mean painful," she winced and pointed to her head, as if indicating she walked out of the concert with some sort of serious head injury. "But I have worn it a few times…as a nightshirt… It's way too big for me." She paused for a moment, then out of nowhere said, "KISS…I thought they'd be a romantic band. Never did I imagine they were a bunch of men wearing racy clothing and wearing more makeup than the average drag queen."
Squall almost spit out the new drink of lemonade he had just taken in. "You'd never heard of KISS?"
She laughed and shook her head. "Not at the time. But now I'm very well educated in rock bands!" she held up a finger and did a little pose as if to emphasize her statement.
Still trying not to choke, he put the shirt on and realized that it fit him really well. "We'll call it a trade, whaddaya say? Since you let me keep some of your clothes and all…and since I never wear that shirt anyway."
"Sounds good to me."
He turned around and looked at Brian, who was still engrossed in a cartoon, his lemonade cup now empty. "You ready to go, kiddo?" he asked, checking his watch. "It's getting pretty late in the day."
Brian turned his attention away from the television. "Cool shirt!" he beamed. For a few seconds he fumbled around for his own shirt, and then pulled it over his head. "Yeah, I'm ready," he finally said. He got up and turned the television off.
"Bye, Selphie!" he said softly as he slipped into his shoes.
"See ya! And thanks again for all your help!"
Selphie followed Squall to the door; Brian was waiting out in the hall. Squall turned around and looked at her, his mouth opened as if he were getting ready to say something, but then it closed suddenly. Then came the awkward silence. Brian looked between the two, confusedly. Selphie felt herself blush and try to avoid his eye contact, but was finding it difficult.
Still feeling pretty awkward, she decided to say something. She looked up into his blue-grey eyes and then noticed, much to her amazement and jealousy that his hair had dried and looked just as great as it always did.
"I can't believe it," she complained. "It's official, you have perfect hair."
"What?" he asked, confusedly.
"It just automatically dries like that? Heck, you should see my hair when it dries by itself…"
"I have…"
"Oh yeah…not a pretty sight, huh?"
"I wouldn't say that."
"Wait a minute! I'm going to run a test!" she announced, once again pointing her finger in the air. "Now…bend down."
"Why?"
"Because you're too tall, that's why!"
Still confused, Squall bent down and Selphie proceeded to rustle his hair around. When she managed to mess with it enough to satisfy her, she removed her hands and watched it fall back into place. "You're a freak of nature, Squall! No one's hair is that perfect, it's not fair!"
Squall shrugged and stood up straight again. "Sorry?"
"No, don't be sorry. But, if for some reason in the future, I am to go bald, will you donate your hair to make me a wig?"
"…Sure?"
"Good!"
"Um…Squall?" Brian said from the hallway.
"Oh, yeah. See ya, Selph," Squall waved and walked out of her room. She slunk next to the door and watched them walk down the hall.
As Squall approached the corner of the hallway, Nida popped out in front of him, smirking. "You should've kissed her."
"Huh?" Squall looked over at the Garden's pilot in shock.
"You should've kissed her," Nida repeated, smiling even wider. "I don't know about you, but my parents always said," then his voice got an octave higher as he pretended to be his mother, "One day everyone meets someone who's special and when it happens, they need to let them know how they feel, otherwise they might lose them forever," then he gave a goofy grin. "I'm sorry, that was kind of sappy."
Squall was dumbfounded. He couldn't even form a response in his head, let alone let the words travel from his brain to his mouth.
"Have you ever told her?" Nida said, serious once more.
Now that his brain started to kick in again, Squall managed a, "Tell her what?"
"That you loooove her," the pilot snickered.
The light over Squall's head flickered off again.
"I guess not…"
"Okay, just one question, Nida," Squall said, motioning him closer. "What are you doing in the girls dormitories?"
Nida's face turned a bright red and he looked at the floor, then he shook it away and tried to cover it up by saying, "Selphie's moving into a new dorm today, right? I was going to help her!"
"Uh-huh…" Squall looked down at Brian, then back to Nida. "Well, we've already taken care of that. Come on, Brian."
"By the way, nice shirt Squall!" Nida called after him. It seemed as if the pilot had regained his happy-go-lucky composure.
Selphie was unpacking her clothes when her door burst open. "I'm baaaack!" Quistis announced in a singsong voice.
"You sure sound excited."
"Oh, I'm so relieved be done with that!" the Instructor sighed, kicking off her boots and shoving them into a corner with her foot. "Hello, Rocks. How're you today?" she smiled as she passed by the dog. Rocks barked in response, his tongue hanging haphazardly out of his mouth.
"So, Selph, have you read the packet Cid gave you yet?"
"No," she admitted as she transferred a handful of socks into a drawer.
"No? Selph, honey, I'm so serious when I say you need to read that packet! Where'd you put it?"
"Oh, on the bed…I think."
"You think?"
"Yes, I think! Jee whiz, Quisty! Stop repeating me!"
"You need to get more organized, Selphie. That's about fifty percent of the reason why A Rank SeeDs get bigger dorms."
"Oh, hush up. You're just jealous because…" she thought for a while and realized that she had nothing that Quistis would be jealous about, "…my dorm looks cooler than yours!" And with that, she stuck out her tongue in a very childlike manner.
"Yes, that's exactly the reason! How ever did you know?" Quistis laughed. She sprawled out on the bed and pushed several boxes out of the way until she finally grabbed Selphie's packet. "Anyway, here it is. I say you better take a break from unpacking and read it."
"Why?"
"You can finish unpacking when you get back."
"Get back? From where?"
"You'll see…" Quistis sang as she waved the packet of papers over her head.
"What do you mean?" Selphie asked, reaching up to grab the papers from the Instructor. Every time she got close, the blond would just raise them out of her reach. Finally, Selphie jumped up and managed to grab them.
"I'll leave you as you read over everything," Quistis smiled and rolled off of the bed, grabbed her shoes and walked for the door.
Selphie grumbled something incoherent, then sat down on her bed to begin the painstaking task of reading through all the papers.
Quistis' dorm was just right across the hall from Selphie's new one. However, it wasn't until after Quistis got into her dorm, shut the door behind her, turned on her television and was getting something to drink, that she heard Selphie's voice cry from all the way from across the hall, "Appear before the council? TOMORROW!!?"
Sinnah: We're fans of pointless fluff, as if you couldn't tell. Unfortunately, with Squall, he can't be a very fluffy guy without changing his original attitude, and since we are trying our hardest to keep him in character, it's really hard to write. o.O
CheriChicola: What made you think that chapter eight was the last chapter? We have a looong way to go before this story ends! Lol.
Raven55: Let us know when you write your Squalphie! We'll have to definitely check it out!
123: This is the first threat we've received from 'Taming the Lion' reviewers. Please, no frogs, we beg of you.
Draic: If you were happy about Rinoa coming around last chapter, then we hope you enjoyed this chapter. o
Yuffie Kisaragi2: Up late reading? I did that with computergeekz "Love Beyond Death". I think that was my first serious FF8 story that I read. (It's a good story if you want to read it, though it is a Squinoa)
A/N: Well, that concludes chapter nine of "Taming the Lion". We hope that everyone enjoyed it! Just a fair warning, Anna finally got a job! Wahoo! That's the good news, the bad news is that it might cut into her writing time. Hopefully, it won't too much. Still, we thought that everyone should know. o Oh! And this Saturday is Anna's sweet sixteen! Yaaay! That's about it. We're still taking Squalphie art if you want to submit it! Or any other artwork that you want to submit. (BreeAnne drew a picture of Sae and Arisu that we're going to post eventually. We have yet to draw other characters such as Renee and Brian.) All artwork is welcome! Just email it to us! Thanks again and be sure to leave us a review!