Taming the Lion: Chapter 11
"What funny story?" she asked Nida, looking slightly confused.
"Well, Cid thought your idea was a good one. He said that it would help to strengthen the relationship between the junior classmen and the SeeDs, so he told the Instructors about it, and the Instructors told their students about it… You wouldn't believe how many wanted you to come as their 'parent'."
Selphie laughed, "That many, huh?"
"Yeah, well only one got to actually send you an invitation."
"Oh? So who was it?" she asked, looking down at the envelope. 'Selphie' was scrawled childishly across the front of it.
Nida opened his mouth to say something else, but the walkie-talkie at his hip started to make a weird beeping sound, then Xu's voice said, "Nida, it's Xu. Where exactly did you set the Garden for when you put it on autopilot?"
"It's supposed to be en route back to Balamb."
"Well, that's nice. But one problem. We're headed straight for a giant rock wall and you're the only one who knows how to steer this S.O.B!"
"I-I'll be right there!" he said frantically, then running down the hall turned his head to yell, "I'll let you figure that one out yourself. See ya. Bye Rocks!"
Selphie glanced from the letter, to Nida's retreating figure, then back to the letter. She shrugged then walked inside her dorm, using her foot to shut the door behind her.
Rocks had already run to his corner and curled up into a ball. He seemed to be happy to be in the familiar setting. "Well, Rocks, I wonder who wrote me this letter. Do you know?"
The dog merely stared at her, his tongue hanging lopsidedly out of his mouth.
She smirked at him and wrenched the envelope open with her finger, pulling out a letter written on Garden stationary. Apart from the misspelled words and very childish handwriting, she was able to decipher the important facts:
One: she was supposed to attend Balamb Garden Parent Night for Brian, and two: Parent Night was that night. To top all of these things off, she was supposed to meet with her self-defense trainer that day to set up a training schedule.
With a sigh, she tacked the invitation up on her bulletin board with a pushpin and slumped onto her bed. Rocks jumped up onto the bed as well and licked her on the cheek.
Laughing, she wiped the slobber from her face and pushed him off of her. "Sheesh, Rocks, I'm so tired! I can't imagine doing these kinds of things everyday! No wonder why Quistis is always busy! I don't think I'm going to make it through my first month without getting an ulcer!"
Rocks barked and jumped off of the bed.
Selphie rolled over on the bed and turned on the radio, noticing the time. She groaned, sat up, and picked up the phone, dialing Squall's number.
"Hello…" his tired, monotonous voice answered.
"Guess what time it is?"
He muttered a profanity, "Is it time already?"
"Yeah."
"Sheez, I don't mean to be harsh, Selph, but when are you getting your license?"
"When I don't suck at driving anymore."
"You're good at flying the Ragnarok."
"…There's not nearly as much traffic in the air, Squall," she laughed. "Anyway, guess what else?"
He groaned and she could just see the Commander hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. "What?"
"I'm a mom!"
Selphie was sure that if she was in the same room with him at that moment, he would have performed a spit take that would give any actor a run for their money. "You're a what?"
"A mom."
"Keep it down, we've got too many crazy rumors flying around, that one will be very hard to explain."
Selphie laughed, "For Parent Night, tonight! Brian sent me an invitation. I'm going as his mom."
"Brian?"
"Yeah."
"Little Brian?"
"Yeah…"
"The same Brian that helped you move out of your dorm?"
"Yeah. Are you going anywhere with this…?"
Squall was silent for a while. "I got an invitation from him too…"
Now the two were both silent. "…So…we're parents?" Selphie said carefully, as if trying to slowly comprehend everything.
"For the night at least…it appears…" Squall muttered. "And the best part is…Laguna found out about it this time around."
She could hear the annoyance in his voice. "Is it really that bad, though?" she asked, quietly.
"He hasn't been a father to me for seventeen years; why start now?"
"You know…" she whispered, "I don't want to step on toes…but if I found that my father was still alive today, I'd still want to get to know him."
"It's not the same, Selph," he sighed.
"But would it hurt you so much to at least call him Dad?"
"That man is not my father," Squall seethed. "What he did was unacceptable."
Selphie gasped at Squall's sudden icy tone. It was no surprise to her, it was how he always used to sound, but she had thought, no, hoped that just maybe she'd helped bring him out of his emotional shell, even just a little bit.
"But for those of us who don't have parents at all, it just seems like you aren't giving him a fair shot. He wants you to forgive him, he wants to be your dad."
"Well he's too late. I don't have a dad; I will never call him my father. If he wanted a son, he would've come for me while I was still waiting for him in that godforsaken orphanage."
Again, silence passed between them. She wished that she could reach through that telephone cord and grasp his hand. She knew that Laguna wasn't the greatest father, but Hyne, he was better than she had. She couldn't even remember her parents. Their faces, their words, nothing. It was all gone.
"Be decent to him at least, okay? Promise me you won't be too harsh on him."
Squall said nothing in return. Selphie just sighed and allowed herself to collapse back into the bed. "So, today's my first day of training." Still no response. Now she was afraid that she had upset him. Selphie exhaled and looked down at the foot of the bed where some clothes had been thrown haphazardly, "Squall…?" she finally asked.
"Hmm?"
She felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her chest. He wasn't that angry with her, yet at least.
"I was just wondering…" now she was searching for the words, not sure of how to say what was really on her mind. "I know what negotiators do and everything…but why is it that people look as if they pity me when they hear that I'm the new one?"
Squall was silent for a while, once again. Now he was the one searching for the right words. He eventually sighed and said, "Selph, I'll pick you up in a few minutes. We need to talk."
That weight that had just been lifted from her chest was dropped back on it, with much more force. Maybe even with a friend of its attached. All she knew was that she heard him hang up the phone, and still she sat there, half dazed, listening to the dial tone.
No good conversation ever started with the words, "We need to talk."
Looking worriedly at Rocks, she hung up her own phone and fell back onto the bed, waiting for Squall to arrive. There was nothing else that she really could do. She felt sick to her stomach. Groaning, she rolled onto her stomach and pulled her pillow over her head.
The couple of minutes seemed like an eternity when she finally heard someone rapping softly on her door. "It's open," she said, voice muffled between the pillow and mattress.
She heard the door open and a small sound that could've been a chuckle. She felt Squall sit on the foot of the bed then reach over to pull the pillow off of her head. Yet she fought against him.
"You hate me, don't you?" she muttered.
"No, I don't," Squall said, still tugging at the pillow. "Come on or you're going to be late."
She sat up and tried her best to glare at him, and when she couldn't succeed without laughing, she sighed in exasperation and leaned her head against the fur collar of his leather jacket. "You said we needed to talk…"
"Yes, we do."
"Is it bad?"
"In a way."
And in that second, it felt as if her entire world came crashing down around her.
Squall sighed and pushed the hair from his face. "The council…" he started quietly, almost unsure of what to say, "…is a bunch of idiots."
She looked at him in confusion.
"Let's put it this way, Selph…you know what a negotiator is, right?"
"Yeah, they help solve problems, right?"
The Commander groaned and dragged a hand down his face. "In a way, yes. Those problems typically involve hostages, guns and other concealed weapons."
Selphie continued to look at him. It wasn't as if she was never put into situations where she didn't have to deal with a scumbag with a switchblade. "Yeah, but I've been trained in combat."
"Yes, in combat. But when you combat someone, you always have your weapon."
Her eyes grew wide when she remembered what the paper she'd read the previous day said, 'WHEN AT WORK, NEGOTIATORS ARE TO BE UNARMED'.
"That's what I mean. If someone comes at you when you're negotiating, your only defense is what you know."
Now, it was Selphie who was uncharacteristically silent. So many thoughts were whizzing through her head, she wasn't sure what she was actually thinking. How many negotiators has the Council lost? How many have died? How many have been severely wounded? These thoughts must have shown through on her facial expression because all of a sudden, Squall's eyes changed and he looked concerned.
"Well, if I take self defense classes, then I'll be okay…" she said slowly, then she looked at him, hoping that he would at least humor her, "Right?"
He nodded, though his eyes still seemed saddened and faraway. After a short pause, he reached in his pocket and pulled out the keys to the Garden car, "You ready to go? You don't want to be late."
"Hey! Renee! Over here!"
Renee looked over her shoulder to see an excited brunette hopping up and down in her chair. She pulled on Seifer's trench coat and the two steered around to set their trays down on the table next to Sae and Arisu.
"What's up guys?" Renee asked, sitting down.
"Okay, here's the plan," Arisu whispered as she leaned toward the center of the table. She motioned with her forefinger for everyone to follow in suit, and they obeyed. Her eyes darted to the different tables, as if making sure no one was listening in, then very quietly she said, "We set loose a herd of Mesmerize in the Garden, and then we all hide in my dorm. While the Garden is in an uproar, we dig out of my dorm through the closet using mainly spoons and toothpicks, and if we dig at just the right angle the hole should eventually lead to the basement. We shut off the Garden power supply, then sneak outside and take refuge in the Balamb alleyway. Next, we swim our way to Fisherman's Horizon, then live in hiding under the names of Crazy Duck, Stealthy Turtle, Battle Moose and Convoy Butterfly."
Seifer and Renee traded confused glances, then looked at Sae to see if she knew what was going on. Instead, all they got was, "Oooh! Oooh! I call Convoy Butterfly!"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Renee laughed. "Are you going to go through all this trouble just to skip out on parent night tonight?"
The two girls traded glances and looked back at Renee and Seifer with pleading eyes. "You don't understand how horrible it was last year!!" Arisu yelled.
"Yeah! Our parents came!"
"It's Parent Night; that's what they're supposed to do."
"But you just can't comprehend the horrible-ness that is our parents!"
"They can't be nearly as bad as you two, right?" Seifer chuckled, but when he saw the serious expressions on their faces he stopped himself. "Oh, come on, it can't be that bad! You haven't seen your parents in ages, you should enjoy them for the people who can't see their parents tonight."
"Oh, that was beautiful, Seifer," Renee beamed, her eyes glowing like stars.
"Damn, that was the record for the corniest piece of shit to have ever come out of my mouth," he grumbled.
Sae and Arisu sighed and looked at their food that was now cold. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sae muttered.
"Yeah, if we're gonna skip out on parent night we might as well not spoil it for everyone else."
Then, trading devious glances, they jumped out of their chairs and ran out of the cafeteria. "See ya guys, and thanks for the idea Seifer!"
"What've you done?" Renee asked as she watched them leave.
"If anything happens that results in injury I had nothing to do with it," Seifer declared, a bit too loudly.
Renee covered his mouth and smiled uneasily at all of the people now looking at them.
As the two girls ran out of the cafeteria, they saw a black figure standing at the end of the hallway and they were fast approaching it. They were running too fast to stop in time, and they couldn't think quickly enough to dodge it. Instead, they collided with it, and the force of the impact threw them against the floor. "Where are you two going in such a hurry?" a familiar face said, looking down at them
Rubbing her head and squinting her eyes in pain, Arisu glared up at Nida. "We're trying to escape Garden and the wickedness of Parent Night. But now that you've seriously screwed up our plans…"
Nida's face distorted into a mixture of guilt and fear. "You're trying to get away too?!"
"Yeah. You too, I imagine?" Sae asked, as Nida helped both her and Arisu to their feet.
"Hyne, yes. My parents are going to be here any minute and they're both lunatics."
Arisu put her hand on his shoulder, as if comforting him, "You have my sympathy. Would you like to go into hiding with us at Fisherman's Horizon?"
"I'm Convoy Butterfly!!" Sae exclaimed.
"Oh, anything! Just get me away from here!"
"Nida! This is Xu!" came a crackling voice from the walkie-talkie at Nida's belt. Nida rolled his eyes and threw the device against the hard tile floor.
"We've already landed by Balamb, what else can she want? Hurry! Let's escape while there's still time!"
The three SeeDs ran in a frenzied rush for the front gate. Just as they were getting ready to run out, a cry of, "Oh! Nida! There you are! We haven't seen you in so long!!" rang out.
Sae and Arisu turned to find their pilot friend being embraced by two mysterious figures. "It's too late for me!" he cried after them, "Save yourselves!! HURRY!"
With determination, the two girls continued to run from Garden and the Parent Night that would be held within.
Just when they thought that salvation was near, just when they thought that they were safe from the torment of Parent Night, they saw the second worst thing that they could have imagined.
A wall of junior classmen was blocking their progression out of the Garden. "Don't make us bowl you over!" Arisu screamed, not slowing down but speeding up. Eyes squinted, the two ran until they were just about ready to collide with the kids when Sae stopped herself, and grabbing the back of Arisu's shirt, managed to stop her too.
"Why'd you stop me!!?" Arisu screamed dramatically. "We almost made it! We were almost free!"
Sae slapped her, "Snap out of it! You're crazy! You don't want to hurt children in the process of escaping!"
Arisu looked at her counterpart as if she was the one that was losing her mind. "You really need to sort out your priorities," the blond said, shaking her head.
"Ms. Arisu?" a little girl asked, stepping forward. "I wanted to give you this!" she handed the blond an envelope, and then blushing, ran back to the other children.
"And this is for you Ms. Sae," another girl said.
The two SeeDs exchanged glances and tore open the envelopes and were horrified by what they saw.
"I'm too young to be a mommy!" Arisu cried, throwing the paper in the air. "I'm not ready!"
"So, tell me again, exactly why doesn't Ma Dincht have her driver's license?" Rinoa yelled over the loud techno music that blared through Zell's car speakers.
"Well, after she failed it so many times, the Balamb police decided she'd be a hazard to society if she was ever to actually pass it," the blond laughed, leaning up against the torn leather seats of his old pick-up.
The two were on their way into Balamb to pick up Zell's mother for Parent Night, and other than their dispute over what kind of music they should listen to, things were going well. Rinoa leaned forward and nonchalantly turned down the music.
"There, that's better, now we can talk," she smiled at him.
"Aw, but that was the best part!"
"It all sounds the same! It's all just synthesizers!"
Zell shook his head, and smiled still keeping his clear blue eyes focused on the road. "So, did you get a hold of your father?" he asked.
"Well…I got his voicemail both times I called, so I just left him a message," she said quietly. Zell knew that Rinoa and her father didn't have the best relationship, hell if one could even call it that, but he could tell that she still wanted Caraway to accept her one way or another. This being her first year as a SeeD at Balamb Garden, she wanted him to come to her first Parent Night. Zell wondered himself whether or not the infamous General of the Galbadian army would grace Garden with his presence or not.
"Even if he doesn't show up, I can just hang out with you and your mom, right?"
"Of course, Ma loves you. She keeps saying that if I don't marry you then she'll adopt you. One way or the other, she wants you in the family," he laughed.
"At least someone does," she muttered.
"Hey, don't talk like that," Zell said, nudging her with his elbow.
Rinoa looked back at him with a stare that could give the devil a run for his money, but with a sigh she merely rolled down the window and stuck her head out.
It was eerily silent as he steered the old rusted pick-up into Balamb. Wanting to break the silence, Zell scratched the tattoo on the side of his face and said, "Come on, cheer up. Tonight's not going to be entirely fun as it already is, but don't make it any harder on yourself by being pessimistic."
With a soft sigh, the brunette turned around, her hair messed from exposure to the wind. "I'm trying not to be…but you don't know him like I do. All of the forgotten birthdays…school pageants, but he could always remember Mom's and his anniversary. He'd always do something incredibly sweet and romantic for it. That's why she never left him. He treated her like crap most of the time, but when he wanted to be sweet, he could apparently be the sweetest man on earth." Tears welling in her eyes, she looked back out the window, letting the salty pools of tears dry from the autumn wind against her cheeks.
"I'm sorry Rin, I really am." Not sure of what else to do, he wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her back so that she could lean her head against his shoulder. With an exasperated sigh, and using only his left hand to steer, Zell parked the old truck in front of the small house he grew up in.
"You coming or not?" he asked, looking down at the top of her head.
"Yeah, I'm coming," she answered. Nonchalantly she swung her legs to the side, opened up the door and leapt out of the car. Just as she was walking over to Zell's side of the car, she heard someone shout, "Hey, hey, hey! Look who the cat dragged in!"
The two spun around at the sound of the familiar voice and saw Renee and Seifer approaching them. Seifer wore his usual smirk and was waving, Renee on the other hand looked as if she didn't really want to get any closer to Rinoa.
"Visiting Ma?" Seifer chuckled. "You really are a Chicken-Wuss. Does she make you cookies too?"
Zell blushed and looked down, "Is there something you want to say, Seifer? Because if there is, then why don't you just say it?"
Seifer shrugged and looked around, "We were just hanging out in Balamb and saw you, we decided to bug you that's all."
"What're you doing in Balamb?" Rinoa asked.
"Renee's making me buy a suit," Seifer complained, folding his arms. He looked as if he still resented her for that.
Renee rolled her eyes and laughing quietly, she said, "He thought he'd wear his trench coat to Parent Night."
"I've worn it every other year!"
"You're going to Parent Night? Are you taking a younger SeeD or something?" Rinoa asked, knowing that Seifer had no parents, nor adoptive parents.
"No."
"Then why are you going?" Zell asked.
"Matron is going as his parent," Renee smiled, stroking his arm. Seifer turned a violent shade of red before shaking his head, as if hoping the color would fly from his cheeks.
Zell was already laughing though, "Matron is taking you? Isn't that just a little awkward? Especially after her psychotic episode last year, and the whole trying to take over the world thing?"
"Shut it, Dincht," Seifer seethed.
"Didn't you guys have an affair as well?"
"I swear to Hyne, Chicken-Wuss, if you don't shut your pie hole by the time I count to three you'll find the cartilage in your nose lodged permanently into your brain."
Zell cleared his throat and looked away, though his shoulders were still shaking from silent laughter.
As if trying to regain his dignity, Seifer looked up and added, "Matron used to come as mine, Squall's and Quistis' parent since she raised us."
Wanting to change subjects, for Seifer's sake more than anyone else's, Rinoa piped up and said, "What is everyone else doing tonight? Besides Zell of course, we all know Ma is coming."
"My parents are coming down from Galbadia to visit tonight," Renee announced.
"Quistis is an Instructor, so she doesn't need anyone to represent her. She's going to be meeting a lot of parents tonight and give out progress reports," Zell said, pretending to choke. "Lucky woman she is. Gah, that sounds so boring."
"Squall and Selphie are going as Brian's parents," Renee laughed. "It was the cutest thing. That child bragged about it everywhere. Apparently there's a loophole in what Cid sent out and somehow Brian gets to have both a mom and a dad tonight."
"Selphie and Squall of all people," Zell chuckled.
"Why would he pick Leonhart and Ms. Sunshine?" Seifer asked.
"He idolizes them. It's the most adorable thing watching him," Renee said.
"I can understand him idolizing Squall, and wanting to grow up like him. But Selphie? Could you imagine a child growing up with those two personalities clashing?" Rinoa said shaking her head. "It would be interesting."
"So no one asked for you to go as their parent, Seifer?" Renee asked.
Seifer kicked at a rock on the ground. "Oh, I'm sure plenty of people asked."
"Then why didn't you just go around as someone's dad for the night?"
"Cid told them that I was unavailable for it," he grumbled.
Renee patted his arm and opened her mouth to say something, but just when she did, another voice from behind shouted, "Zell, sweetie! You're here! Why haven't you come inside to say hi to your ma? Oh! You must be Zell's friends! Come on in! I have cookies!"
"Seifer, we better not. We need to get that suit…" Renee said quietly, tugging his arm in the opposite direction. Momentarily, she and Rinoa exchanged a look that neither Zell nor Seifer could interpret, then without a word, they turned away from each other and walked in different directions; Rinoa into Ma's house, and Renee toward town again.
"I don't care if you claim to like him, he's insane. I can't believe the committee set him up as your self defense trainer."
"Oh, come on Squall. Don't you think you're being a bit high strung? He was a unique character, but I'm sure he comes highly recommended if he's who the committee assigned for me."
Squall looked at her momentarily then shook his head and transferred his eyes back to the road. Selphie sighed dreamily and resting her chin on her hand, looked out the open window. "I think self defense lessons are going to be a lot of fun."
To her left she heard what sounded like Squall choking. She turned around and looked at him to see he was indeed coughing, quite hard. "Are you all right?" He waved a hand at her. "Was it something I said?"
"Fun?" he finally asked after regaining his composure. Worriedly, he looked between her and the road, then with a sigh, he relaxed his shoulders. "Well, if you ever feel even slightly uncomfortable around him, just…uh…just let me know, and I'll…uh, I'll take care of it."
"Squall, is it just me or do you sound worried?" Selphie chided, giggling.
For a second it seemed as if he blushed, but it soon disappeared, "I deal with guys like him on missions. They're scumbags. Sorry, I wouldn't trust him."
"But you need to give people the benefit of the doubt," Selphie smiled. "Not everyone's as bad as you think."
"Not everyone is as good as you think."
"Granted, but still. It's much harder to live life if you think everyone you know is going to betray you."
"It's always worked for me."
Selphie smiled weakly, shook her head and looked back out the window. "Well, I've noticed that it does tend to keep you on your toes. But always being on alert isn't good for you either. Don't you ever get paranoid?"
Squall said nothing, only pretended that he hadn't heard that last comment and continued down the freeway. Several minutes passed by in silence, but it felt eons longer.
Finally, Selphie could barely distinguish Garden in the distance. Surrounding Garden was a swarm of traffic that was about five times busier than normal.
Squall pulled the Garden car into the parking area and was surprised beyond belief that he couldn't find a single place to park. "What is everyone doing here so early?!" Squall exclaimed. He sounded both agitated and worried.
After finding an empty space, Squall put the huge armored car into park and ripped the keys from the ignition in annoyance.
"Oh, come on Squall. Calm down. Don't worry! It'll be fun!!" Selphie said with a singsong voice. She then leapt out of the car and motioned him to follow her inside with her head. "Now, let's go pick up our son!"
"Please, don't say it like that…"
"Nida, sweetheart! I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?" an overly excited mother exclaimed as she hugged the pilot rather tightly.
"Well, at the moment, I'm unable to breathe…" he choked out.
"I'm glad to see you're doing all right, Son," his father said, giving him a friendly punch in the back.
"Dad, can you make Mom let go of me?"
"Come on, sport, you're in military school. Surely a motherly hug isn't as painful as some of the experiences you've been through!" his father exclaimed, his eyebrows raised.
"This is what you get from staying away from me so long!" his mother squealed, hugging him even more tightly.
"And…I think my vertebral column just collapsed…" he announced nonchalantly.
"Okay, okay, Janice, I think you can let go of him now."
Ever so reluctantly, Nida's mother let the pilot out of her death grip. Grimacing, and panting slightly, Nida massaged his sore ribs, then looking at his father said, "Typically, our opposing forces aren't made up of desperate mothers." Then, looking at his mother, who was still beaming at him, he said, "But maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea…for close combat…"
"Hey, Nida! Having fun?" Zell called from across the room. Nida whipped around to see the martial artist and his mother waving. Smiling, he waved back, then he turned back to his parents. His mom was smiling even bigger now.
"Oh, Nida, is he your boyfriend? He's a cutie!"
"I'm not gay, Mom."
"No one ever said you were, Son," his father said.
"But it would be fine if you were," his mother added, giving his father 'the look'. "I would rather you let it out than wallow in it."
"That's wonderful that I have your support, Mom, but I'm not gay."
"And there are all sorts of nice boys out there."
"I'm not gay!!"
"Tachi? Have you seen Sae? I haven't seen her anywhere tonight!"
"Sae? I can't say that I have. But you know, I'm having trouble finding Arisu also."
"Well, then," a man said, puffing out his chest, "that means one thing: they're together somewhere."
"Are they avoiding us?" Arisu's mother pouted. "We haven't seen them in so long, you would think that they would be the least bit excited to at least say hello!"
From beneath a nearby table, two girls were lying on their stomachs, completely concealed by the light blue tablecloth that was draped over it.
"Shhh, stay quite," Sae whispered to her counterpart. From the inch of space they had from the tablecloth to the ground, they were studying the placement of their parents' shoes. "They're still approximately five feet off."
"We'll find them faster if we split up."
"But what if we can't find each other? This is a big building!"
"Then…uh…we'll…"
Arisu shook her head and swore under her breath. "Hyne, they're so annoying. I wish that they'd just hurry up and go look for us somewhere else!"
"I know!! Let's check the dormitories!"
Sae pressed the side of her head against the cold linoleum floor to watch the four sets of shoes walk away. "And we're safe! For the time being at least," she beamed.
"Man, and they're headed to the dorms? Where are we gonna go to hide from them?" Arisu whined.
"We'll just have to stick it out here a little longer," Sae shrugged, pulling her knees to her chest.
Suddenly, the tablecloth lifted. Arisu gasped loudly, and covered her mouth. Both of the girls knew that they had been found. But, instead of it being a parent, it was Nida. He looked desperate.
"Sorry, this hiding spot is taken!" Sae declared, trying to push him away.
"Please, you have to let me in. My parents are coming! I conveniently lost them while they were at that table getting cookies! And all of the other tables are taken up too! And the closets!"
"How many places have you been trying to hide i-" Arisu started, but before she could finish, Nida pushed her out of the way and crammed his way between the two girls.
"So, your night's been that bad too?" Sae whispered.
Nida nodded. "My parents are still adamant on finding me a boyfriend."
"Aw, that's sweet," Arisu laughed, "The only problem is that you're straight and currently dating Xu."
"Yeah. Maybe I'll have to introduce them eventually. That way they can stop with the whole 'gay' bit."
"Well, it's good that they want to help out even if you were. You know a lot of parents wouldn't do that."
"I know, I know."
"Those putzes, where the hell did they run off to?" a voice came from outside of the table. Sae stiffened up. That was most definitely her father's voice, and 'putz' was definitely one of his favorite insults (beaten out only by schmuck). The pair of black, highly polished shoes were right in plain view, the foot was tapping impatiently.
"Hm, could they be here?" The tablecloth was lifted, and because of the lack of space, the two girls couldn't mosey their way out fast enough. "I found them! Everyone! They were hiding from us!!"
"Nida! There you are! You had us worried!"
"Busted…" the three SeeDs muttered simultaneously.
"So…um…this is the second floor classroom…" Rinoa said quietly, trying to catch her father's eye. It was a big enough surprise to her that he actually showed up, but by this point in the night, she felt as if it would have been better if he hadn't. He hadn't been paying attention to her at all.
"Quistis teaches up here actually. She mainly teaches the younger classes, but I have a class with her now that I'm finally an official SeeD and…" The ringing of General Caraway's phone cut her off.
"That's nice…" he said very nonchalantly, then he answered his cell.
With her hands clasped behind her back, Rinoa leaned forward, her black hair falling over her shoulders. "You know, I got one of the highest recorded scores on my written and field exam combined. I'm in the top ten." The Galbadian General glared at her for interrupting his conversation
"That's great…" he said venomously, then went back to 'business'. "I told you, I don't want anything to do with the-"
Rinoa's eyes misted over and she looked very saddened at the fact that her father didn't seem to care for any of her accomplishments. "…I also currently bought a pet Moomba and named him Snooky Ookums…" she said, as if testing to make sure he was even listening.
"Listen Jerald, I'll call you back… No, it's my daughter…I'm supposed to be participating in some Parent Night tonight at her school. Bye." He flipped the phone shut and focused his piercing stare at her, then shook his head in disdain.
"Oh wow, I'm so glad that I'm more important to you than your business call."
"You should be. That's a very important case."
Rinoa opened her mouth in shock. "You're unbelievable! I'm your daughter! Your only daughter! I'm all that remains of your wife! And you can't even stand to look at me! Is that all I am to you Dad? Am I an embarrassment? A disappointment?"
Caraway said nothing, only looked on at her as she ranted.
"Everyone says that I'm unfair to you, that I don't give you enough chances. It's all crap! All of it! I'm sick of it, Dad! I'm sick of being the best that I can be, so that maybe one day I can impress you. So that maybe one day you can look at me and with pride say, 'That's my daughter', but I guess that's a bit too much to ask for, isn't it?"
The General sighed and flicked his black eyes down to the ground. "No, Rinoa, it isn't."
"Then why the hell can't you at least pretend to be the smallest bit interested in what I'm doing!? Am I really so repulsive to you that you can't support anything I do!? I'll bet that the only reason you even came tonight was so that it would keep your public image up. Am I right? Am I!?"
At that point, Rinoa's fists were clenched so tightly that she could feel her nails boring into the flesh of her palms. She clenched her jaw, and huffing and puffing ever so slightly, she turned on her booted heels and stomped out of the door.
With a chubby hand grasped tightly by Selphie's slender fingers, and the other one completely covered by Squall's big palm, Brian strutted between the two SeeDs, smiling broadly to himself.
Selphie glanced at the paper she had been handed by Xu, stating all of his classes and teachers that she would have to visit. "Well, looky here, Instructor Trepe is one of your teachers?" Selphie asked brightly.
"Uh huh…" Brian answered quietly.
"Well, she's one of my friends. Is she nice to you?"
"Uh huh…"
"Well good."
"What classes do you take?" Squall asked, sounding rather uncomfortable.
"Um…basic magic…" Brian said quietly, "Basic defense, weapon training, health, and gym."
"Let me guess, Instructor Trepe teaches your basic magic?" Selphie laughed.
"Yeah."
"Oh, Quisty is such a magic nerd, but that's okay. Between you and me…" Selphie leaned down and motioned Brian closer. Looking slightly uneasy, he approached her and she whispered in his ear, "I'm a better spell caster than her anyway."
Brian giggled and Selphie laughed again.
"What'd you just tell the kid?" Squall asked.
"Nothing that wasn't the truth."
Still smiling broadly, Selphie stood back up and began walking only to run directly into a solid entity.
"You may be the better spell caster, but I'm the better strategist…" a familiar voice chided.
Rubbing her head, Selphie whined, "Hyne Quisty, why d'you gotta listen in to everyone's conversations all the time? And aren't you supposed to be meeting with parents in your classroom?"
"Yes, I am. But I took a break so I could come down here and get some cookies from the refreshment table!" the blond instructor smiled and without saying anything else, disappeared.
Squall looked over his shoulder to find Laguna pushing his way through the crowd, surrounded by his entourage of bodyguards and personal assistants.
"Come on, let's go on upstairs to see some of Brian's teachers," he said in a desperate attempt to flee before Laguna noticed him.
Completely unaware that this was a tactic to outmaneuver Squall's old man, Selphie threw a fist into the air and exclaimed, "All right! Let's go!"
The three walked up the stairs to the elevator. Squall jammed the button on the wall repeatedly, as if the overuse of it would make the elevator approach faster. Finally, the metallic doors opened up and a flood of people spewed out.
Just as the last person was getting out of the elevator, who just so happened to be a little old lady, the commander heard a cry of, "Squall! I've found you!" Without further thought, he helped pull the old woman out of the elevator, a bit too forcibly, and then shoved Selphie and Brian in it.
"Hey, Squall! That's not fair to your father!" Selphie complained once she saw the man running up the stairs just as the heavy metal door slid shut. "Let him on!" she yelled, trying to press the button to open the door back up. Yet, Squall held her hands back until the elevator started to slowly rise to the second floor.
Selphie scoffed at the Commander and folded her arms. "I can't believe you! You're so horrible to him. He's really, honestly trying Squall. Why can't you accept that?"
Not even waiting for him to reply, she grabbed Brian's hand again, and when the ding resonated through the elevator, she walked briskly off, taking the boy with her. Squall was following behind, throwing his arms around wildly as he argued back with her. "I don't know how to act around him, Selph! Think of it that way. What am I supposed to do? He's been gone for seventeen years. Do you honestly think that after him being gone so long I can just all of a sudden call him 'dad' again?"
Without turning around to face him, Selphie replied, "You could make just as much of an effort as he has been. I don't see you trying to act like a son, but I sure see him trying to act like a father."
Brian looked uncomfortably between the two SeeDs as they quarreled on.
"Look, I'll talk to him, all right? I just don't know what to say!"
Selphie stopped, mid-step in the middle of the hallway, and Squall stopped just a few paces behind her.
"It's better than nothing, am I right?" he offered.
This time she turned to face him. "You mean you're actually going to make an effort?" He nodded. "You're not going to half-ass it?" Eyes widened a bit he nodded again. She looked down at Brian who was also looking at her wide-eyed. He'd heard the bigger and badder SeeDs swear, but never Selphie. "Don't say that sweetheart, that's a bad word," she said quietly, "I shouldn't have used it."
"Wow, wow, wow…Ms. Sunshine is picking up some bad habits!" Seifer laughed from up ahead.
"Yeah, I must've picked them up from you boys," Selphie smiled at the oncoming pair. "Well, Seifer, don't you look spiffy?" Selphie laughed when she noticed his suit. Matron was walking beside him in her normal wispy and graceful fashion.
"Oh, Selphie, sweetie, you really shouldn't swear. You're too sweet and innocent for that kind of thing anyway!" Matron said in her typical airy voice.
"Is that supposed to be some sort of compliment?"
"Take it whichever way you want to," the woman smiled warmly. "Who is this precious little guy?"
Brian immediately grabbed around Selphie's leg.
"Don't worry, Brian, this is Matron. She was like my mom for about…three years wouldn't you say?"
Matron seemed to think for a bit, "Yes, that's about right. Three years, two months, approximately."
Selphie smiled down at the top of Brian's head and messed up his hair. "She won't bite you. I promise."
Very reluctantly, Brian stood away from Selphie's leg and looked up into Edea's honey colored eyes.
"Aren't you a sweet thing?" she murmured. "So, you're taking him around as his adoptive parent, I take it."
"Yeah, Squall too."
"Oh, that's interesting. Found a loophole, didn't we?" she smiled at the little boy. "He must be a bright one."
Selphie smiled and nodded.
"Well, Squall dear, you've been standing back there saying nothing. How've you been lately? I haven't seen you in a while."
"I've been fine."
"He has a lot on his mind…" Selphie mouthed, and Matron nodded.
"I'll see you two around. And please, if you ever have time, come visit me some day. It gets awfully lonely in that orphanage all by myself."
"We'll do that someday, then."
Matron and Seifer waved goodbye and walked away.
"Well, since Instructor Trepe is downstairs snacking on cookies, let's go see…Instructor Daly first!" Selphie said, sounding as enthusiastic as she could.
"What does Instructor Daly teach?"
"Basic defense…" Brian answered as he walked alongside her.
"Squall! There you are! Please, don't run!" Laguna's desperate voice came from behind.
Squall spun around to come face-to-face with his biological father. "Look, Mr. Loire, I'm sorry, but I was just getting ready to meet with one of Brian's teachers. Can this possibly wait?"
Laguna seemed to have been deeply hurt by that statement. Selphie looked between the two men, and nudged Squall in the side, and standing on her tiptoes, whispered in his ear, "Don't worry about it, I can go in alone. I'll let you two talk out here."
Squall looked after her, but she had soon enough disappeared into the classroom and left Squall standing uncomfortably next to Laguna, just outside it.
"So…how've you been?" Laguna asked, pushing his long brown locks from out of his face. He was still out of breath from the run.
"Oh, you know…"
"Oh, right…"
It was silent as they took turns looking at each other and back to the floor. "So, um, Selphie was made an A-Rank SeeD just the other day…" Squall said quietly.
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yeah."
"Selphie…now…which one was she?"
"She was just out here…" Squall replied.
"Oh…the short one?"
"Yeah…"
"She's really…" for a few seconds it seemed as if Laguna was searching for a word, but when nothing came to mind he answered, "…short."
Squall looked at him confusedly, but just sighed and said, "Whatever."
"So, um…what job did she get?"
"She's right in there, you don't have to act like she's invisible…" Squall answered monotonously.
"Oh…right…well…what job did she get?"
"Negotiator," the Commander answered shortly.
"O-oh." Laguna's eyes widened. "That's too bad."
Squall scoffed and shook his head, "You don't beat around the bush, do you?"
"I try to avoid it," the president answered, with a slight smile across his lips.
Laguna peaked into the classroom through the window to see Selphie standing up and shaking the teacher's hand. "She is a cutie; is she your new girlfriend?"
Squall stumbled around the question nervously, and hadn't even answered when Laguna gave him a playful punch in the arm. "You've got good taste. It must be because you got my good looks," he chuckled. "You must be quite the lady's man."
Squall merely rolled his eyes.
Laguna looked at him nervously, then coughed and said, "Well, she'll be back out here any minute now, so I'll let you two be alone. I really came because I wanted to see you. You're the second top student here, I don't really need to talk to your teachers, do I?"
Squall shook his head.
"Well, then I was thinking…um…if you wanted to…because I'm not saying that you have to!" Now it was Laguna who seemed to be extremely nervous about whatever he was trying to say. "Ellone has been asking about you, and she's been wanting you up to spend the weekend or the holidays, whatever. And I'd love to have you up to the palace too… I know that it probably doesn't sound like something you'd like…so you can invite someone to come with you since you probably wouldn't be able to stand being alone around me all the time…"
"I don't know…"
"I didn't think you'd be too keen on the idea. But will you at least think about it?"
Squall looked down at the floor then flicked his ice blue eyes back up to meet his father's warm green eyes. "I'll think about it," he responded.
"You will?" Laguna's entire face seemed to light up. "Really!? That's so much better than the response I thought I was going to get!"
Squall wasn't sure if he already regretted telling Laguna a definite "maybe", because it seemed as if the president was already planning the entire trip in his head. But who really knew what all was really going in the man's mind?
"I need to get back to Esthar, I'm about," he looked at his watch, "an hour late for a meeting with a foreign diplomat." He smiled sheepishly. "And he'll probably be waiting for another three hours until I get back."
As much as he struggled to not let it happen, Squall felt the sides of his mouth curl up into that unfamiliar smile. Laguna seemed to have been taken aback by it, but was immediately overjoyed. "Is it so amusing to you that I'm missing an important meeting that you actually smile? Well, good! You need to smile more often! Frowning takes more muscles and gives you wrinkles! That's why I look so damn good, even at forty!"
It was silent between the two until a few seconds later when the door squeaked back open. Squall felt Selphie's hand on his shoulder and heard her whisper, "How'd it go?"
"Surprisingly well."
Brian tugged at the bottom of Squall's leather jacket. "Isn't he the president of Esthar?" he asked shyly.
"Yes, he is," Squall replied.
"And he's your dad?"
Before Squall could reply, Selphie answered, "Yes," for him.
"That's really cool," Brian said, his eyes glowing.
"And guess what that means? Since Squall is your adoptive father for the night, that means President Loire is your adoptive grandfather!" Selphie exclaimed.
Now both Laguna's and Brian's eyes glowed with excitement. "I have a grandson for the night! Isn't that wonderful?! I'm calling Esthar and telling them to cancel that meeting!"
Just as he was getting ready to do so, a familiar man walked up from behind the president. "Laguna, the answer is no. That would be the third time you've canceled on Mr. Dingus. Just come on back downstairs where everyone's waiting for you."
"Aww, but Kiros! I have a grandson!"
"You can see him again soon."
"But he's only my grandson for the night!"
"Huh?"
Laguna turned around and picked Brian up by the armpits and held him out to Kiros, like holding out a puppy. "Just look at how cute he is! And you want me to go back to Esthar?"
"Laguna, come on. You're lucky you were able to come here on such short notice."
Laguna tried pouting, but when that didn't work, he sighed and put Brian down. "Okay, I'm going." As he started off down the hall, he turned back to Squall and called out, "Give me a call if you decide you want to come over!" and then the two slender figures disappeared inside the elevator.
Selphie was smiling widely at Squall, then looked back down at Brian's schedule. "Okay, Instructor Vickson is next!"
Walking to the next classroom, she nudged Squall in the side and beamed up at him. "I told you it wouldn't be so bad. Laguna is a sweet man." Squall smiled back down at her and messed up her hair.
"What do you want me to say? That you're always right?"
"No, because that's a lie. Just most of the time," she winked.
A/N: In how many different ways can one say, "We're sorry?" Well, let us try! We're so sorry! In Spanish, "Somos arrependitos!" In German, "Es tut wir Leid!" French, "Nous sommes désolés!" Italian, "Siamo spiacenti!" Yes, even in Portuguese, "Sentimos muito!" We realize that the wait for this chapter was insanely long. As a matter of fact, it has taken us…((does some quick mathematics)) three months and twenty-seven days to update. But…please forgive us?
This year both BreeAnne and I have obtained part time jobs. Mine is a bit more demanding than hers (I'm a waitress…heh…if you can imagine) and I work three days or more a week. Then, we have to add on the fact that the classes we have been put in this year are also very demanding and the homework is suicidal! We can promise everyone that updates will not be as frequent as they used to be. But we will finish this story, come hell or high water!
Ezri-Candy: Thank you so much for all your support! We really love the compliments and comments we get from you. And let us know when you write that Squalphie! We'll definitely have to read it!