Ezri-Candy: We loooove Gravitation! Inuyasha is a series that we (sadly) fell out of, though it does have a very original and interesting storyline. Thanks for the compliments on the last chapter and we hope that you enjoy the next. (Let us know when you write your Squallphie…or if you need any help Beta-reading it!)
x-cry: If and when you draw your Squalphie picture, we'd love to see it! If you would like, please email it to us at and with your permission we can even add it to our site!
SupaFireCross: We hope you haven't 'died of longing'. o We're slow, and we're sorry for that.
theMangaLibrarian: You haven't played the game and you're reading. That's extremely flattering in a strange sort of way. How'd you stumble across this out of the plethora of stories on Mika: Your reviews never fail to make us smile, and for that, we think we love you. This goes out to all of our reviewers. Your feedback, whether negative or positive makes us strive to write and continue to write despite our crazy schedules! Thanks for everyone's support!
BellaStarz: Have we started a trend perhaps? That's cool. And if there isn't a Squalphie shrine already out there, then one needs to be made! Unfortunately we lack the time and experience to do something to that degree.
A/N: So sorry about the wait again, everyone. Our excuse hasn't changed much either. We apologize, once again. The very last part of the last semester of school seems to be the busiest time of the year. Once summer comes around updates should be more frequent though. And if we really buckle down and do our jobs, this story may even be completed by the end of this summer. (As sad as that is, it's true. There's probably…four…maybe five chapters until we're gonna wrap this baby up.) Enjoy chapter 12, everyone and don't forget to let us know what you think!
Chapter 12
"Now Selphie, remember, I am not teaching karate. I'm teaching you ca-ra-zay!" Seth said, moving around her. Selphie kept her fists up and watched the older man circle her. "You don't know when I'm going to come at you, so you need to be prepared."
"I'm ready for you," she panted. She was already out of breath for the day.
Seth moved in and kicked her in the shin. Immediately, she bent down and gasped in pain. "You have to be prepared," he repeated. "Criminals are criminals and they're not afraid to fight dirty. Therefore, you need to be just as prepared to fight dirty."
Selphie squinted her eyes. She got easily frustrated with him. "Oh, I'll fight dirty," she muttered and thrust upward with her knee, hoping to come in contact with the part she knew to be the most sensitive for all males.
Before she could make contact, Seth grabbed her hand and threw her back. "Good try, but keep this in mind…" his hands were up, a sign that she recognized as it was time to stop sparring. Selphie leaned back and reached for her water bottle, taking a big swig of the cool liquid.
"What you tried to do there was a good will attempt. You know very well that this area," he motioned to his groin, "Is very sensitive. But so do men, and men have been taught ever since they were little that that's the area that they want to protect. Therefore, you will have a harder time hitting your attacker there."
"Okay," she panted.
"Stand back up," he said, brushing some of the long silver hair from his brow. He reached down and helped her up. "Now, I'm going to teach you a new fighting stance. Go ahead and assume the one that you have been using."
Selphie hunched her shoulders and put her fists up.
"That's all wrong," Seth chuckled, shaking his head. "Okay, first of all, you need to relax your shoulders," he placed his hands on her shoulders and she relaxed them.
"Good, now punch me as hard as you can."
"But-"
"Just do it."
Shaking all doubt from her head, she did as he asked and punched him square in the chest.
Seth gasped and stepped back and Selphie did the same, clutching her hand. "Ouch!" she yelled, "Holy mother of Moombas!"
"You've got a strong punch," he laughed wrapping an arm around his chest. "But the point of this was to prove one thing; punching hurts both you and your opponent."
"Well what do you want me to do instead?"
"Fight with an open hand."
Selphie's jaw almost dropped. "You're telling me to slap them?"
"No! Not at all!"
"Then what?"
"Here, I'll show you." He took her by the hand and stood her in front of him so that there wasn't much more than a foot between them. "Your attacker has you backed up against a wall, let's say. You need him to back off; what do you do?"
Selphie shrugged.
"Yell at him; you tell him to back off. Scare him senseless. Make him think that you're insane. He will back off."
"Yell at him?"
"That's right. Now, get me to back off of you."
"Back off!" she shouted.
"You're not scaring me," he announced smugly.
"You better get back!"
Seth shook his head. "Don't be afraid to use your hands; don't be afraid to try and fight off your attacker also!"
Selphie bit on her lip as she thought for a moment. "GET OFF OF ME YOU SCUMBAG!" she screamed, hitting the palm of her hand against his forehead.
Seth stumbled back, shook his head and laughed. "Good job!" He gave her a high five. "That was wonderful!" Still laughing and holding his head, he said, "Go ahead and take a water break; your boyfriend's been waiting outside anyway."
Swooping down to pick up her water bottle, Selphie ran outside and immediately pounced on Squall.
"Squall! Squall! Did you see me? Did you? I fought him off! I hit him in the forehead and I told him, 'BACK OFF OF ME!' and he did!"
"I saw," Squall chuckled. "You're doing good."
"Thanks!" Selphie beamed, washing down the very last of her water bottle. "I have to go back in for the rest of the lesson," she panted, running to the door again.
"All right, I'll get you some more water."
"Thanks! There's money in my purse that you can use."
"It's only one gil, I think I can manage."
"Don't be a butt; use my money!" she called as the door was shutting, "It's my water anyway!"
Squall waved a hand over his shoulder and with his hands shoved deep within his pockets, walked out of the small dojo for the pop machine that was just outside. The very air was frigid and snow covered every visible facet of the earth. His breath came out in milky white clouds of vapor. He dropped the coin into the slot and just as he was bending down to retrieve the water bottle, a noisy truck pulled into the parking lot behind him.
A strange sputtering noise came from the muffler, followed by a miniature cloud of black smoke. Squall watched in interest as the driver's side door swung open and out stepped a familiar face. "Hey, Squall! Whatcha doin' at Seth's dojo?" Zell asked, slipping into a large black coat.
"Waiting for Selphie to get done with her class," he replied, just as Zell leaned back into his truck.
When Zell reappeared, he had lots of equipment in tow. "I didn't know Selphie took classes here."
"Well, she does now. Do you need help carrying any of that?" Squall asked, when he saw the blond struggling to stand up straight with all of the workout equipment.
"No, will you open the door for me though?"
Squall opened the door for the dojo and Zell stumbled on in. He dropped all of the equipment in a pile next to Seth's desk, then sat down in a chair.
"So what's been up with you, man? Haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you lately."
"Not a lot."
Zell smiled, "Winter break is coming up soon! I can't wait!"
Squall grunted, "Do you have any plans?"
"Yeah, I'm going to be staying here in Balamb with my family and I'll be working full-time at the dojo."
"Oh," Squall sighed and sat down in a cushioned chair, looking at the floor.
"Why? Is there something wrong, man?"
"Naw, it's nothing."
Zell studied him momentarily, then shrugged. "Okay, whatever man. I know that there's something wrong, and if you won't tell me then I guess you just won't tell me."
Squall bit his lip and sighed. "It's just Laguna invited me up to the Presidential Palace for winter break, and I was really hoping to get someone to drag up there with me."
"Sorry, Squall. He's your father; why don't you just go alone?"
The Commander averted his eyes to the carpet again; "It's too awkward."
Zell laughed, then promptly covered his mouth.
"What?" Squall asked, narrowing his eyes in irritation.
"Nothing…" Zell said, waving his hand as if he dismissed the question. But when Squall looked at him confusedly, he almost fell out of his chair in a fit of giggles.
"What?" Squall demanded, a bit louder this time.
"It's just…" Zell started, still laughing, "You will fight Ruby Dragons with little hesitation and walk straight into the Deep Sea Research Center without looking back, but you're afraid of going to Esthar for a few days to spend some time with your dad?"
Squall scowled at the blond and immediately the martial artist stopped. "I'm sorry; I just thought it was a bit ironic."
Squall sighed. "I knew it was a bad idea. I'll just call him and tell him that it doesn't work for me and that we should try it again another time."
"No, Squall, don't keep pushing it off. It's best to go ahead and do it."
"That's easy for you to say."
"I'm sorry man, but you're asking for last minute plans over the holiday season. If you want to get someone to come with you, you should try for someone who doesn't have a family to speak of."
It was silent between the two.
"That alone leaves you with three people," Zell started up again, "Seifer, Quistis and Selphie. Now, I imagine that Seifer and Renee will be spending the holidays together."
"Quistis always goes to the orphanage to visit Matron during break," Squall muttered.
"Leaving you with Selphie. I'm sure she won't mind the trip and let's face it, I definitely know that you would enjoy spending break with her more than anyone else at this moment."
"There's one problem…"
"Yes…?" Zell asked.
"People would have field day with all the rumors that could be spread around."
"Aw, come on, Squall. Who cares? I mean for once, do you have to really be so obsessed with what others think? Just go and have fun."
Squall opened his mouth to say something, but his thought was interrupted when he heard a cry of, "YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THAT, YOU ASSHOLE?"
Squall and Zell traded worried glances then ran into the exercise room, throwing the door open. Seth had Selphie in a full Nelson headlock and she was bent over awkwardly, trying to escape from it.
"What the hell are you doing!" Squall yelled.
"Squall, calm down buddy! It's part of the lesson," Zell said, trying to restrain the Commander but to no avail.
"Cool it, Sonny. I'm not hurting your girlfriend. I'm merely trying to teach her how to get out of various headlocks."
Squall relaxed slightly, but still folded his arms across his chest and continued to peer at them.
"Now, Selphie," Seth said, straightening her back up. "This is a very simple headlock to get out of, can you find a way out?"
Selphie grunted and struggled, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't get out.
"Okay," Seth started up, trying to get her to stop her struggle, "there is a very easy way to get out of this lock, and in the process of getting out, you will also floor your opponent. Just remember, mind over matter."
"Yeah, I gotcha…" she breathed.
"Now what I want you to do is extend your arms over your head so that they are straight up."
Selphie did as he asked.
"Now grab the back of my head…"
Again she did as he asked. Squall might as well have been shaking all over with anger. "I don't like this…" he muttered under his breath.
"Well, personally, I'd rather Seth be doing it than a stranger with bad intentions."
"Now, bring all your weight straight down."
"Really?"
"Yes, really, go!"
"Okay…if you say so."
Just as he asked, she brought all of her weight directly down, slipping out of the headlock and bringing him down also.
Zell clapped and cheered. "Way to go, Selph!" he exclaimed.
Holding his back, Seth stood up. "Okay…that's all for this week's lesson…" he grunted. "I'm getting too old for this; I'm getting beat up."
Selphie wiped the sweat from her brow, turned to face Squall and when she saw that he had a new water bottle for her, immediately beamed at him. "Thanks!" she exclaimed, taking it from him.
Turning the bottle completely upside-down, she downed about half of it.
"Ready to go?" Squall asked her.
The younger SeeD shook her head. "Hold on," she panted. She straightened out her little gym shorts then took her hair out of the ponytail it had been in. She shook her head and scratched her scalp, throwing her hair all around. "Wow, it feels so good to have my hair out of that. My hair hurts from being up so long; has that ever happened to you?"
Squall chuckled upon holding the door open for her, "No, I can't say that I have."
"I'll see you next week Selphie, and we're going to work on your form a bit more and techniques to get out of other holds," Seth called after them.
"All right, see ya next week, Seth!" she waved goodbye.
While walking out of the dojo, Selphie stooped down to pick up her coat, but instead of putting it on, just walked outside as she was: running shorts and a tee-shirt. "I am so hot!" she declared standing out in the frigid weather, her arms extended as if welcoming all the cold air to her. "This feels glorious!" she announced in a singsong voice.
"Better get in the Garden car," Squall suggested, "It's below freezing out here."
With a sigh, she did as he asked. She climbed in through the passenger's side door and sat down, closing the door behind her. Squall got in the car as well, turned the keys in the ignition and began pulling out of the parking lot.
Immediately, he turned the heater on, trying to warm up the car. Even inside the car he could see his breath. "Are you crazy?" Selphie exclaimed, diving forward and trying to turn the air conditioner on.
"No, you are. It's twenty-five fucking degrees out there!"
"Watch your mouth, Mr. Leonhart or I might have to report you to the Headmaster!" she said, narrowing her eyes playfully.
"You've gotten more intimidating, Selph," he laughed, "But not intimidating enough."
"Oh really? I bet I can take you!" she said smiling.
"Really, now?" Squall replied smugly.
"Oh yeah, I can take you. When we get back to Garden, it's you and me."
"Okay, Sefie, whatever you say."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…start over sweetie, and slow down this time…" Quistis said holding her arms up, as if trying to calm the frantic Rinoa.
"It's not fair, Quisty! Zell made it sound as if I never try being nice to him, but again I tried, and again he failed to be a father."
"What happened?"
The dark haired girl pushed her long locks of obsidian hair out of her face and plopped down on the floor beside the Instructor's bed. "I was being nice, I swear!"
"That's not the question, sweetie…what happened?"
"He was talking on his cell phone almost the entire time. I couldn't get a word in inch-wise! It was as if he was doing his all to completely ignore me!"
"He was talking on his cell phone?"
"Yeah, about some military crap."
"Military Intelligence perhaps?"
"Well that's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one," Rinoa muttered. "Anyway, I got so fed up with him talking on his cell phone, I started yelling at him. We got in another one of our world famous spats."
"Rinoa, you didn't…" Quistis gasped. "That didn't help your situation at all, I'm sure."
"No, but it made me feel better," the raven-head grumbled.
"Rinoa…" Quistis shook her head, "You lose your temper too quickly."
"No, wait a minute, get this: I managed to reach him somehow."
The blond Instructor widened her eyes. "What happened?"
"He tried to buy my forgiveness. You see, that's what crappy fathers do. They realize that they screwed up and instead of trying to fix the problem they decide, 'Hm, well maybe if I buy her this bracelet then everything will automatically be all right again.'"
Quistis continued to stare at Rinoa wide eyed as she threw a very intricate and expensive looking bracelet from her pocket and stomped on it. Mascara streaming down her porcelain doll face, she looked up at Quistis. By that point, Rinoa was crying so hard that her breathing was ragged, "I don't…want…a b-bracelet…" she sobbed, "I want…a f-f-father…"
Rinoa's fists were balled so tightly that she could feel her nails digging into her flesh. Quistis reached forward and hugged her. "You need to calm down. Have you told Zell about it?"
"N-no…" she continued to sob, "He doesn't like it wh-when I cry around him."
"That's the problem with guys…they're stupid. If you're in a relationship with him then he's obligated to sit and listen to you when you're upset, even if it's over stupid things. Not that I'm saying this is stupid…but jeez! The least he could do is listen to you…" The Instructor was suddenly interrupted by a loud knocking.
"It's open!" she yelled.
Sae threw open the door and stood in the doorframe panting. "The…the…!"
"Out with it, what's wrong?" Quistis asked, looking at her confusedly.
"The…the…"
"Spit it out!" Rinoa yelled.
Suddenly Arisu came running as well, not paying attention and looking behind her. She ran directly into Sae's back, throwing her forward into the bedroom, with Arisu on top of her.
"What's going on?" Quistis finally demanded.
"The…the!"
"WHAT?"
"THE T-REXAUR IS LOOSE!" both of the girls screamed at once.
"What?"
"We were training and SAE decided to leave the door open!"
"Don't pin the blame on me! If you hadn't distracted me with your stupid fish dance, then maybe I wouldn't have forgotten!"
"Fish dance?" Quistis whispered, shaking her head. She wasn't even going to ask this time around.
"Call the military or something! T-Rexaur is running rampant around Garden!"
"Girls," Rinoa said, "This is a mercenary school, I'm pretty sure someone can handle it."
Suddenly a roar resonated from right outside the bedroom door. Quistis' eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and she desperately began to feel around for her whip. "Come on Rin! Let's take it on!" she said, her heart racing.
Unanimously, Sae and Arisu looked at each other, then back at the older two girls. "Uh, wait, don't be so hasty!" Sae stuttered, reaching in front of her to grab the blond Instructor's ankle.
Quistis wrestled her way out of Sae's grasp and just as she was getting ready to jump into the hallway, Seifer jumped out from behind the door with a mask on, and roared again. The Instructor stumbled backward and screamed, lashing the whip forward so that it smacked him on the leg.
"Ouch! Shit, Quistis! Can't you take a joke?"
"A joke? A JOKE?" the Instructor roared with an intensity it would've given the real T-Rexaur a run for its money. "You almost gave me a heart attack. Would it have been funny after I collapsed of a heart failure?"
"Are you kidding, Quistis?" Seifer grimaced, "If a Malboro can't put you down what makes you think that me jumping around in a Halloween mask would?"
Quistis glared at him and punched him in the shoulder. "Ass," she muttered, then she kicked Sae and Arisu out the door, and slammed it behind her. She sighed, shook her head and sat down on the floor.
"Are you all right?" Rinoa asked.
"Yeah, it's just my heart…It's a good thing…I don't need it…" Quistis panted.
"Let's do something! I'm bored!" Selphie complained, rolling over on Squall's bed and resting her chin in her hands. Squall was lying on his floor, his arms folded under his head.
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't know…" she muttered, "what do you want to do?"
Squall chuckled and shook his head. "In all honesty I'd rather stay here. I don't want to go back into town."
Selphie glared at him playfully and rolled on to her back again and stared at the ceiling. "You're no fun," she complained. "There's nothing to do in Garden! You must be crazy! You must be trying to drive me crazy."
Before Squall could reply with, 'too late', Selphie shot him a look and said, "Don't say anything."
"I wasn't going to," he lied.
"Go on, name two things that are fun to do in Garden. I dare ya!" she yelled, sitting up straight and pointing an accusing finger at the Commander.
"Well…there's always training."
"Yuck!" she crinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out.
"Studying…"
"You have got to be kidding me," she groaned. "I got my fill of studying after working with Quistis. I shall never again study for another test in my life!" she declared loudly, throwing a fist into the air.
"Okay, then you're right, there's nothing to do here."
"Awww!" she squealed. "Then let's goooo! I wanna do something!"
"Naw," he shook his head and remained lying on the floor. He hadn't done so much as move a muscle since they had gotten back from her training.
"But I'm bored."
"There's no law that states you have to be doing something every millisecond of the day. What're you going to do? Implode if you sit still too long?"
"Maybe, I've never tried it long enough to find out."
"Whatever," Squall groaned, draping an arm over his eyes.
"Come oooon, Squall…" she complained. "Let's do something!"
"You still haven't supplied any ideas as to what we could d-" he started, but before he was able to finish his last word, Selphie had jumped on his stomach and was holding his arms down by his ears. "What the f-?" the last word he stopped in the nick of time.
"You've had quite the mouth today, Commander Leonhart," Selphie laughed
"What're you doing?"
"I just pinned you Commander," she beamed. "Not many people can say that they've had that privilege."
Squall smiled back at her, catching her off-guard, then overpowered her pitiful pinning technique by lifting his arms, thus pushing her back. She fell off of his stomach and began crawling away from him, but he grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her back.
"You said that you thought you could take me," he reminded her.
"Oh…did I?" she asked innocently, pretending as if she couldn't remember.
"You're going to play stupid, huh?" Squall shrugged and let go of her ankle. "That's fine I suppose, if you're really that afraid that you'll lose." Squall turned around and became fixated on the television.
It was then that Selphie saw her opportunity, her prime chance to pounce and take the unsuspecting Commander by surprise. With an undignified 'Huah!' she heaved herself onto his back.
However, Squall didn't budge. As a matter of fact, it was as if Selphie had just run face first into a rock. The force of the impact threw her back down on her back again, and Squall merely turned around to show off that awkward half smile of his.
"If I would have known you were going to run at me I would've let you knock me over."
Selphie stuck her tongue out at him. "I don't need any of your sympathy!" she then folded her arms stubbornly and turned her nose up. Squall shrugged and turned back around.
With a devious grin Selphie ran at him again, this time while his attention was back with the local Balamb News. This time she accomplished her goal and floored the Commander.
Selphie laughed triumphantly, "I win!" she yelled, lifting her legs off the ground in glee. Squall didn't say anything, but shook his head. She narrowed her eyes and leaned in, "Don't say that you 'let me' take you down."
"I won't say a thing."
"Good," she smiled, folding her arms in mock victory.
"But I have a way of getting you off…" he said, in an 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' manner.
"Oh yeah! Just try it, buster! I won't be moved!"
"How are you going to stop me?" Squall cooed.
Selphie looked at him in a confused manner. She had no idea what he was trying, but decided as his arms were his strongest assets, that she would try to pin them down. Therefore she did. As soon as this was accomplished Squall grabbed hold of her hands and rolled so that they switched positions. Now it was Selphie lying on the floor.
"Ugh! Get off of me! You're heavy! You know you could stand to lose a few pounds," she grunted, trying to push him off of her but to no avail.
"It's solid muscle," he chided.
Selphie glared up at him, then with a smug face shrugged her shoulders (which was rather difficult, as now it was he who had her arms pinned to the ground). "That's alright. I have a plan now."
"Oh yeah?" he replied arrogantly. He leaned down and peered directly into her deep emerald eyes. "I'd like to see you try," he smiled again, now more playfully.
Now Selphie was at a loss. It was true she had said that hoping to 'intimidate' him into getting off, however him being the 'almighty fearless Commander' of the Balamb Garden, it seemed to her that very little would ever intimidate him.
Then she got a plan. It was crazy, and a bit far-fetched, but it just might work.
"Did you give u-?"
Selphie closed her eyes and before she lost her nerve, and before Squall was able to finish his sentence she managed to raise her neck just enough for her lips to press firmly against his.
The motion took the Commander completely off guard. His eyes widened and he would've fallen completely over backwards when he realized that this was her so-called 'plan'. She had intended on startling him enough that he would have just backed off, therefore what better counterstrike than to continue with it?
Squall closed his eyes and returned the kiss.
This time Selphie widened her eyes in surprise. She hadn't expected this to happen, though now that it was happening she wasn't going to back down. It was true that for a very long time, this was what she had wanted.
She rested her head against the carpeted floor again, and Squall followed her down, continuing to kiss her all the way.
All the nerves in her brain seemed to explode at that moment and she lost track of time, at least until the door creaked open. Immediately Squall's head snapped up. Standing in the doorway was Zell. The martial artist's face and ears flushed bright red and he said, "I thought I heard something crash and I came in to see if you were okay…but um…I can see you're busy…so um…yeah…I'm sorry…I'm embarrassed…I'll leave you two alone now…"
Very quickly, the blond jumped out of the room and closed the door rather hurriedly behind him, as if whatever he'd seen truly frightened him. After he was gone it was Selphie's turn to turn a violent red. "You ruined my plan!" she exclaimed jokingly at him, "You were supposed to turn tail and flee!"
Squall was still looking angrily at the door and whether he realized it or not he still held her hands to the floor with his. All she could do was wiggle her fingers to make sure that there was still blood flowing to them.
"Um, Squall?" she asked, trying to catch his eye. The Commander for some reason or another was off in La-La Land and she was starting to doubt whether or not it was possible for him to be summoned back to Garden.
Finally he looked back at her, then realizing he still had her pinned, apologized and stood up.
"Are you okay?" she asked as he walked back to his bed and sat down, resting his head in his hands.
"Yeah."
She also stood up and walked to the bed to sit next to him. Selphie's heart was still pounding from the kiss and she was finding it extremely difficult to act 'naturally'. "Do you have something on your mind?" she asked as calmly as she could. He said nothing, thus giving her the answer. "Tell me. I won't bite, I promise."
However, either the Commander was too lost in his train of thought to hear her, or he was completely ignoring her all together. He almost seemed as if he were concentrating very hard on a specific spot on the carpet. The silence hung heavily in the air around Selphie and she could no longer take it.
"What's wrong?" she repeated, her voice dropping from its normally cheery tone to one more serious and mature.
He didn't want to tell her what he had been thinking. "Nothing," he lied, looking at the floor.
"Has anyone told you how horrible of a liar you are?"
"I don't want to talk about it," he said in a tone that she knew basically meant, 'drop it'.
She sighed and slid off the bed. "Okay, I'm going back to my dorm. I have to start studying for my next counseling lesson."
Selphie had gotten to the door and was just preparing to open it when Squall blurted out, "Do you have any plans for holiday break?"
She paused before opening the door, then decided against it. She turned to look at him. He was fully attentive now, and staring directly at her. "I haven't really thought about it. I was originally planning on going to Trabia to visit friends, but I won't have the money in time to do that."
Squall nodded but didn't say anything.
"How about you?"
He cleared his throat and started, sounding very awkward, "Well, Laguna wants me to go to Esthar over the break."
"Oh! That's wonderful!" Selphie exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "You'll finally get to spend some time with your father! And Sis! You'll have a wonderful time! I'm sure of it!"
"I'm not going."
Selphie's smile immediately dropped and she looked at the floor. "Why not?" she finally asked after a length of time.
"I don't want to be alone around him. It's too awkward. I wouldn't know how to handle myself. He might as well be royalty and I've been brought up as a mercenary. Not necessarily the happy family one would picture."
"Can't you find someone to go with you? Maybe you could ask Zell!"
"He has family that he's going to spend time with over break. It's last minute notice and everyone has plans."
"So…" she started slowly, "You're saying you won't go unless you have someone to go with you." Squall didn't answer, and the younger SeeD merely studied him for a few moments before smiling as warmly as she could. "I'll go with you. If that's okay with you, that is."
He looked at her and shook his head. "Don't change your plans. Go on to Trabia to visit your friends. I can always spend the holidays with him next year."
"He might not be here next year," she smiled, "You have to enjoy what time you do have with him. And don't worry about it, I can to go Trabia anytime. Besides, I don't have the money and it's not everyday one receives an invitation to stay at the Presidential Palace in Esthar."
"You're sure it's okay?"
"Of course! I'm really looking forward to it!"
The bed springs groaned as he stood up.
Out of all the things that were running through his head, all Squall could get out was a, "Thanks, Selph…"
"No problem, but now I really have to go. I need to find Quistis and ask her something…"
She opened the door to leave but was stopped by two hands on her each of her shoulders. Her forehead creased in confusion as they turned her back into his room. She opened her mouth to ask if there was something wrong when Squall's mouth pressed up against hers again, this time taking her by surprise.
After breaking apart again, each looked at the other in slight embarrassment. "Okay…I need to go find Quistis…" Selphie repeated, her cheeks glowing a bright pink.
Squall nodded and let go of her shoulders.
Once she heard Squall's door close, she looked quickly around the area before jumping in the air with a shout of, "Booyaka! What a kiss!"
"Hey you! Student number 31285756! What are you doing in the boy's dorms?" she heard from behind her. Her eyes bugged out and she darted down the hall as fast as she could, as if running away from the Garden faculty (even though they already knew her identity) could get her out of trouble. "Hey! Wait up!" she heard them call from behind her.
Whatever faculty member was behind her was sure fast, because she could hear them catching up to her quickly. Selphie was running out of options quickly, as well as breath. If she stopped running, they'd catch her, but she couldn't find any nooks or crannies to dodge into either.
She reached the end of the hall and just as she was getting ready to round a corner she felt two bodies jump onto her back and drag her down, despite her attempts to keep going.
Insane giggling came from on top of her and immediately she knew who had befuddled her plans. "Gotcha!" Sae yelled triumphantly.
"Bet you didn't expect us to be hiding there, didja?" Arisu laughed.
"Guys! No! This isn't a good time!"
"What?" they asked in unison.
"You've ignored us for two days straight!" Sae whined.
"Yeah, you're no fun anymore!"
"No, guys, that's not it!" Selphie continued desperately, trying to claw her way out from under the two girls. "The faculty is after me!"
"What?"
"No they're not!"
"Uh huh! They caught me in the boys' dorms!"
Sae gasped melodramatically, "Selphie! What were you doing there?"
"Let me go!"
"Calm down!" Arisu laughed, "The faculty isn't after you."
"YES THEY ARE!" Selphie yelled. "I CAN PROVE IT! LOOK BEHIND YOU!"
The two girls looked behind them.
"Oh, hi, Seifer!" Sae beamed. "Did you scare Selphie?"
Selphie looked around, then pushed the unsuspecting Sae and Arisu, rather violently, off of her. She then stood up to point an accusing finger at the towering blond standing behind them laughing. "You…! You…! You…MEANIE!" she yelled, then stomped off.
"Where are you going?" the girls called after her.
"I need to find Quistis!"
She heard running behind her again, and this time turned around so fast that it would've given the normal person whiplash. Seifer was running to catch up to her.
"Sorry, Selph," he laughed when he finally reached her.
"Yeah, you better be, bub," she muttered.
"But I couldn't help but overhear your exclamation."
All color drained from Selphie's face and she stopped, causing Seifer to almost bowl her over.
"So…Leonhart kissed ya, did he?" he asked, laughing heartily.
"Shhh!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down, hitting him on the shoulder. "Keep quiet!"
"But why? It's cute!"
"Cute is not a word that should come out of a man of your stature!" she exclaimed.
Seifer laughed even harder. "By the way, Quistis is in her dorm since you're looking for her." The blond then turned around to walk, when Selphie thought of something.
"What were you doing in the girls' dorms?"
"That's not your business," he said coolly, with his characteristic smirk.
"Grrrr!" she yelled, stamping her feet, "Sometimes I just want to smack that smug little smile off of your face, Seifer!"
"You and every other person in this building," he said, his voice getting fainter as he continued his progression away.
She glared after him and yelled, "Your day is coming, Seifer!"
In the distance she heard him laugh, but still she smiled triumphantly and shoved her hands into the front pocket of her hoodie. It wasn't five minutes later that she arrived at Quistis' dorm. She jumped in with her arms outstretched and announced in a sing-song voice, "Quisty! I need to talk to you!"
She was met with two confused looks. She blushed upon realizing that Rinoa had been visiting Quistis at the same time.
Rinoa stood up in one graceful and fluid motion, then smiled politely at Selphie. "That's okay Quisty, thanks for letting me rant for a while." And with that she left the room, her light blue jacket flowing behind her.
Quistis watched her leave, then turned to Selphie looking confused once again. "I thought you two made up?" she asked.
"We did…" Selphie said slowly. "It's going to sound strange, but all is forgiven, it's just…well…it's a bit awkward talking to each other now."
"You two need to get over it, you were best friends!" the instructor exclaimed.
"It's not like I haven't been trying," Selphie said defensively. "Because I have!"
The Instructor rolled her eyes and tucked some of her blond hair behind her ear. "As long as you realize I'm not going to play the middle man here…"
"I know. I figure things will work themselves out…"
"Not if you both don't come to a mutual realization that this argument is horribly STUPID."
Selphie looked at her feet, "What do you expect me to do that I haven't already done? I've apologized, I've told her my side of the story. We had a wonderful conversation the day of my A Rank exam…after I passed out. But we haven't really talked since then."
Quistis maintained the same frustrated look, but instead of reprimanding the younger SeeD anymore she sighed, causing her shoulders to droop. "What'd you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh yeah! I was wondering…" Selphie clasped her hands together and looked at Quistis with the biggest, most pathetic puppy dog eyes that she could muster, "Couldyougivemedrivinglessons?" she asked, super fast.
Quistis' eyes almost bugged completely out of her head, "What?"
"Please? Please, please, please, please, pleeeeaaaassseee?" Selphie pleaded, her hands still clasped together as if praying for the answer 'yes'. "I feel like I'm always mooching rides off of you and Squall, and I'm old enough to get my license…"
"You want me to give you driving lessons?"
"Well, I realize you're a crazy driver and all, but still you've never wrecked. And not only that…you're probably the only person that's crazy enough to be willing to do it!"
The blond Instructor couldn't help but laugh at that statement.
"Okay, it's a deal, but when do you think we should start?"
"As soon as possible!"
"It's all icy outside!"
"All the more practice for me!"
Quistis looked as if she was about ready to pass out at the thought of Selphie learning how to drive in snow and ice.
"Will you? Please?" Selphie asked again.
"I guess."
"Yes!" Selphie jabbed a victorious punch into the air. "When's my first lesson?" she asked excitedly.
"As soon as I call my insurance company," Quistis said, slinking back down onto her bed and picking up the phone.
Less than an hour later, Quistis found herself buckled into the passenger's side of one of the Garden vehicles. She had a deathgrip on what she had begun to call the 'Oh Shit' handle, suspended above her. However, the sad thing about the entire situation was that Selphie hadn't even started the car yet.
Her heart pounding at an extreme speed, and breathing quite heavily, Quistis said rather shakily, "Okay, Selphie. I want to warn you right now, I have heart problems. The doctor said that stress and tension can trigger some bad things…and I am stressed and tense right now."
"What are you talking about, Quisty? You're healthy as a horse!" Selphie laughed as she grasped the key.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THAT KEY UNTIL I TELL YOU TO!" Quistis screamed, jumping forward like a cat ready to strike a mouse.
Startled, Selphie took her hands away from the ignition and held them by her head as if a policeman had ordered her to 'Stick 'em up!'
Taking a long, shuddering sigh, Quistis closed her eyes to find her happy place and continued to talk, "I want you to stay calm…Relax. Feel the good chi rushing into your body. Can you feel it?"
"Good chi? Isn't that Feng-Shui?"
"Don't question me!"
"Yes ma'am!" Selphie said loudly, imitating one who had just been given orders by a drill sergeant.
"Like I said…" Quistis started again, "Just relax. Don't think about the fact that behind the wheel of this car you are a potential killer… Don't think about the fact that just sneezing could cause you to steer completely off the road and cause you to wrap your car around a light pole…"
Selphie looked over at her friend to see that she was sweating and her eyes were clenched shut. "Are you relaxed now?" Quistis asked through gritted teeth.
"Quisty…" Selphie chuckled. "You're the one gripping that handle as if it was your lifeline."
"That's what I said! Just relax!"
Selphie tried to stifle her laughter. Quistis was on the verge of losing it.
"I'm relaxed."
"Okay, good now…what do you first do before starting the car?"
"Um…" Selphie looked both ways, then back at Quistis. "I don't know…"
"YOU DON'T KNOW?" the blond almost screamed. "That's it! Get me out of this car!"
"No! Quisty, please! I need my license."
"Okay, do you have a pen? You should be taking notes!"
"I'll make some mental notes."
"How come that doesn't make me feel any better?" Quistis asked, rubbing her temples. She looked at Selphie worriedly, then wiped the sweat off of her brow and said. "First, you adjust your seat until you can comfortably sit and reach the pedals."
"Okay! Got it!" the younger SeeD said, doing as Quistis asked.
"Check your mirrors."
"Check!"
"Cell phone in case of a freak accident?"
"I don't have a cell phone…"
"I guess we can't resume lessons until you do!" she said, unbuckling her seatbelt and standing up.
"Quistis…" Selphie said, looking at her with pleading eyes.
"Okay," the Instructor said, sitting back down. "It's a Garden car, you should have flares and a spare tire…"
"Right."
"Do you have your permit so that you can show the nice policeman when he stops you for violating traffic laws?"
"When? How come it's not 'if'?"
"Don't question my logic!" Quistis yelled again.
"Make sure you check the backseat so that there aren't any rapists, wanted murderers, etc."
"Now you're just being silly, let's go Quistis….aren't you going to buckle your seatbelt and lock your door?"
"Are you insane? I might decide that I want to abandon car in a hurry." Taking a deep breath, she said, "Okay, start the engine."
Selphie turned the key and the car began to purr. "Gently step on the accelerator…"
Selphie did as she was told, but with a bit too much force and the car jolted forward.
Quistis almost lost it at that very second. "Okay, okay, okay…" she repeated, "I'll be fine, I'll be fine…"
Selphie was now driving in circles around the Balamb parking lot that had a thin blanket of snow covering the black asphalt. "Okay, Selph…I want you to carefully, CAREFULLY, turn onto the road."
Selphie turned the car onto the small road the led to the Balamb Garden parking lot and was driving along, doing quite well in her own mind, when all of a sudden Quistis shrieked, "You're too close to the wrong side of the road!"
Panic-stricken, Selphie jerked the steering wheel to the right.
"Hyne, Quisty! If anyone causes us to wreck, it's going to be you!"
"We're all tensed up now. Selphie, sweetheart, I want you to pull over and relax."
"I am relaxed! You're the one who's flipping out!" Selphie yelled, continuing forward.
"I SAID PULL OVER!" Quistis grabbed the steering wheel and turned it until the car was parked along the shoulder of the road.
Selphie was staring wide eyed at the crazed Instructor, as if debating whether or not the woman had finally lost her mind.
Quistis spent about five minutes breathing slowly in and out, gripping her heart as if thinking if she pressed down on it, then it might stop beating so fast. "Just remember, that any idiot can drive, Selphie. So when you're driving along, you need to be relaxed and you need to think about the road. Just move along and don't even think about that drunk driver just over the hill that could smash into you at any moment. Are you ready to start again?"
"I'm not so sure anymore…"
"You'll be fine," the blond insisted, grabbing a hold of her 'Oh Shit' handle once again. "Now slowly…SLOWLY!"
"But…"
"If someone else wants to go over fifteen miles per hour, let them pass, by all means! The Balamb graveyard is full of people who passed."
"Quistis…"
"You're stopping…why are you stopping?"
"Quistis…"
"WHY ARE YOU STOPPING?"
"There's a stop sign."
"Okay, good! Good eyes!" Quistis said breathlessly as she covered her chest. "I saw that coming, I was just testing you."
Rinoa walked into the Quad and sat on one of the many stone benches. She tucked her legs up under her chin and hugged her knees against her chest, making herself look very much like a helpless child. Though at this point in time that's exactly what she felt like.
There was a steady bustle as students walked past her to their classes, taking little notice of her. It wasn't as if it was something she wasn't used to. As a matter of fact, the fact that everyone seemed to ignore her didn't bother her at all, only when she saw a very flustered Quistis and Selphie rush past her did her heart sink. It wouldn't have bothered her had they really not seen her, but she saw Selphie turn around and look at her, making eye contact. It looked as if Selphie truly wanted to say something, but instead of doing anything, she continued to walk off with the distracted Instructor.
Shaking away tears that so desperately wanted to fall, Rinoa merely sat on the cold bench, looking through her tangled black hair at the lone tree standing proud in the center of the Quad.
"Heeeey," she heard a quiet, yet wonderfully familiar voice say, "What's up?"
She hurriedly tried to dry her eyes without Zell seeing, but it was too late and he knew there was something wrong.
"Is it about the General?" he sighed, taking a seat next to her.
Rinoa said nothing; she couldn't bring herself to. The fact that he was sincerely asking her what was wrong, mixed in with the reason why, caused her to burst into heavier tears. She turned around and gripped Zell's red vest, crying into his chest as the blond martial artist stroked her hair.
"Quistis told me all about it," he murmured softly into her ear, "And I'm sorry…I was wrong. I didn't want you to get hurt by this…I just wanted you to try. Nothing good comes out of doing nothing."
"Zell…" Rinoa said shakily, "He's always been that way. You have no idea how many times I tried to reach out to him."
"Maybe someday he'll come to his senses and reach out to you."
"I'm not interested anymore," she said stubbornly, through gritted teeth. "I wanted him for eighteen years, then all of a sudden when I decide that it's pointless, he's going to want me as a daughter?" She pulled away from Zell, wiping her eyes in the process. "He can die a bitter and lonely man for all I care," she declared.
"Rinoa…" Zell sighed dropping his arms.
She then sat up completely straight and folded her arms across her chest in anger. "It's no worse than what he deserves."
"I'm not saying that's untrue, I just thought you were better than that," Zell muttered, standing up.
Rinoa opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn't find the right words fast enough and before she knew it, Zell had disappeared into the mass of students.
The dark haired girl stood up as well and angrily stomped away from the Quad. When she felt that no one else could understand she went to man's best friend. Angelo had been her best friend for five years, and Rinoa had never known anyone to be betrayed by their own dog.
Selphie had indeed made it back to Garden in one piece, as well as her room. However, Quistis' shrieks of pure terror and fright were imprinted permanently into her brain. The young SeeD collapsed face-first into her bed. For the first time in her life she felt as if she could just fall asleep and never wake up again.
Over in the corner Selphie heard Rocks whine. "What, Puppy?" she muttered.
She felt the golden retriever jump up onto the bed next to her and put his head on her back. "Are you going to accuse me of ignoring you too?" Selphie chuckled.
Rocks lifted his eyebrows to form that look that meant, 'Don't you love me anymore?' Selphie laughed and rolled onto her back.
"I get it, so you're going to guilt me?"
Rocks barked, jumped off the bed and then stared at her expectantly. "Okay, okay," she grunted, "I'm getting up," she threw her legs over the side of the bed. "Rocks, go get your woobie!" In a flash of gold the dog ran to the other side of the room and came back with his favorite rope toy.
Selphie smirked and attached the leash to his collar, then opened the door and allowed Rocks to walk her down the hall.
The dog literally dragged her all the way to the Training Center. Upon entering the training facility, Selphie undid Rocks' leash and he immediately ran into a group of Grats, barking and sending them running in all directions. Selphie threw Rocks' rope toy and while he was busy chasing it, she grasped her nunchaku and did something she hadn't done in a long time…actually train in combat against the Garden monsters.
"Hey, Selph!" she heard a voice call from behind her after she gathered the spoils from a dead Grat.
Selphie turned around to find Xu running toward her.
"I haven't seen you train in here for a while!" Xu smiled once she finally got to her.
"I've been busy."
"Want to partner up? We can go for the bigger and badder monsters that way."
"Sure," Selphie said pocketing the spoils into a small knapsack she carried with her. "Rocks!" she shouted and made some kissing noises. The dog looked up from the hole he was sniffing in and looked at her excitedly, "Over here!"
Immediately Rocks followed after the two women.
Together Xu and Selphie ventured into the more advanced section of the Training Center.
Before too long, Rocks was distracted with another helpless Grat and the two girls had engaged in battle with a T-Rexaur.
"I haven't trained in so long…" Selphie complained as she cast a Blizzaga spell on the gargantuan dinosaur. "My compatibility with my GFs isn't at 100 anymore."
"They couldn't be too far off though…could they? They don't seem that slow."
"I need to start training more often…" she panted, shaking her head. "I've just been too busy."
"The Training Center isn't the best place to train. If you seriously want to train and get something accomplished you're going to have to get out of this flying contraption and into the wild."
"I don't have the time to just go out into the wild to train," Selphie laughed.
"You get a week of paid vacation as an A-Rank, don't you?" Xu asked.
Selphie thought for a moment, and said, "You know what? I don't know, I'll have to ask Squall."
"That might be something fun for you to do," the obsidian haired SeeD smiled, "Go camping and training. And get paid for it too!"
"That's going to have to wait for summer," Selphie laughed. "It's a bit too cold to just go camping now."
It wasn't much longer until the giant monster fell and they split the spoils between them. Selphie wiped her brow and sat down in the grass to catch her breath. Xu did the same.
Upon seeing his master take a break, Rocks ran to the two stationary girls and began planting nonstop kisses on their cheeks.
"Eww…Rocks…get off," Selphie laughed. "I feel gross enough as it is!" She sat up and wiped all the doggy slobber and sweat from her face. "I think I'm done for the night, Xu," Selphie concluded, steadily coming to her feet. "I need a shower."
Selphie reattached the leash to Rocks' collar and walked out of the training center. "I'm pretty sure I look like a train wreck," she muttered under her breath, "And I probably smell even worse than that."
On her walk back to her dorm, as she was thinking just how much she needed a shower, she managed to run into Nida. "Hey Selph, whatcha up to?"
"Don't talk to me! I'm concentrating!"
"On what?" he laughed.
"Not smelling myself."
"Training?" he asked.
"How'd you know?"
"Wild guess," he smiled broadly. "Hey, I won't keep you long. I was just wondering if you had any plans March twenty fourth?"
Selphie thought about it for a while. "That's a while away…what day is it?"
"It's a Monday."
"Why? What's going on?"
"I'm putting together a benefit concert…"
"For what?"
"Hey, you're interrupting me," he laughed. " It's to raise money for medical research. I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to play guitar as one of the acts."
Selphie smiled really big. "I haven't played the guitar in so long though…" she laughed.
"Still, it's never too late to pick it back up, is it?"
"No, I guess not."
"And it's a good cause…"
"Yes, it's a really good cause." Selphie paused for a moment as she thought. "No problem at all, Nida. I'll make sure that I have nothing to do that night."
"Okay, I'll give you more details later. For now I'll let you shower."
"Alrighty, bye Nida." This time she began running for the girls' dorms.
It wasn't very long before she reached her room. She let Rocks off of the leash and the dog ran to the corner of the room and curled into a ball. Selphie however, immediately ran for her bathroom.
She took what seemed to her to be the longest shower she'd ever taken, then got out, wrapped her pink fuzzy robe around her and sat on her bed. She looked over at her abandoned acoustic guitar sitting all alone on the other side of the room. Rocks looked between his master and the object of her attention with confusion.
Selphie looked apologetically at Rocks and walked across the room to pick up the guitar. There was a fine layer of dust on it from lack of usage. Smiling to herself she blew off the dust and sat on the floor and tuned the instrument. When she had accomplished that feat, she took the guitar in hand and sat on a stool in the center of the room. She tucked one leg under her and wrapped the other around the leg of the stool and plucked awkwardly at the strings until she got used to them again.
Before long she was strumming chords and singing along, Rocks staring at her all the while. She had some ideas for some songs she could write, all she had to do was put them to paper.
Sorry this chapter kind of jumped around a bit, but it's setting into place a few future events. We tried to include as much humor as possible. It's hard to go a while without writing and all of a sudden get back into the swing of it. I don't feel as if this is the best that we can do, but I'm hoping to produce better chapters in the near future. But oh well. Qué será, será. Right?
(We re-posted to add in some breaks between scene jumps. We originally put spaces between them, but once it was uploaded they disappeared. Sorry about that everyone!)
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