"What Would I Be Without You"
-Kawaii Hana-
DISCLAIMER:
I don't own anything from FF8. Too bad... I would have made a direct sequel from it, though... (Ehehehehe...)
NOTE TO READERS:
- Italic – - represents thoughts
(Italic) – don't mind them
Bold – "emphasized" words
SPECIAL NOTE:
It has come to my attention about my excessive use of the three dots at the end every sentence. Actually, if you guys hadn't realized it yet, it is my way of emitting a pause… for you know… dramatic purposes or something like that…
Just please bear with it… (See? I'm doing it again…)
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Chapter 8: The Longest Car Trip of Their Life
"Hey Quisty!!!" She can hear his voice amidst the roaring sound of the waves. "Hey Quisty, what are you staring at…?"
Indeed, she was staring at the ocean…a humongous body of water that separated them from the outside world. Oh how she craves to go there… Oh how she wanted to savor the feeling of having a family… If only she had powers that can conquer the oceans… could she find her family at last?
"Hey, Quisty! Don't get to close to the waves! Matron said there's a storm coming up…"
Still, the girl didn't listen… She was too engrossed in her fantasies, too absorbed in her own dreams to be even frightened by just a storm…
"Hey Quisty… If you won't come home now… the lightning might strike you…" He said in playful yet scary tone as he ran… pretending to leave her alone…
Her thoughts snapped. She whined terrifyingly… "Seiiifffer… Wait!!! Don't leave me…"
The boy grinned. This plan always works. Well, he didn't want to admit he was worried that she might be engulfed by the waves. After all, there was really no storm…
As she raced towards him, she could feel the air blow against her hair… She could see her vision go up and down from her running. The boy was patiently waiting for her… He was waiting…Always…
- 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 -
Then everything went black. All she could hear was a motor running. That didn't make sense. She knew she was by an ocean.She could feel the vehicle she was in bumping up and down as it moved. She knew by then that was why she suddenly had woken up… But why won't she get up from where she is…? What is this soft thing under her head? Well, whatever it is… It feels really nice…
All of a sudden, her eyes widened as she realized what her head was lying on to…
She was right. It was Seifer's left shoulder.
"U-Uh…" It was not normal for her to be tongue-tied. Well, she is Quistis Trepe for crying out loud. Yet, she can't utter a single word… to Seifer Almasy.
Seifer, having misunderstood that Quistis's silence mean she was waiting for him to say something, found him self speaking. "Well, 'bout time, you woke up…"
"How long was I asleep…?" She managed to ask.
Seifer shrugged in reply. "Not sure… I drowsed off right after you slept on my shoulder…."
Quistis really needed to lift an eyebrow. She accidentally fell asleep on his shoulder without knowing and he didn't even react? Well, maybe he did but he'd supposedly wake her up or shift her head to a different place.
"Hey there, sleepyhead!" The blonde lady then turned her head to Zen.
- Oh yeah… I'm Mrs. Branforde right now. If he felt a little awkward that his wife just 'naturally' would sleep on his shoulder, they would have already kicked us out of the truck by now… -
She sighed and looked at the window beside her. But what's there to look? It was just a bare desert… All you could see was the blue sky, the majestic land formations and sand… lots of sand.
Quistis, as a SeeD, had always been familiar with the Galbadia continent. After all, her first three years as a SeeD Cadet were spent in G-Garden. And when she became a SeeD, most missions led her to the Galbadian capital or Dollet.
Two months prior, she was able to revisit them since she has been demoted from SeeD instructor to a regular SeeD. And here she was again… to another mission in Galbadia.
"You had a fine rest, Mrs. Branforde?" Always the most courteous man and probably the only one in the world, Gylan Ronner had not only given them a free ride to Winhill but also took a sort-of-like a parenting approach ever since they first met the guy.
"Of course, Gylan. I'm fine. "She replied.
"Hey, Quistis! How can you stand your husband's snoring? He sounds like a pig!" Zen said followed by a roar of laughter.
And then there's the polar opposite. Well, there's always a balance in everything… You know the drill: ups and downs, the good and the bad, yin and yang… (OK… I should stop. There's too many, you know) Well, the point is Zen has been nothing to them but rude – most especially to Seifer.
"Zen Miller… For your information, I do not snore… ever!!!" Seifer defended. Quistis couldn't figure out if he was denying or not. But from the looks of it, he never did. After all, she ended up hugging him during their stay at the Deling Inn. She shook her head lightly. She really had to shut her mind off of it. And just a while ago, she felt so comfortable sleeping on his shoulder. She doesn't seem to understand… But it felt so… natural for her to do that…
Why…?
"Hey, you OK…? You're spacing out…" She heard him whisper.
She snapped from her thoughts. Wait… Why is it she had a feeling of déjà vu or something…?
"I'm fine..."
"Hey Quistis… How did you two exactly meet? You said you guys known each other since you were kids, right?"
Oh, now Zen wanted to talk? He could be a little weird sometimes… like Seifer.
"Yeah… Although, I don't recall much of it coz we're kind of like 4 years old or something…" She answered not knowing what to really answer. She turned to Seifer to see if she answered alright…
She had to blink twice… Did he look like he was hurt by what she said? That she didn't remember much of their days back in their orphanage? Wait… he couldn't remember some of it, too so… He might be a little sad over it…
"Well… Do you remember where…?" Still, the nosy Zen asked.
Quistis rolled her eyes. What's the point in telling him about those childhood days? After all, she barely remembers things…
"OK… let's just say we just spent our childhood at an orphanage in the Centran continent." She replied somewhat.
"Orphanage!? You mean, you guys were… I'm sorry… I didn't know…" Zen surprisingly sounded really sincere.
"Don't worry about it… it's just a little bit in our past." Seifer said coolly.
"Orphanage in Centra, huh…? Hmm…" Gylan voiced out.
"Why? What's wrong Gylan?" Zen asked as he noticed the seriousness of his voice.
"Oh, nothing… If you were orphans, that would mean you lost your parents… during the First Sorceress War, isn't it…?"
Seifer looked at Quistis. There was really no denying there… "Kind off… But we got adopted after, anyway…"
Huh? Seifer got adopted? She didn't know that… By who? Well, obviously from someone with the surname Almasy but when… Does the rest of the whole gang know this or…
Well, if he was, how come she had never met those parents…? She was his former instructor after all. Was there a problem? Has he also never felt that much care within his family that he went to Balamb Garden instead…?
Oh boy… Our poor blonde SeeD has gotten herself all confused…
"Really… If you got adopted, then that means you were separated from each other after all… Where did you meet again…?" Zen asked.
"In Balamb… Uh… It just so happened that my family and I moved there…" Quistis blurted without a single thought.
"At what age…?" Zen asked yet again.
-Great… Why do I feel like we're being interrogated here…? Do they still doubt us or something? - Seifer thought to himself. -But wait, when was that first time when I saw her…? It's in Balamb Garden when we just got started as Cadets. I'm sure I can remember it… -
"Oh… We're like 14… Gee… it's like been a long time, though…" Quistis replied again.
- Oh… yeah… we were like classmates back then. Then she became SeeD a year later…-
"To me, that was only about 4 years and here you say you are both are matured enough to build a home?" Gylan sighed. "Oh well… There's no turning back. Don't worry, Zen and I will help you get through this…"
- I appreciate your concern and your help, Mr. Gylan Ronner… But the only thing I'm interested right now is getting those syndicates and get out of here!!!- Seifer thought to himself.
"Hey, how come I'm included? I don't know anything keeping a girl for three months let alone marriage!" Zen said.
"Zen… I meant help them when they need it!!! And for your info, I have never married either!!!" Gylan responded.
- Huh? Gylan is single!? Impossible! I'm sure every girl in Winhill would fall for him during his day… What the – Quistis thought with her mouth agape.
"Really!? How come…?" Seifer couldn't believe it himself.
"Oh!" Zen burst in the conversation. "He got broken-hearted!"
Thud…!
"OWW!!! Gylan… That was only a joke… Geez…" Zen whined as he rubbed his head for the fourth time.
"Well? What really happened…Gylan?" Quistis asked hesitantly as she began to notice it suddenly became eerily quiet.
"It's all in the past, Mrs. Branforde… It's all in the past…" Was all that he can say…
It became really quiet for the next ten minutes. Clearly, something not so good happened that explained Gylan's bachelorhood. And it was still not a good idea to talk about it…
"So… have you guys come up with an idea of a livelihood or something?" Zen asked in an effort to stop the heavy and the uncomfortable aura that has befallen them.
"Well…" A pause…
"Not yet…" Quistis replied guiltily…
"What!? How do you expect to live… when you guys still don't know what to do to make money…!? Damn! Fine, Gylan! I'm going to help you with this 'marriage counseling' business!"
"Zen, it's not marriage counseling for the love of Hyne! Just helping them out when they need it…" Gylan scolded his younger companion again. But that earned Zen as well as the others to smile…
-Recovered in just minutes, huh?- Zen sighed. "So, where is the house you took? The only vacant place is the-"
"The PUB…" Seifer replied without so much of a blink.
"What!?" Zen reacted in surprise.
"Oh for the love of Hyne, Zen! What the hell is wrong with the PUB?" Quistis asked. But in reality, she knows something about the PUB in Winhill.
This was where their Sis, Ellone, was taken in after her parents died. The place where Laguna was taken care of after the horrific fall from the cliff (Although, I consider that one funny)… And the one who owned it… was Raine… The one who Laguna eventually married…
All of these wouldn't be possible if it weren't for Ellone and her mysterious power of turning bits of the past into dreams…
Figuring how Zen reacts too much whenever the said place was mentioned, it could only show that the town of Winhill still cannot let go of the past…
"B-Because… I told you that place is haunted!!! The ghost of Raine Loire lurks within its very walls!!!" a pretty much freaked-out Zen replied to…
"Puh-lease, Zen… Only an idiot would fall for that!" Seifer said, turning to see Quistis nodding in agreement.
"NO! You idiots! Listen to me… My Aunt Astrid's the last one to take over the village…"
Quistis agreed mentally. Back when she and the rest of the gang were looking for a place for Rinoa to hide, well… Since the Ragnarok was pretty fast, the gang ended up in… different places! One of which was Winhill. Although, she herself didn't get to go the said town at that time, she heard quite a lot from Rinoa and Zell whom both have joined Squall to buy a few supplies.
It turns out their little errand soon turned out to be a minor mission for the trio as the Mayor asked them to find missing pieces of a certain vase… A rumor saying that it was a ghost who stole it…
- So, there was really someone who took over the PUB when Raine passed away… But wait a minute, how come it's vacant now… - Quistis pondered.
"All I know is my aunt swore never to return to that place… because of what she's seen in there…"
"What exactly did she see… A ghost!?" Seifer said sarcastically.
"Yes!!! Damn it! How can someone be so slow…? I've never believed in it, Seifer… Until I saw her… She was so shaken up she…" His voice trailed off. Of all the things to happen, Zen chose this awkward time to be serious – as in serious… It was in this awkwardness that the two blondes opted to listen with more interest.
"Aunt Astrid's never this scared all her life… But whatever made her swear not to return to the PUB is something for real…"
Dead silence…. Like how a horror movie thriller ends up with its tagline… Fortunately, for Quistis and Seifer who have gone so much more. This was nothing compared than what happened two months ago…
"Well, that's the only vacant place in town so…" Seifer countered again, this time more calmly and quietly.
"B-But…"
"There's no other place, Zen… The PUB's been left abandoned since Astrid left. They have gone all this trouble just to get to Winhill…" Gylan surprisingly spoke.
A heavy sigh came from Zen. Apparently, he had given up… in uh… a matter of speaking, that is…
"Aw, fine! Don't go crying when that moment comes, Quistis… Don't go shivering, Seifer… I mean, really…. Although, seeing you in that state… Whoa! That'll make a day!"
Within that moment, all of Seifer's newfound respect in Zen… disappeared as if it never came to existence. His natural dislike for the guy resurfaced back and this time, it might have been stronger.
"Geez… Zen, do you ever get serious through out the whole day!?" Seifer reacted again. This sort of startled Quistis since Seifer has been acted calm and collected throughout most of the time since the start of the mission.
"If it weren't for your dark hair, I would have mistaken you for Zell." The SeeD cadet continued.
Quistis smiled at that. That's also one other reason why Seifer's blood to boil over. Beginning with what Zen said something him about a 'trying-hard suitor', Seifer's reaction towards his comments, wisecracks and such were like those of tattooed blonde…
Quite the contrary in her own opinion, the Winhill native was more like Seifer himself. And the 'victim' now was just the male version of her…
The blonde SeeD sighed. It was only few 30 minutes since she woke up. A lot of weird events had transpired. The never-ending word battle between Zen and Seifer…The mention of Gylan's surprising bachelorhood… The moment of Zen's sudden seriousness… That lame story of the Winhill PUB and Raine Loire's ghost…
"Hmph… I bet I'm way better than Zell guy…" Zen responded with arrogance with his hand pulling his hair backwards…(Like the way Seifer did during the Parade, hehe…)
"What the hell!" Seifer exclaimed in exasperation. "You haven't met the guy. And yet you-"
Quistis sighed even heavier this time. What's this? Back to the 'never-ending word battle' again?
"Hey, you two… Have respect to the young lady over there…" Gylan scolded.
The 'young lady' smirked. Gylan is such a kind man but nevertheless, even those two cannot be stopped. She was used to it already. Having been into most arguments with Seifer herself, of course.
"Oh don't worry… I'm so used to it." She said.
"Awww… Would ya look at that, Seifer? Your wife's such an understanding person. No wonder you two got married!" Zen made another snide comment. But it did not turn out that way.
The words 'understanding' and 'married' meant something to the two blondes sitting in the back seat…
Woops… Such a bad timing for a blush to appear… to both…
- Damn! Why am I blushing? I really am used to all this arguments… Why would I even blush at what Zen said…-
Quistis looked at Seifer to his reaction. But couldn't see him clearly because his was face was fully looking at the car window.
- Understanding person? Ha! You should have met us for the past two months! But why am I feeling uneasy…? Damn Zen!-
"So… Quistis? Seifer? Since you both are going to stay at the PUB, might as well run the whole place, right?" It was Gylan who took them out of their own thoughts.
"Uh sure but… "Seifer replied. "We don't know how to run a PUB and stuff." His 'supposed wife' nodded in agreement.
"Oh… that's too bad…"
"Say, Gylan… What do you guys do?" Seifer asked. Somehow, he knew this would happen. By pretending to move in, the first thing to do was to find a job. Back at their discussion at the Garden Cafeteria, Quistis did not very much agree to the part where she was supposed to play the 'housewife', considering that she was such an independent woman.
"Oh us? As you can see at the back of the truck, you saw the goods and clothes, right?" Gylan began.
The couple nodded. Their interest peaked in again.
"Although, Winhill is a town that does not expose itself to the outside world, it still does some outside business, especially to Deling City, like us, for instance. We deliver some of our own local products to the City. In exchange, they give us theirs. It's sort of an import-export thing. And we are the ones who see through the process…" Gylan made a slight smile after his explanation.
"Hey… that's nice! Maybe, I can help in there, too…" Seifer offered. "Helping in delivering stuff, I mean…"
Zen snorted.
"Now what?" Seifer heard that.
"Well, you can help but… I don't know with Lardon." Gylan mused out loud.
"Who?" Seifer had to ask.
"He's the one in charge. Don't worry. I'll tell him about you… Say, Quistis, I'm sure it's pretty boring for you in your new home so… why not try babysitting…?" Zen suddenly mentioned.
"B-Babysitting?" Quistis stammered.
"Y-Yeah… Relax! They're not infants… just 4-8 year old kids… orphans, that is…"
- Kids, huh…? 4-8 years old orphans… Just like we used to be… Hey! Wait a minute… -
Her eyes widened in horror as the realization hit her. She looked at Seifer to see if her intuition was correct. Apparently, Seifer thought of the same thing…
Orphans… That's it! Kids without a family are the perfect targets for being exploited around for drug pushing or money…
Could have Gylan and Zell have something to do with it…!? It all fits. They were in-charge of this import-export business! And they might have been doing this in a regular basis.
"W-where did these orphans come from?" Seifer asked in the best casual manner he could muster up. He didn't want to get them suspected right away…
"Well, you see… This gold-hearted Gylan just pities these kids so he took them in his 'humble abode'" Zen replied with a grin. "He has like 6 kids… And with all these trips to Deling City or Timber, he can't watch over those kids so…"
"Would you want to take care of those kids for me…Quistis?" It was Gylan who spoke. Minutes ago, this blonde SeeD would have thought Gylan was merely asking to watch over… But now, it felt like he was asking her to join in his crime.
"Uh… sure… As long as they're not terror kids or anything! If they ever break one of my things, I quit…" She laughed at her own joke. Seifer joined her. But humor could not really erase their doubts…
Gylan made a smile. "Oh don't worry… These kids will warm up to you…"
- Nice act - Seifer thought… -But come to think of it, if anything happens, we might be able to get out of Winhill and put those kids somewhere safe… -
Hold that thought! Is Seifer Almasy being concerned with the kids? Awww, how sweet…
"Gee, thank you, Quistis… I assure you that you'll be paid handsomely…" Gylan said as Quistis secretly rolled her eyes…
- Yeah sure! I sure you have a lot of it. Considering whom you're working with… -
"No problem…"
"So, why adopt kids…?" Seifer asked to keep the conversation going on.
"I'm against the Foster Care system… You know, where orphans get distributed to different families. And when, they don't see that they're fit… They'll put the poor kids to another family as if they were collector's items…"
- Okaay… Maybe he's not part of the syndicate at all… Still, we can't be too sure…-
"Ermmm… Gylan, I know you're really busy but… I'm sure Hazel will not like the idea of another babysitter… I mean really, she's already 14!!! If you lost count…" Zen reminded his older companion.
Hazel? Who's that?
Gylan suddenly made a weak smile. "Hmm… That little kid's all grown up, huh?"
"Uh, who's Hazel…?" Quistis found herself asking.
There was that silence again.
"Years ago, I received a letter from Balamb… A dear friend of mine from my college days has passed away. He had a 4 year old daughter named Hazel. It was stated in his last will that I was the one to care of the poor child…"
"Balamb? Wait… You don't mean that wild fire from 10 years ago was the culprit?" Quistis interrupted. Although she moved to Balamb Garden when she was only 14, she knew a lot in the continent she now considers home. She was surprised that somehow a fellow Balambian was also here…
"Yes, Quistis… It was…the fire that almost destroyed Balamb Town. Even I cannot explain how such a 4 year child can survive… but…"
"She was the sole survivor?" Quistis was more surprised than ever.
"The sole survivor in her family, yes… That is why she had no family left." Gylan looked gloomier than before. "That is why I was chosen… It was said in the will that if there are no more family members. I was the only legible guardian. So, I gladly accepted. It's something that her father wanted…"
"Guardian, huh? So, technically, she's not calling you 'Dad'?" Seifer had to ask.
"Well, I don't think she had the heart to call me her father because…" Gylan paused again. The heavy aura returned. Seifer actually regretted asking. Meanwhile, Quistis was busy sorting her own thoughts.
- So, if I consider this Hazel… part of the kids I'm going to babysit, she would be the oldest one since she's 14. Well, honestly, I don't think she even needs 'babysitting' coz… Hey! Wait a minute… -
The one that sent that mysterious package to Balamb Garden was thought to be a girl… Of course, those younger kids don't have the capability of doing something dangerous…
Hazel… She's the only one…who can tell what's really going on…
Quistis glanced over at Seifer. Had he figured it out, too? If so, what will be the next step…?
The blonde SeeD sighed… She looked at her watch fastened in her right wrist. It was exactly 40 minutes since she woke up… A lot has happened…
"OK… 10 more minutes… We'll soon be at Winhill." Gylan announced.
Both blondes at the back nodded.
-Damn- Seifer thought. –Missions are crazy!-
It sure is…
They still haven't arrived at Winhill. They already have made an enemy. (Well, maybe Seifer only…) And just by talking to them, they already have two suspects in mind…
All of this in just 40 minutes…
But if you ask either Seifer or Quistis, they'll tell you…
This is the longest car trip of their life!!!
(Yeah, I know, corny…)
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Author's back… and stressed out!
Yeah, I know… It's been a hell long time since I've updated… I have excuses, though… but they're the usual ones…
Schoolwork: Well, what can I say? I'm a fresh man in college. Keyword: COLLEGE.
Ahermm…Writer's Block: Everyone is experiencing this one so… 'Nuff said… Especially when you're working on 3-5 fics here…
Obsessions: Oh yeah… My fanfic writing is always thwarted by my obsessions with some certain things. Like… BLEACH, Naruto – both manga and anime, by the way… But, anyway, this latest obsession is definitely one to blame… I am so engrossed in to just listening to this song (1) rather than typing…
So… Sorry… Sure hope you enjoy this chapter…
So, guys, what do you think? Is Gylan and Zen a part of the bad guys or not? Tell me what you guys think… in your reviews, of course…
That's it, folks! Thanks for reading and…
SAYONARA!
(1) The song is "Kiss Me Goodbye" by Angela Aki – the theme song for Final Fantasy XII