. . . . . . . .
Knock, knock, knock. Rinoa jerked upright in her bed, hair mussed and sheets tangled amongst her limbs.
"Who is it?" She shouted, eyes still wrapped in a veil of sleep.
"It's Selphie!" A high pitched voice sang through the metallic door. Rinoa combed her fingers through her bangs, pushing them to the side as she inched her aching body to the edge of the bed. She looked at the partially open bathroom door and winced recalling her nightmare. She peered down at her hands, checking once more that they were still human. She sighed loudly in relief, her breath blowing her bangs upward.
"Coming," she called, voice raspy and low with exhaustion. She stood in front of the door a moment as she straightened her oversized nightshirt and shorts. She reached to the open button on her left and a few static-laden strands of hair followed the door as it whooshed open.
"Hey, sleepyhead. Sorry to wake ya, I didn't think you'd still be asleep. It's almost 12."
Rinoa yawned and spoke at the same time, "Don't worry about it, Selphie. I thought I set my alarm. Did you want to come in?"
"Thanks!" Selphie bounced through the door past Rinoa and plopped onto the disheveled bed. Rinoa's nose twitched as she picked up a faint whiff of alcohol on her ever-bubbly friend. "Sleep well?" Selphie asked innocently, clueless to the fact that Rinoa had in fact not slept very well at all. Rinoa smiled at the bubbly girl as she joined her on the bed, tucking one leg beneath her.
"Yeah," she lied, not wanting to divulge the details of her less than adequate sleep. She'd been having nightmares for weeks now it seemed. They weren't all the same, though. They differed, relating somehow to her powers and Squall and time compression. The first couple of nights after she awoke from her coma, she didn't dream at all. But it wasn't like a normal dreamless sleep; the nights were just empty and hollow like a forgotten cave. Or vast and dark. Like space. She shuddered internally at the memory of space.
"Did you have fun at the party last night?" She asked, eager to change the subject.
"Huh-what? Why, what have you heard?" Selphie suddenly demanded, paranoia streaking her features. Rinoa's eyes bulged momentarily as she looked at her friend.
"Ah.. um nothing. I just meant, um… did you have a good time?" Rinoa asked again, unsure of what she had said that sparked Selphie's strange response.
Selphie's demeanor shifted again as she realized what Rinoa had meant. "Oh! Aha ha, yeah, um it was awesome! The girls did a great job of setting it up!" The girls to whom Selphie referred were the new members of the Garden Festival Committee, Aya and Merina. After the festival at FH, they developed a light obsession with Selphie and joined the committee immediately. They also began to frequent Selphie's website. "What about you? You left kinda early. And Squall also seemed to mysteriously disappear. If I didn't know you two better as the upstanding young adults you are, I would have suspected you two of no-good riff-raff," Selphie teased, wiggling a finger and winking one slightly glittery eye.
Rinoa blushed. "Selphie, please! I was just... really tired." She figured she'd leave the complete truth out of the conversation this morning. "I don't know how you guys managed to party so late into the night."
"Ah haha… yeah… well, we were just really happy to be back home I guess," Selphie swallowed, looking shiftily to the left and right. "Anyway, have you looked outside? Isn't it awesome?!"
Rinoa's head twitched to the side in question. "Awesome?"
"Take a look." Selphie gestured to the drawn shades. Rinoa walked over, pulling them wide open. Large mountains filled the entire window, the snow-covered peaks gleaming in the bright sunlight.
"Oh my goodness, what- where are we?" She exclaimed, her mouth agape.
Selphie let out a little giggle. "Trabia. Home sweet home. Cid announced this morning that we'd stay here until after the World Conference."
Rinoa turned from the window. "World Conference?"
"Yeah, he told us about it on the PA this morning. You didn't hear it? Hyne, you must have been dead to the world."
"You have no idea," Rinoa muttered. Selphie remained oblivious.
"Anyway, the gang and I are having lunch at noon-thirty. Interested?"
"Sure. I could really use some coffee." Rinoa brought a smile to her weary face.
"Great! I'll see you in a bit then." Selphie stood and waved as she exited. Rinoa smiled at her retreating form and raised her hands up, stretching her tense back and cracking her neck.
"Oh!" Selphie popped her head back inside the room. "And you might want to bring your pinwheel along. Some of the monsters from the training center seem to have found a way out. Okay, byyeee!"
Rinoa stared after her friend and cocked her head in confusion, then shrugged. She really needed a massage. She plunged back onto the twisted sheets and closed her eyes. Her nightmare crept slowly into her thoughts and she started, opening her eyes and looking over to the bathroom door, checking that it was still unoccupied. She shook the dark thoughts from her head and pushed herself up, moving to the dresser, on top of which her brush lay, and commenced the morning ritual. Angelo hopped out of her sleeping chair and padded up to Rinoa expectantly. Rinoa smiled and patted her trusty companion on the head.
"Alright, Angelo, let's get your breakfast."
. . . . . . . .
Rinoa tucked her weapon away as she walked into the boisterous cafeteria. She had taken Selphie's advice and brought along her pinwheel, and was thankful she did. A hyperactive and aggressive grat had stalked her from the dorms, and she started her day by slicing a carnivorous plant into mulch. Not her most eventful pre-lunch activity, but still. She did her best to keep her face serene as she scanned the tables for her comrades. She smiled as she spotted Selphie's bouncing form waving from across the room. Zell and Irvine sat beside her in a seemingly heated discussion, Zell with a strange new hairstyle, about which Rinoa eagerly awaited to hear the story of how it had cropped up, or rather cropped down, overnight. Rinoa smiled and waved back in acknowledgment and pointed toward the menu, conveying her desire for food, although she lacked any form of it. She wasn't sure whether anyone had noticed, but her appetite had waned significantly ever since she woke up from her short coma. It hadn't been very long, but she already noticed her clothes becoming a bit loose.
She turned to the overhead screen, displaying the items of the day. One thing was less appealing than the last. She figured she should do her best to eat something regardless, and aimed for something that would hopefully slide down easy. She asked for yogurt and a banana, and after thinking a moment, added a hotdog. She wouldn't eat it, but Zell sure as hell would. She also grabbed some coffee before heading over to her friends.
"Zell, you must have been hallucinating. It was during time compression anyway, and you can't believe anything you see there because –"
"It wasn't a hallucination! It couldn't have been. It seemed so real. Disgustingly so," Zell cut Irvine off. Rinoa raised an eyebrow as she sat down next to Selphie.
"Hallucinations? Are you licking frogs again, Zell?" Rinoa laughed.
Zell sighed in frustration, "It was NOT a hallucination. It had to be FROM the –"
"Hey everyone," Quistis waved tiredly as she walked over with a tray of food balanced in her hand. She sat down heavily in her chair before bringing a hand up to her temple and blowing out a gentle sigh. Zell suddenly sat back, and filled his mouth with french fries.
Irvine tipped his hat from his spot next to Selphie, one arm ever-wrapped around her, "Hey Quistis, how's your head?"
"Nnnghhh," she replied as she took a bite of dry toast. "How are you guys alive right now? I'm absolutely dying after last night." The normally composed and poised Quistis sat before her friends like a wilted palm tree.
"Geez, you guys really had a night, huh?" Rinoa asked eager to hear the tale. "And Zell, what happened to your hair?" Zell's normally meticulously groomed coif now was a muddled light brownish-orange, with the sides shaved off, and the top matted down against his head like a depressed mohawk.
He swiped a self-conscious hand across his ruined head. "Yeah, umm, I-uh..." he glanced slowly at the others at the table, who looked back at him, ever, ever so slightly shaking there heads. "… Just wanted to try something new," he finished, quickly grabbing another handful of fries and stuffing them into his face.
Rinoa squinted her eyes suspiciously at her friend. "Okay…"
She observed her friends as their demeanor suddenly changed to one of secrecy, and a lightbulb suddenly switched on in her mind.
"Wait...did you guys have something to do with the monsters getting out of the training center?!" Rinoa suddenly gaped at her friends as their sidelong glances and lack of words told her everything. Irvine, Quistis, Zell, and Selphie sat with their heads down like reprimanded children peeking at their partners in crime to ensure they stood together in their silence. Rinoa brought a hand to her mouth but couldn't stop a strained laugh from escaping. Soon, she collapsed into laughter as her friends slowly joined her, devolving the table into a horrible mess of laughing hyenas. The students at their surrounding tables gave off curious glances and annoyed glares. Rinoa wiped her eyes as their laughter slowly subsided. She was glad to have something to smile about and take her mind off her terrible nightmare. She scooped at her yogurt as she watched her friends. They had gone about eating their meals in silence, when Rinoa couldn't take it anymore. "Seriously though, you guys. What happened last night?" She repeated her question, this time more intent on hearing an answer.
The four looked furtively at each other until Selphie finally spoke. "We... plead the fifth," she quickly said as she brought a cup of coffee to her lips.
"Seriously?" Rinoa asked, incredulous.
"Well," Selphie began as she put her cup down and looked up in an effort to portray some semblance of strength. "Let's just say… Estharian wine is no joke- oh hey! It's Xu!" Selphie exclaimed, waving over the older SeeD and grateful to have someone to redirect the topic of conversation. Xu spotted the group and waved back, walking over with her tray in hand.
"Hey, everyone. Did you see all the monsters out there?" She paused, waiting for a response and receiving none. The guilty quartet sat in fearful silence. "Cid's not too happy about this. He's rounded up all the staff to try to piece together what happened." She paused again, greeted by another strained silence. "Yeah, someone's about to be in some serious trouble," she went on, seemingly oblivious that she was talking to and about the same people. The collective faces of everyone at the table suddenly turned ashen. Nobody spoke a word as Xu went on, rambling about the possible repercussions the perpetrators would soon be facing: solitary confinement, scrubbing the training room floors, missions on the Island Closest to Heaven, public humiliation...
She suddenly ceased her list of doom as she spotted and waved to someone across the room, not even realizing no one had replied to her and waved a quick goodbye. "Anyway, see you later… and, uh… nice haircut, Zell," she commented skeptically as she walked off.
The group, Rinoa included, sat in contemplative silence, gazes shifting from the floor, to the other spot on the floor, and that other spot on the floor. Slowly they started eating again, a pall hanging heavy.
"Oooh, you guys!" Selphie chimed in suddenly a few minutes later, clapping her hands as she spoke. "We should tooootally go to the Trabian ice chutes!" Her concerns of punishment had apparently dissipated with the promise of cold Trabian weather.
"The wha?" Zell asked, jaw slack and half-chewed hot dog displayed.
"Eww, swallow your food before you open your mouth," Rinoa said in joking disgust. She picked up a fry off Zell's plate and threw it at him.
"Yeah," Irvine leaned in. "Didn't your mom ever tell you to keep your mouth closed when you talk?" Zell started to choke on his food as the others laughed. Quistis patted him on the back mercifully and he took a few deep breaths before holding a shaking fist up at the cowboy.
"But really, you guys! The Trabian ice chutes are the best. Some of my favorite childhood memories of Trabia are in that place."
"What are they?" Rinoa asked as she blew on her coffee and took a small sip.
"They're just like slides. They're naturally made by some of the harmless native animals in the area called penluks. They look kind of like a cross between a bird and a seal, but they can't fly, and they slide on their bellies while the snow melts and freezes, creating these tunnels. They're all intertwiney and when you go down them it's like zoooosh – whhhhrrr – wheeeeeeee!" Selphie's arms moved left and right with her sound effects and finished straight up in the air.
"That sounds fun, but, kind of dangerous," Quistis, ever the voice of reason, was inclined to comment.
"Aww don't be a fuddy-duddy, Quisty," Irvine chimed in. "We're grown men and women. We've fought monsters and sorceresses and flew through time. We're entitled to a little fun, the risks be damned!" He slammed his left fist on the table with his strong declaration, the other still wrapped around Selphie, whose arms were stuck up in the air, and her eyes all alight.
"You know, that really does sound like fun," Rinoa said. She'd never done anything so exciting before, not counting saving the world. The thought of slipping and sliding through icy tunnels sounded like just the thing to take her mind off all her worries.
"Hey Squall!" Zell called out suddenly, waving with his left hand and shoving a hot dog in his mouth with the other. Squall walked over slowly with a tray consisting of a sandwich, salad, and coffee.
"Hey," Squall replied civilly as he took the empty seat next to Rinoa. Rinoa blushed inadvertently and tried to ignore her intense sensitivity to his body heat.
"We were just talking about going to the ice chutes later tonight," Selphie told him informatively, her arms now firmly in her lap.
"Now you want to go at night? Oh, Selphie. Do you just sit down and think of how to make dangerous situations even more dangerous?" Quistis shook her head, stabbing a tomato with her fork.
"What's so dangerous about it, Quisty? I used to go there all the time when I was little, and no one ever got hurt, cough, cough, twitch."
"Selphie…"
"What?"
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not."
"Selphie, I know you're lying."
"Ha, no, I'm not."
"Selphie…"
"What?"
"You always do that when you lie."
"Do what? And no, I'm not!" Selphie crossed her arms. Irvine tipped his hat down over his face, but it didn't cover his smirk.
"You cough."
"I what?" Selphie produced a fake chuckle in an attempt to cover herself.
"And you twitch."
"I do NOT… twitch!"
"Cough, cough, twitch," Quistis imitated. "Come on. Tell us."
"Yeah, Sefie, 'fess up. I mean if kids were gettin' eaten by rabid ice horkers or something in those chutes, I think I'd rather just find a nice frosty pub with some of those legendary busty Trabian ladies," Zell commented as he made the hand motions and everything.
"No! It's nothing like that – it's, umm… Ok, fine! Every now and then there's a cave-in. It's very rare though and only happens mid-summer… which just passed, so it's perfect timing!"
"Oh my god!" Rinoa gasped wide-eyed at her friend, hand to her chest in shock. "Did anyone ever die?"
"Well, no, but… a couple of kids got stuck for a day or two until the grown-ups were able to chisel down to them." Selphie chuckled lightly in an attempt to lighten the situation and scratched her head in a "nonchalant" way. "But I swear, this summer has been the coldest ever in Trabia, and cave-ins are really, really rare. Plus, you can see the places that are likely to go and, well, we're all smart, right? We can avoid those risky spots."
The group looked at each other dubiously. Selphie's eyes grew wide and her lower lip puffed out. She brought her clasped hands pleadingly to her chin as she looked each of her comrades square in the eye. Irvine and Zell were quick to give in.
"Well, I guess you're right. This summer has been cold and, well, we are pretty smart," Zell said and rubbed his chin in pride.
"Yeah, we can at least check it out and see if it looks safe," Irvine said logically. Selphie smiled brightly at him and turned her gaze to Quistis.
"Selphie," she began, rolling her eyes at Selphie's lame attempt to sway her. "No, Selphie." Selphie's eyes grew larger, her lip more puffed. Quistis sighed. "Selphie – no, sigh – Hyne. Squall, please say something to her."
"Like what?" Squall asked blandly, shrugging. He'd been watching the conversation in quiet amusement. He'd already made the decision in his mind.
"Like 'no'," Quistis replied matter-of-factly.
"… Why not?" Quistis all but slack-jawed at the comment. "I don't see why they shouldn't go. As long as they're careful. And they are SeeDs after all, and- you know, smart. I'm sure they can handle themselves." Selphie's puppy eyes turned starry as she stared admiringly at Squall.
"Ohhhh fine! But I'm only going to make sure you don't fall into some ice pit and freeze to death," Quistis conceded.
"Rinoa, you'll come too, right?" Selphie turned toward Rinoa ready to turn on her puppy eyes if need be.
"Sure! It sounds like fun!" Rinoa was genuinely excited. She clasped her hands together at the thought of the coming night.
"And you Squall?" Selphie turned to the last remaining member yet to say yes. Squall looked up at her briefly, then back at his salad.
"Sure," he said simply. The group froze in surprise, eyes wide and sharing the same internal thought.
"Wow, I didn't think it'd be that easy," Selphie vocalized.
The group turned back to their meals, plans for the coming night solidified.
"… What happened to your hair, Zell?"
. . . . . . . .