Birthday Girl
She sat there in her quiet house in Thamasa. The
supposed happiest day of her life was going to happen
in a day or two, but she was stuck in a place she
didn't care much for at all. Ever since everything
changed...it just wasn't home anymore. The land was
dead. Magic was gone from the air - the one thing that
made Thamasa different from all the other small towns
scattered around the world was gone.
She had a hand in saving the world from a tyrannical
mad man. She had been the girl of the hour for 5
years. She was a celebrity. Not that she didn't mind
the attention...Every teenage girl loves being in the
spotlight. It's just that she felt so alone, so dead
inside that she couldn't enjoy it. She needed a
boyfriend. She sighed again, looking over her clothes.
Her sixteenth birthday was coming up in a day.
She didn't particularly like anything she had. Nobody
liked change. They had gotten used to Relm walking
around looking like little red riding hood. So that's
how she dressed. It made everyone feel secure, and no
one could fault her for it. Except her.
She didn't look bad by any means. She wasn't fat, she
wasn't skinny. She looked down and pushed up her
breasts. They weren't big, but it isn't like she was
flat. She'd look bad with bigger ones, she decided.
She wanted clothes that would show her body off. To
make some boy notice her. She simply didn't care about
making them feel secure anymore, she wouldn't let any
of them die to monsters regardless of her outfit.
More people had moved to Thamasa after it was
discovered that not one, but two who had defeated
Kefka lived there than three times any other year. The
city was just as dead and hopeless as any other; yet
having two heroes boosted morale to some degree. But
none of them where for her. The three boys in town
that had noticed her weren't much. No boy in town was,
actually.
Hanging out with dashing, chivalrous men like Locke
Cole and Edgar Figaro all her childhood had set her
standards quite a bit higher than most girls her age.
Of course, they where too old for her. She folded
another one of her red-hooded outfits and placed it in
a drawer. Speaking of good men, both of the
aforementioned ones where coming to her party. As was
all the 'gang'. Everyone went to every event that
everyone had.
Every birthday, every wedding, every child being
born, and every move Terra's children made. Setzer
made a mind to pick up everyone and ferry them around
the world to see each other all the time, making
excuses if nothing apparent had happened. Everyone
loved seeing each other, of course, but something was
missing. The old flare they all had was gone.
Relm, being 10 or 11 at the time, didn't notice it
much or participate in a whole lot, but even she felt
that it was gone. They had united for war, and it
seems as if peace was dividing them. Edgar and Terra
never got around to getting married, but it was all
the same. Setzer lived with them, since most of the
excuses to go pick people up came from Terra's
children.
Celes and Locke also never got around to marriage. A
good thing, too. They had grown apart over the years
for no real reason, perhaps from the simple lack of
something to protect Celes from. Not only could she
take care of herself, and made a point of it, but
there was nothing dangerous out there. They didn't
share much happiness in each other.
All the rest were simply there. They hadn't really
done much, but they appeared at every event with
enough enthusiasm to gild the unhappiness until the
next meeting. The despair she had seen when Kefka was
in power was much worse; towns being burned to the
ground for free-thought, women and children killed
because their husbands spoke out. But she never felt
any of that. This, however, she felt.
While the people of the world where starting to
realize that the water not being blue did not mean
they could not have hope, she was dying inside. She
had a void she needed to fill. She needed someone to
cling too, to love. She used to be a sassy girl. She
always had a strong opinion about everything, and she
let everyone know it. She had spunk. Now her words are
few.
If no one was even 'good enough' for her, then why
try to find someone at all? She often found herself
lying awake at night, unable to answer that very
question. She couldn't go on like this, but she
couldn't fix it. Should she just kill herself?
No. Too many people needed her. She was a symbol of
hope. But to herself, she was just a symbol of
failure. She was burnt out on life. She grabbed the
entire drawer full of her little red riding hood out
fit and opened the closet to toss it in, but stopped.
The closet was filled, completely filled, with
paintings. She stopped, looking at them, stacked up as
high as the ceiling. Was this her? Was this why she
was alive, if not to love than to paint? She threw the
drawer out the window.
"I'm going shopping!" She declared.
There wasn't a whole lot of variety when it came to
shops in Thamasa, despite the population growth. She
got her clothes made at a tailor. For her 'new look',
tighter clothes where definitely on the menu. She
supposed her tailor could do that, even though she was
used to Relm looking 10 rather than 16. Surely she
would understand. After all, albeit in a different
time and place, she was once a lonely 16-year-old as
well.
After peeking around the corner to make sure no small
children had been crushed under her clothes drawer,
she was off. Walking down the road, she felt as though
her freedom was right around the corner. Finally she
would be free of not only that rather constraining red
hood, but also everyone crowding around her and
treating her as their object of protection. She was
often treated either just as a town guard would be or
over-glorified. Neither of them were the right way to
treat a woman.
She wanted to be equal with people. They can only
love her if they are the same as her. And that is all
she wants, isn't it? To be loved? Isn't that why she
is going to go get some new clothes and make boys
notice her? Or is it that she never noticed that the
boys had already noticed her because she actually
didn't like boys?
She couldn't like girls. That wasn't natural. Well,
she could, but she wouldn't. She had never really
thought about it before. Boys marry girls. They get a
job, and the girls keep up the house. That's just the
way it works.
Could she just like neither? She needed love. She had
to like someone, or else she wouldn't have this need.
She shrugged. It was that the boys didn't notice her,
hidden under the hood and the fame. Of course it was.
What else could it be?
"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you, there..."
"I was just coming to see you, Relm. Happy Birthday!"
"Celes!" Relm said, looking up and immediately jumped
into her arms and hugged Celes tight. Her birthday
wasn't for a couple days, and Celes had come early
just for her. Celes had always been a friend to her,
maybe because she just liked kids or something, but
she was still nice. And loving. Now that Relm was
older, they had become friends.
"You'll be sixteen in a couple days." Celes said,
prying the teenager off of her.
"Yeah. I was just going to get some new clothes.
These just won't work anymore. Nobody can see me under
this hood," She said, and noticing she was wearing
one, she promptly removed it and tossed it to the
curb.
"It's cute, though,"
"But I don't need cute right now. I need boys to
notice me. They don't like cute, do they?"
"Maybe they do, but boys are shy. You need to be a
little aggressive,"
"I dunno. But either way, I'm still going shopping,"
Celes giggled. Relm brought out a different side of
her. She didn't feel as troubled or out of place with
her around. It was all giggling and fun. Of course
there was still a real world when she got done
laughing, but for that second she got a break from
reality. It was like a drug, and Celes was addicted.
Relm giggled too and took the older girl by the arm
and started walking toward the tailor. Soon enough,
Celes realized where going.
"Come on, you can't possibly consider a tailor going
shopping,"
"Where else could we go?"
"Well, we could go to a store,"
"Heh. I suppose we could. Where is one in this little
old town, though?"
"That's a good question..."
Relm shrugged. "It's sad that I don't know. I am a
girl, after all,"
"Yeah, it is," Celes said, giggling a little and
dodging a mock punch. "But it seems like we have to
find one anyway. So come on."
As they walked down the road searching for a real
store, Relm realized that she was having a better time
and felt so much less constrained with Celes than she
ever had with any guy's she had been around. Even
Locke or Edgar. Of course, that was probably because
they where older or because she was ten.
Or was it that Celes was more...right to her than
those guys where? That couldn't be. She couldn't love
a girl, could she? Of course not. She would have
already felt something towards a girl if she could.
But she hadn't felt anything towards a guy, either.
Had she just suppressed her feelings to please
herself?
Wait. Who was she trying to make happy? Herself, or
the world? Quite frankly, she didn't care what anyone
else thought. She needed love and if she found it a
boy or girl was irrelevant to her, as long as she got
it. Besides, girls are prettier. Relm smiled and laced
her fingers inside Celes's hand as they walked.
Eventually, they found a clothes store. It was in a
relatively new block of town, but it was sparsely
populated.
"There's one!" Relm said, pointing at a larger
building down at the end of the block.
"Oh, good. Now we gotta get you some clothes,"
"Yep," Relm said, and then she was gone, sprinting
into the store. Celes sighed and then giggled, unable
to fault the girl for wanting to look sexier. It isn't
like Relm didn't have the body for it. She wasn't fat
or insanely thin or anything like that. Her stomach
was perfectly formed, and Celes envied her.
She ran after the younger girl. She needed some
better clothes as well. "Found anything?" Celes asks,
panting a little from running the whole distance.
"Well..." She said, holding up a tight shirt and
skirt that was obviously a size too small, and then
another thing that looked like it fit but still didn't
leave much to the imagination.
"Err...I think that might be a tad much. Or less,"
Celes said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, you're right. Even if I could get into this
one," she said holding up the uniform and then trailed
off.
Celes giggled. "Here, try this one," she said,
holding up a red hood and white shirt.
"...If we weren't in a store, that would merit a
tackle," Relm said, giggling profusely.
"Oh, alright. Here," Celes said, pulling a pair of
leather pants off the rack.
Relm took them and looked them over and put them over
her legs to see how they'd fit. They looked tight
enough to show the world that she had nice enough
legs, and they looked like they would fit.
"And this," Celes continued, throwing some shirt at
her. She repeated the process until Relm's arms where
full. "Now, go try them on."
Five minutes later, Relm was out of the dressing
room. She looked stunning. And Celes told her so. Relm
realized then that the word 'stunning' coming from
Celes beat out every half-assed attempt at flattery
that a boy could give her. Because Celes meant it and
had no desire to get in Relm's pants. At least, she
didn't yet.
"Thanks!" Relm said, before jumping back in to the
dressing room. In and out she went, a 'stunning' here
and a 'nice' there for half an hour. Eventually she
narrowed it half a dozen outfits and went to pay. Relm
had also never failed to be 'in the money'. Killing
monsters had netted her and her team millions upon
millions of gold. Her pockets were always full. They
might as well have been gilded. Beneath her house was
a vault with her and her grandfather's share of the
gold.
"Miss Chere!" The clerk said. "No need to pay, miss.
I owe to you the very ground I walk on. In fact, I
think I owe you a dinner."
"Nice try, old man," Celes said, laughing as she
searched her pockets. Before she had looked up, Relm
had dumped a handful of gold on the table.
"You do have a family too feed. Or, at least, you and
your womanizing genius," Relm said, already putting up
a hand to quiet the obligatory protest. Celes noted to
herself that Relm had always been quite the
independent woman. She had never known her not to be
outspoken or opinionated. She put her hand on the
younger girls shoulder and led her out of the store.
"So, how did you get here? Setzer isn't due up here
with Terra and the rest of 'em for a day or so," Relm
asked.
"Walked," She responded.
"You walked all the way up here?"
"Of course. I wanted to see you early, and you
weren't all that far away,"
Relm nodded; content with her answer.
They made small talk for the rest of the walk back
home, and Relm took the time to notice what a
beautiful woman Celes was. The way she talked, walked,
looked, and everything else about her had an aura of
class around it. Celes, on the other hand, was unable
to tear her gaze away from the other girl. It couldn't
have simply been the new clothes that suddenly made
her seem irresistible. Relm was still a relatively
small girl, but she had filled out nonetheless.
Perhaps she had been right; that red hood had hidden
her body from the world. Had she always been Thamasa's
best kept secret? Celes had always thought of herself
sexually open minded. She quite frankly never gave a
damn whether it was a boy or a girl, only if it felt
right. With genetic engineering, physical
enhancements, and god knows what else having been done
to her; caring about her sexuality seemed petty.
So it could not have been she had just 'awoken'.
Either way, she now felt a want for this younger girl.
An itch deep inside her that only Relm could scratch.
Celes smiled. She now knew what Relm would be given
for her birthday.
And, Relm now knew what she needed. Of course she
couldn't tell Celes she wanted her. She feared
rejection. She would have to seduce the older girl,
and she hadn't the faintest clue how. She smiled.
After all; she loved a challenge.
"So, I take it you'll be staying the night?"
"That was the plan,"
"You can stay in my room. It's big enough," Relm
suggested, ignoring the age gap.
"I'll probably leave the day after your birthday.
I'll have to stay and moderate the aftermath," Celes
said jovially. Relm laughed lightly.
"Modesty aside, I look pretty damn hot in these
pants. Some boy better notice me tomorrow," Relm said,
setting her trap. Her plan basically to make Celes
pity her inexperience enough to not hate her when she
makes a move.
"That you do," Celes said, setting hers. Actually, it
wasn't really a trap. She'd just go for it.
"Thanks. You aren't so bad yourself, you know," Relm
said, her sense of modesty returning.
There was an awkward silence. "Anyway..." Celes
started, hoping Relm would remember something to say.
"Oh, yeah. I should paint your portrait,"
"You don't paint many people, do you?"
"Mostly landscape. But, you know, there isn't much of
that anymore."
"I guess not."
"Either way, we're home."
The girls got up the stairs to Relm's room in record
time, though they didn't really have reason for it.
Celes jumped to the bed immediately and kicked off her
shoes. Relm retired to a chair. They sat there for a
moment and rested.
"So, you want a guy to notice you?" Celes asked,
wanting to gauge how hard it would be to make this
girl hers.
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, they never have before. It
would be nice. I think," Relm answered, and Celes
rolled over onto her elbows.
"Do you just want their attention?"
"I want love. I'm just a lonely little girl when you
aren't here. No one really sees me as who I am, just
as a hero,"
"As in, you want to get married or something?"
"No, no, it isn't that. I just feel like I'm lacking
someone in my life. It doesn't have to be marriage, it
doesn't even have to be a guy," She started, hinting
lightly as to her intentions. Suddenly she felt
afraid, not afraid of being rejected, but being
accepted. She didn't really know how to do...anything.
"I mean, I'm 16 and I've never even had a...you
know..."
Relm hoped that would give reason for inexperience.
"Have you ever kissed a guy?"
"No...Like I said, they never noticed me before,"
"Well, come here. We can't have you going out into
the field without knowing how to kiss, now, can we?"
"Well, okay," Relm said without much thought at all.
She jumped up and walked over to Celes, knelt down,
and paused for a moment.
"What exactly do I do?" She asked, lightly biting her
lower lip.
"Just follow my lead. You're a pretty fast learner,"
Before a reply could be given, Celes moved in,
kissing Relm ever so softly at first, only grazing her
lover's lips. Relm hungrily advanced, pushing herself
further into Celes's hot kisses. Celes responded by
flicking her tongue out lightly, keeping it soft and
sensual.
Relm inched up, putting her hand on the back of
Celes's head and pulled her towards her hungry lips.
Flicking her tongue between her lover's lips, she
began to take the lead.
The younger, more aggressive girl inched forward,
pushing herself harder into her older partner. Celes
gave ground; falling backward and letting Relm climb
up on top, tongues now intertwined. They savored the
moment for an immeasurable amount of time, each lost
in the kiss of the other.
Eventually Relm ceased, looking longingly into her
friends eyes.
Looking for the words, she lightly chewed on her lip,
while her hungry eyes devoured Celes. Her hair a mess,
lying with her shirt bunched up enough to show her
midriff, and her long slender legs that Relm was
positioned between. She had propped herself up with
her hands inches away from the older girls breasts.
She reached out a thumb to lightly stroke the smooth
fabric of her shirt.
Finally she found the words. "I...I think I've wanted
this for a long time..."
Celes placed a finger on her lips, and Relm stopped
stammering. She rose up to tenderly kiss her aggressor
on the forehead, and slid a hand up under the back of
her shirt. Slowly she raked her finger tips across
the girl's sides and looked up at her, her eyes
flaming with lust. Still moving sensually across her
body, she pulled her back down into a kiss.
Closing her eyes and enjoying Celes's skill, Relm
started to bring one hand down and slid it up under
her shirt. Gently caressing her stomach, she broke the
kiss and eyed the girl passionately. Kissing her
softly again, she lowered her head and began lightly
nibbling on Celes's neck and inciting a giggle.
Her hands began roaming the older girl's body while
she began softly licking and kissing her neck. Celes
placed a guiding hand on the back of her head and
stroked her hair and the kissing soon became more
aggressive. All the while, her unskilled hands worked
their way up.
Relm lifted her head again, kissing her way around
her front and down into the neck of her shirt. Her
hungry hands slipped up under the experienced girl's
bra and tenderly cupped her breasts. Celes licked her
lips and watched the girl as she began kissing and
tonguing her way into her shirt.
Relm got up again. She tugged at Celes's shirt, and
Celes rose up and began tugging on hers until they
both came off. Relm kissed her deeply and they fell
back down, and she lowered herself and began kissing
her stomach. Celes laid back to enjoy it.
Still stroking the other girl's hair, Celes was in
heaven. The sensation of Relm's warm, soft tongue
playing across her stomach was amazing. She watched
her at work as a hand slid up her side and under her
and began fiddling with the bra clasp. Their eyes met
for the moment that the material slid off of Celes's
ample breasts. Relm was immediately transfixed,
watching them rise and fall with her breathing. She
licked her lips and lightly kissed one of them.
Celes groaned. Relm continued to tease her with hot
kisses and lifted a hand to caress the other. After
another quick kiss, she reached out her tongue and
flicked the nipple with it. Slowly, she began kissing
her way closer to it. Celes groaned again in
anticipation.
After gently licking Celes's nipple one last time,
she took it into her mouth. Celes purred. She lightly
sucked and played across it with her tongue, while her
hand was busy playing with the other. Celes was
running her fingers through the younger girl's hair
with one hand and the other softly stroking her own
midriff.
Relm's free hand moved downward to her pants. Her
lone fingers struggled with the button, then the
zipper, then pushed them out of the way as well as she
could while still covering Celes's breasts in hot
kisses. Celes raised her hips to help get the shorts
off. Teasingly, Relm started dragging her fingers
along the insides of Celes's thighs.
She moaned again, now bucking under her lover's
touch. Relm lifted her head slightly, and began slowly
kissing her way to her other breast as her hand
searched for her sex. As though none of them could
wait any longer, Relm gave up and pulled the panties
out of the way as best she could and slid two fingers
inside. She started slowly thrusting in and out, but
soon picked up the pace.
Celes moaned again, pushing herself up and throwing
her head back. Relm moved up and gave her a deep,
passionate kiss. Celes responded with another moan as
a spasm of pleasure rocked her body. Relm broke the
kiss and licked her lips. It felt good to be causing
someone she cared to feel so good. She started
nibbling on her neck again, holding her in a half
embrace as her fingers continued pumping in and out of
her.
Celes's body tensed up. She moaned again, tossing her
head back and writhing in pleasure. Relm began kissing
her again and pulled her fingers from her lover. When
Celes came down, she rolled her over.
"Your turn," Celes said menacingly, undoing the
girl's bra and pants at the same time. She tugged the
pants and panties off in one move and got off the bed.
She stood up and kissed her, before kneeling down. She
began licking at Relm's thighs.
Relm moaned a little and lay backwards, closing her
eyes and thinking about what was happening. Celes's
tongue flicked across her sex, causing her to shiver
with pleasure. She did it again. Relm moaned, and
looked at her fingers. She stuck the two that had
given Celes so much enjoyment into her mouth and
closed her eyes again, imagining their roles reversed.
She moaned hard into her fingers as Celes became more
aggressive, licking harder and causing Relm to go
crazy. Her legs buckled as Celes slid a single finger
into her. She was in heaven. Slowly at first, then
faster as Relm began buckling under the touch. Her
tongue flicked out again, sending another ripple of
pure pleasure through her body.
She pulled her fingers out of her mouth and moaned
again. She pushed herself from side to side with her
hands, feeling nothing less than euphoria. The tongue
flicked out a last time, and the thought of someone
causing another such ecstasy sent her over the edge.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her body
tensed up. She threw her head back as the feelings
pulsed through her like nothing she had felt before.
She fell back onto the bed, her eyes closed and a
much fulfilled look on her face. Celes climbed up onto
the bed with her and lay behind her. She hugged the
girl tightly and kissed her gently on the cheek.
"I love you, Celes," Relm said when she found herself
able to speak again.
"I love you too, baby,"
Relm curled up holding her arm, and fell asleep.
Celes followed suite, equally exhausted from the
events that just happened. She watched Relm in her
head, thrashing about on the bed, and suddenly tensing
up in pure bliss. A smile crept across her face as she
pulled the girl closer, burying her head in her hair
and fall into a peaceful sleep.
Relm woke first. The sun had barely risen and she
felt no desire to move from this position, in the arms
of the girl she loved. But she couldn't fall back
asleep, so she rose and got dressed. Pulling on one of
her new, sexier outfits, she was going to wake Celes,
but she noticed that she was far too peaceful looking
to be disturbed.
Relm suddenly felt inspired. Seeing this beautiful
woman lying there in her bed suddenly had her artistic
mind ticking. She grabbed her painting materials and
started. As she immortalized the curves of this girl
into her canvas, she realized she was happy.
She was happy. She smiled at the thought. Happy.
Celes stirred as the finishing touches were being put
on her portrait. Relm chewed softly on her lip,
worried for a second that she wouldn't like it. But it
was only for a second. Relm knew she would.
"Morning!" Relm giggled at her, eager to show her how
beautiful was.
"Morning, honey," Celes said drowsily as she sat up
on the bed and looked around for her clothes.
Relm started handing articles of clothing to her.
"Thanks,"
"No problem. Oh, look what I painted while you were
asleep!" She said, showing her the likeness.
"...Wow. It's so...real..." Celes said, turning her
head at it as if she were looking in a mirror.
"I wanted you do see how beautiful you look when
you're asleep,"
Celes looked touched. She searched for words for a
moment.
But "That's amazing. Really, it is..." was all she
could muster. Their eyes met and everything was
explained there. Relm walked over and kissed her
deeply, before announcing it was time for breakfast.
Celes grinned. Sitting there in the bed, watching
Relm attempt to hurry her up and checking one last
time to make sure her picture wasn't actually a
mirror, she felt at home. Something she hadn't felt in
years.
She was finally home.
"Happy birthday,"
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