Remembrance: The Curse
“What are you so happy about today?” Selphie demanded as Xu all but skipped by them. She twirled around and got in line, smiling from ear to ear looking like all the world like a girl that just got too much…
“She’s prolly just happy that Quistis is back.” Aya said over her magazine article. Xu laughed brightly and gave them a cryptic smile.
“You will never know.”
“Everyone’s keeping secrets from me…” Selphie pouted. “Quisty’s got a boyfriend, now Xu’s got a boyfriend…”
“Neither of us has got a boyfriend, Selphie, I’m just in a good mood. Quistis is getting back on her feet and it makes me happy.” Xu replied between bouts of humming. Aya suddenly tensed as she looked up sharply. Her eye twitched for a moment as she fought back a smile before resuming her reading.
“What’s wrong with you?” Selphie asked.
“The article…says here that the Gardens have been granted an even larger sum to expand. Rumor of an Esthar and a Lunar Garden have been creeping up.” She replied all to convincingly.
“Oh blah. You’re incredibly boring, you know that?” Selphie stuck out her tongue. Rinoa exited the line with her tray in hand and sat down with them.
“What’s floating your boat?” She asked, nodding to Xu.
“See!” Selphie shouted. “I’m not the only one who thinks something is amiss.”
“A ‘Miss’ is right…” Aya said cheekily, not looking up though her attention wasn’t focused on the paper anymore. Xu eyed the librarian warily but was too caught up in the fact that she had a beautiful girl waiting for her back in her room to really pay much attention. As she approached the front of the line, Aya excused herself and left the room. Xu grabbed two trays of food, kindly explaining the situation to the lunch ladies who gladly gave her two helpings.
As Xu left the cafeteria, Aya was waiting for her.
“So…you need any help?” She asked. Xu jumped in surprise.
“HYNE! Don’t do that!” She snapped.
“Well, need help or not?” Aya asked.
“Uh…sure…” Xu said, handing her one tray. The two walked to the dorms and Aya waited until no one was within hearing range before speaking.
“So…uh…you two are dating, are you? Or is this a hush hush thing? Or is it that you have a crush on Quistis or something?” This time, Xu stopped walking and nearly dropped the tray. She had no words to express her shock or embarrassment.
“Uh…what…where…uh…” She stammered.
“It’s kinda obvious there’s something going on…I mean, sure, I’m more observant and more open minded about the entire thing than Selphie and Rinoa are. You tend to learn a lot from reading as many books as I have.” Seeing Xu’s look of panic, she quickly reassured her. “I won’t tell, I’m just curious. Hell, you can leave me guessing but I’m just kinda…”
“We’re…hush hush…” Xu said finally. Aya’s eyebrows shot up.
“Seriously? I mean…you two? Really? Wow, I didn’t think either of you had enough courage to say anything.” She replied.
“Thanks…” Xu sneered acidly.
“I don’t mean it in a bad way. I’m just saying, love is harder than defeating Ultimecia. Scarier too.” She scratched her head. “Personally, I’m just glad you two are happy.”
“Don’t tell anyone.” Xu pleaded.
“Why?”
“Just…don’t…I don’t want to explain.” She said as they arrived at the door. She opened the door and Quistis was there to greet her with a kiss. Aya blinked in surprise and Quistis noticed her, jumping back.
“It’s not what you…I mean…”
“She knows.” Xu explained. Quistis looked from Aya to Xu’s ashen face.
“Oh…”
“Well, I suppose I’ll leave you two alone now. Um…a word of warning, Quisits…you were lucky this time because no one saw but me. But next time, don’t jump her like that. People will see.” Aya handed Quistis the tray, waved and walked down the hall again. Xu brushed by setting her tray down.
“Xu…is everything ok?” Quistis asked, setting her tray down next to Xu’s. The brunette sat down on the couch and noticed pictures lying around. “I uh…found the in a drawer. See? There’s a couple of pictures of us.” She pointed. Suddenly, Xu jumped forwards, shifting the pictures around violently.
“Quistis, where is the picture!” She yelled franticly.
“Picture, what picture.”
“Of Becca? Where is it? I can’t find it!”
“Xu…calm down…”
“You don’t go through my stuff!” Xu’s voice was getting louder and more frightened as pictures fell to the floor. Quistis picked out one picture, a black and white photo of a girl standing and smiling with a grey sky in the background.
“Is this it…” She asked timidly. Xu snatched it out of her hand and cradled it. Quistis felt hurt and she shrunk away.
“Don’t…don’t go through my stuff…this is the only picture I have of her…” Xu whispered.
“I’m sorry.” Xu looked up and saw how hurt Quistis was. It killed her inside. “I didn’t know…I was just…looking for utensils…” Xu set the picture down carefully and hugged Quistis, kissing her cheeks.
“No…I’m sorry. It’s just that…Becca meant a lot to me.” She began tearing up.
“You don’t need to apologize. It’s my fault.”
“No. I need to tell you about her. It’s not fair that I have secrets from you. Especially something I really need to tell you because I love you and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Are you sure?” Quistis was interested in knowing more about her but she was afraid that something might make her sad again.
“Becca was…16 I think when I was that little. I lived in an orphanage different from all of you and it wasn’t as happy a place. The matron there made us work until our hands and knees bled and we collapsed from exhaustion. She would hit us with a wooden spoon really hard if we so much as stopped to catch our breaths. She hated me the most because well…I rebelled the most. I…” Xu smiled. “I took breaks and I would hit her back. But every time she’d get her mean husband to beat me up. He’d hit me much harder and he’d rip my hair if I tried to fight back. I was teased a lot…because she told the other kids that I was a bad girl and that they should be mean. I suffered a lot through those years.
Becca stood up for me. She was one of the ‘elders’ as we kids liked to call them. They usually went to the city to work in the morning and brought home money and food in the evening. There were a good 4 or 5 of them but none of them liked me, except Becca.” Xu swallowed. “I used to cry myself to sleep. Then…one night as I was crying, Becca came over and started stroking my hair. And she hummed for me and stayed with me until I went to sleep. And she did that every night from then on. I loved her so much. She’d tell all the other kids not to bully me, they did anyway when she wasn’t around but I stayed with her for a year and I was so happy.
And then one day…when Becca snuck me some food, something that was absolutely forbidden even though I got half the normal ration, the matron’s husband and his friends caught her...”
“She hasn’t had anything to eat for the past three days! You give her half a loaf of bread every week! That's half the other kids' ration! How do you expect her to live!” Becca demanded, standing up after the blow.
“She doesn’t deserve to live! She’s a slacker and she’s got a mean attitude. You think anyone’s going to want to adopt a rat like her? The sooner she dies, the sooner we have less trouble!”
“You work her too hard!” Becca yelled. Xu looked on, trembling with fear. She held on tightly to Becca’s robe.
“Come here!” The old man grabbed Xu by the hair and she shrieked in pain.
“Let her go!” Becca ordered, hitting his hand.
“Fine! You wanna come along too!” His friends grabbed hold of her arms and dragged her outside. They walked along the side of the road for a while until the house was far out of sight. The old man shoved Xu onto her knees and started kicking and beating her.
“STOP!” Becca shrieked, struggling. “You’re going to kill her!” Xu cried out, sobbing as punch after kick landed. “I swear I’ll kill you!” The old man stopped and turned around, malicious intent shining in his eyes.
“So…you’ll kill me…eh?” He walked closer. “You…you’re a pretty little girl aren’t you? Taking a liking to this rat? Well?”
“They raped her.” Xu whispered, her voice shaking uncontrollably. “The three of them. They raped her and they knifed her. They stabbed her a bunch of times, from her stomach to her chest…they…” She closed her eyes and began crying. Quistis put her arms around Xu and held her close.
“Diamond Dust…” A voice hissed. All three of them froze instantly and broke apart into small pieces. Xu couldn’t stop crying. She sobbed softly as the area grew colder and she crawled painfully over to Becca’s side. A soft light descended upon her, a blue and white light. It was a guardian force, Shiva.
“Becca…Becca?” Xu whimpered. “Please…I wanna sleep…please sing for me…”
“Little girl…” Shiva said. “Poor child.” It got colder and colder. “Come…let us take you somewhere safe…” Xu felt her eyes grow heavy and she held onto Becca’s body tightly. Shiva gently enveloped Xu and she went to sleep, too hurt and too traumatized to do anything else. Shiva gently scooped up the child, afraid of freezing her. “I will watch over you…I promised Rebecca that I would.”
“That’s where Shiva came from?” Quistis asked. Quistis remembered that Xu had given it to her almost the day after they had become friends.
“Yes…I gave her to you because I couldn’t stand having something that belonged to Becca roaming in my head. Shiva was junctioned to Becca and she didn’t even know it. And when she died…Shiva saved me…Becca saved me…” Xu leaned against Quistis and the blonde cradled Xu’s head against her chest.
“It’s ok…Xu…hon…it’s ok.” She whispered, kissing her forehead. “I’m here after all. I’m not exactly the perfect substitute for Becca but I’m something.” Xu sniffed.
“You’re everything to me right now.” Quistis twitched, trying to force back a smile.
“You do realize how cheesy that sounded…right?” She asked.
“…Yeah. I’m beginning to regret it.” Xu giggled.
“It’s very beautiful and quiet.” She commented.
“Why thank you, Adel. Cid and I don’t like a lot of raucous noises.” Edea replied, holding Cid’s hand as she stepped onto the beach as well.
“It’s nice…and it’s filled with lots of memories too.” Adel whispered, squatting and running her fingers through the sand. “Lots of memories indeed.”
“Are they good memories?” Edea asked, walking up beside her. Adel looked at the ground and shrugged.
“Some. Some are good, some are painful.” She replied. “Some are dark.” She looked up at Edea who shrunk back a little.
“Edea, my dear, why don’t we ask some of these wonderful young men and women to help us rebuild?” Cid asked, studying the white SeeD.
“That’s fine with me, dear. Just don’t over work them.” She shouted. Cid smiled and turned to the three young men standing on the dock. They looked nervously at each other when Cid asked them to help but they agreed, thinking it wise not to mess with the husband of a former sorceress.
“Uh…Rinoa…is there something bothering you?” He asked.
“Quistis.” She replied. Squall sighed. For a moment he was a little nervous that it was he who was at fault.
“Quistis is fine. She’s making an speedy recovery. She’ll be teaching in two days.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She replied, looking up at him. “Quistis has been single for as long as we’ve known her. Well, as long as I’ve known her. And it seems like she’s just clinging onto her past a little too much. I just want to see her as happy as we are or any other healthy couple.”
“Maybe you should leave her alone.” Squall suggested then quickly realized what he said. “What I mean is…she knows what’s good for her. When the time comes, she’ll find someone. I was single longer than she was.” Rinoa blushed.
“Yeah, until I came along.” Squall coughed sheepishly and took a sip of his wine. “I just want to know when and if that someone’s going to come along. If he takes too long…I dunno…I mean…especially with Quistis’s powers. I have powers too but it’s from Edea…not from Ultimecia herself.”
“Don’t worry so much.” Squall sighed. He was tired of Quistis being the subject of their conversation. He wanted to have a nice dinner with Rinoa so that she couldn’t hound him later for ignoring her when work reared its demonized head.
“When do we get married?” Rinoa asked absently. Squall choked on his wine.
“What!” He demanded.
“Oh…nothing. Just reading the quote over there.” She said pointing to a picture of a couple with the bubbles, “When do we get married?” It was an advertisement for the restaurant’s catering for weddings. The couple was happily depicted as wanting to get married after seeing the restaurant. Squall studied Rinoa who had a look of absolute boredom on her face. And it occurred to him…maybe he did want to marry her.
“Welcome mademoiselle. Please, step this way.” The waiter said courteously. Rinoa looked over and her eyes went wide.
“Xu?” She demanded. Xu saw them, turned around and sprinted out the door. Rinoa, wondering what was up and overly curious as to why Xu was here, perhaps on a date, stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
Quistis was about to step in the door, dressed in an evening gown until Xu nearly tackled her outside.
“RUN!” Xu yelled. Quistis trusted her girlfriend’s judgment and turned around, sprinting around the corner as fast as she could in high heels. “I’ll stall!” Xu turned around and mentally prepared herself for the questions that were bound to crop up as soon as Rinoa caught up.
“XU!” Rinoa shouted.
“Hey…wasn’t quite expecting you.” She said.
“You turned around and ran. What’s going on?”
“Uh…nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Are you on a date?” Rinoa asked coyly.
“NO! What are you, crazy? I just felt like eating…really really fancy tonight. I dunno…just a treat or something.” She lied.
“You’re a bad liar Xu, when it comes to this.” She giggled. “So…where is he? I know you came here with someone…don’t think I’m going to let you…”
“Look at what I found. Instructor Trepe wandering around on a dark and fairly dangerous night.” Seifer said, coming up to Xu with Quistis held in his gloved hand. Xu looked at Quistis, all but panicked and then turned back to Rinoa. I’m so going to hate myself for this. She thought and grabbed onto Seifer’s arm before Rinoa could jump to any conclusions.
“I give. I came here with Seifer…I was just, uh, worried that you know…seeing as how he’s your ex and all…” Seifer looked baffled and was about to open his mouth when Xu leaned in close.
“Just play along or I’m going to detach you limb from limb.” She hissed. Seifer looked from Xu to Quistis…then smirked.
“Yeah…didn’t realize you’d be here.” He said. All Rinoa could do was babble on the spot.
“But…you two…nothing in common…wha…?”
“Well, maybe that’s a good thing.” Seifer replied. “Now if you’ll excuse us…” He offered his arm out to Xu, which she took. The two of them walked off, Quistis following with daggers in her eyes.
As soon as they were out of sight, Xu threw Seifer’s arm away as quickly and strongly as possible.
“Ew. I can’t believe I did that.” She hissed, looking at her hands and arms. Seifer turned around, the smirk on his face unbearably coy. Quistis stepped beside Xu.
“So…why are two fine young ladies out on the town tonight, alone?”
“Ladies night out, Seifer.” Quistis snapped.
“Really…? In such fine evening gowns and going to such a nice restaurant? I dunno…sounds more like a date to me. But maybe I’m just a testosterone loaded guy…” He chuckled.
“You are a testosterone loaded guy.” Xu spat.
“And you needed me so badly to lie about being your date? Were you just trying to cover up something? Maybe Rinoa needs to know the truth. You know…make assumptions of her own.” Seifer shrugged, the smile on his face growing. Quistis and Xu looked at each other.
“We’re simply enjoying a night out.”
“Together?”
“Yes, together.” Quistis said before Xu could. Seifer stopped and balked.
“Woah…you serious? I was…I was kidding…I mean…you two are really?” He stammered. Xu gave Quistis a shocked expression. Quistis took out her whip and walked up close to him.
“Now Seifer…be a good boy and don’t tell anyone about this…” She whispered. Seifer’s eye twitched. “Cuz if you don’t…” And just like that, Quistis stood behind Seifer with her whip tightly wound around his neck.
“K…got…it…” Seifer gasped. The Instructor smiled and let go. “Jeez…if you wanted to play dominatrix…” Xu glared at him and he laughed nervously. “You and Xu should just rent a room. Well, certainly is a nice night out…I’ll just be, you know…leaving.” He scampered off quickly. The two of them sighed and looked at each other. Xu gently slipped her hand into Quistis’s and shook her head.
“That guy’s prolly going to rat on us.” Quistis smiled and her arms encircled her partner’s waist.
“Yeah…well, we’ll deal.” She kissed the side of Xu’s head gently. “Come on, we’ve got the whole rest of the night. What do you want to do?” Xu smiled evilly and Quistis began to regret that she asked her for a suggestion. Some how she figured that showing Xu the whip and having Seifer make the comment put ideas into her beloved’s head.
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