King's Heart (part 27 of 31)

While You Were Having Fun

Quistis scribbled some notes on the board, completely oblivious to everything going on around her. She worried about Xu and the more she thought about it, the more looking for her seemed like a good idea. No…stop that. How many times did you go off without telling Xu? She deserves your trust…

“Um…Instructor Trepe?” She turned around and a boy in the front row, Sy, looked from her to the board nervously.

“Yes, Mr. Quinn?”

“Um…these were yesterday’s notes. We’ve already covered this.” Quistis looked back up at the board and then down at her agenda.

“I don’t think we’ve covered this.” She said “Yesterday was…”

“Tuesday, Instructor Trepe…” Quistis looked at the page she was on. It said “Tuesday.” Today was Wednesday. She sighed heavily.

“My mistake. Alright, class, today we’ll be learning about multiple Junctions and which are beneficial and which can be deadly.”

When class was over, several of the students, notably the Trepies, walked over to her desk and regarded her with a concerned expression.

“Instructor Trepe?” She looked up at them, putting on a smiling façade.

“Yes? Is there something I can help you with?” She asked sweetly.

“Um…” They fidgeted and Quistis looked at them with sympathy. The newest member of the Trepies spoke up.

“We were wondering if there was anything wrong, I mean, not that anything is…I mean…well…it’s just that you’ve been making so many mistakes in class, not that you can’t make mistakes…” She stammered.

“We’re just wondering if everything’s ok and if we could do something to help out.” Another Trepie, one of the older ones, finished.

“No, everything’s fine. I apologize for my behavior over the past couple of days but rest assured, I’ll get my head in gear. Now…aren’t you late for your next class?” She replied. The Trepies nodded and shuffled out the door. The newest member of the Trepies, Aina, turned around and hugged Quistis and then ran off with her face so red, Quistis swore she felt the heat.

“They’re sweet kids.” Seifer walked through the door. “Although I think one of them was about to jump me…”

“What are you doing here?” Quistis sighed, holding her head. She needed medicine, not a visit from her least favorite person in the world.

“Just wandering. There’s only so much you can do being cooped up in the Garden. D’you know they won’t even let me out of here without all of the SeeD in this damned place watching ever move I make?”

“I wonder why.” Quistis responded sarcastically. Seifer sat down on one of the desks and looked at her with an evil grin.

“I only need one guess as to what’s bothering you.” Quistis stood up and made a move to leave the room.

“You need to get her in your bed.” Quisits turned around.

“What did you say?!” She demanded.

“I said you need to get her out of your head.” Seifer repeated. “I know what you’ve been going through and trust me, I don’t like seeing you like this.”

“Funny, I don’t like seeing you at all.” She hissed. Seifer shrugged.

“Just a word of advice, sex cures all and I’ve got lots of it if you want.” He winked at her and left. She sighed heavily and gathered up her papers. As she exited, someone spoke up.

“I can have him shot on spot, you know. I can do it from a hundred feet away, leave no evidence.” Quistis jumped and dropped all her stuff.

“Irvine!” She exclaimed. “You startled me.”

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“Nothing suspicious.” Irvine replied. “Just following Seifer around, making sure he doesn’t get into trouble.”

“Stalking someone is suspicious.” She sighed.

“Not when it’s a mortal enemy.” He grinned and walked away.

Seifer had his hands in his pockets without a care in the world. He strolled down the hallway, eyeing up some of the younger women who looked at him, recognized him and walked quickly away. He smirked, his eyes roaming after them.

“Don’t pretend they’re not cute.” He said. “You and I are the same soul. You’re a lecher, I’m a lecher, we have same blood.”

“I’d never share blood with you.” Irvine replied. He stepped out from his hiding place, realizing he had been seen. Seifer laughed.

“You’re right. I can get far more women than you can.” Irvine walked up close.

“I don’t trust you anymore than I want to see you here.”

“Mutual! Good man!” Seifer clapped Irvine on the back and walked away. Irvine cursed and shook his head. His eyes wandered outside where snow was slowly drifting down. He thought of Selphie.

-

-

“Hey…big sis?” One of the younger girls at Trabia tugged at Selphie, who sat alone at the end of the corridor. A good portion of Trabia had been rebuilt but many of the main building were mere skeletons of structure. Selphie turned around.

“What are you doing here?”

“Could ask you the same.” The little girl replied.

“Sulking.” Selphie sighed. The little girl walked up to her and sat down on the floor.

“Is something wrong?”

“Everything’s wrong.” Selphie buried her head in her hands.

“Is it a boy?” The girl asked. Selphie laughed.

“You’re too smart for your own good.”

“Does he need to be beaten up? I can do it, you know.” She offered. Selphie looked up and patted her girl on the head.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not his fault, it’s mine.” The little girl looked at her shoes, trying to figure out what was plaguing Selphie’s mind. As if sensing her distress, Selphie elaborated.

“I like this boy and I think he likes me too. But he can be such…such an idiot sometimes. And when he is nice and thoughtful, I get all flustered and run away. I guess I’m scared which is not acceptable. I mean, I can go face Behemoths without breaking a sweat but…”

“Sounds like you really like this ‘boy’.” Selphie’s head jerked around. Rinoa stood at the other end of the corridor, grinning widely.

“There you are.” Rinoa remarked.

“Hey…go help the grownups, ok?” Selphie hissed to the little girl.

“Ok!” The little girl got up and ran off. Rinoa walked closer to Selphie who turned bright red.

“How much of that did you hear?” She asked.

“Come on, Selphie, take a chance!” Rinoa giggled.

“Easier said than done.” Selphie groaned. “He tried to kiss me and I ran away! ARGH I’m so stupid!” Rinoa plopped down on the ground next to her and patted her arm comfortingly.

“It happens to the best of us, Seph.”

“I like him, I really do.”

“Then express it.” Rinoa pulled two tickets out of her pocket and handed them to Selphie. Selphie looked at them and her eyes went wide.

“Is this…?”

“You betcha.”

“THE TRABIA SNOW ANGELS?!” Selphie leapt from her chair.

“Yup. There’s a concert to boost the morale of everyone working here. It’s toniiiigghttt.” Rinoa said happily. “You can thank Zell. He knows one of the people who plays in the band and managed to score tickets for all of us!” Selphie squealed at the top of her lungs and wrapped Rinoa into a tight embrace before sprinting outside to find Zell and strangle him with a bear hug.

-

-

Quistis folded her arms in a way that signaled that her decision would not change. She wasn’t going to cave into any and every whim that Selphie came up with.

“But…but…it’s the Trabia Snow Angels!” Selphie pleaded. “They’re only the hottest band in the world!”

“Selphie, first off, I don’t do that pop culture thing as well as you do. Secondly, I have papers to grade, lesson plans to write and assignments to make. I don’t have time!”

“You’re going to kill yourself with all this work!” Selphie whined. Quistis shook her head.

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, I know I need a break but I just don’t have time for a concert that’s going on all night.”

“Why not just give the students off? You do realize that most of them are probably sneaking into the concert and are probably going to be hung over from all that after party.” Selphie asked.

“If they’re hung over, that’s not my problem. I’ll have to take the necessary disciplinary measures but I can’t postpone class for this. The students are behind already!”

“You’re no fun.”

“I’m sorry, Selphie, but work is work.” Quistis stood up and picked up her tray, deciding that the best way to end the conversation was to leave. Selphie pouted and crossed her arms.

-

-

Xu walked around the garden, admiring the many different kinds of flora that grew there. Some of them were widely believed to be extinct and yet they flourished.

“This garden was in ruins when I first got here.” Becca explained, following Xu. “The good doctor didn’t take very good care of it, no time, you see. But I made time. I thought it would be nice for everyone to have somewhere to sit and think in quiet while enjoying the beauty of it all.” Xu touched a small pink flower and instantly it closed up. She smiled down at it and continued on.

“I’ve always wanted a garden like this.”

“I remember.” Becca said fondly. “In fact, part of the reason I built this garden was because it was something to remember you by.” Xu turned around.

“Did you think I was dead?” She asked. Becca shrugged.

“I didn’t know what to think. Shiva took you away and how was I supposed to know if she found help in time or not?”

“Becca?” They both looked at the new voice. A tall, skinny, blond haired young man wearing a loose tie and a white collared shirt walked through the trees. His breath caught the minute he saw Xu.

“Ah…I’m sure you remember Andri.” Becca said. Andri opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from Xu.

“I remember…you were that quiet book worm! You’re the one who always sat in the bedroom curled up with whatever reading material you could find!” Xu replied with a smile. Her eyes darted to the leather bound book in his hands. “I guess some things don’t change much, do they?” Becca lifted an eyebrow coyly at Andri’s behavior.

“Andri…say something.” She suggested.

“I…I…Xu…?”

“Eloquent.” Becca replied sarcastically.

“I’m sorry…I-I must be getting back to work.” Andri walked quickly past them and towards the mansion. The two watched him go and Becca sighed deeply.

“I was afraid of this.” She said.

“Of what?”

“Please, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed…? Even when we were all back at the orphanage, everyone noticed.” Becca replied.

“Tell me!”

“Andri only had eyes for two things…books and you.” At hearing this, Xu turned bright red.

“N-no!” She protested. “Impossible.”

“He’s been hopelessly in love with you since you were children! The first question he asked when I went back to get him was ‘Is Xu going to be there?’ When I told him the situation, he stayed in his room crying for about a week.” Becca laughed. Xu hid her face and concentrated hard on the bush in front of her.

“It wouldn’t work out.”

“You’d be surprised.” Becca commented. “Things can happen with the most unexpected of people.”

“They can…can’t they?” Xu replied, a certain blond invading her thoughts. Becca noticed the uncomfortable silence and took Xu’s hand.

“Come. You’ve only seen a little bit of the garden. I’ll show you the rest of it.”

-

-

Quistis sat in her room, all but overwhelmed by the silence. She had finished all her work and now had nothing to do. She heaved a sigh and went over to her bed and tried falling asleep. This never happened. Instead she got up and started pacing up and down the small hallway. She was about to take sleeping pills and curl up for the night when she heard something rustle under her door. When she looked closer, it was a ticket, specifically for the Trabia Snow Angels. Quistis took the ticket in her hand and turned it over. The show had begun. She sat down and stared at the ticket, contemplating whether or not she should go.

“It’ll be good to take my mind off of things.” She decided and walked out the door.

By the time she got there, the Snow Angels were close to finishing up. She looked around for anyone she knew. Squall and Rinoa were sitting closer to the front. Rinoa had her head on Squall’s shoulder and he had his arm around her, keeping her warm. Zell and Aya sat on the Garden’s ledge and when they saw her, they waved. Selphie and Irvine were sitting, less intimately on a bench further away from the light.

-

“Selphie?” Irvine whispered.

“Hm?” Selphie replied, too engrossed by the music.

“How much to you like the Trabia Snow Angels?” He asked.

“So much!”

“Would you miss the end of the concert for anything?” Selphie turned to look at him quizzically.

“Heck no!” Irvine smiled.

“Good, then I trust you won’t run away when I do this.” He leaned forward without any warning and caught Selphie’s lips in his. Selphie’s eyes widened and in her head she panicked for a little while until she noticed that nothing bad was happening. The world wasn’t ending. In fact, it wasn’t bad at all.

-

Quistis smiled softly, mostly out of happiness when she saw the two of them kiss for the first time but there was a small part of her that hurt. There were so many couples, she noted, some of them even in her class. And her lover was far away doing who knew what. She turned to look at Zell and Aya again. Zell whispered something into a walkie talkie and when the next song stopped, the lead singer stepped forward.

“Hey, this is a shout out to the cutest new couple! Selphie and Irvine, where are ya?” Selphie pulled away from Irvine and stared in shock. “Let’s hear it for these two lovebirds, eh?” Zell stood up and cheered first, clapping loudly and howling at the top of his lungs. Irvine, realizing what Zell did, shook his fist in mock anger. Gradually, the stadium erupted into cheers and Selphie turned dark red, hiding her face and leaned against Irvine.

“I’ll get you back!” Irvine swore but he couldn’t hide a smile.

“I know you owe me!” Zell shouted, his voice barely audible over the applause. The band broke into their final song for the night and the commotion died down. Quistis wiped a tear from her eyes. Everyone was so happy, why couldn’t she be happy too?