This is a FFVIII fanfic I've been working on, set after the game's end. I decided to post it here because well, I felt like it. On a whim, I guess. It's my first, so yeah... Enjoy? No comments in here please! I'll make a comments thread if I feel like it. If you wish to comment, PM or MSN or whatever. Thank you!
Second Time’s the Charm
Prologue
The past two years had been the most hectic two years of Rinoa Heartilly’s life. She had become a Sorceress, met who she thought to be the love of her life, saved the world from a crazed villainess and accomplished what many people thought was impossible. She had got Squall Leonhart to open up. This was no mean feat, and had taken up most of Rinoa’s energies for a solid two months. It was worth it in the end though, with the two forming a close bond.
As Squall was Garden Commander, Rinoa had made a decision to stay in Garden and train as a SeeD after Ultimecia’s defeat. She passed the exams and became a fully fledged mercenary, undertaking various missions for the organisation. The lifestyle of travel and the lack of routine was exactly what Rinoa wanted. The thrill of never knowing what was coming her way flooded her body with excitement. She worked in close proximity to her closest friends, had made new ones and had experienced so much more than she could have working with the Timber Owls.
“Gosh I’m bored. It’s been weeks since I’ve last got a mission. I’m losing my marbles! You can only browse the Internet for so many days straight.” she cried loudly, slamming her laptop shut.
Selphie jumped and looked in all directions to try and find the source of her fright.
“Yikes, Rinoa! You’ll shatter the keyboard like you did that thug’s jaw last month.” she giggled.
“He asked for it. You should never slap the butt of a girl who’s after your head. Whatever I did next, I couldn’t be held responsible for it.”
“Including shattering his jaw?”
“It wasn’t shattered! It was just broken.” retorted Rinoa, along with the afterthought, “In four separate places.”
“Sounds pretty shattered to me.” Selphie laughed, so hard that she began to snort.
“Oh shut up, piggy.” jibed Rinoa, laughing so hard she was shaking.
Her sides ached from laughing so hard, and her mouth felt like two Chocoboes had been tied to each corner and ordered to pull. A sudden ping from her laptop caught her interest, and brought a cry of delight with it.
“Oh great! Dad's got time off when we're in Deling City next week! He can finally meet Squall without worrying about a lunatic Sorceress!!” Rinoa beamed.
“Ooooh! Meet the parents, eh? Sparks could fly and light the building on fire, trapping hundreds of people!”
“Nononono. It has to be a pleasant meeting. It has to be! I’m so excited, I just have to tell Squall!” she squealed, skipping off to find her partner.
===
“Okay class. Those essays on the importance of status junctions are due next Monday! Ten percent deducted for each day it is late! Insta-fail after three days! Dismissed.”
The class swarmed out the door with new energy. It seemed that the word ‘dismissed’ was some sort of magical cure for the lethargy the students displayed during class. Quistis chuckled to herself. She had been like that too as a cadet and didn’t blame them. Junction theory was hardly a gripping subject. It was necessary to be well versed in the knowledge as a SeeD, and as she had been reinstated as an Instructor, it was Quistis’ duty to teach the children that sort of banal information. Even she had fallen victim to the boredom which so often accompanied lectures. She groaned as she thought of what awaited in her quarters.
For that time she had been a regular member of SeeD, Quistis had always missed her Instuctor’s quarters. They were considerably larger and more comfortable than the dormitories, with a kitchen, a sitting area, a substantial bathroom and a reasonably sized desk. The latter drew your eye at this time of the year, with an influx of assignments and essays to mark, so the Instructors and Garden Faculty could see who was ready for the field exam in two weeks. It was always heart breaking to see children who tried so hard be told they could not participate. Kriss Gilder was one such child Quistis feared for. She remained adamant he was ready for exams, while the Faculty thought otherwise.
“He’s a good student. I won’t let those belligerent, money hungry Faculty fools ruin another child’s chances of being a SeeD! I’ve got to find a way to get him into the exams.” she thought aloud, pacing along the floor quickly as she often did when thought to herself.
Or when stressed. Or panicked. Or was nervous. Or happy. Or bored.
“Cid. He has the final say. If I can pull a few strings, please a few people… Well. Please Cid.” Quistis said to herself while simultaneous dialling his office.
“Headmaster’s office. How may I help?”
“Cid. It’s me. I have a favour to ask of you.”
“Ah, Quistis. Ask away!”
“There’s this child in my class - Kriss Gilder - that I really think deserves to participate in the field exam. His academic results are fantastic, but his physical lets him down. Now, he has been training hard and I think he could do really well in the thick of things.” insisted Quistis, her hands talking at the same time despite the fact Cid could not see her, “But Faculty seems to think he’s useless. It’s not like any of them have any real service to offer, other than to complain day and night.”
“I’ll see what I can do Quistis.” he chuckled, and hung up.
“Success!” she cried, happy with her 2 minutes work. Quistis leant back in her chair, and took what she felt to be a well deserved break.
===
“I am the luckiest man on Earth, Selphie baby.” cooed Irvine, clasping his girlfriend's in what he thought was a gentle and loving way.
“Irvine, you silly. You’re doing it again!”
“Oh. Sorry.” he whispered sheepishly, and relinquished his overly firm grip.
“Owies. You don’t need to hold on so hard, Irvie. I’m not going anyway fast!”
Selphie rubbed her hands gingerly, and sensing Irvine’s hurt, looked up and gave him a warm smile.
“I know, Selph. It’s just like my subconscious is trying to hold onto you in case you do.”
“Don’t be a twit, Irvine. Now let’s get dessert before all the blancmange is gone.”
“Let me, honey. I’m the man about here, so I’ll do the heavy lifting.” swaggered Irvine, eager to impress.
He bounded up to the counter with a spring in his step. Though it wasn’t an official “date”, Irvine liked to look at it as though it truly was. His view was that “every moment with Selphie was special, so I need to treat her like it is.”
“Two blancmanges, please!” Irvine asked cheerfully, holding his try out expectantly.
“You can only have one dessert, mate.”
“Oh. The other’s for my girlfriend over there. See?”
He pointed over to Selphie and waved frantically, trying to get her attention and hopefully prove there blancmange was hers. At last she noticed and returned Irvine’s efforts in earnest.
“I told you. So can I please have the blancmanges?”
“She waved at you. That hardly screams ‘He’s getting a blancmange for me.’” drawled the cafeteria lady.
Irvine just stared at her, bewildered by her inability to let one stinking blancmange go. Even if he was sneaking an extra one, there was plenty to go around.
“Fine. I’ll get her to come up here and tell you herself” he growled through gritted teeth.
He stalked back to the table looking quite livid. Anyone in his way jumped aside, wishing to avoid any spleen Irvine may have chosen to vent.
“Selphie. You need to get your own blancmange. Some cafeteria cow says so.”
“Oh really? Poo. I quite enjoyed having you as my little servant.” she giggled.
“Selphie, honey. For you, I’d tackle one hundred cafeteria ladies with my hands tied!”
“You’re so valiant, Irvine!”
“It’s all for you Selphie!” he beamed, as he linked arms with the girl who had captured his heart.
===
“OH YEAH BABY! I HIT THE JACKPOT!” cried Zell, pumping the air with his fist, “First in line for the canteen! Hot dogs, here I come!”
“Sorry Zell, but you’re first in line because today was an early lunch… We only have fruit bars and salad left.”
“What?” whimpered Zell, devastated, “I was in the library researching Wendigoes when I could have been eating hot dogs? That’s just not fair!”
He sighed and felt his stomach rumble. He had to have something.
“I’ll take an apricot bar then, with a garden salad.”
“There’s only raisin-with-nut bars left.”
Zell fell silent and his face took on a look of utter devastation as he shuffled off back to the library, crestfallen.
“I don’t see why I need to read on the complete history of the Wendigo. If there’s a problem with them around Timber, why not just knock ‘em off? I’ll teach them good!” grumbled Zell, fighting an imaginary Wendigo.
“Because, Zell, we need to do it in a very certain manner, so the Wendigoes don’t become extinct. And they’re a little bigger than what you’re fighting.” laughed Xu.
Turning around to see the senior SeeD standing behind him, Zell’s cheeks turned beet red and his face grew hotter than fire. He rushed off to find a book to hide behind to try and lessen the damage he had done to his ego.
“Oh.. Uh.. Hi there… Xu. Didn’t see you there. Thanks… erm, for the info on that. Now if you could just you know, forget what you just saw, I’ll love you forever.”
“See what now?”
“That’s what I mean.” he grinned.
“Now the operation is taking place in two days, so I trust you’ll be ready by then?” queried Xu, taking on a more authoritative tone.
“Oh yeah. I’m always ready for battle. Those Wendigo won’t know what hit ‘em. A few uppercuts, some roundhouse kicks, a couple of special combination moves… SeeD will be raking in the cash if it’s by the Wendigo!”
“Okay then. Just make sure you’re not too overconfident. We don’t want you making a fool of yourself like you tend to. Lest Seifer be given more ammunition against you.”
“That moron needs a bullet. Why doesn’t he just grow up and stop picking fights?” Zell grunted.
“If I recall, you started the last fight, Mr. Dincht.” Xu chimed and walked off a little more briskly than usual.
“Yeah, but he was asking for it! Hey Xu! Are you listening to me! Xu! XU!” Zell shouted after her.
===
Flowers were in full bloom in the quadrangle and looked as if they could positively sing, were they able to speak. Selphie thought so as well, and took the liberty of singing for them. Humming a little tune was meant to help flowers grow as well, so she was more than happy for an excuse to sing aloud. It also helped her think, and she desperately needed an idea for this year’s Garden Festival.
“Oh little flowers, if only you really could sing! Then you could help me come up with the greatest idea for a Garden Festival ever! No one seems to come to the meetings, even when I say there’s cake. Maybe I ought to just do another in your face recruitment drive…”
Selphie leapt up and planned her spiel in her head.
“Join the Garden Festival Committee! Help plan the biggest calendar event of the year, and there’s cakes at all the meetings!”
If she injected boundless enthusiasm, a warm smile and a few winks in, Selphie was sure it would be a knockout performance. Checking her watch to see how much time she had to round up a committee, Selphie’s stomach filled with terror.
“Yipes! It’s twenty-to-two already?! I’m late for my class!” she exclaimed hysterically, and bolted off to the second floor classrooms.
“Sorry sorry sorry I’m late!” she cried as she ran the room like a maniac, and slumped into her chair, exhausted from her run.
Selphie’s class looked at her strangely, like she was some mildly interesting exhibition in a museum.
“What? Has my hair gone mad after my little jog to class?”
“Um… Instructor Tilmitt… You look a little crazy is all…”
She got out a small mirror she kept in one of her oak desk's many draws and looked at herself. She was a mess. Her scarf was skewed to the left, her hair stuck out in all directions and there was blancmange in the corner of her mouth. If she kept going like this, she’d have her licence revoked faster than Watts running from danger. First there was the her work on Drawing Flare and the ensuing explosion and the “cooking reward class” debacle, which resulted in the cafeteria’s entire hot dog supply being poisoned (Zell was furious with Selphie and refused to speak to her until a new supply arrived). Her promotion to Instructor had been opposed by most of Garden Faculty, but with some pressure from Cid, she had finally obtained it. In the six months of being an Instructor though, she had proven herself an effective teacher who balanced friendliness with firmness in her teaching.
“Oh. Oops.” she giggled, and proceeded to rectify her appearance, “Now. Let’s get on with the lesson. But before we start, who’d be interested in joining the Garden Festival Committee? We have cake!”
===
Squall stared at the mountains of paperwork in front of him. When he had been promoted to Commander, he had expected an increase in his workload, but not of this degree. Days spent reviewing strategic plans for missions, assessing sources of revenue for the Garden, plotting courses for Garden. It seemed to him that Cid took every role he could think of, rolled it into one convenient package and forced it upon the first patsy he could find. At first he had relished the work. It separated him from the rest of Garden. People just didn’t suddenly strike up conversation, and he didn’t need to waste energy ignoring anyone. It was tedious though. Fed up with it, he decided to take a walk.
In the two years since Ultimecia’s defeat, Garden had not changed at all. However, the people who lived inside it though has undergone a massive change. No longer was SeeD concerned only with revenue. It was now serving the public by monitoring Sorceress activity to both stop attacks by Sorceress, and attacks on the Sorceresses themselves. Individual people had changed as well. Squall was no longer as taciturn and cold as he once was. He was now able to converse normally for more than fifteen minutes at a time, and even started conversations. No one doubted though, he was still reticent and stoic.
“Squall!” shouted a voice he recognised straight away from down the hall.
Rinoa ran towards him, her every step oozing delight.
“Squall! I have the best news!” she gushed. “Dad has time off in Deling City when we land there next. You two can finally get to know each other!”
Squall looked downwards. “I already know him. I met him when we were ordered to assassinate Edea. Do I really want to meet him anyway? I mean, he's going to be constantly sizing me up, seeing if I'm good enough. He's already biased. He'll want someone better than me for Rinoa.” he mused.
Rinoa looked at Squall intently, trying to see into his mind. “Squaaaall! Tell me what you’re thinkiiiiing! You know I’m not a mind reader.”
“That’s great. I can meet your father and get to know him.”
“Don’t put too much effort into your sentences, Squall. You’ll give yourself an aneurysm. I wonder if you’ll ever change?” she laughed.
“Probably not. But is that such a bad thing?” he muttered to no one in particular.
===
A note from Rocco, the slightly eccentric author: Well, there’s the prologue. Basically utter drivel, updating you on minor events that have occurred between Ulti’s defeat and the beginning of the story so you aren’t thinking “What the hell? How come this is like this? IT NEVER HAPPENED!”. So I’m sorry if I poisoned/maimed/mentally scarred anyone with this.Also, sorry for the pretty generic format for each character. There was a method to my madness though as I tried to let you see how characters interacted and how they thought. Or at least my interpretation of them. Woo for my insanity.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, except those I created. They’ll be named as I reveal them. In fact, there’s very few. I also do not own any locations, terms, etc. Unless I made it. If I did own this stuff, I’d be filthy rich and commissioning a damn remake.
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