Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Chasing Spring ❯ The B Woman ( Chapter 3 )

[ Notes/etc: Another Zell chapter. Although I had indented for this to be more lighthearted, it seems to be turning angsty on me. (Don't you just hate it when fics do that to you? No? Maybe it's just me…)

I've got no new warnings for this chapter, but if anyone knows what "mogaki" really means I'll be very impressed. ^_^ ]

III - The B Woman

"I can't believe they didn't tell me!" Zell raged, violently stuffing a pair of boxers into his duffel bag.

Snap remained silent, picking listlessly at his fingernails.

"I mean," Zell huffed, "I'm part of the group! The Orphanage Gang! Whatever! Why the frickin' hell would Squall leave me out?" Into the duffel bag flew a few pairs of wadded socks.

"They didn't tell me either, Zell," Snap said, conciliatory. "Maybe it's just one of those 'The less people know the better' things."

"But still," Zell continued, feeling betrayed and insulted all at once, "We all fought together, ya know?"

Snap nodded; he knew.

"It just feels…" Zell dropped his arms limply to his sides. "I don't know. Like they didn't trust me or somethin'."

Snap nodded glumly. "I'm sorry, man. The whole thing rubs me the wrong way, too. But…There's nothing you can do about it. Orders are orders."

"Yeah," Zell nodded, "You're right." He pulled the duffel's zipper so hard Snap thought it would break.

With their meager supplies stuffed into the back of one of Trabia's vehicles (designed specifically for travel over ice and snow), Zell and Snap waited for their Captain's arrival. Selphie had been uncertain of what to tell Squall, but Zell had eventually swayed her that the truth was usually less complicated, and she had promptly left to contact their Commander.

After hours of feeling depressed and worthless, Zell had finally received orders that he and Snap were to set out immediately to look for the missing rabbit-squirrel-thing. It was quickly discerned that the small creature was nowhere within the Garden's proximity, and thus had Zell and the ever-faithful Snap been commanded to search outside the facility.

"Guys!" Selphie called, running up to the bright yellow automobile.

Zell turned off the engine (he had had the heat on) and got out of the car. "What did he say?" he demanded curtly, still not forgiving Selphie for keeping him in the dark.

The girl seemed not to notice that anything was wrong, giving both male SeeDs a wide grin. "Sorry boys, but the Commander wants me to stay."

"What?" Zell exclaimed, "But why? You're the one that lost the damn thing."

Selphie grimaced at this reminder. "Yeah…I know. But Squall thought it would be better if I stayed; for appearances, you know. Trabia Garden doesn't know about the rabbit."

In some detached portion of his mind, Zell was finding the entire situation hilarious: Two SeeDs would be trekking across the mountains of Trabia in search of some creature whose identity was only known by a single woman. At least…as far as they knew. Squall might be holding something else back. And of course, this last thought was the main fixation of Zell's mind: Why had Squall lied to him? "So it's just gonna be me and Snap?"

Selphie nodded enthusiastically. "Yup. Well…Not really. Squall gave me the location of where he thought that Beatrice woman might be."

"Might?" Zell asked skeptically.

"Uh-huh. I printed off a map for you," the young party leader pulled a folded sheet of paper from inside her jacket, extending it to Zell.

He snatched it from her, scowling unmercifully, and mumbled a stiff goodbye. Snap saluted his captain and followed Zell into the car. Selphie waved happily as they drove off; chunks of ice and snow jettisoned out from under chained tires.

Zell drove in silence, with pursed lips and fingers wrapped tightly around the steering wheel. Snap, mercifully, had fallen asleep almost instantly and was snoring softly to Zell's right, his breath fogging up the passenger side window.

The heater was on as high as it could go, but Zell still couldn't get warm enough. Chills raced over his skin as he cleared one snow dune after another. White clumps began to gather at the edges of the windshield and not even the extended wipers could get rid of them. Zell had the defrost on, too, but it wasn't helping either. He knew that, sooner or later, he'd have to get out and manually clean off the windshield. It was a daunting prospect. Maybe if Snap was up by then he could convince him to do it.

Selphie's map claimed that the woman they were looking for lived a few miles north of Trabia Garden, in a small cabin nestled between two stretches of crags. In this landscape of consuming white, Zell doubted he'd be able to find it; or even if he did, that she'd be there.

Time, the weather, and just about everything else seemed to be against them, and Zell was sick of it. He kept thinking to himself how he'd much rather be back at his own Garden, sweating rivers in the Training Center, sleeping on a bench in the Quad, or depleting the hot dog supply. His fantasy trailed off, wandering around the corridors of Garden, the streets of Balamb, until it eventually ran into Squall, cupping his hands against Selphie's ear and whispering a secret between them. Zell grit his teeth. He knew he was being childish, and a small part of himself chided that he was just jealous. And that was a tiny part of it, but nothing more. Was Snap right? Had Squall felt it would be safer if only the party leader knew? If that was the case, Zell couldn't be mad at either of them. Selphie, having been appointed the role due to her connections in Trabia, was only doing what she was asked, and Squall was doing what he thought best. But Zell still felt stung. It wasn't like he'd blab their secret to anyone. That had only happened once and… Zell slammed on the brakes, catapulting Snap as far as his seatbelt would allow, and waking him instantly. The poor SeeD looked around in panic before turning to Zell, demanding to know what had happened.

Zell didn't hear him, his lips were pursed in a grim line and his eyes blazed with emotion. Was that why they hadn't told him anything? Because of what had happened in Timber? He had been so mad then, Seifer always caused him to loose his temper, and he just hadn't been thinking. But that was only once. Once! They couldn't still be holding that against him… Could they?

Snap was shaking him, asking him over and over again what was wrong.

"I'm fine," Zell whispered, running his fingers through his hair. "I was just thinking. Can…Can you go out and clean off the windshield?"

"Sure," Snap started to open his door, pausing suddenly and turning to Zell. "You really okay? You look kinda sick."

"Yeah, yeah; I'm great. Just fix the windshield so we can leave."

Snap needed no further assurances; with a final nod he hopped out into the snow and walked around to the front of the car, the wind blowing his short brown hair about his round face.

"Hey, look! I think that's it!" Snap was pointing wildly to the very leftmost corner of the windshield, where a spiraling cloud of smoke could vaguely be discerned.

Zell nodded and turned sharply in that direction, plowing through pile after pile of snow. Waves of white splashed up around them as they got closer to the smoke. A shape identifiable as a house came into view around a bulging slab of rock.

Zell parked the car next to a snow-covered pickup, pocketed the keys, and jogged with Snap up to the front door. He knocked loudly on the wood, causing little chunks of ice to cascade down and gather at his feet. The two SeeDs waited in silence until a slender, middle-aged woman opened the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked timidly, obviously unsettled by their presence.

Zell, hoping his luck would hold out, took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, actually, we really do need your help with something."

"Oh?" she said, startled. "Well, I guess you should both come on in, then; it's freezing out here." To better accentuate her point, she pulled her shawl more tightly about her shoulders, and turned to lead them into a brightly-lit living room.

The place was small, and cozy, and reminded Zell of his mother; how everything had its place, even if that meant piles of toppled magazines in corners and childhood paraphernalia tacked to walls and scattered on shelves. It was far from tidy, but it was human, and not one of those rooms that looked like it was torn straight from a catalogue. Zell felt calmed by the almost-familiar surroundings, and smiled in gratitude as he looked around him.

"Here," said the woman, gesticulating to a well-worn couch with a comfortable-looking quilt folded over the back. "You two have a seat while I get you some tea," she had already started moving, turning her back on them and strolling into the kitchen, her soft-spoken words trailing behind her. "I just set it out to boil before you knocked and couldn't possibly drink it all myself." Zell could make out the chinking of china. "So it's lucky that you two stopped by when you did, otherwise I'd have had to pour it all down the drain." The woman reappeared, skillfully carrying three steaming cups. She was tall; Zell only came up to her chin, and wore a loose-sleeved shirt over a pair of old jeans. A few silver bracelets jingled on her wrists, among them a heavy-looking man's watch. She wore slender-framed glasses, and her white-streaked, once-black hair had been pulled back loosely; free curls tumbled over her shoulders as she leaned down to give first Zell, then Snap, their tea. She smiled warmly at them before settling herself in an over-stuffed recliner.

"So, what brings you boys all the way out here?"

Zell returned her smile, instantly liking this woman; she reminded him of Matron, with bits of his mother scattered here and there. "I'm Zell, ma'am, Zell Dincht. And this," he gestured at Snap with his thumb, "is Jhet Canta."

"Call me Snap," Snap said, shooting Zell a discreet look of disapproval. For some undisclosed reason, he didn't like people knowing his real name. Zell speculated that it had something to do with his parents.

"It's nice to meet both of you. I'm Dr. Cath Bardell," she held out her hand for Zell and Snap to shake. "Continue, please."

Zell nodded, and picked up his interrupted train of thought. "Y'see, we're both SeeDs, and our Commander found this…uhm…thing, and he was told that'd you'd be able to tell us what it is."

"Well, I'll try my best. Do you have it with you?"

"Uhm…" Zell picked at a loose thread in his sleeve, "No…That's part of the problem. It…uh…It kinda escaped."

"It's alive?" murmured Bardell, leaning forward in her chair.

Zell nodded. "Yeah. We were hoping you'd be able to help us track it."

"Oh…" Bardell seemed to be at a loss for words. "Well…I'll give it my best shot. Uhm…Do you have a…a description of the…uhm…thing?"

"Yeah. I was told it looks like a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel."

"Oh, my," Bardell whispered, her eyes widening in surprise. "That sounds very much like a mogaki, but where in the world would you have found it?"

"Well," Zell fidgeted, glancing quickly to Snap, who nodded for him to continue. Zell exhaled loudly, his great gust of breath rippling through Bardell's loose hair. "You…wouldn't have heard of time compression, would you?"