Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ FF8 SeeD and the City (Series) ❯ The Conversation ( Chapter 5 )

 

Disclaimer: All FF8 characters are courtesy of Squaresoft Enix

 

One-Shot: The Conversation

 

Dust is dancing in the space

A dog and bird are far away

The sun comes up and down each day

The river flows out to the sea

 

Love, don't go away

Come back this way

Come back and stay

Forever and ever

 

-Julee Cruise-

 

 

-Balamb City-

 

“Hello, Pierre! How are you?”

 

“Ah, Instructor Trepe! It's always a pleasure to see you!”

 

Pierre, the maître d' at Chez Angelique Salon de Thé, after checking to make sure that the Mademoiselle Trepe had indeed arrived by herself, gave the beautiful instructor a very charming smile, and clicked his fingers to have a waiter suddenly materialize at his side.

 

“Julien, take Mademoiselle Trepe to her usual table.” Pierre smiled at Quistis again, “Madame Kramer is already here.”

 

“Thank you, Pierre.”

 

The maître d' watched Quistis graceful figure disappear inside the tea room and sighed, `That such a belle femme could be paired with such a... such a barbare!' He gulped when he remembered the last time the beauty had been accompanied by her fiancée... Those menacing green eyes had promised all kinds of mayhem if he so much as dared to gaze at the lovely instructor for even a fraction of a second longer than necessary.

 

§

 

Ignorant of Pierre's dark thoughts regarding Seifer, Quistis spotted Edea Kramer seated at their favourite table by the opened balcony doors. A warm breeze from the Sea of Balamb entered the airy room, making the white eyelet curtains flutter gently. A large vase of delicate orange blossoms added a fragrant scent to the place. Quistis hurried to Matron's side, but Edea had already seen Quistis, and was standing up to receive her with a big hug and a kiss.

 

“Matron! It's so good to see you! I'm sorry for being late…” Quistis blushed, she couldn't possibly tell Matron the cause of her delay.

 

“Quistis, my child! Turn around and let me have a good look at you!” Edea Kramer noticed the pink hue that suffused Quistis's porcelain complexion, and winked at the younger woman, “My! You're certainly glowing. Has Seifer been keeping you busy?”

 

If it were possible for Quistis to blush more, she would have done so, as it was all she managed to say was a strangled, “Err…Yeah!” `Why not try insatiable!' But she couldn't really make herself say that to Matron.

 

Edea laughed when she caught Quistis's look of acute embarrassment mingled with that of great happiness, “Oh, my child! Enjoy it while you can! It doesn't always last, you know!”

 

Quistis choked out, “Matron, are you…are you referring to…to…?

 

“…Sex? Certainly! What else would I be talking about?”

 

Edea stopped when she saw their waiter approach the table with two teapots, and waited until he poured them each a cup of their own steaming brew. She smiled at their hovering waiter and said, “Thank you, Julien, I'll take over from now.”

 

The young man bowed and left, not without allowing his gaze to linger a bit longer on Quistis, who was still trying to digest what Edea was telling her.

 

“Matron, are you implying that… that…”

 

“My dear, not everyone is the same. You are truly a very lucky girl. As I recall, even as a child, Seifer has always been very intense and passionate. I expect no less from the adult!”

 

“But you said it might not last…”

 

Quistis was confused now. She even took a sip of the herbal infusion without noticing that it was the kind of brew she would never drink by choice.

 

“Quisty, a couple can always have good sex no matter at what age, but certainly the frequency will not be same…” There was a wistful look in Matron's face before she added with absolute certainty, “But the sense of closeness and intimacy will only get stronger as you age together.” Then she smiled up at their approaching waiter, “Ah, Julien! You've brought us sustenance!”

 

The young man placed a tray of freshly baked scones on the table with a bowl of clotted cream, followed by a dish of mouth watering petit-fours, and an assortment of small sandwiches artistically displayed on a silver salver.

 

“Well, my child, let's not allow this food to go to waste!” Edea spread the sumptuous cream on her scone, and took a bite, “Hmm!… Angelique always serves the best tea!”

 

Quistis helped herself to a tartelette aux pommes, and silently agreed. `At least I can enjoy these delicious pastries this time around!' The last time she was here, it had been with Seifer in tow, `What a disaster! Poor Pierre was so nervous!' She tried not to blush again when she thought about how she convinced him to let her come by herself. `He's always easier to deal with after…' She also sent Squall a silent, but heartfelt thanks for challenging Seifer to a gunblade duel. Seifer never backed off a challenge by anyone, specially one issued by `Puberty boy'! Taking advantage of the distraction, she'd sneaked away…

 

“Quistis, dear, come back to me…”

 

“Oh, my! What's to become of me? Matron, please forgive me…”

 

It was all Seifer's fault, even if he wasn't present...! Quistis was sure of it! Smiling gently, Edea looked at Quistis's belly thoughtfully.

 

“You know it doesn't really show…”

 

“Matron?”

 

“Unless someone knows you as well as I do, it's rather hard to tell that you're almost four months pregnant. You look the same, dear, it's just some added quirks to your personality that make you a bit different, I think.” Suddenly Edea cocked her head to the side and asked mischievously, "Tell me, how's he coping with your pregnancy?"

 

Normally the question would be a `How are you coping?', but if one knew the couple well, one would definitely understand why Edea formulated her question the way she did.

 

“Lately, he's been watching me like a hawk, Matron!” Quistis complained, “And driving me crazy! Suddenly there's a whole list of activities for which `I'm too delicate'! I can't go training! I'm to rest in the afternoon, when I clearly don't want to, and -Quistis sounded the most aggravated here- he'd had the nerve to forbid me to drink coffee!”

 

Her eyes rounded when she realized all of a sudden that she was not drinking her usual brew! Edea quickly surmised the source of Quistis's surprise, and tried not to chuckle at the younger woman's expression of chagrin.

 

“So, my dear, you finally realized you've been drinking an herbal infusion...”

 

“But they know that I always want a pot of coffee!”

 

Quistis sounded like a little girl who didn't get exactly what she wanted.

 

“Well, dear, just before your arrival, Pierre came to inform me that he's been `ordered' by Monsieur Almasy that they were not to serve you coffee…”

 

Matron tried to imitate the maître d's fussy tones, but failed because she couldn't suppress a good humoured chuckle. Quistis made a face, and whined in a completely un-Quistis way.

 

“Oooh! He's sooo controlling! Even when he's not around! Hyne! Does he think I will break or something!...”

 

“...And you love every second of it!”

 

Quistis had the grace to blush. In a very weird way, although he did drive her crazy with his ever increasing list of do's and don't's, she understood that it was his way of showing his feelings for her. `He's not the maudlin type to swear everlasting love…' She thought with some humour, then felt herself blush again when she thought about how Seifer went about `showing' how much he cared…

 

“Seifer likes to fall asleep with his hands on my belly at night…” Quistis blurted out before she could stop herself, and found herself blushing profusely, again. `Damn! I have to stop this!'

 

Edea laughed happily, “Of course, dear! He's your lover! I would be very disappointed with him if he didn't show you his affectionate side! Even Squall has been hovering around Rinoa these days… And Irvine… I'm sure Selphie has already told you everything!”

 

Quistis thought that it was rather uncanny how the three of them had ended up being pregnant one month away from each other! Rinoa and Squall had pledged their vows to each only half a year ago, and in a typical by-the-book Squall fashion, Rinoa was five months pregnant! Selphie and Irvine, as usual, had jumped the gun! Selph was already pregnant when she and Irv exchanged vows alongside Squall and Rinoa! As for herself, she and Seifer would be exchanging their vows on Seifer's birthday… Call it a mushy sentimentality from her part. She knew that Seifer didn't care as long as it was done!

 

“Matron, Selphie came over yesterday to ask me if I could distract Irvine for a while so she could get some peace…”

 

“Oh, my!” Edea covered her smiling lips with a hand, “Irvine asked me a week ago if I could get Selphie to rest some more…!”

 

They both laughed.

 

“My dear, you have no idea how happy the Headmaster is at becoming an `honorary grandfather' as he's starting to call himself! As for myself… I have no words to describe how I feel! I can't wait to hold your child in my arms.”

 

Quistis eyes sharpened at the way Matron placed emphasis on `your', as if she meant the baby she and Seifer were having… Edea caught Quistis stare, and hesitated for a split second before continuing in a chatty tone.

 

“You know, Quistis, Cid was not my first lover. When I was around your age, maybe a bit younger, I used to love this boy…” Her eyes became dreamy, “He was very similar to Seifer, full of passion, full of life! Such a wonderful lover!”

 

“Matron!”

 

Quistis was slightly scandalized. To hear Matron say these things was almost tantamount to having a parent tell you of past lovers.

 

“The world was a bit different then to what it is now…”

 

Catching the glimpse of sadness in Edea's eyes made Quistis feel sorry for reacting like such a silly prude, `Surely Matron deserves to have a past, same as all the rest of us…' Sensing that Matron needed to tell her the story, she asked.

 

“So… What happened to him, Matron?” Quistis was curious now.

 

Edea turned and gazed blindly at the brilliance of the Sea of Balamb under a clear blue sky. It was so far away from the Centra Inlets where she used to live such a long time ago. A lifetime ago.

 

“He was full of idealism, and wanted to save the world from Adel, so he joined the underground Estharian resistance against her.”

 

“Oh…” Quistis didn't know what to say, but she knew her history lessons very well and knew what had happened to the Estharian resistance.

 

“Nothing I said to him could make him change his mind… And the only thing that might have held him back, he never knew… But I had hope. I waited for him, but he never came back to me.”

 

“Matron…”

 

Edea turned to stare at Quistis, and smiled slightly at her, but her translucent amber eyes were full of an old sorrow.

 

“It's alright, my dear, I found out later that he'd died trying to save some children from the `Science Squads'… So you see, he met his end doing something that mattered to him.”

 

“He died protecting the vulnerable and the helpless…” Quistis whispered, and looked back at Matron in sudden understanding.

 

“…Yes, not unlike a knight. He did consider himself to be one. As you know, they come in all shapes and forms.”

 

Wearing a tender smile on her lips this time, Edea looked directly into Quistis's eyes to say, “He lives in the memories we made together, my child. That's why I want you to enjoy every moment you have with Seifer!”

 

Quistis smiled ruefully, “Matron, I don't think he would allow it otherwise!… He's so arrogant!”

 

Edea's eyes cleared, “I was lucky to be granted a second chance! I met Cid shortly after my lover had left for Esthar… Of course, at the time I only thought of him as a good friend. Cid was there for me when I received news of his death… By the time we found you crying on our doorstep, we were already a couple.”

 

Quistis eyes asked the question her vocal chords refused to formulate, but Edea understood immediately.

 

“Do I think about him now? Yes, I do. There's a part of me that will always love him… It is possible to love more than one person deeply… Cid's greatness lies in the fact that he knows this, and yet he's still there for me.”

 

“Matron, you and the Headmaster have gone through some very difficult times when you were under Ultimecia's control…”

 

Edea interrupted Quistis abruptly by reaching across the table to clasp her hand tightly with one of hers.

 

“Quistis, please promise me this…”

 

“Matron?”

 

“No matter what… Please believe in him!”

 

Sky blue eyes stared solemnly into deep amber ones as Quistis made her pledge.

 

“I will. I do.”

 

There was no need to say more.

 

§

FINIS

 

a/n: The lyrics to the song The World Turns were written by David Lynch for the album Into the Night.