Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chance ❯ Getting closer ( Chapter 9 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter 9: Getting closer

Everybody then turn to look at Rinoa asking for an explanation.

“You never mentioned you had a sister” started Seifer

“She's not my sister” replied the sorceress

“Rinoa, she said your father was her father too” pointed Irvine

“She's the daughter of a fucking bitch that seduce my father and she ended pregnant. She's not my sister”

“But you didn't have to act like that with her” said Selphie

“You humiliated her” followed Quistis

“So what if I did? And I don't want to be in the play if she's going to be too”

“Then don't be” said Selphie and she walked towards the door followed by the others, except for Squall.

“I. Hate. Her!!” said Quistis furiously

“She didn't use to be like this” said Zell

“Well, it doesn't matters really” added Irvine

“Let's go look for Danielle and try to cheer her up, don't you think? She seemed to be really hurt” proposed Selphie “We shall then discus the arrangements of the play”

“Who wouldn't feel bad after all that” went Seifer and he grinned “And I know perfectly where she is”

Danielle was sitting in the table with her arms crossed and head buried in them. She needed to hide from the world right now, she couldn't believe this was happening to her. Her mid-sister was in the same Garden as her, that same girl she saw in her dreams yelling all those horrible things to her, probably the number one in the list of people that hate her.

She suddenly felt a hand in her shoulder and she looked up, almost falling of her seat of the impression when she saw it was Seifer.

“W-what are you doing here?! You-you should knock and wait for a reply!” she went

“You wouldn't have open” grinned Seifer

“At least you would have been polite”

“Alright, enough of this” suddenly came in Quistis saying

“Instructor Trepe” said Danielle getting on her feet and saluting her superior properly. She then saw Selphie, Irvine and Zell walking right behind her.

“Forgive my curiosity, but what are you doing here?” she asked

“Well, we have a play to make, don't we?” smiled Irvine

“And we need your help with it” followed Selphie.

In that moment Squall and Rinoa came inside. The brunette didn't look very happy at all, she actually had her arms crossed and tried to avoid everybody's looks.

“Selphie, you have the permission to make the play” said Squall “And Rinoa is participating”

“But I'm doing it for the kids, ok?” stated Rinoa

“Well,” went Selphie and looked at Danielle again “How about you, Danny? Do I still count with you?”

“Sure”

“You'll be Cinderella” smiled Selphie

“WHAT?!” went Rinoa

“Me?” went Danielle looking at them shock

“Sefie thinks you're perfect for it” explained Irvine

“O-ok, I guess”

“Wait a moment!” said the Sorceress “Why will she be Cinderella? I deserve such part”

“Sure, you want to appear with your ex-boyfriend?” went Zell

“Who is the prince?” asked Danielle, anticipating she wouldn't like the answer she will receive

“If we ever told you that Seifer was the prince, you wouldn't have accepted” explained Quistis. Danielle froze the moment she heard such.

“I have a tattoo in my back” she suddenly said as she pulled the neck of her shirt to show.

“Nothing that make-up can't do” went Selphie

“My hair is a mess and it's not long enough to do some nice hairdo”

“Nobody ever said how long Cinderella's hair was” said Squall

“And with some gel there's nothing to worry about” followed Zell

“Try something else” chuckled Irvine and Danielle sighed as she look at the floor

“I don't know how to waltz”

“I would be surprise of you knew how” went Rinoa

“You gotta be kidding” said Seifer but Danielle shook her head “Good, we have a Cinderella that doesn't knows how to dance” commentary that earn him a slap in the head from Selphie

“Why they fuck you did that?” asked the blond

“You said something like that again and it'll go worst” said Selphie “You're the prince and she's Cinderella and period. I don't want to hear any other excuses, understand?”

Danielle and Seifer looked at each other. It was going to be a hard time.

“Do you have an idea of how many people you could have killed with such action?”

Seifer and Danielle had got in big trouble and now they were at the Headmaster's office being repressed by Xu in that moment.

Nobody was sure how things started, until the moment Seifer cast Firaga against Danielle and she answered with Fira. The whole classroom got in fire and the students got out as fast as they would, but still, some of them had ended in the infirmary for intoxication.

Both Seifer and Danielle were looking away. “Of all the time I've been here, I had never seen a boy and girl getting in such arguments and cause such trouble. Do you have anything to say?” But there was total silence. They were conscious that “Sorry” wouldn't fix anything. Xu then looked at the Headmaster. “Sir?”

The Headmaster looked at them and sighed. “I don't why you started to argue, but your actions could have cost the life of many students. I know you have some trouble to get along, but there's no reason to kill each other” he said “Normally the sanction of magic use is two days in the disciplinary room. You shall be there a week instead”

“Wait a second, you can't lock us a week!” protested Seifer

“The classroom you were at was totally destroyed by your actions. And you'll have to repair it” Seifer only looked away again; there was no point in arguing.

“You'll be placed in the same disciplinary room; it's probably the only way you two really learn to get along. You aren't allowed to return to your classes, so head to your dorms and wait until they come and get you. Dismiss”

Seifer and Danielle walked out of the office, the girl immediately walking away from him into the elevator. He only stood there following her with his eyes, not knowing what to do. He didn't even remember why he they started to argue, but they had hurt each other with their words.

As he walked his way to his dorm, he noticed the looks of the students and the whispering among them. He tried his best to ignore it, but it wasn't easy. Seifer arrived to his dorm and started to prepare his stuff to take to the disciplinary room. The last time he had been there was after the last field exam he participate in, when he disobeyed the given others. He then escaped to Timber and attacked the Galbadian president. Then the nightmare began.

He couldn't believe he had attack Danielle in such way; he could have killed her or someone else. This was the biggest trouble he had gotten in all the time he had been in Garden. Everything now seemed to be going wrong. Seifer hadn't caused any trouble until that moment; he knew it was his last chance to become a SeeD.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when there was a knock in the door. It was Quistis.

“I heard what happened” she said as soon as she saw him

“And you came here to give me another sermon besides the one that I already received?” went the blond as he turned away

“Seifer, what's wrong between you and Danielle?” was Quistis reply as she followed “You two have fought since the day you met and now this. How did it happen?”

“I don't know, Quistis. I really don't know” sighed Seifer running a hand through his hair as he sat in the couch “I don't even know why we started to argue and suddenly… the whole classroom was on fire”

Quistis went and sat besides him. “She said you called her freak”

“How do you know that?”

“I spoke to her too. Well, if it could have been called a conversation, because she barely answered. Even Squall talks more compared to her”

“She call me Sorceress's knight”

“Ah, yes. Just like I thought, you just hit the nail in the right place”

“What do you mean?”

“She hurt your pride and you hurt her back. I'm surprised you two are somehow alike and just don't get along”

“Same poles repel”

“And opposites attract, but things can change sometimes” she smiled “Danielle is... different from the other girls here, but you shouldn't have called her freak”

//If only you knew for how long she had been called such// he thought. He could have probably told Quistis about Danielle's situation, but he didn't.

“Selphie talked with the Headmaster and you'll have to help her with the play for community hours” said Quistis “Which means you can't quit and you have to help with whatever she asks you to”

“I though we just had to fix the classroom”

“You'll work three hours after classes once the play is over” and then she got on her feet. “Come on, I'll be the one to take you the disciplinary room”

When they arrived, Danielle was already there with another SeeD and Xu. “You'll be escort back here as soon as your classes are over. Your community hours will start when the week is over. Got any questions?”

“No” went Seifer. Xu look at Danielle when she didn't hear a reply, but the girl shook her head as an answer.

Both of them got inside the room when they were gestured to, hearing then the door locking automatically to open until the next day. It was just like Seifer remember they were. Not very big, two beds placed at the sides of the room, a bathroom and a window. Danielle laid down in one of the beds giving her back to Seifer, who only sat in the other one looking at her.

“Well,” he went “we're sharing room again” but she only kept shut. “Look, I know I shouldn't have thrown that spell at you but if you think it, you shouldn't have called me Sorceress's Knight even when it's true `cause…”

“I'm sorry”

“What?”

“I'm sorry for throwing that spell” she repeated sitting up and looking at him “I totally forgot the use of attack magic is prohibited”

“That's not going to get us out of here”

“I know. But I could have hurt you. I'm sorry for it”

“And I bet you want me to apologize too, right?”

“No. Not if you don't feel it”

“I'm not apologizing”

“Ok” she said as she grabbed her bag and got inside the bathroom.

Seifer had to admit that was surprising. He really wasn't expecting to hear her apologize and especially as if she had started the situation. He was the first that attacked and she just answered back. She was the first to apologize. And he didn't answer back.

Danielle had changed into her PJ's, thinking of what had happened. She really didn't meant to cast the spell, but that was her first reaction. She had been taught to reply every attack, magic with magic, physical with physical. She answered the attack. And then realized what she had done. The classroom started to burn and all the students got out as they could, while they stayed fighting. She jumped on him trying to hit him; it did hurt her that he had called her freak.

“I told him and he kept his word” she muttered. Then they ended in the Headmaster's office with black faces and a bit wet due to the Water spells some students use to suffocate the fire. Seifer had a Kleenex on his bleeding nose due to a kick that Danielle gave him.

Seifer was already in bed when she came out. She let her stuff besides her bed and then got inside.

“I didn't apologize for your nose” she said

“I told you I'm not apologizing”

“I know. But at least I can't stop feeling guilty” she said, surprised at Seifer attitude's. She expected him to mock for her attitude, but he hadn't.

“It's not the first time you are here, right?”

“Why are you so chatty anyways?”

“Fine” There was silence between them, Seifer being the one that broke it this time.

“I'm sorry that I cast Firaga against you”

“You really feel sorry or you're saying it just because?”

“What do you think?”

“You tell me”

“You apologized and I didn't question you”

“I apologize because I wanted to, because I really felt sorry. If you don't really feel it, shut up”

“You are telling me about feelings?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” went Danielle sitting up and looking at him. Seifer stayed lying down in the bed with his arms crossed behind his head.

“Well, you're not expert in the giving subject”

“The fuck you now about it”

“Do you really feel something for Vandom?”

“That's none of your business”

“You don't?”

Danielle suddenly blushed and looked away. “What makes you think that?”

“You never close your eyes when you kiss him”, commentary that made the girl look at him.

“Do you spy on me or something?”

“Sweetie, you two are always showing off your love, if it can be called like that”

“So what if I don't close my eyes when I kiss him?” and he know looked at her

“I once heard lovers do such because that way they can see their heart” he explained “They see their true feelings for the other one. Are you afraid to do it `cause you're afraid of what you'll find?” and then he turned around to go to sleep.

Danielle stared at his back surprised about what he had said. She never expected Seifer to tell her such. But she had to admit it was true.

Seifer suddenly woke up thinking he had heard a noise. He sat in his bed and looked towards Danielle, but the girl was totally asleep. He shrugged his shoulders and lay down again, it probably had been his imagination. But again he heard something and once again he got up, more than sure it wasn't his imagination.

That's when he spotted a shadow besides his bed and just as soon as he spotted it, it jumped getting inside his. Seifer's first reaction was he had been possessed again the moment he felt something junction in his mind.

-Don't be afraid- he suddenly heard in his mind

//Who are you?//

-Danielle's GF. My name is Dralion-

//Her GF? What are you doing junction to me?!//

-I need your help-

//This is a joke, right? She planned all this//

-No and you mustn't let her know I spoke with you-

//What do you want?//

-To protect her-

//What makes you think I'm the one to take such task?//

-I know you from the outside, human. But here, I can see your memories- replied the GF -And I see that just like my mistress, you suffer from the past. You suffer for the same reasons- Seifer eventually felt the dragon wandering in the deepest memories he kept.

//Why are you asking me?//

-You seem to be the one that can break through my mistress's walls. Only you have been able to see across them. And you might be the only one that can save her-

//Save her? From what?//

-From herself. You humans, by nature, can't be loners, no matter how much you try. Loneliness can make humans do stupid things-

//Like what?//

-Confuse company with love-

Vandom. That was Vandom to Danielle, just company. That was probably the reason why she really didn't push him away. He realized the only thing that she was doing was hurting her soul. If Vandom walked away, it could be the end for her.

-You're getting my point- said the GF being able to read Seifer's thoughts -She needs someone by her side. And you seem to be the only one that has truly open to her. And she too understands what you have gone through-

//Even the soldiers that were under my command fear me. Why she doesn't, why she doesn't hates me like the others do? Why doesn't she fears me?//

-Because she knows what is to be nothing but a mere puppet- went Dralion -Following the orders of the master that pulled at your strings. You, Seifer, of the Sorceress, Ultimecia. Danielle, of her own father, General Caraway. Empathy is what will keep you together- Seifer felt Dralion leaving his body returning back to Danielle's.

He got on his feet and approached to the sleeping girl, sitting in the bed she was. After what Dralion had told her, he did saw her differently. Maybe they were similar than he thought. But his mayor question was about her past. Where was her mother? How Caraway ended up being her father? Why Rinoa hated her so much?

“I want to know” whispered Seifer to the youth “I want to know what's in your heart” He knew Danielle might not tell him about it. But he was determined to find out. And it was not going to be an easy task.

“Empathy” he said, repeating Dralion's last sentence “is what will keep us together”

Danielle noticed something strange on Seifer the next day. She caught him starring at her, but this time was different. She sensed how questioning his eyes were, as if she wondered something about her. He didn't grin or winked when she looked at him back, he just looked away.

She was walking out of the library thinking of such when she suddenly spotted Vandom coming from the other side. She took the opposite pretending she hadn't seen him. He was able to reach her, though, and as soon as he did, he kissed the girl as hard as always. Air deprivation forced them apart and Danielle felt her lips throbbing.

“A small memento for you to remember me while you're with that knight” said Vandom; he didn't sound very happy “You must never forget you're mine”

“Why you insist?” she questioned

“You do want me Danielle, I can feel it, I can smell your passion for me” said Vandom pinning her arms to the wall “Why do you keep denying yourself? Love is something that doesn't dies that easily, dear Danny”

“We weren't separated by the cruelty of destiny. If it had been the case, things wouldn't be like this”

Vandom brushed his lips against hers and then stared directly at her eyes. “That Almasy is what is bothering you, right?”

“Don't get him involve”

“Why are you defending him, then?” replied Vandom tightening his grip on her wrists painfully “How come you got in a serious trouble with him, so serious you ended up in the same room with him?”

“Those were the Headmaster's orders” she whimpered

“You better not be cheating on me, Danny” he whispered in her ear “And if he even dares to touch you, I'll kill him. I don't care of you beg for his life. I swear I'll kill him with my own hands” and he kissed her again.

In matter of seconds, Danielle closed her eyes remembering what Seifer had told her the previous night. It was when she realized her heart was totally empty for Vandom. Right now the only thing she felt from him was the force he was applying on the lip lock. And then the pain when he bit her lower lip.

Not knowing how, Danielle was able to release from Vandom's grip and she pushed him away from him. “I'm sorry” was the last she said and she ran away.

Seifer went back to the disciplinary dorm at the end of the day. He found Danielle inside the bathroom curing an injury in her lower lip that was bleeding.

“You shouldn't have bit your lower lip so hard, sweetie” he mocked. Danielle looked in the mirror and saw Seifer leaning at the door starring at her.

“It was Vandom” she replied continuing curing her lip

“Why didn't you go the infirmary?”

“Right, what was I going to tell the doc, huh? My boyfriend was kissing me and he decided to bite me”

“A bit of tough love” he chuckled

“Fuck off, will you?”

“You don't sound very happy about it”

“It hurts”

“I'm talking about the fact that he kissed you” Danielle once again raised her eyes and then she turned to look at Seifer.

“You close your eyes, didn't you?” he asked. He got his answer when she turned around. “So what did you saw?”

“What do you think?”

“If you don't like him, why do you let him?”

A third time Danielle stopped what she was doing digesting Seifer's question. “What makes you think I realized I don't love him?”. She suddenly felt a hand under her chin that made her turn towards Seifer. He first seemed to examine her lip and then he touched it, casting Cure to close the wound. Danielle couldn't suppress the blush spreading across her cheeks when she felt Seifer's finger on her lip. She tore away from his hold and looked away embarrassed.

“No wonder why” she heard him say, thing that caught her attention

“No wonder what?”

“Why he bit you” he replied and he grinned “You really have some kissable lips that are screaming for it”

Danielle again looked at her feet redder than before. “Why are you being like this with me?”. Seifer shrugged his shoulders and said “Just felt like it”

“And after we get out of here, everything will go back to normal” she muttered disappointed. She never expected that he will cupped her face and make her look at his eyes.

“I saw people die under my sword, Danielle. Those are the only images that have been circling in my head for months. I'm trying to be a different person and you're not helping me. But something that has always been of me, is that I always say what I think. And right know I'm thinking you got the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. And such vision helps me kill the terrible memories of the past”

Seifer had break his record in less than five minutes making Danielle blush three times in a row; she was surprised to hear him say such. She first thought it was a joke, but his eyes show the total opposite. He was being honest, he was saying the truth. This was a side she didn't knew of him.

Her surprise was bigger the moment Seifer kissed her cheek and then he released her face and walked out. Danielle turned towards the mirror surprised and then touched where Seifer had kissed her. It had felt… so nice. She felt like a thousand butterflies in her stomach and her heart thumping so hard like a drum she was sure it could be heard outside. All those feelings in one single moment, feelings that were the total opposite of what she felt when Vandom was around.

Danielle suddenly looked at the mirror surprised when something clicked on her. “You called me by my name” she said aloud

“Don't get used to it, sweetie” she suddenly heard. Danielle rolled her eyes and sighed.

“What easy comes easy goes”

Seifer was trying to make his way across the darkness. Hyperion in hand in case it was necessary and shivers running down his spine. He wasn't even able to see the floor he was stepping on or the way he was walking.

Then there was a blinding flash in front of him. When it dissipated, Ultimecia was standing in front of him.

“Come back to me, my Knight”

Seifer tried to run to the other side but with the use of her magic, she was already blocking his way. He raised Hyperion and tried to hit the Sorceress, but with a movement of her hand, the gunblade disappeared from his hands. “Come back to me, my knight” she repeated “All your dreams will come true by my side”

“You can't be alive”

“You can't run away from me” she insisted approaching to him. She took hold of his shoulders avoiding him to escape.

“Leave me alone” he struggled

“I'll always be alive in your mind” she laughed “I'll always be part of you”

“No! Go away!”

“I'll come back to you someday”

“No!” he exclaimed.

He woke up with a yelp. He was panting and sweating as he looked around and then remember where he was. And with whom he was with.

Danielle got on her feet after being surprised by Seifer waking up so suddenly. “What are you doing awake?” she heard him ask.

“You were talking in your sleep” she replied was she was completely standing and adjusting her long sleeved shirt properly “You ok?”

Seifer sighed sitting in the bed and burying his face in his hands. “It's nothing”

“You were dreaming of her, didn't you?” she just said, getting Seifer's attention “Ultimecia” she added, his emerald eyes full of surprise.

“How do you know about her?”

“Mrs. Kramer told me” she replied “I know you two were being controlled by her”

Seifer once again looked away and hold in head in one hand. Realizing he didn't really want to talk, Danielle returned to her bed. Seifer suddenly took hold of her arm and pulled her into his bed.

“Don't leave” he pleaded “Yes, I dreamt of her. I dream she's chasing me. She's telling me she will come back”

“But she's dead”

“But the memory is alive!” exclaimed Seifer taking hold of her shoulders “Everybody thinks I went mad and did all those horrible things by my own. I can remember clearly everything that happened, all I did and say. It was my dream turned out into a nightmare”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because we were both puppets, Danielle” he replied “We were following the orders of the master that pulled at our strings. I was following Ultimecia's orders against my will, in a certain way. You, Danielle, followed the orders of your superiors. We didn't have the right to ask why, just the obligation to follow”

The brunette was surprised to hear him talk in such way. He sounded a bit like Dralion… but he was right. She had eventually questioned about her actions, but she couldn't ask for the reason to her superiors. She had been trained to obey, not to be asking for reasons.

“A part of me pleaded to stop everything, but I couldn't” he continued “I saw cities burning down into ashes, women being raped, children crying for their dead parents, men that tried to protect their families, aged people that couldn't escape from the bullets and the fire and how each one died”

“It had been our doing”

“But it had been my order” went Seifer releasing her and looking away “I don't even know what I am doing here. Squall and the others should have never forgiven me after all I did. But… they brought me back here, to the only place I call home. They let me back with no questions or conditions…”

Seifer never noticed when he closed his eyes until he felt something brushing his face. He saw it was Danielle with the sleeve of her shirt, using it to dry the tears that had started to flow from his eyes. He suddenly felt stupid acting so vulnerable in front of her, but her own eyes show something that he hadn't seen in others: comprehension.

“Why didn't they kill me like they killed her?” he questioned looking at her “Why didn't they let others do it?”

“Because you were given a second chance” said Danielle “Because they know what you went through and they worry about you. They want to be by your side to protect you from going through something like that again. And the fact that they forgive you, only proves how much they care for you” and her voice suddenly cut. “Do you have an idea… of what I would give… to have at least one friend like yours?” she sobbed “Someone to hear me… to support me…?”

She suddenly felt a pair of hands holding her face and making her look at his eyes, full of tears too. “You have me” he whispered. Danielle was surprised to hear such confession and even more the moment Seifer surrounded her shoulders and pulled her in a hug. She replied the embrace knowing it was true. They were together in this, together when most of the world had given them their backs.

They didn't spill more tears nor speak to each other. They only hold together, sharing their sadness and regrets, no questions about the past. It was as if their salvation depended on holding to the other, to the one and only that could truly understand the mourning of their soul.

Saturday inside a room is no fun at all.

Danielle was bored out of her mind, with nothing to do at all. She had already finished all her homework. In that moment she was laying in her bed looking at the ceiling. She was running her hand through her wet hair that was sprawled in the pillow. She had taken a shower early that morning and Seifer was now actually in the same thing.

She mentally was reviewing the lines she would say in the play, Selphie had given them the script during the week with the instructions of memorizing their part. Danielle suddenly sighed realizing she couldn't remember what came next, so she reached for her bag and pulled out the script to look for the mention line. She never heard the shower turning off until the door was opened. Seifer stepped out of the bathroom with a frustrated expression… and only dressed in a short towel.

“Why do I always forget the towels here are pure shit?” she heard him muttered as he walked towards his stuff and he took out his clothes. Danielle's jaw dropped when she realized that Seifer had all the intentions of dressing right there.

“Almasy, have some shame and change where I can't see you!” she exclaimed covering her eyes

“I don't think I'm corrupting your mind, am I?” he mocked “And you saw me before in towel”

“You were wearing a towel that time” she replied peeking through her fingers “That is a piece of napkin. And I only saw from the waist an up”, making him laugh.

“This is your chance to get a full view then” He laughed even harder when she rolled her eyes and blushed to then bury her face in the pillow.

“So you get legs! Get dress now!” she went. The “napkin” suddenly landed on her head. Danielle pulled it off and threw it on the floor.

“Oh, come on. It's not that bad, you were in the army!”

“Girls had their own showers, thought they weren't as big as the guy's ones”

“How many girls were?”

“Eight counting me; three of us were soldiers. Are you decent already?”

“Why the hurry?” he questioned

“Because I feel like an idiot talking with my face buried in the pillow” she replied. In that moment, Seifer's towel landed on her head. She pulled it off without lifting her head and let it fall in the ground as she heard him laugh.

“If I lift my eyes and you're not dressed, I swear I'll kill you” she first menace

“You will if you ever stop drooling”

Seifer laughed even harder when Danielle gave him the finger before she peeked to see if it was safe to lift her head. After she saw he was already wearing jeans, she saw in the bed and ran her hands through her hair.

“You're an asshole”

“And you too innocent” he replied sitting in his bed “Come on, sweetie, you were surrounded by men 24 hours a day the seven days of the week, you should have seen at least once a guy naked”

“Well, I didn't, because different from you, machos, I respect privacy” and she went back to her reading. Or better say, to her ignoring-Seifer time.