Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Walking Blind ❯ Words Unspoken ( Chapter 6 )

Walking Blind

Author's Note: So, how was the last chapter? Good I hope because I spent SO MUCH TIME ON IT! ~_~ I don't think I have ever written a longer chapter! *sigh* Anyway, here is the next chapter of my story. Hope you like how it's going so far. With Squall's “breakdown” out of the way, it's time to move on to bigger and better things! Oh yeah, and for those of you who brought up the “what about Squall being a badass killing machine” concern, have no fear. You don't actually think he isn't going to kick some serious butt later on? Yeah right! Just hang tight, I have SO much left to write. I guarantee it will get there!

Disclaimer's: I STILL don't own Final Fantasy 8 or any of the songs used in this chapter.

 

­Chapter 6: Words Unspoken

In the darkness,

Here I stand,

Reaching for your outstretched hand.

Your heart is calling,

Out to me,

With you is where I want to be.

But I'm fearful,

That you'll leave,

And that is why you see me grieve.

To live alone,

Without you,

Is something I know I could never do.

So I took your hand

And to you I've awoken,

And together we'll speak the words unspoken.

~Lynxionia

 

“No, I told you that is not necessary.” Doctor Krueger leaned back in her office chair while twirling the phone cord around her fingers in annoyance. “There isn't anything you can do that we can't do here.” The person she was talking to must have given a bad response because it caused the doctor to promptly slam her fist down on her desktop. “This was never your problem in the first place! I don't even know why you insist on making it your problem!”

As the doctor continued to disagree with the person on the other line, Linda, the secretary, walked into the office and set a pile of files down onto the doctor's desk.

“I will not allow for that to happen! She is where she belongs! You can't just take her because of your stupid “political” problems! They have nothing to do with her health so I will not allow them to become part of it!” The doctor gave a slight “hmph” to emphasize her point before she flopped back into her chair with her eyebrows creased to the extreme. But her angry expression changed suddenly to one of confuse as the person being spoken too changed the subject. “What does that have to do with anything?” A long pause saturated the room before Dr. Krueger spoke, this time with less distain, but no less forcefulness. “You have no say in that and you know it. I'll not have you stealing my patients for your own sick and twist motives.” The doctor's expression returned to barely-contained-rage as the person made their reply. “I believe this conversation is going no where. If you want to have a more civil argument, then schedule an appointment like everyone else!” With that last bit of “advice”, Dr. Krueger slammed the receiver back down onto its cradle causing a sickening crack to fill the room.

“I'll take it that did not go well.” Linda calmly gave her boss a sad smile knowing how easy it was to get angry with those people.

Crossing her arms in utter frustration and agitation, Krueger leaned back into her chair, “I swear! The nerve of some people! It makes me sick just listening to their disgusting excuse for “good intentions”!! It's like watching people hunt down rabbits under the claim that they're a “danger to society”!!!”

The brunette secretary gave a small chuckle at her boss's irritation and smoothed her white lab coat out of habit, “I know how you feel. Those people make me want to wring a couple of necks myself. We just have to be strong and not let them win.”

The exasperated doctor let out a heavy sigh and simply nodded her head. The government just never seemed to give them a break. No matter what they always seemed to find something, ANYTHING, to complain about whether it be this or that. Some days they were easier to deal with then other days but today was not one of those days and Doctor Krueger was just about at her wits end.

“Hey,” Linda patted her on the shoulder trying to lighten the mood, “Why don't we go out for lunch or something? You need to get out of this office before you lose your already slipping mind.” She laughed wholeheartedly and smiled at her friend.

The doctor lifted one of her eyebrows in mock suspicion. “Are you trying to imply something Linda?”

The receptionist grabbed the doctor by the arm and hoisted her out of her chair while laughing. “Not at all Doc! I'm just pointing out that if you stay in here too long you may end up as a patient instead of a doctor!! And then I'll have to get someone to psycho analyze you!”

Chuckling at her friend's remark, the doctor grabbed her coat off her office chair and followed her friend out of the building into the little town that, at the moment, was the most welcome sight she had seen in weeks.

 

 

 

The Sunday morning sun shone brightly through the open window in the back of room 917 and the former Commander found himself once again sitting at the small dinning table wearing all of his clothes except his shirt. He had just gotten out of the shower and his silent roommate was seated beside him eating her breakfast fully shower and dressed as well.

Similar to the day before and the day before that, Squall had awoken to find Oni, already showered and dressed, working on breakfast for the both of them. But unlike the day before and the day before that, Squall found himself grateful that he had awoken to find Oni, having already showered and dressed, fixing breakfast for the both of them. Simply because waking up to find himself lying in his roommate's lap very scantly clad would have been awkward and embarrassing. Having been saved from that made his already frayed nerves a little bit steadier…well, a little anyway.

So, with towel in hand and fork in the other, he sat, next to Oni, eating his breakfast quietly. Today's morning meal consisted of hard scrambled eggs, golden hash brown, and honey bacon with a glass of orange juice. Squall found the meal to be extremely satisfying, something he was starting to get use to. But he supposed that Oni's meal would do that to just about anyone who had common sense or an appetite for that matter. Well, no matter what the reason, Squall ate Oni's meal wholeheartedly and continued to dry his hair with the black towel in his hand as it had become routine to do so.

And of course, Oni sat silently next to him dressed in a pair of light blue cloth shorts with the drawstrings untied and a plain white tang top. Her hair was carelessly thrown up into a messy bun with the strands that were too long to stay up hanging around her face. Two particular strands seemed to be extraordinarily stubborn, as Oni had pushed them behind her ears a countless number of times to rid her sight of the obstructions but to now avail. The silly pieces of hair just refused to corporate and after what seemed like an unfathomable amount of times having pushed them back, Oni left them to hang carelessly.

Both roommates let the silence rule the room for some time, neither of them really caring whether it was there or not, but it was broken surprisingly by Oni when she turned to Squall before asking, “What foods do you like?”

The sudden question was regarded with a quite confused expression from the former Commander who did not understand the meaning of her question or rather, the meaning of her asking it. “Uh………What do you mean?”

“What I asked. What foods do you like?” She restated her question calmly with no show of irritation or annoyance and Squall felt like he was simply being stupid after a few more seconds passed and he still remain silent. Seeing his confusion in his crystal blue eyes Oni elaborated, “Sundays are free days. I'm going to go into the town to buy some things we need. I want to know what foods you like.”

Now understanding what she was getting at, Squall answered her with ease. “Buy whatever you want. I'm not picky.”

This being said, Oni simply nodded and turned back to her plate that was now empty and took it to the kitchen where she rinsed it, dried it, and then put it back into the cabinet where it belonged. Then, grabbing her notepad and small book bag, she went to the door and pulled a pair of white and blue tennis shoes out from under the table next to the door. With shoes on and bag on her back, she opened the door just as little Toki prepared to knock on it. Smiling instead, the child gave Oni (or rather her leg) a quick hug before skipping into the room to where Squall was just finishing his breakfast.

She grabbed on to his pant leg and grinned so wide that her eyes squeezed shut at the corners. “Good Morning Squall! What'cha doin' today?” Rocking back and forth on her heals while still holding onto his pant leg, Toki waited for the older man's response as he cleaned his dish off in the sink.

Squall couldn't help but sigh at this little girl's energy level at every hour of the day except when the sun was on the other side of the world. But despite her over excitement, Squall glanced at her and simply replied, “…Nothing.”

“Good!!” Toki then scrambled over to where Oni was standing at the door. “Oni, are you going to the town today?” The red-eyed woman nodded to the little girl who in turn beamed up at her `big sister'. “Ok! We'll see you later then!”

Oni turned around and walked out of the room with her loose strands of hair swinging to the rhythm of her steps.

Back inside room 917, Squall was being lead by Toki to his bed where she “pushed” him down so that he sat and then crawled up beside him with the same overly energetic smile, which always seems to be present, on her face. Clapping her little hands together she sucked in a deep breath and began, “OK! Now that Oni is gone we can talk about what we're going to get her.” She poked herself in the forehead in thought but when she didn't seem to be coming up with anything, she turned to Squall for suggestions. “What do you think we should get her?”

The only words that could accurately describe Squall expression at the moment would be to say that it was comically confused to the core. He had not even an inkling of what the Toki was even referring to and he started to wonder why he never seemed to know what anyone was talking about. “…Get her what?”

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Toki sucked in a big lung full of air before exclaiming, “Her birthday present, of course!”

Being caught off guard by this news, Squall creased his brow having really no other reaction that would fit the situation. Birthday present? Oni's birthday was soon? Wait, he didn't have any Gil with him. How was he supposed to buy a present? He highly doubted that Toki had Gil to use. “We don't have any money.”

With another giant sigh, Toki rolled her eyes at her older companion in mock annoyance. “Of course not silly! We don't need money to buy her a present. That's what Ex-Cards are for!”

Squall furrowed his brow once more at yet another bit of information he was clueless about. “Ex-Cards?”

“Yeah, Ex-Cards. You know `Expense Cards'? All patients over 16 and not in severe condition have them!” Toki looked at Squall like he was child and she was the adult rather than the other way around. It was actually quite interesting and amusing to say the least, to see the little girl acting like the soon-to-be-nineteen-year-old was a soon-to-be-eight-year-old.

Squall observed the little girl with a confused expression that had become a frequent appearance for him as of late. Why was it that everyone was one step ahead of him? “…I don't have one.”

“Well of course you don't! We have to go get!” With that statement, Toki hopped of the bed and skipped over to where Squalls boots were laying by the door. Picking them up, she hurried back over to Squall and set them in front of him. “Come on! We have to get back before Oni does! Let go!”

Not really having any other choice but to indulge the girl's demands, he buckled up his SeeD boots and left room 917 without bothering to grab his jacket. It was far too humid for it and even his current attire was not really suited for it either, but he had little choice because he hadn't brought any other clothes besides his SeeD stuff. But he didn't complain and maybe while they were “in town” they could find a clothes store.

Making their way to the elevator and down to the 1st floor, the pair of patients walked towards the receptionist desk where Linda was busy typing furiously at her computer while searching for a file she seemed to have misplaced. The short haired woman saw Toki and Squall approaching her desk and she smiled at them while continuing to type madly on her keyboard.

“Well, hello there Toki. How have you been?” The receptionist continued her work as she spoke and Squall simply stood by and waited for Toki's to respond.

Toki smiled brightly and hopped up and down in front of the desk so that she could see Linda from where she stood. “I'm great! I'm so happy that the Christmas party is coming up!”

“Yeah, that is fast approaching isn't it?” Linda stopped her typing so that she could look at Toki, “So, what can I do for you?”

“Squall needs his Ex-Card. We're going to buy Oni a present for her birthday!” Toki beamed at the older woman while pointing at Squall who was standing beside her with his arms crossed.

Linda's eyes widened slightly at Toki's words. “Oh my! Oni's birthday IS soon isn't it? Wow! I can hardly believe that she is going to be eighteen soon! Time just flies!” She then turned to Squall who had been silent the entire time and gave a slight smile before asking, “So, you need your Ex-Card? Ok, last name please.”

“Leonhart.”

Linda's fingers flew over the keys on her keyboard while her eyes attentively scanned the screen to verify his age and legitimacy as an applicable patient before turning around to a file cabinet labeled “Ex-C: M-Z”. Flipping through multiple folders, Linda skimmed over the many names looking for the correct one.

“Let's see here. Larens, Leinez,…ah! Here it is, Leonhart.” Pulling the manila folder out of the cabinet, she flipped it open and pulled out a three by five card with his name, room number, and ID number neatly printed on the front. Handing it to Squall, Linda registered the card and turned back to face him. “Ok, this is how these cards work. Each month you get 10,000 Gil to spend only during that month. If the month ends and you still have Gil on it, that Gil will NOT roll over into next month. When the next month comes around, you have 10,000 again. If you run out before the end of the month or you go over the limit, the amount you “over-spend” will be taken from next months Gil. So, if you go 200 over, the next month you will start out with only 9,800. Got it?”

Squall gave an affirmative nod as he tucked the Ex-card safely into the back pocket of his pants.

“Well, have fun shopping and tell Oni I said happy birthday!” Linda waved at the pair as they walked towards the double doors of the Ocean's Shore building to make their way out into the little “shopping center” outside.

“I will! See yuh later!” Toki waved to the receptionist as she left the building with Squall to shop for Oni's birthday present.

But as Squall walked outside into the “town” around them, he thought about the fact that Oni was about to turn eighteen in a few days. And he also thought about the fact that he was going to be nineteen tomorrow.

 

 

Shopping list in one hand and a few bags of food in the other, Oni made her way through the small town looking in the small shop windows that pasted her by. Jewelry shops to small supermarkets lined the small street she walked but none of the ones that drifted by her were the ones she was looking for.

Continuing to scan the rows of stores, she finally spotted the store she was looking for and crossed the street towards it. Pausing only a seconds to look into the window, Oni entered and offered a simple nod of her head as a greeting to the cashier before setting to work to find what she needed.

She pulled out a different list she had made this morning and consulted it before searching through the many racks in the store. Making sure the sizes were right, Oni gathered a rather large amount of stuff, but expenses were not on her mind. Little more than a half an hour was all she needed to find everything she wanted and give the cashier her Ex-Card to pay for what she had collected.

Now with both hands full of bags, Oni checked her watch to find that she had only been gone for an hour and a half. So, with her shopping seemingly complete, Oni turned towards the Ocean's Shore, but remembered suddenly that she needed to get material for Toki's dress.

Swiftly, she made her way to the fabric store which was conveniently on her way back to the Ocean's Shore. After another half an hour of shopping for the material, the red-eyed woman finally concluded her shopping trip and headed back towards “home” with a number of full bags held in her arms.

 

 

When Oni opened the door to room 917 she was greeted with the sight of Toki excitedly throwing a bright red rubber ball back and forth with Squall. The ball was only a little bigger than tennis ball sized and Squall needed little effort to catch it with one hand, when it was thrown at him, but little Toki's small hand and short stature gave her a harder time. But that didn't dampen her spirits at all. Instead, the little girl could be seen jumping up and down on Squall's bed as he lightly tossed her the ball from his seat on Oni's bed.

Having now been noticed for entering the room, Toki gave an excited squeal and an energetic wave to the red-eyed woman but continued to jump on the bed and toss the ball. But Squall saw that Oni had many bags in her hands from her shopping trip and that they were making it exceedingly difficult to balance them all while trying to put down her keys, close the door, and not drop anything.

Seeing one of the bags begin to fall, he instinctively rushed over and caught the bag while holding the others in place. While Squall awkwardly took some of the bags from Oni to carry to the table, Toki giggled at the troubles of her older companions and continued to jump.

With her load a lot lighter, Oni closed the door and set her keys down on the table next to the door and set the rest of her bags on the table where Squall had set the others.

“Thank You.” Was all that Oni said as she began the process of unloading all her groceries and various items she had bought. The former commander nodded his head to her and watched as she put away potatoes, noodles, soups, vegetables, milk, and other food items. He saw that she had bought enough food for another two to three weeks at the very least.

Squall was snapped out of his dazed when he felt Toki tugging on his pant leg. Looking down at her, he watched as she smiled up at him like she always does while rocking on her heals.

“I'm going back to my room now! Thanks for playing with me Squall!” Toki smiled even brighter, if that was possible, while the former commander patted her on the head. Then, turning towards the door she said a similar goodbye to Oni and left.

This left Oni and Squall by them selves with nothing but an emanating silence lingering between them. Neither spoke because neither of them had anything to say that would start a conversation. Oni was putting groceries away and Squall simply lay back on his bed and closed his eyes.

As usual, when he had nothing to do but think, that's exactly what he did, think. His mind drifted over the past couple of days and how strange they had already proved to be. Not in a bad way, but more accurately, in an unexpected way.

He turned his head to the side to see Oni's silhouette through the curtain. Her long obsidian hair in her messy bun had let more and more piece fall out. They now hung all around her face in careless positions while their owner simply ignored them. They swayed to and fro as she arranged things around the small kitchen to the way she liked it to be.

In only a few days, she had proven that there was something more to her than was seen in the emotionless mask she wore. There was a secret she was hiding that no one could see and not until that secret was released would she reveal what lay within her.

But more urgently pressing on his thoughts was the fact that tomorrow was his birthday and he had almost complete disregarded it. If it hadn't been for Oni's birthday being so close to his own he probably would have gone through the day without even giving it much thought. It wasn't like he was going to be getting anything for it. Sure, the doctors had his birthday on record, but he highly doubted they were going to through him a party, not that he wanted one. A party was the last thing that he wanted. But still, missing ones own birthday was nothing to just complete count off as shear forgetfulness. It was still his birthday. Whether he remembered or not, tomorrow he was going to be nineteen.

(And Oni is going to be eighteen soon.) Squall's thoughts added as he sighed deeply and pushed himself up off his bed. Going over to his dresser he opened the top drawer and pulled out a pair of black boxers, his only pair of black cotton pants, and a white T-shirt. It was so hot in this place and the days heat made him feel uncomfortable. Maybe taking a shower (a cold shower) would help him sleep better.

Before closing his draw, Squall let out an annoyed sigh at the sight of all his black clothing. Why did he have to bring only black leather? The climate out here was not the place for such attire and Squall wished he had packed something else. But suddenly he remembered his EX-card in his back pocket and looked at it. He could just go buy some more clothes in the “town” and his problem would be solved. Deciding to go this Friday to get it out of the way, he placed the card on the top of his dresser. He just hoped they had some descent styles that he liked.

Tousling his slightly sweaty hair, he made his way to the bathroom for his shower. Grabbing a black towel from the cabinet, Squall opened the door and locked himself inside.

 

In no more than half an hour pasted before Squall had taken his shower and changed into his sleep attire. He also found, upon exiting, that Oni had prepared dinner for them already. He hadn't really thought about whether or not he was hungry until he smelled the spaghetti sitting on the table where Oni was.

He walked to the table and sat down where a portion for him was sitting hot and ready to be eaten. Plopping down into his chair, he grabbed his fork in one hand while he dried his hair with his towel with his other hand. Eating slowly, he dried his wet tresses and when that task was done he laid the towel on the table beside him.

Oni ate her dinner with the same expression she always wore but for some reason, Squall felt she seemed to look a little bit different than she usually did. He didn't know whether he was imagining it or not, but for some reason she just seemed…different.

He silently watched from the corner of her eye as she repeatedly tried to move a stubborn piece of hair out of her eyes, but the silly piece of raven black hair just would not have it. Giving up entirely, she pulled the rubber band holding her knee length tresses out of her hair. Having been let loose, the strands of dark colored hair cascaded around her face like a waterfall over a cliff. She then carelessly pulled the hair into a low ponytail and continued to eat her dinner.

No words passed between them as usual, but there seemed to be a sort of ease between them that hadn't been there before. It had only been six days, but for some reason, he felt like the time didn't really matter. He couldn't explain it, but whatever it was, he hoped it would stay that way. If only for his own sanity.

 

 

The sound of Squall's deep breathing alerted Oni to the fact that he was asleep and could now go to work. Pulling on her sleeping pants and a robe, Oni left room 917 and headed for twelfth floor.

Heading for the only black door on the floor, Oni knocked once and upon hearing the deep old woman's voice tell her to enter, opened the door and walked into the room.

The old black woman sat quietly knitting in her large armchair with her sleeping clothes on. Hearing the faint footsteps moving towards her chair, she smiled and turned to face the owner.

“Come to collect your things, child?” Her wrinkled old hands stopped knitting to look up into the face of the soon to be eighteen year old. For so long, she had seen her as a daughter and even now she still saw her that way.

Oni nodded her head in reply and voiced her affirmation as well, “Yes. He is asleep now. Thank you for letting me keep it all here, Mollia.”

The old woman gave a throaty chuckle and returned to her knitting. “It was no trouble child. I have little use for it.”

Finding the bag of things she was looking for, Oni grabbed it and headed for the door so that she might return to room 917 quickly. But her exit was halted when Mollia called to her. “Oni, can you take this to him for me?” the old woman held out a small parcel wrapped in simple newspaper with a small slip of paper attached to the top. “Do tell him I said, happy birthday.”

Oni nodded to her adoptive mother and exited the room where the little old black woman sat with a wide smile on her face while knitting vigorously to finish her quilt in time.

 

Reentering room 917, Oni silently made her way over to her bed and dumped the contents of her bag out onto her bed. Sorting it into piles and then putting them away where they belonged, she finished her task quickly and efficiently without disturbing her sleeping roommate even once.

When her task was done, she stood at the end of his bed and look at him lying on top of his covers as he always did. Moonlight once again swam over him highlighting his hair and the smooth tone skin.

Letting her gaze linger for only a few moments longer, Oni made her way to her side of the bed, discarded her robe and pants, and climbed in. Closing her eyes she let sleep slowly take her and she was carried off into another restless night while her roommate slept separated from her by only a thin curtain enduring a similar ordeal. And so another night pasted them by.

 

 

Sky blue eyes snapped open and their owner sat up abruptly out of his bed. Taking in deep breaths through his nose, he calmed him self and slowly looked around him to gather his surroundings. Seeing the sunlight filtering through the back window, he turned away from the offending light. He then saw Oni dressed and ready for the day making breakfast in the small kitchen.

Her black hair was left out of a ponytail and hung freely around her. A pair of blue jean shorts and a dark red muscle shirt was her attire. Wine colored eyes reflected no feelings in them despite their deepness.

Pushing himself out of his bed, he dragged himself over to the bathroom at the back of the room and, only bothering to grab a towel, entered. Taking a quick ten-minute shower, he threw on a black bathrobe that was hanging up in the bathroom that had been named his, because he forgotten to grab clothes. He was just too tired to care and silently noted that Oni's favorite colors seemed to be black and red as he made his way out of the bathroom.

He found that Oni was just placing the plates of food on the table and he made his way over to his seat. Sitting down next to her he began to eat his food slowly while running his hands through his semi wet hair.

The silence in the room that was usually present was undisturbed and Squall could feel the humidity already beginning to take effect. He let out a silent sigh at the thought. More leather and more black…and that meant more hot days. Why hadn't he thought of this sooner?

Having finished, he rose and washed his plate in the sink with a disinterested look on his face. Oni did the same with her own plate and proceeded to clean the kitchen's pots and pans she had used to make breakfast. Squall headed towards his dresser suddenly feeling the need to be dressed. Rummaging through his drawer he let a puzzled look come over his features as there were quite a few things in there that weren't his. But his eyes grew large when he saw the tags that were still attached to the many articles of clothing that “weren't his”. They were all from one of the stores he had seen in the “town” while shopping with Toki.

He turned around sharply to look at Oni and stared at her for a few seconds before she must have sensed his gaze and looked up to meet his eyes. He held the items up slightly so that she would know what he was staring at her for and when she realized what he was referring to, she simply nodded her head before speaking.

“I'm sure I got all the sizes correct. If not, I can take it back to exchange it.” She then simply returned to cleaning the kitchen as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Finding nothing to say to her, Squall turned back around to go through the rest of his drawers. Sure enough, in each one, there were at least three new articles of clothing in each one.

There were three muscle shirts one in black, white, and dark blue. There were four new short-sleeved shirts, two in white, one in black, and one in dark red. Four new pairs of jean shorts were neatly folded in his second drawer, two dark blue pairs, one light blue pair, and one black pair. Three new hooded sweatshirts or “hoodies” were draped where his leather jacket was, one in black, one in dark blue, and one in white. Next to his dresser where his boots were there sat two new pairs of shoes, one white pair of tennis shoes and one black pair of “skater” shoes. (for lack of a better word) And a very light blush crept over his cheeks when he saw four new pair of boxers, three were black and his blush deepened when he saw one pair was dark red. To make his embarrassment even more complete, he found that the boxers were all made of silk.

To cap it all off, every last article of clothing from hoodie to boxer was the right size, which could only mean that Oni had gone through his clothes and checked his sizes; even his boxer size. Letting his blush fade away before turning back around, Squall found Oni still cleaning the kitchen with little regard to her roommates discoveries. But feeling his gaze once again upon her, she lifted her eyes to look at him.

Finding his voice once again, Squall spoke. “What is all this for? I don't have the money to pay you back.” Not even the money on his Ex-card would pay for all this stuff. They were all name brands and did not come cheap.

Oni looked back at him still emotionless as ever and answered him, “It is August the twenty third. Is it not?”

Squall found himself nodding despite his confusion because it still wasn't making sense to him. What was she getting at? What did it matter what the date was?

Oni let out a wisp of air and went back to her cleaning but continued to explain, “The clothes you wear are too hot for the “Ocean's Shore.” She paused in her speaking as if debating whether or not to continue. “…And one only turns nineteen once.”

Her reasoning surprised him and he didn't have anything to say to her in reply that would satisfy the situation. She had just bought him a whole new wardrobe without any consent from him, but he supposed that this only proved how intuitive and observant Oni really was. She noticed things that no one else did even though she seemed to be oblivious to what others were doing. Her thoughtfulness was astounding for someone who could easily be labeled as emotionless.

But it wasn't just the fact that she had bought him these things that startled him, but rather it was the reason she did it. She bought him all these clothes for his birthday. For his birthday. He wasn't even used to getting a “Happy Birthday” from most and even if people did remember, they just acted as though they didn't care. It had grown customary to simply go through his birthday as if it was just another day in the week. The only time he had ever gotten a present or celebration of any kind that he could remember was on his past eighteenth birthday when she had thrown a party for him. But she should have known that he hated parties especially ones in his honor because that meant he HAD to be the center of attention. Needless to say it had been a…less than pleasant experience.

Yet, here he was, getting a present from the most unlikely person in the most unlikely of places on a day he had scarcely remembered. But as he looked at the clothes Oni had bought him, August the twenty-third suddenly became more than just another day to him. It was his birthday; his nineteenth birthday.

And it was then that Squall found himself doing something he hadn't done in some time. His lips tugged at one corner just enough to pull them into a smirk. He then grabbed a new pair of dark blue jean shorts, his new dark red shirt that had the word “Undefeated” written in black letters across the chest, and a new pair of black silk boxers before heading to the bathroom to change.

When he emerged clad in his new outfit, Oni turned towards him, as he looked himself over. She stepped out from behind the kitchen counter, let her eyes scan over him, and simply stated, “They fit you well.”

His head snapped up at these words as Oni walked towards him till they were only a foot apart. Carefully, she reached out her hand and folded down the hem of one of his sleeves that had turned up. This caused her fingers to brush over the skin on his shoulder making an odd feeling pass over him, but he chose to ignore it. She then stepped back again to survey him once more and added, “The colors suit you.”

Nodding his thanks awkwardly at her comments, he stepped away from her and went back to his dresser to grab some black ankle socks. Reaching for his new pair of black “skater” shoes, he slipped them on, laced them up, and looked up at Oni who was waiting by the door with her small backpack on her back. She turned to leave the room and Squall moved to follow but stopped when a thought suddenly came to him.

He quickly turned around and grabbed his new black sweater that was hanging where his leather jacket was. You never know how cold or warm it was going to be in the Activity Room. Sometimes, they had the AC all the way up causing the room's temperature to drop to a rather uncomfortable level. But Squall never complained about it because he didn't mind the cold chill compared to the staggering heat of the summer sun. But with a brand new sweater just sitting there, he found that he couldn't just leave it. So, draping it over his arm, he headed for the door once more.

Just as he was about to close the door, he stopped and let his eyes scan over room 917. Somehow in a matter of only six days he had found a way into the lives of those around him. Even though he wasn't sure what that meant yet, he could feel that it was there. When he was around Toki, Mollia, and Oni he could feel a strange sort of connection between them that he couldn't explain. But it was there nonetheless as strong as it was unfamiliar.

Yet more importantly, he had formed an unwritten agreement with his silent red-eyed roommate. Something was changing between them since the day he had arrived and whether that was bad or good he couldn't tell. But which ever it was he was sure that this “something” was there and because of that, he found himself once again, staring at the new sweater on his arm and smirking ever so slightly. She had found a side of himself that he thought had died when she left.

He turned around towards the elevator where Oni was standing waiting while closing the door behind him. Her eyes connected with his and he found that he understood a little bit more about her than he had yesterday. But now was not the time to think of that. Today was a day to remember because it was the first time in his life he could ever remember when someone had actually been thoughtful towards him on his birthday. It was also the first birthday he could remember that he was happy to remember.

For now, Squall was content to just let the days come and go and see what was in store for him next. To stop dwelling so much on the past and just focus on what lay before him. And maybe together, he and Oni could find a way to understand each other far better than he ever could with anyone else. Maybe together, they could continue to speak this language they had formed between each other that could not be heard or written. Together they could speak words that were unspoken.

 

“And together we'll speak the words unspoken.”

 

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Author's Note: Well, wasn't that an interesting chapter? Squall got a birthday present!! ^_^ OH YEAH, before I forget, Oni is 17 right now and Squall is now 19. I accidentally wrote the wrong ages for them in previous chapters. But I finally figured out what they are SUPPOSE to be. Well, thanks for being patient with me. I know I'm a pain because I take so long to write. But I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Thanks!

 

Next Chapter: Squall and Oni's birthdays are next and the preparations for the Christmas party begin for real! ^_^

 

PS- Oh yeah, I will be posting some responses to reviewers in the next chapter because I greatly appreciate your support and want you all to know I haven't forgotten you!