Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ One in a Million ❯ The Fair ( Chapter 3 )

Title: One In a Million

Author: I_nv_u50

Pairings: SquallXZell

Warnings: Shounen Ai, violent retching … um .. some changing in cars?

Squall: What have I done …

Disclaimer: The world belongs to Squaresoft, the idea and the muses belong to me. (Glares at her muses) Hear that? I own you, you should listen to me!

Zell: (to Squall) Did you hear something?

Squall: Me? No, I didn't hear anything. Pass the popcorn, will you?

I_nv_u50: (sighs) Ah well … Can I watch as well?

Squall: No.

I_nv_u50: Hmph. Well, fine! I'll just go let you fight Ultimecia without breaking her seals on you! … AGAIN!

Zell: Would you like some popcorn?

Chapter Rating: PG-13, because Squall's sick in this one, and I'm sure no one wants to see the contents of his stomach. Also involves humiliation for poor Squally … :D

Squall: What have I done …what have I done …

Author's Notes: Anyway, we're off to the fair in this one… I gave Squall a fear of heights … well, more like open air, but hey, who's being specific ^^ He's not too happy with it though … (eyes Squall) Also, I think he might have been a snitch out of character, and if you think so, I apologize.. The best reason -

Zell: (cough cough) lame excuse! (cough cough)

(Glares at Zell) I can think of is that he's still only 15, and not as in control of himself as he is in the game, mainly because of a different upbringing? I dunno, sounds plausible.. Also, I doubt I'm very good with threatening scenes, so if the muggers in this chapter seem pathetic, be happy in that you'll probably never see them again … Gomen, gomen!! ^^;; Anyway, on other things, I lowered the entire story rating because I doubt they're gonna get anywhere near deserving of 'R' anytime soon ..

Squall: Aww, damnit.

And on that note, I'd like to say thank you to all 10 000 000 readers for enjoying this story :D

Zell: (stage whisper to Squall) She added on 6 zeros …

Shut up Zell.. Anyway, please enjoy this!! See you next week!! ^^

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Zell was having a great time, and lots of fun. After being dropped off at the Esthar fairground with Squall and the rest of them and acquiring some maps, Zell and the others promptly got themselves lost, leaving it to Selphie, who claimed she knew the place like the back of her hand, to find the best rides to go on.

After one small roller coaster, a log ride, virtual reality goggle and gun games, and other insanely crazy things, the others had to admit that even if Selphie was as lost as they were, if not more so, she still managed to find the best rides.

Squall managed to keep his loner attitude to a minimum, joining them with only a few complaints that he would have otherwise made. There was, however, one ride he refused to go near, or on. It was the biggest ride the fair boasted, a giant roller coaster.

It was huge, the track was rumored to be 22.3 kilometers all the way around, and it twisted and turned, flipped and unraveled, climbing to the top point at an insane height of 5 storeys high.

Irvine and Selphie and Zell wanted to go on it, it looked wild enough to be even more fun than the water rides promised to be, and the only reason they didn't know that for a fact was because they were saving the biggest and supposedly best water ride for last, to cool off.

The problem was, Squall didn't want to even go near the roller coaster, let alone go on it. He could have handled the water ride, which was, if anything, equal to the wildness of the roller coaster, but he loved water, and had promised he would go on it, having no problem with the water ride. The roller coaster, however, was another story. There was no water, being all up in the air, and as he hadn't promised, he had no real obligation or reason to come on this one. Except …

Playing dirty, Zell bribed him, with the promise of another silk shirt, having noticed that Squall wore his every time he could, and having correctly guessed that Squall now had a fascination for the soft, shimmering material, he used this, and his unnoticed influence on Squall to get him to go with them.

Squall, however, admitted to himself that the shirt was only part of the reason, and he had no desire to find out where Zell's suddenly huge influence over him came from, even less did he desire to know what made him want to wear Zell's shirt as often as possible.

Squall couldn't help thinking it had more to do than the material, and he had an uneasy feeling that even if he did try to find out, it would take much soul searching to produce an answer he was quite sure he didn't want to know, and was perfectly happy not knowing.

Irvine and Selphie paired up, thankfully, because neither Zell nor Squall could handle much more of her chattering for the day, and Irvine had to be used to it by now, and they gratefully paired up with each other.

Zell only hoped it wasn't scaring the kid too much, as Squall hadn't stopped eyeing the roller coaster, or the track in front of them with wariness and suspicion, even as they were strapping him in.

The car they were in had already started to climb up the hill, a reasonably sized one, in anticipation of the whopper to come, when Squall decided he didn't want to do this. Zell chuckled and told him it was to late for that, and Squall stayed silent, holding onto the brace tighter.

He didn't speak one word as the machinery rattled and clattered around them, but it was clear to anyone who looked at his desperately stoic face, and his wide, scared eyes, i.e., Zell, that Squall was absolutely terrified, fighting a frenzied battle with fear and obviously losing.

Zell leant over slightly. "You okay, baby?"

Squall didn't answer. He didn't seem to even hear Zell as he was staring down at the suddenly faraway ground with something akin to horror on his face and in his eyes.

Zell lightly touched Squall's hand to call his attention back to where they were, and Squall jumped slightly, bumping his shoulders on the tight brace.

"Squall? Are you alright?"

"… I don't like heights much …" Squall muttered, and looked away, his face coloring up a little.

Zell rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Hyne, kid, you could have told us on the ground. It's a bit late now."

Squall said nothing, his attention wandering to the ground again. They were nearing the top.

Zell watched him closely for a second, silent. He noticed a fine tremor shifting Squall's body, which was only increasing until Squall's whole body was trembling. The stupid boy was trying to hide this though, biting his lower lips and flushing with embarrassment. He knew Zell knew.

"Oh Hyne, Squall, is it that bad?" concerned now, Zell leant closer to Squall, now able to see a fine shiver run across his face.

Squall just nodded, still carefully keeping his gaze away from Zell's.

Zell just sighed and, reaching over, took Squall's hand, giving it a soft squeeze for comfort.

Squall started, his gaze flew to Zell's before settling in their joined hands, his cheeks tinged with red again.

Then his grip tightened, his eyes slammed shut, and he froze. They were over the top.

At least a dozen turns, flips and twists later, with Selphie's happy screams still ringing in their ears from a few cars up, the ride was over.

The second the brace was up, and they could get out, Squall, who had clammed his lips tight on the first hill down to stop the impending screams, stumbled out and was violently sick.

Irvine and Selphie came up to him, concerned, but Zell shooed them away, telling them to go on some more rides while he looked after Squall.

Squall, terribly embarrassed, resented the fact that Zell was looking after him, but he was unable to do anything in the face of Zell's stubbornness, and grumbled the whole way back to the limo, where Zell wanted to get some new clothes.

Squall sat, still muttering to himself, on the edge of the seat as Zell went to go get him a drink to banish the taste. Deciding belatedly that he had a will of his own, Squall got his in-case-of-soaking clothes, changed behind black tinted windows, and got some money from Fuujin to get something to drink.

Thus, when Zell returned, it was to find Squall gone, and an unsympathetic chauffeur.

By the time Selphie and Irvine arrived so they could go to a nice restaurant to get something to eat, Zell was in a frustrated exasperation, not listening to Fuujin's insistence that Squall could look after himself. Zell, refusing to believe this, looked to the big, semi-bodyguard for support.

Raijin only looked down at him, saying, "He'll be fine. He is the president's son, and no one messes with him if he doesn't want them to, ya know?"

Zell scowled, but reason finally broke through. The fair was huge, there were hundreds, if not thousands of people there, and even if Squall wanted to be found, they'd have a hard time doing it. Accepting the fact that they couldn't do anything, Zell turned to Selphie and Irvine, who had stood by and watched, with confusion, concern and amusement open on their faces.

"So. Where do you wanna go eat?"

In the meantime though, Squall was almost having fun. He had disposed of his stained clothes, thankful he had not been wearing Zell's shirt, which had now risen up to the ranks of "Cherished Item" for him. He had also stayed away from high rides, the one exception being the Ferris wheel, where he had enjoyed the view, dimly recognizing the wish to be with someone, before stifling it down. He had spent most of the rest of the afternoon on the water rides, going on them over and over again, once he knew Irvine and Selphie had wandered through to another section.

When he wandered up to a shooting game, drawn in by some excited yelps he was still damped, although the sun and the heat had done much to improve his previously soaked state.

Having briefly giving the young girl his half finished soda to hold, he carefully took the bow and arrow and correctly, if a little hastily, shot 5 ducks, in a row. The girl oohed and aahed, and, having no need, or wish, to keep the teddy bear he had received as a prize, and lacking something better to do with it, he gave it to the girl, unwittingly earning himself a follower.

Before he knew it, he was talking to her; finding out her name was Rinoa, and all sorts of other things about her, including what she was going to call the bear. After a surprisingly heated debate, which he had never expected to have, they mutinously agreed to call the bear Ruby. Rinoa claimed it was after the jewel, Squall protested it was after the dragon.

Eventually realizing it was quite late, the sun had almost finished setting, he bade goodbye to his new acquaintance, gaining a half-unwanted telephone number in the process, and set off to spend some of the remaining money he had to hail a taxi, mentally cursing the uselessness of a credit card in a place like this. He did, however, have more than enough cash on him to pay the taxi driver, phone the palace and still have quite a bit left over.

Realizing how stupid it would be to request to go to the Palace, thus leaving himself open for attack and/or kidnap, he requested to go to the shopping center instead, where he could probably find a pay phone and request a ride back to the Palace.

After paying the driver, he started to search the huge mall for a payphone, vaguely regretting leaving his cell phone on his bed that morning. He got connected straight to an annoyed Laguna.

"Squall! Where the hell have you been?"

"… at the fair …"

"Why did you leave like that? Do you have any idea how late it is?"

"… dunno …"

Laguna sighed audibly into the phone. "Alright. Where are you?"

"… the mall …"

"I'll send Fuu and Rai over now. Any idea where you might be?"

"… outside."

"Ok. Meet them at the front entrance, ok Squall? In about 45 minutes."

"Whatever."

The phone clicked, and Laguna was gone.

And Squall set about entertaining himself while he waited.

The payphones were at the back of the mall, so he had to wander through to get to the front, passing numerous interesting looking shops on his way, before one in particular caught his eye. Stepping inside, he looked around with a curious gaze, wondering …

Clothes. Lots of them. All in exotic materials, with exotic patterns. Including, he hoped, silk.

Walking up to the sneering lady behind the counter, he asked where the silk shirts were. She pointed; he went, not bothering to satisfy her sneer by reacting.

He browsed through the shirts, enjoying the feel of silk on his skin, and looking with interest at all the colorful, shifting patterns that littered the racks.

Finally, with lots of distractions from the beautiful material, Squall found the perfect one.

It was black, with golden embroidery, the picture of the mythical thunderbird, Quezacotal.

Just as he was turning to return to the counter, another one caught his eye, hidden under a bright yellow number and a purpley maroon shirt.

It was a shimmering navy blue, with lighter, frosty blue embroidery, of the ice goddess Shiva, who was as legendary as Quez.

Picking it up off the rack, he approached the counter again, and wordlessly handed them over the disdaining look of the sales clerk, along with his previously unused and unaccepted credit card.

Amazed that the teenager had a credit card, with the nobility seal on it, she wrapped the two shirts up carefully and handed him the receipt, which he stared at ruefully as he continued his way to the front entrance.

Being rich his whole life had left him blissfully unaware that what he had in cash was more than enough for muggers to start targeting him.

They had seen him come out of an expensive looking shop, and had picked up the receipt he had carelessly dropped away, concluding that he was worth going after, if only to steal the two shirts so they could resell them and make some more money.

He sensed them as they followed him, his finely tuned gunblade fighting skills picking up as he left the main building and dropped the back, picking up a defensive position himself as he waited for them to show themselves.

"Well well, look wot we 'ave 'ere, fellas… Little guy thinks he can take us on, does 'e?" The voice sounded nasal, almost completely spoken through the nose, and Squall had to think for a second to interpret the twangs.

"Wotcha got there?" another voice spoke up, and Squall faced that direction automatically.

"Hn." It was a short answer, played to raise the tempers a bit. Squall was spoiling for a fight, he didn't like the idea of being threatened, and it was a good opportunity to put his fighting skills to the test. If only he could figure out how many there were …

"'e's quite pretty, aint he, Seth?"

Squall froze, and straightened, glaring at the new person who had just stepped out of the shadows.

Seth blinked, considering. "Looks like our lucks in. 'e's rich, and pretty …"

Squall gave a low growl as he semi-crouched again, but Seth and his friends were saved by the arrival of the limo, which stopped in front of Squall.

The gang stopped as Raijin climbed out, glared at Seth, and stepped aside for Squall to slide in.

The drive home was uneventful, and Squall almost made it to his room without being noticed. He now felt extremely stupid over Zell's shirt. Zell had enough shirts, and more than enough money to buy more, why would he need a new one from Squall?

Squall's steps faltered as he registered the fact that Zell was sitting in the middle of the hallway that went path both of their rooms, his face glowering at Squall.

Squall waited for Zell to speak first. He didn't have to wait very long.

"Damnitall Squall! You don't just up and leave without telling anybody!"
"But I did …"

Zell's glare deepened. "You didn't tell me…"
Squall frowned back, and moved around Zell. "Whatever."

"Squall! I want to talk to you!"
Squall paused for a second, not turning around, and reached into the shopping bag he still held with one hand, fumbling around a little. He had unwrapped his shirt so as to tell them apart when he couldn't look and he pulled out the still wrapped one.

He turned around and blinked.

Zell, in what was obviously an attempt to gain the upper hand in the argument he thought was coming, had stood and was right behind Squall, not expecting him to turn around, thinking he would carry on walking and ignoring Zell.

So when Squall had turned around to give him the shirt, it was to be face to face with Zell, close enough to feel each other's breaths, which startled both of them.

Time stopped for Squall. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, and he seemed to be getting hotter than he usually did around Zell. Zell's eyes were wide and sparkling blue, lit up with astonishment and a half realized epiphany, and Squall felt his face coloring, the rush of blood staining his cheeks red.

Resenting this, he looked away quickly, and pushed the wrapped bundle into Zell's hands.

"I … I'm … sorry …"

Zell blinked, surprised at the abrupt ending and stared down at the bundle in confusion.

"What's this for?"

"It's … I … well, thank you." Squall muttered, still not looking at Zell.

Before Zell could do anything else, Squall had walked off to his bedroom, leaving Zell in the middle of the now empty corridor, staring at the now unwrapped, beautiful black shirt in his limp hands and at the place where Squall had disappeared alternatively, in confusion.