"Name?" Quistis asked, her soft blue-eyed gaze wandering aimlessly around her fingertips and away from the girl in front of her. Three feet tall stacks of documents had collected all around her office within the last few months, but she neither bothered to look at them or worse, clear them out of the way; thus, her eyes had much territory to roll around. She dared not fix herself a direct gaze with this visitor lest--traced back through their eye contact--any shred of familiarity be evident. She held back a sigh; this was her job now--ever since she retired from being an instructor, she'd been appointed instructor recruiter of Balamb Garden.
"Lina Heartilly," in a gentle, but firm voice the girl replied. Quistis knew it'd be strange not to face her, but she looked up ever so reluctantly. Her gaze fell upon the girl sitting across from her--attire much too formal for this awkward occasion with her black skirt and faded pink dress blouse, and hands folded neatly across her lap; thus, concealing all inward anxiety. Her sister had told her to come, Quistis was sure of it, had told her to hand Quistis this burden of keeping her mouth shut and her smile genuine.
"You're Rinoa's sister?" Quistis tried to ask without flinching at the question itself. Lina smiled weakly, her coffee brown eyes waning into little half circles. Her famous half moon smile. It gave Quistis a stab at her heart realizing all the warming qualities in Lina's smile had been wiped clean by her inanition--the curiosity in her wide eyes now solemn, the energy in her smile now lessened.
"That would be me, yes," Lina responded and nodded curtly as if a second reply were necessary. Quistis reached over and shook Lina's hand. Lina had no idea how difficult it was for Quistis to do said action, and yet, however much fake it seemed to Quistis, Lina took it as genuine--a gesture of common courtesy. Lina wondered what it was that Quistis actually did for a job; Rinoa had never actually told her. Then again, Rinoa herself never actually knew for sure. Quistis didn't like to inform others on her regression in rank.
"It's nice to finally meet you," Quistis forced herself to say. Of course she was plainly obliged to do so, but when the words came out, she felt the term forced was more appropriate considering the strain in throat at the phrase surfaced. Quistis saw, as she sat back into her seat, that the physical appearance of Lina Heartilly had not changed--her figure still petite, her features modest, and her smile radiant--but, her entire mental structure had been altered. Now, in front of Quistis sat the figure of a Miss Lina Heartilly, but with a personality completely different from Lina herself.
"You too, I've heard so much about you," Lina said, recalling all that Rinoa was able to tell. Quistis smiled, she knew how Rinoa would talk. The lot of them were all good friends despite their previous conflicts with one another. They'd set their differences aside and their friendly relationships had all reconciled nicely, mending the broken arguments in between.
"So, Lina. Being an instructor takes copious amounts of patience and well focused lesson plans. What makes you think you would fill the position for Balamb Garden?" Quistis asked. In the pause that followed, Quistis knew Lina was preparing herself for the answer, her pupils dilating in thought to endeavor to recollect everything she had specifically rehearsed for this very day.
"I've been told...by Rinoa no doubt." She chuckled. "That I was fit for Balamb Garden, I feel like I need to build myself a future instead of training in the suburbs everyday and never looking for tomorrow. When given the opportunity to direct, I lead very well, and Rinoa's told me I'm already registered as a SeeD under Balamb Garden." Quistis looked rather amused; she shuffled through some files and separately pulled out Lina's papers. Lina found it almost alarmingly amazing how Quistis could easily decipher one file of papers from the other.
"Alright...let's take a look at your SeeD file, Lina. An expert at duel, formerly trained by a few of the world's greatest. Strife helped? That's rather impressive. SeeD rank level is twenty eight, very qualified for the job indeed. Oh, but it seems you travel around a lot." Quistis stared at Lina expectantly, but Lina stared right back, making Quistis chuckle. "Good eye contact, needed in an instructor. Trust me, I should know." Lina beamed. "The only issue so far is the traveling. If you were to fill as instructor of Balamb Garden, the idea of traveling would have to be for vacations only. Can you handle that?" Lina nodded. "Alright then, everything seems about set. I'll judge you as an instructor for about a week. How's that? Oh, but there'll be a few SeeD members in your group of students since a few applied to take more classes. Bit of a challenge for you."
"No problem!" Lina laughed. Quistis formally dismissed Lina from the room after their semi-awkward conversation was through. The minute Lina left, Quistis slid down in her seat and sighed, relieved. She might need to call Rinoa later to complain about the trouble of this all; Rinoa had gotten many complaints recently. Lina navigated the halls with no difficult; it seemed her conscience would guide her through the halls and around Garden. On her way around the corner, Lina, while walking, leaned down to straighten the edge of her skirt that had been ruffled while sitting and waiting for Quistis in her office for so long. She smiled when she thought about how Rinoa would scold her that it certainly wouldn't be instructor ranking appearance, but as she'd roughed out a fold, she bumped into someone.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she cried and looked up at a pair of distant blue eyes. She froze, this man was extremely handsome; blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tattoo on the left side of his face that somewhat resembled black fire. After only a moment of hesitation, she realized their contact wasn't all that dire and it was nothing to make a big deal over, but still, this guy wasn't responding much either.
"It's cool, Lina," he muttered, seemingly distant and wandered off down the hall, his concentration seemed completely thrown off. Lina had to admit, that was the most awkward pause she'd ever had to partake in. That guy had stared at her as if he were looking for something written on her face. She watched him leave, wondering how he knew her name. She'd certainly never met him before. She glanced over at him as he placed on the back of his neck and sighed. Cute, she thought and left for the front gate.
Garden had always felt like such a welcoming place for Lina; students were always so active, so cheerful, chatting on their way from the cafeteria to the dormitory or the library. Lina's smile never even faltered even as she quietly trotted down to the front gate. When she got there she found immediately who she was looking for: her sister Rinoa Heartilly, waiting for her and patiently brushing her heavy black boots back and forth in the dirt patches by the side of the gray walkway.
"How'd it go!?" Rinoa asked, obviously excited to see her little sister heading for her after having to wait half an hour under the sunlight. Rinoa understood that trying to analyze Lina's feelings would be of no avail; it seemed now she barely had any emotions anyways. Lina smiled and very calmly explained her meeting with instructor recruiter Quistis Trepe as her sister clutched her hand in conspicuous anxiety.
"Quistis said she'd watch me for a week to see how I do," Lina finished. Rinoa screeched happily and jumped up once or twice to show her excitement as if Lina had already gotten the job as instructor. No matter, it was already good as done to Rinoa. Lina nodded and grinned softly, showing her straight white teeth. Well, it'd been a while anyways. Rinoa noticed and laughed even more. Lina's smile was usually more passive; it was almost depressing to see her not smile.
"YAY! Congratulations!!" Rinoa screamed, trying to get her little sister excited along with her, but Lina's grin even subsided a little bit. Rinoa tried and tried, poking her cheek a couple times, nudging her arm, but Lina stood where she was, hands laced together behind her back and holding back a well deserved chuckle at her sister's unusual ecstatic behavior. It wasn't long before a student dressed in yellow poked Rinoa lightly on the shoulder. Rinoa swung around. "SELPHIE! It's been such a long time!" They hugged as a greeting--a gesture Lina still found rather intimate for an informal salutation.
"Yeah I know! Oh, is this your sister?" Selphie asked, turning towards Lina, her brilliant green eyes waning with her smile. The tone of her voice seemed more monotonous than Lina would expect for meeting a stranger the first time and Lina could tell there was no spark of interest or unfamiliarity in her eyes, but the entire facade was difficult to decipher from Selphie's general upbeat disposition.
"Selphie, this is Lina, Lina this is Selphie Tilmitt," Rinoa introduced the two girls to each other. They shook hands, but Selphie let that slide over fast and jumped up and down, forgetting the whole formal introduction type thing.
"You should come to our new school term ball! It's always loads of fun! I'm head of the festival committee so I'm responsible for the advertising and everything and you know sometimes it's hard work, but if you know heck of popular people like Rinoa here, it makes things a lot easier! OH MY GOSH! Wait! It's tomorrow! Come to the ball okay? It'll be tons and tons of fun! There's always tons of cute lookin' boys there too if you're single and you know what I mean." Lina had never seen someone's mouth move that quickly, the words being thrown out there one after another--and just when she'd understood the last phrase, the next one was already out there. Lina nodded and at the last comment, she smiled and thought about the boy she'd accidentally ran into earlier that day. Lina smiled one last time, all the happiness and emotions all at once wearing her down, and dismissed herself from their friendly chatter. She'd held within herself a secret attraction to her sister's boyfriend. Squall Leonhart, the head honcho. Handsome, quiet, and mysterious--the dream guy with a solitary attitude, but if Rinoa knew about her schoolgirl crush, sparks would fly.
She wandered off far from the front gate until she was out of sight from the others. They might not understand why she was headed for where she was headed. The only place in their world that she'd known or remembered that could comfort any shaking nerves in her was at the harbor by the ocean in Balamb, and lucky enough for her, Balamb Garden's location when not traveling was right there next to the city of Balamb, hence its name. She traversed the dirt path to the first forest patch on her left under the sweltering sunlight.
As soon as she'd reached the pathway off road, she whistled towards the sky, loud and eerie--a tune humans could barely translate. It took but ten seconds for the call to be answered--as a gust of wind parted dirt clots scattered across the pathway, a giant bird whose feathers were golden like the sun landed gently, but firmly next to Lina. Lina smiled like she'd known this creature her entire life.
"Good afternoon, Angel," Lina greeted. The bird said not a word, but in its sharply attentive eyes, Lina could sense its warmhearted response. "Can I hitch a ride to Balamb?" Angel kneeled down on one talon, lowered her head and stretched a wing out for Lina's convenience. Lina boarded with ease--no such awkwardness between best friends. Angel took to the sky with a simple leap as soon as Lina had found a spot comfortable upon her back. And up they flew, Lina's slick black haired ponytail whipping its way through the wind.
What was it they called her condition? Amnesia or something like that--but what a horrible car crash it must have been, even with herself not being able to remember anything about it. She'd been flung into critical condition, no scars, but bruises, slow to heal, quick to smart. She could still remember waking up in some hospital that fateful day, two pairs of concerned eyes monitoring her every movement.
It took merely them a few minutes to arrive to their destination with Garden being humbly parked only a mile or so away from Balamb. The two friends departed, Angel leaping towards the skies and Lina stepping into the city gate. She was hoping to maybe get a room at the hotel, then sit by the harbor and watch the sunset. Her plans seemed so definite until along the paved road she saw going in the opposite direction the boy that she'd accidentally ran into in the morning.
"Yeah Ma, I'll see ya later!" he called in through the doorway to a humble abode a few steps due east and sauntered on down the road, crunching his fists together. Lina's pace slowed to a waltz as she stared at him with curious wide eyes as she approached. She could sense him look up at her a little warily, and whether or not it was just a passing glance, she found herself drawn to his gaze. Who was he? Really, how had he known her name? Lina stopped walking after she'd seen him pass and stood in the middle of the road, her thin figure framed against the background of a falling sun.
Hence, her new option. She could go sit by the harbor like she did every so often at sunset or she could turn around right back where she'd come from and follow this young fellow back to Garden, possibly to even start up some type of conversation. Well Rinoa had wanted Lina to meet some new people right? But Rinoa had also told her to stick with her given schedule--reading at the harbor being one of her favorite things.
Before she'd even made a decision, her feet pulled her forward, some thirty to forty meters behind the boy.
Halfway through the walk back to Garden, her senses caught up with what her body had been doing and she decided against it. The boy had been following the paved path, but Lina instead decided to forget about her mission to speak to him and cut straight across the forest to Garden. It was quicker and she'd be able to get inside before him and get on out of there.
Lo and behold, just beyond the forest, a T-Rexaur attacked her.