Jez walked into the cafeteria of Galbadia Garden. After getting herself a cup of coffee, she smiled as she noticed her two friends, Rin and Manji, immediately; they were the only two in the room kissing. Walking over to the table, she cleared her throat noisily to alert them of her presence. They turned. Rin smiled brightly at her.
"Hi! When did you get back?" She gestured for her friend to sit down, waving her fire pattern-clad arms. "Did you have a good time in Esthar?"
Jez couldn't help the smile that sprang to her face as she thought of what did happen in Esthar. "Yeah, I did, actually." She tried to control the blush that crept to her cheeks as Manji smirked at her, immediately getting the idea. Rin, who was some years younger, was completely oblivious.
"I can't wait to go to Esthar! And at the ceremony, there must have been so many people." She flashed a flirty smile at Manji, then looked conspiratorily at Jez. "Were there any cute guys?" At that, Jez' blush reddened and Manji guffawed. Rin looked from one to the other and frowned. "Am I missing something?" Her lover put an arm around her shoulder, and grinned at Jez.
"I think we both missed something. Ya wanna share, Jez?"
Green eyes glared fiercely at him, tho her smile made it obvious she was joking. Sitting back in her chair, stretching out long legs, Jez' smile turned sweet as she remembered Zell. He really was the nicest guy she'd ever met. The longest list of compliments applied to him: funny, cute, generous, caring, very talented... Her grin turned wicked at that last, and she began to tell her friends. "I met a cute guy."
Rin's eyes widened, and she leaned forward and rested her head on her hands, a smile on her face that made the hardened Garden member look like a child. "Gossip, Jez! Tell us everything!"
Playing with a lock of hair, Jez cast a green glance at them, and hid a smile. "I can't tell you everything."
"Jez!! You didn't!" Now sitting bolt upright, Rin's look was both shocked and delighted. She pointed at Jez, and nudged Manji. "She did!" Manji's smile was amused and soft as he looked at her, and Jez smiled at them. At least Manji wasn't in the mood to tease her anymore. Unfortunately, Rin was. "Alright then, tell us what you can! Who is he? Is he cute? More importantly, is he good?"
With a laugh, Jez rolled her eyes. "Yeah, to those last two. And as to the others... His name's Zell-"
"Zell Dincht?" Jez' eyebrows raised at Manji's question, and nodded. "The guy off the news who helped defeat Ultimecia?" Jez paused. She hadn't seen him on the news - not that she watched TV much. But it was definately true. She nodded, feeling pride for him. Manji sat back and folded his arms, grinning. "A normal guy's not good enough for ya, huh? Need a hero?"
"That's right!" Jez laughed and leant forward to sip her deliciously hot coffee. "I also met my cousin, Squall - I guess you've seen him on the news too. And his girlfriend, Rinoa... I wish I'd seen these news reports, because she's my friend from before I came here. I was pretty shocked, but it was so cool to see her again. I'm going visiting her in Timber next week, if you guys wanna come. Oh, and Irv was there too."
With a smirk, Manji nodded. "I thought I saw him on the film they showed."
"Yeah, and he's already got a girl to fall for him. Scary thing is, she's really nice too - definately not a bimbo. I was surprised."
"Not like you?" Manji ribbed, and Jez glared at him.
"It wasn't supposed to happen. I was drunk and he was - well, he was Irvine, let's be honest. And I am not a bimbo."
"Come on, tell us more about Zell!" With a sigh, Jez realised that her ploy to get them to forget about asking about Zell had not worked.
"What do you want to know? He's funny, a good dancer, he's a SeeD. He's got a tattoo on his face, he's smart. He fights with his fists, and by all accounts is good. Level A SeeD. Knows lotsa weird stuff, is into the Chilli Peppers and industrial music and he's very, very sweet." Jez had made herself smile sweetly again in thinking about him.
"He sounds cool," Rin smiled.
"It sounds like you're falling for him." Jez ducked her head at Manji's comment.
"I already have," she said, then looked up again. "What have you two been up to?" Her tone suggested she was desperate to change the topic of conversation. Her friends, knowing her well, let it pass, for now. Plus, they had important news.
"Well, there was an outbreak of Geezard's on Friday. Oh, and we're getting married." Jez blinked at Rin's words, then gave a little cry of joy. Leaning over, she hugged her two friends warmly.
"Oh my god! Congratulations! When is it gonna be? Can I be bridesmaid?"
Rin laughed and nodded, her hand entwining with her finace's. "I wouldn't have anyone else." Jez wondered if she was talking to her or Manji on that one. Then she stood, deciding to leave the two love-birds alone, the table suddenly gotten crowded.
"I'm gonna go train, you guys. I'll see ya later."
Rin grinned at her. "Damn right - I want all the details!" With a wave, Jez left.
*************
A goodly portion of Jez' wardrobe lay on her bed as she tried to decide what to wear to go out with Rinoa. Little black dress? Grey pants with silver hem and nice, low-cut black top? Long green dress with shirt? With a sigh, she picked up the trousers, and a black top with a silver torque holding it up with a silver design on it. Pulling it on, she smiled at her reflection. She looked good, the little top showing off her curvaceous figure and the tattoo's that covered her arms, shoulders and back. With a sigh, she put everything else back in the wardrobe, then sat in front of her mirror. Grimacing, she wondering what to do with the hair that ran down her back like black silk. She pulled it into a plait, and put on dark eye make-up and deep blue-purple lipstick. With a smile, she stood and checked her watch. Time to go! Pulling on a long black jacket and picking up her purse, Jez left.
Running to catch her train, Jez sat, thankful the journey to Timber was short. She disliked trains, as a rule. They made her feel uncomfortable, and as though she had no control over the situation. Which was the case. Gazing out of the window, Jez smiled at the sunset. This was the one good thing about trains - getting to take in the landscape, something you couldn't when driving. The landscape of Glabadia was quite stunning, especially near the forests and lakes. Though she'd kill to be on an island in the tropics. She paused in her train of thought for a moment. Balamb was in the tropics. Frowning, she sat back. Over the last week, the thought kept creeping into her mind. About transfering to Balamb Garden. It wasn't the first time she'd thought about it; she'd wanted to train as a SeeD for a long time, but had always put it off. She didn't want to move away from everything she'd ever known. Was too afraid. But now she had a reason to move away. Zell.
With another frown, Jez admitted that she was scared of how much she cared for this man she'd only met once. She'd had a quick chat to him while waiting for Rinoa, so they could sort out this night, and it had left her longing for him. Was she really willing to move to be with him? She also realised that if she wanted to be a SeeD she'd have to make the move this year - she'd be nineteen, and the nineteenth year of a Garden student was their last chance to become a SeeD. Jez would be nineteen by the time she passed all the writtens. With a feeling of relief, she realised she'd decided she was going to move to Balamb. So I have something to celebrate tonight!
With a smile, Jez stepped off the train. She spotted Rinoa and hugged her.
"Hi!! You look fabulous!" She laughed. Rinoa was wearing a gorgeous, ridiculously short white dress, but as Jez had stated, she did look wonderful. Rinoa linked her arm and led her out of the station.
"You too! I love your top, it's so snazzy!" Rinoa grinned at her. "We have to go shopping sometime - you still like shopping, right?"
"Oh yeah, whenever I have money, it's gone like that." She snapped her fingers. "In truth, I like shopping a bit too much."
Rinoa looked mock-distraught. "What do you mean?! You can never have enough make-up, nail varnish-"
"-clothes, chocolate, soap, bubble bath... I know, I know, tell me about it!" Jez looked around at the town. It was different than she remembered. She visited her mother and brother occasionally, but they lived on the outskirts of town. She hadn't visited the centre for years. The presence of Galbadian soldiers definately made a difference, but they didn't put a dampner on the party atmosphere of a Friday night. There were people around than Jez remembered, and a few of the buildings were new. She wondered where they would go. Outside of the train station, the answer was clearly obvious. The word 'PUB' was written on the floor in large letters. Going down the stairs, it was impossible not to get entangled in the party everyone else was in. Getting a drink in for them both, Jez then returned to the table Rinoa had claimed for them.
"How is everyone?" Asked Jez.
Rinoa raised an eyebrow at the question and it's subtlety, but kept her questions to herself - for the moment. "Everyone's fine. Squall and Zell are on a mission, else they would have come. Selpie and Irvine are having a candlelit dinner, and Quistis was marking papers. I can't beleive I couldn't convince her to leave them and come out with us! I mean, it's Friday night!" She took a sip of her drink. "Nice."
Jez nodded. "It's my favourite. So Zell's on a mission?" She decided she might as well do away with subtlety. Rinoa knew both of them well enough to know how they felt - and Jez desperately wanted to know how Zell felt.
With a smile that made her eyes sparkle, Rinoa clapped her hands together. "Oh, I knew you liked him! He was so worried you didn't-" Rinoa paused, and looked out of the corner of her eye at her friend. "I assume that it was your room he was in that night in Esthar?" At Jez' reddened cheeks, Rinoa let out a tinkling laugh. "I knew it! But I didn't think Zell - or you, for that matter! - would do that sort of thing."
Jez shrugged her shoulders. "I wouldn't, normally. But Zell... Is something else."
Rinoa's smile widened. "He's lovely, isn't he? And he's so funny. I'm so glad the two of you have got together, you'll suit each other so well!" She finished her drink, and got up to get the next. The two chatted for another five drinks, and it was then, feeling slightly more than tipsy, that Jez felt ready to tell her old friend her plans.
"I'm gonna transfer to Balamb, ya know."
Rinoa looked sort of shocked, then pleased. "That'll be so cool! I mean, I'll be able to see you all the time, and you'll be able to see Zell..." She paused, her drunk-muddled mind trying to sort out her thoughts. "Oh, that's why you're moving there! Gosh! I didn't know you liked him that much!"
"I'm pretty much in love with him, Rinoa." Smiling at her shocked expression, Jez continued. "And I want to be a SeeD too, and this year's my last chance. So, I'm transfering to Balamb. When I get back tomorrow, I'll set everything up... It'll be fabby." Waving a hand vauguely, Jez laughed. "It'll be great to see Zell. I miss him. I missed him an hour after he left. I. I." She stared into her drink and collected her thoughts. "It's mad to fall for someone after meeting them for a few hours, ain't it? But I have." She paused, and Rinoa interjected.
"He is a great guy though. I mean, I like tall guys. I like Squall." Her gaze went starry. "But Zell's lovely, really he is. He'll treat you fantastic, I know it! Oh, I'll have to get the two of you together properly, get you on a date! This'll be so cool!" Jez smiled, and heard the bell for last orders ring over Rinoa's whittering. She stood - rather unstabley - and offered a hand to Rinoa.
"Shall we go?" With a nod, the two of them left the bar, and staggered towards the train that was Rinoa's home.
*************
"Thank you, sir," Jez saluted the new headmaster of Galbadia Garden, and walked out of his office. The second she was out of sight, she let out the breath she'd been holding and leant against the wall. That was it. She'd made the biggest decision she'd made in her life so far - bigger even than her decision to come to Garden in the first place, because this might involve... something serious. A relationship. Shaking her head and smiling, Jez walked towards the elevator. She'd only told Rinoa about her plan so far, on the phone this morning. Zell had snatched the phone off of her when he realised who it was, and they'd had a nice chat for about half an hour before Rinoa started to freak at how large her mobile bill was going to be. It had been a nice conversation. They'd chatted about what they'd been doing - not much on her part, while he'd been on a few cool missions around the world. But he hadn't mentioned anything about them getting together, or a date or anything - and she hadn't the courage. Monsters and armies, no problem, but when it came to asking the guy she was crazy about out? Maybe he was nervous, too. She hoped so. She was pretty certain he liked her - his stealing Rinoa's mobile at every given opportunity showed that - but was it in a romantic way?
Jez shook her head to clear it. She wouldn't know until she asked him. And she had other important things to think about right now. When she'd got back from Timber last week, she'd put a request through to Balamb for a transfer. She had imagined it would have taken a while, but her excellent examination results and extensive field traiing made things happen a little faster than it might otherwise. For once, Jez was glad she'd tried damned hard at her exams. It might have meant fewer nights out and a lot of work, but it had been worth it. Headmaster Cid had been very impressed - had sent her a holotape to welcome her to Balamb, and she was free to transfer at her own pace - though the school year had already started.
With all the paperwork sorted out, all Jez needed to do was pack her stuff and say her goodbyes. Biting her lip, she went to her room. Glad to note that her roommate, Rin wasn't there, Jez gathered a few things and put them into her bag, before walking down to her car. She sighed and settled back in the seat, looking at the wall. This would be difficult. Her mother had a hard enough time only being able to see her daughter at weekends as it was. Being in Balamb would make it worse. Turning the engine and backing out of the car park, Jez travelled the well-known road to her parents house with music on loudly to take her mind off her thoughts. Sliding the car into her parents driveway, she noticed thankfully that her fathers car wasn't there. All the hassle he would give was not needed today.
Stepping up to the doorstep, she knocked, feeling horrible.
"Jez!?" Her brother, Jono grinned in surprise at her, and took her up into a bearhug. Smoothing his light brown hair back, blue eyes twinkling, he let her. "What on earth are ya doin' here? Mum'll be so happy to see you!"
Jez smiled at her brother with a twinge of sadness. "Oh, I'm not sure about that, Jono." He frowned at her as they entered the living room. Her mother stood, blue eyes wide and blonde curls bouncing.
"Jezebelle?" She embraced her daughter tightly, and smiled at her. "Oh, it's so good to see you! Did you see your Uncle Laguna at the party?"
With horror, Jez felt tears prick at her eyes. Forcing them back where they belonged, she started to speak. "Sit down, Mum, Jono. I've got... well, I'm not sure if it's good or bad news. Both, I guess. I'm transfering to Balamb Garden." She paused for a minute, looking away from the horrified looks of her family, not being able to handle it. "I want to be a SeeD, and this year is my last chance. I met Laguna's son, Squall and all his friends - they're all great, I know I'll be happy there. I mean, I'll miss you, but I'll still be able to visit and-" She stopped, realising she was rambling, and looked at her mother. "I'm sorry I didn't discuss it beforehand, but I needed to get it done while I still had the courage. You understand, don't you?"
For a few long moments, Jono leaned forward and hugged her. "I know you'll do great, sis." Smiling thankfully at him, Jez turned to her mother, who gave a watery smile, and took Jez' hands in her own.
"Oh, Jezebelle." She stroked a lock of Jez' black hair with a distant smile. "You've wanted to do this for a long time haven't you?" Jez nodded. "Then go. I know you'll make us proud. Just keep in touch, you hear?" She held her daughter for a long moment. "If I know you, you want to get there soon, am I right?"
"I was going to get the train tomorrow morning," said Jez, slowly, cocking her head. "But if you want me to stay-"
"Don't be silly! I want you to go, and as soon as you're settled in, we'll come and visit. She stood, and indicated for Jez to do the same. They walked to the door, and Jez hugged her mother once more.
"I'll miss you two," she whispered, giving her brother a kiss on the cheek. "And... Tell Dad I said goodbye." With that, she climbed back into the car and left, not able to cope with anymore goodbyes.
Getting back to Garden after a nice, calming drive, she found Rin and Manji in her room, playing mikado. With a sinking heart, she sat on her bed. For a few moments, she watched them play, Manji winning, then sighed.
"Guys, I need to tell you something." Manji made a move, effectively finishing the game, and Rin groaned. The two of them looked up at her.
"What's up, leader girl?" Manji grinned at her, his nickname for her grown from her taking charge at so many of their battles, and had stuck. It made the moment seem all the more poignant.
"I'm transfering to Balamb Garden. My train leaves tomorrow morning." Jez said it succinctly and watched the reactions of her two best friends. Manji sat back, whilst Rin just stared at her.
"Are you joking?" When she got no response, she walked over and sat on the bed next to her. "What are you thinking?! Is this just because you met that guy? I-"
"She's talked about being a SeeD since we first met her, hon." Manji now sat forward and crossed his legs. "You know that as well as I do, and this year she'll be nineteen, so it's her last chance. She's got to follow her dream." Though his words were true, and he was sticking up for her, he looked at her with a little questioning in his eyes.
Rin was still looking at her with upset eyes, and Jez pulled her legs up to her chest. "Yeah, I do want to be a SeeD. But you're right too, Rin. I do want to see Zell. I want to be with him. I know it's crazy, but... Well, there it is. My transfer was approved this morning. I'll totally miss you guys." Jez turned to hug Rin tightly. "You have to come and visit me, okay?"
Rin was still staring at her. "I can't beleive you're doing this, Jez." Manji walked over, and slipped his arm around her waist.
"It's not like we're never going to see her again, Rin."
"I know, but it's been the three of us for five years! Since she got here, there's been us. We're a posse. It won't be the same without you." Rin looked hurt, but the tears that Jez felt well up in her eyes must have stopped her, for she embraced her friend tightly. "I guess you must love him to do this for him, huh?"
Jez blinked at her, and smiled. It was the first time anyone had said it to her, she hadn't even let herself think it. But now it had been said, it sounded exactly right. "I do love him." Her words were quiet but sure. "And I do want to be a SeeD. This is something I have to do. And even though I know I'm gonna miss you guys like hell, I still want to go." She embraced them both, then stood and pulled her case from under her bed. Rin and Manji both stood and went over to the other bed and watched her pack her stuff.
"When's your train?"
"Tomorrow. 9:00 hours." Jez put the contents of her wardrobe into the case, and then emptied out her drawers. Clothes, photographs, souvineers. All that she couldn't leave behind. Picking up her Polaroid camera, she turned and gestured for her friends to pose for a photograph. "I'll take two photo's, one for each of us. So we know we'll always be there for each other." Smiling, the three of them looked up at the camera as Jez held it aloft. It flashed twice, and Jez threw the picture of her posse onto the rest of her belongings, and closed the case.
************
Jez stared at the train that stood in Deling City station. This was it. The last chance to change her mind. But she wouldn't, she knew. She'd had another two chats to Zell over the phone, and they'd only served to make her certain she'd fallen utterly for him. The transfer had gone smoothly, and now there were only her goodbyes to her best friends to make. Turning, she saw Rin huddled agaist Manji's chest, and felt her chest tighten. This was the hardest thing she'd had to deal with so far.
"I'll miss you guys," she whispered feircely. Rin turned and embraced Jez, her eyes red with crying.
"You come and visit, hear? We miss you already."
"I'll be back to help you with the wedding," Jez whispered as she held her friend and felt a tear slide down her own cheek. She then let go of her, and looked up at Manji. He had a sad smile on his face as he looked at her. He wrapped his arms around her, his tall frame dwarfing the 5'2" tall girl.
"Look after yourself, Jezebelle." He pulled back, and looked at her with his undamaged eye. "Be careful. Zell seems like a nice guy, but still... Be careful." Kissing her softly on the head, he whispered to her. "We love you, Jez."
At that word, she brought a hand up to her mouth as she started crying in ernest. She pulled the two of them two her for a group hug. "I love you both. Remember that!" She turned, and got on the train an instant before the doors shut. Sitting down, she gazed at her friends out of the window, tears dripping from her chin. She waved at them as the train left the station and took her towards her new life.
The End!