“Headmaster!”

“Stop calling me that.” Zell pushed past Squall into the headmaster’s office. Zell dropped a box on his desk, knocking over documents. “Solstice is coming up.”

“Is that my present?” Squall asked, his voice dry.

“Not even close. Decorations. Selphie insisted.”

“Whatever.” Squall ignored him as he worked, refusing to acknowledge the box long enough to move it.

“That’s sufficiently jolly,” Zell finally declared. “Oh! I almost forgot.”

“Forgot what?” Squall asked, regretting it.

Zell pointed up, where mistletoe dangled.

“No.”

“Rinoa’s request,” Zell held up his hands innocently. “But as long as I’m the one who caught you…”

Ellone watched the moon over the Garden and wondered how to get her brother back.

She’d watched, worrying over him during her years in hiding, and been crushed when Ultimecia overtook Matron Edea. When she finally found her brother, another sorceress was there.

She knew him better than Rinoa could. She’d spent years with him in the orphanage, when he cried and held her hand tightly. She’d been inside his head, after all.

An idea: fight a sorceress with magic. Show Squall something, make him love her. Her mind unfolded.

Oh yes, Ellone loved her brother. And he’d love her.

This drabble first appeared in Phoenix Down Monthly.

I was sweeping dirt and pine needles off the walk when the stranger opened the gate and stepped inside with a flourish.

“Don’t worry, young man, I’ve come for the Sorceress. You’ll be free soon.”

I just stared at him for a minute. “What?”

“I’ve heard rumors that a Sorceress lives here. I’ve come to kill her.”

“Why?”

“Because Sorceresses are evil? Look, you’re obviously under some kind of spell so I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you don’t get out of my way.”

“She hasn’t harmed anyone, and I won’t let you hurt her.”

The man drew a sword and frowned at me. “I don’t think you can stop me.”

I stood between him and the door, holding the broom as menacingly as I could manage. I think he was trying not to snicker, but only because it would make him less intimidating if he did.

He swung at me without much force, probably thinking he could scare me off. I spun the broom handle, parrying his blow. He took aim again, harder this time, and again I knocked him away.

He stepped back and looked at me, first with confusion and then with narrowed eyes. “You must be a knight.”

I smiled at him. “You have me, sir.”

“I can’t go easy on you, then.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to.” Before he could reply, I swept forward with the broom, hitting him in the side with all the force I could muster. It was more than he’d expected, and he lost his footing and stumbled. I brought the broom up, scratching at his face with the bristles, then followed by cracking the other end against the back of his hand. The blow knocked his hand open and his sword fell to the walk.

He scrabbled for it, his eyes wide, and seemed to be debating what to do. I waited, trying not to let any emotion show on my face. It still surprised me, the way my body moved almost without my control.

Behind me, I heard the door open. “Cidney, is there a problem?”

“I don’t think so,” I answered without taking my eyes from the intruder.

“That’s the Sorceress?” he asked. Edea was eighteen, but looked young for her age, all slim curves and big eyes. I nodded.

“I think- I was misinformed,” he said, recovering his bravado. I couldn’t read his motives behind it, but as long as he was leaving, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

He turned to leave, then spun and brought the sword down at me. I raised the broom handle to meet it, but in a blink he was gone.

I looked at Edea. “I could have handled him.”

“Handling him is not your job,” she said, and then her voice was softer. “I’d rather not take the chance.”

I smiled at her. “Well, we probably would have had to get a new broom anyway, so you saved me that trouble.” She smiled back. “What happened to him?”

Edea shrugged. “I’m sure he won’t mind the walk from Deling. I hear it’s scenic this time of year.”

“Remind me never to argue with you,” I said as I finished sweeping the sidewalk.

“Never. Where would the fun be in that?” she asked, walking over to me. “It might be time to move again, though.”

“You just finished unpacking,” I sputtered. “I just finished unpacking. All my books…”

She ruffled my hair. “If you like. You might have to keep more fairy-tale heroes away from me, though.”

“I–” I swallowed. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“I’m always in danger,” Edea answered. “And I doubt you’d go down easy. Besides, you’re right, I just planted my garden. We’ll stay.” She took the broom out of my hand and lead me inside for dinner. I followed her, smiling, but I checked the locks twice as I closed the door behind us.

It was quiet here. Peaceful, almost. Squall could appreciate that. After the fighting, the yelling, that indescribable noise at the end- he hadn’t even known what it was, only that it stopped, and the silence was its own kind of noise.

He started walking, having nothing better to do, and wondered where Ultimecia had flung him. Nothing changed. He kept walking anyway. It was better than doing nothing. Time slid away from him.

Rinoa’s not coming, he thought, and was surprised. He hadn’t realized he’d been waiting for her.

Squall sat down, waiting. Nothing would catch up with him eventually.

“I wanted you to know that I’m glad you stayed at your post,” Cid said. Dr. Kadowaki hadn’t heard him come in, and she jumped in her seat.

“Oh! Headmaster. You surprised me.”

“I’m not Headmaster for much longer. I just wanted you to know that, though. I was afraid you might think I was upset you didn’t pick a side.”

The doctor shook her head. “I did my job. I knew you’d understand that.”

Cid stared at the student on the cot, trying to figure out what else he wanted to say.

“I am glad you won,” she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. He smiled sadly and thanked her again before he left.

Edea’s only thought was to keep the strange woman away from the children, just in case. Then she realize who – or rather what – she was. A sorceress, badly injured, who needed to pass on her power.

Ultimecia took Edea’s small hand in her own, and pressed her lips to the woman’s forehead, and Edea didn’t even think to scream as the electricity ran between them and the older sorceress poured into the mind of the younger.

Edea was left staggering, breathing hard, and almost unaware of the wicked little turn to her smile. Almost.

He seemed so dashing, rushing off where wiser men feared to tread. Wiser, less dashing men, like her husband, helped open orphanages on the edge of the world, far away from…

“-just a crazy sorceress,” Laguna was saying when Edea stepped back into the conversation. She tried not to take it personally.

“It’s brave of you to decide to go, little girl or not. Many grown men would call it a lost cause,” she told him, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Adel is not a force to trifle with.”

He smiled, and for a minute Edea thought about the way sorceresses used to collect knights, for security and sanity and maybe just because they wanted to. She leaned in and kissed him almost before she knew she was do. He kissed her back, his lips warm and damp, but there was no spark.

Edea pulled away, embarassed. Laguna looked surprised and then embarassed. “Oh, man, I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Don’t tell Raine, ok?”

“Raine?” she answered, her heart dropping.

“My fiancee.” No wonder there wasn’t anything for her to latch onto. “Ellone’s mother.”

“Oh.” Edea wondered if she sounded as stupid as she felt. “Of course I won’t…”

There was a long awkward moment, and then they both giggled.

“Anyway, I’d better get going,” Laguna told her. “Don’t get too lonely out here.”

“We won’t.”

Their island was quiet after the kids left – not that they could really call them kids anymore, regardless of whether the Deling government would allow them to buy porn.

“Sometimes I think… we should have done something else. Done it some other way,” Cid frowned as the Garden disappeared over the horizon.

Edea shook her head. “There’s no guarantee anything else would have worked out better. And it looks like they’re going to win.”

“Yes. They’ll save the world.” Cid hesitated. “I think I would have rather damned it and stayed with you.”

Edea laughed a little at that, and he smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ve still got plenty of time left.” She kissed him suddenly, and he was reminded of how she kissed when she was very young, before she became so guarded and afraid of herself. Then she took his hand and led him home.

“Yes, Edie?”

“Promise me you’ll let me go when the time comes.” She was chewing on her lower lip in that way he could never resist.

Cid put his hands on her hips and pulled her to him. “I’ll never let you go. I couldn’t.” He kissed her lightly, but she pulled away.

“I’m serious,” Edea told him.

“So am I,” he answered, serious now.

“You have to!”

He sighed. “I know I do, but I’m not proud of it. Let me pretend, Edea. Please?”

She looked thoughtful for a long minute, then smiled at him. “Never, then,” she agreed, and leaned in to let him kiss her.

“Would you like to have a child around the house?” Edea asked him suddenly.

Cid blinked and sputtered. “I, er, hadn’t thought about it.” He was quiet for a minute before asking “Why?”

“I just… thought it might be nice,” she answered, smiling softly in the way he knew meant she was planning something.

Could she be pregnant, Cid wondered. The house was a little small for a child, but they could manage. He found the idea of raising a child with Edea exciting but overwhelming.

“That would be nice,” he said finally. He expected she’d explain the question then, but instead she ran off with a tossed apology.

“Running into town,” was all the explaination he heard.

An hour later, she reappeared with a small blonde girl in tow.

“This is Quistis,” she announced with a smile.

Cid laughed. “You never were one for waiting, were you Edie?”

Years later, when Irvine asked where babies came from in the middle of helping make lasagna, Edea sent him to her husband.

He came back with a confused look on his face.

“Well, did he explain it to you?” she asked him.

Irvine nodded, his eyes wide and thoughtful.

“Then tell me, how do you get babies?”

“You run into town!” the boy announced proudly.