Life's Lessons on Stress

by Nona Mae King

  Chapter Five

  Adventuring: Zell Style

  Zell and I were up at the crack of dawn for our adventure and picnic together. We quietly grabbed some toast and juice from the kitchen and then headed out of Zack's house. The plan was to take the train to Deling City and then hoof it to the tomb in time for lunch. I was a little nervous, there were still reports of the occasional monster here and there, but the overall adventure idea with Zell really appealed to me.

  We caught the earliest train out of Timber, Zell telling me the story of hi-jacking the President's train and then having to fight a mechanical zombie-like creature. I had heard the story a few times before from Rinoa, and Selphie, but I didn't mind hearing it again. I loved watching Zell's expressions and body language as he told the adventure.

  The train arrived in Deling City a little while later, and it wasn't long before we were on our way out of the bustling city to the Tomb of the Unknown King--or Forgotten King--or something.

  Zell sent me a smile, which I intercepted and returned. "Nervous?" he asked.

  "A little. I haven't ever been out here before. Not even on a dare."

  He gave my hand a comforting squeeze. "Well don't sweat it. Monster sightings have been pretty slim."

  "What kind did you fight here before?"

  "Let's see." Zell frowned in concentration. "There were the buels--pretty pathetic, too--the slimes--which was a challenge because each one's weakness is different--and what else?" Zell rubbed at his scalp. "I think we ran into a Wendigo. No, that was over by Galbadia."

  I smiled. "It doesn't matter." I watched his face, and he intercepted my smile with a boyish one of his own. Warm fuzzies! "What was it like?"

  "Fighting the monsters?" he queried with a serious expression.

  "Yeah. We have all these years of training and simulation and theory, there's the Fire Cavern and the Training Center of course, but those are controlled environments. What was it like to actually fight an uncontrolled monster in a random environment?"

  Zell smiled wide. "You sound like you're interviewing me."

  I flushed and looked away, adjusting my hand within his. "Sorry."

  "Nah. It's okay. So, you want to know what it was like. Hm." He pursed his lips as he adjusted his hold on the picnic basket. "Well, it was a trip the first time I saw one of those caterpillar things outside the Fire Cavern. Just stared at it and wondered what the hell I should do first; draw magic, beat the crap out of it, or both."

  I smiled--or maybe I was already smiling? "I can understand that feeling."

  "Those bite bugs, or whatever they're called, those were the worst. Those damn things are so freakin' annoying I usually killed them the first chance I got. 'Course, I had to draw Scan and Fire from some of them or else I would have been screwed later, but damn they pissed me off."

  I giggled.

  Zell shed his seriousness and annoyance with a usual bright smile. "Hey. Don't laugh at me."

  "Sorry, sweetie," I apologized with what Zack would call a grossly sappy smile. I wrapped an arm around Zell and gave him a squeeze. "Didn't mean to. Really."

  "You were just laughing at the story. Right?" he offered. "Laughing with me and not at me, as Selphie would say."

  I giggled again. "Exactly."

  His arm surrounded me. "Anyway, I kind of figured out a pattern."

  "With the fighting and the magic?"

  "Bingo. I'd look to see if they had something good to draw, draw a dozen or so, and then wail on 'em. Then, just before they croaked, I'd draw a couple more times and give 'em the final pop. Sometimes, like with T-Rexaur in the T.C., I'd blind them or put them to sleep. That way I didn't have to deal with getting popped while I drew magic."

  "That's a good idea."

  "I thought so." Zell gave a one-sided shrug. "'Course, I couldn't do that until I'd been fighting for a while 'cuz I couldn't find a monster with that particular magic to draw. That was when I had to do the 'draw', 'fight', 'draw' routine. It would totally trip us out when some new monster came at us. We'd have to figure out a new routine to keep from getting our butt kicked." Zell tilted his head. "You know? I think that helped us with the bigger battles; figuring out those routines I mean. Getting those down helped us figure what would work to do the most damage while keepin' us alive. Strategy I guess you'd call it."

  I watched his face with a continuation of my previous sappy smile. "I'm glad you made it out all right," I confessed softly. "That's why I gave you that Mega Phoenix. I wanted you to be okay."

  Zell met my gaze with a bit more sappiness in his lopsided smile than usual. Then he stopped, set the picnic basket down, and reached to dig something out of the pouch at his belt. He showed it to me with a growing smile. I stared down at it with wide eyes. It was a smoky colored bottle with blood-red liquid inside: Mega Phoenix.

  "You still have it," I stated in a hushed voice.

  "Kind of hokey I guess, but it's been my good-luck charm since you gave it to me. I figured since I went through all those tough times and didn't need it." He stroked the glass with his thumb as he stared down at it. "Never really thought about it. It just felt right to keep it."

  My expression softened as I looked up at him.

  He glanced toward me and then smiled. "Okay. So you don't think it's hokey."

  I giggled. "Zell, you've never done anything 'hokey'; I don't care what anyone else says."

  Zell tucked the vial away again, ears slightly pink. "Oh," was all he said. Then he picked up the picnic basket and again embraced me with his arm as he led me toward the tomb.

  I wrapped both of my arms around him as I pressed my cheek against his chest. "I like embarrassing you," I confessed. "Does that make me an evil person?"

  Zell laughed. "No it doesn't make you an evil person. It makes you human, and a lot like me." He rubbed my back. "I like that part."

  I released a deep breath. "Me, too."

  He gave my back another couple rubs and then surprisingly cleared his throat. "Come on, kitten. Take it easy on me."

  I flushed as I pulled back, sending him a couple sidelong glances as I clasped my hands behind my back. "Sorry."

  "Hey, it’s okay. I just don’t want to do anything that’ll get me a fist in the mouth or something."

  "You haven’t done anything yet," I reminded carefully. "What makes you think you will?"

  Zell actually smirked as he caught and held my gaze. "Because I’m crazy about you, Sally. Duh. Sometimes we guys can’t really help what we do. We just do what we do because we feel what we--scratch that. I feel like a bad version of a hokey love song."

  I giggled. "Zell, you’re so silly." I took hold of his free hand. "Don’t ever change that."

  He looked over at me with the somewhat sappy smile of before. "Sure, Sally. Sure."

  We got to the tomb right when our stomachs were beginning to complain. The moment we stepped within the main section that led to the entrance, I forgot about my hunger and could only gape at the gorgeous landscape. The moss covered stone of the tomb. The laughter and giggles of the brook just outside the entrance. The flowers. The lush grass. The stonework walk. It was as if we had just stepped into a fiction novel and I was going to experience the adventure of a lifetime.

  My hand tightened on Zell’s. "Oh my gosh," I breathed.

  "Pretty amazing, huh?" He pointed ahead of us. "There’s the entrance. And the trick is to always turn right. If you do, you’ll eventually make it back out here. Once you do, you go back in and travel straight. Then you get into the final tomb. That was where Selphie, Squall and me battled the Brothers and got their guardian power. It was a long battle, but only because they had some really awesome magic that we all wanted to get our hands on. And between Selphie having to keep casting Protect on us and Float on us and the Brothers." Zell shook his head. "We must have battled those guys for at least an hour."

  "Wow."

  Zell grinned and then motioned toward the entrance with his head. "Come on. I’ll give you the play-by
-play."

  I followed Zell with open mouth, wide eyes, and whispered "Oh my gosh"es all the way. I could almost picture the fights with the buels and the oozes--or slimes, or whatever they called them--and the first battle with the Sacred and the second battle with the Sacred and his brother the Minotaur.

  Something in the way Zell described the battle, and the action, and the hits, and everything really made it come alive. I could see the battle in the rooms. I could hear the strike of Commander Squall’s gunblade and the loud explosion as he pulled the trigger. I could hear the exhalation of breath with each impact of Zell’s gloves, hear the chink of the chains to Selphie’s numchukus as they struck, and again, and yet again as the battle raged on and on. The rush of accumulated magic. The pain of an unblocked blow. The refreshing coolness of the Cure. The relief of the Protect blocking some of the pain.

  "And then they decided we were strong enough to use their power," Zell finished. He leaned against the open coffin and watched me with a slight smile as I looked around the tomb. "Are you always like that when I tell a story?"

  I focused wide eyes on Zell. "What?"

  Zell shook his head. "Nothing. Come on. Let’s eat. I’m starved."

  I smiled and stepped forward, pulling the flannel blanket off of the picnic basket to help Zell lay it flat on the ground. Then we knelt on the blanket and started pulling out dishes and dishes--both the edible and non-edible kind. Sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, bottles of juice, cheese, and things like that. Of course we also had cookies and a pie that my mom had somehow found room for.

  "Berry pie! Your mom rocks!" Zell exclaimed.

  "Now I see the quickest way to your heart is through your stomach."

  "You already knew that. Remember? Hot dog fairy?"

  I laughed. "I forgot about that," I confessed. "I wanted to think you fell instantly in love with me because of my charm and sophisticated beauty." I struck a pose that was utterly ridiculous, with pouty lips and everything. "Zell, dahling, would you please pass the buttah?"

  Zell sniggered into his hand as he passed me a plate of cheese instead, shaking his head.

  "Thahnk you, dahling." I took it, the sophistication melting into a fit of the giggles.

  "Sure. Don’t mention it." Zell laid on his right side, supporting himself on his elbow and arm as he played with a cloth napkin. He absently smiled down at it.

  I turned to lay on my stomach, ankles crossed as feet dangling above me. I watched him with a just as absent smile, every so often munching a bit of cheese or plucking a grape from a plate between us. "Watcha thinkin’?" I asked softly.

  Zell met my gaze, and his smile widened. "Stuff. Don’t sweat it."

  To my surprise, I didn’t. "Okay."

  He retrieved a ham and cheese sandwich and took a bite. "So, what do you wanna do?"

  "Go swimming?"

  "Oh. I didn't bring my suit."

  My eyes crinkled at the corners. "Neither did I."

  Zell dropped his sandwich as he stared at me, wide-eyed. "Sally, I can't belie--" He regarded me suspiciously. "You're pulling my leg, aren't ya?"

  I shook my head as I giggled. "Nope." Well, not really.

  Zell looked both ways before again meeting my gaze. "Skinny dippin'? Really?"

  I laughed harder. "No, not skinny dipping, Zell! With our clothes on!"

  He grinned. "I knew you were messing with me!" He tossed a grape at me, hitting me in the nose. "It's not nice to mess with a guy's head like that."

  "I know." I retrieved the grape from the tumbled pile of my cheese and aimed. Zell opened his mouth and I actually got it in. He winked at me. "But it's so much fun," I admitted. I sent him a glance from under my lashes as I moved the cheese and pickle slices around my plate. "I like watching your face." I softly giggled and met his gaze. "I guess I'm a junkie, too."

  Zell moved to lay on his stomach as well. "Hey, junkies have to stick together. Right?"

  I nodded. "Right."

  He picked up his sandwich again, pointing at me with it between bites as he told stories of funny happenings in class or "Did you know?" facts about exercise, gymnastics, and fighting. It was all interesting and eye-opening, and a lot of it was just a lot of fun. I mean, how often do you have one of the saviors of your planet laying on a picnic blanket across from you telling embarrassing stories of your commanding officers when they were preschoolers or kindergartners? I hadn’t met anyone.

  We finished the sandwiches and vegetables on tale-ends of howls of laughter at a particularly wonderful story of Squall and Seifer going at it when they were about 5 years old. Then Zell somehow got me to confess an embarrassing tale of my own at the same age, something involving a family of mice and a visiting aunt. Zell roared and howled. Of course, so did I. I had to. It was funny to picture the aunt’s face when a family of mice skittered along the back of the couch as they made a beeline for her hat--it happened to have had a variety of fake but very real looking fruit in it for decoration.

  "I hope you have some pictures of that," Zell said. He picked up a grape and offered it forward, placing it in my mouth with an impish smile. "We’re talking major story material, Meg. You could make hundreds selling that short story. Seriously."

  I chewed and swallowed the grape. "I know. Mom said the same thing. I’ve just got to go through my memories I guess and put them all on paper." I crinkled my eyes and my nose at him. "Maybe I’ll just have to record my conversations with you. I always tell the best stories when you’re around."

  He offered forward another grape, popping it into my mouth with a deft action. "Hey. No problem here. I’m a junkie. Remember?" Zell's impish smile widened. "I changed my mind. I want that grape back." And he leaned forward to touch my lips with his.

  The comment and action so surprised me that I swallowed. I pulled back and covered my mouth with a hand as I flushed. "Oops."

  Zell's lips twitched. "Darn. You snooze, you lose, I guess."

  My smile returned. Warm fuzzies had evolved to something I didn't even know how to classify. Then Zell lowered his focus to the plates between us and rolled a grape around with a finger. To my surprise, he looked a little troubled. My smile vanished, and his expression sabotaged whatever flowery field had been growing within my imagination.

  "Sweetie?" He didn’t look up, and my expression warped further. "Zell, what's the matter?"

  He gave a one-shoulder shrug. "I keep thinkin' about what you said."

  My stomach lurched, and I suddenly didn't feel very well. "What I said? About what?"

  "Responsibilities and me." Zell looked up. "Sally, you don't really think that, right?" he asked. "I figured you were probably joking but, I don't know. I just wanted to make sure 'cause, well, you know."

  I reached out and covered his hand. "Oh my gosh, Zell, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it."

  Zell suddenly smiled, the apparent hurt dismissed and forgotten. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure, what with everybody thinkin' I'm just some free spirit who'd rather party than take life serious."

  My throat tightened. "I know you're not irresponsible, and I shouldn't have joked about it."

  He must have caught the hint of tears, because his smile wavered and he covered my hand covering his. "Dude, Sally, it's okay. I can take a joke. Really. It's just I wanted to make sure. It kept buggin' me. That's all. I wasn't stressin' over it. Promise."

  I nodded, unable to say anything for fear I'd squeak and make him feel worse than he already did. I was glad he'd asked, and I didn't want him to stop asking about stuff like that if he thought it would make me cry.

  The impish twinkle returned and he leaned a little closer. "Now, where were we?"

  Warm fuzzies wrestled grief out of the way, and I giggled as I leaned back. Then I feigned insulted seriousness. "I was trying to eat my lunch and you tried to steal a grape. That's what I remember."

  "Really?" His expression screwed up into an adorable version of confusion. "Huh. I don't remember that at all. Can you show me an example of what alle
gedly happened?"

  I repressed a giggle and gave a one-shoulder shrug. "If you think it will help." I leaned forward again. "You leaned forward like this and said. 'Hey. I want that grape.' And then you attempted to take it by force." I touched my lips against his. "Like this." I pulled back. "Do you remember now?"

  Zell pursed his lips to one side. "Hm. I don't remember it like that at all."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

  "Yeah," he said, matter-of-fact. "Here. Let me show you."

  Zell kissed me very different than what he had before. Some sick and twisted, analytical part of my mind classified it as more coaxing, using a lot more lip and mouth than any kiss I'd had; even the one in the hot tub before. I would definitely have given up the grape if he'd kissed me like that.

  Zell pulled slowly back, but there was no way on earth I could open my eyes and look at him. I drowned in warm fuzzies that felt more like an avalanche and a volcano all in one. So I just lay there propped up on my arms with my lips slightly parted as I tried to gather my brains and wits from wherever they'd melted to.

  "Whoa," Zell whispered. He cleared his throat. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that."

  I vaguely registered some scuffling and slowly opened my eyes. Zell sat cross-legged a couple feet away from me.

  He sent me a guilty smile. "Sorry, Meg."

  My wits scrambled. "For what?" I asked absently.

  Zell chuckled, his smile widening. "Overload, huh?" He opened a bottle of juice and handed it to me. "Here. Have a slurp or two of this."

  "Okay." I reached out and took the bottle, staring down at it in confusion. A slow and very silly and sappy smile lightened my expression as I looked up at Zell again. "I liked your version better."

  Zell laughed and got a bottle of juice for himself. "Yeah. Me, too, but let's not do that again. ‘Kay? I've got discipline, yeah, but I'm not some super human. At least, not with you."

  I sat up, silly smile still firmly fastened.

  Zell pointed at me. "You just stay over there." He set aside his juice bottle, after taking a couple swigs of course, and pulled the pie out of the picnic basket while giving me sidelong glances.

  I giggled and flushed but did as I was told, peeking at him from under my lashes as I set aside my bottle of juice and took to the task of choosing a specific piece of cheese.

  Zell started digging for the pie cutter, and his lips twitched as he sent me more glances. "Stop it. I mean it."

  I picked a piece of cheese, my shy self watching in horror as I looked to the left part of the room with occasional glances still in Zell's direction, all the while nibbling on my slice of cheese.

  "Sally," he warned. He pulled his hands from the basket, pie cutter in hand. "Sally, if you don't stop, I'm gonna take steps." And this warning was accented with yet another point as well as a meaningful look.

  I popped the final piece of cheese in my mouth, my timidity spluttering and stammering as it tried to grab back the control, and sent him a slight twitch of my lips in accompaniment with my sidelong glance.

  "Okay; that's it." He set down the cutter and stood, scooping me up and over his shoulder in nearly the same moment.

  I squealed--as usual--and giggled. "Zell! No! I was joking!"

  He strode forward. "Hey. I gave you fair warning. Now I take steps."

  I wriggled and laughed, giving his back a few thumps just so we could have the full effect. "Zell, don't. I promise I'll stop."

  "Too late, Meg."

  I lifted my torso up and twisted to see where we headed. I saw the exit and heard the burbling of the brook that went under the bridge leading to the entrance. I smiled but continued my half-hearted attempt at freedom.

  Zell tromped right up to and on to the bridge, adjusted his hold, and then heaved me into the water below. I squealed as I went over, but I was able to grab hold of his hand and pull him off-balance. He sounded a strangled shout and tumbled in directly after me. We both came up spluttering and wiping water from eyes and faces. Then we shared silly smiles and grins and squealed and shouted some more as we wrestled and rough-housed in the water.

  Okay. Could someone pinch me please?

  Rough-housing over and energy spent, Zell and I just floated in the brook surrounding the tomb while in a position I would never have thought plausible. Zell lay on his back, as usual when one floated in water, and I rested on top with my back against him, my head just beneath his chin, and my hands and arms resting along his. It was the most awesome experience in my life. I suspected Zell might have cast Float on himself to make sure we didn't go under, but I didn't really care.

  "Hey, Sally?"

  I smiled, eyes closed. "Hmm?"

  "Did you ever want to do anything outside Garden? Like a job? Like your dad or Zack?"

  "Sometimes."

  "What'd you want to do?"

  I opened my eyes to watch the pinkish-white clouds tickle the air. "I've thought about working for Zack at the T.V. station in the control center. There'd be computers to play with and things to organize and keep running smoothly. I've always liked that. I'd also thought about working at the radio station as a techie."

  "Then how come you enrolled at Garden?"

  I interlaced my fingers with his. "Dad said it would give me a lot of good experiences. Teach me more about computers and things I'd need to learn for life." I adjusted my head against him. "We were having a lot of problems with Galbadian soldiers and monsters and things at the time, so I thought he suggested it to teach me how to fight. You know? How to take care of myself? I didn't get out much. Too shy."

  Our arms moved together in the water. "Yeah. He said something about that." Silence. "Sally?"

  "Hm?"

  "You still think about doing that? The techie stuff at the T.V. station, I mean."

  I slightly nodded. "Sometimes. It would be great to be close to my family again, but right now I really like my job at Garden. It's important, and I like making a difference."

  "Yeah. Me, too."

  "Why?"

  "Why what?"

  "Why do you ask?"

  Zell wrapped his arms around me, my hands still linked with his. "Just wondering."

  "How come?"

  "Just thinking about stuff," he said.

  I didn't remember Zell ever being vague before. "Like what?" I pressed, and I tried to sound as innocent and uninterested as possible.

  Zell chuckled. "Don't sweat it, Meg. I just like knowin' stuff about you. Before."

  "I'm not sweating anything," I said, nonchalant, although now I was even more curious.

  Silence.

  "Sally, did you ever want to travel anywhere before?"

  I smiled. "I never thought about it until enrolling at Garden. I was happy with Timber. But when I took the train to Garden and then saw all those videos of successful field exams and deployments all over the world?" I released a deep breath as I closed my eyes and again remembered the pictures and the sights and sounds of those faraway places. "Yeah, I definitely changed my mind."

  Zell adjusted his arms around me. "I always wanted to see about taking a ship around the world to stop at those places I didn't have a chance to really explore before." Silence. "Would you wanna go with?"

  My eyes opened. "Go with you?"

  "Yeah. You wanna come when I finally go? It probably wouldn’t be for another, what?, probably five years, but that’d be okay. Right?"

  Warm fuzzies! I relaxed into Zell’s arms with a Zack-killing smile of the sappiest order. "I’d love to go, Zell."

  "Cool."

  Only I can’t go with you until you ask me to marry you.

  "I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard gettin’ a leave of absence from Garden for, geez. How long would we need? Like, three months or something. And we could take that nifty internet phone so that Seifer could feel like he had you on a leash. Only, I’ll forget to bring the recharger, so it’ll run out after a week, or whatever."

  My eyes crinkled at the corners as Zell went on, pl
anning this trip that would probably never happen--though I secretly hoped it would--and cataloguing all the cool things we’d do and see and discover. It was an adventure someone like me only dreamed about. Days and nights at sea; with Zell. Alone. Discovering what was out there to discover while learning so much more about each other. A true, honest to goodness adventure. Only, I can’t go unless he asks. And that was one adventure I didn’t know the ending to.

  Zell kissed my temple. "I guess we better pack up and head on out, kitten."

  He released his hold, so I carefully rolled off. Then we made our way to the bank, Zell helping me out. We made our way back to the picnic site hand in hand, me wondering what to think of the proposed adventure and chastising myself for not taking it as it came.

  The picnic was gathered amidst light conversation of what we planned to do that evening with Quistis and my family. Then we headed back to the exit/entrance, hand-in-hand yet again, and just enjoyed each other’s company in silence all the way to Deling City. On the train to Timber, I curled up on the couch next to Zell with my head on his chest and his arm around me. I fell asleep to dream of sea adventures and romantic interludes on mysterious beaches, a pair of rings glistening in the setting sun.