I Love Your Smile - a songfic by Warrior Saturn

I Love Your Smile
(a songfic by Warrior Saturn)
<music: 'I Love Your Smile' -Shanice>

<sittin' in my class, just drifting away, staring into the windows of the world>

     Anessa Cambridge sat towards the back of the classroom, staring idly out the window as Professor Quistis Trepe lectured about the importance of the buddy system, especially when in high risk combat situations. Normally she enjoyed these lectures, and would take page upon page upon page of notes, but for some odd reason today was different. Today she just couldn't get into the mood to be the model student. It might have been the noon day sun and how inviting it was. It might have been the breeze that was off of the ocean near Balamb town, which would make the outdoors ideal. It might also have been the fact that she was just waiting for classes to end for the day so that she could hang out with her friends.
     "And so, wrapping up the topic of proper battle spell casting, I would like to add..." Professor Trepe said. Anessa sighed and looked up at the blackboard, which was covered with notes important for the next test in the class. She made a face behind the teacher's back, which caused a couple of people who saw it to chuckle. When Professor Trepe turned back around everyone resumed being model students. <I can't hear the teacher, his books don't call me at all...>      She yawned idly, not even hearing what the professor had to say. She looked down at her notebook, which was open in front of her, and stared blankly at the page which she had filled up with a doodle of herself, Tenal, Karna, Tiskili, and Reyark all sitting under a tree and doing various relaxing things.
     "And make sure to read pages two hundred through two hundred seventy five," Professor Trepe added. She looked at the clock before saying, "There are ten minutes left in class, so you may as well get a jumpstart on your reading." <I don't see the bad boys tryin' to catch some play...>      Anessa sighed and looked out the window again, which not only overlooked the fields, but also overlooked the fitness courts, where many of the boys would go when they had free periods to play basket ball or something like that. She hoped that Tenal and Reyark and Karna would be out there with Zell and Irvine and Seifer, but when she saw that the courts were empty she sighed again.
     "I love your smile," she sang under her breath, flipping back a couple of pages in her notebook to reveal a string of pictures from an instamatic photo booth. She was one of the subjects in the pictures, and Tenal, Tiskili, and Karna were the other three. All four of them were smiling, grinning, and laughing hysterically. She ran her finger in a circle around Tenal and sighed again.
     "Hey, Anessa, are you, like, alive or some junk?" somebody asked in her ear, and she turned to see Boomer standing beside her desk. She did a doubletake since she wasn't used to seeing the mechanic's daughter in anything but her battle clothes, and seeing the blond in full SeeD school uniform was somewhat unsettling to her, especially when Boomer blinked her ocean blue eyes at her.
     "Huh... Boomer?" she said, quickly hiding the photo in her notebook.
     "Girlfriend, you were doing some major daydreaming," Boomer said, hopping onto the desk behind her. "I can't believe you didn't hear the bell ring, or all the cheers of the students as they filed out. We don't have classes for the rest of the day! Isn't it fabulous?!"
     Anessa set about putting her books and whatnot into her bag and sighed. "Yeah. Fabuloso. Major."
     Boomer blinked and stood up. "Wow, tough crowd today," she said. "Girl, are you tripping or what?"
     "It's... it's nothing," she replied quickly as she stood up. "C'mon, let's meet the others for lunch."
     "Now you're talking," Boomer said, bouncing towards the door, "Last one to the usual spot has to mop the motorpool for the next week!"
     "No fair!" she cried as Boomer ran off, "You got a head start! Come back here!"

     It was mid afternoon, and she was at her part time job in Balamb town. She yawned and looked around the little shop, which was lucky to have a small trickle of business on a good day. She looked up at the clock and sighed before crossing her arms on the counter and leaning forward, resting her chin upon them. It was two minutes past three and she was B-O-R-E-D bored.
     "I want to be free," she mumbled into her sleeves. "Free. Free! FREEEEE!" <free to scream, free to bathe, free to paint my toes all day>      The ticking of the clock in the store made her want to scream and run about insanely. There was so much she could be doing instead of spending her entire afternoon in that dusty little shop. She could be taking a luxious bubblebath. She could be picking out what she wanted to wear for their hangout at the mall that night. Hell, she could even be painting her toes instead of keeping the counter from falling over. <my boss is lame you know, and so is the pay>      "Anessa, you could be dusting the jars instead of just standing around, looking like a lost kitten," her boss said, sticking her head out of the back room. Madam Gertie was a nice enough woman, but there were things about her that made her wish for a nice little job at the boutique at the mall. And to top it all off, the pay rate for anyone working in a thrift shop totally sucked.
     "Yes Madam Gertie," she sighed, stepping from behind the counter. She picked up a feather duster and began the arduous task of dusting the stacks of old pots and jars that seemed to collect on the shelves. As she moved closer to the clothing rack she saw something that she couldn't believe - a brand new black skirt in her size. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, then snatched up her find.
     "That just came in today," Madam Gertie said as she hobbled across the floor to where Anessa was standing. "It's brand new. Designer label too. You would look so pretty in it." <I'm gonna put my new black mini (on my charge anyway) 'Cause I love your smile..>      She held it down to her waist and stepped over to the big mirror, where people would admire themselves in their prospective purchases. The skirt may have been a little high cut, but she liked Tenal a lot. She admired herself for a few more seconds before saying, "Madam Gertie, can I add this to my charge account? Please?"
     Madam Gertie was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Yes dear, I'll let you do that. Any particular boy you're trying to impress?"
     She blushed and looked at the floor, too embarrassed to really answer. Madam Gertie smiled. "I'll take that as a yes, as well as a message to keep quiet and mind my own business. Now, go home and get ready for your date."
     She blinked a couple of times. "But I have a couple of hours left in my shift."
     "Which you will be paid for. Now go, before I change my mind."
     "Thank you Madam Gertie," she called as she stepped out the door, "Thanks ever so much."
     "Don't mention it," Madam Gertie called after her. "I'll want the juicy details the next time you work."

     Evening came all too quickly, and she was ready to hang out with Tenal and the rest of their friends. To go with the skirt she got at the store she wore a white baby-doll T-shirt with the Balamb insignia on it, a black vest, and black platform sandles. Her hair was pulled back in a braid, and earrings comprised of several interlocking golden hoops dangled from her ears. She had chosen to paint her nails that evening, and glittery emerald green polish shimmered on her fingers and toes.
     "Hey Anessa, we're here," Karna's voice said over her intercom. "Are you ready yet?"
     "Be down in a second," she replied, clicking a button while choosing a body scent for the evening. She picked up a bottle, pulled the cover off, and took a whiff. "Mmm... peachy."
     "What did you say?" Boomer's voice asked.
     She did a doubletake before realizing that the intercom was still on. "Nothing," she replied. "Just talking to myself. Forgot the intercom was on. Anyway, I'm on my way down."
     She shut the intercom off before spraying some of the peach scent into the air. Walking through the fine mist she grabbed her purse and sunglasses before leaving her room, leaving peach scent in her wake. 'It wasn't a date.... was it?' she wondered as she walked down to the entrance. 'What comprised a date?' her mind asked as she stepped out the door into the early evening.
     "You look wonderful tonight," Tenal said, holding out his hand to her. She took it without thinking and descended the four steps to the street below, and as she came level with him she blushed a bit. He saw her blush and blushed a little as well.
     "Tenal and Anessa, sittin' in a tree," Boomer teased, lifting her sunglasses up onto her forehead, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G."
     "Knock if off Boomer," Karna said, "They're not dating.... yet."
     "Yeah, but what about Tiskili and Kirinis?" Boomer asked, broaching a subject that nobody wanted to discuss at that moment.
     "What about them?" Anessa and Tenal asked in unison. "They're just friends."
     Boomer blinked a couple of times, unable to come up with a witty retort. She settled with just saying, "What-EVER." followed by silence. <now i know i'll never ever go back>      The four walked through town, laughing and joking the entire time. A few minutes later they arrived outside the mall, where students from Garden and people from the surrounding towns milled to shop until they dropped, grab a bite to eat, or just hang out and watch the world pass them by.
     "Attention Balamb shoppers," Boomer announced as they stepped through the sliding doors. "The badboys and girls of Garden are here to par-tay!"
     "And now I'm embarrassed," Karna sighed, shrugging into his jacket.
     "It's too late to back out of this, isn't it?" Anessa asked, looking up at Tenal. It was hard to believe that he was actually a couple of inches taller than she was, and she had platforms on.
     "Afraid so," Tenal replied, looking down at her. They both smiled uneasily as Boomer strutted her stuff through the atrium. He held his hand out to her, and she looked at it for a moment. "I won't bite," he said to alleviate some of the pressure, "I promise."
     "All right," she smirked, taking his hand, "and I promise not to at least try to bite you once tonight."
     Tenal blinked for a moment before Anessa dragged him into the mall. "Hey, just what does that mean?!" he demanded, nearly tripping over his own two feet in order to catch up to her.
     "Nothing," she winked. "Hey Boomer, you'd better slow down before I shove my platform someplace uncomfortable!" <Taught me that, I can be a better girl>      A short time later the four of them sat at a table on the foodcourt, each one munching on something different and picking off of the plates of the other three. Karna had sushi; Tenal chose something spicy and exotic; Boomer also had spicy food, but it was spiced beef in a hard shell with salsa and cheese; for Anessa it was a green salad with croutons, grated cheese, chicken, and a lite dressing with some oomph.
     "Will you quit picking off of my plate," Tenal said as Boomer helped herself to more of his spicey shrimp and seafood.
     "But you've eaten most of my crunchy twists," Boomer protested.
     "And I just snagged the last one," Anessa smirked, crunching into the cinnamon and sugar sweetness of a cinnatwist. The other people sharing the table stared at her like she had just grown two more heads as she ate half the twist. She glanced over at Tenal and winked. "Say aaaaah and you'll get a nice surprise."
     "What?" Tenal began to ask as Anessa shoved the rest of the cinnatwist into his mouth.
     Boomer's jaw dropped as Tenal munched on her crunchy and sweet confectionary. "How.. how could you?" she asked, pouting profusely.
     "Oh, grow up," Anessa sighed, pushing her plate towards her friend. "You can have as much of my grilled chicken as you want. And I know how much you like croutons and ricotta cheese."
     "I knew you were better than that," Tenal whispered in her ear, causing her to blush.
     "Oh, behave yourself," she replied, pressing a finger to his lips. "Otherwise I'll have to feed you some more." <With the love you give you rock my world>      Tenal smirked and began to chuckle, and Anessa couldn't help but chuckle. Boomer and Karna looked at them and shrugged.
     "Girl's gone off the deep end," Boomer said, helping herself to Anessa's dinner. "Oh well, can't let this delicious salad go to waste."
     "Hey!" Anessa protested when she realized just how much of her dinner was vanishing, "I only took one of your cinnatwists! That's like half of my remaining salad!"
     "You snooze, you lose," Boomer retorted with a smirk.
     Anessa grabbed an extra fork, stood up, leaned over the table, and began to stuff her face with forkful after forkful of spiced beef and vegetables. Boomer stared in shock as the girl who appeared to eat like a bird quickly polished off half of what was on her plate.
     "You're not as sweet and innocent as you look, are you?" Tenal asked when Anessa finally regained her seat.
     "Nope," Anessa replied, letting loose with a rather unladylike belch. She blushed, covered her mouth, and muttered a rather polite and embarrassed, "Excuse me."
     Tenal simply began to laugh, and a moment later Anessa joined him. Boomer and Karna shrugged before laughing as well, since laughing at yourself was one thing, but when your friends laugh with you, it gives new meaning to the whole thing.
     "I'm glad we're all friends at this table," Anessa said, leaning on Tenal's shoulder for support and wiping a tear from her eye. She struggled to catch her breath and smiled up at the dark haired young man she was leaning on. "Otherwise I'd be in trouble."
     "We're all entitled to our fair share of gasous emissions," Tenal replied.
     "Speaking of those," Karna said, rising from the table, "I'll be right back.... must answer nature's calling NOW!"
     "I'll go with him," Boomer said, rising and following after Karna, who had taken off running. "I might need to give him something for that."
     "Don't hurry back," Tenal and Anessa called after the other two. <I'm showin the life that I'm livin, this is the life that I have and I'm givin it to you>      "Let's blow this popsicle stand," Tenal said after Boomer and Karna had failed to reapper for many minutes.
     "But what about those two?" Anessa asked, looking up from her day planner, which she was trying to organize.
"We can leave a note for them. You have some scrap paper in there?"
     Anessa nodded and handed him a piece, upon which he scrawled a quick note to the other two. This he put under the edge of Boomer's plate before rising from the table. Offering his hand to Anessa, he smiled. "M'lady, will you accompany me on this escapade?"
     "But of course," Anessa said, blushing lightly as Tenal helped her to her feet. She giggled girlishly as they dashed out of the mall and into the night, where the sky was filling with stars. "Where are we going to go?" she asked as they continued to run, somehow managing to avoid falling and breaking every bone in their bodies in the darkness.
     "You'll see," Tenal replied, the light of the moons reflecting off of his face and giving his dark hair a bit of a pale aura. "Do you trust me?"
     Anessa blinked for a moment. Did she really trust Tenal enough to allow him to take her into the darkness of night? "Yeah," she nodded after thinking. "I trust you with my life and all that's pure about me."
     "Good enough for me," Tenal smirked. "Trust me, you'll love where I'm taking you." <Yeah, and it's true, lah-de-dah twinkly d do you believe in a girl like me?>      A couple of breathless minutes later they came to a stop at the top of a hill, where a single tree grew. Anessa took a couple of steps past where Tenal stopped and gasped in awe as the ocean stretched on towards the horizon. They were on a cliff overlooking the ocean all right, and Balamb glittered off to their left, with Balamb Garden glittering off to their right.
     "This is beautiful," she gasped, brushing her hair back from her face as a gentle breeze blew against them.
     "I told you that you'd like it," Tenal said, putting his hands on her shoulders.
     "Yeah," she sighed, leaning back against his chest, "I believed in you, and I wonder, do you believe in a girl like me?"
     Tenal was silent for a moment, and this made her a little nervous. She almost lost her balance when his arms encircled her shoulders and he pulled her close into a warm embrace. "Yes," he whispered into her hair, "I believe in a girl like you. I believe in whatever you hope for, dream of, and wish for." <Shanice is the one for you to be with, but when I'm caught all alone...>      For a brief moment she felt a breeze, then a cold draft where Tenal had been standing. For a moment she thought that he had run off and left her there, all alone, in the cold and the dark, to deal with whatever came her way. Were there monsters out there? 'Hell yeah,' she decided, recalling all that Professor Trepe had said during class, and that they were going to be tested on soon. 'Think girl,' she told herself, shuffling through her purse, 'what are the most important things to remember when you're alone at night in the middle of nowhere? Why the hell am I out here, alone, at night, in the middle of nowhere?' "Tenal? Tenal, where are you?!" she caught a sob before it broke. "Tenal, I'm scared," she said quietly. <I start fessin', it's from a state of depression. Then the thunderclouds of doubt roll in...>      She heard a muffled scream behind her, and turned her head to see a rather large insect with Tenal in its clutches. So he hadn't left her behind, but had simply been snatched up by a bug. Snatched up?
     "A little help here," Tenal managed to say, getting his mouth free of whatever the bug was secreting.
     "Right," Anessa nodded, fishing a gem out of her purse. She tossed this into the air and muttered an incantation under her breath, a large silvery compound bow forming out of the crystal, She leapt into the air, caught the bow, executed a couple of quick flips, and landed in a crouch while drawing the string back. A silver arrow formed as she drew the string to the maximum, and she took careful aim at the bug's head, which was a little bit higher than Tenal's.
     "Anessa.... I didn't leave you, if that's what you're thinking," Tenal said, his voice shaking with panic when he realized where she was aiming at him.
     "Oh, hush," she smirked, her eyes trained on the bug's. "You may just want to close your eyes hon because there may be a bit of a mess."
     She released the arrow, and smirked as the bug disintegrated upon impact. Tenal dropped to the ground and rolled, blood spattering all over his clothes. She clipped the bow to her back and ran to his side immediately, giggling as she slipped on some bug blood and fell on her butt, skidding the last few inches to Tenal's side. <Do you still love me? But after that my whole world's beautiful>      "Anessa, you smell of peaches and nasty blood," Tenal chuckled as he sat up.
     "You should see yourself hon," Anessa smirked, wiping some bug blood off of his nose. "You're covered in the grossest stuff imaginable."
     "Well, so are you, and you saved my life. Thanks."
     "You're welcome," she said, struggling to stand up. She slipped and found Tenal's arms wrapped around her waist to suport her. She gazed into his eyes, and he gazed into hers, and by the light of the moon they kissed.
     Their kiss was rudely interrupted as Karna and Boomer arrived, both rather out of breath and covered with dirt.
     "Well, here you are!" Boomer said, putting her hands on her hips. "Don't ya know not to go out alone at night around here?! This is bomb bug season after all."
     "We figured that out," Tenal smirked, walking forward to give Boomer a big hug. When he stepped back she was covered in bug blood and mud. "Welcome to the party."
     "Ooooh.... my god. Griffen, you are so gonna pay for that!" Boomer hissed, chasing after him. "Come back here and I'll pound you!"
     "You'll have to catch me first!" Tenal shouted as he ran. "Anessa, I think you need to save me again!"
     "What's he mean by again?" Karna asked, arching an eyebrow at her.
     "Oh, nothing," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his. "C'mon, we better catch them before Boomer hands him his insides." <Time came... and showed me your direction, now I know I'll never ever go back>      Half an hour later they arrived at Garden in time to run into Seifer, Irvine, Squall, Zell, and Reyark. Anessa and Tenal were still wearing bug blood, but neither one cared. They had had fun, and that was all that mattered.
     "Hey guys," Tenal greeted as Boomer kicked him in the butt and knocked him to his knees, "What's up?"
     "Looks like you guys were out at the point looking at the stars," Squall observed, helping Tenal to his feet.
     "Yup," Anessa giggled, hopping up next to Tenal and taking his arm. "We did. I saved him from a bomb bug."
     "After ditching us at the mall," Boomer growled, kicking Tenal in the butt again.
     "Hey, watch the merchandise," Seifer said, helping Karna to restrain the somewhat out of control girl. "Some day he might need that."
     "So, you guys gonna be up for some B-ball?" Anessa asked, dragging Tenal towards the basketball courts. "I'm in the mood to kick somebody's butt at that game tonight!" <Taught me that, I can be a better girl. With the love you give you rock my world!>      "Cambridge, you're on," Zell said, pulling a cell phone out of his pocket. "I just gotta call Selphie and a couple of other people and then we'll be ready."
     "Skip it," Irvine said, taking away Zell's phone and turning it off. "We'll just play as is. Anessa and Karna are team captains."
     "Well," Anessa said, batting her eyes sweetly, "I choose Seifer, Tenal, and Irvine for my team."
     "I guess that means I get Boomer, Zell, and Squall on mine," Karna said, releasing Boomer from his grip.
     "And I'm gonna nail you girl," Boomer grinned, slipping her sunglasses on. "Prepare to find out who put the word action in traction!" <Smile>      "Let's get this party started!" Anessa and Tenal cheered as everyone ran for the basketball courts. As they neared the courts Anessa glanced over at Tenal, who glanced back at her and smiled. "Tenal," she said, pulling closer to him, "You know what?"
     "What?"
     "I love your smile," she sang, hopping onto his back. "Now let's paaaaaarty!"

-End