Life's Lessons on Stress

  ~*~

  "Regal."

  I looked up from the various tasks organized on my desk. Fujin stood to my left, still not wearing her eye-patch--her white eye looked really cool, actually--and it looked like she wore a little lipstick. I smiled. "Good morning, ma'am." I hope you had fun at your dinner with Marshal.

  She presented me a collection of reports and a trio of CDs. "Catalog into system. Index. Cross-reference. Put CDs into system and file in safe."

  I nodded along with the directions as I took them. "Is it an ASAP project? Or can I finish what I'm doing?"

  "Soon, but not immediate."

  I nodded again. "Okay. Did you want me to let you know when it's done? I can print you out a copy of the--"

  "No," she said as she turned away.

  I closed my mouth and slouched into my chair, and I could feel my lips droop. I tried so hard to impress her that I probably just made her think me to be a spazoid. My gaze lowered to the reports and CDs in my hands as I blinked back the burning.

  When I heard steps approach, I looked up--and smiled at Janine Larabie. Hair spiked and sassy. Brown eyes twinkling with laughter, and she had Seifer's mug again. How weird. "Hi. Finding everything okay?"

  Janine leaned against my desk. "Basically. Finally found the Training Center. Hyne, does that look like a lot of fun." She motioned to me. "You and me need to get lost in there and beat the shit out of some things."

  I eagerly nodded. "Okay. Zell's been teaching me some new moves, and I'd love the chance to show you."

  "Hell yeah!" Janine sipped the coffee, and I blinked in surprise. Then her lips tilted in an almost mischievous smirk. "I would love the chance to meet him again."

  Surprise returned even stronger. "Again?" I wonder why Zell didn't mention it. Of course, he had told me once that he never had been good at remembering names or faces.

  "Yeah. We bumped into one another at Trabia soon after the missile attack. That was how I found out about Squall and Seifer being gunbladers--"

  "Regal."

  Janine and I both looked over at Fujin, who now stood to Janine's right.

  Uh-oh. Janine probably wasn't supposed to be down here. "Yes, ma'am?" I asked.

  And Janine didn't say anything. She only held Fujin's penetrating stare while sipping coffee from Seifer's mug. Wow. She even takes on Fujin!

  Fujin motioned very slightly to Janine. "You are?"

  Janine straightened and produced a hand, which Fujin accepted. "Janine Larabie. Instructor of Battle Theory. Filling in for Quistis come Monday."

  Fujin slightly raised an eyebrow, and then she said something that shocked me silent. "Ahndra Kelley. Chief Special-Ops Investigator."

  I smiled and looked down at my hands. Good job, Marshal, you big softie.

  "Ahndra." Janine motioned to the security offices while again sipping Seifer's coffee. "You have a nice set-up."

  Fuji--Ahndra didn't comment, she only turned and walked away.

  I looked up and watched her.

  "Damn. Miss Ice Queen," Janine mumbled.

  But I knew Ahndra was trying her best to change. Like me, it was hard. A challenge unlike anything she'd done before. Not because of her being shy, because she wasn't. But because she was private.

  "What's up with her?" Janine asked.

  "That's just who she is," I defended in a soft voice. And it was so hard to explain just who Ahndra was. "Although she used to practically shout at people all the time. Only spoke in one-word sentences, too." I looked over at Janine. "Zell says she's had a hard life. So does Marshal, the Chief of Security at Galbadia Garden. I believe them, too. But she's never let it keep her from doing her job."

  Janine leaned against the desk again. "Good, is she?"

  I emphatically nodded. "She's the best investigator/interrogator we have, and I'm glad I've had the chance to work for her. I've learned so much. That's why I wish. . . ." My voice drifted as I looked down at my desk. But that probably won't ever happen. I sighed.

  "What?" Janine pressed.

  I looked up again. "I just wish I knew how I could get her to respect me."

  Janine thoughtfully nodded while staring down into the mug. "You do your job don't you?"

  "Yes." And the question had surprised me. I don't know why; I just hadn't expected her to actually try and solve the problem.

  "You do your best?" I nodded. "Then that's all you can do. She more than likely already respects you."

  I blinked and watched Janine's face. "You think so?" I asked, hesitant to believe something that would have made my life so much better.

  Janine smirked and straightened. "You could always ask," she observed as she moved toward Seifer's office.

  I stared after her a moment before turning back to my desk. I could ask. I could ask? How did someone ask a person like Ahndra about respect without sounding like an idiot?

  I sighed.