Animals

by Ellcrys

          The hound at her feet began rumbling deep in his throat at the sound of the boy's approach. Relm rubbed her pet between the ears, and leaned down to speak to him. If it served as a nice cover for her wiping the tears from her eyes, that was all well and good. "It's gonna be okay, puppy," she murmured. "He can't hurt me. You have to learn to trust."
          "And what about you?"
          Relm glared up at Gau. "What are you talking about?"
          Gau's eyes widened, and he nearly took a step back, blushing. Relm could have laughed, under any other circumstances. The seven years Gau had spent in civilization since the fall of Kefka's tower had taught him how to talk, how to behave, and even how to dress, but for all the time he'd spent taking care of himself on the Veldt as a child, he still had no idea how to defend himself with words.
          "I-I mean," he stammered, "I just meant... now that Strago's gone. Do you have anyone you can trust?"
          Relm stubbornly refused to let the tears well up again with him watching. It was sweet, the way he cared for her, the way he kept shyly pursuing her over the years, but if he didn't learn to be more assertive...
          "Who cares?" she said defiantly. "Why would I need anyone to trust? I'm not a little kid, you know."
          He blushed harder and looked up at the sky, at nothing. "I know," he said sheepishly. Relm could have groaned. Why didn't he just come out and say it?
          Even if he would have, his admission was postponed by Sabin's approach, and her dog's snarl. "Easy, puppy," she told him firmly. She'd have thought Interceptor would be used to these people by now. They were allies... she might even go so far as to say friends.
          "I uh, just wanted to tell you again, I'm sorry about your grandfather," Sabin said hesitantly. "He was a good man, and a great help to us back when we-"
          "I know that, I was there!" If Relm had to endure more kind words about the old man, she thought she might go insane. But then, there was no need to take it out on Sabin, he was only trying to be friendly. "Thank you for coming, though..." she added, trying her hardest to keep her voice level. Why wouldn't they all just leave her alone? It was Strago they came to remember... they didn't have to keep talking to her about him. It was hard enough as it was, with her own childhood memories, but with everyone else bringing up their own anecdotes about her guardian, how was she supposed to keep her composure?
          Sabin shrugged. "It was an honor to know him," he said with a sigh. Then he turned to Gau. "Would you like to come back to Figaro with me for a visit? Or is that tutor Cyan found still working you hard?"
          As the two of them talked, Relm took the opportunity to slip away and let her tears flow again, on the other side of the well. Interceptor followed, of course, sounding a soft whimper of concern for his mistress. As mean as the dog was to everyone else, he'd never been anything but friendly to her, even if he wasn't really hers. She knelt and hugged him around the neck, sniffling. "Puppy, why did you come with me back to Thamasa? Why didn't you stay with Shadow? Did you know I'd need a friend someday, is that it?" she asked, sitting back on her heels to look at him.
          The dog's big brown eyes regarded her sadly, and he whined anxiously again. Relm covered her mouth to stifle a sob. "If only you could talk to me, puppy. I know you could tell me something that would make me feel better."
          "But dogs don't talk." Relm looked up in surprise, and saw an unfamiliar man standing there, leaning against the well and looking down at her. "People do," the man said simply. "Maybe you should give them a try sometime."
          How had that man gotten so close without her even noticing? Relm's teary eyes narrowed in anger. "And who are you to talk, mister? You don't know anything about me!"
          He nodded his dark blond head and folded his arms across his chest casually. "I don't need to know you to see what you're doing to that boy over there. He'd be perfectly willing to talk all you want, if you'd just let him."
          "Do you think I care?" It was bad enough Relm had to be strong in front of her friends, but now even a complete stranger was acting concerned for her?
          "Yes," he said bluntly. "I think you do. It's fine to have a dog as a pet, yes, or even a companion - but as your sole friend and confidant..." The man chuckled lightly. "I can see a lot of one-sided conversations in your future."
          Relm stamped her foot angrily. "How dare you!"
          "I dare because I've been there," the man answered, looking her straight in the eyes, suddenly turning serious. "I'll tell you this - a dog may like you, it may listen, and it may even do you a favor now and then, but a person can do all that and more." He flashed a wry smile at her. "And people slobber less."
          Relm cocked her head to the side, peering at the man curiously. What a strange person...
          "I've been where you are now," the man continued. "I thought I was strong enough to take on the world by myself, and... I very nearly did. It's unlikely I'd still be here today if I hadn't discovered the truth." He paused, nodding. "It's not shameful to have friends, or to have affection for someone. Girl, have you ever had anyone show you affection in your life other than Strago?"
          "That's... none of your business." Relm didn't understand. She should have been in a fine temper, cutting this nosy fellow down to size by now. But instead, his words intrigued her.
          "No, it isn't," he agreed. "But if you haven't, now's a good time to start. Face it, girl - your dog can only do as much for you as he's already done. If you want more than a wagging tail and a wet tongue..."
          Relm glanced back at Gau, just in time to see him wave at Sabin as the big man departed. Seeing Gau begin to turn his head back towards her, she swiveled her head back to the man in a rush. The man smiled again. "He can't hurt you."
          She'd said the same thing to Interceptor only a few moments ago. "But..."
          "You can hurt yourself a lot worse than he can," the man assured her, "if you force yourself to hide away for your entire life. Take it from me - it gets old."
          Relm nodded nervously and turned her back to the man, taking a deep breath. "Why not?" she muttered, stalking over to Gau.
          He was sitting on the ground underneath the oak tree at the center of town, fiddling with some fallen twigs and acorns, and he looked up dubiously when she sat down beside him. "Gau..." she began, biting her lip, "Thanks for coming."
          He stubbornly stared at the twigs he was twirling in his hand. "Strago was a good man. He taught me a lot, back when we were travelling together. He and I talked about animals... He understood them in a way most people don't. We had that in common."
          Relm bit her lip harder. "I don't want to talk about him now," she admitted, and she was surprised to hear a wavering in her voice.
          Unfortunately, Gau had heard it too, and he looked over to her sympathetically. "Don't take this the wrong way," he said carefully, "but... you gonna be okay by yourself?"
          "Sure," she managed to say. "My mother died when I was just a baby, my father left pretty soon after... It was just me and old Strago for as long as I can remember, it's not like I was pampered or anything."
          "I know, but it's been you and Strago your entire life. That's why I asked." He leaned back against the trunk of the tree with a sigh. "It's been seven years since I lived on the Veldt, running with the monsters, and since then I've lived in castles and cities. But in those seven years, I haven't forgotten what it was like to be alone."
          Relm had never really thought of him as feeling that way, and she didn't know what to say. "I'm not alone," she pointed out. "I still have Interceptor."
          "If you want to put it that way, then I wasn't alone either," he replied. "I had the animals of the Veldt. But animals and people aren't the same. I would have said I was happy back then, with the animals as my friends, but now I've learned the difference. It's a whole other world, Relm."
          He paused as a squirrel scampered around the tree towards them. It stopped short when it realized there were people there, and began to chatter angrily. Relm watched with amazement as Gau smiled and made the same kinds of noises back. After a moment, he held out one of the acorns he'd been playing with. The squirrel eagerly took it in its mouth and ran off up the side of the tree.
          "That's really neat," Relm said, amused.
          "I dunno," Gau replied. "Animals trust me." He lowered his eyes and picked up another acorn. "I wish I could say the same of some people."
          Relm sighed in frustration. "What's that supposed to mean?"
          "I just mean... Relm, you don't seem to trust anyone," he said suddenly. "The whole time that all your old friends were here to remember Strago, you never let them see you waver or cry - you just snapped at them. You treat them like monsters."
          Her jaw dropped. "I do not!"
          "Yes you do. Monsters will turn on you if they sense weakness. And remember, I know all about monsters. But people aren't like that, most of them."
          He stopped, and angrily tossed the acorns he'd been hefting in his hand across the town square. "I'm not a monster, Relm. That's why I came. When we were all travelling together, pretty much everyone just treated me like a wild animal, a monster trying to pretend it was human. Celes and Sabin had a great time playing dress-up with me, if you remember. Your grandfather, though - he treated me like a person. He talked to me."
          Relm's eyes filled with tears in spite of herself. "I said I didn't want to talk about him."
          "And I've gotta say, you're doing a lousy job at honoring his memory," Gau finished, as if he hadn't heard. "He took care of you for what, the first seventeen years of your life. Didn't he teach you anything?"
          Relm couldn't stop the tears from overflowing now. Where did he get off saying that? "You don't know anything about me," she retorted, trying not to sob.
          "I know more than you think, or you wouldn't be crying," he pointed out angrily. Then he stopped short, his eyes widening again. "Oh... Relm! I didn't mean to... I mean I... I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd..."
          Relm glared at him out of the corner of her wet eyes as he leaned forward again and began to raise a hand toward her, then stopped and lowered it again. "You moron," she sobbed. "If you want to put your arms around me, then do it!"
          He did, hesitantly, and she leaned against his chest, letting herself cry.

          The minutes passed under the oak tree, with the two of them reminiscing about Strago until the sun began to go down. Then Gau reluctantly let her go. "Setzer's airship is going to be taking off soon," he said. "I have to go or I'll miss it." He stood up and self-consciously brushed the dry leaves and grass from his trousers. "Or do you want me to stay?" he asked, offering her his hand.
          She accepted it and stood. "I'll be okay," she said. "Just... come back and visit sometimes?"
          "Anytime."
          Impulsively, she put her arms around his waist and hugged him close. He slipped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Want to come see the airship off?"
          "Maybe," she said, glancing back at the well. The strange man was still there. "I have some things here I need to do. Maybe I'll be along in a minute."
          After he'd gone, she went back to the man leaning against the well, staring at a pocketwatch he held in one hand. "Hey," she said sheepishly. "I just wanted to say thanks... for what you said earlier."
          He looked up from his pocketwatch and closed it with a snap. "No problem."
          Relm looked at him quizzically. There was something vaguely familiar about him. "Who are you, anyway? You're not from this town, and Thamasa's pretty out of the way."
          "No, I'm just a wanderer," the man answered. "Strago was a good friend of mine, though - I wanted to pay my respects. But now I've got to go."
          "I... I'm sorry I kept you here so long," she began, but the man shrugged at her.
          "That's perfectly all right. Your dog here kept me company," he replied, kneeling down to scratch Interceptor between the ears. "A fine animal," the man said as the dog thumped his tail happily. "I'm sure he's served you well."
          "Yes, he has." Relm was surprised at Interceptor's friendliness towards the man. Come to think of it, the dog hadn't even growled when the man first approached. Well, she reasoned, if she could learn to trust, so could Interceptor.
          The man waved his hand and started on the path that led south out of town. "Wait!" Relm called, and he turned back to look at her. "What's your name? If you were a friend of Granddad's..."
          "Not that it matters," the man said. "Name's Clyde. Make a good life for yourself, girl. Strago would want you happy."
          Interceptor returned to her side as she watched the man disappear into the dusk. She patted the dog's head absently, lost in thought, and started on the path opposite the one the man had taken. "Come on, puppy. If we hurry, we can still see the airship take off."

© 1998, by Andrea Hartmann.
Yes, this means you have to ask before you do anything with it. ^_^