Author's Note: Whew, sorry about that really long hiatus. This chapter spanned a lot longer than necessary, but I've been phasing in and out of fanfiction. Of course, though, I wouldn't abandoned this story. If I start something, I have to finish it!

To make up for the wait, this chapter's extra long. :D

Eh, I'm not too good at making descriptions and such of explosions... so what I have already will have to do. -.-

DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy VIII is not mine, but Square-Enix's and whoever else rightfully applies. Yes, the chapter's name comes from song lyrics that belong to The All-American Rejects and not me. I made up a few characters, though. You'll know who they are.

Maybe It Could Work

by Elcyion Pitye

XI. Move Along, Move Along Like I Know You Do

Selphie hoped it was a dream. She hoped to Hyne that it was. As her eyes turned from Quistis to the sudden, incredible boom from the prison, she prayed over and over that she would wake up. It couldn't be real... because the last time she checked, Irvine's group was still in there.

She vaguely heard Quistis shout for her to head into the Ragnarok. Gloved hands forced her toward the airship. The grip was so strong that it hurt, but it wasn't like Selphie was paying attention to the pain.

Sand flew up from that area, and everyone could see black smoke coming from the prison. The sound of the explosion was deafening even at this distance, and it left Selphie's ears ringing. It didn't help that everyone around her, instructors and even some of her friends, were yelling and screaming. She spotted Squall, from the top of the Ragnarok, yelling out for everyone to head inside the airship immediately. The sand was being blown their way.

(This isn't happening...) the Trabian thought to herself, making herself believe it wasn't. She started to chant the phrase in her mind incessantly like a mantra. She wanted to hit herself so that she could wake up.

Quistis watched as a cloud of smoke and fire rose up from the prison, thankful that she, the SeeDs, and the cadets were far enough away, despite the cloud of sand and smoke coming at them. However, she noticed that there were people missing. Her jaw went slack and she began to tremble, horrified.

Only one building out of the three interconnected ones blew up, but it caused the other two to topple and collapse to the ground. The squad she was in charge of, Seifer, Rinoa, and Fujin's, were already rushing inside the Ragnarok, the unconscious REVOLUTION member still draped over Seifer's shoulder. Quistis noticed that Selphie was doing nothing but stand still, gaping at the scene with the most terrified look the blonde had ever seen on her. "Selphie! Get inside!" she yelled. She grabbed her lifeless friend and pushed her toward the airship.

Her blue eyes quickly darted around, checking to see if everyone was safe. Out of her friends, she noticed that someone was missing... (Irvine!) her mind yelled, terrified for her friend's life. Even so, she couldn't allow herself to simply stand around and do nothing for the people around her. She was a leader and needed to act like one. For the sake of the people of Garden, she had to take action and keep everyone safe and calm, so she decided to help by helping the other SeeDs get everyone inside. Checking out ground zero after the disaster was over was a job for SeeD, not cadets.

As for what was happening that moment, there was nothing anyone could do but watch and wait.

From the cockpit, Zell looked through the Ragnarok's windows, stunned. "You're shitting me..." he whispered as he watched the disaster take place. If he remembered correctly, at least one squad was still in the prison. The one he knew for sure was Irvine's.

(No! This can't... FUCK!) Zell had to restrain himself greatly from ruining the Ragnarok's control panel. He stood up in frustration, his hands pulling at his hair. (Not only Irvine... but Archer, wasn't I his support for his prereq? And fucking... fucking Brie! Goddamn, I'd just made up with her, too.)

"DAMMIT!" Zell yelled. He sunk to his knees and punched at his pilot seat. He buried his face into the cushion as he felt tears stinging his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He couldn't cry. He was a man! He wasn't a weak little chicken-wuss like Seifer had endlessly called him back in the day, but nonetheless, he couldn't help but think of how useless and stupid he was. From rejecting both Brie and Rinoa to gawking helplessly as the two senators were pulled into the train tracks to watching an explosion before his very eyes.

He heard footsteps behind him. He figured it was maybe Nida, who was the Garden's main pilot.

"I... I take it you saw, Zell."

It was indeed him. "Yeah, no fucking shit, Nida!" the martial artist yelled, jumping to his feet. He looked ready to pound something... or someone.

Nida backed up a little, raising his hands in front of him, hoping Zell wouldn't lay one on him.

After a while, the blond finally calmed down, slumping back into the chair he had been sitting in before. He leaned over, his elbows propped up on his knees, and hid his face in his gloved hands.

As for Nida, he didn't say anything. While he wasn't particularly close to anybody who had been affected by the explosion, he could certainly feel the pain the others must be going through right now. Nida didn't know what else to do other than to go up to his fellow SeeD and place a hand on his shoulder in consolation.

When it had gone silent (except for the fires burning at the site of the explosion), Squall, who was among one of the last to head back into the Ragnarok to avoid the smoke and sand, exited down the ramp as the fog of sand and dust in the air was finally starting to clear up again. His face was grim and his brows were furrowed in worry. His hands were getting clammy. He had to remove his leather gloves and stuff them back into his pocket.

He hoped, that by some miracle, that Irvine's group and whoever else was still there made it out somehow. But sooner or later, he would know, anyway. It was time to assess the damage. Squall gritted his teeth. It hasn't completely hit him yet, but he knew that this was the last thing on his mind. He didn't count on one of his childhood friends possibly dying on him.

He heard Quistis and Zell come up behind him. At the sound of their footsteps, Squall turned around gloomily and greeted them. He saw that they looked just as worried. If it weren't for their duties as SeeD, the commander knew that the both of them would be breaking down.

"Two cars, including drivers," Squall began quietly. "I want our top SeeDs in two of the trucks. No one below Level 20."

Zell, a Level A SeeD (as is the rest of the SeeDs in their "orphanage gang"), shook his head and clenched his fists. His head was down. Squall couldn't make out what kind of expression the martial artist had on his face. "I... I can't do this, Squall..." came the quiet reply.

Quistis glanced at the other blond briefly but didn't say anything. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, but being as strong as she was, she refused to let herself cry at a time like this.

Squall continued, ignoring the conditions of both of them. "The rest of SeeD need to stay here and watch over the cadets. We're going to look at the damage."

Quistis took in a shaky breath and spoke up, her voice barely audible. "Shall we inform the Headmaster?"

"I told him already. While we were inside."

Suddenly, Rinoa, Seifer, and Fujin came bounding out of the Ragnarok. At their arrival, Squall gave Zell and Quistis a nod of his head, indicating that he wanted them to proceed with what he asked. The two SeeDs saluted mutely and headed off.

Rinoa was sobbing audibly as she stopped in front of Squall. She looked up at him hopefully, hiccuping as teardrops ran down her pale cheeks. He looked at her for a second, his face expressionless, and then looked away. As much as he didn't like seeing her cry like this, there was nothing he could tell her that would be somewhat optimistic.

Seifer looked upset, but if this were any other time, Squall would have thought he was angry. That was just how Seifer's face worked, he guessed.

"Where's the red-haired woman?" Squall asked, noticing that Seifer no longer had her with him.

"Still unconscious," he answered emotionlessly. "SeeD's got her now."

"Good."

There was a pregnant pause until the taller gunblade specialist decided to speak again. "Squall," Seifer began uncertainly, his voice low. "What..." his voice trailed off. Seifer wasn't usually so speechless, but what could he say about what had just happened? What was there to say? Ask about Irvine? Stupid. Everyone knew what happened to Irvine, his squad, and whoever else was still inside when it happened.

"We're going to see the damage," Squall explained succinctly, not allowing his emotions affect his actions as SeeD. He needed to be brave and strong for everyone else, even though his own nerves and heart were telling him to grieve.

"US. GO ALSO," Fujin broke in, her usually harsh, staccato voice wavering the slightest bit.

"You stay here," the commander ordered, his tone soft but strict. "This is SeeD's job."

Seifer glared at him in disbelief. "What? Why? Why only SeeD? Irvine is fucking in there! If anything happened..." He couldn't finish. Instead, he pursed his lips together and turned his head quickly. He walked a few steps away with his back to the brunet.

Squall noticed the way he was hiding his face, lowering it with his hand over his eyes. His shoulder were shaking, very barely. (Is he... crying?) he wondered. He didn't mean it in a way to make fun of him, but he was somewhat fascinated. Even the most stubborn can have their weak moments. It made him sad himself. "Sorry, Seifer," he finally replied, his voice somewhat gentle, "but in emergencies like this, the cadets have to stay behind. No exceptions. I'm... I'm sorry." He sighed heavily. He stared at his rival's back, feeling sorry for him.

Rinoa, who couldn't talk because she was crying so much, went over to her trenchcoated friend and slipped her arm around his waist, leading him back inside. He reluctantly let her. Fujin gave Squall a long, sad look and then spun on her heel to follow her squadmates. By the time they disappeared into the airship, the SeeDs he had asked for were coming out. At first, he saw Zell, Quistis, Baron, and Nida. Behind them were Firion, Instructor Cicero, and two more teachers he forgot the names of.

And yet, someone was missing. "Where is she?" Squall asked as soon as the SeeDs were in speaking distance. They stopped and grouped in front of him quietly, awaiting their next command.

Quistis shook her head. Her face was tear-stained and her eyes were red. "Selphie? I don't... I don't think it's a good idea for her to come."

Squall's felt an ache in his chest, but didn't dare let the feeling manifest on his face nor in his eyes. (Sefie.) "... Why?" He didn't know why he asked. He already knew why. He knew Selphie like he knew his way around the Training Center.

A sullen-faced Nida eyed him sadly. "Selphie's wouldn't be able to handle this. I've never seen her look so horrified in my entire life. I could only imagine how she would react to seeing the debris up close."

Quistis was about to add in another comment, but the group of SeeDs heard the metallic clang of footsteps coming down the ramp. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer. Squall's eyes widened slightly. "Sefie," he uttered softly. He was surprised she even showed up. The way Nida put it, it seemed she didn't have enough energy to move, but there she was.

Selphie's face was nearly unrecognizable to her boyfriend. She looked empty and her eyes had a distant look in them. She looked so detached and un-Selphie-like that Squall wanted to cry for her. The Trabian stopped near the end of the ramp, a few feet from the other SeeDs, and let her gaze settle on the commander. He couldn't read the expression in her eyes, but he could no longer stand there and only ponder it. Squall pushed past the others and went up to her, his eyes searching hers. "Sefie," he murmured.

She looked up into his eyes, her expression not changing. "Let's go get Irvy," was all she said. Her voice was even and careful. Squall was afraid that any surprise would make her lose it completely.

He raised an eyebrow at her slightly, confused by what she had said. He put his hands on her small shoulders and squeezed them gently. "I-I'm sorry, Sefie. But Irvine-"

She didn't give him a chance to respond as she suddenly shrugged his hands off of her and walked past him, continuing the rest of the way down the ramp. She silently and calmly approached the others, but none of them said anything to her. Squall glanced at Quistis somewhat questioningly. She looked back at him shortly and then averted her eyes, shaking her head.

The commander could only sigh. After another minute or two lapsed, he cleared his throat to catch the SeeDs' attention. It wasn't really needed, since no one was making conversation anyway, but he did it out of habit. Squall gestured to the a couple of the parked SeeD trucks, which had been used earlier for the exam, nearby, which were dirty from the explosion, but otherwise in good condition. "In case some of you weren't told earlier, I'll split us into two groups. We'll drive down to the prison and assess the damage done." He glanced at the tattooed martial artist before him. "Zell, I know you have Leviathan. Junction him and have him put out the fire. It'd be faster than using up stocks of Waterga."

Instead of the polite "yessir" like Squall would have expected any other time, Zell nodded wordlessly, not even looking at his commander in the eye. Squall could tell, though, that his normally happy blue orbs were glassy. He glanced at Quistis. He couldn't imagine how hard it must be for her. In less than a year, they lost Xu and now...

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Squall told them to move out.

There were no surprises at Ground Zero, except for the fact that they had a Ground Zero to assess. Other than that, there was nothing the SeeDs couldn't predict. After Zell had Leviathan take care of the large fires still burning, the SeeDs spread out to examine what had been done. It had been a big prison, but with the top SeeDs and a recent reinforcement of Galbadian soldiers (which had been requested right before the drive to the prison), everything was covered efficiently and as quick as possible.

The group of SeeDs scattered around, with the exception of Squall and Selphie. The commander wanted his unstable girlfriend to stay with him. In this condition, he nor the others could figure out what she was going to do, but Squall wanted to be there to make sure she didn't hurt herself. As he watched her silently poke around the pile of debris they were standing by, he couldn't help but feel guilty for the way he had treated her earlier that day. The unexplainable visions were the last thing on his mind. Now he had the urge to hold her tightly and endlessly apologize for everything - his actions earlier, the visions themselves... for Irvine...

Squall swallowed a lump in his throat. He was certain that their good friend was dead. It would definitely be something if Irvine survived the blast. But something like that... the chances were definitely not on their side.

He continued to gaze at the nunchaku specialist as she kicked away a piece of metal idly. There was nothing there that served useful to them, but she seemed to be darting around, as if looking for something. He had a suspicion that it could be Irvine himself, but it wasn't possible. He was more than likely burnt to a crisp, burnt beyond recognition, even.

Selphie continued to dig through the debris, carefully walking where she had secure footing. Squall hated to think this, but he could feel a small twinge of jealousy rise within him. She and Irvine had been so close, even though it was Squall himself she had chosen to love. And yet, he wanted to question it. But he didn't want to allow himself to think that way... it was horrible of him, but he wished he could comfort Selphie. However, she felt so far away. It wasn't her. This brown-haired girl standing in front of him wasn't the Sefie he knew and loved. She was almost acting like...

The old him.

He hated the thought of that. But after thinking about it more, he knew she couldn't help the way she was acting. Her best friend had just died. Someone who was also a good friend of his. (Oh, Hyne... I think it's really starting to hit me...) the commander realized. An incredible sense of sadness and loss filled him, but as a SeeD and commander of Balamb Garden, a leader, he needed to put it off until business was taken care of.

He turned to his girlfriend again and saw that she was still sifting through. Her bare legs and arms were getting dirty from the filth. Her hair was getting tangled. There was clearly nothing there that she could look for, but she still kept at it.

"Sefie," he called. He took a step toward her. She didn't respond. (Maybe she didn't hear me.) "Sefie," he called again, his voice louder this time. When she didn't respond for the second time, Squall decided to cautiously walk up behind her and rest his warm, gloved hands on her pale, goosebumped arms. "Hey," he whispered in her ear. "Sefie... Sweetie." He had never used a pet name before, not even with Rinoa, but he wanted to show the Trabian that he was there for her because he loved her. The word was foreign on his lips, but a few seconds later, he grew to like it. At least a little bit.

She finally responded to him. Her head turned halfway toward him. "What?"

Squall wanted to hear feeling in her voice. Happy, sad, it didn't matter, but there was none. There was literally nothing in her voice that conveyed her emotions. "There's nothing here. Let's go. The Galbadian soldiers can handle it."

"..."

He frowned. "Sweetie?" He leaned forward to look at the side of her face. She seemed to have found something. Suddenly, she stepped forward and bent down, again digging through debris. Squall only stared at her quizzically, not knowing what else to do. Finally, she pulled out something dark brown, close to black. Something very familiar. It was only a miracle that could have saved it. Standing up slowly, Selphie finally began to show emotion as her face crumpled, tears making their way down her cheeks.

In her hands was Irvine's hat. A little dirty, but otherwise, in decent shape.

Squall gaped at it, wondering how the hell it survived the blast, and in reasonably good condition. He then turned to Selphie and eyed her as her shoulders trembled. She collapsed to the ground, her knees hitting the sand at the edge of the mountain of rubble. She bowed her head, crying into the hat. She held it tightly against her, afraid to let go.

The commander pursed his lips together. He didn't know if it was seeing his normally sunny girlfriend break down worse than he's ever seen, or if the startling truth finally slammed into him full-on, but he found that he couldn't take being so soldier-like about it anymore.

Irvine was dead.

With that, Squall walked up slowly behind her and dropped to his knees as well, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He couldn't tell if he was comforting Selphie or himself. Perhaps it was both.

He buried his face into the area between her neck and her shoulder, his eyes burning.

"We had forty-two SeeD candidates. Six of them perished, as well as two instructors. I assume most of the terrorists have been killed beforehand. The leaders Jarek Guthrie and Ciel Maestoso included... although I know it was an objective to bring those two back with SeeD."

Hours later, back at Garden, Squall stood before Headmaster Cid's desk, receiving the final number of casualties. He thanked Hyne that it was only eight people out of the many who could grow to be great SeeDs. Still, eight people was a lot. Eight lives that meant something to others.

Cid sighed and removed his glasses, setting them down in front of him. He rubbed his eyes with his index finger and thumb. "Eight people... even a single digit number is a lot," he continued, as if voicing Squall's thoughts.

"I'm... sorry, Sir," was all Squall could come up with to reply.

Cid looked up at him. "Please don't blame yourself, Squall. You did all you could."

The SeeD only nodded, lowering his head. (It was still not enough...)

"Bethe Rhiannon is restrained in one of the 3F quarantine rooms. There is a shift of lower level SeeDs keeping guard outside her door for now," the headmaster went on, "There is no way for her to escape. We need her for information. Once she awakens, we will begin questioning her if she cooperates."

Again, the SeeD nodded.

Cid began shuffling through some papers. "I received some final reports from Galbadia. There was something interesting written here." He put his glasses back on and began reading the top one. "The bomb detonated AFTER the scheduled time."

"What?" Squall furrowed his brows.

"From what you told the Galbadian soldiers, the bomb was supposed to go off three hours after the start of the field exam. This one detonated approximately another hour after it."

"... That sounds about right." Squall rubbed his chin with a gloved hand. He figured that maybe something was wrong with the bomb. Maybe REVOLUTION was trying to be sneaky with them. The brunet explained these thoughts to the headmaster.

The older man nodded. "Well, you could be right, Squall, but we may never know." He took a short glance at the teenager before proceeding, skimming through the paper. "They had found and identified the bodies of Squad G, the other squad still inside the prison. These students were Tessie Skorpius, Red Nacht, and Rydia Fleur. The instructors: Shika Aki and Zedd Doloron."

Squall guiltily recalled how he ordered Aki and Doloron to go into the prison.

"And of course, the bodies of Brie Sirea, Archer Locke... and Irvine Kinneas."

The commander was silent.

"My wife will be here soon," Cid announced softly after a pause. "I know you all grew up together at the orphanage for a while... I'm sure Edea would love to see all of you at a time like this."

"..."

Cid could tell he was saddened. What a horrible reason for Edea to visit from her post with White SeeD. The headmaster himself was dispirited over the loss of the charming cowboy, but things like this happen, even though every life at Garden was valuable to him. "Squall, I'm terribly sorry about all of this. But I'm sure Irvine wouldn't want us to mourn over him forever."

"... I know."

The headmaster didn't quite believe him, but left the commander at that. He went on with other business. "... This has been a plan for a while, but it hasn't gone through until now... Dr. Kadowaki had suggested we hire a therapist for Balamb Garden, and I've hired one of the best. His name is Dr. Alek Waverly and he will be arriving next week from Esthar."

Squall nodded. Frankly, he didn't care, but he could see why it would be useful to have a therapist on board.

"I hope all of you will make good use of this opportunity."

(Whatever.)

"Okay, last order of business," Cid droned on. Squall wondered when this was all going to be over. He wanted to be done with Cid so that he could go see his girlfriend. He was anxious to see Selphie. She was the only person he wanted to be with at the moment. Otherwise, he would rather be left alone.

"I looked over the reports and such from the SeeD candidates and their supports. I looked at your approvals for SeeD, as well as your second-in-command Quistis'. I finished setting mine, so here is the final list of accepted SeeDs." Cid took out a light blue, typed-up piece of paper containing names of the new SeeD members. "Please post it on 2F."

Squall took the paper unenthusiastically. "Yes sir."

Cid wasn't meant to be the ultimate father figure in the orphanage gang's lives, but he couldn't help but but feel a paternal sympathy toward Squall. He also felt a fatherly grievance about Irvine's death. He remembered, like it was yesterday, the barbecue his wife had set aside for the entire "family" of theirs. It was a wonderful memory for him, and he admitted to himself that it hurt that there will no longer be another time like that with the family complete.

In the midst of the silence between the two, the commander had turned away, set on completing his task. However, Cid called out to him again. Squall shifted his foot to look at the headmaster. "Sir?"

"If you need to talk about anything... I'm here," Cid told him earnestly. "I know you would never set foot in Waverly's office. You don't seem to type to confide in strangers about problems." He smiled. "That goes the same for the rest of you... you know who I mean."

Squall was a little surprised at the words. It wasn't something he would expect Cid to say to him, but he guessed he should have. In the fragmented memories of his early childhood, he remembered the headmaster being at the orphanage from time to time, coming home with a little toy for the each of them and a hearty laugh during playtime on the beach. Cid was being the father he never had after Laguna, and he was inwardly grateful, although he would never express it. "Thank... thank you, Sir." With a rare hint of a thankful smile, he left the room.

The thirty-six SeeD candidates waited in the hallway of 2F, most of them silent and anxious. Some of them were sad about the loss of some of their fellow cadets and it was shown on their faces, including the faces of our heroes.

Seifer and Fujin leaned against the wall while Rinoa squatted down near them, none of them talking. Not too far from them, Raijin was pacing around in a slow speed, also not talking. Normally, Rinoa would be the most anxious about the results, since she was athe type of person to be that way, but after the horrid turn of events, she did nothing but stare blankly in front of her, her eyes dry but her heart heavy. Seifer seemed to act the same way, only his expression was a hardened one. Fujin and Raijin had similar expressions.

The familiar ding of the elevator right outside the hallway was loud in the hallway. Seifer looked up and found Squall exiting the elevator, paper in hand. If they had gone through an exam without casualties, which was the case for all the ones the ex-knight could remember, people would start to crowd around the list-bearer. But this year, everyone stayed in their spots, watching with weary eyes as the list was stapled to the bulletin board. Seifer pushed himself off the wall. Fujin followed suit, and Rinoa pulled herself up from the ground. Raijin stopped pacing and looked at his former friends briefly before turning away.

Squall was about to walk away, but he turned to his friends drearily. "Is Selphie in her room?" he asked them as the other candidates surrounded the SeeD list. He looked troubled about something, but none of them asked.

Rinoa nodded gravely. "Yeah, but... I don't think you should see her."

"... Why?"

She shook her head. "Squall, she..." She sighed and looked at him apologetically. "She blames you. And she doesn't want to see you."

Squall averted his gaze, his chest aching. He had a feeling it would come to this, but he never expected it to hurt this much. He couldn't blame Selphie, though. He understood, but there was no way he was leaving her alone at a time like this. Without even a goodbye, he left for the dorms.

After he was gone, Seifer frowned at the brunet's back and was the first out of his friends to go over and check the list.

Newly Inaugurated SeeD Members

New SeeDs, please meet at the headmaster's office at 1700 hours.

Seifer Almasy (Squad A) - Starting Level 10

Raijin Ameno (Squad D) - Starting Level 09

Alethea D'Artemus (Squad L) - Starting Level 06

Dev Feydor (Squad C) - Starting Level 08

Rinoa Heartilly (Squad A) - Starting Level 11

Fujin Kazeno (Squad A) - Starting Level 11

Leo Steele (Squad C) - Starting Level 07

Gusty Valentine (Squad F) - Starting Level 07

Congratulations! See you tonight at the Inauguration Ball!

"SHORT LIST," Fujin commented from behind Seifer.

He tsked. "It always is. This is a long one compared to the years before."

Rinoa raised an eyebrow, coming up next to Fujin. She checked the list, inwardly rejoiced that she made it as SeeD (the first sorceress SeeD, at that), and then spoke up. "They're still having the ball tonight?"

"I guess," the blonde replied casually, shrugging. "I don't think I wanna go. It's required, though..." A sadder look came across his face as he continued to stare at the list. "Stetson should be on there."

Fujin hadn't heard Seifer call Irvine that in a long time. It wasn't a mocking nickname. It never was, in her opinion, even when things were still awkward between all of them in the beginning. Seifer had always said it out of friendly affection for his childhood friend. He probably realized this and dropped it because it didn't make him as "macho" as he wanted to be.

She glanced at Seifer and then turned to the list, her lone eye softening. "Yeah."

"Oh Hyne, guys, don't get me crying again," Rinoa protested, blinking her eyes rapidly. She sniffled. She reached up to wipe her eyes, turning away from her friends.

Seifer took a pen out from his pocket and went over to the list. Popping off the cap with his teeth, he began to write. Fujin, and even Raijin, who for some reason still stuck around, looked on curiously.

Irvine Kinneas (Squad B) - R.I.P. - SeeD in our hearts

It wasn't much; it was mushy, even. If Irvine had seen these, he would've poked fun at him for being so warm and fuzzy. The list will probably be taken down within the next week or so, but it was something to remember him by for the time being. It was enough to make Rinoa burst into tears again. Things won't be the same without the Galbadian; for sure. Seifer stuck the cap back onto his pen and put it back into his coat pocket. He stared at his writing grimly. "What time is it?" he asked.

Fujin looked down at her watch. "SEVEN 'TIL." She glanced back up, meaning to look at Seifer and Rinoa, but she caught Raijin staring at them from his part of the wall. She didn't give him a nasty look nor a friendly one; she merely looked at him in curiosity. She realized that it was just the four of them now. Everyone had left already. Seifer and Rinoa noticed the expression on her face and both turned to look at whatever she was looking at.

The dark-skinned SeeD, feeling self-conscious, finally turned away after sharing a staring contest with them and ventured further down the hallway. He took the stairwell to the headmaster's office.

After Squall left Seifer and the others, he rode the elevator down to 1F and rushed to the dorm area. He needed to straighten things out with Selphie. So he walked quickly through the halls with only that in mind.

As he reached her door, he hesitated. Rinoa wouldn't lie about Selphie not wanting to see him, but he couldn't let the rift between himself and his girlfriend grow. He raised his hand, pausing briefly before he knocked. "Sefie?" he called, his voice soft. He didn't hear a response. He stepped a little closer to the door, hoping that the sliding door would open on its own, but it didn't. It has been locked.

"Sefie," he called out again, raising his voice slightly. "Sweetie, open the door." He put his ear to the door, trying to hear what she was doing. He didn't even hear her shuffling about. Almost fearing the worst, his knocks and voice became a little more urgent. "I need to talk to you."

Squall leaned his ear in again to hear. After a moment, he finally heard barefooted footsteps slowly make their way to the door. He heard the soft beep of the door unlocking from the other side. His heart beating wildly and his mind relieved of fearful thoughts, he straightened himself as the door hissed open. Selphie was standing on the other side, her face tear-stained and paler than usual. She looked up at him, the slightest expression of anger and betrayal on her face. He looked away then, hurt by it. (Of course... I should have expected it.)

He invited himself in. She didn't argue. He turned to look at her, stepping in so he could hold her. He was about to, but she spoke up, her voice accusing. "What do you want, Squall? You've done enough."

(You've done enough,) he repeated in his head, not believing that the words really came out of her mouth. "What do you mean?" he asked her.

Selphie shook her head and moved to create distance between them. Squall wouldn't allow it, though. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him. A little harshly, but he wasn't going to let her go like that. He proceeded to wrap his arms around her shoulders. He looked down at her and she looked up at him. Their faces were only a few inches apart. Selphie tried to push against him, but he tightened his grip around her, their bodies pressing against each other.

She wasn't going anywhere.

"Selphie," he uttered, his voice quiet and stern but his eyes gentle and pleading.

"... Why his group?" she finally mumbled after a long pause. "Why did you send them to the control room? Why?" Her voice rose in volume as she began to sob again. "How could you send him to his death like that?"

Guilt riding in him, he loosened his grip on her, enough to let his gaze shift down to his feet. A part of him was mad at her accusations, but in the end, he had no one to blame but himself. He chose the exam site, he organized the squads, he picked Squad B to deactivate the bomb, and he had told his girlfriend so confidently that her best friend in the world was going to make it out of there alive. "..."

"You told me-" Selphie stopped, pressing her lips together to stop her chin from quivering, "You told me he'd be fine!"

"I know," was all Squall could come up with to say. His voice was so small to his ears that he wondered if he really said it at all. He didn't know how to make her feel better. Maybe there wasn't a way.

"You should've-you should've-" she couldn't even finish. Now tears were freely streaming down her cheeks. She was crying way too hard to speak coherently. She just wanted to collapse and shrink into the ground, but she didn't. Instead, she tried to glare daggers at her boyfriend through glassy eyes.

He finally looked at her again, his heart breaking at the sight of her in this condition. He re-tightened his grip on her and buried his face into her hair. "Sefie, I..." (I'm so sorry.)

He noticed that she didn't hug back. She stood rigid as a statue, her hands down at her sides and her tear-stained face staring somewhere beyond his shoulder. Squall pulled away and gave her a confused look. "Sefie?"

"Don't call me that anymore."

He continued to stare at her in confusion until she couldn't stand it anymore. She looked away, smiling rather grimly. A smile that was drastically different from her earnest, optimistic ones. "Don't call me Sefie anymore. Only Irvy..."

He realized what she was trying to say and broke in with, "Sefie-"

"Only Irvy can can call me that," she cut in before he could finish. She looked up at him sharply. "Got it?"

The nickname reminded her of him. Squall could tell. He inwardly grimaced, as if she hit him, but in a way she did. Just not on a physical level. He loved to call her Sefie. It was cute and it was something that showed his affection toward her, and "showing affection" was not an easy thing for him to do. When it came to Rinoa, he loved her, but he never nicknamed her anything beyond "Rin." He was still too reserved at the time. With Selphie, though, he felt more free to be silly and emotional. Rinoa was too gentle and cautious. Selphie wasn't. The gentleness and cautiousness made Squall himself feel well, gentle and cautious as well.

Either way, he didn't like the thought of not calling her Sefie. Even though it was penned first by Irvine when they were children, Squall's "Sefie" had a different meaning from his. Same with Seifer's, which held the same meaning as Irvine's, obviously.

It hurt him. And yet, he forced himself to understand. It was only right. Squall didn't want to be selfish. Irvine had been one of his good (and one out of his few) friends and it would be bastardly of him to argue with Selphie about what Squall himself wanted. Selphie was going to be in mourning for a while. He needed to back off. Hell, he should be in mourning, but being the insensitive, greedy jerk that he was, he was still here with Selphie, partially angry by his girlfriend's request. He wasn't happy with himself about that. Not at all.

(Maybe I'm being too hard on myself.)

When he finally pulled himself out of his thoughts, he found that the Trabian was still staring up at him, waiting for a reply from him. Any reply, he supposed, so that she could be reassured of his compliance.

"... I'm sorry," Squall said slowly. He rubbed her arms gently with his gloved hands. She looked cold. "Is there anything else you want, Sweetie?"

Selphie looked to the side, pretending that her wall was the most fascinating thing in the world. There was a long moment of silence before she spoke up again. "I don't want to be around you right now." Her voice was fragile but Squall knew that she knew what she was saying.

He froze, his hands still on her arms. He didn't say anything. Carefully, he let his hands drop to his sides. He understood. "Of course." He could no longer look at her. The aching in his chest would just not stop. In this time of need, he wanted to be there for her and he needed her to be there for him as well, but he knew he wouldn't get any of that. Not yet, at least.

"I'm sure it would be better, anyway."

Squall hadn't expected her to speak again, but she did. He didn't shift his gaze to her, but from what he could hear, her voice was stronger and steadier. Her crying was subsiding. Nevertheless... (Why would she say something like that?)

To answer his unspoken questions, she continued, her voice no more than a mumble. "You wanted to kill me, after all."

His jaw tightened. She had to bring it up. And not only that, she was assuming that those visions were his own doing, and he knew that the real, happy-go-lucky Selphie would never think like that and trusted him, even though his accidental outbursts and such from them scared her. Oh, well. He might as well open up about it now. "What are you saying?" he questioned, his voice hard.

"What do you think?"

He sighed heavily, frustrated. "Sef-... Selphie. It's not like that..."

"Well, what was I supposed to think after you told me that you saw yourself KILL ME?" Her voice was rising. She wasn't crying this time around, though. She was just plain mad at him.

"I don't know," Squall answered honestly, glaring at her slightly. "And what does this have to do with anything?" She didn't answer. At this, he scowled and added, "Hyne... I love you. I love you a lot. Do you think I want to think shit like that?" With his hands, he delicately cupped her face, easily forcing her to look up at him. "At a time like this..." he began, his voice far more gentle than before, "I just want to be here for you. And... I want you to be here for me. I... I cared about Irvine a lot, too. He was a great friend to us."

Selphie swallowed a lump in her throat, her eyes clouding over again. Her chin trembled. She tried to look away from him, but he wouldn't allow it. He made sure that her eyes were still facing his. "What... how... but the visions..." she managed to sputter, tears running down her face again.

Squall wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "That's..." He thought about it for a second. "That's where you're going to have to help me, Selphie." He pulled her forward so that she fell limply into his embrace. "They're not here now," he continued, murmuring into her ear, "but when they come back, you need to be patient with me... or I don't know, just do something." (Let us figure it out... together.)

"I don't know if I can, Squall..."

"Sweetie, please," he pleaded, "All I want is to be happy with you. I want us to have peace."

"..."

He felt like they had switched places. Squall was now the one begging to understand, to make things right again, while Selphie was now the indifferent one, answering with little words and pushing him away. He couldn't have this. He didn't want this. He wanted to make everything the way it should be... with the endearing, optimistic Selphie he and everyone else knew. "I can't leave you alone," he told her quietly. "You know that."

Suddenly, she pushed at him. This only made Squall's grip on her stronger. When she couldn't succeed, she let out an irritated breath. "I wish you would..." she finally grumbled.

Ouch.

Squall knew she didn't mean it. The tragedy left her feeling awful, and he could never blame her for it, although it frustrated him very much. Instead of replying to those discouraging words, he changed the subject.

"Sweetie, I know you're the head chair of the Inauguration Ball committee... but you don't have to go if you don't want to... even though it's required for everyone else."

"I loved him."

The tone was dead calm and matter-of-fact. The words came out of nowhere and slapped him in the face. The sentence took him completely by surprise, and he could only stare at her. Did she really say that? What did she mean? Squall let go of her completely. She loved him? Romantically? Platonically? At this point, the commander had no idea what could come out of Selphie's mouth. She had become dreadfully unpredictable about everything. Anything could mean anything. And of course, concerning what she had just said, he had to assume.

"What about me?" he asked her, his voice barely audible. There was a heaviness in his chest that was familiar but rare. (Sefie, what about me? I love you. I love you more than I could ever admit...) He received no answer from her. Instead, she ducked her head, hiding her face.

(Was Irvine always on your mind?)

"What about me?" he repeated, a little louder this time. Again, she didn't speak up. That signaled for him to leave. He wasn't wanted there. Turning around, he headed to the door. (Fuck this,) he thought. (I won't waste my time on this. She's so difficult. So fucking stupid and confusing...) Squall half-expected Selphie to protest and latch on to him. He half-expected her to apologize and return to being the darling little woman she was, mourning over Irvine still but relying on her boyfriend for support.

None of that happened.

Squall exited her room and stopped right outside of it, contemplating going back in. He tried to understand her, didn't he? He tried. Obviously, it wasn't enough, and all that happened in the process was him getting hurt. He took a step or two down the hallway, but couldn't find the energy to keep going. So he slumped against the wall near her door, his knees drawn up and his head bowed. Too much was weighing on his mind. He didn't even want to begin to address his problems.

Through the wall, he could hear Selphie begin to sob again. She wasn't too loud, but still loud enough for him to hear her clearly. His heart ached again, but he didn't allow himself to see her. She didn't want him there. The commander was starting to suffocate from the feelings she was currently giving him, and he couldn't handle any more of it. The only thing he could do at the moment, conflicted as he was, was sit outside and listen to her cry.

Seifer stood near the door of his new room, staring at its contents. He had just moved in from his Garden double to the single, and it felt no different, mainly because he hadn't had a roommate after Ralse Triton. His eyes fell on the stack of boxes he had yet to unpack. Normally, he would get started on that right away, but he didn't have the energy to do so. He wished he could be elated about his promotion to SeeD, but how could he? A friend of his - a true friend who he cared about a lot - was dead.

There was a knock behind him. "Come in," he called gruffly. His voice was rough. Since going to the headmaster's office about two hours ago, he hadn't spoken at all. He just picked up his things from his old room to his new one.

He heard careful steps behind him. He turned around and found Quistis, dressed in her SeeD uniform and unsmiling, standing there. She simply looked at him and waited for him to say something.

"Quisty," he greeted quietly.

"It's dark in here," she observed, seeing that none of his lights were on and that his windows were closed. However, the blinds were enough to provide some of the sunset's light.

Seifer shrugged. "Yeah, well, I'm not in the mood for anything bright."

"... None of us are."

At her words, Seifer silently trudged to his couch and plopped down onto it, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs. He gazed at the coffee table in front of him. (None of us, huh? You hear that, Irvine? You know what you did to us?)

(It'll... be like this for a while, you know...)

Quistis, her eyes knitted together in sadness, walked over to her former student and carefully took a seat next to him. She placed a hand gently on his thigh in an effort to comfort him, although she knew she needed comfort herself. "It's... hard," she said, her voice loud in the silent room.

He scoffed and shook his head, his eyes still boring into the coffee table. "Yeah? No shit," he retorted rather harshly. Since he wasn't looking at her, he could imagine the blonde instructor wincing at his tone as he felt her retract her hand, which felt nice and warm against his leg. Immediately, he grabbed her hand with his own in apology, staring down at their fingers as they started to naturally intertwine.

Neither of them said anything for a while.

Finally, Seifer spoke up. What he was about to address had been on his mind often. "It must be hell for you, Quistis." His voice was soft. It was something she wasn't used to, not even when Ralse Triton hurt his pride via vandalism all those months ago. "First Xu, and now..."

"O-Oh, yeah..." Quistis replied uneasily. She surely expected Seifer to mention something like that, but it still brought her to tears. She hastily wiped them away with her free hand but couldn't stop herself from letting a small whimper escape her. Upon hearing that, Seifer was quick to embrace her, letting go of her hand to wrap both arms around her as she cried freely. Why he did such a thing, he didn't know, but he found that the prideful, egotistical bastard he once was was rapidly disappearing from his system. The Seifer he was now was a caring, comforting friend beneath his smirking, teasing exterior. He had also become sensitive.

A rapid montage of being with Irvine and the rest of his friends from childhood to now took over his mind. Irvine playing War as a kid, laughing with little Sefie and himself... fighting him while brainwashed with Ultimecia's powers... seeing him for the first time in months when he re-registered as a student at Garden... having a heart-to-heart about Selphie... laughing with him in the lobby right before they left Garden for the exam...

He hated how his death was so abrupt. There had been no indication for him - for any of them, for that matter - that the last smile he saw on the cowboy would be his final one. What was the last thing he did with Irvine? Laugh and joke around. That was it. No epiphany, no odd, ominous feelings. Nothing.

It was shocking.

When Seifer finally roused himself from his thoughts, he found that a teary-eyed Quistis was gazing at him, trying to suppress her hiccups. He couldn't help but stare back at her, clueless.

She reached up and let her thumb brush against his cheek. "Seifer..." she whispered through her hiccups, smiling sadly at his confused look. "You're crying."

He suddenly raised his hand to one of his cheeks, the one Quistis hadn't touched. Sure enough, it was wet. He realized that she had touched his face to wipe away a fallen tear. "I..." he chuckled bitterly. "I guess I'm weaker than I thought." Seifer wasn't a crier. When he watched the D-District Prison explode and remembered that Irvine was still inside, he let himself cry once, but that was it. He didn't want to shed anymore tears, namely in front of anyone, especially his "rival" Squall. He was too strong and stubborn for that. But now...

He heard a sniffle and felt a weight shift. He turned his eyes to her again, seeing that she had gotten up from the couch. She was wiping away any last remnants of her crying. She then held out a hand to him. "Go get dressed in your SeeD uniform, Seifer," she told him. "He would want us to enjoy ourselves at the ball."

Seifer offered an agreeing smile. "Yeah... guess so."

Rinoa left her new dorm room quietly, locking the door behind her. She was clad in her new SeeD uniform, which she admitted to herself looked good on her, but she wasn't in the mood for a self-esteem boost.

She heard cursing behind her as she trudged down the hallway. Out of curiosity, she stopped and turned around. She found none other than a SeeDy-looking Zell swearing up a storm under his breath. With his hands in his pockets and his scowling face looking at the ground, he looked like he had just burst out of his own room, ready to "party-hearty" at the ball. Obviously.

Rinoa randomly wondered if she was good at being sarcastic.

She watched him, waiting for the blond to notice her presence, which he did when his eyes fell on her SeeD-issued uniform boots. "Rinny," he greeted unenthusiastically. He sounded like he had been crying. He lifted his head and took a moment to look at her face. He looked like he had been crying, too. "What's wrong? You look constipated."

Rinoa really didn't know how to respond to that. A small smile tugged at her lips, though. (At least his... oddities are still intact...)

He began to walk past her. Rinoa raised an eyebrow at him. Normally, Zell would've stuck around with her instead of just leaving like that. But then again, today wasn't a normal day. "Zell," she called out softly.

"I don't feel like talking to anyone right now," he responded. "I'm just going to the damn fucking ball because I have to-"

"You asked me what was wrong, though," she cut in, putting her hands on her hips.

He stopped mid-step and spun on his heel to face her. He looked a little annoyed. "So now you decide to tell me, out of all the fucking times I've asked you before what was wrong? When it was so fucking obvious that you weren't?"

"... What?"

"Rinoa, why the hell didn't you say anything earlier?" he asked, running frustrated hands through his hair. "I mean, you could've told me when we were out during your frickin' pre-req!"

Rinoa winced at the harshness of Zell's tone. "... Irvine told you, didn't he? About Hecate?"

"Yeah," Zell answered rather roughly. "I mean, Hyne, Rin! Why would you hide something like that?" He glared at her accusingly.

Rinoa crossed her arms and bowed her head self-consciously. "Can we not talk about this today?"

The martial artist shook his head. "Sure, Rinoa. Now let's talk about how Irvine died today during the exam-"

"Zell, please!" the sorceress interrupted. "I'm having a rough time right now... we all are." She had to bite her lip to keep from tearing up. "Can't we save the serious talk for another day?"

Zell sighed. "When is 'another day'? Until the signs of your DF start to show?"

Rinoa couldn't help but stare at him with fiery, glassy eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you? This isn't the Zell I know-"

"Maybe you don't know me," was his simple reply. He found that Rinoa's eyes were still on him. "Look, you're right. We're all having a rough time, especially because of today. But my life has been pretty unsatis-fucking-factory since the terrorist shit's been popping up. I've been feeling like I failed at everything I did. Not only that, the deaths just took the cake. And now you..."

Rinoa's face finally softened. Although he yelled at her about Hecate, she wasn't the one he blamed. It was himself. "Zell..."

"Chicken-Wuss here is sick of being the fun-loving, impulsive whatever he is to everyone else," he finished rather calmly. He turned his head to stare at the wall. "Blame me for hating everything right now."

The raven-haired girl didn't say anything. What could she say to that? Should she apologize? It seemed like she should. She felt horrible. She opened her mouth to do so, but it was then Zell decided to take his leave. After debating with herself, she decided not to follow.

As he walked away, he called back to her with, "You can grieve all you want, but you better fucking tell Squall and Quistis what's going on with you ASAP."

"Okay," Rinoa muttered uncertainly, but she doubted that her response was even loud enough for him to hear. Not that it mattered. She knew that Zell would be too preoccupied to try.

Still, she had something important to tell the others, and for Zell's sake, and hell, even for Irvine's, she needed to take responsibility and confess that she had been holding a DF all this time.

The Inauguration Ball went on as normal. Selphie's touches were hard to see for this year's event. But since it was such a tradition, Squall guessed that in the end, Garden preferred to keep it as it has always been.

But of course, he noticed some distinct differences this time around. Even though "Waltz for the Moon" played like it did last year, and although the decorations were nothing new, there were noticeably more people, less dancers, and less smiles.

The commander stood against the wall, sipping on some sparkling cider. He stood much like he did last year, watching with disinterest at the people before him. He only spotted Quistis, Seifer, and Zell so far out of his friends. However, Quistis and Seifer were the only ones who seemed social enough; Zell ignored everyone and went out to stare at the night sky on the balcony.

"HEY."

(Fujin.) "Hi," Squall responded quietly, turning from his wine glass to the new SeeD before him. He was a little weirded out at seeing her in the SeeD uniform skirt. He had half-expected her to ask for a male uniform rather than a female one like she did for the school outfit, but Garden was probably stricter on uniforms when it came to SeeD itself.

Fujin and Squall were never really good friends. Thus, the socializing between the two was a little awkward.

"SELPHIE. HOW IS SHE?"

(I would like to know the answer to that, too,) Squall thought, sighing mid-sip. He lowered his glass to respond truthfully. "I don't know."

The short-haired female actually didn't seem surprised at his answer. She nodded a bit and followed up with, "AND YOU."

It took him a few seconds to realize that she was asking a question. He shrugged and finished the last of his cider. "... I don't know." He preferred to keep his feelings far away from his physical being. His situation with Selphie was too stressful to think about, and the depression caused by it was really weighing him down. It was better if he distanced himself from the emotions.

"You two look like you're having fun," came Seifer's voice from behind Fujin. Before Squall knew it, both he and Quistis were standing in front of the brunet with the shuriken user.

The commander inwardly groaned. He wish he knew why he attracted people to him without even trying. He didn't like it. Especially when he wasn't in a good mood. "What, Seifer?" he asked, annoyed.

The blond male raised an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean, 'what'? All I said was-"

"I know," Squall interrupted. He turned his head to the side and didn't say anymore.

"Fucking rude," Seifer snapped.

"It'll subside," Quistis told him. "Just don't start anyth-"

"Who said I was going to?" Seifer interrupted, scowling. "I was just commenting on how rude Mr. Commando is right now." He turned back to Squall. "I'm not in the fucking mood for it."

"SEIFER. CALM DOWN," Fujin spoke up.

"What? I'm not doing anything! I'm just fucking talking."

The commander continued to remain silent.

In the midst of the small altercation, a familiar black-haired girl approached them anxiously. Quistis spotted her immediately and wondered why she looked so... nervous. "Rinoa," she greeted warmly.

The rest of the group turned to look at her. Seifer sighed. "Great. The only one missing is Chicken-wuss."

Rinoa averted her eyes. "I doubt he'd want to hang out with us, anyway."

There was an awkward silence after that. The same thing was on all their minds: the events of the field exam.

After some time, Rinoa cleared her throat nervously. "Er... I have something to say. About... not about you-know-what."

Seifer furrowed a brow. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Rinoa took a deep breath before she went on. "My... Hecate, my GF, isn't... a GF."

Everyone only stared at her. Rinoa couldn't tell what any of their looks meant, but obviously, none were positive.

"Rinoa..." Squall finally spoke up, giving his ex-girlfriend a concerned, anxious look. "Are you saying that... is it what Odine was talking about?"

She gave him a small nod, a scared tear escaping her eye. "Yeah... a DF."

Selphie watched with a frown as some students walked by, gossiping about a certain blue-clad, black-haired SeeD. It was all she had been hearing about that day, for some reason.

Rinoa's news spread throughout Garden faster than an Esthar elevator trip. It was always stuff like, Oh, did you hear about the sorceress with the DF? Have you heard about what DFs are? Odine talked about it on the news... Blah, blah, blah. There was much speculation about her either turning evil or having something extraordinary happen to her because she also had sorceress powers. People had begun to fear her.

Now that Rinoa's DF has been exposed, she has been in and out of Garden for testing. Her missions as the first sorceress SeeD were kept to a minimum because of them, even. It must have been annoying for the dark-haired girl to face rumors and such every day. But then again, it was probably not unlike what happened with the Edea/Adel/Ultimecia business.

The green-eyed girl hopped off of the bench, pensive. She was numb, refusing to grieve and refusing to act like it didn't happen. She was half-denying and half-accepting, if that made any sense.

She refused to envision his face in her mind. She blocked out his name from her head and from anyone else's lips.

If she dared to think about it too much, she would break down.

Selphie spent the last week (or was it two?) feeling like a zombie. She was in a state of surreality and depersonalization - she didn't feel like she was really there. She didn't know if that was because she wasn't getting enough sleep or if she was just... that depressed. It was odd. She and depression seemed like polar opposites a year ago, but with all that had been happening lately, they might as well be friends.

Weird. She could smile a fake smile when Trabia was destroyed, but she couldn't even bring herself to do that when...

Selphie sighed. She was a messed up individual.

"There you are..."

Selphie turned to her right and found Rinoa standing there, her hands clasped behind her back and a gentle smile on her face. "How are you doing, Selphie?"

(What do you think?)

The brunette shrugged, looking down. She thought it was pretty obvious how she was doing.

"Oh, Selphie..." It was a sad-sounding utterance from the sorceress. The Trabian had an idea that her optimistic, energetic self was missed greatly and that this side of her was too much for anyone to bear, but how could she be? He... she couldn't even finish that sentence. She knew Rinoa understood. She was an understanding person.

Selphie finally looked up at her friend, giving her a dismissive shaking of her head. "It's okay, Rin..."

"Have you talked to Squa-"

"No."

Rinoa blinked and then shut up. "I see..."

There was another silence and then Selphie spoke up again. "How... are you?"

The taller girl sighed. "Just busy... I don't even have time to do SeeD exams. Squall's been taking me here and there for anything relating to DFs. I'm not even scared about this anymore. It's just annoying-"

"Squall's been taking you?" Selphie asked. Her voice had a jealous undertone, but Rinoa didn't look like she noticed.

"Well... yeah." She seemed somewhat confused. "Why?"

Selphie didn't want to admit to her or herself that she didn't like that they were spending time together without her being aware of it. But she did tell off her boyfriend a week or two ago and didn't want to talk to him for a while. It shouldn't bother her that Squall was doing his own thing.

"... Nothing," the nunchaku specialist responded softly. "I was just... confirming." Her heart was sinking, but she had to convince herself that nothing was going on between Squall and Rinoa.

"Oh, hey," Rinoa piped up, as if realizing something. "Seifer and I were planning on bumming around watching movies or whatever in my room... wanna join us?"

Selphie just looked at her, unenthusiastic. "What for?"

"To unwind," she replied with ease. "These past couple of weeks have been really tough on us." She offered a small smile. "Me and Seifer want to do something to lighten us up." Rinoa put her hand on Selphie's arm. "What do you say?"

A normal Selphie would have jumped at the opportunity. But she wasn't exactly feeling normal, was she? "I don't know..." her voice faltered.

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "You would say that." Her grip on the Trabian's arm now more firm, she started to tug, indicating that she was was going to lead her back to her room anyway.

Selphie began to protest. "Rinoa-"

"Forget it, Selph," the sorceress interrupted, not looking at her. "You're going to relax with me and Sei Sei tonight. We all need this. Too much is going on..." She let herself trail off rather cryptically.

Selphie noticed this, but she didn't say anything about it. Rinoa must be struggling with the DF thing on top of her continued grievance over... what happened at the field exam.

The mere thought of the field exam created an awful feeling in Selphie's heart.

She wanted to object to joining Rinoa and Seifer again, but unluckily for her, the two girls already found themselves in front of Rinoa's door. The sorceress waltzed through the sliding door, craning her neck to give Selphie a quick, reassuring grin as she pulled her along.

Upon entering the room, Selphie noticed a hyper Angelo start to jump around her owner, panting excitedly. The sorceress let the Trabian out of her grasp as she tended to her dog.

Selphie also found Seifer lounging on Rinoa's brand-new off-white couch. He was already entranced by whatever was on the (also brand-new) TV. He finally looked up and blinked in surprise. She guessed that he was surprised that she actually showed up.

He half-smiled in greeting. "Selphie." He must've heard from Squall about her new hatred for her old nickname. "Glad you could join us." He sat up, making room for the green-eyed girl. He then patted a spot next to him. "You're gonna have fun tonight." He smirked.

She hesitantly took a seat next to him, but remained silent. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Seifer's smirk begin to fade as he watched her. Without turning her head, she asked, "What is it?"

"..." Seifer scratched his head. "I... I'm just... dunno, worried-" The word sounded awkward when he said it, "-about you... I guess. I mean, we all are. You're obviously taking it worse than all of us." He nudged her lightly with his elbow. "Puberty Boy's especially concerned. What's going on with you two, anyway?"

Selphie shrugged.

Seifer raised an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could ask any more questions, Rinoa appeared in front of the two of them. She crossed her arms. "Seif... how the hell did you get in here?"

He beamed up at the SeeD in front of him. "Learn to lock your door, woman."

"I thought I-"

"I'm in here now, aren't I?"

Rinoa scowled and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, by the way, I brought a surprise." With that, Seifer pulled himself off the couch and headed into the mini-kitchen. With both girls watching him in curiosity, he opened the refrigerator door and took out a six-pack of bottles of... beer. "Snuck in this shit earlier." He smiled at the two of them.

Rinoa crinkled her nose. "Beer? I don't like beer..."

"Yeah, I figured. This'll be the one of the ones you'll actually like." He brought the beers into the 'living room' area and set them on the cheap-looking coffee table in front of the couch. "I got some more crap, too... hard liquor, but I thought we'd start on the beer first."

Rinoa plucked a bottle out of the cardboard pack and examined the label. "Trabian Snowstorm? ... Never heard of it." She turned to Selphie. "Do you drink?"

Selphie shrugged for the thousandth time that day. "Never drank before."

Rinoa chuckled. "Yeah, I'm still kind of new at this."

Seifer grinned at Selphie and grabbed a bottle for her. "Tonight's a great time to start, then." He twisted the bottle cap off and held out a Trabian for the, well, Trabian. The brunette took the beer from him slowly and stared at the liquid in the bottle. Funny, she always saw herself as the type to abstain from this type of stuff. She knew how to have plenty of fun sober.

But this was, according to Rinoa, a night for the three of them to "unwind." A lot has happened. Too much stress, too many bad feelings...

So, what the hey. Selphie lifted the bottle to her mouth and took a small swig. The taste was bitter, but she welcomed it. Something to hopefully wake her from her numbness.

Seifer took a bottle of beer for himself and turned to Rinoa. "So, what we watchin'?" After opening his bottle and tossing the cap to the ground, he walked over to the TV, where some movies were sitting on top of it. He one-handedly sifted through them uninterestedly.

The gunblade specialist spotted a video camera sitting on the ground nearby, connected to a charger. "Selph, isn't this yours?" he asked, pointing to it.

Selphie nodded. "Yeah..." By now, she had finished her first beer. Being a small, thin girl, she was already feeling the effects of the alcohol, but she paid it no heed as she reached for another (So this is what alcohol does...) she thought idly.

Rinoa laughed a little at her as she plopped down next to her. "I can see that you're liking this..." she joked. "Future alcoholic in the making?"

"Hey, Rin," Seifer called. He set his beer down on the coffee table and began to fiddle with the camcorder. "What's on here?"

The raven-haired girl turned to him. "Uh... don't remember. The Garden Festival stuff, probably?"

He gave her a sly smile. "Wanna watch? It'll be great to laugh at ourselves." His eyes shifted to Selphie. "How 'bout it, Selph?"

The yellow-clad girl twisted the cap off of the Trabian and paused. Garden Festival? Wasn't that when he and Rinoa caught a tender moment of herself and Squall on camera...? She wasn't in the mood for anything like that. "Sorry, don't think so," she finally replied, her voice small.

Seifer looked at her quizzically. "Why? What's wrong?"

Rinoa seemed to remember. "Oh... yeah, Seif, we probably shouldn't." She frowned. "I don't think Selphie wants to see footage of her and Squall all kissy-faced and Irv-" she realized what she was about to say and stopped talking.

The blond nodded in understanding and backtracked. "Right... well, let's just watch one of your shitty movies, then, Rin."

"They are not," Rinoa retorted.

Seifer drank the last of his beer, set the empty bottle on the table, and reach for his second. "Please, Rinny. You're such a girl. You have typical girl movies."

"You didn't even look through them all!"

He smirked. "No, I didn't."

She gave him a disgusted look. "Well, whatever. You choose one of my less shitty movies while I grab whatever else you brought." She got up and headed to the fridge.

Selphie had been silent the entire time, but it wasn't like she was willing to participate in conversation. Her tipsiness was comforting; it made the exchange between her two friends more fascinating and distracting.

She was ready to drink some more.

Unlike Seifer, Rinoa, and Selphie, some SeeDs were either busy with missions that early evening (in the case of Fujin, Raijin, and some other rookies). Or some were like Squall, Quistis, and Nida and keeping an eye on a particular restrained red-haired anarchist through a window to an isolated room. Unbeknownst to her, the tinted window provided a view for SeeDs to observe her, but not the other way around.

"She's still refusing to talk," Quistis noted dully as the commander approached her from behind. The instructor had been observing Bethe Rhiannon for hours, only to have nothing noteworthy to report.

Nida had been the one trying to question her, but he had come up with nothing. His inquiries were met with either smirks or scowls. Currently, he was standing near Quistis, waiting to speak if and when it was necessary.

Squall didn't feel like being patient and wait around for her to say something, but whatever information she had was valuable, and he had to take the risk. It hasn't been long... she'll talk in time.

"Has she talked at all? I mean, in general?" the brunet asked.

Nida shrugged. "Not very much. Most of the time, she just swears at me or whoever happens to be around." He sighed. "Very pleasant to hear," he added dryly.

"There has to be a way to get her to answer our questions," Quistis muttered, as she turned to face Squall. "I know she'll talk to us sooner or later. She just seems... stubborn right now."

"I think the same," Squall agreed monotonously. "I think that's all we can get tonight, though." He looked at each of his subordinates. "I'll report to the Headmaster." (Like report's even an appropriate word for the nothingness I get to tell him about). With his head, he gestured toward the door that led out the observation room. "You guys are dismissed."

Nida saluted quickly and promptly left. Quistis stuck around a little longer. She gave Squall a concerned look. "You look tired," she said.

He scowled at her. "That's probably because I am."

"How are you and Selphie-"

"Why does everyone keep asking me about her?" he cut in, annoyed.

"Sorry..."

She watched as he slumped down into a chair at the table in the room. He leaned over, rubbing his face with his hands. After a long period of silence, he spoke up, his face still buried in his hands. "She's still not talking to me."

The blonde didn't know what to say. The monotone in her former student's voice was gone, replaced by one of frustration with a hint of hopeless sadness.

"I'm afraid of even approaching her," he went on. "I'm fucking... commander of Balamb Garden and I'm afraid of my girlfriend."

Quistis didn't know what prompted the Lion to suddenly spill his emotions, but it was certainly better than holding it all in or isolating himself like he did uncalculable times before.

"Quis... could you leave me alone?" Squall requested quietly.

(Oh, never mind). The blue-eyed instructor frowned in slight disapproval, but complied, anyway. "... Okay." She saluted him and reluctantly left the room.

Many drinks later, Rinoa, Seifer, and even Selphie were rolling on the floor in laughter. Empty bottles and cups were all over the coffee table. Angelo was sleeping in her bed in Rinoa's bedroom, the sounds of three drunken SeeDs muffled by the closed door.

"Ohhhh Hyne," Rinoa giggled, pointing at Seifer. "I can't believe ya flirted with one'a the lunch ladies t'get free hot dogs. Zell must'a been pissed!"

"I can hear your Galbaaaay-di-uhhn accent, Rinny," Seifer remarked.

"You guys are both slurring!" Selphie exclaimed from the couch. She was lying down, facing the ceiling.

"So are you!" Rinoa exclaimed. She stood up slowly and swayed over to Selphie, her arms outstretched. "Oh, Selphie! I'm so glad yer back!" She actually climbed on top of the brunette for a hug, laying down on her and wrapping her arms around her.

Selphie tried to push her off, laughing and squealing. "Ew, Rinny! You're heavy!"

The raven-haired girl pretended to look hurt by pouting. "No, I'm not!"

Seifer laughed at the two of them, clearly amused. "Holy shit! Lesbian action!" He crawled over to them. "Fuck, lemme in on this shit!"

Rinoa glanced at Seifer and gave him a sluggish smile. "Sei Seiiii! Git on top! We'll have a threesome!"

"Hell fucking yeah!"

Selphie protested. "No way! He's the fattest one out of all of us!"

"Fuck you! No, I'm not!" Seifer was about to dog pile on top of the girls, but the three of them suddenly heard the door slide open.

"Shit! We should've locked that!" cried the blond, twisting around to see who it was.

Fortunately for them, the person at the door was none other than Squall. He walked in cautiously, noticing the bottles and the three laughing Orphanage Gang members. He rolled his eyes. "Thank Hyne it was me and not a faculty member," he commented, unamused. He glared at them. "I could hear you all the way down the hallway. I'm surprised that no one-"

"Commando!" exclaimed Seifer.

"Squaaaaalll!" Rinoa had gotten off of the Trabian and was now stumbling toward her ex-boyfriend, pouncing on to him in a tight hug.

Squall, feeling awkward at the gesture, took a hold of her arms and immediately pulled her off of him. "What the hell...?" Rinoa hasn't hugged him since their breakup.

Selphie sat up, her expression turning from happy to a little angry. Well, drunken angry. "Rinny, what are you doing?"

The sorceress shrugged, linking her arm through the brunet's. "Saying hi! Whaddya think, Selph?" She gave the shorter girl a dismissive wave. "Don't worry! I'm not gonna do anythin' suspicious..." She put a lot of emphasis on the last word.

The little Trabian folded her arms childishly. "Fine. Whatever you say."

Squall glanced at his girlfriend (who looked pretty wasted) and then averted his eyes. He turned to Rinoa. "I was going to ask if you could fill out some paperwork about DFs-"

"Noooo! Don't wanna!" she whined.

He managed to get her deathgrip off him. Rinoa teetered away, smiling at him coyly. "I can see that. I'll just ask you again when you're sober." He was about to turn and leave, but looking at Rinoa's wall clock, he decided that it was time for her guests to head back to their own rooms.

"Seifer," he started, pointing to the clock. "It's about time to leave."

Seifer scowled. "Awww, but Commando!"

"Don't you have a mission briefing with me early tomorrow morning?" he asked pointedly. "So... help Rin clean up this mess and go home."

Rinoa wasn't helping the blond's situation any. "Yeaaaah," she said, cocking her head to one side at her room, namely the area around the coffee table. "It is pretty messy." She giggled a little.

"I'll... take Selphie back." Squall seemed hesitant at first about it, but his protective boyfriend instincts were kicking in.

"You are? Booyaka!" She latched herself on to him, smiling up at him. The Lion felt his heart ache as he looked down into her emerald green eyes. It felt like it's been forever since she smiled at him, even though it was a probably deliriously drunken one.

He missed her. He dared himself to kiss her on the forehead. The girl didn't object. "Let's go," he told her.

She let go of him and happily held his hand as he led her back to her room. Both she and Squall gave their friends brief parting waves as they exited the door.

Selphie sloppily swiped her keycard, unlocking her door. She entered first, her body swaying as she walked in. Squall followed, catching up to steady her. He put his hands on her shoulders gently. The brunette stopped and suddenly leaned against him, her head on his chest. "Squally..."

Squall's heart jumped. He hasn't heard his nickname in a while. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." She turned around to face him directly. "I'm a butthead!" She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm a stupid butthead."

He shook his head as he put his own arms around her shoulders, holding her closer. "You're not."

"Don't hate me, Squally," she murmured into his shirt. "Don't hate me."

"I don't hate you."

"I said mean things to you. I don't mean any of it." Her voice was turning into an apologetic whine, as if she was trying to come up with excuses for forgetting to turn in her homework for school, but the commander was okay with it. Anything other than the depressed, estranged girl from the past two weeks.

Squall smiled into her hair. "It's okay." He hoped to Hyne that she would act like the same happy Selphie when she sobered up.

"I don't love him. Not like I love you." Selphie kissed his chest. "I love you, Squally."

Squall blocked any remnants of inner guilt he had over Irvine's death and pressed his lips against the top of her head. "I love you, too."

The two of them stayed like that for a while.

"Squally?"

He loosened his hold on her and lifted a hand to trace her jawline with his fingers. He gave her a questioning look, prompting her to continue.

She gave him a flirtatious smile. "Stay with me tonight?"

"Sweetie, I have to get up early tom-"

She interrupted him by reaching up on her tiptoes to give him the most mind-blowing kiss she could give him. The kiss was hard and seductive, and he didn't protest. In fact, he welcomed it feverishly. Selphie licked his lips and gently pushed her tongue into his mouth, their kiss deepening further. She grasped him by his jacket and led him back to her bedroom.

He humorously wondered to himself if he should just get Selphie to be drunk more often.

Selphie laid back on the bed while Squall climbed on top, his lips capturing hers again. After a while of making out, they came up for air.

"Squall..." she said breathlessly, looking up at him impishly.

He gave her a light kiss on her lips. "Hm?"

"Do me," she replied softly, his mouth still against hers.

He lifted himself off of her some, staring at her warily. "What?"

Selphie brought him back down to her, delicately biting his bottom lip with affection. "You heard, me Squally."

(... She wants to fuck. Oh, Hyne...) Squall thought to himself, gaping at her. (But well, I guess she really does know what sex is. She's probably not that childish in that aspect.) He also had to admit that the way she said it made it very tempting, but... "I can't," he whispered, eyeing her a little sadly. He gave her another butterfly kiss and let his and her foreheads touch as he continued with, "Selphie, you're drunk."

She whimpered in disappointment. "But-"

"No," he told her, his tone a little more firm. "When you're sober."

"I'm sobering up," she insisted in a small voice.

"Maybe you are, but it's not enough, Sweetie," he said. He took in her words of 'sobering up.' If she really was, then maybe the two of them would be okay again after this. The gunblade user really hoped that was the case.

"But I love you..." Selphie sounded almost desperate, but Squall wasn't going to relent.

He smiled a little at her. "You know I love you, too. That's why I want to wait on this. I want it to be special."

She pouted but finally let Squall have his way. "'Kay..."

Squall brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "I have to go, okay?" He didn't want to leave, but he had to be a good commander and wake up on time and get to work on time. "Good night, Selphie."

"Good night, Squally."

He gave her a last kiss on the lips. He could feel her lips stretch into another smile as he did. Squall left her room feeling light and giddy, as if their relationship was brand-new again. He couldn't keep his own smile off his face. He was very much relieved...

(... for the moment,) he finished in thought as he reached his own door. He fished his keycard out of his back pocket.

A gunblade held firmly by dark leather gloves. A sharp, silver blade thrusting cleanly into a small, familiar frame.

Blood. Hers.

"I love you..."

Squall felt himself wake up with a start.

At least, he felt like he woke up. He realized that, instead of sitting up in something more reasonable like his bed, he was standing in his living room, the door directly behind him. Strangely, he didn't remember entering. It was as if he blacked out while he had that vision.

(I wonder if they're getting worse,) he wondered. This had definitely never happened before, and it was not good. His relationship was more than likely starting to work again, only to have something like this ruin it, like it did before. The commander didn't want to have to avoid Selphie like he tried to last time, but he was afraid of what else could happen... especially with what his visions were about. He also knew that his girlfriend didn't fully understand his situation, and he didn't know how to reassure her that everything was going to be all right, regardless.

Squall forced himself out of thought and trudged to his bathroom. He switched on the light and stared at his reflection. He couldn't tell if he looked any different or not, but Quistis had commented repeatedly on how tired he looked. Maybe he was, but who cared? He didn't.

The brunet turned from the mirror to the door of his bedroom, which was closed. He sighed heavily. Even if he was as incredibly tired as the instructor thought he was, he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep.

Seifer woke up bright and early that next morning with an incredible headache. He cursed loudly into his pillow and held his head in pain.

What a day to have a mission.

He almost considered calling in sick, but thought better of it. What use was it to back out from a mere hangover when he had a reputation to fix? Having that in mind, he forced himself to roll out of bed.

If only he didn't have that damn headache.

Seifer got ready, necklace, trenchcoat, and everything, and made his way to the commander's office. His headache was starting to subside... or was he just getting used to it? He couldn't tell the difference. He sighed to himself and sauntered through the door.

Seifer found Selphie sitting in a chair in front of Squall's desk. Squall wasn't there yet. She smiled up at him. It was a reserved grin compared to the beaming one she always had previous to the field exam, but at least it wasn't the yellow-clad zombie he had observed dragging herself around Garden before last night's events.

"Morning, Sei Sei," she chirped. "You're early."

(The hell?) "... Don't you feel hung over?" he asked her. "You were pretty fucking trashed last night."

"You mean like, headaches and stuff?" The brunette shook her head, her smile never wavering. "Nope."

Seifer hated her at that moment. He stared at her in wonder for a second, but after a moment of thought, decided to ask her something. "Are you okay, otherwise?" He looked away, as though he didn't want to seem like he cared that much.

She looked up at him quizzically. "Hm?"

He shifted his gaze to narrow his eyes at her. "You know what I mean, Messenger Girl. I know you're not that stupid."

Her smile widened. "Yup!"

Seifer realized that he must've have given her some sort of look, because a second later, she backed down from her happy high, her expression turning serious as she looked down. Her smile was still there, but it looked more nervous than glad. "I did a lot of thinking this morning... about last night," she admitted softly.

He sat down in an adjacent chair that was in front of the desk. "Oh? Like what?" he queried.

She giggled. "Haha, me thinking. That's so weird!"

"Fucking... Selphie."

The Trabian stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Sorry, sorry." She piped down and stared at her hands. "Well, I thought about how I acted last night... how I was before last night. You know, like, how I was with Squall and all of you... especially Squall, actually."

"And?"

"... I'm a dum-dum."

Seifer rolled his eyes at her. She still spoke like a kid, even though she was in her late teens. "A dum-dum? Talk in real words, please."

She pouted at him but continued. "Well, I said some mean things to Squall and pushed him away. I was just overwhelmed with you-know-what and didn't think my words through." She sighed. "And now... I feel bad. I realized last night that Squall was doing only what he thought was right, know what I mean?"

Seifer snorted and smirked at her. "Selph, I think that's the smartest thing I've ever heard you say."

"Tee-hee, I think the alcohol cleared my head rather than fuzzed it all up like it should've," she laughed.

The blond watched her for a while, wondering what was up with her sudden attitude adjustment. He highly doubted that the alcohol alone did anything. (Did Commando say something?) He frowned inwardly. He also doubted that. Squall wouldn't have gotten through to her in that state. But the more Seifer thought about it, the more confused he got, and it was seriously starting to piss him off. And, oh, Hyne, all this thinking was hurting his head even more.

But anyway, the only thing he knew about Selphie was that she wasn't fully back to her old self, which was understandable. Irvine's death was still fresh in not only hers, but in everyone else's minds, yet he couldn't help thinking that there was something amiss about Selphie. He just didn't know what, though. He guessed he'll have to find the answer to his questions about her some other time.

"So, what are you doing here, anyway? he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you were supposed to be paired with Firion for your mission," she explained, "but... we all realized that you'd probably kill him before the end of the day, with your personalities... so you got me instead."

"Boooooyaka..." he mumbled under his breath sarcastically.

"Booyaka is right!" she exclaimed.

That was precisely when Squall finally walked in, followed by Rinoa. Seifer noticed that the commander looked ragged as hell, as if he didn't get any sleep at all. The sorceress seemed a little quiet and like she didn't want to be there, which he knew was because of the DF thing. It was a large weight on her shoulders that she was struggling to carry. She was quieter than usual, but still managed to greet him and Selphie with a "good morning."

Squall looked from Seifer to Selphie. He offered the girl a small, but hesitant smile. The nunchaku specialist, on the other hand, grinned back only half-heartedly.

(What? Half-heartedly? Something's still off...) Seifer could tell from the commander's eyes that he was hurt, and that he could tell that Selphie's smile didn't exactly reach her eyes, but being as official as he was, didn't address this personal matter during the briefing.

"Seifer," Squall started, crossing his arms. He looked down at a piece of paper sitting on his desk. "Seems like you've been increasing in rank quickly. Five in two weeks?"

"So?" Seifer scoffed, acting in his usual rebellious way. He grinned smugly. "The tests are a fucking breeze."

"I appreciate you not swearing during official SeeD business." There was a dry tone to Squall's voice.

"That's bullshit."

"Anyway," the Lion continued in a business-like tone, "You and Selphie will be going to Galbadia Garden." He handed Seifer a manila folder. "This is actually more like your first solo mission, since you've apparently been doing really well as SeeD, disregarding your attitude."

"Apparently?" Seifer repeated in disbelief. "My attitude? Hell..."

Squall glared at him and chose not to remark. Rinoa remained silent, looking off into space, while Selphie, surprisingly, didn't react. "As I was saying," the commander said pointedly, "you basically have a solo mission, with Selphie supervising you. You're still a low-level, so it's probably not as exciting as you'd hope."

Seifer tsked, propping his head up with his hand. "What is it, then?"

"Retrieving research files from G-Garden's archives and bringing them back to me. They know you're coming. Nothing sneaky about it."

"... That's it?"

"Told you." Squall shrugged. He looked at the clock. "I'm expecting you guys back in the evening. You're not taking the Ragnarok, so don't try." He nodded at the two of them. "Dismissed."

Selphie hopped out of her chair. "Meet me in the garage, Sei Sei," she told her subordinate. "I'll be down there in a bit." She smiled somewhat cheerily. Emphasis on somewhat.

Seifer glowered at her but followed her order, anyway, walking slowly out of the room with no more than a lazy wave to the others.

Squall turned to look at Selphie, who by then had focused her attention to him. He moved from behind his desk to stand in front of her. He had a feeling she had something to tell him, and he was anxious to hear it.

"Squall..."

Squall, not Squally. He sighed inwardly. He had hoped for too much since last night's events. Only drunken Selphie would continue to call him Squally.

"... Can I talk to you?"

He knew it. She needed to talk. And as much as he wanted to, SeeD business always came first. Squall ran a hand through his hair. "But you have a-"

"Yeah, but briefly. Please?"

It was those eyes again. It was nothing but a simple stare, but Squall was always falling deep into that sharp emerald green. After forcing himself to look away from her entrancing orbs, he glanced at Rinoa, who was watching them with slight interest. "Uh, could you wait outside for a little bit? Sorry."

Rinoa's lips turned up a little. "Of course." She walked past them and out the door. It closed behind her with a familiar hiss.

When she was gone, Selphie cast her eyes to the ground, as if embarrassed with what she was going to say. "Squall..."

Squall was worrying about what she was going to tell him. Was it going to be bad? Was she going to break up with him? Was last night just something she only did when drunk? Was-

"I'm sorry..."

(Oh.) "You apologized already," he told her with a slight smile.

"I was drunk..."

He shook his head. "Sef... Selph, I know. don't worry about it."

"No, Squall, I'm sorry about how I acted last night, being all drunk and-" she cut herself off as a blush crept up her cheeks.

"I know. I said don't worry." The commander ducked his head so that his lips could reach hers for a brief kiss. To his dismay, she flinched and backed away, bowing her head further down.

The playful smile he had was gone instantly. Squall felt a brief pang in his chest, but he should've expected her to act this way. His blue-gray eyes observed her sadly. He fought the urge to reach out and pull her to him, squeezing his hands into fists and keeping his arms at his sides.

"I meant what I said, though," Selphie continued, raising her head again. He noticed something darker about her eyes. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he wouldn't be able to make them as bright as they should be. "It's just that... I'm still... you know..." She looked away uncomfortably.

Squall hated it, but he couldn't squash down the mixture of the feelings of sadness, guilt and jealousy when it came to Irvine. Sadness because of his death. Guilt because of what he had sent his squad to do. Jealousy because he was never really higher on the list than Irvine was. In fact, he was probably way below him. Selphie loved Irvine. Maybe she was no longer in love with the cowboy, but they were extremely close. Squall admitted to himself that he was jealous of that. Squall loved Selphie more than anything, but he felt like Irvine was always number one. It frustrated him that something like this could affect their relationship so much, but he was doing the best he could for her, wasn't he?

Why did he have such ill feelings, then? Why couldn't he shake them off? Why should Irvine's death affect their relationship as if Squall was some kind of affair? Or hell, even as a rebound? This would be one hell of a rebound, a relationship going on far too long to be considered one, but still.

(I could never be like you, can I, Irvine?)

Of course not. He was never part of the SelphieIrvine group, nor even the SelphieIrvineSeifer one. They were best friends. Squall probably never understood her like Irvine did. He bet that she never cried over him like she has cried over Irvine in the past.

He was never good enough.

It was greedy of him, he knew. He needed to leave Selphie room. Her best friend, and one of his great friends, died recently. This was the wrong time to be mad, but he felt so helpless with her. There was nothing he could do to help her but to stay away, but at the same time he couldn't, because he needed her to help him endure his difficulties, too. He didn't want to do that alone.

"You really did love him, didn't you?" Squall asked out of the blue. He didn't mean for the words to come out; they were originally just a part of his thoughts, but it was too late to take them back now.

She blinked at him incredulously. "Squall...?"

Squall averted his gaze, his eyes boring into the ground. "... Never mind." He changed the topic by gesturing toward the door and adding, "You better leave. Seifer'll get mad."

Selphie frowned at him.

He managed to grin down at her. "Be back safe, Sweetie." He turned his back to her and started for the desk. He didn't want to see the expression on her face. He was afraid of being right. He knew he would be, but he didn't want to face the reality of it. He didn't want to hear it from her, either. He just wanted her to leave so that she couldn't make him feel worse than he already did.

But to his chagrin, there was silence. No words from her mouth, no hissing of the office door, no footsteps. Selphie hasn't budged.

The commander pursed his lips together as he froze in place, wondering what would happen next.

"Yes."

It was said softly and almost unsurely, but it was loud and clear in Squall's ears. His eyes rested on the letter opener sitting on his desk.

Yes.

"But I said before, Squall," she went on in that same tone, "that I meant what I said last night... you remember that, don't you?"

The tone in Selphie's voice wasn't convincing to him. "I do," he responded gruffly. The more he stared at the letter opener, the more he was tempted to just die. "See you tonight," he added.

No more was uttered, and Selphie had no choice but to leave. Squall never once turned to look at her.

Once she was gone, he collapsed into his chair. He leaned over, placing his elbows on his desk and burying his face in his hands. Squall heard the door open again.

"Squall?"

It was Rinoa. Of course it would be. Selphie wouldn't come back and take back her words. Especially not those words.

He didn't move, but he could hear his ex-girlfriend's footsteps as she went to him. He felt her weight on his desk, as if she decided to sit down on it.

"What happened?" she asked gently. Her voice was close. He could almost feel her breath in his ear.

He finally lifted his head from his hands and turned to her. To his surprise, the girl's concerned face was practically in his. He leaned away slightly, uncomfortable with her closeness. (What is she doing?)

"We should start heading to Esthar," was all he responded with, getting up from his desk.

Rinoa got up as well, smiling at him. "Sure."

Uh-oh. Squall raised an eyebrow. He recognized something about it, and it was the coy, flirtatiousness in it. But why would she smile like that? "... Is something wrong, Rinoa?" he asked stoically, watching her carefully. The sorceress seemed very different somehow, very un-Rinoa-like, and it wasn't because she's been hustling and bustling with the DF business.

She just shrugged mysteriously.

(Okay...)

Maybe he was just imagining things. A lot has been going on lately, anyway. And what was he doing thinking that his ex-girlfriend was trying to hit on him? Squall tilted his head briefly toward the door. "Let's go. Running late as it is." Without waiting for an answer, he sauntered toward it.

Suddenly, he felt two arms wrap snugly around his waist, preventing him from moving anymore.

(What the?)

The moment felt frozen. What Rinoa did felt so out of place that Squall didn't know how to react at first. A look of shock crossed his face. Something strange was indeed going on with her.

"Rinoa," he said firmly, finally gathering his thoughts. An intimate action like this (intimate to him, anyway) was unacceptable. "What are you doing?"

"It really sucks about you and Selphie," she sighed innocently. "I just wanted to let you know that-"

"Let go of me, please."

Her grip tightened. "Aw, so mean..." she remarked in a baby voice. She giggled. "You shouldn't be mean to your ex-girlfriend, you know," she added in a sing-song voice. She snuggled into the back of his jacket comfortably. "It's been a while since we touched like this, hasn't it?"

He gritted his teeth in annoyance. "What the hell? We're both over each other! What-" Squall stopped himself. This was definitely not Rinoa. She would never say anything like that. Especially after the way the two of them have broken up.

(That could only mean...) The commander theorized that Hecate was influencing Rinoa's actions. "Hecate," he spoke up in a calmer voice. "Let go. Now."

She loosened her grip some, but didn't let go completely. "Hm? Hecate? But I'm-"

"Hecate, Rinoa. Fuck, whatever. We're late," he told her in an aggravated tone. "We have to go to Esthar now. Give Rinoa back."

"You let Selphie stay a little longer here..."

"That's different."

"..."

Squall didn't know what the silence after his reply meant, but he didn't have to wait long for that answer. A sharp, prickly feeling burned his back as he felt a Thunder spell hit him point black. Thunder was a weak spell, but the commander was completely defenseless as he shot forward from the impact. Rinoa's arms left him as he hit the wall in front of him.

Recovering quickly, Squall pushed himself away from the wall and turned to face Rinoa... or Hecate... or whoever she was at the moment. Glaring at her, he opened his mouth to let her have it until he noticed her face, especially Rinoa's eyes.

They were the same brown he has known since he met her, but there was something abysmal about her dark orbs. They weren't warm and friendly at all. Squall felt like he was going to fall into them, but not in the way he would be hypnotized by Selphie's. These eyes were more like black holes.

They were creepily sinister, and even the Lion himself was a little scared.

"Rin-" Squall began cautiously, but cut himself off. "Hecate."

Her face remained serious and cold. "Oh, I'm still Rinoa, Squall... technically. But I'm not at that stage yet."

He couldn't help cringing at Rinoa's voice. The timbre of it was still there, but there was an odd, hollow but brassy quality to it that irritated his ears. "Stage?" he repeated.

"Completely absorbing the human we junction with takes a while, depending on each of us," she explained matter-of-factly, stepping closer until she was about a foot away. "Think of it as a continuum. The more power and energy we absorb, the more we influence the human. And the closer the continuum moves toward the side Hecate completely is."

Intriguing. Squall took in this information. This was something important he would need to talk to Odine about. He needed to know more. A lot more. "Where's the real Rinoa?" he asked quietly.

Rinoa scoffed as her hand suddenly came up. With it wrapped around his neck, she used that hand to push him harshly back against the wall. Squall hissed in pain, the damage from the Thunder spell still fresh on his body. The fingers around his throat tightened, but he couldn't let himself look weak in front of this enemy.

"No more," she said, her voice low and her eyes narrowed. Bolts of lightning crackled around her hand, the same one that was holding him against the wall by the neck. "I am not here to answer your questions."

Squall realized that he couldn't have Hecate manifested for very long... from what Odine told him, any time the DF explicitly influenced whoever it was junctioned to, the person would lose a significant amount of energy. He needed to figure out a way to get the real Rinoa back before anything terrible happened. He also didn't want to resort to hurting her.

"Whatever you want from us..." he muttered, his voice strained against her grip, "... now's not the time." He didn't lift a finger, hoping that his lack of aggression would will her to not do anymore damage and possibly return to normal.

Rinoa would not relent, however. "I will not be equated with a lab rat of that stupid man's," she sputtered angrily. The bolts around her spiked dangerously, but didn't hurt him.

"Try to kill me if you want, but you're not getting anything out of me," he said evenly.

"I can't hurt you too much," Rinoa replied quickly, as if correcting him.

This surprised Squall. He hesitated unsurely before responding with, "What?"

"You're my knight."

It was stated quietly with certainty, but the commander stared at her in bewilderment. "Knight?" He hasn't heard that word in a long time.

Rinoa leaned in closer, her cryptically evil eyes square on his widened, confused ones. "Knight."

Suddenly, Squall felt everything from the year before come back to him like a flash flood. Becoming SeeD, meeting Rinoa, saving her, the battles with the other sorceresses, time compression... everything was rushing through his mind.

(What's going on...?)

All he could see in these flashbacks was Rinoa. As if, she was supposed to be his main focus. As if he was in love with her. Only someone who loved her would think of her this much. When he was still with her, she was always on his mind.

(Why is she showing me this?)

The moment was reminiscent of what happened after the defeat of Ultimecia. These sudden flashbacks, the static of the flooding memories entering his mind. He could barely see Rinoa in front of him. His eyes were only on the memories playing in his head.

"Stop it," he managed to grunt. All of this was making his head ache terribly. "Stop!"

"Remember the promise you made to me, Squall?"

The voice sounded soft and almost... innocent. It sounded like the Rinoa he fell in love with long ago. Squall wasn't a fool, though. He wouldn't fall for the trap that easily.

(Sorry, Rin,) he thought as he managed to gather enough energy and control to headbutt the girl in front of him, his forehead colliding with hers. He felt the visions suddenly disappear from both his mind and his sight, and instead, he watched a SeeD in light blue topple to the ground at his feet. Ignoring the pain in his head for the action, he kneeled down and examined her passed-out body. He hoped he didn't hit her too hard and cause any worrisome damage to her head. From what he could see, Rinoa seemed fine.

A soft groan emitted from her. He watched with both relief and wariness as she turned her head slightly. Her eyes fluttered open. With her now-normal coffee-brown eyes, she looked up at Squall in confusion. "What...? OWWW, my head..." She finished with a whimper, holding her head in both hands. "Ow ow ow ow..."

It was the real Rinoa, all right.

He sighed. "Time to go, Rinoa."

"Ow..."

Squall held her by the arm as he pulled her up, practically dragging her out the room. "We're late." (I want to tell Odine everything before I forget any details...)

"Hey, be more gentle with an injured girl! What kind of commander are you?"

"No time."

No time. In more ways than one.

Evening had fallen fast.

Before Selphie knew it, she and Seifer were back from their mission. Maybe it was the fact she was on a low-level mission. Those felt a lot shorter now that she was top level and normally doing high-level ones.

"Damn, that was fucking tiring," Seifer complained with a sigh as they reached the garage back at Balamb Garden. "Driving to Balamb, taking a boat to Dollet and taking those damn trains..."

"I thought they were fun..." she said, frowning at him.

"You would."

Selphie parked the Balamb car back in its proper spot. Turning off the engine, she glanced at her subordinate and smiled. "I guess you should go report to Squall." She pointed at the files.

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you need to come, too?"

She hopped out of the car. "I don't really want to see him now." She slammed the door behind her before Seifer could immediately reply.

She began walking in the direction of the dorms, but Seifer was at her tail, firing questions at her back. "Selphie, isn't that... un-professional? Aren't you like, gung-ho about this shit? Is there something going one between you and Commando?"

She stopped. The Trabian heard him stop directly behind her. That same smile was still on her face as she answered. "Just tell Squall I'm really tired and that I'm going to rest. And... I don't wanna be bothered."

Selphie knew it would hurt Squall. It would also look bad as a SeeD to not report alongside her teammate. She has hurt Squall as much as he had hurt her. Doesn't it even out? Isn't that good enough?

"Selphie, you're coming with me," she heard Seifer say to her. His voice was stern.

"He'll understand..." As soon as the words left her mouth, she started walking off again. Her footsteps were more rushed than before; she was practically running away.

"SELPHIE! GET YOUR STUPID ASS BACK HERE!" he yelled, catching the attention of both nearby students and faculty.

Whoops... faculty. But nothing Squall or even Quistis can't cover up for him, right? Selphie pondered this briefly as she found herself back in the familiar hall that led to the dormitory. She craned her head. Seifer was no longer behind her. Maybe he got too lazy to catch up to her and went ahead to see their commander. Well, good.

Selphie reached her room with no interruption. The door shut behind her as she entered her dark dorm room. She switched on the light.

"Mission completed with ol' Seif? Took ya a while."

Selphie grinned hollowly, turning to the figure lounging on her couch. "Yeah, well, I'm back now... aren't I, Irvy?"

"Why are you alone?"

Those were the first words to fly out of Squall's mouth upon Seifer's entrance.

He must have sounded exceedingly harsh, for his subordinate pretended to back away in fear. "Holy shit, Commando," Seifer exclaimed, giving a low whistle. "Calm down. I'm just a SeeD who completed his mission here."

Like he always did, Squall ignored Seifer's jokes. "Where's Selphie? Why the hell isn't she delivering the files with you? Did she come back with you?" His voice was becoming more urgent.

"Would I be in this kind of mood if she didn't come back with me?"

Squall didn't say anything to that. Instead, he changed the topic, scowling. "Carry on. Report, SeeD. And get out of my sight."

Seifer smirked. He could see that Squall was starting to use him as some sort of verbal punching bag. Well, he guessed he could understand... having a lot of responsibility as a commander, along with all those personal problems burdened upon them. He would have to keep the mood buoyant, then. "I thought you wanted me to answer-"

"Goddammit, Almasy."

Hm. Squall seemed to be in an exceptionally bad mood. Seifer shrugged casually. "Nothing to report. Selphie and I went to G-Garden, talked to the Headmaster, got the files, and left. No problems, no random encounters... hell, we didn't even stop to eat and I'm starving. Happy?" Seifer held up the files he was supposed give to the commander in front of his face.

Squall grabbed them and looked them over briefly. He set them on his desk and then turned back Seifer. "Written report due tomorrow," he said tiredly, still annoyed and emotionally weary from the day's events. "Get out."

"Dismissed, you mean? What kind of commander are you?" Seifer laughed, sloppily saluting him. He started to turn, but then stopped, facing the Lion again. "Hey, I got something to ask you... Leonhart."

The use of his real name instead of a stupid nickname piqued the brunet's interest. In a controlled, even voice, he spoke up. "What is it, Seifer?"

"What's that messenger girl's problem?" Seifer scratched the back of his head in slight annoyance. "Shit, Commando. As soon as we left the garage, she went off to the dorms to allegedly sleep or whatever. I told her we had to report together to you, but-"

"That's not like her," Squall interjected. He turned away from Seifer in thought.

"I know! She also said she didn't want to be bothered... mainly by you."

"Hn." The words were no longer surprising to Squall.

Seifer caught the casual response. "Hey! Aren't you concerned?"

"I'm thinking!" Squall snapped loudly. "And you don't think I haven't gotten that kind of... I don't know... treatment from her before? She's brushed me off plenty of times and this is no different!"

Seifer began to frown. He wondered if Squall was aware that he has done the same thing.

"Of course I'm concerned," Squall continued in a quieter tone. "But there's... really nothing I can do. Selphie's become too unpredictable, even for me, and I'm her boyfriend." (At least... I think I am...) he finished in his head.

"I guess... you don't know what makes her happy anymore?"

Squall raised an eyebrow at his rival, who was looking back at him attentively. What a very un-Seifer thing to ask. "... Maybe not now. But in the light of all this... crap, all I can really do is give her space." The commander could feel his heart lurch as the words left his mouth. His talk with the Trabian came to mind. An assortment of various feelings were plaguing him because of that, and even though he would defend her actions to his friends, and tell them things that seemed right and unselfish, Squall himself didn't know if he would be able to practice whatever flew out of his mouth.

"Hey, Leonhart."

(Oh, he's still there.) Squall turned back toward the blond. "What, Seifer?"

Seifer cast his eyes to the ground, as if embarrassed. "Yeah, well... even though Selphie's acting all fucked up or whatever... I think she still loves you. It's just... she probably doesn't know what to do with herself."

What a cheesy idiot. Still, the brunet had to appreciate the effort. He imagined that it was hard for Seifer to say something so... unmanly to him, although the taller boy was obviously stumbling over his words. It was almost funny. Maybe he should give Seifer a little push. Trying not to smirk, Squall asked him, "Why do you care?"

Seifer chuckled rather nervously and shifted his feet. Perhaps he was trying to look smooth, but he looked more awkward than before. "Well, you're Puberty Boy."

Yes, that made perfect sense. He had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. "And?"

"Well... she's Messenger Girl. And Sefie."

(What?) "..."

"Well-"

"You're not even trying to make sense, are you, Almasy?"

Seifer narrowed his eyes at Squall. "Shit, this is hard for me, Commando. Cut me some slack!" He turned his back and started for the door, continuing in an annoyed ramble. "I was just worried about both of you fuckers. You're my friends, for fuck's sake. Goddammit, you guys are better when you're happy-"

"You should've said that in the first place."

Seifer froze and craned his neck to give Squall a puzzled look. "Huh?"

Keeping a straight face, Squall motioned toward the door. "Nothing. Leave."

Seifer snorted. "Fine." He stepped forward, the door opening in front of him.

"By the way-"

"What now, Commando?"

Squall's lips stretched upward slightly, his mouth forming a grateful grin. "Thanks."

Unfortunately for his subordinate, he looked like he was going to be traumatized at first. The stoic, grumpy commander actually, genuinely smiled at him. It has been a while since that happened. Nevertheless, he was glad Squall wasn't as angry as he was when Seifer had first come in. He laughed as he left. "Yeah, love you too, Sweetheart," he called back as the door shut.

Another week has passed, and the president of Esthar took it upon himself to make a trip to Balamb. He didn't have any official reason for doing so, but he thought his presence would make Squall feel better, although many others would beg to differ.

Laguna wondered why he could get around Esthar easily by himself, but for the life of him, could not successfully find his son's dorm room in the much smaller Balamb Garden. Scratching the back of his head in frustration, he continued down the dorm hallway.

(He might actually be in his office...) he suddenly realized. He turned a corner, contemplating his stupidity. (Why didn't I think of that earlier...?)

He knew he should have brought Kiros and Ward with him instead of traveling by himself.

He skimmed across each door in the hallway, starting to notice that each resident or pair of residents had personalized their doors in some way, mainly with nametags and photographs. Most names and faces were unknown to him. However, he stopped when he found Selphie's door. Her door was decorated with a large nametag with bubbly yellow letters and various photos of her, Squall, and the rest of her "orphanage gang." Also tacked on to it were flyers about the Garden Festival and various other event committees she was part of.

Laguna decided to give her door a knock. As Squall's father, he thought it should be important to have a good rapport with his son's girlfriend, namely if she has been treating him well. No reason why he shouldn't say hi to her.

The Esthar president rapped on the SeeD's door, but no one answered.

(Maybe she's on a mission?) Laguna shrugged to himself. Oh, well. Time to continue the search for Squall, anyway. He was about to turn on the door when he suddenly heard a loud laugh.

(Oh, so she's there after all.) It confused him as to why she wouldn't answer the door if she seemed like she as in a chipper mood. He knew he was loud enough for her to hear him.

(Well, since I'm already here...) Laguna raised his hand to knock again, but then he heard Selphie's voice through the door.

"No way, Irvy! I think it's a huge bummer!"

What? The dark-haired man blinked in surprise, dropping his arm to his side. (... Irvy? Is that what she said?) Laguna didn't bother with listening to the rest of what the Trabian had to say. What he heard was enough. He was completely fixated on what she said in the beginning.

No way, Irvy.

Laguna wasn't that stupid. He could tell something was off about that statement. Actually, something was off about Selphie. The Estharian had to wonder who she was talking to, and why this person was addressed as Irvy, a.k.a. the deceased Irvine Kinneas.

"Sei-Sei was such a stupidface on the train. Kept telling me to shut up when I tried to sing. You'd never do that, right, Irvy? You're the nice one of our posse!"

He also realized that no one had replied to the girl's words. The person with her was either a much quieter talker than Selphie, or she was on the phone. Or maybe she was talking to herself, or... a picture of him? People did that sometimes, but for all he knew, Selphie could just be in an unstable psychological state. (Does Squall know about this...?)

"Tee-hee. I know, right?"

Laguna had been ready to accept his talking-to-a-picture scenario when the last words came out of Selphie's mouth. People who talked to pictures never waited for the pictures to talk back to them, right? But this was as if she was a kid with an imaginary friend or something. He was contemplating whether or not he should actually see what was up with Selphie when he heard a voice behind him.

"President Loire?"

Laguna turned around, startled. He found a shorter, blond-haired, muscular SeeD member staring at him oddly. "Uh... Zell Dincht?" he greeted unsurely.

Zell, who didn't look like his noticeably chipper self, nodded. "Yo." He looked from the man to the door. "What are you doing in front of Selphie's?"

Awkward. Laguna thought it was smarter not to tell Zell about Selphie, so he made up an excuse. "... Thought I'd say hi, since she was... you know, on the way to see Squall!" Laguna laughed. "I mean, she is my son's girlfriend, after all-" (Ow, leg cramp!) At least it was only half a lie.

"Cool." Zell smiled wanely and then started to walk past him, his head bowed and his hands in his pockets.

(Has everyone's personality done a one-eighty or what?) the older male wondered, raising an eyebrow at the SeeD's distant behavior. "Uh, say, where are you headed off to?" Laguna questioned suddenly, realizing that maybe Zell would lead him in the right direction to his son.

The martial artist stopped and turned. "Squall sent me to get Rinoa. Dunno why he can't do it himself, but..." Zell shrugged.

"Oh," Laguna replied. He scratched the back of his head. "Well, since you're gonna eventually stop by Squall, maybe I can tag along. That okay?"

"Go ahead. Not really sure why you can't find him yourself. Even chickenwusses know where to go." He snorted under his breath.

Laguna sensed something weirdly bitter about the last statement. Bitter was something he never thought he would describe this young man. He sighed inwardly. Maybe it was just him actually thinking too much. When was the last time that happened?

Oh well, time to test out his theories. (Zell's the hot dog lover, right?) If he was still himself, then this should stir up a positive response. "Hey, so... have any great hot dogs lately?" the machine gunman asked out of the blue.

Zell gave him an odd look. "Huh?"

"... Never mind."

Rinoa turned to her side in her bed, mumbling to herself in her sleep. Well, she wasn't fully asleep, but she felt too tired and lethargic to get up. Wasn't there something she had to do today? Perhaps it was another visit to Esthar, but well, they had enough information from her, didn't they?

"Rinoa!"

There was a loud knock on her front door. The voice sounded a little familiar. No one important, hopefully, because she wasn't going to get up. The sorceress buried herself under her blanket, hoping to muffle the cries of her name.

Clang! "Fuck... hey, Rinoa! Open the door!"

It seemed like someone hit the door a little too hard. Rinoa ignored the possibilities of a broken door as she continued to lay in bed. "Go away," she managed to mumble, clearly not loud enough for her visitor to hear.

"Squall sent me to get you!"

A part of Rinoa sensed that something was wrong. She glanced at the time on her alarm clock, and noticed that it was in fact relatively late that day. She normally woke up at a consistent time in the mornings, at approximately 0900 hours if she didn't have a mission or some errand to run. But for some reason, she felt very heavy, even in her bed. Even with the amount of sleep she had the night before, she was still unexplainably tired.

She didn't know what was going on.

She heard a heavy sigh from the other side of the door. "I'll just barge in, then. I know you never lock your door."

It was her turn to sigh. He was right.

She heard her door suddenly slide open. More than one pair of footsteps briskly made their way to her bedroom door, which also slid open, revealing a blond boy with a tattoo on his face. Behind him was a taller, older-looking man with long black hair.

"Zell," she spoke up, forcing herself to sit up. (What the...?) She furrowed a brow at herself. It shouldn't have been an effort for her. She shouldn't be fatigued nor feel faint.

Zell's expression changed. For once, since the time he yelled at her the evening of the ball, he looked concerned for her. "Rin? You sound sick."

(I can't be sick!) Rinoa exclaimed in her mind. She was perfectly fine just yesterday! "No, I can't be..." she replied to him, pushing herself out of bed. She stood up next to it and shifted forward so that she was standing in front of her fellow SeeD. "There's no reason for me-" She cut herself short when she started to see patches of black enter her vision. She leaned forward and clutched Zell's arms for support.

"Don't tell me she's turning weird, too..." she heard Laguna murmur.

Both she and Zell stared at him funny.

Noticing their eyes on him, he chuckled and waved his hand at them dismissively. "Oh, sorry, just talking to myself..."

"I trust you've been like, taking care of yourself, right?" Zell asked Rinoa, turning back to her quickly. "Like, being healthy or whatever, right?"

"Of course..." she muttered in a soft voice. "I'm not stupid with that stuff." Her body felt heavy. She felt like something was draining her energy by the minute. She narrowed her eyes. It could only mean-

"Hecate," Zell mumbled slowly, finishing her thought. He held her arms firmly to keep her standing. "It has to do with her, then."

"Hecate?" Laguna repeated. He took a step closer to the two teens, examining the sorceress. Rinoa met his scrutinizing gaze weakly, not knowing what to tell him.

The president exhaled slowly. "So, this whole thing about DFs is true. Man..." Laguna turned and faced the wall, scratching the back of his head in contemplation.

Rinoa turned back to Zell, who was looking at her in a way she couldn't decipher. "Zell..." The black was spreading, and her body was pulling her to the ground like a powerful magnet. Her knees finally gave as she crumpled to the ground, everything suddenly going dark. The last thing she remembered was Zell calling her name...

... and a quiet, evil, feminine laugh echoing in her mind.

Yeah, about time, right?

I vaguely remember last time mentioning my thoughts about a "soundtrack" for this story that didn't include FFVIII music. These are some songs I had in mind and some elaboration. If you find my music taste stupid, then oh, well. This music isn't the only stuff I listen to, anyway. :P :

01) Steps - "Just Like The First Time" - I only chose this song because the leading vocal in this particular song (Lisa Scott-Lee) reminded me of what I think Selphie's voice would sound like. It's cute and bouncy without being too high and irritating.

02) Nobuo Uematsu - "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere" - This is probably one of my favorite Final Fantasy songs. It's very moving and theatrical without being... I don't know, too much. And of course, I had to use it if I wanted Selphie to have a FFVI opera-inspired show.

03) Nobuo Uematsu - "Roaming Sheep" - I used this song in the story (where Selphie was singing in her room) mainly because I didn't want to use real-world music and rename them. I'm not really sure why I don't like that in fanfics. O.o So... I stuck to Final Fantasy music.

04) Nobuo Uematsu - "Frontier Village Dali (Piano Collections Version)" - My favorite FFIX song on the FFIX Piano Collections. I never noticed the song in the game until I heard this version, and I totally fell in love with it. It's kind of melancholy, but I always had this song playing when I was writing an emo or depressing scene. So, this is the official emo-scene-song for MICW. Lol.

05) M.O.V.E. - "White Fox" - I think for a while, when I was writing this chapter and the one before it, I had M.O.V.E.'s GRID album playing, and this song came up during a REVOLUTION scene. This song sounds calm and almost calculating to me, and to me, fit as the REVOLUTION theme song. :P

06) M.O.V.E. - "Angel Eyes" - Also off of the GRID album. I'm not really sure why every time I listen to this song, I think of my story. It may be because, like I said before, I was listening to the GRID album while writing. Therefore, it's part of the soundtrack, too. :P

07) Muse - "Time is Running Out" - This song is for the previous chapter, when Irvine, Archer, and Brie were fighting Ciel, because, well, they were running out of time. O.o ... And I think this would make a nice battle song for that.

08) BYAKKO - "Kachoufuusetsu" - Okay, so I incorrectly called it Hana Chou Fuusetsu for some reason, but I have the right name now. This song is from Beatmania IIDX 14: DistorteD. It's also great battle music for the last chapter, when Irvine brought out his GF... Byakko.

09) Josh Groban - "Gira Con Me" - I think I had this playing while writing Selphie and Squall's scene when they were digging through the rubble. For some reason, I found this song fitting for the mood of that scene. I don't know what else to say about it. O.o

10) The All-American Rejects - "Move Along" - For some reason, I really see this song as an ending song for this story, if it was like, I don't know some TV show or something. Oh, and some of the lyrics are in the title of this chapter. Duh. D:

So, that's all I have to say. Stay tuned for next chapter. ;D