Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or actions pertaining to Final Fantasy VIII. Dedicated to GF. Hope you like it, enjoy.

Ch.1 Can't do Anything Right

As the dying sun began to set, it cast a vibrant hue of deep orange across the evening sky. As Zell
steps onto Balamb's beautiful sandy beach, he enjoys the feeling of the warm golden sand spill over
his feet.

"Well, though the walk down here was rough on the old piggies, it was sure worth it not to get sand in my sneakers while training." Zell mused to himself with a smile. He slowly began to cast off his rather short jacket and tight black muscle shirt, to reveal an ungodly defined upper torso. As Zell stands on the warm silky beach with nothing on besides his patented oversized baggy blue jean shorts and ehrgeiz gloves, he gazes at the effervescent night sky, wishing that just once he could share this beautiful sunset with someone other than himself.

Zell just shakes his head at the thought and lets his eyes and arms fall towards the ground. As he stands motionless, he can feel the cool sea breeze gently buffeting his hair. His breathing becomes deep and exaggerated; then in the blink of an eye he snaps backwards with a back flip, kicking sand into the eyes of his intangible foe.

Regaining his balance he shoots forward with horrific speed with a flurry of elegant yet destructive punches, each seemingly effortless on Zell's part, but to anyone else impossible. He then finishes his flurry of blows with a jumping spinning roundhouse kick, landing on the ball of his left foot with his right leg still in the air.

Many would find it hard and even quite humorous to consider Zell, yes Zell Dintch graceful, but when it comes to martial arts, he resembles that of a dolphin gliding through the ocean waves. Zell's intense training lasted about an hour or so and now sweat glistening off Zell's overheated flesh, causes him to cease his actions. Zell turns and sees the sun has finally set and decides it is time to head back, so he picks up his shirt and jacket and drapes them over his shoulder and proceeds on his journey home.

"OUCH!" A rather large yell escapes the seemingly small blonde as a sharp stone protrudes into the soft skin padding on his foot. "Damn stones, I knew I should have at least brought my snickers for the walk there and back; then I could have just taken them off when I was ready to start my training. BUT NO! I have to be a genius and decide not to bring them at all, great thinking Zell, just great."

After a few minutes of bickering to himself, Zell finally reached the gates of Garden. 'Shit, another fine mess you've gotten yourself into!' Came Zell's response to realization that he doesn't have his card key to unlock the gate.

Zell stands at the gates for a few moments pondering whether or not he is going to try and break in or spend the night camping outside. Zell extends his arm to feel the warm breeze caress his skin."I suppose I could camp out here tonight, it isn't too cold out." Just as Zell was about to make his decision, an epiphany struck him like a freight train. "I can't stay out here, what if I oversleep! Then knowing my luck the cafeteria will be all out of hotdogs before I can even get one!"

That settled it, Zell's mind was made up; he was going to break in for the sake of hotdogs. Zell pulled his right ehrgeiz tighter on his fist, and just as he reared back ready to obliterate the control panel that was blocking him from his hotdogs a stern yell breaks his concentration.

"Zell Dintch! What in Hyne do you think your doing!" Zell looks up to see a rather peeved looking blonde haired instructor with her arms crossed in front of her chest staring him in the face.

"Uhh.." Zell mutters intelligently and begins to blush a bright fuchsia while rubbing the back of his head.

"Well?" replies the slightly taller female blonde.

"I…Uh…Kinda forgot my…ummm…card key…" The smaller younger blonde manages to stammer out.

"Oh so you thought you could just destroy Garden property and get away with it?" Replies Quistis even more annoyed at how rash Zell's actions can be.

Zell's face drops as a swarm of guilt corrodes his stomach.

"God Zell you're such a child! Don't you ever think before you do ANYTHING!" Quistis' words were dripping with an immense disdain.

"I…I'm sorry." Zell felt much like a chastised puppy, as Quistis stood there lecturing him and yelling at him for being totally irresponsible.

After another five minutes of being yelled at she finally decided to let him in and stormed off to her room. Zell's spirits have once again been shattered and he sluggishly strolls to his room. Upon entering his rather messy room, he steps over a huge mound of clothes, movies, and video games and collapses on his bed as a sea of blankets encases his fatigued body. He pulls off his gloves and sets them on his night stand while knocking over his lamp. "Ah dammit, well screw it, I aint pickin' it up."

Laying down gazing at the moonlight dancing with the shadows on his ceiling he began to puzzle thoughts clustering in his mind. 'Why is Quistis yelling at me so much lately? I swear she hates me more than anything, maybe even more than Seifer. All she has been doing lately is yelling at me and chastising me like some small child. It really got bad on our last mission, I know I messed up and got overanxious and set off all the alarms and almost blew the mission while putting everyone in danger, but it wasn't my entire fault. Seifer was the one who called me chicken-wuss and said I was too scared to even go into the facility, so it was mostly his fault. Plus you'd figure they would expect that teaming me up with Seifer wouldn't be a good idea. But when we got back everyone told me I was stupid and need to control my actions, but that was the end of it. Not Quistis, she made me feel like I shouldn't even….be alive….ha maybe if I wasn't everyone would be better off. All I do is cause trouble and put the lives of my friends in danger….Just like with...….' Zell took a deep breath and swallowed the rather large lump in his throat and finished his sentence. '….Tribia……….'

Zell slowly grazes his fingers over his left wrist feeling a slight jagged rise in his skin. His eyes fall to the abrasion and with the moon casting just enough light he is able to see the fresh scare from a razor that danced over it a couple weeks ago, ready to drain the life from his veins, and make the lives of his friends and family much better.

Zell closed his eyes and rolled onto his side while whispering to the listening shadows. "But like everything else……I messed that up too."

A/N:This story was written b/c of GF474, he never finished his and it was amazing! This is a watered down version with changes, please read the other b/f reading this one. His was amazing, the best story I've ever read. Plot is basic ally the same, but much better:) I just promised a friend I would try my hand at mostly the same plot, but different things and ending. Mine isn't as good as his, nowhere near as good, but please review and enjoy. REMEMBER read GF474's first, it is the best, and the original, this is just a watered down version! later…