Summary: AU fic for the Squallphie contest!! Squall is an assassin, hired to take out the leader of the Forest Owls, Selphie Tilmitt. But there's more to Selphie than Squall bargained for.
(Disclaimer: We don't own any of the characters from FFVIII but we do own this budgie! * Jelloz holds up Pinkz budgie and it flies away* ...well…we did own it…n/m…)
(Authors Note: Woo-hoo! It's Jello Ink and Pink Starz, in their first ever fic together! That means you can have it all, all the description of Jelloz and all the dialogue of Pinkz (Double your talent, double your fun ^_~)! Anywayz, we wrote this for the contest by Saravien and Alonia ...Squallphie! And it's alternate universe! And we paid little to no attention to the rules cuz we found the loophole "Or use none of them". My my, watch the words fly…Now we solemnly promise to shutup J )
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Part One -A Butterfly in a Web
~***~
He stared at the picture of the girl for a while, unable to tear his eyes away from hers. Even in the grainy photo, they sparkled with life and vivacity. She had lively brown hair that defied gravity, and the eyes that had captured him so were green and glass-like. Twin chips of emerald in a cheery setting. Her smile made his shoulders sag with guilt, although his crime was yet to be committed. But it would be. It had to be.
"I'm sorry," He whispered and tucked the picture into his leather jacket.
He was always sorry.
~***~
" I hate him!" Selphie shouted, kicking the side of the building. She was referring to, President Vinzer Deling, whose name alone could get an angry rise out of the spirited girl. It sickened her how he took his people for granted. It sickened her that he didn't take their resistance faction seriously, dismissing it as he dismissed so many other problems. His name made her want to spit, preferably on his high priced shoes.
"Just arrest them. No trials."
She remembered it clearly. Now there were only five of them left; but she was not one to give up that easily. The people deserved a generous and concerned leader; they deserved to be free of the man who had run Galbadia into the ground. She didn't care that Garden would be after them. If they used all of their combined strength to fight, then perhaps they could beat the system. Perhaps they all could be free.
The sound of the door slamming broke her thought, and she walked to the entrance to meet with Irvine. His face was flushed and he was alone, limping into their hideaway.
"Where's Rinoa?" Selphie asked frantically. She peered over the man's shoulder, but saw no sign of the brown haired Princess and leader of the Forest Owls.
"She's...SeeD...fuckin' gone," He gasped, leaning against the wall to catch his breath.
"Oh shit."
Irvine had said enough. The leader of their faction had been taken, and was probably in a dark dungeon somewhere answering questions put forth by the SeeDs. If they hadn't killed her already. Whatever Vinzer Deling thought of as punishment in his twisted mind would be performed with vigor by those lapdogs. Selphie had never thought that the day would come when this would happen. Rinoa had said that if she ever was captured, Selphie was to take over the Forest Owls and lead them to victory.
That was a laugh. Selphie could barely cook her own food, never mind organizing a resistance faction that was to overcome SeeD, Garden and President Vinzer Deling.
"Selphie, why haven't you tended to Irvine?" Quistis reprimanded, blue eyes flashing. Selphie shook herself out of her thoughts and stared at Irvine, whose blood was pooling underneath his leg. She scrunched her nose in mild distaste as the wine colored liquid poured from his wound.
'I'm not even a good girlfriend,' She thought to herself while helping Quistis carry Irvine to the first aid room. 'I'm so screwed.'
"Where's Rinoa?" Seifer asked. He was leaning against the wall and making no attempt to help his wife as she cut off Irvine's pant leg.
"She's been taken," Selphie managed to whisper.
The room was silent if one didn't count Irvine's groans of pain. Seifer and Quistis stared at Selphie for a moment, then at one another.
"I know, I know," Selphie groaned. " I'm the new leader. But I promise that we will win. Nothing will stand in my way."
"Of course," Quistis said, with an obviously forced smile. "We believe you."
She leaned over and began to wrap a bandage around Irvine's leg. He had gotten himself shot attempting to protect Rinoa. The man who had taken her hadn't looked like he'd had a gun; in fact, he was trained not to look armed. It was Irvine's own folly that had gotten him wounded. Sometimes it is better to let go than fight to the death. What good do two dead do, when faced with one living? He was lucky the man hadn't aimed higher.
Seifer left the room and Selphie had a sinking feeling that no one really did trust her with her new promotion. And in truth, she didn't even trust herself.
~***~
"I can't do it," Rinoa said between her pitiful sobs. "She's my best friend."
"They'll kill you if you don't," Squall hissed back. He grabbed her wrist harshly and she cried out from the pain that shot up her arm.
"I never should have trusted you," She whispered, twisting her arm in attempt to get it out of his grasp. He sighed and twisted her arm behind her back, pulling her up against his chest. Mutely, she hung her head, unable to fight him without breaking her arm in the process.
"And I should have killed you. But you're too valuable for that." Squall took in another breath, wishing that there could have been another solution, but Cid had been lenient with him by allowing Rinoa to live instead of killing her. Those had been the President's orders, and to defy them further…he hated to think what would happen to the girl then. "All you have to do is prove yourself. Then you can live, with me. I won't let them do anything to harm you. We'll be together."
She stopped brooding and looked him in the eye, her gaze cold and unaffected. He remembered when those eyes had danced with warmth, mocking him gently with their sparkling depths. Just a hint of that gentleness lurked beneath the frozen wall she had put up to defend herself from him.
"Why did I have to love you," she whispered, almost inaudibly, "why?" Clearing her throat, she spoke louder. "I will trust you. I will prove myself so that we can be together." Stricken by grief and guilt, she lowered her head as tears filled her vision. By loving this man, she had forsaken her friends, forsaken her cause, her kith and kin. And she had done it willingly.
When her head next rose to meet Squall's eyes, they were filled with both determination to be happy and a deep, unshakable shame.
~***~
Her plans were laid out in front of her and she was ready to carry them out, if only Seifer and Irvine had faith in her. It hurt her that her boyfriend above all had deserted her, taking no more than a glance at her carefully thought out plan. They were sticking to Rinoa's plan like glue; a month old plan that hadn't changed with the circumstances.
"Rinoa knew what she was doing," Seifer had said. "I just don't know that we can trust you so soon, after all, you're going against her plan completely."
" Well, if you just read through it…" She tried to protest, but her boyfriend cut her off.
" I think Seifer is right. Your plan is too risky. I'm afraid that if you go through with it, we won't be able to support you."
She had kept her head high, at least Quistis supported her, but that wasn't enough. If her team failed to have trust in her, then what kind of leader was she?
What were you thinking, Rinoa?
She stared at the papers in her hand until her tears blurred them. She could faintly hear the voices of her comrades. Seifer was commenting on how Rinoa had only appointed Selphie to take her place because of their friendship. In the background was Quistis who was taking her side, but only on principle. Quistis loved to stick up for those who couldn't do it themselves. She knew that even she thought that Selphie was young and inexperienced.
All that she wanted to do was cry, but she refused to give in to their words. No, instead she would concentrate on the plan. Rinoa's was much too complicated, having two train cars -one with Vinzer Deling and the other a fake- and substituting Deling's car with the fake one. She had planned to confront him after that, but Selphie knew that there were too many 'what ifs' involved. She began to chew on the end of her pencil, wondering how they would be able to meet with Deling without having to resort to violence or a kidnapping.
A light rapping at her window pulled her away from her work. When she opened the door, she found that outside on the step of the small building was Rinoa's necklace. The chain gleamed silver and Julia's ring hung from it. Selphie's breath caught in her throat. At first she was afraid to touch it, that it might disappear with the brush of her fingers, but then she leaned down and clutched the chain between her eager fingers.
" Rinoa's alive," She whispered to herself. She began to look around frantically for a sign of her best friend and to her delight -despite being blinded by the darkness- she could see a figure not far off in the distance, close by the bridge that she and Rinoa had escaped to often enough. It was where they could leave the war and all their troubles behind and just be girls. Be themselves, wild, giggly, gossiping and normal.
Quickly, Selphie ran towards the bridge, but was disheartened to find no sign of her friend. Perhaps she had imagined everything that had happened; her vision of Rinoa had probably been triggered by her desire to see her again. She was, after all, alone.
Selphie sighed and this time she didn't stop the tears from pouring down her face. She stood on the bridge, deciding to cry in solitude when something startled her. The sound of footsteps against the wooden bridge caused her to look up. Her eyes were met with the sight of a man in black. SeeD was her first impression, he walked stiffly as though made of wood, but she noticed that he lacked the rigid uniform.
"I should run," She told herself, but before she could turn the other way, the man spoke.
"Excuse me, Miss, would you be able to help me?" His voice was low and soft, hypnotizing. The voice belied his appearance, insinuating months of searching, and an awful weariness. She immediately halted, not being able to turn away and desert the man.
"Yes?" She asked politely. She wasn't sure how to respond to him, this man with a steel rod in his back and suffering in his voice. How could someone who sounded so afflicted walk so straight, as if he had spent his life marching?
"I seem to be lost. I'm on my way to Timber to seek out refuge from SeeD."
"They're after you?"
"I'm part of a resistance faction...that is, I was until SeeD tore them apart. The Dollet Lights?"
Selphie racked her mind for a moment for the name was familiar. Something to do with wanting to overthrow Deling in a peaceful manner, but it had failed and everyone who was part of the faction had been arrested or had fled the city.
"I remember. But I doubt that you'll be safe in Timber. How about..." She didn't know why, but she felt sympathetic towards the man. He had a dream just like she did, and it had been crushed. There was still a possibility that with the Forest Owls' help, both of their dreams would be fulfilled. "How about you stay with us?"
"Us?"
" I'm living with some friends," She started, choosing her words carefully, testing them on her tongue. There was no way she was going to reveal to this stranger that she was part of the Forest Owls. It was asking for trouble and courting danger wasn't her favorite hobby. That was Seifer's terrain. "They'll be more then glad to help you get back on your feet. We'll help you solve the problem of the SeeD."
He hesitated for a moment but then nodded and held out his hand.
"Uh...Miss? You seemed upset before I disturbed you..." He trailed off, expecting Selphie to fill in the rest. This time she took a good look at him; in the darkness his face was shadowed but she could still make out a scar between his eyes, his unruly brown hair and his muscular form. His expression lacked emotion, so she failed to tell whether he was being truthful or playing her for a fool.
"It's nothing," She said, forcing a smile onto her face. She brushed back some of her brown hair the wind had tossed in her eyes, then blushed when she noticed that he was staring at her with an intensity usually devoted to extremely difficult jigsaw puzzles. Quickly, she broke eye contact. "Um...so we ought to get going. The SeeDs patrol at around six and we can't be too careful."
"Alright, but one more thing." He had the most beautiful eyes, blue-gray and misty, with secrets of their own. The secrets made her wary, and she noticed that other than that, no emotion played across his face or eyes. He was a blank slate with a sincere voice, and the lack of feeling in the murky blue depths made them all the more hypnotic. "What's your name?"
"Selphie," She whispered, feeling uncomfortable. His scrutiny was starting to make her itch.
"I'm Squall."
He didn't bother to smile in gratitude or acknowledgement; he was just there, a solid wall of no feeling.
~***~
September 8
2:03 a.m.
Director Kramer:
The first part of the plan has been completed. Rinoa will be on call for whenever I need her assistance; she has proved herself so far by telling me of the whereabouts of the Forest Owls. She will make a worthy accomplice for the time being. I have met with the newly appointed leader whose assassination was ordered. She has welcomed me in, although she is still slightly wary of my identity and purpose. This can be dealt with.
I have decided to act as a confidante, as I have been to Rinoa Heartilly. Women tend to trust those who 'understand' them and she will feel free to inform me regarding the resistance faction. Her death will not be connected with SeeD. You are aware at this point that Galbadian Officials are becoming suspicious and are monitoring many SeeDs. Her death will be regarded as an accident. This way I will be able to kill not two, but three birds with one stone. Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly and lastly, the Forest Owls. All with Garden having no blood on their record.
--Squall Leonhart
Authoresses' Note: Well that's chapter one. There are 5 chapters to this fic ^_^. * sweatdrop * Let's hope we can make the deadline. Anywayz, please give us the honor of leaving a review if you like (or didn't like) it. We always appreciate feedback ^_~