Shoot the Messenger- Prologue
By Matoko Shizaki
Disclaimer: FF8 © Squaresoft. The name "Marina" is not the library girl's name, it's just me bullshitting.
Notes: Oh em eff gee! Sequel! X3 Yeah, and only a year since my last review. Sorry I left you guys hangin' so long. But now, here it is! My alternative sequel to "Be Mine." If you wanna take this as the real ending to the novel-ish thingy, then go ahead. Likewise, if you were happy with Zell/Marina, just ignore this. It's all in fun and creativity.
A little side note though: I'm already working on side stories for after this. :3 I don't have titles yet, but with the rate I'm working on them, I'll have them out before this fic is done.
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The door slid shut behind Zell as he stepped into the hallway outside of his dorm room. Judging from the current state of the residential hall, Selphie had been put in charge of decorating again. Just like last year, the Garden was bathed in a nauseating amount of pink, red, and white. The halls were adorned in the usual streamers, balloons, and hearts that had become a Valentine's Day penchant for the Garden Festival Committee, but it seems that this year Selphie had seen fit to cling to a them and a fairytale theme at that. Large posters of knights rescuing princesses, handsome princes, and dragons breathing hearts instead of fire only added to the ridiculousness of the décor. So much for themes making everything better.
Zell choked back a laugh and started towards the main lobby. Last year, the decoration had only added to his irritation. There wasn't a single guy alive who liked Valentine's Day. This time the obnoxious display of cavity causing sweetness and romance only made him feel more excited. It was Valentine's Day: the new official favorite holiday of Zell Dincht.
"What a year…" Zell muttered as he jammed his hands into his pocket, with a smirk, noting that he felt a flashback coming. A little more than a year ago, he'd been wandering the halls cursing Valentine's Day and all that it entailed. Of course, that was before he'd found the letter that sparked the best year of his young life, a fantastic year that wouldn't have been possible without Marina. Now he understood why Squall and Irvine always felt on top of the world. They'd had Rinoa and Selphie for a long time. Now it was his turn to feel the love—literally. He'd been able to wake up every day with a smile on his face and the corniest love song in his heart. Nothing seemed too sad or too hard for the blond martial artist to handle. Missions, training, teaching new recruits… it was all a blur thrust into the back of his mind by the memories of the time he'd spent with his girlfriend. Everything else in the year had led to this moment: their first anniversary.
With a smile, Zell retrieved a box from his back pocket. It had been hard to pick the perfect first anniversary gift, but he'd finally found it at a little jewelry shop in Dollet while on his last mission. True, he had been in a rush because his mission lasted for the week before Valentine's Day, but his patience had paid off. He could only hope that it would be good enough to light up her eyes and bring that gorgeous smile to her angelic face. He grinned just thinking about it and returned the box to his back pocket.
"Whatcha grinning about, Chickenwuss?"
Zell froze. Oh no… not now… Anytime but now…
He turned slowly, noticing for the first time that Seifer was leaning in the doorway separating the SeeD and student dorms. The former white knight smirked, his arms casually crossed over his broad chest.
Has he been following me or something! Zell thought, his startled expression melding into a glare. Betcha he was just passing through and decided to fuck with me. Well, not today!
"Piss off, Seifer." he growled. "Can't you give it a rest just for today?"
There was something that had only increased his misery over the past year: Seifer Almasy. For some reason or another, having a girlfriend had only made Seifer hate him more than before. Whether that was possible or not, Zell didn't know. All he knew was that it was a lot worse than before. Probably just frickin' jealous. Zell thought holding back a sneer. Seifer, despite his amazingly sexy looks, had remained single after the one summer where he had managed to steal Rinoa's heart. Zell paused in his musings. Did I just think 'amazingly sexy?' What the hell! This guy messes with my head without even doing anything! Despite himself, Zell found he was growing red in the face.
"Nope. It's my job." Seifer shrugged, the smug look never leaving his defined features. He approached and Zell automatically brought his fists up into his fighting stance.
"Chill, Chickenwuss. I'm not here to kick your ass for once. Just thought I'd give you some…" The taller blond paused, searching for the right word. Grinning, he found it. "Advice."
"Oh, and what's that?" Zell took a step back, hoping to put as much distance between himself and the former knight as possible without looking intimidated. "If you're going to tell me to stay outta your way 'cause you're a total bastard, that's not a problem at all."
"It's about your little lover. What's her face… the dorky one…?" His grinned widened as he sensed Zell's temper flare. "Gotta whole romantic evening set up, doncha?"
"What's it to you? Ya jealous, Seifer?" Zell countered. His taunts, however, lacked the confidence and the bite Seifer's had.
"I wouldn't be so sure things are all fine and dandy."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zell took another step back, Seifer's words setting him on edge. "Is that a threat or something?"
"What are you, retarded?" Seifer took another step forward, closing the distance between Zell and himself. "It already told you. It's advice. She's gonna dump ya, Dincht. You're just too stupid to see it coming."
This time Zell didn't just take a step back. He jumped back. "That's bullshit! Now I know you're just fucking with me! Marina and I are just fine! You're just been pissed about us from the start!" For a quick moment, Zell couldn't help but wonder what had made Seifer so mad about his relationship with his secret admirer in the first place. What Seifer did next halted his thoughts.
The knight seized Zell by the collar and lifted him off his feet with little effort. With one swift step, Seifer had the martial artist pinned to the wall two feet off the ground.
"Mad?" Seifer's words hissed from between clenched teeth. "Hardly! Two fucking morons are made for each other! Only and idiot would date a girl he hardly knew. I hope you get ripped to fucking shreds tonight!"
Zell swallowed hard and met Seifer's smoldering green gaze. There was something dangerous in the knight's eyes that Zell recognized as blood lust. For someone in his position, it was best not to tempt him to prove his skill with a gunblade.
Seeing the submission in Zell's eyes, Seifer tossed him aside. The smaller blond landed three feet from the knight, barely able to break his own fall despite his years of combat knowledge. Seifer shot Zell another murderous glare and stalked out towards the main lobby.
Although he had been in numerous fights before with enemies much more powerful than the failed knight, Zell had never been quite so startled in his whole life. There was something about those eyes…
"Zell, are you okay!"
Zell looked away from the door Seifer had disappeared into and spotted Quistis hurrying down the hall towards him. Apparently their fight had been so loud that it caught Quistis' attention as she was cooking. The former teacher was still wearing her chocobo apron, one that she never cooked without and a source of many jokes in their circle of friends.
She knelt down next to Zell and put a hand to his shoulder. "What happened? I could hear the shouting down the hall!"
Zell smiled nervously and removed her hand from his shoulder. "Yeah… I'll live."
"That only answers half of my question." Quistis said, helping him to his feet. "What happened?"
"Seifer. That bastard…"
It was all Zell needed to say. Quistis sighed and puts her hands to her hips.
"That man… honestly…"
Zell flinched. Her tone was almost… affectionate. It was almost like a mother scolding a child. Quistis looked back and him and noticed the pained confusion scrawled across his face.
"He's just having a lot of problems right now. I've been trying to helping him but sometimes..." She trailed off.
"...Right now?" Zell snorted. "Quistis, the guy has always had problems. He's a regular psychopath!"
Quistis sighed but didn't offer a reply.
"He's sitting here telling me Marina is going to break up with me! This guy is just trying to totally screw with my brain! And for what reason, huh?"
The strawberry blond shrugged. "Just… stay away from him now."
"You don't have to tell me twice…" Zell snorted.
"And don't let what he says get to you, Zell." She patted his shoulder again and smiled. "Enjoy tonight."
"Like I said, don't have to tell me twice." The blond smiled back at Quistis. She was completely right, as usual. Seifer ruined a lot of things, and Zell wasn't about to let him ruin his mood today.
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The last rays of the setting sun pierced through the steam curling out of the bathroom window and danced across the moist tiles of Zell's bathroom. The blond ran a hand through his wet hair and threw open the shower curtain with a satisfied grin. He examined what he could see of his reflection in the mirror on the wall and stepped out. Tonight was going to be perfect. And it was just like Irvine had told him.
"'A perfect date starts with the right preparation.'" Zell exclaimed heartily as he mimicked Irvine's slight drawl.
The blond stepped out of the shower, snatched up the towel he'd laid out, and loosely wrapped it around his hips. His jutting hipbones kept the towel from falling off as he crossed to the sink. Using the side of his hand, Zell wiped away the condensation that had gather on the mirror and grinned again. Nothing could screw tonight up for him. Not even the plague that was Seifer Almasy.
He gelled up his hair, humming along with the love song he'd had stuck in his head for the past hour. It was an upbeat love song, another one that Julia had written during her short career. Albeit being a classic, it had always been a favorite of Zell's. He liked the lyrics too. Something about fools falling in love… it had always reminded him of himself. The fact that it was really about Laguna didn't bother him one bit. He was the fool and tonight it was his song.
With his hair gelled and his shaving done in the shower, Zell headed back to his room to retrieve his formal SeeD uniform. It was spread out on his bed, pressed, clean, and glimmering in the light of his small lamp. The sight of it never failed to invoke pride in Zell. He was a SeeD… which was more than Seifer Almasy would ever become.
Quit thinking about him! Zell told himself as he shook his head and picked up the uniform. The thought of him is enough to ruin the night!
Zell removed the towel from his waist, threw it in the general direction of his desk, and began dressing. As he pulled on his boxers and dress pants, he mused over the evening. First, he was going to take Marina to dinner in Balamb. After that, there was the dance. And after that… Zell grinned at the possibilities. Who knew?
He crossed to the full-length mirror next to his punching bag and did up his dress coat. "Lookin' good, Dincht!" Zell commented with a grin. He paused, sunk into his fighting stance, and tested a few punches at the air. The uniform stretched to allow his movement, a genius part of their design. He grinned again, lowered his fists, and readjusted his coat. "Well, time to go."
With a new bounce in his step, Zell strode to his desk, scooped up the flowered he'd bought Marina, and strolled out, singing to himself as he went.
"I played the messenger and I played the fool… Cupid shoots the messenger too… That's why I say only fools… only fools fall in love!"
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Grinning like the fool he was, Zell led Marina from the dance floor out to the quad and over to the stage where he'd found her sitting in waiting a year ago.
"Zell…" Marina said as almost a word of caution. The martial artist spun, caught her eyes, and smiled.
"I have something for you." he said excitedly as he reaches into his pocket. The hand Marina laid on his arm stopped him.
"Zell, I wanted to talk to you. Before you do anything rash that is." She blushed a little and Zell found himself blushing as well.
Does she think… I'm going to propose? The idea of marriage spun Zell's head, but for a second he reveled in it. Him and Marina… married… It was too good to be true. Zell noticed the patient look on her face that told him she was waiting for an answer and shook off the thought.
"Y-yeah, what is it?"
"Well…" Marina wrung her hands together, one of her many nervous habits. "About this past week…"
"I missed you too." Zell chimed in, taking her hands. "And I'm sorry, I didn't think I'd have that mission! I'm going to apply for some time off so we can do something. Maybe a trip, you know."
"That's not it." Marina pulled her hands from his and turned, contemplating the light streaming from the windows of the ballroom.
"Then… what is it?" Zell asked, puzzled.
"I had a lot of time to think." She turned back to him. "About us. About everything..." Marina paused for a moment, considering her next words. "I think we should stop seeing each other for a while."
Zell's heart dropped into his stomach and bile rose to the back of his throat. This so isn't happening…
"Wh-what? You mean… break up?"
"Well… yes." Marina nodded and looked him in the eyes. "I'm sorry Zell… I just need some time apart. You understand, right?"
The blond nodded weakly, unable to think as his thoughts began spinning. Seifer was right… how the fuck could he have been right! Th-this isn't happening… I fell asleep in the shower. That's it! Fell asleep in the shower… I—
Marina cupped his cheek, breaking his chain of thought. "Zell, are you alright?" She looked genuinely worried, but not in the way she used to. For the first time, Zell saw it. It was a friendly look, not a romantic look. She'd been quite around him the past few weeks too. How could he have not seen it!
"Y-yeah…" Zell jerked away from her touch and took a step back. "I-I'll go now…" He took another stumbling step back and, without looking back as Marina called his name, barreled off into the snow.
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The pond was frozen over this time of year and everything that has once sparkled with greenery and life was dead. How he hadn't noticed the gloominess of February, Zell didn't know. Then again, he hadn't noticed a lot of stuff lately.
Zell stood at the edge of the pond staring into the murky, cold depths. It's true, he thought bitterly. Only fools fall in love. The smart know better… They know they'll get hurt…
With a sudden rush of fury, Zell withdrew the box from his back pocket and threw back his arm, ready to pitch it into the snow. Right before he released the box, he hesitated. Don't do that… You'll regret it later. With a heavy sigh, Zell returned the box to his pocket.
"Hyne damn Valentine's Day…" Zell muttered, feeling the tears rise in his eyes. Zell Dincht hadn't been one to cry, not since he was a little kid. Right now, he rationalized, the situation called for it.
He slumped down, sitting in the snow, and laid his head in his hands.
So much for happily ever after.
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There we go! I finally have a prologue to this. Hope you liked it! Read and review if you please!
