DISCLAIMER: I do not own SquareEinx or Squaresoft ©. I do though, own a Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VIII, VII, VI Bouncer, Vagrant Story (This might take some time…)
A/N: I hope you like it, but I caution you. Not a HAPPY ENDING! Okay I warned you, no flames unless it is completely NECESSARY! Please take notice more than half of the story is a flashback.
Summary: Irvine Kinneas, sits with a new employee that has been hired to help him due to a disability he gained a few years ago. They sit down together and talk about a serious crisis that led Irvine where he is now.
Selphie Kinneas Presents
A Final Fantasy VIII One-shot
Irvine stumbled through the doorway of his home using his pole to feel the flooring before him. Behind him followed a young girl that looked near the age of 20 or so. Her hair was firmly braided and had a black raven shine as her brown eyes peered through the dark house.
"Where's the light switch?" She asked. Irvine shook his head.
"… I don't know I never needed it. So I don't really know. Just feel around." Irvine said as he sat in the dimmed living room and settled near the window, which had the scenery of the moon shining brightly into the room.
The girl flipped around the wall and turned on various things and finally found the light. When the lights opened she observed the room they were in. It had comfortable looking couches with a matching thick rug that curled around your toes as you walked through it. On the walls were framed pictures of a brunette swinging a knunchukus with a cheerful smile. Others including Irvine, with it. Over a dusty fireplace hung a large picture of the same brunette with longer brown hair in a silky white wedding gown with a bouquet wrapped in blue stain with a red ribbon at its end leaning against Irvine who was in formal attire with a tux. He rested his head on hers and his body supported her body.
Everything had a thick layer of dust. The girl turned to Irvine who lay relaxed in his position. "It's pretty dirty in here." She thought aloud.
"I don't clean more than I need to. You're the first to come in here for awhile. A lot of the rooms, and everything have been untouched for some time."
"I see, did your blindness disable you to see what you were cleaning?" She asked in a matter-of-factly tone. Irvine shook his head.
"Yeah, but I just didn't want to. But I realize I should do something now… that's why you're here. I don't want you to change anything… they're very close memories."
The girl smiled, "Mr. Kinneas? Was that your wife? The one up there…" She bit her lip remembering he couldn't see, "I mean that lady in the wedding gown."
Irvine smiled in remembrance, "That's her aright'… the one and only Selphie Tilmitt. Damn… I miss her with all my heart." He sighed emotionally.
"… What happened to her?" She asked curiously, "I mean if you don't mind my asking!" Irvine turned his head in the direction the voice was coming from.
"I wouldn't mind one bit… it sure has been awhile since I've told anyone about her though." He fixed his mind into deep thought. "There hasn't been a night that I haven't told myself this story… but it seems weird saying it out loud. Well here goes nothing then."
Hikari
"A Light"
"I've pretty much known Selphie Tilmitt my whole life… she came and went. But she's always had me under her spell."
"Come on Irvy! Let's go play war!" Squeaked a young girl's voice. A toddler with unruly brown curls rushed through a room made of stonewalls followed by a young chestnut haired boy.
"Sure!" He cried as the two flew past an opened door to the beach outside.
"I liked her a lot in the orphanage, but one day she was taken away and I thought my heart had ripped into pieces."
"Selphie, please come here." Called the soothing voice of the Matron. Her ebony haired flowed in the air as she entered the playroom. The youth continued to play as though she heard nothing. "Selphie dear," Matron repeated.
"Yes matwon?" Selphie smiled widely with one tooth missing.
"Please join me out here." Selphie jumped to her feet and followed the matron out of the playroom. The other children took no notice other than Irvine who stood wide-eyed at the open doorway. By Matron and Selphie were two formal dressed instructors of some Garden.
"I'm glad that you'll take some of our orphans…" The Matron said kindly, "Please, I'm terribly fond of them all and wish I could forever keep them safe in this stone haven… take good care of her in Trabia." She turned her sweet smiling face to Selphie, "Please get your belongings my dear. You're going to a school, that's where you'll live from now on."
Selphie shook her head, "Will Irvy and Zell… and-and Quisty come with me?" She asked, her voice breaking.
"No dear, these nice Headmasters want to take you to a school where you'll learn how to fight and protect everyone. Don't you want to protect everyone?"
"Y-yes, but can Irvy come with me?" She nearly pleaded.
"I-I thought you'd like Trabia, there's always Faeries around." Matron supported, with doubt.
"…I want Irvy to come too."
"They're only allowing one, and you always wanted to see the Faeries, so I want you to go. Please don't make me cry Selphie dear." Matron said in a heartbroken voice.
"Okay…" Selphie turned to the children's dorm room and hung her head to gather her items. Matron brushed her tears away as the Trabian Headmaster comforted her.
"Rest assured, we take wonderful care of Junior Classmen, especially the orphaned ones." He smiled. Matron forced a smile.
"I believe you, but they're all like my children and to let even one go hurts." She sniffed.
Selphie came from the room with a small knapsack and turned to Matron. "I'll really miss you…" She halted to stop from crying. Matron threw her arms around her and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Oh darling, practice and become a strong SeeD, protect the ones you love." Selphie nodded and followed the headmasters out.
Irvine watched and could no longer stand another minute. He ran through the room crying out the name, "SEFIE! NO SEFIE YOU CAN'T GOOO!" He wept. The headmasters didn't stop as they stepped into their car and seated Selphie in the back. She looked with red eyes out the window watching the young boy rush after her.
Matron grabbed Irvine and held him close, "No Irvine, I know we will miss her a lot… but she'll be happy." She whispered. Irvine ignored her calling madly to the car.
"SEFIE! COME BACK SEFIE!"
"I wasn't ready to lose my only friend. But I didn't think twice about how hard it must've been for Matron to send someone off to train and learn how to kill her. But fate conspired and we met again."
"Selphie! We should be together!" A cowboy laughed as he eyed the spunky teenager who was watching the scenery pass before her.
"Y-yeah, right." She replied.
"I had a feeling, it was her… and I was right.
"Wait, was this orphanage by a lighthouse?" Selphie asked with curiosity tingling in her throat. The other SeeDs leaned back against the broken black tops stones listening. Quistis interrogated as well.
"That's right." Irvine replied smugly. A squeal of excitement and mix of words escaped both Quistis' and Selphie's mouth.
"How come you didn't tell us?" Selphie cried.
"Yes, why didn't you tell us?" Quistis joined in.
"Cause, it seemed you guys had already forgot."
"And they did, but I was in love with Selphie all over again. Once the sorceress was dead… we all were in the same Garden. I transferred to be by her side, and never lose her again. Once we graduated, I confirmed that she'd never leave me."
"Hey Sefie!" The cheerful voice of Irvine spoke aloud as he rushed across the street of Balamb to her.
"Hey cowboy, whatcha doin?" She winked as she came near to kiss him.
"Looking for you, baby." He joked. Selphie smiled as they sat at a small bench. She sighed as she stretched her arms lazily in the sunset.
"I hate work…" She moaned looked over to Irvine.
"Uh, yeah me too. But… there's a way you have to work anymore." He said anxiously.
"How?" Selphie asked excitedly.
Irvine crouched on one knee before her and held out his head and reached into his pocket with the other. He brought out a black ring box and showed it to Selphie.
"You could marry me, and I wouldn't make you work again."
Selphie's eyes bulged in joy as she grabbed the box shrilling out one word, "YES!"
"Selphie and I got married the next year in spring. We were a match meant to be and we moved into this small house. Selphie claimed she didn't want to work but wouldn't take my offer of staying home. She worked fewer hours than me and never complained about it again. We loved each other as much as a human could love another. One day, after Rinoa had her first daughter, Selphie showed signs of wanting a kid too. And I had no reason to object and one fateful day."
"…Irvine…" Selphie gasped looking straight at the pregnancy test. Irvine sat with anticipation on the side of the couch with the tip of his thumb in his mouth.
"Tell me, before I go crazy!" He jittered. Selphie's eyes watered.
"Irvine we're going to be parents!"
"We'd been married for three years and couldn't been happier about having a kid. ASAP Selphie and I worked on a nursery, and by the time she was six months, we were completely finished. She had her baby shower and found out it was a boy. I chose the name Irvine Jr., personally but Selphie liked the name Dimitri. I'm not sure why but I liked it, sorta."
"When she was seven months and came from having her last sonogram taken I was so happy I took her out to eat… and then."
"Irvine Kinneas, where are we going?" Selphie complained jokingly.
"Well Selphie Kinneas, your cowboy will be treating you to the best of the town. We're going to the White Stone." Irvine announced in a teasingly profound way.
"No!" Selphie gasped in shock, "Really!"
"I wish I could treat you to the finest of the world Selphie, but this was the best I could do." Irvine said in a sober voice.
"Oh no! I-I just can' t believe it."
"Well believe my duchess,"
They laughed as they drove in joy. Irvine kept his eyes focused on the road whistling a happy tune. Selphie went over some advice she had heard in a parenting book. Irvine never turned away advice on the subject for he promised to be a determined and great father for his children.
There was an abrupt screech, horn and… CRASH!
"I only remembered the shocked and scared face Selphie gave me when the car lights of another car crashed with ours. She tried to protect me, as I tried to protect her. But I woke up in the hospital a few days later."
Irvine lifted his body and opened his pupils. He saw nothing other than blackness. He spun his head around and sought more black. He blinked and felt around, he could touch the wool hospital sheets on him, the cold bed rails neighboring him, but he saw nothing. He heard various sounds thumbing around the room.
He shook the bed wildly in bewilderment and confusion. "Sir!" A lady voice called rushing in. Irvine heard her footsteps upon the tile floor.
"What happened?" He panted flashing back to the fearful eyes of Selphie.
"Sir, a drunk driver hit your car. The car was totaled and you were the only survivor." She said.
For a fraction of a second the world became silent as it was black, if he was the only survivor, where was Selphie? "NO! DAMNIT WHERE'S MY WIFE! TELL ME?" He spun his head not known the exact spot of the nurse.
"Sir, I'm sorry she didn't make it."
"NO! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU PUT HER! TELL ME NOW!"
The nurse repeated her words and Irvine came upon only one reply. "TELL ME! I KNOW SHE'S HERE! I'LL FIND HER MYSELF!" He attempted to leave his bed but clumsily fell face first on the cold floor.
He suddenly remembered, he couldn't see. "… What's wrong with me?" He gaped.
"Sir, debris such as glass entered your retina. Your eyesight is forever lost."
Irvine felt the wind leave his lungs, his wife, his unborn son, his eyesight… was gone. He held strong for a moment then broke down into unbearable tears of pain.
Irvine massaged his temples and looked to the trend he had last heard the girl's voice. "My friends, tried to help me. But they couldn't do crap. I clammed up inside… I missed her too much. I've walked blinded ever since. I know I can't cure from the heartbreak or blindness, I'm just waiting for death to get me. Selphie was only 27 when she died, and I've waited three years to join her and Dimitri. I miss them with all my heart."
The girl shivered, "Oh Mr. Kinneas. I never heard such a story. I'm so sorry." Irvine hung his head.
"No need to be, well I'll see you tomorrow then."
The girl nodded as she went through the entrance and closed the door behind her. Irvine sighed as he trudged sightlessly through the hall. He entered his room and threw himself on the bed.
He returned to those moments, when Selphie was only two months pregnant and they built the nursery. It was built perfectly. A white crib with soft blankets curled up inside. A pefect lightwood changing-table with everything perfectly organized. A baby T-Rexaur lamp on sat on a side table neighboring a white rocking chair. In the corner was a shelf full of nursery books, soft stuffed animals and other shining amusing items.
He smiled, the ebony surrounding tired him as he rested his head and slept.
My life is black, without any light. With out you Selphie,I was meant to be blind, without the brightness of you...I need you,I don't know anymore.Just thinking of you, canI take it anymore?
The thought of the brunette made him smile, he lifted his body one more time. He found a headache medicine in his nightstand. He poured the bottle out and ate every pill overdosing terribly.
I can't live in darkness anymore, I need light… I need you. A bright light consumed him as he heard a voice, "Irvy? Is that you?"
Irvine laid into slumber again and never awoke.
THE END
I know this story wasn't happy or anything, but neither was I when I wrote it. I was happy with the finished product though. My first Selvine one-shot so please anything would be nice! REVIEW FOR THE LOVE OF ……… me! Hehehehhe! Anyways, I hoped you liked it. I was expressing what a cute couple Irvine and Selphie were, how I was in a bad mood when I thought of this, and how you shouldn't drink and drive! Review for me! Selphie Kinneas (AKA-Greedy Author For Reviews)
