IN LOVE WITH THE ENEMY

Selphie Tilmitt leant on the wall surrounding the elevator and stared at the training area. She was wearing her short yellow dress and boots. She sighed. It was 10 past midnight and she had waited for Seifer to come out of the training area for at least six hours. She let her mind drift for a while.

Selphie hopped onto the wall and swung her legs. She thought about Rinoa and Squal as a couple. She smiled. Rinoa was good for Squal; she had taken him out of that hard shell he used to live in. Selphie remembered how he used to be. When she and Squal first met, he refused to take her around the garden and she got lost….and she met Zell. Zell had been a good friend to her lately. He was just there to listen. He was good at that. They had had a few laughs on his hover-board; he always knew how to take her mind off her troubles

A tap on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts. She jerked into reality with a bump and she almost fell off the wall.

"Selphie, are you alright?"

It was Quistis. Selphie smiled.
"Yeah… yes… I'm fine." She answered, looking over to the training area again.

"I didn't see you at the party, did you…did you leave early?"

"I didn't go." Selphie murmured, not taking her eyes off the entrance. Quistis sighed.

"Selphie honey…." She said gently. "Are you alright?" Selphie was forced to come out of her day dream."

"Yes," she sighed. "I'm fine," Selphie glanced at her watch. "You're home early aren't you? It's only quarter to." Quistis smiled.

"Yeah, I need an early night. Will you be all right on your own? You can come over to my room if you want, and we could…"

"YES." Selphie snapped. Realising what she had just said, Selphie quickly apologised "Sorry…. sorry, I'm just not in the mood right now." She sighed again. Quistis smiled sympathetically. "Ok then. You know where I am if you need me, don't you?"

"Yeah" Selphie mumbled, and Quistis walked away quietly.

The minuets ticked by and Selphie's thoughts began to drift again. She thought back to the conversation she had just had with Quistis. She had sounded so mean, she didn't mean to snap, it's just she was under so much pressure lately, having to choose between love and friendship.

At quarter past two, giggles broke the silence. She looked over the wall. It looked like Rinoa was drunk again, and Squal had to guide her to her room. She bumped into wall after wall, and giggled all the way.

"I LOVE YOU SQUAL!!!!!!!" She shouted.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhh." Squal said, putting his finger to her lips.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Rinoa said, mocking Squal and giggling. Selphie found herself smiling despite of herself.

They disappeared from sight and there was silence again.

It was three o'clock and Seifer still hadn't come out of the training area. Selphie yawned loudly and stretched her arms.

Zell was skating around the garden. He looked up at Selphie and waved.

" 'Sup Selph?" he shouted, attempting a skating trick on the bench to impress her. He fell off. Selphie laughed and waved back.

As soon as he had recovered, he ran up the steps and greeted her.

"Hiya Selph, you ok?? Hey, you missed one hell of a party!!!!!!" Selphie looked over to the training area again.

"You should have seen Rinoa," He continued, "She was totally pissed!"

"Yeah, I saw Squal with her earlier." Zell laughed.

"Well, if you're gonna be ok on ya own, I gotta catch some Zs"

With that, he skated off towards the dormitories.

At around half past three, the silence was broken again by giggles, but they were not Rinoa's. Selphie glanced around to the entrance gate and there was Irvine, playing tonsil tennis with a girl, Selphie assumed to be, from the party. She watched as Irvine lowered his hand down her skirt. Selphie knew what was coming next. "Three, two, one." She murmured to herself,

SLAP!!!!!!

Selphie tutted. "Will he ever learn?" She asked, shaking her head.

The girl walked away, and Irvine stood there, his hand stuck to his reddened cheek. He turned and looked at Selphie, grinning.

"Did you see the cheek of that girl?" He called. He walked up the steps to where she was. "I missed you at the party, where were you? Did you stay here the whole time?" Selphie nodded. Irvine's smile faded. He lightly took her arm and spun her around to face him.

"Sephie…I'm worried about you. Lately, you've been really down…has something happened….is there something you're not telling me?" Selphie blushed and turned away.

"You wouldn't understand." She sighed, turning away from him. He spun her around to face him again.

"Tell me Sephie, I can't stand to see you worked up like this." Selphie fought against him and turned away again, with tears in her eyes.

"I told you…. you just wouldn't understand…and anyway, it doesn't matter, I'm fine, really." Irvine grabbed her chin and brought her face just centimetres away from his own. "It matters to me Selphie. Something's bothering you. I've noticed it for a while now, ever since Seifer was let back into the garden, has he been harassing you….if he's done anything to you, I swear I'll…." Irvine's voice trailed off.

Selphie's cheeks deepened in colour, and for a moment, she was tempted to tell him everything.

"No, Irvine…nothing's wrong, nothing's bothering me…I'm fine, really" She confirmed at last. Irvine hesitated, Selphie's chin still cupped in his hand.

"I love you Selph," he said after a while. Selphie's heart skipped a beat. "You're the best friend anyone could have," Irvine continued. "And if you're in any trouble, I'm there for you, Ok?" Selphie nodded. Strangely enough, although she should feel relieved that Irvine didn't love her in that way, her heart sank. But she shrugged it off and went back to waiting for Seifer. But, however much she tried; she couldn't stop thinking about Irvine. She felt her head turn and watch him walk down the steps onto the ground floor..

Suddenly she ran after him.

"Irvine," Selphie shouted. "Irvine." She jumped into his arms and hugged him, burying her head in his chest. Irvine was caught unawares and was thrown back, catching Selphie before he fell. As soon as he realised what was happening, he tightened his grip.

"Just let me be there for you Seph," he said, nearer to crying than she was. "Don't shut me out." Selphie pulled away from him.

"Thank you Irvine…thank you for everything. You've been there a lot for me lately; you've been my best friend. Thank you for caring.

The garden clock chimed four o'clock in the morning; Selphie backed up the steps. "You should get some sleep, you know what Quistis is like if you're not ready for action at all times." She joked. Irvine smiled.

"See you in the morning, OK Seph?" Selphie nodded.

"Yeah, in the morning." He walked away slowly, looking over his shoulder at Selphie standing at the steps.

* * * *

At quarter passed four, Selphie decided that she had had enough waiting, and walked down the steps and into the training area. Her boots tapped on the floor and echoed around the dimly lit corridor.

The training area was dark, and Selphie couldn't hear a thing. "It's too quiet" she mumbled to herself, stepping through the door. She walked over the bridges and around to the other side. Still no sign of life. She was sure she saw Seifer come in here.

Selphie shook her head and turned and decided to give up. Perhaps he had come out while she was talking to Irvine? She turned around and made to go forward, but something was blocking her way. The colour from Selphie's cheeks drained.

* * * *

Seifer lay on the wall of the "make out spot" in the training area. It was a clear morning and the stars where fading. He was lost in deep thought.

How could he have been so stupid, helping Edea? How would that have earned him merit? Well, it didn't matter because Squal had ruined it for him anyway by saving the day, again. Still, they had let him back in the garden, at least that was something. When this was all over, perhaps he would take the SeeD exam again….and perhaps this time he'd pass.

He took a drag from his cigarette. He was beginning to see the romance in this place now.

"How could I have missed it before?" He asked himself, as he watched the first fingers of dawn tickling the sky.

The silence of the morning air was shattered by a piercing scream. Seifer jerked up, and taking one last drag, he dropped his cigarette and ran out into the training centre.

Seifer looked around for the origin of the scream. Standing in front of him was the biggest T-rexasaur he'd ever seen.

"Holy shit." He murmured to himself.

Standing in front of it, paralysed with fear was a girl.

Seifer thought he recognised her as one of Squal's little band of SeeD graduates….and didn't he see her at his last SeeD exam? Yes, it was the girl who had warned them that they where expected at the shore. Now he remembered. He was always very fond of her. Lately she had been hanging around him, acting really sweet and nice. At first Seifer thought she was mocking him, but he had discovered that it was just her happy-go-lucky personality.

She screamed again, this time louder as the T-rexasaur grabbed her in his mouth and shook her about. Seifer cringed as she was thrown down, staining the floor with her blood. Seifer ran to her unconscious body and felt a terrible rage building up inside.

With all his might, Seifer summoned Shiva and knocked the dinosaur to the floor with a deafening thud. He stooped down and examined Selphie's wounds. They where pretty bad. He took his coat off and placed it around her shoulders, and gingerly picking her up, he made his way to the infirmary.

* * * *

Later that morning, Selphie woke to find herself lying in a bed in the infirmary. Her cloths had been removed and she was dressed in a hospital gown. Her wounds where wrapped in bandages and there where bouquets of flowers, cards, teddies and boxes of chocolate around the room. Dr *** was instructing Quistis on what medicine she had to take.

"One tablet, two times a day, and plenty of rest Quistis. She's badly hurt, and she's not coming out of the infirmary for at least a week. It was a good job Seifer got to her when she did, those T-rexasaur are terrible, I've told Cid to get rid of them…"

The doctor babbled on, but Selphie didn't hear. She was lost in thought.

So Seifer had saved her? She looked down and noticed his coat for the first time. It lay across the bed keeping her warm. Selphie picked it up and buried her face in it. It smelt of his after-shave.

Raised voices brought her attention back to the infirmary. Selphie lent over to see through the door. It was Irvine.

"Doctor, you've got to let me see her, please." Doctor Kadowaki sighed, blocking the door with her arms.

"She's resting Irvine."

"Is she badly hurt?"

"She had to have surgery last night, but she'll live." Irvine collapsed into the chair shaking. He buried his head in his hands and breathed heavily.
"It's all my fault." He murmured "All my fault, I should have been there…. I should have made her come with me…I shouldn't have just left her." He was crying openly now. Selphie began to feel sorry for him, and felt a lump come into her throat. Doctor Kadowaki sighed, and patted him on the back

"It wasn't anybody's fault, just one of those things. She'll live. I've had worse than that come in from training with those T-rexasaur"

Irvine nodded and rocked to and fro on the chair. After a while he tok a deep breath.

"Who found her?" he asked.

"Seifer Almasy" she answered, flicking through files. Irvine stopped dead. Seifer had found her. That was just too convenient.

Just then Seifer came in.

"Hey doctor, is she alright?" he asked. Irvine stood up and pushed his chair away violently. He went up to Seifer.

"You bastard, what have you done to her?" he shouted, pinning Seifer up against the wall. Seifer narrowed his eyes.

"How dare you accuse me of hurting her, weren't you the one who let her go into the training area alone, without even equipping a GF?" Irvine hit Seifer.

Just then Squal and Zell came into the infirmary. Seifer was on the floor and Irvine was kicking the hell out of him. They ran to either side of Irvine and prevented him from hurting Seifer any further. Seifer was crouching on the ground, holding a hand up to his bloody nose.

Zell and Squal escorted Irvine out of the infirmary. Seifer smiled.

"I'll get you for this Seifer, you son of a bitch, I'll get you for what you did to her, you fucking bastard, I won't let you get away with what you did, don't you go near her again, you bastard or I'll fucking kill you."

At last there was silence in the room. Doctor Kadowaki attended to Seifer's wounds. Selphie lay back against her pillow. Tears where streaming down her cheek, all this over her?

"Can I go see her doctor?" Seifer asked.

"I'm sorry Seifer, I'm afraid…"

"It's alright," Selphie said, standing at the doorway. Selphie staggered towards Seifer, but stumbled and fell into his arms.

"You're still weak, Selphie, get back into bed." Doctor Kadowaki ordered, and helped her into her room. Seifer followed.

Once Selphie had been settled, Doctor Kadowaki left them alone for a while. Seifer brought something from behind his back.

"Oh, Seifer!" she squealed. "Roses!" Selphie gingerly put all but one rose into a vase by the side of her bed. The one she kept out, she brought up to her face and inhaled the sweet scent. Seifer smiled. He got a strange kind of feeling inside when ever he saw this girl smile.

"Do you like them then?" He asked. Selphie nodded furiously.

"They're beautiful!"

"Just like you." he answered. Selphie blushed.

"I'm sorry about Irvine. He's a little over protective of me…. like a big brother really. I'm sure, if he knew you like I did, then he wouldn't have hurt you."

"So you heard what went on then?" Selphie nodded.

Seifer looked out the window. If he knew you like I did…. The words echoed in his mind. What was the first thing she knew about him? She didn't have clue what he was planning for her.

* * * *