"Life Long Forgotten"

By: fluffy pantoufle

A/N: Hey, all! This is turning out to be a fun story for me to write, and hopefully I will get it done in a timely fashion - I've just graduated from college, after all! ^-^ (Funny to think that I've been writing Zinoas for 9 years now! Jeez!) Therefore, at least until I manage to find a lucrative job, I can dedicate a reasonable amount of time to fleshing out this adventure that I began last summer! (With the economy the way it is, I'll probably have enough time to write this ten times over, hahaha!)
That being said, read - enjoy - and provide some feedback! I'd love to know if I can convert any Squinoa fans out there into Zinoas!

Rinoa and Zell had spent a good portion of the morning scouring the library for any sign of Janquais Cyncad and his relation to Balamb Garden. Books were scattered across a table towards the back of the library, flipped open to various pages; Rinoa had taken the liberty to dog-ear sections she wanted to return to, regardless of the library staff frowning upon such frivolous treatment of materials. Angelo slept soundly beneath the table, snuffling every now and then in his slumber to remind them of his presence. Rinoa sat on the floor in one of the aisles, a book opened in her lap. Zell sat across from her, waiting patiently to see if she had discovered anything new.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing Zell was doing. He found that he derived a great deal of pleasure from watching Rinoa read. Her dark hair hung in her eyes as she scrupulously examined each page, sometimes fluttering from the index to the table of contents and back again. The blonde smiled as she smiled, knowing that she found a piece of information that could potentially be useful in solving this mystery. Little did Rinoa know that she was at her most beautiful while deep in thought, or at least this is what Zell believed.

"What's the verdict, Rin?" He inquired, wanting to break her attention from her current book so that he could catch a glimpse of her lovely brown eyes. Get a hold of yourself, Zell… Turned on by girls and books. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "hooked on phonics"…

Rinoa shrugged. "These books just keep saying the same thing over and over. Janquais Cyncad died in the Fire Cavern twenty years ago. He lived in Balamb… Garden hadn't even been created yet." She closed the book and clasped her hands on top of it as she spoke. "Apparently he was the first human to ever be ballsy enough to explore it, and from what I can gather, he was also the first to meet Ifrit."

Zell's eyes widened. "No way!"

"Yeah…" She trailed off, then began to stand up so that she could put the book away. "I guess Ifrit thought he was just an intruder."

"Would that be why no one ever found his body?" He asked. Zell had read the bits of the books that Rinoa left on the table. She smiled at his dedication to her mystery - no one else would have come to the library to support her insanity. "Ifrit must have beaten him real good."

The raven-haired girl looked down at Zell and nodded. Sitting on the floor cross-legged, Zell looked like a grade-schooler ready for his lesson. She internally smiled at the inquisitive look on his face - sheer innocence compared to their peers, particularly the other guys. When everyone else thought she was losing her mind, he was willing to help her sort things out… And he looked good while doing it, too.

Oh, Hyne, please forget about that…

Rinoa couldn't deny to herself the fact that she found Zell to be extremely attractive. He retained a boyish, youthful quality about himself that the other guys she knew were trying to get rid of. The blonde man was getting better at being mature every day, but never forgot about being carefree, being playful. That trait, along with his muscular frame and charismatic facial features, naturally made him alluring to many of the females at Balamb. The funny thing was, Zell just didn't seem to be interested in any of them. At one point following the defeat of Ultimecia, he and the library girl had a "fling," but it was extremely short-lived. Both of them were too shy to admit to one another what they actually wanted out of a relationship. Zell needed someone a little more assertive, a girl that could be honest and up front about her desires…

"Rinoa? Everything OK?"

"Oh!" She shook her head, releasing herself from her reverie. The girl hadn't realized she was staring at Zell this whole time, making him feel somewhat uneasy. "Yeah, I just…zoned out for a second. Sorry."

He stood up to face her - the height difference between Zell and Rinoa was only several inches, so they gazed at one another eye to eye. "Well, if you aren't feeling good, lemme know…"

For the first time in the history of their friendship, neither the blonde nor the brunette had words. While they each had a vague idea of what the other was thinking, they weren't ready to admit it to themselves. Had Zell given up on trying to build a wall around his feelings for Rinoa? Was she willing to succumb to the strange attraction that she felt welling up inside her?

"Zell, I…" Nothing intelligible could find its way to Rinoa's lips. She stood with her mouth agape for a moment, trying to come up with something that didn't make her sound like a complete idiot. Instead, she broke her gaze with him and stared at the pattern on the carpet.

Zell felt a fire burn in his cheeks and was surprised that Rinoa wasn't as crimson as he. Embarrassed, he turned and headed further down the aisle, so that no one in the library could witness this awkward scene. Little did he know that save for the library employee at the front desk, the room was pretty much deserted. "Tch…"

Rinoa looked up to see that Zell was standing with his back facing her - turning beet red, no doubt. A smile turned her lips slightly upwards. "Are you the one that isn't feeling good, Zell?" She asked softly. His awkwardness made this scene amusing, despite the fact that she could feel the pace of her heartbeat quicken as well.

"Nah… I'm iight," Zell responded, reverting back to the dialect Rinoa knew he was working on changing. "Just a little, uh…"

"Red?"

"No!" He looked at her from over his shoulder, but she could see his flushed cheeks and began to laugh. Surely he must have blushed even deeper from her reaction, because he crossed his arms over his chest and didn't budge. "Aw, Rin! Knock it off!"

"I'm sorry, Zell…" Rinoa said, all the while trying to gain her composure. "I don't want you to get all uncomfortable and such. You've been awesome this morning, helping me go through all of these books. No one else would have done that for me."

"No prob…"

Zell gasped as he suddenly felt a pair of slender arms wrap themselves around his waist from behind. Rinoa laid her head against his back and squeezed his midsection, refusing to let him go. He could feel her quiet breathing, and smelled a light floral fragrance that undoubtedly was coming from her skin. Instead of trying to wriggle free, Zell simply reached to hold her hands in his. Neither one of them tried to think much of the hug, although at the same time they both felt their respective temperatures rise. They stayed in this position for several moments, reveling in the warmth of human contact that they'd both been missing for awhile. It wasn't until they heard footsteps headed in their direction that they sprung apart, staring at each other incredulously.

"There you guys are!" It was Selphie, cheerful as always. "I had a feeling you'd be here, Rinny! Find anything out about Janquais?" She looked from Rinoa to Zell, and quickly picked up on the fact that something wasn't right. The perky girl cocked her head to the side, confused. "…top secret information?"

"You could say that," Zell managed to squeak out before nodding to Selphie and exiting the library.

Selphie stood wide-eyed for a moment. "Whoa. What got into him?"

"I, uh…" Rinoa stuttered, trying to formulate a sentence that wouldn't make Selphie question the situation beyond what she already had. However, harboring information from Selphie Tilmitt was one of the most futile things a person could do, so Rinoa decided it best to just tell her what happened. "Zell and I hugged."

To her surprise, Selphie just chuckled. "You hugged Zelly? Really? The way you both were staring at one another, I'd have thought something a lot more scandalous than hugging went down!"

Rinoa laughed, rather awkwardly at that. "No…that was it."

At this point, Angelo was roused from his slumber and nudged Selphie to pet him, which she happily obliged to do. "Rinny, do me a favor and don't go giving him the wrong idea about things, all right?"

"What do you mean?" The raven-haired girl was confused at Selphie's sudden protection of Zell.

"Well…it's no secret, really." When Angelo had gotten satisfactory attention, Selphie stood and rearranged her yellow dress. "Zell's got feelings for you - I know, even though he won't admit it. I just don't want either of you getting hurt! You're both my buddies too, you know?"

Wait…what? Zell likes me? "Selphie, you've got to be making this all up. Zell doesn't feel that way. He knows about Squall and I…"

"So do you!" She cried. Just then, however, the library employee at the front desk hushed them, as several more people had entered the library after Zell left. Selphie rolled her eyes at him, then dragged Rinoa into the aisle. "Rin, it's bound to happen at some point or another that either you or Zell might…you know."

"No, I don't know what you're trying to say." Rinoa raised a quizzical eyebrow at her friend, feigning ignorance to her statement.

"Look…well… You and Squall are trying to make things work, right? Maybe you should be spending more time with him and not so much with Zell."

"Selphie!" Rinoa exclaimed, shocked that she'd even allude to her relationship with Squall. "Zell just offered to help me go through these books because you guys all thought I was nuts. There was nothing bad going on, I'm telling you! He was just helping me out."

"All right, all right," Selphie shrugged. "I just care about you guys, you know? And you know that if you need someone to talk to, I'll always be here for ya!"

She couldn't be upset with Selphie - she knew the lively brunette just wanted to see everyone happy. Selphie also had a soft spot for Zell Dincht, especially because he never seemed to be in a requited love affair. Rinoa and Squall had been together for several years now, as were Selphie and Irvine. Quistis was currently dealing with romantic advances by Seifer Almasy, and while they were odd, they were not unwelcome. Not only did Zell's relationship with the library girl fizzle, but he also had a habit of falling for unattainable girls. Perhaps he didn't feel as confident as other guys his age, but Zell almost always set himself up for failure before he could even try. Because of this, the others ended up being somewhat protective of his heart during times when he wasn't.

Am I just another one of his unreachable crushes? Rinoa wondered. She smiled at Selphie. "I know, Selph. And I appreciate it - you know that."

The perky girl grinned back, her emerald eyes sparkling. "I do! But anyway, back to Janquais. Anything new?"

Rinoa shook her head. "No, nothing out of the ordinary. I might ask the Headmaster about it…or maybe go to Balamb. Apparently Cyncad lived there for most of his life."

"Excellent! I'll go with you, if you'd like!"

"Great! Thanks, Selphie."

The girls embraced, happy that they had stumbled upon a weekend adventure. Rinoa hadn't done any type of sleuthing in awhile - this Janquais character truly piqued her interest. If for some reason she was going crazy, she wanted to know why it happened to be this man that was making her lose her mind, and why his soul wasn't at rest. It all just seemed so strange - on top of sorceress powers, now Rinoa Heartilly potentially had the powers to see and speak with the dead.

Just great.