"Life Long Forgotten"
By: fluffy pantoufle
A/N: Ah! It's been awhile since I've updated a fan fiction with such frequency, but I keep getting ideas as to the direction I want to take the plot and it's exciting! Also, I'm getting ideas for new fan fictions that I'm dying to work on, but I'd like to at least get LLF near completion first. However, this has the potential to take awhile, as each of my chapters are only about 4 word processed pages a piece. The next couple are going to pertain more to the developing Zell/Rinoa relationship and the deteriorating Squall/Rinoa one… I plan to kick it up a notch - or several - so stay tuned if you've been reading!
Oh! And I am not one to beg for reviews or anything, but I see that this story's getting hits, but nearly no reviews! Love it, hate it - God, I don't care! I appreciate feedback of all kinds!
After his pseudo-sensual exploits in the library, Zell Dincht spent the remainder of the day in an odd sort of haze. He went to his classes, performed his daily tasks, but he did everything with the mental capacity of a zombie. Irvine noticed his friend's personality malfunction and took to following him around in an effort to discover his problems. He feared that asking him outright would prompt an even stranger response from Zell; the cowboy figured that he would give him more than a day before such an inquiry was given. He suspected that it had something to do with a girl, because the last time Zell acted so peculiar was when the library girl - in a bold move, Irvine had to admit - attempted to tarnish what was otherwise considered a fairly chaste relationship. No one got the whole story - Zell alluded that it might have had something to do with a whip that the library girl may or may not have stolen from Quistis. Nevertheless, two weeks later Zell was a single man… And Quistis was asking her classes where her Save the Queen had gone to.
That vanilla bastard, Irvine mused.
Being that Zell was the only one of the orphans to have grown up in a proper household, he assumed that Ma Dincht strived to make her son an upstanding gentleman. She succeeded, and perhaps went above and beyond in her plight.
Meanwhile, Rinoa returned to her dorm room with Angelo and prepared herself for her trip to Balamb with Selphie. They decided that there was copious amounts of researching to be done, but also a little fun - a night at Belhelmel would be a great way to conclude a day of exploration. With that in mind, Rinoa made sure she packed her little black dress and heels in her duffel bag. She tried to think of the last time that she had gone out and deduced that it must have been the night of Zell's birthday.
That was the night that she had fought with Squall, not only because he refused to go out but also because he wasn't thrilled with the idea of Rinoa going out without him. His protective nature sometimes made him exasperating, especially when it came to acting like a normal teenager. Internationally, the drinking age was only 18 - a delight for most of Garden's students, sans Squall. She appreciated his concern for her welfare, but wondered whether or not he trusted her after she had a couple of drinks.
Hyne, there's nothing for him to ever worry about… I can take care of myself.
When Squall came back to the room that night, Rinoa had finished packing her bag and was excited to see him. She opened the door and greeted him with a flurry of kisses. "Squall! Wait until you hear what I have to tell you!"
He smiled, placing his bag down next to the door and closed it. "Yeah, I'm curious - I was talking to Quistis earlier and she said that you were talking about Janquais Cyncad."
Rinoa nodded. "I saw him, Squall. We had a conversation… It was the weirdest thing. He wouldn't give me a handshake when I introduced myself."
Squall raised an eyebrow. "And you're absolutely sure of this?" At least he was bothering to entertain her crazy notions. Whether or not he was pretending to believe her was up for debate.
"Positive." The raven-haired woman sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to her, inviting Squall to sit as well. "Although Quistis was telling me that apparently he died twenty years ago in the Fire Cavern. I did a lot of reading in the library and decided that the best way to get to the bottom of this is to go to Balamb. Selphie and I plan on going tomorrow to see if we can come up with anything that isn't in the books." Rinoa neglected to mention that Zell was there with her, but clearly Squall hadn't caught wind of that.
"Oh…" He ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair. "But Rin, what do you have to get to the bottom of? You know Cyncad is dead. Perhaps seeing him was just a side effect of the lightning? Maybe you saw his picture somewhere or something and your mind made up this image…"
She shook her head furiously. "No! We spoke to one another, and then I saw him in the cafeteria! There has to be a reason why he's around here, especially if he died before Garden was even built. He lived in Balamb…maybe something happened to him there that's keeping his soul from being at rest."
"That's crazy."
Rinoa sighed - Squall was more interested in filing this experience under "crazy talk" and never hearing of it again. It was irrational and couldn't mix with his tangible duties as Commander. She had a feeling that he would react in this manner. Squall liked what was rational and easy to comprehend. It was safe. Of course, she couldn't blame him for this, but was irritated at the fact that he wouldn't even seem to suspend reality for a moment.
"Well, Selphie and I are still going to go, and even if don't figure anything out we'll at least have a girl's day out, right?" She smiled, trying to salvage the conversation in some way.
"Yeah…" Squall reciprocated the smile before he stood, stretching his arms above his head. "I'm going to take a shower, Rin. This day has just been far too long. Nida was driving me nuts."
"Oh. Well, you go and do that." She watched as he grabbed a towel and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Angelo, who had been curled up on the foot of their bed, whimpered softly in Rinoa's direction.
Sometimes she felt as if she knew Squall so well, and despite the fact that she could predict his every statement was surprised at his reactions. Why couldn't he just once feign excitement for her seemingly "crazy" life experiences? At the very least, he didn't outright condemn them like Quistis and Irvine seemed to. Selphie was lending her support in order to solve the mystery, whether or not she actually believed Rinoa. And Zell…well, he didn't question her at all. He just wanted to help.
Good old Zell… Rinoa grinned to herself, hugging her knees to her chest. Thinking about the hug they shared earlier almost made her feel a little bit impish, especially after replaying in her mind Zell's reaction. She hadn't seen him for the rest of the day and wondered what he was up to. In a strange way, Rinoa was proud of the fact that she could still make a guy act that way - Squall was typically so reticent when it came to seduction and sometimes didn't even realize it was happening. She wasn't even trying to seduce Zell and inadvertently succeeded.
With her thoughts repeating themselves over and over in her brain, Rinoa slipped into bed that night with a guilty smile on her face.
Irvine invited Zell over to his room that night for dinner and some TV. He didn't want his friend to traipse around all day like a member of the zombie horde and hoped that some male bonding time would snap the blonde out of it. More than that, Irvine was curious to see if he could coax some information out of Zell as to why he was acting so strangely.
However, Irvine wasn't expecting Selphie to be so goddamned perky - even more so than usual. She split her time between her own room and Irvine's, and for some reason or another decided to do her packing whilst spending company with the boys. Neither of them minded; they had gotten so used to Selphie's personality that it was easy to tune out. After awhile, despite his best efforts, Irvine found his girlfriend's most annoying traits to be ridiculously endearing. He claimed it was some sort of spell that only she knew the draw point for.
While she was throwing her clothes in a bright pink duffel bag, Irvine and Zell were sprawled out on the couch, flipping through TV stations. They landed on a program that detailed one man's seemingly suicidal wish to live amongst the T-Rexaurs of the Great Salt Lake. Soon enough, both young men were chuckling at the TV screen.
"What a lunatic," Zell muttered, expressing more emotion than he did all day.
"Yeah, man…" Irvine said in agreement. "Why you'd ever wanna do that, I have no idea."
"I think baby T-Rexaurs would probably be awfully cuddly!" Selphie remarked from the bedroom. Silence ensued for several moments afterwards. "…you don't think so, Irvy?"
"Not really, Seffie baby."
Zell rolled his eyes at their pet names for one another. He couldn't understand why couples called each other by anything other than their actual names. Not only that, but he noticed that despite their personalities and occupations, Irvine and Selphie always adhered to pretty specific roles in their relationship. Irvine was the man - and sometimes hyper-masculine, what with all of his flirtatious behavior that never seemed to end. Selphie, on the other hand, was female through and through. She used to be jealous of Irvine's roving eye, but eventually accepted it when she felt that it was only part of his sharpshooter "show." Now, she only acknowledged it half-heartedly - as a joke more than anything else.
The blonde man never quite understood that either - he always wanted his girlfriend to be on equal playing field with him. He wanted to defy traditions. He wanted her to challenge him. It just seemed to him like that would be the only way for a relationship to really survive. Luckily - at least for Selphie and Irvine - there was enough challenge in their romance that every day was an exciting one. However, Zell felt that most of their trials ended up with an empty bottle of booze and clothes thrown on the floor. While appealing, Zell didn't want his relationship to end up like that, lest he recall his last week dating the library girl. That was a little bit too much for him - after all, he wanted challenge, but was still trying to figure out how a relationship actually worked.
While he and Irvine continued to watch the idiot on TV try and confront a herd of T-Rexaurs, Zell thought about Squall and Rinoa. In particular, he thought about the most recent inauguration ball for new SeeD cadets. All members of SeeD were required to attend. Zell recalled sitting at a table, listening to the sprightly waltzes and watching Squall and Rinoa mingle with the guests. He noticed that especially when talking to people of importance, Rinoa would almost become a prop in the conversation rather than an actual participant; it was the only time Squall ever spoke at length.
Of course - being Commander means having to be a schmooze at times, I guess.
Zell didn't think it happened on purpose, but he couldn't figure out why Rinoa always put up with it. He knew that she never worried about questioning him if something was wrong. The one argument between Zell and Rinoa actually occurred because he ignored her for the library girl. Hyne, he didn't hear the end of that for three days.
"…did you hear that, Zell?"
"Eh?"
Irvine jabbed Zell in the shoulder. "Wanna meet up with the girls in Balamb tomorrow? They're goin' to Belhelmel! Could always stand to have a couple drinks, right?"
"Yeah, sure…" He laughed weakly. Irvine raised an eyebrow, confused by his reaction. "It'll be fun! I'm in."
"Good! That's the Dincht I wanna hang out with." The cowboy grinned, although it was clear that he still couldn't figure out Zell's issues.
Oh yeah, Irvine - I forgot to tell you that booze, Rinoa, and ME in the same place probably isn't the greatest combo. Not that anything's gonna happen, of course… I bet she thinks I'm about as loony as this T-Rexaur guy after this morning.
(Nothing'll happen, eh? That's what Zellykins thinks! Not if I have anything to do with it... Bahaha ;-D Stay tuned for not only more Zell/Rinoa, but the "supernatural" element of the story to really kick in!)
