Geez its been a while since this has been updated, huh? Well the only reason I'm doing it is becuase I'm retiring from FanFiction soon and I don't want to leave any story unfinished. That means this too. However, there's only one more chapter to go and then the Epilogue so its not exactly going to take a long time:P Anyway, if anyone reads this I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy

Zell

Looking at the picture of his grandfather in full military uniform, Zell tried to mimic the position. Like his father and his father before him and his father before, Zell knew, at the young age of five years old, that was what he wanted to do too. Military training was in his blood. Even his mother was in the Balamb Naval Armada. While the Sorceress War continued tediously, his parents – against their initial wishes- had been summoned to action and duty. As a result, Zell had been sent to live with his aunt and uncle from his mothers side.

The army blood didn't run in her side of the family. She had been the black sheep of the family by nature. Not in a negative way, however, as her parents, reluctant as they were for their daughter to follow such a path, always believed that their children should do whatever it is they want and what was right for them. Lou, having always shown interest in all military related issues, decided at sixteen joining the Navy was the best career option for her. It was there she had met Chalmer Dintch. Quite by accident. She had been in the lunch queue during a training day and Chalmer had hijacked it - leaving the canteen for the Army cadets where he was designated - in a search for hot dogs.

There meeting had been brief but lasting impressions made as he careered into Lou and caused her to spill her lunch over him yet at the same time spilling a hot dog into his hands. Bemused as she was she let him leave with her hot dog. In return she left with his number and a promise to call him.

It had been love after that.

Or so Zell had been told, though he didn't quite understand how that worked. If he gave lunch to a girl in nursery school she wouldn't let him marry her.

Grown ups were weird like that. Especially all this war business. He didn't understand that either. Why did people want to kill each other? He knew he sometimes wanted to hit the kids who stole his crayons at nursery. Maybe they're all stealing each others crayons. Yes, that was most likely it. But why then didn't they all just give each other them back? Were they lost? Such things were confusing. Adults were so silly sometimes. There were much simpler solutions than going away and fighting to the death. Joining the army should only be so you can fight aliens. At least that's what his Grandfather had told him after he'd retired. Zell was to young to understand his Grandfather's regrets and the true meaning of his words.

Since his parents were away, Zell was staying with his Aunt and Uncle Dincht in their little house on the coast of Balamb. He couldn't' say he was too bothered by it, though he did miss his parents something terrible when he saw the other kids out with their own and knowing he couldn't do the same. But he was happy for most of the time in Balamb. There were plenty of kids his own age around him and his Uncle took him fishing every Sunday when he had a day off work. He could hardly complain with that. His parents may not be there with him but he couldn't say he didn't have people who cared about him. Sometimes it was as if he had two sets of parents.

However, that was all soon to end. Today. Today was the day his mother and father arrived back from duty, having served their three month contract. They were permitted a further three weeks off and then they would return to serve the final three months and terminate their call of duty for the meantime. Excitement was overtaking every sensation Zell's body could feel. He stopped posing as his grandfather and ran to the window of his bedroom, looking out as a he heard a car driving up. But, just as the three trucks, two reds and silver before it, this blue rental continued on down the road, turning into the car park allocated for those sailing to Dollet. It was the wrong colour anyway. An army cadet would return in an army vehicle. His father had promised him that and his father never broke a promise.

He cast his young mind back to the day his parents left. To him, it only seemed a short time ago as it would to any child.

His father, tall, brown haired and friendly – of not sometimes to the point of irritating - in personality had ruffled his son's blonde hair, giving him the great, infectious grin that his son would one day possess. "We'll be home before you know it, kiddo," He had assured him.

"He's right, sweetie," His mother had replied. She bent down to his height and pulled him into a tight embrace. Zell could smell the mustiness of her uniform but also the smell of lavender from her long blonde hair which – normally allowed to flow around her – had been tied into a tight ponytail. There were tears in her eyes though Zell couldn't understand why. If they were going to come back why would she be so sad? "It won't be long. You can have the whole summer with you Aunt and Uncle in Balamb. You want that, don't you? It's like a whole summer long vacation!"

"Sure," Zell said, nodding in emphasis.

His father tossed their luggage – only two small holdalls allowed between them – into the back of the truck and strapped them down. He put an arm around his wife's waist. "We'd better get going before we hold them up any more." Picking up Zell, he tossed him into the air. "That's us kiddo. You have fun on vacation, you hear? And be good for you Aunt and Uncle."

The two adults climbed into the truck and waved at their son as they drove away. Zell waved back with every bit of energy in his arms until at least the truck was out of sight and his vacation had started.

Now, as he waited for that same truck to reappear his vacation was about to end. He was sad, in a way, that he now had to go back to Dollet where his home was. That meant the next time he'd see his Aunt and Uncle would be Christmas and that was a whole two years away to him! He propped his elbows on the windowpane and sighed. He would miss it here just as much as he missed his own home.

The sound of an approaching vehicle made his head perk up once more and this time his excitement reached convergence level as the familiar sight of the khaki camouflage paint of an army truck rumbled into view. He squealed with delight and sprinted downstairs so fast his feet barely touched the ground.

"Auntie Dintch! Auntie Dintch!" He yelled, flying to the door though he wasn't quite tall enough to reach the handle.

His Aunt turned from where she cooking dinner on the stove and smiled lovingly at the child who was like a son to her. "Calm down Zell before you over excite yourself."

"Yeah but there's a truck, Auntie! Ma and Pa are back! They're here, they're really here!"

She spied the eyesore outside her window and frowned. She hated the sight of those trucks in Balamb. They didn't belong in the peaceful down she called her home. Nonetheless, she went to the door with Zell clinging to her apron as if to help her along. As soon as she pulled on the handle and went outside she knew there was something wrong. The air around her seemed heavy, like a burden was lying on it. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and her heartbeat quickened. In her stomach it felt like the soup she had made for her and Zell had turned to lead. Zell was blissfully unaware of the news she was about to be told. His child's mind couldn't make the connection. It could only compute that the army vehicle at their house meant his mother and father had come home. He was incapable of thinking anything else.

Zell finally sensed something was amiss when, instead of his Ma and Pa coming out of the truck to greet him, a very official man took their place. His back was straight as a ruler giving some indication that he was ranked fairly highly in whatever regiment he oversaw.

"Zell, go inside," His Aunt Dintch told him, her voice think and alien to him.

Doing as he was told (and glad to be out of that man's presence and sorrowful looking eyes) he stood on the sofa where he could get a better view of what was going on outside. He watched as the man took his hat off and started to speak. His calm composure broke after a second or two and Zell wondered why. From the angle of their window to the door he couldn't see his Aunt but he put two and two together to make four and knew his Aunt was replying to whatever news she had been told. Zell couldn't understand what, though. Where were his parents? They should be here and not him! Nothing made sense to him. Why had he been told to go inside? What was that man saying that he couldn't here?

Finally, the man saluted and walked back to the truck. Before climbing in, he took one look back at the house and caught Zell's curious eyes. Zell held his gaze and wondered why he shook his head in sorrow when he turned away. Adults did some strange things sometimes.

Alone together again, Zell looked expectantly as the door opened and his Aunt walked back in, noticeably with less of a spring in her step as when she went out. Her usual cheery face was sombre as she stood looking at Zell. Her mouth opened to say something but then closed again. Zell tipped his head to the side, not understanding the situation that had suddenly evolved before him. She slowly walked to the opposite couch from Zell and sat down.

"Zell," She said eventually. "Come over here. Sit by me and don't say a word. I need to speak now." He did as he was told. "Zell that man was from the army. He was a Sergeant in your parents troupe. He came because you're parents aren't coming home. You see, they were fighting for their country and for you so that we will never be oppressed by the sorceress and sometimes when people are fighting, they don't come home. Instead to go with the Faeries up to a place called Heaven. One day, when you're even older than me you'll go with them too. But they went young." She shook her head and blinked back tears. "Too young."

Zell frowned. "I don't get it. Why won't they come here instead? Don't they want to see me?"

Aunt Dintch pulled Zell closer. "Of course they did but when the Faeries come for you there's nothing you can do. They'll miss you so much but they'll always be with you. In here." She pointed to his heart. "Don't forget that. If they could they would be beside you right now instead of me but it's something that you can't help. It's called death, Zell. But the Faeries come to save you from that. They take you to eternal life where you can meet everyone you love one day."

"Does that mean I have to go home by myself now?"

"No, dear. You'll need to go away for a while though, to a place where other children go when there parents go with the Faeries. It'll only be for a short while. I have some things I have to do before you can come and live with me and your Uncle forever. You see, we're going to have to do a thing called adopting. That means we'll look after you in place of your Ma and Pa. We'll be like your Ma and Pa until you all meet again. Adoption takes time. There's a lot of work to be done for it."

Zell frowned again. So much was happening for him to take in that he didn't understand. "Does that mean I'll be on vacation forever? And why don't you just not adoption me and I'll stay here anyway. I like it here."

"That's just how it's done," Aunt Dintch said, giving him the adult version of 'no more questions because there's no answers'. 'That's just how its done' was a sign that even they didn't understand what he was asking and Zell knew well enough his questions would remain just that for some time. "I need to call your Uncle now and let him know what's happening. The Sergeant has already been in contact with the Government about you. He said he wasn't sure what was going to happen and whether we'd want you to stay here or not so he had to refer you to...to that summer camp we were talking about. He says you'll be leaving tomorrow."

It was then that the tears began to fall and the battle to keep them prisoner was lost. Zell worried when adults cried and wrapped his arms around her ample waste to comfort her. She kept murmuring his name over and over again. He suddenly felt scared. She was scared so he felt like he should be too. Only, he knew it wasn't because of the monsters under his bed or the boogey man in his closet. This was something else, something he'd never encountered before. This was the fear of losing some one you love.

"Zell, I promise you we'll take you home with us soon."

True to her word Zell was taken on the journey to Matron Kramer's orphanage within two days and the battle for custody began shortly afterwards.


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