:.:.:
Giving it Away
they found their reason to be together
I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave
Your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real...
There's just too much that time cannot erase...
August 13th
"Court is now back in session."
The low chatter that filled the room slowly faded away as Kairi, Sora, Roxas, Naminé and Xion sat themselves in their seats. The five watched Selphie with hateful eyes as she returned to the stand. Mr. Wright cleared his throat and shuffled together a small stack of papers as he stood up, ready to tear apart the holes in Selphie's testimony.
"Permission to begin the cross-examination?" He inquired the judge, who nodded.
"Granted."
Mr. Wright's eyes scanned the papers he held in his hand. "In my hand, I hold a copy of the exact words you said in your testimony, Ms. Tillmitt."
She simply nodded.
He continued, "Now, you say that you were watching the entire scene from the bushes."
"Yes. I saw everything."
"Then why didn't you step forward? Especially when Seifer was acting mad-- No, especially when the police arrived at the scene. Surely you can't be serious when you say that you simply watched this whole scene unfold?"
"W-Well... I got scared, so I left when the police arrived. I thought I would get in trouble..." Selphie nervously stammered.
Mr. Wright shook his head. "You realize that by fleeing the scene of the crime, that makes you look very guilty? The only reason we partially know that you had nothing to do with the murder is because none of the other five witnesses saw you."
"I know it was wrong of me, but what can I say? I panicked!"
"That isn't much of an excuse."
"Objection!" Mr. Munchit angrily shot up from his seat. "This is a cross examination, not--"
"Overruled." The judge interrupted. "Mr. Wright, please, continue."
Mr. Wright shot a triumphant smirk to Munchit, who could only pout like a five year old with no toy truck.
"Anyways, I suppose Ms. Tillmitt fleeing the scene isn't the worst of our concerns. What I'm more interested in is Seifer's gun. You say he has a hunting license?"
Selphie nodded. "Yes."
"Then tell me..." He picked up a plastic bag off of a desk, its contents being but a simple black handgun. "What kind of person goes hunting with a standard Desert Eagle pistol?"
"U-Uhm..." She stuttered, searching for any kind of excuse but no words came. Mr. Wright already knew the answer.
"A murderer." He stated. "A cold-blooded killer."
"Objection!" Mr. Munchit once again shouted. "Do not call my client those names with no proof."
"Mr. Munchit, this is a murder trial." Mr. Wright said. "What am I supposed to call him?"
"Objection overruled." The judge said. "Carry on."
"Indeed..." Mr. Wright continued. "Onto another point. A rather obvious one. Ms. Tillmitt, did you know that this particular pistol will not fire if dropped?"
Selphie's expression fell completely blank. "T-That's impossible. I saw it drop. It fired."
"You're lying. Seifer shot the gun with his own hands and he was trying to hit someone, whether his target was Riku Rowe or not."
"That's not true! Seifer would never hurt anybody!" With a sigh, Mr. Wright flipped through a few of his pages. Without a word he handed one of them to Selphie, who scanned it over only briefly. "I don't understand." She confessed.
"An incident that occurred just under a year ago. I'm sure you heard of it. Seifer had attacked his girlfriend at the time, Ms. Naminé Anderson. He punched her in the stomach after she confessed to him the possibility of a pregnancy. He then proceeded to try to rape her, failing when Mr. Roxas Hikari showed up at the scene." Selphie was speechless. Completely, utterly speechless. Of course she knew about that incident... And of course she would completely forget about it.
Mr. Wright lowered his gaze to his papers. "Thats what I thought. Moving on, you say that Seifer was on hard drugs at the time. Why is it he had nothing but alcohol and marijuana in his system?"
"W-What?"
"Well surely you knew that he was tested right away when he arrived at the police station."
And again... Speechless.
"I would also like to add that firing a gun at a 'squirrel' on land that isn't permitted to be hunted on is also highly illegal. And, Seifer had no papers on him to verify that he had rights to own his gun." Mr. Wright stared Selphie directly in her panic-stricken eyes, before making a simple nod towards the judge. "Your honor, I believe this case is just about closed."
"Objection!" Munchit... Again. "I-Its not over yet! My client is innocent!"
"Overruled." The judge stated. "Mr. Munchit, I'm afraid it seems your client is far from innocent."
"Far from innocent indeed." Mr. Wright agreed. "In fact, he has practically been caught red-handed."
"Well then..." The judge cleared his throat. The anticipation could only rise... "Seifer D'Angelo, for the first-degree murder of Riku Rowe... you have been sentenced Guilty."
"YES!" Sora shouted, bouncing in his seat.
"Oh thank god!" Naminé exclaimed, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. Roxas securely wrapped his arm around her as he expressed his feelings of relief as well, Kairi seemed completely ecstatic, while Xion could only smile. Looks like your killer will get his just deserts after all, Riku...
"B-But its not fair!" Seifer screamed as two security officers dragged him away by both arms. "I'm innocent! INNOCENT!"
"Sure you are, buddy." Mr. Wright said sarcastically as he watched Seifer being carried through the doors. He smiled. Well Phoenix, that's another wrap.
* * *
"That bastard is finally getting what he deserves."
It felt like a huge load had been lifted off of Naminé's shoulders. Seifer was gone... He was going to go to jail. She would never see him again, ever. And what a relief it was! Everybody couldn't help but be so happy.
"Guys, I think this calls for a group hug." Sora grinned bashfully, wrapping his arm around Kairi's shoulder. The others joined them in one big, cheesy hug that sealed the deal-- It was over. Finally, after what seemed like forever this whole ordeal was over and done with.
"I feel so solace." Kairi smiled. "Its like, we'll never have to deal with it again. Seifer will never be able to hurt anyone like he hurt Naminé, like he hurt Riku and like he hurt us."
"I agree one hundred percent." Naminé said. "I'm just so glad..."
Although she felt that she should be happy like everyone else, Xion just couldn't bring herself to smile. Yes, Kairi was right; Seifer would never hurt anyone again and was going to jail. But surely a life in jail for one terrible person could never bring Riku back... She still felt empty-- Incomplete. She thought that once Seifer was dealt with it would get better, but she realized then, as the massive hug broke apart, that it would never go away. She would have to deal with this forever... She just didn't know how.
Author's note: I bet you're all like WHOA, QUICK UPDATE! ;D and you totally should be ;) thanks so much for the reviews, although the amount wasn't very impressive :p. AH well, I felt like writing to I updated anyways. Ahhh the trial is over... Took three chaps, but you know.
Btw, you all realize that Mr. Wright is Phoenix Wright, WRIGHT? Lolz if you didn't before you know in this chap.
REVIEW PLEASE! And don't forget to check out the poll-- In Giving it Away's sequel, which of the following characters should be dropped/added?
