Disclaimer: I don't own blah blah blah and this and that and all characters are property of yada yada (erm, with the exception of one).
Authors Note: I've smashed two completely separate fics I started writing into one, which would be this. So, if it sounds tacky at first, bear with me, because it was going to be a humor fic at first.
And just to clear a few things up: One- this is a Zell fic. Two – Seifer and Quistis are a couple in this, I guess. I don't know how it happened, but when I finished writing chapter one, I realized "Damn. I didn't explain why they were together." So let's all just pretend, ok? ^_^
Selphie nodded her head involuntarily as she pressed the play button on her stereo and the music began to play. Staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she was pleased to announce to herself that she was ready for the long day ahead of her. Skipping to her closet, she belted out a verse of Song 2 by Blur as she browsed her options for the day she'd be spending at the beach.
"No, no…….no….no, no - Ah! Perfect." She pulled out a flowery white sundress just as a knock came from the door.
"Come in!"
In sauntered Irvine, set for their day at the beach and accompanied by a picnic basket, "Morning, Sefie."
"Good morning, Irvy." She smiled fondly at the cowboy, "Ready to go?"
"Yep. Do you need any help packing?"
"I think I got it. Let's go find everyone else."
The couple began to walk out of the room, until Irvine stopped and glanced at the weapon sitting in the middle of her bed, "Aren't you going to take your Nunchaku, Sef?"
She turned, slightly confused, and looked at her bed.
"It'll be all right, Irvy." She said, hugging his muscular arm, "I've got you to protect me if anything happens."
Irvine shrugged and dismissed the fact that he was worried about Selphie leaving Garden unarmed as an excuse to play the "big strong man" for the day.
Meanwhile….
Squall sat silently his room, as usual. Outside, the sky was cloudless and the hot sun beat down on Garden, raising the temperature into the mid-90's. This was not a day he wanted to leave his room. In fact, he had planned to stay there the entire day, but decided to get himself ready anyway, knowing Rinoa would drag him out of bed sooner or later. Squall sat up, looking out his window and groaned as her heard a knock at the door. Forcing himself up, he unwillingly drug himself to the door.
"What." He stated, firmly planted in front of the door with his hands at his side.
"Squall, it's me, Rinoa! Are you up yet?"
"Yes."
Rinoa waited.
Squall sighed and took a step back, "Why don't you come in…..Rinoa."
"Why thank you, Squall." She said, opening the door, "We're going to the beach by Balamb, today. Wanna come?"
"No."
"Sure you do! Come on…"
"No. It's too bright out; it's too sunny."
"That's because it's a NICE DAY. And if you feel so strongly about the sun's harmful UV rays, I'll make sure that Selphie swings the Ragnarok by a Glasses Hut-"
"…….."
"You ARE coming, Squall. I'm making you. Just grab your stuff and meet me down by the library in five minutes."
"Fine."
With that, Rinoa smiled and skipped down the hallway.
"But I don't wanna go…" he thought, digging through his drawers in search of a bathing suit.
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^
"Seifer, are you almost done?" Quistis asked, knocking on the bathroom door, "I really need to get in there."
"Just five more minutes. I can't find my…..Damn, where did I put it? It was right here yesterday. Quistis? Did you move my-"
"Stop powdering your butt- I need to use the bathroom!"
Seifer reluctantly opened the bathroom door with a frustrated look on his face. His hair was dripping wet, some of it hung in his face, and the only article of "clothing" he wore was a towel around his waist. Quistis momentarily dismissed her sudden call of nature to admire how adorable he looked when he was angry……..and wet.
"I've never seen you un-primped before." she laughed.
"I was looking for my blow-dryer." he replied, disgruntled.
"Just leave it like that." she said, putting her arm around his bare waist as she slicked his hair back playfully, "You're going to get it wet anyway."
"Hey, wait! I thought you needed to use the bathroom!" he said, hurt she would interrupt his primping to get all touchy-feely.
"Fine, then." she said, leaving him slowly for the bathroom. Seifer sat down on a nearby chair, and within what seemed like seconds, Quistis emerged from the bathroom, fully decked out in beach garb. Her hair was pulled back tightly in a messy bun, very dark, modern glasses covered her blue eyes, and she wore a brightly colored tankini top with a dark wrap-around skirt.
"Ok, let's go." she said, grabbing his hand.
"Uh, Quistis? I'm not wearing any clothes."
"That IS a problem."
"I mean, if it was just you, I don't think I-"
"Put your clothes on, Seifer."
"I was kidding, Quisty..."
"I know...and so was I." She smiled as Seifer's face grew into that evil smirk she knew so well.
She laughed and left the room for the library, leaving Seifer standing half-naked in the open doorway.
Irvine repeatedly tapped his heel against the wall, "Where ARE they?" he groaned.
"They'll be here, soon." replied Selphie.
"Didn't you say that before, Selph?" asked Zell.
"Maybe. I don't remember."
"I think you did, Sefie." Irvine said, obviously tired of waiting.
"Ok! Just leave me alone." She rolled her eyes and sat on her knees, leaning her elbows on the wall.
Seconds later, Quistis and Rinoa appeared with Seifer slowly walking behind them, combing his hair.
"See, I told you!" Selphie stuck her tongue out at Irvine and Zell.
Quistis waved those of them by the library, "We're coming."
Rinoa looked at her watch as they approached the group. Squall was suppose to have met her here five minutes ago, yet he was still the only one missing. It stayed this way for nearly 15 minutes. Squall was never one for being punctual.
"I'm here." Squall announced dully from behind them. He was dressed in a pair of worn windpants and a fashionably disagreeable Hawaiian-print shirt.
"You're nearly 20 minutes late, Squall! You promised you'd be here on time." Rinoa scolded.
"Why are you wearing that *ugly* shirt?" Selphie interrupted.
Squall blushed slightly, making sure Seifer didn't see, "Shut up." He muttered, "Who cares? At least I'm here."
"Exactly." Quistis said, looking at her watch, "Let's go, then."
"To the Ragnorok!" Rinoa proclaimed.
"I get to drive!" Selphie screamed, running full pelt to the dock with the others following in tow.
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^
Irvine fidgeted with a box of marbles he had found in the Ragnarok's glove compartment. He rolled a particularly bright white one in between his fingers.
"It feels so great to be back in the air, Irvy. Don't you think?" Selphie chimed.
Irvine placed the marble in the case again and gazed at his beloved, "Yeah, I guess it does. At least this time, you're not crashing into things."
"Hey! I *didn't* crash into Lunatic Pandora, it sucked me in!"
Irvine smiled and continued to play with the box of marbles.
"What *are* those, Irvine?"
"Marbles." He replied, matter-of-factly.
"Where did you find them?"
Irvine patted the glove compartment, "In there…"
He put down the marbles and dug through the other items in the compartment, "Looks like someone use to store all their and-ons in here…"
Selphie looked over at Irvine as he pulled out a ribbon.
"Better save that, we could use it later."
"The thing that gets me, Sef" Irvine pondered, looking over a silver slab of metal, "is the holes in these armlets *must* be for the marbles in that box, but their status and defense effects when you put them together work slim to nil."
"Hmph. Maybe Quistis took her younger classes somewhere…and they forgot their things?"
"Nah, this junk is waaay too primitive for Ianyone/I at Garden to use."
"It's called 'Materia'" Squall voiced from a seat further behind the two, thumbing through an old version of 'Timber Maniacs'. Irvine turned to face him.
"They used it about two-thirds of a century ago. It became unpopular after awhile, plus after how many odd number of decades, monsters became stronger and nobody could upgrade the materia because we basically lack the resources, so it's pretty useless."
Irvine chuckled, "Thanks, Professor Squall."
"Hey," he smiled slightly, "I didn't take all those AP History classes for nothing."
"Besides all that mumbo-jumbo, I think they look pretty, Irvy." Selphie smiled her innocent smile, not taking her eyes from the sky.
Irvine smiled sweetly at her and took one of the silver armlets from the box, placing a yellow marble and a turquoise marble in each of the bands two slots. He grinned and put it on Selphie's wrist, "It looks pretty on you Sef."
She smiled back and put the Ragnarok on autopilot to Balamb, "Thanks, Irvine….thank you."
Below deck, Rinoa and Quistis leaned against a wall, talking to Seifer, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor. While the three comrades conversed, Zell stood looking out a window to the side. He could see the green and brown hues of the earth below shining dimly through the mist that covered the earth below him. Familiar landmarks caught his eyes every so often as he scanned the area. He noticed Selphie was flying particularly low today- probably not paying attention while she babbled on to Irvine.
Irvine………Selphie………
Sometimes it really got to him, Zell thought, that two of his best friends could be so happy….together. It almost made him feel guilty: not being happy with his *own* relationship. He'd been seeing the library girl - Taylor - for a month or two. He had feelings for her, but it seemed she felt more of a connection to him, than he did to her.
Besides that, though, Zell had been feeling out-of-the-ordinary miserable. This time, it wasn't Taylor, he could feel it was something different.
He looked towards the three sitting on the wall and Rinoa caught his eyes, "C'mon, Zell. Stop being so quiet and come talk with us! You're starting to scare me." She said with a little smirk.
Zell groaned and pushed himself off of the window ledge. He watched Quistis and Seifer flirt as he walked over. It was blatantly obvious that they were going to get together, if they hadn't already, some time soon. He wondered how on earth this had come to be; the two had so many hard feelings towards one another, it was a wonder they'd even look at each other now. 'The world works in mysterious ways…' he thought.
Quistis and Seifer, Squall and Rinoa, Irvine and Selphie, Himself and……..Taylor…..maybe it was Taylor.
"Zeeeell!" Rinoa snapped her fingers in front of Zell's face, "Wake up! What's the matter?"
"Nothing…" he replied, hesitantly, "It's just, I was thinking abou-"
Zell was interrupted by the sharp jerk of the Ragnarok speeding forward at an alarming rate, sending him flying into Rinoa, throwing them both into the wall.
"Jeez! What the hell's she trying to do, kill us?" Seifer groaned, laying a hand on the wall for support as he tried to pull himself off the floor.
Before anyone could gain their balance, the ship took a sharp drop, then shot up once more, sending Seifer to smash his head into the wall as the others struggled to keep their footing. Once the ship settled, Quistis pressed an intercom button, aggravated, "Selphie, this is the *Ragnarok*, not a chocobo! Take it easy, ok?"
A bit of fuzz was heard over the intercom as they waited for Selphie's reply. Murmuring was heard, but no one on the deck was near audible. Quistis growled, frustrated and Zell returned to his seat by the window, crossing his ankles and leaning against the window ledge. He stared blankly into the open plains of Timber below. Yet, something wasn't right as his empty face wrinkled, watching the ship crawl higher and higher into the air, leaving everything below only to appear as tiny specks.
"HYNE, Selphie!" He cried, shoving Quistis out of the way, pushing the intercom button once more, "Selphie! Take us back down, you're going to get us all killed!"
Once again, only static was heard from the speakers above them.
"Zell, what the hell's wrong with you?!" Seifer grabbed the martial artist's shoulder.
"Can't you feel that? Take a look out the window and see how high we're climbing, moron!" Zell spat.
He was about to reprimand Zell for calling him such things, but couldn't help but notice the utter seriousness in his voice. Opting then to let his curiosity get the best of him, he looked out the window- only to see the sky grow darker and the land below quickly melded together, revealing itself as nearly the entire continent. They were being shot into space.
"Quistis, come with me. We have to get this ship back down." Zell urgently motioned for her to follow him to the upper deck and she obeyed. "Seifer- you and Rinoa look for some type of breath support, anything you can find, and bring it to me."
Seifer sneered, "Nothing's gonna happen, Chicken Wuss. Go screw with anything you want up there, but this ship is still built for outer spa-"
"DON'T argue with me, Almasy! Just believe me this once." He growled.
Seifer rolled his eyes and sat next to the window, enjoying the show.
Zell sprinted up the stairs to catch up with Quistis, finally reaching her at the bridge. Grabbing her shoulder, he turned the slightly startled instructor to face him.
"Up to the deck, ok?" He released her, running full pelt to their destination, leaving Quistis completely clueless.
"Hold it, hold it! What the heck is going on?"
"Oxygen, Quisty. There's near zero oxygen in this hunk-of-junk and we're not gonna make it if we go any further!"
She stopped in her tracks, a bewildered look spread over her features, "But Zell, this is a *spaceship*…we have enough oxygen to last us quite awhile, don't we?"
Zell paused in front of the main deck's door and explained, "No, we don't. After we found the Ragnarok in space, it was way too old to ever use in space again, and it would take way too much time and money to restore. So, they reconstructed it into a low-flying airship, taking all but 2% of the air tanks. Even if we did have that extra 98%, we're still being slingshot into space. If we go any further, we'll use up all the oxygen in half the time it takes us to get back."
Quistis nodded, slightly embarrassed at the fact that she, whom usually was the one to explain such things, didn't know this before.
"Anyways, we just wasted 15 valuable seconds explaining that. Let's get movin'."
Pushing the door open, the pair found the room completely silent, minus the soft humming noise coming from the machinery. Zell's eyes scanned the room, searching the room for his other three comrades, who seemed to be missing entirely.
"Hyne…" Quistis whispered, "where are…-Squall?!"
"Q-quisty…"
Squall lay sprawled across the floor, his lips pressed against the cold tile floor while he took short silent breaths.
"What happened?" Quistis kneeled to his suffocating form while Zell searched the switchboards for anything to keep the ship under control, or something to release more oxygen.
"Damn! I can't get us back down!"
Quistis' eyes grew wide, "What do you mean, 'can't get us back down'?"
"I mean, half the freakin controls are jammed!" he yelled, pounding the control panel.
"Zell…" a weak voice called from the passenger seat.
"Irvine? Crap, man- you alright?"
Irvine struggled to take in another breath, "Y-yeah…Se…Selph…..ie.."
"What abo- about Selphie?" Zell began to struggle for his own breath, now - the air they had let in only moments before was beginning to filter quickly away.
Irvine, in response, only blinked heavily, lowering his head to the ground, giving out a long moan.
"I-Irvine?" his voice was full of concern, yet he could barely form a word as the oxygen level grew lower, "Selph? Q….Q…quisty?"
Zell's vision blurred as the world in front of him swung back and forth. Trying to focus, he pulled himself back up to the control panel. Nothing was working; all the controls were going haywire. There was one lever, though. The one that would take them back down- *directly* back down, most likely crashing them into one of the continents and killing all of them instantly. If he didn't pull the lever, they could all just slip into unconsciousness and die peacefully. Either way, they were probably going to die.
His fingers lingered on the lever, considering just going quietly.
'No, that's not right. We're not gonna die quietly…' He thought.
There was no turning back now….
As the great Barret Wallace once said, "there ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on"
With on final breath, Zell pulled the lever.
Author's Note: PLEASEY PLEASE!! Review? Barb soooo needs reviews for this one :o