~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now with Selphie Drooling Over Laguna gooiness!! for Jenny ^_~

And, no, I'm not trying to turn this into a "Whodunnit"....it's just plot stuff....you know...the stuff...with the plotting and such...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Good, girl...*

...shut up...

*You are good...very good...*

..stop it...

*They'll never find out, will they? Philostines...*

...leave me alone!

*So perfectly played out...*

...damn it all....

*Now I know why I chose you...*

...I hope they find out so they can put me out of my misery...

*Oh, greedy now, aren't we?*

I don't think my desires matter anymore. And I don't care about what you want. I just want it all to...

*I thought I told you before...*

I SAID shut up!! I didn't ask for this, so shut the HELL UP!!!

*...We are one...*

I swear to HYNE if you don't shut your damn mouth I'll silence you FOREVER!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning.

It was the morning after Rinoa's murder. Everything was running less than perfectly. All classes were cancelled, students were advised to travel in groups and report any strange activity at once. Headmaster Cid was holding a meeting with the friends and family of Squall concerning the murder.

"Now, before we begin, I would again like to thank the President of Esthar and his wife for visiting our humble facility, and apologize for having to arrive during such a dark time..." Cid cleared his throat. "The...investigators still have yet to discover any leads. Everyone in Garden has been questioned already, including our guests. So, now we are concluding this was an outside job."

Squall stared out the window tiredly. He had gotten no sleep that night, and figured he wouldn't get sleep for another day. Or another. Maybe weeks. For he vowed to not rest until he found the monster who killed Rinoa.

"...And, so, with a possible lawsuit from Callaway, Garden is now pushing the investigators even harder to find the murderer. It's not seeming to help, though, considering there were no clues left behind..." Cid continued. "We would also like to ask Squall to take some time off from Garden, perhaps stay in Esthar, until.."

Squall glared at the man. "I go nowhere. I won't leave until that guilty bastard turns up. Then I'll kill them with my bare hands..."

"That's precisely why we want you to have time off, Squall. We understand what you're going through, and how hard--"

"No one knows how I feel." Squall glared at Cid with that cold, empty stare.

Laguna shifted his weight in his chair. "I know how you feel. After they told me Raine was--"

"But she's alive now! Rinoa...she's not coming back. I saw her corpse...Ellone has her powers...she's gone."

"Unnh..." Edea groaned slightly. "I...still feel ill....I guess that nausea from last night isn't going to go away. I'm...going upstairs for a bit...Sorry..."

"It's okay, Matron," Selphie smiled slightly. "We all had a rough night."

Edea nodded, and went through a back passage to her room.

"Yeah...how are you feeling this mornin', Elle?" Irvine asked her.

Ellone set down her coffee cup. "I've been better. The fatigue is still here."

"Are you sure you don't want to go the the Infirmary? Kadowaki is an excellent doctor. She might be able to help you..." Quistis suggested.

"No, I'll be fine. Besides, everything she tried last night didn't work. It's probably just some virus I'll have to live through."

Selphie caught herself staring at Laguna, and recovered..."Um, can't I do something, Ellone? I mean, maybe my Full Cure will work!"

Ellone shook her head. "No, that's okay. It's not that important. Save your magic for another day." She stood, kissed Laguna and Raine on their cheeks. "I think Matron had the right idea. I'm going to take a walk outside to refresh myself...clear my senses." She smiled, waved, and left the room.

Squall followed her with his eyes, then went back to glaring at no one in particular. Such is the way of someone in mourning, Quistis concluded. I wonder if I appeared that way to my students after... She looked at Seifer with her eyes, not moving her body even an inch. ...after...that day... She realized Seifer was looking at her as well, and both snapped their attention back to Cid.

Squall broke the brief silence. "So...there are absolutely no more details you could possibly tell us about....." his voice trailed. "No leads, no anything? Not even a little hint of how she died, other than the obvious??"

Cid took a deep breath, then exhaled heavily. "Squall.....I can't release any more information. I was told by the police.."

"Piss on the police. There has to be something you can tell me."

Cid hesitated, then signaled for everyone to leave the room, except for Squall. Cid rose, and looked out over the landscape of Balamb Garden. "You know, only relatives are to be informed. I was told because the crime happened here, in Garden, and to one of my SeeDs...under my care. I had a right to know by law..."

Squall snorted slightly in frustration. Stop your rambling, old man...

"Of course, I....wouldn't be breaking any laws...or causing any trouble...if you were to...say...overhear my talking to myself about the case....isn't that right?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sleeping, Squall?" Irvine asked. "You mean, asleep? The whole time?"

"Yeah...or at least that's what those flunkies concluded. Since there was no sign of a struggle...she must have...been asleep." Squall shook his head. "I...still don't believe someone would actually...."

Seifer cleared his throat. "Well...." he cleared it again. "..Look at it this way. It happened, and we can't change the fact that she was killed."

Squall glared at him. "Choose your next words carefully, traitor."

Seifer began to sweat slightly. 'Well, I'm trying to point out that if she was asleep...then...well...maybe she didn't...uh..."

Quistis jabbed him in the ribs. "What he's trying to say is that at least she didn't feel any pain. Maybe whoever did it was too quiet to wake her..or maybe she was sleeping really deeply. Either way, she didn't hurt at all."

Squall closed his eyes and nodded.

Selphie added, "Or maybe someone used a sleep spell?"

Irvine swatted her arm. "Selph...why would someone use a sleep spell before killing someone?"

Selphie thought for a moment. "Well...I guess that way they wouldn't move...right? So it would only take one...hit..."

"Or maybe they did it so no one would hear them yell for help if they *did* miss..."

Everyone grew silent.

As if by cue, a scream was heard, followed by a loud thud.

People started screaming and yelling for help.

Squall and Company ran over to the source of the disturbance, and were stopped by a crowd of fleeing students.

One boy tugged at Squall with tears in his eyes. "Commander Leonhart!! You have to do something!! It's the Headmistress!! She...she...." he pointed toward the deck on the other side of the central elevator column. "She...jumped...She's dead, sir!!!!" The boy shook his head, and ran off as quickly as he could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AuthorNotes:

Oh, geez..I sense the flames coming...I hate killing off characters so...un-GreekTragidy-ish...I'll have to make up for it soon....Please bare with all the filler crap...I'll try to make the story better in the next chapters. I just felt bad for not writing yesterday T____T