Author's note: Hi! Don't worry everyone, there are at least two more chapters and then an epilogue left for you guys to read! This won't take long so please be patient! I appreciate all the reviews you have all given me. Thanx again! ;)


Chapter 14 - Freedom


~She was falling forever, but at least she was given another chance at freedom.

-Selphie


"AAHHHHH!!!" she screamed. She was falling faster than she expected. Reaching around her, she clawed at anything to grab unto, anything to save herself. She can't give up! She won't! She had a whole life to live and so many people to apologize, well maybe just one person, but she needed to see more of her brothers and sisters. She wanted to look into Zell's eyes again and embrace him.

Images flashed through her mind like rocket. She saw Zell and his smiling face, then she saw Irvine and his smiling face. How can she have betrayed him? She should have told him sooner. She should have! Now.... she won't ever have a chance. Zell and Irvine would have to go on without her. Garett will have to live on with his life as well and hopefully finds their brothers and sisters. And the others SeeDs will have to live on as well and forget her. Maybe she'll even have a chance to haunt Zell in his bedroom and embrace him one last time before her spirit moved on.

She shook her head. 'Don't think that!' she said to herself. 'I'll live, I'll live! I'm just going to have faith in myself.' Her short brown hair and her bright yellow dress flew pass her. She tried again, clawing at every direction, despite the darkness around her. She was falling forever, but at least she was given another chance at freedom.

Just as she was about to give up trying, she felt something metal to her left. Quickly, she grabbed it with both her hands and came to a complete stop, her body twisting around towards that direction. Soon, the saviour of her life was visible in her eyes. She was hanging high above the ground, holding on to a bar attached to something, but she didn't care as long as she grasping on. Slowly, she lifted one leg, hoping there was something she can climb on to and to her surprise, there was. She heard a clinking sound as her red boots made contact with another metal. She tapped her foot lightly on the metal and felt something flat, so she placed her foot on the flat surface. No sooner was she ready to climb to the next level as she lifted her other foot on another flat metal surface. She thanked the Gods for being so generous for her life.

She looked down and saw nothing but the abyss below her. She swore she saw a hand trying to pull her down, but she won't make another mistake by just giving up. Biting her lower lip, she wished she had nunchaku with her right now. She was foolish to have forgotten it back in Garden. Her heart raced even faster when she almost slipped off the metal surface, but glad that she got her footing back. She hated heights, but Garret always told her to face her fears.

Reaching for anything to grab unto to make herself higher, she stretched her arms as far as she could, only to feel a gloved arm grabbing her hand. In astonishment, she squeeled back in surprise and was about to fall, when the arm itself reached in and tightly grasped her tiny arms with his large hands.

"It's okay, I got you," a familiar voice spoke.

Selphie couldn't see who it was, but she recognized the voice clearly. She nodded and let the gloved hands pull her in. She did her efforts as well, using her feet as climbing tools against what seemed like a brick wall. The gloved hands continued to pull her in with little effort. Selphie was very light and he had no problem bringing her whole body to safety. With one last pull, Selphie was completely safe. She was gasping for air, tired from the escapade just now. She placed a hand on her heart and breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe and all thanks to.... She looked up and smiled. She wrapped an arm around her 'hero' and thanked him quietly.

Taken aback by her show of affection, he slightly placed a hand on her back and patted it, not sure what to say to the frightened brunette. He followed her screams and saw her falling and it was a good thing he found her, before she lost her grip on that metal. He took a deep breath, glad that she was all right.


****************

"ZELL!" Zell looked up and saw Garett shooting at the enemy behind them. "Come on!" he yelled.

The blond looked over his shoulder and found that Garett had shot all the incoming soldiers. He turned back towards the Galbadian soldier and nodded. He stood up from his kneeling position and began to run as fast as he could. His feet clicked against the metal bridge as he sprinted towards Garett. He was halfway there, when something sharp clawed at his left leg.

"AGH!" Zell yelled, taking a quick glance over his shoulder. A lone soldier was running towards them, his gun aimed expertly towards the escaping blond. He was then joined seconds later by more Galbadian soldiers as they appeared from the darkness of the hallway. Zell ran faster, limping from the wound they inflicted on him.

Garett was waiting on the other side, shooting behind him towards the soldiers and at the same time, encouraging him to keep running. Zell did so. He jumped at the last step and rolled towards Garett, landing safely on his feet.

Garett took another shot at one of the soldiers, then pulled his gun back beside him. He pointed his gloved hand above him towards the ventilator shaft and looked at Zell. "Go ahead and climb it!"

Zell looked at him. "What about you?"

The brunette didn't answer. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Zell and pushed him up towards the shaft, to the blonde's surprise. When he was safely inside, he shook his head and grinned.

"Don't worry about me. You just get yourself outta here!" Garett spoke. He picked up the door of the shaft. "I want you to go to your right and all you have to do is go straight. When you find a dead end, look down and you'll find another door. Kick it open and you'll find yourself in a room, you got that? Good!"

"But-" Before the blond could say anymore, Garett had already closed the shaft, leaving Zell unguarded. He banged on the door and yelled his name, but Garett was too busy shooting at his 'comrade' to hear him.

Without a second thought, Zell furrowed his eyebrows worriedly. "Be careful, Garett," he spoke softly. He turned to the direction Garett told him to and crawled straight ahead. His tears were still visible in his eyes, thinking of Selphie falling to her doom.

"No, no, don't think about it, Zell!" he thought to himself, shaking his head. He closed his eyes and continued to crawl across the dark, metal shaft. "Selphie is smart and would have found a way to survive out of that predicament!"



The blond continued his conquest through the ventilator shaft. Garett had told him to just go straight until he couldn't go anymore and expect to find a door below him. It was a long crawl and his knees were getting tired from all the 'baby' walk. He took a deep breath, the space around him seems to be growing smaller and smaller, but he didn't want to think about it. The stale smell of the ventilator shaft was getting too much for him and confined space around him was too much to bare, but he knew he must not give up. If Selphie was alive and she found him dead, she would be left heartbroken.

"But at least she'll be with Irvine," he spoke to himself. Realizing what he just said, he shook his head in contentment and frowned. What was he thinking? He shouldn't give up just like that and think of Selphie in Irvine's arms! If fate were to bring him down, then that would be his end. However, fate was giving him a second chance so why waste it?

He crawed deeper and deeper into the darkness, until he felt the top of his head bump into something hard. Scowling, he rubbed his bruised head and looked ahead of him. He had found the dead end! Crying a sheer victory in his mind, he looked below him and, just as Garett said, there was a door for him to kick open. He leaned closer and peeked through the small gaps, making sure there was no one there. When his eyes were told true that no one appeared, he leaned his back on the metal surface and kicked the door open with his legs, his wound visible in his eyes on his left leg. It was just a small scratch from the bullet as it whizzed by, but it stung so badly when it hit him.

The door made a clinking sound as it made contact with the concrete floor. Zell prayed that no one was going to hear that. He laid on his front, peeked his head out and looked around. Below him was a fairly large room with a love seat against a wall in front of him. There was a brown, rectangular coffee table right by it and a small kitchen just to his right. The coffee maker on the counter and the refrigerator in the kitchen told him that it was some kind of lounge for the higher ranking soldiers of Galbadia by the way the floors and the furnitures were polished.

When he was sure no one was around, he jumped down with ease on the floor, making no sound whatsoever with his fett and looked around some more. He turned to his left towards the door and left the comfort of the room, without even looking back.

Soon, he had made it back to the hallway he was found before he was captured. He knew his way around now, but the problem still lingered around them and inside the rooms. Some soldiers may jump out and attack him again, but this time, this time he was ready. He fixed his gloved tightly on his hands and clenched his fists, gritting his teeth in fear and in anger. He slowly turned a corner to his right and was surprised when something grey and tall bumped into him.

Leaping colours of grey flew around them as Zell and the tall figure struggled to find their footing, before finally falling on the floor with a loud 'thump!' Zell landed with his hand firmly on the ground to keep his face from making contact with the floor. He looked up and was surprised to see the tall figure was already standing up, ready to strike him with his weapon. When the tall figure noticed who it was he was aiming at, he pulled his weapon away from him and snorted.

"Well, if it isn't Chicken-wuss!" the figure spoke, moving towards the light that shone through the window above them. He lend a gloved hand towards the shocked blond and lifted him up on his feet.

Zell brushed imaginary dirt off of his vest and looked at Seifer with wide eyes. "Seifer! How...." he was interrupted by the sounds of foosteps. Zell looked over Seifer's shoulder and clenched his fists. "Nevermind that! I think we have company."

Seifer waved a hand towards the younger blond and shook his head. "Relax! It's just Quisty and the others." He pointed behind him as Zell followed his finger. A flash of pink, blue and brown appeared from the dark hallway. Quistis, Fujin and Raijin appeared, their eyes all glad to see Seifer in tact.

Quistis ran ahead of the two. When she made it towards the two blondes, she punched Seifer hard in the arm and glared at him. "Seifer you idiot! Why did you run off like that?! Why didn't you wait for us?!"

Seifer lifted up his hands in surrender. "Woah! Woah! Sorry, all right?! I was just trying to clear the path for you guys!"

"Clear the path?! What the hell?! Are you trying to be a hero now?!" Quistis fired back.

"I thought that's what you like in a guy, since Puberty boy is one!" Seifer spat.

"Oh no! Don't you dare bring Squall into this! That was a completely different situation!"

The two quarreling blondes were later joined by Fujin and Raijin. Zell nodded towards them and Seifer's posse nodded back, acknowledging their presence. Zell rolled his eyes when he turned his head back towards the arguing couple, then frowned when he noticed the one person who wasn't there.

"Hey... where's Squall?" Zell asked, looking behind them.

Quistis and Seifer paused from their lover's spat and looked at Zell. Quistis looked behind her, her eyes suddenly turning into thin slits when she realized who they were missing just now.

"I thought he was behind us!" Quistis said. "Squall?! SQUA-mph!"

Seifer placed a hand on her mouth to keep her from calling. Quistis pushed his hand away angrily and sneered at him. "Shut up, Quistis! Don't you see that your yelling will only attract attention?!" Seifer whispered.

Quistis' face softened, realizing what she was doing and nodded.

"Crap!" Seifer swore. "First we come here and attempt to rescue Zell and Selphie only to find Zell escaping from prison and only to find Selphie missing as well. Now, the only leader we have is gone. Can this day get any better?!"

"Seifer, whining is so unbecoming," a soft, calm voice spoke behind them.

All heads turned to look behind them and gasped. The figure appeared behind them, from the darkness, holding a very petite, yet very safe short figure wearing a yellow dress.



















GoodGurl: Hi! Well, you can probably guess who rescued Selphie from death. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! Please r/r! Thanx! ;)