Once again I return, been busy but then again not like anyone noticed. Um.one more time I don't own any of the characters depicted in this story but that doesn't matter because it's not illegal as long as I don't make any money from writing these stories. Muahahahah!

Chapter 8

Two days had passed by and the three Gardens were on an all out search for the infamous black dragon. Everyone was back too class and Quistis was back to tutoring. It was just about 7:00 pm, Selphie was in her dorm lying on her bed staring at a picture of the gang that they had taken during the party after they had defeated Ultimacia. "It seems like so long ago." She thought out loud. The picture depicted all of them sitting together at their table. Squall with Rinoa, Quistis and Zell at the other end, and herself sitting next to Irvine. His arm was wrapped around her and she was wearing his cowboy hat. Looking at the picture she couldn't help but smile. At the time it was taken she thought that Irvine was the one person she would always be with, but it was indeed long ago and she didn't feel the same anymore. She was happy to have met him, to know that there was someone who cared deeply for her, but she didn't feel right being with someone that she didn't love as much he loved her. She looked at the back of the picture and read all of the things that the others had wrote. Her eyes drifted towards Zell's signature. "Here's to tons of hotdogs and happier times together. All my love, Zell". Her smile grew wider and she started to hug the picture. She couldn't wait to see him again and hoped she could catch him before he finished his work out at the training center.

Squall was outside on the balcony entrance with Rinoa, for while now she had been trying to get him to open up and talk to her about Laguna. "You can't just keep ignoring the connection that you have with him." Rinoa started up again. Squall turned away from her and put his hands on the rails, "Watch me." She was getting tired of the same thing over and over again, so she grabbed his shoulders and forced him to face her. "What do you have to lose if you forgive him?" She said in a stern tone. His eyes narrowed, "My Pride." He answered back. Rinoa's eyes narrowed. "Can't you forgive him?" He shifted so that his back was now facing out towards the railing and sat down. "I just can't." Rinoa crouched down and tried to comfort him. "Can't or won't?. Why do you hate him so much?" Squall hung his head, he was just so angry. He started to cry as he talked. "How could you ask me that? He left me, put me in an orphanage and left. Like I wasn't good enough for him. It's his fault that I was alone all those years, his fault Ellone left me. Just because he's. you know. Doesn't excuse his actions. For what he did to me he doesn't deserve a son." Rinoa put a hand on his cheek and turned his head so he faced her. "And who are you to make suck a decision?" Another tear ran down his cheek. "The one person who has a right to." He was going to say more but the engines of the Ragnarok cut him off. He stood up and started walking towards the door. Rinoa called to him. "Squall?" he merely replied, "I'm going" she tried to reach him, "But.." He just cut her off. "I'm going".

Quistis had been grading papers all day and decided that she would go to the library to relax. She had a lot on her mind. She turned the corner and started to head down the small hallway that led to the library's doors. It had been closed for the day but Quistis was given special privilege to use it whenever she wanted. Just as she had slid the key card to open it and stepped in through the doors Zell was heading out of the training center. He had heard the doors opening and new that there would only be one person who would go there at this time of night. "It has to be Quistis. I wonder how she's doing I haven't talked to her in a few days." He thought. Quistis had made her way to the back of the library to see if a book she had been waiting for had arrived yet. When she couldn't find it she just sat down and started thinking. As of today the other Gardens had sent them their reports, just about the whole planet had been scanned trying to find Dameon, and there was only really one last place that hadn't been searched. If some trace of Dameon weren't found soon the Gardens would be out of ideas. She began thinking of what would happen if he were found. "It would be all out war against him, so many have already died because of him. How many more will it take until this is over? .... I don't want to go to fight. I can't bear the thought of losing any of my friends." Just as she finished her thought Zell walked into the library. The lights in the front were turned off and he headed straight to the back. He edged over the corner slowly so that she wouldn't be able to hear him come up from behind. "This is going to be great!" He thought to himself. He inched his way closer and closer to her and just as he was about to scare her, she spun around and quickly grabbed the hand closest to her and twisted it flipping him onto her now crumbling chair. "Oh my, Zell! What do you think you were doing?!" She tried to help him but he was a little too heavy to for her. He fell back down gasping for the air that the broken chair had knocked out of him. "Remind me never .to do that again, cough*" After he regained his ability to breath they moved to the front of the library and say down on the front desk. "Since you and the girl that works here with the pigtail broke up, how come I haven't seen you date any one Zell?" His eyes widened, "That's a pretty bold question. What's with the interrogation?" She wiped the hair away from her face and put her glasses on. She always felt more confident when she wore them. "I don't know we haven't talked to each other in a while." He looked down at the ground, "True, true. Hmm.. I guess it's because since we fought Ultimacia I haven't felt comfortable around anyone other than you guys, and the girls here don't really notice me anyway so I guess I'm just not good enough for them or something ya'know." He turned his body and pulled his legs up onto the desk so he could sit cross-legged. "So what about you?" She smiled, "Guess I have the same problem. you know you've grown up a lot since we last talked. But somehow you still the same as I remember you. You seem taller than before." Zell started to blush. "I hunch." She started to look him deep in his blue eyes. "Don't." She replied back. He started up again. ".So do you ever get lonely?" Quistis let out a long sigh. "You know I have been alone for so long now I'm beginning to think I'm going to be like this forever. I'm tired of being alone." As she finished her sentence her voice cracked and Zell noticed a tear run down her face. She quickly wiped it away and tried to stop herself from crying. She stood up off the desk and started leaning against one of the support beams. "Pretty dumb of me huh?" she said as she wiped another tear away and cleared her throat. But she couldn't stop. She turned away from him and started to cry even more now. She felt so helpless and afraid some thing would happen soon and she might be alone again. Zell hated to see her cry; it tore him up inside. He hated to see Quistis cry, but he didn't know how to make her stop. They had always been teemed up over and over, been through hell and back and she was always by his side. Always there to watch his back and to pick him up, and to laugh at all his bad jokes, but most of all to save him the last hotdog. Finally it hit him. He loved her. He didn't know why he didn't see it before, but he did now. She stood there arms at her sides head hung down crying because she didn't want to be alone anymore. He walked up to her, he pulled away her glasses and wiped away one of her tears as she raised her head. And then he kissed her. She was stunned, she had never wanted to be with anyone as much as she wanted to be with Zell, and now she was with him. Holding onto him and not wanting to let go. When the kiss ended he moved his arms around her and began to hug her tightly. She whispered in his ear, "Zell what am I going to do without you?" He let go of her body and held her hands in his. He looked deep into her eyes, "You won't ever have to find out, and just remember I'll always love you."

Selphie was going to the cafeteria to see if she could find Zell. Instead she found Irvine sitting there eating a personal pizza he must have gotten from one of the lunch ladies before they closed. She hadn't talked to him since the day before when they had bumped into each other in between classes. In their little discussion he had asked her if she would just come to her senses and get back together with him. When she said that she was thinking more clearly than ever before he then asked her if she really wanted to throw away everything that they had. Again she told him how she felt and he decided that it was over. But for a while she didn't know how to act around him. "Guess this is the best way to start being friends." She walked up to him and asked if he had seen Zell around. He sharply replied no. When she asked him what was wrong he merely replied, "Nothing, never mind." She figured what was wrong and started walking away when he started talking to her. "I don't get you. You've seen how close he and Quistis are, hell every body does. And just now I saw the two of them at the library hanging out together. He probably doesn't even love you. So why do you want to be with him?" As she turned around she turned her head to the side. "Because I just do, I don't try to understand my feelings I just go with them. Even if you're right, even if he doesn't really love me that doesn't mean that I will just forget him or the way he makes me feel. And really I don't mind. Being around him is enough for me.for now anyway." And with that she left Irvine and headed towards the library to find Zell. As Selphie was heading towards the library she thought to herself, "Quistis is hanging around Zell a lot and that one night out in the rain when they fell asleep on each other did seem suspicious. I wonder how she really feels about Zell. I mean we are really good friends and she'd tell me if she felt something for him right?" She decided that she would go ask her and find out for herself.

When she got to the library the doors were locked and the lights turned off, "I guess they must have already left. Fine maybe Quistis is already in her room." Zell had just left Quistis in her room kissed her good night and was now headed to his room for a little workout. Most SeeD's weren't aloud too much furniture but in Zell's case let him have a Punching bag and several work out machines be put in. Quistis had just put on her nightgown and was brushing her hair in the big mirror she had in her room, she had never felt like this before. She hadn't been this happy . ever. Her train of thought was broken when she heard a knock on her door. She walked up to her door and unlocked it. "I hope it's not one of the students coming to ask me out on a date again." She was a little surprised when she opened the door. "Selphie what are you doing here? Is anything wrong?" Selphie just smiled. "No, but can I come in I want to talk to you." Quistis opened her door and let Selphie in. "Of course you can, what do you want to talk about?" They both sat on her bead facing each other. "Um. We've always been friends right? I mean we've fought together and gotten really close." Quistis smiled at her. "Yes we have been through a lot what are you getting at?" "Well." Selphie said sheepishly. "Everyone knows how I feel about Zell and I know you two are also pretty close to each other so what I want to know is how you feel about my feelings about Zell and yours. What I mean is do you feel the same way about Zell as I do." Quistis' looked away from Selphie and started to look at the ground. "I do." She said softly. She didn't want to lie to Selphie, she couldn't. Selphie was one of her best friends and she didn't want to start being dishonest with her now or ever. "I've loved Zell for along time now I just didn't know it until our little mission at Esthar. Selphie was stunned she didn't actually think that Quistis would say that. Not even after Irvine said it. She didn't know what to say. "Oh my." Quistis bit her bottom lip Selphie wasn't going to like what she was going to say next. "There's more isn't there?" Selphie asked with a scared look on their face. Quistis took a deep breath. "He kissed me tonight." Selphie was really stunned now. "Oh my god, so then he." Quistis looked up at the ceiling and smiled. "He loves me." Selphie looked crushed she could feel herself loosing it. And then she smiled. "Go be with him." Quistis was confused. "What? But I thought you loved him." Selphie looked at Quistis, if anyone deserved happiness it was her she thought. "I do but I want Zell to be happy more than anything, even if it's not with me. But I'm warning you Quistis if you end up hurting him don't let me find out." They both laughed and then Selphie decided that she should head to her room. It had been a long day.

Squall was on his way to Cid's office, he wanted to know what the Ragnarok was doing at Balamb Garden. Cid and Laguna were waiting for Squall to arrive in his office. They could hear Squall's stomping, as he grew closer to them. The doors slid opened and he entered. He stood there with his finger pointed at Laguna, "What the are you doing here Laguna?" Cid excused himself and exited the room leaving the two alone. "Hi Squall how are you doing?" Squall felt uncomfortable. "Don't talk to me like that." Laguna had a blank look on his face. "Like what?" Squall almost burst out at him. "Don't give me that you know what I'm talking about, don't talk to me like you care how I'm doing, don't talk to me like you're my father." Laguna hung his head down he didn't like the way Squall stared at him. "I just wanted to." Squall cut him off. "What? What did you want to do? This I have to hear, what did you want to do here?!" Laguna tried to talk as clearly as he could. "I heard you had some trouble getting back to the garden. I just wanted to see if you made it back ok." Squall turned around, he started walking towards the doors. "I'm fine so is my team. There, happy? You can leave now." Laguna called back to him. "Squall wait don't go I want to talk to you, you're my." Squall quickly turned around, he didn't want Laguna to ever finish that sentence. "No I'm not! I told you to never call me that. You even thinking that you're my father means that you raised me, cared for me. But since you did neither you don't have any right to call me your son. A father is suppose to take care of his children, raise them teach his son how to grow up and be a man. You were never a father" Laguna stepped up to him. "But I care! Don't you get that?" Squall especially didn't want to hear this. "You care? You care! How could you say that? You left me! My sister and me! At what point in the years you were gone did you care?" Squall was a little surprised Laguna was still standing. "Good get it all out." Laguna said. Squall was just confused. "What?" Laguna started to smile. "Yeah get it all out, all the anger you have towards me. I want you to get it all out. I figure once you're out of rage your eventually going to have to forgive me." Squall sighed, "Laguna you're a bigger idiot than I thought. Do you really think I'll ever forgive you? I hate you! I'll never let you be apart of my life, talk to my friends, and you had better stay away from Rinoa. Just as he finished they heard a rumbling. The whole garden began to shake, and before they knew it the ceiling above had been torn off by Dameon.

Rinoa was heading up to Cid's office she knew Squall would do something stupid and hurtful to Laguna. When the elevator reached the third floor she heard the rumble and crashing of glass. She rushed to the doors and when they opened she saw Damon holding Laguna in one hand and throwing Squall across the room with the other. Squall looked over at Rinoa standing at the doorway. "Rinoa get out of here now!" But it was too late Dameon reached out and took her before Squall could get to her. Before he knew it, it was all over and Dameon was gone and so was Rinoa. Squall searched the sky's looking for them when all he caught was a glimpse of the three headed south. He quickly ran down the hall into the elevator and ran straight for Quistis' door. Bam! He burst in. "Quistis wake up and get Zell Irvin and Selphie and meet me in the Ragnarok quickly!

Selphie was fast asleep when Zell burst into her room, "Selphie get up now! There's an emergency. "W, what's happening?" She asked. "Something horrible has happened, we need to get going now!" Selphie was in the other room getting changed while Zell tried to answer all of her questions. "Where are Quistis and Rinoa?" Zell didn't think he would have to say it again. "Quistis is getting Irvine and Rinoa's been taken, now c'mon hurry up so we can get to the Ragnarok and save her."

Squall, Quistis and Irvine were waiting for them in the Ragnarok, they couldn't leave without the pilot. As Irvine sat down he couldn't help but get a feeling of deiza-vu. Once they arrived they took off immediately. Squall kept thinking, "She had better be ok or so help me." He couldn't believe he could let such a thing happen to Rinoa, this was beyond personal, beyond rage.

End of Chapter 8