Zell Dincht and all the FF8 characters are owned or something by Squaresoft. No copyright violations intended so please don't sue me.

ZELL: ZELL
GIRL WITH A PIGTAIL: AYA
CONCEITED SEED: REX

Is It Too Late to Love You?
Part 1 and 2 combined.


"It is now or never," Zell thought to himself, "I'm going to tell Aya how I feel about her today." As Zell headed for Aya's room in the dormitory, a nervous feeling came over him. "Am I too late?," he thought, "Why do I have this feeling that I'm too late?"

Zell knocked on Aya's door, and a few seconds later, a pretty young girl with dark brown eyes with shoulder-length hair in a pigtail opened the door.

"Hi, Zell. What are you doing here?"

"I need to speak with you, Aya. It's very important. Can I come in for a minute?"

"Oh, of course," Aya said as she moved out of the way to let Zell in, "but you better make it quick because I need to get ready for my date with Rex. He'll be here in a few minutes."

"Rex? You're going out on a date with Rex tonight?" Zell muttered a curse under his breath.

"Yes, I'm going on a date with Rex. In case you haven't noticed, we've been going out for a while now." Aya told Zell.

"I know. It's just that I didn't realize you two are getting so serious."

"Rex is a great guy, Zell. He's sweet, smart, funny, and he loves me. Anyway, maybe it's just me, but I always have this weird feeling that you two don't like each other very much. I don't want to have to choose between my best friend and my boyfriend. Please get along with him, Zell, or at least try for my sake."

"I will. It's just that...."

Intercom Announcement: "This is Xu speaking. Will Squall Leonhart, Quistis Trepe, and Zell Dincht please report to the third floor immediately. This concerns your next mission. Again, will Squall Leonhart, Quistis Trepe, and Zell Dincht please report to the third floor. That is all, for now."

"You better get going, Zell. You don't want to be late. Besides, I'm sure that whatever it is you want to tell me can wait some other time."

"It can't wait. I need to tell you now." Zell lightly held her shoulders, looked deeply into her eyes and said, " I've never done this or felt this way before....I don't know where to start...I know that I may be too late say this but I'm going to say it, anyway. Aya, I..."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Aya, open up. It's me."
Zell muttered a curse under his breath.

"Hold on a minute, Rex." Aya waited for Zell to continue what he was going to say. She looked deeply into his eyes and just waited. Seconds passed, but Zell still didn't say a word. Zell was having a hard time getting the words out of his mouth.

"You better open the door." Zell said finally, "You don't want to keep Rex waiting."

"Oh, okay." Looking disappointed, Aya headed to open the door. But before she opened the door, she turned her head around and saw Zell drop his head down and shake it from side to side.

"Hello there, my sweet princess." Rex told Aya as he handed her a dozen roses and bent down his head to kiss her.

Across the room, Zell saw Aya's lips touch Rex's.
Zell could feel his heart break into a thousand little pieces. God, I wish I'm dead. Zell thought to himself.

Rex lifted his head and saw Zell watching them. "Hello, Zell. I didn't know you were here."

"I just stopped by to say hello." Zell told him.

"There's going to be a dance this coming Saturday. Will you be there, Zell? I'm planning on taking Aya there with me." Rex said with a grin on his face.

Why are you rubbing it in you son of a .....

"Of course, Zell will be there. Zell's been mentioning a girl to me, lately. From the way he describes her, it sounds like he's deeply in love her. Zell haven't introduced her to me nor mentioned what her name is, so I'm assuming that Zell is going to introduce her to me at the dance." Aya told Rex.

"Is that right? Well, I can't wait to meet her too, Zell. Don't forget to introduce her to us at the dance. I want to meet the girl that has Zell's heart." Rex smirked.

"Oh look at the time! We're going to be late, Rex. Let me go to my room and get my coat for a minute, okay."

While Aya went to her room to get her coat, Rex walked over to Zell and made a comment only loud enough for the two of them to hear. "I don't know if you really love that girl that you've been talking to Aya about, but I do know that you have feelings for Aya. Don't deny it, Zell. I know what's going on. Stay away from Aya."

Before Zell could respond to what Rex just said, Aya walked back into the room.

"What were you two talking about?" Aya asked as she grabbed her purse.

"Oh nothing." Rex said. "Zell was just telling me to take good care of you, tonight."

"That's very sweet of you, Zell" Aya smiled at Zell, but as she smiled at him, Zell just looked at her with a longing look in his eyes.

Intercom Announcement: "This is Xu speaking again. Zell Dincht, please report to the third floor immediately. Everyone is waiting for you."

"I better be going," Zell said, "They're waiting for me."

"Zell?" Aya said.

"Yeah?"

"Please be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I won't." Zell said. Nothing could hurt me any more than seeing you with him, he thought.

THAT EVENING AT THE CAFETERIA

"Zell? Zell?" Quistis waved her hand in front of Zell's face, "Oh Zell?!!"

"Huh, what?!!"

"What's wrong with you, today? You have yourself a plate full of hotdogs right in front of you, and you still haven't eaten one. Are you feeling okay?

"Oh don't worry about it, Quis. Maybe Zell had one too many hotdogs for today." Irvine said jokingly as he ate his food.

"I don't know. Something is not right. Zell's been quiet ever since the meeting this afternoon. Did something happen to you before the meeting, Zell?" asked Quistis.

"No. It's what didn't happen."

"Oh no! You mean you still haven't told Aya how you feel about her?" Selphie asked.

"How could I tell her? She's in a serious relationship with Rex." Zell said as he leaned back on his chair.

"What are you guys talking about?" Squall asked.

"Zell's in love with Aya." Rinoa answered. "Zell, why don't you just tell her. Didn't she use to like you? I'm sure that if you tell her how you feel, she'll be with you and ditch that meanie, Rex."

"People told me that she used to like me, but now I'm not really sure. I guess she moved on when she realized that I didn't feel the same way. I fell in love with her too late." Zell said regretfully.

"Just tell her how you feel. You have nothing to lose." Squall said.

"Look everybody! Squall's opening up again!" Rinoa said cheerfully.

"Whatever."

"What am I going to do, guys?" Zell said. "The dance is going to be in a couple of days and Aya is expecting me to introduce her to the "love of my life." How am I going to do that when she is the one I was talking to her about. Why did I make her believe that there is someone else? I thought that she would realize that I was talking about her, but I guess she was not able to realize that."

"Just tell her that there's no other girl." Quistis told Zell.

"It's easier said than done, Quistis." Zell told her.

"Well, you better come up with a girl to introduce to Aya soon. You don't want to look like a fool in front of Aya and Rex." Irvine said.

"I know." Zell said softly as he wondered what Aya was doing at that moment.

AT A TIMBER RESTAURANT

"Aya? Aya?" Rex said softly.

"Huh, what is it Rex? Did you ask me a question?"

"I asked you what's on your mind."

"Oh nothing," Aya told him. Just Zell, she thought.

During the whole evening, Aya's mind kept thinking about Zell. What was he going to tell her? she thought. At times, she thought that Zell was going to tell her that he loves her, but everytime that idea popped into her mind, she was reminded of the fact that Zell told her himself that he's in love with another girl.

Aya still has feeling for Zell. As a matter of fact, she's still in love with him. But after months of waiting for him, she realized that she needs to move on, or at least try to. Aya loves Rex. Really, she does, but she's not in love with him. If Zell were ever to tell her that he loves her, she would leave Rex in a heartbeat. Why dream that that day will ever come? Aya thought to herself. Zell is in love with another girl. When Zell told her that, her world collapsed, but Rex was there to pick up the pieces.

"Aya?"

"Yes, Rex?" Aya said.

"Is there anything going on between you and Zell Dincht?"

"What?!!! Why do you ask?"

"I just want to know. Well, is there?"

Yes! No! I don't know! Aya thought. "No Rex. Zell and I are just friends. Please don't worry about my relationship with him. He's just concerned about me, that's all. He's in love with some girl, so please don't worry about a thing." Aya reassured Rex. "I'm here with you. I love you" But do I really? she asked her heart.

LATER THAT EVENING, ZELL AND THE GANG BEGAN TO GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS AND HEADED FOR THEIR DORM ROOMS.

"Quistis, wait!!" Zell yelled as he ran down the hall just in time to catch Quistis before she closed her door.

"Zell, please lower your voice." She said.

"I need to ask you a huge favor and I'm hoping that you'll say you'll do it."

"What is it, Zell?"

"I need you to pretend to be the other girl for me at the dance."