Selphie lay on her bed, smiling at the sky. The last five days hadn't been so bad.. She's made loads of friends and almost finished organising the festival. She'd almost forgotten about her best friends being elsewhere in the world. There was a beep and then a message over the P.A system. It was Quistis:

"Selphie Tilmitt, please proceed to the headmasters office immediately. I repeat, Selphie Tilmitt please proceed to the head masters office immediately. Thankyou..."

Selphie got up and began to walk briskly to the Headmasters.
"Quistis didn't sound too good. I hope everything is ok...."
She got in the lift and went up to 3F.
After barging into the office she realised that not only was Quistis and Headmaster Sid there but also Squall {whats he doing here?} , Rinoa, Xu and Irvine. Quistis was standing next to Xu. They both hung their heads. Rinoa had her arm around Squall who was in his "thinking/sad" pose. Sid was standing with his arms crossed, head hung and Selphie could feel Irvine's eyes on her. She didn't look at him.
"What...w-whats wrong?" She asked nervously, looking around.
Quistis reached out with a letter in her slender hand.
"C-can you read it Quis? I don't like letters..."
Quistis stood up straight and began.

Dear Headmaster Sid,
I have the unpleasant task of informing you that one of your SeeD's is in a critical condition after being injured in a flash flood on the way to serve for the SeeD army. The soldier is suffering from Hypothermia, Blood loss, Inhalation of water and chest injuries all of which occurred two days ago. We have been informed that in this case of minimal chance of survival when such a war is on, the only course of action is to send this SeeD, back to your Garden's infirmary. We have a fairly unreliable source of identification though also a rather rare trademark. This Seed had been identified as..."

Quistis paused. Rinoa had burst into tears again and Squall looked pretty close to breaking down himself. Irvine just looked at Selphie closely.
Quistis was looking right at her.
" Selphie... It's..."
Then Selphie realised. {Who's not here?................}
" ZELL!!??" She screamed hysterically.
Squall jumped up and held her to stop her from hurting someone accidentally in her confusion.
" It's ok Selph." Squall almost choked on the words. Like Selphie would believe him...

Sid coughed and spoke sadly. " I have just received notice that Zell is now in the infirmary and we may have one visitor at a time."

They all sat down in the infirmary and Dr. W briefed them on Zell's condition.
" He has received bad hypothermia. There is risk of pneumonia involved. He inhaled a lot of water. And he has lost a lot of blood through...... A....A... a lump of wood lodged it self into his chest. I-I don't think he'll make it...." She found it hard to talk about Zell like a mere patient or student. Everyone knew him and Loved him in one way or another...

" Ok... Selphie." Said Dr.W
Selphie got up to find that Squall was following her.
"I'll be here for you Selph." He said quietly, avoiding her eyes."

Selphie pulled back the curtain and stepped inside. There were beeping machines, and IV drips and wires and cables everywhere. It was all white. Selphie ran over to the bed side, careful not to disturb the machinery. Then she saw Zell.. Lying there.. He looked so young and innocent . His hair was scruffy and his skin was deathly pale and clammy.. His tattoo stood out like a skyscraper in a field of grass and his chest was heavily bandaged. He looked Dead. Tears escaped Selphie's eyes as she grabbed his cold hand and held it to her face.
"I am so sorry Zell." She whispered.

She looked at Squall who shrugged.
" I'll... uh... give you a few moments..."

Selphie turned around again and looked at the sleeping face.
" I don't know if you can here me or not. Wherever you are Zell... But I do know what I owe you a serious apology."
Selphie carefully stroked his forehead, while tears fell freely from her blue eyes.
" I... I just want you to know... that... That I don't know why I ran from you... I just didn't realise that I cared for you Until then... And when you kissed me I was so overwhelmed and so happy... But I've never felt this way about anyone before. I didn't know what to do. So I ran.. I never would of if I knew that I might lose you because of it... I guess... what I'm trying to say... is that... If you can hear me Zell... I love you... I promise....."

She picked up his hand and motioned for Squall to come in.
" Here..." she said, regretfully leaving the cubicle.
Squall sat down.
" Hey Zell. I just thought I'd tell you a few things that have been on my mind for a while. Well firstly... thank you for always being there for me man... I appreciate everything you've done for me... and I wish I could repay you... also don't worry about Selph... I'll look after her... Maybe she will love me one day like she loves you. I hate to admit it, but if you leave, it will destroy her Zell. She's crazy about you man.. But I'll always look after her for you."

Squall gasped. Zell's hand had closed tightly around his... and then a sharp pitched continuous sound pierced the air and their hearts. The sound that meant death.. That meant someone had gone to another place. It was the sound of the life support monitor. He was gone....

Tbc......