Disclaimer: As before, I know nothing.. I mean own nothing. That is to say,
NOT ONE THING..except for Roger, and my brain...which is the inspiration
for the whole fic in the first place...I mean excluding FF8, oh you all
KNOW what I mean.
Squall stood up and turned to face Quistis' image, "you never could express yourself clearly could you Quisty?" and then thought. "Ha! That's rich coming from me" A small smile crossed his face, he always left here with a smile, even if it didn't last very long. The sun was beginning to set now and he decided he should return to the Ragnarok for some sleep, so he took one last look at the statue, now bathed in a reddish-golden light and then left.
The next morning, Squall jumped out of the Ragnarok, he felt surprisingly lighthearted despite what he was going to do that day. His mood may have been helped by the fact that he had dreamt of being at the orphanage in happier times, before Sis left and before everyone was spilt up. He started walking towards his next destination, another clearing, this time it contained a statue of a young man, wearing baggy trousers, not quite reaching his ankles, fighting gloves, spiky hair and a distinctive tattoo on the left side of his face.
The plaque read:
"Zell Dinct, Aged 18, Tragically drowned 22 months after the final battle whilst on a fishing trip near Balamb Town. One of the six heroes who ended the last sorceress war. His martial art skills were impressive and often the talk of many people who saw his antics in the field. Zell will be sorely missed by all those who knew him, especially Ma Dinct, Selphie and Squall. His presence will always be felt here."
Squall regarded this statue for a while, the figure standing in a typical "Zell" pose, one foot slightly off the ground; fists raised as he attacked unseen enemies...swatting flies as everyone had called it. Squall pressed on one of the knuckles of the fighting gloves and removed the book from the opening that formed. This diary was decorated, not like you'd have expected Zell to decorate anything, but still. It had images of various fighting moves and their names underneath them, the occasional word or two from Zell here and there. Squall realized this must have been the result of Selphie asking everyone how their diary was going. She'd said that to remind us of how they were they should decorate their diaries with what described their personality most, so when they were old and grey they could look back and see how they'd changed. So everyone had personalized the diaries, and in doing so, had left a part of them behind as a reminder of who they were. Squall opened Zell's book.
"Yo! S'up? Guess what? I grew up with everyone! I'm not Ma's son, well..I am, but I'm not her real son...man that feels weird, but I knew there was something familiar about that guy Irvine..."
"It was a bad day today..first Rinoa..then Irvine..both dead, its not right, that damned Seifer, I know he's behind this, but we can't find him to stop this...this...this slaughtering! I really wanna kill him, sooooo bad...."
The next page was a little smudged, and Squall had to concentrate to read it properly.
"They brought Quistis home today. I can't believe she's really gone. It shoulda been so easy, its not like Winhill is known for hiding murders. I really miss her already, of all of us, I think I was closest to her than anyone...I think..I think I was in love with her..."
"We've been given leave..Well me Squall and Selphie have, its coming up to the anniversary of Irvine's death, Selphie's really down and she's going back to Trabia for a while to see her friend again, Squall is staying in the garden, I'll have to persuade him to come visit Ma an' me. I'm going fishing later and catch us a big Balamb fish..."
This was the last entry in this diary; Squall looked up take in the scene around him. There were always lots of birds here, matching Zell's flighty nature, never staying still for long, but caring and giving until the last. Zell had left letters for Squall and Selphie in his dorm room, in case something happened to him, as indeed it had. Squall didn't know what had been in Selphie's letter, but he suspected it was similar to his. Zell had said that he was glad that they'd found everyone and finished growing up together, he had also said that he was sure everything would work out in the end, regardless, all three of them would catch Seifer and make him pay for what he'd done. Alas this was not to be.
Squall turned to the last page and read
"Yo Squall, it's been a while hasn't it, ooh I'm so mad! Seifer came here a while ago, he went to talk to Rin, she was horrified he'd even think of doing that, she cried for ages, but we managed to cheer her up by taking her to watch you. Come on man, you gotta do something, he can't be allowed to stay alive, please say Hi to Sis for me, man I miss her, heck we all miss her."
Squall led down on the grass to watch the birds fly to and from tree to tree, just like Zell.... Just like the fish of the sky he mused...his mind wandering over a few memories of fishing with Zell near the lighthouse as kids and then suddenly a more recent vision of fishing, but this time Zell was the one on the end of the line. Squall remembered how he'd gone to pay a visit to Ma Dinct, whilst looking for Zell in Balamb, Ma Dinct had insisted that he stayed for lunch while he waited for Zell to return from his fishing. Time passed and still Zell didn't appear, so he made his excuses and left to search for Zell, he eventually found him, but it was too late to help him. Zell had hooked more than he could chew, so to speak, Seifer had hired some diving gear and swum underwater to the pier Zell was sat on and fired a strong fishing line with a barb on the end at Zells fishing rod and dragged him into the sea. Not being prepared for such an event, in fact Zell hadn't even seen Seifer, his attention being on the large fish on the end of his line, Zell didn't even have a chance to take a breath before he was under the water. This much Squall saw from a distance, the top of the cliff he was descending to get to Zell to be exact, as he realised what was happening, Seifer was holding Zell under, pulling him deeper and deeper, Squall tried to get down the cliff as quickly as possible, but the path was steep and easily fallen from, injuring himself wasn't going to help Zell. Unfortunately Squall was too late for Zell, as he stopped struggling against the force pulling him down, the "fish" released him and Zell's body floated to the top of the water, bobbing gently with the tide. In desperation Squall dived off the pier and retrieved Zell's body, casting Full life spells, life spells, Phoenix Down's, even a Phoenix Pinion in his vain attempts to restore Zell back to life. Nothing worked. He was just too late.
A particularly loud Squawk brought Squall back to reality and he noticed a bird not far away looking at him curiously, contemplating him, wondering if it was safe to go closer, or if it should stay away from this stranger. Squall looked back at the bird for a minute longer, marveling at its colours, almost a match for Zell's regular clothes. "Zell?" he said quietly, the bird just looked at him and hopped a little closer. Squall was a little bemused at this behavior, he tried moving a little. The bird was startled and hopped away a bit, but didn't fly away. Then it hopped back towards Squall, and then away again, and then back towards Squall. "You want me to follow you huh?" The bird chirped its agreement, so he followed it. To the casual observer it would have seemed absurd, a grown man following a bird, but to Squall it seemed like he should be doing this, so he did. So they oddly matched pair made their way along the path, the bird flying from tree to tree chirping happily, and then sometimes as if it was angry when Squall tried to go in the wrong direction, so he had no choice but to follow it. They soon found themselves in another area, the small place being occupied by someone else...Ellone... "Sis?" "Squall!" Ellone was startled by Squall's voice. "W...What are you doing here?" "The same thing as you I guess, paying my respects" Squall answered. "I'm sorry, I should go now, I was only supposed to going to Winhill for some supplies, Edea will be worried about me." With that she pushed past Squall and ran swiftly off. The bird too, flew off, leaving Squall where he was. Which was in fact at Selphie's grave.
Squall stood up and turned to face Quistis' image, "you never could express yourself clearly could you Quisty?" and then thought. "Ha! That's rich coming from me" A small smile crossed his face, he always left here with a smile, even if it didn't last very long. The sun was beginning to set now and he decided he should return to the Ragnarok for some sleep, so he took one last look at the statue, now bathed in a reddish-golden light and then left.
The next morning, Squall jumped out of the Ragnarok, he felt surprisingly lighthearted despite what he was going to do that day. His mood may have been helped by the fact that he had dreamt of being at the orphanage in happier times, before Sis left and before everyone was spilt up. He started walking towards his next destination, another clearing, this time it contained a statue of a young man, wearing baggy trousers, not quite reaching his ankles, fighting gloves, spiky hair and a distinctive tattoo on the left side of his face.
The plaque read:
"Zell Dinct, Aged 18, Tragically drowned 22 months after the final battle whilst on a fishing trip near Balamb Town. One of the six heroes who ended the last sorceress war. His martial art skills were impressive and often the talk of many people who saw his antics in the field. Zell will be sorely missed by all those who knew him, especially Ma Dinct, Selphie and Squall. His presence will always be felt here."
Squall regarded this statue for a while, the figure standing in a typical "Zell" pose, one foot slightly off the ground; fists raised as he attacked unseen enemies...swatting flies as everyone had called it. Squall pressed on one of the knuckles of the fighting gloves and removed the book from the opening that formed. This diary was decorated, not like you'd have expected Zell to decorate anything, but still. It had images of various fighting moves and their names underneath them, the occasional word or two from Zell here and there. Squall realized this must have been the result of Selphie asking everyone how their diary was going. She'd said that to remind us of how they were they should decorate their diaries with what described their personality most, so when they were old and grey they could look back and see how they'd changed. So everyone had personalized the diaries, and in doing so, had left a part of them behind as a reminder of who they were. Squall opened Zell's book.
"Yo! S'up? Guess what? I grew up with everyone! I'm not Ma's son, well..I am, but I'm not her real son...man that feels weird, but I knew there was something familiar about that guy Irvine..."
"It was a bad day today..first Rinoa..then Irvine..both dead, its not right, that damned Seifer, I know he's behind this, but we can't find him to stop this...this...this slaughtering! I really wanna kill him, sooooo bad...."
The next page was a little smudged, and Squall had to concentrate to read it properly.
"They brought Quistis home today. I can't believe she's really gone. It shoulda been so easy, its not like Winhill is known for hiding murders. I really miss her already, of all of us, I think I was closest to her than anyone...I think..I think I was in love with her..."
"We've been given leave..Well me Squall and Selphie have, its coming up to the anniversary of Irvine's death, Selphie's really down and she's going back to Trabia for a while to see her friend again, Squall is staying in the garden, I'll have to persuade him to come visit Ma an' me. I'm going fishing later and catch us a big Balamb fish..."
This was the last entry in this diary; Squall looked up take in the scene around him. There were always lots of birds here, matching Zell's flighty nature, never staying still for long, but caring and giving until the last. Zell had left letters for Squall and Selphie in his dorm room, in case something happened to him, as indeed it had. Squall didn't know what had been in Selphie's letter, but he suspected it was similar to his. Zell had said that he was glad that they'd found everyone and finished growing up together, he had also said that he was sure everything would work out in the end, regardless, all three of them would catch Seifer and make him pay for what he'd done. Alas this was not to be.
Squall turned to the last page and read
"Yo Squall, it's been a while hasn't it, ooh I'm so mad! Seifer came here a while ago, he went to talk to Rin, she was horrified he'd even think of doing that, she cried for ages, but we managed to cheer her up by taking her to watch you. Come on man, you gotta do something, he can't be allowed to stay alive, please say Hi to Sis for me, man I miss her, heck we all miss her."
Squall led down on the grass to watch the birds fly to and from tree to tree, just like Zell.... Just like the fish of the sky he mused...his mind wandering over a few memories of fishing with Zell near the lighthouse as kids and then suddenly a more recent vision of fishing, but this time Zell was the one on the end of the line. Squall remembered how he'd gone to pay a visit to Ma Dinct, whilst looking for Zell in Balamb, Ma Dinct had insisted that he stayed for lunch while he waited for Zell to return from his fishing. Time passed and still Zell didn't appear, so he made his excuses and left to search for Zell, he eventually found him, but it was too late to help him. Zell had hooked more than he could chew, so to speak, Seifer had hired some diving gear and swum underwater to the pier Zell was sat on and fired a strong fishing line with a barb on the end at Zells fishing rod and dragged him into the sea. Not being prepared for such an event, in fact Zell hadn't even seen Seifer, his attention being on the large fish on the end of his line, Zell didn't even have a chance to take a breath before he was under the water. This much Squall saw from a distance, the top of the cliff he was descending to get to Zell to be exact, as he realised what was happening, Seifer was holding Zell under, pulling him deeper and deeper, Squall tried to get down the cliff as quickly as possible, but the path was steep and easily fallen from, injuring himself wasn't going to help Zell. Unfortunately Squall was too late for Zell, as he stopped struggling against the force pulling him down, the "fish" released him and Zell's body floated to the top of the water, bobbing gently with the tide. In desperation Squall dived off the pier and retrieved Zell's body, casting Full life spells, life spells, Phoenix Down's, even a Phoenix Pinion in his vain attempts to restore Zell back to life. Nothing worked. He was just too late.
A particularly loud Squawk brought Squall back to reality and he noticed a bird not far away looking at him curiously, contemplating him, wondering if it was safe to go closer, or if it should stay away from this stranger. Squall looked back at the bird for a minute longer, marveling at its colours, almost a match for Zell's regular clothes. "Zell?" he said quietly, the bird just looked at him and hopped a little closer. Squall was a little bemused at this behavior, he tried moving a little. The bird was startled and hopped away a bit, but didn't fly away. Then it hopped back towards Squall, and then away again, and then back towards Squall. "You want me to follow you huh?" The bird chirped its agreement, so he followed it. To the casual observer it would have seemed absurd, a grown man following a bird, but to Squall it seemed like he should be doing this, so he did. So they oddly matched pair made their way along the path, the bird flying from tree to tree chirping happily, and then sometimes as if it was angry when Squall tried to go in the wrong direction, so he had no choice but to follow it. They soon found themselves in another area, the small place being occupied by someone else...Ellone... "Sis?" "Squall!" Ellone was startled by Squall's voice. "W...What are you doing here?" "The same thing as you I guess, paying my respects" Squall answered. "I'm sorry, I should go now, I was only supposed to going to Winhill for some supplies, Edea will be worried about me." With that she pushed past Squall and ran swiftly off. The bird too, flew off, leaving Squall where he was. Which was in fact at Selphie's grave.