Disclaimer on first chapter.

Actress In The Mirror

Chapter Five - Training

The training centre had been a little quiet over the past few days. People were too busy organising dates for the ball and their outfits to pick fights with monsters just to hone their fighting skills. This was why there were only three people there and two were not concentrating fully on what they were supposed to be doing. They had been in there for about two hours and all were worn out. The T-Rexaur had been getting quite bored with no one to fight so it was relishing it's moment with this lot.

The group had been trying to get out of there for some time but the monsters just kept on coming. The lone female was getting tired of it all.

"Enough fighting!" she yelled tiredly. "Can't we just call it a day and run from them all?"

The two males looked at each other and nodded in agreement. It had been a tough day and they were ready to give up fighting also. In the distance a loud, bone trembling roar pierced it's way through the air. T-rexaur was not far behind and they were in no mood to face it again.

"We can rest up out there," the man wearing the cowboy hat stated as he pointed to a door way which was just a little way off. It lead to a balcony, or the 'secret place' as it had become known as to the students.

They all ran towards the bright light which was emitting from it. Loud, thundering steps were booming in the background. The three stopped when they managed to get past the door and waited for the noises coming from the beast to stop, and when they did there was a huge sigh of relief.

"Irvine this is all your fault!" Zell shouted as his relief turned to anger. His friend looked completely baffled by this remark. "You were the one who wanted to come here!"

"Me?! You're the one who wanted to help Rinoa with her training!" Irvine argued. "If you were such the good teacher that everyone is making you out to be then maybe you would have realised that we shouldn't have come here!"

Rinoa watched as they began to squabble over something which to her seemed rather stupid. To her it just seemed a good way to train. She was a little rusty after having a couple of years without fighting and her Blast Edge was now extremely battered after her session in the training centre. She had wanted to come here with Squall but that was not to be. He was a bit busy with his work so had no time to go with her. They had spent little time together and it was strange when she would climb into her old bed and not receive a kiss goodnight. She knew when she went away that things would change at the Garden but also that certain things would stay the same. But the things she had expected to change had not and the things she had wanted to stay as they were had become more different than ever. She would, however, always believe that it would take a while before things would get back to normal.

"Rinoa? Rinoa are you OK?"

Reluctantly leaving her train of thought, Rinoa saw Irvine staring at her. His eyes were filled with concern as he wondered if the training had been too much for her. She smiled gently at him, signalling that she was fine.

"Just thinking?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered quietly. "Just about Squall and stuff."

Zell was leaning upon the balcony and looking over at the main building. It was a beautiful sight and he wished that Quistis could be there to look at it with him. With her being 'busy' all the time though he was just glad that she had decided to go to the ball with him. He would not have gone with anyone else. He found it funny that he had only seen her as being a friend until about six months ago when he had finally got his instructors license. She was the one who had helped make him believe that he was capable of becoming a tutor and had given him all the advice he had needed to pass the test with flying colours. The fact that he was now one of the most respected instructors at Balamb Garden was something which he felt he owed to Quistis.

A loud beeping noise came from the direction of Irvine. He sheepishly took his mobile phone out of his pocket as the others looked at him. The number calling him was Selphie's and he answered immediately.

***

Selphie got up from her seat and walked out of the cafeteria whilst wiping away the tears which were streaming down her face. Her phone was quickly shoved into her small leather rucksack and her fast pace turned into a run as she wished to get away from all of those staring faces. Each pair of eyes made her feel small and insecure.

Her dormitory was the only place where she knew she would feel safe. Even though she knew that Irvine was bound to return at some point during the night a couple of hours alone was better than having to put up with these strangers. Besides, she would probably be asleep by the time he came back and in the morning would forget all about it. But was it that easy for her to?

The phone call had only lasted for about five minutes and he had been abrupt with her, almost as if he could not stand hearing her voice any longer. Three nights in a row it had been the same. Irvine had tagged along with Zell and Rinoa to help with the training, afterwards he would go out for a drink with Rinoa. Selphie could not help but think that maybe if Zell had always gone with them then she would not be feeling this way but not once had he. It was just Irvine and Rinoa. She had not thought about it this way until now. Was going out for a drink with Rinoa more important than the anniversary of their first date? They had been going out for two long years and she had always believed that he was the type of man who would never forget something like this. Was she really so wrong?

Going to Quistis had not helped. As usual for the past few weeks she had been unwilling to talk. The subject of Rinoa was something which Selphie noticed Quistis could not stand talking about. She had told her that Irvine just wanted to do some major catching up with her and that was that. But it could not be as simple as that. Years of always looking on the bright side of things now seemed to her as being stupid. If life had shown her anything it was that bad things were always bound to happen and you had to always be prepared for the worst. Was she really ready to face her greatest fear?