Chapter III: A Hero's Death

"Zell! Wait up!" Irvine yelled out, running after Zell. Zell slowed to a halt, slowly letting his anger and fury subside. He turned around to see everyone following him: Irvine, followed closely by Rinoa, Selphie, and Quistis. He let out a sigh, coming to the realization that he was the leader now. He didn't want to be leader, nor did he really choose to be. All he wanted to do was avenge Squall's death – but before that could be done, Squall had to be put to rest properly. Zell waited for everyone to catch their breath and he began to walk back to where they had so carelessly left Squall's body. "We have to give Squall a proper funeral…" He managed to word out, and nobody argued. They followed in solemn silence; a rare thing for the group, considering Selphie and Rinoa were usually quite cheerful. They made their way into the depths of Edea's garden, Squall's body seen easily amongst the flowers – at least, his position could be seen. The flowers his blood had flowed onto had almost doubled in size, and stood with an air of pride over the other flowers. They had grown so that they almost concealed Squall's body. Zell sighed as he approached Squall's "grave", realizing he didn't really need to be buried; he was safe under the protection of these flowers. For some reason he didn't really understand, he knew no harm would come to Squall here. He kneeled in front of the flowers and exhaled lightly, slowly beginning to speak.

"Squall… you died nobly. You died a hero's death, fighting for something you believed in. And now, I'm fighting for something I believe in: your cause. If I die, I'll die fighting for your revenge. If I die, I'd hope against all odds that I'd be considered a hero too. But I can promise you now that I wont fail you, Squall. I swear."

He stood up, holding Lionheart pointing upwards in salute. "Looks like this is goodbye, Squall." He turned and walked off, but then halted abruptly and turned to look over his shoulder at Squall's grave of flowers. "Or is it…?"

He closed his eyes and walked back over to the rest of the group, who had been watching from a couple feet away. He closed his eyes slowly, taking a deep breath. "Lets go. We have to find Seifer."