Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of these characters and places and such...Square does. I do not own "Are You Sad?" either. It belongs to Our Lady Peace and their record company.
A/N: I need more reviews! I need feedback! And sorry this took me so long. I've had a ton of school work. I plan on continuing my other fics very soon, too.
Explanation of song: Okay, this one is "Are You Sad?" by Our Lady Peace. I love this band. Imagine the song from Selphie's POV. This is used to represent how she thinks Zell is sad, but she's not sure why or anything like that. I also altered one lyric. (Where it says "girl", in the original it was "man".)
Your life has seemed so hard
It's been dried up angels
That can't keep guard
I'm trying to reach your hand
But I'm on fire I never planned to
Fade away, stay with me
Stop pretending when they say you're nothing
Are you sad
Are you holding yourself
You shouldn't be
Are you sad
Are locked in your room
You shouldn't be
I'm drowning inside your head
Help me to answer help understand
But it's been so long since we talked like friends
Please forgive me I'm just a girl whose
Made mistakes, stay with me
Stop pretending when they say you're nothing
Are you sad
Are you holding yourself
You shouldn't be
Are you sad
Are you locked in your room
You shouldn't be
- "Are You Sad?" by Our Lady Peace
Selphie sat lazily on her bed, contemplating. She was thinking about Zell. She had to find out what was wrong with him and this was her night to do it. She tried to think of possible reasons for him to be sad. She knew he had been kind of stressed out about SeeD stuff, but that didn't seem to be it. She decided to just try to get him to talk to her when they got together that night.
She was looking forward to spending time with him, though. It had been quite some time since they had been together alone. Now most of her time was spent with Irvine. She figured she had that obligation to him as his girlfriend, but when they were together he was easily distracted, especially when a pretty young girl would make an appearance. She also didn't feel very compelled to have a serious, emotional conversation. That was another reason she was glad to be getting together with Zell. Whenever she was around him she just felt like pouring out her very soul to him. She was very comfortable around him. That's why she considered him her best friend.
Zell sat in his room, alone as usual. He wasn't as sad as he usually was, though. Usually he would take this solitude as an opportunity to sulk privately. He really didn't want any of his friends to know that he wasn't his usual cheery self.
The reason he wasn't as sad, though, was that he was actually looking forward to the time that he was going to spend with Selphie. He hadn't gotten the chance to be with her alone for a long time. It seemed like she was always with Irvine. Zell didn't exactly like that. It wasn't that he didn't want Selphie to have a boyfriend, it was that he didn't want Selphie to have a bad boyfriend. He wanted her to be with someone who would treat her right. Zell noticed the way Irvine looked at other girls. How could he not notice? It killed him. He thought that whoever was with Selphie should have eyes only for her. After all Selphie was the greatest person Zell had ever met. That's why he considered her his best friend.
It was getting close to seven and Selphie decided to head over to Zell's room so they could leave for the beach. She walked to the area of the dormitories that his room was in. She walked up to his door and knocked lightly. She heard some noise and suddenly the door swung open and Zell appeared. She smiled at the sight of him.
"Hi,"he said somewhat nervously.
"Hi,"she replied,"Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, let's go,"he said, walking through the doorway and closing the door behind him.
The walked together silently to the front gate. It was a little awkward because neither knew what to say to the other. The silence was killing Selphie so she finally decided to break it.
"So how was your day today?"she asked. She knew it was a dumb question, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"It was okay, I guess. I didn't do much. I worked out a little in the training center,"Zell replied half-heartedly.
Selphie knew this wasn't the real Zell. Normally he would brag about kicking a T-Rexaurs ass or something like that. He would get really enthusiastic and start shadow-boxing, but not tonight. It pained Selphie to see Zell like this. She wanted him to be happy, and she was very sure that he wasn't.
They reached the front gate and continued along the road towards the beach. Selphie decided that walking there would be much more pleasant than checking out a Garden car. They walked in silence again. Selphie didn't know how to strike a conversation. She wanted to know what was wrong with Zell, but she also knew that she would have to be patient in getting her answer. She decided to just act normally and see where things went from there.
"Wow, Zelly! Isn't tonight such a beautiful night!"Selphie said, looking up at the sky once they reached the beach.
Zell gazed upward.
"Yeah, the stars are really shining tonight,"he said unenthusiastically. He knew he should get it together and act like his usual self or Selphie would figure out that he wasn't happy. The problem was that would be like lying and lying was the one thing he couldn't do around Selphie.
Selphie plopped down in the sand. She motioned for Zell to sit next to her. Zell sat down holding his knees to his chest. Selphie continued to stare at the sky while Zell gazed out at the ocean. Selphie followed his gaze and also watched the water.
"I love how the moonlight reflects off the water,"Zell said.
Selphie looked at him and became dazed.
Without thinking she said,"I love how the moonlight reflects in your eyes."
Zell was taken aback.
"What?"he asked. He hadn't been expecting Selphie to say something like that.
"Oh gosh! Did I just say that out loud?"she asked. Zell could only nod.
"Well what I meant was...ummmm...it's just that...I turned to look at you and I saw your eyes and they were glimmering from the moonlight and well...they were...beautiful,"Selphie managed to spit out.
"I'm sorry,"she added.
Zell was very flattered, but not uncomfortable and he didn't want Selphie to be sorry.
"No, don't be sorry. I just wasn't expecting you to say that. I'm sorry about the way I reacted,"he said.
Selphie smiled. Zell was always considerate of other peoples feelings. That was his most reliable quality. It never failed and Selphie knew she could always count on it.
"Gosh, it's been a while since we spent time together like this,"Selphie said.
"Yeah, I know. We just haven't been able to get together. I've been training and you, well you have Irvine,"he replied.
Selphie noticed something strange about when he mentioned her and Irvine. Like there were some underlying feelings there. She decided to just brush it off and get back to her previous mission of finding out what was wrong with him. She decided to throw tact out the window and just be blunt.
"Zell, why won't you talk to me anymore?"Selphie asked.
Zell didn't know what she meant.
"I'm talking to you right now,"he said.
"No, I mean you never TALK to me anymore. We never have any serious conversations. I always thought you never had a problem opening up to me,"she said, looking at him.
"I haven't had anything I needed to talk about,"Zell lied.
"I know that's not true, Zell. I know something is wrong with you. You haven't been the same lately. I don't know what's wrong, but maybe if you tell me I can help you,"she said as he looked away.
She reached over and put her hand to the side of his face, turning his head towards her.
"Please, talk to me,"she said, looking into his eyes. He felt like crying. He wanted to get it all out so badly.
"I-it's hard to explain,"he said.
"We've got all the time in the world,"she said. She was so relieved that she was getting somewhere. She really didn't think that he was going to talk to her.
"Well, I guess what it all boils down to is...I'm missing something,"he admitted. He still wasn't revealing the whole truth, but he couldn't manage to get it all out at one time even though he needed to.
"What do you mean?"Selphie asked, not breaking their eye contact for a second.
"...I'm alone,"he said barely above a whisper.
"What do you mean you're alone? You've got so many friends and you've got you're family. How could you possibly think you're alone?"Selphie asked, confusedly.
"No, what I mean is...I don't have...a significant other,"he said still quietly.
Realization finally dawned on Selphie.
"Oh, well, what about that cute library girl. Everyone knows she has a huge crush on you,"Selphie suggested.
"I know I sound picky, but she's just not what I'm looking for,"he said, staring at the ground.
"Well what are you looking for?"Selphie asked.
"...I don't know,"he said.
Selphie didn't know what to do. She hadn't expected for this to be Zell's problem. But then again it did make a lot of sense. All of his friends had boyfriends or girlfriends so it was only natural that he would desire the same thing.
She decided that until she could figure out a more permanent solution to his problem she would spend all the time with him she could. She hoped this would at least take his mind off his problem. It wouldn't exactly be a chore for Selphie either.
"I hate seeing you so sad,"Selphie said honestly,"It really doesn't suit you."
"Listen, I don't really want anybody to know about the way I've been feeling lately, so could you do me a favor and not tell anybody else?"he asked.
"Okay, I promise, but you have to do something for me first,"she said.
Zell looked frightened,"What is it?"
"You have to show me one of those toothy smiles I love seeing,"Selphie said, grinning.
"Selphie,"Zell said in a whiny voice.
"Nope, you're not getting out of it,"she said.
Zell could tell by the way she looked that she was plotting something, but he couldn't tell what. Suddenly she jumped on him and started tickling him mercilessly. Zell was forced to laugh hysterically. He rolled around trying to escape her grasp. When her tickling finally subsided they were both laying on the ground with her on top of him. Their faces were very close together. They just stared at each other for a few moments.
Selphie laughed nervously,"See, I told ya you would smile."
"Yeah yeah,"Zell said smiling at her.
After another moment she rolled off of him. They both stood up.
"So, I was thinking. Do you wanna do something tomorrow?"Selphie asked.
"Sure,"Zell said, smiling again.
"Yay!"Selphie said, clapping her hands together.
"Well, I guess we should head back to Garden now,"Zell said.
"Good idea,"she replied.
They both started their walk back to Garden together. Zell actually felt a little better. Even if he didn't have love, at least he finally had something. For once, he finally had hope. Maybe someday he would find love...someday.
Well there's chapter 2! So will Zell's thoughts be prophetic? Stay tuned to find out! And give me feedback!
A/N: I need more reviews! I need feedback! And sorry this took me so long. I've had a ton of school work. I plan on continuing my other fics very soon, too.
Explanation of song: Okay, this one is "Are You Sad?" by Our Lady Peace. I love this band. Imagine the song from Selphie's POV. This is used to represent how she thinks Zell is sad, but she's not sure why or anything like that. I also altered one lyric. (Where it says "girl", in the original it was "man".)
Your life has seemed so hard
It's been dried up angels
That can't keep guard
I'm trying to reach your hand
But I'm on fire I never planned to
Fade away, stay with me
Stop pretending when they say you're nothing
Are you sad
Are you holding yourself
You shouldn't be
Are you sad
Are locked in your room
You shouldn't be
I'm drowning inside your head
Help me to answer help understand
But it's been so long since we talked like friends
Please forgive me I'm just a girl whose
Made mistakes, stay with me
Stop pretending when they say you're nothing
Are you sad
Are you holding yourself
You shouldn't be
Are you sad
Are you locked in your room
You shouldn't be
- "Are You Sad?" by Our Lady Peace
Selphie sat lazily on her bed, contemplating. She was thinking about Zell. She had to find out what was wrong with him and this was her night to do it. She tried to think of possible reasons for him to be sad. She knew he had been kind of stressed out about SeeD stuff, but that didn't seem to be it. She decided to just try to get him to talk to her when they got together that night.
She was looking forward to spending time with him, though. It had been quite some time since they had been together alone. Now most of her time was spent with Irvine. She figured she had that obligation to him as his girlfriend, but when they were together he was easily distracted, especially when a pretty young girl would make an appearance. She also didn't feel very compelled to have a serious, emotional conversation. That was another reason she was glad to be getting together with Zell. Whenever she was around him she just felt like pouring out her very soul to him. She was very comfortable around him. That's why she considered him her best friend.
Zell sat in his room, alone as usual. He wasn't as sad as he usually was, though. Usually he would take this solitude as an opportunity to sulk privately. He really didn't want any of his friends to know that he wasn't his usual cheery self.
The reason he wasn't as sad, though, was that he was actually looking forward to the time that he was going to spend with Selphie. He hadn't gotten the chance to be with her alone for a long time. It seemed like she was always with Irvine. Zell didn't exactly like that. It wasn't that he didn't want Selphie to have a boyfriend, it was that he didn't want Selphie to have a bad boyfriend. He wanted her to be with someone who would treat her right. Zell noticed the way Irvine looked at other girls. How could he not notice? It killed him. He thought that whoever was with Selphie should have eyes only for her. After all Selphie was the greatest person Zell had ever met. That's why he considered her his best friend.
It was getting close to seven and Selphie decided to head over to Zell's room so they could leave for the beach. She walked to the area of the dormitories that his room was in. She walked up to his door and knocked lightly. She heard some noise and suddenly the door swung open and Zell appeared. She smiled at the sight of him.
"Hi,"he said somewhat nervously.
"Hi,"she replied,"Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, let's go,"he said, walking through the doorway and closing the door behind him.
The walked together silently to the front gate. It was a little awkward because neither knew what to say to the other. The silence was killing Selphie so she finally decided to break it.
"So how was your day today?"she asked. She knew it was a dumb question, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"It was okay, I guess. I didn't do much. I worked out a little in the training center,"Zell replied half-heartedly.
Selphie knew this wasn't the real Zell. Normally he would brag about kicking a T-Rexaurs ass or something like that. He would get really enthusiastic and start shadow-boxing, but not tonight. It pained Selphie to see Zell like this. She wanted him to be happy, and she was very sure that he wasn't.
They reached the front gate and continued along the road towards the beach. Selphie decided that walking there would be much more pleasant than checking out a Garden car. They walked in silence again. Selphie didn't know how to strike a conversation. She wanted to know what was wrong with Zell, but she also knew that she would have to be patient in getting her answer. She decided to just act normally and see where things went from there.
"Wow, Zelly! Isn't tonight such a beautiful night!"Selphie said, looking up at the sky once they reached the beach.
Zell gazed upward.
"Yeah, the stars are really shining tonight,"he said unenthusiastically. He knew he should get it together and act like his usual self or Selphie would figure out that he wasn't happy. The problem was that would be like lying and lying was the one thing he couldn't do around Selphie.
Selphie plopped down in the sand. She motioned for Zell to sit next to her. Zell sat down holding his knees to his chest. Selphie continued to stare at the sky while Zell gazed out at the ocean. Selphie followed his gaze and also watched the water.
"I love how the moonlight reflects off the water,"Zell said.
Selphie looked at him and became dazed.
Without thinking she said,"I love how the moonlight reflects in your eyes."
Zell was taken aback.
"What?"he asked. He hadn't been expecting Selphie to say something like that.
"Oh gosh! Did I just say that out loud?"she asked. Zell could only nod.
"Well what I meant was...ummmm...it's just that...I turned to look at you and I saw your eyes and they were glimmering from the moonlight and well...they were...beautiful,"Selphie managed to spit out.
"I'm sorry,"she added.
Zell was very flattered, but not uncomfortable and he didn't want Selphie to be sorry.
"No, don't be sorry. I just wasn't expecting you to say that. I'm sorry about the way I reacted,"he said.
Selphie smiled. Zell was always considerate of other peoples feelings. That was his most reliable quality. It never failed and Selphie knew she could always count on it.
"Gosh, it's been a while since we spent time together like this,"Selphie said.
"Yeah, I know. We just haven't been able to get together. I've been training and you, well you have Irvine,"he replied.
Selphie noticed something strange about when he mentioned her and Irvine. Like there were some underlying feelings there. She decided to just brush it off and get back to her previous mission of finding out what was wrong with him. She decided to throw tact out the window and just be blunt.
"Zell, why won't you talk to me anymore?"Selphie asked.
Zell didn't know what she meant.
"I'm talking to you right now,"he said.
"No, I mean you never TALK to me anymore. We never have any serious conversations. I always thought you never had a problem opening up to me,"she said, looking at him.
"I haven't had anything I needed to talk about,"Zell lied.
"I know that's not true, Zell. I know something is wrong with you. You haven't been the same lately. I don't know what's wrong, but maybe if you tell me I can help you,"she said as he looked away.
She reached over and put her hand to the side of his face, turning his head towards her.
"Please, talk to me,"she said, looking into his eyes. He felt like crying. He wanted to get it all out so badly.
"I-it's hard to explain,"he said.
"We've got all the time in the world,"she said. She was so relieved that she was getting somewhere. She really didn't think that he was going to talk to her.
"Well, I guess what it all boils down to is...I'm missing something,"he admitted. He still wasn't revealing the whole truth, but he couldn't manage to get it all out at one time even though he needed to.
"What do you mean?"Selphie asked, not breaking their eye contact for a second.
"...I'm alone,"he said barely above a whisper.
"What do you mean you're alone? You've got so many friends and you've got you're family. How could you possibly think you're alone?"Selphie asked, confusedly.
"No, what I mean is...I don't have...a significant other,"he said still quietly.
Realization finally dawned on Selphie.
"Oh, well, what about that cute library girl. Everyone knows she has a huge crush on you,"Selphie suggested.
"I know I sound picky, but she's just not what I'm looking for,"he said, staring at the ground.
"Well what are you looking for?"Selphie asked.
"...I don't know,"he said.
Selphie didn't know what to do. She hadn't expected for this to be Zell's problem. But then again it did make a lot of sense. All of his friends had boyfriends or girlfriends so it was only natural that he would desire the same thing.
She decided that until she could figure out a more permanent solution to his problem she would spend all the time with him she could. She hoped this would at least take his mind off his problem. It wouldn't exactly be a chore for Selphie either.
"I hate seeing you so sad,"Selphie said honestly,"It really doesn't suit you."
"Listen, I don't really want anybody to know about the way I've been feeling lately, so could you do me a favor and not tell anybody else?"he asked.
"Okay, I promise, but you have to do something for me first,"she said.
Zell looked frightened,"What is it?"
"You have to show me one of those toothy smiles I love seeing,"Selphie said, grinning.
"Selphie,"Zell said in a whiny voice.
"Nope, you're not getting out of it,"she said.
Zell could tell by the way she looked that she was plotting something, but he couldn't tell what. Suddenly she jumped on him and started tickling him mercilessly. Zell was forced to laugh hysterically. He rolled around trying to escape her grasp. When her tickling finally subsided they were both laying on the ground with her on top of him. Their faces were very close together. They just stared at each other for a few moments.
Selphie laughed nervously,"See, I told ya you would smile."
"Yeah yeah,"Zell said smiling at her.
After another moment she rolled off of him. They both stood up.
"So, I was thinking. Do you wanna do something tomorrow?"Selphie asked.
"Sure,"Zell said, smiling again.
"Yay!"Selphie said, clapping her hands together.
"Well, I guess we should head back to Garden now,"Zell said.
"Good idea,"she replied.
They both started their walk back to Garden together. Zell actually felt a little better. Even if he didn't have love, at least he finally had something. For once, he finally had hope. Maybe someday he would find love...someday.
Well there's chapter 2! So will Zell's thoughts be prophetic? Stay tuned to find out! And give me feedback!
