To The Last Rose

Author's Note: It seems I've been writing Selphie's orphanage name wrong. x_x; Okay, from now on I'll be putting it right!

I already have the end of this fic thought up, but I don't want to write it yet! ;_; I still have to think of the other parts. As we can see, I'm at a writer's block. I'm also going to try to make this chapter longer... along with explaining the relationship of Selphie and Irvine in here. .; So that... it'll be okay for Zell and Selphie... Okay, I'll shut up now. On to the fic!

*** Ch. 3 - Blue Rose ***

Zell kicked the door open and trudged in slowly, still holding Selphie up on his back. He made his way to the bed and turned around before dropping her down on the mattress.

Selphie giggled as she dove under the covers, pulling them up to her chin. "Read me a story!" she joked. Zell sighed and walked off to the bathroom, coming out moments later with a glass of water. He set it on her dresser then sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Zell doesn't know any good stories," he grumbled slightly, speaking in third person. Selphie stuck her lower lip out in a pout, but only for a second before smiling again.

"Okay, then Zell can tell me his romantic life with that Library Girl." She sat herself up and leaned back on the wall, emerald gaze locked on the tattoo painted onto Zell's face. His eyebrows knitted together in a soft frown before he turned to face her.

"What are you talking about? I have no romantic life with the Library Girl."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No. I. Don't."

"Yes. You. Do. What's with the flirting on the garden's message board, then? Hmm?"

Zell opened his mouth to reply, but it snapped shut as he tried to think back to any flirting. "I'm not flirting with her on the message board. Besides, how lame would that be if I were?" One eyebrow raised in question as he rest his elbows on his knees.

Selphie thought for a second before shrugging. "Very lame. Pathetically lame. Stupidly-mega-lame. Horen-"

"Okay, I got it! Sheesh... We're not flirting anyway," he grumbled. He shot her a 'look' as she started giggling. "What now?"

"Well, you may not be flirting with her, but she's flirting with you! Can't you see?" Her hand covered her mouth as she continued to laugh.

"Agh! There is no flirting!" His left hand raised to brush through his hair, only to have it bounce back to its usual style. In a desperate attempt to change the victim from himself to her, he continued, "What about you and Irvine? What do you two have going on?"

Selphie stopped laughing and blinked a few times before letting her hands rest in her lap. "We have nothing going on. I mean, we talked about it... the idea of us being together. But we agreed that it wouldn't work. I think he'll do better with someone more sophisticated, like Quisty."

Zell let out a "hn" and nodded, elbows back on his knees and chin resting in the palms of his hands. Selphie watched him for a few seconds before jumping forward, her arms wrapping around his shoulders tightly and pretty much just tackling him down to the floor, blankets and all.

"Ack! What are you doing??" He started struggling beneath the girl wrapped up in blankets, only to tangle himself up in them as well.

"Zelly-poo needs a hug!" She giggled insanely then rolled off to the side, yet not getting very far thanks to the blankets wrapping both their legs together.

"'Zelly-poo' needs freedom!" he gasped out as he tried to crawl out of the ties that held them. When his attempts only wrapped them up further, he decided to settle with lying there on the floor, laughing alongside the smaller girl beside him.

Their laughs soon died down and Zell found himself staring at her. Her smile, always there, her eyes sparkling with glee, the warmth her body gave off... He immediately shook his head and tried to ignore his racing heart. 'What's happening to me?' his mind shouted out any possible explanation, but nothing was actually being heard.

// "Wah!! Sefie! What are you doing? Trying to kill me??" Little Zell cried out in surprise as Little Selphie jumped him. The two had gone tumbling down the hill in Selphie's laughs and Zell's cries.

Selphie smiled down at him and flicked at his hair. "Zelly-poo needed a hug! Queen Sefie gave him a hug!" She started giggling again before rolling off, her arms holding her stomach as she kept on laughing. Zell frowned and sat up, his arms crossing over his chest.

"I don't need hugs! They're too girly!" he pouted off to the side. There was another tackle and Zell found himself eating dirt with Selphie on his back.

"Aw, you don't like hugs? You should!" she started laughing again as Zell started to kick and struggle. She fell off and Zell ran off crying, "Sefie- cooties! Sefie-cooties! Matwon! Help! I've got Sefie-cooties!!" \\

Her body suddenly began to shake as she started coughing again, which was followed up with a little sneeze (that made her seem oh-so adorable). Zell smiled softly and carefully untangled the blankets before lifting her up and laying her down on the bed, tucking her in gently.

"Get some rest and drink water, okay? I'll come back later to check on you," he practically ordered before gently 'petting' her hair. She smiled up at him tiredly then shut her eyes and dozed off to sleep. Zell sighed and left the room.

***~***

When he reached his own room, he shut the door and leaned back against it, sliding down to the floor with his arms draped around his own knees. "She's gonna wear me out..." he grumbled to himself before standing up and stumbling off to his bed.

Thinking back to their conversation, he felt himself smile. She wasn't dating Irvine. She wasn't dating anyone. Though he didn't really understand why it was making him smile, he didn't really care to think into it too much. He wanted to do something for her, though. Something sweet that let her know he cared... somewhat.

Then an idea came to mind. He was back on his feet and racing out the door and down to the Parking Lot. He leapt into a car and (given every Garden car had the keys in it already) started down the road to Balamb. This was a great idea! Hopefully no one had thought of it before so he could take credit.

***~***

Selphie heard a knock at her door and her eyes slowly opened. She sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before calling out, "Come in, it's open." The door opened and Irvine stepped in, giving her a little tip of the hat.

"'Ey there, little lady." He smiled, pulling the chair out from the desk and sitting down beside her bed. "How ya' feeling?"

Selphie smiled at him before giving a light shrug. "I've been better. Zell's taking care of me." She pointed to the picture on the desk of their group, as if he had forgotten who Zell was. Irvine nodded and leaned back in the chair.

"That's good. Don't want our little sunflower getting too sick to take care of the Garden Festival anymore, now do we?" He laughed softly, as if it were a personal joke of his then reached over and ruffled her hair some.

She let out a little squeak at the hair ruffling, then reached up and grabbed hold of his hand, pulling it down in front of her. She looked down at both her hands holding his larger one and smiled. "Have you ever regretted the fact that we didn't get together?"

Irvine blinked at her sudden question. This wasn't anything like Selphie, and she knew that they had talked about this before. "Sometimes..." he answered truthfully, but before she could respond, he kept going. "But then you wouldn't have a chance to be with someone who truly deserves you."

Those green eyes of hers widened in confusion as he slid his hand out of hers and stood up, placing the chair back in its place.

"What?" She was like a puppy, looking up at him like that. He grinned down at her and gave her hair another ruffle before turning to the door.

"Don't worry about it, you'll find out later anyway," he called back before shutting the door.

***~***

Zell came running back into the garden, something rather large held behind his back. He came up to Selphie's door and took a deep breath before pushing it open. Selphie was already sitting up, looking down at the picture in her hands.

"Selphie?" he asked softly as he came closer. Her gaze shot up and she quickly put the picture back in its place before smiling and giving him a little wave.

He watched her for a few more seconds before smiling and pulling out what was behind. Selphie's eyes widened and immediately her smile grew, tenfold. He held out a bundle of roses, pairs in each color of the rainbow with white roses around the outside. "These are for you, in hopes that you'll get better faster."

Selphie squealed in delight and took the roses gratefully, already able to smell the wonderful fragrance. Zell sat down beside her, crimson shading his cheeks. "I'll be here for you... until the last rose in that bouquet dies," he said quietly.

At first the spunky girl froze. 'Until the last rose dies..? Why only until then?' she asked herself. There was a sad look in her eyes as her fingers gently ran over the petals of each rose. Then her eyes shot up as her fingers stopped over one of the red roses. She touched each rose then felt herself start to laugh, even as tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes.

She gently set the roses beside herself then jumped out and hugged him tightly, though this time they stayed on the bed. "Thank you so much, Zell!" she cried out. He awkwardly put his arms around her waist and they sat like that till Selphie slowly pulled back just enough so she could look into those shy eyes of his. Her heart was racing, his heart was racing, but she immediately let go of him and leaned back in the bed. "G'nite-nite, Zell. Thank you..." she whispered as he got up and left.

She was so happy. He would always be there for her. You know why?

One of each rose was fake.

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So how did you like that chapter? I think my favorite part is the last one. :D ::squeals:: It's so cute! I wish somebody would do that for me... ::whimper:: Oh well. It's adorable nonetheless. So, keep on reviewing! Tell me if you liked it or not, 'kay? Oh, don't worry, 'To The Last Rose' isn't finished yet! They hafta kiss at some point, right? ;D

~o.wa.ri