Disclaimer: Come on. If I owned Final Fantasy VIII I could get the front end realigned on my ford ranger. Wait....I don't own my ranger...*pouts*

Secrets Not Revealed

Selphie waited impatiently outside Rinoa's, or rather Squall's door. She clasped her hands tightly behind her back and fought the urge to hop around in excitement. After what seemed like an eternity, Rinoa opened the door.

"Hey," Selphie smiled. "You weren't still in bed were you?" She stole a quick glance past Rinoa to see Squall still stretched out under his comforter.

Rinoa blushed a bit at the thought. "No, actually I've been up for a while." Selphie raised an eyebrow but didn't speak on her intuition. "Come on in." Selphie hesitantly stepped inside. She watched as Rinoa shook Squall's shoulder gently. "Wake up." He groaned and rolled over. "Come on." He shifted under the blanket, causing most of it to fall onto the floor. Selphie was half tempted to turn her head, but the leg of his pajama pants caught her attention. He rolled onto his back and slowly opened his eyes. "Morning," Rinoa smiled as she pulled him up into a sitting position.

"Morning," He answered. Selphie swallowed when his gaze fell on her. He stared at her for a moment before turning to see what time it was. Shrugging it off, he stood up and walked straight to the bathroom. Rinoa and Selphie stood silently for a minute before anyone spoke.

"Want to have a seat?" Rinoa asked.

"Sure," Selphie answered as she quickly sat on the rug. Rinoa sat down slowly next to her and cast the bed a brief look. Selphie grabbed her hands to divert her attention. "Guess what..."

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The constant stream of water flowing down the drain did little to drown out the sounds of the girls' laughter. Listening quietly, he dried off his face with a hand towel and put his shaving cream back under the cabinet. It was early. The last thing he'd expected at seven-thirty in the morning was to see Selphie standing in the middle of his room. He turned off the water and tilted his head back to put his eye drops in.

Through the door he could hear Rinoa squeal. "Oh my gosh! When did he ask?" Squall twisted the top back onto the small bottle and stepped back into the main room.

"What's going on?" He asked as he strode over to the night-stand and picked up his glasses.

"Selphie and Irvine are engaged!" Rinoa said as she hopped up and squeezed Squall's arm. "Isn't that sweet?" Squall looked down at her and then over to Selphie.

"When did..." Squall started to ask.

"Last night," Selphie answered gleefully.

~*~*~*~

Irvine watched as she ran her fingers along the planners on a shelf that was well above her head. He cast a glance to the items that were already in his cart. He hadn't a clue why he needed them, but he could only assume that she'd explain their purposes.

"Here it is," She groaned as she stretched to reach the schedule planner and then handed it to Irvine. "This will help you keep your classes separated and your students accounted for."

Irvine looked at the small spiral bound notebook with skepticism. "I thought we did that with the computers."

"We do," She answered as she brushed her blonde hair behind her ears. "But, its not uncommon for the computer systems to go down when you most need them or for the system to be taken off-line while you're in the middle of recording grades. Keep it as a back up. Trust me." She dug through the contents of the cart. "I think we have all you need for now." Irvine nodded as he dropped the planner on top of the cart's contents.

"Hey Quisty," Irvine said as he pushed the cart towards the front of the store.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Thanks a lot for helpin' me. I probably couldn't have done it without your help."

She smiled as she wrapped her hands around her waist and continued walking. "You could've done it. You just wouldn't have out scored me."

Irvine laughed loudly. "Yeah. That's great. This student surpassed the teacher," He joked.

She shook her head. "I think you'll make a fine instructor. So what are you teaching besides the junctioning course you'd originally sworn you'd have no part of?"

Irvine smiled at the comment. "Basic Physical Training, Self- Defense, and Orientation."

"Ah hah!" Quistis accused him. "I see what you're doing. You're taking all the fun physical education and the outdoor classes."

"Basically," Irvine answered.

Quistis laughed in response and rolled her eyes. "I'm not surprised. Couldn't imagine you as a language professor or geography and topography instructor anyways."

"We have a topography class?" Irvine asked a serious tone. Quistis rolled her eyes again and laughed.

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Later that evening.....

Edea picked at the fabric of her dress as she thought about Selphie's visit just a few moments before. Cid, sensing his wife's distraught emotions hugged her shoulder. She cast him a glance and then returned her head back to its place on his shoulder.

"We should've told her," Edea whispered. "I wanted to tell her before she married." Cid smiled faintly.

"I think you always knew she'd marry young. I could see would happen even when she was just preschool age," Cid said.

Edea sat up and clasped her hands in her lap. "I saw it too. I just couldn't form the words. How would she react?" She looked over to a stack of folders on the table. "She wasn't abandoned. I don't want her to think she was abandoned."

Cid squeezed her shoulders as he kissed her forehead. "She'll understand Dear. It had to be done."

"How do we explain placing her in a home?"

"Very carefully," Cid said as he slowly rose to his feet. "We have to tell her before she marries. We've missed out on enough, and I will at least walk her down that isle." Edea watched as he walked slowly to his study. On the floor, Toby had apparently fallen asleep watching cartoons. She smiled gently as she draped a thin quilt over his shoulders. She then walked over to the table and picked up the top folder; labeled Selphie Felch. Fingering the folder gingerly, she debated what to do.

________________________________________________________________________

Behind a bar in the city of Deling a phone rang. A middle-aged man with arms covered in tatoos and a club hooked onto his belt answered it.

"Who do you want?" He asked in his usual gruff voice. "Let me see if I can find her...and listen. Keep this short. She's on the clock." A few feet from where he stood he watched his red-headed employee con two more men into buying drinks. She had perfected her technique of flirting and attracting business. That was for sure. He sat the receiver down and turned to her. "Its for you doll."

She smiled cutely and rolled her eyes as she picked up the phone. "Who is this?" Her face paled at the voice. "What do you mean engaged!" She dropped the tray of glasses she held under her right arm and clasped the phone desperately. "Where did you hear this?" She looked past the bar's owner who was saying something about the broken glass to the exit sign over the front door. She hung up the phone quickly. "Look Rob. Just take the cost of those glasses out of my next check. I have to go." She pushed past him and grabbed her jacket out from under the bar. She pushed the door open forcefully and rushed out into the cool night air. It looked like plans were going to have to be altered and set into motion a little sooner than anticipated.

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Dark Topaz - :) Thanks for the review.

aratcorien - Toby being the ring bearer was the first thing that crossed my mind after I typed the last chapter. Irvine and Selphie weathering Nikki's wrath.....hmm. They could do it together...which is why they won't be together whenever she returns.

Ameli Stoncius - I know you had good intentions. I know you wanted to show you're support for me....at least I hope that's why you keep trying to review my chapters. You had to have done something to Fanfiction.net. Gee whiz girl.

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As of now we are looking at around 21 chapters. This was supposed to be a short story. Wonder what happened? *shrugs* You guys aren't complaining. Guess what! I might be able to work with the plot I have now if you guys want a taste of the Zell/Fujin story.

Anyway, please read and review...I really appreciate it. Toby really appreciates it. It makes him feel loved.