Tanta: Well, hello again! As you all know, the disclaimer is on the first page if you want one. Special thanks to my brother Terry for spending almost an hour rounding up chimeras just so I could get a good look at one for this chapter. Don't worry, all the nasty things have gone away, so there's no warning apart from the usual, 'watch out, yaoi about'. N.B. For this chapter Italics can also mean dreams.
Now, on with the show, fanfiction…thing.
Chapter Three: Snatches
"Don't leave me again."
Selphie sighed as she watched Irvine run off. The words that he had spoken seemed all too familiar. She knew that she had heard Irvine say them at least once before…
It had been just the three of them, travelling over the hot Galbadian desert in an old truck that clanked and thumped every time they hit even the smallest of ridges. Selphie sat in the driver's seat and hummed quite happily to herself while the two men sat in the back seats opposite each other, barely saying a word.
Zell suddenly sat up straighter, his eyes scanning the interior of the truck.
"Did you hear that?" he asked. Selphie already knew that Zell had the best hearing out of the three of them, and knew to take him seriously.
"It was probably just the car again," Irvine said. "You shouldn't worry about it."
"No it wasn't," Zell said, just a little too sharply. "It was more like…"
Zell was interrupted as something large and very strong crashed into the side of the truck, sending it over onto its side. Zell tumbled off his seat and fell on top of Irvine. For a second the two boys sat staring into each other's faces, both shocked by their sudden closeness, before a large roaring sound came from just outside the truck.
Zell quickly got to his feet and scrambled to the back of the truck, pushing the doors open before either of his friends could object. Irvine glanced quickly at Selphie before following Zell.
"What is it?" he asked Zell as he tumbled out. "I've never heard of a monster attacking a car before."
He stopped dead in his tracks as he approached Zell and turned to look in the same direction as the martial artist.
"That's probably because most monsters don't look like this," Zell said, his voice becoming high pitched like it did when he was close to panic.
It was one of the largest monsters any of them had ever seen before. Even though it stood on all fours its shoulders stood above their heads. Its neck was broad and thick, and on the end of it was not one, but four heads. It looked as though someone had rounded up a lion, goat, snake, chameleon and eagle and thrown them all together to come up with a freakishly large and strong monster.
Irvine brought his shotgun out and fired a shot at the beast. It flinched and immediately turned its attention on the three teenagers. Zell followed Irvine's lead and attacked as well, getting in a couple of punches before the beast growled and jumped away from them. Its neck turned, making it look like the heads were spinning around. The goat's eyes turned bright yellow, and before any of them quite knew what had happened, Zell had frozen stiff. The colour seemed to have completely drained from his face, clothes and hair, leaving them all a stony grey colour.
Selphie ignored Irvine's cry of despair and focused on the monster, casting a high level fire spell on it. Irvine seemed to be brought back to reality and immediately began attacking the monster with all of his might. The combined attack of the two killed the beast fairly quickly.
Without worrying about his own minor injuries Irvine grabbed Zell's stiff form and tried casting a cure spell on him. Still there was no movement from the blonde.
"Zell," Irvine called. "Zell, come on. You have to wake up."
When there was still no response Irvine began to grow desperate.
"Zell!" he called, louder this time. "Zell, come on. You've got to be all right. You've got to wake up now. You can't leave me again. Don't leave me alone again!"
Irvine began sobbing now, fearing that Zell was dead.
"Don't leave me again."
Selphie watched the two slightly puzzled. What was Irvine talking about? It would be a while before Irvine would remind her that they had known each other as children and she would realise the reason behind Irvine's worried babbling.
She kneeled beside Irvine, trying hard not to giggle at his concern.
"It's all right," she told Irvine. Obviously the sharpshooter had never seen a petrification before. She herself had experienced petrification once. It tingled a bit, and then you just blanked out. It had hurt a little when she had been healed, but apart from that she had been none the worse for wear.
"He'll be fine. He's just been petrified," she explained to Irvine. She rummaged around in her pockets for a while before pulling out a small vial. "This is called Soft. Sprinkle it over him and he'll be as good as new."
She threw it and it was quickly caught by Irvine. He pulled the cap off as swiftly as he possibly could and began to gently sprinkle drops all over Zell's cold grey body. Small spots of colour returned to Zell's cheeks, and then to his clothes. Soon there was no stony grey left, only the bright yellow of Zell's hair, the creamy colour of his skin and the red, blue and black of his outfit.
"Irvine," Zell muttered. He soon realised that he was lying in the sharpshooter's arms and quickly hopped to his feet. He looked over to see the carcass of the monster gradually disappearing. "Come on," he said, slightly annoyed, "we should get going."
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Irvine slowed down as he approached the entrance to Balamb, but only slightly. He jogged down the main street, before coming to a halt outside the Dincht residence.
One of his hands snuck inside his jacket pocket to hold a small soft object. Once he felt the mostly smooth surface and the rougher patches that gave away the object's age he found himself relaxing instantly. No-one else knew that he had it. If they had, they would more than likely make fun of him, but no matter what everyone else thought, or how little it would be worth in Gil, it remained one of his most prized possessions.
He pulled it out and stared at it for a while. It was no bigger than three inches tall and rather red and fluffy. It was a cuddly Moomba that was obviously starting to get old and worn. One of its eyes was loose, hanging a little way out of its socket, connected only to the rest of it by a worn length of cotton. Its side showed a crude mending job from a time a couple of years ago when its seam had split open.
Irvine held it close for a while, before putting it back in his jacket pocket.
He hoped once more that Zell would be at his mother's house. For the first time he began to wonder what he would do if Zell wasn't there. He didn't even know what would happen if his suspicions proved to be correct. Would he be able to convince Zell to come back to Garden? Irvine doubted it. Zell probably wouldn't even want to talk to him.
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Blonde hair flopped down over blue eyes and a rather forlorn expression as Zell sat slumped at his mother's kitchen table. A plate of hotdogs sat untouched in front of him. This alone should have signalled that there was something seriously wrong with him, but Ma Dincht had spent such little time around him lately that it was getting harder and harder for her to correctly interpret Zell's emotions.
She had tried talking to him but Zell had stubbornly ignored nearly everything that she said. Even she could see that he was depressed, but the cause of it remained a complete mystery to her.
A single knock came from the door, quiet and hesitant as though the person wasn't sure whether they had the right house. A couple of seconds passed and then another two knocks came, more insistent this time.
"Just a second," Ma Dincht called out, wiping her hands on her apron and walking towards the door.
Zell slumped further down on the table. He really couldn't care who was at the door. It was probably only salespeople after all.
He hadn't meant to listen to a single word of conversation between his adopted mother and whoever it was that was at the door until he heard the surprise and joy in Ma Dincht's voice when she greeted them.
"It's you," she said. "Thank goodness. Perhaps you can talk some sense into him. He's talking about leaving."
"You mean he's here?"
Zell recognised the sharpshooter's voice nearly immediately and jumped to his feet. What in Hyne's name was Irvine doing in Balamb? He stayed a couple of metres behind Ma Dincht, and checked to make sure that it was Irvine. He intended to stay out of sight but the redhead spotted him fairly quickly.
"Zell!" he cried, the exhausted look that had been on his face only a second before quickly being replaced by a wide smile.
"I'll leave you two to yourselves then," Ma Dincht commenting, shuffling herself back into the kitchen. Once his mother had left Zell was able to see how exhausted Irvine looked. It was an image completely different from what the sharpshooter had looked like when they had met at Galbadia Garden…
Galbadia Garden was a far cry from Balamb, and the dry and desolate surroundings didn't help to relieve Zell's mild homesickness. Still, the thought of what they were about to face made Zell want to stay for at least a little while longer. The long walk to Deling City and the tough job of having to kill a Sorceress at the end of it was not appealing in the slightest. Zell was tired, he was hungry, and he still felt rather lost and empty because of the incident with Seifer.
Not only were they leaving to go on what seemed like a nearly impossibly mission, but they were taking one of the Galbadian students with them. Zell just knew that whoever this person was, they were not going to get along very well.
It was only when he heard the sharpshooter's name that he was sure that he was right. Something began to brew inside of him, a mixture of anger and hatred that felt as real as his current feelings for Seifer. It felt strange to Zell, considering he hadn't even met Irvine Kinneas before. He told himself that it was his gut instinct that was telling him not to like this guy; that this newcomer would turn out to be someone that he really shouldn't have liked.
When the sharpshooter stood up the feeling doubled; tripled, until his heart felt like a gaping wound. He wasn't even sure whether it was the sharpshooter he should be angry with, but he just felt like pummelling something. For a brief moment something flashed across his memory but he shook it away angrily.
Irvine turned around, becoming a whirling mass of brown coat, silver rifle, black hat and auburn hair. His eyes met Zell's and the blonde felt like his heart had just done a backwards somersault. Zell had to admit that the other man was beautiful; so beautiful that he wanted to burst. His feelings; anger, hatred and something that Zell feared might be love mixed and swirled inside him until all he wanted to do was scream.
Irvine's lips curved into a wide smile as he looked at Zell, and he began striding towards the group of SeeDs as quickly as he could. For a moment all Zell wanted was to reach out and touch the sharpshooter; to pull him close and not let him go for a long time.
Another part of him blanched at this thought. He didn't like the newcomer, did he? His instincts had told him that he should hate the sharpshooter. He forced his expression to turn into a scowl.
Irvine's smile disappeared instantly when he saw the look on Zell's face. Within minutes the sharpshooter was flirting with the girls as though there was no tomorrow, and Zell's emotions finally sorted themselves out. As soon as Irvine flashed a smile at Selphie and Rinoa, Zell found himself feeling even worse. It felt like the moment when Seifer had first pushed him onto the bed. It felt like betrayal.
Zell's feelings when Irvine was around hadn't grown any easier to understand, especially since Irvine had reminded everyone of the orphanage, and especially when he was smiling at Zell like he was now.
" 'the hell are you doing here?" Zell sighed.
Irvine looked down at his feet and Zell thought he saw a hint of blush spreading over his cheeks.
"I'm looking for you of course," Irvine replied. "You kind of just left without telling anyone where you were going and I was worried." He lifted his gaze then to look at Zell. "I passed my SeeD test you know."
The blush quickly left Irvine's face as he caught sight of the wound on Zell's face.
"What happened?" Irvine asked him, obviously concerned.
"Seifer happened," Zell said angrily. He sighed and leaned against the side of the door. "Look," he started. "Do you want to come inside?"
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A few hotdogs later Zell and Irvine were sat quite comfortably around the Dincht dining room table. Zell had told Irvine what had happened, careful to leave out anything that would reveal what had previously happened between Seifer and himself, and Irvine had told Zell everything there was to know about his SeeD exam.
"Compared to Ultimecia it was a piece of cake!" Irvine finished, flashing another one of his heart-stopping smiles Zell's way.
"So," the sharpshooter started up again. "When are you coming back to Garden?"
Zell shook his head slightly. He stood up slowly, grabbing their plates as he did. "I'm not going back. Tomorrow I'm catching a train bound for Timber. You might as well go back home to Balamb Garden."
Zell tried hard not to look at Irvine as he said this, so he didn't realise that Irvine had stood up and joined him until the sharpshooter's hands reached to take the plates off him and place them back on the table. Irvine grabbed Zell's hands in his own, and for a while the two of them stood in front of one another, each looking the other squarely in the face while Irvine stroked Zell's hands gently.
"Zell," Irvine finally began. "Balamb Garden isn't my home right now. My home at the moment is right here, standing with you. Zell, my home is wherever you are."
Zell was feeling rather dizzy and confused because of the feelings created by Irvine's hands wrapped around his own. What Irvine did next didn't improve matters at all either. Irvine leaned forwards and pressed his lips lightly to Zell's forehead. Then, before Zell had time to react, Irvine pulled away and began heading for the door.
"Well then," Irvine said as he reached the door. "If we're leaving then I think I should stock up on a few things. I'll have to book a room at the hotel for tonight as well."
"Look," Zell called out before Irvine had the chance to disappear into the main street. "You can sleep with me tonight."
Irvine raised an eyebrow at this. Zell blushed as soon as he realised what he had said.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Zell defended himself. "The bed is big enough for two, with clothes on, and with both of them staying a respectable distance away from the other."
"Right," Irvine agreed, trying not to blush. He knew how protective Zell was of his room. For Zell to offer Irvine half of his bed, even if it didn't imply the taking off of clothes, was an enormous honour for Irvine, and a rather large show of trust on the blonde's part. "Do you want anything while I'm at the shops?" Irvine asked Zell.
"No," Zell answered, still trying to stop blushing and failing miserably. "I'm fine."
Irvine nodded and headed out of the door, leaving Zell alone with the dishes and his own rather scrambled thoughts.
He had no idea why Irvine wanted to follow him, but he couldn't help but feel immensely grateful to the sharpshooter.
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That night the two of them lay in Zell's bed, wearing clothes and staying a respectable distance away from each other. They had both stayed rather silent as they had crawled into bed, and Zell seemed to be blushing every couple of minutes.
Once they had settled down Irvine began fiddling nervously with something. He had just remembered that he had left Sparky the Moomba in his jacket pocket. It was too late to do anything about it without having to explain to Zell. He would just have to hope that Sparky remained undiscovered. It was then that a thought came to mind.
"Zell," Irvine began, stirring Zell back from the brink of sleep. "Are you sure that you want to do this?"
"No," Zell admitted. "But I can't go back while Seifer's there."
"Why do you hate him so much?" Irvine finally asked, and immediately regretted it. Zell's face paled as he relived the painful memories for what seemed the hundredth time. A part of Irvine still had to know however, and he pressed further, a trace of hope still in his voice. "Is it..." Irvine hesitated. "Is it because you remember something from when we were kids?" A pitter-patter began as rain started to fall against the window. "Or is it because of something that's happened since then?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Zell answered stubbornly, rolling over so that his back was facing Irvine.
"Night Zell," Irvine called softly.
"G'night Irvine."
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That night Irvine was visited by one of the most beautiful dreams he had ever experienced. It hadn't started out as beautiful though.
The rain must have registered in his subconscious mind, because Irvine found himself standing in a downpour on a cold, stone street. The clouds were so heavy overhead that it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night.
"Irvy," he heard someone call softly.
He turned around to find Zell standing there, wearing Irvine's jacket and holding Sparky the Moomba in his hands. The gash on his face had paled a little, but it was still there, painfully obvious from how close Irvine was standing. The rain bounced off the martial artist without even touching him, making Zell appear to be glowing.
"Irvy," Zell repeated. Irvine wanted to answer him, but no words would come from his mouth. "I may have forgotten you," Zell continued, "but don't forget about me."
Zell took two long strides towards Irvine. He then placed a hand on his heart, which glowed bright red at the touch. When he pulled his hand away the glow seemed to remain on his hands like blood, staining his fingers and slowly running over his palm.
"It hurts," Zell stated.
He then reached out and grabbed Irvine's hand with both of his own and pressed it to the red light in his chest. The red disappeared, quickly being replaced with a white light so beautiful and bright that it was almost blinding. Irvine had to close his eyes to the light, and when he opened them again he found that the cold dark street had disappeared with the red light, to be replaced with a beach, bathed in the glorious rainbow glow of a sunset.
Zell smiled up at Irvine and then closed the small amount of distance between them with a single step, wrapping his arms around Irvine and burying his head in sharpshooter's chest.
Irvine had no choice but to respond, returning the embrace with just a little more enthusiasm than was required. He leaned his head on top of Zell's, breathing in the sweet smell of his blonde locks, like hair-gel and berry scented shampoo and a dozen other things that he couldn't name.
He didn't know how long they stayed like that, and he couldn't really care. He wanted it to last forever.
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Thunder crashed outside of the orphanage, causing the five-year-old Zell to squeal with fear. A small part of him knew that this was only a dream; that really he was safe in his bed in Balamb, a fully grown man, but it didn't stop him from being scared out of his wits. It didn't really feel like a dream anyway. It felt more like remembering.
A flash of lightning lit up the surrounding countryside. The thunder followed almost immediately this time.
Zell shrieked again. He hated thunderstorms.
"That means that it's really close," Quistis said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Oh no," Zell moaned, sitting up in bed and wrapping his blankets closer around his shoulders.
They all knew that they were meant to be asleep, but this thunderstorm was far too loud and excited to sleep through.
"Zell's scared," Irvine commented, only a tiny hint of teasing in his voice.
"That's 'cause he's a chicken-wuss!" Seifer called from the other side of the room.
"Am not!" Zell yelled back. "I just don't like thunder."
"Zelly," Irvine spoke again. "You can share with me if you like. It makes it less scary."
"Really?" Zell asked, just a little surprised that Irvine would be so nice to him. No-one had ever cared if Zell was scared before, and ever since Irvine had arrived at the orphanage nearly a month ago he had teased him nearly as much as Seifer.
"Yeah sure," Irvine said, shuffling over and lifting up the sheets so that Zell could crawl inside.
"He's so scared he has to go crawling to Irvy to ask him to save him," Seifer called out.
"Shut up Seifer!" Irvine yelled back before Zell could, startling the older boy. "You're just jealous 'cause no-one's ever gonna want to share with you!"
Seifer didn't know what to say to this and stayed silent.
"Thanks," Zell giggled, curling up in Irvine's blankets.
"It's okay," Irvine said, reaching over to hug Zell. "I like you."
The thunderstorm didn't seem so bad or scary now that he was in Irvine's arms. It made Zell feel safe, as though nothing, not even Seifer or the thunderstorm could ever hurt him, and he drifted off to sleep happily.
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Zell and Irvine were now asleep and content in their dreams, so neither of them saw the figure that stood outside Zell's house, looking up at his window.
He smiled, despite the fact that it was raining, and walked off down the street, literally disappearing into the night.