Disclaimer: I do not own anything that relates to FFVIII.

- Chapter four: The Confession -

"Where's O'kara?" Zell asked when they were having dinner that evening.

"O'kara went out. Like he said he would. To prevent raising suspicion." Squall said.

Zell studied his face. How could Squall look so normal with everything that was going on. How on earth was he able to appear so...emotionless.

"So...are we supposed to 'stand on guard' while he's gone?"

Squall shrugged.

"Let's just do it. It's our first day here, so we could at least try and make a good impression." Irvine remarked.

Quistis nodded. "I agree. Let's resume our positions and if mister O'kara returns and tells us we don't have to stand on guard when he's gone, he'll tell us."

She got to her feet. The others followed her example. Zell was the only one who remained seated. From the corner of his eye he could see Selphie hesitating to stay behind with him, but he waved his hand.

"I'll be fine Seffie. I just want to be alone for a while."

He heard her leave and close the door. The silence in the kitchen hit him harder than he had expected. No noise at all surrounded him. He just sat there, just listening to the silence. He thought back to what Selphie had said.

'Perhaps...if I told Quistis...she would give up Squall for me.' he thought.

But then his hope disappeared again. 'Who would leave a cool and good looking guy like Squall to be with a guy like me.'

He shook his head. 'But if I don't try....I'll never know. And if I don't try I might miss that opportunity for ever.'

He slammed his hand on the table.

"That's it!" he said loudly. "I'm going to tell her."

His voice sounded a lot braver than he felt. He burst through the door and took a few deep breaths. The next thing he knew he was striding through the corridors on his way to where Quistis would be on guard.

He could see her from the other side of the hall.

'Damn it.'

He could feel his legs shaking.

"Hey Quistis." He said, waving his hand.

She smiled and waved back. "Hey Zell…what are you doing here?"

He was going red again, he knew it.

"Oh…I- er…I thought I'd join you. To talk or something."

"That's so sweet of you, Zell. I was getting bored here."

An awkward silence surrounded them.

'Come on, Zell…think of something to say, something to say!'

But he couldn't think of anything. The only thing that echoed through his mind was that Quistis had called him sweet.

"So…" she said after a while. "What did you want to talk about."

"I- I-"

If he didn't tell her today, he would never get to tell her.

"I have to tell you something."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I…please don't laugh…I…" he took one very deep breath. "I love you."

The silence that followed was worse than getting stabbed with a knife. After a while Quistis began to shuffle her feet. Zell coughed unsure.

"…so?"

"I- er, oh Zell…Zell, I'm so sorry…I…I don't love you…I love som- no one."

Zell sighed. "…I see. I hoped, I had hoped you might have left Squall if I told you…but I always knew you wouldn't."

When he looked up, he saw her face had gone pale.

"Sq- Squall? Whatever gave you that idea?"

He looked back at her. "I heard you…talking to him this morning."

"No. You didn't." she said coldly.

Zell felt angry. He could handle it if she didn't love him. He could handle it if she admitted the truth. But this, denying everything, that was too much.

"Oh come off it Quistis! I heard the two of you talking. Well, arguing. You told Squall everything I told you last night!"

"I did not!"

"I thought I could trust you!"

"Zell I-"

"No! I'm never going to be able to trust you again! Hell, especially not after this."

"…Well…well…" Her face was no longer surprised. She was now looking angry. And even more, she was looking mean.

"At least I've got someone now." She said with a sneer. "Squall loves me, he doesn't love Rinoa. He cares for me and that's more than I can say for Rinoa. She's nicely doing 'other stuff' isn't she. She's hurting Squall and that's something I'd never do!"

Zell was furious.

"She's hurting Squall? Well what about the other way round? You and Squall are hurting Rinoa together! I don't know which is worse. I never knew you were such a hypocrite!"

"You're just jealous." She said with a content sigh.

"Me? Jealous? Squall can have you, because I don't want someone who's as low and mean as you. What if he gets tired of you? He'll dump you and go back to Rinoa, because there's no way in Hell Squall will shove her aside."

He turned around and strode away. When he turned the corner, he found himself staring into two trembling green eyes.

"Hyne, Selphie. Don't scare me like that." He sighed.

"…sorry…" she said in a small voice.

Zell calmed down a bit and straightened his shirt. "…How much did you hear?"

"Just enough to hear you were angry…I was just looking for Quistis and the first thing I hear is you calling her a hypocrite."

"Yes…I…please don't ask. I…at least I tried to talk to her. I kind of always knew it would be like this. So…"

"Zell…Zelly, I'm sorry for you. I'm so sorry you had to get hurt." She gave him a hug.

"Thanks Seffie. You're an angel."

She let go of him and pushed him towards the main hall. "You just go to sleep. Rest. You'll feel better.

"What about you?"

"I'm going to see if I can replace someone…maybe relieve Irvine from his duty."

She pecked him on the cheek and skipped away.

That Selphie. Always out to help someone.

'Even scuzbags like Irvine.' He thought sourly.

He shook his head. He definitely needed to get some rest. This Quistis business was wearing him out.

---

His alarm clock beeped. Zell stretched out. Another day, his turn on guard duty. He wondered where Squall would place him.

But first, breakfast. To Zell's great surprise, he had slept well. He had expected to dream horribly, or to at least feel sad. But that argument last night had taken a lot of the sadness away. Of course not all of it. He was sure that if he saw Quistis, he'd burst into tears.

The kitchen was empty. But by the time Zell had finished his coffee the others had joined him. First Irvine had come in. He had poured himself a coffee and had rolled himself a cigarette. Zell assumed that, by the look on Irvine's rested face, Selphie really had taken on his shift.

Rinoa, Squall and Selphie came in next. Everyone seated themselves somewhere around the table and started to eat some breakfast.

"Has any of you seen O'kara about?" Rinoa asked after a while.

No one reacted.

"Hello? O'kara?"

"Nope…not at the front door." Selphie said. "Why?"

"Because I never heard him come home or anything. I was worried."

"He'll be alright." Irvine said. "He probably spent the night somewhere else."

"He wouldn't." Squall said. "I know because he told me he wouldn't break his normal pattern so as not to raise suspicion. He should've come back. He only went out for his usual game of cards."

Rinoa raised an eyebrow. "And he didn't come back last night? That's weird."

"Maybe," Selphie said. "He scaled the garden wall and came back through the side door."

They all laughed.

"Yeah, that's right! We'll ask Quistis, she was on guard there. Where is she anyway?" Irvine added as he looked around.

"Is she still on guard? She should come to eat something."

Rinoa stood up. "I'll go get her. Be right back."

Zell watched her leave. He didn't understand what Squall saw in her. They didn't seem to fit together. But as he thought how both of them were cheating, they suddenly seemed to fit together like hand and glove.

Yet, Rinoa was so much different from Squall. He was silent, she was cheery. He was a loner, she was a people's person. He was as cool as ice, she was-

His ponderings were interrupted by a loud scream. That was Rinoa.

Everybody scrambled up and headed straight to where the scream had come from.

Rinoa was on the floor, clutching her heart with her hand.

"What's wrong…What's-" Squall tried.

Irvine turned around the corner and doubled back almost immediately. His face had gone white. He couldn't speak and just pointed at the corner.

Zell wheeled around the corner. There, pale and drenched in her own blood, lay Quistis. Her blonde hair was scattered messily and her clear blue eyes were frozen.

His heart was beating in his throat. Quistis was dead.

"No…" he could barely whisper.

The tears he was fighting back burned harder than ever.

'She's dead! Oh Hyne…' it echoed through his mind. 'But what…how…who….why…?'

"Aaaaaaah!" he yelled as he sank to the floor.

He could hear one of the girls sob. He could hear Irvine was forcing Selphie to go back, not to look at the body. And he could hear one of the others cry as well. Squall was crying.

Zell wanted to get up, to run to Quistis, to at least move. But he couldn't. His whole body was paralysed.

Someone helped him up. It was Selphie.

"…Zell…Oh Zell…"

"She's…"

"Yes…she is."

"But how! Who would do this? Why!"

Someone coughed. It was Irvine. His voice was shaky.

"I…dear Hyne." He swallowed. "She died…by a sword."

Everyone looked up.

"…a sword? But how…?"

They all thought the same thing, but were too scared to say it. Zell tore his eyes away from the floor and looked at Squall.

"Why." He demanded.

Squall didn't respond. He was sobbing.

"For Hyne's sake, why Squall?" he yelled

"I didn't…" Squall stammered.

He stared around, panic in his eyes. "Honest guys…" He sounded scared. "I didn't…it wasn't me! I- I couldn't've!"

"You're the only one with a sword, Squall." Irvine stated quietly.

"How could you!" Zell yelled. "She loved you! She loved you." He started to sob. "…She loved you. And you loved her…she loved you...Hyne…why Squall."

"It wasn't me!" Squall yelled. "Honestly! I couldn't've! I was on guard with Selphie!"

A deafening silence fell over the group. Rinoa coughed. Her face was as white as a sheet. She was the only one who hadn't said anything yet.

"I- Can we just…go…I can't…breathe…" She pressed her hand to her mouth and ran away.

Selphie quickly followed her. Zell looked at Squall and Irvine. Irvine shook his head.

"Go. Go to the girls. We'll…" he swallowed again. "We'll sort this out."

Zell slowly nodded his head and backed out the corridor. He felt nauseous. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her body again. From far off he could hear the two girls in the living room.

Rinoa was crying into a pillow and Selphie sat next to her, one hand on Rinoa's shoulder, staring into the flames of the fireplace.

Rinoa's sobs were the only sound in the room. "She's…she's…Squall and her…they were…he loved her…he…loved…dead…"

Selphie just stared ahead. She didn't look at any of them. Zell laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Selphie…"

"I didn't…I didn't see her. I had my eyes closed…But I could smell…her blood…"

He wondered why he wasn't crying. Quistis was dead and he wasn't crying.

"Are you…alright?" Selphie's small voice woke him from his trance.

"Zelly?"

He let himself be taken outside.

"At least…at least she can't hurt you anymore…" she said, her voice small and quiet.

Zell's head snapped up. "What? How can you- are you completely-"

"I- no, of course not. I- I'm so sorry, Zell. I really didn't mean it like that. I- she just…a sword…I'm so sorry Zell. I really am." She stammered.

Immediately Zell regretted his outburst. "…Hyne…sorry Selphie. I just…"

But she nodded. He knew she understood. They went back inside and found Rinoa had stopped crying. She was sitting with her eyes closed. Irvine and Squall soon joined them. They looked tired, weary and scared.

"We…we tried to go outside…to bury…but we couldn't. the doors are all locked. Front and side…we can't get out."

"But…but…that means…we're…we're locked in!" Selphie stuttered.

Squall nodded bleakly. "…and there's no sign of O'kara…" he added.

Rinoa flew up from the couch and hugged him. "Oh Squall…what are we going to do!" she cried.

"Rinoa!" Irvine said sharply. "Let go of Squall. We still don't know if he did this or not. He could be a murderer."

"You might be that murderer yourself, for all we know!" Squall retorted. "You're not splitting us up, Irvine. We love each other."

Zell looked at him, Squall's face said everything his words did. Except his eyes. Zell saw that Squall was still crying. After all…his love had died, and now here he was, having to pretend he loved his girlfriend.

Suddenly it struck him how strange this sounded.

"What have you done with Quistis…now that you couldn't go outside?" Rinoa asked timidly, while shooting an angry glance at Irvine.

"Nothing yet." Squall said quietly.

"Maybe we should try and open that door that O'kara forbade us to open." Irvine said. "Like, the one Rinoa was guarding. Maybe we can find out more…maybe we can find a way out of here."

"…Yes…let's…let's do that." Zell heard himself say.

All he could think of was that they were locked inside in this house, one of them dead and another one a murderer.

Squall was the first to organise action.

"Right. Let's get moving."

"We're not all going…are we?" Selphie asked.

Irvine shook his head. "I agree with Selphie, guys. We shouldn't all go. Let the girls stay here. To wait."

"Wait?"

"Yes Zell, wait." For O'kara. Who knows, he might turn up. And if he doesn't…they'll stand on guard. Just in case."

Squall nodded. "Yes. Guards are a good idea. But I don't think the girls should be left alone…can't Zell stay here too?"

"Hey!" Selphie sounded undignified. 'We can handle it, okay? There's two of us. We're stronger than you think."

She stepped down on Squall's toe to give her words more strength. He didn't wince.

"Right. If you say so. Irvine, Zell, let's go."

Irvine quickly pecked Selphie's cheek. "See you in a bit."

"Good luck." She whispered back.

Zell hugged her too. "Take care." He told her.

She smiled weakly. "I will…you too."

Zell turned around and followed Irvine out the door. From the corner of his eyes he could see Rinoa trying to hug Squall. But Squall shrugged her off and walked away.

Right, well, that was the fourth chapter. Not that anyone's reading this… I hope it'll be a bit more interesting for you guys to read now someone died. And please review…I've only got another four chapters left to go. So not long now until you find out who did this…but I' not guaranteeing what might happen along the way. Not everyone is safe yet……

So, see that lovely little blue button at the bottom of the page? Yes? Please click on it and tell me what you think. Good or bad, I accept flames. Because if people tell me what they don't like about my writing, I can change it and get better a it. So…I'll be awaiting a review and I'll be ready to update soon if anyone wants to read more.

-Raven55