Disclaimer: I do not own anything that relates to FFVIII.
- Chapter seven: Ribbon -
She yelped, her eyes filled with tears. He felt uncomfortable. What should he do? He clumsily laid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.
"Shh…shh, it's okay."
"No it's not." She sobbed.
He cradled her in his arms. "Of course it is…the baby maybe won't be able to know it's father, but- wait, it is Squall's child right?"
Rinoa looked at him with scared eyes. "Y-Yes."
"Right."
"Please don't tell anyone. I want to tell them myself. Tonight."
Zell nodded Rinoa hugged him again and pecked him on the cheek.
"Thanks Zell. Selphie was right…you really do listen."
He watched the slim girl walk out the room. She couldn't have been pregnant fore long. Maybe two or three weeks, but certainly not longer. He was startled by a high-pitched scream.
He immediately recognised the voice. It was Selphie. He ran out the door and followed the echoes. He ran up the stairs and was nearly knocked over by a yellow flash. Irvine stood at the bedroom door.
"…Seffie…"
He looked powerless. When he saw Zell his eyes grew colder.
"You got what you wanted. I hope you're happy." He snapped.
Zell closed his eyes, letting this remark bounce off his skin.
"No, I'm not." he answered. "I'd be happy if none of this had ever happened."
"Yeah well, it did. Live with it." Irvine remarked dryly.
Zell ignored it.
'The question is if you can live with it, Irvine.' He thought darkly. 'Just wait until Rinoa opens her mouth at dinner.'
---
The kitchen was awkwardly empty. Irvine was sitting at the left side of the table, while Selphie had taken refuge next to Zell on the other side. Rinoa had been the last to come in and forcedly sat down next to Irvine. He tried to put an arm around her but she shook it off.
The table was awkwardly silent. A feeling of emptiness filled Zell as he looked at the two vacant seats at the heads of the table. He couldn't help wondering who'd be the next one to go. They had only been here for three nights and already two of them had died.
He looked up when Rinoa broke the silence.
"I…I want to tell you all something."
She glanced nervously at Zell, who gave her an encouraging smile.
"I- I'm pregnant."
Selphie dropped her fork. "What?"
"I'm carrying Squall's child. And…I just wanted to say that, when we get out of this dreadful house, I'll go away. I'll go live with my father, he'll understand and he'll take care of us."
Irvine had gone unusually pale. "Rinoa…"
She gave him a blank stare and immediately sat down to eat again. Zell shook his head. Irvine had broken up with Selphie to be with Rinoa, who was pregnant with Squall's child. How much more messy could this get?
He felt sorry for Selphie. She had been hurt and that had been for nothing now.
'No, not for nothing. At least she know what a scumbag Irvine really is.'
But still, it couldn't get worse than this.
---
He had gone to bed early that evening. Selphie had taken refuge in one of the other bedrooms and Irvine…Zell didn't know. He only knew that Irvine had been pale that entire evening.
Zell turned over in his bed. Somehow he couldn't get to sleep. Normally this only happened when he was worried about an oncoming test.
He yawned. He felt a soft smile play around his mouth when his eyes finally started to droop. Sweet sleep was waiting for him.
Suddenly he jumped out of bed. Outside his door he heard a woman crying. He peeked through the keyhole. It was Rinoa.
She was leaning against the wall, her knees pulled up to her chin. Irvine was standing over her.
"You little…it can't be his and you know it." He hissed.
The girl just remained on the floor.
"You said it yourself. He didn't love you, so how could it be his? You didn't let him touch you, did you? Tell me!" he demanded.
"Just leave me alone, Irvine. There's nothing left to say. I'm not yours anymore. I don't love you!"
Irvine snorted. "Don't you? Do you honestly believe you can get out of this so easily? I'm not letting you go. I broke up with Selphie to be with you and now you tell me you don't want to be with me anymore. Why are you going anyway, because you can't forget poor Squall? I know you still loved him."
"I begged you not to tell Selphie! I begged you on my knees! I wanted to tell you but you didn't listen. You never do."
Irvine grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up against the wall.
"Don't talk to me like that." He hissed. "If you leave, I'll find you and make you pay."
He pinned her against the wall and pressed his lips against hers. She struggled to get loose. Irvine pulled back and smirked. He brought his mouth to her ear and whispered.
"I will kill you both."
She slapped him in the face with a flat hand and let out a scared yelp when he just smirked. Finally he let her go. He turned around and strode out the corridor. Rinoa fell back to the floor. She stood up and quickly wiped away her tears.
She looked around to see if anyone had witnessed this scene. Zell held his breath. He didn't want Rinoa to know he had seen this. Somehow he felt she'd feel much happier if she thought no one knew.
He felt anger inside him rise. How could Irvine be so cold blooded and heartless.
He silently crawled back into his bed.
'Someone has to teach that bastard a lesson.' He thought angrily before he finally fell asleep.
---
Zell opened his eyes when he heard the birds happily singing away. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and got up. He unlocked the door and headed out into the corridor, still wearing his pyjama's.
He met up with Selphie at the bottom of the stairs. She was already dressed, but she had cast away her usual colourful clothes. Instead she wore a black dress and black boots. He shuddered. Mourning clothes? Because of Irvine?
He looked up as he heard noise from the living room. Rinoa was rummaging around muttering to herself.
"Where is it…"
Zell poked his head around the corner and watched her. "Rinoa…what are you doing?"
"I can't find my red ribbon." She answered. "The one I had in my hair yesterday. I thought I had left it here."
"Come on, Rinoa. Let's get some breakfast first."
He took her arm and dragged her into the corridor.
"Hey Selphie…" Rinoa tried to sound cheery, but didn't manage it.
Selphie didn't respond. She kept her mouth closed and didn't even seem to recognise Rinoa. Zell laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Seffie? You look pale…are you alright?"
Selphie shook off his hand and headed for the kitchen. Zell waited for Rinoa, who cast another look around the living room.
'What's so important about that ribbon?"
"Squall gave it to me. That's all. It's…the only thing I planned on taking with me to my father's."
"Oh…"
Silence.
"Come on. Breakfast."
He took her hand and guided her towards the kitchen. Selphie didn't look back at them and walked in. Two seconds later she came out again, her face even paler than before. Or was that just because her dress contrasted so much with her pale skin…
Zell let go of Rinoa's hand and rushed forward. "Seffie, what's wrong? Seffie!"
He shook her shoulders back and forth.
"Seffie, answer me!"
Selphie just stared back with blank eyes. Zell pushed her into Rinoa's arms. "Rinoa, hold her."
He opened the kitchen door and even before he saw it, he guessed what he would find.
Irvine was sitting at the table. Around his neck was a dark red ribbon. His head was leaning backwards awkwardly.
"Hyne…"
Behind him he heard a gasp.
"Rinoa…"
He rushed forward and jerked the ribbon loose from Irvine's neck. He thrust in on the ground with a disgusted look. He hung Irvine's arm around his neck and lifted him from the chair.
"Where are you taking him?" Selphie's voice sounded from the doorway.
"Quistis." He answered shortly.
He turned around and left the kitchen, burdened by this lifeless body. From the corner of his eyes he saw Rinoa crying on her knees, the ribbon clutched to her chest.
When he came back, the girls had seated themselves at the table, as far away from each other as possible. He felt a vice in the air. Hostility.
He coughed. "We have to talk."
"I'm not talking with her." Selphie snapped.
Zell scratched his head. Rinoa, teary-eyed, had tied the ribbon around her wrist. He felt he had missed something important.
"Selphie…we don't have much choice. We need to talk."
He sat down.
"Three of our friends have died. One of us is doing it. It has to be one of us."
The girls stared at him, both with fright written on their faces.
"First Quistis died. Then Squall. Now Irvine."
Rinoa got up from her chair.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I can't-"
Pressing her hand to her mouth she ran out the kitchen. Selphie quickly got up from her chair as well.
"I think we'd better leave it unspoken." She said quietly.
Zell nodded. He looked at her. He could see her face was pale and she had dark circles around her eyes, even though she had tried to conceal them with make-up.
He pulled her into a hug. "Are you okay?"
"…yes."
"How are you feeling?"
"Terrible. I might have been angry with him, but I still loved him."
"Selphie…he didn't deserve you. Hyne, he's such an asshole."
"You mean 'was'." She corrected quietly.
He watched her go into the living room. He leaned against the wall.
'One by one.' He thought.
It surprised him how used he had gotten to all this death around him in only a few days. Where was his sadness? Where was the pain? And who was the one who did all this? Who wanted to get rid of them, one by one?
Was it Selphie? She wasn't really upset with Irvine's death…but Quistis. How did Quistis fit into it.
So…was it Rinoa? Squall had been cheating on her with Quistis…and Irvine had threatened her…could Rinoa really…
He thought back to what Irvine had said.
'Innocence's got nothing to do with it. Look at Rinoa, she's as innocent, naïve and sweet as an angel, but look at how sweet she really ended up to be.'
Had Irvine been right? If so…then either he or Selphie would be next. And Selphie had been arguing with Rinoa only minutes ago.
'I won't let it come to that!'
He would protect Selphie, he would protect her with his life if necessary.
Yay, a review :) thank you JadeAlmasy for the nice review. Was it really that noticeable that I was going to make Squall jump? Oh well, he was very distraught with Quistis' death…so why not!
Well all you readers out there….this is your last chance to tell me if you think I should really really consider something specific, because there's only ONE more chapter to go! Now I've had a few people telling me I should make it a Zelphie…which was never my intention…I'm not saying if it will turn out to be one…but don't get your hopes up too much… made just a hint :)
Okay, well, I'll see you guys at the next and final chapter I hope. You know what…I'll cut you a deal!
If I get….say….two reviews before Wednesday I might just post it then. You see, I'll need a mental cheer-up because I've got a karate exam coming up next Wednesday and I'm not sure I'll pass…so if you could cheer me on by posting a review, I'll be very, very grateful.
-raven55