FFVIII Fanfic

Chapter 2: Graveyard Kisses

First Person POV (Selphie)

Midnight. The halls of the Garden, though silent as the grave, were ominous in the darkness, the usually harsh lighting of the daytime now toned down to the dimmed yellow lights of the night hours.

I crept along the wide hall, sneaking past the guard at the front entrance to make sure he didn't see me and sound the intruder alarm. The only reason for this was the curfew, which, though it allowed SeeDs two more hours after the students, was still enforced tightly. Unless it was an emergency, rules were rules, even if you were a best buddy of the headmaster.

As I ran out of the front gate and into the starlit, cloudless night, I caught sight of a Bite Bug buzzing around the trees near Garden. I ran towards the creature, intent on destroying it- I'd hated the damn things ever since I became poisoned by one of them on a mission. I'd laid in bed for days, feverish and hallucinating, until the doctor finally made up a strong enough antidote to cure me. Now, the droning whine of the bugs made me almost insane.

I ran towards the monster, but it flew away from me, leading me through a forest and into the Fire Cavern, where I found myself in the familiar surroundings of red and scorched rock, with the dead bodied of Bombs and Red Bats- the remnants of a student expedition- spread across the floor. I continued to chase the bug until I arrived at the natural home of the Guardian, Ifrit.

As I reached the fiery hole, I spotted a dark figure crouched beside the hole, a face staring into the lava collecting in the pit and spewing out in small sprays of molten fury. I moved my hand up to protect my eyes from the fierce light and saw the Bite Bug shot through the chest with a lump of lava. I chuckled, gratified, then saluted as I recognised the person near me as Squall.

"Sir," I shouted over the roar of the cave.

Squall's face shot up in surprise. I giggled as I realised that he hadn't known I was there until I'd spoken. I loved making him jump; it was so easy to do when he was quiet and thinking.

"Selphie," he said, "It's after hours, there's no need to salute."

"I know." I smiled at him as he made his way over and looked at me. The sadness on his face belied the authoritative tone in his voice, making it easy for me to tell that something was wrong.

"Gil for your thoughts?" I said.

"Just tired." He slowly turned and walked away, stumbling occasionally stumbling over the rocks in the path. It was obvious that the events of today were troubling him, the note and the attack on Rinoa. He looked slightly drained and pale, even in the red light of the cavern. Even ten years after the battle with Ultimecia, he was still very private about his feelings. But I never gave up without a fight, so I chased after him, following as he left the cave.

"Hey!" I yelled. I saw the glint of his gunblade in the moonlight as he disappeared into the forest and a roar followed shortly after. I caught up with him and found myself staring directly at a huge T-Rexaur, sweeping its tail from side to side in a rage.

"Ya know you're not supposed to fight these things alone, right, Squall?" I asked.

"SeeD rules, blah, blah," Squall yelled, "do as I say, not as I do!" he ran straight at the monster, his weapon aimed directly at its heart and pulled the trigger as he struck-

"Huh?"

"Squall, watch out!"

Too late. The monster swept Squall off his feet and smashed him into the ground, roaring and growling. As it ran off, I rushed to where Squall was lying, dizzy and bleeding.

"Curaga!" I shouted, focusing the energy through my shinobou and surrounding him with a healing green light. He rose slightly off the ground, then sank back again as the light dissipated. He sat up and glared at the empty space where the dinosaur had been, then down at his gunblade.

The metal had ripped where the bullet had tried to leave the chamber and the glowing blade was torn- almost shredded- at the bottom.

"What in hell…" he muttered, studying the gun barrel and frowning. "It looks like… someone's tampered with it- it's not Pulse Ammo in the chamber- these ones are too big to escape the gun barrel… who the fuck changed my ammo?!"

"Who has access to the Lionheart?" I asked.

"Just the weapons specialists in Esthar and-"

Just then, the T-Rexaur came stomping back into the clearing and raced away towards Balamb.

"We can't let that thing get into the town!" Squall shouted, jumping to his feet and running after it. I followed, running fast through the forest, trying to ignore the thorns that scratched me and cursing those legs for being so short, when I nearly lost sight of Squall.

"Squall, leave it!" I shouted, "you can't beat it with a broken weapon!" As the monster escaped into the cover of another forest, I grabbed Squall's arms and tripped him up with my foot to stop him chasing it again. He landed with a loud thump and swore as he stood up again.

"Leave me alone, Selphie!" he shouted, stamping his foot in frustration. Staring at the town, he must have realised that it would be safe, as he sighed and kicked the ground with a resigned air.

As I looked around, I let out a small cry. Squall snapped his head up and muttered;

"What?"

I could do nothing but dumbly point at stone carving about four feet away. I sank on my knees on the earth as I heard a sharp hiss from Squall.

"Oh, Selphie, I'm sorry," he said.

In this Garden graveyard- dedicated to the students we lost and the SeeDs who lost their lives on missions- not four feet away was the memorial, created a year ago, dedicated to someone I loved, someone who'd died on a mission to help the resistance groups in Timber drive out the Galbadian forces once and for all. The words in the stone were faded but they might have been written in fire, they way they burned into my eyes:

WE REMEMBER
IRVINE KINNEAS
MISSING IN ACTION
SHARPSHOOTER
LADY'S MAN
LOYAL FRIEND
WHEREVER YOU LIE
REST IN PEACE

There was no body beneath the stone. Two months after he was declared missing, his bloodstained coat hat turned up on the doorstep of the resistance leader- Zone. Inside was a note… saying 'he never stood a chance.' Quistis, Zell, Squall and Rinoa had come and told me together…

"Selphie, I'm so sorry…" I felt glad when I felt Squalls' strong hands on my shoulders. I turned away from the stone and flung myself against him. He held me tight as I sobbed into his chest, shaking violently as the tears flowed freely. I was embarrassed, but the flood of memories was too strong to hold back.

"God, Squall," I said miserably, "…I can't handle being so alone."

It was then that I looked up at him. In that moment I saw something completely different in his face, as he half stared, half gazed at me. He looked into my dark eyes with his beautiful sapphire ones and, as I looked, it was as if an electric tension crackled between us in the dim light of the moon and the stars.

I felt Squalls' hand moving up to my hair and sliding onto me cheek. It seemed we drew closer to each other, closer and closer until-

Our lips closed together and my eyes closed as the kiss sent waves of calm through me, almost drying me eyes with the outburst of feeling. Squall held me tight while I held his jacket by the shoulders.

As the kiss grew slower, I opened my eyes. I could have sworn I saw a silvery flash- like metal- a few feet away, along with a swish and rustle of clothing, but the sensations of the kiss pushed my suspicions to the side. I sighed inwardly and thought; Wanted this for so long, no more loneliness, yes a perfect kiss, I'm sorry Irvine, I-IRVINE?!

"No!" I suddenly yelped, jumping back from Squall. What was I doing, kissing a married man not far away from my dead lovers' memorial?!

Squall looked at me in dismay. He lowered his arms and stared at the ground, kneeling on the grass, which left little stains as she shifted his weight from one knee to the other. He looked up at me and said:

"Selphie, I… I'm sorry..."

"I... I'm…" I spluttered, "what did you think- what were we doing?!"

"I just couldn't help it," Squall replied. He stood up and tried to walk towards me, but I stumbled away from him and ran. I used all the power in my legs to get away from him as he chased after me, but to no avail- he was the faster runner and soon enough I felt his strong arms halt my escape, spinning me around, he looked at me angrily. I squirmed and struggled in his grip but he held me firmly.

"Selphie!" he shouted, "Selphie, please, calm down!"

Still I struggled. I could hear the various pleas from Squall, telling me to calm down, shutup, wont you please be quiet, Selphie? I found my body stiffening as a grey light surrounded me, freezing my limbs and rooting me to the spot. The bastard has cast 'Stop' on me!

Frozen in place, I had no choice but to listen to Squall as he begged me not to tell Rinoa about the kiss.

"Don't tell Rinoa, dear God don't tell Rinoa. Please, don't tell her. She'll freak and I couldn't take that right now, just keep it between us, please. Believe me, I didn't mean for it to happen, but you were so sad and I wanted to make you happy…"

When he finished his rant, he cast 'Esuna' on me, releasing me from my stone-like state.

"Don't EVER do that again!" I screamed at him, slapping him sharply smartly round the face. He winced as he touched the hand-shaped red patch on his skin.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he yelled, "just promise me you won't tell anyone. Not Rinoa, not anyone!"

"…Fine," I replied. As I turned to go I heard guns firing manically just behind me and Squall's voice erupting into the din:

"GET DOWN!"

I turned and threw myself on the floor, evading bullets that went streaming over my head. In the dim light, I could make out several darkly clad figures rushing around, bullets streaming out of the black guns. I crawled over to where Squall was lying on the ground, keeping out of the way of the attacks.

"Dammit!" he shouted, "there's no space to summon or even cast a protect spell!"

Suddenly, the guns stopped their deadly fire and a voice rise out in the dark;

"Leonhart! Your days are numbered, and your family wont be around long enough to you die!"

"Squall!" I whispered harshly. I could see his face contorting in fury, his menace and hatred against these people showing in his now twisted features and white-knuckled, shaking hands.

"Don't try anything!" I warned him, "don't forget, your gunblade's broken!"

"What am I supposed to do?" he hissed back at me, "just let them kill us?"

"Squall, I-" I began, but I was interrupted again by the sudden whoosh of a sword slicing through the air and the click of a trigger being pressed. A tiny but bright explosion erupted in the dark and one of the figures fell to the ground. A swirl of material brushed my face and there was a cry of pain in the background, followed by several more of the flaring explosions and several more bodies collapsing in heaps.

"Who the hell…" I heard Squall whisper. Within five minutes, the group of attackers was dead, bar one, who lay wheezing on the floor, blood spewing from his lips. The mystery helper disappeared into the night, leaving Squall and I alone in the cold graveyard. We stood up and walked over to the last living attacker, and Squalls' eyes seemed filled with a cold fire.

"D-Don't hurt me," the dying man whimpered, his hand covering his eyes in fear. I smiled wickedly and pulled out my Shinobou out of its holder, a leather belt circling my waist.

"I'm a SeeD," I replied calmly, "what else am I gonna do?"

His eyes opened wide in terror, his mouth stretching in a large O and the fear silencing his cries as I brought my weapon down on his head. His skull smashed and blood spilled on the grass. He twitched- the last movements of any dying man- and then was still, silent, and dead.

"You know what this means, don't you?" I said to Squall.

"Yeah," he sighed, "I'm gonna have to go to Esthar, too. I will NOT send Rinoa there by herself."

Slowly, we walked back to the Garden, the sounds of the night buzzing and humming around us. I avoided looking at him, to halt the tension that still lingered, awkward but electric. It was hard for me to say goodnight to him when we reached the dorms, where he and Rinoa were staying until their house in Balamb was fixed up. But then I remembered Irvine and the guilt inside me erupted until I ran away from Squall in tears.

Finally reaching the comfort of my room, I threw myself on the bed and cried myself to sleep, smothered in feelings of guilt, anger and longing- not for Irvine… but for Squall.