"And now will you please welcome onto the stage, the beautiful pop sensation, all the way from Trabia … Miss Selphie Tilmitt!"
The crowd of thousands of people that were packed into the futuristic Deling City stadium went wild, as huge bright lights brought the stage out of darkness, and a spotlight centred on a petite, brown haired girl. She bounced enthusiastically onto the stage with all the hyperactive energy of a young child, and a huge, happy grin on her face. The echoed voice of the announcer died out as a fast beat was introduced, booming loudly out of speakers that were placed all around the audience. Backing singers, dancers and musicians, all in the same garish, brightly coloured costumes, followed Selphie out onto the stage.
"Deling cit-ay!" Selphie greeted her audience with a laugh. "Welcome to the show! Before we get things started, I just wanna thank each and every one of you for comin' down!"
She walked from one end of the stage to the other as she said this, pointing and waving to her adoring fans. The crowd cheered again, people jumped up and down, chanted Selphie's name, and waved huge banners in the air.
Selphie Tilmitt, ex SeeD member and Trabia pop sensation, was on the second leg of her very first worldwide tour, promoting her debut album, entitled Cowgirl. The high spirited young woman had finally achieved her dream – she was a famous singer with her very own band, and she couldn't have been happier.
Dressed in a bright yellow dress – her favourite colour – and with her hair flicked out in her trademark style, she and her dancers first entertained the crowd with a fast, energetic dance routine. After much applause, Selphie then made her way up to a small raised platform in the centre of the stage, and began to sing a catchy pop song as a different style of background music kicked in.
"This first song goes out to all my old friends at Garden!" Selphie explained cheerily into the microphone. "It's a remix of a sweet little song called Eyes on Me."
"Whenever sang my songs
On the stage, on my own
Whenever said my words
Wishing they would be heard
I saw you smiling at me
Was it real or just my fantasy
You'd always be there in the corner
Of this tiny little bar."
"My last night here for you
Same old songs, just once more
My last night here with you?
Maybe yes, maybe no
I kind of liked it your way
How you shyly placed your eyes on me
Did you ever know
That I had mine on you?"
"Darling, so there you are
With that look on your face
As if you're never hurt
As if you're never down
Shall I be the one for you
Who pinches you softly but sure
If frown is shown then
I will know that you are no dreamer."
"So let me come to you
Close as I wanted to be
Close enough for me
To feel your heart beating fast
And stay there as I whisper
How I loved your peaceful eyes on me
Did you ever know
That I had mine on you?"
"Darling, so share with me
Your love if you have enough
Your tears if you're holding back
Or pain if that's what it is
How can I let you know
I'm more than the dress and the voice?
Just reach me out then
You will know that you're not dreaming."
The song finished with an impressive, lengthy drum ending, and yet more wild dancing, before Selphie hopped back onto the raised center platform to begin the next track.
Taking in a deep breath and getting ready to speak into the microphone again, to give an introduction to the track Memories, that was when she saw him.
The dark brown cowboy hat bobbed in and out of the crowds, but was not noticed by anyone else, as they were all paying attention to the concert. There was a swish of light green as his undone coat fluttered about, and his long rifle bounced up and down on his shoulder, mimicking his footsteps. With a flick of his long brown hair and a polite tip of his hat, he slowly turned his head and gazed up at Selphie with dazzling eyes and a cheeky smile.
A horribly large lump rose up into Selphie's throat. She clutched desperately at her microphone with both hands, wanting to believe that what she had just seen was as real as it had seemed. The next song had already begun without her, but her mouth had suddenly become so dry, she couldn't sing. She didn't even know if she could talk, or move. After feeling a sudden overwhelming urge to be violently sick, she whirled around too fast, lost her balance as her eyes became cloudy, and collapsed onto the hard floor of the stage in an unconscious heap.
When she woke up, many hours later, Selphie was no longer on the stage. For a few moments she was quite disorientated and couldn't figure out where she was, until she saw a pair of casual red and black shoes on the floor right by her face – and she worked out that she was backstage, in her dressing room, on her bed.
The owner of the shoes, a bulky-looking blonde haired young man, helped the singer to her feet and sat her down in a nearby comfy chair.
"What happened, Zell?" she asked groggily while rubbing her eyes. They stung badly, as if she had been crying non-stop for hours.
Zell Dincht, Selphie's official tour manager, personal assistant, public relations manager, general aide and of course best friend, had changed quite noticeably since the Ultimecia War. He had grown upwards, but also outwards, albeit only a small amount. He had a broad, bulky chest, his upper arms were like tree trunks, and his face looked very mature now, due to a coating of blonde stubble around his mouth, chin and jaw line. But Zell was still recognisable as the peppy young SeeD member he once was. The intricate, detailed black tattoo that ran up the left side of his face remained, as did the overly styled blonde spikes that were his hair.
Zell noisily pulled up a chair, scraping the legs across the floor, and sat down next to his friend with a rather grim look on his face. He kindly reached out for one of her hands, which was shaking, and held it tightly.
"You've been out for about three hours," he explained, slowly and gently, "I saw you turn around, then you seemed to loose your balance and collapsed. You were hurried off the stage and brought back here. You were crying in your sleep and shouting out … well, you kept repeating his name. A few of us tried a couple'a times to wake you, but you were totally out of it. The audience went home, but don't worry, we haven't had any complaints – everyone's very worried about you. Selphie … what's going on?"
"I saw him again," Selphie blurted out with a great sob, then buried her face into her one hand that was free.
"Again?!" Zell repeated. "Hyne, Selph! That's the third time -"
"- this week! I know!" Selphie bawled, trying to hold back her tears, but they ran freely from her delicate eyes. She wiped them away urgently with shaking hands and tried very hard to compose herself, but it was useless.
"Selph," Zell began with concern, pulling his chair up even closer to her, "Don't take this the wrong way … but I think it's time we really thought seriously about seeing someone about all this."
"I'm not going mad!" Selphie protested, "He's there! He's really there, I know it! It can't just be my imagination!"
Zell bit his lip. "Come on, Selph. Irvine's been missing for five months now. Police and soldiers have searched the whole world for him –three times over. He's officially been pronounced dead."
"No!" Selphie cried, lashing out at Zell, trying to push his chest. He easily caught both her wrists and tried desperately to calm her down, shushing her. She sunk into a heap onto the chair, quivering all over. She kept repeating, "He's not dead. I'll find him. He's not dead…"
Zell gave a huge sigh and looked at his friend with great pity. He felt so sorry for her, and he felt so helpless. Selphie had seemed to be coping surprisingly well when it had been announced that Irvine Kinneas, Galbaia Garden student and member of the Ultimecia War team, was missing in action – presumed to be dead. There had been no funeral or service of any kind. No body was found, and no evidence to suggest that he had been at any major town or city in the world. There had been a search conducted, but it was useless. And over the past few weeks, Selphie had deteriorated into a helpless wreck, after she began having what could only be described as visions of Irvine – walking around, lifting up his hat, smoothing his hair – although she was the only one to ever see him. Selphie tried her best to keep up her bubbly image, especially while performing on stage, but it was now obviously proving to be much too difficult for the young woman.
"Come on, Selph," Zell said encouragingly. "Let's go back to Balamb Garden. Let's go home."
RP says: Just to let you know, in case you were wondering otherwise, I didn't write the song in this chapter. I once downloaded a remix of the Eyes On Me song and thought it sounded really good, so I could just imagine it here. I would have written my own, but I'm notexactly what you'd call a lyrical genius!