Squall paced the length of his office tirelessly. This was a crisis. It was bad enough the murder had happened in Garden but the suspect list was long. He had gotten from a courier a few minutes ago. It included seven of the eleven new students, and three of the new staff that had come from Deling City a week ago. Including a top ranking SeeD. The others were women, and according to the incidents involved in the murders, they had been ruled out.
Murder and rape in his Garden. Hyne, what else can go wrong? Zell gets scurvy from only eating those damn hotdogs all the time? Well, Squall did have to laugh at that.
A knock came at his door before he could chase his thoughts. "Enter." Rinoa stepped inside and saluted. When she saluted she always meant business.
"Squall, I have to leave on a diplomatic mission immediately." She stated, directly bypassing small talk.
"What?" Squall questioned, completely astonished. Rinoa had become a diplomat for Garden (and pretty much the whole world) since the events a year ago. Her sorceress power of empathy helped. She had also become the surrogate mother to about half of Garden. She always knew how to comfort people. "But the students need you here. I need you here."
"I'm sorry Squall." Rinoa sighed. "The tension is rising between Timber and Galbadia after the elections. Apparently the new mayor made a choice comment about Galbadia. If I don't go in and resolve this, it could end in a war." She must have sensed Squall's unease, "Don't worry, I'll only be gone a few days at the most."
Squall knew he couldn't change her mind. It had been Rinoa that liberated Timber in the first place, and it was still her passion. He always loved her for that passion.
"Alright Rinoa." Squall gave a sigh of stress. He just hoped, no prayed, nothing terrible happened in the next few days.
* * *
"What is it?" Leon's attention was immediately diverted to Seifer.
"The earrings are ripped out of each of the victims left ear." Seifer's skin crawled, it was just plain creepy. Leon examined the pictures and ended staring at the first with intense anger in his eyes. Seifer could tell that Leon was thinking furiously, about what he couldn't speculate.
"I can't believe I missed that." He seethed. "This means the killer probably has them all in his possession. Serial killers often take mementoes of their victims."
"They do?" Selphie asked.
"Ya, but sometimes they eat them." Selphie paled at Leon's words. "By eating part of the body, they figure that the victim will be with them forever." Selphie ran for the garbage can.
Seifer laughed a little to himself. That garbage can is now officially the 'puke bucket.' She had been in there earlier in the day, courtesy of the pictures. Leon turned away from her and lit another smoke. Seifer was feeling like one himself at the moment. As funny as Selphie's behaviour was to him, the mission was still as serious as they came.
"So what does this tell us about the killer?" Leon quizzed them. Mainly Seifer though, Selphie still had her head in the bucket.
"Sentimental." Seifer pondered aloud. "He must have known the victims before hand. Had some sort of an emotional attachment to them. We better put in if they knew about each other in the background checks. Also see who knew them." The clock rang for supper throughout Garden.
"Quitting time." Leon stated bluntly. "If you overwork yourself on a case you'll go squirrelly."
* * *
Selphie had a bad feeling. She had had this feeling for a long time now, starting a couple of months ago. She twisted her ring every time she thought about it. That feeling of horrible dread when you knew something was about to go very wrong stuck with her. Her shoulders were tense, her stomach was in knots, and her brow set in a worried furrow.
She was going to see Irvine.
The last couple months had been hard. Irvine had been distancing himself from her and she didn't know why. She had her suspicions though, and what she thought disturbed her more than the distancing. It wasn't like before, when he had taken her for countless candlelit dinners and romanced her in every way. Now the only time they got together was for a tumble between the sheets. It was true that their time was divided with missions but that was no excuse. Irvine was occupied with something else.
Or some one else.
Selphie pushed back tears that threatened to spill as she reached his door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She knew he wasn't on a mission right now, she had asked Squall. She was silent for ten seconds but no one answered. "Irvine?" She knocked again with the same response.
The petite brunette steeled herself and pressed her ear against the door. Thankfully she heard nothing come from his room. Which was a lot better then some noises that could penetrate through doors. He isn't home. Selphie settled on going for a trip to the Quad to clear her mind. The Quad always reminded her of good memories.
When she reached there, she reminisced about the Garden Festival she threw three months ago. That was the last time her and Irvine had been really close. It was a wonderful night complete with fireworks and love.
Selphie reached a bench that held special importance to her. During the peak of the fireworks Irvine had given her the ring that was on her finger now.
"Selphie?" Irvine looked a little nervous to her.
"Yes Irvy?" Selphie gave him a gaze of pure joy at that moment in time. The fireworks had been splendorous.
"I want to," He stuttered for words then. "I want to give you this." He held out a small box, opened, with a gold ring with a yellow gemstone in it. Selphie's eyes danced with the reflection of the fireworks and love for Irvine.
"It's gorgeous." She sang, almost a little afraid to touch it.
"It's a promise ring." Irvine had told her. "We're still pretty young but I want to promise that one day…"
Selphie never let him finish. She had given him the most memorable kiss in her life then.
Selphie sighed a little. Back then everything had seemed so perfect. She loved Irvine and her love was returned. Twisting the ring, Selphie sat on the bench and thought how things were changing between her and Irvine.
"Oh stop, you." A female voice, full of sexual playfulness, came from the balcony attached to the Garden. It was a new addition. A low laugh thick with desire was the only response. Selphie thought she heard a response too but it was too low to understand. "What again? This is the third time today." The girl came into sight, making herself oh-so-conveniently trapped against the balcony rail.
Do those damn students ever stop? Selphie thought bitterly. Suddenly her sense of tension and worry extinguished as the man stepped into view-
And the Heavens fell. It was Irvine. Oh Hyne, it was Irvine. And the couple started getting hot and heavy right on the balcony before retreating back into Garden, presumably into the dorms.
Agonizing tears streamed down Selphie's face. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. But she felt her heart shatter into thousands of tiny pieces of pain. Shock tore through her soul. I need to be alone, and out of sight. Selphie ran for her room, but not before she ripped the ring off her finger.
* * *
Seifer was currently enjoying a very hot shower. It was close to ten and the light had faded from the sky in a swirl of colours. He ran his fingers through his hair, enjoying the feeling. He got out and toweled himself off, putting on plaid sleeping pants and a tight black t-shirt. Normally he slept naked but he wanted go into the 'mystery box' as Selphie called it for a while first. He didn't think Selphie would be back for a while because she had gone to see Irvine. He liked having time alone, that way he could practice. He was just sitting onto his bed when Selphie barged in the door and slammed it closed with her body. She braced her small frame against the door and shuddered with silent sobs.
She was crying.
Her eyes were shut tightly but the tears still poured out. Selphie made a step for her room and froze when she saw Seifer. A look of utter horror crossed her face under the tears.
"I forgot you where here." She said meekly. Seifer thought she looked smaller than usual right now, like her fiery spirit had somehow been extinguished. Shame covered her face now. "I didn't want anyone to see me like this."
"What happened?" Seifer asked, genuine concern in his voice. He had never seen her as anything but perky or professional. This event changed how he thought of her entirely.
"Irv.." Selphie sobbed, trying to get out the words. "Irvine's," her tears took on a new vengeance. "Irvine's cheating."
He's what? Seifer felt a pierce of sympathy mixed with anger. No one does that to Selphie. "Can I do anything for you?" Seifer was never good at dealing with crying people but he felt the overwhelming need to help Selphie.
"No I," Selphie's breathing was erratic. "I need to be alone right now Seifer." With that she retreated to her room and closed the door. Seifer stood in the living room, feeling quite bewildered. Selphie had been hurt, terribly hurt. He had never seen her cry, and deep down it disturbed him. Selphie should be treated better than that. Seifer realized that he actually gave a damn about someone else.
He burst into her room on that thought. "Selphie you need someone right now." Seifer enlightened her with true caring in his voice. She had been sitting on the edge of her bed with her head down, but now she looked at him wide eyed and stopped crying for a moment. "You helped me Selphie, now it's my turn to help you." Seifer did something most unexpected then, he sat beside her and wrapped her in his arms. I hope this helps.
Slowly Selphie raised her arms and embraced him too. She cried into his shoulder. "Thank you." Seifer tightened his arms around her. In what emotion, Seifer didn't know yet.
"I'm with you Selphie." I'm with you.
~* * *~
Notes: Sorry how short this chapter is, but because I got so many reviews on the first two chapters I thought I'd try to get chapter up more often, even if they are short. Kinda had to make it short anyway, Selphie was the main focus of the story in this part. And just in case you were wondering, in my fanfic they don't have forensic labs and all that. Just to make it harder for my characters ^_^
And just in case anyone was wondering, I've been meaning to do this story for months but haven't had the time. I wanted to do it as a challenge to myself. So in later chapters please tell me in your reviews if Seifer and Selphie's relationship seems like it could actually work or not. Remember to review and I'll adore you!