Chapter Five: Ebony Truth

Author's Note: I see you. I love you. Review!

"If you come here, you will find me. I promise," Squall said beneath his breath. He sat on his balcony with his legs falling over the side.

Thoughts swirled around his head like a storm, gaining strength and intensity. He knew that he should be downstairs, questioning Seifer as to why he was back. Rinoa already tried that… damn that was a mistake, putting the two of them together. What was he thinking? "Damn!" he exclaimed, hitting the rail with the open palm of his hand.

Had he not been so busy, he would have definitely gone done there himself. Everyone seemed to be so wrapped up in their owns problems…

Out in the distance he saw a car, and something inside him stirred. He knew what was inside that car. It was her, his Matron. At last she was returning to them, but why? He felt so strange, not knowing whether or not he was happy that she was coming back to them. Was it a mistake that he did all this?

"There they are," a voice said from behind him, making him jump.

He swiveled his head on his shoulders and saw Quistis standing at the entrance to his balcony. The voice wasn't happy.

Squall wanted to say, "I'm sorry," but the words died on the tip of his tongue. Instead he swallowed and waited for her to continue. He figured that she would be angry. Very, very angry. And now she was here to… what? Yell at him? Fight him?

"How dare you?"

"Listen, Quisits, I know that you're mad at me-"

"Shut up!" Quistis yelled. "What do you know? Do you honestly think that Cid will just give me back his precious Balamb Garden if he thinks that I may not be doing it better than he ever could? You are bringing him back here, bringing him back to power here, and casting me aside like I'm nothing!"

In a blink of an eye she was right beside Squall, whip out and ready. "I stayed by your side through everything, and you don't trust me enough, not even know!"

With his most even voice, he replied, "I don't have much reason to trust you right now, do I?"

She glared at him with angry eyes. "Don't think you know things. Don't assume that I'm going to allow this to just gloss over. It won't."

Spinning, she started running back through the room. "And you!" she shouted. Squall assumed that she was yelling back at him, until he heard Zell stutter a "What?"

"You!" she shrieked with enough force to impress banshees. "You just play along with it! Don't think I don't know why. I am well aware what's going on, and, and!"

Apparently out of things to say she stormed out of the room, rattling the doorframe as she slammed it behind her with all her might.

There was a moment of silence before Zell appeared behind Squall. He didn't bother to ask what was wrong, he knew. Instead, he opted to go for what he originally came to tell his leader. "Squall," he said softly, making sure he had the other man's attention.

"Yeah?" he said, his voice fading.

"Rinoa's gone."

That sparked something in Squall. He leapt to his feet. In an outrage he screamed, "What do you mean?"

Zell hung his head, preparing himself for the impact he hoped never came. "It's Selphie. Rinoa thinks she knows where she went, so she left to go find her. She told me to tell you."

Squall got right up in Zell's face. "Where did she go?" He was fighting a losing battle at trying to keep his voice calm.

"She-she didn't say. She left in a hurry."

"And you let her?"

Now it was Zell's turn to get angry. "What? Yes, I let her go. You want to know why? Because you won't let her do anything. She can't help with anything here, so why not let her out there, why not let her do something productive instead of being shut out by the man who loves her!"

Squall reached for his blade. "What did you just say?"

"Oh, cut the bullshit. You protect her so much, even though you know that she is stronger than you will ever be!"

Throwing his hands apart, spreading his legs, Squall shouted, "Get out! GET OUT!"

Relieved to be given a command that he would actually follow, Zell ran from the room. He couldn't help but cast one look over his shoulder. Seeing Squall standing there, poised, ready to cry, to scream, made something inside him churn. Somehow this wasn't the way he saw this encounter going.

She ran, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. Down the stairs, across the quad, and into the hospital wing she flew. Once she was just inside the sitting room, she let the door fall closed and leaned back against it, panting. The rage that shook her body and disrupted her breathing wanted an outlet, but she was determined to not do something she would undoubtedly regret later.

Never in her life had Quistis felt this out of control. Struggle as she may, she could not regroup.

Why am I here?

Looking up, she realized where she was. What exactly was she doing in the hospital wing? The sitting room was blessedly empty, but still…

Then it hit her. She had to talk to Seifer. She had to have some answers before she went insane. Trying to gather her wits about her, she went to his room, typed in the code outside the door to unlock it, and stepped inside.

Caraway was very open and welcoming to Selphie, and in the few days she had been there she already felt much more comfortable, much more at home than she had ever felt at Balamb. The older man seemed very interested in what had brought Selphie there, which she said only a few things. That she needed space, that she needed a little time. He was more than accommodating.

Selphie woke up one morning and felt rather groggy. She left her bed wearing only the oversized shirt that she had worn to sleep the night before. Walking softly down the hall, not wanting to disturb anyone, she jumped when she noticed Caraway standing in his open doorway, silently watching her. There was a strange flicker that ran through his eyes, a kind of fire that dissipated instantly when he saw her watching him.

There was this strange moment when they both stood, frozen. Neither one wanting to break the silence, no one wanting to ask the first question. Selphie felt instantly revealed and pushed her shirt down her thighs as she hurried past the older man and into the bathroom.

Shutting the door behind her, she told herself that it was just a weird coincidence, that it meant nothing either way. Oh how she wanted to forget the past two minutes and continue on living here. If she tried hard enough, she could push it away. And if nothing more came out of it than what just happened, she knew that she could move on.

She searched the countertop for toothpaste and found none.

"Figures," she said. No one had used that bathroom since Rinoa had left, so they had probably taken everything they didn't want out of it. She bent her knees and opened the cabinet on the bottom.

Sorting through everything, she reached into the shadowed corner and her finger was pricked by something sharp.

"Ow!" she quipped.

Curiosity taking the best of her. Reaching in, she grabbed the basket that held whatever it was that pricked her. It kept getting caught on things. Slightly frustrated by the time she got it into her lap, hey eyes went wide when she discovered what was inside.

It was an ordinary razor, one that may have been removed from a shaving razor. Except this one had some stains on it that Selphie was fairly certain wasn't rust.

"Tragic, isn't it?"

Caraway's voice from behind her startled her, but she didn't want to show him that. If there was any chance of her staying here then she was going to have to put on a pretty good act. At first she didn't even want to turn her head, but she forced herself to, nice and slow.

He was staring past her, at the small piece of metal in her hands. "What drives someone to do that?" he asked, not bothering to have his first question answered.

"I don't know," Selphie said, trying desperately to read his emotions. "Something awful, I suppose."

Sharp eyes met hers. There were the beginnings of anger there, and Selphie didn't understand why. What had happened in this house?

"I guess, something unforgivable."

It surprised her to find him agreeing with her, but she wasn't certain why. "Everyone makes mistakes," was the only thing that seemed appropriate.

Without warning he grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her up against the smooth white wall of the bathroom. The basket tumbled from her hands and the contents scattered about the floor. He thrust his body up against hers and she wanted to cry out but his hand slapped over her mouth just in time. Leaning in close, he smelled her skin, breathed her in. Panting, he whispered, "You are not to say anything. Not one word. Or I'll have two bad girls on my hands."

Pushing himself away from her, he ran back into his room, the door settling gently into it's frame behind him.

Author's Note: Sorry this took a while longer than usual. Rough day. I probably won't have another chapter posted until at least Monday afternoon. Sorry