Title: A Knight, a Lion, and a Little Messenger Girl

Chapter 11: Fade Away

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the FFVIII Characters.

Squall pulled the crying Rinoa off of him, "What do you think you're doing?" he asked out of anger and surprise.

"C-coming to you for…for comfort," Rinoa said as she continued to cry.

Squall crossed his arms, taking a few steps back, "We broke up, remember?"

"I-I know but, I thought you would still let me in…" she whimpered softly.

"Fine…if I listen to whatever the hell your problem is, will you leave after that?" he asked, sitting on his bed.

She nodded and sat next to him closely. He scooted over a few inches, but she moved close to him again. He sighed inwardly, then said, "What is it…?"

She looked at him with big, tearful eyes, "My father kicked me out…said I was wasting my life away o-or something. He-he wants me to find some kind of job or go back to school. I-I don't know…"

Squall looked at her, feeling annoyed, 'So that's what this big fuss is about?' He shook his head for a moment, "So…you came to me."

"Yeah, I figured you could help me..." Rinoa said, watching him carefully.

He sighed loudly and fell back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, "And how am I supposed to help you? …And why should I? You left in such a dramatic way, yelling at me and everyone. I don't have any obligation to help you."

"Y-you're right! A-and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I just miss you so much and want to be with you again," Rinoa said, turning around to look at him.

He turned on his side to face the wall, "Too bad…I like someone else now."

Her eyes widened, then she laughed slightly, her tears subsiding easily, "Oh, please. Don't tell me it's Selphie."

"Why do you care who it is? So, you can go yell at them?"

She rolled her eyes, "Nevermind, Squall."

"Okay, you're done with my help, so get out. Now."

"But, Squall…I just need a place to stay for the night. I won't bother you at all. I promise," she told him earnestly.

"Fine…but get out of here in the morning," he threw the blanket on his bed onto the floor along with one of his pillows. He knew that making her sleep on the floor was rude of him, but barging into his room in the middle of the night was even ruder. So, he could care less. He closed his eyes and fell asleep within moments.

Rinoa watched him for a moment, then undressed, putting on one of his t-shirts to sleep in. She had done it all the time before, so she didn't think it would be problem now. But…she didn't used to sleep on the floor. She laid on the floor, putting her head on the pillow and pulling the cover over herself. She fell asleep soon afterwards.

In the morning, a faint knocking could be heard on the other side of Squall's door. Rinoa rubbed her eyes as the sound awoke her from her sleep. She sat up and saw that Squall was still asleep. She got up and went to the door, opening it slowly, "Yeah?"

Selphie's smile that she was still wearing from the night before instantly fell. She couldn't breathe for a moment as she saw, to her horror, Rinoa standing in the doorway of Squall's room wearing only his shirt. "O-oh…" she said, although it was barely audible as her mouth fell open.

Rinoa raised an eyebrow at Selphie who looked as though she had seen a ghost. She then realized that Selphie was the person Squall liked and seeing her there probably freaked her out. "Do you need something?" Rinoa asked sweetly.

"O-oh…" Selphie repeated. For a moment, she couldn't bring herself to move or speak. She finally closed her mouth and turned on her heels, running down the hallway as quickly as her legs could carry her.

Rinoa shrugged and closed the door behind her. Squall was just waking up and sat up as he moved some hair out of his face, "Who was that…?"

"Selphie, she didn't say anything though, just ran away," Rinoa said as she sat on his bed.

Squall rubbed his eyes and finally saw what she was wearing. His mouth fell open, "Wait, Selphie? And she saw you like that?" Rinoa nodded. "Oh, shit…shit, Rinoa." His eyes widened as he got up from his bed quickly, pulling on his coat.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To go find her…" He looked hard at her, "When I come back, you better be gone…and put your real clothes on for Hyne's sake." He rolled his eyes, sighing loudly as he moved to the door. He opened the door, slamming it behind him.

"Oops," Rinoa said with a smirk. She changed into her regular clothes and freshened up. 'Maybe now he'll see that I'm better than her. If she liked him, she should be the one knocking on his door in the middle of the night…or already in his room,' she shook her head as she headed for the door. 'Well, if he doesn't see it, she sure will, especially from seeing me.' She opened the door and left his room, walking calmly down the hall towards the cafeteria.

Selphie kept running, she didn't know where she was going, but she was going to find some place to hide for the day. Her room was too easy, so she looked for somewhere else. Her heart was pounding, and she couldn't get the image of Rinoa out of her head. Why was she there? She wasn't here earlier. Selphie didn't understand and didn't want to. She didn't know what she was feeling as she ran.

Meanwhile, Squall was running around trying to find her. He rushed into the cafeteria, looking around frantically. Zell saw him and said, "Squall? S'up, man?"

"I need to find Selphie," he said quickly.

"Why? Did something happen?" Zell asked.

"Rinoa happened, that's what."

"What?" Zell exclaimed with wide eyes, "You two didn't…" he trailed off.

"No!" Squall yelled, "Of course not. She just barged into my room in the middle of the night whining about something and so I let her stay there so she would shut up."

"Oh…I get it. Does Selphie know about it?"

"Apparently… She came to my door this morning and Rinoa answered it only wearing one of my shirts," he said, putting his hand to his forehead.

"Oh man…so, she probably thinks you two—"

Squall nodded. "I need to find her…"

"Well, I haven't seen her, but good luck with that, man," Zell patted Squall on the shoulder.

Squall nodded and walked towards the door as Rinoa came into the room. He brushed passed her quickly and continued his search for Selphie.

Zell's eyes widened as he saw her, "So…it's true."

"I'm guessing he still hasn't found her, has he?" Rinoa asked innocently.

"Why do you care? You broke up with him," Zell said.

"I just think he is searching for the wrong person…and I still love him, actually, probably more than that insane girl will. So, I am trying to get him to see who is better for him."

"I vote for Selphie."

Rinoa sent him a glare and turned around, dramatically walking out of the cafeteria.

After a few hours, Rinoa wandered into the Training Center to see if they had changed anything. Monsters still roamed free, and she quickly walked through it to the 'secret area'. "It's still so pretty in here," she said to herself as she walked inside. She went to lean on the wall and look out at the scenery. She then turned around and leaned back against it. She looked around and saw someone huddled in a dark corner. She squinted her eyes and saw that the someone was Selphie. She had to hide the smirk that was about to form on her face as she walked over to her. She knelt down in front of Selphie, who looked as though she was in a daze.

"Selphie, are you all right?" Rinoa asked, looking concerned.

Selphie didn't look up as she concentrated on something on the ground and in a quiet voice said, "Are…you with Squall again?"

"Well, yeah," Rinoa lied, "He called me last night and desperately wanted to me come over. So, I did and we made up."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, he was telling me how crazy he was for liking some girl around here and really missed me instead."

"Oh…" Selphie repeated as she stared down blankly.

Rinoa watched her, "Oh…Oh my gosh, were you the one he liked?"

Selphie nodded slowly, "I…I thought he liked me."

"Well, I guess not. I mean, would he let me back in his room if he liked you?" Selphie shook her head. "Well, just between us girls, Selphie, he told me he never really liked you. He just felt sorry for you after what Seifer did." Throughout her few hours of being there, she had learned the events of the past few days since most of the girls in the garden enjoyed gossiping.

Selphie swallowed hard. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but somehow thought it was all true. Maybe Squall was just lying to her the whole time. She never understood why he did what he did for her…maybe he just had the same intentions as Seifer.

"You know, he said he was just lonely without me, so he turned to you as an alternative until he could have me again. You should have known he would never go for anyone like you. You're his exact opposite and I'm just his type. That whole 'opposites attract' thing never works out, so you should really just get over him. It'll never work."

Selphie felt as though her body was crumbling to pieces. Everything was happening so fast. Her first chance at something good was slipping away…and it might have been a lie the whole time. She couldn't believe that though. She didn't think the kiss they shared could have felt the way it did if Squall did not feel the same or something for her.

"You know…he was also probably just trying to use you like Seifer was until I came back."

"Please…just go," Selphie said quietly.

Rinoa shrugged, "All right. I just thought you should know the truth." She stood up and walked out of the secret area.

Selphie pulled her knees up to her chest, pressing her face against her legs. She wasn't crying this time, but she was in more pain than anything of the past few days. She couldn't tell if Rinoa was lying or if she was dead serious. Anything was possible.

Suddenly, heard throughout the Garden, were several crashes against the roof and glass shattering.

An announcement rang out throughout the Garden, "Attention: All students, the Galbadians are attacking. They want to take control of the Garden and eliminate all SeeD's. I repeat: Galbadians are attacking. Underclassmen report to your designated safety areas and all upperclassmen and SeeD's : eliminate all soldiers."

Squall looked up as he heard the announcement on his way to the Training Center. 'Shit…' He still hadn't found Selphie and the Training Center was the only place he hadn't looked. Luckily, since he was headed for the Training Center, he had his Gunblade with him in case he ran into any monsters on the way. A soldier dropped down in front of him. He sliced through him with ease and continued on his way to the Training Center. He didn't have time for an attack right now, even though he couldn't really plan these things. But, the fate of the world just wasn't important enough to him right now. He had to find Selphie. She was probably confused and possibly hurt by now.

He rushed through, not seeing her yet. 'Right...secret area.' He ran into the secret area, looking around quickly. "Selphie?" he said, and then saw her flipped out hair peeking out from the darkness of the corner she was covered in. He walked over to her carefully, setting his gunblade down for a moment.

She looked up slowly, her face full of pain, but she wasn't crying and he could tell she hadn't been either. She had probably cried herself out the past few days. "I'm sorry, Selphie."

"I…don't care, Squall. If you want to be with her, then be with her. Just stop lying to me," she told him.

"Lying to you…? I would never—"

"I thought I could trust you…you, the one person always there for me. But, I guess it was all just an act. You were just waiting to set me up and make me all happy, then you call her and invite her here! Were you purposefully trying to hurt me?"

"Call her? What? What are you talking about?"

"You called her and invited her here, then you two made up, right?" she asked.

He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head, "No…she showed up at my door crying and invited herself inside."

"But, that's not what…"

"Rinoa said?"

Selphie nodded slowly, realizing Rinoa was the one trying to hurt her. Of course. She felt dumb for falling for it in the first place. She knew better than that. She really needed to learn to be less gullible. But, there was still something that was bugging her. She narrowed her eyes at Squall, "Then why was she wearing only your shirt?"

"I…don't know. Really. I woke up, and she was wearing that."

"Why did she stay with you, anyway? You guys aren't together…you could have turned her away."

"Yeah…I guess."

Selphie sighed, looking away again, "I get it."

"Get what?"

"You still…like her," Selphie said with resistance.

Squall looked appalled, "Like her? Rinoa? Are you crazy?"

"No…I mean, it's not crazy to still like her…you guys had a long relationship."

"Yeah…" He shook his head, "I've been over her since she stepped off that train. I don't think we would have worked. She's too dramatic and whiny…and drives me insane."

She nodded, "Not disagreeing with you there," she looked at him, trying to hold back the giggle.

He noticed and let out a small laugh himself. He took her arm and pulled her up so she was standing. "I really am sorry…and I don't even know why I let her stay. It was three in the morning and I was too tired to care." He really felt bad, especially for seeing her in pain and knowing he was the one who caused it. He pulled her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head gently, "I'm sorry," he said again. "I'm going to make this up to you…" She looked up at him, wrapping her arms around him as he stroked her hair softly.

She smiled a little, then looked around, "Well…I think we should get through the day first…didn't I hear something about an attack and eliminate SeeD's… meaning us?"

Squall looked around as well, "Right…we should get to the dorms somehow so you can get your weapon." He let go of her and took her hand, running out of the Training Center quickly, his gunblade in his other hand. She ran with him, looking around as she saw Galbadian soldiers everywhere. 'This is so weird…must be related to the attack at Trabia,' she thought.

Zell was fighting as he saw the two running out of the Training Center and up the walkway. A soldier crashed down behind them, ready to strike, "Behind you!" Zell yelled to them.

Selphie glanced back, her eyes widening as she saw the soldier about to slash through her. "Squall, watch out!" she called as she moved out of the way just as the soldier's sword made a small slash on her side, but kept going forward. 'Phew, close one.' She then felt Squall's hand let go of hers.

She looked forward at Squall, who had stopped walking, then she saw it. She thought Squall had moved out of the way… But, he was standing there with the soldier's sword piecing through his middle. Her mouth dropped open. She had no weapon. She didn't know what to do. Squall dropped his gunblade as he fell forward, and the soldier pulled his sword out of him. The soldier grinned and turned towards her. She looked down at him for a moment, feeling fear and anger. She picked up his gunblade, which was ten times heavier than she thought it would be. The soldier raised his sword ready to do the same to her, when she lifted the heavy gunblade and swung. The soldier was slashed up the middle and fell to the ground, dead. She dropped the gunblade with a clash and fell to her knees beside Squall. She touched his back tentatively, feeling the blood from the wound. "Squall…?" She slowly turned him over onto his back and saw that most of his white shirt was soaked with the blood oozing out of him.

She sucked in her breath at the sight, "Oh no…" She put her hands on his wound to try and stop the bleeding, "Squall…no, please no…" They were in the middle of a battlefield, but Selphie didn't look up from her fallen comrade…and love. He couldn't be hurt. He just couldn't. Not after everything… She felt a sword slash the side of her cheek, but she didn't look up as Zell rushed over to stop the soldier from doing any more damage. She felt the blood falling down her cheeks, which began to mix with silent tears that began to fall as she watched Squall, still applying pressure to the wound.

Her voice was barely a whisper as she saw the slow rise and fall of his chest as the blood continued to pour out of the wound, "Squall…"

To Be Continued…

Dun dun dun! Next chapter on its way soon. Thanks for reading and I appreciate your reviews muchly, so thank you to those who have reviewed.