Chapter 12: Fell In Love With a Girl
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the FFVIII Characters.
Zell sent a punch flying towards a soldier, who fell to ground unconscious. He looked around as he had lost track of Selphie and Squall. He trailed his quick glance downward as he saw the familiar girl in the yellow dress bent over something. He pushed his way through the fighting over and widened his eyes as he took in the sight, "Oh, Hyne…" he said.
Selphie didn't look up. She stared at Squall's face for any indication that he would wake up at any moment. Or that she had simply imagined what happened.
"Selphie, let's get him to the Infirmary," Zell said quickly.
She shook her head and stared at Squall worriedly, "There's no way we can get through everyone..."
Seifer was nearby fighting and saw the three. "Whoa, that really sucks," he commented.
Selphie clenched her jaw. An extra pair of hands would definitely help them get to the infirmary quickly, no matter who was helping. "Seifer, shut your mouth and help us."
"And why should I?" Seifer asked with an arched eyebrow.
Selphie did not have time for this. "Because if you don't help me and something happens to Squall, I will take your gunblade and Squall's and shove them up your---"
Zell and Seifer's eyes widened. "Whoa! Alright…Fine," Seifer said quickly, not wanting to hear the rest of her sentence. He sheathed his gunblade and bent down, lifting up Squall's shoulders, while Zell picked up his feet.
"Be careful," Selphie said as she watched them.
The three carefully made their way towards the infirmary, avoiding as many encounters as they could. Selphie looked back and saw that they had left a trail of blood. She could now tell that Squall's wound was deep.
They carried Squall's body inside and set him on the first free bed. Selphie instantly returned to his side, watching the blood continue to pour out of the wound. Zell and Seifer went back out into the ongoing battle. Selphie wanted to help in the fight, but the life of the person she loved was in danger and that was more important to her.
Dr. Kadowaki rushed inside the room and cut off his shirt to examine the wound more closely, "Oh my…"
Selphie swallowed hard and her eyes grew as she looked at the doctor, "H-how bad is it?"
"It's bad," the doctor replied honestly. "He needs a blood transfusion quickly if we're even going to have a chance in saving him." She left the room and proceeded to prepare everything.
Selphie forgot about the wound in her side and on her cheek. Each began to sting. She wiped away the blood on her cheek. She couldn't help but feel guilty for what happened to him. If she hadn't stepped out of the way, she would be the one laying lifeless.
The doctor returned within a few minutes and began the blood transfusion. She handed Selphie a cloth and some medicine to apply to her wounds, but she refused to take them, "Just take care of him first. I'm fine. Worry about him now, okay?"
The doctor nodded and began cleaning out Squall's wound.
Selphie sat down and watched intently.
A few hours had passed. The fighting had ceased. There were only a few casualties, but the battle was a win for the SeeDs of Balamb Garden. Selphie had also finally allowed the doctor to tend to her own wounds.
Zell walked into the Infirmary and took a seat next to Selphie, "Hey, Selph."
She looked over at him, "Oh…hi."
"How you doin'?"
"I have no idea, really," Selphie said.
Zell looked at Squall, who was still unconscious, "How's he doing?"
"He lost a lot of blood…but, she says none of his important stuff got punctured inside, so that's good. But the blood loss is bad…"
"How bad?" he said, looking back to Selphie.
Her voice wavered, "He…he might not wake up."
Quistis was outside the room and had heard everything. She let out a sad sigh as she walked into the room, looking at them, "I'm so sorry, Selphie." She bent down in front of her.
Selphie looked at her and nodded slowly. She felt her bottom lip trembling and wrapped her arms around her friend's neck, crying quietly, "I don't want him to die."
"I know," Quistis said and returned her hug.
"I can't lose him, Quisty. We finally sorted everything out and everything was going to get really good a-and I don't know what I'm going to do if I lose him," she said as tears continued to pour. She was sick of crying. It seemed like she had been crying more than smiling the past few days, and she absolutely hated it. Why couldn't things just work out? Why couldn't she be happy again?
Zell frowned as he looked on and offered a comforting hand on her shoulder, "He will, Selph. What happened to the annoyingly optimistic girl I knew? Squall's strong, you know, he'll wake up and come back to you."
Quistis nodded, "Yes, Selphie. He's right," she couldn't believe she had agreed with something Zell had said, but she shook the thought away, "You are both strong. He knows you are here for him and will find a way. Don't worry."
Selphie let go of Quistis and leaned back again, nodding to their comments, "I hope you're right…"
Zell smiled and nodded, "There you go. Don't lose that hope." He stood up and motioned to Quistis that they should leave. She nodded and followed him out of the room.
A few more hours passed and Squall still had not woken up. Selphie still sat in the uncomfortable chair, dozing off now and then. She finally let sleep take her as her tear ridden eyes would not stay open any longer. Dr. Kadowaki came by and draped a blanket over her and went back to work.
Rinoa had heard about the attack on Balamb and was curious to make sure everyone was all right, even if they had had a sore goodbye. She did not see any of her 'friends' while walking around during the early morning, so she headed to the Infirmary to see if anyone had gotten hurt. She poked her head into a couple rooms before seeing Squall laying unconscious on the bed. She stepped into the room carefully, her hand over her mouth in shock. She then looked over to see Selphie turned sideways in the chair, sleeping soundly. She narrowed her eyes for a moment, then leaned over the sleeping Squall. "Squall?" she whispered softly. She leaned down, planting a kiss on his forehead.
Squall stirred slightly, quietly moaning in pain as he slowly began to regain consciousness.
Rinoa smiled and leaned down again, kissing him softly on the lips.
"Selphie…?" Squall called out as Rinoa pulled back, his eyes still closed.
Rinoa scowled, straightening up and crossing her arms, "No, it's not Selphie. She apparently doesn't care enough to stay awake."
Selphie heard Rinoa's voice and furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes fluttered open to see Rinoa standing over Squall's bed, "What are you doing here?" she asked, rather calmly, although her voice was full of confusion.
Squall's head was hurting too much to comprehend the different voices. He wasn't even sure where he was. The last thing he remembered was seeing Selphie move out of his view as he was punctured in the abdomen. Right, he was stabbed. Remembering that, he was conscious of that pain and winced quietly.
Selphie rubbed her eyes and quickly stood up, moving over in front of Rinoa to lean down over him, seeing that he was starting to wake up, "Oh, thank Hyne, you're okay," she said, letting out a breath of relief.
"No thanks to you," Rinoa said coldly.
Selphie turned her head and shot a glare at her, "Just go. I thought that was clear last time you were around." She was definitely not in the mood to deal with the ice queen, not now anyway. She just wanted to make sure Squall was okay.
"Selphie..?" he called out quietly again.
She felt tears brimming her eyes, but from happiness this time, "Yes, I-I'm here," she said a smile forming on her face.
"Well, this is just so cute," Rinoa said sarcastically, "I'm actually here when he wakes up, while you're sleeping, and he's more glad to see you. How perfect."
Selphie sighed, feeling exasperated by her presence already, "Rinoa, just get out of here. Squall doesn't like or love you anymore. I'm sorry you can't deal with that, but he loves me. He said so himself, so you can't try to deny that anymore. Y-you should just stay out of our lives and let us be happy. If you cared about him at all, you would be happy for him and want him to be happy."
Rinoa looked hard at Selphie, "I want him to be happy, but I want to be the one making him happy. You haven't been with him; I have. You don't know how to make him happy."
Selphie arched a slightly amused eyebrow, "Apparently you don't either. He left you, so I don't think you were making him all that happy."
Rinoa advanced on her, getting in between her and Squall. "You don't know anything about our relationship. So, you should just shut your mouth right now."
To Selphie, Rinoa appeared to be towering over her, although she was not much taller, "I just know what I saw and what he told me, okay? I'm not passing judgment on your relationship…You just…you had your turn and messed up, so let me have my chance with him. If I mess up, then fine, I don't care, try to win him back, but leave us alone for now."
"Hmph," Rinoa stated, "Maybe, but this is not over. It won't ever be." She moved forward, bumping into Selphie forcefully, knocking her back a few feet and into the wall, as she walked out of the room.
Selphie regained her balance before falling over and rolled her eyes. "Give it up," she mumbled under her breath. She shook her head, then came back to reality as she looked at Squall. She carefully kneeled beside his bed.
Squall tried to open his eyes, but they would budge only slightly. The soft, caring face of the girl he loved blurrily came into view. "Selphie…," he said, mostly to reassure himself that she was there.
She reached over, brushing his messy hair out of his face, "You're okay."
He winced softly as the pain from his wound shot throughout his body, "I…guess so."
She pressed her hand against his cheek, her thumb stroking it lightly, "I was so worried…we didn't know if you were going to wake up." She leaned down, kissing his other cheek gently.
"I…what happened, anyway..?" Squall was able to open his eyes a little more, the room and Selphie's adoring face coming in more clearly.
"Oh,…well," Selphie was almost embarrassed to tell. It was her fault he was injured, after all. "There was a soldier, who was about to stab me, a-and I guess I didn't know you were behind me, so I moved out of the way, and he got you, instead," she said, her mouth curling under into a frown.
"Oh…" Squall said, vaguely remembering.
"I'm so sorry, Squall. I-I would have taken the hit if I knew you were behind me," she said.
"You damn well better not even think that," he replied, his voice surprisingly stern, despite his current state. "I've seen you hurt once and it killed me... I couldn't go through that again. I would rather die before letting you get hurt again…"
She nodded slowly, "I know…but, seeing you like that killed me."
One side of Squall's mouth curved upward, "Then…I guess we can't be getting hurt anymore."
Selphie finally fully smiled and kissed his cheek softly again, "Good, it's a deal"
Squall moved his fingers to make sure he still had feeling in his hand, then slowly reached his arm up to cup the side of Selphie's face. He noticed the cut across her cheek, "What happened there…?"
She had forgotten about it over night, "Oh, just one of the consequences from fighting. My arm is cut too, but definitely not as bad as you. So, don't even worry. I'm totally fine," she told him reassuringly.
"If you say so…" he told her, moving his hand to the back of her head. "Was Rinoa here…?"
Selphie made a face, "Yeah, she must have come in when I was sleeping."
Squall said, "I see…" He paused for a moment, "How long were you in here…?"
She thought for a moment, "All night, pretty much. The battle was yesterday, so…yeah, since last night." She smiled again, "I wanted to be here for you because you're always there for me."
Squall stroked her hair gently, "…You have no idea how much I love you." He pulled her head down closer to his, pressing his lips against hers softly.
Selphie smiled into the kiss and thought, 'Everything's going to be okay now.'
A few weeks later, Squall had fully recuperated and had been getting back to his normal routine as Commander. When he wasn't working, he was spending a lot of his time with Selphie. Although it had only been a few weeks, the two were getting along very well and having a blast together. The phrase "opposites attract" could definitely be applied to their relationship. Most people around them could tell that they had never been happier.
Selphie walked down the stairs into the Quad to see Squall sitting on a bench. She smiled to herself and walked over, sitting down next to him, "Heeey," she greeted him cheerily.
Squall turned his head to look at her with a small smile, "Hey.." He found her hand beside his leg on the bench and took it into his own. Selphie curled her fingers around his hand, her smile widening. She leaned against him, her head resting against his shoulder. 'This is happiness,' she thought, letting out a dreamy sigh.
A couple walked across the Quad, a few feet away from the bench that Selphie and Squall were occupying. But, this couple happened to be Seifer and Rinoa. In the past week, the two had apparently bonded over each of their rejection, although it seemed as though the two were just using each other to make Selphie and Squall jealous, but no one knew for sure. Selphie and Squall, in particular, could care less. They were happy and that's all that mattered to them.
Rinoa stuck her nose in the air as the two passed Selphie and Squall, "Hmph."
Squall leaned his head down, kissing the top of Selphie's head lovingly, barely noticing them.
Seifer smirked, looking at them, "Aww, look at the two love birds, how adorable," he said sarcastically. He turned to look at Rinoa, then back to them, "I give them another two weeks at the most."
Selphie and Squall looked at one another and, in unison, smiled at each other, saying, "…Whatever."
The End
Thanks for reading everyone and I appreciate all the reviews! I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but now the story is finally complete. I hope everyone enjoyed it as a whole and if I get any more ideas for this one, I may write a sequel. For now, though, this is the end. Anyway, look for more stories from me in the future! Thanks again, everyone!
Much love and thanks,
Your author,
Stephanie