A/N:Thank you to all my reviewers for being patient. I won't take so long to update next time, promise!

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'You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.'

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Rinoa awoke with a start from what had been a somewhat peaceful slumber. Squalls black satin sheets were humid from her perspiration and were clinging to her body, making it hard for her to move easily. Not wanting to wake the sleeping gunbladist beside her, she blew air upwards into her face in the form of an over-exaggerated sigh, that left her sleep tangled fringe messier than it was before.

"What's wrong?"

Rinoa jumped slightly, startled by the sudden onset of the soft, masculine voice which had whispered into her ear.

"Nothing. I thought you were asleep."

With all the grace and agility of a feline, Squall moved himself over from his side of the bed, to be closer to the sleepless girl next to him. He softly snaked his arm across her stomach, curling his warm hand around her hip and tugging her nearer, so as their bodies touched beneath the silken sheets. Rinoa turned her head to meet pastel blue eyes, gazing at her intently, questions hidden within their crystalline depths. In truth, she really didn't know what had awoken her. Usually, she slept soundly, lulled to sleep by the hum of the Gardens engines and the warmth of Squalls lithe body pressed up against her. But the past week had been anything but usual. With the frequent visits to Selphies bedside, and the numerous consoling talks with Irvine, she had become worried about the both of them and hadn't been so easily lured into the world of slumber.

"Is it Selphie?"

Although Rinoa knew her boyfriend still had his watchful eye on her, she was once again startled out of her thoughts by his voice, which resonated off the walls; coaxed into echoing by the silence of the early hours.

"Maybe. I don't know why I woke up."

"I do."

"What?"

"It's something to do with your buried sorceress powers."

"Oh Squall, just leave it out."

The brunette lifted his head away from the comfort of his pillow and turned on his front, propping himself up with elbows, shaggy hair leaning into his eyes.

"I'm not joking around, Rinoa."

Rinoa still lay on her back, but kept her chocolate-coloured orbs trained on Squall in a watchful manner.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter."

The raven haired teen wondered why the gunbladist had lost sudden interest in the subject matter, but soon found out when she followed his path of sight. Tutting, she hoisted her small, low-cut pajama top up over her cleavage and smacked Squall lightly on his stomach.

"Stop it!" A tone of mock anger filled her voice, "We were being serious!"

The once-sullen brunette lifted his gaze and apologised with a tiny smile before he carried on talking in a hushed voice.

"Your sorceress influences lay dormant in your subconscious, which, by the way is completely safe, so don't start worrying. But, I read in a book that when something happens that can provoke a lot of emotion in the mind, it stirs up some sort of . . . psychic ability to those close to you. Perhaps the Selphie-Saga triggered something."

"Squall! Don't call it the 'Selphie-Saga'! How insensitive are you! . . . Sorry. You're right though."

"That's okay; don't stress yourself out over this."

Rinoa let out a small sigh and turned over onto her right side, so that she was facing her boyfriend, despite him still being propped up on his elbows. Suddenly, the petite girl, having taken into account what she had just been told, dawned upon a realization. If she had gained some sort of psychic link to a person close to her, that person being Selphie, then . . .

"Oh my Gosh!" Rinoa sat straight up, letting the satin sheets slowly slip down from around her upper body. "What if something's up with Sef! I didn't just wake up for no reason; I woke up with an image of her in my mind! Oh, what if she's dying! There's no doctors around at this time, the ward is closed, and everything's locked up and there's no ferry for us to get over there and even if we did then how would we get-,"

"Rinoa . . . sshhhh."

The ivory skinned girl turned to her boyfriend as he reached out to stroke her silken hair.

"She'll be okay, Rinoa. Trust me."

With some of the unease lifted from her mind, she settled back down, comforted by Squalls arms wrapped securely about her small waist. As simple as it may be for others to brush matters aside, she couldn't help but think of her comatose friend, alone and vulnerable, as she drifted off to sleep.

…………………………………………………..

Irvine stood tentatively outside a heavy, double-oak door, engraved exquisitely with the signature of Balamb Garden and the name 'Cid Kramer' in the middle in simple, silver blocked letters. The sharpshooter was waiting for his blonde friend to make an appearance. He had specifically told him to meet at one in the afternoon, no later. Yet here he was; standing solitary with the second hand on his watch pointing to ten past the hour. Irvine sighed whilst running a hand through his wavy, sun kissed tresses and wondering if he should go into Cids office on his own. No sooner had he made his mind up, that Zell came sprinting around the corner, the soles of his highly worn (yet highly cherished) trainers slapping the tiled floor and sending echoes out in all directions. He had an apologetic look upon his boyish face, with a slight crimson flush around the apples of his cheekbones. The cowboy didn't want to hear his excuses, be them true or false, so he silenced the blonde with an ungloved hand.

"Let's just get this over with."

Zell nodded in approval, sensing that his taller friend wasn't in the finest of moods, therefore probably wasn't up to engaging in mindless chatter. Instead of knocking, they simply pushed open the carved doors in front of them, startling a rather busy looking Cid. Despite the somewhat rude interruption of his work, the middle-aged man greeted the two with a warm smile that sent his eyes creasing up with endearing wrinkles.

Irvine spoke up first, before either Zell or Cid could. "Sorry to interrupt you Sir, but-,"

"Not at all! No call for formalities boys, after all, I've known you since you were both in nappies." Zell cringed at the thought. He liked Cid, and indeed it was true what he had uttered, still, he didn't wish to be reminded that the old man had seen him in various states of undress.

"Cid, we're here for a very important reason. It's . . ."

Seeing his friend fail with his words, Zell stepped in.

" . . . Selphie. It's Selphie. We thought you should know . . ."

Cid sat forward in his brown, leather chair, the fabric creaking in protest of the sudden movement. He took his glasses away from his face and rubbed his weary, over worked eyes, no doubt tired from the endless signings and agreement papers in front of him.

"How is dear Selphie, boys? Still the same cheery girl I remember?"

Irvine looked away from the older man, suddenly unable to look him in the eyes, unable to talk for fear of his throat constricting and tears welling up in his mauve-tinged eyes. Once again, the small martial artist spoke up, just as Cid seemed to notice the worrying change in Irvine's being, a noticeable furrow playing across his brow with fret.

"Selphie . . . she's in hospital . . . due to an incident which occurred at The Garden Dance less than two weeks ago today."

The worried look, which now seemed to be permanently etched into his face, grew deeper with the sudden news of one of his much cared for students being in a hospice.

"Oh gosh. I had no idea, no idea at all. No-one informed me of this. How is she?"

Zell looked to Irvine, but couldn't see his face because of the way of his head was hung, creating a curtain of hair over the right side that he was trying to view.

"She's . . . not good. Ever since the accident, she's been in a coma."

The expression upon Cids aging features was that of intense concern as he looked to Irvine, then to Zell and back to Irvine again, half hoping that the information just exchanged was part of a cruel trick they had decided to play. When neither of the boys said anything else, the elder man let out a long sigh, once again taking off his spectacles and rubbing the rim of his nose.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Do either of you know how or why this accident happened?"

At this question, Irvine re-appeared from under his barrier of hair and shot the blonde next to him a warning glare. When they had discussed what to tell the Headmaster, the small martial artist seemed hell-bent on letting the older man know what had been going on with Selphie; and just who he suspected launched the attack. Irvine had immediately shown his disapproval, by means of shouting viciously at Zell, telling him he was stupid to think that Cid would sort the trio of cruel girls out and accused him of trying to chicken out of dealing with the problem themselves. The small blonde had thought it best, then, to let his friend take charge. At this very moment though, he seemed to be doing the complete opposite by letting Zell do the talking. However, he had heeded Irvines advice and told Cid the very same thing they had told Doctor Lauder down at the hospital.

" . . . We think it was a backfired joke that some under-classmen's set. Some sort of fireworks mixed with vial formed magic, maybe. Sef was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The elder man, who still sat at his desk, glasses off and a stunned look upon his creased up face, replied to Zell with a sharp nod.

"I can't quite believe that no-one informed me of this sooner-,"

"Well, we-,"

"No, no. Not you boys. I'm talking about Doctor Kadowaki, or even the Garden faculty. I'm taking a guess that Selphies at Dollet Hospital, seeing as it's the largest and most frequented."

"Yes Sir, err, Cid," Zell answered back, beginning to shuffle to and fro on his feet, eager to move about; the timely length of standing still finally getting to him.

"I shall have to go and visit her soon . . ."

An uneasy silence followed Cid's last sentence, whilst the three men simply stared at each other, waiting for one or the other to speak up. Zell looked to Irvine, noticing that his mood didn't appear to be so dark anymore. . . But the sadness was still there; he could tell by the way his mind seemed elsewhere and by the clouded amethyst colouring of his eyes. One only got that hazy look when filled with such turmoil. The small blonde turned to leave, saluting Cid and tugging on the cotton rim of Irvines t-shirt, signaling that they had done what they came to do and it was now time to go. Just as the auburn haired gunshooter turned on his heel, Cid called out his name.

"Could I have a word please?"

Irvine stopped walking and looked to the elder man, who then proceeded to send a small smile in Zells direction. When the blonde finally got the message that he wasn't needed, he muttered a small 'oh' and skittered out of the heavy oak doors.

"Irvine, please take a seat, if you wish."

Not wanting to seem impolite, the sharpshooter strode nearer to the headmasters desk and pulled out one of the maroon, velveteen chairs. Leaning forward, he placed his forearms to rest upon each knee, letting his hands dangle aimlessly in the space between. He could feel Cids spectacle rimmed eyes boring into his skull, wanting to ask questions, but at the same time, not wanting to appear too eager to find out answers.

"Irvine . . . I am so very sorry to hear about what has happened to dear Selphie. I can see it's taken its toll on you and Zell."

"Yeah, it's been hard . . ."

Due to habit, Cid took off his glasses once again and, removing a satin cloth from his top drawer, began to clean the lenses fervently. Whilst doing so, he looked across his paper laden desk at the boy in front of him. Something in him could sense that Irvine was much more deeply affected by the situation than he let on. Cid put it down to himself having been around a lot longer than his students; therefore, getting to know every single emotion there was possible for a teenager to go through.

"Am I right in saying that you were . . . the closest to Selphie, out of your little group of friends?"

Irvine suppressed a frown, though he wasn't sure why that particular expression was trying to push its way out in the first place. He simply nodded in answer to the older mans question.

"Were you . . . an item at all?" Cid coughed uncomfortably at his own prying, shifting around somewhat in his seat and gaining a slight rose blush to his moderately wrinkled face.

The gunsman looked downwards at his dangling hands, not entirely sure about how he should respond, which, in turn, caused him to grow frustrated. No, we weren't an item. I fucked it up by screwin' around behind her back, then I fucked it up again by letting her get bullied, and oh, just for old times sake, I fucked it up once more by pretendin' I didn't care, when all I really cared about . . . was her. Somehow, Irvine didn't see that going down well with the middle aged man sat waiting expectantly and patiently in front of him.

"Oh . . . we were close . . . but . . . it didn't get that far. We were together at the Dance; I was her date, but . . ."

Cid sighed. "Well, things don't always go as we wish them to. Believe me, I've realized that now. You're rather fond of her, aren't you? I can tell. I was exactly the same with Edea at your age."

Irvine let out a small huff of a laugh before feeling a slight smile pulling at the edges of his lips. The elder man sat before him wasn't as strict and forboding as one would expect a headmaster of such high orders to be. In fact, he was almost too soft, and too fatherly for anyone to think he could set a just punishment for those who had broken one too many of Balamb Gardens rules.

"Irvine? You can take as long as you want away from you're studies and if need be, any upcoming missions. I know what it's like to be a teenager and in love. I was young once too. Much more foolish in my ways than you of course, but young none the less."

Much more foolish? I doubt that. I'm the biggest fool alive.

"Thank you. I don't want to fall behind, so I'll do my best."

"Good boy, good boy. You can go and join Zell now, or whoever you're off to see next."

The auburn haired teen once again thanked Cid, feeling much more at ease around him now, than he did when he'd first set foot in the office a few minutes ago.

"Oh and Irvine?"

"Yes?"

"Send Selphie my love."

…………………………………………………

Celia Rosmund sat in front of her dresser mirror, running a hairbrush quickly through her well kept, blonde hair. Her two friends, Amber and Nichi sat on the single standard dormitory bed, admiring their ringleader's reflection and chatting aimlessly whilst they waited for her to perfect herself. Seeing as it was their day off, they had decided to go out on the town, to frequent one of the small back alley nightclubs that Balamb had to offer. Celia pouted her full lips; pumping up a lip gloss she had in her hand, ready to apply the red liquid to complete her outfit. It was a simple red dress with small shoulder straps, made out of a stretchy fabric which clung to almost every body part. The dress, which she had picked out from an expensive, out of town boutique, barely reached past her buttocks, leaving little to the imagination. Celia's friends had chosen to dress in similar attire, Nichi opting for a slinky, black two piece set (which was equally clingy and equally as short as the blondes) whilst Amber had gone for a virginal white, low cut dress, highlighting her tanned skin.

The three girls commented on how gorgeous each of them appeared, giggling and adding last moment touch ups to their makeup, before they stepped out into the corridor, ready to go.

None of them had showed an ounce of remorse after the heinous attack they'd launched on Selphie. They hadn't spoken about the incident since, even though they all gained great pleasure from it. From time to time, for split seconds, Celia wondered how Selphie was doing. Yet this wasn't out of concern, it was purely because she hadn't had anyone to push around lately. The three didn't show fear of ever being found out, after-all, they'd overheard Selphie had suffered memory loss (the source being from the daily cafeteria gossip); so there was no evidence to prove they had done anything wrong at all . . .

…………………………………….

Zell kept his eyes upon the girls walking a few meters in front, who were chattering away and making obscene, dramatic gestures in body language, completely ignorant to the fact that they were being followed. The spiky haired blonde turned to Irvine, who was moving stealthily by his side, and studied the look of concentration gracing his somewhat chiseled features. The two kept to the shadows, making sure that they could still see their subjects, but could not be seen themselves, just in case one of the three were smart enough to turn around. After-all, the passage way to the nightclub was a dark and derelict one, which drunks often inhabited. Any girl in her right mind would be suspicious of walking down there at night; but not these three. Celia and her friends were still talking and screeching at each-others comments, obviously anticipating spending the night in a brightly lit dwelling ground for SeeD's and students alike.

As they got within a few minutes from the club, the population of the area began to increase a little, along with the atmosphere. Pink neon light was spilling out from the black beaded doorway, which was manned by a tall, ethnic man in a security guard suit. Off to the right lingered a bunch of rowdy male teenagers, most of which were smoking and had obviously been drinking. Irvine and Zell watched a couple exit hand in hand from the club, before the security man let Celia, Amber and Nichi inside with a wink.

"Come on, we don't wanna lose them."

Zell nodded his head at his auburn haired friend, swiftly following him into the club and ignoring rude comments of "short-ass" emitted from the group of younger teens outside. He was completely focused on the task at hand.

"Can you see them?"

The club was rather full, but not overly so. Still, the strobe lighting effects made it hard to look for a singular person; or three in this case. The martial artist scanned his blue eyes quickly through the dancing crowds ahead of him, and spotted a tall blonde being followed by her cohorts.

"There! By the bar!"

Irvine swept a hand through his hair and turned around to smirk at his smaller friend. "Target locked."

The sharpshooter thought it best to wait until the girls had stepped away from the busy bar. He watched Celia send her eyes fluttering in the direction of the young, brunette man who poured and mixed up her drink. Frowning in disgust at the blonde individual, he jerked his head up at Zell, before pushing through the hyped up clubbers, getting more than a few drunken insults hurled in his direction. Irvine clasped his large hand around the right shoulder of the leggy blonde and spun her around, none too gently.

The red liquid in the glass Celia was holding splashed all over her dress of the same colour, leaving her to spit out enraged comments, before noticing who it was that had her in a firm grasp. A scowl left her bronzed face, being replaced with an expression representing lust as a sultry look appeared in her ice blue eyes.

"Wanna go round the back, Mister Kinneas?"

Zell finally caught up to his friend and knocked his full weight into Nichi, who had been standing next to Celia, twiddling her black hair and sending her eyes up and down Irvines form. Now she was on the floor, a pained look gracing her features, whilst she rubbed her ankle. Caught in a moment of shock, Celia glanced at Zell, then at her two friends, before she felt Irvines hand once again, this time, gripping her wrist and squeezing. The martial artist off to his side hoisted Nichi up off the floor roughly, causing her to let out a squeal that soon got swallowed up by the loud, thumping music of the clubs atmosphere. With his free hand, Zell took hold of Amber's upper arm, and began leading them towards the back door, in the fashion of a bouncer dealing with trouble-makers; only far less conspicuous. Irvine followed close behind with a curious Celia, who was demanding to know what was going on. Whilst walking, Amber had managed to kick Zell on the upper thigh, obviously aiming for his crotch, but failing. He ignored the stinging pain but threw the girl harshly through the fire exit, after Irvine who had frog-marched Celia out into the cool night air. If people had seen any ruckus, they had stayed well out of the way, either minding their own business or not bothered by yet another "drunken brawl" in the clubs surroundings.

Nichi yanked out of Zells grip, hurting herself in the process and trotted over to where her friend lay scowling up at the two men from the dirt. Irvine pushed Celia in no particular direction, yet she ended up thudding against the rough stone wall near some over-piling dustbins.

"You fucking jerk!"

"Yeah, you have no right chucking us around like this!"

"Especially you, short piece of chicken shit . . ."

Amber had spat out the last comment, causing Zell to grit his teeth, forcing himself to stay calm and not drive his fist through her jaw.

"Shut the hell up."

"Ooh, hit a nerve have I, Dincht?"

Irvine yanked the two girls on the ground up by their arms and threw them next to Celia.

"We know what you did . . ."

"We've done a lot of things Irvy . . . including you."

The auburn haired sharpshooter ignored her retort and turned his attention to Zell, who seemed to be having a hard time keeping his fists unclenched and by his side.

"Why are you doing this to us, Irv? We thought you loved us. At least, that's what you said when we-,"

"You just don't know when to quit do you! Just, for once, shut the hell up!"

Celia seemed a little taken aback at Irvines outburst. He didn't shout a lot, but when he did, it was enough to strike fear into the bravest of men. Taking a few steps, he closed in around the bitchy blonde and took hold of her wrists again, keeping them pinned down.

"I know what you did to Selphie."

"I don't know what-,"

"Don't fuckin' lie to me!" Irvine tightened his grip, losing his temper quickly.

"You're a bitch Celia. And you're going to pay for this."

Celia pursed her red, glossed lips and watched the purple hazed eyes in front of her, which held her in a menacing glare.

"Admit it, Celia."

"Admit wh-,"

Irvine brought her delicate wrists up off the wall and smashed them back down with some force. Cracking was heard, followed by a short, sharp shriek. Amber and Nichi watched, slowly moving away. Finally, it was their turn to look like rabbits caught in the headlights. They'd tormented and bullied for so long, yet neither one had tasted it for themselves, had only ever been feared and never had to fear others. This is what they had been doing to people for years, and not taken a second thought about it.

But Celia wasn't going to fall that easily. She'd been brought up in such a way that cracking under pressure wasn't an option and neither was giving in. She always had to be the best, and was taught by her parents to never let anyone undermine her.

The blonde clenched her teeth together and kept a steely glare on Irvine, despite the pain of one thousand little daggers shooting up her left arm, underneath her skin and right into the bone. To the right, Zell had once again taken up his strong hold on Amber and Nichi, in suspicion that they might lunge for him, or make a run for it if left unattended.

"What about you two?" The martial artist inquired, narrowing his sapphire eyes at the girls he had a hold of. "Tell us what you did or . . ."

"Or what chicken?" Amber sneered, in fashion reminiscent of the leader of the group.

"Or I'll fuckin' bust your face up!"

Celia began to pipe up, hearing this retort. "Dincht is all talk and no action, Amber. He wouldn't dare . . ."

"Shut the hell up! Irvine, break her neck, why don't ya!"

The sharpshooter seemed to ignore his friend for the time being, knowing full well that he was riled and not thinking straight, which wasn't exactly a bad thing in this situation.

"Celia . . ."

"Irvy . . ."

"Tell me what you did to her! Admit it was you and your little buddies that put Selphie in a coma!"

A smile ghosted across Celia sickly red lips, her eyes creasing up ever so slightly at the news.

"She's in a coma? Poor little Selphie T. Lets hope she stays that way forever."

Irvine drew his lips together in a sharp line and hissed air out of his nose in a futile attempt to keep his blood from boiling.

"What the fuck did you say!"

"You heard . . ."

At that precise moment, someone had decided to call him on his cell phone, despite it being quite late. He kept his hold on Celia, who was looking unquestionably smug, and let the small device beep out in his pocket for a while, before deciding to get it. Without looking at the caller display, and still keeping one hand gripping the blonde in front of him, he flipped open the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Irvine Kinneas?"

"Yes?"

"It's Doctor Lauder, From Dollet general hospital."

Irvines heart plummeted as he heard the stoic tone of the physician on the line.

"Perhaps you should make your way here. It's . . . Miss Tilmitt . . ."