Tears Come At Night

by QueenAdreena

.::Such beautiful dignity is self abuse::. Meet the introverted side of Selphie Tilmitt. With a razor in one hand and her heart in the other, it's only a matter of time before she falls apart at the seams. . .

33. To Be Loved

'There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest . . .'

The rest of the evening had been rather uneventful for Selphie. She had stayed in her dorm room chatting to Zell about nothing in particular until Quistis had come in and told them both the consequences of the despised group. After that, her two friends had left her to gather her thoughts, due to it being rather late and far past curfew. Zell hadn't wanted to be caught out of his room by Seifer or any other disciplinary committee member. He didn't say this directly, but Selphie knew that was the sudden reason he had rushed out almost immediately after looking at the wall clock. The blonde fighter would never admit it, but he hated any sort of confrontation with the older boy, because he'd always come out of it with hurt pride.

The brunette youth turned over onto her side, loosening the warm bed covers about her body, so they didn't get twisted and tangled each time she changed position. She couldn't get out of her restless state, so had decided to just lie in her bed, listening to the light summer rain tapping down like fingertips upon her window. Not even the relaxing sound of the night's elements could lull her into the security of sleep. All the days' events had caught up with her, but not in a way that made her tired; in a way that made her body want to react the complete opposite, with boundless energy. Perhaps it had something to do with her having lain still for so long whilst she was in her comatose state, although her subconscious mind would've known nothing about this. She began to wonder why Irvine hadn't come back to her that evening, to hold her or give her a kiss before the night fell. Her mind began whirring again with stupid, irrational thoughts that she knew were far from the truth, but couldn't help speculate anyway. Selphie frowned and tutted at herself, turning over onto her opposite side, bouncing with the sway of the bed beneath her. Changing her train of though drastically, she began to ponder why Rinoa had planned a day out for them, starting early morning the next day. She'd had that strange glint in her brown doe eyes when she'd asked, more told, Selphie she was coming out into town with her. Selphie had seen it before, often when she was keeping a secret (something the young sorceress wasn't renowned for) or when she felt guilty about something or other. All the thinking done whilst remaining inactive was finally lulling the brunette girl into a light yet peaceful slumber that her body was unknowingly aching for.

-------------------------------------------------------

"You look a bit down in the dumps this morning, everything okay?

"Yeah Rin, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

"Sure?"

"Yes!"

The two of them were sat on an outside table in a small, warm looking café in one of the lanes of Balamb town. Rinoa placed her hands around her clear glass cup, half full up with ice cream soda and lowered her head, peering up at her brunette friend who was currently hiding behind her fringe. Selphie met her coffee coloured eyes with a grave look, not even offering a smile.

"Come on! What is it? I can tell something's up, you know!"

"Irvine."

Rinoa wrinkled her nose, already thinking of excuses to make on the cowboys behalf.

"What about him?"

"He didn't come back to see me last night, or this morning in fact. I'm just a little sad I guess. Makes me wonder what else he had to do that was so important-,"

"OH Sef, don't start that negative thinking! Maybe he was . . ."

Think, think, think!

Her friend looked at her with hopeful, jade green eyes, a corona of sunlight shimmering behind her, making the rest of her face little more than a silhouette.

"He was . . . lending . . . errr . . . a hand to Squall. Yeah that's what he was doing! Oh I remember now! Squall asked him for help with some paperwork thingy. . ."

She's not buying it, change the subject!

"Right! You can't be miserable all day, its shopping time! Come on you."

"But I haven't finished my hot chocol-,"

"That doesn't matter! We'll get another one later."

Rinoa grabbed hold of Selphies hand which was resting on her knee and yanked her up none to gently out of her chair, before leaving a tip on the table and walking out of the picket fence surrounded garden of the café which they had been seated in.

"I want to go into that little boutique again. The one that sells all the pretty dresses and bolero shrugs."

"But why?"

"Because, Selphie, a girl can never have too many pretty things!"

As Rinoa pushed the door open to the shop, a little bell sounded above in a sweet peal, signalling to the same posh old woman that served them before that a new customer had stepped inside. The raven haired girl paid no attention to her as she began browsing through the various, pretty dresses that were hanging on the rails whilst Selphie just stood there looking puzzled by her friends behaviour.

"This is great, isn't it? It'd look fabulous on you!"

"I don't need it."

"Try it on . . . please?"

Selphie crossed her arms over her chest and let out a small, tired sigh.

"But why? I don't need a dress like that."

Rinoa traipsed over to where the petite brunette stood and flopped her head over the girl's shoulder, looking up at her with a pout on her rose petal lips and a wide eyed innocence in her glittering orbs. Selphie felt a smile crawling onto her lips, due to the puppy-dog expression pasted on Rinoa's face.

"That might work with Squall, but not m-,"

"Pleeease try it on. Pleeeeease? I'll try one too! Come on, we used to do this all the time…"

"Okay then, but I'm not buying it," Selphie answered, lowering her voice so the aristocratic old woman behind the counter wouldn't hear her disinterest in purchasing.

Rinoa gave out a little squeal and shoved the yellow tulle dress into the open arms in front of her.

"I'll just pick out a dress, you go change . . ."

The young sorceress waited for the cubicle curtain of which Selphie had gone in to pull shut, before walking over to the front counter and waiting for the manageress to notice her.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Yes, I put a dress by in a size small the other day, its cream with spaghetti crossover straps and a bow at the back that wraps around the waist."

Rinoa tapped her fingers tersely on the varnished wooden desk, leaning over and peering round the back where the lady had vanished only a few seconds before. She came out, peering down her black framed glasses which were perched upon a pointy nose and glared at Rinoa, holding the much cosseted dress in her arms.

"This is pure Estharian silk, be careful with it. If you mark it in any way, you'll have to buy it."

"I intend to anyway . . ."

When Rinoa had turned her back, she stuck her tongue out and mumbled something closely resembling 'old bag' under her breath, possibly a bit too loud, as the shopkeeper kept her beady eyes on her figure all the way into the changing rooms.

"Rin? I'm done putting it on"

"I'm in the cubicle next to you, just come in, I'm decent!"

Selphie drew back her curtain and stepped through into where her friend resided, currently slipping a cream satiny dress over her head and down her body before letting her eyes rest on the brunette in front of her.

"You look adorable! It fits you perfectly!"

Selphie looked past Rinoa's shoulder and into the mirror ahead of her, gazing at the reflection. Staring back was a small girl with a bodice hugging dress upon her form, skimming her curves and flattering in just the right, feminine kind of way all outfits should. She ran her hands lightly over her stomach, where the material seemed softer than anywhere else on the garment and inspected the delicate tulle that reached down to her knees, flared and large like a ballerina's tutu.

"It is lovely . . . and it feel's great."

"I'm buying it for you then!"

Selphie looked away from her reflection and gazed at her friend, who was standing with her hands behind her back, fiddling with the awkward cross over straps of the dress she had decided to put on.

"Rinoa, I don't need anything like this."

"That doesn't matter! It makes you feel good, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but-,"

"Selphie, you've been through so much lately and your last pretty dress got ruined, please, just let me buy this for you?"

" . . . Okay then."

Rinoa smiled, that same mischievous glint showing up in her large russet eyes before she slid the curtain to her cubicle shut.

----------------------------------------------------

Rustling, hushed male voices and much commotion could be heard from inside Irvine's room as Selphie gave another two quick knocks to door, sure that whoever was inside couldn't have heard the earlier, softer taps she had given. She waited patiently outside for a reply, which came five seconds later, in the form of a startled looking cowboy.

"Selphie! Hey . . ."

As she stepped inside and the door slid shut, Irvine leaned in swiftly and wrapped his arms about her body, bringing her into him in a tight hug before turning his head around and making sure Zell had tidied up any damning evidence. Selphie returned the hug, looking over Irvine's shoulder, fully suspicious of the sheepish look her blonde friend currently had on his face. As soon as she had been released from the encasing hug, she looked around the room for any signs of just what that rustling could have been.

"What are you two up to?"

"Us? Nothin'!" Whilst replying, Zell noticed the edge of the photographs that Irvine had been showing him sticking out from under the bed. Quickly, he shot his foot out, knocking them out of sight, not wanting Selphie to catch onto their ideas.

"What was all that noise?"

"What noise?"

"When I knocked-,"

"Selphie, I love you to pieces, I really do, but Zell and I need to . . . sort out some essay work. So . . . go and do whatever it is you find to do with Rinoa."

Selphie felt a pang of sadness at Irvine's tone of voice, but told herself not to kick up a fuss or demand to know what was going on. She was still feeling emotionally vulnerable and a little lethargic and just wanted to be with the man who'd watched over her in hospital. Ironically, also the same man who had caused most, if not all, of her troubles already.

Don't start thinking about that, stupid.

Zell noticed the vague look of disappointment on her face, and with all she'd been through, couldn't bear to let her down or see her looking even the slightest bit sad. The blonde fighter turned to Irvine just as Selphie was walking out of the door, and told him he'd be back in a minute.

"Yo, Selphie, wait up!"

"Shouldn't you be with Irvine, doing essay work?"

Zell reached up with his right arm and ran a hand uncomfortably through the back of his spiky, sun kissed hair, still walking slowly beside his friend.

"Urh . . . I'll . . . do it later. Where are you goin'?"

"Back to Rinoa's dorm I suppose. Even though I've spent most of the afternoon with her."

"I'd be either deaf or brain dead by now if I spent that much time with her."

"Zell, you're already brain-dead."

"Hey! I got feelings too, y'know!"

Selphie turned to him and smiled before linking her arm through his, her deep viridian eyes meeting his sparkling blues with an intent look.

"Sef . . ."

"What?"

"Are you alright? You looked a little . . . I dunno . . . upset back there."

The young brunette stopped walking steadily, causing her companion behind her to halt as well, the arm through his holding him back.

"I'm not sure. Irvine seemed a bit off with me."

"No! No no no. You heard him. He love's ya to death! We've just . . got some stuff to sort out, yeah?"

Selphie nodded yet tore her eyes away from her friends and gazed downwardly onto the floor, a dejected expression finding its way onto her delicate features.

"I just . . . Never mind."

"You can tell me."

"I . . . just don't want him to suddenly turn around one day and decide he doesn't like me. I don't think I could handle that again."

"He's not goin' to do that, okay?"

"'kay."

"And if he does try anythin' of the sort, we'll feed him to the T-Rexuars!"

Zell always could evoke emotion in Selphie, just by being himself; he didn't even have to try to cheer her up and often didn't realise when he had, either. Whether he knew it or not, she had come to depend on the short, blonde fighter in more ways than one and she hoped he would always be near to help her laugh away her troubles when it all got too much. Stopping in front of Rinoa's dorm room door, she turned to Zell, bringing her arms up around his neck and pulling him down in a tight hug.

"Heeeey, what's this for?"

Selphie relaxed against him and took a deep breath, her friend's sweet smelling hair gel encasing her in a feeling of familiarity and calm.

"For just being you."

"Oh … err, thanks."

"You can go back to Irvine now, and finish off whatever it was you were doing."

"As much as I'm enjoying this, I can't move with you hangin' on my neck."

The brunette girl withdrew her arms and smiled faintly, waving Zell off down the hallway, before tapping on the door in front of her. She knew Rinoa's key code to unlock the entrance, but always made sure she knocked first, just to avoid any embarrassments. An answer came just a few seconds later, with Rinoa wrapped in a towel and looking a little wide eyed.

"Oh! Hello, wasn't expecting you."

The raven haired girl gave out a nervous giggle and looked hastily over her right shoulder, back into her room, seeming reluctant to open the door any further than six inches.

Selphie recognised her behaviour and asked, "Is Squall with you?"

Rinoa nodded, opening the door wider and glancing back at the dozing, semi clad form on her bed. The gunbladist had nodded off in an increasingly uncomfortable looking position, with one arm bent underneath him and his leg twisted at the knee; half falling off the mattress. Selphie peeked in at him and the two girls restrained their laughter, knowing full well that Squall wasn't in the best of moods when woken up.

"Give me half an hour to go have a bath; I'll meet you down at the cafeteria, okay?"

"Okay, don't be late, you know I hate sitting on my own."

"I won't!"

Upon leaving her friend, Selphie contemplated where to go, finally deciding against going back to her empty room in favour of the library.

Maybe I can catch up on some studying.

Whilst walking past the centre fountain, she heard raised voices coming from the reception entrance, and with curiosity getting the better of her, decided to make her way there instead. Her legs stopped short of her destination when a shrill, deafening voice found its way to her ears, violating her senses.

"I shouldn't even BE leaving! It's not fair!"

"Calm down! Stop hitting, you spoiled brat." A deeper voice that Selphie recognised as Seifers came echoing down the hall. She began walking again, yet towards the sounds, not away. Keeping herself out of plain sight, she poked her head around the corner of the entrance and saw Celia standing there, her face a picture of anger and her hands resting defiantly upon her hips. The blonde gunbladist was in front of her, holding both of her wrists in what looked like a painful grasp, the girl still trying to lash out despite being restrained.

"Get off me!"

"No, not until you stop hitting."

"I have every right to be angry! SHE should be going instead of me! She's the loon."

Celia pointed in the direction Selphie was peeping from. Shocked, the brunette whirled around and out of site, thinking that they had seen her. Upon chancing another look, she realised that the fair-haired girl was merely pointing in the general direction away from the entrance near which she stood. With her heart still pounding against her ribcage and adrenalin coursing though her veins; Selphie turned on her heel and walked towards the cafeteria instead of the library, deciding that she was far from the right mood to study in.

Seeing as the lunch hour had just finished for most students, the area was empty, with only a few of the older cadets sitting at the plain, white tables. The lunch lady had put up a sign on the counter telling anyone who might ask that food was no longer being served, so Selphie got a soda from the machine and walked over to an empty table in the far corner. She still had a good fifteen minute wait before her friend would show up to keep her company, so she rest her arms atop the cold table surface and placed her head on them, letting her mind drift to the beautiful dress Rinoa had purchased for her earlier. Remembering how it felt on her body and how attractive it had made her feel for the first time in a while, Selphie formed a smile on her soft, roseate lips, which was also becoming increasingly easy again.

The sudden sound of the cafeteria door creaking open and heavy footfalls upon the linoleum floor startled her somewhat, yet she didn't bother to look up, not even when they dragged out a chair opposite her, letting it screech infuriatingly on the tiles. The person gave her one sharp tap on the top of her head, causing her to sit up rather quickly, only to be met by the arrogant face of Seifer Almasy.

"Taking a nap, short stuff?"

"Get lost Seifer."

"Not very nice today are we? Guess I won't give you this then."

The smirking blonde held out a white envelope in his hand with her name scrawled on the front in black ink, waving it closely in front of her face. Selphie leaned away from it and frowned.

"I'm not sure I even want it."

"Really? It's from your bestest friend in the whole of garden."

"What?"

Selphie became wary of the malicious glint in the gunbladist's peacock green eyes, and lunged out to snatch the envelope away, but he was too fast for her and had already pulled it out of reach in a split second.

"Perhaps I should read it out for you?"

"Give it here, Seifer!"

Whilst the petite brunette was still protesting, Seifer swiped open the white encasing, pulling out a folded piece of paper.

"Hm, let's see . . . To Selphie Tilmitt-,"

"If you don't give me that right now I'll-,"

"You'll what? Bite my ankles? Shut the hell up and listen to me."

"NO!"

"To Selphie Tilmitt, you are a fucking ugly bitch . . . oh how novel."

"Stop it."

"I hate you so much, and I hope you fucking slit your wrists and die knowing that no one even gives a shit about you. You're messed up in the head, and the sooner you kill yourself, the better it'll be for everyone around you . . . She's really evil . . . oh this is a good bit . . ."

Selphie gritted her teeth and grabbed at the letter, yet Seifer pulled it away again, whilst leaning further back in his chair and placing one arm behind his head and putting one leg up on the table.

"You have no right to read that!Give it to me!"

"Listen to this bit . . . Irvine doesn't want you, he never did and he never will. He's just fooling with you. He told me he loved me when we fucked every night. What makes you think he'd want to be with you, and touch you like he touched me? You're a fucking deluded nut. The only way he'd do you is if you put a bag over your head. Oh and While your at it, try asphyxiating yourself too. Look! I've invented another way for you to kill yourself. Now go do it . . . hah. Celia you old bitch."

Selphie tried desperately to not let the harsh words get to her, tried even harder to stop tears from running down her flushed cheeks, but to no avail. Celia had struck a sore spot in her heart and mind that would always be vulnerable to her evil taunting, no matter how hard she tried to rise above it.

"Seifer Almasy, what have you done?"

Rinoa's voice rang through the cafeteria, causing the blonde to look up and roll his eyes, before shoving the letter in Selphies half open fist upon the table. She felt her friends arms wrap around her head and cradle it, suddenly reminding her that she was never truly alone, nor ever had to feel that she was without anyone in the world again.

"Answer me! What did you do to Selphie?"

"Just read out that nice little letter there."

The dark haired girl snatched the piece of paper out of Selphie hand and flicked her eyes over the small, scrawled words. She took in enough of the cruel language to realise who it was from in a few seconds.

"Celia, you bitch."

"Pity she's not here for you to tell her yourself, but dear little Selphie made it sure that she's never gonna come back."

"Good, we hate her, she's a dirty slut."

"That's coming from you, Miss Squall Leonhart."

"Seifer, shut up. Why are you never happy unless you've upset someone?"

"Well shit, I never though she'd burst out into tears. It's not as if I wrote the damn letter myself."

The tall gunbladist removed his legs from atop the table and pushed out his chair, ready to leave. Rinoa halted him by placing a small hand on his shoulder.

"Apologise now"

"Fuck off, witch."

He shrugged her off him and pushed past her rather abruptly, causing her to stumble a little before regaining her balance.

"I'm telling Squall! And Quistis!" She shouted after him, to which he merely replied with a one fingered, rude gesture, without even stopping or turning around. Rinoa still cradled her friends head against her stomach as she stood, not caring about the sodden patch appearing on her laced, blue vest due to the brunette's tears.

"Ssh, he's gone now."

"I know."

Selphie pulled away from the ebony haired girl and brought an arm up to wipe the moisture from her downcast eyes.

"I never meant to start crying. I thought I could be strong, but I guess it's still all too fresh for me to just . . . forget about it all."

"Its going to take time for you to heal, of course it is, but we're all still here for you; Quistis, Zell, Squall, Irvine and I. And we're not going anywhere either."

"I know. Thanks. You won't, will you?"
A puzzled look came across Rinoa's features.

"Won't what?"

"Tell Squall and Quisty."

"Not if you don't want me to. It can be our secret."

"Good."

Selphie glanced down at the letter in front of her, folding it in half before ripping it up and not stopping until it was in tiny undistinguishable pieces on the floor. The two girls smiled at each other, before Rinoa announced they should go back to her dorm and have a 'girlie' time.

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"Place that one over there . . ."Irvine shouted, pointing to a high beam and watching the small junior cadet scurry off and complete his orders. Taking his hat off his head and smoothing down some stray pieces of auburn hair, he took a look down at his dusty clothes. The sharpshooter gave a frown and tried to brush away some of the white marks on his dark khaki, fitted t-shirt.

"I never thought this'd get so messy. I love this top too."

Zell was busy working on something nearby, his hands busy, not stopping to look up at his friend.

"It'll be damn well worth it though and you know it," the short fighter replied through a toothy grin on his mischievous face.

Irvine placed his hat back on his head, shooting the blonde a knowing smile and walking off across the hall, giving out more orders to the eager helpers.

"Alright, we've got one hour to finish up and another forty five minutes to be out of here, let's get a move on!"

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Selphie sat upon Rinoa's soft, quilted bed with one of her friends hands placed atop her bent knee as she carefully applied strokes of nail varnish. It was of deep, midnight blue in colour, with a shine that reflected the light and contrasted with the girls alabaster skin. Smoothing one last coat onto her friends little finger, she breathed a sigh and leaned back with the brush in her hand, admiring her work.

"You didn't smudge it at all!"

"You fidget loads too . . ."

Rinoa's cheeks darkened a shade and she poked her tongue out in response, yet suddenly got a roguish glint in her large, coffee tinged eyes.

"Let's try on our dresses!" She squealed out with such fervour that she almost fell off the edge of her bed. Not even waiting for a response, the pale girl hopped up from her seated position and scurried over to her wardrobe, pulling out the dresses from their protective covers.

"We can do our hair up too, and then when we're all done, we'll go and show the guys!"

Rinoa's innocent excitement was infectious and soon both girls were clad in the soft, feminine attire they had purchased earlier.

Fiddling with the bow at the back of her cream, satin dress and hoisting the material sash of the same colour tighter about her waist, Rinoa looked over to see that her brunette friend was piling up her hair and looking in the mirror.

"Are you experimenting?"

Selphie let her hands down, leaving her short hair to tumble and bounce about her shoulders before coming to rest, a few misaligned strands around her face.

"Trying to . . ."

"Let's curl it under, or make it wavy, y'know, for a tousled look. I have this little headband with a bow on it; it'd really set it off!"

The brunette walked over to the springy mattress to her right, lowering herself and slumping down with her head in her hands. Rinoa noticed the slight call of distress, so went to kneel down in front of her friend, trying to look at the face beneath the hands.

"Whats up?"

"That letter, it just got me thinking."

The raven haired girl tipped her head to the side, her feathery hair falling over one dark eye.

"About?"

"Things."

Selphie felt two small hands come to rest on both of her wrists, then a sudden pull, freeing her features from the little, dark space she was hiding in.

"What do you mean, 'things'?"

"Irvine. Me. I don't know, just stuff I can't seem to make sense of."

"Sometimes, things don't ever make sense, no matter how hard you think about it. You could spend a lifetime wracking your brains wondering why so-and-so did this or that, but you still won't find an answer you're satisfied with. Am I right?"

"Spot on. I was wondering why he ever did it in the first place, and the second place-,"

"Well, the second time he . . . upset you, that was because he was stone drunk."

"But if he hadn't gone off in the first pl-,"

Rinoa interrupted again, "Lets not get started on all the 'ifs' and 'buts', that never got anyone anywhere. You've just got to look forward and forget the bits of the past you don't want to remember. Right?"

Selphie lowered her gaze onto the floor, before her companion moved herself into her line of vision, a concerned 'no fuss' look upon her delicate features.

"Right?"

"Right."

The girl swiftly pulled out a chrome pair of curling irons from the drawer under her bed and waved them about in her right hand.

"Curling time!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Irvine and Zell sat on two, plastic seats, side by side in the Grand, main hall, exhausted yet proud of all the work they had done. Looking around and shifting occasionally on the hard, uncomfortable chairs, they realised it'd soon be time for everyone they'd invited to start spilling through the large, oaken doors. Zell leaned back, hoisting his leg up onto his chair and resting one arm on his upraised knee.

"She's gonna be lookin' at you with hearts in her eyes for ages."

"Y'think so?"

"Hey, you know she's gonna love all this, you just want to hear it from other people!"

Irvine grinned, "I know."

"Shouldn't we be getting into our formal gear?"

"Yeah, we're slacking a bit."

"We're entitled to, after all the work we've just done!"

"Let's get a move on then; hopefully, Rinoa's stuck to her half of the plan."

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Rinoa slid the Alice band into place on Selphies head, using her finger tips to arrange the soft curls of fawn coloured hair so that they framed her face and made her look radiant. Selphie stood there in her pale yellow, tulle dress looking quite bewildered at the reflection staring back at her. Her friend stood off to the side, brandishing a pair of black, silk pump shoes with white embroidered petals at the closed toe.

"These are mine, they're a size five, but I never wear them. You can have them," she proclaimed with a warm smile.

"Thanks. I thought we were only dressing up though?"

"Well, err, we are, but we're going outside to show Squall and the others."

Selphie bent down and slipped the satin mules onto her feet, one by one, revelling in the perfect fit. Moving out of the way of the mirror, Rinoa stepped in front and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, leaving several, multicoloured tendrils out to rest around her features. Beaming at herself, she spun around and admired the dress she had picked out. The delicate piece of clothing was now teamed with a pair of matching, cream satin shoes, with a small kitten heel at the back.

"Rin, you look lovely."

"Thanks, so do you!"

After applying a lengthening mascara to set off their eyes and a sweeping of rose coloured blusher to their cheekbones, they checked each other over and set off out the door. Rinoa turned around once out in the hallway, locking her dorm room with her key code, leaving Selphie to wait patiently. When she looked along the corridor, she didn't expect to see three figures walking down in their direction, lugging along suitcases behind them. The brunette poked her friend in the ribs, who was still fumbling with the keypad lock, having forgotten her unique number so many times.

Selphie felt a tightening in her lungs and a giddiness in her head as the three girls approached. Amber and Nichi gave little more than an uninterested look, before making their way past her and onto their destination, which was obviously Balamb Gardens exit.

Celia, however, stopped and rested her ice blue eyes upon Selphie in a cold hearted manner. By now, Rinoa had looked up; curious as to whom the numerous footsteps belonged to. When she saw the blonde looking at her friend in such a vicious manner, she stepped in closer beside her, interlocking her hand with Selphies.

"Get lost, Celia."

"Fuck off, witch. I wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for that stupid cow, Tilmitt," she spat out the last word and glared even harder at Selphie.

"Isn't it about time you left?"

The blonde ignored Rinoa, kept her eyes on her enemy and asked, "Did you get my letter? I do hope you'll follow some of the advice."

Before Selphie had time to think, she slipped her hand out of Rinoa's, raised it high and slapped Celia across the right cheek, making her head snap sharply to the side. Rage shone in her eyes when she came back to focus, holding the bright red mark on her face. She lunged for Selphie, her fingers hooked and lashing out for any part of her body she could get. The petite brunette blocked her blows and hooked a foot around her bully's ankle, before yanking her leg slightly up and away; a move she had learnt from Zell a few weeks ago. They both watched the horrible girl make contact with the linoleum floor, a sickening crunch reaching their ears. Rinoa cringed at the noise, but Selphie looked down at her, standing her ground and feeling extremely surprised at her own, brave behaviour.

When Celia looked up, they saw the full damage from the impact. Crimson blood was rushing out of her nose and down her mouth and chest, making its own small river. It was obviously broken due to the way it looked slightly dislodged from its normal position and the way the girl was moaning in pain.

She looked to her left, but her friends had kept on walking, not even stopping to see what the commotion behind them was about. Disappointment showed on her bloody features, yet she refused to give up. Pushing herself up from the ground, she tried to grit her teeth and take a swing at Selphie, but both actions proved too painful and she almost lost her balance again. Rinoa moved around behind Celia and picked up her leather suitcase, thrusting it into the blondes arms.

"I think you've got what you came for. Go."

Looking completely defeated with her stained clothes and reddened face, the girl held one hand up to the light, seeing it coated in her sticky blood. With one last crazed attempt, she reached her hand out to try and wipe it on Selphies lemon coloured dress, but she jumped away at the last moment, leaving Celia's hand to swipe at the air.

"GO!" the brunette shouted, repeating Rinoa's earlier command.

Both friends watched her turn away, her expression crushed and ashamed, yet they kept their guard about them, ready for any last minute tricks she might pull. None came, and she slinked off down the hallway, dragging her suitcase, leaving spatters of blood on the floor where she walked. When Celia was well and truly out of vision and earshot, both girls screeched in delight and clung to each other in a ferocious hug.

"She's finally gone! They all are! You can forget they ever existed!"

Selphie breathed a sigh of relief at her friend's words, yet doubted it'd be that easy to erase them from her memory. They had played too large a part in her life, messed around with too many of her emotions for them to just be gone with a click of someone's fingers. Rinoa sensed her companion's mood becoming melancholy, which was only natural after seeing her tormenters (even if she would never see them again) and knowing what would brighten her right up, she insisted they went to Irvine's dorm.

"Are you sure he'll be there?"

"Yes, even if he's not, he's bound to be in Zells or Squalls."

Fiddling with a loose wisp of her honey highlighted hair; Rinoa linked her unoccupied arm through Selphies and focused her tawny eyes upon her.

"That was a really daring thing you did back there."

"I wasn't really aware of slapping her; it just . . . seemed to happen."

"Are you junctioned?"

"With what?"

"Your G.F."

"Oh, yes, why?"

"I learnt from Edea, that sometimes, they can actually force actions if they think it's the right thing to do."

"Wow, I didn't know that. Maybe that's what happened."

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think it was ALL you, you spunky lil' thing."

Selphie smiled and came to a halt outside Irvine's door. Before raising her hand up to knock, she asked Rinoa how she looked.

"You look gorgeous. What about me?" The charcoal haired girl gave a twirl on the spot, her elegant, loose ponytail spinning around as she did.

"Absolutely great!"

After a singular tap, the door in front of them opened up to reveal three young men and one blonde instructor in smart, formal attire. Before Selphie had time to ask any questions, Irvine took hold of her right hand and brought her body close into a hug, whispering how beautiful she looked into her ear. She returned the cuddle without any hesitation, yet she was still quite bewildered as to what was going on. Irvine's familiar, comforting scent soon made her give up trying to figure out what her friends were up to, and instead she stepped as close to him as her body would allow, nestled her face into his shirt collar and inhaled deeply. She could hear the rest of her friends talking; too relaxed to concentrate on what they were saying, until Rinoa shrieked out that they were expected to be somewhere and that it was rude to keep people waiting.

Selphies curiosity began to peak again, so as they all began walking out of the room and down the corridor, she turned to Irvine, swinging their clasped hands to and fro as she spoke.

"Whats going on?"
The sharpshooter looked down to see viridian green eyes gazing up at him through long, dark lashes. The sight almost took his breath away.

"You'll have to wait and see."

Not having been any good at waiting, even if only for a few seconds, she huffed out a breath of air and pouted in disappointment.

"Well, where are you all leading me?"

Selphies questions were all answered in a split second when Quistis and Zell pushed open the large, wooden double doors to the main event hall and ushered her inside.

Dusky, roseate light hit her eyes when she entered; the décor around her was overwhelmingly beautiful and contrasted softly with every little detail in the room. Lifting her head, she focused on the large banner hanging down from the ceiling beams. It read 'We love you, Sef!' painted artistically in calligraphic, lilac lettering with a pure white background adorned with deep purple ribbons. All around the room hung various flowers; lilies, roses, daffodils, dahlias, tulips and sunflowers. Off to the sides, draping from each of the arched walls, were silver, star shaped banners portraying something of which she couldn't see when this far away, but it seemed to be some sort of imagery and text. Buffet tables stood off to the side, with a diverse choice of finger foods and drinks on each. The silken table cloths atop of which the food stood were again of a lavender colour, with criss-crosses of large daisy chains around each, dangling almost to the floor. Chains of blossoming flowers, intricately woven together also adorned the banisters to the large staircase that lead from the upper level, straight down onto the ballroom floor. Due to all the flora, the hall had taken on a divine, exotic scent, which only added to the visual effects of the dim lighting and beautiful decorations, along with the soft sounds of instrumental music coming from one of the Gardens student bands.

"Sorry we couldn't afford a proper band-,"

"This . . . this is wonderful . . . Is it for me?"
Irvine tapped the tip of her nose with one finger, "Of course it is, don't be so daft."

Selphies cheeks coloured a shade darker when she noticed that almost everyone in the room had turned the watch the group. Some of the people she knew, some she had only spoken to occasionally and didn't know very well, but she didn't catch sight of anyone she despised. Feeling uneasy with all the eyes on her, she held her hand up and gave a little wave, but then instantly felt foolish and began to blush again. Beside her, Zell wrapped an arm around her neck, instantly saving the situation by screaming out; "WOO SELPHIES BACK!"

Half of the hall either clapped, laughed or gave out energetic woops of their own to rival the blonde's loud voice. After that, most of the people there settled down to what they were doing before Selphies arrival; be it dancing, mingling or just generally having fun.

Stunned as she was by it all, she managed to squeak out her approval and thanks, asking who had gone through all this trouble for her. Zell immediately spoke up, never one to pass on being praised.

"It was me an' Irv! Well, he came up with the whole idea, but I helped out! So . . . you like it?"

"Of course I do, you dope! Come here."

Selphie pulled the blonde into her arms for a hug, looking over her shoulder and beckoning Irvine to join as well. Instead of coming around to the side and stepping into her free open arm, he approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her body tight against him. The brunette felt as if she could stay like this forever; being cradled by two of her friends' strong physiques and feeling as if she didn't have a single worry in the entire world. She let her head tumble forward and rest upon Zells shoulder. He smelt of washing powder and fresh ironing, probably thanks to his Ma cleaning and airing his tux beforehand. Selphie felt the swift turn of his head and, being curious as to what he was looking at, followed his gaze across the room. The object he appeared to be locked onto was Anna, the studious little bookworm who usually resided in the library in her free time. She radiated a coy sort of aura, yet looked beautiful dressed in her pale lilac, off the shoulder gown, which reached down past her knees.

Without saying a word, Selphie let her arms fall from around the martial artist, instead having them push him in Anna's direction. Zell gave the brunette an uncomfortable sort of smile, before allowing himself to go to her.

"I don't know why he's still so nervous around her," Irvine piped up, once the blonde was out of audible range.

Selphie looked up at the cowboy behind her, before turning in his arms, so that they were both front to front.

"I used to be nervous around you, when we first met."

"But he's known her for at least a year now, even if they didn't speak to each other for a good three quarters of it."

"Oh, leave him alone!"
Irvine suppressed a laugh at his friend's unfortunate nerves when it came to the female of the species and scanned the room, looking for the rest of his companions, for they seemed to have wandered off some minutes ago. Selphie, however, spotted someone she hadn't been expecting to see that night.

"Shani!"

"Sel! I've missed you so much!"

"Me too. . ."

Once again, Selphie was overcome with mixed emotions, yet overtly happy to see her old Trabian friend. She let go of Irvine and moved closer to Shani, who bundled her up in a big hug.

"Trabia's been empty without you. Our old dorm caught fire, so I had to move into another one."

"How did that happen?"

"I left the iron on top of my SeeD uniform, but shh because no ones knows."

"Still forgetful then?"

"Yup."

The Trabian girl looked about the Grande hall and absentmindedly flicked her long, deep hazel hair behind her back.

"You look lovely, Shani."

"This old thing? It's not even mine; it was my mothers, when she was our age," she looked down at herself, twisting her ankle to the right and splaying out the sides of her dress, which was of the deepest, midnight blue and shimmered with every movement.

"But you look nice too. Kinda like a big lemon meringue pie."

Shani sniggered behind her hand at her own description of Selphie, before getting a light whack on the arm for sharing her thoughts.

Irvine also appeared to be thoroughly amused, though more so about how the girls acted together. He could see why they were such good friends. Shani turned her attention to him, so he raised a hand in a friendly wave before shoving it back into the pocket of his trousers. She smiled, before leaning into Selphie and whispering something too quietly for him to hear, the laughter that soon followed making him increasingly uncomfortable.

"Ooh, who's that blonde guy over by the band? He's tall . . . and handsome to boot!"

Blonde, handsome? Zell . . . but tall? . . . . . Seifer.

"Who invited him? Irvine, why-,"

"Just . . . talk to Quistis, okay? Don't worry about anythin' tonight."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Seifer, I told you-,"

"Don't fuckin' nag me, alright!"

"And don't you bloody swear at me, Almasy."

"Instructor. You break my heart."

"I'll be breaking more than that if you don't get your arse over to her and apologise!"

"What, straight away?"

"Yes," Quistis folded her arms over her chest, a stern expression on her porcelain face, cerulean eyes meeting with jade green ones.

"Now?"

"Yes!"

"Can't we just . . ."

Seifer trailed off and moved up closer to the blonde, lowering his head and placing soft lips upon her exposed neck. Quistis was having none of it, and swiftly pushed him away, denying herself of all feelings, however good, until Seifer had done what she'd told him to do.

"Stop it . . ."

"But you look so good."

Quistis did indeed look good. Her dress consisted of a shimmering, silken fabric, deep emerald green in shade, with a low, square neck line and small, cap sleeves. The length extended just past her knees, with a black, frilly chiffon underlay that could be seen two inches under the main framework.

She seemed immune to Seifers flattery and with one almighty push upon his back, she managed to set him off on his way.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Selphie was sitting alone at one of the few empty tables near the buffet, waiting for Irvine to return from the punch bowl when she saw all six foot two inches of Seifer Almasy stalking towards her, with a somewhat displeased look gracing his features. The brunette didn't know why he seemed to be heading in her direction, but she did know she didn't want to stay put. Getting up swiftly and swinging her tulle dress off from the seat of the chair, she focused her eyes on Irvine, who had his back to her, preparing to go to him just as Seifer signalled her to stop.

She wasn't sure why she actually complied, something in his voice made her; a hint of sincerity, definitely not his usually gruff, sardonic tone.

"Don't run away or . . . squeal or anythin', okay?"

"I'm not going to, although I should, given your past behaviour to me," Selphie retorted, her arms now crossed tightly just beneath her chest and her lips drawn together in a thin line.

The blonde in front of her made an undistinguishable noise, before glancing over his shoulder and looking around the room for someone. To him, Quistis seemed to have vanished, but unbeknownst to the two, she was watching from a fine vantage point on the small upper floor above them. Though she couldn't hear their conversation, she made sure that she observed Seifers lips closely, having always been rather good at lip reading.

"Yeah . . . I wanted to . . . say . . . sorry."
Once again, Seifer looked around the room, frowning slightly, obviously having trouble with apologising, what with it not having been part of his nature for so long.

I'm only doing this once, Trepe. You betta be watching.

Turning back to the petite brunette, he noticed that the scowl on her face had softened and she hand uncrossed her arms and replaced them to rest on her hips.

If she wasn't so small and irritating, I could actually grow to like her.

"Anyway . . . yeah, so . . . sorry for all the stuff I've done. Like . . . at the beach . . . . and earlier, when I read that letter out loud. . . But, what can I say? I'm a jerk."

The tall gunbladist started to walk away with his back to her, still scanning the room for a certain blonde instructor.

"Seifer . . ."
Hearing Selphies soft voice, he stopped for a few moments, yet didn't turn to face her or say anything in response; he just listened.

"You're not so bad."

She could've sworn she'd heard a mumble of 'neither are you' as he walked away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you see that?"

"What?"
Rinoa nuzzled her head into her boyfriend's neck where they stood at the side of the hall, leaning against the wall and pawing over the posters Zell and Irvine had made.

"Seifer."
Squall creased his eyebrows together in a disapproving manner; it happened to be an unshakeable habit that occurred whenever he heard the overconfident blondes name spoken, especially from Rinoa's lips. His eyes seemed to have gone a shade darker, slate grey in colour as he looked around the room, visibly clenching his teeth. That was, until he felt a pair of dainty hands upon his mouth.

"Come on, grumps! Don't be like that!"

The two index fingers tugged at the sides of his lips, trying and failing to form some sort of smile on the stoic males face. Gently but firmly, he seized Rinoa's wrists, pulling her hands away from anything that could be poked or prodded and held them in a cupped position in his own. She gazed up at him and gave him a devious smile, her cheeks awash with a natural glow and her chocolate brown eyes glittering intensely with mischief. Before he could say anything, the petite girl had slipped out of his grasp and was now walking away from him with an almost hypnotic sway to her hips, causing the bustle bow at the back of her dress to shimmy with the movements. It wasn't the first time he'd been left standing by her and he let slip a slight smile at the memory of their first meeting in the very same hall. Though Squall appeared to be staring in the direction of Rinoa, he was in fact, daydreaming, therefore didn't see the girl frantically waving her arm in a signal to come and join her. Someone sounding suspiciously like one hyperactive, blonde martial artist shouted out his name over the din of the music. Keeping his head down and letting his ashen hair fall over his eyes, he strode across the floor and over to where his friends seemed to be congregating.

Quistis, Rinoa and Selphie were huddled around one of the many posters that had been placed around the room at eye level, whilst Irvine stood beside Selphie and Zell flittered back and forth between all five. Squall, curious as to what the girls were getting so excited about, moved in closer and gazed at what appeared to be a photographic collage. The numerous pictures stuck down, carefully arranged and laminated were of them all; sometimes in a group, alone, or in two's. There were even old pictures from their orphanage days, that Zell and Irvine had persuaded Edea to lend them, with much reluctance on her half.

"Aw, Selphie look how tiny you are in this one! You must've only been about three years old! What were you doing?"
Selphie looked close at the photo that Rinoa was so excited about and tried hard to conjure up old memories, lost from years of Guardian force usage.

"I . . . I'm not too sure, but I think I was about to cry-,"

"That's because Seifer kicked over your sandcastle, then told Edea you'd done it yourself, resulting in you being sent to bed for being destructive," Irvine interrupted.

The brunette turned around to face the young man leaning on one of the marble pillars, off to her right.

"You can remember that?"

"Yup. I guess I'm just smarter than you lot," he replied jokingly, tapping a finger to the side of his forehead. Selphie smiled, before looking back to the poster, focusing on a large group picture that Quistis was pointing at.

The weather in the background looked sunny, yet breezy due to everyone's hair (except Zells) being blown about, and Selphie recognised it as they day they had all gone down to one of the local beaches. She couldn't remember who'd taken it, since all of her friends seemed to be in the picture. She couldn't remember much at all of that day, apart from escaping an attempted drowning. Clenching her eyes shut in a tight, almost painful manner, Selphie blocked out the photo in front of her face. She hoped the memories would go away, would be stolen from her mind by the clutches of her GF; but no such moment came. They didn't vanish; they stayed.

Until someone lay a large yet gentle hand upon her shoulder, taking her into their arms without a single word and wrapping her up in a heartfelt embrace.

Selphie knew immediately that it was Irvine, although Zell could easily have done the same if he weren't so excited and oblivious to everything going on around him at the moment. She was glad it was the sharpshooter. While Zell was one of her dearest friends, she shared a different sort of bond and companionship with Irvine, one of which she'd experienced with no one else. He could calm her down with a well placed look or a single touch of his hand. He made her feel wanted, and that's something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Irvine bent his neck slightly and whispered through her hair, "Do you want to go somewhere a bit quieter?"

She nodded her head in a weak answer, not trusting herself to speak for fear of a lump forming in her throat. With his arm resting about her waist, he mumbled an excuse to the rest of their friends and led Selphie off somewhere she couldn't see, due to her head still being down, not wanting to look up because she refused to ruin everyone's evening by looking sad. When the boisterous clamour of people seemed to fade out, she lifted her head, brushing her waved hair away from cheerless eyes and looked around. Irvine had taken her to the second floor balcony, where it was windy yet not at all cold, just another balmy Balamb night. Even so, Irvine took off his dark blue suit jacket and placed it around her shoulders, laughing at the dear sight of her standing there in an article of clothing that was at least three times too big, swamping her delicate form. Selphie appeared to ignore him, or was too caught up in her own mind to notice much going on around her. So, he called her name.

She looked up then, eyes all vivid green and wide, yet still holding a melancholy that he wished he could kiss away. But, things only worked that way in children's fairy tales, filled with princesses and knights and evil dragons; it was much harder to pull someone back from the brink in real life.

"You really do look beautiful tonight."

"I'm so sorry," the brunette suddenly exclaimed with some urgency in her voice.

"For what?" Irvine stepped closer to her, taking her soft hands in his own and cradling them.

"Because I've gone and ruined it all!" Selphie tugged away from him, his blue jacket falling off from around her slim shoulders as she placed her arms on the balconies stone railings, looking wistfully out at the stormy ocean, longing to be lost in the shadowy horizon.

The auburn haired sharpshooter looked down at the piece of clothing on the floor, not caring if it had gotten soiled or crumpled in the fall, and stepped over it, once again closing in on the small girl.

"What have you ruined?" He spoke softly, making sure not to touch her, sensing that she seemed riled up and fit to burst into either floods of tears or a slapping frenzy.

"Everything! You went to all this trouble for me, to try and make me happy, but I have to be an ungrateful bitch and go and remember things that I wish I could just cut out of me!"

Irvine frowned at the double meaning of her words, not knowing if it was intentional or accidental, yet too tactful in his ways to ask her what she'd meant.

"I always do this! Maybe Celia was right; people DO hate me, I'm pathetic and you'd be better off if you weren't my friend AT ALL!" Selphie seemed to let herself flop, slowly sinking down, the wide tutu of her dress splaying out around her legs and hiding her feet beneath her as she finally collided with the cold floor none too gently. She still had her back to Irvine and was holding on weakly to the small pillars under the waist-sized railing, looking out as if she were in prison, behind bars. He sat with her too, resting himself a little more delicately than she had, and turning to view her side profile, only to find that it was, once again, obstructed by hair. He reached out with his left hand and brushed it aside, running his finger through the curls before resting his arm on his up-bent knee.

"You shouldn't say things like that."

Selphie continued staring out with glassy eyes at the swirling patterns the ocean made, listening but not saying anything.

"All these people that came here tonight, they turned up because they love your personality. They love who you are and care about what happens to you. If you were hated, do you really think anyone would've shown up?"

He has a point.

Shifting her position, she let her hands fall from the barriers and lifted her head slightly, turning her body so that she faced the man to the side of her, the tulle netting of her dress rustling at the movement. A corner of Irvines mouth titled up in a smile when she finally looked him in his magenta tinged eyes. Instinctively, she reached up to the silver locket set with an emerald that hung around her neck; the very same one that the cowboy had given her on the night of the last dance that'd been held. She ran her index finger across the engraved phrase of 'I Love You' at the back, reassurance gradually pushing out the sadness that had come over her, only moments ago. Still holding the locket in her palm, Selphie turned her head again, gazing back out to the sea surrounding the sleepy town, following each wave that crashed against the rocks of the shore, throwing up sprays of white foam in the air, only to fall back down into the water and vanish.

As she watched, Irvine studied her peaches and cream complexion, letting his eyes skim over every feature on her face. She bit her bottom lip slightly as she watched the dark night, drawing his attention to the tempting, full pout as she released it again. Her lips were pink and soft, like the petals of a flower and formed perfectly. She kissed with a slight inexperience and innocence, which made it all the more wonderful in Irvine's opinion. He let his eyes rest on her perfect, little button nose, resisting an urge to reach out and give it a playful pinch, as he had done so many times before. Selphie altered the position in which she was sitting in again, changing his view as she moved to face him. This time, it was her looking at him, remember all the times they'd spent together, sometimes ending up kissing in each others arms. She blushed at the though, yet didn't turn away from the sharpshooter in front of her. Selphie could still hear eruptions of noise leaking through from the Grande hall behind them, no doubt coming from people who were having fun, pulling pranks, dancing and chatting. Just as she was about to open her mouth and suggest they go back inside, Irvine interrupted her.

"Why are we still friends?"

"Huh?"

Irvine moved closer to her and snaked an arm around her waist, "Well shouldn't we be more than friends?"

"We are . . . kinda . . . err," suddenly feeling very awkward and unsure of what to say, the brunette tore her eyes away from the face moving ever closer to her own. With his lips only inches away from hers, he asked; "Do you want to make more of it?"

Flustered, Selphie resisted the urge to scoot back a little bit and instead took a deep breath. "What?"

Irvine lifted one of his hands up and stroked the side of her face, running it down and around her neck, curling his fingers up and playing with the silky hair at the nape.

"Do you want to start a relationship with me?" He whispered, close to her ear.

"You mean . . . be your girlfriend?"

Irvine smiled at the innocence and shock in her voice, "That's what I meant."

The petite girl suddenly enclosed him in a fierce kiss, clinging tightly on to his neck and knocking him down onto the hard, stone floor, taking him off guard. He soon became immersed in what she was doing with her tongue and returned the gesture, placing his arms around her waist and pulling her close against him. It was deep and intense, different in meaning from other kisses they'd shared; it was a good few minutes before either one pulled away.

"That was a good 'yes'," Irvine joked, standing up and pulling Selphie with him. She stood there, taking one last look at the stars reflecting off the water below, smiling and seemingly in a world of her own.

"You really mean it though?"

"Of course I do!"

Bending down, he picked his jacket up from the floor, shaking it off a few times, before reaching out for Selphie and locking his hand with hers.

"Come on beautiful, they'll be wonderin' where you've got to."

Almost as soon as Irvine had spoken, Zell came tumbling through to the balcony, with a large grin on his face.

"Hey, Rinoa's looking for you guys. She wants some sort of commemorem . . ."

"Commemorative," Irvine corrected.

"Yeah, some sort of what-you-said photo done, so we can all remember when we're old and wrinkly and stuff."

Selphie looked up at Irvine, sniggering, "I don't think we'll be forgetting any time soon."

"Huh?" Zell looked lost.

"We're a couple."

"Huh?"

"As in girlfriend-boyfriend, Zell."

"OH! Hey, that's wicked!" The blonde martial artist sent a wink in the sharpshooter's direction, who just rolled his eyes and gave back an odd sort of smile.

"Come on then, couple, or Rinoa will go all sorceress on our arses."

Upon re-entering the enormous, decorated hall, the three saw that Rinoa and Quistis had already gotten most of the guests arranged two vertical lines, one of which was standing and the other sitting on the floor in a sort of half-semicircular shape.

"Sef, Irvine, Zell! I want you on the floor in the middle next to Squall and Seifer!" The ebony haired girl shouted out.

"Are they next to each other for comical value?"

"No, Zell. I thought it'd be nice, because you know, you all grew up together."

The blonde let out a snorting, mocking laugh and pointed over to where Seifer was, making sure he saw. Rinoa smacked his finger down and gave him a stern look.

"Ow!"

"Behave or I'll put you next to him!"

"Where am I going?"

"Next to Squall, and Selphie and Irvine, you go in the middle somewhere."

As the two males sloped off by orders of Rinoa, Selphie turned to her friend.

"You and Squall aren't the only couple in the group now."

It took a few seconds for things to click into place in the girls mind, but once they did, her chesnut coloured eyes lit up and she gave Selphie a quick hug.

"That's so cute!"

Watching her friend fiddling with the tripod set up camera in front of her, she asked, "Are you having some trouble?"

"Oh, I can't seem to find the ten second auto-photo thingy."

Selphie looked at the device and pushed a small, silver button on the side of it and looked at the digital screen, quickly positioning it so everyone was in the frame, whilst Rinoa was flapping her arms off to her right.

"Hurry, hurry! We need to go sit down!"

"Its on fifteen seconds and set to four photos. You can never be too careful when Zell, Squall and Seifer are all near each other."

Laughing as they both rushed over to the group of people, they sat themselves down; Rinoa half on Squalls lap, and Selphie on Irvines. Just before the first flash went off, Seifer mumbled 'chicken' and gave Zell the finger, causing the martial artist to lunge across Squall and Rinoa. The impact knocked her off the lap she was cautiously perched on, causing her to end up sprawled across Seifer, whilst Zell was still trying to swipe him.

"Stop it!" Rinoa screamed, pushing herself up from the wrong gunbladist's lap and accidentally pushing her hand into his crotch, earning herself a warning look from both Squall and the blonde.

"The second photo! Zell, stop it, sit down!"

"He is sitting down; maybe if you'd get your hand out from Seifers crotch we could get a good picture." The brunette gunbladist said, staring blankly at Rinoa.

"Perhaps she just prefers mine to yours, Leonhart."

The flare of the camera flashing was taken no notice of as, this time, Squall pulled Rinoa out of the way and reached out violently to grab hold of Seifer, but the ungainly blonde moved out of the way, leaning back a little too far and ending up with his head in Selphies breasts.

"Oaf!" She gasped and pushed him back towards his enemy. The rest of the garden students in the back line were either laughing or try to encourage more kafuffle, much to Rinoa's dismay. By the time the third photograph was coming up, everyone was back in place and although not everybody was smiling, it was a near perfect picture. After that one was done, Zell threw an idle threat in Seifers direction, again causing more ruckus between the two.

During all the commotion, no one noticed the newly found couple sneaking off and out the side door. Selphie was in the lead, running down the entry way away from the hall, her large, puffy dress flouncing about her legs and her hair trailing behind her in light, hazelnut curls. Irvine was behind her and they were both laughing, together at the same time, which hadn't occurred for a while. The brunette stopped by the side of the centre-piece fountain, still giggling and trying to catch her breath.

"Do you think Rinoa will be mad?" A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, making them shine like peridots.

"I hope so. She's funny when she gets mad."

"But she takes it out on Squall."

"That why it's funny."

As Irvine went to sit down on the marble edge of the fountain, he noticed that his girlfriend had gotten a distinctively naughty look upon her delicate features. He hadn't seen that expression on her for a while, the first time being when they were very young, and she had launched her ice cream cone into his face. Edea had told her not to be so wasteful, but she had only gone and done it twice more after that. Irvine chuckled at the memory, only to be question by a curious Selphie.

"What're you laughing at?"

"You."
Instantaneously, she placed her little hand over his face and pushed him backwards. He felt himself tumbling and tried to grab onto something to stop from falling, but he only got a handful of air as he splashed down into the icy water a few inches below. It sent a shock up his spine that went all the way to his brain, ridding him of any sleepiness he may have had prior to the dunk. Even though the water wasn't deep enough for one to submerge themselves in, Irvine had somehow gotten his hair wet and the whole of his suit, and was now sitting up in the water, tangles of auburn around his glowering face.

Selphie was standing off to the side, still on dry ground, with her hands behind her back, giggling and swaying a little from side to side.

"Selphie Tilmitt . . ." He put on a mock-angry voice, though she wasn't to know. "Come here, now."

On seeing his reaction, the brunette's laughter died down, ending in a clearing of her throat as she foolishly stepped nearer to the side of the fountain. When she was close enough, with Irvine keeping up the stern act, he brought his hand quickly out of the water and flung it in her direction. Whilst Selphie was still in the initial shock of this action, he grabbed her outstretched arm and pulled hard so that she tripped over the edge and splashed into the fountain like he had. Irvine made sure that she landed in his lap so she didn't take a bump from the hard flooring of the water feature, despite that, she still looked rather disgruntled.

"Irvine! I can't believe you . . . look at my dress!"

He gazed at the soaked bodice of her tulle outfit, and the undone waves of her hair, slowly going limp through being damp, before letting out a laugh that carried through the whole middle section of garden. Selphie thought how silly they must both look, sat in the middle of a water fountain, with one sharpshooter laughing manically, and this got her started too. She laughed so much and so hard that her cheeks were beginning to ache with pain, so she tried to stop herself from grinning by holding them down, the odd face causing Irvine to split his sides all the more. He loved hearing her giggle, simply because she hadn't done it for so long. It was only ever a forced, superficial smile, and now, seeing her so happy at this moment in time made his year.

"Come on beautiful, let's go and get dried up. We can't sit here like a pair of halfwits all night."

Selphie nodded and Irvine lifted her by the waist out of the cold water, which no longer seemed so chilly after being in it a good few minutes.

"Eurgh, my shoes feel all wet."

"Well, we were just in water, genius," Irvine teased, swinging his legs up and over the barrier, one by one.

"Oh ha ha. I feel gross now. My knickers are clinging to me, it feels horrible."

"I could take care of them for you," he fully expected a slap to his arm, but when none came he looked over to where she stood. She had her arms crossed over her chest, yet he could see her trying and failing to hide a smile that was slowly growing on her face.

"Come on then."

"Huh?"

"I meant, let's go back to your dorm to dry off, perv!"

Irvine shrugged, "I am a guy, what did you expect me to think? And your boyfriend, may I add?"

"Yes you may."

They began walking hand in hand, heading in the direction of the dormitory hallways, leaving small puddles of water behind them, the squelching of their shoes not going unrecognised. Selphie looked down at the tiled floor going past as they moved, thinking, before looking up again and stopping. "Thank you."

She had said it in such a small voice that Irvine couldn't really be sure if she had even spoken.

"Pardon?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Coming back to me."

The auburn haired teen felt a lump growing in his throat, remembering that all that had happened between them was his fault in the first place, so he hugged her, hoping that he wouldn't start to cry. The lump was growing ever bigger the more he thought about all the crap he'd put her through in the past few months. Selphie pulled away, wanting to speak again.

"I'm just glad that you were finally there for me."

Irvine felt suddenly angry at himself, an occurrence that was becoming more frequent for him. "You should hate me for what I did to our friendship, God knows I deserve it."

Selphie cast her eyes down, wringing her hands together, not wanting memories to re-surface again. "That's . . . all in the past now."

"Selphie? Please, don't ever do this," he ran his fingers along her scarred arm, "again, okay?"

" . . . I won't. I mean, I don't have a reason to now. It's going to get better, right?"

She looked up at him with such hope in her emerald green eyes that it went straight to his heart.

"Of course it will. I'm never going to leave you. Ever. We're going to last forever."

"I hope so."

"I know so. We'll work through everything. If anything's ever worrying you, I'll sort if out. If you ever feel sad, I'll be here to hold you and make it all better. You never have to feel alone."

"Thank you." It was barely more than a whisper, but he heard her.

And there they stood, soaking wet, clothes uncomfortable, puddles pooling about their feet; but they were happy and this time, it was going to last. Stepping into Irvines dorm, they shut out what people thought of them, and closed the door to their old past, ready to start a future together; this time, with no one else to get in the way.

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A/n: Well, that's it. The end! This chapter was 12,543 words long, which is my best yet. I'd like to say thank you to absolutely everyone who reviewed, even all the anonymous ones. It really made my day seeing people actually reading my story, and I hope that the seriousness of issues contained within has gotten through. If you do suffer from self harming issues or are being bullied, please don't ever feel like you have to be alone; talk to someone. It makes a world of difference, trust me.

I won't be doing an epilogue for this story, because I didn't give it a prologue in the beginning, so it'd be a bit out of place. Also Ifeel I have done all that needs to be done. In the future, there may even be a sequel to it. My next story is currently in the works, it'll be a Zell/Selphie. A twisted one. I never do super happy fluff-fluff stories. Angst ahoy! Anyway, look out for it, won't you!

And thanks again for all your reviews.

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