Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything related to FFVIII, all I own is the plot.

- Chapter eleven: Linking the Dots -

"Ugh...I can't believe this happened." Zell muttered tiredly.

"You did a good job, Zell. I was afraid the whole Quad would burn down." Squall sighed heavily.

Irvine looked at Selphie, who was sitting in a chair and looked beaten. The entire decor for her show had been destroyed. The costumes were gone and all that remained of the bird cage were a few burnt beams at the bottom. Her work was all gone.

He sat down next to her and took her hand. "I'm sorry for you. I know how much work you put into this."

She looked at him with teary eyes. She tried to smile and shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't care.

"I'm just happy no one got hurt. That's the main thing, right?" she said.

But Irvine knew how defeated she felt. He could see it in her empty eyes. Quistis gave her a sympathetic look and walked up to Squall.

"What a mess..."

From where they were sitting, they could see the blackened remains of the Quad. Squall nodded vaguely.

"Where's Rinoa?" she asked.

"She went to get us some water. Said she thought we could all use a drink."

"Did you find anything, about what caused it?"

Squall shook his head. "Not really. We know it wasn't a busted fuse, because none of the lights would be working right now if that had happened."

Quistis pulled her knees up to her chin. "You know what Cid thinks, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"I think he's right."

"But why? Who would gain anything by setting fire to the stage, who!"

He sighed loudly. They snapped up as they heard a loud clatter behind them.

"Sorry..." Rinoa muttered as she dropped to her knees to pick up the now broken glasses.

Zell stood up and walked over to help.

"Don't worry. I've seen enough water for one day." He said.

Rinoa dumped the shards of glass on the tray she had been carrying with trembling hands. She looked up at Quistis with big eyes.

"You think...you think someone set the Quad on fire on purpose? You don't think it's an accident?"

"There's nothing that we could find to point at anyone...but it just seems so unreal. We've never had any problems like this before. So why now?"

Rinoa looked at her hands. She knew that there was one person who didn't jump for joy about Selphie's show. She herself had found the idea of a dance show about a locked-up bluejay a bit uncanny.

It just seemed too much of a coincidence to her. But burning it down to prevent it was not something she'd do.

'Besides.' She thought. 'I'd have known if I had done something like that. And I wouldn't want to hurt Selphie. All her effort...'

She left the tray on the floor and sat down next to Squall, leaning her head on his shoulder. He slipped his arm around her waist.

"We'll find a clue, I'm sure." He said assuringly.

"Commander Leonheart, sir!"

They looked up at the young SeeD that came running towards them.

"Sir! We found something!"

"What?" Squall rose quickly. "What it is?"

"We found a box of matches, sir. And half a can of petrol, but we're not sure it was used for the fire."

"Well, get on it. Put as many people on it as you need. We're not letting some crazy lunatic burn down our Garden."

The boy shook his head vigourously. "No sir. We won't, sir. Oh...and Commander, someone also found this. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fire but one of the guys found it near the box of matches, so..."

He gave Squall a small piece of paper, nodded his head curtly and ran off again. Squall looked at it and let out aggrivated sigh as he gave it to Quistis.

"It's that drawing."

"Drawing?"

"The same as before. The bird in a cage."

"You mean the one I borrowed?" Selphie asked wildly.

Squall nodded. "That's the one. This is so frustrating! Some wacko is trying to destroy our Garden. Drawings aren't that bad, nor are stories on the wall, because I'll assume that those are from the same person, seeing as how they're both about birds...but a fire! In my Garden!"

He paced around.

"Quistis, you come with me. I don't know what to do about this anymore, we need to talk this over with Cid."

She nodded and got to her feet.

"Rinoa, I'm sorry sweetheart. But this needs my attention right now." He said to his girlfriend.

She nodded. "I know. I want you to get the bastard who did all this. No mercy, okay?"

He pecked the top of her head and walked away briskly with Quistis in his wake. Selphie slumped down on her chair again.

"I'm worried." She muttered quietly. "I used that drawing as the base for my entire show. Squall thought it was mine before. You don't think he'll blame me again, do you?"

She looked at Irvine hopefully, but he didn't notice. His eyes were unfocussed as though his mind was somewhere else. Zell quickly sat down next to her when he notcied Irvine wasn't paying attention.

"Don't wory, Sefie."

She winced when she heard him use the nickname only Irvine ever used.

"Don't worry." He said again. "Squall knows you. He knows you would never do anything like this. And he knows how much effort you've put into this and how much you love the Festival. You wouldn't ruin that."

Selphie smiled vaguely. "Thanks Zell."

She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, she was so tired. Zell closed his eyes too. They had been up all night, commanding the fire fight team. His head was full and empty at the same time.

His body felt heavy and he allowed himself to doze off with Selphie doing the same, leaned against his shoulder.

Rinoa watched them and pulled at Irvine's sleeve. She nodded her head in the direction of the door and he followed her quietly. They were silent until they had reached Rinoa's dormitory.

"We need to talk. And think." Irvine said as she closed the door behind them.

"Yes we do." She agreed.

"Squall said that he thought the drawing is linked to the story and I agree with that. Two seperate things both about a bluejay...it's too much of a coincidence." Irvine said. "And because the words in the story are ours, I believe that whoever wrote it, also sent you the treats."

Rinoa looked at her shoes.

"So everything is linked. The drawing, the story, the notes and the fire." She concluded. "But...what I don't understand...is why only I get these notes. You've never gotten any, have you?"

Irvine shook his head. "Not one..."

Rinoa walked over to him and sat down on his lap, clasping herself to him. Irvine put his arms around her and couldn't help caressing her back.

"What if Quistis is right..." she whispered. "What if this is the same thing as what happened in Balamb...A guy, threatening girls with notes, pictures...Maybe there really was a lunatic killing people, maybe the journalist wasn't lying...Irvine, I'm scared."

"That guy was a mental-case. He was crazy, Rinoa. There never was a lunatic killer." Irvine said quietly, perhaps to convince himself more than her, and continued to caress her back.

Ignoring the confusion and the fright that filled her right now, she allowed herself to enjoy his touch and closed her eyes. Irvine traced a line of kisses down her neck and then kissed her mouth when her hand caressed his cheek softly.

"Why can't we always just feel like this? Like we do in these little moments?" she asked.

Irvine said nothing, having no answer to give. He kissed her neck again and she closed her eyes, hesitantly letting this feeling overwhelm her. He pushed her down on her bed and she wrapped her arms around him. She didn't want to let him go.

"Hold me." She whispered. "Just hold me tight. And love me. Love me the way Selphie doesn't let you...the way you loved me when this first started."

Irvine nodded in silence, not taking his eyes off her. She unbuttoned her blue vest and dropped it to the floor as he took off his shirt.

"I love you Rinoa...my songbird. I do." He said before kissing her again.

She held him tight when he entered her and her hold only loosened when she fell alsleep a long time after they were done. Irvine watched her for a second and then disentangled himself from her limbs. He placed a quick kiss on her forehead before slipping back into the clothes he had discarded along the way.

With one last look at her, asleep in the bed, he sneaked out the room. The worries and the uncertainty about this madman had tired him too.

He unlocked the door with a quietness he usually didn't have. He expected Rinoa still to be in bed. He had assumed that that was where she had gone after all the mess they had cleaned up the best they could today.

Quietly he entered the bedroom and walked towards the bed. He sat down on it and watched her sleep.

'Too tired even to undress.' He thought as he saw she was still wearing her bluevest and her boots.

Suddenly he noticed the thirst he had ignored all day long. He had been too busy to take the time to grab a glass of water. Too busy stopping a fire, too busy talking to Cid. He walked back into the main area of their dormitory and sat down with a glass of water before wanting to turn in too.

He stared at the wall opposite him for a while before he noticed a scrap of paper on the floor near the door. He set his glass on a table and walked over to pick it up. Slowly he read it and after reading it two more times, he made his way into the bedroom with the note clenched in his hand.

He sat down on the bed a bit more forcefully this time and this woke Rinoa from her sleep. She looked up at him and smiled groggily.

"Rinoa...sweetheart, there's something you need to see..."

She sat up, feeling awake all of a sudden and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"What?"

He handed her the note he had been holding. She sat up straight, vaguely wondering when she had put her vest back on after Irvine had left. She turned her attention to the note and felt her face grow pale as she read it.

'I tried to show you that I'm serious. Didn't I show you enough to take me seriously? Flames apparently don't scare you.Then I must show you again. Stop your actions before you hurt others close to you. Stop or I will be forced to stop you. You already forced me into hurting someone close to you and now, because you still don't seem to understand the pain you cause, I will hurt someone again. You should have listened to my last warning.'

Rinoa stared up at Squall with big scared eyes. This was another threat and this was the worst one yet. And now Squall knew about it too.

"Rinoa...can you tell me what this is all about?"