Disclaimer: i dont own 8. so dont sue me

Note: well we are near the end now thanks to y'all who been reading and reviewing love ya all and hannah my pkot bunny and mrs yazoo i love ya gal! keep reading and enjoy y'all xx

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

"oh my god" Rinoa cried "Not you again!"

"I actually think I should say congratulations" Seifer said taking a few steps towards Squall and Rinoa "I figured you'd both be dead by now. But here you both are. Oh well, now I get to kill you myself.". He grinned evilly

"You can't be serious…" Rinoa said

"Oh I most certainly am" He glanced over to Squall who was barely keeping himself upright "ooh you don't look so good Squall. This'll be an easy fight"

"your pathetic Seifer" Squall said as forcefully as he could manage "you're fighting me when you know there's no chance in hell I can properly fight back"

"yeh, that does seem kind of wrong" Seifer shrugged "not my problem. I came for a fight and….I'll get a fight "

"You're really really sick!" Rinoa cried "If you want to fight someone then….then fight me!"

Seifer just laughed "that's just ridiculous. I could snap you like a twig"

"You know what Seifer" Squall said lifting his head "I will fight you, and then once and for all, I'll get rid of you. I've let you off before, times when I could have killed you. This time, I wont let you off"

"Squall!" Rinoa cried "Don't be ridiculous You can barely even stand up!! You're unarmed and your injured!!! Don't do this!!!"

"I don't have a choice"

"Yeh" Seifer nodded "He's right. I mean I'm gonna kill you both anyway, why not go down with a fight". He started walking down the stairs swinging his gun blade but Rinoa ran halfway up them meeting him in the middle and stopping him in his tracks.

"Seifer" she said both angrily and desperately "Please don't do this. Will it really make you feel good fighting against someone you know cant beat you?"

Seifer pretended to think "Ermmm. Yep. It really will. But don't worry princess, I'll make it quick. Then it's your turn"

"you're messed up!" she cried

"Get out of my way" was all Seifer said

"No" Rinoa said trying to keep her voice steady and control her teas

"Get out of my way or I will force you out of my way"

"Just move Rinoa" Squall said from behind her his hand still clenched to the wound in his shoulder. "It's not worth you getting hurt". His voice was still weak, but there was determination in it.

Reluctantly, and full of a rising fear, Rinoa stepped aside and Seifer walked past her down the stairs and stood face to face with Squall who was fighting through immense pain just to stay upright.

"I guess this is it" Seifer grinned

Squall nodded "I guess it is"

Quickly and without warning Seifer swung his gun blade and Squall managed to avoid it, but barely. His vision was still blurry and his reflexes were slower than usual.

Rinoa felt completely helpless watching the two of them fight. As much as she wanted to, she could not bring herself to believe there was anyway Squall could win this fight. She tried desperately to think if there was anything she could do. There wasn't any way she could stop or restrain Seifer, she was nowhere near as strong as him. She thought of running back upstairs and finding Zell but the house was pretty big and she had no idea were about he was, or how long it would take to find him and she knew this fight could be over any minute. She watched as Seifer manoeuvred his gun blade in every direction and at every angle and height and somehow despite, his condition, Squall managed to avoid each attack. Rinoa was amazed by his strength, that he could still carry on through all the pain.

Unfortunately though, his state became his weakness that allowed Seifer to gain the upper ground. He turned his gun blade, and jammed the handle into Squalls shoulder exactly were his already bleeding wound was. Clenching his shoulder and crying out in pain Squall dropped to the ground.

Seifer laughed victoriously and then placed the tip of his gun blade on Squalls chest, were his heart would be. "Well, who's pathetic now Squall?"

Barely managing not to pass out form the pain Squall said through gritted teeth "Still you"

Seifer just grinned evilly "That was almost too easy. Oh well. Goodbye Squall"

Rinoa felt immediate panic rise up in her. She knew she had to do something, anything, to help Squall. She glanced quickly around the room but the dim lamps on each surface didn't allow her a very good view.

'Damn it!' she thought frantically to herself 'there has to be something..'

Then an idea popped into her head. She knew it was not the best of ideas, but it was all she had. She ran quickly over to the side of the room, grabbed one of the dim, brass lamps and pulled the wire from the wall. With all the force she could manage she swung the lamp and hit Seifer in the back of the head. He fell to the floor, grasping his head before passing out to the ground.

"Thank god" Rinoa cried

"Thank you" Squall said

She helped him up off the floor and threw her arms around him "I thought you were gonna die" she sobbed against him

"It's okay. It's okay I'm fine" he reassured her

"We should get out of here" she said……………..

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

Zell disabled another soldier with a few punches but he was starting to get tired. It seemed like they had been fighting non stop since they arrived there, and there seemed to be an endless stream of soldiers to defeat. Zell had no clue now where Irvine and Selphie or Quistis were. They had all spread out around the large house trying to defeat the soldiers and find General Caraway, who had disappeared in the commotion. Zell was amazed at how big the house was, but still every room seemed to be filled with soldiers and SeeD fighting. He prayed that none of the student s would get to hurt, but he was glad he made the decision to bring them other wise the odds would have been too against him and the group. He searched each room frantically. He was determined he would find Caraway, and turn him into Esthar for everything he had done. He was also becoming slightly worried about the others. If he was becoming tired then surely they would be too. After eliminating a few soldiers, he came across the room he soon discovered was Caraways study. Opening the door he saw Caraway sitting behind his desk yelling frantically into the phone while soldiers stood around him one armed with a large Gun. As soon as the soldier saw Zell he started firing off rounds which Zell was finding difficult to dodge. But luckily he managed. Dodging the stream of bullets he made his way over to the soldier and after knocking the gun from there hands used his best attacks to knock him unconscious.

The other guards surrounded him and he had to take on 5 of them, dodging punches as well was timing swift kicks and punches.Eventually he manged to render them all unconscious but he discovered that in the commotion Caraway had once again left the room. He headed for the exit, determined not to let him get away, but then another guard entered the room. Suddenly Zell panicked. This guy was huge. Probably twice the height and width of Zell.

"Oh hell" he muttered.

The guy grabbed him and then threw him against the wall at the other side of the room. Zell felt suddenly dizzy, but knew he had to carry on. He forced himself up and aimed 3 swift punches at the guys head, but they seemed to have no effect. He slammed his fist into Zells torso and once again he went flying across the room and crashed into the table by the roaring fireplace. He forced himself up off the ground and as the guy approached him he swiftly dodged, moved in a full circle and was behind the guy. He used this advantage and he delivered a sharp kick to the back of the guys legs. The fight went on for a long time, but eventually using some of his moves he only used on very special fighting occasions, Zell knocked the guy out.

He bent over, his hands on his knees and tried to get his breath back when he heard aloud crackling sound. H glanced and immediately panicked. The table which he had knocked over earlier in the fight had somehow come into contact with the nearby fireplace and the cloth had caught fire. The orange flamed licked at the wooden table and they were starting to spread………..