Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Domestic ❯ Reflection ( Chapter 18 )

Domestic

WARNINGS:

1) I do not own FF8, Squaresoft, or get any profit out of this story

2) Rated PG-13 for violence, language, and sexual content

"…you taught us all how important life is.

You taught me that life doesn't last forever.

That'swhy we have to help each other and live life to the fullest.

Even if you say goodbye,

you'llalways be in our hearts.

So, I know we're not alone anymore.

Why I was born...

How I wanted to live...

Thanks for giving me time to think.

To keep doing what you set your heart on...

It's a very hard thing to do.

We were all so courageous...

What to do when I felt lonely...

That was the one thing you couldn't teach me.

But we need to figure out the answers for ourselves...

I'm so happy I met everyone...

I wish we could've gone on more adventures.

But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday.

Everyone...

.........Thank you.

Farewell.

My memories will be part of the sky...

- Vivi Ornitier

Chapter 18: Reflection

Two weeks later, Selphie Tilmitt awoke from a most pleasant sleep. She was finally back home and sleeping in her dorm. The white SeeDs left her stuff pretty much untouched, so it was an easy transition back. Rolling out of bed, Selphie threw on a coat and went for her usual morning walk. Unfortunately, nobody was awake at this time. With close to five-thousand student deaths, the Garden was practically abandoned. It was heart-sinkingly depressing. Selphie had lost a number of good friends and even a few best friends. But she tried not to let this bring her down. She was trying to get back in her old routine, or at least trying to establish a new one. It was hard, because everything had changed, but Selphie took one thing at a time.

The heating still worked in the dorm hallway, but once Selphie reached the fountain area, she was met with a wintry blast. The hole was beginning to be patched up, but it was nowhere near being back to normal. Just like Trabia a few months back, Balamb was in its rebuilding stages. Strangely, these last two weeks were the best she ever had. When they hit rock bottom, the only place they could go was up. It was somehow a very serene night when the White SeeD ship sailed off into the horizon. None of them could fall asleep, and Ward, Kiros, and Laguna all stayed to help out. After fighting for almost the entire night, it felt strange to sit around and think about the consequences. For the first time ever, Squall didn't know what he was supposed to do. With two-thirds of his Garden gone, the lion just sat in the wet grass and ran his fingers through his hair.

Zell was just as lost, if not more so. He placed Travis's body down in front of Squall and shakily asked where the burial site would be. The next morning, everyone set to work to bury the ones they lost. It was by far the worst day. It was far more painful then the battle itself. Some bodies couldn't be recognized and others had just limbs. By the time they were done, small white markers lined almost the entire Alcauld Plains. Ma Dincht was never found, which Zell wasn't sure was such a bad thing. He didn't know if he could deal with seeing his mother dead and it was reassuring to think that maybe she escaped. Zell knew this probably didn't happen, but it was a helpful thought in the back of his head.

A shiver ran down Selphie's spine as the icy air continued to nip at her. The walls of the Library and Training Center were slowly being reconstructed. The brunette thought she might work a little on that when she got back. That's what Selphie liked about these times. Everyone seemed to appreciate the little things again. Personal ambitions and selfishness didn't exist anymore. Everyone was so much closer, and it suddenly didn't matter who called you ugly or who smelled a little funny. Selphie's heart melted a little as she thought of all the wonderful friends she had. In these trying times, she appreciated them the most.

Selphie walked through the front gate and stepped out onto the road. She thought she might visit Balamb today, as she hadn't done so since arriving. It was a cold and clear day. The sound of seagulls carried over the occasional crash of the waves. Selphie was still getting used to the smell of ash in the Garden, but out here it was so much better. The relaxing smell of the beach flooded her senses and took her back to when everything was better. It took her back to hot summer days when hundreds of underclassmen ran towards the sound of the swishing waves. It was still a bitter winter, but Selphie doubted many people would be swimming this summer. She followed the winding road until she reached the ditch. Like a scar to the island, the ruby dragon's trench still stood out from the flat plains. With a running hop, Selphie jumped the ditch and continued on her way. Little white gravestones ran on both sides of her and continued almost all the way to the gates of Balamb. The gate was still down, and the ruby dragon's corpse wasn't cleaned up yet. It's head and claws were lying on the pavement and the rest stretched into the ocean. It brought both disgust and a great sense of pride to Selphie.

The brunette swiftly kicked it, half expecting a response. After pausing for a second, Selphie marched into town. Balamb was a ghost town now. Most of its citizens were deceased, and those who lived moved. All businesses were closed and the houses were vacant. It was sort of scary, but at the same time calming. After the Garden was functioning again, this would be their next project. Walking over the debris, Selphie slowly made her way past the gas station.

"Hyne Dammit!" a voice screamed, causing it to echo throughout town.

Selphie recognized the voice and knew immediately who it was. Among the wreckage, there stood a beautiful house. It looked like a tornado hit everything in town except for this house. Selphie swung open the door and entered the hallway. Zell's house was considerably better. There was still a lot of debris, and the kitchen was still caved in, but some form of organization had been established. A vase with flowers was placed to her immediate left and a few broken picture frames were hung up. The house also appeared to have been swept and vacuumed. A smiled covered Selphie's face, as she ran up the steps and opened Zell's room.

The blonde was presently sucking on his index finger. He held a hammer in his right hand and half of his gun rack was on the ground.

Selphie suddenly burst into a fit of giggles as she looked to the floor.

A tonberry looked at her blankly from his cage. After seeing that she didn't pose much of a danger, the tonberry continued to poke holes in the floor.

"Shut up," Zell smiled, shifting his glance to the green monster. "Squall said I could have him if I kept him caged.

"Why would you want him?" the brunette giggled, bending down to get a look at it.

"They're not so scary when they're caged," Zell replied, placing the hammer on his bed. "He sticks his knife in everything he sees though."

"I think he's cute."

The blonde shrugged and bent down to look at the creature as well.

After a minute of silence, Selphie stood erect and looked around the room. It was coming along nicely. Of course it wasn't up to Zell's usual standards, however it looked better then anything else in town. It smelled…like Zell, which wasn't the worst of scents. The punching bags were back up, and the blonde's bed was neat as usual. "Not too shabby," Selphie smiled looking around.

"Thanks. It's getting there."

"You need any help?"

"Um…I sort of want to finish it for myself ya know?" Zell said reluctantly, scratching the back of his head.

"Ok!" Selphie smiled cheerfully. She didn't want to show any disappointment in her voice, as Zell wasn't the most stable of people right now. She joked around with him a lot, but she knew when to give him his space. "Make sure you stop by the Garden for Lunch! I'll make you some hotdogs!" Selphie laughed, as she made her way to the door.

"Will do," Zell smiled back.

"Oh yeah, Zell?"

"What?"

"Squall said to give this to you," the brunette replied, handing him a letter. "I'll see you later."

"Later," Zell replied, looking down at the letter. He ripped it open as Selphie closed the door behind her.

Current Balamb Students,

Repairs are expected to be completed on the Garden as of this summer. Any and all help is appreciated, and would help expedite the process. We are planning to have a Recruitment day on August 30th and SeeD missions will begin next October. Any questions, comments, or suggestions can be addressed to myself or Quistis Trepe.

Squall Leonhart

A smile formed on Zell's face as he folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. He placed this in a scrapbook he kept. The book was full of pictures, journal entries, and important documents. Shaking his head, Zell picked up his hammer and went back to work. The tonberry obliviously continued to stab the floor.

(**********)

Journal Entry: February 5th

Subject: …

After time compression, a lot of people asked me if I regretted any of it. They asked if I ever thought about the people I killed or the families I ruined. I always scoffed about it and just shook my head. People were in my way, and that's all there was to it. I didn't regret any of it. But after today, I thought about it again. I never had a tragedy in my life. Everything has been smooth up until this point. Sure, I live a little bit more of an adventurous life then the average man, but nothing like this has ever happened to me before. And now that I reflect on it, I want to change my answer. I like to think that things happen for a reason. Call me feeble minded, but I really just want to say that there's a purpose to life. I think there's a fate for us all to follow. That's why I appreciate every day I'm here. Tomorrow could easily be my time to go. It's sort of scary, but sometimes you just have to go with it.

You know, I could sit here and debate the would've, could've, should've, but I just don't have the energy anymore. Dreading on my past isn't helping me feel any better. So I think that it's best to look forwards sometimes. It's a hard thing to do, but I'm living it one day at a time.

-Zell

(**********)

~END~

A/N:

Wow, this was completed a lot faster then I thought it would. Thanks to a couple of snow days and no homework, I was able to whip this out pretty quick. I hope you enjoyed some part of it. If not, I'm not exactly sure why you're reading this, but meh, I really don't care.

First I would like to thank my beta Derek. He helped me find grammatical mistakes and was honest enough to say "Dude, you really need to redo this part" or "Dude, where the hell did that come from?" I hope that you will help me thank him as well. If you leave a review for this chapter, please pick out a comma that you thought was really well placed or an exclamation point that made the story oh so much more exciting.

Secondly, I would like to do is thank all of my reviewers. Without you, this probably would have stopped after the second chapter. It always brightens my day to see I got a review, and most of them were positive. I have 34 reviews as I post this, which isn't to shabby for an 18 chaptered story if I may say so myself. Thank you all for your generosity.

I think I should also mention my music. J-Mills mix volume 10 was released last week, and as you can see, I used a few lyrics to open up chapter titles. I played it almost every time I started to write, so here's my inspirational track list:

Ataris - The Saddest Song (Accousitc)

Billy Talent - Try Honesty

Fenix TX - All My Fault

Gary Jules - Mad World

Radiohead - Creep

Rancid - Red Hot Moon

Simple Plan - Perfect

Something Corporate - Space

The Starting Line - Leaving

Thrice - All That's Left

Unwritten Law - Seeing Red

Yellowcard - Way Away

Fall Out Boy - Yule Shoot Your Eye Out

The Pogues - Fairy Tale of New York

Lost Prophets - Last Train Home

Blessed Union of Sould - She Likes Me for Me

Duncan Shiek - Barely Breathing

Brand New - Sic Transit Gloria (Glory Fades)

I would be listening to the CD right now, but tragically my discman was stolen. If anyone would like to buy me a new one it would be highly appreciated.

Hahaha, seriously, any questions, comments, or suggestions can be e-mailed to me (See Profile)

As for future stories, I'm not sure. I think I'm going to take a break for a little while and wait until I think of something good. There will probably not be a continuation of Domestic unless something truly brilliant strikes me. Well, stay tuned until then. Thanks once again.

-Mills