Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ United Pair ❯ Whose that girl? ( Chapter 1 )

Hello again! If your reading this part then I guess you liked the first part. Yay! In this part theres a flashback so i hope no one gets lost along the way. As always I don't own any of the characters,places etc, cept my own of course! (oh yeah, I know that strat guide says that Squall, Seifer, Quistis and Zell started at garden at different times but in my story they arrive at the same time k?)

Part 4

*1 year after the defeat of Ultimecia*

'Come on Zell!', Selphie whined 'We're gonna be late!'

They had been in the training center for ages and quite frankly Selphie was fed up. She had promised Zell she would help him practise his skills if he helped her with the garden party that was coming up. She watched him pumel another Gnat and sighed. She was beginning to regret her promise when she spotted Irvine coming towards them.

'Irvy!' She sqealed, running up to him and flinging her arms around his waist. The cowboy looked down at her and grinned tipping his hat at her and hugging her back. Zell quickly finished the gnat off and ran up to them.

'Yo Irvine!'

'Hey Zell, hope you've been behaving with my girl' he said jokingly

'Of course! but I can't help it if the women can't keep away from me!' he laughed

'As if!' selphie cried ,sticking her tounge out at him.

Irvine laughed and pulled selphie closer and kissed her. Zell rolled his eyes and turned away. The fact was he hadn't even had a proper girlfriend. He didn't even get up enought courage to talk to the girl in the library, and if that wasn't bad enough, all his friends had paired off! Squall and Rinoa, Irvine and Selphie, even Quistis and Seifer! Zell sighed kicked at the floor. 'Its not fair' he moaned.

'What was that Zell?' selphie asked

'hm?.. oh nothing'

'Anyway' said Irvine, 'I came to get you guys, the headmaster wants a meeting'

'You guys go on' said Zell, 'I'll catch up in a minute'

'Ok man, see you later' grinned selphie as she and Irvine walked away arm in arm.

After a little while Selphie looked up at Irvine, 'Did you notice anything wrong with Zell today?'

'Like what princess?'

Selphie grinned widely. She loved it when he called her that. 'Dunno, He just seemed alittle off'

'Probably just jealous 'cos he can't get a great gal like you for a girlfriend'

Selphie beamed at her boyfriend and lent in close. Being nearly a foot shorted than him, Selphie had to practically stand on tiptoes. Irvine wrapped his arms around her and drew her in for a kiss. Sighing happily, Selphie and Irvine made they're way through the center gates, leaving Zell alone.

Back in the training center, Zell had managed to corner another Giant Gnat. 'Come on!' He yelled. Zell launched himself forward and began to beat down on the plantlike creature. He jumped back to avoid a forceful blow from the creature. After a few more hits from his hammer-like fists he finished the creature off. He smiled to himself and bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. That was is 5th fight this afternoon and he was exhusted. He took a couple of deep breathes and slowly began to walk back to the garden. 'If i'm late for this meeting Cid'll kill me' he thought as he broke into a run. Suddenly he paused. Somewhere in the center he heard shouts, and.. a T-Rexaur! It sounded like whoever was fighting certainly wasn't winning! Zell spun 'round and sprinted towards the cries. He ran to a small clearing where a figure was circling the T-rexaur. He certainly hadn't seen them before, 'Must be new here.' The person dodged left, spun right and struck the dinosaur with lighting reflexes. In the strangers hand was a sliver staff. The top had a light blue stone held in a circle made by two wings. Zell crept closer as figure jumped high and brought their staff straight down onto the T-Rexaurs head and landing to face Zell. His mouth hung open, 'A GIRL?!' Seeming not to notice him the girl flipped back and launched a powerful ice attack on the monster. It stumbled back afew paces but then launched a counter attack of it's own, picking up the girl in it's mouth and throwing her down on the floor, ripping the sleeve of her shirt.

'Dammit!' she cried, 'That was my fave shirt!' picking herself up she began to spin her staff in front of her. It spun faster and faster until it seem to just hang infront of her. 'North wind!' she cried as a huge blast of ice crystals flew at the creature sending it reeling into a nearby tree. The female relaxed slightly and closed her eyes. After taking afew deeps breathes she stood up straight and attempted to tidy herself up.

Zell was gobbedsmacked. Eventually he mananged to stutter a loud, 'Wow'

'Who's there?'

Zell shyly stepped forward and looked at the stranger. She was roughly his age, maybe younger. She wore black leather boots, long black trousers and a red sleeveless top. Over the top she had a long sleeved black shirt, frayed the elbow where her sleeve had be torn. Through the tear Zell could see what looked like a black line. Her eyes flickered quickly across his face, stopping briefly on his tattoo. The girl was the first to break the silence.

'Can I help you? she asked, in a pissed off tone. Zell blinked and then realised he was staring

'Oh...I was just...erm,' He stuttered

'Spying?' She said, eyeing him sceptically

'No!'

'Thats what it looked like to me'

Zell gulped, 'You saw me?'

'Yeah, I saw you'

Zell blushed. The girl continued, 'So what where you doing?'

'I,.. erm, I heard you shout, I thought you might need some help'

'Well as you can see I can take care of myself'

The female turned and started to walk away, a small voice in Zells side spoke up, 'Quick stupid! say something!'

'Your.. erm, backflip could do with a bit of work' he called out. The girl stopped and spun around.

'Oh really?' she grinned

'Yeah,' Zell answered with a slight grin, growing slightly more confident, 'You know, maybe I could show you...' He stopped mid sentence as he saw the grin on the girl face fade.

'I think that maybe you should' She said pointing to the T-Rexaur she had been fighting earlier which was now rising slowly to it's feet.

'It seems I picked a higher level than I though' she muttered, looking over at Zell.

'Ya think?!!'

Part 5

Although the creature was badly beaten it still had alot of fight left in it. The two fighters stood on either side of the huge monster, weeving and ducking, trying to avoid it's sweeping tail and massive jaws. Several punches and magic shots later, the monster was still thrashing around.

'Thats it!' The girl cried,' I've had enough!, distract it'

'Who me?'

'Well I wasn't talking to the tree!'

'Yeah that'll be easy' Zell thought. Quickly he darted towards the T-Rexaur a threw a sharp blow which connected with the monster jaw making a sickining crack. The T-Rexaur roared and charged at Zell,

'Oh Shhi..' he yelled as another huge sweep of the creatures tail flung him into the nearby tree, causing a flow blood to run down his arm. 'Ouch!' Zell yelped, 'Erm, a little help here!'

The girl seemed to be ignoring him, she was stood silently her eyes closed mumbling something. Suddenly her eyes darted open and she began to glow a bright blue. The space around her seemed to swirl and Zell felt a strange power surround him. He felt dazed.. like he was floating..

'FENIR'

The girl voice echoed throughout the training center. In the distance a low rumbling could be heard. Suddenly a huge silver wolf came running out of the dense forest heading straight for the T-Rexaur. The animal grabbed the monster aound the neck and tossed him high into the air before darting off again. The air returned to normal and the light surrounding the girl faded. A few seconds later the T-Rexaur landed with an earth shattering thud sending both fighters flying to the floor. The creature gave out a low moan and dissappeared.

The girl sat up slowly. 'Phew, I'm glad thats over'

'You and me both' said Zell, shakely standing up.

'Agh, why do I always end up on the floor?' she sighed

Zell stood opened mouthed trying to regester what had just happened.

'Hey, could you give me a hand here?' the girl asked looking up at him

Zell just stood there thinking

'Hello? You gonna help me up or what?'

'Oh sorry' said Zell, turning slightly pink

He leaned forward and pulled the girl up by her hand. For such a powerful fighter she was incredably light. Up close she was alot taller, about the same height as him. Her dark hair was a mess and she was breathing heavily. Zell suddenly noticed he was still holding her hand and immediatley left go and backed away, his cheeks flushing with colour.

'So, you got a name to go with all those killer punches?' she asked, trying to straightern her hair.

'...hmm. what?' asked Zell, still alittle shaken

'Your name. You do have one right?'

'Yeah, Zell. Zell Dincht. SeeD' he said with a slight smugness, 'and who are you and what the hell was that dog-thing?'

The girl looked at him carefully eventually she spoke, 'My names Lana and that dog-thing was Fenir. He's my GF. He looks after me'

'Lana huh? you got a second name?'

'No' Lana said quite bluntly which made Zell decide that perhaps he should change the subject.

'You know,' he began, 'You shouldn't really be out here on your own, It can get pretty dangerous in here' jerking his head in the direction of the fallen T-Rexaur.

'So? you were out here alone..'

She'd got him there.

'Yeah, well.. thats different'

The girl crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side, she knew what was coming 'Oh yeah?' she asked, raising an eyebrow, 'Whys thats then?

'Well....,' Zell swallowed, 'Because your....'

'A girl?'

'Erm,.. well, yeah' ..Uhoh.. He'd done it now. Lana stood up straight and lookd him right in the eye, 'Firstly' she said, 'As I said before, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself'

'Yeah it looked like it' Zell thought

'And secondly I wasn't on my own, I had Fenir with me'

'You can't rely on your GFs all the time you know'

'I know that! but Fenirs not just a GF, he's my friend' and as if to prove it the mysterious sliver wolf appeared from behind Lana and stood beside her, glaring at Zell. This time he was the size of an adverage wolf not like the giant one he saw moments before. They all stood quitely, Zell trying to understand where this girl and the strange GF came from, when Fenir gave a low growl. Lana looked down at the wolf and nodded.

'Look, Zell, I gotta go'

Zell looked at her and nodded, 'Am I gonna see you around?'

Lana gave him a weak smile, ' I doubt it' she said and turned to walk away.. 'Oh...what the hell' she thought, turning back towards Zell. Quickly she ran her hand up behind his head and pulled him down. Then she kissed him. Zell swore he stopped breathing. He closed his eyes and deepened the kiss, this wasn't exactly show he had imagined his first time. Lana pulled away and whispered in his ear, 'Thanks for the help'

When Zell finally opened his eyes she was gone. 'Dammit!' He looked all around the center before returning to the spot where they had battled together. A small glint of light caught his eye and he bent over the spot to find a small crystal, no bigger than his thumb. ' A star fragment' he said. Standing up he pocketed it and headed to the center gates, 'Maybe the headmaster will know who she was' he thought. His stomach gave a lurch, 'The headmaster!, the meeting!'

'CRAP!' He yelled sprinting to the elevator.

Part 6

'It's been almost 20 minutes Headmaster' Said Xu, 'Maybe we should start without him'

'Very well, Squall will have to fill him in when he arrives' said Headmaster Cid. He sighed and motioned to Xu to allow the other in. Squall Leonheart and his group had been standing patiently outside his door waiting for Zell to appear. 'That boy' he thought 'Never on time for anything' he chuckled to himself. In all his years of teaching, he had never seen someone with so much energy and sprit. He recalled the first day Zell arrived at Balamb..

****

Cid sttod by the elevator watching the arrival of his lastest students. Two young boys, one with blond hair, the other brunette and a young girl had just walked into the brightly lit hall. He smiled as he saw their eyes widen at the expanse of the Garden. Cid looked back to the door and check his watch. One was missing.. What was his name?.. Davis?, Dicht? He looked down at the paper in his hand. Dincht. Yes from Balamb, A martial artist according to his file. It had been awhile since they'd hadone of those at the garden. lifting his eyes from the paper he noticed a small, sandy haired boy blast through the front gates looking very flustered.

The boy walked up to the others in the group and gave a sheepish smile. He seemed nervous as he looked around the large hall. The boy took a deep breath and walked up to dark haired boy.

'Hi I'm Zell' He said, wiping his hand on his pants before offering it to the boy. The brunette looked at the boy and then down to his open hand mumbling something.

'His names Squall, but he's not much of a talker'

Zell turned to face the small blond girl, 'My names Quistis' she said, 'And thats Seifer' she added pointing to the blond standing nearby. Zell smiled at the girl and nodded a greeting. Seifer, taking a sudden interest in the new boy walked over to them. 'Soooo.. Nell.. was it?

Zell frown at the boy. 'It's Zell.' The blond shrugged and continued. 'Whats your story then, you do realise you've kept as all waiting?'

'Yeah, sorry I had to wait for my Ma to bring me..'

'Your Ma?'

Zell nodded.

'Your Ma had to bring you??' Suddenly Seifer burst out laughing, 'What a wuss!'

'Didn't yours?' Zell asked looking round at the others. Quistis shook her head and Squall remained sighlent.

'Nope. Don't need one,' Seifer claimed, almost too proudly, 'I don't need someone to hold my hand. I'm not a little chicken like some' He purposely eyed Zell, bent on widing him up.

'Chicken-wuss! Chicken-wuss! Zell's a chicken- wuss!' shouted Seifer in a singsong voice

'Shut it!' A blond haired teenager screamed back. He wasn't sure why but that name sounded familar. but not in a good way. His cheeks flushed red, making the black tattoo on the left of his face stand out even more.

'Whats the matter? Want your mom chicken-wuss? Well tough. She's not here! No one to help poor baby Zell!'

'Stop it Seifer!' cried a blond haired girl, 'Make him stop Squall!'

A dark haired boy just stared at her and shook his head.

'Ha ha ha! Zelly's gotta have girlie to stick up for him!' Seifer laughed loudly and continued to call out to Zell, 'Chicken-wuss!'

'Just stop it Seifer' Squall said trying to back anyway from the ever closer Quistis. Seifer looked at Squall for a moment but then continued to sing even louder than before. Zell felt the anger build in him, his face grew hotter as he clenched his fists. He wanted to go back home, back to balamb, back to his Ma.

'Thats quite enough of that!' came a strong voice, a mans voice.

The teenagers spun 'round and faced the gentleman who addressed them. Looking up they saw a middleaged man walking down the stairs infront of them. 'Now line up all of you.' Obediantely they lined up in front of him.

' Right then' He said 'First lets check your all here, Seifer Almasy?

Seifer stood forward, head held high

'Zell Dincht?'

The man watched as a semi-tall, sandy haired boy slowly raised his hand

'Chicken-wuss!' Seifer whispered under his breath. The man turned his head sharply and glared at the cocky blond. Seifer backed away as the man towered over him. 'Name calling of any kind is not permitted in the garden, understand Seifer?' Seifer nodded. The man turned away from him and continued with role call. He looked back at Zell and gave him a warm smile, Zell gave him a small thankfull smile in return.

Squall - I saw that Seifer- Leonhart?'

Behind his back Seifer, who had stuck out his tongue, was looking shocked while the others stared at the headmaster in admiration. Squall, still with stunned face stepped forward and nodded his head. The man nodded back.

'And finally Quistis Trepe'

A thin girl with blond hair stepped forward quickly and gave a sheepish salut. The man smiled widely at her.

'Firstly I'd like to welcome you all to Balamb garden. I am Headmaster Cid, you may call me Headmaster.' The four adelencents stared up at the man. He must have been about 30, not very tall but he had a very commanding nature.

'Soon I will pass you over to your new instructors who will show you around the garden with the other new students. For now I shall give you a few details about the place. We have an infirmary open 24hrs incase of accidents,' he said looking at Zell, 'The Dorms are to the north. Two trainees will share a dorm room until they graduate. The library is open at all hours incase you forget to do your work' as he said this, his eyes flickered towards Seifer. The group listened as the headmaster continued to describe the layout of the garden. Zell eyes lit up when he mentioned the hotdogs in the cafeteria. 'The classrooms are on the second floor, and finally on the third floor is my office. If you have any problems then don't hesitate to ask your intructors.. speaking of which'

The children turned to see 3 intructors, each with a group of 8 children, coming towards them.

They stood in front of the headmaster and saluted. Cid nodded back and they turned to face the four children.

'These' Cid began, 'will be your new intructors, listen to them carefully and ask them if your have any problems. I'll leave you in the hands of Instructor Nia.' The headmaster stood back as a youngish woman stepped forward.

'Thankyou headmaster, I am Instructor Nia, and this is Intructor Harlem and Instructor Amano'

Each Intructor nodded as his name was called.

'Almasy, Seifer. You are with Intructor Harlem.' Seifer walked over to his new Intructor, and immediatley started to talk to a tall, dark haired boy and a sliver haired girl.

'Dincht, Zell. You are with Intructor Amano', Zell breathed a sigh of relief not have been put in Seifers group and walked over to his Intructor who smiled warmly at him. Zell noticed a small girl with pigtails was looking at him.

'Leonhart, Squall. You're also with Intructor Harlem.' Seifer grinned widely as Squall frowned and made his way over to the group.

'And finally,' Intructor Nia continued, 'Trepe Quistis. You're with me.' Quistis made her way over and stood next to the Intructor, giving a fleeting look at Squall.

The intructors all turned and gave the Headmaster a final salut and he watched them walk away with a group of children in tow.

*******

'I can't believe he's not here yet! This is exactly like him! when something important happens he 's late! If I find out he's in the cafeteria again I'll..!'

'Quistis, babe, calm down. Chickem -wuss probably forgot what time it was thats all'

The loud voices broke Cids trail of thought as his students started to enter the room. Squall Leonhert, his best student, lead the group in followed closely by Rinoa Heartilly. After them came Quistis Trepe, who was looking particualy angry, and Seifer Almasy trying to calm her down. Final a chirpy Selphie Tilmitt and grinning Irvine Kinneas brought up the rear.

Cid looked over at Quistis and then spoke to Squall, 'Zell still not showed up yet? he asked

Squall shook his head, 'We went to look for him but ..'

'Very well, We shall have to start. Squall, give him the details when he arrives will you?'

At that moment the doors to the office flung open and Zell came tumbling through them, breathing heavily, 'Sorry... I'm ....*pant*... ..late..', clinging to a chair to steady himself. Quistis glared at him while Squall looked at the floor embrassed. Rinoa, Irvine and Selphie looked shocked. He had splashes of blood over his face and arms.

'I..was ..*gasp*...in... the..' Zell said, trying to give a excuse

'Zell, are you ok man?' Irvine asked

'I'm..fine'

'Whatever reason Mr Dincht has for being late will have to wait until after the meeting, in the meantime sit down before you collaspe' said Cid, looking sternly at him.

Zell collapsed onto the chair and breathed deeply. After a few giggles from Rinoa and Selphie, the headmaster finally managed to start the meeting.

'I received a message today from King Calnir of Triana, for those of you who were not paying attention in political studies, King Calnir is one of the few remaining monarchs of the western continant. It appears that his land is being taken over by a large group of Ruby dragons'

'Ruby Dragons?' Squall interupted, 'But I thought they prefered mountainous regions'

Cid smiled, at least one of them was paying attention.

'They do Squall, that is what makes it so interesting. Your mission is to eliminate the Dragon threat and find out why they were there. Understood?'

Squall nodded, 'Yes sir'

'The Ragnorok will be ready in the morning' Xu said, 'Untill then I suggest you learn all you can about

Triana and the dragons'

The group saluted and started towards the door.

'Zell' Cid called out. Zell stopped abrubtly. He'd hoped the headmaster would have let his lateness slide.

'Yes sir?'

'Perhaps you could tell me what was so important that you almost missed the meeting?'

Zell sighed and launched himself into a detailed account of what happen, he decided the kiss was not something he wanted to discuss with the headmaster so he left that part out. The headmaster listened carefully and reguarded Zell . After a while he spoke, 'As convincing as your story is Zell, I'm afraid there is no student or guest regestered under the name of Lana'

Zell stared at him for a moment. 'What? are you sure?'

'Mr Dincht I know every single one of my students here and I know that for a fact that there is no one called Lana in this building. Now I suggest you go to the infirmary and sort out that cut'

Zell looked down at his forearm to see that the gash down the side was still bleeding . He had completely forgotten.

'Yes sir.' Zell saluted and left the room.

Cids voice rang through his head, ' No student or guest regestered under the name of Lana'

Who the hell was she??

part 7, 8 and 9 coming soon.....

I'm not quite sure where this story is heading so you'll have to bear with me... ^-^ Arigatou!