Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Zell's Story ❯ A Clear View Inside ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Zell's Story Complete - Chapter 3






Zell's Story
By Elysia Erianthe
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Chapter 3: A Clear View Inside
"Steady ... steady now. C'mon baby! Yeah!" Irvine exclaimed as the giant insect of a ship, more commonly known as the Ragnarok, landed with a soft thud. A small cloud of snow arose with a muted pff. 'Perfect,' he thought with a smirk. Unlike Zell, Irvine was not a mechanical genius. He often had trouble fixing simple things, forget piloting. He pressed the button to lower the stairs to the ground outside and proceeded to use the intercom to inform the passengers of their arrival. He took a deep breath and spoke into the receiver. "We're here, kiddies! Stairs are down, and you can get out of here now. Thank you for flying Air Irvine. Please enjoy your stay at Trabia Garden," he announced in an attempt to be cheerful.
"Oh brother," Zell groaned in the background as Selphie responded reluctantly. "Okay. Thanks Mr. Kinneas. All right guys! We're outta here!" She exclaimed, turning to her students.
"Head out troops!" Zell added because the crowd wasn't moving as fast as he'd like. 'The farther she gets from that pompous ass the better she'll feel,' he told himself and tried to read Selphie's facial expression. She was smiling like there was no tomorrow, but it wasn't hard for him to read the underlying nervousness in her features.
As they walked out of the ship, the group was met by the paralyzing cold that plagued the northern regions of the world. This resulted in many a sneeze, cough, or shiver. "I'm afraid they don't make the Balamb uniforms insulated like the Trabia ones," Selphie mumbled and quietly sneezed into her hands. In all truth, she had become much too accustomed to Balamb's climate. She crossed her arms, trying to hold onto her own warmth. Somewhere behind the perky brunette, two hands reached out to her then began to rub her arms. 'Well, that's unusual. Who on earth is rubbing my shoulders? It's quite an affectionate gesture,' Selphie thoughts drifted off as she pretended to pay no notice to the figure behind her.
"Here," Irvine called from a short distance away, and the girl could hear something flapping in the frigid breeze. Her body automatically tensed at the voice, and a shiver ran through her small frame despite the fact that she was no longer cold due to the warming hands. And with that, one of the hands removed itself, and Irvine's coat was caught and thrown back to the direction from which it had come.
"But!"
"No, she's fine...Irvine," Zell said, hatred dripping from his words. Following this brief exchange, he placed his hands on Selphie's shoulders once more and leaned down so he could speak softly to her. "Are you alright now? Warm enough?" He whispered gently.
She looked up at him, and for a split second held his gaze. Then she quickly nodded and continued to lead the class through the snow.
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"Now," Selphie took in a deep breath of the conference room air. "While everyone defrosts for a moment, I'll explain the details of the mission once more."
"How many more times are you going to explain the mission to us before you are satisfied?" Joshua asked testily.
"Would you like to go out there right now and light the way with that red nose of yours, Rudolph?" Zell fired back and tapped his own slightly pink nose. The arrogant boy shut his gaping mouth and slouched in recognition of his defeat.
"Anyway," Selphie continued loudly, "what you are going to do is use these clues and others, put in strategic locations about the school, to find the key to the Headmaster's office."
"And tell 'em what they'll win, Vanna!" Zell interjected, trying to imitate a game show host but failing miserably. He proceeded to hand out clue envelopes.
"Somebody's been watching too much late night tv, Zell," she mumbled. "We'll figure out some sort of reward for the winning team. You will also have to venture into the Training Center, so be careful. We will be there in case you encounter any difficulties with the creatures there. So if everyone is ready, it's time to head out!"
Several hoots and shouts filled the air along with the pounding of feet as the students ran out of the conference room.
"Guess we should probably get going too, huh?" Zell asked glancing at Selphie who was currently stacking up some papers.
"Yes, I suppose so. Are you still going to ...?" Selphie asked, not bothering finish her question.
"If it would make you feel better, Sef, I'll do it. Do you plan on talking to him later about it?"
"I think so, just one thing," she responded and began to smirk. "Take off the gloves."
"Say what?!?!?" Zell exclaimed, part in fear.
"Give 'em to me," she gave him a toothy grin and a pat on the shoulder. "We can't have you being a hothead, Zellie. What kind of an example would you be setting for the students if you beat Irvine into a pulp?" Selphie said in mock concern.
"A pretty damn good one!" He laughed, but she responded with a pleading gaze. "Aww man ... I can't say no when you give me that puppy dog look!" He whined and proceeded to remove his armored gloves.
"Thank you, darling," Selphie cooed and stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek, and his body stiffened immediately. However, the girl's attention was no longer directed towards his action, but at his ungloved hands instead.
"My gosh, Zell! Your hands are so white! I bet they're the only pale spot on your body!" Selphie squealed with delight.
"Umm ... not the only spot, Sef," the rather tan and currently blushing Zell responded quietly.
'"Huh?" She asked, a little dumbfounded. "AHHHHHHHHHH! Pervert!" She screamed as the realization hit her.
"It's just a common fact that unless you lay around naked like Seifer does ...," he continued to explain before Selphie clamped a hand on his mouth and pushed him out the door.
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'Here goes nothing,' Zell thought to himself after walking Selphie to the Training Center and heading toward where he thought Irvine would most likely be: in the girls' dorms for flirting purposes. However, his trip to the dorms turned out to be both unsuccessful and humiliating. "Who would have known there where so many Squall-crazy girls here," he grumbled and nearly tripped over someone's large cowboy boots.
"Hmm?" The hunched over figure mumbled. He was sitting on one of the benches surrounding the oversized fountain in the middle of the Garden with his gunpowder-stained hat hiding his eyes from the overhead lights.
"Irvine."
"No, not now, girlies, I have to report back to Martine ...," he mumbled deliriously.
"Irvine!!!" Zell yelled into his hat before throwing it into the fountain after not receiving a prompt response.
"What the hell do you want?" Irvine yelled angrily. He had finally arisen to retrieve his soaked hat.
"We need to talk," he said through clenched jaws, barely managing to keep his anger in check.
"Hmph."
"NOW!" Zell growled loudly.
"F-fine. Lead the way," Irvine replied, a little flustered from seeing the other man forceful for the first time.
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"What do you want from me?" Irvine asked nonchalantly, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back again the wall. They stood near the end of a narrow hallway, somewhere in the vast network of classrooms.
"I want to know why you left ... why you left Selphie more importantly," Zell's speech was slow and deliberate, in an attempt to get through the confrontation without any violence.
"I have my own reasons, but it was something I had to do. You wouldn't understand it, and it's none of your business anyway," the pony-tailed man answer haughtily.
"Uh yes, it is. I'm involved now, whether you like it or not," he replied, sounding a bit agitated.
"Whatever. I had to sort some things out for myself. That's all. Call it a learning experience if you want," Irvine answered with the same tone he had used before.
"I think I'm the one who should be asking you what your motives are, Zell."
"Heh, I have my own as well, but I think if you took a guess at 'em, you'd probably be right," Zell finally responded after an extended moment of silence.
"You love her." It wasn't a question, but the blonde still felt the need to nod slowly in agreement. "Well, you're not the only one," Irvine admitted, speaking to the flooring.
"Then why did you leave?!?" Zell's voice portrayed his desperation before being silenced by the other's grip around his neck.
"I told you! I have my own damn reasons so leave me the hell alone! Why don't you just ask Selphie! She should know why!" Irvine yelled into Zell's face with bloodshot eyes before storming off.
The now disturbed chocobo-haired man lowered his head in defeat and began to rub his throbbing temples, unable to take notice of the three pairs of childish eyes hidden in the foliage of an oversized potted plant.
Joshua, Eereiah, and Nessa exchanged bewildered glances after the shock of the confrontation had worn off.
"Should we follow him?" Joshua asked, for once not having an answer for something. The group exchanged glances once more before heading off in Zell's direction.
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Though in plain view upon his face, no one could see the reason why the once hopeful blonde man's soul was now tortured so. Through the tangle of lies, he was the only one to know the truth of why he felt this way. He sighed to himself in thought. 'How could she have known when even I didn't realize it until now?'
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Flashback to two weeks ago: Secret Surrendering
The Training Center of Balamb Garden was eerily silent on that one fateful night. She had asked him to meet her there, in that not-so-secret backroom that lovers frequented. So he was there, content to wait an eternity for his pig-tailed goddess to return his feelings. And she had in the recent past, but something was amiss in the jungle flower scented air. In the empty room, he looked at the uncompassionate steel walls surrounding him until his effervescent eyes rested upon the newly arrived shadow in the doorway. It advanced upon him, but strangely stopped at an abnormally long distance away.
"I ... I thought that I might as well get this over with before it tears an even larger hole in my heart," she spoke softly---reluctantly, as if she did not want to admit herself what she was about to tell him.
"Wha-what?" He asked tenderly, taking a step towards her. In return, she lowered her head in shame and took another step back, toward the way she had come.
"I don't think we should see each other anymore, Zell," she said and looked up to see the hurt expression on his face that would later haunt her unconsciousness. "Let me explain," she mumbled, and her next words were as solemn as a wolf's cry breaking through the crisp night air. "You love Selphie. I'm sure you don't realize it yet, but I can see it in your eyes every time you look at her," she continued, sounding as if her heart was breaking with every word, but nothing except those first three words had mattered as she ran off into the night with virgin tears cascading sorrowfully down her heart-shaped face.
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