MC Falling Into Infinity 02

Selphie Tilmitt wasn't expecting any trouble. This mission was a peice of cake, or pie, or one of those chocolate chip cookies she hadn't had in ages. Just fly the Ragnarok alongside the Galbadian ships and get them safely over to Esthar and back. Peachy keen, easy. But, the only problem with all of this was who they partnered her with. Zell Dincht was cool and her friend and all, but a pilot he was not and, unlike Irvine, had a bad habit of not being able to sit still. So far he'd been constantly up and down, up and down, asking her all sorts of questions about the ship and what this button was or that lever did. Now, she wasn't exactly a quiet girl herself, but while flying, she preferred to be able to concentrate. Irvine never acted like that, always real quiet, except when she'd engage him in conversation. She'd make sure to let Squall know she wanted her cowboy back with her again for any further missions.

Zell, for his part, wasn't trying to be annoying. Actually, he was more eager to do something a lot more physical then this escorting thing. He'd really wanted to go with Quistis to Galbadia, for that seemed a lot more exciting to the spikey haired blonde then sitting on a ship, watching the atmosphere go by. But, unfortunately, Squall had sent Irvine off on that one. Something about him being a lot more of a smoothtalker. Well, it wasn't as if Zell could argue that point. So, instead he tried to be good, sitting alongside Selphie until he just couldn't take it anymore and had to get up. He sensed he was probably irritating her a little, but he just couldn't help it. She got to do things, he was just there.

So far things were rather dull. The flight got off on time, without a hitch. The Galbadian ship had reported no troubles since the take off, and the skies were relatively clear. There hadn't been so much as turbulance even. Selphie was more then familiar with the Ragnarok's controls, and after awhile stuck it on autopilot so she could get up a moment and stretch. Zell was in the back, of course, bouncing in his typical warm-up fashion, as if they were off to the fights rather then to just hang out in Esthar for a day or so. It wouldn't be so bad. She could go shopping, after all. Maybe she could even find something sweet for Irvine and... Ahem. Blushing a little, she realized she was thinking about him again. Since rediscovering some of her memories, she'd begun to recall their childhood moments and had questioned him thoroughly about what she didn't remember. He really was a sweety too, when he wasn't attempting to hit on her. She'd come to rely on him. Maybe just a little too much. It's amazing what you miss when it's gone.

"Oh, yes," she replied, smiling somewhat sheepishly. There was no way he could tell what was on her mind, but the fact that he caught her blushing was more then enough to embarass her further. Hopping from foot to foot, she had to reach down to tug one of her boots back on. As strange a habit as it was, it was a nervous gesture on her part. Zell wasn't at all fooled by it, but he shrugged his shoulders and ignored it. If Selphie wanted to tell him about it, she would. Women were weird anyway.

A blip from the main console got both their attentions at once and Selphie wandered back over to check on the readings. Radar had indicated something closing in on their proximity and with a brow furrowing, she seated herself anew to get a better lock on it, tapping keys and flicking switches. Oh dear.

Now, perhaps it was just woman's intuition, but Selphie didn't like this scenario all of a sudden. The incoming ships, three in number, had not attempted radio contact with the Ragnarok yet. She was certain the Galbadian ship would alert her if they had heard anything either. They were also unidentified, no country's marking anywhere to be found. Scanning them with the ship's sensors produced nothing in its vast databases. This did not bode well.

Switching frequencies, she attempted her own communications, "This is the Ragnarok, escort to Galbadia 1 under a diplomatic mission to Esthar. Please state your position. I repeat, please state your position."

"So what's going on?" Zell finally asked. He'd been a good boy and actually obeyed orders when told to sit and belt up. Then again, he and everyone else in Garden knew how Selphie piloted the Ragnarok. She was good, but she had no qualms about rocking the ship through tight spaces and tough maneuvers. She frowned and shook her head, at least expecting something back from the incoming ships. They wouldn't outright attack a diplomatic ship, would they?

"I don't know, Zell, it just feels wrong to me though," she replied, trying to run yet another scan on the incoming ships. There were nigh close to engagement range and it made her very nervous. She didn't want to outright attack them if they were peaceful craft, but did she dare risk the Galbadian ship?

Her question was answered a heartbeat later. Rapid fire guns began to pummel the side of the Galbadian ship with multiple shots. Grimacing and cursing herself for not listening to her intuition, Selphie veered left, blocking the incoming air craft from further ability to strike the ship. They'd have to deal with her now and she was not a happy girl at the moment. "Rrrrr, think you can ruin my mission do you! Well, take this! Zell, man the weapons console, and do what I tell you to, to the letter."

The spikey haired blonde leapt to his feet, sliding into the seat at the console with an excited bounce. He barely remembered to put the safety straps on before she suddenly jerked the Ragnarok upward, nearly sending him against the controls. One wrong button pushed and it could spell disaster, so luckily Zell was able to grab the arms of the chair and hover an inch above the console before she righted the ship again and sent him reeling back into the padding. Then he made sure to put the straps on with a sigh of relief. Selphie began to shout her orders at him, and luckily she wasn't speaking in her typical slang. She was familiar with all aspects of the ship, but needed to concentrate on her piloting, counting on Zell now to destroy the enemy as she maneuvered them into range.

And Zell needed no encouragement, glad to be doing something as opposed to sitting around, or standing around as it were. Peppering the oncoming airships with gunfire, he whooped as one of them suddenly exploded in a firey mass of metal and machinery. One down, two to go. Jerked slightly in his seat, the straps kept him from being tossed all over the place as Selphie ducked and weaved, leading the last two ships in a cat and mouse game away from the Galbadian ship. The second ship went down with a similarly firey end and then the last finally succumbed to the Ragnarok's superior firepower. Not to mention superior pilot.

"Ragnarok to Galbadia 1. Enemy destroyed," Selphie tried so hard to keep her glee out of her voice, but it was nigh impossible, adrenaline still coursing through her bloodstream. "Damage report please, are you able to continue?"

Slumping in her seat a little, Selphie sighed, her mind going to autopilot as she checked the radar and scanners for any other airships that might try to finish what the others had failed to do. A few more days in Esthar? Well, it was good that they'd be getting paid a little more, but bad too. She'd have to wait longer to hear from Irvine. "Copy that, Galbadia 1. No further interference detected. Let's get you to Esthar." Man, this sucked.

Dawn was beginning to break over the Island of Balamb by the time the wreckage of the airship had been cleared out of the forest area it'd crashed into. Teams of SeeD had worked diligently, and Squall had been there for all of it, directing them, even aiding them by entering the hull of the craft himself. There was little left of it, the passengers, two burnt corpses that would have to be identified by Dr. Kadowaki, never stood a chance. All possible papers or records from the ship itself were destroyed in the blast, even the flight data recorder had been struck, meaning they had no idea who these individuals were, or why they were attempting to reach Garden. It bothered Squall, a mystery he needed to solve.

"Squall, there's been a communication from Selphie..." Rinoa's voice was hesitant as she approached the man she claimed to love. "It came in late last night, but you were busy, so I... well, I didn't want to bother you with it yet."

Running a hand through his toussed hair, Squall gave Rinoa a weak smile, reaching for the printout as she held it out to him. Grey eyes flicked over it briefly and the smile quickly faded to a frown. "An attack on the Galbadian Escort?" Looking back at the hull of the destroyed ship, he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. It seemed too coincidental that this ship and the escort were both attacked on the same day, nearly the same time, if the time on this report was correct. He highly doubted Selphie would be so lax, which made all of this that much more intriguing. And he hated intrigue.

"Thank you, Rinoa," Squall replied. He wished she had given it to him earlier, but Rinoa, for all her time in a resistence group, was not of a military mind. Not even being the daughter of a military General gave her any sort of experience to counter the naivete that still pervaded her personality. She meant well, and that was enough to keep him from snapping at her in his curlish mood.

"You're welcome, Squall... I..." Rinoa trailed off, not quite willing to look him in the eye suddenly. This seemed like such horrible timing, though in truth she'd been planning this for a few weeks now. If only this ship hadn't come out of no where, her decision would be so much easier. At least, it wouldn't quite assault her conscience as it was now. "I'm going back to Timber. Tomorrow."

Stunned, Squall suddenly forgot the printout in his hand, the hull of the ruined ship only yards away from him. Everything suddenly centered around Rinoa. She was leaving him? Now? There were so many questions he wanted to ask her. Why? Why now? What could he do to stop her? But none of them escaped his lips, none of them were voiced. It was her choice, after all. The grey of his eyes darkened, matching the shiftless pallor of the morning skies above.

Rinoa visibly winced at his words, watching her former lover shift from stressed to stoney. She had seen him do this so many times before, drawing inward when he should be releasing. No, it was not what she wanted. Not one bit. She longed for him to ask why, at the very least. To ask her to stay, to tell her he loved her. But, she could see that this wasn't going to happen. Squall Leonhart simply didn't have the capacity for such outward emotions. And so, Rinoa Heartilly decided perhaps she alone was not enough to melt the ice around the Lionheart. She was eighteen, and had her whole life ahead of her. As cruel as it seemed to her, perhaps her decision was a wise one.


	Same Disclaimer as always: Final Fantasy characters and settings belong to Squaresoft. Part 3: Surefire Selphie Tilmitt wasn't expecting any trouble. This mission was a peice of cake, or pie, or one of those chocolate chip cookies she hadn't had in ages. Just fly the Ragnarok alongside the Galbadian ships and get them safely over to Esthar and back. Peachy keen, easy. But, the only problem with all of this was who they partnered her with. Zell Dincht was cool and her friend and all, but a pilot he was not and, unlike Irvine, had a bad habit of not being able to sit still. So far he'd been constantly up and down, up and down, asking her all sorts of questions about the ship and what this button was or that lever did. Now, she wasn't exactly a quiet girl herself, but while flying, she preferred to be able to concentrate. Irvine never acted like that, always real quiet, except when she'd engage him in conversation. She'd make sure to let Squall know she wanted her cowboy back with her again for any further missions. Zell, for his part, wasn't trying to be annoying. Actually, he was more eager to do something a lot more physical then this escorting thing. He'd really wanted to go with Quistis to Galbadia, for that seemed a lot more exciting to the spikey haired blonde then sitting on a ship, watching the atmosphere go by. But, unfortunately, Squall had sent Irvine off on that one. Something about him being a lot more of a smoothtalker. Well, it wasn't as if Zell could argue that point. So, instead he tried to be good, sitting alongside Selphie until he just couldn't take it anymore and had to get up. He sensed he was probably irritating her a little, but he just couldn't help it. She got to do things, he was just there. So far things were rather dull. The flight got off on time, without a hitch. The Galbadian ship had reported no troubles since the take off, and the skies were relatively clear. There hadn't been so much as turbulance even. Selphie was more then familiar with the Ragnarok's controls, and after awhile stuck it on autopilot so she could get up a moment and stretch. Zell was in the back, of course, bouncing in his typical warm-up fashion, as if they were off to the fights rather then to just hang out in Esthar for a day or so. It wouldn't be so bad. She could go shopping, after all. Maybe she could even find something sweet for Irvine and... Ahem. Blushing a little, she realized she was thinking about him again. Since rediscovering some of her memories, she'd begun to recall their childhood moments and had questioned him thoroughly about what she didn't remember. He really was a sweety too, when he wasn't attempting to hit on her. She'd come to rely on him. Maybe just a little too much. It's amazing what you miss when it's gone. Zell looked up as she stretched, a little surprised at the blush he saw coloring her cheeks. "Are you all right, Selphie?" "Oh, yes," she replied, smiling somewhat sheepishly. There was no way he could tell what was on her mind, but the fact that he caught her blushing was more then enough to embarass her further. Hopping from foot to foot, she had to reach down to tug one of her boots back on. As strange a habit as it was, it was a nervous gesture on her part. Zell wasn't at all fooled by it, but he shrugged his shoulders and ignored it. If Selphie wanted to tell him about it, she would. Women were weird anyway. A blip from the main console got both their attentions at once and Selphie wandered back over to check on the readings. Radar had indicated something closing in on their proximity and with a brow furrowing, she seated herself anew to get a better lock on it, tapping keys and flicking switches. Oh dear. "Zell, get into your seat and put your seatbelt on," she commanded as her own safety belt was snapped into place. "We got incoming." Flicking the commlink on, she spoke aloud for the microphone. "Ragnarok to Galbadia 1. We have incoming, I repeat, we have incoming. Ships unidentified, will be engaging shortly." "Copy that, Ragnarok. Galbadia 1 preparing for possible hostilities." Now, perhaps it was just woman's intuition, but Selphie didn't like this scenario all of a sudden. The incoming ships, three in number, had not attempted radio contact with the Ragnarok yet. She was certain the Galbadian ship would alert her if they had heard anything either. They were also unidentified, no country's marking anywhere to be found. Scanning them with the ship's sensors produced nothing in its vast databases. This did not bode well. Switching frequencies, she attempted her own communications, "This is the Ragnarok, escort to Galbadia 1 under a diplomatic mission to Esthar. Please state your position. I repeat, please state your position." "So what's going on?" Zell finally asked. He'd been a good boy and actually obeyed orders when told to sit and belt up. Then again, he and everyone else in Garden knew how Selphie piloted the Ragnarok. She was good, but she had no qualms about rocking the ship through tight spaces and tough maneuvers. She frowned and shook her head, at least expecting something back from the incoming ships. They wouldn't outright attack a diplomatic ship, would they? "I don't know, Zell, it just feels wrong to me though," she replied, trying to run yet another scan on the incoming ships. There were nigh close to engagement range and it made her very nervous. She didn't want to outright attack them if they were peaceful craft, but did she dare risk the Galbadian ship? Her question was answered a heartbeat later. Rapid fire guns began to pummel the side of the Galbadian ship with multiple shots. Grimacing and cursing herself for not listening to her intuition, Selphie veered left, blocking the incoming air craft from further ability to strike the ship. They'd have to deal with her now and she was not a happy girl at the moment. "Rrrrr, think you can ruin my mission do you! Well, take this! Zell, man the weapons console, and do what I tell you to, to the letter." The spikey haired blonde leapt to his feet, sliding into the seat at the console with an excited bounce. He barely remembered to put the safety straps on before she suddenly jerked the Ragnarok upward, nearly sending him against the controls. One wrong button pushed and it could spell disaster, so luckily Zell was able to grab the arms of the chair and hover an inch above the console before she righted the ship again and sent him reeling back into the padding. Then he made sure to put the straps on with a sigh of relief. Selphie began to shout her orders at him, and luckily she wasn't speaking in her typical slang. She was familiar with all aspects of the ship, but needed to concentrate on her piloting, counting on Zell now to destroy the enemy as she maneuvered them into range. "Fire at will," she finally said, and muttered, "Poor Will." Usually Irvine would say that, but he wasn't here, and so she felt obligated to add it in his absence. And Zell needed no encouragement, glad to be doing something as opposed to sitting around, or standing around as it were. Peppering the oncoming airships with gunfire, he whooped as one of them suddenly exploded in a firey mass of metal and machinery. One down, two to go. Jerked slightly in his seat, the straps kept him from being tossed all over the place as Selphie ducked and weaved, leading the last two ships in a cat and mouse game away from the Galbadian ship. The second ship went down with a similarly firey end and then the last finally succumbed to the Ragnarok's superior firepower. Not to mention superior pilot. "Ragnarok to Galbadia 1. Enemy destroyed," Selphie tried so hard to keep her glee out of her voice, but it was nigh impossible, adrenaline still coursing through her bloodstream. "Damage report please, are you able to continue?" "Galbadia 1 still operational. We will be able to make it to Esthar, but will need time for repairs. Looks like President Deling will be paying SeeD a little extra." Slumping in her seat a little, Selphie sighed, her mind going to autopilot as she checked the radar and scanners for any other airships that might try to finish what the others had failed to do. A few more days in Esthar? Well, it was good that they'd be getting paid a little more, but bad too. She'd have to wait longer to hear from Irvine. "Copy that, Galbadia 1. No further interference detected. Let's get you to Esthar." Man, this sucked. "Totally anti-Booyaka," she said aside to Zell. Part 4: Space Dye Vest Dawn was beginning to break over the Island of Balamb by the time the wreckage of the airship had been cleared out of the forest area it'd crashed into. Teams of SeeD had worked diligently, and Squall had been there for all of it, directing them, even aiding them by entering the hull of the craft himself. There was little left of it, the passengers, two burnt corpses that would have to be identified by Dr. Kadowaki, never stood a chance. All possible papers or records from the ship itself were destroyed in the blast, even the flight data recorder had been struck, meaning they had no idea who these individuals were, or why they were attempting to reach Garden. It bothered Squall, a mystery he needed to solve. "Squall, there's been a communication from Selphie..." Rinoa's voice was hesitant as she approached the man she claimed to love. "It came in late last night, but you were busy, so I... well, I didn't want to bother you with it yet." Running a hand through his toussed hair, Squall gave Rinoa a weak smile, reaching for the printout as she held it out to him. Grey eyes flicked over it briefly and the smile quickly faded to a frown. "An attack on the Galbadian Escort?" Looking back at the hull of the destroyed ship, he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. It seemed too coincidental that this ship and the escort were both attacked on the same day, nearly the same time, if the time on this report was correct. He highly doubted Selphie would be so lax, which made all of this that much more intriguing. And he hated intrigue. "Thank you, Rinoa," Squall replied. He wished she had given it to him earlier, but Rinoa, for all her time in a resistence group, was not of a military mind. Not even being the daughter of a military General gave her any sort of experience to counter the naivete that still pervaded her personality. She meant well, and that was enough to keep him from snapping at her in his curlish mood. "You're welcome, Squall... I..." Rinoa trailed off, not quite willing to look him in the eye suddenly. This seemed like such horrible timing, though in truth she'd been planning this for a few weeks now. If only this ship hadn't come out of no where, her decision would be so much easier. At least, it wouldn't quite assault her conscience as it was now. "I'm going back to Timber. Tomorrow." Stunned, Squall suddenly forgot the printout in his hand, the hull of the ruined ship only yards away from him. Everything suddenly centered around Rinoa. She was leaving him? Now? There were so many questions he wanted to ask her. Why? Why now? What could he do to stop her? But none of them escaped his lips, none of them were voiced. It was her choice, after all. The grey of his eyes darkened, matching the shiftless pallor of the morning skies above. "If that's what you want, Rinoa. I won't stop you." Rinoa visibly winced at his words, watching her former lover shift from stressed to stoney. She had seen him do this so many times before, drawing inward when he should be releasing. No, it was not what she wanted. Not one bit. She longed for him to ask why, at the very least. To ask her to stay, to tell her he loved her. But, she could see that this wasn't going to happen. Squall Leonhart simply didn't have the capacity for such outward emotions. And so, Rinoa Heartilly decided perhaps she alone was not enough to melt the ice around the Lionheart. She was eighteen, and had her whole life ahead of her. As cruel as it seemed to her, perhaps her decision was a wise one. And with that, she turned and strode away bursting into a jog as she fled, Squall left in her wake to watch her walk out of his life forever. To be Continued.... NExT...