Introduction: (First Chapter is at the BOTTOM)

Title: April Showers

Author: Silverium

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII belongs to Square

The Following Characters belong to Silverium: Michelle and Kerei

So, here we are again with another Squalphie! It's been a LONG time since I've last written and honestly, I probably wouldn't have started this if I hadn't received an email from Cindy. Thanks again dear, that was really special for me, I don't usually receive fan mail so long after a story is finished!

I'm trying a slightly new approach with my characters, mainly with Selphie. She's still going to be my Ace-Engineer, for some reason I've always felt that would suit her, and her love for duckies will be everlasting to the end, I'm sure. I'm also throwing in a new pairing, that's right, this will NOT be a Squalphie/Seiftis, in fact, I'm not sure if Seifer will even make an appearance. Also, this fic will actually include Rinoa, usually I toss her out in the first few pages if I can, this time, she remains! And no complaining about that, I don't like her either, but we're all going to just DEAL.

Now, as I usually mention, I'm in university, and now I'm also thoroughly addicted to World of Warcraft (and yes, I'm already composing fanfiction for that too, lordy) so between raiding, Portuguese, and Human Sex and Sexuality, I'll be writing this. Luckily (or not, there is sarcasm since I really want a job) I'm unemployed, so that does give me a sliver's amount of time for writing.

Whew.

If you're unfamiliar and mildly interested, I do have two precious Squalphie/Seifer fanfics, I suggest reading them in the order of "When Did This Happen" and THEN read "Emerald Storms" just because Emerald Storms was written after and you can get a sense of my writing evolving a tiny bit.

And for those who just read all of this, now comes the actual first chapter.

Remember: REVIEW!

OoO

April Showers

It has been One Month, Thirteen Days and Four hours…

The pen scratched along the pale pink paper, a soft sound that somehow filled the room with a comfortable feeling. The pen was black, smooth ink pouring out under each flick of the fingers, the nib barely stained by the articulate notations that flowed over the page. With a sudden stop, and a deft flip of the hand, the journal was shut and tired green eyes slid over to the window.

It was April. It was raining. Again.

The pen moved hypnotically over to the calendar and slowly etched out a cloud on the ninth day. The cloud was the current last position of a long stream of clouds. Underneath the puffy outline were three little raindrops. An entire week of rain.

"And if I were Squall I bet I'd enjoy it." Selphie muttered, capping the pen and laying on her back, allowing her body to sink into the covers.

She tossed the journal on to her bedside table and let the pen rest on its cover as she stretched her arms behind her head as an extra pillow. Her ceiling was covered in posters of her favourite bands, namely Playmates, and the warm yellow walls banished the outside gloom enough to distract her from her thoughts.

"Mm… class, a student union meeting, a student society meeting, coffee with Quistis and then…and what then, nothing I guess," She slowly ticked off her list of things to do, "Clear out that old lounge and see if I can't reserve it, I hate having to fight with the Tacticians Union over our current lounge, they always try and put me into debate, the older one is smaller but there aren't many of us in the engineering union anyways. I think I promised Quisty that I'd do some marking with her. Oh and that essay is due soon! Darn it, I was hoping I'd have at least an hour to myself tonight!"

She sat up and stretched, swinging her legs over the yellow sunflower duvet and jumping to her feet. Yawning and stretching her arms up one more time the young SeeD grabbed her backpack (light blue, with a duck on the front pouch) and hefted it over her shoulder. Ever since…that… she had filled her schedule more than usual. Selphie found she had to keep herself busy in order to keep herself smiling.

Outside in the halls she marched jauntily past students and through the long corridors to where the engineering labs were situated. She could hear the cranking sounds of gears and levers being tinkered with, sheets of metal being hammered and more delicate wires being fused together as she drew closer to the large doors. As they slid open the students looked up curiously, some smiling, some offering her the same sympathetic looks they had for…

"One month, thirteen days and 4 and a half hours," Selphie mumbled, smiling back.

But her gloominess vanished once she got started on an old car she was working on with Nida. Nida, one of her most trusted friends, kept telling her jokes and funny stories to keep her amused all through the class and straight through the student union meeting.

OoO

"So how was the student society meeting?" Quistis Trepe rested her startlingly blue eyes on Selphie as she sipped her tea,

"Long, we're going to host a big fiesta of sorts, a bit of a student mixer you know, just to release the tension of the upcoming exams. I know a lot of people will want to study but we all need one night to just let it out. I'm going to ask the teachers to be light on the homework for that night if they can," Selphie replied, jotting down a few notes in her notebook,

"And how many committees did you sign yourself up for this time?" Quistis asked with a fond smile,

"Only one this time! Well, one and a half I guess," Selphie grinned, "Recruiting and an afternoon of setting up, thank Hyne I didn't offer to clean up like I did last time!"

Quistis laughed softly and nodded, "Yes, I remember we didn't see you for an entire day! I'll make an overhead for my class and advertise for you. First year Cadets love to do those sorts of things, their sense of responsibility isn't always there yet,"

"Definitely, thanks so much Quisty! All I did was party in my first year at Trabia," Selphie smiled at the memories and beamed at her friend.

That Quistis would do half her job for her lightened the burden on Selphie's shoulders and the little brunette could hardly express how delighted she was. Recruitment could be a long and agonizing task but having friends that were instructors made the process so much easier! They chatted together for another hour before a silhouette fell across their table from the distant windows. Both turned simultaneously and watched Squall Leonhart slouch across the room, his mouth in a tight line and his eyes distant and hard.

"Is he doing any better?" Selphie asked softly,

"Not really." Quistis sighed, "Rinoa picked a lovely time to dump him didn't she? I suppose that's a little uncharitable, their relationship was rocky from the beginning but, oh I don't know, running off with Seifer and having that scandalous fling with Irv--"

Quistis stopped and turned faintly pink but Selphie waved her hand and shrugged.

One month, thirteen days….

"Don't worry Quisty, it was awhile ago, and he's moved on, and so have I," Selphie fought past the lump in her throat,

Quistis still looked distressed but she picked up on the silent cue to change the conversation, "So…I hear Zell has himself a prodigy down in the martial arts department. Apparently she's learning so fast he can barely keep up with her,"

"I heard!" Selphie beamed again, her happiness restored, "I think he said her name was Kerei, she's pretty ambitious,"

"I think there are some…ah…ulterior motives there too," Quistis gave Selphie a wicked grin,

"Oh, you mean, she…no, she does? Really?" Selphie's eyes widened,

"I heard her talking about him outside the instructor's lounge, her voice became ever so dreamy," Quistis giggled behind her hand in a most unlike-Quistis manner.

Both of them collapsed into laughter. Selphie was truly pleased though, by the news. Zell had lost his conquest for the pigtails girl and had become more and more shy about the prospect of meeting women.

"Well I'm happy for him," Selphie declared,

"So am I," Quistis agreed, "I wish Squall would cheer up too, though,"

Selphie shrugged, "He wasn't very cheerful to begin with."

Quistis nodded unhappily, thinking to herself that Selphie didn't understand. No one really understood Squall anymore, but Selphie had never quite warmed up to him like Quistis had. The two of them excused themselves after arranging another 'date' of sorts, with Quistis returning to her classroom for her office hours and Selphie returning to her dorm for the dreaded essay-writing.

She could barely concentrate on the paper, her fingers wrote it numbly with her mind partitioned, half on the task, half anywhere but. During the writing she mused over memories, wondering what Irvine was doing, who he was with, why she hadn't been good enough…

Her forehead hit the desk and she cried softly into her arms.

OoO

"Morning!" Selphie slid into her chair in the cafeteria and waved energetically at her friends,

Zell smiled, yawned, and blinked owlishly, making Selphie giggle, Quistis raised her coffee mug in salute and returned her gaze to the papers spread over her side of the table, clucking her tongue at some bad marks her students' had received. Rinoa smiled warily, she treated Selphie like glass even though her brief time with Irvine was over, Selphie returned the smile more exuberantly, quietly snarling in her mind.

'Stop looking like I'm about to claw your eyes out, Hyne.' She thought savagely.

Breakfast was quick for Selphie, she had training hours first, with Zell and the pigtails girl, then more engineering, and finally, a briefing for a small mission. The mission would be the highlight of the day, she figured, it was a chance to get out of the school and be a change of pace, even if for only a little while.

She walked to the training area with Zell, both of them separating briefly to enter through their own locker rooms. Selphie stripped down into a black one-piece suit that was sleeveless and form-fitting. It ended mid-thigh and kept her body cool while she exercised inside the humid grounds with Zell. During the middle of the practice both of them looked up at hearing two giggling voices. Pigtails and a short stocky woman were emerging from the women's locker room.

"Kerei!" Zell grinned genially, waving the shorter girl over and being rewarded with an ear-to-ear grin,

"Zell!"

Kerei bounced over, her aqua eyes blinking through the spikes of black hair that fell over her face until she tossed her head and flicked them to the side. Selphie smiled and shook her hand during the introduction and then looked up when Pigtails arrived somewhat shyly and looked beseechingly at Kerei.

"This is my friend Michelle," Kerei said bluntly, "She's a throwing specialist,"

"Oh, throwing?" Selphie inquired, watching Zell blush and look away,

"Yeah, daggers mostly, sometimes axes," Michelle shrugged her lanky shoulders and looked awkwardly away,

"Wow, that's really cool!" Selphie grinned and then tugged at Zell's arm, "I'm ready for something bigger, you wanna move on to those dinos over there?"

"Yeah, sure, make sure you're fighting in your new defensive stance as well as offensive, Kerei," Zell beamed at his model student who saluted smartly and preened under his praising eyes.

Selphie hid her smile as they walked away, so, Zell might be a little interested in his student. That, of course, had potential to be disastrous, and it was such a pity her friend was the girl who already shot him down!

OoO

"So, what's going down?" Irvine slid himself on to a leather couch and threw an arm around Quistis Trepe's shoulders,

"See for yourself, Cowboy." Quistis tossed him his folder and passed the others out to the small group of SeeDs.

"Hm, organizing a treaty with the biomechanical lab way out in the South? Seems wise, any weaponry that comes out of that place would be useful to have on our side," Irvine mused,

"Your team mates are Michelle and myself," Quistis supplied, nodding at Michelle as she sat down opposite of them on the table, smiling shyly.

Selphie reached forward and slid her folder towards her along the glass tabletop. Slitting the top she reached in and browsed the papers before raising her eyebrows,

"Mushroom hunting?" Selphie looked up at Quistis, utterly perplexed,

"The two missions go hand in hand really, with a biomechanical lab they want all the data possible on plant material, anything organic really but we'll start small. They haven't really explored the area to the West because that's getting pretty close to Galbadia Garden, however, since WE are finally on good terms with them we can do our own business without rousing suspicion. Your team mates are Nida and Squall."

Selphie nodded, disappointed she was going to be stuck with the Dark Cloud otherwise known as Squall but buoyed up by the fact that Nida was coming.

"That leaves Zell, Kerei and Rinoa, for a peacekeeping mission up north of Trabia, a band of rebels have been trying to steal precious materials from the ruins of Trabia Garden," Quistis' eyes flicked to Selphie, a silent apology for not being able to get the former-student to her old hometown.

Selphie didn't mind though, her friends had all moved away from their old school, when she next saw it, Selphie hoped Trabia would be restored, but for now Balamb was her true home.

"Sounds good," Zell grinned, reading 'peacekeeping' as 'beat anyone you see carrying off something they shouldn't'.

"We will depart in two days and be gone…well, that depends on how things go. I suspect my group will be back earliest, and depending on how the situation with the rebels are you may have to request backup. Trabia has other issues right now and their military is busy with reconstruction of the perimeter. You'll have a few soldiers at your control but I'm expecting you to use tactics and your own common sense to see you through this one," Quistis said evenly, dismissing them all.

'Well, at least it gets me off this island,' Selphie thought as she slid out of her seat, 'but I can't imagine how entertaining it's going to be looking at plants.'

As she walked out of the room she caught Irvine watching her pensively, her eyes turned opaque and she turned away, striding down the hall ignoring his heavy eyes.