Irvine had screwed up bigtime. In fact, everytime he was put under the pressure, he failed. He didn’t’ know why he had become a sharpshooter. Yes he did. He loved being able to aim at something further away than some people could see and just feel that he had hit his mark. Essentially, he liked to show off.

            But, he just could never bring himself to kill other Humans. Garden had wanted hit to shoot down a woman. Not just any woman, they had wanted him to eliminate the threat of the woman who had raised him. She was the closest thing he had ever had to a mother. So, he had screwed it up, jut like all the other sniper jobs they had given him.

            Now that they had defeated Ultimecia, he had been avoiding assignments because he just didn’t feel comfortable sharpshooting anymore. He still loved his guns. But, he knew that it was something that he could never excel at.

            “Hey Irvine!” rang out a familiar voice. He turned to see his girlfriend Selphie running towards him. “I’m in a hurry right now, but did you want to go to Balamb with Rinoa and the others tomorrow night?”

            Selphie was adorable. She barely stood over five feet tall and she had big, dark hair. It wasn’t so much her looks that attracted Irvine to her, it was her personality. She was always upbeat and happy. She was confident of herself without being egotistical. She just had all of her shit together and he really liked that about her.

            “Sure,” said Irvine. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. Since he had transferred to Balamb Garden, he hadn’t taken more than a handful of classes. He always had time on his hands.

            She squeaked happily. “We are going to Pah-tay!” She leaned forward for a kiss, not at all bothered by public displays. He pecked her and like a child she ran off happily. She always amused him. Which was a good thing since they were best friends as well as a couple. Since they didn’t’ have sex, Selphie was a not-until-marriage type gal, their relationship took on more of a friendship edge.

            Irvine was bored. He headed off to see what Zell was doing. Zell was actually in his dormroom, it was a rare thing, so Irvine counted himself lucky. “Hey Zell, you want to do something?”

            Zell had been sitting around wishing that someone would stop by, and now here was Irvine. Irvine had a way of doing that. He always would show up just when Zell was thinking about him.

Zell had the urge to go out and thrash some monsters and knew Irvine would be a good practice partner. “Yeah, let’s go to the training center!”

            Irvine’s mood dropped. “Um, how about something else?”

            “We could sit around and play cards or something,” Zell suggested. He had noticed that Irvine hadn’t been going to the training center much. The two or three times he had suggested it in the past month, Irvine had passed, suggesting something else instead.

            “Sure.” Zell ran off to get out his cards. Irvine looked around the room casually. The pictures in the room made Zell’s room look like a gallery. Zell had told him that he had once been interested in photography. It was a profession that Zell just hadn’t had the patience for. Irvine picked up one picture that he liked more than the others. It was a black and white photo of some of Zell’s friends in Balamb. They were all acting goofy, but that wasn’t what Irvine liked. He liked the way that the fog hung in the background even though all the people in the front were happy. It was a nice contrast.

            When Zell came in, he was happy to see that Irvine was looking at his pictures. Even though he didn’t’ do it anymore, he was still proud of the stuff he had done. “Which one’s your favorite?” he asked. He had brought some pillows out so that they could sit on the floor. He didn’t have a diningroom table or anything, most of his meals were eaten in the cafeteria or the on the couch. The couch was too fluffy for cards, so that left the floor.

            “This one,” said Irvine as he showed Zell the picture in his hand. Zell nodded. It was one of his favorites too. “I like the contrast of the fog and your goofy friends.”

            Zell smiled at Irvine. “That’s why I like it too. It’s kind of subtle though.” He went off to get some water. From the other room he yelled “Maybe you should take up photography! You seem to be good at it!”

            Irvine snickered. “That’s not exactly the type of shooting that I’m good at.”

            Zell bounced in with the water spilling outside the glass. Irvine could only imagine how many accidents there were in this room. “Well, maybe you would be,” Zell said, passing him a water. “You could always borrow my stuff.”

            “Do we even have a darkroom?” asked Irvine. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to know. He didn’t have any idea about how to develop pictures.

            “Sure,” said Zell. “It’s hidden away like the ballroom.”

            “Hey, let’s start this card game!” Irvine was feeling melancholy, and that wasn’t like him. It’s why he enjoyed Zell and Selphie’s presence so much lately. They were perpetually happy and it brought up his mood. He still couldn’t shake the thought of taking Zell up on the photography offer though.

            He was still thinking about it after they were done playing for the night, Zell the happy victor. He had found out a while ago that Zell was a bad winner, having to watch a funky chicken dance. As Zell was doing something similar to the moonwalk, Irvine took another look at the picture.

            “Irvine, if you want to try it out, I’ll let you!” Zell was hoping it would bring Irvine up from the sad mood he had been in. After all, it wasn’t like he was Squall. “I can help you out with everything you need to know!”

            Irvine’s head moved to the side. Maybe he could use taking up a new hobby. It beat pestering other students to pay attention to him. “Okay.”

            Zell jumped up a little. “All right! I know you are going to be so good at it!” He ran into his bedroom to dig out all the equipment. And there was a lot of it! The two of them carried piles of it to Irvine’s room. Once there, he waited as Zell went and got a second load which consisted mostly of books.

            “Read those!” ordered Zell. The pile was several thousand pages and Irvine cocked an eyebrow at him. “Well, some of them anyway. If you have any questions, just ask.”

            Irvine picked up the top book. It was called Photography for Dummies. He laughed. What a mean name for a book! “I think I’ll start right now!”

            Zell nodded. “Well, I guess I’ll find someone to take to the Training Center. Have fun!” He waved before dashing off down the corridor. Irvine smiled down at the three piles of junk on the floor. At least it would keep him busy.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            The Garden did have a darkroom. Irvine was surprised because he had never heard of it or seen it. It was off of a corridor that was off of a wing. When he did finally find it though, he could have jumped for joy. If he had been Zell, he would have. He had already began reading the books and now he knew what he needed the darkroom for in the first place. There was a sign on the door that read “Knock and wait for reply before entering.” Well, that made sense.

            He knocked and when no one answered, he stuck his head in. It was dark. He flipped on the light. A low red glow emanated from everything. Irvine felt a thrill go through him. This had been a good idea.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            “Has anyone seen my boyfriend?” shouted Selphie by the director. She was standing on the planters by the elevator. Rinoa and Squall had just walked up as she was making her interrogation. The few people that were in the immediate vicinity shook their heads at her. As soon as she spotted the couple though, she jumped down and ran to them. “Have you guys seen him?”         

            Squall shook his head. He and Rinoa had just gotten back from another trip to Deling City. He hadn’t realized how much of a social butterfly Rinoa was. Oh well, it was too late to complain about that. And it wasn’t like she expected a full turn around from him. She made him come to the fancy parties but she didn’t force him to leave his corner. Quistis had seemed to think that it was a good thing for him to experience. And, since she was always so protective of him, he figured that she would know what she was talking about.

            Selphie thought it was strange that Irvine wasn’t around all day. He had been on her heels all the time lately. He was always trying to play cards or sports with her. She would occasionally, but most of the time she was too busy. They had so many friends that she didn’t think that she was being that unaffectionate. And now, for him to have not been seen all day, something had to be going on. She hoped for his sake that it wasn’t another woman.

            “Oh Quistis!” Selphie shouted as she spotted their old instructor approaching. “Have you seen Irvine?”

            Quistis was kind of the mother of the group even though she wasn’t much older than them. Yet she carried herself with so much dignity and elegance. Sometimes it made Selphie a little jealous. No matter how cute she was, she would never be what anyone considered lovely like Quistis was. Right now, Quistis had her glasses on which only furthered the look of sophistication.

            “Yes, he was with Zell, that way,” she said pointing a finger at the cafeteria hallway.

            Selphie smiled happily. Oh that was good! He was just hanging around with a friend. A male one. Selphie felt relieved. “Thanks Quistis!” She ran off.

            Quistis half smiled at Rinoa and Squall. “Guess we are leaving a little late then...” Rinoa leaned on Squall making little puckering gestures at him. Grossed out, Quistis added, “I think I’ll follow Selphie.”

            The cafeteria was nearly empty. No one stuck around once the hotdogs ran out. Selphie immediately spotted her pretty dark-haired boyfriend. He was setting up some kind of camera or something in the back of the cafeteria while Zell was bouncing around anxiously. “What’s going on?” she asked.

            Zell looked up. Once he saw Selphie he remembered their plans for the evening. “Shit! We’re almost done!” He poked at Irvine who hadn’t looked up after she had asked. When Irvine looked up to see what Zell wanted, he blushed that he had been so absorbed.

            “Hey Sefy, I’m almost ready to take this picture.”

            “What picture?” asked Selphie her hands on her hips. She didn’t like to think that she was pussywhipping Irvine like Rinoa did to Squall, but she was really annoyed that he was making them late.

            “Just this picture I thought up,” he said. He didn’t want to go into detail because it was just like jinxing it. He wanted to make sure that this picture worked out. It was a great idea. He had convinced Zell to take the whole day off and help him out with the photography. He had been up all night reading through the pile of books. “Okay Zell, I think we’re all ready. Now just stand right there.”

            Selphie squinted her eyes at Irvine. He had to be kidding! The great sharpshooter of Galbadia Garden becoming a photographer? He did look happy though.

            Zell quickly ran to the spot that Irvine was pointing to. And to every little movement that Irvine was instructing. “Now give me the look!”

            Selphie watched as Zell posed for the camera. This was insane. She saw Quistis come in and begin to laugh. “I never thought I’d see Zell as a model.” said Quistis. That put things more in perspective for Selphie. She didn’t know why she had been taking it badly. It was kind of cute that Irvine had something to do, what did she care if it was photography?

            They stood there and watched as Irvine clicked away at the camera. Finally, it seemed that he was happy with it. He beamed up at Selphie. “We can go now,” he said. “We can just throw this stuff in the back of the car.” She just nodded at him. What did a few minutes mean when it brought him so much happiness?

            As Zell began packing up stuff, Irvine went over to Selphie and whispered something to her that made her blush. Just for a second, Zell felt a twinge of envy. He wished that he had someone to make blush. ‘Well Irvine isn’t that bad looking...’ he thought, quickly ending that line of ideas. It had just been plain weird to be thinking that of Irvine. He packed with twice the enthusiasm to shake off that idea.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            Irvine was like an addict. Even though he had fully intended to leave the stuff in the car, the instant he saw the photogenic ocean, he knew that the camera would be coming with him. He had never felt such utter relief before. He had felt so lost for a while. He was a sharpshooter that couldn’t fire a gun. Now though, he felt that he was meant to do this much more than he had ever felt about his guns.

            There was no killing, but in a way, Irvine was taking his subjects and placing them somewhere to keep for his very own. For that moment in time, they were his. And he felt that he was good at it. Now as he saw Balamb it was with new eyes. Everything was so beautiful. It was so picturesque and serene.

            Selphie humored him as he got out just the camera, no stands luckily. It was cute that he was so excited. And as they walked to the beach where the outdoor market was being held, she could hear the clicking noises from the camera. It was a bit embarrassing when he took pictures of people though.

            At first, they all stayed together, but as the afternoon turned into evening, they were all lured off by different wares. Only Zell stayed with Irvine as the sunset approached. He was taking pictures of the bored people in Balamb. Irvine wondered how  they could they be bored when that beautiful ocean sunset was washing over them. Perhaps he wouldn’t have noticed before he took up photography.

            “Hey Irvine, I’m just going to check out some of those hoverboards real quick,” said Zell. He nodded but he wasn’t really paying attention to Zell. He could feel his cowboy boots getting mucked up by the sand. It didn’t bother him in the least.

            “Oh God, just don’t even look at him,” he heard a voice say beside him. Irvine looked over to make sure that the voice wasn’t talking about him. It was an older looking woman and her friend who were turning away from a gray figure that he saw walking a bit closer to the ocean.

            “Why does he even bother trying to come to town? That bastard!” said the other woman.

            Irvine looked up from the lens of his camera and stared with amazement. The figure was Seifer. His long grey coat with the beautiful crosses down the sleeves protected him from the harsh wind that was knocking his hair into his eyes. Irvine gaped. He hadn’t seen Seifer since The Incident. He looked...unhappy.

            Seifer’s eyes were glowing a gorgeous green that was similar to the waves behind him. His face the perfect example of manly beauty. The scar was the only flaw on it and somehow it added to the masculinity. But Irvine couldn’t stop looking at Seifer’s eyes. They were so sad. It made something hurt in his chest. Before he knew what he was doing, he was holding the camera up to his eye.

            Irvine felt the nervous tension in his fingers. He didn’t want Seifer to notice. He didn’t know how Seifer would react if he knew he was being photographed. He didn’t want to find out either. But this opportunity was too much to pass up.

            Unfortunately, Seifer did notice. He saw Seifer’s brilliant eyes turn in his direction. He felt the odd sensation of being caught. Irvine lowered the camera and backed up a step. He shouldn’t have taken those pictures. He should have just left Seifer alone, but he had just looked so beautiful. Now, with Seifer walking towards him, he really wished that he had resisted the urge.

            Irvine didn’t have nearly the enthusiasm for charging into battle that Zell did and he felt relieved when Zell stepped in front of him. It was almost like being rescued, even if Irvine wasn’t exactly a damsel in distress. Still, he wasn’t a coward either, so he stepped to Zell’s right. Seifer was nearly up to them.

            “It’s been a while Chicken Wuss,” smirked Seifer. Even though he said it directed at Zell, he was looking at Irvine. “Did you come to take a picture of the outcast of Balamb?”

            Irvine felt guilty. Sure, he had taken a picture of Seifer at his most vulnerable, but it wasn’t to his pleasure. “Actually, I came to take pictures of pretty women on the beach, but all I found was you.” He felt his shoulder shrugging. His heart wasn’t into the light hearted. What was with him lately? He had become so depressing.

            “Which is close enough,” said Zell angrily. His fists were out. He didn’t really understand what they were talking about. Surely Irvine hadn’t been stupid enough to try and take a photograph of Seifer! Or had he? Seifer sure looked angry, like he had been provoked.

            Seifer frowned. He swiped his hand downward. “Go find some women then and leave me the FUCK alone!” he said angrily. As he turned to leave his coat swished behind him. Irvine felt the urge to run after him and apologize, but he knew that with Seifer there was just no way to say you were sorry. He watched the villagers negative reactions to Seifer as he left. He really was an outcast now.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *         

            Irvine was alone in the darkroom. He smiled happily as he developed his pictures. This had been the perfect remedy for his boredom. Everyone had been so willing to help out. He had taken a few of Selphie which made her absolutely nuts. It turned out that she loved having pictures taken of her. She was allowed some vanity, she was quite an adorable girl after all.

            Once he was finished he sat in the middle of the hanging gallery and just enjoyed the proud feelings rushing through him. It was like sex. Not that he could really remember it that well. He cared about Selphie and respected her wishes, but sometimes it really bothered him being so horny all the time. It was good that he finally had an outlet that allowed for some satisfaction.

            His eyes naturally went up to the one in front of him. He didn’t know if he had done it on purpose or not, but Seifer was directly in front of him staring. Irvine sighed and reached up to take down the photo. He couldn’t see the colors in it very well because of the odd lighting. But there was no mistaking the look on Seifer’s face. There had never been a more sad face. He looked utterly wretched. Irvine could see the guilt and shame even in the red tinted photograph. It was all there. Seifer’s soul exposed.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *         

            Zell went to track down Irvine. First he checked the darkroom, but it was empty. Seifer must have spent the night making them if he was done already. He headed off to Irvine’s room. He was so glad to see that Irvine was enjoying this so much. It was also nice to be of help to him. Zell had almost fought for him the previous night. That Seifer was always screwing up someone’s life.

            He stopped outside of Irvine’s door feeling a little nervous. He had recently been feeling that way around Irvine and he didn’t’ know why. Maybe they had been spending too much time together or something. He knocked. No response. He waited, shifting from foot to foot.

            Irvine jerked awake. He looked around him. He had fallen asleep on his sofa. He realized that he was holding something in his hand. He held up the photograph of Seifer now with intricate colors. It was breathtaking. Seifer’s sad, humiliated eyes in front of the exquisite multicolored sunset. It was hope and hopelessness. It took Irvine’s breath away. A second knock came at the door.

            He looked up. “Yes?”

            “It’s me, Zell.” Irvine was suddenly excited. Wait until Zell saw all that he had done! He got off the couch and opened the door quickly causing Zell, who had been leaning on it to fall inside.

            “Hey Zell, check these out!” said Irvine, pocketing the one in his hand. He led Zell over to the other side of the couch where all the pictures lay open on the floor. He had wanted to be positive that nothing crinkled them and that they turned out flawless.

            Zell swore. “Man, these are great!” He reached into the pile and picked up the one that they had done in the cafeteria. “Oh man! This has to work!”

            Irvine smiled as Zell hugged him lightly. “These look great! You are much better than I am,” said Zell. His voice was full of awe. They really did look great. “I’m going to go send this off to the newspaper then, is that okay?”

            Irvine nodded as Zell went running off. He smiled, reaching into his pocket. His masterpiece. Seifer was his masterpiece, it was ridiculous but true. He sighed, sitting back on the couch with the picture in hand. ‘I wonder if Seifer is always this sad now?’ wondered Irvine. Something more than sympathy crept into his heart as he looked at the violently beautiful eyes. He touched the photography softly, almost brushing away a stray hair on Seifer’s face.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *