Chapter 1 - Beginnings

Authors Note: I do not own any of the character's in this Fan Fiction, nor do I own Final Fantasy. They belong to and are copyrighted by Squaresoft/Square-Enix. Please R&R! By the way, this fiction does not support the Rinoa Ultimecia because I am strongly against this theory. Ask me why if you want

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Squall and Rinoa looked at each other. Rinoa smiled softly at him. They slowly leaned in towards each other and kissed. Just a gentle kiss. Nothing special. As they kissed they seemed suddenly quite shy towards one another. They both had one hand on the stone balcony wall and their other arm was by their side. Their mouths were the only parts touching.

Squall timidly lifted his arm, that was by his side, and raised it towards her. He placed his hand on her cheek. Then, seconds later, raised his other arm and placed it on her arm. Feeling his gentle touch on her skin, Rinoa placed her arms in similar positions around him.

After a few seconds, they reluctantly pulled away from each other. They looked into each others eyes. They were standing on the blacony outside the ballroom. But it was empty now. It had been about a year since the last battle with Ultimecia. A lot had happened in that time.

Galbadia Garden was back under its own control again with Martine as the Headmaster once more. All 3 gardens had worked together to rebuild Trabia Garden which was now fully functional - having been finished 2 months previously. Headmaster Cid had a new office and living quarters which were adjacent to where his old office used to be. Balamb Garden had returned and settled down where it used to be. Esthar was now free from all of the monsters that came down during the Lunar Cry - the odd monster showed up but that's it. Lots of the monsters had been defeated, but many were just driven away from the city. Esthar had also broken it's 17 year silence and come back into the world just after Ultimecia was defeated.

Rinoa smiled at Squall. Squall smiled breifly at Rinoa then took her hand. His smiled vanished but the feeling didn't. He gently kissed her forehead then lead her away by her hand. Squall lead Rinoa across the centre of the dance floor. He wasn't facing her, but every now and then he would turn to face her then turn away again. He lead her out of the ballroom and into Balamb Garden's hallway.

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Zell sat in the cafeteria. Since defeating Ultimecia and everything, Zell had been able to spend more time with his hotdogs. He knew the best times at which to come to get some. He sat with a plateful of hotdogs in front of him.

He picked up one of the hotdogs and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Excuse me?" said a voice from infront of him.

Zell looked up from his plate to the owner of the voice. He was so shocked he almost choked. It was Emily! She used to be known to him and the others as Girl with Pig-Tail (or library girl), but after everything with Ultimecia, Zell had a lot of free time on his hands and went to the library a lot. He also worked with her on Trabia Garden quite a bit.

"Heych, Em'my, wanna schih hownh?" He said through his food.

Emily giggled.

"What?" She said.

Zell quickly chewed his food then swallowed.

"Hey, Emily, wanna sit down?" He repeated.

Emily giggled once again then nodded. She sat down opposite Zell. Zell, rather reluctantly, gestured towards his hotdogs, offering her one. She smiled and took one. They began chatting.

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Irvine sat opposite Selphie and Quistis in cafeteria. They had sat apart from Zell so he could enjoy his hotdogs in peace. Selphie was excitedly talking to Quistis. Quistis didn't seem as excited but did seem to be enjoying the conversation and was interested in it. Irvine wasn't really listening to it. He was just watching Selphie. She was so bubbly and cute, as always. He wanted so much just to be with her, always. Selphie turned to Irvine and beamed.

"Dont'cha 'gree Irvy?" She asked

"Hmm...What? Sorry." Irvine asked, shking himself out of his daze.

"Wouldn't it be great if Trabia and Balamb Gardens joined together for a mega Garden Festival next year?" Selphie repeated

"Err, yeh. Cool Sefie." Irvine said.

Irvine looked around the cafeteria as Selphie turned around once more to Quistis. He looked over at Zell's table and smiled. He gently nudged Selphie under the table with his leg. Selphie ignored him at first. Irvine nudged her a couple more times when she finally turned to him.

"What? What is it Irvy?" Selphie asked.

Irvine nodded his head in Zell's direction and the girls turned to look.

"Aww! They'd make such a cute couple!" Selphie exclaimed.

Zell and Emily had become friends over the past year but that's it. He got embarassed and then angry when someone teased him about their friendship so he'd never made a move on her, although they all knew he wanted to.

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Ellone walked through the corridors of the house she lived in with Laguna. Kiros and Ward lived a few doors down. Laguna had to work late in the Presidential Palace so she was on her own. There were a few guards posted near the house but none actually in it.

She had been reading, but suddenly felt light-headed and stopped. She was trying to make her way back to her bedroom. She held one hand to her head and stuck the other hand out for balance. She stopped suddenly and pressed her back up against the wall. She held her head with both hands now.

Images, blurred images, rushed through her head. Some faces she knew - Rinoa and Squall etc. - and some faces she didn't. She felt great suffering and pain. Fire. A scream. After a few moments these images stopped. She opened her eyes (they had been closed before) and then stood up straight.

She was confused. What was that? She didn't have that sort of power. She looked around, hoping to see someone to help her. She was suddenly panicked. She was hoping she'd see Laguna coming to help her. But he wasn't there. Just a dark, empty corridor. Ellone's breath shortened and grew faster.

"Uncle...Laguna..." She whispered.

Then she collapsed onto the floor.

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Note: Sorry it's not that exciting. But this is sort of just an intro one. I promise it'll get more exciting soon! Please keep reading!