Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters.

Authors Notes:

I have reviewed all the work recently as I have decided to finish it. All the story is the same I have just fiddled around with it a bit. No need to read the beginning chapters again.

This is my first fanfic, so any constructive criticism and reviews are welcome. I hope you enjoy this. The first chapter is a bit short, but it just sets up the story and gives you an idea about where I am going with the characters.

She was running through an open field. Her long black hair was loose and was flying all round her face, caught in the wind. The girl was running away from something, but that something wasn't in sight. After a frantic run across a never-ending field the girl stumbled over a small rock in the ground and went sprawling to the ground face first. She glanced over her shoulder and gave out an earth-shattering scream.

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Squall woke up with a start. His forehead covered in sweat and he was out of breath. Pushing back his dark brown hair he looked over at his bedside table and glanced at the clock.

"Damn it" He whispered under his breath. The bright numbers on the clock were flashing 3:30. This was the third time this week he had woken up from the same nightmare. Each night the nightmare had been the same, the girl running through the field. Before he found out what was chasing her or what happened, the dream ended. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but found the girl to be familiar somehow. As if he had met her before.. Squall had never seen her face, but he knew there was something special about her.

Squall sighed and got out of his bed and headed to the bathroom. He splashed some water on his face and slipped on a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black trousers over his boxers. Deciding that there was no chance he was going to get more sleep this night, Squall decided to get ahead on some of the paperwork he should have completed weeks ago.

Squall picked up a pile of papers from the floor and walked out of the cluttered bedroom. He headed out of his room and up the elevator and reached his office. The whole Garden was quite not a sole in sight, just the way he liked it.

As he walked in Squall glanced at the door. Squall Leonhart, Commander. The little gold sign said. Squall shook his head; he still couldn't believe that he was commander of Balamb garden. All his hard work had finally paid of and he was the youngest commander garden ever had; yet he was still unsatisfied. There was too much paperwork and not enough action for Squall. He was beginning to wish that he was SeeD again.

He sat down in his chair and started flipping through the paperwork, signing a few pieces of paper, not really paying much attention and soon found his eyes beginning to close and it wasn't long before he was fast asleep again.

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"Rinoa? Rinoa Caraway?"

"Psst. Rinoa, that's you," whispered a voice.

Rinoa jumped slightly. "What?" She screamed looking around infuriated at the person who had woken her up. "Just taking attendance Miss Caraway. Glad to see you are here." Said a stern voice from the front of the classroom.

Rinoa groaned and lowered her head banging it on the table a few times, muttering sorry. She heard a few sniggers coming from the opposite side of the room and groaned. Yet again, she had made a fool out of herself. For the rest of the class, Rinoa kept a low profile tying to stay somewhat alert, without arousing the class's attention and causing a scene, it was what she was good at whether she was intending to do it or not. As soon as the bell rang, Rinoa grabbed all of her books and practically ran out of the classroom pushing people out of her way. It was the last class of the day and she was going home to get some sleep.

As she was rushing down the hall she heard a familiar voice calling out.

"Rinny! Rin...hold up" Rinoa turned her head and saw, her friend Selphie trying to catch up with her. "What was up with you in class?" She asked.

Rinoa slowed down slightly allowing Selphie to catch up and carried on walking. "I haven't been sleeping well lately." She explained, getting a sympathetic look from Selphie "I keep having this recurring nightmare, which wakes me up. After that I don't get any sleep. The lack of sleep is beginning to have an effect on me I think."

Selphie nodded knowingly "I'm sorry, must be rough. What happens in the dream? Must be pretty bad to keep you up like that."

"This going to sound strange and slightly dumb...in the dream all I see is a guy running through a fairly empty field. He looks like he is running away from something but I don't know what. He trips and falls and I know whatever is chasing him catches up because he is scared and yells out...It seems a lot scarier at night, I promise."

"Is he cute?" Said Selphie jumping up and down. Rinoa looked at her with a puzzled expression. "The boy in the dream…Is he cute?" repeated Selphie.

"Selphie! Is that all you think about?" Rinoa looked shocked though blushed slightly. After a few moments contemplation she carried on. "If you must know, I can't see his face, he always has his back to me. There is something special about him though. I know I would recognize him, as soon as I laid eyes on him. He seems familiar…." Rinoa's cheeks started to turn pinker and knowing she sounded really dumb covered her face with the notebook she was holding. Selphie burst out laughing, prodding her and made digs all the way to the student parking lot.

They had finally reached the school entrance and Rinoa was pulling out her keys and heading towards her car, a very stylish sliver convertible. Very sleek and at the height of fashion, it had been her 18th birthday present from her father.

"Do you need a lift home?" Rinoa asked Selphie who had followed her all of the way to the car.

"If you don't mind. I have something to discuss with you."

"Get in them." Rinoa said as she got into the drivers seat and started the engine. After Selphie had leaped into the passenger side, Rinoa pulled out of the car park and headed onto the busy streets of Deling.

Once they had got onto some of the straighter roads, Rinoa turned to Selphie. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Well in case you hadn't noticed we are graduating at the end of the week." She giggled. "Me and Quistis are planning a trip to Trabia to celebrate. I have some family living up there, and they will be out of town for a couple of weeks and they have given me permission to invite some friends and stay in their lodge. It is a great spot, right in the mountains, not too far away from the city, with a great ski resort down the road. It will be great!"

"Selphie, it is June. We won't be doing any skiing"

Selphie raised an eyebrow "Obviously you have never been to Trabia. It is freezing there, snows most of the year." Selphie thought about it for a bit, "I don't know why anybody would want to live there though, the snow would get on my nerves. So are you coming?"

"I would love to, but I am not sure if I will be able come. You know what my father is like he doesn't let me do anything. Not that it is me he is worried about, it is his reputation he is trying to protect. I can't tarnish the name of the great General Caraway." Rinoa said rather bitterly . "I hate him," she muttered under her breath.

"That is a problem. You never know, he might be in a good mood and decide to let you go. Phone me later and we will discuss the details. We are planning on leaving Saturday." They sat there for a few minutes in silence. Selphie couldn't bear so began talking again. "How is Seifer by the way? I haven't seen him around lately. You guys going through a rough spot?"

Rinoa sighed. "I think he is cheating on me. I don't know for certain, I just have suspicions. I am trying to keep my distance as I try to sort out my feelings."

"Rinny, just dump the bastard. I don't know why you are still with him. It's not as if you are in love with him."

"No...I don't think I am. I don't know how I feel about at the moment." Rinoa pulled up at the side of the street and stopped outside a large house. "Here you go. Call you later ok?"

Selphie didn't even here Rinoa as she was skipping of in the direction of the house, making plans for the trip. Rinoa grinned, she could never believe how upbeat her friend was, it scared her sometimes. In the good way of course.

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Squall was walking down the corridor to the headmaster's office. He had to go to another boring meeting. He walked into the room and noticed that he was one of the last people, as most of the chairs had already been taken. He glanced around the room and was relived that it looked like the meeting hadn't started, so he wasn't that late. At the far end, was Cid the headmaster. Squall had high regard form the man, he was the only father figure that he had and so always felt very proud to be working under him. At the other end, he saw a tall man wearing a cowboy hat waving at him. On one side of him was a blonde, with tattoos stuffing hot dogs in his mouth. The one in the cowboy hat was pointing at an empty chair on the other side of him. Squall shrugged as he looked at his desperate friend and headed over to the seat. Squall liked Irvine and Zell, but they could be a bit clingy at times. Squall sat down in the chair and made himself his comfy. This could take a while.

"Hey Squall, how have you been? We didn't see you at breakfast, we thought something might be wrong." Said Zell. Squall just sat there in silence gazing out of the window. Zell was about to say something else, but before he got the chance, Cid started speaking.

"I will try to make this meeting as brief as possible." He said shuffling some papers. "I just want to give the assignments out."

Squall sat there in silence as Cid assigned different SeeD to different projects, not really paying much attention as none of it would involve him. As each assignment was read out, Zell sat up straight trying to look as important as possible hoping to get picked. So far he was not getting any luck.

"OK last mission. We have been employed to investigate a weapons facility in Trabia. There are rumors that there has been some illegal trading going on, and the facility must be shut down by any means before the weapons are distributed world wide. As usual the authorities do not want to get their hands dirty." He looked around the room. "Squall, I want you to lead the team."

Squall had been looking at the window, where a fly had been trying to get through solid glass. When he heard his name he looked round and stared at Cid curiously.

"You want me to go?"

"Yes. I was told to put the best on this mission. You are the best I have, plus you haven't been out of Balamb in a while, you deserve a break. Irvine and Zell will be accompanying you." Zell looked pleased. "I am trusting you Squall. You leave at the weekend."

Squall was still in shock as everyone started filing out of the room. Irvine patted him on the back, as he passed. "Looks like we are going to have some fun? I heard there are some cute chicks in Trabia" he smirked

"Whatever" was Squalls only reply.

I did it! My first chapter down. It will get better, I promise, I am only just getting into the characters myself. It shouldn't be long until the next update, as I have started it already.

---Wow, can't believe some of the stupid mistakes I made. Oh well, all corrected now…in this chapter anyway. Get the others done soon.