A/N: The song is "Imaginary" by Evanescence.
Just a warning: This is going to be a tragedy due to my allergies of happy endings! QUIEFER FOREVER!!!!!
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Paper Flowers
CHAPTER ONE: DreamerPa-per-flow-ers
"But he isn't a criminal... is he?" Quistis thought to herself as she stared at the cold picture of Seifer Almasy near the dormitory hall. He had a bounty on his head and a few SeeDs had been dispatched to find him! "He didn't do anything wrong..."
I linger in the doorway
of alarm clock screaming monsters calling my name
Let me stay
where the wind will whisper to me
Where the rain drops as their falling tell a story.
"Dead or alive... how awful!" Quistis said. The poster said that Seifer was going to be on trail for the murder of several SeeD candidates, taking over Galbadia Garden, conspiring with the sorceress... Galbadia sure wanted him dead! Perhaps they wanted to prevent any further murders... But... Seifer's story was one of tragedy, not one of conspiracy and murder!
Quistis looked up at the cloudy sky as she slowly walked to her dormitory. Specs of rain fell down upon her and spotted her small reading glasses. 'Seifer is like the rain...' she thought, 'he comes and goes when he can... but he had no choice in when to let go or hold on... he was a prisoner inside the his body.. he just needed to be released, as the rain is from a cloud.'
in my field of paper flowers
and candy clouds of lullaby
i lie inside myself for hours
and watch my purple sky fly over me
"It's too late..." Quistis thought aloud as she looked around her dormitory, then got undressed. She slid into her night gown and laid down in her bed, letting the sound of the rain drops sooth her thoughts and carry her into a well deserved sleep.
Behind her eyes, she was sent to her heart. She imagined herself surrounded in flowers with those she loves and only saw smiling faces. The blond beauty looked up at the drizzling sky and smiled at the lightly colored rain clouds. She lifted her hands up to the sky, feeling free and weightless.
Don't say I'm out of touch
With this rampant chaos- your reality
I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge
The nightmare that I built my own world to escape
Thunder and lightening crashed and awoke Quistis from her dream within a dream. Her fading image was surrounded by darkness and she was alone. Everyone had flown away into the light, leaving Quistis behind! The flowers around her had died and become dark, when she tried to walk on them, then crumbled and tore like paper. She looked around in panic, in search for any source of light, then spotted a small violet about 5 meters away. It was glowing a light purple color, and Quistis ran to it.
in my field of paper flowers
and candy clouds of lullaby
i lie inside myself for hours
and watch my purple sky fly over me
The flowers underneath the instructor tore and crumbled beneath her feet, but she still fought to get to the violet. When she did, Quistis knelled down beside it and touched the brilliant light that continued to grow lighter. Lightening struck above her and she tried her best to ignore the sounds and flashes... Her blue eyes widened as she looked into the flower.. "Seifer!" She gasped, then closed her mouth with a pale hand. She was there, too! They.. were running... the scenery was... swirling.. spiraling downwards... Quistis found herself laying on her back staring at the sky.. the clouds swirled above her and the rain caressed her skin.
"Quistis!" Seifer's voice rang violently, ripping the sky from Quistis's world and bringing her to life. She sat up, then looked at all the rain drops around her... a violent CRASH of thunder made the instructor jump, and the lightening took her breath away. She gasped as she held her chest... no more air was getting to her lungs! Quistis screamed as loud as she could, but her call for help was covered by the thunder in the raging sky. She stood and tried to run... to where? She didn't know.. but she had to run!
swallowed up in the sound of my screaming
cannot cease for the fear of silent nights
oh how i long for the deep sleep dreaming
the goddess of imaginary light
"No... no.. don't... I.. I.. I CAN'T BREATHE!" Quistis screamed in the middle of the night. Her eyes opened just as quickly as she sat up in her bed. The former instructor looked around her small and familiar room... she was back in her room... "Just a dream," Quistis sighed. These dreams... they were getting worse with each night and it was costing her the few precious hours of sleep she once received.
"Another nightmare..." Quistis said aloud to herself and she brought her knees up to her chest. The blond pushed back her bangs and rubbed her eyes so they would focus. Though she couldn't see very well without her glasses, the SeeD would be able to make out what time it was. "Great... 3 am... looks like I'm not going to go back to sleep... again..." She said and rolled out of bed.
in a field of paper flowers
and candy clouds of lullaby
i lie inside myself for hours
and watch my purple sky fly over me
Quistis had taken an early shower and was already ready for the day in every way. She had just about done every piece of work there was to do for this week in her classes to become an instructor once more, and now all she had to do was lay back down on her messy bed and watch the darkness of the night turn to the light of early morning. Quistis lay on her back with her arms to her sides and her legs stretched all the way out. What did these dreams mean...?
The young woman soon found herself day dreaming... she had to get away from this place... if only she could go to her 'day dream land' that she often went whenever she didn't have enough sleep. Quistis smiled at this thought and closed her eyes... seeing nothing but purple skies of dusk, candy shaped clouds and flowers moving like paper in the wind...
i linger in the doorway
of alarm clock screaming monsters calling my name
let me stay
where the wind will whisper to me
where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story
The sound of her buzzing machine woke Quistis up from her day dream, though it felt as though she had been sleeping... and can't wake up. Half there and half still in bed, Quistis got up and turned off the machine. She straightened her hair, though she hadn't moved around at all in her bed so it wasn't messy, then tried to walk out of her room... but she tried to walk through the door way at the same time she pulled it open, causing her to crash into it and hit her head. "Ow!" She exclaimed, "Stupid door..." she cursed and shook her head. Hopefully that had woken her up however doubtful it was.
Quistis wandered down the halls of the dormitories... forgetting where she was going and bumping into student after student. Though she was looking straight ahead, she could not see where she was going. It was like her glasses showed a different reality rather than the one that others experienced. To Quistis, she was walking in her field of paper flowers under the candy clouds and purple sky....
if you need to leave the world you live in
lay your head down and stay a while
though you may not remember dreaming
something waits for you to breathe again
Quistis did not know how, but she ended up in the headmaster's office when she awoke from her day dream hours later. She looked around the headmaster's office, confused as to how and why she was here! Did she do something wrong? Did he call her? What was going on...? Wait... what had she been day dreaming of, again!?
"Quistis Trepe, I understand you have not been at your best the past few weeks... care to share an explanation with me?" Headmaster Cid asked Quistis and she looked around in confusion, but then decided to tell him what was on her mind.
"Sir? I would like a short vacation time, sir. I have not been feeling well or focused and I feel that a little time off would do me good, sir." Quistis said. Cid thought about this long and hard.... he examined Quistis's half conscious figure and how she seemed to sway from side to side while the eyes behind her glasses seemed to be far off in her own world.
"Request granted. You have two weeks... please, take time to relax. We need you here at your best! Dismissed!"
in my field of paper flowers
and candy clouds of lullaby
i lie inside myself for hours
and watch my purple sky fly over me
"Where will I find my purple sky...?" Quistis thought to herself, the thought of that new beach town to the west of Deling city! It was a great get-away place, she thought...
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