((¯·.(( Chapter One )).·´¯))
((¯·.((¯·.(( "Every Sinner has a Future" )).·´¯)).·´¯))

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There was a blinding flash of light, and before he knew it he was falling.

Last thing he could remember was a beach, brilliant white sand sprawling out for miles in front of him. The blue waves crashing upon the shore and his friends there beside them. How he let Raijin talk him into fishing was a mystery to even him. But there the three of them were, looking up as Balamb Garden gently flew by with out a care in the world.

Next thing he knew he was lying in here in this black pit, gasping for air. His side hurt, and his hand was wet as it rested upon it. Blinking against the blood running into his eyes he looked around frantically, trying to find the sound of the loud humming noise hanging in the air.

Raijin lay near by, his were eyes closed a huge gash in his head oozing blood. Seifer crawled over to him quickly feeling for a pulse. An alarming sadness rolled through him as he found none. Looking for his other friend he slowly pulled himself to his feet, realizing at last that it was blood upon his hand. He was bleeding very badly, and that drowning hum still rang in his ears.

He caught sight of the dusky blue of Fuijin's shirt, and limped over to her as quickly as possible. It was hard to find good footing in the bottom of this huge crater. The thick smell of smoke filled his nostrils as he got close to her, smoke curling up from something metal near by.

"Fuijin!" he shouted noticing that her chest was still moving. He coughed roughly, stumbling forward to kneel beside her. She didn't move as he touched her face softly wiping away some blood there.

A crumbling of rock sounded from above him and he looked up, noticing a solider standing there. The last six months all came rushing back to him hitting him with an immeasurable weight. A familiar gun rested upon the soldier's shoulder. It was massive and the glint beaming off of it from the sun nearly blinded him. That gun had been made for Seifer to use.

"No! Don't!" Seifer shouted raising a hand. Suddenly he threw himself over Fuijin to protect her, his grey trench coat falling over them both.

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"Come on Quistis, keep up" Zell's voice rang playfully through the trees. She laughed in return shaking her head. Any element of surprise was blown with Zell on your mission team.

"Right behind you Zell" she called out jumping lightly over a root, and ducking a branch.

Quistis rushed to keep up with her team that consisted of Squall and Zell. Of course it wasn't hard to keep sight of Zell's bright red shorts admits the trees of the forest. It had been years since she had gone on a field mission, this her first since returning to Balamb Garden.

Much of Garden life had changed after the war. They were still considered a Military faction, however the use of GF's had been outlawed. This, of course, was due to the memory loss that GF's brought to their users. Therefore healing magic was no longer available at hand, and an outcry for doctors rippled through the land.

Quistis had been one of the first to answer. Since she was no longer bound to the Garden by her Instructor position, she went to Esthar to attend the medical college there. Being a student was always the thing that Quistis did best, and the years she spent in college had shown her that.

She had loved it, returning to the life of study and learning. Even though she grew to like Esthar, Balamb Garden was always home to her. It held a very special place in heart, along with the people there.

A few weeks after her graduation and becoming a certified doctor, Matron had asked Quistis to return to Balamb. Not just as a SeeD but as the resident Doctor on hand. Dr. Kowdaski had finally retired leaving a hole in the infirmary.

Quistis was more then happy to fill that position, feeling welcome and back at home in Balamb Garden right away. It didn't take long to make the Infirmary her own. Cid was still the Headmaster; with Squall as the Commander everything seemed peaceful.

That was until today.

Quistis had been sitting in her orderly office doing some paper work when her phone rang. Cid politely asked her to accompany two of the Garden's top SeeD's to investigate a disturbance in the forest near by the Garden. Right away she had agreed knowing her talents as a Doctor would be useful if there were any wounded people. Obviously this was a mission of some importance.

And that was how she found herself dodging branches and jumping over roots deep in the forest. It was like the old days, and that thought alone brought a smile to her face.

As she entered the small clearing ahead she almost bumped into Zell. Squall had stopped, leaning over some footprints in the soil. She came to a stop beside Zell looking around the lush clearing. Squall looked up at Zell and her with a nod, his fingers lingering on the footprints.

"These are fresh, someone's been through here recently" Squall said in his mellow tone. Much had changed about the Commander since the war. He still was as anti social as ever, but his attitude had lessened some. Often he could be spotted wandering around the Garden hand and hand with his girlfriend Rinoa. They were always talking in soft voices to each other. She had lightened him up a lot; he even cracked a joke once in awhile in the company of friends.

"Yeah, So? It could be someone out on a hike" Zell said bouncing from foot to foot. The boisterous martial artist hadn't changed at all. He still had a mad craving for hot dogs almost twenty four seven, and could never stand still for more then a minute. There was still the secret crush on the library girl, even though he had finally got the courage to go on a few dates with her; it had never gone much further then that.

"Not likely" Quistis said her gaze falling to the bushes near by. She leaned over and picked up a golden bullet casing from the ground holding it gingerly between two fingers. Squall strode over, taking it from her, rolling the casing around in his fingers.

"Its still warm" he said looking down at it in his palm. Quistis knew what he was thinking; she recognized the bullet type too. It was impossible to tell the make and model from just a casing, but the bullet had defiantly been fired from a gunblade.

"Let's get whoever fired it!" Zell said bouncing around.

"Hopefully they were only firing against some monster in self defense" Quistis said. Squall nodded handing the bullet casing back to her. She slipped it into the pocket of her skirt and started after the two men as they headed deeper into the forest.

It wasn't long before Squall stopped dead in his tracks, the trees suddenly stopping with him as well. Chunks of trees lied about the area, the smell of charred wood hitting them hard. The forest floor was totally destroyed a crater in the ground before them. Smoke lingered in the air, tinged with another more disturbing smell, blood.

"Quistis, you better call for a medical transport right away" Squall said his voice dead. Quistis frowned and pulled her Garden standard issue com device from her belt. She stepped forward looking down into the crater. Suddenly Quistis was unable to breathe, like a giant fist was wrapped around her heart.

Lying in the bottom of the crater were three familiar bodies, and none of them were moving.

"Garden Garage we need a medical transport right away at the following coordinates G34, 5677" Quistis rambled into the com device almost with out thinking, her eyes never leaving the bodies in the bottom of the crater.

"Are you going down there?" Zell asked his eyes wide as she took another step closer to the edge of the crater.

"I have to Zell…" Quistis said as she walked to the edge, turning as she started carefully climbing down. Rock crumbled under her hands and feet as she moved slowly. She found herself very afraid as she made her way down the steep side of the crater. It had been ages since she had done something like this and she felt it in her every muscle.

Her feet hit the bottom of the crater hard sending soot and dust up all around her. She rushed to the first body memories of him rushing through her as well. His dusky skin and his loud laughter, always seen at the side of the disciplinary committee leader. Quickly she felt a pulse, tears coming to her eyes as she realized Raijin was dead.

She rushed to the next pair of bodies, shoving aside some rubble and charred wood that lay on top of his back. Seifer was lying on top of Fuijin shielding her from something.

Carefully she rolled him off of her, checking her for a pulse first. Memories of her strong voice rolled through Quistis head, and the fierce loyalty she had to Seifer.

"She's alive, barely" Quistis called up to Squall and Zell. Squall was staring at Seifer, his face devoid of emotion. Her hand was shaking as she reached for Seifer's wrist. Carefully she pushed up the sleeve of his coat, pressing her thumb to the flesh. More memories rolled through her, and she was almost overcome by the emotion that came with them. Last time she had seen him was opposite her in a battle on the Lunatic Pandora.

"Alive as well" she said quietly letting his hand drop. Where the hell was that transport? The two of them wouldn't make it out here in the field without the proper medical supplies.

"Never thought I would see the three of them again" Zell voice cut through her thoughts, "not that I wanted to"

Quistis sighed and rolled her eyes, standing up to look at the two men on the edge of the crater. It was obvious they were not happy with this find. Quistis was near panic, worried for her new patients. She tried to stay clam she put her hands on her hips.

"Well we still haven't found the cause of the reported disturbance, why don't you two keep on with out me" she said.

"I'm sure it has something to do with this" Squall said stonily looking down at her. She glared up at him, and said nothing. Of course he would jump to conclusions and assume that this was the source of the problem.

"We'll look around some more" Squall said as he nodded curtly and motioned for Zell to follow him. Zell waved to her with a cheery smile as he followed Squall out of the area.

They took off into the forest again, leaving her behind with the former disciplinary committee of Balamb Garden.

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A/N: Thanks for reading, it's been awhile since I've written any fan fiction and I hope that you enjoyed this.

Disclaimer #1: FF8 and it's characters do not belong to me. If they didn't I wouldn't be writing fan fiction I'd be making games. This goes for the whole fic, all right?

Disclaimer #2: The chapter title is from a quote by Oscar Wilde. "Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." Again it is not mine.