Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII.

Chapter One: Vacation and a lost memory.

It was just another day ending in the military school of Balamb Garden. Students pour out from their classrooms into the now noisy halls of the school, rejoicing because today is their last day of classes for tomorrow is…

"WHOOHOO! We're going on vacation!" Screamed an extremely hyped Selphie.

"How much sugar did you consume today?" Irvine asked as he tried to snatch his hat from Selphie.

"Whatever Irvine!" Selphie replied, dodging Irvine's arm.

"Stop that both of you!" Yelled an annoyed Quistis who was caught in the middle of the chase.

"Sorry Quisty." The two said in unison.

Quistis sighed, "Anyway let's go to the cafeteria, we promised to meet Rinoa and Zell there remember?"

In the cafeteria the trio saw Zell sighing because he didn't make it to the hot dogs in time. "Poor Zell," the three said in unison, shaking their heads at the same time.

"Yo!" Zell said, waving at his friends.

"Zell, shouting is not allowed in the cafeteria." Quistis reminded with a stern tone that she usually uses as an instructor.

"Sorry instructor." Zell teased. Quistis hated being called that by her friends.

Rinoa was waiting at their usual table at the far corner of the cafeteria. "Hiya there Rinoa!" Selphie lunged at Rinoa and caught her friend in a tight hug.

"Hey," was all Rinoa could reply in a strangled tone. Selphie released Rinoa from the tight hug and sat next to her.

"So wha'cha guys gonna do this summer?" Selphie asked while looking at her friends.

"Well I have no plans…" Zell began.

"No plans to hang out with your girl?" Irvine teased.

"Whatever." Zell and the rest said in unison. A long silence followed that statement.

"I miss him." Rinoa said, holding the necklace that held Squall's ring.

"Me too" Selphie said as she rested her head on Irvine's shoulder.

"We all do." Quistis replied staring blankly at the table.

After they have finally accepted their comrade was gone, they agreed to make his memory live on. They never spoke about him in the past tense and they always used Squall's most famous and favorite saying, 'Whatever'.

"Why don't we go to Esthar this summer?" Irvine said trying to change the subject.

"Sounds good to me." Zell agreed as he leaned back on the backrest of the chair.

"Yeah, I wanna visit Sis and Sir Laguna." Selphie answered joyfully.

"You guys alright with that?" Irvine asked the two who had not yet responded.

"Yeah, there's nothing much to do here during summer anyway and it has been a while since we last visited Esthar." Quistis said as she broke her stare from the table.

"You're right. Count me in!" Rinoa replied, smiling at her dear friends.

"It's settled then." Irvine said as he stood up. "We'll leave tomorrow." He said, looking each of his comrades in the eye.

"I get to fly the Ragnarok, right? Right?" Selphie asked excitedly as she also stood up.

(Better not mess with the little lady) Irvine thought. "Yeah sure thing babe." He said as he winked at Selphie.

"Whoohoo!" Selphie exclaimed, excitedly jumping up and down.

Somewhere in Winhill, a portal opened near Raine's grave. A young man suddenly appears from the portal and is thrown out. He is tall and quite handsome. He has chestnut brown hair and deep blue eyes. He's clad in a black outfit: black leather jacket that seemed furry at the collar and black pants. He was unconscious.

"Oh my, he looks very tired." An old woman's voice said. "Come on, help me carry him to the village."

Everything was dark, a voice called out "My son, wake up." At that instant the young man awoke from his sleep and found himself in a small room that looked kind of battered and really old. He got up from bed and saw some clothes at the foot of his bed. He took the clothes and put them on. He now wore a plain gray shirt and denim pants. He quickly looked around and saw some stairs and he descended upon it.

"Oh, you're now awake now, eh?" an old lady looked at him. He found himself in a room full of fresh flowers, judging from it he figured that he was in a flower shop.

"Hello dear. Are you alright now?" the old lady looked at him with concern.

"Yes… did you bring me here?"

"Yes dear, I found you unconscious in the fields two days ago." The old lady replied.

"Thank you."

"Say sonny, can you tell me your name?"

"My name? My name is… my name is… ARRRGHHH!!!"

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Thank you for reading. Flames, comments, suggestions and criticism will be accepted with no hard feelings. -