Chocobolate Memories
by BikoNeko/PokeSqrt

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and its characters belong to Squaresoft, not I.

Author's Notes: I was debating with myself whether I should make this a Seifer/Quistis or a Zell/Quistis, and I'm deciding that this will be a Zell and Quistis fic. So that's gonna be it. And if anyone's wondering about my other fics...well, I'm kinda having writer's block. Sorry! ^^ Anyway, hope you like this! I don't really think it's all that good because it may seem a little too rushed or something but...whatever. This is pretty much a prologue and there are a lot of gaps in the first chapter, but they will be filled in later. ;-) And a very special thank you to Sakui (AKA Sad-Dream) who agreed to read my story in case there were mistakes (and there's a lot of them!)!

PART 1 Think of Me

"M...mm...ugh...ah!" Quistis Trepe woke up with a startle, and found herself gasping for breath. One moment, she was being attacked by Chocobos and the next, she was in her bed, back in Balamb Garden.

'Why do I keep getting the same dreams every night...?' she wondered. She sighed and got up. 'Anyway, today's the field exam. I should get ready.'

~*~*~*~

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zell Dincht woke up, finding himself covered in sweat and panting for breath. "Shit!" He shook his head to make sure that there weren't any Chocobos around.

'A dream?' He sighed with relief. 'A dream.' He took a deep breath and got up. 'Today's the field exam anyway. There ain't no time to be worrying about some stupid dream.'

~*~*~*~

'Shit, I'm sweating...' Zell looked around the Garden Car, at his fellow Squad B members. Squall, still as a statue next to him, Seifer, languidly laid out on his seat like a cat in the heat, and...and... He gulped. Instructor No. 14, Quistis Trepe.

"S-So, Squall, ya get a good night's sleep?" he asked, trying to divert his thoughts from the young instructor. He thought she was very pretty, and admitted to himself that he had a bit of a crush on her, but he really didn't want to think of it as anything other than a physical attraction. He was seventeen, every seventeen-year-old boy got hooked up on some girl sometime in his life, right? He had already managed to convince himself that it was the hormones, and he desperately tried not to think about her anymore because he was scared of what would happen if he let his feelings grow. He never had a crush before, and liked to think of it as a phase he was going through. Kind of like the strange Chocobo dreams he was having that would pass sooner or later.

"..."

"Uh...yeah..." That Squall sure was hard to get through. Hopefully, Instructor Trepe wasn't like him. She seemed very fond of him and practically knew his every response. 'Oh no, I'm thinking about her again... No, no, NO!!!' "S-So, uh..." He tried to think of something to say. "I had a weird dream last night. Do ya know if there are people who eat Chocobos?"

Squall stared at him. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"W-What? It was just a question. 'Cause in my dream, there were all these brown Chocobos and I was eating them! I'm like, what the hell???!!!"

"...That's sick."

"Hey, it ain't my fault Chocobos are attacking me in my dreams!"

Quistis suddenly tilted her head up to listen to more of the conversation. 'Attacking Chocobos? That's...'

"...Whatever," replied Squall, concentrating his attention back to the floor.

"What a dumbass..." Seifer muttered under his breath.

"...Jerk," Zell growled, giving the blond man the evil eye. "Yo, Squall. Show me your gunblade, will ya?"

".........."

"C'mon, man!"

".........."

"Just a peek!"

".........."

"Tch, fine... Yeah, yeah. Why you bein' so selfish? Scrooooge!"

".........."

"Say somethin', will ya!? W-What's on your mind?"

"...Nothing."

"...Nothing," Quistis said simultaneously.

"..........." Zell took a sudden interest in looking at his Metal Knuckles. 'Instructor Trepe certainly is paying a lot of attention to Squall... Is she gonna talk to me?' He got up and began punching at the air, hoping she would take notice of him.

"Stop that... It's annoying," Seifer commanded. He then smirked a little and added, "...Chicken."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?"

"Heheheh..."

"Knock it off!" the instructor scolded.

Zell felt heat rise up to his cheeks and obeyed. He sat down and glared at Seifer. 'That...that damn Seifer...that jerk! Now Instructor Trepe's gonna think I'm some kind of a hooligan...just like him!' For the remainder of the drive to Balamb, the martial artist sat down, quiet, in his seat.

~*~*~*~

It had only been a few months since he had become part of the elite mercenary force, SeeD, and the same went for the leader of the group. He had never expected that he would find himself so close... This was SeeD's ultimate goal and they were about to fulfill it.

'This is it...' Zell looked up at the castle. 'This is the moment I've been waiting for... Finally. Ultimecia...'

"This the moment we've all been waiting for," Squall said. "It's now or never. We fight with everything we've got."

"Right," Quistis nodded.

"We'll kick her ass!" Zell said.

"And when we defeat her..." Squall continued. "We'll meet...at Edea's House."

Quistis nodded in agreement and turned her head to meet Zell's gaze. She smiled, and he returned the gesture.

'We have to defeat her...' Zell thought. 'There's still so many things I have to do... She needs to know that I...'

~*~*~*~

After what seemed like eternity, they had finally come face to face with the sorceress Ultimecia in her true form. Just a few more hits... Quistis was determined that they would defeat her.

She stared at Squall. His eyes met hers, and he nodded to her reassuringly. She cast Recover on him and he stepped forward to deal the final blow to the sorceress. But before Squall could attack, Ultimecia cast Apocalypse. She wanted to rush over to Squall and helped him but the other young man caught her eye.

'Zell!' He was keeled over and blood was trickling down his face. "Z-Zell, I--"

"KYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Squall lifted his gunblade over his head and attacked with Lionheart.

"And..." Before Ultimecia could finish her speech, she blew up in a massive explosion that engulfed everyone in a white light.

~*~*~*~

The bright light surrounded them, and then Quistis found herself floating...floating through time. She could hear her friends calling out to her and the voices gradually faded away. She ended up...somewhere.

'What...is this place?' Quistis looked around and could see nothing but desert. Gray, dark, barren desert land. "Is anybody here???!!!" she called out. "Squall! Selphie! Irvine! Rinoa!" She sighed. "Zell!"

'I...I don't know where I am... Where do I go now?'

"To Edea's House!"

'That's it! Squall said we'd meet there.' She closed her eyes tightly and visualized the orphanage by the sea. The lighthouse, the beach, the ocean, her home. Her friends, and... '...H-Huh...? What?'

Quistis opened her eyes to see billions of stars above her. She gasped and sat up. 'This is the roof of Edea's House...' She turned when she heard a noise. "Zell...?"

~*~*~*~

"This isn't really where we belong," Zell said. He and Quistis were at Edea's House, but he was too busy concentrating on where he was supposed to be that he never thought of when he was supposed to be. They had both somehow ended up twelve years back in the past and this was confirmed when they saw their past selves up on the roof for a while.

"I know...but...how do we do that? How are we gonna get back home? We're already here..."

"Just close your eyes... Think of where you wanna be, when you wanna be. Think of the one you care for most. Here, hold my hand."

"Okay..." Quistis reached out for him and two gloved hands grasped tightly at each other, fingers intertwining. "Are you sure we'll make it home? If we just close our eyes and think, would that be enough?"

"I'm sure of it, Quistis." He stood up and pulled her along with him. "Close your eyes."

"All right," Quistis replied hesitantly, closing her eyes.

"Think of Edea's House. On this exact same rooftop we're on, except it's kinda worn out, and it's twelve years later. I'm seventeen, and you're eighteen. We just beat the sorceress and we're ready to meet our friends again. Selphie, Rinoa, Irvine, and..." He paused for a brief moment and hoped Quistis wouldn't wonder what was the matter with him. "Squall. Think of Squall. Think of the one you care for the most."

"But, Zell..."

"Quickly. Think!"

"Zell, I don't know who I care for the most..."

"Quistis...!" Zell opened his eyes to face her and found himself unable to tear away from her piercing stare. "If you don't know, then...just...just think of me."

"All right..." She nodded, squeezing his hand tighter. "Okay. Let's go home." She gave him a reassuring smile that made him suddenly feel weak in the knees, and they were both surrounded by darkness. Her eyes grew wide and so did her strong grip on him.

'Quistis...?' Zell looked at her in utter amazement. This, probably, was the first time in his life he saw the strong and fearless Quistis Trepe, scared. He had always admired her for her bravery, and her strength; she had never shown any kind of fear, and she was everything he was not. From the way she lived her life, you would have thought that everything was handed to her on a silver platter. It was almost impossible to believe that she was just as afraid and insecure as him, if not more. Her eyes were shut tight and she was already embracing him to her.

'I want to be at Edea's House...' Zell sighed and pulled her closer to him. 'I want to see everyone. My friends, my family, my home... I want to be with the one I care for most... And I care for...'

~*~*~*~

"Quistis... Quistis!"

'Wha... What?'

"Oh god...no... Quistis, wake up!!! Can you hear me?? Please, open your eyes..."

'...Zell?' The blonde fluttered her eyes open to find herself staring at two azure orbs, beginning to well up with moisture.

"Quistis!" Zell exclaimed. "You're alive...!"

Zell made room for her, and she sat up. She looked around and could see a lighthouse nearby, and the deep blue sea all around. This place was familiar... She glanced over at Zell and could have sworn she had just seen tears fall from his eyes.

"Zell?" she called out gently. "Are you all right? Why are you...crying...?"

"I, uh..." His head was lowered and he quickly wiped his face onto his shoulder. He then looked up at her and flashed her his trademark toothy grin. "I'm just peachy, what're you talkin' about?"

"Zell..."

"I mean, why should I be cryin'? I'm really happy you're...you're safe..."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She smiled and stood up. "What is this place anyway? Is this Edea's House?"

"Yeah," Zell replied, getting up. He stared at her as she continued to look around.

"Why," she began, "are we on the roof?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Not really... Am I supposed to remember something? Because I don't really recall doing anything up here..."

"You don't?"

She shook her head no. "I don't know."

"So you don't remember...that time...we..." He stopped and sighed. "Never mind. Let's just go see everyone."