Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII, or any of the characters from the game.

Daystar - 1 - New

"The weather is going to be much better today folks so throw those umbrellas back into your closet! It is 70 degrees, going to be a bit cloudy, but hey...who's complaining? This is Katrina Crew with your daily weather, and to all of those who are sleeping through my forecast...WAKE UP!"

The radio's voice blared through the room, and caused Squall to awake quickly.

Opening his eyes, he peered around the empty square, senseless, forgetting where he was. The sun wasn't shining through the window's curtains like it usually did. In the darkness, the red numbers from his clock were sticking out like sore thumbs.

6:57 a.m.

Rock music played. It seemed everyone was already awake. He let out a moan, and pulled the blankets over his head. He stayed awake last night, not doing anything but thinking, and now it was really hitting hard.

Rinoa was away visiting her family; she got permission to leave. Why couldn't he go along with her? She isn't going to come back for another 3 weeks. To him, it was saddening lying in an empty bed, fighting the day, because there was no one to share it with. Normally he couldn't care less if he didn't talk to anyone for the whole day...but there's something about her. She made the world easier to look at.

-

"Where have you been? I called you to my office 10 minutes ago."

Cid Kramer leaned forward in his chair, and eyed the tall brunette suspiciously. His office was bright, and it was enough to make the happiest person sick. Squall looked down at the ground feeling low and guilty.

"I uh..I guess I had a little trouble waking up, sorry."

"Well, make sure you don't let it happen again. I have an important task for you."

He sat up from the chair, making the cushioning rise back up slowly, and walked towards a little room.

Squall let out a silent sigh.

Cid only called him in when he needed something. He never did say hi when he saw the dark haired boy walking silently through the halls when he did notice him. He never tried to carry on a conversation when they were sometimes the only ones in the room. Squall hated him for that, but what can he do?

"Right this way."

Cid returned with a young girl under his arm. She clutched a brown bag, and nervously looked around the room. Her uniform top was tucked in neatly, and under her lengthy blue skirt was faded white socks covered by worn out black shoes. Her short reddish hair was tied back sloppily, and pieces of it fell around her brown eyes. The almond shapes were surrounded by black eyeliner drawn on by a shaky hand.

"Oh great." Squall muttered under his breath.

"This is Nova. She transferred here and she doesn't know her way around the school. You're probably wondering why I'm asking you to introduce her to the garden. Well, you're an excellent student, and also a excellent tour guide."

He laughed, and began shaking Nova, trying to get her to join him in his pathetic joke.

Her body lunged back and forth; some more hair fell out of her ponytail. Underneath it all, she was giving an annoyed look.

"There's also another student here. His name is Jason, but I sent another SeeD to show him around. They're not related, I don't think."

She shook her head.

"Yes well, this is Squall Leonhart..."

She looked up at Squall. He had his arms crossed, and was waiting for Cid to shut up, and send them on their way.

"...Despite his facial expressions and body language right now, when you get to know him, he's actually a great guy. Just give him some time."

Cid gave Nova a little push, making her stumble towards the bored SeeD.

"Have fun, thanks again Squall."

"Whatever." He replied silently.

Cid returned to his desk, and began shuffling through papers, letting out a sigh. It seemed that he was relieved he could stop with the nice guy act. The middle-aged man had no idea how much his jokes made him look like an idiot.

Squall pushed the doors to the office open, and stepped into the crowded hallway. Nova was so silent, he had to stop and turn around everyone once and a while just to check if she was still there.

-

"And finally, that's the infirmary."

Squall stood in front of the door, and suddenly felt self-conscious as she narrowed her eyes and looked him up and down, instead of looking at the clinic behind him.

"What are you looking at?"

"N-nothing"

"Do you think you'd be able to make it on your own?"

"What makes you think I wouldn't?"

Squall arched an eyebrow. He didn't expect her to reply like that, her being silent and all.

"Whatever, I'll see you around I guess."

"Wait...did you say that the Training Center is down there?"

She pointed towards it.

"Umm...yeah. Right down there."

"Okay then, I'll see you later"

Usually Squall wouldn't act like this, but not seeing Rinoa for a couple days has left him feeling weak and bitter. Nova quickly turned around, and hurried to the double doors.

-

The white blankets were folded neatly at the end of the bed. It was visible that he was tossing and turning all night. He always had someone to talk to when he couldn't sleep. He usually talked to himself. It only made things worse but he did it a lot.

The spot she laid in had no dents at all. It was hard to believe that they slept together each night. She's only been gone for a week, and he stared at her side of the bed, as if that was the only thing he could remember her by. Of course he could call her and see how she was doing, but he needed to remember what it felt like being alone all the time. Although it was such a horrible feeling, it wasn't killing him.

-

"There's nothing to do in this damn garden."

He grumbled as he plopped down on the used maroon couch, and flipped the TV on. He hardly ever watched it, but he had nothing else to do. He was waiting until it was at least 11:00 p.m. It didn't seem right going to sleep any earlier than that.

"And for only $24.95 you get this complete set of non-sticking cookware! It's a great price to pay for such amazing pots and pans, they're absolutely gorgeous!"

Squall stared blankly at the picture box. The color from it made his face turn from pale white to light blue.

"Great price...yeah right."

He got more comfortable, and tried becoming interested in the infomercial. He barely noticed that it was getting harder and harder to hold his eyelids open.

-

A sudden ring from the phone nearby sounded off.

Squall swiftly sat up and looked at the TV screen which was covered with multi-colored vertical lines. He closed his eyes, and settled back into the couch, when the phone rang again.

Tired and addled, he blindly reached for it.

"Hel-" He cleared his throat. "Hello?"

"Squall? I'm terribly sorry for calling at this time."

It was Cid Kramer.

Squall, in his confused state, swallowed and narrowed his eyes. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall near him.

2:13 a.m.

"What's going on?"

"I have a special mission for you."

"A mission? Now?"

"Yes. We're training our SeeDs to be prepared for battle at any time. Be it day, or night."

Reaching for the remote, Squall sighed and angrily shut the TV off, which was giving a low beeping noise in the background.

"Of course, since this is on such short notice, I can always find someone else. You've done enough for me already. Sorry for waking you, I'll--"

"No, no I'll do it. I just need to get ready."

"Alright, great. Meet me, and a couple other SeeDs in front of the elevators."

"Mm hmm."

He hung the phone up, and rested his face in his hands. Why was he so tired? The light that was left on in his room blinded him. Shutting his eyes tightly, he almost drifted back to sleep, but he stopped himself just in time.

-

The whole garden was quiet, but as Squall approached the elevators he could hear students speaking to each other. They seemed so excited going on a mission in the middle of the night. He was wondering what the hell was wrong with them. He was over here worrying about wasting valuable sleeping time, and these guys were ready for action.

Amongst the students, he could see Nova leaning up against the wall. She was still holding onto the cinnamon colored bag, and she stared at the ground. Her hair wasn't messed up anymore; it was tied more snuggly, and it was easier to see her face. She was new here, and they were already subjecting her to this?

"Hey yo! What's up Squall?"

Zell appeared from the crowd. He must've been awake all night. He didn't look tired at all. Maybe he was asleep, and he wakes up excited and ready for battle all the time. Strange.

"Fancy seeing you here, I didn't think they'd call you. Pretty cool that we're together though, huh?"

He continued rambling about how cool it was doing a mission in the dead of night. Squall nodded, and pretended he was listening. Zell didn't notice that he was more focused on Nova, who made eye contact with him and quickly looked away feeling uneasy.