Jackie0114: I was hoping for more reviews, I guess not =/ oh well I'll keep writing so I feel accomplished. Anyways next chapter! Oh side note, I know that Galbadia, Balamb, Lunar Cry, Trabia, and Esthar are separate continents but for the sake of the fic and fitting both VII and VIII's things are a little different. All of FFVIII's continents are on the west side of the world and FFVII's continents are on the east side. Basically think big meteor and earthquakes hitting Gaia before man causing chunks of land to separate

Disclaimer: I don't own anything sadly.

The elevator ride to the headmaster always seemed to last unnecessarily long. Quistis just wanted to get things over with as quickly as she could, so can resume her focus on her classes, not as a tour guide. She really hoped that everything will run smoothly and quickly, unlike her first encounter with the first three she had dealt with…

Flashback

She walked into the Headmaster's office, knowing that she would have to show the new instructors their way around. Honestly, did it have to be her? She was in the middle of planning out her next weeks schedule for the class until Squall, who is now the Headmaster's second in command since the war, called her to meet with him in his office. A rather small office compared to Cid's ridiculously and highly unnecessary room. When she arrived in the office she expected to see Squall and the two instructors. She was completly thrown off when she saw Squall speaking to two very handsome and very young men. Were these the new instructors? No, they're far too young. Must be new transfer students. But then again, there was no one else in the room aside from Squall. These two couldn't possible be the instructors, they looked to be only 2 or 3 years older than herself! Upon analyzing them, the first thing she noticed about them was that the two men had very… interesting hair. The one with blond haired, which reminded her of a chocobo, was wearing an all black slacks and dress coat, with his black dress shirt missing a tie and was slightly unbuttoned at the top. The other with black hair that resembled a hedgehog, was also wearing black slacks, with a white dress shirt half tucked in, and unbuttoned to the point where you can see his white undershirt.

"How much hair gel do they use?! And here I thought no one could beat Zell's ridiculous…" she thought as she stood there still baffled about their unique hair.

Though the hair was rather, different, that was excused when she saw their faces. Both men had glowing radiant eyes. Not the kind that glowed like evil zombies in horror films, no, but the kind that were bright enough so it was noticeable. And the color! The color was a mixture of blue and green that created a sea-green color. Never in her entire life had she seen something so...

"Ahem, Instructor Trepe, I'm glad to see you here. I hope I wasn't disrupting anything" Squall said in his usual calm yet commanding tone of voice.

She snapped out of her thoughts, and directed her attention to the co-commander. "Of course not" she said "No nothing important, except trying to plan out my lectures for our future Seeds and trying to prepare them as mercenaries" She thought bitterly.

"As I said over the phone, we needed someone to show our new instructors around Garden, just so they become familiar with the school. Instructor Fair, Instructor Strife, this will be your tour guide Instructor Quistis Trepe."

"Yea tour guide…So they are the new instructors" She then faced the two.

"Pleased to meet you and welcome to Garden. I must say you both are a lot younger than what I had imagined." No she wasn't expecting two gorgeous looking men in what looked to be in their early twenties.

The one with the long black spiky hair, Instructor Fair, with an all too familiar grin that reminded her of a certain martial artist spoke first.

"Really? Well, from what the co-commander said over here, you're the youngest to receive a teaching license in Garden history. You're only what, 18?" He said in a matter-of-fact kind of tone, but in a playful way.

"Did he mention that I was also the first one to have their license revoked so fast in Garden history?" She thought as she smiled while clutching her jaw.

"19 actually, and I suppose you're right about that Instructor Fair" She let her hand out to shake his hand.

"Please, were both Instructors, no need to address us like that. Just Zack will do…" He said as he took her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her hand. "Ms. Trepe"

She blushed as she took her hand back. "Please, Quistis is fine as well."

The blonde one spoke next. "The same goes for me as well. I don't want to be addressed so formally. Makes me sound old. My name is Cloud by the way." Unlike Zack, Cloud simply shook Quistis's hand.

"Again pleasure to meet you both, commander, you said that there were three new instructors?"

"The other instructor is running late, her train was delayed so she'll show up a bit later." He said to Quistis as he was looking over some papers that were scattered along his desk and not looking at her.

"Alright, who is the other instructor?"

"Her name is Ms.-"

RING RING.

"Ugh, excuse for a second. Commander Squall here…" He listened to the other person on the line for a few seconds before responding.

"Ok just give me second." He placed his hand over the phone.

"Sorry, about that, but we won't be able to wait for the other instructor. I'm kind of busy at the moment; Quistis just go ahead and show the two around, the other instructor will just have to figure it out on her own. But if you do see her, her name is". He was then cut off again and directed his attention to the person on the phone "Yes sorry about that. Uh-huh…" Squall still unable to get off the phone, gestures his hand to Quistis to leave with the two.

"I guess we should get started, please this way." She walked towards the elevator along with Zack and Cloud following behind her.

Once they were all inside Quistis pressed the button bringing them to the first floor. The ride down was quiet and filled with an awkward silence. She analyzed the two on the way down, trying to figure out just exactly who they were. She wasn't given any information on them until Squall called her in, and he basically told her, well nothing. Just that there were three new instructors that needed to become familiar with the school grounds. However, just by looking at the two and judging from experience, she could tell that they weren't from any of the Gardens. Seeds were well disciplined cadets who obeyed every command given to them by their or any superiors. When she introduced herself to Zack, instead of a firm handshake or a Seed salute, he kissed her hand, which is definitely something no Seed would do, not that she didn't mind though. Any Seed wouldn't display that sort of affection in front of their superiors. Just who exactly were these two? They weren't from Seed but she could tell that they were experienced fighters. The way they were built and the scar that Zack had on his face that was all too perfectly cut to be an accident, showed they have seen the battlefield before. The questions were killing her, she just needed to know.

"So…where are you two from if you don't mind me asking?" She said as they exited the elevator heading toward the directory.

"Us? Well, we're actually not from this side of world. We're actually from this city called Midgar. Ever heard of it?" Zack said as he looked at Quistis.

"Midgar? You mean the city that runs off the earth's energy right? Come to think of it, don't all of the continents on the eastern side run off the same energy?"

"You bet, sucks up the earth's energy just so the people can waste it on home appliances instead of letting the planet live longer." He said in a half-joking, half-serious tone.

To be honest, the continents on both sides of the world were so different. The east relied heavily on the earth's energy while the other just used the basic electricity. Before Shinra, the power company and the major ruling government, discovered mako energy, both sides were on fairly good terms. It wasn't until after the discovery of mako that divided the world so that both sides became isolated from each other. Not only was their way of living different but the way how the countries ran were different as well. Balamb along with Esthar, Trabia, and Galbadia were individual countries that were ruled separately opposed to the eastern side where Shinra dictated many but not all of the countries. The east and west were so different from each other that if a person from Balamb were to go to Midgar, it would be as though they stepped into an entirely different world.

"I see. What university did you both attend to receive your teaching license?"

Cloud spoke this time. "We actually didn't go to any university."

They all stopped in front of the directory and faced each other. Quistis looked Cloud and raised one of her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"We got it in the military. Me and my buddy Cloud here, we've in the military long enough to decide what path to take. You see, after a certain amount of years of service, our military allows the veterans to branch off into two categories. One is to further our ranks in the military like being a lieutenant or commander or something like that. The other was to take on teaching or becoming a drill sergeants." Zack said.

"Alright, but I still don't see how you were able to teach at Balamb. Shouldn't you be teaching your military?"

"Yeah about that, once Cloud and I got our teaching license we taught for a couple of months within the military. Teaching there was good but there were so many procedures and limitations on what and how to teach. There wasn't a lot of freedom"

"Oh I see, so you left in order to teach in the way you wanted right?

"Heh basically and there aren't exactly schools that had that sort of program from where we're from, that was what the military was for. So we did our research, found out about schools for young mercenaries' a.k.a Garden, sent our resumes and bam! Got ourselves a job"

"We were fortunate that Balamb was trying out a new program that allowed us to teach exactly what we specialize in."

"I'm glad you're both happy you've found something you want to do. Not many people are quite as lucky as you two."

"Yea, it's amazing that both of us were hired too, almost as though we were meant to be here" Zack said as he smiled and looked around the Garden.

"Well I guess we should get started then, Quistis if you'll lead the way."

With that, Quistis showed Cloud and Zack around the entire Garden. She first started off with the cafeteria and explained when the best times to eat were and the times to avoid crowds. They were met by many stares, mostly by giggling and whispering girls and some angry looking Trepies. From there she showed them the training room and noted that it was the only room opened after hours. After that she showed them the parking garage for Seeds and some of the vehicles that were strictly used for Seed missions. Then she directed them towards the dorms. They had passed the library but Quistis didn't feel the need to take them inside, so she simply told them where it was located.

"These are the dorms for the students who live on campus. Here is where the regular students reside. On the left are where the Seeds dorm. Their dorms are more like lofts instead of the two bedroom dorms like the regular students. On the right are the teacher's dorms. Not all the teachers live here, but for those who do; their dorms are more like small one bedroom apartments. They also have lovely balconies and a view of the Balamb. Are you two planning on living on campus?"

"Don't know haven't thought about that yet, how much is the monthly rent?" Zack responded.

"It's about 1700 a month."

"Sounds a little pricey for apartments in a school don't cha think?"

"The inside is quite nice, nothing shabby if that's what you're thinking. That and everything here is provided for you."

"Oh, that makes sense I guess."

They continued back around, passing the infirmary and the quad, back to the directory.

"Well that's basically it for this floor. The second is where all the classrooms are located and the third is where the Headmaster is. Outside is the town of Balamb where if you want to get away from the school. They recently expanded the town and added a few stores, so feel free to head there for your shopping. Other than that you should probably check back with Squall to see which classroom you're assigned too."

Cloud turned his attention to Zack. "Yea lets head back up to see if Commander Squall is finished doing whatever it was he was doing and get any other information that we need before we head back to Midgar."

Zack nodded and they began to head towards the elevator. Half-way through the steps the elevator doors opened revealing a brown haired woman that had the same striking eyes as Cloud and Zack.

"Aerith?"

Aerith looked at Zack with a very surprised expression on her face "Zack…is that you?"

Zack raced to the top of the stairs and gave Aerith a tight hug while twirling her in the air before pulling away. "It is you! What are you doing here? God I haven't seen you in forever!"

Aerith looked at him and gave him a slight smile. "Zack you haven't changed a bit. You remember how I used to sell flowers right? Well I couldn't live off of selling flowers forever, so I saved up some money and went to Midgar University to get a license in teaching and nursing"

Quistis stepped in "Ah, then you must be the other instructor Squall was talking about. I'm Quistis Trepe, an instructor here in Garden and Zack and Cloud's tour guide."

Aerith smiled at her and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Aerith Gainsborough. Squall is the co-commander right? Headmaster Cid said I should meet with him when I get here. I tried to see him but he was too busy to meet with me."

"Yes that would be our commander, always working. "

"What, you're kidding! Cloud and I are teaching too! Were teaching, wait, what are YOU teaching? Why didn't you stay in Midgar?"

"I took up courses regarding the study of materia and the usage of it. None of the schools near Midgar or anywhere else had any courses for the subject so I looked abroad and found that Balamb Garden had a new program regarding the uses of magic, so I decided to give it a shot. I spoke with the Headmaster and he was thrilled that I wanted to teach magic and the study of materia. He thought it would be good to introduce materia to the students here."

"Oh I see, you know Cloud and are going to be teaching here too! We're gonna teach these kids on how to properly use different kinds of weapons" He said proudly with both hands on his hips grinning.

"I see…well.."

"Zack?" Cloud interrupting their conversation. "We're supposed to see the commander remember?"

Quistis was getting quite frustrated. She was just about to finish with the two and drop them back to Squall and then return to her dorm. Now, she was being held back and being forced to listen to Zack and Aerith catch up with each other. Quistis stared at Aerith as she spoke to the two. She couldn't help but notice Aerith's soft and angelic features. Her voice was very gentle and very soothing as she spoke to the men. She could swear that when she saw Aerith step into the sunlight there was a halo over her head. Everything about her was so pure and holy she should have been wearing white robes instead of her slim one piece red and white dress that looked like a two piece blouse and skirt. She continued to listen to their conversation until she noticed something about Aerith. If Quistis didn't know any better, she'd say that Aerith was forcing a smile on her face, as though she were trying to conceal something. Were her eyes…watery?

Zack looked at Cloud then back to Aerith completely oblivious to Aeriths feigned happiness. "By the way this is Cloud, a friend of mine from soldier. Cloud you remember me talking about Aerith right?"

"How could I forget, he talked about you all the time"

"Did he really?"

"Yeah, he would talk about you nonstop-"

"OK that's enough of that! Hey Cloud why don't you and Quistis go back to the big boss upstairs, while I show Aerith around?"

"Zack we both need to see-"

"C'mon Cloud! Just relay anything important back to me."

"Actually, I was on my way to meet with the doctor here. Ms. Trepe, do you know where the infirmary is?"

Quistis pointed to the right side. "The infirmary is the first room going to the right."

"Thank you very much, well it was nice to you again Zack. Cloud, Ms. Trepe it was a pleasure to meet you. Maybe I'll see you around later." With that said, Aerith was making her way down the stairs with Zack close behind her.

"Aerith wait! There's so much I need to say to you, and…"

"Zack please I need to go, we'll talk later, now is not the time"

"At least let me explain-"

"Zack I really need to go..."

"Just let me explain, I tried to contact you…"

"ZACK PLEASE!" Aerith turned around and looked at Zack surprising him along with Cloud and Quistis with her abrupt outburst.

"I can't talk to you right now ok? Do you really expect me to be excited to see you after two years? Two years Zack! Two whole years I thought you were dead and gone, only to see that you're here alive! You never responded to any of my letters, you never called, nothing! I just...you can't…. it's not fair…" She steadily began to slowly back away from Zack, while shaking her head.

"Aerith…" He tried to move in closer but she stepped back.

"I'm glad to see you're ok Zack, I really am… but I can't talk to you right now… please try and understand" She gave him a look with her pained eyes that slowly began to water up before heading towards the infirmary.

"Wait, Aerith!" Zack tried to run to her, but was held back by Cloud.

"Zack let her go; she doesn't want to see you. I know it's tough but give her some time. It's like she said, you can't expect her to be ok after two years of thinking you were dead. You can see her later, right now we need to go see Squall before we go."

"But-"

"Look you're going to see her again, she's gonna be working here with us too alright? She'll see you again just give her time."

Zack's face fell a bit. "I guess…God I'm an idiot…I was just so happy to see her I wasn't thinking…"

They all went to the elevator and proceeded to Squall's office. Quistis didn't know what to say. She wanted to ask about Aerith, but decided against it. It wasn't her place to ask nor was it any of her business. She really wanted to go back to her dorm and go back to work. When they reached the top, she escorted them back to the front of Squall's office and left.

End Flashback

That day was rather awkward for her and for Cloud. She remembered seeing Cloud's face trying to get Zack to stop talking, noticing that he was upsetting Aerith. Yes, she hoped that today would go by smoothly, with no encounters like the last. Once she reached the top she headed towards Squall's office. The door was open, so she walked right in. First thing she noticed right away was that there was some sort of mutated moomba. Well at least it kind of looked like a moomba, it looked more like a cross between a lion and wolf but red and orange, with it's mane slightly brown with a tatooe of XIII and a scar on its left eye. Sitting next it, was a woman with medium length dark brown hair, wearing a black cropped pants with a blue silk blouse with a v-neck opening and black heels. Some how a normal tour around the school was something out of reach for Quistis.

"Commander?"

This time Squall wasn't so busy today, he was actually paying attention to the four in front of him. Probably was just as shocked as Quistis was right now. He diverted his attention from the, moomba like thing, and noticed Quistis.

"Right on time. Instructors please meet your fellow colleague and guide for today, Instructor Quistis Trepe. Quistis, I assume you already looked over each of the instructors files before getting here correct?"

"I have, though I wasn't quite prepared as I thought."

" There's a goddamn animal thing in the room that I could have sworn was talking"

"You must be referring to me, I assume. Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Nanaki, I am the one who will be teaching history to the human youth here."

"Alright, so it was talking, not't making it any easier on me..."

"Um nice to meet you. I'm sorry if I come off as being rude, but what are you if you don't mind me asking?"

"Quistis, that's not-"

"It's alright commander, nothing to be upset over, it's all part of the human curiosity. It's rather difficult for me to speak about myself for I too know very little about my race. You see, I am part of an extinct species that once resided over in Cosmo Canyon. I'm actually the last of my kind so there is little to be known about me.

For the first time in Quistis life, she found herself dumbstruck.

"Hah, poor girl looks more confused than a fish looking for water in its goddamn bowl! Don't worry too much there miss!

Quistis looked at the blonde 35 year old man who was smiling at her and standing with one hand in his pocket and the other on Nanaki's head.

"You must be Cid Highwind, the engineer instructor."

She could tell that he was an engineer almost immediately. He was the only one, minus Nanaki of course, who wasn't dressed up. Cid wore a navy blue jacket, with a white shirt, dark green pants, and leather gloves and boots. He also had a pair of goggles on with a pack of cigarettes underneath the strap. Really were those necessary?

"You bet cha, and don't let the fur ball here scare you. He may not look like it but he's a big old softy, wouldn't hurt a fly! Shoot, I remember the first time we met I nearly shit myself. Never seen anything like him"

"I'm sorry, it's just, I'm so astound that you can speak our language, forgive my ignorance"

"Please, there's nothing to be forgiven about. I understand that my being is rather questionable and needs further study to fully comprehend exactly what I am. I'm quite used to the many questions your race asks upon me."

"I see." Trying not to insult Nanaki any further, Quistis decided to change the subject. "In any case, welcome to Garden. How is it you two know each other?"

"Please Cid, language. It's not professional." Nanaki said to Cid regarding his profanity from a while ago before responding to Quistis.

"We went to the same academy together and took some of the same classes"

"How the hell did he even go to school?"Quistis thought.

"Hmph! Dammit Red, if I want to curse I'll fucking curse all I want. None of these kids can tell me otherwise, not even the goddamn commander can tell me that. You got a problem with it, then talk to yer Headmaster, but I'm tellin you now, it ain't gonna do you any good"

Quistis chuckled at that remark; she looked at Squall who simply just shook his head and gave Cid an irritated look. She would have to ask Squall about that later. There was something about Cid that reminded her of someone but couldn't quite put her finger on it. She then turned to the tall man in the back who she assumed was Vincent Valentine, the gun specialist. He had been quiet for a while.

"So I guess that makes you Vincent Valentine right?"

He looked at her with his dark red eyes and nodded before responding. "Indeed"

Quistis got chills from his response, and it wasn't because of his deep brooding voice either. There was something eerie about him that made her feel uncomfortable which was odd. He didn't look like it though, in fact, he was quite attractive. With his jet black hair that appeared to be stop at his jaw, but the rest was tied back, making his hair go all the way to the mid section of his back. He wore a dark blue suit that was almost black with the same colored tie and a white dress shirt underneath.

Now that all the males were out of the way, that left only the woman beside Squall. She didn't notice at first, but she looked strikingly similar to a certain brown haired sorceress. Squall seemed to notice it too as he kept looking at her.

"And then that leaves Ms. Tifa Lockheart. You'll be teaching martial arts here at Garden?" She said while walking over to her.

"Not just that, but I'll be teaching students how to rely on their entire body in battle, not just solely on their weapons or magic." She said while shaking Quistis's hand.

There wasn't much to say about Ms. Lockheart except that she didn't really look like a martial artist. She wasn't a petite woman nor was she large. She was one of those girls who were in the middle, the "just right" girls. She looked as though she would teach literature and certainly not the art of hand to hand combat. Quistis remembered reading her file and how Tifa was trained by the best martial artist known today. How fascinating, perhaps she could learn something from her.

Taking his eyes off Tifa, Squall decided so speak.

"Well now that everyone has been properly been introduced, please go ahead and begin the tour. I already gave you all your assigned classrooms so there's no need to report back. Once you're done your free to do as you please. Dismissed"

"Well shall we?"Quistis said.

They made there way to the elevator and down to the first floor. Once they were out the door they were greeted by many blank stares by some of the students. One of them being the loud rambunctious Zell Dincht.

"Oh my God..." Zell said as he stared at the group with his mout hanging open.

"Well here we go, it's now or never..." Quistis took a deep breath and made her way towards Zell at the bottom of the steps along with the rest of the group.

"Zell, I understand that your surprised but that's still-"

"YOU'RE TIFA LOCKHEART!!!"

"What?"

Tifa looked at Zell with a blank stare but then showed him a sweet smile.

"I see you heard of me"

Jackie0114: Well that was kind of longer than I expected but it was fun to write Cid with his foul mouth. You know, before writing this chapter I thought I had all the pairings down, but now I'm not so sure anymore. Please R & R! Next chapter will be the tour around the campus and more appearances from the FFVIII characters. Oh in case your wondering about Vincent's appearance, refer to Dirge of Cerberus. I didn't want to give him his usual red look, not yet. I wanted him to look more professional, I mean come on, no one would hire him with his pointy shoes and red cape! So he basically looks like when he was a turk except his hair is longer. Till then!