Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII, and all that jazz. Now, let's carry on, shall we?

Save Yourself

Chapter Two

Being slapped awake by a Grat did not rank highly on Seifer's "fun-things-to-do" list.

I suppose that's what I deserve for sleeping in the freakin Training Centre, he thought. Could be worse, better than being dismembered by a T-Rexaur before breakfast. At the thought of breakfast, he wondered just how exactly he was going to get around the Garden. The fact that he wasn't a student severely limited his options…Of course, he could hide in the TC and everything would be fine and dandy, but there was those things like eating and washing that just had to get in the way.

He wondered how Quistis had reacted to her clean room and coffee. It was quite possibly the nicest gesture he had ever done…since...ever. Oh well, she deserved the break. Quistis was a literal machine when it came to school and studies, he could easily guess she had no time to clean, or have any time for herself. Shaking his head, he got up and brushed the Grat slime off his jacket. Great, he thought, this is my only jacket and now it's a lovely shade of puke green.

His thoughts switched from appearance to hunger as his stomach growled in protest.

"Hyne, shut up. I'll feed you eventually." Picking up Hyperion, he stalked out of the Training Centre, mercilessly slaying any poor Grats that happened to get in his way. But before he had even gotten past the pond area, one managed to get him with a blast of Sleeping Gas.

A Grat slapped Seifer awake 25 minutes later.

"Shit!" It was sad how his situation could be summed up in a single word.

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The concealer wasn't needed today. Quistis, for once this year, had gotten a full 8 hours of sleep, thanks to her mysterious room-cleaner Romeo. It was almost too good to be true, but when she cracked her eyes open, being temporarily blinded by the sun pouring into the room, the spotless dorm told her otherwise. What a wonderful morning.

Stretching, she threw back the covers and made a beeline for the kitchen. Sleep or no sleep, she still needed her coffee to get her through a day. While she was searching for a mug in the cupboards, she noticed a note taped to the side of the machine that she had failed to see last night. Curiosity piqued, she put down the selected mug and picked the note off the coffee maker. In the same scrawly handwriting as the poem, it read:

Y'know, you really should cut back on this stuff.

She raised an eyebrow. So the maid of mystery was also a health nut? This was getting weird, but hey, there was nothing bad about it. With a small grin of satisfaction, she rebelled against the note, pouring herself a large mug of coffee.

"Mmm-mmm-good." She said aloud, mocking the person as if they were in the kitchen right in front of her. She laughed a little at her actions, this couldn't be her. Of course, this could be fully-awake Quistis, not half asleep and caffeine-drugged Quistis for once. She smiled as she heard her alarm clock go off, and went to shut it off, happy in knowing for the first time in a long time, she had actually beaten it to 6:00.

With Save the Queen on her belt and a rare smile on her face, Quistis headed towards the cafeteria to meet up with everyone else. As she walked through the halls, she thought the halls looked brighter, and the even the few students roaming the halls looked friendlier. It was just amazing how one good night's sleep could change your perception in the wee hours of the day

"Yo, Quistis! Over here!" A black glove waved at her from a distant table in the cafeteria. It didn't take much to find the gang's table, considering it was 6:30 in the morning and most of the student body didn't get up for at least another hour. Zell, Rinoa and Irvine were seated at a far table, and she could see from here that Zell was already scarfing down hot dogs like a starved animal. It made Quistis queasy just knowing what they put in hot dogs, and the thought of eating them for breakfast made her stomach turn in protest.

"Hey guys. Where's Selphie? And Squall, although I probably don't even need to ask that." She watched as Zell ate half of a hot dog in one bite, ketchup spewing onto the plate. She hastily turned away, focusing intently on Irvine's hat.

"Selphie's in line, getting food, and I'm right here." Behind her, she was answered by a voice as cool as glass. Turning, she came face to face with Squall, his expression as emotionless as a blank canvas. He was carrying a tray with precision balance, on it were 5 cups of steaming liquid, and a bottle of juice or something. "Okay, so a medium black coffee for Irvine…Hot chocolate for Selphie, French Vanilla Cappuccino for Rinoa…" he passed out three of the drinks, putting Selphie's in front of her spot at the table (staked out with various cosmetics) and giving Rinoa a soft kiss before he placed hers down on the table.

She watched the short scene with a trace of wistfulness. She had given up on Squall long ago, and was truly happy for the two…but the thing that hurt her the most was the 'togetherness' of it. How nice it must be to have someone that you can just turn to anytime, that will hold you, and kiss you…and look into your eyes, telling you how beautiful you are…

"Quis, here's your double double." The daydream was assimilated, as Squall passed her the cup with an expression that usually accompanied 3-hour poetry readings. She accepted it gratefully, sitting down next to Zell but trying her hardest not to look at his plate. "Oh yeah Zell, here's your drink…" Squall took the bottle off the tray and slid it down the table surface. As it passed Quistis, she caught a glimpse of the label: PropagatorAde. The name was well suited to the day-glo hue of green liquid – if the name had anything to do with the monster, she assumed it also came in stunning shades of purple, red and yellow.

It was almost silent, Zell's chewing and the occasional sip from someone else interrupting the early morning serenity for brief moments. Quistis gazed around the cafeteria, settling her eyes on a nearby open window. Another early bird was out taking a walk and she followed him with her eyes. He was carrying either a cane or a sword, but he was too far away and she couldn't quite make it out. It had to be a cane, she thought, you're not allowed to have weapons outside except on missions. Attention drifting to the sky, she could barely see the sun through a veil of clouds - she could tell already that the sky wanted to rain. Pfft, she thought, not even that can ruin my good –

"You're in a good mood today, Quistis." Irvine commented. "What's up?" He put down his coffee, absently stirring it with a spoon. Selphie was playing with his ponytail beside him, but Quistis couldn't tell by Irvine's poker face whether he enjoyed it or not. She guessed he did.

"Ahh…it's nothing. I just got more sleep than usual I guess." She shrugged and drank the rest of her coffee, avoiding his, and anyone else's, eyes. The last thing she wanted to tell them was that someone had snuck into her room last night and cleaned it – they would get all the wrong ideas. Then the Trepies would catch wind of it, pounce on the rumors and they would spread faster than the plague. She ended the issue by turning to watch the trickle of students entering the cafeteria for breakfast, some yawning, stretching, some flopping down at tables, all evident that they didn't want to be up this early. "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, Zell and I have a small mission out in the Grandidi forest. Actually, it's a pain in the ass," Irvine stated. "…We have to get Malboro tentacles…" he paused as the whole table grimaced, then looked at him and Zell with pity. "So we can refine them to make Moon Curtains, and teach GF's Auto-Shell, yada yada yada…"

"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that very much." Zell had finished off his hotdogs and was sitting back, digesting. "I'll take Doomtrain, you can take Cerberus. We'll need all the status defenses we can get, ok Irv?" Irvine nodded. Zell followed up with a loud belch.

"Zell, that's disgusting." Squall commented. Rinoa and Quistis nodded in agreement. Selphie giggled, mumbling something that sounded like "Piggy."

"Heh, remember the first time we ran into a Malboro, Quistis?" Rinoa asked, halfway down the table. "You needed some tentacles for Save the Queen. What a hassle that was." Oh, Quistis remembered it all right. Being put to sleep, poisoned, going berserk and confused was not exactly a party. Ranked right up there with hangovers and stalkers. They eventually had to resort to the ol' Mug-and-Run tactic.

"Oh yes. I'm just glad I never have to fight another one unless necessary. Zell and Irvine, you have my sympathy." She peered into the bottom of her cup, now empty. "Anyway, I have to get to my classroom and prepare for today's fascinating lecture on GF ability items. If you guys have any plans for tonight, just drop by after classes, ok?" she put a slight emphasis on "after" and directed it towards Selphie.

Selphie was oblivious, as usual. "Awesome! How does another shopping trip sound?" Rinoa perked up at the words.

Normally, Quistis would have responded with a comment like "I would rather play with an electric fence" but resisted the urge and smiled slightly instead. "Sure, whatever you want." She laughed inwardly at the look of utter shock on everyone's faces. What a Kodak moment. She turned her back to them, and walked away, before collapsing in the hallway, tears of laughter running down her face.

It was at least a minute before anyone at the table unfroze their faces to speak again. In unison, they all stared at each other, each asking the same question. Zell voiced it aloud.

"The hell is up with her? That couldn't have been the Quistis I know!" Squall nodded thoughtfully in agreement. Rinoa and Selphie, however, were on a different train of thought.

"I bet she's in love!"

"Who's the guy? Do you know anything? Oooh this is so exciting!"

Irvine, Squall and Zell looked at each other helplessly, trying their best to stay sane in such a position as this. The girls were having a giggling fit, trying to guess who Quistis' 'mystery lover' was, if she had one. Irvine coughed, trying to think of a way to regain their manliness.

"So yeah, I was thinking about buying a new car…"

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He checked his watch. He knew, from old times sake, that her classes started promptly at 8:00. You could be 20 minutes late, a minute late, or even a step from the door – but if you were late, you were late – and you wouldn't get into her classroom without an extremely good excuse. A good excuse was either a) a note from a teacher or administrator, or b) a limb or two was falling off. Seifer missed a lot of class time this way, she caught all of his forged notes every time. She was one talented woman. Almost too talented...

He had picked a good time to go visit her room. It was 7:45 when he went outside for a short walk, but he came inside early at the first sight of rain – the last thing he needed was his only set of clothes getting soaked, because then he would have to spend another hour in that hateful Training Centre drying off. He noted with satisfaction that there were very few students roaming the halls, and all that remained were a few SeeDs and the odd teachers. Trying not to draw attention to himself, he headed to the dorms, acting as if he was a student and he did this sort of thing everyday. Hyperion was hidden under his coat, slung over his back as he walked, acting completely casual. He had to admit, he was getting pretty good at the nonchalant act.

"Ah, here we are. Q.Trepe." he doubted the door would be open again, but jiggled the handle out of his own curiosity. To his shock, it opened once more. Grinning, he pocketed his lock picking tools, thankful he didn't have to use them. He knew that just by looking at the lock, Quistis could tell if it had been picked, and even the tool used to pick it. She was scary like that sometimes.

He closed the door, and leaned back against it. The room was just as he left it, except he noticed her peach suit draped over a chair. For reasons, unknown to him, he picked them up and held them close to his body. They smelled of violets and cool summer nights...exactly the way he remembered. This is probably the closest you'll ever get to her, he thought scornfully. He put it back on the chair, checking his watch as he did so. 8:20…he still had over an hour and half left.

He fell back onto her bed, bouncing once but landing softly. Turning over on his side, he wondered what it would be like if she were in here with him, and he was holding her. If he could whisper things in her ear, and she would giggle, and bring her lips forward for a kiss…He shook his head. He wasn't worth even a shred of her love. She was Quistis Trepe, for Hyne's sake. Instead of further chastising himself, he allowed his mind to drift off to more childhood memories.

She was picking flowers – violets. And he was laughing at her, asking her to come play tag instead. She stuck out her tongue at him, and threw a fistful of grass in his face. He remembered tackling her into the grass, not hard enough to hurt her, just enough to knock her down. They started rolling, and there was a hill nearby, so they ended up rolling down that hill, grass and flowers flying this way and that. They landed in a patch of long grass, and he had made sure that he was on the bottom so she wouldn't get hurt. They had separated, laughing, but Quistis' laughter quickly turned to sobs. Her violets, which she had not let go of, were crushed into a withered stem and a few petals.

The tears in her eyes had been too much for little Seifer. Telling her to stay where she was, he ran up the hill until he found a patch of violets. He could hear Zell jeering at him from the distant beach, but he ignored it and picked a few of the purple flowers. He had run back down the hill, tripping once and landing on his face, but still managing to keep the flowers intact, a determined expression plastered on his face. His thoughts played back like a movie, as his younger self gave her the flowers, telling her not to cry, because he was there and he didn't like to see her sad. She had smiled at him…and kissed him on the cheek.

Seifer touched his cheek in some sort of idiotic gesture, almost as if he could feel her soft lips there again. Hyne dammit, this couldn't be Seifer Almasy! I'm supposed to be tough, a fighter, not hung up on childhood memories and women I could never have even if I wanted to! Hyne…If having feelings for Quistis Trepe makes me weak, then I guess I'll just have to accept it. Even so, she probably despises me. She probably doesn't remember any of those childhood days, all the time we spent together, courtesy of those damn GF's. All she remembers is the days in the war, where I slaughtered soldiers, killed innocent people and my life wasn't in my control.

"HYNE! Why does it have to be this way?" he pounded the wall next to him, wincing as he saw the crack it left. Lovely. First he scours her house clean, the next day he's putting his fist through the walls. He was a freakin' walking contradiction. In desperation, he grabbed a pillow from the end of her bed and attempted to position it over the crack. No luck.

"Um…ok, don't panic here…" This was pathetic, he had looked death in the eye hundreds of times, looked down a blade, looked down the barrel of a gun, looked a sorceress in the eye and sneered….and here he was, freaking out over a hole.

"Maybe she won't notice it. Yeah, that's it." He attempted to reassure himself by piling the rest of the pillows over the hole. Mission complete, altough done hella badly.

"Now…time to do what I really came here for." He opened his jacket, putting Hyperion to the side and withdrawing a single wild violet from the sleeve. He had picked it up on his morning walk outside, never knowing that they grew wild outside the Fire Cavern – he was thankful, though, it saved him a trip back to Balamb and its streets that he once resided in. Shoving the thoughts aside, he searched her dorm for a vase (or something remotely close to one), finally settling on one of Quistis' many, many coffee mugs. He filled it with water, and placed the violet in the mug, finally placing the whole thing on her desk, next to the ever-present laptop. He scanned the desk for more paper and a pen, while thinking what kind of note to leave this time

He bent over the paper, brow furrowing in thought as ideas came and went. I guess I should leave a hint as to who I am, he thought. Then again, there was that whole deal with the hole in the wall, maybe it would be safer to remain anonymous. I'd like to live a little longer if possible…Finally, he settled on one idea that had been playing in his mind the last few minutes. Glancing at his watch - 9:56, Hyne, just 4 minutes left! – he furiously scribbled a quick note down, placed it beside the violet, grabbed his coat and Hyperion and got the hell out of there.

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"Okay, okay Selphie. We'll go to the mall. Just let me get changed, ok?" Quistis, having let down her guard that morning, was no match for Selphie and her enthusiasm. The conversation after classes had been mainly one-sided, she was sure that she had only gotten about 3 words in the whole thing – respectively 'what', 'why' and 'but'. The rest was drowned out, and now she found herself about to go on a shopping spree with Selphie and Rinoa, along with going to the spa. To top off the torture, she was also being dragged into 'getting her hair done', which to Quistis brought forth memories of curling and flatiron burns.

Once entering her dorm, she noticed two differences. One, there was a bunch of pillows stacked up against the wall, for some reason, and the other was a…

"A violet?" she approached it carefully, eying it warily, not sure if she was imagining the flower or not. Reaching out cautious fingers, she stroked the petals, soft as silk. How did he know…that my favorite flowers were violets? I thought I never told anyone that… Her GF-strained memory fluttered, as she tried to recall who might have known such a thing – although there was the chance that it was a total fluke and they had guessed.

Don't cry, I'm here…and I don't like to see you sad…

The memory was fleeting, and Quistis barely had time to acknowledge the words in her mind. They seemed so familiar, but she couldn't quite place who had said them or when…

"Hey, Quistis, what's taking you so long?" Selphie's voice snapped her out of her daydream. Replacing the violet in its impromptu vase, she picked up the slip of paper and read it slowly and carefully.

When I look to the sky

Something tells me you're here with me

And you make everything alright

When I feel like I'm lost

Something tells me you're here with me

And I can always find my way when you are here…

Quistis was silent, as she read the words over and over again. There were pictures in her head, but they were all blurred, she couldn't make them out and it frustrated her beyond belief. She sat down, still holding the paper, the words boring themselves into her mind.

"QUISTIS!" Selphie yelled, obviously miffed. "What's taking so long?"

"I'll be there in a minute, just hold on!" she shouted back. Putting down the paper, determined not to let her mind dwell on it for another minute. She quickly changed into a comfortable dark red t-shirt and dark blue jeans. She wasn't usually an accessory person, but put her favorite silver chain and bracelet on. "One more thing before I go, can you wait just one more minute Sel?"

"I suppose, hurry it up though, we're keeping Rinoa waiting!" Quistis walked over to her bed, and investigated the whole pillow issue. Selphie looked in the doorway out of curiosity when she heard Quistis erupt in an anguished cry.

"WHO DID THIS TO MY WALL!"

"..." Selphie stared at the hole. Then, in less thanthree seconds, she had recovered (after all, wasn't her wall) and was looking at Quistis' outfit. "Oh no, that'll never do. Let me and Rinoa get you something suitable."

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So yeah, Chapter 2 up. Not my best writing, but I'm a bit stressed out with exams and stuff, so I might edit it up a bit later. Anyway, I send my regards and thanks out to Jean-Chan, Matron Raenee, Lain of the Weird, Angel-Kinneas4 and Yuyami no Okami.

Being an artist on the side, I might decide to illustrate this story in the near future feel free to support this motion, as my current work ethic is opposed to it.

Oh, yes, one more thing. The "Double Double" that Quistis ordered is sort of a Canadian term. It's a Tim Horton's order for coffee with two cream and two sugar. There's a useless fact of the day, woo.

Juusan Ikkiuchi