Chapter two - Broken Promises

She loved her. Although she could never admit it, Quistis loved Rinoa. She would move heaven and earth for her if she thought it would help. Travelling time and being her knight apparently was not. Seeing them holding hands and talking broke her heart, for she knew it would never be her.

Garden frowned on homosexuality. Students were discouraged from all sexual relationships, but everyone knew how to get around it. But this was different, she wasn't a student to get a smack on the wrist and told to behave. Quistis was the most controversial instructor. After being reinstated, time traveling, and being Rinoa's knight, there wasn't much more she could do without risking her job. Garden was all Quistis had, her family was dead, she had no other skill, and no where to go.

By now, the tears couldn't be stopped. So many memories came flooding back while looking at the pictures. One in particular stung more than most. It was a fuzzy picture, but Quistis knew exactly what it was. They had been at a party, flirting with each other like they always did. Rinoa had been getting a slice of cake when Zell bumped into her in a rush for hotdogs, and the cake went everywhere. After offering to get a cloth, Rinoa had looked at her so wickedly.

"Why don't you just lick it off?"

As her tongue licked the cake off Rinoa's cheek, one of the guys had grabbed the camera, and in a drunken attempt to be funny, snapped. This was one of her most treasured possessions, apart from the pressed flower. There was a small tap at the door, followed by the sound of heels on tiles, which brought her snapping back to reality.

"Oh hun, you're crying! What's wrong, are the new students giving you grief? You just tell me and I'll take them all on at once!" Selphie stretched herself to her full 5'2, which made Quistis smile.

"It's just..."

"Rinoa. You don't have to say anymore. I heard through the grapevine that Squall had put Rinoa in your class. and considering you guys have such a history, I can only guess what your feeling." Selphie gave her a sympathetic hug, and looked down at the photo album. Carefully replacing the flower, she stuck it back on the shelf, grabbed the tissues, and sat Quistis down on the couch.

"I can't stop thinking about her! She's in my head all day and night, and now in my class. How can I concentrate on anything when she's sitting right in front of me, all the time and smiling like nothing has happened! Doesn't see realize how much she is hurting me?" Quistis paused.

"If I could only get her on her own, get her away from Squall, I could tell her exactly what I'm feeling... maybe she feels the same but she's being repressed... maybe..." trailing off to a whisper, she glanced at Selphie hopefully.

"Look, I've got Rinoa in my class tomorrow morning, lemme see if I can get her on her own. so I can send her over okay? Just promise me this, no more tears? You don't want to have bloodshot eyes for your 'date' right?" Selphie grinned at her the childish way she always did. It was comforting to Quistis, made her realize that not everyone thought she was "different" since she had admitted her feelings for Rinoa.

Pulling her PJ's on, she crawled into bed and hoped to have one night of sleep without her Raven-haired princess invading her dreams. Time Compression replayed in her mind, the feeling of loss, screaming Rinoa's name into the endless darkness, only to find her holding Squall's lifeless body to her chest crying. Would she have done this for me? Backing into the darkness, Quistis found herself in the field of flowers. But this time, the orphanage had crumbled into ruins, the flowers were all wilting and dying, and a storm raged over the ocean. Dropping to her knees, screaming into the storm, clawing at the ground, looking for some shred of the last time they were there, Quistis felt she was going insane.

"RINOA! WHERE ARE YOU? I'M WAITING FOR YOU. I'M HERE FOR YOU. YOU PROMISED ME. YOU PROMISED ME." Screaming into the storm did nothing but make her voice hoarse, and the tears rush faster. Out of some sort of instinct, Quistis started to run. She wasn't sure if she was running from the past, or running to something that she wasn't aware of, but instinct had taken over.

"Am I running in circles, everything looks the same.will I be stuck in this horrible dimension forever?" Something silver glinted in the faint light, illuminated by the lighting flashes. Reaching down into the dying flowers, a breeze scented with strawberries ruffled her hair. She knew immediately it was Rinoa's necklace. Pulling up the chain, a locket landed in her hand. Without opening it, she knew what it would contain. On a trip to Esther, they had stopped at an instant photo booth. One side would contain a photo of her, with Rinoa and Selphie, the other, Rinoa and Quistis looking at each other and smiling. Almost as if they were in love. they were in love, but not the love Quistis needed. Not sisterly love, she needed the feeling of being someone's entire universe. Tears ran down her cheeks as she ran her finger over the locket, as time and the storm swirled around her.

There was a brilliant flash, and it was all over. Quistis sat up in bed shaking, looking around at her familiar surroundings of her dorm.