A/N:
This is in honor of one of the most neglected couples in Final Fantasy 8. Selphie x Laguna.

Disclaimer:
I do not own FF8. Squaresoft does, the lucky devils. I'm just borrowing it for awhile.

-Time's Illusion...Chapter One-

Selphie never gave any thought to when in time she was. She had always believed that you could only exist in your own time. Nothing could change that; time travel is impossible. At least, that's what she /did/ believe...until the battle with sorceress Adel. Until Time Compression.

Yes, she had helped defeat the sorceress, but even with Adel out of the way, even with Ultimecia long gone, in Time Compression she still had a monster to fight, without an inch of control over herself. No weapons to fight with, except for the one thing that can never be taken away if you fight with all your heart and soul. Your mind. The belief in who and what you are. That alone is the one tool that can be used against such a monster. And so Selphie knew she must concentrate all her strength into focusing on the one thing that her mind could hold onto in order to bring her back to her rightful time.

Selphie had helped to defeat countless evils, but she was not prepared to face this challenge. She had the knowledge to bring herself home, but getting that knowledge to work for her proved incredibly difficult. Selphie was falling, and she could see her dearest friends falling all around her...beside her...below her...above her...

(Think, Selphie! Concentrate on something! The Garden Festival is coming up soon...)

That reminded her...

Suddenly, Selphie began to notice that her surroundings were changing, flashing with different hues. Red, yellow, blue. She realized with a start then that she was all alone. Her friends had gone, and the endless sky around her was turning color at a frightening speed. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue...Black.

Laguna Loire was a bright young man with a great future in front of him, if only he could learn to smile a little more. Like he did once, long ago, when he was a different man. Before his beloved Raine had died.

He wasn't welcome anywhere near Raine's old town. Not that it mattered anymore. The only thing left for him there was /her/ memory. The sound of her voice, especially in the morning, her smile, the way she opened her eyes so wide when something surprised her. He didn't need a town to remember all that. All the little, miraculous things about her were permanently in Laguna's mind, and nothing could make him forget.

No, nothing was waiting for him in that town but the cruel stares from the people who blamed him for her death. His beautiful Raine, who he wouldn't hurt for the world. Yet, he knows why they would look at him with such hate in their eyes, because he agrees with them. That it was his fault; she died because of him. She would still be alive if he had never met her. Hell, she'd still be alive if he had just walked away that night. Just turned around and kept on going. But why lie to himself? Even if he would've known then what he knows now, he still wouldn't have done a damn thing different. He had loved Raine with all his heart, and to not have had that time with her is unthinkable.

He has a sort of new "family" now in Kiros and Ward, and even in the many people of Esthar, though it's certainly not one that could ever replace Raine. Only one that somewhat takes away the dull ache he carries in his heart. Still, amidst everything, Laguna Loire is lonely. He loves being the president of Esthar, and he loves his people, but he can't stop feeling that without Raine there is something missing from his life.

Laguna was lost in thought as he strolled the streets of Esthar, examining his life. But he was rudely awakened by the soft yet still audible sound of a groan coming from the rose bushes to his right.

She groaned out loud without opening her eyes. Everything hurt. Her legs and arms were covered in bruises, and her head felt like it was filled with sharp, pointed rocks, screaming in protest everytime she tried to move.

Slowly she creaked open one eye, quickly shutting it again as intense, white light blinded her.

"Ahhuurrgg!" Pain. She was blissfully unaware of her surroundings as she drifted back into the welcomed darkness.

Laguna stopped full in his tracks as he heard another groan, louder and filled with more pain than the one before. He took a hesitant step towards the rosebush, softly calling out.

"Umm...hello? Is anyone there?"

When nothing answered, he wondered if whatever had been there was gone.

"Well..." he mumbled to himself, starting forward again.

"Ahhuurrgg,"

Laguna stopped once more, slowly inching towards the sound.

She awoke again, being brought back to the pain of consciousness as a voice cut though the darkness of her mind.

"Oh, my..."

Opening her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a young man looking down at her. She closed them then immediately and laid completely still, wishing the man away.

Laguna gently parted the rose vines, peering though the thick branches.

"Oh, my..." he breathed, seeing a young girl...no...a young woman lying in the middle of the slightly level part of the bush. At his words she had slowly opened her eyes, only to shut them once again and go still as she caught his eye. All Laguna got from that was the slight glimpse of breath-taking green.

She waited a long stretch of time, finally realizing that the young man wasn't going to move, not towards her nor away. Opening her eyes again then in defeat, she could only stare up at the young man above her.

Black, metallic hair, shimmering past his shoulders. Eyes not quite blue nor green, but a mixture of the two, trading off sparks of one or the other, fighting for control.

(Whoa, get a hold of yourself. They're just a pair of eyes. Granted, a beautiful, most unusual pair of eyes...)

She was shaken from her thoughts as the young man spoke, reassuring her in a gentle, soothing voice.

"Miss, are you okay? What happened to you? What's your name? Did someone hurt you? Please, miss, can you speak?"

(Geeze, this guy talks alot)

Her head couldn't take much more, so she moaned out in protest. "Please, sir..." she rasped out though a dry throat. "One question at a time. My head..." With that she grasped her aching temples between her tiny hands, moaning more painfully.

At the sound of the girls pleading voice, Laguna quieted a bit. "I'm sorry, Miss. How about...can you stand?"

"I think so. Will you help me?" she whispered, vainly trying to stand on her own.

"Oh, of course." Laguna said quickly, rushing to help her.

"Thank you," she said, once they had cleared the rose bush.

"No problem, Miss. May I ask how you came to be in that bush?" He looked over at the roses with a puzzled face, waiting for her answer.

She looked up at him, her green eyes slightly unfocused as she tried to remember. "I can't say. I don't remember," she replied, started to sway weakly. She suddenly fell to one side, feeling dizziness overwhelm her.

Laguna reached out a steady hand, catching her before she could fall altogether, and lead her over to a park bench to sit down.

"Thank you again, sir. I..."

Laguna suddenly sprung up, interrupting her. "We haven't been properly introduced, now have we? I'm Laguna Loire." he beamed, taking her hand gently to shake it. He waited a few moments then for her to reply. When she didn't, he spoke quietly. "You don't have to tell me your name if you don't want to. I understand." he explained, looking down at her. The hurt in his eyes from her silence, however, was clear.

"No, Mr. Loire. Please don't think me rude. It's just that..." she trailed off, looking up at him with large, moist eyes.

"Don't cry now," Laguna said softly, still holding her delicate hand. "What's just that? You can tell me."

She bit her bottom lip in frustration. "I don't know."

"Come on now, you can trust me," Laguna smiled in sympathy.

"No, you don't understand," she whimpered. "I don't know. I don't know what my name is. I don't know how I came to be in that bush. I don't know!" her voice rang out higher as she confessed this, tears running freely down her face.

Laguna was truly shocked. (She doesn't know who she is...?)

"Please, Miss, don't cry. It's going to be okay..."

"How can you say that?" she cut in. "It's not going to be okay. How can it if I don't know anything about myself? I don't know where I am...I don't even know who I am!"