Chapter 2: Sorrowful Intoxication

*Hallway in Balamb*

Rinoa ran down the hall as fast as she could to Annie's room with Squall right in tow. Something was wrong. She just knew it. A little voice in her head told her Annie wasn't all right. She had never noticed how long it took to get to Annie's dorm until now. "Just a little bit further! I hope she's okay!" Rinoa yelled back at Squall. They finally reached the end of the corridor....and Annie's room. Rinoa slowly turned the door handle and felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She opened the door as far as it would go and turned and buried her face her face into Squall's chest. She looked up at him and saw a single tear fall down his cheek. "We have to get her to the infirmary. She might not be...." Squall couldn't bring himself to say the word dead. He crawled across the bed to Annalyse's body. He picked her up and carried her out of the room. "Wait, Squall. We can't let Seifer see her. Something in my head tells me he'll take this too bad. She... she wouldn't want him to do anything bad. We can take the secret passage." Rinoa conjured a stretcher to lay Annie on. "I just hope she's ok." Rinoa noticed the large gash on the side of Annie's face and then looked away quickly. This was not how she wanted to see her friend.

*Training center*

"SEIFER!!!" Seifer heard a command-like scream and then his least favorite instructor came running up to him. He turned to walk in the other direction, but Quistis grabbed him by the arm. "You are supposed to be studying! You WILL pass your exams," Quistis ordered. Seifer saluted the instructor and then headed off in the direction of the library. He got almost to the library until he decided to see if Annie was still packing her things. He got to his dorm first. He opened the door and saw that there was no one there. He decided to go to Annie's room to check on her. He just hoped to Hyne that she didn't have that much stuff. Seifer walked calmly down the hallway to Annie's dorm. He opened the door slowly so it wouldn't squeak. He wanted to surprise her. "Oh my Hyne..." he said slowly as he saw the blood on Annie's walls and bed. He had to find her. He ran down the hallway screaming her name. She's all right. This is all just a dream. I'll wake up in the morning with her in my arms. He ran into the cafeteria to see if she was in there. He didn't see her. Then it hit him. The infirmary. Duh Seifer! He ran as fast as he could to the infirmary. He reached it just as Kadowaki slid the curtain back to reveal Annie lying there with no sign of life. He ran through the door and straight into Squall. "Seifer?!?" At the mention of Seifer's name Rinoa looked up at Squall and Seifer who seemed to be in a glaring competition. "Seifer...." Rinoa said hesitantly. "What happened!" Seifer said hurriedly. "Adriana. Don't ask how I know that. She's bad. I'm not going to sugar-coat it for you Seifer. Kadowaki doesn't think she'll make it," Rinoa said solemnly. "I'll kill Adriana for this." "We're working on locating her now, Seifer," Squall said quietly. "Good," Seifer said without taking his eyes away from Annalyse's face. He loved her so much. She was his first, his first kiss......the first person he'd ever loved. And if she died, there would be no reason for him to live. He walked slowly out of the infirmary and slowly down to Irvine's room. "Where's your liquor?" he asked as soon as he walked in the door. "I'm fine Seifer, and you? Oh," Irvine noticed that Seifer was crying. No one had ever seen Seifer cry. He knew it had to have been bad. "What is it? What's the matter?" "Annie," was all that Seifer said. "Did she break up with you? Did she cheat on you? What man! Come on! You gotta give me something." "No, I don't. But I'd appreciate it if you'd give me something. Please Irvine. Just give me the whiskey. "All right man," Irvine said as he crossed the room to his mini-fridge. "Here you go. Just don't drink it all, ok." "No promises," Seifer said coldly and walked out of the dorm.

*Observation deck. 1 hour later*

"You'll always be, the one in my heart, the one I adore, the one I live for," Seifer sang, very inebriated. "Seifer!" someone called from the door to the observation deck. "No, not Seifer anymore. Seifer was happy. He had the world's best girlfriend and actually liked to be around people. I just wanna be alone. Drunk and alone." "Come on Seifer. Lets get you back inside," Squall said as he tried to hoist Seifer onto his feet. It had started to rain and Squall didn't like the rain. "She's not dead. She's still your girlfriend. Stop talking as if she's already dead," Squall said. He was getting very pissed. "I'm goin' to bed," Seifer said as he stumbled through the door. "No you're not! At least not until I get you back to your dorm," Squall said as he struggled to keep Seifer on his feet. He finally got Seifer back to his dorm and was surprised to see Quistis already waiting outside his dorm. "I am going to kick your ass Mr. Almasy! Hyne! What happened to you?" Quistis asked as it finally dawned on her how drunk Seifer was. "Annalyse is in a coma," Squall replied for Seifer. "I need you to stay her and watch him and make sure he doesn't do something stupid," he ordered the instructor. "I've got to go kill me the bitch that tried to kill my friend."