Disclaimer: Listen, I'm a sixteen year old girl. How many chances do you
think I have of owning FF8? Exactly: NONE. I don't own it so you can't sue
me, good on me eh?
Author's note: what I forgot to mention in the prologue was that this story is going to be packed with out of character stuff. Probably none of the characters will have the personality they have in the game, because I can't give them that personality. Either because it doesn't fit the story, or because I'm just a crappy writer. Anyway: OUT OF CHARACTER STUFF. Okay, back to the story.
~ Chapter one: Back at the orphanage ~
She sighed. As she opened her eyes she stared at the ceiling. Another day, another 24 hours to waste. Next to her ear the radio started playing, signalling it was seven a.m. She moaned and got up. She opened the taps of her shower and let the water fall down upon her. Softly she started singing the song that was playing on the radio. A sudden knock on her door broke her trance.
"Quis, are you up?"
Quickly she closed the taps, wrapped a towel around herself and ran to the door. As she opened the door she saw a blond man in front of her.
Zell blushed when he saw she was only wearing a towel. Her hair was dripping wet and the water caused a wet patch to apear on the carpet.
"Yes Zell? What is it?" she asked him.
"I - er - I wanted to know if you were up. Remember what day it is?"
She shook her head. As far as she could remember it was just a normal day. A day where she would have to teach, eat and go to sleep. That was her normal schedual anyway.
Zell shook his head in disbelief. "We're goning to visit Matron! At the orphanage. Remember? We're gonna help renovate the place, get it up to scratch. So orphans can come live there again next year."
Now she remembered. She, Squall, Zell, Irvine, Selphie and Seifer were going to do some paintwork and stuff, so that the place would be safe for children to live in. Rinoa, not having been part of the orphanage gang, would stay at home.
Quistis thanked Zell for reminding her and closed the door. Quickly she put on her clothes, fashioned her hair into her usual style and went out to meet the others.
Seifer, as usual, was leaning against the wall a bit away from the others. He still didn't quite feel at home. Mostly he missed Rajin and Fujin, but things were okay at Garden.
Quistis saw him, standing alone, and somehow she felt sorry for him. But that soon changed when he sneered: "Is there something on my face Trepe?"
She looked away and hid her blush. 'Why can't he call me Quistis?' she wondered. She chose to leave Seifer alone and walked over to Squall.
"Looking forward to today?" she asked him. He merely nodded.
She understood his silence. 'It must be difficult for him to go back, without Sis. He misses her so much.' She gave him a hug and left him on his own.
"Let's go people! We've got a lot of work ahead of us!" said Selphie, who was practically jumping up and down with excitment.
They all laughed and started walking to the door.
"Listen guys. I don't know how you want to get there fast, but I've secured us all a nice seat on an airship. So we'll get there quick and comfortable." Seifer said.
"Hey! Good idea mate!" Irvine said happily.
But Seifer looked at him with a hint of disgust on his face. "I am not your...'mate'." He said icily, before walking ahead of them.
"He should lose the attitude, it's not one of his best traits." Zell commented quietly.
Quistis shook her head; "Let's just follow him okay? He may be a pompous git, but he still got us a ride, right?"
* * *
After a bumpy ride (with Selphie piloting the Ragnarok as usual) they arrived at the orphanage. Matron was already waiting for them and smiled at the sight of them.
"Thank you all so much. You dont know how much this means to me...and to the children. I am very thankful."
She cast a look around. "Isn't Rinoa here dear?" she asked Squall. "I had been looking forward to talking to her for a little while...oh well. You'd better het started. I won't keep you any longer." She pointed them to the tools and the paint and retreated to the beach.
Squall and Zell both grabbed a hammer and went to fix the windows. Selphie pulled Irvine outside to fix the fence, which left Quistis and Seifer to do the painting. Quistis got herself a brush and started spreading the soft green paint all over the wall. Seifer grunted and started at the other end of the wall. They worked in silence. She didn't like the silence much.
"So...You seemed a little...pensieve this morning." She said, in a desperate attempt to start a conversation.
Seifer glared at her. "It's none of your business who or what I think about Trepe. You just get off my case, got it?"
Quistis rolled her eyes. "Sheesh Seifer. I just tried to get a conversation going, this silence is driving me crazy. There's no need to bite my head off just for that. And would you stop calling me Trepe? My name is Quistis. If you need to call me anything then Quistis is my name. You got THAT?"
Seifer smirked at her outbreak. He moved to the window to get some more paint. As he passed her their shoulders bumped into each other and a strange, inexplicable feeling flashed through her. She felt...she couldn't explain what she felt, so she quickly dismissed the feeling and continued her work.
Seifer was staring out the window. A silvery glint in the distance had caught his eye and, eventhough he knew it wasn't her, he still couldn't help thinking about her. His girl, his sweetheart, his fiancée...gone. And after all this time, she still hadn't returned. Oh how Seifer wished the saying 'out of sight, out of heart' was true.
'Damn it!' he banged his fist against the latch as a picture of him and her together on a boat came back to him. He had loved her, given her the ring and now, now that she was gone, it felt as if he had lost his heart. But somehow, something inside him said nothing could be less true.
'Damn you Fu, how could you do this to me?' he hit his head against th latch and groaned.
"SEIFER!" a voice behind him made him stop.
"Fu-?" he whispered inaudibly, as he turned around.
But Fujin wasn't there. Quistis, however, WAS there. She was glaring at him.
"Seifer! What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to fix this house, not break it down. Look at the floor! You're dripping paint all over the floor! And I suppose I'll be the one to clear it up? Well?" she demanded.
Seifer sighed, ran his hand through his blond hair and shrugged.
"Well someone has to do it, and it's not gonna be me Tre- Quistis." he turned around and left the room, leaving a terribly aggrivated Quistis behind.
"Who does that pompous jerk think he is? A prince? Don't make me laugh. Aaargh! And now I've got to clean up his mess too." She said furiously to an empty room.
Just as she had begun cleaning up Matron turned her head around the door.
"Quistis dear, are you coming outside? I've made us all lunch."
Quistis smiled and put down her stuff. She followed Matron to the beach where all the others were sitting on a blanket.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing the prologue of this story. Three reviews in less than a week is really a lot for one of my stories. Anyway, thank you:
Verdanii
Hope
CelestialStarLight
I hope you liked this chapter as much as you did the first one!
~Raven55
Author's note: what I forgot to mention in the prologue was that this story is going to be packed with out of character stuff. Probably none of the characters will have the personality they have in the game, because I can't give them that personality. Either because it doesn't fit the story, or because I'm just a crappy writer. Anyway: OUT OF CHARACTER STUFF. Okay, back to the story.
~ Chapter one: Back at the orphanage ~
She sighed. As she opened her eyes she stared at the ceiling. Another day, another 24 hours to waste. Next to her ear the radio started playing, signalling it was seven a.m. She moaned and got up. She opened the taps of her shower and let the water fall down upon her. Softly she started singing the song that was playing on the radio. A sudden knock on her door broke her trance.
"Quis, are you up?"
Quickly she closed the taps, wrapped a towel around herself and ran to the door. As she opened the door she saw a blond man in front of her.
Zell blushed when he saw she was only wearing a towel. Her hair was dripping wet and the water caused a wet patch to apear on the carpet.
"Yes Zell? What is it?" she asked him.
"I - er - I wanted to know if you were up. Remember what day it is?"
She shook her head. As far as she could remember it was just a normal day. A day where she would have to teach, eat and go to sleep. That was her normal schedual anyway.
Zell shook his head in disbelief. "We're goning to visit Matron! At the orphanage. Remember? We're gonna help renovate the place, get it up to scratch. So orphans can come live there again next year."
Now she remembered. She, Squall, Zell, Irvine, Selphie and Seifer were going to do some paintwork and stuff, so that the place would be safe for children to live in. Rinoa, not having been part of the orphanage gang, would stay at home.
Quistis thanked Zell for reminding her and closed the door. Quickly she put on her clothes, fashioned her hair into her usual style and went out to meet the others.
Seifer, as usual, was leaning against the wall a bit away from the others. He still didn't quite feel at home. Mostly he missed Rajin and Fujin, but things were okay at Garden.
Quistis saw him, standing alone, and somehow she felt sorry for him. But that soon changed when he sneered: "Is there something on my face Trepe?"
She looked away and hid her blush. 'Why can't he call me Quistis?' she wondered. She chose to leave Seifer alone and walked over to Squall.
"Looking forward to today?" she asked him. He merely nodded.
She understood his silence. 'It must be difficult for him to go back, without Sis. He misses her so much.' She gave him a hug and left him on his own.
"Let's go people! We've got a lot of work ahead of us!" said Selphie, who was practically jumping up and down with excitment.
They all laughed and started walking to the door.
"Listen guys. I don't know how you want to get there fast, but I've secured us all a nice seat on an airship. So we'll get there quick and comfortable." Seifer said.
"Hey! Good idea mate!" Irvine said happily.
But Seifer looked at him with a hint of disgust on his face. "I am not your...'mate'." He said icily, before walking ahead of them.
"He should lose the attitude, it's not one of his best traits." Zell commented quietly.
Quistis shook her head; "Let's just follow him okay? He may be a pompous git, but he still got us a ride, right?"
* * *
After a bumpy ride (with Selphie piloting the Ragnarok as usual) they arrived at the orphanage. Matron was already waiting for them and smiled at the sight of them.
"Thank you all so much. You dont know how much this means to me...and to the children. I am very thankful."
She cast a look around. "Isn't Rinoa here dear?" she asked Squall. "I had been looking forward to talking to her for a little while...oh well. You'd better het started. I won't keep you any longer." She pointed them to the tools and the paint and retreated to the beach.
Squall and Zell both grabbed a hammer and went to fix the windows. Selphie pulled Irvine outside to fix the fence, which left Quistis and Seifer to do the painting. Quistis got herself a brush and started spreading the soft green paint all over the wall. Seifer grunted and started at the other end of the wall. They worked in silence. She didn't like the silence much.
"So...You seemed a little...pensieve this morning." She said, in a desperate attempt to start a conversation.
Seifer glared at her. "It's none of your business who or what I think about Trepe. You just get off my case, got it?"
Quistis rolled her eyes. "Sheesh Seifer. I just tried to get a conversation going, this silence is driving me crazy. There's no need to bite my head off just for that. And would you stop calling me Trepe? My name is Quistis. If you need to call me anything then Quistis is my name. You got THAT?"
Seifer smirked at her outbreak. He moved to the window to get some more paint. As he passed her their shoulders bumped into each other and a strange, inexplicable feeling flashed through her. She felt...she couldn't explain what she felt, so she quickly dismissed the feeling and continued her work.
Seifer was staring out the window. A silvery glint in the distance had caught his eye and, eventhough he knew it wasn't her, he still couldn't help thinking about her. His girl, his sweetheart, his fiancée...gone. And after all this time, she still hadn't returned. Oh how Seifer wished the saying 'out of sight, out of heart' was true.
'Damn it!' he banged his fist against the latch as a picture of him and her together on a boat came back to him. He had loved her, given her the ring and now, now that she was gone, it felt as if he had lost his heart. But somehow, something inside him said nothing could be less true.
'Damn you Fu, how could you do this to me?' he hit his head against th latch and groaned.
"SEIFER!" a voice behind him made him stop.
"Fu-?" he whispered inaudibly, as he turned around.
But Fujin wasn't there. Quistis, however, WAS there. She was glaring at him.
"Seifer! What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to fix this house, not break it down. Look at the floor! You're dripping paint all over the floor! And I suppose I'll be the one to clear it up? Well?" she demanded.
Seifer sighed, ran his hand through his blond hair and shrugged.
"Well someone has to do it, and it's not gonna be me Tre- Quistis." he turned around and left the room, leaving a terribly aggrivated Quistis behind.
"Who does that pompous jerk think he is? A prince? Don't make me laugh. Aaargh! And now I've got to clean up his mess too." She said furiously to an empty room.
Just as she had begun cleaning up Matron turned her head around the door.
"Quistis dear, are you coming outside? I've made us all lunch."
Quistis smiled and put down her stuff. She followed Matron to the beach where all the others were sitting on a blanket.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing the prologue of this story. Three reviews in less than a week is really a lot for one of my stories. Anyway, thank you:
Verdanii
Hope
CelestialStarLight
I hope you liked this chapter as much as you did the first one!
~Raven55