Disclaimer: I like stuff. Like this disclaimer stuff. Isn't it fun to say in so many ways that I don't own Squaresoft's concepts (particularly for the game of Final Fantasy VIII)?

Alternate Fantasy

By Draic

Chapter Fifteen: Preparation

"Wake up, Squall!" the voice was calling. "Come - oh." Quistis' voice trailed off as I opened the door to her, fully dressed in my uniform and ready to go. I couldn't help but laugh.

"You look so shocked," I said, pretending to be hurt.

She flushed and toyed with her hair to hide her embarrassment. "It's just that… you know…"

"It's okay, Quistis; I do realise that I'm not quite as much of a morning person as you are," I teased, stepping into the corridor and closing the door behind me.

She laughed and slugged me softly in the arm; we both knew exactly how much of an understatement my words had been.

It had been a regular habit for me to either turn up late for homeroom or not turn up at all - the reason being, I preferred the comfort of my own bed to the harshness of the homeroom chairs, the flickering monitors, and Instructor Foset's voice. It had gotten me in trouble on many an occasion, but I never managed to shake the habit on my own. Then Quistis decided to intervene.

Quistis had sworn once that she would do everything in her power to make sure I would never sleep in again. Of course, I'd been horrified at the thought, but her early efforts had proven fairly futile: various forms of alarms were, of course, slept through after a week; sending me to bed earlier only meant I got to stay in bed longer; and when we'd shifted my bed so the sun would hit me in the face when it rose, I would wake - late - with the curtains closed. Quistis was probably right to suspect my own hands on the last count, even though I can say with all truthfulness that I have no memory of ever doing such a thing. A couple of months after we started going out, she gave up the indirect methods and came to wake me herself every morning. It had worked so well that she'd been waking me almost every morning for months now. I guess we'd both taken the arrangement for granted.

"So how in Hyne's name did you manage to get up without me?" Quistis asked mockingly as we walked down the hall. "It couldn't have been anything short of a T-Rexaur rampage, surely? Perhaps a meteor crashed through your roof? Lunar Cry?"

"Oh, much worse," I replied.

She smiled. "I'm almost afraid to ask."

"Boredom."

Her nose crinkled. "What?"

"Boredom," I repeated, giving a playful tug on her nearest hair-ribbon. "I mean, so far this week all you've been doing is calling me awake. Where's the excitement in that? I remember when you used to use a bucket of water, or a spare Blizzard spell. Now that would really get my day off to a flying start."

I watched her shaking her head and pretending to ignore me, and sighed dramatically. "I just don't feel like you're even trying anymore, so why should I?"

It was true - well, to an extent. I'd slept badly and woken far too early. For whatever reason, I couldn't get back to sleep, and had become so sick of turning back and forth that I'd actually been glad to get up when the sun rose. Cause of the morning's miracle: Boredom.

"Let me get this straight," Quistis began, "You're saying that you're going to wake up of your own accord from now on, just so you don't have to suffer the cliché of me yelling at you until you wake up?"

I grinned. "I'm afraid your voice will never be as startling as a Blizzard spell, my siren."

"Hmph." She replied. I wasn't at all sure I'd pulled off the compliment, but a slim hand soon found it's way into mine and gave it a small squeeze. "If only getting you out of bed at a reasonable hour was as easy as that," Quistis continued, ignoring the one traitorous hand.

I was pleased to see her so spirited, especially after the strange gloomy cloud she'd been under yesterday.

"I'm glad you turned up, anyway," I told her. "I'd be in a fair bit of trouble if I slept through the Field Exam as well as the written one." When she didn't respond, I added. "Though, come to think of it, I could still fit in at least another hour or-"

She whirled to face me. "Oh no, you don't! It's the first day in a year or so that you've actually been up early enough to have breakfast with me and I am not missing this opportunity even if you fall asleep in your gravy again!"

I laughed at her and leaned in to close my lips on hers. Under my eyes, the skin of her cheek began to turn pink, but she didn't pull away. I remembered a time when she wouldn't even touch me in public, nor let me touch her. We'd been working on that.

In the end, I was the one to pull away; some instinct in the back of my mind told me it was the right thing to do. She looked up at me with those blue eyes and I smiled to reassure her. I leaned towards her once more and murmured into her ear, "I like it when you're like this."

She smiled. "I know."

We stood like that for a few moments more, then I said, "So, shall we go for that breakfast you wanted so badly?"

She chuckled. "Is food all you ever think about?" she chided. "When you're not sleeping, you're eating!"

"Best way to live," I responded with a grin.

We moved slowly apart and continued toward the cafeteria. Only our fingers remained intertwined.

It was over the remains of a plate of mashed potatoes that Quistis spoke.

"Squall, do you ever wonder what it would be like if… if things were different?"

I looked up at her, surprised. The last thing we'd talked about had been the horrible taste of the Cafeteria's latest specialty.

"You mean if Kadowaki actually picked the Bite Bug out of the hot dogs?" I asked around a mouthful of egg.

She smiled briefly and looked down at her plate. She hadn't told me to swallow before I spoke. She hadn't even wrinkled her nose at me. Something was up.

"It'd be easier for you to get me out of bed, for a start," I continued, watching as her left hand crept up to a tuft of hair and began tugging softly, "but I know that isn't really what you meant." I put down my knife and fork. "So what's wrong?"

"Say that you…" she said, then hesitated. "Say that your parents turned up. What would you do?"

"Have you heard from your parents?" I asked instantly. Quistis quickly shook her head, and looked at me expectantly.

I considered the question. "Well… I guess I'd want to get to know them," I replied, still confused at the topic.

"What if they turned out to be really nice people?" she pressed, urgency rising in her voice. "If they said they wanted you to go to live with them, instead of here. Would you go?"

"Would I leave Garden?" I asked.

She nodded.

I could feel my forehead crinkling as I pondered the scenario; I rubbed at it absently in an attempt to smooth it out. Eventually I answered, "I honestly can't say for sure. I… don't think I could. There's too much of my life here… All I know is here in Garden. To be a SeeD is the goal that I've been aiming for all these years. To just give that up… I don't think I could do that."

Quistis nodded, and looked down at her plate. I moved my hand to rest on hers.

"But more than that," I continued, waiting until I'd caught her eyes once more, "everyone I've ever known or cared about is here. How could I just leave Garden and forget about them? I wouldn't do it… I'd never leave you behind."

A small smile emerged from her troubled face, and her left hand finally let go of her hair; I felt I'd said the right thing. I smiled back at her, and slowly let my hand move back to me. Leaving her still staring off into space with that same slight smile, I returned to my food; I 'd be thankful for it during the Exam.

A few moments later, Quistis' watch beeped; she gazed at it absently, as if wondering why it was there. I glanced at my own watch: It was time for homeroom.

"Those not participating in the Field Exam and those who failed yesterday's written test are to remain here in study hall," Instructor Foset informed us. "Field exam participants, we will be announcing the team assignments at 0900 hours. Use what time you have to prepare yourselves, as we'll be leaving directly afterwards. Are there any questions?"

"Can you tell us where the Exam is?" a cadet behind me asked.

The Instructor shook her head. "All relevant information will be given to you during transit. Is that all?"

No-one spoke. "Alright, then. Dismissed!"

I leaned back in my chair and released my breath; this was it. In less than half an hour I'd be leaving on a speeder to Hyne-knows-where, to do Hyne-knows-what, so I could finally become a SeeD.

A hand slapped down on my shoulder; I looked up to see Seifer. "You coming or not?" he asked, amused.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just thinking."

"Well, with only half an hour to prepare, you'd better start 'just thinking' while you move. I'll see you around," he said, and moved on.

Quistis was waiting for me outside. "So, did Seifer give you any great pearls of wisdom?" she asked as we walked to the elevator.

"Nah," I replied. "Just pointed out the timer ticking down above my head."

We joined the small group piling into the elevator, and the guy next to me pressed the button for first floor.

Ding!

Almost instantly, Quistis and I broke up into laughter.

I dressed in the crisp, pressed uniform of a SeeD cadet, wondering if this would be the last time I had to wear this tracksuit-like outfit.

My vision blurred momentarily, and a voice in my head said, What the… oh… you're still here. …Taking your exam? Good luck, I guess. Have you checked your pocket yet?

I should have been more surprised at the other guy addressing me directly this time, but I was more interested in his words. My pocket? I reached for my casual pants and checked both the pockets, pulling out a few gil, a napkin, and a stick of gum.

He'd probably meant the napkin, as I didn't recall putting it in my pocket. I idly popped the gum into my mouth as I unwrapped the crumpled paper.

'Yes. 23rd August.'

Theories of who this guy was sped around my mind, while any thoughts of preparation fled. He had the same name and birthday as me, and he was the same age as me, down to the current month. He was the same person as me, living at the same time as me, and yet his reality was very different from my own. So… why were we hearing eachother's voices; seeing into eachother's. lives?

Alternate realities, I thought, having read the term somewhere before. I should go look it up on the Garden database and see what turned up.

Ding! "All SeeD candidates, report to the main hall. Repeat, all SeeD candidates, report to the main hall."

I swore as I remembered how important my own life was at the moment. I stuffed my feet into my boots, grabbed my spear from where I'd left it propped up against the wall, and sprinted out of the dorms, my untied laces clicking madly against the floor.

By the time I arrived, the Instructor in charge was already calling out the assigned teams. I just had to hope that he hadn't mentioned my name already. I looked around; there were more people here than I expected, and no one was paying any attention to me, so I ducked down to tie up my shoelaces.

"Junai Escalda!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Squad A, under Instructor Xu," he informed the girl. "Heslyn Guan!"

"Here, sir!"

"Squad F, under Instructor Kana."

There's a Squad F this year? That's unusual, I mused as I started on the other boot.

"Irvine Kinneas!"

"Sir!"

"Squad B, under Instructor Segal. Squall Leonhart!"

I stood up rather abruptly, having barely finished my laces. "Here, sir!" I called as I popped up.

The Instructor must have noticed my sudden appearance, because he fixed me with a disapproving stare as he said, "Squad B; Instructor Segal." I had barely time to realise I'd been put into Irvine's team when he shouted, "Quistis Miranh!"

"Here, sir!" I heard her call. I don't suppose there'd be any chance of…

"Squad D," he returned, "under Instructor Foset." Damn.

I made my way to Instructor Kiros by way of Quistis. "In case I don't see you until after," I said, giving her a quick squeeze, "get out there and break a leg!"

She returned the hug a little awkwardly so as not to impale herself on my spear. "You too," she replied, "Just let it be Irvine's leg you break, and not your own."

I laughed with her, gripped her shoulder one last time, and left.

Irvine was already waiting with the Instructor. "There you are, Squall," Kiros said as I approached. "You have everything ready, I presume?" I answered in the affirmative and he nodded. "Good. Then we're just waiting on-"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," a voice interrupted.

Irvine pushed off the wall with the shade of a smirk: our third member was Selphie.

As the four of us headed off for the Parking Garage, Instructor Segal introduced the small brunette as our Squad Leader. Selphie blinked in surprise and I was pretty sure Irvine missed a step, but no-one made any comment. Actually, I was rather surprised at Irvine's silence - continued through the entire trip to Balamb Town. After everything he'd done to purposely stir us up, it was unsettling to have him in the same cramped vehicle as both myself and Selphie, yet acting so indifferent to us both. Perhaps it was the Instructor's presence that forced him to bite his tongue. Whatever it was, he'd been so quiet during the whole trip that I was actually startled when, on the Garden speeder, he returned the greeting of our Mission Commander. From the way Selphie eyed him as we resumed our seats, it seemed she'd been taken off-guard as well.

Our M.C., who'd introduced herself as 'Xu', was a short woman with straight, dark hair that framed a rather pretty face. However, as she spoke, I was surprised to discover the authority inherent in her voice.

She forged eye contact with each of us in turn before beginning her briefing, her gaze resting on our Squad Leader.

"Our client," she informed us, "is Trabia Garden."