Chapter 5.

Shooting Stars


Two hours after the inauguration, Squall walked down to his dorm to prepare for the party. Once inside, he saw Selphie standing near his door.

"Hah! Found you!" she said. "Well, what do you think?" she asked him, showing off her new clothes. "My SeeD uniform!"

"Looks good..." thought Squall. "I can't wait to put mine on..."

"You should get changed too. We have that party to go to." Selphie told him.

Squall went into his dorm, and changed from his cadet outfit to the new SeeD uniform that had been delivered to his room.

"This is it." thought Squall. "This is what I've been waiting for..."

He put on the uniform quickly, but carefully. He looked in the mirror and adjusted the straps.

"Finally..."

He looked at his uniform proudly. Now it felt really official. Squall was a SeeD.

He was about to leave for the party, but something caught his eye. He continued staring into the mirror, tracing his finger along the red scar-tissue running across the bridge of his nose.

"I guess Dr. Kadowaki was right... This isn't gonna go away." he thought. "Dammit, Seifer..."

Squall then realized something which disturbed him.

He had given Seifer almost the exact same injury.

Squall had noticed Seifer's scar during and after the field exam, rembering that he had actually cut Seifer during their training session that morning. But he hadn't given it much thought, until now. He looked at his own scar, and saw the erie similarity.

"That's really weird..." Squall thought."It shouldn't have happened though... Seifer doesn't know when to quit..."

Him and Seifer were rivals, that Squall knew. It had even gotten pretty intense at times, landing them both in trouble with the Garden staff. But Squall never imagined that Seifer was that obsessed with the rivalry. The cut that Seifer had made on Squall's face that morning could have been fatal. Was it just to encourage the competition?

Squall shook his head and decided to just 'forget about it'. The fact that him and Seifer were now 'branded' in the same way was to weird for Squall to think about, anyway.

When he finally walked out of his dorm, dressed in his shiny SeeD uniform, Selphie was still waiting for him.

"Heeey! Lookin' good!" she said.

Squall nodded, silently, and began walking towards the door.

"Alright! Let's hit that PAAH-TAY!" Selphie yelled.

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In the Garden Ballroom, Squall was hidden from the rest of the people there. He had eaten dinner at the party, and then been leaning against the marble pillar for about half an hour. One of the waitresses noticed him, and offered him a drink. He took it, grateful to have something to keep him busy.

Garden's ballroom was used rarely, but it was by far the most stunning area in the academy. A huge glass dome overhung the dance floor, revealing the moon and countless stars in the sky above. Many people were dancing underneath the twinkling lights, having a good time. But Squall didn't notice. Instead, he stood there sulking.

"God, I'm so bored..." he thought. "Maybe I should go talk to somebody..."

Squall then heard a voice that made him change his mind about that.

"Yo!" Zell caught sight of Squall, leaned up against the pillar. He ran over to him.

"S'up Squall?!" he said, excited. "Heh-heh. I guess we're both SeeDs now, huh?" Zell rubbed his hand on his pant leg.

"Not this again..." Squall thought.

But Zell avoided the 'spitting' part, and merely offered a handshake to Squall.

"Put it there man." he said.

Squall took a sip of his drink and turned his head.

"...Leave me alone..." Squall thought, irritated.

Zell, hung his head, laughing.

"Hah! Even as a SeeD, you're still the same." he said. "Well, that's typical of you."

Zell shrugged off Squall's rudeness quickly.

"See ya!" Zell yelled as he ran off to join the rest of the party. Just as Zell started moving though, Selphie caught sight of him and stopped him in his tracks.

"Oh... Hey, Zell. Wanna join the Garden festival committee and..." she asked.

Zell liked parties, but joining the Garden Festival committee was something a lot of students avoided... like the plague.

"Sorry I... ahh... Just remembered something! Gotta go! See ya!" was Zell's hasty reply.

Selphie frowned and looked for more possible candidates.

"Hmmm..."

She scanned the room and caught sight of Squall.

"Squall! Hi!" she said, cheery as ever. She ran over to him, and wasted no time. "Wanna join the garden festival committee?" she saw his blank expresion, and tried to make the offer more appealing.

"You can help out whenever you have time."

Squall was silent.

"...Please?" she said, teary eyed.

Now that he was a SeeD, Squall reasoned, he would probably be sent on a lot of missions, not really having much time for anything else. But Selphie really wanted to make the festival happen. Besides that, she wasn't going to stop asking about it until he joined.

"Sure, you seem to be putting a lot of effort into this." Squall said. His warm tone and kind words surprised Selphie, and even himself.

Selphie's green eyes widened.

"REALLY?!" she yelled. "Whoo-Hoo!" she jumped excitedly, her hair bobbing up and down.

"...It's no big deal..." Squall thought. "... I just don't want her to keep bothering me about it..."

"I know we'll be busy with lots of SeeD stuff, but lets work hard on the Garden festival, too." Selphie said. Then she noticed a group of her friends and started to walk towards them.

"Bye!" she said, waving to Squall as she left.

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Squall stood against the marble pillar all night as the party went on around him. He eventually found himself stargazing through the ballroom's glass ceiling.

It was a clear night. So clear, that Squall felt like he could see every star in the galaxy. Even the well lit ballroom couldn't block out the twinkling light from the midnight sky.

Suddenly, a shooting star flew across the dome. Squall followed the heavenly body with his eyes, its light reflecting in his pupils.

The fallen star led his eyes to the center of the ballroom, causing him to notice a young woman gazing at the same beam of light. Squall saw her, standing alone, in the middle of the dance floor. She was looking up to the sky, at first, but then she felt his eyes on her, and turned to smile at him.

She was a teenager, about 17 years old, wearing a small, white, strapless dress. Squall gulped as he looked at her. She was stunning. Her raven hair looked soft and smooth, contrasting beautifully with her fair skin. Her dark brown eyes and petite figure gave the girl an innocent appearance, yet she seemed to have a 'knowing' air about her.

She looked right at Squall, smileing. Lifting her arm, she pointed up, acknowledging the bright object that had caused their eyes to meet. Squall twitched his head involuntarily, embarrassed that she had caught him staring.

To her, it looked like an invitation to come over.

Squall, who had never shown more than a slight interest in women, or romance in general, was stunned. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

"Wow..." he thought.

The girl walked her small figure over to him. Squall wasn't sure he felt comfortable with this, but she was coming whether he wanted her to or not.

She stood in front of him. Folding her arms, she said

"You're the best looking guy here."

She put her hands on her hips now, leaning forward.

"Dance with me?" she asked.

As pretty as she was, Squall did not want dance with anybody. He didn't even know how. He took another sip of his drink and turned his head.

Unshaken by his rudeness, she continued talking.

"Let me guess..." she teased. "You'll only dance with someone you 'like'."

Squall turned back to face her. He eyed her curiously.

"What is she talking abou...?"

His thought was interrupted by her hand, which had suddenly shot up to his face. She wiggled her fingers slightly, and gazed deep into Squall's blue eyes.

"Ok then... Look into my eyes..." she said in a playfully hypnotic voice.

She wove her hand around in front of Squall's face, pretending to put him into a trance.

"You're-going-to-like-me... You're-going-to-like-me..." she continued.

For a moment, Squall was actually dumbstruck. Usually, he would be irritated with this kind of playful behavior, but he didn't know what to think of this girl. Her 'hypnosis' actually seemed to have a strange affect on Squall.

She put her hand down, and tilted her head.

"Did it work?" she asked, still staring into his eyes.

Squall shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know what to say, except...

"...I can't dance."

The raven-haired beauty smirked.

"Even her smile is perfect..." Squall thought, surprised at how much he was admiring this girl. She was really cute, and she seemed fairly interesting.

"You'll be fine." she said. "Come on."

Suddenly, she grabbed Squall's hand and pulled him forward.

"I've been looking for someone. I can't be on the dance floor alone."

Squall dropped his drink in surprise, and unwillingly followed her as she dragged him onto the dance floor.

"What is she doing? I..." He hardly had time to think before they were already in the middle of the ballroom.

When they reached an empty spot on the floor, the girl helped Squall position himself correctly. She put his right hand on her hip, but Squall lifted it away, slightly nervous to be touching her. She repositioned it firmly. Blood rushed to Squall's face, as it turned a light shade of pink.

She didn't seem to notice his embarressment though, and placed her hand in his. The girl rested her left arm on his chest, wrapping her fingers around his shoulder.

"I'll lead until you catch on, okay?" she said.

Squall nodded, not sure why he was even going to try this.

She stepped around in a circle, slowly, as Squall clumsily tried to follow her movements.

He stumbled around a little more, and his hands slipped. The girl helped him reposition himself, and they continued.

"Okay" she said, moving a little faster. "This part's tricky..."

She pushed away from Squall, holding his hand, and pulled back to him. But he stumbled, and almost fell. He ran into the girl, just about knocking her over.

She steadied herself and giggled a little. But Squall was embarrassed. His eyes darted around nervously, and he started to walk off.

"I told her that I couldn't ..." He stopped as he felt someone grab his arm.

"No... don't leave." the girl said. "It's okay. I'm fine. Just try again."

Squall looked at her for a moment. Her eyes widened, pleading with him. She had a soft and gentle voice, which helped to reassure him.

He sighed, and decided to give it another try.

"Alright... no screw-ups this time." Squall thought. "Just adapt... Like a SeeD would in battle..."

Squall allowed her to repsition his hands and they began dancing again. The girl stepped around, matching the rhythem of the ballroom music, and Squall was starting to get the hang of it. He followed her as they moved sideways.

But they ended up bumping into another couple.

"Not again..." thought Squall, thinking he had made another mistake.

The couple looked at them indignantly. Squall darted his eyes around, embarrassed. But the girl just threw her hands down, wrinkled her nose, and stuck her tongue out at the couple, upset with them for innterupting her and Squall's dance. The couple walked away, and the girl turned to Squall. She looked deep into his eyes and smirked. Squall began to feel much better.

They began dancing again, and Squall was actually keeping step. Not only that, but he was leading.

They slide away form each other, holding hands, pulled themselves together again, and Squall spun her.

They stepped around each other, and parted. Squall spun her in his direction, placing his hand on the small of her back, and spun her out. They continued like that for the entire song, creating quite a preformance.

Finally, the music was slowing down. Just as they're hands came together at the end of the song, fireworks lit up the open sky above with a loud boom.

Squall looked up, admiring the bright lights. The young girl gazed at Squall's face, smiling.

"He's so handsome..." she thought. "...and a good dancer... or at least now he is."

She continued looking at him, her brown eyes brightened by the fireworks.

Squall finally turned his attention back to his dance partner. But she suddenly looked over Squall's shoulder, as if something had caught her attention.

"Oh!" she said. Then, looking back at Squall, she said, "I'll be right back..."

The girl clasped her hands together, apologetically, and winked at him. She walked off the dance floor quickly.

Squall was speechless.

He just stood there a moment, watching the girl as she walked away. He was disappointed, to his surprise, that she had run off, but he simply shrugged and decided to go outside on the balcony for some fresh air.

After about ten minutes or so, he heard footsteps. He half-hoped that it was the girl he had danced with.

"...I didn't even catch her name...." he thought.

"Oh well... Whatever."

He was trying not to care too much.It would make him feel too uncomfortable if he did.

"You really are an excellent student. Even that dance was perfect." he heard someone behind him say. It wasn't who he had thought. It was Quistis.

After a long pause, Squall replied.

"Thank you." he said plainly.

Quistis stood there, not speaking. Squall didn't want to insult her, but he didn't feel like talking.

"Yes?" he sighed with annoyance.

Quistis got slightly upset at his tone.

"So, you'll dance with someone you don't even know, but you can't even stand being around me?" she said, half-joking.

"That's not what I meant at all..." Squall thought, taking her seriously.

"...Whatever." he said. "You're an instructor, and I'm your student. It's kind of awkward when you don't say anything."

Quistis laughed.

"That's true. I was like that myself." she said. She paused a moment, remembering why she had come out here to talk with him in the first place.

"...Oh, I completely forgot. I wonder what's to become of me?" she said in a sad voice.

"Huh?" thought Squall. "What does she mean...?"

"I've come to give you an order." Quistis said. "You and I are to go to the 'secret area'."

"The 'secret area'...? Oh... in the training center...." Squall realized. "What for...?"

There was a hidden corner of the training center, free from monsters, where students could stay up late talking, and where couples could 'make out', without being disrupted by the Garden staff. Squall had never been there, but he'd heard of it.

"You know the place, right?" Quistis asked. "Where students go and talk after curfew."

"Yeah..." Squall said. "What do you want to do there? Are we going to tell everyone they're violating curfew? If that's the case, forget it. Leave that for the disciplinary committee."

Quistis laughed some more.

"No..." she replied. "Now go get changed and meet me by the training center. This will be my... last order."

"Last order?" Squall thought. "What doe she mean by that?"

Squall didn't know if she was serious, or if she was merely playing with him, but he complied with her request. He nodded and headed to his dorm.

"Get changed and meet at the training center... What's this all about?" he thought.


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End chap 5.

Ahh. Rinoa. So lovely....Oh sorry! What was I saying? uhh... right chap5!. ^_^()

Well, this is what it's all about, my friends. Squall and Rinoa. I was racking my brain endlessly, trying to come up with a good way to describe the dance scene. (I don't dance, usually, and I don't know any, like, dance lingo. Feel free to drop some my way if you know any.) I tried to bring out Squall a little more too. Ya know? It's not like he has no heart. Squall cares about um... stuff too! ^_^.

Actually, I'm just trying to show how Squall's so used to trying not to care and being apathetic, that it surprises him and kind of confuses him when he feels some genuine emotion. Unfortunately, it also puts him on the defense in a major way, and he gets all uncomfortable and becomes a complete ass-hole all over again. We'll see this in the next chapter when he is just straight-up mean to Quistis...

So R+R! Did it make you laugh? Did it make you cry? I tried to bring out the same aspects that touched me when I saw the Ballroom FMV for the first time, so I hope I was sucessful in that...

Well, I'll start on chap 6 later. Right now, its time for me to go do some dishes! (Oh the joy.)

Hope you guys are liking my rendition of Quistis so far too. She's so sad... but she's a damn cool charecter to write about. ^_- The next chapter is the last one with Quistis in it for a while too. So I hope you 'Trepies' out there can hold out for a while!

No one has come up with an answer to my 'Biggs and Wedge' question yet... Ch'mon people! Doesn't anyone know? Oh, and by the way... I need a name for my story. FF8 'written adaoptation', just doesn't grab you by the shwartz the way I would like my title to. If anyone had a good sugestion, post a review and include it!


P.S. Just in case you didn't read the 'P.S.S.' in the forward, the "*****"'s that I've been putting in here and there, signify a sudden or dramatic scene change or time lapse in the middle of a chapter.

(i.e. Squall leaves dorm, ends up in ballroom. A not-so-dramatic scene change would be like, 'Squall leaves classroom, only to end up in the hallway outside the classroom'. It's basically meant for me not to have to explain every single step. Kind of a crutch really... o.O)

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