Chapter 6.

A Lot To Think About


Squall came out of the dorms dressed in his fur collared jacket and leather gloves again.

He passed the entrance to the parking lot where a Garden staff member was keeping guard. Though the party was still in progress, it was after curfew and the Garden staff were blocking the entrance to every major portion of Garden, except for the dorms, and the training center.

Squall made his way to the training area, still wondering what Quistis wanted.

He saw her standing against the wall in the training center's hallway. She was dressed in her causual clothes.

"Squall, I was just wondering..." she said. "Have you fought the T-rexaur in the training center?"

"...I'm not sure." he replied.

"Is this why she brought me down? For a midnight training session?" he thought. But Quistis was simply making conversation.

"Come'on, let's go to the 'secret area'. It's just inside." she said.

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The training center was a dangerous area. With monsters roaming freely about the center, it was required to have a partner when entering the grounds. Though most of the monsters weren't strong enough to be much of a threat, there was a few that posed quite a challenge to some students.

Quistis rarely had to worry when entering the training center, though. As a student, she had devoted a large part of her studies to monsters, and the type of magic they used. Most monsters could, without the aide of GF's, manipulate energy. A process called 'Blue magic'.

Though few people took the time, Quistis had learned how to use 'Blue-magic'. She was one of the few living people who had learned the ability to use the same type of magic as monsters. She was able to cast certain types of magic without the aide of a GF.

Becoming a 'Blue-mage' had gone a long way in helping Quistis achive SeeD rank. Though actually using the skill took a great amount of concentration, and even dire circumstances at times, Quistis' knowledge of the skill, and of monsters in general, had been a great help to her in becoming the skilled fighter that she was.

At the very back of the training center was the so-called 'Secret area'. Squall and Quistis entered, trying to ignore the couples cuddling.

The 'secret area' was an inner balcony overlooking the inside grouds of Garden. It was quite an interesting spot.

"I haven't been here for a while." Quistis said, nostalgically. She use to come here when she was a student, staying up late talking with Xu. Quistis walked over to the balcony, Squall followed her.

They could see all of Garden's inside from here. The large decorative ring around the headmaster's office could be seen shining brightly.

"What time is it?" Quistis asked.

Squall looked at her strangely. What was going on with her?

"It's after midnight." he said after a long pause.

"Oh well." Quistis sighed. Something was troubling her deeply. She looked as if she was going to cry, but she pulled herself together.

"What's wrong with her? ...Something going to happen at midnight?" Squall thought. "...Whatever. I wished she'd hurry up."

After an even longer pause, Quistis made an announcement.

"I, Quistis Trepe, am no longer an instructor as of now!" she said loudly. The annoucment surprised Squall, but he couldn't understand why she was telling him.

"I'm a member of SeeD now, just like you. Who knows, maybe we'll end up working together."

She sounded hopeful.

Squall just looked at her.

"Oh... really?" he said with disinterest.

"Is that all your going to say?" Quistis asked. She tried to make it sound as if she was joking, but she was hurt, and it showed.

"If that's how it was decided, you have to abide by it." Squall said pointedly.

Quistis nodded her head, and bit her lip, holding back tears.

"She's not going to cry... is she?" Squall thought. "I hope not. What does she expect me to do?!"

"They told me that I failed as an instructor. Basically, that I lacked leadership qualities." Quistis said. "I was a SeeD by the age of 15, got my instructors license at 17..." she continued. "It's only been a year since I got it..."

Squall turned his head away so Quistis wouldn't see him roll his eyes.

"What is she expecting me to do? To say?" he thought. "This is her business, not mine."

"I wonder where I went wrong... I did my best..."

She stopped, noticing that Squall had turned away.

"Are you listening?" she asked angrily.

"Are you done yet...?" Squall retorted.

Quistis couldn't respond. She was shocked by Squall's coldness.

"I don't want to talk about this..." he said. "What am I supposed to say about other peoples problems?"

Quistis knew Squall was anti-social, but she never imagined him to be this cold-hearted.

"I'm not asking you to say anything." she pleaded. "I just want you to... listen."

Squall was getting really uncomfortable now. Why was she confiding her feelings in him?

"Then go talk to a wall." he replied.

More confused than hurt now, Quistis asked Squall,

"Aren't there times when you want to share your feelings with someone?"

"...No. Never." he thought..

"Everyone has to take care of themselves." he said, looking away. He walked off. "I don't want to carry anyone's burden."

Quistis just looked at him with astonishment. She simply couldn't understand him.

"How can he be so callous? Is he like this with everyone he meets?" she thought. "Or just me...?"

Quistis had hoped to have more of a positive effect on Squall, but he was even colder than she'd thought him to be.

"...No leadership qualities... Failed instructor... Perhaps they're right..." she said to herself.

She decided to head back out of the training center with Squall. As the two walked along, an uncomfortable silence filled the air.

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After about five minutes of walking through the area, Squall and Quistis heard a scream echo through the training center..

"Somebody help!" a young girl's voice yelled.

Quistis ran toward the sound.

"Come'on Squall!" she called.

As they ran over to the corner of the Training center from which the scream had come, they saw her. A young woman in blue, with a green sash around her arms, being attacked by a giant, flying, Granaldo. One of the huge 'insect' type monsters residing in the training center.

"Squall! ...Quisty?!" the girl said with joy in her voice. She seemed to know them, but neither Squall or Quistis recognized her.

It didn't matter though. She was in danger. Squall drew his gunblade and attacked the monster. Quistis whipped her chain whip at it, cutting deep into its hide.

The beast was strong though. Quistis thought that they might be able to defeat it with just their weapons, but she didn't want to take any chances. She focused, and cast a 'Blue magic' spell she had learned called 'Laser eyes'. Two blue laser beams shot forth from Quistis pupils.

The monster was jolted severly by the beaming energy, and then Squall killed it before it had the chance to attack anymore.

The girl in blue fell down with exhaustion and shock. Two strange men dressed in white jumped from the trees in the training center.

"...She's the girl I saw in the infirmary this morning..." Squall realized. He looked at the three people before him. Two uniformed men, and this strange girl. Who were they?

"It is not safe here." one of the men said. "Please, let's go."

They helped the girl to her feet.

"Alright." she replied.

She whispered, 'Thank you', to Squall and Quistis as the men led her away.

"Who was that?" Quistis said after a long pause.

Neither of them had an answer.

"Was it really the same girl...?" Squall thought. "Of course. It had to be. She looked exactly the same... Who is she?"

"Let's keep moving." Quistis interupted Squall's thoughts. "If there are monsters that big out right now, I don't want to be caught alone."

Squall agreed, and they made their way out of the training center together.

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Out in the hallway, Quistis stopped Squall before he went to his dorm.

"Squall. It's not like everyone can get by on their own, you know?" she said, referring to Squall's cold-hearted attitude. She walked off without allowing Squall to respond.

"That battle back there should have been enough proof of that..." Quistis thought as she walked away.

"...Says who?" Squall told himself.

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Squall walked to the dorms. It was far past midnight, and he was getting tired.

"I'm not gonna get any sleep..." he thought.

In the hall, he saw Zell.

"Finally! There you are!" Zell cried out. "Where the hell were you? I was lookin' all over the place."

Squall didn't answer him, so Zell continued.

"So, like, we're both members of SeeD, right? Well, guess what!" he said, excited. "We got our own rooms baby!"

Most students in Garden had to share a dorm with another student. But there were a few single room dorms that were reserved for SeeD members.

"Your new room's right across the hall from your old one." Zell said. "That's what the headmaster wanted me to tell you. Man, it took me forever!"

Squall didn't really care about having his own room. He was dead tired, and he hadn't rested all day. Now it was almost morning, and he just wanted to sleep.

"Hope I can..." he thought. A lot had happened today. Squall had been almost severly injured, nearly killed by an enormous robot and a couple of monsters, became a SeeD, and even learned to dance. It was a lot to take in.

But Squall slept soundly all night.


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End chap 6.

Another short one for you impatient readers! But lots of questions are raised here.

Who are these strange women Squall keeps meeting? Is Quistis REALLY in love with Squall? Or does she just want to be his friend? And why is Squall such a jack-ass? (If you ask me, I think he had a rotten childhood...oh wait. He actually did.) It's mind boggling I tell you, mind boggleing.

Thank you on the reviews. It appears I have more people reading this now. Which is great. Don't be afraid to post more than one review! Or really long reviews either! If you have a lot to say about this story, please say it. (I know I've given some writers HUGE reviews, which I hope hasn't irratated them too much, but I wouldn't mind an enormous review every once and a while, so have at it!)

You know, since I have begun posting this story, I have become aware of several authors writing similar stories ('Novelizations' of FF8) and I felt a little dissapointed. (I found out this, and also that someone on fanfiction has my same user name... only prefaced with a 'the'. This was not a good day... O.O) But, I still have tried, and will continue, to make as objective of a review as I can of those stories. 'Team-senshi', I very much apriciate your review (and future reviews, I hope.) of my story. Keep up the good work. (Except... dudes, slow down... You're already to the 'Forest Owls', and you're only on chapter 7!... My 'Forest Owl' chapter is No. 9! ^_^() You're beating me!

(Oh, and again to 'Team-senshi', your story was right. Seifer didn't have a scar until him and Squall fought. It's really hard to tell since the movie fades out right at that part. But If you'll notice, I went through my story and edited that part(s). It's not a big deal, and it doesn't effect any major storyline points, but this is an adaptation, not an AU or anything, so I want to be A.T.A.P. (As True As Possible.) to EVERYTHING in FF8. So if anyone is compileing this whole thing into one file, you might want to re-copy and re-place every chapter that is up. If this chapter is online, then updated versions of the 'Intro' through 'chapter 5' is up, too.)


Next up! Chapter 7. "There and back again", a hobbits ...uh ...I mean...Squall's holiday... I mean...mission. ( Good chapter titles are HARD! So, when all else fails, I just name them after the area that they take place. Tricky, huh? *Kicks self in pants for revieling secret*)

Seriously though, chapter 7 is a special one. I was thinking that it should be merged with chapter eight, but it'll be more dramatic as two seperate chapters. You'll see why...

Chapter 7: First Mission


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