AN: I'm baaaacccckkkk! Lol, sorry, I've been having a lot of trouble with writing this story, the plot is formed, but not on a chapter-to-chapter basis, so it's kinda choppy. I've written a bunch of other fics during my time away from here, so please, check them out and REVIEW!!!
Lying on her back, Quistis stared up at the ceiling above her bed. She heard a soft murmur from Miranda, who was lying beside her in bed, and Quistis smiled softly.
'She's finally opened up to me, maybe things'll go easier on her from now on, now that I can bear some of her burdens for her...'
Quistis felt bad, she really did. She had never known that Miranda was hurting so much, and to have her reach out and try to get Quistis to understand and be rejected, that must've hurt. It must've hurt even more knowing that while she completely understood Quistis' pain, Quistis understood none of hers. As much as she wanted to shy away from the truth and just hide, Quistis could do nothing like that. Miranda needed her, and Quistis would be there, no matter what. Unconsciously, Quistis tightened her grip around Miranda's waist. She would be there, just like she was there right now. Miranda could always depend on her. Always.
x x x
With a gasp, Quistis woke up.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"She's awake Doctor!"
"Quick, give her some of this!"
A blurry shape appeared in front of Quistis' seemingly malfunctioning eyes, and she could vaguely make out the shape to be a syringe before everything went black. All she could hear were the fading voices of the people working on her.
"She's out! We're losing her!"
"We won't lose her unless I say so! Give her some more!"
x x x
"Quisty? Quisty?"
Someone was shaking her. Only lightly, but it still managed to make her head hurt as the voice boomed and reverberated.
"Selphie, stop shaking her, she has to wake up slowly on her own."
Quistis' eyes slowly opened, blurry and unfocused.
"Wh-"
"She's awake! Quisty!"
"Selphie, calm down! Irvine, do something!"
Quistis' eyes focused in time to see the tall figure of Irvine dragging a flailing Selphie away. The pair was replaced by the worried face of Rinoa.
"Quistis? Quisty, can you hear me?"
Coughing, Quistis struggled to say that she could, but there seemed to be something stuck in her throat. She feebly lifted a hand, which felt like a thousand pounds, and pointed to her throat.
"Here, how 'bout some water?"
Rinoa motioned for Squall to pour a cup of water, which he promptly handed to Rinoa after he'd finished, and Rinoa held it up to Quistis' chapped lips.
"Take it nice and slow Quisty."
Little by little, the water trickled down Quistis' throat, refreshing and easing the pain from intense parchedness.
"Can you speak now?" Rinoa asked as she placed the cup down on the bedside table.
"Yes." was all Quistis managed to croak.
Rinoa smiled slightly, and found herself on the floor.
"QUISTY!"
"Selphie?" Quistis choked out hoarsely while coughing.
Quistis found herself enveloped in the little ball of hyperness' bear hug, and smiled as she struggled to lift her overly-heavy arms and place them around Selphie's petit form.
"Oh, we were so worried!! We heard that you'd carried this girl into the infirmary and they found you lying unconscious on the floor and they couldn't do anything and you've been asleep for days now and I'm so happy that you woke up and it was so scary I wanted to cry but I didn't because I'm a big girl now and-"
"Whoa, Selph, give the girl some space!"
Irvine pried Selphie from Quistis and tipped his hat to her when he'd finally set down the protesting Selphie.
"It's good to see you up and about. Well, at least awake, anyway."
Quistis smiled. She was amidst her friends again. The smile, however, faded away when something at the back of her mind nudged her. She was missing something. Something had happened before, when she'd been down under, when she'd been unconscious. Something had happened that had made her extremely happy. That something wasn't there right now.
"Quisty, is something wrong?"
Her frown increased and her eyebrows furrowed as she tried desperately to figure out just what that something was. Her mind seemed to be defying her. The answer flitted just out of her reach.
"Quisty?"
Squall put a restraining hand on Rinoa's shoulder to stop her from nudging Quistis. When Rinoa turned and frowned at him, he shook his head.
"She's got something on her mind she needs to figure out. Let her be."
Rinoa sighed and nodded, knowing that Squall would probably know best.
"Come on guys, let's go." Squall called out, waving his hand and beckoning for everyone to follow him out the door.
"But-"
"But-"
"No. Selphie, Zell, she needs to figure something out, let's go."
Sighing, the two of them followed Squall and the others out, leaving Quistis to stare into space, trying desperately to wave away the fog and see just what her mind was trying to make her forget.
x x x
"Squall?"
"Yes, Rinoa?"
"What do you think's wrong with Quisty?"
Squall walked on in silence, giving a soft squeeze to Rinoa's hand.
"Squall?"
He sighed.
"I don't know Rin. There's just something in her eyes that tells me she's trying to figure something out."
Rinoa remained silent, trying to think things over.
"Rin, d'you remember how she used to toss and turn and mumble things in her coma?"
"Yeah..."
"Something was happening, at least in her mind. That something must have been important. Maybe she's trying to remember."
Squall suddenly stopped and turned to face Rinoa in the middle of the hallway.
"She's lost Rin. We need to help her."
Rinoa, who had stopped to face her boyfriend, barely managed to stay on her feet. Completely blown away from the sudden declaration from Squall, all she could do was gape silently like a fish.
"Rinoa, we have to help her. Will you promise me you will?"
"Squall?"
"Rinoa, promise me."
"Okay, okay, I promise, but Squall, what's going on?"
Squall sighed and turned away, taking a step forward. Rinoa tugged on his hand. He stopped.
"Quistis is... alone... We have each other Rin, Selphie has Irvine, Zell has his library girl. Quistis has no-one. She's upset. I don't know how, but maybe that's part of the reason why Quistis is how she is now. She needs to figure herself out. We need to help her. She's been alone too long. She's been like me for too long."
"Squall..."
"Rin, she doesn't have anyone like you. She doesn't have anyone."
"She has us!"
"Does she?"
Rinoa didn't say anything for a long time.
x x x
"Squall's so mean!! Why won't he let us stay with Quisty?! She just woke up, she needs us!"
"Selphie, calm down. People are staring."
And Irvine was right. Left and right, people turned from their conversations to watch as the tall cowboy and his petite girlfriend walked past, listening to Selphie's screams of indignation.
"But-!" Selphie started, but stopped when Irvine put a large hand onto her shoulder.
"Squall's not being mean, he's being smart."
"Oh yeah, and leaving Quisty all alone is soooo smart."
"It is."
Selphie growled in frustration, unable to grasp just what Irvine meant.
"She's got something she needs to figure out."
"Oh, really. And how would you and Mr. Brick Wall know that?"
"Her eyes."
"Her eyes."
"Yeah, her eyes."
"What about her eyes?!"
"Her eyes show how confused she is. Didn't you see?"
Selphie paused in her ranting, exhaling deeply. After a long while, she answered Irvine.
"I did."
"So you understand, then?"
"No. I don't get how Squall could have chosen to let Quistis be by herself when she's trying to find something. We should be there to help her."
Irvine had seen Selphie serious only a handful of times, and he smiled a soft smile to himself in seeing her serious again this time. Selphie was the kind to find fun and happiness in every situation, no matter how depressing. It gave her the aura of being frivolous and childish, but in reality, Selphie was far from that. She was a grown woman, with the sense to be happy all the time.
"I know what you're thinking Selph, I understand, but you have to understand too," Irvine hung an arm around Selphie's thin shoulders, "Quistis just isn't ready for us to butt in and help her just yet. She's trying to figure things out herself, how could she explain just what she's missing to us when even she doesn't know it?"
Selphie sighed.
"I know."
Irvine nodded and brightened slightly at Selphie's sudden wide grin.
"But don't worry. This is Quisty we're talking about. She'll figure it out. If she doesn't, we're all doomed."
"You know," Irvine started, a lazy drawl to his voice, "I could always have a one on one session with her. A handsome guy always clears up whatever's fogging up a girl's mind."
"Irvine!"
Irvine cried out in surprise as Selphie's spindly elbow dug into his sides.
x x x
Zell sat in the cafeteria, stuffing hot dog after hot dog into his already full mouth, yet not really paying any attention.
"Zell?"
It took him several seconds to realize that someone had called him.
"Yef?"
Several chunks of unchewed hot dog flew out of his mouth, and his girlfriend ducked in time to miss having them splatter onto her face.
"Sowwie."
Zell swallowed.
"What is it?"
"That's what I want to ask you. You've been out of it ever since you got back from the infirmary. Did something happen to your friend?"
"Instructor? She's okay. She woke up."
"Then why are you still sad?"
Zell chuckled bitterly.
"Something wrong with her. Not health-wise, she's perfectly fine. She's awake. It's just... There's something else..."
"Something else?"
"Yeah. It's like... It's like she's confused. She doesn't know what's going on."
"Oh... Is she okay then?"
"I dunno. Squall won't let us stay with her, says she needs time alone. I dunno what's going on."
Zell shrugged, unsure.
"I guess maybe I'll just have to trust Squall and hope Instructor'll figure things out. I dunno."
He picked up another hot dog and stuffed it into his mouth, feeling relieved that he had told someone what was brewing inside him, and that he had his girlfriend. Noticing the soft touch of her hand on his shoulder, he sighed internally. At least, if he was in a situation like Quistis', he'd have his girlfriend.
x x x
Quistis stared out into space, still unable to remember just what was missing, and developing an angry headache. Her head throbbed everytime she got remotely near something that would clue her in, and with each thump, the answer flitted further and further away from her reach.
There were bits and pieces she could remember. Like the feel of black hair underneath her fingertips. And a voice saying her name. The feeling of elation that she had when she heard that voice. But those were just bits and pieces. They could have been from the memories that the GF's had wiped out, and they were just coming back now that Quistis was searching her mind so hard.
It was something important, she knew that. The question remained, however, just what was that important thing?