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A/N- After a while on thinking up chapter 1, I finally came up with it and the plot. ) Please, I don't own any of the characters in this except for a very few. This Fiction is based off of Final Fantasy VIII, but I will only be using a few of the characters from that game. In total, only a few characters will be in the Fiction. -shrug- Enjoy, if your tummy can handle my mild detail.

Chapter 2 Surprise Visit

Quistis Trepe fell with a strained sigh onto her living room couch and laid her head back to look up at her very white ceiling. Her heavy blue eyes threatened to close on her as she lay in thought, wondering why exactly her life had gone so far down hill and the rest of her friend's lives had moved so far up. While Quistis was stuck in her rather small house, the rest of her friends had moved on; switching houses, getting marrying, working elsewhere, and pushing Quistis out of their memories. That's right, Quistis wasn't even more than a memory to them now.

She sat up again and grabbed the cup of coffee that was sitting on the small table that was in front of the couch, absentmindedly stirring the lukewarm fluid with the tip of her index finger. Her eyebrows twitched into a scowl as she thought of Irvine and Selphie, happily living together at Trabia. She thought of Zell, who lived across the street from her, yet never bothered to stop by to at least say a simple hi. She also thought of the pregnant Rinoa, who'd recently got married to. . . Squall.

Quistis should have been happy for Rinoa and Squall when they got married, but she was only even more mad when she heard that Rinoa was expecting a baby. Neither of the happy couple had even bothered to sent Quistis a letter announcing the news. She didn't even receive a simple phone call. But even so, Quistis refused to contact any of her 'friends' about this or anything else. Why? Because she'd tried to reunite herself with them so many times in the past and was denied. Besides, her dignity wouldn't allow any more of it.

But maybe that was Quistis's problem. Could it be she was still hopelessly clinging onto past memories, hoping to one day relive them? Even hoping that new evil would arise so she could fight along their side again? The chances were great that she wanted that, she knew. Although, even if something bad did happen, she doubted she would fight with them again. Only she, Rinoa, and Squall still worked at the Balamb Garden, and the last thing Quistis wanted was to hang around those two lovebirds until the evil was defeated. They would probably be kissing and fluttering their eyes the whole time anyway. Love is for the weak.

It's not like she ever had those feelings before. And after being rejected by Squall, she gave up trying to ever find those feelings. Such "power" was obviously not meant for Quistis.

The blond got up and rubbed her temples, trying to spare herself of the pounding vertigo that for forming in her head from standing up a bit too fast. After letting it wash past, she walked to the sink and poured the still-full cup of coffee down the drain and made her way to the bathroom for a cool shower to get the thoughts and beloved memories out of her busy mind.

The people closest to you are the people who hurt you most.

She reached the bathroom door and stopped just outside of it to pick up the bathrobe she left there earlier for the shower. She looked at the pink material in her hands, remembering the day Selphie gave it to her for a Birthday present just after they'd had their victory party for defeating the Sorceress Ultimecia. Quistis glared a little at it and slung it over her shoulder. She then rested her pale hand on the bronze doorknob of the bathroom.

And her heart stopped cold in her chest.

A few seconds after she put her skin against the knob, she snatched her hand back and yelped with fright. She blinked and stood, staring at the door for a few minutes, wondering what on Earth she just felt to make her react in such a way. After pondering this for a long time, she finally distinguished a lurking feeling in her gut that told her not to go into the bathroom. But of course, she found no logical reason of why this would be. What could possibly be in her bathroom? Nothing, was the answer to that. Maybe the coffee was kicking in now, she figured silently.

But she'd consumed no coffee.

Quistis shook the stupid feeling off and opened the door to her bathroom. Her eyes then widened as she gazed around her bathroom. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it at all. Everything was in place and as peaceful as it could've been that moment. She silently scolded herself for being such an idiot and walked into her bathroom, closing her bathroom door behind her. What had she expected to see in here anyways, an abominable bar of soap?

She hung her bathrobe up on the door handle and proceeded to undress, still snickering at herself for acting so foolishly. When she had finally removed her last undergarment, she stepped over to the shower and slid the sliding glass door. But suddenly she knew something wasn't right.

A sickening smell rose to her nose almost immediately, causing her to wrinkle it and clumsily stagger away from the shower in disgust. Quistis leaned over to the shower and quickly grabbed the handle to the sliding door and slammed it shut as to at least attempt to get rid of the smell, if not only a little. She glared and stood there taking in the foul smell which was still lingering in the air, wondering where it was coming from and why she'd never noticed it before. She could've sworn it smelt like decaying human flesh, if it wasn't blunt enough. After all, she knew that smell all too well from her adventure two years ago. But then again, her bathroom was white, spotless and bodiless. Finally she figured it was just the toilet or pipes acting up. She'd call the plumber later on so he could find out the source of such a smell. Or perhaps someone on the floor above her had died. Whatever it was, she'd let the plumber handle it.

But then it hit her.

The vents, maybe? What a wild guess' she thought, but it was worth a look, just to make sure since she'd distinguished the smell coming strongest from her ceiling. Quistis opened the sliding glass again and stepped into the shower, gazing up at the vent above her head. It was too high for her to reach. She quickly stumbled out of the shower and grabbed the stool that was in the corner of her bathroom, picking it up and setting it in the shower carefully. When she figured it was safe enough, she climbed on top of it, her heart hammering in her chest with anxiety to find out the secret smell she thought was in her vent.

Quistis rammed her fist into the loosely screwed vent metal, giving it away and causing it to fall very close past her head and slamming on her bare foot. Quistis hardly noticed the pain though, as she was too distracted by the mystery up above to feel or hear her toe crush. But when she finally looked into the vent, the rest of the pain that was in her foot stopped immediately and her whole body numbed. Everything real around her became fake as her head swirled into blurs of color and her feet gently began to slide off of the stool.

I see you.