1Squall gazed at the ceiling. The plain. Gray. Ceiling. They painted his room grey because it reflected his emotions. On the back of the door though was a little smiley face. Selphie drew it with a crayon when she'd seen him smile on the balcony before kissing Rinoa.

Selphie...

She changed. Hell everyone changed after the whole Time Compression event. Even Seifer...sort of. Rinoa was less childish. Irvine, more intense. Everyone believed he was more intense because he really was recognized as part of the group. The SeeD's mostly know him as the guy who failed to shoot Edea in her sorceress form. Zell...actually Zell didn't change, but why would you want him to? He was good enough the way he was. Quistis started loosening up. Now they could look at her and think of her as just an Instructor at Balamb Garden who helped saved the world. But as a friend.

Selphie...

Her name ran through his head, like the words she said. The Selphie he used to know would have gotten lost right after the first sentence. She either had ADD or just too much Coffee and Energy Drinks. Or just maybe she always understood and just didn't want pay attention to things that made her feel upset. Maybe she was just like him. Hid her feelings of hurt from everyone, yet covered it up with optimistic things instead of sulking around, glaring the shit out of everyone.

Squall was about to shut his eyes when there was a tap on the door along with a voice.

"Message for Commander Leonhart," The voice said.

Squall grouned and sat up. He dragged himself to the door and opened it.

A short boy, probably about 4"6 held an envelope out to him. A small white one that you press and seal. He took it from the kids hand then asked, "Is that all?"

The boy shook his head in a yes motion and skipped off. His light up sneakers flashing all around the shoe. Squall felt a laugh coming up, yet suppressed it. He looked down at the envelope to see who it was from.

Addressed to: Squall Leonhart

From: Laguna Loire

Laguna? Squall thought. What the hell does he want?

:Quad:

Rinoa and Selphie sat on the stage of where the Garden Festivals were held. They had just finished their hotdogs and now were watching the ocean go by as the garden sailed.

"Beautiful..." Selphie whispered. Rinoa heard though and looked at her. Then back at the sparkling water.

"I know..." Rinoa answered. She grabbed a hold of her necklace and looked at her feet. "Squall...made me a promise by the ocean...at the orphanage..."

"Yeah, I kno...Really?"

"What!" Rinoa looked at Selphie eyebrows narrowed.

"Umm...Zell dared me to listen in on the convo...He said hide next to the broken wall and I did for fun. But when I heard what he said I decided not to tell them. I said he was saying how it was as a child alone in the orphanage...Then he decided to barge in with news about Laguna and stuff. I swear, I didn't tell a soul."

Rinoa chuckled and let go of the necklace. She began to speak again, "I believe you...You know that's one negative thing about the ocean...Sometimes the memories people share with others are around water..."

Selphie started to think of Irvine, but instantly erased the thought with a cartoon quote. "Yeah, momma said not to go near the water. My grandpapi died in the water. He saw his own reflection and drowned trying to save himself..."

Rinoa looked up thinking about what Selphie just said. What the hell? She thought. She looked at Selphie and said, "...Selphie...you don't have a grandfather...you don't have grandparents,"

"Haha, don't remind me. It was just a line from Family Guy. Not exact but close enough,"

Selphie lays down and looks up at the moving blue sky. She tried to find shapes. She found a hat...and what seemed to be a heart, but it withered away. Selphie's chest rose up as she took a deep breath and went down as she exhaled. She was glad she never took up smoking, because moments like this would be ruined by the urge to cough. No matter how lonely it got, she never did anything life risking.

Squall...

How did his name pop into my head?... Selphie asked herself. Maybe they're right...I do need to lay off of the caffeine...

"Hey Selph...I'm gonna head off to my dorm for a nap...You okay by yourself?" Rinoa told Selphie.

"Yeah, go on...Later," Selphie replied and waved Rinoa good bye.

:Dormitories:

"Are we all set?" Irvine's blonde girlfriend asked.

"Yes we are Catheline..." He replied, buttoning up his brown tench.

"Hey, it's Cat, remember?"

"Haha, Sorry. Okay. Let's go..."

Irvine picked up a black travel bag and the blonde grabbed her purse. Then they headed off to the Quad, knowing Selphie would be there. Though they did not know if she was alone. They would take their chances.

They reached the quad only to find Selphie alone on the stage laying down. Perfect. Irvine thought. He had Cat silently sneak up to Selphie and cover her mouth with a cloth doused in chloroform. Selphie struggled for about 6 seconds trying to get the cloth away from her, but the chemical was just too strong.

Cat help her upper body in her arms as Irvine grabbed supplies out of his bag. They had a little hover raft already set up near the broken ledge. They through her on it and hopped on heading to the window of his dorm. The raft would be quicker and easier to transport a knocked out body. They had gone this far, couldn't turn back now.

A/N: What are they gonna do to Selphie? Torture? Rape? KILL her? nooo...not Irvine...or just...maybe...