Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII's character's, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's plot, my words.

Authors Note: Thank you for the reviews I've recieved so far!


Consultations

"Mr. Leonhart, please could you tell me what you want freeing from your mind." Questioned Doctor Cid as he took his seat opposite the young man.

"I'm not here for that." Informed Squall dismissively as he retrieved Zell's letter from the man before him and placed it on the desk. Cid already knew what the document was before his aging eyes scanned it's text.

"You really shouldn't have seen this."

"Yeah well Zell's the open type, people don't really trust him to keep his mouth shut." His voice was flat and expressionless.

"I do apologize for this… I really do."

"It's a hoax right?" scorned Squall, verbally shrugging off Cid's admission of guilt. It took a few moments for Cid's mind to comprehend what exactly the younger man was questioning.

"I assure you it is far from it. It's true the procedure hasn't been in circulation long yet we here at ShinRa Inc. have developed this technique through intensive studies and knowledge of the human brain, psychological analyses, even the Freudian theories on the subconscious mind have all aided us to perfect this medical advancement." He enlighten, yet it seemed that Squall wasn't taken back by his persuasive speech.

"So what exactly gives you the right to invade such a personal space and then erase it?"

"Like most companies we are offering a service, Mr. Leonhart, it is primarily the patient's decision to use that service." The Doctor replied, he observed as Squall's blue pastel shaded eyes flicked from his own to the yellow scrap of paper on the desk between them. "I'm afraid the sad truth is, Rinoa chose to have this done, it was never forced upon her…"

"..Why?"

"I can't say, that would interfere with patient confidentiality laws."

"…Whatever. Thanks for your time." He said yet this expression of gratitude seemed to lack any signs of emotion. He quickly rose from his seat and exited the room; he found this place was so eerie, probably due to what they actually did, erase people's unwanted memories for cash, yeah that seems like a perfectly sane and moral business… He passed the reception desk, where the auburn haired receptionist offered him a warm smile; he didn't return it, he merely wonder if the staff at ShinRa Inc got a discount on the procedure.

He slammed the door in a similar fashion Rinoa used to when she stormed out; enraged by whatever it was he had said to invoke such an emotion. He had to take his anger out on something and his apartment door was the first victim of his outburst. He heavily slumped down into his tattered yet comfortable chair. This whole fiasco was unfair and uncalled for, sure he had said some hurtful things but he didn't deserve this bizarre punishment. He'd rather she had given him the traditional cold shoulder instead of obliterating his presence in her memory but of course being in her typical selfish state of mind she'd opted for something that would get back at him for his cruel words, probably finding the whole matter humorous, like Quistis had mentioned…Well two could play at that game. It may not have the same impact upon her and the others it had on him but anything was better than knowing what had happened between them and what she had done to rid herself of him.

"Sir! You can't go in there! Hey! That's a private consultation! Please if you could take a seat in the waiting room, I'm sure Doctor Cid will see you!" exclaimed the receptionist as she had witnessed him barge past her and storm off down the hall to Cid's office. His hand outstretched for the doorknob, ignoring her pleas and suggestions. Forget hanging around in some confined waiting room with all the other oddballs that voluntary opted for this procedure, it was principally Cid's fault he was in this situation, if he hadn't rid Rinoa's mind of him none of this would be necessary. Before Squall's pale hand could grasp the dull bronze handle the door jerked open and Doctor Cid was stood beside a frail elderly lady, his speech to her abruptly halted when his eyes were greeted with the young man's presence.

"Yes, I'll see you on Wednes- Squall?" The look of confusion flickered across both his and the senior citizen's face.

"I'm so sorry, Doctor Cid! I tried to stop him but he just pushed right past me." Explained the distressed yet slightly melodic voice of the receptionist, who was now at Squall's side.

"That's quite alright Julia, please could you take Mrs. Nanahara back to the waiting room and book her another consultation for the 21st?" The girl nodded and ushered the aged woman down the corridor.

"Please, come in." Cid's calm voice seized Squall's attention and he yet again placed his steel blue shaded eyes onto the doctor's form. "So what brings you back here?" He questioned taking his seat.

"I want it done."

"Oh?" He raised his brow in curiosity, the boy had changed his tune all of a sudden and he was interested to know why. "You gave me the impression you were against this."

"In a way I still am…but I don't want to spend time wondering why she'd do something like this. I've got better things to be doing."

"Very well." He rose from the large leather clad chair, and walked the small distance towards a bulky gray filling cabinet. The hinges to one of its doors groaned loudly as the doctor pulled it open, from the depths of the boxed drawer he retrieved a file. Cid began to thumb through it vaguely interested in the information it had to offer; he had already rigorously read its contents before Squall's original consultation.

"How'd you get that?" the youth questioned suspiciously eyeing the doctor, he knew the file was indeed his medical records.

"We have to requested them from your General Practitioner, in your case Doctor Kadowaki. It's merely to check your medical history to ensure us you're a suitable candidate." He enlighten, slightly taken back by the question posed, no one had ever asked how their medical files had turned up in the ShinRa Inc. clinic. Cid yet again took his seat and placed a Dictaphone onto the large oak desk. "Mr. Leonhart, could you please tell me what you want freeing from your mind." He pressed the record button and the rings of the tape could be seen slowly spinning in a clockwise movement.

"You already know why." He hated repeating himself.

"Yes, but I'd like you to perhaps go into greater depth of why you want this done." Squall narrowed his eyes, who did this guy think he was? A physiologist all of a sudden? Seeing the frown on his patient's features, Cid decided to take a different approach in obtaining the desired information. "We need to keep a record of the what you want erased and why, as many of our patients return to have more than one procedure."

"Trust me, I won't." scoffed the boy

"Either way I'm afraid it's mandatory." Squall released audible sigh.

"Fine. I want Rinoa Heartilly erased from my memory."

"And why is that?" Cid knew that he would have to prompt the patient into reveling the necessary information, as the boy's introverted brooding nature was apparent from their first consultation.

"She…She's not someone I want to know anymore.

"Why is that?" Squall glared at him momentarily, annoyed by the doctor's pestering questions

"I'm not entirely sure… I used to like her but then things turned and we couldn't stand being around each other anymore.

"I see.. Could you maybe elaborate on you're relationship with her."

"Well…we were going out for about two years… and she's was very emotional, but then she only really knew about two emotions, happiness and anger, she had a nasty habit of quickly switching between the two, it made it impossible to talk to her at times…"

"So do you think that that put a strain on your relationship with her?"

"Yeah…"

"…Very well, I think that'll do for now." He turned the Dictaphone off, sensing Squall wasn't really going to open up. After fully explaining how the procedure worked and what would happen in the next two consultations the session came to an end. Squall slowly meandered his way back home, he'd push the whole ordeal to the back of his mind for now until, like Rinoa, he'd be blissfully unaware of their past encounters.

It was the third and final meeting he'd remember at ShinRa Inc. Squall lay on the white and pristine sheets of the hospital-like bed after filling a sheet full of contacts of his friends and family he came into regular contact with.

"Okay, everything set?" Questioned Hojo as he turned on some monitors, which began to whirl softly.

"Yes. Squall, you'll feel a slight sting of the anesthetic traveling up your arm, but don't worry this will only last momentarily." Reassured Cid as he placed a clear plastic mask over the young mans lower face. Squall felt the pressure of the needle piercing the small tube that had earlier been placed in the fold of his right arm. Cid slowly pushed the plunger and the transparent liquid in he surgical syringe disappeared, Squall grimaced in discomfort as he felt the medical liquid voyage upwards. "Now I want you to take deep breaths and count to 10 for me." Instructed the doctor, quickly glancing at his patient's vital statistics. He complied.

"1.." He hoped this would work, his skeptical nature was beginning to get the better of him, "..2.." How long would it take do delete his memories of her anyway? "..3.." His eyelids began to feel heavy, the anesthetic must be kicking in, "..4.." Maybe it would have been easier to just push the memories aside instead of taking such drastic measures… "..5…" He was beginning to become increasingly drained and soon he could only concentrate on this matter, "6…" Squall slipped into a deep slumber shortly after muttering the number.

"Hm. They never reach 10." Tittered Cid as he placed an extraordinary piece headgear on the handsome young man's head, carefully brushing back stray strands of his brunette hair, so that they wouldn't interfere with the headgear's minute beams that would bore into his temples. Suddenly the room's door swung opened, obtaining the immediate attention of the doctor and the technician.

"Sorry I'm late, girlfriend trouble." Informed the towering blonde as he shut the door after him.

"Well better late than never, Seifer. You can assist Hojo, I have more important matters to attend to."

Cid exited the small room. Seifer, knowing exactly what to do strolled over to another monitor beside Hojo's and began tapping on the ivory shaded keys of the computer's keyboard, in a bored fashion.

"Girlfriend eh?" Questioned Hojo, he and Seifer often ranted on about mindless subjects of interest whenever doing this monotonous task. "Poor thing." Seifer offered the older man a sarcastic smirk before saying,

"And how is your love life? Still none existent?" Hojo slowed in his rapid typing to present the youth a raised middle finger on his right hand, while the left still continuously tapped the keys.

"Can't be as bad as this guy's though." He mumbled. Seifer raised an eyebrow in interest. Seeing his co-worker's expression the technician elaborated on his comment, "Remember that cutie we sorted out a couple of weeks ago?"

"Which one?" Seifer questioned, surprisingly ShinRa Inc. got a fair number of attractive young women wanting the procedure performed on them, probably trying to remove the vile memories of their now ex-boyfriends.

"The brunette."

"Oh yeah."

"Well this is that girl's guy." Hojo informed flatly, almost as if he'd lost interest in the topic himself.

"Really?" questioned the blonde, his tone slightly weighted with cynicism as he glanced over his broad shoulder at the unconscious man. He saw nothing special.