A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for the nice reviews! So Thanks!

I also wanted to let you guys know that. I'll be having updates more frequently and not months at a time. Hopefully I won't keep you guys waiting too long for the end of this fic.

Thanks again!

Chapter 8

Quistis was exhausted when she arrived at Winhill. She had spent the last two weeks traveling from place to place trying to hide her trail from SeeD if they decided to come after her. She was no longer Quistis Trepe, but Kristy Trent. She had thought about changing her name to something completely different, but she figured Kristy would be easier for her to adapt since it was similar to her nickname. She hoped that she had hidden her trail well enough from anyone seeking her. At least long enough for her to figure out what her next plan of action would be.

Winhill's atmosphere was as quiet and small as she remembered. She felt so out of place as she wandered around the town with her single bag of belongings in her hands. As she surveyed the Town Square, she saw an old couple walking around the square arm in arm. The sight made Quistis smile, but it also saddened her. She was going to be a mother, and she didn't have the nerve to tell the father. She pushed the thought out of her mind, for her main concern at the moment was finding a place to stay for the next year, at least until the baby was born.

She started walking along a path that led away from the Town Square and noticed some houses along the road. Each house she passed were nice and homely houses with their idealistic white picket fences surrounding the front lawns.

Even though she was tired, she continued walking further down the path since it was a nice day and the fresh air from the walk was making her feel better.

Near the end of the road she saw a small one story house painted a soft gray-blue surrounded by a white picket fence. The front of the house had a porch with deck that hung a cozy swing chair out in front. In between the rose bushes in the front garden, there was a "For Rent" sign posted.

Quistis smiled at her luck. She suddenly felt excited for the possibility that she had found the perfect place to be her new home for the next year. She gently pushed opened the small front gate and walked up the stone path up to the porch and rang the doorbell once.

Just as she was about to press the doorbell again, the door opened and Quistis was greeted by a man a couple years older than she was. He was tall and thin and the glasses he wore made him look scholarly. His short brown hair was a bit tousled, but the smile on his face made up for his unkempt hair.

"Hi, how may I help you?" he asked with a friendly smile as he pushed his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose.

Quistis was surprised to see the man at the door, for some reason, she was expecting an elderly woman or something, but she quickly regained her composure and held her hand out. "Hi, my name is Kristy Trent. I'm inquiring about the "For Rent" sign you have posted out in front."

The man shook Quistis's hand. "Right, come on in," the man said opening the door wider for Quistis to enter. "This is the place I'm renting out." He gestured two the interior of the house. "There are two bedrooms and one bathroom. A good size kitchen and a small dining room next to the kitchen, and you've already seen the front porch. So take a look around and tell me what you think. Also the house will be rented fully furnished."

Quistis smiled and nodded as she walked around the house peering into each room. He first showed her the bedrooms and the bathroom. Then he led her into the kitchen. The house was neat and clean, it was the ideal home that Quistis dreamt of having when she was a little girl. Everything in this place was ideal. A dream come true. The only thing that wasn't ideal was her present predicament of being a single mother. She quickly pushed the thought from her mind again and continued to observe the house.

"So far I like it. Why are you renting out this house?" she asked as she peered into another room. "It's liked in perfect condition."

"It is a charming little house isn't it? This place use to belong to my sister, but she recently got married and moved to Esthar with her husband," the man explained.

"How about you? Why don't you live here instead?" Quistis asked.

"Actually, I have a house down on the other side of town," he said pointing towards the general direction of the Town Square.

"I see," Quistis nodded.

"Besides the extra income would be nice, being a teacher in a small town doesn't pay much."

"Oh, you're a teacher?" Quistis asked intrigued by the thought that she might still be able to teach. One reservation she had about leaving SeeD was that she wouldn't be able to teach there again. She loved teaching. The first time they revoked her teaching license. She was lost. She didn't know what to do, but at least her mind was taken off her despair by a mission to save the world.

"Yes, I teach at the local elementary school," the man answered with a smile.

"That must be nice. Do you have your own children?" she asked without thinking.

The man shook his head, "No, not yet."

"I see. I use to be an instructor, but that was a different life. Now I'm just looking to start over," Quistis explained.

"I see," he smiled understandingly. "I won't pry. Everyone is allowed to keep some secrets. So what do you think?"

Quistis took another glance down the kitchen door into the living room. "I love it, when can I sign the lease?"

The man smiled, "You know what? I like you, and I think you would make the perfect tenant for this house." Quistis blushed at his comments. "Why don't we go into the living room and I'll let you sign all the necessary agreements and give you the keys, so you can move right in."

Before they departed from the kitchen, Quistis saw a lovely garden out the kitchen window and smiled to herself. Quistis felt odd that she was finally getting a place of her own, her own place with a white picket fence and a garden in the backyard.

The man stopped at a desk and pulled out a couple sheets of paper for Quistis to sign. "So is it just you moving in? Or is there going to be someone else with you?" he asked handing the papers and a pen to Quistis.

"It'll be just me, for now," she added.

"No problem, when do you want to move in?" he asked gathering the papers that Quistis just signed.

"As soon as possible," Quistis said slightly embarrassment.

The man nodded understandingly and smiled. "Do you have any other belongings with you?" he asked looking down at the one bag in her hands.

Quistis shook her head. "No."

"You must be the get up and go type of lady," he teased. Quistis blushed again. "I'm sorry I shouldn't tease you like that," he quickly apologized. "Anyways, here are the keys to the house." He pulled out a ring of keys and picked out two keys from the rings and handed them to Quistis.

"Thank you…" she began, then realizing that she didn't know her new landlords name.

"I'm sorry. I don't' think I've introduced myself to you. I'm Paul. Paul Davis." He held out a hand for a handshake.

Quistis shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Paul."

"Nice to meet you to, Kristy," Paul smiled. "If you need anything, my contact information is here." He handed her a piece of paper.

"Thank you." Quistis's smile only widened as she felt the weight of the keys in her palm and the contract in her hands.

"I'll get out of your hair, and let you get settled in. You can pay me the deposit later. I trust you won't run off on me."

"Again, thank you. You are just too kind. Mr. Davis."

"Please call me Paul. I'll probably see you around. This is a very small town. We are bound to run into each other," he said with a shrug. "If you need anything, please feel free to call me."

She thanked him again and followed Paul out of the house and watched him leave. Quistis saw the swinging chair on the porch and walked towards it. She sat down and gently swung back and forth enjoying the cool breeze that blew by.

She sat there thinking as she watched the blue sky slowly turning into layers of blue, orange, and purple, as the sun prepared to set.

Things were starting to look up. She was starting a new life for herself. She had accepted the fact that she wanted to keep her baby. She planned to be the best mother she could be for this child. She never wanted her child to feel the sadness and abandonment she felt when she was first sent to the orphanage. This child would be her new family.

She thought back to her childhood days back in the orphanage. Even though she didn't have any parents, she had a family. Matron was he best mother she could have asked for and everyone she grew up with was still with her. At least when she was at Garden they still with her, but now she had left the only family she had to start her own.

Quistis let out a heavy sigh and leaned back into the swinging bench and absentmindedly place her hand over her belly. Quistis felt that she had done enough today. She found herself a new home and she was content.

Seifer sat in a dodgy bar drinking his beer with an ever-present scowl that he acquired since the beginning of his undercover mission as a member the resistance group Darkness. Seifer scoffed at the name. Darkness was fitting for them since it seemed that most of the members were in the dark about pretty much everything.

The rebel society accepted him easily enough and they didn't suspect him or Zell for anything. He didn't think that changing his hair color, covering his scar, and changing his wardrobe would so easily disguise his appearance. .

Either these rebel guys were morons with bad eyesight, or they were oblivious to what was going on in the real world. Seifer didn't see much of a threat from this resistance group. They were unorganized and constantly squabbling with each other. Their main strength was brute force. The only thing intimidating about the Darkness was that they attacked in large packs. Even the best fighter, couldn't take on ten of these brutes alone. Seifer's only relief had was that they weren't organized enough to actually attack anyone…yet. He was sure Squall sent him on this mission to spite him.

One of the rebels, obviously drunk, bumped into Seifer. Seifer glared at the man with his piercing green eyes and scowled. The drunken man saw his error and apologized quickly and staggered off to a dark corner of the bar.

Though Seifer was relatively new to the resistance, the weaker men knew better than to mess with Seifer.

"Hey, Seth!" a hand clapped Seifer on the shoulder. Everyone knew to stay away from him, except for his partner, Zell.

"What do you want, Chicken Wuss?" Seifer said taking a gulp of his beer.

"So, mulling in a bar alone?" Zell said.

"That's the idea," Seifer said rolling his eyes.

"Come on, Seth. In no time, we'll have what we want and it will be over," Zell said vaguely in case someone overheard their conversation.

"It's been a month, Zack," Seifer said emphasizing Zell's alias. "We aren't getting anywhere," Seifer whispered harshly.

"This is our job."

"Well, this job sucks," Seifer growled into his glass.

"I know you want to go back. I know you want to go and find her."

Seifer pretended not to understand. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"You know they can't find her. She hid her trail pretty good, which isn't a surprise. She is one of our best," Zell said with a proud smile.

"Of course, those greens wouldn't find her. It's like using pigs to hunt instead of blood hounds."

"If I were on her trail, I'd find her," Seifer said. "I'm giving this job a couple more weeks then I'm out."

"Where would you start looking?" Zell asked plopping himself down on the seat next to him.

"I'll look in ever city in the world if I have to," Seifer said, more to himself then Zell.

"Why?"

Seifer narrowed his eyes and looked at Zell. "I don't have to tell you why. Trepe is our friend, and she doesn't just up and leave everything she's ever known behind. Something has to be wrong for her to leave like this."

Zell scratched the back of his head. "That makes sense. Anyway we've got another meeting for 'la resistance' in ten minutes," Zell reminded Seifer.

Seifer muttered a curse under his breath. Maybe Quistis did the right thing by disappearing. He should've probably follow her example and just disappeared. She was the reason why he was back at Garden. He was actually quite content with living the nomadic life before he even thought about returning to Garden. But Quistis was able to convince him to return; like she convinced everyone else he deserved a second chance.

He chugged the last of his beer down and followed Zell to their daily meetings.

"Hey, Seth," a dirty looking blond man came up next to Seifer and Zell. "Did you two hear? There is a rumor that tonight is the night."

"Night for what?" Zell asked.

"The big revelations of the resistance's plan and I think they are announcing the new leader."

"Really? A new leader? I wonder how good this guy is," Seifer muttered to Zell. This was interesting news and it amused him. Maybe he under estimated this underground resistance. This was taking an interesting turn. He couldn't wait until he had to chance to crush this resistance and get on with his life.