DISCLAIMER- What did I want for Christmas? How about Squaresoft's rights to Final Fantasy VIII... Yeah, that didn't happen...:(

Author's Notes- Here's the next chapter. I promise to start updating more often now. I already have the next chapter written. All I have to do is type it up. I hope you enjoy.

Cresent Pearl- this chapter is for you. Thanks for being such a loyal and helpful reviewer. :)

Morning Sun

He walked just half a step behind her the entire way back to her dorm room. A combination of nervousness, due to his company, and an uneasiness, due to it being well after curfew, made for a very odd and almost gut wrenching sensation. He could honestly say that in all his years of being at Balamb Garden, he'd only been out of his dorm past curfew on four occasions; and all of them were by direct order. Just walking down the hallway with her felt so exhilarating. Sure he was technically a SeeD so he could wander the halls late at night when the students couldn't, but he still felt as if he were doing something he wasn't supposed to be. The feeling it gave him was reviving. It brought back memories of his lap in the center fountain. A grin crossed his face as he remembered the fun he'd had doing that.

In front of him, Quistis stopped walking and unlocked her door. While he waited uneasily he glanced around to be sure no one else saw them. He couldn't help but have this fear that a long-since banished Garden Faculty Member would just pop up around a corner and throw a fit about how bad it looked for two decorated SeeDs to be caught sneaking out after hours. Even worse than the faculty, he feared that a treppie might see him. The last thing he wanted was to deal with that cult following.

The door slid open and Quistis led the way in. Turning on a lamp on her desk, she walked across her small room and sat down on the foot of her bed. Nida followed her slowly, taking in every detail about her room. The walls, although bare for the most part, did hold one picture, a wintry landscape of some sort. He studied the print for a moment as she turned on the television and dug through her dresser for her movies. In the midst of her preoccupation, he shifted his gaze down to her desk, thoroughly swamped with papers and folders. On the far back corner, her glasses sat propped against what looked like a Shiva paperweight.

'Must be her favorite,' He thought silently as he walked towards it and carefully picked it up.

"Xu got her for me after I made SeeD," Quistis spoke. "She was the GF I was assigned on my test."

"It looks pretty cool," He stated as he examined it.

"Yeah, it'd be cooler if it were crystal," She joked. "You know, that way it'd look more like ice."

"Yeah," He agreed as he returned the paperweight to its original place. "I've only used two GF's thus far. My first was Quezacotl, that was a nightmare," He laughed nervously.

"How come?" She asked.

"Let's just say we weren't exactly compatible," He answered. "I seem to be favored by Leviathan more."

"Ah, the water element," She stated.

"Yeah," He answered. "It was like Quezacotl could sense how uneasy I was using a thunder GF and because of it we didn't work well together. He shrugged.

"And Leviathan?"

"He's my favorite."

Quistis nodded. "I like Shiva. But Squall does too so I seldom get to use her much." Nida faintly smiled. "Why don't you come sit down," She said as she scooted back so that her back was against the headboard.

"O-Okay," He answered unsurely as he sat carefully down and then looked away.

"These are all the movies I have," She frowned as she held a pair of tapes in her hands. "All we have to choose from is 'The Magic of Junctioning' and 'The Littlest Chicobo'." Beside her, Nida snickered a little. "Blame Zell for this selection. He asked to borrow a few movies and apparently took all of them," She laughed.

He grinned as he watched her lean forward and put a tape in the player. Being the red-blooded male that he was, he had to steal a glance at her rear. He hadn't meant to. The opportunity just presented itself and he found himself reacting before he could stop it. A guilty grin crossed his lips as he looked down to his lap and picked at the unraveled bottom of his shirt. She had a cute bottom.

"Okay," She said as she sat back up and returned to her place beside him. "If this movie is bad you have my permission to go beat up Zell."

"We're not watching the junctioning movie are we?" His voice carried with it a worried tone.

"Oh heaven's no," Quistis laughed. "I don't even watch that when I show it for my classes," She laughed as the movie began playing.

The following morning...

Quistis groaned as she awoke. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the early morning light as she pulled her quilt up higher on her chest. The first thing she noticed was the blue picture on her television across the room. She stared at it for a moment as the previous night's events slowly came back to her. Realizing that not only did she not remember finishing the movie, but she must have had fallen asleep before Nida left.

"I have got to be the worst hostess ever," She whispered to herself. Carefully pushing herself up on her elbows, her left hand brushed across something unexpected. All the blood drained from her face as she slowly looked down beside her. Still sleeping soundly, Nida lay motionless and unaware of her surprise. All she could do was stare at him. A slightly embarrassed grin spread across her face. Retrieving the remote from the foot of the bed, she turned the television off and returned her attention to her guest.

Oblivious to her presence he continued to sleep. Brushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear, she admired his dark features. His face looked so much more relaxed than when he was awake. She grinned to herself as she studied his dark lashes and then the slight upward curve of his nose. Her eyes unintentionally panned lower, to his slightly parted lips and then to his chin which led to his defined jaw line. Shaking her head to bring herself out of the trance he had unconsciously pulled her into, she furrowed her brow as she fingered the material of his shirt. It'd been the first time she'd actually had a chance to look at it. She'd thought it looked a little worn and ragged the night before when she went to his door but in a closer inspection it was obvious the shirt was down right ratty. She looked off towards the wall as she mentally tried to figure out why he wore something in such bad shape. He had a very neat and clean appearance and the shirt just didn't match.

'Maybe its just his favorite,' She gathered when she could come up with no other reasons. He shifted his body, snapping her out of her contemplations. She looked down at him quickly and was surprised to see him still sleeping. A slight bit of beige stood out from underneath his green sleeve. Curious, she carefully pulled back his sleeve and then shook her head in an amused astonishment at his wrapped wrist. 'He's worse than Zell,' She grinned. Her grin faded as she noticed his right wrist. She sent a cautious glance up to his face to be sure he was still asleep as she slowly pulled back his other sleeve. Her heart caught in her throat as she stared at the numerous pink scars that seemed to lace the inside of his forearm. She looked up at his peaceful face and then around the room nervously. Moving back to his other wrist, she delicately peeled back the wrap to recover a crimson colored piece of gauze. Unsure of what to do, she lay back down beside him and pulled the quilt back up over them both. She laid her head on his chest as her eyes began to tear up.

Irvine watched with amusement as his two year-old son carefully picked the marshmallows from his cereal and placed them on his spoon. Behind him, Selphie cracked another egg into her frying pan and picked up a flipper.

"Its awful quiet back there," She said as she watched the eggs before her. "Toby are you playing with your food again?" Irvine just watched as his son carefully lifted his marshmallow-laden spoon up to his mouth and then unintentionally knocked most of the spoon's contents off.

"Nah, he's eatin' it...sorta," Irvine chuckled at Toby's bewildered expression. Selphie turned and checked on the situation.

"He's practically wearing it," She said.

"Darlin' its just milk. It'll wash out," Irvine said as he pushed himself away from the bar and walked towards his wife. She grinned and then turned back to her eggs. "Someone's lookin' beautiful this mornin'," He whispered as he rested his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around the bulge in her stomach.

"Someone's feeling guilty about something," She teased. He feigned hurt as he took an exaggerated step back. Letting the flipper fall to the stove top, she turned to face him. "Hey Cowboy," She grinned.

"Hey lil' lady," He grinned in response.

Selphie raised an eyebrow. "Little lady? I know you're not talking to me because I'm as big as a cow."

"Honey don't talk like that. Ya look beautiful."

"Thanks," She smiled as she gave him a quick kiss on the nose. "Now do me a favor and take out the trash."

Irvine stared at her for a moment. "That's so mean," He pouted as he walked across the room and did as he was told. "I'm tryin' to be all lovey dovey and all you can think about is chores."

Selphie shook her head. "Have you seen the size of my stomach lately? Have you seen what being lovey dovey has done to me?" She joked.

He chuckled and then removed the lid and quickly pulled up on the bag's edges. The bottom of the bag, obviously over packed, ripped open, spilling its contents onto the floor.

"Uh oh," Toby announced the mishap from his seat at the bar. Selphie stole a quick glance to see what had happened.

"Need some help cleaning that up?" She asked. Behind her, Irvine remained silent as he knelt over the mess. "Irvy?"

"Um Hun," He started. "Have ya cut yourself on somethin' in the past few days and not told me?"

Flipping over her eggs, Selphie paused at his question. "No. Why?" She asked as she turned around.

"'Cause this here is blood," He stated as he carefully lifted the contaminated gauze and wrap up in the air. Selphie's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh my gosh..." She paled. "What's Nida been doing?"

The late morning sun shown through the partially closed blind. Blinking to adjust his eyes, Nida looked around in confusion. The ceiling he was staring at was not his own. It was only one shade of beige. A faint, sweet smell drifted lightly on the air. He knew that smell, that was the fragrance Quistis wore. Then the realization of where he was hit him.

He tilted his head forward to see the top of Quistis' head laying on his chest. Her long blonde hair seemed to fan out and drape across her shoulders and his. She was sleeping with her body curled up against his. He took a deep breath and slowly moved his right hand to carefully brush some of the hair from her face.

There was no doubt she'd be more than a little surprised to find him there when she awoke, but when she'd fallen asleep the night before on his shoulder he couldn't seem to make himself leave her. So he'd stayed and eventually fallen asleep himself. She moved a little and then slowly sat up. He watched her with interest and smiled shly when she looked in his direction. She just stared at him for a moment, something was on her mind, he could see it in her eyes. Just as he started to ask what was wrong, she smiled in return.

"Morning," She yawned.

"Morning," He said as he too sat up and stretched his arms out in front of him. She watched him for a moment and then stood up and began gathering clothes from her closet.

"Its already ten-thirty," She said as she dropped the clean clothes on her dresser and took her watch off.

"Seriously?" Nida asked as he checked his watch. "You haven't missed any classes have you?"

Quistis smiled at his concerned expression. "Believe me, if I'd missed a class that phone beside you would be ringing off the hook." He grinned. "But I'm afraid I have an eleven o'clock class."

"So I need to go," He concluded as he stood and took a few steps towards the door. "I uh...Quistis I...I'm not going to make you late am I?"

She shook her head, causing a few strands of her hair to fall down and frame her face. He smiled at the sight. "What?"

"Y-You should wear your hair down more often," He answered. At his response she turned and looked in the mirror. A grimace crossed her face as she scrunched up her nose. "Oh come on, its prettiest when its down," He said as he walked over to her and brushed her hair with his fingers. She stared at the long strands that hanged beside her face skeptically. "Just try it for one day."

"Alright," She gave in. "But you have to go now," She insisted. "I have a shower to take."

"Okay," He nodded and then quickly leaned in to her and kissed her lightly on the lips. As he started to pull away, her hand came to rest on the back of his neck and she kissed him back. Once she'd broken off the kiss he just stared at her. "Uh, I'll um..." His loss of words now seemed more out of speechlessness than nervousness. "I'll uh be going. I-I mean you have to get ready for your class and all."

She nodded in agreement and pressed the release button on her door. "We should do something again."

"Yeah we should," He agreed. "Bye."

She smiled and waved as he left. Once he was out of sight she shut the door and then leaned against the wall. She ran her fingers through her hair and just stared at the mirror across the room from her. Looking up through her eyelashes she could see a few locks of blonde hair falling down into her face and the insides of her wrists. She let her hands fall to her sides and then traced the veins in her right wrist with her left index finger. She brought her gaze up as she tried to sort through the dozens of thoughts racing through her head. A little red light caught her attention. She focused on it and then frowned. The clock on the night stand reminded her that her time to ponder was limited and so she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.