DISCLAIMER-I should really write these before I get mentally taxed by writing the chapter. I'm pretty sure you guys know that I don't own Final Fantasy VIII and am not making any money off of this story.

Author's notes- It took me two days to type this thing. Two days 'cause I accidentally deleted it on the first day and my fingers were too tired to try and retype it again without rest. I hope you guys like it.

JadeAlmasy- Geez! No sooner than I'd updated and jumped in the tub and then got back to my computer, you'd already reviewed. I want you to know that you made my day. :)

Rune - Thank you. And don't worry about my Zell/Fujin story. I promise 'Unsilenced' will be put back up. I just really messed up something that's going to take a lot of correcting. But never fear! For it will be back up!

Crescent Pearl- Your reviews mean a lot to me because you make suggestions and comments that do help out a lot. And its funny, when I put the 'lovey-dovey' part in Selphie's scene I knew someone would say something about it. When I put the part about Nida checkin Quistis out I just knew you would say something about it. lol And I'm still waiting for your update. Just so you know. lol

Protocol

Sarah silently chewed on her bottom lip as she read the morning paper. The house was quiet; an unacceptable state for a school morning. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the kitchen wall clock.

"Amira!" She shouted from her seat at the table. "You've got twenty minutes to get to your classes!" She received no answer. The second hand began to tick louder as she waited. Finally giving in, she dropped her paper on the table and started up the stairs to the second story. "Amira you better not still be asleep," She warned as she made her way up. Just as she reached the last step, her daughter's bedroom door opened, and Amira made her first appearance of the morning.

Sarah's shoulders slumped in exasperation as she watched Amira kneel and retrieve a leather portfolio. She cleared her throat Amira still continued on in her morning routine, oblivious to her mother's presence. She gave a quick glance to her watch and then hurriedly zipped up her backpack. Sloppily pulling her dark hair back into a hairclip, she shouldered her pack and picked up her portfolio. She turned and then abruptly stopped when she noticed her mother standing at the top of the staircase.

"What are you doing home?" She asked in surprise. "Coffee shop close down or something?"

"Why didn't you come when I called you?"

Amira gave her mother a puzzled expression and then pulled her earphones out. "What did you say?" She glanced at her watch again. "Try and keep it quick, school starts in fifteen minutes."

"That's what we need to talk about," Sarah said.

"Can't it wait? I'm going to be late."

"We could always talk on the way there," Sarah offered bitterly. I haven't walked you to school since you were ten."

Amira looked around uncomfortably.

"So when were you going to tell me you switched schools?"

"I dunno," Amira shrugged past her mother. "I guess when I graduated."

Sarah quickly took hold of her arm. "I put you in Dukedom Academy because it was a highly respected institution. Imagine my surprise when the Dean calls me, wanting to know what about his institution was so dissatisfactory that I had to withdraw my daughter." Sarah stared coldly at her. "Do you realize how embarrassed I was to not know what he was talking about? ...Answer me!"

Amira looked away and over to the clock on the kitchen wall.

Sarah swiftly slapped her on the cheek, startling her out of her defiance. "You will answer me when I ask you a question! Now what school are you going to anyways?"

"Dolletian Art Institute. They have a program for high school students."

Sarah seemed taken aback by her answer. "Where did you get the gil for a school like that?"

"Same place you got it for Dukedom," Amira pulled her arm free and hurried down the rest of the stairs. "Nida." Sarah was left watching her daughter hurry out the front door.

"Wait a minute!" She called after her. "Where did you get my signature to drop your classes at Dukedom?" She asked as she hurried to the front door and stood in the open doorway. "Forging is illegal."

Already out on the sidewalk, Amira stopped and turned. "For starters, I went to Nida and told him how much I hated Dukedom. But in all honesty, he's just an artist with a brush and charcoal. I'm the artist with the pen. Sue me." She once again started walking to school.

"You don't have my permission to attend that school," Sarah crossed her arms tightly against her chest. "Come Monday you'll be back at Dukedom," She warned.

Amira groaned. "Nida's paying for it, why not let him choose? I hate that place, everyone's so stuck up. If you try and make me, I won't go."

"Nida is obviously a bad influence on you. You never used to act like this. But that doesn't matter, I'm your mother and you'll go where I tell you to."

"You stop mooching off your boyfriends, get a real job and pay for the school yourself and then I'll go!" Amira shouted back.

"What have I done to make you hate me so much?" Sarah asked as she watched Amira.

"What have you done?" Amira laughed. "You're actually owning up to something? Well for starters you're tearing what's left of our family apart. You sent the last piece of Dad away from me and then you were never there! You're too absorbed in your mach aristocratic wanna be lifestyle. I hate Dukedom because everyone there acts like you! I hate you!" She shouted and then glanced at her watch. "And you've made me late for school. Thanks for nothing Sarah." She quickly turned and started back down the street, wiping away the tears she never let her mother see.

Sarah watched her until she was out of sight and then pulled the front door shut. She leaned against the wall and looked at the house around her. On an end table she caught sight of the phone and just stared at it. "You don't want to be here," She spoke under her breath. "Then you won't be."

-----

The brightly lit hallways did little to console Quistis' troubled mind as she hurried down the main hall on her way to class.

"Wait up!" A familiar voice called from behind her.

"I can't I'm late," She replied as she hurried up the steps and pressed the elevator's button.

"Whoa...Is something going on? You're never late."

"Zell, I overslept," She frowned as she pushed the button again.

"Sure ya did," Zell coughed.

"Do you need something to do?" She spun around to face him.

"What!?" Zell jumped back in an exaggerated act of surprise. "No! No way! You'll put me to work! Besides, my schedule's booked."

Quistis looked unconvinced. "They're not serving hot-dogs and Fujin is on a mission. Your schedule is wide open." Zell slumped his shoulders and kicked at the ground. "It'll be fun. I promise." Zell looked at her skeptically.

"What is it?" He mumbled in a defeated tone.

"Do you know who Nida Roe is?" She asked as she turned and pressed on the button a few more times for good measure.

Zell paused. "Garden's pilot?"

"That's him," She sighed as she pressed the button again. "Go catch him at his dorm. Rumor has it that he's quite the exalted martial artist."

"Martial artist?" Zell asked.

"Squall's had him on the bridge a lot here lately and he finally got some time off. He hasn't had much time to train, but two martial artists against one another sounds kinda fun."

"Dude! That would be cool!" Zell shouted as the elevator finally came down and its doors slid open. Quistis rolled her eyes as she stepped inside.

"Better go catch him before he decides to go do something else with his day off," She frowned at the thought.

"See ya later!" Zell exclaimed as he bounded down the steps. "Oh hey!" He quickly spun back around to face her. "How do I find his room?" Quistis just shook her head as the doors slid shut. Zell watched the elevator rise for a second before taking a step back and bumping the directory. "Oh yeah," He said as he scratched the back of his head with one hand and started the directory program with the other.

From the rising elevator, Quistis watched as Zell ran off towards the dormitory wing. 'Hope Nida'll go for it,' She thought to herself. The doors slid open and she quickly stepped out onto the catwalk. With every step, the voices inside her classroom grew louder. She shook her head as she approached the open doorway. "The joys of teaching first year students," She said under her breath at the disorderly assembly in her classroom. Save for two silent boys in the corner, everyone else was out of their seats, conversing with one another.

Deciding to prove she was worthy of her reinstated teaching license, she took a deep breath and control of her class. "Two of the first things all SeeDs must learn is protocol and respect!" She shouted over their voices. The room became deafly quiet in an instant. "Protocol allows every member of SeeD to know what their duties are. Respect is what makes SeeD members follow and abide by all protocols. As my students you're expected to be in your designated seats and silent before class starts. If you have that respect for me I can assure you the respect will be mutual." She stopped talking and sat her books down on the corner of her desk and walked over to the chalk board. "Surely you can handle simple classroom protocol. If not, how on earth can you honestly be expected to handle a life or death assignment out on the field?"

------

Zell double checked the number on the panel and then looked inside the open doorway. He gave a quick and impatient knock on the door frame and then stepped hesitantly inside.

"Anyone in here?" He asked.

"Over here," Nida answered from behind one of his canvas'. Zell watched as the taller SeeD sat down his brush and approached him. Although his baggy clothes seemed to hide his muscle structure, his height and almost lanky posture gave Zell an indication that he may be more of a speed fighter than a power hitter. Then Zell noticed his haphazardly spiked hair.

"Cool hair," Zell commented.

"Uh...thanks," Nida answered unsurely. "Do you need something?"

"Oh yeah!" Zell laughed as if he'd just remembered. "Quisty told me you were into martial arts."

"She told you true," Nida answered as he began cleaning his brush.

"So you want to go train?"

"Right now?" Nida asked.

"Sure. Why not?" Zell hopped back and forth from one foot to the other.

"Why not," Nida grinned as he tossed his brush down onto a drop cloth on the floor. "Let me get my gear."

After Nida had grabbed something to change into, Zell couldn't help but to see what artwork was in the making on the easel across the room from him. He had already bought a Quezacotl Nida had painted in oil. Now he got to see what else Nida liked to paint. He carefully stepped over a few paint cans and then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the beginnings of a lady sitting on the edge of a fountain. The bathroom door slid open and Nida stepped slowly out, tightening his gloves as he walked.

"Did you want to use one of the padded training rooms or just the training center?" Nida asked and then paused when he realized where Zell was. "Don't tell Quistis."

Zell looked up at him quickly. "Oh...okay..." He looked back down at the painting and then back at Nida. "So she doesn't know about this?"

"No."

"It looks good."

"Thank you," Nida shifted his weight and crossed his arms.

"So are you ready to go train?"

"I'm waiting on you."

"Well let's get going then," Zell said as he hopped over the paint cans and led the way out of the dorm room.

------

Later that evening....

Quistis stepped up to the open doorway and peered inside. Aside from the massive staff leaned up against the wall, the room was very clean.

"Come on in. I won't bite ya know," Raijin called out from his seat in a bean bag chair in front of the television set. Quistis looked around, unsure of how he knew she was there. Slowly she entered the room, still in awe of how clean he kept it. "This can be a three player game ya know." Quistis looked past him and finally saw Xu sitting on his other side.

"No thanks," She declined. "I'm not very good at video games."

"Neither am I but Xu makes me look good," Raijin chuckled. Xu swiftly elbowed him. "Oww!"

"What's wrong?" Xu asked as she sat her controller down and picked up an extra bean bag chair from a pile in the corner. "Here," She tossed it over Raijin's head to Quistis. "Sit down awhile." Raijin paused the game and then turned to face her. Quistis stared at the bright red object in her hands and then let it fall to the floor. She watched how it spread out once it made contact with the floor.

"You want anything to eat or drink? I just went to the market a few days ago so the fridge is full ya know," Raijin tried to offer her something else. She just politely shook her head and then fell clumsily to her knees atop of her bean bag.

"Ok, you either tell me what's wrong or I'll go alert your little treppies that their goddess isn't happy and then they can harass you," Xu threatened.

Quistis' jaw dropped. "You wouldn't."

"Try me," Xu said as she brushed her dark bangs out of her eyes. "So talk."

"Fine," Quistis submitted. "Last night I invited Nida over to watch a movie." Raijin and Xu both scooted a little closer causing her to pause.

"He didn't try anything did he?" Raijin studied her facial expressions as he waited for an answer. "If he did I'll pound him to a pulp ya know."

"Quistis?" Xu asked.

"He didn't try anything," She assured them. A pair of footsteps passed by the doorway, causing her to remain quiet. Once they were gone she continued. "But we both fell asleep before the movie ended."

Xu looked over at Raijin and then back at Quistis. "That's it?" Quistis faintly shook her head.

"I woke up first and..." She paused as she searched for the right words. "And his sleeve was bunched up so I could see his wrist," Her voice became softer.

"What's wrong with his wrist?" Xu asked almost knowingly.

"There were all these scars and marks," Quistis answered. Xu and Raijin remained silent. "They went up his arm some too. I don't know, it just bothers me. Granted he's more than a little shy and is kinda withdrawn, but he's such a friendly person. Why would he be doing that? And am I suppose to tell him I know or just pretend I didn't see it or what?" Raijin looked over to Xu who seemed to be dumbfounded. "His other wrist was still wrapped up."

"Fresh cut," Xu said.

"How did you know?" Quistis asked.

"He was upset that some more engineers were coming onboard. He looked kinda haggard."

"So job stress made him do that? Seems like there has to be more ya know," Raijin finally spoke. "I mean what would make someone cut themself. I've never done it, but the whole idea seems kinda dangerous ya know?"

"Stress, anger, depression, anything that would severely upset someone," Xu said as she let her head fall into her hands. Outside in the hallway, the sound of footsteps kept the room from growing totally silent.

"I understand that much, but I just can't figure out what would push someone to that point ya know? What would make you do that to yourself?" He asked.

"Instructor, I'm shocked," A forth member joined their group and interrupted the conversation by grabbing Quistis' hand and checking her wrist.

"Let go," Quistis said as she tried to pull her wrist from Seifer's grasp. "We're not even talking about me."

"No," He agreed in a serious tone. "We're talking about your new boyfriend."

"How did you?"

Seifer raised an eyebrow. "I saw him on the elevator one morning. He was pretty pale and one of his wrists were wrapped in a discolored bandage. It stuck out from under the sleeve of his uniform."

Quistis shook her head. "Well I'm glad I'm not the first one to find out about this but the first to worry about it."

"What was I supposed to do? Subdue him in the elevator and threaten him within an inch of his life to not cut himself again?" Seifer snorted.

"Know what, we're not even going to argue about this," She crossed her arms. "How did you know he was my boyfriend."

"It wasn't that hard to figure out," He laughed as Raijin tossed him a soda.

"Seifer..."

"Fine, I'll talk," He said as he opened the can. "See your little following is growing pretty frantic because they know you're involved with someone but they don't know who. A few of them seen him at the Garden Fest, but let's face it. He's got one of those faces that enable him to just fade into the background and into the recesses of one's memory." Quistis looked confused. Seifer rolled his eyes. "They've seen him but they don't know who he is. Half of 'em are still trying to decide whether or not to break you two up while the other half are going on about how great he must be to have won your affections." Quistis looked disturbed.

The room became quiet as Seifer finally found a seat on Raijin's bed.

"So we've established that he cuts himself. But what am I supposed to do about it?" She asked.

"Don't do anything. He's already doing fine on his own," Seifer took another drink and then braced himself for the slap that Quistis delivered to his stomach. "Is that it?" He laughed.

"Don't make me get up and knock you out," She warned. He just snickered. "I'm serious. This bothers me."

"Go talk to Squall," Seifer suggested. His comment earned him three thoroughly confused looks.

"What can Squall of all people do?" Xu asked.

"He can give Nida his promotion early. Or at least inform him that he's going to be run through an engineering program next month." Quistis and Xu stared at him in shock. Raijin just observed. "I overheard Cid and Squall talking about him."

"Overheard?" Xu asked.

"I was visiting Matron," He defended.

"Matron..." Quistis narrowed her eyes. "You remember?"

"Who's matron?" Xu asked.

"Anyway, we're straying from my point," Seifer regained control of the conversation. "Obviously, Squall's withholding of Nida's promotion is adding onto your boy's emotional problems."

"I can't just go knocking on Squall's door at..." She checked her watch. "At ten-forty-five at night and tell him to tell Nida about a promotion I'm not even supposed to know about."

"Why not?"

"Protocol."

"Protocol?" Seifer asked.

"Nevermind. Not like you understand that."

"Hey I'll have you know I'm a SeeD just like the rest of you now," He spat back.

"Children children!" Xu held her hand up to Seifer's face. He narrowed his eyes and started to say something but Raijin shook his head. "Thank you. We can't just go order Squall around Seifer."

"Why not its fun," He admitted. "He gets so irritated but tries to deny it."

"Seifer," Quistis pleaded.

"Fine fine," He said as he stood up and tossed his can in the trash can. "I got a plan."

"We are not going to Squall's apartment," Quistis insisted.

"Yes we are. Not only that, but I'm going to play my emotional card."

Xu raised an eyebrow. "On Squall?"

"Psh," Seifer laughed. "On Rinny." Quistis looked at him quizzically. "Hey we go back. And," He held up a finger. "We separated on good terms. If I go to her worried about my friend 's very life, there's no way she could say no to me."

"You do realize we have to convince Squall right?" Xu asked.

"What better way to sway Squall than to persuade his softer half," Quistis smiled.

"Finally! I got you on my side!" Seifer rejoiced.

"But I still don't know about going over there this late," She said.

"That's not a problem. So its going on eleven. He may be married but he's not old. I'm telling you he's still awake."

"He better be," Quistis threatened. "Because if he's not we're all going to get it."

"So you're agreeing to my plan."

"Not whole-heartedly but yeah I guess so."

"What kind of attitude is that? We all have to seem distraught when we go over there. Afraid for out dear friend's life!" Seifer held a fist in the air. "That being the extent of my motivational speech, let's go wake up, I mean confront the Commander!" Seifer said as he started out into the hallways.

"Raijin, he's going to get us all into trouble. Don't you ever give him sugar again," Quistis threatened as she stood up.