The 5 Words That Changed Everything

Disclaimer: Ok, you know the drill, I don't own FF VIII I only own the game so yes… on with the story.

One Year Ago:

Squall put down his pen and made his way to the lunch room where Quisitis will be. He smiled at the fact that he had a girlfriend for 1 year now. His face turned red knowing what he was thinking.

He entered the lunch area and scanned the room looking for his girlfriend. He didn't see her anywhere. He decided she must be working on something and walked out.

As he approached his locker, he saw Selphie, Zell, and Irvine standing there and chatting. Selphie saw Squall and energetically waved him over. Squall walked up to the trio and they all said their 'hello's.'

As Squall and the group were chatting Quisitis saw Squall and decided that now was the time.

Quisitis walks up to Squall and taps him on the shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a minute honey?" She asked.

"Sure" Squall replied with a smile on his face.

He was making it so difficult for her. She loved his smile; his smile was the one that made her melt. Quisitis couldn't love him anymore. She caught the eye of Squall's number one enemy: Seifer Almasy. For a while now, Seifer has been flirting with Quisitis behind Squall's back. She has of course, flirted right back. Although she knows how wrong it was to flirt with him back, she just couldn't help it. He was too irresistible. She had a look on her face saying 'I'm sorry.'

Squall is kind nervous because of the look that Quisitis was giving him when she asked to talk to him. As the two got farther away from the trio at Squall's locker, Squall noticed that her face had changed again. This time, it was a look of regret. What did she do? Why is she sad all of a sudden? She's usually bright, cheery and happy. It wasn't the usual bright, happy face that he knew and grew to love. Finally, when they reached a secluded area, silence filled the air until 5 words came out of her mouth; the 5 words that would break Squall Leonhart's fragile heart. Squall had no idea what was going on. He was confused and scared at the same time. He wondered what she was going to say that would take her this long to tell him.

"I can't do this anymore" was all she said and walked down the hallway to her friends.

It took Squall a minute for her words to sink into his head. She was breaking up with him? Why? Was he not good enough? Quisitis left a broken-hearted Squall standing there down the hallway. He sank down on to the ground and started to cry. His friends saw him down on the ground and rushed over to see what was wrong.

"Is everything alright Squall?" asked a concerned Selphie.

Squall didn't even hear her question; he just sat there on the ground crying about what had happened. He didn't care if they saw him cry. Quisitis was the best thing that ever happened to him and now she was gone, gone forever. Two days later, she was on the arm of his enemy, Seifer Almasy. He, on that day, never talked to her again. He swore to himself that he would never date again. Quisitis, one day even had the guts to come over and talk to him and ask him how he was doing. He ignored her and walked away. Squall didn't want to remain friends with her after she broke his heart. Although, it may be a little harsh, he needs time (1 year enough?); no, he needs lots of time, because when you hurt Squall Leonhart, you damage him, irreversible damage.

A raven-haired beauty at the age of 18 ran through the halls of Balamb Garden looking for her first class. She cursed herself for not asking for directions on where her first class was. She ran down the halls looking from left to right in the windows to see what the classes were.

'Ah! There it is!' she said to herself and flung open the door.

Squall was doing his homework when all of a sudden a young girl about his age bursted through the door and was panting for breath. Now, normally Squall would have gone right back to his work, but something about her drew him to her. When he looked into her eyes, he saw sadness and pain. It also looked like she was trying very hard to hide it behind a smile. Wait! Why did he care? She's just like any other girl. Why did this girl catch his attention? Squall shook his head and went back to his homework.

'Oh thank goodness I found my class' the young woman thought to herself. "Where should I sit?" the woman asked politely.

"Right there, next to Leonhart" the teacher said pointing to the brunette furiously writing trying to finish his homework.

The young woman nodded and ascended up the stairs to the fourth row to where the seat was next to Squall. She thought that maybe if she asked him nicely enough he would show her around. She sat down and put her books on the desk. When she turned around to put her coat on the back of the chair, she knocked over one of her books.

Squall watched the young girl out of the corner of his eye. What was it about this girl that grabbed his attention? He noticed that she knocked over one of her books and cursed quietly. He reached down to the ground, picked it up and handed it to her. When he got a good look at her face he thought 'Wow, she is beautiful.' 'No! I can't do this! I can't break my promise.'

The young woman watched as he picked up her book and handed it to her. She noticed the ring and thought maybe she could start up a conversation with him and ask him what the creature was on it.

"Thank you, and that's a very interesting ring you have on there, what's the creature on it?" the young woman asked.

No reply came so she decided that maybe she should introduce herself.

"I'm Rinoa Heartilly, what's your name?" She asked politely. Then, realizing that the teacher said his last name she rethought her question. "I mean, Mr. Leonhart, what's your first name?" she said correcting herself.

'Mr. Leonhart? Man do I feel old when I hear that.' Squall thought to himself. "Squall" he replied quickly and went back to his work.

"Nice to meet you Squall. Do you think that maybe you could show me around?" Rinoa asked politely hoping that she didn't disturb him too much with the question.

'Should I show her around? I mean, it's only to get her to her next class; yeah, why not?' Squall thought to himself. "Sure" he replied and once again went back to his work.

"Great! Thank you so much, I owe you one" Rinoa said cheerfully. 'This is wonderful, maybe he will be my friend?' Rinoa thought to herself. With that thought in mind, she opened her book and started her homework.

After the hour of class was over, Rinoa packed her bag and waited out in the hallway for Squall. She saw that he was the last one to leave. When Squall exited the room, he saw Rinoa standing out in the hallway waiting for him.

"Are you ready?" she asked politely.

"Yes, let's go" he replied, no emotion to his face at all. Squall walked down the hallway with Rinoa by his side without saying a word. He didn't know what to talk about with her.

"Ok, my next class is Junctioning in classroom 213 (yes a made-up number), do you know where that is?" Rinoa asked sincerely.

"I have that same class so just follow me" Squall replied as he walked down the hallway to his locker. "Just give me a second to get my other books."

"Ok" Rinoa replied.

Squall walked to his locker, put in his combination, and got his books out. "Alright, let's go" He said and again walked down the hallway to room 213.

Rinoa and Squall entered the classroom and went to go and pick out their seats. Squall headed for the back of the room while Rinoa got a seat up front. There, sitting next to Rinoa, was Selphie Tilmitt, one of Squall's friends.

"Hey there, you must be new, I'm Selphie Tilmitt, what's your name?" Selphie stated in her usual energetic fashion.

"Rinoa Heartilly" Rinoa stated back.

"Nice to meet you and this cowboy next to me is Irvine Kinneas, and the one next to him is Zell Dincht" Selphie said introducing the rest of the gang.

"Hi everybody" Rinoa said.

When the teacher walked in, everyone quieted down and began to do their work. What Squall didn't realize was Quisitis was the teacher for Junctioning for this term. When she entered the room Squall froze and his face paled.

'Oh god please why do I need to be subjected to this torture?' Squall thought to himself. His eyes then darted down to his paper and they remained there for the rest of the class, not once looking up at Quisitis.

When class was over, Squall quickly packed his bag and left the room before Quisitis had a chance to talk to him. He didn't want to have to deal with her anymore for the rest of the day. Rinoa noticed that Squall had left the class in a hurry and wondered if she should go ask him if he's alright, but decided against it when Selphie told her that she would show Rinoa around the school. Rinoa spent the rest of the day on a tour from Selphie to get her used to Balamb Garden.

A/N: Alright, here is the second chapter, pretty long if I do say so myself. Anyway, R&R and check out my other story an IY/KAG fic called "The New Kid" See Ya! Kat