Legal mumbo jumbo: I own this story, but not any of the entities it contains. The world and characters belong to Square.

A/N: I know, I know; I'm evil and mean and I shouldn't play gimmicks like that. You didn't really think it was over, did you? Once again, I have to take care of logistics and cover some bases with this chapter. And in case you're wondering, I'm not really all that obsessed with a certain female in FF8, but making my in-game persona like that is entertaining!

Also, I apologize profusely for this taking so long! I was on track at the beginning, but school and work completely overwhelmed me to the point of me nearly forgetting about this. As always, reviews help boost my confidence and motivate me to get off my lazy butt and write! I've managed to get a bunch of scenes planned out, but the only problem is connecting them, so forgive me if things move very quickly after this chapter. I love filling in the little moments and details, but this story would drag on forever. Anyways, thanks for bearing with me and I'm glad to get back at it!

Previously: Matt took a trip to Balamb with Selphie and Irvine to stock up on necessities for the upcoming school year. Irvine revealed feelings of wanting to quit being a SeeD and find a place to settle down with Selphie, and Matt was caught off-guard by a monster yet again.

Chapter 5: The Woman in Red

I had just woken up, but still had my face buried in my pillow. I wanted to go back to sleep, but my body wouldn't let me. My mind said sleep, but my body said get out of bed. I finally mustered up enough strength to lift my head up and open my eyes.

I thought about the dream I just had while it was still fresh in my mind. If I didn't think of it now, it would slip away and I'd never be able to remember it ever again.

I dreamt that I was back home again. Well I guess I shouldn't say "home", but rather, my old world. This new world had become my new home, and even though it had only been a week, I was actually quite used to calling Garden my home. Although there was a part of me that was glad it was just a dream, I still felt a little depressed because of it. In that dream I was finally back where I belonged and the whole ordeal was unexplainably over.

I threw my legs out of bed, sat up, and took a glance around the room. It was quite a mess. After that day in Balamb, I was too lazy and tired to unpack everything, so there were various piles of clothing and boxes of random crap like books, notepads, a backpack, and all the other miscellaneous school supplies, as well as necessities for my room like an alarm clock, a small fan, and there was even a box in the corner filled with my toiletries. Of course, I'd only be in that room for a few more days. During the upcoming weekend I would move into the suite with Zell and we'd get to spend a week unpacking and setting up before classes started, so there was really no need to waste time spreading out my stuff if I was just going to move it again so soon.

Since I wasn't able to fall back asleep, I picked up a towel, washcloth, some shampoo and soap, and headed towards the showers in the bathroom at the end of the hall. I preferred to take showers at night before I went to sleep, but I had nothing better to do at the moment and standing up in the shower, getting every inch of my body soaked with water would help me wake up.

After 5 minutes of actually washing my hair and body, and 20 just standing there under the showerhead, I dried off, got dressed in clean clothes, and walked back to my room. By then it was 8 am (or 08:00 as I soon learned; their world all went by military time) and I figured the cafeteria would be open for breakfast, so I headed that way.

The smell of warm food filled the air as I entered the near-empty cafeteria. Light was shining through the glass ceiling and the granite floor was illuminated. Even though I hated mornings, the one part I did like about them was how peaceful it could be. I picked up a tray from a cart near the entrance and browsed through the various stations of food. Once I had my eggs, potatoes, a bowl of cereal, and some water, I made my way to the seating area. I spotted Zell among the four or five other students, and approached him.

He didn't see me walk up to him since he was busy reading a manual of some sort.

"Hey, Zell."

He jumped a little in surprise and quickly looked up. "Oh! Hey, what's up."

I laughed and said, "Sorry, man, I didn't mean to spook you. Mind if I sit down?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. And don't worry, I was stuck reading this stupid instructor training booklet. We've got training all this week, and I'm a first-time instructor, so I gotta study and review some stuff I forgot from a long time ago."

I sat down across from him and began eating.

Zell put down his book and asked, "So what brings you here so early in the morning? Selphie said she had a tough time getting you and Irvine up the other day."

I finished chewing some food and swallowed, "I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to come by and get breakfast."

"How do you like those crappy dorm beds? The ones in the suites are much nicer; I can't wait to move in this weekend!" He sounded genuinely excited, even over a simple thing like a bed.

"Eh, they're alright I guess. I didn't have much trouble falling asleep, but I did have a crazy dream." I continued on and told him about my dream of being back in my own bed in my own world.

"Whoa, man, that's strange! And you said it felt so real?"

"Yeah it did. Who knows, maybe I was back in my own world for a brief moment there…" I trailed off, sounding a little saddened.

Zell noticed this, and leaned forward and grinned reassuringly, "Don't worry, Matt, you'll make it back one day!"

I nodded, "We'll see. It was weird, though. I was kind of happy to be back in my own world, but I did miss this one. I've only just got here. I'd still like to get know you guys and spend a lot more time here. This will be a very long and fun vacation for me, in a sense." I chuckled at the thought.

"Yeah it'll be a lot fun, becoming a SeeD. Hey! We should start training together! I'll teach you everything about martial arts, and you can learn about combat, oh and you'll probably have to take a class on magic and the occult, I love that stuff!" Zell got carried away in his excitement. I couldn't tell if this was because he was a morning person, or if he was always this energetic and enthusiastic.

I laughed, "Alright, Zell, calm down. We'll have plenty of time to train and do that other stuff. When do you finish your instructor training?"

"We finish up on Friday, and then we've got a week off to get settled into our new rooms and have a break before classes start," he answered.

"Well how about we start training next week, then. In the meantime I'll visit the training center and try to get started on my own." I figured I would be able to handle a Grat or two on my own, live targets were much more fun than a static heavy-bag. But then again, I didn't fare too well against more than a few Bite Bugs and a Caterchipillar.

"You guys don't happen to have a gym here, do you?" I asked Zell.

"Oh of course we do! It's upstairs above the training center, just take the elevator up and walk down the hall to the right. It's got some weights, workout equipment, and even a small pool!"

"Ah thank god for that, I've already had enough trouble with monsters. I can hold off on those for a bit." I said, relieved.

I continued eating a little bit more food and Zell studied his manual some more and then he paused.

"Wait, what was that you said?" Zell asked.

"Huh?" I was confused.

"After I described the gym. What did you say after I described the gym?"

"Umm… I've had enough trouble with monsters, I can fight some more later." I said, even more confused than before.

"No, no, before that." Zell inquired further.

I thought for a few seconds, trying to think what I said before that. Then it finally came to me, "Thank god for that, I've already—"

"That!" Zell exclaimed, interrupting me.

"Thank god for that?" I asked. "What's the big deal?"

"What does that mean? Is it some weird phrase or dialect from your world?" Zell wondered.

"Oh. It's just… like… a phrase we say, I guess." I still wasn't completely sure what to say, but then I remembered some brief trivia from the game. "Wait a sec! Yeah, I know now. You guys say things like 'Thank Hyne', or 'Oh my Hyne'. Where I come from, we use the word 'god'. It's kind of like the same thing."

"Mmm, ok that explains it. At first I was wondering what kind of gibberish you were talking about." Zell said, laughing a little.

"Well don't worry about it. It's kind of ingrained in my head, just something that's part of my speech. You'll probably hear me say it a lot more often, so I guess just try to ignore it, or laugh at me, or whatever," I reassured him.

I continued eating my breakfast and Zell went back to reading his manual. A few minutes later Quistis joined us and she and Zell talked about what they'd be going over in the instructor training. For a while we sat and chatted until it was nearly 09:00. The two instructors had to get going, and I was about to head back to my room.

Quistis suddenly turned around to me, "Oh Matt, I almost forgot. You have a couple things you need to do today. You need to get your picture taken and an ID card made, then you'll have to take those placement tests we talked about."

"Oh boy, sounds like fun," I said sarcastically while rolling my eyes.

She giggled then continued on, "Just take the elevator up to the second floor and cross the bridge. Then go down the hall to the left a little bit and you should see a Student Affairs Office. They know you're coming so just tell them your name and they'll tell you what to do and where to go."

I nodded, "Cool, thanks."

Quistis stood there for a few seconds, staring at me. It felt a little awkward and I was wondering if she had anything else to tell me.

Then she snapped out of her trance and said, "Yes, well I'll see you around." She turned back and headed toward the entrance to the cafeteria where Zell was waiting for her.

I was a bit perplexed by Quistis' shyness. In the game she always seemed in control, was assertive, and direct. I chuckled and thought,

Maybe she likes me? That'll be the day! There's no way I could get a stunning beauty like her.

Quistis was one of the best-looking women I had seen. She wasn't what I would call "hot". I reserved "hot" for women who were good-looking, but in almost a whorish way; the ones who wore too much makeup and aged quickly. I could see Quistis as being the kind of girl who looked cute no matter what. She didn't need makeup, it didn't matter if she was wearing glasses or not, had her hair up or down, she was consistently gorgeous. I didn't know how much time I spent standing there thinking about Quistis, but I realized it must have been a while.

Oh, wow. Maybe I'm the one who likes her?

Back in my home world I didn't have my eyes set on anyone, and wasn't really interested in a girlfriend. But here in Balamb Garden, after just a few days, I was already picturing myself with a lovely young instructor. I just wanted to stroke her creamy skin, smell her strawberry blonde hair.

My god, I must be madly in love with her or something. Anyways, you've got to focus! No time to think about her right now, gotta take those stupid tests and get that I.D.

I snapped out of my spell and exited the cafeteria.

I found the office Quistis mentioned and talked to the student employee there. I got my picture taken, filled out some basic information, and then followed his directions to a nearby classroom.

The room was completely empty. There were about twenty desks for the students, and a large blackboard in the front, with a desk for the teacher. Unlike the classroom I first saw Squall in, during the game, these desks didn't have any computers, and were much closer together. It must have been one of their smaller, low-tech rooms. I tapped on the desk and twiddled my thumbs for a few minutes until an instructor entered.

We introduced ourselves and she explained the procedure. I'd have to take three tests, each two hours long. The subjects were math, science, and writing. After that there would be a few brief SeeD quizzes, just to see how much I knew about things like magic, GFs, and other aspects that were part of SeeD curriculum, yet were simple gameplay mechanics for someone like me.

When the instructor mentioned science, I hoped that physics, chemistry, astronomy, and the like worked the same in their world as they did in mine. I was good at science and didn't think I'd have a problem with the test so long as there weren't any curveballs.

Maybe gravity doesn't exist on their planet—wait a sec, maybe they don't even call it a planet! Are there other planets in their solar system? How close are they to the sun?

My mind began to run a mile a minute and I nearly panicked. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I had finished two years of college in the real world, but this SeeD stuff was just high school level. This should be a piece of cake.

Six long hours later I handed in the last of my exams. She set down the book she was reading and pulled out a small stack of SeeD quizzes.

I groaned, "Oh, man! I almost forgot about those."

She smiled and reassured me, "Don't worry. These will be easy."

I took them from her and sat back down at my desk. I really wasn't worried at all. In fact, the placement tests I took were quite simple and I felt I nailed nearly every question. Hopefully I'd pass them all and get away with taking just one year of classes before becoming a SeeD. It would be a terrible experience to be dropped into a fun and exciting new world, only to have to go back to school for years on end.

The SeeD quizzes were actually a bit of fun, and I managed to do alright considering I had played through the game not too long ago. It asked questions ranging from what cards can refine to what items, and what elementals certain Guardian Forces are.

I finished quickly and was happy to be done. Sitting in a desk writing for hours on end and taking multiple tests had given me a nasty headache. Once I handed everything in, I went back to my room to take a nap.

I awoke an hour or so later and thought what to do next. Without any real friends in Garden yet, and the orphanage gang busy, I was left bored. I would have gone to see what Irvine and Selphie were up to, but I didn't even know where they lived. As a matter of fact, I knew where no one lived; I was just lucky enough to have them find me or bump into them at other places.

I decided to check out the gym. I got dressed in some workout clothes and recalled Zell's instructions. It's a shame the gym wasn't shown in the game, it was a pretty cool place. In one room were some free weights, another room had machines, then there were several other small rooms, some with punching bags, others with soft mats on the floor and mirrors on the wall. At the far end towards the back was a line of bike machines and treadmills. The coolest part was that there were panes of glass instead of a wall, and it overlooked the main training center. I could see some monsters roaming about, and even caught a glimpse of a couple students running past them towards the "secret area".

Oh, kids. Can't contain themselves… Maybe someday Quistis and I will go there. Oh no, not Quistis again!

I couldn't help but notice she was infiltrating my thoughts. I really didn't like feeling this way. There was nothing I could do, and I let a simple pause in a conversation get the best of me. I didn't stand a chance with her, and I needed to pull my head out of the clouds and just get a good workout in.

After about an hour and a half of riding a bike and lifting some weights I headed out. On my way out I passed the pool and took a look inside. It was a small one with just 3 lanes and was the kind that had the length of half the Olympic size. I decided that tomorrow I'd have to go for a swim. I was on a swim team as a child and had always loved swimming, but never had much time for it when I got older. I smiled to myself and hoped to bring back some fond memories and get back into it again.

I wonder if Quistis goes for hot swimmers with six-packs?

I shouldn't have woken up that morning. I was hopelessly attracted to a girl that would soon be my instructor and probably my personal tutor as well. All kinds of thoughts entered my head when I remembered her offer to help me outside of class with any school work. If anything, this little crush would get me motivated to get back into shape and do well in classes to impress her.

Once I made it back to the dorms I showered off and then tried to organize my room so that things would be somewhat tidy and to kill some time. Just a few days earlier I was scared of running into any fellow students since I wasn't quite sure what I would say or if I would be able to interact with them without coming off as a lunatic who thought he was from another world. But at this point, I wished classes were in session and much more people were moved in. I was bored out of my mind with no one to talk to or hang out with and nothing in my room to entertain me.

I considered going to the library, but its hours were very limited during the summer, and it wasn't open at the moment. Once the hours were expanded during the school year, I would probably be spending a lot of time there, but not to get any reading done. No one around here had any personal computers; the ones in certain classrooms weren't very equipped and mainly had instructional programs on them, but I expected the computers in the library to be connected to some kind of world wide web. Back in the old world, if I was bored I could always peruse about the internet and find something entertaining, but here in Balamb Garden, I wasn't sure what to do instead. Perhaps Esthar would have been a better place for me to end up? It was definitely more technologically advanced, but then again, the people there probably weren't as friendly or social (aside from their President of course!).

Thankfully, my boredom ended when I heard a knock on the door. It was Zell and Quistis. They were going to dinner and invited me to come along; Squall, Selphie, and Irvine were going to meet us at the cafeteria.

Dinner was pretty uneventful, just petty conversation, filled with occasional laughter. I kept finding my attention being diverted towards Quistis, and it was annoying me. No matter how hard I tried I kept stealing glances at her, or I stopped listening to the conversation and got lost in my own world of thought. I didn't think it was noticeable, but a few times the gang would ask me if I was ok, and then joke that I was starting to act like typical Squall.

Once we finished, it had gotten late and everyone headed to their rooms. Zell and Quistis asked me if they should wake me up the next morning for breakfast again, but I was too tired and wanted to sleep in, so I declined. I got back to my room and immediately hit the sack and passed out.

I spent the next few days exercising, browsing the library's catalogue and using their computers, as well as hanging out with the gang when they weren't busy. I was excited when move-in day finally came around. Zell came over to my room in the late morning and we went to have lunch, and then moved our stuff into the nice suites.

The suite was better than any dorm room I had ever had. There was a central living room area with a couch, TV set, and radio, and a little kitchen area was off to the side. On either end of the living area was each of our bedrooms. The rooms were a bit cozy, but I since I didn't have much belongings, I liked that it was small. In the bedroom was a bed, a desk, a dresser, and a small closet.

Zell and I spent all day moving our stuff in, chatting, and lounging about. Much to my liking, Zell wasn't 100 percent hyper all the time. I'm more of a laid-back, mellow kind of guy, so I liked sitting around doing nothing with my downtime. Zell enjoyed the same, but only every so often. Most of his free time was spent outdoors, training or just walking around and visiting people.

Once I finally got everything situated in my room so I wouldn't have to worry about anything tomorrow, I laid my tired body down in bed and got ready to pass out.

Well it's official now. Welcome to your new, and more permanent home.