Disclaimer: I don't own FF8, but maybe someone could give it to me as a birthday present? I turn 18 really soon, you know…

Remember the Nights
Chapter 2: First Memory

"Tell me, why in Hyne's name are we in Trabia again?"

Rinoa cringed as she came to an abrupt stop hovering above the glimmering snow. Her wings gave an involuntary twitch as she prepared to answer the question for the umpteenth time in a single hour. The fairy turned to face her companion, only to find a surly look across his hardened features. Tension mounted in her temples as she sighed, hoping only to relieve her irritation.

"I told you already," Rinoa said, rolling her eyes. "Lady Amora was a believer in the strength of opposites. Where one falters, the other could pick up the pieces. It is said that is why she and Sir Stormwind were such an undefeatable couple."

She heard his large supply bag hit the ground with a satisfying 'plop' and narrowed her eyes at the commander. "I know that," Squall spat, now working out a stiff shoulder. "But what does it have to with being in Trabia?"

"Lady Amora was blessed by sunlight, remember? So with her way of thinking, she would trust that a precious resurrection item would be safe in a place completely opposite of her powers."

"And you put all of that together and figured out that it means that she'd give something this important to Shiva, of all people?"

Rinoa nodded as innocently as she could despite the murderous look in Squall's steely blue eyes. He merely shook his head, as if trying to restrain himself from using her petite body as gunblade practice.

"You really knew all of that information off of the top of your head?" Squall finally asked after a few stilted moments.

Rinoa let out a haughty chuckle. "No…I, uh, had help from a friend."

"Rin, are you even paying attention?"

The raven-haired fairy blinked and found a fiery blonde in front of her with rimmed glasses perched atop an elegant nose. Her eyes held a blue intensity with untold amounts of knowledge inside them. The blonde waved a pencil in front of the younger fairy's face while tucking her notebook possessively to her bosom.

Rinoa giggled embarrassedly. "Sorry, Quisty, I guess I spaced out."

"Really, I would think you'd take this a little more seriously," Quistis scolded, clicking her tongue. "You are Lady Amora's royal advisor! It's your duty to know Amoran history, just like it's mine to know Veritan history and Selphie's to know Terran history."

"Gack!"

Both fairies turned their heads in attention to the sudden sound. Beside Rinoa, a brunette lay in a crumpled heap of body limbs and notes with her chair on its side next her. Giggles escaped her lips as she looked up at her two friends with giddy emerald eyes.

Rinoa could not help but let out a few giggles herself. "Yeah, Quist, Selphie's really taking this seriously."

"Aww, Rinny, don't be like that!" Selphie protested, sticking her pink tongue out at the dark-haired girl. "I'm smarter than I look! For instance, Lady Terra's alliances, aside from the other two sorceresses, were with Siren, patron saint of Dollet, as well as with Doomtrain, spirit of status effect magic and the Esthar plains."

Quistis and Rinoa sat stunned with mouths ajar. "That…that's right, Selphie!" the blonde managed to stammer out, still in disbelief. She quickly recomposed herself and turned to the brown-eyed fairy beside her. "See, Rin, the reason why we need to know this stuff is because if we ever need assistance while we're out on our mission, we can go to our allies. We can throw sorceress names around and we will be assisted—so long as we're in the right place."

The blue-clad fairy pursed her lips and fidgeted her fingers for a few moments before finally giving in to what she called the "Professor Quisty tone". With her head hung in defeat, she conceded. "Okay then…so, who were Lady Amora's allies?"

Quistis smiled and readjusted her glasses. "Well, according to lecture the other day," she began, rifling through several pages of notes until she found the page she wanted, "Lady Amora was attracted to forces opposite from hers. She believed that by surrounding herself with people whose strengths were different from hers, she could compensate for her own weaknesses. Thus, she allied herself with Shiva, the famous Ice Goddess, and alternately, Lord Ifrit of the fire caverns."

Rinoa nodded with understanding showing in her brown eyes. She looked at her two best friends with a wistful smile. They had met early on in life, drawn together by their shared destiny. Now, with the latest news of activity occurring on the surface on the moon, the three girls knew there was little time left before they would be forced away from the safety of their friendship trinity.

"It's almost time, isn't it?" Selphie piped up, having figured out what her friend was thinking. Rinoa merely managed to nod blankly, and Quistis rubbed her sore eyes. They joined hands and exchanged reassuring glances. In just a few more weeks, they would depart on the most important mission of their lives.
"Hey, watch out!"

Squall's voice carried from outside Rinoa's memories and threw the fairy back into reality. However, his warning came a second too short. Rinoa took one more unaware step forward, and smacked herself headfirst into a baby blue dragon.

The impact sent her reeling and she blinked away the stun from her eyes. Behind her, she heard Squall utter a profanity and a second later she felt his gloved hand shove her out of the way. She landed roughly on the frozen tundra and her jaw dropped at the sight before her. Squall had drawn Lionheart, and now held it above his head to defend from an angry maternal blue dragon.

"Take care of the baby!" the commander yelled out, instinctively taking charge.

Rinoa shot up quickly and her wings flickered behind her. "Stop!" she cried out, and the rampaging enemies halted in their tracks. She let out a heavy breath and rubbed her forearms to get the blood flowing once again. "That was close, wasn't it?" she grinned, trying her best not to look shaken.

"What were you doing?" The commander had fire burning in his cold eyes, lighting up his frosty features. "You could have gotten us both killed just now!"

They walked briskly, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the fierce dragons while the stop spell endured. Despite the frenzy, Rinoa found herself with room to question the knight. "What's your problem? We got out of there alive, didn't we?"

He suddenly whipped around, his fists balled in fury. "If you call a measly stop spell 'getting out of there', sure. But Hyne, if you had just been paying attention in the first place, we wouldn't have gotten into that mess!" He was screaming now, utterly bewildered by her lack of awareness. "What could you have been thinking about that could have gotten you so off guard?"

The fairy bristled, shocked by his unprecedented anger. "I…I was… That's none of your business!" she shot back, her mocha eyes staring daggers into his electrifying blue ones. "So stop being a big fat meanie head and drop it, will you?"

"Maybe I will if you'd just stop being so damn weak!"

Something about his words snapped a fuse inside the young advisor. "I'll show you who's weak!" The wind picked up as her eyes flashed a golden gleam across her irises and her hair blew about her face wildly. She began to chant ancient words that flowed from days long past. "I call upon the lady Sun and the Galbadian winds! Wear down their wiles with your strength, with your heat flay their skins!"

Squall's eyes widened, his senses now heightened by the excessive amount of magical energy in the air. He put his hands up to try to defend himself as he approached the furious fairy. "Hey…that's a big spell! Be careful!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Rinoa snarled back at him. Her body hung limply in the air now, supported only by the wind she summoned as the rest of her efforts went to collecting energy at her fingertips.

The commander paled. Despite his limited knowledge of fairy magic, he did not have to a lot to understand that the amount of energy Rinoa was about to use in her blind ire could undoubtedly harm them both. "Rinoa, stop it!"

He could see her body start to flounder as it dangled helplessly in the air. The glow around her began to fade, and the young fairy finally began to get worried about her reckless actions. Her vision was getting hazy, and then suddenly, it all blacked out.

"How dare you try to speak to a lady of the courts in such a manner, Stormwind!"

A young woman barely in her twenties stood her ground, black hair swirling about her head. In front of her, a knight with a fierce expression stood clenching his fists.

"Well if you weren't so damn weak," Stormwind spat out, his anger rivaling her own, "Maybe you wouldn't need a knight to begin with!"

"How dare you!" Amora screeched, her fingers twitching. "I…I'll show you! I call upon the Lady Sun and the Galbadian Winds! Wear down their wiles with your strength, with your heat flay their skins!"

Stormwind suddenly grew nervous, recognizing how the strength of the spell could easily pose a threat to him and his charge. But her stance soon buckled under the pressure of the spell, and he ran forward through the intense winds and caught her in his arms.

"Amora, are you okay?"

"Rinoa, are you okay?"

Squall gently tapped the fairy's cheek to try to stir her back into consciousness. "Come on, wake up!"

Slowly, her dark eyes began to open, and upon locking with those of the commander, she immediately blushed and scrambled out of his grasp. But the moment she tried to stand up, her legs wobbled and she caught his shoulder for stability once again.

"Er…thanks for catching me," Rinoa mumbled, obviously embarrassed. Her head felt heavy, as did the rest of her body, a telltale sign that she had drained herself. "I need to regain my energy. Do you mind?"

Before Squall could answer, a wave of light washed over her body, and when it faded, the commander could say he had been surprised twice in his life. Somehow, Rinoa's body, while already small, had gone from being five-foot-three to five-point-three inches. She giggled and her eyes, still just as bright despite their new size, flashed him a mischievous look. She dove towards his chest and somehow managed to bury herself within one of the inside pockets of Squall's leather jacket.

"What the hell are you doing?" the commander asked, undoubtedly surprised by the tiny fairy residing comfortably inside his breast pocket. He held the side of his jacket open by holding it at the zipper, exposing the small, winged creature to the elements.

Rinoa let out a sheepish giggle. "It's a fairy thing. When I'm out of energy, I recharge like this," she said, pointing to her petite stature. "Now, would you mind? I'm trying to rest up! Close the curtains!"

"Whatever." Completely confused, Squall let go of his grip on his jacket and walked numbly forward, if only to avoid further thinking on what just happened.

Inside, Rinoa stifled another giggle and fished out a small, twinkling device from the inside of her pocket. It was shaped like a makeup compact made up of two golden components hinged together and shut closed with a winged insignia. The fairy popped the item open, revealing a screen on the top component and a few lit buttons beneath it.

"Love to Truth and Earth, over," she said into the tiny microphone at the bottom of the device. "Hey, are you guys there?"

The screen crackled for a moment before showing a bubbly brunette with upturned hair and shining green eyes. "Rinny! Oh Hyne, I've missed you so much!"

"Earth, use the code names," said a second voice. The screen crackled once more and then showed a dignified-looking blonde with sapphire eyes. "You never know who could be listening in."

"Who would be listening to three fairies getting together for some girl talk over the fae-net?" Rinoa asked, curious.

"Anti-sorceress factions, that's who," said Quistis as she adjusted her glasses. "So please, use the code names. We need to be careful."

"Oh, fine," Selphie agreed, pouting. "Anyway, what'd you buzz us for, Love?"

Rinoa sucked in her breath, unsure of how she could inform her friends of what just had taken place. She tilted her face back up to the screen, all the while fiddling with her fingers.

"I think I just had my first memory, guys."

Both of the fairies on the small screen gasped, their eyes widening. Selphie let out a wide grin and Quistis smiled accordingly. "Well, well?" Selphie prodded, wanting to know more. "Tell us everything!"

The blue-dressed fairy laughed embarrassedly at her friend's eagerness. "Lady Amora and Sir Stormwind were in a fight. Lady Amora got so angry that she tried to use the Burning Gale hex."

Quistis looked impressed. "The Burning Gale hex? But that's really high-level magic! Did she pull it off?"

Rinoa shook her head. "No, she drained herself. She ended up falling and Sir Stormwind caught her…" She stalled for a moment, still trying to figure out exactly how she had ended up in the same predicament with Squall just a few minutes earlier. "…and that's all I saw," she lied, deciding not to tell them until she understood it all herself.

Selphie would try to make a big deal of it and say we're destined for each other or something like that, she reasoned to herself. But that's not possible, because he's meant for Lady Amora, not me—not that I'd want him.

"Seems like there was trouble in paradise," Quistis commented. "I'm guessing that means you found Sir Stormwind?"

The fairy nodded as if she wished the statement was not true. "Yeah…would you believe it? He's the commander of Balamb Garden! And he's Gaia's biggest meany head, that's for sure! He's so anti-social and…he's just irritating!"

Selphie giggled and tucked a rogue strand of hair behind her ear. "Hey, I think I'd take that over Sir Roughshot's reincarnation. He's so perverted! I mean, he's kind of cute—" at this, she blushed slightly and turned away from the screen to hide the red on her cheeks "—but he flirts with every girl he meets!"

"At least he's probably well-mannered," Quistis interjected, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. In the corner of her eye she caught a lone figure and a mischievous smile curled onto her lips. And then, in the biggest voice Rinoa and Selphie had ever heard her talk in, she announced, "BECAUSE SEIFER ALMASY IS THE RUDEST, MOST ARROGANT REINCARNATION OF SIR CROSSFIRE TO EVER EXIST."

A loud protest came from behind Quistis, and Selphie and Rinoa erupted into a fit of laughter. After a few minutes, the laughter subsided and a tense silence filled the empty conversation.
"I really miss you guys," Selphie said, a worn smile on her face. Rinoa and Quistis exchanged their own mute nods of agreement. Each fairy silently took note of their shared loneliness now that they were on their own.

"Rinoa. Hey, Rinoa, get out here."

The raven-haired fairy turned to her friends apologetically. "That's Squall. Sorry, but I guess I gotta cut the call short."

"That's okay! We'll talk again soon, okie dokie?" Selphie piped, ever chipper.

"Be careful out there, alright?" Both Rinoa and Selphie traded looks. Constant warnings were a typical Quistis action.

Rinoa shut off the fae-net compact and floated her way toward Squall's jacket zipper. She popped her head outside of the leather material and saw an icy cave before her.

"We're here."

Author's Note: OH MY GYAD. I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. Please don't hurt me. I got so busy for a while, and then my inspiration just went ker-splat. I'm the kind of writer that can't be forced to write, so I had to wait for it to hit me again…and it didn't come back until the other night. Oopsies.

But oh man, you guys leave the nicest reviews! They make me so happy. After reading them, I tried to force myself to write this chapter despite my horrible writer's block, and yeah. See? You guys can totally get my writing motor running. You can leave me comments as a birthday present (I turn 18 on December 21, yay)!

Oh, and if this chapter isn't enough for you (it was plenty for me—I didn't think it would be this long!), I posted a one-shot Squinoa not that long ago called Release. It's far more angsty and fast-paced that Remember the Nights, but I'm very fond of it nonetheless.

And now, a teaser for the next chapter! The Sun Fairy meets the Ice Goddess, and icicle blades are tested against Lionheart. Lady Shiva shows that she holds lots of important information when she passes on a message to the duo. But will she have what Rinoa and Squall need to reawaken Lady Amora?