Author's note: This chapter is coming sooner than my chapters usually do but I have to admit that it's been hard because I just got back into my winter quarter of college. However, I'm really excited about finishing an entire fanfic so I really want to be able to complete this one.

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Quistis awoke feeling utterly lost and alone. It was only her tenth day in Winhill and she had already decided to leave for home.

(So much for three weeks Quistis…I just can't stay here anymore. He doesn't want me and it's over. I can still just leave well enough alone and go live my life with Seifer.) Quistis tried to convince herself.

When she had packed all her things, Quistis opened the door to her motel room. She was struck oddly by the appearance of the outside world. It wasn't foggy anymore. Yet, dark, ominous clouds of the deepest gray hung over Winhill. Not just any dark clouds that could blot out the sun. Rather, dark and powerful clouds that signified an intensity of weather Quistis hadn't seen in a long time and she was certain Winhill had rarely, if ever, seen.

It was early in the morning and Quistis left her bags in her room. She made her way to Zell's door and left a note attached to the door. It simply stated:

Zell, I'm leaving Winhill today at 1:00 this afternoon.

If you want to see me before I leave, meet me there

at 12:30. I hope I'll see you there.

Love,

Quistis

Quistis then proceeded to make the trek back to her motel to pick up her things.

What Quistis didn't know was that Zell had watched her put that note on his door and as soon as she was out of sight he opened his door and read it.

Zell didn't know what to think anymore. (I love her, I absolutely love her…but, she's in love with Seifer and she treats me differently every time anyone's around. So, the question is this Zell…Do I go or not?)

While Zell pondered the question he had posed, Quistis was making arrangements at the airport. She had to shell out a good amount of gil to convince the pilot to fly home that very same day. She just didn't care anymore. She had to get out of here. She hated Winhill and hated everything it meant to her. This rogue, wild village that had nothing but fog and an old friend.

As Quistis looked around the landing strip she stood on, she saw only three planes on the entire "airport." Apparently, those three planes made up the entire Winhill fleet.

Quistis looked around at the place she had lived for the last ten days of her life. A tear fell from her eye as she said goodbye to this painted wasteland. This town held nothing but despair and anger. It was as if the place breathed those two emotions out onto every person who landed here in the very place she stood.

Quistis handed her bags to the gentleman who was circling the place, making last minute checks of the airplane's equipment. He smiled at her and put the bags into the airplane's cabin. Quistis looked up at the sky and wondered if she had made the right choice to fly that tiny plane to Balamb through those increasingly ominous clouds.

"Hey, do you know what time it is?" Quistis yelled to the pilot.

"Yeah, it's about 12:40. You going to be ready to go at 1:00 still?" The pilot questioned back.

Quistis pursed her lips outward. "Let's go…let's just go now."

The pilot nodded and headed up the steps onto the plane and got into the cockpit. Quistis started to walk up the stairs onto the airplane and when she reached the last step, she turned around and looked out one last time.

To her surprise, there stood Zell. At the very edge of the landing strip, not moving toward her or away from her. Just standing still right there. Quistis bolted down the steps and took off towards him. Yet, as soon as she started running, she stopped. She stayed right where she was, only 10 feet from the steps that led to the plane.

(If he wants to tell me something, he can come to me.) Quistis thought indignantly to herself.

Zell continued to be full of surprises. He began to walk towards her at an even pace. When he stood only a few feet in front of her; they both paused. There was an awkward silence that ensued until Quistis shattered it.

"So, why'd you come?" Quistis questioned Zell.

Zell sniffed and then scratched his cheek. However, his expression didn't change; it stayed calm and stoic. "I wanted to say goodbye."

"To Winhill?" Quistis asked smiling softly.

Zell didn't respond.

"So, why are you leaving right now?" Zell asked.

"So, I can get home by tonight. They're having a ball tonight." Quistis smiled at him.

"Oh. Who told you that?" Zell asked nonchalantly.

"Rinoa; she called me the other day before Seifer left. If I get home, maybe I can go enjoy it." Quistis said, trailing her final words off, knowing full well if she made it back, she wouldn't enjoy it.

Zell nodded softly.

"Zell, you can still come home. Right now, with me on this flight right here." Quistis offered.

"Why would I come home? What possible purpose would that serve?" Zell's voice rose but it maintained a calm attitude.

"If nothing else, me." Quistis replied sincerely.

Zell held in a scoff. "Quistis, if there is one thing this whole trip of yours proved to me, it was that I couldn't have you." Zell said matter-of-factly.

Quistis' face was deathly serious.

"I love you Zell and I mean that." Quistis turned around and held her chin with her right hand, waiting for his response. Where she had hoped he would respond in kind, she instead found a biting question.

"And Seifer?" Zell's words seemed to ring out across the landing strip.

Quistis slowly turned around again to face him. Zell's heart melted as tears began to fall from Quistis' face.

"Look Zell, if you come back with me, I can't make you any guarantees that we'll be together. I love Seifer. I really do. I love him with all of my heart. He's been great to me." She paused to wipe her face off and she spoke ever so softly when she started speaking again. "When Seifer left yesterday, he told me something. He told me to leave my feelings for you here, along with you. So I'm leaving Winhill…because I can't be here with you anymore. It hurts too much to be around you Zell. I just can't do it. But, I'll let you in on a secret Zell. As much as I can't stay here, there's something even more that I can't do. I can't leave my feelings for you here. I can't, they're just too strong. I love you Zell with a passion I've never known and maybe that would've or still will blossom into something more but I can't promise it. What I can promise though is a better life." Quistis' heart poured out into her words.

Zell felt a huge lump welling up in his throat. "Anything would be better than the life I would live if I had to go back to Balamb to watch you and Seifer build a life together." Zell's voice had lost it's calm tone and a soft, angsty one replace it.

"No, anything would be better than the excuse of a life you live out here." Quistis stomped her foot as she cried out the words.

"Zell, I'm sor…" Quistis started. Zell dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"It's just a little too late Quistis. I was really considering it, I really was. I just can't take that chance of being burned again. I think it's best if we just leave my heart right here in pieces. Maybe when it has some time to mend, I'll head back to Balamb." Zell said, seemingly shifted between wanting and not wanting to go.

Quistis tears started to fall again listening to Zell talk about his heart. She threw out one final desperate plea to him.

"Zell, come home with me." Quistis begged.

"I can't. I just can't."

That was when Zell felt it. It landed on his left forearm. At first, he wasn't sure what had him. He started to wipe at his face thinking it had been a tear. But no tears fell from his eyes.

Then he looked heavenward. A torrent caught both Quistis and Zell off-guard. They were soaked in seconds and the torrent never let up. Raindrop after raindrop struck every part of their body. The noise of the rain was loud, very loud.

Quistis looked back at Zell and yelled over the downpour.

"Zell, It's raining in Winhill."

"No…it doesn't rain in Winhill." Zell said, as if denying the very existence of his sagging, soppy clothes.

"But it is…it is raining in Winhill." Quistis said with finality. "Goodbye Zell."

She turned away from him and headed to the steps for the airplane. When she reached the final step, she turned back to throw one more gaze at him.

Zell stood completely still, just staring right back at her. Quistis wasn't positive but she thought he was crying. She couldn't tell, he was so still but she swore she saw drops fall directly from his eyes. If so, the potency of his anguish was diluted by the thousands of raindrops that they mixed with. And if not…then this storm seemed to be crying for him, letting out the thousands of tears he had locked away for so long, releasing all the pain and sadness in one torrential monsoon. With one last sigh, Quistis turned back around shut the door of the airplane behind her. She watched Zell fade away as the pilot pulled away from the steps and then took off into the sky.

Zell just stood there. He didn't move. He just let the storm beat down upon him. If Quistis had asked him if he was crying, Zell probably couldn't answer the question himself. All he knew was that this storm was beating down upon him with an intensity he had never before seen nor felt.

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Author's Notes: There you have it, one more chapter to go. We'll see how Balamb is holding up without Zell. I hope you've enjoyed the ride, it's been a four year process that is finally drawing to a close. I've loved every second of it and I hope all of you have been inspired, encouraged and satisfied with "It's Raining in Winhill."

Until Next time,

GrayFox