Disclaimer – I do not own the characters/settings/situations of Final Fantasy 8. Oh well…

This story, and the ones to be posted with it, is a 'snapshot' of little scenes that I imagined while playing the game. I hope everyone likes my quirky interpretations of the characters. :)

Eye of the Storm

Squall shot up into a sitting position on the train bunk. Trying hard not to scream at the memories made reality again by nightmares, he shook like a leaf and struggled to breathe properly.

"Squall? Squall, what is it?" Rinoa sat down beside the dark haired mercenary. "Are you alright?" She reached over and ran her hand over his forehead. "You're all clammy. Oh no, you're sick, aren't you?!"

"I'm not sick," Squall protested, though he knew that the raspy sound of his voice wasn't winning him any points. Rinoa's doubtful stare made that obvious enough. Clearing his throat, he continued. "Really, I'm not."

"Then what is it?"

Squall looked across the train car and settled his gaze on a window. Taking a deep breath, he decided to answer. "In the prison… do you remember hearing someone screaming?"

"Yes…" Rinoa's eyes grew distant. "They told us that it was the sound of our friend being tortured. We thought that they were trying to psyche us out. I didn't think that Seifer was…"

"Capable of something like that?" Squall filled in. Rinoa nodded pathetically. "The guards weren't lying. You were hearing me."

Rinoa's expression grew shocked. "Oh my… I-I'll kill that… that… none of the words I know are bad enough to describe him, and I know enough to make some sailors blush!"

"Tch, tch, do you two need a chaperone?" Zell teased, walking our of the train's engine room.

"No," Rinoa answered sweetly, "but you might need a guardian angel to protect you from my wrath, should you continue to choose to irritate me."

"Ouch… what is it with beautiful women and threatening me these days?" Zell glanced back at the engine room. "I'd say my shift is over, now. Who's next?"

Stumbling to his feet, Squall turned towards the engine room. "Uh-uh," Rinoa objected, latching onto Squall's left arm. "You got stabbed with a giant icicle, tortured, and hung off the side of a sinking building all within the last forty-eight hours. You need more sleep."

"I need rest and I think I've already proved that I'm not going to get any," Squall argued, making a few attempts to pull free of her grasp.

"She's right," Zell walked over and latched onto Squall's other arm to help force him back onto the bunk. "You look like hell's warmed over."

"Check his temperature," Rinoa advised. "Hell has frozen over, not warmed."

Doing as told, Zell reached up to check Squall's temperature. Weakly, Squall batted his tattooed friend away. "Would you both stop?"

Exchanging smirks, Rinoa and Zell shook their heads. "Nope." "Uh-uh."

"I should have brought Irvine and Quistis," Squall muttered half-heartedly. "They'd let me be."

"Not our Quistis. She'd knock you unconcious," Zell winced and rubbed his forehead. "At least… that's what she did to me when I got my tattoo. Apparently, our beautiful instructress didn't approve."

Rinoa giggled and hopped to her feet. "I'll take over the engine room. Both of you: get some sleep. We'll be back at Balamb, soon, and I know you two will be happy to get back home." With her part said, Rinoa walked out of the train car.

"I have a bad feeling that our homecoming isn't going to be as smooth as we've been hoping," Zell muttered. "Nothing's gone right since the Sorceress showed up; why shouldn't everything be messed up?"

"Maybe…" Squall shook his head and lay back down. "Balamb Garden is our home, though. So no matter what might be happening there, I know we'll fight to save it."

"Definitely." Zell clambered up the nearby ladder onto the top bunk.

A/N I admit it. I'm a Squinoa fan. There will be lots of Squinoa in this fanfic series. However, if someone can inspire me with a plot, I wouldn't be averse to writing a Quistis/Squall or a Selphie/Squall story. I'm not too picky about pairings, after all. I just like to have happy characters and a world in one piece.

Also, yay for friends. Squall's gonna have friends whether he likes it or not.