They were kissing. Again. She sighed, and took another sip of red wine. They looked so happy, in love. And here she was. Single, alone and slightly tipsy.

Quistis Trepe was not having a good day, evening or night. Or year, for that matter. Everyone else on the other hand, rest assured, was. Two years later and she was still alone. Not through lack of trying though. Men had came and gone. She had even been engaged at one point, but then had learned her 'significant other' wasn't so significant and had been cheating on her. And so here she was, still moping after Squall.

Yes, she had told herself repeatedly to get over him. It was sisterly love, and that was all. She had even tried blind dates, and eventually had given up; convinced herself maybe love just wasn't for her. She'd be bitter, grow old and live with twenty some cats.

But first, go home get some sleep and get rid of the awful headache she had. The blonde groaned, the red wine evidently hadn't been one of her brighter ideas. She felt nauseous, tired, upset and definitely sick of seeing all of the happy couples.

"Hey, going home so soon?" An arm was slung over her shoulder. "The party just started."

She sighed, trying to figure out where the empty wine glasses were supposed to go back to. "Not now, Irvine." She said, slightly annoyed, quickly removing his hand as she spotted the glass table. A twinge of guilt struck her for blowing him off so abruptly as he was only trying to be friendly. Last time he had tried to put his arm around her Selphie had been there with the video camera and things had gotten ugly. Irvine had spotted a black eye that night courtesy of Selphie.

She quickly found the exit and left hoping no one else saw her leave. She never had been a big fan of parties and the fact that she had a headache wasn't helping any. The hallways were fairly dark, she assumed most of the light energy was being used at the party as it was flashier this year than the last.

Urgh. The wine was definitely getting to her now. Too much wine in such a little amount of time. Too much wine, period now that she thought about it. She brought a hand to the wall, they really should have had restrictions about how many glasses were given out to one individual. She shook her head, and steadied herself out.

Get to your dorm and sleep it off. That was what was going through her head at the moment. So determined she made her way to her dorm. The music was still audible, just muffled by the many walls separating the ballroom from the dorm areas. She proceeded to fumble around with her key card trying to get it through the slot properly. Finally it gave in a beeped and she stumbled into her room, finding her way to the cluttered sink.

The blonde groaned. Dishes. Yesterday she had told herself she was going to do them tonight forgetting all about the party. It wasn't a bright idea to do dishes while intoxicated, but that wouldn't occur to her until later. She sighed and filled the sink with hot water, blearily looking around for the soap before finally finding it hidden under a dishcloth. The sink eventually filled with water and she lazily started on the dishes. Still somewhat tipsy.

She was half asleep, half drunk and yet fully depressed. Twenty years old, and what had she accomplished? She wasn't married, hadn't gotten her license back, and was still moping after the same guy she had for about five years now. How pathetic was that? She only barely heard knocking on her door, she ignored in. She wanted to finish the dishes and go to sleep, whoever wanted to talk to her could talk to her in the morning, and if was that important, they could page her on the P.A.

For as long as the knocking had continued, she had ignored it by making sure the dishes were clean and dried and properly. Finally, the knocking stopped and she was content to finish the dishes in silence. Normally, she would have opened her door and talked to whomever was there; but she wasn't feeling like a social butterfly at the moment. And finally, when she thought the knocking had stopped, she heard the sound of the door knob turning, then the door opening.

"Quistis."

She dropped the dish she had been holding, and it shattered on impact. The blonde closed her eyes and sighed before kneeling down to gather the pieces. "What are you doing here, Squall?" She asked quietly.

"Irvine said you looked sick and you left early."

Traitor, she thought dryly. She retrieved the dust pan her closet and again attempted to collect the rest of the pieces. "I'm fine, really. Shouldn't you be back at the party with Rinoa-" She wined as she cut herself on the piece she had been trying to get into the dust pan.

He didn't seem to notice the fact that she was bleeding, instead he sighed. "No. She said I should come check on you."

Figures, that would be the only reason he would ever come check on her. "Well, you've seen me and I'm fine. I'd imagine Rinoa is waiting for you, so you should probably get going. You wouldn't want to keep her waiting." She told him, grabbing the dishcloth and wrapping it around her hand, trying to stop the bleeding without him noticing.

"Don't give me that." He said coldly.

"Squall, I'm fine, alright? I'm just tired and I have a headache. Now please leave, I'd like to go to sleep." The blonde said, starting to get annoyed.

"I'm not talking about just today. Ever since your engagement got called off-"

"Squall, please just leaveI'm fine." She grit out. "Just go back to the party-"

"Dammit, Quistis!" He yelled, "Stop acting like everything is fine!"

Clutching the cloth, she got up and walked over to her balcony. "Leave, Squall." She said coldly. He didn't budge. "Leave." She repeated, opening the glass doors and stepping out. It's not like he really cared anyways, she told herself.

He followed her out. "You're never around anymore, you're always cooped up in your room. You hardly even talk anymore. Everyone's worried."

"So that's why you're here." She said bitterly. "Because everyone else was worried. I should have known."

He sighed, brushing his hair back. Okay, fine. He deserved that. The blonde sighed, turning over the bloodied dish cloth and again pressing it to her wound.

"You're bleeding." He said quietly.

"Really, Squall? I hadn't noticed." She snapped, instantly regretting. "I'm sorry, that was the alcohol talking." She admitted slowly, bringing her hand to her head. The headache was getting worse, and arguing wasn't making it any better.

"Show me your hand." He said quietly.

"It's nothing, it's just a small cut. I'll be fine."

"It's not fine." Squall told her angrily.

She ignored the last comment, and looked at her hand. It had finally stopped bleeding, she sighed in relief before turning to him. "Do you even care? Or are you just here because Rinoa told you to come!" She wasn't sure if that was the alcohol or her talking that time.

It occurred to him that he probably deserved that one too, even though it hurt to hear it. "There would be set backs with out you, you're a good soldier." Shit. Almost immediately he wanted to take the words back.

"I see." She said, barely audible. Maybe he hadn't changed after all, maybe he still was the person that had told her to talk to the wall two years ago.

Yet again, he had seemed to get himself into an awkward position with her. "I didn't mean it that way."

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." The blonde whispered. It probably would have been a good idea to put some sort of bandage around her arm, but it never quite registered. She faintly heard the band strike up. "You should be getting back… Rinoa will want to dance with you." That last part was some what a lie in itself. It was fairly common knowledge that the two were on the rocks; but everyone just assumed it was just because Squall was nervous about proposing and commitment, and after the whole proposing thing was over they would continue on being the fairy tale couple.

"So that's what it's about. Rinoa and I."

He finally figured it out, and yet she continued to deny it. She shook her head, then deciding it wasn't a good idea as it only contributed to her headache. "I don't like parties, you know that. I wasn't feeling well and I left early. End of story."

What she was telling him was bull, and they both knew it. "Stop lying." She was testing his temper, and soon she was going to get his wrath.

She shook her head stubbornly, "I'm not."

He grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to face him. "What are you so afraid of that you can't tell me?"

Her stomach felt uneasy, and her headache was getting worse. The blonde sighed, it was now or never. Any and all intelligent thoughts she had left just flew out the window.

She kissed him before pulling back quickly. "That." She whispered, she paused before deciding to go all out. "I love you."

Squall stared. This was not happening. She had just had too much to drink, it was the alcohol talking, he told himself. Her eyes said other wise. "I'm sorry, Quistis." He looked away. It had to be done, she had to know, after all. "…I don't love you." He tried to break it to her as gently as possible, and it still sounded brutal.

She took one look and at him and closed her eyes painfully. "I know. Forget… Forget I said anything."

He had never seen her look so hurt, tired... So unstable. She gave him a weak smile, "It's getting late, Squall. Rinoa will be worried if you don't come back soon."

He nodded, walking past her and over to the door, before taking one last look at her. "…Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Squall." She whispered, the door shut slowly and she took a shaky breath. The blonde sighed and looked up at the sky. There were always stars. So many damn stars. And stars reminded her of Squall and Rinoa. And what she had lost.

She had expected rejection, but she didn't know it would hurt so much. She tore her eyes away from the stars, and downwards to the ground. A good fifteen feet, she estimated before she closed her eyes and leaned against the rails.

She was the odd one out. Selphie and Irvine were married, Zell and his library girl were dating, Seifer and Fuujin had eloped and Squall was perfectly happy with Rinoa. Which left her alone. Always alone.

Cid had kept her as SeeD and she was stuck with her fan group whenever she was sent on a mission as she was a good 'role model' as Cid had put it. And whenever she wasn't on missions, she was either trying to hunt down one of the 'gang' who always seemed busy, or was in her room wondering where it all went wrong.

Sometimes she wondered if there was even a point to being at the garden, if maybe she could start over somewhere new and start a new life. But whenever it came to that, she never knew where to start. Where to live, what to do.. How to say goodbye.

Maybe goodbye weren't always necessary though… if you have nothing to say goodbye too.

Squall was about halfway down the hallway when he came to a stop. Something was wrong. He turned around quickly and began to sprint down the hallway until he reached her dorm. The hallway was quiet except for the faint melodies of the ball room. "Quistis?" No answer. He knocked on the door. "Quistis!" He pounded on the door, there was still no response. "Shit." He fumbled around with his key cards until he finally found hers and hastily opened the door.

The kitchen was empty, the dishes tidied and put away. "Quistis?" Maybe she was asleep, he shook his head. He was probably being an idiot, being paranoid but he checked the bathroom and then her bedroom. It was like she had moved and erased any trace of herself but the melody continued to play.

The balcony. It was only the place he hadn't checked, and he felt himself beginning to feel sick. "Hyne, don't tell me she did anything stupid." He whispered, before running over and flinging the doors open.

She was leaning back on the railing when he saw her. He quickly grabbed her arm, afraid she would do something they all would regret. "What the hell are you doing!" He barked.

The blonde looked up at him, "Let go." She said quietly.

"No." She was drunk, depressed and unstable. Like hell he would let go.

"You can't save everyone, Squall." She told him, quietly.

He looked down at her in disbelief. "What are you talking about…?"

"Let me go." That time, he understood what she really meant. She pushed against him, trying to get free. He stared at her in shock. Just because he had told her that he didn't love her… she would… she'd really do it? Finally, she forced him off of her.

"Don't you dare…" He reached out for her, but he was too late. She was already gone. She had been out of reach long ago. "Quistis!"

And it was as she was falling, he recognized what song he had been listening to.

"….Darling, so there you are… with that look on your face, as if you're never hurt… as if you're never down…"

o o o

She awoke slowly, feeling tired and lazy. Not wanting to awake so early, she instead closed her eyes and cuddled into the warmth next to her. She only vaguely felt an arm wrap around her waist, and breath on her neck followed by butterfly kisses. She let out a quiet moan, and heard a chuckle.

"Good morning." Slowly, she opened her eyes, and nearly did a double take. Squall kissed her neck once more, and let his hand move from her waist to hers. She felt a ring pressed against her hand, her eyes widened slightly. She bolted up an looked around, this room definitely wasn't hers.

"What's wrong?" He asked quietly, getting up and pulling her onto his lap. Her breathing quickened, and she felt panicked. She was supposed to be dead. Unless this was heaven, or she had apparently miraculously recovered from her fall and everyone was playing a practical joke to teach her a lesson. Fine, she'd go alone with it for now.

"N-nothing. Good morning." She said quietly, taking a good look at him. Her eyes widened, he didn't have a scar, a black jacket, black pants… no gun blade, either. Just a plain gray shirt and black boxers, she vaguely felt her face get hot. Did she mention he had a wedding ring? She quickly looked down at her hand.

Oh Hyne. She had one, too. They were …married? What was going on here! Maybe she was still drunk and hallucinating? No, no, no. She was going back to sleep, and was going to wake up in her own room… or the infirmary, but her own bed was much preferred. It was settled, she was going to back bed. Just as she attempted to get off his lap, the door flew open and blur of black jumped onto her lap.

She momentarily got the wind knocked out of her. A little girl looked up at her, she assumed around the age of four or five. "Morwing mommy, daddy!" The girl hugged her, and Squall smiled and stroked her hair.

"What have we told you about knocking and jumping?" He asked, gently.

The girl pouted. "To knock before coming in and not to jwump on mommy or daddy…" He nodded.

"Did you sleep well, Raine?"

"Yup!"

He smiled, ruffling her hair. "That's my girl."

"What's wrong, mommy?" She asked, tugging on her mother's pajamas.

"Huh? Oh, nothing sweetie." Quistis said, trying to stay in whatever character they were expecting her to be.

She looked around again. Where was she…?

o o o

"She's in a coma." The doctor told him. "She's in a critical situation. She had two broken ribs, a fractured arm and wrist, and a broken leg not to mention a nasty gash on her left hand. It's extremely lucky that the shards of her ribs didn't puncture her lungs."

"...Is she going to live?" Squall asked quietly, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

The doctor sighed. "It's not a question of whether she will live or not, it's whether she'll wake up or not."

Let's see. I actually don't think Quistis would be one to commit suicide, but we had to get an accident there in somewhere. Falling down elevators shafts is already taken. Lol. So anyways, I'm not too sure about this story. I have a feeling it isn't going to go over too well or do a belly flop. If you hate, it'll be gone in two seconds; so I guess I have nothing to lose, right? Forget Me Not is not dead, it's just... resting; so expect a chapter up before the month is over. Oh, and please don't flame. I'm sensitive. And that's all for author notes.