Disclaimer; I don't own ff8, or scrooge/a Christmas carol, which this is kind of based on. it is by Charles dickens

A/n: well this is an idea I kind of had for a weird Christmas story, I was inspired by a Christmas carol, cept this is about Squall and maybe a lil odd and focuses more on his relationship than the fact he is mean., but anyway the concept is the same-ish.

Well I'll post the first chapter and see what people think. The chapters will be short and there'll be a few coz its kind of a mini version. but I hope people will enjoy.. Thanks guys xx

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Squall sat in his office as the clock chimed midnight. He could barely even keep his eyes open. He knew he shouldn't be here. It was Christmas eve. He was supposed to be taking out his girlfriend Rinoa, he had promised her he would, but once again work had got in the way and he had blown her off. He seemed to do that a lot lately. He had constantly been pushing her away since they'd been together. He didn't really know why though. Part of him desperately wanted to be with her but part of him was still holding back, still afraid to let her in. He knew that it had been long enough for them to take the next step, but he just couldn't. But this time, it was worse than ever.

Squall glanced around his office. You could hardly even tell it was Christmas, no decorations, no nothing. Just blank and boring. Squall was not the Christmas spirit type. Rinoa and Selphie had offered to decorate his office for him, but he had refused. That hadn't really made Rinoa very happy and it had caused another fight. It seemed they fought a lot lately, over little things. Rinoa would constantly say that Squall worked too much, never made time for her and Squall would always just tell her to stop moaning and accept that he had to work. Usually She'd end up crying and he'd end up feeling guilty but being too stubborn to apologise.

Tonight had been no different, it had just been worst …..

Rinoa had knocked on his door around 8 pm

"Ready" she asked "We need to leave soon"

"Huh?" Squall had said

"we're supposed to be going out remember"

"Yeh. God, Rinoa I'm sorry I don't think I can make it. I have to work"

"you always have to work" Rinoa had said, tears starting to form "it's Christmas. Cant you take a night off?'

"No. I'm sorry"

" Look Squall, I don't think that I am what you want"

"What?"

"I think you love your job more than you love me and I don't think I can handle that.."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"I think, I think we need time"

"What?"

"Can you honestly tell me Squall that you value me as much as you do your job. Do you really love me Squall?"

"You…you cant just ask me that!"

"Well I guess that's my answer" Rinoa had said before running off down the hall.

Squall shuddered as he thought back to that moment. How had he let there relationship get to that state. Why hadn't he just left the work? Why couldn't he ever do was right? Why could he never say how he felt?

He loved Rinoa, he had just never told her that.

'this is hell' Squall thought to himself 'but I cant tell her how I feel now, I cant. I'll tell her and she still will want time. If she doesn't want me, then she cant know how much I want her.'

Squall felt his eyes closing and fought to keep them open.

'This has been such a long night' he thought to himself as he felt himself slip into a gentle sleep…..

A few minutes later Squall was awoken by a sudden icy chill in the room. He glanced at the clock. 12:13. He'd only been asleep 10 minutes. Rubbing his eyes he noticed the office door was now open, which he guessed was the reason for the sudden cold wind. Getting up, he walked across the office and slammed the door closed.

He turned round to go back to his desk and nearly had a heart attack.

There was a floaty outline of a woman there, a spirit surrounded by a wispy blue fog.

Squall blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. But the spirit remained there.

"I must be asleep " Squall said to himself

"Nope, you're awake" said the soft voice of the spirit

"No, I'm asleep. I'm dreaming" Squall told himself

Suddenly the form of the spirit became more clear, the outline and features more defined. Squall, although he had only seen the person in photos, recognised who it was instantly.

"M-mom?" he said in shock. Laguna, his father, had showed him various photos of Raine and Squall could swear this spirit as her.

"I am glad you recognise me" the spirit said "my, how you've grown"

"I am so dreaming" Squall said

"No, trust me I am real. I am here to give you a message" Raine said.

Squall just stared at the spirit in amazement. Surely this could not be real. The spirit of his dead mother, giving him a message. He knew he had to be dreaming.

"You can not carry on this way Squall" Raine said. Her voice was like a whisper, it was haunting.

Squall didn't say anything. He was in too much shock.

"You are pushing her away, you are pushing everyone away. You can not carry on doing this, it will not end well Squall. You have the chance to live, and to love yet you do neither. Being cold, keeping people away doesn't make you strong, and it doesn't protect you from hurt, it just hurts others."

"this is ridiculous" Squall sighed "this is a dream, I'm being told how to live in a dream"

"You will see, the error of your ways my son. I will show you"

"What error? What is this?"

"You will be visited by 3 ghosts. But do not be afraid, they mean no harm. They simply will show you what is wrong, what you lack. You will be visited by the ghost of past, present and future at 1, 2, and the 3 in the morning. Perhaps by dawn, you will know what the error of your ways is , and perhaps it will not be too late to change."

"I don't understand any of this"

"you will." Raine said before her outlines began to blur again and she disappeared

Squall sat down at his desk, completely numb. What was this. If it was a dream why couldn't he wake up?

Suddenly Squall felt something change and he was sitting at his desk, his head laid on it.

So it had all been a dream

"Thank god" Squall said to himself "That was horrible"

Suddenly the clock chimed again. It was 1 o clock.

Suddenly another cool breeze swept through the room and pieces of paper blew everywhere. There was a strange glow in the room, which seemed to dance around in the air. Eventually the glowing orbs formed together and formed the outline of a young girl. She was about 12 and wearing rags, with tangled brown hair cascading down her shoulders.

"What the hell?" Squall cried jumping up from his desk

"Do not be afraid. I am here to help. I am the ghost of Christmas past"……

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well there we go. I hope people enjoyed that a lil. Well the basic plan is each ghost/vision will be a chapter then there'll be a conclusion. Well there will be if people like it and review, if no one likes it I wont carry on. But anyone who reviews gets Christmas cookies. Thanks guys xxx