Reunion

Squall stood next to Quistis in the mall hall getting ready for their new mission. Of course the briefing hasn't happened yet, but that wasn't until later.

"So Instructor," Squall said bluntly as he turned to Quistis, "who is in my squad?" Quistis sighed.

"Right to the point as usual," she stated. She looked at looked at her clipboard and nodded her head. "Zell Dincht."

"Can I switch?" Squall asked with a sigh.

"Sorry but these are final," Quistis said seriously. She looked behind him, and he was curious too. He looked behind him to see a young man wearing a SeeD student uniform throwing some punches to no one. He looked over to see Quistis and Squall and did a cartwheel towards them. He then started doing flips with his hands and legs with a great big mid air flip to finish it off. He landed solidly on his feet and showed that he had a tattoo on his face and blonde hair that stood up in the front.

Yeah, Squall thought with a sigh, that's him.

"Whoa," Zell said in shock, "I'm teamed up with you?" He rubbed his hand on his thigh a little and held it out for a handshake. However, Squall looked the other way and crossed his arms. Zell pulled his arm back in disappointment. "I heard you that Seifer gave you a whooping."

"We were training," Squall said neutrally, "not fighting."

"Yeah well," Zell stated, "I bet he doesn't think so. I bet he's all like 'I beat Squall I'm the coolest.' All he really is doing is being a pain in the ass. Just ignore him."

"It's none of your business," Squall said with a sigh.

"Well then," Quistis stated, "then you aren't going to like the fact that he is your squad leader." Zell looked like he jumped out of his skin while Squall looked like he didn't care.

"Are you serious?" Zell asked with a shout.

"Yes," Quistis replied, "and before you can ask, it can't be changed. These teams and their set ups are final. Just then, Seifer walked over to them with Raijin and Fujin beside him as always.

That makes the whole gang, Squall thought.

"You are the squad leader," Quistis stated, "good luck Seifer."

"Instructor," Seifer said with his normal cocky voice, "I hate it when people wish me luck." Fujin and Raijin nodded in agreement. "It would be better for you to say that to a student who needs it."

"I see," Quistis said while nodding her head, "good luck Seifer." She was smiling. However, Seifer wasn't.

"Add Instructor Trepe to the list," he said with a turn of his head to Fujin.

List? Squall thought.

"Now then," Quistis said seriously, "you are all assigned to be Squad B. I'll be the instructor that will be in charge. The best way for you all to pass and get through this exam is to work together as a team."

"In short," Seifer interrupted her, "shut up and stay out of my way. That is the rule of Squad B, you got it?" Zell didn't looked to happy about that rule.

"Alright now settle down," an elderly voice said with a calm tone. Then a middle aged man with brown hair, glasses, a red sweater vest, a white shirt, a green tie, brown pants and shoes walked next to Quistis.

"Head Master Cid," Quistis stated.

"It's been awhile since I've seen all of you here," Cid said with a smile, "I hope you are all doing well. Not only for your own health but for the mission that is to come. Of course this mission will also be your exam to see if you are ready to be a SeeD. Of course, there will be other times in the future, but I hope that all of you pass today's exam."

Sure does love making speeches, Squall thought, can we get on with this?

"Now then," Cid said with a more serious tone, "this exam will involve twelve members Squads A through D. Remember that this will be a real battle field and thus the battles will be real as well."

That's obvious, Squall thought with a sigh.

"Life and death, victory and defeat, honor and disgrace," Cid continued, "each of these goes hand in hand. There's only one way or the other. With this in mind, are you all still up to the challenge that has been presented to you?" He looked at them all carefully.

"You bet!" Zell shouted happily. Squall only nodded while Seifer didn't respond at all. However, Cid didn't look sure of Zell's response.

"I hope you are," Cid stated, "because I am most worried about you Zell."

"Me?" Zell asked curiously.

"Yeah," Seifer said with a smile, "after all, you are a chicken wuss."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" Zell shouted in anger.

"Now settle down the both of you!" Quistis snapped at them. Zell calmed down right away while Seifer still had his confident look on him.

"But Head Master," Zell said with confusion in his voice, "why are you most worried about me?"

"Now then," Cid continued and seemed to ignore Zell's question, "you will have nine members of SeeD accompanying you on this mission. Should you fail, these members will get the job done. They always do."

"Won't be a problem with me though Head Master," Seifer said with a cocky attitude. Zell glared at him for such a bold statement.

"Best of luck to you all," Cid said before walking away.

"Wait!" Zell called out to him and chasing after him. However, Quistis grabbed his arm which cased him to stop.

"You must report to the garage to get into the vehicle that is heading towards Balamb," she explained.

"But-"

"That is an order Zell," Quistis said with a firm voice.

"Y-Yes ma'am," Zell said hesitantly. Seifer leaves for the garage with Squall and Zell.

What does he mean? Zell thought, I'll be fine. I know how to knock some heads around after all.

Why did Head Master Cid seem to ignore Zell's question? Squall thought, wait, why am I even thinking about it? It's not my problem at all. The three of them got into the car and Quistis was right behind them. With all four of them in the car, they headed towards Balamb. An awkward silence filled the car. It lasted all the way to Balamb where they got out at the docks. Zell did a nice stretch when he got out.

"Alright," he said with a exciting tone, "let's get this show on the road." Squall noticed that Quistis had a neutral look on her face, which wasn't like her at all. However, he simply ignored it and headed to the ship that they were taking. Once inside, it started it's way towards it destination. Seifer, Squall, Zell, and Quistis were sitting in the main area of the small ship when a young woman SeeD came into the room. She had short brown hair that went down to her shoulders.

"Hi Quistis," she said with a smile.

"Hey Xu," Quistis replied back with a smile, "these are the members of Squad B." Zell and Squall stood up and saluted her. Seifer simply continued to sit with his feet on the table in the center.

"Hey there Seifer," Xu said with a teasing voice, "how many times has it been now?"

"Oh I just love these exams," Seifer said while rolling his eyes.

"Now then," Xu said with a serious tone, "I'll explain the current situation." Quistis and Zell made a path for her to walk to a screen in the room and then returned to their seats.

Finally, Seifer thought with a smile, mission details.

"Our client for this mission is the Dollet Dukedom Parliament," Xu began, "a request for SeeD was made about 18 hours ago. They have been under attack from the G-Army for about 72 hours. 49 hours into the battle, they had to abandon their post in the inner city. They are currently held up in the mountains of the area."

I suppose that gives them plenty of places to hide, Squall thought.

"Now then," Xu continued, "we are to wipe out the remaining forces in the city. Squad B, you are to secure the Central Square of the city."

"Right," Zell stated.

"And also be on the look out for Noah Gale," Xu said seriously. Everyone else in the room stared at her.

"Noah's there!" Zell shouted as he stood up.

"Quistis," Xu said with a confused voice, "you didn't tell him?"

"I think Head Master Cid didn't want him to find out until they actually saw each other."

"But you aren't pulling my leg or anything right Xu?" Zell asked in shock, "she's really there right?"

"According to our reports," Xu replied, "yes. She is there and assisting the Dollet Army. Which is why I'm telling you to be on the look out for her. We need to bring her back to the Garden so she can face her crimes." Zell saddened when he heard that and sat back down.

"Is the chicken wuss scared of Noah?" Seifer asked with a cocky voice. However, Zell made no movements whatsoever. This made Seifer and Squall nervous about him.

"Instructor," Squall said turning to Quistis, "is he going to be alright?"

"I hope so," Quistis replied, "but only time will tell."

"Zell," Xu said softly, "I understand that you are in shock about all this, but she must brought back to the Garden to face her crimes."

"Exactly what did this Noah do?" Seifer asked curiously.

"You don't remember the incident we had two years ago?" Xu replied.

"No," Seifer replied bluntly.

"I'm not surprised," Xu said with a sigh, "after all, you were out on a exam when it happened. Noah Gale use to be a SeeD at our Garden."

"Really?" Squall asked curiously.

"I'm surprised that you are taking an interest into this Squall," Quistis said happily.

"Zell is a member of the squad," Squall said with a neutral voice, "this could have an impact on the mission." Quistis sadly sighed.

"But moving on," Xu continued, "she uses a weapon called a sword. No one now a days uses that weapon so people call her The Last Swordswoman. She is quite skilled with the weapon. It was about two years ago, she went berserk. Rushed out of her room and making a break for the exit of the Garden. People tried to stop her, but they all failed. She injured ten SeeD candidates, and three SeeD's. Quistis was one of them. The reason why Zell is so freaked out about this-"

"She and I were dating," Zell blurted out. Seifer looked like he was in shock.

"Wait a minute," he said in disbelieve, "you had a girlfriend? I can't believe that anyone would fall for such a wuss like you."

"SHUT UP!" Zell shouted.

"You shouldn't talk like that to your squad leader," Seifer said with a glare.

"Maybe you shouldn't be butting into or making fun of someone's personal life," Zell retorted.

"Enough!" Xu shouted, "from both of you. We will be arriving shortly and we don't have time for any team to be fighting among each other. Seifer, you will leave him alone about the subject. Zell, be on the look out for Noah."

"Fine," Seifer said with a sigh. Zell only nodded his head in response.

Noah, he thought, out of all the times to reappear, why now? Squall looked at Zell, unsure that he was ready to face his old girlfriend in battle.

WwwwwwW

Explosion after explosion was happening on the beach. Taking cover behind some rocks with a Dollet soldier was a young woman about seventeen years of age. She had red hair tied into a long pony tail, green eyes, wore tattered clothes, black shoes, and carried a katana with her. Her shirt covered her chest but due to they were tattered parts of her stomach showed. Her pants now only went down to her knees and she had used parts of her pants to cover up her wounds. She was covered in scratches, but had some serious wounds on her as well. She had a strip of her pants on her left arm and right, on both of her hands, and one on her left leg which was bleeding. She had dirt all over her body

"You have to get our of here," the soldier proclaimed.

"How?" the injured woman asked, "there is no where to go but forward into the enemy." The soldier lifted his machine gun and blindly fired ahead.

"You could swim," he suggested as he ejected the clip in his gun and put in a fresh one.

"No way," the injured woman protested, "who knows what is out there."

"A way out for one," the soldier stated.

"Look," the injured woman said with a grunt of pain, "soon our reinforcements will be here."

"The SeeD's from Balamb Garden?" the soldier asked as he blindly fired again.

"Yes," the injured woman replied, "they will be here soon I hope."

"I hope for your sake they do," the soldier said as he blindly fired again, "you need treatment. That wound in your leg is still bleeding." The woman looked down at her left leg, the wound was on the backside of her leg a few inches below her knee. It was still bleeding.

"I know," she said with a grunt, "I know." Suddenly, they heard something crashing through a wall behind them. They turned around to see about seven ships rushing towards the beach.

"Let's hope that is them," the soldier said with a sigh of relief.

"It is," the injured woman said seriously, "those are the kind of ships the SeeD's from Balamb use."

"How do you know that?" the soldier asked. Suddenly, the ships opened up and people poured out of each ship. The soldier stood up and ran to the nearest ship. It just so happened to be the ship of Squad B.

I wonder if he is here, the injured woman thought.

"Are you the reinforcements from Balamb?" the soldier asked Quistis.

"Yes," she replied.

"I have an injured with me here on the beach," the soldier said pointing to the injured woman. The two locked eyes.

Quistis? the injured woman thought, oh boy, here comes trouble. Then, she saw three people rush out of the ship. One of them she stared at in shock. In turn, he was staring at her in shock.

"Noah!" he shouted and rushed towards her.

"Zell?" the injured woman said in confusion, "is that you?" Zell crouched down next to her.

"Of course it's me," Zell replied, "what the hell happened to you?"

"Zell!" Quistis barked. Zell stood at attention.

"Ma'am?" he asked.

"You currently have a mission to fulfill," Quistis said with a stern voice, "you need to follow your orders."

"But Instructor-"

"Squad B!" Seifer shouted, "follow me!" He then rushed on ahead with Squall, but Zell was hesitating.

"Just go," Noah said seriously, "I'll be fine." Looking unsure, Zell rushed ahead to catch up with his squad. Quistis approached Noah with a neutral face.

"Now then," she said seriously, "let's get you on the ship. We have some questions for you."

"So an interrogation then?" Noah asked. Quistis only nodded her head in reply.

End of Chapter

Zell and Noah are reunited after two years of separation.

However, why did Noah go berserk two years ago?

Will there be answers in the next chapter of. . . .

Final Fantasy VIII

The Lost SeeD

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