{This is just the first chapter—I don't plan on putting up any of my other chapters until I finish. I just wanted to get this chapter up to see if people would find this interesting… I might put the second chapter up, but it depends… *shrug* We'll see how the reviews are!

Yes, I know it's short. ^^;}

Chapter I

Student Trouble

Squall Leonhart sat as his desk, working on a bit of paper work. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't enjoyable either. He sighed and rested his head in his free hand, working methodically.  It was quite boring, if you asked him.

Squall was now head of the Garden, but refused to be called 'Headmaster' for two reasons. One, old Headmaster Cid was still around from time to time, and two—the name headmaster seemed too… old. He requested to keep the name Commander, and fortunately everyone agreed.

Abruptly, a voice halted his work, making him look up. It was Quistis, the woman who was once his instructor. Now a few years older and a bit more experienced, having a few more fights under her belt, she had regained her Instructor's license and was now one of the best instructors in the Garden. He waited a moment to see if she would speak first, and finally placed his pen on the desk and asked in a slightly exasperated tone, "What?"

"Squall, there seems to be some… trouble… with one of my students."

Squall studied her for a moment, watching her shift her weight to one foot to the other. She seemed ill at ease by admitting that something was wrong with one of her students. He guessed that it wasn't something too serious, for she would have been worried in which she clearly wasn't—it was just something she couldn't fix or help. Finally he answered. "Like what?"

"At this particular student's age, they are required to wear their uniforms, as you know, and this student simply refuses to wear one," Quistis answered.

To any passer by, this would have seemed like no problem at all. Laughable, even. But in this Garden the rules were strict and meant to be followed, especially by trainees. Wearing their uniforms was just one step of many in getting them to learn that following orders was part of their lives—'no' was not an option they could choose. If they refused to wear their uniform, action was taken. As they got older, they then had the choice of wearing their own clothes or their uniforms, and being accustomed to them most students chose their uniforms. Like a few others, Squall had chosen his attire.

Squall now realized why Quistis was unsettled-this was, in fact, a minor problem, and not being able to fix it disgraced the teacher herself rather then the trainee. "Have you done anything to make this student wear the uniforms?" he asked, and seeing that this was not a major problem, he looked back down to his papers, scanning them though keeping an ear open for Quistis.

"Everything, other then expelling her from the Garden," Quistis answered.

Squall stopped scanning and looked up at her. Though it did not show on his emotionless face, he was quite stunned. By now, just about any student would have given in and would have worn the damn uniform, but for one reason or another, this student would not. "And why haven't you?" he asked.

"Several reasons, one being that this student is an orphan. The student's too young to legally live alone," Quistis answered, finally calming down enough to take a seat.

"Oh." Squall knew what it was like to be an orphan, and he knew Quistis did as well. Expelling this student was now out of the question.

Absent-mindedly he traced his scar that cut across the bridge of his nose, giving him a distinctive, unforgettable look. He did this often when he was thinking. There was only one thing he could think of. "All right then. Let's go see this student of yours." The student couldn't be that bad, and had to have a logical reason for this.

Right?