FAMILY REUNIONS

Disclaimer: I don't own any character that I didn't come up with. It's all Square Enix.

Chapter One

Squall and Rinoa were on the balcony. It was a beautiful night and Rinoa wanted to see the stars. There was a shooting star that caught his attention. She smiled and pointed at it. Squall watched it and looked at Rinoa.

"Yeah" he smiled at her and slowly embraced her. He leaned in close to her face and gently pressed his lips against hers.

Five years had past since that night. Squall was sitting in his office, doing some paperwork.

"I hate paperwork…" He thought. As much as he hated it, it was part of his job as Commander and as a part-time Instructor. Squall pushed the paper back on his desk and leaned back in his chair. He started thing about the past few years since they defeated the sorceress. Zell was in charge of the training center, It turned out Seifer was controlled by Ultimecia and Cid allowed him back into Garden (not that he liked the idea), Selphie was president of the Garden Festival Committee, Irvine took charge of the Disciplinary Committee along with Seifer, Quistis fell in love with and married and man name Markus Hiro who was also and Instructor, and Rinoa became a SeeD member and then an Instructor. She even convinced Squall to get an Instructor license, he taught some fighting classes with Zell's help. Cid had requested they all become Instructors. Squall smiled to himself when he thought of Rinoa and his friends. There was a knock on his door that quickly brought him out of thought.

"Come in" he said. Irvine stepped in along with a blonde haired girl. He immediately recognized her. "Gwinn" he mumbled. Gwinn Supuro, she was thirteen and a strait A student but she wasn't friendly and she got into several fight since she arrived here which was causing Irvine and Squall a lot of grief. He looked at Irvine.

"She was sparring in gym, but she took it too far and beat the crap out of the other kid" Squall looked at an angry Gwinn, then back at Irvine.

"Ze- Ahem… Instructor Dincht had to pull her off. Gave him a nasty black eye" Squall put his hand on his face and sighed.

"Why did you do that Gwinn?" he asked slightly annoyed. Gwinn grunted

"They were callin' me names. And Zell-"

"Instructor Dincht!" Irvine corrected. She rolled her eyes

"Didn't even care!" she finished. Squall stood up from his seat.

"You know very well that isn't true" he said sternly "Irvine, thank you for letting me know. You and Seifer deal with her this time" He looked at Gwinn "If this happens again you, me and Headmaster Cid are going to have a serious talk" Irvine nodded and led Gwinn out of the room.

Rinoa finished up her lessons for the day.

"Alright see you next Monday" she said to her students as the bell rang. Rinoa sat down in her chair as she watched them leave. She heard some of the students say:

"Hello Commander Leonhart" she smiled to herself and waited for Squall to enter. A moment later Squall poked his head through the door then walked inside.

"Have fun with your paperwork?" she teased. Squall rolled his eyes

"No" he said bluntly then smirked. "Do we have anything planned for your birthday?" he asked knowing the answer.

"We're eating lunch with everyone, and it's just us for dinner" she smiled. Squall sat on her desk. He smiled at her and leaned in close. Rinoa did the same. Someone cleared their throat before their lips met. Quistis and Selphie were standing in the doorway giggling.

"Squall, Matron is waiting for you. She's in you office" Quistis stated regaining her composure. Selphie was still laughing. Squall sighed and walked out of the door.

"I don't know why you think it's funny. You guys are just as bad" he mumbled under his breath as he left. He walked down the halls to the elevator. He got a few salutes when he passed cadets and SeeD members. He walked into the elevator and pressed the third floor button. A few moments later he stepped out and was greeted by an Instructor. He was about as tall and Squall, he had short red hair, and bright green eyes. He smirked at Squall.

"Commander Leonhart" he saluted.

"Instructor Hiro" Squall saluted back.

"Have you seen Quistis? I can't seem to locate her" Squall rolled his eyes

"She's with Rinoa and Selphie. Where they went, I don't know" Markus sighed

"Alright. Thank you" Markus said walking away. Squall started towards his office again. It wasn't long before he arrived there he walked inside and shut the door behind him.

There was a woman sitting in the chair that faced the wall.

"Matron?" Squall asked sheepishly. He heard her chuckle as she stood up.

"You wanted to show me something?" she said smiling. Squall smiled in return and walked over to his desk. He pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the top drawer. This intrigued Edea. After searching through it a moment Squall pulled out a small box. He set it on the desk and pushed it towards Edea.

"Would Rinoa like this?" Edea could see he was nervous, his face was even flushed. Edea patted his shoulder and picked the box up. She opened it and smiled again.

"Oh Squall, she'll love it"

A young man with a long jet black hair, grey eyes, and a long, thin blade entered a dark room. He approached an older man with short silvery hair in a long silver and blue coat who was sitting in a chair with his chin on his fist.

"Well Johann? Have you brought my grandson and his father here yet?" the man asked. The other man shook his head.

"Not yet Master" he replied "We found out that your grandson is going out tonight. I will personally bring him here"

"What about his father?" the Johann smiled

"Being done as we speak"

"Good" he said simply. "I missed out on his first twenty-two years, and I plan to see him. Thanks to him, my daughter will be with me once more" the older man smiled wickedly.

It was sunset at Winhill. There was a man at Raine Loire's grave, it was her husband Laguna. He ran his fingers over the smooth stone.

"Why didn't I come back with Ellone? I could have at least been there with you" He thought. A single tear fell down his cheek. He quickly wiped it with the back of his hand.

"Guess what Raine" he said sitting down on the ground. His legs strait out and crossed and he was leaning back on his hands. "Squall is going to really surprise his girlfriend" he said. "He really loves her" Laguna smiled to himself "You know he looks a lot like you" he heard someone approaching. He sighed

"Kiros, I told you and Ward to hang out in town" he didn't get a response. Laguna stood up and dusted his pants. A piece of cloth covered the lower part of his face. The cloth's scent burned his nostrils. Laguna struggled to fight the attacker off, but he was starting to black out. Soon he stopped struggling and the black consumed him.

Squall was buttoning up his shirt. It had been a long and anxious day for him. He was meeting Rinoa at dinner in a few minutes. Squall looked at himself in the mirror. He wore black slacks, and shoes. And his shirt was a deep red. He nervously fixed his collar. He took a deep breath and strode out of his room. Cid had an apartment complex (outside of the Quad) built for the graduated SeeD members to live. It was very nice, with two rooms, two SeeD members had to share the place but it wasn't bad. Squall lived with Irvine. He was a pretty good roommate except for staying up all night laughing with Selphie, that got on his nerves. He walked to the entrance but, before he was able to walk outside, Irvine stopped him. He had an irritated look on his face and had Gwinn by the arm. Squall sighed

"What did she do this time?" Squall crossed his arms.

"She got into another fight, and she knocked the kid out cold" The girl rolled her eyes.

"Gwinn this has to stop" Squall said to the her. Gwinn in return looked angrily at him. He looked at Irvine "Take her to her dorm" he glanced at Gwinn then back at Irvine "The Headmaster and I will deal with her tomorrow"

"Alright" he pulled her by the arm "Come on. You're goin' weather you like it or not" Irvine said as they walked out of sight. Squall shook his head and walked into the parking lot. It was a nice night, and it wouldn't be a long drive to Balamb town. He approached his sleek, black car. He stopped and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the box and stared at it a moment, then reached for his keys. There were footsteps coming up from behind.

"What now Irvine?" Squall asked. No answer came. Squall whipped around. There was a man about the same height as him staring at him with emotionless eyes. Squall felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He took a sharp breath but coughed up blood. The man seemed unfazed when the droplets hit his face. He simply watched Squall collapse in front of him, a pool of blood forming under him. The last thing Squall heard was the man laughing, then nothing.

Rinoa sat idly at the table. He wore a crimson red, sleeveless dress, and her hair was in a bun.

"Squall should've been here. It's been an hour already" she thought. She looked at the clock. It was past nine-thirty. Rinoa was getting worried. It wasn't like Squall to be late without calling or a legitimate reason. She reached into her handbag and dialed Squall's cell. It rang and then answering machine picked up. She hung up and dialed Selphie.

"Helloooo?" she answered cheerfully and curiously

"Hi Selphie-" she was cut off

"How's the date going? Is Squall drooling over the dress? Wait why are you calling me?" she asked all at the speed of sound.

"That's why I'm calling. He's not here and I'm getting worried" Rinoa heard Selphie talking to someone

"Irvy said that he left about an hour ago"

"That's it I'm coming back! Something's wrong, I just know it!" Rinoa hung up the cell. She set some gil on the table and rushed out of the restaurant. She ran the short distance to the Dincht's house. She repeatedly knocked on the door until it opened. Zell opened the door.

"Rinoa? What are you doing here?" he asked confused. Rinoa panted.

"No one knows where Squall is. I think something's happened" she breathed. Zell's eyes widened "I need a ride back to Garden" Zell nodded

"Ma I'll be back later" he called grabbing his keys then shutting the door.