A/N: You know what they say - better late than never! And the next instalment in this series is incredibly late... 10 years to be exact! I had actually written this story back in 2005, but didn't feel there was enough interest to ever upload it. However, the wonderful Samantha Peace HeartStar got in touch and prompted me to finally get it on here. So this one goes out to her! Thanks Samantha :)

My eternal gratitude goes out to Leanne, for being the best Princess a Garden could ask for!

CHAPTER 1

It was merely a few days after the SeeD exam when Balamb Garden's next adventure began.

Another morning rose, and Lianne Leonhart awoke in her dormitory. She sat up in bed and squinted against the sunrise. It took her a second to realise that it was already midday.

"What?!" she said in surprise, waking up suddenly. "I must've overslept!"

She scrambled out of bed and went over to her dressing table, where she kept a shrine of sorts to her mother, Rinoa. "Hi, mom. How's it going? Looks like I'm getting lazy," she smiled to the picture. "I better get going – Dad'll be looking for me. I love you." She touched the glass of the photo frame, looking for a moment upon her mother's kind face.

Then, remembering her rush, she hurriedly began to get dressed in her usual outfit, and trademark necklace. Busy slipping on her black boots and tidying her hair in the mirror, she was half-way out of the door before something caught her eye. She back-tracked to her table, and frowned as she tried to figure out what was missing. Then she remembered.

The jewel.

She peered around the table, searching behind picture frames, perfumes and candles. Then she dropped to her knees and looked underneath. There was no sign of her treasure anywhere, and she stood up, scratching her head in confusion. The jewel was something she had collected while on her SeeD exam. It had been 'powering' a machine on top of the Dollet Communication Tower, and it seemed to be attracting monsters to the town below, where they ran rampage, somehow managing to destroy entire houses on their own. She had brought it back because she loved the way it looked. Its lilac surface caught the light and reflected it in its surroundings, making the walls sparkle with pretty purple patterns. She had an eye for such beautiful things, and the thing had become entirely unresponsive after being removed from the machine in which she found it. So, despite the orders given to her by her squad leader, she had taken the jewel with her. It had sat on her table since she completed the exam four days ago, and suddenly, it had vanished.

"Where on earth…?" she wondered. "Oh, I dunno. I guess it doesn't matter really."

And with that, she left her dorm. On her way down the dormitory corridor, she noticed how empty Garden seemed to be. Confusion once again spread across her face. Normally, the corridors would have been thronging with students at this time of day. Still, she carried on walking, down the dormitory stairs and on to the main floor of Garden. The sight that met her eyes as she came down the huge staircase wasn't what she was expecting.

The Training Centre was completely sealed off. Its enormous metal shutters were closed tight over the entrance, and a large crowd of Garden students and SeeDs were gathered around it, standing on tiptoes to see over each other's shoulders. Lianne scanned the crowd carefully, and spotted Leali and Alix. Quickly, she made her way over to her friends, shouldering people out of her way as she did so.

"Hey Lianne!" Leali beamed as she approached.

"Hi guys. What's going on?" Lianne questioned.

Alix shrugged. "They won't tell us much, but it looks like they're having some trouble in the Training Centre."

"I can see that," Lianne said, trying to peek around the crowd in front to get a better view. There were so many people that it was near impossible to see anything. "But what kind of trouble is it?"

"Looks like the monsters have gone haywire," Alix said.

"Yep." Leali nodded. "They went mad and started attacking a student."

"Isn't that what the normally do?" Lianne frowned.

"Not like this." Alix shook his head. "Everyone who saw it happen says that they have never seen an attack like it before. Apparently it took five SeeDs just to get the poor kid out of there. They were going crazy."

"What, the SeeDs or the monsters?"

Leali giggled. "The monsters, silly!"

"They aren't exactly looking normal either. The monsters are supposedly mutated in some way…" Alix said.

It was Leali's turn to try and take a peek at the scene. She was short by comparison to the crowd around her that it was almost comical to watch her, balancing on the points of her toes and still getting nowhere. "What do you think it's happening?"

"You wanna find out? Let's go!" Lianne took both of her friends by the wrists and began to shove her way through the crowd, dragging Leali and Alix with her. "Make way!" she called as she went. "Lianne Leonhart coming through!"

Both Alix and Leali shouted protests, and Leali nearly fell over entirely. Lianne ignored them as she battled her way through the watching crowd, digging sharp elbows into the ribs of those who wouldn't move, until she reached the very front of the gathered horde.

A Garden Faculty member was under duress for an explanation from the crowd. "Please, I urge you to stay calm! There is nothing to worry about. Now please, could you all move away from the entrance and allow the SeeDs to do their jobs!"

"The SeeDs? Hey, does that mean us?" Lianne said, eagerly.

"Hold on. Since when were you so keen on this whole mutated monster thing?"

"Well… I'm not. But this could be a mission for us! Our first real mission as SeeDs!"

Before anyone could say anything else, the crowd's excitable chatter turned suddenly into hushed whispers, and everyone turned their heads. Everyone stepped aside as Headmaster Cid and Squall, the leader of SeeD, began to make their way through the crowd that parted for them respectfully.

"Hey, it's my dad!" Lianne beamed with pride, stepping aside with the rest of the crowd, still dragging Alix and Leali with her.

"We can walk, you know!" Alix grumbled, but Lianne wasn't listening. Cid and Squall were already deep in a hushed conversation with Garden Faculty, and the self-imposed Princess of Garden marched her way over to them with her friends still in tow. "Dad? What's going?" she demanded.

Squall's look was one of annoyance – nothing short of usual. "Lianne, this is nothing to do with you. Just stay out of this, I need to concentrate."

Lianne set her jaw, ready for an argument. She couldn't stand being talked down to by anyone, not even her own father. Least of all, her father. "All you need to do is tell me-"

"Squall, I believe the best way to tackle this problem is to indeed send in our SeeD force," Cid interrupted, as though Lianne wasn't even there. "Do you still agree with that plan?"

"The way I see it, we have no choice," Squall said, pressing his forehead into his hands as though nursing a particularly vicious headache. Lianne watched him with interest. She could tell he wasn't completely sure about this idea – he might have been argued with Cid about it beforehand, but obviously this was a battle Cid was winning.

"Then do you have any suggestions for the squad?" the Headmaster asked.

"Well, I'll go in to lead, obviously."

Cid was shaking his head solemnly. "You need to stay here, Squall. Garden and the SeeDs need you."

"Why?" Squall demanded. Lianne knew he couldn't stand being involved when things were going on. He hated to sit back and let bad things happen. She supposed she had inherited the trait from him.

"In times of trouble, people need a leader," Cid explained, patiently. "I'm sure we've had this conversation many times before. Without you as our leader, there would be panic and confusion. Everybody wants answers, and if you're not here to provide them there could be uproar. This is why we need you, to stay here, boost morale and give confidence to the loved ones of those you choose to deploy. You can't go in there, no matter how long it takes."

Lianne rolled her eyes. She often wondered why Cid even bothered thinking up excuses – everyone could see right through him. In other words, he wanted Squall to be there to take the heat for the situation so he himself was spared from it.

Squall, once again, looked annoyed. "Fine," he said, in a voice that meant it was not fine at all. "Then I'll go and assemble the team."

With that, Squall turned and began to walk away. Lianne finally released Leali and Alix, then picked up her pace to prop herself firmly in her father's path.

"So are you sending SeeDs in there?" she asked, choosing to ignore his bad mood.

"Yes," he replied simply, and carried on walking.

Lianne stepped in front of him once more. "Send me, Alix and Leali then. We want to go inside."

"No, Lianne. It's out of the question."

"Why not?!" she demanded, the tone of her voice causing a few people to look her way.

"We don't even know what's going on in there. I am not putting you in so much danger," he replied in a hushed voice, aware that other people were now listening to the conversation.

"I hate it when you treat me like a child!" Lianne scowled, not even bothering to keep her voice quiet. "I'm fifteen now, Dad! I'm a SeeD!"

Squall sighed, a gloved hand drifting to his forehead once again. "You've only been a SeeD for a few days. I'm not sending novices in there. I'm sending experienced fighters to tackle this problem."

"I am an experienced fighter!"

"I'm not even going to discuss this," he said, finally making his way around her and back through the crowd. He disappeared somewhere near the elevator.

Lianne stood and watched her father go, tears of fury in her eyes. She wouldn't be surprised if her father never let her go on a real mission, as protective as he was. As Leali and Alix approached her, she turned to face them with an angry scowl. "This is not fair!"

"He does have a point though, Lianne," Alix said, shrugging.

"Whose side are you on?!" she protested.

"Aw, come on guys! Let's not fight!" Leali smiled. "There's nothing we can do about this, right? If Squall's made up his mind, there'll be no changing it."

Lianne sighed heavily. That much was true, at least.

Within the hour, the crowd had assembled once again outside the Training Centre, waiting to see Squall's squad of SeeDs go inside. Lianne made sure she and her friends were at the forefront.

The squad turned out to be made up of around twenty people, and Squall's choice of squad leader was someone quite unexpected.

"Now listen up! I'm your squad leader, right? We're gonna bust up these freak monsters one, two, three!" Zell announced, punching the air with his fists.

Lianne looked from Zell, excitably addressing his squad, to her father, who was looking troubled. A question in her mind, she went over to him.

"Dad, why did you choose Zell?"

"Lianne, I'm not prepared for another argument, I'm-"

"No, I'm not looking for an argument! It's just a question."

"Do you have a problem with Zell?"

"No, of course not!"

"I have my reasons," he said, simply. "Even if you don't understand them."

"Dad…" Lianne whined.

"Look, he wanted to be a leader, and he has done for years. He's experienced too. I trust him to do a good job," Squall said through gritted teeth. Before Lianne could protest again, he left to join Zell's side.

Lianne took the hint that the conversation was over, and she returned to Leali and Alix. She looked at the rest of the squad. Apart from Zell, she knew no other's name. All she knew was that they had all been SeeDs for a long time, decades, some of them. They were all at least her father's age.

The crowd were kept back at a safe distance by Garden Faculty as the huge metal shutters were raised. Nothing could be seen inside but darkness, no matter how hard Lianne tried to see.

With a hearty wave, and a cheer of good luck from the watching crowd, Zell's squad headed inside. The metal shutters were brought down behind them with a deafening clang. Then everything fell silent, as though all of Garden were holding their breath.

Now the wait began.