DISCLAIMER: The following characters, settings, and plot lines are based on material licensed under Squaresoft/Squareenix

FINAL FANTASY VIII

Eyes on You

By

L'esprit Noir

DAY THREE: Edea's Orphanage

A cool breeze lifted loose petals into the fragrant air, twirling them helplessly beneath the diamond encrusted sky that stretched serenely over the expansive flowery field. Standing within the riot of color, Squall saw a shooting star as he extended his hand, on which was a black fingerless glove, to catch a white wayward feather swaying majestically amongst the beautiful petals.

"…The promise we made in this place saved us both," Squall said out loud to himself while gently holding the feather, "but where do we go from here?"

Lightning sounded in the distance as a gust of wind carried in the smell of rain. Squall released the feather, and as it raced into the heavens he heard a voice behind him:

"You look different, Squall."

The voice was familiar, like memories of forgotten dreams. Turning around, Squall saw a man wearing white camouflage cargo-jeans secured by a black belt and tucked into black boots, a black tank-top, and a short sleeved black leather trench-coat with blue lining and red crosses on both arms: Though his apparel was different, he still looked the same—he still wore a slight smirk like some self-gratifying badge of honor.

"Seifer," Squall said in a spiteful tone laced with shock.

After laughing softly, Seifer said, "I almost didn't recognize you…"

Seifer was right—Squall did look different: His trademark boots were now made of white suede; his slim black pants, which were secured by a single brown belt with a large silver buckle, had a black belt around each thigh that held numerous red bullets for his gunblade; and over his white sleeveless V-neck T-shirt, he wore a slim leather coat, which descended down past his hips, with a large black fur collar. The most striking difference, however, was his short hair, which was styled forward in direct opposition to Seifer's. Squall looked different, but he was still Squall—the sight of Seifer still caused his temper to flare.

While pointing the tip of his gunblade at Squall, Seifer asked, "How does it feel to be living the dream?"

Without hesitation or deliberation, Squall marched forward and gripped the handle of his gunblade, which he'd stabbed into the earth upon arriving. With his weapon securely in his grasp, he charged forward.

Both men pulled their triggers as their blades connected, creating a massive, colorful blast of energy that distorted the very air, rippled their clothing, and sent countless petals into an aerial frenzy. Seifer met each of Squall's ensuing attacks with a skillful block, smiling all the while; moving forward, backwards, and side to side, each devastating clash cleared the area of flowers, reflecting the destructive force of their rivalry.

Confident as always, Seifer spun back to allow Squall the opportunity to reload, saying, "Life on the run has made you weak, Squall. You've forgotten the rush of actually facing your opponent!"

"And you've forgotten how many times I've defeated you!" Squall shouted while flicking his fully loaded cylinder into position; spinning his blade behind him, he rushed Seifer yet again.

Seifer did nothing but raise his bare hand to meet Squall's advance; a torrent of red sparks erupted from his palm, and in a split second, a ball of fire manifested before him, growing as though it were a black hole feeding off the air itself.

As the deadly sphere of fire shot forth, Squall determinedly swung his gunblade, and by pulling the trigger, blew the fiery blast into burning cinders. With the cinders raining down around him, Squall spun in a circle, frost consuming his forearm, and raised his palm to Seifer just as jagged shards of ice erupted from his hand.

Though the flurry of snowflakes produced by the spell, Squall saw Seifer smile while holding out his arms, apparently ready to let the frozen spears pierce his heart; for a brief moment, the thought of Seifer's permanent downfall gave rise to a hallow feeling within Squall's chest.

Half a second later, however, the harrowing sound of thunder shattered the hallow feeling as a blinding peal of lightning ripped down from the sky, striking the icy blades and turning them into nothing but water moments before they hit their target.

Cutting through the wave of water, Seifer dashed forward, unleashing a series a quick, nimble slashes and thrusts that Squall narrowly deflected. Arms shaking from the intense vibration of colliding swords, ears ringing from the deafening sound of explosive bullets that released incredible shockwaves, and heart racing from the thrill of battle, Squall locked blades with Seifer, swiftly bashed him in the face with his head, and kicked him to the ground.

Before Seifer could move, the tip of Squall's blade was at his throat. The wind howled, pushing cold raindrops miles from their dark origins. Seifer smiled. Squall had to stop himself from adding an extra scar to Seifer's forehead; an X to mark the spot his sword would inevitably someday pierce.

"I promised I'd wait here for her!" Squall yelled as the misplaced rain pelted his face; fighting Seifer had brought buried emotions to the surface—emotions best understood by his worst enemy.

"Waiting here for the girl you fell for won't change the woman you love," Seifer said with a small grin. "That girl is gone, and the woman she became isn't coming to this place."

Slowly, Squall lowered his blade. "The sorceress is the enemy of SeeD…how can I justify the lives lost protecting her?"

"That's not what this is about," Seifer said while standing up. "It's about change, Squall; it's about a seed becoming something more."

As Seifer laughed to himself, Squall hatefully asked, "Why are you here?"

Stabbing his gunblade into the ground, looking more self-entitled than ever, Seifer replied, "I'm here to fulfill my romantic dream."

Prelude

Immediately after Ultimecia's defeat, Squall and Rinoa were picked up by Balamb Garden near Edea's orphanage. On the way back to Balamb, Squall expressed concerns over what would become of Garden; Headmaster Cid assured him that SeeD would still have a place in the world cleaning up after Ultimecia. Once in Balamb, Esthar officials arrived, informing Squall that their president had requested a meeting and could be found in Winhill.

After a small ceremony was held in honor of the heroes that brought an end to the S.S., or Second Sorceress War, Balamb Garden made the journey to Winhill. There, the President of Esthar, Laguna Loire, offered SeeD a contract combating the Lunar Cry aftermath; Squall was informed that if he agreed to help, Rinoa would be allowed to remain with Garden. Squall agreed, and it was then revealed that Esthar planned to reconstruct Trabia Garden; following advice from Cid Kramer and Ellone, Laguna contacted the White SeeDs, offering them management of Trabia Garden upon its completion.

After leaving Winhill, Balamb Garden immediately got permission from the Balamb Township to construct another facility in the same location as the original Garden; this new facility, dubbed Balamb Meadow, would be managed by Cid Kramer and his wife, Edea, who stayed in Balamb while Squall proceeded to Esthar. Once in Esthar, several Garden personal were sent to Trabia to assist with Trabia Garden's reconstruction, and several more were deemed NCOs (non-commissioned officers) charged with leading Estharian military units.

Meanwhile, with Ultimecia dead, the continent of Galbadia had fallen into chaos. While Galbadian politicians attempted to control the remnants of their renegade military, which had brought Galbadia Garden back to its original location for repairs, several members of Timber's various resistance organizations convened to decide the fate of their country; with Galbadia in shambles, nothing stood between Timber's ambitions for independence. Also, in the north, Dollet was flooded with Estharian immigrants that had moved through Trabia and Balamb to escape the Lunar Cry.

Three months later, Esthar had renovated the bridge connecting it to the Galbadian continent, which they used to transport resources purchased from Timber. During these transactions, Timber pressured Dollet and Esthar to help them determine how to handle the country of Galbadia until a new president could be elected; during the first meeting, Esthar ushered the formation of a "Union of Reposing Nations", or URN, that quickly established international regulations pertaining to warfare. In accordance with these new laws, several ex-Galbadian soldiers and SeeDs, many of which were taking refuge in their dilapidated Garden, were branded as war criminals, and Trabian SeeDs were contracted to catch them; upon apprehension, these criminals were imprisoned in D-District. Galbadia Garden was then moved to the Rhem Archipelago, west of Deling City, and made the headquarters of URN—Kiros Seagill was appointed as Esthar's URN representative, and Dollet and Timber furnished representatives as well.

Shortly after, a Galbadian election was held; under advice from Cid Kramer, ex-Headmaster Martine of Galbadia Garden was sponsored by Esthar in the presidential race; various prominent Galbadian citizens sponsored Fury Caraway; and Timber, unsatisfied with both candidates, worked with Dollet to sponsor a family member of the Dollet Dukedom—Martine was ultimately elected, and he quickly appointed Caraway as Galbadia's URN representative.

Thus, six months after Ultimecia's demise, peace swept across the globe for the first time in years. It was then that the President of Esthar, Laguna Loire, stepped down from office, returning to Winhill with his adopted daughter, Ellone; Esthar's International Relations Specialist, Synalyn Reigns, hastily assumed his position.

During the following months, Balamb Garden helped Esthar make considerable headway against the monsters plaguing their continent, and a year after the end of the S.S., Balamb Garden was dismissed. President Reigns then ordered Estharian soldiers south into Centra to protect numerous miners and construction workers sent in to colonize the barren continent.

The East was prospering, but in the West, peace had already started to unravel. The central culprits were pro-Galbadian radicals calling themselves "the Knights of Ultima", who through violent uprisings seized control of their downtrodden government and banished their URN representative. Then, they let several war criminals out of D-District prison, stating that since Galbadia was no longer a part of URN, they were exempt from URN legislation.

Dollet responded first by drafting Estharian immigrants into military service and purchasing weapons of war with money obtained from tourism during peacetime. With their armies strength greatly increased, Dollet threatened Galbadia with all out war if President Martine and their URN representative were not immediately reinstated. When Galbadia refused, Dollet proclaimed the entire country—civilians included—an enemy of international peace; citizens wishing to avoid persecution were urged to flee Galbadia immediately.

Galbadian refugees tried to move south, but Timber had its newly established army blockade their northern boarders, preventing access. Timber's reasoning was the fact that Esthar had made them rich by purchasing resources during the Lunar Cry aftermath, and they used that money to begin colonization of Centra; thus, participating in the war or allowing refugees into the country would "only hinder Timber's progress."

Timber's decision to remain neutral was a blessing for Galbadia, but Dollet proved to be more formidable than they'd anticipated, and so, in an act of desperation, Galbadia sent several requests to Balamb Garden and Balamb Meadow for aid; in need of income to sustain their very existence, Balamb Garden accepted Galbadia's contracts, as did Balamb Meadow. This action caused both Dollet and Timber to immediately grow extremely paranoid; it was a well know fact that the sorceress, Rinoa Heartilly, was still with Balamb Garden, and the last thing anyone wanted was a sorceress working with Galbadia again.

Six months passed and even with the help of SeeDs from Balamb, Galbadia made little headway against Dollet. It was during this time that a large portion of Timber's populace, including wealthy industry leaders, began to feel like action must be taken against Galbadia. Despite their government's official desire to remain uninvolved, prominent Timber citizens formed a faction called "Exceress" and began contracting Trabian SeeDs to actively participate in the war, leading to several bloody encounters between SeeDs from Balamb and SeeDs from Trabia.

Timber was distressed by the emergence of Exceress as it led to conflicting interests amongst the populace, and Dollet was becoming weary with the ongoing war; both counties expressed their concerns to Esthar, but Esthar stated that it wanted no part in the conflict. Timber's government believed that if Esthar intervened in the war, Exceress would fade away and Timber would be united again, but because Esthar refused to do so, Timber withdrew from URN and began actively fighting Esthar over Centran territory; a bold move considering their small army was still maintaining the Galbadian blockade.

Dollet officially withdrew from URN shortly after, meaning the union was officially disbanded. URN had allowed Esthar to manipulate events in their favor via conferences held with the leaders of Timber and Dollet; without URN, Esthar was an unaffiliated party with no stake in Western affairs. Eager to reestablish their position of power, Esthar vowed to capture Sorceress Rinoa and bring her to trial; like Timber and Dollet, Esthar believed the Knights of Ultima had contracted Balamb and not Trabia because of Balamb's affiliation with the sorceress, and so they assumed that without her, the Knights would surrender, thus ending the war. When Timber and Dollet heard Esthar's promise, they agreed to rejoin URN if Rinoa was indeed captured; they also promised to help in any way they could.

Balamb Garden, which had essentially made Galbadia its new home, was forced into hiding, effectively disappearing for over six months while the majority of its SeeDs were left to continue assisting the Knights.

And so, two years after Balamb Garden's victory over Sorceress Ultimecia, the heroes of the world were being hunted by the world for protecting the very being they were destined to destroy—the sorceress—and their only ally, Galbadia, was once the puppet of their greatest enemy.