Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy at all, but I wish I did!
Author Notes: Warning this is a final fantasy Crossover fanfiction, but only allows you to pick two categories. FFVIII, VII, X and X-2 are all in this fanfiction! Therefore, there will be spoilers from the other games! If you haven't played those games then… what have you been doing with your life?! Lol I kid, I hope everyone enjoys!
Chapter 1: Lost Bonds
Steel-blue eyes scanned the bar as he sat in the back corner booth quietly sipping on his glass of scotch that he had just ordered from the bar. The bar wasn't very full that evening, only a few of the regulars were there that Squall noticed, including himself. He sat down his glass and rested his elbows on the table, resting his forehead on this now clasped hands, he looked down at his drink. Sneaking a peek at his watch, he realized that his partner was now fifteen minutes late for their meeting. He sat up completely as he stretched his arms out. Thank Hyne he had decided to change into his cloth black jacket before leaving out this evening, he was positive if he would have worn his usual leather get up he would be sweating bullets by now. This bar was not air-conditioned but it had really good circulation from the windows being open. He sighed heavily, annoyed about his situation, he hated waiting, especially when he had something important to do! His irritation threatened to overcome him because this was becoming a normal thing for his partner to be late. Of course, he understood that he had things that he needed to tend to. Moreover, he realized that most of the time those things that caused his partner's tardiness did help them out on their jobs, but couldn't the guy just pick up the phone and tell him that he would be late?
Squall Leonhart picked up his glass of scotch and downed the rest of it quickly. He could feel the burn as he slid smoothly down his throat. He pulled out his money and left fifteen Gil for the drink and an extra five Gil as a tip for the server. He stood up slowly, careful not to let the sound of his belts ring out too loudly, he reattached his sheath and Gunblade to his side and headed outside to continue his wait. Maybe if he were in a more open space, he wouldn't be so anxious about his partner being so late.
As he strolled pass the people in the bar, many stopped and looked at him, he could even hear a few whispers and that was fine, he had grown used to it. However, what he could not understand is why people wouldn't mind their own business. Why were they worried about who he was, and why did they have to whisper? If they had a problem with his presence then they should just come out and just say it.
Exiting the bar, the Gunblader stepped out into the evening sunlight. The fragrance of the flowers nearby relaxed him as the warm breeze caressed his skin, and blew through his long brown locks softly.
Winhill had become a second home for Squall. He loved the quiet atmosphere, the open fields and the overall small town feel of the little village. Just a few short months ago, he had purchased a small house here. This place was his sanctuary, a place where he could get away and just be alone. And the good thing was that no one knew of this place other than his partner, and he knew that he would not tell anyone if Squall didn't want him to.
The man's blue eyes scanned the dirt road to see if he could see his partner coming. Much to his relief, he saw his raven-haired partner sprinting down the road coming from the direction of the small shopping district.
"Hey Leon! Sorry I'm late!," The brunette said as he ran up to Squall out of breath.
The former SeeD frowned as he eyed his partner, he crossed his arms across his chest as he looked at him silently. He was annoyed, but at least he was here now and they could get started strategizing for their next job.
He had met Jason a few months ago in Deling City. They had met at a bar ran by his contact Layla and the first thing he had noticed about the guy was his blue eyes that seemed to have a faint glow to them. The guy also seemed to be very tech savvy and was also working as a mercenary. Layla had properly introduced them and informed the two men that had been working with the both of them individually. After a few weeks, they had decided to team up after Jason insisted time after time again that they would make a great team. Squall, who now called himself Leon, had decided to give it a shot and found out that they did make a good team and decided to team up with him indefinitely.
"I hope you have a good reason," Leon replied in his usual cold tone.
Jason, who now had gotten use to his partner's personality brushed off his tone and nodded happily. "I received a phone call that I think you would like to return."
A phone call? I thought I told him that we would get our messages through Layla at the bar in Deling! Squall thought to himself silently.
"What call was it?" Asked Leon curiously. Even though he didn't like the thought of receiving any "calls" he was curious to who would want to contact them that badly.
"Well it was from Seifer..."
"I don't want anything to do with it," Squall said quickly as he heard his former rival's name.
"But Leon he said…"
"I don't want to hear it!"
"But why?" Jason asked.
"Because the last time we took a job from Seifer it didn't go as 'smoothly' as he had said it would," Leon said with irritation.
Jason exhaled sharply as he nodded in understanding. Yes things didn't go so well the last time but they had been warned about that. It was true that the blonde-haired man may have left some details out that could have helped the duo but they still had the necessary information to succeed. Although Jason realized soon after that Seifer had only left out certain parts just to make things harder on his partner. Jason sighed loudly as he looked over at Leon, there was some serious history between the two of them but Leon had refused to divulge any of it. He always stated that it was unnecessary and it didn't matter but it was obvious that Seifer bought out a side of his partner that fascinated Jason.
"Look I think we should take this job, the leader of the Minato group wants us to retrieve some stolen items back from the Ayase family. He's offering us 500,000 gil if we can get his items back."
Leon's steel-blue orbs eyed his friend coolly, 500,000 Gil was a lot of money just to retrieve some stolen items. However, considering that these two groups were the top mafia groups in Galbadia, hell even the world meant that these items could possibly be worth many times more what he was offering them.
"So Seifer got the lead? Or did the leader of the Minato group come to him directly requesting us?" Asked leon.
"I'm not quite sure," Jason responded as he shrugged.
Leon turned his head and looked off the other way; he would have to have a word with his former rival about being in their business. But then again he was now an information broker and he could have sold this information to anyone else instead of giving it to them.
"How much is Seifer charging us?" Leon asked curiously. He never looked back at Jason only continued to stare off in the distance, there had to be a catch getting this lead from the blond.
"He only wants ten percent."
Leon sighed, he figured as much but still, that left more than enough Gil for him and Jason to split and not have to take any job for months.
"Call Seifer back and tell him that we'll do the job and to provide us with ALL of the necessary information," Leon said emphasizing the word all.
"I'll get on that right away," Jason said relaxing now that he knew his partner would take the job.
"Well, once you get all of the information give me a call and we can meet up again," Leon said as he turned to walk towards his home in the northern part of Winhill.
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Quistis Trepe sighed silently as she sat in her staff meeting with the Commander and Headmaster of Balamb Garden. Her mind was not into the meeting, she had so much on her mind that this general meeting was just not important to her. Of course discussing the security measures of the garden was an extremely important matter, however, how much security did the garden need when they were training SeeDs? It made absolutely no sense to the blond but because she was not the commander or the headmaster she had to sit through these meaningless meeting discussing issues that should not even be an issue.
"Quistis what do you think about that idea? Anything you would like to add?"
Quistis looked over into a pair of emerald colored eyes calmly. Silas Godfrey always tried to catch her off guard, he always wanted to one up her but she was aware of what had been discussed she just wasn't all that into it. She knew that the man had it out for her ever since he had been promoted to Commander. He always went out of his way to put Quistis in difficult situations, but since she was so cautious things never worked out in the Commander's favor.
"Commander Godfrey, I believe that the security measures are fine as they are. This facility trains soldiers, why do we need men from the Galbadia army to guard here? Besides, politically that would become a nightmare for Balamb Garden because Galbadia Garden will try to exercise more power over this Garden because of their soldiers being here. I think each Garden should remain its own separate facility, and if we need SeeDs we can contract them from other Gardens, but hiring members of the Galbadian Army to come and protect us would signal that we are unable to protect our own facility. Furthermore, with Galbadia being extremely powerful they could possibly arrange a takeover if they get enough power individuals behind them. So my answer is no we do not need extra security measures, we can train more SeeDs and put them on guard duty if we must."
Silas nodded as he pretended to take in Quistis words, however she knew that no matter what he would go about things the way he wanted, he even had Cid under his grasp.
"You make a wonderful point; I'll take that into consideration." The younger man stated as he smiled. He removed a piece of his silver hair out of his eyes.
"What a snake," Quistis thought to herself as her eyes graced at her watch. If she hadn't promised Squall that she would remain on the Garden council she would have been a regular A class SeeD.
She began to feel a deep sadness as she thought about the former Commander. It was two years to the day that he decided to leave garden and never look back. He left everyone behind without hesitation. While leaving his friends was a surprise, it was even more surprising when he decided to leave Rinoa. Quistis had always questioned to this day, as to why Rinoa decided to not go after him. Rinoa then left Balamb soon after Squall's departure and moved back to Deling city with her father.
Quistis had not heard from her personally, but every time she turned on the television, she saw the famous Rinoa Heartilly following in her mother's footsteps. She was now a famous singer who was living in the capital of Galbadia. Her father was still head of the military; they were a huge power family now. Therefore, even if Quistis and the gang, or what was left of them decided to visit her, they would have to go through a great a lot to do so.
"I guess that concludes today's meeting," Cid spoke up as he noticed Quistis' distracted demeanor. The Headmaster stood up and shook hands with Silas; he turned to Quistis and looked at her with concern. He knew what day it was and he could sense what was distracting her so much. When Silas exited the room, he began to gather his things.
"I know today must be extremely difficult for you, but you have to make sure you pay more attention in these meetings. They concern Garden and are extremely important, no matter how mundane they may be," Cid said to her calmly.
Quistis looked over at him a bit surprised, but she understood. As one of the leaders of Balamb she had to put the Garden first, her personal feelings had no place in administrative meetings. She let out a silent sigh because while she knew that, at times like this she couldn't help it. No matter how futile it was, and no matter how the former commander felt, Quistis missed him. During their plight with Ultimecia she had thought that her feelings were those of an older sister, however as she watched Squall with Rinoa she began to wish more and more that she was the one he was smiling at, talking to and holding. While she knew that being with him would be impossible, she still wanted him around. Being close to him was more than enough for her.
"I apologize Headmaster, it's just today is a bit difficult for me."
Cid smiled warmly at the woman, he had always noticed Quistis' feelings for the former Commander and they were more obvious around this time of year.
"Have you all tried to go and search for him? My contacts have told me he frequently visits Deling City," Cid said casually.
Quistis shook her head, as much as she wanted to go out and search for him, he had left on his own free will, maybe he didn't want anyone to find him. It had been two years and he had no even bothered to contact anyone. But then again this was Squall, he felt like being alone was the best thing for him.
"Maybe I should just let things stay as they are, he did leave everyone including Rinoa behind. He must have had his reasons," Quistis whispered.
Cid raised an eyebrow, Yes Squall must have had his reasons, but his reasoning was always based on solitude, not working things out with others. Yes he had begun to open up to everyone but something had occurred that had made him shut down again and abruptly leave Garden.
"What about Zell? Has he decided to give up as well?" Asked Cid
"I wouldn't say he's given up, but life happens and things change. Zell has been busy planning his wedding with Lydia, so finding Squall hasn't been his top priority. Selphie and Irvine have adjusted to their new lives up in Trabia and now Rinoa has become a singer. It seems that I'm the only one stuck in this limbo when it comes to Squall."
Cid smiled warmly at the blonde SeeD. He wanted to offer her words of consolation but there was nothing he could tell her. People grew up, and at times, they grew apart, just as this group had. He turned to look out the conference room window at the evening sun. If only there was a way, he could help her and bring everyone back together.
Squall, it seems you were the glue that held everyone together, when you left everyone started to drift apart. The former headmaster thought to himself quietly.
"Oh Quistis I almost forgot, I have a new mission for you."
Quistis looked at Cid in surprise; she rarely got missions these days. Her job usually involved helping Silas run the Garden. If Cid was giving her a mission, it must have some major importance.
Cid pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the blonde-haired woman, "I would prefer you read it in the privacy of your own apartment, and when you are done you can come and see me so we can go over a strategy."
Quistis nodded looking at the former headmaster with a bit of concern, why was he being so secretive. What kind of mission could this possibly be?
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Squall arrived to his house in less than ten minutes. It was a small brick one-bedroom house located right next to Ellone's old home. Living here gave him comfort even though his Sis now resided in Esthar with Laguna. Opening his door, he walked into the dark house without cutting the lights on. He didn't open any shades or windows because he felt uncomfortable at the thought of someone coming over knowing that he was home. Instead, he turned on his central air, instantly feeling the mugginess that had built up on the house cooling down.
He flopped down on the couch and closed his eyes. Winhill was so quiet, and a bit dull. Nevertheless, he needed quiet and boring to put things into perspective. His life had been so complicated before, and now things were easy. He did his jobs, he came home and relaxed. While the jobs themselves were not easy, it was relaxing to come home and not have to be bothered with things that didn't necessarily pertain to him. He worried only about himself and did things for himself without having to answer to anyone.
His eyes opened gradually, adjusting to the darkness around him. His house definitely needed some work, but it was his home. He'd never had anything of his own before.
He sighed deeply as he ran his hands through his copper locks, he really loathed thinking so much, but that was all he did. His cell phone rang disturbing his thoughts much to his relief. He looked at the caller ID noticing it was blocked, but he picked up anyway.
"Hello," he said into the phone coolly.
"Hi son, it's me," he heard the voice say on the other end. Squall flinched, his first thought was to quickly hang up the phone, but he had told himself he would work on trying to have a relationship with the man. However, he hated when Laguna called him son, he felt that he had to earn that right that. At the same time he felt kind of comforted that the man was trying and usually let it slide. Initially Squall had thought the president of Esthar was a complete moron, but after getting to know him over the years his views were softening a bit. He thought the man had his good points, and he tried hard to include Squall in his life, but the younger man still seen his actions at times a bit moronic.
"Did you want something?" Squall asked into the phone nonchalantly. He was trying to learn how to control his tone when it came to Laguna, the man could be a bit sensitive.
"I was just wondering when you would come and visit your old man again, it has been a little over two months since you were here."
Squall sighed; he kept his distance for a reason. He didn't want to become too close to anyone, relative or not. That's why he barely saw his Sis these days as well. The last time he had visited, he didn't stay long, only a few hours. While there, he just listened to Laguna and Sis talk about their everyday lives. He didn't say too much but he had actually enjoyed himself, although he wouldn't admit that to them out loud.
"Also Elle told me to say hi when I spoke to you as well," Laguna added eagerly cutting into his thoughts. His voice sounding has happy and carefree as always.
Squall sat on the phone as Laguna began to ramble about everything from his job to the things he and Ellone had been doing. Squall just sat and listened because while he didn't say much he genuinely did not mind listening to Laguna's ramblings.
When he had left Garden, he thought that he wanted to go back to how he used to be. When he was alone, no one could hurt him, he didn't long to be with anyone. However, Squall found that hard to do, once you have experienced companionship as he had, he couldn't go back to simply being alone. So little by little, he accepted Laguna and Ellone's phone calls. He rarely made his visits to see them. But because he did at times go and see them, it had became common knowledge that Squall Leonhart, commander of Balamb Garden was the son of the President of Esthar. Therefore, when he decided to become a mercenary he started using the name Leon Lionheart and grew his hair out longer. That enabled him to get around easier and not make him a moving target. No one in his new life knew who he was other than Seifer. Not even Layla knew his real identity, which made things a bit complicated considering their 'relationship.'
"Squall? Did you hear me?" Laguna asked on the other line bringing the brunette back to the present.
Squall didn't hear a word he said, and his silence said that loud and clear to the president on the other line.
"Well, I said that I have to get off of the phone now," Laguna said indicating that Squall's silence meant that he had not heard a thing.
Must have been lost in thought again, the president thought to himself with a bit of concern.
"But I do want you to come and visit Elle and I really soon if you can," he finished waiting to see if his son would respond to the invitation.
"I can come in a week if you keep it low profile," Squall answered after a brief pause.
Laguna smiled happily giving Ellone a thumbs up. She had been sitting next to him the whole time hoping that Squall would agree to come to Esthar again. "I can definitely do that," Laguna agreed
Squall rolled his eyes, low profile and Laguna didn't match, but the president knew how important it was for Squall to make a living so he knew that he would try.
"Ok gotta run son talk to you later, bye," Laguna said before hanging up the phone first.
Squall hung up the phone and sat it back down onto the couch next to him, welcoming the silence once again.
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Quistis found herself back in Cid's presence an hour later. She had read about the mission in private but was still confused about some things; from what she read, she didn't understand what the mission was supposed to be at all. And also how dangerous or how many SeeDs she would need.
"Sir, I read the briefing and I'm still quite confused about what you want me to do," Quistis told him honestly.
Cid nodded in understanding, he stood up and began to pace as he clasped his hands behind his back. "I received a request from a client stating that they wanted us to investigate a religious group. Apparently, the leader has acquired a very special artifact that was stolen and sold onto the black market. I cannot tell you much about the artifact other than it's extremely important, and my client wants it retrieved."
Quistis frowned, so she was supposed to get a group of SeeDs and blindly carry out a mission with little to no information at all? She didn't like the sound of that and needed more information before she could agree to this mission. While SeeDs were supposed to take a mission with no questions asked, after the Ultimecia incident, she felt like asking questions was necessary.
"Sir I understand that this artifact is important, but it's also important for SeeD to know what we are looking for and what this artifact is capable of. If we go into this blindly it could led to something far bigger and unexpected," Quistis stated calmly.
Cid nodded in understanding, "I know you're concerned about things getting out of control but I have looked into things and the mission is a simple retrieval."
Quistis bit her lower lip nervously, if it was a simple retrieval then why did he need Quistis to lead the mission? This was something a lower rank SeeD could do easily.
"Okay I have a bit more understanding about retrieving this item, but why investigate the group? There are a ton of religious groups throughout the world, what makes this group so important? And why do we have to investigate them in order to retrieve the item. Sir I'm sure if you know they have the item you have a man on the inside, so why not get the item and just leave it at that?"
Cid stopped pacing as he took off his glasses and begin to clean them; as he put them back on he looked over at Quistis.
"They need to be investigated because it seems that they have been kidnapping young women, and we need to find out why."
"And our client wants to know that? Why?"
"Actually that's a request from a different client," replied Cid.
Quistis looked at him in surprise, two different clients having problems with this one small religious group, what were the odds?
Quistis had heard enough, sure she wanted more information but that would just be pushing the small authority that she had, "Okay sir, I can do this but I have a special request."
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Squall had fallen asleep on his living room couch soon after his phone call with Laguna. He had been waiting for Jason to call him back but had drifted off after sitting in the dark for so long. Suddenly, his phone began to ring loudly underneath him. Groaning loudly, he reached for his phone and answered it without checking to see who it was.
"Leon, I got all the information we need to carry out this job," he heard his partner say on the other end.
Squall opened his eyes and looked at his watch, it was two in the morning. "Can we meet to discuss our plans?"
He heard Jason shuffling around in the background, "meet me at Holston's Pub tomorrow at noon. And come prepared, you won't be coming back to Winhill for a little while."
Squall grunted in understanding before handing up his phone, he guessed that he could go and see Laguna and Sis after this mission, he would be able to afford the time off then.
End Chapter