A/N: This story accompanies my new story in the FFX section called "A Summoner's Journey." Make sure you read the first chapter of that after or before you read the first chapter of this. Otherwise you might be confused. Please read and review!

Disclaimer: All characters are property of Squaresoft (Square Enix) and this will be the only time in this story I say that. Kaelen belongs to me though. P

Chapter 1: Unexpected Request

I was woken up by somebody knocking on my dorm door. 'Oh Hyne,' I thought to myself. 'Who the fuck could that be?' I turned my head to look at the digital clock on my desk, which read 12:31. I gave a deep sigh as I took my time getting out of bed and rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands. I took my blue pair of sleeping pants off the chair in front of my desk and slipped them on. The person on the other side of my door began to knock again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," I muttered under my breath. I hate it when people wake me up from a good dream. I don't have many of those, and this person just had to fuck mine up by banging on the fucking door. I opened the door only to see Eternity standing there. I noticed Eternity's eyes glance towards my bed, as if she expected somebody else to be laying there. "Do you know what time it is?" I asked with a sleep-filled voice. Hyne, where did that voice come from?

"I need to speak to you, it's important and cannot wait," Eternity replied. I held the door open so she could walk in. After she did, I closed the door and waited for her to start. "It's about Kaelen...I need to leave Garden and I have nobody to look after him for me. Would you take care of him?"

"Why can't you take him with you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. 'Why in the hell does she expect me to take care of him? I'm sure she could take him wherever she's going,' was the first thought in my head.

"He might get hurt if I do..." she trailed off with uncertainty.

"What do you mean?" I pressed as I smoothed my hair out of my eyes. I should get these bangs trimmed at least half an inch, because they've been getting on my last nerve at least twice a day. Then again, maybe not. I always brush them back and I do not want to screw my hair up by trimming anything.

"Let's just say that it's my turn to help save the world," she answered cryptically with a small smile.

I stared at her for a few minutes, considering what she said. The battlefield wasn't a good place for any child, no matter if they could protect themself or not. 'Of course you should take care of Kaelen, he's your son,' my conscious told me. I thought for a few more seconds and finally told her, "Alright...I'll look after him. When are you leaving?"

"Sometime...what time is it?" she asked.

"There's a clock," I pointed to my desk. I couldn't help but glance at the clock again and saw that the clock read '12:32'.

"I'll be leaving anywhere from thirty minutes to a few hours. Lulu wants to leave as soon as possible," Eternity answered while turning her eyes back to me.

"Where is Kaelen now?" I asked her.

"He's at my dorm with Ellone," she told me. "I'm about to go pack and get ready to go."

"I'll come with you and get him," I offered as I opened the door and motioned for her to lead the way.

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After Eternity finished packing, she left her personal room and put her bag near the door. "How long will you be gone?" I asked her.

"I'm not sure," she answered while inspecting her bag to make sure it was all zipped up. I knew exactly what she needed from me.

"Eternity?" I said her name and she turned around to face me. I held both arms up in front of me and I could tell she was confused. "Come here," I ordered as I jerked my head back slightly, signaling for her to come over to me. Eternity gave me a hug which I returned. I don't know why I let her hug me, but I knew she appreciated it. She gave a sigh as she leaned her head on my bare chest.

There was a knock on the door, and I watched Ellone as she went to answered it. "There ya are!" Zell exclaimed. "Hey, how 'bout a group hug?" Zell walked over and wrapped an arm around Eternity's waist and my shoulders. "It's nice seeing this side of you Squall." Zell turned his gaze to Eternity and asked, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, but I want to say goodbye to Kaelen first," Eternity told Zell as she broke the embrace with me and walked over to the other room that used to be Ariana's. I followed close behind her and watched as she gave a sad smile.

"Let me," I came in and made my way over to the bed, which was against the wall. I gently eased Kaelen into my arms, trying not to wake him.

"It's fine if he wakes up," Eternity told me with a reassuring smile. I nodded, then nudged Kaelen awake with a hand.

Kaelen yawned before slowly opening his eyes and then he looked groggily around at his surroundings. His eyes stopped on me, "Daddy?" he asked quietly with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Yeah Kaelen..." I replied.

"Kaelen?" Eternity started as she took the few steps needed to stand in front of me. Kaelen was rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Mommy has to leave for a little while...your daddy will be watching over you, okay?"

"Where you going?" Kaelen asked.

"Um..." Eternity started, but broke off. She was concentrating to come up with the right words.

"Your ma and I need to go save somebody from some bad people," Zell cut in for her.

"But why you have to go?" Kaelen asked in a whiny voice.

"Because I have to protect cousin Yuna. I can't do that here, but your father will protect you...okay?" Eternity told him.

"Okay," Kaelen gave another yawn as he rested his head against my shoulder.

"Hey! I've got an idea!" Zell told us while rummaging in his duffle bag. He produced a camera of some sort and explained, "We can take pictures with my digital camera and then have them printed out. It only takes seconds to print them, then a lot of copies can be made for anyone who wants one." Zell studied each of us before continuing, "Squall, Eternity, Kaelen and Sis...all of you stand by each other."

"I don't want to be in any pictures," I complained. Eternity stood in front of me, while Ellone stood beside me.

"Heh, you're the father Squall, and besides, Eternity would have a picture of you ta look at whenever she wanted to," Zell replied. Eternity turned her head to look at me, I stared back at her as she gave a shrug of her shoulders with a smile.

I gave a defeated sigh as I said, "Fine. But hurry up, I have paperwork to do later, so I need my sleep." I don't know how the hell I get pulled into this shit!

Zell turned the camera on and waited a few seconds while he put the eyepiece to his eye. Then, he pushed down on a button and told us, "A few more...Squall, hand Kaelen over to Eternity and wrap your arms around her waist."

"Why?" I asked with some irritation at being ordered around. I am the so-called "Commander," so why am I allowing myself to get ordered around? I guess it was because I wanted this to hurry up so I could go back to sleep.

"Just do it," Zell gave a grin as he watched through the camera lens. I carefully handed Kaelen over to Eternity and she held him in her arms. Kaelen leaned his head on Eternity's shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her waist. Zell clicked the button again and asked, "Sis, would you take a picture with me in it?"

"Sure Zell," Ellone went and took Zell's spot as he nudged me from behind Eternity, wrapping his own arms around her waist in the process.

I thought I could walk away from them without being noticed, but I wasn't so lucky. Zell said, "Hold up Squall. You can stand beside Eternity...you can hold Kaelen too."

"What is this point of this?" I asked while turning toward Zell.

"Well, Kaelen is your son right? I think ya should get as many pictures together while he's young," Zell answered. I gave another sigh as I once again took Kaelen in my arms and held him.

"We better be finished soon, I have a lot of things to get done as I've said before," I complained bitterly.

"A few more pictures," Zell assured me.

Soon enough, we finished taking the pictures and Eternity turned to me. I saw that Kaelen was fast asleep again. "I'm leaving now." I told them while walking towards the door with Kaelen in my arms, and Ellone hurried to the door and opened it for me. Before I was through the door, I turned towards them and said, "I want both of you to be careful out there. Zell, you know how dangerous it can be." Zell nodded before I walked out of the room. I made my way back to my room so I could go back to bed.

It didn't take long to end up in front of my dorm door. I shifted Kaelen to hold him in one arm while I punched in my password to the dorm. I opened the door with my free hand and walked in. I closed the door and heard it lock behind me. I studied the room and tried to find a place to lay Kaelen down. The only options were, I would let Kaelen sleep in the bed while I slept on the floor. Either that, or I make a pallet on the floor for Kaelen, while I got the bed. I took a few minutes to think it out, and finally made up my mind. I laid Kaelen down on the bed, beside the wall to keep him from falling off. I took the other side of the bed. I certainly wasn't going to sleep on the floor for Hyne knows how long. After I settled down for a while, I dozed off to sleep.

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A/N: Please review!