A/N yes another story created by me!!! and yes I'm crazy and all to do another one while doing the others at the same time xP
Special thanks:
to LadiiReckless, (go see her stories 'cause theyr're really crazy :P) 'cause she was the first to give me the 'go' (yeah girl, we all know you don't like Rinoa xD neither do I :P) and for being a crazy friend as I am and giving me crazy ideas xP and 'cause she's a great 'mana' ;D;
to Woffie, 'cause he just loves to tell me my mistake and I love it every time he does that ;D, the ideas he gave me, the mentioning for this and that point, that helped me a lot, and made me open my eyes;
to Silverstargirl, 'cause she is just GREAT and is helping me by proofreadin this story (and damn, I like it! A lot ;D) all the ideas she helped me for this story, and the support she's doing to me all the time ;D;
to The Duelist of Dawn (check his stories cuzz they're really cool :D) for all of the support he gives me (that I must say is endless) and for giving me great ideas for my other fic I'm going to write.
You guys ROCK!!!!!!!!!!! and i LUFF YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh and yeah. In this first chapter, Squall will 14, Seifer 15 and Sophia girl 13. I changed a little for the story to be three, and not two years, BEFORE the game. Zell is, of course, already there, but he won't appear much.
as for the reviews..................BRING'EM ON!!!!!!!! xD
Disclaimer: nope do not own the FFVIII characters and all xP Wish I did though..........
Chapter One: Leaving
"Squall?"
The voice was soft and calm, gently calling him. The boy tried to open his eyes, but found out that he couldn't. He was too weak.
"Squall?! Wake up Squall!"
He groaned audibly, trying to move, only to find that a scorching pain burst in his chest, making him groan again.
"Come on Squall, wake up!"
This time, Squall managed to, slightly, open his eyes, meeting a pair of golden ones. The girl above him smiled, her long, brown hair, falling to the sides, caressing the skin on his chest.
"Ah awake at last! How are you feeling?"
He wanted to tell her that he was just fine, but when he moved, an involuntary groan escaped his lips. Squall Leonheart was NOT fine, and the girl didn't needed to be a specialist to see that. Her hands grabbed his shoulders, pushing him back down.
It was only then that he noticed that he was in a different place. The ceiling was white and under him, was something soft. Opening his eyes further, Squall saw that he was in his room, lying in his bed.
"How did I…" he started to ask, but the girl hushed him.
"I brought you here." She said simply, a cloth wet with something in her hand. "Raijin and Fujin helped me. Seifer is already in his room, Fujin is treating him."
Squall watched as the cloth as she slowly reached down to his chest, and started to gently rub the same place where he was hurt. He tried to suppress a wince as the liquid in the cloth stung in his flesh. Looking down, Squall noticed that he wasn't dressed.
The girl looked at him apologetically and said: "Sorry, but your shirt was drenched in blood and I had to remove it. Oh and your pants too. I got you a new pair of pants and another shirt. I cleaned your jacket. Hope you don't mind."
She gave another apologizing look, and Squall just sighed. He looked down again and noticed that he was, indeed, just in his black boxers. Even the boots and socks had vanished. She followed his gaze and looked back at the wound that, as Squall suddenly noticed in that moment, was a deep cut in the middle of his chest. The causer was, of course, Seifer. The liquid stung again has she gently rubbed the wound, and this time he managed to suppress both the groan and the wince.
"Nothing I haven't seen before." she said seriously, referring to him being half-naked in his bed, with her sitting right next to him.
He didn't say anything, but he knew that it was simply the truth. The girl, Sophia, and he didn't have any secrets from each other. After all the times she had ended treating him due his and Seifer's 'training' sessions, and Squall never wanted to go to the Infirmary, she had got accustomed to seeing him like that. Squall didn't even bother to worry about what situations in with her anymore as he had begun to trust her as time went by.
What happened between the two every time she treated him was kept secret between the two of them. Everyone knew, of course, that they got along pretty well, but as Squall preferred to be alone at times outside of the dorm it appeared that they were just colleagues that sometimes had the same class. The only times that the students would see them together otherwise was when they were training, and sometimes, when Sophia had insisted eating with him, seated at the same table. Most didn't suspect that they were good friends.
But they were just that. Good friends.
"True." he answered after a while.
"Here, try to sit up.." she said, supporting him with one hand on the chest and another the back.
Slightly wincing and groaning, Squall ended up seated on the bed's edge. Sophia grabbed something in the bed's end, and Squall was soon present with his black pants.
"Here, put them on." she said, her hands never leaving him. He didn't admit it, but her hand soothed him in a way nothing else could. "Want any help?"
He didn't need to tell her the help he needed. She just understood everything after all the time they passed together.
He could still remember when the two of them, along with Seifer, had arrived at Garden. The headmaster had put the two of them in the same double dorm. He also remembered all the nights when they first arrived that she had sneaked inside his room and had nuzzled close to him, saying that she had a nightmare. He had complained at first, but she had always ended up falling asleep in his bed and he would end up sleeping next to her.
After dressing in his pants and putting his boots on, Squall remained seated on the bed's edge, while Sophia kneeled in front of him, finishing the treatment of his wound. It didn't sting anymore, and he was glad about that. Soon, she was wrapping the wound in a bandage.
"Squall?" she called, the hands putting pressure in the bandage.
"Hmm?"
"I have something to tell you…"
He looked at her, waiting for her to continue and trying to understand her expressions, but she didn't look up, her face focused solely on the wound on his chest.
"Yes?" he urged. She bit her lower lip, nervous.
"Remember the proposal that Headmaster Cid made me a week ago?"
Yes, Squall remembered. She had come to his room that night, wrapped in a blanket, looking somewhat scared and confused, and told him that the headmaster had given her the chance to go to Galbadia Garden, a place slightly different from Balamb. It was focused solely in mechanics, technology, and military training. There was no training with GF's or magic usage. Squall hadn't approved at first, but he couldn't disapprove either. It was her decision, and the only thing he could do was give her suggestions and advised her, although, to be honest, he never liked the idea.
"Yes, so?"
"Well…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say. "I kind of, well, accept it…."
He was slightly taken aback by what she said. Was she leaving? Permanently? He hadn't really thought about it before, not in that way. He had always thought that she would decline it. It just hadn't seemed like her kind of Garden.
"You accepted it?" his voice was colder than he had expected, and Sophia backed away a little upon hearing it.
"Well… yeah…."
"Why?" he asked, his voice growing colder. "Why did you do that?"
"huh…. Well… you see…. I've been thinking a lot lately, and I came to the conclusion that Galbadia Garden was the best option. It doesn't have magic or GFs, and focus more on…"
"Military issues!" he shouted.
"Well… not really… you know how much I like the technology stuff, and Squall, Galbadia Garden is the best place for me…"
"So you're leaving?" the voice was low, dangerous, cold.
"In three days."
Squall, hurt and angry, got up, grabbed shirt, jacket and gunblade, which was in it's case and left the room. This left leaving Sophia feeling hurt and sad.
(---*Sophia PoV*---)
When I first arrived, I gazed at the red splendor of Galbadia Garden as it stood in front of me. It looked even more marvelous than I expected it to. Several students were just walking nearby, talking and laughing. Some of them looked older than me. Well, they probably were, since I was thirteen at the time. I was more than happy to finally be here, after almost a day's tiring journey. But looking at the Garden had brought me sadness as well.
Three days after I had treated Squall's most recent wound, and after I went to Seifer's room, who reacted the same way Squall did at the news, I had expected that two of them, or even just one, would bid me farewell. After all, I was leaving. Who knew how long it would pass before I would see them.
But they didn't come. Neither of them.
I was hurt, really hurt of their actions, but I assumed it was their way of making me pay for what I'd done to them. It still hurt me deeply though, to the point that I had, somehow, forgotten to breath.
Three years have now passed since I first got here.
My partners and colleagues are nice, but I haven't allowed anyone to become close to me. Most of the girls are somewhat bitchy to me and every time a boy asks me out or invited me for something I gain some serious death glares from them. My exotic looks, with slightly tanned skin, golden eyes and brown hair appeals to males.
Every time I politely decline, but it doesn't seem to change how the girls react. I try to be nice to everyone, of course, but keep my distance and try to maintain any relations with them within the bounds of simple friendship. Not everyone understands this and some have started to say I am full of myself and think that I am better than they are. I just pretend I don't hear this and carry on with my life. I feel no need to explain my real reason for not trusting enough to deepen any relationships of any sort. What had happened between myself, Seifer, and Squall is that reason.
Since arriving at G. Garden, I have specialized in being the perfect spy, and excellent hacker, and brilliant healer. My mind has been solely focused on my studies and daily routine as I try hard to forget. The routine at G. Garden is strict, but after some time, and several detentions, I got used to it.
I also decided to change my weapon as a way to try and forget Squall, Seifer, Balamb and everything related to them. But after a while I found it didn't matter how hard I tried, they would always assault my dreams at night. Especially Squall and his reaction that day were carved into my memories in blue fire.
My weapon of choice back at Balamb was swords, especially the gunblade. Squall and Seifer had always fascinated me the way they wielded them, but when I arrived at G. Garden,my new weapon of choice became the chakram. Or better to say, two chakrams. I designed them myself.
Each chakram is circular and red, with silver spikes and circles around the edges, and two black handles cross in the middle. Each chakram has eight spikes, with four of them big, and the other four smaller, between each larger one.
From time to time, I will get some news from Balamb, and sometimes, even though it is rare, some of it will concern Squall and Seifer. It appears that the two have become more hostile towards each other and that Squall, even though he was already distant from most people, has become cold and stoic, a lone wolf, and a great fighter. He is quite complex to most of the students in the Garden. In other words, Squall has become completely anti-social, disconnecting from the outer world, only focused in battles.
As for Seifer, his behavior was horrible: he disrespects instructors, abuses his power as the leader of the Disciplinary Committee, and is arrogant and cocky to everyone. Nevertheless, he is a great fighter, and an excellent magic-user, specialized in the element of Fire.
A year after I arrived at G. Garden, I decided that I needed to make another change. This time, a somewhat 'physical' change. I cut my hair, making it reach only midway down my back, and dyed it, turning it from brown, to dark red. It wasn't dark, so people could still tell from a distance that it was pure red. This added with my golden eyes, caused me to look completely different. With the two red chakrams as weapon, and my new behavior, which has changed from nice and shy to still caring and a bit rebellious, people called me "Crimson Fury". They said that when battling. I looked like an all consuming fire, destroying everything in my path. Something inside of me has changed since I arrived at G. Garden and learned what had become of Seifer and Squall.
It was also here in Galbadia Garden that I met Irvine Kinneas again. He didn't recognize me due to my new appearance and the fact that I was no longer the shy child he met at the orphanage. Since he didn't see me for who I truly was, I decided to keep it a secret from him. I had recognized him immediately, of course. He has become really handsome, causing all of the girls to gawk at him. He returns the favor and is always flirting with one skirt or another. I am the only he can't get hooked using his looks, because it disgusted me to think of him like that. Irvine Kinneas was and is just a friend, a good friend, and that won't change. It is just as it was with Squall and Seifer. They were friends, and JUST friends.
Three years had passed in a flash, when one day, it happened.
We were attacked without any warning.
*------------------*
AN. TADA!!!!!!! The chakram weapon is the same as Axel in Kingdom Hearts. And I know that she said she had designed them herself, but hey! It had to stick up into the plot! And of course, each spikes meaning is different from Axel's ones meaning.
And I want reviews people!!!! 'cause:
lots of reviews=happy authoress=faster updates
Katherine the Black Rose