A/N: I wrote this I think Christmas 2010, so it's in a different mindset than I am now. And it's not done! So at some point it may change a little. Bare with me. It's Final Fantasy VIII being retold. Which is a lot harder than it sounds in case you're wondering. Lots of slash, mostly involving Squall, and there is an added character, and she has a purpose because I have Rinoa issues. And just because this is labled as 'Squall/Zell' does not mean it's going to be those two. :P I have other plans for Zell.
SeeD Training
Squall glared at Seifer. He was just about sick of this asshole.
"Come on Squall, hit me!" He taunted. Squall took in a deep breath, and started to summon Shiva, his guardian force and sole protector.
"Shiva, ice him will you please?"
"Certainly." As she appeared, she began to cover the battlefield in ice. Seifer retaliated by casting a fira spell at her.
"I'm sorry Squall, I have to go !" She faded out, and Squall started to cast a blizzara spell to counter him.
"Your petty ice goddess is useless here Squall!" The stoic brunette now turned to his gunblade, running at full speed toward Seifer. The blond ducked out of the way, and threw another fire spell at Squall. He came at Seifer again, who retaliated with his own gunblade, slashing Squall across the face, leaving a large gash. Though he could have lain down, and gave up, Squall wasn't going to loose to this asshole. He stood up, and in his last moments of consciousness drew his gunblade upward, giving Seifer an identical wound. Both boys promptly passed out.
Quistis, being the intelligent woman that she is, noticed both boys missing. She sighed heavily.
"Erica, cover my homeroom for a few minutes, I'm going to find Seifer and Squall," she said.
"Good luck Quistis." The blond woman nodded, and knew exactly where the boys were, but went first to see Dr. Kadowaki.
"Squall and Seifer are missing, which means they're beating the hell out of each other, so will you come with me to find them?" The older woman shook her head.
"Of course Quistis. Those two are always injuring each other." Dr. Kadowaki, Quistis and several students who helped the doctor went to the training area, and found Squall and Seifer both on the ground bleeding, passed out. Quistis shook her head.
"Get these two to the infirmary please!"
The next morning, Squall awoke with a massive headache in the infirmary.
"Good morning Squall, how are you feeling?" Dr. Kadowaki asked.
"My head hurts..." he mumbled. She laughed.
"I'm not surprised. You and Seifer really need to be more careful." Squall sighed and sat up. Quistis walked into the room, and shook her head.
"I knew it'd either be you or Seifer!" The brooding brunette looked up at Quistis with one of those 'fuck you' looks. She just laughed.
"Come on, let's get to homeroom then," she said. Squall sighed, and followed the blond woman, really just wanting to get somewhere quiet and preferably without people.
"I feel like I'm beginning to understand one of my students a little," Quistis said. Squall rolled his eyes.
"I'm more complicated than that." The very intelligent woman just laughed as she went toward the elevator. Quistis well knew her feelings for Squall, and was trying so hard not to show them. They arrived on the second floor, and went into the classroom, where Squall sat down in his seat next to Seifer. Now, a decent person would have apologized for what had happened, and both boys would have got along from that point on. But the rivalry between Squall and Seifer was likely never going to cool down. Quistis talked for a few minutes about the SeeD exam, and then as class ended turned to Seifer.
"And Seifer, try not to injure your partner when you're training please."
"Of course Instructor Trepe." Squall just leaned back and closed his eyes; he knew quite well that Seifer had done it on purpose. Just as he had retaliated with such force on purpose. The whole idea was for one of them to injure the other to the point where they'd leave each other alone. Squall stood, and started for the door. A group of girls were giggling about him nearby.
"Squall is so cute!" "I know! I just want to hug him and tell him he's gonna be okay, and I'll kick Seifer's ass for him!" He tried to ignore these comments. Girls always annoyed him just a little. Quistis stopped him.
"Have you gone to the Fire Cavern yet Squall?" she asked. He almost answered with a snotty yes, but recalled that he never got there because of Seifer.
"Not yet."
"Well, meet me at the front gate and I'll go with you as your support. I'll be waiting whenever you're ready."
Squall started toward the elevator again, and a very small brown haired girl ran into him. The brooding lion stood unphased, but the girl had fallen to the ground as though she'd hit a brick wall... and seeing as Squall was quite fit, she pretty much had.
"Ouch! Did I miss homeroom?" she asked. Squall nodded.
"Aw man! I'm so lost. Can you show me where the library is?" she asked.
"Sure," he replied. Something about this girl made Squall respect her a little probably had something to do with the fact that she wasn't swooning over him.
"I'm Selphie Tilmit. I came from Trebia. This garden is so much bigger!" She said.
"Balamb isn't near as big as Galbadia." "Really? Wow. Oh! What's your name?" she asked as they headed toward the library.
"Squall Leonheart."
"Squall. Okay! I'll remember that! Maybe I'll see you later at the SeeD exam! Oh! And if you see a violet haired girl that's lost, please help her, she's a friend of mine from Trebia too!" she said as they arrived at the library. Now Squall turned and went toward the front gates where Quistis was waiting for him.
"You know she adores you right Squall?" Shiva asked. He sighed heavily.
"Yes. I do. And it's so annoying. I hate women." Shiva laughed lightly.
"So, no girlfriend for you then hm Squall?"
"No."
"How about a boyfriend?" Shiva prodded. She wasn't sure why she was asking him. The ice goddess was in his head and could easily find the answer.
"Shiva!" "I'm in your head boy, you can't lie to me!" Squall now focused on walking, and ignored Shiva.
"It's Seifer you want, that's why you try so hard not to loose to him. Come on, you'll feel better after you admit it!"
"Shiva! I have other things to concentrate on!"
"Squally loves Seifer, Squally loves Seifer!" Squall tried to ignore her, and went toward Quistis, wondering how a goddess could be so childish.
"Are you ready to go Squall?"
"Yeah," he replied.
"Got your GF junctioned?" she asked.
"Sadly," he thought, but only nodded. They walked away from Balamb to the Fire Cavern, which Squall knew wouldn't even be a workout let alone a test for him.
"Student number 58749," he mumbled to the garden workers. Quistis now spoke.
"Instructor number 13 Quistis Trepe. I'm his support."
Meanwhile, Zell was pacing around the cafeteria worrying about the SeeD exam. It caught the attention of a new girl from Trebia.
"Hey, are you okay, dude?" she asked. Zell stopped.
"Oh! Yeah, I'm totally fine!" The girl raised her eyebrow at him, but decided to let it go.
"I'm Kailie Nemia," she said. Zell smiled.
"Zell Dincht. Where are you from?"
"Trebia. Just transferred here with a friend to take the SeeD exam today."
"Really? I'm taking it today too! I'm from Balamb though."
"Cool. Maybe later you can show me around. Me and Selphie keep getting lost. Balamb is like, so much bigger than Trebia." She flipped her dark violet hair over her shoulder, and looked around the cafeteria. Zell didn't interest her much, but he was at least nice.
"I'd love to!" Kailie turned to see Selphie walk in.
"Great! Okay! I'll see you later Zell!" She said running toward her friend. Zell was a little confused, but now went back to his hot dog.
"All students taking the SeeD exam please report to the main lobby." Zell sighed heavily, and shoved the rest of the hot dog into his mouth, then ran toward his room to change into the uniform he usually chose not to wear. As he left, he noticed Squall coming out of his room. Zell had always admired Squall; he was brave, and strong. Some things Zell thought he lacked.
"Hey, you have problems with Seifer right?" he asked as they arrived in front of Quistis, who told them they were on the same team.
"You could say that." Zell had a hatred for Seifer. He was always an asshole to Zell, even though the hand-to-hand specialist had never done anything to Seifer.
"Excuse me boys, but Seifer is your team leader," Quistis said. Squall sighed thinking that it was just his luck. Zell on the other hand was a bit disheartened.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Seifer said.
"We're still waiting on one more. Ah, there she is," Quistis said. Kailie walked over, calm and relaxed.
"Great. Chicken Wuss, a girl, and a sissy boy." Kailie glared.
"I'll take you on, man!"
"Oh Yeah? What are you gonna do? Giggle at me?" Kailie drew her katana very gracefully, and smirked.
"I said I'd take you on, so let's go blondie!" Seifer pulled out his gunblade, but Quistis intervened.
"Miss Nemia, Mr. Almasy, both of you calm down!" Now, the headmaster joined the fray, and began giving instructions.
"Come on, let's get moving!" Quistis said as soon as he was done. Everyone raced toward the front gate, and into the car.
"Hey, Kailie, what do you fight with?" Zell asked looking at the sheath attached to her back.
"I'm a swordswoman. It's a katana."
"Why not a gunblade?" Zell asked.
"A katana is lighter, and it's a bit more elegant. No offense to the gunblade wielders in here." Squall nodded.
"Gunblades are the weapons of the future. Why would you ever revert?" Seifer said.
"Because I'm a woman, and a sword is more elegant that a gunblade. Someone once told me only those who use a gunblade are just stubborn because it's heavy and unwieldy." Squall kind of agreed with that. He was known for stubborn. Quistis shook her head, and the arguing stopped as they arrived at the Balamb port. They then moved into another vessel to get them to Dollet. Xu came in now to tell everyone more about the mission.
"Squall, go check it out outside," Seifer said. The brunette glared, but stood and went to the outside, looking at Dollet. He was deep in thought about the mission. This was what he was going to do for the rest of his life. To Squall, battle was better than sex. It thrilled him, and he was ready for the upcoming fight.
They landed on the beach, and started running toward their target, the city center. Kailie drew her sword as she heard Galbadian soldiers nearby.
"Shh! Boys! Over there!" she said. Zell and Squall nodded and turned toward the soldiers. Seifer ignored her, and went on ahead.
"SeeDs!" one of the men yelled. Squall drew his gunblade, and Zell took his stance. It was a six on three fight.
"This could get ugly," Zell said looking at the soldiers. Kailie shook her head.
"We can totally do it guys!" she replied. Squall looked around, and noticed a flaw in their ranks.
"Zell, Kailie, notice that they fight in pairs. Try to separate them," he said quietly.
"Really?" Kailie said. Squall nodded. He was a natural tactician. Kailie and Zell each went toward one of the paired fighters, then Squall turned and took out one partner of each of the two teams. Kailie and Zell took out the other two, then turned to the third pair. Zell decided he wanted to show off a little, and did a backflip over them, stood up, and punched them both in the back of the head while Kailie and Squall ran them through with their blades.
"Not bad dude!" Kailie said giving Zell a high five.
"Yeah!"
"Let's catch up to Seifer," Squall said. He was enjoying the battle way more than he was showing. They ran toward the center of town, where Seifer had taken out several Galbadians, and was now injured. Kailie rolled her eyes, and looked around.
"Perfect! Draw cure!" she yelled as she took a cure spell off of a solider and cast it on Seifer. They then proceeded to take out the soldiers, and decided to wait.
"To hell with this!" Seifer said getting frustrated with Zell's pacing. Out of the corner of her eye, Kailie noticed a squad of Galbadians. Squall saw them too.
"Duck!" They both whispered to the two blond men.
"Where are they going?" Zell asked. Squall looked up.
"That tower." He said standing.
"We're going," Seifer said. "Orders are to stay here!" Zell replied.
"Zell's right, man," Kailie added.
"You and Squall were saying how bored you were!" Seifer said. Squall nodded.
"Let's go." The team started to follow the troops up the mountain, and to an old TV tower. Seifer started to run ahead.
"I'll be a hero someday Squall! And someday, I'm gonna tell you about my romantic dream! And you're not in it! "
"What was that about?" Zell asked as Squall rolled his eyes.
"Nothing, just ignore him," he replied putting his forehead in his hand.
"Hey!" The three remaining SeeD candidates turned.
"Selphie!" Kailie yelled seeing her friend.
"Kai-leeeee!" The brunette replied as she tumbled down the hill. Kailie ran toward her friend and helped her up.
"Hey! You're Squall aren't you? Thank you for helping me today!"
"You've met Selphie?" Kailie asked. Squall nodded.
"Oh! I have a message, where's your team captain?" Squall pointed. Selphie let out a sigh, and jumped down a cliff. Kailie turned to the boys and gave a small wave, then followed her friend off the ledge.
"Are you gonna follow them?"
"Why not," Squall replied heading toward the ledge. Zell was reluctant, but followed Squall down. Even though he was quite easily the best trained for acrobatics, he stumbled on his way down. Squall noticed this and reacted quickly catching Zell before he hit the ground. It was only now that Zell noticed feelings he had hidden away. In Squall's arms, he felt very safe, and warm. He looked up at the brunette, about to speak, but Squall let him go and they moved on.
"He went up of course. Asshole," Kailie said. Squall sighed, and the four went up the elevator to the top floor, to see Seifer taunting two soldiers. He then promptly left, leaving the rest of the SeeD candidates to fight them. They started to take them down, then they were blown away.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Kailie yelled over the wind. Squall looked up, and turned toward the rest of his team.
"GFs!" he yelled. Kailie noticed that the monster contained a GF, and drew it from it.
"I am Siren, what is your wish?" "Destroy this thing!" Zell started to summon Quetzocotal, while Selphie summoned Ifrit.
"Shiva, go, go, go!" She was the first to arrive, and coated the monster with ice, then shattered the frozen prison. Next, Ifrit stormed in, throwing a giant ball of fire at it as well. Quetzocotal came in shocking it. Last, Siren now came in covering the field with a thin layer of water, then it washed over it, leaving the monster dead. Kailie bowed, and Siren returned to wherever she had come from. Seifer also reappeared.
"Okay! Since the captain is here, we have to pull out at 1600 hours!"
"That's half an hour, guys!" Kailie said.
"Then let's get moving!" Seifer said leaving the rest of his team behind. Squall shook his head.
"Come on, let's go," he said jumping onto the elevator as it came back up. They then ran out the building, and started to head back to the shore.
"SHIT!" Squall swore loudly as a giant mechanical spider started chasing them.
"Run!" Kailie yelled standing her ground. Zell stopped and stood with her.
"Squall, Selphie! Get out of here! We'll be right behind you!" Zell yelled back. Squall shook his head.
"I won't leave you two!" he said. Kailie cast a thundara spell at the machine, and turned.
"Go! We can handle this! Get a head start!" Squall gave up, and started running with Selphie. Zell summoned Quetzocotal again, and then turned to Kailie.
"He can keep this thing busy for a few minutes! Let's go!" The violet haired girl nodded and they started to run as well. But the monster soon took Quetzocotal down, and started coming at them again. Kailie swore under her breath and started running faster, Zell a few feet ahead.
"Squall! RUN!" Zell yelled as he rounded a corner. Squall stopped and picked up a dog that was in the path and moved him out of the way, then kept running. Kailie, Zell and Selphie passed by him, running toward the beach. Kailie jumped into the vehicle, followed by Selphie. Kailie caught Selphie and the brunette hurried toward Quistis.
"I don't think Squall's gonna make it!" she yelled. Quistis went to the top of the vehicle and saw Squall running at full speed from the machine. She looked around for a solution, and went to the machine gun attached to the top of the vehicle. Zell turned.
"Squall!" He yelled starting to run back toward the brunette. Quistis started shooting at it, taking it down by filling it full of holes. It exploded. Zell reacted quickly and caught Squall, then dove into the vehicle just as the doors closed. Both boys lay on the floor out of breath as Kailie and Selphie ran to make sure they were okay.
"Squall, Zell!" Kailie said as she helped Zell up.
"Are you guys okay?" Selphie asked as Squall also got up. He simply nodded.
"Good. Well, since that's over, let's go sit down Selphie… That was like, totally scary," Kailie said. The two girls left, and Squall stopped Zell.
"Zell, thank you. I... I wouldn't have made it out, if you hadn't been there." Zell just smiled at Squall.
"Don't worry about it. No one gets left behind." Zell turned away and went to sit with the girls. Squall smiled silently for a moment, then followed. Seifer was sitting there smirking, Kailie in a cold glare at him. Squall sat down across from Zell, and the two shared a quick nod out of respect. Selphie was still out of breath. Quistis walked into the room, and slapped Seifer across the face. The fiery blond stood up in defiance.
"You nearly got your team killed out there!" she yelled, "follow orders or you will never be a SeeD!" Xu came in and cleared her throat.
"My apologies Xu."
"I agree with you, Quistis. He did disobey orders, and lead his team almost to their deaths. Seifer, you will be severely punished when we get back to the garden."
"What about the rest of us? We disobeyed our orders too," Kailie said. Xu shook her head.
"You did the right thing, you followed the orders of your captain, even if his orders weren't what he was supposed to do, you still followed him. Squall and Kailie, I'd like to commend the two of you for taking up Seifer's job when he ran off."
"Thank you Xu," Kailie said. They arrived back in Balamb.
"You have some free time until the results are decided," Quistis said. There was a general nod.
"Hey, Kailie, I can show you around Balamb now if you're like," Zell said. Kailie smiled.
"Sure!" Squall walked back in silence.
"How 'bout Selphie?" Kailie asked. Zell smiled.
"I'd love to show both of you around," he said. Selphie smiled.
"Super duper mega awesome!" Zell laughed and started to show the girls around his hometown.
"This is the hotel, the owners have been here forever. And my house is right over there-"
"Are your parents there?" Kailie asked.
"Yeah, my ma is probably home, why?"
"Can we stop there for a few minutes?" Zell hesitated, but nodded and went inside, the girls close behind.
"Hey ma!" he said. She came out of the kitchen and looked at the girls and her son and smiled.
"Hello Zell. Nice of you to drop by! Who are your friends here?" she asked.
"This is Selphie and Kailie. They're from Trebia so I was showing them around town a little," he replied.
"Nice to meet you girls. It's strange to see Zell's friends here."
"Well ma, we'd better get headed back to the garden," Zell said.
"Okay, you all have a nice day!" they all left the house, and Kailie smiled.
"I suppose we should head back to the garden. They'll announce the results soon." There was a general nod, and they headed back toward the garden. When they got back, an announcement came on.
"All students who participated in today's SeeD exam please report to the second floor classroom hall." The girls and Zell went up together, and waited. A garden representative now came into the hallway. Zell, Selphie and Kailie were all holding their breath.
"Dincht, Zell Dincht," he said.
"Yes!" Zell said jumping into the air. Kailie giggled a little as he started toward the next hallway.
"Tilmit, Selphie Tilmit." Selphie also did a little happy dance, then followed Zell.
"Nemia, Kailie Nemia." Kailie simply bowed, and followed her friends.
"Leonheart, Squall Leonheart." Squall also went toward the hallway.
"That's everyone. The rest of you failed."
"I can't believe it Sefie! We both passed!" Kailie said giving her friend a hug.
"I know! Squall you passed too?" Selphie said turning toward him. Squall nodded. They all now headed up to the headmaster's office with another boy that was on Selphie's team named Nida. Headmaster Cid gave a short speech, then spoke to each SeeD individually.
"Finally, a gunblade specialist," he said to Squall.
"Try to keep your emotions under control and you'll go far," he said to Zell.
"I can't wait for the Garden Festival," he said to Selphie.
"Try to stand out from the rest," he said to Nida.
"It's nice to see a strong woman join our ranks," he said to Kailie.
"Now, go ahead and celebrate, you've earned it."
A/N: I beg of you, don't hate Kailie. She is not a mary sue, and I like her valley girl feel, it reflects Selphie a little, but she's tougher and more 'just one of the boys'. At any rate, I have a few of these done already, so they'll be quick, but when have to actually start writing it takes more time. And I'm not quite sure on the spelling of 'Trebia' so it could be wrong. Squall's student number is also not correct. I don't care enough to look it up. Review! I really do apperciate it!