1

It was really cold, the night…that is. Squall ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. His body was numb…once the pain had all gone away…there was only blissful oblivion.

The brunet stumbled; after all, the blood gushing from the wound on his forehead painfully marred his vision. Squall stopped by a tree and looked over his shoulder. The burning castle was far now.

He had gotten away. He could stop and rest now.

"Mother, look!"

Elisa turned as her son called her, "Gavin, we must get out of here, hurry."

Gavin hopped off his stallion and bent beside the lying figure of a 9 year old boy, "He's bleeding, mom, but he's alive."

Elisa reared her horse and moved closer to where her son was squatted. "My God. Where did he come from?"

Snow fell all around them and covered the boy's shivering form. "Here, wrap him in a blanket and take him with us. We will stop to treat his wounds after we cross this village's borders."

Gavin nodded and bent to pick up the lad, wrapping him in his own fur coat. Mounting his stallion, Gavin followed his mother out of the woods, the brunet cradled in his arms.

"Will he be okay?"

Elisa nodded, "He will be fine. The injury is pretty deep and will probably leave behind a scar, but he's going to survive. Look at this pendant."

Gavin inched closer to look at what his mother was holding. His raven, long hair fell over his shoulder as he bent over her shoulder, "It's pretty, but what does it mean?"

'A lion's head.' Elisa frowned, "His name is engraved o the back; Squall Leonhart. Gavin, this boy is the son of the king."

Gavin gasped and turned to the boy sleeping on the make-shift mattress, "He got away?"

Elisa frowned, "Yes, he did. Must have run when the guards weren't looking."

Squall was gasping for breath, calling out to his mother every now and then. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and who was to know that in his mind he was reliving the horror that had befallen his family. Never again was he to be hugged by his mother's gentle arms or saved by his father's strong ones.

Gavin lay down next to the boy, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand, "What are we going to do with the little prince? He has no where back to go to. His home had been burnt to the ground, and Angelus," He said referring to the man behind all this. The one who had decided to invade this peaceful kingdom and wrack havoc in it, "He would kill the kid for sure."

Elisa sighed in thought, "You want a little brother?"

Gavin looked at the boy beside him and smiled ruefully, "Kids are nothing but trouble, especially if they are avengers, you know."

Elisa smiled, knowing that meant the boy was now part of the family, but her smile was quickly replaced by a sad frown, "Gavin…the boy…I don't think he will remember…The shock will take away all his memories…