Squall woke up early that morning, thanks to his alarm clock playing Julia Heartilly's famous breakthrough song "Eyes on Me". He turn it off as he used to, with his eyes closed and waving his hand blindly until the accursed thing stopped its alarm.

("Wait a minute")

His alarm clock would ring, it would not play a song.. Much less something like Eyes on Me. He opened his eyes and looked around him and there were a lot of pictures: Rinoa with Angelo, Rinoa with Quistis and Selphie, Rinoa doing the Heimlich manouvre to a Zell almost killed by a sandwitch, Rinoa with him at the orphanage and a group picture with everyone wearing their Seed Uniform at a party in Esthar after the defeat of Ultimicia. Definitely, that was not his room. Oh, there were pictures in his room too, thanks to Selphie (a well-known black haired moron had the brilliant idea to give her professional photographer's stuff as a gift) but those picture were not as happy: Squall looking at the tiles, Squall analizing the furniture, Squall in the infirmary after the Time Compression and about a dozen pictures of him and Rinoa.

How on earth that hyperactive girl managed to get so many pictures of him was a mistery.

Squall did the math and reached the brilliant conclusion that the room he was in wasn't his. It was Rinoa's. Everything came back to his mind.

("Hyne...was it a dream?")

He looked at his right. Rinoa was there, covered in white blankets. She was smiling while sleeping with her head on his shoulder. She was so beautiful.

("So...it wasn't a dream.")

Was he happy? Or Worried? Perhaps both.

("What is the procol, by the way?")

("Do I wake her up? Do I wait for her to wake up? Should I kiss her? Before or after she wakes up?")

However, getting out of there was the top priority. He was not afraid of being demoted, much less expelled ( with all those girls and boys running around with their hormons hardly kept in check he was sure that they weren't the fist couple who used a bed for things other than sleeping) but the did not wanted to become the main topic of conversation of the day. For Rinoa and for his own peace of mind.

So, he stood up and started to get dressed, as quietly as possible.

...

Only to tumble on Angelo's chewing toy and wake her up.

"Ehi...what time is it?"

Squall looked at the clock pointing half past six. No need to rush her. He sat beside her and moved his hand through her hair and face in what was supposed to be a romantic caress.

("Now, I should...")

It was not easy, but he managed to give her a kiss on the cheek. The bright light of day had destroyed the confidence of the night. He just realized that he had no idea about what to do and, since his only option was to ask Irvine for advice, he hoped that Rinoa would be patient with him. He gave his girlfriend one last look and left.

("that's weird.")

Thinking of her as his girlfriend. That was new. He closed the door as quietly as possible...only to discover that Irvine and Selphie were about to knock.

Irvine was nodding proudly at him while Selphie looked at him, then the room, then him again. She started jumping and squeeking as only she was able to do.

"Did you...?"

Unintelligible sounds followed. Angelo, the poor dog, howled in pain.

"Finally! It's official! I'm so happy for you guys!" – she started running in the opposite direction – "I have to tell the band the good news!"

("Perfect.")

"Don't think so bad of her" – said Irvine – "She's not going to say how you guys spent the night. Although, those who just saw you coming out of Rinoa's room will likely have some very specific ideas about your activities."

Irvine touched his hat while winking. Squall just noticed that there were a lot of people around and felt the beginning of a big headache. With his hand on his forehead, he asked

"Why are there so many people around here at 06:30? Classes start late today, the wake up call won't be before 07:30"

"Whoa...you really gave your all, didn't you?"

("I guess he'll survive a flare spell")

Probably Irvine read his mind because he said "you're tired. Very tired. So tired that your brain is one hour behind. It is almost a quarter to eight, that's why me and Selphie went here. I think that Zell is probably knocking at your door right now."

Squall recalled Selphie asking to go to Trabia right after Esthar. And then they moved to Balamb. They went through three different timezones in 3 days. Trabia's timezone was one hour behind Balamb...

("Rinoa forgot to adjust the clock")

Squall crossed his arms and started his favorite hobby: looking intensely at the floor.

"...great. In twenty minutes the news will reach Esthar."

"Hey, it's Selphie you're talking about: I already told you, don't think so low of her. 10 minutes tops."

Squall decided to gave up. Overthinking it will only hurt him. He decided to go to his room with Irvine where, as the cowboy had predicted, they found Zell trying to knock down the door.

"Easy on the door, chicken wuss. I found our guy. Or should I say our man?"

"Don't call me like that" – Said the blond SeeD while taking a fighting stance – "And where were you?"

Squall ignored the question and Irvine did the same. Zell kept asking until they reached their table at the cafeteria, where food became all he cared about. Selphie and Quistis were already waiting for them. The younger girl was still in full "Genki" mode but Quistis looked stiff.

"Selphie told me where you spent the night"

"What? Where?" asked Zell, the only living being in the Garden who was not aware of it.

("Why? Isn't that mine and Rinoa's business?")

Squall was about to reply when the loudspeaker yelled

"Commander Leonhart, infirmary. I repeat, Commander Leonhart, infirmary. Squall, there's something you have to see...run."

Nida's voice was alarmed, scared. They all left the table together. Whatever happened was more important then gossiping about the newly formed couple. They made a stop to Squall's room, allowing him to pick up his weapon and ammo. Holding that blue blade in his hands always gave Squall a feeling of strenght and security. Plus, as a SeeD, he was supposed to have a weapon on him all the time except at diplomatic events.

Kadowaki opened the door and let the group in without a single word. Squall saw that both Cid and Edea were there. But that wasn't what worried him. It was the presence of a blonde, heavily sedated, bendaged man lying on the bed. His wasn't a peaceful sleep: he was handcuffed to the bed and apparently he moved around enough to open his wounds once again. The staff was still cleaning the blood.

Cid took Squall by the arm, separating him from the rest of the group

"They were attacked"

("They? That means...")

"Rajin and Fujin, yes. Fujin has been treated, mostly flesh wounds and she came here in shock" – the man scratched the back of his head – "She is not the talkative type, but she just said something like RAJIN-WOUNDED-SPEAR-HELP. I think she was confused but, as you know, that spell leaves no trace behind once the effect is gone. When we found them they were both unconscious and there were signs of a fight."

("I'm not surprised. Seifer made himself a lot of enemies.")

Squall tried to do a quick count: anyone in Trabia, Balamb or Esthar would be more than happy to kill Seifer. Even a lot of Galbadians wouldn't say no to such an opportunity. The last war brought war and destruction all over the war and, with Ultimecia dead, Seifer was the scapegoat. The only reasons he lived in Balamb was because he was officially under the protection of the Garden.

"Seifer lost a lot of blood. We sent our experts and we analized the scene; they fought right in front of the Fire Cavern. I wish I could tell you more, but there isn't even a single drop of blood that doesn't belong to Seifer, Fujin...or Rajin."

Cid lowered his head and Squall realized the meaning of that.

"How?"

Cid cleared his throat "We don't know. A spear, maybe."

A spear? In this time and age the spear was known as a weapon easy to use but difficult to master and there weren't many specialist of it. In the hands of a master it was indeed a terrible weapon, with a better range than swords and gunblades as well as more piercing power, being able to break through a protect shield when imbued with magic. But if you don't want to get close to your enemy you can just take a gun.

It looked like Cid had more to say: the man moved his mouth, but no sound came out of it. In the end he shook his head

"Talk to Seifer when he wakes up" – he said – "Don't tell him about Rajin. Not now. Try to figure out who defeated him. A man who's able to do it so easily is a threat to us all."

Squall nodded and Cid put his hand on the young man's shoulder. After a while, only Squall and Dr. Kadowaki were left, with the latter writing a report. When she finished, Squall asked to see it. She complied to the commanders order.

It was about Rajin.

Rajin FNU (Family Name Unknown), age 19. Arrival at 06:32, Blue Code. 15 Wounds on upper chest. Upper body tendons were cut.

("He wasn't able to fight anymore. Why did they..?")

Piercing wounds to the abdomen. Treatment: Chirurgy with Tier-3 paramagic support.

What followed was a detailed recap of the operation. The last line was the most important.

Time of Death: 6:40

Squall looked over Seifer and Fujin and saw a third bed in the next room whose blanket completely covered what was on it. But the blanket was way too small for the man he covered and two big, dark skinned feet were visible. Dr. Kadowaki noticed it and closed the door. Squall took offense to that. That was not the first dead body he saw. How many people did he killed, just in the last war? Wasn't he a trained SeeD? He was raised to be a human weapon and he knew how to deal with death far too well.

He tried to ask the doctor why she did that, but she just pointed at Seifer, who was slowing waking up.

Cid and Edea called the rest of the team in Cid's office. They told them what happened and each of them reacted in his on way. Selphie sobbed and hid her face in Irvine's coat while the Cowboy just removed his hat. Quistis said nothing, lost in the memories of a couple of years ago when Rajin was one of her students. Rinoa wasn't there. Only Zell spoke out loud.

"The guy was as asshole but of the good kind. I mean...he attacked Balamb...he did a lot of bad stuff...but he was one of us. He freed Ellone, ya know?"

Cid smiled sadly when Zell ended his speech with "ya know", something Rajin used to do. But then, he made a serious expression, something they never saw on his face.

"Whoever did that knew exactly what he was doing. And so did the others. Seifer, Rajin and Fujin are experienced fighters and yet it looks like they never stood a chance."

"Seifer never stood a chance? I can't believe it" – yelled Zell with his eyes wide open – "I hate his guts, but he's good with his weapon, the best after Squall, and we would need to send a team of mid to high level SeeDs to knock him down!"

"Not exactly. You just need a sniper."

Cid sighted and showed him a document.

"That's Xu's report. No bullets were found. Not that a bullet would match with the wounds anyway. Three aggressors, maybe four, all melee fighters."

"I'll be damned. They have to be damn good!"

Selphie's eyes were shooting daggers at Zell, who quickly pointed out that it wasn't his intention to pay them a compliment. Still, they were a force to be reckoned with and belittling them wouldn't do any good.

Edea rose from the chair she was sitting on and moved behind Cid. She put her hands on Cid's shoulder and her husband took a deep breath.

"My children, there's something you need to know..."

"er...Ma'am, sorry to interrupt"

Nida was standing still outside the office and only came in when Cid told him to.

"Sir, someone just entered the Garden from the garage..."

That was hardly a news. When the Garden was on land people would go in and out of the garage at all times.

"Sir, a Class-A code was used, for direct access to the lower levels."

That was another story. The people with such a code could be counted on one hand. Squall, being the commander, Xu, another pair or A-ranked SeeD and of course...

"Whose code?"

Cid clenched his teeth, as if he was expecting a punch to come. From the tone of his question it was clear that he already knew the answer.

"yours, sir."

"Multiple inputs?"

"Manual, sir. No evidence of hacking. They just pressed on the right buttons in the right order."

"Thank you, Nida. Please, announce Code Yellow to the SeeD personal. Try to keep the noise to a minimum, avoid the loudspeaker. Xu and Quistis, I believe it's your duty to take the students to the shelters. Zell and Selphie, can I trust the lower levels to you? And Irvine, I know I have no authority over you, but would you be so kind to go get Squall ASAP?

Everyone, dismissed."

Cid and Edea watched as their young foster kids moved to their locations. Once they were out of sight, Cid went to the his desk and opened a compartment only he had access to.

"Dear, you are not going to..."

Cid took something from the desk with his left hand. With his right, he took Edea's left hand and kissed it as a nobleman would.

"It's a Knight's Duty to protect his loved Sorceress. Do not fear...I still know how to use it. Please, stay safe.

I'm going to the ground floor."

Author's Note: well, here's chapter two. If you liked it, please leave a word of comment.