Chapter One

New Beginnings, Old Habits

Balamb… the position occupied by the island, midway between the continents of Galbadia and Esthar, portrayed well the general standing of the coastal town when it came to foreign policies: Neutrality. The residents of Balamb Town were happy to live a life of fishing, trading and most of all, staying away from the wars of the two world powers, as long as they left the peaceful island out of it. Peace and quiet were the most important possession for the residents of Balamb.

And then one day Cid Kramer came to the island bearing ideas of creating a Garden, a sort of academy for elite mercenaries who, upon graduation, would join the business part of the Garden, the elite mercenary unit SeeD, fighting for any paying client. While many saw this plan as a direct threat to the neutrality of the town, the prospect of leaving the boredom of Balamb for a life of adventure and action (while getting paid for it) was music to the hears of the young folk in the island. In the end, the revenue Balamb Garden would produce for the town and Cid's vow not to accept any contract that could harm the town's neutral reputation was enough to sway the governor to allow Cid to repair an old ruined structure in the East side of the island, and use it as the cornerstone of his new academy. And so Balamb Garden was born.

Now, so many years after those events, so much had changed but yet everything stayed essentially the same. Gardens had been opened in Galbadia, Trabia and more recently, Esthar. Two sorceress wars had raged across the world, with SeeD playing a decisive role in the second when their greatest team challenged and defeated the sorceress Ultimecia, ending her reign of chaos and bringing peace to the world once again.

And ironically, peace was the best time for SeeD to conduct business as there was always some merchant vessel or caravan needing protection from brigands, some monster terrorizing a village or a rich businessman in need of a bodyguard while travelling. As such, the number of students didn't decrease with the end of the war, if anything, it increased as more and more teenagers dreamed of seeing the world protecting some rich guy's belongings.

The end of the school year was drawing near, and with the written exams finished, only the field exam for the last year cadets was left to be done. For everyone else (including the last year students who failed the final written exam) there was little more to do than to relax and enjoy the last days before summer vacations when everyone got the chance to finally spend some time at home. Meanwhile, the park in the Garden entrance was a favored spot for the students to hang around and talk among themselves about the unfairness of the grades, summer plans, romantic interests and pretty much anything else.

And as most students were counting the days to be free and go home, Darion was just arriving at his new home. While there was no strict dress code for either students or cadets (except during exams), the teachers always gave extra credit to those who didn't mind donning the dark blue uniform of Garden so most students wore that instead of their casual clothes. Darion wouldn't do it even for a free pass all the way to SeeD membership, so instead he wore his blue jeans and white shirt, a pair of black heavy boots and a black jacket, light enough to be wearable in the Balamb summer heat. Some female students glanced his way, admiring his shoulder-length black hair, both well treated and well combed, his tanned skin, a common sight among last year students who spent way too much time training under the scorching sun, and his toned body that proved that the training had been taken serious.

As more and more people took notice of the newcomer, likely wondering why someone would transfer right at the end of the school year, Darion reached the front gate. The gate wasn't meant to stop any invading enemy as it could easily be jumped over, but it was meant to make sure that only Garden students and staff had access to the premises. For that, both staff and students carried a magnetic card that, once pressed against a sensor at the gate, would unlock the metallic barrier, granting access to the cardholder. A few years ago, someone had the brilliant idea of installing a protocol to lock the gate after curfew, even for cardholders, as a way to punish students who stayed outside after hours, forcing them to sleep outside. This whole operation was overseen by a lone security guard who had the duty of making sure no one would try to trick the sensor into allowing strangers in, and barring the way for students who returned to the Garden drunk, receiving the same kind of punishment as if they arrived after curfew.

As Darion pressed his card against the sensor next to the gate, it answered him with a loud beep and a flashing red sign, indicating that the card wasn't accepted. After trying again and receiving the same answer, the speaker right under the sensor came to life "Son, what seems to be the problem?"

Looking over to the security cabin, Darion noticed the guard using the microphone to talk to him, that way avoiding the need to leave the cabin and talk to him face to face. "Hey old man, the sensor's not letting me in!" Darion answered, looking at the cabin rather than the sensor.

"Yeah well, that sensor has the nasty habit of leaving disrespectful people to sleep outside. Now, I never saw you around here, are you sure you're a Garden student? You do look like a flower boy, but that's not what they teach you here son."

"Ah ah very funny old man" Darion had heard that joke a million times, everyone in every Garden had heard it one way or another. "Look, I just got transferred from Galbadia, that would explain why you haven't seen me."

"Oh right! The new kid from Galbadia. Lemme take a look at that card of yours son"

With that, the old guard left his cabin and went to where Darion stood, stopping on the other side of the gate and signaling the youngster to give him the card, which Darion did.

"Oh oh! If it isn't Mr. Darion Melnikov!" The guard suddenly turned from bored to amused. "I've heard about you son, and if you think you're here to cause the same kind of trouble you put up in Galbadia, then let me warn you that we here have rules and-"

"Yeah yeah, old man. Just let me in will ya?" Darion cut the guard's threat and with a gruff, the old man pressed his own card against the sensor, opening the gate and granting Darion passage. As Darion crossed the gate he glanced at the guard and spared a not-so-sincere smile as the man turned around and headed back to his comfortable cabin.

And then, a completely different world stood before Darion.

Even though the school year was at the end, the inside of the Garden was busy as always, with students happily chatting like those outside, students heading towards the library or trainings grounds in order to practice either their intellectual or physical skills, SeeD's going about their business, the usual reckless student who got injured in training and was being taken to the infirmary… Darion finally felt like home.

Yet, this was a much different home from his previous one and thus he decided not to venture forth until he got at least a small tour around the main areas. As a class or para-magicians got off the elevator while another class, this one of infantry, waited to get in, Darion spotted a SeeD instructor waving the students goodbye. Deciding her friendly, even childish face could indicate that she would be nice enough to accept his request for a tour (a request he himself would turn down if he was the one asked), Darion moved towards her and tapped her on the shoulder, making her turn around.

"Hmm hello"

"Oh hi there!" The girl, likely older than Darion but yet smaller than him, greeted him with a warm and sincere smile.

"Hey, I'm new here and I was wondering-"

"You need a tour around the Garden right? This place is so huge… everyone gets lost on their first week here."

"Right, I guess…"

"Well, I have an hour free until my next class so I guess I can show you around. By the way, my name is Selphie, what's yours?"

"Darion, Darion Melnikov."

"Nice to meet you Darion. Let's go then, we have a lot to see. This way!"

Selphie proceeded to show Darion all there was to see in the Garden, from the training grounds to the parking lot, infirmary to the dorms area, she took no shortcut and shown no hint that she wanted to make the tour as short as possible. She even seemed to be enjoying it.

"And this is the cafeteria, where we eat our meals and huh…"
"I got it."

"Oh great! You're a fast learner Darion, good! Hey by the way, are you hungry?"

Thinking back to the small sandwich he had at the Balamb docks before catching a bus to the Garden, Darion could answer nothing else but "Actually, I could eat."

If such thing was possible, Selphie's ever-present smile seemed to become even wider as she raised her arms upwards in pure joy and yelled "Great!", startling both Darion and a few other people walking around. As Selphie entered the cafeteria, Darion had to question herself what kind of drugs this SeeD was taking, before following her inside.

If the Garden's main hall had seemed busy, the cafeteria was surely packed. Not a single table was empty and many people were eating while standing. Fate would have it that as soon as Selphie entered the cafeteria, a group of students vacated a table. Before anyone could even take notice of the empty table, Selphie quickly took hold of it, pissing off another group of students who still chose not to say anything, knowing all too well that she was her superior by rank. With that, Selphie gestured Darion to sit at her table, and so he did.

At Selphie's recommendation, Darion ordered one of the famous Balamb hotdogs, and Selphie ordered one for herself. As they waited for the food, Selphie proceeded to start talking again.

"So Darion, why's a Garden student moving here so close to the end of the school year?"

"I got transferred from Galbadia, I'm here for the field exam." Darion answered, now feeling his belly demanding food.

"Oh, a cadet! Almost there huh? But wait, last time I checked they did exams in Galbadia, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do. It's just that… I had other reasons to ask for the transfer"

"Ohhh lemme guess! Squall Leonhart! It's every student's dream to fight alongside the commander right?"

"No, that's really not it. I'm sorry; I don't want to talk about that."

"Oh it's alright Darion, I'm sure it's a good reason. But actually you may even be in luck as I heard they're planning something really unique for this year's exam. I'm actually a little sad that I wasn't asked to oversee the exam this year. But my own exam two years ago was really cool!"

As the hotdogs came, Selphie proceeded to tell Darion of his field exam in Dollet, of how she met a still undergraduate Squall and how they joined forces to fight the Galbadia forces at the satellite tower , only to be attacked by a giant monster, beating it and then been chased away by a huge robot war spider. Finally, after some more narration, the enthusiastic SeeD looked at her clock.

"Bummer! I have to go now, duty calls. You take care Darion, good luck for the exam!"

Waving him goodbye, Selphie got up and proceeded towards the exit, still eating her hotdog and leaving Darion to debate with himself if she was taking speed drugs or just high quantities of happy pills.

Finally left alone to his thoughts, Darion gave his current situation a quick glance and noticed how much his life had changed. In Galbadia he was popular and had pretty much anything he wanted, but now, in Balamb, he was but a face in a crowd and had only himself to rely on. As Darion was in the process of questioning himself on how long it should take to the surprise field exam, a question he could never answer anyway since it was secret, his thoughts were interrupted by a woman's voice.

"Can I sit here?"

Getting back from his thoughts, Darion looked up to notice another female SeeD standing next to the empty chair on the other side of the table, this one looking much more mature and down to earth than Selphie, even if the two women were probably the same age. Darion couldn't avoid noticing how stunningly beautiful she was, with her slim delicate body, her long black hair and her joyful but serene face, she looked really-

"So? Can I?"

Realizing he had stared at her a few seconds more than he should, Darion got up in a single movement "Sorry, yes yes, of course you may ma'm!".

As the woman finally sat in the same chair Selphie used just a few minutes ago, she motioned Darion to sit as well "It's quite alright, I did notice you were deep in thought and I'm sorry I had to disturb you, but this place is packed as usual and I really don't like to eat standing…"

"Right, I can understand that."

As the waitress came to take the woman's order, Darion noticed that her uniform had the "honorary member" insignia on it, meaning she never studied at Garden nor did any of the exams, but instead had accomplished a great achievement and had being invited to join SeeD for it. Such cases were extremely rare and Darion could only wonder what the woman had done.

"I see you're carrying luggage" The woman pointed as the waitress went to another table "and since I never seen you around I assume you just got transferred, right?"

Despite wondering how the woman was so sure she simply never noticed Darion in the middle of the thousands of people in the Garden, he had to admit she was correct. "Yeah, just came from Galbadia Garden."

"Galbadia? Really? Where did you use to live?"

"Deling City, I lived there all my life till I joined Garden."

"Oh, I lived there when I was younger too, until I moved to Timber. By the way, my name is Rinoa Heartilly, SeeD and students counselor around here, so come see me if you have any problem with classes, friends, girls or anything ok? And your name is?"

"Darion, Darion Melnikov. Garden cadet and hopefully soon-to-be SeeD."

Darion wasn't usually much of a talker but even as he finished his hotdog and Rinoa's fish salad came, the conversation kept flowing as they spoke about good old Deling, the differences between Galbadia and Balamb Garden, and pretty much anything in-between. Rinoa seemed like a lovely and caring person but even as Darion answered her questions and laughed at her stories of getting lost in Delling by catching the wrong bus, Darion could swore he heard that name before, he just couldn't place it…

Then, like an answer coming out of his brain and taking form before him, a man approached their table, immediately catching Rinoa's attention, and tough she greeted the man by his name, Darion didn't need to glance twice at the individual to know who he was, as before him stood the greatest living legend of everything SeeD…

"Oh, hi Squall, how are you honey?"

"If anything can bring a man's mood down, it's a two hours meeting with Cid, Quistis and Xu about the Garden's financial situation, but it's good to see you Rinoa."

As the two shared a romantic kiss, Darion was mentally kicking himself for taking so long to make the connection. Rinoa Heatilly was the mate of Squall Leonhart, daughter of the galbadian general Caraway and one of the six heroes of the last sorceress war, a feat that obviously got her the honorary admission to SeeD. While Darion chose to look away from the scene, he could see that many others in the cafeteria were actually looking at the couple, making the cadet feel a little too exposed and wishing he was in a table of his own.

After the couple separated lips, Darion noticed how Squall gave him a quick glance, only to turn right back to Rinoa. That small glance was all he needed to know that Squall wished him to go away, and he knew better than to get on the commander's black list in his first day in Balamb.

"Well huh, I really need to find my dorm room so…"

Looking away from Squall, Rinoa stopped Darion just as he was about to get up "Wait wait, Darion let me introduce you to the SeeD commander in Balamb, Squall Leonhart."

Just as Darion was about to get up and salute the commander, Squall turned to Darion as if Rinoa said something completely out of the ordinary. "Wait, are you Darion Melnikov?"

Not expecting the commander to know his name, Darion nodded positively before actually answering with a "Yes sir."

"You should be in Quistis's office, she thinks you're missing."

"Me? Why?"

"Don't know and don't care. Follow me, I'll take you there." Turning to Rinoa, Squall put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile as she turned to him again. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back."

As Squall started walking out of the cafeteria, Darion had to pick up his bags in a hurry (of course, the commander didn't bother to offer the cadet any help in transporting those) and struggle to keep up with the living legend who walked light and fast. When the two entered the elevator, Darion got to put his bags down and decided to try making conversation as the elevator started to go up.

"By the way, it's really nice to meet you. It's not every day you get to know a living legend like yourself."

"Yeah huh… whatever." Squall's bored tone clearly indicated he wasn't one bit interested in talking to Darion, but still the cadet decided to try again.

"I've heard you use a gunblade made of pure adamantine, is it true?"

"Will you just shut up!?" Squall threw back at Darion, not with boredom but with pure annoyance, making him shut up and curse his big mouth.

As the elevator reached the 3rd floor, Darion didn't take long to notice how expensive the decoration for the administrative floor was. In fact, even Darion who usually didn't care about making things pretty had to admit that so far the fresh, spaced and colorful decoration of Balamb Garden was much more pleasant than the dull, military-ish design of Galbadia Garden. Still, this 3rd floor was much different from the ground floor, with carpets on the floor, wooden fake walls covering the real walls made of steel like the rest of the Garden, paintings depicting ancient battles and statues of heroes of old giving the whole place a vintage feel.

Darion didn't have much time to appreciate the decoration tough, as Squall quickly headed to one of the central offices, knocking at the door and opening at once. Darion, already tired of carrying his bags, couldn't do much more than following the commander inside, cursing himself for not having the foresight to drop his bags in his dorm before anything else. As he crossed the beautiful wooden door he was greeted by a blonde female SeeD who seemed even more pissed at Darion than Squall back at the elevator.

"YOU!" The SeeD, Quistis as Squall had called her, shouted as she laid eyes on Darion.

"Hi…"

"Shut up! I already had people looking for you both here and in the woods, just in case you were eaten by a monster! Squall, where did you find him?"

"In the cafeteria with Rinoa…"

"Oh so first thing mister playboy here does when he gets to Balamb is checking out the ladies huh? Melnikov, your reputation precedes you so don't even think to cross the line or I'll kick you out myself!"

As Squall crossed his arms in obvious discontent about someone "checking out" his girlfriend, Darion decided to try to explain to the angry instructor.

"Look, I had no idea I was to report to you as soon as I got here, and it was Rinoa who asked if she could use my table, I had nothing to do with it.

Both Squall and Quistis didn't appreciate the answer, but it was the blonde female who once again took the lead. "First, Miss Heartilly is your superior by far and you'll treat her with all respect. Second, reporting to me as soon as you arrived was in your directives for the transfer. If you didn't read them, it's your own fault. Now, get out of my sight and go rest. And I said rest! Your field exam is tomorrow, the announcement will be made in an hour.

"Tomorrow? Come on, I just got here!" As soon as the words left Darion's mouth he already regretted them

"Melnikov, I'm warning you, don't test my patience… I could remove you from the exam for failing to report to me today, but I'm giving you another chance, be smart and don't screw it!"

Knowing that he wasn't going to gain anything by saying anything else, Darion gave a much forced and dull salute (that none of the SeeDs bored to reply to) and turned to the door, leaving the office and heading for the dorms area.

Author's Comments:

I do have a reputation for being late most of the time, but not this time. The nest update got released right when I said it would. Anyway, the first chapter of this story begins with alot of exposition and descriptions, but alas, one has to set up the foundations before actually building the house. Expect more action and mystery to happen in the next chapters.

Yes, Darion Melnikov will be the main character for this part as most events will be seen through his POV. But don't think everyone else will have supporting character treatment. I'm planning lots of developments for most characters.

Oh and in case that wasn't made clear, Squall really doesn't like Darion...

Comment if you feel like it, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Cya on the next chapter! (probably not this week but the next)

JadeAlmasy: Thank you for my first review! Hope you like the next chapter ;)