CHAPTER 3

"Wasn't my dad awesome?" Lianne beamed.

"Maybe. But nowhere near as awesome as mine!" Leali said, bouncing up and down.

"What did Irvine do that was so great?" Lianne raised her eyebrows.

Leali stopped bouncing and looked thoughtful. "Well, if it wasn't for my dad, Squall might've been-"

"Okay, okay! I get the point!" Lianne winced. "But that's not to say my dad couldn't have handled that by himself."

Alix rolled his eyes playfully at the two of them. "As much as I love this whole 'My Dad's Better Than Your Dad' debate, can we please not have days of it this time? Could you just try that for me, please?"

"Yeah!" Leali said.

"No!" Lianne said, at the same time, causing all three of them to start laughing.

It was getting quite late, and the Garden was still deep in clean-up after Squall's fight with the T-Rexaur. The first thing to be repaired was the metal shutter of the Training Centre, sealing in whatever other horrors still lay inside. After the excitement of the day, the students were being ushered off to their dorms by the disciplinary committee.

"Guys, I'm gonna have to split now. My mom wanted to see me about something," Leali said, still giggling.

"Night, Leali," Lianne said, waving to her friend as she bounded down the corridor, in the direction of Selphie's dorm.

"Catch ya later," Alix called after her. Together, the two of them resumed their lazy walk in silence, until Alix spoke again. "You were really worried about your dad today, weren't you?"

"Of course I was. I just… I don't want to lose him. Not like I lost my mom." Lianne shrugged, folding her arms across her chest.

"I understand. I really do," Alix said, with a sad smile. The huge windows shone starry light on to his face, making his azure eyes shimmer like oceans.

"Your dad died on the same day as my mom did, right?" Lianne said, gently.

Alix nodded, running his hands through the blue tips of his hair. "Yeah. But even though I was with him for seven years before he died, we were never exactly close."

"How come?"

"We spent all those years running from trouble, saving our own asses. My dad thought that staying with the army would change that… but look at where that got him. And where it got your mom, too."

They reached Lianne's door, and stopped. Lianne rested a gentle hand upon his shoulder. "Your dad did what he did to protect you. I know if I was him, I would have done the same thing. He thought that taking Seifer's orders was the right thing to do for him to give you a life worth living. I can bet my mom understands that too. I know Xinn regretted what he did, and, put it this way, wherever they both are now, they've probably apologized and made up. They're looking after one another now, watching over us."

Alix smiled, studying Lianne's face. "That's pretty deep."

"It's the kind of thing I've been told my whole life. It's true, I know it is."

"But don't you wish you could take it back? Don't you sometimes wish you could just change the past?"

Lianne folded her arms around him and held him close. "If I did that, I might not have you."

"But your mom-"

"As long as I have you, I'll be okay," she interrupted. She felt Alix put his arms around her shoulders, and she nestled into him. For a long moment, they stood together in the moon's glistening shadow, listening to the sound of each other's breathing.

"I love you," Lianne said, pulling away to allow Alix to kiss her gently.

"I love you too," he said, eventually letting her go. "Sweet dreams, princess."

Lianne waved as she disappeared around her door. Alix gave her his last smile, then carried on walking, trying to ease his own troubled mind.

A few hours later, Lianne was deep in peaceful sleep. That was until a ring from the intercom pierced her dreams.

"This is your Headmaster. All students are to remain in their dorms until further notice. Squall, could we please have you on the bridge immediately. Thank you."

In an instant, Lianne was awake, for two reasons in particular. The first being that it was the middle of the night, and Cid never made announcements in the middle of the night. And secondly, any call to her father, she treated as a call to herself. So, as soon as the intercom bells rang out, she was out of bed and dressed in an instant. Without a second thought for what Cid had just said, she left her dormitory. She followed the sound of voices coming from down the corridor.

"How the hell could this have happened?"

"We have no idea, Squall. The Garden Faculty just came across it on their night patrol. We're investigating, but we have no leads."

Lianne turned a corner and was met with the sight of a small group of people. Among them were Squall, Cid, Xu and three Garden Faculties. All of them were crowded around so that she couldn't figure out what they were looking at. Then her father shifted uneasily and Lianne got a fleeting glance at what was behind him. She gasped.

Blood. Blood was on the walls, and in a pool on the floor.

Squall noticed her then. "Lianne, what are you doing here?"

"I… I just – I came…" For once, she found herself unable to speak.

"You were told to remain in your dorm! Despite what you might think, you have no special privileges," he seethed.

She wasn't listening. She could now see what they were all examining in full view. A student was lying face down on the floor, the blood running out of them, and a weapon was plunged into his back. It was like a diamond-shaped dagger, but not like any dagger she'd ever seen. Lianne's heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of dark hair tinged with blue.

"Who… who is it…?" she managed to stutter.

Xu, who was kneeling precariously over a pool of blood, gently moved the victim's hair aside, and Lianne felt her head spin as she glimpsed bright blue eyes.

"Alix…" She let a sob escape her.

Squall seemed to realise then what was going through her mind, and he let his anger slide for a moment. He put a hand on her shoulder. "No. It's not him."

"Thank goodness…" She clutched at her heart, breathing deeply. "Then… who is it?"

Xu answered. "His name's Kenji, I think. Gosh, this is awful. I wonder who did this?"

Squall's sympathy was fleeting. "Just get this mess cleaned up before the rest of Garden wake up and see it."

"But shouldn't we look into this a little more first?" Xu asked. "There might be clues here."

"I'm more concerned about everyone else. There's already enough unrest thanks to the Training Centre incident. If they see this now, there'll be panic."

"It may be that they have a right to panic," Cid said, shaking his head grimly.

"Look, we'll discuss this in the morning. For now, just get it cleaned up. You won't get any more evidence from this than you've already got," Squall said. "And Lianne, go back to bed. Don't breathe a word of this to anyone else yet. They'll find out eventually, just not from you."

Lianne felt so sick that she couldn't even protest. She just nodded dejectedly and began to walk away. By the time she neared her dorm, she was shivering, and wondered why her father had bothered telling her not to say anything to anyone else. She wasn't sure she could even if she had wanted to.