Chapter 10: Dusk

Louie Leonhart stood before the majestic trinity of the Gardens. The chains on his SeeD uniform being blown by the gentle afternoon breeze as he waited for the sunset. To the left of the grandiose coalescence of the Gardens was the magnificent spectacle of the Centran sunset. The sky all around was starting to darken and the sun started to color the dark gray clouds with an orange tint.

They had just been briefed of their mission - Louie Leonhart, Celine Branford, Elaine Faragon and Carlos Almasy are to stay in Centra and protect Lady Sylphia with their lives until the situation has cooled down. When the conditions are calm, they will travel to Timber, disguising the sorceress, and let the sorceress speak on the TV station. The invasion of the Timber station hasn't been worked out yet. Rinoa is trying to fix something up with the resistances as long as SeeD promises to liberate Timber from Galbadia. The deals are risky so they don't want to decide too quickly.

Louie waited for his teammates to come out from the ramp on Balamb Garden. He was quick to run to the beach after getting dismissed from the mission briefing. He was excited to see them again. A familiar brown-haired girl came out of the ramp, the wind blowing her long brown hair flew to the figure that had his arm around her shoulders. They laughed as the brown-haired girl with green eyes wrapped an arm around her lover's waist.

Louie recalled the beauty of the sunset. The sunset is a marvel that can never be touched. No matter how hard he try, he wouldn't be able to stop the sun from setting. It was a humbling experience, knowing that nothing in this world can stop the motion of the yellow orb from sinking into the horizon.

"Louie!" the brown-haired girl called out as she waved her free hand rather enthusiastically. Louie smiled a small smile in reply, softly waving his hand to greet the girl. The young Leonhart then turned around as he remembered the view of the sunset was better on the flower fields. He walked towards the house, attempting not to look back at the couple. He stepped inside and strode to the flower fields. He watched the sun kiss the ground and leave red stains on the clouds that quickly disappeared into the night sky. He was walking further into the flower fields when a voice from behind caught his attention.

"Why are you torturing yourself?" it was Elaine Faragon, his teammate during his SeeD exam.

Louie turned. "What?"

Elaine walked towards Louie, the pink tips of her short blonde hair bouncing gracefully with her strides. "Come on, Louie. You like her."

Louie sighed. Then he grew silent.

"I knew it! You like Celine!" Elaine laughed.

Louie smirked. "I don't like Celine. I just think... you know... that she's..."

"What?"

"Nevermind." Louie started walking back to the orphanage. Elaine started laughing really hard.

Louie turned around. "Are you enjoying this?"

"I kind of am." Elaine continued laughing.

Louie pointed at Elaine. "You are evil!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who likes some girl that's taken already."

Louie started walking back. "Be quiet, Elaine!"

"Alright, alright, man. Oh my Hyne, that was fun to watch. The young Leonhart isn't the perfect little SeeD after all." said Elaine.

"Who said I was perfect?"

"Oh come on, you and your little posse, that Carlos and Krys and that blonde boy with all the energy, you guys are born lucky and stay lucky. Not to mention all of you actually looks good. Huh talk about luck."

"Hey, we have our own share of problems too, you know! You don't know what it's like living under the shadow of anyone's legacy, Elaine."

Elaine stood. "Awww. I almost feel sad for you, Mr. Leonhart."

"Do you really hate me this much, Elaine?"

Silence.

Louie continued. "I was your teammate. Did you at least try to get to know me?"

Silence.

"Okay fine. I admired how you voiced out your opinion on that Duke of Dollet guy." Elaine replied.

"Thank you."

"And I don't totally hate you."

"Thanks."

Footsteps were suddenly heard from behind.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" it was Celine, her long brown hair tied up in a neat ponytail and her arms filled with the bags of all of her stuff. She dropped her bags on the porch and walk towards Elaine and Louie.

"Wow. This place is beautiful. Hey Louie, do you mind giving us a tour of the place?" asked the green-eyed girl.

"Sure. I'll introduce you to the folks first. and show you our room." Louie replied as he walked back and carried the bags that were left on the stone porch. The two ladies followed him inside.

"Here's our room." said Louie as he led the two girls to the room where the original orphanage gang stayed. The eight of the twelve beds were now empty and neatly arranged. Louie walked to one of the unmade beds and sat on the soft cushion. He then opened his night light and looked up. He saw the two girls standing by the door.

"Oh my Hyne, you guys, just pick one. These are all clean. Except the ones that are not arranged. Those are for the guys." There were six beds in each side. Louie's bed was on the right side and was nearest to the door. The beds around him are for the second orphanage gang.

"What guys?" asked Elaine as she walked over to one of the empty beds. The bed she picked was the one that was previously occupied by Quistis.

"The guys. Carlos, Krys and Dash. They'll be here for dinner. They just went to the Garden for some reason."

"They'll all be staying with us?" asked Celine as she also stood over the bed that was occupied by Rinoa.

"Yeah. Didn't my father tell you?" Louie replied as he brought Celine's bags to her bed.

"No. He said you and Carlos are gonna be staying with us. He didn't tell me about other guys."

"Well, my dad wanted them to stay here so they can get out of trouble as well. And this will probably be Krys's SeeD exam."

Just then, Carlos entered the room. "Hey! Everyone's here! Hi guys!" said the blonde as he walked up to the bed that stood beside Louie's.

"Hey Carlos! Where's Lady Sylphia?" Celine teased. Louie laughed. Elaine rolled her eyes.

"Tease and laugh all you want but I know that I am completely-"

"Is this our room?" they all turned to the door to see whose voice interrupted Carlos's speech. It was Lady Sylphia, her silver hair tied up in a messy ponytail and her bare arms carrying her bags. Carlos stood and walked up to the sorceress.

"Yeah, Sylphia. This... this is our room. Uhmm.. You can sleep on that bed." said Carlos, pointing at the bed beside his bed. "Let me get this." the young Almasy carried the bags of the sorceress. Louie held in his laughter as the blonde boy struggled to impress the sorceress.

"Oh! Great! Thanks." said Sylphia as she walked towards her bed. She sat while Carlos placed her bags beside her. "Thanks, Carlos."

"No problem, Sylphia."

"You guys, I'm sorry if I'm causing this much trouble all over the world. I just wanted to deliver a message" said Sylphia as she crossed her legs and fixed the long green dress she was wearing.

"It's totally fine, Sylphia. SeeD is glad to help." Carlos said enthusiastically.

"Hey, speaking of which, you never told us what you were planning to do on Timber." Louie recalled their last failed mission.

"Yeah. What was so important that you had to risk your life just to be able to say it to the world?" added Elaine.

"Well, it's kind of complicated." Sylphia answered, removing the ponytail and letting her white hair fall down to her back.

"Come on, we can handle it. Besides, I like complicated." Celine urged the sorceress.

"You guys, if Sylphia doesn't want to tell, she shouldn't have to tell."

Louie looked irritably at Carlos.

"This guy is going to get it. Isn't it obvious that we all want to know who we are working for? I mean, Lady Sylphia is nice but we never knew what her true intentions were. It's not like we don't trust her or anything it's just that people are throwing serious accusations at her and if we don't hear who she really is and what she plans to do, other SeeDs might think that the accusations about her are right. I mean, we never know, right?"

"Bro, why are you starin' at me like that?" asked Carlos, breaking the young Leonhart's train of thought. Louie looked back at the sorceress, serious this time, his face reminiscent of the face that his father always had.

"Who are you, Lady Sylphia? Are you really Ultimecia? Or are you just an innocent face trying to hide from all the prejudice of the world. This is all very confusing. Answers would be nice. I hate being confused like this. I would love to trust the sorceress, considering our similarities. I don't know. I'm just getting a little paranoid with the possibility of some sorceress suddenly becoming power-hungry. Will I be power-hungry too. Lady Sylphia doesn't have a knight and she's fine. Or is she?

"Dude, you're scaring the sorceress with your glare!" Carlos shouted.

"Excuse me, SeeDs. You are all needed at the beach." It was Xu, their headmaster.

So Garden hasn't left yet. Louie thought as he stood up and turned off his night light. The SeeDs walked towards the exit.

"Will you be alright here?" Carlos turned to Sylphia who was still on her bed. "You can turn on the night light if you want."

"Oh." The sorceress reached out for the switch on the lamp and it flicked on. "Thanks. I'll be fine here, Carlos. Thank you." said Lady Sylphia as she reached out to her hand and grabbed a book. The SeeDs walked out of the room and she was left alone sitting on her bed, reading a book.

The four SeeDs walked to the entrance of the orphanage and found their commander, Squall Leonhart standing and waiting for them. They walked up towards him and saluted him.

"You may know by now that Krys Kinneas, one of the SeeD candidates, will be in your party today. That is because this will serve as the SeeD Field exam for Krys Kinneas and other SeeD candidates. There are four squads here, one squad per Garden and one squad that will stay here. However, Krys is the only member of the squad that will stay here since we know that the four of you can handle the mission fairly well. In addition to your mission, you are to grade Krys on Conduct, Judgement, Attack, Spirit and Attitude." Squall grabbed four envelopes and handed them to each of the SeeDs.

"All the details on how you will all grade Krys is on that envelope. I trust that your grading will be unbiased and fair. Are there any more questions?"

The SeeDs didn't answer. "Alright, then. You are dismissed." The four SeeDs saluted their commander once more and started walking back to the house.

"Louie will you stay?"

The raven-haired boy turned around to face his father. "Yes?" The other three walked back inside the house.

"About the whole knight thing."

"Look, dad. I still don't wanna talk about it."

"Fine." said Squall. "But you should know-"

"Dad I don't want to-"

"Listen to me. You should know that with all these things that are happening because people hate sorceresses, I think it is better for you to have a knight."

"Here we go again! You know what? Why don't you go inside and speak to Lady Sylphia. Maybe she doesn't have a knight yet too. Maybe you should go get her one too!" Louie stormed off to the house. He walked into their room and they all looked at him. Everyone was there already, even Krys and Dash. Everyone grew quiet when he entered, sensing the hostility and the anger in him. He walked to his bed and sat on the cushion.

Just then, they heard footsteps approaching their room. They all looked at the door and saw Ellone walking towards their room. As she reached the doorway, everyone but Louie, who didn't see Ellone, stood up.

"Please, sit down. I'm not Squall." Upon hearing her voice, Louie perked up.

"Auntie Ellone. Hi! Okay so these are the SeeDs" said Louie, pointing at his comrades. "That's Elaine and that's Celine."

The two girls walked over to where Ellone was to shake her hand. As Celine's hand touched Ellone's, the latter's pupils dilated, lost inside her own memories. She quickly snapped back and walked over to the girl with white hair.

"So this must be the sorceress." Ellone said awkwardly, never looking back at the two SeeDs that just greeted her. She shook the sorceress's hands and returned to the door. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"Where's Matron?"

"She's at Garden but she'll be with us at dinner." said Ellone as she walked back to where she came from.

The SeeDs, the candidates and Ellone sat at the dinner table, anxiously waiting for the food. Ellone has been observing that brown-haired girl across from where Louie was sitting. There was something about the girl. Her tawny green eyes seem to reflect a pair that she has known. She seemed oddly familiar. Lady Sylphia was still in their room when Edea Kramer entered, bringing with her the exquisite dinner she has prepared. She stopped in the middle of the tracks. She looked like she felt something strange as he looked at the company she has. Louie stood up.

"Oh. Matron. Let me get that." Louie walked over to Edea and took the platter of food.

"Oh. Here you go, dear." she hands the young Leonhart the platter and sat down. Ellone, seeing her Matron distraught, reached her hand over to Matron's

"What's wrong, Matron?" asked Ellone.

"There is another sorceress here." said Edea. Although she fights for sorceress rights, it is hard to let go of the anxiety she feels when she encounters another sorceress. This is mostly because of her encounter with Ultimecia back in the past.

Carlos spoke. "Matron, you know it's just Lo-"

"Lady Sylphia. She is in our room." Louie interrupted.

"Right." Edea smiled an awkward smile. "Right, it must be the princess from Dollet. By the way, dear, you haven't introduced me."

"Oh right. Everyone this is Sorceress Edea, our Matron," introduced Louie. "Matron, this is Celine and Elaine and that girl approaching us is Lady Sylphia."

"Oh. You must be the sorceress, Lady Sylphia. Come, come. Sit with us."

"Thank you."

Lady Sylphia sat on one of the empty chairs. They all started eating the exquisite dinner that was prepared by the sorceress. Ellone would sneak a glance at the brown-haired girl as she tried to decipher where she has seen her before. It was when Celine looked up from her food to converse with Louie when Ellone finally got it.

It was her eyes.

Dusk was upon the Cape of Good Hope. Edea and Cid Kramer stood on the beach, Edea's long black hair flew in the wind and her green eyes welled with tears as she spoke.

"Take her somewhere safe, Elle." said Edea as she hands the infant she was carrying on her arms to Ellone.

"I will, Matron. I promise." Ellone said before walking over to the White SeeD ship that was waiting for her. She decided that it would be best to bring the child to Trabia. She looked at the child.

"You have Matron's eyes." said Ellone as the ship set sail. She waved one free hand to the Kramers as she saw Cid hug Edea tightly. Edea sobbed on Cid's shoulders. Ellone thought of how it must feel to give up a child just because of what the world thinks. She would be destroyed if anyone knew she was Edea Kramer's daughter. To the public, Edea Kramer is still the sorceress who killed the president of Galbadia and started a war. To the public, she was still the sorceress that called them lowlives and shameless filthy wretches. Edea was terrified of what the world can do to her daughter. She was terrified that her daughter cannot ever have a normal life.

At first, Ellone thought of giving her to one of her friends, her siblings at the orphanage. However, she soon realized that it would be better if they didn't know of Edea's daughter. Besides, Rinoa and Squall just had a son, Quistis is pregnant with Seifer's baby and Irvine and Selphie are getting married soon. She figured it wasn't an option anymore.

Ellone figured Trabia would be best for the child. It was so far away from Centra and it would really be safe for the child. A very rich family adopted the girl. The father and the mother was already old and already had two daughters but it was in their plans to have a third child. The mother couldn't bear any more children so they decided to adopt. The family was well-off and was able to raise the girl as their own.

The girl grew up admiring stories about SeeDs and heroes that were told to her by her mother. She decided that she would become a SeeD as well and at age 15, she entered Trabia Garden.

Two years later, she met this boy at Balamb Garden. She went there to become a SeeD. The boy had raven-hair and ice blue eyes. The boy had a lion's necklace that was obviously given to him by his father. One night, before the boy left for some trip, the two met on the fields outside the Garden and walked to the nearby town.

"Hey do you wanna go get some coffee? I kinda need some for the road."

"Aren't you leaving?"

"No. The thing's warming up. It'll take an hour. That thing is old and it needs new parts." the boy answered, pointing to the large airship that he and his family were riding to get to Centra.

"What a pity."

"It's sad, really. But Eshtar's got parts and repair things so we can take it there." the raven-haired boy smiled as they started walking towards the town of Balamb. The town was peaceful at night. The alabaster moon and the dim light of the more or less empty shops in Balamb are the only light sources in town. It was quiet, so quiet that the two are starting to hear each other's thoughts as they silently walked on the moonlit pavement.

The girl looked up at the sky and saw the stellar splendor of the moonlit sky "I've never been here at night. I never knew it was so..."

The boy looked at the brunette and continued his friend's lingering statement. "... beautiful?"

The boy's blue eyes sparkled as the girl awkwardly ran to the nearest coffee shop, obviously trying to hide her face. He smiled as he followed the brunette.

Suddenly, a gray cloud consumed everything. The two continued to the coffee shop, as if they never noticed the gray clouds. The fog got thicker and thicker until it was the only thing visible in the night sky. Then a huge gust of wind blew. The fog cleared and the girl is seen walking on a distant landscape. The land was bare. There was nothing yet the girl continued walking with her bare feet. The bottom of her long red gown were torn and ripped to shreds and were dirty from being dragged on the floor. Her long brown hair had turned black at the roots and white at the tips and her long gown was only being held tight by one single button.

She looked distressed. She was looking for something in the middle of the nothingness of the land. Her green eyes were filled with tears as she frantically searched for something. She later found what she was looking for.

The boy with the raven hair and icy blue eyes was lying on the ground, unconscious. His lion necklace wasn't on his neck. The girl sat down beside him and scooped him up. He was cold and lifeless. The girl tried to wake him up, to no avail. The tears began to flow from her green eyes as she reached over to his hand one last time. She opened his gloved hand and saw the lion necklace, colder than his body. Her tears fell harder as her head collapsed over his chest.

Nothing. Not even a ray of light from the gray clouds above shone upon them. It was the end. It was hopeless. The only memory she had of him was the necklace. She grabbed the metal chains and held it up to her eyes. She closed her eyes, tears still flowing from them. Suddenly, black wings appeared from her back. The wings were heavy. They slumped to the ground at first but later, she was lifter from the grounds by the might of her black wings. She opened her eyes. Her green eyes are now amber.

A dark creature appeared before her. The creature had the head of a lion. It had a black torso and red markings are seen all over its body. The creature had five ruby horns that popped up from his head and his arms had a sharp knife-like appendage on them. The creature also had wings. The wings were white and was supported by a black skeleton.

She smiled at the marvelous creature she has made. She flew it and gave it the necklace. The creature wore it around his neck.

"Griever" the girl whispered.

Louie woke up from his sleep. It was a disturbing dream and the images were getting more and more vivid, more and more real. He glanced around and found Ellone standing in the doorway, looking at him. As he caught her eye, she ran.

"Auntie Ellone!" he called out as he sprang up from his bed. A figure stirred on the far side of the room. Louie decided to sneak out quietly. As he exited the room, he ran around the house, looking for Ellone.

He stopped at the dining room and saw a single photograph on the table. It was a close-up photograph of Sorceress Edea and Cid Kramer. The colors were starting to fade from the picture but the image was still visible. The two were looking down, looking at the baby that Edea was holding in her arms. He suddenly realized who the baby was. He flipped the picture and saw a letter written on it.

My daughter,

I have never known you for so long but you already make us so happy.
It will get harder and harder to give you up but eventually, I'm going to have to.
Even if you wouldn't be able to read this, just know that I love you and I will always be your mother
even if I know you are going to hate me when I give you up.
I am sorry I have to do this. I am sorry that the world isn't ready
for us as a family. I am so sorry that the world is unfair to us.
But you will never know of this so I'm happy. I'm happy that you will live a normal life.
I'm happy that you are not doomed to suffer like I did.
I'm happy that you are not like me.
Well, I hope that you are not like me.

I love you, my dear.

Edea, your mother.

"What's that?" Louie sprang up as he turned around and saw Celine behind him.

"Oh it's nothing. Just some old picture."

"Let me see."

"No."

"Pleeeeeaaase."

"Lenghtening the EEEE does not do anything, Celine."

Celine sighed. "Oh alright. But you promised to give me a tour of the place."

"What? Can't we do it in the morning?"

"Well, you're not asleep and you got nothing better to do. So if you'r not gonna show me the picture, at least give me a tour."

And so Louie was forced to give her the tour. The dream hasn't disappeared from his mind, which was odd because he knew that dreams are not supposed to last. He went on the tour, trying to shrug off the dream as another weird one.

"And finally, this is the flower fields."

"I think this is the best part of the house." said Celine as she walked on the fields. Louie followed her. The girl looked up and saw a single shooting star. She smiled.

"Hey did you see that?" she said as she pointed to where she saw the star fall.

"Yeah. Make a wish." Louie smiled back. The two were silent for a while, making each other's wish. The boy sat down on the ground.

"Would you care to sit?" asked Louie as he positioned himself in a comfortable sitting position among the flowers. The girl followed.

"I gotta tell you something."

"What? You sound serious. What is it?"

Louie breathed out a sigh. "I..."

Silence. He hesitated. What was he going to tell her? Oh he had a lot to tell her. His dream. Her probable past and future. Celine in his dreams. All these things were important to her, yet it seemed like he wouldn't be able to muster up the courage to tell her anything. He decided to tell her something unimportant relative to the rest.

"I'm a sorcerer, Celine."

"What?" she laughed, thinking his statement was a joke.

"I'm a sorcerer."

"Yeah. And I'm your knight" Celine teased. She continued laughing.

"I'm serious."

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

"Okay. Okay. I'll show you." He pointed at a star, concentrated all his energy upon it and waved his hand downward. The star didn't budge. Celine laughed.

"Wait for it."

A moment has passed when it suddenly rained stars in the sky. Celine gasped. Louie smirked.

"That is so beautiful. Why didn't you tell me you could do that?"

"My mother told me not to tell anyone. You know being a sorcerer and all. It'll be hard. People judge."

"But that is amazing. I can't believe you can do that."

"Well, I only recently learned about that."

"Hey, maybe you could control the sun too."

The realization struck him. The sunset had always been the immovable force that was so humbling and degrading at the same time. He suddenly realized that if there is someone who can control the sun, it would be him.

If anyone can manipulate the beautiful sunset, it would be Louie Leonhart.