DISCLAIMER I don't own Final Fantasy 8. If I did, I would've called it first fantasy and worked my way up to final…

PART TWO

YOUNG REVOLUTIONARIES

Chapter Nine

Steel Garden

Rinoa watched as Squall all but collapsed into the chair at the head of his office, which he had made into a meeting room by placing some classroom tables and chairs in a circle. He leaned his elbow on the table and put a hand to his forehead in a gesture she knew well.

She perched on the seat beside him and pulled his hand down. She leaned in at an angle, head tilted so she could look up into his face. It gave nothing away, bar the dark circles under his eyes, which attested to a long night whilst the rest of Garden slept; she included. She felt guilty and wished he would let others help more; even after all they had been through, he still tried to do everything alone. She couldn't decide if it were due to habit, instinct, or mistrust.

"What is it, Squall? What's getting to you?"

He heaved a sigh. "Let's just wait until everyone else gets here. I don't want to explain it more than once."

Pain stabbed through her. As his girlfriend, shouldn't she be allowed in where others weren't? She saw a reaction flash in his eyes and his hand tightened a fraction on hers. She felt like an idiot, and stamped her disappointment down. Now I'm just making him feel even worse. Of course, if he just spoke to me in the first place, it wouldn't be a problem.

She smiled. "Okay, you don't have to. But I'm sure it'll be a few minutes before Zell manages to round the others up. I bet I can relax you a little…"

Both looked up as the door opened, and Squall dropped her hand, prompting a small sigh from her.

Selphie skipped through the door in her usual bright yellow dress, the only hint that she had been awoken was a strand of hair flicked out of place. She grinned at them. "Good morning guys!"

"Good and morning should never be uttered in the same sentence." Xu ambled in like a zombie, feet shuffling over the floor. Her hair was clumped into an off centre ponytail. She wore a red tank top, obviously adorned hastily as the tag stuck out at the front. A belt was looped in her black jeans, but hung loose as she had failed to clasp it. "What time is it?" she asked on the end of a monstrous yawn.

"Just gone three am," Rinoa supplied with a smile, amused by the contrasting two girls. She felt awake enough, too, but wasn't about to tell Xu that.

"See, it's not even morning yet! How could it possibly be good?" Xu took the seat to Rinoa's left, the unnaturally energetic Selphie prancing in next to her. Xu crossed her arms on the table and slid down so her head was rested between them, face hidden.

"This is so exciting! I don't think I've ever been called to an emergency meeting before!" Selphie exclaimed. "Unless you include when a friend called me at one am because she'd been dumped…"

"Wow, you really are a morning person, aren't you Selphie?" Rinoa said.

"Tee-hee." Selphie grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. Xu glared at her over her arm as though she had broken the holiest taboo before her face sank out of view.

"So, what's up?" Selphie asked, blithely unaware of Xu's disregard.

"Let's wait for everyone else," Rinoa said quickly. She glanced at Squall and saw the briefest hint of a smile on his face. She twisted off the top of the flask she'd brought with her and poured a cup of coffee for him, flavoured with vanilla, his favourite. She purposefully brushed his hand as she passed the cup to him.

It had been two months since the end of the sorceress war. Things had calmed down into a normal routine, and their concerns had returned to the every day issues of Garden. When Squall knocked at her door she had welcomed the late night visit, until it turned out to be for business. However, she couldn't help noting that he'd woken her himself, fetching Zell on the way to gather up the rest of them.

So he must have wanted to see me, she thought. He probably knew I'd be as grumpy as Xu if anyone else dared intrude on my sleep.

"Do I smell...?" Xu's muffled came from her bowed head, just as Rinoa had suspected she was asleep. Her eyes cracked open, gaze fixed on the steaming flask. "Please tell me that's what I think it is?"

Rinoa took pity on Xu and poured her a mug of the steaming brew. "If you mean the best coffee ever made, then yes. Do you like vanilla flavouring?"

"I don't care if it's flavoured like gasoline," Xu grasped the mug and glugging it down desperately.

Rinoa laughed. "Good coffee should be part of the deal for a mysterious night time meeting."

"As should a pillow," Xu added, rolling her shoulders.

"And a kiss from a beautiful girl!" Irvine's heavy drawl preceded him, and he swaggered in with a wink at Selphie, who deftly pretended not to notice. He adjusted his cowboy hat and stopped behind Rinoa. "I hope there's a cup of that for me, darlin'."

Quistis followed, looking as alert and in control as ever. She took the seat next to Squall with a small wave to the room. "I'll take one, too."

Rinoa, happy to have something useful to do, distributed the coffee accordingly.

Zell ran in last, glowering at Irvine. "Why didn't you hold the lift for me?"

"Did my invite get lost in the mail?" Irvine asked, gesturing to the martial artist with his coffee, who raised his shaking fist. "Zell here forgot to wake me, but he was making enough of a ruckus for everyone in the Garden to hear. Isn't this meant to be, like, a covert thing? The main gang only?"

Squall nodded curtly. "You were invited, Irvine. Now calm down and take a seat, Zell. We've got important things to discuss."

"R- right!" Zell stuttered, and took the last seat between Quistis and, unfortunately, Irvine.

It's going to be a long night, Rinoa thought. Why can't they just get along?

"Sorry for the wake up call, everyone. But we've got big problems," Squall began, and Rinoa wondered if the others could see how awkward he felt. He hid it well, but she knew he hated talking to groups.

"What's happening, Squall?" Quistis asked.

He ran a hand back through his outgrown hair, frowning slightly. "Have any of you heard of Steel Garden?"

Rinoa hadn't, but kept silent. She didn't want to look like an idiot in front of Squall. She never knew the Garden lingo, and routinely swatted up after their meetings, having not understood a word. She looked around at the circle of blank faces and was relieved that, for once, she wasn't the only one. "Nope, never heard of it. Was is it?"

Squall caught her eye, and she knew he saw through her completely. She widened her eyes in faux innocence.

"I didn't think you would have," he said, lowering his gaze and took a long draught of coffee, completely oblivious as they all leaned forward in eager anticipation.

"Is it a new teaching programme or something?" Selphie asked, a begging lilt to her voice.

"No, it's not from inside Garden," Squall said, and frowned as he put his mug down. "At least, I don't think so." He crossed his arms on the table, scowling in thought.

They all leaned further forward. Squall picked up his mug and swirled the remainder around it before drinking it down.

Finally, Zell clasped his hands together with a clap. "Come on already! Tell us what it is!"

"Well, I don't know much at the moment," Squall shrugged. "But, put simply, Steel Garden is an anti-military group formed from the sorceress' followers. Despite her death, they still want her goals."

A gasp went around the room.

"Yo, wait a minute," Zell said. "The Galbadians are claiming that they had no voluntary involvement with the sorceress. She didn't have any genuine followers is what they say."

Irvine pulled his hat down. "We know of at least one voluntary follower, don't we?"

"Or you could say three," Quistis added.

"Wait a minute. You don't mean…?" Selphie began.

Rinoa fixed her eyes on the tabletop. "Seifer."

Squall shrugged. "I don't have any names yet."

Quistis shook her head. "It must be. It's just what he would do, right up his alley."

Xu shook her head, but suspicion flew around the room.

"He threw me to Adel because it was Ultimecia's wish." Rinoa looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. "I didn't grow up with him like you guys did, but I thought I knew him well enough. That wasn't the Seifer I knew. She changed him."

Until that moment in the Lunatic Pandora, she had held a candle of hope for Seifer. Since he joined the sorceress, his behaviour had been like a vicious wind, trying it to its limit. Adel had been terrifying, and by joining them together, he had finally extinguished that hope. Since then, she had given a lot of thought to his motivation. She could never do something like that to someone she cared about, and had concluded that he had never cared for her at all. Either he had changed into a person she could not recognize, or she had never known him at all. Perhaps she had only seen what she wished to, like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Seifer's name was almost taboo, so she hadn't brought it up with the others. She had almost spoken to Squall about it, but she didn't want to dredge up bad memories for him, he had enough of those. She also feared he'd misunderstand why her thoughts lingered on her ex boyfriend. With the sorceress' death, she had dared to hope that Seifer had made a decent new life for himself, that maybe he was happy.

She glanced at Squall, who frowned at the table, yet the determined glint in his eye belied his apathy. He knew Seifer best of all. A cool certainty that this is exactly what the new Seifer would do crept into her, and she felt a stab of anger that he should make Squall suffer even more, and intrude on their hard won peace.

Won't he ever just stop? She thought. Still, I'm a sorceress now. And I'm affiliated with the military. Maybe peace just isn't on the cards for me.

Zell's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "He got a taste of what it was like to run a Garden, and now he wants more. That sounds like him to me, but…" He glanced over at Squall fleetingly, but the commander ignored him.

"He always wanted to take over the world. He wanted it all," Rinoa said.

"And last time we saw him, he said he wasn't ready to stop," Quistis added. "And he didn't want to share it with Squall. Now that Squall's commander, he wants to knock him off his post, and take over."

"You didn't see him when he was here," Xu said, her brown eyes blazing amber at Quistis. "He threw his gunblade away… I never thought he'd do something like that."

Quistis glared over at her. "And you didn't see him kidnap Rinoa! He was always unbalanced, but he went over the edge. Didn't he pass out soon after? He put down his weapon because he wasn't up to a fight."

Seifer wouldn't do that, Rinoa thought. He'd never just backed down from a fight, no matter how bad he felt.

"Hey, cool it, ladies," Irvine said with a broad shrug. "He's not worth getting all worked up about."

They all ignored him.

"It wasn't like that," Xu stood. "You weren't there!"

"No, it's you who was not there," Quistis countered, standing and slamming her hands flat on the table.

Zell stood up. "Hang on a sec, will ya! The last time we saw him, he was…"

"Zell," Squall's voice was quiet, but carried his new found authority. Zell stopped talking, and everyone looked at him "Sit down," he said, and they all did.

"But Squall-" Zell began, hands spread wide appealingly, but the look sent his way was enough to shut him up, and he fisted his hands on the table and looked down.

"I didn't call you here to discuss Seifer," Squall said. "We don't even know whether he's involved."

"Just where did you get this information anyway?" Xu asked.

"Mason called from his post in Galbadia. There's a divide within the soldiers. It seems some of them are still brain washed by the sorceresses influence, or maybe they just liked what they heard. Others have returned to duty as usual." Squall's lips tightened for the briefest moment.

"That does make sense," Quistis concurred with a sigh. "People should be thanking us, grateful that we got rid of the sorceress. And they should want that protection for the future, not turning against us and trying to over throw us! She would have killed us all."

Rinoa looked down at her hands and felt her eyes dampen. She still hadn't gotten a grip on her powers, despite Edea's help. Her heart raced. Her greatest fear was losing control of her powers, of becoming a threat to her friends…

She felt a callused hand in hers, and looked up with a gasp. Squall glared at Quistis before returning his stormy blue-grey eyes to her, and the warmth in them melted her anxiety. It was still rare for him to show public affection for her, and she smiled in gratitude.

"Well, Garden has the remaining sorceress on their side, along with the greatest knight. Let them try." Rinoa said, squeezing Squall's hand and only smiling wider as he blushed and looked away, hair falling to shield his face.

"Sorry, Rinoa," Quistis said, her hands clasped on the table. "I didn't mean you."

"That's okay."

"So what do we know about this 'Steel Garden'?" Xu asked.

Squall rubbed his head before continuing. "Not a lot. Galbadia Garden is conducting an investigation into it. I'd like to say it's an empty threat, but…"

"But what?" Rinoa prompted, squeezing his hand.

"I just have… a feeling about this. I think it's serious."

"Well, things had been too quiet lately, any who," Selphie said brightly. "It's about time we got to kick some butt to kick. If they're made of steel, we'll explode holes in them! KA-BOOM!"

"Hell, yeah!" Irvine agreed. Rinoa knew he'd agree with whatever Selphie said. She thought it was cute that he had always liked her. If he could just keep his eyes off other women, he may be in with a chance.

The meeting dissipated into smaller discussions; nobody seemed aware that it was the middle of the night anymore. Everyone seemed to have an opinion about exactly what 'Steel Garden' was, and what their objectives were. Rinoa listened attentively, filing away the brighter suggestions so she could sound smart to Squall later. However, the idea that stuck most in mind came from Zell.

"I think they're actually called steal Garden. They wanna nick all the hotdogs! But I'll NEVER let that happen!"

Damn, I'll never remember anything anyone else says now, she thought, giggling.

Squall was the only one not to join in the debate, having retreated into himself. The group seemed unconcerned about the threat, so he was shouldering that burden alone, but Rinoa was determined not to let him. He hadn't let go of her hand at least, and she placed her other on top so she warmed his hand between hers.

Selphie turned to Xu. "You saw Seifer last, right? Did he say where he was going?"

"No, he didn't say much at all."

"This must have some connection with why he was here, though," Quistis said.

"Actually, I saw him last," Zell pointed out from across the table.

"Yeah, where you apparently 'whooped his butt,'" Irvine put in.

"Damn straight I did!"

"Xu said he was hurt already."

"That had nothin' to do with it!" Zell said, fist up in front of him.

"Maybe he came back to plant a bomb?" Selphie said. "He wants to make the Garden go KA-BOOM!" She balled her hands together then let fly apart, wiggling her fingers.

"I don't know how he got here!" Zell put in. "But he's probably washing people's cars for a living now! He's not exactly qualified for anything, is he?" Zell nodded deeply. "He's more suited to a weed garden than a steel one."

"He was never meant to be a SeeD," Xu said quietly.

"No he wasn't, but he learned a lot he could use for this Steel Garden," Quistis said cautiously, eyeing Xu in case she flared up again, but she just seemed deflated.

"Are we done here?" Xu asked.

Squall nodded. "We'll meet again later today. I want you all to think about how we can investigate and deal with this threat. I'll divide responsibilities between us. Lastly, this information goes no further, for now."

"Why not?" Rinoa asked. "The students should know they're under threat…" she looked around and realized this was one of her non-SeeD idiot moments. "Right?"

"We've only just settled into a routine again, after the war," Xu said. "People are finally forgetting their fear. If we can nullify this 'Steel Garden' quietly, that would be best. Also, they don't know we're aware of them yet, and we could use that to our advantage." She stretched her arms in the air and scraped her chair back. "Now, I'm going back to bed."

Rinoa wasn't quite satisfied with that. Not telling was akin to lying; and since they were trained for war, then why should they not know they were teetering on the edge of one? They were trained to handle it.

As the others filtered out, she turned to Squall. "I don't understand what Xu said. It's better to be open. I mean…"

Her words petered out as she saw the exhaustion on Squall's face, clearer now that he was no longer forced to bolster himself for the others. She was a little pleased, even as she felt sorry for him; there were things he shared only with her. "It can wait until tomorrow. Let's go to bed."

He gave her one of his small smiles and they stood. He continued to hold her hand as they descended the elevator and strolled to the dorms together. She bit her lip indecisively, wondering if she could ask one more question.

Squall sighed and stopped walking at the lip of the dorms corridor. "What else do you want to know?"

"Oh, well, it can wait-"

"Tell me now," he demanded.

"Well… before, when you were talking about what Mason said… what didn't you tell us?"

"What makes you think I left something out?"

"You always tighten your lips when you want to hide something. I don't think the others noticed, not even Quistis the expert Squall observer!" She smiled up at him. "I'm getting better at reading you, Squall Leonheart."

"So what stopped you from asking in front of the others?" Squall said and crossed his arms. "Isn't that what you'd usually do?"

"I suppose so," she nodded. "No, you're right. I think… well, you know I want you to feel you can confide in everyone, Squall. But I'm starting to think that, since I'm your girlfriend and all, well… everyone has things they can only tell their partner, right?"

His eyes fixed on her, brow raised. "So there are things you can only tell me, even though you believe in being open with everyone?"

"Yes, but…" she shook her head. "That's not the point! You told me to ask, and now you're trying to distract me! So what was it you left out?"

"I don't think military top secret information comes under the heading of things to confide to your partner, Rinoa."

She tingled at even the indirect mention of being his girlfriend. They rarely spoke about their relationship, it simply was. Then she shook herself. She realized he had intended to make her feel that way to distract her.

Two can play at this game, buster, she thought.

"Don't you trust me?" She asked, and widened her eyes just that much.

That's it! hold it, she thought. Come on! 'Fess up or I'll get all depressed...

"All right," Squall said. "But you have to keep this to yourself, even if you think the others should know. Okay?"

She nodded.

"According to Mason, someone matching Seifer's description has been spotted with the Galbadian soldiers."

She blinked. Then blinked again. "What? So he is in charge of them? How with them? Did they capture him? Or…"

At least that was what she went to say, before he stopped her with the briefest kiss, and she was so stunned that she stopped talking.

"That's why there's no point telling them until we know more. It just generates questions. But I'm going to look for him myself."

"Squall…"

He looked at her mutely. She could see he was bolstering himself for her to tell him not to go alone. She would, but it was still early morning, and it could wait until daytime. So she only said, "thank you for telling me."

He gave a small nod and loosened his grip on her hand, but she tightened it again. "That wasn't top secret at all, was it? You just didn't want to worry us. I'm not saying you've got narrow shoulders, but you don't need to carry the weight of the world on your own back."

He rubbed his head. "Alright. I need to sleep, Rinoa."

"Okay." She tugged him towards his room.

He held back and frowned at her. "I'm a little old to be walked to my room, don't you think?"

She giggled, and he put his hand to his head in exasperation. "What's so funny?"

"I'm not walking you to your room. I'm staying there," she said, leaning towards him. As his eyes widened she added, "Just to sleep! We don't have to do anything!"

"It's against the rules for cadets of the opposite sex to share a room."

"Screw the rules! You're not a cadet anymore anyway, you're the commander, and I'm a kick-ass sorceress. If anyone argues about it, I'll turn them into a toad."

Squall was too tired to argue further as she led him down the corridor.

Next Time We rewind and find out just what Seifer's been up to since Balamb Port. Independent mercenary? Did he get caught by the Galbadians? Or is he part of an anti-Garden organisation? Find out next time!

A/N Sorry for the long absence! What do you think of the departure from our main man? Let me know!