Disclaimer: I still own no part of ff8 or square but they are now on a list, yep wrote my Santa list and put them down there so who knows maybe I'll get lucky so don't sue don't steal my luck from me.
A/N: ok firstly thanks to everyone who read this story so far I really hope your enjoying it. Thanks especially to everyone who's taken the time to review to Mieka, Triple e, Ms. Jones, Sayuri21 and to Leontillybalambgirl thank you all so much for taking the time to review. Special thanks as always to the awesome Hannah who still keeps me sane and makes me laugh and to the awesome Alex who is still the best damn writer I know and still inspires and supports. Ok here we go chapter 11 An ill wind blows.
An ill wind blows.
Seifer sat alone in the room; he was waiting for the headmaster. He had been back just one night but already he was starting to think that maybe he had made the wrong decision. As he sat there he thought back to his first meeting with Squall after the fight with Ultimecia.
The man stood alone on the pier looking into the ocean, he had come here every day for the last month. Something about the ocean made him calm, maybe it was the waves crashing relentlessly against the rocks or maybe it was something he had once heard. The ocean has no memory he had once been told and for Seifer Almasy memories where something he could do without.
"Seifer" the voice called behind him.
"What do you want, you here to finish the job" Seifer said instantly recognizing the voice.
"No I need your help" Squall Leonheart said.
"Ha now that's funny" Seifer said laughing.
"I want you to come back to Garden" Squall said as he walked up to him.
"and the funny just keeps coming" Seifer said laughing loudly now.
"Seifer I'm serious" Squall said annoyed at the sound of Seifer's laughter.
"I know that's what's funny puberty boy" Seifer said laughing uncontrollably now.
Squall looked at the man and he too began to laugh, he had come here to ask his most deadly rival to come back to garden. He had told Seifer Almasy of all people he needed his help and the worst thing about the whole situation was that he really did. Finally after a few minutes of the two men laughing at the situation they found themselves in, Seifer and Squall stopped laughing and for the first time in over a month looked at each other. Not as enemies and not yet as friends but rather as two people caught up in a situation beyond either of their control.
"So how come you need my help then" Seifer asked.
"I'm not sure, something is coming Seifer and if there's one thing I do know it's that I'd rather have you with me than against me" Squall said.
"So I'm offering you a choice, you can come back to garden and try to be the man you should be, or you can stay here and be the man you are now" Squall added.
Seifer remembered this as he sat in the headmaster's office; he remembered that for the first time in his life someone had given him a second chance. As the door to the office opened and the headmaster walked in Seifer smiled, sometimes a second chance is enough he thought as he looked at the headmaster.
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Squall sat in the train carriage, with Rinoa beside him. The last night had been hard on the two of them, Rinoa's obvious shock at the death of her father and Squall's seeming inability to help her through it.
"Rin you awake" he said softly.
"Rin" he asked again receiving no answer.
He got up quietly and walked to the other side of the train carriage, they had left first thing this morning and he was actually glad that Rinoa was getting some sleep. He sat down beside the four seeds he had been ordered to take with him against his will.
"Commander is everything ok" Nida asked.
"Yes fine Thanks" Squall answered.
"We'll be there within the hour sir" the young blond girl said.
"Very well Claire" Squall said and smiled at the blond.
"Sir can I ask a Question" Darius asked.
Squall looked at the man as if he hadn't heard him, he was lost in his own thoughts and again he was annoyed at Cid's insistence that he brought support with him. To Squall this was a personal issue however Cid had insisted that with everything that was going on, Support wasn't only necessary it was mandatory.
"Sir" Darius asked again, it was his first mission and to be placed with the commander excited him tremendously.
"Sorry what" Squall said.
"Sir I was wondering if I could ask a question" Darius asked again brushing his brown hair away from his eyes.
"Certainly" Squall asked looking at the man for the first time.
"Sir do you expect any trouble" Darius said immediately perking the interest of his colleagues.
Squall however was intensely looking at the other man, for the first time he noticed something that he hadn't before, Darius looked very much like him. He had the same brown hair combed in exactly the same manner, his eyes weren't the vivid blue that Squall's were but they were close. In fact apart from the scar across his face Darius could easily be mistaken for Squall.
"Sir" the man asked again slightly worried by the commanders examining look.
"Oh sorry I was miles away" Squall said.
"No Darius I don't expect trouble of any sort" he added.
"Oh ok" Darius said his voice showing his disappointment.
Squall smiled to himself, it seemed the young man was very eager for action and this reminded him of himself on his first mission. He was about to say something to the young man when he noticed Rinoa stirring in her sleep. So instead he quickly got up and walked over to their seat.
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Seifer sat in the chair looking at the Headmaster, neither of the two men had said a word for what to Seifer felt like an eternity.
"Well now my boy" Cid said finally breaking the silence.
"Sir" Seifer responded.
"Well I can't say I'm happy to see you, although truthfully I am" Cid said.
"Thank you sir" Seifer said surprising himself as he actually meant it.
"Well now my boy, what to do, what to do" Cid said before taking his glasses off.
Seifer was prepared for this but still he cursed Squall for not being here with him, he had told him he would talk this through with the headmaster.
"Well sir whatever you decide I'm sure it will be fair" Seifer said.
"Indeed my boy, Indeed" Cid said looking at the other man.
"Well it seems that Commander Leonheart feels that your skills are needed so I guess that rules out prison then" Cid said before laughing.
"Huh" Seifer responded.
"Sorry my boy, my sense of humor was never that good" Cid answered.
"Well what the Commander and I have agreed on is this, you have passed almost all the tests to become a Seed so if you are willing, we would like you at the earliest possible time to take your final test and become a fully fledged seed" Cid said.
Seifer was stunned, he was actually completely lost for words at this point, they actually wanted him to become a seed, were they serious. Was this some sort of joke that Leonheart and the headmaster were in on together. Or were they actually giving him the chance to be something he always wanted to be. He sat there with these thoughts in his mind going over and over them, could it actually be true, could he finally become a Seed.
"Well my boy, what do you have to say" Cid asked.
"Sir, Yes please I would like the chance, sir" Seifer answered.
"Very well as soon as the next test day comes up we want you to be ready then" Cid said.
"So for now you are to report to instructor Trepe for evaluation" he continued.
"Very well sir" Seifer said as he got up from the seat.
He walked to the door before stopping to look at the older man and then for the first time that either of them remembered Seifer did something that surprised them both. He saluted the older man before he left the office. Cid sat there and smiled maybe Squall was right about this, maybe Seifer could be redeemed.
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The six people stepped from the train, they had arrived at last. Deling city, the capital of Galbadia stood in front of them and they had much to do.
"Right Nida I want you to hire two cars" Squall said.
"Sir right away" Nida said before he hurried off.
"You three look alert" Squall said to Darius, Claire and the other member of his unneeded escort Damon.
"Sir yes sir" they said as they saluted the commander.
"No salutes, we don't want to draw any attention to ourselves" Squall said to the trio.
"Squall, I. I'm…not sure I can do this" Rinoa said from behind him.
He moved away from the three Seeds and immediately went to Rinoa's side.
"Don't worry Rin, I'm here with you" he said as he put his arms around her.
"Ok, promise you wont leave me alone" Rinoa said.
"Shush now, of course I wont" Squall said as he kissed her forehead softly.
Nida arrived back at that precise moment driving the first car, he got out and walked over to the three seeds and handed Claire the ticket for the other one. Then he walked towards the couple who were now locked in an embrace in front of him.
"Sir" he coughed nervously.
"Sir I have the car" he said a little more loudly now.
"Rin were ready" Squall said to her softly as he turned towards Nida.
"Ok remember you promised" Rinoa said to him as she walked to the car.
Squall ordered Nida to follow in the other car with the others and headed to the car that Rinoa was sitting in.
"Rin you ready" he asked as he got into the car.
"No but" she said as he took her hand in his.
"Lets go anyway" she continued as Squall started the engine.
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Seifer walked the corridor heading towards the classrooms, he had been told to report to Quistis and as much as this bothered him he was on his way to do just that. As he walked however he passed a number of students who weren't as keen as some to have the sorceress's lapdog back in their beloved garden.
"There he is" he heard one of them say.
"Traitor" he heard another.
"You don't belong here" another shouted.
Seifer walked past them when suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder spinning him around. Before he could react he was punched in the face hard, then another hand grabbed him and knocked him to the floor.
"We'll teach you what happens to traitors here" a big student shouted as he moved towards the prone blond.
"Stop that at once" a voice shouted.
"At once you hear me" the voice shouted again.
Seifer who at this point was considering whether or not to break the neck of one of these students was surprised someone was sticking up for him. But as he looked up this surprise turned to outright amazement, for there stood Quistis Trepe.
"You students are all on report" she said to the man who had grabbed Seifer first.
"For what, for this piece of crap" he shouted to her.
Seifer was by now livid, not only had they put their hands on him but now they were calling him a piece of crap. Once more the thought went through his brain that breaking this guys neck would be a good thing.
"I said your on report, now take your friends and report to the headmasters office" Quistis said.
The three men mumbled some more before they headed off towards the headmaster's office. Quistis then turned to look at the man on the floor.
"Well isn't that something" Seifer said flashing his trademark smile at the instructor.
"Well as much as I would like to watch people kicking your ass, we have work to do" Quistis said heading off in the direction of the classroom.
Seifer smiled at the departing instructor again before lifting himself up from the floor and following her.
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The two cars pulled up outside caraways mansion, Rinoa had barely said a word during the drive and as Squall stopped the car he was worried. He was worried as to how she would react when she finally saw her father for the first time. She had cut off all ties with him and now to finally be back here at the mansion, to see him again but this time to see his dead body worried Squall.
"Rin were here" he said softly.
"Oh ok lets go then" Rinoa said surprising Squall.
She was out of the car before Squall even had a chance to say anything else; as he looked out of the window she was actually almost at the door. He jumped out of the car and ran after her, waving at the other car to tell them to wait outside.
"Rin wait" he shouted as he ran up the pathway.
She stood at the door looking at the yellow tape which was strapped across the front of it.
"Rin are you sure you want to do this" Squall asked.
"I have to, he's my father" Rinoa said as she broke the tape and opened the door.
They walked into the room to find nothing, every piece of furniture had been removed, there was no sign that anyone had ever even lived here much less that someone had died here. Looking at each other they walked through the house before heading up the stairs to Caraways study.
"Squall what's going on" Rinoa asked.
"I'm not sure Rin" he said as they reached the study door.
They opened the door and walked in to find it exactly the same as downstairs, nothing not a stick of furniture. Her father's large oak desk which had been the room's main feature was gone along with everything else.
"Squall what the hell is going on here" Rinoa shouted her annoyance clear now.
"Rin I have no idea, but I will don't worry I will" Squall said.
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Seifer entered the classroom and walked immediately to the desk he used to sit at, it felt strange to him. He had spent so much time in this classroom and yet he had learned nothing, to Seifer the irony of this was funny. So as usual he sat down with a grin on his face, but what was unusual was this time there was something else on his face as well. For the first time in his life Seifer Almasy felt hope, not hope that he would win, not hope that he would fulfill his romantic dream. Hope that this time in this room the lessons he learned he would actually get through, that this time he would walk from this room having accepted that he didn't know everything.
"You think this is funny Seifer" Quistis asked.
"On the contrary my dear instructor, on the contrary" he said his grin fading.
"Very well then shall we begin" Quistis asked looking at him slightly confused.
They had been there for two hours and during the time Quistis had been surprised by how attentive Seifer had been to the lesson. But now was the time for his written test, true he had done one before but she had her own orders to follow.
"Are you ready" she asked.
"As I'll ever be my dear instructor" Seifer said his grin returning in force.
"Would you pleases top calling me that" Quistis said.
"Sorry" he answered surprising her.
Two hours later she walked from the room smiling, not only had he passed but he had managed to get top marks. It was as if he really did want to change she thought before clearing the thought from her mind. Seifer meanwhile sat in the classroom amazed, he had passed and this time he hadn't cheated this time he had passed on his own merit. Maybe he had learned things in this classroom after all he thought as he got up from his seat, he was hungry and he was in the mood for hotdogs.
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Squall brought the car to a stop outside the Deling government building; he felt that all the answers he sought were there. As the car stopped he turned to the girl in the seat beside him.
"Rin wait here ok" he said to the still upset girl.
"No I want to know what's going on" she said moving towards the car door.
"Please Rin, wait here I'll find out and come back quickly ok" Squall said.
"Ok hurry please" she said moving back into her seat.
"I will, Rin I love you" Squall said kissing her softly before getting out of the car.
Rinoa sat back in the car seat, she knew he loved her and as much as she loved him back, right now that wasn't enough for her. She needed to see her father; she needed to know if he really was dead.
"Nida make sure Rinoa doesn't go anywhere" Squall whispered to the other man as he passed the car.
"Yes sir, of course sir" Nida said and got out of the car.
The others sat there, so far this had been the most boring mission ever they thought, they were all eager for some action although none of them had ever actually taken part in a mission before. Squall walked towards the building and entered looking back once more at the two cars.
"Can I help you sir" a small petite dark haired woman asked.
"Hopefully" Squall answered.
"Well lets see now" the woman said and smiled an insincere smile at the dark haired man in front of her.
"I'm here to enquire about General Caraway" Squall said.
"And what business is that of yours" the woman asked snottily.
"My name is Squall Leonheart and my business involves the general's daughter" Squall said annoyed by the woman's attitude.
"The Squall Leonheart" the woman said here smile now suddenly becoming sincere.
"Yes, can you help me" Squall asked.
"Me help the world's savior, of course! of course!" the woman said smiling fully now.
She got up from her seat and walked to the back of the office, Squall stood there with a bemused look on his face. Within a couple of minutes she was back with a large file in front of her, she placed the file on the desk and smiled at him again.
"Everything you need to know is in that file Mr. Leonheart, ehmm could you do a small favor for me" the woman asked in a slightly fawning tone.
"Of course anything" Squall said although he wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but here.
"Could you sign this for me" the woman asked handing him a small piece of paper.
Squall signed the paper and smiled at her, before picking up the file and leaving the building. As he walked to the car he thumbed through the file looking at pictures of General Caraway's dead body as it lay across his desk. This disturbed him not because he had any feelings toward the dead man but because he knew he had to show these to Rinoa.
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Seifer entered the cafeteria to a stunned silence, he walked to the counter and asked for some hotdogs surprised when the cafeteria lady not only gave him the hotdogs but actually winked at him as well. He turned to head away from the counter but once again he turned to face the same three students who had attacked him earlier.
"Now looky here" the big student said.
"Oh it's the traitor" the slightly smaller dark haired student added.
"I really don't think you'll be needing those" the big student said knocking the plate out of Seifer's hand.
Seifer just smiled at the three students and turned back towards the counter but yet again he found his shoulder being grabbed. This time however he was more prepared and as he was spun around he ducked causing the big guy's fist to miss his face. He moved quickly towards the door only to be tripped up by the third of the students and as he tried to get back to his feet he felt the blow on the side of his face of the dark haired students boot. He went crashing down full force now before he felt the weight of one of the students on his back. The blows came crashing down around him and as much as he tried to dislodge the student he was unable to. Once again however he was surprised as a voice started to shout out and once again the fact of whose voice it was shocked Seifer to his core.
"I said enough" Zell shouted at the three men who were kicking and punching Seifer.
"But he's a traitor, he's scum" the big student shouted as he once again raised his fist.
Zell caught the man with a right hook knocking him off Seifer's now prone body, the other two immediately stopped and got off Seifer rushing to their friend. Neither of them were willing or stupid enough to get involved in a fist fight with Zell.
"Damn of all the people, I never would have expected you to help me" Seifer said as he lay on the floor.
"Yeah me either" Zell said holding his hand out to help Seifer from the floor.
Seifer looked up at the man in complete confusion now, not only had he stopped a potentially bad beating but he was now offering his hand. True maybe not in friendship but he was offering it all the same. He took a hold of the hand and helped himself stand up, before he began brushing the dust from his long white coat.
"Thanks" Seifer said to the tattooed man.
"Welcome" Zell said.
Zell didn't say another word as he looked at Seifer and walked away, Seifer smiled it wasn't much but it was a start.
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Squall walked towards the car reading the file when suddenly he saw something written there which made the events of the last few weeks make some sort of sense. Amongst the papers and pictures Squall saw something that made him run to the car, there written down on paper was his name but what had made him run was the other words written beside it.
Wanted for the unlawful killing of General Xavier Caraway.
Squall Leonheart arrest on sight considered armed and
dangerous. Use deadly force if necessary.
Nida watched the commander running towards the car, in complete confusion, what the hell is going on he thought as Squall reached his side.
"Nida it's a trap we have to get out of here now" Squall shouted at the stunned man.
"A trap what, what's going on sir" Nida asked.
"NO TIME, LETS GO" Squall shouted at the still stunned man.
"NOW NIDA! NOW" Squall shouted.
Nida ran to the other car as finally he seemed to get the message that whatever was going on here if the commander said they had to go, well then who was Nida to ask questions. As he reached the car and started to get in it he was shocked even more as a bullet sped by his face, turning back he saw a large number of Galbadian soldiers running towards the two cars.
"There he is" a soldier shouted.
"Arrest that man" another screamed.
"Murderer" another shouted as he raised his machine pistol.
"Squall what's going on" Rinoa asked as he jumped into the car.
"Rin I'll explain later ok" Squall said reaching for the keys.
Squall wasted no time and started his engine, pulling away quickly and looking in his rear view mirror making sure Nida had followed his orders and driven off as well. Satisfied that he had done as he was told Squall put his foot down on the accelerator and sped away. When they had reached a fair enough distance he pulled the car over to one side and checked to make sure they hadn't been followed.
"Squall what happened, what's going on tell me" Rinoa asked scared now.
"Rin it's a set up, they want to blame me for your father's death" Squall answered.
"You, my father's death, Squall I don't understand" the confused girl asked.
"Look Rin" Squall said handing the file to her.
Rinoa looked in the file and was in a state of complete shock as she read the words, they were saying that Squall had killed her father but why, why would they say that.
"Why Squall, why would they want to blame you" Rinoa asked.
"Maybe so they can blame Garden Rin, but I'm not sure I just know that we can't be here now, we have to get back to garden immediately" Squall said.
Rinoa sat there and nodded as Squall got out of the car and walked to the other one, she knew Squall had nothing to do with her father's death but couldn't think why they wanted it to look like he had.
"Nida are you guy's ok" Squall asked as he looked in the other car.
"Yes sir I think so, what's going on sir" Nida asked.
"Their blaming me for Caraway's death" Squall told the shocked man.
"But sir that's ridiculous" Nida said.
"I know Nida, but they have an arrest warrant out for me, dead or alive" Squall said.
"Ok but why sir, what reason would they have to blame you" Nida asked.
"I'm not completely sure Nida, I just know that if I was to give myself up well let's just say I don't think there would ever be a trial" Squall answered.
"So What now Sir" Nida asked.
"We get back to Garden as quickly as possible, hey where's Darius" Squall asked.
"He em had to use the bathroom sir" Claire said embarrassingly.
"We have to go back and get him, now" Squall said.
"NO SIR WE DON'T" Nida said loudly.
"Were going back and that's an order" Squall said worried about the young man.
"Sir we can't, we must get you and Rinoa back to garden immediately" Nida said.
"I'm ordering that we go back now Nida, are you refusing a direct order" Squall said becoming irate.
"No Sir I'm following orders, Headmaster Cid's orders, and they are to get you back to garden now" Nida said getting out of the car.
"What the hell are you talking about Cid's orders, were going back for him now" Squall said walking from the car.
"Sir no were not, you have to be brought back to garden and that's the end of it" Nida said.
Squall looked at the man in complete surprise, it made sense now, cid's insistence on him having a security team, his insistence that Nida rather than one of his close friends be on the team. He looked at the dark haired man and the two seeds in the back of the car. They weren't just here to protect him from any enemies; they were here to protect him from himself. Reluctantly Squall walked back to the car surprised when Nida walked with him.
"He better be safe Nida" Squall said as he got into the back seat of the car.
"He better be safe" he repeated as Rinoa looked at him and Nida started the engine.
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Darius had run from behind the government building, he had heard the gunshots and watched the two cars speed away. Now he himself was running only he was running for his life. The soldiers that followed he had thought he lost twice, but each time he found to his horror that he hadn't. Finally after nearly an hour he had managed to lose them. Now as he stood in the alleyway he contemplated his next move, garden protocol suggested that he should head for the nearest possible garden but in this case that might not be such a good thing to do.
"I have to try and make it back to Garden" he said to himself as he stood there.
Tempest saw the seed uniform from the car he was traveling in, but what he saw next made him even happier, although to see his expressionless face you would never know. He saw the color of the Seeds hair and ordered the car to stop; he removed his gunblade and crept up to the still unaware man.
"Yeah Garden, I'll just head to the train station and then I'll be fine" Darius said unaware that these would be his last words.
The gunblade came from behind and straight through his neck severing his head where he stood. Tempest now smiled, he had thought this was going to be hard but instead it was the easiest kill he had ever made. He bent down to lift the head of the man who was the final obstacle to his master's plan and turned it around to look at it.
"NOOOO" he screamed as he threw the head down again.
Whoever this person had been it wasn't Squall Leonheart and Tempest flew into a rage, slashing his gunblade at the decapitated corpse until the blade had been completely enveloped in blood. Finally calming himself down he wiped the gunblade and walked away a smile now on his face.
"Soon Leonheart Soon" he said and began to whistle.
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A/N: sorry if the last bit was a little graphic but well Tempest ain't all their now is he, in the next chapter things start to get much more interesting well I wont tell you too much other than to quote Shakespeare it may well be time to "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review let me know if there are things you like or dislike any comment is much appreciated.