A/N: Thanks gang for the reviews! Sorry, it was one of those irritating cliff-hangers last chapter, I just love those.

Chapter Twenty Six

Quistis waited as the headmaster adjusted his glasses before continuing. She hadn't been sure whether she should bring Zell along with her, but since he could also testify to the most part, it was always better to have someone with you that agreed.

"Sir, Squall has been working too hard. This incident with Clari has taken its toll on him. Everyday he has been up at that hospital, as well as continuing to fulfil Caraway's contract. I know that he feels its a personal failing that that girl got hurt, where in fact there was nothing more he could have done to protect the cadets," Quistis paused wondering whether she should say anymore. "Zell and I have tried to help, but we couldn't go against direct orders to stand down. He's been taking too much upon himself."

Cid frowned as he thought. It had perhaps been a mistake to have them in such close quarters to their mission, living with their ward had obviously allowed them little time to regroup and plan. He knew that tiredness was the biggest danger when it came to making decisions. But he didn't believe for one moment that Squall had made any decisions that had endangered the SeeD cadets and caused the accident.

"Do you think I should talk to him?" Cid asked. At the moment he was concerned, but had no idea how he was going to resolve this.

"If you think it would help…" Quistis replied uncertain that it would.

"You got to let things go," Zell said, feeling that he needed to add his thoughts. "Can't blame yourself. It's SeeD, bad things happen… if we blamed ourselves we'd all be in the councillors office."

Cid nodded.

"Well said Mr Dincht."

"He just called us for debriefing, but it wasn't like him at all. Might I suggest you assign him lighter duties? I worry he's going to work himself ill."

"Yeah, like a holiday!" Zell added excitedly.

"Hmm, thank you for coming to see me… I shall see what I can do. This girl, Miss Heartily… is she… would it be feasible to Squall that I suggest he spend time with her? Would I be on the right track?" Cid asked, trying not to pry.

"Sir, it's not my business, but they have been spending more time together than was necessary."

Cid nodded then rested his chin on steepled fingers.

Rinoa waited for the lift, they were on the third floor, and the lift was currently on the basement floor. Someone must have called it before Selphie had reached the button, because it had gone down before it came up again.

When the doors opened, Rinoa was surprised to find Squall inside. Rinoa wasn't sure whether Squall was getting out, or if he wanted her to carry on with finding her room. But Selphie pushed her way into the lift before anything could be said, and Rinoa decided to follow suit.

"Sorry," Squall said as they travelled back down to the ground level. "I had something to do…"

Rinoa knew he was apologising for leaving them on their own, and although at the time she had felt annoyed at being left, she understood that this was a place of work for him, and there would often be times that she'd have to entertain herself without him.

"Don't worry, at least me and Selphie got to meet Cid…and he assigned us rooms," Rinoa said holding the papers out for Squall to see. Squall frowned.

"I meant to do that…" he muttered.

"Cid is a darl," Selphie exclaimed enthusiastically. "He said I could sit in on SeeD classes, how cool is that! I can't wait to look around, you keep monsters here right?"

Rinoa smiled at Squall to see how he was reacting to her friend's talkative nature. She was glad to see that he smiled back at her before replying to Selphie's questions. Rinoa was glad that Selphie was talking, as Selphie asked about things which she would never have thought of, but found that she was greatly interested in the answers. She discovered that Squall had a lot to say about Balamb Garden, he was clearly very proud of the place. There didn't seem to be anything about Garden that he didn't know about.

They walked past the cafeteria on the way to the dormitories, and Selphie read this sign out with more gusto than the others. It seemed she was determined to remember where this particular wing was. It only became clear later why she had been so keen to commit it to memory. As they dropped their bags into their rooms, Selphie declared that she wanted to phone Irvine and unpack. This left Rinoa unexpectedly alone with Squall, until Selphie would join them for dinner later.

"Can we look around some more?" Rinoa asked, she heard her voice a nervous pitch higher than usual.

She had been alone with Squall many times, but she had never felt uneasy. She supposed it was because she was unsure of this place, and didn't know her way around, and yet she found it difficult to meet Squall's eye. Her words to Selphie about her feelings for Squall returned to her, but now they were confused.

Had she muddled her feelings with Squall, with something she had felt for Seifer, and come to the wrong conclusion? Or had her admiration for Squall led her to think she had felt more for Seifer? Her heart wouldn't speak to her; it was still hiding from being cruelly hurt.

"Wouldn't you prefer to explore with your friend?" Squall asked, he didn't want her to miss out on having fun with Selphie, just because she thought she had to stay with him.

Rinoa shook her head as positively as she could. She knew a tour with Squall would be totally different to wandering about with Selphie, there would be less giggling for one thing, but she wanted to see this place as he saw it.

"No, I'd rather you show me round. After all, you probably know this place better than anyone," she said smiling. "Come on."

Squall wondered where to take her next; he supposed the training centre was a good place to start. He didn't want her wandering in there on her own, not knowing what it was. Although, it was unlikely that she'd get past security, everyone needed a key to pass through the metal doors, but even so, he'd feel happier knowing she'd avoid the place.

Rinoa gazed down at the water running under the walkways as they went, which was made all the more impressive as the sun reflected upon it's surface. She smiled at Squall every time he looked her way, and was content just to walk in comfortable silence, admiring and wondering.

They stopped just before the next bridge.

"I've brought you here, because I don't want you to come here…" Squall said making Rinoa frown.

"You know that makes no sense right?" she said knowing that she hadn't let him finish his sentence.

"…Alone. I don't want you to come here by yourself. Or… Just don't cross this bridge unless you're with me."

Rinoa smirked. Wow, it really seemed to mean a lot to him that she promised never to set foot in there. She wondered why. But more importantly she was thankful that he was taking the time to be concerned. Even if she had probably given him the impression that danger was right up her street, from her constant rule breaking back home.

"Commander!" a young boy called, as he appeared out of the glass doors up ahead. "My instructor needs to see you!"

Squall nodded and headed towards the boy, Rinoa excitedly followed behind him.

"This is the training centre," he said over his shoulder, before scanning an electronic badge into a computer to open the doors. "It's where we keep live monsters for the SeeDs to train against."

Rinoa felt a chill go up her spine as they stepped through the metal doors, and entered a world of darkness, surrounded by high walls and flashing yellow lights. The sound of electricity crackling through the fences around the perimeter made Rinoa jump. Whatever these monsters were, they weren't low level, and the staff were doing everything possible to keep them inside.

There was a group of people gathered together in a small clearing. On either side of them was a door to the inner training centre. Rinoa kept close to Squall, wondering if there were monsters hiding nearby. The instructor was a man in his late twenties, who looked totally unfazed by the fact that he was about to take a group of kids into a place where they would be attacked by monsters. He was adjusting the night-vision goggles on his head as Squall approached.

"Ah, Commander," he said before saluting, prompting his students to do the same. "Level 10 cadets, do you authorise level 12 monsters?"

His question went right over Rinoa's head, but she saw that the eager looks on the cadet's faces, and they obviously wanted Squall to say yes.

"Teams of three," Squall answered. "No less," he added towards the cadets in case they should think about taking on more than they could handle.

As the class finished adjusting their weapons and sorting their magics, Squall lead Rinoa around to the security building where they stood watching the same group on the CCTV monitoring system. Taking a seat, Rinoa watched transfixed as the group divided up into teams of three and began to walk further into the undergrowth.

She was aware that Squall wasn't looking at the monitor anymore, but was watching her face. But rather than turn to face him, she kept staring forwards, the events on the TV were too interesting to look away from. The first group had now encountered a monster, and the other group hung back as the instructor began talking them through the battle.

"It looks dangerous," Rinoa said quietly not looking away, "And fast."

When Squall didn't reply, she wondered whether she had made any sense.

"You know, um, they have fast reactions," she explained, now turning to face Squall and seeing that he was still watching her. "I could never do that."

"They have been training for years," Squall said breaking his eye contact with her and looking away. "And I think that you could."

Rinoa smiled, unsure how to react and gazed embarrassingly away. She was about to thank him when she heard a beeping coming from something attached to his belt. Squall looked at the name on the gadget and gestured with his hand for Rinoa to follow him.

"I'm wanted in the office," he said as they left the training centre.

Rinoa wondered whether this was a trip where her presence wouldn't be welcome. He might want to go alone, and not want her to know his business.

"It's this way."

Squall's ambiguous words gave Rinoa the answer she had wanted, that she wouldn't be unwelcome, and she followed him back to the lift.