Where I Belong
by Magnus Prime

Chapter One: Presenting Problems

The commander of the Unified Garden Network stalked into his office, the auto-doors sliding shut and locking behind him as he made his way across the room to his desk. He fell into the plush armchair and pinched the bridge of his nose, his gloveless index finger coming to rest on the diagonal scar that he received what seemed like a lifetime ago. "You just have to push, don't you?" Squall complained to the emptiness of his office. After massaging his nose for several seconds longer he dropped his hand to the desk and took in the sight of the stacks of paperwork demanding his attention. Requests for transfers, approvals, budgets… "At least it's a distraction," he sighed as he grabbed up a random sheet and started working on it.

He'd barely made it through a half-dozen documents before the door to his office chirped, announcing the arrival of one or more visitors. He reached to the lower-right corner of his desk and tapped a button. "Who is it, please?"

"Hey, Squall; it's Zell."

The commander smiled to himself as he pressed another button, opening the door to allow the Head of Combat Training to enter the room. Fortunately the hot-headed martial artist had calmed considerably in the months following Ultimecia's demise, due in part to having seen so much war and bloodshed, but likely also due to his new relationship with the girl from the library, Sally Regal. Or maybe I'm the one who's changed Squall thought to himself as Zell approached his desk, his typical grin firmly in place. "Hey, Z-man; what's up?"

"Dude, you look stressed," Zell greeted as he plopped into one of the padded armchairs in front of the commander's desk and crossed his legs, his right ankle resting on his left knee. "Another fight with Rinoa?"

"Sort of," Squall grunted.

"You two keep this up and you'll be old and gray by the time you're thirty," Zell said, though his fading grin took much of the humor out of his statement. "What happened?"

"The usual," Squall sighed as he ran his fingers roughly through his perpetually unruly brown hair. "One of us says something that bugs the other, then she insists that we talk about it before I've even had the chance to figure out my side of things."

"Damn," Zell murmured while slowly shaking his head. "You'd think she'd understand that about you by now."

Squall leaned back in his chair to rub his face roughly with both hands. "She's a neat girl, but I swear it's like talking to a child when she's like that."

"I hear ya," Zell grunted sympathetically. At Squall's look of alarm he quickly sat up straight, his hands held out defensively. "It's not like Sally's like that! No way! We're cool, really!"

"That's a relief," Squall said, relaxing into his seat…somewhat. "I wouldn't wish my situation on my worst enemy."

"Or Seifer," Zell quipped, his grin making a return along with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "How's he doin', anyway?"

The commander took a moment to think about his old rival's situation; after things had settled down after the Second Sorceress War Cid had allowed Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin to reenter Garden, under close supervision. "Fine, as far as I can tell. He's been keeping his psych appointments with Dr. Kadowaki and Dr. Fell, so…" Squall finished his thought with a shrug of the shoulders. "We'll see what happens."

"I'm surprised he's still sucking air after all the people he killed…or was responsible for killing," Zell humphed. "I mean, I don't want the guy dead, but…"

"I hear you," Squall sympathized. "But he was basically mind-controlled by Ultimecia. That's why the HM argued for leniency; the only one who could mind-control him now would be Rinoa…"

"…who couldn't do something heinous like that," Zell said, finishing his boss' thought. "Does he want to be a SeeD anymore?"

Squall rose from his seat to head over to a large window to look out, and Zell got up to join him. "Right now that choice is out of his hands; he was responsible for the deaths of a lot of SeeDs, so for the time being we're just going to wait and see how his therapy and follow-up eval go."

"I guess everybody deserves a second chance," Zell murmured.

Squall sighed as he turned to face his friend. "Ultimecia used Matron's knowledge about us to turn Seifer against everyone. She knew about his hopes and dreams and used those to mess him up. We can't blame him for that, but we can hold him responsible for how he conducts himself from now on."

"Fair enough," Zell grunted as he rubbed at his tattoo. "For what it's worth, I hope he gets better." He noticed Squall's expression cloud over again and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Rinoa?"

Squall blinked, shaking his head a couple of times to rejoin his friend. "Huh? Oh, yeah."

"Maybe you should talk to one of the other girls about it?" Zell suggested. "Quistis knows you pretty well, right?"

"She wishes," Squall retorted with a smirk. "Seriously, though, I think you're right; she knows me better than I'd ever admit. But I think I know myself pretty well now. What I'd really like help with is understanding Rinoa's thinking; why she says what she says, does what she does…stuff like that."

Zell rubbed at his tattoo again as he lost himself in thought. "I could talk to Sally; maybe she could help you out."

"Except she doesn't know Rinoa," Squall pointed out, then sighed. "I guess I could talk to Selphie…"

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Zell exclaimed excitedly. "The three of us teamed up a lot during the war, right? And she's pretty high-energy like Rinoa…"

"And you," Squall jabbed.

"….and while Qui is a girl, she's more... How do you say it…? Reserved?" The martial artist took a moment to think about it further. "Yeah. She'd be too reserved to help you understand someone like Rinoa."

"That makes sense," Squall conceded. "Fine; next chance I get I'll ask her about Rinoa. I'm not comfortable talking about it, but at least it'd be less uncomfortable that what we've been going through."

Zell opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by the door chime again. "Mind if I hang while you take this?"

"Depends," the commander replied as he headed back to his desk to press the intercom button. "Who is it, please?"

"Hey, Squall! It's me, Selphie!"

Squall exchanged a smirk with his old traveling companion, who mouthed the words speak of the devil as he reclaimed his seat. "Come on in," he said as he pressed the button to open the door, revealing the Head of Intelligence Training in full SeeD uniform. "Have a seat."

"Yo, Sylph!" Zell greeted, waving over his shoulder. "How's the festival planning going?"

"Really well!" she said as she plopped into the seat next to Zell, the ends of her impossibly-styled hair bouncing as she landed. "I've had a lot of recruits volunteer to help with set-up, and I've been surprised at how many know how to play instruments!"

"I thought I heard something about a band," Squall remarked as he let a rare smile show.

"Three, actually!" Selphie chirped as she shifted her attention to her boss. "And all of them are working on a few songs each for the festival!"

"That's awesome, Seph!" Zell cheered. "Man, it's been a long time since I blew the sax; maybe I should give it another go."

Selphie clapped excitedly. "Yeah! And I could play the bass again, and Irvine…could…" Her face fell as she trailed off.

Experiencing a flash of intuition Squall asked, "Are you here about Irvine, Selphie?"

"Y-Yeah," she replied, still deflating. "He won't stop harassing my students. I've asked him to stop, but…"

"Yeah, that's what I was comin' to talk to you about, too," Zell muttered to Squall, then turned to the dejected girl next to him. "I thought you two were going out. I thought you were pretty tight."

"Apparently it doesn't matter to Irvine Kinneas," Selphie snapped, sounding uncharacteristically bitter. "We go to breakfast together, then the next thing I know he's hitting on Julie. Or Tina. Or-"

"I get the idea," Squall said, raising a hand to hopefully stop the list. "I'll talk to him, don't worry."

"Thanks," she said as she pulled out a facial tissue. "It's just hard, though; am I not good enough for him or something?"

"I don't think it's you, Sylph," Zell said quietly. "You know how he is; he's been flirting with girls for so long that maybe he doesn't know how to stop?"

"That could be," she sniffled before dabbing at her delicate nose. "It…still hurts, though."

"That really sucks." Zell sighed heavily, then gave Squall an apologetic look. "Maybe we should help her with her stuff before asking her about yours."

"I think that's a good idea," Squall agreed.

"What?" The two men looked to their female friend, whose gaze alternated between them. "Is something wrong?"

"Squall's tired of fighting with his woman," Zell announced before Squall could open his mouth, "and we were just thinking that maybe you could help him understand her better since…well…" He suddenly turned sheepish as he realized what he was about to say. "…you're both pretty, uh…"

"Energetic," Squall said, grateful that Zell had taken the lead but still annoyed that he had taken the lead. "Quistis is too low-key – not that I think that's bad – but you and Rinoa are both high-energy so I was hoping that you could give me some insight on how to talk with her."

"I see…" Selphie replied as she absently dabbed at her eyes. "Well…what happens right before you two fight?" She then listened with rapt attention as Squall told her what he had told Zell.

"It's like she doesn't understand that I'm not like her," Squall finished. "I want to work things out with her, but I guess I just take longer than she thinks I should."

"You two have always been like that," she giggled. "It's almost a comedy routine, but…I can see how it could cause problems long-term." She nibbled on her lower lip as she thought. "Maybe you need some time away from each other. She's pretty busy with her Sorceress stuff, right?"

Squall said nothing, but crossed his arms as he nodded.

"And you've got 'commander' stuff going on all the time, so you're probably both stressed by the time you see each other…"

"Hey, that's right; Squall, when's the last time you took a vacation?" Zell asked.

"Vacation?" Squall's eyes lost focus, his arms uncrossing on their own as he tried to remember…

"I guess that answers my question," quipped the martial artist. "Dude, you seriously need to get away for a while. Rinoa can't stop being a sorceress, but you can stop being a commander for a while, am I right?

"I know!" Selphie exclaimed, suddenly perking up. "Why don't you come with me to Trabia! We can take the Ragnarok, and-"

"They're still rebuilding, though, aren't they?" Squall unintentionally interrupted. "Wouldn't I just be in the way?"

"No way, dude!" Zell exclaimed, his enthusiasm starting to rise. "See, think of it like this; even if you don't lift a finger, just your very presence will be enough to encourage everyone. Tell me I'm right, Sylph."

"Absolutely!" Selphie squealed. "Oh, come on, Squall; you and Rinoa can get some breathing room and I can get away from Irvine for a while. We can cool off while we help our fellow SeeDs!"

Squall crossed his arms again and sighed; her idea had merit, but how could he leave Balamb Garden? His eyes drifted to his mountain of paperwork.

"Qui and I can work on that for you," Zell offered. "And if you're okay with it, Meg could help, too."

Squall arched an eyebrow. "'Meg'?"

"Short for 'MegaPhoenix'!" Zell said, laughing. "You remember her giving that to us, right? Anyway, why don'cha talk to the big HM and see what he has to say, huh?"

Squall looked between the eager expressions of two of his closest friends. "Well… All right; I'll talk to the headmaster and see what he says."

Knowing Cid as Squall did, though, he had a feeling he'd be going to Trabia…soon.