Chapter Five
In which Squall and Ace discover a few Things in Common
(And that's NOT a good thing)

Squall restlessly paced the bridge of the Ragnarok. He turned to the pilot. "Can't this thing go any faster?!" "Sorry, sir! I'm trying my best, sir!" Squall restlessly slumped in the comm chair. He had gotten the call from Quistis that Rinoa had been injured. He had dropped the mission and rushed back towards Balamb. He watched through the cockpit as Balamb and then Balamb Garden hove into view. Before the Ragnarok had landed, he was standing in the cargo bay, waiting for the door to open. Once it was opened, he dashed out of the Ragnarok and into the Garden. He noted that he barely had time to get wet. "I must congratulate Heimdal on his landing skills..." he thought to himself. Dashing through the halls, he nearly collided with one of the new SeeD trainees. Dodging quickly, he ran for the Infirmary.

"RINOA!" He cried as he skidded into the Infimary. Dr. Kadowaki stopped him with an upraised hand.

"Now just you wait, young man. We can't have you yelling loud enough to wake the dead. This is a place of rest, you know." She turned to Rinoa "How do you feel, my dear?"

"I think I'm all right. Thank you." Rinoa sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Squall. "I-"

"I'm sorry." They said together.

Squall: "I should have taken you along."

Rinoa: "No, I shouldn't have tried to take on a T-Rexaur by myself."

Just then, Ace walked in. He had wanted to talk to Rinoa, but stopped when he saw the SeeD commander standing by her bed.

"Oh, hi, Ace! This is Squall." Rinoa introduced the two, and they stood there staring at each other for a moment.

"You must be the cadet that saved Rinoa. I'm pleased to meet you. If there's anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask." Squall extended his hand.

Ace stood, arms crossed, looking at the proferred hand. "My name is Ace. That's all you need to know." He turned on his heel and stalked out of the Infirmary.

Squall frowned for a moment. "What is his problem? Here I act decent and outgoing, just trying to thank him, and he throws it right back in my face!" He turned to Rinoa. "Are you all right?"

She stood, clutching the side of the bed for support. "Yes. It's healed a bit. I can walk on it fine."

Squall hugged her. "Next mission, I'm taking you with me."

Hidden by his jacket, Rinoa smiled. Mission accomplished. It had taken a more roundabout way than she had expected, but she had what she wanted. She always got what she wanted.

* * *

Zell tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator neared the ground floor of Balamb Garden. He always hated to tell Squall bad news, and after Rinoa broke her leg, more bad news was the last thing he needed. He started through the hall towards the Infirmary, only to run into Squall and Rinoa coming back. Squall was trying to support Rinoa, and Rinoa kept pushing him away, insisting that she could walk on her own, thank you very much.

Zell threw a quick salute. "Squall! We've got trouble, man!"

"*sigh* What is it?"

"We, uh, we just lost contact with Trabia! Selphie was giving her normal status report, then she said "Uh oh," and the line went dead! Come on! We gotta go see what the trouble is!"

"All right. Round up some SeeDs... No. Round up the SeeD trainees. This will make a good Field Test for them. Tell them to be at the Ragnarok in fifteen minutes or they fail."

"Right!" Zell ran off.

Rinoa leaned into Squall. "I'm coming, too... Right?"

Squall sighed. "Yes. Come on. Let's get ready."

* * *

Vivi stood up. He brushed sand off his clothes, straightened his hat, and looked around him. "Zidane? Dagger? Steiner? Freya?" He was standing on a beach. Not far inland was a strange black road. His eyes followed the road in one direction to a small coastal town, then in the other direction to... An enormous red dragon sitting next to a giant blue building. He stumbled and fell backwards at the sight. The dragon wouldn't have fit in the main airship dock at Lindblum, and the building was about twice the size of the dragon. He clutched his Octagon Rod tighter and headed for the dragon. It didn't seem to be alive, so it could be safe to approach.

Squall leaned against the front landing strut of the Ragnarok, idly swinging the Lion Heart. He glanced at his watch. Four minutes left. Those trainees had better hurry. He called inside the Ragnarok. "Heimdal! Start warming up those engines! You might be the only trainee to make the Field Exam!" His mind reviewed Heimdal's personnel file. Heimdal Dubh-Glas. Age 16. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Instinctual knowledge of machinery. The only SeeD trainee to be allowed to fly the Ragnarok. Quite promising, if his curiosity didn't kill him. Squall's mind was suddenly drawn away from his thoughts by a small voice next to him.

"Umm, excuse me?" Vivi looked up at the dark-haired man. "Could you tell me where I am?"

Squall looked down at the oddly-dressed child. Where did his parents shop? "Lost? Go that way. You'll reach Balamb. Stay on the road, monsters can't go there."

Rinoa hurried up, out of breath. The Shooting Star rode her arm, and Angelo barked and nipped at her heels. She spotted Vivi. "Hello. Are you lost?"

"Uh huh. I just want to get home. Can you tell me how to get to Alexandria?"

Squall snorted. "Alexandria? Never heard of it. Look, this isn't a good place for kids to play. Just run along and find your parents."

"Squall!" Rinoa looked indignant.

Vivi looked at the ground. "I don't have any parents. Grandpa raised me, but... he died."

Rinoa crouched next to Vivi. "You poor thing. Maybe we can help you find your home!"

Squall raised his hands. "Oh, no! We're not taking him with us! SeeD is an elite force of mercenaries, not a bunch of babysitters. That is the Ragnarok, a suborbital ship of war, not a day-care center! This kid will just have to fend for himself."

Rinoa stood and looked Squall in the eye. "Squall Leonhart, don't even begin to THINK that I'm going to let you just trample this boy's spirit. He's an orphan, just like you!" She turned to Vivi. "It's okay. Come on. Have you ever seen a ship like this? What's your name?"

"I- I'm Vivi. I've never seen anything like this in my life."

"Vivi? Nice name. I'm Rinoa, and this big meany over here-" She tousled his hair- "Is Squall." She leaned closer and stage-whispered, "He can be a little grumpy sometimes, so just bear with him, okay?" She glanced at the Rod he held. "What's that you've got there?"

"Oh, this? It's, uh, nothing. Just a stick. It helps me walk." He figured maybe she wouldn't like him if she found out he was a Black Mage.

"Okay. Come on, I'll show you around the Ragnarok!" Rinoa and Vivi walked off, and Squall rolled his eyes and checked his watch again. Two minutes. The first of the SeeD candidiates came out of the Garden and headed for the Ragnarok, throwing Squall a salute as she went past. More trainees started funneling out, some in packs of threes or fours, talking relationships, hotdogs, and cards. When time was up, he looked inside at Xu, who had taken roll.

"Everyone here?" Squall asked.

"Yes. Even Sindai managed to make it on time. I think he's stoned, though."

"Oh well." Zell came charging up.

"Squall! More bad news! FH says they're under attack! I mobilized the Garden and left Quistis in charge. I'm coming with you."

"Alright. Good job. Get on." Squall walked up to the cockpit. "Sorry, Heimdal, but Zell's driving this time."

Heimdal looked up. "Very well. I shall watch and learn." He stood and let Zell slide into the pilot's seat. "Engines are hot and ready to go, pressure balances check A-OK, and there are three hotdogs in the glovebox."

Zell, looking surprised, opened the under-panel storage area, commonly referred to as the glovebox, and removed three individually-wrapped Balamb Garden Hotdogs. "Hey, Squall! This guy really plans ahead! I say we make him a SeeD now and be done with it!"

Zell ran over a double-check of all instruments and systems, then eased on the vertical lift jets, rising above the Garden. Then he hit the main thruster lever, and the Ragnarok took off. Below, Balamb Garden began the conversion to mobile mode in response to the danger at FH.