Unpredictable Endings

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8 Squaresoft does. Don't sue, no cash.
Maybe some pocket lint. (checks pockets.) Nope, don't even got that.

Last Chapter: Squall reveals that he left the Garden and his whereabouts for the
past 8 years. He sees a Garden car come down his lonely road. He
fears being taken back to Garden. What does the person in the car
want? We'll find out today in 'Unpredictable Endings.'

Chapter 2: Reasons

Watching the Garden car come down my road I began to get a sick feeling
in my stomach. The car pulled in front of my house stopping. When the engines cut off,
I waited for the person to get out of the car. When the car door opened I held my breath
to see who it was. The person stepped out closing the door behind her. The woman had
blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. A slim figure but clearly fit for a woman. She wore
a pink outfit with a whip at her side. It didn't take further obsevrvations to reconize who the
woman was. Only one woman could give me the look she gave me now. The woman was
Instructor Quisitis Trepe.

I smiled as I decended my steps. The young woman returned the smile. At the age
of twenty six the woman was still beautiful. " Hello Squall," she said when I was within hearing
distance. " Hello Quistis. To what do I owe this pleasant visit?," I asked. Her face became more
stern as I asked my question. " We need your help," she said. I chuckled. She frowned more at
my lack of seriousness. " Are you sure? You've been doing fine without me so far," I said. " This
is more of an internal problem. I'm not sure why but something isn't right in the Garden. The others
wanted me to find someone we all could trust to find out the problem," she said.

My brow furrowed in thought. " What makes you think you can still trust me Quisty?," I
asked. She smiled a bit. " I know we still can. You have nothing to gain or lose by helping us. As soon
as we figure out the problem you are free to leave," I said. " What if I don't agree to help you?," I
asked. " It took me too long to find you Squall. I do not intend to take no for an answer," she said.
I laughed. " Okay, no need to get so hostile Quisty. I'll help you out," I said. She smiled fully now.
She put a strand of her hair behind her ear as the wind blew. " Aren't you going to pack?," she asked.
" No need. I have too many clothes in there. I'll just buy some more to wear," I said.

She nodded as we went back to the car. I put 'Lionheart' in the backseat so I could get in
without cutting her. As we drove she didn't say a word. I chuckled a bit thinking about the change in our
roles. She turned to me wondering what I found so amusing. " It's nothing Quistis. It's just that a few
years ago everyone was trying so hard to get me to speak. Now that I do you won't say a word to me. I
find that funny that's all," I said. She sighed as we came to a red light. " Things changed Squall. You,
me, everyone. It seems as if our lives went down hill as soon as you ran off that night. Even Seifer cooled
off. For as long as you've been gone we've been trying to figure out what caused you to leave. You just
dissapeared on a whim not considering how we would feel or act when you did so," she said. I turned
away from her eyes. Rinoa and her were the only people who could get into my head.

" It's hard to explain. I left because it was better for me. Had I stayed I would've gone crazy
or killed someone," I confessed. I turned back to her looking into her eyes trying to read what she was
thinking. She nodded then turned back to the road as the light changed. We drove the rest of the way in
silence.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

We walked through the front gate of Garden. Squall's strides were still strong and proud as he
walked past the dozens of students in the hallway. The students disregarded him since he looked different and
didn't wear that same expression that the old Squall used to. He grew his hair out and still had his earring. He
wore a black wifebeater with his ususal leather pants. 'Lionheart' was still at his hip and Griever around his neck.
He had a tatoo of Shiva with wings on his left arm and Levinthian on the side of his neck. Who knows where the
tatoo of Quezacotl was. When I looked back over at him I noticed he was watching me watching him. I blushed
realizing I had been found out.

He chuckled. " It's okay Quisty. I won't tell anybody you were staring," he mused. A look of annoyance
crossed my features. " I wasn't staring," I protested. He smiled wider. " Sure you weren't. Maybe I'll give you a
ride sometime," he said. I stopped walking with his last comment blushing furiously. 'Is he serious?,' I thought to
myself. " Come on Quisty!," he called. I jogged a bit to catch up to him.

We entered my office with him talking about all the things that changed about Garden. He suddenly stopped
talking when he noticed everyone was in the office sitting around. After he was aware of their precence his smile
reappeared. " Hey guys," he said. They still stayed stern faced but that didn't make him the least bit uncomfortable.
" Still mad huh? I don't blame you but don't let your personal problems against me deter from the fact that you came
to me not the other way around," he said. They still didn't say a word until Seifer stood up.

" Even though he's still a bitch, he's right. We called him. We can't get him here then not talk to him.
That'll defeat the purpose of us getting him in the first place," he said. The other's murmured things amongst
themselves then nodded in agreement. Squall started to laugh. Seifer frowned. " What's so funny Leonhart?," he
asked. " Oh nothing. Just the fact that eight years ago they wanted you dead. Now your're the role model. It's too
much," he said as he continued to laugh. Seifer growled in anger. " Do you want to take this outside so we can see
why they respect me?!," he threatened. Squall's laughter ceased abruptly. His face took on a sterness that was
familiar to the old Squall. " Let's," he said.

Everyone crowded around the newly built fighting arena. Squall and Seifer were in the middle with their
gunblades in the center. They were staring at each other in all seriousness. The other's were cheering Seifer on.
'Maybe Squall doesn't realize how strong Seifer actually is,' I thought to myself. With the shot of a gun the battle
began. They ran to the center picking their weapons out of the ground. Seifer put Squall on the defensive as he
attacked. Squall seemed unfazed by his attacks. After an hour, Seifer was getting desperate. Since Squall wasn't
fighting back he called his GF, Eden, the strongest GF. ' Squall's finished,' I thought sadly. After the GF was done
Squall was still standing unharmed. Everyone gasped in surprise or fear. When I looked more closely I noticed he
had a faint blue aura around him. I smirked. 'Clever trick. He used Shiva to shield him but the GF took no damage,' I
thought. He called forth Shiva and everyone noticed the changes the GF went through.

Shiva's yellow leaf hair was now blue and like a humans hair. She still had the same body but now she had
deep blue wings. The GF did a move called 'Ice Dance' and it caused Eden to faint and Seifer to be down on one knee.
Squall could've finished the fight but he chose not to. He walked over to Seifer and helped him up. The other's were
speechless but I just smiled. When he got Seifer to the hallway he used curaga 6 so Seifer and his GF were healed.

" Well, I hope they have another reason to respect you Seifer," he quipped. Seifer frowned at him. " Why
didn't you attack?!," he asked furious. Squall smiled. " Because I would've killed you," he said. Seifer was grew silent.
" Congradulations Squall. You are the first person to beat Seifer in eight years," I said. He smiled. " Maybe we can
celebrate later Quisty," he said with a wink. I began blushing again. " Maybe not Leonhart. She is my wife you know.
said irritated. Squall looked carefree. " I know. I saw the ring on her finger, but that can't stop me from flirting," he
said. We heard a faint chuckle in the backround of people. We looked to see that it was Irvine. " Y' know, you sound
a bit like me when you say that Squall," he said. The tension between the friends was broken. He had proved himself to
them.

" What's with the change in attitude. About an hour ago you guys looked like you wanted to kill me," he said.
" We know. When you say you could've killed him instead of actually doing it we knew we could still trust you," Selphie said.
Selphie still wore her trademark yellow dress and brown boots. Her hair grew a bit but was still flipped at the ends. He
smiled at the small girl. " Thanks Selphie. And you do look good by the way," he said. The girl blushed. Now it was Irvine's
turn to get annoyed. " It's good to have ya back Squall," Zell said. Squall kept his happy exterior but I knew he felt a little
anger towards the young boxer. " Nice to see you too Zell," he said. The boxer was still exhuberant and needed anger
management, but would he be Zell without those problems?

The only one who hadn't spoken to Squall yet was Rinoa. She was hurt the most when he left, but it was
almost as if she knew the reason but wouldn't tell us. He walked over to the sorceress. As her knight she couldn't ignore him.
" Hello Rinoa," he said. She looked up at Squall. " Hello," she said softly. He smiled a bit but turned back to us. " Okay,
tell me what you want so I can go back home," he said. " Sit down. This may take a while," I said.

Everyone took a seat at the rounded table. Rinoa ended up beside Squall. " Fujin, if you wouldn't mind," I said. She
nodded then went up front. " As soon as you left, Garden was in need of a trustworthy Commander. They commitee chose
Quistis. The Garden was running smoothly under the guidance of the new Commander then one day Cid decided to have a new
Headmaster as well to aid her. That man was Ronald Griffon. We didn't have a problem with him at first until he started to
gradually take over everything. Soon Garden was under his full control. We started to fight endless battles against other
nations. On one mission we decided to question one of the soliders instead of killing him. He told us he had no idea why we
were attacking them because thay had no weapons thus having us conclude the reason why they fell so fast. Headmaster
Griffon is now proposing that all of the Gardens band together under the command of Balamb Garden therefore, under his
command as well. We conclude that he is trying to take over the world and space if he can," she explained. He nodded as he took
in all of the new information.

" Why wait so long to come and get me?," he asked. " We figured you didn't want to be bothered. In order to respect
your decision we left you alone," Rinoa said. He looked at her. " That was stupid," he said. He stood up and moved where
Fujin was. She sat down in his spot. " This is just like back in the Sorceress War. Because of Cid's dumb ass choices it was up
to me to fix it. This is just like that. You dug this big hole and you expect me to fill it back up. How am I suppose to fix this after
you let it get so out of hand!," he shouted. The other's were silent. Then he chuckled. " But that's why you called me. I work
best in the worst situations," he said. The other breathed sighs of relief. " I'll help as best I can," he said. " That's all we ask of
you Squall," I said. He smiled. " When do I start?," he asked. " Right now," I said.

to be continued........

End chapter 2. It may a bit boring now but it'll get more interesting later. As always review and no flames kay!
~LS~