Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I forgot to put one into the first chapter, so here it is. I do not own any of the Final Fantasy chars, they all belong to Squaresoft…the lucky swines…
All non-Final Fantasy characters belong to me, so please ask if you want to use them.
Sorry for all those who wanted more action in this chapter, I'm afraid there isn't any in here. I promise in the next chapter things will definitely hot up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far, and to everyone else PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Thanks….
Hallie Kinneas ran through the halls of Balamb Garden, her to long auburn pigtails flying behind her. Charging around the corner she crashed into a tall dark haired girl who looked about her age.
'Oh god! I'm sorry,' she exclaimed, 'Are you ok?'
The girl looked at her distractedly, 'Yeah, I'm fine.'
*Woah, she sure looks down* thought Hallie, 'Hey are you ok? D'you wanna go to the canteen and talk bout it?'
The girl gave her a strange look, 'No I'm ok…Thanks though.' She smiled gratefully, and hurried off down the corridor.
Hallie frowned to herself, she was sure she recognised the girl from somewhere, but she wasn't wearing a cadet uniform…Hallie glanced at her watch, and charged off down the hallway again. She was going to be late for meeting Kieren again.
Tharria turned and watched the other girl run off in the opposite direction, and sighed sadly. None of the SeeD's or cadets had ever spoken to her like that before. The SeeD's she had sparred with under Squall's tutelage had only dirty looks and snide comments for her. Tharria understood why of course. I mean who wouldn't be annoyed at being beaten by someone, in most cases, quite a bit younger than them.
Mind you she didn't walk around Garden much, so she didn't meet many cadets or SeeDs. Of course now that was the only thing she could do. After a flaming row with daddy dearest, he had grounded her, and she had stormed out.
As she slouched along the corridor with her hands shoved into the pockets of her loose jeans, she thought she heard a voice she recognised coming towards her.
Bounding around the corner, she threw herself into the arms of the dark haired man who was walking down the corridor. He smiled at her,
'And how's my favourite Granddaughter then?' he asked cheerfully, when she let him go.
Tharria smiled wanly, 'I'm your only Granddaughter,'
Laguna gave her a big grin. Tharria smiled back. She loved her Grandfather a lot. She had so much more respect for him than that bumbling idiot she called 'Dad', and she often wondered how Laguna had had such a moody son as Squall.
Laguna was at Garden on business, what with him being President of Esthar, but he chatted to amiably to Tharria as they headed for the lift.
Tharria sat in the corner of the room, listening to the important discussion, all the while Squall frowning in her direction as if to indicate that she shouldn't be there.
Squall sighed and rubbed his temple, 'I can send a company of 3 SeeDs to Esthar for you Laguna, but they'll be newly broken in. The latest batch of cadets are taking their exam tomorrow, we have high hopes that most of them will pass.'
Laguna nodded, 'We'll wait till after the exam and they can come back to Esthar with us in the Ragnorok.'
'Can I ask why you need them, Laguna?' Squall asked, getting out the contract forms from his desk.
Laguna stared off into the distance, and then briefly glanced at Rinoa who was sitting just behind Squall..
'A rebel faction we only know as S.K, have been causing trouble in Esthar. There have been several suspicious deaths among my loyal associates, and we have discovered that they are planning to disrupt the carnival to celebrate the downfall of sorceress Adel.' Laguna stopped and looked a little sheepish..
'It's always carnivals isn't it?' said Squall sardonically. Laguna and Rinoa looked amused, but Thadia had no idea what they were talking about.
'We want the SeeDs to infiltrate their hideout and take them into custody, or to use necessary force to bring them to justice.' Laguna continued.
'I still can't see why you need SeeDs for this job Laguna. Why can't the Esthar police arrest what seems to be simple protestors?'
Laguna looked troubled for a minute, 'The people who have been investigating S.K, are under the impression that they are not simple protestors, but in fact are terrorists.
They found evidence of an apparent bombing they were planning in Esthar city centre. There was no bomb threat, or warning, but sure enough when bomb disposal reached the site there was an explosive set to go off at the time specified.'
Squall raised his eyebrows, 'We never heard anything of that on the news.'
Laguna gave him a lopsided smile, 'You wouldn't have, we hushed it up.' He looked troubled again before continuing, 'They also found several other things that S.K planned. One of them was my assasination.'
Rinoa looked at Laguna shocked, and Squall's expression had become troubled like that of his father.
Tharria felt tears well up inside her. *If anything happened to Grandfather…* She pushed the thought away along with her tears. Grandfather would be fine, he had a mass of bodyguards if necessary.
Squall must have seen her sad face because he told her to leave because this was business and had nothing to do with her.
Tharria stood up, fists clenched, 'Fine. Tell me when the things that involve my family are 'my business', and maybe then I'll give a damn.' She turned and stomped from the room.
She knew it wasn't true of course as she headed for her room. She didn't know what she'd do if something happened to Grandfather, but the mere thought brought tears to her eyes.
Squall sighed and rested his face on one hand at his desk,
'I don't know where I went wrong raising that kid,' he said jokingly to Laguna.
Instead of smiling, Laguna turned to him seriously, 'Perhaps it's the fact that you drive her so hard and hardly ever show any feeling towards her?' He shook his head and smiled wanly as an apology, 'Sorry, Squall but it had to be said.'
'What would you know about parenthood Laguna, you didn't even know I existed!'
Squall immediately felt bad. He knew that it was a sore spot with Laguna that he hadn't been there through Squall's childhood.
Laguna looked at him sadly, 'Yes, and I'll probably regret that fact for the rest of my life. Don't make the same mistake I did, Squall. Be there for her, and be a father.' With that, Laguna turned and left the office.
Squall felt Rinoa come and stand beside him, and then crouched, resting her arms on the desk.
'He's right isn't he?' Said Squall, finally.
Rinoa smiled that beautiful smile he loved so much and said, 'If you need to ask you already know the answer, Squall.'
Squall nodded, 'I just hope it's not too late.'
Kieren sat in the water skimmer, and grinned at the rest of his group. Hallie Kinneas smiled back tiredly, and gave him the thumbs up. Their other group member, Lars Torade, grinned at Kieren before staring back out at the waves they were quickly crossing.
'We did it!' said Hallie, explosively as they entered Garden, 'We actually did it!'
'Yeah, but did we pass?' Said Lars.
Kieren slapped him on the back, nearly knocking him over, 'Yeah, of course we passed. We stuck to orders and everything went fine. Don't worry bout it.'
All the cadets gathered outside the lift to wait and see if they had passed the SeeD exam.
Kieren was leaned against the wall, staring intently into space. Lars was pacing up and down nervously, and Hallie was being even more hyperactive than normal. Bouncing around and talking to everyone excitedly. Mind you, she was doing a good job of calming them down in some ways. Reassuring them that 'she was sure they'd all passed'.
The Instructor came down the lift and walked across the walkway before stopping in front of the gathered cadets.
'First to be called to see the Commander are the following. Defroe, Elita. Chase, Skylar. Banks, Ethan.'
The three called out followed the Instructor up the lift, all the while exclaiming their shock to one another, and patting each other on the back.
The rest of the cadets went back to their different ways of waiting.
The three new SeeDs came back into the hall, welcomed by cheers from the rest of the cadets, shortly before the Instructor reappeared.
'Next. To be called up. Dincht, Kieren. Kinneas, Hallie. Lithgrow, Carn.'
Kieren looked around to his friend Lars. He looked upset even though he smiled at Kieren, and gave him the thumbs up.
Kieren followed the instructor up the lift in a sort of daze. Hallie was bouncing up and down beside him in her excitement. The other guy, Carn, was grinning from ear to ear and talked excitedly with Hallie.
They stepped into the office. Commander Squall Leonheart, stood in front of his desk.
The cadets lined up in front of him and saluted.
'At ease.' He said, 'I would like to congratulate you all on becoming our newest SeeD members. Your SeeD rank has been assesed from your exam, and you will be paid accordingly. The SeeD ball will be tonight, and you are all expected to attend dressed in your SeeD uniforms.'
He gave them a rare smile, 'Try to enjoy yourselves. You are dismissed.'
Hallie gave a whoop of joy, and ran towards the lift. Kieren and Carn followed behind.
As Kieren walked away from the lift amid cheers from the other cadets, he heard the Instructor call out the last names.
'Next is the following. Yedill, Bendix. Hardy, Alab. Torade, Lars. That is all.'
Groans and tears from the remaining cadets who hadn't passed, but nonetheless they cheered for those that had.
Kieren smiled as he walked away. At least Lars had made it.
Tharria hid herself in the corner of the ballroom and watched the dancers. She couldn't understand why her mother had told her to come. She wasn't a SeeD, she didn't know any SeeDs, and she didn't particularly want to stand around and talk to various important people as her parents did.
A lively waltz started. And Rinoa looked expectantly at Squall. To Tharria's amazement, he smiled and took her out onto the dance floor where they began to dance perfectly to the music.
Tharria was still staring at them with her mouth open when a tall dark haired SeeD came up and tapped her on the shoulder.
She shut her mouth quickly and looked at him expectantly.
'Would you take this dance with me?' He asked, smiling at her, showing his perfect even white teeth.
She smiled shyly at him. He was cute!
'I'm sorry, but I've never danced before in my life.'
He flashed a smile at her again, 'Don't worry just do what I do, I'll show you as we go along.' Taking her hand he lead her to the dance floor.
Afterwards, Tharria felt exhilarated. They had danced for several dances, all the while he quietly giving her instructions and talking about other things which interested her.
Finally, she had excused herself saying she needed a drink. He smiled, and nodded before disappearing into the crowd.
Tharria knew she was smiling happily. She really didn't care what anyone thought of her. After taking a drink and sitting down, she surveyed the crowd for her dance partner or someone she knew. Her eyes came to rest on her mother and father who were currently standing alone and talking to one side.
Rinoa looked up, and grinned mischeviously at Tharria. Squall frowned at her, and looked disapproving for a moment. Oh dear, thought Tharria. Daddy wants to keep his little girl safe. Of all the times to become protective, she thought.
Rinoa leaned over and whispered in his ear, and his face softened a little. He looked back at his daughter, and gave her a crooked smile, before someone moved in between their line of sight.
Authors Notes: I'd like to say that the name 'Skylar Chase' which I used as a SeeD cadets name, is a character belonging to my friend, and if anyone steals it I will hunt them down.
LOL