Chapter 3: First Sight
Squall landed the Ragnarok close to the Garden and looked at his sleeping sister when he cut the motor off. She was sleeping peacefully, not like the weak state she was in when Squall entered the cell she was in earlier. He went to her and took her in his arms. He still couldn't believe how light she was! Taller than Rinoa (as tall as he is) she was lighter than her! She was thinner too. Rinoa wasn't fat of course but Coran only had skin and bones left.
The SeeD carried her inside. On his way, he noticed it was almost night already. He couldn't believe he search Deling for so long before getting back to Garden with the Ragnarok to head for the D-District prison to get his sister. Shrugging, just glad his mission, no… it wasn't a mission… he chose to go get her, he hasn't been ordered to. Anyway, glad he found his sister, he entered Garden. Some students were staring at him with wide opened eyes, probably wondering why he was getting that sorry excuse for a girl in Garden. Not even looking at these ignorant students, he headed for his room where he carefully rested Coran on his bed. Then he sat at his deck and looked at her for a while, not thinking about anything. There was so much he wanted to know about her! Where she grew up, why she didn't came to Edea's orphanage with Ellone and him, how she ended up like that… Everything!
He watched her sleep for a while before she moved with a moan. He got up and went to kneel by her side. When she slowly opened her eyes, she sat up quickly when she saw Squall face. She looked around, surprised and scared. Squall lifted his hands to calm her down.
"Hey, Coran, don't be afraid."
"Where am I? Who…?"
Her face then told Squall she suddenly remembered.
"Squall? We're…in Garden?"
Squall nodded with a smile. Her eyes filled up with tears. Their shining meant she couldn't believe it.
"It wasn't a dream! You really came to me!"
He nodded once more. Then the girl reached so fast he almost lost his balance. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck.
"I'm so happy! I can't believe it's actually real! I dreamt so much about this!"
Squall hugged her back.
"Your nightmare is over," he whispered softly in comforting tone in her ear. "You'll be okay here."
He freed from her embrace and looked at her.
"What do you wanna do first? Wash, eat, tell me about you or meet my friends? But this can wait."
The tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"Wash? Really? It's been so long since my last shower…"
Then she blushed and looked away.
"And I was hugging you all the time. You must have been forced yourself not to throw up from my awful smell…"
"It's alright, I don't care."
"That's what I wanna do first: wash! I'm starving, but I wanna be clean before."
"No problem. Come."
He took her hand and showed her the bathroom he was sharing with the occupant of the room aside his. He handed her a sheet.
"There is already soap in there."
She looked in.
"As I told you, it's been a while since my last shower, so it might take me a while…"
"Don't bother. Take all the time you need. I'm gonna tell my friends you're here and ask for something to eat for you at the cafeteria."
"Oh, don't cause yourself such trouble! We can go to the cafeteria after and I could meet you friends there."
"As you wish…"
He waved to her and left. She looked at the bathroom with shining eyes.
"A shower… After all those years…"
She entered it and took off her disgusting clothes before getting the shower ready.
Squall reached the Headmaster's office. Laguna wasn't there anymore, but Quistis and Cid were. When they saw him coming out of the elevator, they ran to him. Knowing him pretty well, they knew there was something different on his face.
"So! Did you find her?" Quistis asked.
With a smile, Squall quickly nodded.
"I'm so glad for you!" Quistis answered hugging him. "Oh, Squall, you must be so happy!"
"Where is she?" Cid inquired.
"She's taking a shower."
Squall was smiling. Cid and Quistis never saw him so well and happy before. The SeeD turned to the Headmaster.
"There is something I would like to ask you, sir: could I have a SeeD candidate's girl uniform for my sister? She doesn't have any clothes besides the old ones she was wearing."
"SeeD candidate's uniform?"
"Unless you have something else…"
"No, it's okay."
Cid told Quistis to go get one.
"Which size?" she asked Squall.
"She's as tall as I am, but very thin. Anyway I intend to make her gain some weight."
"Okay. I'll just take it to your room in a few minutes."
"Alright. I'll wait for you there."
She was about to leave when Squall added something.
"Oh! And Quistis, if you see anybody on your way, take them with you but don't tell anything."
"Sure!"
She left and Squall turned to Cid once again.
"Is there any room left, sir?"
"I already thought about it. I'm still looking for one."
Squall saluted with a smile –the first time he was doing it– and left too.
Heading back to the dormitory, Squall saw Zell coming from the other way, probably coming out of the training center.
"Yo, Squall! Where ya been all day?"
Squall smiled mysteriously.
"Come with me and you'll see…"
He walked away followed by a curious Zell.
"What is it? You got me hanging here!"
Squall didn't answer, heading for the dorms. Back to his room, he saw Selphie coming out of hers. She waved to her two friends.
"Hi, Squall, Zell!"
Squall leant against the wall facing the bathroom. The shower could still be heard.
"Who's in there?" Selphie asked.
"Surprise, surprise…"
Squall got Selphie hanging too. She hopped in front of him.
"Who, who? Tell me, tell me!"
"Give up, Selph," Irvine arrived with Quistis. "Quistis didn't want to tell me either."
Selphie crossed her arms on her chest, sulking.
"No fair! Quistis, you know who's in there!"
"I do too!" Seifer came in.
He looked at Squall who silently asked him to keep quiet. Seifer shrugged.
"I was just curious…"
The shower stopped so Squall took the package Quistis handed him and went at the bathroom's door. He waited a few seconds.
"Squall, you there?" a voice asked behind the door.
The others except Quistis and Seifer jumped.
"A girl??"
Not answering to his friends' reaction, Squall answered to the door.
"Yes."
"Do you have something for me to put on?" the voice asked with a shy tone.
"Yeah, I got something. I knew you didn't have anything else and I guess you don't ever want to see these old clothes of yours anymore."
"You bet!"
The door opened just enough for Squall to put the package in then the door closed. Squall turned to his friends. Seifer had a curious face, but wasn't looking at Squall. The others had their mouth wide open.
"Who…who's that?" Irvine asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," Squall answered with a smile.
The next minutes were incredibly long for the ignorant ones. While Zell, Selphie and Irvine were clearly looking curious and impatient, Seifer was hiding it. He already knew who was in there he was just a bit curious how big was the resemblance between Squall and her.
The door finally shyly opened slowly. Zell and Irvine's jaw dropped when they saw the girl. Even Squall wide opened his eyes. She wasn't the same girl at all. Her face was pale, but charming, her hair was looking pretty longer down on her back, shining brown just like Squall's. The wounds on her pale legs and arms were invisible for the people there. Her blue eyes were making the eyes bags disappear. Anybody looking at those eyes wouldn't be able to notice anything else. She almost had the same face than Squall but more feminine. A little red colored her cheeks seeing everybody staring at her. She reached for the bottom of the skirt of the uniform.
"It's pretty short," she said softly, her voice ringing like music to the guys' ears. "Maybe too short if you ask me…"
Squall smiled to her when she found his gaze. Quistis made a step forward.
"Oh, no, that's how it's supposed to be. It looks pretty well on you. You're beautiful!"
Coran blushed even more.
"Not that much," she whispered.
Irvine finally got out of his trance.
"No, she's right! You're…you…"
"You look like Squall!" Zell exclaimed.
Coran looked at her brother, arching an eyebrow.
"You didn't tell them?"
"I wanted to keep this a surprise," he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, facing his friends. "Guys, this is Coran Leonhart, my twin sister."
The ones that didn't know about that already almost lost their balance backward.
"Sister?" the three exclaimed.
"Coran, this is Zell Dincht, my best friend, Irvine Kinneas, a sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden, Selphie Tilmitt, a transferred student from Trabia Garden, my ex-instructor Quistis Trepe and Seifer Almasy…" he hesitated telling Seifer was his old rival.
Zell winked, raising a thumb to Coran. Irvine grabbed his hat with a smile. Selphie smiled and shook hands with her and Quistis did the same. When Coran faced Seifer, his face was the most confused of all. His eyes were staring, not frowning anymore. His mouth a little open from the amazement didn't pronounce a word. To Squall's surprise, Coran was staring at Seifer too. He switched his gaze from one to another a few times. He was about to say something when Coran finally spoke.
"Strange…" she said lifting a hand to Seifer's scar with a soft voice. "You got a scar just like Squall except it's not going the same way."
"We made it to each other during a fight," Seifer explained in a low tone.
"Really?" Coran said in a low tone still staring at Seifer's eyes.
Seifer finally managed to break away from those eyes. He coughed to clear his throat, looking away.
"Think I'll go now. Something I must do."
Not looking at Coran or waving to her, he left, not even waving to the others.
'I'm sure I saw that kind of gaze before,' Squall thought. "Or at least I'm sure I know that gaze.'
He wide opened his eyes when he figured it out, looking at Coran who was still looking to the exit, daydreaming.
'Coran and Seifer? No way!'
Leaving the dorms, Seifer was feeling more confused than ever.
'What's happening to me? Why couldn't I help staring at that girl?'
He headed for the library, sure that nobody would come there and disturb him. He went to sit down and took his head in his hands, trying to understand.
'Why do I have the feeling I met her before? And why was my heart beating so fast when she was looking at me? Is this…love?'