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(The White Army)
Squall sat at the dining room table in Caraway Mansion, he had been there for hours it seemed, but in reality it had been but a few minutes.
"So..." General Caraway spoke from across the table.
Squall looked at Rinoa, who was at his right, he wanted her to give him a clue as to what to do or say, but she kept quiet.
"Quite an accomplishment for a person your age to be named Commander of an entire army."
"Thank you."
There was a long silence.
"How old are you? Eighteen?" Caraway finally spoke.
"Seventeen."
Silence.
"Seventeen...And you have no trouble when you give out orders?"
"How do you mean, Sir?"
"I mean with being so young and all. Some of the students may question your authority."
Did he think he couldn't handle it? "I haven't had any trouble as of yet, and I don't expect any."
This was not going quite the way Rinoa expected it. Caraway looked at Squall, Squall looked at him, they seemed to be involved in a staring contest. Rinoa had the urge to tell them both to start acting their age. Thankfully they were interrupted by one of Caraway's employee's.
"Pardon the interruption, General, but I have an urgent phone call for Commander Leonheart." The woman said handing Squall a cordless telephone.
"Excuse me." Squall said getting up and taking the phone.
General Caraway rolled his eyes. "They would only call if it was an emergency." Rinoa said quietly.
"Squall, Garden is under attack!" He heard Xu's frantic voice on the phone.
"What? By who?"
"I can't explain, just get here quick! Oh no! I have to go!" With that she hung up.
He handed the phone back to the woman. "I have to go," Squall said as he hurriedly made his way to the door. "Garden is under attack."
"I'm going with him," Rinoa said.
"Stay here," her father instructed, "it will be dangerous."
"No, they might need my help."
"Rinoa-" Caraway began.
"You can't stop me," she said as she walked out the door.
Caraway sat alone at the table. Why couldn't Rinoa understand that all he ever wanted to do was keep her safe?
Meanwhile at the Bridge, Quistis discussed her combat strategies. "All we need to do is fly the Garden away from here." This seemed like the perfect solution to her problem, if they left Squall behind, she would have to be the Acting Commander, this would be the first step to becoming the true Commander.
"We can't do that," Zell protested, "Squall and Rinoa are still out there."
"Not to mention other students," Irvine added.
Zell glared at him, it sickened him to have to agree on something with Irvine.
"Squall can catch up with us later!" Quistis said impatiently, she didn't want to lose this golden opportunity to leave Squall behind.
Zell moved his gaze from Irvine to Quistis. "You are acting weird."
"I am acting weird?" She asked outraged. "And what of you and Irvine?"
"That's none of your damn business!"
"Excuse me?"
"Guys," Selphie interrupted, "we don't have time to argue!"
Just then Xu entered the bridge. "Cid is on his way and Squall has been told, what we need to do while Squall gets here is concentrate on our defense."
"Who died and made you Commander?" Quistis asked, surprising Xu along with everyone else. "What a stupid idea."
The elevator came up and Cid emerged. "Where is Squall?" He asked anxiously.
"On a date." Quistis replied.
"The most important thing to worry about at the moment is our defense." Cid instructed, Quistis seemed upset at his words.
"Yes, Sir," Xu saluted him, "I have already assigned groups to defend the front gate and the parking lot ramp."
"Without my consent?" Quistis yelled before she could think about her words, she was after all standing right by the Headmaster.
"Miss Trepe!" Cid could not believe what he was hearing, "You should know by now-"
"This is Squall," Cid was interrupted by the radio on the control panel.
"Great." Quistis said rolling her eyes.
"Is anyone there?"
Cid rushed to the control panel and pressed the speaker button. "Squall, this is Cid. Where in the Heavens are you?"
"I'm on my way. I need someone to put the ramp down so I can-"
"That's insane!" Quistis interrupted, "The enemy will be able to get inside!"
"Look! Just do what I say and we'll be fine!"
"Squall, I see them!" Rinoa said from the passenger seat of the blue car.
"And they see us."
A mass of sword-carrying young people dressed in white, turned their heads toward the car. Squall kept driving forward at a steady speed.
"Um...Squall?" Rinoa said sounding somewhat nervous. "They're coming at us." The entire army had turned their attention away from Garden and started moving toward the car.
"There's the ramp," Squall said fixing his gaze ahead, "he pressed the radio button. "Someone bring down the ramp when I tell you."
"I'm standing by, Squall." Came Cid's voice.
The attackers started to run toward the car and moving away from the parking lot entrance, Squall stepped on the accelerator.
"You're going too fast," Rinoa yelled, "we'll crash into them!"
Squall ignored her. "Put on your seatbelt." Rinoa did so without questioning.
The attackers were now very close, but were obviously careful not to get too close to the speeding car. Squall kept driving forward. He stepped on the break without warning, the car stopped, this seemed to surprise the attackers, who also stopped, if only for a brief moment. Squall put the car on reverse and stepped on the accelerator, they were now driving backward at a very high speed.
"Oh my God," Rinoa said quietly closing her eyes and holding on to her seat.
Squall shifted to drive, causing Rinoa to almost crash into the windshield. The direction change took the attackers by surprise once again, they instinctively cleared the way for the car, again only for a brief moment. Just the opportunity Squall needed. He floored the accelerator and quickly passed the attackers, they were now running behind them. Squall kept going faster, they were once again close to the entrance, he didn't slow down.
"We're gonna crash!" Rinoa cried.
"Bring it down now!" Squall said pushing the radio button. The ramp started to slowly come down. "Come on," Squall said through clenched teeth.
Rinoa closed her eyes again, "Oh my God."
The ramp had not yet touched the ground when they reached it, the sudden bump caused them to nearly hit their heads on the roof of the car.
"Take it up now!" Squall ordered.
They felt the back of the car start to rise, Rinoa was still closing her eyes' "Oh, no,"sShe whispered.
They finally made it inside, Squall stopped the car abruptly. "Relax, we're in."
Rinoa slowly opened her eyes. She let go of the seat, then looked at Squall. "Are you crazy?" She asked in a low voice.
"Come on, let's go." He said climbing out.
Rinoa and Squall arrived at the Bridge, everyone, except Quistis, rushed toward them.
"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie exclaimed, "You made it!"
"Man, that was freakin' awesome!" Zell sounded quite excited.
"We were watching through the security monitors." Irvine added.
"It's only awesome if you're watching through a monitor," Rinoa said remembering her ordeal.
"What's the situation?" Squall asked.
"They attempted to enter through the front gate and the parking lot entrance," Xu explained. "As you may have noticed I have posted defense teams in both areas."
"Well done," Squall saluted her then moved to the intercom. "Attention, this is Squall speaking. We will divide into four teams, two attack and two defense. Students whose number ends in three and seven; defend the parking lot area. Numbers that end in two and six, defend the front gate. Now for the attack teams: students whose number ends in zero, four and eight will attack the parking lot area led by Quistis Trepe. Numbers ending in one, five and nine will attack the front gate area being led by myself. Good luck to you all." He stepped away from the intercom.
"Why do I have to attack the parking lot area?" Quistis asked Squall.
Squall looked at her for a few seconds, this was a very bad time to be questioning his orders. "Because I said so," he turned his back to her, "Zell, Irvine you two help Quistis."
"I am not going to be in a team with that bastard," Zell pointed at Irvine.
"I didn't ask if you wanted to do it!" Squall snapped.
Zell countered. "I refuse to be in his team!"
"What is the matter with you all?" Cid interrupted.
"Fine," Squall said putting his hand on his forehead, "Irvine and Xu go with Quistis." Quistis stormed out, Xu saluted Squall then went after Quistis.
"I'll do my best," Irvine said before heading out.
"Zell, Selphie, come with me, Rinoa...if you-"
"Don't even think about asking me to stay," Rinoa said, "I'm fighting by your side."
"...OK," he knew he would not convince her otherwise, "let's go."
Squall arrived at the front gate, Rinoa, Selphie and Zell right behind him. He was relieved to see that at least the rest of Garden was following his orders. "Finsen," Squall pointed at a brown-haired, male SeeD. "Open the gate and close it as soon as we're all outside."
"Yes, Sir," Finsen rushed to open the gate.
Squall turned to his followers. "We'll begin the attack on my order," he took out his gunblade.
"Squall!" Elise ran up to him, "I want to fight by your side," she took out her sword.
Fight by his side? Rinoa thought, she had wanted to fight by his side first. She knew she shouldn't be jealous, she knew that Squall didn't have any romantic feelings for Elise, but still, She didn't know how Elise felt about Squall. And it seemed to her that Elise had more than just sisterly feelings for him. But this was not the appropriate time to let jealousy take over, she decided, they were about to go into battle.
She felt nervous, she looked at Selphie and Zell to see if they felt the same, but if they did they were hiding it well. Selphie was holding her nunchaku, she saw pure anticipation glowing in her green eyes. Zell looked eager to go on the battlefield, "Just wait you bastards." He said in a barely audible voice.
"Be careful Elise," Squall said, she smiled at him, Rinoa rolled her eyes, again with the smile, she thought. Squall took a hold of Rinoa's hand and gave it a little squeeze, then he let go.
They all walked out of the gate, Squall and Elise in the lead, closely followed by Zell, Selphie and Rinoa. Squall saw hundreds of people dressed in white rushing at them. "ATTACK!" He ordered.
All the students ran to meet their enemy, Squall looked back to make sure the gate was closed. The sound of clashing metal was all around him. He turned around to see two people in white running at him. He turned the palm of his right hand toward them. "Blizzaga!" One of the attackers fell to the ground, Squall cast a Firaga on the other one and he too fell to the ground.
A few feet away he saw Elise fighting a particularly large man. Squall was amazed to see how gracefully she fought, it was like watching a skilled artist at work. He knew the large man had no chance of winning. "Fira!" Squall heard Rinoa's voice behind him, he was happy to see that she was holding her ground, and why wouldn't she? After all, she was a powerful sorceress. He heard a groan behind him, then he saw someone dressed in white fall to the ground; Selphie stood by the fallen attacker holding her nunchaku.
"Whoo-hoo!" She said excitedly. "No daydreaming in the battlefield," she said giving Squall a serious look, "I saved your life," she said changing her expression to a smile, "you owe me!" She said turning around just in time to cast a Thundara spell on an attacker.
"...Whatever." Squall bowed to be more careful from that moment on.
"Damn it!" Elise heard Zell yell when he saw himself surrounded by the enemy. Elise couldn't help but smile, it would be so easy to help him, but it was easier to stand back and watch, she was behind him so he couldn't see her. "Holy!" He yelled, one of the attackers fell to the ground, he then kicked another one in the face and struck yet another on the chest with his elbow, but still they kept on coming. Zell stepped back and did nothing for a few moments.
"Two down, five to go." Elise said then turned away from Zell.
Zell briefly touched his forehead with his right hand. "There," he said, "Hell Fire!" Ifrit descended from the sky hurtling a huge ball of fire at the attackers.
"Oh, no," Elise said when she saw Ifrit, "not a GF..."
"Yeah!" Zell yelled excitedly, the attack had worked remarkably well.
"THEY HAVE GUARDIANS ON THEIR SIDE!" One of the attackers yelled, fear apparent in his voice.
"FORGIVE US!" Another attacker joined in, suddenly they all fell to their knees.
"This is so strange," Selphie said watching her two attackers drop to the ground on their knees.
"RETREAT!" Someone said. The entire White Army started to run the in the opposite direction of the Garden, leaving Squall and the rest of the students more confused than they had ever been.