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All You Wanted
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( So I tried, )
( To be like you, )
( And I got swept away. )
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-- *Chapter 2: Homesick* --

"I thought I had died on gone to heaven when I saw you."

"I have that effect on a girl."

"No- your eyes were just so breathtakingly gorgeous. I really thought I was in heaven. Of course, I was also about to be eaten, but that's just how beautiful you are to me."

-- ** --

Squall, Quistis, Zell, Selphie and Seifer were trekking through the forest near Balamb Garden in search of T-Rexaurs. Cid was in need of a Dino Bone, so they offered to find one for him. Five people were not needed, but they all wanted a break from the daily SeeD drag. Life at Balamb so was very peaceful, and of course, it bored the hell out of all of them.

Quistis had her instructor's license reinstated. Needless to say, the Trepies rejoiced and got schedule changes.

Zell and Selphie were promoted to the highest SeeD rank for their services during the second Sorceress War. They even received cute little plaques from Garden, thanking them.

Squall was still commander, though there wasn't much for him to do. Cid constantly asked for advice, still, and Squall was put in charge of training new gunblade specialists.

Seifer had been readmitted to Balamb Garden, to the huge anger of many students, but he was kept under extreme watch. He knew the rule: one strike, you're out. He had been extremely careful for the first few months, but after they passed and the students of Balamb got over their grudges against him, he became the same old Seifer, to Raijin's and Fujin's ultimate delight. Within two years, he passed his SeeD exam and was made into a SeeD. He quickly progressed through the ranks, and he was placed nearly as highly as Zell and Selphie, though not quite.

Irvine was not with them at the moment, because he was studying for a SeeD exam. He had failed it three times; the only person who had failed more than that was Seifer.

"Someone remind me why we aren't in the Training Center," Quistis requested irritably, swatting away mosquitoes. Since they had exited the main building of Balamb Garden, the mosquitoes attacked Quistis in swarms. There were several red bumps all over neck and legs. She scratched them angrily.

Squall grinned. It was amusing seeing Quistis this way. Almost nothing ever irritated her- she was such a calm woman. To see her so unraveled by flies- Squall found it hilarious. He shrugged and gave a look to Seifer, who gladly obliged.

"I killed all the T-Rexaurs in the training center, remember?" Seifer answered. He smirked that famous smirk of his. Quistis glared at him. She hissed as another bug got her. She slapped at her arm. Seifer chuckled quietly.

Selphie clutched her nunchakus. "It's getting dark. Should we turn back?"

Squall looked up. Though the sky was partially covered by trees, Squall could see that dusk was settling over Balamb and Garden. There was a small tremor in the ground beneath him, and he spread his legs to steady himself.

"A T-Rexaur," Zell said, "it's a T-Rexaur. Running, or stomping around."

"Good job, chicken-wuss!" Seifer snorted.

"--ELP! HELP!...SOMEBODY-" came a strangled cry. Another voice cried out, "It's...not...working- HELP!"

Zell's head snapped in the direction of the voice. He saw a huge tree begin to shake. Suddenly, it was falling over-

"RUN!" Zell cried. "RUN! THE TREE!" He pointed up and gestured quickly for everyone to get out. Quistis stared at the falling tree for a moment. Selphie yanked on her arm and pulled her away. In the place Quistis had been just a few moments before, the thick trunk of a tree crashed down. The ground around it seemed to shake, and Quistis lost her balance. She fell over, nearly taking Selphie with her.

Squall had been gone long before the tree landed, though. He was running in the direction of the screams. He found the T-Rexaur, huge and menacing. In front of it were three woman who looked about his age. They were close to each other, cowering back. He didn't blame them- the T-Rexaur roared, and it looked as though they would be its lunch.

"Hey, over here!" he shouted. "OVER HERE!" The T-Rexaur spun around. Bad idea, Squall, he thought to himself. Not only was the T-Rexaur turned to him, his tail and whipped over and knocked the three girls half across the clearing. They were thrown together in a pile of tangled limbs. For a fleeting instant, Squall thought they were dead, however, they began to stir and one managed to stand up.

Not wasting another moment, Squall closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt his mind begin to work...he was calling someone, someone...he kept calling...louder...he could feel his presence coming...closer...closer...he could sense him, he was almost there- Ah! He was ready. Squall had found him.

"Dark Messenger," Squall said, almost in a whisper. The world around him faded. It was him and the T-Rexaur, alone in the blackness. Squall saw what was happening through Diablos' eyes, saw the bats fly away, saw the amazing ball of power formed, saw the ball thrown at the T-Rexaur, saw the ancient symbols form in a circle. He had seen it millions of times before. He knew, of course, because of Diablos' limits, that the T-Rexaur would not be finished.

When he was back in his normal surrounding, Squall inhaled. The T-Rexaur was alive and most angry. It roared with fury and lunged at Squall. A sharp claw hit him in the stomach. He looked down at himself, and a small amount of blood was ruining his white shirt. The corners of his mind heard a shout. This is one powerful...his thoughts became cloudy...T-Rexaur. That attack took a lot...cloudier...out of me...His lungs seemed to tighten and then explode in his chest. His vision became blurred, but he saw a form. She looked like a goddess, all white and glorious. She was dressed in a mostly white outfit...Squall could swear it was glowing for a minute...and it was spotted with red here and there. She appeared to be somewhat in pain, though, and Squall wondered if she was dying, just like he was...Then, to his ultimate surprise, the T-Rexaur doubled over. And it was dying quickly.

Just like he was.

-- ** --

//pain//ouch//T-Rexaur//big//goddess?//not sure//more pain//blood//friends//Rinoa//what?//stop//

Squall's thoughts ran together, and it was beginning to confuse him. In an effort to stop the headache he knew he would get from it, he opened his eyes. Light flooded into his lids, and he got a headache from that anyway. The image of Dr. Kadowaki leaned over him. She put a tiny flashlight into his eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

Squall sat up. He wondered how he should answer that.

I'm sore everywhere.

I feel dead.

My chest feels like it's been crushed.

"I'm fine," he voiced. "I'm not dead?"

"No, no you're not," the doctor replied, "but you could be. You SeeDs are too reckless. If Seifer had not have been there to save you, you might be in the next world."

"Seifer saved me?" Squall asked, his thoughts turning gloomy.

"Yes, Seifer saved you. He used his very last Mega-Pheonix to bring you and those other three girls back to health. If he would've waited a second longer, well...I think you should thank him."

"Whatever." Squall made an effort to lift himself off the bed, but pain exploded in his stomach and he sat back, taking sharp breaths. He groaned.

"Uh uh," Dr. Kadowaki clucked. "You're not moving until you're completely healed. And I mean it. You could injure something important. That T-Rexaur really did a number on you."

Squall closed his eyes. This would be great. As if life isn't boring enough already.

-- ** --

During the three days he spent so far in the infirmary, Squall realized he was in a lot more pain than he cared to admit. Everytime he tried to escape from Dr. Kadowaki's prison, terrible pain from his midsection stopped him. Every now and then, he looked at the wound and it was a big wound. He was almost proud he lived through it.

He was thinking again. His thoughts were running together, and another headache was coming on when he heard feet shuffle into the infirmary.

"Where you think he is?" one voice asked.

"I don't know. They just told me we'd find him here," admitted a second voice.

"Where's the doctor? She would know...?" asked a third voice.

They were all girls, and Squall wondered who they could be. Surely they weren't looking for him. Suddenly, a girl's head peeped in through the curtain. She had long, reddish-black hair and startling, dark brown eyes. She entered his curtained off area.

"Hi," she greeted. "Mina, Ami, he's over here," she said, sticking her head out of the curtains. Two girls entered. They stared at him for a moment. Squall tilted his head.

"Oh- oh, uh, hi!" the same, black haired girl said. "I'm Rei Hino. This is..." she gestured for the other two to state their names.

The blue haired girl stepped forward, and she extended her hand. "I'm Ami Mizuno." He lifted his hand and gave her small one a small shake.

The blonde waved. She gave him a smile and said, "My name is Minako Aino...you..."

"Saved us," Rei finished. She tucked her hands into her back pockets. "We just wanted to, you know, thank you."

Squall said, "So you were the three in the clearing."

"Yeah, the big dinosaur attacked us. We didn't know what to do," Ami said. "Thank you, so much."

Squall offered a small smile. "You're all welcome...Did any of you see her?"

Ami arched an eyebrow. "...who?"

"That...that girl. I was going unconscious, and I saw a girl. I thought...I thought she might be hallucination, but if you saw her, too..." His voice trailed. He saw a look. It went from Ami, to Minako, to Rei, and then back to Ami. They were uncomfortable about something he had said. They did see her.

"No, we didn't see anyone," Rei lied. "You must've been hallucinating after all. That dino really tore you up."

Squall nodded. They're lying. I know it. But why?

The white curtain was pushed aside, and Dr. Kadowaki was behind it.

"Ahem. If you're all through, he needs his rest. It's past his bed time," Dr. Kadowaki said cutely. She walked to Squall, and she poked him in several places. "Well, you're doing a lot better. I'll give you some more medicine tomorrow, and you should be out in two days or so. Now, ladies, will you please excuse Mr. Leonhart?"

Minako giggled. Ami smiled and replied, "Of course. Goodbye....I'm sorry, no one ever told us your name."

"Squall."

"Goodbye, Squall," Ami said. She waved, as did the other three girls. They left, and Dr. Kadowaki poked him in several more places, making all his pains worse than before.

-- ** --

Cid gave each of the three girls sitting before him a calculating look. They stood in front of him. One looked around the room in curiosity. She played with her blonde hair, and every now and then, she would look at Cid and then turn her gaze quickly away from him. The other girl, Rei, looked a bit uncomfortable, but for the most part uncaring. The third, Ami, sat looking at him, giving him polite attention.

"You say that...you have no idea where you are from," Cid said.

Ami gave him a sheepish grin. Minako shrugged. Rei nodded.

"You don't know how you ended up in the forest."

Same reaction from all.

"You have no recollection of the past at all."

Again, the same reaction.

After a moment or two of careful thinking, Cid declared, "All right then. It's not...our thing to throw out lost souls. In fact, it's pretty much what we do to save them. A number of our students come from orphanages and the like. So we'll keep you here-"

"Thank you, sir," Ami exclaimed. She looked so very relieved.

"But..." Cid continued, "we cannot afford to simply let you stay here. If you stay here, you must attend classes- become normal students. You'll take the SeeD prerequisite and the exam; if you pass, you'll become a SeeD and go on missions for Balamb Garden and in this way you'll be able to repay us."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Minako said. "We'll have to...go to school and all that? Learn? Do homework?"

Ami gave Minako a very pointed look.

"Yes. That's right. Or else we'll give you transportation to Balamb, and you're on your own from there."

"We accept your offer," Ami said.

Rei argued, "But Ami-"

"We accept, and we are very thankful. Isn't that right, Rei? Minako?"

Cid laughed. "Now, should you feel at any time you can make on your own, you're free to leave Garden. About dorms- two people to a dorm. Who will be the odd one?"

Rei, Minako and Ami looked at each other.

Ami sighed, "I will, sir."

"Ok then," Cid said, "since all of our dorms are full. You'll get your own- for now. As soon as we get another female student, she'll move in with you. How's that?"

"That' just fine, sir."

Cid smiled. They didn't look like trouble makers. Good. He handed them schedules and dorm codes, and they left.

Once out of the office, Rei said, "Lucky Ami- your own dorm."

"Hardly. The next freakazoid that enters this school- I'm stuck with her! You at least have someone you know!"

Minako exclaimed, "Let's go check them out- our dorms! I want to see them."

"They look exactly like the ones we've been staying in, Minako," Rei said. She looked at the yellow sheet of paper Cid had given her. "Look! It's the exact same dorm! #110A. So we won't get lost. What a nice man Cid is."

"I have #112A. I'm right across from you guys, that's good," Ami sighed. "You know, I don't think it will be so bad here."

"I still want to go home." Minako pouted.

"We all do," Rei said, "but until we find out how we got here, there's no telling how we can get back."

"We'll have to patient."

Minako sighed, "None of you have had any luck with the communicators?"

Ami and Rei shook their heads. "I get fuzzies every now and then," Rei said, "but that's it."

"There's no use sulking over it. We have to pretend like we'll never get out of this place- we have to survive," Ami concluded grimly.

-- ** --

"...we have to pretend like we'll never get out of this place- we have to survive."

Squall was going to Cid's office, just out of the infirmary. The elevator stopped on the 3rd floor.

And the doors did not open.

He pounded on the Door Open button several times, but to no avail. He cursed the old elevator. He would remind Cid the school needed a new one.

That's when he heard them begin to talk. He rolled his eyes at some of their chatter- and then they began to talk about other things. Squall deduced that they were from somewhere else, and they were trying to get back home. All three of them did have somewhat peculiar accents. They didn't say anymore when the doors slid open. The three girls stepped in. They waved to Squall, giving him smiles. He nodded curtly, and he exited the elevator.

-- ** --

The girls settled into their dorms. Garden fortunately provided them with several sets of uniforms. They didn't have any clothes except for what they were dressed in. Ami turned the spare room next to hers into a study section for herself. One pro about having her own room was that she was away from the noise Minako and Rei made. She remembered when they...

She remembered. And she was almost driven to tears. It had been more than a week since they had ended up in this place. They told everyone they had no recollection of the past. But, oh, they did. They remembered it all. Ami thought it would be better if they didn't remember, didn't have a past. She ran her hands over the cloth of the uniform she was hanging up. She was now a student in Balamb Garden.

Ami looked to her desk. Just like a little hotel, there was an information pamphlet inside one each desk. She leafed through it, and she found a map of the garden. It was a big place, but it seemed easy enough to navigate. The library piqued her interest. She decided to visit it. She knocked on Minako's and Rei's door.

Rei answered.

"Ami," Rei spat.

"Rei," Ami said, a mean note in her voice.

The stared at each other for a long time.

Then they burst out laughing.

When Ami calmed herself, she said, "I'm going to go visit the library. Wanna come?"

"Pshh...No thanks. Minako and I are going to the cafeteria. I'm a big fan of their lasagna, and Mina-chan here loves the pizza."

"That's funny. I rather like their hot-dogs." Ami shrugged. She waved and walked down the dorm hall to the main hall circling Balamb Garden. She looked from side to side, unsure of which way to go.

"Hey," a voice said. Ami turned to look at the speaker. A very built blonde boy about her own age stood looking at her with sparkling blue eyes. Dressed in a loose, black and red button up shirt and baggy shorts, he bounced on the balls of his feet. Ami smiled at him, looking expectant. "Oh, my name's Zell Dincht. I was with Squall and Seifer that day in the forest."

"That's right. I remember you. You helped carry him away...I'm Ami Mizuno," she introduced herself. Ami offered a handshake. Zell put his gloved hand in hers and shook it firmly.

"You looked kinda lost...Can I help you?" Zell offered.

Ami looked relieved. She sighed, "Yes! Where's the library? This place is bigger than it looks on that map..."

"The library? I was just going there. It's right over there," he said. Zell pointed in the direction. "I'll walk you down there. I've got to meet someone."

She gratefully accepted his help, and Ami walked with him down the hall. After a moment or two, the silence became unbearable awkward, and Ami began to make small talk.

"So...who are you meeting at the library?" Ami asked.

Zell rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Ami had seen that look before. "Oh, a girlfriend?"

"Nah, she's not my girlfriend...not yet anyway."

"Not yet, huh?" Ami laughed.

"Hey, what's with the laugh? One day, she'll realize that she wants me..."

Ami sighed, "Guys are the same everywhere."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind."

"Hmm....why are you going to the library?" Zell asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice. She laughed at this, too.

"Don't worry. I'm not planning on blowing up Garden or anything. I just want some reading material," Ami replied.

Zell laughed, "That's good. Garden's had it's share of disasters."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. I'm surprised you don't know. The Sorceress War?"

Ami gave him an apologetic look.

"Hyne, do you live under a rock?" Zell exclaimed. The rest of the way to library, Zell filled her in on the whole Ultimecia bit. Of course, he...er...embellished a bit when a came to his oh-so-heroic participation.

"Wow...so you defeated the sorceress all on your own?" Ami asked, amazed.

Zell smiled smugly. "Oh, totally. Squall and Rin' were there to help, but you know, it was all me."

"This girl, Rin', you've talked about her a lot. Have I met her? She sounds rather nice..."

Zell replied nervously, "Er...she was."

"Was?" Ami asked. She was confused...oh...she got it now... "Oh, she died?"

"Yeah...long story."

"I see...How did it happen?"

He shook his head. "Like I said, it's a long story. Well, here we are. The library. Got someone to impress- c'ya!" He bounded off energetically to the counter. A pigtailed girl greeted him warmly. Ami watched for a few minutes. The pigtailed girl kept on blushing and blushing. Wow. Must be a real charmer. She began to browse the books. Though she had planned on getting something fictional, she came across many books having to do with the use of magic. Apparently, using magic was a common thing around here. Ami picked a book titled The Mechanics of Ice Magic, and she began to read.

Not twenty minutes later, Zell took a seat next to her.

"The Mechanics of Ice Magic? That's not reading material."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a friggin' textbook! I tried to read that...Then I tried to read the cliffnotes...man...that books sucks," Zell proclaimed.

With a slight note of annoyance, Ami said, "What happened to your pigtailed friend?"

"Oh, you mean Abby? Her shift is over."

"I see. Well, I'll have you know, that this book is very interesting. I've never used magic before," Ami admitted sheepishly.

Zell exclaimed, "You haven't?! Man, you have no idea what you're missing. A lot of people take it for granted...but man, when you're under Silence, you sure wish you could cast anything at all."

"Under...silence...?" Ami asked blankly.

"Silence. You know. The spell?"

Ami smiled. "Sorry."

"It's a spell. If someone casts it on you, you can't say any magical words. You know, can't cast spells and stuff. It really sucks."

"Zell...could you help me out? I don't know anything about magic- nothing at all. Help me?" Ami requested. She never thought in her life that she would need a tutor. Here she was asking for one from a hyper, crush-consumed boy.

"I'm...not really the person. You should ask Quistis, I mean, Instructor Trepe. She's real-" Zell stopped when he saw Ami's put out look. "Um...if you don't know anything about magic, then I guess I could...start you up. But it gets complicated, so you'll have to ask someone else for help."

Ami smiled. "Thank you. Thank so much."

"Ok then. Let's start with junctioning. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it! You just gotta..."

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End of Chapter 2 |
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