Disclaimer: I don't own any of the FF8 characters, but I do own the characters I made up. Do I really have to go through the whole list again? No? Okay good. beam

A/N: School started on Wednesday for me, ugh. But I'm lucky, most people were already in school when I just started! Ha! So the lack of a recent update is because of my pure laziness and of course school. But now that it's finally the weekend, I decided to stop being lazy since there's no homework or anything, and work on my #1 fic! Enjoy!

A/N 2: This chapter will clear something up that I'm sure all of you are wondering about, and even mentioned in your reviews. Why didn't Squall get in trouble for what he did? Well no one told anyone about it right? Everything comes out now...

Akira lied in the bed in her quiet, still dorm - asleep. Her sides expanded as she took deep, steady breaths. A soft breeze from the cracked window rustled her golden locks and she curled up tighter due to the sudden change in temperature. The cut on the bridge of her nose was beginning to lighten; it was already healing. At the rate it was going, it wouldn't be long before it could simply be hidden with a little makeup. The darkness around her eyes still remained though, and it would for a few days. Soon though, she'd look as if nothing had ever happened to her.

Seifer sat at the edge of the bed, watching his daughter sleep. She was beautiful. He loved her more than life itself; he'd gladly give his existance for her. He just wished peopel could see her as he saw her. He hated to think of anyone harming his daughter, his pride and joy. A strange, sudden sadness fell upon him as he reached out and pulled the soft cotton blanket up over her shoulders. She stirred as he did, and opened her eyes, blinking and rubbing them before speaking. "What time is it?"

Seifer glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. "Seven-thrity," he told her, "at night."

She woke up almost completely now. "I slept all day!?" she exclaimed.

"Hey there's nothing wrong with that. You've had a... rough day."

Akira touched a finger to her wound, wincing a bit, as she was still sore. Then she placed a hand under each of her bruised eyes, massaging them gently, being careful not to push too hard or she'd go through the roof.

Seifer shook his head. "I still can't believe that kid did this to you..."

Akira removed her hands from her face and looked at her father strangely. "Dad, Shiloh didn't do this."

Now it was Seifer's turn to give Akira a strange look. "Then who did?"

Akira hesitated. "It was Squall," she muttered.

Seifer rose from his seat at the edge of the bed in a fit. "What!?"

"I'm the one who hit Shiloh first, and then Squall came. When he saw what I did, he got upset. But I think he was more upset about the fact that what we were doing reminded him of an encounter the two of you had. And that's when he did this."

"That's it!" Seifer left the room hastily in search of 'Mr. Commander.'

Squall was walking down the hallway towards the Quad to meet Selphie and Irvine. The Garden Festival was only a week away, and there were many small jobs here and there to be done before everything was ready. Selphie, of course, was extremely excited about the entire ordeal. She'd loved parties and celebrations for as long as Squall could remember. Irvine wasn't as intrigued by the Festival, but he supported his wife in every way. Even if that meant he had to cut back on the time he and Selphie spent alone, or the times he'd spend with Chloe. In fact, he hadn't even had the chance to ask Chloe how her training was going for the field exam. It was already less than a month away, and time, as he well knew, flies.

A second set of footsteps sounded from behind him. They were heavy and fast-paced, and as he turned to see who they belonged to, his eyes narrowed as he saw Seifer approaching him. He stopped walking and Seifer came up to him, staring him straight in the face. "I wanna talk to you."

Squall kept his eyes cold and stared into Seifer's eyes. "Well don't waste too much of my time. I'm sort of busy right now."

Seifer was taken aback. The Squall he used to know would've pulled back and remained quiet. Now, he had an attitude similar to his own. The man standing in front of him was someone he didn't recognize. Squall had changed, and definitely not for the better. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry I disruppted your busy schedule, but I think I deserve an explanation for why you did that to my child!"

Squall looked surprised. He hadn't even thought that this was what Seifer would want to confront him about. "She deserved it. In case you forgot, she hurt my son as well." Squall's voice rose to challenge Seifer's, as if he were trying to intimidate him.

"But Squall, you're a thirty-five year old man! She's an eighteen year old little girl! Don't you think you could've seriously hurt her!? How do you think that makes me feel knowing you did that!?" Squall didn't show it, but he felt incredibly shocked by Seifer's behavior. Seifer had a nurturing, fatherly side to him? No, that wasn't possible. This was Seifer Almasy he was talking about. He turned and began heading in the direction he had been going previously. "Don't you dare walk away from me Squall. I don't know what your problem is, but you've changed. You've really changed. The Squall I know wouldn't have been so stupid as to physically injure someone like this. Now I know we aren't exactly friends... hell, we aren't even acquaintances, but I never thought you'd do something like this."

Squall had slowed down his pace to be able to hear what Seifer was saying, but he didn't stop anymore. That's when Seifer decided he'd had enough. He chased after him and pulled back his fist, hitting Squall square in the back, causing him to fly forward and land roughly on his knees. A sharp pain ran up and down his spine. He rolled over onto his back and stood, punching Seifer in the face. Soon, a fight had broken out between them.

Akira stood at the opposite end of the hall, where neither of the men could see her. Her emerald eyes were glosses over, but she blinked quickly to dry them again. The last thing she wanted to do was cry. She was an Almasy; Almasys weren't supposed to cry. What she didn't know though, was that Shiloh was standing right behind her, watching her as she watched the horrid scene in front of her. How could they hate each other so much? How could anyone hate anybody so much? Even after all that had happened, she still didn't hate shiloh, or even Squall. All of a sudden, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned and was a little surprised to see Shiloh standing there, his gaze resting on her almost gently. He stepped in front of her and began walking towards the brawl and gave a shout. It stopped immediatly. "Just... don't..."

Akira jogged up and stood beside him, staring straight into her father's eyes. "This has to stop."

"It's pretty bad when two teenagers have more sense than two adults twice their age," Shiloh said with a hint of contempt in his voice.

"This has nothing to do with you," Squall said. "This is between me and Seifer."

"That's where you're wrong," Akira said, taking a step towards the russet haired man. "The only reason the two of you are fighting right now is because of me. You don't want me to be here because this man right here is my father. You think that if I wanna come here, I can't act like him. You don't want me to look like him either. You don't want me to do anything that reminds you of Seifer Almasy. Well you know what? I can't help that. I'm his daughter, so of course I'm gonna look and act like him. He's my flesh and blood for Hyne's sake! What do you expect!?"

Seifer tried to calm her down. "'Kira honey..."

She turned to him, her eyes buringing wildly. "No! This isn't fair Dad! I'm sick and tired of being hated and treated like this! Aren't you?"

Seifer didn't respond. But Squall did. "You're right."

She turned back to face him slowly. "What?"

Squall ran a hand through his hair nervously. "You're right. This isn't fair. I'm not fair." Seifer's jaw almost literally dropped, but Akira showed her shock obviously. Her eyes were widened and her mouth was slightly ajar. "None of this should've ever happened. Your father and I may not enjoy each other's company, but I had no right to take those feelings out on you. I'm... sorry."

"Uh... I... I don't know what to say..." Akira stumbled over her tongue. "But I guess I should thank you." Squall gave her a nod and a small smile. Seifer smiled over at his daughter proudly.

Akira stood on the balcony, looking up at the night sky that was splattered with beautiful, twinkling stars. It was like a huge velvet blanket over her, with tiny diamonds scattered about it. She wasn't able to sleep. She was still reeling about finally being accepted. She was just so happy now. Everything was finally becoming right again. She let out a contented sigh and smiled to herself. That's when she heard the footsteps from behind her.

Who's behind her? Guess you'll just have to wait and see! Cliffhangers, how I love them! ;) But I'll bet you're hating them right now. But don't worry, this fic might get another update within 24 hours. But right now, it's after midnight where I live, so when I wake up, I'll start writing for all ya'll. I already have the next chapter planned. I have the ending planned too, but that's another story. And for those of you awaiting more Shiloh/Akira romance, then you'll love the next chapter. One more thing, expect a big surprise soon. If you can guess what THAT is, I'll give ya a cookie. ;) It's rather difficult to guess, but maybe someone can do it?