2: Take My Hand

The uniform was different. His was dark blue, made with a shiny material that none of them recognised. On his side was a gunblade although the model looked different and way too advanced to be compared to Lion Heart. He was tall, black-haired and with ominous grey eyes.

He saluted to them. "Commander Leonhart. It's an honour to meet you. You're a great figure, a revolutionist that shaped the world into what it will be in my time."

Squall frowned. He didn't like the way the SeeD had said that he was a revolutionist. What's that supposed to mean anyway?

"Division 13 SeeD, Reyes Leads, sir." The SeeD continued.

He certainly went to great lengths to appear genuine. Squall thought. He didn't reply to Leads for a full minute as he quickly ran the situation through his mind.

If he's a fake, then we'll just send him to the officials for wasting our time. As if we don't have anything better to do than to entertain some lame wannabe.

On the other hand, if he was telling the truth…

"What proof have you that you are who you say you are?"

"I doubt that I can show any proof that might convince you. I can only give you my word that everything I will tell you is the truth."

What the…is this guy serious? No proof, just his word. I'm crazy if I believed him. But then, sometimes the craziest person made the best decision.

Squall shook his head and put a gloved hand to his forehead. This situation clearly baffled him and he had no idea what his next move should be. He can't afford to go on a wild goose chase and yet, he still couldn't dismiss Leads so easily either.

"Squall?" Quistis was tugging at his sleeve. She looked up at him and pursed her lips. "We're going to have to live with that for the time being. Let's hear his story first."

He hesitated.

Oh, heck…

"Very well. SeeD, Reyes Leads, please present your report." It was a dangerous move, acknowledging that he's a SeeD. But what the heck, they're already half-convinced.

"I am from the time 500 years to come. In my time, Sorceresses are running rampant in the world, destroying everything in their paths. There were hundreds of them, and most of them are as powerful as Ultimecia. The SeeDs have led the war against Sorceresses for more than fifty years when one of them, Sorceress Millennia, found a way to use the Time Compression to escape to the past. Her main objective is clear: to destroy the first generation of SeeDs so that the future SeeDs will cease to exist. Therefore, it is crucial that I track down Sorceress Millennia and kill her before she succeeds."

"Oh, man! When will this Sorceress thing stop? Even after 500 years, we still can't get rid of them." Zell complained and rested his fists on his hips.

"It's our fate to fight Sorceress all our lives." Quistis murmured quietly. Sadly. She had accepted the fact that they weren't meant to be ordinary. She loved being a SeeD, knowing that she and her friends gambled their lives for peace. But she couldn't help thinking what her life would be if she hadn't been a SeeD.

She thought that her life was perfect enough as it is. Before the fight against Ultimecia, she was happy with her current position, the first SeeD, a respected Instructor, and most of all, she was happy that she got to fight alongside with Squall.

But after that, her life seemed to deteriorate. She lost her Instructor license, her passion for her SeeD mission was gone and what saddened her most was Squall. The two of them seemed to drift apart after he was promoted to Commander. He was always busy with work and she, her students.

She had done a lot of thinking for the past couple of days and realized that growing up also meant growing apart. She could still remember the first day she met Squall. She was perhaps eight that time and she remembered Edea bringing in a sullen-faced boy into the class and introducing him as Squall Leonhart.

It was maybe because Squall had seemed so passive that Quistis had taken him into her wings. She had thought that someone so quiet must need her protection. After all, she was one of Edea's best students. Anyone who dared bully the new boy would have to hear from her after that.

So every other kid in Garden stayed away. Except for Seifer, of course. He was always the one to make fun of Squall, calling him Puberty Boy, and taunting him whenever he saw Squall walking with Quistis.

"What's the matter, Puberty Boy? Can't you go anywhere without your mother? Ooh, Quisty! Please protect me from the big, bad bullies! I can't possibly stand up for myself because I'm a wimp and I need a girl to take care of me!"

Before Quistis could say anything, Squall had already jumped on Seifer, tossing a punch into his jaw. After recovering from his momentary shock, Seifer retaliated by throwing his fist into Squall's stomach. Pretty soon, both boys were rolling on the floor, screaming and struggling to hit each other.

Quistis just stood there, astonished to see that Squall indeed did not need her protection after all.

It was Edea that had to pull them apart. She had punished both boys to kitchen duty for a whole week and also reprimanded Quistis for not stopping them.

Since then, she and Squall were inseparable. Even when she was his Instructor, she still couldn't help feeling that she needed to protect him. He was like a lost soul, in need of a hand to hold on to and she had always made sure that she had a hand extended to him.

He never took it. No matter how close she was with him, there were still parts of him that she couldn't reach. And now, the gap between them seemed wider than ever.

"Aah, Quistis! What's wrong with you lately? You've been so down!" Zell exclaimed, snapping her back to the present.

Quistis gave him a quick smile. "It's nothing. Really. So what is our next move, Commander?"

"Firstly, we'll need to report back to Garden. Leads, you'll be coming with us to Balamb Garden. We will decide what our next move will be then."

Suddenly, the Conference Room's door burst open and Selphie ran in, tailed by Irvine.

"Hi, you guys! Glad I caught you on time!" Selphie exclaimed breathlessly.

"What are you doing here?" Quistis asked, surprised.

Squall was frowning at both of the SeeD. "I thought I told you to remain at Garden. Article 3, paragraph 24 stated that—"

"—all SeeDs must remain at their post until orders from the Commander telling us to do otherwise." Quistis interrupted, rolling her eyes. Squall shot her an irritated look.

"This is hardly the time, Quistis. We are still on a mission—"

"—and it's our duty to complete it. Yeah, okay, Squall. But maybe Selphie and Irvine have something important to tell us."

"We do! We do!"

Squall sighed and shifted to rest on one foot, one hand on his hips. He looked at Selphie in a disapproving frown and said, "What's wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong! Everything's fine. It's just that, Headmaster Cid just received orders from the President to send SeeDs to Deling City for an important mission."

"What kind of mission?" Quistis asked suspiciously.

"To escort the General's daughter to Balamb for her engagement party with his son." Irvine said, smirking.

"What!" Quistis exclaimed indignantly. "What does he think we are? Some kind of Social Escort Service? If he wanted escorts, why can't he just send his guards? We are SeeDs and I—"

"Quistis…" Squall said in warning. Selphie, Zell and Irvine were staring at her in amazement. They'd never seen her lost her cool before and this made Quistis embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled shamefully, hanging her head.

"So," Squall cleared his throat. "Zell, you and Irvine will escort Leads back to Balamb Garden. Selphie and Quistis are coming with me to Deling."

Quistis swiveled her head to look at Squall sharply.

He can't be serious. She thought. Why can't he just send Zell and Irvine to Deling and he himself bring Leads to Balamb?

She couldn't believe that Squall would choose a small mission over one that might hold the possible threat of another Sorceress into this world. It was so unlike him that she began to get suspicious.