:: No Love ::

"Squall Leonhart," A woman murmured to herself, a small smile forming on her lips. She was standing just outside the gate of Balamb Garden. Casually twirling her gunblade with a single hand, she took long strides into the compound.

@--}----

"Commander!" A female student rushed into the busy cafeteria, where Squall Leonhart, Rinoa Heartilly and the others were sitting at a table, chatting. She was panting, her chest heaving with each deep breath she took as she sagged against a pillar.

A firm hand held her steady, then guided her to a chair, the previous occupant holding it out.

Then lowering himself on one knee, Squall met the girl's eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"I, uh, there's… a…." The girl stumbled over her words.

"Hey girl slow down and just give us the facts," Irvine Kinneas drawled lazily from the other end of the table.

"Well… um… the, there's a man, no, woman… er… at the front entrance of the Garden. And she's… um sorta, asking to meet Squ- uh no, Commander," She stuttered all the way to the end, both flattered and embarrassed at the attention the six all-powerful people of the Garden were giving her. The leftover warmth of Squall's hand on her arm made her knees no less weaker than when she had ran in all the way from the Garden entrance. And the girls should just see how he lowered himself on one knee……

"Uh girl? GIRL?" A loud and boisterous voice snapped her out of her wandering thoughts. The girl looked up to see a huge face looming in front of hers, and she instinctively backed her chair – into its previous occupant.

"Ow!" Selphie Tilmitt jumped away from the seated girl, waving her fingers around madly in the air. Apparently her finger had been caught between the table and chair when the girl moved back.

"Like waving them around is going to help much," Quistis Trepe shook her head with a small smile as she took Selphie's fingers in her hand for the once-over.

"Eep." The girl made a face. "Sorry."

"So back to the topic. You said a woman's looking for Squall?" Zell cut in.

Everyone's attention automatically returned to the girl, who nodded fiercely.

"Hmm… Do you think… " Zell actually looked smart for a moment as he pondered over who the woman could be.

Everyone turned to look at him expectantly.

"That it's actually Squall's ex-flame who is back for Squall after he did all that saving-the-world stuff? Or maybe it's his long lost sister, who's actually the……"

6 pairs of eyes rolled simultaneously.

They had hoped for a bit too much.