Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 8 or its characters. They are ALL copyrighted by Squaresoft. ALL the chapters in this fic follow the same disclaimer!!!! I just own my created characters.

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Chapter 2 – Mystery Men

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"Rinoa, you just HAVE to try on this one!"

"I don't know Selphie. Don't you think that's just a little too bright of a color?"

"Rinoa, NO! And look here. There is an exact replica that seems to fit Kari just perfectly. You two would make such a stunning pair. No go! That's an order. Teehee."

"Ok ok Selphie. Your wish is my command." Rinoa reluctantly took the bright blue dress from Selphie's grip and Kari to the dressing room.

Quistis smiled as she shook her head. "Hey Selph, don't you think that was a little too harsh on her?"

Selphie vigorously shook her head. "No way Quisty. Someone has to get her out of that depressed mood she's in, and I'm taking it upon my shoulders to do so." Looking through the rack of clothes, Selphie found a crimson red dress. "Ohhh Quisty, look what I fooound."

The instructor admired the dress approvingly when Selphie shoved it into her hands. "Now you go and try that on as well."

Knowing better than to get on her "evil" side, Quistis grudgingly walked over to where Rinoa was and entered the neighboring stall. She heard Kari whining, telling her she did not want to put on that dress. Smiling, Quistis started to put on the dress that her friend picked out for her.

"I'm waaaaiiiiitttinggg you girls!" the spunky brunette called out as she tapped her foot against the floor impatiently.

Quistis was the first one out, and to Selphie, she looked stunning. The instructor's hair was piled up in a bun at the top of her head. Her one-piece dress clearly showed every curve on the girl's body as it stopped short of her knees. Quistis was ready to rip the dress into shreds but after a heated argument, Selphie finally managed to get Quistis to buy the dress.

Another five minutes passed before Rinoa and Kari came out, wearing their regular attire.

"HEY! I wanted to see you two wearing the clothes I picked out for you girls."

"Relax Selphie. I liked how it looked, so I'm buying it anyway." Rinoa replied, trying to calm the girl down.

Selphie slouched a little, but accepted the answer. "Well ok, but the next time the Garden is going to have a party, you better wear that dress. That goes the same for you Kari."

"Yes Selphie, we got it."

"Mommy……can I go to the toys store now? Pweeaasse!" Kari asked. "I hate putting on clothes."

Rinoa sighed as she looked around. Selphie was busy looking for more attire while Quistis was paying for her merchandise. Zell was to be seen outside the store eating hotdogs, while Irvine was just sitting on the bench, holding a huge stack of clothes, mostly Selphie's. "Sure honey. Just make sure you take Zell or Irvine, and I'll meet you there when I buy these clothes."

Almost immediately Kari bolted out of the store in search of Irvine or Zell. Rinoa sighed again as she walked up to the counter, and kept her gaze upon Kari until she reached one of her friends. She saw Kari jump onto Irvine's lap as they wrestled. After a minute, Irvine seemed to have given up as he and Zell walked off into the direction of the toy store, leaving all of Selphie's merchandise unguarded.

Unknowingly to herself, Rinoa let out a small giggle but quickly caught herself. 'I'm not supposed to do that. Not without him anyway.' Changing her mood almost instantly, Rinoa got in line.

-----*****-----

Kari skipped into the toy store as Zell and Irvine followed. "At least we're away from those girls." Irvine whispered to Zell as he finished up his fifth hotdog.

"Don't be too relaxed. I hear this little rascal can be very commanding at times too." he said as he pointed over to Kari.

"Are you guys coming or what!" the two year old child commanded rather than asked.

"Yes ma'am!" they said as they saluted with a grin on their face.

"Told you so." Zell whispered once again and only received a slap on the head from his friend.

The three of them walked around the toy store a couple of times before something caught Kari's eye. Closing the gap to the toy slowly, she picked up the item and examined it closely. "Unca Irvy, do you know what this is?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." The cowboy took the toy out of the child's hands as he swung it a couple of times. "I'm actually not surprised that they make this thing. After all, it is pretty famous nowadays."


Zell nodded in agreement as Kari's patience was being tested. "What isss itttt!?"

"A gunblade."

"A gum….ball?"

Irvine chuckled as he handed the plastic toy into the child's hands. "No, a gun-blade. It's a type of sword that is really hard to use. Only a few people actually know how to use that thing well. But this one is a fake. The real ones are actually pretty heavy to hold, and that's part of the reason they are hard to use."

Kari nodded as she looked upon the sword in awe for a full two minutes. "I want one!"

Irvine and Zell stepped back in shock but quickly regained their composure before Kari had noticed. They both looked at each other in puzzlement, not wanting to answer her. "Rinoa will kill us if we get her this."

The cowboy nodded his head when an idea popped into his mind. Taking the toy out of the child's hands, he placed it back onto the shelf. Risking a look at Kari, he was met with a stare that could kill if it wanted to. Gulping, "Your birthday is in a week, soooo you never know what you might get."

At this, the child's spirits lifted dramatically as she walked around the store, followed by her two bodyguards.


"Your not really going to get that for her, are you?" Zell asked.

Irvine shrugged.

-----*****-----

Rinoa and Quistis finally finished purchasing the clothes that Selphie got for the pair. Walking out of the store, they saw their spunky little friend sitting on the bench, looking quite furious for some reason. "What's wrong Selphie?" an exhausted Quistis asked.

"Irvine ran off!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, I believe that may be my fault Selph. I told Kari to take him and Zell with her to the toy store. I'm sorry." Rinoa explained with a sincere voice.

Selphie smiled. "No need to apologize Rinny. I'm just more worried about whose going to carry all of my stuff here."

Rinoa and Quistis both shook their heads in disbelief as all three girls broke out into a small laughter. Finally finding a small table in the shade, the three of them took a seat and waited for their friends' return. In the meantime, Rinoa took a glance around town. Balamb town had really turned from a small, rural community, into a prodigious bustling shopping center. Almost all the new stores were there, even topping Deling City. However, Esthar still retained the number one place it that category.

A couple of minutes passed before Kari, Irvine and Zell emerged out of the toy store, with Kari looking peculiarly happy as she jumped into her mother's lap. Rinoa accusingly eyed the two men, who seemed to be hiding something, but didn't pursue an interrogation into the matter. "So Kari, have fun?"

"Yep yep, mommy. I can't wait till my birthdaaay!!!"

"Is that sooo……" Rinoa replied as she gave another accusing stare to the two men, who quickly found interest in the sky. Sighing, Rinoa was about to say something when flocks of people started to run towards the docks.

"Hey, what in the world is happening?" Selphie asked everyone.

"Beats me Sefie, but let's find out." her boyfriend answered as he ran with the people.

The six of them – Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Rinoa and Kari – headed towards the congregation of people, which were at the docks. It had been awhile since Rinoa had last came here, but nevertheless, the sea always proved to be a terrific healer, both physically and mentally. Kari quickly brought Rinoa out of her reverie as she struggled to see what was happening from her mother's grip. Almost reluctantly, Rinoa tore her gaze away from the river as she struggled to squeeze in between people to get to the front of the action. When she finally reached the others, she became as shocked as all her friends. 'He's here?!'

Two gunblades were clashing against each other – one silver in coloring, the other a rose red. Each fighter beautifully defended and attacked their respective opponent for a full five minutes. However, more surprising was the fact that one of the fighters was Seifer Almasy himself.

The last thing they had heard about Seifer was that he was readmitted to a garden, Galbadia Garden to be exact, to continue his studies and the more important goal of becoming a SeeD fighter.


Rinoa looked upon Seifer's features, and found them to be quite the same as she did three years ago. He still had the same, blond spiked haircut that came hand in hand with the arrogant look on his face he always wore. His eyes retained the clear, light blue color. His clothing attire seemed to be no different, as his white trenchcoat went to his knees, unbuttoned. His scar, probably his most outstanding feature, was exactly the opposite of his. It went in the opposite direction, and was a bit darker too.

The other person taking part in the fight looked strangely peculiar, yet at the same time, Rinoa never saw him in her entire life before. His jet-black hair was ruffled up, but was held in a rough ponytail, that went a little short of Irvine's. He wore a plain red sweatshirt that had a hood, covered up by an unzipped, navy blue, sleeveless jacket. He wore simple black jeans and black boots. Rinoa could spot no jewelry on him, and could not get a good look at his face because his hood was covering his face almost totally. However, it seemed his skin was a bit more tanned than Seifer's.

The fight raged on for what seemed like forever. Both warriors exchanged the offense and defense positions every now and then, and both warriors were starting to show signs of fatigue. As to why exactly they were fighting, that was still a complete mystery.

"Mommy……" Kari began as she pulled on her mother's skirt. "……do you know those peoples?"

However, Kari's question went onto deaf ears, as her mother was strangely engrossed completely in the fight, as were all her friends and the rest of the audience.

Finally, the mysterious man made a mistake. To Rinoa, it seemed as if that man wanted to get the fight over with, and came onto Seifer with an attack that was meant to kill. Coming in with a huge stab, the mystery man aimed for Seifer's chest. Seifer had obviously seen this coming as he quickly parried the opponent's gunblade and knocked it out of his hands and into the water. Seifer then held his weapon at the man's throat as he sneered arrogantly at him.

"That's why you DO NOT mess with my friends!"

The mystery man quickly nodded his head in fear, and with that Seifer tossed him to the side. The man went to retrieve his gunblade, which was strangely floating in the water, and ran off towards the exit of the town. Seifer then looked around and saw the crowd that was formed. "Well, what the hell are you guys staring at. You can leave, like NOW!"

The gathering of people quickly dispersed to their own activities, with the exception of the SeeDs, Rinoa, and Kari. Seifer finally noticed the six of them, smiled devilishly before walking over to them.

"Well, long time no see people. Chicken Wuss, instructor, cowboy, messenger girl, Rinoa, and………I'm afraid I don't know who the little runt……"

"Kari!" the little girl said in a hint of anger as she already began to form a dislike to this guy. "And don't forget itttt!"

Zell, however, was ready to pounce at Seifer, and would have accomplished his task if it were not for Irvine and Selphie holding him back. "Just let me at him." he hissed.

The two just rolled their eyes. Obviously, Zell still couldn't control himself around Seifer as the others learned to do so.

Quistis walked over to the swordsmen, and with a gasp from everyone, smacked Seifer on the back of his head.

"Oww! What the hell was that for!"

"What were you doing this time?" she asked in a dry tone, as if this was already a regular thing for her to ask.

"What? Can't a guy enjoy a drink sometime………" However, he was cut off.

"The fight Seifer! Why the hell were you fighting?!" Quistis's tone became surprisingly angrier. "Were you trying to give SeeD a bad name?!"

Seifer narrowed his eyes at her. 'How the hell did she know I was a SeeD? Do all of them know? Whatever…' He stood upright as he sheathed his gunblade, "Well, not like it's any of your business, but when you mess with my friends, you mess with me!" Just then, both Fujin and Raijin came hobbling over.

"Yo Seifer. C'mon, we gotta be going now. The garden has called us back, ya." Raijin said.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Fujin claimed as they ran off towards a boat.

Seifer gave them a lazy wave with his hand, telling them he got the message. Raijin and Fujin then went off towards the Galbadian boat that could be seen in the distance. Seifer took one last look at the six of them, especially Kari. For some reason, he could not pry himself away from her eyes – the fact that they reminded so much of him. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing the loser group later." With that, he walked in the direction where his friends just left a moment ago.

"What the hell does me mean he'll be seeing us later?" Zell exclaimed in fury. "We see him today, for the first time in what, three freakin' years, and now he'll be seeing us later!? The freakin' nerve of that guy!! Augh! I just want to hammer him!"

Rinoa merely nodded, but really was not paying attention to what Zell was actually saying. She was more interested in something else. 'Who in the world was that other guy? And why does he look familiar. I know I have never met him, but there is just something about him………'

Kari once again pulled on her mother's skirt, disrupting her train of thought. "Mommy, I'm tired……can we go home?"

The mother smiled as she picked up her child into her arms. "Sure honey. I'm tired too. Let's go."

"Hey Quistis, how did you know that Seifer became a SeeD?" Selphie asked. "I mean, I even didn't know that."

Quistis paused. "I…I…I overheard Headmaster Cid talking to the Galbadian Garden headmaster. They were saying something about Seifer becoming a SeeD and all." she stammered out.

Selphie nodded her head approvingly, however Zell and Irvine eyed their friend peculiarly, not exactly buying the story completely.

"Hey guys. Do you mind if we head back to the garden? Kari here is feeling a bit tired, and as a matter of fact, I'm feeling a bit exhausted myself." Rinoa asked.

"Yeah, we should. I was about to suggest that myself." Zell added, as his friends gave him a strange look. Zell looked around. "I was!"


"Whatever Zell." both Quistis and Selphie replied at the same time, and broke out into a giggle.

"Augh! The respect I receive!" Zell yelled into the air as he quickly walked away.

Quistis, Selphie and Irvine followed shortly after. Rinoa took one look back at the direction the mysterious man ran off too, before following the others. Kari had already fallen asleep in her arms. Looking up to the sky, she noticed it was already getting dark. "It's about your bedtime anyway, baby."

-----*****-----

A lone figure trudged himself through the forest. After resting at the fire cavern earlier that day, he was partially refreshed to continue his journey, but the forest in the way was definitely taking a huge toll on the person. After easily killing off a number of wild grats and caterpillar type monsters, the figure finally saw what he was looking for – Balamb Garden. Smiling a smile of relief, he began taking the last leg of his journey when a huge T-Rex-a-saur monster came out of nowhere.

He was already dead tired, but he so desperately wanted to reach his destination. With a new surge of energy, he found himself gripping the hilt of his weapon as he ran towards the monster. The T-Rex gave a huge roar as it charged its prey as well.

When the smoke finally cleared away, what was left was the dead carcass of the monster, and the figure was only to be seen with a small scar on his left arm, ripping his favorite jacket. But that was the last of his worries.

Making sure his enemy was dead, the figure marched his way towards the garden, but quickly hid behind a bush when a car was seen heading towards the school. The figure tried to see who inhabited the automobile, but thanks to the darkness, he could not see a thing. The car then rolled, what was most likely, into the garden's parking lot.

The figure stood his ground for ten minutes, making sure that there was nobody else in the perimeter. He did NOT want to be seen – the last thing he wanted was to start a commotion.

Walking stealthily towards the school, the figure thought about his past. He had gone through a lot in the last couple of years, and the worse part was that he had to go through most of it alone. It was like living in Hell for a couple of years, and then being readmitted to life.

Finally, the figure reached the entrance of the garden. 'Going through the front gates would surely be risky.' he thought. Luckily for him, he had seen the blueprints of exactly how the huge, flying structure was made, so he knew every nook and cranny of the military academy school. Smiling to himself, he ran around the garden, quickly but patiently, hiding behind bushes every now and then just to make sure no one saw him, till he reached a small opening that would lead exactly where he wanted to go.

Looking around, the figure quietly crawled into the opening that he found. It had been only a couple of minutes till he reached the end of the small tunnel; a vent covered the exit. After hearing not one sound from the other side, the figure quietly unscrewed the thing and exited. Screwing the vent back on quickly, he made his way to his ultimate destination, which was only a few yards away from the small tunnel he had just crawled out of.

Sighing in relief, he quickly slid a card key into the hole, and the automatic door gave a small beep, signaling it was unlocked. Surprised that his key still worked, the figure quickly entered the room, and shut the door just as fast, making sure it was locked securely.

He looked around. For some odd reason, everything was exactly the way he remembered it. Nothing had been touched. The only difference was that there was some dust here and there. Shrugging, he made his way to the bed in the corner of the room and fell face first into its soft embrace.

"I still don't know why you want to keep it a secret. I mean, its all……" a voice, coming from all around him, began in a whisper, before being cut off.

"Just shut the hell up Bahamut and let me sleep."

Author's Notes: Sorry about the first part of this story being kind of depressing without Squall, but thanks for being patient with me. I just had to include a chapter or two without Squall - to describe life without him. So, that's probably my reason. But anyway, it seems most of you will be getting your wish for him coming back.

And as always, I thank all of my reviewers - you guys helped me a lot. So I hope you are all enjoying this story as much as I do in writing it.