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 9 – Arising Problems

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The next thing Squall knew was opening his eyes because of a small ray of sunlight that always seemed to creep through the blinds of the window. 'Damn, I really need to get that thing fixed.' Yawning softly, Squall tried to get up, but found himself restrained on both sides. Blinking his eyes several times to erase his drowsiness, he noticed what exactly was restraining him.

Rinoa, on one side, held his arm securely and slept like a baby. He could feel her soft breaths on his arms, with made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. She truly did look angelic at the moment. 'Beautiful……' he thought as he softly kissed her forehead.

Turning his head to the other side, he noticed Kari also, similar to her mother, held onto his arm securely. 'I thought she was in the middle? When did the switch happen?' Shrugging mentally, he kissed Kari's forehead as well, but as soon as he did, the little angel woke up. Smiling, Squall removed a few strands of hair from her face. "How's my angel doing?"

Kari, in reply, snuggled closer to her father, relishing the warmth he was spreading. "I'm good daddy. And you?"

"Never better." he replied curtly, while hugging his daughter with his free arm.

They rested like that for a couple of minutes longer, when Kari suddenly rose up, exclaiming her need to use the bathroom. Squall chuckled as he watched her race towards the bathroom, closing the door. Sighing, he felt something on his right, move, and knew his other angel was rising as well.

"And where is my good morning hug and kiss?" she asked sleepily.

Squall looked curiously at Rinoa. 'Did she just wake up now or five minutes back?'

All of a sudden, Squall felt himself pushed flat on the bed. Rinoa had decided to come on top of Squall, looking down at him straight in the eyes. "Well?"

Not being able to contain himself, Squall closed the gap between them and gave Rinoa the kiss she wanted very badly, going slowly at first. Just when he started to heat things up, they heard the bathroom door unlock, and instantly, both of them pulled apart, but Rinoa did not relinquish her position upon Squall.

"All done!" Kari enthusiastically exclaimed as she stepped out.

"That's good baby." Rinoa said as she finally got up. "Now, let's get you all cleaned up. C'mon, let's head back to our room to get some new clothes on you."

"Otay mommy!" Kari then ran up and hugged her father before leaving. "See you later daddy."

"Bye……" Squall hesitantly replied, not really knowing what else to say.

Rinoa gave Squall a sad smile before exiting the room. As the door shut closed, the lone wolf gave out a tired sigh as he stared out his window. "Hopefully everything will go as I hope it will, so that way, I'll be the only one who has to leave……just me……hopefully." Entering his bathroom, Squall took his long awaited, twenty minute hot shower.

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

"But mommy!!! I want to come with you!"

Rinoa sighed as she bent down to gaze at her daughter at eye-level. "I'm sorry baby, but this time – the answer is no. It is going to be very dangerous and I don't want you getting hurt."

"If it's so dangerous then why are you going then mommy?" the little girl reputed back.

Rinoa sighed once again. 'Since when did she get so smart?' Pausing for a moment to think of a logical comeback, Rinoa couldn't think of any. "Well, don't worry about me. I've been in danger many times before. And plus, daddy is now here to protect me, so you won't have to worry."

"But daddy could protect me too!" Kari replied quickly.

She had had enough. "Kari, no means no. And plus, you don't want to disappoint Uncle Cid and Auntie Edea, do you? They want to play with you so much."

Kari looked towards the ground. "Oh yeeaahh. I'm sorry mommy. But promise you'll come back soon then."

'Finally!' Rinoa smiled brightly as she intertwined her pinky finger with her daughter's. "I promise baby. I promise."

Satisfied, Kari ran off towards Edea's room, convincing her mother that she was going to stay out of trouble.

Rinoa watched her daughter as she ran off. 'Why in the world do I get the feeling she's going to be the cause of something big sooner of later?' With that last thought in her mind, Rinoa took off to join the others.

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

"C'mon! What is taking them so long?!" Selphie wailed in the driver seat of the Ragnorak.

Quistis and Zell tried everything in their power to try and calm the spunky girl down, but little was working. By that time however, Seifer had enough. Walking over to the young woman, he bent down and stared into her eyes. "Look! You're really getting on my nerves. Relax, Rinoa and Squall will be here any minute." And ironically, at that same exact moment, Rinoa walked into the control room.

"Finally!" Selphie murmured out. "Now, where's Squall?"

Rinoa had a confused look on her face. "I thought he was already here?"

"WHAT! You mean to tell me that YOU don't know where he is either?! When I get my hands on him……I'll make sure he……"

Right on cue, Squall walked on. "You'll do what, Selphie?" he asked with a small smile.

The brunette stared at the commander and intelligently chose to stay quiet instead of replying with a witty remark. "Nothing Squall." she finally gave in and sighed. "All I know is that I'm driving………so hands of ZELL!"

"Chill, chill. Just checking out the equipment – making sure its all good. No reason to get cranky on me Selph." Zell casually replied. After receiving another death glare from Selphie, he let out a sigh of relief as his friend turned her attention elsewhere.

"Ok, so are we ready now?" Selphie asked impatiently.

Just as Squall was about to answer, Quistis interrupted, "Squall, that does not look like the sheath to your gunblade, Lionheart. What exactly is that?"

The lone wolf warrior looked towards his weapon. He knew Quistis was right. It definitely was not Lionheart. But he couldn't tell them what it really was……at least not at the moment. "It's Lionheart. I just got a new sheath for it. Matches my outfit better, don't you think so?" he lied through his teeth. Lying was definetely not his thing.

"I agree!" Rinoa exclaimed as she grinned towards her love.

However, his excuse did not go well with everyone, especially with Seifer and Zack, who eyed the commander suspiciously for a moment. 'It can't be………can it?' both of them had thought.

Squall coughed, getting everyone to stop staring at his sheath and to pay attention to him. "Anyway……Cid's relying upon us to get Irvine out of Dragoon's hands and back with us. So pay attention as I relay our mission objectives, information and battle plan."

Everyone quickly averted his or her attention to Squall. Now that he was back, there was not any argument over who would lead them into battle. It was always Squall's position.

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

'I remember mommy telling me that the Rag……rag….ragnorak was a very big red ship. Let's see if I can find it! Then I can help mommy and daddy with saving the world!' Kari's thoughts were quickly interrupted as she spotted the shining red coat that the grand airship – the Ragnorak – had, near the entrance of Balamb Garden. Staring at it in awe for many minutes, Kari saw her mother enter the ship at a far entrance on the other side of the ship, then her father minutes later.

Shrugging, Kari quickly followed her parents and ran on board the ship just as the exit closed. 'Hehehehe!'

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

"…anyway, as I said yesterday, the most important thing to ensure your survival is being able to tell the difference between reality and illusion. For some reason, Dragoon knows the weakness of every person, so he will use that to his advantage and perhaps create some type of illusion to lure you in, and then, before you realize it, you'll be in too deep and will be caught. I cannot stress that enough. For this reason, you should never travel alone, because one illusion to one person, may be something else to another, and since you will be seeing two different things, you'll know it's an illusion."

Squall paused, taking a glance at his comrades in arms. Everyone seemed to be nodding slowly at his explanation and battle plan. 'Luckily none of them are asking me how I know this stuff. I don't want to get into that.'

"So, when we reach Shumi Village, we'll be splitting into two groups – one of a party of three and the other a party of four. This way, none of us will be alone and we'll be able to cover more ground this way. Seifer…" At the mention of his name, Seifer eyed Squall curiously, wondering what "Commander Puberty" had to say to him. Taking orders from his rival was something he was not happy on doing.

"…you'll be the leader of the group containing yourself, Zack and Zell. Since the three of you have already worked together before, and know what we are up against, it will be easier for you guys to find Irvine than the rest of us, who might just hold you back." Surprisingly, the three of them nodded. He was at least expecting some bickering from Zell or Seifer. But that was the least of his worries. "You'll attack from the front entrance of the village, and remember, if you do encounter orcs, look for the leader. If you take him out, the illusions will disappear."

Once again, the three of them nodded and took their seats. Now Squall looked towards the others. "Obviously, you girls will be coming with me as we enter the rear-end of the village." Quistis and Rinoa nodded, both of them relieved they were going with Squall, who seemed to know what he was actually doing.

Selphie, however, tapped her foot impatiently. "Now can we go!?"

"Yes Selphie. Go."

Within a blink of an eye, the airship kicked off the ground and sped northward.

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

"Well, there they go Cid."

The headmaster nodded at his wife as he watched the Ragnorak disappear into the horizon. "I hope they take care of themselves. And I also hope they do realize that this threat is much bigger, and not to mention much more dangerous that Ultimecia was."

At the sound of the Sorceress's name, Edea gave a small shudder, but long enough for Cid to notice. "I'm sorry Edea."

Giving her husband a loving smile, she quickly intertwined her arm with his. "No problem."

Looking through the window for another few minutes, a thought suddenly struck Cid. "Edea, where's Kari?"

"She's right……….there……" Edea began to say as she pointed to an empty space behind them.

Cid looked puzzled. "Well, she's not there now."

"I know that!" Edea scowled at her husband as she exited the room, looking for the lost child. Shrugging, Cid continued to look out the window, deep into his thoughts when Edea came back five minutes later, completely breathless. "I can't find her. And everyone I asked said they haven't seen her either."

"That's not good." Cid pointed out clearly.

"Rinoa is going to kill me if she finds out."

Cid looked at his wife then back out the window. "But where in the world did she go? I mean, she was here just ten minutes ago, playing with her toys. I wonder where…….?" Cid left it at that thought as both adults began to think of all possibilities of Kari's whereabouts. Then another idea struck Cid. "Edea, you don't think Kari went to say goodbye to her mother, do you?"

Edea rolled her eyes. "Nonsense. Why, the only way she could do that if she went into the air…ship………"

Both looked out the window, then to each other and then……stood petrified.

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

The trip to Shumi Village – the whole two hours – was relatively quiet for the exception of Zell and his tapping foot and other slight noises. There was nothing really to say or do, but just wait till they get there. Squall observed Selphie for some time – who was humming some tune foreign to him – but after awhile, that got boring, so he decided to check out everyone else.

Seifer was in the back of the cockpit, sitting at the farthest chair located away from Squall. 'Go figure.' His face was completely passive, so Squall couldn't tell what he was thinking.

He then turned his attention towards the new guy, Zack. For some odd reason, the black-haired gunblader looked very familiar, in a way that Squall did not like………especially the crimson red gunblade of his.

Shrugging, and resolving himself to think about it later, he looked towards Zell, who like always seemed anxious to fight. Now that he thought about it, it was quite strange how Zell reacted when he found him alive. Zell, besides Rinoa, was the first person Squall thought that would be overjoyed at his presence. 'Things have changed.'

His former instructor, Quistis, was looking out the window, and therefore, Squall could not see her expression either. However, he did have the feeling that Quistis was hiding something from him……everyone for that matter too.

Movement on his arm quickly brought Squall's attention from the real world to the world he solely lived in – Rinoa. 'It's still unbelievable that she's right here……here. Right next to me, snuggling against me for warmth. If this was three years back, I would have probably fidgeted around until Rinoa left me alone. Now……now I'm craving this attention……and this strange feeling of……warmth…compassion………love…'

Before he had any other chance to dive deeper into his thoughts, a shout from Selphie quickly had everyone's attention. "We are here!"

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

The Ragnorak hovered over the front entrance of Shumi Village. Giving them some final pieces of advice, Squall handed Seifer, Zack and Zell two transmitters to the three of them, to keep in touch in case something does happen. After receiving final nods, the trio jumped off the airship and parachuted their way down to the front entrance of the burnt down village.

"Ok Selphie, head towards the end of town!" Squall yelled as she shut the door closed.

"Roger that!" was all Squall heard before he was thrown back into the wall at the quick rise in velocity the Ragnorak experienced in a few short seconds.

Squall shook his head. "That's the last time I put her in the driver's seat."

"So, are you suspicions right? Is it really Dragoon?" a sudden voice asked, popping into Squall's mind out of nowhere.

"I don't know Bahamut." Squall replied. He walked toward the window to peer down towards the village. "This place looks……awful. It could very well be him, but we both know that there are other things out there that are capable of this much power."

"But who has the better motive? So random guy, or Dragoon?"

He sighed. "I know Bahamut, I know. But I just wish it wasn't, you know what I mean? Because if it's him, then who knows where I'll end up."

At that, Bahamut wisely worded his next comment. Because it always came down to that. If it really was Dragoon, then his master might just have to leave everything………again. "I feel your pain, friend."

Smiling slight inwardly, Squall shrugged and didn't reply to Bahamut's comment. Looking out the window once again, he viewed the devastated Shumi Village. If they ever did plan to rebuild the town, they would have to start from scratch. There was not even one hut standing, save for a few here and there.

He didn't know when it happened, but a tap on his shoulder brought Squall from the recesses of his mind once again. Turning around, he found it was Rinoa, with Selphie and Quistis. "Are you alright Squall." Rinoa asked. "I've been saying your name a few times just to find no reaction from you."

Shrugging, Squall noticed the airship had landed. Opening the door, he quietly walked out of the Ragnorak, leaving the girl's with a one world answer, "Whatever."

Rinoa looked worriedly at Squall, and began to trudge after him when Quistis stopped her short. "Rinoa, don't. I'm guessing that Shumi Village has reminded him of something about his past – a past he will tell us when he's ready."

"This place is terrible Quistis, but I'm also worried about the idiot!" Rinoa protested.

The instructor sighed. "We all are Rinny. But it will be better for you not to pry him open, yet. Let's first concentrate of getting Irvine back, right Selphie?"

"You got that, sister!" the brunette exclaimed as she followed Squall.

Rinoa took another long glance at Squall, who seemed to be surveying the area, before nodding. "I guess your right Quisty. I'm sorry."

Quistis smiled. "It's ok Rinoa. I understand your worries. Like I said before, let's get Irvine back, then when we're all together, you can pry him open so much, he'll become a used book."

Giggling, Rinoa followed Quistis out of the Ragnorak to where Squall and Selphie were standing. "So what do we do first, Squall?" Selphie asked quickly, a hint of eagerness hidden in her voice.

Before Squall got the chance to answer, a huge series of roars came out from behind the four of them. The three girls turned around, only to find a huge group of monsters running from the horizon, aiming for only four things – them!

Squall turned around as he cracked his knuckles, but strangely to the girls, did not unsheath his gunblade. "Let's show them the reason why we are SeeD!"


Everyone was top preoccupied with getting their weapons, not to notice that Squall had said "SeeD." He never referred to themselves as SeeD ever since the downfall of Ultimecia. And the drastic change in Squall's eye color – from ice blue to the deep, oceanic blue.

Author's Notes: First, let me apologize at the delay of adding this chapter. You guys are going to kill me when I tell you this, but in reality, I had this chapter done a week ago, but never found the time (like 5 minutes) to actually upload it up at fanfiction.net. So, again, I am very very very sorry about that.

Anyway, as thoughts pertaining to this chapter. I find that I actually liked it when I read it. At first, I wasn't too happy with the way it came out, but as I checked it over, it was pretty good, but what's important is what you guys think. So, I do hope you like it and enjoy it.

FYI, even though it doesn't seem possible, I do hope to get this story done by late August - early September so I can get my ideas gathered for a Part III - yes, its confirmed, a Part III to Eternal Struggle. But I still don't know when that will actually come out.

So, again, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and like always, I want to hear YOUR thoughts about it. Read and Review! You are what keep me alive.

Till next chapter,
vindemon6