A/N: Okay, I have some explaining to do 'cus of the couple of reviews I did get last chapter::
Draco: lol, I completely missed that! Don't worry, I sorted it and I'll do my best to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Oh, BTW, I'm not really gonna think about addin' the li'l words I missed out 'cus 1. It would take AGES for me to find 'em, and 2. It doesn't really ruin the chapter like that other mistake I made.
trapt-tears: Man, a lot of explaining to do here. I guess all of that has to do with what happened to Rinoa. After she'd gone, Squall learned to express emotion more, but he only seems to do it when Amy is concerned. Amy calls him daddy 'cus of a couple of reasons: Rinoa's death made her closer to Squall, and from what I've seen, teenagers that call their dads 'daddy' normally don't have their mum around much. Also, if she calls him daddy she could get away with practically anything! lol The other thing (sorry if I'm borin' ya) is that Squall wouldn't have wanted Amy to grow up like him, having everyone close to her leaving. So, after Rinoa was gone, he had to show he cared for her so she knew she wasn't alone and that he was there to listen to her. Plus, she's been calling him that for years, so he's used to it. And, yes, she is 17 years old, so this chapter is the day of the exam #points to chapter title# Well, I hope that filled in a couple of gaps. Thanx so much for the review.
A room filled with computers, lit-up panels and strange capsules leading to an eerily fire-lit room where a man with short, deep brown hair sat on his elaborate throne-like seat. He had his head down and his eyes closed, as if in some kind of trance. He opened his eyes slowly, then looked up and around the room. A man was stood before him dressed in a suit that would identify him as having a high-ranking status.
"Sir, have the plans for tomorrow been devised?" he asked, a hint of caution in his voice. The man smiled.
"Everything is devised, captain. We will attack the Shumi village and make it the place for the SeeD exam to take place. If that isn't the case, we will use the draw point to collect what we need." He sighed, then stood up and walked towards the man. "It would be more preferable if the original intention was fulfilled."
"And what will that plan involve?" the captain asked nervously. The man smiled maliciously.
"Get that girl and bring her to me. Tell every soldier to look out for the girl who has no weapon and only uses ultima spells. No one must know where she is when we get her, understood?" The captain nodded and left the room.
"Alright," Selphie yelled over the noise of the crowd the next morning. "here are the squads for everyone participating in the exam!" A few groups down, she smiled. "Leon, you're with Keera and Amy. You'll be the captain of the team. Go and wait by the front gate."
"Yes!" Leon punched the air, then looked at Selphie. "See ya mom!" he cried as he ran off with Amy and Keera following.
Arriving at the front gate, they found Squall stood there. Amy ran up to him. "Hi daddy!" she said happily. Squall smiled slightly.
"Come on you three, in the car!" he said to them, so they followed him and the bus set off. It led them to the landing sight where the Ragnorok was.
"Why are we here, Commander?" Keera asked curiously, looking out of the window of the car at the huge aircraft, then looking at the gloves she wore over her fists, flexing her fingers.
"There was a call from the Shumi village this morning. Normally they wouldn't use communications devices to people outside of the village, but it they explained that an unknown army had attacked their village and they didn't have the resources to stop them. They needed our help, so here we are. The Ragnorok will take you there before any major damage can be done." The vehicle stopped. "Come on, it's near show time."
Boarding the Ragnorok, Amy found it seemed a lot bigger inside than it looked outside. "Wow, this place it huge!" Keera cried excitedly, looking around at the candidates already sat down in their seats. Sitting down, she sighed and relaxed. "Well, this is it!" she said, stretching. Amy sat next to her and smiled.
"Let's hope we're up to it." she answered, sighing and sinking into her seat.
"Nervous, are we?" Keera teased. "Remember, you got you're dad here, and if he's anything like my dad, he'll do whatever he can to make sure nothing bad happens to you!"
"Okay team, you ready?" Leon asked, determination evident in his face as they departed the Ragnorok and arrived outside the Shumi village.
"Ready!" Keera replied enthusiastically.
"As always!" Amy added. They set off along with the other teams toward the main gates. Entering, they saw heavily injured Shumis trying to defend the only draw point they had in their village. 'It must be important to them.' Amy thought as the three rushed in while the other teams headed for the main part of the creatures' home.
"Leave those Shumis alone!" Leon yelled, leaping into the air and slicing one of the soldiers down the chest, instantly killing him. Amy and Keera decided to take down another one of the guards together. In a second, Amy hands where bright with the same energy she had summoned to Leon earlier, and Keera got into a fighting stance. The soldier took a step back, then spoke into a communicator on the back of his wrist.
"It's the girl!" he said as quickly as possible. "The one you told us to get, she's outside the lift near the ultima draw-" Amy shot her hand forward and the ultima spell shot directly into his chest. He fell backwards to the ground, and Keera lifted him up by grabbing his shoulder, then hit him in the face with her metal knuckles, causing a broken nose and an instant knockout. She looked at Amy.
"How'd you do that thing with your hands?" she asked her, surprised that she had never seen it happen before.
"I'll explain later!" she called back in response. Running up to her friend, she struck him again at the chest, and he stopped breathing.
"Hurry up you two!" They looked around and found that Leon had killed another 3 soldiers while they killed only the one. 'What a flippin' show off!' Amy thought, groaning mentally. Amy ran over to the Shumis, only to find that they had all died during the time it took to kill the soldiers.
"Damnit..." she said grimly. "We couldn't save them."
"So, what now, squad leader?" Keera asked as he walked over to the girls. "You killed all of the other soldiers and the Shumis here are dead." Amy sighed, and the energy faded from around her hands.
"We'll head outside and make sure no other soldiers are coming." Leon decided.
"Right." Amy and Keera agreed. They walked out of the main gates again and into the walkway to the entrance. Looking to the horizon, they saw an aircraft fast approaching the area. "Get ready, there may only be one, but this is going to be some battle." Upon landing, 10 troops wearing a more advanced type of armour as the soldiers fought previously ran out of the craft and towards the three teens. Leon and Keera attacked them, but their target seemed to be Amy. She ran off a distance and the energy reappeared around her hands. She fired beam after beam of ultima spells, but they barely damaged these particular soldiers' armour. Amy cried for help as one of the men grabbed her arm.
Squall was sat in the Ragnorok with Selphie, who had come with him. He was looking out of the window toward the Shumi village when he saw a familiar energy blast hitting an opponent. He then saw a man grab the caster of that spell. "Amy?" he wondered, getting off of his seat. Selphie looked at him.
"What?" she asked, looking out of the window. "Who's that man got hold of?" Squall picked up his Lionheart and ran toward the ramp toward the other end of the Ragnorok. "Where are you going?"
"I think it's Amy, come on!" he ordered. Selphie got stood up and ran after him, nunchakus at the ready.
Keera managed to get the soldier off of Amy with some well-timed punches and kicks. She grabbed the brunette's hand and they ran off out of the way of the other guards as Leon took them out before they could get to her again. "I can't hold 'em off much longer!" Leon cried as the two girls could see how weakened he looked from all the soldiers he had had to face. Another troop member picked up a piece of rubble from when they ha destroyed a pillar previously. He threw it and it hit Leon in the side of the head, sending him flying to the side and knocking him out.
"Leon!" Amy cried. The soldiers easily batted Keera out of the way, then went for Amy again. She felt like they were crushing her as they closed in on her and one man grabbed her in a headlock. Seconds later, the guards flew out of the way as Squall and Selphie attacked them with all the strength they had.
"Daddy?" Amy gasped as man's grip on her was loosened. She managed to get away from them and ran towards him.
"Amy, stay with Selphie!" he ordered. She nodded and ran to her. Squall ran over to Leon, and Keera followed suit. The commander studied the injury on the side of his head.
"Is he alright?" Selphie asked worriedly. Squall turned to face her.
"He should be fine, but he needs to get out of here." He turned to Keera. "Take Leon back to the Ragnorok." he said to her as the soldiers that were still alive regained their senses and commenced their attempt to get Amy. Squall ran toward Amy and prepared for another fight.
"Stop!" The entire troop went dead in their tracks at the command that seemed to emerge from nowhere. A man appeared from what appeared to be a warp. His short deep brown hair blew in a non-existent wind. Squall tightened his grip on his gunblade. "They're not very good, are they?" he asked in a smooth voice while looking at the soldier as they stood still. "I was going to come sooner but I had things to attend to first."
"What do you want with Amy?" Squall demanded. The man smirked.
"That doesn't need to be known right now." he answered smoothly. An energy looking exactly the same as what Amy has used encased his hands, and he fired a shot directly at Squall, knocking him to the ground.
"Daddy!" Amy cried, Selphie having to stop her from running to him.
"He'll be fine, just stay here." she whispered to the teen.
"'Kay..." Amy replied uncertainly, not taking her eyes off of her father. He got off of the ground and charged at the man, but his attack was deflected, causing him to back up a few paces.
"You're not even putting up much of a fight!" he sneered.
"Who are you?" Squall demanded.
"You don't know who I am?" he asked mockingly. "I'm hurt. My name is Ryoku, and if you don't mind..." He let off a huge blast of energy that hit Squall, Selphie and Amy. Before the commander could recover from the attack, Ryoku held out his hand and Amy started walking towards him.
"Amy, what are you doing?!" Selphie exclaimed as she stopped next to the man.
"Oh, look at the time. Must go, bye!" He and Amy disappeared into the same warp in which he appeared.
"AMY!!" Squall screamed, running over to where they had disappeared. Looking around desperately, he found that the soldiers had gone too. "I...I let her down..." Selphie walked up to him.
"We'll get her back, don't worry." she said, trying to reassure him. "We'll head back to the Ragnorok and get Keera to tell all of the candidates to head back immediately. I'm sure they'll understand the situation." Squall nodded grimly and headed back with Selphie.
"Keera, call everyone back." Selphie said bluntly. The girl looked puzzled.
"Where's Amy?" she asked anxiously.
"We'll explain later," Selphie answered. "just call everyone back." She nodded and headed toward the Shumi village. Selphie walked up to Leon, who was lying on one of the back seats.
"He was great, I saw him fight out there." she said, smiling. Squall nodded.
"The last time I saw a gunblade used that well was with Seifer." he added, sighing.
"And you." she said, facing him. "He learnt everything he knows from you." Squall was silent. All they had to do was wait until everyone was safely on the Ragnorok, then they would find Amy.
"So...she's gone?" Leon said quietly, hardly believing what he was hearing. He was sat in the infirmary and had just had his head seen to as Selphie explained what had happened. He had mild concussion, so it was harder to make sense of things, and he was also suffering from exhaustion from the previous fight.
"We don't know where she is, but Squall is doing whatever he can to find her." Selphie replied grimly. Leon sighed, then stood up. "Where do you think you're going?" she demanded.
"Mom, I have to help Commander Leonhart find Amy." he said decisively. Selphie groaned.
"This is all your father's fault." she said, rubbing the side of her head. "You're just like him for making impulsive decisions." Leon smiled.
"So you'll let me go?" he asked brightly.
"I let Irvine do what he wants, why should I treat you any different?" she asked herself.
"Thanks mom! Don't worry, I'll be careful." He ran out of the room, and Selphie left at walking pace.
"Commander Leonhart!" the teen yelled as he went up the lift and ran off it towards him. Looking around, he saw Zell, Quistis, Irvine and Nida. "I'm here to help you find Amy!"
"There's nothing we can do for now." Squall answered grimly. Irvine looked at Leon.
"Heard you busted yourself out there trying to protect her." Irvine said, almost as if interrogating him.
"Yea, I guess." he answered nervously. Irvine smiled.
"Just like me, going through anything for a lady!" he said cheerfully. Leon smirked.
"You never did anything like I did for a girl, you just chased them everywhere!" Irvine went red as the other SeeDs started laughing at him.
"So, you wanna help to then?" Zell asked as everyone was quiet again. "Keera asked too, but I told her it'd be too much for her to handle."
"I can handle it." Leon answered. "Just like I did with those guards."
"Fine." Quistis said, smiling at the teen. "We need all the help we can get."
"Thanks Headmaster." Leon said gratefully. Squall looked at him, then sighed.
"Any ideas then?"