Another beautiful day came for the children in the orphanage. The grass was renewed to a fresh green, the birds were chirping again, and the remaining drops of rain dripped off of the flower petals in the flower field. A patch of flowers was flattened, however, by the sudden fall of a young brown haired boy. He had fallen, pretending that he was shot in the stomach. "Yeah!" shouted Irvine. "I got Squall!"
Then, Selphie ran behind Irvine, chasing Seifer. She held her hand up like a gun and began making firing noises, as if she was shooting. "I got you!" she shouted. "Seifer's dead!"
"No, I'm not! You missed!" Seifer turned around and shouted.
"I did not! I hit you!"
"Did not!"
"Did to!"
"Did not!"
As the two of them argued, Squall rolled over onto his back and stared up at the sky. He smiled, as he took in a breath of fresh air. However, a part of him longed to see Ellone, Zell, and Quistis again. His smiled faded when he started imagining their faces within the clouds. Squall was snapped back to reality when Irvine bent over and took his hands. Irvine pulled him up to his feet, and then said; "I think the war is down to those two now."
Squall giggled, and then said, "Yeah, I guess so."
"Hey, let's go see if Matwyn has any food ready." Irvine suggested.
"Ok."
The two boys walked together back into the orphanage, leaving Selphie and Seifer to battle it out. They walked through the playroom and through the hallway, until they got to the kitchen. Inside, Edea was, casually, flipping through a cookbook, looking for something to make for lunch. She looked up upon hearing the kitchen door creak open. "Hello, boys." She greeted.
"Hey, Matwyn." Irvine greeted back. "Is there anything to eat, yet?"
"Not yet, Irvine. In a little while, the food will be ready."
"Ok, we'll come back later." Irvine said. "C'mon, Squall. Let's go see if the war is over, yet." With that, the two boys left the kitchen back the way they had come.
Once outside, it was clear that the war still raged on. Seifer had Selphie's arm pulled back behind her back, pulling harder, trying to make her say 'uncle'. "Say it!" Seifer ordered.
"No, I won't say it!" Selphie shouted back, making Seifer pull harder.
Eventually, the strain was too much for Selphie to handle and she began to cry. "Say it and I'll let go!" Seifer ordered again, but Selphie couldn't say anything through her tears.
Squall watched as Seifer pulled harder and Selphie cried more. He couldn't stand seeing her in anymore pain, so he ran over as fast as he could and tackled Seifer from the side with all of his strength, which sent the blonde to the ground. Selphie fled from the scene, as Squall looked down at Seifer. "That hurts her. Can't you see that?" He said.
Seifer stood up and brushed himself off. "I'm not gonna have some little girl get the best of me." He bragged.
"It's just a game, Seifer." Squall said.
"Yeah, and I was just making the game more interesting."
"By making Sefie cry?"
"Better her than me!" With that, Seifer walked away from the scene, brushing past Squall in the process.
As Seifer walked past Selphie, the little girl pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at him. As he leered at her, Selphie jumped and hid behind Irvine, and then Seifer continued walking away.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The afternoon came and went and the children began preparing to go to bed. With Edea's help, the task was done quickly. Within minutes, all of the children were tucked away in their beds and were drifting away to dreamland. Edea approached the bedroom door and looked over her shoulder, as she set her hand upon the light switch. Seeing that everyone was asleep, she shut the lights off, and then shut the door. After the door was completely closed, Edea began making her way to her own room. She reached her bedroom door in a minute's time. Upon putting her hand on the doorknob, she heard the front door opening. She turned to gaze at whoever was coming into the orphanage after bedtime. Two Galbadian soldiers stepped into the orphanage, shutting the door behind them. Edea walked over to the two soldiers and asked, "May I help you?"
"We want to take a look at the children you have here." One of the soldiers said.
"May I ask what this is regarding?" Edea asked.
The soldiers hesitated a bit, unwilling to explain their plans. "I'm afraid that's classified, ma'am." One of them said.
"We're trying to strengthen our army by training our soldiers from childhood." The other soldier blurted out.
The other soldier smacked the back of the other's head and shouted, "You idiot! It's supposed to be classified!"
"Why is Galbadia trying to strengthen its army?" Edea asked.
The big-mouthed soldier went to say something, but the other smacked on the back of the head again. "Mainly for protecting our citizens." He, then, said.
Edea wore a suspicious stare, as she said, "Right this way, sirs."
She led the soldiers through the hallway, back to the children's bedroom. She opened the door and switched on the lights, waking up the children. "Children, I'm sorry." Edea apologized. "But we have guests."
Edea stepped away from the door and let the two soldiers in. The soldiers looked around at the children, and then one of them said, "Alright. Check them."
In single file, the soldiers walked from child to child. The first one they checked out was Selphie. "Too short." One of the soldiers said.
"Too scrawny." The soldier said, after checking out Squall.
They stopped at Seifer's bed, watching the boy smile and show off his small muscles. "Too cocky." The soldier said.
Last, but not least, they checked out Irvine. They stretched his arms and looked through the boy's hair. Then, both of the soldiers looked back at Edea. "We'll take him." One soldier said.
"His name is Irvine." Edea explained.
"All right, boy. You're coming with us." The other soldier said.
Irvine rubbed his eyes and asked, "Where?"
"Don't question us, boy!" One soldier ordered. "You're in the army now!"
"I don't mean to meddle in your affairs, but isn't he supposed to be enlisted before he's, actually, in the army?" Edea asked.
"Well… he will be in the army when we get to Galbadia!" The other soldier said.
Selphie jumped out of bed and ran over to Irvine, who still sat on his bed. "Yoo're not taking my Irvy! Yoo're not! Yoo're not! Yoo're not!" She cried, as she hugged Irvine tightly.
The two soldiers split their jobs into two parts: pull back Selphie and grab Irvine. Selphie cried as she was being pulled away from Irvine. The soldier handed Selphie over to Edea, and then headed down the hallway after his partner, who led Irvine out of the orphanage. Edea knelt down and Selphie cried into her shoulder. Squall felt himself starting to cry at the loss of another friend, however Seifer dropped back down into his bed, angry that they didn't choose him.