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J u l i a
Chapter Eight
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D i s g u i s i n g T r u t h s
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Not even a week had past and already Squall was buried up to his neck with paper work. Student requests, conference papers, counseling, plans for the upcoming field exam, et cetera. He sat forward in his chair and reached for the pile of leave requests that had stacked up on his desk one by one by the SeeDs of Balamb Garden. He rubbed his eyes wearily and leaned back with an audible sigh.

Xu, who had been quietly observing her superior and trying not to, up until now, laughed behind a slender hand.

"I'm glad to see you're finding this amusing, Xu. Would you like to split the pile and suffer together?" Squall asked dryly.

Xu immediately straightened behind her desk and coughed. "Of course not, Commander Leonhart, Sir!" Her expression was serious, but lacked sincerity. Soon she was bent over her desk laughing on his behalf.

Squall rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Whatever," he muttered. Although he said this in his usual cool tone, the corners of his mouth quirked up into a slight smile.

A knock sounded on the office doors and then, "Squall?"

Squall looked up from his work and looked askance to the middle-aged doctor standing there in the doorway and motioned for her to enter.

Doctor Kadowaki stepped further into room, nodding a greeting to Xu as she passed by the young woman's desk.

"You're working hard, huh?" She smiled as came to a stop in front of the young commander's desk. Her smile broadened when he regarded her with cool eyes and an are-you-kidding-me expression set upon his handsome features.

"I know you didn't come here to see how I'm getting along, so if you'd please . . . ."

Kadowaki chuckled as she handed over a thin, brown folder. "Correct."

Squall stared at the offending object and made no move to retrieve the folder. More paperwork, he thought with some annoyance.

Grinning now, Kadowaki leaned over and lightly tapped his brown head with the folder before setting it down before him. "Come, Squall. This is no time to be spacing out," she teased.

He muttered a curse under his breath before finally making a effort to reach forward and taking the folder in his hands. After a while of examining its contents, he asked, "What am I supposed to do with this? Take it to Cid." He began to hand the folder back to the aging doctor, but met resistence as she pushed it back toward him.

She snorted softly, "I did. 'Let Squall handle this stuff from now on' is what he said. Says he's getting too old." Kadowaki mutter something close to 'old my ass.'

Squall groaned and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He was beginning to get a headache. Again. "That guy . . . . I swear he had this planned from the beginning. First, making me the commander and now this. He wants to push the responsibility of headmaster on to me as well. Can't someone else do this?" He asked, hope edging his words.

Kadowaki appeared to think for a moment before answering with a, "No. He wants you to do it." Not giving him a chance to speak, she began to head on her way out again. "Have a wonderful afternoon you two!" And she was gone.

Xu, who had made her way over to Squall's desk during the conversation, hid a smile as she plucked the folder out from his slack hands. "A new student?" She sighed, tapping the folder against his head, much like how the doctor did when she was there, only a little harder. "You're crying over this? Come on, man. You can get over and done with this a hell of a lot faster than all this crap." She waved her hand to the piles of papers on his desk.

Squall narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you do it then. You're better off than I am anyway."

Xu slowly backed away. "You didn't hear anything coming out of my mouth. Okay? Right!" She turned around and walked back to her desk, plopping down in her seat. She feigned being busy, shifting papers from hand to hand before writting something down with her pen.

Squall smirked to himself as he watched her. He sighed and turned to the new addition of work to be done. He didn't see the dark-haired woman stick her tongue out at him as he returned back to his work. Nor did he hear her silent prayer to Hyne for not being caught doing so. Seeing how irritable he was at the moment was proof that heads, or a head, would roll with one clean slice of his gunblade.

The young commander opened the folder and ran his eyes over its contents and photo once again. He signed his name on a few papers that required him to do so and and closed it back up. His eyes never left the folder as he leaned back in his seat.

- - -

"Cid. Cid! What is the meaning of this?" Squall strode forward and thrust the brown portfolio in front of the aging headmaster's face.

Unfazed, Cid reached up and gently pushed the folder down, looking straight into the young Commander's storming, blue, eyes with some hidden amusement.

"It is exactly what it is. Why do you ask, Commander?" Dull, blue, eyes crinkled behind gold-rimmed spectacles as they reguarded the young man before them warmly.

Squall opened his mouth to protest, but taking a look at the older man before him took all the words from his mouth. He sighed defeatedly and glared half-heartedly at the man, who, quite possibly, is the closest he would ever consider (now with the except of Laguna) a type of father figurehis aging mentor Cid Kramer.

Straightening up, Squall stood at attention and saluted. "I will support any decision made on your behalf, sir."

Cid chuckled and waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Now, Squall, you know I hate all that formality crap." The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled warmly. "Besides, I should be the one saluting here, Commander Leonhart." Knowing the younger man wouldn't do so without issuing an order, he added, "At ease."

Squall relaxed his position, though he still looked visibly tense in his posture. Seeing this, Cid stood and then slowly hobbled his way around the large, oak, desk to stand next to Balamb Garden's young commander. "Come, Squall. Maybe a walk will help ease this tension floating about you, eh?" He winked while reaching up to pat the younger man on the back.

Squall ran a hand through his hair and sighed loudly. "Whatever."

Cid laughed. "Same ol' Squall. Come now."

Side by side the two walkedhobbledalong. One bent over slightly with age and the other looking like he carried the weight of the world upon his broadening, young, shoulders.

* * *

Back in her office, Kadowaki narrowed her eyes as she went over the words before her once again for seeming the millionth time for the past couple weeks.

This can't be possible.

Pushing away from her desk, she rotated herself on her swivel chair and glanced out her window in thought.

...But if she is here, then it must be. Somehow . . . . But . . . how is this possible?

The doors to her office opened swiftlyquietlybehind her, but she took no notice, deep in her thoughts as she was.

"Um, Doctor?" A voice called softly. Getting no answer, they tried again, though a bit louder than before. "Doctor Kadowaki."

Startled, Kadowaki turned about, nearly tipping herself over in the process.

Damn chairs, she thought with a slight frown.

She looked up and met amused gray eyes. It's her...

"Ah! Miss Yuffie. How are you doing? Have you found your way around yet?"

Yuffie ignored her questions and instead asked her own. "Are you okay? You look tired, Doctor."

Kadowaki smiled in reassurance, seeing the concern in the younger girl's eyes and also at the fact that someone else cared for her own well-being instead of the other way around.

What a nice girl, she mused.

"Why, yes! Of course I am," she replied with a warm smile. "Now what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Suddenly, the smile faded and her doctor's instincts came into play. "You're not feeling ill are you? Did something happen? Are you hurt?" She was now standing and making her way toward the younger girl. Her stethoscope automatically finding its way into her hand.

Yuffie stepped back suddenly, then realizing what she did, stopped and raised her hands up to ward off the older woman. "No, no! Nothing's wrong."

Kadowaki sighed, her shoulders relaxing visably. "Good. Good . . . ."

The young ninja slowly came forward. "Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you better lie down or somethin'."

Why am I so worried? This isn't real. Right? She's not real. Yuffie became a little sad at her last thought and retreated a couple steps. It had only been a couple days since she came to, yet she had already grown a kind of certain attachment to this place and it's people. She was so confused her head ached.

The doctor smiled once more and nodded her head. "I'm okay, Miss Yuffie. Nothing you should be worrying yourself about. I have lots of work to do today. I guess I'm just a little tired. But this is what I do." She smiled again.

"Erm, yeah. Okay." Yuffie bit her bottom lip with a pinch of doubt, but quickly overcame it when she remembered why she came here. "Did . . . did you send my papers in? I feel kind of bad for all the trouble I'm putting everyone through. Lane told me I shouldn't worry about it, but I can't help but wonder."

"Papers . . . ?" Kadowaki questioned. Then realization dawned when she knew what the young girl was talking about. "Oh, yes! Your papers. Of course." She coughed lightly. "Yes, I turned them in to the Headmaster this morning. Well, not exactly . . . ." She trailed off with a slight smirk. It vanished once again as she took on a more serious expression. "Yuffie, I know you thought about my words carefully, but I'm a bit curious about your choice of education. You know, it's not too late to change your mind. I could send word up to the main office and tell them you wa"

Yuffie put her hand up, cutting the aging doctor off mid-sentence. "My choice . . . is final, doctor." Seeing the worry in the doctor's eyes, Yuffie grinned. "I know full well the weight and responsibility of my decision. And I tell you now that you'll have nothing to worry about. 'Sides, if I'm lucky, I'll be put into the same class as my new friends."

Kadowaki chuckled and returned to her sit. "Oh, you're more than lucky, Miss Yuffie. Zell is currently the only Close Combat instructor on campus. We're still looking for more staff, but he's the best when it comes to the art of fighting. Though, he does have a few . . . well . . . . You know what, I'll let you see for yourself. That is, once your classes start." Now it was Kadowaki that grinned. "I'm wishing you all the luck, Miss Yuffie. Zell, even though he does like to kid around a lot, is serious with his position as instructor. I'm quite surprise, actually, that there was an opening in his class. He and a couple other of the young instructors are very popular with the students and a vacant spot in either one of their classes is very hard to come by."

Gray eyes narrowed in curiousity. Younger instructors . . . ?

"Uh, just exactly how young are these instructors, Doctor?"

Kadowaki, leaning back and with a proud look and smile, answered, "Not much older than you, really. Your instructor, I'd say, is only a few months older than yourself." Seeing the shocked look on the younger girl's face and then the doubt, Kadowaki thought she should say something to reassure the girl. However, the second she opened her mouth to answer a student wandered into her office doubled over in pain. "Oh dear." She stood quickly and rushed to the ailing student's side. Remembering the other occupant in the room, she turned back to Yuffie with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Miss Yuffie, but duty calls."

Yuffie grinned. "Of course it does." Slowly, she began backing out of the room. "I'll just come again when you're not so busy. Thanks, Doctor Kadowaki, for everything you've done for me." Then she was gone.

Kadowaki smiled softly at the back of the departing girl before turning back to the task at hand. "Now what have we got here . . . ."

* * *

Yuffie wandered back down the gray corridor and smiled as she was greeted by one of her new friends.

"Lane! Thanks for waiting forwait. Where's your sister?" Yuffie looked around but couldn't find her multi-color-haired friend anywhere. Finally, her eyes wandered back up to met the soft, blue, eyes of her missing friend's young, twin, brother Lane.

"She was here less than a minute ago, but she saw something interesting near the lobby and left. She is always acting upon impluse." Lane sighed, then straightened up. "We can go on without her." Seeing the contemplative expression on the smaller girl's face, he stopped in mid-turn. "It's alright, Yuffie. She'll eventually meet again with us later." His lips softened with a smile. "You'll learn to ignore her after a while."

Yuffie, still bewildered, looked around once more before giving up with a grin. "Right!" She linked her arm with his (a habit she's beginning to pick up from Taeon) and slowly tugged him along.

A bit flustered by the young ninja's actions, Lane tried futile attempts to retrieve his arm, but her firm grip told him he wouldn't be released any time soon. He sighed and smiled when she turned and grinned at him again.

Soon he realized that they were wandering in no particular place and was instead doing just thatwandering. But then he began to study her movements and came to another realization.

She's looking for something?

He watched her further as she turned and stopped upon spotting a tall junior student with long, copper-brown, locks of hair rushing to his next class. She sighed,shook her head and then turned away, resuming her pace once again.

No, he thought. She's not looking for something, but someone.Come to think of it, she's been doing this since she was able to leave the infirmary on her own.

He noticed he was now almost stumbling with her new pace and took longer steps to keep up. The new pace she set for herself told him that she became determined. And when she turned her head again, he found that same determination marring her beautiful, round, face.

He turned his head away from her. Beautiful? That's the second time now. He thought.

He stopped suddenly, mid-stride. Upon that last thought, something dark crept inside his mind, his body and then his heart. He reached up and laid a hand there and felt an odd sensation that made him tremble.

Pain. He felt pain.

Having become almost totally absorb in his old feeling, he was only slightly aware of a pair of warm hands on his face, his forehead and the soft words of worry drifting to his ears.

Then he saw her. Long, black, hair and a pair of soft, crimson eyes. Her hands were the same as they have always been. Small, warm, and comforting.

". . . ane," she called out in her sultry voice. Her lips shaping gently as she said his name. ". . . Lane . . . ."

S-Saori . . . .

He closed his eyes and everything went black.

- - -

Yuffie's heart stopped as her friend's body hit the ground.

"What happened? Lane?" She rushed and knelt by his head, gently lifting it up and placing it on her lap. She looked around but there was hardly anyone around. "Class. Everyone is in class now." Thinking ahead, Yuffie took the light gray pullover she had, again, borrowed from Taeon and folded it into a make-shift pillow. She lift her friend's dark head again and placed the pullover beneath it. She shivered when the cool air of the well, air-conditioned school, touched her bare arms. Standing, she began to run back toward the infirmary, which she now took note was completely on the other side of her.

Did we really come this far? She mused. She stopped briefly to look where her current position was and then kept on going. Damn this place. Why does it have to be so freakin' big? She shook her head in frustration. "Damn me for not paying attention!" She scolded herself darkly.

Unbeknownst to the little ninja, she was being watched by three pairs of eyes.

"Ah, a student, eh? So much energy, these kids. Must be out for practice."

A pair of cool, blue eyes turned to look down at the older person walking beside him incredulously.

"Class is in session now, isn't it? No one should be out at this time."

Cid chuckled and waved it off as nothing. "Oh my. So it is. But look there, Squall." Cid lifted a finger and pointed in the direction of the girl, who was now being intercepted by the head of the Disciplinary Committee Seifer Almasy. "Looks like Almasy is already taking care of it."

Squall looked back and found the girl being dragged off firmly by the arm. He sighed. From where he was standing, he could hear the girl's voice echoing off the walls toward him as she yelled and tried pulling herself free.

"Let go o' me, you bastard! I need to get to the infirmary! Damn you!" Yuffie's eyes blazed angrily at the older man standing before her. Then they widened as she got an idea. "I know! You see"

"Did you know you're not supposed to be wandering about when class is in session?" Seifer asked, completely ignoring the poor ninja's pleas.

"Y-yes, I know that. But I'm no"

"And did you realize that running is prohibited on school grounds, unless of course you happened to be training?"

"No . . . . But I"

Seifer turned cold, green, eyes to the dumbfound ninja and smirked. "I see. A day's worth detention then."

Yuffie fumed. "I don't have time for this," she growled. She then sprang in the air and cart wheeled backward and then somersaulted clean over the stunned blonde's head.

Seifer, shocked by the girl's actions, released her arm when she cart wheeled. He became angry suddenly when she turned her head and grinned mockingly at him. He watched her turn back and run like the very devil was on her tail. He palmed his forehead and grumbled a long list of obscenities under his breath. Someone, other than his rival, bested him. And this someone was a girl. He turned the opposite direction and stomped off.

A ways away, Cid laughed while Squall looked on with a slight twist to his lips. "Ah . . . . Now that is quite interesting. I didn't think Seifer was one to give up so easily. I was sure he'd be chasing her down right about now." Cid straightened up and glanced up at Squall. "Just shows how much he's changed since that time."

Squall suppressed a low growl and the flame of a rage that had long been buried since then. He relaxed and sighed loudly. No one needn't explain to him what "that time" was.

It's in the past, he told himself. Get over it.

"That girl . . . ." Cid mused aloud. "I've never seen her before. Well, I'm quite sure she's not a student."

Squall tried picturing the girl's face again and couldn't. And even though he was sure he had never meet the girl before, her voice and what he saw of her seemed oddly familiar. Suddenly, he remembered the picture and then the name. It rolled off his tongue and passed through his lips before he could stop it.

"Yuffie Kisaragi . . . ."

Cid glanced up with questioning eyes. "Squall? You know that girl?"

Squall shook himself from his thoughts. "No. Not really anyway. That folder Kadowaki brought to the office earlier though . . . ." He trailed off.

Cid's eyes became thoughtful for a second before lighting up with an amused twinkle. "Ah! So she's the one the school's been going on about for the past couple weeks now. Seems she finally made up her mind and decided to become a student."

Squall looked at the older man from the corner of his eyes before shifting it over to where he last seen the girl.

Yuffie . . . .

- - -

Once Yuffie got back to the infirmary she grimaced, reaching down to gingerly touch her leg.

"Damn, it hurts . . . ," she muttered painfully.

She had been out of training for only a couple weeks, yet her muscles were already sore from her actions earlier. That alone told her that she was getting out of shape. She mentally made a note to ask her friends about a good place to train later. For now, one of those friend's needed her help.

Now at the infirmary, Yuffie burst into the doctor's office and shouted, "Doctor Kadowaki!"

Startled, said doctor rushed out of one of the rooms to meet her. "Miss Yuffie! My dear, you're so pale. What's wrong?" She asked, taking in the kunoichi's appearance.

Yuffie shook her head and motioned her to follow her. "I'm fine, but Lane. Lane collasped and is unconcious!"

Kadowaki took on a fearful expression and placed a hand firmly on the ninja's shoulder. "What happened? Where is he?"

Yuffie quickly raked her mind for the location in which she left her friend, but shook her head again. Even though she's been shown around, she still wasn't all that familiar with her new surroundings just yet. "I can't place where he is now, but I can show you!" She ran ahead and stopped to wait for the doctor. "I don't know what happened exactly. We were just walking around when he stopped suddenly. I asked him what was wrong and called out his name several times, but he didn't respond. He had a glazed look to his eyes when he looked at me though."

Kadowaki nodded her graying head and quickly followed the younger girl. Together, they passed by the pink entrance of the Quad, the red of the Cafeteria, the gray of the Dormitories and then suddenly found theirselves near the yellow entrance of the Parking Lot.

As they rounded one last corner, Yuffie saw the immobile form of Lane, laying just as she left him.

"There he is! Looks like no one else came by. Oh no! I forgot to check if he was still breathing!" Yuffie pulled on her hair in distress and immediately ran up to his prone form and held two slender fingers above his slightly parted lips. A whoosh of air left her body when she found him breathing out softly. She silently cursed her carelessness and mentally kicked herself.

Kadowaki smiled softly at the girl's distress and immediately went to work. A few minutes passed by and Kadowaki had Yuffie help her to move him to a near by bench after she deemed it safe to move him. So with a big effort on both their parts, they successfully moved Lane's unconcious body on to the bench. It might have been much easier if Yuffie hadn't over-exterted herself earlier, but it can't be helped now. She picked up the folded pullover from the ground and once again placed it under Lane's head, so that it wasn't sitting uncomfortably on the hard surface of the bench.

Kadowaki motioned her aside and she stepped back automatically. The doctor knelt beside Lane while reaching into her one of the many pockets of her lab coat and pulled out a small tube of something. She uncapped the tube and waved it gently under Lane's nose.

Lane turned his face away from the smelling salts and wrinkled his nose. Nearby, Yuffie sighed with relief. Not long after did his blue eyes open and he turned his head to look, with blurry eyes, at both the doctor and ninja.

"Lane? How you doin', kid?" Kadowaki asked in a motherly fashion.

"I . . . I . . . augh . . . what happened?" He asked, his voice slightly gruff. Slowly, he began to sit up, blinking away the blurriness from his eyes and trying to will the ache in his chest and head away.

Kadowaki sat next to him on the bench and gently reached out to rub his back in soothing motions. "I think you had another one of your attacks," she said softly. "Do you remember anything before you lost conciousness?"

Lane looked at the aging woman next to him and then at the young, gray-eyed girl standing off to the side of him. Absently, he reached up to touch his chest and then gripped the cloth of his shirt in a fist before relaxing. "I'm . . . I'm fine. I d-don't remember anything," he told the doctor while looked down at the floor. Then he looked back up and meet the ninja's concerned eyes. "I'm sorry, Yuffie. I didn't mean to worry you like I did."

Yuffie smiled and reached up to touch his shoulder, only to have him flinch away from her. Her eyes became misty at this and she dropped her hand back down to her side. "It's okay. I-I'm just glad to see you're okay. I shouldn't have dragged you along with me aimlessly. So I guess I should be the one apologizing."

Seeing the hurt look in her eyes, Lane immediately regretted pulling away. He shook his head, but didn't say anything else. An attack she said. Why now? He hadn't had one since . . . then. He had been fine up until now.

Kadowaki looked at the emotion warring within the boy's eyes and thought she had better have a talk with him sooner or later.

"Lane?" She said softly. Blue eyes slowly shifted to her. "I think it would be best if you called it a day, kid. Maybe you're just feeling stressed and need to relax, eh?"

He sighed and nodded his head. With the help of the doctor, he steadily got to his feet.

Kadowaki's eyes flickered behind Yuffie where she caught sight of an agitated Seifer silently making his way toward them.

Yuffie tensed visably at the sound of a familiar voice.

"You! Pulling a stunt like that. Instead of a days detention, you're in for a weeks worth," Seifer ground out between clenched teeth.

Yuffie spun on her heels and narrowly missed being grabbed. "I didn't do anything wrong! I swear I didn't! You're the one that kept me from what needed to be done. You asshole!"

Cold, green, eyes glared menacingly down at her and she glared right back.

If only I had a shuriken. I'd shove one right up his tight as

"You and you. Sit," Kadowaki ordered gruffly while pointing to the bench.

Both Yuffie and Seifer growled at one another before doing what they were ordered to do. The two sat as far as they could away from each other and basically acted like a couple of stubborn five-year-olds.

With a frown forming between her eyes, Kadowaki paced before them. "Now. What's your damage, you two?"

Seifer didn't speak and instead glared at the floor.

Yuffie glared at the man sitting next to her while cracking her knuckles.

The doctor sighed heavily before addressing Yuffie.

"Like I said. I was only trying to get to the infirmary when this dumbas" She got a stern glare from the doctor and quickly made amends to her sentence. "when this . . . this poor excuse of a person kept me from getting there immediately," Yuffie explained with a huff.

Kadowaki then addressed Seifer.

Seifer growled. "She was running, doc! That's a violation of school grounds. So of course I stopped her. How the hell was I do know that she'd perform some damn trick and escape?"

"Oh dear Hyne!" Kadowaki pinched the bridge of her nose and propped a fist on a plump hip. "Seifer, I know you meant will in this case, but what you did could have seriously caused a lot of problems. And, Yuffie," Yuffie looked up and caught an amused twinkle in the doctor's eyes, "what did you do to escape?" Even Lane, who had been silent this entire time, looked on with interest.

Seifer grunted softly, but Yuffie had a grin plastered on her face.

"I told you that you didn't have anything to worry about with my abilities at becoming a cadet, Doctor."

Lane's eyes widened and he stared at Yuffie. "You didn't. B-but why?"

Yuffie smiled at her blue-eyed friend. "Because being a regular student here just doesn't cut it for me. I'm used to more strenuous activities instead of having to just sit down and do paper work."

Seifer turned to the girl next to him with his cool gaze. "You're not a student?" He asked.

Yuffie whipped her head in his direction, her lips tightening to a thin, white, line. "If you had just stopped to listen we wouldn't be here now," she retorted angrily.

Seifer's gaze softened, but he didn't say anything. He stood, nodded to the doctor before quietly walking away.

Yuffie gaped at his retreating back and turned back to the doctor. "What's up with him?"

Kadowaki sighed and shook her head. "Nothing, Miss Yuffie. He has been stressed since he came back. That's all."

Came back? Yuffie thought. She wanted to ask more but found the doctor's attention was now focused on Lane, who looked visably pale and wavered slightly on his feet. He looked like he was going to pass out again.

She stood quickly and got there in time to support him as he lost his balance and began to fall. He gasped sharply in surprise and quickly aligned himself back up again. Yuffie didn't let go though and held an arm around his waist firmly. She told him to drape an arm about her shoulders and to use her body as support if he felt like he was going to fall again.

"Thanks," he murmured, becoming flustered once again.

"No prob!" Yuffie grinned up at him before turning to the doctor. "I'll help him get to his room."

Kadowaki smiled and nodded before watching them slowly make their way toward the dormitories entrance.

"Ah, Doctor! How are you doing?"

Kadowaki turned to the voice and smiled broadly. "Cid! I've been better. You?"

Cid chuckled and closed the distance between himself and the doctor. "Pretty good. Just taking a walk around campus. It's nice to get out of the office once in a while." He reached up and pushed his glasses up with his fore finger, before asking, "Those kids giving you problems, Kadowaki?"

Kadowaki wandered over to the bench and plopped herself down. She shook her head before replying. "No. Just some misunderstandings and . . . stuff," she said lamely.

Cid hooted before joining her on the bench, leaving his bored companion to silently stand to the side. "Stuff, eh? Squall here and myself witnessed the happenings from the elevator earlier. We had no clue that Michaels was down here all this time. If we had, we'd have helped out."

Squall grunted before replying. "Rather, you would have made me help while you watched from the sidelines, you old man," he deadpanned.

Both the elderly chuckled at the truth of the young commanders words before slowly quieting down.

"So you two witnessed it all then? You gonna fill me in or what?" Kadowaki asked with a raised brow.

Cid scratched the back of his neck. "Mm . . . . Well, maybe not all of it. We came out of the elevator just as the girl began to run and saw Seifer step in to intervene. He had her in a firm hold, but she got angry and did this thing . . . ," Cid did his best to show what the ninja did earlier with his hands, but with little to no success.

Squall sighed wearily and decided to help the old geezer out. "She slipped out of his hold while performing a cart wheel and then somersaulted over his head before smiling idiotically and then running off again."

Kadowaki blinked her eyes before laughing. "She did that? Really?"

Both replied in unison. "Really."

The doctor calmed herself. "Wow. She's truly an amazing girl, that one. Just full of surprises." All business now, she turned to Squall. "Did you get through with those papers, Commander?" She asked.

Squall nodded. "Just handed them over to Xu so she could schedule her classes and what not before we left the office."

Cid nodded approvingly while nudging the doctor in the side. "You see, I was right, wasn't I?"

She merely nodded and smiled sympathically at Squall.

"You conspired against me?" Squall asked coolly.

Cid waved him off. "'Course not, Commander. Just doing what I thought was the best course of action for this school." He looked Squall in the eyes. "And I do, indeed, think this is the best course of action. I was right to make you commander, Commander. And I have a feeling that I am right, yet again, in handing this new position over to you." Seeing the frustration and the doubt in his young eyes, Cid stood and clasped a hand on his broad shoulders. "I know this is a lot of weight being put on to your shoulders, but you have to trust my beliefs that this will all turn out for the better."

He gestured up to the elevator, which served as transportation that not only led to the offices, but the classrooms on the second level, too. "If you take a look around, Squall, you'll see that those students up there really look up to you and hold a great respect for you. Does this sound familiar?"

Squall closed his eyes at the memory before opening them again and nodding. "Yes. I see where you're coming from. But, sir. Headmaster?"

Cid chuckled. "I guess this is for my benefit as well as yours. I'm getting old, Squall. Too old, in fact. I'm just not the strapping lad that I once was anymore."

Kadowaki snorted at this. "Damn straight you're not. Gonna send me to an early grave going on the way you do everyday." She stood and rubbed her lowerback while glaring half-heartedly at the older man, at the same time getting her point across.

Cid chortled. "Yes, indeed. Indeed. We can't have that now, can we? Anyway, I've been meaning to retire since my wife came back to me, which I have you and your friends to thank for. I just didn't make that decision final until things around here settled down. Now, since it has been for a while, I'm going to go ahead and announce my retirement this week."

Squall nodded in understanding. "Where do you plan to go when you leave?" He asked.

Cid straightened and looked up to the transparent dome of the ceiling, smiling. "Well, the wife and I are going to carry out the rest of our days down in Cetra; FH has done a wonderful job reconstructing our home. Of course, the two of us will be looking forward to visits every now and then. And you are welcome to drop by at any time." He took on a wistful expression as he thought of the beautiful, dark-haired, woman who captured heart all those years ago. "I know Edea will be most pleased to receive visitors, especially if those very same visitors are the children she helped raised."

Squall bowed his head, a small smile quirking the corners of his lips. "Understood."

"Well, shall we continue on, or do you want to return to the office."

Squall thought of all those piles of papers waiting for him back in his office and mentally cringed. "If you don't mind, sir, I want to head into town and get some work done on my gunblade."

The older man smiled broadly. "'Course not, boy. Get on out of here."

With that, Squall bid them good-bye and headed up to his room to retrieved his gunblade and then back down to borrow a car from the school's garage.

"Are you sure you're not expecting too much out of him, Cid?" Kadowaki asked as she watched their commander walk off.

Cid laughed. "Mmm..."

"'Mmm,' what?" Kadowaki asked suspiciously.

Cid rocked back on his heels. "No. My expectations for that young man there are limitless." He coughed. "Indeed. I see what you mean. They may be a bit high, but I wouldn't expect any less coming from him. Besides, he's not alone anymore. He has Quistis, Irvine, Zell and Selphie to back him when things go wrong."

Kadowaki smiled. "You forgot someone there, Cid."

Cid turned to her askance. "What? Pray tell, who?"

"The one person who matters most. The woman he loves, Cid."

A warm flush spread across the older man's nose and cheeks. "Ah, yes! That dear girl. She will especially come in handy. As long as she keeps on loving him and stays by his side, he should be alright."

Kadowaki nodded her head in agreement, but then thought of the young, gray-eyed, girl with short, black, hair and a smile so bright that you just couldn't help but smile back. She thought back to her previous conversation with Squall and noticed he didn't even blink when speaking of the girl. Nor did he show any type of recognition upon her mentioning. She soon began to wonder what would happen if the two should meet face to face.

Kadowaki sighed. I don't think I really want to find out.


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A u t h o r ' s N o t e s
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Been pretty busy on my side, so I didn't have time to write or update. And when I did I just didn't have the energy or the inspiration. So I'm sorry for the long wait and I thank each and every one of you that read and left a review thus far. You guys are AWESOME! I'll try updating before my birthday, which is on the first of April. But if I don't, then sometime during that month. Later peeps!

- N a t s u

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D i s c l a i m e r s a n d C o p y r i g h t s
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Julia the piano score NOT the story, Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy characters, settings and anything/everything, EXCEPT FOR the plot and storyline of THIS PARTICULAR STORY/FANFICTION TITLED 'JULIA', is and copyrighted to their respectful owners of Squaresoft, Square-Enix, Nobou Uematsu, Disney and any other who have any rightful claim. Original characters, that may come into play, settings, plot, storyline and this story/fanfiction is copyright and claimed by J.Watson aka Natsu/Natsumi.