The Makings Of A SeeD
By Bhamv
Chapter 2 – The Beginning Of Something New
Author's note: Wow, two chapters in two days? That's a new record for me…
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[Soon after the end of Final Fantasy VIII]
"Any idea what this meeting is about?" Irvine Kinneas asked the other two SeeDs who sat across from him at their Garden cafeteria table, where they were enjoying a quick lunch. Zell Dinch stopped stuffing his mouth with a hot dog for just long enough to shake his head at Irvine, bits of meat and bun flying out of the corner of his mouth. Swallowing the chunk of food, Zell shrugged and began inhaling the remainder of his frankfurter.
"I wasn't told much." Said Squall Leonhart, commander of Balamb Garden and friend of Zell and Irvine, raising his voice to be heard over the loud chatter that was common during lunchtimes in the cafeteria. "I suppose we just turn up, and our superiors will tell us the rest."
"Ha, superiors? You're commander, Squall!" Zell said, his words garbled by his full mouth.
Squall ignored him, and continued. "Headmaster Cid, however, did tell me that both Esthar and Galbadia will be sending representatives here. And if both of those countries are involved, then something big is certainly up." Idly he picked at the plate of food before him, not really hungry.
Irvine nodded in agreement and took a bite out of his burger. He was about to say something when his eyes were covered from behind and a light, high-pitched giggle filled the air. "Guess who, Irvypoo?"
"Well, since only one person calls me Irvypoo, it must be… my mother, right?" Irvine said, and was promptly rewarded with a smack on the back of his head that knocked his cowboy hat off. Catching his hat in midair and whirling around in his chair, he saw the slender, petite figure of Selphie Tilmitt, his new girlfriend, standing behind him with an expression of mock exasperation. Behind her, trying desperately to hide their giggles, stood Rinoa Heartilly and Quistis Trepe, the two girls who had presumably arrived in the cafeteria with Selphie. Together, the six teenagers had defeated the sorceress Ultimecia several months ago, and were now widely hailed as heroes all across the world. After their adventurers, they had returned to Balamb Garden, where they were all now employed as Level A SeeDs. Even Rinoa, who had no previous Garden training, was granted top SeeD status, as in the words of headmaster Cid, "If she can time travel to the future and fight a sorceress, then she's good enough to be a SeeD!"
Selphie tried to glare down at the seated Irvine, but found herself melting into his deep brown eyes. Unable to stop a loving smile forming on her face, she gave no resistance as Irvine pulled her onto his lap and gave her a quick kiss, eliciting a soft giggle from the teenage girl. Rinoa smiled indulgently at the pair as she took a seat next to Squall, grasping his hand in hers and giving her lover a kiss of her own, long and passionate. When they finally broke the kiss, both youngsters panted slightly and appeared a bit flushed. Glancing at one set of lovebirds, and then the other, Zell gave Quistis his best pleading puppy-dog look, his eyes the size of dinner plates. Quistis replied with a scowl and a firm shake of her head, eliciting snickers from Irvine and Selphie.
"When you are quite finished, I believe the time for our meeting has nearly arrived." Quistis said, the reproach in her voice unmistakable. Even though all of the SeeDs were close in age, Quistis never managed to shake off the role of the big sister. Naturally, the fact that she had served as Squall and Zell's instructor for a while didn't help the situation. By now Quistis had decided to just accept her part and play it as best she could, which she was doing now in the cafeteria with her frown and unsubtle gazes at her wristwatch.
"Oh come on, Quisty, we've got ages before that meeting!" Selphie protested, her lips curling into a pout.
"I'd rather make sure none of us are late. With the rumors of important dignitaries coming to this gathering, I don't want to make Garden look bad." Quistis replied, reaching forward to jerk Selphie off Irvine's lap and to her feet. "Come on, you guys can cuddle in the meeting room."
"Not likely, what with the headmaster and whoever else there…" Irvine muttered, his drawling voice still loud enough to reach Quistis's ears, who gave him a dirty glare. Sighing dramatically, Irvine got to his feet, followed by Squall, Rinoa, and Zell, who was cramming the last of his hot dog into his mouth. Gulping down his drink to wash down his lunch, Zell broke into a jog to catch up with his friends as they left the bustling cafeteria.
The Garden corridors outside were nearly deserted, as all the SeeDs and students were either having lunch in the cafeteria, or relaxing elsewhere on their lunch break. After the end of the battle with Ultimecia, and space and time had returned to normal, Balamb Garden had ended its days as a floating airship and settled down back at its original spot on Balamb island. The residents in the nearby town of Balamb were starting to readjust to having a military academy next door again, just after they had gotten used to having it gone. Headmaster Cid had to reassure the mayor of Balamb that no one would target missiles anywhere near the vicinity of his town again, as the previous near-miss had left the townsfolk fairly nervous. But the Garden brought good revenue to the village, and the cadets and SeeDs certainly came in handy at times, so they decided to accept Garden's presence again with good grace.
Walking at a relaxed pace, the six SeeDs climbed the short staircase to the elevator, which would carry them to the second-floor meeting room. Squeezing in as best they could (it wasn't a very large elevator) Squall was about to press the 'up' button when he heard a voice call, "Hey, hold the elevator please!"
Glancing out, Squall saw a group of unfamiliar men, undoubtedly visitors to the Garden, hurrying up the staircase. Glancing at the oldest of the party, his body stiffened with surprise as he recognized the man clad in a stiff military uniform. "General Caraway!"
In unison, everyone in the elevator craned their necks to peek out the doorway, to see the man who they had conspired with to assassinate sorceress Edea, the man who was also Rinoa's father. It was indeed the elderly general, followed closely by five younger men, presumably assistants or bodyguards. Running his gaze over the troupe of SeeDs, Caraway immediately spotted and recognized his daughter. "Rinoa!"
"Father." Rinoa replied stiffly. She had become estranged from her father many years ago, and even now she found herself unable to completely forgive him. She was, however, willing to talk to him, greet him, even refer to him as her father, which was a massive improvement from when Squall and co first saw the two of them together. Rinoa glanced around her and said, "I don't think there's enough room, father."
Caraway grimaced and nodded, "We'll take the next one." The doors to the elevator slid shut and the mechanism glided smoothly upwards, carrying the six SeeDs up onto the second floor. As they exited, Squall gave Rinoa a searching look, as if silently reproaching her for how she treated her elders. A sudden shout from a familiar, exuberant voice interrupted the silent transfer between the two young lovers, as a tall man with long black hair sprinted up to Squall and enveloped him in a big bear hug.
"Squall! Son! I'm so glad to see you!" The man shouted, laughing with uncontained glee as he held Squall, who stood stiffly, awkwardly returning the hug.
"Hello… Laguna." Squall said, still unable to refer to the man he once called 'moron' as his father. Looking over Laguna's shoulder, he noticed Rinoa covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes dancing with mirth at the irony and comedy of the situation. Gently pulling himself free from Laguna's deathgrip, he looked at the man's grinning face with a searching gaze. "What are you doing here?"
"What me? Oh, not much, Kiros, Ward, and I were just stopping by here for that meeting Cid's invited us to. It's long overdue, this gathering, we should have had it months ago." Laguna replied. Squall felt it was odd that Laguna Loire, president of the nation of Esthar, would come all the way to Balamb personally just to attend a meeting. Surely sending one of his deputies, such as the wiry Kiros or the gigantic Ward, would have been enough? The two men, who were once Laguna's fellow soldiers in the Galbadian army, now stood beside their president, serving faithfully as his aides and friends. They gave small smiles and nods in greeting, and were answered by nervous waves and smiles from the SeeDs.
A low hiss behind Squall indicated to him the elevator had arrived again, undoubtedly carrying general Caraway and his men. Glancing behind him, he noted he was half right. Caraway's party were indeed stepping out of the lift, but behind them were none other than headmaster Cid Kramer, and his wife Edea.
"Ah, I see we're all here! Excellent!" Said the headmaster, who beamed brightly at the SeeDs. Beside him, Edea gave the teenagers a warm maternal smile. She had, after all, brought most of them up in her orphanage when they were children, before they had joined Garden as students. Even though she was Cid's age, she still looked like she was in her early twenties or even late teens, a product of her magically prolonged life as a sorceress. "Well then, let's begin without delay, shall we?" Exclaimed Cid, leading the way through the door into the dark meeting room, followed by the delegations from Esthar and Galbadia, with the SeeDs bringing up the rear.
Two people were already seated inside the dim chamber, both of them leaping to their feet and giving the traditional SeeD salute as soon as the headmaster entered. The first was assistant headmistress Xu, who helped the headmaster in the everyday runnings of Balamb Garden. The other was clearly a man, although his face was hidden in shadows, and all that was visible was his SeeD uniform worn atop a large muscular frame.
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Thanks for reading! Please review!! –Bhamv