Part 3 – Storm's Wake

Lying back on the plain bunk, he chipped away some flaking paint from the dull walls with his nails. It was mindless, but that was exactly his intention. Anything was better than thinking about today's events. He'd been in full control this morning. And now, tonight, as the music of the SeeD ball seeped through to his detention cell, he'd lost control of everything.

First he had had to sit through a ranting from Doc. Kadowaki, who was anything but happy to have the two most notorious cadets in Garden bleed all over her carpet first thing in the morning. As he had predicted, Squall's wound would leave a scar. So did the wound Squall gave to him, but that was something the Doc described as 'your own fault'.

He hadn't bothered to explain to her that it had been his choice to leave his own scar to form. Like Squall's wound would remind the youngster what combat was all about, his own scar would remind him of the price he paid to teach Squall that lesson. But that was no one's business but his own.

Next had been class and preparation for the SeeD exam later in the afternoon. He'd counted his blessings when Instructor Trepe only made a public remark about him not hurting his partner in training. She didn't have time for more, because Squall still had to do the prerequisite tasks for the SeeD exam, and she rather helped her favourite student than berate her best student. He smirked to himself. Yes, he was her number one student, even if she didn't think of him that way.

So with everyone busy, he'd had a quiet morning after that. Only Fujin and Rajin, his loyal friends and posse, had asked after the fresh mark on his face. Squall came too close, he told them. Nothing more. They needn't know his true motivations. He hated having to lie to them, but the truth was complicated enough to himself, let alone for anyone else to understand.

Then they'd been called to assemble for the SeeD exam.

He shouldn't have been so nervous. He'd attended three exams before this one, and each time he had had to do his best to fail. The tests weren't hard for a born warrior like himself, but the big difference was that this time, Squall would be participating, too. And Squall would pass, of that he was sure.

So the kid would be a SeeD come nightfall. That meant that he would be sent on missions all over the world, but it also implied that if Seifer wanted to keep an eye on him, he would have to make SeeD as well. That last bit would prove to be difficult, since their superiors were all set on finding faults with him. Every one of his actions would be observed with a loop and weighed on a very sensitive scale. It was kind of the downside to sabotaging his own exams so many times.

He had been so set on doing it right this time. And he had to, since when they made him captain of the team consisting of Squall, Zell Dincht and himself, it was pointed out very clearly that this was his last chance of making SeeD, ever. He'd had a lot to think about on their boat trip to Dollet, where the exam would take place.

Sure he'd been bitching about being sent to a remote corner where there was hardly anything fighting going on -especially with all the adrenaline rushing through his veins-, but that was just to keep up his reputation. Fact was that he had enough self-control to stay put if he really, really had to.

But the big problem was that staying put was really not an option anymore when his team had discovered what the enemy was after. Yes, he could have called in the SeeD assisting the mission. Yes, he could have left well enough alone.

But things aren't 'well enough' when the chanting in his head started up again at the sight of that structure, the Communication Tower of Dollet City. The source of that chanting was there. A Sorceress most likely. Matron? He sure had hoped it was her.

No such luck, though. He'd gone ahead to scout the area, and chased a couple of Galbadian soldiers out of the structure but that was about it. But by the time Squall had arrived, dragging Zell and some petite girl cadet with him, it was slowly becoming evident that perhaps his sweep of the facility had not been as thorough as he should have been.

The insistent chanting had grown louder and louder, up to a point where he could barely stand up for the pressure on his mind. Almost simultaneously, a huge monster had appeared, clearly out for their blood. The fight that followed he could only witness through bleary eyes and a pounding headache, unable to help in any way. But Squall had learned his lesson. He had learned how to fight to win, and he proved it there and then.

With that out of the way, the girl cadet had turned to him. He had tried to hide the fact he felt like a shirt in the rinse cycle while she informed him of their new orders, namely to retreat back to the boats that had brought them here. Before the hour struck.

Less then half an hour to cross a city is not exactly well-spaced. There had been too little time to do things the official way. Since neither they nor the monster had been able to prevent the enemy troops from activating the Tower's mechanism, he had opted to run ahead and warn the SeeD about the enemy's interests and intentions. He and his team had barely made it back in time.

That's when everything went haywire. The instructors were furious about his actions, and refused to listen to reason. All they cared about was that he had abandoned his post, abandoned his team, disobeyed orders and displayed reckless behaviour in general. As team captain, he got all the blame, and his team members were pardoned from every charge whatsoever. That he'd been right about the Galbadian Army being after the Communication Tower, something the SeeD hadn't known about, was blatantly ignored.

So Squall had passed with flying colours, while he had failed yet again. At his last chance, too.

They had wanted to throw him in the detention cell straight away, but for some reason they'd allowed him to attend the graduation ball, even if it was for barely more than an hour. Probably to rub the facts in his face: He'd never be SeeD.

At least showing himself there had saved his dignity. If he'd been arrested in public, he'd never live it down. Besides, this way he'd got to see Squall live up to everyone's expectations, even if black leather looked better on the youngster than the awkwardly-shaped SeeD uniform did.

But to make matters worse, attending the ball had also earned him a run-in with his ex-girlfriend. He'd caught her in the act of making a move on Squall no less, 'romantically' hugging him as the fire works went off overhead.

Staring up at the stale white of the cell's ceiling, he groaned and draped his arm over his face. Squall and Rinoa, as a couple… Now there was a thought he could do without.

You know the drill: please R&R. There will bemore action in chapters to come, I promise!