A.N.: chapter 4 will actually be the flashback chapter, explaining the history of what happened and how the G-Army rose to power. Anyways, Onward to Chapter 3!

Oh yeah, I just want to thank everyone that has reviewed so far, especially Lady-Rinoa14 and Hyvlo, as you two are the only one who have reviewed more than once :D

I also want to apologize for the lateness of this chapter being put up, I've just been real busy lately with stuff that you'll most likely be bored by :P

Disclaimer: I do not own any material that belongs to Square-Enix and any other companies that may be associated with materials in my story, including characters, places, and items mentioned within this story. I do, however, own the plot and any original characters/places/items that appear in the story


Chapter 3

Rinoa eyed the doctor suspiciously as he examined her wrist under a lamp. She looked around the room for Squall, but couldn't find him. Fear started to slowly set in, though she didn't show it. That fear dissipated when she saw him enter, finishing off a makeshift bandage for his wrist.

"Ah Squall, there you are, I juzt finished examining it."

"And?"

"Eetz definitely removable." Both Squall and Rinoa sighed in relief at this.

"How long will it take you?"

"Not long, ten minutez perhapz, I juzt have to bypazz a few of eetz eenternal zeeztemz (Systems) to unlock eet." Squall nodded. The small man lowered his voice so that only Squall could hear.

"I have zomething to tell you, but not in front of zee girl." Squall walked out of the room with Dr.Odine

"What is it?" Squall inquired

"Eetz alzo giving off a signal, like you thought, but not juzt a homing signal, but zeveral otherz, many of which use zee same wavelength of my Sorceress suppressing devicez."

"You're saying that she's a sorceress? I thought the last one alive was killed in the last war 18 years ago"

"Eetz not impossible."

"Take it off of her; if she was a sorceress like Adel was, she would've had those eyes…I'll inform Cid of the situation anyway when I get back." Odine nodded, and went back in to get the bracelet off.

10 minutes later, Rinoa was rubbing her wrist where the bracelet had been, the itching was driving her mad. Squall was in the lab's garage, picking a sleek sports car and loading the trunk with equipment from Odine. After the Doctor handed her a box which held the said bracelet and had told her she could go, she walked, rather quickly, to where Squall was.

"We ready to go?" She asked

"Almost, just got to send a message to the others," she nodded, and held out the box to Squall.

"It's got the bracelet in it. The doctor said he'd turned it off, so the G-Army shouldn't be able to find us,"

"Good. Ok, the message is sent, we can go." Rinoa jumped in the passenger seat, whilst Squall calmly walked up to the door and sat down in the driver's seat.

The garage door creaked open slowly, allowing the light from the sunset on the horizon seep through slowly. As Squall eased the car out of the garage, the intercom by the door activated.

"Good luck Squall,"

"Thanks for the help Odine, see you around," and with that, Squall sped off.

"Where are we headed?" Rinoa asked. A pause from Squall.

"First, we get back on the ship, then back to garden."

"Garden? As in, one of the SeeD Gardens? But I thought…"

"That's what everyone thinks, even the G-Army; it's the main reason why we've been so successful in evading capture."

"But where is it? There's just 3 huge craters where they were, there's no way it can be there!"

Squall smirked for a nanosecond, before replacing it with his usual serious composure.

"You'll see." Seeing the ocean was in view, he tapped his earpiece.

"You guys there?"

"Yeah, we're gonna land a click away from you." Came Zell's reply.

Squall looked up as he saw the red dragon-shaped craft soar over them and land not too far away. Turning the car round to face the ship, he raced towards it.

Parking the car in the nearest empty space he could find in the hangar, he got his equipment out from the back of the car and tapped his earpiece again.

"Tilmitt, head back to Garden. Quistis, tell Cid we're coming and need a clear space to land this thing, maybe the Quad?" both women replied with an understood, and Squall heard the engines come to life again and the slight shudder as it lifted off the ground and flew away from Esthar.

"Guys, this is Rinoa, she's gonna give us a brief of what she knows when we get back to Garden, so no bothering her, alright?" The 4 people nodded and went back to their workstations apart from Irvine and Zell, whilst Rinoa sat in one of the spare chairs, and Squall took up co-pilot.

Irvine nudged Zell to get his attention and whispered to him.

"Squall actually voicing concern for someone? I think he likes her," Zell gave him a look of mock disgust

"Squall actually like-liking her? For one thing, he's never had a romantic encounter in his life, and second of all, he'll be too stubborn on upholding that "lone wolf" thing to actually tell her he likes her"

"Ha-ha, you're one to talk Zell. I know you've been eyeing up that girl in the library. Ya'know, the one with the pigtails." Zell's face reddened.

"Yeah…well…shut up! I've seen the way you look at Selphie. This time, it was Irvine's face to change colour.

"Alright then Zell, hows about this: You ask that library girl to go to the committee party with you, and I'll ask Selphie, deal?" Zell held out his hand.

"Deal."


About 2 hours later, Zell announced

"Garden should be coming up in front of us in about a minute Squall."

As soon as Rinoa heard this, she ran forward to get a better look out of the bridge's window. She'd never seen a picture of any of the gardens, so she was shocked when she saw the strange, light blue seashell-shaped building floating about 1 kilometre off of the ocean floor, with a ring that was intricately designed, spinning around at the bottom of it.

"Um, which garden is this? I was told that there were 3…before they were destroyed" She asked Squall.

"Balamb" Squall replied monotonously. He pressed a button for the ship's communication channel.

"Cid, it's Squall. Have you got us a landing space?"

"Yes, we've cleared a spot for you in the Quad, it's only temporary, we're altering the garage into a landing pad as we speak; you're cleared to land."

"Roger that, coming in to land now."

As the ship landed, several hundred people came rushing out toward the ship.

"Who are all these people?" Rinoa asked.

"These are the Forest Owls, the new name for the remnants of SeeD, after we were nearly wiped out by the G-Army." Quistis answered, with a slightly sombre tone to her voice. Rinoa nodded.

AN: if you're wondering why there is a huge crowd when the Ragnarok lands, this is because when Squall ordered the others back to Garden to fill Cid in on what happened, they didn't land before, they just talked via a com-link and set back off to Esthar.

"Well, we should head outside, they look like they're gonna charge on in a minute" Irvine joked, before walking off the bridge and toward the hangar to open the doors and meet everyone. Everyone else left after him, until only Squall and Rinoa were left. Squall hadn't moved from his position in the co-pilot's chair. Rinoa could hear a lot of cheers as she walked over to Squall.

"What's the matter? Aren't you coming?" Rinoa asked him.

He grunted, before issuing a short response;

"I'm not a people person."

"So…what? You just gonna sit here until you're ordered out?"

"That's the plan." A pregnant pause.

"You should go though, if you leave when I do, they'll get the wrong idea, if you know what I mean." Rinoa's face reddened slightly as she realized what he meant.

"Oh! Right…I'll just…go then…" She rather hurriedly left the bridge.

As she walked out from the hangar, the cheering quietened, and many people stared at her, some with suspicion, others with curiosity, but all unsure as to who she was and how had she come to be on the ship? She looked around nervously until she heard Zell yell:

"It's cool guys, she's with us! No need to get all worked up!" after that, the crowd stopped staring at her, and started talking amongst themselves; a lot of them were also trying to talk with Quistis, Selphie, Zell and Irvine who were surrounded.

10 minutes later, Squall saw that Cid was walking out toward the Quad, flanked by Nida and someone dressed in a Faculty uniform. Grabbing his Gunblade, he calmly walked out, just as he heard Cid yell:

"May I have your attention please?"

Of course, no-one had heard him apart from Squall. Sighing heavily, he raised his gunblade into the air, and squeezed the trigger on the handle 3 times. This, unsurprisingly, got everyone's attention. Squall then nodded at Cid before walking over to where the others were.

"Thank you Squall. Now, obviously, the mission was a success, and there will be time for you to celebrate tomorrow night at the committee party. But for now, let them rest and attend the debriefing. That is all." Cid then left, the crowd following suit; still chatting loudly, until only Squall and the others were left. Squall turned to face them.

"I know you guys already gave Cid a rough outline of what happened, but we've still got an hour 'til official debrief, as usual. You've got 30 minutes free time, but after that, I want Kadowaki checking up on you. Dismissed." Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine nodded, and set off in their own directions. Rinoa looked at Squall.

"What about me?" She asked him.

"I'm taking you to the infirmary, just for a check-up,"

"Why not when the others go?" Squall froze, and didn't answer. Instead, he just walked off. Rinoa, not wanting to get lost in this place, followed him.

Dr. Kadowaki looked up from her desk when she heard the main doors slide open. Seeing who it was, she smiled at Squall.

"Hello Squall. I assume from the cheering outside that the mission was a success?"

Squall nodded. Kadowaki looked at Rinoa with a slightly puzzled look.

"And who is this?"

"This is Rinoa. We found her on board Ragnarok, she was badly injured. I cast Curaga on her, which seemed to heal most of the damage, but I need you to do a check-up on her, just in case." The doctor nodded, before she noticed his wrist

"And what happened to you?" she inquired in a stern tone.

"Nothing. A sprained wrist. I bandaged it up." Dr. Kadowaki snorted.

"Like hell you did. I think you need to take that first aid course again, Commander."

Rinoa was giggling softly, covering her mouth with her hand. Squall sent her a traditional death-glare, before turning back to the stout doctor.

"My wrist is fine, just give me painkillers and a sling and leave me be. Besides, I asked you to check-up on Rinoa." He argued back, before heading over to the medicine cabinet and taking out a bottle of painkillers, and then began looking around for a sling. The doctor sighed in defeat; at least he'd have something to do whilst she did Rinoa's check-up.

20 minutes later, Rinoa walked up to Squall, who was leaning against the wall with a bored expression on his face. He noted she was wearing different clothes; a light blue sweater with a pair of jeans that looked a little too baggy to fit properly, and Squall could see a belt that had been pulled so tightly together that a large bit of it was sticking out from Rinoa's side. Squall himself didn't care, but he felt sure that the others would think she looked funny. He opened his mouth to state this, but Rinoa cut him off.

"Before you start; don't laugh, these were the only spare clothes left and I know I look a fool but…" This time, Squall cut her off.

"I wasn't going to laugh, I was gonna say that the others might though." A short pause. Squall checked his watch.

"We should go; the others will be coming here soon. Unless you want to be the subject of torment, I suggest you come with me now." He said nonchalantly, before heading out of the main door, Rinoa following behind him.

They walked along the corridors in silence, until Rinoa attempted conversation.

"So……where is everyone?"

"Classes"

"Oh." The hallways became quiet once again, Save for their footsteps. A little while later, when the two were nearing the Directory, she attempted to speak to Squall again.

"D'you think you can give me a tour? I don't want to get lost here."

"Whatever." He walked over to the directory, and pointed at the various signs.

"We're here, the sections clock-wise from here are Infirmary, Cafeteria, Quad-where we came from; Dorms, garage, Training Centre and Library"

AN: I think that's the order they go in, did it from memory having not played FF8 in a while. Let me know if I made a mistake!

"That's not what I'd call a tour," She smirked. Squall opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by the intercom.

"Squall Leonhart, please report to the headmaster's office along with the rest of your team."

"We better get going," Squall stated bluntly, before walking up the steps to the elevator. He waited for Rinoa then pressed the button for third floor. Rinoa 's eyes widened as she saw a large metallic pillar in the middle of the room when the elevator doors opened.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing at the pillar.

"That leads up to the bridge of the Garden. It's what controls how it moves." He explained quickly before walking past the pillar and taking a seat at a large wooden table situated behind the pillar. Rinoa took a seat next to him. Cid was already sat at the end of the table, with a Faculty member standing next to him. Just as Squall and Rinoa had sat down, the elevator doors opened again, and Quistis, Irvine, Selphie and Zell walked over to the table and took their seats. Cid cleared his throat before speaking.

"Thank you all for coming so quickly. I would also like to congratulate you on acquiring the Ragnarok. This will be a great help to our cause. Now Squall, the debrief…"

Squall told Cid what happened, with some contributions from Quistis, Irvine, Selphie and Zell. When Squall got to the part where he was riding to Odine's, he left out the incident with the Galbadian planes, saying his wrist was sprained by the impact of when he jumped ship. Rinoa gave him a strange look for a few seconds when he was saying this, but decided not to say anything about it. When he had finished, Cid cleared his throat again and spoke.

"Thank you all. Now, there is just one more matter to discuss." He looked at Rinoa.

"You probably already knew this, but we have to ask you some questions." Rinoa nodded.

"Well, frankly the most obvious questions here are who are you, and how did you end up inside the most well-kept, until now that is, secret of the Galbadian Military?"

Rinoa sighed, before speaking.

"My actual name is Rinoa Caraway. But I gave myself a different name after I found out what he did to my mother…So could you please address me as Rinoa Heartily?

"You're General fucking Caraway's daughter? Hyne…no wonder they came after us so bad. But they were trying to kill us, so why would he want his daughter killed?" Zell inquired.

"He doesn't think of me as his daughter any more. It's because of him I was on the ship. He never told me why…but he locked me up there, at that base, and there were all these scientists and…" She paused, "they took blood samples and ran me through these strange machines, and then they let the guards do what they wanted with me, they said something like "It may help her reach her full potential" but I had no idea what they were on about." Rinoa's eyes were starting to well up, but she would not cry in front of them.

"I think we understand Ms. Heartily. Thank you. You're free to stay here at the Garden for as long as you wish. I will-" Rinoa cut Cid off.

"You're fighting against the Galbadians right? My father? I want to help. I have-"

This time, Cid cut her off.

"Yes, yes, I was quite sure you were going to say that actually, but that is best left for discussion tomorrow. Please, just rest here. In fact, there's the Dance tonight, you're welcome to take part."

"Um… sure, I'll go."

"Selphie, would you mind sharing with Rinoa until we can give her accommodation?"

"Sure! Let's go Rinny!"

"Hyne…she's barely known her five minutes and she's already given her a nickname" Squall thought to himself.

"Well, you are all dismissed. I'm sure I'll see you all later." Everyone nodded, and then departed from the room.


1 hour later…

Irvine was wandering around the garden, looking for Selphie. He was heading toward the quad, where he suspected the hyper brunette to be. He wasn't surprised when he saw her co-ordinating people moving stuff around in preparation for the dance later that night. He confidently strode up next to her.

"Hey Sephy!"

"Hey Irvy. What'cha doin here?"

"Well actually, it concerns you."

"Moi?"

"Yes, um…You wanna go to the dance with me?

"Sure! I'd love to. I'll meet you at 7?"

"Ok! Well, see ya then!" He walked away, waving goodbye at her as he left the quad.

Meanwhile, in the library…

"Hey um…Amy, right?" Zell asked the girl with the pigtails at the library desk.

"Yes? Have you come to check out a book? Oh wait you're the guy that's always in here, Zell right?"

"Uh, yeah, I wanna ask you something…"

"Yes?"

"Doyouwanttogotothedancewithme?

"What?"

"Do you want to go to the dance with me?"

Amy giggled a bit.

"Sure! You're cute. I'll see you at 7 then?"

"Yeah, Well, See you!" Zell ran out of the library, and then stopped in the corridor.

"HELL YES!" He yelled, jumping up in the air.

Meanwhile, at the Training Center…

Squall was just finishing off some grats when when he noticed someone watching him. A certain black-haired young woman.

"Yes?" he questioned her.

"I just wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"What happened to the Gardens exactly? I mean I knew there was a missile attack but I don't much else, thanks to my father…"

"Well…"

Squall began to explain……


A/N: And that's the end of chapter 3! Please read and review! Sorry for the lateness again!