CHAPTER ONE – Among Good Company

The man had awoken with a sweat, the dream of the man in black armor having frightened the veteran warrior. Throwing the thin blanket off of him, the man went over to the sink to splash his face with water, allowing the icy cold liquid to create goose bumps across his neck. The man gazed at his reflection in the dirty mirror, the thin piece of glass cracked and stained.

The man stared at his dark, blue eyes, and at the messy affair of his jet black hair that seemed unruly and full of filth. His chin was wide, and his shoulders hinted how the rest of his well trained and disciplined body appeared: full of muscles that were trained day in and day out for twelve years, constantly being pushed to the limits that God had placed upon them.

The man formed his hands into a pitiful bowl, filled it, and drank the fluid that had not managed to slip between his fingertips. Purposely falling over, the man slowed his breathing, trying to make sense of the nightmare that had stalked him during the night.

'It was just a dream…wasn't it?'

Again silence hung the air, creating a sense of great fear that seemed to make everything else silent. The man's beating heart slowed, with each beat creating the illusion of stilling time to an infinite space. Sweat flooded the man's hair, and the longer the man laid there, the more water that dripped from them. The man swallowed hard, completing one of the many precautions to gain control of himself, now that he was back in reality.

'He knows me…'

'He knows what I'm planning…'

'Do the others…?'

It wasn't the dream itself that brought so much fear to the man; despite it seeming so real and factual, that if the man wanted to he could actually touch the horrific demonic statues that glorified the halls of that castle. The thing that horrified the man the most was the figure in the black armor; not the series of chest plates that created the daunting figure, nor the physical appearance of the individual in question, but the eyes of the man.

They were the type eyes that could look into people's souls, their dreams and desires, eyes that could see what every man sinned and how they had glorified in it; they were eyes that nothing could be hidden from, eyes that could look into the darkest desires of every man, to see a man's lusts, his contempt's and warmongerings. They were eyes of a God.

'Damnit, get control of yourself Ferin! It was only a dream…a result of reading too many fantasy books. Get focused! You're almost there; you need to stay on task here!'

He stood up, staring again into the mirror; his eyes had gone bloodshot red and his face pale with fear. The man attempted to steady his breathing, to try to keep still long enough to compose himself, but it was no use. The horrible nature of that man's eyes proved a much stronger force of emotions.

Running into his bedroom, he threw on his clothes: a red trench coat that over lapped a meaningless black t-shirt. He slipped on his black leather gloves, and strapped his blade onto his back. Leaving his small cabin, he entered the calm realm that was the sea.

The blade itself was brought off the Galbadian black market in Deling three years prior, and it was an expensive necessity, with it being developed by RA-NHIS, the weapon manufacturer that made itself famous with the creation of the gunblade twenty years ago. The blade, called a Flamberge after the dragon of ancient Galbadian myth, was constructed in the buster sword style; with its long handle that supported an equally long blade. Unlike its ancient predecessor, the Flamberge was double edged, allowing the user to strike from any angle. Never to be satisfied with any of their weapons until it would become far too expensive to mass produce, RA-NHIS added one final feature: they had the Flamberge constructed out of Marliem Alloy, giving it an almost weightless advantage.

Ferin's mode of transportation was an old fishing vessel he had acquired through persuasion and the luck of the drink in Galbadia a month prior. He gave the ship's owner three strong alcoholic beverages that the captain enjoyed a little bit too much, and before the man passed out from all of the alcohol in his bloodstream, he practically handed his vessel over to Ferin, who paid the intoxicated captain barely a percent of what the fishing vessel was truly worth.

That's not to say that this fishing vessel, which reeked of rotten fish, sported a sputtering engine, and was equipped with a sonar system that was more often than not inaccurate, could even be considered worth any price.

He stared at the dark skies: the night before the sea clouds were dark but were at peace. They had remained steady; with them slowly gathering towards the center of what Ferin presumed was the center of his field of view. Then were dark but full of spirits: but now they are black, full of a storm that was waiting to emerge through their slowly weakening and detouring armor.

The distant sky flashed with a great light. A storm was coming: he has to get through it before it gets too dangerous. If he didn't, waves would form and surely overwhelm the ant of a ship.

Ferin rushed to the captain's deck, and grasped his hands on the steering wheel.

The distant sky flashed again.

He had to move faster.


An airplane threw the clouds, its engines tearing away at the white gases that surrounded the vessel. The plane turned slightly, allowing the nose of the metal bird to point directly towards its destination. The island of Balamb came into view, now the size of an ant to the General and the woman onboard, but soon enough the island known for its exotic fish will be gigantic the two of them.

The General was that of Galbadia, and if one were to be formal would call him General Hemmingway, but the blonde haired man in his fifties refused to be called by such a term that signified a man that ordered others to kill in times of near peace. Now, he would insist that he be referred to as simply Mister Hemmingway, although a rare few would continue to refer to him as his official title. Hemmingway leaned towards the glass window, so that he attempt to see a better view of the island, even though it became evident enough to both him and his daughter that he will get a better view when the helicopter pilot was kind enough to get closer to Balamb Island.

"It's been a long time Cid," Hemmingway mused out loud.

"Are we going to get another long flashback now, dad?" Hemmingway's daughter, Alladra, asked. The woman had turned twenty just a month ago, on October, and the girl almost radiated beauty, with her long blonde hair and mesmerizing blue orbs. The young girl loved her father dearly, and meant no offense with the remark. The General knew that as well, learning long ago that his little girl was a sarcastic one.

"No, I don't think so. Cid will probably do enough of that once we get there."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Oh great."

Four and a half minutes later, the airplane landed at an area determined and paved earlier by Balamb Garden, and the landing site was a mere four minute drive to the legendary war academy, a privilege much appreciated by the members of the United Legislation, a global organization comprised of individuals from every country in the world dedicated to preventing any wars from arising. Although it had good intentions, it did not succeed every time, for the will of man to fight with guns and blades rather than the tongue constantly proved the stronger, but whenever the United Legislation did manage to score one for peace, it was always considered a revolutionary event.

Within moments, the black limousine that picked the two up at the landing pad drove onto the pathway that was the entrance to Balamb Garden, with an eager Cid Kramer waiting at the entrance.

"Joe!" an open armed Cid proclaimed , and before the embarrassed Alladra could roll her eyes in a pitiful sign of protest, the two old friends were caught in a bear hug with each other, neither willing to let go before the other lost breath.

"All right Cid, you better let go before my daughter get's embarrassed again," the old General said with a grin. The Headmaster complied with his old friend's request, and eagerly loosened his embrace. "It's been a long time Cid. How long has it been, ten years?"

"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted you to Joe," the Headmaster chuckled at the irony. "I barely remember what I had for breakfast yesterday."

"Before you know it, you're going to forget that Edea is your wife!"

Cid grinned. "At least I won't have to understand the way a woman's mind works."

"Nor will I have to understand the way a man's mind works, Cid," revealed a black-gowned Edea. "It's good to see you again Joe." The elder Hemmingway nodded with a grin.

"Same here Edea. Why, you look just as good as the day my wife introduced Cid to you."

Edea turned to face Alladra. "And is this little Allie? Oh good lord, you've grown. How long has it been? I can't even remember…"

"Please Edea, don't tell me you are going to get all teary eyed on me now."

"Oh I wouldn't go all teary eyed per se, but just seeing you brings back far too many memories."

"And headaches," retorted Mr. Hemmingway.

"Like me proposing to Edea here!" Cid smirked as he wrapped his arms around his wife.

"Oh no…," Alladra groaned. "A bunch of old people talk about the good old days," she said with a sarcastic grin.

"At least back then I didn't get a bad back every other step," Cid reasoned quite accurately.

"And back then Iwouldn't have to rub it." Edea's comeback brought a chuckle from everyone. After the chuckle died down the elder sorceress turned to Alladra. "Now dear, let me show you to your room." Edea waved her hand in the air, signaling one of the SeeD students selected to assist the visitors to collect Alladra's belongings and follow. "This way, and let's have the old men talk of the old days, and we woman can talk about the important things."

"Like arranging rooms for five hundred plus guests when you barely have enough room for six hundred students?" Alladra suggested.

"Precisely," Edea grinned, and with that she led the young woman to her room on the fourth floor.

"I don't remember Balamb ever being this big," Alladra noted as they walked down the halls.

"Well, educating the warriors that saved the world does have benefits. Fame, an increase in student population, which is fine and all, but getting a huge amount of money from nations that want to get on our good side is probably the most helpful. Adding three floors, defensive and offensive systems and refining of the Centra technology are the results."

They turned down the hall, two SeeD students carrying Alladra's luggage following a steady pace behind. They quickly reached Alladra's room, and she couldn't help but ask a question that's been on the edge of her mind.

"Is Squall going to be coming?"

"I…am not sure of that Alladra, but that is a question no proper young lady should be asking. Do you understand me Alladra?"

"Yes ma'am."


Rinoa sat on a steel stool that leaned against a counter wall in her room at Balamb, her warm hands wrapped around the mug of coffee that she had prepared for herself a few minutes before. The steam from the mix of coffee beans and hot water created an aroma that the caffeine fueled beverage was somewhat infamous for, especially in cafes. She gently sipped some more of it before she recollected the reason why she was back in Balamb, besides to get some alone time from her father.

Then in an instant, it came back to her in a rush, and she smiled at the fact that Ellone would be coming in just a few short hours. After the Second Sorceress War, the two girls had gotten close enough that any outside viewer would of have had likely assumed that the two were either twins or sisters. Unfortunately, for the past few months the two had not been able to see each other at all, mainly due to Rinoa recently becoming the daughter of the first president of Galbadia in twenty something years and Ellone equally busy with being President Laguna of Esthar's foreign representative along with vice-president Kiros.

But now, the two were able to get the chance to see each other in what seemed in their naïve and biased opinions an eternity and then some. Of course, they would be representing their countries and relatives as members of the United Legislation, but in truth it really was just an excuse for the two ladies to get a chance to see each other.

Rinoa stared down at her watch; it was 3 minutes to two. Ellone was expected to arrive around three thirty, along with her uncle Laguna. Rising up from her stool, Rinoa sipped more of her coffee before putting on a neat and practically stainless black cotton coat over her pink t-shirt and exited the room. She was getting hungry and thus decided to head to head for the cafeteria to see what food they had available. She never expected for them to have any hot dogs ready: a hot dog at Balamb Garden is usually eaten and paid for within minutes of it being placed on a bun. Fortunately, Rinoa was in the mood for a salad, which was always in high supply, and she was a big fan of the salads.

On her way to they cafeteria, Rinoa saw many faces that were both alien and unfamiliar to her, which was not expected: after all, it had been nearly three years since the Second Sorceress War, and most of the students that Rinoa had seen walk the halls then surely must of graduated by now. It was common sense after all; Squall would tell her of how much he wanted to graduate, to become a full SeeD. No one ever wanted to remain a student forever. But the fact that her second home could actually change was a slap in the face to her – it just seemed like something that could never happen.

A few moments later, Rinoa stepped into a bustling cafeteria, filled with students in their break periods getting a meal or conversing with their friends, visitors from the UL relaxing and preparing themselves for the long ceremony tomorrow honoring the Headmaster for his peace efforts four months ago. For every occupant that left the cafeteria, another would enter, and meld with the somewhat long line that wrapped itself around the food counter, grabbing another barely washed plastic tray.

Sighting at how at least the cafeteria had not at least changed, Rinoa entered the line. In twenty minutes she was sitting at an empty table, which in itself was a rare sight, starring down at the plastic dish full of salad, small tomatoes, chopped up cheese, and salad dressing. She ripped the plastic bag containing the dressing open, and spread it across the fruit. She was about to tear the plastic casing that held her knife and fork when a familiar hand grasped her shoulder.

"Zell?" she gasped in disbelief when the wide grinned martial artist waved back at her. "Oh my god…! What are you doing here? I thought you opened up a karate school…"

"I did," he answered as he took a seat next to her. "But, you know how it is; when old Cid wins an award for stopping a war, I couldn't help but stop by, ya know?"

Rinoa nodded. "Good to see you again Zell."

"You too Rinnie. Now, can I have some of that salad…?" he asked slyly as he reached over to grab a leaf. Always being the one to be territorial with her food, she stabbed him with her plastic fork. "Hey! That hurt."

"My food," she giggled behind her teeth.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say Rinoa. Well, I'll just get it next time." He yawned, for whatever reason Rinoa couldn't guess; he didn't look tired at all, his blue eyes as clear as day. "So, uh, you heard from Squall?"

"Nope; not since he went to college in Esthar."

"Yeah, you know, it's funny: he loved history. He always got A's in History, and always would get debated with Instructor Kaldar about the legends and crap. So, it wasn't that big of a surprise to me when he enrolled in archeologiaea."

"Archeology," Rinoa corrected.

"Whatever!"

"You think he'll come down?"

"I don't know, I mean driving for an hour from Balamb to here is one thing, but flying across the world? That's going to be pretty expensive, and college took a lot of Gil from his wallet. From what Irvine told me, your dad even gave him a few thousand here."

"Yeah; it was really expensive, and all the benefits from those movie and book adaptations didn't come in until like last year." Rinoa ate some more of her salad. "What about Selphie and Irvine?"

"Oh they're coming all right; from what Irvine told me, practically all of Galbadia's instructors are taking a ride here, although I'll bet you anything that cowboy was over exaggerating again."

"You know, I'm surprised Selphie didn't retire from SeeD."

"Yeah, that's probably the weirdest thing about this whole 'heroes after the great adventure thing': that innocent, annoying and flower gazing and teddy bear pointing and hugging Selphie is the only one out of us that stayed at SeeD! I mean, even tough old Squall retired."

"You know that Ellone is coming, right?" Rinoa said, trying to change subjects from Squall to someone more pleasant.

"No, but I had a pretty good feeling that she was. I mean, isn't she one of Esthar's ambassador's now or something?" Rinoa nodded. "Well, good for her then. Anyways, I've gotta run; places to see, hot dogs to eat, an old Matron to hunt down; you know how it is, right?" Rinoa nodded in approval, and Zell dashed off in search of the items on his list.

'It's good to know not everything has changed,' Rinoa noted to herself as she finally got around to eating the rest her lunch.


Ellone and Laguna arrived at Balamb right on schedule, a few hours after one, and they found Cid and Edea at the front steps of Balamb greeting them along with all of the other Esthar members of the UL that had arrived in the same airplane them as they did, although as expected Edea and Cid gave a far warmer greeting to the President and his niece.

"President Laguna!" the Headmaster greeted the President. "It's so good to see you again."

Laguna smiled at Cid, a sign that he still considered the Headmaster his good friend from his early days as a Galbadian soldier. "Same here Cid, now will you please stop calling me President? Or am I going to have to call you Headmaster?"

"All right Laguna," Cid said with a smirk.

"It's good to see you as well, Ellone," Edea pointed out so that the two men would not forget about the black haired woman standing behind Laguna. Ellone couldn't help but chuckle when she saw Cid blush out of shame for not acknowledging the woman before.

"It's good to see you too Ellone," Cid said as he gave Ellone a light hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Same here Cid. It's been way too long since I've been here. A year, hasn't it?" Edea nodded. "Well if you don't mind I'm going excuse myself. I want to get all comfortable and the such for that award ceremony of yours tomorrow Cid." With that an attendant grabbed her bags and directed her to her room.

"Well Ellie seems in quite a rush, now doesn't she?" Cid noted after Ellone had walked halfway up the ramp towards Balamb.

Laguna crossed his arms in a lazy stance. "Yeah well, she and Rinoa have practically become sisters you know."

"True."

While the three adults outside of the famed war academy were caught in idle chit chat, Ellone and Rinoa were squealing like school girls on their way to their High School prom, with the term 'ohmigod!' popping up frequently, as well as both of the ladies referring to the other as girlfriend, although they never had any inappropriate relationship in reference to it.

"It's been too long Ellie!" Rinoa announced to Ellone as if the long haired woman was on stage and Ellone her audience. "These four months have been going way too slow. Everyone is about as interesting as fried fish in my dad's cabinet."

"Oh come on Rinoa," Ellone said as he accepted a cup of coffee, "Not everyone can be as interesting as seafood."

"Girl, I am dead serious. I mean, one time, I could of have sworn not a single soul but me blinked in an hour long meeting."

"All right, now I know you are exaggerating."

"I know, but still, it's been way too long Ellone. I can stand not talking to someone with a personality and who can stand my jokes for so long, you know what I'm saying?"

"Of course…except Kiros and Uncle Laguna can't help but crack jokes every other minute. And most of them will put me to sleep." Rinoa laughed at the joke. "I mean, even Squall is funnier than Laguna sometimes!" The smile faded away from Rinoa's face almost instantly, and Ellone realized just how fresh old wounds still were. "Oh Rinoa, I'm sorry -"

"I'm all right."

Ellone wasn't so convinced. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, I just don't understand exactly what he meant, by us being a relationship of convenience. I mean, I know I loved him then…I mean I still do…I think…but, well, I just don't know what he meant. I mean, didn't he love me too?"

"I'm sure he did Rinoa. He's probably just as confused as you are. Just give him some time."

"Isn't a year enough time? It's been a whole year…it's been awhile."

"Squall takes things nice and slow. Remember, it took him eleven years to actually talk to people longer than saying 'whatever' okay? He'll know the real answer sure enough, mark my words."


Esthar Flight No. 486 flew smoothly threw the night sky as it slowly reached it's destination of Balamb Island. It had left with no trouble at 6:39 AM, a few minutes off schedule, and despite the fact that it had to make a detour around Galbadia so that to avoid a lightning storm that could of possibly interfered with it's systems and likely cause the plane to crash, No.486 would land at Balamb International Airport just a half hour off schedule at approximately 10:36, and this would cause no interference with the Airport's other flights.

Squall Leonhart sat in the sixth row, to the left of any airplane attendees that would walk up an aisle from the Captain's seat. The ex-SeeD stared out of the window, towards the giant mass of gray clouds that surrounded the passenger plane as it tore its way through them. At eight thirty, the man who had just a few years prior saved the world from total destruction was exhausted, a state that nearly all of the movie and novel contracts failed to inform the general public was something that he went through. They also failed to let on that Squall was, quite the surprise to any common man woman or child he met, was human and imperfect, a fact that annoyed the man on more than one occasion. But movies and novels have always had the habit to make modern day heroes perfect and god like in practically everything they are and do, so it was something that could not truly be helped.

It was eight thirty at night and Squall yawned so long and wide that it would have had made even a Bear blush. Placing his heavy head on the soft chair, he grabbed a small lever and pulled on it, pushing the chair back, far enough to be in a comfortable state but not so far as to annoy the person behind him. He then quickly fell into a deep sleep.

It would seem like only a minute before he was back in Balamb.


News of Squall Leonhart's arrival at Balamb Garden spread faster than wildfire. Cid and Edea barely had a half hour's worth of relaxation before they got word of it and had to redress somewhat to say hello to their old son, and Irvine and Selphie, who arrived just an hour before him and were just about to call it night, brought up a storm dressing themselves in hopes they could reach their old friend before the whole school crushed him.

Everyone was there to greet the old war hero, except Rinoa. The group was surprised to see just how much their old friend had changed in appearance: his brown hair, which before had allowed itself to drag down a few inches short of his neck, had been grown out of proportion, outliving it's former length and moving downward past his neck. On top of that, Squall was not wearing his iconic feathered jacket that they were so used to wearing, but rather a leather jacket that was cut at where his ribs would be, with the iconic symbol of Griever printed in red on the short sleeves.

"Whoa…" Irvine rubbed at his eyes, a mixture of his exhaustion and the disbelief of Squall's radical physical change. "Squall! What happened to your hair?"

"I let it grow, so what?"

"But it's long! I'm supposed to be the dude with the long hair!"

Squall just grinned in ignorance. "Whatever Irvine."

Seeing that everyone would want to focus on Squall's new appearance rather than the fact that he was actually here, Zell decided it was best to change the subject. "Where've you been Squall?"

"Just college Zell. No major battles or anything like that."

"No bar brawls?" Irvine questioned curiously, a mysterious flare in his eye.

"No…"

"Damnit!" Irvine stomped the ground in protest, and handed over to Zell a few gil. The Gunblade master couldn't help but chuckle.

Squall quickly gave a quick glance at the group that surrounded him, glad to see everyone was there…except for one. "So err, anyways, where's Rinoa?" Even though the two of them were no longer in a relationship, Squall still looked to the young Sorceress as a close companion, a sister even, but considering her refusal to answer his phone calls, Squall had already guessed the answer to his own question.

Selphie placed her arms on her sides. "Squallie, do you really need to know the answer to that?"

"Guess not…" Squall answered in a low voice.

"Yeah, you had a ton of guts Squall…" Zell said not thinking but Edea quickly butted in, her gray eyes infuriated.

"Enough of this talk, all of you!" Edea commanded. She refused to have her 'children' battle amongst themselves at their first reunion in two years. She refused to have her dear ones brawl openly at an event designed to celebrate an achievement of peace. "Let's just be happy that we are all here. Now, I think it is time we all head back to our rooms and get some sleep: I'm sure we're all exhausted, as I'm sure Cid is."

"Ahem, when did I say you could speak for me?"

"When you recited your marriage vows in front of Father Jacob," the elderly woman corrected slowly to her husband. Cid nodded in understanding. Edea turned to the others, a fiery flare in her eyes, although not one of hate, but one of a fiery determination; a determination of a wife, and worse yet, a mother that had seen too many families fall apart due to bickering. Her lips went stern, and in a commanding voice she demanded that her children head off to their rooms, to calm themselves so that they can be in a better attitude in the morning. Knowing how Edea gets when she's argued with, especially late at night, the children decided it was best to comply with her ultimatum.


Like a lion confined in a cage, Squall circled around his room given to him by Cid and Edea, his mind caught up at the way his old friends had reacted to him when Rinoa was brought up. He knew that they were all bitter at him; the two had not left each other on the most pleasant of terms, and the way Squall worded the parting, it sounded as if he was dumping her, which was surely not the case. He merely just wanted to part ways.

But why do they have so much hatred towards him? Aren't they family? Are they brothers and sisters to each other? Didn't they risk their lives for each other everyday for four months? Didn't they feel the need of total reliability on each other that if just one of them died they wouldn't know where to go next?

Where did that feeling go?

Squall never realized truly realized until now how bitter everyone, Rinoa in particular, was over the separation. That is, until now. Even when she didn't return any of his calls or e-mails, in his heart Squall was certain that she had gotten over the separation.

And now the truth had finally decided to show itself and reveal it's monstrous of a head, and spread word throughout Squall's aching heart like a dagger that dug deeper and deeper into the lifeblood of every man: his friends loathed him for the action he took those years ago, although not nearly as much as that of his rival Seifer, but that brought little ease of pain and mind to him. His friends still hated him for that act of separation between him and Rinoa.

Squall allowed his weary body to fall onto his bed, the soft mattress bringing some relief to his aching back that irritated him greatly, despite the fact that he performed no sort of manual labor that should have brought the affliction to it. He turned over onto his side and stared out onto the clear night sky that almost seemed to sport an infinite amount of stars. When he was a child, he would always love to stare out at those infinite numbers of miracles of time, of how no matter how long time will pass, there will always be stars looking over the elderly Planet, and the stars would always fascinate man. That fact always comforted the juvenile Squall in some way whenever immature and foolish problems would emerge themselves.

Staring into the glow of the stars, Squall began to wonder if he could fix everything that he screwed up on.

Was there hope yet?