Claire opened her eyes as she heard the sound of the alarm clock on her bedside table. She was lying on her stomach with her face half buried on her pillow. She looked at it and realized it was already 5:01am. Today is the most coveted aptitude test and she needed to grab a slot which in every hundred of hopeful applicants, only few are fortunately picked. She rolled over and rubbed her left eye as she struggle to focus and fight her sleepiness. I must be really tired that I didn't even knew how I got here on the bed. She smiled at herself. She then started dragging herself up to the bathroom, washed her face to wake herself up and leaned on the marble sink with her two hands as she stared at her reflection on the mirror, thinking of her agendas for this day. Besides the test, I need to see Hope. That stubborn kid… Oh, he's not a kid anymore. Right… She gently shook her head, walked to the shower and prepared for the day.

"Hello? Sis are you awake?" A feminine voice was heard from the doorbell speaker after buzzing while Claire was arranging the things she will bring outside. The pinkette shifted her gaze from the speaker in one corner of the room to the main door. She approached the door and looked at the screen to see who is outside. Selphie? She immediately recognized the woman with the brown bob who is waving at the front door camera. She sighed and pressed the unlock button. The sliding doors produced a hissing sound. It slid open and revealed the brunette whom now is in her SeeD uniform.

"Hey, hey, heeey!" Selphie greeted cheerfully while waving. "Good thing you're already awake. Wooow! Look at choo! You look good!" she looked at the lady from head to toe with admiration. The pinkette is now wearing a loose white long sleeve polo that is buttoned up just above her cleavage that hints everyone who will look her seductive curves as she moves and a simple faded blue jeans and heels. Her shiny pink locks cascading down her left shoulder like the usual.

"Thanks." She replied.

"Anyway we better go. C'mon!" The SeeD jumped excitedly.

"Where? The test will start at 10." The ex-soldier is clearly uninterested.

"I know right? But as the head of the Garden festival committee and since you are my new friend, I'm gonna take you to a tour so you'll not get lost… Not like me when I was a newbie here." She rolled her eyes at the thought. "And of course we'll grab some breakfast at the cafeteria!" The brunette added. Her big smile not leaving her face.

"At this hour?" Claire checked her wrist watch.

"Aw c'mon it's 3 more hours before the test. It would be so boring if you'll just sit around this room." Then she paused for a reply. And when she didn't get any from the woman who just had her arms folded while staring at her, she added, "Please? Please? Pleeaase?" while sporting her most pitiful expression.

Claire sighed and shut her eyes tight. There she goes again. She wanted to feel irritated but she thought Selphie is just being nice to her. She also thought that walking around the school will give her the higher chance to bump into Hope. "It wouldn't hurt I guess." She decided.

"Yipeee!" Selphie jumped again in excitement. The pinkette grabbed her stuff and locked the door and they started walking towards the enormous rounded lobby of the garden.

"Hey I forgot to give you this." The SeeD handed a Visitor's Pass card. "You can use this to access the classroom you were assigned for the exam." She winked.

"Thanks." She simply replied and she accepted the card without looking at her companion. She was busy pointing her eyeballs in every direction in hopes of seeing her friend.

"Are you ready? I admit it's a bit difficult. I also took the aptitude test because I was a transferee back then from Trabia and we need to pass that to make sure we are worthy of participating in the field exam." Selphie recalled as they walked. "And don't worry! No classes today to give way to the exam so there are not much students around here as you can see. Some went home for the long weekend and some will just be spending their time in the city. These students chose to stay because their homes are far away from here." She pointed at the students scattered in the lobby though there's not much of them.

"Sure is." The ex-soldier simply replied. And as a thought entered her mind, "Do you know of a person who's working here named Hope? He's a researcher." She immediately asked.

"Hm? Hope…" Selphie leaned her temple on her right index finger and looked up as she was thinking of the person. "Oh! Hope! Hope Estheim!" She exclaimed after a few moments.

"You know him?" Claire asked sounding interested.

"Ofcourse! The handsome guy with the spiky gray hair! I talk to him frequently especially when I'm running errands for Squall. You know getting informations, files and stuff. Don't worry, we'll bump into him one day." The brunette said.

At this point, the pinkette halted with her steps, grabbed the brunette on both shoulders to make her face her and narrowed her eyes and looked intently at the SeeD. "Squall Leonhart right? Is he here?" She firmly asked.

The brunette was caught surprised at the valkyrie's reaction. "Y-yes. He just arrived... this dawn I think. Why?" She answered slowly sounding somewhat uncertain. Claire looked down at the floor, thinking deeply and kept silent.

"Claire, what's the matter?" Selphie asked worriedly.

She looked again at the brunette and smiled. "Nothing." The SeeD replied with a smile and they started walking again. They proceeded to start the tour on the south where the front gate is located.

"You already knew this part right?" Selphie pointed at the entrance.

"This is where we entered last night." Claire replied.

"Yep!" And the brunette ran onto the southeastern lobby where the library is located. The pinkette just walked as she follows the nunchaku specialist. "C'mon!" She said when they are already in the outside corridor without stopping and did not realize she was about to collide into someone along the hallway.

BUMP!

"Aw!" Selphie fell into the floor at the impact. "What're you blind?" She said irritably without looking at the person. Claire hurriedly approached the fallen SeeD to help her get up.

"I'm sorry! Why the hell are you even running?" The man with a tattooed face in SeeD uniform replied while scratching his head.

Upon recognizing the voice, the brunette looked up and she guessed it right. It's her childhood friend and co-orphan duelist. "Zell! You-"

"Whoa! See I have this book that I borrowed from the library and I was reading it before you even bumped me." The blond taunted.

"You don't even read books during classes. Try harder!" Selphie replied with a sarcasm as she accepted the ex-soldier's hand who just pulled her to stand up. This is when the fighter noticed the brunette's companion.

"Oh my Gods...an angel!" Zell exclaimed with hearts fluttering around him. "H-hi! I'm Zell! Zell Dincht!" He rubbed his gloved right hand on his pants before offering it to the lady which the latter hesitated to accept.

"Not again..." He disappointingly muttered.

Claire decided to shake the blond's hand and introduced herself. "Claire Farron." The man shook the woman's hand tightly and much longer than the normal with a wide grin while blushing.

Selphie interrupted by pulling the woman's hand from Zell's tight grip. "You pervert!"

The blond scratched his head once more while chuckling awkwardly. "Relax! I'm just being friendly. I'm not Irvine you know?"

The brunette just rolled her eyes. "Still, you should answer my question. What are you doing in a place like this? You're allergic to this wing you told us that. And what's that in your hand?"

Zell immediately hid the red folder that is on his left hand which is covered between the pages of the book and he started to sweat. "Ah, uh n-nothing. It's just a piece of scratch I picked from the library." He lied.

"You really suck at lying, Dinky. I know that folder you dumb. That's an important document in your hand. Is that a mission?" Selphie folded her arms and raised one eyebrow while interrogating the tattooed man while Claire just stood silent at the back, just watching the two. She thought of sneaking while the two are busy bickering when suddenly a familiar voice which became deeper through the years spoke from behind her.

"Zell what's taking you so long. You know we need that documents upstairs." The young adult complained.

Claire turned to face the gray haired young man in grey SeeD uniform which is now shocked as he sees the pink haired woman in front of her. The ex-soldier wanted to mirror the same expression but she stilled her emotions as she called upon the man. "Long time no see, Hope." She spoke.

"Light? What are you doing here?" He asked without sounding mean. His eyes wide as he stared at the lady.

"Wait a minute. You knew each other?" Zell interrupted. And he leaned forward to the boy while looking sharply at him and said in a whisper, "Man, I was the first one who saw her. I call dibs." Hope just glanced at him and he continued to look at the ex-soldier. His expression has changed from shock to longing.

"Wow. So it's true." The pinkette ignored the question as she looked at her friend from head to toe with a hint of a smile on her lips. "You're all grown up." He's grown much taller than the Hope she last saw and his features became much more manly and handsome now. She was amazed by what she saw.

Hope chuckled, trying his best not to lose his heart which is about to jump now that he's standing in front of her when in fact the moment he saw the woman his face instantly flushed. "That's the product of years of training here. How about you? You never changed. Still as beautiful as ever." He replied.

"Since when did you become a smooth talker?" She asked more of a rethorical question, still smiling. "Anyway, we better go. I'll be taking the test today. Let's catch up later. I'll just see you around." She really thought of yelling at the man for not contacting her as soon as she set foot in this school. HER, in all of the people, but she just let go of the thought. She sighed deeply. She's now happy she saw him safe and doing well with his life and that's enough for her. She starts to walk back to the main lobby followed by Selphie who just wanted to squeal right at that moment at which for her, a romantic scene she just witnessed and before Claire passed beside the young man, he gently held her in her left arm.

"I'm happy that I finally saw you." He said with honesty. "I'm gonna see you later. I'll find you." He added with eagerness in his tone which the pinkette replied with a nod and continued to walk away with the brunette.

And Zell was left standing there, hunched and defeated. "Goodbye loser!" He barely heard Selphie shouted from the distance.

"Is he your boyfriend?" The SeeD asked when they are already inside the cafeteria. She's really interested, slightly leaning and staring seriously at the woman sitting across the table that earned her a shocked expression. They are now sitting in one of the tables and taking their breakfast. They decided to just cancel the tour since it's already 9am and Selphie already forgot the folder she saw Zell was hiding.

"Hope? No." Claire replied with her eyes slightly widened. Inside her head, she can't comprehend where that theory came from. She's more of like a young brother to me. She thought.

The brunette didn't say a word and just took a spoonful of fruit flavored cereals in her mouth and chewed slowly while looking down on her bowl. "Do you like him?" She finally said after drinking water without looking at the woman.

The pinkette who was in the process of swallowing the food in her mouth peacefully, ended up choking upon hearing the words as she struggles to grab the glass of water on the table and drink on it. "What kind of question is that?" She said in between coughs.

"Are you okay?" Selphie asked and when she earned a nod from the woman she continued, "Well I just felt that you've known each other very well for a very long time and you have that certain connection." Selphie commented.

"I love him. That's the truth." Claire leaned against her chair and stared at the spoon she's holding.

The brunette squealed. "Oh my gosh! I knew it!" She tried her hardest not to say it aloud while gushing.

The pinkette raised her eyebrow at the SeeD. "Because he's like a brother to me. I love him. Just like I love my sister, Serah." She explained. And with that, the brunette's expression changed from excited to disappointed.

She cleared her throat. "But honestly, I bet he likes you." She commented.

"I'm a sister figure to him." She clarified. She honestly felt this conversation is becoming more and more awkward by the minute.

"No I mean more than that. I saw it in the way he looked at you." Selphie observed.

"You're overlooking things." Claire defended.

"I'm not. I swear."

"You're now sounding a lot like Laguna."

"How was he? A-anyway I'm just stating the obvious."

"Nothing's going on."

"For you. But for him?"

"You're insane, you know that?"

"I saw it in his eyes."

"We haven't seen each other for a long time."

"If I'm not a SeeD, I'll just use my talent on the streets in mind reading you know?"

Claire sighed deeply after the rapid throw of sentences and her phone vibrated from the table and when she saw who's calling on the phone screen, she quickly answered it.

"Serah?" She started with a bit of worry on her tone.

"Sis where are you? I've been trying to call you but you're not answering." The young woman on the other line said.

She sighed again. "I'm sorry. I'm just not in the mood to talk last night." She apologized. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm in Balamb right now. I will be taking the exam in a few."

"Oh! So it is today? I completely forgot. Good luck sis. I know you can do it." Serah cheered. "I'm sorry about yesterday with Snow. I wish you have stayed longer but it's okay. I understand. I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Yes. See you soon. Thanks. Take care." Claire replied and she cancelled the call. A sound of the bell was heard ringing around the school signaling that it is now time for the much awaited time for all the Garden hopefuls. The Balamb Garden Aptitude Exam.