Chapter 6

Walking through the doors of Garden was incredibly surreal for Squall. All around him he felt eyes beating all over his body, and if looks could kill, he'd most definitely be dead. Behind him was Selphie, Quistis and Irvine. Selphie smiled politely back at the kids who were viciously staring at her. Word of course, had gotten around fast at Garden. More than word, in fact, vicious rumors as well.

The whispers circulated the room, causing an uncomfortable vibe.

"Look at her hair!"

"Were they really having sex?"

"He has a beard!"

"Is she stoned?"

"Were they really trying to poison Cid?"

"Hey, we're back," Selphie said, waving and curtseying. "You missed out, guys, really. Drop out sometime, it's a lot of fun," she said, still smiling. Quistis quickly shh-ed her and pushed her quickly towards the elevator because she was making a scene. The group entered the elevator and the doors shut quickly. They had left behind them an enormous crowd that merely stared at the elevator in shock.

Squall found himself getting increasingly nervous. This was going to be an interesting confrontation. He secretly hoped to Hyne that he wouldn't run into Seifer. That was the last thing he needed. All he wanted was to get to Cid's office, smoothly, and easily get back into Garden and maybe get his position back as a SeeD. It wasn't likely, but originally Squall had been one of Garden's finest.

The elevator doors shot open, and the kids were face to face with the door to Cid's office. Squall turned to look at everybody before letting out an enormous sigh. "Alright. Maybe I should just go in first and talk to him. Then, you guys come in later."

Selphie scoffed but soon enough dropped the situation. Squall turned toward the doors and entered.

In front of him was the back of Cid's chair. "Squall," he said, without even looking.

"Cid," he said in a tone of respect.

"Fancy seeing you step back into this establishment."

Squall looked at the ground. "Sir, I'm really sorry. About everything. You see, I-"

"I know, Squall. I was a rebellious teenager once as well." Cid turned his chair around, and at the sight of squall, he chuckled. "Maybe not to such an extreme, but. Ah what can I say? Sit down."

Squall immediately obeyed. "I wish to enroll back into Garden, sir."

Cid smiled and his aged eyes squinted back at him. "Squall, it just isn't that easy. A lot has happened, and Garden is on an incredibly high security level. We can't just let our guards down to an occurrence like this. It's uncanny that you're back here out of the blue, and I just can't afford to let my guard down."

Squall looked at the floor. "Well maybe they'll have something to say about that." Squall stood up slowly and walked to the entrance, pressing the button to open the door. There stood the rest of the group, ready for confrontation. Selphie was the first to hop in, and then Irvine, Quistis, and lastly Rinoa.

"Quistis? Irvine? Selphie? What are you all doing here? And who is that I see?"

Rinoa remained silent, clearly too shy to speak.

"This is General Fury Caraway's daughter, sir," Quistis said. "And I'm here to back up Squall's request to enroll here once more."

Cid was in disbelief. "And Selphie?"

Selphie nodded. "Right. Me too."

"But…why?" he asked. "What's happened to your plan?"

"It was a joke," Squall began. "I realized that I wasn't going to get anything done that I wanted to get done as an independent group. I also knew that you would more than likely help carry out my wishes and concerns. And right now we're in the middle of a big concern that I'm sure you're aware of."

Caraway nodded and put his knuckle to his mouth. "Do you have someplace to stay?"

Squall nodded. "We have an apartment in Timber."

Caraway's eyes widened. "Timber? Timber isn't safe right now! We have suspicions that Edea is there, Squall! Timber is under control of Galbadia! Caraway is a high ranking offical in that army, Squall. You never know what Edea could be telling him to do! You can't stay in Timber!"

Selphie shrugged. "Well, we've stayed there long enough so what difference does it make?"

Cid let out a heavy sigh and clasped his hands together. "I'm going to admit to you, Squall and Selphie. You were both SeeDs here, and that means you were some of my most valuable students. But after everything I can't say I can let you both enroll back in here so quickly. I am however leaving the option open that you can stay here and use the training center and other facilities. You just cannot attend classes, and you will also have a close eye kept on you. If anything goes on that shouldn't be, you'll certainly be hearing from us."

Quistis stepped close to Cid's desk. "I'll stay with them, Cid. But honestly I can tell you that I don't think there are going to be any problems. You need not worry." She turned to the rest of the group. "So what are you going to do, you two? Are you going to stay here, or are you going to go back to Timber?"

Before they could reply, Rinoa stepped in. "What does this mean for me? What am I going to do? I don't even understand what's going on. Can I just go back home?"

Squall shook his head. "No, Rinoa. We're not letting you return there. You may not understand it now, but this is dangerous."

Cid stood up and cleared his throat. "Squall that is actually a bad idea. You need to let Rinoa return home until it starts to become dangerous. At this point we have no proof that it is going to be dangerous at all. Caraway has an immense amount of power, and kidnapping his daughter would be an incredibly impractical move to make. Do you understand?"

Squall nodded. "Well if you really think it's safe for her, then I guess I agree. And Rinoa, you have to promise that you trust us and will come to us if there are any problems. Do you understand the potential amount of trouble that you're in?"

Rinoa nodded, pushing her hair behind her ears. "I do."

"Okay Cid, well, we're going to stay here for the night!" Selphie exclaimed. "I don't know about you Squall, but I don't really want to go back to Timber."

"I'll think about it. Quistis, what do you think?"

"I think you should stay here. That apartment is bad for you. Why don't we head back and get your belongings," she replied. "Cid, thanks for everything."

They all thanked him and he nodded. Slowly they drained out of his office and he was alone.

It was incomprehensible that Squall Leonhart had broken down for Garden like he had. It was almost sad to see him so defeated. When he had decided to drop out of Garden for the first time, he seemed like he was really determined. Now, there was a sense of defeat in his eyes, and also a very deep sadness that Cid couldn't seem to put his finger on. However, despite everything, Cid was happy about it. He was still a bit untrusting, but he had always really enjoyed having Squall as a student in his academy. It was almost like some sort of honor.

The group made their way to the first floor in complete silence. There wasn't much to be said. Everyone seemed to be somewhat down. Perhaps it was because of Rinoa and feeling sorry for what it was she had gotten faced with out of nowhere. The girl has been in complete seclusion until this day. It was a drastic change indeed.

Suddenly, everyone stopped walking. Before them stood Seifer Almasy and his gunblade Hyperion that had so famously defeated Squall numerous times, and his followers Raijin and Fujin. At the sight of Squall, he smirked. Nothing ever fazed this student. Squall on the other hand, was not amused. He was already feeling somewhat degraded and had an aching in his chest that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Seifer," Squall simply said.

Seifer laughed. "Squall, the hell are you doing here? Does this mean I can slice your pride up some more?" Seifer raised his gunblade in defence. However, his smile vanished as he clearly examined Squall.

"FIGHT," Fujin stated.

Seifer dropped his gunblade and shook his head. "Look at this. What have we here?"

"Squall, just don't make any drastic moves. You have no weapon and you're pretty much on probation," Selphie stated, grabbing onto Squall's arm.

Raijin tapped Seifer's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Seifer in return dropped his head. "No…I'm not going to." He turned away. "Do you see this man?" he said, whipping around. "He can't fight. He's lost everything he once had. This isn't Squall Leonhart." Seifer turned away once more and walked away.

"Just ignore him," Quistis said, but she could already tell that Squall had become irked by this encounter. He let out a deep breath and continued walking out of the school. They were all surprised at Squall's maturity

Later that evening, Squall rode a train back to Deling with Rinoa. When they arrived at her house, she knocked on the door and a young red-haired girl opened.

"Rinoa! You're home late."

Squall grew nervous. This would be a bad time to be getting in trouble with Caraway.

"I know, I know. Just please don't tell my father. Oh and Magdalene, this is Squall."

Squall breathed a sigh of relief when he remembered that her father wasn't even home.

"Well come in, you two, I assume you're the SeeD?" she said, looking up at Squall. He wordlessly nodded and walked into the house.

The two stood in the kitchen for a second before Rinoa offered, "Do you want something to eat, drink? Do you want a tour?"

"Whatever," Squall mumbled. It would seem that the tables had turned. Squall was now the quiet and unhappy one, and Rinoa was now the excited and happy one.

"Let's go somewhere more suitable than a kitchen, shall we?" Rinoa led Squall to a staircase that led up to a series of closed doors. One of them was a shiny white wooden door with painted designs all it. "Well this is my room. Do you want to come in?"

Squall shrugged. Why would he want to see her room?

She opened the door, and shades of blue came flying everywhere. Blue bed, floor, walls, tables, chairs, everything. "You must really enjoy blue," Squall remarked.

"I don't enjoy anything in my room," she replied, walking inside with Squall following. She closed the door behind them and motioned for him to sit down on the couch or at the small table. Only at a place like this would a teenager have tables and couches in their room. When he was sitting, she clasped her hands. "Okay Squall, teach me how to cast magic."

Squall rolled his eyes. "It's not that simple, Rinoa."

"Well then how do you explain this?" Rinoa's fingertips began to glow with red color. Squall's mouth dropped open and he quickly grabbed her hands.

"You can't just cast fire in here, Rinoa!" he quickly pulled his hands back, however, because her hands were burning his. They were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. Rinoa's eyes widened and she looked at Squall.

"Hide!" she whispered, pushing him off into a nearby closet. "And don't touch anything! I'll be right back." Rinoa trotted out of her room and ran down the stairs. Magdalene always left once she knew Rinoa was safe and sound, so that meant Rinoa had to open the door.