And here it is. After a long delay, which I apologize for. I'm beginning to resent working. I had hoped I would have more time to update stories during the summer, but I still seem to be as busy as I was before. Thanks to those that are reading this fic.
Martine resisted the urge to bang his head on his desk as the debate continued on in his office, now heading well past the nightly curfew of all the students in the Garden. The dark sky waited patiently outside, lit dimly by the pin points of lost stars and the large half filled silver moon. It looked so inviting out there; a perfect night to step out onto his balcony and enjoy the natural lights of the tiny suns and the only moon with a drink in his hand. It was just the right temperature; where it wasn't too hot to be sticky, nor to cold to need a coat. Unfortunately, his nightly routine had been broken by the party of men and women that now sat in his office; all the higher ups of this Garden, including its Commander.
Personally, the Headmaster couldn't stand Commander Verauan and had wondered at more then one point on this night what Squall had been thinking when electing him to run Galbadia Garden and by doing so had backed him into a corner. The elderly Headmaster was not slow; he could tell that Charles Verauan was extremely upset that 'one of his all time favourites sure to do wondrous things as a SeeD' students had been killed by another of his 'favourites.'
Not that Martine was a hundred percent sure on where his vote would be held on that subject either. He knew why Kaidia had done it. Anyone watching that video with half a heart and with the experience she had would have made that decision, but unfortunately that did not mean it was the right one.
He sighed and tuned back into the repetitive argument that that ensued after all three students had been gently debriefed and told to go and rest. Only moments after the last had left, his peaceful office had been bombarded by the loud and frequently annoying voices of his staff.
"We have a potentially disastrous situation on our hands!" Geria Yuis was saying. "This could cause havoc in not only this Garden but all three. We can't have Cadets running around killing each other!"
"I wouldn't say she killed him,' Barry Syuma answered back.
Both were faculty heads in different subjects.
"It was more a mercy action than any." Barry continued.
"Mercy doesn't change the fact that it was by her hand that he died." Geria stated…again.
Several of her supporters cheered in agreement.
"But it wasn't her hand that injected that toxin." Cleo argued "So the Cadet in question isn't directly responsible for his death."
"She still played a part in it!" Darien insisted, siding with Geria.
"Not a large one. Unfortunately it looked on the tape that he would have died in minutes anyways." Barry answered.
"But in those minutes someone else may have come up with another idea to save him… another spell." Clediua complained.
"I'm the head of the magical department." Vert stated. "There's no spell in existence that could have stopped that, and even if there was something that could have been done for that boy, help would have come too late to save him. You saw what that infection was doing to him."
"Look at what his quality of life would have been after that." Barry agreed.
Martine was almost sure he would not get a word in edgewise and this was getting ridiculous.
"But he would still have lived!" Geria practically yelled out. "And look at how callously she preformed the act. Even in the debrief, Cadet Dos Santos showed a lack of response for her actions! As if it didn't bother her to kill someone she knew!"
"That's how SeeDs are trained to react." Xia pointed out. "She was just reacting as she has been taught by the faculty."
"But to show no emotion?"
"That's enough!" Martine broke in, surprising the arguing heads. "She showed emotion over the death. It was evident in the debrief as well as in the tape."
"But what of her voice? SeeDs' are trained to know how to school their emotions in certain circumstances. Her lack of emotions may be caused to some psychological stress due to his event or one earlier." Geria stated triumphantly.
Martine mentally slapped his head. 'They just ignored me'
"I say we give her a psychological exam." Clediua answered, proving him right.
"There are no grounds for it." Barry answered. "We know this is a stressful situation for her, so why make it worse by us sending the message that we think she's crazy!"
"Psychological testing would determine the relative health of her mind."
"Oh get off it! You want to test three quarters of this Garden!" Barry argued. "And besides, at the moment, the results would be void due to that incident. Any test you do within a three day time period would not count."
"But it would show what she's thinking!"
"She's a quiet kid." Bane said something finally. "She thinks a lot, but doesn't say much to others."
"She doesn't trust us." Geria stated. "More reason to test her."
"She's an introvert. There's nothing wrong with that, and any move to test her right now could be argued as impeding her rights."
"And what about the rights of the victim?" Hexu asked. "Has anyone considered that? He is the one that is dead right now."
"Don't think we don't know that." Xia remarked back. "But right now her rights need to be protected too. Until we decide further, she is just a Cadet, and did nothing wrong."
"DID NOTHING WRONG!" Geria shouted.
'Any louder? I don't think the junior classmen heard you.' Martine mocked to himself.
"SHE KILLED HIM!"
"She did not!" Bane stated.
"You would say that! She's your student and it would look bad on you if you had trained a murderer!" Geria pressed.
"Her being my student has nothing to do with me defending her. I stand on her side as I know her, I have a past with her, more so then you. And as I see it, she did not kill him, merely granted him mercy so he wouldn't suffer. I wonder why you are so quick to scapegoat her, Geria?"
"I'm not scapegoating anyone. I'm just trying to explain that this issue will explode out of control if nothing is done; and not just in our Garden either. Soon each and every one of the Gardens will wish to act."
"I know that." Barry stated. "We all do. But that's no reason to go and cast blame on a Cadet that happened to be in the wrong spot and did something that could be construed as manslaughter, while trying to help someone she has known for a few years."
"Geria's right about the issue exploding out of control." Martine stated. "Unfortunately, until this is resolved, it is likely that the SeeD exam results can't be given out."
"Why not!" Verauan asked suddenly.
Martine sighed. "Because it would be an unfair assessment at this moment. Because of the circumstances that involved the entire group in Squad A they can't be judged at all. As you know, only the best can pass, and if we don't compare all the Squads results with each other, some that are not ready to be SeeDs may pass by accident."
"But it would be unfair to hold them back!" Cleduia argued.
"We have no fair way of judging them."
"I know." Cleduia answered. "I carry the motion that the SeeD exam results be withheld until this matter is cleared up."
"All opposed?" Martine continued.
There was silence in the room as none could probably think of a viable argument to sway the decision.
"Motion carried." Martine finished. "But we've been arguing for hours over this topic and all the points have been stated and restated. We need a fresh mind on this."
"Who would you suggest, Headmaster?" Barry asked.
"Trabia Garden officials. They have a four year history with her, and may have information about her that we have missed or haven't received."
"Sounds good. It would be early enough to catch them before their business day starts if we call them now." Vert stated.
"I agree." Geria conceded. "There really isn't enough information in the transfer files to get a sense of her personality."
There was a consensus within the rest of the group and they all turned and stared at him. Martine just stared right back, confused on what they wanted. "Now!' He questioned.
"Fax the information over to them and tell them that this is a detail that needs immediate attention. Garden should have a position before Mr. and Mrs. Higa do." Bane pointed out. "Let them get back to us in their own time. Besides, we all could use a break; we're beginning to forget that we're all friends here, just wanting to protect the interests of Garden."
Martine nodded; Cius Bane definitely had a silver tongue and was excellent at diffusing a situation before it got too stressful and too loud. With a patient expression, he gathered up all the information he had and began the process of sending it out to the smallest Garden. It was only seconds before he had an acknowledgement that the fax had been received and that in an hours' time Trabia would connect via a telecommunications web to confer with the matter online, once it had the required amount of time to introduce the matter to their faculty.
Unfortunately the time passed quickly, and so did Martine's peace. He was now sitting staring out at the darkened sky, wishing that he could escape this hell he had subjected himself to. For now, not only did he have his own Garden faculty yelling at each other, but he was being forced to listen to Trabian officials add to the debate. After their agreement that the SeeD results should be withheld from the entire grade, the argument had started off again, this time with more people involved. When this was done, he was going to corner Cius and possibly cut out his silver tongue and feed it to him.
"This is ridiculous!" Headmistress Jemsia from Trabia stated. "Cadet Dos Santos's involvement in Cadet Higa's death is laughable. She didn't kill him!"
"Then what would you call it?" Geria stated.
"Mercy. Are you so cold that you don't remember that concept?" Jemsia asked.
"Are you so idealistic that you can't realize that one of your old Cadets may be charged with manslaughter for deliberately murdering another?"
"There was no murderous intent in her actions." A faculty from Trabia yelled, sitting near their Headmistress. "Are you so cynical that you've forgotten 'Innocent until proven guilty?' Or what situation the entire year of graduating class was put in!"
"That was our Garden's decision." Verauan cut in smoothly. "It is not up for debate."
"It was a blatant disregard for their ages and their relative experiences in armed conflict."
"None the less, it is past and is not the issue!" Verauan defended 'his' decision.
"Yes it is, Charles!" Jemsia cut in. "With the Cadets placed in that much danger and with an extremely high expectation on them, something was bound to happen! That exam goes against so many rules in the SeeD manual!"
"It is not the issue. What is the issue is whether we stand with Cadet Dos Santos or not." Cleduia cut in. "With the evidence weighing against her…"
"What evidence?" A dark haired Trabian faculty cut in.
"The tapes and the debriefing…" Geria answered.
"I would say that the tapes and the debriefing almost weigh in her favour. Also, the sample of the infection hasn't been studied to see if anything would be effective in stopping its progress!" The Trabian continued.
"Not that any magic I've heard of could have stopped the outcome, or any item for that matter." The next official from Trabia spoke.
"Not that she gave them any option to check." Another argued from Trabia
"You're counting on the fact that help would have been there soon enough to assist. From what I've heard on the substance, it doesn't seem likely that he would have lived that much longer…or would have had much of a life if he had." The second man from Trabia continued.
"Doing things for the right or humane reason does not mean it is the correct thing to do!" The third pointed out.
"But it doesn't mean it was the wrong thing either." Vert cut in to the argument rapidly ensuing between the Trabian officials.
Martine almost wished the man had kept his mouth shut; he laid his head in his hands and massaged his temples trying to rid himself of the headache that was forming. He was almost a hundred percent sure that he had heard that exact phrasing for that argument just a little while ago. Which was incredibly possible as this argument ate away the hours of night. It was now somewhere past 0200 hundred in the morning, and it looked as if nothing would be resolved at any time.
"But a more advanced magic or status item may have stopped or slowed the effects!" Geria proudly pointed out again.
"So he could die more slowly, over months instead of minutes?" Barry asked. "And by the time a team had arrived with more advanced magic or medical item, his condition would have worsened to the extent where it was likely he would have died anyways!"
His statement was cheered by his supporters on both sides of the communication lines.
"Then does what Cadet Dos Santosdid constitute manslaughter?" Barry continued.
And for a lack of a better phrase, the shit hit the fan, as multiples of people all began to speak at the same moment, trying to get their view heard and trying to gain support from those still uncertain of where they stood. It got louder and louder as everyone's voices fought to gain audience over all others, Not only from Galbadia, but the Trabian officials also had jumped at the question too.
It was so loud that Martine was sure that a gun firing over head would not be heard in the ruckus that was being created by the supposedly grown up officials of either Garden. Martine found himself wishing he had a gun he could fire at the moment. Like in the old movies he had seen, where a gun was fired at the ceiling to get an argument under control. But even if he pulled a gun here, the trained faculty would have it out of his hands so quickly that it would not count for anything. Actually, they just might decide that he had lost his mind in the heat of the moment. That would not look good on Garden. The Headmaster of the largest Garden goes crazy and tries to shoot his faculty. Martine could almost see the headlines now, as well as Squall's consternation as he would be forced to find another to replace him. That man had enough on his plate.
Then his mind hit upon an idea, rather the idea walked into his mind and had waited patiently until the person it needed was thought of. 'Squall Leonhart.'
Martine did not want to involve the third Garden in this too, but as the hours ticked away and it got steadily closer and closer to dawn, he began to see that there would not be much choice in that decision. Both Galbadia and Trabia Gardens were head locked, with the vote being cast at roughly the same numbers for supporting the Cadet, as well as against. But what held the decision was a large party on either side that would not vote for either. What they were waiting on, Martine did not know.
He sighed once more, as once again the argument resumed its debate on whether the psychological health of the student involved should be examined and once more the war of words waged on. Martine was sure that he had heard this before.
"Well then, what is the definition of manslaughter?" Someone asked.
Martine leaned forward in his desk. 'Ah something new?' he hoped fervently. 'Anything is better then giving Squall more work to do.'
"We haven't even decided if it is manslaughter or not!" Barry retorted back.
'Never mind.' Martine continued and leaned away from the debate once more. He was going to hate informing Squall on this one, especially when the details surrounding the SeeD exam came out. Martine found himself almost himself pitying Verauan at that moment. Almost. It was about time that the irresponsible leader of Galbadia Garden SeeDs got a dressing down from the Commander of the oldest existing Garden.
Martine had known Squall as a teenager, but even he found him to be a little intimidating at times. It wasn't physical height… most males had the Balamb Commander beaten in that respect, but something existed within Squall Leonhart that commanded the respect of all around them, and when he was upset at someone, then that unfortunate person was all too aware of how 'tall' he could be. Despite age differences or height differences, both he and Verauan were both older and taller, and Martine almost found himself balking at the notion of telling the Commander the events, even though he was a hundred percent sure that would be the next step.
"It may have been the right action, but it still was manslaughter!" Someone said from the screen to his left.
"The definition of Manslaughter states that one voluntarily withholds information or acts in such a way that it leads to another human's death, and the way Cadet Dos Santos acted directly caused the death of her Squad leader, Cadet Higa!"
"Her casting a sleep spell on Cadet Higa made it so he was unaware of what was occurring to his body. The action did not directly cause his death, only made him unaware of it. The action that caused his death was whatever was injected into him by those men. If you're looking for his killer, then those two that were pinning him were responsible." Bane calmly pointed out.
"But we still don't know if there was a way to stop it." Huuia stated.
"If there was, it was not within their means to do so!" A Trabian official agreed with her teacher.
"So they acted with the current information they had, in a fair manner. They did try everything else before Cadet Dos Santos resorted to the sleep spell!" Vert agreed.
"If it went to trial, she would be held accountable for the charge of manslaughter!" Geria argued, several Trabian officials also agreed.
"Without the support of Garden, she would go to jail, and I'm not sure a crime has been committed." Barry answered.
'They're stating everything over and over and over, just in different words.' Martine realized. 'Yes… Squall is going to love this one.' He realized that to his horror he was morbidly curious to see the look on the Commander at Balamb Garden's face when this issue exploded to him, with officials of both Gardens clamoring to be heard. 'Sorry, Squall.' He apologized mentally before looking for a time he could cut in.
"And what if she had the support of Garden? She may still be punished even if we stood behind her." Barry added.
"We don't even know if the parents are going to press charges." Kelia started in.
That was definitely a new argument and by the nods that were coming from the other more quiet officials he was pretty sure of what was holding up their votes. They wanted to see where the parents sat with the issue before setting their own opinions down in stone. 'Really sorry…'
"Why wouldn't they press charges!' Geria started in once more. "She killed their child!'
"In a certain light she did, but in another light it was merciful. No loving parent wants to see their child in pain." Xia argued.
"She broke the law." The first Trabian official agreed with Geria; speaking from the right of their Headmistress.
"Or couldn't stand to see someone she had known for three years suffer like that." Jemsia stated. "But this debate is getting us no where. I'm sure you all realize this by now."
Everyone quieted and looked towards the Headmistress of Trabian Garden. Martine felt a flicker of relief he wouldn't have to push his voice to gain the masses attention. "I concur." He stated simply. "It seems we cannot settle this issue between Cadet Dos Santos's current Garden and her first. We have to turn this over to the attention of Balamb Garden and ask for the Commander's input in this decision."
The silence ticked by as everyone absorbed the idea. He gave them the time they needed to realize that there was no option anymore that would suffice and that Balamb was their last option.
"I second the motion." Vert answered.
"All opposed?" Martine asked.
Once more there was an oppressive silence. Martine almost found himself wishing that enough would disagree so that he would not be forced to be the one that would have to contact the first Garden's Commander about this situation. As Kaidia's current Headmaster, that sad duty fell on his shoulders alone.
"All for?"
The ballots were cast immediately, on both sides of the telecommunications device, sealing his fate. This was going to be a very bad morning for the Balamb Garden Commander, as this had the endorsement of both Trabia and Galbadia Garden as an issue that demanded his immediate attention, it would be the first thing on his desk when he awoke.
Martine nodded, half to the amassed crowd and half to accept his fate. "Very well. I have a prepared fax, in case this had to be taken further then our own Gardens. I have just faxed it to Balamb. But it is still the middle of the night there and the earliest Commander Leonhart will return the call is 0700 hundred, Balamb time. I will take the call and forward his suggestions on the council that has to form for this. I will alert Trabia Garden as soon as I am free from the Commander's call to give you more details. As for me, I'm going to bed, so get out of my office."
With that, Martine left the room, heading for a much needed rest, aware that his entire faculty was staring at his turned back. 'Finally something got them to be quiet.'