Disclaimer : I don't own anything.

Note : Ok, so you know a little about Shane's past. Cookie to who can name the boys running in the background of his flashback. LOL.

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(Balamb Garden, Bridge)

Exchanging a worried look with Kapri, I took off to the office, with her on my heel, and surprisingly, meeting Dustin on the way. We took the elevator up to the bridge, where we found Headmaster Kanoi running back and forthe between confusing consoles, a PA microphone on his hands.

"Everybody, please remain calm." he instructed shakily.

I raised an eyebrow at this. Might work better if you didn't sound panicked yourself. I thought dryly.

"Also, please do not leave Garden under any circumstances until you are permitted. We will try to get things back to order A.S.A.P. Thank you for your cooperation." Putting down the microphone and hitting a switch, he turned and jumped a little, spotting us. "Ah, Shane, thank you for coming. Here are your orders. We've landed at Fisherman's Horizon."

More like Crashlanded. I thought dryly, schooling my face to remain blank as I listened.

"Please go ashore with Dustin and Kapri. Find the local Mayor and apologize for this accident. Tell them we come in peace. Then take a look around the city while you're there, too."

I nodded and saluted. "...Yes, sir." Why do I have to go?

"Is there a problem?" he asked with a slight grin.

"No..."

He nodded. "SeeD is not just a special force for combat. I want you to see the world... To broaden your horizons. I have high expectations for you, Shane. Now go." he said with a grin.

Nodding again, I frowned as I turned and made my way to the elevator, where I only just realized Kapri and Dustin had stayed behind. Once I rejoined them, they crowded around me in excitement, and I had a feeling they already heard our newest mission.

"What's up? Are we going to Fisherman's Horizon?" Dustin asked with a grin.

"We're here!" Kapri stated, checking her crossbow and grinning at me.

Nodding slightly, I sighed. "We'll land at Fisherman's Horizon. We'll make an official apology and then observe the town for a bit."

"Yo, go to the 2nd Floor deck to get out. The front gate's blocked." Dustin said, making a face.

With a sigh, I led them to the 2nd Floor deck and out, ignoring a kid that was staring curiously at a 'Do not push' button on a side door. Once outside, I stopped in shokc, noticing a large metal rig that was set up to Garden, leading down to the small community of Fisherman's Horizon. It was a lot of metal catwalks attached together, with a couple of men along it.

The city itself, from what I could see, was very peaceful, and from up here, very beautiful. It was the shape of a perfect circle, most of the walls just outside the community itself, made of clear, sparkling glass and reflecting the sunlight. The giant solar panel. They relied on solar power, rather than electricity. The houses themselves were rather messy, and there were few plants. The windmills and water towers were all over the place, and I grimaces when I realized we'd knocked a windmill down in the crash.

Then, there was an old, abandoned railroad on a long bridge. If I remembered correctly, this was the world's longest bridge. It left land on one continent and stretched across a massive ocean, to a continent almost halway across the world. In fact, it was supposed to be the only way by land, to reach the hidden, isolated city of Esthar.

"Here they come." someone called, and I turned to find some tough-looking guy glaring at us as we stepped off the deck and onto the metal catwalk. Remembering the mission, I sighed and kept my face schooled to be as pleasant as possible. "We've come to warn you, before you go ashore. Do not engage in any type of armed conflict inside the city. we do not tolerate belligerence here, understand?"

I frowned deeply and nodded slowly, not liking the condescending tone I was getting from this guy. "Yes. We are representatives of the Garden and we come in peace." I stated as calmly as possible.

He looked surprised at the attitidue before nodding and giving a small smile. "Welcome to Fisherman's Horizon. We just call it FH. You should go visit the mayor. His house is in the middle if the city. He's the head of FH."

Another man whistled as he took in the damage and shook his head. "What a mess!"

Scratching the back of my head nervously, I shrugged. "Sorry about that... We lost control of Garden, so it was inevitable."

The guy laughed and shook his head and I wondered how the hell he could be so calm about this mess. Then again, no one else seemed too worried about it, either.

"Nah, don't worry about it. What's important is that nobody got hurt."

I could make out an old fisherman down on the ground below us, shaking his head with wide eyes as he stared at the remnant of a dock he must've been standing on. Transforring his gaze to the Garden, his eyes travelled up it until they locked on mine and he scowled, raising his fist and shaking it menacingly, yelling something that we couldn't make out, he was so far away.

"We love fixing stuff, anyways." the guy continued, obviously not seeing the fisherman below us. "Relax. Kick back and enjoy your stay at FH."

We walking along the catwalk until we came to a tower. Following the metal ladder up to a new catwalk, we travelled along it as well, until we came to a lift that one of the men I'd seen earlier, was operating.

"Need a lift?" he asked with a grin as he fiddled with the controls.

I nodded and he held up a hand, signalling one moment as he worked on some wires. "Ok. So you guys goin' to Esthar?"

Frowning, I raised an eyebrow, wondering why he'd think that. "Esthar?"

He nodded and looked thoughtful. "I guess you're not goin' there. A lot of people who stop by here, are goin' there. You know, that hi-tech city. It's just beyond the train tracks. The trains are down, so the best way to get there is to walk. What a joke, huh?"

Hi-tech city and their trains are down? Sounded more suspicious than a joke, to me.

"Anyways, you guys had an accident and came here, right? I guess I shouldn't keep you. Get on."

We climbed on board and he started the lift. Once we made it to the bottom, we raced along the tracks to the stairs down to the ctiy. I blinked and squinted against the violent glare of the sun off the panels, and managed to safely make it down, where I rubbed my eyes, trying to get my site back to normal.

Once I could see clearly, I noticed a large house right in front of us and figured out that it belonged to the mayor. Walking to the door, I knocked politely, and was taken a back when I noticed an older man answer it with a glare in his eyes. He gestured for us to come in and we followed him up to the second floor, where he gestured us to sit, and sat beside a younger blonde woman.

"I'll get straight to the point. When are you leaving?" the man asked almost eagerly.

He's not wasting any time. I thought with a raised eyebrow as I shrugged. "...We'll leave as soon as Garden is capable of moving."

"Any idea when that'll be?" he asked, rubbing his chin as he thought.

"I'm afraid not. We only discovered that the Garden was mobile a short while ago. Therefore, we don't even know how to move it. We're still in the process of understanding everything."

"Our technicians will assist you." he said with a determined nod. "They should be able to repair and service everything. How does that sound?"

Like you're trying to get ride of us. I thought about it and frowned deeply. That means we'll have to let outsiders onto the Garden. I can't make that decision alone.

"Go consult with your leader if you don't have the authority." he said dismissively.

I stood up and nodded, turning to leave when Kapri's inqusitive voice caught my attention and made me slap my forehead with my palm, shaking my head.

"S'cuse me, why do you want us to leave so bad?"

Her tone was innocent, but I was certain there was more to it than just curisoity.

Shaking my head again, I turned and rolled my eyes at her. Please, just keep your mouth shut! They have their reasons. Who cares?

"We don't want military organizations in FH. You rely on force to solve your problems. That is in direct defiance of our principles." the mayor stated with his eyes softening a bit.

The woman we realized was the mayor's wife, nodded. "We believe that any problems can be solved with discussion. If you can reach a mutual understanding, there is no reason to fight."

I nodded in understanding. No arguement there. Trite and dull as hell, though.

"Violence only leads to more violence. We believe your presence will attract violence. That's why we want you to leave as soon as possible." the mayor concluded firmly.

Getting back up, I gestured for Dustin and Kapri to follow me. "Let's go back to Garden."

As we exited the house, Dustin growled and kicked at the ground angrily. "Man that old geezer really pissed me off!"

I shrugged. "Forget it. You can't expect everyone to welcome us with open arms."

We made our way to the stairs and started up them slowly. It was a long walk, and there didn't seem to be any hurry, despite what the mayor let on. The walk was silent, but I could feel Kapri's eyes burning into my back before the sensation faded and I guessed that she was looking away.

Near the top, a man suddenly rushed down, screaming about Galbadian Soldiers.

We exchanged looks before rushing to the top of the stairs, and sure enough, I could hear gunfire in the distance. I was debating on whether or not to interfere, when I noticed the mayor rishing up the stairs behind the young man, followed by his wife, and paused as I listened to their conversation.

"Galbadians? Are they armed?"

His wife shook her head with an uncertain smile. "It must be some sort of mistake."

The young man nodded, and pointed in the direction of the gunfire. "They arrived at the station, and were armed big-time!"

"Let's not panic. President Deling and I are old acquaintences." the mayor insisted firmly. "I'll go talk to them and clear things up."

I shook my head. "President Deling is dead. Galbadia is now ruled by the sorceress."

Starting off to deal with the Galbadians, the mayor's wife ran in front of us and glared at us. "Wait! The Galbadians are here because of you, right?"

I shrugged. Maybe...

"You'd better take full responsibility. It's your fault!" she scolded.

Our fault?! I thought incredulously. Sighing, I shook my head. Fine, we'll take care of them. I don't like her tone, though.

The mayor came up and put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head at her. "We mustn't rely on them. They won't be able to solve anything without fighting."

I crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow. Don't tell me he's going to try to reason with them...

"I'll go talk to them."

...He's dead...

(Normal POV)

The trio ran through the fishing town of FH, fighting off Galbadian machines and soldiers. Nothing really stood a chance against them, because of how strong they were, but still, there was a foreboding sense in the air.

Shane frowned deeply as he ran, wondering why the Galbadians were here. He knew it was more than just Garden. How could they possibly know Garden was here, in such a short time? Fact is, they shouldn't have even known Garden was still in one piece, yet.

So, what were they doing here?

Another set of machines and soldiers down, a few hundred Gil richer.

Kapri kept shooting Shane wary glances, noting the deep look of concentration in his eyes. He knew something was up. Chances were, they all did. This was about mroe than just Garden, she could feel it.

Dustin didn't know what was going on, but he knew something wasn't right. He could feel the adrenaline run through his veins, making his hits that much more powerful whenever they fought.

There were mentions of 'finding the girl' and 'Sorceress Miko's orders', but not enough to really make sense of.

Their only hope lay at the station, where the mayor was with the leader of the small army.

Soon, they made it to the station, and Shane immediately crouched down, hiding behind a small pile of scrap metal as he listened to the conversation. He saw the mayor being held by the collar, by an elite soldier, and felt Kapri nudging his arm in a sign they shouldn't just sit there, but pushed her arm away and listened in closely.

Why are they wasting their time with the old man, if they're after us? It just doesn't make any sense. He thought suspiciously. What are they talking about?

"I told you. I've never heard of this girl Kelly, before. There's nobody here by that name." the mayor said in as soothing and stern a voice as he seemed able to muster.

Shane frowned at this and briefly noted the confused looks on Kapri and Dustin's faces. Kelly?

The soldier shrugged. "Fine. Then we'll just have to torch the city."

They could hear the grin in his voice, as the mayor's head shot up and he shook it wildly, staring pleadingly at the soldier. "Wait a minute! I'm telling the truth! I've never seen this girl!" he protested.

The guard shrugged again. "It doesn't matter, old man. We're gonna burn down this place, anyway. Sorceress Miko's orders."

Biting his lip, Shane grabbed the hilt of his gunblade. Burn down the city? First attacking the Garden, and now this? What's the sorceress thinking?!

"No, please, I beg of you! Don't!" the mayor begged.

Tightening his hold on the man's shirt, the soldier grabbed a sword. "I think I'll start with you."

Jumping into the area, Shane slashed at the guard's arm, causing him to drop the mayor to the ground and clutch his arm with a pained hiss. "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded angrily.

Someone who doesn't know? he thought with a raised eyebrow. Almost all the soldiers they'd run into knew they were SeeDs and tried to kill them. "...We're SeeDs."

The guard took a step back and grabbed a small radio from his shoulder. "SeeDs! Hey!" he called into the radio. "Get the Iron Clad over here!" he shouted.

Looking to the mayor, Shane felt guilty that they were bringing a battle into his little town. He understood his feelings, and really felt bad for this. Kneeling at his side, Shane sighed and shook his head a little. "I'm sorry, but we have no choice."

The mayor refused to look at him, but Shane got up and joined the others as the soldiers came rushing at them.

It took a while. It seemed like they had to fight the entire dispatchment. It started out as four soldiers, then two elites, then three elites and a soldier and kept going. As strong as the group was, it was still difficult for them to deal with this many soldiers, but they managed to get it done.

But, as the final soldier fell, a loud rumbling was heard, and a rather beat-up looking machine came rumbling along an upper roadway, turning at a whole in the path and launching itself down to the area they stood in, landing on the edge of a large whole that dropped down to the ocean below.

It looked like it used to have six single engine rooms on it, but only two remained. It also looked like it had been in the fight of it's life and barely survived.

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Ok, I cut it here because I accidentally continued it from 'Normal POV' to 'Shane's POV', so his POV starts the next chapter.

I'm getting lazy peoples. Sorry about the lack of updates. From 7-10, down to 3 in one week. Boy do I feel sad. :S Well, I'm still working on it. I just started at a gym, so I'm often not home, but don't think I'm just going to give up on this fic.

Does the machine at the end sound familiar to anyone? LOL.

Hope you like it.

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"Would you have been worried about me, too? Y'know, if I were with them, instead?"

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R+R please.

Thank you. :)

Tenshi.