Chapter 1

Poor Carbuncle

The black-haired boy exited the house and walked towards the outskirts of the town. He followed the road to Balamb Garden but as he was only a few steps away from the Garden, he was greeted by four bite bugs.

"Four Bite Bugs??!!" He said as he brought out his bow and four golden arrows.

"These arrows are heavy.' As he charged the arrows in the bow and with one swift second, the four arrows hit the four bite bugs.

"Stupid bite bugs!! I'm gonna be late for school!!" as he broke into a run until he reached the Balamb halls. I made it! And with 30 minutes spare time

He went straight to his dorm and changed his clothes. He wore a plain black T-shirt and black jeans with matching black rubber shoes. He also wore a white cotton jacket in the halls of the air-conditioned Balamb Garden. Still 15 minutes he thought as he opened his laptop and opened the Balamb Garden official website. He clicked on the schedules and entered his ID Number.

"Better list these down" as he grabbed a sheet of bond paper.

9:00 am – 10:00 am Homeroom 2F Classroom

11:00am -1:00 pm Junctioning 3F Classroom #1

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Lunch Break

2:00 pm – 4:00 pmGuardian Forces 3F Classroom #2

4:00 pm - ^:00 pm Magic and Drawing 2F Classroom

"I still got 5 minutes to get to the 2F Classroom. I better get there fast. Carbuncle, stay here ok?" the black-haired boy said as the Guardian Force replied with a nod. The black-haired boy wore his white jacket and proceeded to the Balamb Garden hall. He walked to the elevator as it rose to the 2F Classroom.

"This brand new Balamb Garden designed by Auntie Selphie is so much bigger than the Galbadia Garden. Well, at least I got to the 2F Classroom on time." He entered the room and took a seat at the far side of the classroom.

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"It's time for my first class in this semester." Quistis said while walking to the 2F classroom. She was given another chance to be an instructor in Balamb right after the defeat of Ultimecia. As she opened the door, she saw a familiar face in the far side of the room. The black-haired boy was looking down and didn't notice the blonde instructor enter. Just like his father thought Quistis. She started calling out the names of her students until she reached a familiar last name. "Leonhart.. Louie Leonhart"

"Present Instructor" the black-haired boy replied. The whole class turned to the direction where he was seated. Why are they staring at me like this?! He thought. Oh! Because of the last name. So what if I'm the son of the Balamb Garden commander and the sorceress!! He looked up and his eye was caught by a particular dark brown-haired girl. He shook his head to get her face out of it and continued to pay attention to his blonde Instructor.

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The voices of the students echoed in the walls of the Cafeteria but the sound of the crashing of waves were still audible inside the busiest place in Balamb Garden.

"I hate this much noise!!" Squall protested. "Yeah… we know." Zell answered earning a glare from Squall's cold blue eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?!!"

"Oh.. nothing.."

"…Whatever."

Everyone at the table laughed. "Squall... You already have a son and you're still the same." Rinoa said.

"Isn't he your son too??!!" Squall replied with an angry tone.

"Speaking of your son, he sits on the exact same seat where Squall used to sit and---"

Quistis was interrupted by Squall's cold glare. "And he has your icy glare" she continued

"…Whatever"

"Yeah… Whatever Quisty…" Rinoa said in a mocking tone.

"Guys let's change the subject. What do you think? Should we hire a band to play at the garden festival or should we use the speakers instead??" Selphie worriedly asked them. "Sefie. The Garden Festival is still 2 months away." Irvine replied. "I know Irvy but I can't help it. Whenever I think about the Garden Festival there will be a million ideas inside my head and then I tell myself to tranquilize but still nothing happens. Excitement is too powerful for me." Selphie said. "Wow Selphie. Tranquilize? Where did you even learn that word?" Zell asked.

"I learned it here, dummy. It means to relax."

"I knew that! I was only messin' with ya! And it worked. Oh Yeah!!!"

"Just shut the fuck up Zell. Don't you have anything else to do??"

"Auntie, weren't you taught to not say bad words by Matron??" Selphie saw a black-haired boy nearing their table "Dad. Can't I change my weapon?!" Louie complained. "Why? What's the matter with your bow and arrow??" Squall replied

"I'm just not used to handling these types of weapons."

"And what would you want to replace that with?" Rinoa horned in

"How much would a sword be? Or maybe a spear!!"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow." she replied

"Ok thanks. Oh and Auntie Selph hold back on the language with the wuss."

As the boy wearing white jacket approached the Cafeteria door, the people occupying the chairs closest to the table where he have been started to laugh as Zell Dincht started to turn red in anger.

"Squall! Watch your son's attitude will ya??!!"

"Oh don't take it seriously Zell. It was just a joke." Irvine said. "A very funny joke" he added.

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"Ok children, the field exam will be tomorrow and according to Commander Leonhart, the students participating in the field exam will be grouped by 8 so there will be 5 groups. Your group mates will be posted on the website and at the front gate. Please meet your group mates and discuss your plan before the day ends. That's all thank you" Instructor Aki said and right on cue, the bell rang.

"Finally another day is finished!" Louie said as he walked to his dormitory.

He entered his room and greeted Carbuncle. He immediately opened his laptop and viewed the website of Balamb Garden. His group mates' names were: Celine, Clare, Alaiza, Camille, Anne, Joy and Gen. "I wouldn't wonder why all of them are girls. Most students in this garden are girls anyway."

Later that evening, Louie opened the door of his dormitory because he is planning to go to the front gate hoping to see his group mates but to his surprise all of his 7 group mates are in front of his dormitory door. "Oh! Hi!" Louie said

"Are you Louie Leonhart?" a girl with short hair and thick glasses asked.

"Yes. How may I help you?" he replied.

"We're your group mates. We agreed to plan in a diner in Balamb. Will you come with us?" Another girl with a dark-brown hair and a somewhat orange complexion asked.

"Sure! I would love to get to know my group mates for tomorrow's Field Exam."

"Let's go then"

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They walked in the streets of Balamb. Squall held Rinoa's left hand as they walked to the shores of the beach near the peaceful town of Balamb. Irvine let go of Selphie's excited arm as they reached the yellow sand. Selphie ran to the shore with arms extended. She stopped in the middle of her tracks and looked back at the cowboy who was following her. "Come on Irvy!!" Selphie said.

Squall sat down at the sandy beach with Rinoa as she leaned over his shoulder. Selphie sat in front of the couple while mentioning Irvine to sit down beside her. Quistis walked by the shore while staring at nothing. "I think she's feeling sad 'cause Seifer's not around." Zell said as he sat together with the group.

"Hey! Quisty! Sit down with us!" Rinoa said as she brought out a Magic Stone. She cast Fire on it and it immediately lit up. "What a great replacement for firewood." Quistis approached the group quietly.

"I miss Seifer. Why did he have to go to Trabia for that stupid SeeD mission??!!" Quistis exclaimed.

"What was his mission there?" Selphie asked as she leaned towards Irvine. "To find a stupid missing chocobo that the owner was too lazy to locate." Quistis replied.

"And how much is the owner paying him??" Zell asked

"Ten thousand Gil. He's gonna be back tomorrow. He called me and said he found the stupid chocobo at the Shumi Village."

"In the meantime, why don't we have some fun at this beach?" Rinoa said as she stood up and removed her clothing until only her underwear was left. She dived in the ocean and started swimming around in it. The rest of the gang followed the black-haired girl as they removed their clothing and jumped to the wave-producing ocean. Squall swam to the place where Rinoa is floating and held her hand under the waves. They went to the others together as they joined the game they were playing. They went back to the shore minutes later. They got dressed and went back to the Garden.

Only the sound of crickets can be heard in the Front Gate of Balamb Garden. Squall checked his watch. "It's 10 minutes before the curfew. Everyone hurry up before it starts!!" Squall said worriedly. They ran off to the SeeD office wherein they planned to stay overnight for the anniversary of the beating Ultimecia. They reached the newly built room just in time. The room is empty because no SeeD sleeps there.

"I'm a bit worried about Louie." Rinoa said.

"Don't worry Rin. That child of yours is very responsible." Quistis replied with a smile.

"I think I should've left Siren with him."

"Yeah you should have. I'm a bit worried too." Squall said.

Right on cue, Rinoa's phone rang and it was Louie who's calling.

Mom?

Louie! Why did you call?!! Are you alright in there??!!

Yeah.. I'm alright. Carbuncle's not. Where do you keep the G-Potions??

Press the yellow button in the Guardian Force room door. There will be 50 G-Potions there and tell Carbuncle to get well soon. Take care.

Bye Mom!

"Who was it?" Selphie asked.

"Louie asking for the location of the G-Potions. Carbuncle is feeling sick since we left."

"Awww.. Poor Carbuncle."

"Would a Guardian Force normally be sick?!" Rinoa asked Squall worrying about the Guardian Force they got from the Iguion. "Stop worrying. I'm sure Louie can handle it. He is very good at magic just like you." Squall replied with a smile.

"But Carbuncle or any other Guardian Force doesn't get sick right?" Rinoa asked again, this time she was a little bit more worried. "Let's just not worry about it." Squall said as Rinoa rested her worried little head against Squall's shoulder. The room was filled with noise from the voices of the four other people.

"I'm so excited about tomorrow! Matron's gonna come to Garden! We should throw a party!" Selphie said with much anticipation for the said event that was going to take place the next day. "I don't think a party would be very appropriate for welcoming Matron Selphie. I still go with my idea. We should totally invite Edea here and let her sleep with us tomorrow. I bet she would totally agree." Quistis replied. "Yeah! That would be great! Planning a party will take weeks you know!" Zell replied. The whole gang suddenly became quiet as they noticed Rinoa Heartilly all alone in the corner. Squall stood up from his seat and walked straight to the sorceress who was looking out the window. "Hey, is something wrong? Are you still worried about Carbuncle?"

"Yeah kind of and about Louie too. He'll be alone again tomorrow night." Rinoa replied

"I bet he invited some friends over to keep him, Carbuncle and Angelo company."

"Yeah. What am I getting worried about. He's pretty smart and old enough to take care of his own." Rinoa said as a smile began to spread on her face.

She walked with Squall to the others. "Sorry I've been kind of like him for a sec." Rinoa said as she pointed to Squall who was sitting right beside her. Squall didn't reply. "Aww. Come on. You know I was only kidding" Rinoa told her knight as he turned around and smiled at her.

"Hey guys! I know something that we can do!" Selphie said as she walked to the drawer and brought out a Dino Bone with a pointed tip. "Let's play spin the Dino Bone."

"Why don't we just watch the TV instead of playing a very childish game like that? Come on Selphie. You're 32 but you're acting like you're still 17." Zell said. Selphie stuck out her tongue in a childish manner.

"I'll go with Zell's idea." Irvine said while grabbing the remote control and turning the TV on. He opened the DVD player and inserted a DVD on it. The movie began to play. Before the movie went to the climax scene they all fell asleep.

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That's it! Sorry for some wrong grammar and please please review. I'll be sure to send a PM for those who reviewed. I'll accept all your reviews. 'Til the next chapter!