A/N: Hey guys! Followers may have noticed I've deleted chapters 16 onwards. I decided to try to fix the POV stuff. Let me know what you think. So this is Squall's chapter and in true Squall fashion, there are a lot of thought bubbles. I've copied how his thoughts were expressed in the original game, inside parentheses.

Also, thanks Rocker095150 for your review and suggestions. I really appreciate it.

P.S. Yes. I. Am. Back.

Chapter 19: Lion Heart

Squall Leonhart

The commander's locks swayed in the wind, a disheveled mess of brown. Maybe a storm was coming. He stood at the edge of the terrace at the second floor of Balamb Garden. Midnight has passed. The stars in the sky were gone, but the crash of the waves upon the metallic exterior of the Garden can still be heard. They were at rest. The Garden stood still behind a long stretch of elevated land in Centra. Behind the mountains, a few miles in front of them, were blinking red lights and a faint vision of rusty maroon walls. Galbadia Garden. Safe distances were kept between the Gardens, in case one of the Gardens were attacked, escape or reinforcement would be easy.

He couldn't believe how relaxed he was at that moment. Maybe it was his escape. Thoughts of the war or of Louie were being kept at bay. But he couldn't help thinking about his son when it crossed his mind.

(Louie is better in G-Garden. Safer. It makes Rinoa really worried, though. But with Almasy's son captured, Balamb Garden would be the first place they'll look for him. And it's not that I'm not worried about him. I just remember what they all said about how we were treating Louie, how we should let him live a little. He also said something about trusting him a little bit more with the decisions that concerned his life. He was really upset with us. He's still upset with us. The icicles in his voice gave it away the other day. Who can blame him? I figured time away from us was what he needed. He seemed to be fine with being separate from us. And he's not alone. He's with that Branford girl. What was her name? Celia, Celina? Whatever.)

His thoughts were interrupted by a sensation under his skin. The metal doors behind him made a sound. It was Rinoa. He started to sense Rinoa's presence around 10 years ago and the connection grew stronger ever since. The gunbladist didn't really mind it. Sometimes, it was annoying, like an itch. Sometimes, it was useful. Sometimes, he just let it be. Whatever.

His wife stood beside him, inhaling the breeze just as much as he was. The light from the moon hit her face just right and the commander felt himself smile. There were no stars, though. The clouds blocked the twinkling lights on the sky and the only light source was the pale grey moon.

(I guess no meteors would fall tonight.)

There was something wrong with Rinoa. He noticed the way her back curved as she put her elbows on the ledge, the way her face looked like it was going to fall.

"He's fine, Rin." He assured her, even though he knew that it may not be the case.

She sighed and looked at him. Her dark brown eyes were trying to speak to her knight. But the night was starless and her eyes were covered by the shadows. It was odd how she wasn't speaking. Her knight turned to completely face her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. Her head was on his shoulder and her arms were around him.

(How can I be so relaxed at a time like this?)

That was what her eyes were telling him. And he didn't know the answer. The world was in chaos. There's a war. Countries were being attacked and were falling, people tortured, captured and killed.

He sighed as he pulled back, ending the embrace. His left arm was still around the sorceress' waist and her right arm was still around her knight. They looked on, at the sea in tranquility.

"What do you think Louie's doing right now?" she spoke, finally.

"Sleeping?" was his honest answer. He heard the sorceress laugh.

"I don't think so, Squall."

He turned to her, puzzled. (How could she tell?)

"If I know Louie, he'd be alone somewhere in the Garden, training, looking at the skies, writing. The night is prime alone time. That kid hardly sleeps. Just like someone I know."

"Well he'd better be asleep."

"Or what? You'll ground him?"

Rinoa was smiling, which made Squall smile back. She was right. They had nothing to hold Louie now. They could never ground him anymore. Take away his phone, he wouldn't care. Tell him not to go train late at night, he'd find other ways to be alone. They couldn't threaten him anymore. It gave them relief.

Their son has grown. He wasn't the irresponsible kid who would open his wings in the training center for everyone to see. It was a bittersweet reality. He had grown from the war, from death, and from suffering. Yet he had grown up fine.

(I guess we weren't bad parents after all. We raised a fine kid. Well, fine by my standards.)

Rinoa wrapped her arm around his and leaned on his shoulder. He felt her cheeks move. She was smiling.

A phone rang then. The high-pitched ringing broke the silence. It was coming from Squall's pocket. He grabbed the thing and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the name.

(Quistis.)

He knew Quistis was mad, or at the very least, upset. They hadn't talked about Carlos. Actually, they hadn't talked at all after the rescue.

"Q."

"Squall you have to come to G-Garden. Now."

"What happened to Louie?"

"Nothing. There's a video call from Zell and Sophie."

The commander realized he completely forgot about the two. He sent them on an assignment to find out more about Sylphia. He wondered why they weren't back yet, when they know now that Sylphia isn't Ultimecia. Sylphia's gone.

"Who was it?" he heard the lady beside him speak and he snapped from his train of thought.

"Oh. Q."

"What happened to Louie?"

"Nothing. Zell and Sophie are calling. And it seems like they have something important to tell."

"Can I come?"

"Sure."

The little trip to Galbadia Garden was fairly quiet. Rinoa and Squall took one of the emergency speedboats to get there. The sorceress and her knight got there in about seven minutes, after going around the long stretch of land before reaching G-Garden. Quistis and Selphie were there welcomed them.

"Seifer's in the office, waiting for you two."

Quistis wasn't smiling. Her hair wasn't tied up in that neat ponytail she always wore, and the bags under her eyes were now visible despite the frame of her glasses covering them up. Sleep avoided her. She walked ahead of the sorceress and her knight, keeping an awkward distance between them. Selphie walked with the blonde.

Squall and Quistis hadn't seen each other ever since the mission to Timber. After the incident at the TV Station, Rinoa and Squall rushed out of the timber Maniacs building, leaving the others behind. It was too late when they reached the children. Carlos had just been captured and the others barely escaped with their lives. They told them Louie was in Obel Lake.

It was then when Squall realized he could have called Seifer when he learned about Carlos. He stopped walking, empty eyes staring at the white floor.

"Squall." Rinoa touched his shoulder and he came back.

"Squall hurry up. It's late." Quistis' voice lacked tone. Maybe it was from lack of sleep. Or something else. Selphie was looking at them, a little bit of worry on her face. She said nothing, though. Quistis was still looking straight ahead, walking.

They continued the walk to wherever Quistis was taking them while the tension rose.

Galbadia Garden was the same as Squall remembered. Dull, gray and boring. The four of them walked up the metal steps that lead to the second floor. Nobody was around and the silence was only broken by the sound of their footsteps and the echo of their thoughts. The reception room was where they were headed. Quistis stood before the door. A swipe from the card key she was holding made the door slide back into nothingness. They went inside.

Sophie and Zell were in a wide screen in front of the couch.

"Go get yourself a cup of coffee. We'll be here for a while." Squall finally figured out the something in Quistis' voice just as she walked onto the corridor. It was hostility. He couldn't blame Quistis, though. It was a Garden protocol. Once a cadet is captured, he wouldn't be much of a priority until after he died. That was how much they trusted SeeD.

"Coffee, hun?" Rinoa asked from accross the was still standing in front of the door. He glanced up and declined. Squall then looked at the screen. The two were sitting on a small couch in what looked like a cheap hotel room. Zell was far from his high-strung, highly energetic loud self. Both their eyes needed holding up. They were busy looking at the papers they were holding and it seems they hadn't even noticed Squall and Rinoa enter the room.

The knight walked to his sorceress. His head was down and his shoes were silent against the carpeted floors.

"Quistis is mad." He whispered.

"I know." She whispered back.

"We can't do anything about it, Squall. We have more pressing issues."

"I know. The SeeDs here are too few. If we dispatch a couple more, we'll lose important people."

"Exactly. So stop your thoughts from going to that place, Squall."

He gulped. Traces of the calm he felt in B-Garden were long gone, spread out along the corridors they walked on. He started to think again. He figured Quistis thought they saw Carlos's rescue as a waste of resources, and he couldn't even imagine what Seifer thinks.

(It's just that there's too much going on, we're already on the losing side of the war, and we can't take our chances on something that has a good chance of failing. Let's face it, the best person to rescue Carlos is Carlos, and probably Louie or Krys. But those two are still recovering, and I don't want to have to risk the capture of two of the best SeeDs in the squad.)

Squall's mind started to trail off. Questions flooded his head. Was there something wrong with him and the way he thinks and decides? He knew he felt relieved when it wasn't Louie who was captured.

The sound of the door woke the commander up. He was relieved to see Irvine, partly because he knew they needed to be there and mostly because it wasn't Seifer.

For the first time in his life, he was terrified of Seifer. It wasn't like he couldn't take him down. But there's a lot at risk now. And it was a different Seifer, not the blind romantic fool who was a lap dog to Ultimecia, but the father whose son is being used to blackmail the Gardens into giving up. The rage of the blonde gunbladist would be different. And deep down, Squall knew he wasn't being fair, for if Louie was in that position, he would do anything to get his son.

"You guys. I'm—oh! I didn't realize you're here, Squall. Hey. We're going to be faxing you a couple of papers in a while so make sure your fax machine is on." Zell spoke to the camera. His voice was tired but one can still hear the old Zell beneath all the bags under his eyes. Squall glanced at Rinoa. He saw his sorceress staring at the doors, a worried look in her eyes. She was waiting for Seifer, as anxious as I was.

The metal door swung open and Squall looked up to see Seifer. His face was as empty as Quistis's and his bloodshot eyes skipped followed Seifer into the room.

"Let's see those papers, Dincht." He still wasn't making eye contact with Squall as he walked towards the fax machine.

"I think we ought to contact the Dukedom as soon as we can. The people here are mad and confused and we all know that's not good." Zell spoke through the microphone.

The fax machine took a while but as soon as the prints were ready, Seifer grabbed them. He read silently, before handing them to Squall. Still no eye contact.

"Zell. What are your thoughts on this?" Quistis asked as she grabbed another copy from the fax. The piece of paper was a letter with the Dollet insignia to its far right. It wasn't addressed to SeeD, though. It was for their people.

"Can someone read it out loud so we can all pitch in?" Selphie exclaimed.

Quistis cleared her throat and spoke.

"To the people of Dollet,

Last week, we saw the effects of the war. The forces of Galbadia and Esthar has covered the world with their ruthless and heartless attempts at persecuting sorceresses. It is cruel, it is unjust, it is inhumane. Last week, we were all witnesses to how our princess, the heir to our beloved throne, was ruthlessly trapped, used and killed under the guise of safety and freedom from so-called "power-hungry witches". And that is the last straw. That is why we must stand, as a country, to rid the world of these oppressors. For we know that it is ridiculous to even consider that seventeen year old girls will grow up to be evil sorceresses, for we know that these two countries are simply using the fear created by the sorceress from the future to keep everyone else in check. But we are not one of those people. We are not fools who follow blindly to the orders of the people above, just because we fear the consequences of the other choices. Look at the world now. We are at war because of the choices we made.

So we, the Royal Family of Dollet, call upon our people, to mobilize against the oppression that is the might of Galbadia and Esthar. We must join the Gardens in fighting for what is right, what is human and what is the best for our world. End this war. End the oppression. End this injustice. For Lady Sylphia and for the world.

Signed,
The Royal Family of Dollet."

"I think it's great. More people on our side." Irvine blurted out.

"More lives on the line." Said Squall.

"As if you care about lives on the line." Quistis whispered to herself. Squall then turned to her, and then turned back to Irvine to explain.

"Even with Dollet on our side, we're still no match. Dollet's military is average at best. And our cadets are children."

"He has a point. Remember the Galbadian soldiers we faced back in the war?" Selphie agreed with the Balamb Garden commander.

"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do right now, huh?" said Quistis as she walked to where the coffee was. Rinoa walked away, seeing the blonde approaching the counter she was leaning on. Squall glanced arounf the room and saw the Seifer, glaring at me.

"So we're done here?" Seifer asked as he walked to the door, not bothering to wait for the answer, until Rinoa spoke out loud.

"What the hell, Almasy?!" she exclaimed. Seifer stopped in his tracks.

"We have nothing more to talk about." Squall heard Seifer try to keep calm.

"Timber's with us, Dollet is with us, as far as I know, everything is going according to plan. The plan was to wait for it all to blow over. Well, we're waiting now aren't we? So we're on track. Everybody's happy." The tone in his voice said otherwise. There was a lump in his throat and his eyes reflected the fluorescent light of the room even more than it did when he first came in.

"If you think we're not affected at all by what is happening to your son, then you are terribly mistaken, Almasy." Rinoa answered him. Quistis turned to the window, her hand balled into a fist, her shoulders shaking.

"Then why aren't you doing anything?!" Seifer shouted.

"Seifer!" Quistis exclaimed against the glass window, her voice shaking.

"You guys." Selphie pleaded for peace, which they were not getting anytime soon. The tension was building in the room. Squall could actually feel it creeping up on his skin. He gulped as he spoke.

"Let him go, Rin. He's right. We have nothing more to talk about."

Then it was silent. Seifer walked slowly to where Squall was. He was shaking as well. Squall straightened his face and looked straight into the blue-green eyes of the blonde commander. His face was read and his hand was clenched into a fist.

Then he punched Squall in the face.

"Seifer!" Quistis turned around. Selphie was standing, her mouth open. Irvine was jumping towards Seifer when Squall landed a punch right on Seifer's chin. Adrenaline kicked in.

"Squall, stop!" Rinoa screamed.

The next thing Squall knew, Irvine was restraining his arms and Selphie and Quistis were holding Seifer back, Rinoa right in the middle of the two. Squall could feel the metallic taste of blood in his mouth and his eyes were locked onto Seifer's.

Tears were on Seifer's face when he spoke, voice still shaking.

"YOU'RE A COWARD, LEONHART. YOU KNOW THAT RESCUING CARLOS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO! BUT YOU HOLD YOURSELF BACK BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO AFRAID! YET WE SIT HERE IDLY WAITING TO BE CAPTURED! ALL YOUR TALK ABOUT BEING FAIR AND UNBIASED IS BULLCRAP, LEONHART, BULLCRAP!"

"Seifer, enough!" Quistis shouted.

A swoosh sound was suddenly heard inside the reception room and the noise they were making suddenly stopped.

"Louie?!" Rinoa's voice was clear even though there was ringing in Squall's head.

"What the hell?!" The young sorcerer's voice was the last thing Squall heard before he felt another punch landing on his cheek.

All of a sudden, the two stopped fighting. They suddenly flew to opposite sides of the room and their backs hit the wall.

"You stay out of this, puberty-boy!" Seifer pointed at Louie as he was struggling to stand up. Louie had a crutch under his right arm and his posture was broken. Squall's face reddened with anger and was about to run and punch Seifer when he saw the blonde's arm being twisted by an unknown force, his face wrecked in pain. Squall glanced over to Louie and saw him look at Almasy intently, never breaking eye contact.

"That is enough, Louie!" he heard his wife shout and then saw his son exhale and blink.

Silence. Everybody was panting, tired and sleepless.

"You all know I'm a whole floor below you. If I can hear you so can everybody, what the hell is going on in here?" He let himself in and Squall guessed he opened the door with his sorcery.

"It's nothing, Louie. We were just having a discussion. Go back to your room."

"This is not a discussion, mom. If I hadn't gotten here these two would've killed each other." Louie said while gesturing towards Squall and Seifer. The two were calmer now, but the tension in the room still hadn't subsided.

"Why are you all here?" the sorcerer added as he slowly stepped in, Selphie running towards him to help. Irvine followed and sat Louie down by the couch, the flat-screen right in front of him.

"Hey Louie." Zell and Sophie saw him then. Louie was able to smile and lift his hand to wave a bit. "They're here because of us. Dollet's declaring war on the superpowers and is siding with the Garden."

"So you think beating each other up is the way to go?" Louie said as he sat down. "Get me some coffee." he said loudly, to no one in particular.

"What?" said Seifer "You dare—"

"Get me some coffee, or I'll break your arm, Almasy."

"Louie, enough. You don't talk to your uncle like that." Rinoa reprimanded his son, while Irvine held a laugh.

"Fine. Can you get me some, mom?"

Rinoa didn't move. She just glared at her son, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Please?" Louie forced a small smile. Rinoa rolled her eyes then walked to the counter. The tension was almost gone when Rinoa handed Louie the hot mug.

Louie took a sip of his coffee before starting. "First of all, all this fighting and hitting is pointless. We all know that we have to get Carlos. He's not only one of the best SeeDs we have, he also has classified information. It's stupid that we do all we can to protect a princess just because she's a client and we don't do anything to protect our own."

"That's not the point, Louie. It's—" Squall was interrupted by his own son.

"Policy. I know. And I know it's a big risk. That's why this is a decision for you, commanders. Not me."

"So why are you talking?" Seifer Almasy butted in, irritated.

"When exactly did you discuss this with each other, Almasy?"

"Stop calling me Almasy."

"When?"

No one answered. Squall felt a combination of humiliation and pride. His son was schooling them all. Louie stood up.

"I'm going back to sleep. If I hear fighting again, I swear." The young sorcerer finished his cup of coffee before slowly walking back to the doors. Selphie stood to assist him.

(Louie's not a functional person when you disturb his sleep.)

The whole scene was a little bit funny and all sorts of humiliating. The orphanage gang felt like kids, getting lectured by their step-father. For a moment, it felt like Cid was there. Louie lifted his left arm and the doors slid open.

"Wait, Louie." Squall stopped him before he stepped out.

"What, dad?"

"I'm going to get Carlos. Almasy's coming with me if he can."

"And you're telling me this, why?" Louie turned slowly.

"Louie, sh." The sorceress exclaimed.

"What are you thinking, Squall?" Quistis blurted out, almost screaming.

"I'm thinking I know D-District prison from top to bottom, since I escaped 20 years ago. And Zell, can you fax us a sketch of a map of some sort. I'm sure you still remember."

Louie chuckled. "Fax? What are you a hundred?"

"Louie, enough." Rinoa walked up to Squall. "I'm coming with you. I might get my father to help out."

"That's great mom. I'm going to go back to sleep." Louie wasn't amused, a fake smile spread accross his face. He started to turn back, slowly as he was still in pain.

"Wait." Squall stopped him.

"What?!"

"While we're gone..."

The room was silent. As if they knew what he was going to say.

"You're going to be commander of B-Garden."