"Did I make the right choice?"

-Hugo

For Fury, Triple Triad wasn't just an ordinary card game. It was the perfect stress-reliever. It was a guilty-pleasure he discovered as a second year cadet in the Military School.

After hanging his clothes dry, he noticed two of his upperclassmen sat by a corner. They were clearly focused on a board in between then.

Fury was entranced when he saw them play numbered monster cards against each other. "What game is that?" he asked.

One of them laughed. "It's Triple Triad, Caraway! Haven't you heard about it?"

When it dawned to them that Fury had never heard of it, one of them stopped the game and invited him to play and explained the game mechanics. "It's a simple game, Caraway. Let's start with the basics. Your goal is to defeat your opponents by having the most number of cards in the board. You gain more cards by overpowering theirs."

"How does that happen?" asked Fury.

The upperclassman, Marcus, showed him a card of a Cactus with a stupid face. "This is my Jumbo Cactaur Card. As you can see, there are four digits on the upper left corner arranged in a diamond shape. Each of these digits represent the strength of a card's side. For example, the card's upper and lower side strength is equal to six. The strength of its right side is two. The strength of its left side is 3."

He pointed Caraway at to look at the cards on the 3x3 board. "Triple Triad boards are 3x3. Some players are only allowed to play 5 cards against each other. That's why it's very important to have strong cards. There are other rules in the game, but let me tell you the basics." He pointed to a vacant space on the right lower quadrant. There was a Bomb card adjacent to it on the upper side, while a Cockatriel was on the space's left side. "In this game, I play blue. Both adjacent cards to the available space are in red. It means that Duncan owns these cards. Now, tell me which card can my Jumbo Cactaur overpower."

Caraway looked at the cards' strength. "Cactaur's left side can't beat the Cockatriel's right side. It's 7. But it can defeat the Bomb Card's 5 lower side."

"Good observation, Caraway." He put the Jumbo Cactaur card on the space and immediately, the Bomb Card turned blue. "Since there are more 'red' cards on the board, Duncan wins the game. There are other rules, but that's for another day."

Caraway returned and asked Marcus to teach him. He eventually played against his upperclassmen and won several rare cards from them. The game challenged and sharpened his mental skills. It provided him an avenue to hone his strategy in war.

He surmised the game would also help him win Julia Heartilly's heart. Julia too, also an avid Triple Triad player. He would leverage his interest in Triple Triad to bond with her.

As a matter of fact, why didn't he even? They had always talked, and while the subject of the card game passed their conversation, he had neither broached to play against her.

"I win" said Fury, as he laid his Marlboro Card on the right side of his opponent's Bomb Card. "9-8."

"Damn, I thought I was going to win this game! I can't believe the Junior I taught is better than me." The upperclassman who introduced the game to him eventually became a Genera in his own rightl. As he handed to Caraway his strongest card and a pouch full of Gil, Marcus couldn't help but casually ask, "How are you doing with the pianist?"

"We're doing fine." Fury replied.

"We?"

"We're friends." He clarified.

General Marcus chuckled. "Friends? Oh come on, Fury! You're not the guy I know. I mean, do you remember way back in Military school? My classmates envied you. They even had a rhyme for your reputation with the ladies, "Talk to Caraway and he'll f*ck you anyway."

He lit a cigar, ignoring Marcus' comment. He was fully aware of the jokes that trailed him as a Cadet. "Julia's different."

His friend couldn't stop grinning. "How different?"

He released a puff of smoke and continued, "She's young, not like the ladies I've been with. The rhyme does not apply to her."

"You're too slow," Marcus warned. "What will you do when you discover she loves someone else?"

Fury put the stick butt on the ashtray. "If that day comes, I'll make her love me- one way, or another. Even if it means I eliminate competition".

Marcus was mum. He clearly didn't expect to have a rival for the young lady's affections.

"Please excuse me." Without further explanation, Caraway stood up and left, leaving behind the card and pouch he won.

"General," Hugo greeted, surprised that Caraway chose to appear the same day Julia entertained Laguna. "How unexpected."

"Good day," he replied. "Is Julia here?"

Hugo hesitated to tell him the truth. He didn't want to ruin his friend's slice of happiness if he knew she was with someone else. "Yes, she's in her room."

"Splendid." Fury remarked. "Tell her I want to meet with her now."

"I'm afraid I can't, General."

What? "Why can't you tell her to meet with me?"

"Julia's entertaining… a guest."

Fury's years in the military honed his skills, especially in detecting whether a subordinate was keeping a secret or not, "And who is this guest?" he asked, trying to conceal the sliver of fear that pulsated within him.

"An… admirer whom she is very fond of." Hugo told him, "He is a Galbadian soldier as well."

Like a choke slam, he suddenly recalled an earlier conversation.

What will you do when she loves someone else?

I'll make her love me, and I will eliminate the competition.

"Give me this soldier's name." commanded Caraway.

Hugo gulped. It was obvious. He was not pleased. He did not like the idea of losing Julia to a soldier beneath his rank. "Laguna Loire, sir." I'm sorry, Julia

Fury etched the name in his memory. It burned like acid. "You are not to tell her I visited today, is that clear?" Hugo nodded.

He couldn't understand the myriad of emotions that bubbled in him. He didn't like it, not one bit. As he formulated what his next step would be, Caraway stared at the bouquet of roses in his hand. How pathetic. Marcus was right. He was slow. If he continued to play the patient gentleman and woo her- that blasted Laguna Loire would steal Julia from him. He would not allow a mere soldier to usurp him in gaining Julia's affections.

With a force enough to earn the rage of a sleeping Tonberry, he threw the bouquet to the nearest trash bin he saw. Hugo squirmed at the loss and maltreatment of the roses. Fury left the room immediately called one of his men. "Drome, I want you give me a complete profile on Laguna Loire. Look up everything and feedback at once. Do I hear you?"

No, he wasn't going to allow some man, or any man, to ruin what he worked hard for the last months.

Hugo's words echoed in his mind. An admirer whom she is very fond of. Was she fond of him too? She had never invited him to her room. They had always met in the lounge room, or in a public place. Caraway could feel and taste the bitterness of his disappointment in his lips.

He waited inside his car when his phone rang a few minutes later. Caraway finally received his answers. He checked his tablet and saw his rival's data- A rival he would, with no hesitation, eliminate.

"Laguna," he stared at the young man's profile. Captain Laguna Loire, 27 years old, born in Winsteep, a city near Deling.

Odd. There was something familiar about him, and Fury struggled to recall where he had seen the young man.

"You're my inspiration, sir! I will never forget the speech you delivered during my first day the Academy. I was about to give up, but hearing your words, hearing how you worked so hard to achieve your dream, you gave me hope!"

Yes, I met him.

Four years ago, he had attended as the Special Guest of Honor during the Graduation Ceremony for Galbadian Military Cadets. He remembered and admired the young man who bravely came up to him and thanked him. No other Cadet had done it before. He remembered how fond he was of the man's guts.

How ironic. He was competing with a man he once found admirable.

He instructed his driver to head to the Presidential Mansion. Upon arrival, he talked to the Commander-in-Chief. "Where will you assign Laguna Loire?"

"Dollet," replied the Commander

Too near. "No, send him to inspect the ruins in Centra near Esthar. You have men going there, yes?"

"But sir, we have already-"

"That's an order." Caraway cut him sharply. The commander simply nodded to his order and ordered one of his men to change the deployment orders.

Fury looked at Laguna's profile once more. He believed that love was a war to be fought, like a Triple Triad Card game to divide and conquer. I'm sorry if I have to hurt you Julia, but this is just how life goes. You win some, you lose some. Love is a like a Triple Triad game, where the one with the most powerful cards won, and in this game, I have the more powerful cards against him.

Note:

I had no idea how the flow for this story would go. It was hard to think what Caraway would do to send Laguna away. This was initially slated to be chapter 6, but I'm glad I wrote A Soldier's Promise Ring first.

The Triple Triad angle was originally planned to be a moment between Laguna and Julia, but I scrapped it. I was surprised that the idea to use the concept suddenly came to me while editing this chapter. I think the card game went well with this chapter's storyline.

Your Eyes on Me is plotted to have 12 chapters and an epilogue. Once the story's done, I'll be posting Raine and Laguna's story as a continuation. I debated whether or not to include their story in this fiction, but I decided not to.

YEOM is Julia, Laguna and Caraway's story. I thought it would distract the main storyline if Raine came in.

Thanks for reading this story! Stay tune for the next chapter!