Part 1

Chapter 3: Diplomatic Relations

Squall paced around the ornate waiting room threatening to burn a hole in the carpet. He had been traveling all night and was slightly on edge. The Ragnarok was currently in use on a mission and rather than storm the beaches of the largest military country in the world in a SeeD Assault Boat, he had taken the overnight train to Deling City. Despite having the SeeD cabin all to himself, he didn't get a lick of sleep. He decided to forgo the free bus ride to the Presidential Residence, opting to walk instead in the hopes that the crisp morning air would wake him up and clear his head.

Whatever good the walk had done him was quickly being overridden the longer the wait became. He had been sitting patiently in the room's only chair but after several minutes passed without any updates or assurances his nerves compelled him to his feet. The secretary had been alarmed at the sudden action and Squall, despite his average height, had a dark, crackling energy about him that served as a warning for any passersby not to go near him. The woman found little comfort in the fact that his famous gunblade had been confiscated by security at the front gate.

The years since the war had seen Squall transform from a boy into a man. What he failed to gain in height he made up for in bulk, making him look more masculine and imposing. His forearms alone could put the tensile strength of any clothing fabric to the test, which was probably why the notably furless jacket he donned now was short-sleeved. His hair was slightly longer than it used to be, still hanging in front of his face, but it was his eyes that showed the most change. They were more tired and resolute but somehow lighter and brighter. Like he was holding a greater load than ever before but he wasn't the only one having to carry it anymore.

After what felt like an eternity, the telephone on the secretary's desk blared to life, causing both occupants to jump. She cleared her throat and picked it up before it could ring again and after a moment she gave a brief affirmation and hung up. "The President will see you now."

Squall didn't wait to be ushered in, wrenching the heavy double doors open himself just as the secretary was yelling something about them being automatic. Instead of the Presidential Office, he found himself in another small hallway, identical to the one at the office's other entrance. He was silently grateful he had this chance to compose himself and not go barging in like a red bat out of hell. He took a breath and this time waited for the automated doors to open themselves before walking down the aisle and coming to a stop beneath the elaborate light fixture.

He was struck by how different the room looked from the last time he was there. Gone were the sheer curtains of Edea's reign that shrouded the room in a ghostly haze like some kind of overpriced day spa. It looked lived in now and with the curtains down, Squall got a greater appreciation for how large the room actually was. Bookshelves, cabinets and display cases filled with all sorts of metals and memorabilia lined the perimeter with giant maps taking up most of the available wall space. The center aisle split the room in half with one side set up for a more relaxed atmosphere complete with a minibar and a couple leather couches and armchairs. The other side was clearly the business end with two much less inviting wooden chairs facing a massive desk, covered in stacks of documents and folders that seemed to frame the man behind it.

Fury Caraway glanced up from his paperwork to acknowledge his visitor. "Commander Leonhart. Have you come to overthrow me?"

Squall stared blankly at him. "No."

Caraway returned the stare. "Hmm, you never did have much of a sense of humor, did you?" He scrawled his signature on the front page of a document. "Never mind, neither did I. Humor is for people who can't face reality head-on. So what brings you here?" He asked as he consolidated the papers before adding them to the pile.

Squall allowed his eyes to drift towards the doors leading to the other hallway, the one with the hatch. "Actually, there is something I've always wondered about."

This piqued Caraway's curiosity. "And what's that?"

"Did you and Martine set up the assassination plot so you could pin it all on Balamb?"

Caraway placed his pen down and tilted his head back. "Pin it all on Balamb makes it sound more insidious than it was. We had a sorceress to kill and a group of operatives trained for that very thing. Sounds like a no-brainer to me."

"NORG said Martine used us so that if the Sorceress retaliated it would look like it was all Balamb's idea and Galbadia could keep its hands clean."

Caraway leaned back in his chair, bracing one hand on the armrest. "NORG sent orders to Martine to kill the Sorceress and then you SeeDs just magically appeared on his doorstep. Follow that up with Cid's official orders to have you defeat her and it seemed like we were all on the same page. Of course, we were hoping it could all be done with one bullet but it made sense to have SeeDs as the backup should you have to fight her," Caraway's tone down-shifted a bit, emphasizing the obviousness of his statement, "that being your purpose and all." While Squall mulled that over, Caraway decided to continue. "Galbadia was going down no matter what and Ultimecia would've targeted the other Gardens regardless of their involvement. Trabia is proof enough of that. If anyone was under the delusion that they could keep their hands clean, it was NORG. And his hands are as dirty as they are enormous."

"He thought if he pledged his loyalty and sent Edea our heads, Cid's included, then she'd leave Balamb alone."

"Ha! He would've ended up just like Deling. Slimy old toad- all he ever cared about was his hide and his money." Caraway snorted in disgust. "Greedy son of a bitch."

"That's what Cid said to him when they had their falling out." Squall recalled absently, replaying the events in his head.

Caraway raised his eyebrows, amused. "Cid has a surprising amount of backbone for someone more inclined towards harmony and academics. Not as soft as he looks. It wasn't easy in the beginning, creating Garden. And we didn't make it easy for him. We didn't understand his motives. And when someone decides to create their own military academy out of nowhere… well, other nations may see that as a threat. But he stood his ground. That's what convictions will do for a man." A fog settled over Caraway's features as he pondered that for a moment. "That and the love of a good woman."

Squall interrupted his musings with another question. "So you knew what the SeeD program was for? Before Ultimecia?"

"Well, yes." Caraway said with a furrowed brow, in the same painfully obvious tone as before. "Didn't you?"

Squall looked troubled, finally shaking his head in response. "Not until after the assassination attempt when we returned to Balamb."

Caraway laughed sardonically. "Nothing like learning on the job. Well it didn't seem to prevent you from trying the first time around."

"It didn't." Squall responded so quickly he stumbled over his next sentence. "…Change anything, not really. We were trained to fight, so we fought. But it may have prepared us better, knowing what we were supposed to be facing."

Caraway crossed his arms and gave Squall a slanted grin. "So, you finally learned to question orders." It was a statement, not a question.

"When I got a close look at the people in charge it made me start to wonder."

Caraway barked out a laugh. "That's right, you should question them. But you're still new, you probably think you would've done better. And maybe you would have but everything looks easy when you're not the one in the driver's seat."

"I wouldn't say easy exactly, it's just…" Squall paused here, wrestling with his thoughts. With every passing second it became less and less evident whether he would continue or not.

"The suspense is killing me." Caraway said dryly.

As if going against his internal programming, Squall ground out an answer that he didn't seem altogether satisfied with. "People seem to really complicate things for themselves."

"And I suppose you are free of these complications?" He asked, looking at Squall skeptically.

Squall reddened slightly. "No. If the war taught me anything, it was how much I was restricting myself."

"Mmm, yes." Caraway murmured. "War has a way of revealing our weaknesses. And if we're lucky, we discover them before our enemy does."

"I guess I just had a hard time seeing the logic behind some decisions."

"You shouldn't assume everyone's brain works like yours. Then you'll really be restricting yourself. But let me see if I can uncomplicate things for you a bit by filling you in on a little industry secret. If people are making things needlessly complicated, they're either idiots or they're hiding something. Or both. Now, whether it's for a good reason or a bad one- that's what you really have to worry about."

"It seems like there are a lot more idiots." Squall mumbled to himself and only when Caraway laughed did he realize he had said his thoughts aloud.

"Ah, yes. One of the benefits of youth is that you've made fewer mistakes, so you think you're above it all. Especially when you've only experienced victory- and a swift one at that. This tends to skew things in your favor a bit. But you're on the radar now and only time will tell whether it was a fluke or not." It was subtle but Squall looked temporarily struck. "Don't get me wrong, you demonstrated a tremendous amount of courage and ability but fighting battles is the easy part. Your objective is simple: kill the enemy. And you know who the enemy is because they're the ones trying to kill you. It's as straightforward as war gets."

"There's nothing straightforward about fighting a sorceress, Sir." Squall couldn't help but let some of his SeeD pride trickle out.

Sarcasm radiated from Caraway's entire countenance. "Yes, please explain to me what it's like to fight a sorceress, won't you? I've been doing that since before you were even born." Squall mentally chided himself for letting his ego get in the way. Triggering Caraway was not how he wanted this to begin. "Do you think you would've been quite so successful if you didn't have people like the Kramers setting you up to win? Whether you knew it or not, they've been preparing you for this exact scenario since you were a small child. Not to mention the invaluable insight Edea got into Ultimecia's mind; that's the kind of intel a spy could only dream of. You think that's how it usually works? If you think you understand war just because you've been in one then let me disabuse you of that notion. Every war is different. Just because you hit the lottery this time around doesn't mean lightning will strike twice. And just wait until you lose one. That's when your education really begins and right now, you're just barely learning to walk."

Squall opened his mouth to retort before pressing his lips shut tightly and exhaling, trying to calm himself.

"Sorry, kid, you're at the adult's table now. Cid handed you the keys to the empire and now that the war is over, the real work begins. And bureaucracy and politics is a much dirtier game than war could ever be. You're the big hero right now but one day you're going to be faced with a decision where nobody wins and people are going to die and you have to pick which ones. Then you'll get to see how fickle the adoring public is and how quickly your loyal followers are to trample over your remains. That'll show you how much your soul is worth to you. I've seen more honorable men than you lose theirs to the machine. It doesn't happen all at once." He got a haunted look in his eye which was chilling on a man like him.

Squall had nothing to say to that and looked a little run down by the conversation. Caraway, not without some sympathy, let him off the hook, perhaps tired of firing on someone who refused to defend himself. "So what's your real reason for coming here? I know it wasn't to discuss a failed mission from 3 years ago and to get an ear-beating from me. Or are you just not used to telephones yet?"

Squall looked like he was asking himself that same question until he remembered his true purpose. He set his jaw in determination. "I'm here to talk about your daughter."

Caraway's face became an unreadable mask but his voice became tight. "Is she OK?"

"Yes, she's fine. I'm here because," he hesitated for a second before taking the plunge, "I'm going to ask her to marry me. And I'd like your blessing."

The words landed like a lead balloon and Caraway looked like he had just been punched in the gut. When he recovered he let out an incredulous laugh. "My blessing? What makes you think Rinoa wants that? She didn't even want to come to my inauguration."

"It was a… difficult time." Squall stated awkwardly.

"Yes, indeed it was. For me as well." Caraway allowed his hurt to show for an instant before pushing it aside to give Squall an appraising look. "What does marriage mean to you?"

Squall hadn't expected such a simple question to be so difficult to answer. Per his custom, he delved into thought instead of blurting out the first thing that came into his head. "It's a commitment to be together for the rest of your lives, to love and support one another and help carry each other's burden."

"Hyne knows Rinoa can be burdensome." Caraway grumbled, the look of a long-suffering man plastered across his face. "Was this her idea?"

Squall looked confused. "To come here?"

"To get married."

"No." Squall said, mildly insulted. "I mean, we've talked about it before but this is very much something I want."

"Just checking." Caraway held up a hand in mock surrender. "Rinoa can be quite pushy when she wants something. She's even worse than her mother. I just wanted to make sure she wasn't the only one in it. So why do you want to get married?"

"Because I love your daughter and I can't see my life without her in it. She makes me the sort of man I want to be and I want to honor and protect her-"

"Protect her?" Caraway gave a bitter laugh. "Like you did when you let her accompany you on a suicide mission which resulted in her becoming a sorceress and almost getting killed? I told you she wasn't trained like you but you didn't listen!"

"All due respect, Sir, she was the one who didn't listen. Not when she snuck out of your house to go after Edea and not when she returned to D-District to help break us out. That was all her own idea."

Caraway dismissed that with a wave. "I'm used to Rinoa not listening but you were all SeeDs. How could you bring an untrained civilian with you into battle?!"

"You think I wanted her to join us?!" Emotion erupted from Squall quite unexpectedly. "That was the last thing I wanted but you're absolutely right- she is pushy! And she's one of the most stubborn people I've ever met! Does she get that from her mother too?"

Caraway gave him an obstinate look. "No. From her father."

"I thought so." He said before returning to his point. "But you know what happened? She proved that she had heart and that she was willing to fight and sacrifice. She was gonna let Esthar seal her away like they did Adel just so she wouldn't be a danger to anyone!" By the look of alarm and fury that raced across Caraway's face, Squall could tell that this was not information he had been privy to. "You didn't know?" Squall asked breathlessly, not having meant to drop this bombshell. "It wasn't in the classified files when you became President?"

Caraway could barely contain his snarl. "Esthar has never been good about sharing information."

"And Rinoa didn't mention it?" Squall asked, grasping at straws.

Caraway scoffed. "I'd have an easier time getting it out of Loire."

"Maybe she was trying to spare you the pain of knowing." Squall tried to soften the blow.

"Or spare herself the pain of me getting angry about it." Caraway muttered.

Squall trudged on. "Well, regardless, she proved that she wasn't just some spoiled brat sitting in her tower and that she could hold her own in the most impossible situations. Isn't that what you would prefer for her?!"

"No! It isn't! I want her to be my little girl forever because then she'd be safe with me!" Caraway shouted back, his volume matching the emotions inside him. "And maybe when you have your own kids one day, you'll understand that!"

Squall tried to bring things back to an even keel. "It was never my intention to put her in harm's way and I did everything in my power to protect her, including launching myself into outer space to come to her rescue."

A stony expression appeared on Caraway's face at yet another harrowing revelation. "Boy, this just keeps getting better and better."

"I'm sorry, but these weren't ordinary forces we were up against and the truth is, if I had to do it all over again, knowing the outcome, I wouldn't change a thing. She was the only guiding light I had during all that insanity and I couldn't have done it without her!"

Caraway had a look of resigned sorrow now. "Well, unfortunately, you may come to regret it yet." Squall didn't comprehend what he was getting at. "You think you could do what Cid did? If the same thing happens to Rinoa that happened to Edea, you think you could put your feelings aside and order her execution? Maybe even fight her yourself? For the betterment of the world?" Squall looked down, guilt etched across his face. "I don't think you have it in you. I know I don't." Squall looked back at him with some surprise. It was a dangerous admission (or admission by omission in Squall's case) for two men in their position to make but they were probably the only ones they could share it with. "And to be honest, I don't know if I want my daughter marrying someone who could." His voice was barely above a whisper now.

"You know, Sir, as much as I think you're a pain to deal with," Caraway lifted a weary eyebrow, impressed with Squall's gall but not having the energy to show it, "the fact that you're giving me such a hard time about this just goes to show how much you love your daughter and that you would do anything for her. You may not want to hear this but you know what Rinoa told me she was thinking about when she was drifting aimlessly in space?" The very idea caused the blood to drain out of Caraway's face. "Of course she was scared and she thought she was going to die but once she got her secondary life support switched on she said she had an unshakable hope that someone would come for her." Squall suddenly became animated, or as animated as Squall ever got. "Can you imagine anything more ridiculous than that?! Alone and floating end over end further out into space, away from everyone and everything, with no prospects in sight and yet she still had faith that someone would come save her. I thought I had something to do with that and maybe I did but I think it goes even deeper than that. Because I can tell you, you don't get that kind of hopeless optimism as an orphan. That is the deep-seated hope of a girl who was loved by her parents and always knew she had someone there to pick her up when she fell."

Caraway stared hard at his desk, trying to swallow the ball in his throat. After a long while, he finally regained himself and met Squall's eyes. "As much as I blame you for Rinoa getting mixed up in all this, I know you'll protect her. So you fucking better." He pinned Squall with a particularly scathing look. "And you better stick around."

Squall didn't flinch. "It's been 3 years, I have no intention of leaving."

"You must get that from your mother then." Caraway replied gruffly as he stood up. "We both know she'll marry you whether I like it or not so you have my blessing." He held out his hand and Squall stared at it in a moment of shock before he closed the distance and took it. "You seem like a man of your word but if it turns out that you're not, I'll throw every resource I have at you, including the entire Galbadian Army." As they shook, Caraway's grip tightened, his tone becoming more menacing. "But that's nothing compared to what Rinoa will do to you."

Squall's shock turned to relief and he smiled softly, the hint of laughter in his voice. "I know." He squeezed Caraway's hand with feeling. "Thank you, Sir."

"Don't thank me yet." He said tiredly, letting go of Squall's hand. "Now get out of here before you give me even more grey hairs than you already have." Caraway motioned him away. Squall smiled widely and bowed before heading to the door. He had almost reached it when Caraway called him back. "Squall!" The man in question turned around. "Why'd you come here anyway? Rinoa clearly doesn't need my blessing. She gave up my name a long time ago."

"Because she loves you, Sir." Squall said simply. "And I don't know what it's like to be part of a family but I wanted to start this chapter off right."

Caraway, overcome yet again, gave a curt nod of approval. The doors opened for Squall to leave but before he entered the hallway he shouted back over his shoulder. "Oh, and she misses the way you used to hold her. So maybe give her a call sometime."

Caraway stood there motionless long after Squall had left, the impact of his words remaining. Finally coming to a decision, he plopped down in his chair and picked up the phone.