Prologue
An unseemly threat grew with the continued actions of an unknown stalker. Later revealed to be Jeremiah Epson Larkner, a powerful yakuza leader, the deranged stalker was disposed of after daring to touch what Seifer Almasy had only recently laid claim upon.
Seifer Almasy's return to Balamb Garden in the first place, was to act as Squall's protector from this threat. The Commander had been working tirelessly, while stressing over Rinoa Heartilly's recent disappearance, which was later revealed as her departure from their relationship.
Though more than reluctant to accept an old rival's help, Squall conceded to the hiring of Seifer at the insistence of a worried Quistis Trepe.
Not long after rivals were reunited, past happenings in the war forgiven, the two found themselves inexplicably drawn to each other. Neither man understood the feelings they felt for each other. After fourteen years together before the war they didn't understand what had changed between them.
However, as desires mounted and the feelings became mutual, they were unable to avoid the inevitable. Their relationship grew in the time span of a week. But, their time together was hardly relaxing with the interfering kidnapping by Squall's psychotic admirer.
Life was not easy for anyone during the short time span of that single week. Squall's relationship with Seifer triggered unknown feelings in a sharp shooting cowboy. Irvine Kinneas all too quickly wrote his jealousy off, as his usual want to lay claim on every nice body in sight. However, his continued feelings of longing for the Balamb Lion caused hurt towards the happy go lucky Selphie Tilmitt, who was admittedly completely in love with the gunman.
Rinoa, realizing her fault in leaving announced, soon returned with the hopes of picking up where her relationship with Squall had left off. The troubling discovery that Squall had become involved with Seifer was more than a shock.
Laguna Loire struggled continually with his aching want to become closer to his son. Squall was never willing to lie to the Estharian President, and thus could not act the part of the affectionate son. While they managed to build a foundation, they were still far from the perfect father and son coupling.
In a surprising newsbreak, Zell Dincht became a married man. Though the boxer's acquaintance with the head chef, Greta Menavich, was known among his friends, no one had a clue that they'd been involved. Having eloped, the couple made plans for spending their honeymoon enjoying Garden's festivities.
Rui Valdez was a new face joining Garden's ranks. As a thief from Dollet, the younger boy was initially enlisted by Squall's stalker to take pictures. However, Rui's courage was non-existent against Ultimecia's former knight and Commander Leonhart's all seeing gaze. And so, the boy's life changed drastically as Squall offered a home within Balamb Garden.
Set before Garden's winter festival, each character carries on where they left off.
Chapter One
Place Your Bets
On weekends, Balamb Garden usually had crowded hallways with students hanging out in every corner. It depended on the season and where the large facility was stationed. During winter, cadets tended not to go outside as much. Likewise, when they were stationed in Fisherman's Horizon, there was little to occupy the teenage mind in the small seaward town.
Stationed in Fisherman's Horizon, Balamb Garden was under the construction of the trained hands of every mechanic and able-bodied architect. Lead by Selphie Tilmitt, the first stages of preparations for the winter festival were underway.
There was a pleasant hum of excitement in the air. Not for the first time, Laguna Loire found himself grinning foolishly for no reason at all, except that he couldn't help it. Reputation aside, it was a rare instance when the former Galbadian soldier was able to sleep in. The worst part was, taking extra hours of unneeded sleep was a secret pleasure for the man, though he'd never admit that it had anything to do with age.
Now, planning yet another day of soaking in the youthful atmosphere that was Balamb Garden, the long haired man casually walked along side his trusted advisor and temporary bodyguard, Kiros Seagill. Poor Ward was left behind for the time being, since someone had to run the country while Laguna was off having fun with his son.
"Say," the president with hazel green eyes spoke to grab his tall friend's attention. "Is it always this crowded on weekends?"
"It's not crowded," the dark skinned man pointed out.
"That's what I mean. Where is everyone?"
"Alex, why didn't you wake me up!" a young feminine voice cried from behind.
"You're to one who didn't set the alarm," a slightly higher pitched voice chastised.
Laguna and Kiros halted, and watched in amusement as two young female students came dashing around the corner. The frantic attempts by one to shrug into a sweatshirt and the unlaced sneakers of the other told the tale of how their morning was going.
The two girls didn't spare either the President or the advisor a second glance as rushed by.
"Did you place any bets?" the one who was apparently named Alex asked.
"My money's always on the Commander. I hope we're not too late. Gah! Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Excuse me," Laguna called out to the ladies retreating backs.
Even with the lighthearted tone the President's voice always carried, he did sound like a man of his age, causing the two girls to halt immediately.
Both with brown hair of varying shades, two heads turned with ill concealed winces at being in trouble.
Before either girl could even raise a glance from the floor, the one called Alex began, "We're sorry instructor. We won't run in the halls."
"No, that's fine," Laguna waved off the matter quickly. "Where are you going?" he questioned. After hearing the mentioning of his son, he was quite curious.
"Eh?" the slightly shorter, so far unnamed girl intoned incredulously. Looking up she gasped. "President Loire sir, we're so sorry. We didn't know it was you," she fumbled with heated embarrassment.
"That's fine, that's fine," the longhaired man waved off again, not caring about anything didn't pertain to his boy. "Are you going to see Squall? What's this about a bet?"
"Forgive him," Kiros spoke up. "He's not here on formal business so there is no need for formalities. You mentioned a bet on the Commander, and I believe he won't be satisfied until he's heard more."
Awkwardly, the two young women glanced at each other in shared thought.
"We're going to watch the spar between Commander Leonhart and Seifer Almasy," one explained.
"We're first years, so we never got to see it before," the other piped in excitedly.
Greenish-blue eyes widened. Almost gleefully, Laguna strode forward, "Let's go!" he announced, taking the lead even though he had no idea where they should be going.
While Kiros sighed and shook his head at the man's continued antics of a carefree child, the two ladies shared yet another glance between themselves. With a shrug, they set off to follow quickly in hopes of still making it with plenty of time to watch. Resigned to his fate, the tall advisor cast aside braided strands of hair from his shoulder and also followed.
Shortly thereafter, Laguna found himself in the midst of what he felt safe in assuming was the whole population of Balamb Garden. Crammed into every corner, students mulled around waiting to catch the briefest of glimpses from the sparring fighters inside the Training Center.
Staged as the center attraction, which Laguna was proud to watch with his special status as the Commander's father, were two gunbladists dueling fiercely.
It was a mesmerizing sight. In sublime awestruck, the Estharian had to force his mind to process the images and tag on the little extra fact that what he was seeing was real, and that the darkly clad figure with the neon sword was his very own son.
Absently, he wondered where the kid had been when he'd been helping Esthar out with Adel. Sweet Hyne, that battle would have been a walk in the park for the Commander.
An impressed whistle cut the air. Kiros kept his dark eyes fixed on the sight below. Their position on the second floor viewing deck gave a nice view of the activity. "Now I'm really starting to question those DNA results," the man jibed.
In mock hurt, the longhaired ex-soldier whined, "I'm a good fighter." When his long time companion didn't seem to give his words any notice, he tagged on, "Better than you."
Kiros chuckled softly while continuing to watch the fighters exchange blows. "How long have they been fighting?" he questioned a random spectator nearby. Considering the entire Garden was full of teenaged cadets, there was a general amount the advisor could assume about each younger looking person around them.
"'Bout an hour," the young man replied.
Curiously, Kiros arched a brow and searched for signs of tiring in the fighters. Squall certainly seemed to be lighter footed, capable of taking several steps in the time it took the ex-knight to take one. But, each hit that the brunet countered or defended against was brutal.
"Who's pooling the bets?" Laguna asked eagerly.
Brought from mindless observation, the boy they'd been asking abruptly glanced their way with blinking brown eyes. Confused at the presence of two instructors he didn't recognize, it took a moment for Laguna's face to register. "Sir," he promptly greeted with a salute across his breast, "I believe Instructors Tilmitt and Dincht are running the books."
Kiros almost laughed at the stiff manner of speaking whilst talking about taking bets on the Commander's spar. It was definitely not how he'd pictured that morning going over.
Before the over zealous father could hound every one in earshot for the whereabouts of Selphie and Zell, a cheerful cry cut over the buzzing chatter of fanatic spectators.
"Laguna!" Selphie called out, seeing the tall and distinguished pair over the crowded heads. Jumping up and down, she waved her arm to clue them in on her position. Even first years were taller than her.
Once she'd attracted their attention and called them over, she quickly escorted them elsewhere.
On their way, the happy young woman spoke in a rushed manner, "Oh, rumors are flying everywhere! It's so great. I've managed to round up a particular gathering of girls. It only took a few hints that Seifer came back to be with his childhood love to get them going. I swear, they're as obsessed as the Trepies now. They won't stop giggling every time Seifer and Squall rest a moment and stare at each other."
Brows furrowed, Kiros regarded the copper haired girl wearing a bubble gum pink jump suit with curiosity. "Childhood love?" he questioned.
Laguna abruptly stopped in his tracks. "Oops," he uttered before all else.
"He doesn't know?" Selphie asked frantically, turning about with the look of a frightened puppy that just got into the garbage.
"Seeing as how you couldn't stop talking about how happy you were about your time with the Commander, I'm wondering the same thing." The lanky advisor pinned the featherbrained man with unblinking dark eyes.
"I have pictures," Selphie offered with sparkling green eyes.
Before Laguna could think to protest, wanting to give an explanation first, Kiros had a handful of photos.
With a frown, the dark skinned man questioned the content of the first image. Holding it out, he asked, "You're wet."
Laughing nervously, Laguna habitually tapped his right foot on the ground as though suffering the beginnings of his long forgotten leg cramps. "Did I mention that we fell in the water?"
"No," Kiros answered with an amused smile, "It must have slipped your mind."
Under his breath, the longhaired man mumbled, "Among other things."
Dark brown eyes widened. With uncertainty, the tall man stared for a prolonged moment. Just when he seemed about to ask a few questions, he shuffled through the stack of photos at a swifter pace.
"I see," Kiros commented, eventually handing the energetic pilot her pictures back.
"What do you see?" Laguna questioned.
Kiros gave the President a sardonic look. "I see that your son is more comfortable being held by a sorceress knight than his own father, and I see he doesn't much care for discretion."
"Hey," Laguna snapped, holding an unusually biting tone. "First off, if he's tense in those pictures, it's cause I just tackled him off the dock. And, while I'm not too thrilled about an ex-knight being with my son, Squall seems to be happy about it."
"Yes, what's not to be happy about," Kiros responded sarcastically.
"Let me see those," Laguna ordered, snatching the stack of photos.
Selphie looked impassively from one serious face to the other. How utterly Estharian to only find fault in the relationship because Seifer was once a knight. As it was, she had managed to round up a decent sized group of cadets and get them drooling over the idea of the slightest hint of a relationship between Squall and Seifer. It didn't take much. She'd just had to look for a few qualities of carefree happiness in them that she had, and then make sure they were fans of Squall. Pretty much every girl in his fan club would rather see him with Seifer than another girl. Squall didn't approve of this, but since they couldn't keep the relationship under wraps forever, they might as well build up support for it while they had time.
"How did you take these?" the longhaired man asked incredulously. The view was obviously from above, almost eagle eyed.
Selphie stood on her tiptoes and glanced at the image upside down. "Oh," she giggled, "Well, after Squall sent me to my room without dinner, I hacked into the satellite and took more pictures anyway. Technically, he didn't say I couldn't take more pictures, he just told me to go back to Garden, which I did."
It was Selphie's greatest fete yet, the captured image of two moonlit forms holding each other on the dock. It wasn't her fault she couldn't sleep that night, and she had been harboring some misdirected frustration towards Squall. So, using Garden's equipment to capture the late night rendezvous of lovers helped to release her stress. She of course didn't spy during the moment, but came back later to retrieve the files. That was her way of remaining guilt free about any of it.
"This was the same day when we spent together," Laguna commented absently, fiddling with the single picture of his son staring off with a content smile and the broad knight holding him from behind.
Thinking back, Laguna recalled how Squall had left their hotel room unable to sleep. With a frown, he quickly put the pieces together. "I wondered where he went," he said lightly, giving a small chuckle while handing the pictures back.
"Laguna," Kiros spoke solemnly.
With a small smile that seemed perhaps a little too forced, the former soldier shook his head. "Don't even bother. I've already had every argument at least ten times in my head."
"But, he's the Commander of a Garden. It's like you resurrecting Adel and announcing your engagement," Kiros reasoned in an unusually illogical manner that would hopefully spark some understanding in the President.
"Ew," Selphie commented with small shiver of disgust. Adel was not the prettiest bride there was. Poor Laguna would probably be wearing the dress to the wedding with that one.
Laguna cringed. "Hyne Kiros, give me nightmares why don't you."
"I'm serious," he replied with the same glaring look he gave the President when he found the man slacking off.
"Well what do you want me to say?" Laguna turned on his friend.
"You could have told me first," Kiros started.
"Yeah, because this is turning out to be a real hoot."
Selphie looked back and forth nervously. "Umm… maybe I should go," she suggested. She'd never really seen Laguna get upset, even around Kiros, who he seemed the most comfortable in displaying every emotion with.
"No, I want to place a bet," Laguna declared, accidentally directing a harsh glance the young woman's way before promptly softening it. "Five hundred thousand gil that Squall kicks his boyfriend's ass."
"Wow," was all Selphie managed at the flustered bet of great expense. "That's a bit much," she said after a moment.
"I'd bet the entire Estharian army if I could," Laguna replied seriously.
Ignoring his dodging companion's attempt to change the subject, Kiros pressed, "Laguna, what exactly did the Commander say was going on between them?"
"They're in love," Laguna rounded on his friend, berating his own sensitivity to the topic.
The advisor shook his head. "We should have added a clause in the treaty about this," he commented off handedly, frowning at the complications this would create.
"Stop being so political for two seconds and consider the fact that he's my son who never seems to smile, but apparently has no trouble looking like a love struck puppy when around Seifer." With a waving hand, Laguna gestured to the pictures Selphie had.
"It's Seifer now?" Kiros questioned.
"For Hyne's sake," Laguna fumed, "It's not like I consider him my son in law. I know he was a sorceress knight, and yeah, it bothers me. But, I'm not about to throw a fit over it. It's not my place."
"You're his father," Kiros reasoned.
"And a whole lotta good that does, what with me never being around for eighteen damn years. I'm not putting our relationship on the line just cause I don't approve of the one person who seems to make him happy," he stated firmly, hazel-green eyes alight with determination and a hint of fear.
Kiros relented for the moment, not wanting to upset his friend. "We'll talk later," he said.
"Yeah, we'll talk later," Laguna spat, stalking away. The excited and lighthearted feel to that morning had been effectively crushed.
As Laguna's form disappeared through the Training Center doors, the man apparently still set on watching the match regardless of the dampened mood, Selphie eyed the dark skinned fighter warily. She couldn't really tell if they'd seriously just had a row, or if spats like that were commonplace among such long time friends.
"You might wanna buy some flowers or chocolates to apologize," Selphie joked.
"It's fine," Kiros assured. It was rare for anyone aside from Ward and him to see this more human side to Laguna. Carefree was the man's true nature, but nobody was one sided.
"Well then," the green eyed ball of energy sighed in relief, "Mind if I say something?"
Carefully, Kiros looked down upon the shorter woman wearing the ridiculously eye catching pink outfit. Now that he studied it, he saw a few spatters of pink paint, similarly colored so that it blended in.
Selphie took it upon herself to defend Seifer. "Coming from Esthar, I understand the particular prejudice you hold against guys like Seifer. But, I have to ask…. Why haven't you issued a warrant for Rinoa's arrest?"
Dark eyes widened. It seemed a different side of the happy pilot was being bared here. While searching for the young woman's meaning, he questioned, "Why would I do that?"
"Rinoa's a sorceress," Selphie answered matter-of-factly. With a shake of her copper hair, she redirected, "But that's not my point exactly."
Kiros continued to stare with interest, obviously waiting for her to get to the point.
"Edea Kramer is one of the kindest woman I've ever known. She was like a mother to us all, before we found real families. She was the only mother Squall, or Seifer, has ever known. She even went to great lengths to protect the world from what she was. Rinoa is pretty good too. She's sweet, if only a little ditzy."
Quirking a brow, the tall man gave an expression that seemed to say Selphie was calling the kettle black.
"Being a sorceress isn't always a choice. And, I think you know this since you haven't tried to have either women sealed on grounds of prevention."
"They aren't a threat. The Heartilly girl is being watched over by General Caraway," the advisor informed.
"Yeah, I know. But, when Squall was dating Rinoa, you didn't seem to care about the matter in the least."
"Becoming a sorceress is quite different from becoming a sorceress' knight," Kiros spoke evenly.
Selphie smiled warmly, green eyes widening with interest. "Perhaps, but in the end, it's all about the allure of power. Seifer claims it was completely voluntary and that he is entirely guilty. But, I sometimes wonder what an eighteen year old boy thinks when he's just been turned down for SeeD and hasn't a hope for making a place for himself in the world. Add the fact that Ultimecia spoke through Edea's body into the mix, and you can't deny that the persuasive powers of a sorceress had something to do with it all."
Frowning, Kiros didn't reply. Instead, he looked steadily at the empty corridor behind the short woman, mulling her words over and thinking about Laguna's riled state.
"Seifer's a good guy. Squall's known him as far back as he can remember. After defeating Ultimecia, don't you think Squall of all people is the most qualified to be judging here?"
Selphie continued to watch for some reaction. When she received none, she broke down and berated, "Oh, get your head out of your ass and go apologize to Laguna. The poor guy is beyond afraid that he'll lose ground with Squall. You can't expect him to interfere."
Huffing, Selphie turned and jogged towards the entrance of the Training Center.
Seifer grinned, beside himself at the deafening cry of squeals coming from Tilmitt's little fan gathering.
Exhausted beyond words at the moment, they'd ditched their blades and wound up having a good old fashion brawl. After an hour of nothing but physical attacks and wielding Hyperion in a single-handed fashion he was tired. Keeping up with Leonhart's ridiculously intricate footwork was near impossible. But, he'd kept going, hoping that the lion would falter under his rough attacks eventually.
There was little motivation to truly end the spar when that silver-eyed brunet held such captivating grace and intense emotion with each movement. He was practically hard with arousal despite his disposition.
The high-pitched squeals sounded when he'd managed to feint his quarry and tackle the lithe form to the ground. Shortly after, the desperate to escape Commander had reversed their roles. And so, the power struggle had ensued, where they tumbled about vying for dominance.
As much as the blond knight would have preferred privacy with his lusciously entrancing lover, he conceded that Tilmitt had been right about starting to let rumors fly concerning their relationship. If a touchy feely, intensely personal spar, was the way to go about it, then he was game. A big part of him still wanted to tell the world, but he knew Squall was opposed to such brashness.
Still, neither of them was unaware of the fact that it would eventually be exposed. So, Squall agreed that small steps were the answer.
With the Commander now in reach of the stronger ex-knight, cadets started chattering and questioning their bets. It didn't seem to matter that silence might be appreciated.
A possible ending to their spar came when Seifer managed to stay the struggling bucks. Instead of carrying the momentum the smaller man needed to flip their forms over in such a fatigued condition, Squall was pinned.
As cheers broke out from a decent portion of the crowd, the blond smirked. Now, it was safe to assume that even under the most unfazed of situations, Seifer would have taken advantage of their positions. The fact that he was turned on by the sheer magnitude of the Commander's fighting spirit tended to get in the way of all clear thinking that didn't involve attacking and defending. Add to it that Squall was in a sweaty, heavy breathing state, and he could hardly be blamed for his next actions.
Dipping down swiftly, Seifer claimed victory with a kiss. However, it was the shortest lived victory he'd ever experienced, not even giving him a chance to relish the feel of Squall's pout mouth.
Green eyes widened, a flash of fear crossed his eyes when he saw the furious gaze of bright gray orbs, silver in the right lighting. Immediately leaning back, he held his hands up defenselessly. Moving back further, he conceded defeat as the knife held to his precious jewels was revealed.
Seifer cursed that he'd forgotten about the added weapon strapped to the younger man's inner thigh.
The crowd seemed to have mixed reactions, while the buzzing excitement flew as the play by play continued to pass from the ones who'd actually seen everything towards the back.
Selphie was definitely noticeable as she came bounding towards them. Behind her was a group of rapidly chattering young women, pointed every so often at the panting fighters and gesturing at the unmistakable exchange that had taken place.
Squall groaned, deftly pulling his knife away and sheathing it.
"Small steps," the brunet hissed vehemently to the still grinning blond.
Seifer wasn't entirely comfortable until the blade had been taken away from the vicinity of his groin. Relaxing a bit, he admitted that defeat was worth the stolen kiss. Reaching out, he ruffled matted locks of dark brown hair. "You know I've always been one for theatrics," the ex-knight responded.
"And the winner!" Selphie cheered loudly, arms raised while calling for silence, "Commander Leonhart, by the oldest trick in the book, with a knife to the groin!" At the scowling face of the less than enthused lion, the undeterred woman continued, "And the loser, Seifer Almasy, who was stupid enough to tease the Balamb Lion!"
It was Seifer's turn to scowl.
Squall was mildly surprised by the general reaction of laughter. Staring at the green-eyed girl, he watched impassively as she winked at him. While there would be no undoing all the damage done by the public kiss, the sharp-tongued pilot had managed to smooth it over as some joke.
"Instructor Dincht can be found in the Cafeteria with his lovely wife. They'll be handling the rewards for everyone who supported our Commander!"
Shortly after, when he crowd started to disperse, Selphie turned to the pair. "I'll let you guys shower up first before I drag you to helping me paint."
"Paint?" Seifer questioned securing his blade once again.
"It's for the tunnel of love," she replied merrily.
"Dear Hyne," Seifer commented in a devastated manner. A sidelong glance showed Squall with a similar reaction, pinching the bridge of that delicate and straight nose.
"Anyways, I have more rumors to spread," Selphie said before turning to take her leave.
"Rumors?" Squall questioned, almost afraid to know.
"Yeah, everyone thinks you two had your own bet riding on this. By dinner time, I'll have everyone thinking Seifer's wearing women's underpants."
"Tilmitt," Seifer warned menacingly.
Squall tried, and failed, to hide an amused smirk.
Huffing in disappointment, the copper haired girl rolled her eyes. "Fine," she relented in exasperation. "But you should know, most people already think that if Squall lost, you were gonna make him wear the girl's uniform for a day."
Squall blanched. "What?" he blurted out incredulously.
At the familiar voice of Esthar's President calling the Commander's name, three heads turned to watch Laguna's approach.
TBC….
A/N I suppose it's really more like another chapter for Protecting the Lion, rather than a whole new story. But, I've read a lot of sequels like that. I don't really feel like changing my style so that I can recap on everything that's happened thus far. Well, it's a first chapter. Nothing to foreshadow future events, but things will get rolling soon enough.