Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ FF8 Meets the Sailor Scouts ❯ It Happened in Balamb One Day ( Chapter 1 )

Once upon a time in a garden far far away...

It was a bright, sunny and hot morning. The birds were singing, the breeze was blowing...and Squall Leonhart woke up hungry. He changed from his pajamas into a pair of loose fitting blue jeans and a tee-shirt, after realizing that it would probably be too hot to wear those leather pants that he loved so much. He strolled down the hallway and soon found himself in the cafeteria, where he ordered his breakfast: a nice, large steaming bowl of apple cinnamon oatmeal. He looked around and when he didn't see the others, he found a nice quiet table in the back where he could enjoy his breakfast in relative peace. That, of course was to be short-lived.

"Squall! Squall!" Rinoa shouted as she ran into the cafeteria like a chicken with its head chopped off. She would have run past him, had he not reached out and grabbed her arm. She turned and looked to see who had grabbed her. She looked at him for a few minutes before she recognized who it was.

"Squall!" she shouted at him. He winced slightly as her high voice seemingly reached higher heights as she shouted his name.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked calmly.

"We have visitors. A bunch of girls are near the main gate asking for entrance. They have some sob story about being lost and needing somewhere to rest for maybe a day or two." He looked up at her and blinked storm grey eyes, before he looked down and continued to eat.

"Squall?" she asked incredulously, "How can you eat at a time like this?"

"Simple, like this." He lifted his spoon from his bowl and raised it to his mouth, then down again.

"See, simple movements Rinoa. It's not that hard." Rinoa rolled her eyes when she realized that Squall was being sarcastic, although it took her a few minutes before she came to this realization. After about 5 minutes of hearing her tap her foot and sigh loudly, Squall realized that Rinoa wasn't going to leave unless he went with her. Letting out a soft sigh, he got up and followed the silly girl out the cafeteria, still munching on his oatmeal.

* * * * *

"Honestly Rei, I don't see what you're so upset about."

"You don't know what I'm upset about?!?! Well, let me paint you a picture! Number 1, we are lost! I don't mean just regular lost, we are lost from getting lost from trying to get found! Number 2, our esteemed leader has deemed this, time to sit in the floor and cry time as opposed to trying to think up a way of getting us out of here!"

"That's not very nice Rei," Serena said, wiping tears from her eyes as sat on the ground. "At least I managed to find this place. If we would have followed your suggestion, we would have probably ended up as buzzard bait in a dessert somewhere."

"If we had followed my suggestion, we would be in Esther by now and not...not...wherever the hell it is that we are!" Rei yelled.

"You are in Balamb, actually. Maybe a few days traveling time from Esther, depending on how you were getting there." Rei stopped her tirade to turn and glance at the new voice that had entered their conversation. Wow, what an absolute babe! she thought. She shook her head to clear her thoughts quickly and then she introduced everyone.

"Oh hello, my name is Rei. Beside me you have Lita, Ami, Mina, and Serena...our leader," she grumbled the last under her breath. After every name came a greeting, except from Serena. Rei turned and found that she was on her feet, staring at the newcomer, a thin sliver of drool running down her chin.

"Serena! You already have Darien. Stop trying to hog all the cute guys for yourself" she said whispered loudly.

"What?! I know I have Darien, but there isn't any harm in looking," she grumbled. Rei turned, ignoring Serena and focused her attention back to Squall.

"And, who might you be?" He raised an eyebrow slowly as he held his half-empty oatmeal bowl in one hand and stuck out his other hand.

"Squall Leonhart, Commander of Balamb Garden."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Squall," she said as she shook his hand, batting her lashes slowly; her voice full of saccharine sweetness.

"Oh give me a break," Serena grumbled. With a well placed kick to the knee, Rei sent Serena crashing to the ground. Squall watched all of this with bored amusement.

"Anyway, we were wondering if we could hold up here for the day...you know, get the chance to be able to rest and to get our bearings." Squall shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever," he said coolly. He then turned to Rinoa. "Make sure that they are settled into the dorms. There are a few empty ones towards the end of the first hall."

"Okay Squally-poo," she said, batting her eyelashes. He gave her a death glare.

"Do NOT call me Squally-poo. Do you understand?" His eyes darkened and his voice was full of dark threats that Rinoa knew he would carry out. Rinoa gulped and nodded her head vigorously. He nodded curtly, then turned and headed back to the cafeteria to finish his delayed breakfast.

"Well then follow me and I'll show you guys where you can change or rest or whatever you need to do." The girls followed Rinoa, silently taking in the hustle and bustle that was going on around them.

"So, what is this place?" Ami asked.

"It's a school where they train boys and girls to be mercenaries. They get taught to do all types of magic and get to work with all types of weapons," Rinoa replied excitedly.

"Wow! Are you a mercenary too?" Mina asked.

"Of course I am." The group looked at her with a little bit of disbelief. Rinoa fidgeted a little.

"Okay, so I'm not a mercenary, but I have the ability to become one. I guess...I suppose...I assume." She was quiet for a handful of minutes. "So, what about you guys. What do you do?"

"We're Sailor Scouts!" Mina announced proudly. Lita and Ami groaned softly. "We right wrongs and triumph over evil and kick bad guys' asses while keeping keen fashion sense!" she said excitedly while striking a pose.

"Mina, that's enough," Ami said as she shook her head at her friend.

"Wow, who would have thought? We're all crime fighters!" Rinoa replied to Mina's excitement. The two chatted on and on while walking the girls to their temporary rooms.

"Well, here we are," she announced. She showed them the two rooms that they would be sharing. "Someone may have to share, seeing as how there are two beds in each room. Well, see you guys later." Rinoa turned to walked down the hall.

"Hey, wait up." She turned to see Mina jogging towards her. "We didn't get your name."

"Oh, my name is Rinoa. Rinoa Heartilly." Mina stuck out her hand and shook Rinoa's.

"Pleasure to meet you Rinoa. Oh and another thing...you wouldn't happen to know where that cutie Commander's room would be, would you?" Rinoa saw the twinkle of mischief in the other girl's eye and decided that she definitely liked her.

"Sure, it's right down at the end of the hall. Last room on the left."

"Thanks, Rinoa. Hey, how about we all meet up for a late lunch or something like that?" Rinoa beamed.

"Sure. That would be wonderful." With that, she walked back down the hall, and out the dorms.

* * * * *

By the time Squall made it back to the cafeteria, his oatmeal bowl was empty and he was feeling pretty happy. The five girls by the gate had been forgotten and he found that his mind was free to roam onto other things. That is, until he ran into Irvine.

"Hey Squall, heard that a small harem came to the garden this morning. Know anything about them? Got any details that might be important?" Squall let out a sigh and shook his head slowly.

"No Irvine, I don't know if they're single or what their sexual orientation is. I didn't feel it necessary to ask them." Squall found it slightly irritating that Irvine usually asked those questions whenever new women came into the garden.

"Yeah, I should have figured that. Oh well, they're probably all on the straight and narrow anyway. Oh well, better luck next harem, right," he said, nudging Squall lightly in the ribs.

"Yeah, yeah...go on you dirty sexpot. Go find Selphie and hump her leg or something," he said jokingly.

"Hm, I just might do that." And with that, he darted out the cafeteria. Squall could only shake his head and chuckle. He added his bowl to the rest of the dirty bowls and was prepared to walk out of the cafeteria, when a red rose zoomed in front of him and landed at his feet. He looked around carefully, but couldn't find the retard who had thrown it. So, he shrugged it off and continued out the cafeteria, never noticing the caped figure as it emerged, or rather, as it was pushed -- from behind the lunch counter.

"You weirdo!! Don't ever do that again!" shouted the lunch lady.

"Oww," grumbled the figure from its place on the floor.

* * * * *

Late morning turned into middle afternoon by the time Squall entered the cafeteria again. As usual, there wasn't anyone there, so he grabbed a cheeseburger and some fries and made his way to a table somewhat in the middle of the room. He was munching quite contentedly until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Zell standing behind him, a tray full of hotdogs held in his hands.

"Hey Squall, what's up?" Squall shrugged casually.

"Nothing much, really. Just enjoying my lunch." Squall eyed the tray and then looked up at Zell.

"It's nice to see that you got some before they sold out today." Zell laughed a little.

"Yeah, every once in a while, I get lucky. Today was just my lucky day." With that, he sat down behind Squall, and actually left him alone for the remainder of the time. Squall was enjoying some of his French fries when something came whizzing past him, leaving a trail of air behind it. Next thing he knew, he heard a thump and a few muffled gasps of surprise. When he turned around, he saw Zell laying face first on the floor, red rose petals surrounding his head like an obscene halo. He knelt beside Zell, making sure that he was still alive, before coming to his feet. He scanned the cafeteria before his eyes lit upon a figure that was standing on a far-off table top; cape blowing back behind him, although there was no breeze in the room.

"Who the hell are you?" Squall asked, suddenly wishing he had his gunblade. The figure leaped from the table and made his way over to where Squall stood.

"I am Tuxedo Mask. I am the protector of the girls that you so callously talked about to that walking hormone that you call a cowboy. I will not allow their good name to be slandered by the likes of you!" He pointed a finger towards Squall for emphasis, but all it got was him knocked on his ass, his hat rolling a foot or so away from his head.

"Listen here Tuxedo; this is my garden, so you will play by my rules. If I catch you so much as thinking about throwing anymore roses and knocking out anymore of my friends, you are going to have a serious problem. You got that?" Tuxedo looked up with a look of indifference showing in his blue eyes.

"Yeah, clear as crystal." Squall gave him a death glare, before slinging Zell over his shoulder and carrying him to the Infirmary. Tuxedo Mask picked himself up off the floor and dusted off his cape and hat, before he went storming from the cafeteria.

* * * * *

"Oh my goodness Squall, what happened to Zell?" Quistis asked him as he walked to the Infirmary. Squall shifted Zell's unconscious form slightly.

"Some fucking idiot in a tuxedo hit him in the back of a head with a rose and knocked him out."

Quistis stifled a laugh as she thought of the mental image of Zell being hit with such a delicate flower.

"So, what are ya gonna do?"

"I'm taking this dead weight to the infirmary and then I'm staying out of sight until dinner. I don't want those girls getting the idea that I'm sociable or something like that." Quistis smiled again and went to move past Squall.

"Oh, by the way. I thought that you would like to know that Rinoa has been hanging out with those five girls that came in. That might prove to be dangerous." With that, she walked away.

"Whatever," he muttered and continued on to the infirmary.

* * * * *

"So, how long have you been here?" Rei asked. All six girls were sitting in Rinoa's room, munching on pizza from the cafeteria. Rinoa thought for a few minutes.

"Oh, not that long. We're kinda in suspension until Squall can figure out what to do with the sorceress."

"Wow, so like, you're fighting a sorceress as well. Wow, that really is something, isn't it?" Mina said. Rinoa shrugged.

"I guess. I mean, I don't see what the big deal is anyway. I say we just go and let Irvine snipe her and boom, no more sorceress."

"You know, speaking of Squall, what type of person is he, really?" Rei asked quietly. Rinoa tapped her chin with a finger as she thought.

"Well, he's a bit of a cold fish, but is really nice once you get through that icy exterior."

"Sounds like Rei," Serena mumbled. Rei glared at her, but said nothing.

"Anyway, he is really a great guy, once you get to know him."

"Hey Rinoa, do you wanna help us with a plan?" Mina asked her.

"What kind of plan?"

"Oh, well, I was thinking that it would be really cool if we were able to really get to know Squall, you know what I mean?" That mischievous look was back in Mina's eye. Rinoa caught it and smiled a sharkish smile.

"Um, I don't think I want to be a part of this. I'll see you guys later," Ami said. She got up and grabbed her notebook before walking out the door.

"What was that all about?" Rei asked. Everyone shrugged in unison.

"Anyway, what did you have in mind for this plan?" So, the five girls put their heads together and began devising a plan on how to make Squall theirs...

* * * * *

After depositing Zell in the Infirmary and talking with Dr. Kadowaki for an hour or so, Squall thought it best to waste a little time. Swinging past his room to pick up his gunblade, he wandered down to the Training Center. As he entered, all seemed quiet and relatively peaceful. As he wandered around, hoping to run into a T-rexuar, he thought he heard the sounds of a female fighting. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was the taller of the females that had shown up, Lita. She was currently in the middle of a fight with a grat and seemed to be handling herself quite well. He leaned on his blade, and watched her.

Not bad for hand to hand combat, he thought to himself. From the corner of her eye, Lita was aware of when Squall walked into the Training Center. Now's my chance to impress him, she thought. With a flurry of kicks and punches, she quickly finished off the monster that she had been fighting. She placed a hand on her hip and stood still to catch her breath. She turned and, with mock surprise, put a hand on her chest.

"Oh my goodness. I hadn't even realized that anyone was even here." He straightened and hooked his blade unto his belt.

"Hn, nice work you did here." Before he could think of an excuse to get out of her company, the ground shook. In her oblivious attempts to get his attention, she failed to notice it. When the shaking finally stopped, he took a step back and gazed ever so slightly above her head.

"You know, I think I'll be going now. Good luck." And with that, he was gone. She placed both hands on her hips, and gave his retreating back a cold stare.

"Jerk!" she yelled out.

"Run," was his reply. She tilted her head to the side. "Run?"

"RRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!" She turned and saw a T-rexuar standing behind her, thick tail swinging above the ground lazily.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" was all that Squall heard as he exited the center.

* * * * *

After the confrontation in the Training Center, Squall decided to take a trip to the Library. Surely, none of those silly girls would even think to look for him there. As he headed for the rear of the library, he saw the blue-haired one, Ami, reading one of many books that she had on a pile on the table in front of her. His gaze softened slightly and his pace slowed a little as he walked past her and found himself an empty seat not too far from where she was. He picked up a well-work book and was soon immersed in its pages. However, he was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing.

"Um, excuse me. But, I was hoping that I could ask you a few questions?" she asked him quietly. He looked over the top of his book and into her dark blue eyes.

"I suppose so," he replied quietly. She smiled as she sat in front of him and started to ask different questions of the Garden; how it operated and how those were chosen to become SeeDs and other such questions. Squall found her company to be calming and quite refreshing. She was a fountain of questions that demanded to be answered. After a few hours, he put his book down and reluctantly rose to his feet.

"As much as I would love to continue this conversation, I have to visit a friend of mine in the infirmary." She nodded slowly and made her way back to the table where she was sitting before.

"Okay. I hope that they get better." She graced him with a gentle smile that he found himself returning.

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure that he will." He walked out of the library and left Ami to her reading.

* * * * *

Squall left the library, feeling better than he had all that day. He even found himself whistling a little. That all changed when he went into the Infirmary. Instead of seeing Dr. Kadowaki, he found himself staring at one of the girls that came in. Mina, the dizzy blond one. Well, one of them at least. She was wearing a nurse's uniform, complete with a little hat that sat perched on top of her head. She had in her hand a roll of bandages and was humming some tune a little off-key. When he came up behind her, his eyebrows shot straight into his hair.

"What the fuck?!" he asked loudly, startling her from her task.

"Oh Squall you scared me. I was just..."

"That's the question. What the fuck are you doing to Zell?"

On the table in front of them, Zell looked like a modern mummy. He was wrapped from head to toe in white gauze and seemed to be having a hard time breathing and moving at the same time. Snatching a pair of surgical scissors, Squall cut the bandages away from Zell's head and took a step back as Zell let out a loud gasp and sucked in a lungful of air.

"Man, am I ever glad to see you! This psycho just pounced on me, saying that she was going to make me better so you would like her better." Mina sniffed and pouted prettily.

"But, I thought that I was making it better."

"You wacko, you were making it worse!" Zell told her. She turned tear-filled blue eyes to Squall and grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

"You believe me, don't you Squall? You know that I wouldn't intentionally try and hurt little Zell." Squall looked down at Mina's hands where they were balled up in his shirt.

"You're...touching...me." He said each word carefully before he grabbed her firmly by the wrists and proceeded to drag her out the infirmary.

"What...what are you going to do to me?" she asked, fear making her voice tremble.

"Only this." He tossed her out into the hallway and watched as she skittered across the floor on her butt, her little hat tilting crazily to one side of her head.

"Leave my friends alone. Otherwise, I might not be so nice," he told her coldly. With Zell by his side, he walked towards the dorms.

"You weren't so nice to me just now!" she yelled out.

* * * * *

"So Squall, what are you gonna do about those weirdoes?" Zell asked as they made their way around the Garden. He was quiet for a handful of minutes.

"I'm not exactly sure. Something is telling me that I just kick them out on their asses, but unfortunately something else is telling me that its in the name of politeness that I allow them to stay the rest of the night."

"Boy, it must really suck being such a nice guy, huh?" Squall twitched a corner of his lips into the semblance of a smile.

"Yeah, sucks royally." Zell chuckled.

"Hey, are you going straight to the cafeteria?" Zell asked.

"Um, no. I'm dropping off my gunblade. I don't think I'm going to need it in here. Or at least, I don't think I do."

"Maybe you should bring it just in case."

"You're right, I think I will keep it. Besides, you just reminded me that we have a training session after dinner." He looked at Zell's bare hands. "So, you might want to go back to your room and get your gloves and tell the others to bring their weapons. It's straight to the training center after we eat."

"Aww come on Squall. Aren't you supposed to wait two hours before you do any training?"

"Actually, you're supposed to wait as long as the commander tells you to wait."

"Oh...yeah...right, how could I have forgotten that?" Zell hurried back to his room to get his gloves. Squall could only laugh softly to himself as he went into the cafeteria. He looked and saw that Selphie, Irvine, and Quistis were already there. He looked around, but didn't see Rinoa. He shrugged it off and asked if everyone had their weapons.

"We know how you like to have those surprise training sessions after dinner, so we thought it would be best to bring them just in case. It's a good thing that we did, huh?" Quistis asked.

"You know it," Squall said.

"Hey, there's Zell," Irvine said, pointing towards the door. As was the usual dinner ritual, Zell came darting into the cafeteria, heading straight for the line and potential heart break.

"Sorry Zell, but were all out of hotdogs. How about a nice hamburger instead?" the lady behind the counter offered. Zell waved his hand in dismissal.

"Whatever," he said tiredly.

"Hey, that's my line," Squall said from beside him. Zell looked up and gave him a tired smile.

"Yeah, but it's just so convenient."

"It sure is," Selphie piped in. Squall cast a look to her and tried to keep back a smile.

"Who asked you anything pip squeak?" When they got to their table, she hit Squall with a handful of napkins.

"Pip squeak, huh? I'll remember that next time your ass needs to be saved by this pip squeak." He ruffled her hair affectionately.

"I know Selphie. I guess I'll just have to watch my own back from now on."

"Naw, I'll protect you." This got a genuine laugh from Squall.

"Thanks, I'll remember that." Dinner went off without a hitch, no flying roses interrupted them, and none of those silly girls were currently in the cafeteria. At least, that's what Squall thought. In a corner of the cafeteria, hidden by a large potted fern, were five girls.

"Hey, does any know where Ami is?" Lita asked.

"Nope, but I do know that she took her dinner about an hour ago," Mina remarked.

"Does anyone else just get the feeling that she is trying to avoid this whole "catch Squall" adventure that we're working on," Rei said.

"Truthfully, I think she has the right idea," Serena remarked. This earned her a few surprised glances. "Then again, I could be wrong."

"Look, look, their getting up." Indeed, the group of friends were getting up and heading out the cafeteria. The five girls got up and followed them out and saw that they were heading for the training center. They would have followed, but Rinoa stopped them.

"Trust me. You guys don't want to go in there."

"Yeah, she's right," Lita added. "Let's just go back to the room and wait."

* * * * *

After a particularly brutal training session, Squall and the others made their way back to their rooms. Squall rested his gunblade on his shoulder lightly, feeling worn and beat. He punched the key code to his room and waited until the door whooshed open. He stepped into the dark room and immediately tensed up.

There's someone else in here, he thought to himself. Transferring the gunblade to his good hand, he reached out and flipped on the light switch. His grip tightened at what he saw. Five girls were standing around the room, poised and seemingly ready for action.

"We've been waiting for you Squall," Rei purred.

"We didn't think that you were coming back," Mina said softly.

"We were hoping that you would so we could get another shot at you," Lita whispered.

"Everything is going to be okay now that you're here," Rinoa said quietly.

"Don't worry Squall, we're not going to hurt you," Serena said. Squall smiled a dark smile.

"Too bad I can't say the same thing for you." The door whooshed closed and the night continued on.

* * * * *

Squall woke the next morning to the sound of knuckles rapping on his door. He grumbled and wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"Who the hell is it?" he called out. He snatched it open and saw that it was Tuxedo Mask.

"Oh, it's only you." He went to close the door, but Tuxedo stopped him.

"Do you not realize that there are five sleeping girls outside your door?" Squall looked down to the five girls sprawled on the floor and felt a smile come to his face. As soon as the door had closed last night, they had sprung into action like a pack of wild chocobos. Each trying to get a piece of him. It was an epic battle, but eventually, good prevailed and they all ended up sleeping off the effects of their thwarted plot in the hallway.

"Yeah, what about them?" he asked casually. Tuxedo bristled up at Squall's casual attitude.

"I challenge you to a duel..."

"Did someone say duel?" Tuxedo and Squall were stunned to see a young man standing between them, white trench coat waving in a non-existent wind and a duel disk on his arm.

"Um, I think you have the wrong story pal," Squall told him. Kaiba looked around.

"Are you sure? Yugi could have put you up to this so he wouldn't have to duel me." He looked around both Tuxedo and Squall.

"Come on out Yugi, I know that you're here. Come out and fight me like a...OUCH!"

"I told you, you got the wrong damn story! Now get the hell out!" Squall shouted. Seto rubbed the back of his head where Squall punched him and slowly stalked out of the Garden, mumbling something about no one doing that to a Kaiba.

"You were saying?" Squall asked, returning his attention back to Tuxedo.

"Huh? Oh yes, I challenge you to a duel to the death. Two o'clock in the Quad." He took off one of his gloves and hit Squall across the face with it, reddening his cheek slightly. Squall pinned him with a vicious smile and punched him in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor and waking the girls in the process.

"Mission accepted."

* * * * *

It appeared that the whole Garden had shown up to see this fight. SeeDs of every ranking milled around waiting for the action to start. Tuxedo entered the Quad first, followed by the four bandaged girls, and one remarkably undamaged one. Rinoa came in slowly behind them, a white bandage wrapped around her forehead.

"Hey Rinoa, over here." She looked up and saw that the others were there already.

"Aw man, don't tell me you were involved in that massacre from last night?" Selphie asked. Rinoa nodded slowly, then winced in pain.

"Stupid girl," Quistis muttered. She watched as the other group took a seat at the far side of the Quad. She looked at her watch and frowned. Squall still hadn't shown up.

He's never late, she thought. When the appointed hour rolled around, and Squall still hadn't shown up, Tuxedo let out a bark of laughter.

"Ha! Looks like your esteemed leader is nothing but a sniveling coward. He knows better than to show his face to me because he knows the whipping that he will receive!"

"Aw, shut the fuck up, you over dressed asshole." Everyone turned to the entrance of the Quad and saw Squall standing there. He had changed into his regular fighting gear of black leather pants, white tee-shirt, and black, fur-lined jacket. Tuxedo could only stare in mild fascination.

"So, are we gonna fight, or are you gonna continue undressing me with your eyes?" Tuxedo whipped out his cane and assumed a fighting position.

"This shouldn't take me long," he boasted. Squall pulled on his leather gloves and gripped Lionheart with both hands.

"Let's dance."

* * * * *

Tuxedo circled Squall slowly. "You are going to pay for hurting those poor girls."

"Oh please, give me a break. They got what they deserved."

"You animal!" Tuxedo lunged at Squall, swinging his cane with as much grace as one would swing a fly swatter. Squall easily dodged his feeble swings and countered with hits of his own.

"Oh? And I suppose that you would have allowed yourself to be molested by five walking hormones?"

"Yes actually I would." Squall stopped for a second and thought about what he just heard. He smirked.

"You must be a virgin then."

"Insolent fool!!" he yelled. With a sudden burst of energy, Tuxedo went on the attack, even managing to put Squall on the defensive and striking him across the cheek, opening a small wound. A collective gasp went around the Quad as the SeeDs noticed the cut.

"Uh oh, he's in deep shit now," Zell whispered to a young girl next to him. Squall pressed a hand to his cheek, and saw the blood lightly coating his glove. He turned steely blue eyes to Tuxedo Mask and smiled darkly.

"Now we end this." A golden glow surrounded him and his gunblade. Gasps and shouts of amazement went around the Quad.

"Man, it's the Lionheart limit break," one boy said.

"Yeah, no one survives the Lionheart," another SeeD was heard saying. With lightening speed and pinpoint accuracy, Squall let loose with his gunblade, always hitting his target and never missing a stroke. Tuxedo could only feebly counter the flurry of attacks, trying to stay on his feet, but Squall's anger and strength proved to be too much for him. With one last swing and pull of the trigger, Tuxedo was down for the count. He lay on his back on the ground of the Quad, blood seeping from seemingly a hundred places. Squall stood above him, breathing heavily, gunblade poised at his opponent's throat; a predatory glint in his eyes.

"So, do I stab you in your heart or do I cut your throat?" Squall asked with a chilly tone that carried across the Quad.

"Squall no! Don't kill him," Serena yelled. He threw a cold look in her direction.

"You stay out of this. It's your fault that your precious Tuxedo is in the shit that he's in now. He wanted a duel to the death, and I will be only more than happy to comply."

"Could you really kill me now? Could you, with a clean and clear conscious, bring down your gunblade and end my life?" Squall could see the pleading in the other's eyes and felt an evil smile cross his lips. He went to his knees and knelt beside the prone Tuxedo Mask, the point of his gunblade still pressed to his throat.

"You want the truth? You want an honest answer? I could kill you now and not lose a moment sleep over it. Your death wouldn't weigh a single gram on my conscious." He saw fear fill his blue eyes and let out a dark chuckle. He rose to his feet, gunblade balanced in both hands and with a war cry, brought the blade crashing towards Tuxedo; who let out a shrill, girlish scream as the blade connected with the ground next to his head. Squall gazed at him with empty eyes. He turned and started walking towards the entrance.

"Zell, call my father and tell him to send a car here to pick up six passengers."

"Right away Commander," Zell said with a salute. Behind Squall, Tuxedo Mask had made his way to his feet, blood dripping from a cut over his eye.

"I will punish you." He snatched Squall's gunblade from the ground and let out a harsh yell.

"I will right wrongs and triumph over evil!" he declared as he tried for another shot at Squall. He went zooming towards him, but Squall quickly dodged to the right, and Tuxedo continued zooming right past him. As he turned around and was getting ready for another charge, Squall raised his left hand.

"Sleep!" he said. Almost immediately, Tuxedo fell to the ground in a heap. Squall took back his gunblade and placed it back on his belt. He cast a look to Tuxedo, now surrounded by four of the Sailor Scouts.

"What did you do to him?" Serena demanded.

"Nothing, only this." He raised his palm again and put the scouts to sleep as well. Cheers and chants of "Go Squall" and "Squall is the man" floated through the air as the crowd slowly made their way out. Ami came walking up to the sleeping pile and continued past it until she came face to face with Squall.

"I hope that you know that I don't approve of the methods that have been used here today." He shrugged his shoulders.

"I figured that you wouldn't. But with a sense of honor like yours, I would like to think that you would understand why I had to do it." She nodded slightly before turning and walking away.

"I do. But again, I don't have to like it."

* * * * *

Kiros pulled up to the Garden and walked over to where Squall, Irvine and Zell were standing.

"Hey guys. Are these the six passengers that you were talking about?" he asked, gesturing towards the pile of sleeping bodies.

"Yup, these are it," Squall told him. Kiros raised an eyebrow in wonder, but decided it would be better not to ask how this happened.

"Okay, well, let's get these deadweights in the car and off your hands." Irvine and Zell helped Kiros pile the five sleeping forms of girls and one man in a tuxedo and mask into the back seat of the car. Squall felt a tap on his shoulder and found himself looking into dark blue eyes. Ami bowed slightly at the waist.

"I'm sorry that my friends caused so much trouble for you. This wasn't our original mission. We were supposed to go to Esther to talk to the president about getting into the SeeD program. But, you know teenaged girls; they see hunky guys and just get all stupid." Squall placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled faintly.

"I know. And don't worry about having caused the trouble. It was getting kinda dull around here anyway." She smiled into his eyes and went to turn away, when his grip on her shoulder tightened slightly. She turned with a puzzled expression.

"Just to let you know...if you are ever in the area, please feel free to drop in and say hello. I wouldn't mind at all. Just so long as it's just you." Ami blushed and stuttered a bit.

"Um, uh, well sure. That's very nice of you to do. I'll make sure to do that next time."

"Good. Don't be a stranger." He released her shoulder and watched as she got into the car and rode away.

"So what was that all about?" Squall turned to see Rinoa standing next to him and frowned.

"What was what all about?"

"Oh, you know the whole mushy goodbye. You're not even that mushy with me," she whined. Squall took a step back.

"That's because you are a general nuisance and make sure that you make yourself a nuisance at every opportunity you can get." Tears threatened to spill over and her bottom lip jutted out slightly.

"Is that what you really think of me, Squally-poo?" Squall growled softly, but Rinoa, determined to be heard, didn't even notice.

"Do you really think that I'm nothing more than a nuisance? Do you honestly think that I just purposely go out to annoy you? Don't you realize that...OUCH!" Finally hearing enough, Squall smacked Rinoa across the back of the head with a large white fan and pointed to the Garden.

"Shut your mouth and get back to the Garden," he told her coldly. He turned and made his way back to Balamb Garden, with a silent and sullen Rinoa following behind.

The End