Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Kenryoku ❯ Beginning of New Strength ( Chapter 1 )

'Life is never as simple as you want it to be. Sure, it's great having a famous dad and all, but sometimes he's too protective over me. I guess he's still missing mom, even though it was 5 years ago. But, even so, I miss her too...'

"Amy, are you listening to me?" She perked up as she heard her instructor's voice directed right at her. She looked up, brushed some of her light brown, blonde streaked hair out of the way and looked directly into the eyes of Selphie.

"I'm sorry, Instructor." she replied apologetically. "I was just thinking about something." Selphie sighed and walked back to the front of the class.

"Amy Leonhart, you're never going to pass your exam tomorrow unless you listen to me." Turning to face all of her students, she looked around the room. "Who can tell Miss Leonhart what we were discussing just now? Leon, could you explain?" Amy turned around in her chair and looked at a boy with short, deep brown hair that was gelled back. He had a cheeky grin on his face and was looking directly at Selphie.

"Of course, mother." he replied in a posh accent, the other students laughing as he kept his smirk on his face. Selphie smirked back at him.

"Very funny Leon. Now could you explain to her what we were talking about?"

"Sure." he said simply. "We were revising how to use GFs best in battle, and how to take care of them if they're injured."

"Thank you." she replied, sitting down and looking around the room again, her eyes falling on Amy again soon after. "Okay, that's it for now, remember to study GF abilities for tomorrow!" she called over the teens as they noisily left the classroom. Amy was the first to leave, running to the cafeteria in hopes of getting something good before the backup supplies came, whatever they were.

"Amy, wait!" She spun around and saw a blonde shorthaired girl running after her.

"Yo Keera, what's up?" she asked, smiling.

"You goin' to the lunchroom?" she asked, brimming with energy. It was one of the many things that made Keera Dincht a lot like her father. That and she used her fists to fight.

"Where else? Com'on!"

"I hope they have some hotdogs left!"

"That's all you eat! Give it a rest, Keera!"

"So," Keera started, putting her glass down on the table. "are you ready for the exam tomorrow?"

"Totally!" Amy replied excitedly. "But daddy says he's going to help if anyone gets into trouble."

"He won't let anything bad happen to you then."

"I know..." she sighed. Keera looked puzzled.

"What's up?" she asked curiously. "I thought having the infamous Commander Leonhart as you dad would be great!"

"Not exactly." she replied quietly. "You see, it's-"

"Yo dudettes!" Keera smiled as Leon sat down on their table with his meal, and Amy groaned. Leon Kinneas was her friend, but was very annoying at the same time. He was also considered the best-looking SeeD candidate for that year, so all the other girls were looking at him as well. "So, what ya doin'?"

"I was just leaving." Amy said bluntly, standing up and walking out of the area. Leon stared after her, confusion written on his features.

"What's up with her?" he asked Keera, turning to face her.

"I think it has something to do with Commander Leonhart." she replied to him quietly.

"Her dad? Why?"

"I don't know, but she seemed really down about him coming with the candidates during the exam."

"Amy, there you are!" A voice called after her. 'Great, what does he want now?'

"Yes daddy?" she asked, putting on a fake smile. It was convincing enough for Squall though. A lot had changed in the 25 years that had passed since the battle against Ultimecia. Squall looked a lot more like Laguna, while still keeping his own style. (DD: Very cute in Kingdom Hearts, ne? ^~)

"How goes the training for the exam tomorrow?" he asked, almost sounding serious, which wasn't the case when talking to his daughter.

"Err, it's goin' fine." she answered cheerfully. "But won't people notice that I'm-"

"Don't worry." Squall whispered to her. "You're with your friends, Keera and Leon. Quistis and I arranged it especially." Amy beamed at her father, then hugged him.

"You're the best, daddy!" she cried happily. Squall smiled slightly.

"You'd better get back to training then. Do you need any help summoning your magic?"

"Daddy," she started, smirking. "it's my best way of attacking, of course I know how to summon magic properly!"

"If you say so." Squall looked around the area, then back at Amy. "Have you seen Leon anywhere? I wanted to see if he needed anymore gunblade practise."

"He's in the lunchroom." Amy replied simply. She started to walk away. "I'll go get him."

"Great!" Squall called after her. "Meet me in the Training Centre in 15 minutes!"

Arriving in the lunchroom, she instantly found who she was looking for. 'Just as usual, where all the girls are.' Walking towards him, she grabbed the sleeve of his arm and dragged him off. "Come on Romeo, we have training to do."

"With who?" Leon asked, confused.

"With daddy, dumbass!" she answered back irritably. Leaving the lunchroom, he pulled himself away from her.

"Man, what's up with you?" he asked her, staring at her straight in the eyes. "You've been acting really strange lately." Amy sighed, then started walking towards the Training Centre, Leon following soon after.

"I'm sorry Leon." she replied quietly. "Daddy's going to do whatever it takes to make sure I'm not hurt in the exam tomorrow. It may seem great, but it's really annoying me." Leon smiled.

"No problem, when you're a SeeD, you can do what the hell you want!" he replied cheerfully. Amy smirked.

"Let's go then."

"You've definitely improved your technique, Leon." Squall said as they finished their first round of training. "But footwork needs to be perfected. Think you can handle it for tomorrow?"

"Show me and I'll do it." Leon said, smirking. "I'm a fast learner." With that, the second round commenced. Amy stood at the outskirts of the area, watching them with great amusement, but great boredom at the same time. 'This isn't too bad, but what am I supposed to do?' she asked herself. Looking around, she decided to head off and fight some monsters while Squall and Leon were busy. 'I didn't realise what a nice atmosphere this place had. But I don't understand where the monsters are. And why are Leon and daddy fighting were monsters could attack them at any time? Oh well, no matter.' She spun around as she heard a low growling noise.

"Who's there?" she asked suddenly. There was no answer. She walked further into the centre. "Leon? Daddy? Is this a joke?" There was silence. Then, she screamed when a dinosaur monster a foot taller than herself jumped out of a clump of hedges and lunged at her. She ran as fast as she could to get back to Squall and Leon, but the creature managed to close the gap between them quickly, then swung its tail and hit her in the back, knocking her to the ground. She twisted around and rolled out of the way as the T-rexaur tried to throw its head down to bite her. Getting up, she ran in the only direction she could go, then ended up at a dead end. "Damnit!" she cursed loudly.

Backing off against the wall, the monster closed in on her and raised its head to finish her off. Lunging towards her, she shut her eyes tightly. It was struck from behind and Amy could feel one of its teeth slicing its way down the side of her left cheek. Opening her eyes again, she held her cheek and looked up, seeing Squall and Leon attacking the T-rexaur, both using their gunblades to the best of their abilities. Finally, with a slice down the neck by Leon, nearly taking the head off, it fell to the ground, dead. Squall ran over to his daughter and hugged her tightly.

"I thought I was going to lose you too when I heard that scream!" he said, trying not sound upset. Amy smiled, then removed her hand away from her cheek and Squall saw cut down her face. "Come on, let's go to the infirmary." he said, smiling as she was alright. Looking at Leon, Amy smiled also.

"Thank you for helping daddy." she said gratefully. A smirk rose on his face.

"Anything for you, m'lady." he said, bowing before her in a joking manner. They walked off towards the infirmary.

"Well, like father, like daughter." Kadowaki sighed as she held a piece of bandage to her cheek with some tape. "Your father got his scar the morning of the exam, so I guess you didn't cut it so fine."

"Thanks doctor." Amy said, smiling. Leon was stood outside, waiting for Squall and Amy. The commander sighed as he sat down next to his daughter.

"Why didn't you attack?" he asked, Amy feeling his eyes burning into her mind.

"I-I didn't think. I'm sorry daddy." she said quietly.

"You can't be a SeeD unless you think, Amy!" Squall said angrily. "What if Leon and I weren't there, you'd have been dead!" He looked at her softly and spoke quieter. "Then I would have lost you to a T-rexaur too. I don't think I could've taken that."

"That was a large T-rexaur though." Amy added. "The one today wasn't as powerful."

"But it still had the ability to kill." He was silent for a moment. "Rinoa should have run while she had the chance." he sighed, looking away from her.

"Maybe I shouldn't have left her." the brunette said quietly.

"Maybe you shouldn't think like that." Squall said, putting his arm around her and smiling. He got up and looked around the sterile room, sighing. "Stay here for a couple more hours, then you should be fine."

"Okay daddy." Amy replied, smiling slightly. As Squall left, Leon entered.

"You still okay for the exam tomorrow?" he asked, still smiling. 'It's unnatural for someone to smile that much, isn't it?' Amy thought.

"Of course." she replied simply. She took the bandage off of her face, revealing a scar that looked similar to Squall's, except in a different place. "I don't need this either!"

"Good thing it ain't still bleedin'." Leon said unusually brightly.

"Yea, I know." She stood up. "Com'on, we still have training to do."

"Amy, I gotta ask you somethin'." Leon said after silence as they walked into the Training Centre again. "How come I've never seen you use a weapon?" Amy hesitated.

"I, err, I guess my strong point's magic." she laughed nervously, then sighed. "It's because I don't have a weapon, but look at this!" She held out her hand and white energy formed around it.

"Wow, how did you-?"

"I can't tell you that." she replied darkly. "What I can say is that when I do this, it lets me use the most powerful spell known to date. It's pure energy, and there's no element to it." She looked from it up to Leon and smirked. "I can use these spells infinitely and that's why I don't need a weapon." Leon stayed silent for a while.

"Well, if you can't tell me, I guess that's cool." He turned to leave the centre. "Screw the training, let's go." Amy nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"Okay." She followed him out. "I will tell you someday." she said finally. "But not now."

"I know." Leon replied. "Everything always comes out in the end."