Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Reflections ❯ Chocobo Infestation ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Reflections

Author: Blitz Magnus

Chapter: 1/?

Genre: Humor/Drama

Rating: PG

Warning: Extreme OOC. This chapter is just humor, I was in a lighthearted mood when I wrote this, a dose of insomnia and ten minutes of staring at a chocobo plushie, this was the result. (Gomen nasai, atashi wa tsugi no chapter de gambaru tsumori desu, dakara kono toki de wa yurushite kudasai. Sankyuu!)

Summary: The Gardens are now uniting under one banner-to protect their world, with Squall and Irvine as celebrated ingenuous commanders for Balamb and Galbadia Garden, respectively, in the foreground; and casting the newly reconstructed Trabia Garden in the shade. However, Trabia Garden's mysterious and evasive new leader, holds an uncanny resemblance to Squall, and has a secret that none of them had ever dreamed of, as it could shatter the harmonious peace between Squall and Laguna's newly found father-son relationship. With the threat of uprising by the son of a powerful deceased politician, Squall already has his hands full, but what role could this mysterious woman possibly have in his and his father's life?

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 8 ©, its story and characters, are owned by Squaresoft.

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~Chapter One: Chocobo Infestation~

Baby blue-coloured skies decorated with puffy white clouds graced over the quiet and peaceful town of Balamb as seagulls flew overhead while some cluttered about on the sandy beach where Balamb stood.

An elderly man with snowy white hair sat on the fishing plank located just a few steps away from the shipping docks near Balamb Hotel. His gentle hazel eyes sparkled warmly through his crinkled brows as he slowly angled his head slightly upwards to gaze at the magnificent view of the majestic white-coloured vehicle where the elite mercenaries who saved the world from the Second Sorceress War resided in.

The aforementioned vehicle, Balamb Garden, hovered near the newly renovated shoreline off the north side coast of the town, casting a large shadow over the entrance of the town.

Inside the majestic vessel, early birds were already bustling about. Cleaners and maintenance personnel were running around sweeping corridors and barking out orders, students filed inside the newly opened cafeteria, each grabbing a hotdog bun and a steaming mug of coffee, or sometimes a mug of delicious hot chocolate.

The Garden physician, Dr. Kadowaki could be seen hotly lecturing a new intern medic a few halls away near the clinic, as the amateur student had accidentally dropped a case of beakers that morning followed by a catastrophe of misplaced chemicals, which, if were tampered with, could be extremely hazardous to Garden and its students.

Meanwhile, inside the dormitory quarters, things were quiet and peaceful, aside from a few students coming in and out from their respective dorms for their early morning routines.

Sunlight filtered through the glass paned windows inside the spacious dormitory of the sleeping quarters for commanding officers located at the end of the east wing. The bright light glinted off the surface of the bedside glass cabinet, thus casting a bright illumination on the occupant's face, making it scrunch up in annoyance.

With one arm slung over his eyes to block out the invading light, the tall brunette who occupied the military-sized bed rolled over to his left side and groaned low in his throat as the persisting intrusion in his sleep once again invaded his senses.

The shrill ringing of his alarm clock jerked him awake, he threw off the covers about while muttering a few choice words under his breath and knocked the offending object off the table. His stormy gray eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the piteous remnants of his clock scattered on the carpeted floor of his room.

'Damn, that's the third one this week,' he cursed to himself silently as he ran a tired hand over his brown mane.

Taking in a deep breath, he cast a wary eye over his wristwatch and checked the time. 05:30 hours, the lime green light blinked at him irritatingly.

He swung his long legs from the bed and groggily made his way into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Minutes later, the brunette emerged from the bathroom refreshed and now fully awake. He strolled over to the intercom and pressed a button.

After a countdown of exactly twenty taps of his finger to the mouthpiece, three eyelid twitches and one long suffering sigh, an irritated voice finally picked it up barked into the phone.

"Dammit! Some people are tryin' ta get some sleep here!! What the hell d'ya want?!"

The brunette smirked, but otherwise curtly replied with a deadpanned tone, "Report to my office at exactly 07:00 hours."

"Hyne! Squall?! What the hell possessed you to wake everybody up at this ungodly hour?" came the shocked but otherwise cranky response.

"For the record, it's already six in the morning, and I only woke you up," after a few moments, he added, "It's your mouth that would wake the dead," and with that, Squall hung up on him, earning a defeated groan from the other end of the line that fell on deaf ears.

Commander Squall Leonhart of Balamb Garden emerged from his dormitory exactly five minutes later, efficiently dressing up and grooming himself swiftly right after his brief 'conversation' with his lieutenant over the intercom and was now walking briskly along the polished marble-tiled corridors of the ground floor of Balamb Garden.

SeeD cadets, who managed to wake up early despite the late rise of the sun, saluted to their superior as they passed by him, who, in turn, acknowledged their greetings with a curt nod and complimentary salute.

He retreated a few steps back when a trio of third class cadets dragging an enormous cloth-covered structure of some sort grunted past him, each mumbling a low 'good morning' before pausing in front of their commanding officer.

Squall raised an eyebrow in response and glanced at the bulky object they were carrying.

One of them, which Squall assumed was the leader, spoke, "Sir, what do we do with this?"

Squall stared at him blankly.

"Sir?"

"What's under the cloth?" he heard himself ask.

"A chocobo."

"Pardon?" Squall wasn't sure he heard right, must be some misunderstanding.

"It's a chocobo monument."

Now that had Squall rendered speechless. Who the hell actually builds statues of those giant birds?

After a few moments, he recovered, "A what? When did B-Garden start collecting statues?"

The lankier of the trio shifted uncomfortably while supporting his load, "It's, uh, a gift, sir."

Suspicion had the hair on his nape stand up on one end as dread gnawed at his gut, "…"

"It came from Esthar, sir, arrived a few minutes ago. President Laguna Loire sends his regards, sir."

Squall's brain seemed to shut down for a while as he digested the information, but recovered quickly after a momentum, "Just… put it in my office," his mouth had worked in its own accord as he fought the urge to bang his head on something hard.

The trio nodded, before wrestling with the large contraption again and after a few muffled curses, they managed to fit it inside the elevator lift, banging up a few arms and limbs or two in the process.

Squall stood outside the lift after the silver crafted doors closed, deciding to take the second shift. His brow creased into a frown, 'I know Dad's worried about me, but this is utterly ridiculous,' he thought to himself.

He heard the soft 'ding' of the elevator, indicating that the lift was once again back on the first floor, and so he waited for the doors to open.

Xu exited the lift and gave him a quick salute when she saw his presence, Squall had absently nodded in reflex more than in actual response before stepping inside the elevator.

Upon reaching the third floor, he swung the double doors of his office open, only to find himself face-to-face with the beak of a large replica of the sunshine yellow chocobo his father had sent him, complete with feathers and all, placed right in the middle of his office.

He blinked, before disentangling himself awkwardly from the object and stared at it stupidly for a few seconds, resisting the urge to dump the gigantic fuzzy bird into the nearest ocean.

The brunette sighed, and approached his neatly arranged desk and was just about to sit down when the doors swung open once again, revealing a panting and disheveled Zell Dincht, whose hair was all stuck up in an unusual angle, making him look a lot messier than he already was. His white undershirt was tucked in messily and his SeeD uniform was buttoned up all wrong, but other than that, he had the look of a man who had raced against the devil just to get there in time.

The tattooed man stopped short when he rammed straight into the soft, yellow feathers of the chocobo replica in his haste to enter the room. His mouth hung open in response as he stared at the huge bird dumbly.

"What the--?"

Flabbergasted, Zell blinked once, then twice in rapid motion.

"The hell's a chocobo doin' in yer office, man?" he blurted out after a few seconds of recovering from surprise.

"Laguna," Squall supplied.

"Oh."

Zell needed no further explanations, for he knew Laguna to be an extreme case of worrywart, and he was definitely a lost case even when compared to a sugar-high Selphie singing "Train Train" whenever the issue concerned his one and only son. The man absolutely fretted over his son like a mother hen to her chicks.

After all, his son had just… Zell's thoughts trailed off when he heard a loud clearing of throat coming from Squall.

"Dincht, your uniform in all messed up," Squall commented dryly, trying to divert the topic.

"I'll fix it later. Watcha got me up for?" Zell brushed it off with a shrug, of which a yawn made its way into his mouth and ruined the nonchalant effect.

Squall redirected his attention to the black-encased monitor on his desk, and tapped on the screen.

The screen blinked, before shifting up and change into a new page. It now included a photo and a long list of data ready to be processed with.

"Undercover."

"Eh? Where?"

"Deling City."

"Hey! That's where Rinoa -" Zell trailed off, "Sorry, man, I…"

Squall shrugged indifferently, "I don't mind."

Zell remained unusually silent, before finally giving in, "So, uh, what am I supposed ta do?"

"You are to go to Deling City as a vacationing SeeD, you will stay in Galbadia Hotel and monitor the new president's movements."

"Why? Somethin' wrong with the guy?"

"Reports have come in saying that Vinzer Deling's heir, Marcus Deling, is plotting against the United Galbadian government. There is a disturbing movement coming from the outskirts of Deling City, people say Marcus Deling have recruited anti-Estharian rebels and plan to disrupt the peace talks between Centra and Galbadia."

"The guy got somethin' against Centra then?"

"He despises Esthar with a vengeance, because Esthar has more say in the peace talks, especially financial. And in terms of progress, Esthar is obviously far more advanced and richer than Galbadia."

"So how come he wanna mess with the United Galbadia government?"

"Reports say that he wants to overthrow the current government and take over, so he can handle the talks with Centra-meaning Esthar, thus he wants Esthar to give in to his demands."

"Yer dad knows 'bout this?"

"Yes, he was the one who requested the investigation."

Trust Laguna to try to create an overrated diversion for his son, Zell thought.

"So, when do I start?" the martial artist asked as he cracked his knuckles.

"Tomorrow. You will leave via Balamb Railway Station at exactly 0800 hours, stop over at Dollet first because you will be given your final briefing there, and afterwards go straight to Deling City. And remember, you are 'vacationing' there, so don't bring anything that would arouse suspicions."

"Roger that."

"If, in case you get into trouble, you will notify me using this," Squall held out a small, wireless communicator in his open palm, "Press the blue button if you need access to money, since Garden will pay for your expenses in this mission-but this does not mean you will waste money on personal things. Trust me, I'll be monitoring your purchases. Press the red one if you get caught by the authorities, this will self-destruct within 30 seconds after you press the red one, so don't accidentally push the wrong button if you don't want to lose your emergency line."

"Got it. Anythin' else?" Zell took the small device and pocketed it.

Squall gave him a quelling look, "Do you like chocobos?"

Zell turned to look at the monstrous chocobo imitation standing behind him, the bird's beady little eyes seem to bore into his soul, and he shuddered, "Not in yer wildest dreams, man, so don'cha even think 'bout it."

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Sunlight glinted off the red-brown specks of highlights in the stunning brunette's hair whipping over the alabaster skin of her face as her emerald green eyes scanned over the dry, mountainous terrain of Centra while their vehicle hobbled over the difficult route. Her lips were drawn into a tight frown as she visibly winced every time the propeller hit a stray mountain or hill then and there.

Standing beside her inside the congested cockpit was an equally stunning female with long flowing silvery white hair clasped into a tight ponytail, who watched their bumpy ride with thinly veiled amusement in her violet orbs.

"Commander, we have been granted permission to access the frontline base of Centra Control, it will take us approximately 20 minutes to maneuver Garden across the Great Salt Lake," a young cadet reported as he was granted entrance inside the room.

The brown-haired female nodded her assertion, "We go north from hereon, stop over at Fisherman's Horizon and replenish our supplies. After that we head back to Trabia."

The young cadet saluted and exited the room.

"From the way things are going, we'd be able to make it back in time to prepare for the festival, seeing that things are running smoothly now," her white-haired companion commented.

"…"

The white-haired one chuckled, "Still not very vocal with words, I see."

Green eyes observed the scenery outside the window before turning her attention on the piece of parchment lying on top of her mahogany desk.

Idly, she picked it up and scanned through the contents:

--------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------

Most Highly Esteemed Commander Raine Valentine of Trabia Garden,

Pleasant greetings!

You have been cordially invited to the Annual Garden Reunion Festival Ball, in honor of celebrating the 15th anniversary of Garden Festival Tradition held in commemoration of the foundation of Garden schools all across the continent.

To be hosted by Balamb Garden, and to be held in the Moonlight Ballroom of Balamb Garden on the 10th moon of September at 7 o'clock in the evening.

Attire: Formal.

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After surveying the piece of parchment, she returned it inside the envelope and set it down on the table.

"Are you going?"

Green eyes flashed wearily to her companion, "Do I look like I have an alternative?"

"I guess not," her companion chuckled, "But honestly, Raine, you could at least try to be more social to people, especially with Balamb Garden…"

"I am on good terms with Headmaster Cid Kramer."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"…"

"Make a few friends aside from me. Maybe you can befriend Balamb's commander, I heard his disposition is about as sunny as Trabia winter nights. I'm sure you two would get along fine," she commented sarcastically.

Exasperatedly, she replied, "I don't like socializing, it's just a subtle form of hypocrisy."

The white-haired woman rolled her eyes, "Only because you don't want to get to know them well."

"I don't have time for insignificant things, Lu. I have more important things to do."

"Like what? Run this humongous lump of floating metal machine called Garden? You've already done that, and you're still doing a damn fine job at it," Lucrezia shot back.

"Trabia Garden still needs improvement…"

The white-haired beauty snorted, "Trabia Garden has recovered magnificently thanks to you, we have produced an outstanding team of SeeD cadets, our SeeD mercenaries have great combat and magic skills, not to mention we've already caught up with the latest technology, we no longer need to borrow funds to keep this baby in motion, and best of all, we have the best tactical commander Garden has ever trained: YOU. Headmaster Lineus has yet to thank you for all of that, the stupid, insensitive prick," Lucrezia muttered under her breath, "Now, you need to work on your people skills and have a little fun."

"…"

"We really have to work on that attitude of yours," Lucrezia muttered after a few seconds of silence.

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"So, who're ya takin' to the ball?"

Irvine Kinneas, now Commander of the reconstructed Galbadia Garden after its siege during the wake of the Second Sorceress War, stared at the spacious white ceiling of his office as he contemplated his answer.

"I dunno."

Aghast, his male companion stared at him in bewilderment. Irvine Kinneas had no date? The world has come to an end!

The lanky, golden-haired youth tipped back his usual cowboy hat in a silent gesture and cocked his head, "What about you?"

"Fiona. By the way, we're en route to Balamb Garden right now, since we have to help them prepare for the big event."

"Gotcha. Any news on Trabia?"

"Seems like their new commander's a really dodgy person, nobody 'cept the headmasters and his sub commander ever sees the guy 24/7. The cadets don't talk 'coz they were ordered not to leak out info. Rumors say he's a queer, but who knows? Still, the new improvements made in Trabia by the guy were pretty impressive, so I really gotta give him credit for that."

Irvine raised an eyebrow, "What kind of improvements?"

"They now have more facilities than Galdabia and Balamb combined together. Training Center's one huge terrain of all sorts, lakes, hills, desert, shores, forests; you name it and they got 'em all. I heard that they've gotten a Chocobo forest planted right inside the area as well. Cafeteria and library facilities are okay, I guess. Their lecture classrooms are equipped with high-tech projectors and stuff."

After a few moments, he added, "This is the best, I heard that the commander's a weapons specialist."

"What does that mean?"

"It means the guy's one hell of walking fighting machine that can take on any weapon anytime."

"Interesting…"

"But I've heard rumors that he's got the preference for gunblades though."

Now that got Irvine's attention, "Gunblade? Not many play with those toys anymore, save Squall and Almasy."

"I bet Commander Leonhart would give him a run for his money, he's still the best."

The cowboy raised an eyebrow, puffed out his chest and stood up, "What about your commander?"

Blue eyes examined him wearily, "My money's on Leonhart."

A thick binder flew across the room and smacked him right in the face.

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"Hey, Squall! Wait up!" a bubbly and excited voice called out across the hall, making the brunette pause in his long strides to look at the source of the voice.

A petite young woman in her early twenties raced across the curved staircase and dashed past the fountain to catch up.

Squall watched in amusement as the young female paused to catch her breath.

"Selphie."

A sheepish grin broke out from the woman, "Um, I just wanted to ask you…"

"…"

"Is Irvy coming to the ball?"

Squall raised an elegant eyebrow, "Most likely, he is Commander of Galbadia Garden after all."

Selphie let out a happy giggle, "Okay."

"Anything else?"

At that, Selphie's sunny smile turned into a frown, "Have you seen Zell anywhere? He promised me he'd help me with the trimmings."

"I sent him on a mission this morning, he won't be back until the day before the ball."

"Oh." Selphie looked a bit disappointed.

Feeling a little guilty, he amended, "I could send somebody else in his place."

Selphie chuckled, "Nah, it's okay. Nida can take over. Oh, if you see Quisty, could you please tell her that I wanted the cream stockings and not the peach one. Thanks," and she ran off.

Dazed, Squall could only stare at the empty space that was once occupied by the perky woman.

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"Give me the exact coordinates."

"We're stranded here, around 4 or 5 miles West of Trabia crater."

Raine gritted her teeth, stupidity seems to be a common trait found in the younger cadets.

"Why can't they just use magic?" Lucrezia asked from her seat.

"Have you forgotten we put up an anti-magic force field around the area?"

"Then just send out backup."

"Can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Headmaster Lineus is giving out his speech as of this moment."

Lucrezia winced. Crawford Lineus was a man of many choice words, particularly those about morality and ethics. Any sane person listening to one of his boring and lengthy monotone lectures or speeches would gladly trade in his ears for just one moment of peace and quiet, and would certainly swear off any more speeches succeeding that.

"Do you want to go out there to confront the headmaster and tell him to shut up because we need his audience to herd in a couple of lost sheep?"

"When pigs fly," her icy words dripped with sarcasm.

"Fine, then you talk to the kid," Raine handed her the communicator, "I'll round up a few fortunate cadets who were able to escape Lineus' sharp eyes."

"Is that sarcasm I hear in your voice?"

"No kidding," Raine bit out as she pulled on her black leather gloves and adjusted her gray mink jacket before brushing a couple of stray strands of her chestnut brown hair off her face.

"What's their situation?" she asked again as she sheathed her weapon, her prized gunblade Amalthea, in her belt, tugged on the garment to make sure it was securely strapped in.

There was edge to Lucrezia's voice when the other end of the communication line went silent, "Line's dead."

Raine's worried frown turned into a scowl, "Junction up and meet me at the front gate in exactly 10 minutes."

"Okay," and with that, Lucrezia strapped on a heavy leather belt loaded with knives and took off, her heeled boots clicking loudly along the spacious hallway as she ran.

Left alone inside the room, Raine conducted a fast and thorough check of her GF and magic junctions.

She had already junctioned Loki (of Darkness)-a sapphire blue-eyed dragon with sturdy black scales covering its lengthy body and black bat-like wings to conquer air and sea currents; and Horus (of Light)-a gigantic eagle with golden eyes whose stare could blind the enemy. She also equipped herself with an entire stock of Full-Life and Curaga spells, as well as a few combat spells like Slow, Stop, Firaga, Blizzara and Thundaga.

Taking off in a run, she sprinted towards the Training Center and accidentally knocked over a stray Tonberry that got in way of her path, making it bounce off a tree branch in her rush to find her cadets. The unfortunate green-skinned creature still had swirling yellow eyes when it landed unceremoniously on its hairless head with a resounding 'plop' on the grass-covered ground.

Mumbling a soft apology, she cast a Float and Cure spell on the poor creature before sprinting off again.

Her sharp green eyes zeroed in on two of her best students standing not far off in one corner of the area, she quickly let out a shrill whistle, catching the duo's attention.

"Commander!" the two echoed in unison at having been caught not attending the headmaster's infamous speech, "We didn't mean to, but-"

"Save it, I don't care. Gear up and junction yourselves with a low-level GF, we're going out to search for a couple of lost students."

The two nodded, "What about the incoming blizzard?"

"Stock up on Firaga, Slow and Stop spells. We're going to brave that thing even if it kills me."

"Understood."

"Good. Meet Lieutenant Parker and I at the front gate in exactly 5 minutes."

The two watched their commander take off before breaking into a run themselves.

***

"Lieutenant Parker!"

Lucrezia turned and acknowledged the two cadets before issuing an order, "We're going on foot, blizzard's coming in and we can't take any vehicle out there."

Raine came rushing out, wearing the mink jacket she had donned on earlier over her white shirt and a pair of cream-coloured breeches just as the two cadets rechecked their spell supplies.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. Well?"

"I deactivated the anti-magic barrier so we can use our spells to find those kids," Raine supplied before leaping into the thick carpet of snow covering Trabia territory.

"Lu, take Anderson and search northeast from here," Raine ordered sharply, "Kingsley, come with me."

The quartet slowly trudged their way into the dense forest.

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"Boko."

The fuzzy yellow ball of fluff scuttled off, bumped its pathetic little head on the leg of his chair and hid under his desk.

He let out a long, suffering sigh.

Squall massaged his temples in an attempt to get the throbbing to stop. Ever since Laguna's attempt in a cheer-up gift came, he hadn't had a moment of peace.

Quistis had walked in one afternoon while he was going over some transaction papers, she stopped short and stared at the humongous bird statue in the middle of the room and looked at him as though he had lost his mind. She promptly left after choking out a mumbled, "Selphie needs extra men to work on the stage."

The next day, she'd brought a stack of papers and dumped them on his desk, muttering something about peach stockings under her breath before extracting a small box from her pocket and dropped it on his lap.

He opened the box, only to find a bouncing ball of some sort attached in a springy wire. Picking up the end of the wire, he nailed it on his desk and watched the ball bounce up and down on its own accord. He stared at the ball in frustration; it looked eerily like a chubby chocobo.

Selphie had also paid him a quick visit, dropped a cute yellow furball on his desk and skipped out of his office.

It was a stuffed yellow chocobo doll.

To top it all off, Seifer Almasy had dropped in after word had spread like wildfire that Commander Squall Leonhart now officially adopted stray chocobos in his office.

The blonde-haired man took one look at his chocobo-infested office and promptly burst out laughing. He had openly suggested to Squall that he should convert his office into a chocobo orphanage and take in the poor, little homeless tykes off the plains of Balamb.

Squall had to threaten to thwack him with the chubby chocobo ball and send him out on chocobo saving missions he had suggested to get him to shut up.

At one point in time, he had gotten out of his stuffy, chocobo-dominated office and took a leisurely stroll in the outskirts of Balamb.

The result of that innocent stroll was now making soft warking noises under his mahogany desk.

He had been taking a casual stroll on the sandy beach when he felt a sharp tug on his pant leg.

He looked down and stared.

A tiny, yellow chicobo stared up at him with watery eyes.

Now he really felt he was going insane. How the hell did a chicobo end up in Balamb?

He walked away, telling himself that he was only experiencing an overdose of chocobo exposure. He turned back, only to find the cute little bird hobbling on its two feet while struggling to chase after him and keep up with his long strides.

The chicobo tripped and let out a pitiful wail, well, as much as a bird can wail.

Mentally telling himself to stop taking unnecessary walks outside Garden next time, Squall let out a defeated sigh and retraced his steps.

The tiny chicobo gave him a hopeful stare as he knelt down beside the forlorn creature.

"Hey, little guy."

The chicobo let out a "Wark!" and promptly latched itself into Squall's torso.

Squall patted the fuzzy head of the creature that held on to him for dear life.

"Did you run away from home?"

"Wark?" a shake of the feathery yellow head was his answer.

"No home?"

"Waark!" came the affirmative squawk.

Bingo.

Squall's shoulders sagged in defeat. Damn the guilt trip the creature was giving him with those watery eyes.

The little chicobo trailed after Squall as he returned to Garden, its small, awkward steps attempting to brave the steps of the entrance gate. The chicobo let out a shrill yelp and tumbled backwards.

Squall turned, and found the chicobo sprawled out on the steps.

'Idiot,' he thought affectionately as he picked up the poor creature and carried it all the way to the top steps, before setting it back down on the marble floor.

Man and bird waltzed in through the entrance gate, making the once grouchy security guard stare at them in shock openmouthed, his eyes nearly bulging out of its sockets as he took in the scene.

Ignoring the startled looks of his comrades, Squall made his way towards Selphie in the busy ballroom. SeeD cadets of all ranks gawked openly at their commander, eyes unbelieving what they were seeing.

"Selphie, would you mind taking this in?" he gestured towards the chicobo resting beside his feet, and pointedly ignored the fact that half of Balamb Garden was watching the spectacle of their commander finding a foster home for the chicobo.

Selphie clucked her tongue and stared at the chicobo, before replying, "Squall, as much as the little guy is adorable as he is, my dorm is hazardous to little guys like this one. I have a room full of stuffed toys, which for certain I will confuse this little guy with and I might accidentally glomp him when I mistake him for one of my toys."

Squall looked at her as though she had grown two heads. Normally, Selphie would jump at the opportunity to have a chicobo as a pet and squeal with joy, glomping everyone on sight.

But here she was, sarcastically telling him that she couldn't possibly have a cute, adorable little pet.

What the hell was wrong with this picture?

Squall groaned inwardly, and looked down at the two-legged creature that was cause of the ruckus all over Garden. Worst part was, he was now the center of attention.

'I hope I won't live to regret this.'

"I guess I'll have to keep him in my office then, Training Center's too dangerous…" he heard himself say.

And so Commander Squall Leonhart now had a part-time job of taking care of one real live pet chicobo inside his office.

The yellow ball of fluff was constantly making cooing sounds at its new master, followed Squall around like a dog on a leash and fretted over something fierce whenever Squall wasn't within its eyesight.

Quistis had remarked that the tiny chicobo had obviously appointed itself as Squall's personal bodyguard.

Dr. Kadowaki had even dropped off a pack of Mimett greens the other day for the adorable ball of fluff.

Selphie had suggested several names to call it with, but the little fella wouldn't answer to anything except when Squall beckoned for it to come.

Boko, as the chicobo was now named, didn't pay attention nor listen to anyone except for Squall. He had come up with the name Boko for the chicobo because every time he saw the tiny bird, it was constantly bonking its head and bopping itself off a wall or furniture accidentally in excitement of greeting its master.

Squall groaned inwardly every time a SeeD cadet popped inside his office, making up a few excuses or two just to see if the rumors were true.

So now his office was officially a second home for chocobos.

Seifer would never let him live it down.

He resisted the urge to bang his head on something hard the second time that week.

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Lucrezia cursed under her breath as a rather heavy patch of snow fell over her and her companion, making them stumble in their wake and fall down, hard, on the cold, freezing snow.

Brushing off traces of the white ice off her face, she cast a Fira on the cold stuff and huffed past her confused companion.

"C'mon boy, we don't have all day."

Meanwhile, Raine and Kingsley weren't having much luck as well, as the two were currently knee-deep wading in the thick snow while a strong gust of arctic wind billowed against them.

"Commander Valentine, not that I'm complaining, but my legs are getting numb. We've been searching for more than five hours now."

Raine growled, and was about to snap at her companion when she saw his pitiful state. His earmuffs and cap were all covered in snow, his coat was also drenched in the freezing weather and his lips were turning blue.

"Let's find a place where we can rest," she settled back instead, "Maybe we can find some wood to burn to ward off the cold."

The young cadet seemed relieved, and forced himself to move across the icy barrier.

Raine stared at the gray sky overhead, and snarled in disgust. She hated winter.

"C-commander! I found them!"

Her head swung around, and found Kingsley waving at her in a patch of dead trees a few meters away from where she was standing.

A low rumble was heard coming from the sky, making her whip her head back towards the sky.

Not good.

"Kingsley! Get them out of there, we need to head back to Garden. Now," she stressed the word out when she felt the wind pick up strength.

She pressed a button clipped on the collar of her jacket, "Lu, we found them. Head back to Garden now. Blizzard's picking up current."

Staring ahead, she saw that the rescued cadets had managed to salvage their snowboards and were now currently getting ready to leave.

Okay, so maybe they weren't that stupid after all.

----------------------------------------

Squall picked up the phone, "Leonhart speaking."

"Squall!"

Squall almost choked on his coffee, "Dad?"

Laguna's cheerful voice chirped over the phone, "How did you like my gift?"

"Uh…"

He could almost imagine his father's hopeful eyes, begging him to say he liked it.

"Thanks. It's…nice."

"That's great! I also heard from Selphie that you have a chicobo in your office…"

'I'm just a goddamn sucker.'

Mentally, he groaned as Laguna droned on about chicobos and chocobo plushies. He held the earpiece against his ear and cradled it between his shoulder blade and chin while fishing out a wad of paper from his drawer.

"… … Anyway, I've decided I'll take a holiday and visit you there in Garden. What do you think?"

The pencil lead screeched against the surface of the paper before it broke.

"What?!" Squall practically yelled into the phone.

"Son, are you okay?"

"W-what about Esthar?" Squall strained out after a few moments of recovering from shock.

"My council can handle it. I pay them to run the country anyway."

"What about Sis Ellone? Kiros? Ward?"

"Ellone's helping out in Winhill. Kiros and Ward are coming along with me."

"…"

"Okay, so it's decided. I'll drop in tomorrow morning," Laguna chirped and ended the conversation with, "We'll catch up on things when I get there. Take care, son. See ya soon."

Squall held out the phone away from his ear to stare at it stupidly.

Boko had also chosen that moment to bump his head on his owner's leg.

Squall finally gave in to his urge and banged his head on his desk. Hard.

Quistis walked in and almost turned around when she saw the scene, restraining herself, she managed to choke out, "What's wrong?"

Squall wasn't even fazed, since he didn't stop from banging his head on the desk.

"Go away."

Quistis wisely chose to consent and swiftly exited the room. Dear Hyne, were everybody's nerves getting on him as well? The blonde had immediately squashed that idea right after she'd thought of it. No way in hell was that bound to happen. Squall had the most objective mind among them right now, or so she hoped.

To be continued…

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A/N: I know, I know, this sucks… and now I know I'm in serious need of rehab… sweet Jesus… I actually posted this piece of junk up… Oh well, I've started on it, might as well work on it… so help me God.