Midnight in Balamb Garden, the floating training centre of SeeD. The garden was once land locked near the town of Balamb, that was untill the Sorceress Edea had attacked using the newly mobile Galbadia Garden, and Squall Leonheart had decended down to the hidden MD levels of the garden and activated the huge engines that powered the entire facility. Now it travelled the world collecting new trainees and visiting the small towns and citys spread across the world.
The corridors were empty at this time of night, most of the gardens students and staff were safely asleep in their beds. The place was deathly silent, the only sound coming from the overhead lights as they hummed with the power going through them.
Irvine Kinneas the sniper from Galbadia was having trouble sleeping, as he struggled to find a comfy postion he couldn't help but think about Selphie.
It had been eighteen months since Squall had led the assault on Ultimecia's castle and finally defeated the future Sorceress. And although Irvine acted like the suarve cassanova he wished he was, he had been struck by Selphie on their first meeting. His love for her had grown considerably during the past eighteen months, only hitting the bumps of any normal relationship, that is until earlier that day she had caught him talking to one of the new students from Esthar.
He wasn't quite sure why she had gotten so mad at him, but he knew that he must have done something wrong.
After many hours of trying to calm her down Rinoa had arrived and offered to help, telling him to leave, reassuring him that everything would be fine. He left the room and had gone straight to his dormitory to try and get some sleep. Two hours later, after failing to get to sleep, he got himself out of bed and walked over to the wash basin in the corner.
"I hope she's still not too mad at me...." He thought aloud as he washed the sleep from his eyes. Putting on a shirt, he picked up his rifle and began to clean it. Although he had modifyed it from its original design, it still seemed like his original weapon to him. He had carried it since his student days in Galbadia. As sleep was so unobtainable he decide to go get some practice in the training facility, after all practice makes perfect and it had been a while since he had actually shot something.
He put on his coat and opened the door knowing that the security systems would have already registered him as leaving his quaters. He would now be watched intently until he reached the training facility on the ground floor.
Irvine strolled down the corridors thinking how he might possibly say how sorry he was to Selphie. The halls of Balamb seemed darker somehow, less friendly. If he was the sort to get paranoid he would have thought building was against him. He entered the lift that joined the three main floors and pressed the down button.
When the lift hit the ground floor it took a while for the doors to open, longer than usual and Irvine started to get impatient. He pressed the door open button and the only responce he got was a low pitched moan as the door motors refused to move. He hit the button again and still nothing.
"Damn...." He said aloud. "Hello is anyone there ?" He shouted, hoping that someone was on the landing waiting for the lift, he wasn't keen on small spaces, it wasn't noticable but he started to get a little worried in anything smaller than the dormitorys in Balamb garden, and even they didn't agree with him.
He pressed the button again just to be sure, and to his suprise the door hissed and opened as though there was never anything wrong with it.
"Stupid thing...." He mumbled as he stepped out onto the landing, kicking the door frame angrily. He turned around and walked down the steps and toward the training facility. The only place in Balamb garden that was still open at this time of night. It would be busy aswell, a the next class of candidates was due to take the practical exam at the end of the week, so most of them would be here practicing or in their dorms studying.
As he reached the entrance to the facility a familiar voice called out to him.
"Yo.... Sharpshooter what ya doin' up this time o' night ?" Seifer had really changed since the whole Ultimecia incident and recently was starting to become quite likable. He still bickered with Squall, but that was just due to habbit.
"Nothin' Seifer.... just couldn't sleep. Thought that a bit of practice might tire me out...." Answered Irvine, turning round and waiting for Seifer to catch up.
Seifer put his arm over Irvine's shoulder and said, "Yeah.... well I'm sure Selphie won't be mad at ya for too much longer. Rinoa has been with 'er for most o' day and ya know what she's like.... Just wait 'till tomorra." That was the one thing Irvine didn't like about the new Seifer, he was just too nice.
"Yeah.... Thanks mate. Err do you wanna come practice too ? I could do with the company...." "Sure why not ?" Replyed Seifer, grinning evilly with the thought of how much fun he used to have during his student days with Raijin and Fujin in the training area. The trio had finally passed their exam a couple of months ago and Raijin and Fujin were on vacation.
As the pair set off into the facility together Selphie watched from the shadows and smiled.........
Chapter Two
© 1997 mat.berry@uk.dreamcast.com