AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Final Fantasy VII/VIII characters are property of SQUARE software and their subisdaries. Please do not sue me. I have no money. I just love gorgeous video game bisien. This is a YAOI fan fiction piece. So if you are under the age of 18 or are offended by male/male sexual relationships, quit reading now. I will not be responsible for you if you don't. Now, with all that out of the way, on with the good stuff!! ^_^ Big thank you to Seiya Kou and Dark Ki for everything they have done!

The thunder cracked loud and heavy over GARDEN's training facilities. The young auburn haired man with the noticeable scar on his face, frowned as the cold rain hit him, drenching his hair even more and making his long bangs almost impenatrable to see through. A young pale man with a black tribal tattoo running down his left cheek and a very drenched blonde mowhawk joined the auburn haired soldier.

"Well, once again, our professors manage to pick the perfect day to go and have a ground training session." the tattooed young man quipped.

The scarred young man nodded grimly. He pushed his bangs out of his deep blue eyes and narrowed them carefully.

"Squall? What's wrong?"

"There some guy coming across the training ground, Zell. He's not a student." Squall responded.

"What? Squall, how can you see that? Man, with this rain, I can hardly see a few feet in front of me."

Squall shrugged cooly. He was not a relatively friendly person, but he stayed on pretty good terms with Zell. Not too close, though. He never got too close to anybody.

A young woman with long black hair with streaks of brown came and stood beside Zell. She was fighting a losing battle of wringing out her hair and getting it redrenched again. Her pretty blue cape-like shirt and black shorts were soaked through. Zell grinned a little and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Wet enough for you, Rinoa?"

"I can't believe that Professor Wire would insist that we do this today! How many of us actually are still standing out here? Let's see, there's Seifer over by the tree, I think, you, me, and Squall...Squall?"

Zell and Rinoa turned to their right to see that Squall had disappeared. Zell could see his shape heading toward the center of the training field. He shook his head and released an exasperated sigh.

"Hey, what's up with Squall? He hates being out in the rain. Why's he heading to the center of the field?" Rinoa questioned.

"Got me. He's so weird sometimes. He said that he saw someone who wasn't a training student crossing the main grounds. Personally, I don't know how. You can't see hardly a few feet in front of you."

Rinoa shrugged her shoulders lightly and pressed a little against Zell to suck up some of his body heat.

"You know that Seifer is going to keep us out here until he's satisfied we're completely taken with pneumonia." Zell said with a laugh.

"Ugh. I hate the fact that he's eighteen makes him the automatic leader."

"Yah, so do I. And so does Squall. Boy, so does Squall."

A redheaded man with a scar much like Squall's and a long white trenchcoat approached Rinoa and Zell through the rain. He had his modified Gunblade resting on his shoulder. He scanned both of them as if he was counting.

"Where's Leonhart?"

"He saw somebody who wasn't supposed to be on the training grounds. He went to have them removed."

"He did this without seeking my permission."

"Uh, yah." Zell responded sarcastically.

Seifer narrowed his eyes and gave Zell a deadly glance. Zell felt Rinoa nervously grab onto his soaked red vest.

"Leonhart broke rank. That's a major penalty. Both of you go inside and debrief with Professor Wire. I'm going to go and report Leonhart to Professor Wire when you're both finished. He can't keep pretending he rules the roost."

Seifer than calmly walked off toward the Professor Wire's office. Zell and Rinoa watched him leaving, both were frowning.

"Freakin' teacher's pet." Rinoa grumbled.

Zell turned to Rinoa with a raised eyebrow. She always said what was on her mind and sometimes, well, sometimes it wasn't always what one would expect.

"What?" she questioned when she saw Zell's look.

"Nothing, Rin. Come on, let's go debrief with Professor Wire. I'll go buy us a couple cups of coffee then."

"Thank you, Zell!" Rinoa responded cheerfully.

They both headed toward the entrance to the training grounds office facilities.

"Hey, what about Squall? Shouldn't he come with us?"

"With Seifer reporting him and the fact that we can't even see where he is, I'm sure we'll see him soon enough."

With that thought, Zell and Rinoa entered the dry warmth of the debriefing office.

______________________________________________________________________________

Squall was blinking the rain out of his eyes. It was coming down in torrents, the kind that made Squall think of a hurricane.

"Great, and my name is short for 'rain.' Real cute."

The stranger that was standing on the training grounds was coming into view. Squall could tell by the hazy shape that the person was tall, probably around six feet or higher. The stranger looked very slender too, but the rain might have been changing the physical appearance.

"Hey you!" Squall shouted. "Don't you know that this is a training ground? No unauthorized people are allowed here."

The stranger turned to look at the person speaking. Squall stared disbelieving at the figure before him.

The man stood around six feet. He had rich long raven black hair that clung to his face, neck, shoulders, and back. He had eyes the color of bright rubies that Squall could clearly make out even in the pouring rain. His clothes were simple, a poorboy turtleneck that would have fit loosely, but because of the rain, had plastered itself to the man's slim frame. The glint of the light from one of the field lanterns caught something metal by the man's left side. Squall, without realizing he was doing so, approached closer to see a metal claw attached to the man's left arm. His slim black pants were stuck to his skin and his shoes were completely soaked through. The man looked casually at Squall through the torrential rain.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something, young man?"

Squall was pulled out of his daze and drawn immediately up to the stranger's ruby eyes. They were slightly frightening, more because of their color, than anything else. The man smiled faintly. Squall didn't realize it until he looked down to see his boots were almost touching the man's shoes. Somehow, he had gotten closer, but didn't remember approaching him.

"Huh? Oh! I said that this is a training ground for authorized people only. I think you should leave."

"You do, do you?" the man responded quietly.

Squall frowned. The man seemed completely calm about the fact that at any moment, someone could attack him thinking he was the enemy.

"Look, we're running drills right now. If you need to find someone, I can take you to the main office. It's not a good idea that a guy like you just stands out here."

"A guy like me?" the stranger mused to himself.

"Where is the main office?" the man questioned.

"Follow me." Squall answered.

The man obediently followed Squall, walking silently beside him. Squall felt a little uneasy about the man. There was something vaguely familiar about him. Almost

as if he had seen him somewhere before.

They reached the main training office in a couple minutes. Professor Wire and Seifer were waiting for Squall at the door. Squall entered the building, dripping wet and even more angry than he was earlier. The raven haired man looked around silently and then approached Professor Wire.

"Excuse me, this young gentlemen was kind enough to show me to your office. Could you please tell me where I could find Professor Cid Highwind?"

Professor Wire looked suspiciously at the crimson eyed man.

"May I ask who you are? I just can't send anyone to see Professor Highwind."

The stranger gave an odd smile and leaned down and whispered something in Professor Wire's ear. The old man's eyes grew wide and he nodded immediately.

"Of course, sir. He's in the main corridor of GARDEN. Go down that hall, up three flights of stairs and make a left. He's the first door on the left side."

"Thank you."

The man dressed in black began to exit through the door. He turned for a moment to glance back at Squall. The young soldier looked at him curiously.

"Thank you for your help, Mr...Mr..?"

"Leonhart. But, my name is Squall."

"Ah, thank you for your help Squall Leonhart."

With that, the stranger disappeared through the door, dripping water everywhere down the hall. Squall watched him leave, feeling very strange inside.

"So, Mr. Leonhart, Mr. Almasy informed me that you have just broken rank."

Squall was torn free from his absent staring. He glared at Seifer and then turned to Professor Wire.

"Professor Wire, I saw that guy standing in the middle of the training grounds. I didn't think he really wanted to get attacked by some gun hoe student. I was just trying to help him out."

"That may be true, Mr. Leonhart, but you must learn to follow rules. It would have been much more acceptable for you to request permission to attend to the man from Mr. Almasy. He is your superior officer and you were still doing the training exercise. Normally, I would let this slide, Mr. Leonhart, but this is the fourth time that you have openly disobeyed and went against your superior. I'm afraid that you're going to have to go and see Professor Highwind and explain yourself."

Squall stared disbelieving at Professor Wire. He heard Seifer stifle to laugh by trying to make it sound like a cough. Squall scowled and grabbed his Gunblade. He pushed past Seifer, who had conveniently placed himself in front of the open door.

"Good luck, Squally" came Seifer's quiet taunt.

Squall grumbled the whole way to the main building. By the time he had reached Professor Highwind's hallway, he was throwing every curse in every language he could think of.

"I'll get that Seifer back for this. I swear I will." he thought angrily.

But, as soon as Squall's hand touched the doorknob to Professor Highwind's office, he felt his heart go into his throat. He was GARDEN's prize student and had never been reported for anything. Now, here he was standing in front of one of his battle idol's doors. To tell him of his wrong doings nonetheless.

"Well, to hell with trying to get out of it. Face up to it Squall. It's gotta' be done."

Squall turned the doorknob and prayed silently that Professor Highwind would be in a good mood.

______________________________________________________________________________

Squall opened the door to Professor Highwind's office slowly. The room was rich with fine antique furniture and beautiful lush carpet. It was always difficult for Squall to believe that Professor Highwind could have been a tacky grease monkey. He must have relied on his wife Shera to decorate his office.

He quietly stepped through the door. Professor Highwind was speaking into his commlink very softly. He glanced up from his desk to see Squall still hovering near the doorway.

"Of course, Professor Wire, he's here right now." Professor Highwind pressed the commlink button and disconnected. Squall already felt a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Come in Mr. Leonhart and have a seat."

Squall nodded nervously and sat in a large maroon chair in front of Professor Highwind's desk. The size of the chair made Squall feel even more uneasy. He tried to sit up straight and not look like he was completely scared out of his mind.

"Professor Wire has just told me that you broke rank for the fourth time, Squall. I realize that you have a difficult time with Mr. Almasy, but that is no reason to openly disobey him."

Squall nodded, feeling very angry that Professor Wire never bothered to get his side of the story before reporting him.

"But, you are our best student, so I'm giving you a chance to explain yourself. Now, tell me why you broke rank."

"There was a really weird guy who was wandering around the training grounds while we were running drills. I figured with the downpour, he probably couldn't see where he was going. I pulled him off the field and to Professor Wire's office."

"What did this man look like?"

"Really lanky guy with thick black hair and bizarre eyes."

"How do you mean bizarre?"

"Well, they were red, er, crimson to be precise. Kind of like the guy in your portrait. He even had that metal claw..."

Squall's voice trailed off as Shera and the tall pale man entered from Professor Highwind's private quarters. Shera was carrying a tray of tea and lemon. The man looked at Squall and gave him a sly, small smile.

Squall immediately felt his saliva choke in his throat. It couldn't be the same person, could it? He shot his gaze to the man wearing the red cloak and red bandana in the portrait and then back to the man wearing the black poorboy turtleneck and black slacks. Once again he looked up at the man in the portrait. Raven black hair, crimson eyes, a claw for his left hand, and skin almost like ivory. He was accompanied by Professor Highwind and the other people who defeated the great Sephiroth from all the war stories that Professor Highwind would tell Squall. If it was the same man, then he was truly the immortally young Vincent Valentine that Professor Highwind had told him tales about. The man who could change into multiple forms because of some terrible genetic experiments. The man who would never age past twenty-seven. It couldn't be, could it?

"Squall, would this happen to be the man that you led off the training grounds?" Professor Highwind asked, a note of humor in his voice.

The young soldier nodded dumbly, feeling his cheeks begin to flush.

"Please, please tell me this isn't who I think it is." Squall begged silently.

"Squall, please meet my dearest and oldest friend, Vincent Valentine."

"Oh no..." Squall cried to himself.

Vincent was still standing and he approached Squall. He put out his ivory colored right hand and offered it to Squall.

"Thank you for helping me off the field, Mr. Leonhart, it was most honorable of you."

"Please, call me Squall." he responded weakly.

Squall took Vincent's hand and shook it. Despite his fragile appearance, Vincent had a steady grip and it suprised Squall. He smiled a gentle smile and Squall felt some of the embarassment subside.

"I apologize, Mr. Valentine, I didn't know that you were the same Mr. Valentine from Professor Highwind's stories."

Vincent smiled a little bigger.

"Please, call me Vincent, Squall. So, Cid talks about me on occassions, does he?"

Cid grinned and motioned for Squall to join him and Vincent at one of the couches. Shera sat on the loveseat and Cid cuddled up next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder affectionately. Vincent lounged comfortably in a plush blue Victorian style chair and Squall sat rather nervously still on a smaller red chair.

Shera poured the tea and passed out the cups. Squall politely refused, not because he was embarassed, but simply because he didn't really like tea. Shera smiled warmly at Squall.

"Cid was mentioning that you got yourself in a spot of trouble with helping our Vincent, Squall."

Squall nodded quickly, feeling the blush come back to his cheeks. He wondered how long it would take before it got around GARDEN that he had had to go to Professor Highwind's office for reprimanding.

"Well, don't worry about this, Squall." Cid said calmly. "You've helped Vincent from potentially getting knocked out by one of overzealous students. For that alone, I think that we can let your little rank incident slide."

"Do you really mean that, Professor Highwind?" Squall couldn't really believe he was hearing those words.

"Yes, but don't let it happen again. Starting tomorrow, Vincent will be taking all squads out on drill runs, so keep in mind who your leader is, Squall."

Squall looked at Vincent with a shocked look.

"That's right, Squall." Cid commented with a hearty laugh. "Vincent is the new specialized drill instructor we've been promising you GARDEN students. Oops, you better get to barracks, it's going on evening check in."

Squall nodded and got up quickly. He bowed reverantly to Cid and Shera and then turned to Vincent. He was sipping his tea quietly and glanced up with those ruby eyes. They weren't as frightening as Squall had originally thought. He offered Squall a small, shy smile from behind his teacup. A strand of raven hair fell forward over one of his eyes. Squall suddenly felt a foreign tightness in his stomach. He swallowed hard and exited the door quickly. As soon as he had shut the door, the tightness eased. It hadn't been an unpleasant feeling, just a different one.

The young man hadn't closed the door completely. He was just leaving when bits of a conversation caught his attention. He felt a little guilty, but found himself leaning against the wall to hear Cid, Shera and Vincent speaking quietly.

"...and you haven't found a cure yet?"

"No, it's really not a problem."

"It's fortunate you don't need it to live."

"Yes, but it's just one more thing that makes me less human. I think..."

The conversation became too quiet for Squall to here. He slipped away from the door and down the staircase.

So, Vincent Valentine was going to be GARDEN's new drill instructor. The living legend would be teaching them manuevers. Squall just couldn't believe he hadn't recognized him.

"I guess without his signature red cape and bandana, he would be kind of hard to pick out of a crowd. That is if you didn't see his claw." Sqaull thought ruefully.

He entered the main hall and made his way to the barracks. He found himself mulling over the small piece of conversation he had heard between the Highwind's and Vincent.

"He must be sick or something. I wonder what it's all about? Not that you should have heard, Squall. One of these days, you should mind you own business." he scolded himself.

He made barracks call in time. He ignored Seifer, who had begun to hound him about what kind of penalty he had to pay. He slid his entrance card through his door and slipped into his room, closing the door quickly before Seifer could jam his foot in.

Squall slid off his bomber jacket and hung it loosely on the chair next to his bed. He sat on the edge of his bed and pulled off his thick black boots and his socks. Sighing at the feeling of the cool air, he pulled off his white t-shirt. Squall arose just enough to strip himself of his slim fitting black pants. He tugged down his sheets and slid his naked body underneath. The coolness of the crisp sheets made his body relax on contact.

"I wonder what's wrong with Vincent? Not that it's any of my business. Still, it is rather..." Squall's thoughts drifted off as sleep took him over. He comfortably slipped into it's embrace. Relaxing, he yawned unconciously and whispered, "Vincent."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again, sorry for all the heavy stuff. I need to find a better way of getting all this past info out, eh? Any way, you came for the good stuff and I hope the next chapters do not disappoint. Arigato!!