#nonaod

It had been just over a year since he left Balamb Garden for Hope's Peak Academy.

It had been just over a year since he said his goodbyes to his friends, expecting to return shortly after with finer combat abilities and the highest of all educations, only to be thrust into a game of mutual killing under the watchful eye of a sadistic mechanical bear. 

And now it was over.

The Alcauld Plains never felt so alien. Squall's steps were slow, almost reluctant. His gunblade sat atop his shoulder. Flames crept lazily along his free hand, ready to be launched at any enemy that dared cross his path. The feeling of being fully armed and ready for a fight was almost foreign to him now. For so long he had been in an unwinnable situation that it felt like he couldn't defeat even the little bite bugs that swarmed the area. He was still far from his destination, Balamb Garden... but that was perfectly okay with him. Images from the past flickered in the back of his skull, vivid and clear as ever. Images he had been shown in the confines of the school, of a destroyed Garden and slaughtered SeeDs. Even now, after being released from the wretched place, he wasn't sure if they were real or not. Seeing Garden would confirm everything, whether Monobear told him the truth or fed him lies, and Squall wasn't certain he wanted to do that just yet.

It had been just over a year since his friends had seen him, but it was painfully clear he was not the same man as before. The Squall that once roamed these plains with a cool confidence was gone, replaced with a stranger whose eyes darted from place to place, whose grip on his gunblade was tight to avoid separation from his weapons again. Hope's Peak Academy had melted the frost in his gaze, leaving it a hollow shell of his former look. Squall would have been concerned with the pitiful turn his appearance had taken, had his mind not been preoccupied with the state of his home. Was Garden still intact? Did SeeD live on? Were his friends okay? Too many questions, all without answers...

It took him a moment to register the figure in the distance. Naught but a smudge of yellow from where he stood... it didn't look like any of the creatures that prowled these plains. How peculiar. Squall came to a halt. His eyes narrowed, and his mind went blank until everything clicked together.

He didn't realize he had broken into a sprint until he found himself halfway towards the familiar sight, an uncontrollable mixture of relief and concern welling in his chest with every step he took. The figure was becoming clearer now, and he knew it was her. Squall's heart hammered in his chest, in time with the heavy thud of his boots against the ground. One of his friends was okay. It didn't necessarily mean everything else was alright, but...

At the very least, it meant at least one life had been spared from the supposed carnage at Balamb Garden. And that was a start.

"Selphie...!" He came stumbling to a halt, only a few feet away from his fellow SeeD. Squall was normally good with managing his thoughts, but this was not a normal situation. There were too many questions running through his mind. He wanted to know why no one came for him. He wanted to know why she was here, if she was okay, where the others were... and most importantly, if Garden really was destroyed. He stared at her, uncertain as to where he should begin. 

At his side his free hand curled into a loose fist. Empty eyes fixed themselves on Selphie's face, and at last he spoke in a low voice. In the end, he could only say one thing.