Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Squall hadn’t agreed to this and he wasn’t even entirely sure whose idea it had been originally. Probably Cid, that damnable headmaster. As if Squall wasn’t doing enough of his work already.

Wards were still going on but the progress had been monumental. It had been on news channels and in papers for days. It was big news but it wasn’t getting the exposure Squall would have preferred.

It was painted as the Academy putting safety precautions in place because the students needed to know they were safe, rather then, fuck these poachers coming onto the grounds, terrorizing his kids.

If Cid, Edea, or whoever the hell had set up Squall to be interviewed thought he was going to hold his tongue, they were sorely mistaken.

As he was much too busy to go elsewhere, the woman interviewing him over the matter had come to him. His office was perfectly comfortable for it and that meant he could spend the entire time on his own sofa with Cloud draped across his lap.

Felicity Fieldmouse was an unexpected familiar face. “I haven’t seen you since graduation!” The familiar was the older sister to one of Squall’s upperclassmen, Yen Sid’s favorite Mickey. But she’d had lots of reasons to hang around the school’s library as a graduate student before settling into her role as a reporter. “Oh, you got handsome, nice to see you finally settled down with someone.” She winked at Cloud flirtatiously.

Cloud’s ear flicked in response, happily curled up against Squall despite being too big to be there. Squall only grunted. “It’s good to see you. I hadn’t realized you’d be the one covering this.” He hadn’t given it much thought at all though. Fortunately, Felicity likely knew what she was getting into trying to pry words out of Squall.

“Yeah, well, I convinced the higher-ups that it was a bad idea to try to get someone who wasn’t a former student on the academy grounds right now. Besides, I’ve already been cleared to come and go as I please since I use the library so much.” Cobra had merely sighed and signed her papers when she’d come into his office that first day.

Squall snorted. “Still working the system, i see.” They’d sat at the same library table more than once.

“Well, someone has to. Now- I know you're not a fan of theatrics, but I have a personality I put on for work, so I’d appreciate you not tch-ing the interview. There’s gonna be a lot of edits to it later, but the initial run is live. Obviously the station wants certain things, but I can get away with a fair bit of spin, so we can work this in your favor.”

“I’m not interested in spin.” Squall said. “Just facts. I will explain why and how this happened, why it’s fucking unacceptable, and how i fixed it.”

He knew there would be more to the interview than that, but he had no trouble being blunt either. Cloud’s tail just wagged in amusement.

“Well yeah, of course.” She blinked twice. “Squall, honey, it's the news. Everything is spin. But right now the general sentiment is about the school, not about the students, particularly the most vulnerable ones.”

Squall didn’t look overly impressed. “You ask your questions, and i’ll answer them. Are we ready to start?” He wanted to get this over with. Parents were still uneasy and the offices were overwhelmed.

She had the nerve to giggle. “Same old Squall. Alright, location?”

“Something wrong with in here?” He gestured to his office. “Or should we be outside to show off the actual wards put up. I can make them visible for the interview.”

“Ooh, that’d be a great visual. Okay, we’re lightly staging this as me ambushing you while you're working.”

Squall made a face. “Well, alright. You have more faith in my acting skills than I do.” If they wanted him to look like a fool, that was their choice. He didn’t do ‘staged’ well.

Cloud reared up, smoothly shifting from wolf to man. “Funny.” he chuckled, amused at Squall’s petulant attitude.

Felicity fanned herself lightly “Oh my, you two…”

Squall chuckled. “This is not for your interview, Felicity.” His head was being turned towards Cloud, his familiar stealing a kiss.

She snapped a picture with her phone. “Nope, not for the paper.”

Squall took a moment for himself, indulging in his own whims alongside Cloud’s before flipping Felicity off, which she also caught a picture of. No doubt those pictures would circulate to select friends.

It was annoying, but he knew what Cloud was doing, mellowing him out. With a hand on Cloud’s thigh, he pushed a dose of magic into him and broke the kiss. “C’mon then. We’ll head outside.”

“Yessir!”

Cloud rolled his eyes seconds before Squall playfully shoved him off his lap. Cloud landed on all fours, back in his wolf form at ridiculous speed. He shook himself out and Squall got up to follow.

“This will be live, you said?” Squall double checked. That still seemed like a bad idea.

She nodded “Yep...oh, did you want to uh, gussy up beforehand?”

“No. What you see is what you get.” Squall said, though he was somewhat sure Cloud would be fixing his hair at some point before cameras started rolling. “If you’re supposed to be sneaking up on me there’s no point in me looking like I knew it was coming.”

He headed out of his office, holding the door open for Felicity.

“Ah, it’s all TV magic. You’d be surprised how often things are scripted.”

Squall hummed. “Either way, I'm good as I am. You’re likely going to have a lot of students poking around to find out what’s going on.”

They exited his classroom and headed towards the nearest door. It wasn’t like Felicity didn’t know her way around.

Her cameraman checked his watch, and gave her a nod. She had gone left, and was about to round a corner to ‘bump into’ the new professor. “Felicity Fieldmouse, back at Radiant Academy; go Dragons!; to interview the school’s newest addition who is already making quite a few waves and was the source of a lot of old gossip ‘back in our day’, the locally famous Squall Leonhart!” She’d rounded the corner by the last bit, and it was scary impressive how well she’d timed that to walking into Squall.

Cloud was still pressed against his side, an imposing large familiar that many were getting a glimpse of for the first time. News the prodigy had finally bonded with a familiar had been its own big news months prior.

“Felicity.” Squall greeted, actually sounding like he hadn’t just been talking to her minutes before. He didn't, however, stop his stride and continued walking out towards the wards where a group was working. He would have needed to check their progress regardless of when and where the interview was happening. Her cameraman easily kept stride with them as she sped-walked to keep pace with the much taller man. “Professor, dozens of familiar and hybrid parents are outraged at yet another attempt to poach on campus. As a mother of familiar students, I am among those asking; what is the plan?”

“They’re outraged.” Squall repeated. “They should be outraged. I’m outraged. Even great wards need a certain amount of upgrades within a decade. This…” He gestured vaguely to the grounds. “Was unacceptable. The plan to correct this is already well in progress.”

“All well and good; but are wards enough?” There was a hint of steel in her eyes; a parent questioning a system that had already let her children down.

Squall stopped walking for a moment to stare at her. “The previous wards? No. Clearly. But the wards being put up now are mine.” It came out possessive. “I designed them, created them, made them physically after years of experimenting. Yes. My wards are enough.”

“Enough on campus, maybe. But for students who commute? Who go out to shop, visit friends, to exist off campus?”

“It’s not a fix all solution. One size fits all is a myth no matter what it’s in reference to. You’re asking me to fix a problem in a week that has plagued our country for centuries? Since before the last Magic King’s time?”

Still, there was nearly a twitch in his expression that said it was something he’d been thinking about seriously.

“My focus..” He continued before she could immediately follow up. “Is the students in my care here. I can’t promise them safety in the world, but I can promise them safety here.”

The cameraman zoomed in on a few students in the area as Squall spoke; capturing Professor Milo Thatch with a sad looking Chessur, and a pretty-boy blonde Squall was fairly certain was named Titus Alexis before refocusing on Squall and Cloud.

Felicity nodded with a semi-serious frown. “Not what parents exactly want to hear, but a harsh truth. Is there anything you’d like to say to our viewers at home, regarding safety for students?”

“It’s fixed.” He deadpanned. “Or it’s nearly there. Students, both mine and not, of the proper advanced levels have been assisting me with stitching the wards into the very earth. Professors too.” He nodded his head towards Thatch and the students not too far away, hard at work. “They’re not just on the ley lines, but they fully wrap around the entire academy. If there is a parent who wants to see them, I welcome them. If someone wants to test them, they may but I suggest they try it under my knowledge and supervision. Poachers...well, I welcome them to try too but they may or may not be walking away from their attempt.”

There was something dangerously blunt about Squall’s words that he wasn’t hiding at all. He was that serious about keeping his kids safe. Cloud just growled, tail wagging a few times at the thought of idiots underestimating the wards.

“Well, I'm sure no parents will mind if someone gets burned.” She winked cheekily into the camera. “Now then, several viewers have written in questions and comments we’d like to add into the segment later on, but the real question on everyone’s mind is: why teaching? Your business continues to report bigger sales every quarter, despite you surely having less time and attention to running it behind the scenes after an entire semester.”

“Well let's get one thing straight. I barely ran it to start with. I own it, sure. I also supply a great deal of goods sold there, but I'm not personally what one would call sales friendly. So very little has changed in that respect. I still have very good people running my shop for me. As to teaching? I felt like it.”

Quistis and Cid would both owe him a favor for not completely throwing them under the bus. Saying they begged him to come teach for a semester because Merlin wandered off, again, was not good for the academy’s image.

“A change of pace brought on by ‘settling down’?” She asked, smiling at the wolf by his side.

“No, but he helped. Otherwise, even I wouldn’t have had the focus necessary.” Squall shrugged. That he felt was rather true. He did alright on his own, doing what he wanted at his own pace. Having to deal with so many teens on a precise schedule without a familiar would have been too self destructive, even for him.

“Rumor says you're only on a term-by-term contract. Any plans on staying longer, or is this an experiment to find your next passion project?”

“Hard to say.” Squall said. “I guess at this point i’m not going anywhere until problems like these are handled.” He gestured to the wards again. Like any witch, once he found a problem to focus on, he was stuck until he was satisfied. “Do you want to see some of the completed sections of wards?”

“I’m sure our viewers would love that.” She moved to walk beside him, asking smaller interview questions along the way to fill the time. They were live after all.

Squall put his hands on the wards, the symbols appearing in a ripple of light. They appeared incomplete and would never be fully visible. There was no point in wards if any schmuck attempted to try to figure out their weaknesses. Still, there was a lot to be said about the complicated magic if what he was showing was incomplete. The point of the interview was to put families at ease and he said as much.

“I’ve had many students already, both familiar and hybrids express their worries to me over their continued enrollment here. Poachers are a piss poor reason for their education to be interrupted, but it’s a deadly one if not addressed. If parents want to contact me for questions, they can.”

“We’ll have contact information up on the networks website available for any parents tuning in.” Felicity said without missing a beat.

Squall was not looking forward to it at all, but students like Chessur needed an opportunity like this.

“The ideas for safety aren’t stopping here, this is just the beginning and all of the teachers have been doing their part.”

Felicity turned back towards the camera. “For security purposes, we won’t be getting too in-depth on that; however as a parent i’d like to remind all alumni and affected community members there will be a segment of time devoted to this exact topic during parent-teacher conference week, and again at the next PTA meeting on the fifteenth.”

“I’m also not the only teacher that will be able to answer questions.” Squall added, fingers sliding into Cloud’s fur.

“We’ll have a followup article by Monday at Six for anyone interested in more information.” She turned her best professional smile back to Squall “Anything else you’d like to add before we close our segment?”

Squall shook his head. “Not so much. Parents are angry and that’s reasonable given recent events. However if it’s changes they want, then they should come see it in real time. Beyond students and teachers, a number of alumni have also shown up to be another pair of hands. Every little bit helps.”

“Okay, we have a few minutes left, so let’s get to some of our viewer questions!” She pulled out small cards from a pocket, eyes glittering dangerously.

“Mhmm.” Squall sighed inwardly, hoping he didn’t look like he was dreading this too badly. “Go on then.”

“Single?”

“Wolf.” Squall gestured to his partner.

“Favorite color?”

He blinked at her. “Whatever. Green.”

“Favorite spellwork?”

“Whatever i’m working on at the time. If it’s worth doing, it’s interesting.”

“Any plans on starting a family?”

“Wolf.” he gestured again.

Cloud’s tail wag only proved how entertained he was. Felicity flipped to another card and her expression changed. Still friendly, but no longer playful. “Okay; we have a viewer asking about how the fox your brother rescued is doing.” The article about the younger Leonhart essentially busting an illegal organ harvesting ‘clinic’ had been major news.

Squall softened considerably. “Thank you...for asking. He’s doing well after the...traumatizing scare but he and my brother are practically joined at the hip now. He’s not technically enrolled but he’s attempting socializing skills and attends classes with Sora. They’re inseparable.”

The cameraman paused to wipe a small tear from his eye. “Easy Biggs.” Felicity said with a genuine smile “Okay, I think that about wraps it up here folks. Back to you at the studio Daisy!”

Squall heaved a sigh. “Over then? Quistis didn’t appear to strangle me so i must have been doing alright.”

“Oh you did just fine.” She patted his arm lightly. “And there’ll be studio cuts for reruns, probably with footage of your brother and the one still they have of that fox; some of your classroom, students, the works.”

Squall nodded. “Good. Good to know. I don’t exactly plan on watching it myself. I already saw it.” he couldn’t help but roll his eyes, a small smile stretching at his lips as Cloud lightly head butted him. “As for Sora, i give it a few more weeks before those two are trying to bond.”

She clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh, that’s so wonderful.”

Biggs wiped another tear from his eye. “That's just such a great story; i’m so happy for them.”

“Yeah, antisocial little jerk though.” Squall said fondly. “But he treats Cloud like his parent and Sora like he created the universe so it’s not surprising he wants to stick around.”

“It's really nice that he’s safe now,” Biggs said, looking at Squall like he was a hero. “And I really do think you're doing what's right for these kids. I think our viewers’ll see that too.”

Squall heaved a sigh. “I’m hoping some of the parents agree. I would rather they want to speak with me then just pull their kids from school. I shouldn’t have had to be the one to explain trafficking to my witch students.”

Cloud butted his head against Squall’s side. Affectionate support.

Felicity nodded in agreement “I mean, most of us have had these talks with our kids at least a few times in their life, you know? It’s...just the facts. Pedophiles and Poachers.”

Squall was speaking to her softly. “The witches in my class were in disbelief until the horror set in. Looking at their own partners as if waiting to be told I was exaggerating. It was a slap in the face.”

Biggs sighed “I swear...something got lost in the generational gap.”

“Yes.” Squall sighed again. “Well you’re welcome to look around more if you want. Get more shots of the school or whatever. Can follow me if you want. I need to check on the newest wards. The kids have been doing pretty well but mistakes happen. It’s easier for me to correct them as opposed to doing the whole thing myself.”

Biggs gave a nod, he still needed B-roll for the studio’s recuts and replays, while Felicity had her own mission. “I need to go make sure my sons are actually doing their homework.”

Squall snorted, taking Cloud’s hand as his wolf shifted back into his hume form. “Have at it then. Good Luck. I’ll be out here if you need something.”

~~~

The weather this week should be balmy, with moderate temperatures and showers on Sunday. Back to you Daisey.

Thanks Wedge. Coming up next, it's been over two hundred years since the last new grove appeared in Wutai, and globally there are concerns about the lack of a witch king being born and how it may be affecting ley lines. But first; another look at what's been going on at the Academy. Our very own Felicity returned to her alma mater to interview a former classmate turned professor who has been making waves in the community both academically and politically-

Zack Fair stared at the screen in shock at the brutally familiar wolf on screen; and felt his stomach drop as the witch called him Cloud. He barely even had time to call “SEPH!!” before the man responded to the whirlwind of emotion running through their bond.

There was something about Sephiroth that was constantly ethereal. He didn’t run into the room in a panic the way most would, instead he was simply there. Appearing the moment he felt his partner's adrenaline. The emotion was hard for him to pinpoint, but the urgency was loud and clear.

“What’s happened?” He asked, walking in, finding Zack practically glued to the television on the airship. The bear pointed to the screen, scared that if he looked away it wouldn’t be real anymore. “Seph...look…”

Sephiroth turned, watching the interview with a brunette witch before the camera panned down somewhat, showing the familiar wolf leaning against his side. He felt the air punched out of him instantly. “Cloud…”

“He’s...he got out. He’s okay.” Zack was whispering, hand reaching for his partner’s as too many emotions hit him at once.

Sephiroth wasn’t usually too openly affectionate but he pulled Zack against him. “Yes… What is this? Where is this?” He frowned, trying to actually pay attention to the interview to gather the information he needed.

Old memories hit him. The Magic Academy. He’d studied there for some time before never returning after one break. He didn’t know how his disappearance had been explained and had long given up on it ever helping him. No one had been looking for him.

“Radiant Garden...how’d he get so far away…” He leaned against Sephiroth heavily, still staring at the screen as footage of the school played on screen.

“Ran like his life depended on it.” Sephiroth said dryly. “We should tell the others.”

“We need to go-” He choked on his words, tugging on Seph to look at the screen again.

“He’s wearing a collar.” Sephiroth noted, trying to dissect the picture for more clues. He hoped it was a mutual bond. He was quite delighted with his own bond but there was a lot to be said for having a real choice and not making a decision in a desperate moment. And then the scene changed to a blonde girl standing in a classroom with the man who’d been standing next to Cloud.

“...Seph?”

Sephiroth’s lips parted in silent shock. “Naminé.” He just stared, wishing he could pause the TV. She was there, looking healthy, and had both cobras wrapped around her. She was even smiling. “Cloud found Naminé.”

“I can’t believe it.” It should have stank of conspiracy; what sort of odds had this many of their missing people together?...but she was smiling. No way that witch partnered to Cloud could be connected to Hojo, not and still have Naminé in good spirits. “We have to go. Now.”

“Yes,” Sephiroth agreed firmly. “Let’s go tell Vincent and Nanaki. See if they can’t talk that captain of theirs into a detour.” He needed answers and was far too impatient. They’d been searching for Cloud for years. Practically since the moment they realized he wasn’t behind them after they’d escaped.

~

Vincent didn’t even notice them entering the room, busy with pouring the tea Shera had just served. A normally private moment.

“Interrupting.” Sephiroth spoke his intentions as he and Zack waltzed into the room. This was important after all. Vincent and the captain both might be irritated in the moment but they’d have to get over it. Shera was the one to pick up on things first; normally a sparrow on Cid’s shoulder but in her human form today at the third side of the table to oversee their little tea ceremony. “Has something happened?”

“We know where Cloud is.” Sephiroth got straight to the point while Zack was all barely contained energy beside him.

Cid's brows rose, “Your wolf friend, right? How the hell did you find him while we’re in the air?”

Vincent had all but dropped his teacup “Where?”

“Radiant Garden.” Sephiroth reported.

“He was on TV!” Zack was grinning. “Wolf form. Looked okay. He’s wearing a collar though and there’s more!”

“...” He stood slowly, all attention on Zack. “More?”

“Naminé’s with him too.” Sephiroth said quietly before Zack had the chance to yell it.

“Naminé?” Cid repeated, exchanging a look with Shera. “That ain’t a usual name.”

She tilted her head lightly, the mannerism very sparrow-like “...isn’t that Squall’s TA? From the shop, the girl with the venom?”

Cid’s lips tugged into a frown. “Ain’t his new familiar a wolf?”

The room was silent for a moment, everyone absorbing the new information they hadn’t had minutes before.

“Squall like the guy in the interview?” Zack finally asked, breaking the moment.

“Leonhart?” Shera questioned softly, feeling like there were too many puzzle pieces floating in the room.

“Um,” Zack smiled bashfully. “Don’t remember. He was on TV. The interview said he was a professor at the academy, warding it for safety.”

“Leonhart.” Cid confirmed. “Well, fuck. I know where Squall lives, and works. Both jobs.”

Vincent gaped at him lightly, then had to resist facepalming “...we never told you our missing wolf’s name.”

“I suppose you don’t object to making a turn for Radiant Garden?” Sephiroth asked.

“We’re headed that way anyway, just a stop or two inbetween here and there. Shit, I have a few deliveries on here for Squall’s shop.”

Zack tilted his head and leaned it against Sephiroth. “What kind of shop?”

“Spells and what not. Ingredients. Charms. Whatever that kid feels like whipping up. He’s a prodigy, supposedly.” Cid chuckled. “He’s fine. I don’t know much about your wolf but if he’s with Squall, he’s fine.”

“The one Yuffie’s always….” Vincent sighed. Under their noses the entire time.

“Right.” Cid said, shaking his head. “We’ll be there by the end of the week unless you wanna high tail it there faster.”

“Faster is good.” Vincent said, the words dragging out of his mouth. He hated asking for things.

Cid glanced at Shera and it was as if they were both reworking their entire schedule with that look. When she gave him a nod and grunted.

“Yeah, we can do faster.” Cid said, though honestly, there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for Vincent, and Shera was of like mind.

“Yes!” Zack clung to Sephiroth’s arm, who patted his head lightly “I can’t wait to see Spike.”

“And the others.” Seph added on.

Really. What were the damn odds?

Chapter Text

Cloud was moving across the academy grounds almost leisurely. It was an odd sight for several reasons. The first was because he was in his hume form, and the second was because Squall wasn’t with him.

It wasn’t as if Cloud was not allowed to do such, he just usually didn’t. It was out of character for him but he seemed to have a destination in mind as he headed towards the grove.

Xion was sitting with her back against a tree, watching Roxas angrily skip rocks across a small pond and reminding him “Watch it, grove’ll bite you back if you damage something.”
“I know!”

Neither noticed Cloud’s downwind approach; he’d likely planned it that way.

He had paused for a moment, watching them long before they were aware of him. He knew he saw them as younger than they really were but he couldn’t help it. Cloud was nearly silent as he headed towards them again.

Roxas sat down, out of rocks and looking at the grass murderously “We should just stay here; Squall won’t really care if we ditch conferences, and it’s not like anyone in that house actually cares about it.”
Xion sighed “Yeah, but we’ll get in trouble…” And they were already about to be separated.

“Trouble?” Cloud repeated, sure he startled them both by the way they jumped.

“Cloud!” Roxas jumped to his feet, looking guilty.

Cloud just smiled at them and moved to crouch beside Xion. “What’s wrong?”

They turned to press their face to his shoulder in an easy hug, murmuring muffled words into his shirt. In one fluid motion, Cloud sat and he all but pulled them into his lap.

“What’s wrong?” he repeated. “Unhappy pups.”

Roxas sighed and moved closer “Just….you know. The housing stuff.”

Cloud grunted once. “Unimportant. Pups are mine.”

Xion gave a very light sniffle, but they were giving off loads of stress hormones. “I don’t want to be separated...I don’t want to be in a girls house…”

Roxas deflated and shouldered his way into the hug. “Xi…”

The pair were teenagers and weren’t too far off from his size, but Cloud cuddled them anyway. “You’re not.” He said softly, rubbing his cheek against Xion’s hair. “You’re mine.” he paused. “Do you want to be mine?”

“Huh?” Roxas gave him a thoroughly confused look “But you already said we are…”

Cloud gave a nod, pleased they accepted his words so honestly. He decided to rephrase. “Do you want me to be your guardian?”

Xion raised their head “...that sounds like a legal thing.”

Cloud grunted again. “Would be. Witches like their legal things.”

Roxas stared at him “Wait- you want us? Like, to keep? But we’re old…”

“Mine.” Cloud repeated with a soft growl, leaning the other way to nuzzle his face against Roxas’ hair. “Keep my pups safe and together.”

Xion nodded frantically “Yes please.”

“Good.” Cloud muttered, shifting just a little bit to pull out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. It was a copy Squall had made for him from the original saying that they had been approved as the twins guardians. He held it out to Roxas to read for himself. The dalmatian held it silently before passing it to Xion and shoving his face against Cloud’s other shoulder.

There was a growl in Cloud’s chest as he nuzzled against Roxas again. “You’re staying together,” he promised. “You can stay with your witch too.”

Xion read the paper and folded it carefully before mirroring their twin and clinging fiercely to Cloud, both silently crying in relief.

The rumbling in Cloud’s chest continued as he held them, rocking them slightly back and forth. “Can I assume this is okay with both of you?” He got shaky nods from both of them as they tried to keep hiding their faces against him.

He breathed out his own sigh of relief and rested his head against Xion’s. He’d wanted to tell them sooner but it felt cruel to do so before it was official.

It was a long quiet moment before Roxas asked in a slightly thick voice “So...is Sora our brother now, or our cousin?...nephew?”

“Whatever. Brother. Cousin.” Cloud shrugged. “Doesn’t matter in pack, just that you are connected.”

Xion nodded, then offered a watery smile “Naminé too, right?”

Cloud nodded, “And her cobras. They’re mine too.” Some might not have understood his motivations or his frame of mind when it came to taking all of these teens that he considered children, but they hadn’t been raised the way he was. Pack was important. His father had taught him that.

Roxas seemed slightly tickled by the idea. “Heh, cobra-cousins. We’ll tell everyone twins run in the clan.”

“Possible.” Cloud grinned a little. The pair of twins did look alike. It was likely to confuse some people. “You can claim relation to the fox too.”

“This kinda sounds like the setup to a bad joke. Two wolves, a fox and two cobras walk into a classroom…” Roxas snipped.

Xion raised an unimpressed eyebrow “Cobras don’t walk-”

“They do if they shift forms!”

Cloud couldn’t help his quiet laugh. “Your case worker will be at your conference meeting. Probably a few more things to sign.” He rolled his eyes at that but whatever. It was good news. “You have the final say, I believe.”

“We do?” It was unfathomable; they’d had so little say in how their lives were run so far.

“Cobra has been doing his best.” Cloud shrugged. “Either way, mine now. Squall says you may have your rights for your witch that they took from you.”

They both tensed, but more from being overwhelmed. It was too good to be true.

“I told you, you are my pups now. It just took a while to make everyone else know too.” Cloud said quietly. They nodded, absorbing the moment.

Finally Xion asked, “Wait- did you leave poor Professor Leonhart to fend for himself with the parents?”

Cloud chuckled. “He’ll be fine. It was Sora’s scheduled time anyway.” He thought about it. “Then Lea’s. He’ll handle that much.”

“So...he’s with Professor Thatch then?” In the case a student was related to their homeroom teacher, they had to conference with a different teacher.

“Probably.” Cloud shrugged. He hadn’t asked but he was sure Squall would be fine. He was certain Squall liked that particular teacher so it shouldn’t have been an ordeal.

“...so, how is our conference gonna work then?” Roxas asked hesitantly.

Cloud shrugged. “Cobra will probably stay for it after signing papers.”

“And the person from our house?” Xion asked sullenly.

“Should be aware by now, and if they’re not…” Cloud seemed to like the idea a little too much. “I’ll handle them.”

It got a genuine smile from Roxas “Can I watch?”

Cloud huffed, sounding amused. “I suppose so. Do you both feel better now?” He couldn’t fathom the feeling of being unwanted. There was no such thing in his childhood pack. The twins nodded, putting him quickly at ease.

Cloud cuddled them close, holding them as if they were much smaller but he didn’t seem to have a problem with their size. “C’mon. It’s not too long before your meeting, is it?”

Only slightly reluctantly, they followed.

~

Squall recalled being a young student and having his mom and mama come to his parent teacher conference. He’d always been a bright student and he looked forward to it in some ways.

Since their death, he didn’t think he’d had a single conference for himself. Yen Sid would sit him aside and they’d talk about his progress and faults. That worked better for him at the time. Since then, he’d always been in attendance for Sora’s conferences but this was the first time he was Sora’s teacher and alternative plans needed to be made.

Milo Thatch typically didn’t do conferences from this side of things, and it rather showed. His classroom was all organized chaos; he had an average of 3-5 classes, on every day of the week. He was the only Runes teacher, and had a few other advanced classes he taught on top of being the only researcher allowed in the Cheshire Forest; and he’d be Chessur’s adult for her conference with Squall later.

He smiled as the two Leonhart’s came into his office. “Oh hey, is it four already?”

“Sure is.” Sora smiled, always enthralled with this particular classroom. Not everyone took advantage of the space the way Milo and Squall had.

“We can wait if you’re busy.” Squall offered. He really couldn’t since he had his own conferences to get to but he didn’t mind being late.

“No, no, not at all- sorry about the mess!” He swept his arm and got a few things to put themselves in another pile on the floor, making a space on the desk and pulling out Sora’s file.

“I like it.” Sora grinned, taking a seat. Professor Thatch had the coolest stuff.

Squall chuckled and sat down. “Thanks for helping, Milo.”

He tried to wave it off, looking a bit embarrassed. “Oh, its really no trouble- I appreciate you smoothing things over with the Cheshires, you know?”

“Yeah.” Squall made a face. There were alot of people unhappy with the notion of poachers on the academy’s grounds but his rage outshined them all and that was extremely noticeable. The fact that he had gone public with that anger somehow helped.
“Kida wanted me to say thanks too. She's coming to visit and inspect sometime next term.”

“Good. I’d love to see her again.” Squall said, not mentioning that she might be coming sooner if Jiminy decided to approach her for assistance on Hayner’s case. His parents being arrested was huge news.

Milo smiled softly; his girlfriend didn’t always make friends easily but she’d liked Squall. “She’s excited to see you in a classroom. Anyways; we’re here to talk about Sora, who-” He opened his folder “Is making excellent progress this year. I think that tail in your hood has been a good influence on you. Less daydreaming, and teaching a subject helps you study it better than anything else ever could.”

Sora couldn’t help but laugh, reaching out to pet the mess of silver fur inside his hood. He didn’t disagree with the assessment. He had been more focused since Riku came into his life.

Squall smiled faintly. “I’m sure his homeroom teacher put a note in there somewhere about him being a brat.”

“My homeroom teacher is too fussy!” Sora defended himself with a grin.

“Oh, sure there’s some minor things, a little goofing off in class, some chit chatting; but what kid isn’t?...besides Eilonwy. But nothing worth bringing up, nothing serious.” He pulled out Sora’s grades sheet, passing it over though he was sure Squall had seen it already. “Most everything is up a little, two or three are nearly up half a grade.”

Squall looked over it anyway, regardless of how flippant he could occasionally be, he took Sora’s education seriously. “Looks like things make more sense to you when you’re focused.”

Sora smiled faintly, still petting Riku. “It’s a factor i guess.”

Milo gave Squall a rueful look “Still, it would be nice to have Riku...participate more. Most familiars are fairly interested in runes.”

“He’s good at runes!” Sora chimed in.

“He is.” Squall said. “He’s just less good with people. He’s changed a time or two for my class now. Working on it in other classes would help too.”

That got him an uninterested tail flick but it showed Riku was listening.

“It would be nice to see him in class, but I suppose I can settle for him being interested outside of it.” Milo said with a small smile.

Sora laughed quietly. “He doesn’t like being surrounded. I think he forgets that he’s bigger in his hume form.”

“Perhaps if he spent a bit more time in it…” Milo shrugged.

“Hear that.” Squall turned to look at Riku. “It’s good advice. Something you should think about. Even Cloud has been changing more often.” Riku just grumbled, clearly pouting.

Milo laughed, and signed a paper before sliding it over for Squall’s signature. "How's the cloud reading going?"

Sora smiled sheepishly. "Well. It's always made more sense to me." Sora could read runes, but he had to focus hard and wasn't particularly good with them. He was the same with all forms of divination, except for one. Sora could read the clouds and read the sky and to hear him explain it, the sky spoke to him.

"Fantastic." Milo grinned. Supporting all forms of study.

Squall leaned forward to sign as directed and wondered if this went just as fast as if he’d done the conference alone. Either way, it worked out well and Sora really did like getting advice from another teacher he liked.

“Well coaxing Riku into the classroom might take a while.” Sora commented to himself.

“You have time.” Squall slid the paper back. “Thanks Milo.”

“You're quite welcome. Sora, Riku.” He nodded in farewell.

Squall had his own meetings to get to, but he had a sudden thought to take care of. “You two go. I’m not done with Milo.” He glanced at the other professor. “If you have a second, that is.”

Sora got up and stretched, patting his brother on the shoulder. “See you for dinner.”

“Yep.”

Milo waited until the door closed and his expression changed instantly. “It's about Hayner, isn’t it?”

Squall nodded, not sure where to start. “Guessing or have you spoken with Jiminy?”

“Squall. I don’t just teach Runes; and it's obvious something isn’t right with him or Seifer. I’ve been respecting their privacy, but I know it's personal, bad, and involves the police.” He had a habit of reading them several times a day; and he’d had to alter his habits to avoid learning something he shouldn’t. “What I have to know is why Kida’s piece showed up every time before I stopped doing student check-ups.”

Squall heaved a sigh. “I’m sure I don't have to tell you that things are rather bad. The arrest notwithstanding, Hayner is still potentially in danger. Jiminy and I have discussed bringing in a medium as a safety precaution. Kida is very good.”

He nodded slowly “And unbiased- Selphie’s great but she’s your employee, and you’ve made this personal in some way…”

“It’s…” Squall was also trying to protect Hayner’s privacy. “I have, and it won’t be long before the media actually has something concrete to report other than just the Cowden’s arrest. I think once the rumor’s start you’ll more than understand. I’m a fan of overkill, especially when it comes to protecting a couple kids.”

It was more than that, and Squall was sure Milo had been told as such by his runes but he still knew better than to just blather out information that was still sensitive.

“Selphie is good.” Squall continued, “But she technically already has a job. Two really if you count medium stuff she does on the side. Kida would focus on this better.”

Kida would be as angry as he was and there was something to be said for solidarity.

“Well, i’m sure you know this, but the faculty has your back. Most of us are fairly fond of the students.” And more than a few had pledged their support to Squall during and after his warding. To the point Kramer had, according to rumor, been looking at stepping down and passing the headmastership to Squall.

Allegedly.

Squall almost laughed. “I’m too much of a loose cannon but i appreciate it anyway. You think Kida would mind? I’m sure she already had plans for her next visit.” Some of which Squall knew involved Milo himself.

He rubbed the back of his neck “I think she’d mind more if she was left out of it. You know her; never looking for a fight but always ready to.”

Squall cracked a smile at that. “And starting a fight is what i’m aiming to do. I just want the kids out of the firing lanes.”

Milo nodded, steepling his fingers in front of his chin “What can you tell me?...how serious is it? Kida and I can take them to a place no one can reach them if need be.”

“I don’t…” Squall paused, lips pressed before reconsidering. “It could come to that. It’s going to be federal charges for sure and if I have anything to do with it, they’ll get life sentences and he’s definitely going to lose his seat on the council.” He struggled with what he could say. “Hayner is really… not okay but Seifer has been holding him together. Poor lynx isn’t really okay either but he’s taking care of his witch.”

Milo inhaled sharply at ‘federal’. “That’s...gods, it’s that serious?...I’ll have Kida discreetly look into a backup plan when I see her.”

Squall exhaled with a quiet ‘fuck it’. Milo’s classroom was just as securely warded as his own. ”Trafficking.” He still said the word quietly as if anyone could be listening. “It will be all over the papers soon.”

Milo looked faintly ill. “No...I- I believe you it's just...that's...sickening.”

“It’s not even… the start.” Squall said softly, but he wasn’t going to start talking about blood magic, memory conditioning, or self harm. Not right now. “Hayner turned them in himself. Kid’s got guts and now a target on his back.”

“He should stay on campus.” Milo said, as if it wasn’t obvious. “Seifer and Yuna too-- dammit, are Rin and Siegfried fine?”

Apparently Milo knew a bit more than the average teacher might be expected to about his students.

Squall was almost relieved he had someone to talk about this mess with. “Siegfried has been helping Seifer take care of Hayner. His fever has been spiking off and on since before they were arrested. Both boys are back on campus now but still excused from classes. Rin is currently with Yuna.” Though he wasn’t sure he’d classify her as ‘fine’.

“Okay- okay, right but if the kids have targets on them do we need to keep the other three safe.” He looked more than a little alarmed. Cowden might not have been the most popular or influential, but he was still a council member, and who knew what sort of connections he had cultivated if he felt secure enough to freaking traffic familiars while in office…

“I’ve warded around Siegfried's apartment building. Something rather noticeable and very specific to the lynx’s well being. It’s not perfect but it will have to do for now. Yuna has also laid out many safety precautions of her own.” Squall sighed. He'd wanted to do the apartment proper; and had been shocked to discover the lingering magic was as strong as if it'd been cast the day before, considering how long Siegfried's witch had been dead. Both lynxes had been vehemently against anyone touching her magic, regardless of if it was enforcing or anything else. There was precious little left of Hilde in this world. “Honestly, the sooner the trial begins the sooner we can be done with it.”

Milo relaxed a bit, but impulsively pulled out his special, personalized runes and did a quick read “...Yeah. Yeah, okay, sorry, I might be overreacting a bit.”

Squall was shaking his head. “I told you, i’m all for over kill. Not letting those two off on some technicality.” He was shaking his head still, trying to remain calm and not end up pissed before his next conference. “I’ll make this more personal if they force me.”

“You need backup, you call me.” He knew a few others to bring along for the ride as well, if need be.

“Mm,” Squall hummed, a sigh quickly following. “I won’t be surprised if the rumors start by tomorrow. I’ve been talking to their teachers to excuse them but Seifer still wants the assignments.” Squall seemed to be fairly amused by them. “Says they get Hayner out of his head for a while.”

Milo laughed softly “You’d never guess by the way he acts or with his record, but that boy is an excellent student...when he behaves.” Seifer was the prime example of a problem student; with a few weird exceptions. He almost never missed classes, was great with young kids, and was usually in the top five of his class. It was sometimes hard to reconcile with the short temper, habit of getting into fights, and jealousy issues- though apparently his borderline prejudice against hybrids was getting worked out.

“I’ve noticed that in my own class.” Squall said, still relatively new to teaching despite now being on his second term. “I suspect a reason or two but it’s none of my business.”

“Well, as his homeroom teacher...it could be.” He also knew Squall had papers to do emergency foster situations, and suspected he was already legally responsible for Hayner post-arrests.

Squall’s lips upturned faintly. “My wolf already thinks it’s his right to go around adopting familiars. I’m sure we’ll have a lynx before too long, even if it’s just in name only.”

“Be careful Squall. There’s a lot of kids around here who need you.” Milo didn’t want to see his old classmate getting in the line of fire. They may not have been close, but he admired the younger man a fair bit.

“I’m starting to get the vibe.” Squall muttered. The kids needing a decent teacher was one thing, but when most students just plain felt unsafe, something needed to be done. He was evidently the one loud enough to do it which didn’t seem right given his personality.

“...I know it was only supposed to be to cover Merlin, but I hope you stay on.” Milo said quietly.

“Well seeing as the old man hasn’t shown his face again I don’t have much choice.” Squall said, a token protest if anything.

Milo’s eyebrows were threatening to disappear under his bangs, and he kept his mouth very firmly shut.

It was an expression however that Squall noticed. “What?” Squall stared at him, looking very reminiscent of his teenage self.

“Well...its just...about Merlin….”

Squall blinked slowly. “What?” he repeated.

“...he got back five weeks ago.”

Squall just stared at Milo. “So why the fuck am I still teaching this term?” He could be focusing on finding a sociopath who was kidnapping and torturing familiars. At the very least he could be preparing for the Cowden trial.

“Well…...he sat in on one of your classes, decided you were doing a better job and…” Milo shrugged with an apologetic look on his face.

Squall’s eyes twitched, trying to figure out when the hell Merlin had been in one of his classes. It wasn’t like Squall didn’t think there were better witches than him. Of course there were, but he should have noticed someone else of that caliber in his classroom. “What?”

“Eh heh...well, I’m pretty sure you have your own conferences starting soon, yes?” Milo asked with all the grace of someone knowing they were dodging a bullet.

Squall blinked slowly but stood anyway. “Thanks. I will direct all questions at Quistis.” She was going to pay for this. “One term my ass.”

Milo let out a long, quiet sigh as Squall left. “...good luck with that, Quis.”

~

Despite his loitering, Squall did end up getting back to his classroom with plenty of time to spare. His classroom was open so people could take a seat to wait should they show up early, and the conferences themselves were taking place in his office. He hadn’t expected how many parents would want to show up early just to glance around his classroom and look at how it had been redesigned.

Lea was sitting at his usual desk with a suffering look on his face while his father inspected the ink on the windowsills. “Nice color really, even faded it looks nice…”

“Thanks, I enjoy overkill.” Squall said, leaning against his office door frame. “Ready, Lea?”

The kid nodded, still face down on his desk. It had his dad frowning. “Enough moping. C’mon, be respectful, your teacher’s working.”

Squall snickered and headed back into his office. Every wall not covered by windows had been converted into an herb wall like in the classroom. “You can shut the door behind you, Lea.” The office was currently spelled for privacy.

Lea groaned but got up, his chair scraping against the floor much to his father’s disapproval. “Did you forget all your manners?”

“...sorry pops.”

Squall reached for Lea’s file, having it open and ready on his desk for them. “You don’t need to be stressed out, Lea. You’re doing well overall.”

The older man somehow had even redder hair, and sighed lightly as he sat down and offered Squall a handshake. “Axel...and I appreciate you taking his new...condition into account as a factor in his grades.” Lea’s magic had thoroughly changed after his ritual went sideways, and he’d all but had to relearn how to use magic. It was completely different now that he was essentially a hybrid.

Squall nodded once. “Given the circumstances it’s incredible how fast he was able to relearn certain things. It’s rather impressive to be honest.” It hadn’t taken him long to realize that Lea had gotten so far already butting heads with a kind of discrimination he’d never had to deal with before.

Lea had slumped down a little in his chair in embarrassment, but a look from his dad had him sitting back up again...even though Axel himself had weird posture. “Glad he’s at least taking that seriously…”

Gesturing vaguely to the file, Squall just shrugged once. “I have no serious complaints. Your work has shown improvement, you haven’t missed any assignments and you were one of the first to volunteer for the warding project which wasn’t mandatory the way many presume. You’re chatty in class but that’s partially my fault since I encourage loud participation. As I said before, you’re a good student.”

He almost had to wonder if Lea needed to hear that as much as his dad seemed to, the kid visibly relaxed as Squall went on.

Axel seemed a bit more reserved “...usually i’m hearing more about him not paying attention or goofing off. Feathers changed that much?”

“The bond creates and directs focus, so i’m sure that helped him.” Squall said, making it clear that he acknowledged Lea’s bond as being legitimate.

Axel huffed. “Sure, a proper one…”

Lea went red. “Sorry dad…”

Squall looked between them. As a teacher, he likely should have stayed out of it. As a witch, it was still none of his business. That said, he’d never been very good about staying in his place. “There is nothing wrong with his bond. It is as good as any. He’s clearly benefiting from it alongside both of his familiars.”

The father sighed. “He skipped around rules that are in place to keep not just him, but familiars safe...and now he’s going to spend the rest of his life with the consequences.”

Lea scrunched down, looking more ashamed with each word.

“You're lucky it wasn’t more serious, Lea.”

“As far as I am concerned, the bond can take many forms.” Squall said seriously. “Had it actually been taught instead of being hinted at, as if students didn’t need to learn about it, things might have been different. The bond need only be consensual and it was. Yes, Lea’s ritual could have gone better, and yes, he likely should have waited, but had there been a single individual he could have trusted enough to ask for advice, things might have ended differently. That was not his fault. That was this institution failing him.”

“Agreed,” Axel said, apparently surprising his son. “But he didn’t find someone to help him learn, and he could’ve just as easily seriously hurt one of those kids. That is unacceptable.”

Squall’s lips actually twitched into a smile. “Very true, but it was a stupid decision all three agreed too. He didn’t force them. It’s past now and all three are alright. It’s hopefully something that can be prevented or assisted with another group.”

Axel shrugged, then actually took a look at Lea’s grades again “...well, could’ve been worse. Least you can’t make a fuckup like that again.” He glanced at his kid. “You take good care of those two; they need a real family. Got it memorized?”

Lea nodded “Yessir.”

“Don’t call me sir, i’m not that old…”

Squall chuckled. “Your bond is going to be officially recognized by the academy, probably in a few days. You’ll get your proper familiar privileges then.”

“Wait- what?!” Lea suddenly sat up way straighter “How, since when?!”

“I am not going to spoil their news for you.” Squall mused. “I will tell you however, they won’t be separated and things should be a little more normal for the three of you.”

The bond would be recognized whether the academy liked it or not.

Axel raised an eyebrow. “My signature needed on anything? Since i’m in town and all.”

He was, in fact, on board with Lea’s choice...he just wasn’t happy with the way he’d gone about things. Besides, Xion and Roxas were good kids. He liked them.

“That would help immensely, i’m sure.” Squall added. “If you have time, you can stop by Cobra Bubbles office. I’m sure he’d have that paperwork ready to go.”

It could be done without parental signatures, but it was easier when they were offered.

Axel twitched lightly. “Ah...Cobra...right…”

“I will send a wolf with you if you would prefer.” Squall mused. “Cloud is very good at getting his way.” And when it came to the twins, he would get his way.

Lea waved the offer off. “Nah, we got this, right pops?”

He sighed. “Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs...”

Squall laughed quietly and handed Axel the form to sign for Lea’s meeting. “It won’t be that bad, and it’s for your bond privileges after all.”

“Yeah yeah…” He signed and stood with a small huff, cracking his back “Okay kid, lets mosey.”

Squall collected the papers and walked them both back through the office door. “You should track the twins down. I’m sure they know by now.”

Axel sighed and let his kid drag them out of the room. “Yeah yeah...Xi’s ‘they/them’ now, right?”

“...yeah.”

Squall shook his head, deeply amused. Lea would really flip once he found out the twins were allowed to stay with him. He glanced out into his waiting classroom with a few people present. “Wakka, your turn.”

Only twenty-six more meetings this week. Yeah, it was time for a chat with Quis.

Chapter Text

Squall was sick to death of parent teacher conferences. It was only his homeroom class but that still meant twenty-nine students. Of course Sora was a cinch and Riku wasn’t actually enrolled. So that was two he really hadn't needed to worry about.

He’d gotten a few done already. He saw Axel again when he’d come as Kairi’s guardian. Her mother was still away for work and as her uncle, Axel was more than capable of signing off on her grades. It also came in handy being able to do both Zexion and Ienzo together since they were brothers.

The same went for Saïx and Isa. That helped speed things along. Speaking to parents wasn’t that terrible for the most part but some conferences went better than others. The fact that Squall made sure to keep the conferences about the students set the tone. If they had other questions about the academy he was obligated to answer them but personal questions were off the table.

All the same, he was glad it was only twice a year and was almost over this time. He hadn’t forgotten he still needed to bitch at Quistis.

Having an Avalonian Priestess in his classroom was a whole other kind of headache. “And, honestly, all this talk of a term-partner? Rotation is fine, and I don’t know where she got all these outlandish ideas-”

Eilonwy was shrinking down in her chair, clearly close to dying of embarrassment now that her guardian had found out she apparently wasn’t sold on the whole ‘chaste priestess’ ideal.

“Rotation is fine if that’s the route she chooses to take.” Squall agreed, doing his best to remain professional. This wasn’t the first parent he’d wanted to cuss out but he’d remained in control of his usual attitude. “But i’m afraid it’s her choice to make, not yours. There’s nothing wrong with a term partner.”

“She’s underage. She can make a choice when she’s twenty, just like every other woman on the isle.”

“No one is telling her to bond, ma’am. A term partner doesn’t have to be forever. It’s just a training tool. Being underage has nothing to do with it.” Squall continued. “As far as i’m concerned she doesn’t even have to make the choice at twenty. She’ll decide on her own when she’s ready for that.”

Eilonwy had covered her face in an attempt to hide her blush. She’d gotten used to the priestess-teasing and virgin-shaming, and now that she’d so much as looked into a program she was getting slut-shamed. She wasn’t even sure she’d have sex! “Auntie-”

“Hush child, the adults are speaking.”

“About her.” Squall deadpanned. Cloud leaning against him kept him from making it sound more sarcastic. “She has her rights to choose, to speak up and offer her own opinion. I don’t care what she chooses. It’s up to her. Not you.”

“Not while she’s a child. The authority of the Order of Avalon takes precedence; the school has always respected our wishes and in return we send our priestesses to be trained in magic here as witches.”

“You wanna talk politics, talk to the Headmaster. Ma’am, i don’t give a damn about all that. The only thing i care about is Eilonwy. Her grades. Her drives, and what she needs to succeed. Curiosity isn’t a sin, and you should know how listening to her opinions will only benefit you in the long run. She’s a good girl, but the list of students i’ve seen who will do something just to spite their parents is high. I’m sure you don’t want my opinion, but i’ll give it anyway. If you smother a child, they will rebel.”

She regarded Squall for a long moment then smiled “I like you. Someone who doesn’t bow to unnecessary authority, and puts their own job first and foremost. Eilonwy; you can stay.”

“I-huh?!” She gaped at the older woman in shock.

“You’re here to learn; and this man clearly won’t bend for something as useless as someone’s preference. Pay close attention to his lessons...but do try not to do anything you might regret later.”

Squall sighed and tried not to look like he was sagging in utter relief that this was almost over. “Ma’am, i think if you give her a chance, she will prove to you just how responsible she is.”

As the conference ended, Eilonwy slid Squall a note with a transfer request; A shark familiar named Sidon in the year above them.

Squall smiled faintly, and tucked the note away into her file. “I will see you in class, Eilonwy.” He nodded to her in response. She blushed minutely and thanked him before scurrying off.

“Well that was unexpected.” Squall mused, reading the note a second time just to make sure he understood. God, he hoped she really was responsible or he’d never hear the end of it. Maybe he could have Cloud talk to the shark and make sure he knew the priestess rules.

Squall checked his list and the time before turning his attention back to Cloud. “Are you ready for this one?” he asked quietly.

Olette was next. Practically a model student and quite the nice young lady but the problem ran deeper than that. He knew Cloud had been wanting to talk to her but the time never seemed appropriate. They still weren’t sure if now was the right time or not but that was for Cloud to decide.

He rumbled softly in his chest, anxious. Squall could clearly feel it through the bond but he didn’t object.

Taking a moment to put Eilonwy’s papers away and pull out Olette’s, he finally got up to call her and whoever came with her into his office.

“Olette. You’re up next.”

She came in with both of her parents; a slightly run down looking middle aged woman and a sickly looking man who was somehow maintaining his posture despite his apparent ill-health.

“Shut the door, would you Olette? All of you please take a seat.” He dropped back down into his chair, Olette’s papers laid out already.

She took the middle chair, a parent on either side of her. Her mother looked around at the runes on the windowsill with a small smile “It's a nice touch. That shade of blue.”

“Thank you.” Squall smiled faintly. “It was my sister’s idea. It came out rather striking i think.” Well, this was already starting off better than Eilonwy’s conference.

There was a bit of small talk, the basics of her progress, how she was doing socially, her long-term partnership with Kairi…

“And her grades? She’s really eleventh in her year?”

Squall smiled faintly. “Absolutely. Honestly, if this wasn’t a formality i’d almost feel bad for dragging you over here. She’s an amazing student. Hasn’t missed an assignment. She’s basically thriving in my class and her other teachers agree.”

Most of the familiars in his class also loved that he was giving them the same assignments as the witches. They could do quite a bit of witch work on their own and only needed witches for activations and other such measures. It was fun for them to get to do the work themselves instead of simply being expected to correct their partners work.

Rowan gave a small sigh. “Just like her sister…Jessie was eleventh in her year too.”

Cloud made a noise, an unmistakable whine that had Squall resting a hand on top of his head. “It must run in the family then.” He offered kindly.

Olette shrank down slightly as her mother sighed too, smile falling off of her face. “Oh no, not at all. Both myself and my husband were terrible students; but Jessie? A shining star, and ‘lettie wanted to be just like her growing up-”

“Mom-”

“She’s going to be so proud of you when she finds her way home.” The smile on Rowan’s face was a hard thing; and Olette wilted further.

Cloud pulled away from Squall with another terrible whine, pacing the length of the room back and forth. Squall let him, rubbing his chest briefly as he felt Cloud’s agony as if it were his own. “I am very sorry.” He said, knowing more than he should have already.

“Oh; thank you, that’s very kind...you're not much younger than her, did you meet before…” She trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud.

“I’m afraid i honestly can’t recall.” Squall said softly. He’d always had such a one track mind as a kid. “But…” Squall turned just enough to glance in Cloud’s direction. His wolf still pacing.

Rowan nodded. “It's not surprising; she wasn’t enrolled very long.” He coughed, glancing at the runes his wife had pointed out “Perhaps things would have been different, had there been more teachers like you.”

There had been a string of students who’d gone missing; during a brief period of time Yen Sid had been absent on personal business. He’d been furious when he returned; but none of them had been found.

“Yes, well…” Squall said dryly. “It absolutely won’t be happening again under my watch. I’m afraid, however, there is something you should know…”

He could feel the moment Cloud shifted from wolf to man behind him. Cloud looked strangely terrible, his eyes bloodshot and red as if he’d been crying.

Olette was the most confused. “Sir..?”

Cloud was breathing hard and went back to pacing, letting Squall talk for him until he was able to on his own.

“Cloud was abducted when he was a child.” Squall told her, speaking softly. “He was held in a terrible place for several years.”

The chair made a loud noise as it fell over when Olette stood up; moving quickly into Cloud’s personal space “!!...?”

Cloud was just shaking his head back and forth, tears pouring down his face the same way he did every time Jessie came up. “Jessie… She….” He could only shake his head. “You...look like...her…”

Olette sniffled, face soon matching Cloud’s as she hugged him.

Rowan sat up stiffly, his wife placing a gentle hand on his arm. “...what do you know? Where is my daughter?”

Cloud held onto Olette, openly sobbing against her shoulder as she clung back just as hard.

“I’m sorry.” Squall spoke softly, wanting to take all of the burden from Cloud. “He’s been mourning her a long time…He didn’t know where to find her family until he saw Olette in my class…”

Rowan stood up. “No.”

“This isn’t a conversation we need to wrap up now.” Squall continued, keeping himself as calm and neutral as possible, Cloud’s emotions were already taking a toll on him. “But i’m sure he’ll try to answer questions you might have when he’s...calmed down again.”

Cloud had dropped to sit, holding Olette in his lap still. She even smelled like her sister.

“This conversation is over- and you,” He turned to look at Cloud, choosing anger over grief. “You. Are wrong. She’s out there, and she’s going to come home.”

Cloud didn’t even respond. How could he? He didn’t want to explain to the man all the blood he’d seen. He sure as hell was not going to bring up the child he’d lost and also cried for. He just held onto Olette, someone he knew loved Jessie as much if not more than he did.

Squall slid his attention back to Mrs. Raspberry who had remained rather quiet. “I really am very sorry. I truly intend to make the academy safe so something like this never happens again…”

She stood up with a shaky smile, hand still on her husband. “I think we should take our leave now. We can...discuss Olette’s schooling at another time.”

“I promise you, she’s an angel.” Squall continued quietly. “Feel free to contact me at any time.” He glanced back at Cloud who was in fact calming but he could still feel the intense regret and grief.

Olette wasn’t doing much better, though she’d done a fair job keeping quiet.

Squall had to wonder if a good cry was exactly what they both needed. Cloud was stroking Olette’s hair, a habit he had with Riku and all the others he’d more or less adopted.

“Well, thank you for coming.” He handed Mrs. Raspberry his card with his contact information, just in case.

She briefly tucked it into her purse, leading her fuming husband out of the room. “...be home for dinner tonight dear.”

“O-okk-kay…” Olette said miserably.

Squall saw her parents out of the room, this being precisely the reason why Olette had been scheduled for the end of the day. He’d already known Cloud wouldn’t be able to put himself back together so fast after this meeting.

“I’m sorry.” Cloud whispered. “I should have… said something sooner.”

Olette shook her head, more willing to talk now that her parents were gone. “Its...its been so long but...they refuse to…” She sniffed “...I knew something bad happened. Or she would’ve come back.”

“She would have…” Cloud agreed, voice dry. He looked worn out. “I loved her…”

Olette burst into tears all over again; she’d managed to keep quiet in front of her parents, but not now.

Cloud cuddled her, holding her against his chest. He inhaled softly, trying to pull himself together. Thoughts of Jessie were bittersweet. They never truly got to have any kind of romantic relationship from inside their cell. It was desperate companionship and genuine affection. They’d had silly dreams of escaping together.

“I’m sorry Olette…”

“Is...is she…?” She couldn’t bring herself to say it; but she’d wondered and slowly become resigned to it for years now. Jessie had been gone too long.

“Gone.” He said softly. He stared at her, because he knew if he closed his eyes he’d just see all the blood from that day.

Olette gave a shuddering sigh, briefly closing her own eyes as she accepted it. “...I thought so. I didn’t want to believe it but.” She hugged him, tears still falling quietly.

He ran his fingers through her hair and wanted Squall to come back into the room. He wanted his witch. He wanted to be comforted too. “She spoke of you alot.” He said, voice just over a whisper. His tears had slowed but he was still looking terrible.

She chanced a tiny smile “All awful, i’m sure. I was a brat.”

“So was she.” Cloud almost cracked a smile. “But she...spoke warmly. About you…”

“Haa...yeah. She was. We used to get into so much trouble…” She curled up a bit more “...if its okay. I’d...like to talk with you again sometime.” Jessie was a forbidden topic in her house most of the time.

“Anytime.” Cloud said with a nod. “But please understand there are certain things about that place i will not tell you. Things about Jessie though, i’d be happy to talk about.”

“...yeah. I understand.” Swallowing, she put on a slightly mischievous smile that was all Jessie “So...she ever do the egg thing with you?”

“Yes.” Cloud smiled weakly, thunking his head back against the wall at the memory. “Felt like she laughed for hours.”

It was the peak of bittersweet, but they’d both take what they could get. They both spoke about Jessie for a few minutes more. Little things that didn’t really matter but were nice to hear about again from someone else who had seen those bits of her personality.

Squall actually knocked on his own office door before coming back in to see them where he left them. The ache in his chest wasn’t as bad as it had been minutes prior. “You two alright?”

Cloud nodded, sagging with his witch so close again. “Yes.”

Olette gave Squall a sheepish look. “Uhm...sorry about all that.”

“Don’t be. I was expecting much worse to be honest.” Squall mused, taking his seat again. Now Olette was one of very few people who had an insight as to why the poaching had infuriated him so badly. Naturally he didn’t want any familiars to be hurt but it was his way of protecting Cloud from ever being taken again.

“They aren’t always….okay, yeah, they kind of are. But they weren’t as bad as Eilonwy’s, right?”

Squall actually laughed. “Your parents were lovely and have been understandably stressed out. Just between us, I never want to deal with Eilonwy’s aunt again. It went fine but I really could have set the woman on fire.”

“Squall…” Cloud said fondly, only lightly scolding.

“Avalonian Priestesses are immune to fire, and any other element associated with the holy isle...”

“Well, then. She would have been fine.” Squall shrugged.

Cloud looked equally amused. “Don’t encourage him.”

Olette grinned mischievously “Try flustering them instead.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” He might have had Eilonwy not been in the room. He was not going to scar his student. He cleaned up his desk, putting Olette’s papers away. They were finally done for the day.

~

Sora had his messenger bag slung over his shoulder, filled with notebooks and scribbles he’d been working on for weeks but none of them were working out the way he’d wanted. He’d finally come to the conclusion that if he was ready to bond, he needed to first pick out the kind of charm he was going to make before he’d get anywhere.

No matter what Riku said, he wasn’t just going to pick anything. Riku didn’t much care for collars and absolutely nothing was going around his tail. Sora wanted something that would translate well in both forms and as much as he loved the tattoo route that Naminé had gone, he felt it translated better on scales than it would have on fur.

After a lot of contemplation, he’d picked out his charm idea with Riku’s blessing. His problem now was making it. That was what led him all the way to the library with the intention of singling someone out who could give him a hand.

“Remember, we have to keep our voices low in here.” Sora said, giving Riku the gentle reminder. He was curled up in his hood, waking up from a nap with his head on Sora’s shoulder. He was growing and starting to get a little too big to be carried around that way but… Sora would sooner adjust his hood size than ask Riku to move.

“Let’s see if I can find Chadley. Hope he’s not busy.” Sora commented. Frankly, Chadley was always busy because he liked the research side of things but if he was lucky, Chadley could spare him some time.

It took a little searching today, but the librarian’s aide was eventually located in a nice secluded corner, table piled high with books. “Oh. Greetings Sora. If you were looking for Naminé, I'm afraid she left nearly an hour ago.”

They’d been having regular tea-dates and meeting for lunch semi-regularly lately, though they had to be very careful to avoid triggering headaches on each other.

Sora smiled, setting his bag down on a nearby chair. “Actually I wanted to talk to you if you had a moment.” Riku jumped down from his hood, settling silently on the table.

“Oh. Of course.” He was surprised, but seemed happy. “How can I be of assistance?”

“I hope this isn’t too intrusive.” Sora sat down, pulling out his notes to slide towards him. “I was hoping you could explain to me how you made Andi’s charm. Everything i work out ends up so big. The set you made is lovely.”

Chadley’s normal demeanor actually broke, and his emotions were suddenly plain. “Oh! I...well...you see, it was actually Andrea’s idea, I just did the design.”

“Well, like i said it’s a lovely design and i wouldn’t want to copy it. That’s yours. I’m just having trouble… layering everything?” He sounded vaguely overwhelmed, his face red even asking for help but he wanted to get it right.

Chadley set aside the books he’d been looking at. “Ah; yes it is a little complex. Do you bake?”

“I…” Sora blinked, Riku’s tail bumping him as it swished. “Yes? I bake quite a bit.”

“Have you ever done decorative jellies?”

“Uh, no.” Sora said, trying to wrap his mind around where this was going.

“Jelly art is very similar to how I layered the magics and decorative aspect to the earrings Andi designed. I suppose the next closest thing would be to compare it to a diorama, though that really isn’t quite right.” He cupped his chin, falling deep into thought. “Comparing it to glass blowing is similarly problematic. Perhaps a practical demonstration would be best.”

“Might be best. I really don’t get it so far. I’ve seen several collars and things like that and it seems simple enough but there’s generally room for everything to be placed out.” Sora mused. “Earrings are so small but it’s sorta perfect for what i’m looking for.”

“Yes, with the discrepancies between Riku’s forms, it would be a good accessory for you two.” He stood up, motioning for Sora to follow “We’ll do a purely visual replication first; and if that is insufficient for your questions, we can head to the workshop and i’ll show you the process I used.” He paused, head tilted “...or perhaps the kitchens. Jelly sounds nice.”

“Really?” Sora perked up, grabbing his things and following Chadley. “I was worried it would come off as invasive and i didn’t want that. Squall said you wouldn’t mind…” He took note of Riku wandering off but didn’t give it much thought.

“Your brother is correct; my job is to aid others in learning.” He smiled for real at that “And you are someone I am fond of. It could not be less of an intrusion.”

Sora's smile was huge. “Thank you. I’m trying to take my time with this, even when what i want to be doing is rushing.” He couldn’t afford to get this wrong. “I’ve seen earrings before but none as amazing as yours and Andi’s.”

“They are rather special...the technique behind it is through, but not overly complicated. To be honest, the magic aspect of it was far less complicated then the material aspect.” The blue shade in particular had taken several attempts to come out correctly.

“Well, i’m not afraid of a fair bit of practice.” Sora mused, hoping equally as much that Andi didn’t mind either. With their help he’d be one step closer to bonding. He hoped to have a little work done today to show his progress. No doubt that's when Riku would show up to give his opinion on the project so far.

 ~

Riku, on the other hand, was wandering the library. Hunting smells and gracefully scaling the shelves when he wanted to. He was looking for books with words he knew on the side, a bit of a game he’d come up with for himself.

Symbols and numbers came easy for him, but he rather hated letters.

There was a bengel sitting under a cozy looking nook, who raised their head at him eagerly, ears perked up in greeting.

Riku looked and crawled back onto the bookshelf, shoving his body into an empty space. Tigers were big and he was uneasy around familiars bigger than he was.

Xemnas made a nearly heartbroken sound, ears folding back and entire body dropping as his chin went on top of his paws. It was a few minutes before Riku poked his head out again. Nothing in the library had changed and while he couldn’t hear Sora anymore, he was sure he was safe with Chadley and possibly the skunk.

All and all, he didn’t understand the tiger, the same tiger that had been asking silly questions about his mother. The same tiger who was now crying.

Riku hopped down, his tail flipping back and forth as if ready to pounce away and hide if necessary. Still, he’d never seen such a big creature cry before. Well, other than that one night Cloud had had bad dreams and Squall had spent the night cuddling him.

He crept closer, hoping tigers weren’t like those asshole birds.

Xem lifted his head just enough to look at Riku, sniffing lightly. He was swiftly licked on the nose before Riku jumped back quickly, fearing he’d get swiped at for invading the tiger’s personal space.

He only blinked, a few stray tears falling as he tried to figure out Riku’s actions and only got more confused.

Riku’s tail was flipping back and forth, but he almost seemed equally confused when the tiger didn't chase after him. He tucked in on himself, rolling into a ball as he started to shift back into his hume form. It took him a good couple seconds to complete it.

When he was done he was almost surprised how much closer to the tigers size he was in this form. Xemnas licked at him, letting himself get hopeful for a moment.

“Why does the tiger cry?” Riku asked, his tone implying he truly didn’t understand.

Xemnas rolled his shoulder back, and his smaller human form was sitting in front of Riku. He was still huddled up, arms around his knees and face half-hiding behind them “You don’t want me.”

“Want?” Riku frowned. He only wanted his witch. “Don’t understand.”

“Hana’s...gone. She was the only one left after gran…” He wasn’t a solitary creature; having no more family hurt.

Riku tilted his head, thinking the words over. He’d always only had himself before Sora. For the most part he’d been fine in the grove, but he had to admit, he’d much rather have Sora. “Sorry.” Riku said, reaching up to pat his face. “Sorry she’s gone…”

Xem sniffed again “...thought you’d be family too but.”

“Is that how it works? Won’t eat me?” Riku asked, having little concept over how horrifying the question was, though the expression on Xemnas’ face gave away the very idea made the tiger physically ill.

“Of course not!”

“Good.” Riku mused, leaning closer to bump his nose against Xemnas’. “Don’t like that.”

He let go of his knees and risked hugging Riku.

Riku really wasn’t used to contact that wasn’t Sora, or occasionally Cloud but he didn’t want the tiger that loved his mother to be sad. He pressed against him, arms going around him as he relaxed against the tiger’s chest. That was all it took for Xem to burst into slightly noisy tears and cling like he was five.

“Don’t cry, tiger.” Riku said softly, curling up against him. “It’s okay.”

“Xem,” He corrected quietly “My name’s Xemnas…”

“Xemnas.” He repeated slowly as if names were hard for him. He dropped his head on Xemnas’ chest. “Okay.”

The purring started as soon as Riku said the words, Xem clearly cheered up.

 ~

“...let's give them a few more minutes.” Xehanort said softly, watching from between the books an aisle over. Eraqus nodded, smiling. “It's nice for them.”

They tried to go back to browsing but Eraqus in particular couldn’t help but continue to steal peeks. It wasn’t that Xemnas was cold, but he could be a tad awkward. He preferred to keep to himself much of the time. Seeing him cling to his baby cousin was downright adorable.

“I know i shouldn’t cling to what ifs, but it would have been so sweet…” He muttered. “Watching Xem care for a small kit.”

“...still could. You know he wants kids.” He wasn’t opposed, it meant too much to their tiger. And while he wasn’t fond of babies, familiar ones were appealing.

“Oh my god.” Eraqus whispered, glancing back at him. “That would be so damn cute.” He looked back around the shelf. “I mean he’s already so happy. Just getting to hold that fox. I’m glad he’s come around. I’ve never seen him away from Sora.”

Though on the other hand, it wasn’t like they followed Sora around to know. Squall was the one they were supposed to be spying on. “Or have you been doing reconnaissance without me?”

Eraqus snorted but turned to look back at Xehanort. “Do you think...we’re going to be able to keep this up?”

“...no.” He’d started to lose the desire to continue with how they’d been going about this for over a year now. And it was distasteful after seeing the lengths Squall was willing to go to for the students. For the familiars.

But fear was a strong motivator. “Not sure we really have much of a choice in the matter. We’re in it deep.”

“Look at him.” Eraqus said softly, gesturing to their friend. “If something we report hurts Squall, it’ll hurt Sora.” It would hurt Riku. They knew already that Xemnas wouldn’t be able to live with that.

“...so what. We lie? Give them false info?” They were fucked.

Eraqus licked his lips nervously, feeling a tightness in his throat. All he wanted was Xehanort and Xemnas. Just the two of them and to not be looked down upon for it. “I don’t know, but we can’t hurt Xem, and this would…”

Xeha moved enough to take Era’s hand. “I know.”

He just had no idea what to do.

“Maybe we confess?” Eraqus whispered, gripping his hand. It would lose them their chance at being together, but Xemnas couldn’t handle the guilt and grief of losing Riku just to be bonded.

“Sounds like a hasty move.” They really needed to spend more time thinking on it; rash moves only resulted in a loss.

Eraqus just nodded, looking around briefly before wrapping his arms around Xehanort’s neck. “Then we need to start...thinking about our options.”

“Yeah.” He pulled him closer after also taking a look around. They were playing a very dangerous game.

Eraqus stole a kiss, a quick little thing. Honestly, it wouldn’t have been so scandalous had people thought they were a simple couple. Adding Xemnas into their relationship complicated matters. Bonds of three were tricky and not at all condoned.

They’d hoped the red head would have had better luck, but two witches was very different from two familiars, not truly taboo and done from time to time.

No matter who they asked or how much they researched, they couldn’t find any accounts of a familiar with two witches. Some couples...shared, but it was crass at best. Perverted to the point of being taboo was the more common complaint.

“I think we’ve really fucked up.” Eraqus said softly, swallowing his emotions. He just wanted to be together and left alone. At this point, they were basically being blackmailed even if they were the ones to sign up for this.

“...agreed.”

Both of them moved, ducking behind the shelves a little when Sora returned with Chadley.

“There you are, Riku.” Sora smiled warmly. “Hi Xemnas.”

He looked up at them and smiled “Hello Riku’s witch. Library child.”

“Done?” Riku asked, smiling warmly at Sora.

“I can sketch some more.” Sora said. He didn’t want to separate them just yet any more than Xehanort or Eraqus had. “But i’ll have some stuff for you to look over later.”

“Good.” Riku almost purred his delight. He was content enough to stay cuddled against Xemnas.

Chadley had a small smile on his face, apparently fond of the nickname. “I will bring the necessary materials over.” This was one of his favorite nooks anyways.

“Thank you so much for the help.” Sora smiled, taking a seat at a nearby table. It was close but still gave Riku plenty of space.

“You are very welcome; I enjoy sharing knowledge.” And Sora was quickly becoming one of his favorite people.

By the end of the afternoon, Riku was asleep against Xemnas and Sora had half a dozen sketches of earrings in his notebook that would work with the spell work Chadley had taught him.

If Sora had his way, they’d be a bonded pair sooner rather than later.

Chapter Text

Sora and Naminé were curled up on the sofa in Squall’s living quarters in the academy. They still had a little time before class started and had plenty of time to linger before going out into the classroom. It was going to be an interesting day given the fact that half the class had already called out ahead of time and even Squall and Cloud weren’t around.

Squall was meeting with Irvine again only no one was really supposed to know that. If asked, they were just supposed to say he had an unavoidable appointment.

“It’s terrible.” Sora muttered, absently petting Riku who was curled up on his lap. He held his phone out, all of them watching the latest news break that had practically been on non stop for two days.

Footage of the Cowdens being dragged out of their home was big news. Being arrested for familiar trafficking was a terrible crime that already had the other magic council members quickly condemning the actions should they be proven true.

Naminé had been quiet, and was clearly disturbed. Van was currently in his human form, and acting as a backrest, while Ventus had sprawled out, resting against her and with a leg thrown over Sora “Poor Hayner…”

She didn’t even need her seer abilities to know how much he’d be hearing about this from the entire school. Kid was maxed out on stress as it was, and he hadn’t had to deal with it being his day-to-day life yet.

“Squall said he and Seifer have been excused for a while. That’s understandable.” Sora muttered, watching the same three new anchors repeat the same little bit of information over and over. The same four clips were being shown over again too. The Cowdens being shoved into seperate police cars. Other law enforcement agents entering their house to search it.

There was one particularly terrible shot of most of the house staff, all familiars, looking terrified.

She nodded with a small sigh, waving Sora’s phone away. It really was looping now. “Squall has temporary custody of Hayner...so, he can excuse him as long as he wants.”

She’d been more surprised when Seifer showed up earlier that day for homework and notes, with the feeble excuse that he didn’t want to fall behind. As if she didn’t see that it was really so he and Hayner would have a distraction. Poor thing had been having a series of fevers.

“That foster parent thing really comes in handy.” Sora said dryly. He just didn’t expect Squall would have to use that new position so soon.

Rumors were really going to be flying soon. Squall not being there for class would only fuel them.

Naminé sighed again and leaned her head until it was on Sora’s shoulder. “What a mess…”

“I thought about going to see Hayner to cheer him up but...i dunno.” Sora muttered. “He might just be under too much stress right now to deal with company.”

She nodded, sitting up slightly to grab her sketchbook “Probably…”

She ripped out the top page with a frown, balling it up and tossing it into the trash that was already overflowing with similar balls of crumpled paper.

“Then maybe i’ll just text him.” Sora muttered., giving it some thought. “Let him know we’re here for him but… leave him to Seifer.”

When he was upset, Riku always made him feel better. He imagined it was the same for Hayner.

“Want me to peek?” It was the first time she’d offered; she didn’t get too embarrassed about spontaneous seeing anymore, but still maintained that the inherent nature of her ability was rather rude.

Sora made a face, torn. “Maybe just a smidge, just to see if a text is okay. Don’t have time for much else since class starts soon.”

“Mm…” She zoned out for a minute. “...Seifer’ll appreciate it. Hayner isn’t really up to talking but it cheers him up for a bit.”

“Say no more.” Sora said, pulling out his phone. He wrote and deleted three different messages before settling on one to send. “I can’t imagine much would cheer him up right now.”

Shaking her head slightly she gave another small sigh “No, not at all. Its really unfair; he’s so nice…”

“I mean, I guess that’s why all this is happening. If he was a jerk like his family then all the bad stuff wouldn’t have happened.” Sora muttered, setting his phone down against his lap. He was careful about what he said since he technically wasn’t supposed to know so much but it didn’t matter around Naminé. She probably knew more than he did. “They underestimated him.”

“I mean, you're not wrong...its just shitty that that’s the reason.” Being nice shouldn’t have caused so much trouble for the teen.

Sora heaved a sigh. “Yeah. I’d like to see him. Course, I'd also like to punch his parents in the face but… what can you do?”

Riku growled out his agreement. He liked Hayner too…

“Maybe we can drop off some food or something...no; but we could give it to Seifer when he picks up notes and homework…” She crumpled up another sheet of paper, tossing it towards the overflowing bin and ignoring Vanitas' displeased humming.

Sora glanced at her. “Are you overworking yourself?” The papers piling up really should have been answer enough.

“No…” She sat down her sketchpad and pushed it away with a foot, clearly irritated “It's just the same old thing stuck in my head I guess. Usually drawing gets it out, but it won’t go away.” Both humanoid cobras squeezed her loosely with their arms in sympathy.

“You wanna talk about it? Maybe that’ll help.” Sora offered. Normally he made it a habit to not look at her sketches unless she showed him. It felt too much like an invasion of privacy.

“...stuff from. Before. Where Cloud and I were.” It was about as much as she was willing to say on the subject.

“Oh.” Sora said softly. He didn’t know a lot but he knew enough. “Is looking back...important or is that what you’re trying to figure out?”

She shook her head, visibly wilting “I try not to think about it. Usually...drawing gets it out of my head again. But the last couple of months some stuff just won’t go away.”

“Well…” Sora genuinely didn’t know what to say. He reached out to take her hand. “Don’t rush it, 'kay? It will come when it’s supposed to.”

She let him, blowing her bangs off of her face in clear irritation “...it’s not like Chadley's, but I'm blocked too. I can’t...there’s a lot I can’t see. Its frustrating. I’d rather it just went away like the rest usually do.”

Sora bit his lip. He didn’t want to point out that that probably made it something important, that would just make her try to look harder. “Well, we gotta teach soon. Maybe doing something else will help?”

She laughed oddly, getting weird looks from all three familiars “Yeah…’teach’.”

~

There were more empty desks than filled today. Vanitas had decided he was hilarious, and was sitting at Sora’s desk. Ditto Ventus at Roxas’ desk; and they were getting odd looks from the actual students.

Sora was trying hard not to chuckle, and had even fished out one of Squall’s older jackets. “Today, I am professor Leonhart, but don’t call me that because it sounds stupid.” He was grinning, glancing back on the couch where Riku was curled up. “That is professor Riku.”

He held the ledger in his hand to take roll but there was really so few students present that he didn’t really have to.

Naminé passed him a pen to check off names anyway. “You really should take roll on the first day...substitute professor.” Boo giggled at their antics; it was a decent icebreaker after the last week of extra stress.

“Let’s see.” Sora snorted, tapping the paper. “Sora, is Sora here?” He was always amused that his name was first on the list.

Vanitas raised his hand with a smirk, and tried to copy Sora’s voice “Presssssent.”

It pulled several chuckles from those who actually were in the class.

Sora skipped calling out for Riku.

“Let’s see,” he repeated. “Kairi? She’s not here.”

Naminé tapped her hair and the resemblance now that her hair was red was eerie “Present…”

“Spooky!” Sora laughed and that seemed to over shadow the questioning looks the rest of the class had. It was a weird week, time to just roll with things being wacky.

Sora continued, “Kay, Isa is here. Saïx is here. Ienzo but no Zexion?” He could see it for himself but he looked at Saïx to confirm it for him, who nodded with an unhappy expression.

He already had notes for several of the students. Nemo. Faline. Olette and Kairi. Obviously Hayner and Seifer had been excused but there was an ordinarily abnormal amount of students out. Since the poachers had been on the school grounds and more specifically, since Squall’s class on trafficking, the counselors had been very busy.

“Eilowny’s here…” he commented, marking her off.

She pouted very slightly; one of the few students who hadn’t missed a class yet. “Of course I am.”

She received a thumbs up from Sora.

Boo and Sully were both present, and Tinkerbell was in her seat. At the last possible second Wakka and Pence had rushed in and taken their seats.

“Well cool. Obviously my brother isn’t here. He wanted anyone that showed up to stay for the first half hour and then you can leave if you want. He’s got a little thing for us to fill out but it’s no big deal. I think he’s going to treat today like extra credit for those that are here maybe. Something like that.”

Wakka sighed. “So...we coulda skipped all ta’gether then.”

“Well you’re already marked as being here, but as long as you do this classwork thing? Yeah, you can go.” Sora mused, handing the roll call back to Naminé and grabbing the classwork. “Looks like it’s just asking for the kind of stuff you’d like to do. You know, project wise. Group stuff, solo stuff. I guess Squall is letting us have some say.” He handed the papers to Boo who took one for her and Sully before passing them back to Tinkerbell., who seemed a bit bummed out at the low attendance. She was the only person in her row today.

“Ven, Van, how far are you two taking this?” Sora asked with a grin. “Are you filling these out too?”

Van nodded, holding his paper up. “Yup.”

There was a sleepy yawn from a few desks over, before the blonde looked up to blink at ‘professor’ Leonhart and deadpanned “I’m Roxas. Got it memorized?”

Eilowny snorted very uncharastically, and then hid her face behind a notebook in embarrassment.

“Roxas sounds like Lea today. Weird.” Sora grinned.

“You really look like your brother when you smile like that.” Boo commented.

Naminé, still with red hair, laughed. “Doesn’t he?”

“Nah, Squall’s got a totally different air to him. It’s because he’s so smart and so dumb.” Sora mused with an easy expression, getting several looks from the rest of the class at his statement.

“He is.” Sora shrugged, attempting to explain himself. “He’s a genius with magic and he makes a good professor. He also has absolutely no idea how famous he actually is, because he doesn’t care. Similarly, he has little concept of money because his store does so well.”

He got quite a few stares before most of the class went along with starting their assignment while Naminé quietly asked. “Okay, the fame thing I get since he doesn’t have a big head, but didn’t he have to raise you as a teen before he even had the store up and running? How does he not get monetary concepts?”

“I mean…” Sora crossed his arms, thinking about it. “I guess he does, i guess it’s more reasonable to say he has no idea how well off we are. Mom left us plenty to take care of ourselves until he was older. The store does so well and he just buys things and.. I mean have you seen him pay bills before? He doesn’t have a good sense of money.”

She shivered. Even after so many months with her new family, being conscious of every piece of munny she had was second nature. Splurging even on little things made her skin crawl.

“Fortunately, he has a great sense of making money so it doesn’t really matter…” Sora added softly, mildly surprised that everyone, even Wakka, had started to do the classwork.

They were all about halfway or more done when there was a knock at the door and Yuffie let herself in “Hey-...uh, where’s Squally?”

She was clearly immensely confused by the half-empty classroom.

“Yuffie? Hi.” Sora smiled, standing up to greet her and Tifa so he didn’t have to yell about Squall’s whereabouts. “Squall is um...with Irvine today.”

She pouted. “Aww, did he forget I was coming?”

Tifa smiled, walking a little strangely. Raijin started to stand up in his seat, eyes slightly wide as he stared at her, before Zell pulled him back into his spot.

“You know, he might have.” Sora whispered. “He’s been preoccupied with the arrests.”

Her pout tilted and with a small huff she shrugged “Yeah, okay, fair.”

“Hey, there’s still a couple people here if you want to teach a little.” Sora shrugged. “If not, i’ll take you and Tifa to lunch.”

Raijin cleared his throat and stood up after a quick conversation with Zell, to offer Tifa an orange “...congratulations.” He said very quietly.

“Oh.” Tifa looked a little surprised, taking the offering with a small smile. “Thank you.”

Zell was looking at them oddly but Rai just shook his head slightly. It was Tifa’s news to share if she wanted to.

“You’re thoughtful. Most haven't noticed yet.” She commented, seeming somewhat pleased about her news.

“I’ve been told i’ve got a knack for smelling it now.” Gods knew his dad brought home a newly knocked-up girlfriend too often.

Oddly enough, it pulled more laughter out of Tifa. “I grew up with a number of wolves with the same talent.” And for a similar reason.

Yuffie was smiling back without her regular grin, just plain happy “You wanna tell ‘em? We can track down Squally and Cloudy later.”

“Tell us what?” Sora asked, looking between them.

Tifa snickered, deciding she may as well go for it as she tugged at her slightly too big shirt. “I’m pregnant.”

“Oh!” Sora perked up.

Tinkerbell was clapping, an excited smile appearing for Tifa in place of a verbal well wishes.

Naminé smiled knowingly, looking at Tifa’s arms as if she could already see the baby, which she likely could, and the rest of the class called out variations of congratulations.

“This definitely calls for lunch.” Sora beamed. “Won’t be long until everyone’s done the classwork.”

Ven yawned, then blinked as he registered that more people had come into the room “Oh…”

Vanitas rolled his eyes. “Lets just make it homework; not like we’re having a class-class today.”

Sora nodded and gestured to Vanitas. “Temporary Sora brings up a good idea. Gold star, temporary Sora.”

Isa, Ienzo, and Saïx didn’t so much as bat an eye but at least Wakka and Pence thought he was funny. Vanitas smirked, “Thanks Temporary Squall.”

Sora laughed. “Kay everyone. You’ll get full credit for showing up today. If you’re done, i’ll take your papers. If not, just bring them to the next class. Sound good?”

“Yep.” Boo said, paper at the corner of her desk, she was likely already done. Tinkerbell was also waving hers as Eilowny scowled lightly at how many of the remaining students were packing it up as homework. Honestly…

“Thanks for showing up everyone. I’m sure my brother will have something in mind for you later.” Sora said. Being cooperative during a difficult time would earn them bonus points.

It wasn’t like the others who were meeting with their counselors would be penalized but this was an occasion where the students could have skipped and elected to go to class anyway.

Yuffie threw her hands up “Alright, let's head to the grove and have some fun with the ‘lesson’!”

~

Quistis sighed at the knock on her door, Paine patting her shoulder in light sympathy “Come in…”

When Squall came in, he was clearly annoyed and borderline exhausted from needing to spend his day around people. At his side, Cloud wandered in on four legs, equally tired.

“Quis.” Squall greeted, lacking his usual warmth.

“Lee.” She returned, lightly confused by the informality.

Squall dropped into a seat, Cloud almost immediately resting his head against Squall’s thigh. He stared at her, unamused. “So, one term, huh?”

“...I’m surprised you're still here.” Pleasantly so, of course, but Squall’s attitude seemed...off…

“Should i not be? Considering not a single soul in the academy saw fit to tell me that Merlin was back?” Squall’s expression was sliding into a glare. Even Cloud growled unhappily.

Paine scoffed. “Back. That’s a strong word for it. He’s been in town all of three days, spent a few hours in your class, said you were doing a better job than he was, and skipped off to the tavern.”

“I don’t care.” Squall stared at her, anger pulsing. The pending Cowden trial, the complete restructuring of the academy’s wards, and the lack of leads to Hojo already had him in a bad mood. “I should have been the first one told instead of everyone relying on my obligation to stay here. You know how i feel about that shit, Quis. Negatively. Especially after Milo said Merlin’s been back for five weeks. I don’t know who is lying to me as a whole, but i will hold the entire staff accountable for being so underhanded.”

Quistis sighed, leaning back in her chair for a long moment then opening the bottom drawer of her desk and taking a long drink from the flask in there “Fuck Squall, I don’t know...I thought; I mean, he was in your class, I figured you…”

“That’s part of the problem Quis.” Squall’s bad mood was obvious. “I had no idea he was ever in my class. It’s not like he was hanging out asking questions.”

Squall was pissed the old man got over on him. Even Cloud hadn’t smelled him. Naminé hadn’t sensed anything either. As far as he knew.

“How could you possibly not notice?” She was clearly blindsided by the idea.

“I don’t know.” Squall hissed. It was annoying the hell out of him. Even Yen Sid had trouble hiding from Squall completely. Quistis stared at him a beat longer than offered him her flask.

He took it without complaint, taking a hit of it and not caring what was inside. “Fucking lazy old man…”

She sighed, leaning back in her chair “...since you're here. There was something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Changing the subject, are you?” He scowled at her.
“We both know you're pissed, at me and in general with the situation.” She pulled a second flask out, and from Paine’s disapproving look, it was clear she was developing a habit. “So the odds of me getting you back in here for another private discussion anytime soon? Not great- might as well risk it now.” She leaned back to touch a spot on her wall, sealing all noise inside the room. Apparently it really was serious.

Cloud’s ears pulled back at the sound of magic that Squall couldn’t even hear. At least he knew Quistis had impressive wards. “What?”

“...your ‘sister’. Naminé.”

Squall just blinked at her, nodding his head for her to continue while Cloud growled. The sound urging her to tread lightly.

“Most anyone would shrug away her magic feeling ‘off’ as a seer quirk.” She took another sip from her flask. “...she behaves more like a feral familiar.”

“Really?” Squall didn’t even feign looking surprised. “How odd.”

“So, I asked the only other person I know with even close-to-seer like abilities. Our old headmaster. Interesting chat, that.” She eyed Squall “Where did you find her again?”

Squall made a face but was quietly relieved. Yen Sid might have been worried but he wouldn’t have said too much. “Didn’t i tell you?” He stared at her. “I’m fucking busy trying to find the psychopath that hurt Cloud.” That hurt Naminé. That hurt her cobras. So much went without saying…

“...you know. She looks a lot like someone else I know.” She emptied the flask.

“Yeah?” Squall shook his head. “Say what you want to say.”

“Is she Ansem’s Missing Child?” Paine looked at Quistis in shock; apparently she hadn’t shared her suspicions even with her own familiar.

Squall shrugged. “Apparently. Not that it matters any.” Ansem didn’t deserve children if any of the rumors he’d heard were true.

She leaned all the way back in her chair and sighed “...what a mess.”

Squall shrugged again. “He was always shady and you know it. I don’t care how renowned he is. He’s a terrible father and i’m not giving her back.”

“...You’re openly declaring war on the council, hunting one of if not the most notorious magic criminals in the world, and adopting kids left and right. Shiva, Squall, I thought you just wanted some peace and quiet.”

“Okay, Cloud’s the one adopting kids left and right, i’m just along for the ride.” Squall said, rubbing Cloud’s ears when he growled in a tone that could only be considered amused. The other stuff she said was true enough.

“Oh please, like the four living in your house full-time aren’t just as much yours.” She managed a laugh, despite the seriousness of the situation.

Squall just hummed, sipping from the flask again. “Cloud and i are bonded, we share all things.”

Quistis sighed again, then gave Squall a serious look “I know you're pissed about Merlin; and fair enough...but there’s a fair few of us now ready to back you. Academically or otherwise.”

“Why?” He frowned. Just because he’s thrown some wards around? It didn’t make sense that they wouldn’t want Merlin. He was one of the best witches in the country if not the world. He was on the damn Magic Counsel.

“Because you're reliable. Following through with the changes everyone’s been wanting, finding solutions where everyone else just argues over means versus method.”

Paine added in “And you’re honest. None of that half-agreeing to keep the peace shit for things you couldn’t care less about. Transparency is rare.”

Squall personally didn’t get it. “Academy safety isn’t something that can be phoned in. I don’t have time for people dragging their feet.”

“And that’s why everyone wants you.” Quistis said with the tone of someone trying to explain something very simple to a toddler.

He just clucked his tongue and hit the flask again, one hand buried in Cloud’s fur. “I was never meant to be a teacher. I piss off too many people.” And he did, frequently.

“And yet there isn’t a kid in your classes that isn’t happy to have you as one.” She finished off her drink, leaning back in her chair “...honestly, you're better at it then I am.”

Squall snorted. “How long have you been drinking? What kind of fool thoughts are even in your head?” He looked unimpressed. “You’ve wanted to be a teacher for forever and you love it.”

Quistis shrugged, but Paine looked annoyed. “Pretty much since two years before graduation.”
“Ruuuuuuuude.”

Squall scowled at her. “Look, teaching makes me want to drink too, but i’ll keep tabs on your drinking if i have to.” He had so many to worry about already.

She waved him off “It's not interfering with my job or anything else.”

Paine shrugged but made it clear with eye contact alone she was keeping tabs on it already.

Squall made a face but dropped it. He wanted to ask her how it was affecting her bond, but that seemed a touch too cruel considering he was just learning about it. He’d save that in his back pocket should it get to an intervention stage.

At the very least, Paine now knew for sure he’d take her side and she’d be able to come to him if it became necessary.

“Whatever.”

“Yeah. Whatever.” Quistis agreed with a long sigh.

Chapter Text

Squall was ready to go home with his wolf and bury himself in a bottle of something strong and alcoholic. He was going to sleep the entire weekend, assuming no one bothered him which was unlikely. The wards were practically done and the following week he’d no doubt have to deal with parents or guardians coming to inspect them.

He had encouraged it. Hopefully though, a few poachers would also come and they’d get a show.

Until then, he was nearly done with conferences and it was Chessur’s turn with Milo showing up as her guardian since the Cheshire really did rarely leave their forests.

Chessur had been subdued for days now; worried about being told she couldn’t be a student anymore. As much as she liked school, it was the idea of never seeing Melody again that had her heartbroken. Thanks to Lea’s mistakes no new applications were being processed for bonding, which was infuriating since she’d submitted her’s before he’d ruined things for everyone. How was she supposed to keep her witch now?

Milo patted her shoulder as they sat down, turning to smile at Squall. “It's a little strange with two teachers; but I heard you had fun with Sora’s too so…”

Squall laughed quietly. “Well Sora does nothing but complain about his home room teacher.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. “But right now is about Chessur.”

She peeked up from behind her bangs, cheshire eyes gleaming.

Milo smiled gently, “Yes, it is.”

Squall leaned his elbows onto his desk. “Anything you wanna say before we start?” he asked, understanding to some degree how worried she was.

“...are they gonna lift the bonding restrictions this term?”

Squall heaved a sigh. “I doubt it. It seems they’re always dragging their feet about something. It would still likely require a signature of some kind. Does it matter if it’s this term in particular?”

Her shoulders slumped, but Milo’s hand was on one quickly. “You have the rest of this year and next year. Your elders are satisfied with the wardings.”

“That’s good to hear.” Squall mused. The Cheshires were definitely one of the groups he needed to satisfy. “I understand you’re eager, and you’re feeling the time restraints but over a year is a good chunk of time.”

“We wanted to last year,” She said quietly “But her mom said no. She’ll be legal soon, so she won’t need her mom’s permission if the school signs off but…”

But she couldn’t be sure she’d be allowed back next year. Next term could be their only chance.

“Look….” Squall sighed. “If you start getting desperate i want you to come talk to me or Milo. We’ve had enough students making stupid decisions that effected everyone. That said, had someone actually been there to help Lea that whole mess could have been avoided. So don’t hesitate to ask.”

“...her birthday’s coming up.” She glanced at Milo briefly. “I don’t want to make trouble for yo-”

“Go ahead and make your plans.” His gentle smile had never wavered “The elders will come around sooner or later- but you can’t risk losing her, can you?”

“...no.”

“This won’t be easy. It will likely involve counseling with Jiminy or something. Extra hoops that weren’t there before to make sure you're prepared which is stupid because no one is ever really prepared.” Squall sighed. “But still, you put in the work and there won’t be anyone to object. If they still object they can complain to my signature on your application.”

She offered him a genuine smile “Thanks Professor.”

Milo cleared his throat lightly “Now that that’s out of the way; let's talk about her academics…”

Squall laughed, flipping her file open. Part of why he was so comfortable with humoring her desire to bond was because of how well she was doing in his class. “Yeah. Let’s start.”

~ 

Conferences were nearly over now, though the surprises weren’t. Seifer’s file had listed both his parents, but his sole-custody father had a deceased mark next to his witch’s name. The file also warned that he may show up both intoxicated and in lynx form. Apparently Merlin had taken that sort of thing in stride. Siegfried was neither today, though he seemed a bit uncomfortable in his suit.

“Good to see you again.” Squall greeted taking Siegfried's hand. He’d spent quite a bit of time with the man over the last week. Between helping with trial formalities and Cloud assisting with Hayner’s fevers, he’d been to the apartment a few times.

“Likewise...hopefully Seifer’s been keeping himself out of trouble on campus?” He’d spent years being used to Seifer misbehaving, though he did seem to be evening out now that he had Hayner; not to mention bigger fish to fry.

Squall snorted, feeling he could be much more blunt with Siegfried than he could be with other parents. “I think we both know where Seifer has been lately and it hasn’t been much different over the course of the semester. Kid is bright as all fuck and has been helping Hayner too in almost every class.”

Seifer’s eyes cut towards them as he shifted in his seat. He knew his grades were on the higher end of the scale; but he also knew his file was huge from minor acts of rebellion, acting out...and if he was being honest, bullying. Not that he’d cared much at the time, or too much now...but he wasn’t proud of it either.

Siegfried smiled, knowing they’d be talking about Hayner soon enough. “I’m glad to hear he’s doing well.”

Squall hummed. “I haven’t seen much bad behavior myself but from what I understand, he’s had quite a turn around recently. But i don’t think that’s as uncommon as some like to push. In my opinion it’s as normal as witches who can’t focus.” Seifer squirmed again, staring determinedly at a spot on the floor as his father laughed. “An apt way to put it.”

“I have no complaints.” Squall mused. “Seifer and Hayner are both benefiting each other. With Hayner it’s grades and with Seifer it’s better behavior. You’ve been a particular help to me in class, being so willing to do the witch work i’ve been assigning. Whether you mean to or not, it influences the other familiars in the class to do the work when you start it without complaint.”

“...kinda feels like what we should’ve been doing all along.” It was what they’d been studying; though the alternative homeworks that were more familiar focused had been a pleasant surprise.

“Well, i have a number of other teachers asking about it so as we head into this term you should be seeing it more in your other classes.” Squall mused. Any teachers who didn’t want to bend would be thoroughly shamed into it if Squall had his way. “Did you have other questions? Frankly I don’t worry about your behavior much these days. I leave correcting that to Cloud and most don’t like dealing with him picking on them.”

Cloud was curled up on the sofa in the back of the office and he just rumbled in amusement.

“Has he actually managed not to get into any more fights, or just none worth calling home over?” It was hard to tell if Sieg was joking or not.

“Nothing physical.” Squall snorted. “And the only altercation i can think of, he didn’t start. He also walked away from it.”

He smiled warmly at his son “That takes a lot. Well done.”

Predictably, Seifer tried to shrug it off, though his red ears were a dead giveaway.

Squall chuckled, “We have a few other things we can go over right quick but over all, you’re doing rather well.”

He didn’t have to say it, but Hayner had had a big impact on him.

“I’m happy to hear it all. And I wouldn’t mind going over his grades and coursework; it’s a nice thing to hear about.” He was very proud of his son. Having something so tangible to boast about was just a nice perk.

“Sure.” Squall agreed. “Apparently I've been changing things so let me know if something is new to you.”

He had plenty of papers to pull out and show Siegfried and Seifer’s grades were definitely impressive.

It was a lot of information to go through but this was a bit of a break for both of them while Hayner was in a counseling session with Jiminy. At least they thought he was. After submitting papers that morning he’d been called to the offices. Now with papers in hand and Jiminy’s permission to leave, Hayner had crossed the administration offices all the way to the headmaster's door. He knocked, though he hadn’t thought they’d get back to him so quickly.

Edea opened the door with a gentle smile, looking a little tired. “Hello Hayner.”

“You called for me?” He said as he stepped in. He had a folder in one hand with his request form in it.

“Yes, please take a seat. Your conference is soon so we’ll try to keep this brief; would you like something to drink? Water?” She moved towards the main desk where Cid was sitting with an almost grandfatherly smile on his face.

Both of them were oozing gentleness; but it was having the reverse effect and putting Hayner more on edge.

“No thanks.” Hayner said, glad he was holding the folder so he couldn’t hold his arm in a nervous gesture. Seifer would hone right in on new nail marks.

Cid held his hand out for it. “I do hope things are getting easier for you.”

Hayner passed it to him. “It’ll be better after the trial…” he muttered. Everyone was talking about it. It wasn’t just all over school it was all over the country. He was ready to run back to Seifer just to feel safe again.

“I think a lot of people, and familiars especially, will.” Cid said kindly as Edea took her seat next to him. “Now then...I believe this is your third application, or is it the fourth?”

“Well, I mean…” Hayner took a seat and fidgeted nervously. “I guess it’s technically the third but it’s also to maybe get my file off the hard review. Counselor Cricket would obviously still keep an eye on things but if my file wasn’t so stained then my application might actually go through.”

They exchanged a glance. “That’s entirely up to Counselor Cricket; he’s the head of his department. Once a file gets moved up to an orange tag, it’s out of our hands. That being said, he voted in favor of you being considered once you move back to yellow status.” Despite the fact that, officially, all bonding applications were on hold pending a multi-school review of the system due to Lea Hart’s actions.

“Really?” Hayner perked up, excitement threatening. Maybe if he could make it another hundred days he could negotiate something with Jiminy. It would still be well before they graduated.

“Yes…” Edea said slowly, looking a little like she’d bitten into a lemon. “But, Hayner...bonding isn’t something to be rushed into. I realize it's exciting, having a long-term partner, but you should really...pair up longer with a few others to get more of an idea of who you’d want to be beside you for the rest of your life.”

“A few others?” Hayner blinked. “Ma’am i’ve cycled through the rotation already. I’ve had dozens of partners. I’ve had more than most. I’ve probably had more than you have. I am sure.”

“Yes, but never longer than a month. Most not for longer than a few weeks.” It was a minor red flag, a sign that a witch wasn’t ready to settle down and commit.

“I’ve been with Seifer for several months now.” Hayner said, wanting to make his argument. “We’re happy. I...I calm him and he takes care of me when i’m…” He was rubbing a hand over his arm but he was wearing long sleeves today. “He helps me.”

Cid gave a small sigh. “I’m glad to hear you're experiencing a good familiar-witch work relationship. That’s wonderful progress. It’s more Seifer that we’re hesitant to sign off on.”

Hayner frowned. He was the one with the big file and the self harm issues. ”Why? He’s been a great partner.”

“He has a file thicker than a dictionary; disciplinary problems that should have had him expelled three times over…” He tapped an empty manila folder on his desk “You're a kind boy Hayner. I don’t want to see you hurt by his...views.”

“His views?” Hayner didn’t understand. “I know Seifer is rough around the edges but if you’re implying that he’d hurt me, you’re insane. He… At worst he gets grumpy and takes a nap.”

“I don’t think he’d physically hurt you; at least not intentionally.” Edea said slowly. “But you have a hybrid sister.”

“And the three of us have brunch on Sunday’s.” Hayner said slowly. “Yuna and Seifer are friends…”

The headmaster and his wife exchanged glances. “How...progressive. You’re...aware then? That a large portion of his issues are based around a bigotry towards hybrids?”

“It’s not bigotry. We’ve talked about it.” Hayner frowned. “Just how much is in his file that you’re both this concerned? Seifer is good for me. You have no idea how much he’s helped me. I want to be with him. That’s not going to change.”

“If it wasn’t a breach of ethics, I'd show you. If it wasn’t a breach of confidentiality, I'd tell you which students to talk to.” Edea seemed deadly serious. “It isn’t just a bit of teasing we’re talking about here.”

Hayner bit his lip a moment before looking back up at them. “I know him better than you. You have absolutely no idea what he did for me in that house.”

Cid looked older for a moment. “I doubt you know him better then we do...but perhaps he is maturing. We’ve been debriefed by the police for security reasons, so we know a bit of what he did. Foolish...but it paid off. You did a very brave thing young man, and we’re all very proud of you.”

“Then consider my application.” Hayner muttered. “At least consider taking my file off the block list. I need Seifer.”

They exchanged another long look before Cid turned back to him. “Hayner...after your first application, the next two were auto-declined. There’s a six-month waiting period after a rejection.”

“Why?” Hayner blinked. That really didn’t make sense at all.

Edea raised an eyebrow. “It's been the standard for a long time. Otherwise students would just resubmit every few weeks. Saying no isn’t done on a whim, it’s an entire process.”

“And when all you do is look at papers and say no… You end up with a phoenix hybrid.” Hayner said softly. “No case is the same.”

“No, it isn’t. However,” Cid leaned forward, chin on his steepled hands “We aren’t at liberty to discuss Mr Hart’s case. I will tell you that it isn’t just looking at papers; the entire process takes four hours.”

“And even if you had been approved, bonding rituals are still on hold. It's a moot point.” Edea added.

“Yes ma’am.” Hayner said, fingers digging into his arm through his sleeve. There really was no point in arguing with them.

With another small sigh she asked. “Did you get a driver’s license on the first attempt?”

“My file restricts me from getting a license.” He said instead. He’d always thought it was stupid but between the fevers and the zoning out, it made more sense now. Edea winced lightly.

“Well...DMV and several other agencies follow similar procedures. After an application is denied, there’s a waiting period.” It was simply the way of things.

“Professor Leonhart says some rules are stagnant and should be revised.” Hayner said, wishing he could throw the tantrum he wanted.

“Yes, i’m sure Professor Leonhart will tell us as much at the next teacher’s meeting.” Cid said with good humor.

Hayner had already deflated more or less. “Well then…” He sighed. “I guess I should go. My conference is soon.”

Edea stood up. “I’ll walk you there.”

He almost winced. “That’s not necessary.” He’d have to explain to Seifer why he wasn’t with Jiminy.

“I’m headed that way as is.”

“Alright.” Hayner muttered, leaving his petition with Cid as he got up to excuse himself from the room.

The timing almost couldn’t be worse. Rin waiting in the main classroom was expected, but Seifer and Siegfried were obviously just exiting. The tension was unexpectedly icy.

The Matron’s “...Siegfried.” nearly sounded professional.

“Edea.” But Hayner had never heard the lynx sound so...stiff and unfriendly.

Seifer had frozen in place, face carefully blank.

Hayner had looked between them in complete confusion before going to greet his mother quietly. He was delighted she was there for his conference but it wasn’t like there was anyone else for him at this point.

“What do you want, Edea?” Squall asked, leaning against the door frame of his office while Hayner inched back to Seifer’s side to see if he was alright.

“Nothing at all; I was merely going the same way as Hayner after his appointment.” Seifer flinched minutely for some reason.

“You missed-” Siegfried started before getting cut off by her.

“No. I didn’t.” And then she was walking down the hallway again.

“What was that?” Hayner frowned, holding onto Seifer’s hand.

The rude, disbelieving noise oddly enough came from Rin. “A coward, dear.” Hayner knew the look immediately. Rin didn’t keep it a secret when she didn’t like someone and the looks she shot the matron were telling. Seifer was tense, but also sniffing Hayner lightly, confused and obviously irritated. “Thought you went to see Jim…”

“I did. Got called to the office over some papers.” Hayner grumbled. “I have no idea why she felt the need to walk me back unless she just didn’t think I should be unsupervised.” Annoyance came off him in waves. Sei glancing at his covered arms didn’t help.

Without a word, Hayner held his arms out to Seifer as if willing to let him check if he wanted to ensure that there were no new marks. He got hugged instead. “I trust you.”

“I don’t.” Hayner muttered. “Hands keep going to my arms when i’m stressed out.” He leaned into Seifer, waiting for this whole mess to be over with so he could just stay with his lynx.

Rin approached the boys. “You feeling alright, sweetheart?”

“I’m alright mama. Just feels like a long day.”

Siegfried cleared his throat lightly “Well, it’s just about two thirty…” And offered his arm to Rin. Like a gentleman. Like a date. “We shouldn’t keep the teacher waiting.”

“Wait, huh?” Hayner looked up when Rin just laughed pleasantly and took his arm.

Squall just looked amused. “Time for your conference, kid.”

“There’s no rule that says I can’t do both of my kid’s conferences.” Sieg said with a warm smile.

Hayner’s expression actually wobbled, emotion all over his face before he was able to pull it back somewhat. “Okay.”

“Good,” Squall chuckled. “Shut the door behind you.”

Feeling embarrassed and terribly warm all at the same time, Hayner pulled away from Seifer to follow his parents into Squall’s office. Both his mama and his new dad.

Sieg moved a chair so Hayner could sit between them “Thank you Squall-ah, Professor.”

Squall smiled faintly. “Squall is fine.” He had Hayner’s file on his desk. “Kid, this has been a hell of a term for you.”

“Yeah.” Hayner agreed, voice rough.

“Not all bad though.” Squall said, voice calm. Relaxing even. “I’d say it was even pretty good until the last two weeks or so.”

Rin was holding one of his hands and Hayner just bobbed his head in agreement.

“I have to make sure you understand though,” Squall continued. ”None of the recent problems are your fault. It’s all been stress, and other people making your life hard.”

It was a nice thing to say at least.

“I know things aren’t where you want them to be, and you're working with extension still, but I’ve seen some of your grades. I know you’ve been doing better.” Sieg was proud of the progress. It may have ‘only been a few percentage points', but for such a short period of time it was a good improvement.

Hayner nodded, wiping his damp eyes on his sleeves.

“Your focus has been much better for weeks.” Rin added softly.

“Absolutely.” Squall mused, “Look, I know a thing or two about focus problems and you’ve subconsciously taught yourself several tricks around them. I don’t want you to feel like the last two weeks or so is your new normal, it’s not.”

“Other than living with us full-time.” The lynx cut in. “That is your new normal.”

That put a shaky smile back on his face. “Yes.”

“Emotionally then.” Squall smiled a little. “The fact is, your grades have improved a few points. In everything. That’s a big deal. They also haven’t suffered in this difficult time. You were given extensions but you’ve been turning in what you have done and it’s still good work. For what you’ve been through and what you’re going through, you’re handling it well.”

He didn’t say it, but Squall had personally spoken with all of his teachers. He’d wanted to know how deep his zoning out had gone in other classes. Many of them had been shocked it wasn’t daydreaming or boredom, but an actual medical issue. Several felt guilty; like they should have noticed.

“I’ll do better.” Hayner muttered.

“Hayner.” Rin said softly. “No one is asking you to do better. Just do your best and that’s what you have been doing.”

Squall nodded his agreement. “And who knows? After the trial, without that stress hanging over you, things could potentially head in a more favorable position for you. Odds seem good to me at least.”

“Either way,” Siegfried said, hand on Hayner’s knee “We’ll be here with you.”

Hayner was sniffing, but holding himself together rather well considering what he’d been through recently on top of being shot down again over his application by the Headmaster and Matron themselves this time. “Thank you.”

“You’re doing well.” Squall promised.”You go to class, you do your work. You volunteer…” Squall gestured to a sheet of paper. “For a lot. Don’t fret over recent drama that will be fixed soon.”

“Yes sir.” He muttered.

~ 

Seifer wasn’t where Hayner had left him when he left the room ahead of Rin and Siegfried, who were asking some questions about the wards before Squall’s next conference. Hayner nearly missed Sei leaving; he was talking quietly to Raijin near the end of the hallway, and they were clearly headed somewhere.

Hayner hesitated to follow. His conference was over and both Seigfried and Rin were talking pleasantly with Squall and Cloud. They were delighted with the changes in the classroom Cloud had made. The wolf almost seemed flustered over the praise. They were admiring the wards and Hayner was sure he could slip away but he wasn’t sure if this was a moment where he could follow after Seifer or not. Even without a bond, the irritation on the lynx was obvious, and Rai seemed to be trying to calm him down even as they walked off.

Hayner pulled out his phone instead and decided to text. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep up with his long strides. He wandered down the hallway anyway.

-You okay?- He texted. For a moment he wondered if Seifer was mad at him for getting called to the office but Seifer wasn’t like that.

It occurred to him that both Seifer and Sieg had been rather cold to the Matron.

His phone showed the messaged had been read, and the two familiars were waiting in the hall when he turned the next corner. Seifer looked conflicted “Didn’t think you’d be done so fast; wasn’t trying to ditch you…”

“I didn’t think you were. What’s wrong?” Hayner asked, drifting closer. He’d been in almost constant contact with Seifer recently that it was almost strange to be away from him.

He glanced away, uncomfortable “Not sure if it is yet; need to check something.”

Rai’s eyebrows shot up. “He doesn’t know, does he?”

“Never a good time to bring it up.”

“Well regardless of whether or not it’s a good time, the time is evidently now.” Hayner said. “What’s going on?”

Seifer glanced at the floor. “We’ll talk about it at home, okay? Just need to confirm something first.”

Hayner frowned but nodded once. He didn’t really get why Seifer seemed so skittish. It wasn’t like he didn’t know nearly every terrible thing about his life now. “Check on what?”

“See if I'm imagining it or not.” He glanced at Rai, who shrugged.

“Look, I’ll be able to tell, but I dunno why it even matt-”

“It. Matters.”

Hayner slipped his hand into Seifer’s with a frown. “Okay, I'll just be confused then.” There was likely a reason for all this? Seifer squeezed his hand once, shoulders still slumped and usual attitude subdued.

“So what are we doing?” Hayner asked, wondering where they were going and why Seifer had grabbed Rai for it.

“Paying someone a visit.” The antelope familiar said cheekily.

Hayner heaved a sigh, trying not to be annoyed with both of them but he just nodded.

The orphanage adjacent to the academy wasn’t where he’d been expecting to go. It was relatively new, not even officially open new. The project collected young, orphaned familiars and gave them a safe place to live until they were old enough for the academy. It was something Cid and the Matron had started, and had received nearly unanimous support both from school staff and the community.

Hayner had no idea what they were doing but just followed along anyway. It had been a while since he’d seen Seifer antsy over something that didn’t involve him.

They nearly tripped over a kid with hair so black it was blue, who squirted at them with an empty squirt gun. “Meega, nala kweesta!” Rai laughed at him in good-humor ”Aggaba, meega akootah.”

The kid seemed stunned but lowered his gun. “...Okey taka.”

Hayner blinked, unable to identify the language. “You’re good with younger kids, aren't you?”

“I’ve got about a dozen younger siblings. That I know of.” He said with a grin. “It's a learned skill.”

“What language was that?” Hayner asked, since Rai seemed to be much more willing to talk than Seifer.

“Gibberish.” He said, amused.

“And that worked?” Hayner laughed instantly. Siblings he was allowed to play with would have been nice. Any game he got to play with Yuna when he was small had to be a ‘quiet game’.

“Gibberish has a small established bit with so many of the kids using it.” It wasn’t a full-language, but there was enough to ‘fool the adults’, and that was what mattered.

Hayner nodded along, smiling at the endearing trait he wouldn’t have thought Rai would have. “Did you know that kid or…?”

“Nope. Just his attitude.” He walked them down a few hallways. “Some of my siblings have friends here; I come by now and then.”

“That’s nice.” Hayner said. “Sora told me that Squall is trying to plan a thing where older witches and familiars take the younger familiars here and the youngest witches enrolled into the grove for picnics and seeding lessons. Let them learn when they’re little to take care of the grove.” He paused. “I guess that part is more for the younger witches than the familiars. You guys just know instinctively but it’s a fun lesson anyway.”

Rai nodded. “We do; but its good for socializing…”

Seifer took lead, sullen silence suddenly loud.

Hayner looked fairly worried with Seifer’s mood but continued talking to Rai as they followed him. “I thought it was a nice idea. Yuna was the one to teach me to replant things. To thank the grove. Things like that.”

“Kinda weird hearing some people need to be taught that…like being reminded I had to be taught to use a spoon.” Rai said, mood more somber now.

“Better to teach witches.” Hayner muttered. “Can clearly see what they’re like when no one teaches us common sense shit.” When no one taught them, they turned into poachers or something worse.

Seifer didn’t even pause outside of the office; the doors were open anyways.

Edea glanced up, then did a double-take “What-”

“Rai. Yes or no.” He said, not looking at the matron.

Raijin sniffed once. “Yes.” And Edea turned red. “Out, all of you.”

“You can go Rai…” Seifer glanced at Hayner “Up to you if you stay or go-”

“You’re leaving too, before you cause any trouble. This is a place for children-” It was hard to tell which of them was angrier.

“Yeah. ‘bout that.” He closed one of the double doors after Rai stepped out. “Let's talk about ‘children’.”

Hayner stayed, completely confused over what was happening. He didn’t want Seifer getting in trouble but he was obviously pissed. What was odd was how angry the Matron looked. She was known as a peace keeper but five seconds with Seifer and she looked furious. Something wasn’t adding up; and the atmosphere went from uncomfortable to thick enough to cut when Seifer closed the second door, leaving just the three of them in the room.

Edea looked at Seifer, something like deep satisfaction on her face. “Will you not be happy until you cause a scene?”

The lynx took a measured breath, trying for some self-control. “If that’s what I was here for I wouldn’t have had Raijin leave.”

She looked ready to snap back, but hesitated when Hayner reached out, fingers wrapping around Seifer’s sleeve.

“Hey,” He asked, voice quiet. “What’s going on?” Most of the tension and anger leaked out of Seifer at the action, though his expression said he expected Hayner to be unhappy.

He turned back to Edea “I want them.”

Her eyes widened a fraction, clearly the sheer surprise of it getting the best of her. “You? What would you want with them?”

“I wanted all of them.” He said, straightening his shoulders. “I didn’t get it back then; I blamed you even when it wasn’t your fault, and them for being hybrids. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was just shitty. Same with us. Not your fault. Not mine. Just shit.”

Edea dropped into a chair, her expression startled as if just barely understanding the words coming out of Seifer’s mouth. Hayner did his best to follow along but there seemed to be a key piece of information he was missing. Something about this conversation didn’t make sense.

“Sei…?”

He swallowed, hard. “...I know you can’t. I know why you can’t. But- I could. I can at least try. Cid could do your half of the spellwork.”

“That’s insane.” Edea’s voice was deadpan, but she was clearly attempting to pull herself together. “You’re barely an adult even if you have presented.”

“Not like it’d be my organs anyways. I’d just be the incubator. I’m old enough for it.” His fingers twitched as he talked, nerves on clear display.

“Wait, what?” Hayner’s eyes widened, confusion written all over his face. “Sei, what the hell is going on?” Incubator? What the hell was he talking about? For half a second Hayner humored one idea but that couldn’t be...it.

Seifer inhaled before turning to look at his witch. “...Seeing you and Yuna changed my mind about a lot of things. Made some lessons ‘n shit sink in. I want my sibling; and Edea can’t carry ‘em.”

Hayner’s eyes nearly bugged out. “Sibling?” He looked between the two, but Seifer didn’t carry much of a resemblance to the Matron. Their eye-shape was similar, though not identical. He looked far too much like Seigfried. “The Matron is your mom!?”

Maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised, maybe there had been hints. But at this exact moment, he was floored.

Seifer nodded once, gaze going to the floor.

Hayner scowled, quiet fury slowly filling him. “Seifer is your son and you wouldn’t even pretend to go over my file petition!?”

Edea heaved a sigh. “Now is not the time for that.”

“No, i think now is the perfect time for that.” Hayner snapped, face feeling warm.

Seifer turned fully to look at Hayner, visibly confused. “What…”

“I want my file altered.” Hayner continued in a rush.

“And you are currently not in a well enough mental state to make that decision.” Edea said, trying to remain reasonable.

Hayner scoffed. “And if you handed me that reason i might have accepted it but instead you try and talk me out of my choice in a partner. And you’re his mother? What’s wrong with you?!”

It wasn’t just blunt, it was downright rude of him, and Seifer looked shocked “Hayner…”

Edea huffed quietly, exhaustion she’d been trying to hide, seeming that much more obvious at the moment. “Hayner, I do understand-”

“You don’t.” Hayner snapped. “You don’t at all. I need Seifer. I need him. Not just today but always and you wouldn’t even listen. You’d already made up your mind and I didn’t even know you had this weird biased opinion! Someone who thinks so poorly of their own child should not have a damn bit of say in my bonding application!”

He was breathing hard, likely proving that he was still in too fragile of a state for this conversation.

Slowly an arm went around Hayner’s shoulders, and Seifer pulled him against his side. “Sh…easy there…”

There was a bit too much to unpack there but his first concern was Hayner not putting himself right back into bedrest with another fever. Hayner turned in his arms, face pressed against Seifer’s shoulder to try and regain a little composure.

Edea stared at the two with just the slightest shake of her head. She could hardly fathom what she was seeing.

Seifer turned back with half a glare on. “...your body. Your choice. I want them, you don’t want a pregnancy. This is an out.”

There was a faint trembling of her lips, but her brow was pinched. They both knew the facts well enough. She did want the baby, but her body just couldn’t handle it. She’d only just barely handled giving birth to Seifer. She would lose this one like she lost so many others before it. She’d filled that void with dozens of orphaned familiars she was all too happy to take care of as an adopted mother.

This situation however, would only have one result. A miscarriage.

“Fine.” She breathed out slowly, unhappy with the entire situation. With the proper spellwork she could transfer her entire womb to Seifer as male familiars were in fact capable of carrying a pregnancy to term. It was even common in Wutai; a fair few familiars made a living as surrogates. “Though you may not fair any better.”

“I’m well aware.” His body being younger only had so many advantages. The simple fact was that hybrids did a lot better if the pregnancy was carried by a witch, but even then, the miscarriage rate was still significantly higher than with a non-hybrid baby.

He wondered for a moment if that wasn’t why there was such a stigma attached to it; that maybe it had nothing to do with the scandal of having sex with a familiar outside of magical rituals and was instead wrapped more around the tragedy of losing so many children.

Shaking his head, he tucked the thought away for later. “I’ll talk with Squall about our side of the spellwork.”

“Squall. Yes.” Edea muttered. “Though i don’t know if his expertise stretches that far.” That said, it was hard to say if there was anything Squall hadn’t dabbled in at some point.

“Wait so…” Hayner was tired but he tilted his head back to look at Seifer. “You’re going to have a baby? I mean… assuming…” Assuming everything went well.

He swallowed, looking away from Hayner. “...yeah. Lets…lets go somewhere else and have a talk, okay?”

“Yeah…” Hayner’s head was swimming, his own adrenaline fading. Edea didn’t say goodbye to the pair as they headed for the door. She likely needed a moment herself to assess what just happened.

Seifer turned around at the last moment, giving her eye contact. “...we’ll never be good. But doing this; I'll forgive you for the rest.”

Her lips parted silently. Despite her cold reception, she wanted that forgiveness. Needed it to ease her own guilt. She nodded once, accepting his terms.

Seifer kept hold of Hayner’s wrist, speed-walking them back to the dorms and not stopping until the door was shut. “I can explain-”

“The matron is your mother.” Hayner said, still attached to Seifer’s arm because he didn’t want to let go yet. It made a large amount of sense somehow. “Am I stupid? Was it in front of me the whole time? You never said.”

“We’re…not really on speaking terms. Raijin’s the only person I ever told; and he figured it out with that stupid-good nose of his.” Honestly; why did an antelope smell better than a carnivore?

Hayner nodded slowly, bowing his head to rest his forehead against Seifer’s shoulder. “I understand…”

“I don’t.” And he had no clue what Hayner even meant by that.

“Parents are hard. We don’t get to pick them out.” Hayner said dryly. “I don’t pretend i know what’s going on between you two but I'm not blind…”

Seifer sighed, moving them over to sit on the bed. “...dad said it was postpartum shit. I was almost two months old by the time she came back from the hospital. Failed to bond.”

“Oh, I…” Hayner frowned and didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t know that could happen. Familiars always tended towards paternal. Generally, they adored anyone smaller than them which explained why Rin had fallen in love with him at first sight.

It even explained why Cloud was slowly taking care of all of the familiars in class one by one. Even Siegfried who has suffered such a loss, continued on for the love he had for his son.

“It’s no excuse.” Hayner mumbled, aware that was unfair.

“No. It isn’t. But postpartum wasn’t even diagnosed for a few months after that; medical was only concerned with the physical. Took almost a year for anyone to figure out it wasn’t a standard case of baby blues.” He’d been angry about it long enough it only made him feel tired now.

“I’m sorry.” Hayner said softly, wrapping his arms around Seifer’s. Personally, it made him all the more fond of Siegfried but that sort of thing didn’t matter right now.

“Its fine, was a long time ago. Anyways,” He glanced at Hayner “...you don’t have to stick around.”

“What do you mean? Cause of your mom? Sei, my parents are literally criminals.” Hayner said.

“For a teenage pregnancy Hayner.” He deadpanned.

Hayner blinked. “Oh. Sure? Why would i leave because of that?”

He looked at Hayner like he’d just sprouted a second head. “Why would you- uh, because its a baby?! I’m not just incubating it; I'm keeping it.”

“Well of course you are.” Hayner said, taking a moment to try and understand. “Don’t you think I could help? I know I'm a head case but I'm not totally useless. A baby is a lot of work.”

“...” Seifer’s jaw hung open, he was speechless.

Hayner poked him in the chest lightly. “Do you really think something like that would have me running away? Really? After all this time you’ve stayed with me?”

“A baby is…a lot…” He’d seen plenty of other witches bail, and he’d never blamed them. A partner was one thing; but he wasn’t sure about a full family yet.

“A witch who blacks out and gets fevers at the drop of a pin is a lot too, Sei.” Hayner snorted. “You’re already sorta taking care of a baby so you have practice. Are you going to be okay in the transfer? I know it’s possible but I've never seen it done.”

“Stop. Putting. Yourself. Down.” He growled, a hint of real anger in his tone.

Hayner sighed quietly. “Sorry. The transfer though…?”

“Should be fine. Being genetically related ups the odds of a successful transfer; and it’s usually got around a seventy percent success rate.” He blinked, trying to gauge Hayner’s reaction. “You can’t seriously be on board with this.”

“Well, I mean I won't say it isn’t scary. It is. The transfer process seems scary, raising a baby seems scary but it's not like that’s a reason to not do it.” Hayner mumbled. Seifer’s animosity towards hybrids made a little more sense to him now. He’d been bottling up his feelings for too long. “Besides, we have your dad and my mama…”

They wouldn’t be figuring this out alone.

“...you should think about this more. Not just something to jump into.”

Hayner raised an eye. “What? Like you just did?”

“I know what I'm signing up for.” He said, giving Hayner serious eye contact. “Do you?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Hayner said softly, fingers fidgeting. “You don’t have to do this by yourself.”

The other shoe dropped. “Why were you with Edea earlier?”

Hayner almost winced, his eyes lowering. “Trying to petition the headmaster and Jiminy to take off some of the restrictions on my file… It’s not working.”

“Restrictions?” He asked, confused.

“I can’t…” Hayner’s face was hot. “My file is flagged for not being allowed to bond…” That hadn’t stopped him from trying but his applications were immediately denied without being reviewed.

“...you applied. Again.” He couldn’t quite hide his simmering anger.

“It’s not quite…I’m not technically allowed to apply until the restrictions are gone.” His face was hot. “And i didn’t want to ask you while it was impossible…That’s too unfair.”

“You haven’t asked me. At all.” He couldn’t help getting upset about it; it was more then a little rude.

“I…” Hayner wasn’t just embarrassed, he was guilty. “I was afraid to ask before. Before you knew about my parents. Before my cutting accident…I thought you’d leave when you found out what a train wreck I am.”

He was fidgeting, not raising his eyes. “Then you didn’t, and I never thought I'd have that.”

Seifer leaned back, crossing his arms and picking a fight. It was familiar and easy. “Don’t know why you’d want to ask someone to bond that you have such a low opinion of. You seriously thought I'd leave. For things you have no control over.” He scowled, anger simmering over into a boil. “...it isn’t even that you wanted to pick me. You just wanted a familiar.”

Hayner shook his head, unable to keep the hurt off his face. He knew there was some measure of truth to that. He’d wanted to be ‘wanted’. He’d wanted that fairy tale. “No. It was always you. You’re the only one I spent a full term with. It’s the first time I've signed up for a second term with the same partner. It’s been you for a long time…I just…I wouldn’t fault anyone for leaving after hearing about everything…”

But Seifer wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Yeah, well…something to talk about with Jim.”

Seifer didn’t like volunteering for more therapy; but even he knew this was necessary.

Hayner bit his lip for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

~

Naminé rolled up another sketch in irritation, tossing it to the side as Vanitas gave the cobra equivalent of a huff at her. There was a short knock at the door, and she nearly tossed her sketchbook aside as she hopped up to her feet to open the door from the classroom into the office. “Squall, company…” It was sooner then she’d been expecting Hayner and Seifer to stop by the classroom, but she was so excited for them she hardly cared.

“Yeah?” Squall said, emotionally exhausted from conferences but they were finally over. “Have them come in then.”

Cloud was half draped across his lap, his ears perking up when he heard the classroom door open.

But then Naminé was backing up slowly, panicked. “Uhm…”

“Oh hello, you must be the assistant. Is Professor Leonhart in?”

Her unease was so obvious that Cloud appeared at her side, pressing against her hard as he took in the man that had just arrived without an appointment.

The man Naminé hadn’t seen coming.

“Ah.” Squall had followed along, standing in the doorway of his office. “Ansem the Wise.”

Vanitas slithered over from the sun-spot he’d been occupying, sliding up Naminé’s leg and wrapping around her firmly as Ventus’ head poked out, both clearly agitated.

Ansem smiled winningly at Squall. “I do hope this is a good time? I’d like to speak with you in private.”

Squall nodded his head into his office. “Alright then. I have time.” He had a headache too but that was going to be unavoidable. He’d expected to deal with Ansem the Wise at some point, but not until he had some of the messes in his lap taken care of.

There was however, no time like the present.

Ansem sat in what was normally Naminé’s chair, still smiling “I believe we have some business to discuss. Personal business.”

Chapter Text

Squall had never actually met Ansem the Wise, but not meeting someone had never stopped him from disliking them before. It certainly wouldn’t stop him now. He was busy, thus he’d likely be irritated with anyone that just dropped by as if he were there for their convenience.

That said, he didn’t want Ansem in his office and the old man wanting to chat about something personal grated.

“Do we?” Squall asked. “I personally didn’t think i had anything to do with you.”

“Ah, but a little birdie told me you know where my missing child is. And yet, I’ve had to seek you out on my own. Are you somehow unaware of my family’s situation?” The ‘sadness’ on Ansem’s face looked far less sincere without the lighting and makeup provided by the networks he regularly guest starred on.

Squall’s look nearly mimicked his insincerity. “Perhaps knowing your family’s situation is precisely the reason i would not come forward. They are no longer yours.”

Ansem seemed to think this was no different than one of his television interviews. He affected a tragic-struck aura, dabbing at his eyes lightly. “Alas, they haven’t been mine for many a year now, since they mysteriously disappeared.”

Cloud snorted, only in wolf form it sounded more like a sneeze. Naminé was nearly pressed against the wall, both hands clinging too-tightly to Cloud’s fur and confusion all over her face as her eyes only half-clouded.

“Mysteriously.” Squall repeated softly. “What was their name again?”

“For legal reasons, i’m not at liberty to say. I’m sure you understand- names are power and all that.” He’d already switch fake-emotions, now affecting the put-outness of a salesman.

Squall leaned forward, resting his chin on his palm. He wasn’t sure if he was amused or infuriated. Some things were a fine line. “I’m interested to know who this little bird is to start with, but i’m not entirely convinced. What was your child’s gender?”

He did his best not to look in Cloud and Naminé’s direction at all.

“Why on earth would you ask me a question I couldn’t possibly know?” He said, seemingly slightly offended. “I haven’t seen them since they were a small child, much less had a conversation about how they identify!”

Squall watched this old man’s outrage and had to wonder if he noticed every small tick because he knew the truth already, or if he would have bought this story months ago when he hadn’t known any better.

“Well then, i can’t possibly say for sure if i know your child or not.” Squall mused. The man had walked right past her. He’d even spoken to her for a moment and gave no indication that he recognized her.

If Squall could keep her hidden for one more moment, he would.

“Ah, but my lead was very certain that you do.” Ansem leaned forward in his seat, beseechingly “Surely you wouldn’t deny a father a chance at reunion?”

“Can’t help you.” Squall shrugged, not the least bit sympathetic. “No name. No gender. No birthday? I suppose you won’t even tell me your source, will you? Surely you would understand my desire to keep this child safe.”

“Genkai.” He said simply, now no-nonsense.

Squall took the name seriously. “Then she can call me herself.” It wasn’t like Yen Sid’s wife didn’t have his number, but her potentially putting a child in danger didn’t make any sense unless she foresaw how this was going to turn out already.

“Everyone knows the sage doesn’t keep a phone.” Ansem had the nerve to laugh.

“She can call me.” Squall repeated as if Ansem were the slow one. “I’m afraid i can’t help you.”

Ansem stood, hands on the desk and looming slightly “The reward is not insubstantial. I realize others may well be interested, and i’m willing to double any other offers you receive.”

“Why would others be interested in your former child?” Squall glanced up at him. “I don’t know what your usual deals are like, but i don’t accept money in place of children. It’s overall insulting you would even mention something like a reward. I won’t be giving this child to anyone”

Cloud growled low, his fur sticking up on end as he prowled into the middle of the room. He was still a barrier between Ansem and Naminé, who was still clinging and pale, but he was showing Squall’s displeasure.

Ansem’s disposition changed dangerously. “Just what are you implying.”

“Was I not clear?” Squall’s smile was pleasant. “You picked the wrong witch to try to manipulate, Ansem. I will protect that kid. Even from you.”

“Protect- I’m their father!” He slammed a hand down on Squall’s desk, not noticing a glyph lighting up when he did so.

Squall blinked, completely nonplussed. “Is that really the story you’re going with?”

Ansem nearly lost his composure before turning to look at Naminé with a beeseaching look. “Young miss, surely you have more of a heart then your brother?”

Her jaw dropped lightly as she stared at him incredulously. “You can’t be serious…”

“Ah- but surely a police-employed Seer wouldn’t mind-”

“Are you an idiot?” The Leonhart bluntness had apparently rubbed off on her already.

Cloud stood in front of Naminé, his hair raised and his jaw hanging loose as he growled deep in his chest. It was not a friendly sound at all.

“Ansem.” Squall said curtly. “I think it’s time you got out of my office.”

He was blustering protests while Naminé took a half step out from behind Cloud, looking Squall in the eye and quietly asking. “Is it true?”

Squall searched her gaze for a moment, unafraid to meet her eyes and nodded. “I have every reason to think so, yes.”

Ansem all but exploded “Is what true!?”

Naminé took a handful of steps forward “...do you have anything of your missing child’s, or are you giving me your blood.”

“Giving you my- Why on Gaia would I-”

“Blood calls to blood.” She darted forward and nicked his hand with a tiny knife meant for taking samples from plants, knowing she was testing the limits of the wards. But it was for magic Ansem did want done, and she wasn’t hit with the ramifications, even if several glyphs did light up.”

“Impulsiveness runs in your family a bit too harshly.” Ansem said to Squall as he pulled out a handkerchief to make sure he didn’t get a drop on his expensive clothes.

“Nah, like my mother before me, i’d have punched you. I think she had a lot of restraint and class personally.” Squall said, moving around the desk. He side stepped Ansem, wanting to be on the same side of the room as Cloud and Naminé. “You really don’t get it, do you? Why are you called ‘wise’ again?”

Naminé cut her own palm open, letting the blood mix as her eyes exploded in a full Seer’s vision, light emanating from them fully enough that her eyes were no longer visible. A much stronger reaction then Squall or Cloud had ever seen before; and they’d seen her use her abilities on several occasions now.

Ventus poked his head out, tongue flicking nervously. Cloud stood up on two feet, shifting forms quickly as he moved back to her side. He wasn’t touching but he was close enough to be right there if she needed him.

Squall’s attention remained on Ansem, waiting for things to click in the old man's head.

Vanitas hissed as Ansem’s expression changed. “But…you’re too old…”

“Don’t know the name or gender but he seems to remember the age.” Squall snorted. “You are an idiot.”

“Oh come now; I’ve had enough children that it all blurs together! And that bitch Scheherazade went and died on me, so I couldn’t confirm which one she kept since Mavis disappeared off the face of the planet!”

“...the police assumed I had to be older since I'd dual-bonded with minimal ingredients and my magic pool was so shallow.” Naminé had twin tracks of tears moving down her face slowly. “I was never sure about it. I can’t see anyone involved with that place…or anyone I'm related to. I know one’s a block they put on me. This isn’t. I didn’t want to believe it, so I accidentally made my own.” She offered her bloody palm to Vanitas, both in offering and distraction. She didn’t need them striking out. “...you sold me.”

The atmosphere in the room shifted with those words. Squall stared at Ansem and he was livid. His magic bounced around the room and only the fact that his own wards were the ones in the office kept them from activating.

“Sold to who and how?” Squall asked. This was the lead he wanted. This was how he’d find Hojo.

Cloud drew Naminé closer, his body stiff in anger. Squall seemingly in control was the only thing that kept him from breaking Ansem in half.

The older man took a half step back. “Now see here- passing resemblance to my ex-wife aside, there’s no proof that-”

“I’m a Seer,” She scowled at him, leaning back into Cloud as both cobras hissed angrily. “And frankly, there’s more then a few police officer’s who’d love to know-”

“You are a minor and my child. You’re coming home.” He took a single step forward.

“By law, she’s mine.” Squall said smugly and swore he owed Cobra Bubbles a favor, any favor. “I am her legal guardian.”

“Mine.” Cloud echoed, wild eyes daring Ansem to disagree.

Naminé gave Squall a slightly panicked look; he’d have to formally adopt her and-

“No court would grant you custody over me.” Ansem said with a sneer.

Vanitas flared his hood, hissing dangerously and in a strike pose, coiled on his witch’s hip.

“Sure they would. Ansem the Wise sold his daughter. I can see the headlines now.” Squall mused. “The legend of the man overshadowed by his under the table dealings with a psychotic witch specializing in experimenting and torturing witches and familiars alike. Ansem the Wise admitted to the guardian of one of his children disappearing, sounds suspicious to me.”

“You could disappear too.” Cloud offered softly. He knew a mountain they could dispose of him on where he’d never be found. Naminé elbowed him very lightly, shaking her head minutely. They didn’t need to escalate this situation-

Ansem made as if to grab her arm, and it was Ventus who struck out with a noise the adults hadn’t heard before, even as Vanitas’ hissing increased to a furious pitch.

“Careful Ansem.” Squall said seriously. “I seem to have misplaced my antivenom.” Cloud kept Naminé, but that didn’t mean he was in the cobras’ way.

Small blue circles kept Ventus from actually making contact, and Naminé tilted her head in thought. “Didn’t realize intent was that potent a factor; i’d have labeled that defense. We might want to tweak the wards Squall.”

“Maybe so.” Squall said, it had been a safety measure for the students, not a foolish old man who needed his ass kicked. He placed a hand on Ansem’s shoulder. “As you can see, inside my office we are at a bit of a standstill. However, if you’d like to take this to the hall way, my wolf will be more than happy to bite you.” He sounded nearly pleasant. “I recommend leaving, however. There’s nothing you can do.”

“You think you can make a mockery of me- threaten me, and keep my child hostage-”

“I suggest,” Naminé began quietly, safely ensconced in Cloud’s arms and with her own hands full of spitting hissing cobras “You take it up with Cobra Bubbles and the police. My ID says i’m an adult; you’ll need to launch an investigation to even allege I'm a minor.”

“You already admitted-!”

“No comment.” She said with a fake serene smile.

“Didn’t hear a thing.” Squall added. “Ansem, you’re a disgrace, and it would take very little to turn some of these wards off and let the familiars vent their anger. Now get out. If you want a fight, i’ll give you one.”

“You’ll see me in court. This isn’t the end of this.” He slammed a fist on the desk again before angrily stalking out of the room, muttering about people taking what was his.

Cloud growled softly and waited for Squall to shut the door before fully turning to Naminé to cuddle her closer. He was stressed, but it was nothing compared to what she must have been feeling.

“Truly…” Cloud said, voice rough. “We can get rid of him and he’ll never be found. The pack would handle it.”

Squall smiled wryly, hating how tempting the idea was. “Someone of his caliber can’t disappear that easily, besides, if he has more information on that psychotic prick, i want it.”

Naminé was shaking, and it took a moment for anyone to pick up on that she was both crying and laughing, crossing the line into hysterics.

“Hey.” Cloud said softly, bending to press his forehead to hers. “You are a Leonhart. Everything will be taken care of.”

She hiccupped a not-quite-sane sounding giggle “I- I always suspected but…he really…”

As a safety precaution, Squall stepped forward and gently covered her eyes with his hand. “My little sister, you listen to me now. That man means nothing to us. He means nothing to you. Perhaps he was once your father but he isn’t anymore. Cloud is.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry you know this kind of pain, but you need to let it go.”

She tentatively reached up to touch her hair, and it had thickened, but not enough that she was worried about having gone gorgon. Both cobras were wound tightly against her skin under her sweater, and each had a nose against either side of her neck, making odd sounds that didn’t quite match their current bodies. “...I still can’t see him.”

“What you can and can’t see doesn’t matter.” Squall promised. “It’s not on your shoulders alone.”

She gave a shaky sigh and nodded “...do you have my glasses?”

“I do.” Squall said, he’d worked on them for weeks before being confident in them. The contacts were taking a little longer. Most of the time Naminé didn’t need them but stress had her control slipping. He rested his cheek against the top of her head. “I’ll get them, but you know we’re right here for you.”

“...we should probably try to contact Bubbles before he does.” She really wasn’t looking forward to being a ward of the state again. She’d never corrected their estimation of her age for several reasons; not the least of which being an early exit.

“I’ve already signed papers.” Squall said softly. “Cloud too. Bubbles knew way more than he should somehow. Guess that happens when you're always suspicious.”

“Calling him is still important.” Cloud muttered. “The papers are just waiting to be processed now. Call him.”

Naminé gave that odd giggle again “Thought you were bluffing.”

Cloud growled at her softly while Squall moved back to his desk to pull out the glasses case. “Of course we weren’t.”

“You’re stuck with us.” Squall agreed with a smile, pulling the glasses out and slipping them onto her nose. When he tilted her face towards her, he made a point to look her in the eye with no fear whatsoever. “You’re my sister and Ansem can fuck off.”

She gave a fragile but genuine smile “Well. Guess you’ll finally get to meet Rafiki.”

Cloud shrugged, not bothering to ask who that was while he still held Naminé, one of his hands was petting a cobra though he wasn’t sure which one at the moment.

“Sounds familiar.” Squall muttered, but he couldn’t place the name, too focused on pulling his phone back and calling Cobra Bubbles to get the ball rolling. As ever, it took two rings. Straight to voicemail was the only other option the man seemed to allow. “Incident or placement request?”

“Incident. I need those papers we discussed to be fully active.” Squall said while Cloud ushered Naminé and her cobras into their living quarters through the next door.

“My office, twenty minutes.” Somehow Bubbles sounded even more alert than usual.

“I’ll be there.” Squall said, hanging up a beat later. He did what he could to take up as little of the man’s time as possible, and it would give him time to make sure Naminé, Ventus, and Vanitas were okay.

He sent a text to Sora, heavily suggesting that while everything was fine, that he made his way towards their quarters to check on things for himself.

Cloud was already sitting with Naminé, being in their own family space seemed to do her some good.

“I’m going to go see Bubbles.” Squall said. “Will just be a few minutes.”

“ ‘kay.” Naminé said quietly, fiddling with a piece of hair.

“We’re fine.” Cloud agreed, one arm around her shoulders and the other one patting a fully coiled Vanitas, both twins on their witch’s lap now that they were in a safer place.

Squall smiled faintly and could see Naminé already relaxing a little more. “Good. Won’t be long.” He spoke one more time before turning to leave. He texted Sora again, answering a few of his questions.

Apparently starting a text with ‘everything is fine, but’ was anxiety inducing in his younger brother and he was headed for Squalls rooms immediately to check on things.

The walk to Cobra Bubbles office from his own wasn’t a short one but he was still going to be there earlier than promised. It didn’t matter to him if he had to wait a few minutes but it would definitely impress upon Cobra how urgent things were.

He was just in time to see Ansem’s ridiculous robe-like clothing flutter around a corner; apparently he’d been here first and was already done and leaving.

“Shit.” Squall sighed as he walked in. If Ansem wasn’t so well known and if his mama hadn’t raised him better…

Well, no one could accuse him of mentally wishing bad things on the man. “I feel like I already owe you an apology, Cobra.” he called before even seeing the man.

The man turned around from his shockingly expensive coffee machine, one finger up in the air as he spoke into his phone “The entire staff knows Trepe. Its a non issue. Yes. Yes. Do I come across as a man who makes jokes to you? Appreciated.” He hung up and sat at his desk, turning to look at Squall. “We are altering the wards when my appointments are done for the day; between seven and eight.”

“I can alter large portions of them easily from the ley lines.” Squall said, wondering how many things Cobra was multitasking at once. “What are we changing?”

“Currently all post-grad alumni are allowed unfettered access, the same as any student. However,” His voice turned to a growl. “A post-grad alumni just walked into my office without an appointment. As if he had the right.”

Squall frowned but he was secretly pleased someone else was pissed off at the man too. “What did he want?”

“To make demands.” It was clear Cobra Bubbles was displeased. “Would you care for some coffee? It’s imported. Destiny Islands.”

“I’d love some.” Squall said, walking in to pour a quick cup before taking a seat. “I’m afraid he came to see me first so his mood was mostly my fault. It was warranted though, promise.”

He’d tried to keep himself in check as a teacher but many knew as a witch, he could have a bit of a temper when forced to deal with people.

“Irrelevant. He bypassed three secretaries, a check-in desk, and a mounted plaque that designates appointments only.” He sipped from a comically small cup, pinky out. “It's personal now.” There was a single knock at the door. “Enter Trepe.”

Quistis set two flasks on the desk, looking a bit harried, nodded at Squall, and saw herself out. Cobra poured a generous shot into his own cup, stirred with a dainty piece of metal, and sipped again. “Now then. What sort of mess have you found yourself in this time?”

Squall made the decision right there. Having Cobra’s help would likely be beneficial in the end. “I’m going to tell you about my sister and my wolf.”

~~~~

The last thing Cid wanted to see after landing the airship was someone on his no fly list- and especially Yuffie. “&^%$, Shera!”

A teacup was set down next to his elbow. “She’s holding an offering above her head. Might as well give her fifteen seconds to plead her case- you usually forgive her.” The thing about Treasure Hunters? They usually had something tucked away for when they inevitably needed to make amends.

Nanaki’s tail flickered back and forth as he peered out of the window. “Who is this person? You sound unhappy but you don’t smell unhappy. He didn’t look to know Vincent was sliding up behind him to also take a look.

The four of them were anxious to get off the airship for the first time in some months. They had their first clue in years towards their missing puppy.

“Ah shit- you guys’ve never actually met have ya?” Cid gruffed, rubbing at his beard. “Wutian princess in self-exile, ring a bell? Kisaragi hitches rides from time to time on her ‘adventures’, usually gives us tips or merch in exchange. But the brat’s annoying as hell and gets airsick. Not always worth the hassle.” Cid was used to picking up and dropping off his long-term passengers, but it hadn’t actually occurred to him until now that several of them had never been on board at the same time, since his mysterious friends spent almost as much time on board as off.

Vincent hummed lightly “The hyperactive girl with the jackal? I’ve been in the mess with them, but nothing more. Knows her tea, but doesn’t know how to appreciate quiet.”

Nanaki just laughed at the assessment but he threw Cid an amused look. “You cave more often than not when it comes to her, don’t you?”

“C’mon, c’mon.” Zack was in the doorway. “This isn’t a permanent goodbye so kiss and let's get a move on.”

He was obviously the most fidgety. Having an idea of where to find his childhood friend had him practically bouncing on his heels but he wasn’t going to leave the ship without the others and definitely not without Sephiroth at his side.

All things considered, some slight separation anxiety wasn’t the worst thing he could have acquired over the years. Cid’s hand came up quickly to bop Zack’s head in a familiar gesture. “You watch your mouth kid- you ain’t so old I can’t wash it out with soap!”

Shera gave him a very unimpressed look. Cid was the last person who should be telling anyone to watch their mouths.

“What did i say!?” Zack complained, backing into Sephiroth’s chest who had appeared behind him when he moved to duck away from Cid in case he came at him a second time.

“Be patient.” Sephroth said, voice almost too quiet.

Vincent offered Shera his arm and began to escort her to the exit. “Once the rest of you are finished dispelling nervous energy, you may join the adults in seeing what our unexpected company has to discuss with us.” Apparently he and Shera had been the only ones to so far pick up on it being odd Yuffie had been waiting for them when this wasn’t on the Highwind’s itinerary; and they were far ahead of schedule for landing.

“Vincent.” Zack groaned, he hated being treated like a kid but Vincent had the ability to make everyone -even occasionally Sephiroth- feel like a child.

“Shh.” A smile twitched at Sephiroth’s lips as he followed behind Vincent and Shera, sure Nanaki was right behind them. Cid was of course grumbling that he had to deal with the girl but there was no heat in his tone.

Yuffie was jumping up and down lightly in place, basket of goodies luckily deep enough to handle her antics. “Heeeeeeeeeey!”

All of them exited the airship, Cid ready to start the arguing, then the haggling that usually happened with Yuffie but Zack’s puzzled gaze attracted everyone’s attention when he started speaking.

“I know you…” He muttered, looking past Yuffie at her familiar. “Don’t I?”

Tifa’s jaw dropped, and her tone got Yuffie to stop her antics. “Zack?!”

“You…” Zack actually let go of Sephiroth to approach her which did not go unnoticed. “You lived close by.” He was thinking it out. “Name, what was your name? Tifa!” he said suddenly, the memory popping in.

She took a few quick steps towards him. While she didn't look it, she was pregnant enough that her growing bump touched him first when she hugged him. “Asshole! Idiot!” And then the emotional crying started.

Yuffie seemed to wilt in place “Aww, Tif…”

Zack laughed and hugged her tight. “You got tall! And pregnant! You're pregnant right!?” He snickered harder, there were times when he had trouble understanding just how much time had passed while they were in captivity. “It’s good to see you!”

All in all, it was a completely different reaction she had to see Cloud again for the first time.

“Good to see- have you even been back home? Why didn’t you contact me!” She hit him lightly with a closed fist, but there was no real energy behind it.

Yuffie was laughing nervously. “Teef, c’mon, aren’t you going a little overboard? I’m sure he has a good reason-”

“Do you?!” She whisper shouted, glaring at Zack.

“Things got… complicated.” Zack shook his head, having trouble explaining that he couldn’t yet force himself to go back to the place he’d been abducted from. “You should really be less pissed and more happy. More to the point, we finally know where to find Cloud.”

“Oh. Yeah, Cloud. He’s not really…good. With company.” Tifa said, wilting into a quieter mood and rubbing away at her stupid hormonal eyes.

Zack frowned a moment then shrugged. “I get it. We get it…” He glanced behind him towards the other three for a moment. “No one came out of that place unscathed, but he might have told you something similar.”

The reminder that there were other people, who had watched the entire thing, and they were strangers, had Tifa taking the two steps back to Yuffie’s side. “Oh uhm. Hello.”
Yuffie was barely holding the basket up anymore. “...ya know, this might be a dumb question but. What the heck is going on?”

Zack sniffed once and grinned. “Oh hey, you’re with Tifa. That’s cool. Hi. I’m Zack!” He introduced himself almost pleasantly. Only his close friends knew he was compensating for whatever feelings were rolling inside him. “Tifa and i grew up like…Well basically in the same town. I guess you already know Cid but these are my friends.”

He gestured wildly behind him. “Vincent, Nanaki, and my partner Sephiroth. We’ve been looking for Cloud, you know?”

Yuffie blinked “Uh. For how long? Cid, how come you never said anythi-”

“Because no one ever gave me any &^#@#$ names!” He half exploded, already done with this nonsense. “And now i’m starting to wonder what the %$^# I never asked for!” He was sure if he’d pushed, Sephiroth or Nanaki would have said something. And Vincent would have if he’d even thought to after all this time; but he’d dropped it years ago because he had the damn decency to not pester people who had already been through the trenches.

Shera sighed, fingers against her forehead. “Oh dear.”

Sephiroth shook his head slowly. “It just doesn’t matter anymore. We can’t change it. The fact is, we know now. Lingering now is unacceptable.”

Zack hummed, understanding. Seemed like Cid knew not only where to find Cloud, but other people who knew where to find him too. “Whatever. Seph’s right.” He turned back to Tifa. “Cid knows where to find Cloud but what about you? Have you seen him lately? We saw him on the freaking TV.”

Yuffie handed the basket to Shera before turning to Cid. “Look, the school’s more or less on lock down these days, and just showing up at their house is gonna cause problems. Let’s call Selphie and figure something out, okay?”

“Who’s that?” Zack asked but Cid was already nodding.

“Yeah, yeah.” Cid said, “Probably better that way. Neutral ground or whatever. As neutral as it gets considering it also belongs to Squall.”

Vincent was giving Zack a bemused look. “Have you paid exactly no attention to the business aspects of our abode? Selphie is the intermediary for the shop which Cid dispenses the majority of his goods at.” It was just their livelihood, for all that they were a step above freeloaders.

“I thought it was a bunch of shops.” Zack grumbled like a scolded child.

Sephiroth heaved a sigh. “Still, it is one more insult. This entire time assisting a shop that Cloud is now affiliated with via bond.”

They assumed he was bonded anyway given the way the media harped on Leonhart’s relationships. The collar was a dead give away too.
“Well…to be fair, they haven’t been together all that long?” Yuffie said slowly, trying to lessen the obvious blow.

“So are we going then?” Zack asked.

“&^%$, you’re impatient. Yes.” Cid said. Maybe if it had just been Zack he’d have prolonged things just to be a jerk but he could see the tension in Vincent’s body. He was losing patience too.

Pulling out his phone, Cid was pulling up Selphie’s number, letting her know they’d be swinging by. He shot Yuffie a look. “Call Squall.”
“Yeah yeah…” She pulled her phone out with a pout.

While Cid spoke with Selphie, Zack turned back to Tifa. He had a million questions he didn’t know if she could answer, so he settled on one. “Is Cloud happy?”

“...I don’t know.” It was near impossible to get a read on his emotional state, but there was one thing she was sure of. “But he’s in love, and the new family he’s made is important to him. He’s got kids. He cares about them.”

“Course he does.” Zack said, with no idea he was misunderstanding. “I’m glad. I’m glad to hear that. He deserves it.” He took several steps back until he was leaning against Sephiroth.

Yuffie made an irritated noise and stomped her foot. “Straight to voicemail- are you kidding me?!”

“Well,” Cid pulled out a cigarette to light. “Looks like you’re going to go get him…”
“Aww…”

Shera plucked the cigarette out of Cid’s hand before he managed it.

Cid looked like he had a few choice words for his familiar…..and very quickly thought better of speaking them. “Let’s go.” he grumbled, nodding to the vehicles that belonged to him. They’d have to grab a larger one to fit all of them.

He had faith that if anyone would hunt Squall down and drag him, and his wolf anywhere, it would be Yuffie.

Shera patted his back gently. “Not near Tifa. She’s pregnant.” Cid could only grudgingly agree with her.

Yuffie paled lightly “Oh, no, c’mon, not the truck…at least let me sit in the front, you know how motion sick I get!”

Cid snorted. “Privileges go to your partner.” He gestured to the truck and Nanaki was already climbing into the back. Sephiroth and Zack also seemed to have no problems following him and climbing up into the flatbed of the truck. It said a lot about how much they trusted Cid. Shera perched on the captain’s shoulder in her sparrow form.

Yuffie whined lightly “Aw, c’mon…”

Vincent sighed and also found a seat in the back of the truck, leaving two spaces beside Cid in the cab.

“Move it.” Cid said, getting in the driver's seat. “We’ll drop you off and meet you at the shop.”

Tifa moved into the offered seat, turning to look at her witch. “I’ll stay with them while you track Squall down and help explain things to Selphie.”

It felt like a good plan and ensured that the two groups wouldn’t somehow miss each other. Yuffie would definitely find her way back to Tifa and dragging Squall along was something of a specialty. Everyone was nervous to reunite, and at the moment Cloud had no idea what was coming.

~

In Squall’s living quarters at the academy Sora was wrapped around Naminé on the sofa. Riku was leaning against her side in a show of solidarity. She was upset so they were there to help make it better.

Sora didn’t actually have any of the details of what had happened but that didn’t matter either. “We’ll go home when Squall gets back.”

Cloud just grunted his agreement.

“‘Kay.” It was about the only thing she’d said since they’d retreated into the safe space, cobras still a weighted blanket on her lap.

“It’s good here.” Cloud muttered. “But better at home.”

“I’ll make dinner.” Sora promised, resting his head against her shoulder. Just the fact that she was wearing her glasses told Sora she was having a hard day

“Kay.” Ventus made a sad noise after she spoke, head moving over to rest on top of Sora’s hand.

Sora stroked his scales. “A nice big dinner and warm bed.” he promised for all five of them, though he didn’t deny the option that Naminé might want to stay with Cloud. “We’ll be okay.”

There was a knocking noise from the classroom door, and an unmistakable voice calling out into the office. “Squally, yoo-hoo!”

Cloud’s brows rose for a moment but it wasn’t like he needed to guess who it wasn’t. “I’ll be right back.” he muttered, wandering back to the door that connected to the office before opening it.

His head cocked to the side in greeting. “Yuffie…” She was too loud for him.

She seemed surprised for a moment before her eyes landed on the collar. “Oh, hey Cloudy. Where’s Grumpy-Pants?”

“Meeting.” Cloud said, voice gravelly. He couldn’t have forced more words out if he tried but he couldn’t hide his mood either.

“O-kay, but is he gonna be back soon?” She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t wanna leave Tifa for too long.”

Cloud gave her a considerably long look and shook his head. “No. He’ll be back soon. Should be.” He wouldn’t want to leave Naminé that long.

“Okay, so uh…is it a bad time?” Despite being a room away, she was already picking up on the mood.

He heaved a sigh. “Long day.”

The door from the classroom to the office opened and Squall strode in. “And getting longer but at least i feel somewhat vindicated in not being the only one pissed off. Cobra is seething.” He paused. “Yuffie. What are you doing here?” As a greeting it was lacking but it was more curious than anything.

As it was, she jumped nearly enough to hit the doorframe, Cloud’s hand moving to block it just in case automatically; he’d had a lot of practice with Sora. “Put a bell on!”

“Well how was I supposed to know you were just standing there.” Squall shrugged. He glanced at Cloud, “Naminé okay?”

“Not really, but she’s soaking up Sora’s attention so she’s not entirely shutting down.” Cloud said, somewhat upset himself that there was nothing he could do to soothe her.

Yuffie gave a small cough, “Uh, Squall? Can I…talk to you alone for a minute?”

Squall frowned, wondering what problem was about to be dropped in his lap. “Sure.”

Cloud just grunted with a nod, leaving them in the office and opting to return to Sora and the others. Yuffie moved back into the classroom proper, and sat on Squall’s desk “So…turns out Cid’s friends with people who knew Cloud. Ran into them today.”

It was a phrase that cranked up Squall’s suspicious nature to high levels. “Knew Cloud from where?”

“They didn’t say, but Tifa got stupid emotional so kinda didn’t bother asking. At least one of them’s from the same hometown and has also been missing.”

Yuffie swung her legs lightly, trying to work off some nervous energy. “You didn’t answer, so Tifa took them to the apartment above the shop while I tracked you down.”

He’d thought his phone had vibrated while he was with Cobra, but his hackles were rising anyway with the newest bit of information. “Missing?” He paused to recall information. “A bear? Is he a bear? It’s more than one?”

Yuffie put a finger to her chin. “I didn’t ask. And yeah, group of four. Tifa and I half know one of them, big emo vampire-looking dude, Cid’s been shacking up with him for a while now. Have you met?”

“No.” Squall was frowning. “I haven’t seen Cid in a few months.” He hadn’t even introduced Cid to Cloud yet. He couldn’t recall Cloud mentioning a vampire looking guy but Cloud found a lot from that place hard to talk about. “Got a name? Any names?”

She nodded. “Yeah- Sephiroth, Vincent, Zack and Nanaki.”

Zack. He wasn’t sure about all the others but he was sure the bear's name was Zack. “You sent them to my shop?” He repeated, his own hair nearly standing on end the way Cloud’s did.

Yuffie held her hands up in surrender “Well yeah, couldn’t exactly bring them on campus, and it felt intrusive to bring them right to your house. Where else was I gonna put them?”

“No.” Squall said abruptly. “No, that’s fine. I need to get Cloud.” For all Yuffie probably thought she was going to need to drag him out kicking and whining, Squall seemed remarkably cooperative.

“So um…did something happen before I got here?”

“Ansem the Wise is picking a fight with me and the fucker thinks he’s going to win.” Squall rolled his eyes. He didn’t have it in him to tone down his opinion anymore for the day.

Yuffie, however, went suddenly serious. “Hang on a sec…Ansem. What.”

“No. Fuck him. He can die.” Squall snapped, enraged himself. He had to force himself to relax, knowing Yuffie didn’t have all the information but one she did… “C’mon, we’ll have the kids go home and figure this out.”

“Yeah, deal.” She wasn’t the least bit put off, and seemed to be taking on his mood even.

Moments like these, he appreciated Yuffie’s ability to read the room. They headed back towards their living quarters and all it took was Squall holding onto Yuffie’s hand to get her into their living space briefly.

“Sora, take everyone home. Cloud and i will be there a bit later. I have something to do first.” Squall said.

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” Sora agreed, putting on a smile that said he had everything covered as Naminé snoozed on his shoulder, having apparently passed out. He and Riku would take care of the others.

Cloud however took more convincing. He and Squall merely stared at each other while Cloud tried to puzzle out Squall’s sudden spike of adrenaline. He finally nodded his consent to this last minute chore. Yuffie grinned at Sora. “We’ll fill ya in soon, ‘kay?”

“Sure.” Sora sighed, looking relieved that he wouldn’t be left out.

“I’ll text you.” Squall added, linking his fingers with Cloud’s. “Let’s go.” He wasn’t sure if he should leave this a surprise or not, but Cloud would find out soon enough.

~

Sephiroth paced around the room, nostrils flaring while Selphie and Shera made tea and attempted awkward small talk. It smelled like Naminé, her cobras, a faint whiff of Cloud…this wasn’t another dead end. They’d found the right place this time.

“It’s okay.” Zack said softly, holding onto Sephiroth’s shirt. “It’s okay…” They were all on edge. Nanaki had been continuously making circles around the small space and Tifa couldn’t do anything but sit and accept the tea handed to her. These people seemed as desperate to see Cloud as she had but they’d been the ones with him, hadn’t they? There were so many pieces she still didn’t have.

Vincent was ‘casually’ inspecting the apartment, thinking it was a decent size and nicely decorated for a young witch with two familiars. Roomy, even, but perhaps more suited as an area for additional storage for the shop. Perhaps they utilized a basement instead? The tall windows let in a lot of light, and so many things needed to be out of it…

Sephiroth didn’t stop pacing. “At least they weren’t alone.” Or worse. He’d spent a lot of time thinking up horrible scenarios. They all had. Nanaki lifted his head up at the noise of a car door closing, ear swiveling.

~

Yuffie groaned as she got out of the car, looking nearly as green as her shirt. “Please tell me you have Dramamine in your shop; first aid kit for for sale, I don’t care…”

“You’re a freaking witch, Yuffie.” Squall sighed. “You haven’t learned to make an anti nausea infusion yet?”

“Gained immunity.” She grumped, giving him a nasty look.

He snorted, “Take a look around, I’m sure you’ll find something you want. I probably owe you anyway.”

Cloud wasn’t doing particularly well himself after the car ride but he was still confused about what they were doing. He could still practically count Squall’s heart beats and wasn’t pushing but this day was going from long to longer. Yuffie throwing up in a planter really wasn’t easing his mood any.

“Squall…” Cloud frowned.

“Let’s go inside.” Squall said, “Yuffie, i’ll have Selphie pour some tea for you. I got something that will help ease the dizziness.” He added, speaking over his shoulder as he walked with Cloud in through the back door.

For a moment longer Cloud remained confused, wondering what they needed to do here now when Selphie usually ran things so flawlessly and it wasn’t like Squall brought any supplies with him to drop off. He had only a moment to wonder before he stiffened, eyes becoming like saucers before he turned and headed upstairs. He hadn’t been there since they helped Naminé move out but it wasn’t like he didn’t know where to go. He followed the smells. With Squall only several steps behind him he shoved the door open, already speechless.

“Cloud!” Zack’s volume wasn’t the least bit surprising, nor was the way he surged forward, grabbing Cloud into a hug.

What was surprising, and a little hurtful for Tifa at least, was that Cloud allowed it.

“Zack…”

Sephiroth took a few steps forward, putting a hand on Zack’s shoulder as the man wept openly. His other hand went to the back of Cloud’s head gently. “You’re safe…”

Cloud was quiet, but Squall could feel his nerves. He was downright terrified this wasn’t real. Right in the doorway he clung to Zack, one hand reaching out to hold onto Sephiroth’s shirt just like Zack had been doing minutes before.

His breathing was unsteady but he wasn’t willing to let go for anything, not yet.

Cid cleared his throat awkwardly from the couch. “Sit yer @&$ down and have some goddamn tea, Leonhart. This show’s not ours.”

“Fuck off, Cid.” Squall said pleasantly, an almost smile on his lips. He wasn’t exactly steady himself as he experienced all of Cloud’s strong emotions second hand. “Hello Shera.”

“Hello dear,” She offered him a weak smile. “Sorry for just dropping in like this.”

Squall shook his head. “This is the last thing you need to apologize for.” He took a seat, and despite the strong emotions, Cloud was so happy.

Selphie looked terribly confused, “Uhm, should I close the shop early? I left Tiana on the register but…”

“You run the day to day, if you think that’s best for now, sure.” Squall agreed, he wasn’t worried about his shop today. It could easily survive closing a few hours early for the day. The reunion was more important.

“Can’t believe you actually grew.” Zack muttered, voice thick from emotion. He couldn’t help the slight teasing jab.

“Shut up.” Cloud breathed out weakly.

“Is that snark a Nibelheim gene or something?” Yuffie asked, still looking a bit green as she finally made her way upstairs. Tifa gave her a sympathetic look. “I thought the nausea was just me…and no, not really. Zack’s actually from Gongaga, he came to Nibelheim later.” It was just a coincidence.

“Not surprised.” Squall mumbled. Zack was proving to be louder than Cloud but there was something familiar about the sass that could appear at the drop of a pin.

Cloud sniffed, though tears never really fell. He looked up at Sephiroth and pushed into his arms for a turn hugging him as well. “You’re all… here.”

Vincent stayed off to the side, apparently waiting his turn.

Sephiroth, however, couldn’t help but comment “And yet it's just you here. Where’s Naminé?”

“And where are the kids? Jessie?” Zack added, wondering why Cloud only smelled like witch and scales.

Squall sat straighter before he could help it, watching as Cloud suddenly went so pale he looked ill. His lips parted, attempting to answer but no sound came out.

Tifa broke the silence hesitantly. “Who’s Jessie?”

The question had Zack mirroring Cloud’s face, mind going to the worst case scenario. “...and…and the kids…” He’d assumed that Tifa had meant Cloud’s pups when she’d mentioned him caring about his kids.

Cloud was quiet for a long moment, mouth trying to work but sounds weren’t happening. He finally inhaled, the sound so ragged and broken that no one was exactly surprised by the near sob like noise he did make. He couldn’t say it.

Vincent swooped in before anyone else could react, sweeping Cloud up like he was two years old.

Cloud shattered, and with the understanding that slowly drifted across the room, no one blamed him in the least. Cloud held onto Vincent, the person he’d seen so briefly only once but who had been with him just close enough to barely touch for years, arm bending at an unnatural angle through cell bars to comfort him as a child. In the span of a moment he’d gone from too choked up to speak, to openly sobbing against Vincent’s shoulder.

Squall was nearly doubled over, head in his hands as the grief washed over him. It was damn near worse than physical pain. The first time Cloud had spoken of the death of his lover and children, Squall had been too furious to register all of Cloud’s emotion. This time nothing clouded the transfer of emotions the bond created between them. Selphie leaned over to rub at his back. As a medium, she had no familiar but she was well versed in feeling another’s raw emotions.

Tifa looked sick, hands over her stomach protectively as tears streaked down her face. She’d had no idea…

“I’m sorry Cloud.” Vincent said quietly, sitting down on the floor and nearly folding around the blonde.

Nanaki was on Cloud’s other side, boxing him in against Vincent while Sephiroth was holding Zack. Prompto had been an otherwise bright spot in the middle of hell. As far as they knew, the second hadn’t even had a chance to be born.

Under any other circumstances Squall would have been the one to comfort Cloud, but that’s not what he needed in this moment. Right now he needed the people who protected him from the monsters during those terrible years. The way Cloud held onto Vincent was all Squall needed to see. He was doing more good than Squall could in that instance, and more to the point, Squall could feel how badly Cloud wanted the embrace. The emotions coming through the bond reminded Squall of being comforted by his mother.

Nanaki gave a long, low pitched howl, head tipping back to the high ceiling.

The sobbing was painful to listen to, but even Cid kept his mouth firmly shut, his fingers laced with Shera’s. It was clear that the group had been subjected to a lot when in captivity but this level of pain was just unspeakable.

Squall nearly swayed in his seat, the grief capping off as Cloud tried weakly to compose himself. There were so many things he’d shoved away in a box, these feelings among them. Squall had seen pieces before but never to this level. With Vincent and the others nearby, Cloud let everything out, the older man never pausing in making soothing circle motions on Cloud’s back with one hand.

There was a slight stirring in the air, but only Cloud was close enough to feel Chaos peek out, wanting to see Cloud with his own eyes. He’d missed the wolf too.

Cloud’s grip on his jacket was telling enough, he felt the stare.

“I’m so sorry, Cloud.” Zack whispered against Sephiroth’s shoulder. “So sorry.”

Cloud’s breathing was labored and he curled up tighter against Vincent, the same way Roxas and Xion did with him when they were upset.

Sephiroth held Zack carefully, turning to Squall but pausing when he saw how hard Cloud’s emotions were hitting the witch. Bonds could occasionally be as painful as they were beneficial. Even Yuffie was casting Squall soft looks as she held tightly onto Tifa.

It felt like much longer than it was before Cloud’s noises started to decrease, his breathing slowly returning to normal but if Squall’s slumped over frame was anything to go by, he wasn’t exactly feeling better after the outburst. Cid coughed awkwardly “...so uh. Seph mentioned a blonde girl?”

Sephiroth shot him a glare for bringing it up then and there- but Cid figured a change in subject was worth putting his foot halfway in his mouth.

“Naminé.” Squall said, voice muffled from his hunched over position. “She’s at home. She’s okay. Ventus and Vanitas too.”

When Cloud made a distressed noise, Squall followed up. “Well less so today. Was a shitty day, but they’re still fine.”

Sephiroth looked like he wanted to burn something. “Why less so today. Is Ventus still ill?”

Squall was cradling his head but did his best to answer. “Ansem the fucking Wise showed up. Thinks he’s going to take her away but he has no idea what I'd do to him first.” Squall inhaled. “Ventus is… constantly fatigued but over all seems well.”

Yuffie stood up abruptly. “Why would Ansem-...” The gears turning in her head nearly audibly clicked as she put the pieces together. “Oh…oh no way. Your sister is the missing kid?!”

“Sister?” Sephiroth asked, looking at Squall disbelievingly.

With a sigh, Squall was finally able to sit up again. “It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Naminé was running from something and doing her best to stay under the radar. When she and Cloud recognized each other well… I couldn’t just let her go. I’m technically her legal guardian at the moment. It was easier to give her my surname and let people assume what they wanted. Easier when they fill in the blanks themselves and Cloud wanted to keep them safe anyway. Ansem is not going to ruin that. Not when he sold his daughter in the first place.”

Cloud made a noise that was equal in both distress and anger.

Something audible cracked. “...sorry ‘bout the table Squall.” Yuffie said, not sounding very sorry at all.

Squall shook his head, so far beyond something so inconsequential.

“Still…” Cid muttered. “Old Ansem is going to have to play his cards well, like best ^&%$#$% game of his life well, if he plans to get one over on you. He’s gotta know you’ll have Yen Sid in your back pocket.”

“I’m going to let him dig his own grave.” Squall muttered.

“Screw that, let’s feed him to the boneyard.” Yuffie said darkly.

“Cloud had a similar suggestion.” Squall said dryly. “And as tempting as it is, someone like Ansem the Wise doesn’t just disappear, and certainly not after he’s had a few hours to throw a fit somewhere. Fortunately, it won’t be the academy. I’ll kick Kramer’s ass first.”

“Can you wait, like, a day for me to alert the betting pool?” Yuffie asked.

Squall shook his head. “Cobra’s already on it. He’s having the wards changed and everything. Ansem won’t be back to cause issues at the academy, not for a while.”

“I meant before you fight Kramer. There’s a lot of people betting on dates, which are fixed now, but the actual fight barely has any money on it.”

“Wouldn’t be a fair fight.” Squall said dryly, making Cid bark out a laugh.

“He’s afraid of you.” Cloud said, his voice rough from crying. He hadn’t turned towards them or even lifted his head from Vincent’s shoulder.

“Smart man.” Tifa said firmly.

Squall just shrugged, his attention back on Cloud who seemed happy enough to stay where he was. “Kramer isn’t the issue. Ansem is. He’s planning to take me to court but i can’t imagine why he thinks that will work.”

Selphie laughed, “Hope your court dates don’t clash- don’t you have summons for the Cowden trials?”

“Yeah. That’s a done damn deal too.” Squall shook his head, exhausted. Putting in an appearance for that wasn’t going to take long but his testimony would hold weight since he was actually Hayner’s main teacher and could attest to the kids behavioral ticks. “At least that trial should be quick. They’ve already got a shaman picked out for it.”

“You just keep getting pulled into all kinds of trouble lately, ain’t you.” Cid pointed out. “Thought you wanted to be a hermit.”

“Yeah well, shit keeps happening.” Squall shrugged.

“So I gather from the TV you’re like… someone.” Zack finally said after a short silence.

Squall shook his head. “Not exactly. I just say shit other people won’t say.”

Selphie rolled her eyes “Locally famous witch, business owner, and now media darling. Yeah, we’ll see how long till you hit national levels Squally.”

“He’s already done that with the wards stunt at the academy.” Cid commented. “Set your wolf on a poacher.”

“He set himself on poachers and had a grand time biting them over and over.” Squall said, Cloud grunting an affirmative.

Nanaki smiled at Cloud. “Turnabout is fair play.”

Cloud reached out blindly to touch Nanaki. He was too tired to explain that had he been just a little faster the poacher never would have been a problem again and he felt no guilt over that. At the moment, he had little desire to move, feeling so overwhelmingly safe between Vincent and Nanaki, who turned enough to rest his chin on Cloud’s leg.

“So…you all..?” Tifa asked hesitantly, still trying to piece everything together.

“Yep.” Zack offered her a nod. “All five of us were abducted years ago. It was not a nice time, I imagine you know a little.”

Cloud turned his head away, hiding his face.

“I do.” Squall muttered. “Otherwise Cloud hasn’t felt much like talking.”

Selphie was the one to connect the hanging dots first, looking at Sephiroth in horror. “And…that’s how you know Naminé…”

Sephiroth nodded, Zack answering verbally, “Yes. There was something of a major jailbreak a few years ago but we got separated.”

“Naminé got out earlier.” Sephiroth corrected him quietly.

Squall heaved a sigh. “Everyone’s safe for the moment. That’s all that matters. Would you like to come see Naminé?” He glanced at Cloud, but he seemed like he’d need a nudge to want to move.

Sephiroth said, “Yes”, almost before Squall finished asking the question.

Squall rubbed at his face and nodded. “C’mon Cloud. We’re going home. They’re coming too.”

Cloud only nodded once, still hiding against Vincent.

“Oh gods,” Yuffie groaned, looking miserable, “We have to drive again.”

Chapter Text

With everyone eager to go to one place, it had been easy to gather everyone up. It was also somewhat more comfortable with Squall’s car added to the mix. They bid Selphie goodbye and Cid followed along behind Squall, sure that all of his passengers were making mental notes of every turn so they would know how to return to Squall’s house a second time and thus, back to Cloud.

On the porch was a silver fox, his fur standing on end in guard mode as he heard not one but two cars approaching. With Naminé upset he wasn’t taking any chances but he relaxed seeing Cloud and Squall, even if the others made him nervous. Big familiars. There were big familiars and that made him uneasy.

“Awe, baby fox.” Zack cooed.

Squall snorted, shutting his car door. “He’s a teenager and he’s actually grown quite a bit the last several weeks. Not so small anymore.”

Sephiroth crouched down, nearly sitting as he attempted respectful eye contact with Riku. “...you smell like her.”

Riku’s fur was on end, trying to look intimidating but Sephiroth was a hybrid, a bird. He didn’t know what kind other than very…very big… He shook, backing down with a wary noise.

“Shh.” Cloud picked him up, cradling Riku. “He doesn’t want to eat you.”

“Um…” Zack frowned. “Excuse me? Eat him?”

“Yeah it’s a fear he has.” Squall said, stepping up onto the porch. “He grew up in a grove and apparently there’s a dick in there somewhere who kept trying to eat him.”

Sephiroth blinked, then offered his wrist for Riku to smell “I’m a pescatarian.”

In Cloud’s arms Riku’s confidence skyrocketed. He leaned closer, sniffing.

“There see…?” Cloud said softly.

Squall opened the door, the house immediately smelling good, meaning Sora had been cooking. He went to search for Naminé, wanting to give her at least a small heads up that they had visitors. She was half-dozing on the couch, Ventus surprisingly in his human form though also asleep, while Vanitas was wound around them and awake. He flicked his tongue at Squall in greeting.

“Hey.” Squall knelt down in front of the sofa. He reached to stroke Vanitas’ scales. “Can you help me gently wake them? There’s a very anxious condor hybrid outside who wants to see all of you. They’ve practically only just let go of Cloud.”

The scales ran like water against his hand and then red eyes were looking up at him in shock. “...Sephiroth?” He asked quietly, disbelieving.

“Yuffie found them.” Squall said softly, still gently touching his hair like he had been his scales. “It’s four of them. They quite demanded to see Naminé, I just wanted to let you know before they came in. They’re here now.”

Vanitas was already tearing up “You found Seph?”

Squall cupped his face. “Yeah, you want to come see him first? Want to bring him in here yourself?” Vanitas got up to stand on his knees, hugging Squall suddenly.

“Hey…” Squall wrapped his arms around him. “It’s okay now.”

His quiet crying didn’t adequately show how much his emotions were taking over, but the clinging was a solid hint. Whatever it was he was feeling was enough to rouse Naminé, who’s hand patted towards where he’d been around her “Ni, d’ya have a bad dream?” She slurred sleepily, other hand rubbing at her eye.

“Hey Naminé.” Squall smiled faintly, arms still around her familiar. “Can you wake up for me? Ven too.”

She blinked at him “Huh? Oh, welcome home.”

Ventus rolled over, clearly unhappy about being woken “Nngh?”

“C’mon, someone is here to see you.” Squall said softly, still rubbing Vanitas’ back. “It’s a good surprise, I promise. I wouldn’t just let anyone in here.”

Sleep clung, but seeing and feeling Vanitas’ distress woke her up quickly enough. She sat up, arms going around him “What’s going on…”

The presence at the doorway came all of a sudden. One they hadn’t seen in years. “Naminé…” Sephiroth whispered, hardly believing his own eyes.

Her head turned in slow motion. The sound of her slapping her own cheek was loud in the room.

Ventus winced. “Not asleep.”

There was a slight hesitation in him before Sephiroth bound into the room, going to his knees next to Squall and grabbing Naminé and Ventus at the same time. He held them both against his chest, sagging in relief.

Squall just patted Vanitas’ back one more time and let go of him so he could add to their pile.

All three of the teens were already openly sobbing, Naminé in particular saying not-words to great effect.

Sephiroth managed to make room for all three of them and Zack and the others slowly started to trickle in.

“So uh…” Zack began, letting Sephiroth have this moment to himself. “Nice house. Smells really good.”

Cloud hummed. “Sora’s cooking.”

“Who’s Sora?”

“I’m Sora.” Sora poked his head out of the kitchen, and he didn’t miss the looks he got, all of them silently comparing his appearance to Vanitas. Shera broke the tension by walking over to the doorway “Need an extra pair of hands?”

His smile brightened. “Hi Miss Shera. Sure, Squall texted to say i was feeding a small army so i have a few things going.”

Riku jumped from Cloud’s arms and in a fluid motion, scaled Sora’s body to climb into his hood. Cid barked out a laugh. “Think i’ll join you three; been a while since I saw you kid.”

Sora snorted and nodded for them to follow him. “Just keep your hands away from the stove this time. No sneaking tastes before it’s ready.”

Cid rolled his eyes. “Long as there’s some &^%$*&%$ tea.”

“My baby ears didn’t hear that.” Sora mocked, turning and heading back into the kitchen with Shera. He’d known the pair practically his whole life and while he had no idea why they’d shown up with people that evidently knew Naminé, he knew when to wait to ask questions.

Squall had finally moved away, letting Sephiroth have all the space he might need with the teens curled up against him. It should have looked comical; having three nearly-grown people clinging to one absurdly tall man. But it just looked like someone with their kids.

Cloud still had one hand holding onto Vincent’s sleeve but he seemed to relax with Squall returning to his side too. It had been a long day and even a little distance between him and his witch had him twitchy.

“I can’t believe those poor kids were taken too…” Tifa muttered. She and Yuffie had still been lingering by the front door not trying to intrude on the moment, the witch keeping an arm loosely around her pregnant familiar “C’mon, let's get you sitting down, okay?”

“Yeah… Yeah.” Tifa muttered.

Cloud looked towards her, speaking softly. “Kitchen. Sora will feed you.”

Tifa’s eyes were huge when she glanced at him, but really…she knew this wasn’t her moment “Yeah…c’mon Yuffie.”

Cloud made an effort to touch her as she walked past him but he pulled away just as fast, his nerves tense as he backed into Vincent again, who easily wrapped a protective arm around him. He wanted to try but engaging Tifa still somehow felt shameful. If she noticed, she was kind enough not to show it.

In the livingroom, Sephiroth was still holding Naminé, asking her every question that had been plaguing him for years now. Where had she been? How had she and her cobras fared after escaping? They’d all been so young at the time, and looked more so than usual now, all sitting on him like that as they caught up.

“...and then Sora followed us to where we’d been living. I feel kinda bad about it now, he tried to put a nice face on it, but he really was sick about it.” Naminé happily accepted the tea Vanitas brought. She’d been talking for what felt like a half hour straight now.

“He seems like a nice boy.” Sephiroth said, though he’d only seen him briefly.

Behind them, Zack was laid out on the sofa, listening. “So it was just sheer luck that Sora had been living with Cloud already.”

She nodded. “Dunno if it's a coincidence or what but…” But she couldn’t use her ability on Cloud to find out.

“Hey, we’re all owed a bit of good luck too.” Zack offered her a smile. “Just look at Vinny with his Captain. He deserved that…” Cid was a gruff kind of man but he softened so much when Vincent was in the room.

It got a sleepy smile from Ventus. “It’s cute.”

Sephiroth smiled faintly but he couldn’t take his attention off Naminé and her cobra’s, both actually in human form. “Have you been happy here?” Both boys nodded while their witch smiled shyly. “Yeah. It’s nice here.”

The answer seemed to relax him, his shoulders sagging. Cloud seemed positive it was a good place, but he was also bonded to the witch, leaving room for a little bias.

“Good.” he muttered, hand absently moving up and down Naminé’s arm. “Your.. numbers are missing.” Vanitas’ arm was scarred and Naminé’s arm was similar but the scarring was different. Ven’s arm was the only one clear.

On Sephiroth’s arm was a very clear number one. On Zack’s was a six. Everyone had seen the clear thirteen on Nanaki.

Ven lightly touched Sephiroth’s arm. “Squall’s…good at magic. Better than what we tried.”

“Mm…” Sephiroth reached out to gently touch the scarring on Vanitas’ arm. “I can’t say i haven’t thought about it.”

“Worked well enough at the time, but he got the rest of Né’s off.” Vanitas said, letting the other witch do as he pleased.

Zack hummed, the sound faintly interested. “Could be nice with the reminder gone.”

“You can trust him. Squall’s…he’s my brother now.” She finished more quietly, still unsure about trying to convince the others about someone being a good witch; though it seemed to work well for Riku.

“Cloud sure seems to agree.” Zack muttered. “Gotta mean something.” Cid was a good witch in their life, but it was something they saw too rarely.

“Where…” Sephiroth asked instead. “Do you sleep. Do you have your own room?”

She nodded, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve “You wanna see?”

Sephiroth nodded quietly, and hated the fact that he was looking for reasons to dislike this place. He wanted her to be happy but it being almost too nice to be real left him twitchy. “Yes.”

She carefully disentangled herself from the twin’s limbs with a practiced ease, standing up and offering a hand to Sephiroth. “C’mon.”

He took it, though he pulled himself up. It was a lovely house but he had no idea how it fit so many. “Where to?”
She gestured towards the door leading outside “Sora and I live in the ‘apartments’.”

“In…” Sephiroth blinked, “Oh.” he followed her to the garage, not sure he liked the idea. That is until the door was opened and a nicely furnished, nicely warded inside was immediately obvious. “The bedrooms and bathroom are upstairs; this parts where we usually hang out.” It looked like a cross between a mini kitchen and livingroom.

“So five of you here. It’s quite nice.” He said softly, almost shaking with relief. The fact that they were being well taken care of left him almost numb. This was what he’d wanted for them for years. She leaned against him. “We stay at school sometimes. There’s a setup kinda like this, but Sora’s usually in his dorm room.”

Sephiroth’s lips finally upturned a little. “Tell me more. Tell me everything…”

She grinned back, giving him a glimpse of the girl she should have been all along. “Okay, but lemmie show you my room first- Squall got this insanely huge heat lamp for us.”

Sephiroth found himself laughing, taking her hand to let her pull him along as she showed him her new life.

Shera and Cid had camped out in the kitchen dining room combo with Yuffie and Tifa to help make it less crowded. Cid was well aware of how jumpy his half of the group got when it was too cramped, even if it was all people they more or less knew. Cloud had taken Vincent somewhere quiet to talk and Nanaki was curled up in the middle of the livingroom, keeping his eye on everything while Sora brought out some more food.

It was out of curiosity alone that had Riku crawling out of Sora’s hood again and jumping down gracefully to the floor. The witches made him a little twitchy as per usual but he couldn’t help but want to explore around Nanaki. Riku circled him twice before attempting to pounce once on the flames of his tail, which he flicked easily, getting it out of the way before Riku even landed.

Riku growled, making a sound reserved only for children having fun. He rolled and dove for the tail again. Nanaki rolled his eyes, but played the game with him, flicking it back to the other side lazily.

“Sorry.” Sora laughed softly, setting down before dinner snacks in front of Nanaki. “Riku, we need to work on your manners.”

Riku made a sound that was an obvious laugh.

“It's quite alright,” Nanaki said with a low hum, “Children should be indulged.”

Sora inhaled softly. “Oh.” He was surprised and Riku was still chasing the flame. “I didn’t realize you could speak in this form.” Only the mythological familiars could but… Sora didn't exactly know what Nanaki was so maybe it wasn’t that odd.

Nanaki turned his head enough for eye contact .“This is my only form.”

“It’s…” Sora stared back, not understanding but he could make some intuitive leaps on his own. If these people knew Naminé, then he could guess where they came from. “I’m sorry if i was rude.”

“Not at all Sunshine.” He flicked his tail just out of Riku’s reach again. Riku landed on his stomach but popped up again to give chase.

“Huh?” Sora looked faintly surprised. “How did you know my middle name is Sunshine?”

Nanaki tilted his head. “I did not. It's what you smell like. You were named well.”

The words alone had Sora snickering. “Mom knew what she was about.” Sora paused a moment before getting up to fetch a picture from the mantle to show Nanaki. “These are my moms. They’ve been gone for almost ten years.”

“Ah…my condolences.” He gazed at the picture. “A lion?”

“Yes, mama was.” Sora gazed fondly at the women. “But Squall raised me and everything has been fine. I’m glad you found Cloud.” Family was so very important. Honestly, he was thrilled his had grown.

“I’m glad you two found him…three? Six?” He was uncertain how things had come to pass here.

“Oh, it was just me and Squall when my brother came across Cloud. Then i met Naminé and her cobras and then i met Riku in the grove by the academy.” Sora mused, watching Riku bat at Nanaki’s tail, seemingly just barely missing at each attempt. “Busy year…”

“Indeed it has been. I wonder…such an odd coincidence.” It hardly seemed possible; so many of them finding each other like this. Not with the blocks they’d all experienced when trying to use magic to find each other.

“You can just blame Squall.” Sora snickered, returning the picture frame to its proper place. “Cloud had geostigma really bad, and Squall couldn’t let it go. Brought him home to nurse him back to health and he never left.”

“My thanks to him twice over.” Geostigma was a bad way to die.

“It was nice to watch. The two of them.” Sora said softly. “How my brother fussed over him. Cloud immediately micro managing his life the second he was feeling better…”

“Cloud has always been…motherly.” Nanaki settled on, trying to think of a nice way to put it.

Sora laughed. “He’s basically Riku’s mother now. I have friends from school too, he and Squall are their guardians now. Hey, you want a tour? It’ll still be a bit before dinner is ready. Want to see the green house?”

“Yes.” Even with how warm and friendly the room was, he was a bit uneasy with the crowdedness of it.

Sora beamed. “C’mon Riku. Leave his poor tail alone and lead the way.”

Riku was breathing hard, but it was all playfulness. He batted at the tail one more time before standing up and speeding off towards the door.

Nanaki chuckled. “He really should learn not to play with fire.”

“He’s adventurous.” Sora snorted, following Riku out of the house. They could hear the chickens but that wasn’t their destination.

“It's an actual fire.” Nanaki retorted.

“Yeah, i can’t get him to stop.” Sora snickered. “I guess he’ll have to get burned before he figures it out.”

“I’m trying to avoid that.” He flicked his tail yet again.

“Well it won’t be your fault.” Sora agreed as they walked to the green house, Riku still playfully jumping after Nanaki’s tail.

“Still; if he should catch it i’m not sure Deneh will be entirely pleased.”

“Who’s that?” Sora asked as they approached the green house.

“My witch.” The ‘fire’ flared slightly.

Sora didn’t understand, but he suddenly got a sinking feeling that it was one of those things he shouldn’t ask so carelessly. Instead he paused to pick Riku up and hold the fidgeting fox in his arms.

“Hush you, we can introduce Nanaki to our friends.” Sora said.

“Oh- did you have more company over?” His voice gave away nothing, but his posture said easily the idea of even more people right now wasn’t very welcome.

Sora beamed. “Not exactly.” Riku gave a delighted cry and jumped down from Sora’s arms to race into the greenhouse. Nanaki sniffed the air, pausing as the door was opened “...what…”

“Come see.” Sora invited softly. “It’s a secret. Only family knows, okay?” he went to the door smiling wide when he was smacked in the face almost instantly by tiny arms trying to hug his face.

Nanaki’s jaw dropping was all the more comical in his animalistic form. “Baby fairies…”

“Yes.” Sora knelt down so he was a bit shorter than Nanaki, the small fairy still clinging to his face. Riku was laying on one of the nearby shelves, nose to nose with another fairy that had shown up not long after the first.

“I thought the land here smelled like a grove.” He’d chalked it up to not having been near one for so long and simple confusion.

Sora nearly squeaked with excitement. “It’s so super new. We haven't told anyone yet. Squall said he didn’t want anyone stepping on saplings or scaring the babies.”

Nanaki kept a respectful distance. “A wise decision. Whom did the grove sprout for?”

“My brother, i think, though they seem happy to play with me too.” Sora smiled. “They’re very friendly and seem to know who family is but, well they haven’t met anyone else, have they?”

Nanaki smiled knowingly, wondering if this was coincidental or a sign of something more “How fortunate, for Cloud and your family.”

Sora was practically shaking from excitement. “Squall says he’s overworked already, but he doesn’t want people wandering around here and stepping on things. Hence the secret.”

“The best leaders are the ones who have no desire to be in charge.” Nanaki said sagely.

Sora hummed his agreement, holding his hands out for the fairy to sit on his palms. He held her out to meet Nanaki, who very gently sniffed at her “Well, hello.” The ‘fire’ in his tail flickered rhythmically.

The baby fairy looked up at him for a long moment before outstretching their hand to pat his nose. He exhaled gently, tilting his jaw to very lightly nuzzle at them.

Sora grinned, “This is Nanaki. He’s part of Cloud’s family.”

The fairy didn’t speak but neither of them expected to hear their voice. The fairy just laughed, and continued patting his nose.

Nanaki’s stress, which had been an almost physical thing earlier, evaporated. “It's wondrous to see a new life in both such good health and humor.”

“What the heck?” Zack gasped from the doorway. He'd seen Sephiroth and Naminé come out of the garage and followed them across the lawn. He stepped away from the door and sat down, evidently not wanting to crowd the fairies. “Wow.”

“They’re the best, right?” Sora smiled warmly.

Naminé tugged lightly on Sephiroth’s hand “Come see- there’s two now.”

Sephiroth’s lips were parted, surprise couldn’t even begin to describe how he’d felt. As a child he’d sworn he’d glimpsed one in the grove but to see one right in front of him was nothing short of amazing

Still holding the fairy, Sora brought them back to his chest so they could feel safe as they took in the new additions. “Aren’t they incredible?” The second fairy had made itself at home on Riku’s back, curled up in his fur.

Ventus smiled from his spot leaning against Sephiroth’s side. “One day the second one was just there, over by where Squall made a little waterfall for the first one.”

Sora was nodding. “Gramps said if this baby grove is properly taken care of and really takes root, then more will appear.”

Zack’s smile was wide. “That’s so cool. That literally makes this like…blessed land.”

Nanaki nodded in agreement, thinking it explained why they’d all calmed down so easily. “This is a good place for Cloud and the others.”

Sora laughed softly. “I’m not trying to like, move you guys in or anything but you know you’re more than welcome here too, right? Did you see how happy Cloud was?”

He hadn’t realized Cloud was missing his surrogate family so much but it was obvious now. He’d hardly left Vincent’s side, and while the cloak should have looked silly the blonde was clearly cozy half under it.

Vanitas moved forward to put a hand on Sephiroth’s arm. “Visit. Often.”

Ventus and Naminé looked up at him, waiting. They all knew living here with so many others was out of the question; none of them were comfortable in large groups anymore.

“There is nothing on this planet that would keep us from visiting.” Sephiroth said quietly. “Now that I know where you are.” It was such an unimaginably safe place too. It was perfect. Three sets of arms wrapped around him, relief palpable in the air.

Sora smiled, watching as all three newcomers explored the greenhouse, looking at more than just the fairies. There were a number of plants, flowers, and herbs growing and Squall had an experiment or two going.

It seemed like a much needed calm moment.

“I’m sure dinner is ready.” Sora commented. “Shall we?”

Zack grinned. “We gotta tell Vinny to come out here and see too. Let’s go.”

Nanaki stood up, tail flickering “Indeed.”

Chapter Text

Feeling like he was drowning in paperwork was the last thing Squall thought he’d ever had to deal with. He was a professional witch and should have been locked in his workroom coming up with something nuts he could sell in his shop. Instead he was finishing up his paperwork from the days of parent/teacher conferences and a backlog of grading that made him want to tear his hair out.

He really had enough to do between pending trials that now officially had dates set while the political mumbo jumbo was being taken care of. Not to mention Cloud’s impromptu family reunion. With no room at his house, Sephiroth and the others were temporarily staying above his shop in the same room Naminé and her cobras had once occupied.

“I may have to murder Merlin.” Squall commented, still pissed that the old man had made himself scarce again.

“Be sure to do it without magic.” Quistis replied tersely, behind a similar mountain of paperwork. They’d decided misery deserved company, and had taken over a corner in the teacher’s lounge. “They’ll never suspect a witch doing murder so…mundanely.”

Squall hummed. “No magic, no wolf teeth.” That got a huff of almost laughter from the wolf dozing at his feet. “I mean he’s an old man. Accidents happen.” Anyone that didn’t know him likely wouldn’t realize he was joking. His tone was dry and and the frown he wore as he organized his papers was murderous. Paine cawed a noise that was unmistakably laughter.

Quistis chuckled, and opened a drawer, offering Squall the flask she pulled out of it.

He took it and sipped from it but there was a distinct unhappiness about it. “Do we have to talk about the drinking again?”

“Nope.” She said, popping the p as she drank from her own personal flask.

Paine was probably glaring, but it was hard to tell with a bird.

Squall frowned. “Fine, but if Paine ever comes to me and tells me it’s a problem i’m gonna spell everything you drink to taste like milk.”

He didn’t actually know how to do that but he’d figure it out after a weekend.

Quistis wrinkled her nose, moving another paper to the ‘done’ pile. “Pick something I don’t have an intolerance to, that’s just rude.”

“That’s the fucking point.” Squall said casually. “You wanna drink, drink. Don’t let it become a crutch or i will have Sora lecture you in disappointment as your drinking is likely affecting Paine.”

She winced minutely at that “Geez, threatening me with your baby brother…”

Squall just nodded. “He will stare up at you with betrayed baby blue eyes and ask you why you’re hurting. The guilt is terrible.” He’d been on the receiving end of Sora’s super powers before.

Quistis took one more drink and then put it away. “...sometimes I think I’m not cut out to be a teacher.”

He dropped the form he was looking at and stared at her. “Bullshit. We just need to redecorate your classroom and put you in a more breathable atmosphere. It’s this place that’s becoming a sinking ship, not you.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “I went straight from student to teacher with next to no time in between the two. I thought it was fine- but now i’m starting to wonder if it was all a mistake.” She turned her gaze back to her paperwork.

He decided to take her words more seriously for a moment. “What would you rather do instead?”

“No clue.” Her shoulders slumped slightly. “...something where ‘lacking leadership skills’ wouldn’t hinder me too much I suppose.”

“There’s your problem right there.” Squall was pointing at her with his pen. “You’re a teacher. You’re doing the best you can when your leader actually sucks.” He didn’t bad mouth the headmaster in front of the students or even the staff but Quistis was his friend. “You can only do so much. All the teachers here can only do so much. Place has gone to shit since Yen Sid retired because Cid can’t fucking focus.”

He’d wonder if his own familiar wasn’t doing her job but Cid and Edea were both scatterbrained about their projects at times.

Quistis startled lightly at his outburst then burst into laughter. Paine startled as well, cawing as she lost her perch and had to fly to catch her balance.

Squall stared and even Cloud’s head poked above the desk to look at them. “What?” Squall just blinked at them.

Quistis brushed a tear away, “Oh Squall…you should just take his job.”

“What?” Squall frowned, voice drenched in disbelief. “Why would i want that?” He hadn’t even wanted to be a teacher. He’d been coerced, damn it.

“You don’t think you could do a better job than Cid?”

“A child could do a better job than Cid.” Squall made a face at her, it wasn't much of an argument.

She snorted. “By all means then; bring the child in.”

“Doesn’t matter. You can’t just oust a headmaster. It grants him a seat on the magic counsel.” Squall said, though the idea of Cid having that much power was mildly nauseating. Fortunately, Cid and Edea seemed to use their powers for good.

“...well, actually…”

Squall frowned. “Mm?”

“If we hold a vote of No Confidence with the school staff and have an eighty percent vote to oust him, he’s out as soon as the next term, so long as the staff agrees on the replacement.”

“That’s a stupid idea when we have no one to replace him with and stop looking at me.” Squall scowled. “You conned me into being a teacher, you will not con me into being headmaster.”

“Then put forth your own candidate and argue for them.” She snapped, looking irritated. “If you aren’t going to fix what you’ve decided is such a big problem then stop bitching!”

Squall rolled his eyes. “Haven’t I fixed enough?” He stared at her, practically daring her to argue. He’d organized and personally done more than most.

But Quistis knew how to fight with him. “Dunno. You tell me. Have you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Is this what you’re like when you're attempting to not drink for a second?” It was mean but he’d never been accused of being nice.

“I already had my drink, thanks.” She wasn’t backing down. “I’m not saying it has to be you- but if you’re so sure anyone would be better, then nominate them and put it to a vote.”

“I have two trials to get ready for along with a psychopath to track down.” Squall stared, getting irritated. “Do i have to do everything around here?”

“If you’re gonna complain so much, yeah.”

Squall actually sneered. “It’s worrying that no one else is doing anything Quis. A student is attacked on campus and he was completely flummoxed on how to proceed. I had to do the interviews because he had no idea how to go about protecting this place. He isn’t a broad enough thinker to deal with sudden problems even if he can create project after project in other areas.”

“Yeah, not disagreeing with you.” A lot of the staff felt just as frustrated as Squall, but no one had come up with a solution. “Who would you put in his place then?”

“Someone who can actually focus. I don’t have a problem with his side projects but everything else is falling away from him.” Squall made a face. He didn’t begrudge the orphanage but that should have been Edea’s problem, not Cid's.

“Cid wouldn’t be so bad if he’d shut up and focused.” Squall shook his head, barely believing his own words. “I don’t have a problem with his programs. The familiar orphanage and the early admission for young familiars? Those are great, but he puts all his attention there and too little on the academy. You can’t be the headmaster of a school that way.” And certainly not when so many prestigious witch families sent their children here to learn. They’d start complaining soon.

Quistis got a smile on her face “You gonna try to reform him?”

Squall made a face. “Edea should be doing that, but she’s also more concerned with the familiars than the school. They should both just retire from the school and head their programs instead to actually devote their time to it.”

Quistis scoffed and changed tactics. “You know as headmaster you’d have access to resources you don’t right now. Resources that could be very helpful in your manhunt. Like a council seat.”

Squall nearly winced. “No.” He said automatically, but hated the way what she said was factually true. “I already don’t want to be head master. Why would you think i’d be any more inclined to have a council seat?”

His mother had preached the pursuit of knowledge, not power.

“Several members right now were uninclined.” She pointed out. “The people who want the power are usually the least suited to it.”

He made a face at her that she recalled seeing on him as a kid too. “Did you hear that from Yen Sid too?”

“Its common knowledge Squall.” She said, looking bored. “Besides, if not you then who? My vote would be for Cricket; but he’s already so busy…”

Squall grunted. “And too many old families would bitch that there wasn’t a witch in the seat.” It personally didn’t bother him much but others could be so fussy.

“Cobra’s out. Milo’s way too busy. Kida would literally kill someone. Anita and Rodger have their hands full with their newborn and the puppies their familiars had. Jasmine can’t due to a conflict of interest.” She ticked off on her fingers. “...Maybe Mulan.”

Squall groaned. “I think we might have to let it go for now. It’s not like Cid is actually going to be stepping down any time soon.” Even if people liked to pretend there were rumors, they had nothing concrete other than gossip.

“Agreed.” She leaned back in her chair, raising her arms to pop her back “...well. This is getting us nowhere. It's probably about time to head over to the ‘grand opening’ next door anyways.”

Squall tsked, his opinion all over his face. He was tired of Cid’s work getting in his way but the orphanage opening officially for the young familiars was a big deal. The academy funding such a program meant they were looking out for the abandoned familiar children and protecting them before poachers could get their hands on them.

It was a worthwhile project, Squall just hated Cid’s lack of multitasking.

“I guess it’s not the kids fault that Cid is a prick.” Squall muttered, even he couldn't bring himself to skip it. Besides, Cloud liked looking at the babies.

Quistis put her work away, standing and stretching again “Mm.”

The group of them had barely made it to the door when an announcement rang through the academy. The opening ceremony for the new orphanage would soon commence. Everyone on school grounds was allowed to participate if they wanted and Squall had no doubt the media had been invited again. A bit of good publicity

Anyone new coming onto the academy grounds would have to go through the new security. If they wanted to see how seriously they were taking the student’s safety, that would show them.

“Guess our timing is good.” Squall said, sinking his fingers into Cloud’s fur.

Naminé and Chadley were already there, sitting on a bench and reading one of the pamphlets out loud to some of the smaller children.

Squall looked around and it seems like a good deal of his students had turned out but this was already getting way too crowded for his tastes, He could tell it must have showed when Cloud leaned harder against him.

“Looks like Cid’s happy to give interviews now.” Squall muttered, able to see the camera pointed at Cid and Edea already. Quistis lightly patted his arm “Now now Squall, a united front for the press and all that. Think of the familiars.”

“Oh I am.” Squall said, it was the only reason he was here. The children really did deserve a safe place.

Beside him, Cloud stood on two feet, clasping their hands together. Squall got the distinct feeling that Cloud shifting to his hume form was a reward for his own good behavior. It was also an incentive for him to not pick any fights with Cid.

He looked around, pleasantly surprised to see Sora standing with two older grad students who looked like they were feeling a little out of place. It wasn’t a friendship he would have pegged but he suspected it had more to do with the fox chasing the playful tiger around them.

“Riku deserves that.” Squall muttered and Cloud followed his gaze with his own soft smile. Riku had been coming out of his shell more the last few weeks.

“Excuse me,” A blonde with long hair said quietly. Quistis blinked “Oh, Titus Alexius. Long time no see.” He was the same year as Sora but in none of the same classes. He nodded, glancing at Squall briefly before asking Quistis if she had a moment. She clapped a hand on Squall’s shoulder “Be back in a bit; play nice.”

“Not what i’m known for.” Squall said dryly. Cloud just smirked, resting his chin on Squall’s shoulder and waving her off. Evidently Squall’s friends trusted Cloud to keep him in check.

Naminé caught sight of them and waved, also getting the kids' attention on him. Lilo stood up and nearly charged over with stars in her eyes as she glomped Squall’s knees. “You put the glyphs on everything?”

Squall dropped down to be more her level. “I sure tried.” He said with a smile. “Everything I could think of and I had lots of help too.” He ignored the way he knew Cloud’s lips were twisted into a smile and the way he was positive a few cameras swung towards him.

“Thank you for keeping my friends safe.” She said, pulling out an origami flower to give him.

He reached out to take it carefully with a smile. “Thank you, Lilo. Have you gotten to see your friend today?”

As if summoned, there was a blue blur half-screaming words that were very much not English.

Titus moved Quistis two steps just in time for them to not get barreled into; but he did more or less crash into Naminé and Chadley while Lilo laughed happily “Stitch!!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Squall laughed, taking Cloud’s hand who helped him back up to his feet.

“He’s attached. Like it should be.” Cloud mused, watching Lilo cling to the small boy. He scented the air once but he was left puzzled, unable to place the boys nature through scent alone.

“Ai, ya…” A frazzled looking Nani made her way over, running a hand through her hair, moving to do damage control. “Lilo, you two need to be more aware of other people…”

“Other people need to be more aware.” Lilo countered easily as Stitch cackled.

Squall huffed softly and was suddenly reminded of what it was like raising Sora. He was also uncontained energy. “Are you looking for a little help, Nani?” he asked. Cloud was already wandering towards the children and crouching down beside them.

“Ah, i’m not sure what kind of help would even…” She sighed as someone threw a frisbee and Lilo excitedly told Stitch to fetch. “He’s not a dog Lilo.”

“Is too.” It had the sound of an old argument; but when Stitch changed to his familiar form and stayed as blue as the hoodie he’d had on and was still talking, it was obvious who was right.

Chadley straightened his glasses. “They may have put ‘dog’ on the paperwork, however, I've never met a dog who could talk…or who qualified to be a hexapod. There are several breeds of blue dogs; though ‘blue’ often refers to a mixture of black and grey coats, and he does appear to have a superficial resemblance to an Irish Wolfhound, but anyone who attempted to classify him as such would have to put an asterisk with such clear mythological features. I haven’t a clue as to what else to call him however.”

“Listening to Chadley is like finally being able to understand some of my own thoughts when over working.” Squall said, tossing Chadley a smile so the man could be sure it was a compliment and that he wasn’t poking fun at him. “And I agree. No idea what he is for sure, but one thing we know he is, is a child. He’ll get the care he needs here.”

Cloud had turned back into his rather large wolf form and herded the small boy back towards Lilo with a playing noise. Stitch was moving at a remarkable speed, sometimes dodging between the wolf’s legs and sometimes crawling like a spider around his body as one of his extra arms held the frisbee teasingly, just out of a laughing Lilo’s reach.

Nani sighed again, but looked relieved “Yeah- just not sure why they put...dog of all things. I mean he's clearly not a cat, but a little asterisk on his paperwork isn’t exactly helpful.”

“The system only pretends to know what it’s doing.” Squall mused, his arms crossed as he watched with amusement. Cloud took being climbed on with grace and at one point, turned his head to lick the side of Stitch’s face, clearly delighting the child. “Even what we know about the mythical lines isn’t what I would call complete knowledge.”

Titus and Quistis walked back over, the blonde teenager looking almost arrogantly satisfied. “Quite the partner you have there Professor.”

“Agreed.” Squall shrugged, “He has a soft spot for younger familiars.” He turned his attention to the teenager and couldn’t identify him right off. “One of Quis’ students then?”

She hummed “Somewhat, he’s in my homeroom but this one,” She shot both of them amused looks. “Seems to have figured out the same things you did and is mostly in independent studies.”

Titus only looked amused at being called out. “Its more efficient.”

“Mm hm, so your essay suggested.”

“Ah, so you’re this generation's asshole. I’m glad I passed the mantle on.” Squall mused. Many of his teachers hadn’t actually had very many nice things to say about him beyond his grades. Curiosity nipped at him though. “What was the essay on?”

He raised an eyebrow at being called the inheritor of assholery but answered anyways. “Efficiency in education and the practical effects of plotting a course instead of following a curriculum.”

Behind him, Quistis mouthed ‘dissertation’.

“Yeah?” Squall looked mildly interested. He paused for only a moment to snort at Cloud showing his teeth to Stitch who seemed fascinated for whatever reason. He glanced back at Titus. “I wanna read it.”

“Digital or print?” He asked, as if the question held some unseen weight.

“Both.” Squall stared back, brow quirked. “My teacher e-mail is listed with the academy and you can find my classroom on your own to drop it off whenever it is convenient for you.”

“Teacher emails are automatic, Professor. Anyone who knows a name and can’t figure out how to translate it to Leonhart should be held back a year.” He pulled a manila folder out of his frankly ridiculous pockets that was slightly curved and yet had managed not to so much as wrinkle the papers inside. “I suggest a cup of chamomile with it.”

Quistis’ eyebrows were in danger of merging with her hairline. “Oh no. There’s two of them.”

Squall took it and actually barked out a laugh. “Don’t tell Yen Sid. The old man won’t survive the indecency of it. Thanks, kid.” he added to Titus, the folder disappearing from his hands.

“C’mon, Squall. Be nice.” Sora said as he approached, Riku riding on his shoulder, out of breath from his games with his cousin. “You’ve been over here talking and totally missed the headmaster speaking.”

“I’m sure we didn’t miss much.” Squall muttered. He really should have hid his disdain better.

“Felicity Fieldmouse has a full recording of the event, it’ll be available on the public access site by the end of the day.” Titus said in a truly bored tone before turning and actually seeing Sora and Riku, an odd look on his face as his smug attitude turned to light confusion. “Oh. I didn’t…see you there.”

Sora cocked his head to the side and Riku mimicked him. “I wasn’t hiding.” Sora lips curved into a smile. “Were you hiding?”

“N-no?” He asked, looking flustered. Quistis tried to hide her smile behind a hand- she knew a crush when she saw one.

Sora stepped closer into his space. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a class together but we’re the same year, right?” It was Riku who leaned off Sora’s shoulder to sniff at Titus, who held both hands up nervously “Um…”

“Riku, don’t be rude.” Sora said, pulling Riku back.

“Says the one with no concept of personal space.” Squall mused, eyes on Cloud. There were a lot of familiar children wandering around now, and he was happy Cloud found someone to play with.

“Oh…” Sora smiled sheepishly.

Titus’ hair moved easily with the wind, most of it was up in series of braids and ponytails but he’d left some free. “Er…its fine? I mean, yes, we’re in the same year but I'm in Professor Trepe’s class.”

Sora brightened. “She’s a good teacher too.” He turned to grin at her. “But I'm sure you’re glad you don’t have to deal with me.” Putting Sora in Squall’s class had probably been an incentive for him to teach.

“I wouldn’t say that!” He responded perhaps too quickly, though his eyes did dart towards the bench where Naminé and Chadley were sitting with the kids and their familiars. “...it just wasn’t an option.”

Sora slowly tilted his head again, feeling like he wasn’t following along. “Huh?”

“I opted out of Merlin’s homeroom before he took over.” He said quickly, backpedaling.

“Oh.” Sora said, dragging the word out as he started to understand. There were a lot of people who opted out of Merlin’s classes for various reasons. “Well shame but that's alright.” Riku was leaning forward again, pawing once at one of Titus’ braids.

The blonde blinked at him. “Surely your own hair is long enough mine isn’t so fascinating?”

Riku made a noise and did it again.

“Riku, manners. What will Cloud say if he sees?” Sora said, pulling Riku off his shoulder to hold him in his arms. “Sorry about that. Xemnas lets him play with his hair and he’s gotten super spoiled.” Riku’s tail just swished.

“Ah, that’s understandable.” He lifted the end of one braid to gently brush the tip against the fox’s nose.

If it was possible to tell a fox looked delighted, Riku did. Sora’s smile was also blinding, but he did tend to like it when someone let his fox play.

“We’re going home tonight, Sora.” Squall commented, not realizing or not caring about the flirting taking place just behind him.

“Okay, cool.” Sora agreed, rubbing Riku’s head.

Titus straightened back up. “I’ll see you two around; I just stopped by to ask Professor Trepe something and need to get back to the library.”

“Oh sure.” Sora said, glancing up at the sky briefly, his eyes scanning the horizon. “I’ll see you again soon.”

His hair fluttered out behind him dramatically, and it seemed a bit like he was trying to get out of there before Sora’s Cloud Gazing told him anything.

“Hm…” Sora watched him go. “Cute.”

Riku rolled in his arms, making amused sounds as Squall rolled his eyes. “Come on, before you two can get into any more trouble.”

“I haven’t gotten into any trouble!”

Squall hummed. “I can hear the ‘yet’ in that sentence plain as day. C’mon, we’ll grab Naminé and Cloud and head out soon.”

“You go get them and we’ll go on ahead.” Sora mused. “I’ll start dinner. I’ve been wanting tacos all day.”

“Fine. Don’t go overboard.” Squall said, turning back to the others but he still heard Sora as he laughingly wandered back towards the building.

“You’re not the boss of me!”

Squall just snorted and let himself be glad Sora actually enjoyed cooking. With a yawn he went to collect the rest of his family.

Naminé’s head turned as if she’d heard him, and offered a small wave while Andi posed for the kids, doing small acrobatic tricks and showing off for them.

Squall chuckled and strolled towards her. The support the orphanage had already had led to several donations and he was certain the day could be labeled a success.

“What were you and Quistis talking about for so long?...you kinda missed the whole ‘ceremony’.” She said, making little air quotes. A habit she’d picked up from Sora.

Squall smiled, not looking the least bit sorry about it. “Got a paper from one of her students i’m gonna read. Kid sounds like a smart ass so i’m genuinely interested in what he had to say. Funny he ran out of things to say real quick when Sora showed up.”

The confusion wouldn’t have been alarming from anyone else “...what kid?”

“The blond kid with the long hair.” Squall said. “Sora seems to attract the ones with the long hair.”

“...blonde kid?” She leaned over, as if to look for someone.

“He left already i think.” Squall commented, slinging an arm around her shoulder, resting gently on…Vanitas. He was pretty sure it was Vanitas. Either way, a tongue flicked out lazily to greet him; both cobras were used enough to him and his scent he didn’t need to worry about getting reflexively bitten. Not that it was really a possibility, Naminé always saw them strike beforehand and was an expert at gently catching them before someone got the pricey venom. “Huh…weird.” She tried to shrug it off, but there were already too many people around the academy she couldn’t see properly and it was starting to bother her.

Squall smiled at her. “C’mon. We put in a good appearance and i think we can go home, what do you think?” Cloud was already returning to his side now that Lilo and Stitch had returned back to Nani’s care. Naminé nodded, leaning against Squall lightly in a gesture he recognized as her getting a headache.

“Let’s go.” Squall stifled a yawn. “Before someone else tries to volunteer me for something.” It was days like this he was glad that going home meant merely walking back to his classroom and using the door he’d connected to his house. They’d be home in fifteen minutes or less.

There was a small noise from behind, Stitch running after them at full speed carrying Naminé’s forgotten sketchpad.

Cloud rumbled softly and licked at Stitch’s face for a job well done. He had energy to spare but he was a good boy.

Naminé dropped the sketchpad, eyes briefly glazing over as she leaned heavily on Cloud, Stitch’s hand briefly touching hers. “...not safe.”

“Hey.” Squall grabbed her around the waist. “You okay?” all it took was a brief glance at her face to know she was seeing more than they were.

Her grip on Cloud tightened, and Stitch made a sad worried noise as another cobra poked its head out to nose at her. “Iga do achi kopa.” He said before taking off back to Lilo.

“Uh..What…” Squall blinked and Cloud whirled around slowly to look up into Naminé’s face.

“Puppies…” She muttered, head looking to the side aimlessly. “Not safe.”

He looked at her with a frown, his eyes dropping to her hands buried in Cloud’s fur. “What puppies?”

She blinked a few times, both cobras clearly agitated as her hair slowly got thicker.

“Alright. We need to go inside now.” Squall said, glancing around casually to make sure no one was paying them any attention. “Ven, Van, does she have her glasses on her?”

Vanitas dropped down, changing forms as subtly as he could, and luckily not entirely naked today as he went for her pocket “She doesn’t leave her room without them.”

Squall hummed and let Vanitas put them on her nose for safety reasons. “Haven’t seen her so locked in her sight for a while now. If she won’t move she can ride Cloud inside.”

Vanitas grunted, leaving the others to wonder if he’d already used up his word quota for the day while Ventus made himself a heavy scarf around his witch’s shoulders. When she still didn’t seem like she would move, Cloud instead shifted forms and remained crouching down so she could wrap around him, though it was more of a semi-limp collapsing with Vanitas assisting.

“Naminé.” Cloud said softly, arms going around her easily to support her. “What’s the matter?” He rested his cheek against her hair, showing no fear.

Most of her mumbling made no sense, she wasn’t with them at all. Vanitas kept a grip on Cloud’s bicep, where it had been broken once, and semi-urgently tugged him so they’d be away from any eyes sooner.

“Let’s go.” Squall said softly and Cloud stood up with Naminé in his arms and Vanitas at his side. It was the fortunate part of the crowded day. They blended in almost easily and anyone who did notice them didn’t think too much of it. Especially when Cloud had been known to carry people around on occasion. It only took a minute or two to get back into the building which would have been considered oddly empty on a regular day but everyone was outside.

“Thoughts on what’s wrong?” Squall asked Vanitas as he brought up the rear to block at curious gazes that might have looked inside behind them.

“Seeing something…” Vanitas hesitated, trying to find words. “...cloudy.”

“Which i got but it worries me that she’s clinging to Cloud over it.” Squall said softly but his wolf still glanced back at him as he carried Naminé back to their living quarters.

“Not safe,” She mumbled again. “Prompto…”

Cloud stopped and Squall nearly ran into his back. There was a tension that ran through Cloud’s body as he stared down at Naminé with something akin to horror. “Prompto is dead.” he said softly.

Squall’s lips parted, recalling the name of Cloud’s son that he’d lost in the labs. Things just got complicated, and Naminé’s mumbling hadn’t stopped, though most of the words were unintelligible until she added “...with Denzel.”

Clouds’ brows knitted together in confusion and Squall had to coax him to walk away with an arm around his waist.

“C’mon.” Squall said. “Let’s get home.”

~

Xemnas made the smallest noise from a hallway back as he and his witches watched the events unfold. Era sighed while Xeha’s forehead scrunched, both putting a hand on their tiger. “...yeah. I know. I know its your cousin’s family but…”

Eraqus shot a helpless look at Xehanort who was chewing his lip now. “...we’re gonna need to be really, really careful.”
“Xeha!” He shout-whispered.

“Yeah, I know but…” It’d break Xem’s heart if anything happened to Riku’s family. They were quickly running out of options no matter what they did.

Chapter Text

Almost as if having new people in the baby grove was some sort of catalyst for keeping it secret, that was the week that Lea accidentally spilled the beans in class. “People need to stop freaking out about the whole lack of new groves thing- people probably just haven’t found them yet cause they're so tiny, but they happen. We’ve seen one a couple of times now, Professor Leonhart legit has a baby grove. Baby fairies and everything.”

Boo turned in her seat to look at him even as Xion was not so subtly kicking Lea’s shin. “Professor Leonhart HAS a baby grove?” Her brows flew up. “Where?”

“Uh….oops…” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking guilty under the looks both Xion and Roxas were giving him.

Ienzo was frowning somewhat but his fingers tapping on the desk was a dead give away of his nerves. “You’re calling it his. Do you even know what that could mean?”

The class was only partially full but the conversation was only going to catch fire as more walked in and heard about it.

“I-uh, I mean…it could be Sora’s?” He offered weakly, not meaning to throw his friend under the gossip bus.

“I totally can’t hear you.” Sora said, fiddling in his sketchbook with Riku looking over his shoulder.

Roxas punched Lea’s shoulder. “How the hell does that change anything?” It was still a brand new baby grove.

Melody exchanged a look with Chess. “Yeah, a baby grove. That’s newsworthy. Like super duper newsworthy.”

Chess grinned, missing her own grove, the Cheshire Forest. “Yeah but then we’d have to share!”

Xion sighed loudly. “Squall’s gonna kill us. He specifically said not to talk about it. He doesn’t want it to get trashed when it’s so little.”

Lea paled. “It was an accident!”

Faline tilted her head, “Little? I mean- I know everyone in this room knows better than to cause harm, I’m sure we can all wait til it's a little more mature. Right?”
Eilowny nodded, standing up with perfect posture “Of course; no one in this class would do anything of the sort.”

“Of course not.” Roxas agreed. “It’s just.. So little we didn't even realize that’s what it was at first.” He figured the cat was out of the bag already, there was no use pretending otherwise. “Honestly we thought he’d dropped some seeds at some point or something.”

Chess hummed, crossing her arms “I mean, are you even sure?”

“Super sure.” Xion said, kicking Lea before he could bring up the fairies again.

“Yen Sid even came to look at it.” Roxas offered as a distraction.

That got even more attention. Tinkerbell stood with a start, both hands flat on a desk. “!!”

“Uh…” Roxas blinked, realizing he was the one to put his foot in his mouth that time.

Sora snorted. “Yen Sid is a friend of my family. He comes over all the time.”

“Oh, right…he was your and Squall’s temporary guardian for a few years, right? Til Squall was old enough to have legal custody of you?” Kairi said, coming to the rescue with a gentle smile. “You still get to call him grandpa, right?” That had a few of their classmates gawking.

“Sure do.” Sora grinned. “Don’t tell Squall but i’m totally his favorite.” It only distracted them for so long.

“So…” Boo muttered after a pause. “That makes it a for real verified grove…”

Zell frowned, but it was Pence who pointed out, “Um, just ‘cause he’s a former headmaster and on the council doesn’t mean he verified it. Otherwise it would’ve been published.”

“Unless he verified it for Professor Leonhart and not publicly.” Alice commented, Cleo napping in rabbit form on her lap. “If it was supposed to be secret and all…”

Melody nodded in agreement, “Yeah, and he doesn’t have to actually publish it unless someone’s filed the paperwork…what?” She said, noticing everyone looking at her. “It was on the test.”

Sora was quietly snickering. “You’ve all known my brother long enough to know he’s not good at sharing.”

Nearly the entire class nodded along in agreement.

Ienzo was the first to clear his throat, Isa making a point of ignoring him and everyone else as he continued reading his book. “Would he…uh…be amenable to us seeing it though. Maybe a class trip?”

“Uh…” Sora blinked.

Zexion looked like he was on the verge of begging. “Not necessarily right away but…”

Xion heaved a sigh when Sora just kept thinking about it. “Maybe if we swear the class to secrecy.”

Pence snorted “Like that’s worked so well in the past.”

“He had to know.” Flynn said, reclined on the back legs of his chair with his feet kicked up on his desk, while Maximus looked disgusted at the action and moved to knock his legs back down to the floor. “He had to know it wouldn’t stay secret forever. I mean, he told Lea.”

Wakka laughed outright. “Okay ya, he’s got a point.”

“Hey.” Lea complained. “I knew before any of you assholes.”

“Hey- who you calling an asshole?!” Wakka said a bit loudly, standing up with an angry wave of his hand.

Olette rolled her eyes, never one to tolerate theatrics “No one, he’s obviously using it colloquially.”

“Co-lick-you what?”

“It means he’s using it as informal language such as ‘you guys’ or ‘ya’ll’.” Eilowny said in her very best know-it-all tone.

Nemo giggled shyly. “She said ’ya’ll’.”

Several other students seemed to find it just as funny, and it had the priestess-in-training blushing as red as her hair.

“I think we’ve somehow got off track.” Roxas muttered, not sure if that was a good thing or not but they didn’t really have time to find out.

Squall walked in with Cloud padding along at his side. He was a few minutes late to class which was odd but it was likely because of the tall newcomer that trailed in behind him, with Saïx just behind. It made sense now why the desks had been shuffled around.

“Why does the entire class look guilty?” Squall asked, almost instantly suspicious when everyone turned to look at him as one.

Naminé took her seat behind Squall’s desk. “You’d rather not know.”

Squall frowned but took her word for it, stepping out of the way so Saïx could take a seat. “Alright, well we have a new student joining us. This is Sidon, you may or may not already know him. Don’t be assholes. Got it?”

Nemo waved with his lucky hand, actually seeming happy. “Friends, not food.”

Sidon grinned at him. “You know it!”

It was Kairi that snorted and the rest of the class seemed confused but rolled with it regardless.

Squall nodded towards the desk. “You can take your seat next to Eilowny.”

Zell stood up from his chair. “Hold up- you got a partner? And he’s a shark?!”

Doing her best to keep her blush down and her chin up, Eilowny countered. “And what of it?”

“Does he have two dic-”

“Want to find out?” Sidon asked, startling Zell who had somehow missed him approaching until the new student was already leaning on his desk with a predatory look. There was a faint ripple of laughter from some of the others at Zell’s fumbling and mumbling and Sidon finally went to take his seat.
Lea sighed. “So much for being the tallest red head in class…”

Roxas snorted, “You don’t get a prize for it.”

“Anyway.” Squall raised a brow. “You ready to learn something?” He hesitated when Raijin came in, passing over a note that most assumed was some kind of an excuse.

Squall however knew where he’d been, dropping off classwork to Seifer and Hayner who were still excused for the time being.

“Cool, thanks. Have a seat.”

“I’m not late?” Rai asked with a grin as he came in to take his seat.

“Haven’t called roll yet so you’re fine.” Squall shrugged, dropping to sit on his couch with Cloud as Naminé did the roll call for him. He read the note that had been handed to him and hummed. Seifer wanted to talk to him after class…

Raijin paused when he caught sight of someone in the seat next to Eilonwy. “What’re you doing in here?”

“Three guesses, first two don’t count.”
Rai laughed, ignoring the girl’s embarrassment. “Dang, good for you.”

“Yes, yes. Sit down.” Squall mused, rubbing Cloud’s ears. “Well since we have a new student, why don’t we have something of a review? Sidon, you participate too.”

He’d expected groans but everyone in the class seemed almost pleased. Since he started giving the familiars the same work as the witches, the work ethic had increased from nearly everyone.

He wasn’t sure when he’d gotten used to the rowdy bunch of kids but teaching wasn’t really all that hard. He got to talk and explain things and they absorbed new information. That didn’t mean he wanted to do it forever but it was alright for now.

When the class was over, Squall had wanted to lock the door and curl up against Cloud’s back to sleep for the next hour and a half before his next class but the note weighed heavily on his mind.

“Do either of you find it odd that it’s Seifer that wants to talk and not Hayner?” He asked.

Naminé frowned “I mean…Hayner’s been doing a lot of talking lately. Maybe Seifer needs a breather?”

He turned to look at her. “Am I a better option than Jiminy?” Cloud shifted against him briefly before sitting pressed against his side.

“Might be.” Cloud muttered softly, “Seifer is stubborn.”

“Not to mention how much time he’s spent around Jiminy.” She thought out loud slowly. “He’s…not the biggest fan of therapy.”

Squall hummed. “It’s likely doing him good whether he wants it to or not. If nothing else, it’s helping him handle Hayner.”

Cloud nodded, picking up the note to read it himself. “So he’ll be here soon. He’ll likely bring Hayner. He won’t want to leave him alone.”

More than that, it just plain wasn’t safe to. Hayner’s headspace was unstable at best.

“The note didn’t say what it was about.” Cloud mused, glancing up when there was a knock and Seifer came in with Hayner trailing behind him. The pair almost seemed surprised that they were still curled up on the sofa rather than having moved to the office.

“Hey.” Squall greeted. “How you feeling?”

Hayner offered a tight smile and shrugged half heartedly. “Things are okay.”

Seifer frowned lightly but let it go, turning his attention to the adults instead “Why’d you even put a couch out here?”

Squall patted the arm of it. “Because i sit on it, and this classroom is mine.”

“Sit.” Cloud said, already aware of Seifer’s tension.

For a moment it seemed like he might decline simply to be difficult, but the moment passed them and he plopped down, dragging Hayner with him.

Cloud raised a brow at their behavior. It wasn’t like they hadn't been the last several days, but Seifer was the one smelling stressed now.

“What do you need?” Squall asked, seeing no sense in dancing around whatever this was. Something was odd here.

Seifer tensed, loath to admit it but, ”...a favor.”

Squall couldn’t hide his surprise. “Okay? That’s possible?”

He bit his lip, the words slowly dragging themselves out “It's…a big one…”

Cloud and Squall exchanged a look and both couldn’t help but find it odd that Naminé hadn’t brought up anything that could be considered big. There was also the fact that Hayner hadn’t said a word and was frankly looking a little downcast.

“I’m listening.” Squall gestured for him to continue.

“Hypothetically…could you do a fetal and uterus transplant?”

Whatever Squall had been expecting, that wasn’t it. His brows flew up. “Oh, who?” He’d expected it to be something trial related. This was something else altogether.

“On m-me.” He said, nerves spilling over.

Cloud was leaning closer to him, their shift in dynamic suddenly obvious. Squall handled witch matters and Cloud was happy to let him but this was suddenly a familiar decision.

“Tell us what’s going on.” Cloud said softly. “Who do you know that’s pregnant? Who do you want to carry for?”

“For him.” Hayner answered. “If…if it’s possible it would be for him. We wouldn’t give the baby back.”

Seifer had hung his head slightly, hair a sort of shield as he spoke softly “ ‘d be my sibling but…I want them…”

Cloud slid off the couch and knelt in front of Seifer, looking up into his face. “I’m not questioning the ‘why’. I understand the ‘why’. But you understand that’s.. Big magic. The more details we have the better.”

Seifer was having a very difficult time keeping both his face and voice in check when his emotions were already more than fried. “Yeah.”

Cloud leaned up enough to press his forehead to Seifer’s. “Sibling? Your mother’s uterus?” He wanted to confirm it. The lynx nodded once, not trusting his voice.

Naminé quietly spoke up, “It's an easier spell with a relative who’s only removed by one degree. More likely to be successful too.”

Squall was humming, he’d pulled out a small notebook from his back pocket and was already scribbling down some notes. “Consensual transition is key though. Is she okay with this?”

“She agreed to it.” Seifer confirmed, tone bitter.

“I heard her agree too.” Hayner muttered, one hand resting on his opposite arm.

Cloud grunted once, and he likely had a hundred more questions but that wasn’t what Seifer needed.

Seifer peeked up towards Squall, wondering if it was too much to ask. He couldn’t ask Hayner, his witch didn’t have nearly enough magic or the experience to pull off something like this. And there weren’t many adults in his life.

“There are alot of parts.” Squall commented, almost more to himself as he worked on his notes. “The sooner the better. Easier the earlier the pregnancy so it would have time to adjust to your body.”

It was almost fascinating to watch Squall work on a problem like this. It was different from class.

“You may need to bond.” Squall continued as if that comment was easy to make reality.

Seifer’s jaw jutted out stubbornly “Need?”

“It would be safer for you and the baby if you were.” Squall mused, crossing something out in his notebook. “You’re going to need a steady magic supply during the transfer. It would be better if it was magic you’re already in tune with.”

Hayner looked fairly heartbroken. “I’m not allowed.” he muttered, looking almost close to tears and assuming that would mean Seifer would have to look elsewhere.

Naminé hummed lightly. “Not being allowed doesn’t mean you can’t.”

“I’ll sign the form.” Squall said, mildly distracted.

“Huh.” Hayner stared, eyes wide. Squall was his temporary guardian but…

Cloud chuckled. “Probably good for you too.”

“Probably,” Squall agreed with his wolf. “A bond is already good for focusing. It stands to reason that it would help some of your issues.”

“...if we argue that it's necessary Cid’ll sign off, regardless of the current ban.” He’d have to, since Edea had already agreed to the procedure.

Hayner grabbed Seifer’s arm, eyes full of tears, but Seifer wasn’t looking at him. He didn’t want to bond like this, he wanted it to be about them. Not because it was ‘necessary’.

“Would you?” Hayner shook his arm to get his attention. There really were tears spilling down his face now. “Would you stay with me? Bond with me?” His breathing was shaky. “Would you let me be half of you?”

Seifer stared at him, mouth open, but he couldn’t find any words. Squall was still distracted, but the few others in the room politely said nothing. Though Cloud was giving Seifer a bit of a look as if not understanding his hesitation.

After a moment Naminé lightly interrupted before Seifer could say something foolish. “It really is necessary. Your odds of a successful transfer go up significantly, and it’ll be healthier for the pregnancy too.”

Hayner’s lips trembled a little. “It’s not just about the baby. It’s not. It’s what I want, as long as it’s what you want too.”

He threw an arm around Hayner and pulled him closer abruptly “...I didn’t want it to be like this.”

“Neither did I, but trying to plan it… trying to make it perfect wasn’t working, was it?” Hayner mumbled. It had really just made things worse.

He turned to speak in Hayner’s ear, not wanting to share the words. “I wanted it to be about us; the rest wasn’t important. It’s you I want.”

A sound like a sob passed Hayner’s lips as he clung harder to Seifer. It wasn’t what he’d planned at all but that didn’t matter if he got Seifer. He didn’t care who heard him crying, but Cloud, who’d heard everything, turned back to Squall anyway.

“Stop.”

“Working.”

Cloud plucked the notebook from his hands. “There’s time.” he promised softly, sitting beside him again.

Naminé nodded, backing Cloud up. “This isn’t something we can jump right into anyways, even if it is…semi-urgent.” She looked at the two blonde teenagers. “Would it be alright if I helped?”

Hayner was wiping at his eyes, still gripping Seifer’s arm tightly. “Help how?”

“I’m a seer.” She said simply.

He just blinked at her.

“Keeping an eye on the end results.” Cloud said dryly, smacking Squall’s hand when he tried to take his notebook back.

Seifer gave a shudder but nodded, if a bit reluctant. Naminé’s smile was bittersweet, she knew that reaction well. Not that she blamed him. “I’ll do my best to only look at the pregnancy.”

“I mean…” Hayner wiped at his eyes again but was still shaky. “Anything that can help such complicated magic can only be good, right?” he looked at Seifer, leaving that part of the decision in his hands. He still thought it would be helpful though. If he liked it, maybe that would soothe Seifer somewhat.

The lynx gave an uncomfortable shrug, thought about it some more, the nodded more firmly “Yeah…ah, sorry about-”
“Its okay,” She said quickly. “I know what I can do doesn’t sit well with a lot of people. It's nothing personal.” Even if it sort of was.

“It will be fine.” Cloud said softly. “We will go through it calmly. Make sure everything is done correctly. Safely.”

Hayner nodded weakly, but Squall accepting so easily seemed to do a great deal for his nerves. “And it’s really okay? You’ll sign off on the bonding?”

Squall turned his attention back to the teens. “I will talk to Jiminy but yeah. It will be necessary for the transfer and I honestly think it will just be a benefit for you too. Bonding done correctly could do a bit of decent patchwork on the mind in time.”

Seifer fidgeted. “You’ll…you’ll really help us?”

“Of course.” Squall said bluntly. “This isn’t a flippant request. You’re obviously determined and I'd rather you come to me than do something stupid.”

“Don’t really see how I even could- this isn’t exactly magic a student could just try to do.” Not to mention they needed at least two parties, and there was zero chance Cid would put Edea at risk.

Squall nodded, giving up on getting his notebook back from Cloud. “I never underestimate stupidity. This is better. We’ll work it out. I’ll have to talk to her too to make sure this is consensual and all that but we’ll start working out the kinks.”

He never referred to Edea by name but he seemed to know exactly who they were talking about and avoided the word mother.

Seifer glanced at Hayner, then back at Squall. “So, do we need to talk to Jim about the paperwork? My dad’ll sign, he’s been…asking anyways.”

“Yeah, i’ll do it.” Squall mused faintly. “The mans been torn about it for a few days now anyway.”

Cloud was nodding along. “Two weeks. A few days to prepare and coordinate. A week is soon enough.”

Seifer’s brow furrowed. “Come again? Torn about it?”

“About our bonding?” Hayner added, equally confused.

“Mhmm.” Squall leaned against Cloud, ready for a nap before his next class. “He’s not blind. He sees the both of you are really helping the other. You’re a good pair. He has to follow the rules or whatever and that involved denying Hayner’s request because of his file.”

“Learning that the things they’ve been working on for years were caused by magic and abuse pisses him off too.” Cloud said softly. “He cares a lot about his students and his work was being directly challenged. It would annoy anyone. Had it been Squall he’d have ignored the rules and signed off on your application already but Jiminy…” Cloud seemed to have trouble picking a word.

“Has more academic integrity?” Squall offered, making Cloud smile.

“Okay-- so we go see Jim or you guys do?”

“I’ll do it.” Squall confirmed, “But if you have an appointment, and i’m sure you do, you can talk about it with him again then.”

“Two days, after class.” Even he was starting to feel a bit guilty about how much of Jiminy’s time they were taking up.

“So…In two weeks we’ll be bonded and Sei will be…” Hayner started slowly.

Squall hummed, watching him for signs that he was overwhelmed. “Take it slowly. It’s a lot of changes but you could consider them good changes.”

“...let’s go to the store. Get you some mochi and me some prenatals.” Seifer said, taking Hayner’s hand.

Hayner grasped it tightly and smiled. “That’s a combination that’s gonna stick with me for a while.” He looked back at the adults. “Thanks professor.”

Squall nodded and waved them off. “We got this, don’t stress out.”

Seifer rolled his eyes at that; he was doing what he could but come on- there was no way not to.

“Let’s go.” Hayner smiled at him as they walked out of the room, looking remarkably happier from when they’d entered.

Naminé exhaled slowly after the door closed behind them “...its gonna be rough.”

Squall nodded, taking his notebook back. “Edea should really learn her lesson already. Maybe this is it.”

“Mm…” Cloud growled, unhappy with what he’d seen so far of Seifer and Edea’s relationship. “He’s a good boy. He wants the baby.”

“He wanted all of them…” She corrected gently, looking sad.

Squall made a face and this cleared a few things up about Seifer’s supposed prejudices. Easy to blame hybrids for bad things when all of his hybrid siblings never made it out of the womb.

“I think being around Hayner and Yuna more cemented it for him.” Naminé added, looking down at her notebook. “It's harder to deny things bothering you when you can see other people having what you want.”

Cloud nodded his agreement. “Envy. Picking fights with people who had what he didn’t.” That on occasion, had also included Hayner’s friends.

“Yuna’s almost as good for him as Hayner is. They’ll be a good family when things settle down.”

“Alright then.” Squall heaved a sigh. He was going to miss out on that nap. “We should get to work on this then…” They didn’t have much time.