Let Us Love You

Chapter 13:

Squall stopped in front of Balamb Garden, staring up at the blue building. For all the problems it caused him, he still considered it as home. He had grown up here, learned how to fight and protect what was important to him, had even found the 'family' he had been missing from his past. He even found a love and happiness he knew he wouldn't have found anywhere else. Being with Selphie and Irvine made him realize he'd always have home.

Shaking himself from those thoughts, he jogged up the stairs to catch up with his waiting lovers. They needed to unpack and then he had some things he needed to settle. Things were going to be different now.

Selphie smiled up at him as they continued the climb up the stairs. Irvine waved to the gatekeeper as they continued their way inside. The trio paused and looked up at the figure in the white coat who stood with her arms crossed and a small smile on her lips.

"Welcome back commander, Selphie, Irvine."

"Hey doc." Irvine said as Selphie waived.

"I trust your vacation went well?" She asked and watched as the commander nodded once. "Well then! Since you're all nice and relaxed, I just came to remind you that as soon as you drop your stuff off in your quarters, you have an appointment for your checkup." The doctor met his eyes and saw something different in the blue-gray orbs, but didn't comment.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Squall." She turned and started back towards her office, not missing the sigh that no doubt escaped their stoic commander's lips.

Selphie reached up and gave his back a gentle rub of support as they started for the dorm wing of Balamb Garden.

*-*

'What the hell?' Squall thought to himself staring at his now empty room. It looked as if no one had ever been living there. As he was looking around though, he spotted a few puddles and the bottom of the walls seemed to be faded. He gritted his teeth hoping whatever had happened hadn't ruined everything he had, despite how small that was. Before he could get too angry though, he heard a familiar 'yo'.

Turning around, he saw Zell with his head poked into the room. The blonde man grinned broadly at him and even waved.

"Have a nice vacation?" The tattooed fighter got a glare at his question. It only made him chuckle having gotten use to it by now. "Yer stuff's been moved into one of the suites. There was some kinda pipe break, ruined the entire bathroom. We managed to salvage yer stuff before it got trashed too. Man you really shoulda seen what it looked like when it happened, water everywhere. Shower was completely destroyed, looked like a T-Rexaur stepped on it. Was wicked as hell," he rambled on.

Squall scowled at the news, turning to stare back at his former room. Now it meant having to get use to another damn room. Just great and his was first day back too.

"Come on, Seph, Irvine," he mumbled out his usual tone, trudging out of the room to find the new room that was going to be too big for him.

They followed Zell up a few levels using the dorm's elevators and came to a stop. The blond grinned as the door opened as he moved to the doors. The elevator chimed, letting them out on the right floor. The former messenger girl noticed that as they moved on, the doors became fewer in numbers but shook her head when Zell finally came to a stop.

"Here ya are! Headmaster Cid insisted that you be moved to this suite because hell, you are the commander. He also told me to tell you that any requests for relocation will be denied." He pressed in the access code and the door to the room slid open. Selphie and Irvine felt their eyes go wide at the new sight.

It wasn't a dorm room, or even the simple SeeD suite, It was an apartment! They hadn't realized where exactly they had been going to as far as placement of the garden, but it was obvious that this floor stretched to the front of the garden, just above the entryway.

Large windows gave a view of the ocean in the distance along with the village of Balamb. The apartment obviously was pre-furnished and tastefully so. His own personal effects were placed around the living room. The kitchen was an actual full kitchen, giving the occupant the option to make their own meals.

"This place is awesome! The master bedroom has a great view. There's two bathrooms, a guest room and a study. Its sound proof but there is an paging system in case of emergency along with terminal net access, you'll just have to set it up the way you want it."

"Wow…" Selphie said, moving forward to the window to stand next to the large TV, looking down. About three levels below, she could see a few students coming back into the garden and one of the vehicles departing for Balamb.

"Quistis just got her own place on this floor too because she's A rank and all. She's across the hall." Zell said. He had been spending a lot of time with his girlfriend up here. It was just by chance that he happened to be in his own dorm suite instead of up with Quistis, but he was glad he was. Now he got to see the reaction of his friends as they checked out Squall's new place.

Squall was impressed that they had actual full apartments in the Garden, something he had been completely oblivious too. It was very spacious and quiet, something he didn't exactly get in his old dorm room. Despite that though, he mentally groaned at how large it was. It just seemed way too big for just him alone. He didn't know if Selphie and Irvine would or could move in with him so it wasn't so lonely feeling.

"This is ridiculously spacious for one person," he mumbled heading down the hallway to look at the rooms.

"Yeah, Quistis said the same thing." Zell said and a slight blush tinted his cheeks. "That's why I've been staying with her. Headmaster says its okay so we said why not. I haven't had a chance to move all my stuff yet with you three being gone and stuff, but that'll happen tomorrow. Matron has maintenance coming to move my stuff."

"Aww Zelly-poo! You're so cute when it comes to Quisty! You always get all blushy and stuff." Selphie said with a grin.

Irvine looked over to Squall and met his eyes as their darlin' teased the blond. "I hope you're not thinkin' that because yer up here now, you wont get to spend time with us. You already know that we're not going to give you up. You won't be alone." He said in a hushed tone, his hand coming up to squeeze Squall's shoulder.

"I know. This place just feels so big for just me," he murmured back, fingers brushing against the cowboys. A deep sigh left his lips knowing this was going to take something getting use to, if he would be able to at all.

Squall was use to being in small rooms and preferred it that way. He knew though that Cid wasn't going to let him go back to a smaller suite. For some reason the man had this notion that he had to help him with things, like he couldn't decide things on his own. It could be nerve wracking when the old man would go out of his way like this.

Letting out another sigh, he headed for the door. "Let's get the appointment out of the way."

Selphie dropped her bag on the couch and turned to Zell. "Sorry, we gotta go but we'll catch up with you later! Maybe we can all get together and have dinner or something." She said as they walked out of Squall's new place.

"Sound's good. See you guys later!"

"Bye!" Selphie waved and skipped off after her two boyfriends as Zell turned towards Quistis' place.

The trio rode the elevator down and headed back for the doctor's office. Selphie giggled as a few brand new cadets saluted their Commander and the two higher ranking and legendary SeeDs, giving them a casual salute in return.

Soon the entered the infirmary and found Dr. Kadowaki sitting at her desk. "Ahh commander, I'm glad that I didn't have to send Xu and Nida to track you down."

"No way we're lettin' him miss this." Irvine said and took a seat.

"Its good to know that he has someone other than me breathing down his neck about staying healthy." She gave Irvine a motherly smile before turning back to the brunet. "Now Squall, do you mind that Selphie and Irvine are here? I would like to ask them questions on how your vacation went as well."

"No." He said and watched her nod as she led the trio into one of the exam rooms in back. "Up on the table and shirt of please."


Selphie and Irvine watched as she poked and prodded at their lover, taking blood and putting it in the analyzer before listening to his heart and lungs. With a 'Hmm..' she moved over to the computer and took a seat as she waited for the results to display.

"Now," she turned to the sniper and messenger girl before glancing up to her patient. "Were there any problems while you were away."

"He passed out a few times."

"Really?" The doctor turned her gaze to the commander. "Where they the same ones that you used to have?" The commander simply nodded with a sigh. "Well, I'm going to give you something to prevent the blackouts. When you feel the pain coming on, take one of the pills and place it under your tongue. If you still have problems with blacking out even after taking one of the pills, inform me. Keep them on you at all times." She said and stood, punching in a code in the cabinet and removing a metal tube the size of a cigarette and handed it to him.

A beeping from the console informed her that the results were ready. She quickly analyzed them before removing a vial from the same cabinet. She washed her hands and drew up a dose of vitamin B12, noticing Selphie's wince at the disturbing red color.

"You're results are much better than they were last time. You can stop the supplements in a week. Your vitamin B12 levels are still a bit low, but this will give them a boost." She said and watched as he presented his arm. She quickly cleaned the site before injecting the drug into him.

"Just remember, three meals a day and no less for the next week, after that point, you can go as low as two. No preventable stress. You have friends who will help you with running the garden. You don't have to do this alone Squall."

"He knows we're going to be here to help him." Selphie said, meeting the blue eyes of her love.

Dr. Kadowaki noticed the look that passed between the three of them and smiled mentally. She may be older, but she knew love when she saw it and these three definitely held love for each other.

It was exactly what the stoic young man before her needed.

Squall slipped his shirt back on before bending his elbow to hold the cottonball in place. The tube was placed in his pants pocket as he stood from the exam table. "I'll be back in a couple days when you want me back." That said, he gave a curt nod to the Dr. Kadowaki before heading out, not wanting to be in there any longer than needed.

"Selph, go find Quistis and tell her she needs to find people that can deal with trivial paperwork. Irvine, I want you to help me sort out whatever paperwork I have waiting for me. I'm only going to deal with urgent or confidential paperwork from now on," he said in his commanding tone, finding it so easily to get back into the role.

"Yes sir!" She snapped a salute and grinned at her lovers before heading out of the infirmary. She had wanted so badly to kiss each of her loves but held back. They didn't need their business out amongst the garden just yet. She was not ashamed of their relations. While it was unconventional, it was not unheard of.

Irvine gave the gunblade master a nod and followed out of the infirmary and up to the commander's office. Before entering, they were greeted by Xu and Nida.

"Good afternoon Irvine, Commander." She asked with a smile and a slight bow as they nodded in greeting and headed into the office, closing the door. Irvine directed Squall over to the couch as he grabbed the stack of papers in the inbox. He grabbed two pens and two clipboard before going to join his lover on the couch.

"We'll take this slow. If we don’t' get it all done today, that's too bad. I think we can knock this pile out, though."

Squall nodded and picked up a handful of the papers setting them on his clipboard. Leaning back into the couch, he clicked his pen then started scanning through. Papers that didn't need his immediate attention were stacked into a pile. Urgent papers were looked over and decided over what should be done.

*-*

The task went late into the afternoon. Many times Irvine had to stop the commander from trying to race through the paperwork. When lunch came around, the sniper had to rip the papers out of his hand and hide them. Selphie joined them then, letting Squall know that Quistis would have people for him tomorrow. After lunch, the paperwork slowed down since the bubbly woman became a distraction.

To Squall's pleasure, all the work they'd started with was finished by the time he was meant to leave. Irvine had also promised to make them dinner using the new kitchen in his new apartment. The day hadn't been to bad for once.

Squall slipped out of his boots and jacket, setting them both by the door. As he headed to the leather couch, he rolled his neck and rubbed at his tense shoulder. Then he fell back into the cushions letting out a soft sigh of relief as he waited for Selphie and Irvine.