Yay, story! One shot!

I am fully aware that I didn't do the plot bunny justice. If anyone's willing to play around with it, feel free to!

Squall Leonhart, commander and general of the Defenders of Peace, wasn't a naïve man by any stretch of the word. Nor was he stupid. Or under a spell for that matter. He was perfectly aware of what he was doing, of what consequences what he did had on the world and how the world viewed it.

After all, you don't get uprisings unless there something to rise up against.

Of course, he had started out as naïve but then again, so had Rinoa, so maybe it hadn't so much been naivete as it had been trust.

It started with peace. Or rather the wish for peace.

His expensive shoes clacked loudly against the cement floor, just a bit muffled compared to hardwood or marble, but not by much. His trousers was freshly pressed but of such quality that they didn't chafe, regardless of the copious amounts of starch he was sure the small army of attendants he apparently needed had used on them. His jacket was equally fine and equally pressed. It wasn't quite dress-uniform but neither would it really be useful in any actual battlefields, but as the general, he had to look the part, and he couldn't afford anyone to believe they were just talking with a teenager.

Not that they were likely to, but he couldn't afford it regardless.

Dismissing his musings as pointless, he resumed his mental cataloguing of what he was going to face at the end of his march. It was an exercise he was frequently partaking in, these days. His so-called guard, the two SeeDs walking stiffly at his back, wasn't likely to engage their commander in conversation anyway.

With the threat Ultimecia had posed gone, the world had rejoiced. Galbadia and Esthar had made peace, or pretended to, and for a while, conflict was a thing of the past. The only ones who didn't rejoice, were the SeeDs. Their source of income had dwindled to nothing and many of the mercenaries were forced to take on menial labour, since the Gardens could no longer support them.

That all changed quite suddenly, during a major uprising of Galbadia's former army. With no war going on, the soldiers had been left to idle, whole companies had been sent home, flooding cities, towns, and villages, that no longer had a need for the men. The amount of work available had simply been adjusted to the available workforce, without the men occupied in the army.

In time, jobs would have appeared, most likely, but until then, almost a fourth of the Galbadian population was without a stable income and in typical Galbadian style, they had been left with only a tiny pension, neither enough to live nor die for, just to ensure that the men had as much incentive to find work as possible.

Clearly it didn't work and the revolt had spread like a wildfire and soon over half the country was in a state of absolute anarchy with the rest of the country terrified that it would spread. Rumours and speculation were going wild adding fuel to the fire and panic.

When SeeD was finally called upon it became a slaughter hitherto unseen proportions. Pitching trained but unarmed former soldiers against better trained and properly armed SeeDs, they should really have seen it coming. The revolution was stomped down brutally and efficiently and afterwards, no one was going challenge the power of the Gardens.

It didn't take long after that, before the SeeDs, as a neutral party, was appointed as a commonforce; used to quell uprisings and battle monsters all over the world, not much different from what they used to do except this time, SeeD wasn't so much mercenaries hired for individual jobs as they were a shared military force.

Coming back to the present, Squall eyed the drab door in front of him. Stepping into prison cells was hardly anything he did often these days, but he had known the prisoner in his youth. A rebel now, but he hadn't seen the man in many years and he figured there was something like honour between them, that he ought to show some respect, if nothing else, at least for that past bond. He left the guards outside.

"Zell Dincht," he intoned upon entering, the thick metal door shutting with bang that hung in the corners of the room, humming for a few second afterwards.

"Squall!" Was the reply, overly loud, brash. Invasive, was Squall's first thought, not that he was really surprised. Even if Zell was nearing fifty, his hairline receding, blond spikes greying, and shorter than they had been, even though he had been holed up in a dank cell for four days, there was just no quelling that spirit. "Don't be so formal, we're old buddies after all." There was a certain tilt to the smile that betrayed the lie in Zell's words. Squall ignored it.

Maybe they could have quelled that spirit if Squall had given the green light to torture his former team mate, but he hadn't. In part because he didn't think they would get anything out of the rebel leader, in part because Zell had been the leader and with Zell apprehended, the rest of the rebels would probably fall apart, but mostly it was that selfsame sense of obligation that had him down here in the first place.

"Zell, then." He didn't modulate his tone, keeping it formal as he sat down across from him. Zell grimaced, but didn't comment.

"So, Squall, how have you been? How is it, being the leader of the world? Grand, I suppose, not like being the leader of a buncha rebels. Bet you never had to go three days without a proper meal or sleeping out when it was raining or anything."

"No." He didn't bother rising to the none-too-subtle jabs.

"Mh, underlings treating you well? Listening to what you tell them?"

"Of course."

"I can imagine, obedient little lapdogs. Especially after Rinoa's worked her magic on them, eh? So, how's the wifey? She putting out for you, still?"

"Please refrain from addressing her in such a crude manner."

"I guess you don't have to worry about such things, huh?" The blond continued, ignoring the reprimand. "Ah, must be nice, eternal youth. I'm beginning to feel my age, you see, think Rinoa could help with that?"

"If I let you within thirty feet of her, you'd try to attack."

"Mmh, true that. Wait, what's with the 'try'?"

"You won't succeed."

"Why not?"

"I would be there, too."

"Mmmh... I guess you have a point, there."

They lapsed into silence for a short while, before Zell broke it again.

"You know, in our youth, I would have never believed that Rinoa would go for world domination."

"No. Me neither."

"Yeah, I can't believe everything came so easy to her, though. After SeeD was made into a commonforce, with all those people suddenly wanting their children to join, I really thought it was for the best, you know? We had a stable income and the pick of the litter. SeeD had never been such a respectful occupation."

"Indeed."

"The whole situation with Timber... How much did she manipulate it? I always wondered... It gave her the opportunity to take power from the Galbadian government and before we knew it, poof, she ruled the world."

"I don't know, honestly." In truth, it hadn't been all that sudden. Standing right next to Rinoa, he had seen it all happen, had seen power and influence drift in Rinoa's direction with almost every breath she took. Had known that if anyone was going to stop it, it would have to be him and had known that he wouldn't do it.

"Wait, aren't you going to deny it? Something like 'Rinoa is innocent and good, she would never dream of acquiring power just for the sake of it'?"

"It's pretty pointless to deny it, isn't it? There were too many lucky breaks for her in that whole affair for it to be purely coincidence. And she probably started out with the best of intentions but I guess it's true what they say; Power corrupts."

"Wait, wait, what? Give me a break here, you're aware of what she's doing to the world, and you aren't trying to stop her?"

"That sums it up pretty well, yes."

"I can't believe you. I just can't believe you. How could you betray... everyone, like that?"

"Funny."

"Funny? What the hell's so funny?"

"Quistis and Selphie said almost the same thing, after we had caught them."

Zell snorted, still incensed. "And Irvine?"

"Didn't say anything."

"I guess not. He was really broken after you caught Selphie. Can't believe you had them all executed, man."

"They were rebels."

Neither spoke for a few seconds before Zell, once again, broke the silence. "I guess you're having me executed as well."

It wasn't a question, but nevertheless, Squall answered. "Yes."

"Haha, nothing like seeing your former team mate after so many years and then having them pronounce your death sentence. This really blows."

Squall shifted, not quite uncomfortable, but not really having anything to say and knowing what was coming next.

"Do me a favour?"

"What?"

"Tell me why? Why did you betray everyone's trust like that?"

"Because," Squall started, not needing time to think. He had provided much the same answer to everyone else, when they asked. "As much as I cared for you guys, as much as you guys meant to me, I love Rinoa more."

"It's that simple, huh?"

"Yes, it's that simple."

THE END