On August 23, the sounds of childbirth marred the quiet of Winhill. Her husband away on a quest to find the young neighbor girl she had adopted when her parents were killed by soldiers, Raine Loire gave birth to a son whom she named Squall. After her husband, Laguna Loire, found their adopted daughter Ellone, he sent her back to Winhill without him, and stayed on in Esthar to become their president. He had helped to imprison the ruthless Sorceress Adel, and as such the people loved him as those in Winhill never had and needed him with them. Unfortunately, Raine needed him as well.
Raine never recovered from the ordeal of childbirth, and passed away shortly after. Without Laguna to raise them, the townspeople decided that Ellone and Squall should be sent to an orphanage. However, since they hated Laguna for his earlier role as a soldier and being an outsider in their peaceful town, they gave his son Raine's maiden name as his given name before giving him away.
The orphanage on the tip of Centra was soon gifted with Ellone and her baby brother, Squall Leonhart. They were both raised there for the following years by Edea Kramer, or Matron, as they called her. Other children there included Zell Dincht, Quistis Trepe, Irvine Kinneas, Selphie Tilmitt, and Seifer Almasy. Most of the children got along well, and looked up to Ellone/Elle as their big sister. Squall especially retained his special bond with her and was close to her while quiet and restrained around the rest.
As time passed, many of the children bonded, while Squall remained content with his Sis and developed a rivalry with one other child - Seifer. Seifer was mean and a bully towards all of the others, but Squall in particular vexed him, as he could not outdo Squall or rile him up the same as the rest.
While these relationships were established, Edea and her husband Cid began to realize just how powerful Ellone was. With the ability to junction someone's consciousness onto someone else's in the past, Ellone had been the fascination of Sorceress Adel and her scientist Dr. Odine, who has begun to develop Junction Machine Ellone to emulate her power. The Kramers soon recognized the need to protect Ellone from sorceresses, even Edea herself, who had received the powers of the dying Sorceress Ultimecia earlier. And so, SeeD was created to fight the sorceresses, with the White SeeD as a special branch specifically to take care of Ellone.
Once the preparations were finished, Cid Kramer became Headmaster of the very first Garden to train SeeDs, Balamb Garden. Later, Gardens were built in Galbadia and Trabia as well, and Ellone was sent between them to keep her safe and to know where she was at all times. Unfortunately, with Ellone gone suddenly and seemingly without reason, the children were saddened and missed their Sis.
Being the closest to Ellone and Ellone alone, Squall took this loss hardest of all. He grew from being a quiet and reserved boy to an antisocial and calloused youth. As he developed, Squall became interested in the figure of a lion, and admired the quiet strength and pride the animal embodied. He began wearing charms of a lion's head to inspire himself and named the icon Griever, to reflect his what then seemed eternal sorrow and mourning at being alone in the world. Afraid of ever being deserted again, Squall resigned himself to a life of solitude and no attachments.
Once he was old enough, Squall enrolled in Balamb Garden, eager to pursue life as a mercenary, where he could be cold and detached and no one would scold him for it, and to train so that he may be like his lion. Student number 41269, Gunblade specialist, star pupil, the only complaint his instructors ever had was his lack of emotion. Squall continued to brush them off, working his way up and meanwhile still competing with Seifer Almasy, who also had enrolled and taken up the gunblade. After years of training, Squall took his exams, both written and field, and became the first Gunblade specialist ever to become a SeeD.
This is where the story of Final Fantasy VIII truly begins...