He ran out of there as fast as he could. He ran until his legs hurt, his lungs burned, his eyes flooded with either sweat or tears, he didn't know which and didn't care. He didn't even know where he was running to. All he knew was that he was going there, and making good time.
Squall Leonhart. Hardly even a man, it seemed, until the warmth of one woman's heart entered his own. He wasn't even given the simple names of who brought him into this world, who his parents were, who's name he had received at birth and lived with ever since. Squall Leonhart. Orphaned at a young age, predestined to be raised by a woman who would one day be a sorceress, brought up with those who fate would reunite years later to destroy that woman, their 'enemy'....
He had never been so scared in his life, except for when he was a child. The day They took Ellone away from him, he was angry, sad, confused...but in reality, he was scared....
"Heeey Squallly..."
"Whaaat Seifer?"
"Why are yoo crying?"
"Sis weft uss. Dey took her awaay from mee. I mish her."
"Don't be such a baby. Quit cwyiing, yoo baaybeee!" the blond boy laughed heartily.
"Shaddup, yoo MEANIE!!"
...He collapsed beneath a tree some distance from Esthar, and looked out across the desert set before him.
Desert.
Just like after they defeated the sorceress.
Just like the place he couldn't seem to escape from.
Just like the place where She came to be with him.
But She couldn't be with him now. She didn't even know he ventured to that place, to meet with Him. To be force-fed a slice of reality that turned bitter and acidic in his stomach..
His Father.
Him.
Laguna..?
The sour truth finally gnawed through his defensive wall. He coughed, leaned over, and vomited.
Squall spat onto the ground. When the acid taste finally began to leave his mouth, he leaned back against the tree and continued to look across the desert. He felt uneasy about returning to Garden. It was late, so everyone would be asking him where he had run off to, and why he was pale as new fallen snow and shaking like a leaf. He could lie to them....but he would have to tell the truth to Headmaster Cid. Even Edea would be concerned about him, and would not let him rest until he told her what was going on. He probably wouldn't even get away from Rinoa. Her eyes would pierce into his soul, causing even more agony until he told the painful truth...
Dizziness set in. He closed his eyes, and rested his full weight against the tree he was propped up against. The things that led up to that moment finally came together in his mind, swirling and melting together in an ugly, beautiful truth.
Ragnarok.
Laguna said he would like to talk to Squall after it was all over.
Kiros said he looked like his mother.
Ward said it was a good thing he didn't look like his father.
..Now he knew why.
His mother was dead. His father used to be an idiot in search of a village. Raine Leonhart..Laguna Loire...
His father was at war when he was born. He was sent to an orphanage with Ellone shortly after Raine died. He wasn't even old enough to remember what his mother looked like before he was so abruptly taken away, or to understand why he grew up in an orphanage. All he had known was that Ellone was his big sister, and they lived under the care of Matron Edea. That was all. And now he wished that he hadn't been told, that it was better to live a lie than to life with this new life...
As a child, he had no parents. And now he did?
His exhausted thoughts gave way to dreams as a light, misty rain began to fall.
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She looked out her dorm window. Across the foliage, far to the east, gray storm clouds were building.
She sighed and shook her head. "A storm? Now? ...This is unseasonable."
She continued to scan the horizon, her crystal blue eyes occasionally darting left or right to change her field of view. Her half-conscious thoughts still urged her to return to the party, to rejoin the others and celebrate their Grand Victory over Sorceress Ultimecia. But...why would they want to be around her? They were bust doing their own thing: Zell was inhaling hot dogs next to that Amie girl, Selphie was absorbed in her search for "Sir Laguna" while swatting away Irvine, Seifer was nowhere to be seen and presumed dead after siding with the Sorceress, Squall and Rinoa--she knew they were still on that balcony, their arms interlaced in some lovers' embrace..
She laid back on her bed and sighed, entertaining the thought a while longer. She could only dream about finding a love like theirs. It seemed that the only ones who had any feelings for her were those bothersome Trepies that worshiped everything she said, did, wore, ate...but even that wasn't love. She also felt as though she still had to restrain her feelings about people, even after resigning as an instructor, because of those Trepies. She had to be a good role model, so she certainly couldn't be walking around like Those Two through a crowd of hostile Trepies.
It was more than the Trepies, though. All her life, she felt that she had to restrain her own emotions. She had to be grown-up, mature, even during the most difficult of times. There was a time when even Squall went o her to find stability when everything seemed to turn upside-down. The day they took Ellone away, everyone else either cried or teased those who were crying. Lo, Quisty still had the strength and kindness to calm the shaken Squall.
A slight knock on her door brought her back to the present, and made her tense up in surprise. She sat up on her bed. "Come in!" she called as she smoothed down her golden locks.
The door opened. "..Instructor?"
"Sei...Seifer?"
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"Why did he...run?" Laguna asked himself aloud.
He sat at his desk and shook his head, looking out a window at the storm clouds. "Hm. Strange thing, this rain. Figures."
"Uncle Laaguuunaa~~!" a voice called from beyond his office.
"Ellone, in here!"
A door opened and a smiling faced poked into the room. "I should have figured you'd be in here. It's only your office, after all." She entered, and looked around the large room. "Where's Squall?"
"He...left, Ellone," Laguna answered without averting his icy, concrete gaze from the window.
"Aw, you didn't bore him to death with one of your stories, did you?!" Ellone leered at him.
"No, I told him. About Raine and myself. I guess he couldn't take it...Not now, so soon after the whole Ultimecia situation."
"So I see." Ellone nodded, and glanced out the same window as Laguna. Her skin suddenly flushed as her temperature dropped. Sweat began to collect at her hairline. She let out a slight moan as a sharp pain hit her abdomen.
Laguna turned to the girl and stood, rushing to her side when he noted her sudden change in pallor. "Elle..?! Are you--"
"It...it's nothing. Just a bad feeling, that's all. Maybe it has something to do with Squall?"
"Do you think...Do you think something happened to him?!?!" Laguna now turned pale and began to sweat.
"I...I don't know. I should go after him, just to be certain he's okay. Just to put our minds at ease..."
Laguna nodded. "I'll send Ward and Kiros with you for protection. If you even begin to feel threatened, even the tiniest bit, get back here ASAP, understand?!"
"Sure. Um, I'll go get Ward and Kiros. I saw them on my way in. I promise not to be out long, okay?"
Laguna nodded solemnly. Ellone had a knack for sensing things...but he couldn't just send out an entire army in search for someone because of a feeling...Her sudden reaction may not have been because of Squall after all, so he had to let her go. He had to let time tick by.
Ellone gave him a reassuring smile to let him know she'd hurry back. She turned, and left the room.
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AuthorNotes:
Chapter one is done YAY!! A start to a new fic ^_^ Eh, I don't care what people may say: FF8 may not be the newest thing, but IMHO it still kicks ass. And my friends agree. For I have heard NOTHING but bad reviews of FF9 by them. So I am still loyal to VIII =D Erm, don't forget to visit a site for me: http://bored_otaku.tripod.com/cosplay/ It's my friend and I's CosPlay site. Hehe we're preparing for our first Expo (AX2k1), and guess who I'm CosPlaying as? ...Rinoa XD Whoohoo!! Well, not many pics there yet, but I'll change that...eventually ^^V Thanks for reading, and I'll add more as time goes by ^_~ I promise!!