You Still Have Enemies
Prologue: Nightmare
A starry night on the moving Balamb Garden... Squall and Rinoa were standing on the balcony, side by side. Rinoa's hair was floating in the wind. Both were looking at the stars, waiting to see some shooting ones. Rinoa let go a sigh, put her head on Squall's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"To be with you is the greatest moment of my life," she said softly.
"For me too," Squall answered as soft as she did.
He put his arm around Rinoa' s shoulders. She looked up at him and smiled. He looked down at her and smiled too. They were about to kiss when the Garden suddenly started shaking and falling for the ground. Rinoa screamed and Squall protected her with his own body, holding her tight.
Screams could be heard coming from inside the Garden. It started cracking up. Pieces were falling everywhere around the couple. Squall held Rinoa tighter if it was possible, and forced her to lean. He protected her head. A big shaking separated them. They fell away from each other on the balcony.
A big crack appeared between them. Squall's side wasn't shaking too much. Not like Rinoa' s. She couldn't even stand up. The crack became larger.
"Rinoa!" Squall called.
"Squall! I'm scared! What's happening?"
"Hold on!"
He crawled to the crack and offered his hand.
"Come on! Give me your hand!"
Rinoa tried to crawl too but it was shaking a lot to make things harder.
"I can't!" she said in despair."
"Yes, you can! You have to! Come on!" Squall encouraged her.
She tried the best she could, approaching Squall's hand, desperately held out to her.
"You're almost there! Just a little more!"
Their fingers could almost touch the other 's. Suddenly, the platform Rinoa was standing on broke up and started falling. Horror was in her eyes and in Squall's. He held out his hand in despair, touched Rinoa' s but couldn't grab it.
"No!!!" he yelled, his hand still extended to Rinoa.
"Squall!!" she screamed while falling.
She disappeared in the darkness of the night and the Garden stopped shaking. It was totally destroyed.
Rinoa' s scream was still ringing in Squall's mind, like if it would never end. He stood on his knees and hit the ground with his fists.
"No!!" he yelled in the night. "Rinoa! It can't be!!"
He put his hands on his face when tears started coming out of his eyes.
"No… it's… impossible…"
He just stayed there, crying out his pain and sorrow.
"I… didn't save her… I feel so… helpless…"
He looked up at the sky, tears all over his cheeks.
"Why?" he screamed. "What happened?"
A voice coming from nowhere answered him. A man's voice, soft and somehow, familiar.
"She felt great with you… but being with you endangered her life."
Squall's eyes widen up. He started looking around.
"Who… Who said that?"
"You don't need to know, Squall. What you just lived haven't happened… yet."
"What… what do you mean?"
"You defeated the Sorceress, Squall but you still have enemies who want to see you dead. You will be attack. Wherever you are, it will be destroy. Whoever you are with, they will be killed. You can't change it."
"When?"
"I can't tell you… it can be tomorrow, next week, next year…"
"Then… what can I do?"
"Leave! Just go by yourself. You will still be attacked but…" the voice started.
"The others will be safe," Squall completed.
"That's right."
"Who tells me it's true?" Squall asked sceptical.
"You want to take the risk? Go ahead! You'll just end up losing Rinoa…"
The image of Rinoa falling appeared in Squall's mind.
"No!!!" he screamed, putting his hands each side of his head.
"I'll do whatever it takes!"
"Good. Now remember: don't tell anybody."
"Why not?"
"It will just make things harder: if you tell your friends, they'll never want to let you leave!"
"Yeah… it's true…"
"The choice is still yours, Squall. You can believe it or not."
Squall was a bit confused.
"Who are you?"
"Somebody concerned about you…"
"Wha…"
The voice faded away, leaving Squall alone again. He looked around. The Garden was destroyed, lots of students and SeeDs were dead… maybe everyone… as well as his friend… as well as Rinoa…
"What can I do? What should I do? It doesn't make any sense! Why would I survive if I'm the target?"
He thought about it for a second.
"Or have I survived here to do something when it really will happen? But what is it? A dream? A thought? And why should I believe it?!"
The scene repeated but not in Squall's mind, it repeated for real!! Rinoa fell again and Squall couldn't grab her. He saw her horrified face again and heard her scream his name once again.
Squall sat up in his bed, in his dorm. He was all soaked and was having hard time breathing.
"A dream… it was a dream…"
"A dream from the future…"
Squall looked around. It was the voice from his dream.
"The future?"
No answer from the voice. It was gone.
Squall put a hand on his face and closed his eyes.
"Why?" he asked himself, "Why me? And what about this voice?"
He looked in front of him.
"I need some air…"
He got up and went to the window. He was only wearing soft and light pants. He opened the curtain, then the window. It was still night, a fresh night. Squall closed his eyes, put his hands on the windowsill and took a deep breath of fresh air. After a few more breathing, he just looked outside. It was so peaceful…
Squall closed the window, then the curtain and went back to his bed. He sat down on it, put his elbows on his knees and took his head in his hand.
"What now?" he asked himself, "What am I supposed to do? I'm so confused!"
He lied down on his bed and fell asleep, his mind full of questions.