(Disclaimer: As a work of fanfiction, the creation of this piece does not imply ownership of the Final Fantasy franchise, its characters, or any affiliated intellectual property.)
Something about the quiet mountain air seemed to telegraph trouble long before it arrived. Raine felt it that morning when she stepped outside, into her garden. Something in the way the wind was blowing, in how the birds seemed more reserved than usual. She watched Ellone run past her into the flowers, laughing, and hoped that whatever was happening somewhere beyond the village would stay out there.
No such luck.
Not long after she began working in the garden, Raine heard a commotion at the other end of town. Voices clamored over one another, seeming to multiply, and they sounded like they were headed her way. She called to Ellone, leading the little girl inside the pub, instructing her to sit quietly in a niche under the bar. Then, taking a length of heavy pipe from the same niche, Raine walked toward the door and opened it.
She gasped and staggered backwards when she saw one of the locals on the other side, his skin pale and his clothes covered with blood. He immediately raised his hands and shook his head, indicating that he was not the one who was hurt.
"But Ruger found a wounded soldier this morning," he said, letting himself in. "He was out fishing, saw a boat with the Esthar symbol on it —"
"Esthar?" Raine instinctively backed toward the bar, closer to Ellone. Esthar had tried to take Ellone once, and if they thought they'd try again, Raine swore they'd have to get past her to do it.
"Let me finish! The boat was Estharian, but the soldier who was inside it is Galbadian. He's very badly hurt, but he's still alive. The townsfolk are carrying him here as we speak."
"Here? Why here?"
"They figure you can take care of him."
"Oh no, Oskar, I'm not —"
Before Raine could continue, the door to the pub opened, and a group of locals pushed their way inside, carrying between them a man covered in blood, who moaned weakly one minute, and howled in pain the next. Raine glanced behind the bar, saw Ellone poke her head out, and motioned for her to stay where she was.
"Where do you want him?" one woman asked.
Want him? Raine didn't want him anywhere. What was she supposed to do with a broken soldier? How did the townspeople think she could heal him?
Raine's protests died on her lips, however, when she looked into the eyes of the people gathered before her. Frightened, sorrowful, haunted. Many had lost sons and husbands, brothers and friends in the war, some never knowing where their loved one ended up. For them, the man they carried was not just an unlucky soldier, he was all of their memories brought back. Maybe, just maybe, saving him could bring them some closure, some small comfort.
Raine sighed. "Take him upstairs, put him on the bed on the left. On the left!" She looked at Oskar. "What have I gotten myself into now?"
Oskar smiled at her, his eyes almost disappearing into the creases on his face. "You are a blessing, Raine. A true blessing."
o:o:o:o:o:o
Raine sat on her bed and looked at the stranger lying in the other one. Several of the people who'd brought him in had remained with her for hours, helping her as she removed his uniform and cleaned him up, bandaged the most serious of his wounds and splinted both arms and one leg. She had to admit, cleared of blood and dirt, he was quite pleasant to look at. But he was severely dehydrated and malnourished, and as a result, very disoriented. He came to once, asked to see his grandmother, then asked someone to pass along an apology to a woman named Julia.
"I can't see her tonight," he mumbled. "Tell her good luck for me."
Raine reached over and picked up the soldier's dog tags from the nightstand. LOIRE. Interesting name. She wondered where in Galbadia he was from. She also wondered how in the world he'd ended up in an Estharian boat. Ruger said he found the boat to the south of the village, and thought it most likely had drifted up on the current from Centra.
"What were you doing all the way out there?" she asked aloud. "And how did you get injured so badly?" The soldier didn't stir. He was sleeping soundly, thanks to the herbal sedative her friend Ilenda had given him. With Ellone spending the night with a neighbor, Raine thought it best to catch some rest during these quiet moments. She slid under the covers and smiled at the peaceful soldier once more before drifting off.
o:o:o:o:o:o
"Hmm, yes, it looks like his bones are badly broken." The doctor from Deling City had arrived and was examining the soldier. No longer sedated, the soldier cried out every time the doctor touched another part of his body.
"Who did the splinting?" the doctor asked.
"I did," said Raine. "Is there something wrong?"
"Not at all. You did very well. I can have my colleagues come down and place casts on this man's broken bones to help the healing, but the condition he's in, I'd rather not transport him to the hospital in the city."
"Really? So you're just going to leave him here?"
"Only until he recovers enough that transport won't make his condition worse. These country roads rattle a healthy person's bones enough." The doctor chuckled. "Don't worry. I doubt he's in any shape to give you any trouble."
"He's plenty of trouble as he is, crying all the time. I swear, Ellone's more mature than he is."
Ilenda knocked on the door, smiling at Raine and entering. "I just got off the phone with a representative of the military," she said.
"And?"
"He's one of theirs, all right. Listed MIA on a mission to Centra."
"Centra? Why are there Galbadian troops in Centra?"
"Classified information."
"So, are they going to collect him, or do we send him back when he's well enough?"
Ilenda bit her lip and looked away. "Well, there's a little issue with that … I'll let you finish with the doctor first."
"No, you can tell me now." Raine crossed her arms. "I need to know what's going on."
"You're not going to like it."
"What is it?"
"The army, they … uh, they … don't want him back."
"What?" Raine shouted. The doctor must have flinched, because the soldier screamed and flailed, trying to sit up. The doctor spoke softly to him, calming him, and glared at Raine.
"General discharge. They're sending someone out here to verify his identity and present him – or you – with the official documents."
Raine groaned and slumped onto her couch. So this soldier, this Mr. Loire, was going to become a long-term project. Handsome or not, she was sure she would tire quickly of his presence, of having to cater to his every need while running her business in between.
Ilenda sat down next to her. "I know it's rough, but we'll help you out. I mean, look at him. He's in a terrible state, you can't just throw him out."
"No, I can't," Raine said through gritted teeth. "Not right now. But the second he's able to move on his own again, Mr. Loire is going out!"
- END -