Characters are copyright Squaresoft. This is part 1 of 2 or maybe 3 parts…haven't decided yet heh. This is yet another Squall and Rinoa fic from myself…and…wait…where are you all going? Get back here! Heheh ah well I'd like to dedicate this little ditty to all you squinoa fans who stayed. And to Ashbear for all the help and advice and helping me come up with an appropriate title. This takes place in the time period between leaving time compression and the party. Comments, suggestions are much appreciated and cherished forever!
At the far reaches of darkness,
The limits where light does not reach
Now, too, alone
Continuing a solitary journey
On this disintegrating star,
Hearts of steel
Informing us of this single parting-
Faster than light
It climbs upstream in the flow of time.
A star was born
And by and by, knew death
And then, alone
A hand reaches out forever.
--"Long Distance" from Final Fantasy: Love Will Grow.
There weren't many paths for me to choose. Sometimes, there would only be one.
From the limited possibilities I faced, the choices I made have brought me this far.
That's why I value the path I chose...
I want to hold true to the path that HAD to be taken."
"It's not like I drifted here on the tides of fate.
I'm here because I chose to be here."
--Irvine Kinneas
One second after the other. Constant and unceasing is time; taking and giving with each breath you take…14 days, 13 hours, 45 minutes and 15…16…17 seconds. Rinoa Heartilly cursed the clock mounted upon the starch white wall. It cursed her back, mocking her with each second that ticked menacingly in her ears. Draining the life from her like water from a pool. Time was running out and she knew it, but refused to accept it. She laid her head back against the chair with a sigh. It was horribly uncomfortable, but it had been her home for the past two weeks. Already it had formed a perfect indention from her body.
She spent most of the time sitting in that chair. She slept in the chair, but that was a rare occasion. She fought sleep with all the strength she had. That had become apparent by her physical appearance. Her eyes were dark circled and bloodshot. She was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt that was two sizes too big. Her hair was tied into a loose braid with a thread-worn old hair tie. Tresses of hair had come loose and hung in long strands around her face. A face that was pale from physical and mental exhaustion. She needed a hot meal, she needed another shower, and she needed about 14 days worth of sleep.
But most of all, she needed him, and she refused to give in. Because somehow, she sensed that he needed her too, no matter how impossible it seemed to reach him. She was going to stay here, with him, for as long as it took. He had told her once that she was stubborn.
"You have no idea how stubborn I can be Squall Leonhart," She said quietly as she looked at the still form on the bed beside her, "No idea at all."
He was hooked to an assortment of different machinery. Machines that helped him to breathe, machines that pumped fluids into his veins through IV tubes, and machines that monitored a life that was barely there. He baffled the medical staff of the Garden who could find no evidence of injuries, head trauma or anything that could have triggered such a deep coma. Then again, up until a few weeks ago no one had even heard of time compression. No one knew its effects on the human body. Yet the rest of them seemed just fine. He had been there longer though. Trapped in some god-awful place, experiencing things that could only be dreamt of in the worst of nightmares. Dr. Kadowaki had told them that he could have come into contact with an infinite number of alien bodies, viral or parasitic that they couldn't detect with their technology. It didn't stop her hope though. She had reason for hope, no matter how unreal it may have been. It was a glimpse into another soul, too real, too painful, to be a dream. Her thoughts drifted back to the time when she found him in that blackened world.
When she found him. He was dead. His face was the color of ashes. She touched it with her hand, and it felt like cold and waxen clay. His body was limp and unresponsive in her arms. She called his name. He wasn't breathing. He had no heartbeat. He was gone.
She screamed his name as she threw her arms around him pressing her body tightly against his, crying hysterically. And between anguished sobs, against the feathery fur of his jacket collar she whispered,
"I remembered."
In an instant light shot from all directions as hundreds of petals danced around the two of them. The light swallowing the darkness, driving the clouds to the farthest reaches of the atmosphere. The cracked sand fell out from beneath them as acres of grass shot up from the ground like rockets. She looked around in alarm; they were in the flower field again. She wondered how or if she even brought them back here. Not that it made any difference now, if she could only have found him sooner.
"Rinoa."
The voice was soft and barely audible but she had recognized it immediately. She looked down and was met with his eyes looking up at her. They were wide and childlike. The normally solemn and unreadable gaze was gone. His irises were the deepest shade of blue. She saw an unbelievable joy, one that must have echoed off of hers because by some miracle he was alive. Tears fell out of the corners of his eyes as he smiled. It was a smile that she had never seen fall across his face before that moment. It was innocent, and it was beautiful. He reached for her and gently touched the side of her face.
"I found you," he whispered.
"Yes Squall," she said as she smiled through her tears, "You found me."
He lowered his arm and started to take her hand when suddenly the smile faded as panic began flooding his eyes.
"What's wrong?" She questioned.
His body tore itself from her grasp as he fell to the ground gasping and choking as if the air was suddenly an unknown intruder entering his lungs, like a fish trying to breathe above the surface of the water. His lips began to turn blue. Panicked, she grabbed his flailing body and tried to hold him still. She watched his eyes roll back in his head as he fought against an unknown assailant.
"Squall!"
His entire frame quaked with violent tremors. Blood began oozing out of his nose and ears and his face contorted in utter agony. With all of the strength he had left he forced all of the breath he had left in his body out into a loud and guttural scream. It broke her self-control and shattered her heart all at once. She immediately began casting regen and cure spells on him. Giving him every recovery potion she had left. She continued casting one life magic spell after another until her MP was nearly spent. Her head spun and her fingers grew numb. She had nothing else to give him. His body continued to shudder beneath her fingertips. The spells seemed to have little effect on him at all. He continued to struggle for air.
"Someone help me!" she cried her voice echoing across the valley. "Hyne, please, someone, help him!" Tears streamed down her face as she watched him writhe in utter torment.
"Rinoa!" A familiar voice shouted from behind her. She whirled around to see Quistis and the others bounding towards them through the tall grass. Had there been time she would have been elated at seeing them all again, discovering that they too had found their way back.
But Rinoa screamed the only thing that was registering in her mind at that moment.
"I can't help him!"
They were upon them in a matter of moments. She moved aside as the SeeDs began putting all their first-aid medical training to use. She watched their efforts intently, hoping that they could make a difference. It soon became clear that all of the magic and potions in existence couldn't help the man lying on the ground. The world suddenly began closing in. Her vision darkened. She heard them all shouting around her, but they sounded so far away.
"Oh God!"
"He's bleeding everywhere!"
"The GFs are reacting to the seizure, we have to draw them out now!"
"I'm working on it! He's moving around too damn much!"
"I'm holding him as best I can Irvine, hurry up, and concentrate!"
"It's hard enough to concentrate without you yelling in my ear Quisty! I've nearly got them all, just Bahamut, he's being stubborn, won't let me take him."
"Then you hold him down and let me try!"
"Mayday, Mayday! This is SeeD 79492, Private Dincht, the commander is down and we need medical assistance immediately…we're just outside of Edea's orphanage…. No, I don't know the exact coordinates…You've been here a million times…Damn it Nida! Fuck this military bullshit! Squall is fucking dying while we stand around and watch…we need help! Do you copy that?...You're where?…Winhill?…Look there's no time to talk just get behind the controls and haul your ass here now!"
"I can't get it! Damn GF burned my hand!"
"I'm gonna give him a tranquilizer."
"No! Not with the GF still in his body, if we don't draw it out while he's conscious we may not be able to get it out at all!"
"Look at him! He's suffering! How can you worry about saving damn guardians?"
"I'm not! I'm trying to save him! If he goes into a coma, the guardian could kill him!"
"Then what do we do?"
"I don't know…God, I don't know!"
They drifted farther away as the blackness closed in around Rinoa's vision. She was vaguely aware of a pair of slender arms wrapping themselves around her from behind and holding her close.
"He's going to be fine, Rinoa," A voice whispered in her ear. "Don't you worry." Selphie's voice trembled. She wanted desperately to believe her own statement.
The darkness was still consuming her…she tried to speak; tried to get up, she tried to reach for him, as the distance seemed to grow. Stretching miles into eternity. She felt the wind pick up around her, churning air that was hot and thick, swallowing her whole. A voice penetrated her mind; it was faraway and small like that of a child, lost and alone. She opened her eyes. Squall's struggle was fading, his body too weak to fight any longer. He seemed to be looking at her though his eyes were not registering anything at all. The voice came again. Louder this time, and she realized who it was. It sent chills running up and down her spine.
"Help me," he pleaded. "Please."
Without hesitating any longer, she raised her hand as her eyes flashed with a golden hue. She spread her fingers as a white light shot from her palm, encircling Squall in a sea of warm and peaceful solace as she said her one word incantation.
"Sleep."
She fell backwards into Selphie as Squall ceased struggling completely and through her blurred vision she saw the astonished look on her comrades faces. She felt the hot tears on her face as she dropped her trembling hand.
"I'm sorry," she said to no one in particular.
Then she watched as the sky fell, the faces of her friends faded, and the darkness consumed her.
She opened her eyes some time later. And once more, all the flowers were gone. The dust twisted and swirled up from the ground that cried out to a threatening sky for rain it had not felt in decades. The air was dense and hard to breathe. Nothingness stretched on for miles upon end.
"Was it a dream?" she wondered silently as she stood on the hollow ground. He could still be waiting for her. Maybe she never found him at all. Maybe she never would. Her heart sank. She shielded her eyes as the lightning flashed brightly across the sinister clouds. Across the horizon, a blood red fog shifted and moved to cover everything in its path. Drawing courage that she wasn't fully aware of, she began walking towards it.
There wasn't a sound. Even as the lightning illuminated her path, there was no boom of thunder to follow it. Even as the wind lashed violently across the plain it did not howl. The only sounds that did reach her ears were the shuffle of her footsteps as they made contact with the dust and the slight clink of the rings colliding around her neck.
The fog swept around her as she drew nearer to the heart of the storm. A figure moved in and out of the shadows up ahead and she quickened her pace to get a better look.
"Squall?" she called out hopefully.
The figure stopped and turned to look at her. The shadows still covered their face, and she realized as she neared that the figure was a small boy. Slowly he reached down into the sand without taking his eyes off of her. She heard the scrap of metal as the boy lifted an object off of the ground. The lightning cast a glow upon the object and she recognized it immediately. It was Squall's gunblade.
"Hey kid!" She yelled. "Where are you going with that?" She began advancing on him at a fast but unthreatening walk.
He stumbled back as if he was actually aware of her for the first time. He turned on his heels and ran into the depths of the fog, dragging the gunblade behind him.
"Wait!"
In a matter of moments he disappeared from her site. She ran as fast as she could to catch up. She ran for what seemed like miles until she collapsed exhausted on the ground. What was she doing? What exactly would be accomplished once she caught up with this kid? "I should keep looking for Squall," she told herself. But she had no idea where to begin. This hell went on forever. She felt her eyes tear up and wiped at them furiously. She wasn't going to cry. Crying wouldn't solve anything. She clasped the rings around her neck and found her determination and assurance once again. Picking herself back up, she continued to walk.
A familiar clank made her stop in her tracks. She listened intently. It sounded like his footsteps, the belts on his waist shifting with his weight.
"Squall?" she called out again. No answer. She looked and thought she saw him advancing towards her, but the apparition faded.
"Rinoa…you feel so cold."
She whirled around. The voice sounded like it was coming from behind her.
"Who's there?" she said. Her echoing voice the only answer she received.
"Are you going to be like this forever?"
She whirled in the other direction. Now she knew she wasn't just hearing things.
"Hello?"
"I want to hear you voice."
Squall?
"Rinoa...Call my name."
"Squall! I'm here!" She screamed at the darkness.
"I hate that side of me..."
"Where are you?!?"
"That's why I didn't want anyone to get to know me. I wanted to hide that side of myself. I hate it."
"Side? What are you talking about?
"Which way...do I go? I can't make it back...alone."
"I don't understand!"
"Rinoa?" The voice was full of grief and suffering.
"I'm right here!" She said as she choked back her tears again. The overwhelming emotion was beginning to get the better of her.
Am I...all alone again?
"No," she cried. "No, you never were."
Where...am I?
"I don't know, Hyne help me, I don't know."
The voices stopped. The sudden silence startled her.
"Squall? Squall answer me! Please!"
Suddenly the ground trembled and another sound filled her ears. It was the sound of gathering energy. It grew in intensity and she had to cover her ears. She looked up at the sky and watched as a bolt of lightning…no it wasn't lightning…a beam of energy struck just below her feet sending her flying backwards. She skidded across the dusty ground and came to a halt yards away from where she was standing. She lifted herself onto her elbows and looked around in a dazed stupor. A rush of wind blew in her face and she gazed upward to see the looming form of a giant winged creature. It landed a few feet in front of her. The ground quaked beneath its massive force. It stood towering over her.
"Turn back descendant of Hyne," Bahamut growled lowly, "You have gone far enough."
"Where is Squall?"
"He is none of your concern now. You cannot help him." He snorted. "Now, go. It is dangerous here."
"What have you done to him?"
"Do not speak to me so disgraceful!" The guardian roared, "I have done nothing to him! It is the human world that is to blame! He wishes for it to end. I am here because he wants me to be here…to take him from it."
"Take him from what?"
"I will take him from this world, he has proven himself worthy enough to live among the guardians. He will never be alone there."
"You're lying!" She yelled defiantly. "Squall would never want that...he knows he's not alone here!"
"Doesn't he?" The voice echoed in her mind.
"Why do you doubt sorceress?" Bahamut asked and then turned his head suddenly as he heard something in the distance that she could not.
"Why do you wait?" She replied.
The GF turned to face her once again. "What?"
"If you are here to take him, what is keeping you?"
Rinoa could have sworn that for a brief instant she saw fear flash across the dragon's fiery eyes.
"Answer me!"
"I wait for nothing insolent human! I can take him at my leisure."
"I want to see him!"
"You may not. He wishes to see no one. And I have sworn to protect him."
"So have I!"
"Your stubbornness annoys me."
"And your inability to give straight answers is annoying the hell out of me!"
He reeled his head back as if to attack…but then paused.
"Why do you care for him?"
She thought for a moment before speaking.
"Because I choose to Bahamut…I choose to." She looked at the giant with pleading eyes, "Please, I beg of you. Let me see him. Let me talk to him, if only to say goodbye…grant me that."
Bahamut lowered his ancient head to look her directly in the eyes. He studied them intently.
"You speak the truth Hyne's descendant." He said. "I admire your valor. I will make a deal with you. You may go and speak with him, save him, if you can. Prove me wrong. But if you cannot, then you will stand in my way no longer. Do you agree to this?"
"Yes, I agree."
"Very well. He is waiting just beyond the red fog by a large and gnarled tree. Though you may not recognize him."
"What do you mean?"
"I can tell you no more, only that the time is drawing near, and you must hurry."
She looked towards the horizon beyond the dragon's massive wings and then began to run. She would run, as long as there was hope. She stopped in mid stride and turned to the guardian once more.
"Thank you." She said.
Bahamut raised a clawed hand in farewell as he began fading. "Hyne be with you young sorceress," he whispered. "May the tides of fate see you both home."