Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters. I, also, do not own The Wizard of Oz. That's it for my disclaimer this time!
The world was a very huge place; so huge that not everyone has seen most of it. Aside from all the cities and towns, the smallest town of all sat alone between two mountains and two oceans, safe from the outside world. That town was Winhill and it hasn't had much outside influence. Just a little ways outside of the small town, a farm sat, which was Winhill's source for food. A narrow dirt road connected the farm with Winhill. Carriages traveled the road once a week, carrying food back to town. This time, the road was a passage home for a young woman and her dog. Rinoa Heartilly ran down the dirt road, along with Angelo running beside her. She ran and ran, until she got to an old wooden fence, where she stopped to check on Angelo. "I didn't think we'd be able to get away from her." Rinoa said to Angelo. "Did she hurt you?"
Angelo stared up at her, leaving his tongue dangle as he panted. "We should tell mother and father what she tried to do." With that, she ran inside the fence into the farm.
She, frantically, began searching for her mother's whereabouts. She searched the inside of the house first because that's where her mother typically was. After running all through the house, downstairs and upstairs, Rinoa ran back outside to begin another search. She found her mother near the pig pen, scolding Irvine Kinneas about something. "Mother! Mother!" Rinoa shouted as she ran over to the pig pen.
"Just a minute, Rinoa." Julia turned to say, and then resumed talking to Irvine. "I wish you would spend as much time working as you do chasing girls."
"Yes, ma'am." Irvine said.
"Now, what is it?" Julia asked, turning to Rinoa.
"It's Adel. She threatened to take Angelo away." Rinoa explained. "She only said that because Angelo gets into her garden and chases her cat."
"Rinoa, we go through this every day."
"But this time she really meant it!"
"Just like the last time?" Julia asked, and then headed back toward the house.
Rinoa watched her leave, and then looked forward again, where saw that Irvine and Zell Dincht had been listening to her; even Squall Leonhart managed to look over his shoulder before he went back to working on a tractor engine. "I think Julia's tired of all of this." Zell observed.
"Yeah, she is." Irvine said. "Where's your head, Rinoa? Don't you have any brains in there?"
"Of course I do." Rinoa answered.
"Why don't you use them? Whenever you come home from Winhill, don't walk by Adel's place and Angelo won't get into her garden." With that said, Irvine headed over to the broken tractor to help Squall.
Rinoa began getting the impression that no one was going to help her with her problem so she gave up telling everyone. Feeling a little bored, she climbed up onto nearby fence, the pig pen, and began walking along, keeping her balance. Behind her, Zell had gotten a bucket of food scraps and began feeding the pigs. While he poured the bucket, Zell watched Rinoa keep her balance as she walked along the fence, thinking about her problem with Adel. "You know, Rinoa," Zell started. "If your afraid of Adel this much, why don't you stand up to her?"
"But I'm not afraid of her." Rinoa said.
"Why, if she was giving me trouble, I'd go right up to her face and…" Rinoa's scream stopped him from finishing his sentence.
She had off of the fence and into the pig pen. The pigs began surrounding her, nuzzling her with their noses. Zell hopped over the fence and forced his way through the pigs. He lifted Rinoa off of the ground and carried her to the side of the fence, where he put down outside of the pen. As he began climbing over the fence himself, he could hear Julia's voice calling for Rinoa. Obviously, the woman had seen Rinoa fall when she glanced out of the kitchen window. "Rinoa! Are you alright?" Julia asked, still making her way to the scene.
"I'm fine. Zell saved me." Rinoa informed.
"Thank goodness." Julia said. "Come inside where it's safe." With that, she began walking back toward the house.
Rinoa stayed a little while longer. She watched as Zell sat down next to the pig pen and she noticed that he was breathing faster. "Zell! You were more afraid than I was." She said.
Zell lowered his head in embarrassment, but tried to cover it up. "I… was just afraid you'd hurt yourself, that's all." He said.
"Yeah… right."
At that moment, Julia called from the kitchen. "Lunch time!" She shouted.
Squall, Irvine, and Zell all began walking toward the house, each one equally starved. "Rinoa! Come and eat!" Julia called, and then she went back inside.
Rinoa remained outside. She sat down and began wondering about something. Before long, Angelo joined her and laid down at her feet. "There's so much pain and hardship around here." She said to Angelo, causing him to lift his head up. "There's probably pain and hardship everywhere. No where's perfect, right?" She began wondering again. "Maybe there is a perfect place. A place full of happiness… a place people can go to release their worries and just be happy. It's a hard place to get to. You can't there in a car or a spaceship. It's…" Then, she began singing:
Somewhere over the rainbow…way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow… skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops…
That's where you'll find me.
Somewhere over the rainbow… blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow—Why then oh why can't I?
If happy little blue birds fly beyond the rainbow
Why oh why can't I?
All the goodness in the world seemed melt away as Adel peddled down the dirt road on her bicycle; a dog carriage attached to the back. She brought her bike to a stop next to the wooden fence surrounding the farm. There, she waited to be greeted. Caraway was the one to greet her. "What brings you here?" He asked, casually.
"I want to see Rinoa." Adel said.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes. It's that dog of hers. It bit me."
"Oh… she bit you?" Caraway joked.
"No. Her dog."
"Oh… she bit her dog?"
Adel shot him a furious glance, not being the mood for any jokes. "I'm sorry. Come on inside. We'll talk." Caraway said, and then led the way inside.
Ten minutes passed as Adel explained to Julia what had happen. Julia sat silently for a moment, trying to find a solution. "What if she keeps the dog tied? He's really gentle… with gentle people that is." She said.
"Today was my final warning. That dog needs to be put to sleep." Adel warned.
"No! Go way! Or… or… I'll bite you myself!" Rinoa shouted, keeping Angelo behind her.
"That dog is going to be put to sleep. I already talked to a Galbadian soldier about it. Do you really want to go against the soldiers?" Adel said, still talking to Julia.
Julia gave Rinoa a sad look as she said, "…I'm sorry. We can't go against the soldiers. Angelo's going to have to go."
"No… mother… father… don't let her take Angelo!" Rinoa pleaded. "It was all my fault. I let him get away with everything. I should be the one to be punished."
Julia knew what she had to do, even though she didn't want to do it. "Take him out to the carriage, Caraway." She said.
Caraway grabbed Angelo's leash, which was draped over a coat rack near the front door, and then he attached it to Angelo's collar. He led the dog outside and got him settled into the dog carriage. He tied the leash to the bike, and then backed away. Rinoa stood at the front door and watched as Adel hopped onto her bike and took off down the road. Unable to deal with the grief, Rinoa turned around and ran to her room. There, she dropped down onto the floor by her bed and cried.
About halfway between the farm and Winhill, Angelo had an idea for an escape plan. He began chewing through his leash; Caraway had tied it to keep him from jumping out. Angelo kept chewing and chewing, narrowing down the leash with each chew. Eventually, the leash snapped apart and Angelo leapt out of the carriage. He began running back home. When he reached the front fence, he began sniffing the air, searching for Rinoa's scent. He found it in her bedroom and he leapt through the window, startling her a little. "Angelo!" Rinoa shouted, happily. "You got away."
She hugged Angelo like she never had before, but then a terrible thought occurred to her. "She'll be back for you." She said. "We have to go away… far away."
She pulled a suitcase out from underneath her bed and began packing everything she needed for a long trip. After everything was packed, she climbed out of her bedroom window, letting Angelo leap out himself. Before long, the two of them were walking down the dirt road in the opposite direction of Winhill. About five minutes into the journey, Rinoa came upon a circus wagon. Full of curiosity, she walked down the small hill to check out the wagon. Just then, a black-haired man stepped out of the wagon. Afraid, Rinoa turned around to run back up the hill. "Whoa, whoa! Take it easy!" The man said, stopping Rinoa in her tracks. "I won't hurt you."
The man walked over to a campfire he had built; a hotdog on a stick in his hand. "What brings you here?" He asked.
Rinoa opened her mouth to say something, but the man interrupted, "Wait, don't tell me. You're visiting a friend? No, that's not it. You're going to town to shop? No, that's not it either. You're… uh… you're running away!"
"How'd you know?" Rinoa asked.
"I just took a guess." The man said. "Now, why are you running away? Don't tell me! You're having trouble at home… they don't understand you… you wanna see new places…"
"Wow. That's, exactly, what I want to do."
Taking advantage of the situation, Angelo snatched the man's hotdog away and gobbled it up. "Angelo! That's not polite!" Rinoa told him.
"Ah, don't worry about. That's one dog to another." The man said as he put another hotdog at the end of his stick.
"Um… who are you?"
"Me? I'm Laguna. Laguna Loire. I'm just traveling around… seeing new places." The man said. "I learned a new trick. Wanna see?"
"I don't know…" Rinoa said. "I should be going."
"It won't take long." With that, Laguna stood up and began walking toward the wagon.
Rinoa had the sudden feeling that she could trust Laguna, so she followed him into the wagon. "Angelo, stay outside." She said, as she walked inside.
Laguna sat down at a small table and pulled the cloth off of it, revealing a crystal ball. "I learned how to see the future." He said. "Want me to see yours?"
Fascinated, Rinoa sat down on the other side of the table, as she said, "Sure."
"Okay. Close your eyes and concentrate." Laguna said, taking the suitcase from Rinoa's hands as though he was making her comfortable.
As Rinoa sat with her eyes closed, Laguna began rummaging through the suitcase, looking for any clues as to what her fortune may be. He found a photograph of Rinoa standing beside someone who looked like her mother. Thinking he found something useful, he sat the suitcase down and gazed into the crystal ball. "What's this?" He asked. "I see a woman… a woman with black hair wearing a red dress."
"That's my mother." Rinoa informed. "What's she doing?"
"She's calling out for someone. Oh, no!"
"What's wrong?"
"She's dropping to her knees. Now she's holding her heart."
"Is she hurt?"
"Yeah… but in a way that can't be cured by medicine. She lost someone… someone she loves very much… someone she took care of everyday."
"…Me?" Rinoa asked. "Oh, no… I have to get back to her before something even more awful happens to her!"
She got up from the table and began walking fast toward the exit. "I appreciated your company!" Laguna called, saying his good-bye.
"I'm sorry I can't stay longer. I have to get back home. Bye!" With that, Rinoa hopped out of the wagon and began running home; Angelo barked, and then followed her.
Back on the farm, the wind began to pick up speed, which only meant one thing: a tornado. Every person on the property began to make their way toward the shelter. Squall stood holding the shelter door open and let everyone else go in ahead of him. Zell was the first one to enter, followed by Irvine, who was keeping Julia from being blown away. Caraway brought up the rear, helping Squall close the door as he passed. Not long after they closed the door, Rinoa ran by and into the house, looking for everyone. She ran all through the house, but found no trace of anyone. Thinking that they were already in the shelter, she ran back outside and tried to open the shelter door. It was locked. Desperate to get into a safety zone, she began kicking the door, trying to get someone's attention. No one opened the door, thinking that the pounding was just debris being through about. Feeling vulnerable, Rinoa did the only thing she could think of: run back inside. She ran inside and into her room. She stopped to see if Angelo was still behind her, but before she knew it, her window frame blew inwards and slammed into her head. She fell onto her bed, unconscious.
It didn't seem like she was unconscious for long. She awoke and sat up onto the edge of her bed. Angelo jumped up onto the bed and sniffed her, making sure she was alright. Rinoa gave him a pat, and then glanced out the window. She saw that the tornado was still raging and that the house was lifted off of the ground and spinning around inside the tornado. Before long, she began seeing things… people outside in the wind. She saw her mother cooking something in the kitchen; Julia stopped long enough to wave and Rinoa waved back. Then, she saw her father sleeping on a recliner. Lastly, she saw Adel riding her bike. Strangly, Adel seemed to transform into a sorceress, which caused Rinoa to fear her more than she did. As the ghostly forms of the people vanished, the tornado raged on, spinning the house around and around, and then at a split second, everything stopped. Rinoa was surprised that she, actually, survived a tornado.
Gullwing Yunie: Heh heh… Adel's riding a bike. Everytime I picture that, I just wanna laugh! Ok, anyway, I hope nobody minds, but I'm just gonna use the songs from the movie. I really those songs… and besides, I suck at riding my own lyrics. Let me know how this one turns out, ok?