Thanks to those people who reviewed, they give me motive. (: and because I forgot it in the first chapter- DISCLAIMER- I do not own final fantasy 8 or anything affiliated.
When Squall awoke, his head was throbbing. He groaned and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He put a hand to the side of his head, and felt a large bump. Then everything came rushing back to him, the girl's smile, them dancing, the lights going off, her clinging to him, the ceiling shattering, being showered with glass, a sharp pain in the back of his head, and just as unconsciousness engulfed him, a gunshot piercing all the panicked screams ... Squall looked around himself. He did not like what he saw. He was in a cell, no larger than a small bedroom. The walls were a drab grey, the floor slightly covered by coarse hay. There was a heavy iron door, and a single barred window, very high up on the wall. Squall remembered being shoved into a tiny cell like this once before, but he pushed away the memory. He'd rather forget. Squall heard a moan. He turned his head towards the sound, and saw the girl he'd danced with lying at the far end of the cell, slumped against the wall, as if she'd been thrown there. She had a bruise on the side of her head, and numerous cuts all over her body. Squall got up, wincing slightly, and walked over to her. He moved her so that she was lying on her side, rather then hunched over. She shivered slightly. Squall frowned, tiny as the window was, it was still letting in a cold draft, and the girl was only wearing a thin sleeveless dress. He slipped of his dinner jacket, and draped it over her body. He went back to the far side of the cell, and sat himself in a corner. He looked out the tiny window, but he couldn't see the sky. It was overcast.
(o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o)
The first thing Rinoa registered was that her whole body was aching. Then she remembered her struggle, how the good looking boy had gone limp with a dull 'thud,' then strong arms had grabbed her from behind. She tried to cry out, but her screams were lost amongst the general panic, and shattering glass. There was a gunshot, and she was being pulled away, as someone put their hand over her mouth. She bit down hard, and elbowed her captor hard in the groin. She heard a groan of pain, and they loosened their grip. She tried to run, but people were pressing in on her from all sides. She felt a sharp pain in her temple, then everything faded away. Now she had no idea where she was was. She sat up, and immediately felt dizzy. The ground was rough. She looked down to see concrete and coarse straw. Something slid off her back, a black jacket. She shook her head to clear away the dizziness, and looked up to see the guy staring at her, his face blank. He was sitting in a corner, leaning against the wall, an arm slung casually over a bent leg. He had a nasty bruise on his cheek, a couple of cuts, and clothes that looked worse for wear.
"W-where are we?" she asked, her voice echoing around the tiny cell. The boy turned his gaze to the window, and shrugged. His silence and blank face was unnerving.
"Do you know how we got here? Do you know why we're here?" said Rinoa, growing more and more anxious. The boy closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.
"Please ... Just say something!" yelled Rinoa, becoming hysterical. The boy opened his eyes, and looked at her out of the corners of them.
"Talking about it isn't going to help." he said coldly. Rinoa looked down, as tears blurred her vision.
(o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o)
A soon as the words were out of his mouth, Squall regretted saying it. He knew it was a bit harsh, but he was just as confused as she was, and although he didn't show it, he was pissed. Pissed that he was stuck in a two by four cell, pissed that he'd let himself be taken so easily, pissed that he'd snapped at the girl, and even more pissed that he was feeling guilty about it. He heard stifled sobs from the other side of the cell. Brilliant. I made her cry. he thought. The sound was truly pathetic, and Squall wanted nothing more than to run away. He tried to block the sound out, but it echoed round the cell. Squall couldn't handle situations like this. The sound brought back terrible memories. He gave in,
"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't know anything either." he said loudly, the girl looked up at him with large sad eyes, her face tearstained. "Just ... Please ... Stop crying ..." he said quietly looking at the ground. There was silence for a few moments.
"My name's Rinoa." said the girl.
"Squall." he replied. Again there was silence, but this time it wasn't awkward. It was tensionless, amiable almost. Eventually both fell asleep, as dawn broke.
(o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o)
Squall was struck brutally across the face, then a knee came up to meet his stomach. He fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of him.
"Stupid kid!" yelled the solider, throwing Squall savagely into a cell. "You'll stay here if you know what's good for you! We'll deal with you later." he said angrily, marching out and slamming the door on the tiny cell. Squall sat up, wincing. He'd taken more than his fair share of blows that day. Squall heard the clatter of guns outside. He hung his head, the massacre had started. The smell of something burning drifted in through the cell window, as did screams of terror, cries of pain, and yelled orders of men.
"To your left! She's getting away!"
"Permission to check out the church sir, I believe they're hiding there."
"Permission granted. You six, go with him. The rest of you follow me ..." and so the bloodshed continued. Squall heard a woman sobbing outside his cell window. He tried to ignore it, but the sound was so heart breaking. Curiously got the better of him. He got up and looked out the barred window. What he saw made him sick. Illuminated by the full moon, bodies lay broken everywhere, and the ground was awash with blood. The body of a child, no older that five, lay riddled with bullet holes a few feet away. Squall swallowed, and cursed under his breath. Then he saw the woman sobbing. She stumbled through the trees, crying out a name in her native language. She had a wound which caused her to limp, clutch her shoulder. She gasped, and ran as fast as her injury would allow, to a child. It was young girl, with curly hair, covered in blood with a spattering of bullet holes across her torso. The woman let out a low guttural cry, and threw herself towards the young child's body. She held the girl in her arms, inconsolable. Squall held up his camera, which still hung around his neck, and clicked. The woman didn't even notice the flash. Just like she didn't notice the soldiers come back. She didn't notice them laughing at her prone body, rocking the dead child back and forth. She didn't notice them aim their guns. She didn't even notice when they cocked them ... Finally the sound of her sobbing ceased. The soldiers left Squall with an eerie silence. He took one more picture, of mother and daughter. They would have looked like they were sleeping, were it not for the blood. He stepped back form the barred window slowly, his whole frame sagging. Suddenly he punched the wall in anger, adding a bloodied knuckle to his injuries, and a dent to the wall. He turned, and allowed himself to fall against the wall and slide down. He put his face in his hands, and tried to block out the sound of the slaughter.
(o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o)
Rinoa was jerked into consciousness by the sound of the metal scrapping against metal. She opened her eyes wearily, just in time to see a small trap door slide close. She picked herself up off the ground, and saw a tray with a loaf of stale bread, a glass of water, and a bowl of unknown substance. Suddenly she realized she was ravenous. She looked towards Squall in his corner. He'd moved during his sleep, and was spread-eagled, with his face towards her, rather than facing the wall. Rinoa walked over and crouched next to him. As he breathed, his hair moved in and out. There was a troubled look on his face, but apart from that he looked adorable when he was asleep. Rinoa was going to enjoy waking him up ... She poked him in the shoulder. He stirred slightly, so she poked him again, but harder. He rolled away from her sleepily. Rinoa suddenly had a bright idea. She put a hand over Squall's mouth, and pinched his nose with the other. A few moments later, Squall's eyes snapped open, and he grabbed Rinoa's wrists, pushing her hands off his face. He jackknifed into a sitting position, breathing heavily. He looked at Rinoa.
"What the hell was that for!" he yelled angrily, unconsciously tightening his grip on her wrists, but Rinoa was too busy laughing to notice.
"That was priceless ..."she finally managed to choke out. Squall realized there was really nothing he could do about it, so he released his grip, and turned to face the wall.
"Aw, c'mon Squall! Don't be so cold. I am very sorry, I could not resist." said Rinoa solemnly, though she was laughing with her eyes.
"This is a serious situation-"
"I realize that," said Rinoa sharply. "But what's the point in being miserable? We are obviously stuck in each others company, so we may as well try to enjoy it." she said logically. I don't enjoy other people's company ... thought Squall, I tolerate it.
"We have food by the way. Looks like our captors won't be killing us after all." said Rinoa, getting up and fetching the tray of food. Together, they demolished everything, then they left the tray and empty bowls next to the trap door. Squall went back to his corner, and silently looked out the tiny window. It was about midday. Rinoa sat in the middle of the cell, bored stiff. Squall obviously wasn't one to converse, but after half and hour of silence, she couldn't take it.
"So Squall, why would they kidnap you?" asked Rinoa, her voice echoing around the cell. Squall shrugged, not even bothering to look at her. Rinoa frowned, slightly annoyed. "I'm the daughter of the Governor of Galbadia. They probably took me for ransom. Am I right in assuming that you're a rich politicians kid as well?" there was silence for a few moments.
"Kind of." said Squall finally. Rinoa sighed.
"Squall, we're in this mess together. Please don't ignore me, I need to talk about this, even if you don't."
"Then go talk to a wall." replied Squall coldly.
"Fine then! I will!" yelled Rinoa, spinning around angrily to face the wall opposite to Squall's.
"Ok wall, this all started at the peace conference ball. My stupid father made me attend, so as soon as we got there I accidentally on purpose ditched him. Then I saw the most gorgeous guy standing against a pillar, so I asked him to dance. We danced, quite well once we got the hang of it I must say. The song ended, then all the lights went off. The ceiling shattered, then the hot guy, whose name is actually Squall I now know, passed out. I think someone smacked him in the head. That's what it looks like from that nasty bruise on the side of his face. Anyway, someone grabbed me from behind. The good news, that guy will most probably have trouble having kids. The bad news, I'm stuck here in this tiny cell with someone who refuses to speak to me."
"Can you please shut up?" said Squall wearily.
"Make me." said Rinoa. She was in the mood to pick a fight.
"You're giving me a headache..."
"The feelings mutual, and you are interrupting my conversation with the wall. So anyway-"
"What are you trying accomplish?"
"My mother died when I was five-"
"You should stop being so immature."
"My father and I never got along, and I don't really have any other close relatives-"
"You're bleeding!" yelled Squall, cutting off Rinoa and jumping to his feet.
"What are you talking about, I-" but then Rinoa looked down, and saw that Squall was right ... in a sense.
"Squall, have your parents given you the talk? You know, about the birds and the bees?" Squall gave Rinoa an apprehensive look.
"Seriously, have they?"
"That's none of your business." said Squall, folding his arms across his chest, "What's important is that you're bleeding-"
"Oh my gosh. They haven't have they?"
"I don't have parents." replied Squall sharply. There was silence for a few moments.
"Squall, I have my period." said Rinoa. Squall turned a shade of pink, and sat facing the wall away from Rinoa.
You know the drill - read then Review. (: I don't really like this chapter ... ... but it'll get better.
