A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone, but I only delayed for so long because today is a very special day. For me at least, hahaha! Today is my one year anniversary with the site, and I'm happy that I've lasted this long! I want to give a big thanks to everyone who's reviewed and supported this story so far! You guys are awesome! Enjoy!!
- Thoughts are italicized. In this chapter, thoughts belong to either Squall or Headmaster Cid.
Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII or any of its characters. They belong to the Square Enix Company.
Rating: M for language and sexual situations.
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A Twist of Fate
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Their trip away from Garden had been progressing silently; neither one daring to speak when they had no words to say. The only source of comfort found between them was their joining of hands. Every now and them, Seifer would give Squall's hand a little squeeze to remind him that everything was going to be all right. Because, well, they had each other.
Leaving Garden hadn't been as difficult as the young men thought it was going to be. It seemed it would be more difficult to turn their backs on their home, their past, their future, but leaving seemed to spark something new in both of them. Perhaps it was the thought of a clean slate and a new life that appealed to them. Or maybe it was the reality of leaving a world of deceitful words and twisted actions behind.
The numerous battles they got into along the way did not break their resolve. Easily, they slashed through numerous enemies. With expert skill that would normally signify a SeeD, Squall and Seifer cut down their enemies silently and swiftly. Neither worrying about the other for there was no need. However, the longer they fought, the angrier they got. It all came back to what Headmaster Cid had said about their strong urge to fight.
Thoughts were pushed to the backs of their minds. Thinking was something that shouldn't be done in battle. It only leads to pushing unwanted feelings to the surface and interfering with the battle at hand. Plus, to become indifferent in battle was the best way to fight; at least, that's what both these young men thought.
And they never ran. No matter how fatigued or irritated they became, running was never seen as an option. Running signified weakness and cowardice. Two things which Squall and Seifer were not.
By the time the sun had started rising, both boys looked like they had just fought a war. Heavy breathing, clothes in disarray, weapons stained with the entrails and blood of their enemies. Squall had just finished off one enemy and was starring at its lifeless form. He began thinking or his former Headmaster's words.
"Haven't you ever heard of just walking away?"
"But we're taught to stand and fight."
"But I think that's the problem with the both of you; you have trouble realizing when and where to fight."
"Problem? We don't have a . . . problem."
"I pity you both."
"Grah! I don't want your pity!!"
And as Squall screamed into the crispness of the morning air, he sank his gunblade into the lifeless form in front of him.
---
"Please, Headmaster! Open up! We need to speak with you!" Quistis screamed at the unopened door. When Quistis, Selphie, and Zell had all realized that something strange was going on, the made their way directly for the Headmaster's office. However, no matter how much they pleaded, the weary Headmaster would let no one enter.
"Now, preferably!!" Zell screamed, pounding the door with one fist, violently shaking it. "Agh, it's no use!"
"Headmaster!" Selphie pleaded, "It's really important, sir!"
But the door didn't budge. Plus, no noise could be heard from the inside either. "It's gotta be all his fault!" Zell shouted, kicking the door in frustration, "He's the reason why Squall left! But he's to big of a coward to come out here and admit it!"
"Zell!" Selphie hissed, trying to shut Zell up, "Don't say that!"
"He's right," a sad voice carried from the other side of the door. "I am the reason that Squall and Seifer are no longer here."
The sudden introduction of another voice in the hallway startled the trio. Jumping back a little, Quistis was shocked at how sad and tired the Headmaster's voice had sounded. "Sir," she said a little shaken, "May we come in?"
A silent answer came to her question when Cid opened the door without saying a word.
The office, which was usually so lively and bright, was now dim and seemed like it had not been used in years. A small silver of light that was being emitted by the sunrise filtered in through the room to cast a soft glow over the inhabitants. Headmaster Cid was currently standing in front of the window so that only his silhouette was visible. All the anger that the three once had seemed to vanish when they entered the solemn office. All the things they had wanted to say had been forgotten at the door.
Quistis, trying to break up the atmosphere, took a step forward and opened her mouth to speak. However, she was cut short by Headmaster Cid. "There is no need to ask questions yet. I promise to tell you everything, but only," he said turning around, "Because you deserve to hear."
"Headmaster," Selphie said sadly. But the Headmaster put his hand up to silence any other conversation and continued, "But don't interrupt me until I'm done."
Nodding their heads in agreement, all three took a position around the room and waited to hear the explanation.
"I never wanted it to happen this way …"
---
He felt a strong grip tighten around his wrist. "Squall," said a slightly worried Seifer, "I think you got it."
Squall stopped what he was doing immediately and dropped his gunblade on the ground. Falling to his knees, Squall cupped his face in his hands and breathed raggedly into them. He had gone into such a blind rage that he wasn't even sure what was going on anymore. Looking at Seifer with slightly blurred vision, Squall sighed and whispered, "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Squally," Seifer said lifting Squall up with one arm, "Bet that monster wished it hadn't woke up this morning," Seifer laughed staring at the monster Squall had killed. Or what was left of it anyway. Squall didn't say anything in response, but gave a slight smile in reply. "So, where are we going anyway?" Squall asked looking into the bright orange and pink of the sunrise.
"Didn't I tell you?" Seifer questioned, handing Squall his gunblade, "I kinda owe someone a favor, so we have to see what we can do for them."
Squall merely nodded his head and waited to follow Seifer's lead. Putting his gunblade safely away, Squall looked at Seifer to see confusion in his eyes. "What?" Squall asked not getting the sudden look.
"Well, aren't you going to ask me who the favor is for?" Seifer pondered.
"Frankly, I don't give a damn."
"Haha! That's very cold of you, Squally! Come on, you gotta be interested."
"No, really. I'm not. What's the plan?"
"Ugh, right down to business, as usual," Seifer said stretching a little, "Well, we're going to Timber to help out a small resistance group. Normally, I wouldn't give these kinda groups the time of day, but, like I said, I kinda promised I might help out."
"Mmm," Squall responded looking around for the best means of getting to their destination. Looking back at Seifer, Squall asked, "And you do have a plan for getting there, right?"
"Uh, yeah. I set it up with Rinoa last night, so she should know that we're coming."
"Rinoa?"
"That girl at the party last night. You know, the loud one."
Trying not to remember the previous day in too much detail, Squall thought for a second and then it came to him. "That girl? But what could she possibly want?"
"Well, she's part of a little resistance group called The Forest Owls. They're not happy with the way the President is doing things, so they're going to try and remedy the situation." Seifer paused after this and looked into the face of one very skeptical Squall.
Laughing, Seifer crossed his arms and said, "Yeah, that's what I thought too."
"So why are we doing this? I mean, if their faction isn't large and they have a pitiful force to use in persuasion, then this seems pointless," Squall commented shaking his head.
"I suppose," Seifer began walking ahead of Squall, "But you never know, they may succeed with a little help."
Following Seifer grudgingly, Squall smoothed his hair and whispered, "Heh, unlikely."
---
"WHAT?!"
"Zell, please calm down," Quistis pleaded, holding the youth back with all her might. "Selphie? A little help?!"
"Oh! Right!" Selphie squeaked hurrying to Quistis' side and holding Zell back as well.
"How could you do that?!" Zell demanded, fighting against the two women barely holding him steady.
Headmaster Cid was not surprised by this outburst. In fact, he expected it. He noticed clearly the respect that Zell held for Squall, so his sudden absence would be a big loss. And he wasn't surprised when Raijin and Fujin came barreling through the door either.
"What have you done with Seifer, ya know!" Raijin demanded knocking Zell off balance. "EXPLAIN!" Fujin continued.
"Well, I'm glad everyone's here," Cid said with a sigh.
"Spit it out already!" Zell screamed, regaining is balance, "Why did you force Squall and Seifer to leave?!"
"What?!" Raijin asked, shocked, "You forced them to leave?"
"Everyone, please calm down," Headmaster Cid becoming exhausted by all the screaming and interruptions. Wanting to know what was going on, everyone in the room became silent at once and waited for the Headmaster to continue.
Breathing heavily for what seemed like the hundredth time this morning, Cid looked at the various faces of the people in the room. All were quietly waiting to hear the blasphemous words he was about to utter. "How can I do this?" He wanted to open his mouth and say what he knew he must, but it was becoming so tiring reliving this nightmare.
"I'm about to tell you what happened. But be aware that I will not repeat myself," Headmaster Cid began, angry, "I don't want any interruptions either, so listen closely the first time."
The sudden tension in the room caused the inhabitants to shudder. It was a rare occasion to see the Headmaster so angry. Sitting still, they all waited for him to start.
"I am not proud of what I did, you can be sure. But it had to be done."
---
Seifer and Squall arrived in Timber in the early afternoon. With the inhabitant bustling happily about, the two young men didn't appear as suspicious as they might've otherwise. The sun twinkled off the trains currently stopped at the station reflecting back through shop windows and creating patterns of light on the streets.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Squall asked lazily. However, Seifer didn't seem to hear him. Lifting his head to glance at Seifer, Squall noticed that he seemed to be looking for something.
"Dammit! He should've been here by now!" Seifer growled. Normally, Squall would've asked who they were so anxiously waiting for, but he just couldn't bring himself to care. "Resistance groups. Fighting against a government as powerfully corrupt as ours. It just seems . . . stupidly pointless. Why get involved with things you can't control? Maybe if they had greater numbers they might stand a chance. But then again, I don't even know how many people they do have in their group."
Taking another look at Seifer, he discovered that he still had not found this mystery man. Looking around Timber, Squall folded his arms across his chest and went back into thought. "What is this group trying to prove by doing whatever it is they're doing? They better have some kind of plan . . . but I'm probably just wishing for too much. Wouldn't surprise me, though."
A low grunt off to his right signaled to Squall that Seifer had given up. Putting a comforting hand on his arm, Squall tried to console him by saying, "Maybe he was so excited about seeing you that he fainted with joy on his way here."
Giving a loud laugh, Seifer turned to Squall and said, "Nah, that's not it. Watts has always been this way. He's way too careful for his own good." Deciding on a destination instead of waiting around for someone who may never show up, Seifer directed Squall down a long street. "What if he had fainted in excitement to see me?" Seifer asked suddenly. "Would you be jealous?"
"Yes," Squall answered with a slight smile, "I'd be so jealous I'd take my gunblade and dissect his still living body in a dark cave where no one would ever hear his cries of anguish."
"Whoo, that's a little violent, Squall. I like it! It shows you care about your man!"
"I just don't want him touching my property."
Laughing heartily once more, Seifer slapped Squall hard on the back. "Whatever you say, Babe!"
---
When they finally arrived at the place where Rinoa had told Seifer they would meet, Squall noticed that the place was very secluded. It was surrounded by numerous other structures that were either abandoned or in the process of becoming so.
"Cozy," Squall commented sarcastically. Chuckling a bit, Seifer looked around for a way to enter. Not finding one, he turned to Squall and said, "What? Would you rather have had this meeting in the nice secrecy of the park or in the middle of the street? No one listens in there, you know."
"All right. I see your point," Squall commented putting his hands on his hips, "But it doesn't look like anyone is here."
"Someone better damn well be," Seifer said turning his attention to a particularly run down building. "Hey! Anyone in there?! The owls are still around, aren't they?"
"Who wants to know?" A voice rang out sounding very suspicious.
"Oh, settle down, Zone! Can't you tell that it's Seifer?!" Another voice called. This one belonged to a woman.
"No way! Seifer! Is that you?" Zone asked, peeking his head through a window.
"Who else, you idiot," Seifer asked grinning. At that moment, a creaking door was suddenly slammed open. A blue blur burst out and latched onto Seifer. "Oh, Seifer," Rinoa said in a loving way, "Thanks for coming! I knew you would!"
Two other people emerged from the building and went happily over to Seifer as well. "Watts. Where were you?!" Seifer laughed. Becoming quickly embarrassed, Watts stuttered, "I'm sorry, sir! I forgot what time I was suppose to meet you and was out preparing for the mission instead!"
"Watts! I told you he was coming here today! You shouldn't have made any other plans!" Rinoa leered, still hugging Seifer to her.
And suddenly, Squall realized that he didn't belong here. All these people knew each other, and Squall just felt like an outcast. Irritated and quite ready to leave, he began walking past the group and into the little shamble of a mission base.
Not much to his amazement, the place was small, cramped, and totally not suited for any sort of meeting. Scoffing at the sight, Squall turned and made his way to leave. Seifer could take care of this promise on his own.
"We know it's not much," Zone said in an angry tone, apparently able to read Squall's thoughts, "But it gets the job done." Squall merely flipped his hair carelessly to the side and continued to walk out.
"Oh, won't you stay and help us, please?!" Rinoa begged, releasing Seifer, "We could really use your help! You're part of SeeD aren't you?"
And the room became deathly silent. "At least . . . I thought that's what, um, Seifer had said," Rinoa said shakily, looking at Seifer for some reassurance. Finding none, she bowed her head and whispered, "Um, I don't really know what's . . . um, what's going on."
"It's none of your concern," Squall hissed sternly as he made his way past the crowd and out the door.
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End of Chapter 4
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A/N: Sorry this chapter was a little slow going, but I'm trying to build up the plot, hahaha! Anyway, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it! I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed and supported this story thus far! You guys are amazing!! Reviews are appreciated greatly! Every little comment helps!
