Summary: It's about five months since the end of the game, Squall Leonhart has been forced into the role of an international icon, and out of active duty. He finally gets the opportunity to go on another mission, but what happens when things go wrong and he's taken prisoner? Will Squall's friends find him? And what happens when it seems he doesn't want to be found?
Disclaimer: Square owns all things Squall and co. all I conceived of were the circumstances surrounding this story and Deman and co.
A/N: Well, it's been about a month... sorry for the delay, things are really busy right now. (But isn't that what everyone says?) Yeah, I've been having lots of fun with senior projects and working on lab reports every week. Luckily the term's almost over--one semester closer to having a Bachelor's. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, hope you like this chapter. If you ask me a question in a review, I'll answer it (or, at the least, tell you it'll be answered in the upcoming 2 chapters).
And below: Chapter 7/9... The end is almost here. (I might have these all up by Christmas, after all!)
Ardent Deception
VII.
Squall sighed, lying on his bed with his arms folded under his head. For the past few days the SeeDs and students at this Garden had been nothing but nice to him. They seemed to want to go out of their way to prove they liked him. What was worse: it was beginning to work.
All his life—or at least as much of it as he remembered—he had hated SeeD. He hated what they had done to him—correction, what he was told they'd done to him, he hated what they stood for. But now he wasn't so sure of himself. Everyday he became less sure. He had to get out of here or he'd lose his ideals for good.
But he couldn't get out; it was one in the morning and he was wide awake but there was no way for him to leave his room—he knew, he'd already tried several times. During the day he was watched continuously and at night he was locked up. He'd never liked containment as anyone who knew him was aware. In fact he'd go so far as to say he hated it.
Another irritated sigh escaped his lips. "That's it, I'm going for a walk." He decided and got off his bed resolutely. He quickly pulled on a pair of pants that had been carelessly thrown aside earlier and pulled a long sleeved blue shirt on. He swiftly walked from his room and stepped in front of the branching door to Irvine's bedroom.
Without any concern for its sleeping occupant, Squall knocked loudly on the door. He smirked slightly when a groan and what sounded like a muffled curse made it's way through the door. He knocked again and heard a loud thump followed by a not so muffled curse. He knocked a third time for good measure and soon a tired, cross Irvine appeared on the other side of the door frame, glaring at him.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" The irate sniper growled.
"Ten past one," Squall supplied smartly.
If anything Irvine's glare intensified, much to Squall's amusement. Irvine was the only one in the entire Garden he could manage to get angry at him, everyone else would mutter nonsense about him not being himself. Squall enjoyed it, he didn't like the fact that everyone stepped on eggshells around him, he enjoyed Irvine's presence because he still acted like a normal human being. He acted like Squall was a normal human being.
"And why did you feel the need to wake me up at one-ten in the morning?" Irvine demanded.
"I want to go for a walk." Squall answered curtly.
Irvine rolled his eyes heavenward and muttered a less than favorable expression under his breath. At length he looked back at Squall muttering, "I was having a really good dream, too." Louder he responded, "Fine, you want to go on a walk, go ahead." With that he disappeared back into his room.
Squall waited outside the door for several long moments before knocking again. An angrier sounding curse emitted itself from the room this time.
"What do you want?" Irvine's voice shouted through the door in desperation.
"I need you to let me out!" Squall yelled back.
"Just… Pace around the kitchen, won't you?" Irvine moaned, the end of his sentence muffled slightly as the cowboy stuck his head under his pillow.
Squall waited a few more moments before pounding on the door again, "The kitchen's too small!" He shouted as if he had just been giving it a try.
He heard the satisfying thumps of a very tired person stumbling to the door and it opened to again reveal the irate sharpshooter.
"If I take you on your stupid walk will you let me get some sleep?" He asked with a resigning tone.
Squall nodded, "You don't have to come if you don't want to."
Irvine shot him a suspicious look, "Then you'll never disturb my sleep again, huh?" Squall gave him his best innocent look which seemed to work on everyone but Irvine. The cowboy shook his head, "I don't think so, Squall, not if you're just going to run off again. It took too long to find you the first time." He turned from the door, "Give me half a minute to get ready and we'll leave."
Squall mentally counted the seconds away and after exactly thirty seconds he pounded on the door again, "It's been half a minute, are you ready yet?" He smirked to himself, almost eagerly awaiting the angry face that was sure to appear at this comment.
He wasn't disappointed as Irvine reemerged wearing his usual tan pants with a simple white shirt Squall assumed he'd slipped on in the dark accidentally. "It's a figure of speech, moron," the cowboy said with irritation, grabbing his jacket from a hook by his room door.
"Whatever," Squall replied dismissively, leading the way across to the hallway door, Irvine followed grudgingly and unlocked it, letting them both out.
Irvine yawned and followed his friend from the room, all the while fervently wishing he were back in his bed and his dreams hadn't been interrupted.
"It's nice here at night," Squall said at length, glancing absentmindedly at the star littered sky, "It's quiet."
"Oh look," he started, pointing out a streak of light to his companion, "a shooting—" his observation was cut short as his head suddenly exploded with pain like it had been threatening to do for the lesser part of a week.
"Squall, are you okay?" The star was forgotten as Squall collapsed to his knees in pain, holding his head, his mind's eye following a different star only to run into a pair of dark brown eyes over and over again.
"Do I… look… okay…?" Squall ground out, trying to erase the image from his mind while at the same time wanting to embrace it as something he knew he had lost. It was rapidly becoming worse as every time his mental eye met with the chocolate orbs he saw a little more of the pale face surrounding them. Everything around him faded out and he intently focused on the figure with the star, longing to see who it was despite the pain it brought him to do so. He was vaguely aware of Irvine yelling in the back of his mind and the faint sensation of blood trickling down the side of his face but that wasn't why his eyes widened in horror.
(It's her!) Squall was genuinely surprised as he caught a large enough glimpse of the woman's face to recognize it. (But… it couldn't… she's not… Rinoa?)
Irvine looked down at Squall in horror as his friend's body fell the rest of the way to the floor, his pain-filled screams ceasing altogether. Quite a crowd had gathered around the two of them, students and SeeDs alike gathering to see what was the cause of the commotion that disrupted their night's sleep.
"Squall?" Irvine asked cautiously, almost as afraid the man in question would answer as he was that he wouldn't. There was no answer, though, and Irvine tentatively rolled him onto his back.
Blood covered the left side of his face and covered his hand and much of his hair as well. His skin was pale and his eyes were closed, he was afraid to check for a pulse.
"What happened?" A woman's voice asked, speaking the question on everyone's mind.
"I don't know," Irvine said, his voice confused and he didn't even begin to register who he was talking to, "he just… saw a shooting star and, well, collapsed…"
"Not before screaming bloody murder and waking everyone within a ten mile radius up," Zell muttered from nearby, his usual hyperactive-ness turned into a very, very bad mood having been woken up so early in the morning.
If Irvine had been able to pry his eyes away from the object of his concern, he would have given the blonde a glare to rival Squall's, but as it was he was far too worried about Squall to even glance up at their moody friend.
"We need to get him to my office," the same voice from before said, "Zell, get over here and help Mr. Kinneas carry him."
Zell grudgingly agreed and as Irvine struggled to lift the dead weight he finally realized who was speaking. They made their way to the infirmary where, it seemed, even Dr. Kadowaki had heard Squall's torment. The Disciplinary Committee kept the curious students at bay while allowing a select few to pass into the medical center.
Rinoa, Quistis, Xu, Irvine, Zell and Cid all stood around as close as the good doctor would allow them to get as she began examining Squall. Within a matter of minutes the unconscious man had been connected up to countless machines, providing him with oxygen, monitoring his heart and brain activity and doing Hyne knows what else.
"Can't we just use Cure? Or Esuna? Or something?" Rinoa asked, peering at the man she knew so well but didn't know at all with concern. She hadn't been able to bring herself to get very close to this new Squall, worried that something she would say or do would set him off and hurt him or worse. It seems those worries had been unjustified as the worst case scenario seemed to be happening anyway.
"It wouldn't work," the doctor replied, "physically he's fine, well aside from that small cut on his head," she indicated to the cut on Squall's temple she had already cleaned up. "Whatever is wrong with him is in his head and there's no magical remedy to cure the mind. I'm afraid Squall's going to have to come out of this one by himself."
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Quistis pressed.
The woman sighed, "There's not much," she replied, "the most you can do is sit by him and keep him company, beyond that there's really nothing."
"What about Ellone?" Xu asked, "Can't she send someone into his mind to help him?"
Dr. Kadowaki shook her head, "Unless I'm mistaken, Ellone is able to send people into the past to observe. It's all up to Squall now, he'll need to fight his way to consciousness himself."
Squall had been out for several days. The heart monitor bleeped at a slow, calm pace most of the time, but on occasion it would show erratic behavior—speeding up to a most unhealthy rate or even stopping all together for disturbingly long moments—giving Dr. Kadowaki and the rest of the infirmary staff a real scare. Thus it had been decided that one of Squall's friends would remain with him at all times.
Rinoa had been given the morning shift, sitting up with Squall from 08.00 to 13.00; Selphie followed her from 13.00 to 18.00; Quistis would relieve Selphie and stay with Squall from 18.00 to 22.00; the guys would split the night shift, Zell staying up late from 22.00 to 03.00 and Irvine rising early to watch from 03.00 to 08.00. Despite spending five hours a day with an unconscious man making them all tired, irritable and even more depressed than they previously had been they refused to give up their watch to other members of SeeD or the medical staff for one simple reason: the look on Squall's face.
Normally when someone is asleep or unconscious their face and body is relaxed and they look far more at peace than during the day. Squall, however, lay tense in his bed, his face was stressed with a frown and wrinkled brow as if he were struggling against something and he occasionally went as far as to thrash around in his dreams. Dr. Kadowaki kept predicting he'd wake up soon and yet Squall slept on in what the others could only imagine was an endless nightmare and they weren't willing to leave Squall with anyone else while he went through this.
Irvine yawned and glanced at his watch; fifteen more minutes. It had been pretty quiet so far, Zell said that he'd had an attack earlier that morning around midnight but since then they had seen nothing too out of the ordinary. He glanced back down at Squall's sleeping face and a small smile crossed his own.
The usual troubled façade had vanished sometime earlier in his watch to be replaced for the first time—as far as he knew—with the peaceful face of a sleeper. His heart beat had quickened slightly as well and his brain activity decreased a little to a normal sleeping pattern. Dr. Kadowaki had been in earlier and was positively delighted by this turn in events. Of course, he was, too.
The minutes crawled by and Irvine passed the time glancing through the pages of the most recent issue of Weapon's Monthly. At last the door opened to grant entrance to the worried young brunette who would be replacing him.
"How is he?" Rinoa's voice was barely more than a whisper and she almost feared to look at Squall's body on the bed, not wanting to look at his tortured face again.
Irvine gave her a grin, putting his magazine down on the small bedside table, "Sleeping like a baby," he replied lightly, "see for yourself," he added seeing the skeptical look on her face.
Rinoa did look, albeit a little hesitantly and was surprised to see Irvine's comment proved true, "He looks so peaceful," she commented, smiling slightly herself.
"Yep," Irvine agreed, "and has been for about… three and a half hours!"
"That's great!" Rinoa said, hope welling up inside of her, "Do you think he'll wake up today?"
"Probably," Irvine said, "Dr. Kadowaki seems to think so. He's gotta be tired of sleeping by now, anyway."
Rinoa nodded, "I hope he does. I don't even care if we get the old Squall back or not anymore. I mean, I hope we do, but this new Squall is better than none at all…"
Irvine agreed, "Yeah. Besides, I think he knows, deep inside, that we aren't really his enemies. He's a good guy, one way or another."
Rinoa looked down growing serious again, "Irvine, do you think it was wrong of me? To put so much distance between us, I mean. It's just, when I look at him I see the man I love, it hurts to know he doesn't love me back anymore."
"You gotta give him a chance, Rin," Irvine said, "how do you know he doesn't love you if you won't give him a chance to find out?"
"Because… what if he doesn't? What if I give him a chance and he breaks my heart?"
"Then at least you'll know." Irvine said.
Rinoa nodded weakly in response and took the chair Irvine had recently vacated. Neither of them moved or said anything for a few more long minutes until at length Rinoa sighed.
"You're right, Irvine, I should give him a chance. Thanks."
Irvine shrugged, "Well, I'll go get breakfast now—unless you need me here…"
"No, go." Rinoa replied, waving him out of the room with a hand.
Irvine grinned and left to fulfill the whims of his growling stomach, "See ya."
Rinoa stared out the window in the infirmary. The morning was looking beautiful, clear blue skies, the sun shining brightly, students running here and there, late to class or just trying to catch up with their friends. A groan from the bed in front of her suddenly snapped her attention away from the window and she leaned over the figure, watching him intently.
He groaned again and shifted in his sleep, Rinoa held her breath in anticipation. Slowly his eyelids cracked open, focusing on her face with confusion, Rinoa smiled back at him.
"Welcome back, Squall." She said softly.
He frowned slightly, his brow creasing with concern, "Do I know you?"
Rinoa looked away sadly, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes, "Y-yes… I'm Rinoa, remember?"
Squall rubbed his forehead and then sighed, "Sorry, I don't."
Rinoa tried to give him what she hoped was an encouraging smile, "That's okay, I'm sure you'll remember someday…" She said softly.
There was a long silence before Squall spoke again, "You said… my name's Squall, right?"
Rinoa frowned slightly and nodded, "That's right, Squall Leonhart."
Squall pressed his lips together and nodded, looking anywhere but at Rinoa.
"Squall, are you okay?" Rinoa asked with concern.
He finally looked over at her and she was surprised to see tears in the corners of his eyes—they were quickly blinked away. "Rinoa, I don't… remember anything."
"Nothing…?" Rinoa asked with slight amazement in her voice.
Squall shook his head sadly, "Nothing," he confirmed, "It's like… my mind's completely… empty."
Just then the door opened and Dr. Kadowaki stepped in, she brightened immediately when she saw Squall propped up on his pillows a little, "Good morning, Squall!" She greeted happily, "How are you feeling?"
Squall just looked down at his sheets uncertainly.
"He said he doesn't remember anything," Rinoa supplied quietly.
Dr. Kadowaki frowned as thoughts quickly ran through her head then she smiled again, "Oh, don't worry dear, you're probably just suffering from a concussion. That happens sometimes when your brain is deprived of the oxygen it needs. I'm sure it will come back to you soon."
Squall looked up with a small smile, "Thank you, doctor."
The woman smiled brilliantly back, "Dr. Kadowaki," she supplied, "Don't thank me just yet, you're not out of the woods yet. You've been unconscious for the last four days so you'll have to take it easy for a while. I'll leave you two alone and have Quistis tell the others."
"Thank you." Rinoa said, watching as the doctor soon retreated from the room.
There was an awkward silence between the man and woman for a while. They'd occasionally glance shyly up at each other and then quickly avert their glance when they saw the other was looking back.
"What happened?" Squall finally asked.
"What do you mean?" Rinoa returned.
"The doctor said I'd been unconscious for four days," Squall clarified, "how did I get hurt? What happened?"
"I'm not really sure," Rinoa admitted, "Irvine was with you at the time, he'd probably have a better answer than me. I guess you just collapsed…"
"Irvine?"
A small smile appeared on Rinoa's lips as she looked up at Squall. She had to admit as cruel as it may sound she was glad he didn't remember anyone else either, it would have been awful if he'd remembered Irvine and not her. "He was your room mate," she explained, "I guess you two were taking a late night walk."
He nodded thoughtfully, "And I just collapsed? I wonder why…"
They sat in silence until the door flew open. Speak of the devil, there was Irvine—apparently the first to have been found.
"Squall!" He exclaimed, grinning widely at his newly awakened friend. After his initial outburst he recovered his composure and continued more calmly, "How are you?"
The brunette shrugged, "Just a little headache, I guess… Are you Irvine?"
Irvine opened his mouth to answer that of course he was Irvine, who else would he be, but stopped quickly and did a double take, seeing that Squall was genuinely curious like he didn't know who he was. "You don't know?" He asked hesitantly.
"He doesn't remember anything," Rinoa supplied, "Dr. Kadowaki said he probably suffered a concussion from loss of oxygen to the brain. She thinks he'll recover it in time."
Irvine nodded slowly although he couldn't help but be disappointed, "Oh. Yeah, I'm Irvine Kinnaes."
"Rinoa said you were with me when I collapsed," Squall said, quickly cutting to the chase, "what exactly happened?"
Irvine shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure, Squall. One minute you were walking right beside me saying something about a shooting star, I think, and the next thing I know you're shaking with pain. Something must've happened in that brain of yours, though, cause in a matter of seconds you were screaming like a girl and then you passed out cold… Anything ringing a bell?"
Squall shook his head. He felt detached, actually, light-headed. He felt like he was just observing all this not actually controlling his thought pattern. He wasn't really thinking much at all, he just… was. As much as he tried to concentrate it was like trying to catch a slippery bubble, his thoughts kept slipping from his grasp and he was left to wander through the nothingness in his mind.
"Sorry, nothing." He supplied.
Dr. Kadowaki kept Squall in the infirmary for one more night under observation and the next day he was allowed to go back to his shared dorm with Irvine. It was the second night he had been back but his sleep was anything but restful as he tossed and turned to the tune woven in his dreams. Next door Irvine slept with a smirk on his face due to a less-than-decent dream about a certain spunky brunette.
"Irvine!" The man in mention shot up in his bed in alarm as Squall crashed into his room with the loud exclamation.
"What? What is it?" Irvine asked, looking around wildly as he attempted to free himself from his sheets which had become tangled around him when he woke so suddenly. He finally managed to release himself from their stranglehold and was somewhat calmed down after seeing nothing pressingly dangerous about their surroundings.
"Where is Eadig?" Squall demanded.
"Who?—oh." Irvine grabbed a shirt from his dresser and pulled it on, "So, you must've remembered something, huh?"
"I remember everything," Squall paused and frowned slightly with a mildly confused look on his face, "that is everything since a few months ago. I still don't remember before that and I'm beginning to think I never will." Squall looked up again, "I want to see Eadig, where is he?"
"Ah, about that," Irvine started slowly, "I, uh, don't think I'm allowed to tell you that one."
Squall's eyes narrowed dangerously, "I'm more than a match for you, cowboy, now where is he?"
Irvine sighed, "Like I said, I can't tell you. If you'll wait until the morning we can ask Cid—"
"It is the morning." Squall stated irately.
Irvine glanced at his clock, "Squall, four-thirty hardly counts as morning. Just wait a few more hours and we can sort this all out."
Squall crossed his arms and glared up at the slightly taller man in a way that would intimidate even a statue. Irvine glanced around nervously and located his shotgun—conveniently on the other side of Squall.
"Or we can go now, I guess," Irvine finally agreed as he felt an impending force of doom vibrating from the other being, "I'm sure the Headmaster won't mind being woke up in the middle of the night to answer your questions."
Irvine let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding as Squall vacated his room. He collected himself quickly and grabbing his trench coat—and shotgun—then followed Squall into the main room of their dorm. He didn't even hesitate before punching in the code to release them from their room and stepped swiftly into the hallway, wishing to get this over with as quickly as possible.
The two of them walked silently and quickly to the elevator in the middle of the Garden and were soon on it, riding up in an awkward silence. Irvine glanced over at his companion nervously, hoping he wouldn't make a scene when they were with the Headmaster and once again reminding himself what a bad idea this was. His eyes quickly snapped forward when gray eyes wandered over to meet his.
"Sorry about that."
Irvine almost missed the quiet statement as it was spoke softly and in a low tone. He almost thought he had been hearing things but when he looked over at Squall again the teen was looking the very definition of sorry.
"I didn't mean to come on so strongly," Squall elaborated, "you're not my enemy. It's just… with all these memories resurfacing… I don't know what to think. That's why I need to talk with Eadig."
Irvine nodded, "Forget about it. You've gone through a lot lately, you're allowed to break down every now and then." There was another long silence then Irvine added meekly, "So you want hold off a few hours?"
"No." Squall said, shooting him a glare—not as intense as before but scary enough that Irvine knew he wasn't going to back down.
Once they arrived at the third floor a few moments later, Irvine led Squall down the hall to the room that Cid had made into his new living quarters. He paused at the door giving Squall one last uncertain look. Seeing the other man was still as determined as ever, Irvine delivered a firm knock on the sturdy wooden door.
They heard a small amount of movement through the door and Irvine could imagine Cid looking at his clock wondering what the hell someone was doing waking him at this hour of the morning. He was about to knock again when the movement persisted and a short time later footsteps could be heard shuffling toward the door. Then it was opened.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Was the first thing out of the Headmaster's mouth, spoken even before he got a good look at who his night visitors were.
"Sorry, sir, he was adamant." Irvine explained, gesturing to Squall.
The short man looked from Irvine's face to Squall's, "Well, now that I'm up you might as well tell me what I can do for you, Squall."
"I want to see Eadig." Squall supplied curtly, taking the Headmaster by surprise with the blunt answer.
"I'm not sure that that's such a good idea, Squall," Cid said slowly, "He was sent to Galbadia Garden to prevent your interaction…"
"I need to talk with him."
Cid raised an eyebrow at the explanation, noting a hint of desperation in the undertone. He regarded the two men before him for a long moment before finally nodding.
"Alright, Squall, I'll let you have this one. But don't think you can get your way all the time just by waking me up in the middle of the night. You'll still have to wait until a reasonable hour, have breakfast in the cafeteria and then the two of you can catch a train from Balamb—"
"The two of us?" Irvine echoed. He had been expecting someone to be sent with Squall but he had been kind of hoping it wouldn't be him. He couldn't remember the last time he had gotten a decent night's sleep and had hoped to fit one in while Squall was gone.
"Well I'm not going to send him alone," Cid said, "and I know you two won't end up killing each other along the way. You're the best one to accompany him, Irvine."
"Yes, sir." Irvine complied with a sigh that did not go unnoticed by Squall.
"For now why don't you both try to get some sleep. I'll have to get in touch with the Headmaster over there—oh, what was his name?—" Cid continued mumbling to himself for a few moments as he tried to recall the name of Galbadia's new headmaster then he seemed to remember that Squall and Irivne were still there. "Oh, yes, dismissed. Get some rest, Irvine, you look horrible."
Irvine and Squall turned to wander back the way they had come as the door to the Headmaster's room was closed. Now that his fear of being killed by either Squall or Cid was over Irvine felt decidedly drained, especially with the threat of an early morning train trip with Squall looming over him. (And no pretty girls to entertain…)
Irvine blinked his eyes open some hours later and was surprised to see Squall sitting on the floor across from him, his arms folded lightly on his knees and his chin resting on his chest. Irvine smirked at his sleeping companion, apparently the brunette had been too anxious to sleep in his own room and had fallen asleep while waiting for him to wake up. He mentally debated whether to wake him or not.
The low groan that Squall emitted as he woke took away Irvine's choice and the sharpshooter watched quietly as Squall rubbed the back of his neck in disdain. He stood and stretched, all the while unaware of the brown eyes watching him.
"That's why people normally sleep in beds," Irvine finally commented, smirking at the surprise that flashed on Squall's face for an instant.
Squall ignored the comment and glanced out the window, showing a delightfully overcast day, "What time is it?" He asked as he turned his gaze to search the room for a clock.
"Seven," Irvine replied, gesturing to the clock slightly behind Squall on the desk.
"Hyne, already?" Squall demanded, turning to look at the clock and confirm for himself, "Get moving, Irvine, we should have left an hour ago—" he continued, moving towards the door.
"After we eat." Irvine interrupted. Causing Squall to pause and give him a confused look. Irvine embellished, "Cid said we could leave after having breakfast in the Cafeteria."
The small frown that had almost always graced Squall's face in the past reappeared then but at length he nodded, "Whatever, but let's hurry."
"Yes, sir," Irvine said, rolling his eyes at his friend's anxiousness. Squall watched him carefully as he collected various items of clothing from around the room and shifted his weight back and forth impatiently.
"Do you mind?" Irvine asked with a raised eyebrow once he had found the clothes he wanted to wear that day.
It took Squall a second to realize what Irvine wanted and he quickly retreated from the room, waiting impatiently for him by the door leading to the halls. Irvine was out a few minutes later in somewhat higher spirits than he had been earlier that morning.
They joined Quistis and Zell in the Cafeteria—them being the only ones from their close-knit group of friends to be out that early. Talk was minimal as a few pleasantries were exchanged and even Zell could tell there was something about Squall this morning. He seemed on edge as he quickly devoured his breakfast and then waited with poorly concealed impatience for Irvine to finish his.
"So, what are you guys up to today?" Zell finally asked, unable to resist his curiosity.
"None of your—"
"We're going to Galbadia." Irvine answered, enjoying the look of irritation on Squall's face as he stopped eating to talk to Zell.
"Galbadia?" Zell and Quistis echoed.
"Why?" Quistis asked.
"I have things to discuss with Eadig." Squall answered, hoping Irvine would hurry up with his breakfast if he covered the talking for him.
"So, you've recovered your memory, then?" Zell asked.
Squall nodded, "Well, part of it, at least. That's what I need to talk with him about." He gave Irvine a pointed look, noticing the sharpshooter hadn't continued his breakfast yet. Irvine, taking the hint, shoveled another forkful of eggs into his mouth.
Squall turned back to the others, satisfied, and continued, "We're leaving right away—well, as soon as this sloth finishes his breakfast—so, I guess, could you tell the others we left?"
"Of course," Zell agreed quickly.
"I assume you've already cleared this with Cid?" Quistis asked.
Squall nodded again, "We spoke with him about it earlier."
Irvine coughed as he almost choked on a bite of sausage.
"Hey, are you alright?" Zell asked his friend with concern.
"He's fine," Squall answered for him, barely giving the cowboy a second glance.
"Your concern is overwhelming, Squall." Irvine commented wryly with a coarse voice before taking a large drink of water.
"Well, you are, aren't you?" Squall asked, slightly irritated at this additional delay in his departure.
"Yeah," Irvine conceded, "It's just, the way you said that: We spoke with him about it earlier, it makes it seem like we just talked with him this morning or something."
"It was just this morning." Squall commented.
"Anytime before six doesn't qualify as morning." Irvine stated firmly.
Zell laughed, "Before six? What time did you guys wake Cid up?"
"Around four-thirty," Irvine answered, grinning as Zell laughed and Quistis almost spit a mouthful of milk out in surprise.
"Four-thirty?" Zell repeated, "That's great! What did he say?"
"Nothing," Squall answered quickly and looked pointedly at Irvine again, "Irvine, hurry up and eat or I'm leaving without you."
"I find it hard to believe the Headmaster had nothing to say about being woken up at four in the morning," Zell pressed, "What did he do?"
"He didn't yell at us, if that's what you're thinking," Squall responded, "he was definitely annoyed with us for waking him, but he was reasonable about it all the same. He wouldn't let us leave right away, though." He glanced back at Irvine.
"Alright, alright," Irvine said around his food as he shoveled the last two bites into his mouth, "I'm done."
Everyone stood from the table as Squall and Irvine stood to leave, "Bye!" Zell called.
"Have a safe trip," Quistis added.
Squall made no reply but Irvine managed a food-muffled, "Later!" before Squall dragged him from the room.
Irvine sat on the couch in the waiting room, fidgeting nervously every so often. They hadn't even been there for five minutes and he was already anxious. Squall stood motionless in front of the window, staring out of it with an unreadable expression. At last the door opened and a young SeeD walked in.
"You are the SeeDs from Balamb, correct?" Irvine nodded and Squall turned to face the young woman instead of the window, "Which one of you is Squall Leonhart?"
"I am," Squall answered.
"Then you're Irvine Kinnaes, is that correct?" The woman asked Irvine. He nodded. "Good, follow me, both of you."
Squall and Irvine followed the woman without a word, concentrating mostly on keeping up with the fast pace she set. She led them to the elevator and they took that down to a lower floor even Irvine had never been to before. There were very few people to be seen here and the ones present were all SeeDs—guards, presumably.
At the end of the hallway, the young woman showed two guards standing outside of a room some papers before turning back to Irvine and Squall, "Eadig has been brought to this room to await you, did you want to enter together or—?"
Irvine glanced over at Squall but Squall did not return the gesture, "I'll be going in alone."
"Squall, I don't think that—"
Squall gave the sharpshooter a firm look and he backed down, hesitantly nodding his agreement to the plan. "I'll be fine, Irvine." Squall assured him to take some edge off his attitude.
With everyone in agreement as to how they were going to proceed, one of the guards entered a few digits into a keypad to the side of the door as he gave Squall a few last minute instructions, "Just activate the buzzer on the table or the door when you want to be let out. Several guards will be waiting outside the room to prevent the prisoner from escaping. You have ten minutes."
Squall nodded in understanding and stepped through the door when it opened. As soon as he was in, it hissed shut behind him and his keen ears picked up the sound of the automatic lock falling into place. He quickly glanced across the room and saw his friend sitting in a chair at the far side of the single table that was in the room. He slowly walked over and claimed the chair on his side.
Silence reigned for a long moment before Squall worked up the courage to address his friend and even then it was Eadig who beat him to it, "What's the matter, Squall? Do I look that bad?"
A small smile crept onto Squall's face at the remark as he once again took in the younger man's bedraggled appearance, "You've looked better," he admitted, "Guess they haven't been as lenient on you as they've been with me."
Eadig nodded grimly and returned his eyes to the table, unable to allow himself to meet the eyes of his former friend—and enemy—for long. Squall frowned slightly at the action and debated how to proceed. At length he decided on the direct approach as he couldn't think of any gentle way to approach the subject.
"Eadig, is it all true?" He asked at last, "Is everything Deman, everything you told me true?" Eadig didn't respond, "Just tell me it's true and I'll believe you, tell me it is and I'll discredit anything these SeeDs say as some manipulation of the facts, but please, Eadig, answer my question straight this once." Silence. "If ever you've valued our friendship like I have, please tell me, I think I have a right to know my own past."
At last Eadig raised his eyes, green orbs hesitantly meeting gray. He sighed deeply as he weighed the possibilities and then, "No." Squall could scarcely believe his ears, Eadig lowered his eyes again at the surprised look.
"Squall, you're not who you think you are, we're not what you think we are… I've been in here for almost a month and all I've been doing is thinking about you, Squall, thinking about what we did to you." Once again Eadig met Squall's eyes, "It wasn't fair, it wasn't right at all, I understand that now. It's just, at the time, you know, it seemed like… well, an okay thing to do, I guess…"
"Eadig, what really happened?" Squall asked almost inaudibly.
Eadig's eyes flickered down again as he found himself unable to stand looking into his friend's face, "I never knew how much could happen in three months, how much someone could change in three short months. What seemed right three months ago seems unforgivable now… Squall, I…" He looked up again and the brunette was surprised to see tears brimming in the younger man's eyes, small streams beginning to trickle down his cheeks, "Please, don't make me say it!"
Now Squall turned away, feeling both betrayed and pity for his friend. He wasn't sure exactly what it was the other man was getting at, but he could guess well enough. "You did something, didn't you?" He asked, "It was you, not them, that somehow took away my memory."
An awkward silence reigned until Eadig finally managed to release a weak affirmation of his friend's guess, "Yes. It was us."
Squall felt his world fall to pieces in that instant, everything he had ever known, everything he could remember believing had been a lie and it had just been admitted to him from the mouth of a man he had counted as his friend. His eyes slowly focused on his hands shaking in his lap and he mentally tried to regain control of his confused emotions. He wasn't sure whether to feel angry or sad and until he had made up his mind he resolved to feel neither.
"Squall, listen," Eadig had looked up again, "I'm truly sorry for what happened, for what you've gone through… I wish I could have known then what I know now, but I didn't. I'll understand if you hate me because of this, but please know that for my part I too consider you a friend and that is why I'm going to tell you what has been done." Squall looked up again, finally having reigned in enough control to lock eyes with the other man.
"Can you help me find myself again?" He asked, feeling some of his anger and confusion ebb away as hope resurfaced in him.
"I hope so," Eadig responded, "The human mind is a lot like a computer, the long term memories you form are never truly forgotten. There's a chip, a microchip in your head that prevents you from unlocking those memories, those files if you will—"
"So we take it out." Squall guessed.
"Well, no, it's not that easy," Eadig said, "when it was implanted there wasn't really much concern for your safety and there definitely was no plan to ever remove it. It wasn't designed to be removed and any attempt would probably leave you vegetated for the rest of your life, if you survived."
"Then what can we do?" Squall asked.
Eadig hesitated before responding, "I think I may be able to devise a way to shut it off." He finally said, "It will be risky, but I think I can do it given some time and the right equipment. Once it's shut down you should be able to recover your memories, but you'll have to trust me again."
"I… do trust you, Eadig," Squall said, "for as long as I've known you you've only been there to help me and I can't just ignore that." He laughed weakly, "Actually, to tell you the truth, I'm finding this kind of hard to swallow. You've been one of my friends for as long as I can remember, I just can't imagine you betraying me like that. Of course I trust you… it's getting them to do the same that'll be the hard part," he nodded at the door to indicate the SeeDs outside.
Eadig smiled slightly and shook his head, "Don't call me that again, Squall, I don't deserve to be counted among your friends, not after what I've done. Try to convince them, I'll help right this wrong any way I can."
