Disclaimer: Anything that is not mine, is not mine. The game, the characters, they are not mine. The concept of the story is mine, but the elements added that were not originally mine, are definitely not mine. I hope that's enough disclaimer!

Author's Note: I'm on a roll! Okay guys, the storm was over, and a new one arrives. Shoutout to Guest Angel! Thank you so much for the reviews! Let me know if you get yourself an account so I can thank you! Shoutout to Rebekka who never gets tired of leaving reviews! Thank you! To my reviewers, I expressed my thanks through PM. You guys drive me to write! And the rest of you, I hope you'll enjoy reading this one!


Seifer jerked at pillow that punched his face. He swiftly sat up and groaned when his head collided against the upper frame of the bunkbed, hitting the scar on his forehead that he earned from the battle in Timber.

"DAMN IT!" he yelled, crouching forward and clutching his head. He looked up to see Fujin standing erect before him.

"UP." she said.

"Did you really need to do that?!"

"QUIT."

"Don't tell me to quit it! It BURNS!"

"CRYBABY."

"Cyclops!"

Fujin abruptly pulled the covers of Seifer's bed, sliding him down with it. His back plowed with the floor and his groan grew louder as he rolled from the pain.

Irvine approached the pair and leaned against the doorframe of the room. "We tried waking you up a dozen times before. Well, what do ya know, it only takes a Fujin to make that happen."

His palm still on his forehead, Seifer staggered to stand up. "Screw you too, asshole."

"IRRESPONSIBLE." Fujin said, still glaring at Seifer.

"Me?! Irresponsible?!"

She pointed at her injured eye concealed beneath a black eyepatch. "CYCLOPS?!"

Irvine erupted into laughter. "Cyclops?! That's a good one!"

Fujin shot Irvine a glare, prompting him to stop.

"I was up all night trying to wait for the storm to end. FYI."

"Well then, this is your lucky day. The storm has ceased, and we are marching to victory." Irvine replied, imitating a punctilious tone.

Seifer straightened up, locking daggers with Fujin. He stretched backwards before scratching his unruly hair. "Everyone up and ready?"

"Yep. Quistis is already calling the rounds, FYI." Irvine replied.

"DRESS."

"Yeah, yeah, if it shuts you up." Seifer retorted sluggishly. He reached for his SeeD uniform and slid into his trousers. "And while you two are watching me, might as well brief me on this mission. Where do we start?"

"At the battlezone, the village." Irvine fished his phone from his pocket and scanned through a file. "We start looking for Squall there, since it was where we last saw him."

"Do you still remember where that is? 'Cause I sure don't."

"FASTER." Fujin pressed.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Seifer yelled back.

"That's what GPS is for." Irvine smirked. "Well, if it's still working. After the storm."

"I have a tracker." Seifer said, pulling his collar up. "Well, used to have. Lost it somewhere, either here in Timber or in Balamb."

"OUT."

"Just hold on, alright?! I just need to get my boots and-" Seifer looked up and saw Fujin stomping out of the room. "Oh. Okay, see you out. Finally."

Irvine followed Fujin with his gaze before turning back to Seifer. "I better head out. Captain is joining Quisty in…" he glanced on his watch. "Two minutes."

Seifer grunted in reply.

"C'mon man, Squall's safety doesn't wait."

"Yeah, be there in a sec."


It was Rinoa who woke up first. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open and stared at the morning light peeking through the window for a moment. They have survived the storm, and the sun was finally back.

She smiled to herself and shifted her attention to the fireplace. Wasn't she supposed to be on the floor? Realizing that she was on a softer surface, Rinoa propped her elbow and lifted herself. She scanned the room, trying to determine how she got up on the couch. Until her eyes fell on Squall, deep in his sleep against the foot of their only lounge. He was covered with her blanket, spurring her to look at her own. She smiled to herself again, realizing that he had switched their covers for some reason she didn't understand, but she didn't mind. Slowly and bashfully, as if there were any eyes watching her, she lifted the sheet to her nose and sniffed it.

It even smelled like him, she thought, her smile growing wider at her guilty pleasure.

She held it close to her chest and laid back down. She bent her head back to take a good look at Squall, watching as he rhythmically took slow breaths. There was no frown, no evident struggle whatsoever. He was still lost somewhere yet still with her for the moment. She shifted to lay on her stomach to get a better look at him before reaching down to his hand resting on the floor. Rinoa stared at it and noticed the silver ring her was wearing. A lion's head was beautifully engraved on it, forming dark ridges that shaped its mane. Very lightly, she brushed a finger on its fierce face, roaring at an imaginary adversary.

When her fingers went out of bounds from the ring and touched his skin, she saw his hand flinch slightly and hers retreated. Cautiously, she looked up to check on him and saw half-lidded cerulean eyes staring at her. He didn't look irked for being woken up, nor was he smiling. He was simply calm as they lost themselves in tranquility of the moment. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times, his orbs still fixed on hers and held them there.

Her gaze travelled to another silverpiece on his ear glinting against the sunlight. She lifted a hand to touch it, but stopped midway when he stiffened at her unwarranted gesture. She smiled apologetically at him. Of course, not everyone would approve of being held by someone else. Even though she remembered touching his face the day before in the forest to give him warmth from the cold air and he didn't recoil from it. Nor when she squeezed his arm later that night. She supposed it was different when touching served a purpose as compared to touching to answer her curiosity or allow her a simple delight. Which, she admitted, was a little selfish, but harmless.

Maybe she ought to take it slow.

Rinoa pulled her hand back and peered at his with the lion ring. She reached for it again and grazed the back of her fingers against it. She glanced back up to him to read his reaction, but he remained still, gazing at her. When she felt his fingers brush against hers, she gave him a soft smile. She allowed him to entwine his fingers around hers and brush his tumb gently at the back of her hand. She let out a giggle and he smirked, another first she saw from him.

She wanted it to last longer, until a high-toned beep came out from somewhere. His features turned stern, and his eyebrows met. He broke himself from her as he wordlessly jolted up and sprinted to his jacket hanging on one of the dining chairs. He hurriedly rummaged inside one of the pockets and took out a small, black device that constantly blinked red light.

Squall looked at the tracker in his hand and cursed. He looked out to the lit grounds beyond the window before turning back to Rinoa, who was wearing an anxious expression.

"They're here." He said under his breath, running to Rinoa's side. "SeeDs."

Rinoa gasped at the sound of SeeD's name.

With panic boiling inside him, Squall held the tracker up. "SeeDs are here." He said, his voice growing louder and frustrating. He pointed at the window. "SeeDs!"

She turned to the window and back to Squall before standing up, her breaths becoming sharp and shallow. "I have to go. I have to get to the tunnel!"

She began running to the front door when Squall pulled her back.

"Not there." he said, his voice shaking as he tried to compose himself. "The shore is that way. We have to go back around."

Rinoa saw him point at the backdoor.


"AHA!" Irvine clamored as he held his tracker up in his hand. "I KNEW this bad boy's still working!"

"You have a tracker the whole time?" Seifer asked, catching his breath after reaching the top of a hill. Irvine insisted that they reach higher grounds to oversee the whole place as a start to look for Squall's location. Behind him were Fujin, Zell, and Selphie.

"Well, yeah."

"Why didn't you use it before we went back to Balamb!?"

"Oh, believe me, I tried using it, but the signal seemed to be blocked by something."

"EXCUSES." Fujin said, waving her harm to her side to emphasize her point.

"Hey! Take it easy on him! It was probably blocked by sorceress magic!" Selphie said in Irvine's defense. She took out a bigger device that worked with basic radar interface and tried to sync it with Irvine's tracker.

"Uh huh," Zell said with a hint of doubt. "Then why didn't you use it when we got to Balamb?"

"It wouldn't work in Balamb either, we were too far!"

Zell turned to Seifer. "Didn't you have your own tracker? Why didn't you try using yours?"

"I lost mine, so shut it, Chickenwuss." Seifer retorted.

"You shut it!"

"All of you shut it." Angeal said, approaching Selphie to her side and staring at the screen of her gadget. "What do we have?"

"It's not detecting anything yet." Selphie replied.

"Mine's beeping, so it must've spotted Squall." Irvine said.

"We will have to move closer into the forest." Angeal said. He took out his radio and held it close to his mouth. "Trepe."

"Captain."

"We have to move further in. Irvine's tracker found Squall, but the radar's not giving us anything. We have to move closer, maybe to the village. We should be back by nightfall. You're in charge of the ship and make sure it stays there."

"Roger that. Biggs and Wedge are on it, Sir."

"Copy that." Angeal replied, placing his communicator back into one of his pockets. "Let's roll."

"So where do we start?" Zell asked.

"The village is that way." Seifer pointed east of the hill. However, it was riddled with thick trees and fallen leaves.

"You meant there." Irvine said, pointing at the other direction where ruined shelters stood empty.

"Now that looks more promising." Zell said.

Fujin turned around to face Seifer. "FAIL."

Ignoring the banter of the young SeeDs behind him, Angeal surveyed the distance that would get them to the town. It would take them an hour's travel by foot, maybe less. If they were lucky enough, they should be able to track Squall once they get there. If not, then they would have to survey further to the other end of Timber, just in case he found refuge there. He highly doubted it, as the eastern side seemed more dangerous and unlivable. He wouldn't manage to stay alive that long.

Then again, how sure was he that Squall survived at the townside?

He turned back around to the squad. They stopped talking and stood straight the moment he did.

"Once we determine that Squall is in the village, we will need to split up." Angeal said. "Irvine, Selphie and I are team Alpha, since we have the radar. Zell, Seifer, and Fujin are team Beta. Alpha will look into the houses. Beta will look around the town, in case Squall separated from his tracking device. We rendezvous back to the ship at 18:00 and regroup, regardless if we find him."

"UNDERSTOOD." Fujin replied for the group.

"And the sorceress?" Irvine asked.

"Stick to the plan." Angeal said.

Irvine tipped his hat down. "Okay, Sir."


They were running. Again.

Squall was pulling her by the arm as they ran through the trees that concealed the sunlit sky. He left his jacket with the tracker in the cabin, estimating that his fellow SeeDs would arrive in an hour. He discerned that he could only give Rinoa a thirty-minute headstart before he could find his way back to the cabin.

He was much faster than she, and Rinoa tried to glide mid air to catch up. The moment she summoned her spell, however, she immediately felt lightheaded and tripped.

He stopped to pull her back up, looking around to check if anyone has found them yet. Then they ran again, until they reached a fork road that was all too familiar to Rinoa. She lead the way this time, taking the left path, knowing that the tunnel was just ahead.

She stumbled for the second time, catching her breath as she did. She was getting weaker, and she indeed felt more frail.

"What's wrong?" Squall asked under his breath when he knelt by her side.

Rinoa was clutching her chest as she inhaled more deeply. What was happening to her?

"C'mon, we have to get moving." Squall said, sweeping her up in his arms before running forward. They were already twenty-five minutes in at this point.

Squall stopped for a moment when the path disappeared under thick tall grass. He glanced at Rinoa for instructions first, but upon seeing her perplexed eyes as they looked around, he realized that she lost their way too.

"Where to now?"

Rinoa motioned him to let her down, which he gently did. She turned to him and saw how he anxiously looked around, hastily trying to find a way that would lead her to safety. She knew he was running out of time before SeeDs could reach the cabin.

"Squall."

He stopped his frantic search to look at her.

Rinoa pointed a path on her right. "I'll see where this one leads to." She then nodded at him and smiled. "Thank you, Squall. For everything. But you should go."

Squall frowned at her calm voice and her sad countenance when she gave him one last smile before sprinting away towards the path she pointed to. He watched as she disappeared through the trees. He didn't know why she insisted on that path, but she knew Timber more than he did.

That settles it, then, he thought. Squall turned around and traced his way back to the cabin.

He only had fifteen minutes left.

He quickly found the shelter and entered it, searching for any proof of Rinoa's existence. He threw them away or kept them inside the cabinet in her room. He placed their diner wares in the sink and slipped into his beeping jacket.

A few moments later, he could hear familiar voices approaching. He took deep breaths to pull himself together as they got closer.

He thought about opening the door and showing himself just so they could get it over and done with. But he thought about the chance Rinoa had if they missed them. He could go find Rinoa again and help her escape and stay away from the SeeDs. Unless they were surrounded. And if they were caught, it might mean bigger chaos.

"The radar's leading us in here!" Squall heard Selphie say beyond the door. It was loud enough to wake him up in his sleep, and it might provoke suspicions if he didn't react to it.

Squall didn't wait for the knob to turn and opened the front door for them.

"It moved!" Selphie said, her eyes still on the radar device in her hands. She looked up and her green eyes instantly widened. "SQUALL!"

A few meters behind her were Irvine and their Captain, Angeal. They both turned around, evidently surprised and relieved to see him in one piece.

"Squall! Hey, man!" Irvine called, sprinting toward him. Squall was happy to see them too, but he could be happier.

"Hey guys." Squall greeted and reciprocated a salute from Angeal. Irvine was storming at his with arms extended forward to a hug. The Commander sidestepped and Irvine tumbled as soon as he got to him. That didn't stop Selphie from jumping onto him and giving him a tight hug.

"SQUALLY! It's so nice to see you alive!"

Not knowing how to react, Squall slowly patted Selphie's back until she let go.

"You have NO idea what it took for us to get here!"

"Huh, can't imagine." Squall said nonchalantly.

Angeal approached them and extended an arm. "Glad to see you are well, Squall."

Squall gave him another salute. "Thank you, Sir. I'm glad to see you all here too."

Angeal cocked his head on Squall's bandaged thigh. "What happened?"

Squall looked at his limb, almost forgetting about his wound. It didn't hurt anymore, nor was it bleeding, but Rinoa insisted that they bandaged it possibly for safety purposes. "Sorceress attack, Sir."

"Was it recent?"

"No, Sir."

Irvine gave him a brunt pat on the back. "Man, how did you survive? What happened to you?"

"What did you eat? Where did you sleep?"

"How did you live through the storm?"

"And you have a scar on your face too! Just like Seifer!"

Overwhelmed with too many question, Squall chose to stay silent. Angeal, however, detected the young SeeD's fatigue. "Save Squall's galant story of survival for later. Let's head back to the ship first, we'll have lots of time there."

Squall nodded as Selphie slipped an arm through his, while Irvine insisted to walk by his side.

"We have fresh clothes for you on the ship! Because we just knew you'd still be alive!" Selphie cheered.

"How's the squad?" Squall asked.

"Most took a number from the sorceresses, but hey, they're alive!" Irvine said.

Squall glanced at Irvine. "Really?"

"Yeah, I know, I was surprised too. We're just thankful we didn't lose anyone."

Following from a good distance behind the trio, Angeal took out his communicator.

"Dincht."

"Captain!"

"We found Squall."

"Really? Hey guys!" Zell called to his comrades, his voice becoming less audible through the radio. "They found Squall!"

"GREAT!" Angeal heard Fujin say.

"Alright guys, let's pack it up." Seifer said.

"Zell." Angeal called.

"Sir!"

"Time to head back now and regroup. Meet us at the ship."

"Yessir!"


Zell placed his communicator back into his pocket and faced the other members of team Beta.

"Okay guys, you heard the Captain. Which way is back?"

Fujin pointed toward a sloping ground to her west. "THERE."

"We trekked all the way up here for nothing." Seifer said sardonically. "And I was just getting started!"

"WUSS."

Zell snorted. Seifer grunted.

"At least it didn't take us the whole day to track him down. Now that would be worse, trekking for hours for nothing." Zell said.

"Oh, here's an idea. Why don't we just use our four-wheel ride to go back through the rocky road of Timber?"

"But we don't have a four-wheeler."

"Exactly." Seifer replied.

"QUIET."

The two male SeeDs paused and turned to Fujin. She was holding up an arm at them, her head tilting to a side and the other listening to the trees.

"Why?" Zell asked.

"SHHH." Fujin hissed, her eye wandering up the sky. She lowered her arm when nothing else came up, until they heard cracking sound of leave and twigs not too far from the bottom of the slope. They all looked at each other and ran to the trees.

"What the hell is it?" Seifer asked under shaky breath.

Fujin pointed the area in front of her. "MOVEMENT."

Leading the way, Fujin stopped on her tracks and gestured at the other two to do the same, listening for any other sound. As soon as they heard it, they saw a glimpse of blue cloth belonging to a feminine figure passing behind one of the trees. Fujin turned around to face them once the footsteps faded away.

"SORCERESS."

Seifer stepped forward. "Okay, then let's go get her!"

Zell squinted to look over the distance and search for the apparent sorceress. "I dunno guys, I think we just lost her."

"If we keep moving forward, we might still find her."

"Okay. But the Captain said…"

"We'll get back when we have the sorceress!"

Zell scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure about this. Maybe we're better off letting her go."

"Then you can go back and tell them back in the Garden that you were too scared of a little sorceress."

"I'm not scared! I'm just…"

Fujin faced Seifer. "LEAD."

Seifer smirked. "That's the spirit!" He then faced Zell. "Sorry, Chickenwuss. Majority wins."

Zell grunted when the two began running again. "Fine. It's not like I have a choice anyway. 'Hey Zell, I think you're right! We should head back and join the others where it is safe, just like what the Captain said! Because your opinion matters to us!''Really? Thank you guys, really appreciate it!'" he muttered to himself.

"Quit mumbling, Dincht." Seifer hissed.

Fujin placed a finger on her lips as she crouched through the tall grassy field, and the two followed suit. Beyond them was a pale sorceress donning a long, blue dress, running (and stumbling) toward the river.

"I thought you were supposed to be leading us." Zell whispered at Seifer.

"Quiet, or we lose the prey." Seifer hissed back.

They crept closer to her, careful as to not make the slightest sound. She seemed to be looking for something from all directions, save for the area behind her. Seifer slowly took his jacket off, while Fujin unsheathed her chakram. Seifer faced Zell and the latter nodded at him, ready at his cue.

When Seifer made the gesture to go forward, Zell jumped behind the sorceress and locked her tightly in his arms. Before she could react, Seifer quickly covered her head with his jacket, earning him a sharp and loud hiss from her. She threw some spells, but Fujin successfully deflected them with her weapon.

They have successfully captured and overpowered a sorceress.


The white ship was dancing afloat the waters when they arrived. Quistis was standing on the shore, greeting them with a smile.

"It's great to see you, Squall."

Squall nodded at her in response.

Quistis turned to face Angeal. "Seifer and the others?"

"We split up." Angeal said. "But we gave them updates. They should be here any moment now."

"Then we should get you sorted out first." Quistis said, turning to Squall.

"Right." Squall nodded again.

He was assigned his own bunker where fresh clothes were waiting on his bed. After giving himself some washing and changing, he unwrapped the bandage on his thigh and examined the scar the wound left. It looked definitely better, which was quick for something so deep. And he owed Rinoa's magic for it. Squall's tossed the bandage to his side. It was over. His time in Timber was over, and they would be nothing now to him but memories. Rinoa would be a memory. She saved his life, and he wished he could ensure that she was safe too. But he was a SeeD, and she a sorceress. They were bound to be separated, one way or another. He could do more by ensuring that no SeeD would come after her, or what survived from her coven. The big question was, how would he do it?

He leaned his back against the wall by his bed, uneased by the thought of what was happening to Rinoa at that very moment. Did she find the path she was looking for? Would she be able to join the other sorceresses soon? Would she make it there?

Deciding that the solitude was not helping him from worrying about things that were not certain yet, he went out of his bunker and took a leisurely walk along the hallway. The ship was unusually empty for a SeeD ship, and he began to wonder how many the Captain was able to gather for this particular mission. They mentioned that most were wounded, so they were probably recuperating in the Garden. Figures, he thought, that the only ones able to make it here were the usual suspects.

The muffled voice of Seifer from another room broke Squall away from his thoughts. He paused to get a better sense of what was happening, and why did he sound so urgent. Quickly, he walked to the direction of his voice, sprinting to a run the closer he got. He opened the door to the deck and saw Zell restraining someone firmly in his arms, her head covered in SeeD jacket.

Blue dress.

Long black hair.

"What's going on?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at Squall.

"Hey, man" Seifer greeted, extending an open arm to him. Squall placidly pushed him away and glared at the other people in the room. "Hey, chill out, we just got here!"

"SORCERESS." Fujin replied.

Squall's eyes narrowed and faced Angeal.

"Kramer wants us to capture a sorceress for him if we found one." the Captain said, massaging his forehead. He dropped his hand and stared at Squall. "It was part of the deal to approve our request for this mission."

"A rescue mission is now conditional?" Squall asked in disbelief.

"Apparently." Quistis replied, shrugging.

Rinoa was hissing beneath the jacket, coughing under Zell's hold.

"What does he need a sorceress for?" Squall asked, keeping his cool in control.

"We don't know yet." Angeal replied.

"Bringing one with us is as good as bringing death to the Garden. Full of inexperienced cadets."

"Don't argue with this, Squall, it was the Headmaster's order. Besides, three SeeDs were able to overcome her, what more with hundreds back in the Garden?"

"You know what, let's just get this over with and contain her already." Zell said in strained voice. "My arms are getting tired, and this is no weak sorceress."

In her struggle, the jacket slipped off Rinoa's head.

"Oh no, she's gonna see us!" Selphie cried.

Once free from the concealment, Rinoa hissed at everyone, kicking midair and resisting Zell's strength. Everyone in the room stepped back, except for Squall.

"Whoah, whoah!" Seifer lifted her legs and supressed her there.

Rinoa glanced at Squall's direction and saw him looking at her, wearing that stern face. The same one when she first saw him.

Squall held his breath when she stopped hissing the moment her eyes locked with his. She might be good at hiding it, but he knew she thought he was betraying her. And if only she knew how he wished he could tell them the truth. That she was innocent. That she saved his life. How he wished he could use force on them to set her free. And this time, if they turned against both of them, he'd fight and escape with her. But he couldn't let emotions get to him. It would be too risky, to give both of them away. He had to think.

When they found him, he was alone. He removed all traces of the sorceress and showed them that he survived on his own. He had nothing to do with the sorceress' escape. The truth would compromise them, and he would be branded a traitor. He might be confined too, with her. And he wouldn't be able to do anything to help her from behind the bars.

Lying would compromise only her. That weighed as much as the other, but at least he would have more control over the situation. He could give Rinoa a better chance.

"Huh," Irvine huffed with amusement in his tone, looking at Squall. "You were able to shut her up with one of your signature looks."

Squall glared at him before turning away, no longer wanting to see her so helpless as they carried her along the hallway. "Luckily, she didn't encounter me. Or else Cid wouldn't have a sorceress to look forward to."

When they threw her in a room and locked her in, Rinoa began to sob. The way he looked at her, it was as if nothing of it mattered to him.

As if she was nothing.

She gave up her chances to reunite with the other sorceresses do what she thought was right, while they took what little was left for her. They destroyed the only home she knew, hurt several members of her family, robbed her a peaceful life… And now they took away her freedom. And though she remained strong and forgiving, it was more than she could bear.

What more could they want from her?

She grew up believing it pays to be kind. Now she knew it was all just some fairytale to keep her behaviour in check.

She cooped herself onto a corner and buried her head on her folded legs, the sound of her weep bouncing against the transparent walls.

Why wouldn't anyone help her? Why wouldn't he help her?


A/N: Why indeed? Just keep chasing the red moon guys. Not quite there yet, but you'll get to it. Anyway, your reviews are very much appreciated!