Ten
Seth sits in the living room of his grandfather's house and stares out at the setting sun. There are butterflies in his stomach because he knows what is coming, and there is nothing he can do to stop it. He wipes away a tear as the babysitter calls out from the kitchen to tell him dinner is ready.
Seth is not hungry, but he eats anyway and tries to ignore the tug of the past and present and future all twining together in his brain.
It gets confusing sometimes, the directions and outcomes and differences between this timeline and all the others. There are so many tiny things that can alter the future. Time is an infinite web of interconnecting threads that branch out, on and on forever. It's easy to get lost, to get pulled into other times where his father is happy.
There are so few happy endings for Squall Leonhart. And so few for Seth.
He has learned he can change the past, through the smallest of actions, but there are some events that no matter how he alters them will always stay the same, some events that are destined to be. He's seen what's coming and he has tried in vain to change it, but no matter what, it will happen one way or another.
So many times, he's seen it happen, and he's grieved so many times, he's said goodbye so many times and in so many ways, and it still hurts.
Come morning, he will have to say goodbye again.
The Balamb Grande Hotel ballroom was already packed by the time Rinoa and Zell arrived. Rinoa tugged uncomfortably her frumpy, shapeless dress and looked around at the tasteful but incongruous decorations. It looked more like a wedding than a memorial with all the bouquets of sky-blue flowers, balloons, streamers everywhere.
At the front of the room, and surrounded by more flowers was a huge photo of Rinoa. She hated that photo. Taken during their brief visit to Winhill, Rinoa's eyes were squinty and tired and her hair was a dirty, windblown mess.
She clutched Zell's arm as he guided her through the crowd and she searched for familiar faces. The further they moved into the room, the less she remembered her back-story. For all her preparation, she was not really prepared to meet any of them face to face.
All these people, here to remember and honor her. Rinoa Heartilly was ten years in the grave, or so they all thought.
"Zell!" Selphie cried.
Selphie crashed into him like a bulldozer and nearly knocked him over. He grunted and righted himself, then forcibly removed Selphie's vice-like grip on his waist.
She wore her hair longer, but it still flipped up on the ends, less dramatic but still childlike and her eyes still glittered with spirit and mischief. Rinoa wished she could hug her old friend, but instead reclaimed Zell's arm and averted her eyes.
"Geez, Selphie," Zell complained. "Are you drunk already?"
"Of course I am!" Selphie cried. "Where have you been? You need to catch up."
"The party started an hour ago."
"Your point?" Selphie asked with a grin. "What's your poison?"
"Whiskey, rocks," he said. He turned to Rinoa, "You want something?"
"Uh, same?"
"You must be Zell's cousin," Selphie said and threw herself at Rinoa. "I'm Selphie. Nice to meet you!"
Rinoa accepted Selphie's painful hug, but took care not to hold too tight or for too long. Selphie didn't know Lenore, they'd never met, but she half-crushed Rinoa's ribs and squeezed like they were the very best of friends.
"Okay, Seffie, let the girl breathe," Zell said. "You were getting drinks?"
"Oh, yeah. Be right back!"
She released Rinoa and flounced off toward the bar, the swish of her too-short skirt almost flashing half the room. Rinoa rubbed her bruised ribs and smiled.
"She hasn't changed much," Rinoa said.
"Except, she drinks like a fish. Not that I have any right to judge," Zell said. "I don't think we'll have to worry about her. She's probably been drunk since noon."
"Should we sit?"
"Best to stay on your feet in case you need to move quickly."
That sounded like something Squall would say. After so many years of being a SeeD, Rinoa supposed it was only natural that some of the militaristic attitude rubbed off on Zell, but it still threw her.
"Then it's probably a good idea to stay moving, huh?"
Selphie skidded to a stop in front of them, drinks in hand, then flitted off toward a group of people Rinoa didn't recognize. Zell swallowed down the contents of his glass and set it aside as Rinoa sipped hers.
"By the way, your father was invited..." Zell said. "I don't know if he'll show up, but don't be surprised if he does."
Rinoa's stomach tightened and she glanced around the room. So many mixed feelings about her father, not only for her childhood, but for his actions during and following the war. His choice to contract SeeD to assassinate Edea was a wildly subversive act for a man in his position. Yet, her whole life he treated her like she was incapable of understanding anything, he'd locked her in her room whenever she disagreed with him, and ignored her unless it served his purposes.
Rinoa tensed as Quistis approached, her smile cool and reserved. A handsome man in his early to mid-thirties escorted her. Her fiancée, Rinoa assumed. Clad in a sleek, navy-blue cocktail dress, a strand of creamy pearls around her neck, Quistis was elegant, gorgeous, and confident.
"Look at you," Quistis said as she straightened his tie. "I can't remember the last time I saw you in a suit."
"Irvine and Selphie's second wedding, I think," Zell said and kissed her on the cheek. "You look great, by the way."
He shook hands with Quistis' fiancée, Ben, and introduced Rinoa by her alias. Rinoa took care to keep her face partially hidden by her hair and her eyes averted, but Quistis looked a little too long, as if studying and scrutinizing her features. Rinoa almost excused herself, uncomfortable under Quistis' sharp gaze, but the woman returned her attention to Zell and engaged him in a conversation about Garden politics.
Rinoa tuned it out and focused on the room around her. A few tables away, Irvine conversed with Selphie and a few others. His auburn hair was streaked with premature gray, but he still wore it in a long ponytail, and there were creases in his forehead that weren't there before. If Zell's stories about Selphie and their coven of little girls was true, Rinoa would bet poor Irvine was aging well ahead of the curve as a result.
Hyne, how much she'd missed. Her plight was never more real than it was now. They all grew up while she stayed exactly the same.
She froze as she spied her father across the room, staring at the jumbo portrait of herself with an impassive expression. A small part of her longed for the days when she was little, when he would fold her up in his arms and she felt loved and protected. Seeing him now, with so much gray in his hair and so many deep creases in his face only compounded the distance between then and now.
"I'm surprised he came, to be honest with you," Quistis said. "After what happened the last time."
"Who wants to take bets on whether or not Squall takes a swing?" Zell asked.
"That's terrible," Quistis said. "Though, I suppose we should try to run interference if Squall actually shows up tonight."
"If I were him, I'd sit it out, but I have a feeling Selphie didn't give him a choice," Zell said.
Quistis' eyes turned sad and she cast her gaze toward Caraway.
"I've heard rumors Caraway's not in the best of health," she said.
"He looks pretty fit to me," Zell said.
"The story is, he's convinced we're at war," Quistis said. "And that he sometimes forgets his wife is dead."
"That's kinda sad," Zell said. He cast Rinoa a sideways glance and tightened his grip on her arm. "If it's true. You know how rumors are."
Rinoa looked back to the memorial photo, but her father was no longer there. They had their share of differences, but there was no satisfaction in the news he might not be as mentally sound as he once was.
A beautiful woman dressed in red approached and smiled kindly at Quistis. Rinoa recognized her from Cid's photos: This was Elizabeth Kadowaki, Squall's ex-wife.
She was even more beautiful in person, and Rinoa felt stupid and awkward and boring in her frumpy, ugly dress. She stumbled her way through the introductions and took care to keep her eyes averted. Over the last month, Rinoa studied her photo endlessly and compared this woman's features to her own, and Rinoa found herself lacking.
"I assume you've all heard the news," Quistis said regretfully. "About Squall?"
"Laguna told me," Liz said. "I tried to discuss it with him, and he doesn't even care..."
"I wish he would talk to someone," Quistis said. "I'm worried about him."
"That makes two of us," Liz said. She shook her head and glanced around the room. "I feel awful for even being here, Quistis. It's her fault he's falling apart like this, and I'm afraid all of this is just going to make it worse."
Rinoa's cheeks blazed and she ducked her head to hide it. Was it really all her fault?
Being here was a mistake. She hoped it would help her move on, but she didn't belong here.
"I've always resented her," Liz said quietly. "I always felt like the other woman. Am I a bad person for hating a dead girl?"
Rinoa looked at her carefully. The woman must be drunk to admit to hating a girl she never met, and Hyne did it hurt to hear someone talk about her this way. Rinoa Heartilly was a dead girl, and that was never more apparent than it was now.
Quistis' eyes swept over Rinoa again, and again, she looked too long and too closely. Rinoa sipped her drink and fidgeted with the clasp of her clutch purse and pretended boredom with the conversation.
Liz grabbed a fresh glass of wine from a passing waiter and drank half of it down in one sip.
Definitely drunk.
"He loved her very much, so I understand why you'd resent it," Quistis said, returning her attention to Liz. "I advised Selphie against all of this for Squall's sake, but she just wouldn't listen."
The strangest sensation overcame Rinoa and she was hyper-aware of everything around her. A trill of electricity buzzed through her limbs and a sharp tug pulled her gaze toward the door.
The room faded as her eyes fell on the man in the doorway. Laguna Loire stood at his side, but all Rinoa could focus on was Squall. Her breath quickened and her heart throbbed and she found herself transfixed by all the ways time changed him.
Gone was the slightly androgynous beauty of his late teens, and he stood a little taller, his shoulders broader, and he still stole her breath away.
She couldn't take her eyes off him. If she could just talk to him, maybe it would make everything okay, and maybe they could both move on with their lives.
"Lenore," Zell said and shook her arm. "Hey."
"What?"
"I asked if you were ready for another drink."
"Oh, yeah," she agreed. "I'll have another."
"Good," he said. "Come with me."
He led her to the bar, where he ordered another round for the both of them. As they waited, Zell leaned in close, lips next to her ear.
"You were staring. Don't stare."
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it," she said. "This is harder than I thought it would be."
"Do you want to go?"
"Not yet. I just want to watch for a while. Make sure he's okay. Then I'll leave."
Zell's gaze swept over her, sympathetic and sad, and he patted her arm gently as the bartender placed fresh glasses on the bar top.
"I'm sorry you had to hear all that.
"I shouldn't have come," she said. "I should have known she'd hate me."
"Liz doesn't really hate you," Zell said. "She's just always felt like she never quite measured up to your memory."
Rinoa didn't think she'd ever be so put together or beautiful or perfect as Elizabeth Kadowaki-Leonhart. She was the one that didn't measure up. Even if she chose to wear something a touch more stylish, Liz would still outshine her.
"Martini, dry."
She turned toward the familiar voice and looked away just as quickly. Her father stood beside her and she turned her back on him, eyes wide as she peered back at Zell. Zell visibly tensed as he acknowledged Caraway with a curt nod.
"Dincht," her father greeted. "It's been a while."
"Long enough that I'm surprised you remember me," Zell said. He offered his hand and Rinoa was forced to face him. "Good to see you."
"Likewise," Caraway said. "You're not in uniform."
"Naw, I retired," Zell said.
They made small talk, until Caraway noticed Rinoa and introduced himself. His flinty eyes bored into her, and Rinoa shrank under his scrutiny.
"Julia," he said with more warmth than Rinoa knew he was capable of. "Your show tonight was wonderful as usual."
Startled, Rinoa looked up at him and took a step back. She struggled to stay passive under her father's gaze, disconcerted by being called by her mother's name. Perhaps her disguise was not as good as she thought. Or perhaps he was too far gone and called every young woman Julia.
Either way, her heart broke a little. For him, and for her mother, and for everything they never got to share as a family.
"I think you've mistaken me for someone else," she said. "My name is Lenore."
"Yes," Caraway agreed. "Yes, of course. You reminded me of someone."
"We should circulate," Zell said stiffly. "General. It was good seeing you."
"That was creepy," Rinoa said as Zell led her away from the bar. "Maybe the rumors are true..."
"Yeah, that was pretty weird," Zell agreed. "Should probably steer clear."
Rinoa searched the crowd for Squall and spotted him on the far side of the room. He looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the world than here.
Hyne, it feels like you're right here...
His voice, in her head, loud and clear, and she choked back a cry at the sharp stab of grief in her chest. He could feel her, just as she felt him. He knew she was there, and the urge to run to him was almost too powerful to resist.
Alarmed, Zell guided her out to the patio nearby to get some air. Squall's pull on her was so strong, he was all she could hear as they stepped outside and into the balmy, breezy night. Her mind flooded with thoughts that didn't belong to her, and she lost all sense of where she was as the sound of his voice grew louder.
She pressed her hands over her mouth and squeezed her eyes closed as she willed herself not to answer him back. His voice was so loud, so clear, and his pain was her pain, a sharp and physical agony, the claws of some awful beast shredded her from the inside, tearing apart her heart and her lungs and her very soul.
She's not here, Leonhart. Don't be an idiot. I need to get out of here. It's too much. Too much. I just need to get a grip. It isn't real, and she isn't here and I just want this to stop. If you're here Rin, come find me. Please. Please come find me. I need you.
"I'm here, Squall," she whispered. "I'm here."
"Rin, don't call him!" Zell warned her. "You need to get out of here. Now, before he comes running."
"I have to... I can't," she said, wanting him to understand. "He's calling me. He knows I'm here."
Zell pressed something into her palm and closed her fingers around it.
"Just go," Zell said. "Take my keys and I'll meet you back at the house."
In the sky above the ocean, a streak of light crossed the darkness and Rinoa froze in her tracks. A single shooting star, a reminder of the last time she stood under a sky like this and caught the eye of the best-looking boy in the room.
Squall sensed her the second he walked in the door. Rinoa, somewhere, somewhere in this room, alive, well, breathing and so very here. He felt her as sure as he felt his own heartbeat throbbing in his fingertips.
He scanned the room for her, as crazy as it was, in search of familiar dark hair and a kind smile. She was here. His gut insisted, screamed-howled-thrashed with certainty. She was here.
Inwardly he groaned as Liz pushed her way through the crowd toward him. Along the way, she finished her glass of wine and grabbed another from the tray of a passing waitress.
Squall was not in the mood to deal with this right now, especially not if Liz was already a few drinks in. She had that look on her face that meant she had some beef with him, and Squall didn't pretend to know what offense he'd committed this time, and he wasn't interested in starting a scene because she was too drunk to listen to reason.
"I'm surprised to see you here," she said and took a long swallow of her wine. "I figured you'd avoid this all together."
"Selphie made me come," he said shortly. "I didn't think you'd want to be here, either, considering who this is for."
"Ditto, Selphie," Liz said. "I didn't want to be here at all. That girl ruined our marriage, after all."
Squall stared at her and realized she was a lot more drunk than she seemed. Not once during the worst of their marriage did she out-right blame Rinoa for the way it ended.
"If you want to blame someone, blame me."
She finished the rest of the wine and set the glass aside. A waiter passed by and Liz accepted a glass of champagne.
"How many of those have you had?" he asked.
"I don't see how that's any of your business."
"Come on, Liz. I don't want to fight with you," he said. "Not right now."
"Oh, that's right. She always comes first, doesn't she?" She lifted her glass in mock toast. "How can anyone compare?"
"It's a fucking memorial, Liz," Squall spat. "Have some respect."
Liz's laugh was bitter and without a trace of humor. Squall took the champagne from her hand and set it aside. She tended to over-indulge in social situations, but rarely to this level.
"Why don't you call a cab," Squall said. "And go home."
Oh my god, I feel him...he's here.
Alarmed, Squall turned away from Liz as something like gravity pulled him toward the far end of the room. He was helpless under the force of her voice as it drew him in and he stepped toward it. She was here. Somewhere.
"Son? Are you okay?" Laguna asked as he stepped up beside Squall.
Laguna, still on suicide watch after Squall's three days of near catatonic despondency, peered at Squall with worry. Squall ignored it and took another step in the direction of her voice.
"She's here," Squall murmured.
"Who?"
"Rinoa. She's here. I can hear her."
"You have got to be kidding me," Liz muttered.
Laguna took Squall by the arm and attempted to steer him to the nearest table. Squall resisted and disengaged himself from his father's grip and pushed past groups of people engaged in senseless conversations. It was tough to keep from shoving them all out of his way, and her pull was so powerful, his feet moved independent of his mind.
Hyne, how he needed her. This was insanity, but he needed her.
In the back of his mind, the part of him that was still capable of rational thought screamed at him to stop, turn around and leave. No good could come of this.
He desperately wanted to believe. Seth insisted this was real, that it wasn't just a little boy's imagination.
But if none of it was real...
I'm here, Squall. I'm here.
She couldn't really be here, but whatever force that drove him was too strong to fight. All his madness would be justified if she was on the other end of the connection. Seth's promises would be truth, and there had to be some truth in this. It couldn't just be Squall losing his mind.
He stepped outside onto the patio in time to see the heavens light up as a shooting star crossed the ink-dark sky. It was a sign, and his heart felt like it would explode from the nearness of her. She was close, so close, if he reached out, he could touch her.
But all he saw there on the patio was Zell and a young blonde woman.
The girl averted her eyes when Squall's gaze fell on her, and she bit down on a trembling lip as Squall stepped closer.
"She had too much to drink," Zell said. "I'm going to take her home."
Squall couldn't take his eyes off her. Blue eyes behind those thick, dark-framed glasses, and her hair was the wrong color, but he knew that face and that mouth and he was compelled to step forward and look closer.
She reached for something at her throat that wasn't there, the way Rinoa used to reach for her necklace.
She's pretending to be someone else.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I..uh," she murmured, then laughed nervously and turned her face to the ground.
That laugh haunted him in his dreams. He reached out to her with a trembling hand as she stood there, paralyzed and unable to look him in the eye.
The instant his fingers brushed against her cheek, a blistering jolt of energy shot through him and Squall nearly jumped out of his own skin. He knew her.
She bolted away from him and tore back into the ballroom and disappeared into the crowd. Stunned, afraid and half-vindicated, Squall stood there and stared after her, but there was no doubt who she was.
Squall's feet moved toward the door on their own, and he brushed Zell's restraining hand away as he followed her. He shoved his way through the crowd to the door and broke into a sprint the second he hit the hallway. Behind him, Zell and Laguna called out for him, but he barely heard them. All he could hear was her.
Liz finished her seventh glass of wine for the evening and set it aside, just as a blonde girl bolted past her, moving as fast as her kitten heels would carry her. Only mildly fazed, Liz watched her go as bitter thoughts about Squall and his behavior reared their ugly heads.
This whole party was a joke and a mistake. It was no final goodbye, and Squall was not better off for coming.
When Squall blazed past her, following the blonde, Liz huffed in annoyance.
"Squall?" she called. "Where are you going?"
"Shit, shit, shit," Zell growled as he passed, following Squall out the door. "Liz, find Laguna!"
Squall was having another meltdown from the looks of it. Liz wiped away her tears and searched the crowd for Laguna. He was two tables away in an animated conversation with Selphie. She stumbled her way toward him, nearly tripped on her towering heels and dropped a hand against Laguna's arm.
"Lizzie? What's going on?"
"Squall," she managed. "He just left. Zell went after him. He's losing it again.."
Laguna set aside his juice and pushed past her toward the door.
"What can I do?" Liz called.
"Stay here," Laguna said. "I'll take care of it."
Stay there? No. No way.
Liz still loved him and wanted the best for him, in spite of everything. If there was some way she could help, anything she could do, she would do it.
She fished her keys out of her handbag, kicked off her heels and sprinted after Laguna. There was no sign of Squall or anyone else in the corridor or on the sidewalk outside the hotel. She climbed into her car and started it as she tossed her handbag into the passenger seat, and stepped on the gas. The car tore out of the parking space faster than she intended and she jerked the steering wheel to the left to merge onto the two lane road.
Liz was too drunk to be driving, and she knew it, but worry outweighed logic as she steered the car onto the road next to the park. She searched for any sign of Squall in the darkness
She didn't even see the man dart out in front of her car until it was too late.
Squall burst out onto the street in front of the hotel in search of the girl, but she was gone.
She'd been with Zell, so it stood to reason she was headed for Ma's place. He headed to the left and cut through the park, still caught in her gravitational pull. Her thoughts crashed into his and his eyes stung and burned with tears as he followed.
"Rinoa, if you can hear me," he said aloud, "please stop. Talk to me. Please."
A blonde wig lay on the ground in the middle of the field in the park. Further along, on the sidewalk, a pair of dark-framed glasses.
Seth was right. Squall was right. Rinoa Heartilly was alive. She was not the imaginary friend of a child, nor the hopeless fantasy of a madman. By some miracle, she was alive, and she was here, and everything would be fine once he found her.
When Squall reached the far end of the park, he glanced around for any sign of her, and stepped out into the street without looking.
He smashed into the hood of a car and rolled off into the street. He hit the pavement, and his head cracked against the concrete and his whole body was awash in pain. A sharp scream ripped through the night, but cut short with a heavy thud and a crack. His whole world was agony, blinding and sharp and it was hard to draw breath.
Try as he might, Squall couldn't get up and shake it off. Everything felt broken.
There was a familiar cry from above him and gentle hands on his face.
"I'm so sorry," she said. "I just wanted to see you one last time. Hyne, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
Squall couldn't see her, but he knew her voice. She'd come back to him, she was there to save him.
Her magic flowed into him and healed his cracked skull and broken bones and his broken heart, and when he opened his eyes, he knew the face above him. It was a face he never thought he would see again, never believed he would see again, and she was right there, her fingers in his hair, healing his wounds and her tears falling to his cheeks to mingle with his own.
His body was a mess of broken bones and scrapes, but for the first time in years, Squall Leonhart was whole.
Footsteps and voices approached as Rinoa cradled Squall's head in her hands. Her magic healed the worst of his wounds, but his eyes remained watery and unfocused and blood trailed from his nose.
"Don't leave," he murmured. "Please, don't leave me."
The footsteps grew closer and Rinoa he eased Squall back down onto the pavement. She couldn't be caught here and as she turned to run, she realized it was only Zell.
It was then she spied the driver, lying face-down on the concrete. The position of her body was unnatural, her head bent at a strange angle, and she didn't move. Rinoa couldn't see her face in the darkness, but Rinoa recognized the dark hair and the red satin and she pressed her hand to her lips to hold back a cry of dismay.
"Liz?" she called softly. "Can you hear me?"
Liz didn't move. She wasn't breathing.
Rinoa looked toward Zell, who was on his phone, barking some orders into it as he paced beside the car. She dropped to her knees, ready to cast her magic but she instinctively knew, Liz was a lost cause. There was no pulse but Rinoa tried anyway, letting her healing magic flow into Liz's body but nothing happened. She tried again, and again, but there was no response.
Liz Kadowaki-Leonhart was dead. Not even Full-Life brought her back.
Zell took Rinoa by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet. His hands wrapped around her wrists and gently pushed her back toward the sidewalk.
"You gotta make a choice," he said. "Either stay and let everyone know you're alive, or get on a train right now and go home."
What to do?
"Laguna's right behind me, so make a decision fast."
This was all her fault. Squall was wounded badly, Liz was dead or dying, and if Rinoa didn't leave now, someone else might get hurt. If she stayed, there was also the very real prospect of months and months of inquisition, possible imprisonment, and eventual sealing at the Sorceress Memorial. With things the way they were, her choices were a life on the run, sealing, or go back into hiding before it was too late.
How could she leave Squall like this? Wounded, bleeding...
Footsteps neared and Rinoa's time was up. She backed away as Laguna jogged up and stopped beside Liz and stared at her in horror. His eyes filled with tears, but as he glanced up, he spied Rinoa and they widened in shock.
"Rinoa?"
All she could do was nod and take another step back.
"Oh, my god... Rinoa?"
"Rin..." Zell warned. "Stay or go?"
She couldn't face them after this. If they saw through her disguise back at the party, or she slipped up and revealed her identity by mistake, that was one thing. A confession an easy solution, but her own stupidity caused this, and she decided to go, before anyone else got hurt.
"Please don't tell him I was here," she said to Laguna. "Please."
"You don't look a day older than the last time I saw you..." he said in wonder.
"I'm so sorry," she said. "I never should have come. Please, you didn't see me here."
Then she turned on her heel and ran for Zell's house as fast as she could. Through tears, she fumbled with the keys at the door and dropped them twice before she fit the key in the lock.
Once inside, she gathered her things but stopped when she noticed the blood on her hands and arms. She bit back a sob and stripped off the ugly dress, turned on the shower and climbed inside. Under a scalding stream of water, she scrubbed the blood away.
This was her fault. All her fault.
She dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans and shoved the rest of her things in her bag. Her hair soaked the shoulders of her shirt, but there was no time to dry it. She sprinted to the train station, bought a ticket for the next train out, and dialed Zell from a pay phone.
"Dincht."
"It's me. I'm so sorry," she cried into the phone.
"I won't say I told you so."
He was so angry. Rinoa prayed she hadn't lost his friendship. That would be the final straw, losing him too.
"I know this whole thing was stupid and I'm sorry."
"Where are you?"
"Train station," she said. "Maybe I should just disappear completely. I've already involved you and Seifer too much, so maybe it's best if I just -"
"Stop," Zell said. "Get on the train and go home, okay? I'll tell Seifer to pick you up in the morning."
Rinoa sobbed into the phone. Thank Hyne for Zell and his big, soft heart.
"For what it's worth, Rin, you saved his life," Zell said. "Maybe Liz, too."
She leaned against the wall and clutched the one tight in her hand. If only she wasn't so certain she would get away with it, that no one would recognize her. If only she stayed in Centra like Zell suggested, none of this would have happened.
The speaker overhead crackled to life as the call for boarding was made.
"I've got to go," she said. "I'm so sorry, Zell."
"See you in a few days, okay?"
The train car was nearly empty, the only other passenger an elderly woman who was already settling down for the long ride ahead. Rinoa chose a seat, curled up on it and threw Zell's hoodie over her head to block out the light.
She cried the whole way home.
Notes: Feedback is always welcome!