Fate, Wild

Chapter X: The Outcome

Once the city was clear of all the remaining enemies, Neckhu changed his orders from firing upon soldiers to taking them prisoner and helping their allies in collecting the bodies scattered abroad. He found himself walking up in a familiar neighborhood and a certain street. An utterly destroyed apartment building met his eyes. Its remains still smoldered into the crackling ground. Passerby was scarce, everyone busying with his or her specific orders. The peach light from the sun remained active in the streets of Timber, still blazing and stagnant. Even being on the verge of setting, it would not help to cool the remaining hill of debris. His eyes shifted from the crumpled mass and to a woman standing out at its front with folded arms.

Raine stared at the remnants of her home. Her eyes were distraught. Many years had been invested into that home, even being connected to an apartment building. Not just she and her family, but everyone who had been living in that building lost their home with the aggressiveness of Galbadia. Raine's ocean blue eyes became solemn and deep. He approached her slowly, placing his weapon into its carrier at his side.

"I…I almost forgot it looked like this now," he whispered, approaching her side quietly and taking in the view of their newly destroyed home. Raine hadn't taken her eyes away.

"The warden said this happened," her voice was barely a whisper. "…I didn't want to believe it," she continued, "I kept thinking about Rinoa, about her safety…and you."

"Rinoa is fine," he faced her. "I got her out of there just before they blew this place to bits."

"I figured you would," she smiled, finally breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm glad."

"No way was I going to stand idle while they put her life in danger, both of you. I couldn't have that."

"Me neither, and there was nothing I could do being locked up and all," she closed her eyes, shutting out the sight deadness, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. "That was a stupid thing to do…allowing myself to be captured like that."

"No, I know what you had in mind. It just doesn't work so well when you're fighting a barbaric enemy."

"Barbaric," she frowned, opening her eyes and bringing them to his. "…We just slaughtered all these men…"

"We're at war. Casualties happen."

"Laguna," she grumbled. Raine took a deep breath, eyes still watering. Laguna reached out his hand to arm, grabbing her shoulder tenderly.

"Maybe the general will realize we mean serious business and attempt to straighten up his act toward us. These casualties are a warning. We're taking back our city by force. Peace talks are pointless, and besides, they would've leveled this entire place in a day or two anyway, right? Look at what they did to our building!"

"Yeah, you're right," she lifted her hand to grab his at her shoulder and squeezed it as he took a step closer to her. He saw the pain in her eyes, and all on her face. He too had shared that pain. He wanted it to end soon, to live in peace soon. Laguna pulled her in closely, holding her tightly. Raine had then pulled back a slight just to see face, silently reminding him that the he was still adorned in his silver mask. Laguna stepped back to remove the mask, grinning sheepishly as he had forgotten about it all along. She smiled peacefully and hugged him again.

He pulled away from her slowly and looked into her eyes, murmuring, "…I was scared that you wouldn't be there if we waited any longer."

"I wouldn't have let them take me away on that bus. I knew you'd be here in time," she muttered.

"You can always count on me," he smiled.

"I know," she answered, briefly returning his smile. "You always end up doing the right thing. In the end, it was my fault for allowing our situation to escalate to this point. …All this time I've been focused on raising money to help the families when I totally neglected our defense. The army was getting more aggressive, but I chose not to address that…"

"Raine," he held her closely. "That's why there are two of us. We've got each other's backs, specializing in the area the other one lacks in, right? It's a series of complements, a partnership; like our marriage. Two heads are better than one, four are better than two, you know?"

"Four?" She cocked an eyebrow at her husband, and his goofy way of explaining things to make her feel better.

He shrugged while pulling away from her, "Don't worry about it, I'm just rambling as usual, but you get the idea."

She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her for now. It was like medicine to her hurting heart and a remedy to their seemingly helpless situation. "So," she cleared her throat softly, "how is Rinoa?"

"She's fine, but she sprang her wrist falling down in our daring escape from the house."

"Aww," Raine sighed.

"No, no, she's really okay!" he reassured her, defensively. "She's staying at Kiros' till everything settles down here. Rinoa's being guarded well, he said."

"I hope so," Raine frowned as her eyes were cast down to the ground. "It's a shame we couldn't be with her through all this chaos."

"Speaking of which, we need to keep this city occupied for as long as possible," Laguna stepped back from her embrace and slid his mask on again quickly. She found his adorable eyes behind the silver mask.

"I understand, but I think one of us should check on Rinoa and make sure they're all doing fine there," Raine said seriously. "I'll go."

"Yeah, that's fine. You should get some sleep when you're there, too. I know it couldn't have been comfortable in that jail cell," Laguna frowned, feeling guilty that he had had to leave her there for as long as he did. Raine giggled before answering him with a shake of her head. Laguna shrugged his shoulders, "Okay then. You'll go there and I'll be here putting things back into order. I'm positive Kiros may even want to drive you there himself. It should be safe to move about in the wide open for now."

Raine nodded in agreement.

"Be careful," she said to him while embracing him once more, her head resting against the ends of tresses from his mask.

"You too," he answered, allowing Raine to lift of the mouth of his mask as he brought his mouth to her forehead first, giving her a quick peck there and then lowering his mouth to her lips where he placed a warm kiss. Raine held on to him tightly, savoring their brief moment together.

Within a matter of minutes, Raine left Laguna's side and found the rest of the men in the middle of the city gathering the galbadian tanks scattered abroad. All occupied vehicles were driven there to be inventoried and studied. Robby was in charge of organizing all technological issues, and basically went among them to study the vehicles that were driven to this designated area one at a time. It was there where Raine spotted Kiros, still among those armed and also wearing his mask.

"How's it going over here?" She asked him and received a healthy nod.

"It's fine," he answered full heartily. "We're gathering discarded weapons and vehicles. The lieutenant's men have been ordered to gather the dead and then they're to leave. They've no intention of having a side itinerary here."

"That's good. To think that they even decided to help us with this… It just goes to show that everyone's starting to get tired the general's madness. In order to make true progress, taking this initial step was necessary. I'm glad we took a shot at it before we all got too old."

There was a smile upon Kiros' dreary face now. "It's been years since we've all seen this kind of action. I'm just glad to see that most of us have still got it." The tall man stretched forth his arms, relaxing his muscles. Raine grinned, eying him peculiarly.

"You couldn't wait for this plan, I bet."

Kiros laughed softly sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. "…I hate to admit it, but yes, I think I've been waiting to do this for a long time. To be one step closer to Timber's complete liberation…I'll give it everything I've got, and I'm sure everyone out here will say the same thing."

"True, though you guys could've gotten me out of jail sooner! I wanted to kick some ass too," the brunette chuckled against her hand, looking about the area at the busy men.

"That would be Laguna's fault," Kiros admitted, retaining his grin.

"Naturally," she laughed and folded her arms, until finally settling down a bit. A large tank bypassed them, honking at Kiros and he waved back. Raine studied the tank shortly before her eyes became serious again. "He told me that Rinoa's at your place. I'm gonna head there now."

"I could take you if you'd like. These guys have everything under control," Kiros placed his left hand on his waist. "There's also someone I want you all to meet later, but that's only until we've gotten this place situated by tonight."

"Yeah, it's still pretty hectic everywhere. Laguna's busy on the other side of the town sending the truckers here. Someone phoned in about a few soldiers hiding out inside a one of those tanks."

"I heard," Kiros nodded. "It seems like they handled the situation well. Those soldiers were detained. We're using the police station to hold all the prisoners for now." Kiros lowered is heavy brown eyes to the ground, unsure of how she would react to the rest of his statement. "We could send them to the base. I'll have the lieutenant look into that later. We can't be bothered looking after them here…"

"Indeed, there's still a lot to do, but I know it's going to be alright," Raine looked away, staring at the chaotic scene around them and in a daze. Kiros took that moment to study her face. She was staring away with the same serious look as the boy in the wolf's mask. Kiros had had his suspicions all along about his lineage even before the young galbadian commander even gave him his full name. Squall looked a lot more like Raine than Laguna, though he shared the intensity of both their eyes. "I'm sure Rinoa is quite worried," Raine whispered, finally.

"Yeah, we should leave right now," Kiros motioned for her to join him. Together they would find a working vehicle and take the south gate out of Timber. Driving down the dirt road, the two reached his land in a short while. By the time they had arrived, it was nearly dark; though, even in that darkness Raine immediately took notice of a masked man standing out front of the resting quarters with his hands at his sides as a soldier would.

Kiros grinned. He truly had been raised to be a soldier like his known father. For a moment, he wondered how Squall might react upon finding out the truth of his parents. Quickly, the thought evaporated as he concentrated on present matters. Still, he wondered if the boy had even taken the time to see about the person he had been protecting all day long.

Raine got out of the car and ran past him, muttering a soft 'thank you' as she entered into Rinoa's room.

"Mom?" Rinoa said, turning away from the window. She had been looking out of the blinds since hearing the sound of a car's engine pulling in. "Mom!"

Raine closed the door behind and trotted toward her daughter with opened arms and a wide smile. Rinoa held her tightly. "I was so worried!" Rinoa murmured into the woman's shoulder.

"I know! So was I," Raine continued holding her. "I'm so sorry about leaving you. Everything's fine now, sweetheart."

"And dad?" Rinoa asked, pulling away from her quickly. "Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's still in the city helping to clean up."

The girl sighed in relief, allowing her heart to calm down finally. She wiped soft tears away from her eyes. "Felt like the longest day ever."

"Tell me about it. I had the longest night ever," Raine chuckled and walked toward Rinoa's small bed, taking a seat.

"Are you tired, hungry, or thirsty? Can I get you anything?" The girl asked. "But…I don't think there's anything to eat here…"

"No sweetie, it's okay; although, I am a bit tired. I think I'll rest in one of these rooms for a while."

"Okay," Rinoa smiled and walked closer to her mother, lowering her eyes and touching her fingers to the bandage at her arm. "Why didn't dad come back with you anyway?"

"Like I said, he's still helping to clean up. Once everything calms down, we can either stay here or go back to Timber. It's your choice."

"Go back…?" The girl asked, staring at her mother quizzically.

"Yeah," Raine nodded. "Timber is ours again, why not enjoy it?"

The girl's eyes lit up excitedly.

Outside, Kiros explained what was happening to Squall who stood before him, arms folded.

"Aren't you going to tell them?" The teenager questioned his superior.

"I will, but first we need to concentrate on organizing ourselves and maintaining a positive focus, at least for tonight."

Squall looked back at the room momentarily and lowered his voice, "We don't know when that fleet is coming, but they're coming here soon. I think we should start making preparations as soon as possible, like you said. I think we should tell them later tonight."

"…And we will. We'll take it one day at a time, and today we'll concentrate on clearing out the bodies from the streets. Once everything's situated, I'll inform them of what's happening. Just because you know something they all don't, doesn't mean you need to go about at random to scare the people with that news."

"I'm not trying to scare anybody. This is a very serious matter and it needs to be addressed immediat—"

"Kiros," Raine called out to him from the room behind them. Kiros was still looking at Squall for a moment, slightly glaring until turning about, facing the woman as she stood in the doorway with a smile. The light beamed behind her creating a conflicting light that made her front appear dark and hidden. Kiros couldn't see her face as she continued, "We'll be fine here. If you want to head back to the city now, you can."

"Alright then, be careful," he folded his arms and grinned with a deep breath. "If you plan on staying here, I'll have some of the guys head back this way later on. And if you change your mind, there are a couple of trucks parked in the barn. Keys are in top dresser in my office."

"Thanks!"

"No problem," he answered, turning around to walk toward the car they had used to get there. Squall followed after him. He looked back to the woman standing in the doorway momentarily, but then faced the vehicle once more. He and Kiros hopped in the car and Kiros drove back to Timber to assist the others with clearing out the city. Driving into Timber, Squall realized it was the first time he had ever been directly inside. The only other time he was ever within Timber was when he was brought to the underground meeting.

With the sun nowhere to be found, the street lights were beginning to turn on automatically one by one.

There were men and women, masked and unmasked scattered about the streets helping to reorganize the bounty obtained from their recent victory. Squall realized at the foot of town, there was a large group of galbadian soldiers jumping into trucks and pulling out of the city, but before he could investigate further, Kiros had found work for him to do with the others. He found Robby making a list of repairs that would need to be made concerning their accumulated galbadian weaponry, tanks and all. Squall was asked to hand deliver collected rifles and such across the city and into the buildings that became designated storage facilities to the faction.

It was during these tasks that Squall took the time to observe the city structures closely.

Time elasped quickly. It grew even later in the night. When there was nothing more for him to help with, he took an unbothered stroll around the town. The streets were made of bricks, buildings taller than most of the structures in Deling City, save for significant residencies as his old home. There were two levels to Timber, the bottome level consisted mostly of residentual sectors combined with work offices built within the taller buildings, while the upper half existed in only certain areas where the ground level was higher. It served the purpose of housing simple necessity stores. If anyone lived on the upper level, they were probably making less money than those staying at the bottom between the lofty buildings. The higer up the home, the tighter the squeeze as these homes existed at the tops of the local businesses and was barely enough room for one person.

Despite the forest lands surrounding this city, there was hardly any greenery present. At least in Deling City, he actually had a front and back lawn to play in or pretend to play in as a child. He couldn't imagine growing up with cement everywhere. It was confining. The walls surrounded the city like a prison. They were thick and strong, and very tall. On a more positive note, it reminded him of an ancient, medieval time, when men clad themselves in knight's armor and rode into battle upon horses, leaving bloody trails in combat. It certainly gave him an idea as far as a well thought out defense mechanism for Timber.

He had already thought of two things to consider as he walked around with nothing more than the sounds of scattered footsteps in the lantern lit streets and his own eager mind to keep him company.

Depending on the leader's decision, they could either fight back or flee. Fleeing would mean leaving this very large and beautiful city behind. Considering the amount of debris he had helped to clear out today, he knew they would not immediately choose this option. If they were to stay and fight, the walls surrounding Timber could be utilized to the maximum extent.

Also, he would see to it that their soldiers were properly trained. It was the least he could do; after all, he had only wanted to return to assist in their defense. He knew they would never allow him to set foot into the battle beyond that; at least, Kiros wouldn't.

It wasn't long before midnight arrived that Kiros found Squall upon the bridge at the center of the town which overlooked some of the unfinished railroads. For a moment, he wondered why the boy had been staring so closely at this site.

"Got something on your mind?" Kiros asked him, approaching him slowly.

"…I… I never realized the railroads aren't up and running here," he sighed. "…I'm sorry."

Kiros shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the same tracks with a sigh. His eyes frowned a bit. "…The general made lots of cuts a few years back, and everyone working on those tracks was fired unexpectedly. Not long after that, we all started to see our taxes rising."

Squall faced him with sorrowful eyes behind his mask.

"Come with me," the taller man said, immediately. "We'll be speaking with Nechku soon, and because he somewhat knows our situation, he has agreed to keep this as a private meeting."

The brunet nodded and followed Kiros off the walking bridge and down the side steps that would lead them into the housing districts again. After walking a bit, they came upon the scene of the smoldering remains of a building complex. The ground had caved in and the sounds of the sewer had been muffled the greatness of debris. The air held a mixture of raw sewerage and smoke, it was enough to distract Squall for a short while. There was nothing left of this area now, just smoke and rubble. He saw a man in a silver mask standing before it, and staring intently upon the debris. The teenager stopped dead in his tracks. The mask seemed ghostly, glowing brighter in the darkness.

When he heard their footsteps sounding toward him, Nechku turned around abruptly. Squall noticed that his eyes were smiling; although, the young man could not find why he had the strength to smile after all they had been through today. Their frames were covered in dim lighting from the remaining street lights on this particular street. The other buildings and houses still stood tall around them, but they seemed to be the only ones in this area. Maybe he had wanted it this way.

Kiros approached the masked man first, bowing halfway out of respect first.

"I can attest for all the words this young man is about to speak," he said. "He is reliable and can be trusted. Please hear him out. Wolf," the wolverine masked man said as he faced Squall, "If you will…"

Squall joined Kiros before the man in the owl's mask.

Once he was standing before Nechku, Kiros silenty urged him to speak and then faced his leader.

Squall nodded to him and looked upon the silver mask first, observing how it had sparkled with crystal like jewels about the eyes and mouth area. He bowed just as Kiros had, although a bit awkwardly.

The boy cleared his throat and began to speak, "Thank you." The teenager wet his lips and continued, "I regret to inform you that the general plans to send troops here really soon. These are no ordinary soldiers. …He plans to send a squadron that is currently stationed in Esthar to raid Timber as soon as possible. This order, I have heard General Caraway speak of, himself."

"Hmm…What do you mean 'no ordinary soldiers'?" Nechku questioned him.

"These men were meant to be stationed in Esthar to gain access to forbidden weaponry. In the end, they will be using a wide array of technologically advanced weapons, based on Estharian design. It is the general's step into a new era."

"And how do you know all this?"

"…" Squall's heart raced within. "…I ran errands for the general, and happened upon this information, sir."

Laguna grinned, staring upon the boy who's eyes he faintly saw provided by the dim lighting around them. "Errand boy…? …Somehow I doubt that, but if my friend standing beside you says that you can be trusted, then I have no other choice but to put my trust into you as well. Welcome aboard, son."

"Thank you, sir," Squall bowed again and stepped back as Laguna did the same for him.

"Well then," Kiros cut in, "We're still in the processing of understanding exactly when this attack will take place. In the meantime, do you have any ideas about how we can stop it?"

"Hmm," Laguna folded his arms and looked into the sky at the faint stars above.

Squall's eyes shifted between the two men at first, wondering if would be allowed to speak again. When the moment persisted and the other masked men still hadn't spoken, he cleared his throat and stepped forward, "Pardon me, I feel that I might know what to expect a little more than most of our forces, as my departure from Galbadia is the most recent. I would like to be part of the defensive strategy against this squadron and against the general, and I would also like to instruct anyone who is lacking in the ability to fight well, sir."

"…And if we should fail," Laguna muttered his question, brown eyes still taking a mental picture of the sky and the moon hidden behind a cloak of clouds.

"Then the fault would be mine to carry, sir."

The man looked down to the boy in the wolf mask, locking eyes with his familiar blue orbs. "…You're no errand boy, that's for sure." Laguna smiled again, and then faced Kiros, "He put up quite a fight, I'm betting." Squall looked over at Kiros curiously, who kept his eyes on Nechku as he continued, "What do you think? You think I should allow him?"

"…He won't take no for an answer, regardless," Kiros grinned.

"Understood," Laguna gave him a quick nod. "Alright then," the man took a deep breath. "I would like you to not only be part of the defensive strategy, but to train those of our men who lack the necessary skills of combat as you offered. I'm sure you've noticed that our army is made up of people your age and so on. Unlike you, they aren't comfortable with using swords. Most of them prefer guns," he said as he motioned his hand down to the machine gun strapped in his holster. "Not only am I asking you to train them, but I would like you to give us a detailed outlook on what to expect from the upcoming battle. Let us know what we're up against, this 'forbidden weaponry' you previously mentioned."

Laguna placed both hands on his waist, "Please know that I will in no way put you in the position of having to bear all responsibility. Don't feel that you've failed us if something should go wrong, either. That's not my or anyone's intention at all. I would like to personally thank you for bringing us this information and extend a warm welcome to you. Furthermore, if you don't feel comfortable revealing your identity, we won't pressure you into doing so. We understand that identity is our top priority, as well as a major weapon in this war against Galbadia. Now, there's a lot to do in so little of time. We can't afford to simply stand around and chat. My friend," Laguna looked at Kiros. "Thank you, please get some rest."

"I intend to," Kiros answered.

"Wolf, there's a room for you at the hotel here also. Please do the same."

"Thank you, I will," Squall whispered and swallowed his breath.

"We'll start tomorrow. Timber's pride is on the line and I don't intend to see it fall short," Laguna said, with a grin.

Later, Squall was escorted through the city by Kiros' men until finding a small strip of street paved with small stores. At the very end of this street, Timber's proud hotel stood tall. Squall was led inside and helped at the counter. He eventually found his room on the second floor after taking the elevator up. He walked down the long hallway coming across room 206, his room. It was a large and spacious room with red carpeted floors and wooden furniture scattered about. There were plants made of rubber and painted green strategically placed to make the room appear more homely. The windows were draped in tan curtains, reminding him of the decorations his mother used to help with when it came to his own room. That was it. It reminded him of his bedroom at the mansion back in Deling City. Although glad to have a more comfortable room than any of the beds available at Kiros' place, it seemed rather too much for him. He wondered if there would be another place to sleep down the line, but then decided that taking the gesture now would be a better idea. After all, it had been a while since he last slept, now that he thought about it. He was tired.

Squall locked the room door and walked toward his bed. These were good people, he could tell just by speaking with their leader and Kiros, but there was an urge to investigate his room further. One could never be too careful. After walking around for bit invetigating, he decided the place was safe enough to rest in. Not that he had any more energy to spare if he had come across something out of the ordinary. All he needed now was to get some sleep before the busy days ahead began.

Suddenly, there was a light rapping at his door.

Squall reluctantly pushed himself from the bed and readjusted the mask upon his face, then walked to the door. He unlocked it and opened it slightly until a familiar mask came into his view. She was looking down the hall as though watching her back, in the midst of a covert operation. The girl returned her eyes to the door and jumped a bit. He had frightened her. She hadn't realized he had long since answered it.

After regaining her composure, she smiled, "Hey, fox, were you sleeping?"

He shrugged his shoulders and opened his door wider so she could enter, and she did so. Squall closed the door behind her and locked it. "What brings you here?" he asked with a light yawn, surprising himself.

"Just wanted to thank you for earlier…" Her voice was quiet, though muffled by the mask covering her face.

"Oh…" He looked down at the floor at first and then returned his eyes to hers, "You're welcome."

"I know it's silly. I'm sorry for barging in like this… It's just, I wanted to say that earlier, but you left and…yeah…" she laughed, feeling a little silly now that he was standing before her so silently. In her mind, she had foreseen this going a completely different way. She tried her best to follow through, awkwardly even. "I…I have a feeling you'll get really busy and I won't be able to talk to you like this anymore. So…um, I'm sorry for intruding," she muttered nervously, feeling like a sour presence because of his persistent silence. "I'll leave now."

"No," the brunet shook his head, "You're not intruding," He folded his arms, "I'm feeling a little out of it right now. …I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat down."

"Those beds will do that to you."

He smiled in agreement and cleared his throat. "Well, someone's gonna start to worry about you if you stay here any longer."

"Why do you say that?" She asked gently, placing her arms behind her back.

"…Just a hunch," he gestured his hand into the air.

"They should know that I'm in good hands," she chuckled and looked away, nervously. "…I was just wondering…" Rinoa took a deep breath, "No…never mind. You have a good night, Fox."

Squall cocked his head to the side, "It's a wolf, you know…"

"Yeah, but," She brought her eyes back to his, "I still like the fox mask better."

He grinned, "And what should I call you: Night Owl? Gopher?"

"No, those are ugly!" Rinoa laughed and raised her hands to her face to muffle her laughter. Squall had snickered a bit as well until it gradually died down and they were left standing there with nothing more than their eyes exposed to one another, smiling eyes of course. Slowly, she lowered her hands as if in thought, "Hmm," she grinned playfully. "Just call me Rinoa."

"What…?" Squall's grin was immediately lost. "…Ri—" she pushed the mask over his mouth, whispering to him, "That's between us, okay?"

The boy gulped and blinked his petrified eyes softly before forcing himself to respond, "Okay," he muffled beneath the mask that was railed against his mouth by her hand. She released It slowly.

"Goodnight, fox!" She whispered loudly and turned to his door.

"Goodnight, Nocturne."

"Nocturne?" She almost laughed out loud, "Come on, that doesn't even sound feminine."

"Well, how do I know you're not a guy beneath that mask?"

"Yeah, sure," Rinoa rolled her eyes, "I'm sure I fooled you with my heavily masculine voice," they laughed together at Rinoa's attempt at sounding like a man. Again, she had to cover her mouth before they were discovered. She formed her right hand into the silence gesture over her masked mouth. "We need to be quiet! They don't know I'm here."

"I figured that out a while ago," he whispered, trying to manage his laughter.

"Mhmm, well," she cleared her throat this time while lowering her hands. "Hey," her voice returned without the laughter. "I wish you the best of luck on your new assignment, Fox. I hear you have a lot on your shoulders, so take it easy."

"Thank you, I'll try," his voice mimicked hers. "You should take care of your arm."

"I'll do just that and heal nicely...who knows, you might end up having to train me too! Good night, for the last time tonight," she laughed and outstretched her hand toward him. He took her soft hand into his, shaking it firmly and yet gently. Rinoa was able to feel the calloused grip he held on hers, instantly she knew he had seen lots of hardwork; contrary to the smoothness of either Zone or Watts' hands.

"Goodnight, Rin," Squall erupted unexpectly.

The girl's eyes lit up instantly. "You gave me a shortcut name already?"

"…Oh…s-sorry," He hadn't even realized. It came so naturally to him. Rinoa…he thought to himself again, wondering what she looked like beneath the mask.

"No, it's okay…I like it," she whispered and stared into his eyes, as had he. Their eyes were like magnets again. Hers appeared incredibly soft against the bright lights of his room, a gentle browness that reminded him of his mother's; although, Rinoa's were deep and pure, enough to get lost in them forever. The boy immediately shook his head. Rinoa took it as her cue to leave. She then faced the door and unlocked it. He didn't want to see her leave just yet, but knew it was for the best. Squall wanted to at least return the gesture, granting her the opportunity of knowing his name as well.

Rinoa left no time for that. After opening the door, she studied the hall first and saw that the coast was clear. Looking back to him once more, she grinned with her eyes, and then hurriedly ran down to her room. He watched her enter steathily. Squall smiled, and after a few more seconds of lingering in his door way, he closed his door. He rested his forehead against the door, locking it for the last time tonight.

The boy released a shaky breath. What was he doing? He was beginning to find a friend in her. Though knowing he could most likely trust her or any of the faction members, it would be dangerous to continue down that path. He didn't even know anything personal about her or what she looked like beneath that mask, though he knew without even having to see the entirety of her face that she was most likely cute. Cute? What was he thinking? There was no time for this, he had a major role to play. Tomorrow he would get up early, get a hearty breakfast and begin his objectives. The sooner their men were trained, the better it would be to withstand Galbadia's latest threat.

But who could think about that now, with the memory of her eyes being too fresh in his mind to push away. Squall hit his head against the door in an attempt to keep focus. "Just call me Rinoa."

"…Great," Squall's sarcastic statement appeared in a murmur. He was developing a little crush on her that was most likely irreversible. This was not good.

Notepaper:

Hey, everyone! If you're curious about what Squall's mask could possibly look like, I have a link in my profile that goes to my livejournal account. You can find the picture there. I'll be posting my book covers there from now on. My computer is misbehaving, and I haven't been able to draw or edit my pictures the way I'd like to, sadly. I'll be at livejournal quite often now, so you can even chat with me there if you want. What do you think of this chapter? Honestly, I like that Rinoa helps Squall to loosen up a bit. Considering their circumstances, I think things will begin to unfold more often now. I'm finding my rhythm again and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Thanks Gleamfang! War scenes aren't exactly my strong point, so I'm really glad to know you thought it was awesome, that's just amazing! Thanks again!

Ray