Disclaimer: I do Not own final fantasy 8, it is the property of squaresoft/squareenix. this story was written purely for entertaiment value and no money has or will exchange hands. however all original character and storylines belong to me. thank you.

I know there has been a bit of a wait between this chapter and the last, but i've just started the third year of my degree and the work load is taking up most of my time. i hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 10, the truth laid out.

It had been along journey back for the centra ruin team, Fujin and Rajin had settled inside looking over the notes again and making sure they had the presentation in order. Seifer and Quistis on the other hand were both stood on the deck, neither really saying much but gripping the others hand tightly. She was dreading what they would have to tell the rest of them… knowing that Squall would find it the hardest.

"What do you think he will want us to do?" her voice was soft against the quiet hum of the boats engine.

"Honestly? Find it and kill it…. But we both know it's not as simple as that." He sighed knowing that like Squall his own plans for a happy future would have to wait.

"I think he'll send us back to Balamb, he's going to want the new training to continue – maybe even start it up at Galbadia."

Quistis nodded and stepped closer to Seifer, taking in his warmth and wishing that the peace they had all come to know would stay for a little longer.

Squall had sat quietly throughout the main parts of the meeting, Rinoa sat by his side with Zell on the other both shared concerned glances with each other as Quistis explained the time line they were facing.

"Now, according to Odin the person or people that we are looking for regarding this matter do not know the location of the other being… they have been trying to find it along with us." She brought up a map of the world behind them and zoomed in on the place they had come to know as the 'Island closest to hell'.

"The first one came from here, as you can see these images from the recent Estarian satellite confirm that there had in fact been a large excavation recently and no real attempt was made to clear it up."

At this point Selphie raised her hand, getting the go ahead she spoke.

"But then why were all the disturbances reported on the Galbadian continent?" There was a general murmur of agreement through out the room from everyone except for Squall.

"This is a little difficult to explain, but from what Odin said, there is a trigger that has to be activated before the seal on the chamber can be opened… this trigger exists on the Galbadian continent."

"The tomb of the unknown king" Laurie said, somewhat to her self as she pushed her brunette hair behind her ear. The blonde SeeD nodded in agreement with her. "It would fit with some of the things we have been translating recently – we have found mention of a trigger in some of the books here."

"That would mean the same is true from the second of the monsters, do you know where both the trigger and the monster is?" Selphie asked, noticing how her blonde friends face changed to the colour of her white SeeD shirt.

"We know that the monster is on the Island closest to heaven, but no one has been spotted there yet – we checked the satellite system on the way here. Unfortunately Odin doesn't know where the trigger is – apparently it was done for safety reasons and he only learned of the last location when it was breached."

"Was that the trigger that woke him up then?" Zell asked starting to fidget, he knew he wouldn't be able to sit still much longer; it was something he didn't seem to have grown out of. Laurie, who had noticed this couldn't quite suppress her chuckle… she knew exactly what was going through his head.

"He mentioned something to that affect yes."

"So what's the plan?" Squall asked, suddenly seeming to pay attention to what was going on around him. He still had a distant look in his eyes and was clicking the lid of his pen as he stared out of the window onto the snowy mountains that surrounded them.

Seifer looked to Quistis, knowing she wouldn't like it if he stood and took over the meeting but wanting her to know that he was there for her. But to his surprise she sat down, indicating that he should be the one to continue.

He stood, noticing everyone's attention shift to him and pressed the link on his laptop to bring up the next screen on the wall.

"We need a team at the Island closest to heaven, but due to the new junctioning laws we need to find a new way to create a monster deterrent so that the team would be safe."

Rinoa perked up at this "I think I might be able to help there, Selphie and Laurie and I had been working on something similar before all of this started, I'm sure if we were able to combine our efforts with Dr. Odine it should be possible to make something that would work."

Both of her friends nodded in agreement, hoping for a chance to continue working together.

"We'd thought about that as well – plus there is the fact that the Island is close to Trabia and the other trigger should be here, so it would probably be best if you and Squall returned to Esthar."

The commander said nothing to this, simply nodding at the idea. So Seifer continued.

"The record searching needs to be continued here, but none of us need to stay. Laurie you said that your team knows what they're doing and they all passed the safety checks. You and Selphie will be needed in Esthar and Irvine too; you'll need a sniper with you in case anyone tracks you down."

Rinoa looked at Seifer carefully, knowing that there was more to it than just that. The three women could protect themselves well enough, two high level mages and a sorceress – even a pregnant one would not need a body guard and even if they did Squall would be with them…. But it crossed her mind that Seifer knew something he wasn't going to share. She just hoped she got to speak to him before they all went their separate ways.

"What about the Galbadian archives… and the person who is awakening these beings? There must be some way they found out about all of this" Squalls attention turned to her as if suddenly waking up.

"We should send in the normal translation team, but without saying what they are there for, that way we won't arouse any suspicion. Seifer and Quistis, you should return to Balamb and carry on with the plan – I'll talk to my father and see if anything unusual has been happening in any other part of the world." Squall stood and joined Seifer, who looked somewhat relieved to have his friend acting normal again.

"We should leave Trabia by the end of the week." The other man nodded, glad to have his commander back.

"Looks like this is goin ta take a while huh." Irvine said as he and Zell headed to the canteen in search of food.

"Yeah, doesn't seem like we have much of a choice though. I mean finding out how to access the Island safely is going to take long enough as it is." His friend told him, scratching the back of his blonde head.

Pushing the button on the side of the door to let them into the canteen Irvine sighed. "I don't like the idea that our lives have ta be put on hold indefinitely."

"You're not the only one, Squall didn't seem to be too happy about it, but at least in Esthar we'll be safe enough."

Irvine shrugged "I can understand how he's feelin, he wants this over with before the baby comes… thing is I can't help thinkin that it would be better if it happened afta, we might need Rinoa."

Zell looked at the sharpshooter carefully, considering the truth in his words. He was right of course, they would probably need the power she possessed he guessed that Rinoa knew it too, there had been something in her eyes at the meeting.

"This isn't going to be easy." Zell told him, reaching for the hotdogs on the hot plate in front of him. The two didn't say anymore on the subject. As if by not mentioning anything it wouldn't happen.

Rinoa had spent the better part of an hour searching the Garden for Seifer, having searched the inside she's retrieved her navy coloured corded long winter coat and headed outside, pulling the warm fur lined hood over her head. The white winged pattern on the back shone out like the snow and she knew that Seifer would recognise her if he saw her from a distance.

She had considered using her powers to track him, but she knew it was unfair and somehow wrong to use such a method unless in an emergency. This unfortunately did not count.

"Hey, princess!" she turned around to see him sat on the first story roof, it crossed her mind that he had actually climbed the building, but the more likely was he'd climbed out of the ballroom balcony to end up where he was.

"Hey Seifer, mind if I join you?" she asked, waited for what she guessed to be a nod and levitated herself up to sit on the roof at his side. He shuffled sideways a little to give her more room, but he made no effort to conceal what he held in his hands.

"Is it safe for you to fly like that when you're pregnant?" he asked, turning to her briefly before staring away again.

Rinoa rolled her eyes, sometimes she wondered why he and Squall weren't better friends they seemed to handle things in the same manner, although her husband was less impulsive than her friend.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, creating a small fire ball in front of her to warm them up. She had been more open about using her magic in public since Mages had been accepted by the world as safe users of spells… she just neglected to tell people she was actually a sorceress…not many people were happy with that idea yet.

"Would I have called you up here if I didn't?" he smiled, but still didn't look straight at her.

"Aw, I just thought you wanted to show me the view." Rinoa joked enjoying the brief banter before it turned serious.

"Here." He handed her the box, careful to avoid the fire ball in front of them. She could have made a joke about already being married but she knew this wasn't the time.

"When are you going to ask her?"

He shrugged, now turning to face her and pulling his black SeeD coat around his shoulders as if to shut out more of the cold.

"Right now I don't even know if I should."

"Don't tell me you're part of the ever growing group of 'lets put our lives on hold until this is all over' are you?" the sorceress remarked, looking at Seifer almost as if she was scolding him.

"That better be the hormones talking Rin." She rolled her eyes.

"Maybe." She answered, smiling at him. "But I really think you should ask her when you think its right for the two of you – don't rely on the events around you. I'm not saying get married in the middle of a battle…"

"I get your point, I just don't want to give Quistis more to worry about, there's still the issue of marriage, there's no guarantee that she wants to marry me. I get the feeling that she doesn't want to added pressure of formal commitment."

"Have you asked her?" Rinoa asked, rubbing her hands together and holding them near the ball of flame.

He laughed "You sound like Irvine." She wrinkled her forehead at this comment.

"You asked Irvine? I know someone very surprised that he would give advice on marriage." Seifer looked somewhat confused by this, but didn't ask the questions he wanted to, he tried to stay out of everyone's personal lives as much as he could.

"Yeah… but still, I don't know how to bring up the subject, she's so into her work – I don't even know if she seriously wants a family."

Rinoa looked into her lap, placing a hand on her stomach. "I can't give you any advice on that subject; as much as I love Quistis… it's not exactly something we've ever discussed."

"I think she knows that I do… I want my children to have the child hood I had for such a sort time, I want them to know their family… to grow up in a world without pain or war." He turned to his friend when he heard her sniffing back tears.

"Rin?"

But when she looked at him, he could see that she was smiling and shaking her head.

"I don't know why I'm crying." Sniff "I'm just so happy and sad all at the same time, happy that you want to marry her and sad about what happened to your family… I'm going to blame hormones here." Sniff "But Seifer, you are going to have to say something to her… she may want it just as much as you do but not know how to bring it up." She wiped away her tears and pulled her coat around her as if hugging herself.

"I don't…." but Rinoa shook her head and cut him off.

"There really isn't the time for buts here, you are only causing yourself unnecessary pain by not talking about it and I don't want to see you hurt." She stood then, handing him back the small box before extinguishing the fire ball. Her tears had stopped falling and she forced a smile. "You know where I am if you need to talk."

He nodded. "Thanks Rin."

"Are we going home mummy?" Alex asked as Laurie started to pack the little boys clothes away. Looking into his blue eyes she almost wanted to grant his request… but that would have to wait.

"No sweetie, we're going to stay with Uncle Squall's daddy for a while." He looked somewhat disappointed and his blonde head tipped down as he looked at the floor. Her heart went out to him, she remembered being his age and hating having to stay in hotels around the world when her father was on business.

"What mummy isn't telling you is that Esthar has a giant playground that President Laguna built and a big swimming pool with lots of fun slides to go on." Zell added, no one had heard him come in as he was supposed to be in the training centre for the next few hours.

He smiled when he saw his little boy light up and giggle as he picked him up and spun him around in the air. Laurie laughed, putting the last of the packing into the suitcase before walking over to join two of the most important men in her life; the other was down for his afternoon nap with his sister.

Both held out their arms to her, Alex sat on his fathers hip as he did, holding them both close she whispered into her husbands ear.

"Thank you." And she snuggled against his neck.

He laughed "You might change your mind when he wakes you up at five in the morning to go to the park." He replied, happy to bring a change of mood to his family. Their move to Esthar was going to change a lot and by the sounds of it would be a long term thing… or so he was starting to hope. In the world at that time Esthar was a safe haven – he just hoped it would stay that way.

As always comments welcome.