CH 12: Pain
The pain was exquisite. He had never felt it's equal. Not even when NORG's magic pulled him back from the land of the dead. By comparison, that was just the kiss from a lover. This was a whole new chapter on pain that he had hoped he would never know.
Every inch of him was consumed in the agony of the flames that covered him. The searing caused him to drop to his knees before the sunlit window. He tried to gasp, to scream in pain, but no sound would leave his body. No air moved through his seized lungs. He could feel each heartbeat as his heart raced in panic.
Only dimly was Squall aware of Rinoa and her scream of panic. The love of his life and her importance were now drowned in that sea of pain that washed over him in wave after merciless wave. Very little mattered now except for the pain.
The pain lasted an eternity for him. Longer even than his experience of dying. He hoped for death again. Anything that could release him would be welcomed as he forgot his own identity within the pain. Everything was blurred as Squall forced his eyes open, searching for some way to end the pain. A fresh wave crested and again his eyes closed against the onslaught.
The pain seemed to coalesce into specific patterns along his body. The why didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that there were certain areas that no longer hurt. The pain spiked one more time, and Squall finally fell into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.
A thousand miles from the charred remains of Winhill, Ellone stood near a window in the Presidential Palace of the technologically advanced nation of Esthar. The Shadow Pain had started a few minutes earlier. It had been sudden and forced tears to her eyes. It was not her pain, she knew this. She knew exactly whose pain it was.
Squall was the name of the young man who had saved her a couple of years before. Although he didn't know, that act had forged a bond between them. The type of bond that could even share pain across a great distance. Something had happened to him. This she knew without any doubts. She had recently tried to get in touch with him at Balamb Garden but had been told he was no longer there.
Ellone was not one to give up, and so had used some of the considerable resources she had at her disposal as the daughter to the President of Esthar. Now she knew he had left the Garden with his love. This had overjoyed her that he could find that in his life, but know things had taken a turn for the worse.
The ability to create these bonds had always been a consternation for Ellone. She could feel the other people's pain and it was almost too much. This Shadow Pain that permeated her body, although as her name for it implied it was but a shadow of what Squall felt, it forced her to her knees. Squall was in pain and it was time for her debt to be truly repaid. She had to get to Winhill.
As the pain passed, she was running through the halls to the Presidential Office. There she found Laguna Loire, her adoptive father, sitting at his desk looking over some document or another. At hearing the commotion out side, he looked up in time to see Ellone rush in, tears still streaming down her face.
"Ellone, what is it? What has happened?" Panic could not be kept from the man's voice.
"Squall, the young man that saved me a couple of years ago. He is in pain. I need to get to Winhill as quickly as I can." Her voice was amazingly calm, considering how much pain she had felt.
A concerned look crossed Laguna's face. "A bond?"
Ellone could only nod.
"Very well, I'll have the Ragnaroc, prepared for you. Go get Kiros to drive you to the airfield. Be safe." With this Laguna rose from his desk and gave his daughter a quick hug and kiss on the forehead.
Ellone returned the hug in kind and moved quickly through the door and on to find Kiros in his office. She had to get there soon. She didn't know what would happen if she delayed, but the very thought sent a shiver down her spine.
Rinoa was crouched over the limp form of her love. The flames were gone, though slight spasms of pain still shook the body from time to time. What had happened? The flames had been every where on him. She had tried to call out to him, tried to move but couldn't. A wordless scream was all that had escaped her lips.
She had never seen the like before. The flames had engulfed him, causing great pain she knew, but they had not seared his flesh. Granted, he was read and soaked in sweat, but he was not as charred as the remains of the homes that had seen similar flames the night before. Rinoa lightly touched his arm. It was warm to the touch, much as a sunburn would put off heat.
She crouched there for a long time, until the sun had set, but still he did not move. She felt his sweat slicked brow. Fever was readily apparent in that short touch. Rinoa forced calm into herself. Panicking now would not do anyone any good, certainly not Squall. Rinoa stood and moved back to the kitchen where she searched for a rag or washcloth.
A short search brought a clean rag to her which she immediately wet and returned to Squall, placing the cold cloth on his head. A shiver passed through Squall and then he lay still. Rinoa ran her hand along his face. Fear still lancing through her. She couldn't loose Squall, not now. Not after they had only been together such a short time after such a long separation.
Whatever it took she would save him. That is all that mattered. He would not die before she got out of him what he meant during that conversation he had promised to expound on. That thought got a weary smile out of her. It only lasted a moment and was gone. She could only care for him until he woke. She didn't dare take him anywhere. How could they treat Squall anyway? He who had been a lab rat? No, it was best that she stay with him here in Winhill until he was better.
The memory of the wounds on Squall's chest healing so quickly after he saved her from the T-Rexaur brought a surge of hope to her chest. He was tough. He would not die so easily. Fresh determination in place, Rinoa started the process of moving Squall up onto the couch. A long a difficult process it was, with Squall's shear size working against her small frame. After a few minutes of struggling, it occurred to Rinoa that he would not be that hard to lift in her powered armor.
Rinoa, after soaking the rag in cold water again and placing it on Squall's fevered brow, went back to the bedroom. She walked over to the pile she had left her armor in. She looked at it and remembered his comments about how she looked in it. With a pleased smile and a blush, Rinoa removed her tee shirt and armored up. After placing the helmet on her head, Rinoa rushed back to the limp form or Squall.
Ever so gently she picked him up, cradling him against her for a fraction of a second before placing him back onto the couch. She stood there, now in darkness, watching Squall breath through the vision enhancing visor of her armor. She removed her helmet and bent down, kissing him gently on the mouth. As she started to straighten, she heard the faint whisper of his voice.
"Rinoa…." The silence filled with the sounds of breathing once more.
His breathing was barely audible over the sound of her beating heart. She knew that he loved her. She knew it deep down where it counted, but it was still nice to have reminders such as that.
Not knowing what else to do, Rinoa returned to the bedroom and grabbed the files of the mean they were here to kill. Putting her helmet back on so she wouldn't have to turn on the light, Rinoa set to work marking the ones that she knew where dead, and marking out the speculated dead from the bodies that could not be identified for certain. She would need to check with local law enforcement later, as a member of Seraphim of course. Rinoa Heartily could never learn what was needed. But that could all wait until Squall was awake. Whenever that might be. She was Squall's Seraph. He had told her that himself. Now, he was the only thing that mattered.
The Ragnaroc had finally landed on the outskirts of Winhill. Smoke still drifting into the night sky. It would be morning soon, but Ellone could not wait. Would not wait. Through her bond she could feel Squall nearby. It felt as though he was in the home she had given him. That made sense knowing what he was here for.
In retrospect, Ellone made a big mistake. At the time though, she felt justified in just bursting into the home. The little light that came through the doorway caught something silver sitting next to a couch before it moved with a speed to fast to follow and soon had her by the throat. A distinctly feminine voice spoke quietly into her ear.
"Move and you die." The sound was like water over crystal.
It could only be one person. "You must be Rinoa. Pleased to meet you. My name is Ellone Loire."
The shock that rolled off of Rinoa was the indication that Ellone needed. Squall had told Rinoa about saving her life. That would make this so much easier.
"Rinoa, I need you to tell me exactly what has happened over the last couple of days. Maybe then we can help Squall."