Chapter 14 - Waiting

Laura sat crossed legged on a boulder that was half sunk into the dry mud; she uncrossed her legs and let them dangle over the side of the huge rock swinging them.

"Stop fidgeting so much, it's really annoying"

"Sorry Axel, I'm just really bored…"

Axel easily lifted up the sturdy sword he had been given the day he arrived on Balamb Garden and swung it round and up to the sky, the setting sun in the horizon reflected off the silver weapon and reflected beautiful dancing lights on their surroundings. He pulled the sword back and drove it into the arid ground, a few cracks formed around where the sword had penetrated the earth.

"Argh!"

He left the sword sticking up out the ground and sat down next to it, his legs sticking out in front of him awkwardly, and sighed.

Laura pulled her legs onto the boulder and wrapped her arms around them, then burrowed her chin into her knees, and sighed.

"Do you miss home Axel?"

Axel didn't reply. He pulled his sword out of the ground and laid it next to him. Laura moved her feet round on the boulder so Axel was now facing her side.

"I know you wouldn't admit to that anyway."

Behind her was the dainty village of Winhill, it was so peaceful you wouldn't expect anything evil to take place there, however it was believed that Kathryn was in there somewhere. It wasn't a very big town, but it wasn't minute; you couldn't see the other side. Therefore Axel and Laura had no way of communicating or signalling to Zell and Quistis who were stationed at the other side. The first trace of the town was the little farm that was just behind a country gate, the "bottom gate". A country road ran through the farm and little pretty stone houses were dotted about behind it. The houses became a little more dense the further you could see back. Zell and Quistis were at the top of the village near the town centre, where most of the shops and pubs were situated. Laura had her back to the town, she watched the sun disappear over the horizon, the trees in the far distance kissed the pink sky.

"Yeah…"

Laura turned her head to face Axel confused.

"Yeah… What?"

"I miss home…"

No other words were passed between the two friends. They waited. They waited for their signal. They waited. They waited for all their companions to appear at the edge of the little farm. They waited until the pink sky turned to purple and the stars began to twinkle.

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Jen's glasses had slid down her nose so she positioned them back in front of her eyes. Her eyelids were heavy and her wounds were sore. She sat on an uncomfortable wooden chair in the library; her head was over a random book she had found in one of the shelves. It was about white magic but she wasn't paying much attention to it; she just wanted to pass the time. She took off her glasses and placed them next to the book to rub her eyes. She then yawned very loud, a few other heads in the library turned round to see where the noise had came from and one girl who was very into her book even jumped when she heard her. She closed the book and walked to the very back of the library where she found it. It was eerie at the back, there wasn't anyone around and one of the lights was broken, so it was darker. Jen pushed the book into the space in the shelf; she was hidden by the bookshelf from the rest of the library.

i I hope they're okay…" /i

"You're worried about your friends, aren't you?"

Jen jumped and her knees hit the bottom shelf of the bookshelf, a few books fell onto the floor as she spun round on her feet to see where the voice had come from. A slim girl was stood in front of her she wore a long, plain, white skirt and a blue shirt and she had a green shawl draped over her arms. Her brown hair came to the bottom of her face. She spoke again, her voice was gentle and caring.

"I'm sorry I scared you…"

"Oh. Sorry but who are you?"

"My name is Ellone. I'm a friend of Squall, Zell, Quistis, Irivine, Selphie and Rinoa"

"Aren't you out helping find her? Selphie I mean"

"No… I was never trained to find and therefore I'm quite vulnerable"

"Ah… not to be rude but why did you come over to talk to me?"

"Well, you see…"

She looked down at her hands as she clasped them together then looked back up.

"I'm the one that brought you and your friends here…"

"What….?"