Unmistakable Pain

Yeah! Only 2 weeks and 1 day since my last update, not bad [for me] right? However, I have bad news...I don't know when I'll be able to sit down and edit the next chapters because I have AP Testing, final projects, a Calculus final, and then Graduation (can't come soon enough, let me tell you). Who knows, maybe I'll want to procrastinate and update again soon, but I don't want to promise anything....

Anyway, please Read&Review. I really do appreciate and read all of the reviews! Thank you so much to those that do review, and thank you also to those that just read my stories. All the hits on my chapters and the reviews just make my day so much better!


"You're good 'Leon.' If I had known back in Timber all the trouble you would cause, I would've killed ya right then. I had the opportunity to, but I figured there was too much bloodshed in this world anyway, and I thought you might be help to me."

"Irvine…Look," Leon looked at the gun pointing straight at his chest. He knew if he could keep Irvine talking, he might choke, and then Leon could quickly knock the gun out of his hand and draw his gunblade.

"You kidnapped Rinoa, I really wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now."

"I didn't kidnap Rinoa, she just snuck onto my ship alright?" Irvine would show emotion next and that would be Leon's chance.

"Sorry, I know what you're doing, but it won't work. You can't distract me. You're coming with me, and there's nothin' you can do about it," Irvine said and he suddenly pulled the trigger.

Darkness quickly flooded into Leon's vision as the shot hit him straight in the heart. He fell down onto his knees in extreme pain and looked at the hole into the Catacombs and saw a pale hand rise out of it, Rinoa.

"No," Leon whispered as he fell forward onto the stone floor of the orphanage. "Not when we're so close," he breathed out as the darkness overtook him.

"Leon!" Rinoa shouted when her head was above the edge of the hole from the catacombs. "Irvine! He isn't bad!" She exclaimed as she launched herself onto the floor and over to Leon's body.

"Rinoa! You're alright!" Rinoa heard Selphie squeal from a microphone in Irvine's ear, causing Irvine to wince in pain.

"What did you do to him Irvine Kinneas?!" Rinoa asked violently as she bent over Leon and subtly sealed the entrance to the catacombs with magic, Sora and Kairi still secretly hidden.

"Relax Rinoa, it's only a shocker. He'll be up soon enough."

"Unless you want a shocker of your own Irvine, back off."

"Look Rinoa," Irvine said, a hint of warning in his tone, "Seifer wants this guy for questioning. We let you have your fun, but it's gone too far. Squall isn't here! And in your desperation to find him, this Leon character could've gotten you killed, or worse!"

"Rinoa, please just come back with us," Selphie pleaded through Irvine's earpiece.

"Did you tell Seifer about our whole plan?" Rinoa asked, her voice dangerously quiet.

"Cool it Rinoa! We were worried and Seifer was mad!"

"You don't know mad," Rinoa answered in the same quiet tone. Suddenly, a ball of light was in her hand, "but now you will Kinneas."

In a second of panic, Irvine Kinneas fired one shot at Rinoa Heartilly.

As the pain hit Rinoa, her vision was clouded with red, red hot fury. She had just been betrayed by one of her closest comrades. "You'll pay for this Irvine," Rinoa said quietly before she passed out, the ball of light disappearing in her hand.

Irvine didn't let her fall painfully onto the ground like he had let Leon, he swiftly caught her in his arms. Into the microphone connected to Selphie he whispered, "What have I just done?"

"Something's wrong Sora!" Kairi shouted down to Sora on the ground. "The exit is sealed!" She pushed once again on the circle bit of stone where Leon and Rinoa had climbed out of only to discover it still wouldn't budge.

"Can you hear anything going on above?" Sora called up. Kairi listened hard, but shook her head. She couldn't hear anything.

"What are we going to do Sora?" Kairi asked as she landed back on the dirt ground by Sora. The realization of the situation the two were in suddenly hit her, they were in a strange universe, with no real knowledge of the world they were in, and they were alone.

Sora pulled out the cell phone Leon had given him back in Timber. He quickly dialed Leon's number and listened to it ring….there was no answer.

"We wait," Sora said quietly as he stared at the stone ceiling. "Rinoa has all the exits sealed…Besides, she said there was enough food down here to last a while. Every day we'll check the exit and we hope they come back…"

"I want to tell her, I do," Leon heard himself saying. "But I'm scared, I'm scared I won't be how she wants me to be. I'm scared by revealing myself to her, I'll put her in danger…" Leon was seventeen again. He was back on his bed in Garden. Thinking about his secret fears, showing nobody but himself a side he didn't like to share, just like he used to do.

"I'm tired of pretending to be someone I'm not. I'm tired of not being able to be with Rinoa, I'm tired of not being able to be with my friends. I'm tired of all the mistrust between us all, the suspicion of who the traitor might be!"

Suddenly, Rinoa was in his room watching him with her head cocked to the side. "You don't want to be with me Squall?"

Leon blinked at her as he sat up, wondering how she could ever ask that.

Rinoa smiled as if she knew the answer without him saying it. "So why don't you let me in Squall? Do we have to go through this again or will you just let me be with you without a fight for once?"

Leon stood up from his bed and punched the wall as he shouted what he wanted most of all, "I don't want the future….I don't want the present….I just want the past and to stay there with you!"

"What was that Leon?" A mocking voice asked him. "You don't want the future or the present? You just want the past, like a little baby? You can't face what you are?"

Leon didn't have to open his eyes to know who was talking to him, he would never forget the face and voice of his biggest rival, Seifer Almasy.

"Where's Chicken-Wuss when I need him? He'd probably be better with this interrogation, be able to better identify with you or something. Oh how much I want the past, when times were good, y'know? Or, uh, not good, but when times were at least better?" Leon felt his hair being pulled and he finally opened his eyes to see Seifer glaring into his face. In a deadly whisper Seifer continued, "But you did something horrible, something where only I can talk to you: you kidnapped Rinoa." With a quick lurch, Leon felt himself fall painfully forward by his hair. "That is blatantly unforgivable! Why did you do it?" Seifer asked harshly.

Leon remained on all fours at Seifer's feet as he considered what to do. There was no way he could escape without knocking Seifer out at the least, but he had no weapon and he noticed Seifer was also unarmed so it wasn't like he could steal his weapon either. It would be a suicide mission to attack Seifer inside of, from what he could tell from his limited view, a ship with people who were most likely loyal to Seifer.

Seifer kicked Leon right in the gut when there was no reply.

"Answer me damn it!" Seifer yelled at Leon who made no sound as Seifer kicked him yet again.

Leon lifted his head and glared directly into Seifer's eyes. "Never," he whispered, defiance radiating off of him,

Seifer growled, "We'll see about that after you feel a little pain!" He roughly grabbed Leon by his shirt and dragged him to a metal table. "I learned this technique when I worked for the sorceress. I haven't ever used it, just only threatened people with it. Wanna know what it does?"

Leon didn't answer he knew exactly what it did. Seifer had used it on him years before, it would send electrical shocks through his body until he either passed out or answered Seifer's question.

"Ya know," Seifer said as he threw Leon onto the table. "I would just tell you, but you kidnapped Rinoa and I just really don't like you, so I think I'll show you instead."

Seifer walked over to a nearby panel and Leon decided if he could jump up and hit Seifer good once and then run, he might stand a chance. However, before he could do anything, Leon felt bars suddenly tighten around his wrist and ankles as the table rotated to an upright position.

"Let me at him!" Zell shouted as he punched the table at dinner. "I want to teach that asshole a lesson for kidnapping Rinoa and knocking her out again!"

"Calm down Zell!" Quistis commanded. "Seifer is taking care of him!"

Zell looked at his gloved hands. "Seifer won't teach him the lesson right."

"You're kidding right?" Irvine asked harshly. "Seifer is more furious than you about this whole affair, he just isn't so open about it. Nobody hurts Rinoa and Seifer lets them get away with it."

Irvine had been tense ever since he returned with the unconscious Rinoa and Leon. Everyone had simply assumed Leon was the one to knock Rinoa out. Meanwhile, he was worried about her. She should've been awake by dinner.

"Irvine!" Selphie exclaimed from down the hallway. "Come here!"

Irvine got up in an instant and rushed towards Selphie. Her calling him meant Rinoa was stirring, but Selphie didn't want Zell to be there when Rinoa woke up.

Meanwhile, Zell was staring at the doorway which Irvine had disappeared through. "What was that about? You think Rinoa is waking up? I wanna talk to her."

Quistis shook her head. "Zell, it's Selphie and Irvine. She probably just wants something only Irvine can give."

As Quistis planned, Zell turned bright red and suddenly shut up about why Selphie wanted Irvine.

Rinoa ran through Timber, then Balamb, then Galbadia City (formerly Deling City), Esthar, and FH, yet she couldn't find Squall.

Squall had fought through a universe's divide, but she couldn't even handle the responsibility of finding him and keeping him safe until he was recovered from his journey.

"SQUALL!" Rinoa shouted as loud as she could while she fell to her knees and tears started to flow from her eyes.

"Don't cry," A mysterious voice said in Rinoa's ear. The voice sounded familiar, but different. It sounded like Squall's, but as if he was talking through a pane of glass.

Immediately, Rinoa snapped her head up. "Squall?" She asked as she got up off her knees.

A few feet away she saw a blurry figure with his back facing her. "Squall?!" She repeated anxiously as she started to slowly walk towards him.

"I'm closer than you think," Squall's muted voice said again. "I'm just trying to work things out and then we can be together."

The figure blinked and Rinoa quickened her pace towards him. "Squall, we can do it together, don't try to figure things out by yourself," she whispered.

"I can't rely on anybody though," Squall's voice was growing fainter and foggier with each word. "I thought I could trust my friends, but then they tried to kill me. If they know I'm back they'll try to kill you too."

"That's my danger, not yours. We can get through this Squall!" Rinoa begged as she reached out to grab the blinking figure, just as she touched his coat he turned and disappeared. But not before Rinoa got a glimpse of his face.

Rinoa opened her eyes to see a very worried Selphie and Irvine standing over her.

"Rinoa!" Irvine exclaimed, relief breaking over his face. "I'm sorry Rinoa!" He exclaimed as Selphie hugged her tightly.

"How could I have been so stupid?" Rinoa asked herself as she tried to push Irvine and Selphie off of her. "I should've seen this from the start. It's so obvious now…" The way he carries himself. They was he'll say things without realizing, things that point right to the truth. The wound on his chest, so much like the one Edea gave Squall years ago.

"Where are you going Rinoa?" Selphie asked as Rinoa walked to Selphie's bedroom door.

"Don't follow me. Don't try to contact me. Just let me go," Rinoa said simply to the two. "Just know, I'll be back one day, I promise you."

With that, Rinoa left the couple in Selphie's room and started to walk to the underbelly of the Ragnarok where Seifer's detainee room was, she knew He would be there.

"Are we really just going to let her leave?" Irvine asked Selphie a moment later.

"No," Selphie said simply, "We're going to help her leave. It's not like before Irvine, she knows where Squall is this time." That settled the matter, whether Rinoa liked it or not, Irvine and Selphie were going to help her get away to do whatever it was she needed to do. Irvine nodded, he had shot her, he owed her big time.

"Why don't you save yourself the trouble and answer the question?" Seifer asked after several shocks to Leon. "Why did you kidnap Rinoa? What connection do you have to her?"

"Why should I tell you?" Leon spat back angrily. His whole body was sore, but he refused to give Seifer the pleasure of hearing him scream and beg for mercy, nothing would ever cause him to do that.

"Because of this dumbass," Seifer said as he sent another round of shocks through Leon's body. "Now what possessed you to take the most powerful and beloved sorceress?"

"You're acting like she's a toy. Rinoa isn't just a sorceress whose feelings can be controlled and manipulated… She's her own person first and foremost…she chose to stay with me…because…I…"

"What?" Seifer asked as he walked over to Leon and looked up into his face hoping he was finally cracking.

"She likes me more than she likes you," Leon finished.

"You son of a bitch," Seifer said as he quickly walked back to the panel and shoved the lever down, sending the worst round of shocks yet through Leon's raw body.

Leon closed his eyes as his body convulsed violently against his restraints. He felt any of his remaining energy and willpower begin to slip away as the electricity continued to flow through his body. Darkness was overtaking him yet again.

The shocks stopped, out of nowhere his restraints disappeared and he fell flat on his stomach.

The cool ground was a relief to his frazzled nerves. He opened his eyes and saw a blurry figure confidently walking towards him before the darkness finally did overtake him.

Good night.


Rinoa heard the sound of Seifer's torture machine running. Seifer had only used it as a threat in the past to the suspicious people they had picked up in the past, but she knew he was using it for real now, even though there was no screaming to confirm her suspicion.

Quickly, Rinoa opened the heavy door into the dark room Seifer was using. Sure enough, she saw Leon stretched out a table, electricity flowing through his violently convulsing body.

Like the electricity coursing through Leon, anger began to move through Rinoa rapidly. She lifted her hand, concentrating energy, and the machine shut off.

Seifer turned around, "What the? Rinoa?" he managed to ask before Rinoa said quietly and threateningly, "Sleep," and Seifer instantly passed out.

Without a second more's delay, Rinoa magically removed Leon's bonds and began to walk to the collapsed Leon just as she had walked towards Squall's collapsed body after the fight with Ultimecia.

Just as she had then, Rinoa cradled his head in her lap. She brushed a hair out of his face, but this time at least he was breathing she told herself.

"Squall, I'm sorry I'm so late in saving you, in recognizing you," she whispered quietly.

Leon's eyes opened wide as a bright light engulfed him and Rinoa. Suddenly, he felt the room spinning around him.