Disclaimer: Not mine. Period.
Rating: M for language, violence, sexual content, and drug reference.
Author's Note: Alright so thank you for all the reviews! Some of you even confessed that I got your tear ducts working. Wow! Thank you so much. I'm glad I was able to convey such an emotional chapter. It's exactly what I was going for. Now you've all waited long enough. Time for the next scene. ;)
"You'll never go. You're always here. Suffocating me. Under my skin. I cannot run away. Fading. Slowly. I give it all to you."- Red, Already Over
"There is nothing left of you. I can see it in your eyes. Sing the anthem of the angels and sing the last goodbye."- Breaking Benjamin, Anthem of the Angels
**********
There were no words known to common man that could describe the way she was feeling. The only way she could possibly even come close to describing it would have been to say that it was painful. No, it was excruciating to watch as his transport disengaged from the platform and embarked towards the sorceress' location.
She believed that at some point her heart had actually stopped beating, cutting her off from the world of the living and the dead. But then it would resume its pumping, warning her of the power that the small organ held over her being. And not only its power over her, but Squall's as well. Her love for the man influenced her so much that she had actually stopped functioning.
Her eyes continued to blink with lack of comprehension as the transport quickly disappeared from view, leaving her limp in someone's arms. She hadn't really noticed who Squall had handed her off to. All she remembered was the warmth of his arms. The warmth of his breath on her ear, whispering the words that could send a person to war or make them surrender. She would always remember the way it sounded coming from his strained voice.
It had still been his smooth tone, but it was huskier, warmer. It was real. And somewhere in the back of her mind she mentally kicked herself for ever thinking that the man didn't actually love her. It was childish, now that she had time to think it through.
"Rinoa!"
Her eyes remained transfixed on the spot where Squall had held her in his arms one last time. It was peaceful. Through all the turmoil and commotion happening about her, that one spot remained quiet and warm.
"Rinoa!"
'Just a little longer.'
"She's not listening to me."
"No one ever listens to you."
"Shut up, Irvine. If I wasn't holding her I swear to god I'd punch you so fuckin' hard-"
"Zell!"
Rinoa vaguely heard Irvine snickering at Zell's reprimand from Quistis.
"She's heartbroken."
"We all are, Selphie."
"Yeah but…she's a little more heartbroken than the rest of us, Quisty."
"Yes, of course. What was I thinking?"
She felt something touch the top of her head. Her reflexes kicked in, ripping her eyes away from the scene of her departed lover to the top of her brow, a set of eager eyes staring down at her.
Immediately she became sober.
"Zell?!"
The rigid object that had been sealed around her waist instantly slackened as he let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god. I thought I was gonna haveta take you to the infirmary. That woulda sucked. I got banned from there except for when I have a life threatening emergency."
Rinoa watched as Quistis raised an eyebrow. She could feel as he gave the blonde a lazy shrug, "I may or may not have accidentally shot one of the students up with a tranquilizer for fiends instead of an antibiotic."
"How do you accidentally drug someone with tranquilizer?" Irvine choked out, staring at Zell incredulously.
"Hey, that's not the point. The past is the past, right? Anyways, I think we should probably report to the command center. I'm sure Shithead…I mean Seifer already has orders for us."
At that, Selphie laughed, "Yeah, don't want to keep our mighty leader waiting."
"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about him?" Irvine grumbled aloud, following behind Selphie as they all began their slow march towards the command center.
'More than you know,' Rinoa thought sourly, remaining close to Squall's closest friend, Zell.
************
"As soon as we are within a few feet you are to open the hatch and let me jump from the transport, understood? I cannot allow for your life to be put into jeopardy. That was the logic behind this solo mission. Do you think you can keep the craft steady enough for me to exit?"
The red headed pilot nodded grimly, "Y-yes sir. I mean, Yes sir, High Commander, sir."
Squall frowned but nodded as he returned his gaze to the window. He watched as the birds quickly migrated the opposite direction, their loud squawks of terror penetrating the thick walls of the transport. They were growing closer.
************
Laguna couldn't help but shiver as his eyes connected with Seifer's. The overachieving blond man from before had seemed to transform into something much different. Perhaps he should have taken Squall's advice and not put Seifer into such a position. Thankfully he was there and could overthrow the temperamental blond if he needed to.
Said blond was slouched over in the main command chair, picking at his white teeth with a piece of paper.
Laguna stuck out his tongue in a disgusted fashion. He had served in the army and had his fair share of adventures so such a habit shouldn't disgust him. But when it came to hygiene he happened to be very prudish. It wasn't that he wanted to be, but it offended him and even upset his stomach enough that on one occasion when Ward hadn't showered in three days, he had vomited. All over Ward.
It had been awkward to say the least. Ward hadn't talked to him for the rest of the week. At the time Laguna had found Ward's silence to be a gruesome punishment for his weak stomach, but now he found that if he could just hear Ward's voice one last time that it would be a gift.
He raised an eyebrow at his thought process. The things that ran through one's head during a time of crisis. It was strange.
The door to the office slid open, allowing the special ops force to walk through the door, their eyes red from crying and their faces pale from fear.
"Welcome SeeDs. I'm glad that you reported straight here after the departure of the Head Commander of SeeD."
"Squall," Rinoa corrected him, wishing for all formalities to be forgotten.
Laguna nodded at the lamenting lovebird, "Of course, Rinoa. Squall. He appreciates your continuing aid as his allies during this time. We must be fully prepared if he is to radio for assistance or…if the situation becomes more dire."
"You mean if she kills him," Seifer blurted out, sucking air through his teeth to make sure that he had removed the irritating substance from his gums.
Everyone shot the impudent man a death glare, fighting with their thoughts of whether or not they should just kill the man or throw him over to the sorceress for her to have the honors of dismembering the jerk.
Laguna glowered at the scarred man for a moment longer, the fire in his heart erupting at the thought of the man's lack of respect for his son or his son's life. It was sick. How one person could even think in such a fashion was beyond his capability of understanding. Yes, now he understood his son's logic when it came to not trusting the man with such a meaningful task. He had no value for human life. He was the worst man for the job. But still, Laguna had to trust his battle expertise for now. If the time came that Seifer wasn't making the appropriate decisions based on loss of life, he would quickly take over the command of SeeD.
Quistis cleared her throat, feeling the discomfort quickly settling into the room, "Shall we go over the battle strategy once again, just for safety measures?"
The president nodded, "Okie dokie. Come huddle."
************
The screen of the transport flashed. Squall's attention quickly faded from the outside world to the screen in one split instant. Someone was sending them a transmission.
"It's from a Magic Military transport."
The lone lion swallowed before nodding, silently agreeing to allow the transmission to connect.
After a few seconds of the screen flashing the word: loading, a familiar face came into view.
It was completely different from how he remembered him looking, but it was definitely Alec Johnson. His possession had definitely worked against his favor.
His eyes were sunken in. His mouth as pale as his face. His eyes were dull, and his hair ever looked flat and lifeless. And he was thinner. Much thinner. He looked as if he had been starved the entire time Ultimecia had claimed his host body as her own.
But the familiar red glow of his possession swirled around the green irises of his eyes, "Ahhhh, Squall Leonhart. It has been too long."
It was said in Alec's voice but a second tone had joined in the vocal arrangement. Ultimecia's calculating soprano played back up to the usually deep voice of the commander.
"Ultimecia. Still leeching off of someone else's body, I see."
A cold round of laughter followed afterwards, "I wouldn't call it leeching as much as I would call it borrowing. I will say that I didn't pick the best host for my powers. But no matter. I will still destroy you, SeeD. I will exact my revenge upon you."
Squall's eyebrows furrowed together as he leaned in towards the screen further, "You sound sure of yourself, sorceress. You forget that you were destroyed last time because of my unit and me."
At this Alec's eyes narrowed in on the screen, a spin-tingling sneer creeping onto his weathered face, "But your unit has abandoned you."
The High Commander froze. How she could possibly know was beyond him. The transport was large enough that there was no way for her to see all of the ship's deck. They could have all been out of the screen's range for all that she knew. But something told him that she knew. Something told him that she had known for a long time and had simply been letting his mind ferment over his task to come for the most part.
"They have done no such thing. I have come to face you myself. I will not throw away their lives because you want to settle a score with me and me alone."
"You are still naïve, young soldier. I do want my revenge but you are foolish to think that I have come back just to have that. I plan on the world being my own, not just your life."
The warrior mentally flinched. He knew she had been planning such a reality but to actually hear it brought on a new round of fear that he had been suppressing.
"You will not have a chance for such a reality, Ultimecia."
Alec shook his head from side to side mockingly, all the while giving Squall a two-toned laugh, "No my dear mercenary, you will not have a chance for such a reality."
"Why have you contacted this vessel?"
The possessed man shifted in his chair, slowly rising to his feet, "To declare a meeting ground. We can't very well fight in the air, can we? Where's the fun in that? I at least want this to be a rather fair fight. I don't want to kill a man who is unprepared for aerial combat."
"Where?!" Squall snapped, his patience wearing thin quickly.
"Let's take this back to where it all began, shall we? Centra Region."
"Done."
The transmission cut out, leaving Squall breathless and the pilot of his vessel ghost white.
************
Rinoa paced the room uneasily. Something wasn't quite right. There was a piece to the puzzle that was missing. What it was, she wasn't quite sure. But she knew something was wrong. What was it?!
"Hey Quistis-"
The blonde woman turned to Rinoa, smiling meekly at her, "Yes, Rinoa? What is it?"
Rinoa fidgeted, inspecting her fingernails out of a nervous habit, "Have you ever felt like you're missing something? But you just can't figure it out?"
Quistis frowned, her interest quite piqued as to what the former sorceress could possibly be missing at such a crucial time, "Well of course, Rinoa. Everyone feels that way. It's the most annoying sensation in the world," She added, touching her friend's shaking hands.
The raven-haired woman gave an irritated sigh, "What do you usually do to figure out what it is?"
"Well I just try not to think about it and then usually it just comes to me in that classic 'aha!' moment."
The former Timber rebel nodded slightly, "I see."
Quistis gave Rinoa's hand a final pat before turning back to the battle plans.
Rinoa stared at the back of Quistis' head for the longest time before she went back to her corner and began to pace back and forth again. Surely it was obvious. But what was it? It had something to do with Squall and it had something to do with the sorceress but what was it? Perhaps just an inkling in the pit of her stomach? Maybe. But whatever it was, it was driving her insane.
And so with these thoughts swirling about in her mind like a whirlwind, Rinoa finally spoke up. Loud enough to gain Laguna's attention.
"Laguna, sir. I have a request."
And with all the strength she could muster up, she let tears build into her eyes. Sure it was wrong, and it was wrong to admit that she was pro at making herself cry, but it came in handy when she needed it to. One thing she prided herself on was that she had never intentionally cried when it came to Squall. All of those tears had been honestly spent.
"R-Rinoa?" Laguna gasped, nearly dropping the pointer in his hand.
She planted her feet defiantly opposite of each other, her head held high, "I want to joint he Special Ops Force. I won't take no for an answer this time. I know Squall made an arrangement with you specifying the exact opposite but I must be allowed to join. These are my friends and Squall is my love. I can't think of anywhere else I should be. There's only so much everyone can do to protect me. The rest is up to chance and circumstance. Let me join them. I must figure out the missing piece to this puzzle and I believe it can be found on the battlefield alongside my friends."
The liquid rolled down her rosy cheeks, causing Laguna to stare at them with a pure hatred. He simply loathed watching a woman cried. It had all started the first time he had ever witnessed Ellone cry when she had been stung by a bee when she had been a mere child. It was more than he cared to stomach and how some men got by with causing women to cry on a regular basis was beyond him. They had more tolerance than he did, that was for certain.
He sighed, "Rinoa…"
************
Just as he had been instructed, the transport hovered a few feet over the planet, allowing Squall to safely land on his feet. As soon as the High Commander was free of the vessel, the pilot muttered his blessings before taking off and returning to Balamb.
The black glass fortress remained as ominsecent as ever, towering over the region like a haunting reminder of the possibility of death and destruction.
The landscape was barren except for that large landmark. And Alec was no where in sight.
A gust of wind sent grains of dirt and leaves into the air, brushing past Squall's face with an whipping speed. The warrior lifted his arm to shield his eyes, all the while squinting the terrain for any sign of Alec.
"You are not even ready for an attack, knight."
His eyes rounded as he heard the strange voice. He jumped forward and whipped around, his dust skirt cracking in the air at the sudden change in direction.
Behind him stood Alec, his face twisted into an eager smirk, his body slumped into a lethargic stance.
Squall immediately unsheathed his weapon, holding it in front of his chest defensively, "Ultimecia. It's been too long."
The former Magic Military commander threw his head back and laughed an unnatural laugh, "Oh SeeD, you have not changed since our last exchange. Surely you have not forgotten the trials you suffered upon our last meeting? And yet you're still eager for another encounter?"
Eager? Definitely not. Ready? Absolutely in no way. Forced? That was more like it.
The sun glinted against the shiny metal of Squall's gunblade as he fell into his normal attacking stance, "Well then…shall we begin?"
Alec took a few steps backwards, flipping pieces of his strangly hair from his face, "Of course. Wasting time is never a smart decision. That was the lesson learned from our last exchange, was it not?"
Squall grit his teeth together in preparation, "You talk too much."
The host howled with his eerie cackling, "You make a good point, High Commander. How about less conversation and more devastation?"
************
How she managed to work things into her favor still remained a mystery to him. But needless to say Rinoa was once again a part of Squall's former SeeD unit and preparing for the battle ahead. It was clear that she had been waiting for this moment since the moment Squall had left and she had returned to her normal thought process.
Whatever it was that she wanted to piece together in the battle was still an enigma to him, but whatever it may be, he knew if anyone could do it, it was Rinoa. She was perceptive like that.
And after her initial reinstatement, the room grew quiet and the air thickened. All they could do was wait for the transmission or the command from Laguna. Time crawled. If it could stop it would have. And on many separate occasions Zell was sure that it had. And the fact that his stomach was growling like a caged animal didn't help any.
He frowned slightly, touching his stomach. 'Hot dogs.'
************
Squall winced as he braced for the impact of the spell about to befall him. She wasn't wasting any time this time. It was all about revenge and his defeat as quickly as she could manage.
"What's the matter, SeeD? Am I attacking too fast?"
Clearly she had inflicted herself with haste and his slow spell was doing nothing to slow her down to a normal reaction time. At this rate he was going to collapse from fatigue in no time.
"Awww getting tired already?"
Squall grunted with anger, his lack of speech telling her that she was right in her assumption.
"But we've only just begun. I thought you were going to make this at least a little interesting for me! Here I was thinking we were going to have this epic battle and you're letting my hopes down. Is that any way to treat the future ruler of this world?"
His teeth ground together as he ran towards her, striking her with a heavy slash of his gunblade.
Alec's face grimaced but aside from that small reaction, it seemed ineffective. The protect spell that covered her was stronger than the last altercation they had experienced with one another.
Squall's opponent frowned, "Fine then. I suppose I will just have to tell the world about how their chosen leader failed to even make a decent stand against my power. That you were useless in stopping my second coming."
"Never! I won't ever let you take this world for your own!" Squall bellowed, running at her again, his gunblade at his side as he often held it when preparing to attack.
Ultimecia gave him a sardonic grin, "That's more like it. Strike me, SeeD. Give me your all. I want a worthy adversary."
With a cry of anger, he made another attack upon Alec's body. "Wrong! I've grown accustomed to that technique! Something else!" Squall's enemy commanded, dodging his attack with ease.
He knew he had missed. And as much as he had tried to react to his momentum continuing to pull him forward, he couldn't. His gunblade pierced the ground and Squall toppled forward, landing face first with a groan and a thud.
Alec laughed, "Pathetic. Have you not prepared for my coming, SeeD? You are not at 100%. It's a pity."
Squall coughed, spitting out grains of dirt, quickly pushing himself to his feet and grabbing for the hilt of his weapon in on swoop. As quickly as he returned to his feet, he slashed at her again, causing the host to cry out in pain as the blade hit him with a critical swoop.
The High Commander gasped for air as he stood across the way from the sorceress. Once the host recovered he smiled at Squall, raising an eyebrow of speculation, "Excellent. You recovered much quicker than I ever thought possible. Now, let's stop toying around. Let's finish this. I'm growing tired of this altercation. I must move on to bigger and better things. Let me have my revenge, mercenary."
Squall tightened his grip on the hilt of his gunblade. He wouldn't allow her to have that satisfaction. He couldn't. He would be letting everyone down. He just couldn't let her get past him. Not this time. He needed to finish her and he needed to finish her now. And if his life had to be lost to bring about such a result, then so be it.
Either way, this was the final battle. Squall lifted his arm to block a spell headed straight for him, crying out in pain as it hit him directly, throwing him backwards nearly fifty feet.
Luckily he landed on his feet, unluckily Alec had wasted no time in closing the distance. This time his hands were already glowing with another spell, "It's over, SeeD."
Squall's eyes rounded, a ball of yellow magic hurling for him.
ALRIGHT! So there's the update. Sorry it's later than normal. I wanted it to be just right and I kept rushing it so I had to keep editing it. But this is what I came up with. I hope you all like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rinoa always gets her way. Makes me giggle. ;)
Much love,
~Nikki~