Chapter Forty-Five: In the Hands of Prophets

For the last hour, Rinoa had done nothing but toss and turn relentlessly. At this rate, she wasn't going to be of help to anyone the following morning. It would be so easy for her to go across the hall and just let herself give in, but that would only be the short term solution. One she couldn't risk her emotions on.

There was a certain parallel that didn't go unnoticed by her. Three months ago, there was only a single wall between them at the hotel and now she found that cycle repeating itself. The only difference was that back in Balamb, her desires were impossible for more than one reason - the least of which was that Squall wasn't alone in his bed.

Yet tonight he was.

She knew that he was there, or most likely would be there, and she also knew that he would most likely accept her willingly. She also had her suspicions that he, himself, was not asleep either. At least that thought brought her some morose comfort.

She grunted out loud as she rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. It was damned near impossible to suppress the urge to scream. Because of her restlessness, Angelo had already given up on sleeping in her master's bed. It had only taken a few minutes of tossing before her otherwise faithful companion jumped ship; it said something that even her dog was completely annoyed with her.

Rinoa turned her head just enough to look at her alarm clock. She mumbled inaudible profanities into the pillow. It wasn't like her to talk like that, but she was utterly frustrated and she highly doubted Angelo cared about inappropriate behavior at that moment – as the dog was probably uttering something rather similar in 'Angelo-ese.'

It was then that something hauntingly beautiful happened - a knock at the door.

The prospects both thrilled and troubled her. She knew that part of her wanted him to come after her, to tell her that everything would be okay, and somehow they would find a way. But just like her starting to walk away from him tonight without an explanation, she was superimposing hopes of the past into the needs of present.

They were both better than that now - with distance and time they had matured.

Getting out of bed, she gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror. Her cotton t-shirt and matching short outfit would be appropriate. She didn't really need to finger-comb her hair to look more presentable, but of course, even maturity had boundaries.

When she opened the door to peek out, she was honestly stunned. "What are you doing here?"

Zell let out something akin to a snort. She might try to act indifferently, but he knew that she was disappointed that it was him. However, that never deterred him from his new mission.

"Just had a feeling you couldn't sleep and honestly, I wasn't fairing any better."

Rinoa still had the door semi-closed as she scanned the hallway nervously. "Squall?"

It was a one-word question but Zell knew how to read between the lines.

"In the den, we switched rooms…which is one of the reasons I'm here. I knew that couldn't be taken as a good sign."

Rinoa contemplated the meaning of Squall's actions. That fact bothered her a hell of a lot more than it should have.

"Umm….can I come in?" Zell finally asked when she seemed too preoccupied to extend a proper invitation. He raised two mugs, placing them directly into her line of sight. "I even brought you hot cocoa with extra marshmallows."

"Well, you most certainly did." Rinoa smiled. She opened the door and then looked at the drinks in his hands. "I guess this just begs the question, how did you manage to knock so well holding those?

"My awesome talent," he stated very matter-of-factly with a grin.

Taking one of the mugs from his hand, she looked at him doubtfully. "Awesome talent? Pfft…yeah, right…"

"Hey, just let me live in my own world. I like it in here," he protested. "Plus it's been a rough day."

The sorceress couldn't have agreed more. "You can say that again. Come on, have a seat."

Rinoa managed to climb onto her bed skillfully, hot cocoa in hand, without the tragic loss of a single marshmallow. When she was finally situated, she used her head to motion to the empty space beside.

"I always knew you were trying to get me in bed." Zell grinned slyly.

"You know it, lifelong goal and all."

They shared a small laugh. She took a sip of her drink, stretched out, and leaned back on the headboard. Zell followed suit, save for stretching out his legs; he crossed them much like a small child would. He took that opportunity to fully admire the intricate carvings and inlaid woodwork of her bed.

"Rinoa, I love this bed. It's absolutely gorgeous."

If there was one thing that not many people knew about the martial artist, it was his appreciation for fine craftsmanship. Over the years, he had dabbled in both metal and wood working. He had a surprising eye for detail and honestly, he wasn't afraid to say when something impressed him.

"Thank you, it's been in the family for nearly a hundred years now. Originally, it belonged to my grandparents. Caraway passed it on to me the day I closed on this place... I think in some way it was his version of an olive branch."

"Your grandparents had beautiful taste, you know?"

"I think so too, it was my grandfather's wedding present to my grandmother… Want to hear something really stupid?" She looked away wistfully, remembering a promise she had made herself the moment Caraway had the bed delivered. She couldn't believe she was going to be sharing this with anyone, but somehow, it felt right.

"I never had better role models than my grandparents – what relationships could be... I don't remember much about them, but I remember they were happy. I always admired them for staying together through thick and thin. It's funny as time goes on, I find myself envying them even more – what they found in one another. So, because of that, I made a promise to myself. When I finally shared this bed with someone, it would be forever."

Her mood lightened as she tried to bite back any further meaning. "Well…since you're the first guy on my bed, I guess we're stuck together forever. So, should I inform your girlfriend now or later?"

He laughed, accusingly pointing to her with his free hand. "Ah ha! See, I knew you were trying to get me into your bed and now I know why. You want my awesome self."

Again, they both couldn't help but laugh. "This conversation took a bad turn somewhere, didn't it?" she managed, catching her breath.

"Hey, I'm just calling it like I see it," stated Zell, trying to defend himself. After taking a sip of coca, he smiled back at her. "And Rin, what you said isn't stupid at all. I'm sure your grandparents would appreciate the sentiment… although I'm going to have to respectfully decline the offer as Alex might not be to open to sharing me." Of course, he had to add the next line just to annoy her, "But I could ask if you really wanted. I'm sure she'd come around."

Rinoa tried to sound serious. "You really have turned into Irvine. Selphie and Quistis tried to warn me at the wedding, but did I listen? No, just no… now look at the dilemma before me." Rinoa playfully patted him on the forearm as she continued, "However, I think it's now my turn to respectfully decline… only because I've had enough of dealing with girlfriends to last a lifetime. So you're totally off the hook for everything."

He tried not to laugh too hard, it wasn't a joke. Rinoa's response was rather humorous given their otherwise awkward situation. They probably both needed this break.

"Oh sure, laugh at my suffering," she shot back in jest. "I'll remember that as you're once again stuffed in the 'van from hell' and you're begging me to take my pillows and blankets with you. We'll see who's laughing then."

"Not funny. Not even close to funny." Zell offered her another smile.

There was a slight pause while both sipped on their drinks. He took this opportunity to finally ask about everything, "About what Squall told me, it's true, right? I mean, I'm sure it is… I just… It's hard, you know?"

"I really do know. It was all hard for me to understand too, still is. Back when it everything first happened, Cid pretty much left me in the dark on the details. …And Squall wasn't talking to me or, I suppose, anyone. The facts were strictly 'need to know' and all Garden thought all I needed to know was that leaving was for the best…or so I was told."

"I just can't wrap my mind around it…"

"Zell, don't try. I've tried for years and it gets me nowhere. Honestly, I don't even think he'll completely understand or remember, but it's mostly for the best. Some memories truly are left buried."

"So the whole knight thingy with you two, is that still there?"

Rinoa so desperately wanted to answer no, but the last weeks proved otherwise.

"It's there." The truth had been difficult to accept, but she finally admitted to it. "When he was shot, I saw him, I heard him. It's nothing I can explain in words. And then I was kinda lost for awhile. Truthfully, I didn't understand what was happening to me. One minute I'd be fine, the next I'm running out in the street almost getting hit by a car."

Zell crooked his head. "You know, it's kinda strange, what you described, well, not the exact details, but just the actions… it sounds a lot like what he described. His just turned out far worse."

"Really, he talked to you that much about it?" She was surprised that he had offered that much of himself to Zell. "But I don't think it was the same at all. Mine was because of the disruption in our connection, his wasn't."

"I don't know. I know it's not the same, but from what he said, you could draw some parallels. Yours was because you were fighting a bond you still didn't know existed. Maybe his was similar, except he was just trying to fight the bond in general, even if the fight had been subconscious. I mean, I know that the bond thing wasn't the only cause of his…breakdown. I've been around too many battles. I get the pressures that come with the field… just magnify that a million times for him. I'm just sayin' if you mix both your bond and his job - it's like the perfect storm in his head."

"Maybe he was right… I was responsible – the bond was responsible."

"Rinoa," Zell said firmly, "That's not what I meant. Don't ever think that. He was the one that pulled the trigger, even if other factors were involved. I know he's never forgiven himself for what happened."

Rinoa looked over at him curiously. She wanted to see how Zell was doing, really doing.

"Are you… okay with this?"

"Me, you're asking me if I'm okay? I'm not exactly the most directly involved…but to answer your question - yes and no. I understand what happened, but I think I'm having a harder time knowing that he hid it from us. I wish he'd trusted us enough to help him through. I…I also wish you had trusted us enough to keep fighting."

"I know... I made my share of mistakes, believe me I know. I think it was just easier for me to cut everyone out completely than think about what he said. I know that they were only words, but damn it, hearing it from him hurt more than anything I'd ever felt. So…I ran in away. It seems since I became a teenager, that's what I was best at."

"So maybe it's time you stopped running way - not physically, but mentally. Getting back with him wouldn't be the easiest road to follow, but somehow, I think it's the best for both of you." Zell offered her a lopsided grin. "Wait, strike that, I know it's the best for both of you."

It seemed so easy for him to say, yet so hard for her to hear.

"Before tonight, I honestly thought that there may be a chance. But I came to realize, we're two different people who want different things from life. It would never work."

"Yeah…no. Just no." Zell was going to be extremely blunt; he wasn't going to see all this go to waste. "Okay, I get it, you're different, you always were…no big shock there. Now how I see it, you kinda do both want the same thing in life - each other. Rinoa, the guy left a mission to fight for this chance. You're too busy thinking about what you think he wants instead of asking him what he wants. I mean…did you even ask him?"

"…Not in the last day," she hesitantly admitted, looking down at her hands. She tried to find that earlier confidence. "But when I was at the wedding, it came up that he wanted to be headmaster."

"Psssh, yeah…the wedding… " Zell interrupted.

He needed to stop that line of thinking immediately. He was at the same wedding and had a damn good idea that neither Rinoa nor Squall were being the pillar of honesty.

"How 'bout this - at the wedding, I said I that was never going to fall into that trap. I even tried to come up with a list of seventy-five reasons not to get married. And guess what? As soon as I get home, the first thing I'm going to do ask Alex to marry me and never look back."

"Are you serious!?" Rinoa squealed, sounding eerily reminiscent of Selphie. Setting her mug down on the nightstand, she reached over to hug him. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks," he replied sheepishly, also placing his mug down to return the embrace. "After I got shot, I realized just how fragile everything was, even if was just my shoulder. But shit, it hurt damn it. It really hurt!"

They pulled apart as Rinoa continued to smile, glad for the sudden change of topic.

However, Zell also felt it was his civic duty to list the negative aspect about proposing. "You know the worst part? I'll have to face Irvine running around screaming 'I told you so.' He is never, and I mean never, going to let me live this down. Not to mention that he's going to take me for another hundred Gil. That'll teach me to bet… I wagered that I wasn't going to be the next of the group to get married. Ugh, it was stupid. I blame the large amounts of free alcohol consumed."

Rinoa let out a small giggle, Irvine could be relentless. She had endured her fair share of good-natured ribbing from the cowboy. In the past, Zell and Irvine often made pointless bets and, apparently, that hadn't changed one iota.

"Oh sure, now you're laughing. It's all fun and games until someone loses a hundred Gil. But Rin, I think you're kinda missing my earlier point. That day, I may have come up with seventy-five reasons against marriage, but today, I only need one reason to follow through… And guess who said that? I'll give you a hint: he's downstairs."

She remained silent, stunned at his words. It seemed so unlike Squall to say something like that. Then again, it seemed so unlike Squall to buy her an engagement ring in the first place. He was truly an enigma to her – that too hadn't changed one iota.

"Rinoa, the point I'm trying to make is - that day, I said something I didn't mean out of pride. Inside, I knew I'd probably be next, but I didn't want to prove Irvine right so I made a fool's bet… Although I said I never wanted to get married, I do… Likewise, just because Squall said he wanted to be headmaster, he might not. "

Rinoa's earlier thought about being around opinionated males today never rang more true. She just never thought that Zell would be added to that list. She fell backwards onto the bed, placing a pillow over her head.

She finally let out that muffled scream that she'd been holding in. It seemed strangely appropriate given the newfound information.

What Zell was saying pretty much contradicted everything Zone had said, and yet, they both had valid points.

He looked over to her and laughed as the pillow remained on her face.

"Ah yes, now there's the Rinoa that I remember so well."


In the morning, Squall was the first one to wake. This fact was no surprise to anyone. Lying in the bed was pointless; his mind was focused on a thousand things, yet only few of them involved the mission. At that point, he decided it best to get up and find breakfast. He carefully searched the cabinets. Although he had done that few times over his visit, he had never actually attempted cooking. It didn't take long before he found what he needed and decided making both omelets and pancakes.

Strangely, he found that beating the eggs to smithereens was rather therapeutic seeing as actual training was completely out of the question. So he took out his frustrations on both the pancake batter and the eggs. It didn't take long after he started cooking for Zell to come meandering down the stairs. That was pretty par for the course; the martial artist had a penchant for seeking out anything edible. If only that skill proved useful at Garden, Zell would've easily been the number-one ranking SeeD.

Ironically, shortly after the coffee started brewing, Rinoa came down the stairs. The three of them awkwardly finished up what Squall started, preparing the rest of the meal. After they finally had all the food placed on the table, the trio settled into eating their breakfast. Again, the conversation up to that point was a bare minimum, but at least it was civil.

For the first few minutes, there was no talking. It was just random stolen glances. It seemed that nobody wanted to be the first to speak. When the atmosphere was literally making him feel nauseous, Zell decided it best to get back to what the three had started yesterday.

"So what's on the agenda today?"

Squall finished his bite of pancake before answering, "Hopefully Lauren will call soon."

"Does that mean we're leaving once we get the info?" Zell responded curiously.

"I…don't know. Maybe. We really don't have any other leads and we just can't impose on Rinoa's hospitality forever."

Rinoa flinched at his words. She knew that this unlikely arrangement couldn't last forever; she knew she should have been thankful for knowing the truth about Squall. Yet, the thought of Squall and Zell leaving saddened her greatly. She had felt a part of the old team again; she wasn't ready to give that up just yet.

She knew that the SeeDs were sitting around, basically doing nothing today. Although, she tried to convince herself that without her, the two would be most likely just be sitting around in the van doing nothing – plus trying not to kill one another in the process. She also knew that in order to get them to stay, she had to give them a good reason to, well one that had to do with their mission.

"Actually, there is something…" Rinoa began, taking a sip of her orange juice. She paused for a second longer than she needed after she got their attention. This information was either going to be very useful or very irrelevant. It was worth the risk though; maybe this really would keep them around longer, even just a day.

"Zone said something yesterday."

Upon hearing those words, Squall involuntary made a gruff coughing sound. It wasn't intentional, but he could only imagine the things that guy would have to say.

Rinoa shot him a harsh look. It seemed that he wasn't going to let last night die so easily, though she wasn't exactly practicing what she was preaching there.

"Zone said something about the case Squall, about the case," she said irritably in his direction.

"Wait, you were talking about the case with him?" It was Zell who asked. The martial artist was sure Squall would have, if had not been for the fact he was heatedly impaling his pancakes at that point.

"No, no, no…not at all," Rinoa corrected. The last thing, or the next to last thing, she needed was for them to think she would betray their trust. She had just been desperate for conversation with Zone last night, grasping at straws was all she had left.

"I…we just couldn't find anything to talk about during dinner, so I asked if he had heard any rumors around the office."

"Wait, Rin, I think that by definition, it does sound like you were talking about the case." Zell had to point this out although it was meant teasingly.

Rinoa lifted her hands up slightly, mocking surrender. "Okay, okay technically I suppose that could be construed as talking about the case. I'm just saying I didn't mention you guys."

"Hehe, I knew what you meant, but had to do it. Sorry."

"Anyway, Zell…" Rinoa began again shooting a knowing look at the martial artist, "As I was saying, Zone said that he had worked with the first victim in the past or, I should say, worked against him in the past. Apparently, Spinner tried to add a rider on a bill which would allow drilling outside the Monterosa Plateau. The bill Zone was working on was actually dealt with logging and, don't forget, the Plateau was where Spinner was shot in the hunting accident."

"Wait, logging as in trees?"

Rinoa couldn't help but place her face in her hands. She had asked the same rhetorical question last night. Unlike Zone's response to her, she wasn't going to make Zell feel like a damned idiot for saying it. She knew he was basically thinking out loud, as that was the reason that she had said it. She finally looked up and gave her friend a smile.

"Yes, exactly. I just thought that was interesting."

A strange sense of déjà vu overtook the commander. It felt as if he had heard this before, or rather, something similar. He was trying to recall the information; he had absorbed so much over the last week that at times it ran together. Squall retracted into his own little world as the other two continued talking.

"Rin can I ask, as again, I'm clueless about this stuff… what exactly do you mean by a rider?"

"Don't worry. Three years ago, I was likely even more clueless than you." Rinoa smiled at her friend. "A rider is basically something added to a bill that usually has nothing to do with the original subject. For example, let's say I was writing a bill that would give Garden more money for buying weapons…so the bill gets written up. It looks good and people are going to sign it, but at the last minute, Cid adds a line at the bottom that states that from now on, the only thing that can be served in the cafeteria are apples; the money for the weapons have nothing to do with what's served in the cafeteria. So let's say nobody sees the 'additional clause' because they thought it was already final, they sign it, and then surprise…you better like apples…you're going to be eating a whole lot."

"Why would Cid care about apples? That makes no sense… I mean, I know he doesn't care about apples in real life, but I'm talking about in your example."

When Zell was asking the question, Squall stood up and tossed his napkin onto the table. He headed off the direction of the van without so much as an explanation. Zell and Rinoa exchanged a momentary glance at his sudden departure. Although both had seen him act that way in the past, they knew it wasn't personal; he just tended to do things like that when something was on his mind. They both watched as he opened the door to the garage and headed towards the van.

"Uh yeah…see that's the thing," Rinoa finally continued, acting as if nothing had happened, "Say after the law is passed – Garden has their new weapons and you're sick of apples… Later you find out that Cid put in the 'apple rider' because Edea started her own orchard. And guess who Garden buys all their apples from? I mean, that's a loose interpretation, but usually there is something to be gained by the rider, it just may not be evident at the time."

It didn't take long after that for Squall to reemerge from the garage, file in hand. Sitting back down, the commander tossed it onto the table.

"I knew that scenario sounded familiar," Squall began, once again returning to his stern work façade. "It's not exactly the same, but a similar thing happened with Christopher Pegg. I remembered reading that he was with a group that tried to get an up-scale vacation resort built on the Hasberry Coast. It's a protected area - one of the last few breeding places of the red-shelled Adamantoise, which are extremely rare. It almost got passed but, again, someone caught in time."

Rinoa reached for the file. "This can't be a coincidence."

"Ya know, I don't think this just about trees," Zell began as he found himself scratching at his healing shoulder. "I think it's about something that affects nature in general."

Rinoa wanted to ask what possible reason this person would have to go after Squall, but for a moment, she let that rest. At this point, it could have been any number of reasons. It didn't have to be Garden's doing; it just could have been something that they helped a client do - mercenaries don't always ask the right questions.

"Like some sort of eco-terrorism? It's just that whoever it is isn't giving a reason. He's just taking justice into his own hands," she said softly.

"It's subtle," Squall agreed, "but it's looking like we're finding the basis of the guy's agenda."

Zell was trying to work out why they hadn't found this out before. "You know, I did background checks into the stuff they were working on, but they never worked on things together. Still, I never looked into what didn't pass or whatever they tried to sneak in there, I should say. I mean, how do you even look up stuff like that?"

"You really don't." Squall added. "You would have to know what you're searching for. Plus if nothing ever gets put in print, it's hard to find proof. Parts of this could basically by hearsay - the non-finalized bills might never be seen. We may never know."

"But if we did…wouldn't that help figure out who the next victim may be?" Zell questioned.

"The original drafts," Rinoa started slowly, "they never make public record…but if they ran it through the World Council… well they keep all drafts and documenting every change. They would have every version that was drafted. Trust me, they're damn well everybody's business."

"You're right." Squall nodded in agreement. "We would just need to get a look at their records. That could give us some insight."

"So, what are we waiting for?" the martial artist asked with renewed enthusiasm, "Let's pull them up. It'll be awesome if I could officially be out of a coma soon!"

The commander understood his hopefulness, as part of him would rather not be 'dead' much longer.

Rinoa tried to explain, "I wish it were that simple, Zell, I really do. I know how much you want to get home to your family. We would need a password and then have to log into their system first but…"

"Only certain computers are on their server." Squall expanded on Rinoa's explanation. "If any of us could hack it, we may have a chance, but that's not anything that I'm capable of. And as far as I know, neither of you have those particular skills either."

Rinoa still scanned the file in her hand. "We need to get on the computer. We could download the files, but we would need the access."

"Can Lauren do it?" Zell asked.

"She could…" Squall felt extremely awkward about that entire prospect, "but I don't feel comfortable with that at all…for more than one reason."

Squall knew that it was one thing for Lauren to look up 'simple' information for them, but this was a lot more complex. Not to mention that he didn't feel exactly comfortable risking the council poking too deep into this – both his and Zell's life could depend on the secrecy. Also, Squall highly doubted that Garden could keep this line of investigation under wraps. He knew it just needed between the three of them right now, even involving Cid may add unwanted complications. They had to be sure. It just seemed that they had hit a brick wall in their abilities to gather this information.

"…I know a way." Rinoa finally said, although very hesitantly.

"We are not having Zone help us." Squall stated forcefully. He may have irrationally jumped to the conclusion of what she had meant. However, after asking Rinoa to call Lauren, it somehow didn't seem too much of a stretch. "Not happening, Rinoa."

"I wasn't even thinking that," Rinoa shot back angrily. "I was thinking that I could do it. I, actually have access on my work computer, I just avoided logging in. The last thing I need is to deal with that extra crap. I'd just have to go into the office…"

"Wouldn't that raise more questions?" Zell asked.

"Yes. Maybe…I don't know. I was planning to go back anyhow…I just was hoping…"

Somehow, this didn't sit well with Squall. He didn't like relying on others and there was no way he would put this extra stress on her.

"It's too dangerous. If you're found then people are going to ask questions. Zell and I can't risk getting caught, not without making an arrest."

"Wait, what if I go into work after hours? I mean, it's not that hard to get into my office. From there, I just log in and download. Simple. Then I'm out of there. That way, nobody sees me, nobody asks questions. You got to remember this is Timber…we don't have high-end super security. Yes, we have a few cameras here and there, but they're easily avoided."

"You sure?" Squall asked.

It was true the files could be of help, but he still didn't like the idea of Rinoa putting herself on the line.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's not like I wouldn't have a reason to be there if for some reason things went wrong. I…I just want to avoid going in during business hours." In a softer tone she added, "I couldn't deal with Zone anyhow."

"Fine, but I'm going with you." Squall stated assertively. "I can help you get in and out without detection. That's kind of my job."

She couldn't help it, but there was a part of her that was glad he wanted to be there. She always felt more assured when he was around. In a way, she couldn't help but feel slightly proud that she could be truly useful. For once, with Squall, she was the one who had the connections - even it was by mere happenstance that she had them.

Still, this would be the first time he was in her office, in her world. For this part of the mission, they would be playing somewhat opposite roles. Now they just had to find something to kill time until this evening…