Sometimes you could be sitting next to someone, yet feel as if you are miles apart. Why is that? I wonder…

He got up and went back to the tent with pain evident on his face. She sat there alone as tears streamed down from her eyes. They both knew things would never be the same again between them.

It turned out to be a long night as sleep did not come easy to them. They both stayed awake for long, as they tossed and turned silently, neither wanting to speak. Eventually, they succumbed to sleep.

The next day morning, everything felt different. Even though they were together, there was now an invisible wall between them. They each did their guard duties while other bathe in the water stream close by. Their playful banter had all but disappeared from their conversations. Their conversations became crude and to the point.

Luna wore a blue and white dress with a red camisole underneath and white wedge sandals with pink straps. Squall wore a sleeveless black tank top with fingerless gloves, a chain wrapped around his left arm. He wore his standard belt, sash, pants, and boots.

After packing up everything, their journey continued. Squall had mapped out the route for the day to finish his deliveries and take care of remaining errands. The car ride was also extremely quiet. There was heavy awkwardness in the air. They would often steal a glance at each other. But whenever their eyes meet, they quickly looked away.

Last night, they had both decided to fight their urges and temptation so they could fulfill their duty and do what is right. But was that the right choice? Was that the only choice? They used to enjoy each other's company, but now it felt like a burden.

They had limited time with each other and they wanted to make the best out of it. However, being with each other brought them inexpressible joy and unsaid pain at the same time. They could neither hold on to each other nor say their goodbyes.

Whatever was going on between them right now felt wrong, but neither of them had courage to try and make it right.

"Is this how it's going to be, going forward?" Luna broke the silence.

"Yes, and I think it is best this way," he said, ending any further discussion.

Disappointed by such crude reply, she picked up her book and started reading it. Once again, she was trying to immerse herself into the fantasy world in the book so she could forget about her painful reality.

They stopped at Verinas Mart – Ravatogh outpost where Squall filled up the gas and finished his delivery. She just sat in the car reading. It was almost noon, and they had not eaten anything, yet hunger was the last thing on their mind.

Their journey continued in absolute silence. Normally, this kind of silence would be Squall's paradise, but when she was around, this silence felt like hell. How he wished they would go back to the way they were a day ago.

Even though she had her book open, she had barely read a few pages. Her attention was not on the story today. Her mind kept wandering about what went wrong. Did they make the right decision by mutually agreeing to push each other away so they can fulfill their duty? Would everything ever be normal between them again?

Her mind was racing in all directions when she heard a loud plea of help. She put her book down and immediately looked at Squall to confirm if he had heard the same thing. For his part, he applied breaks as soon as he heard a voice pleading for help. He reversed the car until they were close to the source of sound to investigate.

"Help me, please. Somebody, help us, please," yelled a desperate voice.

They both got out of the car and saw a couple underneath a tree off the side of the road. The lady saw Squall first and said, "Oh, kind Sir, can you please help us?"

"What happened?" Squall asked, noticing the man next to her lying limp on the ground.

"Can you please give us a ride to the train station? We need to go to Tenebrae to see the Oracle," the lady pleaded.

Lunafreya who was behind Squall rushed forward upon hearing that, "What is the matter, madam?"

"My husband, he was infected with Starcourge recently and his body is decaying very rapidly, and we need Oracle's blessing to cure him of his ailment. My brother heard rumors that Lady Lunafreya is still alive," the lady said in one breath.

"The rumors are true. I am Oracle Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. May I see him?" she asked, after introducing herself.

"You are the Oracle? You are alive?" the lady said with surprise. "Could the Gods be so kind as to send the lady Lunafreya to us?" She couldn't believe her luck.

"God is always merciful to those who are obedient to him," Lunafreya said, kneeling next to her husband.

"Thank you, Lady Lunafreya. You are a Godsend," she said, joining her hands. "Oh, where are my manners? I did not even introduce myself. I am Flo and this is my husband Dobe."

"It's nice to meet both of you," Lunafreya greeted them.

Dobe tried to push himself up but was too weak to do that. Squall rushed to his aid and helped him sit up. Lunafreya examined his decay; his face was heavily covered in dark blotches.

"Please, set your heart at rest. I shall do everything within my power to ease your suffering," Lunafreya reassured Dobe.

"Lady…Lunafr…" Dobe wanted to say more but couldn't.

As Lunafreya holds the Dobe's hands, yellow light begins emanating from between their hands. She gently sets his hands down on his lap, then places her hands on either side of his head and touches her forehead to his. The same yellow light as before emanates from where their foreheads meet.

Squall had heard about Oracle's healing, but this was the first time he was seeing it.

"Blessed Stars of life and light, deliver us from darkness' blight," she said, as the blotches disappear from the man's face, much to his wonder and amazement.

"That is all I can do for now. You shall recover your health in a matter of days," she said, looking at the Dobe.

"It's gone," Flo said in amazement, watching the dark blotches disappear in front of her eyes.

"God bless you, Lady Lunafreya," Dobe said, after recovering some of his strength.

"This is the least I could have done to ease your suffering," she stated humbly.

"Oh, Lady Lunafreya, how can we ever repay for your kindness?" Flo said, taking Lunafreya's hand in hers.

"There is no need to repay me. I am just doing my duty as an Oracle," she played it down.

"Lady Lunafreya, we live close by, won't you come to our home and have a meal with us?" Flo proposed.

"No, we need to go," Squall interjected before Lunafreya could reply. Lunafreya angrily glared at him.

"Please, I insist. Have lunch with us and then you can be on your way. It would mean a lot to us," Dobe chimed in.

"I guess we could make some time," Lunafreya replied unsurely.

"Oh, thank you, that is music to my ears," Flo thanked her, grabbing her hand.

"Come this way, please," instructed Flo, leading the way.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Squall protested, grabbing Lunafreya's hand and pulling her aside.

"Why not?" she asked.

"We shouldn't stay in one place for too long. Also, we don't even know these people and you want to walk into their home? What if they alert the Empire?" he cast his doubts.

"Why would they? We just helped them and out of gratitude they are inviting us to their house," she argued.

"Under normal circumstances, this would be the rational thought. But when you are on the run, you always work with the worst-case scenario," he asserted, as his military training took over his thought process.

"We will be fine," she reassured.

"You are too trusting. That can be very dangerous," he pointed out bluntly.

"I'd rather be betrayed for trusting someone too much than have the regret of not trusting someone enough," she said with conviction.

"You are so naïve," he replied with frustration.

The hostility between them continued as they quickly made their way. The couple welcomed them gleefully and offered them to relax. Dobe was still recovering, so he went to his bedroom to take a quick nap. Flo went to the kitchen to prepare food, leaving Squall and Lunafreya alone in the living room. They both sat there awkwardly until Lunafreya left to help out in the kitchen.

It was a nice and cozy house. Squall noticed that there were no pictures of their family or kids, which he found strange. There was a medal of distinction displayed in the showcase. It had the words Aki etched into it.

Squall sat in the living room watching the news. His mind wandered all over the place, covering the topics of Starscourge, Lunafreya, Noctis, Astrals and so on.

The door suddenly flung open and a middle-aged man entered the house. The man was surprised to see a stranger in his living room. He immediately asked, "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"I am Squall. A traveler. Dobe and Flo invited me over," he replied calmly, looking at the man.

Flo rushed out from the kitchen. "Oh Aki, it's you." She looked at Squall and continued, "He is my cousin brother, Aki. He recently moved here, so he is still looking for a place. He is staying with us for now and is currently working at the diner nearby."

"Flo, I thought you had left for Tenebrae to see the Oracle," Aki remarked, surprised to see her still at home.

"We were going there, but the Gods had mercy on us and send Lady Lunafreya to us," Flo said, pointing at Lunafreya who had walked out of the kitchen to check out the commotion.

"Lady Lunafreya is here?" he gasped, completely taken back by surprise.

"Yes, and she cured Dobe too. I can't believe my luck," Flo said beaming.

"Yes, I can't believe my luck either," Aki professed. "It's an honor to meet you, Lady Lunafreya," he added, with a slight bow.

"Pleasure is mine," she replied courteously.

"Where is Dobe?" Aki asked.

"He is resting in his room," Flo replied.

"I am so glad he is cured of this blighted curse," Aki added with a smile.

"Me too," replied Flo. "Why don't you get fresh? The food is almost ready."

"Perfect," Aki replied, and made his way to his room.

In the confinement of his room, his darkness came out. 'I had infected Dobe with Starscourge so him and Flo would be gone and I can take over this house. But stupid Lunafreya had to stick her nose in my business and ruined everything. Now I will ruin her.'

He picked up his phone and called someone. "Hello, Commander Norg. I can confirm the sighting and location of the Oracle. I am sending you coordinates now."

"Well done Aki. You truly are the epitome of Niflheim citizens."

There was a brief silence on the phone which Aki presumed was from Commander Norg reviewing the coordinated he had just sent. "It will take us about 30 minutes to get there. Keep the Oracle occupied till then," instructed Commander Norg.

"Yes, Sir, I'll do as you command," replied Aki.

"If we capture the Oracle today, then you will be rewarded generously. You are soon to become a very rich man," enticed Norg.

"Thank you, for your kindness, Sir."

"We are on our way now," Norg declared, before hanging up the phone.

Once the food was ready, they enjoyed their meal making small talks. Squall noticed that Aki looked at his watch every few minutes. Something about Aki seemed familiar to Squall, yet something about him felt off. Suddenly, Aki's phone went off. He fumbled in his pocket and took it out.

"Aki, you know the rule. No phone calls on the dining table," Flo scolded Aki.

Aki looked at the number and hung up. "Sorry, sister."

Squall had taken a quick look at his phone to see who was calling. It said an unknown number which made Squall more suspicious.

"Aki, how did you get that medal of distinction?" Squall asked, interrupting the ongoing conversation between Lunafreya and Flo. Lunafreya was surprised to see Squall initiating a conversation.

"Oh, it's um." He struggled to make a coherent sentence. "It's it's not a big deal. I'd rather not talk about it," he stammered.

"Oh, don't be modest. Tell them Aki of your feet at Niflheim," Flo encouraged.

"Neiflhelm?" Lunafreya said, alarmed.

"Let's not talk about the past. I want to learn more about our esteemed guest Lady Lunafreya," Aki tried diverting the subject.

Within the blink of an eye, Squall summoned his gunblade and pointed it directly at his throat.

Dobe yelled, getting up from his chair. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Sit." His voice was like a lion's roar. No one dared to move. "Give me your phone."

Aki did not oblige, so Squall pushed his gunblade close enough for it to brush against Aki's skin. "Now."

Aki handed him the phone and Squall checked the phone log and timestamp on it. One of the calls was made after he came home, "Who did you call?"

"My my my girlfriend," he stammered.

"Then you don't mind if we call her, do you?" Without waiting for his permission, Squall dialed the number.

"Aki, is Lunafreya still thee? We are five minutes away from your current location," said the voice on the line.

Squall quickly muted his phone. "Your girlfriend sounds very manly. Tell me who is it or will cut your throat."

"It's a friend of mine who wants to meet Lady Lunafreya," he stammered again.

"Aki, say something. Are you okay? Does she know that we are coming for her?" asked the voice on the phone.

Squall picked up on an engine like noise in the background. He quickly realized that it was the sound of the airship. "Your friend travels in an airship?"

Squall hung up the phone and grazed his gunblade against his neck, making a small cut. Lunafreya and everyone else watched in horror as none dared to speak. The blood started dripping slowly from the cut. "Tell me everything or you'll never speak again."

"I alerted commander Norg of Niflheim that the Oracle is here. They are coming to get her. It was the magic that created all these problems, but with Niflheim's technology, we don't need to rely on magic anymore. Our science and technology will usher us into a new dawn. You people are what's holding us back. Long live the Empire. I will-" he never got to finish his sentence as he fell off the chair unconscious. One punch from Squall to his head knocked him out cold.

"Come on, we need to go," he instructed Lunafreya and they both made their dash towards the door.

Lunafreya briefly stopped by the door to look at Dobe and Flo. Dobe had his eyes cast down in shame while Flo had tears flowing in her. "I am sorry," was all Flo could say before Lunafreya disappeared from the sight.

Squall and Lunafreya dashed towards their car. They could hear the noise of the airship engine closing in on them. Squall looked at the airship and noticed that it was the dropship. He had solace in knowing that it was not a dreadnought with missile launching capabilities. Squall jumped into the car and started the car, while Lunafreya sat in the passenger seat and buckled up. The airship was right above them. Squall floored the gas paddle, and the car took off. The road they drove on was curvy, which made it difficult to outrun the airship as it could follow them on the straight path in the air.

"I don't think we can outrun them," Squall concluded solemnly.

"I am sorry. I should have trusted your judgment," she admitted her mistake.

"It's okay," he said, before slamming the brakes.

He got out of the car ready to fight. Lunafreya too followed him reluctantly. It was strange, usually they ran from the Empire, but here they were waiting for them.

The ship opened its hanger and a platoon of soldiers jumped out of it. As soon as they landed, Squall plowed through them with incredible speed, launching a preemptive strike. He swung his sword with unmatched ferocity.

She had seen him fight many times before, but something felt different today. He fought with a rage; unlike anything she had seen in him before. He was fighting like a man possessed. He barely needed her help as he finished off soldiers one after another.
While she was focused on him, she did not notice that a Magitek Armor (MA) had landed behind her. It moved swiftly and picked her up effortlessly in a metallic claw-like arm. She screamed, immediately drawing Squall's attention.

"Stop it right now," commanded the voice from the MA. "I am commander Norg and I have the Oracle in my clutches. Surrender now."

Squall corked his head, looking at the MA. He noticed something moving behind him, and swirled around his gunblade, decapitating the MT cleanly.

"I told you to surrender," yelled the voice from MA.

Squall broke off a limb of another MT in retaliation.

"Squall, help me," Lunafreya screamed, squirming in the clutch.

The other arm of the MA which had a chainsaw attached to it activated, sending sparks around the chainsaw. "You did not listen to me, so now listen to her screams."

"Stop it," Squall said, with fury in his eyes.

"Are you willing to trade your life for her?"

"No," Squall hissed. "But, I am willing to trade your life for her."

Squall's eyes were blood red with rage. "Let her go else I will tear out each and every limb of yours."

"Hahahah you are but a man challenging my machine?" laughed Norg with amusement. "Watch the terror of my machine." The chainsaw rotated on its axis, sending sparks all around.

Squall was onto him with a Renzokuken even before Norg could move his arm close to Lunafreya. Slash after slash Squall broke off appendages of the magitek armor. One of those slices broke off its arm, which was holding Lunafreya. After six slashes he followed it up with Rough Divide. He charges forward and sliced the MA with a diagonal upwards cut, causing an explosion.

He pulled out Norg from his armor by his collar and dragged him on the road. He grabbed him by his hair and started punching him. "You tried to hurt Lunafreya," he bellowed, and proceeded to punch him three more times. Norg was bleeding from his nose and mouth profusely. "You put your damn hands on Lunafreya. Which hand was it? Was it this one?" he hollers, grabbing his left hand and twisting it sickeningly in one swift motion. Norg screamed in pain as the puddle of blood started forming around him. He grabbed his hair and started punching him again relentlessly. His scream of anguish rising to a deafening level with each blow he received. Lunafreya grabbed Squall's hand just as he was about to punch him again. He wriggled his arm out from her grip and punched Norg again.

"Stop it, Squall. Please, stop it," she pleaded.

Her words fell on deaf ears as he continued to pummel him. "Squall, stop this madness. You are scaring me," she implored, almost in tears. She could have sworn that she saw a red aura emanating from Squall's Griever ring and pendant.

Squall snapped out from his rage when he heard her plea. Lunafreya healed Norg and stormed off towards the car. Squall reluctantly followed her.

Ardyn watching this show from a distance was ecstatic to see this display. "I am so happy to see that he still has that rage within him. With proper motivation, I am sure I can bring Griever out once again. Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

Their car ride continued, and no words were spoken for at least 20 minutes. The silence in the car was to such an extent that they could hear each other's breath.

"I am sorry," he said sincerely.

"It's okay," she replied, without looking at him.

"I am not in the right state of mind," he confessed.

"Me neither," she said with a sigh.

Silence followed and awkwardness continued.

"It is very quiet," she said after a few minutes, trying to break the deafening silence between them.

"Just the way I like it," he stated coldly.

For the first time, she got to experience what other people feel when they are with Squall. Every time she looked at him, she found a frown plastered on his face. Whenever their eyes meet, he just stared at her with empty eyes. He seems cold, distant, and unempathetic. This was the version of Squall she did not like very much.

"He could have died," Lunafreya finally spoke up. That fight still replayed in her head.

"He deserved it," Squall replied coldly, without any remorse.

That callous response engaged Lunafreya. "Since when did you become God? Who gave you the right to pass judgment on who deserves what?"

"He put your hands on you, that was reason enough," he replied monotonously, keeping his eyes on the road.

"You had released me from his grip and that was enough. You did not have to kill him," she retaliated.

"I did what was best for us," he stated coldly.

"Oh, don't give me that carp. You did not beat him up because it was best for me. You did it because you want to. You wanted to take out your frustrations on him," she fired back.

"It's a cruel world out there. It's kill or be killed. Since someone is naïve enough not to keep a low profile, I had to beat him up enough, so he is unable to report and alert the Empire. And you were stupid enough to go heal him. Now it's only a matter of time before the Empire catches up to us," Squall shot back after having heard enough from her.

"Okay, I am stupid. I care about people even if it puts me in danger," she yelled.

"You are such a princess. Always believing whatever you think is right and all other perspectives are wrong. We could have died because of your kindness and yet you fail to see that," his anger was evident in his tone.

"It is so ironic that you would say that and still fail to even acknowledge your mistake that you went too far with him. Don't you feel remorse? Don't you have a heart?"

"You don't survive on a battlefield with your feelings. You survive by being ruthless. Your kindness is a virtue in the world, but it's a weakness on the battlefield."

"But this is who I am. If you don't like who I am or the way I do things, then you may leave. I have not obligated you to accompany me on this journey."

"You don't want me to accompany you? Fine, why don't you try it? You will be dead by the sunset."

"I'd rather be dead than be a cold-blooded monster like you. You are nothing like Noctis. You will never replace him," she said, on the verge of breaking into tears.

Her words cut him deep. It would definitely leave a scar on his heart. It took her a couple of seconds to register what she had just said. She immediately realized her mistake and apologized. "I am sorry. I didn't mean that."

"How can people say something and then claim that they did not mean it? I never understood that," he said, running his hand through his hair.

"Look, I am sorry," she said once again, casting her eyes down in shame.

"Nothing to be sorry about. You are right. I am cold-blooded, remorseless and ruthless. That sounds a lot like a monster," he said monotonously, as if he was stating the most obvious thing ever.

"No, please don't say that, you nothing like that. I have seen the softer side of you. You are caring, compassionate, and kind," she said, trying to correct her earlier mistake.

"Hahaha, I think you are describing your Noctis right there," he scoffed, with a heavy emphasis on the word 'your.' Before Lunafreya could say anything he quickly changed the subject, "Speaking of his Highness, has he defeated Titan yet?"

"No, but Gentiana said that he is in Lestallum now so it is only a matter of time."

"Good," he said and then extended his arm to turn on the radio and put on a new station so he doesn't have to talk.

Author's Notes:

Four more FFVIII characters were revealed in this chapter.

The answer from the last chapter: In FFVIII there is Karen's Store in Esthar. 'Tantalus Theater Troupe,' 'Wishing Upon A Star,' and 'I Want to Be Your Canary' and Lord Avon: are all references from FF9.

Please leave a comment if you've enjoyed the story so far. I would love to hear your thoughts. Or at least say 'Hi' so I know you are reading this. Thanks :)