*Disclaimer and other notes*
Final Fantasy VIII characters are all property of Squaresoft. This Fanfic is for my personal enjoyment and anyone else out there who's a big Squall/Rinoa romantic sap. Please don't post it on any webpage without first notifying me (soujiro_no_miko@hotmail.com)! Thank you and I hope you enjoy my little tribute to the masterpiece that is FFVIII!
Chapter 5- Awakening
The glow of morning touched the distant hills, and everyone could
see it would be a beautiful day from the windows of the infirmary.
However, the atmosphere of the room lay intensely silent, as it had been
for most of the night following the Seifer ordeal.
Arrogant as usual, Seifer had waltzed into the Garden holding a kidnapped
Rinoa in his arms and announced to everyone that he was in essence, "A
hero."
Of course, that is now how Squall saw it at all. And several
hours later, with Seifer, Fuujin, and Raiijin "incapacitated" in the Garden
Security office on charges of first degree murder and kidnapping.
Everyone was eagerly awaiting the moment when Rinoa would open her eyes,
and hopefully clear up a few questions to this mystery that was unfolding.
"Assassins from Galbadia…" Quistis repeated Seifer's words again.
She, Selfie, Zell, and Irvine were positioned around the infirmary looking
grim. Rinoa lay on the bed like sleeping beauty with her hands folded
over the covers and her shiny black hair spread out evenly over the pillow
like a black velvet curtain. The wings she used for costume were
still in place; they spread out to either side of her shoulders. The tips
of the feathers just extended beyond the edges of either sides of the bed.
Selfie unconsciously was running her fingers over one of the white feathers
again and again, and seemed to be staring off into nowhere. Squall
was positioned in the seat directly next to Rinoa, silently brooding.
" I can't believe this…" he finally muttered. " this is
some kind of nightmare…"
" Why would anyone want t kill Rinoa?" Selfie whispered, shaking
her head.
" …" More silence. Dr. Kadowaki entered the room, relieving
the nightly nurse from her duties. She blanched at the sight of the
five friends still hovering around the sleeping for of Rinoa.
"You kids…" Five blank faces slowly looked up at her.
The doctor shook her head emphatically and gestured towards the door. "
You have been awake and by her side all night! I think it's about time
you all went and got some sleep. Don't worry about Rinoa, I'll take good
care of her here!"
" …" Everyone exchanged glances, but no one gave any sign of
moving from their seat. It was an unspoken unanimous reply.
They weren't going to move until she woke up. Squall gently lifted
one of Rinoa's hands and squeezed it tightly; her wrists were so tiny,
her fingers so delicate. He couldn't believe that this fragile, beautiful
creature was really the vibrant, strong, energetic woman he'd fallen completely
head over heels for. He looked over at Quistis, a question poised
on his lips, " What are they going to do to Seifer for all this?"
Quistis sighed. " He, Fuujin and Raiijin are being detained at
the Security Office on charges of first degree murder and kidnapping… At
least until Rinoa wakes up. I figure if Seifer is telling the truth,
she's the only one who can testify for him. If he was telling the
truth, I suppose he'd be considered a hero…"
Squall scowled. "He killed two people! Isn't that enough reason
to lock him up for good?"
" You don't really hate Seifer that much, do you Squall? You
want to see him locked up?" Quistis looked at him shocked. Squall
turned his face away from her, his mouth set in a hard frown. He
looked down at Rinoa for a moment, a look of hard concentration on his
face.
" I… I guess that…"
Everyone was perfectly still, watching and waiting for an answer.
" I guess that… I don't really hate him… I mean, we've been together
since we were kids, it's just that…" His voice rose now with frustration,
his free hand tightened into a fist, " … that he… he… if anything had happened
to Rinoa… and he could have prevented it… he didn't have to go and pull
such a stunt!! I…"
" That's enough Squall…" Quistis put a hand on his clenched fist.
He looked over at her, his face relaxed reluctantly. " You don't
have to say anymore, we understand how you feel."
" Even if is a hero, he didn't have to kidnap Rinoa… he could have
just told us about the assassins and we could have handled it!" Squall
muttered angrily.
" No way, you think we would have listened to him? Let's face it…"
Irvine sat back in his chair; he took off his hat and ran his fingers through
his disheveled hair. " We've treated him like crap…"
Everyone but Squall nodded in reluctant agreement. Squall kept
his eyes glued to Rinoa's sleeping face. It may be easy for them
to forgive Seifer for all his wrongdoings…but it would be much harder for
Squall too. He wasn't going to let Seifer take a place in his life
again so easily.
" But don't forget about the Assassin's…" Selfie interjected.
Zell, who stood up quickly and started to punch the air in agitation,
broke the tension. "If you ask me this is ALL a plot! He set up those assassins
somehow, and got her out so he could come back like some kinda savior just
when things looked their worst! Don't you think?"
Irvine stood up next, and began to pace the room. "No no…
it just doesn't make sense…"
" What doesn't?" Zell asked annoyed. " It's a good theory!"
" No… not that… Just… I'm thinking about the Galbadian spies.
If they really came to assassinate Rinoa, this must have been some real
undercover work on behalf of the new President, or Rinoa's dad would have
found out about it and warned us ahead of time. He may be general
for the Galbadian Army, but he would never allow for such a plot to be
carried out against his own daughter!"
" That new President… he must be a real slime ball politician
to be able to tiptoe around the military and get such a plan in action."
Quistis muttered. " And when he was elected, he spoke of uniting all the
Gardens! Does he want to start a war with us? He knows that if he messes
with Squall's umm…" Quistis paused and swallowed nervously, she had recently
convinced herself that she was over Squall, but it was still hard sometimes
to come to terms with the fact that he and Rinoa were an undeniable item.
But everyone was watching her; she had to just spit it out… " …With
his girlfriend… and therefore, would be provoking the very man who defeated
Ultimecia… And not just Squall, all of us for that matter would be forced
into getting involved! "
Irvine sighed, " We're in a bad place right now… Four of Galbadia's
people were killed by Balamb Garden Ex-students'. We have no proof that
they were sent to kill Rinoa… for all we know Seifer could have plotted
it from square one. But we have to announce their deaths sooner or
later to Galbadia… This could start some serious conflict…" He folded his
arms across his chest and frowned, " As if there hasn't been enough friction
between Galbadia Garden and Balamb in the past!"
" We can't accuse Galbadia of anything without evidence…" Selfie
muttered.
" Evidence?!" Zell's voice rose a little in frustration, everyone
turned to watch him as he stood, feet shoulder width apart and hands fisted
at his sides. " EVIDENCE? I'll give you evidence! Those four Galbadian
agents penetrated into Garden without permission, had fake ID's, masqueraded
as Balamb SeeD's… We can at least accuse them of espionage, if not
attempted murder!"
"…That's something for the prosecution." Quistis nodded.
Squall scowled. " What's the use in all this guessing? There's
only one way to get to the bottom of this…" Everyone looked at him as he
stood up, gently let go of Rinoa's hand, and began to walk towards the
door of the Infirmary. " I'm gonna go ask Seifer some questions…"
" Squall! What if he doesn't cooperate?" Quistis stood up to
follow him, but Irvine stopped her with an upraised hand. Squall
didn't answer; he stiffly opened the door and walked out of the room without
a second glance.
" Let him cool off…" he said softly. " He's really stressed
right now."
A few moments of silence passed, and then Dr. Kadowaki once again,
but with more persistence, politely asked everyone to follow Squalls example
and leave so the patient could rest in peace.
*****
" Are you SURE?" Squall was massaging his temples with both index
fingers. He sat face to face with Seifer in Balamb Garden's Security
Headquarters. Seifer, Fuujin, and Raiijin had been locked up in what looked
to be a Faculty meeting room. One very long table spanned the length of
the room, there were chairs littered on all sides and a few couches at
the far end. Fuujin and Raiijin lounged on the couches watching the
two archenemies doing their best to act civilized. Balamb Garden didn't
have any sort of jail, but was heading on its way towards Balamb, where
the three rebels would be put in a more traditional facility until legal
matters could be dealt with. At least, that was the current plan
of action.
Seifer rolled his head back and laughed.
"What's so funny?" Squall gave him an icy glare.
" You… how many times do I have to say it to get you to believe
me?"
Squall's glare just intensified, Seifer's smile reluctantly vanished,
and he hung his head with a loud sigh.
" Geez… YES… I'm absolutely positively sure. They were
sent to kill Rinoa, or…well… detain her long enough so that she could be
brought back to Galbadia… then kill her there…"
" Ugh—" Squall puts his head in his hands again. Seifer looked
like he was thoroughly enjoying watching his nemesis in the throes of anxiety.
" You don't take stress well do you buddy?" He smirked.
" Shut up." Was Squalls muffled reply.
" I don't even know why I should be talking to you at all… I
risk my own neck to get rid of the assassins, and save the girl, only to
have me and my posse get put into custody. I should have YOUR ass
tried for false arrest!"
Squall looked up with narrowed, angry eyes. " You're lucky
my gun blade hasn't made contact with your head yet for all the stunts
you've pulled…"
" Well, may I remind you—"
"—don't."
Seifer ran a hand through his hair, fingering the bump he'd received
from his encounter with Squall two days ago, then sat back in his chair,
looking calm. " Ask your girlfriend when she wakes up. I'm a hero,
I'll make you admit it by the end of all this, you'll see…"
" …" Squall opened his mouth to reply, but was cut short by an
urgent sound of keys unlocking the meeting room's door. Everyone looked
up as Xu popped her head through the doorway.
" Xu?" Squall stood up, she seemed to be very pale and her mouth
quivered, as if she was on the verge of tears. " What's wrong?" His
eyes widened as a horrifying thought hit him… " Rinoa!! Is she—"
" –No." Xu cut him off quickly, and then took a deep breath.
" She's okay, for the moment… umm… there's something I need to discuss
with you, as soon as possible." Her eyes flitted over to Seifer, but quickly
went back to Squall. Seifer looked just as confused as Squall did.
Raijin was fast asleep on the couch; Fuujin quickly kicked him to wake
up.
" OUCH! What was that for?" Raijin protested.
" QUIET!" Fuujin stated, then gestured across the room to the
scene that was unfolding.
Squall started towards the door, temporarily forgetting his quarrel
with Seifer. "What is it?"
" Well… " Xu glanced at Seifer again. Squall got the hint and
left the room, closing the door behind him.
Seifer walked over to the closed door and leaned against it,
trying to hear what they were talking about.
" What's the problem, Xu?"
" We found the Galbadians' bunks in the SeeD dormitory.
We found… some interesting paperwork…"
" Paperwork?"
He noticed the large folder she was carrying, Xu handed it over
to Squall, who flipped open the cover and began to sort through the contents.
Meanwhile, Seifer, Fuujin, and Raiijin were all leaning against
the door with ears pressed against the hard wood.
" Can you hear anything?" Seifer asked.
" NEGATIVE." Fuujin responded.
" Me neither…" Raijin admitted. Seifer pushed them away
from the door in frustration.
" Stop crowding me!"
Back with Xu and Squall. Xu folded her arms as Squall sorted
through the contents of the folder. " I took the liberty of looking
through it a bit, there's detailed descriptions of you, Quistis, Zell,
Irvine, Selfie, and most of all Rinoa… a comprehensive map of the Garden…
and that last document you should find very interesting…"
Squall found a thick packet of papers at the very back of the
stack, his eyes widened as he began to browse through it.
Xu's voice was shaking. "They somehow weaseled their way into our confidential
archives…These files detail the entire report on the defeat of Sorceress
Ultimecia, all documentation of the sorceresses power, abilities, strengths,
weakness… everything about the Sorceress wars…and…"
" …And the mission guidelines…" Squall finished. Throughout his
exploration of the contents of the folder, his face had changed from surprise,
to frustration, to confusion, and now registered fear. " My God,
they WERE going to assassinate Rinoa… Seifer was telling the truth!"
" That's not all, we have four bodies on our hands right now… but…"
Squall saw what she was talking about in an instant. " But according
to this, there are FIVE assassins!"
" Which means, one is still loose in the Garden…"
Squall stuffed the papers back into the folder and turned towards the
door, swearing under his breath.
Suddenly, as if on queue, an alarm in the Security Headquarters sounded.
They both jumped in surprise as one of the burgundy clad Garden Officers
hurried out of an adjacent room and ran behind the main desk to check the
alarm. Squall was in his face in an instant.
"What's wrong?" He demanded.
" Someone pushed the panic button in the infirmary…" The Officer said,
speedily running his hands over the multicolored control panel. " I'll
send someone down immediately sir, don't be alarmed… huh?" But when the
officer looked up from his work, Squall and Xu were already gone.
****
Doctor Kadowaki had just finished brewing a hot cup of tea when a tall,
athletic man walked into the infirmary. He wore the uniform of a
high-ranking SeeD, and had the distinct look of a foreigner by way of his
unusually light gray eye color, and flaming red, unruly looking hair. He
was limping slightly, and cradled what looked to be an injured arm. The
doctor arched an eyebrow, she thought she knew all the students in the
Garden; maybe he was a new transfer.
"May I help you, sir?"
He spoke with an accent from the far north. " Yes, I injured
myself in the training center, do you have a potion?"
The doctor set her teacup down on her desk and walked around to face
the young man. " May I see your injury?"
" Oh, it's just a scratch…really…" He admitted, extending his arm towards
her. There was no visible rip in the fabric, confused, she rolled
up his sleeve.
"What is this… I don't see--*gasp*" Dr. Kadowaki didn't even have the
time to scream as his extended arm and, in a flash, caught her by the throat.
" I'm sorry, I have nothing against you, Doctor." He lifted her up
off the ground easily, "But I have pressing business with one of your patients…
"
Her eyes were wide with panic as she tried to mouth the words for 'help.'
The man continued to hold her suspended about one foot from the ground.
Closing his eyes, he laughed and threw her against the far wall.
The doctor slammed full impact and slid to the ground, coughing and gasping
for breath.
" Stay there." He ordered. " If you move, I WILL kill you."
" Not if I kill you first…" came a woman's voice from behind him.
The red-haired man spun around in surprise to see that Rinoa had snuck
out of bed and was standing poised right behind him.
" WHA—"
He couldn't say much else before her fist met with his face.
He staggered backwards surprised, clutching his broken nose. Blood
pored down the front of his face. Rinoa wasted no time in running
towards the Infirmaries intercom system. The Security panic button
was on the wall in red right next too it.
" Bitch…" He growled, as he saw what she was reaching for. Like
a flash of lightning, he moved with the speed of a skilled martial artist
and intercepted her, grabbing her wrist he spun her over his arm and landed
her hard on the ground, face down, he pinned her arm behind her and twisted
it in an awkward but painful position. Rinoa screamed, she was powerless
to even struggle.
He laughed softly and leaned over to whisper in her ear. " Come
with me quietly, sorceress…and I won't break your arms…"
Cheek hard pressed against the ground, Rinoa closed her eyes, a tear
rolled down her cheek, and slid off the ridge of her nose. She made a fist
with the hand that was pinned behind her. " You… bastard…"
" Such harsh language for a lady..." He taunted. " Maybe after I'm
through with you, I'll have my fun killing your boyfriend... then the lady
with the blonde hair... Her names... Quistis? And then--"
" Shut- up!"
Anger started to boil within her. How dare he hurt Dr. Kadowaki,
how DARE he threaten her life… how dare he threaten the lives of her friends!!
" Awww... I'm soooo scared!" His voice was dangerously soft; she clenched
her teeth as he nibbled slightly on her ear. " I can see why Squall
likes you though, you do have a certain passion about you!"
" Get off me... I'm warning... you..." There was something inside
of her, it was hard to pinpoint what it was, an emotion? It was growing
larger, she felt like it would burst.
" I know... ALL about you..." he continued, disregarding her warning.
" I know that your favorite food is Unagi Sushi, you're favorite color
is blue..."
" Shut--"
"You secretly pig out on midnight snacks, and you read trashy romance
novels..."
"Up--" The feeling inside of her was growing stronger and stronger...
she could barely suppress it. It was horribly uncomfortable, Rinoa
just wanted to scream.
"You hate it when people try to undermine your independence... You're
secret fantasy? To run away with Squall to that sweet little flower garden
and make wild, passionate sex..."
" SHUT UP!" The tension building inside of her burst forth in electric
sparks of energy. The redheaded assassin fell back in shock at the
sudden surge of power from within her.
Anger started to boil within her. How dare he hurt Dr. Kadowaki,
how DARE he threaten her life… how dare he!!
The red-haired man noticed a strange chi that was gathering within
her. A unique power that he had only been warned about. The
ultimate power of a sorceress…Realizing he had to act fast, he reached
inside his SeeD uniform and pulled out a jagged knife.
Rinoa's eyes were glowing with a strong light now. A magical
wind picked up and swirled around them both, her hair flew about her face.
The assassin raised his knife, ready to plunge it into her neck, but just
as he began the downward thrust, an unseen force kept his arm from moving
any further than a few inches.
" WHAT TH—" He cried exasperated, fighting with all his strength.
He lost his grip on Rinoa's restrained arm. The girl, no longer pinned
down, looked back at him. One glance sent a powerful blast of energy
directly in his direction. Blasted against the wall, he smashed fully
into the Infirmaries red panic button. The alarm sounded throughout
the garden.
Dr. Kadowaki watched in horror as Rinoa floated up off the ground like
a ghost and turned to face her assailant. Her eyes glowed a dangerous yellow
hue; she smiled maniacally, as if possessed.
" P…Please…" The man fell to his knees, dropping the knife. "
I surrender! Please! I'm sorry! I'm—" He groveled before her and she floated
over him menacingly. Rinoa's sinister expression did not falter,
however, and she held out her hand, pointing one finger towards him.
With a voice that sounded far from human, she echoed the spell for summoning
the fierce Water serpent GF, Leviathan.
The assassin watched in horror as the apparition took form before
him, with a final scream of terror, he was swept into an ocean of oblivion.
As the last of the magical water cleared, the door to the infirmary
burst open. Squall stumbled into the room, Gun blade in hand, followed
by Quistis, Irvine, Selfie, Zell, and Xu.
" RINOA! Huh?" Squall almost tripped over his own feet at the
sight he beheld. Rinoa was floating in the air, a strange electric
energy crackling around her; she turned her fierce glowing eyes upon him.
" Impudent SeeD's…" Her voice sounded eerily familiar. Everyone
watched with open mouths, too stunned to do anything but stare. "
Along with that man, I shall send you ALL to oblivion!"
" Rinoa…" Squall took a step forward.
" The little girl you call Rinoa is no longer here…" The eerie voice
cut through the air like a knife.
Quistis stepped forward, stopping beside Squall. "…Sorceress…?"