When Rinoa entered the radio tower she saw it was full of injured people. Caraway had ordered the wounded to be brought to HQ, since when the HQ would fall, everything'd be messed up anyway. The first person that talked to her was Dr. Kadowaki, who had arrived to help the army docters and the docters that had fled the hospital when it was attacked by monsters.When she saw Rinoa she startled. "Rinoa? You're an absolute mess girl."
Rinoa shugged. She had several partly healed wounds on her body and she felt like she could sleep for a year. "No matter, where's Squall?"
The medic smiled. "I see, right this way Ms. Heartlilly"
"Mrs. Heartlilly" Rinoa giggled, despite her tiredness. Squall was allright! She was startled when she saw him. His head was bandaged, his left leg and his right arm were in bandages and his torso was also invisible behind the bandages. "SQUALL!" She heard barking., Angelo was laying behind Squall on a mat on the floor, and in contradiction to the standards for military infirmaries. "ANGELO." Angeloo looked as bad as Squall, with his two hind legs clearly immobilized, one of his eyes covered with a large bandage.
Squall looked tired. "Ri...Rinoa..you're allright" Rinoa moved to hug him but the look of terror in Squall's eyes made him stop and take a second look at his injuries. She turned to Dr. Kadowaki.
"Why isn't he cured yet?"
Kadowaki turned back to her. She looked irritated, as she had little time to spare "Because MRS. Heartlilly, Squall has used curaga's far too often for one night allready. It's draining his energy. If he gets healed too much he might go into a coma! I am NOT an amateur in this thing, MRS. Heartlilly. I've been a docter before you were born."
Rinoa nodded. "Sorry, You're right. I'm just tired."
The older woman smiled, her irritation forgotten. "You'd better go get some sleep too. I think there's a bed overthere. you look like something the dog dragged in."
Rinoa smiled and yawned. "Yeah, feel like it too" She walked up to the bed, not too far from Squall and Angelo and fell almost before her head stopped sinking into the cushion.
....
"So Angelo actually saved him?" Rinioa asked?
It was late in the morning. Squall, Rinoa and Angelo had slept around the clock, and Dr. Kadowaki had allowed them to receive a cura so they could walk around again, though she promised she would strap them to their beds if they got in a fight with a bitebug. After a breakfast of Dincht proportions they had sat down to talk with Quistis and Zell.
"Yeah" Zell answered "A bunch of SeeD's heard him barking and saw Squall on the ground near him. He didn't trust them though, and snapped at them, and boy, Angelo's bites go straight trough flesh even if it got Cura junctioned to keep it whole. One of those rookie SeeD's has found out the hard way." Rinoa petted Angelo smiling. Angelo lifted his nose in pride, though he probably didn't know what about. "They saw Squall was hurt pretty bad and were about to use lethal force when I arrived. Angelo almost didn't recognize me, his nose and eyes were full of blood. But after I atlked to him he calmed down, and fell over. I took them both to the doctor. Dr. Kadowaki told went pale when she saw Squall. She inmediately took some people with her and started operating. It took her 45 minutesto finish on him. She than had people put him in that bed and started working on Angelo. Oh, by the way Rinoa, your father arrived at your bed."
Rinoa's face lit up. "Oh, what did he say?"
"He demanded that you and Squall be brought to his house and be treated by his personal docter. He commented that you deserved to be treated by the best docters. Well, he got into a shouting match with Dr. Kadowaki and when she turned her back on him he grabbe dher shoulder and said 'Hold it right there woman!" and than she... she..."
Quistis had half a smile on her face. "She kneed him in the groin."
Squall's face remained passive, but his legs slid an inch to eachother. Rinoa seemed tossed between laughter and anger, than settled for worry. "Is he allright?"
Quistis lifted her eyebrows. "He buckled up, stayed down for a minute, rose again, saluted at her and walked away. Awkardly but straight. A remakable man."
Squall nodded silently and than asked "Who gave the order to assist here? Genera... Dad hasn't got the money for anythingl ike that attack. Who is the headmaster of Balamb Garden anyway?"
Quistis smiled. "Xu is the headmistress now. Some say she was the one who kept Garden running for a long time now. She has announced that she is making plans for the future of Garden, but that we have to get our finances sorted out first. The cronies of the Garden-master have taken a lot of money with them, not to mention the cost of the repairs to Garden after that fight with Galbadia Garden, and the rebuilding of Trabia and restoration of Galbadia Garden."
Squall closed his eyes in thought. Yes, Xu would be a fine leader. She was a no-nonsense figure, even Seifer had been wary around her, since she didn't worship him as many others did, including to an extent the headmaster. "But why did she allow for the attack. It must have cost ten-thousands of Gil."
Quistis smiled again and looked at Zell. "I think Zell can tell you that. Right Zell?" Zell shrugged as he turned his reddeningface away and Quistis started.
....
"Headmistress!... headmistress!"
Xu looked up from her conversation with Quistis about her promotion to instructor in irritation. "Yes Zell? Why did you disturb a private conversation?" There was frost in her voice.
Zell showed them a printed page. It was from an online newspage and showed Galbadian soldiers riding in the city. The headline sported the title "Civil war to new peak in Galbadia"
"Yes Zell. I know Galbadia is in civil war. Even the GF's talk about it! Now..."
"BUT GENERAL CARAWAY LEADS THEM. And he was in the hospital after a suicide attempt 5 days ago. And look, on this picture... It's a gunbade just like the one Squall uses. Squall is there,, and so Rinoa too we've got to save them"
"No"
"Wh...WHAT! ... I..."
Xu looked Zell straight in the eye. "Do you have ANY idea how much such an action would cost.All our funds are going to reperations of the Gardens, do you REALLY think we can go into a city in the middle of a civil war just to save some EX-SeeD and a sorceress?"
"THEy SAVED THE WORLD"
"So did we by helping them. We owe Squall nothing, and he owns us nothing. Our ties are broken."
"He's our FRIEND!" He looked at Quistis, who was sweating and palde.
"Xu..."she began
"Leave her out of this Zell. We're not dispatcing the whole of Galbadia Garden to save Squall. We CANNOT afford it. Friendship is well and good, but it doesn't buy us food."
Zell stared her straight in the face. He took a piece of official looking paper from his pocket, wrote on it and put it on Xu's table. She read it and looked surprised at him. "That's... about... all your SeeD wages uptill now."
Zell nodded grimly, breathing heavily trough his nose.
Xu sighed. "Zell, I se ethat they mean a lot to you, but the costs involved are huge. It goes in the million Gil and..." Zell had thrown something else on her table. She looked and looked completely flabbergasted at him. "Y...Your... SeeD...license"
Zell grit his teeth. "After Squall left, I'm one of the best fighters of Garden, SeeD deserves good money from me. I don't mind. But I'm a friend first and than a SeeD."
Xu looked at the license as if it would bite her. She composed herself however and calmly spoke, "SeeD level 19 Zell Dincht"
"Yes headmistress"
"You are hereby degraded to SeeD level 1 for disrespect to a superior, 50% of your wage and everything above 20000 Gil will be kept by Garden untill the costs incurred by Mission Galbadia will be repayed, corrected with inflation and at an interest of 3% a year. you will follow the orders of Instructor Trepe on the missions and, oh Zell?"
Zell was beaming "Yes, Headmistress"
"Try such a thing again and you'll get your license back, piece by piece trough your throat, now get out of my office before I change my mind!"
"Yes Headmistress"
Zell left. Xu turned to Quistis. "Do me a favor Quistis, make sure Zell doesn't do something stupid like dying. Garden NEEDS that money. It really does"
Quistis nodded. "I know Xu, don't worry, bette rpeople have tried to destroy Zell"
Xu nodded glumly "Well, you prepare the eams while i go talk with Nina"
Quistis saluted out of habit and left the room.
...
Rinoa shugged. She had several partly healed wounds on her body and she felt like she could sleep for a year. "No matter, where's Squall?"
The medic smiled. "I see, right this way Ms. Heartlilly"
"Mrs. Heartlilly" Rinoa giggled, despite her tiredness. Squall was allright! She was startled when she saw him. His head was bandaged, his left leg and his right arm were in bandages and his torso was also invisible behind the bandages. "SQUALL!" She heard barking., Angelo was laying behind Squall on a mat on the floor, and in contradiction to the standards for military infirmaries. "ANGELO." Angeloo looked as bad as Squall, with his two hind legs clearly immobilized, one of his eyes covered with a large bandage.
Squall looked tired. "Ri...Rinoa..you're allright" Rinoa moved to hug him but the look of terror in Squall's eyes made him stop and take a second look at his injuries. She turned to Dr. Kadowaki.
"Why isn't he cured yet?"
Kadowaki turned back to her. She looked irritated, as she had little time to spare "Because MRS. Heartlilly, Squall has used curaga's far too often for one night allready. It's draining his energy. If he gets healed too much he might go into a coma! I am NOT an amateur in this thing, MRS. Heartlilly. I've been a docter before you were born."
Rinoa nodded. "Sorry, You're right. I'm just tired."
The older woman smiled, her irritation forgotten. "You'd better go get some sleep too. I think there's a bed overthere. you look like something the dog dragged in."
Rinoa smiled and yawned. "Yeah, feel like it too" She walked up to the bed, not too far from Squall and Angelo and fell almost before her head stopped sinking into the cushion.
....
"So Angelo actually saved him?" Rinioa asked?
It was late in the morning. Squall, Rinoa and Angelo had slept around the clock, and Dr. Kadowaki had allowed them to receive a cura so they could walk around again, though she promised she would strap them to their beds if they got in a fight with a bitebug. After a breakfast of Dincht proportions they had sat down to talk with Quistis and Zell.
"Yeah" Zell answered "A bunch of SeeD's heard him barking and saw Squall on the ground near him. He didn't trust them though, and snapped at them, and boy, Angelo's bites go straight trough flesh even if it got Cura junctioned to keep it whole. One of those rookie SeeD's has found out the hard way." Rinoa petted Angelo smiling. Angelo lifted his nose in pride, though he probably didn't know what about. "They saw Squall was hurt pretty bad and were about to use lethal force when I arrived. Angelo almost didn't recognize me, his nose and eyes were full of blood. But after I atlked to him he calmed down, and fell over. I took them both to the doctor. Dr. Kadowaki told went pale when she saw Squall. She inmediately took some people with her and started operating. It took her 45 minutesto finish on him. She than had people put him in that bed and started working on Angelo. Oh, by the way Rinoa, your father arrived at your bed."
Rinoa's face lit up. "Oh, what did he say?"
"He demanded that you and Squall be brought to his house and be treated by his personal docter. He commented that you deserved to be treated by the best docters. Well, he got into a shouting match with Dr. Kadowaki and when she turned her back on him he grabbe dher shoulder and said 'Hold it right there woman!" and than she... she..."
Quistis had half a smile on her face. "She kneed him in the groin."
Squall's face remained passive, but his legs slid an inch to eachother. Rinoa seemed tossed between laughter and anger, than settled for worry. "Is he allright?"
Quistis lifted her eyebrows. "He buckled up, stayed down for a minute, rose again, saluted at her and walked away. Awkardly but straight. A remakable man."
Squall nodded silently and than asked "Who gave the order to assist here? Genera... Dad hasn't got the money for anythingl ike that attack. Who is the headmaster of Balamb Garden anyway?"
Quistis smiled. "Xu is the headmistress now. Some say she was the one who kept Garden running for a long time now. She has announced that she is making plans for the future of Garden, but that we have to get our finances sorted out first. The cronies of the Garden-master have taken a lot of money with them, not to mention the cost of the repairs to Garden after that fight with Galbadia Garden, and the rebuilding of Trabia and restoration of Galbadia Garden."
Squall closed his eyes in thought. Yes, Xu would be a fine leader. She was a no-nonsense figure, even Seifer had been wary around her, since she didn't worship him as many others did, including to an extent the headmaster. "But why did she allow for the attack. It must have cost ten-thousands of Gil."
Quistis smiled again and looked at Zell. "I think Zell can tell you that. Right Zell?" Zell shrugged as he turned his reddeningface away and Quistis started.
....
"Headmistress!... headmistress!"
Xu looked up from her conversation with Quistis about her promotion to instructor in irritation. "Yes Zell? Why did you disturb a private conversation?" There was frost in her voice.
Zell showed them a printed page. It was from an online newspage and showed Galbadian soldiers riding in the city. The headline sported the title "Civil war to new peak in Galbadia"
"Yes Zell. I know Galbadia is in civil war. Even the GF's talk about it! Now..."
"BUT GENERAL CARAWAY LEADS THEM. And he was in the hospital after a suicide attempt 5 days ago. And look, on this picture... It's a gunbade just like the one Squall uses. Squall is there,, and so Rinoa too we've got to save them"
"No"
"Wh...WHAT! ... I..."
Xu looked Zell straight in the eye. "Do you have ANY idea how much such an action would cost.All our funds are going to reperations of the Gardens, do you REALLY think we can go into a city in the middle of a civil war just to save some EX-SeeD and a sorceress?"
"THEy SAVED THE WORLD"
"So did we by helping them. We owe Squall nothing, and he owns us nothing. Our ties are broken."
"He's our FRIEND!" He looked at Quistis, who was sweating and palde.
"Xu..."she began
"Leave her out of this Zell. We're not dispatcing the whole of Galbadia Garden to save Squall. We CANNOT afford it. Friendship is well and good, but it doesn't buy us food."
Zell stared her straight in the face. He took a piece of official looking paper from his pocket, wrote on it and put it on Xu's table. She read it and looked surprised at him. "That's... about... all your SeeD wages uptill now."
Zell nodded grimly, breathing heavily trough his nose.
Xu sighed. "Zell, I se ethat they mean a lot to you, but the costs involved are huge. It goes in the million Gil and..." Zell had thrown something else on her table. She looked and looked completely flabbergasted at him. "Y...Your... SeeD...license"
Zell grit his teeth. "After Squall left, I'm one of the best fighters of Garden, SeeD deserves good money from me. I don't mind. But I'm a friend first and than a SeeD."
Xu looked at the license as if it would bite her. She composed herself however and calmly spoke, "SeeD level 19 Zell Dincht"
"Yes headmistress"
"You are hereby degraded to SeeD level 1 for disrespect to a superior, 50% of your wage and everything above 20000 Gil will be kept by Garden untill the costs incurred by Mission Galbadia will be repayed, corrected with inflation and at an interest of 3% a year. you will follow the orders of Instructor Trepe on the missions and, oh Zell?"
Zell was beaming "Yes, Headmistress"
"Try such a thing again and you'll get your license back, piece by piece trough your throat, now get out of my office before I change my mind!"
"Yes Headmistress"
Zell left. Xu turned to Quistis. "Do me a favor Quistis, make sure Zell doesn't do something stupid like dying. Garden NEEDS that money. It really does"
Quistis nodded. "I know Xu, don't worry, bette rpeople have tried to destroy Zell"
Xu nodded glumly "Well, you prepare the eams while i go talk with Nina"
Quistis saluted out of habit and left the room.
...