Squall looked at the old bar looking for places where ambushes could occur out of habbit. He had a strange feeling in his stomach coming here. He frowned. A SeeD with a butterfly-belly, what's next? He softly shook his head, not a SeeD anymore. Just Squall Leonheart, new inhabitant of Winhill. And Squall could have butterflies in his belly whenever he wanted. He grimaced. The butterflies had died in his glumness. He had memories of this place. Some were his own, and some where not. Some where as vivid as yesterday, some were blurred, and some were just out of reach, mearly a vague feeling of loss somewhere. Here Ellone had spend her happiest years, before Adel's treatement had turned her into the key to the fate of the world, and she had to live a life of running, rendering her a frightened and desperate young woman, leaving behind everyone she loved. Here Laguna probably had talked for hours with her, revealing all his dreams and probably boring her. It had been the only moment of rest for the adventuring man (irresponsible coward, a voice in him hissed) Here Raine had served many a meal and drink, and upstairs in that room, if he could believe the old woman of the flower shop, he was born. It seemed... fitting that he would return here. Not to mention that this seemed to be a place where people could lead happy and safe lives. Galbadia, Timber, Dollet, Balamb Eshtar, even Fisherman's Horizon all were stained with violence, with blood that he had spilled. Of course, there were other villages, but the only tragedy that happened here was a natural one.
Rinoa and Angelo followed him, the young woman carrying a heavy bag. Squall might be a knight, but his protection was regarding dangers. He knew she was capable of lifting the heavy bag. besides, his was just as heavy, and he carried something else. The Lionheart.
Rinoa dropped the bag. "It's WONDERFULL Squall." She hugged him and he almost dropped his stuff. "It's just like Ellone told me. It's so wonderfully peacefull. Even Timber is a pandemonium compared to this."
Timber certainly HAD been a pandemonium when all the Galbadian soldiers left and they suddenly got thir independance. They had elected the old boss of Timber Maniacs as president. HE'd be allright, Squall thought, if a bit too talkative. Not like President Caraway of Galbadia. When the question if he would run was asked Caraway had looked at the side, Rinoa had nodded, and Caraway had done likewise.He had won in the second round, with dozens of opponents that couldn't make a united front, and the yound Deling being his opponent in the second round. HE won that round with a staggering 72%. Allright, only 43% of the people had bothered to vote, but Caraway was working hard to create some faith in democracy. His first order of buisiness was to tell the parlement that they shouldn't let themselves be bullied by him, but he still had to learn to obey more, and the people needed to learn how to command.
Angelo was sniffing at all the furniture, and Squall was thakfull the animal knew that the house was not available for 'markings' He climbed the stairs and looked around the empty bedroom. The room felt chilly, even in the sun. He had been here before, and had been confronted by the woman that lived here backthen. She had told him there was a ghost here. The mayor had told him she had left a couple of weeks later. They had bhought the house pretty cheap. Still, Squall hadn't been a SeeD for long, and while the hazard pay for the Ultimecia was the biggest ever given to a SeeD, this house took quite a bite from it, and both he and Rinoa didn't want to go and beg money from General Caraway. They'd have to get some source of income, and Squall and Rinoa had decided what that would be. Squall chuckled inwardly, a lot of people would be surprised. But tonight was not the time for work. Tomorrownight they were settling in and, Squall sighed, people would visit them, so the house had to be presentable pronto. Later in the afternoon the movers would come with the rest of the furniture, so they had about an hour to wander around.. Squall looked out of the window, looking at the view of the townssquare. Beautifull for such a small town. He noticed two men walking towards their new house, looking at their door, not noticing Squall watching them. Squall instictively took a hidden position and observed them. A man with blonde hair, almost to shoulderlength, in his early forties and rather tall and a smaller blackhaired man, mid-thirty and sporting a small moustache. Squall moved away from the window and almost chockled out loud at his paranoia. He heard them knocking at the door downstairs and heard Rinoa greeting them. Time to be a good host, he thought glum.
When he walked down the staies he saw the two men having a friendly conversation with Rinoa. Squall was early and it hadn't advanced further than the usual obligated 'welcome, don't mind the mess' and 'Love what you've done with the place'. When one of the men looked up at Squall however, his smile froze on his face. His companion followed his gaze and reacted likewise. Squall inmediately grew nervous. His hand raced at his side, only to find two empty belts.
"You...?" The blond man uttered "You are our neigbour?" He sounded surprised, with a hint of fear.
Squall frowned. "Do I know you?" The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite remember it.
The smaller man gave a nervous chuckle. "Of course he doesn't remember us Biggs. We were just one of the many opponents he faced and defeated. Let me give you a hint Mr... Lionheart it was? Dollet." As he said the last word he stroked with his hand a scar on his face.
Squall's forehead wrinkled. Dollet, Biggs, opponents... Of course. "You'r the two from atop the communication tower in Dollet. I haven't seen you since the Pandora."
The taller man, Biggs, and the other one is Wedge, Squall remembered frowned. "Pandora? We've been there, but I don't remmeber facing you, and if i did, I would have remembered."
Squall actually smiled softly "We didn't face you as such. We overheard you talking about resigning. You owe Quistis for keeping Zell from charging you as soon a she saw you."
Rinoa, who had been calming Angelo now raised an eyebrow at Squall. "If the military men are done raising memories could one of them tell me who these gentlemen are?"
Wedge laughed "Not military men anymore Mrs Lionheart..."
"...Heartlilly" Rinoa corrected
"Mrs. Heartlilly. And it seems we made that decision at exactly the right time."
...
After the explanation Rinoa asked "Are you the same people that Selphie and the others fought in the D-district Prison? She told me of two soldiers she met in Dollet before."
Biggs smiled "nothing than good reports I hope?"
"Hmmm, pretty little. you were crammed between a long explanationm why the warden was a meanie and a description of the elevators. But she remembered you from Dollet."
Wedge smiled "oh yeah, I remember her. She's got a way with those nunchaku's."
Rinoa smiled "well, from what I've heard of Squall you aren't half bad either. Said you were about the best soldiers Galbadia had he met"
Biggs shrugged "not good enough obviously, that's what the colonel said too." There was a hintmof regret in his voice.
Squall sniffed. "Nonsense. We had numerical and material advantadge, not to mention you were swept away by the elvoret. The colonel was a fool, probably only interested in finding a scapegoat."
Wedge lifted his hand "No need to make the story nicer for us. We sucked and...."
Rinoa laughed hard. "You don't know Squall very well if you think he'd lie to you to make you fele better. I still remember how he answered Zell back when we were going to Galbadia garden."
...
"One thing I don't understand however" Squall said. "How come you didn't recognize Rinoa? The whole Galbadian army was looking for her."
Wedge shrugged. "We had other worries on our head than. The boss of the D-district prison had some friends in high places and managed to make us take the fall. We weren't really in top-morale back than" His face stood dark.
Biggs nodded "Yeah, I was getting pretty disillusioned. So one day we resigned, were booted out of that machine and walked back from Eshtar. We hung around Fisherman's horizon a bit, but we were still wearing our uniform and even after we bought some new clothes we could still feel some hostility, so we moved on."
Wedge continued "We didn't want to see a soldier in our life again, so we went to this area. Small villages everywhere, no military needed, since noone wants these lands anyway. Perfect for us. We bought the house nextdoor since noone here seems to want it and it was pretty cheap, if a little rundown. But Biggs here know a bit about repairing things. And we were living here just a few weeks when you arrived"
...
"So, how did you two meet anyway?" Rinoa asked
Biggs smiled "Oh, we both volunteered for the army in the same year, and we both were pretty good, and since our skills were could be nicely combined together, we were stacked together in a few missions."
Wedge looked at Biggs with a raised eyebrow "We were pretty competing in the beginning. Eventually Biggs became my CO because he was a better suck-up."
Biggs slapped Wedge's shoulder and laughed "You're just jealous YOU didn't think of ambushing an Eshtar patrole alone and than giving the capitain the credit."
Wedge rolled his eyes "Anyway, ever since than I've been taking orders. It wa s a bit hard to stop doing it, so he decided to order me around till I got in the habit of refusing to do ANYTHING unless he sais 'please' It worked, only I just have the tendency to ignore him now and than unless he uses the magic word."
Rinoa laughed "So, you don't have any relatives in other areas? You've just dissapeared of the earth.
Biggs face went glum. "they were killed by Eshtar soldiers when I was 15. It was the main reason i joined the military. I got over it though. If I'd have to hate all nations that orphaned children I'd hate humanity in general."
Rinoa saw Squall's hand tighthen.
Wedge had an angry look on his face. "I've got a... dispute with my family. Suffice to say that they won't shed a tear for me if I die. When they chased me out they lived in Timber. I heard the army is like a second family, so I figured I'd make it my first."
...
An old truck parked near the house. Squall looked at his watch. "The movers are there with our stuff. We ought to go help them."
Wedge and Biggs rose from their chairs. After the goodbyes Squall grabbed Biggs at the shoulder before he could leave and quietly asked him to keep his identity a secret. Little did he know Wedge was asking the same favor from Rinoa. Biggs reacted with an understanding nod, Rinoa with an invitation for tomorrowevening. They than all left the house. Wedge and Biggs to their home, and Rinoa and Squall, finally, to furniture THEIR home.
To be Continued.
Rinoa and Angelo followed him, the young woman carrying a heavy bag. Squall might be a knight, but his protection was regarding dangers. He knew she was capable of lifting the heavy bag. besides, his was just as heavy, and he carried something else. The Lionheart.
Rinoa dropped the bag. "It's WONDERFULL Squall." She hugged him and he almost dropped his stuff. "It's just like Ellone told me. It's so wonderfully peacefull. Even Timber is a pandemonium compared to this."
Timber certainly HAD been a pandemonium when all the Galbadian soldiers left and they suddenly got thir independance. They had elected the old boss of Timber Maniacs as president. HE'd be allright, Squall thought, if a bit too talkative. Not like President Caraway of Galbadia. When the question if he would run was asked Caraway had looked at the side, Rinoa had nodded, and Caraway had done likewise.He had won in the second round, with dozens of opponents that couldn't make a united front, and the yound Deling being his opponent in the second round. HE won that round with a staggering 72%. Allright, only 43% of the people had bothered to vote, but Caraway was working hard to create some faith in democracy. His first order of buisiness was to tell the parlement that they shouldn't let themselves be bullied by him, but he still had to learn to obey more, and the people needed to learn how to command.
Angelo was sniffing at all the furniture, and Squall was thakfull the animal knew that the house was not available for 'markings' He climbed the stairs and looked around the empty bedroom. The room felt chilly, even in the sun. He had been here before, and had been confronted by the woman that lived here backthen. She had told him there was a ghost here. The mayor had told him she had left a couple of weeks later. They had bhought the house pretty cheap. Still, Squall hadn't been a SeeD for long, and while the hazard pay for the Ultimecia was the biggest ever given to a SeeD, this house took quite a bite from it, and both he and Rinoa didn't want to go and beg money from General Caraway. They'd have to get some source of income, and Squall and Rinoa had decided what that would be. Squall chuckled inwardly, a lot of people would be surprised. But tonight was not the time for work. Tomorrownight they were settling in and, Squall sighed, people would visit them, so the house had to be presentable pronto. Later in the afternoon the movers would come with the rest of the furniture, so they had about an hour to wander around.. Squall looked out of the window, looking at the view of the townssquare. Beautifull for such a small town. He noticed two men walking towards their new house, looking at their door, not noticing Squall watching them. Squall instictively took a hidden position and observed them. A man with blonde hair, almost to shoulderlength, in his early forties and rather tall and a smaller blackhaired man, mid-thirty and sporting a small moustache. Squall moved away from the window and almost chockled out loud at his paranoia. He heard them knocking at the door downstairs and heard Rinoa greeting them. Time to be a good host, he thought glum.
When he walked down the staies he saw the two men having a friendly conversation with Rinoa. Squall was early and it hadn't advanced further than the usual obligated 'welcome, don't mind the mess' and 'Love what you've done with the place'. When one of the men looked up at Squall however, his smile froze on his face. His companion followed his gaze and reacted likewise. Squall inmediately grew nervous. His hand raced at his side, only to find two empty belts.
"You...?" The blond man uttered "You are our neigbour?" He sounded surprised, with a hint of fear.
Squall frowned. "Do I know you?" The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite remember it.
The smaller man gave a nervous chuckle. "Of course he doesn't remember us Biggs. We were just one of the many opponents he faced and defeated. Let me give you a hint Mr... Lionheart it was? Dollet." As he said the last word he stroked with his hand a scar on his face.
Squall's forehead wrinkled. Dollet, Biggs, opponents... Of course. "You'r the two from atop the communication tower in Dollet. I haven't seen you since the Pandora."
The taller man, Biggs, and the other one is Wedge, Squall remembered frowned. "Pandora? We've been there, but I don't remmeber facing you, and if i did, I would have remembered."
Squall actually smiled softly "We didn't face you as such. We overheard you talking about resigning. You owe Quistis for keeping Zell from charging you as soon a she saw you."
Rinoa, who had been calming Angelo now raised an eyebrow at Squall. "If the military men are done raising memories could one of them tell me who these gentlemen are?"
Wedge laughed "Not military men anymore Mrs Lionheart..."
"...Heartlilly" Rinoa corrected
"Mrs. Heartlilly. And it seems we made that decision at exactly the right time."
...
After the explanation Rinoa asked "Are you the same people that Selphie and the others fought in the D-district Prison? She told me of two soldiers she met in Dollet before."
Biggs smiled "nothing than good reports I hope?"
"Hmmm, pretty little. you were crammed between a long explanationm why the warden was a meanie and a description of the elevators. But she remembered you from Dollet."
Wedge smiled "oh yeah, I remember her. She's got a way with those nunchaku's."
Rinoa smiled "well, from what I've heard of Squall you aren't half bad either. Said you were about the best soldiers Galbadia had he met"
Biggs shrugged "not good enough obviously, that's what the colonel said too." There was a hintmof regret in his voice.
Squall sniffed. "Nonsense. We had numerical and material advantadge, not to mention you were swept away by the elvoret. The colonel was a fool, probably only interested in finding a scapegoat."
Wedge lifted his hand "No need to make the story nicer for us. We sucked and...."
Rinoa laughed hard. "You don't know Squall very well if you think he'd lie to you to make you fele better. I still remember how he answered Zell back when we were going to Galbadia garden."
...
"One thing I don't understand however" Squall said. "How come you didn't recognize Rinoa? The whole Galbadian army was looking for her."
Wedge shrugged. "We had other worries on our head than. The boss of the D-district prison had some friends in high places and managed to make us take the fall. We weren't really in top-morale back than" His face stood dark.
Biggs nodded "Yeah, I was getting pretty disillusioned. So one day we resigned, were booted out of that machine and walked back from Eshtar. We hung around Fisherman's horizon a bit, but we were still wearing our uniform and even after we bought some new clothes we could still feel some hostility, so we moved on."
Wedge continued "We didn't want to see a soldier in our life again, so we went to this area. Small villages everywhere, no military needed, since noone wants these lands anyway. Perfect for us. We bought the house nextdoor since noone here seems to want it and it was pretty cheap, if a little rundown. But Biggs here know a bit about repairing things. And we were living here just a few weeks when you arrived"
...
"So, how did you two meet anyway?" Rinoa asked
Biggs smiled "Oh, we both volunteered for the army in the same year, and we both were pretty good, and since our skills were could be nicely combined together, we were stacked together in a few missions."
Wedge looked at Biggs with a raised eyebrow "We were pretty competing in the beginning. Eventually Biggs became my CO because he was a better suck-up."
Biggs slapped Wedge's shoulder and laughed "You're just jealous YOU didn't think of ambushing an Eshtar patrole alone and than giving the capitain the credit."
Wedge rolled his eyes "Anyway, ever since than I've been taking orders. It wa s a bit hard to stop doing it, so he decided to order me around till I got in the habit of refusing to do ANYTHING unless he sais 'please' It worked, only I just have the tendency to ignore him now and than unless he uses the magic word."
Rinoa laughed "So, you don't have any relatives in other areas? You've just dissapeared of the earth.
Biggs face went glum. "they were killed by Eshtar soldiers when I was 15. It was the main reason i joined the military. I got over it though. If I'd have to hate all nations that orphaned children I'd hate humanity in general."
Rinoa saw Squall's hand tighthen.
Wedge had an angry look on his face. "I've got a... dispute with my family. Suffice to say that they won't shed a tear for me if I die. When they chased me out they lived in Timber. I heard the army is like a second family, so I figured I'd make it my first."
...
An old truck parked near the house. Squall looked at his watch. "The movers are there with our stuff. We ought to go help them."
Wedge and Biggs rose from their chairs. After the goodbyes Squall grabbed Biggs at the shoulder before he could leave and quietly asked him to keep his identity a secret. Little did he know Wedge was asking the same favor from Rinoa. Biggs reacted with an understanding nod, Rinoa with an invitation for tomorrowevening. They than all left the house. Wedge and Biggs to their home, and Rinoa and Squall, finally, to furniture THEIR home.
To be Continued.