There was something that had brought Kiros out of Deling City and into Timber, and for a moment he couldn't remember what it was. Then it came to him. Tonberry knives and the katal. That had been weeks ago. Well, he supposed he'd get that done at some point. With the new sorceress gaining more power, there were bound to be more Tonberries around. Not that there was anything even remotely good about that, he mused, as he waited for Dr. Odine and Laguna to finish their business with Cid Kramer before leaving the Garden. He supposed that Laguna had a lot to talk about with Mr. Kramer. So did Odine in fact, since he would have to find a way to feed what he learned about paramagic to the network of teachers at Garden. But Dr. Odine and paramagic were a silly afterthought to what Laguna would have to face.
"I guess we're leaving soon," Ellone said, as she stood in the doorway between two automatic doors. She had been sullenly amusing herself by walking from one door to another, making them open and close silently.
"I guess we are," Kiros said. "We're on the run again."
Ellone nodded. "It won't be that bad." She smiled.
Kiros smiled back, wishing he were as resilient as any of the children in this place.
"Except for Uncle Laguna. And him." She nodded toward the inside of the Garden, where workmen seemed to be drawing plans for some kind of fountain. In the center, sitting on the floor, was the little boy. "He's going to be sad. Dr. Odine read me a book once. It had all this stupid stuff about Fate. But maybe that's for real." Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked away.
Fate and loss, Kiros mused. A nine year old child who would live much of her life with three ex soldiers and a scientist, after giving up the rest of her loved ones, was talking about Fate and loss. He wondered how she would remember these times when she looked back, when her own childhood ended.
He also wondered if the rest of her childhood and her adult life would be surrounded with violence and paranoia. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but that he, Ward, Laguna and perhaps even Odine would to their best to shelter her from that sort of life. At least she would have someone.
He hoped the same could be said for the little boy.
He suddenly looked at Ellone, and realized he had never even thought to ask her the question that had come to him suddenly. She was still staring at the boy, but had stopped crying.
"Elle," he said softly, "what's his name?"
She turned to him with a suddenly brilliant smile. "When they took us to the orphanage," she said, sounding much older than she was, "they asked me that. I named him, and I called him after Aunt Raine." She gazed at the boy again, who briefly looked back at her one last time. She smiled softly and waved at him. "Squall," she said. "His name is Squall."
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End ^_^
