Chapter IV:
When Quistis and the others arrived in Headmaster Cid's
office, Squall and Rinoa were already there. Quistis assumed they had been on their way to the cafeteria when the
headmaster made his announcement. The
young couple were sitting by each other's side, four empty chairs left next to
them. Cid apparently had a lot on his
mind.
The headmaster was behind his desk, of course, his wife
Edea and Xu standing there as well. After his original office had been mostly ruined when Garden had become
mobile, there was little room left, but enough to make it possible to work
there at least. Seeing the four
entering, Cid gave a nod, "Please, have a seat."
Irvine and Selphie occupied the two middle chairs, the
latter promptly grabbing the cowboy's hand. It was obvious she considered him her property now. Zell, as reluctant as he was about sitting
still for a longer period of time, took the chair to the far right, leaving
Quistis to sit next to Rinoa. The
sorceress offered a smile of greeting to the blonde woman, while Squall
appeared as cool and quiet as ever. He
did, however, nod curtly as Quistis sat down.
"Friends," the headmaster began, standing the moment
everyone else had settled down, "As you know, it has been a month since the
world was saved from the evil of Sorceress Ultimecia. Everything has been seemingly peaceful for some time now, but now
Galbadia is getting back on its feet again, and as I predicted, new men are
coming to power." Cid studied the
various reactions of the six gathered before him. Some were curious, some were worried. Only Squall held his well practiced mask of indifference. Turning to the young woman by his side, the
dark haired, well organized SeeD known as Xu Xasalu, Cid spoke again, "Xu, will
you please explain the situation to them?"
She nodded, "As the former president, Vinzer Deling, was
murdered during the night of the failed sorceress assassination –" Both Edea
and Irvine seemed to feel rather uncomfortable at the mention of it, "Galbadia
is in need of a new president. General
Philip Caraway seemed like the most logical choice, but now a new man has
stepped up… Known as Captain Zolqer
Temeka. And believe it or not, the two
of them are now running for a presidential election. All adult citizens of Galbadia will have a say in who comes to
power next."
Squall lifted an eyebrow. As far as he knew, a fair election had never occurred in Galbadia
before. So why the sudden change? Irvine spoke his doubts, "So, like, Caraway
and this Temeka guy are going for a normal, peaceful election? I don't buy it. It's Galbadia we're talkin' about, right?"
"What do we know about the Captain?" Quistis inquired.
Xu shook her head, "Not much. He was one of Deling's officers, but the military missions he led
never had any significant purposes. It
would seem Deling didn't entirely trust him, but that's only speculations. Other than that, we have his name, and we
know he's 36 years old. Rather too
young to have the experience of a president, I would assume."
Selphie twitched in her chair, "He's the bad guy,
then? Are we gonna help Caraway again?"
"Yeah, what do we do?" Zell asked.
"Nothing," Cid replied. The group looked surprised.
"Nothing?" Selphie echoed, perhaps a bit disappointedly.
"Galbadia is none of our business as long as they don't try
to get us involved or hire us. Although
I'm doubtful of the situation too, we can't do anything but lean back and watch
this election." The aging headmaster
sighed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "However, SeeD has been in a quite vulnerable
state itself after everything that has happened. If a threat should arise, we need to be prepared. Trabia Garden is being repaired, and we have
been informed that the White SeeDs have travelled there with their ship. They wish to help out with the progress as
they don't have to protect Ellone anymore, now when she is safe in Esthar. Several former students of Galbadia Garden
have showed up and requested to join Balamb Garden, and we are recruiting new
cadets as well. It shouldn't take long
before SeeD has returned to its original strong state."
Quistis crossed her arms, "Well, that's a relief."
"Can we go now?" Zell was starting to get bored. Edea tried to hold back a chuckle as Cid
gave the spiky haired SeeD a look.
"Actually, there's one more thing…," Edea began, stepping
forward, "After the events a month ago, it's been reported that Seifer… and his
two friends have been staying in Fisherman's Horizon." The room went noticeably silent at the mention
of Seifer Almasy's name. Edea looked at
the floor for a moment, then back up at the others. To her, Seifer was still her child, and she often felt guilty
about what had happened to him, "Poor boy, there really wasn't anywhere else he
could go without being chased out… However, now it appears that he has… disappeared."
Again, the six of them were caught by surprise. Squall glanced at Rinoa. The girl had been quiet the entire time,
even when Xu had been speaking about Caraway, though her eyes had turned more
dark at the mention of her father. Now,
though, there was something else in her expression, some sort of… concern, that
Squall wasn't entirely sure if he liked. Straightening in her chair, she turned warm brown eyes to look at the
woman whose sorceress powers she had once inherited, "Disappeared?"
Edea shrugged lightly, "At least he isn't in FH anymore,
nor are Fujin and Raijin. That's all we
know. It's possible he left unnoticed
by walking the old railroad tracks, but as far as I know, no one has escorted
him out of the town, so there's no way of telling where he is."
"Good riddance," Zell muttered, earning him a nod of
agreement from Irvine.
"Well, that is all for now," Cid interrupted before the
conversation could change into unpleasant comments about Seifer. "We just like to keep you informed, as you
can all be considered saviours of the world." He smiled warmly, and Rinoa and Selphie both blushed slightly at the
compliments. "Oh, and Irvine. The results of your written exam have just
been finished. Congratulations as a
Rank 22 SeeD."
Before the Garden sharpshooter could react, Selphie threw
herself into his arms, "Yay! My Irvy is
a SeeD!" Irvine was just grinning
widely. The others were all busy
congratulating him as they were on their way out of the office, but Squall was
held back.
"Squall, wait just a minute," Cid said, "I need to talk
with you."
Typical. Cid had a
way of always having something extra to tell him, and frankly, Squall was
getting tired of it, tired of being excluded as someone special. "Yes, headmaster?"
Edea and Xu stood behind, smiling secretively to each other
as Cid walked over to the top ranking SeeD. "You've already been made commander of Garden, Squall, and I intend to
keep you in that position. However,
with all these new cadets, and the loss of many lives during the battle with
Galbadia Garden, we're short of instructors."
Squall blinked. I
don't like where this is going…
"Arrangements have already been made for Quistis to get her
instructor licence back, and Xu here has offered to take the tests required to
become one too. That leaves us with a
total number of 19 instructors, but we still need a skilled combat instructor."
"Sir, I-" Squall started to protest, but didn't get the
chance to complete the sentence.
"Squall, you've already proven you have excellent
leadership skills, you just need to use them more often. Until we need you to lead a battle or
mission again, it'd be appreciated if you could help out with some of the new
classes." Cid looked expectantly up at
him.
He's not kidding. And even if I refuse, he's going to insist. Why does he keep putting me in these situations?
The young commander pressed a hand against his forehead and
sighed in defeat, "Whatever."
"Wonderful!" The
aging headmaster sounded as if Squall had just replied with a gleeful 'Yes, I'd
love to!'. He turned to walk back to
his desk, "Don't worry, you'll be spared of dull classrooms. You're in charge of leading the practical
classes in the training centre."
After Squall and Xu both had left the room, Edea turned to
her husband, "Are you sure it's such a good idea to make Squall an
instructor? Leading a small team of six
is one thing, leading the entire Garden into battle is another, but do you
think he can deal with young cadets?"
Cid just chuckled, "The boy is capable of a lot, dear, more
than he has realized himself. But he's
not going to learn how to handle different situations unless someone forces him
into them. That doesn't mean he'll be
happy about it, though."
Edea placed her hands on her hips, watching him for a
moment, then turned to gracefully walk out of the office. Even after she had lost her sorceress
powers, she still walked like one, seeming to literally float across the floor. "Just please remember that he's only 17,
dear."
Chapter V:
It was well past midnight, but General Caraway couldn't
find it in himself to go to bed. Too
much was happening at the moment, things far more important than his sleep and
personal welfare. He stood by the
largest window in the office of his great mansion, peering out to the dark
streets of Deling while absentmindedly sipping his hot coffee. Excepting one or two passing homeless
people, there were no one out there at this time.
"Sir?"
Turning around to see who had interrupted his moment of
peace, Philip Caraway found his loyal advisor, Adar Nalhan, standing in the
door, carrying a bunch of papers under his arm. He was a short, very average man, about forty years of age but
already his hair was greying. Stepping
inside, he moved to Caraway's desk and put whatever documents he had with him
down.
"What is it, Nalhan?" Caraway gave a tired sigh and walked
to his chair to sit down, motioning for Adar to take the chair on the other
side. But Adar just shook his head,
preferring to stand.
"More results from the election. Seems like you've lost quite a few votes, especially in the
smaller cities up north. People there
are angry, they weren't affected by the war the way Deling City was and they
aren't ready for peace. At least not
after Temeka got to them," Adar's
expression grew grim, "Zolqer Temeka is a strong politician. He knows how to smooth talk and get crowds
to follow him…"
The general frowned, "Beware of stupid people in large
groups… Especially if they have a
leader."
"But," Adar continued, in a brighter tone, "It turns out
you're still on top. Of the votes
counted so far, you have well above 67%."
"Well, that's good news," Caraway took another sip of his
coffee, which had gone cold by then. Wrinkling his nose at the taste, he put it down, then folded his hands
in front of him on the desk. There was
an awkward moment of silence as he seemed to consider something, then Caraway
looked up at his advisor again, "Any word from Rinoa?"
Adar sighed. He
knew the general would ask sooner or later, but he dreaded having to tell him
the news from his daughter. Finally, he
nodded, "Yes, sir. A letter arrived
from Miss Heartilly this morning. She…
quite bluntly declined your offer of visiting, I'm afraid. … I'm sorry, sir."
Caraway breathed out slowly, leaning his forehead against
one hand and rubbing his temples, "Maybe it's for the best. I don't know how the citizens would react to
her. You know, I still can't believe
she's a… sorceress."
The slightly younger man nodded again, unsure of what to
say. He had to admit he couldn't
understand the general – Adar had never had any wife, nor children, thus
couldn't place himself in the situation. "It must be difficult, sir."
Leaning back in his chair, Caraway chuckled bitterly, "It
was easy to forget she was there when she was little. After Julia died, I buried myself in my work. Figured the girl was too young to
understand, anyway, that she'd be fine with her nanny. Now Rinoa's blaming me for most
everything… Because I was heavily involved
in taking over Timber under Vinzer Deling's command. And she blames me for her mother's death, too. Rinoa disowned me a long time ago…" He
trailed off for a moment.
"At least-" Adar tried to say something, but the general
just continued.
"Now she's running around in Garden with her little friends
and her punk of a boyfriend…," Caraway smirked, then narrowed his eyes, "Great
Commander Leonhart… Bah. The boy isn't
even 18 yet… But I guess it's my own fault, really. It's not like I ever spent much time with her."
"At least you were working for a good cause, sir," Adar
said. He hated to listen to people rant
about things they regretted and things they should have done differently. Done was done, in his opinion, and he didn't
keep this job to listen to his superior talk about his personal affairs. Of course, Adar never voiced these
thoughts. "Deling is dead and you came
to power like you wanted. Because of
you, democracy is on its way into Galbadia, to end several lifetimes of
dictatorship," he smiled in satisfaction, "I can hardly believe it's
happening."
"A fair election is a miracle in itself," Caraway
commented, pushing away angry thoughts about his daughter, "I suppose it was
the only way Temeka could try to become president without gaining too many
enemies."
"But you're winning that election."
Caraway eyed the man before him. Adar had great potential, but he was a tad too naïve
sometimes. Which was why he was still
just the general's advisor. "So it
seems. But we don't know how many boss
cards Temeka has up his sleeve. And
knowing the typical Galbadian politicians, he probably has quite a few."
It was particularly cold that morning, even if it
technically was still in the middle of the summer. Late June. That didn't
stop the weather gods from letting a gentle, chilly breeze sweep through the
town of Timber, though, and make Lal shudder under her thin clothing. She held her daughter close to her as the
huddled under the shelter of the small newsstand, trying to keep both of them
warm until the sun rose. The dim light
of dawn was just beginning to light up the grey, misty sky when the newspaper
boy passed by on his bicycle, dropping a bunch on newspapers on the ground,
ready for the owner of the newsstand to sell when he came to open the store and
chase away Lal and Yvivina.
Brushing white strands of hair from her face, Lal looked
after the boy, and after cautiously glancing around for a minute she reached
for the newspapers, pulling out one of them to look at the headline.
'CARAWAY STEALS THE VOTES. TEMEKA LOSING?'
There was a large picture of Zolqer Temeka, glaring into
the camera. Lal carefully read the
small text beneath it. 'Temeka says
in an interview that 'Failure is not an option.' When asked to elaborate, he did not wish to comment and hurried
into his car before driving off. Is it
too early to pop the champagne, or is Temeka actually losing?'
Smirking to herself, Lal dropped the newspaper onto the
ground. So this blonde, tall and
handsome one wasn't getting what he wanted. Poor baby. At least Timber was
relatively safe while the election was going on. Not that the Timberians had the right to vote, but things had
certainly been more peaceful after the Galbadian soldiers had left the town.
It was just then Lal noticed that her daughter was still
staring at the picture on the newspaper. That stare she gave when something seemed to intrigue her, but not like
a child should stare. It was empty and
hollow. Like that day when they had
seen Captain Temeka on the large TV screen.
Suddenly it occurred to her.
Lal had seen Zolqer's stone hard, emerald eyes before. Before the election even started. That harsh stare, free of emotion, other
than anger. It was something she had
tried to forget. No, it couldn't be…
Pushing her to the ground, his hot breath, smelling of
alcohol, so close to her throat –
It couldn't be…
Brutally ripping off her clothes, touching her where she
didn't want to be touched –
The Galbadian uniform prevented her from seeing his face,
but she could see the eyes – the indifferent, angry glare, the bright green –
No. Lal felt a lump
in her throat, and a growing sense of disgust as she watched Yvivina turn to
her, bright blue eyes – with her mother's colour, but her father's expression –
glaring at her, as demanding as ever, "I'm hungry."
Lal was stuttering, even though she tried her best not to,
"Y-you have to wait, dear. I'm sure the
Forest Fox Chief-"
"I'm hungry now!" Yvivina cried.
"Hush!" Lal quickly scolded, then stood up and grabbed the
four year old's arm, "We have to get out of here before the newsstand man
arrives. Come now."
As she dragged the unwilling child with her down the
streets of Timber, Lal was sweating even though it was still cold. Her dislike for Zolqer Temeka was there for
a reason other than what she had assumed in the first place.
And she knew Zolqer always got what he wanted.
Chapter VI:
Squall was sitting by the small table in his dorm room,
idly watching the darkening sky outside, while bent over four written tests he
was supposed to finish that night. He
resisted the urge to knock his head against the wall because of the sheer
stupidity of some students. Was it so
hard to remember that Demi was not an elemental attack? And Quistis claimed she enjoyed being an
instructor. He'd never understand
her. Damn Cid and his impulsive
ideas. First a commander, then an
instructor? Had he forgot Squall
himself only graduated little more than two months ago?
The door opened, and in walked Rinoa, Angelo following
closely behind her. Lucky Rinoa, she
didn't have any responsibilities at all at the time, other than walking her dog
now and then. Always cheerful and calm. Perhaps that was why she somehow always
managed to make him relax.
She smiled as she saw him, walking over and wrapping her
arms around his neck from behind, peering over his shoulder, "What are you
doing?"
Glancing up at her, he shrugged, "Instructor stuff."
Angelo just lingered by the door for a moment, then padded
over to her usual spot on the carpet by the bed and curled up. Rinoa pulled back a little, canting her head
curiously, "I thought you didn't do the written… things. Only the combat training."
"Apparently I'm required to have these tests once in a
while to check if they have any idea what they're doing when dealing with
magic," he sighed and pressed a hand against his forehead.
The raven haired sorceress smirked, gently starting to
massage his shoulders, "Tough day at work, hmm?"
"I don't have the patience to teach these kids anything,
Rinoa. I don't know why Cid can't see
that. I almost wish those corrupt
Garden Faculty were back. They'd take
one glance at me and take away my instructor licence immediately," Squall
complained.
Rinoa tried not to giggle, and had to put a hand over her
mouth to stop herself from doing so, "Oh, don't say that. You have plenty of skill. I'm sure one of those deadly glares of yours
will instantly silence any noisy student."
"Whatever," came the monotone reply, which just made Rinoa
laugh harder. Squall sighed again. Damn it, Rinoa, I'm not in the mood for
this.
As if reading his thoughts, the girl's giggles faded and
she moved around his chair to sit on the table in front of him instead, "So…
any other news?"
He was never going to get any work done with Rinoa around,
Squall realized that. But as much as a
distraction as she was, he didn't have the heart to tell her to leave him
alone. After all, they didn't see much
of each other during the day. He was
busy with classes, and she… well, he didn't really know what she did all the
time.
Truth was, Rinoa didn't have much to do. She spent time with the others when they
weren't busy themselves, or sometimes she'd take a walk down to Balamb
town. Squall didn't like that,
though. He said something could attack
her on the way, even if she stayed on the road. Overprotective, way too serious Squall, the only real reason why
she was staying in Garden and being bored all day anyway. There were times when she missed being back
in Timber, missed doing something useful. But that wasn't fair - she knew that making Squall happy was important
enough for her.
After a moment of thought, Squall nodded, "Yeah. Ellone and president Loire are coming for a
visit in a couple of days. Officially
to grant Garden a gift – the Estharians finished the repairs on the Ragnarok
and will give it to us as the headmaster asked, since they have no use for it
themselves. It's nearly 20 years old,
after all. Unofficially they're coming
because Ellone just wants to see us all."
It surprised her how little he seemed to care. Ellone was his 'Sis', or so Rinoa had
gathered, a big sister who left him behind to fend for himself when he was
younger, though not because it was her own choice. Shouldn't he be happy she came to visit? Then again, Squall very rarely showed much
emotion, and she didn't know the full story behind Squall's experiences at the
orphanage. He had told her very little, mainly just certain feelings he could
remember. The Guardian Forces had
perhaps erased most of his memories, but the pain was still there. Part of why Squall had turned out to be like
he was. And even if Rinoa wasn't aware
of all of this, she could guess he was somewhat bitter.
"That's nice," she said eventually, then suddenly took both
his hands in hers and attempted to pull him out of the chair, "Come now, let
those tests wait until tomorrow. You
look tired."
Squall blinked and started to protest, "But-"
Rinoa shook her head, "No. I haven't seen you all day. You
may be an instructor and commander and whatever during the day, but during the
night, you're mine."
"Rinoa," Squall groaned, but still rather willingly let her
drag him over to and down onto the bed. And he actually smiled before giving in to her soft kisses, not minding
the distraction anymore. Heck, he was
only human, he had come to realize that during his time with Rinoa. And humans weren't just working machines. Humans needed to feel alive once in a while.
His dark haired angel knew what she was doing, but she was
so much more careful now. She caressed
his face gently, all the time making sure he wouldn't start to feel
uncomfortable. Maybe she was just as
nervous about it as he was. All Rinoa
knew was that she loved this boy, no, man, so much, more than she had loved
anyone ever before. And it was enough
to let her push aside the fears, and for once be the strong one as they headed
into the unknown.
Squall didn't resist this time as she pulled off his
jacket, and started to remove his belts. She paused for a minute, resting her head against his chest and toying
with the lion-shaped medallion, both of them feeling fine just being
close. They had plenty of time, no
rush.
"Squall…?"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you name it Griever?"
Why did he name it Griever. The silver necklace, and later, ring and engraved picture on his
gunblade, held a lot of meaning to Squall. Not only did it represent what he wanted to be, but the name in itself
fit his personality. Now… he wasn't
that loner anymore, not like he has used to be. Wounds were healing, walls were being forced down, the lion was
set free, leaving only that one scar that would never fully disappear. Griever was more a memoir of his past than
anything.
Squall smiled again, although faintly, "It doesn't really
matter." Not when I have you…
And when he kissed her again, they gave themselves to each
other. Neither one wanted to ever let
go.