Second Choice

by Tarlia

Second Choice is a rather dark piece of fan fiction, where I explore new possibilities. Rinoa tries to deal with her sorceress powers, Quistis tries to find her place, and Squall tries to cope with the greatest loss of his life.

4. Chapters 10 - 12

Chapter X:

Squall was standing on the deck of the Garden Battle Cruiser, watching as the town of Dollet became larger and larger against the horizon. It strongly reminded him of the last time he was there, only two months earlier, yet it seemed like forever. He had been going to Dollet along with Zell and Seifer to pass his SeeD field exam. That time was so distant – so much had changed. For one thing, he wasn't a mere cadet anymore, but a top ranking A SeeD and a Commander on top of that. Cid, the funny little man he was, had of course made Squall the leader of this mission. It hardly surprised the boy anymore – Cid would always push responsibilities upon him that he didn't want. Then again, what had he been expecting when he first became a student at Garden? What had he hoped for after becoming a SeeD?

It came across to him that becoming a SeeD had never actually been a choice of his. It was just something that had always been there. Fight, be the best, rival Seifer, become SeeD – it was just something he was supposed to do. He had never asked himself why. Later, as memories of Matron and the orphanage came back to him, he realized there hadn't been any chance to make a choice. Matron had suddenly found better things to attend to – all the other children were adopted, and he and Seifer were sent to Garden at the age of 10 and 11. And now? Squall wasn't sure. SeeD had been his only life and Garden his only home until… Rinoa.

Rinoa; she was the most important change. No matter what he thought about these days, no matter what he was brooding over, it all seemed to come down to Rinoa. She had stomped off in anger from Cid's office that morning, and when Squall and the others left Garden in the afternoon, she had only been sad to see him go. Really, he had wished he could stay there with her, but… This was his job. And Rinoa would be much safer in Garden than coming with them on a mission.

Ellone and Laguna had left late the night before. After they had all had shared a dinner together, Squall had made a quick exit to avoid getting into any conversation. It annoyed him that he still was so unable to open up, but, truth was he just didn't want to get close to Ellone again. She had been his Sis once, though after seeing her again… He was the one protecting her, all of a sudden, she wasn't the big sister he remembered. Maybe someday later, he would talk with her. It was still too soon. And Laguna… Laguna was as much of a moron as ever, chattering endlessly through the entire dinner, acting even more nervous than usual. Perhaps it was because Kiros and Ward weren't there. So… Laguna was sort of an adopted father to Ellone, or at least an uncle, and that woman he had seen in the 'dream world' – Raine - was Ellone's adopted mother. Ellone had said she died… Was that why Ellone ended up at an orphanage along with all of them?

Something about this bothered Squall, and he wasn't sure what it was.

(Brooding again, are we, my dear?)

… Whatever.

(You're almost there. Better get back down to the others.)

I'm able to see that myself, thank you. Look, I'll summon you if I need you, Shiva.

(Sure… Go ahead and give me the cold shoulder.) The Guardian Force snickered at her own pun, and Squall rolled his eyes, walking down below deck again.

The sky was beginning to darken as the six of them – Squall, Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Zell and Nida – entered Dollet. They were going to travel to Deling City by rented car to save time, but the rental shop was probably already closed by then. Selphie and Irvine were still keeping a certain distance from each other, and the others didn't find it so amusing anymore. They very rarely stayed angry that long. And so both of them were quiet, and Zell saw his chance to comment on the situation as they stood outside the closed car rental shop, "Well, unless we wanna walk, it doesn't look like we're goin' anywhere tonight."

Quistis and Nida nodded quietly in agreement. Nida had been quite surprised when he had been assigned to this mission – usually, he was left behind to tend to the Garden's control system, having officially been made the pilot not long after the Sorceress Battle. He guessed Cid had finally understood he wanted to get out a little more often too. The headmaster had told him he didn't stand out, but that he should try to make the best out of being a SeeD, anyway. And that was what he was intending to do. Not stand out. Hah, well, he'd show them. He used a short sword in battle, a little similar to the swords the Galbadian Army used, though less advanced than the gunblade. At least he could cause a pretty decent amount of damage if he wanted to. And with GF Diablos junctioned, there shouldn't be any problem.

Seeing they were all looking at him for making the decision, Squall placed a hand on his hip and sighed, shrugging, "I guess we'll just stay at the local hotel over night, then. We're not supposed to arrive before tomorrow afternoon, anyway. First thing in the morning, we rent a couple cars and leave."

They turned and walked down the street again to find the hotel. Dollet was a rather shabby looking, yet friendly town. It hardly had any of the charm that Winhill had, but in certain areas, those that were the furthest away from the centre of the city, it could be pretty nice. And the group was just passing by a house lying in one of those areas, close to the sandy beach and the sea, when a voice called towards them.

"Quistis??"

All of them turned to see an aging woman standing in the door of the small house, a man about her own age – most likely her husband – standing next to her. They huddled together under the cool evening breeze, staring at Quistis. She was small, with dark blonde hair and grey eyes, while he was black haired and tall, and watched the group with hard, green eyes.

Selphie canted her head in curiosity and mild surprise, slinking up next to Squall, "Who is that?"

Squall frowned and shook his head, "How should I know?"

The woman took a couple of steps forward, ignoring everyone but the blonde instructor, "Quistis, is that really you?" Squall cast a glance at Quistis – she seemed unfazed, but the discomfort in her eyes revealed her true feelings about the situation. Finally, she gave a nod, and the woman smiled widely, "Quistis! I hadn't expected you to… Oh, how are you doing? It's been so long since we last saw you!" The eyes of the man in the background seemed to turn even harder, but he still said nothing.

Quistis sighed softly, "I am fine, I'm just here on a mission. How have you both been doing?"

"Well, it's been lonely, but… we're getting by," the woman replied, a little sadly. Squall lifted an eyebrow, and Irvine cleared his throat, causing the woman to abruptly turn to the rest of the team, "Oh, pardon me! I was just so excited to see Quistis again… Quistis, why don't you introduce me to your friends?"

A little hesitantly, Quistis nodded again, looking almost apologetic as she glanced back at the other members of her team, "This is Commander Squall Leonhart, and SeeD members Selphie Tilmitt, Irvine Kinneas, Zell Dincht and… uh… Nida," she pointed to each of them in turn.

The woman smiled, "Pleased to meet you all." The man had walked up to them now as well, but he looked much less pleasant than his wife. Deep green eyes falling upon Quistis, he finally spoke in a deep voice.

"You sure did take your time to visit. But I guess three years go by quickly over there in Balamb Garden."

"Richard, don't," the woman next to him scolded, but her forced smile reappeared as soon as she looked back to the others, "How long are you here for?"

Quistis started to say something, but Squall beat her to it. He didn't know who these people were, nor did he really care, but he was starting to get tired of standing around waiting, "Just for the night. We're staying at the hotel."

"Well!" The woman said brightly, "Then why don't you stay here with us? We don't have much room to offer, but at least it's for free."

"I don't know…," Quistis said quietly. Zell and Selphie were both watching her confusedly now, their expressions demanding to know who the aging couple were, while Irvine and Squall exchanged glances and shrugged.

"Come on, now. We've missed you so much, Quistis. Can't you at least stay for a night?" without waiting for a reply, the woman turned back to her husband, "Richard, go inside and put out the extra beds. I'll find the pillows and sheets." Reluctantly, the man left, but not before scowling at the group another time. Another smile from the woman, and then she scurried after her husband, "Just show them inside, Quistis. Make yourselves comfortable!"

The moment the door shut, everybody turned to Quistis. Irvine was the first to ask, "So, like… Who are they, Quisty?"

Shaking her head slowly to herself, Quistis looked towards the house with a pensive expression, "Amalia and Richard Trepe."

"Say WHAT?!" Zell burst out.

Selphie bounced once, "They're your parents??"

"Foster parents," Quistis added sharply, "We never got along…," dismissing the subject with a wave of her hand, she approached the house, "Let's just get inside. If nothing else, Amalia is good at cooking."

The others looked at each other, then slowly followed. It was apparently going to be a long night.

Chapter XI:

Quistis was right: Amalia knew how to cook. Despite the enjoyable meal, though, the mood of the room hadn't been one of the best. Squall could practically feel the thick tension in the air, but for once, it wasn't centred around him. Amalia chattered nervously all the time with a forced cheerfulness in her voice, trying to pass off the whole thing as any normal family dinner. Quistis replied with short answers and smiled faintly now and then, though the expression behind that faked confidence practically screamed 'get me out of this!' Richard was quiet most of the time, and when he spoke, it was in a chilly tone, asking about impersonal things like what Quistis was doing in Garden and how much she was paid. And since Selphie and Irvine didn't get along at the moment, the others couldn't be relied on for normal conversation, either. Irvine and Zell would exchange a few words at a couple occasions, and Selphie helped Amalia break the silence when the woman ran out of topics, but otherwise, not much was said. As was well-known, Squall didn't like to talk much, and neither did Nida it seemed. But at least he was appearing to follow the chatter around the table, while Squall seemed plainly uninterested, which he also was.

Less than two hours later, the Trepes had done to bed, leaving the six SeeDs gathered by the beds Amalia had made for them in the living room. Well, there were only two extra beds, leaving the rest of them to sleep on the floor in their bedrolls. There was a short argument between Zell, Irvine and Selphie over who should get the beds, until the guys finally decided that the two girls should have them. They were all ready to go to sleep, but yet didn't. Now was the time to ask questions without being disturbed.

"So how come you've never told us about your foster parents, Quistis?" Selphie asked. She was lying on her stomach on the bed with her legs bent up behind her and her head rested in her hands, the light from the fireplace reflecting in her green eyes as she watched the older female.

Sighing, the blonde woman sat on the edge of her own bed and turned her gaze downwards, "We never got along. They adopted me from Matron's orphanage when I was about… I don't know… Eight, I think. Guess you all don't remember that because of the Guardian Forces," she turned around to look at them. Everyone was watching her more or less curiously, so she continued, "Amalia means well. She constantly talks and always pretends everything is fine, even if you can see straight through her cover. I suppose I could have tolerated her, but she'd get on my nerves in the long run. And Richard… Richard is just like what you saw, the time. Cold, harsh and demanding. I couldn't stand him, and I don't think he likes me much, either. In fact, I think it was his idea to send me to Garden in the first place. So I went to Balamb when I was ten, and the last time I visited my foster parents was when I was fifteen."

And with that, she seemed to put the subject behind her, her gaze returning to the floor with a sombre, yet calm look. No one dared to ask any further, and an awkward silence followed, before Selphie broke it once again like she always did, "Hey, what's everyone else's story? I got adopted straight into Trabia Garden. See, the headmaster there really liked me!" she chirped, "And all my friends there were like, my family."

Squall glanced at the sunny girl, a ever so faint smile on his lips, but it was hardly visible to anyone else. As annoying as Selphie was, he wondered what their group would be like without her. Trust her to always lighten the mood. It amazed him that someone who started out as an orphan like himself could turn out so entirely different, and have so much energy, enough to stay happy at almost all times. He watched her expression darken to a slightly hurt and angry one as she turned to look at Irvine. How long was she going to stay upset this time?

Irvine rolled his shoulders in a shrug, pulling away a bang of reddish hair from his face with his hand. He sat on his bedroll, his cowboy hat resting in his lap, "I remember everything pretty well, though I guess it's only a matter of time before the GFs start eatin' on my mind too. The Kinneas couple adopted me when I was, like, nine or something. They're livin' out on this ranch on the plains of Galbadia. Gonna visit them again soon, in fact. My foster father taught me all I need to know about guns and horses," he grinned vaguely.

"And women?" Quistis shot in, sarcastically.

"Uh, no…," Irvine gave Selphie a nervous look, "… I picked up that part myself. Anyway, I joined Galbadia Garden at fourteen, mainly to earn some money, became the resident sharpshooter over there, and well… You know the rest."

"Well, I lived in Balamb with Ma all this time," Zell began, leaning back against the wall as he sat on his own bedroll, "My father… well, guess he turned out to be my adoptive father, died on the sea when I was really little, so it was just me, Ma and Grandpa. I tried to live up to become just like my Grandpa. He was a really awesome martial artist! See, even got a tattoo like him." Proudly he turned his face to show off the black tattoo on the left side, as if none of them had seen it before.

"What about you, Nida?" Selphie asked suddenly, "We don't even know your last name! You're just, like… Nida."

Surprised at being given attention and not ignored for once, Nida looked up, "Huh? Me? Uh… I don't have any interesting story like you guys. Grew up in Fisherman's Horizon, with parents and all. Really boring life really, so I went to Garden. And… Nida is actually my last name. You're the first who've bothered to ask," he grinned wryly, "My first name's Elias."

Selphie blinked lightly, "Elias?"

"… that's…," Zell started.

"… a nice name," said Quistis.

Nida smirked, "Sure, whatever."

"Can we all just go to sleep now?" Squall asked from his corner from where he had been quietly observing the entire time, "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Quistis gave him a light-hearted, teasing smile, narrowing her eyes, "Yes, sir."

Squall groaned, "Please don't-"

"-call me that," Quistis finished for him, then giggled. Selphie soon joined in. Frowning, Squall decided to simply ignore them as he laid down onto his bedroll, pulling the extra blanket Amalia had offered over himself.

"Hey, Sefie…"

Selphie woke a couple of hours later at a soft whisper by her ear and someone gently nudging her shoulder. Blinking sleepy green eyes open, she rolled over to look straight into the face of Irvine. His long, auburn hair wasn't tied back for once and he had left his cowboy hat behind, but he seemed wide awake, "Irvine… It's the middle of the night. Go away," she mumbled, turning away from him again to go back to sleep.

But he wouldn't leave her alone. Gently taking a hold of her arm, Irvine attempted to pull her out of the bed, "Come on, come with me outside. I want to show you something."

"What?" Selphie frowned and tried to get her arm free, but she did sit up in bed, "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

The cowboy let go of her and watched her with a pleading look, "Please? Don't protest too loudly, you'll wake the others."

"Fine," it was rare to see the sunny girl this grumpy, and that didn't make Irvine any less nervous. Funny how he was so confident around all other girls and could just smooth talk his way out of it if they became upset with him – or he just didn't care too much that they were. Selphie was different.

She pulled on her boots and brushed her fingers through her hair, the usually neat curls on the ends now unruly from her sleep. Reluctantly she followed Irvine as he carefully opened the door and went outside, hugging herself to stay warm in the chilly night.

Irvine led her down to the beach, finally stopping by few large boulders. The waves were washing up around the rocks, the moonlight and stars reflecting in the clear sea water. It was beautiful, but Selphie still didn't cheer up. Why was she so jealous? She should have known something like this would happen. Irvine, the ladies' man… he'd never stick to just one girl. But somehow… a part of her had secretly hoped he would be hers. She had never even been interested in boys before. Why him? Why was he so different?

"Why did you take me out here?" She asked, watching the ocean and not him.

"Hey, I…," Irvine turned around to watch her, "I just wanted to say… I'm sorry. Are you ever even going to talk to me again?"

Selphie moved emerald eyes to him, her expression hurt, "You kissed her."

"No, I didn't. She kissed me."

"What's the difference?"

"I've tried to explain this. The difference is; I didn't want her to," Irvine sighed.

Turning away from him again, Selphie shuddered in the coldness, "Since when did Irvine Kinneas stop wanting women to kiss him?"

A moment of hesitation, then Irvine stepped closer to her, "… Since I met you again." Shaking his head, he lowered his gaze to the ground, "I never thought I'd… you know, just want to settle down with one girl. But… Even if you all have forgotten most about the orphanage, I still remember how I always enjoyed spending time with you then. And that hasn't changed. Sure, I might still… look now and then, but it doesn't mean anything. Please, Selphie?"

Looking up into his dark blue eyes, Selphie actually saw sincerity in them. And perhaps… something else. Those beautiful blue eyes and that handsome face – oh, didn't he already know that she wanted to be with him? Still, something held her back from just jumping right into his arms and forgive him. Maybe it was self-respect. "Irvy… I… need some time think about it, okay?"

There were few things that could put a damper on Selphie's mood, and Irvine was ashamed he had become one of them. Though he didn't say this, and just nodded, "That's fine. That's… okay. I can wait." He saw she was cold, and took off his coat, gently wrapping it around her shoulders, and she didn't resist. The two of them stayed there for a while, just watching the sea in silence.

The sound of someone leaving the house woke him. Squall had a habit of sleeping very lightly, a result of being a SeeD and being taught to always be on guard. He hadn't been able to sleep very well, anyway. Way too much on his mind. Standing, he decided to take a little walk outside himself to sort things out in his mind. Perhaps then he could go to sleep afterwards.

He could see Selphie and Irvine down by the beach, but he didn't head in their direction. Instead, he stayed inside the little area around the house that could barely be called a garden, leaning his hands against the fence as he looked up at the sky. Heh, he half expected to see a shooting star, but that just wouldn't be right if Rinoa wasn't there. Not a day had gone by, and he already missed her. How was that possible? He worried about her, too, naturally. This whole sorceress thing… it was troubling her badly. And there was always a possibility her powers could get her in danger.

Quit thinking like that.

"Squall?" Turning his head, he found Quistis approaching him, her blonde hair pinned up even now. Everything was so neat about her, perfection, even when walking about in her foster parents' garden in the middle of the night. "You couldn't sleep either?"

Squall turned back to look at the sky, offering a light shrug, "I'm just thinking."

Quistis smiled lightly, coming to a halt as she stood next to him, "Again?" She giggled lightly at the expression on his face as she said that, but quickly calmed down, turning serious again, "I know… I think too much too. This really wasn't expected, you know. I'm sorry we had to stay with my parents… Amalia can be rather pushy."

He glanced at her. At least you have parents… Even if they're just foster parents. No one wanted to adopt me, same with Seifer. I don't blame them, though.

(Why don't you voice your thoughts, Squall?)

…

"… At least you have parents, Quistis."

She was surprised at that – Quistis hadn't expected Squall Leonhart to reply to her rants, much less had she expected the faint tone of emotion in his voice. "Well, I bear their last name… But I still feel like Garden is my only family. It's always been like that." She paused briefly, "You feel like that too, Squall?"

I used to. Rinoa is the family I want now.

And that was quite obvious to Quistis, apparently, "You really do love her, don't you?" Monotone. Just too monotone to be Quistis.

Squall frowned. What was he supposed to reply to that? Why was she asking all these questions? Why was everyone always so interested in his private life? So he cared about Quistis, she was one of his friends and all, but part of him still saw her as his instructor and it felt awkward talking to her like this. But despite this, he eventually nodded vaguely in response. He did love Rinoa, and he was only beginning to realize how much.

"You're lucky…," Quistis said in a dreamy voice, looking up at the sky for a few seconds, before turning and walking back inside.

Chapter XII:

"Rinoa?"

There was a hesitant, but persistent knock on the door to Rinoa and Squall's dorm room, but Rinoa refused to open. She was lying on the bed, head buried against the pillow, and when the knocking continued, she mumbled a muffled, "Go away!"

The girl outside narrowed her eyes in worry, pausing, then knocked again, "Rinoa, it's me. Jadina. Please, let me in?" No response. It wasn't like Rinoa to behave like this, and even Jadina, who didn't know her all that well, was concerned. "Are you sure you don't want to talk? You've been in there ever since yesterday."

Still no reply. Giving up, Jadina turned to leave, "All right. If that's what you want," she said before walking down the hall.

No, this wasn't like Rinoa, and she had realized that herself. But all these new emotions about being a sorceress, her love for Squall, and now her father's death and her lover's refusal of coming with them on the mission... they had done something to her. She wouldn't have minded so much if it had been just Cid who denied it, but Squall – she had thought he would understand. She wanted to see her friends from the Forest Owls again, wanted to say she was sorry… And perhaps most of all, she wanted to be with Squall. Edea had experience with sorceresses, but Rinoa only wanted Squall to comfort her. That was bizarre. She was angry at him, yet wanted to be with him. Always.

I'm so confused! Why can't things be more simple? I want to be with Squall, yet I feel like I'm stuck here. Trapped. I'm trapped, they won't let me go anywhere…

Slowly, her hand slid up to grab the two rings on her necklace – rings that had belonged to the two people she loved most. Her mother, Julia Heartilly, and Squall… Her fingers felt the smooth surface of his Griever ring, and then she proceeded to hold it tightly against her chest. A sudden urge washed over her. Rinoa could not go on like this. There were so many things she was wondering about, so many things undone, that she needed to do before she could live happily with Squall for the rest of her life. That was how fairy tales were supposed to end, right? The princess with her prince, forever.

Mom. Dad. …I never got to say goodbye to any of them. Zone, Watts… I wonder how they're all doing? … And… Seifer… Seifer, I wonder where you are…

Rolling out of bed and rubbing tearstained, golden eyes, Rinoa stood. This emotion inside of her, this sense of… of power, it grew. It was a feeling that had never been there before, it didn't belong to her, yet somehow it fit so perfectly. It felt so natural. Angelo suddenly got to her paws as if waking with a start, and began to pace back and forth nervously, barking at Rinoa and staring at her with wide, black eyes.

"I'm sorry, Angelo. I'll be back…" Closing her eyes, Rinoa felt the power flow through her like a river of tickling, sparkling sensations. It was like that time in the Training Centre with the T-rexaur, but not so hostile and dangerous. It was as natural as she felt when she and Squall were together in the most intimate of ways, but not so pleasurable and safe. There was just this new confidence in her – she had no idea what she was doing, but her instincts did. Instincts that weren't really hers, but Hyne's.

Angelo's barking increased and then faded to a frightened whimper as a strong, purplish-white glow surrounded Rinoa's entire body, and the room was bathed in light.

Forgive me, Squall.

"I'm really worried about her, Mrs. Kramer. She won't talk, won't come out of her room," Jadina shook her head softly as she spoke, heading through the dormitory along with Edea and Xu. The two older women looked at each other, and Edea sighed.

"It's only natural for her to react like this. So much has been going on in her life, and I know what it's like when one's sorceress powers are evolving. It's very frightening in the beginning, to find out how much strength and power you suddenly possess…"

Xu nodded, "But I agree with Miss Letris. You should speak with her, Edea, you know what is happening to her better than anyone else."

Jadina stopped in front of the dorm room that read 'Leonhart & Heartilly' on the door sign outside, "Rinoa?"

"Rinoa," Edea said, "Please, darling, I'd like to talk with you. Don't you remember, you were the one who stopped Squall from locking himself up, and now you're doing just the same thing to yourself, only literally."

No sound but Angelo's barks came from inside. Jadina reached for the handle, "It's locked."

Edea glanced at Xu, "You have the keys, don't you?"

"Always," Xu said, stepping forward to unlock the door, "I don't normally do this, but…"

The door opened. The headmaster's wife, the SeeD and the cadet all blinked. The window was closed, the dog was running around in circles and whimpering. Jadina gaped, "I… I swear, she was here just a minute ago!"

Xu put her hands on her hips, "So where is she now?"

The six SeeDs had departed from Dollet early that morning by car, and as the sun just began to fall from its highest point, they arrived outside Deling City. Selphie and Irvine were noticeably affected by their own problems, even though they were riding in separate cars. Squall couldn't let himself be bothered by it. It was none of his business, and he had other things to worry about, like being leader of the mission.

As they entered the city, the group was immediately stopped by three Galbadian soldiers. "Halt! I can't remember seeing any of you before. What business do you have in Deling City?" one of them asked.

Squall eyed them. This was arranged by Caraway's advisor, Adar – the loyalist soldiers would be on guard today and all Squall was supposed to do was to tell them who they were. Still not feeling entirely sure about them, he replied evenly, "I'm Squall Leonhart. We're SeeDs hired by-"

"Not so loud!" another soldier hissed. He looked around cautiously, then waved a hand at them, "Follow us. We'll take you to the house where Mr. Nalhan is being held captured, but we have to be careful."

Looking at Quistis for confirmation, Squall saw her nod and then turned back to the soldiers, "Fine. Lead the way."

Adar Nalhan's house wasn't as big and impressive as the late Caraway's mansion, but it certainly wasn't any poor man's home. Several guards stood outside the building, glaring suspiciously at the SeeDs as the three soldiers took them to the entrance and into the building. After walking up some stairs and down a hall, they were finally taken into a large room. A man of about forty years old with greyish black hair and brown eyes sat in a chair by the middle of the room, two guards accompanying him, but they were obviously loyalists too. As the newcomers entered, he stood up, his hands behind his back, "Ah. The SeeDs I requested have arrived, I see?"

Taking on the role as leader once again, Squall stepped forward, "Adar Nalhan? I am… Commander Squall Leonhart of Balamb Garden. These are SeeDs Quistis Trepe, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, Irvine Kinneas and… Elias Nida." He pretended not to see Nida's scowl.

"Good, good," Adar went closer and reached out to shake hands with Squall, but the boy just stood there, his expression indifferent. The mission may have been important to the entire future of Galbadia, but to him it was still just a job. Clearing his voice, Adar moved to greet all the others before heading back to his chair, "As you know, I have hired you to investigate the death of General Caraway, perhaps more so to prove Zolqer Temeka's guilt than my innocence. Now, no one truly knows who killed him, as no one ever saw the murderer. I have a theory, however, that Temeka planted an assassin among Caraway's own soldiers. This assassin then found the chance to see the General alone for a while, enter his office, take out his gun… And when it was all over with, he could have quickly escaped and mingled with the other guards."

"Do you have any way to prove this, Mr. Nalhan?" Quistis asked. The man shook his head.

"No. As I said, no one saw what happened. The other soldiers only heard the gunshot, but couldn't see any trace when they found the body. No fingerprints, nothing. So that's why I've hired you – to find the truth," Adar explained.

Irvine frowned slightly, "And where were you that evening?"

Zell nodded, "Yeah, I've been wonderin' about that too!"

Adar seemed mildly shocked, and rose once again, his eyes narrowing, "One thing I do know: I did not murder Philip Caraway! I had no reason to whatsoever. Temeka is trying to push the blame on me to get rid of all opponents. He knows I was close to Caraway and can easily pull out all the dirt on Temeka's name that Caraway had found. But if you must know, I was here in my house that evening. Alone. And yes, I know that's a horrible alibi."

He paused, "Anyway… You already know why I hired you in the first place. However, there has been a change of plans, and if you are willing to do this, there is no time to lose, even if I doubt there's much you can do," Adar sighed, and Squall's finally started to seem interested.

"You probably know that Temeka had an army ready to both keep Timber under control and one ready to attack Dollet. However, a new resistance group in Timber has spoken up a bit too loudly. Three young resistance members attacked a small troop of Galbadian soldiers last night. They were bullying around a couple female citizens, and these unknown youngsters stepped in and killed five of the soldiers, while only one escaped. Now Temeka has decided to set an example, it seems. He has gathered both armies into one, and they're all moving towards Timber in this instant – judging from the heavy machinery and weapons, my only guess is that he's planning on crushing Timber completely."

A gasp went through the room, and Selphie shrieked, "That's horrible!"

Squall frowned deeply. They were only six SeeDs - what could they do? "So what are we supposed to do about it?"

A quiet beeping sound kept Adar from answering. Nida pulled up a small, black communicator - that looked vaguely like a walkie-talkie - from his pocket and put it to his ear, "Yes? What? … How?"

Selphie leaned in towards Zell, "What's that?"

Zell glanced sideways at her, "Message from Garden. Must be important."

"They can do that?" Selphie blinked. The spike haired blonde nodded.

"After the communication interference disappeared, they can do lots of stuff."

Nida's expression turned into a mildly concerned one, and he held up a hand for the others to wait as he saw the curious looks on their faces, "I understand. Yes, yes I'll tell him. Nida out."

As he put down the communicator, Quistis was actually the first to ask, "What is it?" Adar stayed silent for the time being, though he seemed a little irritated at the interruption.

"It was a message from Headmaster Cid," Nida explained, turning to give Squall a slightly nervous look, "Squall… Sir. It appears that Rinoa is… gone."

What?!

"Gone?" Squall snapped, "What do you mean 'gone'? Where is she?"

"No one knows, Sir," Nida said, "They searched through the entire Garden, but she's just not there. Normally they wouldn't interrupt a mission like this, but considering Miss Hearilly's… condition…"

Selphie tilted her head and looked around at the others for an answer, "Where could she be?"

Irvine shrugged, Quistis just shook her head, and Zell scratched the back of his head. "What's all this about?" Adar asked, but Squall was silent, ignoring him.

She was so upset she couldn't come on the mission. Could she have run away? Just like that? She wouldn't do that… How could she without anyone noticing it? More importantly, where would she have gone?

A sudden thought occurred to him then, and he felt something tighten in his throat. He whirled around to face the others, "Rinoa… We have to get to Timber, now!"

"What?" Selphie chirped, "Why?"

But Squall was already on his way out. Nothing else mattered to him right then, no orders or missions could stop him. Quistis gave Adar an apologetic look before following the others. The investigation could wait – Timber next stop.