Chapter XIII:
There was darkness.
Then Rinoa opened her eyes, coffee brown turned golden
yellow shining through the dim light of the back alley. She blinked. Turned left, turned right, pinching her own arm to confirm that
she was indeed awake. What surrounded
her was not a plain, but nice little dorm room of Garden, but dirty walls and
overfilled garbage cans. And the thing
was, she knew this place. She knew it
all too well.
Stepping forward, she rounded the corner, hands lifting to
cover her mouth to keep herself from gasping in surprise as she looked
around. Worn, old streets, so
familiar. Buildings she knew better
than she knew her own father's mansion. Busy, worried, but stubborn people walking in the streets, people who
had fought for their freedom through the last 17 years. She was… She was in Timber. The last thing she could remember was
thinking about her friends in Timber, and then the rest was a blur, until she found
herself here. Sorceress… Could it be
that her powers had brought her here? Zone, Watts… Had they went back here after the White SeeDs moved to
Trabia Garden? Most likely. They would never abandon the town they lived
and breathed and fought for, for so many years. They wouldn't leave it behind… like she had.
Oh God… I can't
face them now!
Back-pedaling into the alley again, she blocked out the
sight of the citizens, and at the same time avoiding anyone seeing her. They couldn't get a glimpse of her
characteristic blue and black clothes – they'd recognize her. And accuse her. What would she tell them? That she had become what the entire country – no, the entire world – had
feared for so long? Breathing hard,
Rinoa pressed her back against the moist wall, closing her eyes. What had she done? Could she get back to Garden the same way she had come? Squall would be so concerned when he found
out she was gone… Maybe he'd be angry?
Wait, what right would he have to be angry at her? She made her own decisions, they were none
of his business. But he was her
knight… And wasn't a knight supposed to
stay by his sorceress' side? He
had left her behind.
What am I thinking? I can't accuse Squall, I know he only did what he had to do. Why do I feel this way? Why am I so confused about everything?
Right then, she felt like screaming more than anything,
yelling out to Hyne and tell Her to take Her damn powers back. She didn't want them! She didn't want to be in possession of
powers which she couldn't understand, of which she knew no limits. She had killed that T-rexaur, without a
weapon, without a Guardian Force – she, Rinoa Heartilly Caraway, had completely
butchered a huge monster with a mere swipe of her hand. She had travelled to another town with her
own mystical forces in a matter of seconds – a trip which would usually take
hours by train. This was not the Rinoa
she wanted to be. She wanted her eyes
to be warm brown and not startling golden. She wanted to love Squall with her body, soul and heart, without having
to know that she was superior to him. Without having to know she was his sorceress, he was her knight, and
what if she could control him like Ultimecia had controlled-
There was a crash from somewhere deeper within the alley, and
Rinoa turned, gasping. Had they caught
her?
But there was no one there but a black cat that leapt down
from one of the garbage cans, looking at her with green eyes and mewing, before
running away and disappearing out of her sight. Letting out a sigh of relief, the girl relaxed.
I'm being paranoid…
A strong hand rested on her shoulder, and her breath
stopped in her throat.
"Rinoa?"
She whirled around, ready to defend herself from whoever it
was, but stopped as she looked into a very familiar face, "…Watts?"
The boy, barely a year or two older than her, offered a
smile and nodded. Rinoa wanted to throw
her arms around him in a hug, but restrained herself from giving in to that
impulse. The beginning smile on her
face faded as she saw how he stared at her eyes, and she took a step backwards,
"Watts, I… I…," she swallowed, "… I'm sorry."
"For what?" Watts asked, canting his head in confusion.
Brownish black bangs hung into her face as Rinoa lowered
her head, "For not being here."
But Watts only chuckled, "Don't worry about it,
princess. Me and Zone know you're
busy. What are you doing here? We know it's not safe for you to move about
so much now when you're a sorc-," he paused, then cleared his voice, "Well, you
know what I mean."
Rinoa blinked, "What? How do you know I'm a-"
"Don't say it too loud, princess. The people here are still a bit panicky about that, but I know
you're not out to hurt anyone," his serious expression changed into a smug
grin, "How I know? Gathering info is my
speciality, have you forgotten, princess?"
It took her another few seconds to realize that he wasn't
blaming her for anything at all, but when she did, Rinoa gave in to that smile
and finally allowed herself to hug her friend, "No, no of course I haven't
forgotten! I've missed you guys so
much!" She pulled back and looked at
him, "How have you been? All of you?"
Watts just kept smiling secretively, "Come on, I'll show
you our new base," he said as he started to lead her out of the alley.
"New base?" she questioned as she carefully followed,
actually enjoying the view of the town this time. This town she had fought so hard for. And citizens who recognized her as they passed by. Feeling more confident, she smiled and waved
at them. Apparently, the word of who
the new sorceress was had been kept away from most people.
"Yeah, you heard about the new resistance group,
right? Forests Owls is no more, but me
and the guys aren't ready to give up. The Galbadians are getting more pushy again, so we need to stand our
ground against them. That's why these
new people's arrival was so convenient! You won't believe how great they are at fighting," Watts turned to her, then thoughtfully
added, "Or maybe you will…"
Rinoa was about to ask what he meant by that, but Watts
made a sudden gesture with his hand, "There it is." He pointed towards an old wooden shack by the end of the street,
"Our new base."
A young, dark haired man was working on the building,
apparently doing some repairs. The dull
knocking of a hammer repeatedly meeting the head of a nail sung through the
air, though it abruptly stopped as Watts called out, "Zone! Sir! Look who's here!"
Turning around in annoyance, Zone snapped, "What?" But then he fell silent as he saw the raven
haired angel standing there next to Watts, a weak, but sweet smile on her rosy
lips, "Princess?"
Immediately, he dropped the hammer and ran over to them,
"Rinoa! Where have you been? How have you been? How did you get here?" Giving her no time to reply, he turned to Watts, "How did she get here?"
"I don't know, sir, I-" Watts started to explain, but Zone
wasn't willing to listen.
"God, Rinoa, it's been… how long? A couple of months? Are
you…," he stopped as he saw her eyes, but quickly caught himself in it, and
frowned instead, "… Is… Is that punk taking care of you? Huh?"
Rinoa couldn't help but giggle, "I'm fine, Zone," she lied
so well she almost believed it herself for a moment, "I just wanted to see how
you guys were doing."
"Well, you came at the right time, then!" Zone replied
excitedly, "We got a new leader for our resistance group. We didn't know if we should trust him at
first, you know, because of all the bad things we've heard about him. But now he's an okay guy, now when he's free
from-"
"ZONE!" a deep voice called from inside the shack, "I don't
hear any hammering! This dump looks
like hell. Get back to work!"
Zone blinked, wincing at the shout, "Y-yes sir! Getting right back to it!" He shot Rinoa an apologizing look, then
darted back to the house, grabbed the hammer, and disappeared behind the
building. "Ow OUCH! My stomach!!"
Watts and Rinoa looked at each other, the girl's slim
eyebrows lifted in inquiry. That voice
couldn't be who she thought it was…
"Lazy bastards…," someone muttered as he walked outside,
black boots followed by a tall, young boy – no, man – with a long, white trench
coat with a red cross on the arm, and blonde, short hair combed back neatly,
light blue eyes glinting in the sunlight. Their harsh expression did, however, fade as his gaze fell upon Rinoa,
his lips parting as if choking on a word.
Rinoa herself didn't know what to do, didn't know what to
feel. This had to be a dream. This had to be a mistake. But it dawned upon her that this indeed was
reality as two more figures stepped out. One a tall man with tanned skin and dark hair and eyes, and the other a
shorter woman with a long, blue shirt, short, silver hair and a black patch
over her left eye. The red colour of
the right eye watched the other female intently. Rinoa couldn't believe it. The new resistance group leader was, of all people,…
"Seifer…"
"SORCERESS," came Fujin's rough comment, and Raijin just
shook his head.
"Like… whoa… ya know?"
Finally, Seifer managed to pull himself together after the momentary
shock, and his well known smirk found its way to his face, "Hello, Rinoa."
Watts eyed both his former leader and the current one
nervously, "Uh… Sir, princess… I mean Rinoa, I…"
Without even looking at him, Seifer did a dismissive wave
with his hand, "Why don't you run along and gather some information, Watts?"
"But, sir… Rinoa-"
"Now."
"Yes, sir!" Watts saluted quickly, then ran off, leaving
Rinoa alone with this shadow from her past.
There was a long period of silence in which Rinoa and Seifer
just watched each other. Even Raijin
had the wits to not interrupt that moment. Then Seifer put a hand on his hip, his stance relaxing somewhat, "Well,
are you just going to stand there?"
Swallowing, Rinoa licked her dry lips, trying to find her
voice again, "Why are you…? How… Why?"
was all she managed to get out.
Seifer sighed, his eyes dropping to the ground, "Look,
maybe we should go somewhere… I'd like to talk." When he looked back up and saw the reluctance in her eyes, he
seemed to grow even more uncertain, "I won't bite, I promise."
Was this any smart move? Alone with Seifer? The last time
she saw him, he had tried to… tried to kill her. If not literally, he had sacrificed her to Sorceress Adel, and
that was, in its own way, worse than death. But still she had been wondering about him, wanting to know where he
was, what he was doing. Now when she
had seen he was alive and all, and that Zone and Watts were too, couldn't she
go back home? But there was so much
more she needed to know. Glancing at
Seifer's posse, Rinoa was taken off guard by the way Fujin glared at her. Naturally, Fujin almost always glared at
everyone, but this time it seemed cooler than usual. Mentally shrugging it off, she looked back to Seifer, "… All
right."
Seifer looked over his shoulder to Raijin and Fujin, "Don't
follow." It was an order. And the posse obeyed, as always. Everything was so normal about it. Was Seifer back to the one he had been
before the entire incident with Ultimecia?
He guided Rinoa past the wooden shack and a few other,
abandoned buildings, and then they headed down the road to the train
stations. But there were no trains
running today, and she wondered why Galbadia had stopped them. Perhaps because of Caraway's death…
Seifer stopped at the bridge that led from one side of the
railroad tracks to the other, leaning against the fence, "I'm sure you're gonna
stick your pretty, little nose into my business and ask what the hell I'm doing
here any minute now, so I'm just going to tell you right away," he said. Rinoa remained silent, slender fingers
curling around the rings on her necklace.
"I couldn't hang around in FH and do nothing with my life
anymore, you know? After all that…
stuff…," Seifer shrugged, seemingly indifferent as he stared out at the dusty
tracks, "I always gotta be doing something big. Seeing as I'm never gonna get into SeeD, liberating this measly
little town is as good as anything."
It was just too simple. Seifer didn't do things like this. Seifer was selfish, Seifer only fought for his own goals and his own
well being… right? Rinoa turned to
him. The Sorceress' Knight, Ultimecia's
Knight, the man who she had once been in love with, who had helped her, the man
who had hurt her, and betrayed her so deeply. But she was not frightened of him anymore like she had been in Lunatic
Pandora. She had no reason to fear him,
and all she felt was a growing rage inside of her. Her only reply was an icy stare, and the glowing colour of her
eyes almost made Seifer shudder. So
much alike Edea's eyes… no, Ultimecia's eyes…
"Rinoa," he began, the cocky, arrogant Seifer fading away
to nothingness. There was a faint plea
for forgiveness in his own eyes, "I guess… I'm just… trying to say that I'm
sorry."
His careful apology was met with a rough slap to his face,
and he turned his head to the side with the force of the blow.
Rubbing his cheek with a hand, Seifer frowned, "Gee,
thanks. That wasn't really the reply I
expected."
"Sorry!?" Rinoa shrieked, then her voice lowered to a harsh
whisper, "Sorry? Why should I
believe you, Seifer? You hurt me so
much! Am I expected to forget all
that? Is that why you're doing
this? So I'll forgive you?" She sounded offended now, "You don't even
care about this place. All you care
about is your own fame. The hero status
you get for doing this."
"I made a mistake!" Seifer countered, his own voice
rising, "Okay? I admit it! I, Seifer Almasy, made a goddamn huge
mistake! But hell, I'm not gonna go
jump off a bridge and end my pathetic life right here and now, even if that's
what half the world wishes I'd do."
Rinoa was trembling, hugging herself as she wrapped her
arms over her chest. "You tried to kill
the world."
The blonde ex-SeeD cadet blinked, "I…" Yes, he knew what he had done. "Look. I didn't want to do… what I did… to you, I… didn't want the world to…"
"You only cared about yourself."
And he knew that was true, too. Looking at him then, Rinoa remembered why she had felt something
for him. Behind those eyes, there was courage,
arrogance… but beyond that, there was a boy that still didn't know what to do;
a lost, little boy. It startled her to
see this, startled her to see that Squall's rival and opposite was a mirror of
himself, had the same traits. But like
all pretty pictures in a mirror, Seifer was not the real thing, just a
reflection lacking what made her love Squall so much.
Seifer had felt something for her, too, once. But he had given it up for his dreams. The Sorceress' Knight. Now those dreams were shattered, and Rinoa
was out of his reach.
"I'm sorry," he repeated.
It took a lot to make Seifer Almasy openly and sincerely
tell someone he was sorry.
"Sir! Sir! Rinoa!" Watts came running towards them, and
both Seifer and Rinoa turned to him. "News, sir! New info!"
There was a horrified look on Watts' face. He had obviously been running very fast, as
he had to stop to catch his breath before being able to speak again.
"What is it?" Seifer asked.
"Galbadia!" Watts
gasped, "Huge army. They're going to
attack Timber, and there's nothing we can do about it. Wipe us out, sir!"
Rinoa's eyes went wide, "Oh no…"
"Damn…," Seifer whipped out his gunblade and swept it
through the air, "Well, we'll see about that, dirty Galbadians! You and Zone warn everybody. I gotta find Fujin and Raijin." Watts nodded and left as quickly as he had
come, and Seifer was about to follow, but he stopped to look at Rinoa, "Where's
your precious Leonhart?"
"… He's not here."
Seifer's eyes softened, "… Come with me," he offered. Hesitant, but wanting to help, Rinoa ran
after him.
By the town square, people were already starting to panic,
running about in all directions and trying to either get ready for the battle,
or hide. A thin woman with long, pale
white hair stopped Rinoa as she and Seifer moved past, her blue eyes wild and
desperate. Rinoa tried her hardest to
not lock gazes with her, in fear of the other female seeing her own eye colour.
"Please! Have you
seen my child? Have you seen my little
girl?!" When Rinoa shook her head, the
woman immediately continued down the street, screaming out her daughter's name,
"Yvivina! Yvivina, where are you?!"
Rinoa stared after her, her blue cape flapping gently in
the wind. Something felt wrong. Something felt so very, very wrong. And she couldn't tell what it was, it was
just there.
Chapter XIV:
"Damn, Squall!!" Zell cried while he was thrown about in the back of the car yet again,
as the young boy who was driving made another, sudden turn, "Are you trying to get
us killed?! Slow down!"
Squall, however, simply ignored him. He knew he was driving recklessly, but
frankly, he did not care. His mind was
only set on reaching Timber in time, and nothing else mattered. Quistis glanced at Zell, appearing calm even
in this situation, and not complaining about the way her former student was
driving, "Perhaps you would feel more safe if you had put on your seatbelt,"
she commented coolly to the blonde. Zell frowned at her, but did as she said.
Selphie, Irvine and Nida, the latter of them being the one
driving, were following in another car, though they were lagging a little
behind. Apparently Nida wasn't willing
to risk his and the two other SeeDs' lives when they all knew, deep down
inside, that there probably wasn't much they could do.
Squall's car came to an abrupt halt as he followed the road
over another hilltop, and the town of Timber came within view. If Zell hadn't fastened his seatbelt, he
would have gone flying out the front window. The martial artist's eyes widened as all three of them felt the force of
Squall suddenly pushing down the breaks, "Squall, what the hell?!"
The young SeeD commander stepped out of the car and ran a
few steps down the hill, staring at the scene unfolding below with expressionless,
narrowed eyes. Nida's car pulled up
behind the other one soon after, and Quistis got out to move over to Squall,
the others soon following. No one
needed say a word.
The army was huge, and approaching Timber in a steady pace,
already sure of their victory. Hundreds
of soldiers armed with guns and swords, ready to walk all over the little town
and even it with the ground. But the
worst threat was the large machine they had with them. It looked like some sort of a military
truck, painted in green and with thick, heavy wheels, but on the top was what
looked like a rocket launcher. Or
something along those lines. Whatever
was to come out of it was not meant to just 'keep the town under control'.
"… they're gonna bomb it?!" Selphie cried out.
Quistis slowly shook her head, "We don't stand a
chance…" There was an eerie silence on
the top of the hill as the six youths stood there watching the first soldiers
start to attack Timber, where the bravest of the citizens were trying to defend
themselves with their own, limited weaponry.
And then Squall started to run down the hill.
"What…?"
"Squall!"
"Are you crazy??"
"Come back!"
Quistis was the one to reach him first, bolting down to him
and grabbing his arm, "Squall, you can't go in there! It's suicide!"
But he roughly pulled his arm free, his determined gaze
meeting the instructor's ice blue eyes, "I have to find Rinoa."
Oddly enough, Quistis didn't try to stop him again as he
continued down the hill. Rinoa. He was doing it for Rinoa. And nothing could stop him then. Helplessly, she looked back at the others,
seeing their questioning and worried expressions.
"So do we go after him?" Irvine asked.
Quistis sighed, taking on the role as second in command,
"No… We stay here," she turned to watch
Squall's figure as it moved further and further away, avoiding her companions'
shocked looks and replies to her outrageous order. Squall was heading into certain death, and they weren't going to
help him? "There is nothing we can do
now," she added, barely whispering.
(Squall… Do you know for certain she is there?)
…No.
(Then why are you doing this?)
I couldn't live with myself if she was there and I didn't
try to help her.
(So you risk your life for her again, without even knowing
she needs your help? I'm impressed.)
I have changed, haven't I?
(No… Rinoa only brought out what was already there.)
Everywhere around her, people were fighting. Fighting for their homes and families,
fighting for their own lives. And the
Galbadian soldiers… what were they fighting for? Their next month's pay? They appeared to be mere puppets in the hands of whoever was president
at all times, in this case Temeka. Rinoa didn't know what to do in the midst of this. She stood there, watching, feeling she
should participate yet didn't. Couldn't
let them all know she was a sorceress, and she didn't bring any other weapon
with her.
"Cowards! Get back
here and fight like men!" Seifer's
voice boomed through the noise of battle, and Rinoa turned to see the blonde
wave his gunblade about like a madman as three soldiers fled from him. "God damn… where are those idiots when you
need them," he muttered, before turning to her, "Wait." With that short command, he ran off after
the soldiers he had been fighting, and Rinoa was left all alone.
No one seemed to pay much attention to her as she walked
through those dusty streets of Timber, looking on the battles around her. It was as if she was watching a movie – the
blood, the pain, it hurt to see it, but at the same time it didn't concern her
as it once had. And there was that
feeling of… wrong that wouldn't go away. Something was wrong with this fight.
The Timber citizens… they were winning. The big army that was said to be big enough
to crush the town, it wasn't there. Only a very few soldiers were inside the city itself, and that wasn't
like Galbadia. They always fought full
force.
There was… something familiar by the end of the
street. Someone who shouldn't be
there. Black leather and gunblade with
an engraved lion weren't to be mistaken, though, and Rinoa stopped to stare,
blinking in mild disbelief as he fought off two soldiers before continuing on
his way, obviously searching for something, and uncaring about the few injuries
he already had gotten.
Squall… you came.
But when she wanted to run to him, she couldn't. That feeling of something being terribly
amiss grew unbearable with a sudden force, and still, she couldn't tell exactly
what caused it. It wasn't the war
visibly raging around her, it was something else, something she couldn't see,
something… A sudden flash of a scene
she didn't want to imagine appeared in her mind, and Rinoa shrieked loudly,
though the scream drowned in gunfire. Protect
Squall… Without knowing what she
was doing, the sorceress folded her arms over her chest, lowered her head, and
the next few seconds were erased from her memory.
Protect him.
"Quistis, we can't let him go in there alone!" Selphie was frustrated, and she wasn't
alone. Zell was jumping up and down,
punching the air, and Irvine nearly had to hold him back to keep him from
running down into the town.
Nida watched them all with an expression that would be
amused, hadn't it been for the seriousness of the situation, "He already is in
there. And I have to agree with
Instructor Trepe – there isn't anything we can do, anyway."
Zell turned and placed his hands on his hips with a huff,
"We could help him! C'mon, we've never
let those pesky Galbadians stop us before!"
Nodding, Irvine readied his shotgun for battle, "They're
right, Quisty, we can't just stand here."
Bewildered, Quistis didn't know what to do. There was nothing she wanted more than to
aid Squall, but as she was currently in command now when he wasn't there, she
couldn't make the decision of risking five SeeDs' lives for no use. She was torn between her personal love for
those who she had grown up with and cared about, and what she knew was the
logical thing to do as a leader. Maybe
they were right, maybe I do lack leadership skills… Squall had learned to act on feelings rather than logic all
the time, so why couldn't she? She
should know the answer, she shouldn't be so confused. "If we go down there, we might be killed," she said, voice
trembling slightly, "We can't afford that risk."
Selphie shook her head, "But he's our friend! Doesn't that mean anything?"
A loud, thundering sound kept the argument from going any
further, and they all turned in time to see the bomb hit Timber with a
deafening explosion. Clouds of dust and
smoke rose and the town was left in flames. People - Galbadian soldiers as well as Timberians – were running out of
the burning masses like frightened herds of chocobos, and their shouts were
heard even on top of the hill where the SeeDs were standing. Quistis watched it all blankly, the reddish
tongues of fire reflecting in her eyes. The others all just stared, gaping.
"Let's go," the blonde girl whispered, hand on her whip as
they headed down the hill.
The first thing he knew was darkness, then a sharp pain in
his side as he tried to move. His eyes
were sticky with dust and hurt as he tried to open them, squinting against the
red fire and the sight of ruined buildings and dead or wounded bodies scattered
in the streets. With difficulty, he got
to his feet, surprised to find himself more or less fully intact. But he was weak, and when trying to get
contact with Shiva inside his mind, he couldn't. Looking around, he was even more surprised when realizing
everyone within a fair distance of himself had been killed by the remains of a
destroyed building coming crashing down on them. Why hadn't he been hit by it?
Stumbling unsteadily down the street, Squall glanced at the
bodies as he passed by. Only for a
second did he stop as he saw a thin woman with long, silvery white hair lying
on the ground, face down, and then he continued. Find Rinoa, that was all he cared about. Find Rinoa, so many victims, but as long as
he found her alive… the world could end around them, and he wouldn't care, as
long as he found Rinoa and she was okay…
The flames cast a sickly, orange red light across the
entire sky, and all the dust didn't make things any better. He coughed, finding it more difficult to
walk as he came closer to the town square, that was now almost impossible to
recognize from the damage done to it.
A lone body was by one of the streets branching out from
the square, the blue cape ripped and pale skin covered in soot and bruises, the
dark hair covering the face. His own
pain and injuries forgotten, the boy broke into a half-run to get to it more
quickly, and he immediately dropped to his knees by its side. Brushing away black locks to be able to see
her face, he then took her into his arms, stiffening as he felt something moist
and warm on his hands. The red fluid
trickled down into a growing pool beneath her battered form. Voice meek as he spoke, threatening to
break, he shook her gently, "Rinoa… Rinoa, wake…"
Her eyes blinked open. They were dull now, not glowing anymore, and the golden colour seemed to
fade, leaving her irises coffee brown around the edges as they used to be,
"Squall…" She could barely move, and
winced in pain when she tried to. "You're here…"
"Of course I'm here," Squall attempted to see how severe
her wounds were, but had a hard time examining them without hurting her, and
couldn't do much because of the state he was in himself. He could feel her weaken in his arms, "I
promised we'd always be together, remember? Just stay with me… they'll get us back to Garden soon."
Rinoa's muscles tensed, then she relaxed, her body becoming
more and more limp, "Tired… tired… so tired…"
"Rinoa?" He
swallowed, "Rinoa, don't. Stay with me,
stay awake." A cold sensation ran down
his spine as he watched her eyes close and her breath becoming slower and more
unsteady. Unable to hold back his fear
and desperation, he shook her again, a little more forcefully this time,
"Rinoa! Rinoa, come on, speak to me! Rinoa! Rinoa!!"
So much blood. Hadn't it been for the fact she was a sorceress, she should have been
dead long ago, and Squall knew this yet he denied himself to realize it.
Rinoa, you can't. You can't leave me here.
"Please, Rinoa… Wake up, please. Don't
die." Salty droplets of water washed
away dust from his cheeks in fine lines, but he didn't even notice. Everything he lived for was fading before
his very eyes, her life flowing out through wounds that couldn't be healed, her
body too weak to fight anymore. He had
failed. "Please…"
A small figure walked out of the dust clouds nearby,
approaching the two lovers with short steps. Cold eyes watched them from a thin face surrounded by ghostly pale
hair. The girl couldn't be more than
four or five years old, but her clothes were ragged and her haunted expression
implied she had witnessed things no child should see. Squall looked at her, his breath coming in short, nervous gasps,
and he couldn't look away.
Not before Rinoa stirred again, and her eyes fluttered
open, having completely returned to their original brown hue. Gingerly, Squall lowered her a little to the
ground, and as she reached up with a silky soft hand, he met it with one of his
own that was covered in blood. The
angel was all the time getting weaker, but there was a strange sense of peace
in her gaze as she guided his hand down to her necklace, pressing it against
her skin and wrapping his fingers around the two rings that rested there, then
held her hand over his. He couldn't do
anything, couldn't do anything but watch as she smiled at him; a warm, loving
smile, and even when her eyes started to close again, she whispered, "You'll be
fine…"
A burst of white and purple light knocked him backwards
with the pure energy of the elements, and it cloaked the entire area, shining
so brightly Squall couldn't see a thing, couldn't hear a thing.
Then there was nothing.
Rinoa's body did not move. It seemed even more pale, even more battered, even more lifeless than it
had been seconds before. Squall quickly
crawled over to her again, but when he lifted her this time, there was no
response, only dead weight in his arms.
No… No. Oh God, no…
The girl stood there, watching him as she had before, but
she no longer looked like a sickly street child. Instead she shone with a newfound power, and her eyes were
nothing but arrogant as she turned and walked away.
And there was darkness.
Chapter XV:
I've come this far because I've… fallen for you. … …Rinoa. Rinoa.
Pale, bright light met him when he finally opened his
eyes. For the first couple of seconds,
he almost thought he had died, but the pounding headache that suddenly kicked
in convinced him otherwise. Blinking
several times, he tried to push his arms against the bed so he could sit
up.
"Doctor… Doctor, I think he's waking up," a soft female
voice said. Even in his disorientated
state, he recognized it. Edea.
"Is he all right?" someone else whispered. The room was quiet, too quiet, though he
could hear another female try to choke back a sob. Before he knew it, he found himself looking into the familiar
face of Dr. Kadowaki as she gently pushed him back down.
"Please, you need to lay still, Squall."
Eventually able to focus properly, the fallen commander
turned his head to look around, not surprised to see he was in the Garden
infirmary. What surprised him, though,
was the amount of people standing around him. Edea and Cid close to his bed, the headmaster holding his wife's hand,
both with extremely worried expressions on their faces. Zell and Jadina, the former not punching the
air in boredom for once, and instead looking ahead of him in a severe way that
seemed out of place for him, while his girlfriend just clung to his arm. Irvine and Selphie, the cowboy trying to
comfort the sunny girl who tried hard not to cry, burying her red-eyed face
against his shoulder. Selphie, who was
always so cheerful. Nida was somewhere
in the background, as were Xu, and Quistis stood next to the doctor, forcing
herself to appear cool and calm. But
someone was missing, someone…
Memories washed back into his mind.
No… no, can't be true…
"Rinoa!!" Squall suddenly exclaimed, sitting up again very
abruptly, tone desperate, "Rinoa, where's Rinoa?! Tell me!!"
"Please!" Kadowaki
forced him back down again, struggling to keep him there, "You have a few
broken ribs, several burns and bruises. Nothing a cure spell or two and some sleep will fix, but you need to rest. So please… lay still."
Staring up at the doctor, it was as if Squall hadn't even
heard what she said. He remained silent
for a short while, then asked again, quietly this time, "Where's Rinoa…?"
Kadowaki exchanged a look with both Quistis and Edea. Quistis lightly shook her head, thus Edea
stepped forward, carefully running a hand over Squall's forehead, "Squall… she
didn't make it."
He watched her, unblinking, voice quavering, "What do you
mean?"
Edea closed her eyes momentarily. She knew how much Rinoa had meant to him, she knew how much he'd
been hurt through his life, she knew how the young sorceress had affected him…
it pained her to be the one having to say what she had to say next, "Rinoa died
in Timber, Squall. Her sorceress powers
should have protected her, but… apparently she didn't know how to use them, or
she used them for something else…"
Though it hit him like a rock, he didn't even blink. Emptiness in his expression, emptiness
inside of him. He couldn't even
completely comprehend the fact he now was facing, because despite all the times
Rinoa had been in danger, he had always managed to save her. Until now.
Rinoa… she's gone…? Rinoa…
The others watched him, obviously expecting him to do
something, awaiting his reaction. They
were upset, too, as all of them had cared for Rinoa, but never in the way
Squall had. Still, there was nothing on
the young SeeD's face, nothing that indicated sadness, nothing but a slowly
growing frown.
"Squall…," Quistis began, gently putting a hand on his
shoulder, "Squall, we're so sorry…"
Sorry? You're
sorry? What difference is that going to
make?!
"Whatever," he replied coldly.
"Oh man…," Zell uttered. "Here we go again…"
Hurt, Quistis backed away, not knowing what else to
do. Before her very eyes, Squall the
human, who he had developed into during the past few months, returned to the
Squall she used to know, the Squall who never really was… alive.
"I hear brave Commander Leonhart is awake." A new voice, one Squall knew all too well,
floated through the room. Glancing up,
his suspicions were confirmed when the tall, blonde, young man entered, his
scar mirroring his own. Though he
looked pretty battered, there was still that arrogant smirk on his face, only
it wasn't quite as nasty as Squall remembered it.
"What's he doing here?" Squall growled, attempting to straighten up only to be pushed
back down yet again by the doctor.
Quistis sighed, "We found him in the ruins of Timber… he
was one of the few survivors inside the city itself."
Seifer was in Timber?
"Squall," Cid
began, "The sorceress war is over, and we couldn't leave Seifer there to
die. I hope you understand." Only receiving a blank look from the boy,
the headmaster narrowed his eyes in thought before continuing, "I think you
should take a break, Squall… Galbadia is a total chaos, but considering the
recent events, we should let you-"
"No," Squall
interrupted, "No, I want to keep working."
The small crowd inside the infirmary looked at each
other. Seifer's smirk grew a tad wider
and he leaned back against the wall, muttering something under his breath that
made Zell glare at him.
Cid was a bit perplexed, "Well, if that's what you want…
But please remember, you're not a machine, Squall."
"Whatever. Could
you all please leave now? I'd like to
be alone."
His friends seemed reluctant, but Kadowaki argued that he
needed his rest and ushered them all out of the room. Lonely again, Squall closed his eyes hard and breathed in
deeply. Physical pain went unnoticed as
he tried to handle the emotions welling up in him, biting his lip so hard it
almost broke. Then he pushed it all
back, burying everything so deep inside him that he hoped it would never
surface again. But an old scar was
already ripped open again, bleeding twice as badly as it had before.
(You're awake.)
Shiva.
(… I apologize.)
Where the hell were you?! Why didn't you help?!
(I couldn't. You
were too weak, there was nothing I could do.)
……
(Please don't do this to yourself. Please don't put those walls back up.)
I trusted her to always be there, I… He trailed off. He couldn't go there, couldn't think about it. Just keep it back, keep it away.
(Squall, you can't-)
Leave me alone, Shiva. You're a Guardian Force, not my physiologist.
(Squ-)
But he cut her off his mind, and when he closed his eyes
this time, Squall was alone.
Completely alone.