Chapter2 : New Found
Squall landed the Ragnarok far enough from the underground prison not to scare anybody. He disembarked with Rinoa. They had to fight few easy monsters on their way. They were no matches for the SeeD leader and the Sorceress. Nothing could stand in Squall's way of finding his sister and hope to survive.
They finally made it to the entrance. Lucky it wasn't buried underground for now. They entered easily. Remembering it was under Galbadia, Squall hesitated before remembering they won the Sorceress war. The Galbadians were in peace…for now. But even in peace people can be suspicious. A guard approached, aiming their way for a warning but with no bad intentions.
"Who are you?" he asked. "You look familiar to me, both of you…"
He frowned, trying to recall where he saw them. Squall waited patiently knowing he would see his sister soon. The soldier shrugged.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember."
"Let me help you: I'm Squall Leonhart, Balamb Garden's SeeD leader. And this is Rinoa Heartilly, the General Caraway's daughter and the Sorceress."
The guard eyes widened up remembering the famous duo. He has heard much of Rinoa, the Sorceress. And of Squall too, the world saver. He knew they didn't do that alone, but just seeing them in person made him forget about the others.
"It's a honor to meet you, Leonhart," the guard took Squall's hand and shook it after putting his gun away. "Some of my comrades don't share my opinion but I think you did the right thing in that story. Thanks to you, we still have a peaceful world to live in."
Blushing, Squall withdrew his hand with a smile. Rinoa giggled by his side.
"I'm sorry," the guard apologized. "What's for your service?"
"I would like to see the director to give him a letter from General himself," Squall answered showing the letter.
"What is it for?"
"Personal business."
"I see. Follow me, please."
He headed for the stairs, Squall and Rinoa close behind. They stopped in front of a door and the guard signaled them to wait a second. He knocked to the door and waited for an answer. Then he opened the door and passed his head in the entrance.
"Two persons want to see you, sir," he said.
"Really? It's been a while since anybody came to see me. Who are they?"
"Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly."
The director quickly got up, making his chair fall backward and hit the ground so loudly the two visitors could hear.
"The SeeD leader and the Sorceress?! Let them in!"
The guard nodded with a smile and moved aside to let Rinoa and Squall in.
"Thanks," Rinoa said.
"You're welcome. It was a pleasure to meet you."
He went away, thinking that meeting cool people was a good point of the guarding job.
Squall closed the door behind him once they were in. The director was putting his chair up then he sat down, smiling at the duo.
"Greetings, Squall and Rinoa! How can I help you?"
"This will tell you better than I could," Squall answered handing him the letter.
Curious, the director took it and read it. When he was done, he looked at Squall with an amazed face.
"I would never have guessed that girl could be your sister, Squall. Be assured I would have call for you if I knew it in the first place!"
"You would have missed me because I was in Deling looking for her. Can you make her free?"
"Of course I can! When I put my gaze on her, I thought she would have greater chances of surviving in this prison than by herself, but since you're offering her a home…"
He got up taking the prison keys from a drawer of his desk.
"Let's go."
They left the office and headed for the stairs again, going up. A few floors upper, they headed for a door. Soldiers guarding the place saluted the director and looked at Squall and Rinoa with strange faces.
'Are they thinking we were arrested or what?' Squall thought.
'No, they wonder what we are doing here in a time of peace,' Rinoa's voice answered in his mind.
He turned to her and frowned.
'How can you know what I'm thinking? I'm not telepathic!'
'No, but I can read minds.'
'I hate when you do that…'
Rinoa giggled causing the director to look at her raising an eyebrow.
As a Sorceress, Rinoa learned to use all the powers she was granted. Reading minds was only one of them. Most of the time, she had to concentrate to read people's mind, but not for Squall. If he's thinking to intensively by her side, she can't help hearing him. Sometimes forgetting about that, Squall wasn't careful of what he was thinking about. He was afraid one of these days, she would discover something that would make her blush from shame. After all, Squall was just a guy!
They finally reached the right cell. The director found the right key and unlocked the door. He opened it wide after taking a look inside. He invited them in.
"You can left with her as soon as you like!" he saluted before leaving them.
Squall thanked him and entered with Rinoa following. She stopped her step the second she was in the cell. Curious, Squall looked at her. She was stunned, looking in front of her, but not seeing anything.
"Are you okay?" Squall inquired.
"Confusing… There is just one person here, but I can hear hundreds."
She took her head in her hands.
"It's driving me crazy!"
Squall took her by shoulders.
"Maybe it's the spirits of long time dead prisoners. You have to close your mind."
"No, it's all coming from the same person, it's the same voice. It's just thinking hundred things in the same time. So confusing!" she shook her head.
"Close your mind or get out if you can't take it."
Rinoa focused all her power to stop the voices. Finally it was gone, but she wasn't sure if it was her who blocked them away from her mind or if they stopped by themselves.
"They're gone, it's okay."
Squall nodded from relief before turning to the prisoner. He looked at the thin figure lying on the ground. Hard to tell it was a girl. The only way to tell was by looking at her forms her old clothes couldn't hide anymore. Squall blushed when he realized where he was looking before switching to the face. The hair were long and dirty and all messed up. The face was pale and thin. The cheeks were curved and she had eye bags. Her whole body was dirty. She wasn't wearing any shoes Squall could see her feet covered with old dry blood and her legs and arms covered with wounds. He felt his heart beats strangely. Poor girl, what kind of life she had? Even in an orphanage, Squall still had clean clothes and water to wash himself up. He had all the food he needed too and love even if he didn't know it back then. That girl was looking like she didn't have any of these for years. Then Squall knew that Sorceresses were better than some other people were. Edea took good care of him even if she was a Sorceress, even if he didn't want to be taking care of.
He slowly approached and kneeled aside the girl. He didn't know what to do… At first he just wanted to find her and now that he had her in front of him, he was shocked. His heart was beating a way it never did. He finally decided to listen to it. He carefully put an arm under her neck and gently lifted her back a little. He stricken her face from the hair covering it, not bothering how dirty they were. Rinoa was just behind him, but she wasn't there for him. There was only him and his new found sister.
Squall hesitated again. How could he call her name, he didn't know it! He thought he was stupid of not asking for more information from Laguna! Maybe it was written on the paper. Too late for remorse, he looked again at his sister. Clean, she could probably be very beautiful. He put a hand on her chin. She felt so fragile in his trained arms he was afraid he would crush her. Finally, her lids moved. Squall retained his breath, wishing she could wake up now. She half opened her eyes, apparently not seeing anything for a while. Squall didn't say a thing; he waited for her to notice him. She did at last. He sensed a movement in his arms like she was surprised, but apparently, she was too weak to move away.
Squall couldn't believe his own eyes. The shopkeeper was right: her eyes are definitely shining through the dirt. Seeing those eyes, everything else is forgotten in a heartbeat. Those eyes remember Squall of his own. Seeing in them what she couldn't tell, he helped her sat up and lean against the wall, too weak to sit steady. She just looked at him from the roots of his hair to his knees. Her eyes locked on his, unable to look away, wide opened. He couldn't either. Her lips opened to say something. They pronounced something but not a sound came out. She finally managed to speak.
"S…Squall?" she asked with a hoarse voice like it's been a while since the last time she spoke. Or maybe because she recently cried.
Squall was as surprised as Rinoa behind him. How the hell could she know his name?!
From the surprise of his face, the girl knew she was right. At last! After all those years of searching, she finally found him… Or HE found her. She couldn't believe it. Her eyes were filling with tears before she jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck, almost making him lost his balance.
"Oh, Squall! It's you, it's really you! Tell me it's not another of my hopeful dream, that you're really there!" she cried.
Listening to his heart and the girl's tears, Squall hugged her back.
"I'm really here if that's what you're afraid of. Whatever you did for being locked here, I don't care and you don't have to worry anymore. I came to take you with me."
She moved backward to look at him with eyes shining more than ever.
"Really? You'll take me to Balamb Garden?"
Another surprise for the SeeD! The fact that she knew about Balamb Garden was normal, but that she knew he was leaving there!
"What else do you know about me I don't know form you?" he asked with a smile.
"A lot, brother. That's why I'm glad you're here and mad I didn't find you earlier."
Rinoa coughed to remind Squall of her presence. He looked backward at her and gave her a sorry look.
"Maybe you can talk back to Garden, Squall," she proposed. "It's getting late and I would like you to take me home if you don't mind. I suppose you got lot of things to tell each other and I don't want to bother you."
Squall was about to add something but she gave him a my-mind-is-made-up face.
"Alright," he turned to his sister. "This is my girlfriend, Rinoa."
"I heard of you too," she said to Rinoa with a weak smile.
Squall helped her up. Seeing it was hard for her just to stand up, he took her in his arms and carried her out of that place, Rinoa walking by their side.
"I'm sorry, Squall," she said. "We just met, you don't even know my name and I'm already giving you troubles."
Squall shook his head.
"Not at all. You'll see, everything will be just fine. You will live in Garden and I'll introduce you to my friends."
"I would love to."
The trio got out. Squall wasn't sure if walking to the Ragnarok with his sister was a good idea. Reading his mind once again, Rinoa tapped his back, recalling him of when he carried her to Esthar that way. With Rinoa's help, he switched his sister to her back and they headed for the Ragnarok. No monsters felt brave enough to attack them. They entered in. Squall carefully sat his sister on the co-pilot seat and put the seatbelt on. He sat in the pilot seat and Rinoa sat behind him.
Squall flew the Ragnarok to Deling where Rinoa was to disembark. He opened the airlock for her.
"Thanks, Squall. I'll come to see you in Garden once your sister is better so I'll learn to know her better."
"Sure," Squall's sister answered smiling to Rinoa.
Rinoa took a last glance on Squall and headed for the elevator. Squall took a look on his sister who was frowning at him with a what-are-you-waiting-for look. He untied his belt and went to the elevator. Rinoa was already down so he jumped down just before it came back up. He spotted Rinoa just at the exit.
"Wait, Rinoa!" he called.
She stopped and turned around.
"What is it?"
He walked towards her and stopped an inch away. He leant down and kissed her.
"Thanks," he whispered. "I found her because of you, thank you."
She kissed him back.
"You're welcome," she whispered before heading out waving to him with a smile.
He waved back. Once she was out of his sight, he went back to the elevator and called it to come down. He went to sit back in the pilot seat and made the airlock to close. The Ragnarok took off and headed for Balamb Garden.
"There is a strong bond between you, isn't it?" the girl by his side asked.
Squall looked at her a second.
"Yes, really strong."
"She looks friendly."
"I'm sure she thinks you are too."
She sighed and yawned.
"You can sleep. I'll carry you inside once we're there, you can't walk anyway."
She closed her eyes.
"Coran…" she whispered so low Squall wasn't sure she said something.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"My name is Coran…"
She fell asleep after those words. Squall looked at her for a few seconds.
'Coran Leonhart,' Squall thought. 'Welcome to the family of orphans who have a father…'
The Ragnarok silently flew to Balamb Garden.