Ghost of the Past: Beginning
From my hiding place in the tall tree that overshadowed the lake, I could see all over Winhill. I could see the chocobo path and the medicine shop at the far corner by the hotel. I could see the only restaurant and I could, most importantly, see the town square and the golden-haired woman who stood on the steps of the bar.
Her lips moved and I could hear her yell "Miri!" even though she was yards away. Sighing, I shifted position on the branch I was sitting on so that my legs dangled over the side. Even though twilight was coming on, I didn't want to go home yet. Mother was expecting me, but I would rather stay in the tree, or out in the fields. It was boring staying inside, even at night in the dark. My father understood my love of the open sky and it was his doing that I was allowed much of my free reign over the lands just beyond the village.
Papa was a thief. Not anymore, he had taken up a 'respectable' living running the bar in Winhill, but years ago, before he was born and even before he had met Mother, he had been a SeeD at Trabia Garden. He gathered information and artifacts from all over the world, but he'd gotten caught by the Galbadian Military and had barely escaped from prison right before his trial. Then, he'd headed straight to Balamb Garden, where Mother was, and asked her to go with him. He'd told her that he didn't know where he was going, or what'd he do, but that he did know he wanted her with him, now and for the rest of his life. They'd gotten married secretly that night with the help of Mother's friends, the other heroes of the battle against Sorceress Ultimecia, and had left that night.
Mother's friends visited here a lot. No one was supposed to know where we were, but of course they wouldn't tell. I like them well enough, some are a little strange, but they're nice. They come in couples. Squall and Rinoa are married, and have been for almost as long as my parents have. Selphie and Irvine are married, too, but only for about six years. Zell has a girlfriend named Anna. They met when he was a SeeD candidate, she worked in the library.
Rinoa and Squall had a son about the same age as I was. My birthday was November 13th, his was August 5th. He was only a few months older than I was, but Garik (that was his name) acted younger. While he was nice enough in front of the adults, he had a penchant for practical jokes and was always plotting something or other when he was out here.
Ellone's son was much nicer. The oldest out of all my mother and father's friends was Ellone Loire. She had been at the orphanage for a while, when they were, but then she had left on the White SeeD ship. It's a long story, but the end result was that she married one of the guys on there that she'd spent much of her childhood with. Their wedding had been a few months before my mother and father's, but she'd had her son, Solan, a year before Mother had even been pregnant with me. As a result, he was two years older than I was. Obviously.
Solan was. . .strange. There wasn't really any other way to put it. He was really quiet, and instead of running around outside, he was always reading. He had really powerful healing magic, not unlike my mother's Blue Magic. It was specialized spells, not the regular spells that people could draw.
Ellone lived on the ship, but Solan usually spent summers here in Winhill. Ellone and his father, James, visited in the winter, along with him, but in the summer he stayed with us.
Mother had taught him some of the basic things people who had magic should know, along with me. I didn't have any special powers, but Mother seemed to think that would change and instructed me anyway. I just went along with her, having learned it was much easier to do that than anything else.
Solan had tamed the wild child I had once been, and by the time I was twelve we were both running out to the hills with books and finding quiet spots to read together. We'd been best friends for the longest time, and I looked forward to each summer and winter.
It was April now. He'd be coming soon. I was very excited, but Mother was acting strange this year whenever I mentioned him. I asked Papa why, but he just brushed it off.
"She's just worried, Mira. You're getting older now, you're not a little girl anymore."
I had laughed. "She thinks I like Solan? That's silly. He's my best friend!" I'd meant every word. Mother worried too much. Solan was my friend, I wasn't interested in him that way.
So, when I say Solan is strange, I don't mean in a bad way. With him, it's more of a good thing.
"Mirax!" Uh-oh. She was using my full name. That was never good. I swung down to the next lowest branch.
As I started to slide down to the next branch, I noticed something. There was a small hill just on the outskirts of Winhill, covered by waving grasses, about shin-high. The grasses usually only moved in the wind. Animals avoided it like the plague.
The funny thing was, there wasn't any wind right now. The town was still in the spring sunshine. The only thing moving was the grass, it was as if something was walking in it.
I decided I needed to know what was happening.
"Mirax Loralei Jade!" My full name. It didn't faze me. I slid down from the tree on the side away from my mother and followed the path in the grass. I was out of her line of sight quickly, and as I ran, I caught up to whatever had been walking through here.
It was a cat. A small tabby cat. There was something odd about it though. I followed it stealthily and finally remembered.
I'd seen this cat in the bar before. One late night, I'd been cleaning up a mess I made, and I felt like someone was watching me. When I turned around, there was a cat on the floor looking up at me. The strangest thing was that it had blue eyes. Brilliant blue.
They were sort of like my mother's, but closer to her friend Squall's shade. I'd taken a step back, and blinked. The cat has disappeared. I'd marked it down to my being tired, and hadn't thought about it again.
This was the same cat, I was sure of it.
I could faintly hear Mother calling me, but I ignored her. I'd say I was on the far side of the hill and hadn't heard. I was already out of Winhill, anyway. Well, pretty close.
Finally, the cat reached its destination. There were remnants of a well-worn path, mostly covered by the years. I only saw it because I had trained my eyes to notice things like that. I placed my feet carefully, there was no telling what was hiding in the grass, and so I didn't see where I was going. I almost stepped right on the grave.
A grave.
What was a grave doing all the way out here? I'm sure no one knew about it, or else something would have been said. Like, "Miri, don't go to the north hill. There's a dead woman buried there." Because the name on the grave was that of a woman. Well, I was pretty sure anyway. What kind of parents would name a boy Raine?
The grave was lettered plainly and neatly. It had the date of birth, date of death, and the name Raine Loire. That was all.
Raine Loire. . .Why did that name sound familiar? She was in the town records. I'd been looking at them one day in the town hall. It was at least three years ago. I wasn't supposed to be there, but I'd convinced Solan that we should go.
We'd been playing a game. . .I couldn't remember any of it now. When I was younger, I made up games often, and convinced Solan to play with me. He was a good sport, usually.
Anyway, we'd found the records, and looked at all the names. Along with the usual old people that died warm in their beds, there had been a few deaths of young children, who had drowned or gotten lost in the fields and froze to death, things like that. I'd been reading the causes of death. One of them said 'childbirth and heartbreak'. Of course, I had been interested, and had read the paragraph on the young woman.
She'd been twenty-five when she died. It said she'd had complications with her pregnancy, and she wanted her husband to come home and be with her when she had the baby. She was scared that something would happen, and she wanted to see him again. He never came, though. She gave birth to a boy and died calling her husband's name.
There was a footnote. It said "Laguna Loire, if I ever get my hands on you, then you will be sorry you were ever born." It was signed Arik. I remember pointing that out to Solan. He said it wasn't funny, and while I agreed, I'd remembered it.
Later, when I asked my parents if they knew who Laguna Loire was, they said it was a long story and just said he'd been the president of Esthar years ago. He'd resigned about a decade ago. If I calculated right, he was in his sixties.
I felt that strange sensation again. I looked down, and the cat was sitting on top of the stone. Again, she was looking at me. I'd never checked its sex, but I was somehow sure it was female.
Those blue eyes were very captivating. It was like. . .I was. . .losing myself. . .in them. . .
What was I doing? I shook my head and stood up. I felt weird all of a sudden. Like there was something I should know but I couldn't remember it. I was getting a headache. Maybe I should head back home.
I reached out to pet the cat before I left. She jumped down and my hand hit the stone. A tingly feeling washed over me. I shook it off, and tried to stand up again. My legs shook and gave out under me. Sinking to the ground once again, I wondered what was going on.
Tentatively, I reached out to touch the stone again. The same tingly feeling passed over me, and for a minute I thought I was going to pass out. That went away quickly, but I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to touch the grave again. Something weird was going on here.
After about five minutes, I was able to stand up again, and did so. I made my way shakily back home, not noticing the growing darkness.
It wasn't until later that night, after being scolded for coming home late, when I was safe in my bed trying to sleep, that I realized the cat had disappeared again.
-End chapter one
Author's Note: I know, you're all saying enough with the cliched Raine fics. . .But they're so much fun! This one's going to be different, I promise. It already is, actually. . .I don't have Quistis with Squall, and I don't have Squall's son and Quistis's daughter getting together. I think I've done that before. *shrugs* Anyway, I don't know exactly where I'm going with this. Well, I know what's going to happen, but I don't know why. Ha ha. Well, I've got some time to figure that out, I guess.
