Part 3 – The Sound of Silence

            Panic-stricken, Squall covered Rinoa's face with his jacket with great respect for the woman as he wiped the tears from his face. His left arm was still badly wounded but it had stopped bleeding as much as it had been earlier which was some consolation at least. Death had swallowed his only true love yet it seemed unreal as to why it happened to Rinoa of all people in the world. The realisation had finally taken it's toll on Squall as he marched out of the Training Centre towards the gate of the Garden seemingly to escape from the cruel, harsh reality that has torn his life apart and scattered it as far as the eye could see.

            At the entrance to the Garden, the sunlight broke through the trees and illuminated the ever-elegant Quistis who was engulfed with a wave as shock as she looked at the man approaching her.

            "What happened to you Squall? Where's Rinoa?" Her immediate attention was drawn towards the wound on his arm but her forcefulness was overwhelming as she pestered Squall until he have her and answer.

            "I had a run-in with Seifer. He won't be bothering us anymore." He fought back the tears burning his eyes with pride as his sadness succumbed to his will power.

            "...And as for Rinoa..." Squall look into Quistis' eyes for a good long while. She's dead. He killed her. She's never coming back to me...ever. He took that away from me.

            "...She's...resting." He couldn't bring himself to admit to her untimely death as he led Quistis to the Training Centre.

            He once again opened the metallic doors, but much slower this time to reveal what had become of Rinoa. The air was cool and crisp on his face, as it had stopped raining. He stepped into a puddle just outside the door but couldn't bear to set his eyes on what had happened. Seifer's body was no longer there with his gunblade clutched tightly in his hand as Squall picked up his own blade up from the floor. He must've survived...how? He deserved to die for what he did. Quistis glanced at the jacket upon the floor and slowly knelt down and lifted it away from the rain and blood-soaked body.

            "Oh...Squall..." Quistis gasped and stumbled backwards at the sight of the empty shell of a woman nestled on the ground before her feet.

            Still unable to lift his head to address Quistis he just mumbled,

"...I told you, she's resting." The water rushed of the glistening metal of his Gunblade as he placed it back in its holster and walked towards the door.

"Squall, she's dead..." Quistis placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder as his head lowered in despair. "...I'm so sorry..."

Squall quickly turned his head to come face to face with Quistis as his gunblade rattled with an eerie noise around his waist.

"..." He glared at Quistis with the cold stare she was used to. "Don't you think I know that!?" He raised his voice and violently shook the hand from his shoulder as it fell to Quistis' side.

"...Don't you think that I know she's dead? Know that she's never going to come back to me? Know that her smile is no longer going to reach my eyes? Do you really think that I don't know?"

Squall broke down and fell on his knees on the floor. His hands clutched his forehead and his nails dug deep into his scalp as he clasped his hair. His knuckles turned white with the strength in his hands as his grip failed to subside and the tears once again continued to roll down his pale white cheeks.

For once in his life, he felt truly alone. He had no one to care for him the way Rinoa did and this broke his heart. She had changed him into a different person, he no longer frowned, but smiled, a person who no longer kept things to himself and who has learnt to share his feelings. These things, they had seemed to be taken away from him in one quick swipe of a blade.

"...Quistis, I need you to do something for me..." He lifted his head slightly and stood up. He turned around and placed his hand on Quistis' shoulder, who was also filled with grief. "...Take care of Rinoa. I have something to do." She nodded her head in acceptance of Squall's request as he staggered out of the Training Centre closing the door behind him. He took a deep breath and stopped in the main circular corridor of the Garden and gathered his thoughts together before he continued on. The gash on his left arm needed to be sorted before he did anything so he made his way to the main town of Balamb where everyone was waiting for him and Rinoa to return safely.

As he walked on the road between the Garden and town, the sea breeze raced through his hair and the coldness beat at his eyes yet he had no time to admire such pleasantries—he hadn't got much time to do anything; but think. The came to the outskirts of the town and an array of sunbeams clashed with the leaves on the trees to make a compelling pattern on the concrete beneath his feet—everything reminded him of her; of Rinoa and nothing could shake the memories from his mind of her face as she fell to the ground under the power of Seifer's attack. No one was in town; it was deserted apart from the comforting sound of the wind and the waves gently lapping at the harbour walls. Everything seemed so peaceful, so unaware of what had just happened. The birds flew overhead and the fluffy clouds accumulated to block out the sun for a minor second then recede to once again to show the true power of the sunlight.

"Squall...Hey buddy, wait up!" A familiar voice came running up behind Squall and arrived just in time to catch him as he passed out cold from blood loss. Zell carried Squall to his house but even with his strength, it was still a challenge to carry a full-grown man on his own.

Squall woke from his sleep and his head started to spin until he was able to focus of the curtains flapping above his head in the wind.

"Squall, can you hear me love?" Zell's mother mopped Squall's brow with a cool, damp cloth and her calming voice seeped deep into is mind answering the question of where he was. "Squall? Do you know where you are?"

"Um, yeah, Mrs. Dinct..." He sat up shyly in his bed. "...Thank you." The woman's eyes lit up with the politeness Squall was showing.

"You had quite a rumble didn't you?" Squall squinted, as he was not quite used to the brightness of the room just yet.

"You could say that...has Quistis come back yet? I need to talk to her." He swung his legs off the end of the bed and went to stand up only to be pushed back down by Zell's mother.

"Yes, she's back. She's talking to the others in the kitchen." Squall sighed and layback down as Mrs. Dinct handed his a cup with some sweet-smelling liquid within it. "Drink this while you are waiting, it'll give you the energy you need to stand up. You've been sleeping in that bed constantly for eight days now."

"Eight days?" I guess I had a lot to recover from. What happened when I passed out? Does everyone know what happened? I wonder what she did with Rinoa. It's all my fault; I should've protected her. I could've stopped it. "...I think I can get up now if you don't mind. I need to talk to the rest of the group."

He slowly raised his body off the bed and stood on his feet; a little unsteady at first but he soon got his bearings and clipped his Gunblade once again around his waist then made his way to the door.

As soon as the door was opened the group stopped talking and remained quiet. The silence filled the room like a poisonous gas as Squall looked at each of the group in turn.

"...You all know what happened and I don't want you all walking around as if it's the end of the world. After my arm is completely better, I have a job to do and I'll be going alone. No one is to follow me or tag along because there are just some things I have to do on my own." I am on my own. I'm alone all over again. "...Do you all understand?"

Irvine was a loner by nature and stood up to look Squall straight in the eyes.

"I know that you want to be alone; we all know that you want to be alone, but if you don't tell us what you are doing and where you are going, we will follow." Squall walked past Irvine and the others and opened the door a-jar. A cold smile crept across his face.

"...I'm going to fulfil a promise I made a long time ago. That's all." He walked out of the door and closed it rapidly behind him. Irvine sat back down and the group watched Squall through the window as he walked down to the harbour.

...If you come here, I'll be waiting...