Part 5 – Liberi Fatali, Fated Children

Squall has spent a total of five days in Edea's house since no one lived there anymore, living on fish that he had caught by dangling a wire he had found in the house over the cliff. The vacant space of the house and the fresh experience of having to fend for himself for a couple of days gave Squall time to think of what to do next. He lay on his bed that he had once slept in many, many years go and stared at the ceiling. He had seen Rinoa one last time and had chance to say goodbye, which put his mind at rest drastically. He knew that he had to take it easy for a few days until the whole ordeal had sunk in and he was able to completely come to terms with the fact that Rinoa was no longer one of the living and that Seifer was still out there—somewhere.

He had left a note on the table of the cabin in the White SeeD ship to come and pick him up again after a week if they were able, and the day had come for him to return to civilisation. He had to face his friends and tell them what had happened and tell them what he was going to do next; giving them the choice to join him or not.

The White SeeD ship was on time as it sailed ever closer towards the coast where Squall was sitting. The sand embraced his feet and his hair was blown in unison with the blades or grass behind him that were closely knitted with the grains of sand. There was a faint whisper being carried by the wind that was caught in Squall's ear and sent a shockwave to his soul—"I will never leave you…I'll always be your angel"—Those were the words were being carried on the wind and never to be forgotten by Squall. His face lightened up and there was once again the unmistakable sparkle in his eyes that only Rinoa could put there. It was a sign of happiness.

The SeeD ship docked upon the shore and the sails batted furiously against their masts as the gusts of wind made everything alive. There was no need to run from the fact Rinoa was gone. There was no need to hide because all the answers came to him one by one. His hopes were too high at the beginning; out of reach but still, he tried. He still kept his dream alive. He was determined to get revenge. He stepped aboard the ship and he smelt the fresh aroma of varnish on the wooden floors—this was one ship that was well looked after—the Captain approached Squall and raised his hand for the SeeD salute. Squall saluted back, but this time with a smile. The Captain smiled back and led his to his quarters.

 "I see you got your problem sorted then. I haven't seen a smile on your face for a long while." The Captain gave Squall a hardy pat on his shoulder as they walked towards the cabin where Squall was going to be staying for the journey.

I did. I kept a promise and I said something that I had been longing to say. I have a good reason to smile knowing that something I have lost has once again been found." He nodded his head and stopped outside his cabin. The Captain handed Squall his gunblade that was still polished to perfection and took a step back giving Squall some room to manoeuvre in the narrow corridor.

 "If you need anything, just call someone. You will be treated as well as I would treat one of my own." He grinned and walked away.

Squall closed the door to his cabin, the aqua-blue once again returned to the room through the porthole window as the ship hit water and started to sail. He did not feel the engine start up this time, as the wind must've been strong enough the carry the ship using its sails. The journey would allow another two and a half days until Squall came face to face with the questions he will be bombarded with when he returns; however, he now had the answers. He placed his belongings on the floor, made himself comfortable and drifted off to sleep on his bed.

Due to a headwind, it took three days to return to Balamb but it all seemed three days too soon in Squall's eyes. He liked being alone with only his thoughts for company. He was then able to sort things out and clear his head—he had to face civilization sooner or later—the ship sat quietly in it's docking space and although the ship was docked, Squall took his time to step off the ship.

By the time he had taken the first few steps into the harbour, it didn't seem right. No birds flew in the sky; it was like the town was dead. The only thing that kept his spirit high was the fact that he knew that Rinoa was with him. As he turned around to say farewell to his fellow SeeDs, they had already set sail and were on the way to the mouth of the harbour.

As he walked into the main town he noticed that it was all deserted apart from a few birds that had seemed to stay. Out of Zell's house walked a very distressed Quistis as she waltzed over to Squall in a daze.

"Quistis!" Squall rushed over to where she was standing and cupped her chin in his hand and she struggled to open her eyes. She had been affected with blindness for an attack.

She mumbled a few words and he listened carefully to try and pick out what she was saying.

 "Squall…monsters…ugh…" She slumped into Squall's arms. He gently rested her against the house they were standing next to. Squall rushed off towards the item shop near the train station to buy some eye drops with the last Gil he had in his pocket only to be shocked by the sight he saw before him. The train station was in ruins and so was the item shop. The pillars that once held up the sturdy structure of the station had crumbled; memories were in that structure…it had all gone. Struck with anger once again, he rushed to the item shop to see if anyone was there but all he found was a derelict shack with items and stock everywhere. Squall picked up what he needed, left the Gil on the counter, looked back at the dilapidated mess that was sprawled out over the tarmac and ran back to where Quistis lay. Kneeled by her side, Squall used the eye drops on Quistis and as she came around a little she couldn't stand but she wasn't mumbling anymore.

 "Quistis, what happened? Where is everybody?" She looked at him with a dreary face and grasped his shoulder with a wild look in her eyes.

"Seifer…he was here…he took everyone…away…" Squall sat Quistis up with her back against the wall and looked in her eyes.

"Quistis; you gotta tell me where he took them." He made her look him back straight in the eyes. "…Please, tell me" She raised her head and cried as she spoke.

 "I…I don't know…I'm so sorry…I'm useless, I don't know." She threw her head into her hands and cried her heart out.

"Listen to me...listen to me carefully. It isn't your fault and you are not useless…I need to find them and the only way I can do that is if you help me. Okay?" Squall gave Quistis a reassuring hug and she sighed as he held her in his arms. This is not like him…what did he do when he went away? Something…something changed him. Well I guess I can't complain

 "Yes. Squall. I'll help you…"