FINAL FANTASY VIII: BRIDGES
by Corvus
PART FOUR
Beep.
Beep.
Every five seconds, the computer panel spoke in its own limited fashion, to tell the room's resident that a call was coming through. The sound, a quiet but persistent reminder, drifted through the dim haze of sunset that managed to creep through the blinds drawn over the windows.
A form stirred briefly on the rumpled bed. Xu Kazeno raised her head from her pillow, uncomprehending for a moment of the noise. How long had she slept after her grief was through with her? The last she remembered was burying her face in her pillow and screaming until she thought her throat might catch fire from the burning agony. It still hurt.
Beep.
(What is that... oh.) She brushed strands of her rich brown hair away from where they stuck to her face and sighed with the recognition.
It took her several seconds to lever her exhausted, leaden body into a sitting position, and more to convince herself to rise and shuffle across the room. Sharp pain flared through her right foot as she stepped on the shattered remains of a vase she had unthinkingly dashed to the floor. The sensation cleared her head. Hissing, she hopped the last meter to the chair in front of the panel and acknowledged the call. "Yes?"
"Xu, it's Brendan up in C-and-C. We've got that connection you asked for. It's a little fuzzy, we're using some nonstandard lines and a double satellite relay. Best we could do. I don't mean to be rude, but one of those satellites is that new Estharian survey unit and they probably won't be happy if they find out we're running our own signal through it."
The realm of Tai Shan, which lay in the dense mountainous Grandidi forests north of Esthar, had a history of isolation longer than Esthar itself. Only recently had the elders of her people, the Lin Ren or "Forest People", acknowledged that the xiong-jin or "furious people" were perhaps worth speaking with. The Lin Ren's name for themselves used the character for the exalted form of "humans/persons" -- ren -- while their name for the outsiders used the more common, base form -- jin. Xu had always thought it bitterly ironic that the singular of ren, also called jin and often used as a name particle, as in her sister's name, was pronounced the same as the base form of "people". As if all the rest of the world might add up to just one of the Lin Ren.
(Nobility isn't always a matter of blood,) she reflected. "Thank you. I'll keep it short."
"I owe Selphie Tilmitt dinner for this," the man on the other end muttered.
"I'm sure you'll be all right. Please put it through."
Brendan chuckled and said, "Coming through now." There was a pause, then a burst of static which made Xu recoil in her chair. When it settled, a craggy old voice spoke hesitantly, all the more scratchy for the bad connection.
"Hello?" it said in Xu's native language.
Xu recognized that voice. How could she forget? Chao-Yi was one of the elders of the temple town of Shinjing, a respected, if somewhat strange, old woman who had seen more years than anyone could remember. "Hello, Honored Grandmother," Xu said, using one of the most respectful forms of address. "This is Kazeno Xu. I'm trying to reach my father. Is he about?" It felt good to be speaking her original tongue, to be speaking her name in the proper order, clan first.
"Eh? Your father? Where are you?"
"I'm calling from Balamb," Xu told her.
As she expected, the old woman said, "Where?"
A hint of a smile touched Xu's lips. She couldn't actually expect Chao-Yi to know where Balamb was. "Outside, Honored Grandmother."
"You should come home," the old woman told her firmly. The static cleared for a moment, almost as if the spirits wanted Xu to hear every one of Chao-Yi's words. "Young ladies of you and your sister's standing should not be out among the xiong-jin."
This was an old argument. Well, more of a diatribe; there was no way anyone would ever be able to convince Chao-Yi that anywhere but Tai Shan was the proper place for any of the Lin Ren. "I understand, Honored Grandmother. We will be home soon." Xu's faint smile turned into a frown just as small. It wasn't right that she should feel frustrated, even if Chao-Yi was using valuable time. Chao-Yi was an elder, and it was her right to speak as she wished, for how long she wished. Xu wasn't sure Chao-Yi had even heard her as the static has risen again.
"Well. At least you have kept your manners. That is very good. Your father is on his way. Ah, here he is now." In the background Xu's father, Jin-Feng, greeted Chao-Yi with the same deference Xu had. The old woman made a comment about Xu and Fujin's being away from home, and then Xu's father spoke.
"Xu, it's so good to hear from you," he said. "Your mother can't stop talking about you, she's so excited about you coming home to see us on your break."
"I can't wait to see you." During her all-too-infrequent visits to Tai Shan, Xu always found it difficult to leave again. Her spirit would always be tied to the mountains and forests of her home. Some day she would retire from SeeD and go home, never to leave again. She and Fujin both. "Father, I... I have some... bad news."
"What is it? Are you still able to come home?"
"Yes, it's not that, it's... Fujin."
Jin-Feng asked, "Will she be able to come with you?"
Xu drew a slow, deep breath and tried to steel herself against the swelling pain inside. "She's very sick, Father. Something the doctor has never seen before. She..." It was no good; her resolve shattered. "Oh, Daddy, I'm so scared!" she gasped, in her fear falling back to the speech of a terrified little girl wailing for comfort from her parent.
"Xu? Xu, what's wrong?" The fear had infected Jin-Feng, his voice rising, edgy. "Are you all right?"
"She's in the Infirmary," Xu sobbed, unable to control herself. "She's just lying there... It's like she's already dead!"
The connection began to break, static claiming most of her father's response. "...at it could be?"
"No! They don't know... Daddy?" Silence answered her. The connection had been cut. "Daddy!" No response.
Outside, the sun had finally set, acknowledging with its absence the horrible uncertainty of life. In the darkness Xu slumped against the panel, her head on her arms, and cried the tears of a little girl afraid for her sister.
--------------------
"Didn't we leave this party earlier?" Rinoa said, breaking the silence in Squall's office. Once again they were going over documents, this time the possible contracts to be used as Field Exams. Quistis was busy. Xu didn't answer her door. She'd suggested asking Cid for his advice, a course of action Squall had immediately discarded. (Still has that stubborn pride,) Rinoa thought fondly. (Wouldn't admit he was having trouble with his job unless it was raining chocobos.)
The SeeD Commander mumbled an unintelligible reply, his eyes still on the paper he held. Such intensity... Just one of the many things Rinoa loved about Squall. Everything he did was intense, in one way or another. There was definitely nothing halfway about Squall Leonhart. She hid her knowing smile behind the contract request in her hands and read it over one more time.
The unnatural Lunar Cry during the Ultimecia War had left a horrid mess. While most of the raw impact force had somehow been diverted, or absorbed, by the strange machinery of Tears' Point, a sizeable portion the nigh-unfathomable tide of monsters that had crossed the arcane bridge between the Moon and Terra had spread before the reality-warping effects of Utimecia's Time Compression had cast the rest into the void. The Estharian Army had its hands full and couldn't even begin to defend every town, village and hamlet that had come under seige since the end of the War. The dusty plains of Esthar had become a new war zone, a war zone regularly penetrated by SeeD teams on relief missions. The contract request Rinoa held was yet another call for help in destroying dangerous, aggressive new monsters near a remote village. A simple "sweep and clear," as Squall called it. "What about this one?" she asked him. "Standard stuff. Cadets could handle it."
"Hmm? Let me see it." He accepted the document from her and scanned it, his eyes flicking rapidly over the words. "I don't like the idea of sending cadets up against monsters we haven't even had a chance to fully study."
"There are unknowns in every mission. Remember the first time we met? The train? We didn't know that Vinzer Deling wasn't really Vinzer Deling, and we managed just fine." (He doesn't want anyone to get hurt. Trying to protect everybody...) "Besides, the cadets will have SeeD observers," she continued, "and they could take care of anything that goes wrong."
Rinoa watched Squall consider her words. She had a good idea what he was thinking; over time, the connection between them was deepening, and Rinoa could often tell such things with a moment's concentration. But she wished she could hear exactly what was going through his mind, every single thought that led him to feeling the way he did, choosing the courses of action he took. In the absence of such telepathy she contented herself with getting lost in his dark eyes. When he finally spoke, he said, "We've got twelve cadets ready for the Exam. Four teams should make short work of it. But I'm going to have six observers backing them up. If anything goes wrong I want that area completely cleared." Intense.
"It's really open out that way. Your star cadet should do marvelously." To Squall's confused blink she explained, "Kent Brougham."
"Brougham isn't the only good cadet we've got," he told her. "We've got a full dozen future SeeDs. Can't go patting Kent on the back and ignoring them." He turned his head to look at the night-dark window, the overhead lights playing beautifully in his hair. "...but you're right. If there's anywhere an archer would excel, that's it."
Rinoa couldn't help but giggle girlishly. It was heartwarming to watch her fiancé, her Knight, stumble over himself in an effort to be fair to everyone but not hurt her feelings. "It'll be a big graduating class." Squall himself had been part of a graduation party of four -- himself, Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht and Nida Romano. Twelve new SeeDs at once would be a record, not only in Balamb Garden, but in all of SeeD. The ceremony and ball afterward would be quite a scene. Squall set down the contract request and reclined in his chair, staring off into space. "What are you thinking?" she wondered aloud.
"I'm thinking that I'd rather be out there hunting down monsters and keeping people safe than sitting in this chair and sending other people to do my dirty work." It was a good thing, Cid had once admitted to Rinoa, when the leader of SeeD would never send someone to do what he himself would not. Squall had proven himself beyond all reproach in the Ultimecia War, proven that he would gladly trade places with any SeeD, any testing cadet, no matter the mission. "I think I'm getting fat from all this sitting around."
"If anybody would notice you putting on a few pounds, Squall, it would be me," she said brightly. "I like to think I'm keeping you in line."
One of Squall's eyebrows arched as he lowered his head and looked at her. "Is that so?" he asked.
"Everybody knows that behind any great man, there's a great woman." Her further response was cut off as the desk beeped at them. Again.
"I *hate* this thing," the commander snarled. He jabbed at the panel. "Leonhart."
"This is C-and-C, sir. We've got a call from the main gate. There's a man here from Dollet asking to speak to you about a contract. Says it's important."
Squall muttered, "Always is." Then he said, "Have him escorted up to my office immediately."
"Yes sir," the man on the other end acknowledged.
Rinoa made a thoughtful noise as she wondered what this could be about. Contract requests were usually made by call, not visitation. She herself had snuck out of Timber to personally request Cid Kramer's aid in the kidnapping of Vinzer Deling, the Headmaster's old political nemesis, but that had been a very special case. On top of that, the last time Dollet had requested aid from SeeD had been during the brief Galbadian invasion of the city at the very beginning of the Ultimecia War. The mission Squall had graduated with.
Altogether, it added up very strangely.
"Funny that the Duke would send a messenger instead of just calling," Squall said, echoing her thoughts. "I wonder what *else* is going to happen before Monday."
To that, Rinoa had no answer. This had certainly been the most eventful day in some time, as if it were trying to make up for the peace of recent months. She shrugged and began gathering up papers. Now that they had decided on a Field Exam mission, the documents could be refiled and processed as normal contracts.
A minute later the doorbell chimed. "Enter," Squall called, then rose from his chair and moved around to the front of his desk. A short, wide fair-haired man with a round, fleshy face, dressed in an impeccably-fit charcoal-gray suit, was escorted in by a single beanstalk of a SeeD who towered over his charge. The lanky young man saluted crisply.
"The Dollet emissary, sir."
Squall sketched a return salute and dismissed the SeeD, who turned smartly on his heel and strode from the office. (Wait a minute...) Rinoa observed. (If the Duke had sent this guy, he'd be wearing a uniform, not a suit. Hundred gil says he's a lawyer. Or a mobster. Then again, is there any difference?)
"Good evening," the man said in a rich, cultured voice Rinoa distrusted immediately. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."
"Always have time for a prospective client," Squall replied. "What's the nature of your request?"
"I represent the concerns of an... uh... influential... family in the Dukedom of Dollet. Not His Grace's family, but one with substantial connections nonetheless. Recently a matter of great sensitivity has arisen and the family would like SeeD's intervention."
Rinoa could tell right away that Squall was having trouble mastering a smirk. "SeeD doesn't interfere in family squabbles, Mr...?" he prompted.
"Parsons. Reginald Parsons, attorney." (Hundred gil for me,) Rinoa thought, and as if the man could hear her thinking, he turned to look at her with penetrating green eyes. "Before I continue, I would like to stress the confidental nature of this matter." (He's trying to shoo me out of the room. Of all the...)
"I can assure you," Squall put in smoothly, "the lady will not threaten your... security. May I introduce Rinoa Heartilly, Sorceress."
Long years of practice deserted the lawyer as his face contorted through a series of expressions in his surprise. "I... uh... am pleased to meet you, Sorceress Rinoa."
"Charmed." (Slimeball.)
Parsons quickly turned back to Squall, which left Rinoa feeling very pleased. "The matter in question does concern the entire family. Two days ago the middle daughter of three was kidnapped by unknown elements. Her bodyguard was also taken after making substantial resistance. We have reason to believe they are being held somewhere in Dollet, but thus far our efforts at pinpointing their location have been futile."
"Isn't that a job for the police? Or elements of the Dollet Army, since the family you represent is so... uh... influential?" Squall asked, throwing the lawyer's own words back at him.
"This could be a devastating blow to the family's reputation if word were to get out. A reputation that means quite a bit."
"So to keep their egos from being bruised, you hopped a train and came to Balamb to hire SeeD," Squall said.
Parsons frowned and rubbed his hands together. "That's a rather indelicate way of putting it."
"SeeD deals in facts, Mr. Parsons, not petty politics. But since you made such an effort to get to me, I can at least hear what you're offering for our services."
"I've been authorized to make an initial offer of two hundred fifty thousand gil."
(A quarter million?) Rinoa boggled. (How much of that is hush money?)
"That's a lot of money, Mr. Parsons," Squall said at the same time. He eased back and sat on the very edge of his desk. "Certainly with that kind of affluence you could easily find local assistance."
(Yeah, get him to say what his game really is,) encouraged Rinoa.
"Mr. Leonhart--"
Squall interrupted and corrected him. "Commander."
"--Commander Leonhart, please understand. The family's reputation is at stake. Hiring local soldiers-of-fortune is inherently risky because of the complete lack of assurance of their competence *and* ability to keep their mouths shut."
"So why Balamb Garden? Wouldn't it have been easier to contact Galbadia Garden?" One of Squall's feet swung, as if he hadn't a care in the world. It was all Rinoa could do to not laugh at his masterful insolence.
"Because," the lawyer explained, his patience straining, "you, the top SeeD Commander, are here."
"The SeeD Commander and Headmaster of Galbadia Garden are both perfectly capable of making this kind of decision. Let's cut to the chase, Mr. Parsons. I know you're hiding something, and until you tell me what it is, I will not even consider your request. And please remember that my time, while freely given to you for this interview, is very valuable."
(Gotcha.) Rinoa watched Parsons lick his thick lips and rub his hands together once more. (Best way to deal with a lawyer is to force him to own up.)
"All right. All right. We have reason to believe that the family and all its retainers are being watched. I have... uh... methods... But in order to ensure that I was not picked up again, I had to come to Balamb, and not Galbadia."
Squall got to his feet again. "Well, now, this *is* a problem, isn't it. Just how do you know that the prisoners are being held in Dollet, and how do you know you were being watched?"
"You can't expect a man to show you all his cards, Commander," the lawyer protested. "I've given you all the information I have. Will you accept the contract?"
"Will I send a team into that Torama's den? Not for two hundred fifty thousand gil." Squall paused, letting Parsons finish turning pale before saying, "Four hundred thousand."
"That-- That's robbery!" the corpulent man squeaked. "Three hundred."
"Three twenty-five. And the family's name."
Rinoa wondered if the attorney was about to have a heart attack right there in the office. Parsons spluttered a few times, then managed, "Three fifty."
Squall shook his head. "I want to know who I'm dealing with. I want their name, or the interview is over."
Parsons closed his eyes, his head dropping in defeat. "Very well. Three hundred twenty-five thousand gil. The name of the family I represent is Tyrell."
"Then I believe we have a deal." Squall offered his hand, which the lawyer shook as briefly as he could. Squall walked around his desk and began dictating the form of the contract. When that was finished Parsons read over the terms on the panel and signed his name with a seldom-used electronic pen Squall kept on hand.
"I trust you will attend to this immediately," the lawyer said when he straightened.
Squall smiled. "It will take some time to assemble the team. They'll be dispatched early tomorrow morning. Expect them at the Tyrell estate before noon."
Parsons looked like he was about to protest, but Squall's smile never faltered. (Can't ooze out of that corner, you sleaze,) Rinoa gloated.
"Very well," the lawyer said. "Tomorrow, then. Thank you, Commander, Sorceress." Parsons bowed a fraction and hustled out of the room.
"Have a good evening," Squall said to the closing doors, then looked to his fiancée. "What do you make of that?"
"I make it that you're a pirate. Three hundred twenty-five thousand gil?" She wasn't anything resembling angry, but Squall's dickering over money, especially that much money, surprised her.
"The money's irrelevant," he explained. "I just wanted to squeeze the name out of him. Shooting high and then coming down was the best way to make it look like a bargain." Rinoa's mouth opened, then closed again. What could she say to that? Squall laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "You can blame Irvine for that one."
"I'd rather be doing something else," she said, and she did.
After a minute he pulled away from her a few inches and said, "If you liked that, you'll love what else I have up my sleeve."
"Oh, do tell." (Isn't the Sorceress supposed to be the devious one?)
"I don't like the way Parsons seems to regard SeeD as his personal errand service. So I'm going to use this to my full advantage. Three of those cadets we've got ready for the Field Exam would do even better at this sort of thing than they would bashing monsters, and three teams should handle the sweep just fine, if not quite as fast as four. And the sweep will only need four observers."
Rinoa gasped. "You're going to use this as an Exam?"
"Yes. And I can think of two perfect observers to go along with them."
"You," she said in amazement that was somewhere between shock and awe, "are evil."
"No, just annoyed with the guy, and opportunistic on top of it."
"...whatever," she laughed, echoing the catchphrase of Squall's history, and kissed him again.
by Corvus
PART FOUR
Beep.
Beep.
Every five seconds, the computer panel spoke in its own limited fashion, to tell the room's resident that a call was coming through. The sound, a quiet but persistent reminder, drifted through the dim haze of sunset that managed to creep through the blinds drawn over the windows.
A form stirred briefly on the rumpled bed. Xu Kazeno raised her head from her pillow, uncomprehending for a moment of the noise. How long had she slept after her grief was through with her? The last she remembered was burying her face in her pillow and screaming until she thought her throat might catch fire from the burning agony. It still hurt.
Beep.
(What is that... oh.) She brushed strands of her rich brown hair away from where they stuck to her face and sighed with the recognition.
It took her several seconds to lever her exhausted, leaden body into a sitting position, and more to convince herself to rise and shuffle across the room. Sharp pain flared through her right foot as she stepped on the shattered remains of a vase she had unthinkingly dashed to the floor. The sensation cleared her head. Hissing, she hopped the last meter to the chair in front of the panel and acknowledged the call. "Yes?"
"Xu, it's Brendan up in C-and-C. We've got that connection you asked for. It's a little fuzzy, we're using some nonstandard lines and a double satellite relay. Best we could do. I don't mean to be rude, but one of those satellites is that new Estharian survey unit and they probably won't be happy if they find out we're running our own signal through it."
The realm of Tai Shan, which lay in the dense mountainous Grandidi forests north of Esthar, had a history of isolation longer than Esthar itself. Only recently had the elders of her people, the Lin Ren or "Forest People", acknowledged that the xiong-jin or "furious people" were perhaps worth speaking with. The Lin Ren's name for themselves used the character for the exalted form of "humans/persons" -- ren -- while their name for the outsiders used the more common, base form -- jin. Xu had always thought it bitterly ironic that the singular of ren, also called jin and often used as a name particle, as in her sister's name, was pronounced the same as the base form of "people". As if all the rest of the world might add up to just one of the Lin Ren.
(Nobility isn't always a matter of blood,) she reflected. "Thank you. I'll keep it short."
"I owe Selphie Tilmitt dinner for this," the man on the other end muttered.
"I'm sure you'll be all right. Please put it through."
Brendan chuckled and said, "Coming through now." There was a pause, then a burst of static which made Xu recoil in her chair. When it settled, a craggy old voice spoke hesitantly, all the more scratchy for the bad connection.
"Hello?" it said in Xu's native language.
Xu recognized that voice. How could she forget? Chao-Yi was one of the elders of the temple town of Shinjing, a respected, if somewhat strange, old woman who had seen more years than anyone could remember. "Hello, Honored Grandmother," Xu said, using one of the most respectful forms of address. "This is Kazeno Xu. I'm trying to reach my father. Is he about?" It felt good to be speaking her original tongue, to be speaking her name in the proper order, clan first.
"Eh? Your father? Where are you?"
"I'm calling from Balamb," Xu told her.
As she expected, the old woman said, "Where?"
A hint of a smile touched Xu's lips. She couldn't actually expect Chao-Yi to know where Balamb was. "Outside, Honored Grandmother."
"You should come home," the old woman told her firmly. The static cleared for a moment, almost as if the spirits wanted Xu to hear every one of Chao-Yi's words. "Young ladies of you and your sister's standing should not be out among the xiong-jin."
This was an old argument. Well, more of a diatribe; there was no way anyone would ever be able to convince Chao-Yi that anywhere but Tai Shan was the proper place for any of the Lin Ren. "I understand, Honored Grandmother. We will be home soon." Xu's faint smile turned into a frown just as small. It wasn't right that she should feel frustrated, even if Chao-Yi was using valuable time. Chao-Yi was an elder, and it was her right to speak as she wished, for how long she wished. Xu wasn't sure Chao-Yi had even heard her as the static has risen again.
"Well. At least you have kept your manners. That is very good. Your father is on his way. Ah, here he is now." In the background Xu's father, Jin-Feng, greeted Chao-Yi with the same deference Xu had. The old woman made a comment about Xu and Fujin's being away from home, and then Xu's father spoke.
"Xu, it's so good to hear from you," he said. "Your mother can't stop talking about you, she's so excited about you coming home to see us on your break."
"I can't wait to see you." During her all-too-infrequent visits to Tai Shan, Xu always found it difficult to leave again. Her spirit would always be tied to the mountains and forests of her home. Some day she would retire from SeeD and go home, never to leave again. She and Fujin both. "Father, I... I have some... bad news."
"What is it? Are you still able to come home?"
"Yes, it's not that, it's... Fujin."
Jin-Feng asked, "Will she be able to come with you?"
Xu drew a slow, deep breath and tried to steel herself against the swelling pain inside. "She's very sick, Father. Something the doctor has never seen before. She..." It was no good; her resolve shattered. "Oh, Daddy, I'm so scared!" she gasped, in her fear falling back to the speech of a terrified little girl wailing for comfort from her parent.
"Xu? Xu, what's wrong?" The fear had infected Jin-Feng, his voice rising, edgy. "Are you all right?"
"She's in the Infirmary," Xu sobbed, unable to control herself. "She's just lying there... It's like she's already dead!"
The connection began to break, static claiming most of her father's response. "...at it could be?"
"No! They don't know... Daddy?" Silence answered her. The connection had been cut. "Daddy!" No response.
Outside, the sun had finally set, acknowledging with its absence the horrible uncertainty of life. In the darkness Xu slumped against the panel, her head on her arms, and cried the tears of a little girl afraid for her sister.
--------------------
"Didn't we leave this party earlier?" Rinoa said, breaking the silence in Squall's office. Once again they were going over documents, this time the possible contracts to be used as Field Exams. Quistis was busy. Xu didn't answer her door. She'd suggested asking Cid for his advice, a course of action Squall had immediately discarded. (Still has that stubborn pride,) Rinoa thought fondly. (Wouldn't admit he was having trouble with his job unless it was raining chocobos.)
The SeeD Commander mumbled an unintelligible reply, his eyes still on the paper he held. Such intensity... Just one of the many things Rinoa loved about Squall. Everything he did was intense, in one way or another. There was definitely nothing halfway about Squall Leonhart. She hid her knowing smile behind the contract request in her hands and read it over one more time.
The unnatural Lunar Cry during the Ultimecia War had left a horrid mess. While most of the raw impact force had somehow been diverted, or absorbed, by the strange machinery of Tears' Point, a sizeable portion the nigh-unfathomable tide of monsters that had crossed the arcane bridge between the Moon and Terra had spread before the reality-warping effects of Utimecia's Time Compression had cast the rest into the void. The Estharian Army had its hands full and couldn't even begin to defend every town, village and hamlet that had come under seige since the end of the War. The dusty plains of Esthar had become a new war zone, a war zone regularly penetrated by SeeD teams on relief missions. The contract request Rinoa held was yet another call for help in destroying dangerous, aggressive new monsters near a remote village. A simple "sweep and clear," as Squall called it. "What about this one?" she asked him. "Standard stuff. Cadets could handle it."
"Hmm? Let me see it." He accepted the document from her and scanned it, his eyes flicking rapidly over the words. "I don't like the idea of sending cadets up against monsters we haven't even had a chance to fully study."
"There are unknowns in every mission. Remember the first time we met? The train? We didn't know that Vinzer Deling wasn't really Vinzer Deling, and we managed just fine." (He doesn't want anyone to get hurt. Trying to protect everybody...) "Besides, the cadets will have SeeD observers," she continued, "and they could take care of anything that goes wrong."
Rinoa watched Squall consider her words. She had a good idea what he was thinking; over time, the connection between them was deepening, and Rinoa could often tell such things with a moment's concentration. But she wished she could hear exactly what was going through his mind, every single thought that led him to feeling the way he did, choosing the courses of action he took. In the absence of such telepathy she contented herself with getting lost in his dark eyes. When he finally spoke, he said, "We've got twelve cadets ready for the Exam. Four teams should make short work of it. But I'm going to have six observers backing them up. If anything goes wrong I want that area completely cleared." Intense.
"It's really open out that way. Your star cadet should do marvelously." To Squall's confused blink she explained, "Kent Brougham."
"Brougham isn't the only good cadet we've got," he told her. "We've got a full dozen future SeeDs. Can't go patting Kent on the back and ignoring them." He turned his head to look at the night-dark window, the overhead lights playing beautifully in his hair. "...but you're right. If there's anywhere an archer would excel, that's it."
Rinoa couldn't help but giggle girlishly. It was heartwarming to watch her fiancé, her Knight, stumble over himself in an effort to be fair to everyone but not hurt her feelings. "It'll be a big graduating class." Squall himself had been part of a graduation party of four -- himself, Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht and Nida Romano. Twelve new SeeDs at once would be a record, not only in Balamb Garden, but in all of SeeD. The ceremony and ball afterward would be quite a scene. Squall set down the contract request and reclined in his chair, staring off into space. "What are you thinking?" she wondered aloud.
"I'm thinking that I'd rather be out there hunting down monsters and keeping people safe than sitting in this chair and sending other people to do my dirty work." It was a good thing, Cid had once admitted to Rinoa, when the leader of SeeD would never send someone to do what he himself would not. Squall had proven himself beyond all reproach in the Ultimecia War, proven that he would gladly trade places with any SeeD, any testing cadet, no matter the mission. "I think I'm getting fat from all this sitting around."
"If anybody would notice you putting on a few pounds, Squall, it would be me," she said brightly. "I like to think I'm keeping you in line."
One of Squall's eyebrows arched as he lowered his head and looked at her. "Is that so?" he asked.
"Everybody knows that behind any great man, there's a great woman." Her further response was cut off as the desk beeped at them. Again.
"I *hate* this thing," the commander snarled. He jabbed at the panel. "Leonhart."
"This is C-and-C, sir. We've got a call from the main gate. There's a man here from Dollet asking to speak to you about a contract. Says it's important."
Squall muttered, "Always is." Then he said, "Have him escorted up to my office immediately."
"Yes sir," the man on the other end acknowledged.
Rinoa made a thoughtful noise as she wondered what this could be about. Contract requests were usually made by call, not visitation. She herself had snuck out of Timber to personally request Cid Kramer's aid in the kidnapping of Vinzer Deling, the Headmaster's old political nemesis, but that had been a very special case. On top of that, the last time Dollet had requested aid from SeeD had been during the brief Galbadian invasion of the city at the very beginning of the Ultimecia War. The mission Squall had graduated with.
Altogether, it added up very strangely.
"Funny that the Duke would send a messenger instead of just calling," Squall said, echoing her thoughts. "I wonder what *else* is going to happen before Monday."
To that, Rinoa had no answer. This had certainly been the most eventful day in some time, as if it were trying to make up for the peace of recent months. She shrugged and began gathering up papers. Now that they had decided on a Field Exam mission, the documents could be refiled and processed as normal contracts.
A minute later the doorbell chimed. "Enter," Squall called, then rose from his chair and moved around to the front of his desk. A short, wide fair-haired man with a round, fleshy face, dressed in an impeccably-fit charcoal-gray suit, was escorted in by a single beanstalk of a SeeD who towered over his charge. The lanky young man saluted crisply.
"The Dollet emissary, sir."
Squall sketched a return salute and dismissed the SeeD, who turned smartly on his heel and strode from the office. (Wait a minute...) Rinoa observed. (If the Duke had sent this guy, he'd be wearing a uniform, not a suit. Hundred gil says he's a lawyer. Or a mobster. Then again, is there any difference?)
"Good evening," the man said in a rich, cultured voice Rinoa distrusted immediately. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."
"Always have time for a prospective client," Squall replied. "What's the nature of your request?"
"I represent the concerns of an... uh... influential... family in the Dukedom of Dollet. Not His Grace's family, but one with substantial connections nonetheless. Recently a matter of great sensitivity has arisen and the family would like SeeD's intervention."
Rinoa could tell right away that Squall was having trouble mastering a smirk. "SeeD doesn't interfere in family squabbles, Mr...?" he prompted.
"Parsons. Reginald Parsons, attorney." (Hundred gil for me,) Rinoa thought, and as if the man could hear her thinking, he turned to look at her with penetrating green eyes. "Before I continue, I would like to stress the confidental nature of this matter." (He's trying to shoo me out of the room. Of all the...)
"I can assure you," Squall put in smoothly, "the lady will not threaten your... security. May I introduce Rinoa Heartilly, Sorceress."
Long years of practice deserted the lawyer as his face contorted through a series of expressions in his surprise. "I... uh... am pleased to meet you, Sorceress Rinoa."
"Charmed." (Slimeball.)
Parsons quickly turned back to Squall, which left Rinoa feeling very pleased. "The matter in question does concern the entire family. Two days ago the middle daughter of three was kidnapped by unknown elements. Her bodyguard was also taken after making substantial resistance. We have reason to believe they are being held somewhere in Dollet, but thus far our efforts at pinpointing their location have been futile."
"Isn't that a job for the police? Or elements of the Dollet Army, since the family you represent is so... uh... influential?" Squall asked, throwing the lawyer's own words back at him.
"This could be a devastating blow to the family's reputation if word were to get out. A reputation that means quite a bit."
"So to keep their egos from being bruised, you hopped a train and came to Balamb to hire SeeD," Squall said.
Parsons frowned and rubbed his hands together. "That's a rather indelicate way of putting it."
"SeeD deals in facts, Mr. Parsons, not petty politics. But since you made such an effort to get to me, I can at least hear what you're offering for our services."
"I've been authorized to make an initial offer of two hundred fifty thousand gil."
(A quarter million?) Rinoa boggled. (How much of that is hush money?)
"That's a lot of money, Mr. Parsons," Squall said at the same time. He eased back and sat on the very edge of his desk. "Certainly with that kind of affluence you could easily find local assistance."
(Yeah, get him to say what his game really is,) encouraged Rinoa.
"Mr. Leonhart--"
Squall interrupted and corrected him. "Commander."
"--Commander Leonhart, please understand. The family's reputation is at stake. Hiring local soldiers-of-fortune is inherently risky because of the complete lack of assurance of their competence *and* ability to keep their mouths shut."
"So why Balamb Garden? Wouldn't it have been easier to contact Galbadia Garden?" One of Squall's feet swung, as if he hadn't a care in the world. It was all Rinoa could do to not laugh at his masterful insolence.
"Because," the lawyer explained, his patience straining, "you, the top SeeD Commander, are here."
"The SeeD Commander and Headmaster of Galbadia Garden are both perfectly capable of making this kind of decision. Let's cut to the chase, Mr. Parsons. I know you're hiding something, and until you tell me what it is, I will not even consider your request. And please remember that my time, while freely given to you for this interview, is very valuable."
(Gotcha.) Rinoa watched Parsons lick his thick lips and rub his hands together once more. (Best way to deal with a lawyer is to force him to own up.)
"All right. All right. We have reason to believe that the family and all its retainers are being watched. I have... uh... methods... But in order to ensure that I was not picked up again, I had to come to Balamb, and not Galbadia."
Squall got to his feet again. "Well, now, this *is* a problem, isn't it. Just how do you know that the prisoners are being held in Dollet, and how do you know you were being watched?"
"You can't expect a man to show you all his cards, Commander," the lawyer protested. "I've given you all the information I have. Will you accept the contract?"
"Will I send a team into that Torama's den? Not for two hundred fifty thousand gil." Squall paused, letting Parsons finish turning pale before saying, "Four hundred thousand."
"That-- That's robbery!" the corpulent man squeaked. "Three hundred."
"Three twenty-five. And the family's name."
Rinoa wondered if the attorney was about to have a heart attack right there in the office. Parsons spluttered a few times, then managed, "Three fifty."
Squall shook his head. "I want to know who I'm dealing with. I want their name, or the interview is over."
Parsons closed his eyes, his head dropping in defeat. "Very well. Three hundred twenty-five thousand gil. The name of the family I represent is Tyrell."
"Then I believe we have a deal." Squall offered his hand, which the lawyer shook as briefly as he could. Squall walked around his desk and began dictating the form of the contract. When that was finished Parsons read over the terms on the panel and signed his name with a seldom-used electronic pen Squall kept on hand.
"I trust you will attend to this immediately," the lawyer said when he straightened.
Squall smiled. "It will take some time to assemble the team. They'll be dispatched early tomorrow morning. Expect them at the Tyrell estate before noon."
Parsons looked like he was about to protest, but Squall's smile never faltered. (Can't ooze out of that corner, you sleaze,) Rinoa gloated.
"Very well," the lawyer said. "Tomorrow, then. Thank you, Commander, Sorceress." Parsons bowed a fraction and hustled out of the room.
"Have a good evening," Squall said to the closing doors, then looked to his fiancée. "What do you make of that?"
"I make it that you're a pirate. Three hundred twenty-five thousand gil?" She wasn't anything resembling angry, but Squall's dickering over money, especially that much money, surprised her.
"The money's irrelevant," he explained. "I just wanted to squeeze the name out of him. Shooting high and then coming down was the best way to make it look like a bargain." Rinoa's mouth opened, then closed again. What could she say to that? Squall laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "You can blame Irvine for that one."
"I'd rather be doing something else," she said, and she did.
After a minute he pulled away from her a few inches and said, "If you liked that, you'll love what else I have up my sleeve."
"Oh, do tell." (Isn't the Sorceress supposed to be the devious one?)
"I don't like the way Parsons seems to regard SeeD as his personal errand service. So I'm going to use this to my full advantage. Three of those cadets we've got ready for the Field Exam would do even better at this sort of thing than they would bashing monsters, and three teams should handle the sweep just fine, if not quite as fast as four. And the sweep will only need four observers."
Rinoa gasped. "You're going to use this as an Exam?"
"Yes. And I can think of two perfect observers to go along with them."
"You," she said in amazement that was somewhere between shock and awe, "are evil."
"No, just annoyed with the guy, and opportunistic on top of it."
"...whatever," she laughed, echoing the catchphrase of Squall's history, and kissed him again.