Blind Love
Part 2

Squall resumed his journey, walking at a brisk pace that he hoped would get him to his destination before it was completely dark.

After traveling for another hour, Squall finally reached the tiny village situated near the ocean. Squall debated whether he should camp out for the night or brave the inn. He finally decided that he was too tired to set up camp and was more than willing to cope with dirt and bed bugs so long as he had something soft to sleep on.

Squall entered the village, noting that it consisted of only a main street and a few side streets with no more than two dozen buildings. The inn was the first building on his left and upon entering Squall found the innkeeper asleep behind the counter.

Squall marched up to the counter and rapped on it loudly. The old man woke with a start, muttering and grumbling under his breath as he struggled to stand. Once standing, the old man finally got a good look at Squall, which caused the man to gap and stare at him. Squall shifted uncomfortably; he still had not gotten used to people knowing who he was. He did not particularly care for the whole famous because-he-saved-the-world thing. He had always hoped to live a rather low-key life as a normal SeeD but that was impossible now.

"I would like a room," Squall said impatiently after several moments of silence.

The old man snapped out of his daze, saying, "Yes, yes, of course Mr. Leonhart. I will have our best room readied for you."

"How much?"

"Oh no, that won't be necessary, sir."

Squall lifted an eyebrow as he glanced around at the rather shabby room. Squall then pulled out a hundred gil and slapped it on the counter; he was too tired to argue.

"Show me were the room is."

"Thank you so much, Commander," the old man said with a small bow. "You're generosity and beneficence are truly remarkable. Why, without your help..."

"Yes, yes, " Squall interrupted the man with a wave of his hand, he had heard it all before. "The room?"

"Oh yes, of course. Forgive me, sir. Please follow me."

Squall trailed along behind the man to his room, noting that it was on the first floor of the building and that even though it looked rather rundown, it was clean, which was all he cared about.

As the old man left the room he said, "I will let the mayor know you are here, if you like, Commander."

"Yes, thank you, I would appreciate it," Squall replied.

Once the old man had left, Squall placed the two gunblades near the bed, then dropped his backpack and flopped down onto the bed. Squall could not believe how tired he was; yet, he had not gotten much exercise during the past few weeks because he had been relaxing after the end of the war, so he supposed it was to be expected that he was a little out of shape.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Squall suddenly sat up with a groan, remembering that his dad had wanted him to call when he arrived so that Laguna would know he was safe.

What a pain Squall thought as he fished around in his pack for his cell phone. Yet, he supposed it was all part of having a parent, so he was not going to complain too much.

He called his father's private number and the phone was answered halfway through the first ring.

"Squall?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Squall heard Laguna sigh through the phone while saying, "Good, I was getting worried."

"It's not that late, dad."

"Yeah, well, you never know what could happen with you traveling alone."

Squall smiled, it was rather nice to have someone care about him so much.

"I'm going to see the mayor tomorrow morning, so I'll try to find out what's going on here."

"Good, let me know when you find out. You should go to sleep now, so I won't keep you. I'll talk to you later. I love you."

Squall paused briefly before saying, "You too. Bye."

As Squall turned off the phone he kind of wished he had said 'I love you' back to his father. Even though having a father was still pretty new to him, he was relatively sure that he loved his dad; plus, it would have made Laguna happy if he had said it.

Oh well, maybe next time Squall thought as he laid back down on the bed.

Squall then realized that he had not even changed his clothes or brushed his teeth yet. Squall growled in frustration as he got up and quickly got ready for bed. Finally, Squall was ready to go to sleep. As he drifted off to sleep, his last thought was that hopefully tomorrow he would gain more information concerning the whereabouts of Seifer.

End part 2

-I know, rather short and boring. Don't worry though, things start happening in part 3, like Seifer showing up! :)