Chapter 8 – Angelheart
He was too damn tired to go any further, and hell, he would have stopped to take a break too. But he couldn't – he had to reach her – he had to reach the person who meant everything, because without her, there would be nothing left for him to live for. As he raced up into the upper floors of the castle, he began to rethink his past. A past where there was no Rinoa; a past where he was all alone and there was absolutely nothing to live for. He would easily die in battle, not caring what happened, because he had nobody to care for him. He would have easily have gave it all up, and then he wouldn't have to worry about anything for that matter, even himself.
But now, all that had changed; she has changed him completely. From the cold, lone wolf, to a knight sworn to protect his love. Squall knew there was everything to live for, as long as she remained alive and unharmed.
He killed everything in his path. Every monster that stood in his way from his goal would die. As soon as he reached the eighth floor, it then occurred to him that he had lost Ifrit. He had not thought about it before, but now, something fell out of place within himself, without the Guardian Force to fill it up. He was the first guardian force he captured, and since then, he and Ifrit had only gotten stronger, but no more. Squall sliced his gunblade into the near pillar, which split into two pieces seconds after. "No more losses…" he slowly said. "No more…"
It just then reached his ears that there was a battle going on in the floor above. His icy, cold, blue eyes then turned into anger, thinking that his friends were in trouble, and he was not there helping them right now. Totally exhausted and almost completely out of breath, he still raced up one more story…
-----*****-----
"SHIT! This damn creature ain't going down!" Zell yelled as he placed another well hit Blizzaga spell into hit Fallen Phoenix's back. Irvine, Selphie and Quistis followed up after Zell, summoning strong ice spells of their own, which all successfully hit the already fallen beast. "Now we finish him." Zell began, but a bit too soon.
At that moment, the dark Phoenix arose from the dust and roared a shrill deafening enough to break eardrums. If it weren't for the GFs, the four SeeDs would have lost one of the five senses. In a split second, the air born beast spread out its wings. "IT'S OVER!" it yelled as a huge inferno blast emerged from its wings.
The four of them had no time to counter, for as soon as they opened their mouths, they were hit from the blazing flame that torched everything in its path. After the attack had diminished, all that was left to be seen was a dark beast in the air, towering over four fallen SeeDs. Zell looked up as he tried to cast one more spell, but fell down in exhaustion and weakness. "So this is it?' he began in his mind. "This is where we all will be buried." he said weakly, as he awaiting his fate.
The beast looked around and saw the four humans on the ground, barely able to lift a muscle. He then looked at Zell, who had hurt him far more than the others had. "I'll start with you, you fucking excuse of a life." With that, the Phoenix lifted its wings again, but this time, it was not looking at Zell, but at another Phoenix, however, this one, being the normal red color is should be.
The Red Phoenix gave a huge shrill, a shrill that was relaxing to all pure minds – a shrill that annoyed the Fallen Phoenix to the point of confusion. All the enemy could do was cower away and cover its ears with its wings. The Red Phoenix looked at the four comrades below and spread out its wings. "LIFE!" it yelled as tiny particles of light fell from its heavenly glowing wings and landed on all four SeeDs. Almost instantaneously, Zell got up and felt a huge resurgence of life within him. He flexed his arms and legs as he looked around. Just as he had expected, his other three friends also were up and about. Zell then turned his attention to the Red Phoenix, who suddenly burned into flames, and soon enough, turned into ashes.
Selphie looked in amazement as she witnessed the whole thing. She started to cry, feeling sorry for the poor thing, when suddenly the thought popped into her head. "HEY! Nobody here has the power to summon Phoenix, and neither of us has the item, Phoenix Pinion. Then………how……?" she ended.
Irvine, Zell and Quistis nodded, thinking of how it could have occurred when the dark Phoenix arose from its hiding place. The four of them were about to attack but had no time. The creature had called its attack to quickly. "Not again…" Selphie cried out
"INFERNO BLA…." However much it tried, the creature could not finish its sentence, as it slowly fell to the ground. The four SeeDs looked upon it in shock, still amazed that it was taken down so easily. Then everything had become clear. Imbedded in the heart of the creature was a blue gunblade, pierced deep into Fallen Phoenix's skin.
The phoenix slowly died out and exploded into ashes. All that was left was the Lionheart, the baby blue gunblade lying on the ground. As Quistis was about to move towards it, footsteps were heard in the distance. Cold footsteps, that stepped hard against the stone floor; footsteps that sounded so familiar. Then a hand bent down and picked up the fallen blade, only to reveal that it belonged to the scarred warrior they befriended so long ago.
"SQUALL!!" Both Quistis and Selphie jumped in joy as they ran to the dust covered warrior. His black pants almost multi-colored, and his white shirt, not white anymore. His face was worn out. His icy blue eyes, once filled with anger and revenge, slowly changed to a look that was only filled with nothing but compassion, a sign that he was relieved that his friends were not hurt. Both Zell and Irvine stared at him quietly for a second, and then smiled, walking over to him.
"It's about time you bozo!" Selphie cried as she hugged him. Quistis joined in the hug, but quickly let go, seeing that Selphie was choking the life out of him.
"Uh, yeah, whatever..." Squall choked out as he felt the breath being sucked out of him.
"Hey Selphie, at that rate, you're going to kill him." Irvine added. Selphie smiled as she reluctantly let go of her friend and quickly wiped away her tears. She thought he was dead, but yet, he was here, right in front of her face. She was at a lost for words, so hugged him again once more before leaving him alone.
"Hey Squall……………" Zell began but was cut out completely.
"I know Zell………" was the only thing out of the lone wolf's mouth. "I know. You guys take care of the power core." he said with a smile as he began to ascent what he hoped would be the final group of stairs.
Zell looked around. Sure, he was very ecstatic that Squall was alive and all, but they had a mission. "Hey guys, sorry to break up your thoughts and all, but you heard what the guy said." the martial artist began to say as he cracked his knuckles. "Let's go kick some ass!"
"Right on!" Irvine smiled as he readied his shotgun with ammunition.
-----*****-----
She grabbed her necklace, the necklace that held both her mother's ring and his ring. In a few more minutes it would be all over. Every dream she thought about as a small child would be unfulfilled. Every thought she ever held would expire out into nothing. However much she didn't want that to happen, she just couldn't ignore her conscience. It was telling her that it's going to be all over in those few minutes. But her heart just wouldn't give in, telling her that Squall was coming right now. After all, she had to hope for two lives now.
Then it happened, as she was taking an inhale of breath. Nothing was registering in her lungs. Her vision had already slowly started to become fuzzy. She was tired from all the suffering she had gone through and a part of her wanted to leave all this pain behind. But still, the other part knew she had something to live for, if not Squall, than for it.
Everything then happened so slowly. She felt her eyes close, she was running out of breath. She stood up and started to wobble. As she went to close her eyes for the last time, something had grabbed a hold of her, her delicate hand. Then, as if a miracle, oxygen made her way into her respiratory system. At first, she thought she was dead, but all the surroundings slowly came back to her – the damp cell, the small bed and the…
She looked up, only to find everything she had hoped for right in front of her. Everything she dreamed of was holding her in his arms. His voice started to record in her mind. "Don't leave me. I'm here Rinoa, I'm here. Everything will be fine."
"Squall…………" she questioned hopefully as she looked up as her vision finally targeted on him.
"Yes, it's Squall." he smiled, in relief with tears pouring down his eyes.
Just then, she couldn't hold back anymore and tightly hugged him as hard as she could. She started to cry, making his shirt damper that it was before. "I'm scared Squall, I'm very scared Squall."
"Just stay close to me, and everything will be fine."
Those words – that phrase. The phrase that started it all. In an instant, a flashback in Rinoa's mind took her back to the Deling City parade, where she was foolish enough to think that she could stand up against the sorceress. But the sorceress instantly took control of her and left her for the Iguana monsters to eat. Back then, she and Squall never really got along to well. But when he fought those monsters off, she told him the very same thing. She was scared…terrified. And his response, one of the few phrases she'll never forget, "Just stay close to me."
Almost as soon as she was gone, she came back to reality and just kept crying in Squall's arms. The warrior closed his eyes and returned the hug back, wanting to make sure she was there, wanting to feel her skin against his. It had been too long since he had last touched her. He wanted to make sure all of this was a reality. And when he reopened his eyes, she was still there. He smiled to himself, and he still kept Rinoa encircled in his arms, hoping she would calm down.
No matter how hard he had tried to pacify her, she just wouldn't stop crying. Squall knew he had to look her in the eye. Slowly, he removed her arms from around his waist, but still held them in his hand. He then tilted up her face so he could see her. "Damn, she's just as beautiful as ever, like an angel.' he thought to himself.
Just then, a portion of the ceiling fell, closing out the only exit of the room, but however, nothing was able to distract the two of them.
When they finally locked eyes, Rinoa's tears had stopped falling. She was still scared, but never felt more secure in her entire life than in that moment. Her knight was right there in front of her, holding onto her hands. Warmth had spread into her body. She now knew she was safe, safe from everything – all the evils of the world. He slowly tilted her head to the side. "Rinoa, you're cut in many places. Here, let me heal you." he slowly uttered out as he used Cure on her. As soon as the spell was over, Rinoa just couldn't hold it back any longer, and jumped onto Squall, who was forced onto his back. She locked him in the most passionate kiss she could muster out at the time, and surprisingly to her, he returned with just as much passion as she gave. They were locked within each other's grasp for what seemed to them, an eternity's worth of time. She wouldn't let go, and he was glad it was that way. It had just been to long since their last, real kiss, like the very first one they shared five months ago. Finally, when they just couldn't breathe anymore, both of them released and gasped for air. Rinoa smiled at him, and in response, he smiled back to her warmly.
"Squall…my powers are gone…" she blurted out in a soft voice, wanting to make sure he knew every detail.
Squall got up from the ground, and sat next to Rinoa, who still was still trembling in fear. He picked up the lightweight Rinoa and placed her on his lap as he encircled his arms around her once again. Squall gently rocked her back and forth in his arms and caressed her soft raven hair. "Don't worry about it." he replied. Rinoa let out a sigh of relief as she rested her head against his chest. It was then, when she felt that nothing in the world could hurt her; sitting in her knight's lap was a moment she never wanted to end.
The two of them just sat there, and if there were any disturbance, Squall swore to himself it wouldn't last too long. It took some courage, but after ten minutes of complete silence, he had to break the ice between them. "Rinoa, looks like your gaining some weight." the lion-hearted man chuckled as he slowly pointed to her stomach.
Rinoa smiled, still trembling. 'Do I tell him the truth now? It's a good of time as any, and I might not get the chance to tell him again. Ok, here I go…' Rinoa inhaled slowly and exhaled the same way. "Squall…I'm pregnant."
It was then that she couldn't feel his warmth anymore, mainly because he had slowly let go of her without her noticing, but she knew that wasn't the case. She looked up to him and found him staring off into the distance, having one of his "moments."
His mind was racing with so many thoughts, he just didn't know where to turn. In the end, Dragoon was the only monster left in his mind. 'That bastard. First he kidnaps her, and now this. Oh Hyne, what in the world do I do?'
Rinoa kept looking at him as he stood up and walked around the room. She once again brought her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth slowly, waiting for his reaction.
"DAAAAAMN!" was all Squall could think of.
Rinoa looked at him with shock and quickly got up. "What? What is so DAMN about this?" she asked curiously at him.
"What is so Damn, you ask?" Squall replied in anger; he didn't want to, it just came out that way. "Your pregnant! That's what's so DAMN!" he replied, shocked at his own words. "This child is a curse." he quickly added as he reached for his fallen Lionheart blade on the floor.
"SQUALL LEONHART! How DARE you say that!" Rinoa yelled to him. Squall was in shock, but before he could repudiate, she just kept on going. "This child is a blessing! And if for one minute…"
"Damn, I think Dragoon may have some control over her.' he quietly said to himself while giving the impression he was listening. But when he heard the word blessing out of her mouth, he put one finger up to her lip, which hushed her instantly. "Dragoon is going to DIE a most horrible death now for what sin he has committed to you!" he yelled at the air and he chucked a rock through a window.
'Oh my god!' Rinoa began to herself, putting her hand to her head. 'Hyne, I've forgotten to tell him the most important thing. No wonder he's mad. Now I understand, and I don't blame him at all, but I better speak now before its too late.'
"Um, uh………" she started as she slowly walked towards his back.
Once he turned around, she received eyes, once full with compassion for her, now in fierce, deep anger and hatred for Dragoon. "What!?" he asked in anger, not meant for her.
"Uh, umm………" she stuttered.
"Well, spit it out already!" her knight commanded impatiently.
But first she wanted some payback. "Squall, I should slap you at what you just said about our baby. If for one minute…."
"What the hell do you mean, our baby?!" he roared back into the air, not wanting to yell at her.
Rinoa eyes flashed in anger. "You know you idiot!! The one you and I produced!! On that night of the celebration…"
"You………an………and………I?" Squall managed to choke out as he fell back to the ground on his knees.
Rinoa eyes turned back to tenderness as she nodded in agreement, smiling. "Why do you think I went away that fateful week all those months ago? I wanted to be certain that I was pregnant. I know that being a sorceress, the chances of me having a child is slim to none, but I just wanted to make sure. I went to Esthar and consulted Dr. Odine. He then nodded in agreement, and my thoughts were right." In that instant, those once angry blue eyes once again turned back to compassion, but to Rinoa, they more resembled more of a scared child – scared about the future. She sat down next to him and clutching his arm and resting her head against it. She had just witnessed two sides of Squall she had never seen before.
He was dumbfounded, and for one thing, at a loss of words. He just couldn't mutter out anything that would make sense to say at a time like this. Who would of thought that in that one night, that one time they had gotten physically close to one another, they actually produced it. A flashback went through his mind as he rethought the events right after the battle with Ultimecia. There was a grand party held the week after. Once he and Rinoa had finished with their first kiss under the shooting star, she told him that she was tired. Squall smiled and picked her up in his arms, escorting her back to his room, due to the fact that Rinoa did not have a dorm room at the moment. Just as he had entered his room, he knew something was up when Rinoa jumped out of his arms and onto the bed. She had tricked him to get him alone………alone for the night………a night he would never forget.
The flashback ended as Squall just looked at Rinoa as he raced his hand through his brown hair. He wasn't ready for this. He looked in himself. 'Hyne, I'm not ready for this. It's just way too soon. But don't get me wrong, I am glad that it was me instead of Dragoon, but man, I am just not ready.'
"Squall………" she began.
"Yeah?"
"I've been thinking this over. And I have a proposition. Don't say anything till you hear me out, ok?" she asked him innocently.
How could he refuse her? "Ok, I'm listening."
Rinoa took another deep inhale and exhaled slowly. "If our baby is a boy, I'll name him. But if the baby turns out to be a girl, I want you to come up with a name. Kay?" she finished, looking up into his eyes, waiting for some kind of answer.
Squall returned her stare and then looked away into the distance again. 'What kind of proposition is that? I can't think of any names, especially for a girl. And for starters, I'm not even ready for this child. But hell, I suppose I do have time to think things over, and if it makes her happy………' Squall then looked back into her eyes and sighed in defeat. "Ok, fine, you got yourself a deal."
"Oh, thank you Squall!" she said happily as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She then again rested on his arm, thinking that the lone wolf would make a great father, no matter what gender the child was. She sighed happily, and closed her eyes, thinking of the future. As she lifted her right hand, it was then that she noticed the ring that was placed on her ring finger. At first, she had no clue what it resembled. She thought of it as merely a regular Lunar Ring, but when she looked at Squall's, it looked completely different, looked more beautiful than his ring. "Hey Squall, how come my ring looks different from yours?" she asked purely as she put her hand next to his.
Sweat was all over his face. Fighting huge monsters was easy, but answering this question was going to be difficult. He knew damn right why her ring was different. He requested that it be to be made that way. Sure, Dr. Odine gave him a quizzical look when he asked him to do it, but it was worth it. Then the idea popped into his head to answer it is an engagement ring. He couldn't deny he never thought about the future, spending eternity with her, before, but would this be too early. 'Let's hope not…' he slowly thought.
"Well, uh, um, that's because, well………" he sweated out.
"Well, spit it out!" she commanded impatiently, in a teasing way however.
"It's an engagement ring." he muttered under his breath.
Rinoa was shocked at the answer as her insides were jumping for joy. But she wanted him to say it louder. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Can you repeat that Commander?" she asked smugly.
She wasn't going to make it easy for him. 'Fine, be like that. If you want to embarrass me some more, you've won then.' "It's an engagement ring!" he yelled out to the room.
She sat there, shocked at his emotional outburst. She had let go of his arm that instant and looked at the ring more carefully. It then hit her. It was pure diamond – with angel wings spreading out of it. At first, she didn't know what to make of it. Was it some kind of symbol – but then it hit her. Squall always said she was an angel. This was clearly out of pure love. She didn't know how to react. Turning back to him, she saw that he was looking the other way. So she tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned his head toward her. "You don't like………" He couldn't finish his sentence. Rinoa had completely thrown herself onto him, making him fall backwards once again, giving him another passionate kiss that matched the one they just had a few minutes ago. He had no other choice but to submit. His insides felt so different than they usually did – felt as if they were being melted away in a hot summer day. 'Is this………love?' he calmly asked himself.
Almost as fast as it had started, it ended, with Squall again, gasping for air. However, Rinoa looked at him seductively, and then burst out into tears, all the while giving him a huge hug.
"Why are you crying, Rinoa?" he asked surprisingly, thinking she probably hated the ring.
"You don't know HOW long I've been waiting for this day!" she cried in his arms. "I love you Squall, and yes, I'll marry you!"
He was stunned. He never asked that. But then how did she know he was thinking that? 'Is that what an engagement ring is all about? Marriage?' The word seemed so foreign to Squall, as if he had never heard of it before. All of these thoughts were new to him, but he smiled as he ran his hand through her soft, raven hair. He made up his mind, he would give up everything to spend the rest of his life with her. "I think we should find the others." he whispered into her ears, knowing that they had to get out of there.
She smiled and nodded. Her insides were flooded with something new. She went from no reasons to two reasons to live: their baby, and Mrs. Rinoa Leonhart. 'Rinoa Leonhart, ohhh that name sounds soooo good!' she smiled as they tried to find a way out.