The clear sky enveloped Squall's visible horizon in an expanse of infinite blue. Fluffy clouds hung high up in the sky. The weather was not hot, but neither was it cold. He could wear a jacket and not perspire, or remove his clothing without feeling cold. In simple comprehension, this was … heaven. Impossible but already a reality to him. At least, it felt like reality. The chapel and the castle had disappeared, replaced by endless green fields. There were sheep on the other side of the fields, and a hill on his left. There were flowers everywhere. Colors of every kind, the combined scent of all the flowers had diffused to just about every point on the field Squall could tread on. This reminded him of the field behind the orphanage. Well, it looked just about the same. After a while, he realized it was the field behind the orphanage in which he grew up in. It only reminded him of one thing.
"Please don't be sad Squall." Rinoa explained. Her innocent voice ran though the flowers like a whistle, bringing peace and tranquillity to everything it touched. It signified eternal peace, eternal happiness, more importantly to Squall, eternal love.
" Rinoa. You can't leave me… I need you… where are you?" Squall cried in despair. Tears streamed down his face, no longer able to control his emotions, much less his words. There were a lot of things he could not understand. The departure of Rinoa was one of them, right at the top of his list.
"Hush now, dear. I am in a very happy and special place. You don't have to worry about me. Really." Rinoa smiled. She embraced him.
"Return to where you belong, Squall. You cannot live in this state forever. You have friends, friends of yours and friends of mine." She spoke gently, before looking away, beyond the fields.
"If you look for me here, you'll find me." Rinoa whispered, tears evidently about to fall.
"I promise" Rinoa turned to leave. Squall heard the silent echo above the flowers. Squall chose not to look.
Squall's eyebrows knitted into a brow, a line of perspiration obvious. His face showed fear. Fear of what? Fear of losing Rinoa, he thought. Rinoa had already been… lost. Squall sat up on his bed. He was back in his dormitory. He did not care how he got back here. Wherever he was, it was still going to be the same. With one hand, he drew the curtains on his window. The scenery that he would once consider beautiful was nothing more than a play of colors. All too soon, the waterfall and the soaring birds had lost their color to his life, and everything he saw was displayed in a dull and boring spectrum of black and white. Squall placed his left palm on his forehead dejectedly, before lying back down again.
"The Galbadians are going tol wage a full-fledged war against Balamb Garden tomorrow at thirteen hundred hours." Navigator Xu announced, reading off an intelligence report. She waited for the full attention of the other leaders before sitting down. The other Garden leaders fidgeted. An emergency meeting had been installed with all the Garden Leaders. The world elite mercenary force had been divided into the world in divisions called Garden. Every hot spot in the world had a Garden specially tailored to the conditions of the area. Now that a world super power formally known as the United Sates of America to many had declared an all out war on SeeD, the Garden Leaders had plenty to be nervous about.
The blue overhead hanging neon light filled the place with a blue glow. A single chair was at one end of a long marble table, while chairs on either side flanked it. Squall was seated right at the end.
"Esthar had already consented to assisting SeeD. They are volunteering their assets at our disposal." Nida Queen said.
"And the conditions for assistance?" Maritime Lance queried in an authoritative tone. Nida silently gripped his palm into a fist, irritated.
"None that are stated here, sir." Nida replied evenly. The Garden leaders fidgeted again.
"I doubt Squall would agree to accept help from Esthar… would he?" Drew Gains scratched his head. The other Garden leaders nodded their heads in approval. Squall remained silent.
"Squall?" Nida nudged his arm. Squall snapped out of his daze. "Huh?"
"Galbadia would be launching a war against SeeD tomorrow, and Esthar will-" Drew Gains began.
"Not my father," Squall dismissed the idea, waving his hand, as if shooing off dust.
"But sir," Drew protested.
"No buts, Drew. Without my father's help we still can beat the Galbadians. We are SeeD, not some girl scouts. Keep that in mind, Drew." Squall spoke sharply, surprisingly awake.
"Yes sir," Drew sat down, dejected. He understood their leader most of the time, but this was one of those times where he simply could not understand Squall. SeeD was facing a real crisis and Squall had simply refused to acknowledge help from his father, most probably in a bid to save his pride.
"So Squall, what's the plan of action?" Xu wanted to know. Squall begged silently for Rinoa to appear by his side, to give him confidence. But nothing happened. Squall heard the sound of a porcelain cup against a saucer. That spelled anxiety. Squall frowned for a while, before speaking.
"Maritime, leader of Galbadia Garden, gather four divisions and prepare your Garden for immediate activation. Flank the coast of Galbadia with immediate effect. Resist patrols, and step down only after the enemy has started to launch missiles. Drew, I hereby promote you to leader of Trivia Garden to replace Elder Young. Prepare a rescue force of a thousand SeeD agents, and a wing of star fighters. Xu, you shall fill Headmaster Cid's chain of command. Take control of Balamb Garden and rally a hundred thousand agents. Wallace, Seifer, Fuijin, Rajin and Thomas, lead the attack along with the main assault force. Go in ranks of hundreds. Proceed by leapfrog in intervals of five minutes. Triba Garden shall provide cover fire in order to retreat if the order comes. Remember, the order to retreat takes priority. Galbadia Garden shall attack their water and power supplies, including the Communications tower at the Dollet Islands. I will give further orders from my Annihilator. Dismissed."
The leaders looked around at each other, astounded.
"Yes, is anything the problem gentlemen?" Squall rapped. He tapped his fingers on the marble table. Drew made a noise, seemly more irritated than before. The leaders looked around at each other, before Drew stood up and left. Squall was once again silent.
The rest of the leaders walked out of the room. Squall relaxed and sunk deeper into the command chair, as Rinoa filled his mind.
Xu stood up, and glanced at Squall. Her leader was under stress. She had never seen her leader like this before, but it had been expected. She too, missed Rinoa. Not that she knew her personally, but it was more of a presence. Now is it felt as if the presence was no longer present. Xu gathered her briefing notes, and walked out of the room.