The reasons
Quistis put the phone down, not only had Squall been missing for two days there had been no phone calls demanding ransom, they effectively had nowhere to look. There had been a number of suspicions as to why Squall had been taken and none of them came up with any other solution than someone wanted money fast.
She had to admit the workload she had been left had thrown her a bit at first. She had gradually sorted it all out leading her to believe that a system for doing paperwork was all the Commander needed to finish it before the deadlines. She sat down at the chair behind the mercifully clear desk in the office. She really couldn't do with much work now.
She had received the call a day before. According to Rinoa she had seen him last when he had prevented an attacker from injuring her or as Quistis privately believed, kidnapping her for ransom. Another thing Quistis couldn't believe was that Squall had gone out to find him afterwards, it was stupid behaviour Quistis could associate with Zell and his high loyalty but not Squall.
But Squall had indeed left the hotel, Rinoa was blaming herself, saying that she had pushed him away when she was upset about the attack and he had gone to find the attacker to set her fears at ease.
Quistis couldn't believe Rinoa, at first she was unable to get any coherent words out of Rinoa but when she did they were laced with double feelings- guilt and worry being the most evident but underneath there was a kind of pride that her boyfriend would do that for her, it had been a good thing Rinoa had not been in the same room as Quistis otherwise she might have had to shake some sense into Rinoa about the seriousness of what was happening- it wasn't a case of finding out how much Squall loved Rinoa.
But the conference would be beginning again soon, Garden had would dispatch Quistis to attend it, she now being the highest authority in Garden and the commander missing. The politicians were annoyed about the peace talks being put on hold especially when they weren't allowed to say what happened to cause the delay. Mostly they wondered what was so special about Squall for him to be captured.
Quistis sighed, she walked into the lift and pressed the ground floor button, wondering how all this mess would be sorted out, they had not long defeated Ultimecia and they were experiencing trouble again, but as a big sister she was worried. She wondered if she could contact Esthar to tell Ellone, but the situation was probably not as bad as it seemed and it wouldn't require Ellone getting worried.
Quistis felt bad about considering the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed- Squall was actually missing, he had never just gone off and left without telling anyone- maybe he had a lapse of sanity and tried to find justice and come across trouble. But the fact remained, there was no reason for anyone kidnapping Squall- especially now. If they wanted to end the peace talks because they didn't want Galbadia and Esthar to be allies they wouldn't achieve that by capturing the commander of SeeD because there would be plenty of people to vouch for Esthar's sincerity. She was proof of that.
The lift reached the floor and she left the confined lift- she would never tell anyone but she hated being in the lift after it had nearly crashed when Squall had been sent to the basement not long ago to make Garden mobile, she feared the same happening to herself while she was in it but it was the only way down from the office and she had to live with it.
She was so occupied thinking that she didn't see Irvine until she walked into him, he turned around and looked down at her- being much taller than she was. "Hey Quisty what's the rush?"
"Nothing- I was thinking that's all."
"Well watch out- we don't need another Squall." He smiled but the thought didn't cheer Quistis up and she carried on, heading to the car park her shoes squeaking on the highly polished floor, Irvine sped his pace to match hers- and didn't slip as Quistis had done the previous week to her embarrassment, sometimes life wasn't fair. Her best attempts to get rid of him were failing.
"What's the matter with you?" He stood in front of her and blocked her path- moving in front of her as she tried to get around him.
"Stop that." She would have folded her arms if she hadn't been holding an armload of books and files in her arms- she was still the bossy sister. "I need to leave soon."
"I want to know what's up with you are you worried about your new job?" Quistis shook her head.
"I'm just worried Irvine- I'm the big sister- this is my role- Squall isn't here and I want to get there to find out as soon as possible what's going on. I can't get anything out of Rinoa."
"Yeah well I think I should tell you…" Irvine stated as Quistis drew near to the car park, stopping dead in her tacks when she saw Selphie and Zell waiting at the vehicle she was supposed to be driving to Galbadia. She looked around at Irvine who was right behind her.
"We're coming too."
"No you aren't this isn't your mission."
"Yeah but Squall's our friend too and I really think you could do with us being around. Politicians aren't easy people to talk to." Quistis laughed, the idea of Irvine being able to talk to a politician calmly where Quistis couldn't just hadn't occurred to her before and seemed unlikely now.
"What's so funny?" Irvine looked confused. Quistis smiled- something she hadn't done in ages what with all the work she'd had.
"Nothing- lets go." She stopped him as he walked up the left hand side of the vehicle. "No, I drive." Irvine made a gesture of disappointment and headed around to the back as Selphie had already climbed into the passenger seat at the front.
A few minutes later they were on their way to Deling city.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rinoa waited at the hotel, the room was decorated according to traditional fashion in Galbadia before any sorceress wars had taken place, and somehow the styles had not died out over the centuries. There was a window that looked over into the square, she could see the archway from here, and the presidential residence over there and amid the eternal lights which were always lit- the clock where they had hidden in on their mission to assassinate the sorceress at that time- Edea.
How hard would it have been to fight their matron if they could remember her? Irvine had and his memories had been most vivid, the rest of the orphanage gang couldn't remember her as their mother figure and so it must have been easier to fight her when the time came. But she had fought that woman without regret except for hoping she wouldn't be left behind when it all came to an end.
It hadn't come to an end- she had inherited the powers and she couldn't see why- there had been other people there and none of them had been given the curse. The powers that would make people hate her before getting to know her if she told them- what did it mean anyway- she had thought long and hard for an answer and none came. She felt like herself for a good and normal but when situations arose she felt different, not just isolated from normal people although that was the biggest part of it but she also felt more powerful, in battles she felt assured and able to cope and help herself. When had she been that independent before- never and it was a feeling she liked- no more demands from her father that she stayed in when she wanted to go out she lived in Garden now.
That was also a welcome amendment to the usual routine- she could travel and see the world it was like a dream that she didn't want to wake up from, the Sorceress powers were a mixed blessing- she could be made to feel different and separate to society but then she had gained so much independence form her father and her family. Including all the relations- the distant and the not so distant- who visited every birthday and talked for hours about how much she had grown and how quickly children would grow up and then about absent cousins of Rinoa- how well they were doing. The cousins were invariably going to university and doing degrees so Caraway would sit and patiently listen and assume the role of supportive parent- how he always encouraged Rinoa to do well and never forced her into doing anything she didn't want to. That made her feel sick.
This year- for her eighteenth birthday she had been in Garden and danced with Squall in the ballroom she had persuaded him to sneak into- he had been extremely reluctant to do so- breaking curfew to him was unthinkable but she had spent ages trying to persuade him and finally dedication to her task had succeeded- somehow the ballroom was special to them- or to Rinoa at least. It had been the place where they had first met and she had taught him to dance and she felt an attachment to the place- even when the lights weren't on and the place was undecorated it had been special- nobody had been there to spoil the moment and Squall couldn't be embarrassed when there was nobody to keep a reputation for.
They had danced for ages and then she heard something that changed the level of their relationship- as if jumping into space hadn't been enough or carrying her all the way to Esthar along the unused rail tracks- it was even bigger than that- he had told her he loved her.
Just thinking about it made her feel happy and warm her cheeks flushed and she looked around as though there were somebody in the hotel room with her- she was young and little experience in relationships- if she had ever had any at all. Whatever she had had felt for Seifer he never seemed to reciprocate the same feelings for her.
Rinoa twisted her hair around her hair thinking about the summer she had spent with Seifer- it had been the summer he had taken a break form all the exams of Garden and promised her when he became a SeeD he would come back and take her out of Deling city and she would never have to see her father again. That had made her so happy too- but he never made the grade into SeeD, she had concealed it well but it had been difficult to hide her sorrow that he hadn't made it when Squall arrived as one of the SeeDs sent to assist with the forest owls. That summer with Seifer had been the one when she finally could take no more of her father and left Deling city to join the forest owls to meet her friends whom she had promised to liberate Timber with.
Timber she didn't really care about- what it stood for was why she wanted to liberate the country- the ultimate rebellion against her father who was General of the Galbadian army- the highly decorated General, respected and had a lot of contacts could not control his own daughter. Yes she had been proud of that.
That was two years ago now- her relationship with Squall wasn't all she could have wished for but it was wonderful mostly and he fulfilled the promise Seifer had made without realising it, he had taken her away from Deling city and she was now living in Garden near her boyfriend and happy for the most part.
She glanced across at the door- half expecting Squall to walk in and ask what the reason for all the search parties who had been sent out was. She had followed him after he left- trying to see if she could see where he was going- a small part of her believed that of all people he could find her attacker- she wouldn't forget for a long time the terrible feeling of fear and helplessness as she fought desperately to free herself from his grip- her newness to the powers meant it took her a while to consider using her them. Squall had been angry about the attack- she had practically felt the anger radiating off him and she had wondered if she could sense any emotions radiating off him when she attempted to follow him.
She had lived in Deling city for almost all of her life. How could she not have known where to go first? Maybe it was her lack of knowledge of the way Squall's mind worked- she had only realised that when she spent half an hour looking in the most widely known bars- in all of them the drunks leered at her and she had left amid disgusting comments aimed at her- but she had never seen Squall in any of them. Somehow in contradiction of all the thoughts surrounding the issue it was a comfort to know he was not in any of them.
At first she had assumed he was annoyed at her and had gone somewhere to avoid her to get drunk and forget everything he worried about- maybe that was his way of getting away from his work which for the briefest second worried her but as soon as she realised he had been gone for two days she had phoned Quistis and sobbed into the phone word Quistis couldn't understand. She calmed down a bit- all the pent up emotions of the two days of waiting released and she finally gave a calmer more accurate account about Squall's disappearance.
All Rinoa had achieved from that call was that Quistis would be attending the conference in Squall's place- it was as though they didn't care about Squall's disappearance and were merely concerned in getting the conference organised. This was probably true considering the political troubles caused by postponing the event already.
She looked out of the window- people were making their way to Deling city to hear the results of the talks- live broadcasts were still rare and unreliable so people wanted to make their way to the city where the talks were taking place to hear whether the treaty had been signed and what exactly were the conditions involved? That was why there was a traffic jam building up; nobody could watch the conference and it had taken a good deal of persuasion for everyone to agree that they should present the results to the public immediately after signing.
A knock on her door prompted her to get off the bed she was sitting on- she looked through the spyglass in her door and saw the distorted face of Quistis Trepe waiting impatiently in front of the door to her room. Sighing- for what she couldn't guess tell she stood up and unlocked the door- she hadn't even realised it was locked in the first place and wondered if it was a nervous habit she had picked up since being attacked- she opened the door and Quistis Trepe swept into the room.
She was holding a mountain of reports and papers and she put them down on the bed- nearly dropping them, and rubbing her arms which were aching from holding so many books at once for so long.
"I have my own room- sorry about this," Quistis explained hastily as though Rinoa was giving her dark looks. Rinoa looked surprised.
"Its okay- I just wondered what you were doing here first of all- is everything alright?" Quistis shook her head.
"I just got back from the conference now."
"The conference? But you haven't been in Deling five minutes."
"I arrived and I had to attend the talks straight away- they don't want to keep postponing the conference in case anyone decides to back out." Quistis reached into a folder and looked at some of the notes she had made during the discussion- Rinoa noticed Squall had never made any- he came back empty handed every time.
"Anyway Rinoa- the president of Esthar arrived not long before me and he wanted to know about Squall- I couldn't tell him much because we don't know much ourselves but he wants to talk to you." Rinoa frowned, everyone who was closest to Squall knew about the relationship between Squall and Laguna now- right from that day a few months ago when Squall had casually slipped into the conversation he was having with his friends that they were related- and that he didn't really want to visit Esthar when they were planning to go and see Ellone. Rinoa was eager to meet Ellone who had sent Squall into her head when she was drifting in space after being possessed by Ultimecia. But she hadn't yet and she was still waiting for the opportunity.
The news about Squall and Laguna had surprised them all, after he had explained he would answer no more questions- Rinoa secretly felt he couldn't answer anyway and he headed to the training centre- letting nobody follow him, even her.
Rinoa wondered what had happened when Laguna had told Squall- she could ask herself the questions that Squall couldn't- bearing in mind some aspects of the matter were probably private and she shouldn't mention them- but she wanted to know what Squall's mother had been like- what she looked like- all things she was curious about, anything that might give her some insight into the character of Squall Leonhart.
But maybe he could help her. "Quistis?" She asked, Quistis looked up." Where is he- where can I talk to him?" Quistis stopped paying attention to Rinoa for a second and pulled a pass out of her pocket. "Show this to the guards and go to the room number on it- Laguna gave it to me to give to you for this. He'll be staying in the presidential residence." Rinoa took it out of Quistis' hand and nodded.
"Um… when you leave, can you lock it behind you?" She pulled a key out of a purse she had carried around with her down town. Quistis nodded and Rinoa shut the door behind her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laguna was standing at the window when Rinoa arrived doing what she had done earlier that evening, looking out onto the square filled with traffic, nobody was taking the buses because it was quicker to walk and they were losing business. He smiled wistfully at his old home. He had had a lot of homes- Deling city, Winhil, and then Esthar. He had always liked change whereas Raine had always hated it, well so he gathered from the conversations he'd had with her when she was alive.
Rinoa came in and said nervously, "Mr Loire?" He turned around surprised by the expression- 'Mr'? He never felt comfortable with the name. "Nah- just call me Laguna, it'll be okay." He glanced at Kiros and Ward who were wearing smirks on their faces- making Rinoa feel a little foolish but it was okay, the atmosphere was less tense now. She could feel some of her nervousness disappearing and her curiosity return.
Kiros and Ward left the room; they were still wearing their formal Esthar clothes from the peace talks. Rinoa glanced at Laguna from time to time to search for any resemblance between him and Squall, mostly there was none but sometimes when he turned his head and wore a slightly more serious expression there was one, in the slight smile that made her wonder whether she had seen Squall smile properly or not. They hadn't been dating long, not long enough to change all the years' worth of training to hide his emotions she guessed he had taken very seriously.
"Did you want to know about what happened to Squall?" She asked him, "Because I don't really know…" he looked disappointed but he took a step toward her. Better to get to the point rather than drag it out, at least then they might be able to do something to help Squall.
"Tell me what happened up 'till the time he vanished. Is there anything that could help us know where to look?"
"I'm sorry Laguna I can't think- I was attacked in an alley when we were coming back to the hotel from the conference," Laguna's eyes suddenly focused on her and knowing now as she did her mother wrote her song about Laguna all those years ago she suddenly understood some of what her mother had written about them. "And- I locked myself in my room and then I looked out the window and I saw him heading into the centre of town,"
"Where?" Laguna cut her off, "What direction?" Rinoa shook her head.
"Its no use trying to find him, we've searched and he could have gone anywhere. I followed the same direction myself and I lost him, there were so many places to go to."
"Yeah- I guess there's nothing we can do." It looked as though someone had already told him this already but he had refused to believe it. Rinoa felt sympathy for him, he was worried like she was but he seemed to feel he had no right to be.
"Who would you say he looks like?" She said- her thoughts finally being voiced. He looked at her surprised for a second then he smiled, remembering something that obviously made him happy. His mood changed so quickly Rinoa was surprised.
"His mother," he said- he said that with affection. "Her name was Raine- you ever hear anything about her?" Rinoa shook her head, well technically she had from Squall but he had called her Raine and at that time he didn't know she was his mother. It didn't really count, and then they had been searching for Ellone. Rinoa wanted to ask more questions but the door flew open suddenly, Kiros and ward were standing in the doorway.
"Laguna," Kiros began, "Ellone's gone." Laguna stood still for a moment and then looked as though he was about to have a fit.
"Gone? What d'you mean gone! Where is she?" He ran past Rinoa up to his friends and Rinoa felt more and more like she was intruding.
"We've searched everywhere- there were signs of a struggle in her room, we can't find her." Laguna went pale. It was a nightmare come true, both of his children had vanished at once. But what had happened to Ellone was really making the situation more frightening for him.
"We have to find her- if I ever catch whoever did this-" he banged a fist on the nearby wall in frustration.
Rinoa felt it was time to leave, nobody noticed her leaving except Kiros who looked at her to acknowledge her departure and she left the room which was getting noisy as Laguna kept talking and yelling and worrying and complaining about security. Now was a good time to leave.
She set off; back to the hotel, growing more worried herself about everything, Squall was missing and now Ellone, she had to tell Quistis what had happened, she sped up, and then finally broke into a run to reach her destination quicker.