Dream
A faint voice in the background. Louder. Louder. A screaming voice in the background.
"Squall! Come on, wake up! We have our very first SeeD mission assigned to us. Come on, hurry!"
Squall's eyes opened as the sound of Selphie's voice came close to making his ears bleed. He turned to her and sat up in bed, "What? What time is it?"
"You heard me. Our first SeeD mission. We're going to Timber. Meet by the front gate for the briefing, and hurry, it's already 11 o' clock!" She turned and skipped out of the room.
He got out of bed and realized that he was still tired from the night before. 11? Feels like five… He sat back down but then got back out again at the thought of his SeeD mission. He checked his hair with his hands and rushed out of the door.
As he neared the front gate, he noticed Selphie saluting Headmaster Cid and a Garden Faculty Employee in a purple robe. He rushed next to her and formed a line.
Squall heard the Garden Faculty employee mumble under his breath, "…only one more minute…"
From behind them, they heard a droning sound that was coming ever-closer. Squall turned around and noticed that it was Zell speeding towards them on his hover-board.
"Made it! Sorry I'm late, everyone." He jumped off of his fast moving board, swung it under his shoulder, and got in line.
The Employee of Garden came up in front of Zell, "H-boards aren't permitted in Garden. Have you forgotten?"
"Sorry! But this is really cool," said Zell, "This might even come in handy during a SeeD mission."
"I'll be the judge of that." From behind the lined up SeeDs appeared another Garden Faculty employee, as if from thin air. The employee in front of Zell snatched the board from him and gave it to the other one, "Confiscate it."
"What?! But if I haven't used that board, I would have been late; I had good reason!"
"That is not our problem - all of you are members of SeeD, but you have to follow orders and obey rules nevertheless. You are to set an example for the students of Garden, and we are here to make sure you do."
Zell mumbled something under his breath and Headmaster Cid came forward, "Well, now; about your first mission – you are to go to Timber, on the West continent. There, you will be supporting a resistance faction known as the Timber Owls. Once you get there, a member of the faction will initiate a conversation with you. He will say, 'The forests of Timber sure have changed.' At this point you should say, 'But the owls are still around.' Do not forget that line."
"Um…Just the three of us?" Said Zell.
The Garden Employee next to Cid spoke up, "That is correct. We have agreed to do this job for very little money. Normally, we would never agree to such requests, bu-"
"Enough talk about that. Squall, you are hereunto designated the squad leader. Use your best judgment depending on the situation and you should get out fine. Zell and Selphie; you are Squall's support. You are to help him in carrying out the mission objectives, which will be provided by the Timber Owls. Good Luck."
* * *
As the car from Balamb Garden carried them towards the train station heading to Timber, Squall relaxed his eyes as he sat in one of the chairs. Zell and Selphie were talking about their very first mission, reviewing tactics, checking their weapons, the best possible way to help Squall, but at that moment, Squall couldn't care less. His eyes were closed and his thoughts were at rest.
The car came to an abrupt stop and the group was jerked forward. The door slid open and Squall, Zell, and Selphie came out.
It's funny, Squall thought, how much you can tell about someone just by how they walk. Selphie the messenger girl pounced out of her seat and did the same out of the door, a very active person that girl is. Zell, on the other hand, skipped out of the car, and he is usually very hyped up about something – either about how good of an opponent his shadow is or whether the hotdogs in the cafeteria will have good or bad ketchup today.
Squall thought about this some more and paced out of the car slowly, keeping to himself. Pairs of eyes were looking at him from more than one direction. There were at least two people on any random bench that looked at the approaching group. Behind them, the car backfired and drove off back to garden. They proceeded up the cracked old steps of the open train station, examining closely the people looking at them.
These people were homeless people, as Squall knew. They had no other safe-haven, so they slept and lived at this train station. The Balamb-Timber train station even came to be known by some as "Hobo Hill".
"Come on, Squall. Let's hurry; we don't wanna miss the train, do we?" Zell patted him on the back and picked up pace.
When they reached the top of the stairs, they saw the train standing at an old rusted station of brownish coloration. The train itself looked new and shiny relative to its surroundings. It seemed out of place. Next to the train, two workers were doing their routine inspection of the latches, windows and such. The group moved past them and came up to the cashier.
Squall asked for three tickets, and within seconds, three tickets were produced from the cashier's palm. Squall dropped off exact change, picked up the tickets, and moved on with his fellow SeeDs behind him.
As they came up to the entrance of the train, Squall flashed the tickets to the guard and he let them through. Inside, there was a small room resembling a corridor that was bare except for a small computer console and a door.
Selphie ran up to the door and began screaming, "Open! Open!! OPEN!!!"
Zell was thrown back and Squall came up to her.
"You know," Selphie continued, "that you have to wave your ticket in front of that," she pointed at the computer console, "so that we could get in, right?"
Squall nodded and walked up next to the computer console. There was a small camera facing him and arrows on all of its four sides pointing at it. Each one of the arrows read the same thing, "Wave Ticket Here." He did so and a small beeping sound was heard. The door gave way and Selphie turned to Squall.
With a sudden mood-swing, Selphie said, "Tee-hee. Thanks," and she ran inside.
Zell turned to Squall and pointed at the door Selphie just ran through, "She's a weird one…"
Squall nodded softly and walked through the door as well. When he was inside, Zell ran past him and into their cabin. From inside, Zell screamed "OHHHH YEAHHHH!!!"
As he proceeded past Selphie, Squall heard her whispering to herself, "I like trains…I like trains…I like trains…I like trains…I like trains…." He picked up pace.
Inside, Squall saw Zell bouncing up and down on a soft, rose-red couch. Next to the couch stood a bunker-bed that could fit three people. Zell spoke up, "This train is awesome, man. A 'Transcontinental Railroad', baby! It even runs through an underwater tunnel to get to Timber," with a large grin on his face, Zell continued, "pretty neat, huh?"
"Sure is…" Squall answered absent-mindedly.
"And this," he spread his arms wide, "this, my friend, is a SeeD private cabin. Check it out, they even have up-to-date magazines in here." Just when Squall thought Zell's grin was the largest it could be, it grew even larger.
"…I'm glad you're so excited."
"Seriously, though," he put on a mock look of seriousness, "this is pretty damn amazing! It pays to be a member of SeeD…" He chuckled a little more. Squall came up next to him and sat down around the oak-wood desk with the magazines on it. "Timber maniac comics", "Timber maniac comics", and…what's this? A normal magazine?! Nope, "Timber maniac comics"...
Zell ripped the magazine out of Squall's hands and began to speak, "Hey, Squall? Y'know anything about Timber?"
"…I couldn't care less."
"Come on, dude! Don't be like that, I wanna tell you what I know."
Before Squall could respond, Zell began.
"Allow me to explain briefly. Timber used to be a small country surrounded by luscious green forests, forests as far as the eye could see. Anywhere you look, there was a sea of green. Everyone could do as they please. Unfortunately, 18 years ago Galbadia invaded. And to this day, Timber is under strict Galbadian occupation and rule."
"…Anything else?"
"Yeah, just a little bit; some say that Timber will never be able to survive on its own if the Galbadians left. They say that it would crumble and rot away. But, others are optimistic. There are resistance factions big and small in Timber who are willing to take that chance."
"That's it?"
"Yep, my friend."
"Well, thank you, know-it-all-Zell."
"Anytime, my friend. Anytime."
Squall continued to fish through the magazines until a small beeping noise from the door was heard. It opened and Selphie walked in holding her hand to her forehead.
"Guys? I'm not…feeling well…"
Zell was first to speak, "Maybe you should get some sleep if you're tired…"
"Yeah, I'm really…sleepy…." She began pacing towards the bed, but before she could get there, she fell to her knees and then onto her stomach.
Zell jumped from his seat, "What the…?"
Squall jumped up to, only to see Zell suffering the same fate.
"Hey, Squall. Something's wrong…with me…too…." Before Squall could say anything, Zell also fell to the floor.
Then, a sharp pain erupted in his head. A shrieking pain, an everlasting pain. He was lowered to his knees, screaming. He put his hands up to his ears to block out the sound but it was still there, inside his head. He grasped his forehead, but it couldn't be helped. He passed out…
* * *
Squall awakened in the middle of the jungle. Luscious green forests surrounded him. He heard someone gasping for breath. He tried to turn around, but he couldn't. He was awake, but he wasn't in control of his own body. He was running down a dirt path, panting for breath. Behind him, he heard two more people panting for breath.
A dream?
From behind him, Squall heard a voice, "Uhh, Laguna? Are you sure we're heading the right way?"
What the…? Where am I? Who's Laguna?
The same voice again, "Oh boy, not again…"
Squall continued to run. He tried to gain control of his body, but he couldn't. All he felt is the loss of energy from the running. After a short while, fifteen or so minutes, he stopped to rest.
"Hey, Laguna! Aren't we here to fight a war? Against the so-called "Almighty Timber Army?"
Fighting the Timber Army? But only Galbadians ever fought the Timber Army. Why the hell am I dreaming about Galbadians?!
A second voice spoke, "Ward's right. Why are we out here messing around with these animals?"
At the sound of this, Squall's body turned around and shot a dog-like being as it rushed him from the boundary of the woods.
When done, Squall began to speak involuntarily, "Well, you see…it's just that…uhh…"
"Please, please, please don't tell me we're lost again," said voice number two.
"Fine. I won't. But that's not the point. We're heading back to Deling City anyway. Avanté!" The group picked up pace and continued to run.
When they got to a car, Squall's body, obviously called Laguna, spoke, "There's the transport. Get in, we're heading home!"
They got in and rested themselves on old cotton seats, obviously meant to be of upper-class, but too old for the part.
* * *
"Sirs? We're here." The car came to a stop in the middle of the street and the group exited.
Outside, Squall heard one of his group's people's voices, "Yo, driver! You can't just park in the middle of the street like that!" It was the guy named Ward.
Laguna spoke, "Chill, man. It's all good. Let's go get a drink."
The third voice spoke, "We're not just here for the booze, are we? I mean, we do have a war to fight after all, you know?"
"So we'll all get smashed…and then we'll charge," said Ward. Laguna turned around to see a wide grin spread out on an even wider body.
Ward was a tall and chubby fellow. He carried a large harpoon around and used it as a spear. Tall tales say that Ward used to be a sailor who hunted for big fish. He loved hunting for big fish; big fish like whales. One day, according to the tales, all of his crew went home sick from the flu. It was a bad time of year, winter, and most sailors take a brake during this time of year but since he was addicted to sailing, he went out by himself anyway. He and his boat were attacked by a whale of gigantic size. The harpoon saved his life, for Ward hit the whale into the skin under the right eye, causing a pierce in the brain, killing it. From that point on, he considered that harpoon lucky, carrying it into battle, and he never let go of it again.
"Ward, Kiros…you two seem to misunderstand me. All I want to do right now is have a friendly drink with my two best buds. Look, let's just head to the bar. There, we can discuss everything you want, alright?" As Squall, Laguna, looked at Kiros and Ward, whom were both dressed in blue Galbadian Uniforms, TM-178's (The blue, light, uniform), they nodded and began to walk. Ward tightened the bandana on his head before proceeding.
Kiros, the other person in the group, was a dark-skinned man. He wasn't as tall as the other two, but he was muscular in comparison to both. On his hands were two katanas, weapons that acted like scissors when swung. Basically, katanas are multiple blades, traditionally three, attached to a set of brass knuckles. When the holder, Kiros in this case, moved his arms, the blades swung freely, cutting into the enemy. He had long, black hair that was tied in braids hanging from the back of his head. He unhooked the katanas and followed Ward, who, in turn, was following Laguna.
* * *
The streets of Deling City were always lit up at night. The clubs are ablaze from the street-lights and lamps lining the roads. The automobiles of Deling City are all very bright colors, and they are ridden by virtually every resident.
"Here we are," said Laguna before proceeding into the exquisite Galbadian Hotel. The hotel housed one of the most expensive bars in the whole city. The service was incredible and the tables were always polished nicely, gleaming in the candlelight.
Laguna pushed the glass doors open and walked through, followed by his companions. Inside, they were greeted by a clerk waiting for customers, "Greetings, gentlemen. Your usual table is ready." He smiled and led them to their comfy little table in the corner. The group said thanks and sat down.
Is this a dream? What's happening to me? Where am I?
Laguna picked up the glass of water from his table that was set there by the waitress and stood up to perform a toast.
"At ease, men. We are going all out tonight, right boys? Have fun, get hammered, whatever you want. Just don't wimp out!"
Kiros and Ward nodded as the waitress came over, "Can I take your order?"
"Yes, please," said Laguna. "The usual. Two martinis and one mug of whiskey, please."
"Yeah, and keep 'em coming!" Yelled Ward. "So, Laguna. Julia should be making her appearance pretty soon. You going for it tonight?"
Behind Ward, Kiros nodded in approval, "Yeah, man. Go for it."
"Say what you want, boys. But…can't you see that she's working." Laguna was hesitant to speak to Julia, the hired piano-player at the bar. He had a crush on her for two years running, more time than he spent in the Galbadia Military. "She wouldn't want little ol' me to interrupt her, would she?"
"Don't go back on your word. You promised. Hey, here she comes; now go and wave to her."
In front of them, a beautiful young woman in her early twenties sat at the piano and began stretching her fingers. She wore an elegant red dress that ran down to her ankles. Her brunette hair partially covered the pearl necklace resting atop her neck. She put her fingers to the piano and began to play.
"Oh, give me a break…." Laguna got up and pretended to stretch. He looked at Kiros and Ward, gave a wry smile and turned back to Julia. He strolled up to the other side of the piano and looked back at his buddies. Ward gave the thumbs up sign while Kiros winked at him. He hesitated, but turned around and paced up to Julia. He waved to her and-
His leg cramped up! He quickly grabbed his leg and turned around, desperate to get back to a safe haven. Carrying his leg back to his chair, he sat down.
Obviously not the charming type, are we?
"Great work, Laguna!" Ward put on a large smile.
"Mission successful." Kiros did the same.
Ward continued to talk, "Wow, I didn't think that you would actually do it. Our popularity rating just jumped one point."
"Yeah, but you scored a negative three on the manliness scale." Kiros laughed and turned back to his drink.
"Say what you want, I don't care." Laguna gave a large sigh, "But Julia sure is pretty…"
He began daydreaming about the day that Julia and him are on a deserted island with no way off. They were the only people on the planet and the only way to preserve their species was to-
Is this guy serious?
Behind him, Laguna's posse gave a gasp of shock and Ward spoke, "Hey, Laguna. I think we're going to go now…"
"What's the rush? Stay a while."
"It's on us tonight." Kiros handed him a fifty and nodded, "Relax. You stay a while."
"Yeah, see ya later." Ward and Kiros ran to the exit.
He snapped out of his daydream and turned back to the piano. Julia wasn't there. She was walking towards his table!
"May I?" Julia's beautiful voice filled his ears and he stuttered.
"W-what?" Squall sensed Laguna's thoughts, Oh man, oh man! It's really her! What do I do? What do I say? Kiros? Ward? Help!!!
"S-s-sure, g-go a-ahead."
"Did I interrupt anything?"
"No. N-no, not a-at all."
"Are you okay now? You seemed bad up there."
"W-what…?"
"How's your leg?"
"L-l-leg? Oh, this p-piece of h-hardware. Yeah, it h-happens all the t-time when I g-get nervous." He gave a small chuckle and gave his glass of water a hasty sip.
"You were nervous?" She chuckled.
"Y-y-yeah. I'm still k-kinda…"
"You can relax. You don't have to get nervous around me."
"W-what? Oh, s-s-sorry…"
After a short moment of silence, Julia leaned closer to him, "Say," she began to whisper in his ear, "Would you like to go talk somewhere private? I have a room here and you're welcome to…."
"I-in your r-r-room?!" He gulped. This is a dream…this is a dream…this has to be a dream! No way in hell would she ever ask me to her room. But, man is she beautiful. Heck, who am I to argue with her decisions?
Eh? Sicko…
She continued to whisper, "Well, it's really hard to talk freely here; everyone's listening in." She leaned back and Laguna noticed all of the faces eyeing the awkward couple. He even heard voices behind his seat.
"If you'd like to, please come by. I've been meaning to talk to you." She noticed Laguna's hesitant face, "You don't want to?"
"Of course I do!" His stuttering stopped.
"Then I'll go and wait for you. Ask for me at the front desk, eh?"
"Sure thing."
Julia, the lady in red, walked off into the lobby.
* * *
"Reservations are 100 dollars in advance. 125 if made here. Want a room for the night?" The clerk spoke in a monotone voice without looking up from his magazine.
Yet another "Timber Maniacs" comic, I presume.
Dressed in a white dress-shirt and black pants with a red vest to complement that, the clerk looked like the stereotype image of what anyone would expect a clerk to look like.
"Hello, ah, can I please have the number of Julia's room?" Oh my god, I'm actually gonna do it!
"Ah, Mr. Laguna. She's waiting for you in room 12B. Here's the key…just in case." The clerk gave a smile while handing him the key, and he turned back to his comic.
"Thanks…"
He took the key and walked into the elevator beside the clerk. Going up.
He pressed the button and was launched upward. At the twelfth floor, the elevator came to a smooth stop and he proceeded out. He walked down the carpeted hall of the twelfth floor until he came to her door. 12B…this is it!
He knocked on it and stepped back. The doorknob wiggled around and the door opened.
"Laguna. Thank you for coming. Please, come in." Julia moved over so that he could walk inside and Laguna walked in.
Oh man, oh man, oh man! I always screw up by talking about myself too much…but that's not the case tonight. I'm all ears for Julia!
"No, thank you f-for inviting m-me…"
"Please," Julia waved towards a small table with two chairs next to it, "have a seat."
Laguna nodded his head and nervously paced to the chair. He sat down and looked at the floor.
What do I do? What do I say?
Julia walked to the other chair and sat down.
"You know, I-I'm a big fan of yours." Laguna was shivering.
"So that's why you come to hear me play so often."
"Y-you…saw me?"
"Yes. You were always smiling when you listened to me, right?"
Laguna gulped and Julia continued to talk.
"You have beautiful eyes, you know that?"
"I…I do?"
Julia nodded, "Though they look a bit scared right now. Don't worry. I'm not gonna pluck 'em and eat 'em. I just want to talk to you, gazing into those…beautiful eyes."
Laguna stared into her eyes and moved closer.
Julia turned away from his eyes, "W-would you l-like a drink?" Now she was the one stuttering, "w-wine perhaps?"
"Sure."
* * *
"Yeah, I don't like fighting too much, but you get to travel everywhere. It's the action that's cool. I like that. Plus, I have my two best buds Kiros and Ward to help me out. We have a good time. Hey, I have a good idea. We should all go drinking some time. That would be fun. And, uh…what was I saying? Oh yeah, so anyway; I wanna quit the army soon and go into journalism. I mean, sure I fight and all, but the pen is mightier than the sword. I really want to tell people about everything I've seen on my travels…"
Wow, he's already loosened up.
Laguna shifted his position on the floor as he leaned up against the foot of the bed.
"So, like, the other day, one of my articles made the reader's column. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, that was way cool…"
"I'm happy for you." Julia still sat at her chair with a cup of wine in her hand. She was looking at Laguna as he continued to talk about himself.
Yikes! I'm talking about myself too much again!
"Tell me some more about yourself, Julia. What do you want to do?"
"Well, I haven't really given it much thought but, if I really had to choose, I guess that I would want to sing…" She looked at her glass of wine and took a sip. "I don't want to only to play the piano. I want to sing."
"Oh. I would really love to hear it."
"Yes, but…I'm no good at writing lyrics. To tell the truth, I'm horrible at it…"
"Yeah, that must be tough."
"Yeah, it is. But I think I can come up with something, thanks to you."
"'Thanks to me?'" Laguna reddened.
"Yes…because of all the faces you've shown me. When you feel anger inside. When you're happy. When you're sad. All of those faces…inspire me to come up with something. I'm sure I can do it."
Exactly how many times did this Laguna guy go to the bar?
"Wow…I must be dreaming!"
Julia got off of the bed and sat down on the floor next to him, "But this isn't a dream…is it?"
They gazed in each other's eyes and their faces moved towards each other. Just when they were about to kiss, there was a knock on the door. Julia pulled her face away and Laguna jumped up.
"Who is it?"
Kiros yelled through the door, "Yo, Laguna! New orders! Meet at the presidential palace, on the double!"
Julia tugged at Laguna's sleeve, "Can we meet again?"
"Definitely. I wouldn't miss hearing you sing for the world!"
Julia smiled and Laguna opened the door, and walked through.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
(for all the ppl who didn't play FFVIII) WTF was that??!?! Who the hell is Laguna?! Who's Ward and Kiros?! What does it have to do with Squall?! Who was responsible for this whole mess?!
So many questions to be answered…in the next chapter. Keep reading.
Oi, so few reviews…. If you read up to this point, you could at least leave some sort of small comment or something saying how much you loved the story (O.o). Maybe some constructive criticism…
Ah, school's ending. I'm leaving Saturday, so I fear that I will not be able to continue writing this story for quite some time…. Even worse, I'm going to high school after summer, so my free time will be even more limited…If you're willing to wait and stick with my story for a little more than a little while, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm going to make the next chapter I write worth it. Bear with me for now, though. Thx muchly, ppl. R&R