Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 8 or its characters. They are ALL copyrighted by Squaresoft. ALL the chapters in this fic follow the same disclaimer!!!! I just own my created characters.
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Chapter 4 – Confirmation
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He finally woke up from his slumber with a tired yawn, only to be greeted by a voice that greeted him every time he happened to start a new day.
"Have a nice sleep?"
"Just peachy, Bahamut." he replied back as he yawned once again, rubbing his eyes of any drowsiness still retained upon himself. "Uh, how long have I've been asleep for?"
"About a day and a half." the guardian force replied in his head.
He yawned again. "Well, that's good. That'll give me, what? Another three of four days to spend without any sleep."
"Yeah, seems that way."
The man rolled his eyes as the first rays of sunlight started to creak through the blinds that covered the window. As if it was a common practice, he stood up and opened the coverings, letting sunlight pour its radiance throughout the dorm room. He finally took a good look at the room, and saw that nothing changed. "Odd……" he whispered as he made his way to the bathroom.
"Now that's what I need – a nice, long hot shower. Can't remember the last time I had that."
"Exactly four years, one month and twenty-five days ago." Bahamut casually replied.
Sighing in annoyance, the man removed his hackneyed and torn clothes as he turned on the shower. Surprisingly, it let out hot water almost immediately. 'Ok, so that's twice in a span of two minutes that something weird has happened.'
Not letting his thoughts ruin the moment, he finished his shower in peace, staying in there for thirty whole minutes. Unconsciously, he grabbed a towel that hung from the hanger as he dried himself off. It took him a minute to realize what just happened. "Now I'm scared."
He could hear Bahamut chuckling inside his mind, and as a result, he quickly shut him out of his thoughts immediately as he took a look around his room to find any traces of new clothes. Apparently, there were none. "Oh well."
Just then, the intercom beeped on:
"Will Commander Squall Leonhart report to my office immediately! I repeat, will Commander Squall Leonhart report to my office immediately! That is all."
Squall froze right in the middle of putting on his clothes. "Please tell me he didn't just say what I think he just said?"
"I'm afraid so, master." the voice once again replied.
"Didn't I just shut you out of my thoughts. You know, I am human, and I need some privacy!" he shouted in the air as he finished putting his signature belts around his pants and grabbed his jacket.
"Ok, ok – sorry. But what are you going to do about the call?"
The commander pondered over this for some time. 'Well, for starters, that was certainly the sound of Headmaster Cid – so he must have something important to say. The question is, how does he know I'm here?'
Bahamut gave an annoyed sigh inside his master's mind. "Insolent fool! For one thing, you forgot about the security cameras around the place. And secondly, it is also safe to assume that since you just took a shower, that probably triggered some kind of response to the central security controls – wherever they are."
'Then why the HELL did you not tell me about this before?!' he asked back in a slightly angered tone.
It was Bahamut's turn to have the last word. "Well, I'm tired of you keeping your existence a secret. If I have to spend another week with you alone, I know I'll go insane. Your thoughts are so unorganized, it would make a psychiatrist go to its grave early. Plus, I'm doing you a favor. Trust me, have I ever been wrong before?"
Squall muttered something under his breath that luckily, Bahamut did not hear. Swiftly putting on his fur-lined jacket, and sheathing his weapon, Squall slowly creaked open the door and peeked out. "Good, no sign of anyone." he breathed out in a sigh of relief.
"So, are you going?"
"Have I ever broken the rules before?" the commander replied with a grin as he navigated his way towards the elevator as stealthily as he could.
-----*****-----
There was no sound, whatsoever. Every single person in the entire garden remained silent as minutes passed since the message was relayed upon the school. All eyes in the cafeteria remained on Rinoa, as a few murmurs started to spring forth. Voices so low, that only a person that stood inches away from it could be the only one who heard what was being said.
Then the silence broke. Everyone watched Rinoa suddenly jump out of her chair and literally, ran as fast as lightning out of the cafeteria. There were no doubts in anyone's mind as to where she was headed.
"Aunty Selphy……where did mommy go?" Kari asked suddenly. "And how come everybody got so quiet?" Still receiving no answer, the small child pulled on Selphie's skirt, trying to attract her attention, and finally, looked at her face.
She was crying. In joy or sadness, Kari didn't know, or cared for that matter.
Kari became a bit startled, then regained a look of determination. "I will solve this myssssteerry!" Unknown to every single person in the area, the little angel sneaked away from everybody and ran into the direction where Rinoa had just ran off to just moments before.
-----*****-----
She was running – to where – she had no clue. Her body all of a sudden reacted, as if a huge explosion within her occurred. It took her brain a little while longer to actually figure out what was happening, and her heart had trouble accepting the truth. 'He's dead. He's not here. I must have heard wrong.' she kept on retelling herself in her mind. However, to her heart's desire, her conscious kept telling her otherwise.
Finally, she found herself in the main hall of the garden, where the map was kept. Suddenly, a beeping sound was heard, and instantaneously, she whipped her head towards the source of the sound – the elevator. Running up the stairs, she saw a figure enter it, and could have sworn she saw a rather familiar looking weapon hooked onto his waist, but couldn't clearly define what it actually was. However, the doors closed on her all too quickly for her taste, as her view of the man disappeared.
"Curse those new doors!" she whispered fiercely under her breath. Only a few months ago, there had been a slight accident with the transparent elevator doors. A student was throwing a ball around, and before they knew it, the ball came in contact with the glass doors. Cid then replaced the glass ones with opaque, solid metal doors, not wanting another glass massacre happening again.
Rinoa ran up to the elevator and pushed the button frantically, hoping to stop the elevator before it reached its destination – which she guessed must have been the third floor. However, the transporter never arrived.
"DAMN!" she cried out in despair as she collapsed to the ground, right in front of the elevator. 'I am NOT going to leave this spot. I have to find out the truth.'
-----*****-----
The Storm had taken off nearly an hour ago, and there was already tension building between the three men, namely Zell and Seifer. Irvine noticed both of them glancing looks at one another frequently, as if they still couldn't trust the other. And whenever their eyes did meet, both with just give an obscene gesture, and look away once again.
Irvine sighed in annoyance at the two. "Jeez, can't you idiots get along just for one minute?" he muttered under his breath, and unfortunately for him, both of them heard.
"Shutup!" both Seifer and Zell yelled in unison, turning their heads quickly away from one another at the same time.
"Look! Let me get ONE thing straight! I do NOT want to be here. I've been forced against my will, so don't think for one god forsaken minute that I will even start to enjoy your company." Seifer stated out defiantly, before leaving the cockpit off to whom knew where.
"YEA! Well, let me tell you that I absolutely DETEST your fuckin' presence!" Zell insulted back, hoping he would get the last word in. If Seifer did indeed hear it, he made no sign to the remark as he left.
Zell slumped back into his chair, crossing his arms. "God……why the hell does he have to be so annoying and arrogant."
Irvine merely rolled his eyes as he let the Storm drive on autopilot. Looking out the window, he noticed their destination in the horizon. "Shumi Village………."
-----*****-----
"Squall……don't leave me. Squall……don't leave me. Please, come back to me." Rinoa's voice pronounced out with emotionless feeling.
"Rinoa……please get up." Selphie begged as she tried to drag her friend off of her knees and onto her feet. "Please……I beg of you. You're starting to scare me with all this."
Quistis shook her head sadly as she strenuously separated Selphie from Rinoa, and took her into a corner. "Look. She's gone insane. Hearing his name has surely triggered something in her mind."
Selphie looked at Rinoa worryingly. "I know Quisty. I still have trouble believing what's just happened in the last ten minutes. Who would have thought he's been alive all this time? But still, why is she just sitting there. It looks like she is in some kind of weird trance or something. Its actually very scary."
Quistis looked on with Selphie at their fallen friend. "Well, there is only one cure for her disease now, and supposedly, he's up there with Headmaster Cid, right at this very moment."
The brunette nodded casually, agreeing with her friend. "Still, if he was alive, why the hell did he not show himself to us first! And to Rinoa – doesn't she deserve to know! After all the suffering and pain she had to go through, and now its all coming back." Selphie began to get angrier by the minute. "That freakin' idiot! When I see him, I am definitely going to give him a piece of my mind!"
Quistis shrugged. "He must have his reasons……and if he knows what's good for him – they better be damn good reasons too, or else he'll have me to deal with also."
Selphie smiled devilishly at the ideas popping in her head when something just hit her. "Uh Quisty, where's Kari?"
The instructor froze. "I….I…I thought she was with you?"
Both girls looked at each other before turning their stares towards Rinoa. 'If she gets to know about this, it would be all over for her emotionally.' both thought at the same time.
"You stay here Selph and I'll go look for her. She still must be in the cafeteria."
-----*****-----
He jumped out of the third story window and used Float to drastically slow down his fall towards the ground. Landing on the earth with a thud, he readjusted his weapon that was hanging from his waist as he made his way back to the main entrance of the garden. The meeting with the headmaster had gone totally differently than he thought it would.
"No offense master, but was that necessary?" the dragon guardian force asked.
Squall smirked. "Hey, he had an open window, it was just asking me to go ahead and jump out. Plus, I haven't done that in a long time. It's pretty invigorating if you ask me."
"Whatever……"
"Oooo, I thought you hated whenever I said that word?" Squall asked smugly.
"You know, I could kill you any second. Just one move, and you would be dead."
"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before. And I'm totally frightened." the commander added sarcastically. "Your empty threats don't scare me."
Oddly enough, Bahamut chose to stay quiet after that. "Finally……" Squall muttered. "Some peace and quiet………….now I can concentrate of what Headmaster Cid said."
"Yeah – with what he said, it all points to our suspicions. Anyway, are you going to follow through with his advice?"
Before Squall had the chance to reply, he heard bushes rustling near the entrance of the garden. Hesitating for only a fraction of a second, he dove to hide behind a huge tree, peaking out to see what exactly the cause of the rustling. What he saw what the last thing he was expecting.
He was totally dumbstruck. "A child………?" 'And here I thought it was a T-Rexasaur monster or something.' Quickly shrugging of his shock, he remained hidden a bit longer, curious to know why a girl, no more than three years old to his judgement, would be doing at a military school like Balamb Garden.
Squall watched with a hint of curiosity, as the girl seemed to be walking around, further and further away from the safe haven of the garden. It was without any doubt that monsters would be lurking around, for food most likely. For some odd reason, he felt a protective force was pulling him towards this small child, as if he should be doing this.
Once again shaking his head to snap out of his reverie, Squall cautiously followed her, always hiding himself in the shadows, or behind trees and bushes. It was until they had almost reached the Fire Cavern that the girl stopped walking. She started to look around, and seconds later, broke down crying. Sympathizing with the girl instantly, Squall began walking towards her, when a huge monster literally sprouted out from nowhere.
The girl's eyes widened immensely as she backed away from the monster as quickly as she could, that is, until she backed up into a wall. The monster gave a huge, deafening roar, to which the girl cowered in fear as she began to cry greatly. "Mommy……somebody…………………daddy………help me…" the little girl whispered through sobs as the monster lunged towards his snack.
Before Kari knew what happened, the monster that was attacking her suddenly dropped dead a few feet from her. Its jaw was left open as its lifeless eyes were staring directly at the little child. Before any rational thoughts could go through her mind, she screamed loudly as the crying inevitably began once again.
The snap of a twig grabbed her attention as the two-year-old prodigy child looked around for the source of the sound. It was then, she gasped.
A man, with bushy brown hair and a scar that looked liked the one Seifer had, appeared out of the bushes nearby. Kari's crying instantly stopped as she stared at the strange man. His black jeans were very dirty and his boots had a lot of mud. His jacket looked brownish in color and had a white fur on the top. However, as he came closer, the little child could not pry herself away from his stare – a stare she found very familiar, as if looking in a mirror.
"Are you lost little girl?" he asked.
Not finding the strength to speak, Kari could only nod as she stared up to his guy in awe.
"Do you want me to take you home."
At this, Kari nodded once again. Tears once again threatened to spill out as she ran up to the stranger and hugged his leg as hard as she could, muffling her sound of sobbing into him.
Smiling warmly, the man picked up the small child into his arms. Kari adjusted herself comfortably in the stranger's arms as she nestled her heard safely against this person's chest. Despite the fact she had no clue who he was, the feeling of complete security engulfed her when in his arms.
Squall looked down at the little child in his arms in amazement as she quickly drifted off to sleep. He had only seen this calm, angelic, look of serenity that this child had only once before in his entire life. 'Maybe……' "No way, can't be."
Briskly shaking the possibility out of his head, the commander started to trudge back to the safe walls of the garden. However, before walking away, he turned his stare to the dead monster that was lying on the ground. Not that he was totally worried or anything, but the one fact about this monster still lingered in his head. 'I've never seen this creature on Earth before, but I know I've seen it somewhere……….but where'
The fallen creature was red in coloring. From what Squall could make of the dead carcass, it resembled a cross between a snake and grizzly bear. "Strange." he murmured out before turning his back to it once again, heading towards the garden.
Unbeknownst to Squall however – once he had traveled a safe distance away from the monster – another figure approached the dead carcass, and with and evil grin, he let out a brief, dull flash of light, and within the same second, both the figure and the dead carcass had disappeared.
-----*****-----
It was well into the night when Squall had finally reached the garden. Hesitantly, he entered the military academy from the front gate. "If I haven't been seen yet, than surely I'm going to be seen now."
Surprisingly enough, there was no one in sight, and Squall finally let out a sigh of relief when the gate guard was not even present at his usual spot. "Hyne must be on my side at this moment." silently thanking the gods.
Walking through the gate, Squall felt Kari stir in his arms, signaling she would wake up any minute. The last thing he wanted was a crying child to deal with. If anything would attract attention, it would be that. Looking forward, he was relieved when he saw two girls near the elevator. A third girl, dressed in red as far as he could tell, then came running to join them as well.
Not waiting any longer, the lone wolf quietly nudged the girl in his arms awake. When she finally did regain consciousness, she was about to open her mouth, when Squall hastily put his hand it. Shaking his head and putting a finger to his own lips, he signaled the girl to stay quiet.
The only response he got back was a confused look upon her countenance. Smiling inwardly, he once again looked in awe upon the girl when an idea popped into his head.
Quickly digging into his pockets, he finally came upon a sole piece of black ribbon, triggering a locked away memory to the surface:
A girl in blue simply smiled. "This ribbon – my mother gave it to me. And I'm just giving it to you for good luck, and I want it back. So you better not go dying off, or else!" she commanded mockingly, all the while in tears.
Squall smiled sadly at the memory. 'Well, to her, I suppose I'm dead, so I guess it'll be ok if I give it to someone who reminds me of her. I'm sure she would want me to.' Confirming the thought in his mind, he bent down and took the girls let arm and tied the symbolic black ribbon around it. "Keep it safe." he told her gently. Not being able to resist the urge, Squall kissed the girl on her forehead like a father would with his child.
Standing up, he pointed his finger towards the three girls near the elevator, and with that, walked away from the child – leaving her totally confused to everything that just had happened.
-----*****-----
"Quistis, did you find her?" Selphie asked in a very worried tone.
"Damnit, no! I looked everywhere!"
"Well, Rinoa now knows she's missing. She looked as if she going to kill me. You should have seen her Quisty. Her mind is gone." the brunette added, biting her fingernails.
The instructor looked sympathetically at Rinoa. 'Hyne, she's already lost Squall. Please, if you have any mercy, let Kari show up!'
As if on cue, both Selphie and Quistis heard the beautiful voice of a small child singing a song, or at least attempting to. Both girls looked totally relieved as they shed tears of happiness.
Rinoa's head perked up as she turned one hundred and eight degrees around, facing her daughter. Crying loudly, she ran up to her and picked her up, raining kisses all over her face and head.
"Mommmmmmmy, you could stop now. You're starting to hurt me." Kari struggled to say as Rinoa kept her possessive grip upon her child.
Rinoa, on the other hand, was getting all worked up. "Kari baby, where on Earth did you go. You don't know how much I was……………" She stopped her sentence midway as her eyes landed on something she thought she would have never seen again.
Both Quistis and Selphie had a puzzled looked upon their faces, wondering what was wrong with Rinoa now.
Almost reluctantly, Rinoa's hand approached the ribbon tied around her daughter's arm, and finally made contact. Instantly, she knew. "Kari, where did you get this?" she asked in the lowest of voices, almost breathing the entire question out.
Scared by her mother's tone of voice, the little child answered quickly. "This man with brown hair and a scar like stupid Seifer, gave it to me. He said to 'Keep it safe,' whatever that means.
Rinoa literally, stood frozen.
Author's Notes: I am very sorry for the late update of this story. I had AP tests to study for and all. But all of that is in the past now, and here is Chapter 4 of Reality and Illusion. Once again, for all you people that are anxiously awaiting the Rinoa/Squall meeting, I am sorry - it was not planned to be in this chapter. But rest assured, it will be in the next. I just had to have Squall meet his child first, although he doesn't know it at the moment.
I got a few feedbacks on the fact that some readers were confused on how Cid knew Squall was at the garden. I cleared all of that up this chapter, so I apologize for the confusion - and yes, it was supposed to be like that.
Once again, I truly thank all of you for reading and reviewing my story. It means SO much to me. I hope your enjoying it.
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