Chapter: 4 Signing Peace
" Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare"
- Unknown
" I think I'm going to fall asleep…" Selphie yawned. She slumped down in her seat and tilted her head back. With a quick flick of her wrist, she closed the curtain on the window and a shadow of darkness fell across her body. She smiled comfortably and crossed her arms.
I wish I could be as carefree as you Selphie…you have no idea how lucky you are
" We'll be arriving there in a minute Selphie. I'm sure you don't want the media to see a specially trained SeeD slumped in the chair of a limo. Might think you're a slacker?" Zell chirped. She grinned and poked her tongue out. " Oooh be quiet…chicken wuss"
A splurge of anger filed into Zell's head. He cocked his head to the side and looked quizzically at her. " What you say?" She giggled at him and yawned. " Oh nothing…"
Her innocent attitude got the better of him and he dismissed it with a wave of his hand.
" Tch…whatever" Squall raised his head and smiled. " Hey Zell…that's copyright"
The martial artist, having remembering his mistake, slouched slightly and sarcastically replied, " Sorry man…my bad"
" You know…Quistis told me about some of the people who are coming to this thing. They don't sound too trust worthy" Selphie said. Rinoa looked up and shrugged. " Well my…Caraway will be there too so…I suppose he's counted in that group right?"
" I dunno. I think its up to you Rinny"
Squall leaned over and whispered to Rinoa. " Still not game enough to call him father?" She shook her head and smiled. " Nor are you" He thought on it for a moment then grinned. " Good point"
The limo stopped and Selphie bolted to an upright position, checking her uniform over again for creases and dusting off invisible bits of fluff. She looked over at the others.
" Alright…are we aloud to say 'anything' to the media?" Squall shook his head.
" Nope, sorry Selphie, I'm hoping to get not one picture of you smiling in the paper. Its not good for my reputation" He replied sarcastically. She rolled her eyes and opened the door. Instantly she was blinded by camera's flashing at her in all directions. But of course, she enjoyed the attention. Squall got out next, followed by Rinoa then Zell. Slowly they made their way through the crowd, trying to keep a straight face. For Selphie, it was more difficult than capturing a Marlboro on the Island Closest to Heaven.
As they neared the entrance to the city hall, Rinoa looked back into the crowd of cameras and microphones. Something was there…she knew it.
Someone was watching her…There!She found them. A lone figure stood amongst the crowd. No one else noticed him…or her. She couldn't tell who it was; the person was completely covered in a black trench coat like cloak. The hood covered their face and from the darkness she wasn't able to see the face. She stood completely still. To her, the crowd drowned out and it was just her and the mysterious figure. Whoever it was, they looked down, shook their head and began to slowly walk away. She was about to take pursuit when someone grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her inside he building.
The large oak doors closed the crowd off and she spun around to face the accused with a scowl across her face.
" Caraway?" Her voice was barely audible. Her angry face was covered by a look of complete disbelief.
He smiled and looked down. " Still cant quite call me father yet?" She rolled her eyes and out her hands on her hips in, 'her way'. " I'm sorry ok, its just that I have a lot on my mind and its not like I've had you as a father for all that long, and I mean-" He laughed suddenly and put a finger to her lips. " You're talking too much again" She sighed and lowered her head. " What do want anyway?"
" I just wanted to say that…I know how much you love this place and you want to it to be independent but I think its just best that if it stays with-" It was her turn to silence him.
" We can talk about this when the debate thing starts, not here, not now. I have to go"
She blew a strand of hair from her face and walked briskly over to her comrades, who were talking in hushed voices. " Alright where to now?"
" We're going to the waiting room to prepare and then its straight into it" Squall replied.
Oh no…my speech! " When do I do my speech?" She asked. He shrugged. " I'm not sure, they didn't tell me much about the program of things"
She frowned and sat down on the cushion. Selphie sat next to her. The couch it seemed, had a plan to swallow her. Slowly the small brunette sunk down in the bouncy material and when she discovered her inconvenience tried to sit up.
But the couch had already succeeded in capturing her so she slouched forward and rolled her eyes. Casting a worried glance to Rinoa she laughed and called out to the group, figuring Zell could save her from the 'evil couch'.
Whilst Selphie was being rescued, Rinoa thought deeply about the figure she had seen earlier. She looked over at the other side of the room, at Squall. he was standing up speaking to one of the representatives from another group trying to 'free timber'. Perhaps a lot of new groups had formed, because she had never seen him before.
Selphie, now standing, yawned loudly and walked over to the door leading into the debating room. She smiled broadly and happily announced that they could go in now.
Rinoa was not too happy about this though. Fearing the worst she snuck up next to Squall. " Um…what does my speech have to be about?" He stopped and looked awkwardly at her. " About your experience in a resistance faction and your prior knowledge about Timber…Rin…do you even have a speech ready?"
" No" She blurted. Fearing this was not enough she bit her lip and sat down, ushering him over as the rest of the room piled inside. " Can you help me?" He nodded. They both started going through a few preparations.
..~**~..
" And I would also like to thank the representatives from Balamb Garden. We are honored to have these SeeD's in our presence" The hall clapped for a short while until he continued his line of thankyou's. Taking her eyes off her father at the front she turned to Squall, whispering. " What was my opening line again?" He smiled and tilted his head.
" Make some thankyou's then introduce yourself briefly" She nodded.
" And without further ado, I would like to gladly introduce Rinoa Heartily to the stand to begin our meeting" The hall was once again full of clapping as she slowly stood. Somehow, it moved in slow motion, going up to the podium. As her father walked back to his seat, he sent her an encouraging smile. She returned it and stood next to up straight, (she knew exactly how from her training in the caraway mansion). As the clapping silenced she glanced down at the hundreds of microphones all connected the podium.
" First of all I want to thank a few people for making this possible. I want to thank Cid Cramer, for allowing SeeD to come down here and help prepare this meeting. Secondly, I want to thank my comrades for coming down her to support me. And lastly I wish to thank everyone here in this room, whether or not you are here to insure Timber's independence, or to keep it the same. I owe you all greatly for showing up today" Once again the hall was filled with thunderous clapping and a few people whispered about how grateful they were her thankyous were so much shorter than caraway.
" As you all know, I am Rinoa Heartily. I'm currently living in Balamb Garden. A year ago I signed a contract with SeeD to help me liberate and free Timber from Galbadian rule. I still stand to do so. Timber is, in itself, a beautiful place. If you only knew how it looked before Galbadia took it over, you would understand"
From the front row, Caraway frowned slightly.
" The entire public has gone through hell, trying to be set free. They have undergone so much pain. As most of you would know from the recent Sorceress War. All we ask, is to have a little piece of freedom that you hear about everyday on the television, in the paper or just from a friend. If any city deserves it, Timber does. It is not a hard thing to ask for. Independence"
" I was once in a resistance faction myself. Fighting for what I believed in. Now that I look back on it… I see myself as being somewhat…naïve. Fighting in vain does not sway people into belief. As most people in their own faction may abject to me…it really is true. Politics has taken over our world. Only by speaking publicly can we hope for results. So to sum this up, I ask of you. What price is the public of Timber willing to pay for freedom? Well, maybe after today…you will all know"
Once again, like so many times before, they applauded. Some people even standing to add to the effect. Through out the whole uproar, Zell even got a chance to whistle.
The rest of the meeting was met on deaf ears for Rinoa, because she was too stunned with her performance to listen.
..~**~..
They all piled out of the room. Their heads buzzing. " I'm a bit lost…" Zell muttered.
" Did we win or not?" Selphie smiled and stopped him in his tracks. " We won! Zell weren't you even listening?" He smirked. " Sorry…I fell asleep"
Rinoa sat down, smiling at her friends. She had done it…freed timber! Selphie who was currently giggling was caught by a camera. Her face immediately full of shock.
She walked over to Rinoa. " Squally is gonna kill me!"
" Why?"
" I was smiling at a camera!" She laughed.
Authors Note: Thanks again for reading! It took me ages to write this chapter!
Thankyou's!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Mine won't be as long as Caraway's I promise!)
Angeles Erare: yes I think I agree with you! Thank you so much for the advice. And thanks for leaving a review. PrincessMercury: Wow! Thanks for your kind review. Heh, I'm glad to have someone on my side. Thankyou so much. I hope this chapter is good too.Drifting Moomba: Tee-hee! Yes I used your idea about the 'copyright' thing. Thanks for your help. Don't forget to review! (Or ill send my army of broccoli after you! Mwahaha!)