Author's Notes: I know this might be a little confusing right now. But I tend to like jumping right into the action and solving the puzzle as I go. This isn't linked to the whole destruction of the ring thing. That will be mentioned later on. And Elves aren't the only species from the series that I'm putting in here. It'll become clearer as I go, especially as Squall learns. He doesn't even know much.

Time's Scars

Chapter Two: Unpleasant Circumstances

Rinoa sat in Squall's room, arms folded. She was waiting for him to come in. Even though she thought he was on the job, she knew he stopped in his room frequently throughout the day.

Her patience paid off, as Squall returned from his downtown visit. He was startled at her presence.

"What are you doing here?"

She got up and walked closer to him. "I want to talk to you."

He shook his head, "Not now, I'm busy."

She blocked his path as he went towards his bedroom area. "I don't care. Talk to me."

"Rinoa, just stop it, okay?"

"What is your problem? You always talk to me! What is going on? What did I do? What are you hiding from me? Squall, please. This isn't okay."

"I have to go somewhere, okay?" He insisted

"So work is more important to you than I am?"

He sighed in frustration. "No. But I have to get this done now. I don't have choices."

She shook her head, "You always have to get something done! You never have time to spend with me. You even seem to go out of your way to avoid me sometimes now!"

"It isn't my fault! I can't help that this job is a busy one. I didn't get to make a decision in the matter."

"You know damn well that you could get out of it."

He folded his arms. "You don't get it, do you? I've been here forever. I can't just leave my post. It'd be a betrayal."

"It isn't like you'd be leaving Garden! Don't you even care? You don't. What about me? What if I was possessed? You obviously wouldn't go out of your way to help me, because you might betray Garden."

"That's a different case, Rinoa!"

"How? How is that different?"

He paused for a minute, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, I don't want to argue like this, okay? This won't take long. I'll be back and we can talk."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

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The long train ride to Galbadia was relaxing to most people, but Squall found it almost unbearable. Too much was going through his mind, and he couldn't distract himself.

I sure friggin' stepped in it this time. What am I going to tell her?

Stop, just stop. I have to get my head in the game. Caraway's mansion is well guarded, I have to know what I'm doing. The agency depends on it.

The agency was all he had to rely on. Formed by a group of renegade Elves, they tracked down and recruited all the survivors. Squall had been surprised at how many Elves got away from the massacres.

The plan was to rise up once they had the means to do so. Rise up against the humans to regain their freedom. Luckily, they had plenty of support from the Hobbits, who'd also felt the firm hand of human rule upon them. Even some Dwarves were in on the battle, wanting to help out. Elves and Dwarves were natural enemies, but they were uniting because of the cruel treatment against them.

But why were the humans doing this? After the first sorceress war, everything seemed to change. All the Elf villages were destroyed, and the lives of Hobbits and Dwarves were put under strict confinement. They weren't allowed to leave their villages, which were heavily guarded by humans. Even their production of goods was snuffed out. They were forced to use only items made by the humans. They weren't even allowed to practice their cultural habits. It wasn't fair to anyone. Without the Elves, the Dwarves and Hobbits had little hope of escaping the rule. They weren't strong enough. Maybe that was why the Elves were massacred. They were too powerful.

The train finally arrived in Deling City, much to Squall's relief. He disembarked gladly, stretching his arms before leaving the platform. He had a mission to do.

It would be easy for him to get into the mansion, especially because of experience. Squall had done these sorts of things many times before.

Squall slipped into the sewers from the archway in the center of the city. He carefully maneuvered through the narrow passageways until he at last arrived to the ladder that would bring him into the home.

Lucky for him, the secret passageway wasn't loud as it opened. He quietly stepped into the home. Of course, nobody was inside. Caraway was out working as he always did. Squall knew he'd have plenty of time to go through the place. But that didn't matter. He just wanted it to get finished quickly. The sooner he was out, the better.

He snuck through the mansion, following the blueprints he'd memorized. Any and all files he found in the marked areas were taken. Most of the time, there wasn't much. But even a little evidence was too much.

His last stop was in the part of the mansion where Caraway stored his computer. Moving quickly, Squall dismantled the laptop and carefully removed the part he was looking for, the hard drive. He replaced it with a blank, and put the machine back together, making certain that he left no evidence of his presence. He quickly scanned through the computer, making sure that there was no information that could help Caraway locate the Elves. He searched the rest of the area, snatching up a few files that looked suspicious. After he'd made sure he'd gotten everything, he quietly went back towards the secret passageway.

But when he got into the living room, he froze. Someone was coming.

It was Caraway.

Squall quickly climbed the wall and lodged himself between the beams in the ceiling. He just had to pray that Caraway wouldn't look up.

He got lucky. The general moved quickly through the room and exited. Squall had no idea why he was in the house, but he knew he should take advantage of the opportunity to escape.

He dropped down and placed the crystal glass cup into its position, causing the passageway to open again. He slipped out, and hurried down the ladder back into the sewers, knocking it over when he got down so that nobody else could follow.

He thought he was home free, until he heard Caraway's voice yell, "Guards! We've had an intruder! Search everything, especially the sewer passageway. Bring this scumbag to me, NOW!"

Fantastic

Squall ran down the passageways, desperately searching for a place to hide. He could hear the guards swarming into the sewers from both directions. Unfortunately, he was trapped.

He had no choice but to jump into the murky sewer water, where the guards would be unable to see him. Beforehand, he made sure to hide the bag containing the files behind one of the water wheels. He could hold his breath for a long time, but the water was disgusting.

He heard voices above, but he couldn't make out what was being said. He waited a few more minutes, and then slowly brought his head above the water. They were gone. He got out of the water, careful to be quiet, as the guards were still in the sewer.

He knew he'd leave footprints, and that wasn't good. To be safe, he carefully removed his wet boots and strapped them to his bag, which he'd used to take the files. That way, they wouldn't be able to identify him by footprints.

He made his way through the rest of the passageway, stopping every minute or two to make sure nobody was nearby. He reached the escape ladder, and slowly climbed it. He was about to get off the ladder and go out the door when he realized there were guards right outside. Some were waiting, others were about to enter.

Squall rushed up the ladder, to the second room with the window and the control panel. He only had one place to escape from. The window. It was small, but he knew he could make it.

He heard the guards enter below, and ran forward, smashing through the window. He landed the long fall easily, of course, as he was so light-footed. He knew the guards would be right on him, so he immediately started to run when he landed. He dove into a thick patch of bushes, and the guards ran right past him. But he knew he couldn't just go out like he was. They knew what he looked like from behind, and they obviously saw his clothing. He needed to change.

Lucky for him, he hadn't been wearing the same outfit as when he met Caraway. He was dressed in all black now, as he always was when sneaking through a house.

Squall watched from behind the bushes as a tourist walked by. He was carrying a suitcase, which Squall knew would have clothing in it. The man sat down to wait for a bus, and Squall silently pulled the suitcase into the thicket and opened it, finding a change of clothing that he knew would fit him. After stealing it, he quickly closed the suitcase and placed it right where it had been a minute earlier. The man had no idea.

Unfortunately, the clothing was way off his style. He hadn't really paid attention as he'd stolen it, because it was the only clothing in the bag. A pair of baggy khaki shorts and…a Tropical print T-shirt.

He reluctantly put on the clothes. Once he had them on, he put his wet clothing in a nearby garbage bin. He had a new outfit, but he looked like a fool. And, he smelled like the sewer water.

He put his soaked boots back on and walked to the train station. On the way, he got more than a few strange looks. A teenage boy, who reeked like the sewer and was walking around in horrible clothing with wet black boots that didn't even match the outfit.

This is NOT a good day.

He boarded the train, handing his ticket to a more than surprised conductor, who'd never seen a SeeD soldier looking like he did. Once on board, Squall relaxed into the soft sofa of the SeeD quarters. Before he knew it, he'd fallen asleep.

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Author's notes: Hee Hee, stinky Squall with a tropical print t-shirt! Fun times! The others are going to have a blast when he comes home. And what will Rinoa think?

Thanks for the reviews! It makes me want to write.