Chapter Six

After twenty-four hours of searching the city of Esther, there was still no sign of Storm.

"Where the hell could the little scab have run off to?" Zell grumbled as he, Squall, and Rinoa trudged back to the presidential building, tired, frustrated, and completely empty handed. They and several squads of Esther soldiers had searched the city from top to bottom and had all the main roads barricaded, but Storm appeared to have vanished into thin air.

Squall raked his hand through his bangs. "I was an idiot for bringing him here," he muttered, resisting the urge to punch his fist through the first window he saw. Now, because of him, Odine was dead, a mass murderer was on the loose, and innocent people were in danger. Most importantly, the president was in danger. Squall still refused to think of Laguna as his father, but he did make a damn good president, and the city would suffer terribly if he were to die.

"So, what do we do now?" Rinoa asked, pushing a strand of jet black hair behind her ears. She had been quiet all day, Squall realized, following his orders without comment, and he had been too wrapped up in the search to notice her quiet withdrawal. But now, he saw the disappointment in her eyes, heard the sadness and frustration in her voice even as she tried to keep up a cheerful façade. He wanted to tell her he was sorry, for the vacation, for Storm's accusations towards her, for dragging her into all of this, but they hadn't had any time alone to talk. Perhaps now, he could make the time.

"Rinoa," he began, hoping she could walk with him to his present room, "Will you-"

"Squall!" came Selphie's voice, and the petite girl in yellow came racing down the hallway towards him. "Squall, Headmaster Cid is on the Ragnorock line! He wants to speak with you about the current situation A.S.A.P!"

Squall swore.

"Right, I'll take care of that now," he sighed, wishing he could just dig a hole and crawl inside, away from Garden and Cid and the whole damned world. Rubbing the weariness from his eyes, he turned to find the other three watching him, waiting for orders.

"Find the other two," he stated, referring to Trepe and Kinneas. "Tell them we'll all meet in my quarters at 0-400. Tell them to get something to eat first. All of you, get some rest, get some food, and we'll converge in a couple hours." He returned the salute Zell and Selphie gave him. "Go."

Rinoa stayed behind as the other two scampered off, watching Squall quizzically with large brown eyes. "You gonna be okay?" she asked, frowning a bit in concern. "Do you want me to bring you something to eat in a little while?"

"I'm fine," Squall answered brusquely, already thinking of what he was going to have to report to Cid. Glancing up, he saw her still standing there and frowned. "Go locate Quistis and Irvine," he said, waving her off. "I'll be there when I can."

Rinoa huffed. "Don't strain yourself, your majesty," she said, and flounced away down the hall.

Great. Now Rinoa was mad at him on top of everything else.

Entering the hanger, he spotted "Rocky" at the far end of the massive room, a bright crimson monster amid the dull gray and white of the other ships. As he approached, the ship began to vibrate, emitting the distinctive, high- pitched hum it used when it was about to take off.

"What the hell?!"

Breaking into a run, Squall charged the ship, reaching the outer doors just as the engines came to life with an earsplitting whine. Immediately drawing Lionheart, Squall headed for the cockpit and burst into the room, ready to crack the skull of the moron who thought he could steal his ship.

Storm whirled around from the control panel, his blue eyes widening in shock. Squall was caught off guard as well, and for a moment, the two stared at each other, surprise mirrored on their faces, as the Ragnorock hummed and vibrated around them. Then Storm made a desperate, lunging dive for Hyperion on a front seat, and Squall charged forward to attack. Storm was quick, and Hyperion was closer, so he managed to grab his weapon and bring it up to meet Squall's furious downward slash.

The two gunblades met with a ringing clang and a flurry of sparks.

Snarling, Squall pushed Storm back and swiped viciously at his head, which the boy ducked and maneuvered desperately for room. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of space in the Ragnorock's narrow cockpit, and he quickly found himself backed against the control panel. Squall stood before him, a deadly calm to his demeanor, Lionheart throwing an eerie blue-green light off the cockpit walls.

"Put down your weapon, Storm," Squall ordered, the steel in his voice matching the look in his eyes. "Surrender now, or Hyne help me I will put a sword through your gut right now." Storm shook his head. "I didn't kill Odine, Leonhart," he said forcefully, refusing to drop his weapon. "I know you're convinced that I killed those scientists, but I swear, it wasn't me."

"Bullshit," Squall said immediately, bringing Lionheart to an attack position. "If it wasn't you, who was it?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Fine," Squall muttered, tired of the conversation, and swung at him again. Storm lunged forward to meet him, and the cockpit was filled with the sound of steel on steel.

Squall had to admit, as they danced around the tiny room, the boy was certainly knew what he was doing. Someone had trained him well. It wasn't hard to figure out who, or whose style he was using; he had seen it many times before.

But, if he knew the style, he also knew how to counter it. As Storm performed a familiar upwards slice to his face, he smacked it away, and stepped in with a kick to Storm's unprotected side. His boot connected squarely with the boy's ribs and sent him flying into the door, where he bounced off and crumbled to the ground, momentarily stunned.

"I didn't kill Odine," Storm said through gritted teeth, as Squall put the point of Lionheart to his neck. "Dammit, Leonhart, will you please listen to me. Why would I kill the inventor of the time travel machine, when by doing so I would have no way to get here in the future?"

That threw Squall momentarily. "What?"

Strom sighed. "If Odine was killed before he could invent the Ellone time travel device, his knowledge would die with him. Therefore, in the future- my present-we wouldn't have a time travel machine. Therefore, I wouldn't be here right now. Events happening in this time will affect the circumstances of the future."

"But, Odine IS dead, and you're still here," Squall pointed out, trying, with difficulty, to keep up with this story.

"That's because I've already taken his plans and sent them back to the future for safekeeping," Storm replied, looking rather smug. "We had a feeling someone was going to follow me here to stop me, and what better way than to make sure the time travel machine never got invented? But, Odine had the makings of the machine in his computer already. I simply copied them onto a disk and sent them back to my time. It was the first thing I did here, actually, before I even met you."

"So, you believe someone else from the future murdered Odine and tried to set fire to his lab, just to keep you from coming here and doing whatever it is you're supposed to do?"

"That's about the gist of it."

Squall put a hand to his forehead. This conversation was making his head hurt. "All right," he said slowly, lowering his blade. "I still don't trust you, but let's say your story is true. If you didn't kill Odine and those scientists today, who did?"

Storm hesitated.

"We can stand here all day, until you tell me," Squall offered quietly.

The boy let out his breath in a huff. "You did, Leonhart!"

"What?!"

"I said you wouldn't believe me. I didn't want to tell you until I was sure you would accept it." Storm raked his hands through his hair and glared at Squall. "Things are going to happen soon, Commander. Huge events that will shape the rest of history. You, the Sorceress, Garden, SeeD-you're all going to be caught up in it. I can't tell you everything now, because it might ruin everything I've come here to do. But, if you don't start trusting me, this world is going to spin down into a pit of destruction and evil so deep you'll never be able to claw your way out. AND YOU MIGHT BE THE VERY ONE TO CAUSE IT, LEONHART!"

Squall was taken aback by the boy's vehemence. Storm took a deep breath, walked across the room and picked up his sword. For a moment, he just studied his reflection in the length of the blade, as if trying to make a hard decision. Finally, he sighed and turned around.

"Have you ever heard of the Adel faction?" he asked softly.

Squall shook his head.

"It's a group of maniacs who are trying to bring back the days when Adel ruled Gaia," Storm said, still not looking at him. "When Adel fell from space, frozen and paralyzed as in her amber prison, they were the ones who freed her before you and the rest of your team arrived to rescue Rinoa."

"I thought it was Seifer," Squall interrupted. "He was the one who gave her Rinoa, trying to meld the two sorceresses together."

"And the Adel faction had no problems with that. They just thought it would make Adel stronger. It's a funny thing, because Rinoa was in fact the stronger sorceress, and would eventually have taken over Adel's mind if the meld had been completed."

It chilled Squall to think about Rinoa that way. "What are you trying to get at, Almasy?"

"The Adel faction is still alive and well," Storm continued, sheathing his blade and finally looking Squall in the eye. "At this moment, somewhere in Gaia, they are trying to resurrect the body of Sorceress Adel, to wreck her vengeance upon those who stood against her so long ago."

"That's impossible. We killed Adel when we saved Rinoa."

"Did you, Leonhart? Think back carefully. You never did see her body, did you?"

Squall hesitated. The truth was, he was so relieved when Rinoa was freed of the evil sorceress, he failed to notice if Adel was really dead. A cold lump settled in his stomach at the thought that Adel was still alive, and he had been the cause.

"Where are they?" he asked, his voice stony with determination. If Adel was still alive somewhere, he would find her and make sure she would never rise again. He would not make the same mistake twice.

But Storm shook his head. "No one knows. Not even me. They're too well hidden for anyone to find. All I know is, Adel is going to rise soon, and the only thing that has been on her mind for a long, long time, has been revenge. She'll come after SeeD, and Garden, and your sorceress, Leonhart. She'll come after Rinoa because Rinoa will be the only person alive who can match her powers."

The cold lump that had settled in Squall's stomach now spread to the rest of his body. He was about to grab Strom and go find Rinoa, just to make sure she was safe, when the windshield suddenly imploded. Glass showered everything, and both gunblade users covered their faces, hissing as razor shards cut their skin and sliced their clothes to rags.

"What the hell!" Squall's furious shout died on his lips, as he saw the person on the nose of the plane calmly step down into the room. The newcomer's hair was shorter, his face more lined and weathered, and his shoulders broader, but his eyes were the same stormy blue, and the scar sliced down the bridge of his nose prevented any doubt.

Squall Leonhart looked down at his younger self, and his lips curved in a grim smile. Blood caked a familiar glowing blade as he raised it and pointed it at the stunned Garden commander. "You're on the losing side, my friend," he said quietly, and leaped into the room.

* * * Blah, I hate not having a computer. Had to finish this up at the library. Sorry for the late post. Anyway, please read and review. Arigato. SilverKitsune