Disclaimer: The standard disclaimers apply. I'm poor, I can't afford even a brand new pair of shoes - please don't sue me!
A Train of Snowflakes and Charms
Where were you? I waited for so long...
Light, fluffy snowflakes fell from the skies as people gathered together, huddling to keep warm. Finally the train came into view. Children got excited and hopped up and down, some squinting to get a good view of the windows to see if someone they knew was visible. The train passed by until it got to the end, finally coming to a hault. The doors slid open.
People flooded out of the wide doors and into the open arms of their families. Grandparents came running out happily with presents in hand for their children, little boys running up to their fathers.
"Daddy!!" a little girl giggled happily. She ran in the direction of a man who picked her up and grinned happily. He carried her back to her mother dragging a bag behind me. He often went on trips and was always greeted at the train station by his wife and 3-year old daughter. "How's my little girl?" he would ask her. She would reply excitedly, "Good!!! and continue asking, "What'd you get me daddy?" He would laugh, and they would arrive with her mother right then. He'd put the little girl down and kiss his wife, asking her how things were while he was gone.
The little girl would wait for only a minute, before losing her patience and tugging on her father's pants. "Daddy?" She would start up. He would look down and smile gently, and then reach into his pocket as he bent down and hand her a small box that contained her presents. Most of the time it would contain candy or cookies that came in pretty designs. On a particular day though, it contained something special.
Her mouth opened wide, forming an "o" shape. "Daddy!!" she said excitedly. "Mommy!! Look what daddy got me!!" Her mother bent down to her daughter and husband's level.
"What did he get you honey?" she asked. The little girl handed her a box containing a chain bracelet with a single charm on it - angel wings.
"Now everytime I come back, I'll have charm just for you, okay angel?" her father told her. She beamed up at him giggling. "Yah! Okay daddy!"
They drove off, the little girl awaiting the next time her father would arrive from the big train.
The next year came by, and it was winter all over again. She was almost 4 years old now. Her father hadn't traveled again until the end of the year, so she had yet to recieve a new charm for her bracelet. Today he came back though, and was sure to have a new charm for her.
"Mommy! Let's go!!" she yelled to her mother as they were in the house. In the car, she continued on and on about how excited she was that her father was finally coming home - with her new charm too!
They slowed down at a stop light and picked up speed again as they began to pass it. Half way through the intersection, an unexpected happened. A car was wavering along the other road, driving at a great speed - no one could stop him. He was drunk.
As the mother and daughter drove through happily to go meet their loved one, it came speeding down. Having no control of himself, he didn't slow down. He didn't see the car as it drove through, and he felt nothing as the cars collided.
A scream errupted from the car, crying following soon after wards. The driver of the drunken car was fine. "What's with this car?!" he grumbled to himself. Completely oblivious to his surroundings, he got out of the car and looked at it from there. "Why'd it stop moving?"
People yelled and screamed in every direction. "What's going on?!? What's with the hold up?!" "Did you see that?!" "There's been an accident! Someone call the police!" "Oh Hyne, there's a child in there!!" "You idiot drunk driver!!"
The drunkard only screamed back at the man who called him an idiot, calling him a bastard. Inside the other car, the driver was unconcious.
"Mommy? Mommy! Mommy!!" the little girl sobbed. "Mommy! Please wake up mommy! Please!! Pretty please! We have to go see daddy!! Mommy!"
The ambulance and police quickly arrived. Police grabbed the drunkard and pushed him into the car. The firemen began to cut vigorously into the car, resuing the woman and child as soon as possible. The child was handed to a caretaker as she cried and sobbed. "My mommy!! Where are you taking my mommy?" she kept asking. She also kept repeating, "Bring my mommy back! We need to go pick up my daddy! Put me down!!"
An onlooker recognized the child and ran as fast as possible down to the train station, hearing the child's cries.
He walked out of the trainstation with a grin on his face, expecting his daughter to run up to him at any moment. But he saw no sign of his daughter, or his wife for that matter. He wandered around, dragging his bag with him. Where are they...? he began to wonder. Then, he saw one of his men come running down the stairs, screaming his name.
"General Caraway! General Caraway!!" he cried. He came to a stop in front of him, and took a deep breath. "Sir... there's been an accident-"
"Ah... so that's why they're late!" the general cut in. Now he understood. Or so he thought.
"No sir... that's not exactly why." the man paused before continuing. "Sir... Julia and your daughter was invovled in the accident.
The general froze. His eyes widened in fear. His Julia? His Rinoa? No! Never! He shook his head, refuse to believe it. But then again... how?
His mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. "Sir?" the man asked him. "Sir, are you going to be okay?"
All he could do was move his mouth. Nothing would come out. "Sir, I'll take you to the hospital," the man volunteered. The general nodded and followed him to his car, but still half dazed.
"I believe you're General Caraway, sir?" the doctor asked. He sat with Rinoa in his lap, who had bandages on in various places. It was nearly midnight by the time the doctor came by and delivered the news. He nodded his head and moved Rinoa off his lap, careful not to wake her. Then, he walked over to the doctor.
"How is she doctor?" he asked quietly with a worried face. He spoke quietly as to not wake up his daughter. Unfortunately, because they could not move far, the little girl stirred in her sleep. She didn't make a sound though, and only listened to the conversation with her father and the doctor.
The doctor paused before answering, his face grim. "Sir... I'm afraid she didn't make it."
He froze. He couldn't say anything. His eyes were wide and his mouth opened slightly. How could this be? Julia! His Julia! His baby daughter without a mother now... what was he going to do?
"I'm terribly sorry, sir," the doctor continued. "She was injured severely. Although her head did not hit the steering wheel, the acceleration of both cars caused both head and neck injury. The other car also hit your wife's side of the car at a great velocity. She was injured greatly by this, with not only outer wounds but also internal bleeding. She lost much blood on just the drive here. We tried all we could General, but now there is nothign we can do. Her heart has stopped beating for too long."
The general nodded. "Thank you doctor," he said softly. "Thank you for trying."
The doctor nodded and walked back to the counter to discuss this with the nurses. General Caraway sighed and sat down with his head in his hands. It was his little girl that took him out of his thoughts.
"Daddy?" she called. He looked over to the chair next to him where his dark haired daughter sat with tears in her eyes. "Is mommy coming back?" she asked through her tears.
He scooped her up in his arms and sat her on his lap, holding her tightly as tears ran down his cheeks as well.He sighed as he told her the tale. "Rinoa... my daughter... my baby girl. Your mother... she's in a better place now, and she's not coming back..."
The new charm that her father had gotten her was of a snowflake, to remember all those snowy days where they met up at the train station. Before giving it to her, he had thought long and hard about it, not sure if he really wanted to give it to her. It would be painful to give it to her, to remind of her that day. So he asked her.
He held it out to show her. "Here's your new charm honey," he said to her softly. She stared at it, not sure what to do. "Do you want it Rinoa?" he asked her. "I know you might not, since it might remind you of the day mommy went away, but... well, it's your choice, Rin."
She was quiet for a second. Then she shook her head. "No..." she said softly. "It reminds you of mommy... and it doesn't feel good inside. So I don't want it, daddy."
He smiled a bit at his daughter's answer. "Okay then..." he said softly. "I'll keep it for you, okay? You let me know when you want it."
She nodded and kept silent. I won't hurt daddy... I won't make him think of the day mommy went away. I won't... I won't! I won't hurt anyone anymore...
(Almost) 13 years later
So much for not hurting anyone... a young girl thought. In a while, no longer would she be a girl... but turning into a woman.
The sound of the train's wheels against the track could be head as it sped to reach the station soon. The station was filled with people, not caring of the cold. Snow was falling in giant fluff balls and looked like spilt sugar against the ground.
Four girls stood with no one walking in their direction. They were huddled together like others, three of them talking excitedly and the other a bit more shy. Excitedly they chattered of the four boys they were waiting for.
A roar of laughter came from them as the shy girl finished her story.
"You've got a pretty dense boyfriend there," the blonde said. Her sophisticated manner made her stand out above the other three, although in truth she was only a year older. The shy brunette only blushed harder at this.
A short brunette wearing bright yellow stood up for her though. "Hey! I think it's cute! Besides, you can't blame him for trying. Besides... it's Zell. What makes you think he has such great poise?"
Laughter from the girls again. "We've got great memories in the snow, huh?" the raven haired girl stated. But her face then dropped. Or maybe not... she thought, as memories of her mother came flooding back. Her father closed himself off as soon as she was able to take care of herself. He was always busy with work, work and more work. Still, she tried her hardest not to hurt anyone as she had promised herself as a child, and never did.
Until last year. She never really hurt anyone the year before, when the group had defeated the great sorccoress Ultimicia. But she always felt guilty for causing such trouble, and blamed herself for all that happened. Eventually that guilty feeling left her thinking she had hurt someone, when in truth she caused a miracle.
Squall opened up. Squall, the cold-hearted loner, became commander of the Garden and opened up. He smiled and laughed now, and fell head over heels for Rinoa Heartilly. Her inscessant chatter always brought happiness to his eyes and a slight twitch for a smile. Their first winter together involved snow...
"Squall! Catch!" Zell yelled from somewhere behind. He was walking with Rinoa, but looked back only to have a snowball hit his ear. He growled as he wiped the cold, packed snow off. Rinoa stood by him, laughing.
"Hey, think of it this way... he's true to his word," she told Squall. "Did he just tell you earlier last week that he'd get you back for not savin him any hotdogs?"
A small smile tugged at his lips. "Ah.. ah.. ah!" she shook her finger. "Is that a smile I see from the great, Commander of the Garden?"
The smile grew, but he still didn't speak. "Ahhh!! So it is!" she continued screaming. She wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed him a bit - it was her way of giving him a hug through all their thick winter coats.
He wrapped his arms around her as well, and picked her up. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Squall...?" she asked, her voice trembling with a slight bit of laughter, but also fear - no one ever knew how Squall though. Who knew what could run through his mind? "Honey, you can put me down now."
"No," was his simple answer. Her legs started jerking around and she twisted her body around in ever position possible to get out of his deathly grip.
"Squall... SQUALL!! Put me down!!" she insisted. But he still didn't put her down. He walked over to Zell and Irvine who were plotting something. Having no sight because she was being held, Rinoa had no idea what was going on. "Mmmkay guys, time to put me down and stop playing now..."
They just giggled, and she swore she heard Selphie and Quistis giggle along. Then, she was put down ask she asked - although not so gently.
"AHHHH!! Oh my gosh - COLD!!!" she screeched out. They had built a pile of snow specially made to dump her in.
The boys laughed as the girls helped Rinoa get all the snow off her clothing with giant smiles on their faces. Squall stood with a proud look on his face, an expression clearly saying "I got you!!!"
Rinoa stood up strait and looked right at him. "Squall!" she exclaimed, before picking up random handfuls of snow and thrusting them at him. He laughed and ran towards the Garden, the whole group following. They didn't get far before they were all in the snow fight and all went back to the Garden shivering from the cold.
She smiled at the memory, excited to have a repeat snowfight as soon as the boys arrived. Finally, the train pulled in and the doors slide open, people spilling out like water.
All four girls stood excited to see their boys back. One by one the boys arrived with bags in their hands. Irvine arrived first with a grand entrance. He got 10 feet in front of them and dropped his bags and opened his arms. Then he yelled "Selphie!" and let her run into his arms before swinging her around. The girls clapped and laughed at his silly antics, Selphie laughing the hardest.
Seifer arrived next, as casual and relaxed as can be. He greeted everyone with a nod before dropping his stuff in front of Quistis. "Miss me much?" he asked with a half smile on his face. She punched him in the gut, but gave him a hug anyway with a smile on her face that she wiped off when he was looking at her. "Not at all... in fact, it was quite nice without you for a while." She told him. They continued talking in their loving jokes that no one really quite understood.
Zell arrived next, considerably later than the other two with a hotdog in hand. He went over and kissed his girlfriend and said a quick "hi" to the others. Then in continued with his hotdog and talking to her.
They were ready to leave in a few minutes after Zell arrived, the other girls not noticing that the most important person had yet to arrive.
"Wait!" Rinoa called. "What about Squall? You didn't leave him in Dollet, did you?" she joked.
The boys looked at each other uneasily. "... did you?" she asked again, quietly and seriously.
Irvine spoke up first. "There was an accident, Rin. And... Squall - well, he saved everyone's lives. But he was injured. Badly."
"He's on life support now in a hospital in Esthar," Seifer continued. "We were ordered to come home first, and visit him later."
Tears filled her eyes as he said this and her head lowered to keep them from noticing. She was just about to suck it up and say that everything was fine when Zell spoke up.
"oh yeah..." he fished for something in his pocket. "Before we went to battle... he told me that if anything happened - like he knew this was going to happen - to give you this. I dunno what it is or whatever, but... yeah. Here..."
He handed over a box to Rinoa, who took it in her hands but didn't open it. She mumbled a quick "Thanks" but said nothing else. "Can I... be alone for a while?" she asked them, noticing their stares.
"Oh... yeah," Irvine pulled Quistis and Selphie with him as he lead the way to the parking lot. "We'll wait in the car, okay Rin?" She nodded and looked up into the snow.
When they all left, she opened the box.
A charm for my braclet... a snowflake.
It was the same day they had the snow ball fight. She was playing with his ring and asked about its history. He noticed her bracelet and asked why she hadn't added more charms on it.
"It was going to be a tradition for me and my dad..." she started. "But then my mother passed away."
"What does that have to do with it?" he asked.
"It was a snowy day... he had gotten me a snowflake charm. He said it would probably hurt to have it though, since it reminded him of Mother... so the tradition stopped. I never got my snowflake charm from that train ride... I've gotten over it now though."
She clutched the box tightly. "Why... why must you ruin my memories?" she asked to... apparently no one. "I hate you... I hate you both." Tears dripped down her face. "But I love you... I love you both with all my heart. But you've both left me." she gasped out,letting the tears fall freely. "With memories of the snowy days with this charm..."
There ya go! I'm not sure if I want to continue it or not, so... you guys decide. I have an idea for if I continue it, but I kind of like it as a one shot too. So... review review review! And tell me what you think of it, and if I should continue with more or if I should just leave it as a one-shot. =P