--Reunion--
Squall awakened at 4:30, and wearily got up. He got dressed in his SeeD uniform, yawned and stretched, and walked out of his room.
("I need coffee...")
Rinoa, hiding behind a pillar, held back laughter as she witnessed him walking. He was stiff, his hair was all over the place, and he just looked like a zombie. Rinoa began to imagine Ultimecia there in Squall's place, saying, "I must have koffee..."
She had entrusted herself with the task of sneaking onto the Ragnarok. If she couldn't even do this, what help would she be to Squall?
Rinoa hid behind a large bush as Squall walked noisily into the elevator. It went down to the basement. As it came back up, Rinoa hastily walked into it.
At the basement, Squall saw once again the ship Ragnarok. Memories flooded into his head, memories of the journey they made one year ago. All of the joyous and tragic moments, everything rushed into his head. He almost wished he could go on that journey again...
Squall entered the Ragnarok, not suspecting that Zell would be there, wide awake and hyperactive as ever.
"Yo Squall! We're about to go on another mission, just like old times, eh?"
To this Squall replied, "Look, I'm not in a good mood and it's early. If you're gonna do anything, get me coffee."
Rinoa was backed up behind one of NORG's pods as Quistis lowered the landing gear. Rinoa closely followed her, observing her tangled mess of hair.
Rinoa got into the ship just in time for the landing gear to go up. She went to nestle into a corner and bumped into... Selphie?
"Hey, Rinoa," Selphie whispered, "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to go on another mission with everyone," Rinoa lied.
"Yeah, me too!"
Selphie felt the ship beginning to move. It went through a runway that had been secretly set up going through Balamb's mountains. A junior classman jogging out of curfew outside of Garden noticed the Ragnarok, though...
"Okay," Selphie whispered again, "We're gonna jump out and yell 'Surprise!' in 3... 2... 1..."
Squall turned around as Rinoa and Selphie appeared out of nowhere yelling "Surprise!!!"
"What are you doing here..? It's way too early to be making noise..."
"Tee-hee, Squall, we just thought that you might need some company!"
Selphie heard a common reply from Squall. "Whatever."
The trip to Esthar was fairly uneventful, and the group even stopped at the Fisherman's Horizon to get coffee for Squall. As they touched down on the wilderness of Esthar far away from the Sorceress Memorial, everyone got out and stretched their legs, but Selphie stumbled upon something. She ran screaming to the group, "It's a Malboro!"
It was just barely in sight, but everyone could smell its putrid breath.
Squall was the first to make a move. "Run! We'll waste our energy fighting it!"
The slow Malboro gave up soon, and the group reached Tears' Point.
The fun wasn't over yet, it seemed. A bullet whizzed inches above Squall's head!
"Dammit! Drop down!"
A familiar voice called out to them. "Hey, it's not a monster. It's just Irvine."
Selphie screeched with joy. "It's my Irvy-poo!"
Squall was slightly relieved, yet still angry. "You could've killed me!"
"I thought you'd trust my aim by now. I'm hurt..." Irvine said with a fake sob. "Anyway... Howdy Sephie!"
Selphie gleefully ran to Irvine. "Irvine! I missed you, you know... Why'd you go back to Galbadia Garden?"
Irvine replied, "Wish I knew. It's pretty terrible there without you."
Squall sighed.
("This is making me sick.")
That night, Irvine came up with a plan.
"Hey, I'll just go to Biggs's tent and say there are intruders sighted, but I'll direct them the wrong way. Got it?"
Selphie greeted it joyfully. "I knew you'd come up with a great plan!"
It was night, and Squall was laying next to a burnt down campfire, red embers glowing.
("Why did Rinoa and Selphie come with us? Is it like Zell said as I entered the ship, 'Just like old times'? Was it to go on a mission together like we had before?")
Irvine interrupted Squall's thoughts. "Hey," he said. "The Sorceress Memorial's about 2 miles away from here. I'll get going now, and you can follow in about a half an hour."
Squall nodded sleepily, and Irvine went off on his own.
Squall set his watch's alarm to go off in 30 minutes, and laid back down.
Meanwhile, Irvine, in his usual cowboy wear, his hat tipped jauntily, was venturing swiftly across the Esthar wilderness.
He froze when he heard a stern yell. "Are you friend or foe?"
A Galbadian soldier raised his gun. "Speak or die!"
"Woah, woah, I'm a Galbadian SeeD on patrol," Irvine replied.
"Then what are you doing so close to the Sorceress Memorial?"
To that Irvine replied, "I've spotted intruders!"
"We'll take care of that. You return to your post!"
Irvine ran off, whispering to himself, "Oh, shit," as the soldiers went off in the direction he came from.
Irvine ran as fast as he could back to Squall's group around a campfire.
"Galbadian soldiers are coming this way!"
Tell me how you feel about the story. If you have any suggestions, just include them in a review!