Long Live the King
A/N: Glad to hear my battle scene wasn't as horrible as I thought. I still don't like it too much, but I'm happy with what I did with Quistis in the beginning. This chapter, as written in my little planning book, isn't going to be quite as exciting as the last. Aww...
Chapter 4: Questions Unanswered
It had only been a couple hours since the battle with Quezecotl and everyone was still exhausted. The orphan group and Rinoa were sitting in Cid's office now. Quistis was typing away at the computer with Rinoa hovering over her shoulder while Selphie slept in the far corner, Irvine sitting quietly beside her. Zell had been pacing a long ditch into the carpet for the last half hour and Squall was standing by the shattered windows, mind far from where he was now.
Some minutes later, Rinoa came up to his side, gently placing a wrapped hand on his shoulder. "Squall..?" She spoke softly, hoping to get his attention without startling him. He turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of her smiling face. "Are you alright?"
He nodded slightly and glanced down to watch Cid as he ordered SeeD's to try and repair the damage done to the front gate of their beautiful Garden. Rinoa watched him closely. She watched his expressions as he thought over what had happened below, how it could have happened, why it happened... She frowned and grabbed his hand as well as she could.
This act, of course, brought surprise to the young man and he instinctively tried to pull away, yet - for a woman with injured hands - she had a strong grip. He stopped at his first attempt at struggling and turned to face her.
Before he could get a word out, she began to pull him out of the office. "Talking. Me. You. Now." This force surprised him further and he allowed himself to be taken out by her; Quistis, Zell, and Irvine staring in wonder till they were gone and the doors were closed.
"What do you think that was about?" Quistis asked, breaking the silence. Zell shook his head and shrugged.
The young couple entered the elevator and Rinoa hit the button for the first floor. The machine started to move downward. She turned to Squall and crossed her arms over her stomach. "What's been on your mind?"
He looked to her, then to the elevator doors. "This ride wouldn't last long enough for me to tell you everything," he responded softly, leaning back against the side.
From all the time Rinoa had gotten to spend with Squall, she had figured out ways to get what she wanted out of him. To get her point across, she slammed her palm onto the Emergency Stop button of the elevator, effectively bringing the machine to a halt between the first and second floors.
"Now, I'll try this again..." She took a deep breath then smiled as she nursed at the hand she used to hit the Emergency Stop button. "What's been on your mind?"
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Selphie whimpered softly in her sleep and Irvine wrapped an arm gently around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. He sighed and glanced over to Quistis who was still going through the computer files. "Did you find anything on the Guardian Force's?"
The instructor shook her head sadly and continued going through. "They have reports on the Guardian Force's, giving information we already know. They cause slow memory loss, only appear to those who have them junctioned, give extra power, yadda, yadda..." She read off the screen and frowned.
"Check on them appearing for the ones who have them junctioned," Zell suddenly spoke up. He stopped pacing and was at Quistis' side, reading the screen carefully. Quistis clicked on the report and looked through it.
"Nothing. Its things we already know. It doesn't explain why they would fight back." Zell let out a frustrated sigh and hung his head low.
"I just don't get it..." he grumbled before going back to his pacing grounds.
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Squall had his third surprise in the last five minutes. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "You've been gone for two months-"
"My feelings never changed. You're the only one that I thought about. Every time I was in Deling, all I could think about was how you saved me, how scared I was when Sorceress Edea attacked you that night... Every single thing I saw reminded me of you. Squall... do you have any idea how much I wanted to leave it all and come back here just to see you again?" Rinoa could hear her own heart pounding in her head as she watched him for a response. She wasn't getting anything... "I was afraid that... you might have moved o-"
Squall wrapped his arms around her small figure and pulled her close, holding her to his body as tightly as he could without hurting her. "Why would you think something stupid like that?" He asked softly.
Rinoa gave a small gasp at the sudden move, but soon relaxed in the embrace. This was one of Squall's tender moments that she, and only she, was able to have. Suddenly, the elevator doors opened.
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Quistis shut the computer down and stood up, stretching her arms up before making her way around the desk and over to the doors. "We're not getting anything from the computers... Maybe Matron will know something."
Irvine nodded and carefully stood up. He gently lifted Selphie up, cradling her in his arms, and followed the instructor out. Zell frowned and jumped over the desk and into the chair. "There has to be something on here," he grumbled.
Quistis pressed the button for the elevator and turned to Irvine and the sleeping Selphie as she waited for it to come up. "Maybe you should drop her off in her dorm room before we ask Matron," she suggested, hand brushing away a loose strand of chestnut hair from Selphie's face.
Irvine smiled down at the instructor, then to the bundle of sunshine in his arms. "She really is adorable, huh?" Quistis smiled and nodded before turning to the elevator doors as a small chime sounded to announce the machine's arrival.
The doors opened, and Quistis simply blinked at the scene.
"Ah! Squall, Rinoa... I thought you guys went to the first floor..." Irvine grinned as the two in sight separated. Quistis smiled as she noticed their hands still intertwined.
"Where's Zell?" Rinoa asked as she made room for Quistis and Irvine, sleeping Selphie still in his arms.
Quistis motioned a hand to the office as the doors to the elevator closed. "He's still trying to find information on the Guardian Force's on the computer," she replied.
Squall glanced questioningly over to Irvine with Selphie. The cowboy laughed nervously then quickly cleared his throat. "Well, we're here!" He gave a big smile and left as soon as the doors gave him enough room to slip out with Selphie safe in his arms.
Quistis smiled and left as well, with Squall and Rinoa following behind her. "I'm planning on asking Matron if she knows anything about the Guardian Force's... Squall, you and Rinoa should ask around the Garden. Maybe ask other SeeD's if they saw anything unusual during the fight." She was acting like their instructor again.
Squall nodded and started walking off, his grip on Rinoa's hand loosening, and then releasing completely. The sorceress frowned slightly, but let it slide.
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Day turned to night, and they came back to the third floor with nothing more than they already knew. Rinoa had yet to return.
Selphie was wide awake this time around. "I got nothing..." She said sadly as they tried putting their information together.
The cowboy at her side put a hand on the top of her head and ruffled lightly at her hair. "It's alright." Then he turned to Headmaster Cid, who had joined them not too long ago. "Did you get anything from the clean-up crew?"
"No. They said they didn't find anything." Cid replied.
Squall frowned and turned to Zell. "Did you get anything?" The fighter shook his head and the room went quiet.
Quistis put a finger to her chin and glanced up momentarily. She seemed to be in deep thought before looking towards Squall. "Where did Rinoa run off to?"
He shrugged. "She said she was going to try the Library after we split apart from you."
And, as if on cue, Rinoa came running into the room. She stopped and bent over, one hand placed on her knee. Her free arm held something close to her chest, as if it were the key to the heart of the world.
"Rinoa! What happened?" Quistis was by her side, hand gently placed on her back. Selphie hopped to the sorceress' side and crouched down so she could look up to the woman's face.
"What's wrong, Rinoa? You look like you've been running for your life!"
Rinoa took a few deep breaths and stood up straight. What she held so dearly was a rather thick book, the pages rimmed with silver to make it shine. A certain familiar seriousness flashed through chocolate oculars as she looked around the room. This was a look the group had associated with Squall. It wasn't something they had been used to seeing on such a calm girl as Rinoa.
"The Guardian Force's," she managed out, taking another deep breath. Her gaze settled on Squall as she opened the book from where she had bookmarked a page. She turned the opened book to her comrades, exposing a picture of a six-legged horse and the armored man riding it. "They had a king."
A/N: Woo! That sent chills down my spine. How 'bout yours? :3 I love that last paragraph. It's my favorite part... And how'd we like the Squinoa, Shandy? :D I put it there, just for you! Anyhow... This chapter turned out better than I expected it to. The beginning, not so great, the ending, wonderful! :D Review, Review!