Long Live the King

A/N: We're almost done. Just a little bit more to go. :3 No, there will be no killing Odin's horse. I love Sleipner, thank-you-very-much, and I'd rather not kill him. x.x; But I can tell you now that you probably won't like the ending anymore. I'm gonna have a lot of people who hate me by the end of this. .; Heh, read on anyway.

Chapter 13: Can't Take Me Alive

It could have been early morning or late evening depending on who had a watch. The group slowly awakened from their dreams and nightmares, each feeling rejuvenated from the earlier battles.

Rinoa sat up tiredly, wiping the sleep from her eyes then stretching her arms up. Sleipner rolled up and onto its six hooves, helping Rinoa up as well. She smiled thankfully and skipped over to Squall, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

He draped his arms around her waist and glanced over the group, his cold gaze settling on Sleipner. "How do we get out of here?" The large horse looked to the sorceress in Squall's arms and stretched its neck out, nose brushing against her back.

Rinoa, do you wish to go to the outside world?

She turned to look at him and smiled, nodding quickly. "I want to go home."

Silence reined as Sleipner seemed to think about this. He then gave a nod and stamped a hoof into the ground. Dark mists swirled around the seven of them and a hole of colors twisted in front of them. Sleipner nodded towards the hole and started forward, disappearing through it.

Squall took hold of Rinoa's hand and went through, taking her with him. The others soon followed behind, none wanting to be home more than the other.

Suddenly, everything was bright. Selphie looked around happily at the green grass, the blue Bite Bug in the distance, and the white and blue sky above. "Oh, we're home! Thank you, Hyne!" she laughed and dropped down to hug the ground.

Irvine chuckled and reached down, grabbing her by the back of her yellow jumper dress and lifting her back to her feet. "It is good to be back."

The darkness had followed them, though. Sleipner shifted in the mists and turned to face his choice of King.

I must return, this is not my place. I will come back in a week.

And then he was gone, into the mists. Everything faded away and Rinoa stood quietly, confused more than anything else.

"I didn't get to say goodbye," she murmured softly before shrugging. "But he's going to come back. To visit?" she looked to Squall.

Suddenly, everyone looked uncomfortable.

"Rinoa, dear... You..." but Quistis couldn't finish.

"Look!" Selphie shouted out in dismay, pointing towards their Garden. When all looked, there was an array of reactions to the sight. One side of the Garden was smoking wildly and sparks shot from the empty area.

The group ran into the Garden, through the front gate and to the elevators just as the Headmaster Cid came rushing out.

"Where have you guys been?" He shouted out in worry.

"We'll have to explain it all later. What happened here?" Quistis questioned, hands waving to her sides to direct her question to everything around them.

The Headmaster shook his head and started leading them to where the smoke was coming from. "When you guys left, things were fine. That is, until Diablos showed up."

"Diablos? What'd Diablos do?" Zell shouted out, running up to Cid's side.

They stopped at the hall before the Training Center and Cid let out a sigh. "He tore the entire Training Center off of the Garden. We don't know who summoned him and who ordered him to do this to us, but we're going to find out," he said determinedly.

There was a silence before Squall spoke up. "No one summoned him. He did it on his own."

And the seven of them were up in Cid's office once again, this time explaining the entire story of the Realm of the Guardian Force's in detail.

The story was over and Cid rubbed at his temples in thought. "The Guardian Force's are rebelling because they have no King? Alright," he let out a sigh, "anything else?"

The air turned awkward. Quistis crossed her arms over her stomach and diverted her gaze to the carpet. Zell had stopped his shadow boxing and found the newly replaced windows to be very interesting.

"That's all. We need to go now," Squall turned and started on his way out, Rinoa close behind him. The others exchanged looks then followed, Quistis saying a 'sorry' to the very confused Headmaster.

----------

Rinoa sat quietly in her room with Squall. He had ordered the others to go get some rest, and, with little fight, they did so. Slowly, Squall made his way to the bed where Rinoa was seated, setting himself down beside her. His shoes suddenly became very interesting.

"What is it, Squall?" Rinoa smiled softly, placing a hand over his. He looked to her hand and covered it with his other hand.

"I don't want to lose you," he admitted quietly, gaze traveling up to her eyes. She tilted her head in confusion, then put another smile on.

"You aren't going to lose me. It's not like I'm going—"

"He's going to take you away."

This stopped her and she seemed to think about this. "Who's going to take me away, Squall?"

"That damned horse. Rinoa, don't you see? You're a sorceress. You're the one with all the power. You're the one he's chosen to become the next King!" He hadn't even realized that his voice rose while talking until he saw her wince. "I'm sorry, Rinoa..."

She shook her head, fighting to keep the smile she wore. "I don't know what you're talking about. I thought it was supposed to be you—"

"It's not me. It's you. And even if it was me, would you be happy knowing that he would come back to take me away from you?" He couldn't hold it in any longer, the anger was mixing with the frustration and he didn't want to take it out on Rinoa.

"Well, no, but—"

He had to cut her off again, "Than you know how I feel. I'm not going to let you go!" And his arms closed around her, holding her close. "I'm not going to let him take you away from me..." he muttered quietly, more to himself than to her.

Rinoa allowed this to sink in as she relaxed in the embrace, her head resting against Squall's shoulder. "We'll find a way out of this," she reassured him softly, pulling back from his grip. "We always do, don't we?"

Squall felt himself shaking with the fear of losing her and he leaned down, his own head resting against her collarbone. "You're mine, Rinoa. They can't have you."

She could feel her heart breaking at his words. She shifted enough to lean down and kiss his forehead softly. "I'm yours. You're my knight. They won't take me without a fight," she smiled and gently hugged him close until she felt his arms sag around her hips.

Quietly, she managed to lay him down in her bed comfortably. She changed out of her attire and into an oversized white shirt with little yellow chocobo's decorating it. Slowly she climbed into the bed next to him and squirmed into his arms, her head resting beneath his chin.

"I'm yours," she half-whispered, half-yawned before falling asleep in his arms, despite the time of day.

A/N: Yes, very short chapter indeed, but not much was supposed to happen in this one. These remaining chapters aren't going to be very long since there isn't much that's left of it all. :O Almost finished. ::throws confetti:: Freedom!

Review, Review! You know you want to!