Mistakes
Chapter 6: Falsity
Dawn was breaking, the reddish orb rising above the sleeping Balamb Plains. She was on her bed, a few pictures neatly placed on her bed as she packed her suitcase, and the lacy white wedding dress spewing all over her bed. I'll probably never get to wear this again, Squall. Rinoa turned to the photos, picking them up.
She looked at the yellowish photos of her mother and her father, as the trio had gone out to sightsee. Creases had formed on the photo, but she had still kept it. Her mother was gone, so had her father. And she knew neither of them, not when Julia had withheld so many things from her. And Caraway? No wonder he didn't really care for her.
I don't know a lot of things, suddenly. I feel lost. Why? Because fate wasn't within her grasps. Fate had played a trick on her. She threw the remaining clothes she had in her suitcase, and zipped it up. Do I really have to go? The answer lay within herself. She wanted the truth. She needed it.
The wedding dress was still there, and she lifted it up one last time, cuddling it in her arms, feeling the smoothened silk material once again on her skin, and the tingling feel of the lace that decorated the white cloth. She could only think of Squall. Blinking back another tear that had threatened to fall, she hastily left the dress back onto the bed, bidding one last glance at it, and left the one last thing that she had done yesterday night. She placed the neatly sealed envelope at her dresser in full view from the door. Goodbye, Squall. If that means that we'll never see each other again... She reached for her suitcase still on the bed.
The suitcase thudded softly on the carpet, and she glanced at her dorm one last time. Goodbye, Squall. She closed the door.
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"Altered? How could her birth date be...?" Laguna was grim.
"The mid-wife could have been bribed by Caraway, it's not glamorous to have a wife that was obviously carrying another man's baby. Especially if the father was a soldier of his then." Squall looked at Laguna directly, and he squirmed in his position, waiting for his son to continue. "The baby could have been a year old before her birth was publicised. That way, Caraway would be spared the humiliation of his wife carrying the flesh and blood of another man."
Laguna was thoughtful for a moment. "That makes sense, I have never seen baby Rinoa with Caraway and Julia in photos on newspapers. Not until she was around four or five. There was a photo on the Galbadian newspaper on the family when they went on a holiday. I simply assumed that Julia didn't want Rinoa to be under the public's scrutiny."
"She couldn't appear in photos then; as a one-year-old baby, she was too big to pass off as a newborn. They had to wait for a few years before Rinoa would start to look her supposed age." Squall stood up from his sofa, and strode over to the glass panels. Rinoa, she has to be older than me by a year at least. Glancing out of the window, he leant against the panels and tapped his finger on it, brows fused together.
"Who do you think I can get this information from? A verification of her exact age?" The son turned towards his father.
"I don't know. We could trace back to Julia's midwife, or ask Caraway himself." The older man headed for his phone, and started to dial in a number, only to be interceded by Squall.
"No. Not Caraway. Not yet. Not until I'm sure of facts." There was a knock on the door, but Squall didn't seem surprised.
"Come in, Quistis." Laguna's brow arched, and Squall headed for the door. "I told her to join us. Right now, it's just between Ellone, Quistis, the doctor, you and me. And Rinoa." He nodded tersely at Quistis, and briefed her about what he and Laguna had been discussing earlier.
"I understand, Squall, but how?" She headed towards the coffee machine, still trying to accept the fact that the couple were half-siblings. Lifting a mug to her lips, she turned back to the two men. "Do you want a covert operation on searching for the midwife? We have a couple of trained SeeDs currently off duty..."
"No... I'll do it myself. We can't trust any other people on this. If this leaks out..."
"Then both Garden and Esthar would be affected. Not to mention the rumours about the rising of the next Sorceress War." Quistis added on. "But you are the commander. We can't have you running around doing errands, or so it would seem. The public eye would be on you, Squall."
He fetched a cup of coffee for himself, and took a sip, brows fused in thought. "I don't care, Quistis. It has to be done."
"Then let me take care of it, Commander." Zell stood between the doorframes, his face serious.
"Zell!" Quistis gave a startled cry, and Squall strode over to him, with Laguna trailing behind. "What have you been listening to, Zell? Damn it." He pulled his friend into the room, locking the door behind him.
"Why didn't you tell us all about it?" Still being grabbed by the collar, he looked straight into his commander's eyes, and found sorrow in it. "Squall."
"Let go of him, Squall." Laguna patted on his son's shoulders, trying to free his grip on Zell. "He deserved to know this. Hell, everyone deserved to know. And he's here to help." The commander abruptly released his grip on Zell, pushing the martial artist away from him, and stormed off towards the glass windows. "I can't have everyone knowing about this." His fist curled into a ball, banging hard onto the transparent panels. "Damn it."
"Stop being so hard on yourself, Squall. We are friends, and we want to help, even if aren't receptive." He unlocked the door to reveal the rest of the gang, and Selphie, Ellone and Irvine walked in.
"Great. Now we can have a party over at Laguna's room, and chat about how we are all related in one big fucking circle of connections." He stormed and paced about the room, then faced back out of the window.
"Squall." Quistis strode over to his side and placed a hand on his shoulders. "Look, if we aren't even concerned about you, then we shouldn't be your friends in the first place." She waved a hand at the direction of the rest. "Let them help. It's the least we can do for you."
Silence reined the room for a moment, and that period of time seemed like forever. He didn't say anything, or moved from his position at the window, but stared out looking at the city of Esthar. They are my friends. He tried to convince himself. Rinoa. What is the problem with me and Rinoa and being half-siblings? That I shouldn't let even my friends know? He could barely feel the numbness in the iron grip of his fists as they continued to pound on the glass window rhythmically.
I'll... have to... let them know. Finally. The fist stopped banging on the glass panels, and he turned to focus on everyone in the room. His mind was made up.
"I owe you guys one this time. Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, Sis." He strode towards the sofa, and settled down, glancing at the notes he made. "We'll need to plan thoroughly to ensure no information leakage..." He looked up from the paper in his hands, and faced everyone, still stunned and dumbfounded. "What? We can't discuss this if I'm the only one sitting down." It was an awkward situation with the Commander glancing up at them, but only for a moment, as he stared back at them. One brief moment, gratitude flashed past his eyes, but the rest knew, and understood his acceptance of help, and acknowledgement of friends. Consensus among them was reached, and they settled down onto the sofa, as Laguna reached for more coffee for everyone.
"We are behind you a hundred percent, Squall. Go on." Ellone nodded at the Commander, and beamed at him, urging him to continue with the discussion. For Rinoa, and for you. I owe you two a happy ending.
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He stepped into the lush carpets of his office, and closed the door behind him. Things were happening too fast for him to catch up. The proposal, the wedding plans, then the cancellation of that ceremony, and now this one political-cum-personal mess. What a fucking position to be in when you are the Commander of an entire fleet of Garden and SeeD cadets and you want to do something incognito. He reached for his recliner and sank into the lush soft cushion, closing his eyes. If not for sleep, then at least for relaxation and rest from the rapid and sudden turn of events.
Finger wrapped in gloves trailed up to the temples and rubbed against them, trying to ease the tension that was working between his brows. Not completely relaxing, but at least he felt the tire drift slowly away from him, making an effort to breath in and out consciously. He took in a deep breath, wafting in a scent of... what? There was this subtle aroma that floated around him. It smelt like honey, but not exactly, as if it were a flowery like of honey. Jasmine. That must be it.
Jasmine? His eyes snapped open in front of a lamp, oil bubbling merrily above the candle lit jar. "Ellone?" He sat up from the back of the recliner looking at a certain shoulder-length brunette with a green shawl, as she turned to watch him puzzling over the scent-emanating object that she fixed beside the recliner. "Thought you needed something to make you relax, Squall." She dripped a droplet of substance from a bottle into the warm oil.
"What's that?" He shifted his gaze from her to the clay jar.
"Essence oil. Scents for relaxation." She wafted the scent to her nose, and smiled. "It'll do you good, Squall." She let the oil simmer, and sat beside the Commander.
"Bring it away. I don't need it." He started to ease out of the recliner when Ellone held down his shoulders, and wagged her finger at him. "Just sit with me, won't you?" She pushed him back down onto the recliner, and watched him ease the tension in his shoulders as he lay back down again.
"Wasn't difficult, was it, Squall?" She knotted her fingers together and twiddled with her shawl a little, twitching her lips as she saw the faint frown that almost merged her brother's eyebrows together. And she sighed. "I hope my presence here didn't irk you." So many things had happened because of her, and what she had blurted out without realising the repercussions of her actions.
Squall shrugged, and turned away to face the oil lamp. "I didn't get you to get out of my office." His nonchalant reply made Ellone chuckle, and she cupped his cheeks in her hands, staring down into his eyes. "You aren't angry with me?"
"Should I?" There's nothing much left to be angry at. "I don't care for anything now." He got out of the recliner, and Ellone didn't stop him as he strode towards his leather swivel chair and draped the jacket that had been on his shoulders over the back of it. "I'm too tired, Sis." Not an ounce of fiery passion in his body. "Too fucking tired out by everything." He heaved a breath, leaning back against the window behind his desk as Ellone strolled towards him.
"Don't give up, Squall. Don't give up on Rinoa." She let her hand rest on his right shoulder, hoping that at some of her own fervour can ease his weariness. "Have faith in yourself, ok?" She nodded at him, trying to pass some of her infectious smile onto him.
"Whatever..." He glanced down at his gloved hands. Try... to... focus... He glanced back at Ellone when the door knocked. Resuming Commander composure, he nodded briefly at Ellone, and then instructed whomever that was at his door to come in.
"I have news for you from Instructor Trepe." He barely winced and looked discomfited, and Squall immediately knew it was bad news. Even Ellone could tell. "She said to give you this." He handed a sealed letter to him, and left hastily.
"Squall..." Ellone began to speak, but he was already tearing at the envelope, trying to reach the letter in it. A hand-written letter in Rinoa's smooth cursive letters, and his heart sank further.
"Let me read it, Squall." She reached for the letter, but he pulled it out of her reach.
"No, Sis."
Dear Squall,
I thought I should tell you that I'd be leaving for a while. Nowhere in particular, just wanted to leave to take a breather. No need to look for me though. I'll be fine. And... thank you, for all the good times we've been through together. Please, take care of yourself when I'm not around. I love you, and always will.
Rinoa
Author's Notes: I've really been procrastinating on this chapter a little too much, to yep, please don't kill me. I'm really been busy... ) Hope you guys haven't given up on this chapter yet!