Chapter 4
Shed some skin for the fear within.
Is starting to hurt me with everything.
Freed from our memory.
Escape from our history.
Manic Street Preachers, Everything Must Go.
The receptionist behind the counter glared evilly at me as I rushed into the building.
"Late again," she remarked dryly.
Just who does she think she is anyway? It's not like she's my boss or anything. She's just one of those people who think they are far senior and important than anybody else there. There's one in every work place. The annoying thing is, she's all sweetness and light when the boss is around. I hate two-faced people.
As soon as her gaze returned to her work I pulled my tongue out at her and opened the door to my office. I quickly hung my coat up and sat behind my desk in the pretence that I hadn't been late at all, and had in fact been hard at work for some time now. It was lucky I did, as this was the moment that Helana, my boss, chose to walk through the door.
"Rinoa, how's the article on the music festival going?"
I cringed, realising that the deadline was in a few days time.
"Erm...it's fine," I lied. "Almost finished."
"Oh, that's a shame because I don't need you to do it anymore," she said matter of factly. Helana had a habit of constantly changing plans without informing anybody. It was infuriating, but you learnt to live with it. Either that, or you got fired. "I asked someone else to do it."
"What am I doing instead?" I asked, praying that it was not another article about some cheap tourist attraction. I wanted to finally be free from reporting on fairs, circuses and theme parks, and various other small places that nobody would ever visit in a million years, no matter what I wrote.
"I've heard about this adorable little place from a friend of mine. Erm, what was it called?"
I sat there patiently, knowing that she would soon remember.
"Winhill. Yes, that's it, Winhill."
"Really?" I asked, shocked that she had heard of such a small village.
"You know it?"
"I've heard of it," I replied. I knew that my voice had been tinged with sadness, but thankfully, Helana was far too self-absorbed to have noticed.
"Well, here's your train ticket to Dollet." She handed me an unmarked, white envelope. "I hear that they're a bit wary of tourists there, but I'm sure you'll be fine. Just give me a nice article about the village for the newspaper. A little about it's history maybe. Oh, and don't forget to ask about monsters, I hear the village sometimes becomes overrun by them."
"Excuse me. I'm going to Dollet?"
"There aren't any trains to Winhill. You have to take a boat from Dollet. Now, there's only one a day, so don't be late." She looked at me knowingly. I bet the receptionist had been talking. "Well, hurry up and pack your things. I want you on that train in two hours."
I hastily threw my clothes into my suitcase, double-checking that everything else was packed. I was notorious for forgetting things. Often, I would turn up to do an interview without a tape recorder or a notebook. It's a wonder I even remember to wake up in the morning. Satisfied that everything was in my suitcase, I headed for the train station.
"Damn," I cursed as I saw the traffic outside my apartment. I'd never make it to the station in that.
I decided that walking was probably my best option, even though I was carrying a heavy suitcase.
I had to wonder just how much worse my day could get as I began to run, trying to get to the train on time.
"I'll get the sack."
I got on to the platform just before the train pulled away. The guard was about to wave the train away.
"Hey, wait!" I shouted at him. "I need to get on that train." Grudgingly, the guard opened the door for me and let me on board. I breathed a sigh of relief as I slumped down into my seat. I had made it, just. Maybe I wouldn't get the sack after all.
On the other hand, could I really do this? Go to that place? Squall had told me so much about it.
A few months after we defeated Ultimecia, Laguna told Squall that he was his father. Admittedly, he took it pretty hard at first. He'd spent all his life alone, without a family, and suddenly he had a father again. I think he was glad in the end. He found out about where he came from, who his family was. Together, they visited Winhill and went to see Raine's grave. He told me all about the village, everything that he found out when Ellone sent him into Laguna's past, and everything that he did and saw when he went there himself.
Can I really face going somewhere that will just make me think of him?
I guess I have to.
At first, being in Timber made me think of Squall, of the time we spent together on the mission. Time, however, is the best healer of all. Now, I just see it as my home.
Maybe being in Winhill won't be as bad as I expect.
"Next stop, Dollet. Next stop, Dollet. This is the end of the line."
I picked up my suitcase and waited for the train to come to a halt. The station at Dollet was refreshingly modern, at least compared to the rustic charm of Timber. Compared to stations such as Deling it was fairly old-fashioned, but fitted into the town extremely well.
Outside the station, the rest of the town seemed to be very grand, with a mixture of old fashioned, and new buildings. The new buildings seemed to be grouped together, obviously built over the ruins from the Galbadian invasion. At the peak of the hill just outside the town, was the now deserted communications tower.
I shook my head, knowing that this would bring thoughts of Squall. I had heard so much about the SeeD exam that Squall had taken. To the younger cadets in Garden, it was legendary. I was told by a junior classmen that Squall had fought alone against an invincible machine created by the Galbadians, followed by hundreds of their best soldiers. These over exaggerated stories became more preposterous every week and Squall hated it.
"Must they talk about me all the time?" he would ask. "You'd think they were in the presence of a hero, not a mercenary." No matter what anybody said, Squall refused to believe he was anything but ordinary. He could never see what others did.
Being here in this place made me realise how much of Squall's life I'd missed out on. I realised that, although we had been through so much together, there were still some things that we could never have shared. There were some things that I was never a part of.
Heading into the harbour, I scanned the shoreline for the boat to Winhill. There was a large passenger boat bustling with people that I assumed was heading for Balamb. My mind wandered to all the friends that I had at Garden.
Were they all okay?
"Hey, you heading for Winhill?" a gruff voice asked me. I looked and saw a middle aged man in a small wooden fishing boat.
"Yes," I replied, suddenly unsure of myself. Should I go ahead with this?
"Well, hurry up and get in then. I don't have all day." I automatically clasped the rings on my necklace for comfort, before stepping forward.
I can do this.
Thanks to:
Rinoa Heartilly
Discordia the Goddess of Irony
LeopardDance
Lost Soul
Amber Tinted
xxAngelHeartxx
CTHKSI
Riona