Chapter 17
"Squall, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything," Rinoa sobbed gently, tears streaming down her cheeks. In reply, Squall softly wiped them away with his thumb, causing Rinoa to shiver at the sudden contact.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for. You're completely innocent, you just got caught in the middle of all this by mistake. You can't blame yourself."
"But, before me, you had everything. You had a home, a life, a good job, lots of money. Now what do you have?"
"I have everything I could ever want right here with me," he whispered softly before kissing her on the cheek.
"Squall, you can't mean that. What about your friends…"
"What friends?" he interrupted. "It was one of those so-called friends that did this to me." Rinoa couldn't argue with this. Instead she tried to offer him whatever small comfort she could, caressing his hand and rubbing her fingers gently over his rough, callused skin that had arisen from years of extensive training. To her surprise, she noticed that the corners of his mouth had folded up into a slight smile, barely distinguishable from his normal expression.
"Don't worry about it, Squall. I'll…I'll be here for you." She looked deep into his eyes, seeing the profound effect that her words were having on him, his eyes lighting up in delight. "I promise."
Zell, Selphie and Irvine stood outside the Headmaster's office, waiting nervously for their call to go in. All three guessed that this meeting was about Squall, but still, they weren't quite sure of what they were about to face. Were they to be punished for not voicing any suspicions of their own, or were they merely to be informed of the current situation? They couldn't be sure.
"The Headmaster will see you now," the secretary announced, opening the door wide open for them.
"Ah, Zell, Selphie, Irvine, do sit down," invited Headmaster Cid. He seemed somewhat downcast, despite his attempts to welcome them cheerfully.
"You wanted to see us, Sir?" asked Selphie.
"Yes. I'm afraid I've had to remove Squall Leonhart from SeeD pending an investigation into his activities on your recent mission. I was wondering if you could shed any light on that for me. I have already received a report from Instructor Trepe which proved to be very informative indeed."
"Sir, if you want us to speak up against Squall, then I for one won't," spoke Zell. "I know he isn't the most friendly of guys, but he's the best Commander I've ever served under. He's saved my life many times since we both became SeeDs, I know he can be trusted."
"I agree," chipped in Irvine. "He may be grumpy as hell most of the time, but that's just because he takes his work so seriously. If you ask me, he's the last guy on the planet I'd expect to betray anyone."
"Sir, they're right," agreed Selphie. "When Quistis and I were briefed on the mission before we infiltrated the Forest Owls, we were told that Rinoa was highly dangerous, and a threat to the region's peace. We both thought that seemed really strange. For the most part, the Forest Owls were just organising demonstrations or distributing propaganda. That's not exactly what I'd consider dangerous. There are resistance groups in Timber that are far more active than that, some are even violent. In my opinion, Rinoa Heartilly didn't pose a threat to anyone."
"I see. You're sure you didn't find any evidence of danger from the Forest Owls?" asked the Headmaster. "I too was under the impression that they truly were a threat to the Government."
"They were just a small agency, made up mostly of students, with very little funding. There was nothing that they could really do to threaten anybody. They didn't even have any links to the more militant resistance factions."
"You think that I have made a mistake then about Squall?"
There was silence from the three SeeDs, neither of them wanting to offend Headmaster Cid.
"Don't be afraid to speak your minds. I need to know the truth here."
Slowly and nervously, they began to nod, confirming the Headmaster's worst fears.
"Why would she lie to me?" he asked, exasperated. "She's one of the most trusted instructor's at Garden, and now she goes and does this. It doesn't make any sense."
"Sir. I don't think that she would deliberately mislead you."
"Well, what other explanation is there?" he demanded.
"You must have known about Quistis' feelings for Squall," explained Selphie. "She became jealous of Rinoa even before anything happened between her and Squall. I've never seen her as angry as she was on the trip back home, it wasn't like her at all."
"You mean that all this was caused by a little jealously?"
"She doesn't see it as that though. She thinks that she's doing the best thing for Squall. I'm sure she didn't mean for him to be removed from SeeD, I know she cares about him too much. She just thinks that he's be better off without Rinoa and that has been influencing her judgement, making her see things differently from the rest of us."
"Sir, you're going to reinstate Squall aren't you?" asked Zell, voicing the question that plagued everybody's minds. "It's not as if he did anything wrong."
"There may be a problem with that."
"A problem, Sir?"
"He's gone. He took Rinoa and left Garden. So far, we've had no luck in locating him and Garden cannot leave until the repairs are completed.
"Gone? But, that doesn't sound like Squall."
"That's what worries me."
"Look at me. Look at what I am. I'm nothing but a traitor to my friends. How can I live with myself?"
Quistis stared deep into the mirror, disgusted at her own tear-stained reflection that glared back at her, her eyes boring deep into her soul, compounding the hurt and pain that coursed throughout her being, allowing her no respite from her grief.
"This…this is all my fault," she sobbed, burying her face in her hands, no longer able to stomach her own reflection. "Why did I have to do this to them, why did I have to do this to myself?"
She stormed across her room, flinging her curtains shut, wanting to block out every last sliver of pure, blinding light that pounded down upon her, as if they were condemning her past actions. Alone now, in her room, there was nowhere that she could hide from her own inner torment, the guilt that had plagued her being since she made her confession.
"How could I do this to him? How could I do this to her? Thinking about it, she wasn't that bad was she? She hadn't done anything wrong and now because of me, she'll probably be taken back to Caraway. All because of me."
Quistis gently lifted her framed instructor's diploma off her wall, where once it had been in pride of place, her crowning achievement.
"Look at who I was," she thought, sombrely, wishing that she could rewrite history and change the events of the past few days. "And look at who I am now," she muttered bitterly towards the mirror, before hurling the diploma across the room, causing the glass to shatter into a million pieces and cascade to the floor as it made contact with the wall.
"Quistis?" There was a gentle rapping at the door. "Quistis?"
"Who is it?" she screamed, not wanting to speak to anybody.
"It's Selphie. Are you going to let me in?"
"No." Her answer was abrupt and to the point.
"Please, Quistis, I just want to speak to you," she said, softly, hoping that the instructor would be soothed by her tone.
"I don't want to hear it," she snapped in reply.
"We don't blame you, you know?"
This seemed to have the desired effect. Quistis fell silent, no longer protesting, and almost immediately the lock clicked open, allowing Selphie entry into the room. The sight that met her eyes caused her to freeze in her tracks.
"Quistis? What happened to you?" she asked, her voice full of concern.
"I just faced up to the truth, that's all."
"Don't blame yourself. Everyone makes mistakes, that's what makes us human." These words didn't seem to offer Quistis much comfort.
"What happened to them?"
"Rinoa and Squall?"
Quistis nodded, seemingly apprehensive of what the answer might be.
"Well, Squall was removed from SeeD and then he just left with Rinoa. I heard that he broke her out of the detention centre, but that's just a rumour."
"You mean they're gone?" she enquired, wide-eyed in disbelief. "Oh, Hyne what have I done?"
Squall knew it was a risk to be seen out in the open, but he needed the fresh air. Rolling back the balcony doors, he stepped outside breathing in the crisp night air as deeply as he could. He gazed upwards at the heavens, basking in the golden moonlight that washed over him. Everything was so peaceful, so serene. Even though he had been unable to appreciate the beauty in tranquillity until recently, the silence and the calm welcomed him, bringing him a strange sense of comfort. He glanced back towards his hotel room, gazing upon the sleeping form of Rinoa. There was only one bed, a double, in the room and he had allowed her to have it, saying that he would prefer to sleep on the sofa. She had seemed slightly disappointed, but not surprised at his answer. As he watched her now, he marvelled at how innocent she looked, despairing at the fact that she had been dragged into this horrible situation against her own will.
"But I wouldn't change a thing," he thought to himself, smiling. "No, not a thing. She saved me, saved me from myself. She showed me what life was really all about. I owe her so much. I owe it to her to get her out of this and keep her away from Caraway."
Just as he thought this, he noticed some movement down by the harbour. A boat carrying about twenty people was being rowed toward the shore despite it having a motor.
"Typical stealth tactics," he thought. "Arrive in the dead of night in total silence." On many occasions, Squall had used identical tactics on his missions to allow him to get by without being noticed.
The people began to disembark, keeping low to the ground and avoiding the powerful beams thrown across the town by the street lights. Squall could tell that this was some kind of trained military outfit as they had definitely arrived prepared for whatever their mission was.
"Rinoa." Squall's first thought was for her safety. Caraway had spies everywhere and it would not be impossible for there to be one in Garden. He might know of his daughter's disappearance and these men might have been sent to retrieve her. However, Squall was soon able to breathe a small sigh of relief as they passed by the hotel and headed out of the town. The first thing that struck him was the fact that they seemed to know exactly where they were going. The second was that they were fully prepared for battle as all the men were very heavily armed.
He was torn between staying in the hotel with Rinoa and following them. He knew that she might be in danger if he left her, but he just couldn't shake off the feeling that these men posed some kind of threat to them, even though they were heading out of town.
"But how can I just leave her here? Something might happen to her. But what if those men really are looking for her? It might not be too long before they checked the town and we'd be caught in no time. If that's the case, the only chance I have is to take them out. There's no way out of Balamb at this time of night and I can't travel far on foot with Rinoa. No, if they do pose a threat, I'll have to dispose of them myself and I don't like those odds. Maybe twenty of them, heavily armed against me. A surprise attack will even the odds slightly, maybe give me a fighting chance."
When he had decided upon his course of action, he shook Rinoa awake gently, trying not to alarm her.
"Rinoa, I have to go somewhere. Don't worry, I won't be long."
"No, you can't just leave me here Squall."
"Please, Rinoa. Please trust me. You can do that, right?"
She nodded. "You know I trust you."
"Then believe me when I say that you'll be safe here. Just try and get some sleep, okay? I'll be back before you know it."
With that, he kissed her on the forehead and headed out into the night.