There Rinoa stood in front of Balamb Garden, one of the most prestigious mercenary academies in the world. Her black hair, which was now much shorter and the tips died red, slightly ruffled in the wind. Her skin was darker and not as frail as it used to be. She no longer wore her blue dress. Now she wore a black, sleeveless shirt with a purple leather jacket. Her legs showed from underneath her short, black shirt with golden thread sewn through it to mimic that of branches. She still wore her black boots, but now they were steel-toed.
She studied the marvelous features of the garden. The round building had landed back where it was once before and stationed itself again. The campus around it was one of the most beautiful sights with its flowering cherry trees. Students walked in groups in their classic navy uniforms; conversing with each other about whatever. Some stared at her, especially the boys who walked by to look at her figure. She didn't look back. All she was looking at was the third floor. The floor where the Headmaster's office was. She pushed onward.
Her black boots clicked against the cement as she traveled down what seemed like memory lane. She remembered how she used to walk down these paths with her friends before they had officially left the Garden. They would laugh with each other, thinking just like any other teenager would. She even remembered walking hand in hand with Squall.
"Squall…thank you."
"For what, Rinoa?"
"For believing in me when no one else would."
"Rinoa…I love you, no matter what."
"I love you, too, Squall."
"I'll always care for you."
What a load of shit. Rinoa thought to herself. She shook off her unhappy memory, or maybe her happy memory, and kept her goals in focus.
Rinoa kept walking through the campus until she came to the front gate. The mechanical gates still stood there, the same. She pushed on it, but it didn't move. She pushed harder in frustration, but it still wouldn't budge.
"You need an id first, hon." Rinoa heard a voice to her left.
She peered at the glass booth where a fat, bald man stood in a worker's uniform. Basically the same as the students, except grayish and lacking the designs. She was a little ticked that she needed an id to get in. She figured they had recently started this to keep intruders out. She sighed her anger off and proceeded up to the glass booth. She put her elbows on the tiny counter in front of it where a slit allowed access between the two. She smiled at him, trying to apply some charm to get in.
"May I see your id?" The man asked her.
"I'm just visiting." Rinoa threw her voice back to its girlish form that she had had so many years ago.
"Then do you have a visitor's pass?" The man asked her, becoming a little agitated.
"Oh…I must've lost it." She now sounded like she was flirting rather than negotiating.
"I'm sorry, miss, but you can't get in without some type of pass." The man started to feel the effects of her charm.
"Well, maybe you could make this one exception?" Rinoa circled her index finger on the counter, grinning a little.
"Why don't you give me your name, and I'll look it up on the computer?" He turned his attention to the tiny computer that was crammed in there with his big belly.
"Rinoa Heartily." Her voice changed back to the serious tone she had acquired.
The man jumped a little, feeling chills down his spine. He began to sweat under his clothes, little beads popping up on his forehead that had now turned to a dark red.
"W-w-w-what…did you say?" He slowly turned his head to see she was no longer in the mood to flirt.
"You heard me. Now I suggest you move your fat ass to open that gate before I decided to show you your breakfast." Rinoa felt underneath her jacket to grip the edges of the pinwheel.
"NO! I c-c-can open that for you." He fumbled his hands over the controls before pushing a switch.
The hydraulics sounded and the gate slid open with the red light that was over it recently turning green. Rinoa smiled at him and brought her hand out from underneath her jacket again.
"Thank you, have a nice day." Rinoa gave him a smile and proceeded into the place she had left years ago once more.
The hall still burst with life as students and teachers roamed the pathway that was built on top of their very own man-made stream. The decorative fountains that looked like fish were still there. Even the directory hadn't changed at all. But she knew where she needed to go. She pushed her way through the crowd of people who were probably trying to get to their next class. She had little patience to ask anything. She just needed to go to that glass elevator. The elevator located in the center of the garden was the only thing different. To combat with the more enrollments in Garden, they made it a four-way elevator that circled around the large pillar. Rinoa stepped up the small flight of stairs to the elevator that would deliver her to the one man she needed to see. Cid Kramer.
Up and up she went inside the glass elevator. She peered down at the much calmer hallways now as she thought about what to say.
I need to get information on the rest of the SeeD members. I know Cid has them, but what if he doesn't? Without this information, I can't finish this. What did Squall say that one time?
"Persistence is key, Rinoa." Squall smiled at her as she strained her muscles to lift the heavy weight of the gunblade above her head before crashing it down on a wooden target. She missed, naturally.
"Squall…I just can't help it. I'm too weak." Rinoa let out a groan of frustration.
"You're not weak!" He scolded her, "Don't you ever say that again!"
"I'm sorry, Squall." She sighed in embarrassment.
"What was that?" He leered at her.
"Sorry…Master." Rinoa dragged the blade across the ground before finally lifting it up. Then she rested it on her shoulder before flinging it back down onto the target. Then she nipped it and cut a chunk off.
"Good, however, let's try this." He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her. He gently gripped her hands that were atop the gunblade. He clutched them and drew them up.
"Try using the trigger." He smiled as he gently guided her index finger over the trigger of the revolver on the blade.
With their combined strength the gunblade went up into the air and sliced the target in a quick motion. In a split second, Rinoa saw a flash of fire as the blade created an explosion that blew the wooden target to pieces.
"There, persistence is the key." He whispered into her ear.
Fuck you, Squall. Fuck you and thank you.
The elevator came to a sudden stop, and the light in the elevator turned green. The doors slid open slowly to reveal the secretary's office. It was well done in classical architecture, furnished with red carpet and an oak desk. A fichus guarded the elevator doors as Rinoa walked out. She came to the secretary's desk with a red haired woman was furiously typing some type of document on her computer. Rinoa scanned the desk, waiting for the secretary to notice her. There she saw the desk filled with pictures of kids. There was also a picture of the secretary and a man, hugging each other at the beach. Rinoa smiled. She could've had a family like this.
The secretary continued typing, but took notice to Rinoa, "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'd like to see Cid Kramer."
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Well, no, but…"
"I'm sorry, but Mr. Kramer is very busy and…"
Rinoa slammed her hand onto the desk, "Look bitch, I don't have time for these formalities. Just fucking tell that pompous idiot that Rinoa Heartily would like a word with him."
The secretary, oblivious to the fact of who Rinoa was, still was threatened by her attitude, "I'll call him."
The secretary turned around in her swivel computer chair to press the intercom, "Excuse me, Mr. Kramer?"
An electronic voice buzzed in, "Yes?"
"There's a Rinoa Heartily here to see you."
There was a long pause, "…Send her in."
"He will see you now." She said in an agitated, but terrified voice.
"Thank you." Rinoa gave a fake smile before pushing those wooden, double doors open into the headmaster's office.
The place had changed since she'd been there. The ceilings and wall were all still glass that overlooked the fields that the Garden stood on. The marble floor still was shiny as ever. However, the large metal pillar that led to the cockpit that flew the Garden was gone. Rinoa figured they reconverted it back to normal. In place stood a giant, round wooden desk with a large, black leather chair turned to the windows.
"Cid." Rinoa walked briskly up to his desk.
"Rinoa, good to hear from you." He turned his chair around. His facial features were still the same as always, kind and gentle, but his hair had turned completely gray by now and his eyes seemed to be much more aged. He still wore his white dress shirt with the red sweater vest. Rinoa could see the same black, dress pants as he crossed his legs.
"Enough, just tell me where the SeeD members are located." Rinoa cut to the chase as she leaned onto the desk with both her palms.
"Why don't we take this time to catch up?" Cid showed no signs of intimidation from her.
"I don't care! Just tell me their locations!" Rinoa began to become frustrated.
"Ah yes, I figured you'd come to me for this. After the SeeDs fucked you over pretty good two year ago, I knew you'd come here to seek your revenge. But, sorry to say, I don't know where they are. They're not my concern anymore." He smiled calmly.
"Bullshit. I know that you know where they are. The SeeDs, after disbanding from Garden, were at the top of the assassination charts. They're your competitors, so I'm sure that you'd keep track of every one of them. Not only that, but each of them was your valuable student, and you cared for each. So don't try to pull any shit on me." Rinoa glared at him.
He smiled wider now, "You're right. I do know where they are, and even what they've been doing. But you have to know by now that they are no longer together. They quit the business and went their separate ways. But luckily, I know what they've all been doing for the past two years."
"Tell me." Rinoa leaned in.
"What if I don't?" Cid chuckled.
"Then, I'll shave a few years off your life, and I'm betting you don't got too many years left." Rinoa flung her hand behind her jacket to release her pinwheel, which had been concealed. In a flash, it was drawn for aim and gleaming in the sunlight. But what she didn't know, was that a small trickle of blood was coming down her neck where Cid had thrust a blade that came out of an old cane at her neck.
"Do you really think you can kill me? I taught your teachers." He smiled.
"Maybe, but I bet I've learned a few new tricks over the years." As soon as she finished her remark, she had drawn a small dagger from her belt that smacked the cane away from her body.
Cid leaped from his desk and twirled the cane around to go into a stance position on top of his desk. Rinoa quickly stepped back so he couldn't jump behind her. Cid jumped in the air and swung his cane at her right arm. The blade may have missed, but the force of the cane made her drop her dagger. He then went for the other arm, but she threw up her right leg to push the can away. Her left arm swept across with her pinwheel to try and cut his neck, but he bent back before she could. He went again for her left arm with the cane, but Rinoa caught it in the middle of her pinwheel. Using her strength, she flung both their weapons across the room. Cid stood there for a moment with nothing to do. He knew he couldn't beat her in hand-to-hand combat. But he had one more ace up his sleeve. He used his deadly reflexes to whip a revolver from behind his back. He aimed for Rinoa's head and fired. Rinoa, seeing this in an instance, dropped and rolled before performing a sweep kick to knock the old man down. There she slammed her ankle onto his chest, right below his neck. He coughed a little and struggled, but knew he was finished.
"Alright, you win." Rinoa cautiously lifted her leg, and they both stood up.
"Are you going to tell me?" Rinoa put her hands on her hips.
"I wasn't going to tell you, until you showed me how powerful you are. You might have a chance at your revenge. I just wanted to protect you from them. They've also improved. I know how badly you want this. So I'll tell you everything I know about the rest of the SeeD members."
And so Cid did tell her everything she wanted to know. From where they were to what they had been doing. As she listened, she realized that she had gotten herself into something that she could never go back.