Chapter 11: Drops of Jupiter

They ended up renting a car and driving to the Lunar Gate since it was the quickest way. The building was an odd shape, on top of the actual facility were three tubes that where open at the top and extended high above the facility, curving upward like a ramp, the purpose couldn't really be determined from the outside, but they could guess it had something to do with space, hence the name 'Lunar Gate'.

When they made it inside someone was already waiting for them, a man apparently with the staff because of his uniform matching everyone's else. "We've been expecting you, this way, please." he told them, prompting everyone toward one of the rooms behind front desk.

With a sigh and a small wondering of where Rinoa had been taking, Squall was the last to follow, surveying his surroundings while no one else took a second look. "...?" What was that?...It sound like it came from behind him. A small noise that he couldn't quite decipherer prompted him to turn around just as Angelo burst through the doors, running up to him with a notably saddened expression.

Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey

'Angelo?' Squall knelt down, looking over the canine and rubbing it's head, flashing a light smile. '...It's gonna be ok. I'll take care of Rinoa.' He promised wordlessly, knowing that the dog could find it's way back easily, he stood up, turning back toward the man, "Lead the way, please."

Being the last of the 6 he followed the man and headed in to the next room, leaving Angelo behind.

! - ! - !

"Are you the ones taking off?" The man asked, standing in the small room in front of three tubes, apparently elevators leading to the ones outside.

"Yes." Squall nodded.

"Distance-wise, it's pretty far, but you'll be there in no time. You'll be there by the time you wake up."

"Where are we going?" Squall asked.

She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey

"Let me give you a quick explanation about the whole process." The man walked to each of the elevator, opening them as he spoke. "First, we need you to enter the capsule inside this pipe,

here, you'll undergo the 'cold sleep' process. Once this process is complete, your capsule will automatically be loaded into the booster. After that, we launch. You should be there by the time you wake up, leave the rest to the staff once you get there. ...Well, that's about it in a nutshell, I won't say there isn't any risk involved." Risky... it was pretty risky... "What do you want to do?"

He didn't even have to thing "Let's do it." Squall was ready to go through with it, there seemed to be risks involved with everything they did, what was one more?

"Alright then, you'll need to decide who you're taking. The girl in blue has already undergone 'cold sleep' and has been loaded in. There's room for 1 more." The man explained.

Seeing that she was the first person Squall looked at and probably would be the most useful, she had to decline. "... In the meantime, something must be done to suppress my Powers…" Edea told them, knowing that she was staying behind.

She was staying behind...by herself? "But it'd be too dangerous for Matron to be alone!" Quistis realized , and she was right.

Zell proudly steeped up to the responsibility and volunteered, "Then let me be her escort! C'mon Squall, what do you say?"

Squall looked at Zell...was Zell really the type of person he should leave Edea in the hands of? Zell wasn't so bad, he probably wouldn't screw up. "Ok. I leave it in Zell's hands."

"OHHH YEAHHH!" Zell shouted excitedly. "I'll do whatever it takes to watch over you. Don't worry about a thing! Squall, don't worry about us!" Zell seemed anxious, a little to much so.

Maybe he should rethink this...Nah, Zell would do alright. '...Matron is a sorceress. Don't forget that.'

That only meant he had to figure out one more thing. "Ok, let me decide who's going."

Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey

Squall looked around at the group, excluding Zell, there was Quistis, Seiphie, and Irvine remaining to chose from. Thinking about it, Quistis was responsible, she should probably stay and keep Zell out of trouble. With his short temper, he'd probably need someone to do it. And Seiphie... something just didn't seem to fit about taking her, He'd rather take Irvine, he didn't know what would happen up there, and he'd rather put him in danger instead of her. So he chose Irvine.

The man double checked it with Squall, reminding him that he wouldn't have time to change his mind once the process started. "Is this your party?"

"Yeah."

With a nod the man held out his arm and directed Squall and Irvine to the elevator.

It wasn't comforting when as soon as they stepped inside a thick gas started to fill the tube, and a few light's flashed. When a thick liquid started to pour in and rise quickly in the encasement, Irvine really got nervous. But by then the both of them were sleeping.

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded

! - ! - !

! - ! - !

When Squall woke up again, he found his body was floating through a hole, no longer in the tube from before. He was stiff, and cold and he was in need of a stretch as if he had been sleeping for a longer time then he had actually been. Rinoa was floating next to him, and Irvine was behind him, that was comforting at least.

Squall flinched when, a voice came from an intercom.

And that heaven is overrated

"Initiating quick-thaw. It's gonna feel a bit itchy."

A red light flashed quickly making his eyes hurt, the next thing he knew his stiffness was gone and he wasn't as dead tired as he felt before. He was itchy though, very, very itchy, as he thought he was resisting the urge to peel his clothing off and scratch 'Ifrit?'

Ifrit sound more child like then Squall had ever heard him, as if he had just seen some thing amazing...(It was an interesting process, I wish you could have seen it... Oh, How are you feeling?)

'I'm alright, a little itchy though.'

(Figures...it looked itchy.)

'What looked itchy?'

(Nevermind, I know something to help that.) Ifrit said with a light warning, making sure Squall was ready before he flushed his skin was a quick heat. As uncomfortable as that had been, Squall had to admit that all of his itchiness was gone.

'Thanks.'

"Ok, done, Lock on to rotation ring unit... Lock engaged. Generating artificial gravity."

Squall's aimless body began to drift to the ground, he landed on his feet, catching Rinoa in his arms.

Irvine stretched out a little. 'You still there?' Irvine started to clear his mind, trying to hear better, all he heard was soft breathing. 'He's asleep?'

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar

The door to the steel room opened and a man in white with red hair walked through, sizing up the three with his eyes inquiring their business.

Squall handed him a letter. "Here's a letter of introduction from Esther's ambassador."

The man read it over briskly, then folded it with a general understanding and placed it his pocket, looking over the three for the girl in question. "Wow... What is she, 17, 18... Is she dead?" The man walked over to Rinoa, looking closely.

"Don't touch her." Squall's voice was cold and dead serious to a point where it was almost freighting.

With a clearing of his throat and a few steps back, the main spoke again. "I understand the situation. Let's get her to the med lab and we'll talk there. Please follow me." The Medical examiner said defensively. He introduced himself as Piet.

And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there

He lead them through the Lunar Gate towards a particular room. The walls and floors were a polished Steel so clean that you could see your refection in it, the ceiling and left wall (Window) was made of thick glass, probably bullet proof. It had a great view of space, over looking thousands of sparkling stars.

They eventually came to a round room with a seemingly bed like capsule in the center. Squall laid Rinoa down in it, and it closed around her, covering everything but her head.

"I've talked to my crew." Piet had done that on the way here, reassuring Squall and Irvine. "Everything will be alright. Come, let's go to the control room." Piet waved them over as he walked out of the room, leading the way. The man took one last look back, noticing Rinoa looked so pale, but peaceful.

Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey

Walking threw the halls they came to a stairway leading to the second floor with a doorway way just in front, telling them this was it, Piet lead them inside.

It was a room with large windows composing the walls, under the glass panes were streams of machinery, control panels and terminals each with it's own purpose. Looking out from here the view was even better then the one before it. "Geez... What a view, eh, Squall?" Irvine said, looking out in to the horizon of stars.

A woman at the main control panel looked back when she heard the comment "This is no time to be impressed. Look at the monitor there."

Piet took his own look first, then allowed Squall and Irvine to do so while he moved hastily to another one of the panels, this couldn't be good. The screen was a camera view of the moon from here.

"What's goin' on?" Irvine looked at it closely, trying to figure out what was happening... seeing a small button beside the screen that he recognized, Irvine did his best to enhance the picture.

The view zoomed in as much as possible, but as far as they could see was that red and black stuff was forming on the side of the Lunar surface, all of it was moving around as it was living. 'What the hell is this!' Squall peer down into the screen, staring at it nervously. He wasn't sure what it was but he was sure it shouldn't have been there.

"Nasty! The monsters, they're everywhere. This is not good." Irvine's eyes narrowed slightly as he shook his head, just watching made him shutter.

The woman looked back at them, still working diligently. "'The lunar world of monsters.' Didn't you learn that in school? As you can see, the monsters are gathering at one point. History's about to repeat itself. The Lunar Cry is starting."

That's when everything hit Squall, this was a really, really bad thing...and there was nothing they could do about it now.

Piet finally told Squall what he wanted to hear after he deemed he'd stalled long enough. "Ellone, she's upstairs."

! -! - !

She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's time to grow, hey, hey

Ellone could hardly believe it when Squall walked in to the room, it was so surprising just to him come in with out warning, carrying that same expression she remembered him always having. "Squall, I'm so happy to see you again."

Squall rubbed the back of his head and smiled "Me too." He actually sounded happy to see her.

"I'm so sorry." Ellone stood up from the bed she had been sitting on, walking up to him with her head downcast. "I got you involved in so many things...so much hardship."

Squall knew she was referring to the dreams they had randomly phased out into from time to time. "It's alright, I understand. I understand what you were trying to do. Were we of any help?"

Ellone sat down on the bed again, laying her hand in her lap and looked up at him with bright eyes. "Of course! You were my eyes, thanks to you guys, I was able to see how much I was loved. I couldn't change the past but just seeing it was more than enough." Ellone gave a small nod to Irvine, indicating that she was talking to him too. "Thank you so much."

"It's ok." Squall shook his head, lifting his hand discardingly. "I came here because I need your help... You said you can't change the past, right?"

"You can find out things about the past that you never knew. And from what you've learned, you may see some things differently in the present." Ellone spoke with her own personal experinces as she explained it "You're the one that changes, not the past."

"Really? There's no way to change the past?" Squall's voice and his face showed his disappointment, but also his underlying hope, he wouldn't give up that easily, not after coming all they way here. "No, I want to find out myself. Take me to Rinoa's past. I need to see the past through Rinoa. I want to find out what happened to her, and I want to try to warn her…"

Now that she's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane

"...You want to save her, You don't want to lose Rinoa?" Ellone asked. Squall nodded. "Squall, I can't, I don't know Rinoa. I told you I can only send people I know in the present into people I knew in the past."

"I brought Rinoa with me, She's resting in the med lab. Please... come with me."

If that was what Squall wanted...Ellone nodded, and stood to her feet.

! - ! - !

Squall lead her down the hall and down the stairs to the first floor, when just as they reached the bottom step a red light started to flash and an alarm went off. Squall stopped, looking around in confusion. "What's going on?"

The intercom flared to life. "Red Alert! Red Alert! All units report to med lab, stat!" It was Piet, and more importantly Rinoa was in the Med Lab.

"Med lab... Rinoa? I'll check it out!" Squall glanced back over his shoulder, looking back at Ellone "It doesn't look good, Ellone, you'd better go wait in the control room." Ellone move past him, heading in the opposite direction to the control room. "Irvine, keep an eye on Ellone."

Irvine nodded "Okay."

Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land

Squall ran down the halls, moving as fast as he could to the Lab, but on the way he found just about the whole staff laying knocked out and scattered around outside his detonation. A man came flying through, crashing in to the wall in front of him just as he was about the enter the door, making him step back quickly to evade. Rinoa came through after the men, but Squall could see immediately that something was different about her. Her eyes were wide in a daze, she walked in an almost zombie like manner. And a faded version of herself seemed to tail behind her, spreading in to 3 of them, more faded then the last in a strange distortion. "Rinoa!" He tried to get close to her but he was tossed back in to the wall before he even got in range...

She stumbled in to the control room while a dazed Squall was getting himself together. (You alright?) Ifrit asked.

Squall pushed himself off the ground and immediately ran after her. 'Yeah, fine.' Squall inquired which way Rinoa had went and immediately followed. At a full sprint it was only a few seconds until he was back at the control room, finding everyone was scatted unconscious around the except for Irvine, he was trying to stop her, but she tossed him away with seemingly superhuman strength.

Irvine nearly landed on top of Squall, sliding into the door narrowly beside him. "Squall, Rinoa's gone crazy!" he said frantically as Squall helped him up, but by then it was too late.

"No!" Ellone watched helplessly as Adel's Tomb Level 1 Seal was deactivated by a switch in the control room, she had no choice but to stand aside knowing there was no way to stop her.

Rinoa kept moving, pushing Squall out of the way and in to the wall despite his best attempt to stop her again. Ignoring Squall for the moment, Irvine headed over to the computer screen residing in the main hall. He was pretty sure the sound he was hearing wasn't coming from the ship, and unfortunately he was right. "Hey look! Stuff on the moon's going berserk."

With a small grunt, Squall climbed off of the floor and made his way over to Irvine... "It's overflowing with monsters." Monsters were starting to pile up on each other, so much that it they were starting to actually fall off the moon's surface.

"It's finally starting………" Piet pushed the two of them aside, pounding his fist down on to the screen in frustration knowing he was helpless. All of this had to have some type of connection, or just horrible timing. "The Lunar cry."

"If that's the case, we definitely have to stop her."

Piet pressed a few buttons the keyboard, shifting to the internal cameras. "If she plans to free Adel, she'll have to go out there. The Level 2 Seal is located on Adel's Tomb."

Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day

Squall ran up to the second floor, the only thing that was able to distract him was a crew member looking on out the window in horror. "Look! The Moon!"

Squall paused to take a look, unable t help but draw back in surprise... Monsters begain to flow off of the moon, A mass of them coming down as a visible drop at first, but as more of the creatures began to gather steady stream of them started fall from the moon's surface like a fluid. "Tons of monsters...! I...I believe they're headed for Tears' Point in Esthar..."

Right now that wasn't Squall's concern, he only continued for the locker room just ahead deciding to discard it for the moment.

Ifrit, however, didn't (Esther...But isn't that where...)

Inside the locker room Squall could see Rinoa in a spacesuit, heading out of the airlock for the gate outside. "Rinoa!"

(Squall, look to your left)

Squall followed instructions, spotting another Spacesuit in a room just beside him. He quickly rushed in to the room and put it on, heading to the airlock in the next room.

And head back to the Milky Way
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind

The airlock was, basically, a large metal tube leading to space, and the gate on the other side was already open. "Rinoa!"

Squall drifted upward, trying his best to make it to her in the weightless environment. But Rinoa had far to great a lead and already went through, hard steel gate closing behind her, locking Squall out. Silently swearing to himself he had no other choice but to turn around head back in to the control room.

! -! - !

When he finally made it, he found Ellone watching the screen, evident surprise over her face. "Oh gosh! The Lunar Cry is starting! Rinoa is going to be swallowed by the flood of monsters." She was right, recognizing who it was even though her identity was masked by the suit she wore.

"That can't be Rinoa." Irvine leaned forward hopefully, trying to distinguish someone else besides Rinoa...

Piet looked on helplessly, she hated being helpless. "Damnit! The seal's gonna be broken!"

Looking out they could see Rinoa grabbing on to the Adel's seals, pressing some switches and inputting some codes into a panel on the side. Air poured out from sides and Adel started to move, opening her eyes...the seal was broken... All while the Lunar cry was coming closer.

"Rinoa!"

Piet grabbed Squall, tearing him away from the panel, pulling toward the back of the room where a lift resided. "Come on. We have to evacuate! Now!"

"Geeez! Rinoa! Isn't there anything we can do?" Irvine asked, still retaining some hope even though things looked...hopeless for here. There was no response.

"Squall, you should be protecting Rinoa, not me. You're the only thing on her mind right now. She's calling you." Ellone told him, her words were able to prompt him to stop struggling and comply with Piet.

"Ellone, take me to Rinoa. Please."

Piet forced Irvine inside "Next! Hurry!"

Was it everything you wanted to find
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

"I don't know if I can send you... I don't know." Ellone climbing down in to the Escape Pod, Squall following...

The escape pod detached, falling to safety as the Lunar Cry enveloped Adel's Tomb, throwing Rinoa away from the seal...

The inside of the pod was small, almost claustrophobic in nature. Piet, Irvine and Ellone were standing, locked into the walls by heavy restraints. Squall was the only one that wasn't locked in, he was on his knees on the shaky ground staring up desperately at Ellone, all despite Ifrit's pleading for him to get up before he killed himself. "GOD! Rinoa is gonna die! ...I can't take it. Ellone, please... I've never felt this way in my life!" Squall screamed, almost collapsing.

"………….."

"Take me to Rinoa...to her past."

Ellone dropped her head, looking down on him in light defeat. "Ok. It may not work, but we'll try, ok?"

Outside the Lunar Base was caught up the Lunar Cry, swallowed in the hoard of monsters descending toward earth. Luckily the pod was shifted in a different course.

Ellone tried... even though she never met Rinoa... Taking Squall back to the desert prison, when Squall told her he had gone to far back, Ellone went forward a little.

Squall could see Rinoa and Zell Garden.

"Squall's ring? I dunno where he bought it." Zell rubbed the back of his head lightly feeling as if he had forgotten something, in actuality, Zell had bought it for Squall's birthday back in the orphanage, but because of the Junction he couldn't remember it.

"I want the same one. It looks really cool, doesn't it?" Rinoa said excitedly.

"You mean the one with some monster carved on it?"

Rinoa nodded. "YEAH!"

"Alright..." Zell lifted his hand to his chin and titled his head upward in thought. "How 'bout I make you one? I'm pretty good at that kinda stuff."

Rinoa looked at him even more excitement, her eyes lighting up brightly. "Really? Sure, OK!"

"Let's have Squall show us the real thing."

And all at once Rinoa's excitement faded. "...We can't do that."

"Why not?"

Rinoa's hands shifted behind her and she looked away with a light blush."...It's embarrassing." "Say what? Oh…"

"No! It's not what you think!"

! - ! - !

Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong

That wasn't it, but at least Squall understood why Zell asked him for the ring a little better.

Ellone tried again, this time she brought them to the Galbadia Garden auditorium. It was when Rinoa was talking to Seifer, the truth was that Ultimecia had possessed her, transferring from Edea. Ultimecia also told Seifer about the Lunatic Pandora. He couldn't do anything to save her though.

Ellone came out of the safety lock, dropping to her knees with heavy breaths. "Did you get to find out what happened to Rinoa? Were you able to change the past?"

Squall grabbed on to the wall, pulling himself on to his feet. "I couldn't do anything... What should I do?"

Ellone just looked up at him with uncertainly. "I remember those eyes." She said, a light smile forming on her features. "You just looked at me with the same eyes you had when you were little. Those curious, innocent, puppy dog eyes, I loved those eyes."

"That's in the past."

"That's right. What's important is right now I finally realized that."

Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had . . . and me

"I have to help Rinoa now. That's the only thing I can do, Right?" Squall was sure of himself, he was sure that could be the only other way.

"Yes. Talk to her, Squall. Your voice may not reach her, but your heart will. Are you ready? I'm taking you to the nearest past... To the closest present to the future…"

Squall nodded.

He could see her, drifting in space helplessly...

'Am I...gonna make it...? How? I can't do anything... Drifting...endlessly. I'm helpless…' Her life support was low and running out, she knew it too. With her mind now clear, and completely aware of everything that had just persisted, the only thing she could think of is what lay ahead 'No...I'm...That's it. I'm gonna... I'm gonna...die...Good bye. Squall…'

Squall called out to her "Rinoa! No! Don't give up!" He yelled out as loud as he could, hoping against hope that she would just hear.

'………….?'

"Can you hear me? It's Squall... Rinoa! Rinoa!"

She heard him! She heard him! Rinoa began to pant from lack of air, trying hard not to give up, she couldn't now.

"Rinoa, come on! Try to remember!"

She focused on Squall, she felt him, and she felt a warmth surrounding him, surrounding everything about him, it was surreal almost like another presence, it had an amplifying effect.

Her breath grew weak, starting to suffocate…………

"Rinoa! I'm right there with you! Listen to me!"

Finally she started to drift in to unconsciousness, her body drifted through the endless space.

….

…….

……….

A chain necklaces wrapped around her neck started to rise, floating in front of her. She could see it, Squall's ring, and the ring Zell had made for her, just barely through half lidded eyes... she could see the imprint of Griever clearly... She could suddenly feel it, she could feel him, she could feel Griever's power surrounding her body, and Squall in her mind. As odd as this was she didn't care. her breath returned to her, she could breathe!

'I'm ...still... ...alive? Squall...?'

Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day

! - ! - !

Squall was pulled out of the dream like state, snapping back to life with a decision made. "I'm gonna find Rinoa." Was the first thing out of his mouth.

"You didn't need my help at all." Ellone told him with that same smile on her face.

Squall turned to the ladder with, glancing back with a light smile. "Thanks Sis."

"Y-You're going outside? You're crazy!" Irvine didn't think he could make it.

"Idiot! There's no way he can get back! He's insane! He's gonna run out of fuel and life-support in no time. They're both gonna die." Piet tried to stop him, but his words did no good, before he could even think about physically stopping him Squall had the air lock open and was halfway into space. "Damnit."

And head back toward the Milky Way

He looked around at the bright stars around, they were so clear from here... 'Rinoa... Where are you? I'm gonna find you, no matter what...' He spotted her, he could see her drifting toward him... 'I have to get in front of her... ...And catch her…'

He spotted her! Rinoa was drifting toward him, all he had to do was... Squall reached out, forcing his way in front of her, with a little repelling from Ifrit, and caught her in his arms.

"Squall...thank you. I heard your voice."

"...I can't believe it."

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded

"Are we gonna make it?"

Squall was low and fuel and air, just as Piet said, it didn't looked good... They both watched as a thick cloud of monsters fell down from the moon to the earth, carrying Adel's seal with it. From what it looked like, the stream was heading directly in to the Lunatic Pandora.

'What now? Die in space? I'm so helpless... I can't even save Rinoa? Come on, think!'

And that heaven is overrated

(Squall, you can do this! You came so far, it won't end like this.) Ifrit told him, nearly screaming it at him if it would help him understand.

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar

With little air left in his reserve, Squall looked around franticly through the endless sea of stars.

(Squall! There! What is that?) Ifrit directed him toward what he saw it, thinking it as another monster.

It floated the shade of the Moon, carried down and discharged by the Lunar Cry. A red airship, the Ragnaork.

'That's not a monster...it's a ship!'

(Go for it.)

And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there

With a silent nod he tightened his grip on Rinoa. "Rinoa, hold on…"

Squall and Rinoa drifted towards the Ragnaork, the ship was spinning, but they managed to grab on to the door.

! - ! -!

Drops of Jupiter by Train