Chapter 6: Realization (Quistis)
Say you were split, you were split in fragments
And none of the pieces would talk to you
Wouldn't you want to be who you had been
Well, baby I want that, too
So better take the keys and drive forever
Staying won't put these futures back together
All the perfect drugs and superheroes
Wouldn't be enough to bring me up to zero
Baby you're great, you've been more than patient
Saying it's not a catastrophe
But I'm not the girl you once put your faith in
Just someone who looks like me
So better take the keys and drive forever
Staying won't put these futures back together
All the perfect drugs and superheroes
Wouldn't be enough to bring me up to zero
A lump under covers rolls over in bed and opens their eyes when they find it empty. Groaning, I sit up and look around, rubbing my eyes. The blinds are still drawn, but the clothes are gone from the floor, worrying me a little. Throwing my legs over the side and stepping on the cold floor I shiver. A throbbing between my eyes has me hesitating; the bed is so warm and dark. The floor isn't. With a sigh I push up off the mattress and zombie-walk over to my stereo, flipping it on and dressing in clean underwear and a bra and tank top. Standing in the middle of the room, I look around for any sign that someone was here and find none. Falling back onto my bed I tug the covers over myself and bury my head under my pillows.
Just as I am falling back into blissful slumber, my head full of images that come right before you slip into the land of the sandman, I realize I'm cold. My blankets are gone, room cold, air bad, my mind cannot put together a coherent thought. I shoot up and glare at the person standing in front of me, holding my duvet just out of reach, curse him to hell.
"I thought you left. Give me back my damn covers, its freezing in here. And somehow I know that I can blame that on you, too." He returns my cutting glance with that infuriating grin, but doesn't hand me my blankets. Ever since he's started staying over I cannot enter my apartment without putting on a winter parka and three pairs of wool socks, it seems.
"I think it feels good in here. Cid called us up to his office. You were out cold, so I let you sleep, but now you have to get up." I pout and he almost relents and gives me back the covers. Almost. Instead he goes to my dresser and pulls out some clothes for me to put on, throwing them on the bed next to me.
"What did Cid have to say?" I pull the sweatshirt over my head and, slipping my feet through the jeans I stand up and pull them on the rest of the way before turning to look at him.
"We have a mission from Laguna. Apparently some girl in Winhill got abducted and messed up pretty bed and he's paying to have it investigated. We're leaving in two hours, and he said not to wear our uniforms there but to take them with us." I shiver and he comes over and wraps his arms around me, his amused green eyes staring into my freezing blue. He's always so warm, I snuggle into his arms and place my cheek against his chest. I could just stand here all day, with his arms around me.
"Are we all being dispatched?" I look up at him, drawing back a little to do so.
"Rinoa and all. Must be a pretty important person to Laguna to ask for all of us." Not all of us, I think. It still worries me that there's been no news from Selphie. When I called Trabia they said she was gone, that she had resigned and left weeks before my call. I don't know what to think of that, and I have nothing else to go on. She literally turned in her letter of resignation and left on the same night, and I've not been able to track her past a bank in Galbadia. I pull away from Seifer and walk over to my closet, looking for a duffle bag.
"Every person in Winhill is important to him. Have you already packed?" Glancing over my shoulder I see him nod towards his duffle bag outside the bedroom door. "Good, then you can help me pack. First I have to take a shower though, and fix this damn air, I'm freezing!" He shakes his head and turns to go into the living room. I head into the bathroom and proceed to take a very hot shower. When I come out I pack my bathroom things and open a drawer to look for clothes to take with me. I shove in two pairs of jeans, three sweaters, some tee-shirts, socks and my boots. I throw in a black dress and my pajamas along with some shoes for the dress.
My head is beginning to throb even more than before, but I ignore it as best I can and pack the rest of my stuff. Reaching into my closet I pull out the garment bag that contains my SeeD uniform and hang it on the door, throwing my bag below it and a pillow with it. When I'm done I walk, stumble is more like it, into the living room and over to the couch where Seifer is reading over a mission report. I collapse with my head in his lap and my legs hanging over the arm of the couch. He puts his papers down and pushes my hair out of my eyes.
"Can you get me my Naproxin, I have a headache."
"Get it yourself." He has that damn smirk on his face again, so I whimper. He lifts my head off his lap and brings me the medicine. I swallow the blue pill and smile at him.
"So fill me in on this mission?"
"I already told you everything I know. Cid said something about learning more when we got there. Speaking of which, you need to dry your hair and then we can head out."
I sit up and kiss him, a soft leisurely kiss the usually he would follow up on with a few hours in the bed. He's changed so much, around me at least. I love him so much sometimes it scares me, and I'm even more scared to tell him so. I'm pretty sure he feels the same way, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready to say it out loud. When we part I run into my bathroom and dry my hair, before pulling it up in a messy ponytail. When I head through my bedroom I grab my glasses and put them on before grabbing my stuff and going into the living room where Seifer is waiting. He kisses me again as I reach him then just stares at me, one hand on either side of my face.
"You're beautiful, you know that?"
I smile, and almost blush. He's not often in the habit of getting mushy with me, and compliments don't occur all the time between the two of us. Usually we're too busy lobbing insults and fighting, which is just sort of our way. "Thanks. You aren't so bad looking yourself." I let my hands linger in his hair, combing the soft gold strands with my fingers before reluctantly pulling away. We exit with all of our stuff and head for the Ragnorak. Once there we board and meet up with everyone else, and it is then that I realize that Irvine won't be going with us, since he's already dispatched on a mission. I must admit that I was angry with him for a while after Selphie left, but when I saw how he reacted to her absence…well, I forgave him for whatever he'd done.
It doesn't take long before we're in the sky on our way to the tiny town. On the way I try sleeping, a hard feat when you put Zell and Rinoa in the same room. I swear, those two are so loud! After I manage to fall asleep, which I managed to do only after I sat down next to Seifer and used his lap as my pillow and my pillow as a way to block out the noise and light, it takes another hour to get to Winhill. The jarring from landing wakes me up and I sit up, yawning. Grabbing my stuff, I exit with everyone else. Laguna comes running over from the hotel and I can tell from his face that he is really worried.
"Come put your stuff in the hotel and then I'll explain what I know." We do as told and then all take seats in the conference room of the hotel, which is really just a room that they put a table in, and I think it may double as a dining room. I can tell as I look at everyone's faces that they're all thinking the same thing. Well, except Squall, who just looks angry. The whole 'Dad' thing still has him holding a grudge against Laguna. I'm anxious to get started, intrigued with the identity of the person.
"I'm glad you all could make it. As I'm sure Cid has already told you, this is about a resident of Winhill that was attacked last night. I don't take kindly to people harming the occupants of this town, and that is why you were called into this. I expect only the best for the people that live here, and the best is you."
I apply pressure to the bridge of my nose, my headache still killing me. "So could you give us the circumstances? What happened, who the victim was, stuff like that."
"Sarah, she lives in the house out on the edge of the field. She and her friend own the restaurant in town, Bene Amicos. Anyway, she went home from work on Saturday, the Leonard's saw her when she picked up her little girl and her friend's kids, and then the Nova's saw her when she dropped the kids off. That was the last time she was seen before the attack. We're assuming that someone was waiting for her when she got home."
"Assuming?" I raise my eyebrow along with Seifer. "Why don't you just ask her?" I nod my head, looking back to Laguna along with everyone else.
"She's in a coma. I went over to her house in the morning to ask her a question and found her baby girl there but not her, and then her friend Sheena arrived with her husband Drex and their kids. I'd called Kiros and Ward, and they arrived soon after that. We went out and searched for her and eventually found her in the woods." He stops talking and looks down at the table, and I notice that his jaw is clenched and he doesn't continue. Kiros, up until this point, has been leaning against the wall looking out the window, but now he speaks up. I remember that he has always been the less emotional type, unlike Laguna.
"We found her in the woods, stripped of everything but her under garments. There were cuts all over her body as though from a knife, and some marks like she had been whipped along with extreme bruising. Her face is currently so swollen that even if she weren't in a coma I doubt she could talk. And she was hung from a tree by her wrists. One arm was shattered, twisted to the point that surgery was necessary and her hair was chopped all over."
"Hanging from a tree?" Rinoa's face expresses her horror. Squall puts his arm around her shoulders before questioning Kiros.
"So, any idea why someone would want to do such a thing to her?"
"It sounds personal to me, like somebody had a grudge. Not a random attack." Seifer says just what I'm thinking, but my mind is throbbing too much for me to speak. I close my eyes and put my head down on the table.
"Is she okay?" Zell. He's sitting to my right, and I'm surprised he's still actually sitting and not up punching air. I can imagine Seifer shaking his head, and I feel him stand from the chair next to me.
"Anybody got coffee? She's got a fucking headache because she hasn't had any caffeine." Kiros walks over and out the door, and within ten minutes he returns with a steaming pot of coffee. Seifer pours me a cup, fixes it the way I like and I gulp it down, the pain between my eyes easing after the fifth sip.
As we were waiting for the coffee, Laguna's cell phone rang and he stood from the table to answer it. When he returns he looks a little less stressed.
"Good news?" Squall asks.
"Just that Sheena, Sarah's friend is out of surgery and doing well."
"What was she in surgery for?" Rinoa is quick to ask.
"She was having a little boy." We all look to the door to see a man standing there. He is older, and he smiles at Laguna. "Drex called me to tell me that she was out of danger and that Thom was born. He also said that she had a dream about Sarah. I guess she'll tell you when she gets back. I was over here to tell the lady downstairs and she said you were up here." He looks to Squall. "Don't I know you? You look familiar."
I smile, and look to Seifer, then Zell, both of whom nod their heads. "Well of course he would look familiar! He's Laguna's son." I can feel Squall's eyes shooting daggers and I smile. Sometimes it is fun to be cruel, and even more so when it happens to be Squall. His reactions are priceless, and I can totally understand why Seifer baited him all the time growing up.
"This is Mr. Leonard, everyone. Mr. Leonard, these are SeeD from Balamb Garden, here to investigate Sarah's attack."
The old man looks between Laguna and Squall a few times before he shakes his head. "Yes, a terrible thing. I don't see why anyone would want to hurt Miss Talbucks. She's such a wonderful woman. You know, maybe it was the father." He looks to Laguna as though he knows what he's talking about.
"Father? Wait, I think something was left out here, Laguna." I look to him.
"Sarah has a baby, a little girl. I mentioned it. The father is...not around?" Laguna looks to Mr. Leonard for the answers.
"Tessa, she's almost two months old now. Sarah lives alone, and she said that the father of the baby was dead, but the misses and I always got the feeling that she wasn't telling the whole truth." Mr. Leonard explains.
"Well, we can start this off with searching the house and the woods for any clues. Zell and I will search the woods, Rinoa can look through the house, and Quistis, you and Seifer see if you can find anything else around town." Squall stands up and walks to the door, Rinoa right behind him. "President Loire, show us where you found her. Or, better yet Kiros, why don't you show us." They leave with Kiros. Laguna stands.
"Kiros, could you show Zell here to the house?" The dark katalist nods, and they both leave. I look to Mr. Leonard, momentarily ignoring Laguna.
"So, Sarah hasn't lived in Winhill long?" I question Mr. Leonard.
"Um, no. She only came here about nine months ago. She and Sheena fixed up the old house next to Raine's pub and opened the restaurant in the Town Square."
"Where did she come here from? You know, that way if this is an old grudge we might be able to track it down."
"Well, she came here directly from Galbadia. That's where I ran into her, at least. She was very tight lipped about her life before coming here, though. Your best bet would be talking to the Nova's. She's real close with them." I thank the old man, and when he is gone I turn my gaze to Seifer. Through all of this, Seifer has remained by the windows, looking as though he has been paying no attention, but no he turns back and meets my eyes. The pieces are slowly fitting together in my head. Sarah showed up around the same time Selphie disappeared, in the last place that I could track Selphie, and she has a baby. Now, what would make Selphie irrational enough to resign and run away into the the night? Yeah, having a baby would. And the names are sort of similar, but not so similar that any of us would have ever tracked her down had she not been...attacked. Laguna becomes the recipient of what Rinoa and Sally dubbed my "Frosty Quisty" look.
"Sarah Talbucks?" Laguna has the distinct look of a caged animal. "How long did you think it would take me Laguna? I'm not as oblivious as Zell, and we all know that Squall was probably not listening to half of what was said. And as much as I like her, Rinoa isn't the sharpest tool in the shed." Seifer is standing behind me, and I know he's figured it out as well. As soon as I heard the last name I'd started putting things together. I guess you had to be listening to get it.
"Where is she, Laguna? Selphie, where is she?"
"She's at Galbadia Garden, in the medical unit. I wasn't lying when I said she's in a coma."
"I don't care. Take us there, now. She's not going to lie on a hospital bed all alone, and she sure as hell isn't going to get away from explaining this to me."
Seifer and I follow Laguna as he walks out to his car. He drives us to Galbadia Garden, and when we get there he leads us to the nurses station.
"I need Miss Talbucks' room number, please." The nurse looks up and then types something into her computer.
"She's in room 234, down that hall to your left." Laguna thanks her and we walk down the hall she indicated. When we reach the door marked 234 we stop, and Laguna steps back. I open the door and Seifer puts his hand on my lower back, offering support. We walk into the room and I gasp when I see the person on the bed.
"That's not Selphie, that's not her…that can't be her…" I take a few steps towards the bed, and a sob chokes me as I see her face. "Seifer…who could?" He puts his arm around my waist and looks at Selphie, shaking his head. Her face is covered with bruises and a cut that goes through her left eyebrow. A cast encloses one arm from wrist to above the elbow, and I can see the bandages that cover almost all of her exposed, dark purple skin. A feral rage fills me and I know, if I find who did this I'll kill them. They won't live long enough to see a trial. Seifer tightens his grip on me and I look up at him.
"You know I can't allow this. Nobody hurts one of my friends."
Author's Note: Well...tell me what you think. Good? Bad? Mediocre? Let me know! The song is Humpty Dumpty by Aimee Mann.
Edited 11/23/08