Clash of the Gardens

Persistence

Headmaster Cid Kramer walked into his office. The new day seemed to be too peaceful of a day to break horrible news on those who looked up to him. Everything had worked against him. Everyone seemed to be sweeter than usual when he made his way into his office. I don't understand. Things are always perfect just when the unexpected occurs. Seems like fate has a way of treating us right before it tricks us and knocks us down. Oh, when will we see a truly peaceful age? One year was enough for us, I guess." He sighed in between his thoughts as if using his own voice. "But little does fate know that I have found a way to play my piece in this Chess game of Life.

"Sir, pardon the intrusion." Xu said while entering through his doors.

"No problem, Xu. What is it?"
"The Galbadian's are giving us two days to make up our minds. It seems that Deling wants to be seen as a compassionate man. He claims that he will wait for our decision because he knows this is hard on us, seeing that we have lost so many troops to Esthar's soldiers."

"…Well, I guess we should be thankful that we have just those two days at least. Still, prepare those that I told you to gather up. I'll begin issuing them orders after my two days of making a decision."

"Yes, sir. I'll get right on it."

"Xu?" Cid always had a way to keep her inside right before she was dismissed. She looked at the old man.

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"Please tell them to enjoy these few days we have left."

"I will. But, sir, please don't act as if these are our last times."

"I know, Xu. Just…"
"I heard you loud and clear, Sir." She exited the room quickly. He turned to the window and looked down at his personnel with their young minds hard at work. He hated giving good people bad news.

Squall could hear her footsteps behind him, though her footsteps were at a much slower pace. Obviously, she wasn't used to long walks. She didn't want to be a pain to him, so she held on as long as she could. After a few yards, he thought the sound of her shoes hitting the ground had vanished. He continued walking before he realized his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. Finally, he looked back and saw her on the ground. She was gasping for air, and her mouth looked dry. She seemed to be dehydrated, and hungered for food or water, anything that would help her to walk. He walked back to her and looked down at her.

"Get up." Her eyes were closing quickly. "I said, get up!" She had closed her eyes now, and he found his heart's beating pick up. "Rinoa! Get up!" Finally she coughed and managed to open her eyes again. To his surprise, a smile much like the one earlier had formed on her lips. Again, he made that quizzical face. Even though she smiled, she was still in no mood to answer his orders. She dropped down to the ground. He didn't know what to do with her.

He scratched the back of his head with his gloved hand and looked around almost in total panic. It was obvious that she wasn't dead, but still, it didn't look like she wouldn't be rising anytime soon. He knelt down beside her and grabbed her hand.

Quickly, he tossed her on his back and walked across the plains. He was surprised that she was incredibly light, and hadn't once hurt his back; although, the weight of her and the length he had walked seemed to strike at his legs. Squall was becoming tired.

As he looked up, he could swear his eyes were playing tricks on him. A river flowed just a mile ahead of where he stood. The closer he brought himself, the more he felt like he too would pass out on the plains of Timber.

When Rinoa opened her eyes, she was surprised to find a piece of wet cloth on her forehead. She moved it away and looked around. She saw that her head was inches away from a peaceful flowing river. Quickly, she crawled to the riverbed and placed her hands into the water. Forming any type of cup she could with just her hands, she scooped out enough water that would quench her thirst. After managing to get a few drinks of water into her mouth, she had finally sat up. She stretched her arms above her head and smiled, realizing that somehow, she was still alive. Rinoa looked around and finally spotted him, seated on the ground, his back against a large boulder. She got to her feet and walked to him. Squall sat and looked into the river, wishing he could just toss a certain someone there and never have to worry about her again.

He hadn't realized how tired he was until he stopped and took a drink from the river. Maybe later on he would thank her for making him see that he needed a break? Before he could decide if later was a good time, there she was. Standing and glowing beside the calm, and what seemed like stilled, river. He had wondered if it were moving at all. Turning his attention toward her, he remained silent. A silence, she had quickly gotten used to now. It was a peaceful silence, and she was glad to see he wasn't trying to kill her again. Maybe he would kill her if she took any longer to say anything, she could tell that he was becoming uncomfortable with her just staring at him. She opened her mouth, but was surprised to hear him speak first.

"You don't have to say anything! Just take advantage of this break right now because we won't take another break until we're on that boat to Balamb, and I mean it!" He tried to make his voice seem as angry and bitter as possible, but she knew better than that. He had never turned his head to look at her. She took a seat at the edge of the river and smiled.

He watched her sit at the river's edge and notice how silent she could make herself. She looked so innocent, almost like a child. Even he knew a person should never have to suffer so much, but then, he realized that he too had been put up with enough. All his life, he seemed to be alone. No matter what he did, he was always alone. Growing up in an orphanage, shipped out to a place full of others who's statuses were just like his, and being trained to put his emotions to use. Even as he was beginning to mature and train to become a SeeD, he did everything on his own. He learned to take his emotions and turn them into power.

His anger, his hate, his love, but what love did he have? He always did feel empty, and sad. Alone. Without parents, who would make him feel like a human being should? Maybe the girl was right about what she told him yesterday? Maybe he was inhuman and heartless? Maybe he didn't care about anyone, after all, nobody ever gave him the kind of comfort he needed when growing up. The only comfort or encouragement he got was from an instructor, yelling at him to try again, and to be stronger. Not to be a crybaby anymore. What kind of comfort was that? It was turning him into a monster, and it had turned him into a monster.

Somehow, when he looked at this girl's face, he could see the pain deep within her soul. He knew she didn't understand him, and she would probably never understand how he felt. His life was a wreck, and the only way he felt like he could make a difference, was by taking orders and following them, and successfully completing them. This was his life, and no one could take it away from him, no one. Not even that sad face of hers…sad face? She was trying to hide the fact that she had started crying. It was so obvious, that even he could tell. Quickly, she wiped her eyes and smiled again, as if nothing had ever happened. Now she turned her body and looked at him with that same smile.

"…I was going to say, earlier, that you said my name for the first time. Thanks." Without waiting for his reply, she turned forward and looked into the water.

"…It's okay." He said while closing his eyes as he pushed back more into the boulder. She wasn't sure if he had said anything at all, but she knew he would be too proud to admit that he did. Without going into any further details, she decided to leave it at that.

They had made some progress now and were coming close to seeing Dollet, but it seemed to be so far out of reach. Unlike before, she was actually quiet and keeping up with him. She almost found herself passing him up, but feared that he would decide that she was strong enough to look out for herself. There seemed to be an even bigger forest up ahead, and the forests near Dollet were always trouble. He began to realize that he was nearing the same place his past mission had instructed him to reach. He could make out the sightings of the thieves' workplace. He suddenly realized that he had wiped them out entirely, and no danger should threaten them as they approached the forest. There was a strange sound coming from Rinoa, and she quickly moved away from him almost embarrassed.

"Please don't tell me that was what I thought it was." Squall said without looking at her.

"…I'm sorry. I haven't eaten or slept for three days now."

"Huh? Why n-" He stopped asking his question. Not wanting to here her whimpers, he quickly dug into his pocket and took out a snack bar he had stashed aside for his mission, but now it would become a chew toy for her. "Eat that quickly, I don't want any monster to pick up the scent." She smiled and took the bar from his hand. As she peeled back the foil, she looked up at him and gestured it to him near his face. "W-what?" He said while moving back his head as if in defense.

"Want a piece? I'm sure you're hungry, too."

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself, but don't blame me if you get hungry later on!" Before she could take a bite, he grabbed the bar and broke one piece off. He handed it back to her and walked ahead. She could only laugh at him. Watching him chew on the food was even more hilarious, and he could only continue walking ahead, too embarrassed to look at her. "Why didn't you just say that you were hungry? As a matter of fact, why didn't you eat it before?"

"I forgot it was in my pocket, so be quiet and thankful that you have something to eat right now."

"Squall, don't be so angry all of the time. It's bad for your health." He could only find himself thinking: You're bad for my health! He decided not to voice his opinion and lead her into the forest; hopefully, some monster would answer his prayers and eat her alive. She finished the last of the snack bar, and stuffed its paper into her pocket; Rinoa was never one to litter the natural environment.

She wiped her mouth and looked around. Somehow, the forest was quiet and peaceful. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be when they were first approaching. In her already hungry state, her nervousness made the air within her body stir, causing her stomach to growl like a hungry tiger. She laughed a little to herself, but stopped suddenly when she saw that Squall had paused. She ran beside him and looked around.

"What's the matter, Squall? What do you see?"
"Be quiet." He whispered to her. For a second, she waited. There wasn't any sign of anything. She took a step behind him and waited for him to investigate.

"I don't see anything."

"Be quiet!" He said while a Cockatrice flew from above, its lightning attack coming down upon them. Squall managed to grab her as he jumped to dodge the lightning bolt as well. He countered the bird with a water spell, and rose to his feet quickly to pierce its chest. The bird gave its death cry before Squall slung it off his sword. Rinoa stood to her feet in haste.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" She said, still Squall's face seemed to be worried when he turned to her. "What is it?"

"Shut up!" She didn't understand him. His personality, who in the world was he? She wouldn't stand for it any longer, no more would he tell her to shut up. He was so rude and Rinoa couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop telling me to shut up like I'm some-" Before she knew it, he pulled her body and pressed her against a wide tree then placed his hand over her mouth. He moved his body to suppress hers and gave her full eye contact. She was shocked to hear the sounds of troops marching far away, and a Galbadian truck passing through the forest.

He looked at the troops passing and then moved his eyes back to Rinoa. When he was sure that it was all of them, he held her there for a moment before releasing her. Rinoa was scared, and he could feel her heart racing, as was his, while the Galbadian's passed; but what mostly scared Rinoa wasn't about the Galbadians, it was the first time she had looked directly into his eyes. His eyes were filled with concern for their safety, and probably not for whatever she was looking into them for. Her heart was still racing by the second, as he stood before her.

For the first time, she noticed the scar on his forehead. It wasn't an open wound, almost like it had healed over time, but the impression was still there. A pink line slashing his eyebrow and over his nose to the other side of his face, she felt herself sigh against his hand. His breathing was like fire on her skin, and she tried so hard to break that eye contact she kept with him. He spoke in between breaths in a whisper.

"The next time…I tell you…to be quiet, you listen to me. Do you understand?" She was too embarrassed to look at him directly. "Do you understand!" She mumbled against his hand what he interpreted to be a 'Yes.' Slowly he released her from his grasp. He backed away and let her move from the tree. He didn't seem to be distracted by any of their closeness at the moment, at least, as far as she could tell. Squall looked the other way and became more concerned about which way the soldiers had passed.

"I didn't mean to say anything! I didn't know what to do! Why can't you understand that I just made a mistake?" She had begun to cry again. In reality, she needed something to cry about.

After seeing the Galbadians pass them by, she realized that no matter how peaceful her journey away from home was, the reality was that she too wasn't free. Her home was completely destroyed, and her closest friends, lost, but now she too would be lost among them. In a matter of time, she too would be deceased, perhaps joining her friends in a peaceful, eternal slumber.

With that thought, she charged to attack him for being so insensitive, and for living on as strong as he was without even having the courage to comfort her or care about life itself. She outreached her arms in offense, charging at him for being negative and so uncaring towards everyone. She charged at him angrily, and he grabbed her only to pin her to the ground.

He put one of his legs over both of hers, and held her upper body down by her fore arms with his hands. Still, she attempted to throw punches at him with her fist that were dangling helplessly in the air. He could've laughed at her pathetic punches, but dared not to let her see that he was amused by her weak attempts to injure him. She cried aloud while he continued to watch her miserable struggle.

"Why! Zone! Watts!" She managed to get enough strength to boost herself from the ground for only a slight second, but Squall used more force and held her down. "Chief! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so weak! I can't even help you all!" Squall watched this woman pour her soul into her cries, and something inside him pitied her.

"Shut up!" He didn't want to pity her, nor did he want anything to do with her. He didn't know this woman, and he didn't want her to be around him any longer. But still, he couldn't find the strength to leave her as she wept on the ground underneath his grasp. "Be quiet and quit your whining!" He told her. "You'll never get anywhere if you keep calling yourself weak! If you keep sobbing and crying everywhere, you'll only become weaker everyday. If you would just focus that energy somewhere else, you would have nothing to fear. So find something new, and protect it. That will give you determination! In the meantime…" He saw her arms relax, and her crying began to calm down. He eased his grasp as well, and in a whisper he told her, "…don't cry." His grip eased again and finally he released her, but before he could move, her arms were around his shoulders and he was being pulled to the ground. "…Rinoa."

He rose from the ground with her clinging to him, and he didn't know what to do.

"Squall…Thank you." She squeezed her arms around his neck and cried into his chest. "Thank you." She said again and never let her arms release him. He was never comfortable with the closeness of any person, even when sitting in classrooms with others. His personal space went a long way, but for some reason, he couldn't make himself push this woman off. He couldn't believe she was holding onto him, but he wouldn't dare to lead her own. It was at that moment that he realized how badly she needed someone there, to hug him of all people? He was the only person around, that's why she hugged him. He also realized that they would need to leave soon, but Rinoa didn't want to move. He was able to shake off this new sensation.

"Rinoa, we have to catch that boat." He said, immediately yet slowlypushing her away.

"What boat-Oh yeah! ...I'm sorry."

"What did I tell you about apologizing? When will you ever learn?" She could only smile while letting go of him. They stood and followed the road where the Galbadians were heading. Squall wondered what danger lied up ahead, seeing that Galbadians would now take interest in Dollet, as if they hadn't done enough damage in Timber.

He wouldn't let anything else happen to these people, he swore it. The passion of his duties in his eyes, Rinoa looked at Squall, and he hadn't noticed, but she saw something in those eyes. She saw his passion burning brilliantly as he looked at Dollet from afar. The way he had let her stay on his body without throwing her away angrily, said something more to her. Something about this man was now eating away at her, and whether she knew it or not, she was a piece of the passion burning in his eyes.