Clash of the Gardens
Deception
Headmaster Cid paced through his office while looking out at window's view. Panic was something he had become accustomed to during the past few days. Issues had come and gone before, but something about this upcoming battle hadn't added up. For the last hours he had tried desperately to get in contact with Trabia Garden, but they seemed to never receive the call. He had Xu and a few others try to get Trabia's attention, but it seemed as if they were purposely being ignored.
"Why would they ignore our call at a time like this? Could something have happened?" He stopped and tapped his foot, "…Maybe they're in danger?" He sighed, "I doubt that…there would have been an SOS signal. Each Garden, as I know of, was built with the automatic distress call, which would sound in times of danger. Trabia should be more alert about Galbadia. Which is what I don't understand…why haven't they returned our signals?" Cid groaned and scratched the back of his head. "…What will I tell Ms. Tilmitt? Trabia isn't aware that she's here."
Seifer looked at Galbadia's Head Quarters and smiled. Of course, the other soldiers had finally understood the young man's current thoughts. They all took one mollifying breath and walked to the building together. Seifer talked to them as they walked.
"Remember to keep your cool in there, after all, we are Galbadian Soldiers."
Ironically, his words had eased their worries. They all began to smile as the walk to the building came to a close.
The group of men entered together and headed straight for the President's chambers. Seifer led them, two behind him and three traveled behind the two; other soldiers knew that trouble was brewing. Seifer ordered two of them to split up from the group and head down another hall, which would eventually lead to the chambers anyway. The other three began to slow their pace when the President's room was in sight. Seifer smiled when he saw that two guards were posted outside Deling's doors. He looked at them and nodded his head. Because of Seifer's power, they both had high respect for him. They let him through without questions, but the others were asked to stay outside.
The President's chair was facing the wall, and the old man had to be sleeping because the room was too quiet for any mortal to take. To get his attention, Seifer cleared his throat loudly and annoyingly. He knew that Deling hated those without good manners, especially if they were his most valuable soldiers.
As expected, Deling turned the chair forward and placed a document down on the table. He removed his reading glasses and glared at Seifer, but Seifer only smirked.
"Yes, Almasy?" Seifer was surprised that the old man seemed to play dumbfounded. He realized that Deling hadn't given him any new orders, but that pointless lecture about being above the best of soldiers and remaining in Headquarters during the battle. Deling was also playing as if he hadn't made the call to Trabia, and he was playing the charade well, too. Seifer laughed softly and folded his arms.
"Sir. I just came by to talk with you, if you don't mind."
"Not at all, Almasy. Have a seat."
"No thanks, this'll just take a second." Seifer continued to smirk at the old man who had shrugged his shoulders and place the glasses on the document that he already laid on the desk.
"What can I help you with?"
"Understanding…"
"Be more specific, Seifer."
"…Well." Seifer unfolded his arms and placed them behind his back. He began to pace the floor softly, making Deling feel somewhat uncomfortable. "I remember you were telling me about being more confident in my comrades. After I sat done and put much thought into your knowledge, I realized that you were right. I should be more confident in my comrades' power; after all, if I only rely on myself, something could possibly happen where I may need they're help, right?" Seifer had stopped pacing as he asked his question, and he noticed that Deling had swallowed a lump in his throat. "Sir, what is it? Have I come up with the wrong conclusion to your lecture?"
"Oh…uh, no, it's absolutely fine." Deling placed his hands on his desk and clasped them together. He took a deep breath and smiled at Seifer. "I'm glad to see that you've taking interest in my words. I'm impressed Seifer." Deling was no fool, he knew that Seifer was up to something. His words rang clear in Deling's mind, a mockery. A grin appeared as he realized that Seifer had to have known something that he was not entitled to know. "I really am impressed." Seifer smiled after he realized that Deling had finally caught on to his charade. Deling looked at the confident young man, but the grin was no longer present. "However…" Deling started and Seifer looked at the chairs before Deling's desk. He laughed and took a seat.
"However?" Seifer questioned.
"…You know nothing of my intentions, and you will never understand."
"I believe I already do. Your obsession with power speaks for all your past decisions."
"One wouldn't call it an obsession, more of a dream."
"Weakening an opponents defenses is your dream?"
"No."
"Then a world without enemies is your true purpose, I suppose. Sounds more like a cowards way of life, doesn't it?"
"What are you getting at?"
"You want all other nations to bow down to you. You want to hold all world order, don't you?"
"As I said before, it's a working dream of mine."
"Don't talk to me about dreams, you already took my dream away from me." Seifer's eyes held a serious glare. "I can care less about your meaningless existence, but when you take me from the front line, it's a slap in the face to me."
"So you disagree with my dream, yet you want to be a part of it?"
"Shut up!"
"How dare you! Leave my chambers, immediately!"
"I'm not through talking to you, I'll leave when I'm finished." Seifer moved closer to the front of the desk. "You strategically planned this war, didn't you? I bet you had fun when calling Trabia behind our backs and setting up an ambush on Balamb, huh? Why didn't you rely on your own troops to get Rinoa Caraway back? You were afraid, weren't you? You're afraid of Balamb, and so you lied to Trabia to get them to help us! You turned to the enemy and begged for his help like a coward! You are a disgrace to all of us!"
Deling's breath was hard and his heart was pounding faster within each second. He looked at Seifer and slowly moved his hand to the panic button underneath his desk, but Seifer drew his blade and shook his head from side to side with a cruel smirk present. He moved the blade to Deling's throat and spoke in a disturbing voice, "Have you any faith, Mr. President?" Seifer smiled. Deling's yell was quickly terminated by a swift blow to the head with Seifer's Hyperion. Seifer had pulled back the trigger also, and created a disturbing image for all to witness. Seifer's eyes had remained opened as he ended the lunatic's life. He never had real respect for Deling. The man killed anyone who stood in his way, and that included innocent women and children. Deling's body fell forward onto his desk where blood soaked the papers which scattered in his fall.
Seifer took one more look at the body of President Deling and slowly, without removing his eyes from the scene, wiped the blade of his Hyperion with a piece of cloth he had taken from his pocket. He sheathed the blade on his side and walked to the doors of Deling's chambers. He opened the doors and looked at the soldiers who seemed to have heard everything. They all nodded to each other and Seifer looked at them all.
"Because of Deling's untimely death, I will take over." He spoke like a professional.
"Sir, what about General Caraway?"
"The President gave Caraway control over the protection of Deling City…the General has never bothered with our war issues and is only concerned for his daughter's safety."
"…Understood, Sir."
"In order to end what Deling has started, all of the troops here will gear up and head out to Balamb Garden. It seems that Trabia may already be headed that way as well. We don't want them to have all of the fun…do we?" Seifer laughed and walked down the hallway of the President's Chamber, his voice still audible through the halls. "This war begins now." Seifer said and disappeared around the long corridor, the others had sighed but continued to follow the madman
Rinoa walked through the Dormitory Hall and scratched her head, clueless of where to start her search. Every door looked the same, and Squall was behind one of them. She became frustrated and yelled out loud. "Squall!"
He was still lying on his bed in total confusion of the past few hours. He wasn't sure what he should think. All he needed and wanted was an answer from someone, but he would never actually ask anyone for an answer. Then, he heard a loud scream, and it was his name. His eyes shot open as he quickly sat up.
"Rinoa?" He yelled aloud. Why had he shouted her name? Why did he call out to her? He cursed himself, but stood quiet and still, maybe she wouldn't detect his room if pretended it were vacant. Suddenly he heard a knock on his door. He let out a heavy sigh and angrily rubbed his forehead.
She continued to knock on his door, "I know he's in here, I just heard him make a sound…" She banged on the door and yelled, "Squall! It's me! Please open the door."
"Go away, Rinoa."
"No!"
"Just leave me alone!"
"I'm not leaving this door! I'll sit right outside and talk to you if I have to!"
"Stop shouting through the door, I can hear you just fine. You're gonna make a scene if you don't shut up."
"Am I embarrassing you?"
"Rinoa, leave me alone!"
"Now you're the one who's shouting, Squall!"
"Fine!" He pulled the doorknob back and opened the door. She was standing there with an innocent smile on her face, which made his stomach turn horribly. She was making him sick. "What do you want?"
"Aren't you going to let me in?"
"No…just tell me what you want and go."
"…I want to talk to you, and I know that you don't want to talk with the door wide open. Like you said, 'we'll create a scene'." She snickered.
"It won't be a scene if you make it quick, now what is it?"
"What's wrong with you? You don't look so well, what happened?" He attempted to close the door, but she threw herself between the crevices. "Squall, please?"
"…Why did you lie to me?"
"I can explain. Please, just hear me out."
He sighed and let her inside of his room. He closed the door behind her and turned his back to her. "Explain…"
She looked at the floor and moved her hand to the ring on her necklace. She gripped the small ring and closed her eyes.
"After my mother died, my life was a mess and Caraway hadn't made it any better. Remember I told you about my sheltered life? He didn't allow me to go anywhere, and I was always trapped inside under his security protection. The only company I had were the old battle reports of soldiers that were fighting in wars and such. I came across a soldier's file in Timber and read the entire article about how he had to slaughter a few men just to get some respect. That's when I realized that Caraway was also behind the killings, along with Deling. I was angry that he never spoke against Deling, and he always stood by the man's decisions!"
Rinoa moved a loose strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat, "There were loads of letters sent to Deling and my father from people who lived in Timber, begging them for mercy, but my dad never replied. He threw the slips aside and ignored their pleas. After the pleas turned into threats, he put more security around our home and basically had the place on lock down. Caraway had protected me, but he never treated me like a daughter. I was always just another worry in his eyes. So finally, I felt like it was time for me to get out of there. I studied everything around the house that would aid my escape. I had finally broken free of that man's grasp! Because I had read so many reports from Timber at that man's house, I decided that Timber was where I belonged. I felt guilty about never having a choice to be able to help the people for a long time when I was living with Caraway, but now that I had freed myself, I was able to make that choice."
She took a deep breath and continued, "I knew they would never fully trust me if I told them my true background, and so I used my mother's name instead and told them I was orphaned after she died." She sighed. "…I gave you my mother's last name because I knew you wouldn't have helped me if I told you I were Caraway's daughter. Squall, I know that I don't belong here…I know that I'm responsible for so many deaths. I…I'm sorry for lying to you, but I had to, in order to escape that man's wrath." Rinoa sighed and looked at the floor.
Squall had folded his arms and moved his attention to the ceiling of his room. Here she was, telling him her entire life story, and he already knew about her. Rinoa, upon thinking Squall had ignored her, begged for his answer, "Did you hear me? …I'm sorry."
"…When will you understand that everything is not about you? I'm still trying to figure out just how all of those Faction Members died from the missile attacks, and yet you're still here… Aren't you a Faction Member?"
"Squall, I…"
"Where were you! You knew that missiles were headed that way, didn't you!" He faced her with anger filled eyes. She was frightened and could only gasp.
"…I didn't know!"
"You're nothing but a liar, Rinoa! A liar!"
"No! I am not a liar!"
"Yes, you are!"
"Squall, I had no idea he was telling the truth! I didn't know until twenty minutes before the attack! Plus, if I were present at the meeting with Trabia's Headmaster, he would've recognized me! So I listened to him and ran!" Rinoa had begun crying with shaking hands and legs. Squall noticed and softened his tone.
"Who told you to run?" Rinoa became silent. "Who!"
"…Seifer." She whispered.
"Seifer Almasy, why am I not surprised?" Irvine was telling the truth after all. Squall turned away from her and walked to his window. He looked out of the blinds and sighed.
"How did you know his name?"
"From the guy who shot you with the tranquilizer. So tell me, how close were you and Seifer?"
"We weren't exactly close. I knew that he was working for Galbadia, and he knew my father. After I told him my life story, he had given me tips about the Army's new motives. It was he who told me to contact Trabia…maybe even he that reported our next move to Deling." She sighed. "I always wondered how Deling knew about Trabia Garden being involved with us."
She sat down to the floor and held her face in her hands. Squall leaned his head forward on the blinds and listened to Rinoa's soft cries. "…No matter how many times I look at this war, I can't help but think that this is all my fault. I've brought this on everybody. Perhaps I should stay inside my dad's house and never come out. Or better yet…" She sniffled, "I should've died right there in the missile attack! I deserve to die!" She wrapped her arms around her legs and rocked back and forth while continuing to sob.
"…It was inevitable. This battle was meant to happen. You only did what was best for others and yourself, Rinoa. Don't ever think that this war is your fault, do you understand?"
"…Squall?"
"Don't you see that this war doesn't affect just you! You fought your battles because you chose to fight, and you only sought freedom, nothing more. You do only want freedom, am I right?" Rinoa had quieted down and was slowing standing up. "Galbadia wants power, and they will do anything to satisfy their wants and needs, including using people like you. Deling ordered the missile attack after your 'friend' told him that Trabia would become your allies. The attacks were meant for Trabia only, not your Factions. You all set up the date, and Deling paid the tip."
"It wasn't…about me?"
"No, it was all Deling." He turned away from the window and walked to her. "It's not your fault, as I said before. Only one person is to be held responsible for the lives of so many, and quite frankly, you're too whiney for something as menacing as that."
In all the tears, Rinoa had managed to smile the same smile that made him freeze in his tracks only days before. He looked at her face and moved a hand through his hair. His fingers rubbed the back of his head. Rinoa realized that he was blushing and trying to hide that very fact. She laughed and placed a hand on his cheek. He froze instantly.
"Thank you." She said while moving it away. He only cleared his throat and nodded, which caused her to laugh aloud. He turned away from her quickly and walked to the window. "I'm sorry, Squall!"
"Whatever."
Rinoa smiled again and turned to the door. "Well, I should probably go now."
"Rinoa…" Squall spoke suddenly, which caught her off guard.
"What is it?" She said while looking back at him as he still faced the window.
"…About your mother. What was she like?"
Rinoa was surprised. She was expecting him to talk about the war again, but never did she expect him to ask about her mother. She wondered what could have been on his mind to make him ask. "…She was…" Rinoa hadn't given serious thought about her mother since they talked about their rings. "She was a very nice woman with an incredible singing voice. She was very pretty, too. I really admired her because…she was strong." Rinoa looked down at the ring and clasped it again. "…Why would you ask about her?"
"…Uh…I was curious. That's all…" He responded with his eyes still focused on the outside view.
"Squall." She felt like he was hiding something from her, something that could have been worrying him. Maybe even causing him strife. She faced him now and leaned her back on his door. "…You can tell me."
"It's nothing."
"Come on, please?"
"…I'm sorry I asked." He mumbled, but she clearly heard his words.
"Yeah, you better be, but Squall…just tell me what's on your mind."
"Never mind, it's not important."
"I'm not going to laugh!"
"I'm not kidding around, Rinoa, just go!"
"So we're back to the throwing me out thing, are we?"
"Get out." He turned to face her.
"No." She folded her arms to stand her ground.
"Get out!" He said while walking toward her quickly.
"No!" Squall grabbed her arm and moved her aside while opening his door. "Squall!" He grabbed her hand and pushed her out. "Hey! What's gotten into you?" She ran back in and slammed the door. He turned away from her and put his hand over his eyes. "I know you're angry, and you're not used to saying anything to anyone, but I want you to trust me! You won't get anywhere in life if you don't put your trust in anyone else, Squall. Please, I'm not going to hurt you, I swear!"
Squall kept his hand over his eyes and the other went on his hip. "…Raine Leonhart." The name of the woman who gave birth to him was all he could manage. Rinoa thought about it for a moment and took a deep breath as it registered that the woman named could possibly be his mother.
"Your mother…"
"My birth mother, but never my mother. She didn't get a chance to be my mother because…" He trailed off in the midst of his words.
"…What happened?"
"…She was killed by Deling."
"Oh Squall…I am so sorry." She touched his back, but he shook her off.
"Stop it!"
"What is wrong with you?"
"I don't need your pity! I told you what was on my mind, now leave me alone."
"But-"
"Go!" He angrily gestured his hand back so that she would flinch and take the hint, but Rinoa just stood there. He moved his hand from his eyes to his mouth with a sigh. Rinoa could tell that he was about to cry, but he didn't want her to see.
"…You're afraid of me, aren't you?"
"…What?" He tried to act as if he were dumbfounded.
"You're afraid to let me see you cry…" She touched his shoulder and turned him around, but he pushed her against the door.
"What is your problem, Rinoa? Why do you insist on torturing me?"
"I'm not trying to hurt you! I just want to you to know that I'm here for you!"
"Yeah, but for how long!" He wasn't aware that tears had escaped his eyes, and freely fell from his face. Rinoa looked at him and felt her own eyes watering again. "Rinoa, you don't know what I go through every single day, and I'm forced to put the world's problems before my own!" Squall grabbed her shoulders and held her against the door, but Rinoa never made an attempt to escape his grasp. He saw her innocent face and yet his hands tightened the grip. "…I don't want to hurt you."
"…I'm not afraid of you, Squall. That's why I'm here now." Rinoa spoke softly.
He slowly freed her shoulders from his grasp, and turned away from her. Squall walked to the window once again and closed his eyes. She slowly walked behind him and placed her arms around him from behind. "I don't want you to be afraid to tell me anything, Squall. You just can't live on without talking to someone about your feelings. Please…" Rinoa felt Squall touch her arm and move his hand across it slowly. She moved her forehead to his back and rubbed her head softly on his spine. "If you don't want my pity…then you can have my trust, Squall." She said while smiling.
"…I'm sorry."
"You didn't do anything wrong. There's no need to apologize."
"Yes, there is." He moved from out of her embrace and faced her. "I almost killed you."
"That was way back when?" She shook her head. "…Even so, you still saved me. Remember when we saw those soldiers in the forest? And that time I passed out? And earlier today! If any of us should be apologizing, it should be me. I've been a pain to you since I met you…and you've done nothing but help me. I want to thank you for that."
She saw him smile which made a smile fill her face as well, "You've done nothing but thank me, you know." He said seriously.
"Oh, I'm sor-"
"And apologize."
"Hey!" She laughed and pushed him playfully. "Well…you deserved it."
"…Whatever." He said while shaking his head.
"What else was I supposed to do?" She giggled, but he shrugged his shoulders. The smile was now gone, but he looked more peaceful than before. "Squall?"
"Yeah?"
Rinoa slowly brought her body closer to his, and embraced him tightly. She had squeezed her arms around his neck. "I want you to know…" She moved her face on his chest and closed her eyes. "Everything will be alright." Squall stood silent for a few minutes, only partially surprised by her movements.
However, Rinoa was met with surprise when his arms moved around her body. He pulled her closer and moved his head onto hers. For the first time in his life, he realized he needed someone, and that someone really needed him. He had never been embraced by anyone before. Handshakes were the only proper way of showing gratitude. He squeezed her in his arms and almost felt himself cry.
All those times as a child, he only sought a hug from an adult, but was met with either punishment or abandonment. He embraced her to thank her for seeing him as a person, and for pointing out all his negative traits and words. She didn't need his assistance for battle, for safety, no, she needed him to just take one moment and release. Rinoa felt a warm moist texture in her hair, and she turned her head to look at Squall. Squall was crying again, and he looked as if he had giving up holding it in. She moved her hand up and touched his face.
"Squall…" She tiptoed and kissed his cheek. Rinoa moved her hand and placed her head back onto his chest while closing her eyes.
- - - - - -
Xu ran and burst through the doors of Headmaster Cid's office. He looked up from his papers to her quickly, "What is it?"
"I apologize, sir, but Trabia's Warships have been spotted on our shorelines. Sir, they're preparing to strike us at any given moment!"