Clash of the Gardens

Spontaneity

Cid Kramer sat and stared at his desk phone. He wondered if he had done the right thing by contacting Esthar for this operation. What if they accidentally killed the young woman? Who then would be placed with the blame? Esthar? Him? Regardless of who took the blame, the war would never be over. He realized now that his plan was meaningless and a waste of time. For once, he made the wrong move in his chess game of life.

Looking at the phone, he sighed and picked up the charger. He contacted the Estharian Soldiers who were responsible for Rinoa's capture. After a few rings, a soldier picked up and answered, "Yes?" The soldier knew well who would call. He was expectant of Cid Kramer to contact him sometime soon.

"Is she with you all?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, protect her and take her to speak with her father."

"Sorry, sir, she's already unconscious-"

"What? Why is she unconscious? What have you done to her?" The old man rumbled.

"She's asleep, sorry about that."

"Ah…" The old man felt his heart settle. "Where have you taken her?"

"I'm not in title to disclose that information to you, sir."

"Yes you are. Are you forgetting that I was the one who proposed this plan?"

"I'm well aware of your position, but I cannot tell you where we've brought Ms. Heartilly, I'm really sorry."

Even though we know her true identity, she still uses that last name. Does she really hate him so? "…We'll just see about that. Just remember to keep safe watch over her and protect her from Galbadia."

"Of course."

The lines were terminated, but Cid still had his phone in hand as he began to call Esthar's Presidential Residence. After a few moments of waiting, he was speaking with a woman.

"Hello."

"Yes, this is Headmaster Cid Kramer of Balamb Garden, could you redirect me to the President's office?"

"Oh, it must be important, right away sir."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Cid was put on hold for five minutes and was beginning to enjoy the light melody that played throughout the entire wait. Before Cid began to hum the song, the voice of a male leapt into his ear. The old man almost jumped from his seat when he realized that the President was speaking to him. "Hello?"

"Oh yes, uh…Hello, President Loire."

"Please, its Laguna, Mr. Kramer."

"Ah, thank you."

"Don't worry about it. How can I help you?"

"…There have been many problems here between the Garden Bases and the Galbadian Military. There was a war recently, but I do believe it is far from over-"

"There was a war?"

"Uh…yeah-"

"When?"

"Sir, with all due respect, didn't you know about the war?"

"No."

"No one informed you that there was a war erupting between the Central and Western Continents?"

"Nope." He was silent for a second, "Oh, yeah, that's right…I heard there was a little disturbance, but nothing major."

What! Are you seriously joking! Cid wanted to shout into the phone, but kept himself calm. "…I assure you, the disturbance was major, indeed."

Cid began to explain to him the cause of war and the outcome, and Laguna sounded as if he really had no clue this was taking place. "It came to my attention that Ms. Caraway was in danger of her father. A few of your soldiers have her in their custody. I hired them as extra protection because my forces are in no shape to take on this task. They wouldn't have been able to properly look after her with all the chaos in the Garden corrupting as we speak."

"I see. I'm glad that you've brought this to my attention. I believe the man you spoke with before, the person who aided you, is my Advisor, Dr. Odine. He usually handles most of the cases with our battles…"

So that's who was in charged over there… Cid thought has sat back in his chair.

"Hmm, this is really something. I had no idea all those people were dying, nor did I know of the wars. Headmaster Kramer, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to see Balamb Garden with my own eyes. I want to help out as much as I can. …I'm going to let them tell Ms. Caraway what's happening now so that she isn't left in the dark about why she was kidnapped, but I won't allow those soldiers to move from that spot. I'll see to it that this war is settled immediately and peacefully."

"Loire that would be wonderful. Very well. I will send for some of my SeeDs to escort you all to Garden once you've reached Balamb City."

"Excellent."

"Have a safe trip."

"Will do. Good day, Mr. Kramer."

"Good day." …A good day, indeed. Cid mentally told himself and sighed in deep relief as he hung up the phone. The old man had chuckled to himself at his desk.

Quistis had been walking back and forth up the hallways in the Dormitory Hall. She didn't know what to say to him, or how to say it. In her mind, she kept rephrasing her sentences and adding drama to each example. She remained walking the halls, unsatisfied of how she could speak to Squall. Xu saw her and walked toward her, "Quistis, what are you doing here?"

"Me? Oh…N-nothing."

"…You're thinking about telling him, aren't you?"

"…I keep thinking, but I don't think I'll actually be able to do it."

"That's good, because I told you not to tell a soul!"

"I know!"

Squall was on his way out, tired of having scenes from the war replay in his mind again and again, when he overheard two female voices from the down hall. He wasn't sure why, but something told him that he should listen to their conversation; so there he stood in the doorway, eavesdropping.

"This is really serious, Xu. I refuse to stand by and do nothing when I know that someone has just been kidnapped! And then by Esthar! This is just great!"

"Keep your voice down! Its bad enough that I told you, I don't need you announcing it to whole Garden now."

"I'm sorry…but I wish I could do something for her. Rinoa…"

Rinoa! Squall thought as he listened to the two talking. Rinoa wasn't kidnapped, was she? She left to see her father… When his thoughts quieted, he noticed that two women were gone from the hall. I can't believe this. Why can't she ever just stay out of trouble! That little whiner can't even look after herself. No wonder I couldn't get her out of my mind, I knew something was going to happen to her.

Squall grabbed his coat and his Revolver from the wall, and headed out. He quickly walked to the Parking Lot. Oh great, she took the rental car…I guess I have no choice but to use a Garden Vehicle; the hideous green piece of crap over there with the big oil stain beneath it, just looking at that car gives me the creeps.

After he got inside, Squall quickly started the engine and hastily drove from the Garden's Parking lot.

Xu and Quistis had just began to walk around the loop of the Garden's main hall and hadn't noticed Squall rush behind them to the Parking Lot, "So, you can relax because Rinoa's safe where she is, wherever she is."

"Are you serious?"
"Yes. As soon as Cid told me, I knew I had to come out and find you." Xu said while looking from the Fish statue, which spat water from its mouth that flowed into the rest of the running water surrounding the loop of the hall, and back to Quistis. They were near the cafeteria now and she had begun to feel hungry, "Want to stop at the Cafeteria?"

"Not quite. I'm still trying to let my mind absorb all that information you just gave me. …So you're telling me that she's being taken care of by Esthar soldiers, and that they will protect her from Caraway?"

"For the fifth time, Quistis, yes. Now, do you want to stop at the cafeteria?"

"Xu…"

"Yes?"

"You do realize that I just shouted out loud about Rinoa being kidnapped back there in the dormitory hallway, don't you?"

"Yes I do."

"…What if Squall was in his room?"

"That's ridiculous Quistis, we both know that Squall loves that training center more than anything. My guess is that he's training there."

"I…I hope you're right. Yeah…I'm just overacting."

"Now…let's get something to eat."

"No thanks, I'm really not in the mood to eat right now."

"Fine, go ahead and see for yourself. Squall's in the training center, and that's a fact."
"You don't know that for sure."

"Well then why don't you go find out just where he is?"

"I will if you let me."

Xu laughed and walked to the cafeteria, and Quistis chuckled as she headed back to the dormitory.

When Quistis reached his door, she knocked calmly and waited for his respond, but there was nothing. She knocked again and waited, but still nothing came from within his room. She sighed and leaned on the door, "Good…he's in the training center." She laughed softly and leaned her back against his door. "…The Training Center…but what if he's not there? What if…he really heard me talking and has left? No, no, he didn't hear anything. He's in this Garden somewhere. I'll find him somehow."

Rinoa sat in a wooden chair and leaned her elbows on an old wooden table. She was in a cabin of a small town that seemed to be trapped in the timeline. Winhill was a small peaceful place, and there were flowers blooming in the fields right outside the towns. The soldiers had to push her inside of the cabin in order to get her to walk, for her eyes were glued to the things around.

It was no wonder there weren't any complaints from Winhill in the old files her father had in his desk; over the years, Esthar's forces secretly protected Winhill. She had wondered as a kid, why so many soldiers had left the army when they were sent to raid Winhill from time to time. Most of them came back to Deling City and whined to her father about there being apparitions guarding Winhill. Of course, her father laughed at them and ordered that they patrol other places instead of Winhill because had he released them, Deling would have fired him as well.

Rinoa felt like a kid inside the cabin, wanting to go outside but not being able to because the adults said so. She pouted and sat back in her chair.

"Yes sir. Right away." The soldier immediately hung up the phone and looked back to his comrades. He whispered inaudibly and then they all turned to her quickly. She was nervous, and unsure what was on their minds.

"Ms. Heartilly." Rinoa was secretly glad she told them her name, they were calling her 'Caraway' too much and she couldn't take it any longer. "We have been asked by the President of Esthar to inform you as to why you have been…err…kidnapped."

Rinoa smiled and readied her ears as the soldier began to continue.

"Headmaster Cid wanted to help you so badly that he asked us to look after you. We're going to accompany you to Galbadia to speak with your father. If anything should happen, he needed us to protect you and Balamb Garden."

"…I thought I told him that my father won't do anything to harm me."

"It's not just about you, Ms. Heartilly. Kramer needs us to protect Balamb as well. You see, Caraway could send for you and get you out of there. With you gone, it would be easier to annihilate everyone else in Balamb Garden."

"…Oh…I didn't see it that way." She clasped her hands together on the table and studied them. Why didn't he just tell me that from the beginning?

"He realized after we had taken you with us, that the kidnapping was a bad idea. It would probably provoke Caraway to strike our forces and Balamb. He has already taken the blame about coming up with this plan."

"I see."

"We're going to contact him now. Do you wish to speak with him?"

"…Um, Yes please. I have a few questions of my own."

"Alright. Just one moment." The soldier picked up the phone and dialed up Balamb Garden. Cid answered on the second ring.

"Cid Kramer."

"Sir, we've fully informed Ms. Heartilly about the current situation. Please, she has some questions for you."

"Well, not for him…actually, I'd like to speak with Doctor--" Rinoa said in the background as Cid could hear, and then a few voices argued followed by, "Hello, Sir." Rinoa said into the speaker while giving the soldiers her 'evil eyes' glare.

"Rinoa, I'm glad you're okay. I'm really sorry to have put you through all this danger."

"Not at all, it wasn't that much trouble." She smiled, "I really understand why you made the decision, so please don't feel guilty about your actions."

"…I'm relieved to hear you say that. Also…about your father." The headmaster took a deep breath and spoke truth to Rinoa, "…I know all this may be hard to bear with, but never banish your father from your life. Although he may seem terrible right now, someday you'll understand clearly how he feels about you."

"…Um…Th-thanks I guess." Why is he taking Caraway's side now?

"I'm just telling you that because…well…you should appreciate the fact that you still have a father amongst the living. Most of the people at Balamb Garden don't have any parents, family, or friends to talk to. Take Squall for example…he was orphaned and left for dead, but was brought here by some unknown persons and abandoned. You don't know what he'd give to have a father in his life…so please, just give General Caraway a chance."

Finally, she accepted the man's thoughtful words. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Rinoa sighed as she hung up the phone. I know I have to forgive him sometime in my life, but right now, I'm just not ready. I have too many other things going on right now, and that is just going to ruin everything like he did when I was little.

…Squall, when are you going to wake up?

Squall finally saw Balamb up ahead, and he drove quickly down the road. The Garden Vehicle had to have pushed up to one hundred miles per hour, because everything around him seemed to be in a blur.

Suddenly, there was a brown object to dart into the road, causing Squall to swerve to the side a little. He stopped the car and looked at the canine as she ran through the fields on the plains.

"Angelo!"

The dog stopped and looked back at him while barking. She ran back as she saw him getting out of the car. Angelo jumped up and placed her paws on his thighs while whining. He looked at her and smirked. "No, I haven't seen Rinoa either, but I'm looking for her right now. Want to go with me?"

She barked and dropped her paws back to the ground. Angelo ran and jumped into the car and sat on the passenger's seat. Squall felt himself wanting to laugh, but suppressed the urge and joined Angelo in the car. Squall and his passenger made their way to Balamb City.

As Squall parked the car, Angelo had been barking again. "Yeah, I know. I won't leave you in here by yourself. Let's go." He said while opening the door. He stepped out of the vehicle and watched Angelo jump down from the driver's seat. He and the canine walked to the Train Station, but came across a "No Pets Allowed" sign. He looked down at Angelo and then back to the sign again; he smirked.

"Wait here, Angelo." Angelo sat down and watched Squall walk to a man wearing a blue uniform. Squall purchased a ticket and walked to the train. Before he stepped on the train, he turned to Angelo, and whistled. Angelo ran to the Train just as soon as he whistled for her to follow. The man looked at the dog and held up his hands in defense thinking that the dog was coming to attack him. "Hey! Hey, Animals are not allowed on the--" Just as he was speaking, Squall had cast a stop spell on him.

"I'm really sorry about this." Squall said as he turned around to get on the Train. "ALL ABOARD!" He yelled and ran on to follow Angelo, who had already made herself comfortable in the corner of the first car. The doors closed automatically, and the Train began to move. After the exhaust released, the loud roar of the Train's sounded as it began the journey to Timber. Squall looked at Angelo and smiled. He opened the door to the other rooms with his ticket, and allowed Angelo to jump onto the couch.

There she yawned and snuggled into a ball on the soft sofa, as the train took its familiar decent below the sea.

I wonder how long she had been running out there. She must be exhausted. Well, I guess I'm not the only one searching for Rinoa.

Although Squall was searching for Rinoa, Quistis had been searching for Squall. She had run around the Garden for so long, that there was a little search party forming. Zell was the first to join, saying that he was already in the Training Center, and hadn't seen Squall. Quistis checked the Training Center just to be sure, and then again she checked, just to be sure that she was sure. Zell shook his head and decided to tag along with her, to make certain there wasn't anymore double-checking by the same person.

The two eventually came across Selphie, who was mesmerized by the Quad area. She joined them in Quistis' frantic search for Squall, but hadn't thought seriously about the situation. Selphie ran around with them smiling as if she were playing a game of hide and seek.

And last but not least, Irvine was the last to join them. He was on his way inside the Garden through the main entrance. Irvine, along with other volunteers, was asked to collect the bodies of the fallen from the Alcauld plains. When he came inside, he hadn't expected to be greeted by Quistis' eagerness for answers.

"Whoa, Whoa! Take it easy, Miss!"

"It's Quistis! Tell me! I know you saw him leave, you were working out there, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was outside all day today, but I don't remember seeing anyone. So like, I know there were two or three vehicles that drove passed, but I don't know who was driving any of them."

"Aha!" Quistis yelled and turned around. She was heading to the Parking Lot. Selphie looked at both Irvine and Zell, and laughed.

"Zell, why didn't you tell me Quistis could be so much fun! When I first got here, you had me thinking she was some kind of drone!" She said and ran behind Quistis. Zell scratched his head and looked at Irvine, who was just as clueless as he was.

"Don't look at me. I just came got here." Irvine held up his hands defensively.

"…Geez, she hasn't even told me why we're looking for Squall."

"…I'm curious, I'm going to go see what's up."

"But!" Before Zell could speak, Irvine was running behind the petite figured who had just disappeared into the corridor of the Parking lot. "Ah, forget it. Wait up!" He yelled and followed the three of them.

The Estharian Airship landed smoothly before the city of Balamb. The stairs descended onto the ground and became steady. The President and his Aides stepped down each stair slowly.

"Laguna, I think we really could have landed near Balamb Garden…this is be a waste of time." A skinny dark-skinned man said as he walked toward Balamb's entrance.

"Waste of time? Balamb has some of the finest hotels, and I've always wanted to stay in at least one of them." Laguna smiled.

A bigger man sighed and folded his arms, "… We have no time to visit hotels. Sir, I do believe there are bigger issues at hand here."

"Will you two relax? I had the Headmaster of Balamb Garden send us Escorts, so we have plenty of time to sit back."

"…You're using this trip to get away from Mr. Odine, aren't you?" The skinnier man said with a sigh.

"…Well…it doesn't need to be said so harshly, but his constant 'I told you so' was starting to get to me. So Kiros and Ward, please don't bother me about the plan just yet. I need to breathe a little."

The two men sighed and walked beside their President into Balamb City. Suddenly, they were stopped by a car horn near by. When the three of them turned around, they saw Balamb Garden's vehicle and a young SeeD standing from the car's opened door.

"Mr. President, sir, it is my duty to escort you to Balamb Garden!"

"…Well…there goes our fun." Laguna groaned and walked to the young man with an extended hand. With a forced smile present, he shook the SeeDs' hand and introduced his Aides. They too returned the gesture, and moments later, all were riding in the back of the SeeD vehicle in silence. Laguna sighed occasionally and put his head onto his hand. The sooner we get to Balamb, the sooner we'll have to leave…He thought to himself and sighed again. The others had grown accustomed to his sighs and ignored him completely. Soon. Laguna thought as he sighed once more.