Clash of the Gardens
Bond
Squall and Angelo's train had arrived in Timber. Once the doors opened, he and Angelo took off running to avoid the harassment of the employees. Angelo ran before him with her tongue hanging from her mouth and seemed to know how to navigate through the broken city. He was amazed that the canine had led them straight out of town.
When she stopped, she began sniffing the ground as if picking up Rinoa's scent. Angelo barked and ran up the road ahead. Squall watched her and continued to follow without question. It seemed to help that he brought the dog along after all, who knows where he would have wind up had it not been for Angelo.
The more he ran, the more he could see a figure in the distance. Angelo was halfway there and barking. Squall's heart raced as he saw that it was a car. Oh, no! Rinoa!
Angelo stopped and jumped into the car. She was sniffing the seats, as it was obvious that Rinoa had once occupied it. She could sense Rinoa all around, but her companion was nowhere to be found. When Squall made it to her, Angelo barked and jumped through the opened window of the car. To Squall's relief, a lifeless body was not left inside the car by the kidnappers. He caught his breath and put his hands on his hips while staring at the ground.
At that instant, a light breeze passed over the lands and Angelo sniffed the air. Squall quizzically asked her, "What is it? Can you pick her scent again?"
Angelo howled and followed the new scent of Rinoa. Squall looked at the car and quickly got inside. Rinoa had left the keys in the ignition, which he was thankful for, and he started the engine immediately. He drove beside Angelo and whistled to her. The dog looked at him, as he slowed the car, and timed it enough to pick up speed and jump through the window. With her powerful hind legs, she boosted herself from the ground and was able to soar through the opened window of the blue car.
Squall laughed and drove menacingly faster as Angelo stuck her head out of the window, barking, calling out to her owner and friend. The man and the canine continued their journey to find the one that each cherished and missed.
With one search proving successful, the other was only a nightmare. Just as Quistis had suspected, two of the Garden Vehicles were missing. Squall and Rinoa, I bet they both took those cars. I knew it! Headmaster Cid has to know about this immediately. If Squall gets to those soldiers, who knows what will happen?
Selphie looked at Quistis and waited for the woman to speak her mind. "Um…Quistis, why is it so important that we find Squall, anyway?"
"Thank you!" Zell shouted as he caught his breath on the ground. That question had been bugging him the entire time they were searching for Squall.
"…I'm sorry you all, but could you come with me to see the headmaster. I'll explain everything up there."
"…Okay." They each said and watched as she left walked passed them and back to the Main Hall.
"Actually…there were two Garden vehicles that left here today, and the third car that left earlier today, it looked different from the other two, almost like a modern car." Irvine said and Selphie looked at him, then to Zell.
"Zell, you think Rinoa took the car we rented days ago?"
"Most likely, so that means Squall took a Garden vehicle to Balamb, then."
"Yep, yep."
"Hey, what's your name?" Irvine asked the petite woman.
"Me? I'm Selphie, and you?"
"Irvine."
"It's nice to meet you. I've really heard a lot about you!"
"Oh really, from who…the girls?"
"Huh?"
"Irvine! Come on you two, Quistis said we have to be upstairs."
"Oh yeah, let's go." Selphie said and ran. Zell and Irvine followed behind.
Quistis waited patiently for them by the elevator. She saw Selphie running up the stairs, and the boys were not too far behind either.
The four of them got into the elevator and Quistis pressed the button that would take them to the third floor.
"Wow, I didn't realize this place had an elevator." Irvine said.
"You mean you haven't been upstairs?" Zell asked.
"No. I'm more familiar with everything downstairs because I haven't been allowed to go up."
"Hey, why are you with us right now? We could each get thrown out of Balamb for disrespecting the rules." Quistis said, but the elevator door opened and Irvine ran out. Selphie held her mouth and laughed.
"You asked me to accompany you to see your headmaster, didn't you?"
He said with a smile that Quistis completely ignored and walked around him.
"Please don't say another word." She said and walked down the long hallway to the headmaster's room.
With a knock on the door, the headmaster stood from his desk, thinking it was the President.
"Please come inside." He said, and Quistis and the others, entered inside the room slowly. "Oh…everyone, hello."
"Hi." They answered in unison.
"Sir, I'm afraid I have terrible news. Squall knows that Rinoa was kidnapped, and he is no where to be found at this moment!"
"What!" Cid, Zell, Selphie, and Irvine all said together.
"What do you mean, Quistis? How did he find out?"
"Sir…"
"…No…" Was all he could say before Xu entered the room with a smile.
"Sir, President Loire of Esthar has just arrived. He is on his way up now sir."
"Oh no!" Selphie said and looked around the room.
"Not to worry, I want you all to meet him too. Please let's move to the hallway." They followed the headmaster and awaited the man who would bring thing all peace; unfortunately for them, Squall was on the verge of ruining the newly formed bond of peace between Esthar and Balamb.
Everyone nervously exchanged glances to one another, and Xu was lost in the midst of them all. No one dared to mention anything when the doors of the elevator opened and out stepped the Presidents and his Aides.
Squall pulled the car over when he saw a small town ahead in the endless flower fields. He saw old houses that were made of wood and a few structures that could have been used as stores. He looked around again and saw that Angelo was waiting for him to speak to her.
"…She must not be here." He said and Angelo whined. He looked at her big eyes and sighed, "…We'll take a quick look around." He said and started toward the trail of the old town. I wonder what this place is…it looks very old fashioned. He looked at the buildings and saw way out away from the town was a graveyard.
"…What if…?" He whispered as he decided to head to the graveyard. Angelo followed behind and watched her new partner step into the soft grass.
There were tombstones lined up in a row. Because the town was so small, there were under twenty-five graves. Squall looked at each and studied the name. His eyes were caught when he saw a familiar name, "Kinneas…Ernest Kinneas." He whispered. And he let his eyes shift to the side of Kinneas' Tomb, and his eyes began to burn. There it was…blaring in truth…Raine Leonhart.
Raine Leonhart
Mother of Winhill
May She Rest
Peacefully, Forever.
"Raine…Leonhart." Squall whispered and touched the tomb. "…Mom?" He placed his hands on the ground and rubbed the earth, for underneath all the dirt, his mother lay in rest. He felt the urge to cry, but a smile possessed his mouth. "Well I'll be damned, Irvine was telling the truth after all…"
Squall felt himself smiling harder now, and he began to chuckle. He laughed softly and stood to his feet. The wind had begun to blow violently as he laughed, and he laughed a little harder.
Suddenly, Angelo began barking and she ran away from him. Squall looked at her as his laughter came to an end. He quickly followed after the dog curious to watch she might find in the isolated town.
"Winhill." He said underneath his breath while running behind Angelo.
When he followed Angelo, Angelo had led him to an area that seemed to resemble a town square. All the houses from this point were closer together than the others he had seen upon arriving in Winhill.
Angelo was farther up than he, but he saw some soldiers stepping out of a house and the dog was heading directly to them while barking.
"Angelo!" He said while drawing his gunblade, but to his surprise, Rinoa had run out of the house after the soldiers, and called out to Angelo just as he did. She ran to her best friend and embraced her quickly. Squall stopped and looked at her.
"Angelo!" He could hear her scream as she cuddled with the dog on the ground. "Where did you come from!" He heard her speak, and decided to put his gunblade away. If she were in any real danger, those soldiers wouldn't have allowed her to interact with the dog.
Angelo barked as Rinoa released her and stood to her own feet. Angelo barked excitedly and ran around in a little circle as if chasing her tail, and Rinoa laughed. The dog barked again and faced Squall, she barked at him, and when Rinoa's eyes saw the person Angelo was barking at, she nearly melted in her skin. "…Squall." She said underneath her breath. "…You're awake." She saw him approaching her slowly, but could not bring herself to walk. When he finally reached her, Rinoa smiled and walked closer to him. "Squall…you're…here."
"…Yeah."
"But…I thought you were…"
"…In a coma?" He said, and she smiled, only able to nod her head. He returned her smile as he shook his head. "Rinoa…I heard you."
"…You did?" He nodded his head once.
"Every last word…"
Rinoa's heart raced within her chest, and all of her blood rushed to her face. She moved her hands up to hide her red cheeks. Squall saw her face and moved his hand to her necklace, and touched his Griever ring. "Squall, I was going to give it back to you." She said in a whisper as her hands dropped from her face. Softly, he grabbed the rings and pulled her by the necklace, closer to him. As he neared her face, Rinoa closed her eyes. He stopped when their lips were only inches away from contact, and moved his face so he was cheek to cheek with her, and spoke softly into her ear.
"You really believe I came all this way …only to get my ring back?"
Rinoa was speechless and her heart pounded in her chest, she threw her arms around his shoulders and allowed him to envelope her body with his.
The two stood in an embrace, and ignored the world around them. Funny how quiet his mind became when he was with her, but all day, he had been bugged by thoughts of the war, death, and other people's lives; however, as he stood with her, his mind was at true peace. Squall felt his heart's pace quicken as he pulled her closer to his body. And he replayed her words, the promise she had made that morning.
"…Whenever you wake up, and I'm not here…please don't think that I've abandoned you just like everyone else did. I have a reason to leave, and if you want, I'll come back to you."
To hear someone tell him they wouldn't leave him, that they wanted to be there with him, made Squall feel an immense amount of emotion whirl about his being which he wasn't used to.
Rinoa held onto him and smiled. Her eyes were sparkling with tears, but she wouldn't let him know she was about to cry. Is this the same person? She thought to herself and rubbed her head onto his chest.
Just as the two were comfortably embracing one another, the soldiers and Angelo were on the side watching. One soldier cleared his throat and they quickly let go of one another. Squall scratched the back of his head and looked at the ground, and Rinoa turned around and smiled. "Sorry." She said.
"If you two are done-"
"Whatever." Squall said and turned away, clearly embarrassed, and Rinoa could only laugh. Yep, Squall will always be Squall.
"Ma'am, we have to get you to Deling City before night fall. Caraway is probably becoming suspicious because of your delay."
"There's no doubt in my mind about that."
"Headmaster Cid has just contacted us and warned us about a SeeD on his way to take back Ms. Heartilly.-" A Soldier said as he ran from the house and out to the others.
"Cid!" Squall said and turned around to face the soldier. "He knows about this?"
"Yes." The Captain responded and Rinoa looked back at Squall.
"Cid was behind my kidnapping, but all is well now." She said confidently.
"…And they had me worried about you-" Squall was speaking aloud but he had meant to speak mentally to himself. Rinoa stood there smiling at him again as he had gone into his own little world. When he saw that she was looking at him, he looked away embarrassingly.
"What were you saying, Squall?" She teased, but Squall had folded his arms and sighed. "I'm just kidding." She laughed and covered her mouth.
"Ms. Heartilly, please accompany us to the car." Rinoa's eyes saddened and she looked at Squall. She really didn't want to ride in that vehicle again. The ride to Deling City would be a long one, and she wanted to be comfortable. Just riding in the short distance before in one of those vehicles had hurt her bottom terribly. She refused to ride with them again. So her eyes spoke for her, told Squall the entire story about that vehicle, and Squall knew what she wanted to tell him; he understood the silent story told by her eyes.
"I'll take her to Deling City. I don't think Caraway will allow your vehicles inside." He said as he looked from her eyes to the soldier. He had come up with the best excuse possible in order to convince them otherwise.
"No, we must stay with Ms. Heartilly at all times."
"Are you really planning on taking those vehicles to see Caraway?" Squall argued.
"If he knows that Rinoa is with us, he'll allow us in-"
"I have an idea! How about I ride with Squall and you all follow behind us?" Rinoa cut in, it was sad that she pretended to have a better idea. The two men looked at each other dumbfounded for a moment before the captain made his face stern once again.
"Absolutely not." The soldier continued.
"Well I won't go, and that's that." Rinoa folded her arms and put her foot down hard.
"Don't make us use force-"
"There won't be any of that." Squall stood between Rinoa and the soldier. Rinoa had a tiny smile across her lips as Squall continued, "Now, she'll ride with me and that's final. …Am I understood?" He glared into the man's eyes, demanding that Rinoa get her way. Finally, he saw that he had won. The soldier nodded his head slowly, and turned to his men.
"Let's move out!" He called out to them and Squall turned to Rinoa with a stern look. She whispered to him, "Thank you."
He nodded and smiled slightly. "Let's go." He said and she laughed softly.
"Roger." She said as he ran, and she followed him to the trail where he had left the car. "Angelo!" They both said in unison, and the dog went along with them.
On the way to Deling City, Rinoa and Squall were both silent. Angelo was in the back seat with her head out of the window and taking in the blowing wind. Rinoa looked back her and smiled at Angelo, and then she looked to her side at Squall, who seemed to take his driving seriously.
He was driving with his left hand on the steering wheel, and his right had rested on his thigh. His face was forward, and his eyes were glued to the road, until Rinoa saw him look at her through the corner of his eye and he sighed. She laughed and faced forward.
"What do you think will happen when we get there?" She asked him.
"…You're panicking again?"
"I can't help it. I haven't seen my dad in years, so I don't know what to expect."
"Don't worry. If he says something that you disagree with, just get up and leave. You don't have to listen to him, Rinoa."
"But if I don't, there won't be any peace." She looked outside at the passing trees and wild animals that roamed the fields. "I feel like I'm right back in that spot I was in before. The weight of the war is once again on my shoulders. I failed before, and now…I feel like I can fail again."
…like I'm right back in that spot I was in before…For the first time, he took his eyes off of the road and turned his head to her. "That reminds me of what I had to face out there on the battlefield." He brought his eyes back to the road. "During the previous war, I was…comfortable with my skills. In my mind, I can study the enemy and strategically plan the battle even before I engage in combat with them; therefore, I went through fighting with ease, and was confident in our victory. But…as the battle went on, I grew weary of all the fighting, and then I saw Seifer out there, slaughtering them all without any remorse. I hated him, and yet I watched him take the lives of so many, and did nothing." He sighed, "…And when we all fought a few days ago…He made me remember why I regretted fighting that battle before; however," Squall smiled. "…I was able to overcome my fears and fight him to the very end. And you helped me take him down, too."
She looked at her arm, where her Pinwheel usually would be equipped and smiled. "Yeah." She said.
"Rinoa, I'll be right there with you when you talk to Caraway. Don't think for a second that you're on your own in this." He said without taking his eyes from the road, "You taught me that much…"
"I…I'm glad you were listening."
"I may have sounded annoyed by you at times, but I always listened to what you had to say." Rinoa looked at him and moved her eyes to his free hand. She took his hand into hers and squeezed tightly. He moved his eyes from the road and looked into hers. There was a moment of peace, until Angelo began barking and the two looked forward. The canine had sensed something farther up the road.
They were in the sight of Deling City, but right before the City were five Armored Vehicles. Squall stopped the car as a few soldiers on land opened fire, aiming directly at its tires. Rinoa screamed and closed her eyes. Suddenly all went quiet, and when Rinoa opened her eyes, she saw that the Estharian Soldiers had driven their vehicles before the car. They used the vehicles as shields and the Captain leapt out, "We come in peace!" He yelled out and threw up a white flag. The gunfire had ceased and Squall stepped out of the car slowly.
"Is Rinoa Caraway accompanying you!" One nervous Galbadian Soldier questioned.
"Yes! She is, now please. Do not fire! I repeat, do not fire!"
Squall reached his hand inside the car and Rinoa grabbed onto it. He gently pulled her out and let her stand to her feet.
"We need conformation that you really have the General's Daughter with you."
"I'm here!" Rinoa yelled from behind the Estharian cars.
"Very well, we'll take her from this point on. There is no need for all of you there." The Galbadian said as he and his comrades approached Esthar's Vehicle.
"What?" She asked and looked at Squall who stood right beside her.
"Come with us, now!" The soldier reached out to yank her by the arm, but Squall smacked his arm down. Immediately their guns went up and took aim at Squall's face. "She goes with us or you die." The soldier threatened.
"NO! I'll go!"
"Rin-"
"I'll go with them, I don't have any other choice. I'll be okay." She took a step forward, but Squall touched her shoulder, and all the guns locked before his face once more. She looked at him, and touched his hand, but turned around and walked with the soldiers.
The others remained pointing their guns directly in Squall's face and at the Estharian Soldiers. Squall watched her climb into the Galbadian Vehicle with the soldiers, and watched it pull away. He was angry that he had been powerless to stop it. And as the car drove away, the Soldiers pulled back their guns and resumed their post at the gates of Deling.
Squall yelled out and kicked the side of the car in a mad fit. Why was he always just standing around watching what was happening and never doing anything to prevent? He sighed and leaned against the car's side.
Suddenly an idea came to his mind, and he looked down at Angelo, who had once again watched her owner disappear from her very eyes. He smiled at the dog and whispered, "Stay here, Angelo." And with that, Squall was off to take on the idea that interested him.
Some Esthar soldiers climbed back into their vehicle and contacted Balamb Garden with a device installed inside their radio.
After a few moments, Cid answered the phone. "Cid Kramer."
"Sir, this is the Estharian Unit. We have successfully brought your daughter to Deling City, and she is now in Galbadia's care."
"Excellent. Did you all have any troubles with the SeeD, Squall Leonhart?"
"…Not really, Sir, although…"
"What is it?"
"Nothing sir."
"Well, did Galbadia give you any trouble?"
"As a matter of fact, they did. From the looks of things, Caraway knew that his daughter had been abducted. He had his soldiers stand in front Deling City and stop all those that approached. They fired their weapons at us, until we told them that Rinoa was with us."
"Is she injured?"
"No, sir."
"What about Leonhart?"
"He's fine."
"Good. Contact me this way if anything new happens."
"Yes, sir."
They terminated the lines and Cid sighed. The President sat before him with a confused look on his face. Cid stared at him quizzically until the man noticed that he was being watched.
"Is something the matter, Laguna?"
"I was just hoping that they all make it back safely." He said as a cover up. The name mentioned during the phone conversation, Leonhart, had caught his attention. Squall Leonhart? Is that some kind of coincidence?
"Yes, I really hope that everything moves smoothly. I'm tired of the fighting."
"I have to agree. I never enjoy wars."
"…Do you mean that Mr. Odine started the old war between us?"
"He didn't start that war, he was only arguing about the prices. He said the people would have been happier knowing that they were under the protection of us, since we're closer and know them better."
"…Laguna sat back and let Odine make all the calls, actually." Kiros said as he and Ward chuckled.
"I see." Cid sighed, "…I guess, it's good that we can put it behind us now, right?"
"Of course. My duty is to make the people safe and secure. Esthar is a very peaceful place. I only wish the entire world can live like we do."
"Well, we all have our differences. I guess for once we can put them all aside and live in harmony."
"Right." Laguna said.
The two leaders shook hands and never said another word about the old war. But Laguna kept thinking about the name of the SeeD mentioned just a short while ago.
Who in the world is Squall Leonhart?