Chapter 7
After getting back to the hotel, Vincent started asking questions. "What are you planning to do when Litta wakes up?"
"I was thinking about going to see another friend of mine. She's very smart and usually has good ideas."
"And who is this friend you speak of?"
"Her name is Quistis."
"Yes, I remember you mentioning her before. What do you want to see her for?"
"I thought she might be able to help us. I'm going to see her now. Watch Litta for me." Squall left with Litta in Vincent's arms.
Vincent went up to the rooms and placed her on a bed. He checked in on her every hour. After about two and half hours, she began to stir. She didn't recognize anything and wondered where she was. The last thing she remembered was being operated on by Laguna. She lay there and Vincent came in.
"I thought I heard you stirring. How are you feeling?"
"Tired mainly. Where am I?"
"You're at the hotel. Laguna gave us a ride over here. You were unconscious the whole way over."
"And where's Squall?" She assumed he was in another room.
"He went to see a friend." She hid her disappointment, but not well enough. Vincent noticed it. "You seem disappointed."
"Not really," she lied.
"No? Is there something you want to tell me?"
"No. Why?"
"I'm just guessing, but I think you have feelings for Squall."
"Why would you think that?"
"Oh I don't know. Am I wrong?" She didn't answer. "I didn't think so. Have you told him?"
"Yes I have." Not that it mattered to Squall though. He just ignored it and asked about Vincent. I'm obviously not that important to him.
"And what did he say?"
"Nothing. He asked a question and changed the subject."
"Oh." Vincent seemed surprised but Litta didn't notice.
"Which friend is he visiting?"
"Her name is Quistis." Not what I needed to hear, she thought.
"When will he be back?"
"I'm not sure."
"So what are we supposed to do for now? Wait until he gets back?"
"I suppose so. Is there anything I can get you?"
"No. Just let me rest." Vincent left without another word.
So Squall went to see one of his friends. And a girl, no less. Does he even care what happens to me now? Probably not. That's why I told myself to never get attached. I was protecting myself against this. Well now I went and got myself hurt. I should leave now and rid Squall of myself. That's exactly what I'll do. But when she tried to get up, she could only get half way. Maybe I should sleep and leave in the middle of the night. Squall won't be able to find me, and I'll be more rested.
So at about three in the morning, a quiet alarm went off and woke up Litta. She turned it off so it wouldn't wake Vincent or Squall. She got her guns and loaded them. I may not need them, but I better be prepared. She closed her door quietly and walked out of the hotel. She looked back at their two windows, but both were still dark. She walked out of the city and didn't turn back.
"Squall, what are you doing here?" Quistis smiled.
"Hello Quistis. How are you?" Squall asked.
"I'm fine. It's been a while since I've heard from you. What's been happening with you?" She opened the door and let him in.
"It's a very long story, but I need your advice."
"Sit down. Now what's going on?" He told her everything that had happened and that took him up until the evening. "So what exactly did you come here for?"
"I was wondering what you thought we should do?"
"I think you ought to stay here until Litta is healed up. Then ask her what she thinks you should do. I'm sure she has ideas." Squall had never thought of that. He had always made the decisions with Vincent. He was more of the leader now than Vincent.
"Maybe your right. But once she's healed up, where should we go? We can't stay in one place too long. Sephiroth will find us. And no one knows what he'll make Litta do."
"That's true. But as I said before, talk to Litta. He is her father, and she might have an idea."
"I think you're right." He thought for a while before Quistis spoke again.
"So about Litta, do you like her?" How does everyone catch on to that? Is it really that obvious?
"Only as a friend."
"You never were good about sharing your feelings. That much hasn't changed."
"What does that matter?"
"Because one day you'll like a girl and because of your unwillingness to share your feelings, she'll slip away from you. You won't be able to get her back and you'll be miserable."
"I won't let that happen, when I find that person."
"Well, it's getting late. You should probably go back."
"Thanks a lot for the help."
"Any time. Bye Squall."
"Bye." He left and headed back for the hotel. When he got there, Litta was sleeping so he didn't disturb her. He told Vincent what Quistis had said and then they both went to bed. When they woke the next morning, Squall went to check on Litta.
"She's gone!" Squall come back and shouted at Vincent.
"What do you mean she's gone?"
"Exactly that. She's not in her room anywhere!"
"The bathroom?"
"I checked there too! Why would she leave!"
"I don't know."
"Where will she go?"
"I don't know that either."
"What did you guys talk about while I was gone?"
"Nothing. I don't know why she would leave, but I do know we should look for her. She can't be that far, she was still tired when I left her." Squall darted out the door and Vincent ran to catch up with him after checking out of the hotel.
"Squall, slow down. We will find her, but there is no reason to kill ourselves now." Squall slowed down but said nothing. Eventually they came to a spot where Litta had obviously been. I hope she's all right, Squall thought to himself.
Litta ran, then walked, then ran some more. She never headed in any direction for long. She thought it would make it harder to track her then. She really had no idea where she should go, but decided it was better than turning back now.
When she stopped to rest a minute, she felt the wind start blowing and heard something in the woods behind her. She got up and started walking. She could hear the steps getting closer. She sprinted but was still exhausted so her pursuer caught up with her quickly. She was turned around, and looked into the darkness. She couldn't see a face.
"Who are you?"
"Don't you know?" She knew that voice, but couldn't quite place it yet.
"No."
"Well, I'll keep it that way until you remember." He dragged her in one certain direction, and it was no use struggling. Finally she recognized the voice. It was Sephiroth.
"What do you want with me Sephiroth?"
"Ah, so you finally figured out who I am." He brought his face into the light. The sky was a light blue now, so there wasn't a way he could have kept his face hidden much longer.
"What do you want with me?" she asked again.
"I would prefer you call me Father."
"I will call you Sephiroth. You're not my father."
"Oh but I am. And as for what I want with you, you'll soon find out." He said no more. Litta continued to struggle but gave up the effort.
"Where are you taking me?" Sephiroth said nothing for a while. He just continued to drag her. "I can walk on my own you know."
"But how do I know you won't try to run away?"
"I can't get away from you because you'll just use your magic and bring me back. Why would I try to get away?"
"That's very good reasoning." He let go of her arm and she walked alongside him.
"Where are we going?" she tried again. No answer. She asked no more questions. They walked for another hour in silence before he stopped them.
"We're here."
"Where's here? What is this place?" She had never been here before.
"This is your old home. Don't you remember it?"
"No. Everything I remember is from a dream, and that's of a mansion of rubble in Midgar. I've never been here."
"It's understandable you don't remember this place. You were born here and lived here until you were almost ten. That's when we moved to the mansion you remember."
"So what are we doing here? And you still haven't told me where here is." I don't care as long as I don't have to stay with you long. What do you even want with me?
"Forgive me. We are in another part of Midgar. We are in a different sector, instead of the one you remember. As for what we're doing here, you'll find that out soon enough." He walked inside the house. She had no choice but to follow.
Squall and Vincent came upon more of her tracks, only this time there were some other tracks next to hers.
"Someone's with her," Squall pointed out.
"I see that. But who it is is the question." Neither said what was in their mind. Squall thought of Rufus or a Turk, Vincent thought of Sephiroth. They weren't sure who it actually was. They just followed until they knew someone was following them.
"I know you're following us," Squall yelled behind them. "If you're looking for Litta she's not with us." The steps stopped. Squall and Vincent continued walking. Then someone jumped in front of them. The person thrust a dagger into Squall's stomach and knocked out Vincent.
"It's too bad that Litta isn't with you, but then again that keeps her from getting hurt like you two." It was Tseng.
"What do you want Tseng?" Squall gasped. He was bleeding badly.
"My task is to destroy you by any means possible. And to make sure I do that, I'm going to draw your magic from you so you can't heal yourself." He drew Squall's magic. "Now Rufus wants to see Vincent so he'll be coming with me. As for you, I was just sent to kill you and make sure you didn't interfere. Goodbye Squall." Tseng kicked him in the stomach and more blood came out.
As Tseng walked away Squall thought about Litta. I shouldn't have left her. I could have kept her from running away. But that's what's keeping her from getting killed right now. Why didn't I tell her how I felt when I had the chance? Now she'll never know how I felt.
He noticed something glowing a few feet away. He dragged himself towards it, and saw a glowing sphere. It was Vincent's materia. But which one is it? Which one did he say was healing magic? He wasn't sure, but knew if he didn't use it he would no doubt die. He used it, and it turned out to be healing magic. He got up and started to run, but stopped.
Should I go after Vincent or Litta? I know where Vincent is going, but they will have no problem killing him. I don't know where Litta is, except that she left some tracks. So who do I go after? Either way, one of them could die. Litta is more defenseless, or is she? She knows how to use her guns. He decided to go after Litta, figuring Vincent would be able to defend himself better.
As he walked in the direction of Litta's footsteps, he stopped every now and then to catch his breath. He was still a little sore from the wound Tseng had given him. It was gone, but he could still feel it. He brought the dagger with him, figuring he could find some use for it later on.
Litta looked around the house a little and noticed how large it was compared to how small it looked from the outside. She wondered how they had lived here for so many years, and how it could still be in as good a condition as it was.
"Why did you bring me here?" He didn't answer her. He didn't even look at her; he was concentrating on something else. "What are you looking at?"
"Old pictures, come see." She walked over and looked where he was looking. She saw pictures of her growing up. Sephiroth appeared in most of them. But never her mother she noticed.
"Where's my mom?"
"She died."
"How did she die?" She saw him take a breath before answering.
"She died from complications." So he's not going to tell me.
"Who was my mother?"
"We'll talk about that later." I guess even he has feelings. "Right now," he turned towards her and she took a step back, "we are going to concentrate on you."
"What do you mean concentrate on me? What do you want with me?"
"Haven't you guessed yet? I see I have plenty of work to do."
"What are you going to work on!" She was angry now at not being told what was going on.
"Calm down my dear. I want to work with you on your magic skills and a few other things. Once you have mastered those skills I need to show you how to battle properly. Then we can concentrate on more important things."
"What important things?" She was almost too afraid to ask, but she had to know.
"Like reading that book of yours." She had forgotten about that book. I don't even have it anymore. When I gave it to Squall to look at, he never gave it back. Hopefully I can get away before we get to that.
"Why is that book so important?"
"It will bring back a friend who will help me resurrect my mother."
"Your mother?" She found that hard to believe.
"I see you don't know anything about Jenova yet."
"I'm afraid not."
"She is my mother, and I must bring her back. The only way I can do that is with the help of someone else, and only that book can bring her back."
"That's why that book is so important to you."
"Yes. Now, where is it?" She had tried to avoid this.
"Didn't you want to teach me about magic first? Why don't we start with that?"
"Why are you stalling?" He had seen right through her plan. Now what?
"I'm not stalling, I just want to learn about magic. Is that so bad?"
"No, only when you're stalling. What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing."
"If that's the way you want to do it." He raised his hand and a knife from the table floated in the air.
"What are you doing?"
"Tell me where the book is." She said nothing. The knife moved closer until it was right next to her. "I'll only ask you once more. Where is the book?"
"I don't have it, Squall does." The knife pierced her side. He didn't remove it. She fell to the ground in pain.
"Don't worry, I won't let you die. When I get back, you'll still be alive and I'll heal you. Until then, goodbye." He left and she tried to get up, but failed. It hurt too much.
She waited there for what seemed like forever. She couldn't pull out the knife and she never thought to use her magic. She heard someone coming and assumed it was Sephiroth. Finally, he's come back to heal me. But instead of Sephiroth walking through the door, it was Squall. He seemed tired but she didn't notice.
"Litta!" He quickly pulled the knife out and used her magic to heal her up. "What happened?"
"It was Sephiroth. I guess he wanted to keep me from leaving. He said he would heal me when he got back. How did you find me?"
"I followed your tracks."
"Where's Vincent?"
"He was taken by the Turks. I figured I'd come get you and then go after Vincent. Let's go before Sephiroth comes back."
"You seem tired. Are you all right?"
"Just a little accident earlier. I'll be fine." They walked out and hurried into the forest. Sephiroth returned to the house a few hours later.