Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII....

Author's Note: I'm sorry that the majority of you disliked the last chapter because of Squall and Quistis getting married. Please understand that their marriage is a critical part of the plot, and for the rest of this story to progress in the way I have planned, it was absolutely necessary. Believe me, I thought about other ways to go about it, but in the end, they just had to be married for the rest of this story to make sense. As I've said before, I, too, am not a fan of Qualls in the least. I just ask you all to please trust me with this. That's all I can say without revealing too much about the plot. Of course, I could just come out and say exactly what I have planned to happen, but then what would be the point in reading any further? Anyway, this author's note is long enough as it is, so I won't say anything further. Thank you all for reviewing, and please know that I highly value all of your opinions. I would never write something that I thought you would all immensely hate.

To Love You More

Chapter Nine

"Y-you're awake!" Marianna stammered. "Leanne! Leanne, come quickly! Azure has awaken!"

Rinoa looked at her surroundings in a daze. She had no idea as to where she was or who the woman studying her curiously was. Leanne rushed over to her side. "You're awake! After all this time... It's a miracle!"

Who were these people? And what in the world were they talking about? They had called her something...Azure. What was going on? "W-who are you?" she managed to croak.

Leanne smiled at her reassuringly. "My name is Leanne, and this is Marianna. I've been your doctor for the past three years."

"What?" Rinoa gasped. "Three years? That's impossible! I've never seen you before in my life!"

"Please, calm down. Let me start from the beginning. You are confused, as you should be. The past three years of your life have passed without you consciously knowing it."

"I don't understand. Why am I here? Where is here?"

"Three years ago, your body washed up on the shores of our forest. That is where Marianna's daughter found you. You were unconscious, and barely alive. Marianna and a few of the other women brought you to my medical facility within the forest. However, my resources there were limited. That is why you are here, in the city. This is the best medical facility available. Basically, you have been in a coma for the past three years. We never gave up on you, and now it looks like you are going to be fine."

Rinoa frowned. Three years? I've been in a coma for three years? "You called me 'Azure'. Why?"

"That was our name for you," Marianna explained. "We named you after the blue clothes we found you in."

"I'm still extremely confused. Are we in Esthar?"

"Esthar?" Leanne frowned. "What is that?"

Rinoa froze. Who hadn't heard of Esthar, the most technically advanced city of them all? Of course, they had basically been hidden to the world prior to Ultimecia's defeat, but surely they had heard of it by now. "Balamb, Galbadia? Those must sound familiar to you."

Leanne shook her head. "I am sorry, but I have never heard those words in my life."

Rinoa bit her lip nervously. "Where are my friends? Where is Squall?"

"Squall?" Leanne exchanged a worried glance with Marianna. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Rinoa closed her eyes. "I was with my boyfriend, Squall. We were saying goodbye." She opened her eyes. "I was on the way to Trabia Garden, but there was a crash. Nida...he took the Ragnarok down because I'm a..." she trailed off.

"You're a what?" Leanne asked gently.

"N-nothing. Listen to me. My name is Rinoa Heartilly. I am a student at Balamb Garden. My boyfriend is Squall Leonhart. He led the mission that defeated the sorceress Ultimecia. You must have heard of him."

"I am sorry," Leanne said sincerely. "None of those names are familiar to me. This city, where we are now, is called Zuwang. We have no outside contact with anyone."

Just like how Esthar used to be... "I need to get out of here. My friends must be worried. They would have searched... Where, in relativity to everything else, are we?"

"It's hard to say. Like I said, we haven't been in contact with anyone. You see, we are a group of people who feel that we have a strong connection with the mother of all things, Hyne. Some would say that we believe to be too spiritually intertwined with her. That is why, hundreds of years ago, our ancestors set up this city."

"How could you possibly be so technologically advanced if you have no contact with the outside world?" Rinoa asked curiously.

"We believe that Hyne has given us the intelligence to become as advanced as we are. Perhaps someone in the outside world will be able to find us, though. We will ask Hyne for guidance."

Rinoa nodded. "I need to call Squall. Oh God, he probably thinks that I'm dead."

"Feel free to call whomever you want. Our phones should be able to reach any one of those other places you mentioned. You are free to leave at any time, after I have performed a few additional tests to make sure that you really are okay. However, we were hoping that you could stay for a bit. You must understand, our city is so technologically advanced that we don't need contact with anyone. We have no idea how things in the outside world are. Maybe you could tell us a bit about your life?"

Rinoa shrugged. "If you really want to hear about it, then I would be happy to. However, I need to focus on contacting my friends right now. I need to see them. I still can't believe that it's been three years..."

"It will most likely take some time to adjust to things. We'll leave you now, so you can make that call." They exited the room.

Once they were gone, Rinoa picked up the phone and dialed the number for Squall's office. Even after all this time, it was still fresh in her mind. As the phone rang, she waited, her stomach a web of knots. What was she supposed to say? 'Hey Squall. You probably thought I was dead, but I'm not, so could you come and pick me up in Zuwang?' Ha! He'd think I'm a psycho. Telling him I'm in a city no one's ever heard of, when I am most likely presumed dead?

A male voice broke her thoughts and steered her focus back to the phone in her hand. "Hello?"

Rinoa felt a sudden sense of disappointment. Three years or twenty, she would recognize Squall's voice, and the man she was speaking to was not him. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Irvine Kinneas, active commander of Balamb Garden. Who am I speaking to?"

Commander of Balamb Garden? What about Squall? Taking a deep breath, she said, "Is Squall there? Can I talk to him?"

"Who's asking?"

"You don't recognize my voice, Irvine?"

From the other end of the line, she heard him pause. "I do know your voice, but the person it resembles died three years ago. Who are you, really? What do you want?"

A knot formed in Rinoa's throat and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying. "Irvine...it's me, Rinoa. I know this is crazy, but I didn't die when the Ragnarok crashed. It's a long story, but I've been in a coma for three years, from which I've just woken up. Right now, I'm at a hospital in a city called Zuwang. They don't keep contact with the outside world, so you could have a hard time finding it. Do you think that you could send someone to get me?"

It took Irvine a few minutes to respond. "R-Rinoa? Is this some kind of joke?"

"It's no joke, Irvine. Please, you have to trust me. Can I talk to Squall?"

"Squall? Uh...he's away, on a mission. Yeah, he's on a mission with Quistis, so he left me in charge. God, I can't believe I'm talking to you. We all thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "The last thing I remember is the Ragnarok going down. The next thing I know, I wake up here and find out that I've been in a coma for three years. How is everyone?"

"Everyone is fine. We all took your death pretty badly. You'll see everyone soon enough, though." He sighed. "There's so much to talk about. Listen, you just hang tight, okay? You're not in any danger, are you?"

"No, I don't think so. These people looked after me for three years, so I highly doubt that they want to hurt me."

"Okay, just be careful. I'm going to track down this Zuwang place and come pick you up myself."

"But what about Garden? Aren't you acting as commander while Squall's away?"

"Eh, Xu's more than capable of taking over. So like I said, sit tight and wait for me. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Okay. Thank you, Irvine."

"You're welcome. I'm so glad that you're okay, Rinoa. You can't even imagine how glad I am."

"Thank you." She took a deep breath. "If you hear from Squall, could you tell him that I love him?"

"Of course," he answered automatically. "See ya soon."

Rinoa hung up the phone, feeling immensely relieved. It had been so good to hear one of her friends again. Pretty soon, she would be home with them. And with Squall.

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Irvine paced back and forth nervously. Rinoa is alive. Rinoa is alive! The words kept repeating themselves over and over again in his head. It's impossible...but...that was her! I'm sure of it. The most important thing to do now was locate Zuwang and get to Rinoa. Of course, there's the tiny matter of Squall and Quistis being married. He rubbed his forehead wearily. She's going to be devastated. Well, there is no use thinking about it now. She doesn't need to know yet. The important thing is that I find her.

"Xu!" he called. "Could you please come in here?"

She stepped into the office. "Yes?"

"Something's come up. I'm going to have to leave Garden for a while to handle it. Do you think you can handle the Garden while I'm gone?"

Xu frowned. "I suppose so, but with Squall, Quistis, and you gone, it will be an easy target for our enemies. Maybe we should call them and tell them to come back."

"No!" Irvine said quickly. "I mean, they're on their honeymoon. We can't interrupt that. You know Quistis had to practically force Squall to take the time off. You'll be fine, Xu. I'll tell Zell the situation, and he can help, as well. This matter needs to be taken care of."

"It's that important?"

He nodded. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't be going. Why don't you stay here. As of now, you're officially in charge. I have a few other things that I need to take care of, and I can't be distracted. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, I'll get everything under control. Good luck."

"You too. I'll try to get back as soon as possible." With that said, he walked out of the office, in search of Zell. Of course he had to tell him he was leaving, but he had resolved to keep Rinoa a secret. Zell was one of his closest friends, but it was common knowledge that he wasn't very good at keeping secrets. Things just had a tendency of "slipping" out of his mouth. Irvine knew that if he told Zell he was going to get Rinoa, it would be all over the Garden by nightfall. I can just imagine the commotion that would cause.

Irvine found Zell in his dorm, reading a weapons magazine. "Hey, man. Have you seen the newest model of Ehrgeiz?" Hw whistled appreciatively. "What a beauty."

"Zell," Irvine said seriously. "I need to talk to you."

He put the magazine down. "What's up?"

"I need to handle an urgent mission that has come up. While I'm gone, Xu will be in charge of Garden. I want you to do everything you can to help her."

"Sure, but where are ya going? Are you going to be gone a long time?"

Irvine shrugged. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. I can't tell you where I'm going. It's better that you don't know."

"Aw, come on," he whined. "You can't even tell me?"

"Nope, sorry. Listen, I have to get going. Try not to destroy Garden while I'm gone, okay? Squall will have my head."

Zell laughed. "Oh ye of so little faith."

Halfway out the door, Irvine turned around and smiled. "We'll see."

After leaving Zell's room, Irvine hurried to the library, figuring that he would either be able to find some information about Zuwang in the books or on the computer. He poured over the material for hours, but was unsuccessful. Damn it. Whoever these people are, they don't want to be found. A sudden idea hit him, and he practically ran back to his room. Once there, he picked up the phone and quickly punched in the number for Ellone's private line at the Presidential Palace.

"Hello?"

"Ellone, it's Irvine. Are you busy? I really need to talk to you."

"No, I'm not busy. Actually, I haven't had much to do lately. What do you need to talk about?"

Irvine sighed. "I can't tell you over the phone. Can I come and see you?"

"Now?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, if it's okay. I'm sorry, but it's really important and I'm kinda in a hurry."

"Okay, if it's really that important. Um...you guys got the airship that Uncle Laguna sent over, right? I meant to ask Squall at the wedding, but it completely slipped my mind."

"Yeah, we got it. That was really generous of him. I'll take that. It should get me there in no time. Thanks, Ellone."

"No problem. I'll see you in a little while then."

"Okay, see ya."

He hung up the phone, feeling a lot better. Ellone will more likely than not be able to tell me where this 'Zuwang' is. Grabbing his duffel bag, he threw in some clothes and other items he deemed necessary. He left a message for Xu, telling her he was leaving, and then he was on his way. He couldn't help feeling a strong sense of irony. Rinoa wakes up one day after Squall marries Quistis. If she had called one day sooner, he wouldn't be married right now. I'm almost certain of it. Shaking those thoughts from his head, he focused on flying the aircraft and getting to Esthar in the fastest possible time. All the while, hoping against hope that Ellone would have the answers he was looking for.

~*~