A/N: An unusually long chapter this time and I mean long. Most of it is dialogue from the game so I can't take much credit for a lot of it but do read because it helps to explain everyone's emotions. Well that's just what I think.
Two chapters in one day, you lucky people.
She stood in the flower field, running her hand over the blossoming flowers. She smiled in a peaceful manner as she played with the bud of a blooming rose. "Sorceress Rinoa! Turn slowly and keep your hands in plain sight." She sighed heavily as the SeeDs lined along the concrete banking with their firearms positioned on her. Turning to them she saw Squall stood in the centre of the troops. He signalled for the troops to fall back as her appearance was normal, save her eyes. He walked through the long grass to her, all the time keeping his gunblade by his side.
"You feeling better?"
"There's a sorceress out there desperate to kill me but yeah, I am feeling a little better." Squall came a bit closer to her and held her arm with his hand. "Can I tell you something?" Squall nodded not sure what she could possibly want to say. "I had a dream, while I was trapped in that house. We made a promise to each other, I even got dressed up for it, like going for a night out." She smiled but it was quickly replaced by a sad face as she dropped her eyes to the ground. "Only I couldn't remember where to meet you. I started to panic, I wanted to see you so much but I couldn't remember where you where, what you'd said, anything." She paused, "It's silly really maybe I shouldn't have started." Squall took her chin in his hand, ignoring the yellow eyes that many were repulsed by and smiled.
"Keep going maybe it'll help." She smiled before she continued.
"I looked everywhere, all the towns and cities, even the deserts and forests, but I still couldn't find you. I ran till I couldn't run anymore, eventually all I could do was scream your name. But you didn't answer, nobody did. When I woke up I was crying, I guess I just felt so alone." She looked away again ashamed that she had told him such a childish dream.
Squall stayed quiet for a moment as he thought through his words. "You don't have to say anything." She quickly said as he opened his mouth to speak. He smiled at her before he began to speak.
"It was just a dream; you shouldn't worry about it too much." She looked a little down hearted and she smiled weakly. "Ok? How about this . . . I'll be here . . ." she looked up in shock, unsure what he meant.
" . . . Why?"
"The reason you couldn't find me is because we haven't promised yet."
"Promised . . . ?"
"I'll be waiting for you. If you come here, you'll find me. I promise."
"I'll wait here too, I promise." She smiled as he looked down on her, "Maybe you do have a soft side after all." She commented as Irvine, Selphie, Zell and Quistis approached them. They were shortly followed by Laguna and Ellone with Kiros and Ward.
"Took us a while to find somewhere to park that thing." Laguna joked as he stood behind Ellone. "We ready for this?"
"Uncle Laguna, we can't do anything until Ultimecia processes Rinoa again." Ellone reminded Laguna as she reached out for a flower head.
"Do what?" Rinoa asked curiously as she looked between the people gathered around her.
"Time compression, we need you to let Ultimecia take over again so we can let her use Ellone to trigger it and send us too her." Squall shocked everyone as he explained the situation before anyone else could open their mouth to speak.
"Oh." Rinoa said as she turned her back on them, wrapping her arms around herself she fought back the tears. They still don't remember, their standing on the soil they did as children and they still can't remember each other! They still can't remember me. And now they want to use me as some kind of a pawn! She held her head high as she turned back to them, "I'm going down to the beach, if anyone needs me that is."
"What about Ultimecia?" Laguna asked as she walked past them all.
"I can't will her to come! She'll come when she comes, you'll just have to sit it out."
She sat on a secluded rock as she practiced the training regime Edea had shown her as a small girl. Bursts of fire appeared out of thin air as she moulded their size and shape, before she encased it in a block of ice. She sighed heavily and let the ice drop to the floor as she quicklylost interest.
"Your control's gotten better." She recognized the voice as Irvine's, turning she watched as he approached her, sitting on the sand beside the rock. She looked out over the sea all the hope lost from her face. "I remember that time Squall made you angry and you set alight his favourite teddy by accident." He let out a small chuckle and watched in satisfaction as a small smile spread across her face.
"He was so mad with me, I remember he clenched his fists and screamed as loud as he could. He even went blue in the face from all the screaming and yelling." Her smile faded as she turned to Irvine, "He used to be so . . . alive, but now when I look at him all I see is that cold front. What happened?"
"Like I said Rin,it broke little Squall's heart when you stopped coming. He'd already had his big sister taken from him and then your dad had taken you away from him." She looked away upset that she had let her father stop her from continuing her lessons with Edea.
"What were they fighting about that day?"
"Huh?"
"She means Squall and Seifer, don't you?" Quistis approached them from the steps that lead down to the beach. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a protective manner and she sat in the sand not far from them both. Rinoa nodded once she was sure the girl was close enough to notice. "I was their instructor, it'd didn't go down very well with Seifer I don't think he liked having an instructor the same age as himself. They were supposed to be taking their SeeD test in the fire cavern but boys will be boys." She said the last sentence with a motherly tone.
"But they were fighting right?"
"Yeah, Squall was only sixteen so the GFs probably had nearly two years to erase the reason why."
"It explains why he didn't understand Seifer."
"All I could get out of them both afterwards was, "'She doesn't belong to anyone. She should be free to fly anywhere.' From Squall that is. I though the bump to the head had had something to do with that though. And then, "I'm going to marry an angel someday," from Seifer. Of course he wasn't aware I was there when he said that. When I asked them both who Squallcouldn't remember, probably because of his injuries,but Seifer did, 'Rin' was his answer."
All three remained silent for a while, before Quistis spoke again. "You know I can almost remember something about a place like this one. It's strange it's like one moment it's there and then it's not." Irvine and Rinoa shared a knowing smile as they watched Selphie and Zell wander down to them. "Do we really have to fight the sorceress? Isn't there another way?" Rinoa spoke as everyone sat around them Squall had also wandered down the beach and was leaning on a rock not far from the group.
"Rinoa you've been fighting with her in your mind just to stay alive, I would have thought you'd want to make her go away." Squall spoke quietly from his rock, but loud enough for them to hear him.
"I just feel like I'm being left behind and I wonder if when I catch up . . . Will everyone be alright? Will you all still be there? Will you still welcome me with open arms?"
"Rinoa I think I understand, someone you love might not be there." Irvine looked affectionately to Selphie as he spoke, "When I was a little kid, I was in an orphanage, and of all the kids there, there was one really special one. I really like this girl and just talking to her made me happy."
"Wait . . . A stone house?" Selphie asked as she looked to Irvine with confusion.
"You guessed it . . ."
"An old house of stone . . . by the ocean?" Quistis added as she began to recall the memory.
"Yup . . . I think I've know since we all met." Irvine smiled as the group exchanged looks.
"This stone house." Rinoa added as she turned back to the orphanage ruins.
"Hey! Why didn't you two tell us?" Squall's head picked up at Selphie's question. Two? So Rinoa was there too? Squall thought silently
"Why didn't you tell us?" Quistis asked the question again.
"You all seemed to have forgotten." Irvine and Rinoa spoke in unison as they shrugged.
"This is so weird." Selphie said as she smiled with excitement. Zell who was sat beside her looked deep in thought.
"Hey do you guys remember the fireworks?" Zell asked as he shuffled and crossed his legs.
"The ocean and the lighthouse . . ." Selphie spoke slowly as she began to remember.
"We did set off fireworks; I thought it was just a dream." Quistis exclaimed.
"Hey if I remember this then was I there too?" Zell asked as he looked to Irvine with confusion.
" . . . We all got in big trouble." Quistis added, appearing to have ignored Zell's rambling.
"Then my parent's in Balamb . . ."
"The Dincths must have adopted you." Quistis spoke in a motherly tone. "Hmm I think Seifer might have been there too."
"Yeah I remember, he always used to call me names and tease me." Zell said as he clenched his fists.
"Any you always used to scream for matron." Selphie giggled as she recalled the memories.
Squall was lost deep in his own thoughts as he tried to remember what they had been like in the orphanage. Seifer was always Seifer, taking advantage of any opportunity to tease Zell. Zell, you were always screaming and crying I don't think you would have done very well if the Dincths hadn't come when they did. Irvine? I don't remember you being there. Quistis, i think you were difficult to deal with, always trying to play mum to us all you never said what you felt. Selphie, you were always so full of energy I don't think you ever stopped playing. And Rinoa . . . He looked to the girl as she sat on the rocks talking andsmiling with the others. You made everything beautiful just by being in the same room as me . . . then you left . . .
"We were all there . . ." As Irvine spoke Selphie was quick to cut in.
"Hey, then that means . . ." Squall lifted himself from the rock and walked towards the group.
"Yeah . . . I was there too. I was always waiting for Ellone to come back. Then Rinoa showed up and . . . I didn't feel so alone anymore." He looked directly at Rinoa and she turned away with sorrowful eyes.
"I never wanted to leave . . . but my dad . . ." She stopped unable to justify hurting him the way she had.
"I'm not sure what this all means, but maybe we're all meant to be together."
"Maybe . . ." Irvine was the first to speak, "Everyone liked Sis and even Rinoa but you kept hogging them both for yourself."
"You sure have a good memory . . ." Squall stated as he watched Rinoa stare at the ground as she played with her fingers, Irvine shrugged in response. "Maybe I wasn't adopted because of the way I was."
"Probably the same with Seifer you must have been about ten when the Garden recruited you. But even then you still found your dad." Squall nodded.
"It's strange, nothing's ever triggered these memories before, not even seeing Seifer." The group nodded acknowledging that none of them had ever really thought about it till that moment.
"I remember things didn't work out too well with my new family, so I went to the Garden when I was about nine or ten. That's when I saw Seifer and Squall again. They were always fighting." Quistis spoke with a slightly sad tone to her voice.
"You alway had to break us up." Squall reminded her.
"I had fun a Trabia, maybe that's what made me forget about my childhood." Selphie chirped as Rinoa shared a look with Irvine.
"Don't you wonder if it has anything to do with the GFs?" Everyone turned to Rinoa and she smiled shyly.
"The price we pay for using the GFs powers . . . it provides us with vast powers but makes its own place in our brain . . ."
"My books." Selphie exclaimed as she recalled Irvine's words.
"I thought that was just what the critics were saying about them. Surely Cid wouldn't expose us to something so dangerous." Quistis questioned herself as she tried to weigh the pros and cons.
"So what do we do about it?" Zell asked with curiosity.
"What do we do?" Squall repeated as he thought about the answer.
"Nothing." Rinoa said, she looked away shyly as she realised she had probably spoke out of term. Squallcleared his throat.
"What would you do? If we stop using our GFs now how will we be able to fight Ultimecia? As long as we continue fighting, we're indebted to the powers of the GF. It there's a price I have to pay, I'll gladly pay it."
"We could keep a diary, and then we only have to read that to remember what's happened." Selphie suggested and several of the group nodded at the idea.
"Hey what about matron?" Zell asked.
"Edea . . . Cid's wife. She used to be a sorceress until her powers were passed onto me." Rinoa spoke quietly.
"I remember always wearing black." Squall nodded he had never understood why Edea had treated him like her own child until now.
"Anyway the point of this was just to say . . . I understand what Rinoa's saying. I understand but I'm still going to fight. I want to know that I'm doing what I can to protect my friends. Maybe you've all heard that life has infinite possibilities, I don't believe that one bit. Maybe there weren't that many choices for us to make, and sometimes there might only have been one. From those limited choices I had my decisions have lead me this far. I want to hold true to the path I had to take. I don't mind loosing something to the GFs, I didn't drift here on the tides of fate, I chose to be here. As kids we were all separated, when your young there aren't any paths at all. That's why I just sat and cried. But we're not kids anymore . . . we're strong enough to look after ourselves. We make our own decisions and we just confronting a big one now." Everyone was silent for some time and then Zell spoke.
"We can't run for the rest of our lives."
"I just don't want to have to put anyone in danger." Selphie added smiling at Rinoa as she spoke.
"Zell's right, we can't keep running forever." Quistis shrugged as she spoke.
"Rinoa it's up to you, we're all willing to fight but we can't do that without your help. I think it's the only way we can move on with our lives. If that makes any sense at all . . . I'd really like you to fight with us . . . with me." Rinoa looked between the faces around her before her eyes settled on a hopeful Squall. She walked towards him and stopped only a few inches from him looking at the floor while she rubbed her arm.
"Just don't let me fall behind." She whispered as she looked into his eyes as dark tattoos crept back into her creamy skin.
