Chapter 9
Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Ana Coote gather in Ana's living room, silently eating dry cereal and sipping the straws of cardboard juice boxes – lunch. Other than the curtains drawn over locked windows, the room looks as Rinoa remembers it: a small electric fireplace in one corner, an off-key piano with yellowed keys in the other. The sofa is decorated with fall-colored leaves against a blue background, clashing terribly with a peach carpet and butter-yellow walls.
Quistis is a SeeD from Balamb garden. Formerly, Zell tells Rinoa privately, she was Seifer and Squall's instructor. Zell seems distraught, Rinoa thinks, watching him chew broodingly on his plastic straw. Quistis seems nice enough. Her glasses make her look intelligent, and her composed demeanor gives her an air of control of her surroundings. She'd allowed the SeeDs to lead her out of the TV station's topside exit and across the roof of Timber Maniacs to Ana's attic skylight. (Hyne bless Watts's forethought.)
"Sorry about the food…I haven't been able to get to the grocery…" Ana says curtly, before turning on her heel and heading for the kitchen, her black ponytail swishing. A large woman, Ana has to turn a little sideways to get through her narrow kitchen door.
"Thanks chief…" Rinoa calls after her.
Ana's daughter Elisa, a woman of about twenty with her mother's dark hair, but a thinner figure pokes her head into the living room briefly to wave to Rinoa, and acknowledges the SeeDs with a brisk nod.
"Chief?"
"She's the leader of the 'Forest Fox'. Almost everyone's a resistance member in this town. But right now, we're the only ones that are really active."
"She seemed upset." says Selphie.
"She was upset. I'm putting her family in danger by being here." Rinoa says miserably. (This wasn't what she agreed to when she'd let us stay in her home. But who could have known they would trace us this quickly? Or that any of this would happen…) Still, she knows that Ana would have let them stay even if she had known that Galbaldian officers would be combing the area for the president's attackers. That's how members of the Timber resistance groups operate.
Ana's phone rings. Rinoa switches seats with Quistis to answer it.
"Coote residence" she says cautiously.
"Princess? It's Zone." Rinoa wonders why Zone is using her nickname, and then realizes he's afraid that their line isn't secure. (I guess you can't be too careful…)
"They found…my old house. It's completely destroyed." (Our base, they traced it.)
"Well…we were expecting it, just not so soon…Good thing you thought to call me here."
"I've been calling like, every half-hour since the show started." Zone sounds tired. "What took you so long?"
"We had to use Watts's plan B. I'll fill you in later, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Look, we all need to talk. Watts and I will meet you there, alright?"
"Is it safe for you to be out in the open?"
"Watts already is. "Gathering information." A hurricane couldn't keep him inside at a time like this."
"Okay, well…keep your nose down." she forces a laugh. They hang up.
The SeeDs are sitting silently, Zell with his head in his hands. They all look pretty worn-out, except Selphie, who is admiring the Cootes's photos. Presently, she turns around and wonders aloud,
"I still don't get it. What did Seifer come here for?"
(No Selphie, please don't ask that.) Rinoa sighs and sinks back into the couch.
"I think...he came to help us, the 'Forest Owls'. I talked about it a lot with h-" Rinoa pauses mid-sentence to listen to the insistent knocking on the front door.
"Galbaldian guard. Anyone in here?" barks a voice outside.
"What is this? I have 2 small children in here. Don't do anything to frighten them!" Ana shouts back, as Elisa rushes into the living room.
"Upstairs, hurry!" She shepherds Rinoa and the SeeDs to an upstairs bedroom, where her younger brothers, ages seven and three, are standing on a toy chest, peering out the window.
"Will your mom be okay?" Selphie asks.
"She can take care of herself." Elisa assures her. "The legend goes...that my mother took down many soldiers with her strength, cooking and beauty." Elisa leads the younger boys out of the room, the three year old staring at the SeeDs with wide eyes, and closes the door behind them.
"That 'beauty' part sure makes it sound like a legend." Selphie yawns, flopping width-ways on a bed covered with a rocket ship decorated quilt. Quistis sits on the opposite bed, bedecked with a giant, grinning dalmation from a pre-school television show. Zell sits silently in a corner, and Squall stands, arms crossed, eyes on the ground. Rinoa sits against the toy chest and folds her arms over her knees.
(Did Seifer really come back for us? Why else would he have…attacked Deling…but who was that woman? He just went with her…they must have met before. They walked right out into a room full of Galbaldian guards...if they arrested him…)
Rinoa lays her head on her folded arms and forces herself not to think about Seifer's fate if he was arrested. Even when she closes her eyes, she can still feel the pressure of his hand on his shoulder.
"I wonder if he's alright…" she says, half to herself. Quistis answered her,
"He was so angry when he found out it was only the 3 of you dispatched to Timber." She mimicked his outraged voice pretty accurately, "'What? They might end up fightin' the whole Galbadian force! And all they dispatch are 3 rookie SeeD members? Dammit! I'm going to Timber!' I never would have guessed he was serious about it."
Rinoa laughs bitterly, inwardly. (He's always serious.)
Quistis sighs and rests her chin in her palms.
"What's going to happen to Seifer?" she asks no one in particular.
"He may already be dead." Squall says impassively.
Rinoa flinches, angry at having been forced to think what she couldn't think. An image of Seifer's rigid body in an executioner's chair came unbidden into her mind's eye. (And ultimately,) said a nasty voice in her head (whose fault will it be?)
"How can you be so casual?" Rinoa says unhappily "I feel…sorry for him."
Squall shakes his head and laughs quietly.
"What's so funny?" Rinoa stood up, feeling heat rising in her face. "You're terrible!"
"Why do you think he may already be dead?" Quistis asks quickly.
"The president of Galbadia and the sorceress joined forces. Seifer attacked the president. It's no surprise that Seifer may have been killed because of it." He answers, no longer laughing.
"I hope he's alive." Rinoa insists.
Squall doesn't look at her, but answers to the floor,
"Reality isn't so kind. As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything...You feel less pain." He meets her eyes for a moment, and then quickly returns his to the floor.
"Anyway, whatever hope is none of my business." he adds quickly, seeming embarrassed to have spoken so frankly.
Rinoa exhales sharply through her teeth and then turns to face the wall as warm tears spill down her cheeks.
"…Sorry." Squall says, not sounding it.
They sit in silence for a minute or two, long enough for Rinoa to steady her breathing. (I'm not going to do that again) she tells herself firmly, wiping her eyes with her knit arm warmer.
There's a familiar knock, the rhythm of the opening bars of a pop song, on the front door downstairs. Rinoa stands up quickly and rushes downstairs.
"The other officers just left!" Ana is saying anxiously to her daughter. Elisa motions Rinoa to go back upstairs.
"It's alright," she says opening the door. "It's Zone."
Zone hurries in and heads for the living room, while Watts closes the door behind them and greets Ana and Elisa politely. Like everyone else, Watts looks tired and worried. He has dark circles under his eyes, and the handkerchief tied over his head is askew.
"What took so long?" Rinoa asks.
"Stopped at the train station sir…I'll explain in a minute…" Watts says, as Zone comes back out of the living room.
"Hey Rina, Mrs. Coote Ms. Coote Where are the SeeDs?" he asks hurriedly. Rinoa leads them upstairs.
Quistis is quickly introduced to the other Forest Owls. Rinoa gently wakes up Selphie, who's fallen asleep on the rocket ship covered bed. She thinks for a minute that Zell is asleep too, but he's still crouched quietly in the corner, contemplating the wall.
"The Galbaldian forces are withdrawing, sir." says Watts. "Temporarily anyway, only the soldiers normally stationed here will stick around. If you're going to leave town, now's your chance sir."
"Come on, downstairs." Zone says gruffly. Quistis, Zell, Selphie and Watts follow him. Rinoa stands up, looks pensively at Squall for a minute, then purses her lips and follows Watts downstairs, where the SeeDs, Forest Owls, and Ana and Elisa are standing in the front hall. Zell and Squall are leaning against the railings of the stairs. Zone stands opposite the kitchen door, where Ana and Elisa are hovering, as though the oven timer might go off at any second. Selphie is admiring the gaudy glass figure of a swan swimming in a glass pool on the Coote's front table.
"Watts," she asks quietly, plucking at his sleeve, "What did you mean, 'if you're going to leave town'?" Watts shakes his head.
"So what's your plan?" Ana asks.
Rinoa turns to Squall. "Is there somewhere safe you can take us?" He looks away. "Hey, this is an order from your client." she reminds him. (He probably still thinks they're too good for us…).
"Squall," Quistis says quietly "Garden Code, article eight, line seven."
"In the event that returning to the assigned Garden is not possible, report to the nearest Garden…" he mumbles, as if by reflex.
"Still my best student…" Quistis says, smiling. "From here that would be Galbaldia Garden."
"You can get there from the East Academy station, sir?" Watts asks quickly.
"It'll be a hike, but we can get there by passing through a forest, I've been there several times. We should be okay."
Rinoa began to feel relieved. Though Seifer's condition was still a mystery, theirs was starting to look more secure. A little bubble of hope rose in her sternum.
"The train system is being completely shut down, sir. The city is in a state of emergency, every entrance is guarded. More heavily than usual that is…" Watts says. The bubble of hope bursts and Rinoa feels a passing urge to throw the Cootes's ornate glass swan into a wall.
Watts smiles. "There's one train going from Auburn to Dollet, sir. It's stopping in Timber and East Academy, so it'll be here in half an hour, as scheduled. Zone and I got the last five tickets."
"Watts…that's why you're staying in Timber...?" Rinoa wants to hug him, but refrains, lest she embarrass him. Zone is fishing something out of his pocket. He hands a ticket to Rinoa,
"One for you…Three for you SeeD people; I'll give them to the leader, one for me."
Rinoa is filled with relief again. (Watts! Watts, you think of everything.) Then she notices how quiet the room is. Everyone is looking at Quistis, who shrinks unhappily against the wall. Zone looks up, the down at his ticket.
"Here, this one can be for you." he says, extending a hand to Quistis.
She shakes her head helplessly, "I can't take that. It's yours."
"You can't stay here. Besides, my stomach is acting up." Zone takes Quistis's hand and places the ticket in it. Then he takes a seat on the stairs. "I shouldn't travel like in this condition. You'd all better hurry, the train's leaving soon."
Quistis crouches down to Zone's level. "Thank you." He waves her off.
Rinoa sits beside Zone, and swallows a lump rising in her throat. "Zone," she says very quietly "we're going to see each other again, okay? We're gonna liberate Timber together."
"I'll be fine, you're such a nag," Zone jokes, with tears in his eyes. Watts and I will stay at my house. Rinoa puts her arms around his neck and buries her head in his shoulder, trying to memorize him. "Hurry up, you'll miss your train."
"Tell everyone goodbye…and thank you" Rinoa says helplessly to Watts, as the SeeDs bid their hosts polite goodbyes, and gather their weapons from a pile in the front hall.
"Take care of Rinoa!" Zone orders Squall on their way out.
They take a series of back alleys, at one point jumping several backyard fences to avoid the main streets, and reach the train station a minute after the train is scheduled to leave. When it arrives they have plenty of time to find a compartment, and pick one near the back. Rinoa notices that the SeeDs keep their weapons in the compartment with them, Squall's gunblade case under the table, Selphie's nunchaku slung over her shoulder. Quistis carries what seems to be a whip on her belt. (And I thought my weapon was useless…)
Selphie leaves the compartment as soon as everyone's sat down. Rinoa looks questioningly at Zell.
"She likes to look out the window…" he says vaguely, and then lays his head down on the compartment table. Rinoa wonders why she can't look out the compartment window.
The group gets settled as the engineer announces their departure from a scratchy PA system, with a small mounted speaker in each compartment. On one side, Squall stares pensively out the window and Quistis sits with her legs crossed and hands folded in her lap, the image of poise. On the other, Rinoa rests her head her knees, drawn up to her chest, and Zell lays his flat on the table. (The image of misery. What's wrong with him?)
Quistis: On the train ride to East Academy station it occurred to me that I'd normally be trying to make conversation with Squall, draw him out of his shell. Or maybe not, maybe only if we were alone. At least I would be getting a feel for what Rinoa was like, what I could expect from her. I felt I already had a good impression though – not that I didn't like her. She was just…distinctly threatening, and anyway I hadn't slept in a few days, and I spent most of the train ride in blissful unconsciousness.
I had been trailing Seifer since he broke out of the disciplinary room on Friday night, my night off, berating myself the whole time for dismissing the claims of other instructors and faculty that Seifer was mentally unstable and naturally violent. I'd be the first to admit that he was a troubled child and became a difficult adolescent, but I guess I was blinded by his extraordinary abilities; I didn't realize what he was capable of until I was chasing him through the streets of Balamb, hiding behind cars and taking backstreets. It must have been an entertaining chase for Balamb residents. When he boarded a train for Timber, I followed, took a compartment behind his, and phoned the headmaster. He said he would contact the Timber police department. I wondered aloud whether he shouldn't talk to the Galbaldian guard occupying Timber instead. He told me to take the next train back to Balamb and hung up.
The train ride was nerve-racking. I couldn't hear anything in the sections in front of or behind me, so I had to watch through a crack in the compartment door when we arrived early the next morning. I waited for a few more people to pass after seeing Seifer jostling through the crowd, and then left the train. Having slept, or rather, lay down for a few hours in my clothes, I must have looked about as confident as I felt.
The Timber police had obviously been given a picture of Seifer; they were questioning a tall, blonde man about ten years too old at the Timber train station. Seifer passed almost unnoticed and disappeared into the crowd, but one of the officers must have seen him, because in seconds a group of five was running through the crowded train station. I took off after the officers, along with a group of young children. He seemed to know his way around the city well-enough, though I can't imagine he'd ever been to Timber before. He made a few turns and burst into a crowded main street where we lost the curious children, and the police officers. A group of Galbaldian soldiers, soon joined by more to make about ten, stopped the Timber police, and both groups started shouting. I gathered that the Galbaldian guard wanted to know why they hadn't been informed of whatever the Timber police were doing, and the Timber police wanted to get through. I didn't wait to hear more and took off after Seifer.
It was late morning by now, and the sun glinted off the windows of tall buildings in the business district Seifer led me to. He seemed to be on a schedule (I would later determine that he'd planned to ambush Deling earlier, probably before he even reached the station) because he kept running, even after the Galbaldians had stopped his pursuers. I was more relieved than scared when he finally entered one of the buildings; my lungs were on fire. I went in about thirty seconds after he did, and then followed him up to the television studio, keeping a good twenty feet or a corner between us.
When the engineer's announcement finishes, Squall looks up suddenly from the window.
"Well…" he gestures vaguely "we made it."
"I have Zone to thank for that." Quistis answers after a moment, smoothing her blue ticket stub on the table.
Rinoa sighs inwardly. She'd promised Zone they would see each other again, but a numbness in her told her she would be away from Timber for a long time.