Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy or its characters.

GR: thanks. I had actually thought of that after I posted. Oh well.

Chapter 2
gepetto

So we grabbed our gear and left the diner that night, not knowing for sure if and when we would return. We arrived at the train station on time and boarded immediately. Since I had bought the tickets ahead of time our seats were spaced out from each other, but that really didn't matter at this time of night, there were only a handful of people scattered throughout the train anyway.

I found a dark and tucked away window seat to slide into and prepared myself for some sleep, the only problem was that my thoughts were traveling through my head a mile a second. I tried to think of what I had forgot while packing, where we could go after getting off the train, the beach, whether or not I showered this morning, wait…did I?

Inevitably, thoughts of my tormented childhood began to plague my mind. Being bounced around from foster home to foster home takes its toll on you. I can't even remember the number of different homes that Ellone and I were sent to. It doesn't matter anyway; they all turned out the same with each family promising to be there for you and then dashing whatever hopes you had. At least I had Ellone with me; the courts were generous enough to keep us together. I guess they just felt remorseful given our situation. I held my head in my hands when I began to think of that night, the one where Hyne decided to totally fuck my life up. Even now, 15 years later, the memories and pain are too much to bear.

The train jolted forward as we left the station, bringing me out of my absentmindedness. The lights in the cabin began to dim. I stared out the window and watched the fluorescent city lights begin to blur together as we picked up speed. They soon became few and far between as we headed for the coast, the darkness enveloping us. I heard footsteps scuffling down the aisle in my direction and looked up to see Quistis coming towards me. She smiled at me and took the empty seat next to mine.

"Everyone else is already asleep," she stated. I nodded my head in acknowledgment and returned my attention back to the window.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"About what?" I asked with a quizzical stare.

"I know that you were thinking about it again Squall. You had that forlorn look on your face, the one you always get when you think about that night." A sad smile tugged at my lips. It was true; Quistis could always tell what I was thinking about. I turned my gaze to the floor.

"Not yet."

She smiled at me again and understood not to push it. It was the one subject that I couldn't speak about to anyone; not the many psychologists I was sent to, my best friends, or even Ellone.

"Alright then, so tell me about this map and secret beach," she said with an amused look upon her slender face. I thought for a moment, struggling to decide whether or not I should tell her. If I didn't tell her now, she would only pry it out of me later. I figured that no harm could be done, seeing as nobody was even awake. I would have to tell them all sooner or later.

It only happened three days ago. I was at work and for some reason the only thing that I could think about was getting off of work. I think that I was actually counting down the time I had left. When I finally did leave, I decided for some reason to take a different route back to the mansion. A couple of miles down the road I came to a bar that I have never noticed before, so I stopped and pulled in for a drink. The bar, I think it was called The Thirsty Gnat, was a real shitter. I walked in and was slapped in the face by this Hyne-awful putrid scent.

Smoke filled the air and created a thick haze. Dust and grime caked the windows. Paint was peeling off the walls. The lights were flickering on and off. The place was littered with drunks trying to hide their faces in the shadows, trying not to be seen. There was a triple triad game going on in the far corner. Two men squabbled over who had won an Ifrit card. The floorboards wailed out in pain as I cautiously approached the bar. The bartender was a short and stocky man with a greasy face and unkempt hair.

"What'll it be," he spat out while placing a mug in front of me.

"How about a clean mug for starters?" I asked while looking at stale beer that pooled at the bottom of the mug. He grunted and swiped the mug back up. Taking a towel that was draped over his shoulder, he wiped the inside of the mug and set it back down in front of me.

"All we got is draft," he said laced with malice, clearly upset at my earlier request.

"Draft is fine," I replied in a shaky voice. The bartender poured my drink then left to attend someone else. I stared at my drink warily for a couple of minutes. I finally gathered the courage to drink the draft sitting in front of me.

Thirty minutes went by and I still hadn't finished the draft. I lifted the mug to my lips and stopped when I heard the door to the bar being flung open. I swiveled around to see who had entered and noticed a dingy man wearing tattered rags was waving his arms erratically; he stumbled in only to fall on a nearby table. He lay sprawled with his back on the table attempting to sing in a loud intangible voice. His words were garbled and slurred together as he tried in vain to sing. He soon gave up, or lost interest and started to scan the room with his pale eyes.

He lolled his head around in circles and settled his line of vision on me. I quickly turned around in my seat praying to Hyne that this crazed drunk didn't notice me, or would soon forget. I took a swig of my draft and heard hurried steps coming towards me. The man slammed into the bar right next to me and tried to regain his balance. He eventually found the stool and turned his head quickly to stare at me.

"Gotta smoke?" he asked hurriedly in a thick Trabian accent.

"Uh…no," I said while taking another swig of my beer and staring at the liquor bottles behind the bar. I was amazed he could still talk coherently.

"That's all right, got one on me," he said excitedly. He pulled out a joint and promptly lit it with a match. He took a long drag and exhaled the smoke quickly. I watched him as he smoked. He had quick but jerky movements, almost as though he a twitch. His hands were dirty and shaky as he brought the joint to his lips. He took another long drag and held his breath, slowly releasing the smoke. This seemed to calm him down a bit.

"Name's Gepetto," he said while stretching his hand out towards me. I raised my eyebrow upon hearing his unusual name.

"Squall," I replied while shaking his hand.

"I bet ya never been to Balamb before, have ya laddy?"

"Nope, I sure haven't," I say, not really caring what he is talking about.

"Well I have…and so has so has the rest-a society's scum," he replied with malice. I was taken aback by his change in demeanor. "Yeah, that's right laddy, scum. But ya gotta get past Balamb, get past Balamb." He now had a crazed look on his face as he stared at the rest of the joint in his hand. I could tell that he was hiding something. I stayed silent in hopes that he would soon loose interest in me, but fate had a different plan.

"I was there ya know, my island, a paradise. Fuckin green trees everywhere…white sand, white sand beaches laddy. With…with animals, monkeys, parrots. A beach…a secluded beach…my beach. Warm crystal-fuckin' clear water…it was perfect…" he rambled on.

"But they wouldn't listen, no, they wouldn't listen to me, those fuckin' bastards…parasites…every last one of them." He suddenly shifted his crazed eyes towards me. "Ya don't believe me, do you laddy?"

I stared at him quizically and shook my head saying, "no offense, but your botched up in the head, right?"

He just chuckled and cast his eyes back to his joint mumbling, "yeah… yeah."

He took one last drag of his joint and threw the rest of it into my mug. "Well, nice meetin' ya, Squall," he said while once again extending his hand toward me. I once again shook it, and with that he stumbled out of the bar. I sat for a while trying to contemplate what had just transpired. I finally got up from the bar and slapped some gil down. I turned to leave as a brawl began in the back corner, it seemed that someone had taken the winner's Ifrit card. Once out the door I looked towards my jeep and noticed that a small piece of paper had been lodged under one of my wiper blades.

"Awe shit. Not another ticket," I muttered to myself.

I walked up and grabbed it, but upon further inspection it felt heavier than a normal ticket. It was a thick sheet of canvas-like material folded into quarters. I unfolded it carefully and discovered handwritten notes and drawings. It was a map.

"What made you keep it?" Quistis asked me.

"Don't know. I guess it was the what if…what if he was telling the truth?"

What if the map would lead me to my unicorn, my flying pig, my snowball in Hell, my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Quistis returned to her seat next to a sleeping Seifer. We pulled into the coastal city of Cortez around 3am. We exited the train. Zell, Irvine, Selphie, Seifer, and Quistis were still half-asleep and decided to find the nearest bench to collapse on. This left me to find us a boat that would take us to Balamb. The wharves and piers were void of any life, as everyone was asleep.

I scoured the docks for anyone that was still awake. As luck would have it, I was able to find a fishing boat that was about to head out to Balamb. A man from Fisherman's Horizon was setting off to catch a school of snapper off the western coast of Balamb. He reluctantly let us catch a ride for a price of 300 gil per person, and that's dirt cheap, trust me. We boarded the boat with Seifer complaining the entire time. He eventually passed out on the deck. I found a cozy spot and propped my pack under my head as a pillow. I fell fast asleep with a slight smile on my face, knowing that when we awoke, we would be in Balamb.

so there you have it. do what you must.
ciao