By Ramsey Anderson
All characters in this fic are property of Squaresoft and were not created by me.
-----------------------------
Chapter 7
"Squall…can I ask a favor of you?" Ellone asked nervously.
"You want to know what happened on Laguna's travels and you want to use my consciousness, along with Selphie and Zell's to find out, right?" I responded. I had thought about what would happen with the whole Laguna thing. I understood why Ellone used us like she did, and she deserved to know what happened.
"…right, I suppose I did this 'last time', right?" Ellone formulated.
"Yes, and I would be more than happy to help you, but I don't think it's necessary. I could just tell you the entire story. I, and I'm sure Selphie and Zell, would prefer not to go through the whole process if possible. Unless you don't believe me, that is."
"I trust you, and I would hate to have to put you through something that you wouldn't want to do. Please, tell me what happened to Laguna, tell me everything you know."
"It's a long story, but I suppose it will be awhile before we reach Timber anyways, right?"
I told her everything that she wanted to know. I omitted no details, I told her of every single battle that Laguna, Kiros, and Ward went through. I told her about his adventures as a Galbadian soldier, the time he met Julia, his brief stint as an actor, the time he spent in Winhill, when he worked for Dr. Odine, all the way up to the point where he rescued Ellone. Ellone would ask questions every so often, I would answer them, and not once did she doubt my story. When the story was over, she cried. I put my arm around her and she wept on my shoulder.
Ellone had meant that world to me once. When I was a child, I loved her so much, she cared for me, she was my friend, my sis. When she left, I didn't take it very well. The one memory that would remain with me forever was me at the orphanage telling myself that I would be fine by myself, without sis, and I would always remember it, no matter how many GF's I could junction. It was odd; she had meant the world to me once, then she left me, turning me into the cold, self-centered person I used to be, and now she was crying on my shoulder. Funny how things worked out…
-----------------------------
I fidgeted impatiently in bed, waiting for the SeeDs to arrive so that we could get started on the operation. Finally, Timber will get it's independence, after all this time! These SeeDs will guarantee our success! After all, the contract says that they are to stay with us, the Forest Owls, until Timber gets its independence. So it must work!…Hmm, I wonder if Seifer… Coincidently, the door to my room opened and Seifer stepped into my life again.
"Rinoa…it's been a long time…"
"Seifer…" I managed to spit out. I had kinda figured that he would be the one to come and help us. Maybe I was even kinda hoping that he would come…
Seifer walked over and sat on the bed next to me. "Well, you still look as beautiful as you did the last time I saw you. How you been doing?"
I couldn't help but blush at his compliment, and I tried to hide it by turning away, talking quietly and nervously as if I was some kind of school girl talking to her crush, "I'm fine…so you're a SeeD now, huh?"
Seifer sighed and looked a bit angry, "…technically no, but I might as well be. They chose me for a SeeD assignment, after all. Also, I am the leader of this operation, you know."
A blonde woman dressed in a shade of red stepped into the room and commanded Seifer, "Are you quite done? Come with me, we need to formulate a plan of action." The woman stood impatiently in the doorway, waiting for Seifer and I.
"Yes, ex-instructor. Looks like we'll have to finish our catching up later." Seifer said to me as he stood up and exited the room.
I didn't know what to think. Our relationship before had ended when he decided that he wanted to be a SeeD and moved to Balamb Garden. He was a sweet guy and was very charming, but he had this dark side to him that I found…scary. The way he fought was awfully…dirty, and he would show no mercy in certain situations. He also had this anger problem every so often. Yet, I was still attracted to him. I didn't know what I wanted, but I would be working with him, so I would try to maintain a professional business-like relationship and nothing more. I just hoped I could do that.
--------------------------
When she dropped me off at the closest point to Timber that the ship allowed, Ellone told me that she would be going back to Balamb Garden soon. I would've told her to be careful in case I failed to stop the missile threat, but I already knew that she would be fine. A few hours later, I arrived in Timber. I knew that security was pretty tight and that I would have to sneak around the town being careful not to get spotted. I didn't know if I could handle several guards alone. Luckily, I got through unspotted. I would have to find my way into the Timber radio station the same way that Seifer had if I were to catch him.
It took some time, but I found a way to get in without attracting any of the guards. It was risky, but I had to climb up one building to another to another that led to a window at the radio station. I was high above ground, so I was able to see the Forest Owl's train when it approached. Okay, they're here, that must mean that the speech will begin soon, which means Seifer can't be too far. I'll just hide here backstage and wait for him.
--------------------------
"The president's in the studios now, sir. Too many guards now, so we won't be able to storm the place, sir!" Watts informed me before he took off.
"Oh please, too many guards? Hah, I think that the four of us can take em' on. I mean, we took out how many on the way here? Dozens, I'm sure."
"All due to your irresponsible behavior, Seifer! We could have avoided many of those battles if you hadn't been here. Anyways, our client Rinoa will inform us as to what we should do." Quistis griped.
"Umm, well, maybe we should go figure out a new plan before we do anything else." Rinoa suggested.
"Oh c'mon Rin, you know what we should do! Let's just bust in there and play it by ear. That way, the president won't be able to broadcast his message," I advised.
"But what if it's a message of peace?!" Selphie annoyingly commented.
"Sorry Seifer, but what kind of message would we be giving if we killed a bunch of guards and attacked the president? The Forest Owls would like to avoid violence whenever possible. So let's go back to our hideout and figure things out." Rinoa ordered.
Even though I would've like to be nice to Rinoa if we were to hook up later, she was beginning to make me angry and annoyed. I obviously have the right idea with my plan of action, but we have to do what she says. Well, I'll just have to go behind her back. My mission is to give Timber its independence, and that's what I will achieve.
I trailed behind the rest of them as they walked down the stairs to the hideout, at which point I silently snuck away and headed towards the radio station. I would complete the mission in any way possible.
--------------------------
When the president began to speak, I got up and quietly looked around for Seifer. He should be here by now, what gives? I heard a noise to the right of me as Seifer emerged from a window on the side of the building. He was late, but he was here.
"Squall?!" Seifer exclaimed in a low tone as to keep from being heard by guards.
"I can't let you attack the president, Seifer." I commanded. I was closer to the entrance to the stage that the president was on, which barred Seifer's path.
"What the…how did you know what I was gonna do?? Doesn't matter, get out of my way! I've got a mission to do!" Seifer pulled out his gun blade and lunged at me.
I already had my gun blade out, so I was able to parry the assault and counter with my own. As before, I had the upper hand in that I knew Seifer's moves rather well, but this was an enclosed space and I was restricted in my movement. Seifer grew impatient as he often did and stepped back to cast a spell. I was too far away to tackle him and his spell hit. It was a Slow spell! My speed immediately decreased four-fold, only to be hit immediately by a Fire spell. How did Seifer learn Double? And slow? I was thrown to the floor, and with my current status, I could not get up fast enough to stop Seifer from getting away.
All I could do was use all the strength in my body to try and get to the stage where I might be able to stop Zell from saying we're from Balamb. I heard the commotion on the stage, Seifer's voice telling the guards to stay back, then the sound of footsteps entering the stage area. Dammit, there's nothing I can do.
--------------------------
"Now Seifer, calm down, what are you doing?" Quistis spoke to Seifer in a calm manner.
"I'm doing what should be done! Rinoa, isn't this what you want? By kidnapping this fool, we have power over the Galbadians and can make demands, such as freeing Timber!" Seifer retorted.
"No, this is not the way to achieve it, okay? This isn't going to work! Let him go, Seifer! As your client, I order you to let the president go!!" Rinoa shouted to Seifer.
It was then that I made a very terrible mistake. I should've just kept my mouth shut, but I didn't. "Yeah Seifer, wait until Headmaster Cid hears about this, you'll be expelled from Garden for sure!"
"I see... So you're all from Garden. Should anything happen to me, the entire Galbadian military will undoubtedly crush Garden. You can let go of me now." President Deling remarked.
"Nice going chicken-wuss! You and your stupid big mouth! Take care of this, ex-instructor!"
I had screwed things up bad. Galbadia would attack Balamb Garden and it'd all be my fault… If I had the power to go back through time, I would go back to this point and prevent myself from saying what I did that day, that's for sure.
--------------------------
Zell's exclamation marked the failure of my attempt to stop the missile strike. Damn you, Seifer. The slow spell still had not worn off, and I was too late to prevent anything, but I still stepped as fast as I could towards Seifer as he backed into the backstage area with his gun blade at Deling's throat. I watched as Edea appeared from a wall behind Seifer and talked to him, seducing him into coming with her. Seifer, like the lost boy he was, followed the sorceress and let go of the president, who immediately ran past me and out the door.
I smacked the blunt end of my gun blade on a nearby wall as hard as I could to let everyone know that I was there. They all quickly turned to me and sighed in relief when they realized that I wasn't a Galbadian solider.
"Squall? What are you doing here? And why are you…oh I see, you're slowed. Hold on." Quistis told me as she cast an esuna on me, relieving me of my handicap.
"Listen, there will be time for explanations later. We need to get out of here before backup arrives." I instructed.
All the G-troops were busy looking after the president, so our escape was fairly easy to make. We reached the generous Timber citizen's house, our hideout, to wait until the heat died down and where we could make plans as what to do next.
"So what's your story?" Quistis asked me.
"Hey, I'm sorry for leaving you like that the other night, I really am. I just had to find out some answers."
"Well I hope it was worth it because you had a SeeD mission to do today. Because of your absence, Seifer and I had to join Zell and Selphie and I in this assignment to assist the Forest Owls."
"Whoa, wait, Seifer was on your team?! He…he's not even a SeeD! Why did h…" I realized that I was shouting, so I lowered my voice, "Why did he come along? Why not some other SeeD?"
"Cid said that the mission called for a gun blade specialist, and he was the only one available. Although, I still do not understand why we needed a gun blade specialist for this mission."
I thought about the same thing, then realized that Cid had an ulterior motive for us on this assignment. Once we were to arrive at Galbadia Garden, we would receive instructions to assassinate sorceress Edea. That is why a gun blade specialist was needed. That's why Seifer had those Slow and Double spells, because on the way here last time, I learned the same spells. He must've gotten them from the same enemies I faced before.
"Listen, the point is that I'm here now and we need to figure out a plan." I changed the subject.
I needed to think of a plan for myself. Now that I had missed the opportunity to prevent the strike from ever being ordered, I would have to find some other way to stop it. Until I figured it out, I would stay here with everyone.
While I thought about the next course of action, Rinoa and Selphie had a private chat in the corner. Zell approached me and said, "Psshh, women. Always gossiping, always having little girl-to-girl chats. Am I right? Talking about guys, no doubt," Zell then mocked in a girlish voice, "Who do you like? Oh yeah, he's so fresh! No, but have you seen him? Ooh, he's so hot! I agree, Zell is so awesome!"
I couldn't help but laugh at Zell's rather good impression. Selphie overheard us and exclaimed, "Hey! We're trying to have a conversation over here! Butt out!"
Zell got up and walked around, obviously embarrassed that they had heard him. I stared at Rinoa as she talked, mesmerized by her beautiful face. I couldn't help but notice that she mouthed the name 'Seifer' quite a few times, meaning that she was talking about him, as Zell had thought. When they were done talking, I felt that it was time to formally introduce myself to Rinoa, after all, we hadn't actually met just yet.
I didn't say much to her, as Rinoa was always the one to make conversations. I tried the best I could to keep the conversation going, but she seemed preoccupied, like her mind was elsewhere. I figured that it would take time for us to warm up to each other, so I went back to thinking up a plan to save Trabia.