Part 9:
Once the comrades had all abandoned the Ragnarok, Squall had taken his IC out of his jacket pocket, pushed the campus button and walked silently west of the ship...
'This way guys...we're heading west...' said Quistis as she stood next to Seifer who was standing against a tree with his arms crossed, with his head faced down...
Quistis wondered why Seifer treated everyone so badly; maybe he had been through a very hard time just like Squall and maybe had the same stoic ideas in his head...or maybe he was just mean...Quistis was tired of being treated like his enemy, she really thought it was unnecessary having such a difficult relationship. She had been thinking of this the whole journey...the way he looked at her when he woke up; she saw something in his eyes she had never seen before...now was the opportunity to break the ice...
'Seifer...' sighted Quistis, looking at him innocently.
Seifer looked up with an angry look on his face...
'Walk with me?' she asked sweetly as a look of hatred grew upon Seifer's scarred face...
'Are you def? I don't take orders from...' he started groaning, but before he could go on...
'I'm not ordering you around...I'm asking you to...not as an instructor...as a friend...as a comrade...whatever suits you...' she explained.
'A friend...huh?...' he mocked as he rolled his eyes.
'Please?...' she insisted...
'Instructor Trepe begging me to walk with her...hmm...In that case...if it really makes a difference in your miserable life...' he sneered as he walked along with her...
'Yes it does...but my life isn't miserable ok?' she talked back.
'I'm walkin'...what do you want!' he groaned.
'Nothing really...just wanted you to walk with me...' she answered as she gave him a cute smile...
'I see...' he said as a mischief naughty smile grew upon his face...
After a few minutes of walking behind the other comrades Quistis finally broke the silence...
'...why do you hate me so much...? I mean...Sincerely...what is it that I have done...to make you so...so...unfriendly towards me?' she asked calmly and unexpectedly...
' Huh...don't kid around wit me, k? I have better things to do than play stupid games with...' he smirked as he avoided eye contact...
'I'm not "kidding" with you...! Now tell me what is it that makes you hate me so much...I need to know...so I can change...you know?' she tried to convince him to answer...
'Well if it makes you so happy to know how annoying you are...then I'll tell ya...yeah...huh!...your case is so bad...so bad, I'm tellin' ya...its irreversible...he he he...' he smirked as he gave her a sarcastic smile and walked away from her carelessly...
'He is so bitter...' Quistis said under her breath as she watched walk away from her...
'I tried to break the ice with him...but he really hates me ...what makes him hate me so much!...I was nice to him, I wasn't bossy or anything...I don't understand...Maybe it's no use...I really can't get through to him...being nice isn't the solution...He's a lost case...' she thought as she walked along with the others and stared at Seifer who was walking coolly a few feet away from the group with his Gunblade on his shoulder...
After half an hour of walking and walking, Squall and his comrades had finally reached a beautiful river side where daisies grew in millions and butterflies flew around in groups...it was a tranquilizing sight...everything looked so perfect, the air carried around the most beautiful sweet aroma of spring...
'It's here..."west side of the River"...' said Squall as he gazed across the river. On the other side of the river, far away, he could see trees...it was Win Hill...
'It's beautiful...this place is amazing...It reminds me of Edea's orphanage...I could spend the rest of my days here...' thought Rinoa out loud as she stood next to Squall, holding tight onto his arm who was already standing on the recently wet little pebble stones that made their way into the crystal clear river...
'We have to swim across...' said Squall absentmindedly, as he took his jacket off quickly and his vest...
'...great abs!' whispered Rinoa as she approached Squall and tickled his abdomen.
Squall couldn't fake a smile that rose from one of the corner of his lips as he went on walking deeper into the river...
Zell, Irvine and Seifer took off the clothes that covered their chest as well.
'Hey Irvine...I think ya forgot to take ya hat off!' chuckled Zell who pointed at Irvine's head...
'Can't leave it behind...it's part of me...' he mumbled as he pat his hat gently...
Zell ran into the water excitedly and dived in, stroking his arms energetically...
Squall and Irvine waited for the girls to dive in while Seifer just went on along with Zell deeper in the water...
'...what's wrong Selphie...? C'mon...! We can't delay no more...' scolded Irvine who was now pulling Selphie into the water...
'No, no, no...! I can't...' squeaked Selphie as she shook the water off her feet as she backed out...
'Huh!...' Irvine was getting confused.
'I have to stay behind...' she mumbled as she sat down on the pebbles with her arms around her legs...
'Hey...don't play around...you're comin' with us...!' Irvine insisted.
'Selphie...don't tell me ...' said Squall in disbelief as he placed his hand on his forehead...
'...What are you sayin' ? C'mon...! We have to go...no time for throwing a tantrum...!'
'I can't...I can't s-swim...I can't swim...!' she cried out as she looked at Irvine with shame...
'Oh...I umm...I forgot...these GF's really have awful side effects...! It's been a long time since then, eh...?' chuckled Irvine as he rubbed his nose, trying to hide the smile on his face...
'...don't laugh at me! It's not funny! I could've drowned that day, if Quistis hadn't been there to save me...!' she yelled furiously.
'I'm sorry...' sniggered Irvine...
'You better be...I'm sorry, Squall...I know I'm a pain in the butt, but I have to stay...I really can't go...I'm traumatised! ' she underlined the last words as she gave Irvine a dirty look.
'You coming with us...there's no way you are staying behind...we need you on this mission...' said Squall determinedly.
'But I can't go...I'm not going...I'm sorry...' mumbled Selphie as she waved her hands to try and explain...
Squall looked decisively at Irvine who shrug his shoulders, then at Quistis who just winked her eye and then at Selphie who gave him a puppy look ...
'...Whatever...fine...you can stay...but you're not going to sit down there all day are you?...I suggest you head back to the Ragnarok, it's safer in there...' said Squall as he walked up to her and reached out his hand to help her lift up...
Selphie smiled pleased at what she heard, quite surprised though...
'You're too kind...Whoa!' but before she could lift up completely, Squall had grabbed her by her legs and thrown her over his shoulder, making her squeak so loudly it would hurt his ears-drums...
'Squall! You cheat! Put me down! I'm not going! I have to stay! I can't swim! I hate water!'
'...it's settled Selphie...you're coming with us whether you can swim or not...' said Squall seriously...
'Can you take care of her, Irvine!' asked Squall as he passed Selphie (who was struggling and kicking her legs around and squealing) from his shoulder to Irvine's.
'No...' gasped Selphie bleakly...
'C'mon...Selphie don't make things difficult...imagine I'm a boat and you're the captain...he he!' chuckled Irvine slapping her on her bottom...
Irvine now walked straight into the water with Selphie on his shoulder, looking worried...
'Hang on my back...it's gonna be fine, I won't drown you this time...this is gonna be some ride...woo-hoo!' said Irvine as he put Selphie down...
'Alright...Just don't try anything funny, ok?' Selphie changed her mind, hoping she could trust Irvine...
Selphie hopped onto his back and Irvine made his way into the deepest part of the river, started swimming, Selphie on his back...
'C'mon!...' said Quistis as she ran towards the water and dived in...
Rinoa looked at Squall, winked her eye at him and yanked him by his arm as she started running towards the deep part of the river...
The comrades swam and swam and swam...the only thing they could hear was the water splashing as they stroked their arms and each others breathing...the other side of the river seemed to slip away as they swam...at some point the trees started to draw nearer and nearer...and finally when the trees were close enough, they saw hidden between the bushes a tiny little old wooden cabin that stood on wooden pillars above the river.
'This must be it...' said Quistis as she swam past Seifer and reached the platform, pulling herself up...helping Rinoa out of the water, then Selphie...When everyone was on the platform, Squall knocked on the door...
'Just a second...Err...Why is the forest so silent!' said a man's familiar voice from in the tiny little cabin.
'Err...because the owls have flown away...' groaned Squall...
'He he!...is that cool or is that cool!' said the voice as the door opened with a click...
'Zone!' squeaked Rinoa as she threw herself at the guy...
'The princess is here!' yelled Zone as he hugged Rinoa tightly...
'Cool! The Forest Owls are back!' yelled Watt who appeared at the door a moment later as Rinoa hung her arm around him too...
'I'm so happy to see you!' cried Rinoa as her eyes glittered lovingly...
Squall started to feel a little weird...a weird feeling of wanting to grab Rinoa away from Zone and Watt...he felt foolish and tried to ignore it...
'Come in! Come in!' said Zone enthusiastically as he waved his hand towards the entrance proudly...
'It's a real pleasure to be working with you once again Squall!' said Watt as he reached his hand out for a hand shake, shaking Squall's hand repeatedly as he looked at Squall with amazement, wide smile...
When Watt had finally let go of Squall's hand, Squall walked in. The cabin actually looked bigger inside rather from the outside, it had an untidy bed (the sheets looked kind of dirty) in the far left corner next to a tiny window, a table against the wall in the middle with two chairs hipped on it, a little cupboard with a stone sink built in and a tiny salamander-stove that stood next to it. The floor was made of wood, as well as the walls and the ceiling (very bad state) and the cabin had a strong smell of mouldy. Squall looked at the far right corner and saw Laguna, who was sitting in a chair next to the window with his arms crossed (apparently sleeping)...He had some weird green clothes on...
'It's a pleasure meeting you again, Squall...' said Kiros smiling as he and Ward stood next Laguna in his chair...
Ward slapped Laguna on his face, making him jerk and look up straight into Squall's face...
Laguna's mouth dropped open as his eyes widened, smiling afterwards.
'Squall...how's it going, man!' said Laguna, clearing his voice as he lift up from his chair and approached Squall.
Squall looked at his comrades who were all talking to one another...(Seifer sulking in a corner)...this made him feel relieved somehow...
'...put it there...!' said Laguna cheerfully as he reached his hand out and smiled.
Squall reached to shake Laguna's hand, Laguna slapped his hand on Squall's pulling him closer and put his arm around him in a guy to guy hug as he pat Squall's back eagerly...
Squall was absolutely not used to being greeted that way...
'That was some fight, huh? I'm sorry for not being there at the party...must've rocked, huh?' said Laguna cheerfully as a great smile insisted on marking his face...Squall just stood there a little puzzled, not knowing what to say...though he had been Laguna several times in those dream connections, they had only met once and Laguna was so friendly with him, it seemed like they had known each other for long... Squall wasn't very at ease with Laguna, especially because of what he had heard Ellone, Kiros and Ward say on his last mission...deep down Squall felt Laguna and himself had some kind of bond, but didn't want at all to admit it...much less to think about it...he tried his best not to think about it, he didn't want to know, it made him feel weird...
'Yeah...I guess...' mumbled Squall a few moments later...
'Right, let's get to the point...' said Kiros trying to remind Laguna of something...
'Oh...yeah, yeah...right...umm...' remembered Laguna now turning around quickly...
'Ok... the mission...' said Laguna, clearing his throat as Rinoa and Squall looked at each other...
'Let me see...err...' started Laguna scratching his head as everyone stood with a lot of attention...staring at Laguna expecting him to start at any moment...
'The disguises...' said Kiros...
'Oh yeah...your disguises...yeah...here...for the guys...' said Laguna nervously as he grabbed a pile of folded green clothes from the table and started throwing it to each one of the boys...
'For the girls...' he said as he started handing them to Rinoa, Quistis and Selphie...
'Oh, great ! Goody! We don't have to wear these wet, mouldy clothes...! I was getting kind of cold...' said Selphie as she brought the folded green cloth to her face...
'Oh, my...!' said Rinoa in disbelief as she saw Zell unfold his clothes...
'Any problem, Rinoa?' Laguna asked casually...
'No...not at all...' she replied.
'Oh, and these are the "accessories"...protection gear...' said Laguna as he threw a leather bag to Squall.
Squall untied the string that tied the bag closed and saw leather brown belts, metal knee, shoulder and elbow caps, some weird gadgets...
'These guys are weird...they dress like freaks...' said Zell as he held dark green leather waistcoat in the air, staring at it with distaste...
'Yeah they're the forest people...and that goes with the belt...' said Laguna staring at the comrades...
'This sweater is kind of tight...' said Irvine as he tried to put on a moss green sweater with tiny leaf embroidery on it...
'Hey guys, just put the clothes on and don't fuss...we're on a mission...' said Squall who passed the gear to all his comrades...
'Ahem...guys...leave the house...please...' said Rinoa who held the clothes in her hands and looked strictly at the boys...
'Huh? Why!...' asked Zell puzzled...
'So we can get dressed, of course...you weren't expecting us, girls to get undressed in front you, guys...where you?...now, if you don't mind?' she answered amazed.
'Of course not...Sorry...we'll leave right away...'said Squall a little puzzled as he opened the door and left the cabin...
'What if I mind!' said Seifer who was leaning against the wall as he threw his clothes on the bed...
'Seifer, the guys get dressed outside, the girls get dressed inside... if you are a girl you'll stay...if you're a guy you'll go...now if you have any doubts whether you're a guy or a girl, I'm sorry...I can't help you...it's as simple as that...got it?' said Rinoa ironically as she gave him a challenging look...
Selphie and Quistis started giggling...
Seifer picked his clothes up viciously and left the cabin, banging the door furiously as he left...
'That was a good one Rinoa...' chuckled Laguna as he left the house with Ward, Kiros, Zone and Watt...
Once the girls got dressed, Rinoa had opened the tiny little window...
'The Cabin is available now...' she said sweetly as she opened the window gently and peeped out...
Her eyes caught sight of Squall...He looked gorgeous...
Squall was wearing a dark green suede waistcoat (worn with a brown leather belt) with a hood on his head (a black cloth wrapped around his nose and his mouth, his blue eyes shown through), a tight moss green sweater under the waistcoat with a elegant "V" neck (showing some of his chest- his griever shinning gloriously on his chest), dark green pants worn with dark brown suede knee-high boots (that were worn over the pants). He had some metal (brass) blade looking knee-caps and the same looking caps on his shoulders and elbows...on his back he had a brown leather sack with arrows sticking out strapped in a "X" across his chest, his Ginblade in his sheath and his usual black gloves on his hands...
Squall was leaning against a wooden pillar staring at Zell struggle to put on his waistcoat, Irvine trying to help...
Then she looked at Seifer, who was still dressed in his normal clothes...leaning against the opposite pillar as Squall, back faced to him, staring into the river, throwing little pebbles he had taken from a little vase that stood next to the cabin's door...
'Seifer why aren't you dressed?' asked Selphie who skipped her way out the door...
'He he...I bet he needs help...' groaned Zell who was wrapping the black cloth around his face...
'I won't put does ridiculous rags on...I can do this mission very well without disguises...I don't need to hide...' smirked Seifer as he gave a challenging look at Squall, his eyes shinning with rage...
'You better get dressed Seifer, or we'll be forced to leave you behind...Headmaster Cid asked us to bring you along, not to give us trouble, but to help us...if you are too proud to where does clothes then I'm afraid you're in the wrong place...' explained Quistis clearly as she walked out of the cabin and stood in front of him...
Seifer turned around and got a quick glance at her...she looked beautiful...her eyes shinning from underneath her hood and some of her golden hair shinning next to her face...
Seifer felt affected by her words, he felt weird...Seifer grabbed the clothes from the floor which he had thrown on the floor and entered the cabin rushing by Rinoa brutally as she walked out of the cabin , who stared at him in shock as he shut the door loudly...
'Looks like we're gonna have problems...' mumbled Irvine as he put his cowboy hat on his head...
'Errr...Irvine take that off...' said Laguna.
'Huh? Why?...' wondered Irvine...
'Dude, I think that would catch the enemy's sight a bit...no?' said Laguna as he scratched his head...
'Oh...man!' whined Irvine as he grabbed the hat off his head furiously...
Rinoa walked up to Squall, who was still leaning against the pillar, with his legs crossed as he stared at a little leaf he was holding...
As soon as he felt Rinoa's presence he looked up in surprise...She looked amazing...She was wearing a dark green suede long sweater (the same "V" neck) with a hood on her head , using a brown belt around her hips (worn over the sweater), a black cloth wrapped around her face as well, dark green pants, dark brown suede knee-high boots that were worn over her pants...She wore the same brass blade looking knee, elbow and shoulder caps, except that around her waist she wore a brass blade looking corset ...She looked so cute...Squall felt like hugging her tightly, but controlled his instincts...
'Hi...' she said shyly as she looked at him with the sweetest expression on her face...
Squall gave her a tiny shy smile from the corner of his mouth as he looked back down at the little leave he was holding...
Rinoa knew Squall wasn't really at ease around the other comrades and so passed her hand on his shoulder and walked back to the other girls...
'Ok...everyone's ready...? Ok now it's time to take action...I'm gonna give each one of you one of these...' said Laguna as he raised a tiny little bean shaped object between his fingers...
'...and what's that for?...' asked Irvine as he approached Laguna to get a proper look at the object...
With out saying any word, Laguna grabbed hold of Irvine, pulling him by his arm, pulled his hood off and stuffed the little object in Irvine's ear as he held his neck tightly...
'Ouch...' groaned Irvine as he rubbed his ear and looked in shock at Laguna who was laughing at him ...
'That's what it's for...' chuckled Laguna who now punched Irvine on his shoulder friendly...
'It's a little communicator...so we can all be in touch...' he explained...
'What about the IC's ?' asked Selphie with a tone of sadness in her voice...
'I'm afraid you'll have to leave those behind...' said Kiros who was still laughing at Irvine...
'If those forest people catch you with does, they'll suspect of you...that wouldn't be very good...would it?' Laguna said as he gave a loud snort.
At this moment Squall remembered he had left his IC on the other side of the river, in his jacket pocket...he was glad he wouldn't need it anymore...
'I want each one of you with one...' said Laguna as he threw a tiny little sack at Zell.
Once everyone had taken one of the little bean shaped objects, Laguna led them through the bushes.
'We are cutting through the bushes so we don't look suspicious...when we get to the other side we'll split up and go separate ways...' explained Laguna who put his hood on his head started cutting the bushes branches as he passed through with a dagger he had taken off his belt...
'Argh! My leg...Urgh...!' Laguna's leg had cramped up again...
'You Ok, dude?' asked Zell as he stared at Laguna making his way through the bushes as he limped on one leg...
'Yeah...yeah...it's normal, when I get nervous...my leg usually does this to me...' explained Laguna, smiling as he gave a loud nervous snort...
'I mean, if we are cutting through the bushes, we are suspicious...' thought Zell out loud...
'Yeah...but it's not like you are thinking, we're gonna wait for the opportune moment to blend in with the others...then it starts...' explained Laguna as a twig shot straight into his eye making him screech of pain ...
'Hey Laguna are you alright?' asked Rinoa as she made her way next to him, passing by everyone else...
'Yeah...s-sorry for the noise...' mumbled Laguna as he rubbed his eye and looked at Rinoa thankfully...
'Whoa...you look so much like...' started Laguna as he gazed at Rinoa...
'Like who? 'asked Rinoa as she smiled sweetly at him...
'J-Julia...' he said under his breath...
'Oh...yeah...they say that all the time, they say I have her eyes...my mother was beautiful...I miss her...' said Rinoa dreamily...
'Julia is your mother...? I mean... was...?' asked Laguna in shock...
'Yes, she was...' confirmed Rinoa as she looked down in sadness...
'Oh...I 'm sorry...I knew your mother...she was a wonderful woman...but I was a Galbadian soldier...I had responsibilities...' he started...
'You knew my mother?' asked Rinoa weakly...
'Yes...she was very special to me...but when I left... she met someone else...' he explained.
'...my father...so you're the one...my mother wrote a song about you...the soldier that went to war and never came back...' Rinoa's eyes started shinning...
'Hey...hey...what's this...are we on a mission or on a cheesy TV show! If I came all the way here for this...I'm leaving right now...' groaned Seifer, crossing his arms with impatience...His eyes shinned threw his hood...
'I'm sorry guys...' mumbled Laguna as looked sadly at all of them...
Squall felt weird...he was glad his face was hidden by his hood and the cloth he had around his face...he didn't like the way Laguna looked at him...
The comrades walked and walked through the never ending bushes, the twigs scrapping their clothes all the time, the sun was already setting and the last few rays of light shinned through the twigs...Finally they reached a place where the bushes grew smaller and smaller, it was already dark and in the distance there was a huge field, little fire-flies all around and flash lights shinning all over the place...the field bushes and grass where fresher and softer then where they had passed through...there were people searching the field...
'Ok it's here...Now we split up...the best way...is in pairs of two...from what I can see...it's more common between these guys...' Laguna suggested as they peeped through a tall bush...
'This is it...Squall you come with me, Zell goes with Rinoa, Irvine goes with Selphie and Seifer can go with Quistis...is that ok?' suggested Laguna as he looked back to see if everyone agreed with the decision...nobody said anything...
'Right, then here's what you do...we go into the field and pretend we doing the same as them, searching for something, and while we at it we try and hear some conversations or actually talk to the others...do your best to find out anything related to what they're doing...' explained Laguna as he kept his eyes on the field...
'Squall and I shall go first; your flash lights are attached to your belts...when we're far enough I'll tell whose next...and where to head...' explained Laguna.
Squall looked at Zell who was behind him and looked at him as if to say 'take care of her', Zell nodded (he seemed to understand what his look meant...).
'Ok...let's go...duck, so we aren't seen coming out of the bushes...c'mon...' said Laguna as he and Squall ran ducking down into the middle of the field...
Laguna and Squall made their way silently and quickly into the field, trying not to be seen or heard...
'K, now we blend in...flash lights...' whispered Laguna to Squall...
Squall clipped his one off his belt and searched for its button to turn the flash light on...there was no button...
'How do you...' started Squall as he held the flash light a little puzzled...
'Yeah...sorry ,man...you just knock it twice like this...' explained Laguna as he pat the flash light twice with his finger, as a golf ball sized bug came buzzing out of it and shinned brightly ...
'Did you hear that guys! To turn on your flash light knock it twice with your finger...' said Laguna.
'Yeah...' went everyone...
'These guys are weird...I know...they only use "natural" stuff...' chuckled Laguna as he held the flash light and walked along the field as he pretended to be searching for whatever he was suppose to as he touched his ear...
'Zell, Rinoa...you're up next, just go west...quickly...' ordered Laguna now as he and Squall walked along the field amongst the others...
'Right-y-o!' said Zell loudly as he grabbed Rinoa's hand and ran ducking down carefully through the field...
Next it was Quistis and Seifer, then at last Irvine and Selphie...They were all in the darkened field, all about 50 feet away from each other...
'Do you see the guys at four o'clock?...' asked Laguna as he pointed his flash light at his face as he looked at Squall...
'Yeah...' winced Squall closing his eyes painfully...
'...lets draw closer...' said Laguna...
'Irvine, Selphie the guys at nine o'clock...follow them...' ordered Laguna...
'Got it...' said Selphie as she dragged Irvine across field towards the guys...
'Selphie, darling...more discreetly...they're not exactly our friends...ok?' said Laguna as he caught Selphie running it the others direction...
'Oh...sorry...I guess I got carried away...he he...' chuckled Selphie as she stopped abruptly, making Irvine bump into her...
'You making us look suspicious!...' groaned Irvine...
'I said I'm sorry!...' Selphie lift up her voice...
'Fine...' he replied raising his hands...
'Fine!' she talked back...
'Enough with the fighting...' said Quistis who was standing many feet away from them with Seifer next to her...
'...when is the real work starting!...this is too easy...' mumbled Seifer as he walked along with Quistis...
'...Seifer...don't talk...just do...ok?' moaned Quistis irritably, Seifer snorted...
'...this is crap, man...we're never gonna find that stupid plant...I want to go home...that plant has disappeared a long time ago...' said one of the guys that Squall and Laguna where sneaking up on...
'If you want to go home, we better find it...they wouldn't be after it if it the bloody plant never existed, alright? ...now stop with the whining and look...I've had enough of your moaning all day...' said the other one viciously...
'F-Fine...fine...' said the other one apprehensively ...
Laguna and Squall looked at each other...Laguna made a gesture, telling Squall to abandon that spot...
'Who did they mean with "they"? 'Asked Squall puzzled, feeling a little more at ease with Laguna...
'...I don't know...but it sounds like they aren't alone...' started Laguna as he thought deeply, scratching his head...
'...sounds like they're being ordered around, against their will...' Squall thought out loud... as he stared at the guys already far away from them...
'...we need to get more information...it's not enough...' said Squall as he stared into the dark distance, blue lights shinning extendedly through out the whole field...
'...this is cool, huh?' Laguna said changing the subject as he twiddled the flash light in his hands...
'...what is? There's nothing cool about this situation...' said Squall coldly, trying to avoid any friendly conversation...
'...I mean...the two of us...me and you... you know? Like things should have been...' Laguna started, but Squall didn't want to hear...he was petrified of that subject...he knew deep down, but wanted it to be avoided at all cost...
'I don't understand what you mean...I-I think we should get going...I'll go check up on the guys up there in front...' snapped Squall softly, avoiding looking at Laguna...walked away, disappearing into the dark, leaving Laguna standing alone...
'...I can't take this anymore...I know he has something to tell me...I feel it's what he wanted to tell me the last time we met...but...I'm scared...I don't wanna know what it is...I'm afraid it's what I think it is...anyway, I can't spend time thinking of this, I have to concentrate on my mission...there's no time for this...' thought Squall as he walked through the field imitating the other soldiers, waving his flash-light around...
To be continued...