Part 13:
Meanwhile in the forest bounds….
'…I'm tired of this…it's too much…I can't take it…I don't think I'll be able to look at them ever again…not Rinoa, not Laguna, not anyone…I'm better off alone…I'm heading to Ganahir alone…I don't think I can take having Rinoa stare at me that way…I need to clear my mind…I need a break from all of this…just like it used to be…just me and no one else…' Squall had stopped running grabbed his necklace, ripped it of his neck furiously and threw it on the ground carelessly…
He didn't know why he had done that, he did it so spontaneously, he had no idea what it meant, maybe that he wanted to forget the past and start over new, maybe because he was fed up with himself, he just wanted to be anonymous, a stranger, with no friends or family. He was tired of being Squall Leonhart, deep down that's what the griever really meant, it was his identity, it symbolised everything that he was. This way he could set his mind on what he felt he had to do: fight whoever disturb the world peace.
He slowed down a bit, walking slowly now, for he was very tired. After walking slowly, wondering around the dead part of the forest he bumped into a circular spot of the forest, where the trees created a sort of circle around an old fire and a log.
'Yeah…I'll just stay here for the night and start my journey as soon as the sun rises…' Squall picked up some dry twigs and threw them onto the old fire circle, sat on the log, opened his hand and cast Fire on the dry twigs in front of him, making the twigs burst with warm, bright flames that lit his stressed out face and warmed his cold hands as he thought of the journey he had to make by himself…He had no map and no weapon with him, he had to rely on his luck. This didn't bother him at all, he actually was satisfied not having his Gunblade with him, it meant to much to him, it brought to many memories to his head which would just distract him and cause him pain. It was best this way…
Soon he started feeling tired, his heart felt sore and he was completely warn out, he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, his chest still ached from the surgery and hadn't eaten anything the whole day…
Soon, the mists that roamed above the river had invaded the dead forest…The humidity and the cold increased, making Squall sleep very uncomfortably with his head against the hard, bumpy log as the fire kept burning cheerfully…
A few hours later, after experiencing a horrific nightmare, Rinoa had lifted up from her bed, gasping for air out of fright and anxiety…The dream seemed so real, she hardly could understand where she was in all the darkness…The only thing she could hear was the singing of birds outside, soon she came to her normal self and realised she had been dreaming, not remembering what it had been about anymore, probably because of the trauma…
Rinoa sat up slowly in her bed as she stared outside the tiny window from where the moonlight shinned weakly; making it possible to only see a few outlines of the furniture and the people in the beds…She started to daydream…
She tried hard to remember what she had been dreaming about, not making it. A few seconds after giving up on trying remembering her nightmare, her mind flew to somewhere else…
'…don't make me promise something I can't…' his voice roared in her mind as a painful frown grew on her face, forcing her to turn her neck as soon as she thought of him and search for him in one of the darkened beds…She looked from one side to another, it was too dark, she could hardly see anything, only the outlines of people's bodies…
Rinoa got up from her bed then and took a few steps; she then pointed out her finger and unconsciously made light shine through her finger. This made her jump…She had done magic without even knowing it…After staring at her lit finger for a few seconds in amazement she raised her finger searching as she moved the light over the beds, starting from the far corner of the cabin, then to the front, she saw Zell, Quistis and Laguna. She then searched more to the right moving her finger quickly to the opposite side of the cabin, and in a split of a second passing by an empty bed, but not really noticing it…Five seconds later when she saw Kiros, Ward, Selphie and Irvine, she pointed back to the empty bed and stared at it…
'…he isn't here…' she thought to herself as her mouth opened slightly in disbelief at the sight of an untouched bed where Squall should've been sleeping, but he wasn't, something was wrong…
'…no…' Rinoa searched desperately around the room, passing by all the beds, not finding him…
Rinoa then without hesitating, made her way between the beds, towards the door, where she sighted Squall's Gunblade leaning against the wall, grabbing it with both hands with some difficulty by its handle, opening the door nervously, shutting it softly and sprinting towards the forest, not knowing in which direction she had to go, following her intuition…
'...Where have you gone…?...don't do this to me…' she gasped as she ran through the bushes, holding onto the Gunblade with one hand and pointing out with the other as she searched for him…
The only thing she could hear was the twigs scrapping past her and the birds singing out loudly in the trees above. The forest seemed endless, she was tired and Squall was nowhere to be found…
'…no…' she kept running through the bushes as fast as she could go, but her legs were tired and it was blistering cold, the mist didn't help at all either, blurring her vision in all directions…
'…please…' she cried softly as she took feeble steps, running a bit now and then, looking all around for him, but he seemed to be nowhere. Soon a feeling of frustration, bleakness and fear of never seeing him again invaded her chest…
Rinoa had been searching through the infinite bushes for him, not giving up, she went on until her legs couldn't carry her any further, forcing her to stop, drop onto the ground and rest, she was exhausted…
'…I don't believe this…you said you wouldn't leave me...how could you!' she gasped under her breath as her eyes started tearing, wiping them away constantly as she whimpered softly and stared anxiously at the misty trees that surrounded her, holding tightly onto her necklace…
Rinoa started to calm down, wiping her tears away as her finger continued to shine strongly with the blinding light. She got back onto her feet, supporting her self on Squall's Gunblade and started to walk slowly, dragging the weapon on the floor as she walked, dragging her feet slightly as well, out of weakness. She had no idea where she was, she was completely lost and couldn't find Squall, realising then she had been stupid to just leave the cabin that way without thinking twice or warning anyone. She walked slowly dragging her feat tiredly as she carried Squall's weapon in one hand, not knowing where she had to go. Suddenly as she took another painful step, she felt something under her foot…
She removed her foot away slowly, taking a step backwards as she looked down in wonder…
A dirty metal chain shinned, she bent down slowly in surprise as she stared at it and dusted the chain with her hand gently as a figure was revealed under the dust…It was the griever, Squall's necklace lied on the floor, full of mud, still shinning gracefully as the first few rays of light shinned through the tree branches…
'…' a look of deep sorrow and sadness took over her tired face as she bent over to pick the necklace up, staring at it with fear, a million of frightening thoughts passing through her mind, and tucked it in her back pocket as she went on making her hopeless way through the endless forest.
Rinoa started to pick some wild berries as she walked along the forest for her stomach lurched of hunger, trying to put aside all horrible frightening thoughts while the sun rose gracefully.
Most of the bushes were dead, only a few bushes remained alive.
Her hand was full of black berries when suddenly as she reached out her hand to pick some more out of a bush, she started to hear the crackling sound of lively flames…Rinoa stopped and listened carefully…it came from the bushes behind her…
'...what the…?' she thought to herself as she took a few steps slowly towards the bushes from where the sound came from…
The sound became clearer as she approached the bushes, starting to see a faint light from between the twigs; she made her way through them, getting brutally scratched, but not caring about. She was tired, he feat were sore, she was hungry and a few more scratches didn't really make a difference to the pain and tiredness she was felon. Rinoa found herself in an empty spot of the forest where the trees created a sort of circle around a fire and an old log, where a mysterious person's rested…Rinoa swallowed, breathed in deeply and started approaching the person…
The strong trembling lively flames lit the circle, creating huge moving shadows making the whole situation kind of scary…but she didn't care. She was curious and wasn't really her normal self, she didn't really want to think about anything. She was tired, and felt a bit of hope now she saw she wasn't completely alone. She had to see who was resting there, maybe that person could help her find Squall or at least get back to the others to call for help. If the person was hostile, she had no idea what she would do, anyway, she had nothing to loose. She was lost and Squall had left her on her own, how worse could things be? If that person wanted to kill her, she couldn't defend herself, she was helpless, even with Squall's Gunblade, she hardly could hold it any longer, it was too heavy…She didn't care, she just wanted to find Squall and see him for the last time and tell him she was sorry. She was sure that Squall had given up on her, but before he parted from her, she felt the need to tell him she was sorry. She held on tightly onto Squall ring and approached the person…
Rinoa took slow silent steps, stretching her neck, trying to get a better view of whoever that was, but the person's face was completely darkened, so she took a few more steps closer and as her eyes caught sight of the person in front of her, her mouth hung open in disbelief. She blinked twice in order to see if she was having a hallucination, but she looked again and it wasn't. It was perfectly real. She paused the Gunblade on the floor slowly walked over to the person, stepped over the log and fell on her knees as she finally confirmed it was the boy she looked for…
Rinoa touched his face caringly as she tilted her head lovingly and with a peaceful expression stared at him with most love.
Squall was fast asleep, he had his arms crossed and his head was bent over his chest as his untidy silky hair covered his tired face, with a tense frown on his face. His eyes were all swollen and his face was all scratched up, bruised with dry blood on his lips and nose. Rinoa had never seen Squall look so tired before, he really looked finished, completely exhausted, pale, very thin and hurt. Even after his surgery in Dollet he had looked a little healthier and happier too. But now…he was just in a terrible state. They hadn't eaten for hours and Squall had been looking this thin for some time now…Rinoa was worried about him. She just kept silent, cuddled up next to him and put her arm around his neck caringly and the other one around his waist as she watched him sleep, breathing in and out deeply. Tears rushed down her heart-shaped face. She didn't know why she was crying, maybe because she felt like for a moment she had lost him and now he was there in her arms, maybe because she was sorry for the way she had talked with him, maybe because she could feel his pain, maybe a bit of everything…She didn't even care about the whole Seifer scene. Deep down she understood what Squall meant with not being able to help himself, and was sorry she had been so selfish, not thinking about his past conflicts with Seifer, they had left a deep mark on him…Right now, all she wanted was to forget all that, he was there, that's all that mattered…
Rinoa leaned her head on his shoulder and simply looked at him sleeping…
'…what am I without you…' she thought to herself.
To be continued…
Ok that's part 13…I know, I know it's small! I'm kind of lacking the time to write (lots of exams, you see?) Don't worry I'll update soon…I have plenty of ideas in my head and I think they'll be quite nice…
Well, I hope you've enjoyed this chappie and thanks for reading once again, thank you so much!…
Please Review…it makes me so happy! O,
Oh, and I would like to thank Holulu and Thyana and MafGoldenHeart for reviewing…thanks guys! Those words mean so much to me…sniff