Part 19:
'Argh!' Rinoa had shot her Projectile's blade in the hooded man's leg that had attacked Squall from behind, forcing him to collapse and disappear.
Rinoa then went up to Squall in a quick run and turned him around, laying him on his back and as she heard footsteps coming in their direction, she quickly put her arms around Squall and instinctively closed her eyes and made Squall herself invisible.
'It's no use Irakt, they're gone, just like last time…lets go…' one of the hooded guys appeared from behind a tree, then the other one.
'No…' said the other one stopping abruptly.
Rinoa's heart started racing, becoming invisible made everything around her become a pale blue and the sight of those two horrible men who had the intention to kill her or whatever it was that they wanted made her shiver.
'C'mon, they're gone…there's nothing here, let's just go…master's gonna kill us…the second time we catch them and we let them escape again. We should go, boss has already Teleported back to the base…I don't think he wants us to take long…'
'Shut up! They're here…' groaned the other one from under his hood.
'Ha! That's a good one…c'mon, seriously, let's go…'
'I can feel it…I can feel their muscles strain, I can feel their breaths heaving out of fright, I can smell the fear in them…' groaned Irakt, curving his back and taking small steps once at a time, sniffing furiously.
He was approaching Rinoa and Squall, slowly but surely, but she couldn't move away. Squall was unconscious and she couldn't make him move, it would make too much noise.
'It's no use…they're gone. They can't be here anymore. Who'd be dumb enough to stay here anyways?' said the other one.
Suddenly Irakt stepped on a dry branch and snapped it, making a loud noise in the silence of the forest and out of nowhere a deer had jumped out from behind some bushes, stumbled and hopped out of the way in a frightened run.
'I see…now you've become an animal detector…huh! C'mon, let's not waste time…' gaggled the other one walking away impatiently.
'You fool…' groaned the other one, walking away slowly and looking back a last time as if he had been sure someone was there.
Rinoa's heart loosened up, she was so relieved. But then again she felt scared. Was Squall going to be alright? The man had kicked him in his back so hard, she was frightened for Squall. Would he be able to walk? He was already so thin and underfed that she had not the slightest idea what to do.
Rinoa sat there thinking on what was the best thing to do, stroking Squall's forehead, cleaning his dirty face and holding his hand. She was thinking of calling Laguna for help, but then Squall would be so mad with her if she did, she really didn't want that, but then she thought twice. Squall wasn't well, she had to face it and so did he, if she could get Laguna to come there and get them, maybe Squall could recuperate quickly without putting his health in danger. She decided to call Laguna, after all, the most important thing to her was that Squall was ok even if he was mad at her or not… just as long as he was ok. Sooner or later he would have to face Laguna, he just had to loose his pride.
'Laguna? Can you hear me?' she touched the button of the little communicator inside her ear.
'Yes? It's Quistis.' Quistis answered back.
'Oh, hi there Quistis, listen could please, please call Laguna for me?' Rinoa sounded distressed.
'Rinoa is everything alright? What's going on?' Quistis started to worry.
'Oh, Quistis!... I don't know what to do…I'm scared…' Rinoa's tone changed.
'Rinoa, if you just tell me what's going on, maybe I can help you…'
'Squall is hurt…he's unconscious…I need you to come and fetch us. Quick.' Rinoa straightened her voice and tried to sound stable.
'What! Squall's unconscious! How…how? Where are you? We'll be there right away…'
'I don't know where I am, but I think this green button on the communicator can trace us, can it not?' Rinoa pushed a green small button on the communicator.
'Yes, that's right. Thanks. You're somewhere in the northern Tryjion plains. Just stay where you are, we're close by, in about ten or fifteen minutes we'll be there. Hang on, ok? Are you alright, Rinoa?'
'Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be here. Please hurry.' Rinoa's voice sounded stressed.
'We'll do our best. See you now.' Quistis said confidently.
'Selphie, quickly, turn around and head to north of the Tryjion plains. We're getting Rinoa and Squall.' Quistis stated.
'Righty-o!' Selphie said cheerfully.
'What's happening, Quisty?' Irvine asked.
'I don't know. Something happened to Squall and Rinoa seemed quite worried…I don't know what to think…' Quistis sat down slowly as Selphie turned the ship around, making everyone stumble.
Seifer remained silent to this, grinning with glee.
'Yo, Irv! How far are we from there?' Zell got back to his feet after stumbling.
''bout 37 k's…' Irvine chuckled as he watched Selphie grinning with that usual joy when she made the turn arounds.
'Not very far, we're almost there. Just a few more minutes…' Quistis said absentmindedly as she thought of Squall. Yes, she was worried about Rinoa too, but Squall…she still felt something special about him and she worried a lot about him, especially when he had the problems he had. She knew that Squall wasn't the type to talk about his problems to anyone and probably would never dare to talk to her, but she couldn't help feeling like helping him. She really cared about him even after all they went through. And why wouldn't she worry? After all they were comrades and she usually worried about all of them, it was quite normal, she thought to herself as a bothered frown grew upon her face.
Suddenly Laguna came up the elevator, zipping his fly with some difficulty as he sat down on one of the couches.
'What's up?' he said cheerfully, smiling as if going to bathroom had been a real relief.
'We're getting Rinoa and Squall…' Quistis explained.
'What?' Laguna jerked his head in Quistis's direction.
'Yes, something happened there and Rinoa called us asking us to come get them.' Quistis looked down.
'S-something happened? What happened!' suddenly the joy in Laguna's voice had disappeared.
'I'm not sure, she just mentioned that Squall was unconscious…'
'And they call him a SeeD…' smirked Seifer softly.
Zell pulled a threatening face at Seifer, staring into his eyes and hitting his fist in his hand furiously.
'Man, I had no idea…' Laguna said worriedly under his breath.
'They're coming…you'll be fine…' Rinoa looked at him lovingly as she caressed his strong hands.
She scoured the sky for signs of the great ship, but the minutes seemed like hours and nothing was appearing. In bleakness she looked down at Squall, feeling helpless, not knowing what to do. On top of this all, she had a bad feeling about having called the others to come and help her. She just knew that she had to be strong and do what she thought was right and that's exactly what she did, for Squall's own good.
'Please don't be mad at me, please' she whispered stroking his cold face.
Suddenly out from the silence of the forest she heard an overwhelming sound, like some sort of powerful engine. She looked up at the sky and saw the Ragnarok shinning gracefully above, reflecting the light of the afternoon sun…
Rinoa looked up at the sky, straining her eyes to make sure it was the ship and smiled with relief…
Once she heard the ship settling down, she looked around anxiously for her comrades.
A few moments later, she heard Laguna, Irvine and Zell's voices, appear instants later.
'Laguna!' she cried out happily.
'Help me out here, guys…' Laguna took Squall by his arm and then held him under his arms with some effort as Squall's head dropped down and his hair waved around his face.
Irvine took Squall's left arm and hung it over his neck as Laguna did the same to the other one.
And so they carried Squall all the way to the Ragnarok through the woods until the plains, Squall's head moving around limply and his feet dragging on the floor as Rinoa walked behind with Zell who rubbed her shoulders compensatively.
Quistis came down the stairs of the ship for she couldn't wait any longer, seeing Squall in his weakest state ever, his pants barely slipping of his waist and his waistcoat all torn and stained with blood and mud.
Rinoa also looked quite weak, she looked healthier than Squall but still had a fair amount of scratches on her skin and her clothes were in a similar condition to Squall's. Quistis's heart started aching with sorrow for them both. This was a hard time, not only for herself, Zell, Laguna, Selphie and Irvine, but mostly for Squall and Rinoa. They seemed to not care about anything except for one another. And though they were the ones who faced more troubles and had more problems on their back, they seemed to go on sticking together like nothing she had ever seen. And as much as it cost admitting it, Quistis knew on that moment that their love was unbreakable, that they were meant to be, to fight alongside each other and belong to each other forever.
Seifer on the other hand, probably was insensitive to all of this, he just couldn't care less about what was going on, he probably just kept on with this mission because he felt like spilling some blood to feel powerful or just to provoke her and cause trouble…He had no worries, no friends and no feelings…How and why, she never knew and didn't want to know. She hated him for everything he had said and done t o her, but couldn't help feeling weird about him; As though he had something to hide, as though someone else hid behind that disrespectful, careless, insensitive and cruel monster. She had suspected of this due to his weird unpredictable behaviour. But now wasn't the time to think about him…
Once Laguna and Irvine had carried Squall into the space ship, Selphie had locked the door and took off, while Irvine and Laguna placed Squall carefully in the meeting room, on one of the couches resting, where Rinoa took care of him, cleaning his wounds and "kept him company". As soon as she had taken care of her own wounds and scratches, she had left Squall in the meeting room, climbed the elevator platform and entered the control room.
'Hey Rinny! You ok?' Selphie turned around and smiled at her.
'Hi Selphie. I'm ok, yeah.' She answered timidly.
'Err…Rinoa. Could we have a word or two?' Laguna murmured, gently touching her arm friendly.
'Sure.' Rinoa smiled faintly.
Laguna guided her to the meeting room, where Squall rested.
'Sit down…' he asked her as he sat down as well.
Laguna looked at her worriedly for a moment, staring at her with concern and thinking of a way to start…
'It's Ok; you don't have to choose your words…' Rinoa smiled weakly.
Laguna smiled back in relief and sighed.
'Rinoa, I need to get to the point. Tell me, what happened out there?'
Rinoa looked down with grief, then raised her head slowly and looked at Laguna with the most uneasy expression.
'I can hardly explain myself…' she murmured.
'It's ok; just tell me what you saw…who did this…take your time.' Laguna said comfortingly.
'We were walking in the plains, when I saw this bright green light shinning through the trees into the sky, so we approached the forest, to see what was happening…something could be happening…someone could be in trouble…so we went…' she explained.
'Go on…'
'When we arrived at the forest, we heard footsteps, bushes rustling all over us as if we were being circled without seeing them, so Squall told me to wait, while he went searching where the noise came from…but I didn't listen, I followed him and peeped out of the bushes, just to make sure he was ok…but then he bumped in to some three men…and they attacked him. Then when one of them said they were going to get me, Squall ran after him and told me to run, but they didn't find me…Then silently I went to look for Squall to tell him I was ok, just that when I reached him a guy had already attacked Squall from the back…So I attacked him back and he disappeared into thin air…. They were the same ones that had appeared in Dollet, the night we went for a walk…' Rinoa gazed out of the window.
'You mean these guys had bothered you before?'
'Yes. And I heard them say something about getting me. They know I'm a sorceress, Laguna.' Rinoa looked at him anxiously.
'That's odd…This Sarakman dude seems to be well informed…first the Tear Blossom which very little people knew of, then you. Something's going on here.' Laguna rubbed his chin.
'No one's supposed to know yet, it's too early. Nobody knew except for us, right?…and now these guys are looking for me, wanting to kill me, take my powers…whatever it is and everywhere I go, they follow me, hurting the ones I care for in the process. I want it to stop; I can't take this anymore, Laguna. I can't allow this.' She murmured sadly.
'It's not your fault…you can't help it. The only thing we can do is stick together and fight, isn't that right? That's what we doing…and I'm sure Squall will be fine. He's tough, he can take on a lot. He's a SeeD, one of the best. He needs much more than a kick from the back to get him down.' Laguna smiled confidently.
'He's not well, Laguna.' Rinoa murmured worriedly.
Laguna kept silent.
'He is not just weak now, his down, he has a lot on his mind. He's confused, worried, hurt…he's having a hard time. And as much as I try to keep him sober, he keeps on falling into his painful thoughts, remembering his uneasy past and holding onto it as if he has nothing else…he feels like it's his identity and he won't let go of it…but I'm not giving up, I want him to understand that he can be happy if he wants. I just have to get through to him…he'll understand one day.' Rinoa said hopefully.
'It's my fault.' Laguna murmured looking at her bleakly.
'It's my fault he won't let go of his past. It's my fault he ever went through a tough time, my fault he won't even look at me... ' Laguna chuckled in a stupefied way.
'Past is past, Laguna. You had your reasons, you were young. You wanted to save Ellone. She meant a lot to you, she was like a daughter to you, right? You did what you thought you had to…and things just happened to go differently as expected…no one's perfect, Laguna. He has to understand.' Rinoa looked at him comfortingly.
Laguna smiled, but then his expression changed into a frightened, surprised look, his eyes widened and he looked at her in shock.
'Laguna, are you alright?' Rinoa touched his arm.
'Y-You know?' he asked puzzled.
Rinoa looked at him for a few seconds, then smiled in amusement.
'Know what?' she played with him.
'You know…' he mumbled still looking at her.
Rinoa kept on smiling.
'You know…you know I'm Squall's…father?' he gulped.
Rinoa nodded.
'He told you!' Laguna's eyes widened in surprise.
'Why wouldn't he?' she asked curiously.
'I dunno…it's just not him to go telling anyone about his personal stuff, no offence, but you know, he's the quiet type, no?' Laguna scratched his head.
'Ah…well he didn't really tell me…. I'm the one who found out, really…' Rinoa confessed.
'But if he didn't tell you, who did…I didn't…unless, Kiros did, no, he wouldn't…and Ward…I don't think he would pretend he couldn't speak, unless he really though it was funny, no…he wouldn't …he couldn't… did he?' Laguna thought out loud then looked angrily at Rinoa.
'No…' Rinoa chuckled shaking her head.
'No? then how?...' he said suspiciously.
'Oh, that's not important…' Rinoa remembered how Squall felt vulnerable, cooncious that he had spoken in his sleep.
'Hm…you're hiding something, aren't you?' Laguna twitched his eye.
'Yeah, kind of…but it's not what you're thinking. I didn't listen to anyone's conversation or anything… I just had a special moment and on that moment I found out for myself…that's all.' She smiled truthfully.
'I see…a special moment, eh? You excused…' Laguna smiled.
'Laguna, I think you two should talk, seriously.' Rinoa sounded concerned.
Laguna's smile faded as he looked down bleakly.
'I want to. And I've tried, but he keeps trying to avoid me…he hates me, Rinoa. He'll never except me, what I did was awful and I understand if he can't forgive me…I'll never be a good enough father. It's too late.' Laguna murmured tonelessly.
'It's never late! You can't give up so easily! He's your son! Your blood…your only son, Laguna. Think about it, you can't let him get away. And no, he doesn't hate you. I know he doesn't he's just not easy with this whole new concept of family, you know? I think you guys should get to know each other well before anything else, don't you think?'
Laguna looked at her for a few seconds thoughtfully and then smiled thankfully.
Laguna took her hand.
'You are so much like your mother, Rinoa and I am so glad Squall has someone like you by his side. He must love you very much…Thank you for everything Rinoa. You are a wonderful girl. Really, thank you…and you know what? You are right, he's my son and I can't give up on him. He's my blood and I'm gonna fight to win him back.' Laguna smiled delightedly.
'That's great Laguna. You'll see, things will come your way, Squall is tough but he has a heart too. Sometimes is hard getting through to him, but if you persistent and show him it's worth it, he'll sooner or later give in to you. It wasn't easy getting him to show his feelings more often, you know?' Rinoa smiled sweetly.
Laguna smiled back.
Suddenly the electrical door slid open and Quistis came in.
'Laguna, can you come to the control room for a second?' Quistis asked politely.
'I'll be up in a sec.' Laguna looked at Quistis.
Quistis nodded and went out silently.
Laguna got up, looked at Rinoa with a kind smile on his face, then as he made his way out he rubbed her shoulder in a friendly way.
'You take care of him' Laguna smiled as he walked out.
'I will' Rinoa murmured looking over to Squall as the door shut.
Rinoa got up slowly and walked over to the couch where Squall rested.
He was lying on his back, with his arm hanging off the couch as his mouth hung slightly open and he took deep relaxed breaths. It was the first time Squall looked so relaxed in his sleep.
'So this is you when you're relaxed…' she murmured smiling at the pleasant sight.
Rinoa took his arm and placed over his chest and sat next to him on the couch. She gazed at him with love. Admiring his face and stroking it as she thought of Laguna's conversation.
She spent some time there, just caressing his skin and kissing him sweetly. She was hungry and tired but wouldn't leave him until he woke up. She didn't want him to get a fright as he woke up. She wanted to explain herself before he got mad at her.
Suddenly Rinoa heard the door slide open once again. She turned her neck around.
'Rinoa? You still here? Are you ok?' Zell walked in.
'Yes, I'm fine…I want to be here when he wakes…that's all.'
'Why don't you come up a little, we're having a card game. Me winning! Hey, do you have any cards?'
'No, I don't really like playing cards…you see I've never learned.' She smiled sheepishly.
'How can you say you don't like something if you've never tried it out before?...C'mon, I'll teach you!'
'Thanks Zell, but I don't think it's a good idea to leave Squall here…'
'It'll be fun! C'mon how many times on this mission can you have fun?'
'Not many but…' Rinoa tried to find excuses.
'No buts! C'mon…you're coming with me!' Zell took her arm and dragged her out of the room.
'Zell no! Let go of me…' Rinoa giggled.
'We've got snacks too, you know? We were starving here like fools and only now Xu tells us we've got a room stuffed with food, huh! They've got a nerve, eh?' Zell talked cheerfully as he leaded Rinoa out of the Meeting Room and up the Control Room.
'About time, girl! Thought you'd never get out of there…' Irvine chuckled as he past by her and put his arm around her shoulder comfortingly.
'Come to join us in a friendly game, are you?' Irvine asked her.
Seifer looked up and then went on shinning his Gunblade.
'Err…well…not really. I'm not really into that sort of…'
''Course she is!' Zell yelled sitting on the couch in a relaxed posture.
'Oh really?' Irvine said surprised at this.
'Don't pay attention…' Quistis told her.
'Sit down, sit down…c'mon lets start. Get your cards ready…' Irvine leaded Rinoa to the couch and sat down next to her as he yanked his own cards from his coat.
'Rinoa, you be careful. The last time I played a game with does two creeps, they took advantage of my ignorance… they rip you off, if you don't watch out! It's a warning…' Selphie turned around in her pilot seat and gave Irvine and Zell a dirty look as she spoke.
'I wouldn't be surprised…I haven't got the slightest clue on how to play this game…I don't even have cards to start with!' Rinoa chuckled.
'Here take mine…Squall gave these to me. Maybe they'll bring you luck!' Zell smiled.
'Ok…' Rinoa took a look at each card.
'Just one thing, Zell…before anything else, pass over that soda…' Rinoa smiled mischievously
'Quisty, darling, sweet-pea, honey-bunch, sweat-heart…get me some of does delicious knick-knacks please!' Zell asked politely giving Quistis a cute irresistible smile.
Quistis gave Zell a bitter look, put her book down, grabbed a packet of chips which laid on a pile of more and more packets and threw it at him impatiently.
Zell caught it and blew her a kiss.
Quistis held the book up higher.
'Ok, we've got everything we need, chips, cards, two card robbers and a victim…let's get started, baby!' Zell jumped in his seat in thrill.
'We'll see about that…' Rinoa gave them a dangerous look.
Zell and Irvine remained silent for a few seconds…
'Ok, let's start…' Zell said nervously.
'Where's your head! The cards are placed one here and one here, not on top of each other!' Irvine yelled at Zell disapprovingly, sorting them out properly.
'Course they are!' Zell placed them the other way.
Rinoa opened the chip package and started eating them…
'No they're not!' Irvine smacked the cards off the table.
'Shut up!' yelled Zell.
'No, you shut up! 'Irvine yelled back
Suddenly without saying a word, Rinoa grabbed two hands fool of chips and stuffed their mouths full, making them jerk unexpectedly.
'And as they say: stuff it!' Rinoa chuckled.
Irvine and Zell chewed silently with their mouth all stained yellow.
Quistis giggled softly as she watched the two of them from behind her book.
Rinoa, Irvine and Zell had finally reached an agreement. They decided to take turns. The only thing that didn't click was the fact that Rinoa was always winning. And by the time she almost had all their cards, they had given up.
They spent the afternoon sitting on the couch, talking and eating, laughing and choking on their food.
The ambient was fun and peaceful, only Seifer had frown on his face as he sat on a couch far away from them and leaned his head back on the seat as he stared at the ceiling, throwing some nasty comments sometimes.
'That's right Squall, it's what you heard…I'm a serpent of Sarakman…the honourable position of his right hand…the royal mercenary whose gonna rip your head off…' Seifer's grin was crueller than ever as he approached unarmed Squall with a gigantic sword, cornering him with the sword and cliff…
'Blood on rocks or blood on sword? What do you prefer? It's not everyone who has the privilege of choosing? Is it?'Seifer smirked.
'Confused are we?'
'I recommend the sword…quick and painless, in a blink of an eye, your head would be down there... What do you say? Hm?'
Squall tried to avoid the blade that stood inches from his chest, but in the process his foot reached the end of the cliff and now had very little space left. He was going to die, he knew it…
'Rinoa…' he thought of her for the last time. But then he made a decision, he would rather die painfully on the rocks then have his blood spilled on the sword of his greatest enemy.
Squall closed his eyes with some effort as he felt the wind blow more intensely on his back in the opposite direction of the rocks. Squall dropped backwards hoping he would feel gravity pulling for him, but the wind was strong and seemed to want him to stay there. In wonder to what was happening he opened his eyes and as blurry as they were, he could see Seifer wasn't in front of him anymore, he focused…
It was a girl shorter than himself, revealing to have raven Dark hair and beetle dark loving eyes staring into his.
'Talk to him, Squall. Go, he's waiting…' Rinoa smiled as she pushed him backwards gently.
And before Squall knew it, that gentle push had been enough for him to fall off the cliff, he was now really falling, and there was no wind to push him in the opposite direction.
'Argh!' Squall yelled as he felt his body give in to gravity.
'Forgive him, he cares about you…' Rinoa smiled looking down at Squall as he fell down in slow motion.
He shut his eyes in fear as he could already imagine the rocks pierce through his flesh and kill him slowly.
Clump! Squall fell on a hard surface, but couldn't feel anything piece through him. It was a little painful, but not enough to kill him slowly. Confused, he opened his eyes…
Squall was laying on the carpeted floor of a darkened room, surrounded by red seats, this place was familiar, but it didn't strike him at first.
'Where was I last?...' he closed his eyes trying to figure out what had happened to him.
'The cliff…no! That was a dream…er…think! Think!...Rinoa!...' he remembered her frightened scream and abruptly lifted up with the intent to find her.
'Urgh!' he rolled on the floor as he felt his back ache painfully.
'Urgh…' he moaned softly as he closed his eyes and his eyes tiered with pain…
He remained in that position, concentrating on sending the awful pain away…
A few moments later he rolled onto his stomach and with his arms he lifted himself up slowly, wincing slightly. Then when he was on his knees, he tried sitting up straight on his knees…
'Urgh!' his back would hurt, curving in as he felt the intense pain…
Squall then supporting himself on the couch he had fallen off, he lifted up slowly curving his back to avoid the pain and when he had finally got up to his feet, he felt his kneed shake. He knew then he was weaker than he expected and his stomach was sucked in with hunger.
He then tried to cure himself with magic but had no more cures left.
'Damn it!' he groaned wincing.
He stood still for a moment and observed the place he was standing in.
It was dark but the fading light from the sky came in through the windows and lit dimly the room.
He observed the awfully familiar place as his eyes reached the digital screen and he went into shock…
'Have a pleasant flight with Ragnarok 85-LL/6789-Space Ship' he read on the screen surrounded by plenty of buttons.
He realised then he was in the meeting room of the Ragnarok. And if he wasn't mistaken, the whole gang was here with him, including Laguna and Seifer, the last two people he wanted to see at this very moment.
'Damn!' he groaned frustrated, punching in the seat he supported himself on.
To be continued…
Part 19, it was! Did you enjoy that? Please review! Thank you so much for reading! Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments! It fills my heart with happiness! Just review and tell me what you think… Love to all!