Whoa boy. This chapter...is probably the most emotional thing that I have ever written...and it was very hard to write. I actually wrote it in January or February when I had the idea for this fic. It wasn't the first chapter I wrote for RR, but it was the first CRUCIAL chapter that I wrote. I actually haven't edited it that much...I've added some more onto it, but that's about it. I've been pretty happy with the way it turned out even though it is one of the shorter chapters. It would've just dragged if it was longer, so I wanted to end it while it was still interesting. HOWEVER, I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me (i.e. Me grumbling at myself every time I read it) because it's not EXACTLY what happened according to stuff that's said in the game. It's actually the ONLY thing that I have written for this fic that is not 100 percent accurate. (Even stupid things that Locke has said in the game I've incorporated into this...More on that later) I haven't cursed at myself yet, so let's hope I always like this chapter. I always thought that the way it was explained in the game was quite cheap...so I like this version better. It's more emotional, more heartfelt, and more devastating. You'll see what I mean...

And thus ends my three chapter update!

27. On That Day

It's been a year…Locke thought as he kept his hands in his pockets and walked toward the Quantz hideout after a hunt. He couldn't help but feel maudlin over the memory of Rachel, but once again she was the only thing on his mind. We could be married now…Maybe had a baby…Who knows…

The thoughts haunted him every time he passed by the general region of Kohlingen, which, unfortunately, was on the way to the hideout every time he went to the eastern side of the continent. Although he had mainly moved on with his life and was able to be happy with himself, the memory of what happened still struck his heart like a poison-tipped arrow every time he walked this way.

He looked up from his feet and stopped abruptly with what he saw. Smoke was billowing toward the sky past the horizon, surprising him. "What the…" He muttered and continued to stare. The contrast between the gray-black smoke and the light blue sky made quite a noticeable and unusual sight. He closed his mouth when he realized that his jaw had dropped from the shock and started to briskly jog to get a closer look of what was going on. When he had a clear view, he gasped.

With the mixture of fire, screams, Magitek armor, and soldiers, it could mean only one thing: Kohlingen was under an Imperial attack. Locke's breathing sped up as he scanned the town in complete disbelief of what was happening. He caught wind of what happened in Maranda earlier that week and even though he wasn't fond of the Empire, he thought it was only a rumor for he never thought the Empire would attack an innocent town. Now as he looked upon Kohlingen, he realized that the rumors were true, and felt his heart sink because it was happening again. The town that he grew up in, the first place he had ever been able to call home, was falling apart in front of his eyes. Soldiers taunted the frightened residents as they raided their homes, causing them to run for safety. He watched as mothers held their children close to themselves as they tried to escape into the woods; only causing the soldiers to have target practice. With every person that collapsed, Locke gritted his teeth and grimaced.

This isn't anything but a heartless massacre…He thought to himself in horror as something to his left caught his eye. One of the soldiers threw a burning torch through the window of a house on the southwestern corner of town, causing it to erupt into flames. Locke prayed that everyone was already out, for no one would've been able to escape that alive. He noticed that the door on the house behind it was cracked open, causing Locke's heart to skip a beat.

Rachel's house…Locke broke out into a run and advanced toward the tiny house. He hid behind a tree as he tried to think of a plan as he surveyed his surroundings. He knew that if he were to launch a counterattack by himself, he would surely get himself killed, so there was nothing he could do but watch and attempt to think rationally. He needed a way to get into Rachel's house to see if she and her father were okay, despite the fact that her father still resented him for what happened.

After carefully looking around to make sure that there weren't any soldiers in sight and the coast was clear, he quickly ran through the open door. He peered around inside, but the dark house didn't allow him to see much of anything. There didn't seem to be any movement in the place, but that was more of a discomfort to Locke than a comfort.

He turned on the light, but didn't see Rachel or her father. He pulled out his dagger for precaution and slowly walked around the corner into the kitchen, afraid of what he would find.

The first thing he saw was a trail of blood on the floor that spread from the kitchen table to the front door, as if something or someone was wounded then dragged. Instead of running outside yet, he looked at the red splatters that were all over the wall and followed them to their origin. Oh goddesses…He thought as he spotted two legs sticking out from underneath the overturned kitchen table.

"Baron!" Locke exclaimed as he rushed to his side. He grunted as he pushed the heavy oak table off of the man and then looked back down. The Baron VanLente was laying face first on the floor surrounded by a large puddle formed of his own blood. Locke moved his glance to a shining object a few feet away from the floor to see the blood stained weapon that delivered the fatal blow to the once so powerful man.

He took a step back and leaned against the wall for support so he wouldn't pass out. Although he was never fond of the man, he didn't want him to die. He knew that even though Rachel complained about her father being too domineering of her, she truly did love him. At the thought of her, he whipped his head up. Rachel…where are you? He swallowed when he regained his strength to walk and started to search the house for Rachel.

Tears formed in his eyes as he looked around, terrified of the condition that she would be in when he found her. Maybe she was able to get out…He tried to keep his thoughts optimistic, but he doubted his own thoughts. Oh shit…He thought when he saw the bookshelf that was by the two beds in the house. There was a large hole in the wall right through it; right where the diamond was hidden. Looking closer, Locke discovered the diamond was missing. However, the diamond was important to Rachel's father, not Locke. Rachel was the only thing that mattered to him. He didn't find any trace of her in the house, so he followed the trail of blood out of the house to continue his search.

A blood-curdling scream that broke through the sounds of fire from around the left side of the house horrified Locke down to the core. He recognized that scream for it was the same scream that was emitted from Rachel's mouth that day when the bridge gave way. He made his way around the house to see a sight more terrible than he could have ever imagined.

Rachel was pinned on the ground with her dress over her head surrounded by a commander and two of his soldiers. The two soldiers laughed at her cries as they held her down and the third man, the commander, was on top of her with his pants down, pushing himself into her harder with every scream she made. Locke's beloved Rachel was being raped.

The blood his veins boiled as he grabbed his extra dagger that was hid under his pant leg. With careful aim, he threw it at the commander with as much force as he could muster, killing the man instantly. The man landed hard on top of Rachel, causing her to yelp in surprise. The two other men growled at Locke, stood up, and drew out their swords. Locke stood in a fighter's stance as he held out his dagger that was against his hip.

"You get the hell away from her," he warned as he walked closer, not dropping his stance. He prayed they wouldn't call out for reinforcements because he could take on two soldiers, but not the entire Imperial army. One of the soldiers knelt down next to Rachel, grabbed her by the nape of her neck to lift her head and shoulders off the ground, and put his sword against her throat. The dress fell away from her face but she was blindfolded, so Locke couldn't see into her frightened eyes.

Pain struck in Locke's heart as he saw her with the blindfold around her eyes, for it was his own bandana. It was the bandana that he wrapped around one of her wounds on the day that she fell from the bridge, and forgot to take it when he left when she woke up. He was surprised that she actually kept it, and horrified when he realized that something of his own was preventing her from seeing him.

"You're killing her with every step you take, are you aware of that?" The soldier sneered with an evil laugh. Locke took another step and the soldier pressed his sword closer to Rachel, breaking the first few layers of skin on her delicate neck. She cried out in pain, and Locke watched as a thin stream of blood trailed down to her gown, staining the material.

As his eyes followed the blood, he noticed that she was wearing a thin gold chain around her neck with her engagement ring strung on it. He watched as it caught in the sunlight, sparkling beautifully. The sight of it made him feel even worse and more enraged. He looked back up at the soldier, who was laughing and taunting Locke with his fingers.

Seeing Rachel being tortured was more than he could stand, so his motions were driven by love and impulse. He looked at the dagger in his hand and after a split second, he threw it at the man at Rachel's neck. The third man watched in horror as his fellow soldier fell just like his commander did. The look of fear was replaced by a look of determination as he charged at Locke to make him pay for what he just did. Locke was able to kick him in the legs and make him lose his balance, but as soon as he got up, he was able to take the upper hand in the battle for Locke didn't have a weapon.

He swung his sword and almost hit Locke in the stomach, but Locke's agility was able to get him out of the way fast enough. He kicked the soldier as hard as he could in the chest as a distraction so he could find something to attack him with. The soldier's sword was thrown to the side as he fell to the ground. Locke rushed to the dead commander and pulled out his standby dagger so he would be able to be armed, then kicked him off of Rachel. He faced the remaining soldier to see that the soldier pulled out his dagger from the other fallen soldier and it was aimed right at his arm. Luckily, Locke was able to move partly out of the way, but the tip of the dagger still grazed his shoulder, drawing blood. He groaned at the sting, but continued to fight the soldier.

The soldier knocked Locke's feet from under him, and he landed hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Instead of advancing on Locke with Locke's dagger, the soldier threw it as hard as he could into the woods and ran to his own sword that was knocked from his hands. "Gentlemen, move out!" Locke and the soldier both looked to the middle of town to see the General gathering all the soldiers to leave what was left of Kohlingen. The soldier laughed as Locke tried to get to his feet, and started to walk toward the center of town. As he passed Rachel, he held out his sword and, without breaking his stride, forced his sword through the middle of her stomach and left it there, impaling her.

"Rachel!" Locke cried out as he jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain from his wound. He quickly pulled the sword out of her stomach, threw it to the side, and knelt down next to her. Tears fell down his cheeks as he cradled her head in his arms and pulled off the blindfold that she was wearing. She was still breathing, but it was heavily labored as she looked up into his eyes. "Oh, Rachel…"

"Locke?" She asked in a tiny voice as she blinked a few times. The sound of his name from her lips only made him sob harder. Her body shook as she coughed, and a small trickle of blood escaped out of the corner of her mouth. He watched in horror as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

"Rachel, no! Don't go! Don't leave me! Please don't leave me!" He hugged her close to him as he wept. The realization of what had happened filled Locke with more grief than he could stand; her memory had returned before she died.