The Aftermath
It has been two years since the new sorceress war. Rinoa and I are happily married and I am the commander of the garden. I lay here in my apartment that I share with my wife and 1-year-old daughter. Two years ago I was the epitome of the lone wolf. I wouldn't depend on anyone and didn't want anyone to depend on me. That is until I met her.
It was the graduation party of my SeeD class. She was standing in the middle of the dance floor looking up through the glass dome above her. She was wearing an ivory dress that came down to just above the knees. Her raven hair fell freely to the middle of her back. As I looked up I saw a shooting star go by and so did she. She turned to look at me, leaning against one of the many marble columns. She pointed up to show that she had seen the shooting star. I just shrugged and mentally said, 'yea and?'
Seeing my reaction she came over and started talking with me. After a short conversation she dragged me onto the dance floor. I didn't want to dance and thought if I danced badly enough she'd find some other guy. But it didn't happen. We bumped into another couple and I realized I wasn't going to get out of this. So I straightened up and danced perfectly. As we came face to face, after a series of separate maneuvers, we just starred into each other's eyes as fireworks went off.
Later I learned her name was Rinoa and we had an adventure together. As the time went on we started developing feelings for each other but I refused to acknowledge them, at least at first. Now she is my wife and the new sorceress, and I'm her knight and protector.
I reached over and begin to stroke my wife's ebony hair as she lies beside me sleeping. She stirs gently at my touch. Her eyes flutter open and look right into mine. Her brown eyes piercing into my soul, as I stare into hers.
"Good morning, sleep well?" I said already knowing the answer.
"Yes I did. And you?"
"Not really was up too late trying to make sure everything runs smoothly."
"Don't make me cast a sleep spell on you tonight. I want you to come to bed at a reasonable time. You need to keep up your strength if not for the garden then for your daughter." She said, worry in her voice.
I had been staying up too late doing paperwork but it still needed to be done. I nodded in agreement to my wife and got out of bed. I took a quick shower and quickly got dressed in my usual outfit with one exception. I now had two crests around my neck, my lion and Rinoa's angel wings. I was wearing black jeans, a white t-shirt, two belts that hung loosely around my waist. I also had a leather jacket with a fur collar. Rinoa was standing there holding Lionheart in its sheath. Strapping it onto one of my belts, I leaned down to kiss her before I went to work.
Walking out the front door into the hallway of the garden it was a short walk to my office. As soon as I got to my office I was met by my second in charge, Xu.
"Sir we have a problem." She said giving me the official SeeD salute.
"At ease, Xu. It's too early for formalities. What's the problem?"
"SeeD teams 3 and 4 haven't reported in and they are 48 hours overdue."
"What was their mission?"
"It was supposed to be a simple snatch and extract of a downed pilot. Although something tells me it wasn't as simple as the employer said it was."
"Well, get Zell and Irvine together and meet me in the training area in 10 minutes."
"Yes, sir" she said coming from at ease to attention and again giving me a salute.
I saluted back and she turned and left my office. Hitting the comm. button for my private residence I waited for an answer.
"Leonheart residence."
"Hi honey, I need to go on a mission for a while. I'm sorry but I've got two teams MIA."
"I understand. Whom are you taking with you?" she said with concern in her voice.
"Zell and Irvine if I can get them away from their girlfriends for a while."
"Ok just be careful. I want you to come home in one piece. When do you leave?"
"As soon as the others can get their gear. The teams are already 2 days late and I don't want to waste any more time."
"Ok see you when you get back. Love you."
"Love you too Rinoa. And take care of my daughter for me."
"Will do. Bye."
The comm. Clicked off and I was left in the silence that was my office. I looked at the clock. 5 minutes left better get going. Making my way through the garden I entered the training area. There was a noticeable change in both temperature and humidity. Standing at stark attention was Zell, a blond haired man in his mid 20's with a tattoo covering the right side of his face. He was dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt. At a loose attention was Irvine, he had shoulder length brown hair pulled into a ponytail and was dressed in a brown overcoat and black Stetson hat. Under the coat were a white shirt and brown leather pants.
"Ok listen up. Here is the situation. 48 hours ago we lost contact with 2 teams of SeeD operatives. We haven't heard from them since. Our mission is to find and extract them and their objectives, any questions?" I said not really wanting any questions.
"No sir." They both said in perfect unison.
"Then move out you have 10 minutes to get your gear and meet me outside the garden. Dismissed."
With that they saluted me and ran back to the dorms. Xu came from inside the training center.
"Do you have to be that formal with your friends?" she said with a worried look on her face.
"No, I guess I don't. It's just that this is the first time that the SeeD have failed a mission since I took over and I don't intend to accept failure."
With that I turned and went back to my apartment to get my travel bag ready. When I walked in the front door there stood Rinoa holding my travel bag already packed. I took it and briefly looked it over to make sure every thing was there. Seeing that everything was there I gave her a kiss and a hug before I held my daughter and then left. 'I wish I didn't have to go but this is important' I thought to myself.
-I know it is and don't worry about us we will be fine. Just come back that's all we ask- Rinoa said telepathically to me.
"You know, that really gets annoying some times. I will come home I promise." I said turning around to face my giggling wife.
Shaking my head I just turned to go. When I arrived outside of the garden Zell was already there. Irvine came shortly after I arrived. We piled into my car and drove off towards Esthar. We drove in silence for the first few minutes before Zell couldn't stand the silence any more.
"Can we turn on the radio please I can't stand this silence any more." Zell said as he reached for the knob of the cars radio.
I grabbed his wrist before he got to the radio and gave it a firm squeeze, and let go. He quickly retracted his hand and the car quickly fell back into silence, but not for long. Soon Zell was trying to start a conversation about how our personal lives were going.
"So, Squall, how's Rinoa and your daughter?"
"They are fine. Now please be quiet.
"Man what is it with you guys. Its like you're not human. Come on loosen up."
With that I stopped the car suddenly, slamming Zell against the back of the passenger side seat. Irvine saw it coming and braced himself against the back of my seat.
"Zell, do you think this is a pleasure cruise? Hmm? Its not there are 8 people missing possibly dead and you want to have a pleasant chat?" I almost yelled at him.
Even Irvine was surprised at my attitude and what I had said.
"Hey Squall, chill ok. We don't know what happened to them. They may have just gotten delayed. The fact of the matter may be that we have missing men but we don't need to be at each other's throats." Irvine said, trying to calm me down.
Irvine was right. I was overreacting. But I couldn't help but feel responsible. I couldn't get over the fact that I had sent those eight people to their deaths.
"Sorry guys. There was no excuse for that. I… I… I'm sorry."
With that I started the car moving again. Before too long we arrived at the train station. I quickly went to the room and immediately laid down. Pictures of the men being killed haunted my dreams. I awoke an hour later as we pulled into Esthar. As I left the train Zell and Irvine followed at a distance. After my outburst in the car I don't blame them.
"Hey guys, come on." I said motioning for them to speed up.
"I know you feel guilty but we aren't your enemies. We can help if you'd let us," Irvine said as he caught up to me. Zell still kept his distance but he finally caught up.
"I'm sorry Zell for yelling at you earlier. I didn't mean to. I guess I'm taking this way too personally. This is just the first time I've lost a team and I don't like it when I loose."
"Hey man, we understand. I apologize too. I have a tendency to be annoying."
"You got that right, Chicken wuss." A deep voice said from the shadows.
I turned hearing the familiar voice. Sure enough there was Siefer Almasy, dressed just the way he always was. He wore a full-length leather coat with a dark t-shirt and pants, and a gunblade on his hip. He was about my height but instead of brown hair he had blond hair. Zell turned to face Siefer and dropped into a fighting stance.
"Chill out Zell. Lets see what he wants first."
"What I want is to help. To no longer be shunned by every one and to be able to walk down the street without being pelted by rotting fruit."
"So you want to join us then, is that it?"
"If I help y'all it may help people realize that I'm not a bad guy. After all I was possessed during the entire time I was the sorceress' knight."
"Still out for yourself aren't you." I said shaking my head. "Ok you can come but you cause any trouble and believe me I will put you down myself."
I could tell Siefer wasn't expecting me to be like this because his jaw dropped open. Regaining his composure he said, "You could try, but I don't think you'll be able to."
"Whatever. Lets go." I said turning and walking on. Irvine walked beside me while Zell and Siefer stared at each other till Siefer finally started walking behind Irvine and myself.
By the time they caught up we were already outside of the city. I started heading toward the capital city. We traveled in relative silence. With nothing but the sounds of the wind and an occasional monster the trip went silently. It took us the majority of the day to reach the city. Upon entering the city I asked Irvine to take the others to wait for me while I took care of some business. He nodded in agreement.
I slowly made my way to the presidential palace. Not really wanting to got there but I needed to. As I approached the front gates two guards stopped me.
"Halt! You can go no further. No one is allowed into the palace at night."
"Tell the president that his son is here to see him."
The guard looked at me slightly shocked.
"Do you have any proof to substantiate your claim?"
I simply held up my ring. The guard immediately snapped to attention and saluted me.
"Sorry sir, but I needed to make sure of your identity. The president has many enemies."
I just nodded and walked into the elevator that he opened for me. The ride seemed to take an eternity. The griever ring was a family heirloom, handed down from generation to generation. I had gotten it when I was sent to the orphanage. The doors opened and I stepped into the entrance chamber. The wide-open room felt enormous. Quite a bit of the walls were made of glass but certain sections weren't for privacy reasons.
I was greeted by a butler and was lead to the main audience chamber.
"Hello, son. What brings you here?" a baritone voice called from across the room. It belonged to a tall man in his late forties. He had dark shoulder length salt and pepper hair that he had pulled behind him. He was dressed in a gray business suit.
"You know why I'm here dad. Now cut the crap and lets get down to business. What was their true mission and where were they when they went out of contact."
Looking obviously shocked at my bluntness he nodded and fixed him self a drink.
"They were to rescue a pilot that was carrying vital intelligence and we lost contact with them just the other side of Timber."
"Thank you. What kind of intelligence?"
"It was intelligence on the Galbaldian governments efforts to create a sorceress that they could control."
"Why didn't you tell me this in the first place? I would have come personally."
"I know that's why I didn't say anything," he said with a concerned look on his face. "I didn't want you involved because you have worked closely with a sorceress. If they managed to get any of that information out of you they could complete their efforts in a matter of days."
"I see. My men and I need lodging for the night."
"Its already been arranged. You and your friends are staying here in the palace."
I started to object but he quickly dismissed the idea of me staying anywhere else. I turned to leave. There was no arguing with the man once his mind was made up. I quickly made my way back to where to others were waiting.
"So where are we staying," Zell asked as I approached.
"At the palace for the night. We leave in the morning, we are going to Timber."
"The palace? Wow you must really have connections."
"The president is my father." I said simply. Everyone except Siefer was shocked.
"You mean that you are Laguna's son."
"That's what I just said. Come on, let's get going we have a busy day tomorrow," I said turning around and walked back into the transportation module.
The others followed and we went into the palace. We were showed to our rooms and I started settling in, when the phone rang.
"What the? No one knows I'm here." I picked up the receiver, "Hello?"
"Its good to hear you voice again sir." The female voice came back from the other end of the phone. I knew who it was. It was the leader of the teams that we were going after.
"Quistis? What happened? Where are you?"
There was no response for a moment. Then a male voice came on the line.
"They are all alive and unharmed for the most part. But I warn you their health depends on your actions. I'll call you again in the morning. And don't bother tracing the call. You won't be able to." then the line went dead.
I hung up the phone and slammed my fists through the table next to the phone. I was so mad I couldn't see straight. The door flung open and three armed guards charged in along with Siefer.
"What happened here?" one of the guards asked looking around for an attacker.
I turned to Siefer, "I just got a call from their captors. They are alive but I can't confirm their health. They are going to call me in the morning. They said that our people's health is dependant on our actions."
He just nodded and the guards got what had happened. They turned and left the room. Moments later Zell and Irvine rushed in. I was sitting on my bed with a far off look in my eyes. Siefer explained the situation to them.
I got up and grabbed my gunblade, and pushed past them on my way out of the city. Outside the city I fought anything that I could. Slicing through monster after monster in a blinding rage. Finally I couldn't lift my arms anymore.
"This won't help them you know." A deep voice said.
I looked around to see where the voice had come from, but no one was there.
"Who are you?"
"You don't remember me? I thought for sure you'd remember me after I helped you survive at the orphanage."
"How do you know about the orphanage? Who are you?"
Suddenly a huge majestic lion that would have made Hercules shit his pants in fear appeared before me. The strange thing is that I didn't feel any fear. Looking on this lion it felt like seeing a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. The memories started coming back to me.
"Your Griever. I thought you were a dream. What happened? Why haven't you appeared to me before now?"
"Always uncertain. I see that hasn't changed although you're a bit different than I thought you would be. Yes, I am Griever, and the reason I haven't appeared to you before now is be cause you didn't need me to."
I remember now the last time I had seen the GF. It was when I was at the orphanage.
It was early in the morning and I had snuck out again. I went down to the beach and starred out at the horizon just thinking. Thinking about where my parents were. If there was anything beyond the area I lived in. But most of all how I could get my parents to come back. I came to the conclusion that they left me because I was weak. From that day forward I snuck out of my room and began to train every morning. One day while I was training a monster appeared. I thought I could take it on by myself because it was small.
Boy was I wrong. I kept hitting it but it wasn't weakening. It occasionally hit me and I was weakening. I was lying on the ground exhausted. I knew I was beaten, when suddenly Griever appeared and completely destroyed the monster. From that time on griever taught me how to fight. It wasn't too long after that I was adopted and he stopped appearing.
"Why are you here now."
"You called me, although you didn't know you did. You feeling so helpless called to me always had."
I slowly walked over to the figure standing in front of me. Reaching out a hand to touch the large lion. It didn't move. My hand finally came in contact with the side of its shoulder. He was real.
"Will you help me?" I asked almost begging.
"Yes, on one condition. You don't tell anyone about me. Ok?"
"Agreed. It's good to have you back."
"Oh, I wont be around all the time, but when you need me the most ill be there." It said looking at me solemnly. "Wake up Squall. Wake up."
Its words faded as my surroundings bled together. I was back in the palace, in the room my father put me in. Zell was standing over me shaking my shoulders. The others were also in the room but they were sitting down waiting for the phone call.
"Squall wake up man. Its almost 8:00 in the morning they should be calling soon."
"I'm up. I'm up."
I sat up slowly, Was Griever just a dream? I was startled from my thoughts by the phone next to me ringing. I picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"You will take the rest of your group home and return with all of your family. Any deviance in these instructions will result in one of you friend's deaths every half-hour. You have twenty-four hours to comply I will call you then."
A different voice came over the phone at this time.
"Squall he means business. We are fine at the moment a few bumps and scratches are all we have right now. But please hurry."
The line went dead. I hung up the phone slowly.
"Well, what did they say," Zell asked worriedly.
"They want my family. The instructions were for me to send you Irvine and Siefer back to the garden and bring all of my family back to here within twenty-four hours. If I don't comply he will kill one person every half-hour." I said coldly.
"You aren't going to meet the demands are you?" Siefer said concerned for a change.
"Yes I am, but with a twist. You will accompany me back to the garden and form a strike force. I will comply with his wishes and keep the hostages alive, while you three will go on a search and destroy mission. You search for the hostages and destroy any resistance ON THE WAY OUT. Is that understood?" I looked into all three of their faces and they all gave a determined nod.
"Ok, Siefer your in charge of the group. Sorry Irvine, but I know Siefer better and he would do things the way I would do things for the most part." I looked around for any objections. Seeing none I continued, "Good, we leave in an hour. Meet y'all down stairs."
They left the room and closed the door. I looked down at my ring. The lions head engraved on the band seemed to glow slightly. Getting up I quickly showered and got dressed again. Strapping my gunblade onto my belts, I left the room with all of my stuff. I went to the president's chamber and looked around for Laguna. He was sitting in his chair fiddling with some paperwork.
"Dad, we need to talk." I said when he didn't acknowledge my presence.
"Oh, sorry son, but I'm a little busy. Can it wait?"
"I just got a call from the men holding my teams hostage." I paused and let the situation sink in. He looked up at me surprised, and put his paperwork aside.
"They want me to come back with only my family within twenty-four hours."
"Ah I see. They want your wife to help them in their research."
"I'm leaving in about 10 minutes to get her and my daughter. They said all of my family and I don't want to chance anything. We should be back in Ragnarock in a few hours."
"I'll have a larger room ready for you when you get back."
"May I make a phone call in private before I go?"
"Of course. Use my phone."
He motioned to a phone on his desk and left the room and locked the door behind him. Nervously I started dialing the number for my house at the garden.
"Hello?" a female voice came over the phone.
"Yes, may I please speak with Mrs. Leonheart please?"
"Of course may I ask who's calling?"
"This is her husband."
"One moment please."
"Hello, Squall?" my wife's voice came over the phone concerned.
"Hi babe. Would you pack for a long trip I need to come and get you and Riana?"
"Squall, what is going on? I have a right to know."
"I got a call saying unless I bring you and our daughter to Esthar by tomorrow they are going to kill every one of the missing SeeD members. I promise nothing will happen to you or our daughter. But for now I need to make them happy."
"Ok, I understand when will you be back?"
"In a few hours we are taking the Ragnarock back. Would you make sure it is also ready to go? Xu can help you with that."
"Sure. See you when you get here."
With that we hung up the phone. I couldn't help but think about how wonderful my wife really was. Here I said that she had to come to Esthar because some captors demanded it, and she didn't even flinch at the thought of putting herself in danger. I truly have a wonderful wife. I walked over to the door and remembering it was locked knocked on the door. I heard it unlock and there stood my father as well as Zell, Irvine, and Siefer.
"Let's get going then."
As we walked outside the city we saw four guards on motorcycles.
"Sir these are yours to use. Complements of the president of Esthar."
With that I just nodded and climbed onto one of the bikes. Turning on the engine I did a peel out 180 and sped off as fast as the 0bike would go. I arrived at the train station in a few minutes. The others took about two minutes to catch up, more than enough time to get our tickets to Balamb. We boarded the train and spent most of the train ride in silence.
Once we finally got to Balamb I rushed back to the garden, leaving the others in the dust. I ran straight to my apartment. Everyone took one look at my face and immediately got out of my way. A look of pure determination was on my face as I blocked out the burning sensation in my legs. I arrived at my front door and stopped to take some time to catch my breath. I knew she knew I was there but I didn't care. I wasn't going to come into my house looking like I was as worried as I was.
I collected myself and opened the door. There was Xu and my wife sitting in the living room talking about something I couldn't hear what exactly what they were talking about. They looked up and saw me, Rinoa rushed into my arms. Xu slowly stood up and went into an "at ease" position. I held my wife for a few minutes before coming back to reality.
"Is everything ready?" I asked looking at Xu.
"Yes, sir. The Ragnarock is fully fueled, manned and ready."
"Xu how many times do I have to tell you? When you're in my house you don't have to be so formal."
"Yes, sir." She said with a slight smile trying to break through her serious expression.
I shook my head in defeat and walked back to my office to see what had happened while I was away. As soon as I entered my office I noticed something had changed since I had been there not a day ago. It was organized and all the paperwork was done. Rinoa had been in my office while I was gone. Since there was nothing I could do in my office I went to the training center.
The smell of rotting vegetation filled my senses. I walked to the back of the training area where the T-rexars were. Sure enough I didn't have to wait long to find one. It was as large as a two-story building and about as wide as a two-lane street. As it roared drool flew out of its mouth. Its mouth was filled with hundreds of dagger like teeth. It charged at me trying to catch me in its mouth but I quickly sidestepped the clumsy beast and took a chunk out of its neck with my gunblade. It roared in pain as it regained its balance and turned to face me again. I began concentrating on casting a spell without a GF like Rinoa had taught me. Soon the air in from of my hands began to ripple as I gathered energy to cast a blizzara. The T-rexar began to charge at me again but got hit with the ice spell and fell to the ground as a solid block of ice.
I walked over to the large chunk of ice that encased the creature. Raising my gunblade over my head I swiftly brought it down and split the ice and the creature in half. The ice shattered shortly after ward and disappeared along with the remains of the T-rexar. I was breathing heavier than usual but I wasn't out of breath. These T-rexars were no more than a descent warm up for me. I made my way back to the main portion of the garden and noticed that Rinoa had been watching me the whole time. I smiled at her as she handed me a small workout towel. I quickly wiped myself down and went to the hanger where Zell, Irvine, Siefer, and Xu were waiting on us.
"Y'all know your mission, right?" they nodded. "Stealth is paramount. There will not be a rescue mission if you fail or are captured. Is that understood?" they again nodded. "Then good luck, to all of us." I held out my hand in an offer of a handshake to each of them including Xu. "Xu your in charge until I get back."
Rinoa and I boarded the burnt red airship and got settled in. Making sure that our daughter was all right I went to the captain's quarters to make sure we had enough equipment with us. Seeing that my fears were unfounded I made my way to the bridge of the vessel. The captain gave me a quick salute as I walked in the door. I saluted him back
"Is everything ready?"
"Just waiting for your permission to depart, sir."
"Permission granted, take off when ready and set a course for the capital city of Esthar."
With that the captain started giving orders to various stations. His orders were echoed back to confirm they were heard and understood. In no time at all we were airborne and cruising toward Esthar. It took us about twenty minutes to get there. We touched down just behind the palace in a landing field used by my father's private jet.
Upon getting out of the Ragnarock we were greeted by a full company of guards and armored personnel carriers. Not bothering to argue we got into one of the personnel carriers and were rushed to a back entrance to the palace. We were never out from under the guard of at least 10, armed guards.
Once we got inside the guards backed off knowing that the palace was very secure. We rounded the corner and were led to the president's office. Inside was, of course, my father.
"You came earlier than I had expected but I can understand the need to get here as soon as possible." He said not looking up.
"Yea, by the time I got back to the garden my staff already had everything ready for me. Dad, I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Rinoa Leonheart, and your granddaughter, Riana Leonheart." I said with pride in my voice.
He finally realized I hadn't come in alone and dropped what he was doing. He stood up and walked around his desk. Walking up to Rinoa, who was carrying our daughter, he looked at his grandchild.
"Would you like to hold her?" Rinoa asked noticing how lovingly he looked at his grandchild.
"Yes, I would. Thank you. I see now why Squall fell for you. It was your kindness that won him over."
Rinoa just blushed as she handed our daughter to my father. Her arms free she wrapped them around me while facing my father. He held her for a while talking to her. She fell asleep to the sound of his voice and the slight rocking of his arms. A content smile crept across his face at the sight of his granddaughter sound asleep in his arms. He gently handed her back to Rinoa who took her to the room she was told would be ours while we were here.
"So you approve of her?" I asked with a little pride.
"I do. You chose well with her. Why didn't you tell me I had a grandchild the last time you were here?"
"Because I was here on business. I still am, although this time doesn't have to be completely business. As soon as this situation is over I would like for you to get to know your family."
"I would like that."
I left and went to the room my dad let us use while we were here. Rinoa was already in the room tucking in Riana for a nap. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. Resting my head on her right shoulder I said, "I shouldn't have brought you here."
"You did what you thought was right. Besides I wanted to meet your father." She said with an evil grin.
"Would you quit reading my mind? One of these days I'm going to find a way to stop you from doing that, or worse I'll be able to do it to you." I said lightly poking her in the side.
We stood there looking down at our daughter, wondering if she would ever be truly safe. After a few minutes Rinoa turned around in my embrace and wrapped her arms around me. I knew she was reading my mind. 'Why do you do that even when I asked you not to?' I thought
'I do this because I want to know what you are thinking. I need to know if you are beating yourself up over this or if you accept the decision you made.'
'I accept the choice, but now I don't think it was the right one.'
'Your daughter and I have faith in you. You will do what is right.'
'Here I am the leader of an entire army of mercenaries and my wife is giving me moral support. What is wrong with this picture?' I let out a light laugh.
'Nothing. You may be their commander but you are still human. You have to turn to someone every now and then. I thought you learned that during the sorceress wars.'
'I guess I didn't learn it that well. Thanks honey. We'd better get some sleep we have a long day ahead of us'
Her only response was a kiss.
A/N hope yall enjoyed reading this as much as i did writing this. please read and review let me know if you want me to continue. L8r all.