Chapter 10 – Bullets Come Threefold

"Rinoa!" Irvine called. He and Rinoa were now waiting at the FH train station, "The train's comin'! Come on!"
"Irvine…" Rinoa began. She didn't quite know how to say what she was about to say. She wanted to tell him everything. She felt like he was the only one who would not suffer…
"Yeah?" he asked as they both boarded the train.
"I'll…er…I'll tell you once we've settled down on the train." She said, once again backing out of telling the truth.

Zell was having another dream. This time, everything was pitch black. He could barely see his own hand in front of his face. All he could hear was that same strange voice from before.
"Zell…I know how to stop the bad things…" the voice was very distant and Zell was straining to hear it.
"What…?" he asked wearily. He was shocked to find that his voice seemed even further away. It was a dream, but Zell could find no excuses for something so unusual.
"Diegans are going to invade Garden. People are going to die and Quistis is going to be one of them…unless you stop it."
"How?"
"You have to stop the Diegans before they take any lives. It will not be easy…
"As for Seifer and Rinoa…fate is fate. All you can do is be there for Squall when something happens."
"When?" Zell asked, still confused, although there was now a cler element of anger in his voice.
"Some things a re justr meant to happen, Zell.

"When you wake up," the voice concluded, "You will be okay. Just remember what you have to do…" the voice seemed to fade away, after which Zell drifted into an otherwise dreamless sleep.

After what seemed like hours of trying to find some empty seats, Irvine eventually spotted two of them next to a table.
"Let's sit there." Irvine said, leading Rinoa to sit down. As he sat, he noticed that the person opposite him held a newspaper in front of his face.
"How long do you think it'll take to get to Esthar?" Rinoa asked Irvine as the train started moving.
"Don't know," he replied, "It's best not to think about it 'til we get there."
"I'm sorry," Newspaper Guy said. When the man put the newspaper down and revealed his face, Rinoa and Irvine couldn't help but smile. The man resumed speaking, "Did I just hear you say you were going to Esthar?"
"Laguna!" Rinoa exclaimed, laughing.
"Haven't seen you since Time Compression!" Irvine smiled.
"What are you guys going to Esthar for?" Laguna asked.
"There's this whole thing going on with the Diegan President-" Irvine began; only to have Laguna cut him off.
"So you're the guys they're sending to me! I knew Garden would be sending SeeDs but I had no idea you'd be comin'!"
"Shouldn't you already be in Esthar then?" Rinoa asked.
"Yeah…" Laguna said, "I missed my train. This was the next one going to Esthar."
"Where are Kiros and Ward?" Irvine asked, looking around the train. He couldn't see either of them anywhere.
"They should be in Winhill," Laguna answered. Rinoa and Irvine looked at each other as Laguna continued, "They live in the Pub there now. Ellone brought it from the previous owner and she lives there too.
"All three of them are looking after Winhill like I used to. They should be meeting some SeeDs soon."
"Squall and Seifer." Rinoa said.
"What!"

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Seifer said to himself as he and Squall were waiting at Garden's main entrance to arrive in Winhill.
"Can't wait?" Squall asked.
"I just wanna get everything over and done with."
Squall looked through the glass pane of the entrance door. He could see Winhill was getting nearer and nearer.
"We're here." He said, as he and Seifer exited Garden.

"Anyone feel hungry?" Irvine asked. Two 'No's' rang back to him.
"So, Seifer's on our side now?" Laguna asked.
"Looks that way." Irvine laughed, " Kinda weird, isn't it?"
All laughing stopped when the train grinded to a halt. As the train rocked and swayed, its passengers began to panic.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!" one passenger screamed wildly.
"Aarrghh!" another shouted.
"EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN!" Laguna shouted. He stood on top of the table in front of him. Everyone, including Rinoa and Irvine, stared up at him. Laguna was about to resume speaking when the train jerked hard and sent everyone flying.
"HAH!" a voice boomed loudly, "STUPID BASTARDS!"
"There's only one stupid bastard here…" a passenger said weakly.
"I HEARD THAT!" the man shouted. He took out a handgun and shot a bullet right through the passenger's head.
"Damn…" Laguna cursed.
"Where is Laguna Loire?" the man asked, much quieter now.
"Here." Laguna said, as he, Irvine and Rinoa rose from the floor.
"Master Diego wants to see you, so you'd better move your ass quick."
"My first ever Diegan soldier…" Laguna said to himself.
"MOVE IT!" the soldier shouted. Somewhere on the train, a woman was crying.
"He's not going anywhere without us!" Irvine said as he and Rinoa stepped forward.
"Piss off." Laguna spat at the soldier.
"I'm asking…no, I'm TELLING you. YOU WILL COME WITH ME RIGHT NOW! RESIST AND I'LL SHOOT!"
"Jesus Christ!" Irvine exclaimed, "Are you goddamn deaf or something? He told you to piss the hell off!"
Slow motion pulled itself into play as a bullet made its way across the train from the soldier's handgun – and straight into Irvine's stomach. Another bullet hit home right in his left shoulder. A third and final bullet made straight for Irvine's chest, missing his heart by mere inches. He fell to the floor, holding himself in pain.
"Irvine!" Rinoa cried, kneeling down over the fallen man.
"Laguna said.
"That's what you get when you mess with us." The soldier informed, smiling a sick smile.
"You sick bastard!" Laguna shouted.
"Laguna," Rinoa began, trying to think rationally, "You go to Diega. I'll deal with Irvine. You know what to do if anything happens."
Laguna looked at Rinoa, "I just hope he's gonna be okay."