Chapter 3: Love and Duty

Matthew had expected hostility from the students of Balamb Garden. He had been raised to be cautious, to be aware, and to keep his eyes open. One of the few lessons General Caraway had personally delivered to his son was, "Never sit in a room with your back to the door." His father had never said anything about sleeping with your back to the door, and Matthew was doing just that when he encountered hostility well beyond dirty looks and whispers.

The attack was carried out with precision that Garden's administration would have found admirable, had it been executed by SeeDs for a paying client. Matthew's roommate had opened the door after midnight, admitting three silent cadets. They rolled him over in his bed, subdued him with two quick fists to his wounded stomach, and silenced him with a mouthful of cloth, his lips sealed by a long piece of duct tape. Gloved hands turned him onto his stomach, suppressed further struggles with a solid punch to his kidneys, and bound his hands together behind his back with more tape.

One boy stood by the closed door, and whispered for the others to hurry up. They pulled Matthew off the bed, and landed on his stomach with a dull thud. They stomped at his legs, immobilizing them instead of binding them, and then hoisted him up by his arms. The boy at the door was outside of the room now, and his hand darted back in to signal that the hall was clear.

Matthew noted as they dragged him along that the volunteer security detail, made up of especially trustworthy cadets, was absent from the entire left side of the circular first floor hallway. He didn't bother to struggle as his nostrils, hungrily sucking in quick breaths for his sealed mouth, took in the crisp night air. Matthew's captors brought him to the end of winding quad, and threw him into the ground. His forehead bounced off the cool blue tiling like a tennis ball hitting the clay courts at Galbadia Garden.

Three boys stood over him as he rolled onto his back, his mid-section burning as he lay back on his crossed wrists. One stood in the distance as a lookout. The tallest of the three cadets surrounding him strode slowly forward, and lifted Matthew up by his shirt, two fists buried in the thin fabric.

"Now that we don't have to be quiet…" he said. Matthew could see the cadet's face clearly in the moonlight, and saw no sadism as he looked up into the taller boy's eyes. There was no trace of pleasure or mocking in his tone. The calm, determined face inches from his own contorted without warning and then disappeared behind a fierce punch that rocked the side of his mouth. Matthew's legs gave way, and he dropped to the ground again in a heap. He could feel warm blood spread beneath the duct tape over his mouth.

The cadet crouched down by Matthew's side, shaking out his fist. "I had a sister," he said quietly.

"Her name was Coraline, and she was fourteen years old the day she died."

He looked back over his shoulder and nodded to a cadet behind him. The boy came forward, pulling a small knife from a sheath at his belt. The fine, sharp blade winked at Matthew in the moonlight. The cadet at Matthew's side rolled him onto his stomach, where his wrists were cut loose. His left hand was pushed painfully up behind his back, and his right hand was held out at his side, his palm facing up.

"She died when our students from your Garden invaded ours," he said, and Matthew felt the sharp chill of the blade touch his palm.

The knife began to dig in and slice across Matthew's palm. He screamed into the cloth that filled his mouth.

"Coraline died at the hands of students who belonged to your Garden."

Matthew's hand shook violently as the knife slid off the other side of his palm. Blood gushed from his hand as it was pinned at his back where the other had been. His free hand was brought out to his side, his white palm turned upwards to cup moonlight. Matthew's eyes had rolled back into his head, and tears streamed from his fluttering eyelids.

"So whether you killed her with your own hands or not," the boy said, the knife making its way through soft flesh. "Maybe you'll think twice before you use them to take the life of an innocent."

When the knife finished its work, he was rolled again onto his back. The third cadet came forward with the duct tape, and wrapped Matthew's bloody hands, tightly winding several layers over the gashes in his palms. The cadet holding the knife wiped off the blade on Matthew's shirt and returned it to its leather sheath.

The boy with knife and the boy with the duct tape turned and walked back toward the lookout. The tall boy remained and slapped Matthew's face lightly. His eyes opened.

"Keep this a secret," he said. "And you can stay. This was just a lesson – if we wanted to kill you, we'd let you bleed out here all night. But if you give up your roommate, identify any of us, you will die. After you watch your sister die. Everyone loves Rinoa, we're all glad to have her here. Don't make us take her away just to teach you a lesson."

"Welcome to Balamb Garden," the cadet said, his tone sincere, his hard features softening as he looked Matthew over. A burden seemed to have been lifted from him. Matthew's body burned with pain, hot blood pulsing beneath his bandaged stomach and taped hands.

The sun was just beginning to set in Balamb when Squall and Zell pulled into the Garden parking lot and stepped out of the car. Xu was waiting for them when they arrived.

"Hey, Squall," she said, "Sorry to do this to you, but Cid needs you to come right to the infirmary."

"Why? Rinoa's not hurt or anything, is she?"

"No, she's fine." She turned to Zell. "You're free to go."

"Sweet. Good work today, Squall. Later." He turned off toward the cafeteria as Xu and Squall proceeded to the infirmary.

"So what's this about?"

"It's Rinoa's brother. Someone—probably a group—beat him and cut him up pretty bad. Slashed his palms, then taped up the wounds so he wouldn't bleed to death. Left him out on the quad, where a student found him around seven in the morning. Judging from how the blood had dried, he'd been out there more than a few hours."

He grimaced.

"We need to find who did it as quickly as possible."

"Any leads?"

She shook her head. "It was a clean job – no one saw or heard anything, and there was no evidence left behind."

"What about Caraway? He recognize anyone?"

"That's the problem. He says he doesn't remember anything."

Squall shrugged. "You said they beat him, right? Could have hit his head or something… Doesn't seem unreasonable to me."

"He's lying, Squall. Cid talked to him, I talked to him, and so did Quistis. We all agree."

They stood at the end of the short hallway that broke off the circular hall and led to the infirmary. Squall looked over Xu's shoulder where Rinoa stood outside the doors.

"So Cid wants me to interrogate Rinoa's brother."

"Yes."

"Is he out of his mind?" he whispered.

Xu shook her head. "You're the best we've got right now, and we need to get whoever was behind this fast. Galbadia puts a lot of emphasis on resistance-to-interrogation, so he's not going to be easy to break if it comes down to that."

"Cid apparently already knows it's going to come down to that. I'm not a guidance counselor. He wants me to torture Rinoa's brother, Xu. He's completely lost it."

"This wasn't some schoolyard fight, Squall. It was an elaborate and risky plot, carried out flawlessly. This could have been done by SeeDs. Look, I'm sorry - I know it puts you in a difficult position. But it's an order from the headmaster."

That he wouldn't dare deliver himself, Squall thought. He stepped around Xu and walked down the hallway to the infirmary. Rinoa had waited for him.

"How was the mission?" she asked.

"Fine," he said. "Xu told me what happened. How's your brother doing?"

"He's going to be okay."

Squall could see she'd been crying. "Are youall right?"

Rinoa nodded, and he took her into his arms before he thought about what he was doing. Squall was surprised at how quickly his hang-ups disappeared when he thought she needed him. It was like a reflex.

"When they brought him in this morning, Squall… My god, the blood…"

"I'm sorry, Rinoa," he said. "We're working on finding out who did it."

Xu approached them slowly, and Squall shot her a glare as he held Rinoa. She mouthed the word "sorry," and pointed upward. Orders.

"Listen, Xu's going to take you to the cafeteria, get you some coffee, and I'll check on you later, all right? I think Zell was just heading down there, too. Maybe he'll show you the 'hot dog' trick if you ask him nicely."

She laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. "Do I want to know what that is?"

"It must be seen to be believed," he said, a small and earnest smile on his lips. "I'll see you in a little while, okay?"

Rinoa kissed him on the cheek. "Okay. Thanks, Squall."

Xu put an arm around her and led her away from the infirmary. Squall turned back to the doors and pushed through. Dr. Kadowaki was seated at her desk, and watched him as he entered. He could tell from her gaze that the doctor did not approve of this. Regardless, she left the room without a word. He locked the doors behind her. Matthew Caraway was awake, and his eyes followed Squall as he walked slowly toward where he lay. The cadet wore only his uniform pants, his arms and legs strapped tightly to the bed's metal frame. Shirtless, his bandaged stomach was exposed. His hands, wrapped in gauze, faced upward.

They've even prepared him for me, Squall thought. All I have to do now is Cid's dirty work. At the side of the bed, a tray of medical tools had been provided. He thought back to being tortured by Seifer in the desert prison and felt a pang of nausea in his stomach.

"All right," he said. "You know why I'm here."

"Yes," the cadet replied quietly.

"It doesn't have to go like this. I don't understand why you're refusing to tell anyone what happened. If you're afraid of their friends coming after you, Garden can keep you safe—"

"No," he interrupted. "I'm not a coward."

"Then tell me what you saw."

"I don't remember anything."

Squall picked up a scalpel. He unwrapped the gauze on the cadet's right hand and tossed it onto the tray.

"You're obstructing a criminal investigation," he said. "This is your last chance."

Matthew didn't reply, and closed his eyes. Squall closed his for a moment, letting everything but his objective slip away from him. Make him talk. Quickly.

Squall thrust the blade into the exposed wound. Matthew's eyes shot open, and he released a guttural scream as the scalpel twisted slowly inside his hand. "Tell me what you saw," he said quietly, pulling the blade out.

The cadet gnashed his teeth together. "I can't," he growled. Squall stabbed into the wound again. The cadet's cries rose again, and so did a sudden pounding on the door behind him.

"Squall!"

His head jerked around. Rinoa.

"Squall, what are you doing to him?" she screamed.

Withdrawing the scalpel, he ran his free hand through his hair. The cadet before him moaned, sweat rolling down his forehead. Squall heard a clatter of footsteps approach Rinoa's violent sobs. She was being dragged away.

"Stop it! Squall, stop! Please!"

With both hands gripping his head now, he paced along the side of the bed where Rinoa's brother squirmed in agony, held tightly to the bed. He needed to end this now. Squall turned and slammed his fist into Matthew's stomach.

"Tell me what you saw!" Squall screamed, inches from the cadet's face with his fist still pressing down into his bandaged midsection. A red splotch began to form under his hand. Matthew howled with pain and coughed blood into Squall's face.

"It was my roommate!" he cried out after a few long seconds, his hands and legs thrashing in their restraints. Squall pulled his hand away.

"Who else?"

"It was him and three others," he said, writhing. Blood began to trickle from one side of his mouth. "I don't know them, but I remember their faces. I could I.D. them."

"Why wouldn't you tell anyone?"

"They said they'd kill Rinoa if any of them were caught."

Squall's head had been buried in his hands, but he looked up now.

"I know she's a sorceress, Squall. I know how unlikely it is that four cadets could kill a sorceress..."

"They were all cadets?"

"Yes… I didn't want her to get hurt. I didn't want to take the chance," he continued, his voice reduced to a whisper.

Squall pounded the emergency response button beside the bed that would summon Dr. Kadowaki to the room from wherever she was in the building. He unlocked the infirmary doors and left the room to vomit.

"I was under orders, Rinoa! Do you really think I wanted to do that to your brother?"

"Is that all you care about? Your orders?"

"You need to understand something - I'm in the military. We don't pick and choose the orders we follow."

"I'm sick of the military, Squall. It's kept my father away from my family, my brother away from me, and…"

She looked up at him. "I don't know if the military will ever let me have you, either."

He kneeled down in front of her where she sat against the outer wall of the quad. It was a warm night, and Squall knew they were in the exact spot where Matt Caraway had been found this morning. "I don't know what to say," he said. "This is who I am. I want to make you happy, Rinoa, but I can't leave Garden."

She wouldn't look at him, so he took her hand. "This is all I know how to do," he said. "I'm sorry that I can't be more for you."

"You can," she said quietly. "You can be commander. And you won't have to take…orders like you had to tonight."

Squall nodded, though he knew that wasn't entirely true. "I'll talk to Cid in the morning," he said.

Like a reflex, he thought again. After all the thinking he had done, all it took was seeing that she needed him to take the job back, and the decision was made. Squall wondered if one day he would disobey orders, choose her over Garden. Maybe she'd only have to ask.

"I'm sorry," he said again before he left. She didn't follow him.

"I know," Rinoa said.