When he opened his eyes, it was still dark out. He didn't think he had slept for a long time, and he couldn't care less. All he knew was that the wet clothes were gone and that he was much drier than he had been earlier. Taking in his surroundings, he noticed Cid fast asleep on the couch in front of the TV not too far away from where he was lying and, after poking him a couple of times, decided that he wasn't going to wake up any time soon.
Crawling out from beneath the blanket, Squall wrapped his arms around himself as he slowly made his way towards the front door, his feet quickly thudding atop of the cold floor. He decided that the first thing he needed to do was to look out the window; in case it was still raining and, when he did, he realized that it was, even harder than it had been when he was at the strange place.
His hands tightening their grip on his arms, Squall took a breath before moving his left hand to open the door, making sure not to make a sound. He kept the front door open; he didn't want to lock himself out and make himself sick. He was probably already in a lot of trouble, and he didn't really want to be sick on top of it all.
The ground outside was even colder than the floor inside and, for a fleeting second Squall considered going back inside to close the door. Instead, he convinced himself to step outside, his toes curling in an attempt to keep them out of the rain, but he didn't move any further than the roof providing him shelter from the water falling from the sky.
He sneezed once, covering his mouth with both hands, and replaced both hands atop of his arms. He looked up at the sky, noticing the stars staring back at him where the moon wasn't positioned, and frowned slightly. He didn't want to stand outside for too much longer – who knew how much longer Cid was going to be asleep?
Changes were going to have to be made, that much he understood. He may only be four years old, but that didn't mean he was stupid. His sister wouldn't be around to keep him company anymore. She wouldn't be around to tell him stories about her uncle, or to tease him about being shy, or to step in when he and Seifer started fighting. He was going to have to take care of himself from them on, and to not depend on anyone else.
"I'm…" he managed to mumble. His throat was hurting him – a clenching feeling was making it painful to talk, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. "I'm all alone…"
He looked back up at the sky, trying to picture where exactly Elle was right then; wondering if she was scared or if she was happy with the people who took her away. He hoped that she was happy – he really wanted her to be okay, not sad and moping around like he had since he had found out she left. 'She probably thinks I'm being a big baby…' he thought to himself, even as tears began to pool in his eyes. He raised an arm and wiped furiously at his face. He wasn't going to cry; he had to be strong if he wanted to see his sister again.
"But…" he forced himself to speak, even as the clenching feeling in his throat got worse. "I'm doin' my best." He had to admit that much at least; he managed to keep himself from getting hurt from the scary people and monsters in the strange building where Odin seemed to live. The fact that both Odin and Griever came to his rescue didn't make him feel any weaker; if anything they just came in when he couldn't protect himself anymore. Even if he was being a baby about being left alone, he still had taken care of himself.
Nodding to himself, as if that would make the thought come true, he fought the clenching feeling and continued to speak. "I'll be okay without you, Sis. I'll be able to take care of myself."
He managed a smile even though it hurt, and as a result he dropped it as quickly as he had formed it. His gaze returned to the ground beneath him as he watched the rain splash into the puddles that lay on the ground in front of him, where there was no roof to stop it. He remembered how Elle used to run outside and splash in the puddles until Cid or Matron brought her back inside, telling her that she was gonna catch a cold if she didn't stay inside. She never did, but they still stopped her.
'Elle always liked the rain best…' he remembered, the tears fighting through his restraints as he desperately struggled to hold them back. He didn't want to cry – that was going to make him weak and if he wasn't strong then he'd never find his sister again – just like Griever and Odin had told him.
"Sis Elle…" he muttered, his dark coloured hair falling in front of his face and blocking the ground from view. He squeezed his eyes tight, hoping that it would make his tears go away, but when he felt them slide down his cheeks he couldn't hold them in anymore. A shuddering sob escaped him as his legs gave out on him, forcing him to fall onto the ground. He hunched forward, so that his arms were resting on the ground beneath him and, resting his head on top of them, he let himself cry. It was only for this one time – he promised himself at that moment that it would be the last time he ever cried – the last time he felt weak and helpless, and the last time he would ever depend on another human being for as long as he lived -
- for as long as it would take.
He vowed then and there that he would not give up until he was strong; until he could take care of himself; until the day he could see his sister once again.
The reason why I uploaded so fast was because I knew it was a short chapter, and there's no need to make a reader wait for a 1000+ chapter. It's not fair to you or to myself.
Now onto more important things:
That's the end of that; the final chapter of Truth of Griever. This is my interpretation of what took place after Ellone left the orphanage and the events that formed the Squall Leonhart that we all know and have come to understand throughout the course of Final Fantasy 8. I hope you enjoyed this story as a whole; it's actually the shortest multi-chaptered story I have ever written throughout the course of my membership on ffnet.
Of course though, this doesn't mean that the story is over.
Anyone can use this story as a basis of another story; feel free, just so long as you let people know that this is my un-official prequel to the story of Final Fantasy 8. However, I wrote this story with a purpose of my own – originally it was just out of curiosity when I began to develop the plot, but as I was revising it, I suddenly came to the realization that I have left quite a few questions unanswered and, in it's place, came the birth of an alternate universe novelization of Final Fantasy 8. Feel free to take a look at it once it has been posted, though the process of the story will take longer than Truth did (though I'm hoping it won't take me two years to update after the first chapter – once again I'm really sorry about that).
I'm very grateful that so many people enjoyed this story and, whether or not they reviewed, the number of hits this story has received has shown to me that the story has kept the interest of some, while others just pop in occasionally. In short, I hope you will enjoy the AU will be posting in the near future, and if anyone has had a spark of inspiration from this story, send an email my way – I'd love to read it.
