Broken
I reached for the ringing telephone over the pile of papers I was grading.
"Hello?"
"Hi Quisty… It's me."
That tone.
Not again.
"Selph. What happened."
"I'm fine… but are you sitting down?"
Who was it this time? Who didn't return from their mission?
A comrade like Nida who was cut down by a back attack?
Or a brother like Zell who was shot while erecting a defensive spell over his fiancé?
Who now?
"It's Rinoa. She was murdered last night."
No, she wasn't.
How could she be?
She's a civilian now!
She's not dead!
She can't be!
She's home right now, eating dinner after working all day at her jewelry store.
She'll call me like she always does and we'll talk about life and her new boyfriend and she'll go to sleep.
She's not dead.
Being SeeD, we don't have anything to do with actual law enforcement but when I flash my badge they let us in anyway.
They know who we are.
They know who she was.
Our faces were on every newspaper and magazine after that final battle.
We were recognized everywhere.
Some of the attention was flattering, some not.
There were fanatics.
Myself, she, and Selphie were their targets.
But none ever dared to follow us. Especially not back to Garden.
Apparently that changed when she moved back to Deling.
"Damn," Irvine breathed.
Furniture everywhere. Lamps, vases, picture frames smashed Anything that could be used as a weapon was scattered across the floor.
Our princess put of the fight of her life.
But this time she lost.
There was nothing else she could've done. Once out of Garden, she had to give up Siren and Eden. No junctions, no magic. Her sorceress power had deserted her after Time Compression. Angel Wing was under lock and key in her bedroom, but she never made it that far.
I can see the hole in the screen he used to get in. Yeah, I know she wanted the dog to have fresh air while she was at work, but it wasn't worth this.
The area on the floor that stands out is the one that isn't covered with remnants of her struggle.
I only have to look once to know what it is.
I sit on one side of Selphie while Irvine takes the other. We're both holding her hands, but she won't stop shaking. Squall says nothing, shows nothing, but it goes without saying he feels as much as any of us at the moment.
The man is on trial for stalking, rape, murder, and a number of misdemeanors.
Those are only words.
He killed my best friend.
He enters the courtroom, handcuffed and flanked by officers on either side.
Walking down the aisle, he looks straight ahead until passing Caraway.
And then he winks.
Once again, my badge gets me through.
I've been here before, but under rather different circumstances.
She saved us then. It's too late for me to do the same, but I know what I can do.
I enter his dimly lit cell.
He stands up from his cot, smirking as I uncoil the whip from my waist.
He opens his mouth, but I catch his neck and break it before he ever speaks.
It is done.