crazycutie2 and Platonic1: I don't know. I haven't really decided on pairings yet, though, I am a huge fan of Gippaine, I don't know if it'll turn out to be one. But I doubt it'll end up Squaine --is that what you would call it? Squaine... Sounds...weird...funky... Uh, anyway...don't know about pairings yet, but I hope to figure them out soon. Maybe if you ask a bit later on I'll be able to tell ya ;) Or you can just wait and find out.
Now, for everyone: Sorry I updated so late. This chapter has been done for a while now, as have the others, I just wanted to wait until I got more reviews for the previous chapter before I posted. But oh well. I got impatient. But as long as I get 5 or more reviews, I will update. So, keep that in mind, y'all! (My luck and I don't and I update anyway...)
Disclaimer: Only the plot and the strange girl who seems to know everything belongs to me.
Chapter IX
The Illness No Eye Can See
Which question shall I clutch-
What answer wrest from thee
Before thou dost exude away
In the recallless sea? -Emily Dickinson
XxXxX
Rinoa Heartilly knocked on one of the huge double doors leading to the Headmaster's room. "Um, may I come in?"
"Yes, yes, please do," answered Cid.
She stepped inside and looked around, seeing Edea sitting in the chair in front of the desk. "Sorry to disturb you."
"No worries, dear. What do you need?" Edea turned her head to look back at her.
"I was wondering if I could speak to you, Edea."
"Sure."
Walking up to the two, Rinoa let her hands drop by her sides. "It's about Paine." Both Edea and Cid looked at each other. "I have this strange feeling about her."
Getting a chuckle from Edea, she looked up as the woman spoke. "It's only the sorceress in you. I have the same feeling except I know what mine means."
"Then what does it mean? Is she bad?" Rinoa asked quickly.
"You cannot tell the others. They are not ready to know, but…" Edea looked at Cid before looking back at her. "Paine is not from this world. I have yet to figure out why she is here, but I have a feeling that she's here for a reason."
The young woman was indeed shocked. "From…another world? How is that possible?"
"I don't know. We don't have enough information, yet, and Paine more than likely doesn't know why she's here."
Cid decided to join in the conversation. "That's why we've got Squall watching her. I trust him enough to keep an eye on her --just in case."
"But if she's not dangerous to us, why must Squall watch her?" Rinoa asked, suddenly very curious.
"Because we don't know if others want her. If whomever brought her here wants to get their hands on her, it's best to have Squall be there by her side." Cid explained.
XxXxX
Selphie skipped down the hall, humming. Not too long ago she had finished her breakfast and was headed in no particular direction. She was just…bored. Everything had been quiet ever since Ultimecia was defeated. Things had defiantly got interesting when the woman Paine showed up. Especially between her and Seifer.
Word was she actually hit Seifer Almasy. Several of the kids who watched at a distance said it was a sight to see. Selphie had wanted to see it, but she had just been waking up at the time. Daydreaming more than she was paying attention to where she walked, she bumped into someone and fell backwards on her butt. "Heeey… That hurt." Looking up, she saw the man in the trench coat. "Hey, Seifer!"
"Why don't you watch where you're walkin', kid?"
He didn't even bother to help her up! What a meanie! She made a face as she stood up, dusting herself off. "Kid? I'm not a kid! And you could be a bit nicer, ya know!"
Seifer ignored her and walked by her.
"Have you seen Squall?" She suddenly asked.
Without turning around, he answered her while he continued walking. "Yeah. He went with Paine." He mumbled, making it hard for Selphie to hear what he said.
"Oh? Where to?"
"I don't know! Why don't you just go ask someone else and leave me the hell alone!"
"Fine then! I will." Sticking her tongue out at the man's back, she turned and skipped off.
Arriving at a dorm shortly later, Selphie knocked on the door. "Heeeeelllllloooooo? It's meee, Selphie!"
"Hold on a second!" came a female voice.
She rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited patiently. The door opened and Quistis Trepe stood in front of her. "Please, come in." She motioned for Selphie to come in. Selphie did so, and waited for her to shut the door to start talking.
"You wanted to talk to Squall, riiight?"
"Yes. Do you know where he is? I was going to go by his dorm-"
"He ain't there."
"Oh. Then where?"
"He left with Paine a little while ago. I don't know where they went, but Headmaster Cid should know." Selphie put her hands behind her back as she watched Quistis get some shoes on. "Hope ya don't mind me comin' too. I'm bored."
"I don't mind at all."
After leaving Quistis' dorm, the girls headed toward the elevator to go speak to Cid. As they stepped off the elevator, Selphie ran into Cid's office, Quistis behind her. "Hey, Cid. Gotta couple-" She was cut off when she saw Rinoa there. "-questions… Um, hey, Rinoa."
"Hi." Rinoa waved.
"I'm sorry. Are we disturbing you?" Quistis asked, looking back and forth between Edea and Rinoa.
"No, of course not! What were your questions?" Cid looked at Selphie, then Quistis.
"Quisty here wanted to know where Squall was. Seifer told us that he went somewhere with Paine, but we didn't know where." Selphie quickly explained.
"They went to Deling for breakfast. As a matter of fact, they should be back pretty soon." The Headmaster adjusted the glasses on his face. "Any other questions?"
"Yeah. Zell wants to know when you'll get more hot dogs for the café."
XxXxX
"You need to go to the infirmary," said Squall as they walked into the lobby of Balamb Garden.
Raising an eyebrow, Paine asked, "Why? I feel fine."
"Because you almost fainted back there in Deling. That's not normal, just in case you didn't know." A hint of sarcasm was in his voice.
"For the last time: I feel fine."
"That's what they all say." Rubbing his forehead, he turned at the sound of running footsteps on tile.
"Yo, Squall!" It was Zell. "Where ya been?"
"Treating Paine to a nice breakfast." He glanced over at Paine before looking back at Zell. "Could you do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"Escort Paine to the infirmary and make sure Dr. Kadowaki sees her. I have to go speak with Cid."
"I knew I should've asked before I said sure…" Zell muttered, looking over Squall at Paine. By the look on his face, Squall could tell he was unsure of what to do. "She won't bite. Will you?" He looked back at Paine, getting a shrug from her.
"I don't know. Depends." The woman answered.
"Just-" Squall sighed, realizing that there was no point. "I'll be back soon. Make sure she sees Dr. Kadowaki, Zell." He walked off.
"Right…" Zell looked at Paine, and she stared at him, a smirk on her face.
XxXxX
"Cid-" As he walked in, he saw Quistis, Rinoa, Edea, and even Selphie in his office. "What's going on?"
"Just talking." Edea headed for the exit, motioning for Selphie, Rinoa, and Quistis to follow her. "We'll leave you two alone to talk."
"Squall, I need to speak with you later," Quistis whispered to him as she followed the other three out of the room. Squall nodded to let her know he heard her.
"How was the trip?"
"A disaster; though, we did manage to eat our food." Squall sat down in a chair.
"Disaster? How so?"
"Paine had almost passed out before we got our food, and then a Ruby Dragon threatened to attack Deling. After Paine said she was all right, we fought the dragon --Paine doing most of the attacking." He continued, "She attacked it with some kind of special attack, and when she was through, I finished it off with Shiva." He reminded himself to ask Paine about that attack later on… Quickly remembering what Paine had said, he looked at Cid directly. "The strange thing is, the dragon wouldn't…hurt Paine."
"What?" Cid was obviously as confused as he was.
"Paine said that it wouldn't have hurt her and I think she was right. When I thought back to how the dragon acted, I knew she was right. The dragon did not want to hurt her. As I was summoning Shiva, the dragon looked at me and the anger returned in its eyes and it prepared itself for battle. It didn't do that with Paine."
"So in short, it wanted to kill you, but didn't want to kill Paine?" Getting a nod from Leonhart, Cid let out a soft sigh. "Great. More problems."
"More problems?" Squall looked confused. "What other problems are there?"
"All will be explained later. Where is she now?"
"Hopefully in the infirmary." He answered, hoping that Paine had went to the infirmary with no problems. He felt sorry for Zell if she didn't.
XxXxX
"So…you don't know what's wrong with me?" Paine asked, watching Dr. Kadowaki as she waited for an answer.
"No, sorry, sure don't. Which is what bugs me. There's always a reason why someone vomits, has headaches, feels dizzy, all the things you feel, but I just haven't found it yet. According to every piece of equipment I have here: you're a healthy young woman." Moving over to her desk to sit down, she glanced back at Paine. "Let me check these results again. Just to make sure I didn't miss anything."
Paine nodded as the doctor sat down, looking over some papers. Maybe it's a side effect to world traveling? That could be it, but she didn't know. It's not like she traveled to different worlds often.
Having time to think about things, she sat more comfortably on the bed, her back up against the wall. I wonder how things are back in Spira? I can't exactly get in touch with them… They've probably already noticed I'm gone. The guys wouldn't handle that well. Hell, no one would. I didn't handle it well.
"Hello, Squall. I'm guessing you're here to see your guest. She's right in there," she heard Dr. Kadowaki say, and saw her point in her direction.
Squall Leonhart walked towards her and sat down in the chair beside the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine. You don't have to worry so much about me, you know. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."
"Your condition isn't normal. And the fact that the dragon wouldn't hurt you, that's not normal either."
"I didn't think it was." She closed her eyes. Why worry so much about someone you don't even know?
"There's no mistakes. You're healthy." Dr. Kadowaki reported as she came over to stand by the bed. She put her hands on her hips. "I don't understand. Well, if you ever feel sick again, come straight here."
"Understood." Slightly nodding her head, she watched the doctor walk away, leaving her and Squall alone. It was quiet for a while --at least until Squall spoke up.
"How-" Shaking his head, he said, "never mind."
"What?"
"I was going to ask-"
"Squall, may I-" Quistis entered the room. "Oh… I'm sorry." She looked at Paine. "I can come back later.
"No, that's okay. I was just leaving anyway." Looking at Paine, he stood up and turned to face Quistis. "What do you want?"
"I wanted to ask you a question or two."
He nodded and followed Quistis out of the room. Paine watched them leave, curious as to what Squall was going to ask.
XxXxX
After taking one last glance at the Infirmary, Squall looked at Quistis. "Ask away."
"Did you find out where she lived?"
"No, I didn't."
"Well, I was thinking, what if we asked General Caraway to help us? He may know everyone who used to live there, and who still does." Quistis looked at him. "But I don't think we'll find much out about her. I have this feeling that…she's not telling us the truth."
"I don't blame her. She doesn't exactly trust us, you know." He shrugged, understanding the warrior completely.
"How do we get her to trust us?" She asked, crossing her arms.
He shook his head. "I don't know. Give her time. Maybe time is all she needs to trust someone here."
"Rinoa."
"What? Rinoa?"
"Yes, Rinoa. No offence, but she's more likely to get information out of Paine than we are. She got you to open up some, didn't she?" Quistis smiled.
"Where is Rinoa, anyway?"
"She may still be talking to Edea, but I don't know where exactly she is. When we left Cid's office, we split up."
"Well…I have to check on Zell, so I can look for her, too."
"Zell? Why?" asked Trepe.
"Because he was supposed to escort Paine to the infirmary. I haven't seen him since." Squall didn't look too worried, probably because he had a feeling the hyperactive young man was fine.
"He's fine. Look," Quistis pointed behind him. When he looked, he saw Zell walking their way.
"Heeey." Zell stopped a foot away from them.
"Looks like she didn't bite you," Squall said, a smile appearing on his face.
"Nah, sure didn't. Lucky for me she went quietly. We saw Seifer on the way." Zell didn't look angry as he said his name this time. He actually looked…happy, for once. "I liked the look Paine gave him. Seifer didn't, though. Amusing. You shoulda been there, man. A sight to see."
"That's okay. I was there when she hit him this morning."
"Whoa! She hit him! I'm gonna hafta give her some flowers, or somethin'."
Squall chuckled. "She's in the infirmary if you want to."
"Oh, yes, what's wrong with her? She's been in there a couple times." Quistis had a worried look on her face. "And both times in the last couple days. Is she all right?"
He shook his head, confused about the woman's condition. "I hope so. Dr. Kadowaki doesn't know what's wrong with her. That's what I'm worried about." Squall was truly worried about Paine.
"Hopefully it's nothin' bad. I like her," Zell smiled. "She kicked Seifer's ass. Not that that's a hard thing to do, but…"
"I think her and Seifer will get along just fine." That smile came back as Squall said that.
