"Violence only leads to more violence."

Chapter 17

Trouble

(Squall)

In the middle of the empty blue sea, a hazy smear of green emerged on the horizon, growing larger by the moment. Squall stood on the deck of the Esthar transport ship, holding the railings on the prow, smelling the warm salt air, a fine mist gently spraying his face. Rinoa stood beside him, clutching his arm. Both of them intently gazed as the island nation of Balamb approached, as if by a strong enough effort of will they could make the boat move faster towards its destination.

(It's only been three days since we left.)

(What could have happened in such a short time?)

Squall kept repeating this to himself, but the feeling of dread in his stomach only tightened its grip on him. He sensed anxiety radiating from Rinoa as well. He felt it in the nervous way she held his arm, practically wringing it between her fingers. The way she was trembling as if she was cold, despite the humid breeze.

They were being irrational, Squall told himself. No one—not even a sorceress—could see the future. This sensation of grim premonition was just the result of their tense nerves, built up over the course of several days spent away from home in a foreign land.

Squall told himself this, but didn't wholly believe it.

(There's a lot in the world I don't understand.)

(Maybe omens are real. It wouldn't surprise me, one way or the other.)

The island was closer now, near enough to where he could see the pale line of the mountains on the far northern side. In a few more minutes, he assured himself, he and Rinoa would be back safe at Garden. He would talk to Quistis and Zell and get an update on the situation in Timber. In all likelihood, nothing interesting had happened. Maybe Caraway had increased sanctions and troops in Timber, maybe violence was spreading in the small nation. Maybe war was imminent, but he believed that was the absolute worst case scenario.

In appreciation for their help recovering the Lunatic Pandora and the Ragnarok, Laguna had offered Squall and Rinoa a free trip back to Garden on one of his speediest transport ships. Since backtracking across the overland route would cost them at least another day—and require them to waste time and money hiring another boat to ferry them from FH to Balamb—Squall quickly accepted Laguna's gift.

Down in the ship's hold, strapped in place with ropes, was the car that they had originally taken to Esthar. Behind them, in the ship's cabin, was a skeleton crew of Esthar soldiers, controlling the ship and maintaining it as it cut through the waves. The soldiers scurried from station to station, largely ignoring their passengers.

Esthar's navy, compared with the rest of its military, was severely underdeveloped, only consisting of a few dozen vessels and a couple hundred trained sailors. Esthar's policy of avoiding any and all contact with other nations forced them to mostly avoid the sea, and as such, their navy had withered over the years since Adel's rule. President Laguna had also been steadily downsizing the entire Esthar military since taking office, funneling more of the nation's wealth towards research and development instead of defense and warfare.

The island of Balamb was now close enough to where Squall could see the faint blue and gray buildings that populated the city of Balamb on the southwestern side of the island. He turned his eyes to the right, scanning for the blue glass peak of Garden.

(Shouldn't I be able to see it by now?)

Garden wasn't any larger than the nearby city of Balamb, but it was taller and more prominent. If the city was visible, then the school should be as well. Squall's worries multiplied, giving him a greasy feeling in his stomach. Rinoa's hands tightened on his arm, sharing his concerns, but not voicing them yet.

(No, it's just blending in with the mountains or something.)

(We'll see it soon.)

Another minute passed, and soon Squall was unable to deny it any longer: Garden was gone. Even from a distance, he could see the brown edges of the crater it left behind in the earth when it departed. Rinoa saw the crater too and whimpered.

(Damn it.)

"Where's Garden?" Rinoa asked, looking up at Squall.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

Footsteps approached from behind them. Squall glanced back and saw an Esthar soldier marching towards him. The soldier stopped a few paces behind them.

"We're not detecting any signs of Balamb Garden on or around the island," the soldier said. His voice, like all Esthar soldiers, was muffled by his full-faced helmet. "It's not appearing on any of our scanning equipment either. Do you want us to drop you off at the city instead?"

Squall thought about it. He knew that his first priority was to find out where Garden had gone. He doubted that anyone in Balamb would know about the whereabouts of Garden, but it was a good starting point for his search. He opened his mouth, on the verge of telling the soldier to drop them off at the city, when he thought better of it.

"Leave us by the crater," Squall said. "And give us our car. Also, could you remain on standby while we check out the island? I want to make sure that everything's safe before we commit to anything."

"Aye aye," the soldier said. He turned back to relay the order to the bridge.

Rinoa looked to Squall. "Why not go right to the city?"

Squall glanced down at her. "I don't want anyone from Balamb to see an Esthar ship floating in the bay. It'd raise questions we don't want people to ask just yet."

Rinoa shrugged. "Okay. Makes sense."

The ship adjusted its course, angling away from the city towards the spot where Garden used to rest. Squall knew that ship's relatively small size meant that it could go very close to the shore before the bottom began scraping the sandy beach. He anticipated that the ship would get as close as it could, then they would have a smaller vessel take them the rest of the way to shore.

But he was surprised to hear the sounds of machinery whirring in the hull. He looked over the side and saw, through the water, six pairs of wheels emerging underneath the boat. The wheels hit the beach and began driving the boat like a car up and out of the water.

(Esthar never fails to impress…)

The boat drove completely out of the water, up the beach, and came to a stop once it hit the edge of the island's grassy plains. The same Esthar soldier from before came out to speak to them again.

"Your car is ready below deck," the soldier said.

"Thank you," Squall said. He nodded gratefully. "We'll be back as soon as we can, with further instructions. Don't leave us."

The soldier nodded. "Aye aye."

"C'mon," Squall said to Rinoa. She tightened her grip on his arm as he headed to a hatch in the deck. The hatch was flipped open, revealing a metal staircase descending into the hold.

This particular ship was designed specifically to transport ground vehicles, so the inside of the hold was fitted to accommodate most types of cars. The pair entered the hold and found a couple of Esthar soldiers undoing the straps that held their car in place. In front of them, a large hatchway had been opened in the prow, to allow the car to drive smoothly out of the boat and onto the beach. Squall nodded to the soldiers and thanked them before getting into the car. Rinoa climbed into the passenger side.

Squall fired up the engine and drove off the ship. The car bounced as it transitioned from the ship's loading ramp onto the sand. He drove straight north, to the long, solitary road that connected Garden with Balamb. The tires squeaked when they found the asphalt, and he turned west to the city.

Squall took a glance in his rearview mirror, staring at the crater where Garden used to sit.

(Where would they go?)

(And why?)

"Do you think they're fighting in Timber?" Rinoa asked. She posed the question as calmly as she could, but Squall could hear a note of worry in her voice. He wanted to reassure her by saying something positive, but given the circumstances and the evidence, there was unlikely to be any good news waiting for them in town.

"That's what I'm afraid of," he said, truthfully. "I don't see any other reason for them to take the whole Garden off the island."

Rinoa was silent. That obviously wasn't the answer she'd been hoping for.

But even if SeeD was involved in a conflict in Timber, some things didn't add up. In their earlier strategy meetings, when he, the Headmaster, Quistis, and Xu were discussing all the possibilities of a war in Timber, they had mutually agreed to only move the school in an instance where the safety of the Garden itself was at risk.

(Did Galbadia attack Balamb directly, forcing them to escape?)

It seemed unlikely, but that was the explanation that made the most sense. The nervous feeling in his stomach worsened. What could have possibly happened to make Galbadia attack both Timber and Garden simultaneously? A possible answer came to his mind in a flash.

(Another sorceress appeared.)

(Maybe multiple sorceresses.)

Squall clenched his jaw and shot a nervous sidelong glance at Rinoa. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was. If her thoughts had reached the same conclusion. If she asked him, outright, what he was thinking, he would have told her without hesitation. But if she didn't ask, or bring up the subject on her own, then he would stay silent. No use getting her worried over a hypothetical situation for which he had no proof yet.

(We need more information.)

They approached the stone archway that welcomed visitors to the humble city of Balamb. Squall slowed the car to the town's single-digit speed limit and passed under the arch. The streets were built primarily for foot traffic and could only barely accommodate the width of a single car along most roads. Many other SeeDs were rather reckless when driving through the city, speeding so fast the tires squealed around corners, but even in his anxious state, Squall still preferred caution over haste.

On either side of the road, the crowded buildings pressed in on them like a wall. If either Squall or Rinoa opened their doors all the way, they would have clipped someone's mailbox or broken a person's window.

He went a few blocks into the city, then found an empty alleyway off to the side and pulled the car in there, before parking and shutting off the engine. Rinoa glanced at him quizzically.

"Why stop here?" she asked.

"I wanna talk to Zell's mother," Squall said. He opened the door and stepped out, Rinoa following behind.

Zell's mother was not a particularly great source of information. As far as Squall knew, Ma Dincht barely ever left her house. But she was honest and forthright, and with all the uncertainty of the moment, Squall decided he'd rather go to the home of an ignorant, but trustworthy person over a knowledgeable crook.

The two headed down the street. Zell's house was only a few doors down from where he'd parked, but the uneasy feeling that had been building in Squall's gut began to make him suspicious of everything. He felt exposed in the nearly empty streets. With every step, a sense that he was being watched grew in his mind. He glanced backwards several times, unconsciously brushing his hand along the grip of his gunblade, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

(I'm just being paranoid.)

The pair descended a small flight of stairs, ducking their heads as they walked through the entryway and opened the door to Zell's house. For any other home, Squall would have knocked first, but Zell's mom didn't seem to mind having sudden uninvited visitors burst in at all hours. Squall thought it was weird, but after having done it a few times, he didn't think of it anymore.

Inside the small house smelled like fresh home cooking. The air was foggy with steam, the scent of boiling vegetables and a pot roast reached Squall's nose. His stomach rumbled angrily; neither of them had eaten since leaving Esthar at dawn. Rinoa's stomach voiced its own complaint. She gripped her belly with both hands and shushed it.

(Now's not the time for food.)

He stepped further into the house and turned immediately left, to where the house's small kitchen alcove waited. As usual, Zell's mom stood inside, wearing her simple country clothes, a stained apron, and an air that always seemed content with the world, even when she wasn't smiling. Her back was to them as she stirred a pot of gravy simmering on the stove.

"Hello?" Squall said.

"Hi, Zell's Ma!" Rinoa said cheerfully. "What're you cookin'?"

(One of these days, we're going to have to ask her for her name.)

Ma Dincht turned around and smiled at the pair. "Oh, just a simple roast and vegetables. I don't usually make anything too fancy, unless I'm expecting guests. If I'd have known you were coming, I would have made something special for the occasion."

"We're not staying long," Squall said. His stomach regretted that he didn't have time to stay and eat, but duty came first. As long as Garden was missing, he would find it hard to abandon his search for any length of time, even to eat or sleep. "If you don't mind me asking, do you know what's going on around here? Have you heard where Garden went?"

"I would think you'd know that better than I," she said. "Truth be told, I didn't even know it was gone. Why? Did something happen? Is Zell all right? Is he with you?"

Squall saw the growing concern in her eyes and did his best to calm her down. He tried to think of something comforting to say that wasn't an outright lie.

(Zell's a bit of a spaz, but he can handle himself.)

"I'm sure Zell's fine, Mrs. Dincht," Squall said. "He's a tough kid."

She smiled. "Yeah, he sure is."

"Is there anything you do know?" Squall asked. He didn't mean for the question to seem so rude, but he was in a hurry and didn't realize how brusque he sounded until the words were already out of his mouth.

"About Garden?" Ma Dincht said. She shook her head. "No, nothing. I try not to think about it too much. I'd end up worrying myself crazy if I knew all that goes on with you SeeDs and everything. But we've had some excitement in Balamb, though, if you care to know."

"Oh?" Squall said.

"A few days ago, a bunch of G-Soldiers came into town," she said. She glanced at her gravy, gave it a stir to make sure it didn't burn, and continued her story. "Said they were looking for sorceresses. They brought me out of my house, and ran this little machine over me. I guess I checked out okay, because they sent me back home after a few minutes. I still have no idea what the whole story is, but everyone in town's got their own little theories on the matter. Oh, the stories I've heard over the past day or two! Some people have very vivid imaginations."

Squall crossed his arms and frowned. If Galbadia was hunting sorceresses in Balamb, it almost guaranteed that his fears were true. Another sorceress had appeared while he was away, Galbadia got spooked, attacked Garden, and SeeD had fled. If Garden was on the run from the Galbadians, then it was unlikely that Squall and Rinoa would be able to find them any time soon, let alone rejoin them.

(Damn it all…)

"Are the Galbadians still here?" Rinoa asked.

"Some, yes," Ma Dincht said. "They promised to leave once they finished searching the town, but I guess they weren't telling the whole truth. All their boats left yesterday, but most of the soldiers are still at the train station, doing who knows what. At least they aren't patrolling the streets anymore, or blocking off the main entrance. Thank goodness for small favors."

(They left some soldiers behind, in case Garden comes back.)

The picture was becoming clearer, and Squall didn't like what it was showing him. Whatever the truth was, it was obvious that much had happened in the three short days while they were away.

It frustrated him. He learned a great deal from his trip to Esthar, but as long as he was separated from Garden, the information couldn't help the students. He wasn't sure exactly what he would do, if he were back at Garden, but knowing everything he did about the sorceresses, draw points, and the Lunatic Pandora, he would at least be able to help guide their next move. Perhaps predict the next place a sorceress would appear and help mitigate the damage.

"Anything else?" Squall asked, once again realizing the harshness of his tone only after he'd spoken.

"Nothing useful," Ma Dincht said, with a shrug. "I only know local gossip. Zell always tells me that I should watch the news more often, but it's just so depressing. Someone's always at war with someone else, and the only thing that ever passes for 'good news' is when one country develops a weapon that can kill people even faster. I just wanna stay out of it."

"I know how you feel," Rinoa said, sighing wistfully.

Squall looked at the two. Although he hated warfare, bloodshed, and unnecessary death as much as anyone else, he didn't share their feelings.

(Fighting is inevitable, whether you pay attention to it or not.)

(I'd rather fight and be unhappy, than stay at home and be happy.)

(At least then I'd know that I can protect myself and others.)

He decided not to voice any of these thoughts. No sense in getting into a political and moral argument for no reason.

"We should probably be going," Squall said. "We need to figure out where Garden went as soon as possible."

"I understand," Ma Dincht said. "Tell me when you get news of Zell, all right? I worry about him."

Squall nodded. "Of course." He turned to leave, but a thought stopped him. "You wouldn't happen to have a terminal with cable access, would you?"

It was a bit of a long shot. Reliable cable access wasn't terribly common in people's homes, and was a downright rarity in the city of Balamb—which still held fast to newspapers and word-of-mouth as their primary sources of news—but he had to ask.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Ma Dincht said. Squall was taken aback. "But I never use it. There's a terminal in the living room on a desk in the corner. Zell bought it so that he could have cable whenever he's home on break. Hold on, I'll set it up for you."

"No need," Squall said, holding up his hand. "We can do it."

"I insist," Ma Dincht said, gently pushing her way past Squall and out of the kitchen alcove.

She shuffled her stocky body across the room and entered into the adjacent living room, with Squall and Rinoa following a step behind her. The living room, like the rest of the house, was quaint and homey. A ring of mismatched couches and chairs with soft, comfortable cushions ringed the outside of the room. One side of the room was dominated by a small rowboat and oars. Squall didn't know if the boat had some sentimental value or was purely decorative. On the far side of the room, under a window, was a desk with some miscellaneous magazines and an ancient computer terminal.

With practiced hands, Zell's mother cleaned off the old papers and magazines, pulled out a keyboard from a drawer, and wiped everything off with the corner of her apron. When the desk was up to her standards, she turned and smiled at the couple.

"All yours," she said.

Squall nodded. "Thank you."

He pulled out a wooden chair and sat down, adjusting the keyboard and monitor before pushing the power button and starting up the computer. The computer was years out of date. Squall could hear the pops and clicks coming from the processors as the system struggled to life. After a moment, he was greeted by Ma Dincht's home screen: a stock image of a field of flowers on a bright sunny day. He clicked to access the cable network, starting off another frenzy of pops and whirrs from the system, before the computer eventually connected to the cable service.

He couldn't access Garden's network, since all their servers were located on Garden itself. That meant that he couldn't use the familiar Garden news aggregator. Instead, he clicked around until he found himself at Galbadia's aggregator, which had a tendency to be biased in favor of the government, but would at least give him a sense of what was happening in the world.

He brought up the list of news stories and his hands went completely still, his eyes scanning the headlines over and over, shock washing the color out of his face.

Deling City Authority: CARAWAY ASSASSINATED!

Galbadia Gazette: Lieutenant General of Military Assumes Command

Dollet Free Press: General Fury Caraway of Galbadia Murdered by Sorceress

Deling City Authority, Special Election Coverage: Candidates Drop Out Due to Sorceress Fears

(Fury Caraway.)

(General of Galbadia…)

Squall couldn't go any further than the first headlines. The information contained on those four lines was more than his mind was willing to process. His thoughts—once they got past the initial surprise—turned immediately to Rinoa. He looked up at her, reading her face. But her expression was completely beyond his ability to interpret. Her jaw was clenched, her eyes widened. He tried to look for signs of grief, of anger, or some other emotion he could recognize and understand, but she was a blank wall to him.

(Is she… in shock?)

At once, Squall was hit with the dire certainty that he needed to say something to her—that he was supposed to say something. That's what normal, healthy people did. Normal people who cared about each other. They comforted each other in times of grief and unexpected loss. They had words to speak and physical gestures that, while they didn't undo the problem, at least made it easier to bear.

But he tried to put himself in Rinoa's situation, to read the news from her point of view, and he found he couldn't. It was true that the landscape of his mind had changed greatly since first meeting Rinoa, but he could not undo the past seventeen years of his life, almost two decades of social isolation. When he tried to think of how Rinoa would feel, he could only imagine how he would feel in that situation. He would feel cold, lost, empty. He would want to retreat from people, not talk to anyone, focus on his pain and try to view it logically, so that he could understand it. When he understood his emotions, he could control them.

But he knew that wasn't like Rinoa. That wasn't what was going through her mind. The two of them came from different backgrounds and had different coping mechanisms. Things that Squall would find comforting at this time might hurt Rinoa even more, tear open her wounds and pour salt in them.

Another thought occurred to him. Maybe as Squall had become more like her, Rinoa had also been slowly becoming more like him. What if she was looking to him, waiting for him to reach forth with his clumsy and inept words of comfort, and he was hurting her with his silence and indecision? Should he try to say something and risk worsening her grief, or should he say nothing and let her sort out her feelings alone?

Amidst the chaos in his heart, Squall sensed an unexpected emotion rising in his mind: frustration. He'd spent years in a school, always knowing the answer. And here was one of the biggest tests of his life, and he had no idea what to say. His emotional incompetence embarrassed and angered him.

"I…" Squall said, hoping the right words would come to mind. They didn't.

"Click it," Rinoa said. Her voice betrayed no emotion. Either she was fighting her feelings down, or she didn't feel anything at all, Squall couldn't tell. "Let's read the article," she said, pointing at the DCA article at the top of the news.

Squall nodded and clicked on the first article.

Deling City Authority: CARAWAY ASSASSINATED!

Late last night, General Fury Caraway of the Galbadian Military was ambushed in his home by the Timber Sorceress Ciel and murdered. Several of Caraway's personal staff and guards were also killed in the attack, as they attempted to fight off the sorceress and defend the General. It is unclear how the sorceress managed to escape Timber and infiltrate Deling City without detection, but two suspects found at Caraway's mansion are believed to be part of the plot, and are currently being held for questioning. Their names have not been released to the public. Despite the efforts of local police and military, the sorceress has since evaded capture and is believed to be returning to Timber via railway. All citizens are advised to remain in their homes until the matter is resolved. Further news forthcoming.

(I wonder who the suspects are…)

Squall shook his head. That detail wasn't important right now. He had two far bigger issues to worry about. First, how would this affect the current situation between Galbadia and Timber and second, how it would affect Rinoa? The first problem was currently beyond his ability to predict, so he focused on the second. He looked at Rinoa's face. She finished reading the article a few moments after him, and looked down, her long black hair falling over her face like a veil. Her expression remained blank, still registering the initial shock.

"Are you… okay?" Squall asked. It was the only think he could think to ask. Was he supposed to reach out and touch her shoulder? Her face? Was he supposed to hug her? Or would that only make things worse?

(What am I supposed to do?)

(What can I do?)

"I don't know," Rinoa said softly. She folded her arms across her chest, her hands tightening into fists, tugging at the fabric of her clothes. "This is so sudden. I knew he'd die sometime… but I always thought… you know, it'd be later."

(Damn it, what should I say?)

Inside the living room, everything was still. Squall's mind went blank, and he became intensely aware of the sound of Ma Dincht cooking in her kitchen, a mere two rooms away. The smell of her food permeated the air. He heard Ma Dincht humming to herself, and he recognized the song after hearing a couple of bars. Outside, seagulls cried plaintively and a car rumbled down the street.

It seemed that time had stopped in the living room, while the rest of the world marched on, oblivious to the giant hole that had opened up in the universe.

Squall did the only thing he could think of: he broke the situation down into the component facts, the truths he knew for certain. On the one hand, he knew that Caraway was Rinoa father, and that relationship in itself had a weight to it, of course. But he also had to consider the fact that she had openly despised her father. Maybe she didn't hate him to the point where she wished him dead, but Squall was savvy enough to know that her feelings on the subject were undoubtedly mixed.

(He was still her father. That's the biggest thing.)

Tentatively, slowly, he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. He let his gloved fingers rest there, his fingers curling to squeeze gently. He waited for a response, for her to shove off his hand with disgust, or to place her own hand atop his. Instead, she did nothing, her head still hanging down, her eyes cast at the floor.

In a way, Squall wished for the old days, back when he was always alone. When he was seen as nothing more than "cold, heartless Squall." Things had been so simple then. Rinoa's feelings would mean nothing to that past version of Squall. That version would have shut out her emotions, focused on the objective, only absorbing the facts that were relevant to the mission. His feelings and the feelings of those around him were of zero consequence to the old Squall.

But he was not that person anymore. Mixed in with his confusion and anger was a stab of genuine pain, felt not for himself, but for Rinoa. Caraway was not Squall's father, and the man had meant little to him personally aside from their brief acquaintance during the mission in Deling City. But the General had been an important figure in Rinoa's life—for better or worse—and Squall did care about her. It was as if a mental link had been forged between Squall and Rinoa, allowing him to feel a tiny portion of her pain, as if it were his own. He hurt because she hurt. And he hurt because, this time, he couldn't protect her.

(… I really have changed.)

He felt a slight twinge of anger. Not at Rinoa, or the Timber sorceress, or Caraway, but himself. He had changed his personality so that he was now aware of how other's felt, and so that he truly cared about his friends, and about Rinoa, but never at any point did he take the time to learn how to relate to others. Social skills—he knew—were a learned trait, practiced and perfected over the course of years, and his life of solitude had not prepared him for this moment. Why had he been so foolish, to open himself up to the possibility of pain without first developing the tools for coping with it?

(I'm so useless…)

Rinoa had always been the one who guided his heart, but now the roles had reversed, and she was the one in turmoil. Squall could save her from monsters, from evil sorceresses, from the might of Galbadia and Esthar and anyone else who threatened her, but he couldn't save her from pain, or grief, or loss. He looked at her face and it hurt him that she should suffer at all. That he could do nothing about it.

"I'm sorry," Squall said. His voice came out in a weak croak.

(I am so, so sorry.)

Could he have stopped this all from happening, if he'd stayed at Garden? Would he have made different choices, set Garden and Galbadia on a different course? If he'd been given a chance, would things have been different? Would the General still be alive?

He remembered Ellone's words, and he thought back to how much energy she'd devoted into trying to change the past. Even Sorceress Ultimecia, with her near infinite powers and mindless determination could not change history. It was useless for Squall to even entertain such thoughts.

(It's over and done with.)

(I need to focus on what I can do for Rinoa now.)

(Because now is all that matters.)

But still, he had no idea what to say, and Rinoa had yet to respond. His arm still hung in the air, stupidly, his hand on her shoulder. Was he supposed to be comforting her, rationalizing for her? Was he supposed to have some ready-made maxim like, "He's in a better place," prepared for her? He didn't know.

He felt dumb for asking, but he decided to ask anyway, "Is there… anything you need?"

(I'm an idiot.)

Rinoa shook her head.

"It's…" she said. Finally, she looked up into Squall's eyes. He noticed that she wasn't crying. Her eyes weren't even damp. "It's weird. He's my father. Was… my father. I keep feeling like I'm supposed to be screaming and bawling my eyes out. I feel like I'm supposed to be hurting, but I'm not. Not... really, anyway. And that makes me feel even worse. I… I wish it hurt more. Then, at least, it wouldn't be so confusing. I know it sounds crazy…"

"No, it's not crazy," Squall said.

Squall, an orphan for as long as he could remember, had absolutely no wisdom to offer her. He had never lost his parents; he'd never known them. He could very easily tell her what it was like, living in a world without your parents, but something told him that that would be insensitive of him. That it wasn't the right time for that. He wanted to err on the side of saying too little, rather than making the situation worse by offering foolish reassurance.

He wanted Irvine, or Selphie, or Zell, or Quistis around. For the first time in a long time, he actually wanted one of them there, to scream in his face about what a lousy boyfriend he was, how terrible of a knight he was to his sorceress. He wanted them to roll their eyes at him, make him feel sheepish, and then tell him exactly what he was supposed to say or do.

(But they're not here.)

(It's just me and her.)

Without meaning to, he began to think about Garden, and about himself. He realized that most of the people in the world had no idea about all the battles that were being raged, all the people who had died, the number of children turned into orphans by various wars. They probably had never heard about NORG's attempt to overthrow Balamb Garden, or the violent battle between G-Garden and SeeD.

And they had definitely never heard of Ultimecia, or the destruction she was destined to cause, generations in the future. Squall and his friends had saved the world from annihilation, and no one even knew who he was. They had never even heard his name. If he were to die in any of his battles, no one would care. They would finish their coffees, fold their newspapers, and go home, humming to themselves. To them, a living, breathing Squall Leonhart was about the same as a dead one.

He felt alone.

Unconsciously, he gripped Rinoa tighter. Time had stopped in the living room, and the world around them continued on, ignorant and apathetic, but Squall would not let the world's indifference darken his thoughts. The world did not know Squall's name, and they probably were unaware of General Caraway's only daughter, as she struggled with her feelings in a small house in a fishing village.

But Squall knew. And he cared. And he would do whatever he could to make sure that Rinoa knew, without question, that she was not alone.

"I'm here…" Squall said. "If you need me. If you need anything."

She smiled. It was a sad, troubled smile, but it was the first real expression she'd made since they'd come to the computer. She leaned her head to the side and brushed her cheek along the back of his hand.

In the next room, Ma Dincht cooked and hummed. Her world, her life, was exactly the same as it was twenty minutes ago.

"Click on the next link," Rinoa said after a few seconds. "I wanna know more."

Squall nodded. He took his hand off her shoulder and tapped a button on the keypad, bringing up the next news story.

Galbadia Gazette: Lieutenant General of Military Assumes Command

In the wake of General Caraway's assassination, command of the Galbadian Military—and, by extension, Galbadia itself—has passed down the chain of command to Lieutenant General Ancelin Vaschel. General Vaschel has already released an official report, linked here, in which he promises to "continue the noble and patriotic work of General Caraway, and ensure the peace and security of the Galbadian citizens."

However, because of the extreme security threat posed by the sorceress, who remains at large, General Vaschel has been unable to make any public appearances and is currently being sequestered in a secret location for his own safety.

"Noble and patriotic," Rinoa said, coldly repeating the words. "Funny. What's the next one say?"

The next article, from the Dollet Free Press, initially seemed to offer more details about the assassination, but once they clicked the link, they found that the people of Dollet knew nothing more than the Galbadians, and were merely copying Galbadia's coverage of the story, almost word-for-word. Squall went down and clicked the next article.

Deling City Authority, Special Election Coverage: Candidates Drop Out Due to Sorceress Fears

The Sorceress Ciel's terrorist attacks have had their intended effect, cowing almost all of the candidates running for office, causing them to drop out of the race entirely. Within hours of the announcement of Caraway's death, the first candidates began announcing their withdrawal from the race, leaving only the most recent addition, the Headmaster of Galbadia Garden, Martine Dodonna, as the last person left in the running.

Many assumed that Headmaster Dodonna would soon drop out as well, leaving the Galbadian election without any candidates, but Dodonna bravely made an announcement this morning that he intends to remain in the race, declaring that he will "refuse to allow fear and intimidation to dictate [his] choices."

With the field now empty except for one candidate, and the cutoff date for new entrants already closed as of midnight last night, Galbadian officials are now left wondering if Dodonna will win by default. An emergency meeting is scheduled to be held this afternoon between the District Governors and the acting President, Lieutenant General Vaschel, to discuss whether to declare Dodonna's victory by default, or reopen admissions to allow other candidates to run for office against Dodonna. An announcement on this subject is expected later this evening.

(Headmaster Martine is running for president?)

Squall almost had to laugh at the insanity of it all. After weeks of almost nothing happening in the world, suddenly everything falls apart in the three days that Squall and Rinoa are away. He felt like he'd somehow slipped into some alternate reality, where all the worst possible scenarios were playing out in sequence.

Rinoa turned to him, her eyes steely, but still dry. "What do we do now?"

In a way, he was glad that she was asking him questions that he was better equipped to answer. Comforting others was beyond his ability, but forming plans was something he was a trained veteran at.

"We need to find Garden," Squall said, resolutely. "We're useless until then."

Rinoa nodded and turned back to the screen. Squall sifted through the headlines, but news of Caraway's death had overwhelmed everything, and no mention was made of Garden or its movements. He clicked through all the articles, reading about the sorceress, watching her video of her declaring Timber's independence, as well as reading reports about the growing sorceress fears in Galbadia and elsewhere.

He had to dig back into the archives to yesterday's news, where he found a single article that mentioned Garden, reported on by the Deling City Authority.

The headline read simply, "SeeD Attacks Timber, is Repelled."

He clicked the article and got a vague summary of a multi-front battle waged on both sides of Timber, by the mobile Garden. According to the article, the attack was easily beaten back by the superior Galbadia force after a short skirmish, but Squall knew that the DCA was heavily biased towards Galbadia, and was likely withholding the whole truth. Still, it gave him a hint as to the whereabouts of Garden.

(It says Garden was last seen in the ocean outside Timber…)

That didn't help him much. Even if he could pinpoint their location, he had no way of reaching them. The Esthar ship that waited back on the shore technically had the ability to reach Garden, but the Esthar soldiers made it clear that they would not go any further north or west than Balamb Island, for fear of running into Galbadian patrols. He might be able to charter a private boat from Balamb, but even then, he'd have to randomly comb the entire ocean looking for Garden, which would be fruitless for sure.

(There's only one thing we can do.)

He turned to Rinoa. "We have to go back to the ship."

She nodded. "Okay."

He couldn't tell if Rinoa's reaction was positive or negative. Was she moving on, dealing with the news of her father's passing in a healthy way, or was she retreating into her mind, allowing her conflicted feelings to eat away at her in silence? He had no way of knowing.

Hoping that he was doing the right thing, he shut off the terminal and stood up, stepping out of the living room and towards the front door. He didn't wait for Rinoa to take his hand, instead reaching for her himself and holding her fingers tightly in his gloved hand, trying his best to convey—without words—that he was there for her if she needed him.

(It's all I can do.)

They passed the kitchen alcove, where Ma Dincht continued to merrily cook away, unaware that Rinoa had recently lost a father, and that her son was likely involved in a war at that very moment. He paused, wondering what, if anything, he should tell her about the news they'd received about Garden. Then he remembered that she said she preferred to stay ignorant of any dangers her son might be in.

(Not a choice I'd make personally, but I'll respect her decision.)

"Thank you for the computer, Mrs. Dincht," Squall said. Rinoa quickly composed herself, forming a friendly smile. She bowed her head.

"Yeah, you really helped us out," she said.

"Eh, it's the least I can do for you kids," she said. She turned to the side, so she could keep up with the conversation while still keeping an eye on her roast, which she'd removed from the oven. She used a ladle to drizzle juices on the meat, making it glisten. Squall's stomach rumbled again.

"We'll be leaving now," Squall said. "Again, thank you."

"Are you sure you aren't staying?" Ma Dincht asked. "The roast is done."

His hunger demanded that he stay for dinner, but current events refused to let him slow down. A part of him was afraid that if he stopped for even a moment, somehow the world would fall apart even worse than it already had.

"Sorry," Squall said. "Another time, maybe."

"All right," Ma Dincht said.

They said their goodbyes, and Squall gently pulled Rinoa out through the front door and into the streets.

The road outside was empty, the warm salt air filled with the sound of seagulls and the occasional clanging of a buoy out in the ocean. Squall could have almost imagined that he and Rinoa were alone in the world, the last survivors of some global catastrophe.

"Are you all right?" Squall asked. It was the best question he could come up with, and he resolved to ask it more often in the future. To pay more attention to Rinoa's needs and feelings, so that he could learn—in time—how to help her, should any other disasters happen in their lives.

"I'll be fine…" Rinoa said. "Just… stay with me, okay?"

Squall smiled, almost injured by the implications of her words.

(As if I was planning on ever leaving her.)

"Always," he said.

He met her eyes and for the first time, he noticed a few tears forming in the bottom, threatening to spill over and run down her face. She brushed them away with her hand before they could escape.

"Thanks…" she said.

With that, he climbed up the steps and into the street, heading towards the alleyway where they had parked the car. He strode quickly, with a purpose, and Rinoa almost had to jog to keep up, still tethered to Squall by their interlocked hands.

"Where to next?" she asked.

"Back to Esthar," Squall said. "We need more information. And we have to start preparing for a war."