Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

One (Last) Chance	By : RotSeele Category: Final Fantasy VIII > Yaoi - Male/Male > Seifer/Squall Views: 3721 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 8. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Ten - Squall POV

I rejoined Rinoa and the others outside the tv station and was bombarded by questions. Everyone wanted to know where Seifer was, why he wasn’t with me. I had to tell them that he was taken by the sorceress, which meant I had to explain to them what her presence meant. It was easy enough to do; I simply told a facsimile of the truth. Edea had been waiting in the main broadcast room for someone to show up, and when we did, she took Seifer prisoner. I didn’t tell them that he’d gone with her willingly. Zell looked incredibly crestfallen. I knew he believed it was his fault; he believed that Seifer had sacrificed himself in order to protect us and Garden. I chose to let him believe it, rather than correcting him. It would teach him to watch his words while on a mission, and that a single slip could have dire consequences.
“...He’ll be okay, right?”
I looked at Rinoa. She was watching me with a calm expression, her doe-brown eyes focused on my face. I nodded slowly. Seifer would be just fine. Ultimecia wouldn’t hurt him. But she would get information out of him, about Garden and SeeD. I knew she would begin to hunt us, the Seeds, and she would begin to hunt Ellone. My greatest fear, though, was what she would learn if Seifer told her everything I had told him. I had to trust that whatever manipulation she had worked on him, it wouldn’t be enough to make him betray everything I’d given him in the strictest of confidences. If I’d only found some way to give him one of my GFs, maybe they would have erased those memories, or at least maybe they would’ve protected those memories from being stolen.
A saddened expression appeared on her face. “They found our base. It’s completely destroyed.”
“What? How?” asked Selphie.
Rinoa shrugged. “The Galbadian army is always searching for the resistance movement. Considering how we’ve been operating lately, it was only a matter of time.”
“And everyone else?”
“They’re fine. They’re good at escaping.”
We stopped just under the tv monitor outside the station. I kept my gaze forward, studying my companions out of the corner of my eye as I tried to think about what we should do next. I knew we would eventually have to end up at Galbadia Garden, but I couldn’t just come out and say that just yet. I had to get us out of the open, because the G-Army would be hunting for whoever sabotaged the broadcast. Even if we acted like we had nothing to do with the event, they would still detain us anyway.
Rinoa saved me from having to take the initiative by saying, “We have to stay away from Timber for a while. Is there a safe place you can take me? This is an order, an order from your client.”
“...All right.” I said lowly. I gestured toward the bar a little further down the alley. We quietly made our way into the bar to hide while we figured out where to go. As I expected, the woman called ‘Chief’ offered her home to us as a safe haven. We went upstairs to avoid being caught by the Galbadian soldiers hunting through the houses for their prey.
It felt different without Quistis there to continue the conversation once we were safe. I stood by the window, looking out of it onto the street below. Zell hunkered in a corner, gripping his knees. Rinoa and Selphie shared the bed, the former holding her head down so her dark hair formed a curtain around her face. Selphie was laying back, staring at the ceiling.
“What’s going to happen to Seifer?” Zell asked quietly.
“I don’t know.” I answered softly, working hard to keep my tone even and emotionless.
“Do you think the sorceress will kill him?” Selphie asked, also sounding subdued.
“He may already be dead.” I hated the words as soon as I said them, but I didn’t know what Ultimecia would do to Seifer this time around.
Rinoa’s head snapped up and she glared at me. “How can you be so casual? I feel... sorry for him.”
...Feel sorry... Seifer would hate to hear that. The smirk crept its way onto my face before I could stop it. Weren’t those the exact same words we’d said Before?
Rinoa’s glare grew teeth. “What’s so funny!? You’re terrible! So... why do you think Seifer may already be dead?”
Because... because if Ultimecia gets him to repeat everything I told him, she won’t suffer him to live. She won’t suffer me to live. “Didn’t the president of Galbadia say that he joined forces with the sorceress? That makes her a Galbadian envoy, a diplomat. He drew a weapon on her, a sure threat. It’s no surprise that Seifer may be killed because of it.” I said softly.
“Even so!” Rinoa jumped to her feet, fists held in front of her tightly. “I still hope he’s alive.”
Me, too. I glanced at Zell and Selphie before I refocused on Rinoa. “Just don’t get your hopes up.” I said at last. “Life has a funny way of not going the way we want it to go. No matter what happens, no matter how much it hurts, you have to keep moving forward. It’s the only way you can survive.”
Rinoa’s mouth worked for a minute, unable to think of a retort for that. The childish selfishness that had been glimmering in her eyes faded as the brilliant young woman I knew she was took a step forward. She nodded and hugged herself.
There were footsteps on the stairs as the Chief approached. She glanced quickly at all of us, then focused on Rinoa. “The Galbadian forces are withdrawing. Only the soldiers normally stationed here will stick around. If you’re gonna leave town, now’s your chance! You know how persistent those soldiers can be!”
We followed the Chief back down stairs, gathering in the kitchen. Everyone was looking at me for direction. I met each of their gazes in turn. “We have to get out of here first,” I said, folding my arms over my chest, “and getting out of here is only the first step.”
“What do you mean?” Zell asked.
I canted my head at him. “Garden Code, Article Eight, Line Seven.”
Immediately I saw Zell and Selphie’s eyes go wide. Only Rinoa remained confused. So I turned my attention to her and explained, “In the event that returning to our assigned Garden isn’t possible, we report to the nearest Garden. Which means we need to head to Galbadia Garden.”
Rinoa nodded almost sagely, a small smile playing on her lips. “We can take the train from here and get off at a station called East Academy.”
“Do you know how to get there from the station?” Selphie asked me.
I shrugged, the expected reaction. Of course I knew how to get there, but they weren’t supposed to know that. “We’ll know it when we see it. It wouldn’t hurt to be prepared, though. You both are junctioned, right?”
Both Selphie and Zell made answers in the affirmative, and I felt the ripples of amusement coming from my GFs. Even here, they would answer the calls of my companions, even if they weren’t junctioned to me but them. I wonder what would happen if Zell called on a boosted Diablos and watched the demon decimate the enemy with just a look. That thought alone relaxed something inside of me, and I clung to the tiny fledgling hope that everything would work itself out.
“Okay then,” I said. “We’ll escape from Timber and head to Galbadia Garden. First and foremost, we have to act as if we don’t know each other. Since there’s four of us, it’ll be easy.” Selphie blanched at my suggestion, but she didn’t argue. Rinoa only looked thoughtful. “Let’s go!”
The Chief stepped forward then, handing Rinoa a small box. “You be careful, now. Take this with you. And, good luck.”
We left the Chief’s house in two pairs - Selphie and Zell, and Rinoa and myself. We kept our distance from each other as we headed toward the train station. Our efforts to remain inconspicuous didn’t stop Zone from giving us our tickets, and thankfully there were no soldiers within sight to stop us to ask questions. Once we got on the train, I made sure to open the door for Selphie so she wouldn’t cause a scene, then focused on Zell. He’d been incredibly quiet since leaving the Chief’s house, and I couldn’t blame him. Not only had he possibly given our enemies something credible to work with in identifying the culprits behind the sabotage at the tv station, but because of his actions, Seifer was now in danger. If he hadn’t broken the equipment, Seifer and I wouldn’t have had to stay behind. I watched his face for a long while, but I knew anything I could offer him wouldn’t make him feel better. So I left him alone, like I had done Before, and prepared myself for what was ahead.
Eventually we arrived at the East Academy station. I let them mill around for a while as I pretended to scan the horizon for any telltale sign of the Galbadia Garden. “That way,” I announced, pretending to have seen what we were looking for. In reality, I only knew the way because of Before, so I led them away from the station and into the forest ahead.
“We can’t be too far from Galbadia Garden now, right?” Rinoa asked.
I shook my head.
“Heeey, I was just thinking...” Selphie started, tapping her fingers against her cheek before she pointed to the sky. “There might be some bad news from the Galbadian government. What if we get caught and then get broadcast to the whole world...!?”
“Whatever happens, happens!” Zell snapped. “Now come on! Let’s just keep going! I... I’m worried about Balamb Garden... and I’m even worried about that douchebag, Seifer. If anything happens to him or to Garden, it’s all by fault... I’m the one who caused the problem. I’m the one who made Squall and Seifer go to cover our asses. ...You think the president will retaliate on Garden?”
“Depends.” I replied.
“On what?”
“On what they do to Seifer. If they torture him and he breaks, then no one is safe.” I kept it at that. Zell looked stricken again.
“B-b-but, we have a whole bunch of SeeDs at Balamb Garden! They won’t lose to the Galbadian army, would they?” Zell’s voice cracked at the end, a true sign of his fear.
I shrugged. “Depends on how strong the army is. But remember, this is Seifer we’re talking about. He won’t break so easily. We have to operate under the assumption he’s compromised because we have no other recourse right now. But we will try to rescue him.”
Zell looked at me with surprise. I wondered if he had expected me to condemn Seifer to his fate. The old me probably would have done so. But not this time around. I swore I would change things this time around, and I would do it. Then Zell cracked a smile and nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right! Seifer’s taken worse licks than this, right? He’ll be just fine. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I come waltzing in to save him.”
He walked ahead to catch up with Selphie, grinning. I canted my head toward Rinoa as she came to stand beside me, a small smile on her face. “You know, you’re a good leader.” she said. “You seem to know just what to say to make them feel better, even if the whole situation came about from a bad decision.”
I made a noncommittal noise and kept my face stoic. Beats what she yelled at me Before. A callous leader... a man who relies on no one but himself... one who doesn’t think about, or worry about, the well-being of his comrades... “Should I continue to punish him for a mistake?” I asked her quietly. “No one alive is without fault. Mistakes are made so we can learn from them. It’s what you do with what you’ve learned that matters.”
Rinoa smiled up at me, and I saw on her face the lovely young woman that I had done stupid and reckless things to protect because I thought Seifer loved her. That, maybe, I loved her. I felt the familiar tug of the sorceress-knight relationship that would begin between us even then. So I averted my eyes from her and started forward. And, even though I was expecting it to happen at some point, I felt Ellone’s powers enter me so quickly that I involuntarily gasped. Then I knew nothing at all.
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

One (Last) Chance