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One (Last) Chance	By : RotSeele Category: Final Fantasy VIII > Yaoi - Male/Male > Seifer/Squall Views: 3719 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 8. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Eleven - Squall POV

When I woke, I wasn’t surprised to find Rinoa hovering over me. As usual, Zell and Selphie were awake before me, waiting anxiously for me to wake up. They exchanged glances with each other before they started firing questions at me: did I dream of Laguna too? Do you think he’ll be okay? I raised my hand for silence as I slowly got to my feet.
“Look,” I said, “we’ll just be wasting our time trying to figure it out. Let’s keep going.”
Zell grinned lopsidedly. “Yeah, let’s go! I think we’re almost there.”
Rinoa grasped my arm when I started to sway, her firm grip keeping me rooted in place. “Are you okay, Squall? What happened?”
I shook her off, gently but firmly. “Would you believe me if I said it’s nothing?”
“Of course not.”
I sighed. “Every so often, we black out. All of us. We don’t know why. But when we do, we dream of this other world, of this man named Laguna and his two friends, Kiros and Ward.”
“I was worried about all of you.” Rinoa said quietly. She continued to move forward, pausing to look back at me. “I didn’t know what to do with all of you incapacitated like that. It was... it was scary. But I didn’t know where to go to get help, and by the time I decided to do something, Zell woke up. He tried to write it off like it was nothing, but he was worried. I could tell.”
I nodded but said nothing. It was no surprise to me Ellone was still trying to change the past by using us. Even though I had told her it wouldn’t work, she wouldn’t give up until she figured it out herself. I only hoped she had gone immediately to Esthar like I had told her to, although, judging by the fact no Esthari soldiers had come hunting for me yet, I doubted it. I swear, next time I see her, I’m going to remind her that sisters listen to their brothers.
Shiva chuckled. Yet, she is your elder.
It doesn’t matter. You’re younger than Siren, but she still defers to you.
Shiva burst out laughing at this, her clear musical voice echoing through my mind like little pealing bells. Indeed. But think about this, Squall - if she didn’t believe herself safe, would she be using her powers?
I shook my head even though the Guardian Force of ice couldn’t see me do so. Rinoa gave me a quizzical look, but I pointedly kept from looking at her as I walked. Shiva resettled herself at the edge of my consciousness, smiling serenely at the other GFs in my head. They all seemed to be amused in one way or another, even Bahamut, who generally viewed things with cynicism.
We emerged from the forest onto the Great Plains of Galbadia. Directly ahead of us was Galbadia Garden, rising high into the sky. As the others ran ahead of me, I slowed my steps until I was almost at a full halt. When I had first laid eyes upon Galbadia Garden, it had been as a scared and tense young man moving without much direction to his life. His first mission had been an utter failure. His entire thought process had been consumed with worry about the only home he had ever known, about the people who lived there. He had tried to figure out how he would live his life if something he cared for was suddenly taken away, and he couldn’t handle it. He couldn’t handle the idea of being thought of in the past tense. Now I was looking at it as the weapon of mass destruction it would be. Now I was looking at it through the eyes of someone who knew what secrets the Garden held, through the eyes of someone who knew that you couldn’t get through life alone, that a failed mission didn’t always mean the end. Now I was seeing it through the lens of experience, and for all that experience, I still didn’t know what to do.
How ironic.
I caught up with the others and together we entered Galbadia Garden. It was still full of organized activity that I remembered, with cadets flying from here to there on their machines and other people walking by without even taking notice of us.
“Wow...” breathed Selphie. “Completely different...”
“Sure is quiet.” Zell commented.
I grunted but didn’t say anything. I led the way further in, unsure of what to do now that we were actually here. Before, Quistis had been the one to go see the headmaster and explain our situation. I didn’t have that kind of luxury. I couldn’t just walk in and ask to see the headmaster of Galbadia Garden without good reason. And if no one knew about what had happened, then it would be incredibly awkward to explain that we were here because a member of our team got kidnapped and there was a possibility that Balamb Garden was in danger? I didn’t know how far the president’s transmission had gotten before the sabotage had ruined it. Had Deling introduced Edea? Had he told the world of his plans? Considering that Rinoa hadn’t corrected me, I assumed he had. But even still, would Deling feel as though he’d been attacked and use the situation to condemn Garden?
“Squall! Squall, there you are!”
I looked up to see, of all people, Quistis running toward me; behind her was Raijin and Fujin. She caught my shoulders and studied my face, just like a big sister trying to ensure her younger brother had come away unharmed. I didn’t fight her, mostly because I was shocked to see her and Seifer’s posse. When Zell and Selphie approached us, Quistis inspected them too, hugging Selphie tightly and grasping Zell’s hands with a big smile on her face. Then she looked at Rinoa and her expression changed from genuinely pleased to cool, and I saw Rinoa stiffen slightly as she realized that Quistis was studying her the same way an instructor studied a new student.
“Quistis, Raijin, Fujin,” I asked, somehow finding my voice, “what are you doing here?”
She turned to look at me and straightened. “Headmaster Cid sent us here to speak with the headmaster. Since I’ve been here several times before, and I know him pretty well, he figured I would be the best to act as a messenger and liaison. Raijin and Fujin accompanied me as backup and to look for Seifer.”
I nodded. I should’ve realized that Fujin and Raijin would’ve chased after Seifer, whether he told them to stay or not. I glanced at Fujin; her head canted to one side and her crimson eye narrowed at my face. Whatever she saw there made her nod her head toward me, and elbow Raijin in the ribs. The big man clamped his teeth shut, which allowed me to refocus my attention on Quistis. “Why did he send you here?”
“You were in Timber. You saw the broadcast, right? President Deling announced his plans to bring about world peace by allying himself with the Sorceress Edea. Not too long after that, the broadcast was suddenly interrupted.” At Zell’s sudden flinch, Quistis quickly put two and two together. “Ah, I thought so. You interrupted the broadcast.”
“Yes, we did.” Rinoa said suddenly, showing that steel in her spine as she stood straight and tall before Quistis. “Upon my orders, the SeeD loaned to me infiltrated the tv station and attempted to hijack the signal so that my resistance movement, the Forest Owls, could broadcast our own message.”
Quistis looked Rinoa up and down, from head to toe and back again. Then she looked at me, her lips a thin line. “Just after I got here, an official notice came over the wire. It said that two young men attempted to assassinate the sorceress, and though she subdued one, the other escaped. The attack was classified as an independent action, but we can all read between the lines.”
“It was you and Seifer, wasn’t it?” Raijin spoke up suddenly, a smirk on his face. “Shoulda known Seifer wouldn’t have gone down without a fight.”
Fujin elbowed him again, harder, putting force to Quistis’ glower. She looked at me, her lips drawn into a thin line. I met her gaze, hoping she would understand what I couldn’t say. Surprisingly, the stoic young woman nodded and folded her arms over her chest.
“Did they blame Garden?” Zell asked Quistis, his face a little pale.
Drawing her gaze away from Raijin, Quistis shook her head. “There are plenty of mercenary and resistance groups in the world besides ours. The Galbadian government did say, however, that they don’t believe that the Gardens, who are known for raising mercenaries, were involved.”
Some of Zell’s color returned and he started to relax. “So Seifer didn’t talk then?”
“That’s why he’s not with you, I take it?” Quistis asked, looking directly at me. Her voice was hard, her eyes harder. “The sorceress captured him?”
“EXPLAIN.” Fujin said, her voice holding an iron note.
I nodded slowly. I explained everything, from the moment we met with Rinoa and her resistance movement to the infiltration of the tv station and the events that took place there. I knew I didn’t need to justify my decisions, as I was the squad’s leader, but I reasoned that we needed to make sure no one followed us out and we weren’t compromised in any way. I left out the part where I had intentionally set myself up in that self-fulfilling prophecy and instead said the sorceress ambushed us. “She took him, and let me go. Just like that. There wasn’t anything I could do.” And that is something I’m going to change as soon as I can. “So we came directly here afterward, hoping to get some new direction and news.”
“Do you think Seifer took all the blame?” Zell interrupted.
Quistis’ eyes grew sad. She twisted her hands in front of her, then blew out a sigh. “The trial’s over, and the sentence has been carried out...”
Rinoa’s eyes went wide. So did Zell’s and Selphie’s. Quistis looked like she was about to cry, but was bravely holding it all back.
“BWAHAAHAAHAA!” Raijin burst out laughing, throwing his head back. “That’s gotta be a lie, ya know!? There’s no way he’d put up with a trial, ya know!? Or an execution for that matter! It’s just so not Seifer, ya know!?”
Fujin nodded. “FIND!”
“O’What!... We’re gonna meet up with Seifer? Well, see ya, guys. We’re gonna head off to Galbadia to look for Seifer.” With that, he and Fujin took off running.
Quistis stared after the two of them, startled. So did everyone else, in varying stages of disbelief. I was the only one who didn’t react. I knew they would go to the ends of the earth for Seifer, because they were friends. A posse. Even if I had told them I was going to rescue Seifer, they would still run off on their own to look for him.
Rinoa’s voice, shaky with barely restrained tears, drew me back to the conversation at hand. “He was executed? ...Of course he was... He attacked the sorceress. He sacrificed himself for the ‘Forest Owls’...”
I saw a dozen emotions flash over the faces of Selphie, Zell, and Quistis at her words. Anger, sadness, regret... they were all feeling the things I should’ve been feeling. But I didn’t feel sad. I didn’t feel angry. I didn’t feel anything. I knew Seifer wasn’t dead. I knew. And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her it wasn’t true, that it was all a lie. That Seifer was, even now, possibly being tortured and brainwashed and manipulated into becoming a monster that would fight us to the death and kill tens of thousands of people between the missile attack on Trabia, the attack on Balamb with Galbadia Garden, and the Lunar Cry. I crossed my arms over my chest and bit my tongue until I tasted blood. It was the only way I was going to keep quiet.
Quistis rounded on Rinoa, her eyes blazing. Though her voice was calm and collected, I could hear the notes of anger to her words. “It was your group that got Seifer involved in all this. You’re a resistance faction, right? You must have been prepared for the worst. I’m sure Seifer was prepared, too, when Squall asked for permission to bring him along. All SeeDs are prepared for the eventuality of being killed in the line of duty. Seifer didn’t sacrifice himself for you. He was doing his job.” She took a deep breath, then immediately relented. “I’m sorry. I guess that wasn’t much consolation.”
Rinoa glowered at Quistis, her brown eyes tear-bright. A few even escaped before she quickly wiped them away. “I... really liked him. He was always full of confidence, smart... Just by talking to him, I felt like I could take on the world.”
“Your boyfriend?” Selphie asked, her tone curious and comforting, trying to find common ground.
I ignored what she said next. It didn’t matter anyway. Seifer had met Rinoa in Timber and the two had ended up dating for a while. Did more than date. He’d told me that himself. But he’d broken up with her, after realizing that the innocent, naive, frightened little girl was just a persona Rinoa used to get her way. That she really did have strong steel in her spine and could be just as rough-and-tumble as the rest of us. That she knew what she wanted, and she would do what she had to in order to get it. I realized in that moment that, in order to be able to accomplish what I needed to accomplish in the coming days, I needed her to put away the spoiled princess and become the strong sorceress she was destined to be. I needed her to be the woman she was going to become only after I rescued her from being sealed away at the Sorceress Memorial in Esthar, and I needed her to do it now rather then later.
I would also need to junction with some of my Guardian Forces. It didn’t surprise me that Bahamut was the first to volunteer.
I looked up at Quistis, finding her studying me intently. “What did Cid give you to give to the headmaster here?”
“That’s just like you,” Quistis said, smiling sympathetically, “getting right back to work. But I don’t know. I was merely ordered to give him a letter. And-“
Whatever else she was about to say was cut off when a voice came over the loudspeaker, asking us to head to the front gate. I didn’t wait; I turned on my heel and headed for the front gate. The others fell into step behind me, silent despite the fact I knew they wanted to ask me a barrage of questions.
As we loitered around the front gate of Galbadia Garden waiting for Martine to show up, I moved over to Rinoa. I gently grasped her upper arm and drew her away from the others. I couldn’t subvert fate any more than I already had, but I could at least try to prepare her for what the future was going to contain. “Rinoa,” I started, keeping my voice low and serious. She regarded me with curious brown eyes, her lips in a thin line. “From here on out, it’s going to get dangerous. Frightening. If you want to go somewhere safe, I’ll arrange it, but if you choose to stay, I’m going to treat you like a SeeD. Do you understand?”
Her eyes widened slightly. Then they became seriously thoughtful. “I want to stay,” she said slowly, “because there’s really nowhere safe for me, if you think about it. I can’t return to Timber. I know I’m... I’m not as good in battle as you guys are... but... but I won’t drag you down.”
Despite myself, I smiled. “Good. Also, I want you to drop the spoiled princess act. There won’t be any room for it going forward. I know you have steel in your spine. It’s time to use it.”
She smiled back at me, her expression a cross between surprised and relieved. “You know, Seifer told me about you. He said you were always too observant for your own good sometimes.”
Whatever she was going to say next - or whatever I could’ve said in response - was drowned out by the roar of a car’s engine. Turning to face the approaching vehicle, I gave Rinoa a light push toward the others and we lined up as Martine stepped out of the car. We saluted him, with Rinoa a half-beat behind. I wasn’t surprised Martine didn’t notice; he was too occupied with setting us up to take the fall for Edea’s assassination.
“Good day.” Martine spoke, his voice deep and authoritative. “I have official orders from Headmaster Cid addressed to you. Following regulations, I have gone over these orders. After careful consideration of our options, we have decided to fully assist and cooperate with Headmaster Cid. Actually, we, too, have bene planning this for quite some time now. In order to stress the importance of this mission, I must first brief you on the current situation.” He smiled. “At ease. You all know about the sorceress being appointed as the peace ambassador for the Galbadia government. However, this ambassador thing is just a cover up. There will be no peace talks, only threats.” He continued to talk, detailing Galbadia’s true plans and the plans for Edea’s assassination. I took the orders when he handed them to me and leafed through them.
“Any questions?” Martine asked me.
I glanced up at him, raising my brow. “Are you going to provide us with the sniper? There is no one here with that skill.”
Martine grinned, but I could tell it hurt him to do so. “Don’t worry about that. Let me introduce an elite sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. Kinneas! Irvine Kinneas!”
I barely spared Irvine a glance as he walked toward us. I didn’t even look back at him as he walked up and down our line, studying us each in turn. I noticed (again) that he spent a little too much time studying the girls, especially Selphie and Rinoa. I had the serious urge to punch him in the face but resisted - barely.
Shiva. I growled.
The ice Guardian Force huffed and folded her arms over her chest. He would deserve it. Siren agreed wholeheartedly, and I felt the male GFs take a slight step back from the females. The only ones who didn’t react were Cactuar, Tonberry, Doomtrain, and Eden, though they eyed their fellow GFs with wary confusion.
I ignored them as Martine said, “This is Irvine Kinneas. He will be your sharpshooter. Leave whenever you’re ready. Failure is not an option.” Then he got into his car and drove away.
I waited for Irvine to stop being childish before I turned to my companions. Rinoa swallowed hard, and I knew that, despite the bravado she had displayed during our conversation, she was afraid. Everyone was looking to me, looking for me to explain our new mission.
The words came too easy this time around. “Our next mission,” I said, “is a direct order from both Balamb and Galbadia Garden. We’re to assassinate the sorceress. We’re to shoot her from afar. Irvine will be our sniper. We’re to support him to our fullest. Should he fail, we’ll attack head on.”
Irvine smirked. “Thanks for the support, but I never miss my target.”
No, you just choke at the critical moment. I glowered at him and he actually took a half-step back from me. Keeping my tone even, I continued, “Eliminate the sorceress. That’s our order. We’re going to head to the capital of Galbadia, Deling City. There, we’ll meet up with General Caraway to go over the details of the plan. Let’s get going.”
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One (Last) Chance