Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VIII: Extended Quest ❯ More Than Expected ( Chapter 4 )

After a quick patch and a few sedatives, Squall headed to a room that was offered him and the others by the garden staff. As it turns out, this room was right down the hall from Angelita's, and Squall decided to drop in. Angelita had just finished patching up her wounds when she heard a knock at her door. "Come in," she said as she pulled down her shirt the rest of the way. Squall enters the room. "Making sure your fine, and to tell you the staff gave us a room down the hall." "Okay," she said and turned to Squall. "By the way, there's a shop in the southeast quad; I saw what happened to your gunblade." She paused and looked away a bit. "Or uh.. I could fix it up...." Squall looks at her. "Well, if you have the parts..." She looks back at him. "Parts aren't a problem...." Squall heads back towards the door. "Alright then. Just give me a minute to get it. I'll be right back." She nodded and after he had left the room held her shoulder; it was throbbing a bit and it bugged her.

 

Squall went back to his room and got his blade. Fortunately there was no one there. He also grabbed his weapons master magazine and headed back. When Squall returned, she released her throbbing shoulder and took a look at the damage on the gunblade; it was bad. She looked at the magazine and blinked. "You want it upgraded?" "No, it's just got some tips on this specific blade, it's already upgraded as high as it'll go." She nodded. "All right, let's see what I can do." She took out all her materials and read through the magazine.

 

In about half an hour or so, she managed to completely restore the blade, sharpen it, realign the barrel and clean it. She smiled up at Squall, "Finished." Squall is amazed at all that this girl can do. "That's a very good job for the amount of time you took. You most definitely know your way around a gunblade." "Not to brag, but I did make my own," she said smirking at him. Squall takes the tease. "Yes indeed." Angelita smiled and stood up. As soon as she did however, her heart froze. She caught herself on the desk. She clenched her chest, desperately trying to get her heart started again.

 

On the surface, the shrouded man smiled down at the ocean's surface. "Suffer, Angelita"…

 

"Oh, shit. Not again." He goes to the wall, and hits a communications panel. "Medical emergency, get someone down here NOW!!" "You... panic too... much..." she said, forcing her heart to pump; slowly, but it was pumping. "Angelita, do you need someone to come down?" a woman said through the communicator. "No...I'll be.. fine..." She forced herself to stand, but she still hand one hand on the desk and the other on her chest. Squall stands there in wonder. "What the heck is this then? And tell me this isn't natural. Cause this is too creepy." She chuckled a bit. "It's natural in the sense that it happens often enough. But it's caused by magic; a curse if you will." He stares at her. "Now I'm confused."

 

She stood up straight, her heart pumping on it's own now. "My father. The ass put it on me just to see me suffer. He had a bunch of lovers, but when he found out my mother was pregnant, he killed her, which landed me in an orphanage somewhere. While I was there, he placed it on me. I still don't understand how it works exactly, but whenever he's near me and I don't know it, that happens." Squall looks away. "Holy crap. Well that explains a lot." She nodded. "Well, it's kind of complicated." Squall looks back toward her. "Well it seems straightforward the way you put it." She looks straight at him. "You don't have to put up with it." Squall has just been thinking. "Huh, oh, well, umm... anyways, now that you know he's here, you think we should go out and kick his ass or something?"

 

She sighed and sat down. "Remember when we met; how the ground was all scorched and crap. That was because I was fighting a fake him. He used a talisman to copy himself. And that thing only has half his strength. So I really don't want to fight him at the moment. If I am going to fight him, I want to be at my best." Squall paces a bit. "Ahh, sounds like a hard ass. Any idea's then?"

 

Angelita looks away. "Gramps said something about finding my past first. I don't really understand what he meant. Only thing I can come up with is about two years of my past I can't remember." Squall looks at her. "And when were these years?” She looks back up at him. "When I was a kid. It was when I was at the orphanage. I can't remember anything that happened there." Squall sits next to her. "Well, do you remember which orphanage?" She looks in another direction. "All I remember is that it was on an island somewhere. The caretaker.... she always wore black... I can't remember her name though..." "Hmm..." Squall thinks to himself, that description sounds vaguely familiar. She sighed. "Well, maybe if I go back I'll remember something," she said crossing her arms. Squall stands up. "Well, I'll be happy to accompany you. When do you want to leave?" Angelita stands up as well. "First thing in the morning. I think after that battle, we all need to rest." Squall heads for the door. "Alright. I should probably see to my friends, their probably all released, well, except for Rhinoa, but that's a no-brainer." She nodded. "Go take care of your friends. I have a few things I need to do too." "Alright, and I'll see you in the morning."

Squall gets to the door, and leaves. Angelita goes over to her bed, downing some strange liquid and plops down on her bed and passes out. Squall returns to his room and checks on everyone. He then retires to a bunk and attempts to sleep, with little success. He keeps thinking on how this could have happened, and how Haruto could've learned of and used that attack.

 

The next morning, Angelita woke up and she did not want to do anything but sleep, but she didn't have much of a choice. She forced herself out of bed and got dressed. She readied her gunblade, spells and GF's and did a few stretches before heading to the cafeteria. Squall awakens, after a long mental struggle. He readies his equipment, and wakes the others. In the infirmary, Rhinoa is back up and running, and everyone is ready without difficulty. After a quick breakfast, they're all up on the surface with one of the garden's vehicles, which is multi-terrain. Angelita sets in the coordinates and off they went. Zell speaks up. "So, how all-terrain is this thing? Betcha it cant go through water."

"Zell, that's not a very good question to ask. But as long as we're asking questions, where exactly are we going?" "We're going to my orphanage. If nothing comes back, I've got another lead I can look up." She turned to Zell, "And yes, it can go on water." Zell sits back. "And that was supposed to be a stupid question." In the back of Squall's mind, this direction is seeming very, very familiar. After awhile of being on the water, they came across a small island with a white house on it. Angelita looked at the house, not really knowing what to expect. Zell speaks up. "Uhh, is it just me of is this familiar territory?"

Squall speaks first. "This is the orphanage where we were at as well. Maybe our meeting is not as much coincidence as it seems." "Maybe..." Angelita looked around, some memories coming back to her. She remembered how she used to pick on Seifer for being an ass and how she mainly kept to herself, but she socialized with one boy on occasion... but she couldn't remember whom. Squall leans back. "So many memories of this place..." "Glad someone remembers...." She sighed as most of her memories of this place were still hazy; she figured because she wasn't as much of a loner as she originally thought. Zell yells out. "Oh, c'mon! I remember this place like the back of my hand. There's the beach we all liked, and over there is where that one girl always hung out. Don't remember her name, but she seemed like she wanted to be isolated, unless of course Seifer was open for an ass treatment."

 

Angelita looked over to Zell. "That was me." Both Squall and Zell are giving blank stares. Irvine blinked. "Wait, didn't you hang out with Squall all the time?" Squall drops the stare. "Now that I think about it, I did hang around you at random times." Angelita nodded. "I'm starting to remember." She looked to Squall and the others. "Remember that one time we had to play together? We played truth or dare and my dare got Seifer in big trouble?" Irvine chuckled. "I remember that." Squall chuckles. "Yeah, that was sweet." Irvine smirks. "I remember the dare I gave you, Angie. Do you remember?" "Oh, I remember. I kicked your ass later that day for it too.

"I still don't get what Gramps meant though.." They all get off and Squall helps everyone down. "Well, lets keep looking then." Angelita nodded and she looked around the old orphanage, more memories coming back to her. Squall walks around, mentally trying to get the thought of that dare out of his head. Angelita continued looking around, most of her memories have returned, but she still didn't get what Gramps meant. Why did she need to remember what happened here? Squall comes up "Any luck?" "Not with figuring what grandpa meant..." Zell yells from inside. "Guys, check it out! The kitchen still has food in it!" Quistis goes over and asks. "What's there?" Zell is acting like he's on top of the world for finding this. "Well, I wouldn't trust the fridge, but the pantry is stuffed with all kinds of things."

"Zell, why are you even in the kitchen? You haven't cooked a day in your life." Angelita couldn't help but chuckle. It kind of reminded her of her first days in the garden she now runs. "Maybe..." she thought. "Maybe?..." Squall echoes. "Sorry, just thinking aloud." She shook her head; she wasn't sure so she didn't want to voice it just yet. Squall starts walking toward the kitchen. "Take your time. I'm gonna get Zell away from the kitchen before everything is gone."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay." As Squall went to get Zell, she stood there, leaning against the wall. She starts thinking Gramps.... do you doubt my abilities that much.... or is to make me stronger? In the background we hear the others. "Zell, step away from the pantry" "C'mon, I got this great idea from a show I watched a few years ago." "Exactly, YEARS." Angelita pondered her thoughts but couldn't help but chuckle as she heard Zell make a fool of himself. Okay, Gramps. I'll give it a shot. Still going on in the background. "Zell, if you get out of here, we won't bash you for making a fool of yourself anymore." "Zell, I've tasted the last thing you made, and it didn't taste at all. Give it up." Zell gives up. "Alright, but that promise has to be kept." "Guaranteed. Quistis mumbles “after your next 5 screwups." Angelita smiled a bit when a memory came to her. Quietly, she walked out the back and onto the beach they all used to go to. Looking around, she tried to remember exactly were she hid it. Zell yells at Quistis. "I heard that!"

"Zell, how about you go and help Rhinoa. I still don't think she's fully healed yet." Zell gives up. "Okay." A few seconds pass "Uh, guys, where'd Angelita go?" Quistis answers. "Probably to the beach". Angelita was still on the beach. Her memories were fuzzy so she was having a hard time trying to find what she had hid here so long ago. She shook her head at how shy she was back then; no wonder she forgot all about it. Squall is heard in the background. "I'll have somethin ready in no time." Angelita began walking towards the end of the beach; it was then the idea came to her. She looked down at the crashing waved then walked into them, not caring about her pants and boots getting wet. She crouched down and began digging into the wet sand. We hear Zell in the background. "You think I should help her?" Quistis replies. "I don't know. But if she says she wants to be left alone, you better well do it, or she may kick your ass worse than Siefer's was ever kicked"

 

Angelita smiled slightly as she found what she was looking for. She pulled up the box she had buried underneath the sand all those years ago. She brushed off the sand and debated about opening the box, but as of right now, she thought it best not to; she knew the others were watching or something. Zell comes, casually walking, trying to look like he is just wandering. "So, how's it goin?" Angelita stood up, the box under her arm. "Think I'm finally getting the idea of what Gramps meant, but I'm not entirely sure." Zell nods "Cool." Squall yells from the house "CHOW'S ON". Angelita blinked. "He could actually make something?" Zell pouts "Don't ask me, I wanted to make something, but I got booted out." "Go figure," she smirked. Squall comes to the door. "C'mon, it's getting cold!" Do I dare to try it? She sighed and went inside; she might as well see what he made. Outlaid on the table was a big pot, full with noodles in a thick liquid.

"I learned this one during my first days at Balamb. It may look bad, but its good, and can be made in a hurry." Angelita was just sort of staring; she wasn't really used to upper world food. Squall comes up "C'mon, its not that bad." "I'm.... just not used to it..." "Believe me, its better than some of the stuff we've had in the past several months. Just try it." To try to make her less freaked out; he takes a bowl and starts to fill it, then starts eating it. "If you want there's some spices in the kitchen."

 

Angelita made herself a small bowlful and tried it. It was okay but she still preferred her garden's recipes. "See, for what I had on hand this stuff isn't bad, is it?" "Guess not." They ate for a while, Angelita poking hers for most of the time. The reason Angelita was poking at her food was because there was a lot on her mind. What would she do if they ran into her father while they were up here? The bastard was talented at tormenting her like this and she hated it. Squall finishes, and takes his dishes into the kitchen area. The others soon follow, and all the dishes are cleaned in short order. Afterwards, they are all grouped in the main living area.

"So, have we accomplished what we came for or what?" "Yeah... I think so..." She still had the box with her and she was kind of thankful no one had asked her what it was. "I CALL SHOTGUN!" "Don't even try it." Angelita shrugged and just left the orphanage and got back into the vehicle and waited for everyone else to get in. Everyone piled in, and sat in the silence of the engine as they returned to the garden.