Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Darker Shade of Night ❯ Restless Nights ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three

Restless Nights

If Squall had thought that events had been rough earlier that day, it was nothing compared to later that night. He had never fallen asleep easily; in the years past, the seclusion of the night usually got him thinking at almost unhealthy levels, plunging him into depths of his mind that made sleep uneasy and restless. Lately, the nighttime pondering had not been as bad, mainly since a lot of his troubled memories were put into clearer focus during the Neo Sorceress Wars… Not to mention, having Rinoa by his side at night was a constant comfort, the type of soul soothing that a child felt when sleeping with their favorite teddy bear.

But what was it about tonight that was so…different? That made it seem so much worse than what he remember them to be? Perhaps it was from the attack earlier that day. The site of a healthy, fell-grown Behemoth turning to dust before his eyes would have been an unsettling sight to anyone who might have witnessed it. Or maybe it was because that every fiber of his being was as stiff as a board, groaning in protest if he did no much as blinked an eye. Whatever it was, it kept him from getting the sleep he so needed that night…or so he thought. When Rinoa tried to prod him awake at three in the morning, it told him otherwise.

"Squall."

"Ng…" Squall muttered into the pillow, but did not open his eyes.

Rinoa shook his shoulder again, this time with a little more force. "Squall." She repeated his name, a little more firmly, but this time he did open his eyes, finally crawling out of the sleep that he had not realized he had fallen into. The room was almost completely black except for the thin strip of moonlight that illuminated the silhouettes of few pieces of furniture they had, and brought out the delicate features of Rinoa's attractive face in soft silver light and the concerned look it wore at that moment.

"Rinoa?" His voice was slurred, thick with sleep…or lack thereof. He tried to roll over to face her, but his body felt as if it were made of stone and only responded to his command as a single painful ache. He gave up the fight to roll over quickly; he just did not have the energy to fight it. "What's wrong?"

"It's not me, it's you." The concern was even more clear in her voice. "You've been tossing and turning for hours now. You were talking in your sleep. It sounded like you were having a nightmare?"

"Nightmares?" Squall repeated, then snorted. "I don't get nightmares, Rin."

"This certainly sounded like one. You were calling out for me and Ellone… You were asking us not to leave you alone, that you couldn't be alone in the world again. You…sounded so afraid. I never heard you that afraid before."

Squall said nothing to this, remaining, if possible, even more still than he did before. Rinoa may not have known the Commander of SeeD as long as her other friends did, but there were still certain traits about him that not even they knew yet. Had Squall denied that he was afraid, he would have protested it as soon as the word left her lips. But since he was now remaining silent… Rinoa felt her heart grow heavy with sympathy as she lay down next to him again, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him close to her body. "Squall…you're not alone, you know. I'll always be here for you; me and Ellone. And even we're not here right away…the others will be. You were never alone Squall, and you never were."

To Rinoa's relief, she felt her fiancé slowly reach up a hand to grasp her own in an acknowledging squeeze. "It will be all right, Squall. Try to get some rest."

But neither of them slept very well that night.

* * *

On most occasions, Irvine slept like a log when we was finally out, but tonight was somehow different. When this should be a time when he should have been sleeping to regain his lost energy back, between the events of today and the other smaller missions that he had to complete beforehand, he found it, even in the world of unconsciousness, that it seemed to be impossible. It was turning out to be one of those annoying cases that no matter what position he lay in, he could not seem to get comfortable for the world. Every joint was aching, and the ghostly yet clear images that floated across his mind in his dream-like state were not helping the situation. Not just dreams, he later realized; memories that he had thought he had buried with his happy life, but were resurfacing like some monster at the bottom of the ocean. Memories of a small, dark-haired girl being led away from the place she called home, being led away from him, as Matron held him back from going after her. Images of a spinning Carrousel Clock shining down on Deling City, down on a parade complete with fireworks and brightly colored, flame-lit floats. Of a very familiar woman in a black dress… And him…with a gun… and the bullet…

That was why he was grateful that he woke up when he did when he realized that there was someone else in bed with him.

It felt as if Irvine had been pulled out of the twilight of sleep by the scruff of his neck, uncomfortable and unpleasant, but when he saw who it was laying beside him, he felt himself physically and mentally relax by a great bit. He was only slightly surprised to see Selphie curled up next to him, mainly because she certainly had not been there when he had fallen asleep. Although they had been together for nearly four years, they still slept in their own dorm rooms for the majority of the time. Selphie had made it perfectly clear long ago that just because they had been together for an extended amount of time, she still believed in the old tradition that sex should be saved until marriage. And as frustrating as it was, Irvine had complied to it, out of respect for her decision and, more importantly, because he loved her too much to risk loosing her due to his urging hormones.

Just because Selphie wanted to wait did not make her completely indifferent in their relationship. It was not at all uncommon for them to spend the night in one another dorm rooms. One of the features about his butterfly that he loved the most was how good it felt to just talk to her, which he felt he could do forever. There had not been too many other girls in the past who just liked to talk to him. So, of course, their conversations would sometimes carry late into the night, and why go back to your dorm when it was better to spend the night in the arms of you lover?

But tonight…tonight was the first time since they were children that Irvine had awoken to find Selphie had crawled into bed with him.

"Sefie?" He questioned softly, lightly brushing the back of his hand across her cheek. The small girl made a soft noise in the back of her throat as her sleepy green eyes opened, widening in surprise as she took in her surroundings.

"Irvy? What are you doing here?"

Irvine could not help but chuckle. "I didn't go anywhere. You're the one who came to me."

Selphie was silent for a moment, thinking, the process slowed by her tiredness. "I don't remember coming here."

"You must have been sleep-walking, then. The door's still open." Reaching over his girlfriend, he groped around in the darkness until he found a shoe near the foot of his bed and threw it at the open doorframe. To hell with trying to get up. It hit the wood with a good, solid thunk with enough force to close it. And who cared if it woke anyone else up. He doubted anyone had been sleeping well lately, anyway. The cowboy fell back to the mattress with a sigh, and immediately felt Selphie snuggle up to him. "Sefie? Are you okay?"

Again, it took her a moment to respond. "I…I don't know. For some reason…I just feel afraid tonight. Like I said, I don't remember coming here, but I just don't want to be alone tonight."

"I bet you were having nightmares. You used to do that when we were kids, remember? You had a bad dream, you would always come and sleep in my bed." Silence once again fell in the tiny room. "I could never figure out why."

"Maybe…maybe it was because you were the only one I could go to. I mean, think it about it; Quistis would have scolded me. Seifer would have made fun of me. Zell would have gone to Matron. Squall was…well, Squall… and Ellone was usually busy with him. You were the only other one I could really go to. Besides…" Her voice trailed off as she pulled herself closer to him. "I always felt safest with you."

At her words, Irvine smiled into the darkness, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Glad I was there to help." He whispered into her hair.

Even though she felt calmer being with him, not even Irvine could protect Selphie from the disturbing images that floated across her mind when the uneasy sleep finally claimed her again. Images of a broken and charred Trabia Garden, and her unable to do anything but watch the deadly assault of missiles that rained down from above.

* * *

Quistis stared blankly at the wall opposite of her, her pencil falling and rebounding off the surface of her desk in an endless, mindless manner. She had given up on trying to fall asleep hours ago, since it obviously was not going to happen, and decided that maybe doing some paperwork would bore her enough to help out. But now she regretted that decision, since the figures she saw on the paper before her had scared any sort of tiredness she might have felt. She did not like these figures that she was seeing. According to her attendance record, the number of junior candidates appearing for not only her class, but all classes, had dropped by almost sixty percent. If everything else that had been going on had been a bad sign, then this was an omen, and it shook her to the core. What was even worse was that they still did not know how to counter it. What if this so-called "flu"…turned fatal? Oh great, merciful Hyne…

A second sound joined that of her pencil, but this one was much louder; a harsh rapping sound on her door that made her jump a good three feet out of her chair. It took her a moment to collect herself and realize that it was just someone knocking on her door. With a sigh, the esteemed instructor of Balamb Garden rose from her desk, smoothing out a fold in her nightgown and pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose, trying to regain some of her composure. It was not as if there was some horrible monster on the other side of her door. Besides, she had a feeling that as this time of night, there would only be one person who would dare to call on her at this hour.

Her previous thoughts of a monster being on the other side of the door almost made her laugh when she finally did open it and saw exactly who it was standing there. She was, thankfully, able to suppress her laughter into a mere smirk, but not enough to keep her caller from noticing.

Seifer rose a questioning eyebrow at her. "Am I really that amusing?"

"No, no, it's not that." Quistis said, a few giggled escaping in her words. "Just something occurred to me."

The former Knight decided to let the subject drop. As highly acclaimed and mature as her reputation was, there were times when his girlfriend was downright weird. "So, are you going to invite me in or what?"

"That's a first. I don't think that you ever actually asked permission before. You hardly ever knock." It was Quistis' turn to raise the eyebrow, but Seifer merely shrugged and strolled past her, sitting down in the desk chair that she had occupied only moments before. "Hey, I was kind of using that."

"Sure you were." Seifer said in slight mockery. He knew her well enough that if she got up to answer the door, then she was not fully immersed in her paperwork. There were sometimes he wondered that if she would notice if someone set off a bomb in her office when she was really focused on her work. But still, he began to sift through the scattered sheets on her desk, looking over one with a long list of student's names. "Are these the present or the absent?"

"The absent, if you can believe it." The blonde said, leaning against the doorframe and massaging her eyes behind her glasses. "I don't know what to do. And don't get any ideas, they're not ditching. Most of those are the kids that are too bed-ridden to do anything."

Seifer held up his hands in a defensive position. "I wasn't thinking about anything! I know what's going on, I know these kids aren't cutting class for sport. Besides, the kids are getting a little smarter than not going to class because they don't feel like it. Half of them are scared shitless of Fujin and Raijin."

"Big surprise there."

"Seriously, Quis, have you heard about what some of these kids are resorting to? Just a few days ago Raijin had some piss-scared junior some up to him, spouting something about his roommate attacking him when he tried to open the window for some light. And I don't mean verbal. After he convinced Raijin to go calm him down, the kid had to go to the Doctor's office to have one hell of a bruise taken care of. Gave Raijin a run for him money, too. And this isn't the first time this has happened, either. They're getting violent, living in complete darkness… You know that I would never say this unless I meant it, but this whole thing has my worried. Fujin and Raijin don't like it either, and…" The blonde man fell silent for a moment, worry shadowing his face. "They called in sick today. With…with the flu."

"So…it's getting worse, like in Esthar…" Quistis shuddered, hugging herself from some unseen creature. For once in her life, she felt completely exposed, and unprotected. Not even the embrace of Seifer's strong arms around her could ease that horrible feeling. But how could you hide, much less protect yourself, from an enemy that you could not even see?

* * *

"I'm sorry, Zell. There's nothing more I can do for her than I can do for any of my other patients." Dr. Kadowaki kept her voice quiet, so the girl in the next room could not here the news she was telling the martial artist.

Zell shuffled his feet where he stood, looking down solemnly at his trusty red sneakers. "Well… can't you give her what you've been given everyone else? Just so she doesn't panic?"

"Of course, but you do realize…that is all I can do…"

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, doc." Zell tried to not look quite so forlorn as he walked past the Garden doctor, into the room where Tashlin sat on the bed. His dark-haired girlfriend looked at him as he approached her, a small but unconvincing smile on his face. Zell felt his heart constrict; she looked absolutely horrible. Her normally neat hair, pulled back in its traditional pigtail, was disheveled, sticking up at all odd angels, and there were dark circles under her eyes, her eyes weak and scared. A faint ghost of a smile appeared on her pale lips when she saw the spiky-haired man reappear in the door.

"What did she say?" Although her voice had always been delicate, Zell had to strain to hear what she had to say now.

Zell swallowed the lump in his throat. If there was one thing he absolutely hated in this world, it was lying to his loved ones. "She…the doctor's getting you some medicine. Then all it will take is some rest before you get better." He tried to smile in reassurance, but he already knew that it looked terribly strained and unconvincing. And there was an underlying knowledge in Tashlin's dark eyes that suggested that she knew that he was bending the truth to help ease her fears.

The doctor appeared a moment later, holding a small green bottle in her hand, which she folding in Tashlin's pale fingers, giving her instructions on how much to take and when. With that done, Zell thanked the doctor, helped Tashlin rise from the bed, and proceeded in walking her down the hall, towards their dorms.

Zell received the call from her at three o'clock, but he barely recognized the Garden's librarian over the phone through her teary, apologetic voice, but he was barely able to make out the message; that she was sick, and that she was scared. It had taken him two minutes to get to her dorm after falling out of bed and into some decent clothing so he could take her to doctor Kadowaki's office. But even before they reached the infirmary, he was already fear the worse, and what he had been dreaded for several days now; that someone he cared about had fallen to this phantom illness.

The halls of Garden were completely desolate at this time of night, as they should have been, but Zell found the silence disturbing. With everything that had been going on in the last few days, he found that the more people that were around, the better he felt, even if it was just by a little bit. But, right now, everything just seemed so…deserted.

Empty.

Dead.

He shook his head violently a few times, clearing the word from his mind as fast as possible. No. Not dead. That definitely was not the right word to use at a time like this. He tightened his arm around Tashlin's shoulder as they continued to make their way back to the dorms, their footsteps echoing in the vast emptiness of the front hall. Neither of them spoke until they reached Tashlin's room.

"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" Zell asked tenderly as the librarian sank down onto her bed, looking down at her hands that were folded neatly in her lap. Zell knelt at the foot of her bed, folding his arms across her lap, looking up at her with big, concerned eyes.

"Would you…please?" Her voice was even more quiet than before. If there was one thing he knew well about her, it was that she certainly was not dense. Tashlin had been hanging around him and the orphanage gang long enough so that they did not have to keep classified information from her, and she knew just how serious and out of hand this situation was becoming. Unwittingly, her shoulders heaved slightly as a single tear splashed down onto her hands. "Zell…I'm scared…so scared…" The bottle of pills fell to the floor, to be intentionally forgotten, since they had no purpose.

At that time, Zell wished that he could do more than embrace her to ease her tears.

* * *

When Squall finally decided it was time to get out of bed the next morning, he could sense that there was something not right, although he could not put his finger on the exact cause. He looked out the window of his room, out onto the vast plains of Esthar, which was still gray from the thin light of dawn. That's when it hit him.

It was almost noon. Dawn had been over for nearly six hours.

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To Be Continued…

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Author's Note: Fwoo, I wrote this one all in one night! It would have been up sooner, but my last data CD ATE THE THIRD CHAPTER, so I had to write it all over again. So, what do you think? Do I have you in suspense enough yet? It was a little WAFFy at times, but it will pick up really soon. My favorite comment I got go far is still "What the HELL is going on?!", and I'm sure a lot of you are asking yourselves that same question, ne? Let me know!