Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Iron roses ❯ Regenerated ( Chapter 7 )

*sorry for the format, I had problems with my winword and the paragraphs are awful * sob *

Disclaimers sucks but I do not own anything BUT the disclaimer *bows*

Chapter 7: Regenerated

Squall's eyes fluttered close as Zell held him hard against his hard-muscled

chest. Hands securaly clasped around the young blonde's shoulder, squeezing

him against the brunette like there was no tomorrow. Zell's teeth clenched

as he felt the sharp pain of fingernails practically drawing blood from his

flesh. Squall felt incredibly good in his friend's arms. Zell was warm and

confident, and completely devoted. Listening to the martial artist's

heartbeat and serene breathing, Squall allowed himself to briefly relax his

body and mind down, and immediatly broke into an insane fit of loud sobs,

coughs and murmured words.

Squall couldn't remember the last time he cried. In fact, he was practically

certain last time, he was a baby crying for his diaper to be changed. Years

and years of unsaid pain, frustration, hate, anger, despair, all of them

formed a huge knot inhis throat, tasting like bile and vinegar. It seemed

like all those emotions were slowly oozing from every cell in his body. Like

oil separated from water. When the knot was too painful for him to bear

with, he'd throw his head backward in a swift yet graceful movement and

screamed, screamed like something was tearing apart his insides.

Zell's eyes widened at the sight of his tortured commander. Althought he

knew Squall hid lot of things, he never ever believed his burden could be

so painful on his shoulders. Soon enough Zell's sky orbs watered in reply, and

soon enough both of them were shedding tears and despair on each-other's

shoulder. Squall distractly felt Zell's wet cheeks against his face, felt

Zell's soft sobs rumble from his chest through his throat and erupt from

his moist lips.

"Why...why are you crying?" Squall asked, dumbstuck by his friend's reaction.

"I uh....I don't really know...I...couldn't help myself." Came Zell's

awkward voice over his head. "I never seen you cry before."

"I never seen myself cry before. First time."

"How does it feel?"

"Hurt. I feel like my head wants to burst."

"You'll feel better after. You'll sleep like a baby."

"And tomorrow everything will be back. Cid will be back trying to tie me

up in there. Rinoa will be back trying to stick me with her..."

"Rinny? I thought you two were..."

"No we aren't. She is. I never wanted to."

"But she told the whole Garden!"

"And she didn't told me. Zell, she was the first face I saw when I woke up

in Deling City Hospital. She took care of me like a mother, sleeping on the

couch in my room rather than in her own, feeding me when I was took weak,

walking me around the place, chatting with me at night until I doze

off...she was my pillar. My best friend. But she loved me, she fucking loved

me like mad. And I was too blind, too weak, to see that foolish spark in

her eyes each time..."

Squall's speech was broken by another fit of loud sobbing, as the knot in

his throat once more asked for release. Zell only held him tigher, letting

him pour some more tears and angst on his already soaked shirt.

"And of course," Squall was finally able to speak, "She thought I loved her

back. I didn't turned her off when she hugged me, I listened to her, talked

to her...and I was her knight after all. I saved her...and what else could

I do??"

Squall had frantically cried out the last part, like he was eructing a sharp

blade from his throat.

"When she kissed me, I couldn't even think of not kissing back after all

she has done. She had me curled around her finger. She had me convincing myself

that I loved her back. I..."

"You never loved her?" Zell's quiet, near-murmuring voice asked.

"I don't know. I know I liked her, a lot, but I never had the time to think

about it...but I pretended, I pretended for her, so she wouldn't be

heartbroken after all she has done for me. I pretended everything, Zell,

can you believe it? I had sex with her pretending I was making love, I listened

to her talking about our life together, projects, future...when there was

absolutely no future for us. I just lied. I'm a fucking bastard..."

Zell was left speechless. From the moment they had met, Zell had been

absolutely certain Squall and Rinoa would end up together. No questions

there. Squall ran up to her through space when she got in trouble, Rinoa

asked to have his Griever ring copied...

"Zell?" Came Squall's murmur in his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"You're my best friend. Can I tell you something?"

" 'course, you know you can tell me anything you want."

"I think I'm gonna leave."

The announcement hit the young blonde like thunderbolt.

"WAA?? Ya're not gonna leave Garden, aren't you?"

Squall paused, head still hanging down. Zell's hand moved to cradle the

brunette's chin and gently lifted his head toward his. The blonde was

surprised to meet a rock-hard gaze, full of anger and determination.

"Cid's not gonna let me go. He threatens to kick me out of Garden. That's

what kept me so far. But I'm tired. Tired of that fucking shenanigan that

my life is turning into. What a pitiful hero. Trapped between his former father

figure and his forced girlfriend. Anything would be better than that. And

Quistis...we don't even know where she might be! Cid's not gonna let anyone

out now. He's too pissed I let Seifer go on his own."

"Seifer's a blue Seed. He is permitted to take such initiatives."

"Cid's convinced I forced him into leaving."

"Cid can go fuck himself dry."

"Good, now you can go and explain it to him..."

Both chuckled lightly, enjoying the presence of each other.

"Squall..." Zell began, then paused.

"Yeah?"

"I'll help you pack. We better hurry before Rinny comes over and catch us."

"Thanks, Zell."

"You're welcome. I'll keep you updated on the Garden's affairs. And you know

what? Cid won't know anything about it. Our little secret"

Zell kept his eyes into his. His lower lip was still slightly trembling from

ealier tears. Digging through his very soul.

So he saw his commander was fully aware of what he was doing, when he slowly

pushed Zell's body against the cold tile of the tub and settled his body

on top of his, legs on either sides of his hips. Squall's mouth then lazily

descended from his forehead to his own, where he took Zell's lips in a

smooth embrace.

Zell was surprised his eyes hadn't popped out of his orbits when Squall had

pushed him against the tub, his intentions quite obvious. But he was even

more surprised how the touch of his friend and commander felt, in many ways,

right, and perfectly normal. Given, Zell was an assumed gay, and feeling

a man's body pressed to him wasn't anything new to him. But Squall had always

been off-limits, to a point where Zell had always preferred to hide his

sexual preferrence to the brunette, which was pretty easy since Squall

tended to be quite prude about his relationships and others. He didn't hid

it because he felt ashamed, he as hell did not. But because he knew the

already reluctant young man could be scared away at any of his friend's

display of affection for him.

Did Squall figured him out, or did he just took a chance? In both ways, it

felt like a dream, quite a wet one, coming to life under the brunette's

ardent touch.

As Squall sought entrance between Zell's lightly flushed lips, his wandering

hands began untucking the blonde's shirt from his baggy pants until they

were allowed to freely runs over his trained chest and stomach. Zell

clenched his muscles under the caresses, and moaned softly. Their kiss had

grew into a deep, rough contest for dominance, punctuated with both boys'

deep moans.

At Squall dismay, It was Zell who ended it when the electricity between the

two men reached a peek. It wasn't the time for it. Not here, not now. His

strong fists lightly pounded against Squall's shoulders, elicing no reaction

from the commander who kept fiercely stabbing Zell's mouth. Zell sneaked

his hands between their joined chests and violently pushed them apart. Squall

flew a good meter away before bonking on the floor, panting and very

crimson.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, face crunched like he had eaten something very sour.

"I'm not." Zell quickly replied, a cocky grin playing on his lips. "And I

will do it again. But it's not the time for play. If you want to go then

go, and quick."

Squall smiled at the perky blonde and accepted the hand he offered to help

him standing up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xXXx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seifer felt like shit. He was pretty sure he smelled the same, too. But the

investigation was starting to get seriously interesting, well interesting

enough for him to take a few hours away from the train station and get a

room in Galbadia hotel with a computer terminal. In fact, he had no choice.

Calling Squall's personal phone line only resulted in a "busy" beeping, and

he needed to contact the boy, and quick. Plus, he had to visit the polie

central of the city for help, and his stained and ripped clothes weren't

exactly the type of uniform that granted you an access in a police central.

He was now pretty sure there existed a link between the strange skinhead

character of the train station and Quistis' disapearrance. After gaining

access to several police archive, thanks to his new blue SeeD rank, Seifer

quickly found several unsolved disappearances that matched the for mer

instructor's. Gone without a trace while travelling to another city. Only

in the Galbadia territory, fifty disappearances occured in the same

circumstances. The policemen said they preferred not to announce a possible

link between them, and kept the information locked away from the medias.

When Seifer asked about similar cases in other regions, he had been

seriously answered they had no idea, that the Galbadia Police Department

was independant from the other police forces and didn't need any help from

'potentially threatening' regions.

"If you let them get into our private files, Hyne himself knows what they

could do with it." Added the Sergent who lead him through the files. "Even

you, as a Balamb Island citizen, might be considered as suspicious for some

of my men. It's truly a favor we are giving you, hope you'll remember that."

Seifer left the Police Central more bitter than ever. Hyne, no wonder why

Galbadian people preferred to hire SeeDs rather than using their policemen

and soldiers! At least, the three Gardens kept close watch on eachother's

cases, and helped each other! How fucking paranoid the world was getting?

Back at the hotel, Seifer had also finally allowed himself to have a long,

hot bath and several hours of deep dreamless sleep under fluffy covers. He

was happy that for a few hours, his weariness had been too intense for him

to conjure the image of Quistis inside in his head. Of course it didn't

lasted. As soon as his eyes opened on a new day, the familiar face stabbed

through his memory like the sharpest dagger. As hard as he tried to keep

his mind blank and efficient, he couldn't forget Quistis might already be a

cadaver right now. And even if he still refused this idea, each hour passed

without her increased his torment.

If only he had been there for her. Maybe all this wouldn't have happened?

Who knows...

Sighing, he crashed in front of the monitor and dialed the Garden's private

access. The Garden's logo showed up, and Seifer typed Squall's username and

password giving access to his private information.

Much to his dismay, the screen only showed an error page.

Seifer blinked and typed the username and password again.

Error page. The SeeD user you requested is no longer attending this Garden.

"The fuck??" Seifer yelled at the monitor.

After four more attempt, Seifer had to face the truth. Squall seemed to no

longer be a part of Balamb Garden. Then what happened?

Seifer swore several times and logged into his own page. The message box

flashed with several unchecked mails. Most of them advertisements for the

Garden Festival (Damn you, Selphie!) Seifer noticed two of them were sent

by a certain "Bouncy Wuss"

Zell?

Seifer was surprised to receive anything else from a virus or a threat from

the hyperactive blonde. Althought he seemed to take the nickname Seifer had

granted him with humor, Seifer knew better. They never got along very well,

even though Seifer held no particular grudge against him. He just loved

picking on him, and he loved it too much to considerate building a

friendship with the marital artist. Out of curiosity more than anything

else, Seifer clicked on the mail and waited for it to load.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------

From: Bouncy Wuss <Chicoboking@balambgarden.com

To: <Fire_Cross@balambgarden.com

Date: Wed, August 22th 1500, 1320 pm

Seifer,

The kitten is gone. Please keep an open nest for it, it is going to need

you.

I'll stay in contact, don't worry.

Chickie

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------

Seifer instantly knew what it was all about. Squall had left Garden and was

coming over. Zell would assume the contact part Squall had just gave up,

which was just natural since he was Squall's best friend and the only other

trustable person in the whole Garden. Considering the disguised message

using the nickname only Zell used for Squall, Cid had to be kept away from

this for as long as possible. Which had probably already been blown,

considering the disapearrance of Squall's page on the Balamb Garden's

network.

The blonde checked his watch: Squall had been gone for nearly seven hours.

Depending of the mean of transportation he chose, he was either already or

about to arrive in Deling City.

Seifer sighed and briefly wondered where all this was leading them. But it

was no time for it. Squall needed him.

Sliding his new, dark gray trench coat over his build frame, Seifer walked

out of the room and joined the moving crowd outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xXXx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This morning, Quistis was awoken by the sweet smell of her favorite

beverage, coffee, and roasted bread. A tray had been put on her bedside

table, covered with several plates of toasts, eggs and sausages, fruits and

cheese. Along with the coffee came a small bottle of orange juice, and some

milk. At first the view of this pile of food only succeeded in turning her

fragile stomach upside down, but soon enough, the lingering smell of melted

butter and fried eggs made her hunger awoken.

She sat up amongst the sheets and pillows, and as her vision focused found

out she wasn't alone, not at all. The room was filled with three bed, and

three bedside table, all of them identicals, and nothing else, except the

sickening whiteness of the floor, walls and ceiling. The sheets she had just

slept in smelled strongly of medicine and detergent, but they were also

covered in brownish spots, probably blood stains.

"Do you give me some?" A childish voice, thin like a silver chord, asked

from below.

Quistis jumped at the sound. Since she had arrived here, nobody had directly

talked to her. Sometimes about her, and always hard, demanding voices. This

little bell of a voice almost brought tears to her eyes. She lowered her

head and met a huge mop of knotted blonde hair, a pair of sleepy eyes and

a slight smile. The young girl had only an oversized hospital shirt on, and

was pathetically rubbing her eyes. So cute, what was she doing there?

"I think they're for all of us", Quistis replied, motionning to the other

bed where a woman slept soundly.

"Oh good, I'm really hungry," and with a sweep of her tiny body, the child

sat on the bed beside Quistis, suddenly pretty awake. The fork dove directly

into the pile of food and tore off big chunks of unidentified stuff the girl

eagerly swallowed without even chewing.

"Hey, easy there," Quistis laughed. "You wouldn't want to choke on it,

wouldn't you"

"No ma'am," The little blondie replied, spitting half-munched pieces of

toast.

Quistis smiled at her and joined the massacre with another fork.

When they were both satiated, Quistis sighed heavily and fell backward on

the thick mattress. Much to her surprise, the child hastily followed her

move and laid herself beside the SeeD, one bare arm encircling her waist,

and her head glued to her shoulder. Quistis didn;t made any move to push

her away, feeling actually pretty good in her warm, innocent embrace.

"What's your name?," The child's silver-bell voice asked.

"Quistis Trepe. You?"

"Erin Bord"

"For how long have you been here?"

"Maybe a week. I followed the gentle boy. He sometimes comes to see me. I

really miss him when he's gone. You know him?"

Quistis forced the foggy memory out of her mind. "Yes, I think he brought

me here too. But I don't remember him very much."

"His name's Allen. I don't know his family name. He took me away from my

Ma in Deling City's train. We were on our way to my grandma in FH."

"That's horrible...You must miss you ma a lot, aren't you?"

"No..."

"No?" Quistis' voice grew with incredulity.

"I love my Ma, but she treated me like a baby. Allen told me I was gifted.

I don't know what is it, that gift, but he said that makes me special, and

I think Ma was trying to hide it form me. And that's not fair!"

She had punctuated the last sentence with exagerated nods.

"Since I am here," Erin resumed, "they taught me lots of tricks. I want to

learn how to do more tricks! I'll be very special! Allen says I'll go back

to Ma when I'll be very special. I miss her, but I want to be special."

Quistis' head was spinning after such a speech. But the little girl's face

was litterally glowing with excitement and happiness. Apparently she hadn't

been hurt in the process. Maybe those bastards had some heart, after all...

"Where are you hair gone?" Erin asked, raising a golden eyebrow.

"My hair? They're......uh...they're gone because...because I needed space

to store my gift."

The child bursted in a fit of giggles. "Nah, seriously? You're gifted too?"

"Well I guess so, since I'm sharing your room. And the other girl there,"

She gestured toward the black-haired woman sleeping, "She's probably gifted

too. They put us in the same room so we can be special together."

Erin stayed silent for a while, thoughtful.

"Well," She finally said, "That haircut sure make you very special from the

start!"

Quistis giggled along with the blondie. Still holding her precious frame

against her, Quistis felt herself relax to the point of falling into slumber.

Erin already has, and she was dreaming of her triumphant return to her

family, transfigurated by her "special" powers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xXXx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Kitchen, Alitas pecked out of the window for the tenth time in five

minutes. The sun was slowly rising over the mountains, and Obel lake, calm

in the windless dawn, glittered with the faint light. Allen had left for

nearly ten hours, and was probably about to appear, his body a mere shadow

in front of the sun. Hopefully, followed by another shadow.

She always felt a strong anxiety each time she knew he was about to come

back home. What if he didn't? What if something happened in the way to

Deling, or to Trabia, or Balamb? Allen was a big boy, he was used to his

travelling, and he was deviously clever. But he was a kid, HER kid. The only

left for her when Ultimecia decided to mess up with the world-and failed

miserably because of her sorry lack of perspective, and her overinflated

ego. Thanks to Hyne and to Allen, she wouldn't follow this path. She knew

exactly what her weaknesses were. As she knew where her strong points layed.

And as she worked to repare the weak points, she also made sure to empower

the strong ones even more. She would be ready, when the day comes.

The problem was, she wasn't as powerful as she needed to be. Althought she

apprenticed under Adel's supervision as a young girl, the sorceress didn't

taugh her long enough to have her included her in her "testament", meaning

she hadn't inherited any of the sorceress' power when she passed away. Damn

these rebel scums, and that Laguna, pityful copy of a copy of a copy of a

president! Adel was probably a few weeks away from choosing her when he

locked her up in space and turned Eshtar into a mushy hedonistic pit of

powder blue wimps. Then Ultimecia got the prize, and then that hysterical

wench, Rinoa. Alitas had met her before. And she already knew the

black-haired girl had nothing that great sorceresses were made of. She won

the lottery out of pure luck and she spilled her powers like rainwater.

Oh well. At least she wasn't dangerous. Of all the threats against her

project Alitas could think. Rinoa Heartilly was the last, very last one.

Exactly three hundred twenty-three people had been brought to her, and there

were currently twenty-five of them in the installations. Meaning two

hundreds ninety-eight bodies were buried on the vast property she had

acquired for this sole purpose. To her own surprise, police was very slow

to react. Gaia's most important regions, Dollet, Galbadia, Trabia and Centra,

were fiercely protectionnists and suspicious toward each others. Plus, Allen

had lately been warned to direct his hunts toward the poorest areas of the

places he visited, places where death was more of a random event.

They were just starting to link the disappearances. In fact, they were so

scared to create a public psychosis that they hardly ever spoke about the

possibility of this link. Alitas was pretty sure they paid the families to

keep their mouth shut, too. In any case, it would soon be over. Over the last few

weeks, her son had brought back quite a pack of very interesting preys, some of them

practically jewels. She was a few days away from the final result. How she

ached to finally be able to keep her boy near her, everyday, every night.

He would never suffer anymore. He was so innocent, so sweet. He was actually

believing he did this for those people's sake. Snatching the poors to offer

them a new life, in harmony with their auras. Taking the childs away from

their parents to teach them to use their auras, just as a prestigious

private school would do. She hated to lie to him. But she had to.

The kettle whistled and blew away her dreamland. Alitas Settled the tea cups

on the table, along with the usual jars of jam and a bowl of fresh fruits.

Allen would be hungry when he'd come back. Then, he'd have some rest while

she'd visit the installations with her scientists. The day before, they had

conducted an experiment on a young woman Allen snatched from Deling City

train station. The amount of aura they had extracted from her was

phenomenal, and they could already tell she was far from empty. In fact,

they had discovered the woman had the hability to "recharge" her aura when

put to rest. Her drained body on evening would wake up vigorous and vibrant

in the morning. Such fascinating perspective she offered.

If that woman truly held the secret of regeneration...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xXXx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The term "aura" I use in this fic have absolutely nothing to do with the

game's aura spells! It's the word I chose to define the quantity of magical

power a person hold in his/her body.