Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Paradise ❯ The Departure ( Chapter 1 )

He sighed and chewed lightly on the end of his pen cap, dark chocolate eyes scanning the report.

 

“… Having difficulties, Commander?”

 

His eyes darted momentarily to Quistis, who was leaning over the desk and smirking knowingly. “Quiet,” he shot back, and returned to his reading.

 

Quistis chuckled inwardly, and remained quiet for a brief moment, the only sound in the room being that of the ticking of the clock in the office, which resembled a gunblade.

 

“Well, to summarize it, it simply states how we'll be building another sub-level onto the Training Centre, and I believe the sum for the costs of the project is highlighted at the bottom,” she said lightly, interrupting the peaceful quiet. Squall's eyes quickly jumped from the small-print paragraphs down to the bottom of the report, which read a number. A very large number.

 

“I suppose your eyes jumping out of your head indicates that it's pricey?” she jeered.

 

“Well… yes, but I think we can manage. Last month, we did get plenty of money from that mission in Deling.”

 

“Good, then I'll forward this to Xu and I suppose the construction can start in a few days. Mind you, we will have to shut down nearly half of the Training Centre, which means there will be far more monsters in the eastern divisions…”

 

“That's fine, we'll just inform the instructors to be extra careful when conducting lessons there. Thank you, you can go now.”

 

Quistis nodded and reached over the desk to collect the papers, strands of hair draping over as she did so. She perched her glasses on her head as she stacked the papers neatly, then looked up at Squall to see him gazing out the window, which was conveniently located next to his desk.

 

“Is everything alright?” the Instructor inquired, analyzing the brooding warrior.

 

Squall blinked quickly and looked back to his friend. “Yes, I'm just…”

 

“Worried about Rinoa?” she interrupted, frowning slightly and picking up the documents with both hands. Not waiting for a response, she continued. “It's for her own good, you know. Odine ensured us that after a year of training at the Shumi Village, her efficiency levels will--”

 

“She is not an automaton,” Squall interjected, crossing his arms and glowering at Quistis.

 

“Of… of course. I meant to say that she'll have a better handle on her power. It seems that after Ultimecia, she began to lose control again… about time, I'd say. It's been nearly a year, and without any decent help--”

 

“Yeah, I know. It's for the best,” the Commander responded pensively, and allowed his expression return to that of stoicness, returning his gaze to that of the window, which overlooked the entrance area of the Garden.

 

Quistis couldn't help but sigh as Squall had earlier. In reality, Odine had spoken to her with the same range of vocabulary as he usually did in person, his e-mail more like a novel than anything else. Unfortunately, Kiros wasn't there to help translate the scientist's words, so everyone pretty much gathered that it would take a year for Rinoa's training. But in reality, it might take longer. But Squall didn't need to know that, not now. It was the only light of hope in the entangling darkness that was the responsibility of now running the Garden. That Rinoa could return to him in just a matter of twelve months.

 

“Good,” she said meekly, and strode out of the office, the elevator doors shutting quietly behind her.

 

- - -

 

Irvine sighed in relief at the sight of the Cafeteria, a good amount of people as usual. His arms ached, his legs ached… pretty much everything ached. He cracked his neck and stretched luxuriously before continuing into the Cafeteria, beams of sunlight streamed in through the far-off windows, and overall it was just another day at the Garden, but perhaps this day was accented with hints of sadness.

 

Not wanting to stand in line for food, the sniper plopped himself down at a table and crossed his legs at the ankles, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. Perhaps he could lower his hat and take a short nap as he waited, he was pretty tired and…

 

“Afternoon!” came a cheerful voice, and suddenly Irvine felt his hat being lifted off his head.

 

He looked up to see Selphie wearing his cowboy hat, walking over to the other side of the square table and seating herself delicately, setting down a couple folders with a tray consisting of two muffins and a glass of lemonade on top of them.

 

“Huh, so you're done helping Rin pack and move stuff? That didn't take very long, I thought she had more stuff than that…”

 

“No,” Irvine replied sadly enough. “We started at 9:00 and worked right up until 14:00… I'm on a `well-deserved break', quoth the Sorceress,” he said with a tone of self-mockery, and groaned as he laid his head down on the table, turned and facing the food line still.

 

“Aww, poor thing…” Selphie commented. “Um… did you try junctioning Siren?” she asked, lowering her head so her chin was just millimeters above the table as she inspected Irvine with a faint smile.

 

Irvine thought momentarily, and then lifted his head. “She was being a bit talkative, so I unjunctioned her… too early in the morning for idle talk, especially with Rinoa constantly making sure I knew what goes where and some such.”

 

Momentarily, Irvine closed those gleaming violet eyes and dipped inside his conscience.

 

Hey there, Siren.

 

Is something the matter?

 

Er… nothing. Just a bit tired from helping Rinoa. Care to help out?

 

Of course, Sniper.

 

If guardians could portray emotion, most definitely Siren would have sounded a bit hurt from being suddenly unjunctioned that morning without so much of a goodbye. But instead of making a deal out of it, the guardian simply slid into junctioning, filling an empty part of Irvine's mind and filling his veins with a new power that comforted him. Why didn't he think of doing this earlier?

 

The gunner opened one eye to see Selphie piecing apart a blueberry muffin and popping the bite into her mouth as she opened a folder and overlooked some papers.

 

“Better,” Irvine found himself saying, flexing his fingers and sighing in relief as the ache washed away from his body with the waves of Siren's presence.

 

“I dunno about you,” Selphie said, still looking down at her folders and eating her muffin, “But I always have one of my guardians equipped during the day… helps me feel better and actually want to get work done, yeah?”

 

“Hah, so that's how you're always hyper,” Irvine replied along with a smile.

 

Selphie brushed away a couple crumbs that fell on her reading with the back of her palm, and looked up at her friend with a cheekish grin.

 

“Nah, I get that from my morning energy bars!” she said proudly, and giggled lightly as she returned to reading.

 

Suddenly, a chair slid out from under the table and a plate filled with a good amount of hot dogs landed on the surface of the table. With a great exhaling, a man with blonde locks sat down at their table and began taking off his leather, fingerless gloves.

 

“It amazes me you don't have an impressive tummy by now what with all you eat at lunch,” Selphie said out of the blue, and yawned casually as the blonde man turned to face her.

 

“Hah, not even a mountain of hot dogs could make me let it go!” he said proudly, and patted his hard stomach with a deft palm before smiling brightly and picking up his first hot dog.

 

“I don't understand your fascination with those hot dogs, Zell,” Irvine said soon after. “Or anyone else's, for that matter… yeah, they're good but they're not that--”

 

“—Shows what you know!” Zell interrupted between bites. He reached out for a bottle of ketchup and began dousing the 3/4 of the hot dog he had begun to scarf down. “I doubt Galbadia knew how to get this good a' food in the kitchen, so you're just not used to the amazing goodness that is the Balamb hot dog!”

 

“Amazing goodness, good one Zelly-boy!” Selphie chimed in.

 

Zell snorted as he chewed, leaning back and consuming happily. He leaned back in his chair and placed a very defined calf on the table, which Selphie dismissed by brushing his foot out of her personal space, causing his leg to fall back to the floor.

 

“So, how is Rinoa's packing going?” Zell managed to ask as he reached for Selphie's glass of lemonade, which had almost gone untouched since she'd arrived.

 

“Not so good,” Irvine admitted. “Who knew one woman could have so many things…”

 

“Rule of life,” Zell replied bluntly. “A woman's destiny is to collect as many useless things as possible just to make everyone else's lives just that more difficult.”

 

“Like you and your comics?” Selphie responded with a cute scowl, jabbing Zell in the ribs with the dull end of a plastic fork.

 

Zell emitted a protesting grunt and scooched back in to the table, picking up another hot dog which had the inevitable fate of going straight to the fighter's stomach.

 

“Anyway, I guess I should go get some food and head off… Rin will probably be expecting me back soon.”

 

“We're meetin' at the front gate for the send off at sunset still, right?” Zell asked, looking up at Irvine as he stood from the table.

 

“Right,” said Irvine, noticing the sudden sullen demeanor at the table at the mention of the farewell.

 

“Well, later,” the gunner said to break the awkward quiet and walked off to the line, tipping his hat momentarily to a pack of giggling girls who were observing him with giant, gleaming eyes.

 

- - -

 

She flinched slightly as her luggage rolled off the last step onto the main halls, taking a moment to pick up the rolling case slightly and drop it onto the carpet to keep it from catching. Her wavy hair was drawn back into a feathery ponytail, sweeping bangs hindering her vision only slightly. Head held high and eyes glistening, she traversed down the halls that led to the Dormitories and walked out onto the common floor of the Garden.

 

“Goodbye, Lady Rinoa. Hope to see you again soon!”

“We'll miss you, milady.”

“Don't forget to write!”

“Get lots of souvenirs, and make sure you get one for me!”

 

Rinoa only got more depressed as more people said their goodbyes, and she didn't even know some of these people. It felt as if she was going to space again, feeling as if she would never see these people… at least, that's how they were talking.

 

The Sorceress continued her walk around the circular path that branched off to the different parts of the Garden, looking around to make sure she got a real, lasting picture of everything before she would have to go into seclusion. Seclusion. A term that bore not only sadness, but happiness as well. For example, she wouldn't have to make routine trips to Deling City to meet annoying politicians, let alone pretend to be a loving daughter to her father. However, she wouldn't be able to see her friends for a long time, friends that saved her life countless times, friends that…

 

“Guh!”

 

Rinoa squeaked and held her forehead as she looked up slightly to see Nida.

 

“Oh Rinoa, it's you… listen, I…”

“It's okay, I wasn't watching where I was going.”

“No not that, I just wanted to say goodbye now, because I have to go teach a night class soon and can't--”

“Yeah, that's okay…”

 

In reality, Rinoa and Nida hardly spoke at all, although Nida was close with Squall and other top SeeDs in the Gardens, and should thus be connected quite well to Rinoa, but alas they never really got the chance to know each other. Which made the young Heartilly wonder why he was the way he was now.

 

“Rinoa, don't worry about the Shumi. Although they're a bit… uh… pugnacious, Sage Dryphus is pretty nice and is very experienced and stuff. Plus, the Village is nice and secluded so you won't have to deal with the cold and--”

“I like winter, especially snow. Kind of reminds me of the winters back at the Orphanage.”

“Oh… well… I'm sure they would let you go out and enjoy it, right?”

 

Rinoa just nodded.

 

“Well, just know that I'll look out for Squall and the others, always have. I'll try and get Xu to talk with the tribesmen to allow delivery of letters and that good stuff so you can still keep in touch with everyone.”

“Thanks, Nida. It means a lot to me.”

“Yeah, no problem…”

 

There was a brief silence as Nida itched the back of his head nervously, trying to think if there was anything else to say. Rinoa felt tears prick the back of her eyes, but she held them back, although her bottom lip was quivering slightly. This place had become her home, the memories she had shared with it finding its place deep in her heart, and she really didn't want to go. But she knew she had to, before things got out of hand and…

 

“Do you need help bringing your stuff out to the front?”

“Nope, this is the last of it, but thanks anyways.”

“Good… good… well, I guess this is goodbye.”

 

Rinoa simply nodded and smiled weakly, really wishing she hadn't bumped into Nida, because it just brought her that much closer to busting out in tears. For a moment Nida reached out and used his thumb to wipe off something on Rinoa's face, and when he drew his hand back she realized he had wiped off a fallen tear.

 

And with that, he simply walked off, leaving Rinoa to be alone once more.

 

- - -

 

Angelo growled and fought tirelessly with Irvine as he tried to pull a toy rope out of his hand. Irvine simply sat on the stonewall outside the front gates, hardly noticing the tug on his hand as he looked off towards the sunset.

 

“So, who gets to drive good ol' Rag up North?” came the usual cheery voice of Selphie.

 

“Squall would do it, but he has to stay behind for some sort of important meeting dealin' with Trabia…” Zell trailed off, now wondering himself who was driving the famed airship.

 

“Ooh, I wanna drive, I wanna drive!” squealed the hyperactive SeeD, bouncing and clapping happily.

 

“I believe Dmitri will be driving Rinoa up,” came a smooth voice as Quistis came down the sidewalk with a clipboard in one arm and a bottle of water held in-between the fingers that were supporting it.

 

“Who?” asked Selphie with a curious scratch of the head.

 

“I think it's someone who graduated last semester, right?” asked Irvine, who finally let go of the rope and jumped off of the wall. His eyes traveled to Squall and Zell, who were packing the back of the SUV which was to be driven to the landing site of the Ragnarock.

 

Quistis simply nodded, and her expression lit up when she saw Rinoa come through the gates to the drive, looking a bit flushed. Immediately, Angelo darted at his master and jumped energetically, eager to lick her face as usual. “Go to the car, Angelo,” she said to him quietly, and his dog lowered his head slightly in rejection, walking over to the car and jumping into the backseat as SeeD held open the car door for him.

 

The rest of the group approached Rinoa and she smiled as warmly as she could, to try and hide the cold emptiness she was feeling inside. Zell came and took her last bag of luggage to the SUV as Squall approached her and suddenly hugged her, publicly displaying emotion as he rarely did. Rinoa stood still for a moment then quietly wrapped her delicate arms around his middle, hiding her face in his chest and letting the tears finally come.

 

The scene was quiet, saddening, and had its own level of intensity. Squall's face remained as neutral as stone, staring off into the distance as he held her, breathing in the scent of her, feeling the touch of her slightly exposed back, anything that would last in his memory. Eventually he let go however, grabbing Rinoa gently by the shoulders and pushing her back to get a good look at her.

 

“You'll be fine,” Squall said, not knowing quite how to efficiently comfort people. It wasn't his forte.

 

“I know… but a year is a long time…”

 

“Not really!” chimed in Selphie. “You'll be back in no time, and we can take that trip to Esthar to go on that shopping venture I promised you!” she chirped, and hugged Rinoa briefly before stepping back into the small circle that had formed around Rinoa, who looked more young and defenseless than ever before.

 

“Rin, I'm going to have to take…”

 

“Yeah, I know. Xu informed me earlier.”

 

“Right then. Hold still.”

 

Rinoa simply nodded and felt the cool hands of Squall (although it was nearing the end of Summer) cradle her head as they both closed their eyes, allowing the gentle breeze to soothe them as they entered a deeper world.

 

Alexander, Holy Guardian of the Sea.

 

A pleasure as always, Leonheart.

 

The Lady Sorceress soon goes to Seclusion. I need your power.

 

I am well aware. I am yours.

 

Rinoa felt the gentle pull as Alexander left her body and went to Squall, now suddenly feeling much more tired and spent than she had before. She had been working with Irvine all day…

 

When Rinoa opened her eyes, she felt Squall lift her hands from her, and immediately stuff them into the small pockets of his leather jacket. The engine to the SUV revved up, and a faint whiff of gasoline filled the noses of the congregated heroes.

 

“Well, we're all ready to go,” said Quistis, who was off starting the car while Squall had been drawing the guardian from Rinoa. She stood on the step that led to the driver's seat, looking over the top of the jeep to the SeeDs on the other side.

 

Immediately, they all initiated a group hug, nearly suffocating the young Sorceress. But she didn't mind; she just wanted to feel the warmth and love of the friends that she had made over the past year and a half. It was a short time in retrospect, but it had felt like forever. She rested one hand on Zell's bicep, another on the waist of Selphie so she had someone to hold as she looked downward and let the last of her tears drip, then finally she sucked up whatever else would come and looked up at them with a bright expression as they all stepped back.

 

“I promise I'll work really hard to get a handle on these stupid powers, and I'll be back as soon as I can.”

 

“We expect nothing else of the Sorceress who kicked Ultimecia's ass,” replied Irvine, who ruffled Rinoa's hair amicably. Rinoa simply laughed and nodded, the group parting as she walked to the car. She noticed that Squall hadn't been in the group hug, instead a short way off, observing the sunset.

 

It had briefly crossed her mind that she should approach him and tell him to stay strong, but she knew she didn't have to; Squall was the strongest out of all of them. So instead, she mouthed the words goodbye to his back, and got into the passenger's seat, buckling herself in as Quistis got fully into the car and did the same. Angelo's excited barks were heard, as if he had no idea how his master was feeling, but perhaps he knew, and instead was attempting to cheer her up.

 

It didn't work.

 

But, Rinoa had the future to look forward to. A new control of her abilities, new possibilities opening up before her. And of course, her friends to come back to.

 

And her Knight.

 

Rinoa poked her head out of the window and smiled faintly as she saw Squall turn around to see her looking back at him. They held each others' gazes for a short while, and finally Squall managed to uncross his arms long enough to give her a brief wave, and perhaps even the trace of a smile.

 

Her Knight would be there when she returned, and the world would be right again.

 

Sitting back inside the car fully, she let her head rest on the headrest and looked out the windshield to the winding path ahead that disappeared as it neared the horizon.

 

The path was long, but there was nothing else she could do now but follow it.