A Love Beyond The Twilight--Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the Nefarious Divines, blah, blah, blah.

... A world without Squall...? How could I ever forget him?- elanor tinuviel: Moonlight Sonata

That totally fits this chapter! You'll find out later on how. Oh, and everybody should read that fanfiction! It's perfection! Okay now, on with the story. Enjoy!

A Love Beyond The Twilight

Chapter Two:

Flee To War

Bianka-chan

The two of us were sitting in chairs directly across from each other, facing one another as though we were participating in a stand-off. But it had been an hour since our staring contest began, and I finally decided to relent. I relaxed my tense muscles and closed my eyes, lifting two fingers on each hand to massage my sore temples. /This guy thinks he's got me completely convinced, but he's wrong. I'm not going to stand this for much longer. I'll ditch Squall somewhere along the way./

Selphie bounced into the building, bags of food covering her face. She threw them down on the table in front of us and revealed an incredibly large smile. "I'm finally here; it's breakfast time, you guys!" The mission coordinator hopped around happily, making sure everything was distributed evenly. When everything was done, Tahren and I sat beside each other, while Selphie buoyantly devoured her sugar-infested meal.

Slowly, I dunked my spoon into the cereal bowl, never taking my eyes off of Squall. It was obvious that he wasn't used to eating something like cereal because his spoon was trembling in his hand. Just as the kitchen utensil was at his face, his hand suddenly moved, spilling the mix of cereal and milk all over his shirt. "Oh, shit; I can't believe I did that..."

I vainly attempted to stop myself from laughing at him, only to laugh a few seconds later. Selphie stopped eating for about one second to look up and point a finger to a door on the other side of the room. "There's a washer over there; feel free to use it!"

Squall got up, scowled at me, and made his way to the washing machine. "Yeah, sure, I think I will, thank you very much." He disappeared only moments later into the small room.

I began laughing again, still trying to get the spoon of cereal into my mouth without letting out another guffaw. "Haha...that stupid guy. He's so tough, yet he can't even use a spoon..." As if on cue, I heard the door across the room close. As soon as Squall sat back on his chair, Selphie stopped eating--a rarity of hers until she's finished a meal. Curious, I glanced over at Squall just to see what was so amazing that could stop Selphie from consumption.

I had been leading my spoon to my mouth when I had glanced over, but upon seeing Squall I dropped the cereal all over my face, dripping milk off of my nose. There he was, thoughtfully studying his cereal with no shirt on. He looked over at me wiht his brows raised. "You have cereal on your face, and there's milk dripping off of your nose."

/Yes, and you might as well tell me that I have brown eyes--as if I didn't already know!/ I wiped the cereal off of my face with my wine-colored gloves. /He sure does look good, though.../

I finished off the cereal and pushed it away from me, turning to look at Squall. Crossing my legs, I tried not to blush as I watched him concentrate on his food. "So, Squall, how old are you? What are your skills? What did you do for a living before this? Where are you from? Why did you decide to become a Protector?"

Squall gave me a bedazzled look. "What is this--20 questions? Alright, alright, I'm 19 as of last month; I'm a Gunblade specialist; and I'm an ex-con that used to live life in a prison. As for the last question, I didn't decide about becoming your protector. I got sentenced to it; it was either this or the death sentence. But I only go out with honor, so I naturally chose this over being hanged."

/I'm supposedly the most important human being on the planet, so then why do they give me an ex-con!?/ I slapped myself on the forehead--hard. /Wait a minute...I don't even want a Protector! ...As long as I'm stuck with him, I might as well ask a few more questions./

"What crime did you commit that was so bad for you to receive a death sentence?"

Squall shrugged and started licking his cereal, dropping the spoon to the floor. "Killed a few people... No big deal, really..."

I stared at him with a disbelieving look upon my face. /I kill a lot of people...yet I'm not put in jail./ Sighing, I picked up my spoon and wiped it on a clean cloth. /Why can't I just be treated as a normal person?/ I dismissed this issue quickly, reminding myself that a regular life for me would be impossible. However, I quickly glanced back up at Squall to see his reaction to my question and saw that his eyes were darting in the opoosite direction.

/He's lying.../

Selphie finished her meal and stood up, lifting the long tablecloth so that she could wipe her face with it. I rolled my eyes, quietly reminding myself to buy yet another tablecloth when I reached the next shop. As Selphie rounded the table, she dropped a thick pack of paper in front of me. “It’s information on your journey!”

My eyes bulged at the pad’s thickness, and I immediately leafed through its contents. “‘The first stop is Winhill, where the Sorceress prepares to commander a battle against Dollet which will take place at around the area formerly inhabited by Galbadia Garden. The Sorceress and the Protector should make haste, for after a certain amount of time, impenetrable barriers will be made and no one can get through for safety purposes.”

Squall yawned in an exaggerated fashion and waved his hand back and forth. “When does it start?”

I read forward to fight the urge to change my facial expression. “…Daybreak tomorrow.”

My Protector got up from his chair and smirked. “Fine by me. I’m going to bed. You probably should, too.”

I continued to stare at the paper and think deeply on what I should do. Selphie laughed and let out a fake sigh. “Do you always sleep, Squall? I’ll tell you what…I dare you to go an entire day without sleeping… I doubt that you could do it…”

And with that, her words faded into the air. I waited until I was sure that they were gone and collapsed onto a fluffy chair. “Daybreak tomorrow…? He actually believed me?”

~

The night was young, and a few sparkles had already appeared in the sky. I looked beside me and smiled, grateful for the moment. “Seifer, why do we fight so hard against the Nefarious Divines to save the planet, if the planet doesn’t care?”

“What do you mean, the planet doesn’t care?” Seifer asked in reply.

I sighed and shook my head, frustrated like the child I was. “Everyone hates me, or they don’t help me fight. That means that they don’t care.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t care. Maybe they’re not able to help you.”

“I-If they cared enough…then they would try as hard as they could to help. I mean, it’s their world, too, isn’t it?”

“Rinoa…”

The carriage crashed and turned over several times. In the rush of flight I felt Seifer swiftly wrap his body around mine so that he would be the only one wounded. But Seifer was suddenly torn off of me and I soared away from the carriage and onto cemented ground.

I pealed my cheek off of the sticky floor and instinctively looked at my hands. A thin gasp escaped my lips. My hands were no longer shielded by my gloves. Vainly, I tried to cover my hands by burying them in the dirt.

A small explosion made the earth below rise up like an erupting volcano, slicing my arms and killing the plants in the immediate vicinity. The pain was there, but so was the fear. I looked back to see if Seifer was near, but I couldn’t see him. Getting up, my eyes watered and I approached Galbadia.

Another burst of magic flew from my palm and demolished a small cottage. This time, I had gotten the attention of the soldiers. They turned around and pointed shaky fingers in my general direction.

“A-A devil! She’s a devil! She’ll destroy us all! Run!!!”

My eyes watered and I shivered in cold fear. “I-I’m not a devil… I’m gonna save you, don’t you know?”

Yet another explosion came from my hand, destroying a small farm.

“I’ll reach the Mystic Chateau, give my life, and save all of you!”

More magic erupted from my hand and killed about a dozen of fleeing people.

“I’ll save your lives, damnit!!”

With a waterfall of tears, I collapsed to the ground. The magic still befell Galbadia, annihilating it in large chunks. In my daze I heard people screaming for their lives, but I ignored it, persisting to tell them exactly what I had claimed before. “Weren’t you listening? I’m going to save you. I…”

The screams suddenly stopped, and I blinked several times to see what had happened. “They-They’re all…gone!”

Nothing was left, not a soul. Children were scattered on the crimson ground, only inches away from their slain mothers. Their mouths were slightly open, little streams of blood coming out from them. Not far away were their apparent keepsakes; a bear, a blanket, and dolls.

Even so cruel as this looked, my body chose not to stop. The magic would fly and so would their bodies as the two met.

I panicked. “Stop! Stop doing that! They’re already dead…”

Sniffing, I looked up. “But I saved them, didn’t I?”

I heard something behind me, a few crunches in the grass and clinking metal. “I’m sorry, Rinoa…”

With a quick, sharp blow to my neck, my consciousness was slowly taken away.

“What’s the point of saving the world…if I have already destroyed it all…?”

And then I fell to the ground face first, the rubble of Galbadia being the last thing I saw.

I woke up screaming, my entire body shaking with fright. Pulling my covers up with my gloved hands, I attempted to shield myself of that haunting pain. Someone was rushing into my room, making a lot of noise in their endeavor. Squall thrust the satin sheet between our rooms aside and quickly turned on my lamp.

“What happened?” he asked, panting.

I had obviously scared the wits out of him, as well as myself. Turning over to look at my clock, I shook my head slowly.

“Nothing. I just had a bad dream, that’s all. You can go back to bed now… It’s only midnight.”

Squall didn’t look completely convinced. “Are you sure? I can stay if you want.”

“No! I-I mean…no, you should just pull the sheet closed and go back to sleep until our mission.”

“…If that’s what the Sorceress wants…”

His last response struck me. That made it seem like we were distant in a way, and I certainly didn’t like it. Of course I didn’t want to be close to him, but that was so…cold…

I shook it off and waited until he left, remaining quiet only until I heard his light snoring again, which didn’t take long. Stepping silently onto the floor and retrieving all of my necessary belongings, I left. Finding the exit, I circled around, leaving only memories behind.

/Why do I complain of not having love…when I run away from it every time I find it…?/

Winhill was practically empty, only a small shop open for me to get my supplies. The edges of the town were glimmering with a rainbow glow, meaning that the shields were already rising. /Squall definitely won’t make it in time…/

The shop owner was extremely friendly, although her smile seemed really suspicious. “Hellooo, aren’t you the Sorceress Rinoa?”

“That’s me.”

She looked around stupidly, her eyes wide. “Where’s your Protector? I heard that you got a new one.”

My eyes widened this time. “He’s…going to meet me out there--don’t worry.”

She nodded and proceeded in offering me the supplies. Strangely enough, all of my supplies were given to me sans cost, even though the catalogue I received said that it would all be expensive. /Something weird is going on…but I don’t have time to figure it out. The shields are still rising./

“Yeah, thanks. If I don’t come back, I died,” I said, providing about as much morbid humor as I usually did.

The owner laughed nervously and looked away. “Tch…what’s her problem?” I muttered to myself. “I guess she realized that if I die, she’ll suffer for the rest of her boring life. What a shame…”

I walked out into the field, shivering. Rubbing my hands together, I began to think, one of the worst things I do. /It sure is lonely… I’m always traveling alone, but as soon as I met him…I don’t really want to be alone./ I shook my head slowly and looked at the black sky. /But I have to be alone. It’s not fair for him to die, just for me. I’ve killed too many people./ Laughing, I started walking in a circle. /And here I am now, waiting to kill more. I never learn, nor do I change…/ The wind seemed to have gotten stronger, and I cursed at the shortness of my black skirt. /When will my soldiers arrive?/

The long, looped belts hanging off of my jacket swung forward, indicating that something or someone was coming my way with strong force. I whirled around quickly and whistled in amazement. “Sure is a big group… Too big. There’ll be a lot of casualties. The enemy can easily sight us…” Wrinkling my nose, I pointed at the last two lines of young men. “Hey, you guys! Go home! Shouldn’t you be at school or something, or on a date?”

They shakily saluted to me and one shouted, “We can not, ma’am! The shield is already six feet high, ma‘am!”

I kept a bored look on my face. “So? Can’t you jump?”

He shook his head wildly, his face turning bright red. “By the time we reach the shield, ma’am, it will be up ten feet!”

I gritted my teeth and tried to make a plan. /The troops seem too young and aren’t trained very well… All they know how to do is scream. This is really strange. No army ever argues this much. Maybe this is a trap…/

“Ma’am, the enemy approaches!” My thoughts were quickly stopped and I turned around, grasping the ends of my gloves.

“Spread out and attack! Find cover and fire from there; make sure the kill’s silent,” I immediately ordered.

I took off the glove on my right hand and fired at a group of Dollet soldiers, instantly killing a few. /I guess I never needed Squall in the first place./

My eyes opened impulsively. I got up from the bed and stretched, reaching for my Gunblade. Once grabbing it, I walked toward the sheet that separated Rinoa and I, ready to wake her up. /She sure does sleep silently… I can’t even hear her breathe. It must be part of her training./

Selphie immediately jumped into my face and started to panic. “Squall, Squall!! Rinoa’s not here! Her bed’s not even warm, so she must have left a while ago! Something could’ve happened to her by now! Go to Winhill and find her, find her, find her!!”

All of this came in a dizzying blur, and instantly I was worried for her safety. /My first day here and I’ve already screwed things up./ “I won’t come back unless I found her.”

Selphie nodded frantically and pushed me toward the door. “Yes, yes! Go!” Just as I was about to get both feet out of the door, Selphie called to me, “Wait!” She threw an apple at me. “Don’t forget to eat!”

My eye twitched and I fled from the building. The scenery went by quickly, as did I, racing to reach her in time. I knew in the back of my mind, though, that I’d be too late. /A great job I’ve been doing… If I don’t catch up to her in time, then the entire world will be doomed to Hell. Why’d the government give an ex-con all of this responsibility, anyway? Stupid politics…/

Lucky for me, Winhill was close to Terra’s Turf. However, something stopped me right before I could get through. A tall rainbow glow was before me, standing about five feet above my head. “Damn… How am I supposed to get passed that? This should’ve have happened… The shields only started growing at daybreak. It would have taken six hours to get…” The truth suddenly became apparent. “Rinoa lied…”

Before I actually began to think, I brusquely decided to tear the shield apart so that I could get through. I put my Gunblade through the shield. Suddenly, a bolt struck me on my hand, stemming into other bolts and shocking me elsewhere. “Ahh! Damnit, the shield’s electric! I’ll just put on my gloves and try again…”

This time, I got through the shield, but its end still barred my way. Through the shield I could see Rinoa on the other side, basically murdering every Dollet soldier that came to her direction. “I guess she doesn’t need my help after all…”

For a moment I considered turning tail and leaving, being free from the punishment of death altogether, but my conscience held me back. /I don’t care if she doesn’t want me or not; I’m staying. It feels strange to say this, even if it’s only to myself, but…she’s all I have left. Rinoa…/

I stopped myself from thinking anymore, my head jolting upward to look at how high the shield had gotten. Gritting my teeth, I plunged my Gunblade as high as I could into the shield and lifted myself up. Slowly placing my feet on the shield to gain momentary grip, I tried to quickly remove my Gunblade from the shield and position it higher, but a shock suddenly burst and threw me to the ground--hard.

Blood made a small pool in my mouth and I struggled to get back up again. Several times I had told myself to give up already, but the sound of a quiet scream helped me bolt to my feet. I could hear muffled voices from the other side. “It’s all right, Sorceress Rinoa. I’m sure that you didn’t mean to… He was one of our younger cadets and wasn’t much help anyway.”

I saw Rinoa scowl at the man that was speaking to her and her shouts were loud even behind the thick shield. “How can you say that!? Lives are not to be thrown away that easily! You can’t justify murder…ever.”

The man nodded in a blasé manner. “I’m sorry, Sorceress. I’ll watch what I say next time.”

Rinoa turned back around slowly and hesitated to attack the enemy. The soldiers under Rinoa huddled together somewhat inconspicuously and spoke quietly. “We attack…in a moment. Make sure it’s unpredictable. Once you shoot without killing, you’re dead.” He projected his hand into the air, his palm further out than his fingers. With each passing second, he would take a finger down. It only took a moment for me to realize what they were counting down to.

“RINOA!!!”

@-->--

I could hear someone calling me from a distance, and it sounded like Squall. Suddenly I grinned, actually quite impressed with myself. He’s probably already found out. / I wonder how mad he is. Will he get through the shield? Most likely, he won’t. So we’ll never see each other again? I hope not, for his sake./

A slight wind came from behind me, and all of a sudden almost everything stopped. I looked behind me, fear clawing at my back. My soldiers were in a large circle, pointing their guns at me. Slowly, I turned back around to look at my enemy. They were in a circle as well, all of their guns aimed at my vital areas.

I could feel the heat of the lasers on my forehead and heart, immediately wanting Squall to be with me. My eyes began to fail me and I couldn’t bring myself to direct my magic at them. Breathing heavily, I looked in the direction of where I heard Squall’s voice. Almost scared to tears, I reached out to him, feeling the magic burning in my hand. His eyes widened, the beautiful blue of them swirling with anxiety.

The magic shot off quickly, and I felt myself smile sarcastically. “What ungrateful people… I fight for them, yet they choose to die without my help…"

The entire field erupted into an enormous plague of fire. It seemed as if the whole world screamed in pain.

______________________________________________________________________

A/N: First of all, I'M MASSIVELY SORRY to everybody for taking so incredibly long to update. It's been more than six months. I'm fifteen and a half now! Again, I'm so sorry. I've been horrible.

The next chapter will be coming up as soon as I find the time to actually finish writing it. I can tell you now that it'll have much more humor and a wee bit less angst.

Okay guys, I just added this note after reading through the chapter again. I'm missing a part that I wrote to add to this on my other computer. Unfortunately, my brother decided to screw up that computer AGAIN. So, until after I make him fix it, I can't add that juicy part in. Well, actually, I don't even remember how good it was. I may not add it in at all. If I do, if anybody wants me to notify them about it, just say so in your review ^^

Thanks for reading, and sorry for making you wait so long. I really hope that you enjoyed my chapter! It took me forever to write. Please review! Have a great day! Oh, and Happy [early] Easter!

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