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“Squall needs a break.” Quistis shot Rinoa a questioning gaze over the top of her glasses. “He’s burning himself out and he’s making us all miserable.”
“I knew he’s working too hard.” Rinoa heaved a sigh. Each evening saw Squall look more tired than the last. “But every time I suggest something he- Well.” Heat flushed her cheeks. “He makes time for, er, us.”
Quistis elected to respond with a resoundingly polite cough.
Rinoa hurried on. “And we are taking a trip together next month. I think it’ll help?”
“It might,” Quistis said with a nod. “But in the mean-time he’s got command of SeeD and Garden and not getting enough downtime and it’s possible one day he’ll just snap. And we can only hope it’s not in the middle of an operation or anything more delicate. And he doesn’t have a GF junctioned.” She took Rinoa’s hand. “Please, just get him to do something other than work. Nida and Xu are briefed on everything and can take over routine operations for the day. Unless a disaster happens, we can spare him for the rest of the week. If you can somehow swing longer, I know Headmaster Kramer can fill in.”
Did Quistis understand how tall her request was? Military life was baked into Squall; to remove it from him would need disassembly atom by atom. A fascinating – if potentially grisly – thought. The extent of her inherited powers, those of Edea and Adel, had never been truly tested. No. It would not be so simple; Garden life as an aspect of Squall was too intrinsic, too much a part of him. Also the plan was probably entirely fatal. Probably. If nothing else, such a thing would be unwise at least until he was about to retire.
Switching Squall’s focus to something other than work would not be so simple. As much as he was an attentive and loving partner, time with him inside the complex would always eventually lead to Squall noting some maintenance issue or a some fault with the younger recruits’ discipline. Thus necessity, to facilitate Quistis’s request would involve removing him from the Garden campus entirely. Could it be so simple?
Rinoa smiled. “I have an idea.”
Squall’s office was open plan, clean and seemingly lacking a Squall. This was Rinoa’s first visit since he moved in. The space was still sparse, but there were a handful of curios around the room; various gunblades mounted on the wall. Photos from the assorted locales the Garden had drifted or sailed to; all of them Selphie’s handiwork it seemed. And, from behind a mountain of paperwork piled high on a desk in the centre it, the faint scratch of pen on paper.
“Squall?”
Squall peered over the paper peaks, his expression softening from scowl into smile. A side of Squall rarely seen by anyone other than her and maybe Ellone.
“Rin. Sorry I-“ He pulled his sleeve back and blinked at his watch. “I didn’t miss lunch did I? Were we having lunch today? I could have sworn-“
He disappeared back behind the mountain to rifle through papers.
“No, we weren’t planning to.“ Rinoa grinned and skipped closer to the desk. “But I think lunch is an excellent idea.”
“Rin, it’s not even eleven-hundred.“
“Though maybe we should go somewhere more scenic.” Her wings fanned out; so much space in here.
“Scenic?” Squall stood again and froze, his gaze flitting between her wings.
Rinoa winked and poked one finger toward him. Squall was left him floating in mid-air, out of reach of his pen, his papers, his weapons.
“Rin, what are you doing?”
An edge of panic in his voice now. Perhaps the possibility of her corruption was at the back of his mind. Her potential susceptibility to someone else like Ultimecia, another threat from another time or place striking out to disrupt peace, or simply the corrupting nature of so much power. It never did to forget the organisation’s original goal was the eradication of people like her.
But this was not about her corruption and complex matters of both heritage and legacy. This was about using her power for his own good.
“We are going to take a break. And as per your suggestion, we are going out for lunch.” Rinoa opened the window with a flick of her wrist and floated Squall ahead of her. “Hold tight.” She flapped her wings; the resulting gust sent a blizzard of paper all around the office.
“Hang onto what? Rin, please, I have-“
“To take a break, yes.” Another flick of her wings and she shot out through the window, Squall floating ahead of her. The Garden blurred as it fell behind them, the roar of its engines fading under the shifting winds and sea. “And we will be. Right. There.”
In the near distance was an archipelago. Perfect. Spend a few hours or more here, re-introduce Squall to any and all nature not found inside Garden or as part of a mission or battlefield. They could relax, maybe take a nap and head back home. Possibly spend a long time helping him re-order that paperwork but he desperately needed this break. She could magic a picnic or any fancier food he might like. Maybe some blankets or some privacy should circumstances take such a turn. Rinoa could not help a smile.
“Rin!” Squall sounded a little panicked against the rush of wind. “We can’t land there.”
“I can land anywhere.” The ocean was deep blue-green and the sun bright overhead. Another wingbeat and they were over the nearest of the sparsely forested islands. Rinoa landed nimbly and let Squall down to the ground carefully. Her wings faded away as Squall scrambled to his feet. “See? We’re fine.”
Squall was frustratingly not remotely assured. He fumbled at his waist and found no gunblade. “Rin, we have to go right now.”
Not an auspicious start, but she would hold her ground. “We just got here-“
“We need to get away from here.” Squall looked around with a panicked expression.
A sinking sensation settled into her stomach. He was worried about her dark potential. Of this being the first step towards becoming like Adel. Or worse. No. Wait. All his attention was away from her; he was not panicked about what she did but where he was.
Something growled behind her. She only caught a glimpse of a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth-like structures; writhing tentacle; the sheer overwhelming greenness. Then the suffocating billow of black smoke enveloped her.
Rinoa choked and spluttered desperately as dropped to the ground. Her eyes stung, her ears rang, her nose was blocked. The air was dark and her eyes hurt too much to open.
Had to get away. Had to get to safety. Where was Squall?
She struggled forward. Every muscle screamed in agony but she crawled forward; she was not monster-food yet. A flicker of light came from somewhere nearby and was followed by a succession of others. Some kind of lightning strike? As if things were not bad enough.
Something heavy struck the ground nearby and a succession of smaller thuds approached her. She reached for her magic but found it gone. She reached again, but still could do nothing. All those formulations, mechanics, the effortless craft of spell construction and reality alteration were somehow now beyond her understanding. No wings came to shield her. She was completely exposed.
A roar sounded from a thousand miles away and she was flung flat onto her back. This was it. Her end. Was Hyne punishing her for misusing her powers? All she had wanted was to distract Squall from work; was it really so bad?
Something loomed above her; either the Marlboro or some other monster come to finish the job, to prey upon the weak and helpless. Drool dripped and splashed across her face. She reached up to brush the muck away, but something caught her arm and pushed it back as the liquid continued to drip down toward her ears.
The tendril around her arm was surprisingly warm. An odd detail; surely Marlboros would be cool to the touch?
Sound flooded back. “Rin?”
“Squall?” She gasped in a croaking voice.
The pressure on her arm released and Rinoa rubbed her face on her sleeve. The pain in her eyes came away like a bandage; she squinted in the mid-morning light at an extremely relieved-looking Squall crouched beside her.
He tore his uniform sleeve off and passed it to her. “Couldn’t afford to be delicate or take my time with the antidote.”
“Anti-“ Her sense of smell returned; a familiar mix of herbs and roots the party had collected on occasion during their fight against Ultimecia. Rinoa wiped the remainder from her skin. “Squall, I-“
“It’s fine.” He took her hand and squeezed it gently. “The important thing is you’re okay.”
“I feel a lot better now.” She shot him a weak grin despite her still spinning head. “I just need a few more moments.”
“Okay.” Squall clambered to his feet and surveyed the area. “When you’re ready we need to make a start on finding some shelter and some food. Somewhere other Marlboro can’t get at us.”
“I mean. If you want to. I was thinking-“ Her wings failed to appear. She had somehow forgotten how to make them appear. How could she forget? All she had to do before was... Was...
Why was this so hard? All her other senses were back, but her magic was still gone. “I-“
“And that’s the one thing SeeD doesn’t have a herbal remedy for.” Squall grimaced and continued to scan the horizon. “And given I try not to junction GFs too much now. And even if you did have one, it couldn’t help us.”
Both were unsurprisingly reluctant to start trading memory for power again unless circumstances forced the issue. Such a thing would be more palatable if she could ever be sure what she was giving up each time. “Are we going to be okay?”
Squall smiled. “Of course. SeeD does include training for this eventuality. And once someone figures out we’re missing, they should start searching back along Garden’s route. They’ll find us.”
“Just like that. Nothing to worry about?”
“Aside from the minor point that the training for this scenario assumes you have some functional weapon to fight the monsters off with,” Squall said in a lower tone.
Rinoa blinked. “Sorry. Wait, you fought off the Marlboro didn’t you? What did you use?”
“Tree branch.” Squall gestured to a somewhat blackened branch nearby. He grinned. “I know this was meant to be lunch, but you have to admit you have found a fascinating oversight in the current SeeD training.“
“Oh no!” Rinoa jumped to her feet, closed the distance to Squall and jabbed a finger into his chest. “None of that.”
Squall had the decency to at least appear shamed before chuckling. “Yes, Ma’am.” He snapped a salute at her.
Rinoa nodded. “Better. Now what do we have to do and how long will we need to wait?”
“We have to fortify our position, build a shelter, ensure an adequate water source and some form of sustenance.” He checked his watch. “They’ll realize I’m not in my office in about an hour when I miss my next meeting. How long until they figure out we’re not in Garden could be anytime from then until tomorrow morning. We need to be ready for the long haul and hope they figure it out quicker.” He plucked up his blackened tree branch. “You still up to fighting?”
Rinoa rolled her shoulders. “It’s been a while but I remember Dad’s and the Forest Owl’s training. I am not just a sorceress, remember?”
“I know, I know. We can-“ He cast about. “Get you a stick too. Unless this place has chakrams growing wild.”
“Weirder things have happened.” Rinoa smiled. “Oh. On the way here – you wanted me to stop? Where even did I land us?”
“The Island closest to Hell.”
Rinoa swore. “Oh. Oh Hyne. If I’d-“
Squall took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. “Its fine. We can get through this. Together.”
“Together,” Rinoa echoed.
In the end, rescue arrived a little over six hours later. Six hours was more than enough; while there was water and some food to be had here, all the soft moss Squall gathered was not really a competitor to their bed in the dorms. This whole ordeal would soon be over.
“Thank you for this,” Squall said as the Ragnarok approached.
“You really aren’t mad?” Rinoa blinked at him.
“You are excellent at keeping things interesting. And you’ve made me realise it’s been quite a while since I last took some time off. I know we have a trip next month, but maybe something sooner too. And like I said, you’ve found a major oversight in training-“ He stepped back as Rinoa swatted at his arm.
“Always work with you,” she said in a mutter.
“But I am also glad I got to spend some time with you. Just the two of us and no chance of anyone interrupting.” Squall gave her his best smile, the one reserved only for her.
Rinoa could not help but smile back. She raised up on her toes and kissed him.