Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII .. Just a fan

center The Imposter /center

center Chapter 26 /center

center The Courage to Return /center

Rinoa Heartilly thought she was delusional.

She must be losing it, what with all the worry and chaos that have been going on lately.

Because she swore that the man who has just walked into Garden just now looked exactly like Squall.

If she does not want to say that it I really /I is Squall.

"I need to take those sleeping pills," she muttered to herself and turned around to walk off.

"Rinoa!" a voice called, oddly familiar it was, but it did not belong to him.

She heaved a sigh of relief, for after all, at least her ears weren't failing her. She whirled around to come face to face with Seifer, who has ran breathlessly from the front entrance of Garden to her.

"Seifer?" she asked, frowning, "Who let you in?"

"Eh, we did," he smirked, gesturing to the handful of people that began to walk up towards them as well.

Rinoa frowned harder, studying each of them hard, a few familiar faces, yet some are oddly unrecognizable. Where did they come from and why are they here?

"Fujin and Raijin, too?" she murmured.

Her eyes suddenly locked with a pair of pale, white orbs. She blinked once in a sudden attempt to release the lock, to no avail. For a prolonged second, she drowned. She drowned in an overflowing ocean of emotions, love, hate, vengeance, and agony. Then all at once, every ounce of feeling within her was violently torn from her, as if someone has taken a knife and dug up her insides like treasure-hunting. The sudden emptiness slapped her hard in the face, rendered her confused and breathless.

What was going on? She was not supposed to feel this way. Was this some sort of evil spell? If so, she was a Sorceress, she has to be able to break through.

Then abruptly, the agony ended as an unexpected source of warmth snuck its way into the cold ocean within her. Someone's dearing presence was near.

She released herself from the lock easily and turned towards the warmth.

She was gazing eye to eye with no other than Squall Leonhart.

Her breath hitched in her throat.

Staring at her was the man with an unspeakable bounty on his life for the crime of murder.

No, staring at her was the man she loved. Love?

"Rinoa?" another voice called.

She shook her head to clear the confusion and turned to see a black-haired man looking worriedly at her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"President Laguna," she said, unable to hide her surprise, "You…"

"Yes, me," he grinned, "Don't be so formal, please, show us to Master Cid."

"That is what we are here for," Seifer nodded, "We are not here for trouble, eh…this time."

He smirked.

"Please, Rinoa," Squall spoke for the first time, his voice strained and tired, "We must see the Headmaster."

"Why do you need me, then?" she eyed everyone suspiciously, careful not to land on the mysterious girl's gaze again.

"We are runaways from Garden," Seifer said, then gestured to a few of them, "And these are strangers. Surely we'll cause suspicion if all of us barged in to the third floor all at once."

"Please," Laguna said calmly, "Walk with us."

"This is stupid," the red-haired girl rolled her eyes.

"Rayna," Seifer shook his head, "Not now."

The girl called Rayna rolled her eyes again and folded her arms.

"All right," Rinoa sighed, "Follow me."

She turned without looking back at Squall one more time and began to walk off towards the elevator. The group followed after her quickly. As they tread on, eyes began to dart curiously in their directions.

"DRAWING ATTENTION," Fujin pointed out.

"Yes," Laguna agreed.

Nearly everyone heaved a sigh of relief when they reached the elevator. However, the wait seemed to be forever as the elevator took its time coming down to take its oncomers.

The elevator doors finally slid open and a student walked out. He froze, however, as his eyes laid on Squall. Nervously, he darted his gaze away and ran off before anyone could speak.

"Great," Rinoa sighed, "He might alert to everyone now."

"More reason to hurry," Seifer shrugged, shuffling in the elevator first.

"All right," Rinoa said, looking around to make sure everyone was securely in, "Let's get up there."

She pressed the button to the third floor, and the machine hummed gently as it began its journey upwards. Rayna looked around nervously as if the silence was beginning to intimidate her. Rinoa took these short moments to steal another glance at the strange girl with the eyes that had seemed to capture and toyed with her soul. Who is she? And why has she not spoken anything yet? And who is that man with her, also? She looked away, shaking her head and deciding to not ask any questions for now. They will reveal it all with the Headmaster, she was sure.

"Squall, you all right?" Laguna asked, which snapped Rinoa out of her thoughts again.

She glanced back at him, the man that she has shared so much with, including her heart and soul. But now, who was he anymore? Was he still a part of her? Can she still feel his heart beat in rhythm with hers as they used to? Something was different about him.

"Hmmm," Squall nodded without a word, as always.

Rinoa almost had to stifle a giggle. Typical Squall.

The elevator bell chimed and the doors slid open again. Before them was the door to the Headmaster's office.

"Well?" Rinoa said, stepping out and gesturing to the door, "Shall we?"

Everyone stayed put. It was as if the silence of the elevator ride has sucked dry of all the energy within each of them. Or perhaps the view of the Headmaster's office has finally made the realization sink in that this was no small matter. They were warriors, but they were also humans, and humans I do /I tend to hesitate and procrastinate when the final moments come near.

Squall sighed and stepped out after her. However, he ignored her gaze and continued towards the office. She nodded to no one and turned back to gesture for everyone else to follow.

The Headmaster was sitting on his desk, signing some paperwork as his morning routine, as always. A cup of steaming coffee was set on his right side. Squall cleared his throat.

Headmaster Cid looked up suddenly, as if he was snapped out of his daydream. For a long minute, he stared. He stared up at the student that he thought he would never see alive again, the student that he has come to think of as a son he never had. No one dared to speak.

"Well…" Rinoa finally broke the silence.

"Rinoa," Cid turned to her, shaking his head as if to clear a headache, "What is this?"

Before she could answer, he threw down his pen and got up to proceed to Squall. He stood before his student, trying hard to search in his eyes for his purpose to come back. And then, before he realized it, he had pulled Squall into an unconscious hug. The action was light, and quick, however, as he knew Squall did not take a liking to physical contact.

"Squall, you've come back," he said, but the statement came out as more of a question.

"Yes," he nodded nonchalantly, "We have come with a request."

"Let's just be blunt," Seifer said.

"THIRD WAR," Fujin added.

"I see," Cid looked to Rinoa, "Rinoa here has given me her viewpoints on this already. Perhaps the puzzles are starting to fit."

Cid leaned on his desk and folded his arms.

"Ultimecia was never dead," Laine spoke up.

"Who are these bunches with you?" Cid frowned.

"I'm sorry," Laine laughed, "My manners, where are they? I am Laine, and this is my sister, Chriselle."

Chriselle bowed a little in respect to Cid, otherwise, said nothing.

"I see," Cid nodded.

"This is Rayna," Seifer gestured to her.

"She's a doctor, ya," Raijin spoke for the first time.

"Ah, Raijin," Cid said tonelessly, "It's like old times again."

He stopped, and seemed to scan the room for the first time.

"President Laguna," he nodded towards his direction, concealing his surprise at seeing the presence of the president of Esthar himself, "Pleasure."

"No time for formalities," Laguna batted it off, "We need your support."

"That will be no trouble," Cid shook his head, "Esthar and Balamb are still on good terms, I believe?"

"Of course," Laguna nodded.

"Please," Cid said, "Inform me of what has went on since I have last turned my back."

"I have already told him a bit," Rinoa began, eyeing around, "He has allowed me access to the database. And it was just as I feared."

"Yes?" Laguna urged.

"Lukre is no ordinary human," she nodded, "So is his sister. LaeRana and LukEtan."

"Strange names they are," Laguna pondered.

"Derived from the roots of the ancient language of the Lexanians," Chriselle chimed in.

"Young lady?" Cid frowned.

"I am sorry," Chriselle shook her head, "My manners is ill."

"Who are you two?" Cid asked.

"We would like to keep our identities as concealed as possible…" Laine began.

"They are to trust," Squall interrupted, "If we are to form alliance, we must know everything about each other in order to form strong cooperation."

Rinoa smiled a little. There goes Squall again, with his Commander tone.

"Very well," Laine sighed, "We carry the remaining strengths of the Guardian Phoenix, our last wish at life."

"Our Kingdom was vanquished 200 years ago," Chriselle continued, "The Kingdom of Lexania, where I was Princess and my brother was Prince."

"Of course, Ultimecia reigned even back then," Laine nodded.

"Wait a minute," Seifer cut in, "If those two's names were in the ancient tongues of the Lexanians, then doesn't it mean…?"

"Yes," Chriselle nodded, "Ultimecia came from our time. In fact, all magic originated from our Kingdom. However, we do not use magic for conflict. We make good use of it and therefore, bond strong relationships with other Kingdoms. Many others look up for us as their saviors for we have an unbound limit of magic."

"Ultimecia, however, was a black sheep in our herd. She practiced the art of the Dark Magic. She became overly obsessed. We left her alone, nobody paid her any mind, for she was just a futile, small threat in compare to our powerful Kingdom,"

"However, little did we know she began to take up the art of junctioning Guardians as well. Griever, his name was,"

"Griever," Squall murmured.

"Yes, with Griever, she was untouchable," Laine shook his head and closed his eyes momentarily, "None of us stood a chance. But my sister and I refused to give up our Kingdom and the vengeance we swore for our people."

As the two continued on, Rinoa stole another glance at Squall. He has, by now, leaned against the wall. Either for support or he just wanted to get more comfortable, it was hard to tell with the continued determined gaze in his blue eyes. She shifted her attention back to the story.

"I called upon Phoenix as a last resort," Chriselle nodded, "With everything I had left, Phoenix was able to junction its last life source into us. We had to put an end to this, because we knew with the magic flowing in her, she was bound to cause more havoc with her immortal life."

"And you see the price," Laine finished, heaving a long sigh.

The room fell into silence, as if everyone was waiting to hear more of the interesting, breath-taking, and unbelievable story.

"She was torn of all her emotions," Laine explained, "But in turn, the Phoenix fed her with so much power and magic, that I dare say, perhaps she is even stronger than me."

"Then it is perfect," Rinoa interrupted, "We have very powerful allies who specialize in the art of magic as well."

"Earth Master, at your service," Laine smiled.

"Air Master," Chriselle said blankly.

"But lady," Laine continued, "We won't be around for long."

"Excuse me?" Cid frowned.

"You see," Laine began to pace the room, "We lived on, fueled with vengeance and a life source that does not belong to us. Therefore, it is as if we have a debt to pay."

"We pay when it ends," Chriselle added.

"Finally, the search for Ultimecia is over," Laine sighed as if releasing a weight from his shoulder, "But who was to know that someone else has already taken care of her."

"Yes," Chriselle turned to Squall and looked at him in the eyes, "We felt powerful magical sources when you all engaged in your final battle against the Sorceress. However, we knew something was wrong."

"Yes, it should not be that easy to kill her," Laine said, "We knew something was wrong."

"LaeRana and LukEtan," Rinoa nodded, "Her remaining spirits and power split in two."

"They have already proceeded to eliminating Squall out of the picture," Cid said, "With him on the wanted poster, of course he will no longer be the hero in our eyes."

"We b will /b fix that, right?" Laguna eyed him carefully.

"Of course," Cid said, "Of course, messages have already been sent around."

"We have a problem, however," Rinoa said, turning to Squall. Suddenly, she frowned. There were beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Hmmm?" Squall raised an eyebrow.

"Both of them have escaped from Garden,"

"So we saw," Seifer smirked.

"I see,"

"What now?" Laine asked.

"We must figure out a way to defeat her," Seifer said, "Or 'those two'."

"There is a way," Chriselle informed.

"Ah, speak," Cid said.

"Well, since she has begun with the power from Griever…" Chriselle started.

Suddenly, a thud sounded from the far corner of the room. All attention focused on Chriselle broke off and turned towards the source of the noise. Squall was facedown on his stomach, and the beads of sweat began to travel across his cheek.

"Squall!"

Rinoa could not recognize her own voice. Was it her screaming? Or was it a trapped voice from within that was too afraid to speak out.

It was too afraid to speak, even for the man she love.

It was too afraid to speak, therefore sending him on the run.

It was too afraid to speak, when she was the one who should have believed in him.

What has she done?

What I will /I she do?

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Update: Sorry for not updating for soooo long. Wow…3 years, has it been? Damn, where did the time all go? Wow…ahaha.

Let's just say I'm just finally beginning to get my life back in order after all the chaos, financially, emotionally, and physically.

And my passion for writing has returned D