Chapter 11 - Loyalty

From Timber Irvine Kinneas and Quistis Trepe boarded a train back to Balamb, the current location of the Balamb garden as well as the Galbadian garden. The Trabia garden was in the process of being repaired but it was expected to join the other two once it was complete. It was a good thing that Timber was no longer under Galbadia's control because all travel between Galbadia and Balamb had been cut off due to the possible onset of war.

The two SeeDs entered the special SeeD suite but neither noticed the superfluous luxuries in the room on this grim day. Quistis sat down and folded her arms. She had a distant look on her face, as though she was contemplating something important. Irvine sat down on the plush leather couch and pulled his hat down to cover his eyes.

"What's going on between you and Seifer?" Quistis asked, suddenly, startling Irvine.

"Nothing." He muttered. "Why?"

She shook her head. "It's obvious Irvine that something has happened. Tell me. What is it? You were more of a hothead than Zell back there."

Irvine waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal.

He pulled his cowboy hat lower. *Stella.* That name. He felt like someone was lighting matches in his chest. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten that name for so many years. He had sworn that he never would, no matter how powerful the GF was. But he had, hadn't he? Irvine replayed the events in his head. He knew he would do this all the time now, so that he would not forget, never again forget.

He was adopted by a family of three when he was nine. They took him from Edea's orphanage to Timber where he lived for five years before he enrolled in Garden. He never really considered himself to be from Timber, or rather he had forgotten much of what happened there. His foster mother, father, he couldn't remember for the life of him, yet he did remember one. Her name was Stella, she was his new sister. She had short perky blond hair, the color of Quistis' and the style of Selphie's.

And the strangest thing was that she had an obsessive fascination with cowboys. She dressed in a leather vest, short shorts and laced boots. She always had an old dirty cowboy hat on, usually she stuck the blue feather of a Thrustaevis in it. Men loved her. She was like sunshine. A dancing figure straight of a music box. But the best thing was that she was all his. He was always her favorite dance partner, her cowboy partner and her "little man" as she called him.

He remembered during their father's funeral she had sat there on the side of grave, feet tucked under her, with a smile on her face and told the priest that their father probably would have been bored to death by this tedious sermon. "He would never have wanted us to sit here serious and uncomfortable. He would have wanted us to dance and laugh." She told them all, shocking the best of them. A simple child of ten back then, he had clapped his hands and hugged her because her speech made perfect sense to his young mind.

She was his sister the way Ellone was Squall's. But she was so happy. Even when Galbadia invaded Timber and established military rule, she somehow still managed to hold the wildest parties and dance till dawn while he fell asleep beside the bar, her hat on his head, covering his eyes like a real cowboy.

"I don't know why people live the way they do, " she told him "as though life was a contagious disease. It's ridiculous. Promise me Irvy that you'll never turn into a stuffy serious adult. Life is good for making love and getting drunk. Why work so hard for future happiness when you can have it now?"

He had giggled. "Yeah Stelly," he had said. "I'm going to be a cowboy just like you."

She had laughed, placed her hat on his head and taken him, sitting oh her shoulders to the little room underneath the bar where the Laughing Hyenas held their meetings. She twirled around flirting with the boys in the tiny resistance group, while her spunky hair bounced and shined in the dim light of the fading single light bulb.

Of course, then there came the day when a group of soldiers rushed into their bar and began to harass the people, claiming that they were harboring terrorists. Everyone stood mute while two men and a women were dragged away, accused of poisoning the drinks of a few notable government officials. With that Stella stepped forward. She walked over to the blond general and told him promptly that she would not allow him to arrest her costumers.

The general had stared at her in surprise, then humor. "Young whore, get out of my way before you degrade my presence."

Stella stared at him with fire in her eyes. "Let them go or you'll regret it."

With that the general pulled out a gun and shot one of the men in his custody. The man's chest exploded in red and he fell, dead. The general smirked at Stella.

"Yes? Or what?"

Irvine was hiding behind Stella's knees where he watched the man fall. He began sniffing, petrified with fear.

Stella pulled out her gun and promptly pointed it at the general's forehead.

She smiled. "See you in hell, Shojora. I've been waiting for th-"

But before she could finish her sentence, her chest exploded. A sniper, hiding behind the door of the bar had picked her off. Her blood splattered all over Irvine as she collapsed onto the floor. He ran over and knelt beside her.

"Stelly, no! No." He had whispered as he held her head with his tiny hands.

She stared at him, her eyes open and glossy in death as the soldiers puller her body away. He had knelt there, that was all that he remembered, kneeling there, forever and ever, watching the blood splattered wood floor.

He enrolled in Garden three years later. He was going to avenge her, his beautiful Stella. He knew the general's name was Shojora. That had been his dream. To stand infront of Shojora, holding his gun, and to say Stella's last words. But two weeks into his schooling, Shojora was lost in combat. From then on Irvine forgot about Stella. He didn't want to remember, how he would now never be able to avenge her death. He became a sniper, guns and women, the two most prominent aspects of his memory. But even though he forgot the events themselves, he always hesitated before he fired his gun with the intent to kill. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that someone's life will be changed forever by the life he took, maybe it too was a little boy who wanted to be a cowboy.

And the memory stayed beneath the tides of his consciousness until he learned of Shojora's illegitimate child during his visit to Edea's Orphanage after Ultimecia died. He had gone with the intent of finding out who his own parents were but instead he found out that of someone else's.

The records there told of Shojora's mistress, Laura Almasy.

Mother of Seifer Almasy.

"Irvine, wake up!" Quistis yelled into his ear. Irvine jumped up in a fright.

"What? I wasn't sleeping!"

Quistis laughed. "Yes you were. Come on, if you stay here they'll take you back to Timber." She laughed at him again. He pulled his hat closer to his head and rubbed his hands together. "I bet all the lovely ladies at garden have missed me terribly. The poor things. There is only so much of me to go away."

Quistis shook her head. "Come on Romeo let's go. I wish you would tell me what you have against Seifer."

"I don't like his haircut." Irvine replied playfully. "It looks like it belongs to a ten year old." He knew that couldn't confide in her. He had never told anyone about his Stella or about his grudge against Seifer. Quistis might have been a good place to start but the words stopped at the end of his tongue. He had never been the serious kind.

Quistis playfully tugged at Irvine's pony tail as they exited the train. "Yes this looks terribly mature."

Irvine followed her off the train into the Balamb station. He watched her tight vest hug the small of her waist as her leather covered arms swayed gently at her side. Her Save the Queen dangled at her waist. Queen Quistis. He couldn't think of a better title for her.

"Hurry, Irvine."Quistis said waving to him.

He nodded and followed her.

Quistis ran into the conference room, formerly Headmaster Cid's office, to find Xu and a small group of SeeDs there.

Quistis's glance skipped from one mournful face to another. It was as though someone was dead. A girl was sitting in the corner sobbing quietly. Xu was looking down, her arms folded, face downcast. The aura of sorrow pervaded the tiny room. No, please don't let it be Squall.

"Squall, Xu is there any word on Squall. Is he okay?" Quistis asked with an unconventional urgency.

Xu shook her head. "No there is no word on Squall but . .."

Quistis secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't Squall. If anything ever happened to Squall, why she'll go insane.

"What?" Quistis asked, slightly calmer. "Tell me. Simon? Nida? Drew? Tell me what's going on."

They all looked down. Xu was the only one to meet her eye.

"Quistis, Galbadia just declared war on Garden."

Quistis nodded. "I know."

Xu shook her head. "I guess our diplomatic efforts didn't go off well."

"No Deling never had any intention of diplomacy. We were right. He just wants to annihilate Garden. He thinks we are group of terrorists hazardous to the health of his Galbadia."

Quistis studied the gloomy room. "I don't understand, didn't you expect this? A fight with Galbadia is inevitable. How long do you think we could keep aiding resistance groups before they would catch on to it?"

Silence.

One of the SeeDs, named Drew, finally looked up at Quistis. "If only Squall didn't snatch that sorceress away. Who does he think he is anyway? Plucking that girl away like Paris and Helen. Now we have to fight a war so that he can keep that girl in his bed? And where is he? Shouldn't he be fighting with us? He just disappeared like some coward off the face of the earth."

Quistis was overcome with fury. She had never attacked a member of Garden but at that moment she wanted to gorge Drew's eyes out. She was so furious that she could hardly speak a word in response.

"How dare you. Never in my life have I heard anything so slanderous. Squall saved Garden from Edea, he saved the world from Ultimecia, he saved you, all of you from complete annihilation. What do you do but sit here and complain, you half witted idiot. If I didn't respect the sacred significance of this room I would rip out your tongue and feed it to a Mes-"

Quistis was cut off by Xu who stepped between them to intervene. "Stop," Xu begged, "Please let's not fight amongst ourselves. At this time more than any other we need to pull together. Please, Quistis, Drew. Stop."

"I'm not the only one who thinks this way!" Drew yelled in response. "More than half the garden thinks this war is ridiculous. Who is Rinoa anyway? She's that bloody Caraway's little whore, possibly Deling's illegitimate daughter. Squall need to keep his mind in his head and not in his pants all the time. Any respect I had for him during the Sorceress war is irrevocably gone."

"Fine!" Quistis yelled. "Get out, get of Squall's garden. You are all exiled for treason. I'll fight this war, even if I have to do it myself. Even Seifer was better than you. At least he did it for a dream. You? You are just a bloody coward, slandering a man who is a thousand times as noble as you."

"Please no! No one is exiled for treason. Stop it Quistis. Squall is somewhere, he must have his reasons for not contacting us. We can't fight the Galbadians alone. Quistis, there aren't as many people who would give up their lives for Squall as you may think." Xu stated.

Quistis stared at Xu in absolute shock. "You too, Xu?"

Quistis continued sadly. "I thought that if I had one ally in this room it would be you. What happened to "Squall, I'm behind you 100%? Or was that only for when you knew that it was his job to take of everything. Are you just a fair weather friend, Xu? Turning your back as soon as he is the one in need?"

Xu shook her head, sadly. "Quistis, don't say that. You know I love Squall like a brother. If he needed my right arm I would give it to him without hesitation. But this is Garden. Cid's garden. If you choose to fight Galbadia I'll be right beside you even if it is a losing battle. But I can't order Garden into this. I can't."

Quistis stared at all of them with tears in her eyes. "I see."

"I see more now than I ever saw before. Thank you Xu, thank you Drew. I used to believe that Garden wouldn't forsake its members. I used to believe that we were all one on a mission to crush tyranny and injustice. I believed that I was sending my students off to glorious noble lives. Now I see behind all the masks. I'll fight this war. I'm not just fighting for Squall and Rinoa. I'm fighting against the oppressors of freedom who would choose manipulate the minds of innocent people. Do you really believe that Galbadia desist if you surrender? Just wait for the next trivial matter which Deling chooses to use as a springboard to war. You'll see then, oh you'll see, as I see now."

Quistis ran out of the room. Two SeeDs tried to block her way but she shoved her way past them.

Xu sighed as she heard Quistis's footsteps disappear down the hall. She had no doubt that Zell, Irvine, Selphie were behind her as well as a good portion of Garden. There was no way to win. Either way, Garden would be destroyed. She just wished that Cid was here. He would know what to do. And most of all, Squall. Where was he? How could sit by and allow this to happen? She knew sadly that Drew and his fellow dissenters were holding a meeting to choose a new commander. At first she was opposed to it but she was beginning to believe that it would be for the better. Squall just wasn't leader material, if only Quistis would see that.

Zell and Selphie walked into the dormitory to see a sight they never thought they would see, the cold level headed instructor was crying.

Selphie ran over to Quistis and placed her hands on the instructor's shoulder.

"Quisty, what's wrong?" Selphie asked, squealing in surprise.

"Yo, Quistis, tell us. Was it those Galbadians? Is it Squall? Is he okay?" Zell asked.

Quistis dried her eyes and stopped tried to best to get her calmness back. It was terrifying to Zell to see her this way. She was always their older sister, the one who knew that was going on. Today, she had broken down. It was like the sky was falling.

"I'm fine," Quistis ordered, and gently pushed Selphie's concerned hands away.

They heard footsteps and the door behind Selphie opened.

"Zell! Selphie! I came right away. I heard you are bac - . . . what the Quistis have you been crying?" Irvine asked, just as surprised.

Selphie motioned for Irvine to shut up. "Is it Squall and Rinoa, Quistis? Just tell us yes or no."

Quistis wiped her eyes with the back of her bare hands. Her gloves were lying in her lap.

"There is no word from Squall. Galbadia has declared war on Garden and . . . " Quistis trailed off and began to twist the gloved in her left hand.

"What?" Zell asked impatiently.

Selphie glared at Zell. Quistis did not notice. She continued where she had left off.

"They... , the garden is divided. They think Squall dragging us into a fight for selfish reasons... they are going to choose a new commander."

"What?!" Zell yelled. Selphie gasped. Irvine raised his eyebrows.

"No! Yo that's just wrong in a thousand ways." Zell exclaimed.

"That can't be true!" Selphie yelled. "I don't believe it. I don't know anyone here that doesn't look up to Squall. They don't always say it but I know. Everyone in Garden loves Squall. That just can't be true."

Irvine shook his head. "Sometimes when a small minority believes something strongly they can sway the opinion of an unsure majority. We need to find Squall. If he shows up chances are this issue will disappear. You two, any news?"

Selphie looked at her feet and Zell looked confused.

"No," Selphie whispered. "We looked everywhere. No sign of them. It's like they disappeared off the face of the earth."

"We visited Matron and Cid though," Zell added helpfully.

Quistis shook her head and closed her eyes. She looked like she was suffering from a migraine headache. Irvine nodded at Selphie and Zell but he looked just as lost.

"If Squall wants to keep his place as commander he better to show up soon." Quistis whispered tiredly. "They are choosing a new leader this evening."

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Author's Note: please don't get insulted over the chapter on Irvine. I only wrote it to explain why Irvine is such a hothead to Seifer. If you hate it just pretend its not here. It has no affect on the rest of the story.

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Chapter 12 - The Choices Of One

The shades of dawn had already passed as Squall Leonhart walked over the rocky ground of the Winhill bluffs. Birds fluttered by disturbing the quiet solitude of the path. Squall walked on tirelessly, not unlike the way he had trodden through the desert during his near encounter with death.

Rinoa, he had left her asleep, there in that abandoned house. She had looked so peaceful as he tucked her under the covers. He knew the sorceress was coming. That seemed inevitable now. It didn't matter. He needed to take a walk to clear his mind.

*"It's just beyond that hill."*

Laguna, Squall thought, if only you could see me now. It has been only a few a days ago when he had hiked down the same path beside that man. How things have changed since then. *Except the fact that you are still not my father.* Squall thought to himself. *nothing, no sorceress from the future or monster in deep space can change the fact that I will never be your son.*

Squall walked up to the tombstone. He had always wondered what his mother was like. He was glad that she had been a strong women. One who resisted Laguna's childish charm. He would have liked her - Raine Leonhart, she seemed like the type of person who could understand him. But she was dead. Disappeared just like the rest of them. He could talk to her now, but she would not answer back. It was tragic irony, he had found his mother only to realize that she was dead. He wasn't much better off before when he was still looking.

Squall crouched down beside the tombstone and traced the letters with his gloved hand. Raine Loire. Raine Loire. Raine Loire. Why had she agreed to put that? What was that man's name on her monument to eternity when she had named her son Leonhart? What a mystery that had died with her.

Raine, mom, I've never spoken to you before, at least not by name. I came to ask your advice today. I hope you can hear me, despite the fact that I'm not talking out loud.

He took his hands off the tombstone and turned his glaze from the horizon back to the slab of marble in front of him. Is this what it was like to sit with your mother? He wondered. All through his life he had seen people praising their mothers. He could only grasp that abstractly, by faith, the way you had to have faith that the desk was made of molecules although you could never see it. He had to have faith that there was such a thing as unconditional love, one which no one can take away.

Mom, I'm lost I don't know what to do.

Raine Leonhart. Raine Leonhart. Beautiful Raine. What would it feel like to be hugged by her? Did she love him when she held him for the last time? Or maybe he was just a burden, just a momento her lover had left her after all the romance was gone. But she had named him Leonhart hadn't she? So surely there was some degree of love, of possessiveness.

Garden or Rinoa. Mother, which one should I choose?

What would she think if she saw him today? Did she know that he had his father's eyes? Would she praise him for hating Laguna, the man that had abandoned them both?

Mother are you going to answer me?

Maybe she was just dead and there was nothing after death. The entire illusion of having a mother was no more real than the room on the other side of a mirror. However, for a moment amid the lingering colors of dawn, he wanted to step through that mirror. It was a place where there were no sorceresses. No paradoxes. Where you did not have the burden of a nation on your shoulders. The stories made it seem so simple. Rescue the lady and save the world. What if you can't have both? What then?

Mother, I'm so lonely. I wish I could lay down there in the deep earth beside you.

I never wanted to be the hero, Raine. I just wanted to be loved by someone. To never be so painfully lonely. I wish I could have lived my life beside you in this tiny village. I wish I had never seen the wide wide world and all its evil. I wish I never knew the meaning of rival, of death of Garden. For that I would give up all my skill, my pride, my victories.

If it was my choice, mom, I would choose to be with you.

Suddenly he heard a voice behind him, a female voice.

"Squall, it's me."

Rinoa felt the sorceress awaken inside her. It wasn't like last time when she simply went out cold. She could feel the sorceress spreading inside her, through her right arms first, then her left. She could still move her toes of her own will by the time it was taking over her neck and chin. It was like being paralyzed. She was able to wiggle her toes as much as she wanted but it was impossible to move her mouth to take a breath. Pretty soon, her toes stopped moving too and she couldn't will them to start again no matter how hard she tried. The sorceress began her moving now. Rinoa felt her legs swinging over the side of the bed. Her fingers reached down to put her shoes on. She tried as hard as she could to resist but it was like a dream when her body got heaver and heaver as the monster came closer and closer. She couldn't budge an inch.

"Stop resisting me." The sorceress ordered.

Rinoa felt a jot of surprise. She could talk to the sorceress.

"Where are we going?" Rinoa asked her, through her mind.

"To find my prince," the sorceress answered.

"You're not going to harm him are you?"

The sorceress thought that was funny.

"I'm going to help him, Rinoa. So he won't be so unhappy."

Rinoa felt her body getting up now. Slowly, unsteadily, her body began to take step by step towards the door. The body tripped over the rug and fell upon its knees. Rinoa could see herself in the mirror across the room. She looked like she was drunk. It was terrifying to see herself, a body she recognized so well, but to realize that it wasn't her inside. It was worse than meeting an evil twin.

"Steady Steady," the sorceress whispered to herself.

"You're not like Ultimecia," Rinoa thought but said as well since there was no longer any

difference between thinking and saying. "She was better at it than you."

"I know," the sorceress replied. "She was a powerful witch. My powers are but a fraction of hers. That's why I'm not wasting my strength knocking you out this time. You can stay with me until I find him. Then I'll have to talk to him alone."

"What do you want with him... Alexandra?"

"I want him to love me. He doesn't love you, Rinoa. Haven't you figured that out yet? You're not good enough for him."

"Child," Rinoa began sadly, "Squall is a man, you're... a child. A child without a body. "

The sorceress was quiet.

"I'm going to send you away to dreamland soon, Rinoa. But just wait. I'll show you. You'll see."

Rinoa felt herself gaining speed. She ran down the stairs and out onto the street. It was fast, she was afraid that she would fall. But the sorceress didn't. She kept running, down the bridge, over the chocobo crossing and outside the village into the bluffs.

"I know where he is." The sorceress said triumphantly. "He went to visit Raine."

"Please stop." Rinoa begged the sorceress.

"I'm sorry, Rinoa," the sorceress said. "I need him. I need to be with him. I'm so alone. I need your world. It is the only place where I can be happy. My world so barren. This place is like a fantasy world. The great and final fantasy."

"This place is my reality and you are destroying my life. Can't you understand that? Give me back my body, please. This is not a game."

The child was quiet, as though she was contemplating what Rinoa had said. Rinoa felt her legs picking up speed as they went over the last hill and she saw Squall kneeling there beside his mother's grave. So he had come here, she thought.

"I knew he would be here," the sorceress said.

Rinoa felt her mouth move.

"Squall!"

Rinoa saw Squall turn around. At the sight of her there was an intense look of annoyance on his face. His thin delicate brows arched and he stood there stiffly waiting for the sorceress to catch up to him. So he knows too, Rinoa thought. At least he knew and she won't trick him. Alexandra was annoyed by his unhappiness to see her. Meanwhile, Rinoa began to fade out to "dreamworld" as Alexandra promised. I trust you Squall, she thought as she went into oblivion.

"Squall!!"

Squall turned around to see Alexandra running up the Winhill bluffs. He knew it was Alexandra. Rinoa was gone. He watched her coming, her long legs skipping over the rougher rocks.

"It's me." She said, out of breath.

Squall stood there with his eyes on Alexandra. She waved at him. It wasn't hard to pretend that it was Rinoa running towards him. That it was Rinoa's raven hair blowing in the damp morning wind. That it was really Rinoa's smile gracing that pale oval face. That it was Rinoa's long swan like legs carrying her towards him, into his embrace.

But it wasn't.

He had to remember what was real.

As long as he still had a grip on reality the sorceress would have no power over him.

"Squall, so you've come to visit Raine?"

He shrugged, turning back to the tombstone, ignoring her.

She crouched down beside him, the way Rinoa used to. It was irritating him to no end.

"You left without me. I was worried."

There was a moment of silence before she spoke up again.

"I miss my mother too. We are alike aren't we Squall? Two orphans lost in time."

She sighed and flicked her hair back, away from her face.

"There is no one we can depend on to pull us out of trouble, no one to care whether we are dead or alive."

She paused, watching the ground and the red letters etched in stone. When she spoke next it was in a quiet sincere voice, the same one that Rinoa used to use.

"Rinoa can't understand your loneliness, Squall, or your despair. What does she have to be afraid of? Her general father will always be there to pull her out of trouble. But what about you Squall? If you were to fall who would catch you?"

"I have myself." He whispered. "And my friends, Ellone, Rinoa, Quistis. I'm not alone. You are the only one who is alone, Alexandra, there is no place for you here."

She nodded. "You have no place here either. You wander amidst them but you feel like you can't touch them. Night after night, trapped in a glass box, screaming out loud but completely silent. Weren't those your own words Squall? You compared it to being wrapped in layer after layer of flannel. But when she asked you what you were thinking, you lied. You lied because you knew that she could never understand. She came from a sugar coated childhood of lollipops and flowers. You can from a sun cracked desert, devoid of tenderness or love."

He glared at her. "How dare you intrude on my thoughts. You witch. I won't give in to your illusions. I'm not Seifer."

"You're right, you are not Seifer, but you wish you were. You want his brashness his confidence and his immaturity. You wanted that because your thoughts brought you so much pain so you choose not to think at all, just like Seifer."

"You lie. Stop playing with my mind. Shut up."

"Really I lie? Tell me, why is it that you love Rinoa? Why were you so eager to have her despite the fact that she was so much trouble and so distant. You choose her because she was Seifer's. You want to be him, even during the Dollet exam, you were looking for a way to have his approval. That is why you gave him that scar so that you would be identical. His dream was always to be a great warrior. You claim never to have wanted that yet unconsciously that is the goal you accomplished - a great warrior you are, the end product of Seifer's dream."

"The circumstances made me this way. I just did what was needed to be done. I won't be manipulated by your sorcery, Alexandra."

"I pity you Squall. You are better than them, all of them. Yet you choose to be like them.

Seifer is nothing but a shell, he is a thousand mirrors, living up to a standard that doesn't exist. That's how my mother was able to control him. But not you, I could never manipulate you. I only seek a friend. Someone to understand my loneliness. Do you know Squall what it is to be truly alone?"

"Don't, Alexandra." He whispered. "Don't use my own weaknesses against me. I won't have it. I won't be your knight."

She frowned and reached over to touch his shoulder in a gesture of sympathy. He angrily shook her off.

"You won't be my knight but will you be Rinoa's? You will keep on walking through the play of life reading Seifer's script? Seifer choose her for you, Squall. You said that you didn't want to be a puppet anymore well the time has come for you to make a choice. Don't say simply what you think you think the leader of SeeD would say. I'm Alexandra not Ultimecia. I'm your friend not your burden. A child not a monster. I'm just alone, so bitterly alone that I came back in time to find you, my prince."

Squall shook his head. "Do you really expect me to believe that Alexandra? That you are not evil? That you are just lonely? And even more preposterous - that you are here for me? This is my mother's tombstone. Don't desecrate this place by telling me any more lies here. I love Rinoa, I love her of my own will and nothing you say will change that."

Alexandra chuckled. "Then why won't you tell her the truth? Why do you keep lying to her? You told her that you would be waiting for her in the meadow yet you never showed up. Squall, the truth is that you never loved her enough. You went back in time to seek your childhood instead. If these are lies then why do they sound so true? And if it is really love than why does it feel so fake? I'm only a child Squall, and even I can see that what you two share is not love. She's nothing but an accessory to your mask."

Squall got up and turned away from her. He stared at the stretch of grassland before him as the wind ran its fingers through the his hair.

Mother, what is the truth? He wondered. Do I really love her? Or is it just another illusion. The good illusions and the bad. It was so hard to tell sometimes. What was love really? Did he even know? Maybe Alex was right and he was just playing a role all along. But it was all just illusion. A web of dreams.

"I don't believe you, Alexandra."

Alexandra nodded and stood up.

"All right, Squall, since you won't be persuaded by my words. Let me show you my true power."

Squall turned around and his mouth fell agape in surprise.

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Author's note: Alexandra comes from Alexandros, another name for Paris who kidnapped Helen and started the Trojan war.

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