[Phone Calls]

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[Ring ring, Rydia! Panicked friend on the phone.]

[Phone call for you too, Squall!]

Comments

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Raine! How are you?

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Rydia!

[She's frantic and yet not going loud and nonsensical like some people.]

We need to leave Dali. Now. Can you help us find somewhere?

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

[Her reply is immediate.]

Come to Alfitaria. We have room in the palace.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Please, don't tell anyone.

This isn't fair to Ellone...

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

I won't, of course. Do you need a ride, too?

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Yes?

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

I hate to ask, but yes. The cargo ship doesn't leave until tomorrow.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[Far too practical to waste time with lead up chit-chat.]

I'm taking the girls out of Dali.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

It's fine. I'll meet you at your house.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

[Cutting straight to the chase is fine by Squall.]

Because of Edea?

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Yes.

How much of a threat is she to Ellone?

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

We'll be ready.

I'm sorry about this.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Don't be. You gave me hospitality and I'm glad to return the favor. You're welcome here as long as you need.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

I hope it won't be too long.

[But privately she's worried they can't ever go back.]

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

By herself, I don't know. But back home, she used to be Ultimecia's vessel. And a Sorceress without a Knight... runs a risk. Hopefully it won't come to that, but we can't tell.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Mm.

And you? Will you be alright?

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

We've fought her before, and we know the signs.

[Not that he wants to fight her again, but ah well.]

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

We can figure that out later. Right now, I just want you to feel safe again.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Squall, that's not what I asked.

[SIGH. Raine gets you just a little too well though. Rest assured she is linefacing from her end of the phone.]

... do you want to know where we're going or is it better not to?

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

It's alright if I know. We're trained in making sure important information doesn't get out under duress.

[And yes, he has put that training to the test.]

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

What do you mean under duress?

[Mom is ignoring the fact your baby sister is asleep in the next room and yelling. Just a bit. Have we discussed how much she does NOT like your job lately, son?]

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

[There's a pause before he answers, as he weighs the pros on cons of various ways to say it. In the end, he decides to just go the blunt route.]

Torture. Not everyone back home liked us.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[Raine is not stupid. Small-town girl but she can connect the dots.]

Who did it and when? [muttered:] I really do not like his job...

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Seifer, and a while ago. But he wasn't himself at the time.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[Not liking how everyone gets off the hook for bad behavior all the time either. She'll be worried sick for the rest of her life now.]

Squall...

I don't want it to happen again.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

I don't want it to either.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

This isn't what I wanted for you. Or for Ellone. I wanted you both to have a normal, peaceful life.

[And now Slai and Brooke are being dragged into it too. :(]

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. But this is my life now. I was raised in the Garden.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm sorry.

[Since well, dying is what made that happen.]

I can't help but worry.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

I'll be fine. Really.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Of course. You're a lot more responsible than your father...

Even if you're fine, I'll still worry. It's part of being a parent.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

It is?

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Mmhmm. It is.

We're going to Alfitaria. I have a friend who lives there.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

[Squall doesn't ask who. He figures that if Raine wants to mention it, she will.]

Alright.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[Oh she plans to.]

You remember Rydia, right? She was around when Brooke was born.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I remember.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

We'll be with her.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Alright.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[There's a prolonged pause while Raine thinks about something said a few months ago.]

Squall, is she the woman you said raised you? The name's the same, isn't it?

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

[Welp, so much for not telling Raine about that part.]

Before I went to the Garden, yeah. She ran an orphanage.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Why did you fight her?

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

We didn't remember what she meant to us, then.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[Like that news helps Raine fret any less. She suspects asking all these questions is stressing him out and her blood pressure's already through the roof.]

Sometime will you try to explain all of this to me? It's like some convoluted bad dream, these little bits of things I learn.

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

Someday, sure.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I should finish packing, but... be careful?

[knighted-lion.livejournal.com]

I will.