Little Light of Love Chapter 2
Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2003 7:23 pm
A Little Light
By: Krazy Kool Snowborder Chick
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8. Those people at Square do. So don't come to my door begging for money, and I mean in the form of lawyers.
A/N: This is my first Final Fantasy 8 fan fiction. This had been bothering me a lot since I thought it up on a vacation I took. That was two years ago. It's taken me that long to write this and this is only the first chapter. Oh I took the title from a Fifth Element Soundtrack song. I was listing to that soundtrack a lot when I was both designing the characters and writing the story. Enjoy.
PS: I'm sorry I jump a lot from first person to third person. It's just the way I wanted to do this. I am also sorry I jump time a lot as well. I'm trying to tell background stories along with Julia's story.
6050, Quarter Moon (A month after the SeeD inauguration ball)
Today mom asked me to clean out her storage area. I agreed to it because it's been very slow around the world lately. Lily was also bored and I roped her into coming to helping me. As we were dusting and cleaning, I came across a box of my mom's old mementos from her days in Timber as a resistance fighter. There were posters with crazy slogans and a framed picture of her and a man whose name was Zone, I think.
Man my mom looked so much younger. Her hair was exceedingly longer then the length of her hair now. You see my mom cut her almost black hair when we came to Garden. She now keeps it about chin level. I think she looks great. I could tell that in the seventeen years since I had been born, my mother had developed laugh lines around her eyes and her once black hair was now starting to show her age, and sliver streaks were appearing in the black hair. I can tell I put a lot of strain on my mom growing up. She had to raise me as a single parent. Near the bottom of the box were two books. One just happened to be a picture album. The other I sat down over to the side. I opened the book and was greeted with the best find ever.
~*~
"Hey come look at this?" Julia expressed to Lily as she griped the dusty black photo album in her hands.
Lily dropped the box she had been handling and came to Julia's side. Julia opened to the first page and stared in awe. There on the page was a picture of a group of teenagers. They all looked about the age of the girls maybe slightly older, but still teenagers. The caption under the picture read 'Day after Ultimacia Defeat'
"Hey that's my mom and my dad!" Lily exclaimed as she pointed to the picture of a girl with sandy colored hair that was flipped up at the ends. She wore a yellow dress.
Standing next to her was a tall man in a duster and a cowboy hat. Julia smiled at Lily's excited gestures. Lily loved her fathers' coat and hat. She kept them with her at all times to remind her of him. Julia felt something drop in her at that thought.
"And there's uncle Zell with Raymond's mom. " Julia pointed to Zell and Raymond's mother, trying to lift her mood.
"Hey isn't that Instructor Trepe?" Lily questioned Julia.
Julia glanced at her favorite instructor and nodded. Time had certainly changed the instructor. "Who's the man beside her?" Lily asked and then pointed to a blond haired man with a scar across his face. Julia shrugged.
"He looks a little like, Instructor Almsay?" Julia said with a laugh and Lily just looked at her with an angry look. Julia turned back to the book.
As Julia glanced over the page her eyes caught a mysterious man standing next to her mom. His eyes were a blue colour that made her shiver. It was looking into a mirror expecting to see your self but seeing someone else. Julia stared for a little longer and then tore her eyes away when Lily asked her about the new CD she had just gotten for her graduation. She answered Lily with a grunt and turned to the next page. The next photo was of three girls.
"Hey I didn't know our moms had been friends with Instructor Trepe?" Julia's eyes turned starry eyed.
Turning the page again there were many pictures of their mom's, Lily's parents, and a few with Lily's dad, Raymond's dad and the mysterious boy with the brown hair and piercing eyes. On the last page was a picture of Julia's mom with the mysterious boy. Rinoa had jumped on the man's back and had him in a headlock. They both were smiling at the camera. The caption at the bottom read 'Squall and Rinoa together, forever'.
"Must have been a boyfriend before your mom meet your dad?" Lily said from behind Julia's shoulder
"I guess, Mom always told me I was conceived after the Ultimacia attack. What if that man is my father?" Julia said to Lily
"I don't know. I thought your father died?" Lily questioned knowing that if they continued this discussion any further, Julia would be in a rut for the rest of the day.
"Well she really told me nothing. I think I told you he died in some magnificent mission when I was eight so that you would like me and I guess feel jealous of me." Julia said bringing her legs underneath her. Something she had inherited from her mother.
Lily nodded and went back to cleaning around. Julia spoke from where she was perched.
"She says I look like him. She says that there are things that I do that remind her of him. When that happens she gets very sad. Sometimes she won't even look at me. Does that mean that I really was not wanted?" Julia said sadly as she fingered the photo of her mom and the mysterious man.
"Let's get out of here the dust is making you think really weird things. Any ways we are done. No thanks to you I might add." Lily remarked
Lily pulled Julia away from the book and dragged her out of the room, but not before Julia could pocket the picture.
~*~
The picture is tucked between the corners of my mirror in my dorm room. I need to have hope. Mom has been avoiding me lately because of my quest to find my father. She always seems to get angry when I probe her for questions on him. She's more silent. Uncle Zell will only tell me that he was a SeeD student and that I have a tendency to place my hand to my head when I get embarrassed or I'm thinking hard. Aunt Selphie is just avoiding me completely as well.
Hey at least I have a name this time. Squall, I like it. Sound kind of restless, without a quest. Wait I have a quest. I want to find this man named Squall. Next time I see Grandpa Laguna I'll ask him for answers that my family and friends cannot answer.
Julia
~*~
(17 years ago)
"Do you relies how dangerous it is to be out there?" said a man with long sandy brown hair held back with a leather thong.
"Don't worry about me and your granddaughter. We are going to be all right. I'm just going to do some extra rounds to the poor people who live out on the plain here." Rinoa reassured the aging president of Ethstar.
She felt a sharp pain in her side. It had been happening all day but Rinoa had just attributed it to an active and awake baby. "Boy you kick a lot for a girl,? Rinoa stated to her stomach as she grabbed the last basket she was taking out to the families.
As she moved around she felt another shape pain grip her. This time it was more violent and hurt the most of all the pain she had had in the day. She felt a warm feeling down her leg. Laguna rushed to her side.
"Are you going to be ok?" He asked her
She looked at him and with a worried face sputtered, "I think my water broke!"
~*~
Rinoa cradled the newborn girl in her arms with care. At eighteen she felt scared that she was giving birth, but holding the little treasure in her arms made the fear of taking care of this little girl fly away.
"So how is the mother or my pretty granddaughter doing?" Laguna asked as he popped his head into the room.
"She is fine" Rinoa replied as she adjusted herself again
"I found some friends of yours along the way," Laguna moved into the room
A large group of people entered the room. She gasped at the surprise.
"Rin!" Selphie exclaimed
Irvine, Zell, Zell?s new wife Nat, and Quistis followed Selphie.
"It's great to see you all." Rinoa was in tears. "But how did you all get leave at the same time?"
"I'm here to act as a mediator between the two trade delegations that are meeting here in Ethstar." Quistis stated as she adjusted her glasses.
?We?re here on our honeymoon.? Selphie said excitedly and pointed to her and Irvine and Zell and Nat.
?Congratulations are in order then.? Laguna said in his most professional voice.
?Now if we could only get a certain someone to see the light.? Quistis said with a grim smirk.
~*~
?So what are you going to name her?? The blonde instructor asked Rinoa as she was breast-feeding the little girl.
?I don?t really know what to call the little angel?? She said as she switched the little babe to the other side.
?You could always call her Raine?? Quistis suggested.
?Where in the hell did you come up with that name?? Rinoa look towards the blonde in confusion.
?It was the name of Squall?s mother. Ellone told me after the Ultimacia fight that she was her foster mother and Squall?s biological mother.? She said with a nonchalant tone
Rinoa held back the tears and then placed the baby close to her shoulder to burp her.
?He never told me that?? Rinoa drifted off into thought
?He never told us anything. I think he likes to be alone.? Quistis gave a very unladylike snort.
?I think I?ll call her Julia.? Rinoa said to no one even though Quistis was sitting in the chair.
?Why?? Quistis asked
?Because that was my mother?s name and I really never got to know my mother and I fight with the General. I think it will make an excellent name.? Rinoa said as she laid the baby across her forearm supporting her with her palm.
?Julia sounds like a strong name for one very strong girl.? Quistis said from her chair.
There was silence for a few minutes, ?Does he think of me at all?? Rinoa asked Quistis looking at her with her tear filled eyes
?All the time. He is always asking me if I talk to you at all.? She said as if letting go of the breath she had been holding ever since she got here.
?You haven?t told him anything??
?Don?t worry. He does not know. I don?t think he deserves to know.? Quistis took off her glasses and cleaned them.
?Thank you? Rinoa whispered and looked at the little girl she held.
~*~
6050 Half Moon
Well I began my search for my father today. The first place Raymond told me to look was in the main data banks at Garden. So with his help I was on my way, accept I hit my first major roadblock.
~*~
Julia sat in the empty classroom at her data panel. Raymond sat facing her with a data pad in his hand. There was a mess of wires that connected the panel to the data pad.
?Thanks for doing this for me Ray,? Julia said as she waited for Raymond to finish
His fingers moved swiftly as he began to hack the main database. There were a few minutes of silence and the occasional grown until he answered Julia.
?Oh no prob. If I didn?t know my dad, I would be doing the same thing you are.? He said and then returned back to the data pad.
?After a few more minutes of tapping away, Raymond was successful. He wheeled over to Julia and handed her the data pad.
?Here ya go. I?ll leave you alone to do this.? He said and then wheeled to the door.
With a final salute he was gone. Julia taped away at the panel in front of her. She reached the main search. She carefully typed in the name. ?S-Q-U-A-L-L? she said as if in a trance.
She pressed the search button. After a two second wait, a name popped up. Julia looked carefully at the name. It read Squall Lionheart. She moved the mouse over to where it was. As she clicked a big red popup came up.
?Fuck the Restricted.? Julia swore under her breath.
She felt dishearten and then switched off the panel. She rose and headed for the door. Soon an announcement was made over the PA.
?Would Julia Heartily, Raymond Dintch, and Lily Kinneis please assemble in the front hall.? The mechanical voice blurted out.
?Damn.? Julia swore and began to jog down to the front foyer
~*~
Julia stood talking to Raymond and Lily as they awaited the arrival of what they no-doubtly thought was to be their assignment for this week.
?Attention.? Called a voice
The three snapped to attention, Julia and Lily standing as straight as poles and Raymond doing the best from his chair. A portly man walked into the sight of the three. At age sixty-two, Headmaster Cid of Garden did not look a day over fifty. Cid adjusted his glasses and then motioned towards them.
?At ease.? He said.
Even though Cid was not as young as he looked he partook in most of the duties that he had been doing since the inception of Garden. Julia, Lily and Raymond relaxed into military fashion and awaited their orders.
?We received a call from Ethstar twelve hours ago at 0900 about one of their research facilities. It is one that sits right on the coast and goes down into the ocean floor. As with the deep Sea Research Facility, they are experiencing problems with their equipment and an enormous amount of monsters and what some witnesses have describe as ?Ghost?. Doctor Odin is asking for Garden to send a team of SeeD to investigate. You are to be at the hanger at 2200 for deportations. Your mission is to find out what is causing these appearances and the increases of the monsters.? Cid removed his glasses and wiped them with a kerchief that he hastily put it back into his pocket.
?You are dismissed.? The three snapped to attention.
The head master left the three alone in the front hall.
?So what cha wanna do for the hour we have to kill?? Raymond asked
?I?m gonna go pack and then I?m gonna eat what I can before the long trip to Ethstar.? Julia said and then left the other two in the hall.
~*~
Well next to being sent on a mission, I think my quest to find my dad is on the back burner for a while. When I read the mission log on the trip to the Research Facility I saw that it might take weeks maybe even months because the monsters and ?ghosts? come very sporadically.
Julia
~*~
(18 years earlier)
?Squall do relies what we just did?? Rinoa said as she curled her naked body up next to a man on the small military bed they were sharing.
?Yeah!? Was all he managed to say from his breathless position.
?Squall!? Rinoa exclaimed and playfully hit the sandy haired man.
Squall caught her hand and began to tickle her. It soon led to other things sweat and simple. They laid against each other again listing to the sounds of their breathing and of Garden. The party was still going on in the background. Squall gathered Rinoa in his arms.
?I love you Rin.? He whispered to her.
?I love you to Squall.? She whispered back.
~*~
6050, New Moon
It?s been half a month already and I have yet to see this monster and ?ghost? activity. So I sit here, doing a lot of shadow boxing, something I picked up from Uncle Zell. Raymond keeps spending his time to find anything in the data banks in Garden for anything about Squall Lionheart. Lily ended up in one of the conversations and jokingly said to me that maybe Commander Lionheart was the guy I was looking for. I laughed at her and then told her that it would be impossible that he would be my father. My father has a huge red open scar on his face. The Commander did not. We laughed a little more and then turned the conversation in another direction. I can tell Lily has developed a fear of being under the water. I kind of like it. I remember a movie I watched when I was little and after that I bugged my mom to let me live under the sea. Any way we have duty watch in the sensor lab tonight.
Julia
~*~
?So what does it all mean?? Lily asked as she began to furl and unfurl her metal edge fans and then pulled into a perched crane position.
?I don?t honestly know.? Julia said as she held stress balls in her hand and tossing them back and forth with Raymond.
?What the hell are you talking about?? Raymond asked
?Weather or not she should consult the magic eight ball about the guy in the dorm room next to her.? Julia said with a smirk
?What did the eight ball say?? Raymond asked tossing back the stress ball
?The answer is within you.? Julia said with a smirk and began to giggle.
Raymond joined her in her giggles.
?It?s not funny,? Lily fumed.
?Yes it is.? Both Julia and Raymond said in unison.
There was laughter for a while and then the red warring light came on. Julia and Raymond both snapped to attention and began to do a scan.
?What?s going on?? Lily asked as she ran to her console.
?I don?t know but it seems to be coming from the Beta Test Sight.? Raymond stated as he began punching in the code keys to alert key officials.
Julia manned the communications console, looking for the harried cries of the scientist down in the Beta Test Center. She soon caught their cries and warning.
?Monster attack? Hurry? something big?.? The transmission was cut short.
?I guess that?s our cue.? Julia ordered as threw off her headset and jumped over the console.
She ran for the door. Lily was the next to follow and Raymond closely after. They reached the elevator to Beta Site. It would take them 2500 feet under the sea and partially underground.
?Shouldn?t we take the stairs?? Lily asked in her usual worrisome tone
?Yeah we should, but we?re not cause of Ray.? Julia said with an annoyed tone
Soon they were on the ground floor of the Beta Test Site. To Julia the underground Research facility was covered in smoke, wires and construction garbage. There was a loud rumble behind them. Julia was the first to turn around. There at their backs was the grotesque monster she had ever experienced.
?Man what did I do to deserve this.? Lily muttered and then unfurled the fans.
?I don?t know, maybe consult that dumb magic eight ball?? Raymond stated in contempt as he opened the special compartment in which he kept his ninja star.
?Enough of that you to, we have to attack it before he kills us.? Julia said taking a long stretch and then pulled herself into low stance then changing to high empty stance with a left block palm.
Raymond had first attack. He threw Ninja star. Julia soon followed after with a lethal jump kick punch combo. Lily slashed the monster to its end. Soon they were headed down the trashed access tunnel towards the labs. They encountered a few monsters but did away with them easily.
When they reached the labs there was a major wave of monster attacks. Soon as one was done another would begin.
?It?s coming from down below.? A frantic scientist told them.
?Where the elevator?? Lily asked
Soon they were under the main lab. It was eerily quite. A single object in the middle faintly lit the room. Julia was entranced by the way it looked. She stepped towards it, reaching her hand out as if to touch it.
?What is it?? Lily asked
The object pulsed and throbbed as Julia came closer. Raymond was horrified. Getting suspicious, he reached into his backpack on his wheel chair and pulled out the Occult Fan IX. He opened to the article on the Deep Sea Research Center. He quickly glanced over the article and then looked to the object fearing what he knew.
?Wait Julia.? Raymond cried
Julia was oblivious to his calls. She walked towards the shimmering orb in the core of the cave.
?What is going on?? Lily was become scared
?It?s going to join with her if we?re not careful.? Raymond said wheeling his way to Julia.
He hit a force field and was thrown out of his chair. Lily rushed to his side and helped him back into the chair.
?It?s too late.?
~*~
(At Garden)
A man was laying in a restless sleep that was taxing his system. He could see a girl, one of his SeeD. She was looking at an object. She was trying to touch an object that he could not identify. In the background he could hear the screams of her friends. It was the voice of the object that took over. A voice he had not heard in over seventeen years.
?That is right my little one kome to me.? It said in the heavily accented voice
The man shot right off the bed. His eyes were open and sweat ran down his face. He whispered one word, Ultimacia.
By: Krazy Kool Snowborder Chick
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8. Those people at Square do. So don't come to my door begging for money, and I mean in the form of lawyers.
A/N: This is my first Final Fantasy 8 fan fiction. This had been bothering me a lot since I thought it up on a vacation I took. That was two years ago. It's taken me that long to write this and this is only the first chapter. Oh I took the title from a Fifth Element Soundtrack song. I was listing to that soundtrack a lot when I was both designing the characters and writing the story. Enjoy.
PS: I'm sorry I jump a lot from first person to third person. It's just the way I wanted to do this. I am also sorry I jump time a lot as well. I'm trying to tell background stories along with Julia's story.
6050, Quarter Moon (A month after the SeeD inauguration ball)
Today mom asked me to clean out her storage area. I agreed to it because it's been very slow around the world lately. Lily was also bored and I roped her into coming to helping me. As we were dusting and cleaning, I came across a box of my mom's old mementos from her days in Timber as a resistance fighter. There were posters with crazy slogans and a framed picture of her and a man whose name was Zone, I think.
Man my mom looked so much younger. Her hair was exceedingly longer then the length of her hair now. You see my mom cut her almost black hair when we came to Garden. She now keeps it about chin level. I think she looks great. I could tell that in the seventeen years since I had been born, my mother had developed laugh lines around her eyes and her once black hair was now starting to show her age, and sliver streaks were appearing in the black hair. I can tell I put a lot of strain on my mom growing up. She had to raise me as a single parent. Near the bottom of the box were two books. One just happened to be a picture album. The other I sat down over to the side. I opened the book and was greeted with the best find ever.
~*~
"Hey come look at this?" Julia expressed to Lily as she griped the dusty black photo album in her hands.
Lily dropped the box she had been handling and came to Julia's side. Julia opened to the first page and stared in awe. There on the page was a picture of a group of teenagers. They all looked about the age of the girls maybe slightly older, but still teenagers. The caption under the picture read 'Day after Ultimacia Defeat'
"Hey that's my mom and my dad!" Lily exclaimed as she pointed to the picture of a girl with sandy colored hair that was flipped up at the ends. She wore a yellow dress.
Standing next to her was a tall man in a duster and a cowboy hat. Julia smiled at Lily's excited gestures. Lily loved her fathers' coat and hat. She kept them with her at all times to remind her of him. Julia felt something drop in her at that thought.
"And there's uncle Zell with Raymond's mom. " Julia pointed to Zell and Raymond's mother, trying to lift her mood.
"Hey isn't that Instructor Trepe?" Lily questioned Julia.
Julia glanced at her favorite instructor and nodded. Time had certainly changed the instructor. "Who's the man beside her?" Lily asked and then pointed to a blond haired man with a scar across his face. Julia shrugged.
"He looks a little like, Instructor Almsay?" Julia said with a laugh and Lily just looked at her with an angry look. Julia turned back to the book.
As Julia glanced over the page her eyes caught a mysterious man standing next to her mom. His eyes were a blue colour that made her shiver. It was looking into a mirror expecting to see your self but seeing someone else. Julia stared for a little longer and then tore her eyes away when Lily asked her about the new CD she had just gotten for her graduation. She answered Lily with a grunt and turned to the next page. The next photo was of three girls.
"Hey I didn't know our moms had been friends with Instructor Trepe?" Julia's eyes turned starry eyed.
Turning the page again there were many pictures of their mom's, Lily's parents, and a few with Lily's dad, Raymond's dad and the mysterious boy with the brown hair and piercing eyes. On the last page was a picture of Julia's mom with the mysterious boy. Rinoa had jumped on the man's back and had him in a headlock. They both were smiling at the camera. The caption at the bottom read 'Squall and Rinoa together, forever'.
"Must have been a boyfriend before your mom meet your dad?" Lily said from behind Julia's shoulder
"I guess, Mom always told me I was conceived after the Ultimacia attack. What if that man is my father?" Julia said to Lily
"I don't know. I thought your father died?" Lily questioned knowing that if they continued this discussion any further, Julia would be in a rut for the rest of the day.
"Well she really told me nothing. I think I told you he died in some magnificent mission when I was eight so that you would like me and I guess feel jealous of me." Julia said bringing her legs underneath her. Something she had inherited from her mother.
Lily nodded and went back to cleaning around. Julia spoke from where she was perched.
"She says I look like him. She says that there are things that I do that remind her of him. When that happens she gets very sad. Sometimes she won't even look at me. Does that mean that I really was not wanted?" Julia said sadly as she fingered the photo of her mom and the mysterious man.
"Let's get out of here the dust is making you think really weird things. Any ways we are done. No thanks to you I might add." Lily remarked
Lily pulled Julia away from the book and dragged her out of the room, but not before Julia could pocket the picture.
~*~
The picture is tucked between the corners of my mirror in my dorm room. I need to have hope. Mom has been avoiding me lately because of my quest to find my father. She always seems to get angry when I probe her for questions on him. She's more silent. Uncle Zell will only tell me that he was a SeeD student and that I have a tendency to place my hand to my head when I get embarrassed or I'm thinking hard. Aunt Selphie is just avoiding me completely as well.
Hey at least I have a name this time. Squall, I like it. Sound kind of restless, without a quest. Wait I have a quest. I want to find this man named Squall. Next time I see Grandpa Laguna I'll ask him for answers that my family and friends cannot answer.
Julia
~*~
(17 years ago)
"Do you relies how dangerous it is to be out there?" said a man with long sandy brown hair held back with a leather thong.
"Don't worry about me and your granddaughter. We are going to be all right. I'm just going to do some extra rounds to the poor people who live out on the plain here." Rinoa reassured the aging president of Ethstar.
She felt a sharp pain in her side. It had been happening all day but Rinoa had just attributed it to an active and awake baby. "Boy you kick a lot for a girl,? Rinoa stated to her stomach as she grabbed the last basket she was taking out to the families.
As she moved around she felt another shape pain grip her. This time it was more violent and hurt the most of all the pain she had had in the day. She felt a warm feeling down her leg. Laguna rushed to her side.
"Are you going to be ok?" He asked her
She looked at him and with a worried face sputtered, "I think my water broke!"
~*~
Rinoa cradled the newborn girl in her arms with care. At eighteen she felt scared that she was giving birth, but holding the little treasure in her arms made the fear of taking care of this little girl fly away.
"So how is the mother or my pretty granddaughter doing?" Laguna asked as he popped his head into the room.
"She is fine" Rinoa replied as she adjusted herself again
"I found some friends of yours along the way," Laguna moved into the room
A large group of people entered the room. She gasped at the surprise.
"Rin!" Selphie exclaimed
Irvine, Zell, Zell?s new wife Nat, and Quistis followed Selphie.
"It's great to see you all." Rinoa was in tears. "But how did you all get leave at the same time?"
"I'm here to act as a mediator between the two trade delegations that are meeting here in Ethstar." Quistis stated as she adjusted her glasses.
?We?re here on our honeymoon.? Selphie said excitedly and pointed to her and Irvine and Zell and Nat.
?Congratulations are in order then.? Laguna said in his most professional voice.
?Now if we could only get a certain someone to see the light.? Quistis said with a grim smirk.
~*~
?So what are you going to name her?? The blonde instructor asked Rinoa as she was breast-feeding the little girl.
?I don?t really know what to call the little angel?? She said as she switched the little babe to the other side.
?You could always call her Raine?? Quistis suggested.
?Where in the hell did you come up with that name?? Rinoa look towards the blonde in confusion.
?It was the name of Squall?s mother. Ellone told me after the Ultimacia fight that she was her foster mother and Squall?s biological mother.? She said with a nonchalant tone
Rinoa held back the tears and then placed the baby close to her shoulder to burp her.
?He never told me that?? Rinoa drifted off into thought
?He never told us anything. I think he likes to be alone.? Quistis gave a very unladylike snort.
?I think I?ll call her Julia.? Rinoa said to no one even though Quistis was sitting in the chair.
?Why?? Quistis asked
?Because that was my mother?s name and I really never got to know my mother and I fight with the General. I think it will make an excellent name.? Rinoa said as she laid the baby across her forearm supporting her with her palm.
?Julia sounds like a strong name for one very strong girl.? Quistis said from her chair.
There was silence for a few minutes, ?Does he think of me at all?? Rinoa asked Quistis looking at her with her tear filled eyes
?All the time. He is always asking me if I talk to you at all.? She said as if letting go of the breath she had been holding ever since she got here.
?You haven?t told him anything??
?Don?t worry. He does not know. I don?t think he deserves to know.? Quistis took off her glasses and cleaned them.
?Thank you? Rinoa whispered and looked at the little girl she held.
~*~
6050 Half Moon
Well I began my search for my father today. The first place Raymond told me to look was in the main data banks at Garden. So with his help I was on my way, accept I hit my first major roadblock.
~*~
Julia sat in the empty classroom at her data panel. Raymond sat facing her with a data pad in his hand. There was a mess of wires that connected the panel to the data pad.
?Thanks for doing this for me Ray,? Julia said as she waited for Raymond to finish
His fingers moved swiftly as he began to hack the main database. There were a few minutes of silence and the occasional grown until he answered Julia.
?Oh no prob. If I didn?t know my dad, I would be doing the same thing you are.? He said and then returned back to the data pad.
?After a few more minutes of tapping away, Raymond was successful. He wheeled over to Julia and handed her the data pad.
?Here ya go. I?ll leave you alone to do this.? He said and then wheeled to the door.
With a final salute he was gone. Julia taped away at the panel in front of her. She reached the main search. She carefully typed in the name. ?S-Q-U-A-L-L? she said as if in a trance.
She pressed the search button. After a two second wait, a name popped up. Julia looked carefully at the name. It read Squall Lionheart. She moved the mouse over to where it was. As she clicked a big red popup came up.
?Fuck the Restricted.? Julia swore under her breath.
She felt dishearten and then switched off the panel. She rose and headed for the door. Soon an announcement was made over the PA.
?Would Julia Heartily, Raymond Dintch, and Lily Kinneis please assemble in the front hall.? The mechanical voice blurted out.
?Damn.? Julia swore and began to jog down to the front foyer
~*~
Julia stood talking to Raymond and Lily as they awaited the arrival of what they no-doubtly thought was to be their assignment for this week.
?Attention.? Called a voice
The three snapped to attention, Julia and Lily standing as straight as poles and Raymond doing the best from his chair. A portly man walked into the sight of the three. At age sixty-two, Headmaster Cid of Garden did not look a day over fifty. Cid adjusted his glasses and then motioned towards them.
?At ease.? He said.
Even though Cid was not as young as he looked he partook in most of the duties that he had been doing since the inception of Garden. Julia, Lily and Raymond relaxed into military fashion and awaited their orders.
?We received a call from Ethstar twelve hours ago at 0900 about one of their research facilities. It is one that sits right on the coast and goes down into the ocean floor. As with the deep Sea Research Facility, they are experiencing problems with their equipment and an enormous amount of monsters and what some witnesses have describe as ?Ghost?. Doctor Odin is asking for Garden to send a team of SeeD to investigate. You are to be at the hanger at 2200 for deportations. Your mission is to find out what is causing these appearances and the increases of the monsters.? Cid removed his glasses and wiped them with a kerchief that he hastily put it back into his pocket.
?You are dismissed.? The three snapped to attention.
The head master left the three alone in the front hall.
?So what cha wanna do for the hour we have to kill?? Raymond asked
?I?m gonna go pack and then I?m gonna eat what I can before the long trip to Ethstar.? Julia said and then left the other two in the hall.
~*~
Well next to being sent on a mission, I think my quest to find my dad is on the back burner for a while. When I read the mission log on the trip to the Research Facility I saw that it might take weeks maybe even months because the monsters and ?ghosts? come very sporadically.
Julia
~*~
(18 years earlier)
?Squall do relies what we just did?? Rinoa said as she curled her naked body up next to a man on the small military bed they were sharing.
?Yeah!? Was all he managed to say from his breathless position.
?Squall!? Rinoa exclaimed and playfully hit the sandy haired man.
Squall caught her hand and began to tickle her. It soon led to other things sweat and simple. They laid against each other again listing to the sounds of their breathing and of Garden. The party was still going on in the background. Squall gathered Rinoa in his arms.
?I love you Rin.? He whispered to her.
?I love you to Squall.? She whispered back.
~*~
6050, New Moon
It?s been half a month already and I have yet to see this monster and ?ghost? activity. So I sit here, doing a lot of shadow boxing, something I picked up from Uncle Zell. Raymond keeps spending his time to find anything in the data banks in Garden for anything about Squall Lionheart. Lily ended up in one of the conversations and jokingly said to me that maybe Commander Lionheart was the guy I was looking for. I laughed at her and then told her that it would be impossible that he would be my father. My father has a huge red open scar on his face. The Commander did not. We laughed a little more and then turned the conversation in another direction. I can tell Lily has developed a fear of being under the water. I kind of like it. I remember a movie I watched when I was little and after that I bugged my mom to let me live under the sea. Any way we have duty watch in the sensor lab tonight.
Julia
~*~
?So what does it all mean?? Lily asked as she began to furl and unfurl her metal edge fans and then pulled into a perched crane position.
?I don?t honestly know.? Julia said as she held stress balls in her hand and tossing them back and forth with Raymond.
?What the hell are you talking about?? Raymond asked
?Weather or not she should consult the magic eight ball about the guy in the dorm room next to her.? Julia said with a smirk
?What did the eight ball say?? Raymond asked tossing back the stress ball
?The answer is within you.? Julia said with a smirk and began to giggle.
Raymond joined her in her giggles.
?It?s not funny,? Lily fumed.
?Yes it is.? Both Julia and Raymond said in unison.
There was laughter for a while and then the red warring light came on. Julia and Raymond both snapped to attention and began to do a scan.
?What?s going on?? Lily asked as she ran to her console.
?I don?t know but it seems to be coming from the Beta Test Sight.? Raymond stated as he began punching in the code keys to alert key officials.
Julia manned the communications console, looking for the harried cries of the scientist down in the Beta Test Center. She soon caught their cries and warning.
?Monster attack? Hurry? something big?.? The transmission was cut short.
?I guess that?s our cue.? Julia ordered as threw off her headset and jumped over the console.
She ran for the door. Lily was the next to follow and Raymond closely after. They reached the elevator to Beta Site. It would take them 2500 feet under the sea and partially underground.
?Shouldn?t we take the stairs?? Lily asked in her usual worrisome tone
?Yeah we should, but we?re not cause of Ray.? Julia said with an annoyed tone
Soon they were on the ground floor of the Beta Test Site. To Julia the underground Research facility was covered in smoke, wires and construction garbage. There was a loud rumble behind them. Julia was the first to turn around. There at their backs was the grotesque monster she had ever experienced.
?Man what did I do to deserve this.? Lily muttered and then unfurled the fans.
?I don?t know, maybe consult that dumb magic eight ball?? Raymond stated in contempt as he opened the special compartment in which he kept his ninja star.
?Enough of that you to, we have to attack it before he kills us.? Julia said taking a long stretch and then pulled herself into low stance then changing to high empty stance with a left block palm.
Raymond had first attack. He threw Ninja star. Julia soon followed after with a lethal jump kick punch combo. Lily slashed the monster to its end. Soon they were headed down the trashed access tunnel towards the labs. They encountered a few monsters but did away with them easily.
When they reached the labs there was a major wave of monster attacks. Soon as one was done another would begin.
?It?s coming from down below.? A frantic scientist told them.
?Where the elevator?? Lily asked
Soon they were under the main lab. It was eerily quite. A single object in the middle faintly lit the room. Julia was entranced by the way it looked. She stepped towards it, reaching her hand out as if to touch it.
?What is it?? Lily asked
The object pulsed and throbbed as Julia came closer. Raymond was horrified. Getting suspicious, he reached into his backpack on his wheel chair and pulled out the Occult Fan IX. He opened to the article on the Deep Sea Research Center. He quickly glanced over the article and then looked to the object fearing what he knew.
?Wait Julia.? Raymond cried
Julia was oblivious to his calls. She walked towards the shimmering orb in the core of the cave.
?What is going on?? Lily was become scared
?It?s going to join with her if we?re not careful.? Raymond said wheeling his way to Julia.
He hit a force field and was thrown out of his chair. Lily rushed to his side and helped him back into the chair.
?It?s too late.?
~*~
(At Garden)
A man was laying in a restless sleep that was taxing his system. He could see a girl, one of his SeeD. She was looking at an object. She was trying to touch an object that he could not identify. In the background he could hear the screams of her friends. It was the voice of the object that took over. A voice he had not heard in over seventeen years.
?That is right my little one kome to me.? It said in the heavily accented voice
The man shot right off the bed. His eyes were open and sweat ran down his face. He whispered one word, Ultimacia.
