King's Heart (part 25 of 31)

I Thought I Left You Back There With the Ashes

Selphie and Irvine ran back to the station, out of breath. A short while later, Xu, Quistis, Zell and Rinoa also showed up.

“Can’t find him anywhere!” Zell said angrily. “It’s pissing me off!”

“Anyone find any witnesses?” Quistis asked.

They all shook their heads. The six of them stood there, wondering what they were going to do when a little girl gasped and ran at them.

“H-hey! It’s you!” She exclaimed.

“Pardon?” Quistis blinked.

“You guys…you were with that guy…the one that saved me a while ago!” She tried to explain.

Selphie was the only one that remembered.

“Oh! You were the little girl who was playing on those train tracks!” She replied.

The little girl grinned and nodded.

“Have you seen the man who saved you? His name is Squall.” Quistis asked.

The little girl thought and then shook her head.

“I didn’t see him…but when I was running across the bridge…you know, like I did back then.” She blushed. “I mean…it was only this once. I want to run across just as the train came…and left…you know…”

“Yes. Go on.” Quistis urged.

“Anyway, I heard someone screaming down that way.” She pointed into the tunnel.

The six of them looked at each other and nodded.

“Thank you.” Quistis whispered. “But don’t go playing on the tracks anymore. It’s dangerous.” The little girl smiled.

“Ok! I promise I won’t anymore.”

Quistis and the others ran down the tunnel. Whenever a train came, they flattened themselves against the concrete walls.

“Not fun, not fun, not fun!” Selphie hissed.

“Quiet!” Xu snapped. “I think I hear something.”

She jumped away from the wall and crawled onto the ground.

“Ewww…do you know what you’re crawling on?” Selphie asked.

Xu didn’t reply. There were voices coming from the ground.

“Be careful.” Quistis warned.

Xu crept silently along the dirt and wood until she reached a large hole in the ground. There, she heard the voices the clearest.

“I don’t understand why we have to watch this hole. I keep getting dust in my eye every time a damned train rolls on by.” A whiny, masculine voice complained.

“Then wear your damned goggles!” Another one snarled.

“But they’re too tight.”

“Then stop your damned complaining! Sheesh, if it weren’t for the fact that we need guards, I would’ve honestly shot your head through with bullets.” The meaner one growled.

“Hey, stop that.” Xu listened even closer.

She had to neutralize both of them as fast as possible.

“Xu! There’s a train coming!” Quistis hissed.

Xu kept listening. She could estimate their positions pretty well. They were pretty close together, close enough that her weapon could reach the other in time. And then she heard another set of footsteps. It was carefully hidden but she had been trained to hear the slightest bit of noise. So that was their plan…get talking, make anyone outside think that there were only two. Xu smirked and dove into the hole. Their faces showed surprise, but not shock. They were expecting someone to try and ambush them.

Xu dispatched one when she fell through. She used gravity and precise landing to knock the first one out cold. As soon as she landed, she pushed off, jump kicking the second one to the head. The third one steadied his aim but before he could fire, Xu swung her whole weapon, disarming him and taking a good slice at his arm as well. She neutralized him with another attack to the head. She waited until the next train went on by before climbing up the wall and poking her head out.

“It’s safe guys!” She whispered and the others followed her into the tunnel.

“Sheesh, who knew Timber had so many secrets.” Selphie remarked.

Xu shushed her again and they made their way down the tunnel. Around the corner, Xu took out two more guards with finesse.

“Jeez, I thought I had skill. We should fight sometime.” Zell whistled.

“Your combat is different from mine.” Xu replied. “Your moves are blatantly offensive.”

“WHAT? Hey! I’ll have you know my skills don’t offend any…”

“I mean, yours are blatant attacks.” Xu corrected. “Mine are more geared towards covert operations.”

“Oh.” Zell hung his head sheepishly.

“But if you want, we can trade secrets.” Xu offered and Zell perked up almost instantly.

“That’d be cool!”

They made their way down the halls, meeting little or no resistance. Xu captured one and forced him to tell her where they kept Squall. As they made their way down that hall, something caught Xu’s eye and she froze.

“Damned lock won’t bust open.” Irvine hissed.

He had done some lock picking back in his day, mainly as a younger boy to break into the girl’s lockers and stay there as a peeping tom. But his skills had somewhat deteriorated since then.

“SQUALL?” Rinoa shouted, banging on the door. “Squall are you in there?”

Inside, Squall heard the banging and the muffled voices, one of them clearly Rinoa. He struggled against the chains.

“Rinoa! I’m in here!” He yelled back.

“He’s in there!” Rinoa exclaimed gleefully. Irvine finally grew tired of his inability to pick the lock and blasted it open with his gun.

“Squall!” Rinoa flung herself into his embrace.

“Xu?” Quistis asked just as she was about to enter the cell as well. Xu didn’t reply. Instead, she started walking down the hall. “Xu! Where are you going? It’s like a maze down there!”

Xu ran down the hall, turning at every corner she could. Quistis followed as closely as possible.

“We’ve been down here before.” Quistis said. “There’s nothing down here!” But the brunette kept running. Soon, Quistis lost track of where they were.

“See? Now we’re lost.” She sighed. “What’s gotten into you?” Xu looked around.

The slimy, moldy stone walls had gradually changed. It was cleaner, more modern. She continued down that way until she found an open door. The two walked inside. It was an empty office. There was a simple wooden desk with two chairs, a plant in the corner, a couch and a water dispenser. Xu walked over to the desk and opened each of the drawers up. There was nothing inside.

“Let’s go.” Quistis commented, lifting up the couch a little to get a look at what was underneath.

Xu looked around warily and followed her.

“There’s really nothing here, if there was something you were looking for.”

Xu stopped cold. She readied her weapon.

“I sent all the good soldiers off to our base. I really have no use for the Leonhart boy. He’s served his purpose quite well.” Quistis stood outside, Xu inside.

The door gently swung so that it was parallel to Xu. The person on the other side of the door walked until Xu could see her back. It was the woman in purple.

“What purpose?” Xu demanded.

“What purpose?” The woman repeated. “Well, I suppose luck is a part of it. Really, how did I know whether you’d come or not? It’s the fates, I guess. Hyne is looking out for us.” She turned around.

“Xu…Xu, what’s wrong?” Quistis took a step forward only to have the door slam shut in her face. Xu locked the door.

“At least you still remember me. I was afraid that I had become one of those lost memories, insignificant.”

“You’re dead. I saw you murdered. I saw you! I saw you bleed to death! I saw them! I saw the knives. They stabbed you!”

“In more ways than one, yes.”

“How can you joke about this? HOW? YOU’RE DEAD! I saw the whole thing!” Xu screamed. “You’re not here. You’re some kind of illusion, or someone…someone…”

“We can get a DNA test later if you want. I assure you, Xu, I’m very much alive. What you saw was real, yes. But what happened after? What happened to the body? Was I really dead when you last saw me? I know Shiva took you away. That was my last request to her. But did you know I had another GF junctioned?”

Her eyes glowed white as she summoned a GF. The GF was horrifying, with her thin body wrapped in bloody bandages, her fingers more like curved blades than finger. Her arms were extended well past her knees and her grin only showed red sharp teeth.

“This is Succubus. She was with me at the time of my apparent death. She sustained most of the damage, albeit, it showed on my body. Rest assured I was critically wounded, in fact, I didn’t think I would make it.” She dismissed Succubus.

She took off her jacket and began unbuttoning her shirt. Xu stood watching, unfazed. She peeled back the white sides to reveal several scars along her chest and stomach.

“Becca…?” Xu whispered, finally beginning to believe.

“Hyne really was looking out for both of us that day.”

“XU! XU OPEN THIS DOOR!” Quistis yelled.

Becca looked at the door in amusement.

“So, who’s that girl? Is that the famous Quistis Trepe?”

“What’s going on? Why did you kidnap Squall? Why do you want his ring? What happened to you after that incident?” Xu asked, ignoring her question. “There are so many questions I want to ask you Becca. Are you evil? Are you working for evil?”

“What would you do if I am?” She replied coolly.

Xu clenched her fists and closed her eyes to prevent the tears from spilling.

“Hyne…I don’t know. I might have to stop you, or kill you, I don’t know! I thought you were dead all these years.” She said, her voice wavering.

Becca’s face softened and she walked over to Xu and put her arms around her. Xu pushed her away.

“No. No.” She wiped her eyes.

“Xu, I can assure you, I’m not evil. I’m not working for anyone evil. But I think we may have made a mistake, something we intend to fix.”

“And you need me?” Xu finished.

“No. I want you.” She replied.

“What?”

“I’ve searched everywhere for you. I searched all the towns, all the little nooks and crannies. But I didn’t search the Gardens. I didn’t once think that the little girl I looked after, that shy, timid little girl would grow up one day to be this strong, proud and beautiful SeeD. I started searching for you before I could walk again. And when I could walk, I went back to that orphanage, that hell that we grew up in and burned it to the ground. I took all the kids back to the base and they grew up to be fine men and women. Now I want you to come back.” Becca explained.

“Are you real?” Xu touched her face.

“I can understand if you decline. I can fade away, become insignificant.”

“No, Becca. You were the most significant person in my life. But I can’t just leave…I have people I care about, people I love.”

“Come with me for a few days. See what we’re doing, just humor me for a little while, we can catch up on the past few years. Most importantly, just…just be with me again.”

-

-

“Quistis!” Irvine and the others caught up with her. Quistis was pounding on the door, even body slamming it but it wouldn’t budge.

“Xu is in there!” She shouted.

“Only one way to handle a locked door.” Irvine shot the lock again. Quistis burst into the room.

“XU!” The room was empty. “Xu, where are you?” Squall walked over to the desk where a solitary paper lay. He scanned over it.

“Quistis.” He said, motioning for to come closer. She went over and picked up the paper.

Dear Quistis,

I promise you, I’m writing this out of my own volition. I’m doing this because I chose to. There’s a lot I can’t explain right now, either to you or myself. Please, please wait for me, I promise I’ll come home. And when I do, I’ll understand everything, I’ll have all the answers that both of us have been seeking. I love you. Know that I would never hurt you. And tell everyone I’m sorry I can’t explain why I’m leaving.

Xu

“What does it say, Quisty?” Selphie asked.

“She’s…she’s taking a little bit of a trip. She says she’s sorry she can’t explain to you why.” Quistis replied.

“Are you ok…?” Rinoa placed her hand on Quistis’s shoulder.

“I’m fine. I trust her.” She turned around. “How’s your head, Squall?”

“I’m fine.” He said.

“Alright, we should head back to the Garden then.” Quistis announced. “Even if you say it’s fine, you better get Dr. Kadowaki to look at that.”

“Shouldn’t we look for her?” Selphie asked. The tall blond shrugged.

“I told you, I trust her.”

Squall leaned against Rinoa and they shuffled out. Quistis cast one last look at the room before following. She had a strange feeling that she wouldn’t be seeing Xu for a long time to come.