Chapter 12: The Obligations of a Headmaster

A light knock, barely audible, came from outside of the office entrance.

“Squall?” asked Rinoa in a small voice as she pushed the door opened a crack and popped her head inside the room.

Squall glanced up from his paperwork and nodded for his wife to enter. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing’s WRONG,” Rinoa told him with a smile as she took a seat in one of the fine leather chairs opposite his desk. “I just need to talk to you about something important….”

Squall leaned back and looked seriously at the love of his life. A talk? That did NOT sound like anything good to him. “Well, you’ve got my full attention.”

Rinoa smiled, “Okay, well, I, umm…..”

At that moment, the black phone on Squall’s desk began to ring. The two of them just stared at each other for a minute until Squall finally sighed. “I’m, I’m so sorry. I don’t need to get it. We’ll just let it ring, you’ve got my full attention, remember?”

With this said, it was Rinoa’s turn to smile and sigh. “What if it’s about Zell? You’re not going to be able to concentrate on what I have to say anyway. Please, just answer the phone, will you?”

Squall still stared reluctantly at his wife.

“Don’t look so guilty. You didn’t MAKE the phone ring. Come on, pick it up!” Rinoa urged.

That was all the prodding Squall needed.

“Hello? This is Headmaster Squall Leonhart at Balamb Garden.”

“Squa-alll!!!! Hey, it’s me!!”

Squall grinned, “Hey, Selphie. What’s the news?”

“Oh, well, we just happened to run across some unexpected information…” Selphie giggled. “Irvine wants to talk to you about it so hold on a sec, okay?”

“Whatever…” Squall mumbled. He didn’t have time right now for Selphie’s games. After all, he was a little worried by Rinoa’s sudden need to have a ‘talk’ with him, and he was still unaware of Zell’s whereabouts.

“Hello?” Zell asked shyly into the cell phone as Selphie jammed it into his hand.

Squall’s jaw dropped and he froze in utter shock. He tried to respond, but his voice seemed to be lost. With nothing else to do, he finally held the phone out to Rinoa and after she took in, Squall sunk down in his chair in disbelief.

Rinoa put the phone up to her ear and listened to the person on the other line apparently arguing with the people around him.

“Leave me alone, Irvine! No I don’t know what happened. He’s just not there ‘cause….”

“Zell? Is that you?” Rinoa interrupted.

“Hey! Rinoa!” Zell answered excitedly, “It’s me alright. I can’t believe I’m really talkin’ to ya!!”

“Oh, Zell! I missed you sooo much!” Rinoa told him as she jumped up and down in the office, shaking the entire room. “How are you? You’re not hurt, right?”

Zell sighed, “Just a little banged up, that’s all, but how’s Squall? He didn’t even say anything to me…..is he really mad or something?”

Rinoa laughed, “Nope. Squall was just in shock I guess. He’s still just sitting there…staring at me. Hold on a minute, okay?”

“Sure,” Zell answered with out thinking. He was just so glad to hear Rinoa’s voice again that he would have agreed with anything she said.

“Don’t go anywhere.” Rinoa commanded and then carefully set the phone down. “Squall? You alright?”

Squall, who had previously been staring blankly at his hands, looked into Rinoa’s eyes and smiled, “It’s Zell.”

“Yes it is.” Rinoa responded cheerfully, “Don’t you want to talk to him? He thinks you’re mad at him.”

Squall stood up and walked over to his wife. He scooped her into his arms and kissed her gently on the lips. “This is the beginning of the end.”

Rinoa grinned, “Doesn’t that make you all happy inside?”

Squall nodded as he finally let go of Rinoa and picked up the phone. “Zell?”

“Hey!” Zell yelped happily. “It’s good to hear your voice again Squall.”

“Yours, too.” Squall commented without hesitation. “We’ve all missed you.”

“Yeah, well, I am one of a kind..” Zell boasted jokingly with his friend. “I mean you must’uv been bored to death without me, right?”

“Of course,” Squall chuckled. “But, seriously, where are you?”

“Okay, SERIOUSLY,” Zell began, “we’re on Naoki Island.”

“So when are you guys going to arrive back here?” Squall asked.

“Well, ummm, we’re not,” Zell told his anxious friend.

Squall stopped in mid thought, “You’re not?”

“No…” Zell began to explain uneasily, “We’re experiencing a little problem….could you just come down here yourself?”

“What did you guys do?” Squall questioned tensely.

“It wasn’t my fault!!” Zell bursted out.

Suddenly, Squall heard a new voice on the other end of the phone.

“Squall? It’s me, Irvine. Raijin’s gonna meet ya down on the northern shore of Naoki Island, right by a little cove. You can’t miss it. Well, we’ll see ya soon.”

Irvine then proceeded to abruptly hang up on the confused Squall.

Squall reluctantly placed the phone down and looked up at Rinoa, who was still prancing around the office before him. “That was…interesting….”

“What?” Rinoa stopped twirling to face her husband. “When are we going to see Zell?”

Squall shrugged, “Something’s happened so they asked me to meet them on Naoki Island…are you coming?”

“Ummm..” Rinoa bit her lower lip, “I really want to…”

“Alright then,” Squall reached over, grabbed Rinoa’s hand, and started to lead her out of the office, “We just have to pack and find a plane. Easy enough…we’ll see Zell in no time….”

Cid put the phone back down on the receiver and sighed. He knew what he had to do, but that didn’t make it any easier. Reluctantly, he pushed the button and activated the intercom in order to page Helen Martinez to his office.

It was no more than two minutes before the girl with a pigtail stumbled clumsily into his newly constructed office.

“You…wanted to see me?” Helen asked shyly as she closed the door behind her.

Cid smiled, “Yes, I did. Why don’t you have a seat so we can discuss a matter concerning Zell Dincht.”

“Oh,” Helen stared into the retired headmaster’s eyes for any sign if this was good or bad news. “Is everything alright?”

“Of course,” Cid waved her into the chair facing his desk. “I’m very pleased to have the honor to tell you that Zell is safe and sound. As a matter of fact, I just finished talking to him on the phone before you arrived.”

She sighed in relief, “So is he hurt?”

Cid shrugged, “I didn’t get the specifics, but I imagine his pretty banged up after all he’s been through.”

Helen nodded, “What do you need me to do?”

“Straight to the point,” Cid grinned, “I like that. Anyway, I’m sending you to Naoki Island with a select group of engineers and construction workers for the digging…”

“Digging?” Helen questioned nervously.

Cid looked down at his desk, “Zell, along with Seifer Almasy and Ellone…”

“Squall’s Ellone.” Helen stated in understanding.

“The one and only,” Cid responded wearily. “So Zell and the others were apparently involved in a cave in. Zell came out alright, but…”

Helen looked thoughtfully into Cid’s eyes, “No need to say anymore on the subject. I’ll be glad to go as a SeeD to oversee the work and use my advanced healing powers to help out anyway I can.”

Cid smiled and nodded his thanks.

“Okay,” she forced a smile as she stood up and walked over to the door, “I’ll take care of it.”

With that she was gone and Cid was left alone with his thoughts. He pushed himself to his feet and turned towards the window. He watched the loading docks where workers scrambled to get boxes of the harvested Phlemnesium Herb into airships. For the last two days, Cid had been overseeing the shipping of this important medical ingredient. Thankfully, his job here was now almost over. Trabia Garden’s plague, now named West Disease, was under control credited to Balamb Garden’s help.

“Too bad good news is always attached to bad news,” Cid mumbled to himself as he thought about what Irvine had explained to him over the phone. Their plan was to get Squall to Naoki Island before telling him about Ellone and Seifer, but Cid had a feeling no matter what they did, something was going to give.

Cid turned away from the window and sat back down at his desk. “I wonder how much luck we have left….”

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