The Fantasy Games (Final Fantasy Fanfiction)

Chapter Fifteen: Anthem of the Angels

"Zack, wait!"

Paine's request fell on deaf ears as the SOLDIER stormed out of the living room and into his own, slamming the door shut behind him. She turned to go after him however Squall stopped her with a hand on her bare shoulder. She whirled on him and slapped his hand away angrily however he caught her wrist in a firm grip. She winced as pain flared up her arm and tried to get him to release her. Despite her efforts though, he held on tight and used the thumb of his free hand to gently press one of the nodes on her garment grid.

Light engulfed her as she felt Zack's shirt rip away and new fabric covered her body. She winced as it covered some of her bandaged wounds, shifting the wrappings slightly as the transformation finished. She looked down at herself wearily praying to Ifrit that he hadn't chosen something awful and revealing like the lady luck dressphere but thankfully he had chosen the gunner dressphere instead.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you after what you just did," she threatened darkly raising the gun upwards to point at him.

"You'd be a young widow," he deadpanned as though he didn't care.

She rolled her eyes and shoved the gun into her back pocket wondering how she was going to explain to Zack about what happened to his shirt. "You shouldn't have come here Squall," she said with a hard edge to her voice.

"What did you expect me to do Paine?" he challenged her with just as much disdain. "Did you really expect me to just sit around in Sector Eight while you take your sweet time-"

"Do you realise how hard it is for me to get a package into the games?" she cut him off sharply yet keeping her voice on normal volume level and neutral. "It has to be scanned and taken apart for any evidence of cheating or unfair advantages and it has to be judged by at least ten Turks and at least nine of them have to accept it or it won't go through. Now imagine what it is like to get a package out of the games not to mention that it's a living person."

"I realise you're under pressure Paine but so am I," he replied with an underlying growl to his voice. "If I don't get Rinoa out of the games and away from the Capitol she'll die!"

"I don't doubt that you're under pressure but if we rush things and we mess up, Rinoa will be killed in an instant as will you and I," Paine said a bit more calmly this time however her voice remained strict as she crossed her arms over her chest in her usual stance and gave him a pointed look. "The Capitol won't care for excuses and they won't risk anything."

"I know, I know," Squall breathed out as he let himself fall back onto the couch. He dragged a hand down his face tiredly and it was then that Paine noticed how bad he actually looked. Dark circles littered the skin beneath his stormy grey eyes leading her to believe he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a long time. His face was more angular as though he had lost more weight which she had no doubt he had, even his usual skinny pants looked looser on him.

He must be really worried about her, Paine thought as she studied his ragged appearance quietly. She understood why Squall loved the girl, despite the fact that she was technically his wife, however that was a complicated matter. She too had liked Rinoa when she had first spoken to her, before the girl had entered the games. Paine had told her briefly about the plan and what Rinoa would have to do which reminded her...

"She gave me this," Paine said reaching into her back pocket and pulling out a small yet thick envelope. This was what she loved about dresspheres, no matter what you put in the pocket of one it would always reappear in the pocket of another, Shinra truly was a genius.

Squall looked at the letter that was outstretched to him with a raised brow but made no move to take it. "She told me to give this to you before she went into the games," Paine explained further, gesturing towards the letter with a nod of her head. Squall looked from her to the letter in her hand once more before taking it silently, not offering any thanks. She hadn't expected gratitude from him anyway, she never did.