Fanfiction: "With All Due Respect"
Mar. 6th, 2020 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deemoyzaTitle: "With All Due Respect" (4,310 words) [AO3]
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Rating/Warnings: General Audiences / No Warnings Apply
Characters: Xu, Nida
Summary: After Squall leaves with Rinoa in search of Esthar, Xu struggles to run Garden by herself. While the strain of supply shortages and an uncertain future wear her down, a strange phenomenon dashes her hope of her comrades' return and drives her to a make rash decision. And the only person who can stop her is Nida. In-canon, one-shot.
(The last of my old one-shots from Tumblr; at least, the last I'm willing to publish on the fanfic sites. ;) )
Excerpt below the cut.
It had been four days since Leonhart disappeared with Rinoa, and three-and-a-half since his friends went looking for him. Xu walked to the station at Fisherman’s Horizon, as she had every afternoon since then, in the vain hope she’d meet them on their way back. She climbed the stairs, passed through the derelict building, and walked along the train tracks until the sounds of FH died away, and she was all alone with the sea.
The sky was clear, and there was hardly any wind, so the sound of the water should have been calming. Instead, however, it came to her as the whispers of a thousand ghosts, telling tales of death and darkness, telling her to give up the wait, that her comrades were long gone. Xu tried to block these thoughts from her mind as she stared eastward, straining her eyes for a distant coast, for the skyline of a city no one had seen in nearly twenty years.
She indulged her despair out here, just for a moment, dropping her stoic façade and shedding a few tears. Aside from Quistis, she didn’t consider any of them her friends, but they were all her comrades, joined by oath and service, and the thought of losing any one of them weighed heavy on her heart.
She was a sensible person, however, and as she took one last look and turned back toward FH, she began to mull over the practical aspect of the situation. With Leonhart’s departure, Balamb Garden was without an official leader. She had hoped, when the White SeeD ship docked in FH just after Squall had left, that Cid had accompanied his wife on the journey; but she’d been disappointed. Balamb Garden’s headmaster had flung all of his duties and responsibilities onto a boy who’d broken beneath the strain, then scurried away to hide in the crumbling walls of his former home.
Like a rat.
Xu cursed under her breath as she descended the station stairs, letting her frustration with Cid and the state of Garden replace her anxiety over her comrades’ whereabouts. Since Balamb Garden had gone mobile, they’d only replenished their supplies once or twice, and they were running dangerously low. Xu had instituted rations even before the clash with Galbadia Garden, but it was difficult to ration what one didn’t have. Unable to negotiate contracts and authorize missions, Xu could only watch as Balamb Garden’s coffers ran dry and their emergency food stores reached critical levels.
She considered returning to Balamb, to dismiss the students who lived there back to their families, and to seek support from a known community. But leaving FH felt like abandoning the crew who’d set out for Esthar; it felt like admitting they would never return.
One more day, she told herself, as she had the day before. One more day, and if there’s no sign of them, then we’ll head back to Balamb.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Rating/Warnings: General Audiences / No Warnings Apply
Characters: Xu, Nida
Summary: After Squall leaves with Rinoa in search of Esthar, Xu struggles to run Garden by herself. While the strain of supply shortages and an uncertain future wear her down, a strange phenomenon dashes her hope of her comrades' return and drives her to a make rash decision. And the only person who can stop her is Nida. In-canon, one-shot.
(The last of my old one-shots from Tumblr; at least, the last I'm willing to publish on the fanfic sites. ;) )
Excerpt below the cut.
It had been four days since Leonhart disappeared with Rinoa, and three-and-a-half since his friends went looking for him. Xu walked to the station at Fisherman’s Horizon, as she had every afternoon since then, in the vain hope she’d meet them on their way back. She climbed the stairs, passed through the derelict building, and walked along the train tracks until the sounds of FH died away, and she was all alone with the sea.
The sky was clear, and there was hardly any wind, so the sound of the water should have been calming. Instead, however, it came to her as the whispers of a thousand ghosts, telling tales of death and darkness, telling her to give up the wait, that her comrades were long gone. Xu tried to block these thoughts from her mind as she stared eastward, straining her eyes for a distant coast, for the skyline of a city no one had seen in nearly twenty years.
She indulged her despair out here, just for a moment, dropping her stoic façade and shedding a few tears. Aside from Quistis, she didn’t consider any of them her friends, but they were all her comrades, joined by oath and service, and the thought of losing any one of them weighed heavy on her heart.
She was a sensible person, however, and as she took one last look and turned back toward FH, she began to mull over the practical aspect of the situation. With Leonhart’s departure, Balamb Garden was without an official leader. She had hoped, when the White SeeD ship docked in FH just after Squall had left, that Cid had accompanied his wife on the journey; but she’d been disappointed. Balamb Garden’s headmaster had flung all of his duties and responsibilities onto a boy who’d broken beneath the strain, then scurried away to hide in the crumbling walls of his former home.
Like a rat.
Xu cursed under her breath as she descended the station stairs, letting her frustration with Cid and the state of Garden replace her anxiety over her comrades’ whereabouts. Since Balamb Garden had gone mobile, they’d only replenished their supplies once or twice, and they were running dangerously low. Xu had instituted rations even before the clash with Galbadia Garden, but it was difficult to ration what one didn’t have. Unable to negotiate contracts and authorize missions, Xu could only watch as Balamb Garden’s coffers ran dry and their emergency food stores reached critical levels.
She considered returning to Balamb, to dismiss the students who lived there back to their families, and to seek support from a known community. But leaving FH felt like abandoning the crew who’d set out for Esthar; it felt like admitting they would never return.
One more day, she told herself, as she had the day before. One more day, and if there’s no sign of them, then we’ll head back to Balamb.
