Binary star: a double star system in which two stars revolve around each other.

Chapter 1

Rescue

I'm...still...alive?

Even beyond her closed eyelids, darkness surrounded Rinoa Heartilly, broken only by the tiny dots that speckled the blackness around her, shouting out their glow across the void that separated her from them. She was drifting...floating across an expanse of time that seemed to stretch on endlessly.

However, the first things she saw when she opened her eyes were the silver rings on her necklace. With a wan smile, she reached out to touch them with her fingers. They'd been there for so long they were like a part of her. Her mother's wedding ring, and...

Squall...?

The Griever ring.

Rinoa had been so sure she was about to die. There was no air in her suit, no life support left to sustain her existence, and she was nowhere near the Lunar Base. There had been no hope. And not only did surviving feel hopeless, but her entire existence as well. After being released from Ultimecia's control, she felt disoriented and wondered just exactly what had happened. She couldn't seem to remember anything of what had happened while she was possessed, but when she saw the Lunar Cry with Adel's broken seal racing toward Earth, memories came rushing back to her in a hurry; ones she would've rather forgotten entirely. She could've been the cause of mass destruction and death to her home, and how could she live with that? Why would Squall want to be with her now that she might've killed his friends and family?

But she had heard his voice. At first she passed it off for wishful thinking; merely her mind hoping he still wanted her around despite her thoughts. But in some form, she knew it was him. Whether the sound reached her ears or her heart, she couldn't be sure, but she would cling to life for that voice. Desperation and determinations resounded clearly within it, and one thing she could be sure of was that he wanted her to live. If only for him, she touched a small button on her spacesuit, which caused crisp, fresh air to blow towards her face. She drank it in with a vigorous thirst, feeling lucky to be alive even if it would be for just a few moments.

He wants me to live, she reminded herself. So much so, in fact, that Squall was coming to save her. He was willing to jump out into unfamiliar territory, space, so that she could have a future. Even if it cost him his own life, he was coming. She didn't have to question the feeling; somehow, she just knew.

As if on cue to her thoughts, she felt a sudden pressure around her waist, and she turned to face her rescuer. Relief was prevalent in his eyes, though it was such a new emotion to be seen on his features that she had to assure herself she wasn't imagining it. "Squall," she said quietly, her gaze locked on his face. Her hands clumsily gripped his arms, never wanting to let go. "...thank you. I heard your voice."

"...I can't believe it," he replied. She could hear both the stoicism in his static-ridden voice and see the expressionless mask upon his face, but his eyes could never lie - she knew he was happy to see her.

Breaking her gaze away from him for just a moment, reality hit her with the starry expanse that surrounded them. They were literally in the middle of nowhere, and running low on life support as she had been before. She wondered now if Squall's rescue had been futile. What if both of them died in space? Would she be okay with that? It was better than dying alone, she supposed, but life seemed so much more appealing. Even though she was a sorceress now, if Squall was with her, she could face anything. And if he was willing to save her like this knowing about her breaking Adel's seal, there was obviously deeper feeling there than she'd originally thought. "Are we gonna make it?" she asked, her voice echoing hollowly across the vastness of space. Maybe Squall was thinking the same things as she.

"Don't worry," he attempted to reassure her, but it was clear he didn't believe his own words. So this was it. After all that, she was still going to die here. She'd never see Earth again. But for some reason, it didn't seem so disconcerting with Squall holding on to her. At the very least, she could die happily in his arms.

He kept a firm hold on her as they continued to glide, and soon her eyes fell on the Lunar Cry still descending on the distant planet. Adel's seal was nowhere to be found now, and she was glad she didn't have the reminder. Instead, the sight of thousands of monsters, from the smallest Geezard to the largest Ruby Dragon, met her eyes. She watched them thrusting and clawing their way to the surface of her own planet, and the spectacle was terrifying, but in an oddly detached manner, she found herself marveling at how beautiful it seemed.

As she watched the phenomenon, a metallic glitter suddenly caught her eye. She turned her head to see a massive ship rotating slowly in front of them. Beside her, Squall had also turned towards the behemoth. "Rinoa, hold on..." his voice crackled in her ear, and she felt his arm tighten around her as hers wrapped around his own. A little shiver skittered down her spine, then Squall used the last of his boosters to shoot them toward the newfound ship.

As they came within a couple feet of it, the head of the craft rose toward them, its dragon-like face revealed in the sun's bright light. Its expression seemed almost menacing, but to the fast approaching couple, it was a safe haven and a lifesaver, no matter what its form. There was no guarantee that the ship would take them home, but at least they'd have some sort of shelter from the middle of space. That was enough for that moment.

Squall reached out and grabbed a passing rung of a ladder, and under his direction, Rinoa did the same, reluctantly loosening her hold on him while he examined the ship's surface. Soon he had located and opened a little hatch, just wide enough for them to fit through. Grabbing her hand once more, he pulled her toward the entrance. She gratefully drifted inside, hearing the muffled scrapings of Squall's movements behind her. Once they were both safely inside, Squall closed the hatch behind them. Bouncing around rather awkwardly in the artificial gravity, he consulted a small display in the wall and tentatively removed his helmet. Finding the air breathable, he nodded to Rinoa, who gratefully released herself from the restrictive spacesuit. When the helmet she wore was taken off, she suddenly became aware of several different sounds and smells.

Not only was the taste of fresh air through her lungs welcoming and liberating, but with each taste of air, she could smell the stale scent of the ship. It smelled as if it had been untouched for many years, and she thought it smelled slightly dusty as well. How long had this ship been here? The hum of motors and whooshing of the air she was breathing seemed loud to her ears, mostly because they'd been so closed off from natural noises. It felt as if she was rediscovering sound after being deaf.

I'm so happy to be out of that suit, she thought to herself. If it hadn't been for Squall, it could've been my coffin. She shuddered at the notion.

Returning to the more pleasant thoughts of her savior, Rinoa turned to look at him, a playful simper alighting her face as she caught him stealing sideways glances at her. His expression tensed as he realized she was also watching him, and his eyes widened while his face went slightly red before regaining his regular mask, any trace of open emotion retreating. It reminded her of a Turtapod putting up its defensive shell in battle. At the beginning of a fight, it would remain open and easy to inflict damage upon, but as soon as too much damage began to be done, it would close up and become very difficult to attack. Squall was a Turtapod.

Stifling a laugh at the metaphor, she said (with as much composure as she could muster), "Thank you, Squall. You rescued me again. I can't thank you enough."

He shrugged off her thanks as if it was no big deal. "Don't worry about it," he responded, "I just did what I wanted to do."

What he wanted to do. That was so sweet. He freely admitted that he'd 'wanted' to try to save her, even at the risk of his own life. That was it; she wouldn't hold back anymore. Extending her arms out wide, she looked over at him expectantly.

She received a blank stare.

"The spacesuit was in our way before," she hinted, hoping he'd catch on. But if anything, his expression only deepened. "Give me a hug," she told him plainly.

He still looked so puzzled. Was it really that hard to grasp? As if to demonstrate, she wrapped her arms around herself, explaining, "A real tight one! I need to know that I'm alive!"

His confusion only increased. It looked as though he was arguing with himself now, trying to work out what she was asking. It was as if he'd never received a hug before in his life. Well, maybe he hasn't, she reconsidered silently. That's so sad. After another empty moment's hesitation, he finally replied, "We may be alive right now, but look at our situation... You want to live, right? You want to go back and see everyone, right?"

Did she? Was that really what she wanted? Out there in space, she thought nobody, even Squall, would want her back. But even if one out of the five still wanted her alive, it didn't mean all of them did. She remembered how all of them fought Edea even though she was their Matron; how they said they had to save the world even if they knew her personally, and they had. Irvine was ready to take down the only woman he could've ever called his mother for the sake of his Garden. How willing would all of them be to kill her if she became possessed again? If what she thought was true, would Squall kill the only woman he might've ever loved? Would he, like Irvine, force himself to stop her for the sake of the world? Squall had his duty, he had his priorities. But he wanted to go back, to get out of this situation alive and go home.

"And not become other people's memories?" she said out loud.

"That's right," he answered. So she had been correct. Maybe this was the same case as that day in Galbadia Garden, when he had burst so suddenly that he didn't want anyone talking about him in past tense. If they died up here, if they never got home...that would be exactly what would happen. He was a nice guy, I really liked him... Cold, but still a good guy. And that Rinoa, well...at least there's one less sorceress on the earth. Suddenly she found she agreed with his desire to reach home again.

She nodded in return, and let him by as he walked toward the door. The airlock released with a puff of air, and they walked through the doorway towards a bridge. She didn't know what to expect from this ship, but surely it couldn't present any challenge more difficult than escaping from prison, say, or getting through a SeeD-strewn battlefield. At the very least, there was nothing it could throw at Squall that he couldn't handle. And with him there to protect her, she wasn't at all worried. He'd look out for her; he'd done so well with that before.

They walked along the bridge for a moment, and then an inhuman growl broke the air. Rinoa froze and watched in horror as a huge monster moved out from under the bridge. It was colored purple with claw-like hands and a large beak-like face, and seemed to be sniffing the air. Rinoa let out a short cry, then flung herself to the ground and covered her head. Squall crouched down as well -though a little more calmly- and hoped it hadn't sensed them.

"What is that...?" Rinoa whispered, fear laden heavily in her voice.

"I don't know..." Squall replied, his tone soft as well.

The creature lingered for a couple of minutes, then moved on. It was still close enough to hear -the scraping of claws on metal echoed around the ship- but it obviously had not noticed the two intruders. Standing up and pitching her voice at a level closer to her norm, Rinoa observed, "Doesn't look like a very friendly creature."

Squall neither agreed nor disagreed. "Let's just try to sneak by it."

They continued along the bridge (Rinoa keeping a wary eye out for the monster) until they came to a door. Either its sensor was broken or it had been locked, for no matter what Squall tried, the door would not open. "It's no use," he said, projecting his voice back to her. "It won't open. I guess we have no choice but down..."

Immediately after he finished his sentence, a monotonous, robotic voice announced, "Emergency system activated. Cockpit access denied until all threats are eliminated. Security lock released."

Baffled by the warning, Rinoa glanced over at Squall, who shrugged and continued toward the stairs. Squall led the way down, gunblade drawn, while Rinoa checked over her blaster edge. The monster they'd seen from above was patrolling back and forth, but as soon as they reached the lower floor, it lumbered toward Squall and Rinoa, claws ready and threatening.

Readying her blaster edge for battle, she watched as Squall raised his blade. If she forgot about the hideous creature for a moment, she could easily find this romantic - the two of them alone together, fighting side-by-side. In fact...

A harsh smack of lethally sharp claws brought her back to the present. Stunned, she fell back a little, but quickly regained her footing. "Rinoa!" Squall called as he rushed up to the beast to inflict wounds of his own. "You okay?"

Before she could answer, a thought struck her. He attacked this monster so ferociously, so viciously with such feverish malice. He never thought twice before slicing through its flesh with his blade, and felt no guilt when it cried out in pain. "I'm fine!" she shouted back before he began to think she really wasn't okay. Quickly aiming and launching her blaster edge, she added, "It just caught me off-guard."

"Use Blind if you have it," he instructed. "I'll cast Silence."

He was so efficient...so battle-ready. What if that purplish colored monster was her? Would he be so quick and smooth in his actions? Casting different spells upon her to render her helpless and rapidly defeat her; using his gunblade to pierce her heart. Returning to the present and putting her thoughts aside, she searched her inventory to find that she did have several Blind spells in stock. Following Squall's instructions, she cast it upon the creature. It screamed in frustration as its world went dark, but the cry was quickly cut off when Squall followed up with magic of his own.

Working together, they took down the fiend in ten minutes or so. Squall had used a Scan spell upon it, and deemed the monster a Propagator. They were unaware of how the creature had gotten on the ship or why it was there, but at least now it had a name. Panting slightly, Rinoa couldn't help but think how much of a team they made together, and she hoped they would never be fighting on opposite sides. Partners in fighting evil monsters from outer space, she thought with a smile. The expression vanished; however, when they entered an adjoining corridor only to find a similar monster charging toward them...it turned out the ship was full of them!

Several tiring battles later, the pair reached the passenger deck of the ship after defeating a yellow Propagator inside it, and found a computer terminal. They'd noticed that, as they passed through different corridors, some of the same monsters they'd already defeated were revived. Neither could figure out how this could be, but maybe another source had the answer. Curious to see if it held any useful information, Squall approached it and read its contents aloud. "'There are eight independent monsters, but they are also one entity. The monsters can be killed through regular combat, but it must be done systematically.'"

"What does that mean?" Rinoa wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure," Squall replied, "but there's more.'They seem immortal,'" he continued, "'but they are not. Killing them in a certain order prevents them from reviving each other.'"

"Ahh, so that's why some of the ones we killed were alive again."

"Yeah."

She thought the concept over for a moment. "How will we know what order to go in?"

He shrugged. "We guess, I suppose. It could have something to do with size, or shape, or maybe even color. There has to be something about them that could give us a clue. We'll just have to use logic."

She smiled playfully. "SeeD logic?"

"Yeah, SeeD logic."

Rinoa pretended to look thoughtful, then said, "I guess I can trust that. All right, Mr. SeeD, let's go put some of your logic to good use. What will we do after they're all defeated?"

"We go home."

Outside, among the black, milky expanse of space Squall and Rinoa had just come from, a small device detached from the bottom of the red ship.

And continued to drift away forever.