[S] The Fate of a Sorceress - - A FFVIII fan fiction

The Fate of a Sorceress -- a FFVIII fan fiction


The following story is a FFVIII fan fiction. It’s not a sequel really, rather that my own view on how things turned out in order for the events in the game to happen. Sounds confusing? Well, my story is inspired from the debating -yet true in my opinion- theory that Rinoa is Ultimecia. I also accept the theory that Squall is Laguna’s son.

Anyone who hasn’t completed the game might not want to read the story ‘cause there will be spoilers. I’m sure you’ll understand that I can’t keep having disclaimers whenever there’s a spoiler ahead, so read at your own risk.
Anyway, here’s the prologue. I’d like to hear any of your comments, either good or bad! I hope you enjoy.


Prologue

Rinoa walked inside the Balamb Garden ballroom. She was wearing her white mini dress, her hair shone as it fell softly on her shoulders and white, light wings came out of her back. As she stepped inside she saw a man standing in the balcony with his back turned. When he heard her walk inside he turned around to face her. It was Squall. He looked really handsome in his SeeD uniform and when he saw Rinoa, a smile appeared on his face which made him even more charming. He walked towards Rinoa and when he reached her he just stood there, looking at her, smiling. Then Rinoa raised her hand and formed “one” with her fingers. Squall took that hand with one arm and put the other on her waist. Rinoa put her other arm on Squall’s chest. Suddenly, music began playing out of nowhere.

They were reliving the SeeD ball. Only this time Squall wasn’t quite as nervous! They kept on dancing. At some point, after a dancing figure, their heads came close and they heard those familiar fireworks. They both looked up and when Rinoa turned to look back at Squall she saw his terrified face.

-“Squall, what’s wrong?” said Rinoa.

But Squall didn’t speak. He started walking backwards as though afraid of Rinoa and he slowly started dissolving into thin air just like the rest of the scenery. Rinoa was left alone into a place she didn’t recognize. She was inside an abandoned house with wooden interior. She ran outside the door and looked around her. She was in the orphanage, Edea’s house. She looked down at the beach and saw Squall there, in his normal clothes, standing next to the shore glaring at the sea. Rinoa run down to the beach screaming his name, but he didn’t seem to listen. When she reached him and tried to touch him, he disappeared. Tears filled her eyes; she was desperate. And then she saw it.

She saw her reflection on the water and let out a small gasp. She realized what had Squall seen that terrified him. The person she was seeing reflected on the surface was not her. It couldn’t be. That person had jet-black wings, her eyes were red and didn’t have the slightest sign of ‘spark’ that her own eyes always had. Her hair were black, but nowhere near as shiny as her own. But she was wearing the same clothes and that face… That face looked so much like hers, it was scary. But it couldn’t be her. How? Why? No, it couldn’t be…

Then the reflection on the water moved, although she hadn’t. It looked at her with a smirk on the face and spoke.

-“You can’t hide from your fate… THIS is your destiny!” and then she started laughing.
-“NO! You’re lying! It’s not true! This is NOT my destiny! I don’t know you, how can you be my fate?!” Rinoa cried.
-“Oh, you will… You will know me!” the reflection said and rose from the water reaching out to grab her.
-“No! Let me go! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Chapter 1

-“NOOOOOOOO!!!” Rinoa screamed jumping up no her bed.

A startled Squall was lying next to her, obviously having just woken from her scream.

-“Rinoa, what’s wrong? What did you see?” he said surprised.
-“I, I… I saw…” she tried to speak, with her hands on her face as tears ran down her cheeks.
-“Calm down, calm down…” he said, taking her hands away from her face and trying to put his arms around her.
-“Squall… It was terrible… I was changing a…aaand you were scared, you left me…” she said between sobs.
-“Shhh… It was just a nightmare. It’s over now…” he said.
-“You… you won’t leave me will you?” she asked.
-“You KNOW I won’t.” he said looking into her eyes.

Squall kept Rinoa in his arms, holding her tightly as her sobs died out. She was holding him tightly as well and had rested her face on his bare chest. He was caressing her hair and kissing her on the forehead from time to time. When she had calmed down, he laid her back in bed and lied next to her. He hugged her from the waist as she lay with her back turned to him and held his hands. She drifted back to sleep feeling Squall’s breath down her neck.


Rinoa woke up the next morning to see that Squall was missing. She got up and rested her back on the wall as she looked around the room.

-“Squall? Hellooo… Guess he’s not here…” she said.

She got up and went to take a shower. As the hot water fell on her skin and hair, she felt better. She’d been having nightmares for quite some time now. They kept getting worse, though. She decided not to think about it for the rest of the day and enjoyed the rest of her shower. When she finished, she stepped outside and started getting ready. Then she noticed a small note on the nightstand. It read:

Rinoa, I had to leave early this morning. Something’s come up. Nothing to worry. If you need anything, you’ll find me at the bridge.

Squall.

Typical Squall… Short, sharp sentences and only a few words needed to say what he wants to say. Not a hint of emotion… “I’ll change that…” thought Rinoa smiling. She got dressed and left the dorm. She felt the light morning breeze hit her face, revitalizing her. She walked towards the cafeteria to grab something to eat.

-“Good morning Rinoa.” said the lady behind the counter.
-“Good morning Mrs. Mathews!” replied Rinoa cheerfully.
-“What will it be then?” asked Mrs. Mathews
-“I’ll just have a coffee and two croissants to go.”
-“Squall didn’t have time for breakfast then?” Mrs. Mathews asked smiling.
-“Heh… I guess he didn’t. He never has time! I’m the one who has to remind him to even eat!” Rinoa said giggling as she took the paper bag Mrs. Mathews gave her.
-“Hey Rinoa!” called Zell from a table.
-“I’ve got to go Mrs. Mathews, bye!” said Rinoa.
-“Bye Rinoa, have a nice day!”

Rinoa walked to Zell’s table and sat next to him. He was gulping down a plate of bacon and eggs. Rinoa wondered how on earth he stayed so fit with all that stuff he ate. “Must be all the exercise…” she thought.

-“S’up Rinoa?” said Zell after swallowing.
-“Hey Zell. I’m fine. How are you?” Rinoa said.
-“Peachy…” he said starting to eat again. “Are you going up to Squall’s office?”
-“Yep”
-“Wait up, I’m almost finished. We can go together.”
-“OK… Zell, Squall told me today that something’s come up. What’s it all about?” Rinoa asked.
-“I dunno… I just woke up… No-one told me anything… I was in a mission until last night and I’m beat! Unless it’s… anyway, finished! Let’s go.” replied Zell.


Rinoa felt that Zell was hiding something, but didn’t give much thought to it. They walked together out of the cafeteria and to the elevator. They took it to the third floor. When they got there, they saw that no-one was around. Squall’s office was empty, too.

-“They must be all up in the bridge. Come on.” said Zell walking with Rinoa to the small elevator which took them to the bridge.
-“About time you showed up!” said an angry Quistis to Zell as soon as they got up to the bridge.
-“And a good morning to you, too!” said Zell.
-“We don’t have time for this Zell. We’ve got an urgent situation here and I expect everyone to stay put!” she replied.
-“ Hey, hey chill! I just got back from Esthar last night! I couldn’t ake up early!” he said.
-“Well… I guess you’re excused…” replied Quistis with her usual bossy-face.

They were all there. Quistis, Squall, headmaster Cid, Xu, Nida. Irvine and Selphie were the only ones who were missing.

-“G’morning everyone…” said Rinoa shyly, feeling a bit out of her league.
-“Oh hello Rinoa.” said the headmaster. “Sorry for the uptight atmosphere, but we’ve got a serious issue at hand.”
-“It’s OK… Squall, I got you something to eat.” said Rinoa.
-“Umm… Rinoa, now’s not the time really…” said Squall blushing as everyone looked at him trying to hold back their laughter.
-“What, what’s wrong?” said Rinoa innocently.
-“It’s just that… It’s so sweet…” said Xu laughing.
-“Cut it out!” yelled Squall.
-“Squall, maybe you should go and eat something. Rinoa was right to think you’d be hungry. We’re up for a long day and you’ll need all your strength.” said the headmaster smiling and looking at Rinoa who smiled back.
-“But we need to inform Zell about...” said Squall
-“I think there’s enough of us here capable of doing this…” replied Cid.
-“I wanna know, too…” complained Rinoa.
-“Squall will tell you all about it Rinoa, don’t worry. You should go now, I believe those *sniff* croissants are starting to get cold…” said Cid.

Rinoa giggled and grabbed Squall from the hand heading towards his office, down the elevator. They walked into an office whose door read ‘Commander’. Inside the office there were a couple of armchairs and a big desk basically. On the desk there were a couple of pictures in frames.

Squall walked to his chair and sat down. Rinoa sat on the desk leaving the paper bag she was holding next to her and looked at the pictures. One of them was a picture of her and Squall taken from Selphie who insisted that they couldn’t call themselves a couple if they didn’t have a picture together. Squall looked charming, although he was way too serious and Rinoa was smiling as usual. The other picture was from the party in the Garden right after Ultimecia’s defeat. There were all six of them. Everyone looked so happy, even Squall who was -of course- serious as always couldn’t help but show some kind of delight. You could see it in his eyes. Rinoa was hugging him smiling broadly. Zell and Quistis were on their right. Zell had an expression of triumph on his face and was lifting up Quistis who tried to act all bossy as always, but failed because she was laughing hysterically at the same time. Irvine and Selphie were left to Squall. Selphie was wearing Irvine’s hat and pointing at Zell and Quistis laughing, while Irvine hugged her from the waist and laughed too. Rinoa let out a giggle as she remembered that night.

-“What is it?” asked Squall.
-“Remember that night?” asked Rinoa showing Squall the picture.
-“How could I forget?” he replied smiling.
-“Squall Leonheart? Smiling?” said Rinoa getting up from the desk and walking towards him.
-“Whatever…” he said as Rinoa sat on his lap.
-“So… What do you remember from that day?” she asked.
-“Lots of stuff…” he replied.
-“Do you remember that it was then that we kissed for the first time?” Rinoa asked.
-“Of course.” said Squall, leaning and kissing her. “So, what have you got there?” he asked her after they broke apart.
-“A croissant and some coffee for you and another croissant for me.” said Rinoa opening the paper bag. “So… what’s the deal? What happened?” she asked while biting on her croissant.
-“Nothing to be worried about.” Squall replied.
-“What, you’re not gonna tell me?”
-“I don’t want you having even more worries that’s all…”
-“Well, don’t I have a right to know? I’ve fought for this Garden too you know?” said Rinoa a bit angrily.
-“You’re right. It’s just that… I think you’re worrying too much about things and you’re having those nightmares and all…” Squall said. Rinoa didn’t speak. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to get all gloomy…”
-“I’m fine. I guess you’re right. I’ve been worrying too much and as a result I get these nightmares…”
-“So… Do you still want to know wh…” said Squall.
-“Yes.” Rinoa interrupted him.
-“Esthar is on the brink of a war with Galbadia and the latter are looking for reinforcements. They asked us to join them.” he replied.

Chapter 2

-“I see… Wow, that really IS serious. No wonder Quistis was so upset.” said Rinoa worried.
-“I don’t think we should be giving much thought into it. It’s almost certain that they can work out their differences before resorting to any violence.”
-“How can you be so sure?”
-“Zell came back from Esthar last night. He went over to see what the President’s intentions were. Turns out that Laguna doesn’t want this war as much as anyone else and he’s willing to move into negotiations.”
-“Laguna?” asked Rinoa. “Squall why do you keep calling him…”
-“It’s not the time to discuss THAT…” said Squall seriously. Whenever the issue of his father came up, he couldn’t help but feel awkward. He had only found out a few months ago anyway.
-“OK,OK…” said Rinoa not wanting to upset him. “So, why did Quistis get all mad?”
-“Zell was there on a totally irrelevant mission. He just went to visit Laguna and he told him all about it. So Quistis thought he didn’t know anything.”
-“How do you know?”
-“He contacted me just before he left.”
-“You’d known about this and you didn’t tell me anything?” Rinoa asked angrily.
-“I just found out yesterday morning myself. I didn’t want to tell you anything until I was certain there was anything to even talk about!” he replied.
-“So, where’s Selphie and Irvine?”
-“They left early for Galbadia to try and negotiate. We expect them to inform us any minute now. That’s why everyone’s so uptight. That’s about everything there is to know. Now can we please eat something? I’m starved.”
-“Not yet! You haven’t told me WHY they’re going into war. Surely they didn’t just wake up one day and said they’re gonna start bombing each other…” said Rinoa.

Squall’s face took a weird expression as soon as Rinoa asked this question. She could tell there was something he didn’t want her to know.

-“Squall… What is it? Tell me!” she asked.
-“Galbadia believes…” started Squall letting out a small sigh “… they believe that now that Balamb has erm… ‘hold’ of the only sorceress alive, they… well, we… might want to… take advantage of it.”
-“Meanin… ?”
-“Meaning that they want to have the sorceress as an ally -and as a result the Balamb Garden SeeDs too- in order to fulfill the plans they didn’t with Edea. The war with Esthar is just the beginning. They will attack each and every country just like before and use the sorceress as a weapon. I assume that they will try to get the sorceress on their side at all costs…” said Squall. Rinoa noticed that he kept referring to her as ‘the sorceress’. Probably because he thought it would seem less… painful that way.
-“And THIS isn’t serious? Are you out of your mind?!” Rinoa yelled.
-“That’s exactly why I didn’t want you to know. You’d panic, just like you’re doing right now!”
-“Well excuse me for not wanting to help Galbadia fulfill their world domination scenarios!”
-“Please calm down… I assure you we’ll try everything, EVERYTHING before going off to war. We’ll find a way to settle this, I promise…” Squall said looking deep into her brown eyes.
-“Promise…?” asked Rinoa.
-“Promise.” he replied hugging her. They stayed like that for quite some time, when Rinoa spoke.
-“Squall, I’m scared…”
-“Don’t be. I’ll never let anything bad happen to you.” he said.
-“I love you… I don’t want to lose you…” said Rinoa. Squall was taken by surprise. It was the first time Rinoa told him she loved him. It’s not like he didn’t know, but he’d never heard it before.
-“I… I love you too…” he said realizing he was actually telling the truth “… but you’re NOT gonna lose me. Never.”
-“I keep having these nightmares… And I always lose you there. I’m turning into something I’m not… And you’re always gone…” she said, while a tear ran down her cheek.
-“They’re just nightmares. I’m here, with you. And I’m not leaving you…”


And then words were of no use anymore. Rinoa hugged him tightly and when she rose her head to look at him they engaged into the most passionate kiss they’d ever given. It was as though they’d never kissed before. But due to the fact that good things don’t last, the door burst open just then… It was Zell.

-“Hey Squall they’re ugh….” said Zell. Squall and Rinoa broke apart abruptly and looked at him startled.
-“WHAT?!” said Squall furious.
-“Sorry for that man, but Selphie and Irvine have just contacted us. Just thought you should be there…” said Zell feeling embarrassed.
-“Oh… OK. Sorry about that…” apologized Squall.
-“It’s OK. Are you guys comin’ or what?!”
-“Yeah, yeah… We’re coming…” said Squall while Rinoa got off his lap.


All three of them left Squall’s office and got outside where everyone was waiting. There was a hologram of Selphie and Irvine there.

-“Finally! Where were you two?” asked Selphie giggling. Squall opened his mouth to answer, but he never did because -to his great relief- Irvine started speaking.
-“Listen guys, things don’t look good.” said Irvine. By the look on his face Squall realized this wasn’t gonna be a happy report.
-“Galbadia is really set on going into war with Esthar!” said Selphie.
-“They said they wanted Rinoa on their side to rid the world of the tyrannical empire of Esthar! What a bunch of bull-crap! They thought we’d actually buy it?” said Irvine. Squall noticed that Rinoa was starting to look a bit uncomfortable. “We all know that’s just the beginning…” he continued “… they didn’t make it with Matron and now they think they’ll do it with Rinoa. The hell they’re gonna!”
-“When are you coming back?” asked Squall trying to change the subject. He could see Rinoa was feeling terribly guilty.
-“We’re taking the train now. We should be there by noon.” answered Selphie.
-“Good. We’ll meet again then. That’s it for now. Dismissed.” said Squall switching the intercom off. Then he turned to the rest. “We’ll discuss the subject again when Irvine and Selphie arrive. We’ve still got hopes. I might go to Esthar tonight to see Laguna.”
-“D’you think it’ll help?” asked Zell.
-“It’s worth a shot…” said Squall “Quistis you’ll accompany me.”
-“All right commander.” she replied.
-“Zell, you write to the ministry again and request another meeting in a couple of days time.” Said Squall.
-“Got it!” replied Zell.
-“Sir I believe we still have hopes to end this without any violence.” said Squall to the headmaster.
-“I trust you Squall.” he replied “Do whatever you consider wise. You have my full confidence and support.”
-“Thank you sir. Dismissed.” said Squall.


Zell left to get that letter written, while Xu and Quistis went to make travel arrangements for the trip to Esthar. Headmaster Cid headed back to his office and so did Squall. Rinoa followed him.

-“Why did you ask Quistis to accompany you instead of me?” said Rinoa.
-“Excuse me?” asked Squall looking up from the stack of papers he was examining.
-“I said: Why didn’t you ask me to come with you to Esthar and you asked Quistis?”
-“I didn’t think you’d mind me going with Quistis…” he replied innocently.
-“That’s not my problem Squall. It’s just that you seem to have given everyone a task but me. Am I invisible here?” she asked putting her hands on Squall’s desk.
-“Rinoa…” said Squall getting up from his desk and heading towards her “… this… isn’t be a situation I want you involved in…”
-“You think I can’t make it?” she asked angry.
-“Of course not… I don’t want you involved because I don’t want you getting hurt.”
-“I can manage, thank you very much!” she said pushing him away as he tried to put his arms around her.
-“Now why are you getting angry? I’m only trying to protect you…”
-“You’re treating me like a baby!”
-“Well you haven’t shown much responsibility in the past you know!” said Squall getting angry too.
-“What’s THAT supposed to mean?”
-“It means that you keep getting in trouble every time there’s a serious situation and I can’t afford having to worry about you on top of everything else!” shouted Squall, but regretted these words as soon as he spoke them.
-“I HATE YOU!” yelled Rinoa storming out of the office.
-“Rinoa wait, I…” called Squall, but she was already gone.

........................................

Selphie and Irvine arrived at 2:45 p.m. They got back to the Garden -which was temporarily stationed to its original place near Balamb city- by car. They found Quistis and Zell waiting for them there. Selphie went to get some rest and Irvine got up to Squall’s office to report.

-“Enter.” said Squall when he heard a knock on his door.
-“Hey Squall.” said Irvine.
-“Welcome back.” said Squall not trying to look at all glad to see him.
-“Good to see you too!” said Irvine sarcastically “Why the long face?”
-“I don’t think that the current situation allows me to be anything but worried.” He answered not looking up from the papers he was signing.
-“I know you man.” said Irvine sitting on an armchair and resting his legs on Squall’s desk –which made Squall give him a pretty evil looking glance… - and then continued “… you wouldn’t show the slightest grin on your face if something hadn’t happened… Spill it…”
-“Some stuff with Rinoa, that’s all…”
-“Don’t tell me you guys broke up?”
-“No, of course not…”
-“Everything OK with the… ‘other’ department?” Irvine said with a devilish grin on his face.
-“The ‘other’ department?” asked Squall with a puzzled look, raising his head from his work for the first time.
-“Y’know… the OTHER department…”
-“God, is that ALL you think about?!”
-“You didn’t answer my question…” said Irvine with a smirk.
-“We’re FINE on that OK?” he replied exasperated.
-“Ah, so there IS action on that department…”
-“IRVINE!!!” yelled Squall furious.
-“Sorry, sorry just trying to get a rise out of you… I guess I made it…” he said laughing.
-“I’ve got work to do, so if you don’t have anything to report…”
-“Aw c’mon! I was only teasing you! Tell me what happened with Rinoa.”
-“None of your…”
-“…business. Yeah, yeah we’ve heard those before… Now quit being a b***h and tell me!”
-“We had a fight OK? I said some things I shouldn’t have, she told me she hates me and just left…”
-“What did you tell her?”
-“It’s not really THAT serious…”
-“She couldn’t have just took off without hearing something that bothered her, especially if she told you she hates you…”
-“She got mad because I didn’t give her any assignments. I told her I didn’t want her to get involved because I was scared of her getting hurt…”
-“That’s it? You couldn’t have said ONLY that…”
-“She told me she could manage and then I said that she’s not reliable and that she keeps getting into trouble…”
-“Squall…”
-“…and then I told her that I didn’t want to have to worry about her on top of everything else…”
-“You can be a real a*s sometimes you know that?”
-“I was only trying to…” said Squall trying to apologize.
-“I know what you were trying to do, but you should try being a little less harsh. You hurt her feelings…”
-“ *Sigh* I know…” said Squall “I blew it didn’t I?”
-“Nah… You just have to learn to be a little more… subtle, especially when you’re dealing with women. I’m sure she didn’t mean those things either. Just go find her and tell her you didn’t mean what you said before.”
-“But I did! She always gets into trouble and…”
-“Squall.”
-“OK… So what about your report?”
-“What about it?”
-“Well… Aren’t you gonna report anything?”
-“I’ve already told you everything there is to know.”
-“Fine.” said Squall getting up.
-“Well then let’s go grab something to eat, I’m starved!” said Irvine getting up from the armchair and patting Squall on the back.
-“You go ahead, I’ve gotta go find Rinoa.”
-“That’s my boy! Now be careful of what you’ll say, you don’t want to make things worse…”
-“I’ll be careful…”
-“And you could always get on her soft side by *psst* *psst*” said Irvine and then whispered something on Squall’s ear.
-“IRVINE!!!!!” yelled Squall.

........................................ ..........

Squall went looking for Rinoa all over the Garden, but she was nowhere to be found. He looked in the quad, in the library, the training center, even the B1 level! “Well, I guess she could be in the dorms, I didn’t look there.” he thought to himself. He walked to Quistis’ room and knocked. Quistis came to the door after a minute or so in her bathrobe.

-“What is it Squall?” she asked.
-“Sorry if I interrupted you from anything, but have you seen Rinoa at all?”
-“She just left my room five minutes ago. I think she headed towards yours.”
-“Oh, OK. Erm… Quistis… How did she look?” he asked.
-“Not so good…” she replied giving Squall an angry look.
-“Did she say anything about me?”
-“You don’t want to know…”
-“Right… Thanks, I’ll see you later.” he said feeling guilty.


Quistis closed the door behind her leaving Squall alone. He headed to his dorm and unlocked the door. He walked inside and saw Rinoa sitting on his bed looking -for lack of a better word- furious.

-“Go way.” she said as soon as she saw him.
-“If I’m not mistaken this is my dorm…” he replied sarcastically.
-“Fine. I’ll go…” she said getting up.
-“Wait…” said Squall grabbing her from the waist as she tried to leave the room.
-“Let me go!”
-“You won’t leave until you hear what I have to say…”
-“I don’t want to hear what you’ve got to say!”
-“Well, too bad ‘cause you’re hearing it anyway…”
-“Oh, really?”
-“Really, there’s no way out…”
-“Watch me! LALALALA, I’M NOT LISTENING, I’M NOT LISTENING” yelled Rinoa while trying to get away.
-“I’LL STOP TREATING YOU LIKE A BABY WHEN YOU STOP ACTING LIKE ONE!” shouted Squall while getting grip of Rinoa’s wrists.
-“I hate you!”
-“No you don’t.”
-“Yes I do!”
-“No you don’t.”
-“Yes, I DO!”
-“No you don’t .”
-“YES - I - DO!” shouted Rinoa.
-“No..” said Squall giving her a light kiss “… you…” he continued giving her another “…don’t.” he said kissing her once more.
-“Alright, I don’t…” said Rinoa calming down.
-“Now will you hear me out?” asked Squall still holding her wrists.
-“You hurt me…”
-“I know I did and I’m sorry… I didn’t mean those things I said before. I was just worried about you…”
-“I understand… I’m sorry, too…”


Squall let go of her wrists and hugged her. They started kissing and when they broke apart Rinoa spoke.

-“Why can’t you be like that around other people, too?”
-“Like what?”
-“Sweet. You’re sweet when you’re with me. You open up a bit.”
-“Other people are not my girlfriend…”
-“And what about your friends?”
-“There we go again…” said Squall rolling his eyes.
-“You know they care about you just as much as I do!”
-“It’s not the same… Why’d you have to bring that up now? We were fine a minute ago…”
-“I didn’t mean to upset you…”
-“Well…” said Squall with a mischievous look “… there IS something that could cheer me up… both of us actually…” said Squall laying Rinoa on the bed and kissing her.
-“Squall! Stop it!” she said between giggles “It’s noon!”
-“So what?”
-“Someone might hear us!”
-“We can be quiet…”
-“Y’know, I’m probably the only one who knows, but you’re mind’s even dirtier than Irvine’s!” she said laughing.
-“Live with it…” said Squall kissing her neck.

........................................ ..........

You have a good story going here, Crystal. Why? You wrote it well, expressing emmotions by the characters and a well thought out first three chapters. I like it, and would like to read more.

Thanx! I've already thought what the rest will be like, I'm warning you though, it'll be a sad story...

Chapter 3

The few happy moments Rinoa spent with Squall that day were totally ruined by the afternoon meeting. Things didn’t look good and a war seemed more threatening than ever. Galbadia was nowhere near ready to giving up on gaining hold of the sorceress -Rinoa- .

-“We still have hopes!” said Squall. “I spoke with Laguna just before and he’s expecting me to Esthar tonight. I’m leaving in about… three hours. I’ll see what I can do. There MUST be a way…”
-“What does President Laguna have to say about the situation?” asked Cid.
-“He wants to avoid this war as much as we do.”
-“Very well. I think that’s about it… Squall and Quistis, I count on you two and President Laguna to do your best.” said Cid “Dismissed.”

As soon as the meeting was over Rinoa approached Squall.

-“Squall…” she said tapping him on the shoulder.
-“What is it?”
-“Do you really have to go with Quistis to Esthar?”
-“Don’t tell me you’re jealous…”
-“No, I just thought maybe I’d come with you…” she said. Squall tried to answer, but she interrupted him “… I just can’t stay here without you… I don’t feel safe…”
-“Oh, come on now.. You’ll have Zell, Irvine, Selphie…”
-“It’s not the same…”
-“Do you want me to ask Laguna to come here?”
-“No, the Galbadians will probably try to take advantage of that… Can I come? Pleeease?” she asked giving him a cute smile.
-“We’ve only booked the aircraft for two passengers…”
-“Maybe I could come instead…?”
-“ *Sigh* Do I have a choice…?”
-“No. *Giggle*” she said.
-“Lemme go ask Quistis if she minds.”
-“OK!”
-“Quistis?” called Squall “A word?”
-“Yes Squall?” said Quistis approaching him.
-“I’m really sorry to ask you this, but do you mind if Rinoa comes with me to Esthar instead of you? She doesn’t feel safe staying here without me and quite frankly I think she’s right…”
-“No, it’s fine. Tell her to come by my dorm and get the pass to the aircraft.”
-“You sure it’s OK?”
-“Yes, I don’t mind. It’s probably a good idea. She should be with you.”
-“Thanks, I appreciate it.” said Squall and went back to Rinoa. “She said it’s OK. Go later by her dorm to get the pass.”
-“Pass?”
-“You’ll need a pass in order to board the aircraft.”
-“Okie.”
-“Go pack some stuff; we’ll be spending one, maybe even two days on Esthar.”
-“Yay! We’re going on a trip!”
-“Rinoa, this is not…”
-“I know! I was only kidding…”
-“Go pack your stuff.” Said Squall smiling “I have to talk to the headmaster.”
-“I’ll meet you in the dorm later, ok? Bye!” she said giving him a kiss on the cheek leaving the headmaster’s office.
-“Rinoa!” said Squall annoyed because the headmaster was still there.


-“Heheh… I was young once, too Squall. I don’t want you to feel like you’re doing anything wrong…” said Cid. Squall immediately stood at attention.
-“Yes sir.” the latter replied blushing.
-“Will Rinoa be coming with you then?”
-“I hope you don’t mind sir. I took the liberty of inviting her instead, because she thought, and I agreed, that she shouldn’t be left alone. Most of us will be busy and attending missions these days, so she won’t be very safe…”
-“She doesn’t feel safe anywhere but around you, eh?” said Cid laughing. Squall felling embarrassed didn’t speak. “That’s OK Squall, I think you did the right thing. Although there is something I would really like to discuss with you. At ease.”
-“What’s that sir?” asked Squall, now standing less uptight.
-“As we all know, the only sorceress alive right now, as well as the, well, erm.. cause of the probable upcoming war, is Rinoa.” Squall felt awkward. What was Cid trying to say? “She also happens to be your girlfriend…” he continued “What I’m trying to say Squall, is that the one mostly affected by her possible loss…” Squall felt his heart sink at the sound of that last word “… will be you. I just wanted to know what your feelings are on the entire situation.”
-“My feelings?”
-“Yes. I’m not just a military leader Squall. I need to make sure that my soldiers are in a good state of mind.”
-“Are you saying that you will release me of my duties if I won’t be able to control my feelings towards Rinoa?” said Squall looking a bit angry.
-“No, no! You got me all wrong! What I meant to say is, that I wouldn’t like to see you hurt if anything… unfortunate should happen. I want to make sure that this operation isn’t too much of an emotional burden to you… Is it?”
-“No sir.” said Squall coldly.
-“Are you sure?”
-“Positive.”
-“Very well. Anything you’d like to share?”
-“No sir.”
-“Right… Good luck in Esthar then. Needless to say that you should contact the Garden as soon as you converse with the President. Dismissed.”

Squall left Cid’s office thinking about what they’d just talked about. He couldn’t possibly imagine what loosing Rinoa would feel like, nor did he want to find out. Was he in any way letting his feelings affect his judgment?

........................................ .....

Rinoa knocked Quistis’ dorm room door. Quistis opened and let her in.

-“Hope I’m not bothering…” said Rinoa.
-“Of course not, come in, have a seat.”
-“No thanks, I gotta go pack my stuff. We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours. I just came to get the pass.”
-“Oh, yes. Just give me a sec to go get it.” said Quistis going into her -sparkly clean and annoyingly tidy- bedroom. Rinoa noticed a suitcase ready. Obviously Quistis had already packed for the journey to Esthar. She came back with a small blue card in her hands. “Here you go. Just tell the captain there’s been a change and state your name. He’ll take care of it.”
-“Thanks. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
-“Of course not. I just need to ask you something though. Were you jealous of me going with Squall?”
-“What? No! I just…”
-“It’s OK, I won’t mind if you did…”
-“No really!” said Rinoa, but Quistis was certain she was lying. Rinoa’s primary concern was not being left alone in a situation like that, but she had felt a little jealous, too…
-“OK then…” said Quistis with a disbelieving look on her face. “Have a safe journey.”
-“Thanks!” said Rinoa getting the pass and leaving Quistis’ dorm.

She walked back to her and Squall’s dorm and opened the door. She found Squall packing a few things. She starting making her suitcase, too while talking to Squall. That took quite some time though, ‘cause Rinoa kept cramming clothes into her suitcase, while Squall tried to persuade her she wouldn’t be needing that much.

When they were done it was almost time to go. They took their luggage outside the Garden, where one of the private SeeD aircrafts (specially used for missions) was waiting. They showed the captain their passes and boarded the aircraft. The flight to Esthar was a quiet one. Squall was thinking again about his discussion with Cid, about his upcoming meeting with his father, about the war… Rinoa on the other hand was sleeping, resting her head on Squall’s shoulder. She found that the less she thought of it, the less she worried. She had another nightmare though…

........................................ ..................

She dreamt that she was in her room, back at her father’s house in Deling city. She was looking at her reflection, when it changed form. This time, the other person had grey hair, a bit longer than hers, the same red eyes and black wings and was wearing Rinoa’s normal clothes. Her face looked just like the one she’d seen the other day. Rinoa was startled at first, but this time she spoke more confidently.

-“Is it… Is it you again?” she asked. The reflection nodded. “What do you want from me?”
-“To show you…”
-“Show me what?” she asked, but was scared she already knew the answer.
-“What you’re changing into…”
-“But why? How can I be changing?” she asked feeling terrified while tears starting forming in her eyes.
-“You’ll know… All in due time…”

And with those words the reflection disappeared, leaving Rinoa looking back at herself. She felt scared, and sad, and furious, and desperate. There was nothing left around her, but thick fog and that mirror. She started banging on the mirror, shouting at it, calling her to come back and tell her what was going on. She banged at it so hard, it broke, cutting her hand. She looked at the wound and saw that there was no blood running.

-“I’m not bleeding? Why?” she asked herself out loud.
-“I’ll make you bleed witch…” said a distant voice which sounded hauntingly familiar.
-“Wh… Who’s there?” she asked trembling.

And then she saw him… It was Squall, with his gun blade held in both hands. He was in an attack position and was approaching her slowly but confidently.

-“Squall?” she spoke.
-“How do you know my name, witch?” he asked bluntly.
-“Squall, don’t you recognize me?”
-“Should I?” he asked ironically.
-“It’s Rinoa!”
-“Don’t you ever speak her name, witch! Your evil tricks don’t work on me!” he yelled furious.
-“Squall please…” said Rinoa crying “It’s me…”
-“You think this will move me? Ha!” said Squall laughing. “You’ll pay for what you did to the world, witch. Die!”

Squall rose his gun blade and before Rinoa could even move he slashed it down her chest, throwing her motionless on the ground. The last thing she managed to see was her reflection on the mirror along with her blood sprayed on it. It was that other ‘person’ she saw in there again…


-“Aaaaah!” yelled Rinoa waking up instantly.
-“What happened? Another nightmare?” asked Squall nervously.
-“I’m… I’m OK…” she said, but Squall could see she definitely wasn’t. Her face was pale. She was sweaty and was shaking uncontrollably.
-“It’s over. It was just a dream…” he said hugging her.
-“You… You wouldn’t hurt me, would you Squall?” she asked still trembling.
-“What are you talking about? Of course not! You know I’d never… Hold on, was that what you dreamt about?” he asked, but she didn’t answer. She just stayed in his arms trying to persuade herself that would never happen…

I like this very much - Rinoa becoming more and more afraid of the events that might happen. Nice work. Can't wait to read more. ^_^

Chapter 4

The aircraft reached the Esthar port after a one-and-a-half-hour flight from Balamb. It had already gone dark and Esthar looked glorious from up high. The aircraft landed at the port and then Squall and Rinoa were transferred by car to the Presidential Palace. Squall had been to Esthar before, so the amazing high-tech city was nothing new to him.

When they got to the entrance of the Palace, they saw there was a welcome committee waiting for them. They could see Laguna in front in his casual clothes -as always-, Ward and Kiros each on one side in formal uniforms and a few security guards. When the vehicle stopped and they got out, Laguna greeted them with a warm smile.

-“Welcome!” he said walking over to them hugging Rinoa.
-“Thank you Laguna! How’ve you been?” she asked.
-“I’m doing just fine. What about you? Have you been taking good care of Squall?” he asked jokingly with a smirk on his face. Laguna noticed Squall standing uptight as if at attention, looking as though he wanted to disappear.
-“I’ve been trying to…” answered Rinoa “… but he’s not being very co-operative!” She and Laguna both laughed. Squall remained serious.
-“It’s great to see you again Squall!” said Laguna trying to go over and hug Squall, but Squall just extended his arm. Laguna blushed and exchanged a lukewarm handshake with Squall. “Well then, did you have a good flight?” Laguna asked trying to change the subject.
-“It was fine.” spoke Squall for the first time.
-“Good. Now come along, I’m sure you’ll both be starving!”
-“Ward, Kiros.” nodded Squall as he walked past them. They both smiled and nodded.
-“Hi guys!” greeted Rinoa.
-“Hello Rinoa.” greeted Kiros back. Ward just nodded, being unable to speak.

They all walked to the palace, while a couple of guards took Squall and Rinoa’s luggage. A servant showed them to their room and Laguna told them dinner should be ready in ten minutes or so. He then left them in the room to unpack and change for dinner.

-“I don’t even have time for a shower!” whined Rinoa. “Uh, I just need to get out of these… sweaty clothes… Maybe I should have a quick shower…”
-“Need any help?” asked Squall mischievously, while walking behind her hugging her from the waist.
-“No… I’m mad at you…” she replied.
-“Why? What did I do?” he asked surprised.
-“You know perfectly well…” she said turning to face him. “What kind of behavior was that towards your father?”
-“Excuse me?”
-“Could you have been more… cold and rigid?”
-“Look who’s talking…”
-“I never treat my father like THAT!”
-“Of course not. You don’t even speak to him…” said Squall with a face full or irony.
-“My situation is different. My father and I have different political views, that’s why we don’t get along…”
-“At least your father didn’t abandon you…”
-“Squall, give him a break, will you? He didn’t even know where to look for you…”
-“Exactly! He never even cared to find out! And now he’s acting all buddy-buddy with me!”
-“That’s just not fair… It was hard enough on him losing your mother…” said Rinoa. Squall didn’t speak.
-“We should be getting ready. They’ll be waiting for us…” said Squall starting to get undressed.
-“Squall…”
-“End of discussion…” he said taking off his jacket.
-“Fine… But don’t think we won’t talk about this again…” she said starting to undress, too. “What are you doing?”
-“What?” he asked.
-“What are you wearing?”
-“My SeeD uniform.”
-“You uniform? Squall it’s just a dinner…”
-“With the President.”
-“With your FATHER. Here wear these…” she said taking a pair of jeans and a T-shirt out of her suitcase.
-“Those are mine. Where’d you get these?…” he asked.
-“I imagined you’d only pack… formal stuff, so I took these too.”
-“Rinoa…”
-“End of discussion…” she said imitating him.
-“Whatever…” Squall said putting what Rinoa had given him on. Rinoa wore a casual dress, wore her hair in a loose ponytail and they both walked out of the room.

Rinoa held Squall’s hand as they strode down the Palace corridors. The Esthar Presidential Palace was luxuriously decorated. The latest technology, combined with tasteful artifacts, made the it unique. After walking for about two minutes, they reached the dining room. Laguna was already there sitting, waiting for them. He was wearing a white shirt and a pair of jeans.

There were three plates laid on the table accompanied by wine glasses and cutlery. One of them was placed on the head of the table (obviously for the President) and the other two on each side for them. The table was decorated with white lilies in vases. Their subtle fragrance reminded Squall of something, although he couldn’t quite put his finger to it. It smelled so familiar and welcome… So… ‘home’. And then he remembered. These were Raine’s favorite flowers. His mother’s favorite flowers. She had filled the entire town of Winhill (Squall’s birthplace) with them. Of course he couldn’t remember their fragrance as a baby, but he ran across it when he visited Winhill with his peers for the first time. He felt sympathy for Laguna for a moment. Maybe when things got better and he felt ready, he could give him a chance… But now wasn’t the time yet.

Laguna interrupted his thoughts by welcoming them once again with his friendly smile and asked them to sit down. Squall pulled Rinoa’s chair for her to sit down and then went to sit on his own. Laguna watched the whole scene felling proud for his son being a gentleman and winked at Rinoa who smiled and blushed. He thought he’d comment on Squall’s gesture, but then remembered what his son’s personality was like and decided it’d be best not to say anything. When Squall settled down, a couple of waitresses approached them bringing over the salad and red wine. They served them and then left the room.

-“Now… Over to business if you don’t mind…” said Laguna.
-“That’s what we’ve come here for, haven’t we?” asked Squall.
-“Of course. I did hear about your meeting in Galbadia.” said Laguna having a sip of wine. “How’d it go?”
-“Not as good as we expected.” replied Squall swallowing a forkful of lettuce. “The one’s representing Balamb Garden where Selphie Tilmitt and Irvine Kinneas. The latter was preferred because he was trained in Galbadia garden and knew most of the officials there. The first…”
-“Because she didn’t want anyone else escorting her ‘Irvine Kinne-poo’…” interrupted Rinoa making Laguna laugh hard and Squall giving her a half amused- half serious look.
-“… because she has very good communication skills.” continued Squall.
-“And the outcome?” asked Laguna trying to get a straight again after Rinoa’s comment.
-“The Galbadians are really set on gaining hold or the sorceress… of Rinoa.” answered Squall looking over at Rinoa who became silent. I think they would compromise with some sort of an offer though…”
-“Did they say they would?” asked Laguna.
-“No, that was just my idea. But I really think it might work.”
-“So what kind of an offer did you have in mind?”
-“Well, I asked myself. What is it Galbadians are going for with their plan?”
-“World domination. Just like before.” replied Laguna.
-“Exactly, so that’s what we’ll give them. Partially at least.” said Squall. Laguna and Rinoa looked at each other puzzled. Rinoa hadn’t heard of Squall’s plan either, so she was just as confused as Laguna.

Chapter 5

-“Elaborate.” said Laguna while drinking some more wine.
-“We could give them partial authority on certain regions. These regions will still have their freedom, but they will be subordinate to Galbadia. Not enslaved, subordinate.” Laguna and Rinoa listened to him carefully while finishing up their salad. “Let me give you an example of what I mean. We could…” began Squall, but stopped because the waitresses entered the room again.

Two of them collected the plates, two more brought in the main course and one brought some more wine. The main course was an local recipe; it was pheasant, they were informed by Laguna, stewed along with red wine and served with local vegetables. The waitresses served the pheasant and then another waitress filled their glasses with more wine. Then they left the room again.

-“This looks delicious.” said Rinoa taking a bite from her pheasant. “Mmmm… And it is!”
-“Glad you like it.” said Laguna. “Squall, what do you think?”
-“It’s really good.” he replied taking a bite from his own plate.
-“So, please go on with your thoughts…” said Laguna.
-“As I was saying, my suggestion is giving them authority on certain regions.”
-“And you were about to give us an example…”
-“Oh, yes. I was thinking something along the lines of taxing. If they’re in charge of tax collection, they will have power over the people, but their residents will still be free. Of course, only that won’t do. We could also have them in charge of local security. Police, army etc… My plan revolved around the idea of Galbadians dealing with government issues, while the locals will be able to elect their own representatives and continue their lives just as they did before. It doesn’t sound so good, I know, but I strongly believe that’s the best we can do to avoid the bloodshed. Besides, it’s a known fact that such regions gain more and more local authority by the course of time, so it could get much better after some years. Just long enough to take the Galbadians’ minds of their domination plans…”
-“Well, then…” said Laguna smiling “I’m really proud to see that my son… erm… the leader of SeeD” corrected Laguna “…is so gifted.” Rinoa noticed the awkward look on both their faces. “There is one problem though…”
-“Which regions will agree to follow such a plan...” answered Squall.
-“Exactly.”
-“I know… We certainly can’t give them authority on ALL continents. That would give them tremendous power. And that’s what I wanted to discuss with you.”
-“What does headmaster Cid have to say about all this?” asked Laguna.
-“He doesn’t know. I never told anyone about this plan, you’re the first one, along with Rinoa, to hear it.”
-“How come you haven’t told anyone?” asked Rinoa.
-“I wanted to take care of this problem first, before recommending it.”
-“I see. Well Squall, it really is a good plan, although that parameter is very important. If we figure out a solution, I believe we could end this matter. Well done, a very good plan indeed…” Laguna congratulated him.
-“Thank you sir. What’s your view on the problem then?” asked Squall, unable to help but feel good for having his father’s approval.
-“ I think that’s something we should discuss tomorrow. You’re both tired and we all need to sleep on it, don’t you think? I suggest we finish our meal forget this whole matter for now. Rinoa what do you suggest?” said Laguna.
-“I agree. We need our minds clear to make any serious decision…”
-“Couldn’t have put it better myself. Now eat up. The pheasant’s only worth when it’s still hot…”

........................................ .................

They all finished their meal talking about how things were going in Esthar and Balamb. They ate up their last course, some Black Forest cake made by Esthar’s finest chef, owner of a great pastry-shop. When they were finished, Laguna escorted them to their room.

-“I’ll be waiting inside Squall.” said Rinoa when they got to their door, wanting to give them some time alone.
-“OK.” replied Squall. “So…” he began, but couldn’t find anything to say.
-“You’re doing great Squall. I’m really proud of you.” said Laguna.
-“Thank you sir.”
-“Squall, I know you’re still not ready to call me dad, or father or… whatever… but I really wish you’d call me Laguna at least…”
-“OK… Laguna…”
-“Thank you…” A really awkward silence lingered in the atmosphere.
-“Well then… Goodnight.” said Squall.
-“Goodnight Squall. Sleep well.”
-“Likewise sir… I mean… Laguna.”
-“Goodnight.” said Laguna again, leaving Squall and walking down the corridor to his bedroom.


Laguna’s bedroom was very plain, in contrast to the rest of the Palace. He had a desk with a chair, a wardrobe, an armchair, a double bed and a nightstand with a vase on it, which was always full of fresh white lilies. It seemed like these were the only flowers decorating the entire Palace. On Laguna’s desk there was a stack of papers and a framed picture of him and Raine, his deceased wife and Squall’s mother. Another picture, this one with Raine alone, was on Laguna’s nightstand leaning on the vase.

Laguna threw himself on his armchair as soon as he walked inside his room. He sat there for a while looking up at the ceiling and then glanced at Raine’s picture on the nightstand next to him. He reached out for it, still on the armchair and looked closely at it speaking out loud:

-“Wish you were here Raine… You should see our boy all grown… He’s… He’s so handsome. He’s got your eyes, he looks a lot like me on the face… Bet you wouldn’t like that, huh? *laughter* And he’s doing so great… He’s a military leader and he’s only eighteen! He’s so gifted… Smart, responsible, serious… too serious… Nothing like me, anyway! *laughter*… But why am I telling you all this? I’m sure you already know… I’m sure you’re watching over him, being just as proud as I am that he turned out so well…God, I miss you… I miss you Raine…”

A tear ran down Laguna’s face. He went on ‘talking’ to Raine, until he fell asleep on the armchair with Raine’s picture on his hand, which hung as he laid there.
........................................ .............

Squall walked back into his room after Laguna left. He found Rinoa laying on the bed with her clothes still on.

-“I think I drank too much wine…” said Rinoa as Squall lied next to her.
-“Did you now? You can’t even take your clothes off?” he asked.
-“I left that job for you *giggle*…” she said laying a devilish grin on her face.
-“I wouldn’t want to take advantage of you in such a state…” said Squall playing along.
-“What if I want you to?” asked Rinoa, pulling him from his shirt.

........................................ ........

Squall laid on the bed with Rinoa next to him, sleeping peacefully. He sat there for a while, then carefully got up trying not to wake her. He wore his jeans and walked out to the balcony. He looked up at the sky. It was beautiful. Starlit, with the moon gloriously casting its silvery shine. He started thinking. He always did too much thinking when he had nothing to do. He thought about the war, about his parents, about Rinoa… He glanced back at her every now and then, making sure she was sleeping well and secure. He couldn’t bare loosing her. He really got close to that a few times and he never wanted to feel like that again. He’d try anything to stop the war. And if he couldn’t, he’d protect Rinoa at all cost. But what if she became possessed again, like Edea? “Even if she does turn up as the world’s enemy, I’ll be her knight…” he though, remembering his own words back at the flower field, where he and Rinoa had promised. He turned and looked at her sleeping once more and then walked back to bed. He took his pants off and again lied down carefully, so as not to wake her.

I'm liking this more and more, you know. The monologue from Laguna in his room is a great touch. Very touching. ^_^ The whole exchange between Laguna and Squall in the dining room was well written as well. Nice work. Waiting for more.

Damn, when I started writing this I didn't expect it to get so big, I thought it'd be four chapters or something. Anyway, thanks a lot for the good comments, I'll try to keep the rest just as interesting.

Chapter 6

The next morning Squall woke up from a knock on the door. He lazily got off bed, while Rinoa just turned over, and went to open the door. He came face to face with a guard.

-“How can I… *yawn* help you?” asked Squall sleepily.
-“The President said he will be waiting you in his office in about an hour sir. Would you like some breakfast to be brought to you?”.
-“Um, sure, if it’s not too much trouble… What time is it?”
-“It’s 9:30 a.m. sir.”
-“9:30! Damn, I overslept! Uh, thank you…”
-“I’ll be sending your breakfast in a few minutes sir.”
-“Make that for two people OK?”
-“I’ve been informed sir…”
-“Oh, good. Thank you.”
-“Have a good day sir.”
-“You too.” said Squall closing the door. He walked over to the bed to wake Rinoa. “Wake up Rinoa…” he said stroking her cheek “We’re gonna be late…”
-“Huh? Wha… ? Squall? What time is it?” asked Rinoa.
-“It’s 9:30, come on get up, we’ll be late!”
-“Just five more minutes…”
-“I’m taking a shower and when I come out you’ll get up OK?”
-“K….”

Squall went inside the bathroom. He took off his boxers and stepped into the shower. At some point he heard the door knock.

-“Rinoa? RINOA?!” he called.
-“Hmmmm?” came her muffled reply.
-“Get the door. It’s our breakfast.”
-“Mmmmm…”

Rinoa opened the door, thanked the waitress for the breakfast and wheeled the cart in the room, next to the bed. Squall came out of the bathroom after a couple of minutes with a towel wrapped around his waist. He found Rinoa still laying in bed.

-“Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping…” he asked.
-“I’m not…” she replied lazily.
-“Go get a shower to wake up. Don’t take too long, I’ll wait for you.

Rinoa got up and stumbled to the bathroom. After five minutes she came out wearing a bathrobe. She sat on the bed next to Squall, who was buttering a piece of toast. When he finished he gave it to Rinoa.

-“For me? Thanks!” she said kissing him on the cheek.
-“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
-“Strangely enough, yes. I had a nightmare-free sleep for the first time in weeks! I guess your plan calmed me down a bit.”
-“Good. Glad to hear it…”
-“What time is it?”
-“It’s…” said Squall looking for his watch on the nightstand “… 9:50. We’re meeting my father in his office at 10:30, we’ve got time…”
-“What did you say?” asked Rinoa delighted.
-“I said that we’ve got time…”
-“No, no… Before that…” she said smiling broadly. “You called Laguna ‘father’!” Had he? He didn’t notice…
-“Yeah, I guess I did…”
-“Squall that’s wonderful!” said Rinoa leaping onto Squall hugging him.
-“I guess I’ve decided to give him a break… Don’t get too excited though… I’m still calling him Laguna when he’s in front… I want this crisis to be over and then we’ll see… I guess I should give it a shot… He is my father after all…”
-“Oh, I love you, I love you, I love you!” she shouted hugging him tighter. Squall smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
-“Eat up…” he said eventually. Rinoa went on with her breakfast feeling happier than she had felt for months. There was finally something good coming out of this situation…

When they finished, they started getting dressed and left the room. They walked to Laguna’s office and knocked.

-“Come in…” they heard Laguna saying. “Good morning.” he said when they walked in “Sit down. Did you have a good night rest?” he asked them.
-“Yeah, thanks for the breakfast, too!” said Rinoa, while Squall just nodded.
-“Good, good… We’ve got a big day ahead of us… I just spoke with Cid and he told me that they have set up another meeting with Galbadia.”
-“Did you tell him about the plan?” asked Squall.
-“No, I needed your permission to do that. I did tell them to wait for our decisions before heading to Galbadia, though. When we’ve made up our minds, you can tell them all about it yourself. It’s your plan after all…”
-“Thank you Laguna…” replied Squall.
-“So…” said Laguna with a look of mixed surprise and delight. “… any ideas about the things we talked about last night?”
-“Umm… Could I suggest something?” asked Rinoa shyly.
-“Of course Rinoa! That’s why you’re both here…” said Laguna. Rinoa smiled. Laguna had a way of making everyone feeling comfortable around him.
-“Well, I thought that we should do the exact same thing we’ll do with the Galbadians, to the regions we’ll be trying to persuade. Lure them in the same way…”
-“Go on…” said Laguna looking interested.
-“We have to face the fact that no-one would want to become subordinate to Galbadians, so if they’re gonna do it there should be at least something gained. We give authority to the Galbadians to lure them out of a war, we give privileges to these regions to lure them into yielding to Galbadia.”
-“And what do you suggest these privileges should include?” asked Squall.
-“We could offer them improvement of education, industry, health care system… We could let THEM decide what they want in return…” Squall and Laguna looked at each other. “Think about it. This way we’ll probably get rural regions to co-operate, so we won’t be giving away great industrial centers. AND we’ll be helping rural regions to thrive…”
-“I see… A gifted leader with a gifted woman on his side as well… What more could we ask for?” said Laguna smiling. “We have to inform everyone … We have to get the message everywhere.” said Laguna excited, pressing a button on his intercom. A female voice answered.
-“Good one…” whispered Squall to Rinoa who was sitting right across him.
-“Thanks!” whispered Rinoa back, feeling proud for herself.
-“Yes Mr. Loire?” said the voice from the intercom.
-“Call Kiros for me, will you Asako? Tell him to come by my office.”
-“Certainly sir.”
-“Thank you.” he replied. “You two don’t have to worry about anything now. I’ll make sure all the governments are informed. I’ll also talk to Cid personally. I’ll tell him our plan and if we get replies from many cities , we’ll proceed to negotiate with Galbadia. We’ll send the party from your Garden. Now, how long are you two gonna be staying?”
-“I guess we should leave later today since our work here is done. But if Rinoa wants to stay a bit longer… Rinoa, do you want to spend the day here and leave in the morning?” asked Squall.
-“Could we? I didn’t get to see the city last time we visited…” said Rinoa. ‘That’s right, she was in a coma then…’ Squall thought.
-“OK. I don’t think Cid will mind. We’ll be waiting for responses from everyone, so there’s nothing more we can do. I’ll show you around. Laguna, will you be joining us?” asked Squall. Laguna thought he hadn’t heard right.
-“Excuse me?” he asked.
-“I asked if you’d like to come with us. “ repeated Squall. Rinoa was caught by surprise as well. Then the door knocked and Kiros walked inside, greeting everyone.
-“Uhh… Just a moment Kiros…” said Laguna still felling dazed. “I’ll arrange everything with Kiros and then… sure I’d love to. Could you give me… half an hour?” he asked.
-“We’ll be waiting in our room. Come whenever you’re ready…” said Squall walking outside with Rinoa.
-“Sure, sure…” mumbled Laguna, still not believing what he’d just heard.
-“Laguna?” asked Kiros seeing Laguna sort of… ‘lost’. “You still here?”

........................................ ...........................

Squall and Rinoa got outside and when they’d walked a bit down the corridors Rinoa jumped up on Squall kissing him.

-“Squall that was so great, what you did back there! Did you see the look on his face?! He couldn’t believe it!”
-“Calm down…” he said smiling.
-“This day just CAN’T get any better! First you call him ‘father’, then we get to avoid a war and now this!”
-“We haven’t avoided anything yet. Our plan is good, but we’ll have to wait and see how others will take it…”
-“Aw, don’t ruin the moment! Oh, we’re gonna have such a great time today! I can feel it!”
-“Come on, let’s go wait for him in our room…” said Squall smiling and holding Rinoa from one shoulder, while walking down the corridor.


Laguna came after about half an hour to pick them up from their room. When they got outside the Palace, a high-tech car was there along with a driver, waiting. Laguna took them everywhere. They visited every shop, then left the car to walk along the streets of Esthar. They went to have lunch at Esthar’s finest restaurant. They sat on a table right out in the balcony, having the light breeze blowing them away. They talked and laughed all day. Even Squall got to be humorous and fun. When they left the restaurant they went to a small, but beautiful coffee shop, for a cup of coffee to end a great day. It was already getting dark when they got back to the Palace. Laguna walked once again with them to their room.

-“Oh, Laguna this day has been great! Thank you so much for showing us around!” said Rinoa hugging him.
-“Anytime. I don’t think you guys are any hungry are you? Would you like some dinner?”
“No! Ever since I got here I’ve been doing nothing, but eating! Besides, I’m SO full from lunch…” replied Rinoa.
-“Yeah. I’ll have to pass on dinner too Laguna.” said Squall. “I don’t think I can eat another bite…”
-“Very well… I’ll leave you to rest then… I’ll be seeing you in the morning before you leave though, right?”
-“Sure…” replied Squall.
-“And maybe you can join me for breakfast…” Laguna said looking at Rinoa, smiling.
-“Aaaah! NO – MORE - FOOD!!!” she said running inside the room. Laguna and Squall both laughed.
-“Goodnight Squall.”
-“Goodnight Laguna. We’ll see you in the morning.” said Squall closing the door behind hem as Laguna walked away.


Squall walked in the room and found Rinoa already sleeping, clothes on. ‘She must be exhausted’ he thought. He walked to her side of the bed and talked to her.

-“Rinoa… Rinny…” he said.
-“Hmm?” she mumbled sleepily.
-“You slept with your clothes on. Do you want me to take them off?”
-“Kougyou?” came her muffled reply.

Squall thought that must’ve been a ‘Could you?’, so he took her clothes off and helped her put a flannel t-shirt and pajama pants on. He then got undressed as well and lied down. Rinoa moved closer facing him and he put his arms around her. They were both so tired, they fell asleep within a couple of minutes. It was a good night sleep for Squall. For Rinoa though, it was another journey into Morpheus’ realm…

This is an excellent story! I'm not the biggest fan of Rinoa, but I have to give it to you, you've made her grow on me. And Laguna is the shyt!
Keep it up!!! :love: Can't wait for chapter 7!!!
Your newest fan *lol*

Thanks! Chapter 7 is ready, but it came out a bit smaller than the others, so I thought I'd post it along with 8 which is half way written.

OK done... Chapter 7 is indeed small, but 8 more than compensates for it!

And a little give-out on chapter 9 which I'm currently working on: It'll include a scene inspired by the rave party scene in Matrix:Reloaded

Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Rinoa was walking around a place she didn’t recognize. She wore a white long dress which made her look like an angel along with her white wings. She walked and walked… That place was hot and dry and looked totally deserted. There was nothing, but vast and endless desert. After walking for what seemed like hours she reached a cliff. She saw someone standing there. It was her; it was that woman she kept seeing all this time. She was wearing a long black dress just like hers, her grey and now tremendously long hair being blown by the wind... She stood there as if watching closely down at something. Rinoa thought she’d run away, but she didn’t have anywhere to go. So she thought she might as well approach her. She kept getting closer, but the other woman didn’t even seem to notice her. Rinoa changed her mind and thought it was a bad idea to disturb her. She turned and tried to leave, when she heard her speak:

-“Hello Rinoa.” said the other woman still keeping her eyes fixed on what she was glaring down at. “Leaving so soon? We didn’t even get a chance to talk yet…” Rinoa froze. She swallowed and turned to answer to the woman, trembling.
-“Talk?” she asked “Why would I want to talk to you? Whenever I do that, terrible things happen to me…”
-“You think it’s all my fault don’t you?” said the woman smiling.
-“I KNOW it is…” Rinoa said firmly.
-“Well then, you should know that by accusing me, you’re accusing yourself at the same time…”
-“What are you talking about?” asked Rinoa confused and angry.
-“Shh…” said the woman putting her index finger in front of her lips, telling this way Rinoa to be quiet. “… it’s starting… Come…” she said extending her hand towards Rinoa.

Rinoa didn’t take it, but she approached the woman. The latter pointed her finger down in a valley, visible from the cliff. Rinoa looked down and saw a flower field. But not just ANY flower field… It was the one in which she and Squall had promised.

-“What are you trying to tell me?” asked Rinoa.
-“Just keep watching…” said the woman.
-“Keep watching what? There’s noth…” began Rinoa, but didn’t finish.

She saw in the -up to now empty- field two young people running. They were being chased by soldiers. Rinoa looked closely and recognized those two people as herself and Squall. They were running away from Galbadian soldiers, but why? Then she saw Squall stop running and herself stopping, too. She then heard Squall speak:

-“Rinoa go! Run away, I’ll stall them! GO!”
-“I’m not leaving you!” she heard herself reply.
-“You HAVE TO! Just GO!”
-“NO!” Rinoa insisted.

That moment Squall turned his head to look at the soldiers getting dangerously close and then turned back to look at Rinoa. “I’m sorry…” he said and pushed her as hard as he could, throwing her to the ground. He then ran to the soldiers taking out his gun blade…

........................................ .................

-“Rinoa? Rinoa, wake up…” she heard Squall say.
-“Wha… no! Don’t wake me up dammit!” she yelled when she realized Squall had waken her up.
-“Uhh… We have to get ready to go…” said Squall puzzled.
-“Dammit, DAMMIT! I NEED to find out what happened!” she shouted.
-“Rinoa what are you talking about?”
-“Uhhh!!!!” groaned Rinoa getting up from bed, pushing Squall aside.

She walked to the bathroom and banged the door shut. Squall was left there looking confused. He’d never seen her like this before…He heard water running from the tap. After a couple of minutes it stopped. Rinoa opened the door just then. She looked calmer.

-“I’m sorry about that…” she said walking to him and hugging him “I really think I’m starting to lose it…”
-“It’s OK, I didn’t get mad or anything…” Squall replied putting his arms around her, still puzzled. “What were you talking about before?” he asked.
-“Oh, nothing… Can we please just leave?”
-“Sure… Our stuff’s already packed and ready, I left you out some clothes to wear.”
-“You’re an angel…”
-“No, I just happened to wake up earlier than you did…” Squall said.
-“Let’s just get ready and go see Laguna…” she said looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

........................................ ....

-“Come in…” said Laguna when he heard a knock on his office door. It was Squall and Rinoa. “Oh, it’s you guys.” he said smiling “Good morning, how’re you feeling today?”
-“Good… Rested…” answered Squall.
-“When are you leaving?” asked Laguna.
-“In about half an hour. We came to say goodbye.” said Rinoa.
-“Lemme just call my driver. He’ll get you to the airport. It takes almost twenty minutes to get there…” Laguna said once again pushing the button on his intercom. “Asako? Call Linus and tell him to be outside the Palace in ten minutes. He’ll be escorting our guests to the airport.”
-“Certainly Mr. Loire” answered the familiar female voice.
-“He’ll be here in time to drive you to the airport…” Laguna said.
-“Thanks… Any news from the Garden?” asked Squall.
-“No, but we’ve got some news on the Galbadia issue. We got response from eleven cities, interested in our offer. They haven’t agreed yet though, they wanted to find out more first. And as you suspected Rinoa, most of them are rural regions without important -or any- industrial monetary resources.” said Laguna.
-“Really? That’s great!” said Rinoa.
-“It most certainly is… We got off on a good start. We shouldn’t get too excited though. We’ll have to wait for confirmation.”
-“Has the headmaster in the Garden been informed about this?” asked Squall.
-“I was just talking to him a minute before you walked in. He’s really satisfied Squall…” said Laguna. There was a buzz then from the intercom. Laguna pressed the button and out came his secretary’s voice.
-“You driver is here Mr. Loire.”
-“Already?! I asked him to come in ten minutes… Anyway, have someone pick up our guests’ luggage and transfer it to the car. Tell Linus we’ll be there shortly. I’ll take them outside myself.” said Laguna. “Well, driver’s here… Let’s go.”

They walked out of Laguna’s office and walked all the way to the Palace entrance. Once outside, they found their driver waiting for them, with all their luggage loaded in the trunk.

-“Goodbye Laguna, I hope we’ll see you again soon…” said Rinoa hugging him.
-“Make sure you take good care of her, Squall…” said Laguna still holding Rinoa. “And you Rinoa, take care of him… You both need each other… You deserve to be together, you hear me?” continued Laguna letting go of Rinoa. She and Squall looked at each other. Laguna pushed her gently towards Squall. He then took both their hands and united them. “You two have something great going on… You love each other… Anyone could see it, it’s written all over your eyes. Never let anything come between you. Never. Love is the most important thing you’ll ever have in your lives. Don’t let it slip away… Don’t let it slip away at all costs… I had to learn this the hard way. You two shouldn’t…” Rinoa’s eyes glistened and a tear ran down her face. “Now get the hell outta here, before we all get too mushy…” said Laguna giving them all a good laugh. Squall helped Rinoa get inside the car and then turned to look at Laguna.
-“Well… Goodbye then Laguna…” said Squall.
-“Goodbye Squall… Take care… We’ll meet again soon.”
-“Yeah… For the Galbadia issue and all…” replied Squall. Silence. Both of them stood there, no-one speaking. “Uh… I, I had a good time here. Thanks.” said Squall then.
-“You’re welcome… I had a good time too.”
-“Well… Goodbye...” said Squall extending his arm.
-“Goodbye…” said Laguna shaking Squall’s hand.

Squall got into the car and when he closed the door, Laguna gave the roof a small hit and the car drove away. Laguna took a moment watching them as they disappeared from the horizon, then got back inside the Palace. In the car, Squall was thinking that his father wasn’t a complete idiot after all…

Chapter 8

The aircraft touched Balamb grounds after an hour and a half. Squall and Rinoa found themselves back in Garden at 1 o’clock in the evening. They found the headmaster and their friends gathered outside the Garden entrance. They were both welcomed like heroes. Cid exchanged handshakes with both of them and congratulated them on their good work. Selphie was shouting ‘Woo-hoo!’, Quistis was just smiling, serious and Zell with Irvine raised Squall on their shoulders making him yell to them to put him down.

When the excitement had settled down Rinoa and Squall got a chance to go to their dorm and get some rest. Not for long though. All their friends thought this was too much of a success to let it just pass by and they insisted on going out to celebrate it. So they stormed Squall and Rinoa’s dorm to inform them about their plans.

-“C’mon guys!” said Zell to a very pissed off Squall, due to the fact that he and Rinoa had just been woken up “We even got permission from Cid! He’s willing to give us two cars. Looky here!” said Zell swinging two pairs of keys in front of Squall’s face.
-“We’re tired!” said Squall grabbing the keys to make Zell stop swinging them.
-“I’m not…” said Rinoa right behind Squall making him give her an evil glare.
-“Lighten up a bit, will ya? When was the last time we all had a good time?” asked Irvine.
-“Yeah Squall! This is a perfect opportunity. Pweeease?” said Selphie giving him a cute expression.
-“Quistis?” said Squall looking at her, knowing that she always was the serious and withheld type.
-“Well, I agree with you that we should wait for the meeting with Galbadia to get confirmation in order to go around partying…” she said.
-“Thank you Quistis.” said Squall and tried to say something else, but Quistis interrupted him.
-“… BUT… It has been a long time since we had some fun, Irvine is right. So, I say we get the hell outta here and go get ourselves drunk out of our minds like normal teenagers and well.. -in most of our cases- adults…” she said. Everyone turned their heads to look at her with eyes wide open.
-“WHO are you and WHAT have you done with Quistis?” asked Irvine.
-“Oh, shut up…” said Quistis laughing.
-“So we’re all in, right?” asked Zell looking at Squall.
-“Yeah, I guess so.” said Squall.
-“Say… d’you guys mind if I ask Shizuka to come along? (NOTE: Shizuka is the library girl’s name) asked Zell. “I think she’s got time off right about now…”
-“Oh no you don’t!” said Quistis “You’ll be all paired up then! Squall with Rinoa, Irvine with Selphie, you with Shizuka. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
-“You could always ask Seifer to join us…” said Selphie mischievously. (NOTE: Quifer theory all the way baby! :) )
-“What?!” asked Quistis embarrassed.
-“Quistis has been Seifer’s personal instructor ever since she’s gotten her license back y’know…” Selphie continued. Quistis had started to go red while everyone was looking at her smiling. “She’s been giving him all private lessons…”
-“How do you know Selphie?” asked Zell looking at Quistis at the same time.
-“I found out from Kimiko Hasegawa, one of the girls who’s taking the SeeD exam this year. She’s at Quistis’ class. She says she keeps seeing them together in the Training Center, they get along now pretty well… She also said that Seifer’s been getting all sorts of threats from the Trepe groupies…”
-“Enough!” shouted Quistis now burning red. ‘Wait till the written exam. Then I’ll flunk that little b***h for talking…’ thought Quistis.
-“OK, I guess I won’t call Shizuka then…” said Zell laughing, while getting a glance from Quistis that could have burned a hole in his forehead. “Just us six then…”
-“Give us ten minutes to get dressed…” said Squall.
-“YOU need ten minutes. What about me? I’ve got to get my hair right, put my make-up on… Make it twenty.” said Rinoa butting in.
-“Fine, twenty…” said Squall. Everyone tried to hide their laughter choking, a fact that Squall noticed. “What’s so goddamn funny?” he asked.
-“Oh, nothing…” said Selphie giggling “Just… *Hmph* !”
-“WHAT?” asked Squall furious.
-“ *Whooh-chsss* …” said Zell imitating the sound of a whip hitting the air.
-“She ‘s got you whipped alright…” chuckled Irvine.
-“OUT! ALL OF YOU!” yelled Squall banging the door behind them as they all ran out.
-“We’ll be in the parking lot!” Squall heard Zell say.

Squall turned around to look at Rinoa who was giggling as well. When she saw Squall’s face though, she stopped.

-“So, you think you got me whipped?” asked Squall with an eyebrow raised.
-“Oh, no sweetheart I don’t…” said Rinoa giving him a cute smile.
-“Sweetheart? I’ll show you who’s sweet…” he said grabbing her from the arms and giving her a ‘violent’ kiss.
-“Ooh… Now THAT’S my man…” said Rinoa seductively.
-“Get dressed.” said Squall feeling he’d gotten his dignity back…

........................................ ......

Squall and Rinoa got to the parking lot after about a quarter of an hour. Irvine and Zell thought they could go on a bit more with the whipping joke, but knowing Squall and the fact that he was capable of leaving and refusing to come back, they thought they’d give it a rest. Irvine, Squall and Rinoa got into one car and all the others into another. Squall and Selphie got to drive.

-“By the way, where are we going?” Squall asked Irvine while inserting the key to the ignition.
-“We’re going to this new all day pub in Balamb. They’ve got all these different kinds of beer. Just drive to Balamb and then I’ll tell you were to stop. Ah, there, follow Selphie.” said Irvine pointing at the car Selphie and the others were in. “Ah, that’s life…” said Irvine burying himself in the back seat and putting his arm around Rinoa.
-“I saw that…” said Squall while driving.
-“As if you’re afraid I might ‘steal’ her…” said Irvine laughing.
-“Oh I trust you… It’s her I don’t trust…” said Squall jokingly.
-“What?!” yelled Rinoa while Irvine chuckled. “WHEN did I give you the right to even CONSIDER that?” she asked.
-“Calm down… Can’t you tell he’s messin’ with you?” Irvine said still laughing.

Rinoa crossed her arms, sitting a bit away from Irvine. She didn’t say a word in the car until they got to the pub. Squall and Selphie parked the cars and all six of them got outside. The bar’s label read : ‘The drunken mug’ .

-“Oh boy, will WE get s**tfaced to-nite!” said Irvine.
-“It’s AFTERNOON Irvine…” said Quistis.
-“Yeah, I know… But what would I say? ‘Will we get s**tfaced this afternoon?’ It just didn’t fit” said Irvine.
-“You’re unbelievable…” laughed Quistis.

Squall noticed that Rinoa was still not speaking and looked all serious. He got close to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

-“S’up?” he asked her.
-“I’m not talking to you…” said Rinoa pushing his arm off her shoulder.
-“Don’t tell me you’re mad… Come here…” he said
-“Lemme go…” she whined.
-“You know you don’t want me to…” he said cupping her face with his hands kissing her. Just when they started to deepen their kiss they heard Irvine yelling, telling them to ‘get a room’, so they broke apart and walked inside the pub with the others.

........................................ .....

-“I never did!” yelled Zell.
-“Oh, come on! At least twenty people were in front!” said Quistis. She was telling everyone the story about how Zell lost control of his T-Board once and found himself bumping into the girls’ restroom. “You should have heard their screams!”
-“I’m telling you, it’s a lie! I just happened to bump on the DOOR, not INSIDE!” said Zell.
-“Then how’d you meet Shizuka?” asked Quistis. Zell remained silent. “’Cause I’ve been told, that’s when you first noticed her. And then you started going to the library, and she noticed you too…and then after the party for Ultimecia’s defeat you started dating…”
-“We’re not dating…” Zell said.
-“I thought you did, too.” said Selphie. “What’s the matter, you don’t like her? Doesn’t she like you?”
-“Of course I do! And I think she does too.”
-“Then why aren’t you dating?” asked Quistis.
-“We just… want to get to know each other first…” said Zell.
-“Dude, chicks like confident guys. Just stick her into a corner and show her who’s the man!” said Irvine.
-“IRVINE!” said Selphie punching him in the stomach.
-“OW! I was only kidding… Gee, you knocked the air outta me…” said Irvine. “But I mean what I said before about confident guys. Talk to her, show her your feelings. Be yourself above all…”
-“That’s better…” Selphie said resting her head on his chest. “That’s how he got me you know…” Irvine smiled and kissed her forehead.
-“Ooh… Squall must be REALLY drunk…” said Zell looking towards Squall and Rinoa.
-“What makes you… Oh… Yep, he’s wasted alright…” agreed Quistis looking at them too.
-“Why? He looks fine to me…” said Irvine.
-“Look at him! He’s practically sucking her!” said Zell pointing towards him. He was right… Squall was kissing Rinoa so deeply, she seemed to be out of breath.
-“And this is wrong because…?” said Irvine.
-“First of all I didn’t say it’s wrong. Second, how many times have you seen Squall act like this in public?” asked Zell.
-“Good point…” I think it’s time we took off, what d’ya think?” said Irvine “Check please!” he called, taking one last gulp from his beer.


Once outside Squall had put his arm around Rinoa’s neck, resting half his body onto her, who didn’t seem like she could hold much longer.

-“How much did he drink anyway?” asked Selphie.
-“I dunno… Four, maybe *Ungh* five beers…” answered Rinoa trying to hold up Squall.
-“Well that’s not too much…” said Zell.
-“It’s enough for a person who doesn’t usually drink.” said Quistis.
-“Here Rinoa, lemme help you, you can’t hold him all by yourself” said Irvine putting Squall’s other arm around his neck.
-“I’m fine yuz guyz, I kin wok…” mumbled Squall and stepped forward letting go of Irvine and Rinoa. But before he could take three steps, he tripped and fell to the ground.
-“Wow… I never thought I’d actually live to see this…” said Zell in awe.
-“Baby?” said Rinoa kneeling down next to Squall “Gimme your arm will ya? That’s it *Ungh* up we go… Irvine, a little help?”

Irvine and Rinoa got Squall into the back of the car. Rinoa sat there next to him and Irvine drove. Rinoa had Squall lie down and put his head on her lap, stroking his hair.

-“Rinoa?” he said at some point.
-“What is it Squall?” she asked.
-“I love you…”
-“I know baby… I love you, too…”
-“I don’t wanna loose you…”
-“Why would you loose me?”
-“Even… Even if we get a war, I’ll protect you… I’ll be your knight… Like Seifer and Edea…”
-“Squall, what are you…”
-“And don’t worry, no-one will hurt you… I won’t let them…”
-“Is that why you drank today?”
-“I just wanted… to get things off my head… Everyone’s waiting… stuff from me… I can’t fail them… I can’t fail you…”
-“Shh… Don’t speak… Just rest… We’ll talk about this tomorrow, when you’ll be feeling better.”

........................................ ...........

It was already dark when they got back to the Garden. It was almost 9:15. They drove to the Parking Lot and then got outside. All of the facilities were closed except for the Training center, just like they always did at nights. They had to be careful not to be seen by the faculty, or they could all get in big trouble. If anyone saw Squall drunk it would be a disaster, because the commander was supposed to give out an example to everyone. Irvine and Zell put his arms around their necks and carried him. They sent Quistis talk to the faculty guard paroling the area between the Parking Lot and the dorms so that they could make a run for it –as much as any person could run while carrying someone-.

-“Take off your shoes.” said Quistis before leaving to talk to the faculty guard.
-“Why the hell would we do that?” asked Zell.
-“I don’t think he wouldn’t hear a bunch of people running in the corridors Zell!” she replied.
-“Take Squall’s off too. We don’t want them scratching the floor, making noise. You girls take out yours too and carry everyone’s. Y’all ready? I’m going…” said Quistis. “WAIT for my signal…”

Quistis pretended to wander off the Parking Lot, as if nothing was happening. The guard noticed her and approached her.

-“Instructor Trepe?” he asked. “What are you doing out here at this time?”
-“I was out in a mission all day! Am I exhausted… Oh, are ALL the facilities closed?” asked Quistis in a mincing manner, turning over to look down at the library.
-“I’m afraid so… You know the rules… All the facilities close down at 9 o’clock sharp…” said the guard turning to look there, too.
-“Surely… we COULD make an exception…” said Quistis seductively, extending her arm backwards and signaling the others. “After all I AM an instructor…”
-“But miss Trepe…” said the guard. The others starting to run behind his and Quistis’ backs towards the dorms.
-“Quistis. Please call me Quistis…”
-“O… OK… But Quistis…”
-“Please? Just this once?” she said smiling at him “For me?” she added widening up her beautiful blue eyes, looking at the guard innocently.
-“Wh… what did you want to get? Something from the library?” said the guard looking at her with lust. Meanwhile, the others were almost there.
-“Aren’t you the smart one… How did you guess?” said Quistis, carefully taking a quick glance to check where the others were.
-“I saw you looking down at the library before…”
-“I see. If I ask the guard, will he open up for me?”
-“Hmm.. He doesn’t seem to be there…”
-“Could you open up?”
-“Oh, Quistis you’ll get me in trouble…” he said. Quistis carefully looked backwards once more and saw that the others had safely gone to the dorms.
-“Oh, all right then… Wouldn’t want to get you into trouble…”
-“Thank you! But if there’s anything I could do for you some other time… ANYTHING… All you have to do is ask…”
-“I’ll keep it in mind… Goodnight…” she said.
-“Goodnight Quistis…” said the guard.

The guard didn’t take his eyes off Quistis until she disappeared from sight. ‘I KNEW she wanted me! I could just see it in her face, ever since I got here… Oh, Quistis…’ thought the guard. She walked to the dorms to find the others. They were outside Squall and Rinoa’s dorm, waiting for her..

-“Good job!” said Rinoa. “What were you telling him anyway?”
-“I don’t want to talk about it… Eww…” said Quistis disgusted.
-“Don’t tell me you… Ew! Icky!” yelled Selphie.
-“Shush! Be quiet! You’ll wake everyone up!” said Zell. “I guess we should get to our dorms. You OK there Rinoa?”
-“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll just put him to sleep.” she replied.

They all said goodnight and returned to their dorms. Rinoa dragged Squall to the bed and helped him lie down. She took off his clothes and covered him up with the blanket. She went to the bathroom to wash up, got undressed and by the time she got back to the bedroom Squall was deeply asleep. She tried to lie down carefully, but tripped and fell heavily on the bed. Squall didn’t even budge though, he just went on sleeping like a log. Rinoa gave out a sigh of relief and then lied down, too. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and then drifted to sleep herself.

........................................ .......

Quistis walked to her dorm room, but was surprised to find someone waiting for her outside the door; it was Seifer.

-“Seifer? What are you doing here?” she asked.
-“Where were you?” he asked back.
-“I thought I asked you a question.”
-“I thought I did, too… Isn’t it among the duties of an instructor to provide answers to her students’ questions?”
-“Cute one Seifer… Now, what are you doing here?”
-“Where were you?”
-“Wherever I wanted to be! What does it matter to YOU?”
-“Tomorrow is my field exam. Don’t you think my instructor should be here training me?”
-“We hadn’t scheduled anything. Besides, you don’t need anymore training, you’re ready…”
-“You’re just saying that, because you know that’s what I want to hear…”
-“Probably…”
-“Instructor… You know me too well…” he said getting close to her. Quistis stepped back a bit and stuck her back to the door. “What’s the matter Instructor? Are you.. afraid of me?” asked Seifer.
-“Afraid of YOU? Ha!” said Quistis “You’d better watch your attitude Seifer… after all you ARE my student…”
-“You’re right, I am…” he said leaning in towards her. He only stopped when his head was merely an inch away from hers. “… and you have NO idea how much I LOVE learning from you…” he said in his deep –and quite frankly, incredibly sexy- voice. Quistis was breathing heavily, so was Seifer. Then he just backed away abruptly. “Goodnight Instructor… I’ll see you tomorrow morning before my field exam.”

Quistis didn’t get a chance to answer. Seifer just ran out from sight in seconds. Quistis stood there for a moment, resting her back on the door, then sighed and walked inside her room.

I didn't read your story but thanks for the cameo in chapter 7. =D

Hehe I hope you didn't mind. I was looking for a name somewhere along the lines of 'Tidus' and yours came in mind. How did you notice it anyway? Did someone tell you? BTW if you're not bored or anything check out my story and gimme your opinion. If you don't wanna, it's OK.

I started writing Chapter 9, but all the stuff I wanted to include would have made it way too big, so I had to split it. The scene I talked about in a previous post will appear on Chapter 10. I'll post 9 now, 10 will be up in a couple of days tops.

Chapter 9

Morning light hit Rinoa’s eyes making her wake up. She looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw it was still 7 o’ clock. She turned to look at Squall who was still sleeping deeply. Rinoa was hungry, so she thought she’d get up and go get something to eat. She took a shower, then got dressed and headed outside. The corridors were almost empty. The only ones outside where the students taking the SeeD field exam. Just outside the cafeteria Rinoa bumped into Seifer.

-“Oh, uh… Hi Seifer.” she said.
-“Hi.”
-“Um, good luck with the field exam today.”
-“Thanks.” said Seifer, leaving.

They both felt awkward near each other even now. There were of course no feelings left, but Seifer [b}had[/b] been the one who tried to give her to sorceress Adel as a sacrifice. He was excused though, having been hypnotized by the sorceress, but it still felt awkward. Rinoa walked inside the cafeteria. There were only a couple of students there in one table and Quistis was sitting alone in another one drinking some coffee. Rinoa ordered a toasted sandwich and some juice and went to sit next to Quistis.

-“Hey…” said Rinoa.
-“Hey yourself..” replied Quistis.
-“How come you’re up so early? The SeeD exam?”
-“Oh no, I’m not one of the instructors to go. I went last year. I just woke up early and thought I’d come to grab a bite…”
-“Same here… Where’s the exam taking place this year?”
-“Centra. There is a civil war going on between two tribes of the continent and we’re aiding one of them.”
-“I thought there were no wars after Ultimecia’s defeat…”
-“It’s not serious. Not a war really… More like a… conflict. It probably won’t be a difficult exam. Easier than last year’s, that’s for sure. Last year only four passed you know…”
-“Really?”
-“Yes. Squall, Zell, Selphie and Nida. We need more mercenaries this year, that’s why we’re making it a bit easier. Come to think of it, last year’s was probably one of the most difficult exams, so it’s safe to say that this year we’ve returned to normal levels.”
-“Which was the most difficult exam?”
-“Hmmm… From what I’ve heard it was back to the years of sorceress Adel. It was during the period where the people of Esthar were rebelling against her. The people along with our mercenaries and students fought to keep Adel’s army out of the Presidential Palace, while Laguna and his comrades trapped her inside a seal. What a year…” said Quistis.

Rinoa was called from the counter to pick up her breakfast which was ready. She got up, went to get her tray and then came back to the table and sat down again

-“You were saying?” said Rinoa.
-“We were just talking about the year of the rebellion against Adel and the SeeD exam.”
-“Right… So, is this the first year Seifer’s taking the exam?” Rinoa asked, taking a sip of juice.
-“Uh, no… How come you’re asking? Do… Do you still have feelings for him?” asked Quistis blushing.
-“Heavens, no! You know how much I love Squall! I just ran into him outside before getting here.”
-“Oh…”
-“Well?”
-“Well what?”
-“I asked you something…”
-“Oh, right… Well, Seifer always passed the written exam and he was always gifted in battle, but he’s got an attitude problem… You know what I’m talking about of course..”
-“Yeah, I know…”
-“But he’s getting a lot better… Maybe this year he’ll make it…”
-“Yeah. maybe… So, what was he doing here? Were you two sitting together?” asked Rinoa with a mischievous look.
-“He… he just came by to talk to me before the exam. Last minute advice, you know…” said Quistis turning red.
-“Oh, come on! You like him, I can tell from miles away!”
-“I do not!”
-“Quistis…”
-“I’m not ALLOWED to! He’s my student… I can’t get involved with my students…”
-“He may not be your student anymore as of today…” said Rinoa. Quistis didn’t speak. “You want some?” Rinoa asked while taking a bite from her sandwich and offering Quistis some.
-“No thanks, I just ate…”
-“Rinoa Heartily is asked to proceed to the headmaster’s office. I repeat: Rinoa Heartily is asked to proceed to the headmaster’s office.” came a voice from the intercom headphones.
-“Me? What would they want with me?” asked Rinoa puzzled
-“I dunno. You should go and find out.”
-“Aw, I haven’t eaten my sandwich yet…” whined Rinoa getting up.

She walked outside the cafeteria and to the elevator. She pressed the button to the 3rd floor, where Cid’s office was. Once there, she walked inside and went to knock on the headmaster’s office door.

-“Enter.” she heard the headmaster say. “Ah, Rinoa. I called you because we have a guest here waiting for you.”
-“Zone!” said Rinoa running towards a guy standing there and hugging him.
-“I’ll leave you two alone.” said Cid walking outside.

Zone was one of Rinoa’s old comrades in the organization ‘Forest owls’ back in Timber. They hadn’t seen each other ever since the escape from Timber after the failed operation to abduct Galbadia’s former president, Vinzer Deling. Zone stayed behind, in order to give his place to Quistis on the train they took to get to Galbadia Garden. The next time Squall and the others met up with Zone, Rinoa was in a coma and didn’t get the chance to see him and Watts, another comrade.

-“I can’t believe it’s really you!” said Rinoa.
-“How much has it been? A year?” asked Zone.
-“Almost, yes… How have you been?”
-“I’m doing fine. After managing to escape from Timber me and Watts found ourselves to Centra, in Edea’s SeeD ship. We saw your friend there, but they told us you were…”
-“In a coma. Yes, I know… So, where’s Watts?”
-“He’s back in Timber, in our headquarters. One of us had to stay behind.”
-“You’re still running the ‘Forest Owls’?”
-“No. After Timber’s liberation, we decide to form an organization to help those in need. You’re looking at one of the leaders of the ‘Liberation Eagles’! The other one is Watts!”
-“Well, that’s great! Have you got any members yet?”
-“Yeah, we got almost our entire ‘Owls’ team and a few more people.”
-“I’m so happy for you! Did you get any good operations yet?”
-“We’re rally new, so we haven’t gotten any operations yet, but now is our chance!”
-“Really?! What?”
-“We’re going to stop the Galbadian plans for world domination!” said Zone excitedly. “That’s what I came to tell you!”
-“Uh, Zone, haven’t you heard?” asked Rinoa “There’s already a plan for that issue and as we speak, our Garden representatives are negotiating with Galbadia. It’s almost certain they’ll accept and there won’t be a war.”
-“You’re not talking about that stupid plan they’ve just announced? What? Give them more power to stop them from going into war? Bring it on! We’re all gonna fight!”
-“Not everyone agrees with you Zone!”
-“But, we’ll ENSLAVE innocent people!”
-“They’re not being enslaved, they’re becoming subordinate to Galbadia!”
-“Two different words for the same situation. We’re just playing with words here! Look, I came here to take you with us. You need to leave this place, you were born a rebel Rinoa, you don’t fit in here with them.”
-“That’s not true! I’m happy here Zone!”
-“No, you’re not! I can tell you are unhappy! Come back with us!”
-“No Zone! I’ve got friends here! And I… I’ve got Squall. I’m one of them now.”
-“I see… You’ve become what we tried so hard to fight against! A government suck-up!”
-“Zone, that’s not true and you know it!”
-“Oh, I know… I know I’ve wasted my time with you… Goodbye Rinoa, we don’t need you… we can make it on our own…”
-“Zone, wait…”
-“Goodbye.” said Zone storming out of the room.

All I could say while reading this all together, is, "Whoah!!" :eek: I want more! I want MORE!

Here's Chapter 10. Sorry for the delay... technical problems... :D

A bit of a warning though. This chapter is kinda... graphic. I'd rate it a PG-13 at least for some scenes in the ending. Maybe even more. Anyway, if you're easily offended, just ignore those scenes. Read the last one though, as it's essential for the storyline. No indecent things there :)

Chapter 10

Rinoa walked back to her dorm and found Squall awake. He was lying down on the bed with a bag full of ice on his forehead. She went and sat down next to him on the bed.

-“How are you feeling today?” asked Rinoa stroking his hair.
-“My head hurts…” replied Squall taking the ice bag off his forehead.
-“Where did you get this?” said Rinoa pointing at the bag.
-“Zell came over to check on me and brought it from the cafeteria”.
-“Do you want me to go over to the infirmary to get you some aspirins?”
-“Nah, I’m feeling much better. What’s wrong with you?” he asked, seeing her a bit glum.
-“Oh, it’s nothing…”
-“Come on…” he said resting his head on her lap looking up at her “… tell me.”
-“Do you remember Zone?” she asked.
-“From ‘Timber Owls’? Yeah, I do.”
-“He came to visit me just a few minutes ago.”
-“Oh… What did he want?”
-“He’s formed a new organization and came here to ask me join them, they want to ruin Galbadia’s plans…”
-“And what did you tell him?” asked Squall getting up from her lap, standing on his elbows.
-“I told him we already had a plan and that I didn’t want to go with him. He said he didn’t believe me and that I belonged with them…”
-“Go on…”
-“I told him that I had friends here and… you and that I’m happy here, that I’m one of you guys…”
-“Do you really feel happy here?”
-“Yes. I really do.”
-“Good.” he said looking at her eyes and then kissing her. “I’ve got to report to the bridge now, OK?”
-“Sure, go…”
-“What are you gonna do?”
-“I’ll go find someone… Go…”
-“OK, bye.” he said giving her a light kiss and getting up.
-“Bye.”

........................................ ..............

The candidates who took part in the SeeD field exam returned back to the Garden. They were told to wait on the 2nd floor for the results. Inside the headmaster’s office, Squall and Quistis, as high-ranked SeeDs, waited along with the headmaster for the candidates who had passed. Quistis was really nervous. She was wondering whether Seifer had made it or not, but she didn’t dare ask Cid. She couldn’t show favor on any of her students, much less if that student was Seifer.

Then the door opened and a faculty guard came in. Behind him were the students that had passed. One by one they entered the office. Quistis waited eagerly as they got in. One, two… eight, nine… Seifer wasn’t among them, though. She felt disappointed.

-“And the last one…” said the guard. Quistis wished it would be him. “… Almasy, Seifer.”

Quistis widened her eyes in delight and let out a small smile, but immediately got serious again. Seifer walked inside after a minute or so looking as if he’d burst with pride.

-“What took you so long?” asked the guard angrily.
-“I always like to make an entrance…” he said walking to stand in row with the others.

Headmaster Cid began talking to them. Seifer wasn’t paying attention though. He was looking directly at Quistis waiting for her to notice. At some point she did and as soon as she turned her head to look at him, he winked at her. Quistis stopped paying attention for a moment; it was enough…

-“Instructor Trepe? Quistis?” asked Cid.
-“Uh, yes?!” she replied startled.
-“Will you please hand out these degrees to our newly appointed mercenaries?”
-“Of course.” she said taking five rolls of paper from Cid. Squall took the rest.

She started handing in the degrees, congratulating every one on them. Last, but not least was Seifer.

-“You did very well Mr. Almasy.” said Quistis looking serious. “Here’s your degree. Congratulations.”
-“Couldn’t have done it without you Instructor…” he replied winking at her again.

Squall and Quistis walked back to stand on each of Cid’s sides. Then Cid walked down to each candidate to congratulate him/her personally, while giving everyone a different comment on their performance. When he was done, he spoke out loud:

-“I have an announcement to make to all of you. We just received word from our committee in Galbadia. They accepted our proposition and there won’t be a war!” said Cid excitedly. Everyone cheered and clapped. “So, tonight’s SeeD party will be somewhat special. It will be a party for the entire Garden, so everyone’s invited!” More cheers followed that last sentence. “Dismissed.” he said and everyone, but Squall and Quistis left.
-“Why didn’t you tell us before headmaster?!” asked Quistis.
-“I wanted it to be a surprise. I’ll announce it to everyone through the intercom in a bit. Tonight we’ll have the greatest party this Garden has ever seen!”

........................................ ..................

The Garden ballroom was decorated beautifully. There were many tables gathered around in the corners, to make more room for the dance floor. Next to the all tables there was a one with all sorts of drinks and beverages and behind it, a bartender. On the other side of the ballroom, there was a disc jockey table.

Everyone was there. All the students, the instructors, the headmaster with his wife Edea… Squall and Rinoa came together. Squall was wearing a black suit and a white shirt. Rinoa was wearing a black midi dress with straps that tied on the neck and black high heeled slippers. Irvine and Selphie who had come back from Galbadia that noon, showed up dressed in matching trendy outfits. Selphie wore a pair of really tight black leather pants, a tiny red strapless top, boots and she had done her hair all messy. Irvine wore a red shirt and a pair of black pants. Zell and Quistis came together, although Zell was waiting for Shizuka. Zell black pants also, but wore a blue shirt on top. He had done his hair spikier than usual giving his -otherwise serious- look a funky touch.

Quistis was without a doubt the most stunning woman in the room. She was wearing a long, black, maxi dress with straps making an ‘X’ on the back. The dress showed her entire back, went all the way down to her waist and had a rent from one side which went up to the middle of her thigh. She wore black high heeled sandals, had her hair up in a ponytail and let down a single long lock, which reached up to her chin. She didn’t wear much make-up, but had put flaming red lipstick on. When she and Zell entered the ballroom everyone turned around to look at her. She was truly beautiful. Irvine stared at her in a way which made Selphie give him once again a punch in the stomach and when he got his breath back, he looked at Selphie lovingly and gave her a kiss.

All the SeeDs that had passed the exam that day were there of course, as well as all of the students. Only one of them was missing; Seifer. Quistis looked around to find him the moment she got there, but couldn’t find him. Then she thought that it wasn’t really his style to show up at a dance like that, but he had to, right? They all went to sit down at first and get some drinks.

-“SOMEONE’S gonna get really lucky tonight…” said Irvine looking at Quistis from the corner of his eye.
-“Who could you be talking about Irvine?” asked Rinoa playing along.
-“Well, I dunno… It seems like there’s a lady in here today who got herself all gorgeous for that certain someone…”
-“Oh, now I wonder who could THAT be…” said Zell. Quistis wasn’t speaking, not even blushing. She seemed to be thinking about something.
-“Don’t worry Quistis, he’ll come…” said Selphie.
-“What? Who?” asked Quistis innocently.
-“The guy you got all dressed up for…”
-“I didn’t get dressed up for anyone!” she insisted.
-“Say, Selphie…” said Irvine pointing with his head towards the dance floor meaningfully “Why don’t we get up and dance?”
-“Not yet…” said Selphie.
-“Please?” he said now pinching her.
-“Oh! Oh! Yeah, let’s!” said Selphie getting up.
-“Squall, Rinoa are you coming?” asked Irvine.
-“Yeah, sure!” said Rinoa looking at the dance floor and grabbing Squall’s hand, while getting up. “Come on Squall!”
-“Wanna dance too Zell?” asked Quistis.
-“Sur… “he tried to say, but he saw Selphie looking at him, with the look of a murderer “..e, I can’t. I… I’ve got to go get Shizuka.”
-“But… I thought she told you to go by her dorm in…” Quistis said looking at her watch “… half an hour.”
-“He wants to surprise her!” said Selphie butting in. “Go now Zell!” she said dragging him up his chair.
-“Hey, wait! What am I…” said Quistis “…Great, I’ll spend the night all alone in this table drinking…”

Quistis looked at the dance floor and saw all her friends as well as everyone else dancing. It was a really great party and everyone was so excited… Everyone but her… Then she saw someone walking around the ballroom. He was tall, blonde and was wearing a SeeD uniform. “Seifer…” said Quistis out loud. He looked around a bit and then saw Irvine nodding at him towards their table. He looked over there and saw her. Their eyes met and Seifer smiled. He walked towards the table ignoring all the people he had to knock over to get through. Quistis tried to look casual and looked around nervously. The others almost cracked their necks trying to look at Seifer going all the way down to their table.

-“ *Ahem*” he cleared his throat, making Quistis look up.
-“Oh, hello Seifer…” she said.

........................................ .................

All the others except from Zell who had gotten over to get Shizuka, were dancing. Selphie had her arms around Irvine’s neck, while he held her tightly from the waist. Rinoa had her head on Squall’s chest, one arm on his shoulder and the other one holding his hand. Squall had his other hand in her waist.

-“Say…” said Squall to Rinoa. “Do you want to get out of this place?”
-“Go where?” she asked.
-“The dorms will be empty now… Everyone is already here…”
-“So, what will we do if we go to the dorms?” asked Rinoa meaningfully.
-“We’ll see…” he said holding her chin and kissing her.
-“Let’s go.”
-“Guys, we’re going for a walk.” said Squall to Irvine and Selphie.
-“Have fun…” said Irvine.

........................................ ....................

-“So, what do you think Instructor?” asked Seifer making a turn around himself “Does the uniform look good on me?”
-“I thought I’d never live to see the day you’d become a SeeD Seifer…”
-“Aw, this is hurting my feelings you know…”
-“I was only kidding… You look good.”
-“Good? That’s it? I’m sure your vocabulary is a lot richer Instructor. What happened to handsome, stunning, great, unbelievable…?”
-“ *laughter* Would you like to sit down?”
-“No, I’d rather dance…”
-“Oh, OK then. See you…”
-“… with you.” he said surprising her. “I won’t take ‘No’ for an answer, so don’t bother answering.” he said taking her hand and pulling her up.

Before she even got a chance to speak she found herself being dragged to the dance floor. Seifer held her from the waist with one hand, pulling her as tightly on his body as possible. With the other hand, he held hers. Quistis rested her other arm on his shoulder. Then he led her into the dance, not taking his eyes off hers for a second. He kept his face so close to Quistis’ that their noses were almost touching. They made a great couple. Both of them had stunning features and intense personalities.

-“Everyone’s looking you know…” said Quistis. Seifer looked around and saw she was right.
- “Let them look…” he said “I think they’re admiring us… We make a good couple…” he added making Quistis blush.
-“So, I didn’t get a chance to ask you… How was the test?” she asked.
-“Oh, come on instructor… You can do a lot better… Is that the best thing you could come up with?”
-“Come up with?” she said stopping the dance.
-“You needed to change the subject… Anything to keep us from talking about our relationship…”
-“Yes, Instructor-Student. What about it?” she asked crossing her arms.
-“First of all, I’m not your student anymore. Second, I was thinking of something more along the lines of Man-Woman…”
-“What is there to talk about?”
-“Come on Quistis. You want me, I want you. What else is there to talk about?”
-“That’s Instructor Trepe to YOU. I’m still your superior. And you shouldn’t be so confident about yourself. It makes you look WAY too conceited…” said Quistis walking away.

She walked quickly across the ballroom, going towards the door. Seifer stood there thinking for a moment, then ran after her. Selphie and Irvine looked at them as they sprinted by them.

-“Uh-oh…” said Selphie.
-“This doesn’t look good…” added Irvine.

........................................ ..............

Rinoa walked inside the dorm while Squall closed and locked the door. He stood with his back on the door, looking at her.

-“Pity they don’t have one of those ‘Do not disturb’ signs…” said Squall.
-“I don’t think we’d need it anyway…” she answered walking towards him.

She put her arms around his neck and he put hers around her waist. They started kissing and went on for a long time. Squall ran his hands all over her body while moving his lips down on her neck. She started unbuttoning his shirt and he untied the straps of her dress, then put his hands on her back and unzipped it. He took off his shoes using his heels, then grabbed the straps and started pulling down the dress. Rinoa had already unbuttoned his shirt and was now removing it from him. She kissed him on the chest and then backed away a bit to let him pull the dress down. She undid his belt and unzipped his pants, then let him pull them down. She took his arms and led him to the bed, walking backwards. She sat on the bed, extending her leg towards him. He took it and removed her slipper. He did the same with the other leg. Rinoa moved backwards to the bed, making room for Squall. He lied down onto her, kissing her entire body. Slowly, he removed her underwear and so did she. They could still hear the music coming from the ballroom. The song was fast, passionate and they let it lead them to a trance, until reaching their own kind of sweet ecstasy…

........................................ .....

Quistis ran out to the corridor, Seifer running just behind her. As she ran, she met up with Zell and Shizuka who were just going to the ball. Zell tried to talk to her, but she ran away leaving him puzzled. Just then, he saw Seifer running behind her not even bothering to look at them. Zell looked at Shizuka confused as if asking what was going on, but Shizuka just shrugged. Quistis’ high heels prevented her from running fast, so Seifer gained on her soon.

-“Where do you think you’re going? We were talking!” said Seifer grabbing her arm.
-“YOU were talking.” she said shaking her arm “Let go! You’re hurting me!”
-“I won’t let you go until we get a few things clear…” he said pushing her back against a wall.
-“There’s nothing to talk about! I don’t like conceited apes who think they’re someone, just because they attend a military school and BADLY if I may add…”
-“I’ll take that as a compliment…” said Seifer smiling. Quistis kept trying to get free, but Seifer was holding her really tightly.
-“ *Ungh* You make me SO mad…”
-“And that’s why you like me… You like bad boys…”
-“No I don’t!”
-“Ever since we were kids back at that orphanage, you always tried to boss everyone around, but most of all me… I think that shows a lot, don’t you agree?”
-“That’s it! I’m not listening to another WORD you have to say!”
-“That’s OK, I don’t need words for what I want to express …”

And with that, he grabbed her face with both hands and gave her the most ‘violent’, but passionate kiss she’d even imagine one could give her. She grabbed the shirt of his SeeD uniform, pulling him closer, while he held her waist tightly. They went on and on, not even caring what was happening around them…

........................................ .............

The dancing inside the ballroom was getting intense. The music was fast and loud, the room was dark and everyone were having the time of their lives. Irvine and Selphie were rubbing on each other, engaging into some sort of ‘dirty dancing’. Zell and Shizuka had finally worked things out and were kissing deeply while dancing. Everything was going on great and the students were all having a blast. Suddenly, the lights came on and the music stopped. Everyone stopped dancing (and stopped doing whatever they were doing in general) and looked around puzzled.

-“Sorry to interrupt everyone.” said headmaster Cid standing next to the disc jockey. “Can I have your attention please?” he continued. Everyone turned around to look at him and remained silent. “Thank you.” The look on his face was practically screaming ‘Problem’. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news…”

........................................ ........................

Quistis and Seifer kept on kissing until Quistis heard someone call for her. They broke apart, straightened their clothes and waited for that person to appear. It was Zell, looking more serious and upset than ever.

-“Um… Sorry to interrupt…” said Zell giving Seifer an evil glare. Zell wanted Quistis to be happy, but he still didn’t like Seifer.
-“You’re not interrupting anything…” said Quistis.
-“What do you want?” asked Seifer angrily.
-“Seifer, this really isn’t your color. You should go with something more… pastel, perhaps?” said Zell pointing at Seifer’s now burning red lips from Quistis’ lipstick. Seifer widened his eyes and quickly wiped his mouth, while Quistis got burning red on the face. “Anyway, I’m not here to go on with mine and Seifer’s personal vendetta… We’ve got a problem. A big one.”
-“What is it?” asked Quistis worried.
-“The headmaster suddenly ordered the music to stop and made the announcement to everyone. He sent me to look for you and Squall.” said Zell.
-“Will you tell us already?!” asked Seifer angrily. Zell looked seriously at both of them, sighed, then spoke.
-“Galbadia has declared war.”

Chapter 11

- “What?” asked Quistis faintly.
- “That’s insane…” said Seifer.
- “I thought so myself when I heard it, but I’m afraid it’s true.” said Zell.
- “W…what happened?” asked Quistis. “Hadn’t they accepted our terms?”
- “They had, but it appears there was an attack. Not from their side. It was a rebel group from Timber. About thirty people. They went straight for the City Hall to get the President. They were all shot after captured…” said Zell.
- “Thirty? You expect us to believe that just thirty of them dared to walk right into the wolf’s mouth and kidnap the President?” asked Seifer.
- “I’m just transferring to you what the head master told us all…” said Zell giving Seifer a cold look.
- “But… shouldn’t that be classified as an independent action?” asked Quistis.
- “Under any other circumstances, yes. But the Galbadian government stated that they consider this part of our plan and that the negotiations were merely a set up.” replied Zell.
- “Bull:bou::bou::bou::bou:! They expect us to believe that? Even if there was such a plan, surely they don’t think we would send a bunch of useless lowlifes in there? It’s just an excuse!” said Seifer enraged.
- “No :bou::bou::bou::bou: Sherlock…” said Zell looking at him with an expression full of irony.

Seifer didn’t need any more incentives to pick a fight. He grabbed Zell from the shirt and stuck him up against the wall, while Zell grabbed Seifer’s arms trying to break free. Quistis was the one to break them off.

- “Stop it! STOP!” she yelled getting between them, forcing them to quit it. “What’s the matter with you two? We’ve got such serious issues at hand right now and you’re both acting like children!”
- “He started it!” said Zell pointing at Seifer.
- “And you provoked him!” said Quistis. Behind her, Seifer crossed his arms and laid a smirk on his face. Then Quistis turned around and shouted at him. “And YOU! Picking a fight out of nothing! Were do you think you are, kindergarten?” Seifer immediately removed that smirk from his face and got serious. Quistis continued. “Seifer, you go get Squall. Me and Zell will go and see the headmaster.”
- “How the hell should I know where Squall is?” asked Seifer.
- “He’s probably in his dorm, the guys told me he and Rinoa left the party a while ago.” said Zell.
- “Oh, so I get to do all the dirty work while you go to Cid? And wait a minute, why are you going with chicken-wuss and not me?” Seifer asked Quistis.
- “SEIFER!” she said, while holding back Zell. “Please… This is neither the time nor the place for this… Will you please just go?”
- “FINE!” he yelled striding down the corridor to Squall’s dorm.

........................................ ...........

Rinoa was lying onto Squall’s chest, while he was caressing her hair with one arm and holding her with the other.

- “What’s with all the commotion?” she asked.
- “I dunno…” replied Squall. “The party must be over… I don’t hear music anymore…”
- “It’s probably everyone going back to their dorms…” she said.
- “Probably…”
- “Isn’t it a bit early though? It’s still eleven o’ clock…”
- “Strange…” said Squall glancing at the bed side clock.
- “D’you think something’s wrong?” she asked worried.
- “Well, they would have notified us if something was wrong…” he replied.

No sooner had he finished his sentence, than the door knocked. They both turned and looked at each other. Squall gently pushed Rinoa off his chest and got up. He picked up his boxers from the floor, wore them and went to open the door. He opened up and saw Seifer waiting.

- “What are YOU doing here?” asked Squall.
- “Get dressed lover boy…” said Seifer looking at him from head to toes. “… we’ve got a situation.”
- “Situation?”
- “Just get dressed. I’ll be waiting outside. I’ll explain then.”

Squall closed the door and went inside. He and Rinoa got dressed quickly and got outside. Seifer was waiting for them, leaning against the wall, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently. Seifer raised an eyebrow when he saw Rinoa get out of the room too.

- “Did you have fun?” he asked meaningfully while leading them to the ballroom where the headmaster and the others were.
- “Just cut to the chase Seifer…” said Squall glaring at him with an evil look.
- “Galbadia declared war.” said Seifer calmly.
- “WHAT?!” said Squall and Rinoa in unison, stopping to walk at once.
- “You heard me…” said Seifer still calm.
- “But… why?” asked Rinoa.
- “There was an attack from a stupid rebel group from Timber…” said Seifer. At the sound of those words, Rinoa froze. “It should have been classified as an indep…” continued Seifer, but stopped when he saw Rinoa. “What?” he asked.
- “Did… did you know which group it was?” she asked.
- “I dunno… I wasn’t told anything about the group… Now come on, the headmaster’s waiting.” answered Seifer.
- “You were saying?” asked Squall.
- “Um, yes… As I said, it should have been classified as an independent action, but Galbadia thought it was done on purpose. They said they believe that it was part of some sort of plan and that the negotiations were just a set up…” added Seifer.
- “What?! That’s just an excuse!” said Squall furious.
- “Thought so myself… Here we are…” said Seifer stepping into the ballroom.”

The headmaster along with Quistis, Zell, Irvine, Selphie and Xu was there. Seifer and the other two, walked towards them. Everyone looked worried and serious. The carefree mood during the party just half an hour ago was no longer lingering in the atmosphere. Instead, there was a very cold and awkward silence.

- “Good, we’re all here…” said Cid.
- “Um headmaster, sir…” said Zell. “I believe that Seifer’s presence is no longer needed here…” he continued. Seifer looked at him as though he was about to murder him, but turned his heel and tried to walk away.
- “Seifer wait.” said the headmaster. “Seifer may be just a new addition to our SeeD army Zell, but he’s been part of this Garden for as long as all of you. Besides, he WILL be an important asset from now on.” Zell blushed at the sound of those words, while Seifer raised an eyebrow and laid a smirk of triumph on his face.
- “Has everyone been informed on the situation?” said Xu.
- “We haven’t…” said Squall pointing at him and Rinoa. “ At least, not fully. We were just told about this rebel team from Timber…”
- “Who were they?” interrupted Rinoa.
- “They were called the ‘Liberation Eagles’ I think…” said Cid.
- “What?” said Rinoa, feeling like she was losing the world under her feet. “What happened to them?” she asked.
- “They were all shot the moment they were captured.” replied Cid.
- “No…” said Rinoa falling down on her knees.
- “Rinoa?” said Squall running towards her. The others did the same. “Rinoa, what’s wrong?” asked Squall holding her arms. Rinoa’s eyes filled with tears. She avoided looking at any of them. “Baby?” he said holding her chin and turning her face towards his. “What is it?” he asked concerned.
- “Zone… and Watts…” she said, while a tear ran down her cheek.
- “Were they…?” asked Squall. Rinoa nodded bursting in tears.
- “What?! Will someone tell us?” asked Seifer.
- “They were friends of hers… They were on that team…” replied Squall holding a sobbing Rinoa in his arms.
- “The rebels? But I thought you hadn’t heard from them in like… ages.” said Quistis.
- “I… *sniff* I hadn’t…” said Rinoa between sobs. “B… but Zone came and saw me this morning… H… he told me all about it…”
- “You KNEW about this?” asked Zell.
- “Not about the attack… I knew what their plans were though…I… I never thought they’d make it…” said Rinoa.
- “Are you telling me, that this guy came here today, told you all about this and you told NOBODY?!” said Xu infuriated.
- “I… I didn’t imagine…”
- “WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!” yelled Xu.
- “I’m sorry… I…” said Rinoa desperately.
- “YOU’RE SORRY?! YOUR IRRESPONSIBILITY LED US TO A WAR AND YOU’RE SORRY?!” shouted Xu.
- “Xu, stop it.” said Squall getting up. “She might have been wrong to neglect to tell us, but the war certainly isn’t her fault. THEY did the attack. Rinoa’s not to blame.”
- “Look Squall… Just because she’s the commander’s girlfriend, YOUR girlfriend, it doesn’t mean she’s got the right to be reckless at the expense of everyone else…”
- “That’s enough Xu.” said the headmaster. “Squall is right. She should have told someone, but the war has nothing to do with her.”
- “NOTHING?” asked Xu meaningfully.
- “That’s an entirely different story…” said Cid, getting her point. In the meantime, Rinoa was still on her knees crying uncontrollably. “Selphie, can you please take Rinoa to her dorm? She’s had enough for one night…”
- “I’ll take her.” said Squall.
- “I’d prefer it if you stayed Squall. We need to talk about a lot of things. I’ve already talked to the rest.” said Cid.
- “All right.” said Squall leaning down to Rinoa. “Selphie will stay with you for a while until I sort some things out with the headmaster, OK? I’ll be right back afterwards.”
- “OK…” said Rinoa wiping her tears away.

Squall helped Rinoa stand up and kissed her on the forehead. Then he and Cid left the room. Selphie put her arm around Rinoa’s shoulder and took her back to her dorm.

- “Maybe I should go with her…” said Quistis.
- “Wait, I wanna talk to you.” said Seifer.
- “OK… What’s up?” Quistis asked Seifer. He pulled her away from earshot and then spoke.
- “What’s with the attitude?” he asked.
- “Attitude? What attitude?”
- “Just before… You ditched me and went off with that chick…”
- “Hold it right there! First of all, I hate it when you call Zell that. It’s time you two put your past behind you, don’t you think?”
- “He’s the one provoking me all the time!”
- “And you’re not doing anything to prevent that…”
- “Tsk, fine…”
- “Listen Seifer, if you want this to work, you’ll have to learn to get along with my friends.”
- “I DO want this to work…”
- “Then try and be friendly!”
- “What about you?”
- “What about me?”
- “Don’t you think you should try and defend me a bit more?”
- “ *Sigh* I guess you’re right… Sorry.”
- “It’s OK… By the way, have I told you how sexy you look in this dress?”
- “SEIFER!” said Quistis, trying to hide a smile at the same time. “This is neither the time…”
- “… nor the place. Yeah, yeah I know…” he said getting gloomy.
- “Don’t get mad…”
- “I’m not mad…”
- “Listen, I’ll go talk to Rinoa a bit and then I’ll come and see you, OK? It’s a bit hard with the situation and all…”
- “I’ll wait in my dorm then…”
- “OK.” she said, holding one of his cheeks with her hand and kissing the other gently.
- “You call that a kiss?”
- “Seifer…”
- “OK. But only if I get to give you one too…”
- “Fine…”

Seifer cupped her face with both hands, putting his thumbs in front of her ears. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the neck. It was so soft, as if he was afraid of breaking her. “I’ll be waiting.” he told her and left.
Quistis stood there staring blankly for a moment, and then walked back to Irvine and Zell.

- “Isn’t HE the gentleman?” said Zell raising an eyebrow.
- “Apparently… Don’t you see the look on her face?” said Irvine.
- “What look?” asked Quistis.
- “The ‘take-me-now’ look…” replied Irvine, getting a punch on the face from Quistis at the same time. “OK, I deserved that…”
- “I’ll go see Rinoa. G’night boys…” she said.

........................................ .....

Meanwhile, in Cid’s office, he and Squall were discussing.

- “We need to inform everyone.” said Cid “We need to try and reason with Galbadia…”
- “I’m afraid that’s the opportunity they were looking for, sir.” said Squall.
- “What do you mean?”
- “From the beginning, all they wanted was to get hold of the sorceress, as an aid for their plans. At first, they had no reasonable incentive to excuse their actions. Now they do…”
- “ *Sigh* you’re right… What do you suggest we do?”
- “I suppose trying to negotiate once more wouldn’t hurt, but I don’t think it’ll work. If it doesn’t, we should be starting to gather our forces…”
- “Let’s just hope they don’t get many allies…”
- “We’ll try to avoid this at all cost, sir.”

........................................ ...................

- “Finally. She fell asleep…” whispered Selphie to Quistis, while in Squall and Rinoa’s dorm.
- “Good. Let’s wait for Squall then. He shouldn’t be too late…”
- “Right… So, I didn’t get the chance to ask you. How’d it go with Seifer?”
- “Selphie… We’ve got much more serious things to worry about…”
- “D’you reckon there’s anything we can do RIGHT NOW?”
- “No, but…”
- “D’you think talking about it would get us anywhere?”
- “Not really, although…”
- “Then quit trying to change the subject and tell me already!”
- “We kissed…”
- “That’s it?”
- “More or less…”
- “So ALL you did was kiss?”
- “No, we had a fight too…”
- “Yeah, I noticed that… But it’s over now… right?”
- “Right.”
- “So, you’re together now.”
- “I suppose…”
- “Gee, thanks for the in-depth info!”
- “Well, I don’t have anything else to tell you!”
- “Did you like it?”
- “Like what?”
- “THE KISS! Duh…”
- “Oh… Yeah, it was good…” said Quistis blushing.
- “More than just ‘good’ obviously…” said Selphie. Just then she heard the door knock. “I’ll get it.” she said getting up and walking to the door. It was Squall.
- “Hey…” he said walking in. “How’s Rinoa?”
- “Better… Sleeping…” said Selphie. “She’s got a fever though. We gave her some aspirin. She’ll be OK.”
- “How’d it go with Cid?” asked Quistis.
- “We decided to try and talk the government out of it, then should we fail…”
- “Get ready for conflict?” asked Selphie.
- “Exactly…” replied Squall bitterly.
- “I see… Well, let’s go Selphie…” said Quistis. “Goodnight Squall.” they said in unison.
- “Good night.” said Squall.

Quistis and Selphie left the room. Squall sat on the bedside and looked at Rinoa. He put his hand on her forehead and saw it was still burning in fever. He caressed her forehead, gave it a kiss and started getting undressed to get some sleep.

........................................ ..................

Quistis and Selphie split as the latter headed to her and Irvine’s dorm, while the first went to Seifer’s. She hesitated a bit once outside, but finally knocked. Seifer opened up the door shortly, wearing only a pair of jeans. Quistis took a moment to look at his –quite frankly- perfectly worked-out muscles. Then she spoke.

- “Is that supposed to impress me?” she asked raising an eyebrow.
- “Damn, didn’t it work?” he asked jokingly.
- “ *laughter* Are you going to let me in, or am I going to stand out here for long?”
- “I thought I’d let you admire my perfect body a bit more…”
- “ *laughter* Move…” she said pushing him aside as she walked in.

She walked inside his room. ‘Typical guy’s room…’ she thought. Messy, bed unmade, strong smell of cologne he gratuitously had applied just before… Seifer flicked the lights off, leaving only a night light on. He walked towards her and kissed her, holding her waist. She put her hands on the back of his head, playing with his hair. Seifer broke apart after a while, looking into her eyes.

- “Doesn’t it feel better, now that you’re not trying to strangle me?” he asked.
- “Much better… And I wasn’t trying to strangle you…” she replied smiling, kissing him back.
- “So… Did you tell the others about us?” he asked, playing with the lock of hair falling on her face.
- “They’d already figured ages ago…”
- “Yeah, I had too…”
- “Ugh. Could you be any more cocky?”
- “I’m not being cocky… Don’t tell me you hadn’t figured out about me some time ago…”
- “I was suspicious… Just not certain…”
- “So, why did it take us so long?”
- “I dunno… Probably because I had to wait for you to graduate. I couldn’t date a student…”
- “I guess… Enough talk…” he said suddenly, kissing her again.

Still kissing, Seifer led Quistis to the bed, where she sat on his lap. He tried to pull her dress down, but she stopped him.

- “What’s wrong?” asked Seifer.
- “Not so fast… We just got together today…” she replied.
- “Don’t you want to?” he asked kissing her neck.
- “N… no…” she said with difficulty. Half of her wanted so much to scream ‘Yes’, but the other half got the upper hand.
- “Are you sure?” he asked again still kissing her.
- “Y… yes…” she said getting up, trying to leave.
- “Don’t go…” said Seifer catching up with her on the door. He grabbed her from behind, held her waist and kissed her shoulder, slowly making his way up the neck and behind her ear. Quistis’ mind blurred; she couldn’t think anymore… He moved his lips up to her ear and whispered “Stay…”
- “I… I can’t…” she replied.
- “Why not? What are you afraid of?” he asked turning her around.
- “Of myself when I’m with you…” she said while he started kissing her again.
- “Why?” he asked breathing heavily, between kisses.
- “Because I lose control…”
- “Is that so bad?” he asked playfully.
- “Please Seifer…” she begged. Seifer suddenly stopped and looked at her in the eyes.
- “OK. I respect your choice…” he said.
- “Are you mad?” she asked.
- “No.” he said calmly.
- “Are you sure?”
- “Yes…” he said smiling.
- “Thanks… I… I’ll go now.”
- “ *Sigh* OK.”

Seifer opened the door and let her out. He gave her a peck on the lips and closed the door. Quistis leaned onto the wall and sighed. Then it hit her; the war was drawing close. Seifer was now a SeeD. He’d have to fight and might as well get killed in the process. She could get killed just as easily. They might never see each other again… She instantly turned around and knocked on Seifer’s door. He opened up and looked at her puzzled.

- “I changed my mind.” she said leaping into his arms, kissing him before he even got the chance to say a word.

Seifer stood surprised for a while, as Quistis held him tightly, kissing him. He then closed the door behind him and held her tightly, too…

Chapter 12

The next morning Squall woke up from the sound of Rinoa’s voice. He turned over to face her and saw her struggling onto the bed, still sleeping, mumbling scattered words; she was obviously having a nightmare, yet again. He tried to wake her up, but she wouldn’t. She kept twirling around in bed, talking to someone, as if in a trance. He once again tried to wake her up, but to no avail. He quickly got up, got dressed and ran to Quistis’ dorm. He knocked and knocked, but no-one answered. He then ran to Zell’s dorm. He kept knocking for quite some time, before hearing footsteps behind the door. When the door opened, he faced a scruffy-looking Zell, sleepy and obviously just out of bed.

- “What’s wrong Squall?” he asked lazily.
- “It’s Rinoa.” Squall replied worriedly.
- “What about her?”
- “She won’t wake up!”
- “Big deal! Slap her around a bit and she’ll wake up! Geez, did you have to wake me up for THIS?!” Zell said, looking annoyed.
- “I’m serious! I tried everything, but she won’t wake up! She’s in some sort of… of trance!”
- “Trance…?”
- “Will you please go and stay with her until I get Dr. Kadowaki?”
- “ *Yawn* Sure…”
- “Thanks…” said Squall quickly running to the Infirmary.

Zell washed up a bit and then left his room to go see Rinoa. He met up with Selphie in the corridors.

- “What’s with the new look?” she asked jokingly.
- “ ‘New look’ ?”
- “Yeah, the I-just-got-out-of-bed look. Do you realize you’re running around the Garden in you T-shirt and boxers?”
- “I have to go to Squall’s room. Rinoa’s not OK.”
- “What? Why? What’s wrong?”
- “He said something about her not waking up. He said she was in some sort of trance or something…”
- “And you’re still here?!” she said exasperated and grabbing his hand. “Let’s go!”

They both ran to Rinoa and Squall’s dorm, hurrying inside the bedroom. They found Rinoa all sweaty and burning in fever, still twirling around her covers in bed. Zell tried to wake her up, while Selphie ran to the bathroom and got some wet towels and water.

- “Great Hyne, this is serious!” yelled Selphie. “We should get some help!”
- “Squall already went to the infirmary to get Dr. Kadowaki. He should be here soon.”
- “No! We should get her straight to the infirmary! Dr. Kadowaki will need all of her equipment, she can’t carry it all here! Go there and tell them we’ll bring Rinoa ourselves!”
- “It’ll take ages for me to go there, tell them, get back and THEN carry her there!”
- “Go get someone to help me then!”
- “Is Irvine in your dorm?”
- “Yes, go get him and then run to the infirmary.”
- “OK, I’m off.” said Zell running out of the dorm.

He made his way to Selphie and Irvine’s dorm and knocked. Irvine came out after a bit, all wet, with a towel around his waist.

- “What? What is it? Can’t a man have a shower in peace around here?”
- “Get dressed and go to Rinoa’s dorm now!”
- “Why, what happened?”
- “She’s pretty bad. We don’t know what it is. Selphie’s there, she’ll help you carry her to the infirmary.”
- “What about you? What the hell were you doing all this time?”
- “I have to run to the infirmary. Will you please go?”
- “Sure, I’ll just wear something and go.”
- “Quick!” yelled Zell, running away.

Irvine got dressed immediately and then ran to Squall’s dorm. He found Selphie there and with her help, carried Rinoa out of her bed. They both struggled out to the corridors.

- “It sure would be easier if she didn’t struggle as if possessed!” said Selphie letting out a grunt.
- “Can you make it? *Ungh* ” said Irvine.
- “Of course I can! It’s just not *Oof* easy!” said Selphie. Meanwhile, Rinoa was yelling and struggling. “Do you think it would be possible for you to SHUT UP AND STAY STILL?!” yelled Selphie to Rinoa.
- “I don’t think she can hear you honey…” said Irvine looking at Selphie with a scared look; Selphie could get terrifying at times…

........................................ ............

Quistis squirmed around in Seifer’s arms and got up. She had been wakened from some sort of noise outside. Next to her, Seifer woke up too.

- “Hmmm… What’s wrong?” he asked lazily.
- “What’s happening outside?” she asked.
- “Why do you care? Go back to sleep… It’s still so early…”
- “Don’t you think we should go check it out?” she asked.

Suddenly they heard a muffled, but loud voice coming from just outside: “SHUT UP AND STAY STILL?!”.

- “Don’t tell me you didn’t hear THAT?!” said Quistis to Seifer.
- “I did, so what?”
- “Go check it out!”
- “Quistis…”
- “Please?”
- “ *Ungh* Alright… I’m going…”

Seifer got out of bed and grabbed his jeans from the floor. Swiftly he put them on and went to open the door. When he did, he saw Selphie and Irvine yelling to each other out in the corridor.

- “Just be a little patient! She won’t bite! Pick her up and let’s go!” yelled Irvine holding Rinoa from underneath her armpits.
- “I’m not afraid! I’m just tired! Let me catch my breath and we’ll go!” yelled Selphie back.
- “We don’t have all day you know!” he replied.
- “I KNOW THAT!” she shouted.
- “OY!” yelled Seifer. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?! It’s six thirty in the morning!”
- “It’s an emergency Seifer! Something’s wrong with Rinoa!” said Selphie.
- “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with her; she’s wasted!” said Seifer taking a quick look at Rinoa.
- “She’s not drunk you moron! This is serious!” yelled Irvine. Seifer was just about to answer, when Quistis rushed out to the door, with the bed sheet wrapped around her.
- “What’s wrong with Rinoa?!” Quistis said worriedly. Both Irvine and Selphie raised an eyebrow at the sight of her, making her blush and go stand behind Seifer’s back.
- “We don’t know, we’re taking her to the infirmary now.” said Selphie.
- “Need any help?” asked Seifer.
- “Could you?!” said Selphie almost begging.
- “Just give us a minute…” said Seifer taking Quistis inside with him.

Seifer lend Quistis a pair of trousers and a shirt, due to the fact that she couldn’t walk around with her gown in the Garden at this time of the morning… They both looked really baggy on her. It was highly unusual to see Quistis in such an appearance, with casual clothes and her hair down. As Seifer was getting dressed, he caught Quistis eyeing him with a very strange look.

- “What?” he asked puzzled.
- “That was really nice…” she replied smiling. Seifer didn’t speak.

When they both got ready, Quistis gave him a swift kiss on the lips and whispered “Thank you.” Once outside, Seifer helped Irvine carry Rinoa, grabbing her from the legs, while Quistis and Selphie held her from the waist. When they got to the infirmary, they saw Dr. Kadowaki talking to Squall and Zell. The moment they walked in, Squall rushed over to them and picked up Rinoa in his arms, laying her onto the bed. He looked terrified and his face was really pale. Dr. Kadowaki gave Rinoa a sedative injection, which stopped her from struggling. With Squall’s help, she put a white robe on Rinoa and then gave her another injection to help decrease the temperature of her body. Then she let her rest and came outside of the room, where all the others were waiting.

- “What’s wrong with her Doctor?” asked Selphie.
- “Honestly? I don’t know. At first look it seems like a coma, but she’s reacting to the environment around her, so this can’t be it. It’s as if… she is dreaming, but cannot wake…”

Chapter 13

Inside the Garden, total chaos reigned. Rumor had that Galbadia had joined forces with Centra and was now ready to unleash their power upon the rest of the world. And that wasn’t far from real; Galbadia had gained control of the greatest part of Centra’s army and was about to attack Balamb Garden, to gain hold of Rinoa. Balamb had Trabia and Esthar on its side, which was a great advantage. The negotiations had -as expected- failed and general mobilization was announced on all continents. The preparations for global war had become.

Balamb Garden had been stationed in the middle of the ocean, guarded by innumerable vessels and aircrafts. Edea’s SeeD ship was there too. Fisherman’s Horizon, although maintaining a neutral position on the war considering their peaceful character, helped out the tri-continental alliance by providing supplies. The position of the Garden had been carefully picked out because of many reasons, and the above was one of them. The alliance’s primary concern, was the protection of the sorceress at all cost. Rinoa was being held safely inside the Infirmary, with a troop of SeeDs guarding her just outside and a few guards inside the Infirmary room, occasionally changing shifts with the ones outside. With the current location of the Garden, the alliance drew the enemy forces away from their supply bases. The rest of the forces of the tri-continental alliance of Balamb, Trabia and Esthar were stationed at their original location to fight off local attacks.

On the other hand, Galbadia Garden was made official base for the attack on Balamb Garden; all the elite forces from both Galbadia and Centra were gathered in there. They were being followed by numerous vessels on their way to Balamb Garden.

........................................ .................

The day of the first war conflict arrived. The sun had just risen and the sky was still not very bright. There was a cool morning breeze and the weather was somewhat chilly. Squall, who was standing in the Quad with four of his elite mercenary troops was watching the course of the Galbadia Garden through his binoculars; the Garden along with the escort of its vessels was drawing close. He put his binoculars down and turned to face his army. All of them Balambian and Trabian, including him, were wearing their SeeD uniforms and were standing at attention. Zell, Quistis, Selphie, Irvine were leading one troop each. Xu was the leader of the last troop outside the Infirmary guarding Rinoa. Squall took a moment to look at all of his soldiers. They all had a longing look on their faces, waiting for Squall to speak to them, to give them courage. Squall sighed, then cleared his throat and got ready to speak :

- “Ahem… Good morning everyone. At ease.” he said. Immediately, a loud bang was heard as all the SeeDs moved to the ordered position. Then Squall spoke again. “This is a very important, as well as a very sad day. We are all soldiers here, our duty is to fight. However, we don’t usually feel pleasure doing it. Especially when it involves taking some people’s lives away…” At the sound of those words, many people bowed their heads down; this had obviously been their concern as well. “I feel mostly unpleasant to be the one to tell you that we have no choice. We either fight or surrender and become slaves to the future-formed Galbadian empire.” Squall’s voice was gradually becoming more intense. “If we surrender, it is all over. Our families will lose their homes, their properties, their cities, everything! But if we fight… If we fight, we have a very good chance of succeeding and finally rid ourselves of the Galbadian menace. Sure, many of us will die trying. But we will have died for the right to live in a world were sorceresses are no longer abused for their powers and live among us like normal people! We will have died for the freedom of all these cities that are still under Galbadian occupation, many of which are your, mine, anyone’s home place!” Squall’s voice now turned into a loud cry. “So I stand here today asking all of you : Are you willing to sacrifice yourselves for such a cause?”

Cheers and claps were heard from everywhere as all the SeeDs shouted ‘Yes’ to Squall’s question. Squall felt prouder than ever. He saw his friends on the front rows smiling at him, giving him courage. The headmaster along with Laguna had just arrived as well and they were both clapping for Squall, too. When the noise had settled down Cid spoke.

- “Spoken as a true leader Squall.” he said congratulating him and then turned to the SeeDs. “There is not more I can say, as your commander has already covered me. However, I feel the need to wish you all good luck out on the battlefield. Keep your minds clear and take good care of yourselves and your allies. There is not much time left, but I would like to introduce President Laguna to all of you. He would like to say a few words too.” Laguna came and stood next to Cid. He was wearing a military uniform.
- “Hello everyone. I’m Laguna, President of Esthar. I won’t bother you much. I know you’re all already tense as it is. I just wanted to remind you that our forces are on your side and that we all fight for the same cause. Good luck.”
- “Everyone stand by on your positions. The Galbadians should be here in less than an hour. Be prepared for a battle as soon as they arrive.” said Squall to the SeeDs.

The SeeD troops following their leaders dispersed and headed to their positions. Two stayed in the Quad for possible airborne attacks and the other two headed to the front gate which had been opened to counter direct attacks from the sea vessels. Soldiers from Esthar and Trabia were guarding all of the facilities in the Garden, to protect the non-combatant residents of the Garden and the young students. Squall stayed behind to talk to Laguna while Cid left.

- “So…” said Squall.
- “So.” said Laguna. “This is it. How are you feeling?” he asked.
- “Not so bad… I feel confident about this battle. We’ve got many excellent allies on our side.” replied Squall.
- “Good, good. I’m glad you feel this way…” said Laguna awkwardly.
- “Yeah…” said Squall looking down on the floor.
- “Listen…” they said at the same time.
- “You first…” said Squall.
- “No, no. Go ahead… It’s OK.” said Laguna.
- “It’s just that… well… I… I wanted to tell you that… err… I, I’d like to… talk to you some time…” mumbled Squall.
- “Talk to me?” asked Laguna with a surprised expression on his face. “A… About what?”
- “Stuff…” said Squall. “Maybe… Maybe we could get to know each other… better…”
- “Sure…” said Laguna smiling. “Sure, I’d love that…”
- “Good …” said Squall rubbing his hair on the back of his head. “Well… we should be getting ready now.”
- “Right, right. I’ll be in the front Gate. You?” asked Laguna.
- “I’ll be here in the Quad. We expect the primary attack to be from air.”
- “Yeah, probably… Well, I’m off then.” said Laguna. “Good luck Squall, although I don’t think you need it anyway. You’re a great warrior. Be strong. We’ll see each other again soon.” he said extending his arm.
- “We sure will…” said Squall taking it and shaking it vigorously.

Laguna put his other arm on Squall’s shoulder and rubbed it. Then he gave Squall a smile and left. When Laguna was out of sight, Squall bowed down his head and smiled too. He raised it back up and looked at Zell and Selphie leading the two troops stationed in the Quad. He walked towards them and greeted them :

- “Good morning. How are you two?” asked Squall.
- “Great! Ready to kick some Galbadian ass!” started Zell.
- “ZELL!” said Selphie. “Some? WE’LL KICK ALL THEIR ASSES!” she yelled in enthusiasm making both Squall and Zell open up their eyes widely.
- “G… glad to see you’re up for it…” said Squall. “Listen guys, I need to go see Rinoa before we begin. Should anything happen, inform me immediately. I won’t be late.” he said leaving the Quad.

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Squall arrived outside the heavily guarded Infirmary. He walked to the entrance, where a SeeD soldier saluted him and moved out of the way. Once inside, Dr. Kadowaki greeted him and then left him alone to get some privacy. Squall walked inside the room where Rinoa was resting. She was still in a trance, but was laying still and calm. She was wearing a white robe, her jet black hair were spread round the pillow and her arms rested on her stomach crossed. She looked really peaceful, but the fact that she was once again not laughing, running around and bringing the whole place upside down was killing Squall. He kneeled down next to he bed and held her arm. It was so cold and lifeless, that it made him scared. He had felt like that before, but he had wished he never would again. He kissed her hand and set it back to its position. He then caressed her forehead and spoke to her :

- “It’s starting any time now… I just came to see you. I felt the need to. You look so beautiful… I just wish you were awake, even if it meant meddling around everyone’s business *laughter* … You always try to be the center of attention you know… If you weren’t so funny and so nice I’d hate you for that, heh… But even just lying like this you actually make it! Everyone’s watching over you… And you know why that bothers me so much? Because I want to keep you all for myself. Whenever someone else looks over at you, I feel like… like I could beat him up so bad… God, I’m losing it… Don’t worry baby, I’m just talking nonsense here… *Sigh* When all this is over you’ll be back to normal and we’ll be together again. I’ll be back for you… It’s a promise.”

Squall took off his Griever medallion and put it inside Rinoa’s palm. He kissed her forehead and then her lips softly and got up on his feet. He walked outside the room, turned around to look once more at her and then got out. Walking from the Infirmary to the Quad, Xu stopped him.

- “Squall… How… How’s Rinoa?” she asked concerned.
- “I dunno… She’s just laying there…” he replied bitterly.
- “Listen, I’m really sorry… I feel that it’s my fault she’s like this…”
- “No, don’t be…”
- “No really, it IS my fault. If I’d never said those things… I’m just… I’m really sorry…” she said looking down on the floor.
- “It’s OK Xu. I’m sure she’ll be fine…” replied Squall leaving.

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Back in the Quad, Zell and Selphie were looking through binoculars towards the sea. Galbadia Garden and the escorting vessels were coming nearer. Inside the G-Garden, SeeD troops and Centra soldiers were on stand by for the attack. Many of them were hovering around on their rocket engines, preparing for attack through the air. The vessels were moving fast onto the blue sea, creating big waves on the surface.
Inside the B-Garden front Gate, the two troops and the Esthar forces were waiting for the first wave of the attack. Laguna was there with them, in his uniform, his gun in hand, with a cold expression on his face. Quistis was standing in front of her troop looking at the approaching vessels on the sea, when she felt someone grabbing her hand and pulling her behind. Then she felt her back banging against a nearby wall and saw the person that had dragged her. It was Seifer.

- “Seifer?” she whispered. “What are you doing here? It’s almost time for battle, get back to your position! Everyone’s looking in!”
- “I don’t care about anyone else! I’ve been trying to get to you all day, but couldn’t. I wanted to talk to you before any conflict.” he said.
- “Soldier…” said Quistis out loud, looking through the corner of her eye to everyone next to them who was listening “… I told you to get back to your position!”
- “F**K THIS!” yelled Seifer banging his hand on the wall. “Do you honestly care about appearances more than you care about me?”
- “Seifer…”
- “ANSWER ME!”
- “NO DAMMIT!” she yelled back taking him by surprise. “I… I think I’ve fallen for you… bastard…” she smiled.
- “We don’t have much time…” said Seifer smiling, too. “… If, for any reason, we never see each other again, I want you to know… that I really care for you… honestly…” he said touching her cheek with his finger.
- “I do too Seifer…” she said looking into his eyes.

Seifer kissed her gently, feeling a tear run down Quistis’ face, wetting his cheek.

- “No tears…” he said wiping it away.
- “No tears.” she repeated. “We must go now.”
- “Yeah… Let’s go.” he said taking her hand.

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Back in the Quad, Squall, Zell and Selphie were patiently waiting for the attack. About twenty airborne SeeDs were seen closing in. They were speeding up on their rocket engines, coming close faster and faster, making the Balamb SeeDs more anxious as the time passed. When they’d gotten close enough, Squall raised his gunblade and shouted:

- “On my signal, give them hell…”

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Hehe, I just loved that last line. Very Braveheart-y :D

Very well written. I especially like how you matched the characters personalitys so perfectly. And you went very far with the two theorys of Rinoa being Ultimecia and Laguna being Squall's father. Once again I say very well written.

Thank you! :)

It's almost done now. About three or four chapters more.

Chapter 14


The airborne SeeDs dived from their rocket engines onto the Quad. One of them launched himself right onto Squall, engaging into a man-to-man fight with him. They both fell on the floor and rolled on it for a while. The SeeD took out his gunblade and raised it to hit Squall. Squall took his out in time and prevented the hit. The two swords met each other in mid air creating a clattering sound. For a few minutes they stayed like this, the SeeD on top of Squall, both of them holding their blades tightly, refusing to let go, the scratching sound of the two swords tightening their nerves. Finally Squall pulled back his gunblade, kicking the SeeD on the stomach at the same time to break free. The SeeD tried to launch his blade onto Squall, but he rolled over in time and the SeeD’s blade hit the floor. Squall threw his legs on the air, aiding his back to leave the ground. He swung his arms to raise his torso straight up and landed on his feet. The SeeD didn’t lose time to attack him again, but Squall dived to avoid him. He wasn’t quick enough, though. The SeeD’s blade tore up Squall’s jacket on the sleeve, slashing his arm. Squall fell on the ground and held his open gash, making a pain grimace. He pulled away his hand glanced at it; it was red from blood. Then he looked up to his attacker with a murder-like face and jumped onto him like a tiger, plunging his gunblade on his stomach. The SeeD writhed in pain and after a minute took his last breath.

Squall turned around and tried to get up, when he saw another SeeD right behind him, with his weapon already heading straight onto him. He didn’t have time to react. His blue eyes widened up, his iris decreased in size and he prepared his mind to die. The blade seemed to approach his head in slow motion and just when it was about to strike his forehead, the SeeD and his sword were abruptly pulled backwards. Squall regained self-control and saw the SeeD struggling to get free from a chain which was choking him. Then he fell unconscious after receiving a back breaker from none other than… Selphie! She withdrew her nunchaku letting him fall to the ground, then twisted her weapon in the air like she always did and rested it on her back. Squall recognized the chain he had seen before, on Selphie’s weapon which held the two nunchaks together. She held out her hand to help him get up. Squall took it and got back to his feet. “Thanks…” he said to Selphie, but she didn’t reply. She just winked at him, smiled and ran back to the battle field.

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The vessels approached the B-Garden front Gate. As soon as they did, the doors flung open and innumerable blue dressed SeeDs jumped out. Irvine and Laguna as master marksmen, stayed in the two edges to shoot without any obstacles. Many got instantly killed by the well-aimed shots of the two above. The ones that managed to get in, went straight for the Balamb SeeDs in the front rows of the troops. Quistis swung her whip to the ones attacking her, giving them something to feel pain about. She glanced at Seifer from time to time just to make sure he was doing OK. She needn’t worry, though. Seifer was a really gifted swordsman and his bad temper made him really confident in battle. The Balamb SeeDs had to be careful not to get shot, because the Galbadians had many shooters as well. Irvine and Laguna were trying to exterminate them all, but many of them managed to wound or even kill Balamb SeeDs.

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Back in the Quad, Zell was beating up two SeeDs at the same time. When he was done with them he looked around to find someone new to fight with. Then he saw Shizuka, struggling against a SeeD. He ran over and grabbed the SeeD from the shirt, turning him around and punching him hard on the face. The SeeD fell unconscious and Zell threw him in mid air. He kneeled over to Shizuka and checked her for any injuries.

- “Are you OK?” he asked.
- “I’m fine… Just a few scratches, that’s all…”
- “Are you sure?”
- “Yes, I’m fine… Thank you…”
- “Here, lemme help you up.” he said grabbing her from the armpits and rising her up on her feet. “Be careful OK? If you need me, just call out. I’ll be there in no time.” he added, kissing her and running away.

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At the front Gate the battle was still intense. Quistis whipped her way over to Laguna to talk to him.

- “Laguna… this is madness…” she said between heavy breaths. “… We’re losing too many…”
- “We’ve gotten lots of them as well!” he replied while still shooting.
- “Yes, but at this rate we’ll both be left with nothing! We have to find a more drastic plan! Some of them have already infiltrated the Garden, we can’t let more inside. We have to protect Rinoa!”
- “Go find Squall! I’ll cover for you. Talk to him. Go!” he said covering her back from any rogue bullets.

Quistis ran off the Gate and headed into the Garden. A few of the Galbadians had gotten in, but they were being handled well by the SeeDs inside. Quistis ran towards the Infirmary and found Xu and her troop fighting off a couple of foreign SeeDs. Quistis called on Xu. Xu gave her opponent a final blow with her dagger and turned over to look at Quistis.

- “Everything OK there?” yelled Quistis.
- “Good, we’re holding them out for the time!” yelled Xu back.
- “Rinoa OK?”
- “Fine. Still intact.”
- “Keep up!” yelled Quistis running to the Quad.

When she got there she found Squall and the others fighting an easy battle; the enemies were few and they were managing pretty well. Quistis called on Squall and he ran over to her calling on Zell to cover for him.

- “What is it? Anything wrong in the front Gate?” he asked breathlessly.
- “We’re loosing too many men. They’re going down as well, but we must do something before we’re left with one troop!”
- “Things aren’t too well here either…”
- “What are you talking about? You’re handling them easily!”
- “They’re getting reinforcement.”
- “How do you know?”
- “A couple of them escaped and I heard them say they were bringing in more.”
- “What can we do?”
- “I dunno… I think it would be wiser to move the battle somewhere else. We need more space…” said Squall thinking.
- “But where? We’ve got FH here for supplies, it’s a good position.”
- “I know but we have to leave this place, it’s not working out… Have they all gotten out of the vessels down there?”
- “Hardly! After the first wave was exterminated, more vessels came. And probably more will come afterwards…”
- “Hmm…” said Squall falling into deep thought. “I got it. We move the battle to Centra.”
- “WHAT?!” said Quistis. “WHY? The Galbadians have Centra on their side, they’ll know their way around and they’ll crush us!”
- “The tribes there are spilt. Galbadia has SOME of the tribes on its side. We have to get the rest on ours. Then we’ll move the Garden to THEIR regions and WE’LL have the advantage…” he said smiling. Quistis thought about it for a minute.
- “Do you think it will work?” she asked in disbelief.
- “We might as well try…” said Squall shrugging.
- “Right… I’ll go tell Cid. We’ll contact them and see what happens.”
- “Good. Go now, quick! We need to get out of here before they bring in more forces…”

........................................ ....

- “… And that’s the new plan sir.” explained Quistis to headmaster Cid.
- “I see… Do you think this will work Quistis?” he asked.
- “I don’t know sir… It’s worth a shot. We’re loosing men fast.” said Quistis worriedly.
- “Well then, we’d better get down to work.”

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Quistis ran back to the Quad in a hurry. She found the battle there growing tense. The airborne SeeDs had indeed brought in reinforcements and things weren’t looking too good. Quistis rushed over to Squall and engaged into a fight with one of the two SeeDs he was handling.

- “I need a word.” she said, while grabbing the enemy from the neck with her whip.
- “Shoot.” said Squall, while in battle with another swordsman.
- “We gotta keep it quiet though…” she whispered while walking behind him and sticking her back onto his.
- “I’m listening.” he said still fighting.
- “Your plan is working. We got the OK from Centra. The Galbadians will be faced with a surprise once there… ” whispered Quistis giving a hard kick to her opponent.
- “Good… What next?” he whispered back.
- “In 10’ Cid will make the announcement that the Garden is leaving this place.” whispered Quistis, stopping to fling her whip onto another opponent. “We can’t let the enemy know though, so it will sound kinda like an alarm.”
- “Got it.”
- “Notify the others, I must go spread the word. And make sure you get rid of as many of them as you can before the alarm.” whispered Quistis pushing her way out of the Quad.

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In less than five minutes the whole Garden was aware of the new plan and they all just waited for Cid’s signal. Suddenly the alarm sounded. Balamb Garden, with Nida as its pilot took off. The remaining Galbadian and Centranian soldiers on B-Garden were taken by surprise as they felt the ground shake and the Garden floating up in mid air. Many of them who were about to enter into the front Gate battlefield, found themselves falling right in to the ocean. When the Garden had gained enough height, the front Gate closed, trapping the remaining soldiers. Inside G-Garden, the military superiors were ordering their pilot to follow B-Garden, so as not to lose it from sight, without even discussing the fact to wait for the vessels to arrive from the previous battlefield.

Nida sped up, moving B-Garden as fast as possible to gain time. They soon reached Centra and landed onto the specified location, were the three tribe leaders were waiting, along with their armies. Squall ran out of the Garden first, followed by all five troops.

- “Alright, I want two troops inside the Garden.” said Squall, ordering out assignments. “One to guard the Infirmary and another to patrol around the Garden and handle any infiltrations. In that case, you will contact me or any of the troop leaders IMMEDIATELY. Selphie, you take your troop outside the Infirmary, Xu take yours on the patrol. We may need to switch positions from time to time, keep that in mind. The front Gate will be sealed and will only open in the case of an enemy infiltration, understood? The rest of the troops are to stay out here and handle the main battle along with the Centra army. Everyone head to your positions now!”

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The G-Garden soon found its way to Centra grounds. Once they located B-Garden they landed theirs nearby. The troops from the tri-continental alliance were all ready for an immediate conflict. When the G-Garden gates opened, a sole representative came out and walked towards the gathered forces.

- “Stay back. This could be a set-up.” said Squall to Zell, who was right behind him. He then walked towards the Galbadian representative.
- “I’m here to make you an offer.” said the other soldier to Squall, once they’d approached each other.
- “I’m listening…” said Squall keeping his hand near his gunblade for precaution.
- “All we want is the sorceress. If you agree to let her go, we can avoid any further bloodshed.” said the soldier. Squall felt the blood pumping up hard in his veins from anger, but he didn’t lose his temper. Instead, he played along.
- “What’s in it for us?” he asked.
- “For you? Well, you get to stay alive…” said the soldier with a smirk in his face.
- “How touching…” said Squall.
- “Don’t play smart-ass with me kid. Your options are limited. You either hand us the sorceress, or perish.”
- “Too bad for you then… At least WE have a second option…” said Squall. “The answer is ‘No’.” he added walking away.
- “You’ll be sorry for this…” he shouted back. “You’ll wish you’d surrendered you little b***h before she got what she’s about to!”

At the sound of those words Squall jumped up to the soldier and slashed his gunblade right on the man’s face. The cut made its way all through the soldier’s face and sprayed blood all over. But Squall didn’t stop there. He once again plunged his sword deep into the man’s chest. Blood was trickling in rivulets on his face and with a demented look he spoke:

- “And YOU will wish that this is the least your men will get from me!”

I like this latest chapter, but I do have some criticism.

I would have liked to see you add more detail to the battles. So far, they're pretty plain. Nothing to "wow" me about. Other than the lack of details, nice work.

Wow thats a really great story so far. I cant wait till the rest is finished. Keep up the good work.

Squall and Rinoa, after re-reading the last chapter I saw that you were right. I need to give more details on the battles. I'll try to make the last ones as 'WOW' as possible. ;)

Hunter_Xero thanx for the good comments. :)

Just a tiny one this time, because it didn't seem to fit anywhere else. Promise the next one will be real big though, I need to work on Squall and Rinoa's suggestion on the battles ;)

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Chapter 15

Everyone looked at Squall in awe; no-one had ever seen him like that. As he pulled his gunblade off the man’s chest, a horrible, disgusting sound filled the silent atmosphere. Squall stood there, with his head bent, looking down on his victim. Blood was dripping from his gunblade, sweat was trickling on his face and he was breathing heavily. He felt exhausted. He was already wounded on his left arm, which was bleeding badly and was tiring him as time went by. He had to go on though; he had to be strong for Rinoa, now that she needed him the most. He turned around and faced his army. He walked towards them wearily, with his gunblade hanging limply from his right arm.

- “Everyone get to your positions.” he said. “Be ready to engage in battle any time now.”

His face was pale and he was drenched in sweat. As he took his SeeD uniform jacket off, everyone gasped. His left arm bore a huge gash which was bleeding intensely, making the t-shirt he was wearing underneath his uniform red from blood. He tossed the jacket on the ground and as he did so, he stumbled a bit. He felt really dizzy and tired and his strength was gradually abandoning him. When he stumbled, Zell ran from the back and held him up straight.

- “Squall… Are you alright man?” he asked.
- “I’m fine, I’m fine…” he replied trying to get up.
- “What’s wrong?” asked Quistis who had just come to see what was going on. “Is Squall hurt?”
- “It’s nothing, really… Just a wound on my arm, that’s all. I’ll be fine.”
- “No you won’t!” said Zell with a look of concern.
- “Listen, the battle is about to start, so let me go and get back to your troops.” he ordered.
- “Go see Dr. Kadowaki!” said Zell.
- “There’s no time!” yelled Squall.
- “The least we can do is tie it up.” said Quistis. “Zell, give me his jacket.”
- “Here you go.” Zell said while handing it to her.
- “What are you gonna do with it?” asked Squall.
- “You’ll see…” she said. Quistis took the jacket and started ripping the sleeves off. Once she had taken them off the rest of the garment, she ripped their seams and then tore each one of them in half. When she was finished, she had four long straps of cloth. She wrapped them around Squall’s wound and tied them up tightly. “There…” she said. “That should slow the bleeding down a bit…”
- “Thanks…” mumbled Squall.
- “What’s going on here?” asked Irvine. “I saw you guys from the back and thought I’d come.”
- “Everything’s in order. Go back to your troops. All three of you.” said Squall.
- “Isn’t anyone gonna tell me what happened?” asked Irvine.
- “Come on, Irvine let’s go…” said Quistis pulling him away.

Squall took some time to breathe and calm down, while the sound of Irvine’s complaints on how he was always the ‘fifth wheel of the carriage’ died out. He started thinking of Rinoa, who was still lying unconscious in a chamber inside the Garden. He had to protect her at all cost and somehow bring her back to life. He’d never felt so scared in his life before.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the G-Garden front gate opening. The ground shook as hundreds of soldiers came out of the Garden, fully armed, ready to attack. Squall raised his own gunblade and ran forward, to initiate the battle.

I really want to read the rest of this story...I think its good. So come on and post the rest of it :)

Hey everyone. Sorry it's been so long, but I had to do SO many things... I'm going off to university and I've had so many errands with my new house. Anyway, here's the new chapter, a bit smaller than I thought it would be; sorry :( . Anywayz, the story will be over in a few chapters. Probably three or four. The grand finale is approaching! :) Enough babbling, enjoy!

Chapter 16

- “Shh… don’t worry Rinny… Everything will work out…” whispered Selphie to her. “You try and rest…” she said, as she caressed her hair.

Those were the last words Rinoa heard before drifting to sleep. Hyne knew how much she needed it. Nothing disturbed her, until sometime later at night, she felt Squall creeping onto bed and lying next to her carefully. She pretended to be asleep; she didn’t want any conversation with him nor anyone right now. All she needed to do was sleep…

She wasn’t able to get a peaceful sleep though. The dark presence that had haunted her dreams the past weeks made its appearance yet again. This time, the woman wore a long and impressive red gown, with black feathers on the neck and chest, matching the ones on her winged back. Her extremely long hair shone in their grayish color. Two long strands reached down to her thighs, while the rest were worn in two gravity-defying, horn-like ponytails across the two sides of her head. Her hands were covered in purple gloves, but there was no chance of missing her unnaturally long nails under these. And finally her eyes… Those were the color of flaming red rubies, without any hint of sparkle though, but that of darkness…

The woman floated right onto Rinoa’s bed and tried to grab her hands to pull her up. Rinoa struggled and yelled like a maniac, while shutting her eyes to block away the figure’s sight. She felt being swept off her bed, but she was quite sure that the woman floating in front of her had nothing to do with it. When she opened her eyes again she was inside the infirmary. She was lying on a bed, but she got up to lay her back on the wall, as she heard some people speaking. All of her friends were there. Her beloved Squall, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Quistis, even Seifer. They were all talking to Dr. Kadowaki. Rinoa caught some of the words they were saying.

- “… seems… coma… reacting to environment… dreaming… cannot wake…” she heard the doctor say.

“That’s strange…” she thought. “Haven’t they noticed me?” she wondered. “I’m standing right in front of them! Hey guys…!” she called out. She got onto her knees on the bed and started waving her arms frantically for someone to notice her. “Hello! Earth to you guys! Squall? Zell? Quistis? Someone? Irvine! Selphie! SEIFER!”

- “They won’t listen…” said a voice behind her making her turn around. “… no matter how long you keep calling them…” the voice continued. It was her.
- “What do you want?” asked Rinoa annoyed.
- “Are you done screaming yet?” asked the woman sarcastically. “I’m not here to hurt you, you know…” she said smiling.
- “And how do I know that?” Rinoa asked.
- “You don’t… You’ll just have to take my word for it…” the woman said. There was a long pause.
- “Why can’t they hear me? Or see me?” asked Rinoa, motioning with her head towards her friends.
- “Because you’re in a coma…” the woman replied calmly.
- “What? That’s insane… Why would I be…”
- “Because I wanted you to…” interrupted the woman.
- “Because you wanted me to…” repeated Rinoa in a mocking tone. “And what does that make you? Hyne?” she said with a voice full of irony.
- “No, not Hyne…” she said smiling broadly. “But just about the closest thing to her…”. Rinoa stared at her in disbelief. “I’m a sorceress Rinoa, very much like yourself…” she explained. “A quite powerful one in fact…”
- “Like myself you say…” Rinoa mumbled. “And what’s your name?”
- “ *Sigh* I thought by now you would have recognized me. In fact, I thought you would from the very first moment you saw me…”
- “What’s that supposed to mean?”
- “Isn’t it obvious? Then again, you weren’t one of the three that faced me…”
- “Faced you?”
- “Still you did get a chance to see me…”
- “What are you saying?”
- “If I remember correctly, it was a scarred boy, his blonde hyper friend and that blonde woman…” continued the sorceress without answering Rinoa’s question.
- “WHO ARE YOU?!” yelled Rinoa, losing her patience.
- “I am Ultimecia… The sorceress from the future…”
- “No…” whimpered Rinoa, crawling backwards into the corner of her bed.
- “Yes…”
- “But you… you can’t be alive! You can’t be here! You don’t exist here!”
- “Who said I did?”
- “But then how…”
- “Relax Rinoa… I’m not here to harm you, or anyone.”
- “The what are you doing here?”
- “Me? I’m here merely to observe… Just for a… recollection of memories…”
- “Memories?” asked Rinoa puzzled. But the woman never answered.

Ultimecia walked over to the window and stared outside. Rinoa sighed and rested her eyes upon her comrades. Selphie was crying into Quistis’ shoulder, the latter hugging her and patting her on the back, tears running silently down her face as well. Squall was sitting down on a stool. Dr. Kadowaki was standing right across him, explaining some things about Rinoa’s situation, but he didn’t seem to listen. Irvine and Zell were standing by his sides and were trying to comfort him, both of them looking devastated too. Seifer had leaned onto the wall staring blankly at Rinoa’s bed. Selphie started sobbing even harder, which made Irvine go over to her and take her in his arms. Quistis went over to Seifer, who held her tightly and caressed her hair as she silently wept.

Rinoa got up from bed an walked towards Squall. He had buried his face in his hands and was just sitting there, doing nothing. Not even crying. Rinoa approached him and leaned down to face him, her transparent figure allowing her to pass through the doctor who was sitting there. She reached out for Squall’s hands and touched them. They felt cold, even colder than her own. And then she spoke:

- “Squall? I know you can’t hear me right now, but please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You just take care of yourself. Be careful my love…” she said leaning in and kissing his hands softly. She was quite sure her lips would penetrate his skin just like everything else, but it seemed that she was wrong. Squall jolted up from his seat, looking around anxious.
- “D…did you feel that?” he asked around confused.
- “Feel what, Squall?” asked Zell puzzled.
- “N.. nothing…” he said thinking he was just imagining things.

........................................ ..................

When everyone had left the infirmary, Ultimecia turned to Rinoa.

- “Time to go.” she said
- “Go where?” asked Rinoa.
- “Give me your hand…” said Ultimecia.

Rinoa was reluctant at first, but then gave it to her. Ultimecia took Rinoa’s hand and pulled her close to her. She took her other hand as well and asked Rinoa to close her eyes. Rinoa did as she was told, trembling. Ultimecia moved her hand and with her enormously long nails, she touched Rinoa. Ultimecia put her index and middle finger on each of Rinoa’s eyelids and muttered some scattered words. Then she took those two fingers and ran them down Rinoa’s forehead and nose. That moment, Rinoa felt her consciousness falling behind and her body floating in mid-air.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a strange place. She was standing again on that cliff she’d seen on a previous dream. The environment was dry and unwelcome. It seemed quite familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Then she heard cries. Not cries of terror, nor of pain, but of courage. They were battle cries. Suddenly, she looked down and saw Squall running forward to three Galbadian soldiers, while a girl in white was laying on the grass behind him. Squall raised his gunblade to attack, but he wasn’t quick enough. One of the soldiers raised his shotgun and aimed right at Squall’s torso.

!BANG!

The bullet went right through his body, throwing him motionless on the ground.


Rinoa felt the world slipping under her feet; literally. Everything started dissolving. The ground, the sky, the grass, the trees… all of them twirled around in a whirlpool which was dragging her as well. Her love was gone, he had been shot. He might as well be dead by now and there was nothing she could do about it. And then she screamed.

- “SQUALL! NO! NOOOOOO!!!!!”


She woke up, screaming her lung out. She was drenched in sweat and felt terribly dizzy. She looked around and found herself in the Infirmary room. She felt more puzzled than she’d ever been in her entire life.

- “What’s going on?!” she screamed. “AM I GOING CRAZY?!”


She looked at her clothes. She was wearing a white Infirmary robe. It reminded her of something, but what? And then she knew. A memory from a previous dream. (NOTE: If you can’t remember what that dream was about, check Chapter 7) The dreams. They were all just a warning. They were the future. The future? Squall would die in the future? The future… She still had time to change things! She had to warn him, save him! Rinoa jumped up from bed and ran to the door. Just then, she met up with Selphie.

- “RINOA! You… you’re awake! I heard screams and…” said Selphie confused, grabbing Rinoa from the shoulders to make sure it was really her.
- “Selphie let go! I have to go! I have to warn Squall!” yelled Rinoa, trying to break free for her friend’s grip.
- “Warn Squall, what are you talking about?”
- “Just let go! There’s not much time left!” she insisted.
- “Time? Rinoa are you alright? Did you have a nightmare again? I’ll go get the doctor. You stay…”
- “You don’t understand!” struggled Rinoa “I have to go!”
- “I can’t let you go! The Galbadians will get you the moment you take a toe out of here!”
- “LET - ME - GO!” yelled Rinoa, pushing Selphie as hard as she could.


Selphie fell on the floor and Rinoa stormed out of the room. She ran as fast as she could, pushing aside anyone who came in her way. She had to make it, she had to warn Squall…

Again, another job well done. I like the latest chapter you have shared. Interesting as Rinoa switches back and forth from place to place, sanity, to insanity, and consciousness to unconsciousness. Nice work.

Hey, I just came in to inform you guys that it will be a while before I update again. I'm moving in a week and I've got tons of packing, shopping and cleaning up to do! But I WILL update. In two weeks or so. Thanx to anyone who's been supporting me all this time and especially Squall and Rinoa who was my first reviewer. See you guys again in a while!