As Darkness Falls

by Marty78

Squall never made it back from time compression. Behind, he let a suicidal Rinoa. How will she deal with his death? One shot Revised

As Darkness Falls

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of FF8

Character cannot be developed in ease and comfort. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
Helen Keller

Moonlight reflected off the polished metal as Rinoa fingered the edge of the sharpened blade. A slight breeze ruffled her hair as the flimsy curtains of her room flew open. She turned her head slightly, as if trying to listen to somebody. Holding the knife tightly, she walked over to the window and looked at the water below.

"Squall," She whispered hoarsely, "Squall, is that you?"

She staggered back a few steps, suddenly hit by a wave of memories. "I guess not." After all, he was dead.

Dead. A word she should have come to know and understand, but couldn't face. He couldn't be dead. He was above death. Her grip tightened on the knife and she remembered what she came to his room to do.

With one swift, concise movement, she brought the teeth of the knife over her wrist, not flinching when they bit into her flesh. She inhaled slightly as the first drops of blood appeared on her creamy flesh, and exhaled as they fell to the white carpet.

Like red tears they fell. Her skin cried as she knew her eyes couldn't. Over and over again she drew the blade against her arm, drawing out her life blood, finding a strange satisfaction in the pain she caused her physical being. Pain that couldn't rival the emotional scaring she had undergone.

Again, she heard a voice coming from the window. She dropped the knife and ran to see if her lover really was dancing on the water below Garden. Her nose was filled with his musky sent, her mouth with his taste and her ears with his melodious voice.

He was there, right below her window. He raised one arm to beckon to her, but was stopped by an unseen being. Rinoa leaned against the window, trying to peer into the darkness and find what was hindering her love, but she saw no one.

She swung her legs over the window sill and sat, perched precariously on the edge of death. Her blood ran down her arm and dropped slowly into the deep water below her. With a deep breath, she leaned forward. . .

Almost a year ago

She shivered slightly and tried to pull down her dress. Glancing across the room, she saw Cid engaged in a conversation. She would have to wait to speak to him about the Forest Owls. Looking up she saw a shooting star.

Looking back down, she noticed a boy standing on the opposite side of the dance floor, staring at her.

Damn, he's kind of hot. Why is he looking at me like that?

Rinoa smiled and pointed up to the night sky, indicating where the star had been. He shrugged his shoulders, obviously not caring.

Shit. Maybe he's gay? I'll just go and ask him to dance. What's the worst he can do, say no?

Rinoa gathered her courage and walked over to where Squall was leaning against the wall. His aurora clearly told her to back off, but she couldn't bring herself to leaving him. It was like his 'field' was holding her in his orbit.

"You're the best looking guy here. Dance with me?" Rinoa almost groaned at how stupid that sounded.

Why didn't I just strip, throw myself on the floor and yell 'Do me!' At least that would have been more interesting.

Squall shrugged his shoulders, not really responding to her question. He looked at the ground, refusing to meet her eye. This was a tried and true method. When you have a person who won't go away, ignore them. It always worked on Quistis.

Growing nervous, Rinoa decided to make a bolder move. "Let me guess...You'll only dance with someone you like. Ok then... Look into my eyes..."

She swirled her fingers in front of Squall's face chanting, "You're-going- to-like me...You're-going-to-like-me..." She looked up. "Did it work?"

Hypnosis. Great. Now he's going to think you're a psycho. Nice work Heatilly.

Squall rolled his eyes."...I can't dance."

Yeah, right. Like I haven't heard that one before. You're gonna dance pretty boy, and you're gonna dance with me.

"You'll be fine. Come on. I'm looking for someone. I can't be on the dance floor alone." She grabbed onto his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor.

Fast-forward three months

The night if the big concert was cold, but the girls (and Irvine) had insisted that Rinoa wear her short white dress. She greated Squall and hurried to the center of Fisherman's Horizon. They found the area Irvine had specified easily, even without the 'naughty magazine'.

Squall started off the evening in typical Squall fashion, cold and unreachable "You wanted to talk about something, right? What is it?"

Deep breaths, Rinoa, deep breaths.

"Umm...well it's about your promotion. Things are gonna get real tough for you, huh?"

Squall remained silent, looking down over Fisherman's Horizon. Rinoa doubted he heard anything she said. "Squall, I'm sure there'll be a lot of difficult things that you'll have to deal with from now on. We were talking about that, and saying how you'll probably try to handle everything on your own."

Damnit, he isn't saying anything. Bring him back in, or you'll loose him forever. "They know you too well. I do, too, although I haven't been around you that long."

Squall frowned and shook his head. Rinoa smiled slightly. "Y'know, when you start thinking, you tend to frown like this."

She leaned forward at the same time as Squall and put her hand on her forehead. Squall looked up at her, and then tried to knock her back with his hand. Rinoa performed a backroll and stood up. She began to laugh.

Squall stood up angrily. "I'm out of here."

No, no! He can't leave! Apologize! "Oh come on! I'm sorry! But really, we were saying that...well... You can't handle everything on your own."

Divide and Conquer.

She pushed Squall of the platform. He landed on the solar panel, on his feet. Rinoa jumped down after him.

Squall glared at her and growled. His eyes lit up with the fury of a smoldering flame.

SCORE!

"That's it! Just let out anything! Anything..."

He isn't saying anything. . . But that's not really unusual.

"We want you to talk to us a little more. That's all. Y'know, if there's anything you want to tell us, or anything we can do, don't hesitate to let us know. I know it's not easy but I wish you would trust us and rely on us a little more."

Squall looked down at his feet and refused to say anything.

Rinoa looks into his eyes and shivers at what she 'hears'.

(Am I that untrusting...? Maybe I'm this way because I'm scared.) (Nothing lasts in this world.) (It feels great to have friends who believe in you, and adults you can rely on.) (That's why it's so dangerous, especially if you become used to it.) (Someday you're bound to lose everything. Everybody around you will be gone.) (Then what are you left with? Nothing. Nobody...It's so miserable.) (And it's inevitable. It's so hard to recover from something like that.) (I never ever want to deal with that again. I can't. Even if it means being alone...)

Fast-forward another six months

I'll be waiting here. . .

Why. . .?

I'll be 'waiting' . . . here . . .

For what?

I'll be waiting . . . for you . . . so . . .

If you come here . . .

You'll find me.

I promise.

Last week

But he wasn't there. He hadn't shown up where they had promised, so Rinoa want searching. The lower field was vast, but in her frantic search, she covered it in a matter of minutes.

Her heart cried out for him, trying to bring him to her. No matter how loud she screamed or how hard she wished, he wouldn't appear.

She fell to the floor in defeat. Curling up into a ball, she sobbed hopelessly. She felt a tingle in her foot, so she stood up to shake it off. The tingle didn't leave; however, it spread up her body.

The air around her shimmered and she found herself in a dark, cold 'existence'. The air on all sides of her was gloomy and sinister. She took a deep breath and began walking forward.

When she found him, he was spread out on the hard ground, neither moving nor breathing. She collapsed at his side and pulled his head into her lap.

Why didn't he come? Did he doubt my love for him?

She whispered his name, but he still didn't stir. She felt like someone had stabbed her stomach with a fork and pulled her guts out.

Did he doubt our love for each other?

Her tears fell to the ground and the flower field sprung up around them.

Earlier this evening

Cid threw a party for all the students at garden to celebrate the defeat of the 'evil' sorceress. Squall was to 'honored' the next day, But Rinoa didn't plan on going. She stood on the balcony, watching for a shooting star.

One shot across the sky. Rinoa smiled brightly and pointed up at the sky, turning to the empty space beside her.

Do you see it Squall? It's just like the one we saw the day we met. You remember? When you said you couldn't dance?

They look so small sown here. Remember when you saved me from dying in space. We were right up there with the stars. Remember?

'Squall' smiled back at Rinoa and grabbed onto her arm. Holding onto her tightly, he kissed her passionately.

"Rinoa?"

Rinoa broke away from Squall to see Selphie standing in the doorway. Breathing hard, Rinoa gripped the balcony rail and stared out over the water.

Selphie smiled timidly as she stepped closer to her friend. "Are you ok? I know it's hard, we all are going to miss him, but. . ."

Rinoa let out a small moan and ran past Selphie.

He isn't dead. He isn't. I just kissed him. He kissed me. Dead people don't have relationships. No. . . . He can't be dead. He promised!

She ran to Squall's room, only stopping to grab a knife from her room. She had to make this pain stop. It wanted out and she planned to let it free, the only way she knew how.

The room was dark, but Rinoa decided to leave the light off. She sat in the middle of the room, holding on to the knife with a death grip. Then she heard his voice, calling out to her.

"Squall," she hoarsely whispered, "Squall, is that you?"

If you come here, you'll find me. I promise.

Present time

She leaned forward and was pulled back roughly by Seifer.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He whispered harshly in her face. Rinoa didn't let it bother her. She smiled at him and in a sing-song voice said, "I'm going to go meet Squall. He's down there. He promised he would be."

Seifer tightened his grip on her shoulders, the pain evident in his eyes. "Rin, Squall is dead. He never made it back from time compression." He moved his hands down her arms, stopping when he felt the sticky redness of her blood. "Hyne, Rin. What did you do?"

She grinned at him. "I was crying. People cry when the one they love break promises, don't they?"

Seifer cursed loudly. "I'm going to call Selphie. You stay right here. Don't move." He spoke slowly and deliberately, not moving until Rinoa nodded her consent.

He picked up the offending knife and walked over to Squall's phone. "Selphie, I found her. She was in Squall's room. Yeah know. She's in worse shape then we thought."

Rinoa glanced at Seifer, and then made her way to the window once again. I promised him. I have to meet him. I have to see Squall.

When she reached the window, she looked down at the water, trying to spot Squall. Sure enough, he was still there, standing on the water. He opened his mouth to speak, but was attack from behind by a red demon.

Rinoa let out a strangled cry as she jumped out the window to rescue her lover. Seifer hung up the time in time to see Rinoa jump.

"Fuck!" he yelled, as he jumped for the window. He managed to catch a final glimpse of her as Rinoa's figure disappear beneath the murky water.

The next day

Squall's funeral was a somber occasion, for the few survivors of the sorceress war were mourning two friends.

Flags flew high and birds soared over the garden. As per SeeD regulations, Squalls body was cremated and his ashes spread over the ocean.

Rinoa, too, was being honored, though her body could not be retrieved from the dark waters beneath the garden.

Selphie held on tight to Seifer, sobbing hysterically. Seifer stood as stiff as ever, unemotional. Irvine and Zell stood on the other side of the small balcony that the proceedings were taking place. Both of them felt that Rinoa's death was Seifer's fault.

Tears in her eyes, Selphie pulled Seifer over to where Zell and Irvine stood. Like a wounded puppy dog, she looked at her friends. "Do you think. . . they're together again?"

Irvine smiled at her. "I hope so, Selp. I hope so."

Every story has a beginning and an end. None of the people present would have thought their stories would have ended as such.

I'm here Squall. I came.

You said you'd be here and you are.

Just like you promised.

They said you would never come, but I knew better.

I love you Squall.

Now we can live together among the stars . . .