**Two Years Later**

The feelings that were boiling up inside me were astounding. I couldn't think straight, and I couldn't even walk properly. Even if it was only for a split second, my mind couldn't react to what was going on around me. I had seen her. For the first time in two years, I had seen her. And I couldn't respond. She was right in front of me, sitting on a bench, looking plenty content just reading the paper. I blinked, and she was gone.

I took a step towards the bench that used to occupy the girl I knew. I kept placing one foot in front of the other until I reached the hard oak. I ran my fingertips slowly across the smooth grained texture.

My mind searched for some explanation to what I had just seen. … Is my mind playing tricks on me…?

I breathed in the icy air and felt a shiver go down my spine. Was that really Rinoa…? I glanced around, watching the people pass right by me, acting as if I didn't even exist. I decided to head in the direction that my mind lead me to believe was her former path.

After an hour of aimless searching, I decided to call it quits. Rinoa was in Timber, not in Esthar. I had seldom heard from her, the last time she placed a call to my house was to congratulate my father on yet another four years of presidency.

The year after Rinoa and I broke up, my father invited me to come stay with him at the Presidential Palace. Zell and Irvine both thought it would be a good idea for me to start treating Laguna like my father. Obviously, I accepted his offer. Now things between Laguna and I couldn't be better. We were finally reunited as father and son, and after he had explained the situation he was in during my younger years, I had forgiven him. I was happy for once.

Today is an exception. I had seen her.

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and decided to head home. Things weren't going well for me at the moment, I was beginning to have delusions and plus I started to think I was getting frostbite. Well, that's only normal since it is winter.

I turned my head to look up at the clear December sky. A flash of light shot across the sky at speeds I couldn't even imagine. A shooting star… Rinoa and I had met because of a shooting star. Is this… a sign? I shook my head quickly, dismissing any thought I had come across.

"Squall, glad to see you!" my father chimed from the entryway. Laguna was resting peacefully on the grand staircase, with his legs sprawled out and his arms dangling loosely on the carpeted steps.

I handed my coat to the butler and sat down on the stairs with my dad. "Yeah, and why is that?" I said melancholy.

Laguna rubbed his head, "You see, Squall… I just got a call from one of your friends."

"Zell?"

The president looked at me. "Nope. Keep guessing!" he said cheerfully. 

I sighed. I hated these guessing games he made me play, he was like an over achieving two year old. "Irvine?" I said, quietly.

He slid his fingers along the stubble of his chin. "Nah, keep at it! You're getting warmer."

I kept rubbing my hands together to try and heat them up, after being out in the cold for so long, it takes a while for your hands to get—well, not blue. "Selphie?"

He shook his head. I looked down at a maid passing by. Dad… you are just moronic sometimes, I have no idea how any person in this free world would elect you president for a second time…

I chuckled at my next guess, "Quistis?" Yeah, right. Quistis never uses the phone, even if it's necessary. She'd rather go 'see' the person. I must admit though, she does use the phone on occasion, like the time I got my forehead slashed by Seifer.

"Not even close!"

I knew it. But wait, no one was left. I raised my eyebrows and turned to my dad. "Um, dad…" I still had trouble calling him that. But, I was getting used to it. "There's no one left," I replied wearily.

Laguna blinked, "Oh! You must have guessed it already!!" he laughed nervously.

I growled into my hands. I swear…

"Repeat who you named again. I'll double check." He said with a bright smile on his face. Ack! How can he be so cheerful all of the time!? I stared at him, blankly.

"Uh, Zell."

"No, no, wasn't him."

"Irvine, Quistis, and Selphie. Take your pick," I kept my eyes on him, almost wanting to choke him if he asked me to repeat them a third time.

"Well, it wasn't any of those people. Do you have any other close friends?" he enquired.

Okay, that was it. I had enough. There was no one else! How was I supposed to— "Rinoa…?" I swallowed the words back into my throat.

He perked up, "Yes, I believe that was the one!!"

I hesitated. Wait… Why would she be calling? She hasn't called me for six months… "Did she leave a number?" I asked quickly.

"Yep! I wrote it down by the lobby phone." This was the first time ever that I just wanted to scream at my dad, 'you're the best dad in the world!' Well, besides the fact that I had a huge urge to strangle him after making me play the 'guessing game', when he could have just told me.

I ran quickly to the lobby and halted in front of the phone. My eyes quickly darted over the table that held the phone. There was no slip of paper anywhere to be found. Damn…

"Dad!!" I called from the lobby. Laguna came skipping in, which acted too much like Selphie, thus it scared the living hell out of me. I pointed at the table, "Where did you write it down at?" I glanced over the table one more time to make sure I didn't miss anything.

He trotted over to the phone and looked over my shoulder. "Hmm… I could have sworn I wrote it down…"

I slapped my hand to my forehead and plopped myself down on the couch. "Why do you always lose things!?"

Laguna played with his shirt, a habit he always seemed to do when he was nervous. "I- But, I could have sworn… Squall, I'm sorry, I must have lost it." He replied, staring at the phone.

I stood up and waved my hand to catch his attention. "Don't worry about it…"

He nodded and plastered his goofy grin back onto his face. "Well, I have some work to do!! I better head on up to my office. Oh, and Squall… I believe there's something waiting for you outside."

My face must have looked distorted because he giggled. Yeah, he giggled. Amazing that he's my father, isn't it? I watched him begin his journey up the staircase, before I turned and headed outside.

The sight awaiting me outside did surprise me. In fact, I think I actually smiled. Genuinely smiled. Can you guess what it is? No, I'm just joking. You don't have to guess, I wouldn't put you through the misery my father does everyday with the 'guessing game'.

It was a car.

That's right. A car. I had to give a lot of credit to my father, this was a sports car and I'm sure it cost him a pretty penny. I had never owned a car before because of my ex-position in SeeD. But now that I'm out of that job, I can finally own my own car. Thanks to my father. Isn't he a great dad? I think so.

I ran happily over to my brand new car. I was beginning to remind myself of my father. It scared me sometimes. I shuddered quickly as I approached the car; just the thought of me acting like my father gives me the creeps.

I scanned over the metallic black of my car. The top was down, which I'd have to kill my father for because, number one: It was snowing, and number two: It was winter, and finally number three: It was snowing. But the killing can wait till later. I must worship my new car first.

I reached for the door handle when I heard a call from the entrance of the palace. I turned quickly in the direction of the voice. An older man, I'd say about in his 50's, came running toward me at full force. I jumped back against the car, setting off an alarm. I swallowed hard. Good thinking, dad… Turn the alarm on when it's your own son's car, but leave the top down. Freaking moron… Mental note to kill my father later…

The man scooted to a stop in front of me and bent over, gasping for air. All he got though was freezing cold air, so he ended up coughing instead of regaining his breath. His voice came out raspy, but clear enough to where I could hear. "Wh-what are you doing to my car?!!" he screamed.

I grimaced, "Your car!? This is your car?!!" I was blushing, but the cold of the air was covering my red cheeks.

The old man coughed under his breath and quickly put his hand over his mouth. "Yes, you dumb-ass! Whose else would this be?!"

"Uh, mine," I responded smartly.

"I don't think so, kiddo!! This is my car, would you like me to show you the title?!"

My father came running out of the house, probably hearing the screams and shouts of the old man and I. His hands were waving about in the air and his feet were scratching along the ground as he was running. "Squall, stop!!"

I didn't know what I was supposed to stop, but I just stood there. The old man watched in humor as Laguna came racing along the concrete. After he had caught his breath, Laguna stared at me.

"What are you doing to this man's car?!" he squeaked.

My jaw dropped, "What?! You're serious, this is his car?"

The old man crawled into his car and shut the door. He quickly started the engine, "No, it belongs to the fairies!! Yes, you bonehead, this is my car!" he said through roaring his engine.

He zoomed off, leaving my father and I alone in the falling snow. I gritted my teeth, "I thought that was the 'surprise', father…" I said harshly.

My dad inched back. "N-no, your surprise is right over here…" he lead me down the through the front yard and into the back. He proudly held out his hands to a go-kart. "This is your surprise! Isn't it so much better than a car?"

I glared at the go-kart, turned on my heel and stormed into the house.

Tick… Tock… Tick… Tock… I must have heard that sound for a good four hours before I came out of my room, cooled off. I still had my fists clenched however, so I could punch someone if they even began to ask what was wrong. My feet found their way down the stairs and into the darkness of the palace. I had a pretty good idea where the light switch was, so I guessed my way there. I clicked on the switch and let my eyes readjust to the newfound lighting.

Into the kitchen I went and discovered Ms. Payton, our cook. She was already up, preparing the next mornings breakfast. I tapped my fingers along the counter and waited for her to realize I was in the room with her.

She silently set the spatula down and cocked her head to look at me. "Mr. Leonhart, what are you doing up this late?"

"I should ask you the same question…" I said as I raided the fridge for a midnight snack.

Ms. Payton took back to her eggs, "Well, I have to prepare breakfast."

I nodded and took out some bread and turkey slices. "Oh, by the way, please call me Squall. I feel much more human that way, I'm not a king or a congressman after all." I took a bite into my turkey sandwich.

She laughed, "Of course, Squall. And please refer to me as Melinda."

"Will do. Anyway, why do you always get up this early to prepare breakfast when you can prepare it in the morning?"

"So I can sleep in," she stated simply.

"Oh." And that was all of that conversation. I finished off my turkey sandwich and tried to remain halfway comfortable through the silence that was partaking between us. I waved a small goodbye to Melinda and turned into the living room.

I seated myself on the large couch and laid back, thoroughly relaxed. I swapped up the remote and clicked on the TV. Fifteen minutes of a musical can get annoying, so I rolled over a few channels and found a nice soap opera. Nope… But soon things began to get interesting on that soap opera. Some man got a girl pregnant, but the girl was already married to her father's, aunt's cousin… Or something on that order…

The bright colors of the woman on the TV's red hair dye reflected off the walls and a small shred of something glowed for a tiny TV moment. It caught my eye quickly and I sat up. I noticed it was a piece of paper. My curiosity got the best of me and I stood up and wandered over to the attractive paper.

A few small scribbles were on it, when I bent closer to take a look, numbers started to pop out at me. I picked up the paper in my fingers and my eyes widened. Is this… Rinoa's number?! Oh, hyne… Please let it be!!

I began to pick up the phone when I stopped myself. It's too late… I decided to call the number tomorrow and take my chances that it was Rinoa's.

A/N: Well, what did you guys think of the first chapter? I know it's boring, but it'll get better. I hope… Anyway, please review, I'd really like to see a lot of reviews because support keeps me going. Uh, yeah… enough of that sentimental stuff, please review!

--Realm Recker