Deepest Emotions; Chapter One

Memories of Summer's Past

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story (though I love Rinoa a lot!)

As Rinoa Heartilly stood on the beach, the wind blowing through her long, dark hair, she wondered what her summer would be like this year. Something always happened; no doubt about it. Every year, she went to new places, met new people, and, last year, she had even gotten a boyfriend.

'Some boyfriend...' she scoffed to herself, remembering that dreaded sumer last year with Seifer.

Seifer Almasy was a hot-headed, stuck up, asshole. As far as Rinoa was concerned, every dictionary in print should have Seifer's name used for every insult known to man. He had seemed like a confident, amazing person; hell, she had thought him as hot, but, as she learned quickly, looks aren't everything.

Rinoa had been on vacation in a cabin in the woods, yet another property her father owned. There were a couple other cabins nearby; about a mile between the three of them total, and everyone who occupied the cabins liked walking the distance through the brush and trees to visit their neighbors. One of the cabins, of course, was owned by a wealthy man who had a son around Rinoa's age.

Everyone who owned property in the area vacationed at the exact same time. Whether it was considered safer, or they just enjoyed the small parties they could throw, it was almost an unspoken rule. But, that year was the first year Seifer decided to use the cabin, since his father would be on a trip for buisiness. So, when the first barbeque was being thrown, he went, not knowing anyone. And Rinoa, always polite and kind, walked up to the new person, and introduced herself, offering to show him around.

The first few nights were nice. They spent the day venturing out into the woods, and they spent the nights on the lake, looking out over the water, or up in the sky, talking. On the third day, Seifer kissed her. After the first week, he visited her cabin when everyone else was asleep. The second week, she would visit him. At first, everything seemed so wonderful to Rinoa. She thought maybe she was even in love. All she seemed to think about was Seifer.

One night, after almost a month, something seemed to change about Seifer. It was so odd to her; something was different, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what it was. Something about the way he held her now, the way her talked to her, some of the things he said, something about the way he kissed her now. His kisses used to be soft, sweet, and gentle, but now they were harsh, and he grabbed her to roughly, holding her so tightly, she felt trapped.

She didn't finally admit to herself that he was bad news until one of the last nights that she was on vacation. She had gone out into the woods alone for a bit, and was heading back when she heard giggling in the distance. Something about the laughter suggested something was going on.

'Someone's having a little fun before they go home.' she thought, smirking wickedly, deciding that she wanted to take a peek and possibly embarrass someone. So, she quietly crept up on the site.

The laughter sounded more and more intimate as she came closer. Whoever it was hid behind bushes, so they wouldn't be so easily discovered. Rinoa grinned as she came closer.

'Perfect!' she thought, certain she was going to catch a couple of adults trying to rekindle the romance in their relationship. When she looked on the other side of the bushes, she almost screamed in pain.

Seifer was with another girl.

The fact that the girl was shirtless, and Seifer was groping around for the catch on her bra didn't help, either. They were a tangled mess on the ground; and, despite the fact that it didn't seem like they had gotten very far yet, it was already too much for Rinoa to bear.

As she backed away, trying not to make any noise at all, she fell back. Hot tears stung her eyes, and she continued backing up, on her hands and feet.

'That fucking bastard!' she thought angrily, hurt deeply. 'How could he? How could he! I thought he loved me...I THOUGHT HE LOVED ME!'

For a moment, she stopped crawling, and sat on the ground, trying to calm down. Her tears slowed, and her face began to dry at last. When the wave of pain had dissipated, she got up on her feet once more, and ran back to her cabin, packing her suitcase.

The next morning, at dawn, Rinoa began packing her things in her car. She wanted to get out before she had to see Seifer again. Anything to avoid seeing him again, to avoid hearing his voice again, to avoid the look in his eyes, to avoid the feeling of pain, to avoid wanting him to hold her again, and pretend nothing had happened the night before.

Too late for Rinoa; Seifer suddenly walked up to her cabin. He had a confused look on his face, but he still seemed quite smug. Rinoa glanced briefly; not feeling hurt, not wanting him back, but wanting to smash his face in. She rolled her eyes as she stuffed another bag in the trunk, thinking of that look.

'Of course you're looking smug this morning,' she thought. 'It's because you fucked some whore last night.'

Seifer came closer to her, reaching out to her. " Hey, Rinoa..." he asked, smirking. " Why are you packing everything up so early?" He started to put his arms around her. Rinoa pushed his arms away.

Confused, Seifer tried again. " You feeling okay, hun?" he asked, trying to nuzzle her neck.

This time, Rinoa slapped his hands, pulling them off of her. She avoided looking at him still; no sense in getting overly worked up.

Now Seifer was mad. " What's your problem!" he asked, stepping in front of her to look in her eyes.

" Oh, nothing, nothing at all." Rinoa replied cooly. " Did you sleep well last night?"

Seifer did his best to hold back a huge grin. " Oh, I slept okay," he replied smoothly. " Though," he added, his voice rumbling lowly, " It would have been even better if you had been there with me." He winked at her.

Now Rinoa glared at him. " Yeah, what a shame..." she replied. " I'm sure the bitch you had with you was a hell of a lot better, huh!"

Seifer suddenly became red faced and nervous. " Who!" he asked, stammering. " Wha-wha-I have no idea what you're talking about, uh, uh, uh..."

" Rinoa." she finished for him. " Of course, that's probably not the name you were calling last night in that fit of 'passion' you had, if that's what you want to call your boner. Now," she finished off emptily, " If you'll excuse me, I have a few more bags to pack before I can get out of here, and I have a lot of places to be, and certain times I have to arrive there." She walked around the man, whom was extremely dumbfounded, and, going inside the cabin, grabbed her last two bags. Wakling past him once more, she put the bags in her car, closed the door, and got inside the driver's side. Turning the key in the ignition, she prepared to drive off. Pausing slightly for a moment, she rolled down the window.

" Goodbye, Seifer." she said iciily. " Have a nice life."

With those words, she drove off, leaving Seifer in his own shame and anguish, as well as confusion.

That was the last time she had seen Seifer; she had heard things here and there about him. It was mostly about his family, usually his father in particular, but once in a while, Seifer would do something that the papers would bring up. For instance, the newest piece of news was about the toast he gave at his father's 45th birthday party. The press called it a very 'respectful, beautiful, and touching speech', unlike that they had ever heard an nineteen year old give.

When Rinoa read the article, she rolled her eyes.

'Pfft.' she thought. 'I'm a year younger than him, and I'll bet my toast to my father was even better than his!'

The sad part about that opinion, however, was that Rinoa hadn't toasted to her father since she was fourteen. Of course, as far as she was concerned, she hadn't given a very good toast, being that was four years earlier, and she didn't really get along well with her father.

Rinoa sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, enjoying the wonderful ocean breeze. She shivered slightly; it felt like the temperature was dropping. She opened her eyes, and noticed storm clouds coming. Sighing, she went inside the house before it began to rain.

Author's Note: I hope this chapter isn't too weird; I haven't written in quite a while now. I'm worried I may have lost my touch...

For anyone and everyone who has followed my work: I hope you're following this as well, and I hope I don't disappoint.

For all who are new to my work: I hope you like this story, and if you want to see what I've done in the past, I have two fanfics, so feel free to check my profile, and take a peek at my previous work.

Love, TrinForever a.k.a. Viviya

P.S. For all you Squall fans (and any of the other characters on FF8) hang on, I'm gonna be adding everyone in as the story continues.