Summary: AU! What if Squall and Rinoa had fallen in love before the game even started? Will the bonds of love last through this rough adventure or will they fall prey to the hands of loneliness and despair... RinoaxSquallxQuistis
A/n: I already have a couple in mind for the ending... but I still want your opinion on who Squall should end up with! I'll change the story based on the 'votes' I get... Now! No more stalling! On with the show!
~* When the Sky is High *~
~ Chapter 1: Draw Your Own Scars: This Mortal Scar Runs Deep ~
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Rinoa tapped her pencil in a rhythmic pattern against her desk as she thought about a topic for her paper. Her head was held in her other hand as she tapped her fingers against her face. Her room was bright with sun light from the window of her room, the only artificial light in her room was the lamp on her desk that shown brightly onto her blank binder paper.
She sighed, annoyed at the fact that there wasn't a good topic lurking anywhere in her head. "Think Rinoa, think!" She commanded bonking her head with the pencil a few times. She stopped and dropped the pencil on the desk, picked it up, and dropped it again. "Dammit..." She cursed. "My mind is so out of whack today... I'm even talking to myself!" She exclaimed, frustrated. "Need to purge my mind of all unnecessary thoughts and ideas..." She massaged her temples lightly but stopped quickly. "Squall!" She exclaimed with a bright smile. She stood in a rush and walked out the door. "Squall will help me!" She exclaimed once more as people around looked at her funny. "Gotta stop talking to myself..." She whispered as she blushed furiously. She picked her speed walk up and into a run.
*
"What the hell did you call me out here for?" Squall asked, unsheathing his gunblade, sensing hostility from Seifer, the man who had led him out here. Seifer smiled politely and placed one foot forward on the gravel like terrain. The sky was dark and clouds filled the atmosphere, a stark contrast from the sunny day they were having earlier.
"Just a friendly... umm... 'study session' before our big final." Seifer told him, placing his gunblade's tip to the ground.
"I doubt that." Squall said under his breath as he cracked his knuckles, prepping himself for the battle ahead.
"We need all the practice we can get, right?" He reminded him with a smirk.
"I don't need anymore." Squall told him wanting to leave, badly.
"Yes you do. Nobody is perfect." Seifer told him as he grabbed the hilt of his gunblade, ready to start the long over do duel.
"I don't need to be perfect." Squall told him.
"Nobody does... You don't want to fight I see." Seifer began, scratching his chin. He eyed Squall for a second who picked up his gunblade and pointed it at him, ready. Seifer smiled and held his gunblade in front of him, ready as well. "Finally." He said with a smile.
*
Quistis sat in her classroom, grading her student's papers. There were hundreds of papers stock piled at her desk, taunting her. She had a long way to go, but she had a long time to do them, so time was on her side. Her eyes scanned back and forth between her answer key and one of her student's paper. Correct, correct, correct, miss, correct, miss, miss, miss. She checked the 'misses' with her red pen and put tiny red dots next to the correct answers.
She was about to move on to another paper until the door swung open and in came a trio of students. They were her fans, or Trepies as the staff called them. While there were alot more than three, these particular ones seem to be the most devoted of them.
"Yes?" Quistis began. "Can I help you?" She asked politely, even though she really didn't want to be interrupted.
"Uhhh... Ms. Trepe, can you come to the training center with us?" The female student asked, bashfully.
"Is it to scary?" Quistis joked. The three laughed at her joke, even if it did poke fun at them. All in good fun they must have figured.
"Oh no, not that at all! We just need some tips on some of the most effective kill strategies... you know, tutoring for our final." The girl told her with a smile on her face, feeling more comfortable.
"Of course." Quistis told her with a smile. The three high-fived each other and the four walked out of the classroom and to the training center.
*
'A good topic... a good topic...' Rinoa repeated silently in her mind as she lied back on the grass in the middle of the Balamb Plains. The sky was dark and dismal. Clouds were high over head but the temperature was fine, not cold as it might had seemed. 'There are no good topics...' She finally justified silently as she sat up. 'I wonder if I can just not do this assignment... wonder what my grade would be?' She asked herself, beginning to stand. 'What are you saying Rinoa!? If I do do that, I'll walk in and I'll be the only one without a paper and then Squall will be like 'You didn't bring one!' and I'll be like 'I hate myself' and then Quistis will say 'I hate you too' and then she'll kick me! Okay... maybe that won't happen, but something close.'
She was about to walk back to Garden until a bright flash of light erupted from the other side of a nearby hill. A curious look replaced her previously stressed expression as she walked for the hill, wondering what had happened. She had figured it was lightning considering the sky, but there was no thunder following it. She reached the top of the hill to find what her next, and most dreaded, thought was... Squall and Seifer brawling.
... Seifer fired a fireball at Squall who skillfully deflected it with his blade.
"God you're annoying!" Seifer complained, clenching his teeth in anger. He picked up his gunblade in both hands and prepped himself again.
"Then why are you fighting me!?" Squall exclaimed as he dove behind a near by rock and began to load his weapon full of his best ammunition.
"'Cause I want to train! I already told you that. Now come out!" Seifer yelled. "... Or I'll blast that rock to pieces!" He threatened aiming his hand to the rock and charging a powerful fire attack.
"I know you don't want to train! You want to see me dead on the ground!" Squall yelled back. He stood up, jumped over the rock and lunged at his foe. They clashed swords.
"Dammit, you worthless piece of trash..." Seifer snarled under his breath, they pushed off of each other. "But of course I would like to see you dead!" Seifer said with a deep laugh. "I'd eat you if I had the chance. I'd tear your heart out and eat it!" Seifer said, licking his lips in an exagerated way.
"You're disgusting..." Squall whispered, prepping himself once more. He ran to Seifer and they clashed swords once again.
"Did you know I'm a magician?" Seifer asked, a smirk on his dirty face. "I can pull things from mid-air..." He said with the tiniest whisper as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun and pointed to Squall's chest, unbeknownst to Squall.
"SQUALL!!" Rinoa screamed at the top of her lungs as she came running down the hill. "He's got a gun!" She screamed once more. Squall turned to her confused, but heard her warning and pushed off of him and to the side. The gun fired and grazed his arm, cutting his prized jacket, shirt and skin. Blood splattered on the ground and spilled down the arm of Squall's jacket.
"Seifer... you cheating son of bitch." Squall snarled as he glared deeply at his foe. Seifer just laughed and laughed.
"I want to see your bloody, mangled corpse splayed everywhere! I'll do anything!" Seifer yelled as he charged another fireball and shot straight into Squall's chest, hurling him back a few feet with a yelp of pain.
"You cheating bastard..." Squall coughed, weakly. "You'd do anything to get what you want." Squall said coming to the realization of just how insane Seifer really was.
"Of course I would!" Seifer screamed. "Now... come..." Seifer commanded with a very genuine smile and a taunting gesture from his hand. "I'll split your head in two." Seifer proclaimed, raising his gunblade.
"Stop it!" Rinoa screamed, about to run into the fray, knowing there would only be a causalities.
"Stay away Rinoa!" Squall commanded harshly. Squall didn't listen for a reply and instead charged forward in blind rage. Seifer dropped his gunblade, held out his hands for the embrace of what was to come, and closed his eyes. Squall brought up his blade and sliced from the forehead, down the bridge of his nose and to his cheek. Seifer staggered some and blood poured all down his face and onto the ground. He ran his hand through a portion of the fountain of blood and licked it. Rinoa gasped in disgust at not only Seifer's gesture but what had just happened. Seifer bent down and grabbed his gunblade and walked for Squall. He was slowly walking backwards, afraid that Seifer was going to slit his throat or slice him in two. Seifer sliced at his hand, cutting it which caused Squall to drop his blade from the pain. He held his bleeding hand in pain until another slash from Seifer's blade came to his chest, cutting the shirt and tearing the skin with it. Rinoa felt like throwing up.
"Rinoa... why don't you get the nurse... I have a feeling Squall is going to need it." Seifer smirked and rose his blade high above his head and came down, slashing from the forehead, down the nose and to the cheek, just as Squall had done to him. Rinoa turned just as this happened and ran, crying to get the nurse. Squall didn't know what to hold first, the pain was all around. His breathing quickened and he fainted, falling flat onto his back. Seifer smiled at his handy work and kicked him in the stomach....
***
Quistis sighed in relief as she placed her red pen down on the table after hours of correcting. She sighed with a wonderful smile on her face. This was the best feeling she had ever gotten. Work was done and play time was ahead. Well, play was a very broad word in Quistis's dictionary. 'Play' meant sitting, sleeping, watching TV, and pretty much anything else besides tedious school work.
She leaned back in her chair and was about to fall asleep until the phone rang. She sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes to the point of it being painful. She sat up in the chair and picked up the telephone harshly, as if she wanted to strangle it.
"Hello!?" Quistis asked in a very angry and exaggerated tone.
"Ummm..." The women began uncomfortably.
"Oh... sorry, Dr. Kadowaki." Quistis apologized as she looked at the caller ID.
"It's okay... seems like your having a bad day, and I'm sorry, but there seems to be more bad news..." The doctor began, trailing her sentence off just in case Quistis told her to shut the hell up. Kadowaki didn't get the response she was expecting and continued. "It's about Squall. He seems to have-" Quistis cut the doctor off.
"Ahhh... shit..." Quistis cursed quite loudly. "What happened? No, don't even tell me... I'm coming down there right now!" She said sternly and hung up the phone.
*
Rinoa dabbed Squall's facial wound lightly with a wet and cold wash cloth. Every dab she gave him he winced slightly in response. She leaned forward in her stool which was next to his doctor's bed.
"You're lucky your girlfriend got me so fast!" Dr. Kadowaki exclaimed from her position in the door frame.
"She's not my girlfriend dammit!" Squall practically screamed, attempting to lean up, but Rinoa pushed him down into his bed gently.
"Stop moving!" Rinoa commanded sternly. "You'll move the bandages. You need them, so don't shake 'em off." Rinoa told him, still dabbing his wound which was still bleeding a little. There was a bandage on his arm, hand and across his chest. Rinoa couldn't help but steal a few quick peeks at his chest, considering it was uncovered.
"Okay... then you're lucky Rinoa got me so fast." Dr. Kadowaki corrected after their brief interlude. "You lost quite a bit of blood with all those gashes and you'll have scars on each of them to boot." The doctor told him sourly. "We'll put scar cream on them when they stop bleeding which will reduce their size a bit, but won't make them completely disappear." She told him. Squall nodded slightly, signaling he understood whatever she was talking about. All he could focus on right now was the stinging from his forehead with that damn cloth... and Rinoa. The way she lightly tapped his head, her worried look, her school uniform with the short skirt and how the sunlight reflected off her brunette hair. He repressed a smile and cast his eyes away from her. Eventually he began to notice the sunlight was beating down on his chest and face.
"Hey Rinny." He began, not caring if the doctor heard her nickname or not. "Close the blinds." He ordered softly. She nodded, got up and did as she was asked, closing the blinds. The room was dark and dismal looking, almost as if rain clouds had suddenly swelled inside the room.
There was silence between the two for a bit until Rinoa finally spoke up. "How are you feeling?" She asked, smiling, hoping for a good answer.
"Better." He simply stated.
"Better then when?" She asked, looking at him curiously.
"Better then when I was in so much pain I wanted to die." Squall told her, becoming a little bit frustrated in her.
"Anything's better than that... I'm glad." She said with a lovely smile. Suddenly, the door outside Squall's temporary room opened to reveal his teacher, Quistis. He watched through his window and saw her stop at the front desk and speak briefly with the doctor. The doctor pointed to Squall's door and he cursed under his breath. He didn't want to talk to Quistis right now.
His sliding door opened with a little swish and in stepped Quistis. She shook her head, smiled and sighed. She couldn't stay mad at him, considering he was her most prized student.
"What happened this time?" Quistis asked, looking to Rinoa for answers, purposely avoiding Squall.
"Got cut up by Seifer." Rinoa told her as she began to stroke Squall's soft brown hair. He made no attempt to stop her, it looked like he didn't even care. "I thought Seif was going to kill him." Rinoa told her, still gazing at Squall.
"I figured as much when I got the call from the doctor." Quistis told her as she took a seat on a stool across from Rinoa. Quistis looked over Squall's body and shook her head at the sight of the bandages. "Quite a number Seifer did on you, hmm?" Quistis questioned to Squall. He opened one eye, gave her a quick look, and it closed it again. She frowned at the lack of communication between her and her student. "Will I see you in class tomorrow, Squall?" Quistis asked, wanting to start up a convorsation.
"Yeah." He said, making it simple.
"Well... I hope you're well enough because you still haven't taken your prerequisite test yet." She told him with a light smile on her face as she saw Squall's face contort to annoyance. Quistis stood from her stool slowly. "I'll see you two tomorrow then?" She asked, looking to them both. They both nodded not so eagerly. She turned and was about to exit Squall's door until she stopped and turned back to them. "And remember! Your papers are due tomorrow!" She reminded them with a little teasing smile.
"Oh right..." Rinoa mumbled under her breath just as Quistis left. "I still have to work on that piece of shit." She said a bit louder this time.
"I finished." Squall said bluntly. Rinoa rolled her eyes.
"You finish everything early." She said with a shake of her head.
"Just to make you mad." He told her. She was a bit shocked to hear him say such playful words. Even when they were together, alone, he wouldn't say thongs like that. Rinoa was about to speak once more until the doctor came in.
"You are free to go Squall.... but do you want to leave with your shirt on?" The doctor asked. The question received strange looks from the two and the doctor quickly caught on. "Well, if he wants to leave with a shirt on, he can't leave with that pull over shirt." She furthered as she pointed to the white t-shirt slung over a chair. "Rinoa, will you be a dear and fetch Squall a button up shirt?" She pleaded politely. Rinoa nodded and stood.
"Squall... do you even have any button up shirts?" Rinoa asked, the realization suddenly dawning on her.
"Somewhere... deep in the dark crevices of my closet..." He told her shrugging.
"Thanks." Rinoa said as she rolled her eyes and left.
"I'll leave you as well. I have work to attend to." Dr. Kadowaki told him politely and made her exit. Squall let his head lie back against the pillow behind him, he sighed. He cracked his neck and slowly and curiously reached his non-bandaged hand up to touch the pain on his forehead. He gingerly touched the side of it, it didn't hurt. Feeling a bit braver, he lightly poked the scar itself. It stung, badly and he clenched his teeth together, hard and his eyes clamped shut.
'Just go to sleep Squall... before you cause more pain to yourself.' He thought, he nodded his head in agreement with the silent idea. He closed his eyes and in minutes he was asleep.
"Squall...." The soft, airy voice said. Squall saw no one or anything. There was darkness, nothingness. "Squall..." The voice repeated. There was silence. "Time..." The voice began. "Ebbing and flowing... It is the one thing we have that does not obey us. It hurts us instead of aiding us." The voice stopped. "You know me. You will meet me soon..." The voice trailed off. "Soft... what light through yonder window breaks?" The voice ended abruptly.
Squall awoke in a startled manner just as Rinoa entered the room, a button shirt in hand. Squall gave her an odd look, and she to him as well.
"Who opened the blinds?" She asked in a curious tone, pointing to the window that was blazing in sun.
"I don't know. Doctor probably." He said, lifting himself upright ever so carefully, remembering Rinoa's warning of moving the bandages. Rinoa smiled at the gesture and moved towards him, opening up the shirt for him to put it on.
"You don't have to be so careful about the bandages anymore. You were out for about two hours, so the scars have stopped bleeding." Rinoa told him, causing Squall to immediately ease up on his rigid motions.
"Two hours?" He questioned, a little unbelieving. "Did you blindfold yourself when you looked through my stuff?" He asked, grinding his teeth pain as he had to stretch awkwardly to get into the shirt. He slipped his arm through the sleeve with much pain because of the 'bullet' wound. Rinoa just grunted, showing mock humor in his last question. "Hey... Did anyone come into this room while I was sleeping, do you know?" He asked, finally getting the shirt on. He was about to button it up until Rinoa jumped to the buttons before he could even move his hands.
"I don't know. Ms. Kadowaki didn't mention anything about it to me. Ask her." Rinoa advised as she finished buttoning his shirt like a little child on his first day of school. Squall walked out his door and directly to the doctor.
"Ms. Kadowaki... did anyone visit me while I was sleeping?" Squall asked, resting his hands up against the counter.
"No... Sorry Squall." Kadowaki said apologetically. Squall nodded and left, Rinoa behind him. They walked out and into the grand circular hall of Balamb Garden. The halls were noisy with students hustling and bustling to and fro and chatting with their other peers. Rinoa waved to a few of her other friends as she walked by them and said hi to her instructors.
Rinoa followed Squall silently all the way back to his dorm room, just in case something happened, what exactly, she didn't know. Squall stopped in front of his dorm and turned around to meet Rinoa face to face.
"Thanks?" He said, not sure what to say. She just laughed.
"No need to thank me! Just doing my job as a girlfriend!" Rinoa saluted with a smile.
"Why does everyone think you're my girlfriend!? Even you think that!" Squall exclaimed, amazed and slightly disgusted in the fact. She sighed with a little smile on her face. Any normal girl would slap him but Rinoa was used to the way he acted.
"Sorry..." She apologized half-heartedly. She pecked him on the cheek quickly and he blushed a deep red. "I'll be leaving now." She told him and walked down the hall to her dorm, leaving Squall to stare after her. He cupped a hand over the cheek where she had kissed him. He gathered courage and jogged up to her as she slowly traveled down the hall.
"Thought I'd be nice." He said, not looking at her directly as he caught up with her. She turned to him and grappled her arm through Squall's.
"I love you." Rinoa whispered in his ear.
"I know." He said plainly.
"Hey... maybe this is why people call me your girlfriend." Rinoa told him as she looked down to their interlocked arms.
"Maybe." He said.
"You're so weird." She told him.
They reached her room and they turned to one another.
"I take it I won't you see you again for the rest of the day?" Squall asked.
"Probably not... considering I have my paper to finish." Rinoa explained. "Well, good day!" She said politely as she unlocked her dorm room door and opened it until Squall's voice caught her.
"Think I can help?" He asked.
"Of course!" She said with a huge smile that stretched from ear to ear. The two walked in and she shut the door behind her. "So... what was your topic a-" Rinoa was about to continue until Squall pushed her up against a nearby wall. "Ummm..." Rinoa began, utterly confused.
"I love you so much..." Squall whispered into her ear. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled him into her gently.
"I know." She said blankly. She returned the hug. Squall kissed her with light peck on the lips. Rinoa made the second kiss and grazed his lips lightly, longing for more. Squall stepped back and away from her by just a few inches and Rinoa moved to the window and shut the curtains quickly, knowing what was to come. Only one other time had this happened before in their lifetimes. Squall walked to her and pressed his lips to hers and embraced her. She slowly undid his shirt and removed it with a little pain from Squall's side. His hands danced around her neck and finally pulled off her shirt. He kissed her neck gently and softly. His hands reached around her back and they undid her bra with close to no trouble. They continued to kiss as they fell down and onto the bed....
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A/n: Thank high heaven I have so many songs on my computer... I looked for so long trying to find the right song that fits the atmosphere of the story... I forgot it though... I'll have to search for it again. Shit. Oh well! I hope you all liked it! It being my first story and all...
NEXT CHAPTER::: Squall is sent out with Quistis to the 'Fire Cavern' in order to complete his prerequisite for the final. Rinoa, back at Garden decides to go for a walk out on the plains but instead finds a mysterious women on a high hill. And the teams are decided for the class final. In the next chapter: City Of Soldiers: A City Ending