Summary:
After defeating Ultemecia, the world seems at peace. But not everything is what it seems! The gang is forced into another battle blinded... In this war, the gang fights side by side, leaving behind all past resents. Thus, new feelings blossom towards one another, some inexplicable, others impossible. But it's a hard life these children live and hard times they're going through. That's why love sometimes must be put aside... This is how they make it through...
ººº "Nothing is was it seems to be...love can be found in the oddest of ways..." ººº
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is copyright of SquareSoft. No infringment is intended.
A/N: This is my first Fan Fiction about Final Fantasy VIII and I would really appreciate if you guys read it and told me what you thought. Just one thing: don't be harsh on me, ok? ;) I've really tried to stick to all the characters original personalities
And if you happen to find any sort of spelling mistakes or ridiculous grammar mistakes, please warn me. I'm portuguese and I'm not too used to writting in english (though I speak fluently), so please excuse me for anything embarrasing.
I really hope you like reading this continuation as much as I enjoy writing it...
Enjoy...
Mitigwakii
(you'll recognize this part, don't worry – that's if you have finished the whole game! Now if you haven't, turn this page off and switch the game on and START PLAYING!)
Shattered Peace
Part 1:
This scene takes place at Balamb Garden, at the party celebration for defeating the Sorceress from the future, Ultimecia.
The deep dark blue sky, filled with the brightest of stars that would shine gracefully, hung over the love of a girl for the man of her dreams.
Balamb Garden was floating above the sea making its smooth way towards the unreachable horizon. The sea would whisper softly its peaceful words to the Garden, while the cool and aromatic wind would brush Rinoa's soft and silky dark hair out of her sad face. She was standing on the beautiful stone balcony that would make its way out of the Ballroom through two large open doors. She just stood there holding the balustrade facing the sea and staring into the sky, as if she awaited something to happen...
'Nothing...' she said hopelessly under her breath.
'How can it be?' she asked the sky with a sad tone in her voice.
She wanted to know if Squall would ever come back to her, if she would ever hear his voice again, if she would ever feel his arms around her again, if she would ever sense his smell again and if she'd ever see him smile.
She believed what her mother had told her, that the sky knew everything, that it would send her a signal to help her find happiness, and that signal had appeared the night she met Squall, in fact it was what started everything between them...
She longed to be with Squall, she was cold and wanted him there, to hold her and protect her from the cold and the darkness. She felt like she couldn't live without him by her side, she needed him desperately, without him her life made no sense at all. She loved him with all her heart.
'Where are you!' she yelled impatiently at the sky as she clapped her hands furiously on the balustrade. No one in the Ballroom heard her due to the loud music everyone was dancing to, not even the sky...
'You see no happiness for me!...Is it that!' she questioned the sky sadly as tears formed in her eyes, making her vision blur.
'Why then?...Why did you send me that star? Remember? That star that I and Squall saw when we met! WHY? 'She interrogated the sky, raising her voice a bit, now even more heart broken than ever, as her eyes flooded with tears that would drop into the silent sea.
'I won't let you tear us apart! Never! Do you hear? Never!' she yelled in disbelief to the sky, whipping her tears away violently...
She stood silently leaning against the balustrade gazing into the sea, still sobbing... 'Never...' she thought.
'Rinoa!' yelled Squall as he heard his own words eco in the desert landscape and looked around desperately.
He walked as far as the horizon let him, getting weaker and loosing his balance all the time...he couldn't walk anymore, he was dragging his feet, which felt as though they were getting heavier and heavier...
'Zell! Quistis!...Irvine! Selphie! ' he called out with all the strength he had left...in vain...
His feet where sore and heavy, he couldn't drag himself any longer, he was exhausted...
Squall lost all the strength in his legs and dropped to the ground.
He sat there in the middle of nowhere, staring at the ground hopeless and confused, not knowing what to do anymore...
'I'm all alone...again...' he thought as he sighted.
'Why?' he questioned hopelessly under his breath...
Suddenly, out of nowhere a huge gush of warm wind hit his face, blowing his hair out of his tired face and comforting him in a way he had never felt...then it started fading away slowly...
He looked up at the sky hoping he would see the cause of that wonderful sensation, and finally spotted a tiny white dot above him...it was coming down, making it's way towards him, slowly but surely...
It was a pearly white, soft and delicate feather which paused right in the middle of his hand covered in his leather black glove...
'Rinoa...' he whispered weakly...
'...Where are you?' he thought as he closed his hand slowly and shut his eyes, wishing she would appear...
The gush of wind started again...this time much stronger than before...the wind was cold and a great bright, white light shined down on him, so bright the moment he looked up and opened his eyes to see what happened, he hurt himself and was forced to shut them. It was too painful...
Finally it stopped, the wind stopped blowing violently, but Squall was still feeling cold, he was shivering with his eyes shut tightly, while he sat on the cold stony ground...
He had no idea what had happened...but forced himself to open his eyes...
As he opened them slowly, he saw the most beautiful sight ever, the one he longed to see, the one he had hoped to see, and now...he was there ...he suddenly felt warm inside and relieved.
He stood up and looked around... he was standing in the middle of a beautiful field full of colourful flowers and the sun was setting gracefully, letting great orange rays of sunlight lit and warm up the whole field...it was wonderful...
'...Rinoa...' Squall thought as he scoured around quickly and desperately...
'...I'm here, Rinoa...!' he shouted out hoping to see her.
'I'm here like I promised!' he said still looking around and hoping to see her...
He turned around once more...there she was...
'Rinoa!' he said as he stood many feet away from her...
Squall wanted to run to her and hold her, but before he could take any other step, his whole vision went black, he couldn't see anything but darkness... he was blind...
His mind started rewinding and all he could hear was a stir of voices, music and machines... the day at the ballroom where he first saw Rinoa, she was beautiful in her pearl coloured dress, her beautiful dark raven and her loving dark eyes... she was pointing to the sky. That memory replayed itself over and over, it was noisy, it was too loud...Squall's head ached ...he couldn't take it... it was too painful...
'Stop!' he thought...'Stop it!'... 'NOOOOOOOOOOOO! '
Squall couldn't take it. He lost all the strength in his legs, collapsed onto the ground and slowly slipped into unconsciousness...
Rinoa continued gazing into the sea...'Squall...' she thought.
'You were so cold when I found you...I need to hear your voice again...please...come to me...' she spoke to the sea, hoping Squall could hear her...somehow...
'...I need you...' she whispered as more tears would form in her eyes...
'...don't leave me...' she cried petrified under her breath...
'NOOO! ' Squall yelled as he sat up quickly in the bed...His heart was beating faster than ever and he was breathing in deeply, struggling for air as little drops of sweat rolled down his terrified scarred face...
'...where...where am I...' he asked himself as he sat in the darkened room, only the moonlight lit the foot end of the bed...
When finally he realised he was in the Infirmary...'Rinoa?' he called, with a joyful tone to his voice, hoping she would be there...
He got up and tried to stand up, he was very weak and could hardly stand on his feat. Squall took a few steps and forced himself to walk towards the exit door, using the table and chairs as support.
Walking slowly down the corridor he went, and started walking faster once he saw nobody around him, this really made him panic...then it struck him: '...that music...the...the ballroom...' he gasped.
Soon he started running, losing his balance on a few occasions but doing his best...
Finally he reached the Ballroom's giant doors, he walked through the doors and saw everyone dancing and laughing...
He saw Zell stuffing his face with Hotdogs while the girl with pig tails tried to talk to him and Quistis, Cid and Matron talking excitedly to one another, throwing a few giggles now and then, while Selphie and Irvine fought over the video camera (none of them saw him)...but where was Rinoa?
He looked and turned around trying to spot her, while people came rushing by him and danced around him, making him confused and dizzy...
He turned around and faced the doors leading to the stone balcony and saw Rinoa through them, with her back faced to him he could see clearly the wings stamped on her back...'my angel...' he whispered...
He walked slowly towards her, trying not to be seen or heard...
He reached the balcony and stood at the door...she was leaning against the balustrade gazing into the sea as usual...
On that moment he his heart filled with joy and happiness...he couldn't tell what he was feeling, he only knew he had to put his arms around her and wanted to tell her how much he feared never to see her again...how much she meant to him...
'...Rinoa...' he said weakly as he supported himself on the stone wall near the balustrade.
As Rinoa heard him call her she opened her eyes whipped away her tears, turned around and ...'Squall?' she said in disbelief looking at him in his weak state...
At that moment Rinoa felt as if the moon, the stars and the sea had heard her...She knew deep down that Squall would never leave her, but feared everything...She knew she couldn't predict the future...nobody could...But at that moment she felt that her heart had never been happier and nothing could ruin that feeling...
She gave him a sweat smile, ran up to him and through herself emotively at his neck, hugging him tightly and leaning her head on his chest, where she could hear his heart beating...he was alive and had his arms around her...
Squall couldn't believe it, he put his arms around her and kissed her head as he leaned his head on hers lovingly.
They wanted to stay like that forever...They couldn't think of anything else but how much they loved each other...that moment was very special...
'Oh, Squall! Is it really you!' she asked in disbelief now smiling as tears ran down her pale face.
'...Yeah, I guess so...' winced Squall still struggling to speak , but smiling lightly...
Rinoa parted from the hug and held his hand, placing it on her heart.
'I'm so happy to see you...' she gasped with joy, while she whipped her tears away with her arm.
Squall just stood there, gazing into her eyes while he thought 'I just couldn't leave you, I just couldn't...'
'...You were so cold when I found you, Squall...I tried to wake you up...but you were so cold...I thought I'd never hear your voice again or hug you again...I was scared Squall! Really, really scared!...' she winced anxiously while more tears came down her rosy cheeks, giving him another tight hug, fearing he would just disappear again...
Squall held her arms and placed his head right next to hers, looked her in the eyes and said :
'I'd never leave you Rinoa, you are too precious to me...I'd never leave...I...I just couldn't...I'll never leave you...I promise...I'm right here...' he said still looking into her eyes reassuringly and shaking her slightly as he spoke, reassuring her that he was there for her, for always...
'...so don't you cry...I'm right here... with you...' he whispered at her, whipping her tears away gently with his thumb.
To this only a lovable smile could express was she felt. She held his hand, kissed it and pulled him towards the balcony as she looked at him with so much trust...
'The sky...'she said as she gazed at it with a smile on her face.
Squall felt so happy that moment, he like holding her and actually kissing her, but he was so thrilled he didn't want to frighten her with his excitment...
'Squall...' she said pointing at the sky, still grinning...
Squall looked up and saw a star shinning so bright while it made its way, shooting across the beautiful darkened sky...
'It's Our star...' he said dreamily as he gazed at it, remembering that special night in the Ballroom, where everything started, forming the most beautiful sweet smile as he looked back at Rinoa...
Rinoa smiled back and couldn't help noticing how cute he looked while he was smiling, staring at his lips and feeling a huge need too kiss them...
Squall felt the same; he loved Rinoa with all his heart and loved her beautiful sweet, loving smile.
Before anyone could say anything, Squall had reached for Rinoa's hand, grabbed her waist slowly, held her very close to him, looked at her tenderly, feeling her wonderful smell, the warmth of her touch, the love in her eyes...it was all so right...it was meant to be... and finally their lips touched...
Rinoa loved the way he held her so close to him, she felt safe and warm, protected in his arms as if they were the unbreakable fortress that held her in safely...
Their kiss was perfect, sweet and warm. They kissed each other slowly, with no rush, enjoying each slight move their soft and warm lips would make, closing their eyes slowly...
Squall just embraced her warmly, holding her head softly and gently, caressing her beautiful face and her silky hair as he kissed her, not wanting ever to stop...
But the need to breathe was in their way...they parted sadly, still pecking each other now and then, not being able to help themselves, missing each other kiss every second...
Squall had the happiest look in his stunning sea blue eyes, but felt very shy and couldn't help blushing... Rinoa on the other hand, was smiling at him with all the love she had... He loved her smile, it was so sweet, loving and true...so beautiful... she looked like an angel...
Squall forced a serious look on his face and started...'I...I...'
'Who needs words, Squall?' Rinoa said softly making him feel more at ease at that moment as she gently put her silky arms his neck, hugging him tenderly, resting her head on his strong built chest and closing her eyes, enjoying every beat of his heart...
'I wish this was forever...' she said dreamily now closing her eyes...
'Tell me this isn't a dream, Squall...'she gasped worried.
In response, trying to reassure her that everything was pretty real, he let go of her in order to look at her, holding her waist and pulling her face gently close to his...
'...if this was a dream, you would have never felt my arms around you, the tears on your face or worse, my kiss...' he smiled sweetly at her, reaching his face a little closer to hers and kissing her lips tenderly, forcing her to kiss him too...
'...you felt that, right?' he asked charmingly...
She nodded.
'Besides that, if it were a dream, I would have never let it end...' he smiled at her. Squall winked his eye and kissed her on her rosy cheek, still damp from all the crying.
He embraced her once more...'I love you, Rinoa...' he whispered in her ear, closed his eyes and kissed her neck instinctively...
'Oh, Squall...' Rinoa feebled surprised 'I've been waiting to hear that since we first met... I always wanted to tell you...I love you too... Squall ...I love you...' Squall smiled and closed his eyes as he enjoyed feeling Rinoa's smell and her warm arms around him. Rinoa once more started crying, this time tears of joy...tears of happiness...
She could feel his strong heart beat, he was there, he was alive and he was with her...it wasn't a dream, it was real...and she wanted to stay like that forever...
They spent the whole night clanged on each other, dancing slowly as Rinoa leaned her head on Squall's shoulder as he gazed way up into the sky with his faced leaned against her soft hair, not resisting to kiss it all the time...
Finally the fire works started...the whole sky was lit with green, yellow, red and purple lights that would lit the garden as well, making everyone scream ,laugh and jump of joy and happiness. Everyone in garden was happy; everyone had a smile on their face...
This was certainly the best day of Squall and Rinoa's lives...
To be continued...
And that's chapter one. Hope you liked it. Please go on reading! Review please.
Thank u so much for reading! Thank u so much!