Rinoa Caraway had decided to run away. It's not that she was being mistreated by her dad, quite the opposite. He provided for her material needs. She was well-fed and well-clothed. She was fairly disciplined. Not even she could find a flaw in her father grounding her from the computer for a week after she didn't do her biology homework. Though she'd never admit it out loud the extra push had helped her bring up her biology grade. She was well-fed, well-clothed and fairly disciplined. That's what a father's for, right? So why was it that every girl she knew spent special time with her dad? Sandy's dad took her fishing, Kendra's dad went shopping with her and Alexis's dad made sure to help her with her homework every night. Rinoa's dad essentially ignored her. She had decided to try to make things right before taking the drastic step of running away. The week before her decision to run away she had slipped into her father's study.

"What is it Rinoa? I'm busy."

She'd make this quick. She played with one of her braids. "Daddy, I'm having problems with my history homework. Was Centra involved in the Barbarian War?"

"I'm not going to do your homework for you."
"I don't want you to do my homework for me I just want you to help. Alexis's dad helps her."
"Then go over to Alexis's house."

Maybe I will. She kept playing with the braid, making her look a few years younger than her fourteen years. "But was Centra involved?"
"Centra invaded Esthar after they were weakened by an invasion of Trabian barbarians. It's an extremely obscure fact and I'm shocked your teacher even brought it up. Now go away and stop bothering me."

"Yes, sir." She said quietly. If I ran away, would you care?

The next day she asked him to take her fishing. He said he was too busy, maybe some other time. No self-respecting Galbadian general worked on the weekends so Rinoa asked once again if she could go fishing with him on Saturday.

"Lord, Rinoa, why are you being so needy? Are your pregnant? I will disown you if you're pregnant."

She blushed as red as a cherry. "No, I'm not pregnant." She bit her tongue before 'neglectful bastard' could slip out of her mouth. "Do I need an excuse to want to hang out with my dad?"

"It just seems like you could find ways to amuse your own self without me."

Most fathers WANT to spend time with their children. "I just want to go fishing with you. Or…or anything really."

"Well, I can't today. I promised an old friend that we'd hang out."

"M-maybe tomorrow?" She asked, a hint of hope-and a little bit of desperation-creeping into her voice.

"Sure." He answered.

But he didn't. He brought home his "old friend"-a woman, of course, and they fucked till dawn. Rinoa could hear them from her room and knew that the woman he'd just brought home would be getting far more attention from her father than she ever would. In the morning he was hung over. He didn't even bring up the fishing trip. The very next day she walked into her father's study and told him she was running away. He was silent for a few minutes.

Come on, explode, yell, ground me for a year for even suggesting it, spank the daylights out of me ,just let me know you CARE, she silently begged. He shrugged.

He shrugged. She told him she was running away and he fucking shrugged. She clenched her fists. "I mean it. You'll never see me again."
"Bye then."
She felt like he'd stabbed her in the heart.

Maybe I'm not even his real daughter? What if Mom had a wild, torrid affair with someone?

"Do you…do you care?"
"You're just doing this for attention. You'll be back by supper."
"No, I won't." She stormed out, slamming the study door shut.

She was going to run away. Where? She couldn't care less. Not Galbadia where her father or his men could easily find her. Galbadia, however had many obscure provinces and she spoke the language and quite a few dialects. She was particularly proficient in the Timber dialect, having had a friend from there.

Timber. I'll go to Timber. With this thought she boarded a train and left Deling City far behind her.

…

Caraway's annoyance with his daughter was turning into alarm. She had missed supper. Rinoa Caraway never missed supper. Even for a cry for attention-and for some reason she had been needy lately-this was way too far. What if she's been kidnapped? He thought, panicked at the thought. By midnight he was seated in his chair waiting for her, a belt in his hand. If she wanted attention she'd get attention. She'd be lucky if she were sitting down next week. By one he put his belt back on deciding that wasn't the best way to handle the situation. That'd only drive her further away. By one-thirty he'd called the cops to report her as missing. There was one place that was so impoverished and crime ridden, however, that cops never went there. The backwater province of Timber.