(Author's note: I started this story a long time ago on my other computer, under the name "Ciaran", and when I came across it, I started over on my new 'puter. The first time through, this story actually ended in tragedy, but then after a lot of revising, I like the ending I came up with better. Just for fun, I'll post the first ending for you to enjoy.)
Love Of My Life
The snow came down in blankets around the car as Quistis concentrated on trying to keep it on the road. She couldn't see anything ahead of her, nothing behind her, and only a few trees to the left and right. They were losing leaves in the winter storm, which blew all over her windshield and didn't help her vision any. She tried to look at the surroundings, but with the snow and the tree tunnel she was driving through it was near impossible. The map wasn't much help either, just the road, no landmarks for her to go by. She was about 20 miles out of the city, on some back country road, and couldn't for the life of her imagine anyone wanting to live out here.
At the next driveway, she stopped in the road and looked down at an envelope in her lap. The fire numbers on the sign matched the address on the letter, so she signaled (thought no one was crazy enough to be driving in a storm like this, so no one would see it) and took a right up the driveway.
The lane was the same as the road leading to it; lined with trees, shade and shadow. It was almost as if these people didn't want anyone to know they were here. Quistis couldn't think of anyone she would know like that, but kept driving. At the end, the path opened a bit to reveal a beautiful rustic looking house, with a silver BMW sitting in the garage, and tire tracks from another vehicle. It was obvious that these people had a little bit of money. The house was decorated richly for Christmas, the next upcoming holiday, and Quistis mentally reminded herself to pick up the things she needed for the Garden's get together on Saturday. She parked the car in front of a Christmas tree in the yard and pulled out the key.
She stopped then; she looked at the map, looked at the house, looked at everything. She wasn't the most outgoing person in the world, and that's why she couldn't believe what she was doing just then. Traveling halfway across the world, driving to a strange place in the middle of a terrible storm, then knocking on a stranger's door and confronting them. What if she was wrong? What if the people inside weren't too happy she was here? Would she be happy if someone just randomly started accusing her, like she was about to do?
She then looked down at the bundle of letters sitting in the passenger seat. Gingerly, she picked up the top one, dated a month previously and read just the opening. Memories flooded back to her, and it was enough to give her back her courage. These letters made her lose so much, and she wasn't about to let the author off without a guilt trip. She threw them back inside the beat up shoe box and climbed out of the car.
The porch was around the other side, so she trudged through the snow where the sidewalk should've been and stepped up inside. The porch was screened in; it wasn't warm, but it was probably nice in the summertime. A swing hung on one side and the other had another Christmas tree, which Quistis thought she could hear singing carols. She targeted the sound and found it coming from an angel ornament. The house itself glowed with a candle warm color coming from the draped windows.
She took a deep breath as she approached the wreathed door, and reminded herself to hold her temper and maybe she could get through this rationally. The green paint shined back at her and she rapped her cold white knuckles on it. The other hand clutched the box tightly and she noticed her knees shaking slightly. Talk about nervous. She heard a woman's voice call, "Just a minute!" from inside, and she righted herself as the occupant of the house pulled open the door. Just as suddenly as the nervousness had came, it went away when Quistis stood face to face with the girl on the other side.
They both stood gaping, unbelieving of who they had found on the other side of the door. Quistis' breath turned shallow and her hands clenched with so much hatred that she broke in the side of the box. As if she hadn't caused enough grief in her life already...
"Rinoa..." She muttered, barely maintaining her composure.
Just a few minutes earlier, Rinoa was sitting in the living room and had gotten tired of the television. She turned it off and set the remote back on the table, then looked around the room. The clock read about 7:30; Ciaran, her daughter, was at a friend's for the night, and Squall, her husband of 15 wonderful years, wouldn't be home from work for another hour. She walked into the kitchen and made a cup of hot chocolate for herself while she decided what exactly she was going to do.
Passing the calendar, she noticed the tiny red X marked on the day's date. She closed her eyes and thought to herself that it was that time of the month again, before dragging her butt back into the living room. She walked over, locked the front door and then sat down at the desk. She pulled open the bottom drawer, where Squall keeps his work stationary from Trabia and took out a piece.
The pencil in her hand seemed to burn her skin, leaving a tingle on her fingers. It burned just as she would one day burn in hell for doing what I've done, and writing these letters, she thought. She hated doing it, and could easily just quit, but she had made a promise, and it was one she intended to keep, even though she could never tell anyone. Not her friends. Not her family. Not even her husband and best friend Squall. And so she had kept the secret for 14 long years, and would go with it to her grave, if she had her way.
She topped the letter, in her childish writing, "Seifer--"
After finishing the R in his name, there was a knock at the door. She jumped about a mile in her chair, and nearly choked on her hot chocolate. She looked around the room wildly, trying to see who it was out the windows, and looking for a place to hide the paper. It was as if she had been caught in the act, though no one had really caught her at all. She called to the person, "Just a minute!" and calmed down, then walked to the door and flung it open.
Quistis was not anyone she was hoping to see on the other side; she wasn't anyone Rinoa expected, but definitely wasn't someone she wanted to see. By the look on Quistis' face, the feeling was mutual. Neither said anything for a few seconds, and Quistis breathed Rinoa's name. Rinoa snapped to then, and invited her in, hiding her shock.
"Quistis," She said, slapping on a fake smile, "Come on in, I'm so surprised to see you!"
Quistis took the invitation and stepped inside. She began to slip off her snow-covered shoes and Rinoa said, "Oh you don't have to take those off,"
"Yeah, I do," Quistis replied, "This is a beautiful house, I don't want to ruin the carpet with my snowy shoes,"
"And I told Squall to shovel that off before he left today," Rinoa laughed, "Just like a man not to, eh?"
"Uh, yeah..." Quistis said.
"Well, come in and sit down," Rinoa showed her down into the recessed living room, "Would you like something to drink, I just made hot chocolate?"
"Water is fine, thanks," Quistis watched the raven haired one walk around the corner and into the kitchen, then around the room. It had to be a huge section of the house, with cathedral ceilings and a fireplace which was giving off a warm glow. Pictures lined the mantle and Quistis recognized Squall and Rinoa. There was a young girl in some of them, as well as a solo picture of the girl in a soccer uniform. That, Quistis thought, still holding the box in her lap, must be the Ciaran all these letters talk about. The rest of the house wound around the corner and against the back wall, she could see floor to ceiling windows that gave a great view into the valley. The longer Quistis looked, the more jealous she got, and the more contempt she had for how successful Rinoa had become in life.
"Here we are," Rinoa returned with the water and set herself down on the chair across the room, "Like I said earlier, it's such a surprise to see you... " She hesitated, "I wasn't aware anyone knew where we were,"
"No one does, as far as I know," Quistis said, "I wasn't even sure myself who lived here when I knocked on the door,"
Rinoa gave her a confused look. "Then... if you didn't know, why are you here?"
Quistis hesitated, not wanting to answer due to lack of knowing what to start with, "Before we get to that, let's get caught up on some things first," She smiled genuinely, "I bet you'd love to hear what the rest of the gang is doing,"
"Oh, Hyne yes!" Rinoa said, "We missed so much, did Selphie and Irvine ever get married? What's Zell up to? How are Cid and Matron?"
"Well, to begin with, Selphie and Irvine did get married," Quistis said, sipping her water, "They waited quite a while, but finally tied the knot. It was a beautiful ceremony. And now they've got three adorable children," She pulled a few photos out of her purse and handed them to Rinoa, who squealed with joy. "I'm Godmother to two of them," Quistis finished.
"I'm really happy for them,"
Quistis took back those photos and handed her a couple others. "And this is Zell. He went on to teach hand combat in the orient, and while over there he met a girl. This is their daughter together," She pointed to the picture of Zell and the little slant eyed girl.
"Are they still seeing each other?" Rinoa asked.
"No, unfortunately," Quistis sighed, "And she makes it very hard for Zell to have any contact with them. He tried everything,"
"That's so sad,"
"I agree. As for the others, Cid is still headmaster of the Garden, but he's about to retire. I think the job is going to go to Nida after him, but those are just rumors I heard. And Matron is raising her last bunch of orphans, the youngest is about 10 now, and when she's done, the two of them are going to join Ellone on the White SeeD ship and travel the world,"
Rinoa knew that Quistis had left out one other of the original orphans, besides Squall, and whether she'd done it on purpose or by accident, Rinoa wasn't going to remind her of him. "And what about you?" She asked, "What has the great Instructor Trepe been up to?"
"Mostly teaching," Quistis said, "After the sorceress' defeat, they gave me back my teaching license, and I taught the next year in Balamb. I'm sure you heard of Esthar Garden, which they built two years later," Rinoa shook her head and Quistis continued, "I've been teaching there ever since. I teach the junctioning GFs class to freshmen and an upper level magic class,"
Rinoa took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Wow..." She said, "And what about the rest of your time? Is there a 'Mr. Trepe'? Any little Trepe babies?" She laughed.
Quistis, however did not. "There could've been," She said, bitterly looking down at the box, "But there's not." There was a pause, "I'll explain that a little later, but right now, I'd like to be told a story,"
"A story," Rinoa asked innocently, "A story about what?"
"Come on Rinoa," Quistis said bluntly, "Where have you guys been for the past 15 years? Did you really think you could just leave and not tell anyone?"
Quistis thought back 15 years, to just after Ultimecia's defeat. They had plans, and dreams together as a group, but Squall and Rinoa up and left, deserting all of them. Her, Zell, Selphie, Irvine. It had been like losing a piece of themselves, and it was a piece that wasn't easily replaced.
"No, we didn't..."
"Well you did. One day, we were looking for you two and couldn't find you anywhere," Quistis said, "We had search parties out and everything, thinking you'd gone missing, then Cid told us to forget it, that you were gone and that you weren't coming back-"
"We couldn't exactly stay," Rinoa said, her temper starting to get the better of her, "The commander of Garden and the sorceress who nearly destroyed it in love, it just didn't look good,"
"So you ran away?" Quistis prompted, slamming her hand down on the couch. "I thought you had more fight in you than that,"
"We didn't have anything else to do, lest be exposed to the media frenzy. Garden would've suffered, and we couldn't let that happen to Matron and Cid,"
"Why didn't you tell us, at least we wouldn't've said anything," Quistis said, referring to the rest of the group, "It would've been nice to get a Christmas card or something, to know you're still alive,"
"It was hard on us too, believe me,"
There was another awkward silence. Quistis noted the clock which read about 8 o' clock. "So.... where did you go? What did you do with the rest of your life?"
"...... Well, we first went to Esthar," Rinoa started. She wasn't sure she should be telling all this, but it was too late now. "Squall did some confidential odds and ends jobs for Laguna, but he hated it there. We married each other in a very private ceremony, only my father and Laguna were present, and a year later, Ciaran was born," She pointed to the pictures Quistis had seen earlier. "After that, Squall got in contact with Cid once more, and managed to get a job up here at Trabia Garden."
"You've done so much..." Quistis said, "And yet, you've managed to keep it all so secret,"
"Yes, well, Squall's under the tightest security at work, I write for the local paper under a pen name, and Ciaran doesn't even attend public schools, she's taught by an in-home tutor. There's about 20 people that know who we actually are, and where we live, and those are doctors and bankers and such,"
Quistis thought over the past. It probably wouldn't have been the best idea for them to stay there--
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to refill my cup, can I get you another?" Rinoa said, jumping up from the couch. Quistis shook her head and Rinoa ran into the kitchen. There she opened a cupboard, and grabbed the pain killers on the second shelf. She also pulled down a foul smelling bottle of liquor, what it was she didn't know, and didn't really care, and poured herself a big glass. She took the pills with it, needing something to get rid of the throbbing headache her visitor was causing.
It was time to get down to business, Rinoa thought, as she carried her glass back into the living room. Quistis looked up at her expectantly.
"Quistis, let's be real for a minute," She said, "You and I both know we didn't get along back then, so it's highly unlikely you would've spent this much time and energy looking for us to just say 'hi'. What are you really here for?"
(*******First ending (seen below) would take over here*********)
"I've asked myself that a couple times," Quistis said, honestly. "But I feel it's time to get to the bottom of this, so I can grieve and get on with my life,"
"Did someone die?" Rinoa asked, again innocently.
"A part of me did," Quistis answered, "And I need to find out the truth, and face the people responsible,"
"So you came here? I don't understand..."
"Let me fill in the rest of the story," Quistis offered, quietly, "The part I didn't tell you about what I've been doing,"
"Well, here we go," Rinoa said, raising her glass before taking a giant gulp of the liquid, "Cheers,"
Quistis ignored the comment and kept talking. "I had spent my entire life alone and lonely, Rinoa, and then one beautiful day, I re-met the man I planned on spending the rest of my life with,"
"Re-met?"
"He is an amazing man, Rinoa, you should know just as well as I do. Smart, funny, attractive. We met when he transferred from Balamb to Esthar, to head the disciplinary committee,"
Rinoa's head snapped to attention. She wasn't talking about who she thought she was... was she?
"And we relinquished feelings we had slighted all those years ago, moved in together, and made the most of it. It was finally something real, Rinoa. I looked at him and I saw forever. A living, breathing forever,"
Rinoa was starting to resent how Quistis was using her name every sentence. It was as if Quistis thought she wasn't listening.
"We planned to get married, had everything set up and ready to go. The date, the chapel, the guests, the flowers, everything," Quistis had begun to tear up, something Rinoa had never seen before, "I was so in love....." She paused to wipe away the tears, ".....but a week before the wedding, he called it all off,"
Rinoa gasped. "Why? Why would he do such a thing?"
Quistis looked up at her with pitiful eyes and solemnly said, "It was because of you, Rinoa,"
Rinoa couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could this have been her fault, she didn't know who the guy even was, and had been in hiding for 15 years! She was about to get upset, when Quistis started putting pieces together.
"It was Seifer.... Seifer and I were in love, and going to get married,"
Rinoa slowly shook her head. Her hand instinctively went to her forehead, and the trouble she could be in started to surface in her mind, after hiding the secret for so long. She began to wonder how much of the story Quistis knew, and she asked her just that. "Quistis... what has he told you?"
"He didn't really tell me anything," She said slowly, "But he confessed that he couldn't be completely faithful to me in his heart, because of this-" She held up the shoe box, "-and that he thought I deserved better than that. That I deserved someone who could be honest with me, but that he just couldn't,"
She started to open the box, but didn't show Rinoa the contents. "I was very confused and my heart was in shreds. I spent an entire week crying and feeling sorry for myself and wondering what I'd done wrong. I'd been so upset, that for two weeks I didn't even think about this box. And then another two weeks passed, and I opened it. I know half the story, and need you to finish it,"
"Me? How do you figure I can finish the story?"
"It's very unlike me," Quistis admitted, "But I needed to find out what these are all about," She held up a couple of letters from the box, "So I took a few weeks vacation, flew halfway across the world and followed the return address to find the author....... you, Rinoa," She handed the box to Rinoa, and waited patiently.
Rinoa took the box, a sick feeling coming to her stomach, so afraid she knew what was written in these letters. When she opened the top one, she nearly cried when she found it written on Trabia Garden stationary, in childish handwriting, with the greeting, "Seifer--", just as the one she had started writing earlier that night.
"He gave these to you?..." Rinoa asked to be sure and Quistis just shook her head.
"I read them," Quistis said, "but I really can't tell why they are so important to him, important enough to break up our engagement. They all talk about Ciaran, your daughter. There's no mention of why you've wrote them,"
Quistis waited for Rinoa to tell her anything, but she was quiet. "Rinoa, I think after all you've caused, you owe me an explanation."
"Yeah," Rinoa said, tears in her eyes too, "I do, I do, I owe a lot of people an explanation. But it's hard, Quistis. We've kept this secret for 14 long years,"
"He was the love of my life..."
"Okay, okay... but be patient with me," Quistis nodded. Rinoa adjusted how she was sitting, and took a deep breath, "I explained that Squall and I went to Esthar, after leaving and all. The jobs he did for Laguna included a lot of business trips, long ones at that. Months would go by and we wouldn't see each other,"
"What does this have to do with Seifer,"
"Quistis, Seifer didn't transfer to Esthar because he saw a new job opportunity. He didn't get that job until about a year later. And to make the rest of the story short, Squall went away in March, and was gone until May that year. Ciaran was born in December,"
At first, Quistis didn't understand exactly what Rinoa was getting at. She furrowed her brow and thought hard, and came up with a wrong number in Rinoa's equation. "Wait," She said, "Seifer was born in December... and he always told me he was an 'Easter baby', not a Christmas baby, because he was conceived in April... so how could Ciaran have been born in December too, if Squall was gone during April?"
"That's the whole thing," Rinoa said shamefully. She repeated herself, "Squall went away in March, and ten months later, Ciaran was born,"
Quistis gasped, "But that's impossible.... you're telling me Ciaran is not Squall's??"
Rinoa sighed. Quistis was so confused, she wasn't seeing the whole picture. "No, she's not,"
"Then the only person left is..." Quistis said, "....... Seifer......."
Rinoa shook her head slowly.
"Ciaran is Seifer's girl... not Squall's," Quistis was in disbelief. "And you've hidden this for that long?"
"Yes. Seifer and I realized it way before Squall came home, and we talked and talked about it. I was already married to Squall, so there was no considering that. Seifer decided that it would be best if he just stayed out of it completely, for her sake. He'd watch her grow up from afar, but would never be able to hold her, or tell her he loved her. Squall would've killed him if he ever knew, so Seifer agreed to set up a private P.O. box at the post office, and I promised to send a letter to him every month to tell him what he's missing as she grows up,"
"And you steal the Garden letterhead, to assure no one's suspicious," Quistis started to fill in pieces on her own. "How did you explain the discrepancies to Squall?"
"Well, the major one was telling him that she was born prematurely," Rinoa said, "He was still off on those trips and almost never went along to the doctor's office. They told me I was coming along nicely and would have her on time, but told him she was born early and he never questioned it. I got around her blond hair by telling him that there was a blond streak that ran through my family," She stood and took a picture off the mantle, "But she's growing up fast now, and it's getting hard to hide how much she doesn't look like either one of us,"
"She looks a lot like Seifer," Quistis said, looking at the picture.
"She's got his temper, and that's going to be it. If Squall ever found out, it would be because of her attitude,"
"You know," Quistis laughed, "Seifer kept all these letters in a lock box under the bed, and wore the key around his neck day and night. I was instructed never to go in there, never," She held back the tears, "He must really love you, Rinoa, to keep your secret so long. Your summer friendship must run way deeper than any of us ever thought about,"
"I don't think it's like that," Rinoa said, "I think that's more a brother sister love we have, and he's just watching out for me now. He's really in love with you, you just don't know it. He risked everything when he gave you that box. If Squall gets hold of these, he'll have Seifer tracked down and killed for sure. But it's not his life that he's worried about. It's whether you really loved him, as much as he loves you,"
"I don't know what you mean, Rinoa," Quistis asked, "What are you getting at?"
"Where is Seifer now?"
"I'm not really sure where he went," Quistis said, "He left our house, but I know a couple places he could've gone,"
"He didn't give you this box to come find out the real story. He gave it to you to be honest with you, and to see if you still loved him after all he's done,"
Quistis' face half lit up and Rinoa could tell she was catching on. "You're right, you're totally right. And I didn't run after him like he was hoping. All this time, I've been wallowing in self pity when it's really him that's made himself suffer... all for me,"
The door to the kitchen opened, but neither girl heard it. Squall walked in and set his winter gloves on the counter, and peered into the living room. He couldn't see who was here, but had seen the strange car in the driveway. He opened the refrigerator and looked for something to eat.
Rinoa heard the fridge open, and once more she panicked. Quistis was still here, and now so was Squall. All he'd have to do was ask what she was doing here and her whole story would go up in flames.
Quistis watched Rinoa's scared eyes, but then smiled at her. "It's okay, Rinoa, I'm not going to tell him," Rinoa gave her a relieved smile, "And as a matter of fact, I'm going to get going and I won't even tell him I was here,"
She stood up and put on her coat and hat. Squall called Rinoa from the kitchen and she told him to stay there, she'd be in in a minute, then she walked Quistis out to the porch. She shivered as she closed the front door and stood out in the cold.
"Rinoa, I traveled halfway across the world, and to an address I didn't know," Quistis started, "And I was so ready to tell whoever wrote these letters that they had ruined my life. But now that it's all out, I can't do that,"
"I'm glad you came and found me, Quistis. There's no way I could've gone on knowing that I'd torn you away from the 'love of your life'. And now you know the real story,"
"Now I do," She said, "Don't be a stranger, Rinoa. I'd love to read letters about my future secret stepdaughter,"
"Good luck, Quistis," Rinoa said, "He's a good man, take care of him,"
Quistis smiled, then turned around and walked down the steps. She didn't look back as she walked around the house. Rinoa stood out on the porch for a little bit longer, then went back in the house.
"Who was that?" Squall asked, when she joined him in front of the fire.
"It... it was a friend," Rinoa said, "Just a friend who needed a little help,"
"Is everything okay now?"
"Yeah, it is," Rinoa sighed and laid against his chest, and the two of them sat watching the fire, "Everything's fine,"
The (Second) End
And for your reading enjoyment, here's the rest of the original story….
(Picks up from the stars above)
"You want to know the truth?" Quistis turned her voice violent suddenly, "I've come to find out how you managed to ruin my life... for the second time!" She pointed at Rinoa with a stiff finger.
"Leave it to you to let a 15 year old case of jealousy go as far as it has-"
"No Rinoa, I'm the one telling the story now," She said, "This is where Quisty's love life comes into play. There are some things I didn't tell you about when I lived in Esthar,"
"Well, here we go," Rinoa said, raising her glass before taking a giant gulp of the liquid, "Cheers," She had already started feeling the effects of it.
Quistis ignored the smart-ass comment and kept talking. "I had spent my entire life alone and lonely, Rinoa, and then, one beautiful day, I re-met the man I planned on spending the rest of my life with, and you still managed to ruin it, from thousands of miles away!"
"Whatever..." Rinoa said, stealing her husband's favorite line.
"He is an amazing man, Rinoa, you should know just as well as I do. Smart, funny, attractive. We met when he transferred from Balamb to Esthar, to head the disciplinary committee,"
Rinoa's head snapped to attention. She wasn't talking about who she thought she was... was she?
"And we relinquished feelings we had slighted all those years ago, moved in together, and made the most of it. It was finally something real, Rinoa. I looked at him and I saw forever. A living, breathing forever,"
Rinoa was starting to resent how Quistis was using her name every sentence. It wasn't as if she wasn't listening.
"We planned to get married, had everything set up and ready to go. The date, the chapel, the guests, the flowers, everything," Quistis had begun to tear up, something Rinoa had never seen before, "And a week before the wedding, he called it all off,"
"Well, I'm sorry, Quistis," Rinoa retorted, "We're not all that lucky. And I'm not seeing how I'm the one that ruined this all,"
"These are how you ruined it!" Quistis opened the box on her lap and started throwing old, yellow envelopes at Rinoa. She caught one long enough to see the return address, the return address Quistis had followed here, and gasped. It was in that instant she knew something was about to hit the fan.
She opened the first letter she picked up and nearly cried when she found what was inside. Written on Trabia Garden stationary, in her own childish scrawling, were the words, "Dear Seifer,"
".... How did you get these?" She asked, trembling.
"It's not how I got them, it's that I did-"
"How did you get these?!!!!" Rinoa screamed, "These do not belong to you!"
"I'M in control here, RINOA!" Quistis yelled right back, "And you have three seconds to start explaining things!"
"Why is it any business of yours!"
Quistis stood up from her place on the couch, and that's when things got a little wild. "It's because of these letters that Seifer broke off our engagement and our life together. He told me that he could never give me his heart, because it belonged to the author of these letters, even after all this time," She stopped a minute to catch her breath and maintain her composure. When the latter didn't work, she forgot all rational thinking and pulled out her second weapon. She pointed the handgun straight at Rinoa and said, "I said, you have THREE seconds to start explaining!"
Rinoa let out a little cry and the tears of panic rolled down her face. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you!" She sobbed, "After Squall and I were married, he was sent on a business trip, a long one, and I went out to a bar one night. Seifer was there and we talked about a lot that night," She wiped her face on her sleeve, "We were both pretty wasted, and Seifer told me that he still loved me. It was rough times; I let myself believe him and we ended up in bed together. It was a mistake, and I vowed never to speak of it,"
"But what happened, Rinoa?"
"Nothing happened, we never talked again, and Squall never heard about it-"
"You're lying," Quistis muttered, "And do you know how I know that? Because you're still writing these letters to him. On Garden stationary and sending them to a P.O. Box so no one's suspicious. Why would you have a reason to do that, Rinoa?"
Rinoa paused, and even in as deep as she was, hesitated to tell the truth. The cold gun was now resting on her left temple, Quistis' finger on the trigger. One slip up and that'd be the end.
"I read all these letters. They're all about your daughter, Ciaran. Some have pictures of her. Why would Seifer care about your daughter?"
Again, Rinoa said nothing, just sobbed. Quistis pulled her thumb up and cocked the gun, which made Rinoa sick to her stomach. Death crowded the room and she started saying her prayers, repenting and mentally saying goodbye to everyone she knew.
"Seifer would care," Quistis said, "Because Ciaran is his daughter, isn't she, Rinoa?
"Yes, yes she is!" Rinoa screamed again, "There, now are you happy?! Would you like a fucking prize for figuring out my secret?!!"
"I would NOT be sarcastic with the lady behind the gun right now!" Quistis said, "So Squall isn't the daddy after all, how'd you hide that from him?"
"I faked the whole thing," Rinoa said, "I told Squall she was born prematurely so he wouldn't know when she was conceived. I also told him that my mother was blond and that it must run on my side of the family, and that's why Ciaran has blond hair. Seifer has known the whole time, and I write him letters to tell him how she's growing up,"
"So... let me get this straight..." Quistis said, "First, you keep me and Squall from being happy together, a long time ago. Then, you betray him with his arch rival, spawning a child that you claimed as his. And now, the love of my life tells me he can't marry me because he's still in love and dreams of a family with you and the girl! Is that how it goes Rinoa?!!"
Quistis pushed the gun into Rinoa's forehead and the door to the house flung open. They both whipped their heads towards it to see Squall standing, covered in snow and holding a shotgun pointed right at Quistis' head. "If you don't let her go, I'm going to blow your fucking brains out," He said, gruffly.
"Squall, how nice it is to see you, have you heard what your beautiful wife here had to say?"
"I heard all of it, and I don't care. I want to you get out of my house."
"She slept with Seifer, while married to you," Quistis said, unemotionally, "You not only find that out, but you also discover that the daughter you've raised for 14 years isn't even your own! It's your lucky day, Squall!!"
"I'll deal with her later, right now, I'm dealing with you,"
"And what you gonna do about me?" Quistis dared him, "I came here to complete a job, to make her pay for all the pain and suffering she's caused me, and now you,"
Squall hadn't let up on his stance, but had an idea that would make something happen. He hoped things just didn't go the wrong way. "Quistis, look at yourself. You've gone stark raving mad. I bet it kills you to know that I never loved you,"
"Squall, I already told your wife once not to poke the sleeping bear,"
"And now, the ultimate let down,"
"Squall...."
Tension in the room was mounting. Squall decided it was do or die time. "You're coming to terms with the fact that Seifer never loved you either, we've both always loved Rinoa. She has won every battle you two have ever fought, and it bothers you, Quistis,"
Quistis was sobbing by now, standing beside her holding that gun. Squall's eyes of steel never moved. Quistis gave out one last scream of insanity and at that moment Rinoa heard a single gun shot----
Rinoa leapt up off the bed and gasped for air. Squall shot up beside her, "Rinoa, Rinoa, what's wrong?"
"A dream..." She murmured, "It was all a dream..."
Squall pulled her back down on the bed and cradled her in his arms, "Are you having those dreams about Quistis again?"
"Yeah... someone died this time, Squall," She said, truly frightened, "She was pointing a gun at me, you were pointing one at her, and someone pulled the trigger. Someone's dead."
"Well, I don't see any Quistises here," Squall assured her. He looked at the clock and said, "Wow, that was a long nap, I've got to get to work," He picked up his jacket from the chair beside the bed.
There was a knock at the door, and it opened to reveal Ciaran. "Hey, I'm off to the party," She said, motioning to her sleepover gear, "And mom, this came back in the mail," She flipped a letter onto the bed, "See ya tomorrow,"
"What is this?" Squall said, holding the letter, which read 'Extra postage required'. "It's written with the Garden stationary, and addressed to a P.O. Box., I don't remember writing anything to an address like this..."
Rinoa snatched the envelope from him. "Um, I'll take care of this, you just get to work," She smiled. He kissed her and they walked downstairs to the front door. She watched him pull away, then looked down at the letter, before shutting and locking the front door.