Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, it is the property of SQUARESOFT.
Note: This is in Squall's perspective.
This story is dedicated to Ekika, The Ever Smiling…
Just Because It's Meant To BeI sighed as I scanned the large ballroom where the Garden Festival Committee was putting up decorations for the SeeD inauguration party. I was the Commander of Balamb Garden and Cid thought it was essential for me to supervise the decorating-ness of the ballroom. What a brilliant idea…
"Irvine! What the hell do you think you're doing?" I spotted the flirtatious cowboy hitting on a 5'1" brunette that I then identified as Selphie. "I'm sure you didn't join the Garden Festival Committee for your own romantic gain." My tone dripping from the excess sarcasm, I rolled my eyes. Everyone knows why he joined… and trust me, the reason isn't because he wanted to be helpful.
"Sir, no, Commander Leonhart, sir!" He took the SeeD stance of attention. He was mocking me again. I don't like people who mock me and when I don't like people I cut them up and sell them to a hotdog factory.
"Zell will be eating your remains in a hotdog if you don't start moving, Irvine!" I made sure to wear that 'I'm-Going-To-Kill-You' look.
"Yes, sir, Commander Leonhart, sir!" The 'I'm-Going-To-Kill-You' intensified as he ran around like a moron picking things up and dropping them at random spots.
"Hey, having fun?" The smooth voice that addressed me followed by a quick peck on the cheek and I won't lie, I nearly jumped five feet in the air from the surprise.
"I, uh… hey." I looked towards the half-angel, Rinoa Heartilly. My girlfriend. You got that? She's my girlfriend… mine. Not yours… not anyone else's. Mine. So keep your eyes and hands to yourself, buddy.
"So, what's going on?" She asked sweetly, smiling as she observed her surroundings.
"Well… the decorations are being put up." I didn't take my eyes off of her angelic face. I was guessing that I didn't look too smart because I wasn't really paying attention to anything else. Just staring, dumbfounded, at her.
"I know that, Squall." She laughed slightly at my lack of attention, "I'm just trying to offer my services here."
My 'guy mind' instantly jumped to conclusions, "What? Right now? Sure, I'll put Selphie on my job as monitor and we'll go to my dorm right away!" Finally, something was going right in my day.
She gave me this awkward stare and then burst into fits of laughter. My face fell slowly. She buried her face in my jacket and I could hear her say, "Got a one track mind, don't you? That's something I didn't expect…"
I blushed furiously and to my dismay my mouth opened wide again to spout out some more stupidities, "Oooh… you mean… for the SeeD inauguration… not… ok… uh, well…" I cleared my throat and Rinoa was still into her fits of giggles.
When she had recovered she spoke with a hint of amusement, "Well… I'll go see Selphie to find out how I can help." She kissed me on the cheek and I found myself rubbing that very cheek for three minutes after.
I wasn't even bothering to watch what was going on. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a guy fall off a ladder but I didn't give a crap. I was watching her. Helping Selphie lift boxes and put up decorations. Damn… she was so beautiful…
Tomorrow night… tomorrow night, I would do something that would change our life together forever… tomorrow night I was going to…
***
"PROPOSE?" Zell spat out his hot dog everywhere. That made me flinch slightly and brush off masticated hot dog crumbs. Disgusting… simply disgusting…
I groaned in disdain, "Damn it, Zell, keep your mouth shut when you're eating. Pieces tend to scatter everywhere…"
"Man, proposing is some serious business!" He concluded as though he'd never heard the excellent piece of advice I had just given him, "I mean… it's some serious business. Like… seriously…"
"I got that the first time," I outlined.
"Man, I mean… that means… that you and Rinoa'll be hitched forever. Like… you know… I mean… that means that you two'll be together forever!" He sounded like a stupid two-year old.
"Yes, Zell… together for ever," I rolled my eyes slightly and ran my hand through my hair, "and I think we're ready for that."
"Damn, Mr. Whatever getting married!" He started to laugh and punch the air randomly. What a big idiot he was sometimes. "So can I be best man? Is that why you told me first? Because you wanted me to be best man?"
I nearly blurted out 'FUCK NO!' but Rinoa's influence has taught me to take people's feelings into consideration. "We'll see, Zell. Just don't tell anyone for now and we'll discuss your part in the wedding later."
I walked over to my desk and plopped down in my office chair. Then I started to think… would Zell have a part in the wedding? To tell the truth I didn't really want him to be best man and if I made him ring bearer… then he probably would lose the rings.
The only reason I had told him first is that he was the first to walk into my office. And I was just bursting to tell someone. Anyways, I needed someone to help me rehearse my proposal speech. I knew exactly where and when I wanted it to take place… but I wasn't sure on what to say. And I wanted everything to be perfect… because that is what she deserved.
"Did I just hear the word 'propose'?" Oh no… anyone but that moron.
"You better not have!" Oh no… anyone but that asshole. "He's dating my daughter!"
"General Caraway… President Loire…" I managed through clenched teeth, "So nice of you to drop by."
"Wow-wee! Squall, you're getting married? Oh, can I be ring bearer, please, please, please?! I love walking down the aisle with the two shiny rings that go 'cling' when they hit each other!" What a moron…
"Uh… President Loire…"
"Drop the formalities, just call me Laguna!" He interrupted me happily.
"Well, uh, Laguna… I don't know about the ring bearer idea, and I'm really sorry, but…"
"You'll be sorry if you ever ask my little girl to marry you, because I'm going to put my foot right where –"
"General Caraway, please!" It was really no use.
"-The sun doesn't shine!" He roared louder, completely burying my own voice. Zell just looked as amused as a child on Christmas morning. I shot him a glare and motioned to the door, "Dincht, get out…"
He continued to smile stupidly until he was out the door. "Could we please… just… can I explain myself?"
"Explain yourself? There's nothing to explain. You aren't worthy of Rinoa, so there's nothing to discuss. I will not have some oaf marry her."
"Sir … with all do respect, if I'm an oaf … then I'm an oaf that loves your daughter very much and I'm not an oaf … I'm the commander of this Garden … but I'm a commander that loves your daughter very much …" Wow, I certainly have a way with words, don't I? That was sarcasm and it was a rhetorical question.
"Oh really?" He looked at me suspiciously. "Well… then let me think about it…" He sat himself on the couch that Zell was sitting on before. Laguna bounced around the room happily.
"So, what's your proposal speech?" He asked jubilantly, "You've got to have one of those, right?"
"Well, Sir… Laguna… I was… working on that right now." I admitted painstakingly. Now he would probably want to hear it and I certainly don't feel like dictating it to him of all people, especially not with Caraway in the room.
"Oh, wow-wee! Let's hear it!" I can read him like an open book, oh Hyne… what have I done to deserve this? "You can pretend I'm Rinoa!" OH HELL NO! I'd rather pretend Irvine was Rinoa, but not Laguna!
"Um, my imagination is very feeble at the moment and I think I just forgot my lines so I don't really think that dictating my proposal to you is such a good idea…" I fumbled wildly for an excuse… in vain.
"Oh nonsense! It's better when it just flows off your tongue. It's so natural that way! Just read whatever is written in your heart!" Laguna smiled, obviously very proud of the advice that he had just given me.
Read what was written in my heart? How about 'septum' or 'cardiac muscles'. That must have been the cheesiest piece of advice I have ever heard in my entire life, "Well… it… doesn't work that way with me…"
"Oh just try!!" He had a knack of interrupting people obnoxiously, "Oh pretty please?" Did he just want to pretend he was Rinoa or something? Argh… ew, wouldn't that make the papers? President Loire is a transvestite …
"Fine…" I mumbled and then raised my voice so that it was clear, "Uh… well, Rinoa. I've been meaning to ask you this for a while. I just want to tell you that I love you very much… um… and that I think we should get married. Well, I mean, only if you want to… it's just that… you know, we could have legal sex…" General Caraway's head popped up and his eyes were bursting out of his head, "And have legitimate children. Not that illegitimate children are bad, heck, I'm probably a bastard child myself… but you know… I mean, if you want to… we could… you know… make our couple an official one and sign pretty papers… and… live in the same dorm… well it's like we live in the same dorm now except it would be legal if we were married…" General Caraway started coughing maniacally, "And so yeah… please marry me?"
Laguna stayed silent for a moment, looking awkwardly at me. Suddenly he squeaked, "Well… that was… good, Squall. I mean… it was natural, alright… a bit, detached perhaps… but it was good! Well, I just remembered that I have to take my pot roast out of the microwave, bye!" And he ran out of my office like a fire had just ignited at his underpants.
Caraway stood there looking at me as if he wanted to murder me. It was then that I remembered exactly what I had said in that 'natural proposal'. He said in a hoarse voice, "There is no way in Hell that you are marrying my daughter…" He stormed out of my office and I collapsed on a chair.
This was going brilliantly… simply brilliantly…
***
"Men were never meant to make commitments, buddy." Irvine said as he shot a Grat in the training center. "Never. They just can't abide with the laws that commitments bring."
I pulled the trigger exactly at the right moment, sending a small explosion while I was delivering my blow on the other Grat. "You are not being very encouraging!" I yelled, "I'm telling you of my plans, seeking help from you and you just keep putting me down!" My yelling must have been quite loud because an angry T-Rexaur soon came charging at us.
Irvine cast a sleep spell and the monster feel down with relative ease. From then on we both kept using Ultima spells and it soon kicked the bucket. Then we were free to talk in our normal tone again, "I'm trying to be honest with you, pal! You don't seem to be aware of all the dangers that commitment brings. Not allowed to see other girls, not allowed to look at other girls… and the list goes on and-"
"I'm not like you, Irvine! I can be
content with only one woman at a time.
That woman happens to be walking around and breathing perfectly
fine! Her name is also Rinoa
Heartilly! Listen, I didn't ask for your
opinion on my decisions, I just wanted you to help me write up a proposal!"
"Did you just crawl out from under a rock or something?" Irvine gawked, "These things are suppose to flow out naturally. You're supposed to be ready for any obstacles in your way, let's say if a rabid squirrel suddenly joins your party… you are supposed to know what to say, deep down and it's going to sound perfectly fine! You don't take cue cards to your proposal, man!"
We walked out of the training center, my spirits had been grinded to the ground. I was nowhere nearer to the perfect proposal and it was schedule to be tomorrow. Tomorrow was going to be so special and this was my only opportunity to do anything… tomorrow… was only a couple of hours away… and I needed to get some sleep.
***
How I wound up here… I'll never know. The important part is that I wound up somewhere, pretty far from Balamb at exactly eight-thirty that morning. And it wasn't to see someone all-important.
"Listen, I'm begging you… you are my last hope." Oh Hyne, are you seeing this Rinoa? I've come to my least favorite person in the world…
"Never thought I'd hear that from your mouth, Commander Puberty…" Oh Hyne, are you seeing this Rinoa? I've come to your ex-boyfriend. Look at the lengths I cross for you…
"Come on… I could have killed you back then, Seifer… you owe me a favor and this is it, please help me." I moaned desperately, sitting on the edge of a pier with him. He was just fishing, content to see me begging.
"Help you do what? Jeez, you sound like an old woman… what do you need help with?" he asked reluctantly.
"I need help writing up a marriage proposal," I explained, "It has to be perfect!"
Seifer laughed his haughty mocking laugh and shook his head, "Did you just crawl out from under a rock or something? These things are supposed to be natural… you know… flowing. If you really love the girl than you're supposed to know exactly what to say… no matter the time or the place or the situation. Don't you know anything about romance, puberty boy?"
"You're a big help, thanks…" I muttered sarcastically and got up on the pier to start walking away. But he held me back.
"Whoa, wait!" He called back, "If you really want to impress your girl, you should tell her why you want her to marry you… it's sort of like a compliment to them."
"You really think so?" It was hard to hide my rising spirits.
"How the hell should I know? Do I look like the cuddly-wuddly guy here?" Oh wonderful Seifer… your help has been remarkable. Bitter sarcastic thoughts barred all thinking routes to help me form my proposal. This was a wasted trip… and I needed to get back to Garden immediately.
***
And this brings me to the fateful night where I'm supposed to propose to her. The ambiance is perfect, she's so gorgeous… wearing the beige dress she wore the first time we met… the time where she dragged me across the dance floor.
Only I don't have any proposal. I fumble around with the velvet box in my SeeD uniform pocket. I don't even know if I want to do this anymore. She doesn't deserve this… she deserves so much better. I'm not even confident that she'll like the ring anymore.
Here she comes towards me, wearing that sweet angel smile and I seem to know exactly what she's thinking. I can't help but smile back at her. It's so ironic how fate sets the scenery of a déjà-vu effect. I'm leaning against a wall… a champagne glass in hand…
"Hey, you're the best looking guy here…" She smiles, "And you're also my boyfriend… you wanna dance?"
"I don't dance…" I smile helplessly, "Well actually… there was this one time where this crazy girl nearly killed me and a couple of innocent bystanders by dragging me onto the dance floor." She grins and I can't help but add, "And since I only dance with people I like then I guess I could join you for a dance…"
And so we dance. Every one of her movements is perfect… I'm a little rusty maybe but I'm certainly better off than last time. Definitely better off than last time. The music stops just to follow fate's irony we look up at the crystal ceiling… to see a shooting star.
That's my cue. I lead her to the balcony. That wonderful balcony where we shared our first kiss. It reminds me how much I really do love her. This is it… I'm going to do it…
"Rinoa… I've wanted to tell you this for a while now… it's just I'd never get the chance and the timing was really crappy and stuff…" I fumble with the box in my pocket and try to open it only it shuts closed on my finger, "Cripes!" I turn away from her and obviously she seems a tad bit concerned.
"Squall are you ok?" Her worried voice rings though my ears and I turn back to face my love.
"Yeah… it's just… these last past few days haven't really been all that lucky for me…" I smile in spite of myself. I take my hand out of my pocket immediately.
"What's wrong?" She tilts her head a bit to the side. She's so adorable when she does that…
"Well, I've been thinking a lot about-"
"Listen man, I just came to warn you that Caraway is after your blood! You best be careful… he's at the party tonight…" Zell's voice is panicked as he barges into my moment.
"My dad? What's he want from you?" Rinoa turns to me, "He's not being an pain is he? Like… complaining at you for no good reason or something?" She sounds worried, but I reassure her. Right now I don't care about Caraway or Zell I just want to let the words flow…
"It's fine, Rin…" I say quickly, "I just really want to talk to you about something that's been at the back of my mind for a while now-"
"Dude! Ok, just wanted to catch you before I was too late! I just wanted to tell you that I was wrong. Men can make commitments… I am so in love with Selphie!" The cowboy interrupts me as he too has joined us on the balcony. Blood rushed through my head… are we ever going to be alone? He's got his arms around Selphie as the two punch each other playfully.
Rinoa stifles a giggle and my attention is all back on her now, "Please hear me out, I really need to talk to you…"
"Squall whatever you do don't say anything!" Great, here comes President Loire… "Because if you are about to say your speech then you'll be lying to her and that's really not a good way to start things off!" The man looks baffled like a crazy wombat. I clench my teeth and offer him the last bit of patience I have left, "Because you aren't a bastard child, Squall… I'm your dad…"
This hits me like a ton of bricks and all of a sudden I feel very light headed. Laguna is my father? I'm getting dizzy now… but my angel sets me back on my feet. "Squall?"
Blood rushed though my head once more. "ARE THERE GOING TO BE ANY MORE INTERRUPTIONS? QUISTIS, MAYBE YOU'D LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT YOU ARE MY LONG LOST AUNT TWICE REMOVED? OR CAN I GET SOME TIME ALONE?" I glare at Quistis, the newcomer on the balcony. Rinoa looks startled.
"You know, are you sure that you're ok?" My Rinoa asks, a worried look on her face.
"Listen, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately… mostly about you and about us…" I say the words quickly.
Though I'm interrupted again, "LEONHEART! What did I tell you about getting close to my daughter!"
"Caraway, shut up!" Rinoa snaps at him. "Please… just finish what you have to say, this is getting crazy." So my angel has noticed.
"Go on puberty boy… tell her why…" I don't even have to look at the growing crowd to see Seifer's face there because I know he's there and I just don't care.
For some reason they've all shut up now and I can finally speak. "Rinoa… I've been thinking a lot lately about the future and what it can bring… but I've been thinking mostly about you… and how you're just a part of me… and how I could just never leave you." And then I stop… because there are no more words to say. I'm suddenly afraid, my palms are cold with sweat and my love's eyes bore deeply in my own in a questioning way…
I reach into my pocket slowly and take out the small velvet box that I then place carefully in her hand, "Please marry me, Rinoa Heartilly… because… because…" And then suddenly I know the 'because' and so I whisper it in her ear, "Because it's just meant to be…"
She's smiling and her eyes are bright. "Of course…" My Rinoa, my angel…
"WHAT?" General Caraway's roar is heard amongst the crowd and this time Rinoa doesn't have to shush him because Seifer's already taking care of it.
I'm so happy that I don't care who's looking anymore. I kiss her softly and it takes a few moments to see that the mob has finally showed some respect and left us alone.
"I love you…" She whispers into my ear.
"I love you too." I can't help smiling, this is the best moment of my life…
My Rinoa… my angel… my love… we'll be together just because it's meant to be.
Sammy: Haahaa! This is my excuse for writing the FLUFFIEST thing that I've ever written. I'm sorry to say this and I don't mean to sound fatheaded … but I'm really proud! Thank you to all the readers. Please, please, PLEASE review and tell me what you thought! Thank you so much…
This story is dedicated to The Ever Smiling. My beta reader and my best friend! Thanks for encouraging me all this time with every story and for teaching me that you can't write for others unless you write for yourself! You are the greatest! Thanks also for telling me 'There's never too much fluff…' so here's to you… bask in the fluffy-ness!