Disclaimer: I don't own any FF, and sadly, it will stay that way , the only thing i own is this plot, scary huh? P
A/U. Squinoa. Rinoa Heartilly is a student in Balamb, hoping to become a SeeD, she's popular, she has friends, and she has a boyfriend, yet, she hasn't meet Squall...
Author's Note: Well, this is my first fic ever so be a little patient if I'm not as good. For the story, in this fic, SeeD isn't meant to destroy the sorceress, as everything went well in the 1st Sorceress war, there's no NORG so Cid takes care of the way the Gardens are run, Xu is the commander of Balamb and both of them chose which missions to do and which not to do, explaining why Riona doesn't has a problem with being part of it, even more, gives her a propose in life to be able to carry out missions helping Timber some day. Anyway this takes up place before timber is free, at the start of the FFVIII game, and there are some intriguing things that should be interesting, although I still know the final couple will be Squall and Rinoa, but you'll see the development. Also, before you get confused by it, the story will be from 2 point of views mainly, squall and Rinoa, but from time to time there will be others popping up there, I figure you will note the difference
Between Yesterday and Tomorrow
Chapter 1: Catching up
It was a sunny day in Balamb, and I had forgotten how hot the weather was down here in summer, as I came down the train station I realized there wasn't anyone waiting for me, but I couldn't really blame anyone for I hadn't warn them I would come early, besides I must be the first one to come back, that's if Seifer did took that trip to Centra to seek those ruins...
"I wonder if I should be worried..." She said aloud without even knowing it
"Rinoa!" She was taken off guard, but smiled as she found the source of her surprise, one of her best friends, a tall blonde with deep blue eyes, she always wondered why her friend didn't had a boyfriend, she was one of the most popular girls in Balamb, heck she even had a fan club! She giggled as the she was thinking that.
"What, not even a hello, and what's all the laughing about, do a have something in my hair again?" The blonde said as she went up the stairs to meet her friend. Her face changing from a smile to a sudden worry.
"Whoa, wait there Quisty, I'm happy to see you again too, it's just I was surprised a bit someone had come, I didn't expect anyone to know" Rinoa replied as she lean forward to hug her friend.
"Save the thanks to General Caraway and Xu, somehow, your father got word I hadn't left Balamb for vacations, so he asked me if I could come pick you up"
"That old man, he's always been over protective, I'm sorry you got in the middle of it" after saying this, Riona remembered Quistis was supposed to go with Selphie, Irvine and Zell to Esthar on vacations, started to say something but was suddenly stop by Quisty's hand, "I know, I'll explain in the way, but it's too hot in here to talk with comfort" she said taking one of the several suitcases Riona was carrying, rolling her eyes as she noticed there were 3 big suitcases, but decided not to ask this time.
Soon enough both reached the outsides of Balamb and Quistis pointed to a car that was parked near them, Rinoa nodded and followed Quistis to the car, she wondered if Quistis had got a summer job and buy it with that money..
"Hey Quisty, is it yours?" She asked as she handed one of the suitcases
"Yeah, if it hadn't been for Xu I would've been bored in garden all summer, but she offered some jobs to students who didn't go out on vacations for the summer, you know Balamb is extremely busy in this time of the year, and as I had some money, I thought it would be easier to drive to Balamb rather than walking or taking a taxi..."
"Okay, Okay, I was only asking if it was yours, you don't have relate me all your summer!... Yet" a smirk formed in her face as she spoke the last words
Rinoa stopped before entering the car, looking at the town of Balamb and the near shore, she couldn't stop her mind from wondering how Seifer was doing in Centra, she dismissed the thought soon, remembering he and the others would come back soon. Suddenly she started to think about the future lying before her, Garden was going to start it's normal duties in 3 days, and her life would return to the way it was before she went to visit her father, yet.. she had a feeling everything would change this year, somehow, she couldn't tell why, but she was certain of it.
Once both were in the car, Rinoa focused on her friend and her outgoing nature made itself present again, thinking if it was ok to ask her about the summer now, and easily reading Rinoa's expression, Quistis decided they had to start talking if she wanted to have dinner tonight, for Rinoa would certainly not let go until she had heard everything.
"Alright, so, where you want me to start?" she asked trying to put attention while still driving.
"Hehe, ohh, tell me why you don't have a boyfriend yet?" Rinoa asked teasingly
"I Thought you were going to ask about the summer... what, wait a minute, how can you know if I have one now, I was alone all the summer you know?" Quistis shoot back with a frown on her face
"Because, you would've dragged him with you to Balamb, even if he was on slippers!" Riona said starting to giggle
"That hurts, I'm not that bossy, or am I?... wait, don't answer that" Rinoa couldn't stop laughing in her seat "To answer your question, I think all the guys in the school are just immature.." realizing her mistake she tried to think fast "you and Selphie got all the good guys" she quickly added, so Rinoa wouldn't notice, yet, it was still the truth, Quistis had a bit of a crush for Seifer some time ago, before he started to went out with Rinoa.
"Hey, don't forget Zell, he may be weird, but he's still a nice guy" Riona was still trying to regain control of herself and not laugh
"He's just not my type, besides he's gross when he's eating, and has a secret love"
"Whoa, really, Zell, with who?" Riona was really surprised to hear that, all Zell could ever think about were hot-dogs and fighting styles.
"Yep, it's the librarian with the piggy-tail"
"Zell, with a librarian, what has this world come to?" Rinoa just couldn't picture Zell around books, but she always thought love comes in unexpected ways, so she smiled at the thought of her friend falling for a librarian, even when she hoped he wouldn't get hurt.
"Yes indeed, and that's not the best gossip in garden, there are news of a new transfer student coming from Esthar, apparently it's said Xu and Cid had troubles with "you know who" keeping anyone else from becoming gunblade specialist in Balamb"
"Really, it's not like Seifer threatens them!" Rinoa rolled her eyes, she thought people overreacted the way Seifer acted, to her, he was just acting cool, people just took it too seriously, so much the whole garden feared him in some way, except a few, but they never got in his way anyway.
"Apparently Cid thinks no one wants to practice with Seifer or around him, so they just discard the gunblade path before being asked"
"So.. how does the new guy fits in all this?"
"Ohh yes, this is where things get good, word has it that Esthar garden has over 50 of it's male students with gunblade as their weapon, the intriguing part is they supposedly chose that path to follow the steps of a certain model student who seems to be quite popular in Esthar, but appears to be really obnoxious and non-talkative, yet they look up to him"
Rinoa listened silently as her friend went on with the new student, her mood suddenly changed from some minutes ago, she was no longer laughing or being care-free as always, she was interested in the way things were moving, she was even worried of how this would affect her life, being Seifer's girlfriend she always stood by his side.
"Uhmm, so they expect him to have that effect in Balamb too?" As she asked, she realized how much Quistis knew about this, she wasn't much into the gossip market, and she seemed really interested in this matter
"And not only that, they could've brought other guys, but I asked Xu why this one and she told me any other guy would eventually drop it to Seifer, but this guy was different, he wouldn't back off anyone, but was very loyal towards his superiors" Quistis then noted her friend had a strange grin on her face, but she couldn't tell why.
"Don't you think they're over-reacting, it's like they were trying to get Seifer out of garden.." Rinoa was starting to worry about how Seifer would take the news
"Yes, and if you ask me, I think there's more to it than just a one student problem, but Xu wouldn't tell me that" after a few seconds pause, she said "Don't worry Rin, if this guy is as they say, he won't cause any problems" trying to calm Rinoa
"I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about Seifer, he's going to feel that as a personal attack" and I wonder if I should too she keep that thought to herself, her personality always made her talk, but some parts of her thoughts she always keep to herself.
A sudden silent came to the car as both students drown to their minds, none wanting to go on about this, fortunately they didn't had to be silent for long, as they were getting close to Garden.
Quistis parked the car and turned it off letting out a sigh then turned to her friend and said with a smile "sorry about that, I'm still learning how to drive this thing", Rinoa nodded and opened her door of the car, feeling the never changing weather of garden, she made a mental note to thank Cid and Xu for artificial weather, then moved slowly to the back of the car to pick up her belongings.
Once they were out of the parking lot, Rinoa had to put her suitcases down to take a deep breath with the sight of the garden, the immensity of it never seemed to dawn in her completely, every time she saw it's inside after a long time away she was amazed of how big it seemed, and the water running trough it's structure always made Rinoa happy.
"If you're done we can go up to your room to leave this things, then go get something for dinner before it's late" Quistis had already made to the idea this was going to take longer than expected, and that talk about the new guy only made things take longer.
"Let's go, I'm hungry too, so I'll unpack everything later" Riona took her suitcases again and went after her friend, but she still had her eyes on halls and the water, then she noticed how the garden looked bigger when it was almost empty as it was now, only a few students were in the hallways, the elevator wasn't busy, and you could almost hear the sound of the water if you really tried to.
Before she knew it, they had reached her room, it was the last one to the left of the first hall (A/N there are a few more halls, and everyone lives in garden, well at least everyone with a big role in this fic, though maybe later I'll have someone pop in who lives in Balamb, which is btw farther away than it was in the game, around 20 minutes driving) then she took her id out from one of her pockets, and after putting all the suitcases inside, she took a good look of her room, and was about to run to her bed like a child, but only sighed and went out closing the door behind her.
"Okay, let's go grab something to eat, but if you don't mind, I would like to rest after that, I couldn't get much sleep on the train" she let out a small yawn, but that was only half the truth, the other part was that she wanted to think and drift away to her little world, something that wasn't usual with her.
"Ohh I'm sorry, I should've know that, well then, let's hurry up" they started to walk down the hall, what Rinoa didn't knew then was that the room across hers was appointed to the transfer student..
Note: Okay, that's chapter 1, I was going to make it longer, but I want to see if my writings are of the like of anybody, else, if no one is going to read my fic it's useless to keep writing, I know how the plot will develop, but my likes in writing are slow stories (not boring) that bring in detail and with this long chapters, the following will be around twice this big and will come mainly in the weekends, I'm guessing one per month or faster would be my phase. That said I only have 2 things more to say P, one, please don't flame me much, my former language isn't English so there should be plenty of typos or grammars, aside that i think someone may even like this; second one, please review, it doesn't takes long, and it will let me know someone is reading, feel free to ask me anything or tell me things to improve my writing. That's all for now ).
