Squall and Rinoa are broken up. He has moved out of the apartment and into his dorm room. Just as things are looking up back at Garden, disaster strikes. Will Squall abandon university to go back to Garden? And will Squall and Rinoa ever get back together?
(Ps; Squall's gunblade is the Lionheart. Everyone's weapons are upgraded to their ultimate. Just to tell you. ^_^)
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"IRVINE! THIS IS THE LAST STRAW!!!" shouted Selphie.
"I-I'm sorry. I-I forgot you were there." Irvine stammered.
Selphie slapped his across the face and ran out. She ran to the phone and dialed Squall's phone number. She knew that Squall would listen. Rinoa would try to help but that would make things worse. The phone picked up.
"Hello?" asked a tired voice.
"Squall? Are you okay?" asked Selphie.
"Yeah. I've just been studying a lot." replied Squall.
"So, what's on your mind?" asked Squall.
Selphie started to tell the story of Irvine sleeping with two other girls and also flirted non-stop. She tolerated this but when he admitted to sleeping with another girl, she couldn't take it.
"You know what? I think I should come back to Garden." said Squall slowly.
"Please come back Squall. We need you. Everything's falling apart." said Selphie.
"I don't know. I'll think about it." said Squall.
Selphie said goodbye and hung up. She then ran to talk to the others about Squall thinking to come back to Garden. Zell was ecstatic. They were talking to Headmaster Cid to make him commander again. He complied.
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Squall secretly packed up everything. He had dropped out and was packing everything up. Rinoa had no clue what he was doing or where he was going. He didn't care. He had lost all faith in Rinoa. She had called him several times but everytime he had not picked up or called back. Just then, Max came in. He had thought it over quickly. It had taken him two days to think and make a decision.
"Sad to see you go man." he said.
"Yeah. Had some trouble back home." Squall replied.
"Where's your Gunblade?" asked Max.
"Already sent back. As well as my military textbooks and stuff." replied Squall.
They shook hands as Squall handed the dorm key to Max, headed down the stairs and out of the campus. He hailed a cab and got in. This was the last time he would see the magnificent cmapus of MSU. It was hard leaving, but it was best that he was with his friends in an environment where he was used to. He was driven to the airport. It was at least 3 weeks away from Thanksgiving but he needed to leave.
Back at the airport, Zell, Irvine, Nida, Quistis and Selphie were waiting. Squall's plane landed and he came out of the plane. He went through customs and outside, his friends were waiting. Staying at school only for a month and a half, he had dropped out. His father did not mind since Squall said it was a good cause. His friends were in need of him and he did not feel right around Rinoa anymore.
"WELCOME BACK SQUALL!!!!" shouted his friends.
He smiled and laughed. It felt good to be home. He got in the car with the others and talked. He was still the commander and it felt right. Everything was right. But, he returned to his self; before Rinoa. The quiet, private Squall. The Squall that was cold and barely showed any emotion. Zell and the others had to adapt to Squall's change but it didn't take long. Everyone was used to the cold and quiet Squall Leonhart.
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Max knocked on Rinoa's apartment. She opened the door and stared at him warily.
"I just came by to tell you that Squall dropped out of university." said Max.
He then walked away, leaving Rinoa at the door; the words sinking in. Squall had dumped her, and left for home.
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Squall was overworked. He was swamped with papers and missions. He went solo most of the time, but it was the paperwork that kept him awake. Every night, he was at his desk, shuffling through papers and filling them out. It was a hard life, but he was used to it. He had been a commander more than he had been at MSU. Soon, Rinoa would come for Thanksgiving but that day he had a mission. He would miss her and was glad for it. He did not want to see her. But, he would always lay his life down on the line for anyone.
"Commander Squall?" asked a voice.
Squall turned around. It was Xu. It was not the best time to bother Squall, but he figured it was important.
"Yeah?" asked Squall tiredly.
"Rinoa is here to see you." said Xu.
Squall jumped up. He was angry.
"W-what?! I thought she wasn't coming until Thanksgiving!" said Squall, enraged.
"She came for the weekend." said Xu.
"I absolutely refuse to see her." replied Squall coldly.
He sat back down and returned to his papers. Xu closed the door and turned back to Rinoa. Xu had a disturbed look on her face. Squall had rejected the offer. He did not want to see her anymore. Rinoa walked past Xu, opened the door and walked in. She did not care whether Squall wanted it or not. She just had to talk to him. He turned towards the door. Squall's eyes flashed. His ice blue eyes were stormy; anger, hurt, and an angry glint swirled in his eyes.
"What do you want?" asked Squall coldly.
"I-I just want to say that...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cheat on you. He said we would go as friends. I didn't know that he would try to rape me." she said softly.
"The least you could have done was tell me that you were going with another guy. I wouldn't have minded. But what makes things worse, is that you lied and cheated on me. That's something I can never forget." said Squall.
Rinoa's shoulders shook as tears fell down her face. His mood did not soften. He was the Squall Leonhart that had exsisted before Rinoa. It was hard. Too hard for Rinoa to adapt to his change. But, what Rinoa wanted was the Squall that was when she came into his life. He was shutting her out of his life because of one mistake.
"Squall, it was one mistake." she said.
"One mistake, billion mistakes. What does it matter? As far as I'm concerned, you cheated on me." he said.
"Please Squall. I'm sorry. Forgive me." she sobbed quietly.
He turned his back. He could; he would but he wouldn't. It was hard to trust. It was too hard to trust a person that had already crushed him once. How will he know that she would do it again?
"....Whatever." was his non-committal reply.
"I dropped out of university for you Squall. I can't live without you." she said quietly.
"That was your second mistake. You know what? Just drop it. Just fucking drop it. This argument is going nowhere!" shouted Squall.
Rinoa put a hand on his shoulder but he angrily shook it off. She flinched and she stared into Squall's intense blue eyes.
"I'm sorry Squall." she whispered.
Squall was caving in. It didn't help. Nothing helped to ease the pain. In a panic, he ran out the dorm room and headed straight for the Quad, grabbing his Gunblade in the process. Irvine was in the Quad, trying to apologize to Selphie, when they both saw a pained Squall run past them. They both gasped. He was just about to jump over the railing. He was probably going to use the Gunblade to stab himself. Irvine ran over and snatched the Gunblade just in time; but it was too late to catch Squall. He fell over and landed on the ground with a sickening *THUD*. A low groan was heard as they scurried to his side. The last thing he saw before lapsing into unconsciousness was the panick-stricken face of Selphie...calling his name. It sounded so distant, so far away.
"Tell her...tell her I forgive her.....and that I-I...." Squall passed out.
"Rinoa. Rinoa Heartilly. Please report to the infirmary." said the PA.
She quickly ran to the Infirmary to the greeted by the sight of a bruised, battered and bloody Squall Leonhart. Her stomach lurched as she was dangerously close to throw up. Dr. Kadowaki explained his condition.
"He's seriously hurt. Some internal damage but very minor ones. He has lots of cuts and bruises and he's suffering from a concussion." said Dr. Kadowaki.
"Will he wake up soon?" asked Rinoa quietly.
"I don't know. He's slipped into a coma. We're slowly losing him. If we don't keep a close eye on him; we might lose him." said Dr. Kadowaki wistfully.
Rinoa stared at him. He looked more at rest than any other time she had seen him. He looked so fragile, yet still very handsome. Oh, what she wouldn't give to hear his voice, hear his laugh and see his smile. Tears spilled out as she realized; she might not see or hear them ever again. She volunteered to keep a vigil over him. It was the least she could do after causing him so much pain. Selphie touched her arm.
"He forgives you. He was just about to say something but he never finished his sentence; but I have a feelings that he wanted to say that he loves you." said Selphie quietly.
'Oh Squall...please wake up...I love you...I need you.' she thought desperately.
But her response was the steady beeping of the heart rate monitor. His breathing was as normal as hers. He was in stable condition now, but he was still in the coma and there was no telling when he would come out of it.
~*~* One Month Later... ~*~*~
She was tired. Quistis, Zell, Irvine, Selphie, Xu and Nida had all taken turns watching over him. Finally, he came to. Squall rubbed his eyes and looked up into the face of his beautiful Rinoa. Tears from her eyes fell onto his cheek. He managed a small smile as he wiped the tears away.
"I love you Rinoa, but give me some time." said Squall.
"But why?" asked Rinoa.
"I just need to regain my trust in you." replied Squall.
"We are at Garden again Squall. Where we belong." said Rinoa.
"I know. Please, just let me regain the trust." said Squall.
"Just remember though; I love you Squall." said Rinoa quietly.
"So do I. Wait and you will receive." said Squall quietly.
Rinoa was tired and he could see it. He pulled Rinoa into his arms and she slept soundly in his arms. He gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead as he too, fell asleep.
The next morning, Rinoa woke up to the cold breeze against her back. Squall was gone, and in his place was a piece of paper. Rinoa picked it up and read through it.
'Morning beautiful.
I went into the Training Center to help some cadets. I'll see you around Garden. I have a lot to do since I was out for a month. Xu and the others handled most of it but there are still things not done yet.
~Squall'
Rinoa knew that Squall was starting to trust her again. It would take some time, she knew, but wished he would regain it quickly. She wished she could reverse her mistake of going out with Brad. She quickly ran to the Training Center; absently forgetting that she didn't have her Shooting Star with her. As soon as she stepped foot into the Training Center, she bumped into T-Rexaur. Rinoa, looked at her arm and gasped. Her Blaster Edge wasn't there. She screeched.
Squall heard the screech and stopped. He then quickly ran towards the source of the noise to find Rinoa crying and backed up against the wall. T-Rexaur's teeth were dangerously close to Rinoa. With a grunt, he drove his Lionheart into the monster and used Rough Divide on it. The T-Rexaur was dead. Rinoa sobbed as she ran into Squall's arms.
"If it wasn't for your Gunblade; I would be dead." Rinoa sobbed into his chest.
"Sshhh...It's okay." he whispered into her ear.
Squall held her. Suddenly, everthing in the world felt right. He kissed her and all his problems and pains disappeared. Now he trusted her, but knew that it was too early to know that. He still held her and gently stroked her hair.
"Please Squall. You can trust me...." she whispered.
"I know I can. And I won't leave you." he replied.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Part 4
"Fuck it Irvine. Just fucking drop it!" shouted Selphie.
"Selphie. I'm sorry. I'm just being obnoxious." Irvine pleaded.
Squall lay awake in bed as the argument replayed again for the third time that night, and he sighed. It was hard. Oh, how he wished to hold Rinoa in his arms until eternity ended, but everything wasn't so simple. Trust was on the line and he had regained his trust in her. He would protect her at all costs.
"Alright commander. Put your hands up and slowly stand up." said a deep voice.
"Who are you?" asked Squall.
"Puberty boy. You don't even recognize my voice?" asked the voice.
"Seifer." Squall growled angrily.
Squall did as he was told. He was led to the others, in the Quad. They were all gathered there, most of them stood stiffly. Squall stood in frotn of them, the point of his sharp gunblade pointing at his back.
"Your commanding days are over; Commander Squall Leonhart." said Seifer.
The blade went through. Squall's eyes widened pain.
'Great. 2 accidents in 2 months. How more painful can you get?' thought Squall weakly.
"SQUALL!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!" Rinoa screeched as she ran towards Squall.
"Quistis...cast full-cure. Selphie, use recover." Squall ordered weakly.
They ran towards him and did as he asked, while Zell and Irvine had beaten up Seifer, Fujin and Raijin to an oblivion. Soon, Squall was standing and holding his gunblade in his hand. He gave an evil smirk as he approached Seifer.
"Let's see how you like it." Squall said.
And he thrusted his Gunblade into Seifer and quickly pulled it out. He wiped the blood off his Gunblade as Seifer dropped to the ground; and nobody was there to save him. Zell, Rinoa and Irvine threw him out the Quad and onto the ground. There, Squall buried him and put a grave.
'Seifer Almasy 1983-2000
May this troubled teenager rest in peace.'
Squall was taken to the infirmary to receiver surgery for his wound. Oh, he was out and ready in hours, but he was ready to live life to the fullest; to help those in need. So, he threw himself at his work. Rinoa saw this as a good sign, but Squall was rarely seen around Garden now. He was on solo missions and paperwork kept him locked in his room and he would not let even Rinoa, Xu or Quistis; even Nida enter. He came out sometimes, looking haggard and sleep deprived. It was ruining himself by working all day and night.
"Squall? I really think you should stop working." said Rinoa.
"Just a bit more. I'm almost done." replied Squall.
Rinoa shrugged and fell sleep. When she woke up, he was gone. He had left a note for her that he would be out at a mission and will be back next week. She sighed. Squall was getting scarce. It was hard for Zell and the others to manage the Garden when they had no experience in doing so.
"Blasting Zone!" shouted Squall.
A huge circle of light radiated from Squall's gunblade as it obliterated all enemies in the range. He was satisfied. His work was getting easier by the minute. The Galbadian soldiers were no match and the monsters were weak ones. It was hard for everyone to adapt to Squall's absence but they had a feeling that his absence wouldn't last long.
Day after day, Squall struck down more and more humans; taking hundreds of lives. They probably had a girlfriend or a family like him and he had gone around killing them. It was cruel; but in Squall's eyes it was his job. The image of the Gunblade sticking out of his chest flashed past his eyes but he was unnerved. Squall Leonhart was perfectly calm.
The week passed. Squall had just returned to Balamb Garden, when Zell walked up to him and glared at him.
"What did I do now Zell." said Squall tiredly.
"Don't play dum with me Squall. You damn well know that you dated my cousin." said Zell.
"NO I DIDN'T! Are you crazy? I would never do that!" said Squall indignantly.
Squall pushed past Zell and to his dorm room. In the empty hallways, the sound of Squall's room slamming shut echoed. He lay down on the bed and slowly closed his eyes. They were tired. He was tired. Time to sleep.....
"Squall...? Squall...." called a faraway voice.
"Huh.....? Wha-.....?" asked Squall sleepily.
Then, he felt soft lips on his. As if it was an instinct, he kissed back. He opened his eyes to see into the eyes of...Quistis! He was startled and jerked out of bed. Rinoa giggled softly behind her.
"You're right Rinoa. He's a great kisser! Too bad Nida isn't like that." said Quistis with a dreamy sigh.
"Hey! He's my man and I'm going to keep him." said Rinoa with a laugh.
He groaned as he got to his feet and glared at the both of them. Quistis was paralyzed into fear. When he had the stormy eyes; it was best to shut up and stay that way. His eyes calmed down as he grabbed his jacket and put it on. He then grabbed his gunblade and made a slicing motion in the air to test out the sharpness of the blade. Satisfied, he walked to the training center, kissing both of them.
"Woah." said the girls.
"Zell!! Hurry up!" called Squall.
He quickly got into stance as they battled off yet another T-Rexaur and a Grat. It was hard work trying to show the cadets how to battle correctly. A combination of magic and physical attack worked the best but the strategy depended on the opponent's weaknesses and their type and what element they were. Squall had practice with that and he got into his battle-mode; serious and a grim look.
Meanwhile; Irvine and Selphie were getting further and further apart while Quistis' and Nida's wedding drew closer and closer. Rinoa was her normal self, happy and free-spirited, but Squall was a different story. He was like a man without emotions. As he finished teaching the cadets, his duties as a SeeD, his girlfriend and his whole life summed up. Loner. He was a loner. It didn't matter who his friends were; or whether they were there or not. He; Squall Leonhart is, was and always would be a loner. A song came into his mind as he thought.
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(Okay, I know the song is from Pokemon: The First Movie, but it fits right into Squall's character, so I had to add it. Apologies in advance. ^_^ The lyrics aren't the exact ones because I couldn't find them. =( )
How will I start tomorrow without you here Who's heart will guide me When all the answers disappear Is it too late? Are you too far gone to stay Best friends forever Should never have to go away What will I do You know I'm only half without you How will I make it through?
If only tears could bring you back to me If only love could find a way (find a way...) Oh what I would what I would give if you Returned to me Someday somehow somewhere If my tears bring you back to me
I'd cry you an ocean If you sail on home again Rays of emtion Will carry you an all they can Just let flow guide you And your heart chart the course Soon you'll be drifting Into the arms of your true north
Look in my eyes You'll see how million tears have gone by But still they're not dry
(repeat chorus)
I hold you close And shout the words I only wish but before For one more chance For one last dance And decide the plain that i will not And oh,
(repeat chorus)
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The song had summed up his entire life. He was a fucking loner and he couldn't do a thing about it. No matter what happened, he would somehow, always end up a loner. It was as if fate was fucking around with his life.
"If I had one wish, it would be to end all my pain." he whispered sadly.
All his friends were in some fight one with another; a couple breaking up and an envious couple that wished they could be like another. Nida and Quistis were getting married, Zell wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Irvine and Selphie wishing they were like Rinoa and he. Quistis wanted Nida to be like him. It was chaos. It was overwhelming.
"Maybe I should have jumped when Irvine and Selphie weren't there." Squall wondered to nobody.
To Be Continued...
AN: How'd you like it? I know I know. I think it sucked too. Heh. '...Whatever'. Anyways, comments, feedback and suggestions are always welcome. E-mail them to me at: max_evans_@hotmail.com and I'll review them.
Coming up in the next two parts:
1. Squall's second attempt at the jump to his death. 2. Irvine and Selphie officially break up. 3. Rinoa gets devastated at Squall's second attempt's success/failure (find out 4 urselves)
See all of you later. And please, do read it. It's gonna be really cool. And don't get any any ideas thinking, "Oh my god! Max is going to kill off Squall! Die you (insert profanity here)!" No. I don't wanna die yet! So, don't think that. Please be nice in the reviews, but you can curse me. This is the first time I'm writing for a HUGE audience of strange ppl on the internet. I only posted at AGFFR, PFFA's F-Fic board and wrote for personal reasons, but never professionally. Oh, and I do have one FIC to advertise and that is Ace Sanchez's Pokemon Master fanfic and many of his others. Go check it out at his website. It is: http://jsa.users.fl.net.au. Go to some of his other sections for Karin Kanzuki, Ranma 1/2, and others. And don't pressure him to write PMaster part 12 because he's already been pressured by billions of people. Everytime I write, I think back to Ace's fics, because those are what started me off the road to authorism. (Is that a word?) I do write Pokemon fanfics, and there are some of them in the works. Watch for Ashura's Pokemon fanfics coming soon. I'll probably post one after my first 6 chapters on this. Which won't be long but count on it being posted before May 5, my 14th birthday.
Adios hermanos! ~Max