~**~ Author's note : These are short lil' stories of mine.. I mean, not very
lengthy and all that wishy washynessy goodness. Please read 'n review. Most of this
is a buncha inside jokes, and really it would never happen in FF8, but it's
fun to write!! Now, there are a couple locations here that aren't really in
FF8, but oh well ;). teehee... Thank you. And continue on, oh curious one! WAIT!!
I forgot to mention... If you liked Rinoa in FF8, please head on over to a different
author, cos I advise you not to read this.. Thankies. ~**~

Noontide brought excitement amid the Garden. A furmented aura
seemed to hover aloft; as the renowned Great Ball drew ever nearer. The
students and faculty found their lunchtime far from relaxing: even Squall.

"........," Squall mumbled as he lay on his meager bed in the dorm room. He slowly sat
up as someone knocked on his door. "Come in," he said. Peeping her head through
the door was none other than Selphie; with her beaming smile and energetic
self, as usual.

"Heya Squally! How ya doin? Aren'tcha excited about the Ball tonight?! Oh I'm
really really happy! I finally managed to chase Seifer, you know, that hottie
captain of yours! And I asked him to the ball.. And first he smacked me a good one,
as if I said something.. blasphamous or something.. But after a couple buises,
gouges, and downright belittlement, I finally got him to go with me!!" *Insert Selphie
sqeak here* "So who're you going with Squall?"

"................"

"'Squall, you don't look so good.. are you okay?"

"My forehead hurts.."

"Hm. Anyways, I'll talk to you later, Kay! I've got to go get ready for the ball! Eight hours
of preptime isn't NEARLY enough for me! C ya!" And with her usual exodus,
Selphie skipped out of the dorm. Squall was rather relieved that she left, as he wanted
to be alone with his [rare] thoughts, and aches from that shippy scar Seifer gave him. There he
lay: face up, arms folded over his chest, thinking. After three long minutes of such, he
turned over on his side and fell asleep.

Hours later, he slowly opened his eyes to the makeup permeated face of
Selphie: smiling brightly with twinkling brown eyes. Squall's eyes widened with shock
as he sat up rapidly, unconcious of what would happen two seconds later. "QUISTIS?! --- OUCH!"
Yes, he sat up and smacked poor Selphie with his head, against her own.

"Squall," said Selphie, in her highpitched, perky intonation, "what was that all about?
Of course I'm not Quistis, she's downstairs talking to Cid. Duh!! I just came up here
to tell you that you'd better get ready. The ball starts in an hour. I'm going to go meet
Seifer so I'll see you there." And with that Selpie left the room, and headed straight for the
girls' bathroom to fix her face.

Squall yawned, stretched his arms, and reluctantly got up. He got dressed in his
SeeD uniform, and since he had to time to kill, decided to go for a walk in the Garden.

He mingled a while, loping torpidly around.. scuffing his shoes with his hands placed flaccidly
in his pockets. His mind was drifting about, not really "thinking".. until the thoughts
wandered to Quistis. Now there was some one he wanted to go to the ball with.. He hadn't
told anyone yet, but he rather liked Quistis, but didn't feel the nerve to ask her.. Instead, he'd
just ignore her.. playing hard to catch, of course.

The hour rolled by quickly, and before he knew it he was practicing his two hundred meter dash
as he sprinted to get to the Ball on time. He got there, bumping into a few important aristocrats, but
the fact is he got there.

Gasping for breath as he entered, he immediately speed-walked to the cherry punch. It took
three or four cups to replenish him, but when he was done, he set to work: find Quistis. His gleaming
brown oculars narrowed hardly as determination welled up inside to get her.

He pushed and shoved his way through the dancing crowd, when to his luck [hardly] he ran into
Selphie & Seifer. "HI Squallie!!!! Have you met Seifer? Oh of course you have, he beat you at that
training battle you two had.. Teehehheee! Isn't that right Seifer?" As she said this, Selphie
innocently wrapped her arms around Seifer's.

Seifer nodded acknowledgeably at Squall, though his cold hard eyes were set resolutely, never
giving into all the mushiness that Selphie had dreamed he would.

Pushing his way through, Squall's eyes narrowed in on the petite, yet striking person that was none
other than Quistis. A small grin danced across his lips as he walked closer and more determined
to her. Just watching her talk to anybody, even Cid, was tearing him apart inside... he hated it, although
his outward facade showed otherwise often times.. He walked, more steadfast in his goal then ever, when
who should he run into but [no, not Selphie] Rinoa. Rinoa with those ebony black locks that hung from her
head like icicles. Rinoa with her head as shaped like a clam.. Rinoa with that crow shaped nose.. and her
eminent personality.

A small smile was drawn across Rinoa's pencil thin lips, as her features showed obvious happiness to see Squall.
She walked up to him [awkwardly, however, due to the high heels and the short-skirt] and grabbed hold
of his hand. "Evening, Squall.."

"........" was her only reply.

"Squall, I'd been waiting for months for you to invite me here.. I checked my mail, email, phone.. everything,
everyday.. I supposed that you'd either forgotten, what with your common headaches, or you wanted
to surprise me, teehee.. And that's why I came here.. So you could surprise me! Go on, will you ask me now?"

Squall hesitated momentarily. He was about to shove her out of his way so he could get to Quistis, but then he
thought better of it. He smiled, and took hold of her hand. "Rinoa, I do have a surprise for you, but I can only give it
to you if we're on the balcony. Come on."

He lead Rinoa over to the edge, where the river below was visible,
the golden plains [thought not golden during the night
time], and the rolling hills behind that. He smiled as he stood there,
looking deep into her silvery twinkling eyes.

"Rinoa?"

"Y - yes, Squall?" Her heart throbbed within, excitement overwhelming
her whole self; she could barely stand as she waited in
anticipation.

"I hope you like water!" With that he picked up her toothpick thin body
and threw her over the balcony, where she landed in the
river with a giant **SPLASH**

Squall grinned wickedly, brushed his hands together, then went to
meet Quistis.

Rinoa fell at least one hundred feet, where, after hitting several gouging
rocks on the way down, plunged into the icy depths of the Talimn River.
After the initial shock, she swam [though not easily] to the surface, and gasped
for air. The once twinkling, warm glowing orbs now shone with malice and
hatred towards Squall.. She kept herself afloat in that staionery position for a
while, glaring at wasn't there. When she started to squirm her way towards
shore, she noticed ripples to the left of her petite body. Cogitating the pecularity
(ooc i hope thats a word lol) of it all, she suddenly froze stiff when she felt
a slick rubbery surface against her snow white [pasty] skin.

Holding her breath [..], she looked downward when she saw to her horror
a giant barracuda staring up at her; the giant eyes of it were gleaming merrily,
as it just sat there, staring at her with the most eerie smile she had ever seen
in her sheltered little life. Rinoa smiled innocently at it, and even stroked
the slimy scales. "Hello there, slimy little fishy. Now, I"m Rinoa and I would like it if you
would help me get across, then hop into my purse so I can take you home and
fry you! Please?"

In response, the barracuda submerged itself into water for long minutes..
After a while, the barracuda (Whose name was Lem by the way) returned
with many others; all beared the wicked grin that Lem did..

Rinoa smiled, a bit uneasily however. "Um.. hello there.. I"m Ri--AHH!!"
And that was not the end of Rinoa. The barracudas only savagely attacked
her for a little bit, then they all groupled together and threw her out of the water.
She was grateful to not have been eaten, although what she didn't
realize was that if she headed north, she would wander straight into the
Dreiw Forest, where dwell the primitive AkuTongo Monkeys.. Now THAT
was the end of Rinoa..

Meanwhile, Squall was exceptionally pleased with himself, and approached
Quistis with a beaming grin and a towering ego. "Evening Quistis."

Quistis, who was talking to Cid, froze: overcome by pure shock that Squall
was actually dressed up. "'Lo Squall." She turned to Cid, "Perhaps we can
finish this discussion some other time, Sir. I have some unresolved business
to attend to, if you'll excuse me."

"Arr, of course Quistey, mai dearie. Ah'll be at the galley if yeh need meh."
And with that, Headmaster Cid hobbled off with his peg leg.

"Yes, Squall?"

"............."

"How did I guess?!" Quistis, for once, was getting irate at Squall's little mumbles,
or how he constantly complains about his forehead. She was about to storm
off when Squall grabbed her arm.

"Quistis, would you like to dance with me?"

Quistis smiled, slightly.. a bit uneasy at the fact that Squall couldn't dance
last she knew.. But she gave in nonetheless.

~**~AN: Pretty weird ending, I know.. But my braces hurt, and I dun feel like
going into mushiness.. or detail for that matter. Hope ya liked it all ! Well,
with the exception of Rinoa lovers.. This might be my first and last
Rinoa-is-evil thingy.. due to the fact that I will most likely get hunted down
and killed for my writings. G'day all!~**~