Rinoa was sitting at a table outside a coffee shop in downtown Timber when Selphie showed up to tell her she was leaving for Trabia. It was a mild day in early spring, and she and Squall had started their morning with a fight. Not a bad one, but one that ended with a strained goodbye before he left for Deling City, and Rinoa had spent the better part of the morning sulking around the house before deciding to grab Angelo's leash and head out to enjoy the weather. Fight or not, she missed him, as she always did when he left, and perhaps even more so when they said their goodbyes on bad terms. Staying at home would only give her more time to think about the argument, and how all she wanted to do was call him and apologize, and then yell at him for making her be the one to apologize, and the more she thought about that, the more she would be angry at Garden.
And anger at Garden never got her anywhere.
So, she walked. Down streets textured in shade from the trees that had survived the war, past the old cathedral one of the resistance groups used to use as a base. There was nowhere in Timber that didn't have a story from the last twenty years, and Rinoa remembered most of them, whether she was around for it or not. Leaving Balamb and coming back to Timber was supposed to be finally picking up the life she had placed on pause, but in so many ways, Rinoa wondered if she wasn't just stuck in a haze of nostalgia. When Squall was home, when they went out together, she could see the changes they had achieved. With him, Timber was alive. With him, she saw the future.
When he was gone, though…
She finally stopped in front of a cafe she didn't realize had re-opened, drawn in by the rich smell of pastries and freshly brewed coffee. She ordered a scone and a large drip, served to her in a thick mug with a chip on the handle and splashes of color in uneven shapes painted on the ceramic. She took a few moments to talk to the barista about how long they had been back in business, the growing economy, and the pleasant break from the recent cold weather, before another customer walked in, and Rinoa took a seat at one of the tables outside, and snuck a small piece of scone to Anglo, content to rest against her feet. She pulled out a book, and took in her surroundings while she waited for her coffee to cool. mid-morning, the streets were quiet. Joggers ran past her, and across the cobblestone street, one lane still closed from the repairs that never seemed to end, a young child broke into a grin and ran towards the central fountain, leaving his mother to call after him, resignation heavy in her shoulders.
It was a good morning for Timber, even if it wasn't a good morning for her-and that alone was worth something. Sitting at a cafe table under a bright sky-the only sounds around her birdsong and the steady beeping of construction equipment a few blocks away-was a hard-won peace, and even without anyone to share it with, Rinoa paused and closed her eyes, grateful for the simplicity of the moment.
Angelo stirred and heard footsteps approaching, and before she could will herself to open her eyes, someone dropped into the chair across from her, and a small amount of coffee splashed out of her mug and through the gaps in the wrought-iron table onto the toe of her shoe. She jerked back and turned, about to tell off whomever had ignored the other tables to interrupt her moment of silence, but her irritation turned quickly to concern.
"Selphie-?"
"It took me forever to find y-oh my goodness I'm so sorry! Rin, are those new shoes? They're so cute! At least they'll wipe clean, but I really am sorry, but Rinoa, I'm just so glad that I found you!"
"Well, hi to you too," Rinoa smiled, surprised and exhausted by the greeting, but pleased with unexpected company. She knelt down and wiped a napkin over the toe of her shoe. She wanted to tell Selphie that no, they weren't new, they just hadn't seen each other since she finally brought the last of the things she wanted from Caraway's to Timber, but thought better of it. There was a hitch in her friend's voice, on top of her very presence in Timber when Rinoa was certain Squall had said she was tied up in Balamb, and regardless, the subject of footwear-of her life in Timber, period-was not the easy topic it once had been.
"Oh-hi! What brings you out here? Are you okay? You look like you're really thinking about something. This place has to be two miles from your house, you didn't walk here, did you? It's cute though. Look inside-where's all the artwork from?"
"I'm fine," Rinoa said, and thought it wasn't completely a lie. "Just thinking about Timber. And I'm not sure. I haven't been here in years. I didn't even know they were open again until today." Her words felt slow against the vibrancy that followed Selphie everywhere she went, despite her attempts to infuse them with her normal cheer.
"You'd never know it from the outside, they look great. Anyway, I'm leaving for Trabia in the morning, and I was wondering if I could crash with you guys tonight? Sorry, I know I should have called but it was…" Selphie paused, and Rinoa bit back a frown.
"You're leaving for Trabia tomorrow?" she asked. "That's…"
"Sudden?"
Rinoa nodded.
"A lot of things were sudden," she said, and Rinoa reached for her coffee. She thought about offering to buy one for Selphie, even if caffeine appeared, as usual, to be the last thing she needed, but before she could ask, Selphie pulled out a pack of gum. She popped a piece into her mouth as thoughtfully, Rinoa decided, as it was possible to chew gum, and when she knelt down to put it back in her handbag, Rinoa saw the large green sea bag tucked behind Selphie's chair.
"Selphie…"
"So, tonight? Because if you guys have plans I can get a hotel. Garden would cover it anyway, but we haven't seen each other in so long, and well… I miss you. And…we have a lot to talk about."
Rinoa thought back to her fight with Squall, and the empty house she would be going back to. She could never decide when it was harder being away from him. When they were angry, she replayed their fight against the nagging concern that the last conversation they would ever have would be harsh words and raised voices. She still ached for him, but with a need to see him, to know she would have another chance to tell him that she loved him and feel his arms around her- to know that, if the worst happened, her last memories of him would be memories she could live with, could share.
The ache when they weren't angry though…
Rinoa took another sip of coffee and watched Selphie over the rim of her mug. Selphie was energy, or Sephie was Energy, and in this moment Rinoa could not entirely pinpoint which one she was seeing. She was frenetic, which was not uncommon, but in a way that made Rinoa want to reach across the table and embrace her, and tell her everything was going to be okay-even though she had no idea what Everything might be.
"Squall isn't back until Thursday," she finally said. "And I would love the company. The house is too quiet when he isn't here."
Selphie laughed, as Rinoa hoped she would.
"One day, I'll pass through town and manage to catch him," she said. "And then the next time you call me because you so desperately need someone to talk to and he's sleeping in a tree, or meeting someone in a five star hotel, or whatever it is he does when he's not at home, I will be the second person on the planet to have witnessed the rampant loquacity of Squall Leonhart. Granted, I'll owe Zell forty gil, but at least I won't think you're crazy."
"Not for that at least." Rinoa winked, and set her mug down on the table. "I'm pretty sure you could access his schedule and make that happen. Or at least give me a call."
"I know, Rin." Selphie waved her hand dismissively and stood up, and Rinoa did the same, with only a small glance towards her unfinished coffee. "It's not that I don't want to see you or don't want to talk to you. But you know what it's like."
She did. And she said so.
"Things are…different. So different since you two left."
"It's been-"
"I know, I know. It's been long enough, but…it's time, Rin. I miss Trabia. I know it's stupid to expect that going back there is going to change anything because there is still barely a place, but it's…it's my not-place. Balamb… Balamb never was. You should understand that better than anyone."
Rinoa gestured east, towards the path she had followed less than an hour ago. "I still don't like going back there you know," she said, and watched Selphie shoulder the massive bag before they set off. "To Balamb. Not even to the graduation balls."
"I wouldn't either. Won't, that is. Wow!" Selphie pointed to the cathedral as they passed it. "I don't remember that from before! Jeez, it's only been a few months since I've been out here, how can so much have changed?"
Rinoa did not correct her, to tell her it had been over a year. Nor did she point out that the cathedral had always been here, even back in the war. She wanted to-it was fun having Selphie around, and Rinoa and Zell had long ago made a game out of watching her enthusiasm, and watching her react when she was reminded of having had the same enthusiasm over the same thing at some point in the past. She wanted to tell her how happy she was to see someone, and how lonely it really could get here in Timber when Squall was gone. That when he left it was like he took part of her with him, and how she supposed he really did, but it scared her sometimes, and company was a good distraction.
She wanted to. But something else caught her eye.
"Your ring. You flipped the direction the heart is pointing."
Selphie paused, a stutter in her step before she regained her pace, and it confirmed for Rinoa what she saw, what that hitch in her voice had been the second Selphie had first addressed her.
"Selphie- He-"
Selphie nodded. "Rin, I think he meant it this time. He used to keep a few things in my dorm, and he just…took them away. And what was I supposed to say? He broke the agreement. So I said I was going to Trabia."
Rinoa reached for her friend's hand and gave it squeeze.
"That's a long way to go, you know. Don't you think you should stay, just to talk it out?"
"There's nothing to talk about-ooh, a wine store-can we stop here? We can stay up tonight and talk about how stupid they are. I'm sure Squall's done some pretty dumb things in the last year, I want to hear all of them."
Selphie led them into the store, and by accident or design, they lost the conversation in the hushed wooden racks of bottles imported from across Galbadia and the world, and by the time they walked out, they were caught in up dinner plans and jokes about waking up in time to get Selphie to her train the next morning.
They went to bed after midnight, and Rinoa stared at Squall's empty side of the bed, hugging his pillow, and feeling like the room was falling away around her.
