Squall Leonhart flexed his head as he walked through Balamb Garden's hallways. After a grueling day, he needed a rest. Field work was tough, and mentoring all those SeeD cadets tested his patience.

Perhaps he could go somewhere silent…Like his bedroom. The training center, or the Cafeteria.

The Library.

He hurried down the corridors, going to the direction of the Library. Just his luck, there was no one inside. Perfect, now I can relax.

He walked around, looking for a magazine to read, when he heard male voices whispering. The voices came behind a book case. Taking peek, he saw Irvine and Zell standing close to each other. Arguing.

"Do you think she had a nose job?" asked Zell.

"Nah." replied Irvine.

"But something's odd about her. I just can't put my mind where-"

"Ahem," Squall coughed, interrupting the pair.

"H-Hey Squall!" Zell hid the magazine behind his back.

"What… what are you doing? What are you reading?"

"Er, nothing, nothing."

"Nothing?" Squall moved closer. "You have to think of something better to say."

"Well, er…" Zell scratched his head and looked at Irvine sheepishly.

Not giving him any leeway, Squall took the magazine. "Give me that. This… what the heck is this?"

Irvine shook his head. "Well, that's why we didn't want to show you."

Squall looked at the face plastered on the front page. "She… she looks like Rinoa, but-"

"-she's not." Irvine and Zell chorused.

Squall fingered the pages of the magazine. It was the latest Timber Maniacs Magazine, feature new games on the market to play. Since when did Timber Maniacs delve into video games?

"It says Rinoa finally a playable character in Final Fantasy Dissidia." He squinted his eyes, scrutinizing the woman's features. "She looks like Rinoa, but she's not."

Zell jabbed Irvine's elbow. "See? Told you so."

"Why doesn't she look like Rinoa? Even the name is the same," Irvine pointed to the character's name. "Rinoa Heartilly."

It took Squall a moment before he answered. "The cheeks are too pink. And her eyes, her eyes weren't this bright."

"Anything else?"

"Her lips are too plump, and she's too, HD."

The other two were silent.

"HD?" Irvine croaked.

"High-definition." Squall replied. "She looks like Rinoa, but she's not. She's absolutely not the Rinoa I know."

The three of them were silent, until Zell snatched the magazine and flipped it to a certain page. "But Rinoa isn't the cool thing in this magazine. Check this out!" He handed Squall the magazine, and this time, the scar-faced SeeD could hardly suppress a gasp.

"This is-"

"It looks like you Squall, but he's not." Zell grinned.

Squall could hardly take his eyes off the image. "Why is… why is he wearing a v-neck? A V-neck within a V-neck." Pointing on another aspect on the design, he vented further. "And this, what's this thing dangling on his hips? Why all these belts? Why isn't the shirt tucked? And that pose… I'd never pose like that. Just, just who the heck is this guy?"

"Look." Irvine pointed towards the highlighted name under the name.

"Squall Leonhart, Final Fantasy Dissidia…" Squall took a deep breath. "Are you… are you shitting me?"

Zell laughed and took out a tablet. "But that's not all….look!" He showed Squall a movie trailer that played for three minutes. When the clip was done, Squall's frown grew deeper.

"It's weird hearing her voice."

"More like Rinoa never had a voice since 1999." Irvine quipped.

All of them looked at each other.

"Okay, just forget this magazine Squall and go along. Let's just forget this entire episode." Zell took the magazine from Squall's hand, rolled it and tucked it behind his pants.

Squall looked at him incredulously. "How can you expect me to forget what I just saw? What I just heard?"

Irvine and Zell looked at each other again. "Ah, you'll get over it."

"No, I can't." Squall insisted. "Now I can't look at my girlfriend without remembering what you showed me."

"that's your problem" they laughed, leaving Squall in the library.

That night, Rinoa Heartilly visited her boyfriend in his room. "Squall? Are you there?"

"Go away."

Surprised, Rinoa continued. "Baby, is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Squall replied.

"baby, open the door. I'll make it all better."

"No, you can't."

Rinoa's patience was wearing thin. "Baby, of course I can. Just give me a chance."

"No you can't. You can never remove the sound of Dissidia-Rinoa from my mind."

"Dissidia-Rinoa?" Rinoa shook her head. "What the heck are you talking about? Come on Squall, open the door."

Unfortunately, Squall never opened the door, and Rinoa, finally losing her patience left. In her own room, she couldn't quell her own curiosity and searched for Dissidia-Rinoa.

"Stupid Squall," she breathed. "Just what is this Dissidia Rinoa all about."

"I believe it's the latest feature of Timber Maniacs now, Rin." Selphie blew a bubble gum while reading a romance novel.

"Do you have a copy?"

"Yeah, here." And she threw Rinoa a copy of the magazine.

"Thanks."

"Welcome." Selphie stopped reading and looked at Rinoa for awhile. "You know, if I were you… I wouldn't read that magazine."

"Why not?"

"Let's just say… there's a certain v-neck you wouldn't want to see."

"Right." Rinoa drawled and opened the magazine anyway.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Selphie warned.

Of course, that night, Selphie could hardly sleep, given all the profanities coming out from Rinoa's mouth. The best thing she could do was giggle. After all, that was what she was good at. Giggling.

THE END