Rinoa is always hidden somewhere in the crowd at public events. She enjoys seeing the officials, hearing the inspiring speeches, and actually getting "out and about" once in a while. But moreover, she knows she'll see Squall there.
True to her promise when they broke up, respectful of his wishes, she doesn't seek him out or speak to him. But she can always see his face and know that he's still there. He looks so dashing in uniform, she thinks on one occasion. Another time, she might smile to herself at how flustered he becomes (though only she would notice) when some admiring young girl presses herself upon him, and because Rinoa is strong like he always was for her, there is no lacing of tears in her smile.
Mostly she knows he will be there not because he has to make an appearance, or because he finds mixing with people interesting, but because he's protecting someone. Rinoa knows the warmth and security of being protected by Squall Leonheart, and it is impossible for her to begrudge another the experience. Beneath all of his gruff temperament, his outward disapproval of Laguna's trivialities, she can see that he is happy having someone who needs to be looked after. And like she watches the man she loves from afar, so does Squall seem to rarely indulge in any contact with Laguna: the depth of their caring goes beyond that.
It should hurt, that Squall left her for someone he cannot ever have, but Rinoa is instead touched by his courage, by his honesty, by his loyalty to his own heart that she seeks to emulate by refusing to fall out of love with him. And so as she watches the cordialities at a banquet, sees Laguna's eyes feign distance between himself and the young commander of Balamb Garden, notes how Squall is careful with even the indifferent brush of a handshake, sterile of any hinted emotions, when she sees these things there is no jealousy. She does not hate the way their eyes meet even as Laguna dances politely with one lady of society or another. Nor is there resentment as Squall escorts the president to his car–for those are the roles they enact while under the public eye, a political leader and his guard–or when he rests a hand under one elegantly clad arm with a gentleness he'd formerly reserved for her. What is love, if it cannot be had by everyone?
Wherever Laguna is, Rinoa goes, and finds Squall. She has love of one sort. Squall has the comfort of a secret love, and Laguna has the love of his son, and his people. Through her silent watchings, she has learned that love is not rare. No one must go without.