Blindfolds
Summary - Squall and Rinoa have a problem; they don't see eye to eye on several aspects in their relationship. The cure? A pair of blindfolds.
Disclaimer - I don't own anything from Final Fantasy 8, just the idea for this story.
Author's Notes – As the title might ring a bell to some of you, I've got some explaining to do. Wandering Through Fiction was actually me under a different pen name. The alternate account was just an experiment of sorts. Anyways, seeing as I'm kinda blocked as far as Reinventing Me goes at the moment, I'd thought I'd spend some time on this. Hope you guys aren't mad. :)
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An exasperated Commander and a dark haired woman could be seen at the doorway of a dorm. The woman was on the inside, hand poised over the door's handle, tempted to close it any second or minute now. The Commander was on the outside, pleading his case. To the students and staff alike at Balamb Garden, this was becoming more and more of a common occurrence, usually at the very beginning or end of the week. They could almost set their watches to the frequency of the ongoing spats.
"For the last time Rinoa, I said I'm sorry. How many different ways do I have to spell it out for you?"
The dark haired woman was still not impressed and was still tempted to shut that door in front of his face and go to bed for the night. "I know you're sorry. That's the problem. You're always sorry but you never do anything about it." she pouted. "Well, I've had enough of your apologies Squall. Sorry doesn't make up for all that lost time anymore."
Squall sighed. "...You know I have no control over some of the things that come up. It's not like I purposely planned for all three of our dates to be drastically cut short."
"You could have fooled me Squall." she countered. "And for your information, you cancelled on seven dates, not three."
"What—" He stopped himself from saying the forbidden word. "...You know what I meant Rinoa. My point is—"
Rinoa cut him off. And boy was she ever ready to close that door. "—Don't you even talk to me about that point Squall, I practically know it by heart and it still doesn't hide the fact that you take me for granted on each and every occasion you have to decide." she said heatedly. "I'm tired Squall. If I'm going to play second banana to your beloved SeeD all the time, I really don't see the point of staying here anymore."
The colour in his eyes turned a solemn shade of grey. "...If you're using that as a scare tactic-"
"No, I'm dead serious Squall." Now the colour of her eyes held undertones of the chagrin brought on by the prospect of this. "It's been three years since I met you at the Graduation Ball and sometimes it feels like I've only known you for three hours. Relationships are supposed to grow Squall, not go backwards. If you can't find it in you to make a little time for me, then maybe you'll learn to appreciate the next girl you end up with once I'm gone."
The young sorceress's grip on the door's handle tightened until her hand hurt as the seconds they spent in silence grew. Now she had enough. If he couldn't say anything to what she said, maybe it was a sign that he'd come to accept that he'd lost her and there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe it was a sign that he was too far gone.
With a single tear streaming down her cheek, she looked into those beautiful eyes of his for the very last time and swung the door closed. After she closed it, Rinoa felt haunted by the sense of finality to her actions. This was it; there was nothing Squall Leonhart could do to salvage this relationship. It was officially over. The first person she'd ever truly loved gave up on her, just like that.
She slumped onto the floor near the door and cried. She didn't care how many people heard.
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About twenty minutes later, there was a light rapping at her door. Rinoa turned her head between lingering sobs.
"Rinoa, let me in." he urged. Still sitting on the floor of her dorm, she did nothing. She didn't see the point. She didn't see the point fifteen minutes ago, she didn't see it ten minutes ago and she certainly didn't see it five minutes ago, so why should she see the point now?
"This isn't funny dammit!" There were more feeble knocks on her door. A loud sigh could be heard afterwards. "I'm not leaving until I talk to you Rinoa. I'm not letting us end like this. I...need you."
Rinoa sidled herself next to the door's frame and put her ear onto the door itself. Once she heard his ragged and uneven breathing, her resolve faltered but not completely.
"...You have a funny way of showing it." she weakly mumbled. The door remained shut and would remain shut for the time being. "What if something was to happen to me and I suddenly went blind? Would you leave me to walk into walls and trip over things just for the sake of your precious missions?"
"No, but you're not—"
"Squall, I didn't mean what I said literally, it's just the principle of the matter. I don't ask for you to make an effort to spend a little time with me so that I could 'see' you, I ask for the effort so that I know that you think enough of me to be there."
"...What if I could prove that I could?"
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Several minutes later, Rinoa finally got up and opened the door. Even though they'd seen each other twenty minutes ago, both were a sight for sore eyes to the other. The young sorceress ushered him in, but only far enough to walk inside the dorm and nothing more. She quietly closed the door and cynically crossed her arms.
"...So how are you proving that you can be there?"
"Spend a day in blindfold and I'll prove that you won't walk into walls and trip over things."
Rinoa's crossed arms loosened a little. "So...you're trying to prove what I said about me being blind in that hypothetical situation wrong?"
"Yes."
"But that was supposed to be metaphorical." she pointed out. "Besides, what's the point in doing this if you're still going to be overworked as a Commander?"
"Looking after you while you're blindfolded still proves a point, no matter how absurd the concept sounds. I'd have to be there for you. As for the work, I'll try to talk to Cid about it."
Rinoa arched her eyebrows. "You're not kidding about this, are you?"
"You were the one who said that I never do anything Rinoa. This is something."
"...I'm still not sure about this though. I mean, you have to admit that this is a little farfetched. Talking to Cid is enough, really."
He shook his head. "It's not the same. Talking to Cid is also shows that I have the intention of making an effort, nothing more. I can't even guarantee that he'll do anything about my workload."
"But to do this blindfold thing...wouldn't you have to blow off work?"
"Yes."
"So...there could be a huge Garden meeting scheduled at the last minute and... you wouldn't go?"
He nodded.
"Um, are you sure you want to do this?" she skeptically asked. "I mean, won't shepherding me while I'm pretending to be blind get you in some kind of trouble if someone found out?"
"Right now, I don't care. If this is the only way I can think of to get you to stay, then I'm going to do it."
"Okay...then I'll call Dr. Kadowaki first thing in the morning that I can't volunteer in the infirmary tomorrow and...God, I can't believe I'm following along with this. Are you okay Squall?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
He looked as if he was on the verge of rolling his eyes.
"...Yes."
"...Okay, this is really happening..." she said to herself, more than anyone else. She looked back up at him, staring directly into the azure eyes she thought she'd never look into anymore. "So...you're doing all of this just so I'll know that you'll be there for me?"
He nodded.
"I'll do it...on one condition. The day after we do this, you have to blindfold yourself and let me guide you." she said. "I shouldn't be the only one who has to learn something from this crazy idea."
"That's fine."
"Agreed then?"
"Sure."
"Okay, then...this is pretty much settled." Suddenly, a thought popped up in her mind. "Wait, I just thought of something. Why don't we use Blind spells instead of blindfolds?"
"It'd be harder to tell if the spell wore off since I doubt we'll have enough Scans on hand. We might be tempted to pretend to be blind."
"Good point. ...Hm. I think I have that blindfold from that party Selphie threw two weeks ago somewhere in one of my drawers." The sorceress laughed a little at the memory of that party. "I still can't believe she wanted us to play 'Pin the Tail on the Chocobo'."
"I seem to remember that she wanted us to play 'Pin the Tail on the Chocobo' after we were all drunk."
"Right...I suppose that 'Pin the Tail on the Chocobo' drunk would make a difference." An awkward silence swept over the room for a couple of moments. "So...when am I going to be blindfolded? First thing tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah, I'll come at about seven sharp."
When he was turning to leave, Rinoa hesitated a little. A thought had crossed her mind and it was now or never. As the seconds ticked on, she decided to go ahead with the brassy move to choose now over never. She found herself chanting a few words under her breath and stopping him from leaving altogether moments later.
"I...just cast a Blind spell over myself...so you can't leave." she stammered. "...You have to start taking care of me now."
Had she not cast the spell, she would have seen the confused look on his face as he looked into her now dull and milky brown eyes.
"...You want me to stay here for the night?" he asked uncertainly.
During the two and a half years they'd officially been together since the post-Ultimecia party, not once had he dared to spend the night in her room. It was strictly against Garden's rules to have visitors, especially visitors of the opposite sex, after curfew. The idea of him, the Commander of all people, breaking this cardinal rule would surely set a poor example to the younger cadets.
But she nodded to his question and he didn't care anymore. Instead, he gently took her hand and led her away from the door. This whole thing he'd suggested was to stop letting Garden interfere in their lives. Squall reasoned that they needed tonight as much as they needed the next two days.
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End of Chapter Comments – Like I've said in the first version, there'll probably be two or three chapters. Still not sure. Gotta plan stuff out.