I just thought of this idea and now I'm writing it down before I forget, so please tell me what you think.
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Rinoa stared at her father's lawyer, plainly looking dumbfounded. Her boyfriend reached over and held her hand which was currently freezing and limp. The lawyer cleared his throat intending to speak again.
"Ms. Heartilly, is everything okay? You look a little parched," Rinoa responded with a slight nod still showing the shock of everything. The lawyer put his hand on his glasses and moved them up on his nose a little, he groomed his mustache and studied the papers in front of him. He let out a small grunt and coughed, "Ms. Heartilly, I do need your signature, if you're willing to accept the inheritance."
Seifer looked over at his girlfriend and gave her hand a squeeze trying to reawaken her from her trance. She snapped her attention to the elderly lawyer and sat up.
"Are you sure he left me a house? I mean, he only lived in one house, that was the Government Mansion in Deling City."
The lawyer picked up the papers again and made sure he read them right, "It shows that he owned more than one house. It's stationed in Timber, and it seems to be quite old."
"He never told me that he had a house in Timber.." Rinoa looked out through the window at the drizzly rain. She sighed, "Alright, if it's what my father wanted."
The lawyer smiled although it was hardly visible through his bushy gray mustache. He handed the depressed girl a pen and pointed to the paper, "Sign here, on this line." He flipped a page, "And then here, on this line."
Rinoa slowly took the pen and held it over the paper at the point she was supposed to sign. She sighed again, clearly showing her stress, she pressed the pen to the paper and started writing her name. Her signature was quivering, shaking from being nervous and under so much pressure. After she was done signing the documents she sat back in the chair, Seifer slowly took her hand. She looked over to him and gave him a slight smile. He nodded at her showing her that she had done right.
The lawyer watched the two as they were currently in an eye lock, he twitched his mustache. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to give you, Ms. Heartilly, the directions to the house. Oh, and the keys to all the rooms."
"All the rooms?" She turned her attention to the aged man, "What do you mean, all the rooms?"
He chuckled, "This house is rather large. You need the keys, some of the rooms have locks, and if you want to venture into a certain part of the house I suppose you will need the keys to unlock the doors. Unless you want to keep the house secretive like your father did."
Rinoa shook her head, "And you said the house was taken care of? Money wise, because I really can't afford to own a house.."
"Yes, Ms. Heartilly, everything is taken care of, all you have to do is, well, simply move in." He smiled.
She put her hand on her head and closed her eyes, "Okay, tell me everything I need to know.."
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The car pulled up to the gate and came to an abrupt stop, Rinoa and Seifer both climbed out of the car, both intending to do different things. Seifer went to look through the gate, he put his hands on the cold cast iron bars and peered through at the huge mansion that lie before him. His eyes narrowed and he smirked, "This place is a piece of junk. No wonder why your father hid it from you, he was probably too embarrassed to bring anyone here."
Rinoa took the keys out of her pocket and used one of them to unlock the padlock that was attached to the gate. As soon as she heard a click she pushed that gate open causing Seifer to stumble forward, she smiled at her own success. "It is not either, Seifer, all this place needs is some work. And since it was my fathers I'm willing to take care of it. Now, you don't have to live here with me if you want, you could always go back to our old apartment."
Seifer looked over at her with a sudden look of fear in his eyes, "Do you mean that?" His voice was a little high-pitched. Rinoa laughed and walked over to him, "No, of course not silly!"
She put her arms around his neck and kissed his lips gently. She rested her head on his chest and stared at the mansion that was now hers. She felt Seifer gently rubbing her back and she smiled, she pulled away from him slowly. She headed back towards the car, and turned to look at him, "Are you coming or what? C'mon let's go see what our house looks like."
He nodded and climbed in the driver's side. The car continued down the lane towards the eerie house and stopped in front of a large fountain. The water was far passed from running and the fountain looked like it didn't have any hope for working at all. The large angel statue had horns that were rusted and crumbling slowly with the process of time. Leaves were scattered around the fountain and some covered the water that was lingering inside the round walls. Rinoa stared intently at the marvel and she looked toward the house door. Seifer just now was getting out of the car and cast a glance at the statue, he then looked at the spot Rinoa was watching.
"Ready to go inside?" She nodded, still a little unsure of her decision.
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The mansion's interior was beyond words, everything was done in marble, the ceilings, the floors, the staircases. The doors were plated with a strong metal, or steel, Rinoa didn't know which. Her mouth hung open a little bit as she took in her extraordinary surroundings. She looked at all the furnishings and statues, the portraits, some she thought she recognized from her ancestors. All the marvels in this house was extremely breathtaking, she shifted her gaze up to the ceiling and looked at the mural painted. She examined it carefully, the mural held a battle, two armies facing off against each other, holding their guns straight forward, but the only thing that was separating them was a woman. She had her hands held at both sides making it evident that she didn't want the war to start. Her eyes were closed and as Rinoa looked more closely at the woman, she noticed that the woman looked almost exactly like her.
Her eyebrows furrowed, and her hand crept its way up to her mouth. She took a step forward and continued staring at the woman. The likeness was amazing, unbearable, her and her mother couldn't have shared such a resemblance. She shook her head slowly, stumbling back a bit. Her thoughts raced through her mind making her wonder aimlessly what this house could possibly possess.
This house was different, this house was…hers.
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I hope you guys enjoyed this, it's a strange beginning, but the story will unfold as I continue. That's if you want me to continue, everyone that was in Final Fantasy VIII, the main characters anyway will be a part in the story. This is of course an AU. Please review.
