Chapter 2: Rinoa

Being the only child of Galbadia's General Caraway is not an easy life as it seems.

Being a daughter makes it even worse.

Welcome to the overprotective life of a rich girl of royalty.

Ever since I was a little girl, people in general (my father included) have always looked at me with empathy and delicacy at the poor daughter whose mother died in a car crash.

My mother was one of the most famous Pianists of her time.

Julia Heartily was her name. She was renowned for her beauty and her daily concerts held in one of Galbadia city's most expensive hotels.

She performed there almost every night due to high demands.

As a consequence, I didn't get to spend enough time with either of my parents ever since I was born.

My dad was always away or busy minding Galbadia's protection business against monsters while mum was busy practicing her tunes during the day and out performing at night.

I had a nanny, a maid, a chief, a bodyguard and a personal driver coupled with a rich mansion to live in, and pretty much every other luxury any girl could dream of.

But king-sized princess beds, lacy curtains, silk night gowns, designer dresses and endless doll houses never really did the trick of satisfying my real desires.

I wanted a real family, more warmth and care from the people who brought me into this world.

It wasn't until the day mum died in a car accident on the way back home from her concert that the reality of loneliness truly hit me.

I hadn't known her well, but she tried her best to spend the little time she had to teach me piano keys or to play me her tunes.

My favorite song out of all of them was the track 'Eyes on Me'.

Although I always missed her even when she was alive, the silence that replaced her piano melodies in our mansion made us even lonelier and separated what little we had as a family.

Although dad tried his best to hide his remorse of losing her by becoming more of a workaholic, I often saw him staring silently at mum's piano by the window.

I was only eight when she passed away.

Eventually, dad noticed that I became even more introverted and thinner than usual after our loss.

I spent more time indoors reading books in our grand library and ate solemnly and slept too often.

I rarely went out into our lake garden to run around as I used to.

So dad decided I needed a change and sent me to one of the most prestigious but also toughest training grounds for kids to grow into brave adults.

On my 9th birthday, he gave me a surprise birthday gift.

"You're going away for a while Rinoa." He said.

"Where?" I asked with disinterest. Very few things interested me in those days.

"You're going to Balamb Garden, where you will learn how to fight and be strong and brave to take on anything in the world!"

"Ok." I nodded without enthusiasm.

I think at that period in my life, I became almost as numb as a robot because I found that obedience was easier than rebellion.

The news of moving school from my private elementary school to a prestigious boarding school for training special agents and mercenaries didn't excite me or let me down.

Little did I know then that my time in Balamb Garden or who I would meet there, would change my life.