A/N: Thanks for the reviews, alerts and favorites so far! That means a lot to me. I still have to get used to making longer chapters, though... And I forgot to mention it in the previous chapter, but this will be a slight crossover with the game Kingdom Hearts, although you don't have to have played the games in order to understand this story, since all I'm going to do is borrow some characters for minor rolls. However, don't be too surprised if you encounter a character from one of the other Final Fantasy games, since there are some FF characters in Kingdom Hearts, too. Also, I haven't really planned the end of this story, so this story can go to all directions, I guess. Without further ado, here's chapter two. Enjoy. ;)

Thanks: angelwings, MonMonCandie, LBWind, Spede, Cloudsangel22, and M. L. Ayala, my beta reader.

~ "...We are sending you to the other side of the world, so you'll never be able to see Squall anymore," Julia noted, sighing wearily. ~

~ 4 years later ~

"Angel-"

"No, I don't want to!" the twelve year old Rinoa whined stubbornly for the umpteenth time, stomping her feet and pouting in an unbelievably cute way.

Squall chose not to voice his thoughts this time - he liked to keep some things to himself, so all the silent brunette had said on this matter was a rather indifferent, "Whatever," accompanied by a shrug.

However, he couldn't help but agree with the raven-haired girl, despite the fact that she approached her mother's latest decision with a little bit too much drama. But then again, Rinoa wouldn't be Rinoa anymore if she didn't act that way and it was a good thing she did so, because now, Squall didn't have to say anything about the matter. And since all the attention was going to her, he was being spared from awkward questions.

"Sweetheart, you make this sound like we are sending you to the other side of the world, so you'll never be able to see Squall anymore," Julia noted, sighing wearily.

Surely, arguing like this with her beloved daughter was draining all her energy out of her, faster than she could say "Hello."

"Well, that's because it actually feels that way! Don't you get it? I can't fall asleep when Squall isn't anywhere near me. I mean, I've never slept all by myself in a different room ever since we moved in here and this house is so big that it's kinda scary at night," the girl countered, her dark, chocolate-colored eyes widening slightly in what Squall guessed was something close to fear.

A small smile was tugging at his lips, happy to hear that piece of information from Rinoa herself, but he quickly forced it down when he saw that his father was looking at him. The last thing he wanted, was for Laguna to become annoying again (and there wasn't much needed for that). Fortunately for Squall, his dad didn't seem to notice anything. Rinoa was right, though. As much as he had been against living together with Julia and her, he couldn't imagine a life without them anymore.

He could still remember the big fight he had had with his father almost a year ago when he had told him that an old good friend of his would move in with them for a while.

"No," had been Squall's answer, accompanied by a deep frown.

"But Squall-" Laguna had called, trying to reason with him, but it was all in vain.

"I said: NO!"

Even after this rather fierce outburst, Laguna had not given up yet. He had started mentioning all the positive things about his friend. However, the fact that it was a woman hadn't gone unnoticed by Squall. Apparently, Laguna had had the utterly strange idea that Squall and Ellone needed a woman in their lives to look after them, for whenever he would have to go on long business trips. A baby-sitter wouldn't suffice this time.

"I don't need a new mother," Squall had snarled at his father as a last response, making fists of his small hands.

He was flat-out furious, because he had been sure that this mysterious and unknown friend would eventually try to make him fall in love with her, so she could marry his dad. At least, that was what always happened in those cheap and stupid romance movies that Ellone always loved to watch (and he was sure that Laguna secretly liked them too).

"But you shouldn't think of it that way. Nobody can replace Raine."

To make a long story short, his friend, the famous idol singer Julia Heartilly, had moved in with them and she and Laguna had stayed friends. Nothing more. Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised about that. After all, this was Laguna they were talking about. Who was crazy enough to fall in love with an idiot like him? He dared to give all his pocket money if he was wrong (and he doubted that he was wrong this time), but his Dad had probably put his Mom under a spell. There was no way that she would have married him voluntarily. It was either that, or he had forced her into a marriage, thinking that if he didn't do that, he would end up alone for the rest of his life...

Admittedly, when Squall had heard that he would have to share a room with this friend's daughter, something inside of him had snapped. How could he do this to him? He was his father for crying out loud! Sharing a room with a girl he didn't even know? What did he do wrong to deserve that? And it wasn't like the house was so small that they didn't have extra rooms. Squall had asked why Ellone couldn't share a room with her, but Laguna said that she was a teenager and she needed her space. Squall then had cursed the magazines his dad had read. What about his own space? Just because he was a kid didn't mean that he didn't have certain needs of privacy and stuff!

When Laguna had told him with a goofy smile that this was about the little girl that he had saved one year ago, Squall had almost started panicking, too. This was only another reason for him to be against all this. What if she would try to hug him every time she was alone with him, just because she was still so grateful? That would be terrible!

However, after a few days Squall had realized - to his great surprise, mind you - that he didn't mind her company, at all. Sure, she was loud and bubbly and very... extant, for the lack of a better word, but at least she knew when to stop (well, it probably wasn't that hard for her to guess when that was, since Squall had a talent for glaring, but still...). Although it would take him another few months to get completely used to her... and appreciate her... and-

"You can't force me, Mom!" Rinoa suddenly cried, putting her chin in the air and her tiny hands on her hips.

Julia and Laguna exchanged glances at that, an amused expression crossing on both their faces.

Laguna decided to be the gentleman and help Julia, by asking the children, "And what if one of you want to have a sleepover with your best friends? Will you kick the other out of his or her own bedroom? Imagine how annoying that is for that person."

As much as Squall hated to admit it, the man had a point. He wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of having a sleepover in the same room with Selphie and Quistis, or worse: Yuffie Kisaragi. That girl was annoyingly hyper. Squall often found himself wondering where she got all that energy from.

"Well, then we could have a sleepover in one of the spare rooms. It'll only be for one night, anyway," Rinoa replied, in a matter-of-factly way.

She really didn't get why grown-ups had to be so difficult all the time. Didn't they ever get tired of that?

Once again, Julia and Laguna looked at each other, the former with a questioning look on her face, until Laguna nodded once.

"The answer is still 'no'-" Julia started.

"But Mom-!"

"Believe me, you'll be very thankful for this later. But if you really miss each other's company, then I guess that you could have sleepovers every now and then," she continued.

"That sounds great! And the first one will be tonight, end of discussion," Rinoa cried, happily.

Julia shook her head, but didn't say anything else.

"C'mon, Squall, we've got lots of work to do!" Rinoa called, rather excitedly.

She grabbed her friend's arm, but he resisted, making Rinoa bump into him.

"What do you mean with 'we'?" he asked, frowning.

"Well, you've got to help me with moving my stuff to a new room. Duh," she explained, tugging harder at his arm, but it was all still in vain.

"Why? It's your stuff."

Rinoa sighed dramatically. Really, sometimes, Squall was so slow.

"Because you're supposed to act like a gentleman here and help your friends in need. I can't lift all those heavy boxes and stuff on my own," she reasoned.

Squall rolled his eyes, sighing. He knew that it was of no use, no matter what he said to her.

"Whatever. Just so you know, I'll only do it, because I'll finally have my room back, without your weird, scary girly things all around me."

Secretly he was happy that there still could be some sort of arrangement, though. He didn't want Rinoa to sleep in another room, but Julia and his Dad probably had a good reason for it, even though he couldn't think of any at the moment. He guessed that he just had to trust them with this.

"Hey! Get back, you meanie!"

Both parents looked at their child, as they ran out of the living-room after each other.

When Laguna was sure that they (and with 'they' he especially meant Squall) were out of earshot, he turned to Julia and admitted, "I had never expected Squall to be so close to a girl! I guess that your Angel is doing a pretty neat job of opening him up."

Julia nodded, smiling. "That's what you get when you make them share a bedroom. They're practically best friends now, joined at the hip."

However, those sleepovers became rarer and rarer throughout the years and when puberty hit and both Squall and Rinoa became aware of certain things about themselves and each other, things that they somehow hadn't noticed before, the sleepovers stopped, since they often felt awkward around each other. Suddenly, they found that it felt strange for them to sleep in the same room, almost inappropriate. Neither of them complained about that, either, because it was then that they realized why their parents had wanted them to have their own bedrooms.

This didn't mean that their friendship didn't grow. In fact, it was the other way around. They always stuck together and throughout the years, they even became inseparable.

~ 3 years later ~

Today had been an overly quiet day, but it was nothing compared to the stillness Squall was faced with, as soon as he got home. He guessed that Laguna and Julia weren't home yet, otherwise he would have heard his Dad from miles away. And Sis was tutoring someone from school, so she wouldn't be home for at least another hour or so. As for Rinoa, she was spending her time with her boyfriend Seifer Almasy, again. To say that Squall didn't trust that guy was a big understatement. Seifer was bad news, he always was and probably always would be. Everyone seemed to know that, except Rinoa. He had a certain aura around him that just didn't feel good. And he looked like a player, too. Why was it that Rinoa seemed to like rebels with a badboy attitude as of lately? Maybe it was just a certain period in her life?

Running a hand through his brown locks, he decided that it was of no use to keep wondering this. It only made his own blood boil. He truly hated Seifer. Unfortunately for him, he turned out to be one of those guys who weren't scared of him at all. He had tried to intimidate him in several ways (just like he had done with all of Rinoa's previous boyfriends at one point in his life), but Seifer just ignored it and smirked at him in response every friggin' time. But one day, he would make sure to punch that ugly smirk off his face.

Squall hung his black leather jacket on the peg in the hallway and took off his dito colored boots. He decided to make use of the fact that nobody was at home and went to his room upstairs to take his laptop with him and sit downstairs with it. When the male teen came back to the living room, he turned the device on. While waiting for it to start up (he hated how slow that thing was), he went to the kitchen and reheated the macaroni leftover of yesterday in the microwave. Apparently, his boredom had made him extra hungry today.

When he was done, he walked back to his laptop again. Seeing the wallpaper, Squall couldn't help but smile. The wallpaper was a photo of Rinoa and him, with Rinoa having put an arm around his neck. He had been trying to hide the forming smile on his face, but Selphie still had managed to catch it in this photograph and immortalize the moment. That girl was really fast, he had to give her that.

He sighed. He barely spent time with Rinoa anymore ever since she and Seifer started dating (which was exactly two months ago). He really missed his best friend. It would be a lie if he said that he wouldn't mind it if those two broke up soon...

Squall had barely touched his food, when he heard the front door open and close. Judging by loud noises that came along with it, it was Laguna. Squall rolled his eyes. At times like these, it was very hard to believe that he had such a... moron as a dad. What was even harder to believe, was that Rinoa and Julia actually liked him, a lot even. Women... he would probably never understand what was going on in their heads.

It was a good thing that his father wasn't a spy from profession, because Squall knew that he would really suck at keeping himself hidden and unnoticed from the enemies. He was just too loud for it.

His presumptions about who was home now had been right. Unfortunately.

"Hey, Squall. Didn't expect to find you at home today... Mmm, I smell macaroni," was the first thing the man said, as he entered the living room.

Good for you, Squall thought, sarcastically, not looking up from the screen.

"Where are Julia and Rinoa?" Laguna asked.

"Out," was the curt reply.

"I see. So how was your day?"

"..."

It seemed that Laguna hadn't taken the hint that Squall wanted to ignore him.

Laguna shifted slightly in his place, curiously looking at the back of his unresponsive son. "Squall?"

Squall hoped that at least one of them would be back soon (preferably Rinoa, but he knew that that was impossible, since she wouldn't leave her boyfriend alone for one second if she didn't have to), before he would lose his temper. There was a reason why he considered changing his last name from 'Loire' into 'Leonhart,' his mother's maiden name, as soon as he would be an adult. He hadn't even finished his thought, when the front door opened and closed for the second time within three minutes.

That has to be Julia, he thought, not bothering to look up for confirmation.

"Hey, Rinoa! Just in-"

When Laguna had said her name, Squall had instantly looked up, as if he got an electric shock. It was something that always happened automatically... and he could almost swear that his heart had stopped beating. Rinoa was in tears. Her eyes were red and puffy, which indicated that she had cried a lot before she had arrived here. Her lower lip was trembling and she was shaking visibly. She had never looked this miserable before, but... to Squall, she looked beautiful right now, in a raw way.

"Rinoa, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Laguna asked, clearly in shock.

Squall couldn't blame the man. Rinoa hardly ever cried, and even when she did, she made sure that she was alone. Rinoa put her hands in front of her eyes to hide the tears that were already seen by all of them.

She whimpered. "I-it's over... between me and Seifer..."

"Huh, why?" Laguna asked, utterly confused.

At that moment, Julia happened to come home, too. The radiant smile on her face disappeared when she entered the room and saw her daughter crying.

"Hon, what happened?" was the first thing she asked, immediately walking up to her to catch her in a hug.

"H-he was seeing s-someone else, a-all this time... so I broke up with-with him," she said, her voice strained.

That was when it became too hard for Rinoa to speak and she broke down into sobs.

"Oh, sweetheart," was all Julia said, tightening the embrace.

Squall, being the only one who still hadn't said a word, abruptly got up from the sofa and walked towards the front door, with only one thought on his mind, He would pay for this...

"Squall, where are you going?" Laguna asked, but Squall didn't reply.

He grabbed his black leather jacket and slammed the door shut behind him. He had some sort of haze in front of his eyes. If that jerk thought he could cheat on Rinoa and get away with it that easily, then he was wrong. It was a good thing that Squall knew where he always hung out after school, so he didn't have to search for him that long.

It wasn't that hard to spot the guy, either. Squall would recognize that trench coat of his anywhere. Just like he had expected, the blonde teenager was sitting on one of the benches on the schoolyard, all alone for a change. That was only a good thing.

As soon as Seifer noticed the teenager approaching him, he got up from the bench, asking with a lazy grin, "Puberty Boy, what are you doing here?"

Squall's answer came as a direct attack; he aimed a punch at Seifer, hitting the side of his face, near his jaw.

"What the hell is your problem?" Seifer yelled immediately, as he stood up.

The instant Seifer was on his feet again, he lost his temper.

Cold, stormy eyes met bright green ones, glares matching as Squall replied with, "You are my problem, Almasy. Do you have any idea how much you hurt her? She doesn't deserve a scum like you."

"What are you, her bodyguard? Her father? Or did you decide to play her Knight now? Mind your own damn business, Leon-"

Seifer couldn't finish his sentence, because, once again, Squall punched him, this time in his stomach. Seifer groaned, doubling over and grasping his stomach.

"Rinoa is my business, Seifer," he spat.

Squall wanted to strike again, but Seifer was too quick this time by a punch of his own. Struggling to his feet, Squall made sure that that one blow was swiftly followed after another one, and soon enough, it escalated into a rough fistfight in which both Squall and Seifer were rolling over the hard floor...

"I'm really starting to get worried about Squall now. He didn't even take his phone with him. What in Gaia's name had gotten into him?" Laguna cried, restlessly pacing back and forth into the room. Turning to Rinoa he asked, "Don't you know where he might be?"

The young girl frowned, slowly shaking her head. "No..."

It was almost an hour ago when Squall had marched out of the house to go to Hyne knows where and he still wasn't back. As if on cue, Squall decided that moment to enter the house, taking his sweet time to take off his jacket and his shoes, before walking straight upstairs, heading for his room. However, now that Laguna listened more closely, it sounded like he was practically dragging himself upstairs. Something was wrong...

"Squall? Where are you going?" Laguna asked. "Squall!"

When he didn't get any answer back, he decided to go after his son to see with his own eyes what was wrong. Rinoa and her mother soon followed suit, sensing that Squall wasn't okay.

They got to see what had happened when they reached Squall's bedroom. Judging from all the bruises, small cuts and abrasions he was covered in, Squall had been in a rather nasty knuckle fight. His lower lip was still bleeding and Rinoa could see from the deep scowl on his face that he was in pain, despite the fact that he didn't say anything. Laguna kept firing questions at him, which he didn't bother answering, while Julia took care of his wounds, making him flinch a couple of times. If the situation hadn't been this serious, Rinoa would have thought it was funny how Squall was ignoring a panicking Laguna. Those two were personality wise so different from each other that sometimes it was hard to believe that Squall wasn't actually adopted.

The strangest thing was that during all this time, he hadn't spared her a glance and something told her that he was doing it deliberately. What could it be that he was hiding from her?

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it. :) I have to say that I hadn't planned to write that last piece and I kept wondering if I should change it or not. If you have any suggestions, ideas or comments, don't hesitate to let me know, I'm all ears. ;)