Disclaimer: FF8 belongs to Square, and "Eyes on Me" is Faye Wong's
A/N: Sorry guys! I tried to get it up as soon as I could! It may seem similar to the other one, but I needed to rewrite and take some stuff out in order to write the rest of the story. Review!
Beauty
queen of only eighteen I
drove for miles and miles I don
She had some trouble with herself
He was
always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else
And wound up at your door
I
I want more
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look
for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay
awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved
She Will Be Loved
Maroon 5
(As close as it's gonna get for this chapter)
*****************************Tears*************************************
One week later
He was standing in a field of flowers. A slight breeze was blowing around him, lifting fall petals from the ground. The sun shone brightly through the clouds, the sun's rays gracing the tips of the flowers. 'Where am I? This place seems so familiar…but I just can't figure it out.' He began to walk, looking for a way out. There was a figure not too far in the distance. 'Who is that? Maybe they can tell me how to get out of here.' He ran, desperate to reach the person, hoping to find a way out. As he came closer, he realized that he knew the person. 'Who are they? They look so familiar…If only I could see their face….All I can see is that they have long, brown hair.' Frustration growing, he kept running, but never getting close enough to the figure. He kept running, struggling….
Thunder filled the sky, waking him from his sleep. He rolled over onto his back throwing his arm over his eyes. 'Great, it's time to get up. Man this "vacation" is really getting to me. I used to be up before the sun. Now I'm lucky if I'm up by noon. But then again, I haven't exactly been getting much sleep lately. Those dreams have been keeping me up. I have to figure out what those dreams mean…their too bizarre.' He recollected the dream that he had that night. 'The same dream every night. The same person is always in the dream, but I don't know who they are.' A mixture of frustration and confusion began to boil over inside him. Wanting to avoid those emotions, he quickly pushed his thoughts away, and made his way to the bathroom.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was messy from the nights sleep. His eyes and face showed the stress and lack of sleep that his job caused. Abandoning his reflection, he grabbed the toothpaste and toothbrush, and began brushing his teeth. His thoughts came back to him. 'I really need to get back to work; stay on top of the Galbadian problem. I don't trust them to keep the cease-fire. My leg is better...I can run a bit. Maybe if I were to get back-Hyne, who am I kidding, I still can't fight.' His thoughts continued as he went through his morning routine. Finishing up, he gave one last look at himself in the mirror before walking out of the bathroom.
*****
He walked into the living room and sat down, picking up a Weapons Monthly that had come in the mail. He flipped through the pages casually, not concerned with most of the weapons in the magazine. He found the weapon that he was interested in. 'Lionheart? It's the new version of the Revolver….Only 2000 Gil…I need to upgrade to this one. My weapon may be good, but I need it to be the best if I plan on leading SeeD. Otherwise-'His thoughts were cut of by a shattering noise coming from the kitchen. With his SeeD instincts taking over, he jumped up, and hurried over to the kitchen. 'Better not be Galbadians…..Rinoa….Where is she?'
In the kitchen he found no Galbadian soldiers, but instead found Rinoa. 'Oh, it's only her. Wait, what was the noise?' He walked up to the woman hunched over on the ground picking up fragments of a broken plate. "Here let me help you," he bent down picking up the small pieces. Rinoa didn't respond and continued picking up the pieces of glass. 'She doesn't look good, and seems to be distracted. Maybe she's just tired.' Rinoa's clothes were wrinkled, she had bags under her eyes, and her hair was messy. She was the opposite of her usual state.
"Are you okay?" he asked her. She didn't respond, obviously distracted. "Rinoa?" Her head shot up towards him.
"Sorry, did you say something?" She asked her voice barely audible.
"I asked if you were ok, you seemed distracted."
"Yeah, I'm just tired."
"I'll clean up, you go and rest." Rinoa just nodded, dropping the piece of glass in her hand, and left the room. 'I wonder what what's on her mind. It has to be something big, she's never seemed this distracted before…' He picked up the remainder of the glass, dumped the small pile into the garbage, and walked out of the kitchen to find Rinoa.
The living room was dark and quiet; but Rinoa sat in it, curled up in the corner of the couch. He walked over and sat down next to her. He noticed that she had a photo album in her lap, and was staring intently at a photo. It was of a woman and a young girl on a beach, both smiling. 'Is that her? And that must be her mother. She looks really happy in the picture. But why is something so happy making her sad?'
"Rinoa, what's wrong?" She looked up at him, her eyes swelling with tears. 'Oh no, please don't cry. I can barely handle girls, much less crying ones.' But the tears didn't fall; she just smiled a weak smile.
A shaky voice came out from her, "I'm Okay. I'm just having a bad day." She looked back towards the photo album. She pointed to the picture she was looking at, "This is me with my mom. We were at the beach one summer. I think I was four." She turned the page to next photograph, once again of her and her mother. This time the two were in the middle of a small garden, laughing and holding up plants. 'Happy again…..so why is she sad?' She continued on, "This was us in the garden. We used to work in it all the time, it is-was our thing." She turned the page, and there was yet another photograph of the two, but this one taken in the later stages of Rinoa's life. There was a large piano in the photograph, and the two were sitting at the piano, playing. "She was a singer. She would write her own songs and perform them at hotels and restaurants all around Deling. She loved it so much, that she even taught me how to play the piano." Rinoa got up, putting the photo album down on the table carefully. She walked over to the piano and sat down, "She even taught me one of her songs."
Squall sat there watching her as she began to play the piano. The song began very slowly, but she soon began to sing; her voice drowning out the loud thunder outside.
Whenever
sang my songs
On
the stage, on my own
Whenever said my words
Wishing they would
be heard
I saw you smiling at me
Was it real or just my
fantasy
You'd
always be there in the corner
Of this tiny little bar
My last
night here for you
Same old songs,
just once more
My last night here with you?
Maybe yes, maybe
no
I kind of liked it your way
How you shyly placed your eyes
on me
Oh, did you ever know?
That I had mine on you
Squall sat their speechless listening to her voice. 'It sounds beautiful…' The rain intensified, pounding harder against the roof of the small house. But the young woman continued to sing.
Darling,
so there you are
With that look on your face
As if you're never
hurt
As if you're never down
Shall I be the one for you
Who
pinches you softly but sure
If frown is shown then
I will know
that you are no dreamer
As the song progressed, the two became absorbed into the song, paying close attention to the words and the sound.
So
let me come to you
Close as I wanted to be
Close enough for
me
To feel your heart beating fast
And stay there as I
whisper
How I loved your peaceful eyes on me
Did you ever
know
That I had mine on you
The storm outside continued to grow stronger, and so did the singing.
Darling,
so share with me
Your love
if you have enough
You're tears if you're holding back
Or
pain
if that's what it is
How can I let you know
I'm more than the
dress
and the voice
Just reach me out then
You will know that you're
not dreaming
The storm knocked out the power, leaving the two sitting the dark, listening to the rest of the song.
Darling,
so share with me
Your love
if you have enough
You're tears if you're holding back
Or pain
if that's what it is
How can I let you know
I'm more than the
dress
and the voice
Just reach me out then
You will know that you're
not dreaming
Rinoa finished the song, and silence fell between the two. "T-That was great." He stated simply, still speechless. Rinoa said nothing. "Rinoa?"
"Yes?" She spoke, still facing the piano.
"What happened?"
"Well," she stood, and walked over to where she was sitting earlier and sat down. "She was singer. She would perform at restaurants, hotels, even had her own shows," she smiled, repeating what she had told him earlier. "We would go with her, wherever she went. It seemed like we had the perfect life." She looked back up at the sky. "She was so good; she was supposed to sing for the Esthar President, a ball or something. But on the way there, our car was hit by a large truck." Her voice began to tremble, but she pressed on. "She was the only one that didn't survive. Caraway became a wreck, spending all of his time in his office, not paying me much attention. I was twelve when it all it happened. The worst part wasn't that I lost her, but the way she died. The truck driver was drunk, not to mention in was pouring rain that night." She looked in the direction of the window, staring at the pouring rain. She turned back towards Squall and continued, "He couldn't control the car, and we just h-h-happened to b-be in the w-way…" She couldn't hold her tears anymore; they were flowing down her cheeks quickly. She held up her necklace and said, "This is all I have left of her. Well this and some pictures."
'Oh, great….It was bad enough that her mom died today, but I just had to ask her what happened. I only made it worse.' He stretched his arm out and touched her on the shoulder, trying to comfort her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" But he stopped mid sentence, startled by Rinoa's actions. She had misunderstood his gesture, and instead had moved closer, burying her head in his chest. He stiffened, not knowing what to do. He was never good at dealing with girls, much less a crying one. He carefully wrapped one arm around her, in an attempt to stop her crying. "Shh…it's okay," he tried once more. She only tightened her grip on him, her sobs increasing. 'Oh great, what have I done now?'
The two stayed like that for quite some time, the young girl crying, and the Commander comforting her. Rinoa's tears had slowed, with only an occasional sniffle coming from her. "Squall?" She whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Thank You."
"For what?" He looked down at her. 'Hyne those eyes are amazing. I could get lost in them with the slightest glance.'
"For dealing with me," she said, giving him a weak smile. "It's been six years, and even though it happened a long time ago, I'm still a wreck. Does that make sense?" She finished putting her head back on his chest.
"Yeah, it makes sense."
"What about you? I ranted on about my family today, but I don't know anything about you."
"Well, there's not much to know," he confessed. "I-I grew up without real parents, in an orphanage. But I still had a good life, and even a good family. All of the kids were friends, and Matron was like our mother." He finished reminiscing about the past.
"Matron?"
"She owned the orphanage."
"Oh. I'm sorry, If I had known, I wouldn't have brought it up-" She began apologizing, but he cut her off.
"Don't be sorry. Like I said, I had a good life." He looked down at her smiling.
"You know, it's funny. Every year the same thing happens, but this year was different. This year you were here, you actually understood. No one ever did that. Thank You."
Silence surrounded the two for awhile, when Squall noticed that Rinoa had fallen asleep. 'I guess she was really tired, it's not even evening yet. Then again, a nap wouldn't be a bad idea, it's not like we can do anything else.' He looked down at the young woman asleep in his arms. 'She looks beautiful, just doing something as simple as sleeping.' Abandoning his thoughts, he wrapped his arms tighter around Rinoa. Propping his feet up on the table, he settled in to take a much needed nap.
A/N: REVIEW!!!
