Like promised i posted the next chapter, i have said before i prefer write a lot of short
chapters with this story than writing 4 or 5 long chapters. I have already
written 15 chapters. Again thanks to my beta.

Enjoy.

Chapter 4

Squall sighed as he sat in his study, he is tired of everything. The incessant travel
around the world has begun to made him mad. Every day he found himself in another
place where he had to hear some report. Some are very interesting, but most
of them are full of gossip like the one Selphie made, or completely of no use
like the one sent by Zell. Squall loves his friends dearly, but sometimes he
wish that they'd pay more attention to their work.

He really needed some vacation time. Fortunately, Cid and Edea have agreed to take
the Garden under their care for a short time. So, Squall can go away without
feeling like he betrayed the trust the of people in the garden. He
can have two whole weeks vacation, a dream! Now, he wondered where he could go.

The logic would be to go to Timber and see Rinoa. There was a very long time
that he couldn't spend some time alone with his girlfriend. But, something
in him doesn't agree with the idea. It is not like if he doesn't want to see Rinoa
anymore. Of course, he wants to see her, or so he tries to convince himself.
Since some time ago he had begun to wonder about his relationship with Rinoa,
after the final battle against Ultimecia and the ball for the victory, things
had begun to change between them. Rinoa couldn't stay at the Garden because
she was to old to become a student. Squall didn't want to change the rules only
for her, only the people who are younger than fifteen can come to the
Garden to be a student. The fact that Squall didn't want to made an exception
for her had angered Rinoa very much.

It was the first time that Squall saw her like this, but unfortunately it was
not the last. So, Rinoa had left the garden with Zell and Selphie a short
time after their first fight. Squall couldn't have gone with them because he had
too much to do as the Commander. After six months, Zell and Selphie
had come back. The new President of Galbadia had given freedom to Timber,
President Caraway had decided to do so as a good faith act for his
daughter, and Timber caused more problems to Galbadia than the few benefit they had
by having Timber under their rule. A government was created and Rinoa, as a
great fighter for the freedom of Timber, was made Prime Minister. This job had
suited her well and she had gladly acceptted. The new President of Timber didn't
like to travel, and so it was Rinoa who had to go to for these diplomatic missions.
The only exception was for the meeting in the Garden three months ago.

'Three months! It's three months that she has been gone' Squall's mind had taken a
sudden turn.

'Who is she?' Squall wondered. Why couldn't he make this unwanted though go away, it
came to him day and nightand he can't understand why. What
happened to him? Why does he feel like there is something he misses dearly in
his life? It's not like the loneliness he had felt before he meet Rinoa, it
is less prevalent but at the same time deeper than what he had felt before. It
is like he had shut his eyes before, and now was opening them for the first time.
He missed someone with all of his being.

He sighed at this and felt like a complete idiot. His life is what he had always wanted
it to be; he had a good job, a beautiful girlfriend and faithful friends. But,
his job has become a little boring, he and Rinoa don't talk to each
other anymore. The only time he heard Rinoa's voice is when she want to complain about
something, or to criticize him, and his friends have been sent all around Gaia,
thanks to Laguna's bright idea. Yes, indeed, his life is perfect.

Squall's eyes fell upon the invitation on his desk. He had recevied it a few
days ago and he had left it on his desk until now. At first he didn't think
that he had time to go there, but now he wondered if he could accept. He
read the invitation again.

"Esthar is happy to invite you on August 20th to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the President.

The gala will be held at the Presidential Palace at 20:30.

Formal clothes required."

'Esthar is not a bad idea' thought the young man. More over, the President
had said to him that he wanted to tell him something the last time he had seen
him. Of course, it was not the first time that Laguna had said something like
this to him, and he had always found a reason to postpone the discussion. But
it didn't really matter to Squall, after all, if it is this important then
Laguna would have told him a long time ago.

'August 20th'. Just in the middle of his vacation. The idea of going to
Esthar seemed more and more appealing by the minute. Unknown by him, a smile
came to his lips. He had completely forgotten that Quistis is in Esthar, and she
surely will go to the ball. Or he wanted to convince himself of this.

To be continued.

Review ?? Please ! (puppy eyes °_°)