A/N Sorry it took so long for this chapter! I've been like super busy! Well, enjoy!

Two Worlds

A Princess and a Cowboy

As Rinoa was dragged througout the entire palace, she attempted to remember where everything was, but soon gave up as it seemed the building had no end. Suddenly, Rinoa's guide dragged her into a room with large double doors. When Rinoa entered she stood dumbfounded. She had just walked into what was obviously a dining hall with gorgeous marble floors and large stone pillars on the side. In the center of the room was a long stone table with many chairs placed around it. On the ceiling, which was quite hard to see because it was so high up, was a beautiful mural like those that you would see in ancient churches.

Ellone finally noticed Rinoa standing perfectly still, her eyes slowly taking everything in. The princess let out a light chuckle. "I'm guessing that you're not used to this kind of stuff?"

Rinoa was snapped out of her trance-like state and quickly looked at Ellone. "No, I guess I'm not. Do you eat here?"

"Only when I have to. Are you hungry?"

Rinoa was about to answer 'no' when she suddenly realized that, yes, she was very hungry! "Um, yeah, kind of. Is that okay?" She asked timidly.

Ellone chuckled again. "No, it's not okay for you to be hungry!" She said teasingly. "Come on, I'll show you where we usually eat." Rinoa followed Ellone to a back corner of the room where a door that was specially designed to blend in with the cream colored walls was located. Rinoa was shocked to see that the room inside was not that big and had a simple kitchenette with a small table with four chairs seated around it. "This is where we usually eat." Ellone told her.

"We? We as in who?" Rinoa asked feeling more comfortable in the familiar atmosphere.

"We as in me, Squall, and our friends." Ellone answered simply while opening the refrigerator door and peering in.

That scary dude has friends? Rinoa couldn't help the thought that entered her mind, but she immediately felt ashamed after thinking it.

"So, what do you like to eat?" Ellone asked with her head burried inside the frige.

"I don't care. Um, do you have cheese? And maybe some apple juice?"

Ellone mumbled an 'ummm...' as she rummaged through all the food. "Yup! You're in luck! We have both." Ellone handed Rinoa a block of cheese and a bottle of apple juice before grabbing a package of bologna and a bottle of mustard for herself.

"That's an odd snack." Rinoa pointed out rather bluntly. Uh oh. I'm getting too comfortable, I'm going to upset her.

Rinoa's fears were soon subdued as Ellone openly laughed. "I'm glad to see that you're getting more comfortable with me! And yes, I know it's an odd snack, my brother always makes sure to tell me whenever he can."

"You mean the prince?" Rinoa wan't quite sure why she asked the question.

"Yes, well, one of the princes. You see, I have two brothers. Squall, my younger and quited moody brother, and then there's Zeme, who is older than me by a year and is quite the opposite of Squall, but not quite like me." Rinoa was slightly surprised to hear about another brother. She didn't know why, but the thought of another brother just never crossed her mind. "Zeme's actually quite funny. I should introduce you to him sometime!"

Rinoa nodded, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Why are you being so nice and stuff? I mean, you're royalty right? So, why waste your time on the new help?" Rinoa hadn't ment for it to come out exactly like that, but it didn't seem to bother Ellone because she just shrugged.

"Because I like meeting new people I guess. Plus, it's not really that big of a deal, you know, being the princess and all. It's just a title slapped on to the front of my name; doesn't really mean anything." Ellone paused and then continued. "Kind of like those awful stereotypes, ya know? Oh crap, now I'm beginning to sound like Raijin." Ellone slapped her forehead in frustration. This caused Rinoa to cock her head slightly to the side with a confused look on her face. Ellone looked up and, realizing the reason for Rinoa's confusion, quickly explained. "Raijin is one of the Military Police and has this awful habit of saying 'ya know' after like every sentence."

Rinoa nodded her head in understanding. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to live here. She'd only been here like a half an hour and she had already made a potential friend, even if this potential friend was the princess of the second most powerful nation in the world. She liked Ellone. She seemed friendly and normal enough. They continued with more idle chit chat when the door opened to reveal a tall young man, about Rinoa's age with a cowboy hat on that he tipped politely.

"Hey, Elle, and who is this lovely young woman?" The stranger a little too nicely for Rinoa's liking.

"Hey, Irvine. This is Rinoa, and cool your jets before you get any ideas! She's the new help, we don't need to scare her away on her first day working here." Ellone said mockingly.

Irvine looked at Rinoa, "Have you met Squall yet?" Rinoa nodded her head signaling that, yes, she had. "Well, seems to me that you shouldn't be worried about me there, Elle."

Ellone just rolled her eyes, "Oh, please! I don't have to worry about Squall because he probably won't even try to talk to her. You on the other hand," Ellone sighed then directed her next comment towards Rinoa, "If you have any sense, you'd be wise to stay away from Irvy. He's bad news."

Irvine bowed his head in defeat, "Oh, come on, Elle. Give the girl a chance to know me."

"I don't know if I want that chance. It seems Ellone has a pretty scary picture of you and I'm not sure I like it." Rinoa stated, joining in on the teasing.

Irvine looked shocked and then clutched his heart in pretend pain. "Ouch! That hurt, man! That really hurt! Oh well, nothing a little soda can't handle." With that, Irvine opened the frige and pulled out a bottle of coke and began drinking it straight from the bottle.

"Ew! Irvine! How many times have we told you not to do that?! It's so gross!" Ellone's face twisted with disgust as Irvined downed the rest of the bottle.

"Yup, that hit the spot! Hey, have you seen Selphie? I got to talk to her, and I've been looking for her all day."

Ellone laughed, "Wow, Irvine, talk about an abrupt topic change! No, I haven't seen her."

Irvine sighed, "Alright, curse you and you're huge palace." He said jokingly. "Well, it was nice meeting you Rinoa." Irvine tipped his hat and walked out of the door.

"Well, he's interesting." Rinoa said and then laughed.

"Yeah, he's another one of the help. The girl he was talking about, Selphie, she's another maid like yourself. I think you might actually be rooming with her." Rinoa smiled. Maybe these people weren't so bad. "Hey, I'm going to meet up with my friends a little later, do you want to come?"

Rinoa considered this. "Yeah, sure! I'd love to."

Rinoa's answer seemed to please Ellone as she smiled. "Great! I'll come to your room in a few hours."

After this, Ellone lead Rinoa to her room and left her to get ready.

A/N Wahoo!! I did it! My third chapter! I hope it was good.

Special thanks to all my reviewers!

BeautifulxxDisaster

Adamas Max

And to Renegade Seraph for reviewing and being my beta-er! (Not a word I know, but it will be! Haha.)

Hoshi

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