When Rinoa awakened the sun was just peaking out from the horizon. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. She could just barley see the lights of the city in the distance. She figured that they wouldn't have sent the police after her right away because of the danger. They'd probably wait and send a more elite force after her. Maybe the military. Rinoa shuddered at the thought of the army being after her.

Using the nearest tree as a support Rinoa lifted herself to her feet. She was just at the edge of the deep forest. She had never been through here alone before. She was always accompanied by a friend, or, when she was young, by her father. In fact, she used to ride her chocobo with her father through here all the time when she was little. The forest was home to many nasty creatures, but Rinoa knew her way through. If she didn't stop, she could probably walk through the whole forest in about a day. She wasn't too worried about any of the monsters, she could handle them easily, and if the army or police pursued her here, there would be plenty of places to hide.

Rinoa ignored the hunger pains in her growling belly and the searing pain in her head. She longed to go back to her comfy little apartment, be home, but she knew she couldn't. She pushed all thoughts out of her head and focused on her goal: to escape. She walked through the forest, steering clear of any kind of path, she wasn't worried enough to run. As long as she kept heading south she knew she would escape the forest, so it was best to be cautious and not be seen by anyone who might be passing through.

The young sorceress walked the whole day, never running into any trouble in the forest more than a few Caterchipillers and Funguars, which she easily disposed of with a few watera and thundara spells. The rest she avoided when she could. By the time the moon was out she was at the other end of the woods. A few miles of forest now separated her and the capital city of Galbadia.

Rinoa knew she would now have to clear the whole country of Galbadia to be safe. She decided the best bet would be to head east until she reached Timber, then make her way to the harbor, where she would stow away on a ship heading for Esthar. There, she would be safe from the Galbadian army, who wouldn't trespass on another country just to look for her. Probably.

Rinoa began her long journey to safety. She walked for miles and miles until she reached a train station.

There weren't many people there. Much better for me. Rinoa thought. She stayed in the shadows, head down, avoiding the eyes of the few people that were there. Most likely, if they were this far out in the country, they wouldn't recognize her, but she didn't want to risk it.

Rinoa looked at the train schedule. A train from Deling City would pass by and then finish it's journey at the port in a few hours. Exactly where Rinoa wanted to be, but probably the most dangerous was to reach it. The train would probably be crawling with people who would easily recognize her. She'd much rather deal with all the beasts she would encounter if she traveled by foot. She looked at the pros and cons: if she went by foot, it would be hard, it would wear her down, she'd have to fend off monsters, and if she went by train she would surely be caught. It seemed like a lose-lose situation.

"Miss!" Something tugged the sorceress's jacket.

Rinoa nearly jumped out of her skin. She tried to control her rapidly beating heart as she turned to see who was there.

Behind Rinoa was a young woman, probably a teenager, or in her early twenties. She had blond pigtails and wore a yellow sundress. She instantly reminded Rinoa of Selphie Tilmit.

"Miss?" She repeated.

"Yes?" Rinoa asked, keeping her voice steady and low. If this woman recognized her, it wouldn't matter. There weren't enough people at the station now to pose a threat to her.

"I know who you are." Rinoa instantly tensed, but the lady continued, whispering. "I don't believe you murdered those people. Let me help you, please."

Rinoa felt a pang of guilt. She had killed those people. She hadn't meant to kill them, but she did. She was guilty. Rinoa bit her lip. "Really?"

"Yeah. Come with me." Seeing Rinoa's hesitation the woman continued. "Trust me. I'm a fan of yours. I want to help you. Please trust me."

It couldn't hurt, Rinoa figured. If she was planning to lead her into a trap, the sorceress could easily escape in a place this open.

She followed the woman out of the train station, behind the building. She noticed the girl was carrying a large bag of luggage. She set it down and faced Rinoa.

"You probably don't trust me, but I have a plan." She was talking fast, hardly legible. She was very animated with her hands as she explained. "So, I figure you'd be on your way out of the country about now, huh? That would explain why you're here, to catch a train east to Timber, and then walk to the harbor, since it's pretty close, right? And go to Esthar, since the government probably won't chase you that far. But then again, who knows. You know our government." She paused for breath. "Anyway, I can help you, since a train is coming from Deling, everybody will recognize you, and you probably haven't been able to change. I can totally get you a disguise, make you not look quite as Rinoa-ey, you know."

Rinoa nodded. She would have gotten a disguise herself, but all she had were the clothes on her back. Not exactly a lot to work with.

"So, I have some stuff you can use to disguise yourself and get on that train and get the heck out of here. You can wear a different outfit. I have some things that everyone would expect you not to wear, like some really pretty revealing ones, like, slutty, I guess, 'cause you wouldn't wear those. Would you?"

Rinoa shook her head. "No, of course not."

"Okay, good! Not that I'm a slut or anything. They aren't my clothes, I was bringing them to my sister, but oh well, you need them more. I also have a hat you can wear, and like, you can do something different with your hair. I can buy you a ticket too, since you probably don't have any gil. I could just give you some gil too, for when you reach Esthar." The teenager finally stopped talking. Her energetic, enthusiastic nature reminded Rinoa even more of Selphie. She winced inwardly, missing her friends. She hadn't seen them in years.

"Thank you so, so much." Rinoa smiled, sincerely thankful. "You don't know how grateful I am for this."

"Trust me, it's no problem whatsoever. I'm happy to do this, Miss Heartilly. It's my pleasure." She smiled at the sorceress. "Oh yeah, I'm Elora, by the way. It's wonderful to meet you, Rinoa. I just wish it could be under different circumstances."

Rinoa chuckled half-heartedly, feigning a smile. "Yeah, the circumstances could be a lot better."

Four hours later Rinoa sat in the back of a train heading for Timber. People from Deling City were sitting all around her, but luckily no one had recognized her so far. Her disguise was a red tube-top shirt that clung to her curves, showing off her cleavage and midriff, uncomfortably short shorts, a black jacket, a black baseball cap, and high-heels. She felt incredibly uncomfortable in these clothes, vulnerable. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

It felt like every eye was on her, on her exposed skin, on her tight clothes. She squeezed her eyes shut. She felt so unnatural in this. She supposed it was for the better, no one would expect Rinoa Heartilly to wear something like this, it just wasn't her. She should be thinking about the safety that would await her soon, but she couldn't.

Rinoa gripped the armrest of her seat, biting her lip. This train brought back so many memories. She'd been on so many trains with SeeD. In fact, she had met them on a train, when she had hired them to help her. It had been the second time she'd met Squall, after the dance they had shared at Balamb Garden. Thinking of Squall made her heart feel heavy. Thinking of all of them did.

The sorceress opened her eyes and forced herself to stare out the window at the beautiful countryside as it flashed by. She had to do something to take her mind off her memories and attire.

The train reached Timber station early the next morning, when the sun was barely peeking up over the horizon.

Rinoa was glad to be free of the horrid train, glad to breath the cool, clean air. The air was crisp and cold, but it was better than the muggy, crowded train, and Rinoa liked the cold.

She was tired, but she wanted to reach the port before she even thought of sleeping. She still wasn't safe here.

"Did you hear? They're sending SeeD!"

Rinoa's head snapped up, and her focus turned to two women standing on the corner. One was holding a gossip magazine. The headline read : Government of Galbadia Hires SeeD!

"That's ridiculous! You can never believe what you read in those!"

"But doesn't it seem like the logical thing to do? I mean, who else can handle Rinoa Heartilly. You've heard the stories, right? She's super powerful!"

Rinoa put her head down again and hurried down the stone street, staying to the shadows, avoiding the people there. What she had heard about SeeD greatly concerned her. Her escape would be so much harder with them on her tail. Not to mention the emotional strain if she were forced to fight them.

She slowed down once she reached the city limits, steering away from the road until she was about a half mile from it.

She then started walking more slowly, worn down. "I should have slept on the train." She muttered.

It was a long walk to the harbor, but not too far for Rinoa to handle. She was utterly exhausted when she reach it, but luckily had only had to fight off a few beasts on the way there. She checked out a room at the motel there, and plopped onto the bed as soon as she opened the door of the room, and slept.

When she awoke she left the room immediately. She hadn't slept as well or as long as she would have liked, but it would have to do. She traveled down the stairs, checked out and walked out the door of the inn. Right into a trap.

A man and a woman grabbed her from behind. She struggled, but their grip was too tight.

"Rinoa! So it's true!"

Rinoa turned to look at the people holding her. When she saw them she felt her heart rip in half, but she wasn't surprised. It was Zell Dincht and Quistis Trepe. SeeD. Her friends.

While Zell looked like he was about to cry, Quistis kept a businesslike, stoic expression. "Zell!"

"Yeah, I know."

Everything went black again as Rinoa blacked out from his blow.


The whole Rinoa in the slutty outfit is really strange, especially reading over it again. :/ Well. Whatever. Silly old writing.