Chapter three! Sorry it took so long. Haha… I actually forgot I had already written this. o_O;; What can you do… Hopefully chapter four will be done soon. Thanks to those who are reading this and reviewing! Oh, Magic Anime Goddess- Seifer's coming… you'll see. He doesn't really show up too much in this story, but he plays an important part. I hope you like!

Broken Vow

I need encouragement

It was the morning of the Festival and a beautiful cloudless sky promised cool evening weather. Many students from the Garden were busy setting up for the festivities, some had been up bright and early to start the numerous things that needed to be done. One of those people was Selphie.

"No, that goes over here… Xu, could you move that over a few… yeah. Thanks." Although it was barely noontime, Selphie looked like she had gone through a whole day's worth of stress. Her exhaustion showed in every way, yet she still managed to keep calm and cheery.

Rinoa had been helping set-up too. Since she had already finished what Selphie had told her to do earlier, she headed back over to Selphie to see what else she could do.

"Selphie! Where do you want these?" Selphie spun around to look at the box full of tickets that someone was holding. After a second of thought she pointed in the direction where Rinoa was walking from then hurriedly shooed him off.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you! I don't exactly know why you would want to go through all this stress all over again-"

Selphie laughed. "I don't know why either. But surprisingly, I feel fine!" She looked behind Rinoa at the calm blue sea water and smiled. "It was a great idea to have the Festival on the beach this year, huh?"

Rinoa nodded. "Yeah. It's great. I love the beach- it's so calming… So anyway, anything else that I need to do?"

Selphie thought for a moment then reached down beside her and handed Rinoa a box. "Take these over to Squall, please. He should know what to do."

At the moment she heard Squall's name she froze. Selphie noticed and said, "You need to talk to him someday. That time just happens to be now." then she turned to address another waiting students, leaving Rinoa to herself.

Rinoa wrinkled her nose in disgust. Great. Just great.

Zell had offered his free morning to help his good friend. He had also dragged Squall along with him.

"Zell, you know I didn't get that much sleep last night…" Squall's eyes were still adjusting to the bright morning light. He rubbed them, tiredly, and stifled a yawn.

"C'mon, it's the least we could do for Selphie, yeah? You know how much work she puts into this." The blonde patted his best friend on the back and started to steer him towards Selphie so they could receive their first task, but he stopped abruptly. "Hey buddy, look over there."

Squall had no time for these little games of his. For all he cared, he could be still sleeping. In fact, after a restless night of tossing and turning, he could use just another hour… This better be something important… Slowly, he turned around to see what exactly Zell wanted him to look at. Instantly Squall forgot how tired he was at the sight of Rinoa. She was talking to Selphie about something… He wanted to know what about, to just hear her voice gain… to feel her body in his arms. "…No. This is not what I need right now." Quickly he turned back around to face Zell.

Zell frowned. He knew exactly what Squall needed to be himself again. And that just so happened to be the only thing he was pushing away. "Look. Just go over there and talk to her…" He drifted off slowly, knowing he had made his point clear. Now, looking over Squall's shoulder, he could see Rinoa walking towards them with a box in her arms. He decided this was a good time to bail. "Uh, I'll catch up with you in a minute. I gotta check something out…"

Squall shrugged at the sudden subject change but brushed it off. But now that Zell was gone he could turn back around and see what Rinoa was up to. When he did he didn't expect to be face to face with her. "Whoa. Um… sorry… about that."

Rinoa still hadn't made eye contact with him yet. Already she could feel her face flush. But she knew she had to talk to him eventually… Gradually she lifted her head and finally locked eyes with Squall. "I-its okay, really."

For a few seconds all they did was look at each other until finally Squall spoke up, "So… you're helping out too?"

"Yeah. Uh, Selphie told me to… give these to you…"

Clearly Squall could tell that just talking to her was making her uncomfortable. And it bothered him greatly. He didn't want it to be like this. Shrugging, he replied, "I… I don't exactly know what to do with these…"

Normally Rinoa would have laughed at his behavior, but she couldn't. It just wasn't the same between them anymore… "She… she said that you would…uh, know what to do." God… why is this so difficult?

"Whatever." Not knowing what else to do, he took the box from her and suggested that they go set the contents along the edge of the stage. Rinoa agreed knowing that she would have to get used to his company sometime anyway. "So, how have you been?"

Rinoa couldn't believe she was actually doing this. Might as well be honest… "I've been better. You?"

Her straight-out honesty took him aback. She's hiding… "Rinoa, what's wrong? This isn't like you-"

"Nice of you to finally notice."

Ouch. "Rin…"

Rinoa stopped what she was doing and stared at him square in the face, eyes flashing. "It's Rinoa, if you don't mind. Besides, you're the one that's been avoiding me-"

"I believe that would be your fault-"

"How dare you tell me what is my fault and what isn't! I would know-"

"Hey Squall!" Xenia bounced over into their conversation quickly cutting off the words coming out of Rinoa's mouth.

Thankful for the quick interruption, Squall took full advantage of the situation. "Yes, Xenia? How are you…?" He made a quick 'in your face' glance at Rinoa who in turn glared at him.

"Well, I was just wondering what are you wearing tonight so that I can accommodate. So…?" Her hazel eyes were a soft gray, reflecting the sunlight of the morning… making Rinoa cringe at her sweet appearance.

Rinoa didn't stay for anymore. Setting down the box she left with a quick polite nod to Xenia. Absently she wiped away at the tears streaming down her face. Why can't we even get along anymore? She took one last look behind her shoulder at the couple talking together and caught a glimpse of Squall's face… somehow she missed the hurt look that clearly showed.

A/N: You know the drill…