Parallel
Close Encounters
"Rinoa?" Zell asked, as he knocked on the door of the room she was sleeping in.
He didn't hear anything and knocked again, a little louder this time in case she just didn't hear.
"Rinoa? Are you okay?" he asked, raising his voice a little.
He began to get a little worried about her as he knocked one last time, hoping he was just paranoid due to how she'd been acting.
"Rinoa!" he said, louder, "Are you in there? I need to talk to you. Could you open up?"
There was still no answer and his paranoia got the best of him as he barged through the door.
"HEY! What's your prob-" he shouted, as he noticed she was gone.
"…lem." he mumbled.
He stared at her empty bed. The sheets and covers were still rather straight, like they were barely touched. He figured she must have been sleeping on top of them.
"Rinoa? Where are you?" he asked, looking around the room.
He began to panic for real now. If she wasn't in bed, where was she? They were so sure she'd been sleeping all this time. If she'd left, had she maybe seen them setting up? That would render all of their effort pointless and Selphie most of all, would be upset after everything they'd put into it.
He ducked his head and nearly pulled on his hair. It made perfect sense. Of all times for Rinoa to disappear, this would certainly have been the best.
"Aww, come on! You've got to be kidding! I'm supposed to take her back to the party. What am I gonna do now?" he thought, as he tried to imagine where she could have gone.
"She didn't leave the school…did she?" he thought aloud.
So many possibilities for Rinoa's whereabouts flowed into his head. She didn't know Balamb too well, having only really spent time around Garden - and without an airship, she couldn't get very far. Boats didn't even sail at this hour.
"But, why would she even need a boat?" he wondered.
He shook his head at the thought.
"No. She's gotta' be somewhere in the school." he said to himself.
He was a bit doubtful about his own words, but he had to hope. They were expecting him back at the party any minute…with Rinoa.
"Oh, man. Selphie's gonna freak!" he said, getting stir crazy, "I have to find her!"
He rushed out of the room to try and find her before she got too far. He just hoped he wasn't already too late.
As Zell raced to find Rinoa, Selphie, Quistis, and all the students of Balamb Garden waited patiently for them to show up – ready to surprise her at any moment.
"They should be here by now. What's taking so long?" Selphie asked herself aloud, as she stepped out from her hiding spot.
Quistis came out next to her and looked ahead at the entrance to The Quad.
"I don't know. I mean, it's not that long of a walk. Even if it is Zell, he should have been back by now." she said, holding her hand to her chin.
They stared ahead, hoping that maybe Zell was just walking slowly with her to increase the suspense of the moment. However, that hope faded when they thought he might finally round the corner, but saw no one.
Quistis began to worry and some of the other students started getting restless.
"Come on. What are they doing?" one boy whined.
"Aren't they here yet?" another girl complained.
Selphie took a few steps toward the entrance as she kept staring ahead – trying to hide her disappointment at the way things were turning out after all. It wasn't that hard of a task: get Rinoa and come right back…how difficult could that really be? Even for Zell? It wasn't fair. It had all been planned perfectly and she couldn't believe this was happening. Not now. Not after all of their hard work.
"…I don't see them," she said, looking down at the ground in distress.
Quistis sighed and shook her head as she tried to think of a way to keep Selphie from getting discouraged.
"Don't worry, Selphie. I'm sure they're on their way. Knowing Zell, he's just keeping her interest while they walk," she said, "They'll be here."
She nodded in reassurance as Selphie looked back at her – a smile forming on her face she walked back toward Quistis.
"You're right. That'd be so like Zell," she said, laughing, "Let's give it a few more minutes. That also gives me a bit more time to work on my "surprise!" I want it to be just right - really getting her into the spirit!"
Quistis laughed a little at Selphie's words as they got back in hiding – waiting anxiously, and worriedly, for Zell and Rinoa to arrive.
After Zell checked the most obvious places in Garden, he decided to check the only other possible location – though the thought of Rinoa being there had him on edge.
"There's no way she'd do that. Rinoa's not an idiot." he said to himself, as he stood at the end of the hallway leading to the Training Center.
His heart beat faster as he stared ahead, letting him know that he should go in. Despite such a feeling though, he hesitated. He didn't want to believe Rinoa would actually do something so dangerous. With the way she was thinking lately, she wouldn't have lasted two minutes in there. He couldn't imagine what she'd even be doing in there anyway - especially alone.
"…Oh, man," he mumbled, as he took a deep breath, "…Here it goes."
He rushed off into the Training Center in hopes that Rinoa was in there…and alive, at that.
"Rinoa, what could you be thinking?" his thoughts echoed, as he ran as fast as he could.
Upon entering the Training Center, he looked around frantically, but saw no sign of her at the entrance. He dropped his head and his fear grew worse.
"This is crazy. Rinoa couldn't possibly-" he said, when he was cut off by a loud roar.
"Huh?" he asked, jumping in shock. It sounded so close: like it was right behind the door. As he looked toward it, he spotted something on the ground. It looked familiar – a small, silver colored jewel of sorts. He jogged over to it and its true appearance slowly becoming more visible as he approached.
Once he was only a few feet away, he realized exactly what it was and his jaw dropped. It would have hit the floor if it could have.
"Oh, no…" he said, as his skin covered with goose bumps.
He leaned down and picked up the object to find it was all too familiar.
"...Rinoa's…pendant." he mumbled.
He immediately knew what was going on behind those doors as his stomach dropped and his heart sank. He sensed his worst fears coming to life as he stood there in complete shock – his blood running cold from the very thought. He stared at the doors – completely petrified from head to toe, unable to get himself to move for a moment. He feared he really was too late now.
As he took one last look at the pendant, he couldn't allow for things to end this way. He tried to be optimistic, as hard as it was, that maybe Rinoa might be okay somehow. She was a sorceress after all and had now had four years to adjust to her powers. Despite how down and distracted she may have seemed and the things she may have said…she would have still honed her skills, right? There were times when she had urged them to find any way possible to bring Squall back – not ready to accept that he was gone. This would have surely encouraged her to test the full extent of her powers. She had to be okay. If she believed Squall could come back somehow, she wouldn't have let herself die.
He clung to that hope as he looked ahead with a straight face. If anything happened to her, Squall would have his head if he was still alive. That realization compelled him to take action and he dashed toward the door as fast as he could – trying his best to ignore any thoughts or feelings that told him it was hopeless.
"RINOA!" he yelled.
He charged through the doors to find what he'd expected: a T-Rexaur looming over him as he stood staring – trying not to move and cause the creature to react. He kept his body still, as he quietly scanned the area.
"Rinoa?" he whispered, as his fears returned.
Suddenly, his eyes got a glimpse of someone lying on the ground a few feet away. It was a girl for sure and he immediately recognized her. She didn't move or respond to his voice in any way as she lay on her side, face down on the ground.
Zell's heart beat faster than it ever had and he couldn't believe he could have been wrong. She looked nothing short of dead as he stared at her – wondering what he would say to everyone when he got back. How could he explain this? However…this fear quickly turned to anger as he glared at the T-Rexaur - preparing to take it on in vengeance. He was mad at Rinoa for doing something so stupid, but he was enraged at the sight of her.
"Frickin' HELL!" he yelled.
He rushed toward the T-Rexaur, glancing at Rinoa's body as he ran. He really wasn't nervous about fighting the creature on his own. It wasn't so much that his status as a SeeD had gotten him overconfident, he just knew he could do it after the countless times he'd been in here during his years of training. This really didn't worry him in the least. The only reason he held fear at all was due to one thing being on his mind: that no matter how this fight went…he couldn't change what had already happened.
"Damn you, Rinoa!" he thought as he charged the colossal creature.
*Author's Note* - Aye...I'm really sorry this story seems SO bad right now. However, from here on, it WILL be better. I apologize.
