Chapter 6: Rinoa

I still remember some small details of what it felt like when I first entered Balamb Garden.

Although my memory is like a fogged up window of condensation on a raining day, I can still see through the rain droplets that have accumulated in my mind.

Although I had my share of familiarity with magnificent and grand buildings back in Galbadia, the sleek and crystal clean marble floors decked with fine water basins and fountains that circulate throughout the hallway of the Garden magnificently captured my mind.

Other than the faint traces of the basic architectural design of the Garden, I remember small snippets of my time there such as how the Junior classmen of the Garden were always supervised by an older student when we wanted to go to Balamb town or into the fields in case of the monsters that lured in them…

If I were to reclaim the rest of my lost memories, I would have to stop using Guardian Forces altogether.

But the reality I am in now, forces me to use the power of Guardian Forces.

In order to liberate the oppression of Timber and its citizens from Galbadia, I have no choice but to sacrifice my past memories for the time being.

I pushed away the thoughts of my past as I gave Angelo her breakfast of brown dog biscuits.

After giving Angelo a few kisses that she deserved every morning, I hastily walked out my room in the train compartment in which I now resided in.

I then decided to call one of my best friends, Seifer to cheer him on for today's big Final SeeD exam.

I was well aware of the fact that he had failed the very same exam multiple times, but what I liked about him was that every failure couldn't dampen his motivation or spirit to try again.

"Good morning Seifer! I just wanted to wish you good luck for today. I hope we could meet at the SeeD inauguration party just like you promised!" I charmed at him with a cheerful morning chirp.

"Hey! Rinoa! Glad to hear from you. Thanks for the luck. I need it big time, because I just found out that I'm teamed up with the two greatest losers at school for the exam. The name's Chicken-Wuss and New-Scarred-Emo!"

Seifer seemed pretty pissed off by the sound of his tone just mentioning their nicknames.

"Oh! Is it that Lonely Emo kid that also wields the Gunblade?"

I was already too familiar with Seifer's school nemesis due to his constant complaints about this Emo kid.

Seifer never really let go of the mention of him in conversations. i never met this lonely Emo on a personal basis, but by the sound of him, he sounded like a person whom I would too despise.

"Yep. The very one. Awfully blessed aren't I?" Seifer sighed.

"Let's just hope that they're not as bad as your last team mates!"

I claimed excitedly to give him an oomph of optimism.

I had to change the topic of conversation fast so Seifer wouldn't complain any further.

"By the way, I bought a new white dress to wear at the inauguration party! Just you wait and see!"

"Nice. It shall be my courtesy and pleasure to ask Miss Heartily for a dance in the event hall in my new SeeD uniform. Quite the scene we shall make princess?" Seifer suddenly seemed heightened by the idea.

"Yep! Just imagine that scene when things get rough! Be careful! Take care! See you soon!"

"See you Rinoa! Gotta go! Bye!" He hanged up first.

Quite unusual for him to be the one to leave the line.

I know it is easy for girls to tell whether the guy is interested in her or not, but Seifer was just too obvious.

He had never directly or officially asked me out just yet.

But I could definitely sense it coming as clearly as I knew that the sun will set beneath the skies tonight.

It would come very soon.

Seifer had shown many physical and verbal signs and cues to show that he was interested in me.

I had a gut feeling that the reason for his late proposal was because he was planning for the perfect moment to ask me out.

And by the looks of it, that moment was planned for the Seed Inauguration party.

I knew Seifer too well, that his ego urged him to wait and confess his feelings for me in his new Seed uniform.

And if Seifer did indeed ask me out, I was certain that I would accept him as a default solution.

Seifer always treated me with the utmost respect and care, even though he was rude and arrogant to the majority of people.

He would always promise me to protect me from whatever danger is out there once he becomes a SeeD and that he will help out with the Timber Owls once he had the authority and freedom.

How I met Seifer was a different story. In the summer that I turned sixteen, I visited the Balamb Town with just Angelo via train.

I was also planning to visit Balamb Garden later on to refresh my former memories of that place. As I was taking my morning walk on the sunny beach, I let Angelo swim in the crystal ocean that reflected the countless beams of the summer sun.

I noticed from the corners of my eyes, that a certain blonde guy was watching me as he was fishing near the shores.

I was used to the intense and frequent attention that I received from men of all ages, but this guy didn't know the boundaries between momentary staring and just plain rudeness.

I glanced at him just to see who he was, but was surprised to find that he didn't divert his sight from me out of shyness like most other guys.

My heart did a double flip when I found out that this guy seemed a little older than I was.

Having had a dragging period without the companionship with anyone my age besides Zone and Watts, I couldn't help but turn on my friendly smile towards this stranger.

"Have you caught anything yet in these translucent waters, sir?" I asked brightly with my well-fashioned General Caraway styled manners.

"No. Not yet. But hey thanks for asking though!" he replied with quite the confidence that his masculine stature represented.

"Huh. That's funny. I thought the clear waters of Balamb would host at least ten schools of fishes to be fished!" I joked.

Seifer laughed an honest and ballistic laugh at my lame sarcasm.

He suddenly put his fishing rod away to walk closer to where I stood on the edge of the shores.

I could now see his full tall and broad stature that told me instantly that this was no ordinary teenage boy.

From what I could tell, he was built to be a fighter.

Not just an ordinary combat man, but a strong one at that.

But even though his face didn't conjure up feelings of kindness or warmth, I could tell by his eyes that he meant me no harm as he neared closer towards me.

"I was watching you from a far for a long time. I guess this is my cue to apologize for all the staring. I'm sorry… Miss…?"

"Oh! No apologies needed. I'm Rinoa. Rinoa Heartily." I replied.

"Rinoa. Rinoa Heartily." He savored my name in his tongue as if it were a sweet doughnut treat.

"Somehow I was expecting such a pretty name from the likes of you. Are you here all by yourself..? Is there no… supervision of any kind might I ask?" Seifer's eyes seemed to be hinting at his deepest curiosities.

"No! I'm alone! Well, me and Angelo anyway." Although it was obvious that he was asking whether I was here with a boyfriend of some sort, I lighted my eyes to pretend that I knew all but innocence of his real intentions.

"Oh. What a surprise. I thought you might've you know, come somewhere as nice as Balamb with umm… like a friend or something… but hey! I'm here by myself too!" he smirked.

I could tell he was trying to fake up confidence at that very moment.

Even though he sounded way more cocky and confident than most of the guys out there, I could tell he still felt a tint of a sour nervous buzz as he said this.

"I'm Seifer Almasy, soon to be SeeD of Balamb Garden."

"Wow!" I gasped. "I didn't know you were a SeeD! Where's your cadet uniform?"

"I don't wear mine." He tilted his head higher in pride.

"What? I remember that Balamb Garden was extremely strict on uniform codes…"

"Meh." blurted Seifer arrogantly. "The teachers kinda figured it out by now that they can't really control me. I'm the only one who walks around the school without a uniform, and they gave up when they realized I'm too stubborn to follow orders. They can't tell me what to do. Well, me and this other Emo guy anyway…"

Seifer seemed to trail off on his own like a wandering fly as he referred to 'the other Emo guy'.

"Who's this 'other Emo guy'"? I asked.

I asked not out of curiosity, but just to keep the conversation going.

"He's this real loner who treads the school with utter silence. Dead boring dude. He's a little younger than me, but he acts as if he can whoop my ass just because he too can wield a Gunblade. I wouldn't call him my rival, but he's kinda worth battling once in a while. Just to show him what I'm made of." Seifer seemed to talk on an autonomous mode of self boasting like nobody's business.

I knew from the moment I saw Seifer that he was a cocky guy.

But boy oh boy, once I let Seifer talk his way on me, did I realize that this guy seemed to be re-writing the revolution of 'show-off' all on his own.

But at that period in my life, I felt even more alone than I was now, as if I was locked up in a dark room without any lights.

I felt caged, without any purpose or dreams.

I felt so distanced from what it's like to have confidence and certainty of myself or of the future.

So I churned all this low self-esteem and anxiety to Seifer.

He was the opposite of who I was deep inside.

I wanted to be like him; confident, proud, certain, bold and strong about whom he was.

His arrogance and cockiness didn't offend me, nor impressed me.

But I found his personality interesting as well as amusing.

From that moment on, Seifer asked me for my number. And we've been in touch and in close contact ever since.