heyz! sigh...i been havin lotsa bad luck this week...i got one review that said this fic was korny--there goes my self-esteem...but then i remember that i have waaay more good reviews then that one bad review!!! oh, look! my self-esteem's coming back!! THANK YOU REVIEWERS!! seriously, yooh guys are like my coolest friends!! everytime i read your encouraging reviews, it makes meeh really happy that someone actually enjoy reading my crappy fics!! i may even go as far as getting tears in my eyes as i read ur reviews.... ^^ Thanks, again!! ~Tenshi

(Just to refresh your memories...)

I was bewildered when Ellone reached her hand out to me and

touched my head. She closed her eyes. My vision became blurry and my

surroundings and people around me became more and more vague until everything

was clear again. But I was no longer in Selphie's living room...

***Black Rose***

**Chapter 7**

As soon as I regained my vision, I was shocked to find out I was in an

unfamiliar environment. What happened? How did I get here?

"I help my patients recover lost memories," echoed Ellone's voice. Did this

mean I'm in the past?

The door creaked open and a woman stepped into the room.

"Momma!" cried a child-like voice. I turned my head and saw a little girl about

four running to the familiar-looking woman. Wait...that little girl was me! And the

woman...she's the one from my pictures...my mother...

"C'mon, Rinnie, I have something to give you!" said Julia, picking up "Rinnie"

and walking out the room. I followed them and realized that the house we were in

was the Caraway Mansion! I thought I'd never see this house again! Everything

looked pretty much the same...James never changed anything.

Julia and Rinnie went into the room. The Forbidden Room. I can still

remember seeing James scolding me when I opened the door. He never wanted

anyone, including himself to enter the room. I walked into the room and saw Julia

digging through her jewelry box. Rinnie was on the large bed, kicking her legs

gleefully.

"Ah-hah! There you are..." exclaimed Julia, taking a small silver object out.

She turned to Rinnie, took Rinnie's hand, and slipped the ring onto her small fingers.

Rinnie examined the ring with awe.

"It's pretty Mommy. Can I have it?" asked Rinnie, looking hopefully at her

mother. Julia smiled, nodding her head.

"Of course. That ring has been passed down from generation to generation in

the Heartilly family. The ring shows you are a Heartilly," explained Julia. Rinnie's lips

formed an "o" as she gazed at the ring. The ring fell from her finger.

"The ring's too big for you...I know! It'll fit you better as a necklace!" said

Julia, bending down and picking up the ring. She searched her jewelry box again, but

this time she pulled out a silver necklace. She slipped the ring through and tied it

around Rinnie's neck. T-that's...my necklace! I grasped my own necklace. This used

to belong to my mother...

"The car's about to leave, are you two ready?" asked a man who had just

come in. I looked at him, squinting my eyes. James!? But this couldn't be my father!

This man looked happy; content! I watched as he hugged Julia and Rinnie. I looked

wistfully at the happy family. Happy family...I never thought I'd use the two words in

the same sentence. If only...Mommy didn't die, maybe James would still have the

same smile he did then...If only she's stayed, maybe I wouldn't be making money at

the expense of other people's lives...

A blinding light flashed that made me shut my eyes. When I opened my eyes,

I was in another place. The crystallized buildings and floating platforms were

definitely not from Galbadia. Was this the famed country, Esthar? I then saw James,

Julia, and Rinnie walking towards a large building. I followed them. They stepped on

a platform that brought them to a hallway. They walked into the room at the far

opposite of the platform.

Inside the room they had just entered was a man who greeted them warmly.

He even hugged Julia. This was strange. Galbadia and Esthar were enemies. For as

long as I could remember, James had always held a grudge against the president of

Esthar. Now they were chatting with each other like they were the best of friends.

"It's been too long since we last saw of each other. You have a beautiful

daughter, James," commented the Estharian president, patting Rinnie's head.

"I've heard you married and have a child of your own also," said James. The

president nodded, smiling.

"Raine! Come meet our guests!" called the president. A petite woman with

dark hair came with a little boy trailing behind her.

"You must be James and Julia Caraway! And of course, little Rinoa! Laguna's

told me much about your family!" smiled Raine. Rinnie noticed the shy little boy,

hiding behind his mother's legs.

"Hi! My name's Rinoa! What's yours?" greeted Rinnie.

"......."

"I'm terribly sorry. He's a bit shy because he's usually not around so many

people," explained Raine. "Honey, answer her question." The boy looked shyly at

Rinnie, his blue eyes looking intently into her eyes as if he was searching for

something.

"...Squall..." Rinnie smiled brightly at him. Squall!? That shy little boy is

Squall!? No, this couldn't be the Squall I know. Ok, so they mothers both have the

same names. Big coincidence...or was it? The parents smiled at the two before

leaving them both alone.

"Hello Squall!" greeted Rinnie again, extending her hand towards Squall.

Squall looked at her hand.

"She's not gonna hurt you, Squall," said a voice. I turned and saw a girl about

eleven or twelve. She looked like...Ellone!? Squall's eyes immediately lit up.

"Sis!" he cried as he ran towards Ellone and hugging her. Ellone smiled.

"I'm Ellone; who are you?"

"I'm Rinoa!"

"Hey! Now we have enough people to play 'Wedding'!" exclaimed Ellone.

"Squall, you'll be the groom, Rinoa, you'll be the bride, and I'll be the guy who'll

marry you two! This'll be like the ones on T.V.!"

She pulled Squall and Rinoa close together and stood in front of them. She

then cleared her voice and said, "Squall, do you take Rinoa as your lawful wife? To

hold and to cherish, through sickness and through health?"

"........"

"...Okay! And do you, Rinoa, take Squall as your lawful husband?"

"Uh...whatsa 'awful house man'? Is he the guy that comes to your house and

breaks everything?" asked a confused Rinnie.

"I now declare you man and wife! You may now kiss the bride!" said Ellone,

closing an invisible book. She looked at the both of them expectantly.

"Well, aren't you two gonna kiss?" asked Ellone impatiently. Squall and Rinoa

turned their heads towards each other. They both knew what a kiss was; they saw it

often on T.V. and with their parents.

"EEEEEWWWWW!!!" they both said, scrunching up their faces in disgust.

Another bright light flashed and I was now in a house. I was apparently in a

kitchen, next to Julia and Raine.

"I'll go get the pictures! I'll be right back!" said Raine as she left the kitchen.

Julia smiled and nodded. I looked around the kitchen. Rinnie was no where in sight.

Strange. Why was I seeing this than? A scream pierced through the air. Julia looking

worried, ran towards where the scream had come from and I followed. Julia paled as

soon as she saw the gruesome scene.

A woman with crimson hair was on top of Raine with a knife in her hand. I

grimaced as she stabbed Raine several times. Julia was too shocked to move. The

assassin stood up, grinning maliciously at her work. She soon noticed Julia. Terror

struck my heart.

"Run! Run away before she kills you too! Please..." I realized that all I was

seeing was something that had happened in the past. It was futile to try to save my

mom. I watched in horror as the woman jumped on Julia and slitted her throat. Tears

fell down my cheeks as I slumped down. I felt so helpless. The woman began

laughing hideously. I glared at the woman with hate. Wait, I know this

woman...Adel!

James walked in and saw the Adel covered in blood. He saw the two corpses

on the floor.

"Julia..." he mumbled in disbelief. Adel was about to jump on him too, but

James noticed this stepped out of danger. He grabbed her arms and made her drop

the bloody knife.

"You killed my wife...How dare you kill my wife!?" screamed James. Adel

laughed in his face. James growled and threw Adel down. She fell near the fireplace,

knocking over some wood. The fire reached the fallen woodpile. Soon, the floor was

on fire. James ran outside as the fire consumed the house. Laguna arrived at this

moment, staring at his house in horror.

"...Raine and Julia...Where are they?" asked Laguna worriedly. James could

only point to the fiery house. Laguna's eyes widened.

"Y-you murderer! How could you murder my wife? We were friends!" burst

Laguna. James stared back at him.

"I-I..." James was still to shocked to speak.

"Go! Leave with your daughter now! I never want to see you again! The

contract is off!" barked Laguna, staring at his blackened house.

"I-I-" a firefighter took James away into an ambulance to check for any

injuries.

Everything became out of focus until all I could see was...nothing. I found

myself sitting in a chair. I opened my eyes, my cheeks wet from my tears. Everyone

was looking worriedly at me.

"Rinoa, are you alright?" asked Selphie.

"I-I have to go!" I stuttered, running out of the room.

"Rinoa!" called Irvine. I paid no attention to their voices as I ran through the

hallway. Fresh tears were running down my face. I quickly stepped inside the

elevator and pushed the button to go down. Before the elevator doors completely

closed, a hand slipped through and the doors opened. Squall came in with a

concerned face.

"We need to talk," he stated. I began to walk out, but the doors had closed

before I could.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* err...sorrie i havent updated for awhile, but school and the cat 6 are taking a toll on me. also, i changed the plot for this chapter and i had to rewrite it. sooo...plz send me your comments! wasnt the "wedding" part cute? i remember my friend and her brother used to make these two little kids kiss each other. that was where i got the idea from. ^^ wellz, reviews are nice rite about now! ~Tenshi