Disclaimer: don't own ff8

A/N: hey hey. Another chapter! So much thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter, it is so much appreciated! R, teresa pham, lionhearted, rosesRred16, delicate princess, chibi san, woven bamboo pattern, cerulean crystal, rinny Leonheart, crazy turkey, shohei, dole pwnz0rs los trombonez0...,emoDiva, lilnaych and ma zellycat! Enjoy the chapter y'all..

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Dinner was a grand affair the next evening-everyone seemed to be making a special effort for prince Irvine. Squall was not exactly looking forward to dinner at all. He hated seeing King Caraway ever, as for some reason he seemed to loathe him. He was also not Prince Irvine's biggest fan and he wasn't sure if he was ready to se Rinoa yet.

He was glad he didn't have to see her all day because he had no idea what he would say to her. Was he supposed to say something and risk upsetting her or say nothing, as if nothing had happened?

When all 3 people arrived and started to eat, Squall just stood there while Caraway kept shooting suspicious glances in Squalls direction, obviously assuming he was trying to listen to their conversation and could hear what they were saying. Which of course, he could. He could hear every word they said, he was just subtle enough not to get caught.

"It is terrible what happened here." Prince Irvine was saying.

"Most certainly" The King agreed "All though there could have been more loss, I suppose we were lucky."

"Quite true" Irvine nodded taking a sip of wine "but there will be some kind of service, for those who died I assume?"

"But of course." Caraway said "I will be calling a formal Imperial funeral. But let us speak of such dark things no longer."

"Indeed." Irvine smiled at Rinoa "We have better things to discuss."

"Pardon?" Rinoa said as if she had not been really listening. And Squall knew she had not been listening because she had spent the entire meal so far staring downwards at the table.

"Well our engagement of course." Irvine said

"What, what are you talking about?????."

"You and Irvine are to be married." Caraway said calmly.

Squall could tell from the look on Rinoas face that she knew absolutely nothing about this.

"What if I do not want to marry Prince Irvine?" Rinoa said determinedly

The King looked instantly furious and said to Irvine "Apologies Prince Irvine, Please excuse my daughter and I"

Then he stood up, grabbed Rinoa and dragged her out of the room and into the corridor.

Irvine, meanwhile, started to fiddle with his ponytail, using the silver serving tray as a mirror. So without him noticing Squall edged over to the door and observed what was happening the corridor..

"How dare you be so rude?" The king yelled at his daughter. In a way it sort of amused Squall how much of a double standard it all was. If anyone else yelled at Rinoa that way and Squall just stood there he would be accused of being a bad guard, but if he interrupted the King he would be punished for not knowing his place.

"how dare you try to marry me off to someone whom I would never want to marry"

"You are my daughter, it is my choice."

"What? Why is not my choice. You can not just give my life away!"

"Of course I can and you will not disobey me! Now you will return to Dinner and you will not act this way again or you will be punished." He said before dragging Rinoa back into the room.

"Apologies Prince Irvine." he said "Where were we?"

"About when you decided you would marry me off to a complete stranger." Rinoa yelled, quite suddenly

"Alright" the king boomed "I have had quite enough of you Rinoa. Get out. I will deal with you later. Just go."

"Gladly!" Rinoa said, running from the room looking as if she was about to cry.

"Maybe she will come around to the idea." Irvine sighed.

"I would not count on it, she is a stubborn and difficult girl. But there are ways of bringing her around. She will of course be punished for the way she has treated you." King Caraway clicked his fingers "You, guard" he said to Squall.

"yes Sir." Squall said. He seriously hated doing anything for King Caraway, because he really could not stand him.

"Go after her. Lock her in her room and do not let her out until tomorrow evening. She will not be allowed any contact with anyone until I come and see her then."

Squall did not want to be any part of this. It was overly cruel. He could not do that to Rinoa, she had not even done anything

"Sir, I…"

"And bear in mind, my daughter can be very manipulative. Do not let her trick you into letting her out. This may be your chance to redeem yourself for that horrible incident last night"

"Yes your highness." he said reluctantly. What choice did he really have? He was after all , only a guard.

Squall left the room and found Rinoa sitting in an empty room just along the corridor.

"princess, I am taking you to your room." Squall said firmly. He knew if he did not do this it would be trouble and he knew there was no room for weakness here. If he hesitated he would end up being convinced not to do it.

"Why?"

"It is your fathers order that I take you there, and…and keep you there overnight and until tomorrow."

"What? My father has given you the order to imprison me?"

"Yes." Squall said. What else was it, really?

"And you are going to carry it out?" she asked disbelievingly

"Why would I not? Your father gave me an order. I am a guard, so I follow his orders."

"What happened to you Squall?" she asked sadly.

"What is that supposed to mean, Princess?"

"You used to think for yourself. And you never used to side with my father."

"Princess, I do not agree with what your father is doing, but I have to do it. I am on thin ice here and you know it. Besides if it were any other guard you would not be surprised"

"But…it is you Squall. And I thought you were different."

"I am just a guard. I am just like the rest. Please do not make this difficult Princess."

"I refuse to go willingly." Rinoa said, crossing her arms.

Squall did not feel right with the whole situation, but he knew he had no choice. He reached out and grabbed her arm, then dragged her down the corridor and up the stairs to her room.

"Please do not do this." Rinoa said as he sat her down on her bed and took the key to the door form the little shelf "Please Squall."

Squall took a deep breath. " I am sorry. But please try to understand why I am doing this." he said before closing the door and locking it.

Then he stood there. The whole night. He had to try and block out the sound of Rinoa banging on the door for the first half hour, yelling for him to let her out, then eventually it just faded into soft crying. That was harder to black out. It was a horrible sound, and every sob filled Squall with such guilt. He didn't want to upset her, but he clearly had. That probably solved the issue of the worrying closeness they seemed to be developing, she probably hated him now. Things just seemed to go from bad to worse for Squall.

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The service held for those who died was held exactly one week on from that night. The day on which it took place seemed to mirror the atmosphere of the day. It was cold and dull, the snow that had been falling for nearly two weeks covering the whole ground. The snow looked comparatively white against the black everyone wore to mourn those who had died. Rinoa felt quite guilty as she was not even completely sure who had died. She did not know everyone at the party and people seemed to avoid discussing the issue around her. she had just been told to attend the party as everyone else was going to be there. And looking around she saw this was true, almost everyone was there. Her father, other leaders, Selphie, Prince Irvine and his guards, his Jester Friend who seemed to go every where with him as well as many other people she did not know.

Her own guards were constantly walking up and down, patrolling. Except for Sir Seifer who was sitting down by the king while the rest patrolled. Everyone was still on high alert for the Balamb army, just in case they decided to attack again.

The priest was standing up and delivering some sort of service but it was all going over Rinoas head. Just one thought kept going through her mind; this was her fault. All these people were dead because of her. It was her party, her the army had come after. These thoughts had been playing on her mind the whole week now. The whole week in general had been the worst of her life. Her father had spent a week yelling at her about Prince Irvine and her duty to her country and she had spent the whole week trying to avoid Squall. She was still upset by what he had done that night. How could he have gone through with that , even if it was an order.

Deep down, she felt betrayed. Somehow she had thought Squall was different to all the rest, maybe she had hoped he would stand up for her. But he hadn't. It turned out he was just like the rest.

It had been relatively easy for her to avoid him as she sensed he was trying to do the same, given how little she had seen of him. Most of her reports had been delivered by the other guards for the last few days.

Maybe he was avoiding her because he felt guilty, if he even had a heart.

Rinoa could see him walking around , but he avoided making eye contact with her, even when he walked right next to her. And that annoyed her. What right did he have to giver her the cold treatment, she was not the one in the wrong. But Rinoa did not want to have to be this way with him. She much preferred it when she saw him. Spoke to him. Got on with him. He used to make her days bearable. Now he just made her hurt.

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Squall is so silly! Look what you've done Squall! Well next chapter…we have more of this servicey funeral thing…and Rinoa hears something she does not want to….and who should be there to comfort her……hmm I wonder