"Will You...?"
 by: Angel Wingsr Rinoa

Chapter 11: Retake

After everyone secured the safety and wellness of everyone inside Balamb Garden, other SeeDs came into the Garden to arrest the criminals. They quickly moved the undamaged things for the wedding ceremony to The Quad while Edea and Ellone helped to fix Rinoa's ruined, wedding dress. They also moved all of the broken things out of the ballroom because they were going to use it for the reception afterwards. Just a day after the attack, the ceremony resumed. Everything was started from the beginning with no interruptions and objections.
"If there is anyone here who object that these two should be wed. Speak now or forever hold your peace." The priest said. No one replied. Before, when someone objected to their wedding, things happened that weren't at all pleasant. "Then by the power invested in me, and Balamb Garden and its leaders I now pronounce you husband and wife." he smiled, "You may kiss the bride."
Squall revealed Rinoa's face underneath the white veil. Ellone, Quistis and Selphie had tears in their eyes as both of them kissed each other. Guests and friends shower rice at them, and clapped joyously as Squall and Rinoa walked through the red carpet. Outside of the Quad, they were greeted with tons of congratulations.
"Our Princess has found her Knight in Shining Armor. I'm so happy!!" Watts was suprisingly sobbing like a girl, "....I should've known, Sir! The way you and Rinoa always argued....it was a sign of true love....I'M SO HAPPY!!"
"Me too!! I'm so happy that I'm gonna..." Zone said.
"...Barf!" all of the people from Timber continued for him.
"Yes. That's right. How'd you know? Urp!" This time, his barfing bag was a few extra sizes bigger. Zone sighed, "You're getting predictable, Sir. Maybe you're getting old?"
"Old!? Me? No way....Urp!"
Rinoa laughed at her two old comrads, "Relax, Zone. You're not getting old."
Meanwhile, Laguna talks to his long lost son, "That was the greatest marriage I've ever seen. You two make the cutest couple! Remember, now that you two are married....it's alright to do....you know what. Besides, how're you supposed to get kids, right!?" he poked Squall's arm with his elbows, "Lets see....life tips, life tips.....Ummm, make sure to teach your kids about life lessons, always be loyal to your family, don't panic when Rinoa gets pregnant, ask for my help if there's any problems with potty training in the future........what else?" The colour of Laguna's face turned into the same colour as the rose on his tuxedo as he began talking to Squall about pregnancy, sperms, that time females have every month and the like. You're way too late, Laguna. Squall thought.
Kiros and Ward could see that Laguna's speech made Squall yawn a bit. Ward disageeably shook his head.
"Laguna...You're boring the poor guy." Kiros said.
"Oh? Am I?.....Oh fine. I won't say those things." he leaned over to Squall's ear, "I'll tell you more in the reception, son."

~~~~~~~~

They held the reception inside the ballroom. Selphie, as always, wanted to capture the unforgettable moment of their wedding by filming it in a camcorder. Because of Mrs. Dincht's assistance to the cooking, the food tasted wonderful and the cake looked tall and beautiful. Irvine and Zell laughed softly to themselves at the two little figures resembling Squall and Rinoa on top of the cake, "Hahaha! Looks just like Squall!" Irvine commented. Edea and Cid pushed the two couple towards the cake. Both of them insisted they cut, and feed each other the cake as it was in tradition. Selphie recorded the moment and also when they drank some wine with their arms entwined together. After cutting the cake, Rinoa tossed the bouquet to a crowd of women. Quistis was walking by and the flowers fell into her arms accidentally. She blushed and smiled saying, "Oops. Looks like I caught it. Anybody else want it?"
"No, no, no. Traditionally, whoever catches the bouquet is the next one who's going to be married." Rinoa stated, then winked.
"Hey, are you and Bradley that far already?" Selphie whispered to her ear.
She bashfully turned away, "Uh.....Oh my. Look at that. Other people. Bye."
Selphie took the mike from the stage, "Hi, everybody! I'd like to say 'hi' to the newly weds! A wedding isn't a wedding without Squall and Rinoa having their romantic dance together. Hit it, guys!" she said to her band of musicians. The lights went dim, and the band started to play a very beautiful, slow melody of "Eyes On Me." Their guests and friends formed a circle around them to give them space to dance. They embraced and danced to the slow melody. Rinoa leaned her head on his shoulders as they danced in the ballroom.
Just as Laguna had promised, he talked to Squall about all the information about life that he could possibly need or have no use to. He listened intently as Laguna talked to him about love lessons and moralities. Squall was almost sure that he didn't stop for air while he talked. He grinned and made topics to talk about again and again. His mouth never ceased. He talked to Squall for so long that even a person with a good memory like Squall couldn't keep up with his random topics. He looked over to her wife; she was also bored. Her father as well was talking to her about the same things. Both of them talked about family values, problems they may have, children, grandchilren and so forth. Laguna thought his son was still listening to his every word, but inside, he mind was drifting somewhere else. Squall excused himself to get Rinoa and General Caraway. It was time for someone else to know about The Secret.
"What is it, Squall?" General Caraway asked.
Laguna took Rinoa's hand while Squall said in the simplest of tones, "I'd like you to meet your father-in-law."
Rinoa and her father's eyes opened wide, "....Father-in-law..." they both repeated.
Laguna kissed Rinoa's hand, "Hehehe, that's right, Rinoa. General Caraway, I'm honoured my son, Squall here, has married your gorgeous daughter."
"Wow! This is....different." Rinoa commented.
"Yeah, it is, ain't it? Well, your gonna have to start calling me dad too!"
Rinoa laughed, "Okay."
"Mr. Loire...This is...breaking news...we never knew..." General Caraway stammered for the right words.
"Yeah, no one knew before I told him. Eh, son!?" he slapped his back hard once again. Squall sighed softly at his over-joyous father. Rinoa and General Caraway laughed.
As Irvine promised the couple, he was going to set off fireworks outside where everone could see. "Hey, you two kids! Here's some fireworks to start off your new life together! Go!" With the wave of Irvine's arm, the skies lit on fire with different sorts of colours and shapes. It ended with a finale of the fireworks making out the words, "Squall and Rinoa" with hearts around it. The crowd clapped loudly at Irvine's fireworks, "Thank you, Thank you!" he said while he bowed, "I'm an expert when it comes to guns and explosions! Hehehe, and of course women!"
During the reception, many conversed with the two newly weds. Most of them colleages, associates, politicians and many others. Soon, Rinoa found their conversations tiresome and meaningless; she noticed that her husband felt the same. She looked around the room so she could take her mind off the dullness. Selphie was hovering from one area to the next. She was making sure that she captures each and every conversation inside the room. Zell was listening carefully to his mother while she explains carefully how to bake a traditional cake. Irvine does his usual business of chatting to different women despite Selphie's disapproval.
Rinoa was surprised to see that Seifer looked even more dulled down than she and Squall was. He was casually leaning on the wall, and mildly -or none at all- have any interest to his surroundings. Headmaster Martine was the complete opposite. He talked to politicians and leaders all over the corners of the room; his company, Mileena, was just as bored as Seifer. Martine was introducing Mileena to Headmaster Cid and Edea who was happily talking to them. She pleasantly bowed her head to them and said, "Hello, Headmaster Kramer and Mrs. Kramer." Edea laughed kindly and said that those type of impersonal greetings are unnecessary. Quistis, as usual, was sitting beside Bradley; it seemed that their conversations about star mapping, GFs and similar topics never end. She focused her eyes back on the nonstop talking companions. Listening to them talk was as boring as listening to Squall's dull voce during his old days of "I don't care about this and that." talk and when he talked about battle plans. Finally, she decided that she must leave from the conversation or else she was going to fall alseep on the spot.
"Would you excuse me, gentlemen. It seems I need some fresh air. Would you like to come along, Squall?" she said politely.
Squall nodded.

Chapter 11: Part II

He also thought he needed some fresh air after that. Both of them wondered out of the ballroom, and outside of the Garden to the fields below. The evening air was fresh and warm because of an afternoon of cloudless skies. The Garden was nowhere close to a big city so all the stars shimmered above them. Different cries of animals were heard in the dense forest beyond. They could almost touch the serenity of their surroundings as they watched it.
"Now does that feel better to get out of that tireless yapping?" she asked him.
"Yeah, it does. Laguna couldn't stop talking to me." he said.
"Because he's your father, right?"
"Yeah."
"Small world, isn't it?"
"Hm?"
"How you two could be father and son, and how he knew my mother back then."
"He said that you look a lot like Julia."
"My father says that too." she smiled, "He used to feel uncomfortable because of that, but now he's overjoyed I look like her."
"He couldn't stop saying to me that I look a lot more like my mother than him and how that sort of disappoints him and makes him happy."
Rinoa stopped herself from laughing.
"What?"
"I was just thinking of what our children would look like." she said.
"And what's funny about that?" he asked.
"Oh no. Nothing like that." she said in an implied tone.
"I wasn't thinking anything."
"I'm sure you were not. It's just that I was thinking what our child will look like. Probably a lot like us."
"....Most likely. I remembered I was a scrawny, weak kid. We'll make sure our kids aren't weak like I was."
"I would like to see what you looked like when you were a kid. I bet you must've been an adorable little child."
"I saw myself when I was lost in the compressed world."
She looked up into the sky and thought back to the day she found him lying down on the ground on a vast wasteland, "I was in a total panic when I couldn't find you. Me and the others were able to get back to the real world. But after that, I couldn't eat anything or think of anything else. I kept having that same dream. You know, the one I told you about? Everyone in the Garden thought you were forever gone. Even me and our friends started to lose hope of ever finding you. But I just could't give up! It felt like months....even decades until I finally saw you.....I.....I thought you were dead."
"I was....Until I heard you and brought me back."
"...You heard my voice?"
He nodded.
"Squall.....? Do you think someone like Ultimecia will come back to this world?"
"I hope not. I don't want to have to fight another one who wants to destroy the world. There always seem to be someone stupid and evil who wants to kill everyone."
"Like those men who disrupted our wedding?"
"Yeah."
She smiled, "Oh, don't worry. We'll be okay. Especially with you around."
"Me? I can't single-handedly save the world."
"Yes, that's true. But then, you were the one who led us to help save the world. You influence people a lot more than you think. Besides,....if someone does try destroy the world yet again," she pointed at him, "You can always protect us."
"I'm not that strong....I can't protect everyone."
She raised an eyebrow at him, "You think so? You've become that strong Lion, Squall. After defeating her, you proved to the world that you are a Lion. I believe in you, Squall. I used to think that you were some kind of idiot who's just playing cool when I first met you, but now......I believe you can achieve anything what you desire."
"Is that a fact?"
"Yup! I'll always be there for you. You kept your promise and protected me at the worst times, that's why I'll protect you in return."
"Rinoa....I can take care of myself."
She laughed joyously, "Silly! Of course I know you can. But who knows? Maybe you'll need my help once in a while. Besides...You did need my help back there when I changed into a sorceress...Lets not forget that." she shook her index finger mischeviously at him.
"We'll see...."
"I guess we will. We have our future ahead of us together, Squall. You don't know how much that makes me so happy."
"I can guess." he took her in his arms. He held her strongly and protectively. As if nothing -any power nor any being in the world.- can ever break his embrace. They stood holding each other side by side; their two souls as one.
"Squall. Rinoa. Where are you guys? It's time to say farewell to our guests." they heard Xu from inside the Garden.
The people from Galbadia Garden were already leaving. Before they left, Headmaster Martine shook hands with Squall; his "hero" had already left. Many of their other guests were departing as well. It was close to midnight, all their tired faces forced a smile torwards their leaving guests. Squall saw Seifer standing in the middle of the dance floor; his expression was unlike his usual one of arrogance or boldness. He seemed sad, almost.. His blue eyes weren't focused on anything because of his distant mind far, far away. (You want to know the reason he's like this? Go read Dragon Knight's fanfic, "One Night" to find out why!)
"Something bothering you?" Squall asked him unemotionally.
His mind quickly reverted back to the real world, "Nothing." he said to him while he walked away. Squall looked at him retreating for a moment, and shrugged. He's always weird anyway. he thought; letting the strange moment pass. They stood watching their guests leave and wave goodbye. Selphie's camera still had some tape and ifficient battery left because she insisted she equip her camcoder with a longer tape; last time a large party happened, the camera's batteries ran out, and Selphie missed an important something to record. Seifer, Fuujin and Raijin decided to stay in Balamb Garden for a short period of time, while Zone, Watts and the rest from Timber went back home.

To be continued...