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A/N:Hey. I'm back with another chapter, sorry it's a little lat I've been a little busy. So as promised more of squalls past and the start of a very big drama too. It is kinda short but its important lol. Many many thanks to all my reviewers you guys know who you are and love y'all so much! Thanks and read on………..

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-The last Star-

Squall had decided that the whole thing left him with no other option but to take a few days of leave, and he negotiated it with Seifer, who was only too happy to give in.

He just had to get away, sort out his head. Being around Rinoa lead to way too much confusion- why was her icy treatment bothering him so much? He was used to it, he knew real life was cold and harsh. He'd lived a harsh life, but somehow Rinoa was different. She was a little like a light in the darkness of all the hate and deception he had seen, like the last star left in the black night sky. But now, after all this, it was like the last star had gone out.

It was his own fault really, and he knew it was. Three times now he had managed to get himself into a situation with her that he should not have been in. He was a guard, she was the crowned Princess of the Galbadian Empire. It was totally and completely wrong that he had ended up kissing her, but it was actually seriously more complicated than that. Firstly what complicated it was that as much as he tried to deny it, Squall had wanted to be kissing her, and on occasion he had wanted it to go so much further, but all that was what made it so wrong. But that wasn't the only issue. It seemed to him that no matter what he did, he couldn't win. If he put a stop to it, like he had, then he seemed to greatly offend Rinoa. The whole Princess - guard divide seemed to be completely lost on her, she felt rejected and confused by Squall, when really he was only trying to do what was decent. If he had carried on, it would have been wrong and incredibly dangerous. If he got caught so much as holding her hand he'd be executed for sure, hung publicly no doubt. But even aside from that, there were two much larger issues.

Firstly Squall knew he couldn't deny any longer that he was feeling something for Rinoa. He had spent his whole life deliberately detached from emotion, but Rinoa seemed to spark something inside of him, something completely new and intense. Something he did not understand. But the other remaining issue was his past. And it was a pretty big issue. He wasn't who he was saying he was. How could Rinoa be falling for him when she didn't even know who he really was. He did not want to ever have to tell her, but he knew one day he might have to. The whole incident still haunted Squall, as did so many incidents of his life. As he rode through the snow-heading nowhere in particular, only away from somewhere in particular- all the memories suddenly came flooding back. It was just over two years ago, the last mission he ever undertook as a Balamb soldier…

He was assigned to the task of commanding a Squad whom were to launch an assault on the empires port, Fishermans' Horizon. Their orders were simple. To cause damage and destruction, to kill, injure and destroy. At the time he was told all of this, he had no objections to his mission-the place was just another part of the corrupt empire, so he lead his soldiers there just as he was ordered to. There was so much destruction within seconds. It was the most pacifist place of all the Empires areas, and civilians were never a match for trained soldiers People were slaughtered, the docks were razed and the town set alight as a signal to the empire that they had not won.

But it was towards the end that the mission became so much more complicated. It was nightfall and soon they were to withdraw , so the soldiers scouted the town a final time. They shifted through the wreckage looking for anyone still with a breath in their body. It seemed as if there was nothing, until one soldier returned to the group dragging behind him a young woman and her child.. The woman could only have been twenty at the oldest and the child was barely more than a baby.

"Found on" the soldier announced. He threw the woman into the group of soldiers, and snatched her baby away.

Squall was a soldier and there for he knew what most soldiers were like and could tell exactly what they would do. Murder the child, abuse the woman between them and then kill her too.

Strangely to Squall, this bothered him. This seemed different to usual. When he killed soldier, when he fought in a war, everyone was faceless, emotionless, just another target. But he had seen this womans' face and he had seen all the despair and fear in her eyes.

"Let them go." he said, not really knowing what made him do so.

"What?" the soldier demanded.

"Let them go. A girl, and a young child, they are harmless."

"You know our orders Leonhart, leave no one alive."

"I am in charge here. Let them go."

The girl got up, grabbed her child and tried to scurry away, but one of the soldiers grabbed his sword and stabbed the woman before she could get away.

And Squall found he had no choice but to do what he did next. He took his own blade, and ran it through the soldiers chest, piercing the heart.

The other soldiers stared in shock and amazement at him, and then it all spiralled out of control. Several other soldiers attacked him, most of whom he killed effortlessly, but by the end there were far to many and they gained the upper hand.

While two of them grabbed him and restrained him as best they could, a third drew his sword and slashed it across Squalls face, leaving a large gash running across the top of his nose and under his left eye. He knew exactly why they did this, a scar across the face deliberately inflicted, was the mark of a traitor throughout Balamb. When he eventually managed to break free of the soldiers he had no choice but to run. And he had ran almost ever since. He became a renegade and a mercenary, taking whatever jobs he could get his hands on for any cash at all. He stayed as far away from Balamb as he could, and grew his fringe to such a length that it partially hid his scar. By the time he reached the area where Rinoa lived, he was desperate. He had plenty of cash, but he needed the job as a cover, he needed a place to stay and he had almost been caught up with by the generals from Balamb. And at first all it was, was a job.

But now it was so much more.

For 2 whole days all he did was reflect on this, he wished he could tell Rinoa the truth, but then he would face death for sure. He had come up with no solutions in the past few days, only more questions. What was he supposed to do? Why did he feel so empty? Why did he feel like he missed Rinoa, missed her smile, missed her voice….what was he supposed to do when he got back?

Surely, he could not tell her he had been thinking about her. Even if he understood what he was feeling which he didn't at the moment, he could never tell her. He had no idea himself. It was not any kind of strong attachment, that is what he kept telling himself. He didn't need anyone, he didn't want anyone. He didn't want love, he didn't need compassion, so surely that couldn't be what he was feeling. It was dedication, he decided, dedication to his job that had just gone a little further than usual.

After those days, he had no choice but to return to the castle. But when he did he was greeted with a heavy air of silence. Passing the main room as he entered he saw Seifer, Prince Irvine and King Caraway sitting silently and glumly in the room. What was going on? Where was Rinoa?

Heading to her room to find her, he passed the person whom he had seen a few times, that entertainer who had come with Prince Irvine.

"Are you Squall?" he asked

"yes. And you are?"

"Zell Dincht, a mere servant to Prince Irvine. But he asked me to tell you that when you returned you should speak to Sir Seifer immediately about.." the young man trailed off and looked at the floor.

"About what? And where is the Princess?"

"That is just it,' he said sadly "the princess is…"

Squall was filled with uneasy panic by those words as he waited for Zell to continue, but when he did the words seemed completely unreal to Squall.

"Rinoa is sick…" he continued "They say …they say she is dying."

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What! Ah no? surely not? Well as I said kinda short, but its quite a long next chapter which I will post soon. Hope you liked the chapter, let me know what you think.xx