Chapter 8:Without you
All Squall care of doing how is to study for his SeeD exams. He has to concentrate on it somehow. He can't afford to fail in another test. If saying Rinoa has totally swept out of his mind, that's a lie. Life was like a living hell to him without her, without her support and her always-cheerful smile. He has attempted to open the present she gave him but he was afraid he would regret after doing that. Can't help remembering the eyes he saw at the PUB, can't forget what happened, can't forgive…
Rinoa was quite the same, she treated the breaking up very coolly, as though it was just like swallowing a pill. Not many people knew how she felt. Her father is one of those who knew what she's thinking and understands her. He knew she needs some time to calm down. He is doing his best as a father and planned something for her to forget about him.
"Rinoa, how are you today?" Colonel Caraway asked.
"I'm ok, daddy," she replied with a fake smile.
He let out a sigh.
"I'm planning to go overseas to do some business project and it'll take me a year before I come back," he said.
Rinoa widen her eyes.
"So, if you would like to free your mind for a while. Why don't you follow me, at least a new environment will make you forget those bad things happened," he continued.
"I…..I don't know. Give me some time," she replied and wrapped her arms around her legs.
Her father then stood up and left the room, leaving Rinoa alone in her room once more.
Zell came into his friend's dorm.
"Wanna go for training?" he asked.
Squall took his gunblade and headed to the training center. The training center is now equipped with more powerful monsters. Those lame plant monsters were all exchanged with man-eating dangerous and poisonous monsters. The purpose is to give the students a greater challenge to level up their strength.
After a few fights, Zell was still thinking how he could persuade Squall to get back with Rinoa. Finally, he spoke.
"Aren't you getting back with Rinoa?"
Squall didn't answer him but proceed further into the jungle.
"Squall, aren't you going to give yourself chance? I can see you are still in love with her," he continued.
"Concentrate on your fights!" he told him immediately after a plant monster started to attack them.
Zell then kept quiet and waited for another better time to talk. He turned to Squall after defeating the plant monster.
"Squall listen. I don't want you to regret for doing this, just go to her and apologize! That's all!" he louder his voice.
"It's not my fault, why must I apologize?!" Squall answered back.
His best friend paused for a while to study his expression. He didn't want to tell him at first but then he sighed.
"I've lost my chance. My only hope is on you. I wish you and Rinoa happiness," he said.
At first Squall did not know what the hell he was talking about.
*Lost your chance??
"I failed," Zell told him shortly and looked on the ground.
*He what? I thought that girl is interested in him.
"Just cherish Rinoa before she leave you forever," he continued, not giving his friend a chance to ask him another question.
Zell did not want to tell him why the girl rejected him. It will make him more depressed.
*Why him? Why must it be him?
Squall patted on Zell's back and ran back to his dorm. On the way, he thought back Zell's word.
*Cherish her………..
The phrase seemed so familiar. It was as if someone has warned him that before. The Water Witch's image suddenly popped up in his mind. He stopped and analyzed their words again. His heart leaped a beat, he was thinking about Rinoa now, her lovely face and cheerful smiles. He quickly did a mental shake to forget about it. In his room he opened his desk. He took out the present and studied it for a long period. Something tells him he has to do it. And so the he opened it.
Squall's hand flipped to the first page nervously. It was dated the first day she met him in the Garden's Ballroom.
[Today I felt very happy because I danced with really cute guy in Garden. It was there to meet Cid, he is a good person but I think the guy who danced with me is a good person too. Though his outlook is cold but I think he is warm-hearted. He has dark bronze coloured hair, mysterious eyes, nice features I couldn't describe more…..ah, he also has a scar slashed diagonally from his forehead, wondered what happened to him…………..]
Squall giggled a little when Rinoa described him. The rest of the paragraph was on Seifer and he didn't bother to read on. He flipped another few more pages and stopped at a page where she marked a big star there.
[I felt so good today! Garden has finally send help to Forest Owls. And that cute guy came too. Too bad Seifer didn't come. Missed him so much……………]
Squall skipped the following part, which was all on Seifer and their fights. He turned to a few more pages until a page where she wrote the titles in capital letters.
[I don't know why I have this special kind of feeling. This feeling that I cannot describe. After I knew Squall I felt like my feelings for Seifer is drifting apart. Argh! HELP ME! WHAT AM I THINKING…….]
Squall knew at that time she is thinking a lot about him. Maybe she is starting to like him. He slammed the cover of the diary and let out a sigh. He threw the diary into his drawer and buried his face in his hands.
*Rinoa………..
The SeeD cadets were waiting at Headmaster Cid's place.
"Well my student, here is the 2nd test. Your mission is to capture the Golden Chocobo King in the main forest on the map given to you," he informed.
Squall and the others studied the map.
"There will be only 3 Golden Chocobo Kings there and the group which capture the Chocobo alive and bring it back to Garden will pass this test, so good luck with your mission," Cid commanded.
"Yes, sir!"
Squall, Selphie, Zell and Irvine formed a group. Quistis went over and talked to them.
"Though this mission is not as dangerous as it seems, you mustn't take it too easy. There are a lot of random fights with the creatures there, some of them are quite powerful. A little tips here….." she said and whispered something to them.
All of them smile at her information. They can easily find a Golden Chocobo King at the end of the forest, which led to a cliff but that is the easiest place to search for it, and it must be defeated before it ran away.
They thanked her before leaving. She went to have little talk with Irvine before they go. Squall and Zell couldn't hear what they were talking about but the mighty ears of Selphie could hear them clearly. Quistis was advising Irvine to take this chance to talk to Squall.
Finally they arrived at the place after boarding the ship for an hour. They quickly ran towards the end of the forest where Quistis said the Golden Chocobo King would be. They heard a little moving sound of the bushes.
"There it is!!" Selphie screamed.
"Softer your voice, Selphie. You are scaring it away!" Zell whispered.
"Come on, let's finish this fast," Squall said excitedly.
All of them went to the Chocobo's hiding place. The Chocobo is flying away!
"Quick, Irvine! Shoot it!" Zell yelled.
"No! Cid wants it alive!" Squall objected.
Irvine thought for about half a second and took out a long rope. He swung it to the Chocobo's neck and hoops it. He tried to pull it back to the ground but it was too heavy for a person to handle it so the rest came to help. It struggled and attacked them with its sharp claws and Irvine was its main victim.
"Hold this for a sec!" Squall told Zell.
"What you gonna do?" he asked.
"Ride it,"
"The cliff is more than 1000 feet high from the ravine! You'll be dead if you fell of!" Selphie said.
Squall ignored her and jumped towards the big bird. He hanged on tightly on its neck before slinging himself up to climb on to its back. It struggled for a few moments and calm down after that. Squall stroked its feather and patted it. Soon the bird landed on the ground. He took Irvine's rope to harness it in case it attempts to fly away. However, the bird was easily tamed by Squall, he talked to it and it looks like it's obeying his orders. Selphie assisted Irvine underneath a tree and heal him.
"Uh-oh, I don't have enough potions, Zell, help me find them," she excused herself dragging Zell with her.
Irvine was left under Squall's guardian. He wanted to apologize but he just couldn't open his mouth, scared he would make matter worse.
"How's your wounds?" Squall asked first.
"Ah……I think I'm fine," he answered.
After long pause, Irvine finally builds up his guts.
"I'm sorry about that day…….." he said softly.
Squall just locked his mouth.
"I'm the one who should be blame, not Rinoa. Why don't you give her a chance?" he continued.
"Enough," Squall said solemnly.
"I'm reluctant to tell you this but…….Rinoa is leaving Galbadia," Irvine told him.
Squall fixed his eyes on him.
"I'm telling you the truth, don't you dare look at me like that!" he raised his voice.
"She's is leaving today, 12.00pm, that's 2 hours from now," he informed and cool down his voice.
"Where is she leaving?" he asked coolly but his heart was beating very fast, looking elsewhere but him.
"I don't know. You should go ask her yourself, that is if you still care about her, there's still time, Squall," his friend said with concern.
Selphie and Zell came out from the bushes.
"Yeah, Squall. Go to her," the blond said.
Squall turned his back to them, looking at the horizon. Then he looked at his watch and back to the horizon. Quickly, he ran to the Chocobo and rode it. It lifted off and flew towards the horizon.
"Good luck, Squall!!!!!" Selphie shouted.
"Hahahahaha!" the rest laughed (why?).
"Mission accomplished, let's go home!" the sole girl jumped up with joy.
"How?" the injured one asked.
All of them sweat-dropped.
All Squall care of doing how is to study for his SeeD exams. He has to concentrate on it somehow. He can't afford to fail in another test. If saying Rinoa has totally swept out of his mind, that's a lie. Life was like a living hell to him without her, without her support and her always-cheerful smile. He has attempted to open the present she gave him but he was afraid he would regret after doing that. Can't help remembering the eyes he saw at the PUB, can't forget what happened, can't forgive…
Rinoa was quite the same, she treated the breaking up very coolly, as though it was just like swallowing a pill. Not many people knew how she felt. Her father is one of those who knew what she's thinking and understands her. He knew she needs some time to calm down. He is doing his best as a father and planned something for her to forget about him.
"Rinoa, how are you today?" Colonel Caraway asked.
"I'm ok, daddy," she replied with a fake smile.
He let out a sigh.
"I'm planning to go overseas to do some business project and it'll take me a year before I come back," he said.
Rinoa widen her eyes.
"So, if you would like to free your mind for a while. Why don't you follow me, at least a new environment will make you forget those bad things happened," he continued.
"I…..I don't know. Give me some time," she replied and wrapped her arms around her legs.
Her father then stood up and left the room, leaving Rinoa alone in her room once more.
Zell came into his friend's dorm.
"Wanna go for training?" he asked.
Squall took his gunblade and headed to the training center. The training center is now equipped with more powerful monsters. Those lame plant monsters were all exchanged with man-eating dangerous and poisonous monsters. The purpose is to give the students a greater challenge to level up their strength.
After a few fights, Zell was still thinking how he could persuade Squall to get back with Rinoa. Finally, he spoke.
"Aren't you getting back with Rinoa?"
Squall didn't answer him but proceed further into the jungle.
"Squall, aren't you going to give yourself chance? I can see you are still in love with her," he continued.
"Concentrate on your fights!" he told him immediately after a plant monster started to attack them.
Zell then kept quiet and waited for another better time to talk. He turned to Squall after defeating the plant monster.
"Squall listen. I don't want you to regret for doing this, just go to her and apologize! That's all!" he louder his voice.
"It's not my fault, why must I apologize?!" Squall answered back.
His best friend paused for a while to study his expression. He didn't want to tell him at first but then he sighed.
"I've lost my chance. My only hope is on you. I wish you and Rinoa happiness," he said.
At first Squall did not know what the hell he was talking about.
*Lost your chance??
"I failed," Zell told him shortly and looked on the ground.
*He what? I thought that girl is interested in him.
"Just cherish Rinoa before she leave you forever," he continued, not giving his friend a chance to ask him another question.
Zell did not want to tell him why the girl rejected him. It will make him more depressed.
*Why him? Why must it be him?
Squall patted on Zell's back and ran back to his dorm. On the way, he thought back Zell's word.
*Cherish her………..
The phrase seemed so familiar. It was as if someone has warned him that before. The Water Witch's image suddenly popped up in his mind. He stopped and analyzed their words again. His heart leaped a beat, he was thinking about Rinoa now, her lovely face and cheerful smiles. He quickly did a mental shake to forget about it. In his room he opened his desk. He took out the present and studied it for a long period. Something tells him he has to do it. And so the he opened it.
Squall's hand flipped to the first page nervously. It was dated the first day she met him in the Garden's Ballroom.
[Today I felt very happy because I danced with really cute guy in Garden. It was there to meet Cid, he is a good person but I think the guy who danced with me is a good person too. Though his outlook is cold but I think he is warm-hearted. He has dark bronze coloured hair, mysterious eyes, nice features I couldn't describe more…..ah, he also has a scar slashed diagonally from his forehead, wondered what happened to him…………..]
Squall giggled a little when Rinoa described him. The rest of the paragraph was on Seifer and he didn't bother to read on. He flipped another few more pages and stopped at a page where she marked a big star there.
[I felt so good today! Garden has finally send help to Forest Owls. And that cute guy came too. Too bad Seifer didn't come. Missed him so much……………]
Squall skipped the following part, which was all on Seifer and their fights. He turned to a few more pages until a page where she wrote the titles in capital letters.
[I don't know why I have this special kind of feeling. This feeling that I cannot describe. After I knew Squall I felt like my feelings for Seifer is drifting apart. Argh! HELP ME! WHAT AM I THINKING…….]
Squall knew at that time she is thinking a lot about him. Maybe she is starting to like him. He slammed the cover of the diary and let out a sigh. He threw the diary into his drawer and buried his face in his hands.
*Rinoa………..
The SeeD cadets were waiting at Headmaster Cid's place.
"Well my student, here is the 2nd test. Your mission is to capture the Golden Chocobo King in the main forest on the map given to you," he informed.
Squall and the others studied the map.
"There will be only 3 Golden Chocobo Kings there and the group which capture the Chocobo alive and bring it back to Garden will pass this test, so good luck with your mission," Cid commanded.
"Yes, sir!"
Squall, Selphie, Zell and Irvine formed a group. Quistis went over and talked to them.
"Though this mission is not as dangerous as it seems, you mustn't take it too easy. There are a lot of random fights with the creatures there, some of them are quite powerful. A little tips here….." she said and whispered something to them.
All of them smile at her information. They can easily find a Golden Chocobo King at the end of the forest, which led to a cliff but that is the easiest place to search for it, and it must be defeated before it ran away.
They thanked her before leaving. She went to have little talk with Irvine before they go. Squall and Zell couldn't hear what they were talking about but the mighty ears of Selphie could hear them clearly. Quistis was advising Irvine to take this chance to talk to Squall.
Finally they arrived at the place after boarding the ship for an hour. They quickly ran towards the end of the forest where Quistis said the Golden Chocobo King would be. They heard a little moving sound of the bushes.
"There it is!!" Selphie screamed.
"Softer your voice, Selphie. You are scaring it away!" Zell whispered.
"Come on, let's finish this fast," Squall said excitedly.
All of them went to the Chocobo's hiding place. The Chocobo is flying away!
"Quick, Irvine! Shoot it!" Zell yelled.
"No! Cid wants it alive!" Squall objected.
Irvine thought for about half a second and took out a long rope. He swung it to the Chocobo's neck and hoops it. He tried to pull it back to the ground but it was too heavy for a person to handle it so the rest came to help. It struggled and attacked them with its sharp claws and Irvine was its main victim.
"Hold this for a sec!" Squall told Zell.
"What you gonna do?" he asked.
"Ride it,"
"The cliff is more than 1000 feet high from the ravine! You'll be dead if you fell of!" Selphie said.
Squall ignored her and jumped towards the big bird. He hanged on tightly on its neck before slinging himself up to climb on to its back. It struggled for a few moments and calm down after that. Squall stroked its feather and patted it. Soon the bird landed on the ground. He took Irvine's rope to harness it in case it attempts to fly away. However, the bird was easily tamed by Squall, he talked to it and it looks like it's obeying his orders. Selphie assisted Irvine underneath a tree and heal him.
"Uh-oh, I don't have enough potions, Zell, help me find them," she excused herself dragging Zell with her.
Irvine was left under Squall's guardian. He wanted to apologize but he just couldn't open his mouth, scared he would make matter worse.
"How's your wounds?" Squall asked first.
"Ah……I think I'm fine," he answered.
After long pause, Irvine finally builds up his guts.
"I'm sorry about that day…….." he said softly.
Squall just locked his mouth.
"I'm the one who should be blame, not Rinoa. Why don't you give her a chance?" he continued.
"Enough," Squall said solemnly.
"I'm reluctant to tell you this but…….Rinoa is leaving Galbadia," Irvine told him.
Squall fixed his eyes on him.
"I'm telling you the truth, don't you dare look at me like that!" he raised his voice.
"She's is leaving today, 12.00pm, that's 2 hours from now," he informed and cool down his voice.
"Where is she leaving?" he asked coolly but his heart was beating very fast, looking elsewhere but him.
"I don't know. You should go ask her yourself, that is if you still care about her, there's still time, Squall," his friend said with concern.
Selphie and Zell came out from the bushes.
"Yeah, Squall. Go to her," the blond said.
Squall turned his back to them, looking at the horizon. Then he looked at his watch and back to the horizon. Quickly, he ran to the Chocobo and rode it. It lifted off and flew towards the horizon.
"Good luck, Squall!!!!!" Selphie shouted.
"Hahahahaha!" the rest laughed (why?).
"Mission accomplished, let's go home!" the sole girl jumped up with joy.
"How?" the injured one asked.
All of them sweat-dropped.