Rinoa ran out of the ballroom, and toward the Dorms. She wondered what made Squall so upset over the past few hours. True, he was called by Headmaster Cid to leave for Esthar very suddenly....but why? Why would he want to leave Garden? It always appeared to her that Garden was the most important thing to Squall...he always talked about how happy it made him to feel important like that, to be a SeeD, to finally fulfill his "childhood dream"...

Why Esthar?

Why right then? Why not later, after the party?

She cut a corner and sprinted the remaining length of the hallway set before her. Rinoa found the correct door, and stopped for a few moments to catch her breath. She then carefully turned the brass doorknob, and entered the room....

...Empty. It was empty.

"Is this...the right room?" Rinoa asked herself, and began to look around the room. True, she had only been to his dorm twice...but she knew this was the right one!! The pile of Timber Maniacs and Weapons Monthly magazines confirmed her suspicions: She did, indeed, have the right room.

"Did he..leave? without me?" Rinoa wondered aloud, "Maybe I just missed him! Maybe he's outside waiting for me--" She turned to leave, but stopped in her tracks when she saw a small white envelope set carefully on his bed. "Rinoa~" was written in half-cursive script. She took the envelope into her hands, and sat on the bed. Just open it, Rinoa, just do it!! she ordered herself, and tore open the top of the envelope without a second thought. Inside was paper, folded and tucked into the small package. She slid two fingers into the envelope, and pulled out the papers. Rinoa took a deep breath, and opened the folded pages. She began to read...

"My Angel, Rinoa,

Over the past few hours, my life has changed drastically. I can't quite explain...

In brief, I need some time to sort things out. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I will return soon. Perhaps I'll be back in a week, or maybe even a few days. Please don't be upset with me...I just need time for myself right now.

Please tell the others for me. I wanted to tell all of you about my leave in person, but I realized that if I saw their faces, their worried looks, then I would never leave. Matron Edea made me realize this after I told her I was leaving...I think she thought I was leaving for good.....And besides... if I saw your tears, it would shatter my heart. Then I would truly be lost.

Don't tell anyone else this: Tomorrow, when the sun is high in the sky, I'll be there...just like I promised you I would. I can't tell you that I can get through this by myself completely, but I need at least a day to collect my thoughts and feelings. If you're not there by my side, I know it will be even more difficult to get through this. But if you don't want to help me, I understand. I don't want you to feel like you have to do this for me. It's just that you could help me more than the others ever could. You already have, you know.

Please, don't forget. Tomorrow I'll be waiting for you. I'll wait all day if needs be, so don't worry about arriving and seeing me gone, like you're feeling at this moment. I'll be there. I promise.

Loving you always,

Squall"

Rinoa nearly dropped the parchment when she finished the letter. Be strong...she told herself. You'll see him again, you will! Tomorrow! Just go downstairs with a smile, and tell his friends he went on vacation. Yeah, vacation, and that he'll be back soon....

Rinoa stood, and walked over to Squall's mirror. She examined her face to make sure her eyes were still happy, and gave a feigned smile. It seemed like an honest smile, and she was proud of herself for it. See, you can be strong! Everything will be fine! She smiled even more warmly, a smile full of pride and confidence...

Her eyes fell to the chain that hung delicately around her neck, and the rings laced onto it. The Griever ring that was Squall's...she still had it. Her smile faded to a frown. Squall...why did you leave me here??

Rinoa's confidence collapsed, as did her body. She fell to the floor, and began to cry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quistis blinked a few times. "Why...why did he leave?!"

Rinoa looked up from the floor and looked into Quistis' worried face. "He...he said he needed time to gather his thoughts. That he wanted some time alone."

Selphie stepped forward. "Rinoa...will you be okay? I mean...it looks like you've been crying..."

Rinoa took a step back. "I'll...be fine....I....I just....."

"Rinoa?" Irvine stepped forward, and began to say something, but he was too late.

"I just need to be left alone!!" Rinoa cried, and ran back toward the dorms.

"Ri...Rinoa??!!" Seifer called after her, and lunged forward to go after her. He was stopped by Edea.

"Let her go," Edea cooed. "She needs to let her feeling out in private. Right now she's probably feeling rejected, so just let her go."

"What *she* needs is time away from Squall," Zell pointed out. "She's starting to isolate herself from us, just like he used to."

Quistis shook her head. "And you wonder why you don't have a girlfriend, Zell?" she chuckled. "You can't read girls. What she needs now is to be with Him."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ellone turned to Laguna. "I...think I'm going to go lay down. I fell kind of sick. I hope that rain didn't make me ill..."

"Go ahead, Ellone. I was thinking about going upstairs myself. This day has certainly been exciting enough. I don't think I can take anymore in one day." Laguna began to push himself out of his chair when his secretary's voice rang out on his desk intercom.

"Mr. President, there's a woman here to see you."

"Who is here? I was just about to retire..."

"She's refusing to tell us, Mr. President. She wants to talk to you right away. She says it's important."

Laguna sighed, and shook his head. "All right, send her in."

"Yes, sir!" the secretary said as the intercom grew silent.

Ellone and Laguna waited for a few moments. "I thought you were going upstairs, Ellone..."

"No, I think I should wait. You never know who this person could be..."

There was a slight knock on the door. Laguna spoke up and told the caller to come in.

The handle turned, and the door opened.

Laguna stood, and waited to see his visitor emerge from the outer hallway.

Ellone's eyes widened.

Laguna gasped.

"Ra....Raine?!"

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AuthorNotes:

GAH it's been over a week since I last wrote...Yes, it's not like many of you expected, huh? *^^* Right now I think this story still sounds boring, and many of you may be confused by the last bit.. *cackle* ..I'll clear things up in the next chapter...slightly.