I'd better stop blabbing and let you read my favourite story. (that I've written anyways. There are heaps of better ones out there! * hints to her favourites list *)
How Life Changes ** Chapter 5 **
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It was starting to get late, so Tifa announced to her 3 little ones that it was time for bed. After all, it WAS Christmas Eve and Santa was coming! Eventually all of the guests and children went home which just left the small bunch of dear friends.
"Mum! [I'm aussie, so there's gonna be no MOM] Do we have to?" Aeris whined. "I still wanna talk to everyone!"
"Everyone else has gone home now except for us, Aunty Rinoa, Uncle Squall and Aunty Selphie of course"
"Well," Rinoa started. "I'll tell you what. If you go upstairs and get ready for bed, I'll read you all a bedtime story. Would you like that Aeris?" Rinoa didn't get a reply because the little girl had already sprinted to the stairs.
"Yes, please Aunty 'Noa" Ben shyly held his hands behind his back.
"I would like it too!" Said Timmy, the middle Strife.
"Thanks you two. Go catch Aeris up and I'll be up in a minute"
"Geez! Looks like SOMEONE doesn't need any practise. It takes me forever to get them bed normally!" Tifa laughed and everyone else joined in.
"See you soon honey" Rinoa called to Squall as she disappeared up the stairs.
"I hope you guys don't mind, but I'm off to bed too" a sleepy Selphie called as she followed Rinoa.
As Rinoa opened the door to the bedroom, she took in the visual feast. A warm feeling swept over her as picked up Aeris's doll on the floor. As Rinoa handed it to her, the little girl pointed to the bookshelf.
"You can pick Aunty Rinoa" Aeris smiled.
"What about this one?" Rinoa asked while she carefully took the book from its place.
"YEAH!" The children cried as she showed them 'The Life and Adventures of Garnet Til Alexandros 17th'.
The 3 children and Rinoa all snuggled into the queen size bed. Rinoa checked that they were all warm, then began to read the story.
"A very long time ago, in a forgotten kingdom, Queen Garnet lived with her hero named Zidane. They had been on many adventures together in the past and had grown close over the years. As Queen Garnet was relaxing in her bed, she thought of one particular adventure. The adventure where she had first met Zidane...." [The story continues for a while]
Rinoa stopped reading and gazed down at the 3 children. All were asleep except for Aeris.
"Please don't stop Aunty Rinoa. This is my favourite story!" Aeris smiled sweetly as she snuggled close to her Aunty. Rinoa nodded and returned to the story.
"Garnet had realized that she had fallen in love with Zidane. Every moment they were apart, felt like an eternity for her, but when they were together, her heart raced and she often blushed at the things he did-" Aeris cut her off.
"Is that what it's like for you and Uncle Squall?" Aeris asked. Rinoa smiled as her true love's face appeared in her mind. She nodded.
"Luckily, we're hardly ever apart. I remember when we were younger- oh sorry. I'm getting sidetracked" Rinoa picked up the book that was in her lap and searched for the part she was up to.
"Can you tell me a story about you and Uncle Squall when you were younger?" Aeris asked as she took the book from Rinoa and placed it on the floor.
"If you want, but I will probably babble on. Are you sure?" Aeris nodded. "OK"
** Flash Back To That Night **
She was just 18. It was Squall and Rinoa's one year anniversary. [Sorry if her age is wrong, but I can't remember!] He had just taken her out to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in all of Balamb and they walking through the park. It was cold so he had given her his jacket. He had been acting odd all night. He told Rinoa later that it was nerves, but at the time she didn't know. When they had reached Squall's designated place, he told her to sit. She looked around and noticed how beautiful the surrounds were. There was a stream to the left of her, but something made her look up. It was a shooting star.
"It's beautiful" Rinoa said in awe.
"Not as beautiful as you" Squall replied. "Here. I've been meaning to give this to you all night" He nervously thrusted a small velvet box into Rinoa's hand. As she opened it, a beautiful diamond ring gazed up at her. On both sides of the diamond, two tiny blue topaz gems snuggled in close. [Rinoa toyed with the ring on her finger as she told Aeris the story] She asked him what it was for. "It's so you will always remember me, this place and tonight......" [corny, I know, but it's sweet]
** End Flash Back **
Eventually Rinoa and Aeris became too tired to stay awake any longer and dozed off.
Downstairs, Cloud and Squall had engaged in an arm wrestle contest. Both had been struggling for a while, but neither one was about to give up. Tifa walked around behind Cloud and gave Squall a slight wink. She dove her hands straight into Cloud's hips and began to tickle him furiously. Squall won with ease and stood up and began to pose and tense all his muscles.
"That's not fair!" Cloud protested. He playfully picked Tifa up and threw her over his shoulder. "Now it's time for you to pay!! I'm gonna throw you in the rubbish bin!!"
"Noooo!!!! Cloud that's GROSS!!!!" Tifa kicked and screamed, but she did not win. Cloud placed her down on the grass in the front yard. He held out his hand to pull her up, but she pulled too hard and threw him down. She took her opportunity and sprinted to the house. She closed and locked the door leaving Cloud outside.
"Please let me inside! It's freezing!!" After 5 more minutes, Tifa let him in.
Squall felt slightly left out as he looked on, so he went to find his love. He quietly opened the door and peaked inside. He looked around the room with an expressionless face, until his eyes fell upon Rinoa. He breathed in the magnificent sight. Aeris had snuggled up to Rinoa's hip and Rinoa had her arm protectively around Aeris. The two boys snuggled to her other hip and she hugged them too. It looked so natural. He softly walked over to her and loomed above her face.
"Rinoa..." He kissed her head and gently stroked her face. "I love you. Keep sleeping peacefully" he whispered as he left the room.
By the time Squall had returned down stairs, Tifa had just let Cloud inside.
"Rinny's asleep with the kids, so I'll just take the couch"
"It folds out into a bed anyway. Selphie said there are spare rugs in the closet if you get cold" Tifa told him.
"Thanks Tiff. 'Night. 'Night Cloud" He replied.
"You too" With that, the couple left.
The next day, Squall awoke to see that the kids were already up and watching cartoons. They had made their way into the family room where he slept. He sat up and let his eyes adjust to the light. Squall suddenly noticed that his bed was now full of three small children.
"Mornin' Uncle Scall! Merry Christmas!!" Ben exclaimed happily. "I love cartoons! Do you? My favourite is Dot the dog. Do you like Dot the dog? I like lots of others too! I like the Power Fighters and Chuckie Bear and Toby the Tom Cat" [hints to the name Dot the dog. Sound familiar? Take away the D and replace it with an Sp]
{He's not so shy anymore is he! Little motor-mouth. Just like Rinoa!} Squall chuckled to himself as he got lost in his thoughts. {I'm going to do my best as a dad. I hope I can handle it.} He returned from his thoughts as a warm hand slid over the top shoulder and down over his chest. He turned to face the hand's owner and was greeted with an soft kiss.
"Merry Christmas Rinoa. Did you sleep well?" He smiled as he thought back to the beautiful sight he saw the previous night. Timmy and Aeris moved and sat on the floor so Rinoa had room to be near Squall.
"I was comfortable, but lonely" she replied sliding into his bed.
"You had the 3 children! How could you be lonely?!?" He argued.
"You know what I mean" she laughed while playfully hitting him on the shoulder. "I missed you" Rinoa pulled him close for a snuggle. "I love you..."
"Look Aunty 'Noa! Dot the dog is on! Do you like Dot the dog?!?" Ben asked excitedly.
"I was just asked the same question." Squall laughed.
"Merry Christmas guys!" Rinoa said cheerfully to the kids. How come you aren't opening all of your presents yet?"
"Mummy said we can't until we eat our breakfast" Aeris said sadly.
"Breakfast is ready" Selphie called from the kitchen. The small children raced out of the family room almost quicker than light.
"Looks like we get some private time now" Rinoa said seductively. "You've been a bad boy, and now you're going to have to pay" She furiously began to tickle Squall at his sides making him squirm in every direction possible.
"What... did... I... do... that... was... bad?" Squall asked between his gasping breaths. Rinoa suddenly stopped tickling and looked up thoughtfully.
"I dunno. It just sounded good at that moment" she laughed at her own stupidity "We'd better head to the kitchen before Selphie kicks our butts!"
When the couple had arrived, everyone was enjoying their breakfast by their wonderful cook. They had exchanged 'Merry Christmas' with each other, when Selphie pointed to 2 untouched plates on the bench. Squall and Rinoa took their plates and sat down at the table. Squall dug in, but Rinoa just played with her food.
"Not hungry, honey?" Tifa asked. "Selphie's food aint that bad!" Selphie gave Tifa pretend evil eyes and Tifa poked her tongue.
"No..no. I didn't say that. I know Selphie's food tastes great, but I'm just not real hungry. That's all" she replied.
"Don't you stop eating there girl! Gotta keep your strength up for Squall JR." Cloud said with a mouth full of food.
"Geez! Get some manners Cloud!" Tifa said, playfully tapping him on the arm.
"Mummy!! We're finished! Can we open our presents now?!?" The children yelled.
"Ok! Look for the ones from Santa and you can open those ones. We'll be in soon."
After Rinoa had attempted to eat, they all sat in the family room and watched the little ones. As Aeris read the name tags and gave the presents to it's owner, the adults exchanged their gifts.
"Wow! Look Mummy! Aunty 'Noa got me a DOT THE DOG TEDDY!!!!!!" Ben cried ecstatically.
"Daddy! Uncle Squall got me The Further Adventures Of Garnet Til Alexandros 17th!!!" Aeris exclaimed.
"MUMMY!! Aunty Selphie got me a POWER FIGHTERS SUIT!!!! I can dress like a POWER FIGHTER!!!" Timmy screamed.
After all the excitement had started to wear off, the children examined each others gifts.
"This is the BEST Christmas ever!" They all exclaimed in unison, which made them laugh.
Eventually it became time to go home. As Squall was hugging Selphie goodbye, he noticed something different. As she pulled away, he caught her hand. A solitary diamond ring had been put on her left hand.
"Why didn't you tell us!" Squall exclaimed. "So who is it?!?"
"Well, like you guys know, Irvine and I didn't work out. A while after that I was re-met with an old acquaintance and it just bloomed from there"
"You still didn't tell us who! Why wasn't he here last night?" Rinoa asked excitedly.
"I didn't tell you because it's Seifer. That's why he wasn't here last night" Squall's jaw almost hit the floor. Tifa and Cloud exchanged glances.
"Who's Seifer?" Tifa asked.
"Let's just say it's someone who has a bad past. Congratulations Selphie, you must really love each other, I dunno why you could love that basta-" Squall was cut off by Rinoa.
"Squall don't be so rude! Congratulations Selphie. Tell Seifer that I'm very happy for the both of you."
"Ok. You guys have lost us, but good luck from the Strife family." Tifa said to Selphie. "Sorry but we'd really better get going"
"Yeah. Sorry to keep you. Have a safe trip!" Selphie waved as the Strife car disappeared down the road.
"Tell Seifer to give me a call one day. We should catch up. Make sure we get an invite to the wedding! Bye!" Rinoa called as she walked towards their car.
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Hey peoples! This is my longest chapter yet. I'm SO sleepy! Anyways, please Read and review like all of you wonderful people always do. Any comments or suggestions are welcome, but if you're are going to be mean, please word it as nice as you can. [Luckily, I haven't had any mean ones yet! I hope it stays that way!]
Hugs and Kisses,
~Zidane's NEW Princess~
"Move over Garnet! I'm his NEW princess and he's MINE NOW!" - Quote from me while I was having an argument with Dagger last week. Just coz she's Queen she thinks she can do whatever she wants! That bitch is gonna pay! No one tries to take my man away from me and gets away with it!