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Chapter 2

The path you've chosen has left you alone. Would you take that path again, knowing your fate?

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

You will be given another chance. You must decide. Soon, it will be time.

"Time for what?!" Squall demanded.

Soon, you'll know. Soon...

Suddenly images began flashing through Squall's head. They looked familiar, but he knew it was nothing he had ever seen in his lifetime. Really, the only things he recognized, were the people, but he didn't remember ever seeing those events happening in his life. And there was one image that kept coming to his mind, of someone he had never seen before.

"You're the best looking guy here. Dance with me?" he heard her say.

He started to hear more, but the images began moving faster, making everything a blur.

Suddenly, Squall sat straight up in his bed, having been awakened from his dream. Or rather, his nightmare. He was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.

"Well, welcome back to the world, sleepy head," a cheerful voice laughed from the side of his bed. "Geez, I thought you would never wake up!"

"Who are you?" Squall asked grogily.

"You don't recognize me?" the voice pouted.

"I can't see anything," he replied impatiently.

"Oh. I forgot that humans can't see in the dark."

Squall could somewhat make out the figure of a female crossing the room to the glass wall, where heavy curtains had been drawn to keep the sunlight from bothering him. She ripped open the curtains and nearly blinded Squall.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, throwing his arm up to shield his eyes. "Are you TRYING to blind me?!"

"Sorry," she apologized through her giggles. "Do you recognize me now?"

Squall slowly eased his eyes open, allowing them to adjust to the light. "No. I don't recognize you. But you're obviously a GF."

The GF pouted again, "Well, I'm Siren. Master finally said I could meet you. So long as I behave. She also said that I am to assist you in whatever way that I can. So! What can I do for you?"

He shook his head, "I don't suppose I'll ever meet this master of yours, will I?"

"No, probably not. I mean, she thinks you're really hot and everything, but she's... umm.... really not the social type."

Inside her room, Rinoa buried her face in her hands, "Oh. My. God!!! She did NOT just say that!"

"I'm afraid she did, Master," Shiva said, trying to stifle her giggles.

"How does she know what I look like?" Squall asked worriedly.

"Shive would you PLEASE go take care of her before she says anything more!" Rinoa commanded.

"As you wish, Master," she replied, still giggling.

With that she vanished and reappeared within the view of the pool.

"Siren," she said, "the master wishes to speak to you."

"Oh, but I just got here! Please, Shiva! Just a little longer?"

"Look at yourself!" Shiva exclaimed in dissaproval. "Whining like a little human baby! Are you ever going to grow up?"

"Hey, if you two don't mind, do you think you could stop insulting each other long enough to show me to a phone?" Squall asked.

"Shut up!" both GFs exclaimed in unison.

"I may act a little younger than I should sometimes, but at least I'm, not old!" Siren yelled.

"So! At least I don't walk around acting all sluty all the time!" Shiva shot back.

"Oh puh-leeze! At least I didn't get caught in the library with Ifrit!"

"Why you little bitch!" Shiva yelled. "Diamond dust!"

Shive threw her hands out in front of her and covered Siren in a block of ice.

"Those two!" Rinoa yelled angrily to herself. "I have told them not to use their powers on each other! I'm gonna have to go break them up again!"

Rinoa dissapeared from her room, then reappeared out side the door of the guest room. Inside, she heard the cracking of ice, then Siren yelling, "Silent voice!"

At that moment Rinoa burst into the room, just in time to get hit be Siren's silence spell.

When Siren noticed what had happened, she gasped, "Oh, Master! I'm SO sorry. Shiva started it!"

Rinoa cast esuna on herself and said, "You two are always causing trouble! Why can't you just learn to get along?! I'm tempter to lock the two of you in a room together until you resolve your problems! Now go!"

Both GFs nodded in defeat and dissapeared from the room, leaving Rinoa alone with the stranger.

She realized someone was staring at her and turned to find him standing there. She had forgotten all about him in the midst of her previous rage.

"Oh. Hi. So, I guess you're the one that stayed here last night. My name's..." Rinoa frowned as she realized she couldn't tell him her real name. "...Riona. Nice to meet you."

(Riona!) she thought to herself. (Yeah, that sounds SO much different than my real name! Sure, he'll never guess the truth.)

She extended her hand to him, but he just frowned at her,

(She looks exactly like the girl from my dream) he thought.

"I... guess you're the silent type, huh?"

He arched an eyebrow at her, then she realized what the problem was.

"Oh! Sorry. I forgot. Esuna! All better now?"

"Yeah," he answered. "I'm Squall Leonhart."

"THE Squall Leonhart?" she asked, her voice dropping a bit in dissapointment.

He released a bitter laugh, "Yeah I guess you would say that. Squall Leonhart, commander of SeeD. It seems that's all that anyone knows me by. So you own this place? And all the GFs here?"

"Yeah. This place is great, but sometimes the GFs are more trouble than they're worth."

"Yeah, I kinda got to experience that first hand," he muttered.

She laughed, "Yeah. I'm sorry about that. They obey pretty well, but sometimes their differences get in the way. Especially with Siren and Shiva," Rinoa cringed as she realized she was babbling. "Anyway, is there anything I can do for you?"

"I just need a phone, then I'll be out of your way."

"A phone? I'm afraid I don't have a phone."

"No phone? Damn! What am I gonna do now?"

"Sorry. If you don't mind my asking, why do you need one?"

"My car ran out of gas somewhere nearby. If I can't get to a phone or something, I'll be stranded here."

Rinoa thought for a moment. She had never even been to the Trabia continent before her escape to the mountains, when she built her castle. She didn't know if there were any towns nearby, and if so, where they were.

"You okay?" he asked her after a moment.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I was just trying to think if there was someplace near here. I'm afraid I can't remember there being any. But maybe I could send Bahamut out to find someplace. Until then, you're welcome to stay."

"Well, it doesn't look like I have much of a choice, do I?"

She smiled, "Well, I guess not. In the meantime, you look hungry. I could have Diablos cook something for you. He's actually a very good cook."

He frowned, "Right now, I'd just like to be left alone so I could get dressed."

Rinoa blushed slightly, having forgotten that he was still in his boxers. "Oh. Sorry. I'll leave you alone now."

She turned and started to walk out the door, but stopped and said, "Nice shorts, by the way," as she glanced over her shoulder.

"OUT!!!" he roared in reply.

She rushed out, slamming the door behind her, but not before she saw the way his face turned beet red. She leaned against the door, fighting off a wild fit of laughter.

After he was dressed, Squall wondered out of his room and into the hall way. By this time, Rinoa was gone. Waiting for him instead, was Sacred, one of the brothers.

"Where'd she go?" Squall asked.

"Who?"

"Riona."

"Who's Riona?" Sacred asked.

"Your master. You know, the girl you're junctioned to."

"Oh. Really? I never really thought about her name... I guess it did sound something like that. Oh well. She told me to take you to the dining room so that you can eat your breakfast. I think she's waiting there for you."

"Lead the way then," Squall grumbled in reply.

When they reached the dining room, Rinoa was sitting down at the the table, staring off into space.

"Master," Sacred said quietly, unwilling to disturb her.

Rinoa slowly raised her head and turned to look at them.

"Have a seat," she said to Squall as she pointed to a seat across from her.

Hesitantly, he sat down and crossed his arms over his chest, "What do you want?"

She was a bit taken aback by his attitude. "Geez, are you always this grumpy in the morning?"

"Whatever," he grumbled.

A few moments later, Carbuncle came bouncing out of the kitchen, balancing two trays of food.

As they ate, Rinoa decided to try digging for information while making conversation at the same time.

"So tell me, what are the famous SeeDs up to these days?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss my missions."

"Oh, come on. I might be of some help."

Squall sighed, "Fine. I'm on a mission to kill Sorceress Rinoa. Do you know where she's hiding.?"

Rinoa paled noticeably as her mind raced. Was he toying with her mind? Had he already guesses? Did he suspect?

"Are you alright? You look kinda sick," Squall pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't know where Sorceress Rinoa lives. But maybe Bahamut will find something suspicious on his way to find the nearest town. I all ready sent him out."

"Really? Thanks. How long do you think it will take him?"

She shrugged, "Bahamut is a good long-distance flyer, but he doesn't go very fast. He may be out all day."

Squall leaned back in his seat and frowned. "What am I supposed to do until then?" he thought aloud.

"Oh, well geez, Squall, I'm just flattered," Rinoa said sarcastically.

He arched an eyebrow at her, "What?"

"I guess I'm just not good enough company for you, am I?"

"I never said that."

She grinned, "Great! Then you don't mind me giving you a tour of the place!"

"Hey! I never said that either!"

"You didn't have to! I can see it in your eyes. You like me!"

"Y-yeah right," he replied shakily, but the deep red blush that spread over his cheeks gave him away.

(Damn. What is this? This feeling is so familiar. So is she. She's got such a beautiful smile...Shit! What am I thinking?!)

He was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts when Rinoa grabbed him by the hand and pulled him out of his seat.

"C'mon. I'll show you around."

"Look, it's not like I'm going to be living here or anything, so don't get so excited. There's no sense in this."

"Oh, quit being so grumpy!"

It was no use trying to fight against her. She dragged him along anyway, against his will at first. But finally, he gave in to her over- powering will, and by the time they reached the garden outside, he was somewhat beginning to enjoy himself.

"Did you do all of this?" he asked, admiring the surrounding plants and shrubs.

"I did a little of it," she answered. "But Carbuncle and Eden did most of it. They really like gardening.

"It's... beautiful," he admitted. "So what about the rest of the place? When are we going to see it?" he asked, gesturing toward the other half of the castle at the other end of the gargen.

She smiled, "I thought this was senseless. I mean, it's not like you're going to be living here or anything."

He scowled in reply.

"Sorry," she said apologetically. "I didn't mean to ruin your good mood."

"Yeah, I guess I might as well enjoy it while I can."

"What do you mean?" Rinoa asked.

"Killing the sorceress is not going to be an easy task."

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you want to kill the sorceress? What has she done to anger SeeD?"

He shrugged, "It's not that I want to kill the sorceress. It's just my duty. My job. Nothing personal. I don't guess she's done anything to anger anybody. But she's the last sorceress. Garden wants to stop her before she does any harm to the world, I guess."

"Who's to say that she will? Maybe she just wants to be treated like everyone else."

He gave her an odd look, and she cursed herself inwardly. Why didn't she just keep her mouth shut?

"I never really thought about it," he said after a moment. "I guess maybe it's a possibility. But either way, it's my job to kill her."

"You're just going to kill her and not think twice about it?"

He frowned, "I don't really like the idea of it, to be honest. But I have no choice."

"Why not?"

"Duty comes before personal belief and emotion," he said, quoting one of the Garden's strictest rules.

She shook her head, "Do you honestly believe that, or is it just what they tell you to believe?"

"It's a rule of Garden. You either deal with it or leave."

"Then why don't you leave?" she asked in a soft, quiet voice.

"Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore, he growled, and turned to walk away.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to her. "I'm not your enemy, Squall. You can talk to me. I won't laugh at you or anything. I promise."

He scowled for a moment, then said, "Fine. You want to know why I don't leave? Because I don't have anything else. If I quit SeeD, I have nothing. So it's not exactly as easy as you make it out to be."

Rinoa stared down at the ground and said in a near whisper, "I'm sorry. I didn't know... I didn't realize how hard things must be for you."

Much to his own surprise, as well as hers, he found himself gently touching her face and lifting her head to gaze into her eyes.

(So familiar... this feeling... those eyes, that smile. And that voice. It's so hard to resist her.)

"It's all right. You were just trying to help," he said.

She smiled up at him, "Why don't we finish that tour now?"

He nodded, "Yeah. I'd like that."

Several hours later, after night had set in, and Squall had gone to his room to sleep, Bahamut returned.

"There is a town a few hundred miles from the base of the mountain," he reported to Rinoa.

"Wow. That's an awfully long way for him to travel without a car or something," she thought aloud.

"I could take him myself," Bahamut offered. "It would be no inconvenience to me."

Rinoa was silent for a moment as she thought about her situation. She still didn't know if Squall had guessed about her or not. If she let him get back to Garden, he could a whole army of SeeDs to kill her. But would he really do that? It was obvious he didn't like the thought of killing someone becuase of what they were. And he seemed to care for he somewhat. But as she thought about it, she remembered his words, and realized she didn't have much hope.

She sighed, "Thank you for your work, Bahamut. Can I ask you a favor? Would it be too tiring for you to make a journey like that everyday. In different directions, if you want."

"No. It would be a good exercise for me. But if I may ask, why?"

"I'm not sure it would be safe to let him get back to Garden," she answered.

"Why?"

(Because, despite the fact that I think I'm falling for this guy, and I think he might be falling for me, he's set on killing me.)

"Master?"

She sighed, "Because, Bahamut... 'Duty comes before personal belief...or emotion.'"