Disclaimer: Do we really have to go over this again?
A/N: I'd like to dedacate this chapter to Yunalesca, who's been a major inspiration. Thank you so much to those who are reading this!!!! I'll shut up now.....
Chapter 3
Squall pulled the dagger back and someone dropped to the ground behind Rinoa.
"What the hell?!" Rinoa exclaimed. She and Squall scrambled of the ground and turned to face their attacker.
A older looking woman with long black hair and a black dress lay on the ground with blood dripping from a wound in her left shoulder. She was gripping a small battle-ax in her hand.
"Who is that?!" Rinoa demanded.
Squall shook his head. "I don't know. Let's just leave."
Rinoa nodded and quickly slipped on her boots before Squall led her away.
"By the way," he added as they left, "nice dagger. I think I'll hold on to it for a little while, if you don't mind."
"And if I do mind?"
"Too bad," he said and stopped walking. He turned to face Rinoa and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"What are you doing?" Rinoa asked shakily.
He leaned down and lifted her skirt, once again, dragging his hand to her thigh.
"Squall," she said breathlessly.
He unhooked the leather strap that had held her dagger and pulled it off her leg. "I'm keeping this, too," he said, holding it up. "Next thing I know, you'll be coming up behind me trying to strangle me with it."
She grinned. "I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the idea."
"I'm glad you find it amusing. But I'll be keeping a close eye on you from now on. So don't think you'll be pulling another little stunt like that."
She put on her best innocent face. "What? I wasn't going to do anything?"
"Yeah, I bet. You were just waiting for me to turn my back so you could stab me through the heart, right?"
She grabbed onto his arm and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. "Of course not. I wouldn't do that to you."
"Uh-huh."
A wicked grin came over her face that couldn't be seen in the darkness. She leaned her head up until her mouth was right next to his ear. "You're too good of a kisser," she whispered.
Though she couldn't see his blush, she felt the heat from it when she placed a small kiss on his cheek. "You know you look really cute when you blush like that," she commented.
He shoved her off his arm. "Whatever."
"Hey!" she exclaimed playfully. "I'm cold, and you're so warm!"
"Too bad."
"You're a real jerk, you know."
"Yeah, I know. Wanna tell me something I don't know?"
"Alright then. You're.... the worst kidnapper that ever lived."
"I'm beginning to agree with you," he replied. "Anything you want to add to that?"
"Umm.... let's see....."
"How about, to perceptive to fall for your tricks," he said.
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
He stopped walking and looked at her seriously. "I know what you're trying to do. I know that you think you can weaken me by making me think you like me. Sorry, but it's not going to work," he told her harshly and began walking again.
She grabbed him by the arm and turned him around to face her. "What makes you think that?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Sorry to ruin your plan, but I know it's not possible that you actually want me. The only other reason you could be doing this is to get your freedom."
"Why do you think it's not possible?"
He jerked his arm away from her. "Because it's not," he growled and walked away from her. "Now I'd appreciate it if you shut up. I haven't had any sleep and I might just decide I've had enough of you and kill you. I can easily dump your body in a swamp some where."
Rinoa was starteled by his sudden change of attitude. Had she really been that easy to see through? How would she escape now?
As these thoughts ran through her head over and over again, another thought constantly interrupted her. Why did he think it wasn't possible that she would want him? What was he so angry about? Rinoa knew it had hurt him for some reason, though he had tried to cover it up with anger. But she could see through it. She couldn't help but wish she could do something about it.
She followed after him in silence, wondering about him and what went on beyond those ethreal blue eyes of his.
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Some time after daylight, Squall and Rinoa came across a small white house sitting next to a large river.
"This looks like the place Selphie was talking about," Squall commented, breaking his night-long silence.
He walked up to the small wooden door, which was painted white, and knocked softly. There was no answer, so he banged harder on the door, and it slowly creaked open.
"Is it just me, or does this place have a bad aura?" Rinoa commented.
Squall didn't answer, but slowly stepped inside. The inside of the house was bright and airy, though old. The white-painted walls were chipping, and the air was thick with dust. The few peices of furniture that were in the room, including a sofa, a small chair, and a short table, were covered by dusty white sheets with faded floral patterns.
There was a large window in the wall oposite the door. It was covered by sheer, off-white curtains that allowed the sunlight to flow in and swallow the room with its light.
"Hello!" Squall called as he walked into the room. "Is there anybody here?!"
No one answered. Squall walked further into the room and looked around with Rinoa not too far behind him.
"Hello!" he yelled again.
Once again, no answer. The place seemed entirely empty.
"Selphie said that some one would be here," Rinoa pointed out with a puzzled expression. "I wonder what happened."
"More than likely, neither her nor her people have been been here for awhile," Squall replied. "Maybe the River Lady died."
"You don't think.... that woman that snuck up on us last night was the River Lady... do you?"
He shrugged. "Who knows? I assumed the River Lady was hospitable, though. Maybe she just died of old age."
"Well, what do we do now?"
He shrugged again and crossed the room to a door in the wall. He pushed it open carefully to reveal an abandoned bed room. There was a large, four post bed up against the nearby wall, and a wooden wardrobe across from it. An antique mirror hung next to the wardrobe. It was cracked across the bottom and coated with dust and dirt.
"This place is completely empty," Squall sighed. "I guess it wouldn't hurt for us to stay here."
"Good," Rinoa said and flung herself sideays over the bed with a yawn. "I'm awfully tired."
"I suppose our little adventure has tired the princess?" Squall commented harshly.
She lifted her head to look at him. "You're just as tired as I am. You're just too proud to admit it."
"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Is that all you EVER say?"
He sat down on the bed beside her and looked down at the smiling girl. "I say whatever I think will get you to shut up."
"And has 'whatever' ever helped before?"
"Nothing shuts you up," he pointed out gruffly.
She leaned up and looked at him closely for a moment. She tried to memorize his features, his lips, his eyes. Then the diagnol scar across his forehead caught her eye. She reached up and gently ran her fingers over it.
"What happened?" she asked.
He pushed her hand away. "None of your business."
"Did someone hurt you?"
"What do you care?"
Rinoa sighed. "You know, it won't hurt you to talked to me once in awhile."
"What's this from you all of a sudden? Last night you were cussing me out and biting me and now you're trying to talk to me? Is this another tactic of your's?"
Rinoa stood from the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well excuse me for trying to help!"
"I don't need your help!"
"Get the fuck out of my room, ass hole!" she exclaimed.
"Your room?! Have you lost your mind? This isn't anybody's room!"
"I'm sleeping in here, and you're sleeping out there!" she said, pointing to the door that led to the main room. "Now get out! I don't want someone who's so much of a jerk in my room."
"Whatever," he muttered and started to walk out of the room. "But don't think you're going anywhere. You won't get very far."
Rinoa waited until he was out of the room then layed down on the bed. She was more tired than she thought she could ever be. But her mind didn't want to rest. It kept going over their last words. Why did he have to be such a jerk all the time? He couldn't really be like that to everyone, could he? Or did he just hate her? Maybe, she should try talking to him in a different way....
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Rinoa yawned and rolled over to her other side. Even in her unconcious state, she sensed a presence near her that disturbed her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open and through her blurred vision she could see a dark figure hovering over her.
For a moment, she assumed it was Squall, but as her vision cleared, she saw that it was a woman dressed in black with long black hair. She had a shining battle-ax raised high over her head, prepared to bring it down.
Rinoa gathered her senses and managed to roll off the bed just as the stranger brought down the ax.
She fell onto the floor in a dazed heap as the woman jumped over the bed and landed on her feet beside the terrified Rinoa. Rinoa scrambled up from the floor just in time to keep her head. The ax sliced past her arm, instead, leaving a large gash in her arm.
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Squall was in a deep sleep on the dusty, old sofa when he was awakened by a peircing scream. He jumped off the couch and looked around, wondering where it came from.
He heard something thump against the wall of the bed room, and decided that must've been the source. Of course, this became obvious to him after the fog of his deep sleep wore off. But most people are a bit dumb when they first wake up.
He burst through the door of the room and found Rinoa fighting with the same lady he stabbed the night before.
Rinoa's right arm was covered in blood, and she was beginning to stagger. She had used most of her strength to to slam the woman into the wall.
Upon seeing Squall the woman let out a shriek and ran at him with the ax. He easily dodged and tripped her. She fell face first to the ground, her ax clattering on trhe floor. Squall lunged for it, but the ax floated back into her hand and she quickly rolled to her feet.
"Intrudehhhrrrrr," she said, her words trailing off into a strange sort of hiss.
She suddenly dissapeared into a cloud of thin white smoke and reapeared behind him. She raised her ax above his head. Squall whirled around, seeing it was too late to do anything.
Then, suddenly, she froze, let out a small, inhuman whimper, and fell to the ground, bleeding. Rinoa stood behind her, clutching Squall's Gunblade.
"Take that, bitch!" Rinoa whispered, trembling. She handed his Gunblade back to him. "What now?"
"I don't know. I thought she was dead when I stabbed her before. It might not be too good of an idea to stick around here. Whoever she is, she's powerful. Maybe not even human. I think we should go."
Rinoa nodded. "Definately. Let's go."
As they walked out of the house and into the dimming light of the sun outside, the woman in black raised her head from the pool of blood that surrounded her. Her dark eyes seemed to melt into a bluish color and a frosty puff of air rose from her lips.
"Fhhhhind," she hissed as she stood. "Khhhhilllll."
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Squall stopped walking and sighed. "Why don't we stop here for the night?"
Rinoa shrugged. "Fine with me."
He arched an eyebrow at her. "You've been awfully quiet lately," he pointed out.
She shrugged. "You wanted me to shut up, so I did," she replied quietly. "Is that a problem?"
"It's a refreshing change from the usual. I was just curious as to why you actually decided to honor my wishes."
She shrugged. "I just decided that it wasn't worth it. I have nothing to say to you. So I'm not going to waste my breath."
"Finally, you catch a clue," Squall muttered in reply.
She just crossed her arms over her chest, and sat down with her back to him.
Squall frowned a bit at her reaction. It was so weird for her to be so quiet. It was a little creepy. He wondered what had brought on her sudden change.
"So..." he began after a moment of silence, "what made you decide to take this vow of silence?"
"What do you care?" she replied roughly.
He was taken aback by her words. He had never heard her talk like that before. He realized with a start that she sounded exactly like him. What was her problem?
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
She shrugged, but still didn't look at him. "It doesn't matter to you. I know that," she said softly. "So don't bother."
He sighed. "Whatever. You're right. I don't care."
She hugged her knees to her chest and laid her head on them. He sat down somewhat behind and to the side of her and watched her as she closed her eyes in relaxation.
"Does your arm still hurt?" he asked.
She didn't answer, but opened her eyes. She studied him for a moment then said. "You know it's funny."
"What?"
"That when I finally shut up, say everything you can think of to get me to talk."
"Who said I was trying to make you talk? I was just asking you a simple question."
A smiled tugged at her lips. "You've got to be the most stuborn man I've ever seen. Why don't you just admit that you don't like being treated the same way you treat others?"
He frowned at the realization. She had a point.
"So basically, you think I should change?" he asked.
"No. Don't change," she said truthfully. "Just.... don't hide."
"Hide?"
She nodded. "I see through your facade, Squall. You're hiding something. Pain, fear... something of the sort. Whatever it is, it can never get any better if you keep hiding."
He sighed. "So you think you have me figured out? It's not as easy as you say it is."
"No, it isn't. That's why you need help. You need someone."
"I don't need anyone!"
Rinoa felt the urge to yell back at him, but surpressed it. "Look. I'm not going to sit here and argue with you about it. Just... talk a little bit more. Open up. Slowly."
He seemed about to yell again, but stopped and looked at her seriously. "How?"
She was silent a moment then said, "How did you get your scar?"
He was confused but answered. "It's a wound from an old rival of mine."
"What happened?"
"He was making fun of me, which was normal. I was from a poor family and he was from a rich one," he said slowly. "But we we went through training together. One day, he challenged me to a fight, and I accepted. We ended up giving each other scars."
She noded. "See. You're progressing all ready."
He smirked a little. "You're very clever."
"Of course I am. So what was his name?"
"Seifer Almasy."
Rinoa's jaw dropped. "You're kidding. Come to think of it, he does have a scar almost exactly like it."
"You know him?"
She nodded. "My father was going to force me to marry him. Thanks to you, I don't have to worry about it anymore," she said and smiled. Then she scooted closer to him. "Thank you. You're better company than he is, believe it or not."
Squall looked into her eyes for a moment, feeling chills run up and down his spine. He was just leaning closer to her when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and his vision went black.
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A/N: Okay, last time I asked if this sucked, I had someone tell me I had to be out of mind to ask that. So instead of asking, I'll simply state the fact. THIS SUCKS!!!!!!! So, now that I've stated the obvious, I'd like to apologize for the hissing woman. I hope you understood what she was saying. Well, see ya! R&R please!!!!!!
A/N: I'd like to dedacate this chapter to Yunalesca, who's been a major inspiration. Thank you so much to those who are reading this!!!! I'll shut up now.....
Chapter 3
Squall pulled the dagger back and someone dropped to the ground behind Rinoa.
"What the hell?!" Rinoa exclaimed. She and Squall scrambled of the ground and turned to face their attacker.
A older looking woman with long black hair and a black dress lay on the ground with blood dripping from a wound in her left shoulder. She was gripping a small battle-ax in her hand.
"Who is that?!" Rinoa demanded.
Squall shook his head. "I don't know. Let's just leave."
Rinoa nodded and quickly slipped on her boots before Squall led her away.
"By the way," he added as they left, "nice dagger. I think I'll hold on to it for a little while, if you don't mind."
"And if I do mind?"
"Too bad," he said and stopped walking. He turned to face Rinoa and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"What are you doing?" Rinoa asked shakily.
He leaned down and lifted her skirt, once again, dragging his hand to her thigh.
"Squall," she said breathlessly.
He unhooked the leather strap that had held her dagger and pulled it off her leg. "I'm keeping this, too," he said, holding it up. "Next thing I know, you'll be coming up behind me trying to strangle me with it."
She grinned. "I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the idea."
"I'm glad you find it amusing. But I'll be keeping a close eye on you from now on. So don't think you'll be pulling another little stunt like that."
She put on her best innocent face. "What? I wasn't going to do anything?"
"Yeah, I bet. You were just waiting for me to turn my back so you could stab me through the heart, right?"
She grabbed onto his arm and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. "Of course not. I wouldn't do that to you."
"Uh-huh."
A wicked grin came over her face that couldn't be seen in the darkness. She leaned her head up until her mouth was right next to his ear. "You're too good of a kisser," she whispered.
Though she couldn't see his blush, she felt the heat from it when she placed a small kiss on his cheek. "You know you look really cute when you blush like that," she commented.
He shoved her off his arm. "Whatever."
"Hey!" she exclaimed playfully. "I'm cold, and you're so warm!"
"Too bad."
"You're a real jerk, you know."
"Yeah, I know. Wanna tell me something I don't know?"
"Alright then. You're.... the worst kidnapper that ever lived."
"I'm beginning to agree with you," he replied. "Anything you want to add to that?"
"Umm.... let's see....."
"How about, to perceptive to fall for your tricks," he said.
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
He stopped walking and looked at her seriously. "I know what you're trying to do. I know that you think you can weaken me by making me think you like me. Sorry, but it's not going to work," he told her harshly and began walking again.
She grabbed him by the arm and turned him around to face her. "What makes you think that?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Sorry to ruin your plan, but I know it's not possible that you actually want me. The only other reason you could be doing this is to get your freedom."
"Why do you think it's not possible?"
He jerked his arm away from her. "Because it's not," he growled and walked away from her. "Now I'd appreciate it if you shut up. I haven't had any sleep and I might just decide I've had enough of you and kill you. I can easily dump your body in a swamp some where."
Rinoa was starteled by his sudden change of attitude. Had she really been that easy to see through? How would she escape now?
As these thoughts ran through her head over and over again, another thought constantly interrupted her. Why did he think it wasn't possible that she would want him? What was he so angry about? Rinoa knew it had hurt him for some reason, though he had tried to cover it up with anger. But she could see through it. She couldn't help but wish she could do something about it.
She followed after him in silence, wondering about him and what went on beyond those ethreal blue eyes of his.
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Some time after daylight, Squall and Rinoa came across a small white house sitting next to a large river.
"This looks like the place Selphie was talking about," Squall commented, breaking his night-long silence.
He walked up to the small wooden door, which was painted white, and knocked softly. There was no answer, so he banged harder on the door, and it slowly creaked open.
"Is it just me, or does this place have a bad aura?" Rinoa commented.
Squall didn't answer, but slowly stepped inside. The inside of the house was bright and airy, though old. The white-painted walls were chipping, and the air was thick with dust. The few peices of furniture that were in the room, including a sofa, a small chair, and a short table, were covered by dusty white sheets with faded floral patterns.
There was a large window in the wall oposite the door. It was covered by sheer, off-white curtains that allowed the sunlight to flow in and swallow the room with its light.
"Hello!" Squall called as he walked into the room. "Is there anybody here?!"
No one answered. Squall walked further into the room and looked around with Rinoa not too far behind him.
"Hello!" he yelled again.
Once again, no answer. The place seemed entirely empty.
"Selphie said that some one would be here," Rinoa pointed out with a puzzled expression. "I wonder what happened."
"More than likely, neither her nor her people have been been here for awhile," Squall replied. "Maybe the River Lady died."
"You don't think.... that woman that snuck up on us last night was the River Lady... do you?"
He shrugged. "Who knows? I assumed the River Lady was hospitable, though. Maybe she just died of old age."
"Well, what do we do now?"
He shrugged again and crossed the room to a door in the wall. He pushed it open carefully to reveal an abandoned bed room. There was a large, four post bed up against the nearby wall, and a wooden wardrobe across from it. An antique mirror hung next to the wardrobe. It was cracked across the bottom and coated with dust and dirt.
"This place is completely empty," Squall sighed. "I guess it wouldn't hurt for us to stay here."
"Good," Rinoa said and flung herself sideays over the bed with a yawn. "I'm awfully tired."
"I suppose our little adventure has tired the princess?" Squall commented harshly.
She lifted her head to look at him. "You're just as tired as I am. You're just too proud to admit it."
"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Is that all you EVER say?"
He sat down on the bed beside her and looked down at the smiling girl. "I say whatever I think will get you to shut up."
"And has 'whatever' ever helped before?"
"Nothing shuts you up," he pointed out gruffly.
She leaned up and looked at him closely for a moment. She tried to memorize his features, his lips, his eyes. Then the diagnol scar across his forehead caught her eye. She reached up and gently ran her fingers over it.
"What happened?" she asked.
He pushed her hand away. "None of your business."
"Did someone hurt you?"
"What do you care?"
Rinoa sighed. "You know, it won't hurt you to talked to me once in awhile."
"What's this from you all of a sudden? Last night you were cussing me out and biting me and now you're trying to talk to me? Is this another tactic of your's?"
Rinoa stood from the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well excuse me for trying to help!"
"I don't need your help!"
"Get the fuck out of my room, ass hole!" she exclaimed.
"Your room?! Have you lost your mind? This isn't anybody's room!"
"I'm sleeping in here, and you're sleeping out there!" she said, pointing to the door that led to the main room. "Now get out! I don't want someone who's so much of a jerk in my room."
"Whatever," he muttered and started to walk out of the room. "But don't think you're going anywhere. You won't get very far."
Rinoa waited until he was out of the room then layed down on the bed. She was more tired than she thought she could ever be. But her mind didn't want to rest. It kept going over their last words. Why did he have to be such a jerk all the time? He couldn't really be like that to everyone, could he? Or did he just hate her? Maybe, she should try talking to him in a different way....
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Rinoa yawned and rolled over to her other side. Even in her unconcious state, she sensed a presence near her that disturbed her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open and through her blurred vision she could see a dark figure hovering over her.
For a moment, she assumed it was Squall, but as her vision cleared, she saw that it was a woman dressed in black with long black hair. She had a shining battle-ax raised high over her head, prepared to bring it down.
Rinoa gathered her senses and managed to roll off the bed just as the stranger brought down the ax.
She fell onto the floor in a dazed heap as the woman jumped over the bed and landed on her feet beside the terrified Rinoa. Rinoa scrambled up from the floor just in time to keep her head. The ax sliced past her arm, instead, leaving a large gash in her arm.
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Squall was in a deep sleep on the dusty, old sofa when he was awakened by a peircing scream. He jumped off the couch and looked around, wondering where it came from.
He heard something thump against the wall of the bed room, and decided that must've been the source. Of course, this became obvious to him after the fog of his deep sleep wore off. But most people are a bit dumb when they first wake up.
He burst through the door of the room and found Rinoa fighting with the same lady he stabbed the night before.
Rinoa's right arm was covered in blood, and she was beginning to stagger. She had used most of her strength to to slam the woman into the wall.
Upon seeing Squall the woman let out a shriek and ran at him with the ax. He easily dodged and tripped her. She fell face first to the ground, her ax clattering on trhe floor. Squall lunged for it, but the ax floated back into her hand and she quickly rolled to her feet.
"Intrudehhhrrrrr," she said, her words trailing off into a strange sort of hiss.
She suddenly dissapeared into a cloud of thin white smoke and reapeared behind him. She raised her ax above his head. Squall whirled around, seeing it was too late to do anything.
Then, suddenly, she froze, let out a small, inhuman whimper, and fell to the ground, bleeding. Rinoa stood behind her, clutching Squall's Gunblade.
"Take that, bitch!" Rinoa whispered, trembling. She handed his Gunblade back to him. "What now?"
"I don't know. I thought she was dead when I stabbed her before. It might not be too good of an idea to stick around here. Whoever she is, she's powerful. Maybe not even human. I think we should go."
Rinoa nodded. "Definately. Let's go."
As they walked out of the house and into the dimming light of the sun outside, the woman in black raised her head from the pool of blood that surrounded her. Her dark eyes seemed to melt into a bluish color and a frosty puff of air rose from her lips.
"Fhhhhind," she hissed as she stood. "Khhhhilllll."
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Squall stopped walking and sighed. "Why don't we stop here for the night?"
Rinoa shrugged. "Fine with me."
He arched an eyebrow at her. "You've been awfully quiet lately," he pointed out.
She shrugged. "You wanted me to shut up, so I did," she replied quietly. "Is that a problem?"
"It's a refreshing change from the usual. I was just curious as to why you actually decided to honor my wishes."
She shrugged. "I just decided that it wasn't worth it. I have nothing to say to you. So I'm not going to waste my breath."
"Finally, you catch a clue," Squall muttered in reply.
She just crossed her arms over her chest, and sat down with her back to him.
Squall frowned a bit at her reaction. It was so weird for her to be so quiet. It was a little creepy. He wondered what had brought on her sudden change.
"So..." he began after a moment of silence, "what made you decide to take this vow of silence?"
"What do you care?" she replied roughly.
He was taken aback by her words. He had never heard her talk like that before. He realized with a start that she sounded exactly like him. What was her problem?
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
She shrugged, but still didn't look at him. "It doesn't matter to you. I know that," she said softly. "So don't bother."
He sighed. "Whatever. You're right. I don't care."
She hugged her knees to her chest and laid her head on them. He sat down somewhat behind and to the side of her and watched her as she closed her eyes in relaxation.
"Does your arm still hurt?" he asked.
She didn't answer, but opened her eyes. She studied him for a moment then said. "You know it's funny."
"What?"
"That when I finally shut up, say everything you can think of to get me to talk."
"Who said I was trying to make you talk? I was just asking you a simple question."
A smiled tugged at her lips. "You've got to be the most stuborn man I've ever seen. Why don't you just admit that you don't like being treated the same way you treat others?"
He frowned at the realization. She had a point.
"So basically, you think I should change?" he asked.
"No. Don't change," she said truthfully. "Just.... don't hide."
"Hide?"
She nodded. "I see through your facade, Squall. You're hiding something. Pain, fear... something of the sort. Whatever it is, it can never get any better if you keep hiding."
He sighed. "So you think you have me figured out? It's not as easy as you say it is."
"No, it isn't. That's why you need help. You need someone."
"I don't need anyone!"
Rinoa felt the urge to yell back at him, but surpressed it. "Look. I'm not going to sit here and argue with you about it. Just... talk a little bit more. Open up. Slowly."
He seemed about to yell again, but stopped and looked at her seriously. "How?"
She was silent a moment then said, "How did you get your scar?"
He was confused but answered. "It's a wound from an old rival of mine."
"What happened?"
"He was making fun of me, which was normal. I was from a poor family and he was from a rich one," he said slowly. "But we we went through training together. One day, he challenged me to a fight, and I accepted. We ended up giving each other scars."
She noded. "See. You're progressing all ready."
He smirked a little. "You're very clever."
"Of course I am. So what was his name?"
"Seifer Almasy."
Rinoa's jaw dropped. "You're kidding. Come to think of it, he does have a scar almost exactly like it."
"You know him?"
She nodded. "My father was going to force me to marry him. Thanks to you, I don't have to worry about it anymore," she said and smiled. Then she scooted closer to him. "Thank you. You're better company than he is, believe it or not."
Squall looked into her eyes for a moment, feeling chills run up and down his spine. He was just leaning closer to her when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and his vision went black.
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A/N: Okay, last time I asked if this sucked, I had someone tell me I had to be out of mind to ask that. So instead of asking, I'll simply state the fact. THIS SUCKS!!!!!!! So, now that I've stated the obvious, I'd like to apologize for the hissing woman. I hope you understood what she was saying. Well, see ya! R&R please!!!!!!