A/N: Hello, again! Well, after days of banging my head against the
wall, and fighting a war with a blank computer screen, I'm back for another
chapter. I'd like to give a special thank you to all those that reviewed.
Enjoy......Please?
Chapter 5
Squall sat in a comfortable silence as he watched the sun slowly creep up from the horizon. As was typical for him, his mind was flooded with thoughts, though he was not apt to stay on one subject for very long.
One thought that did keep coming back to him, was wondering if he'd done the right thing the day before. His military career was practically over anyway, given the charges placed upon him. But there was still a chance to build his career back up. Now, he had turned his back on all of that, just for some pushy little princess on the run.
It was never as if he enjoyed serving the Emperor. Or Seifer, for that matter. But it was all he had ever had. All that he had been raised with. And now what did he have?
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a timid hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Rinoa smiling at him. Her hair was dripping wet, as if she'd just washed it, and she was dressed in a sleeveless, light blue vest that zipped from both the top and the bottom. She also wore a black skirt that came up just above her knees and a pair of black combat boots.
"Aren't you gonna get cold in that?" Squall asked her.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "At least I'm not wearing Quistis's gypsy clothes anymore. Edea let me barrow them. And I've had a shower. Which is something you need to do, too. No offense, but you stink!"
"Very funny," Squall grumbled and stood from the fence he had been sitting on.
She grinned. "I know. What are you doing up so early, anyway?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"But I asked you first."
He shrugged. "I was just trying to catch a little peace and quiet. Trying to gather my thoughts."
She giggled and thumped him on the forehead. "And what kind of interesting thoughts were running through your head?"
"None of your business," he replied, rubbing his forehead. "That hurt."
"Oh, you wuss!" she laughed, gently rubbing her fingers over the red spot that had shown up on his forehead. Then she frowned.
"What is it?" he asked.
"How did you really get that scar?"
"The way I told you, I did."
"Squall, I know about-"
"I wasn't lying when I told you about that. Seifer and I really were rivals. But I was a poor orphan, and he was the emperor's son. I guess there really wasn't much of a contest when you think about it."
A slight smile tugged at Rinoa's lips. "You're getting better."
"What do you mean?"
"You're getting better at opening up to people. Now go take a shower. We have to get going pretty soon."
Without so much as a nod of acknowledgement, Squall turned and walked into the house again. Rinoa watched after him with a sigh. This wasn't going to be an easy journey.
Again, the thought crossed her mind that she should tell him about the previous night's discoveries. But how would he take it? He might decide to leave her to carry on by herself. She wasn't really sure she could handle that. What would life be like, running from Seifer, living in the wild, surviving on her own, and dealing with special powers? If she even had any, that is, and chances were, she didn't. No need to worry Squall over nothing.
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A few hours later, they were riding on a Chocobo toward the town on the shore. Edea had been kind enough to let them have the Chocobo, who was named Saiph. This action had puzzled Squall, but Rinoa understood. After giving Edea a tearful hug, or in Squall's case, an akward look and a handshake, they set out for their destination.
Aside from a few stops here and there in order for them to do their business and take the occasional nap, their journey went rather smoothly. They reached the town around two in the morning.
The town at this time was rather quiet, of course, but that didn't mean that it was asleep. People sat in groups around bon fires in the streets, wrapped in thin blankets. They clutched their blankets closed with one hand and and held a bottle in the other, taking an occasional sip, when they weren't busy talking in low voices to the people next to them.
After casting a worried glance at Rinoa, Squall cautiously approached one of the groups, with Saiph in tow, and asked politely, "Where is the hotel?"
The people looked at him with confusion in their eyes, and began to whisper to each other in a strange language.
"Hotel," Squall repeated, this time with more emphasis. "Where is it?"
The whispered for a few more minutes until finally an older, dark- skinned man looked up at him and said, "Killaidosceph?"
Squall sighed. "Hotel."
The man arched an eyebrow and offered him the bottle saying, "Hirokaide mihel?"
Squall shook his head. "Hotel!"
Finally, after a few more minutes of whispering, a young girl with honey blonde hair, and violet eyes stood up and pointed at the building across the road. "Hotel!"
"Alright, thank you," Squall said before walking away and across the road to what he hoped was the hotel.
The building was plain, and made of old, white-washed planks of wood. They tied Siaph up to a post outside and went in. Upon entering, they saw a woman with graying brown hair and a faded floral dress standing behind a desk, flipping through a book of records while a young girl with auburn hair swept the floor next to a stair case.
Squall approached the desk and said, "Hello?"
The old woman looked up and studied them for a moment before allowing a gentle smile to spread over her face. "Hello. I see you're not from 'round here. Ya don't speak the language, do ya? Well, what can I do for ya?"
"We need two rooms," Rinoa spoke up.
The woman flipped through her book for a moment then said, "I'm afraid there's only one available tonight."
"We'll take it," Rinoa replied with a slight sigh.
"Good! My name's Agatha. Agatha Dincht. Though my friends and family call me Ma Dincht. Now the room'll be 100 gil, please," she told them in her strange accent.
After Squall handed her what small bit of money he had left, she said, "A'right. Follow me, please, and I'll take ya to your room."
They walked past the sweeping girl, who ceased her job for a moment to gaze up a Squall with a shy, but flirtatious smile. He quickly turned away, wide-eyed and blushing, while Rinoa tried to contain her giggles.
Agatha lead the two up the old, creaking staircase and into a hall with white, chipping paint, and cracks in the ceiling.
As they passed by one of the rooms, something crashed into the wall, and a couple could be heard yelling obsceneties at one another as they argued.
"My, they're at it, again," Agatha sighed. "Their a'ways like that when they get drunk, which is ever'night, jus' about."
They passed another and could hear loud music playing inside. There was also a small stream of smoke floating out from beneath the door. As Squall was about to say something about it, he caught a whiff of it and realized it wasn't from a fire, or even a normal cigarette. After all, he'd had training in the Emperor's military on how to catch substance abusers. Just next door to that room, loud, offensive sounds could be heard that made both Rinoa and Squall blush.
Agatha smiled at them sheepishly before leading them up to another floor. This one was, fourtunately, quiet. At the end of the hall, however, a man lay sprawled out over the floor clutching an empty bottle in his hands.
"Mercy, not again!" Agatha exclaimed, stepping over him. "If you could jus' step on over 'em tonight, I'll have 'em out o' the way by mornin'."
Rinoa and Squall did as they were asked, however, uneasily. Agatha stopped in front of the door just on the other side of him and pulled out her key.
"Here ya are. Hope ya enjoy yer stay."
The two filed into the room hesitantly. As Squall closed the door behind himself, he could here Ms. Dincht out in the hall saying, "A'right now, Mr. Sanchez. This is no place for ya to be sleepin'."
Rinoa plopped down on the bed with a sigh. "This place is awful. I hope the whole town's not like this."
"How much you wanna bet it is?" Squall replied.
She rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Optimistic."
"Where am I gonna sleep?" Squall wondered aloud. There was only one bed in the room.
"Well.... the bed's big enough for two people.... so I guess we can both sleep on it."
"I'm not sure I'd feel safe with you," he replied sarcastically.
"Well then, you can always go find your little girl friend with the broom," she shot back, feeling a pang of jealousy not that she really thought about the incident.
"Oh yes, the lovely girl with the broom. I think it was love at first sight. I'm sure we can set you up with Mr. Sanchez from the hall."
She laughed. "I don't think so. Better him than Seifer, though, I suppose."
"You really don't like him, do you?"
"Of course not. If your parents forced you into marriage with some slutty, pushy, abusive bitch, would you be all that fond of her?"
Squall started to laugh, but stopped as her words sank in. "Abusive? He...hit you?"
Rinoa looked down at the ground, suddenly ashamed, though she wasn't sure why.
"Yes, of course he did," Squall said in a low voice. He now remembered seeing the whole, horrible scene unfold in front of Rinoa's tower. "I saw it all."
Rinoa's eyes quickly darted back up. "You...saw? When? How?"
"The night I kidnapped you. I was hidding, waiting for you to go to sleep. I saw you talking to him. Then he hit you. Did...he always hit you like that?"
Rinoa inhaled sharply and drew her knees up to her chest. "Yes. Regaurdless of whether or not we were alone, which was rare. He didn't care if he left marks, bruises.... my father....he never cared...." Rinoa's voice broke off as she closed her eyes in pain of the memories. "Squall?" she asked after a moment in a shaky voice. "Where do we go from here?"
Squall honestly wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't thought much about it. All he had thought about up until that moment, was whether or not he had made the right decision in helping Rinoa. Now he realized that, despite that it was his worst nightmare, she was depending on him to get her out of the hell she'd been so carelessly plunged into by her father. She needed him. She needed him to make a decision.
"I don't know," he replied. "I never really thought about. I've mostly just been worried over whether or not I made the right decision in joining you."
"You worried you might end up getting killed?"
He shrugged. "Maybe."
"Why did you do it, anyway? Why did you help me?"
He shrugged again. "I really don't know. I guess it just seemed like the right thing to do."
She carefully reached her hand to his face and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Squall? What are you hiding?"
"What do you mean, what am I hiding?"
"Squall, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise," she said in a soft voice. "You don't realize what you've done for me. If it weren't for you, I'd have to live the rest of my life with him. You saved me from that. So now I want to do something for you."
"There's nothing you can do for me," he replied.
"Maybe there is," she insisted. "Maybe... I can take away your pain."
He shook his head. "It's not that easy."
"Sometimes it helps just to talk to someone about it."
"There's nothing to talk about!" Squall growled, growing impatient wit her. "So why don't you just shut up!"
She looked uo at him with tears in her eyes, then looked quickly away.
"I'm....I'm sorry," he said. "I just don't understand why you're trying so hard for this."
"I told you before. I care about you."
"Why?!" he burst out. "I've treated you awful! I've yelled at you, insulted you. I'm no damn better than Seifer is!"
"Squall, you dumb ass," she laughed gently. "That's not the real you. I know that. But you don't. You're using that to hide your pain. Deep down, you're so much more than that. If you'd only let it shine through."
"How do you know? You say that I don't even know. So how do you know that the real me is better than that? Why would you risk it to care about something that may or may not really be there?"
She smiled gently at him. "Because you're you. That's why I care. And you've shown me, though not directly, who you really are. You can know, too. You just have to stop hiding. Let me ease your pain. If I can."
He slowly sat down next to her. "What do you want me to do?"
"Let go," she said in a near whisper. "Seifer hurt you, too, didn't he?"
He nodded, "Yeah. When I was young..... he and I had a nasty little run in at town one day. I didn't know who he was, and I was too young to care. We got into a fight, and I kicked his ass. The next day, my parents were executed, and I was drafted into the military and I was made to train with Seifer. I was forced to lose every battle I fought against him, as punishment for humiliating him in public."
"That's awful," Rinoa replied, tenderly stroking his face. "Doesn't it feel better to talk about it?"
He shrugged. "Maybe. It doesn't change what happened, though."
"Of course not. But that's not the point of talking about it. At least now, you don't have to keep holding it in. I understand, Squall."
He nodded slowly, with a deep sadness shining in his eyes. "I guess you're right."
She put her arms around his neck and gently pushed his head onto her shoulder. "If there's ever anything else you need to talk about, I'm here."
He nodded slightly, then took a deep breath, inhaling her rose-like scent. "I never told anyone anything before. I'm not sure why I told you. I think I'm...." his voice trailed off and he inhaled deeply, hoping he hadn't implyed more than he'd meant to.
Squall lifted his head from her shoulder and looked deep into her eyes. The look that he found there said it all. There was no more need for words. He lowered his head again, carefully touching his lips to hers. This wasn't the first time he'd kissed her, but there was something different, and more fragile about it this time.
She brushed her tongue over his lips, and deepened their kiss. It began slow and careful, both of them somewhat afraid of ruining the moment, but became more intense and passionate as they continued on, though it never lost its tenderness.
Rinoa eased Squall's jacket off his shoulders and tossed it to the ground before grabing the collar of his shirt and slowly pulling him down on top of her. She ran her fingers through his silky brown hair with one hand and ran the other up the back of his shirt.
"Rinoa," Squall whispered as he boldly ran his hand up her shirt and began kissing a path down her neck.
She moaned softly and pulled his shirt off over his head. She lightly ran her fingernails down his back and kissed up his cheek to his ear lobe, which she nibbled on gently before whispering, "Please, Squall?"
He pulled away from her and looked deep into her eyes. "Rinoa.... we can't.... it wouldn't.....we can't....."
She sat up slightly and slowly unzipped her top. "There's no one standing in our way, tonight."
He closed his eyes for a moment, the memory of her crosing her room in the nude flashing through his mind yet again. She had a point. No one was there to tell them they couldn't. And whether he liked it or not, he cared about her deeply. Not that he was anywhere near telling her that. But maybe this could be a way for him to express his feelings without having to say anything.
He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek then began working his way down again. She rubbed his back and bit her lip as he reached her chest before letting out a sharp cry. "Oh, Squall," she moaned.
They continued on this way until finally it was time. He took her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.
"Are you sure?" he asked again, not wanting her to do something she would regret.
She nodded and smiled sweetly at him. "Yes. Just....be careful. I've never..."
"Neither have I," he replied and lowered his head so that thier foreheads were lightly touching. He gave her a tender kiss on the lips then continued.
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The next morning, when Squall and Rinoa awoke, they found that sometime during the night, while they were sleeping, someone had broken into their room. The only thing that was missing, however, was Squall's jacket. This might not have been so bad, were it not for the fact that all their gil had been in it.
"What are we going to do?" Rinoa asked after dressing.
Squall shrugged. "I guess we could go out and see if we find someone with the same jacket I had."
She shrugged. "Not only that, but we need to get out of here. I just know that Seifer's gonna look here."
He nodded. "Let's go."
They stepped out of their and found that Mr. Sanchez had been moved from his place in the hall. The hotel room seemed quiet compared to last night. It was as if all the people had left already.
Downstairs, they found Agatha at her desk again, counting out her gil from the previous night.
"Hello, there. How'd ya sleep?"
Squall and Rinoa both blushed slightly, but said, "Fine. Just fine. Except that we were robbed."
"Really?! Tha's horrible! I'm so sorry. Is there an'thing I can do?"
"Just tell us how we can get out of this town," Squall said.
"There's usually some'ne at the docks with a boat that's givin' rides. You should check there."
"Alright, thank you," Rinoa said before she and Squall headed out the door.
Once they were outside, and had untied Saiph from his place outside, they saw why the hotel had practically been abandoned. Everyone was out on the street. The town was actually very lively now that the sun had risen. People had set up stands and were trying to sell things to Squall and Rinoa as they passed. Other people were dancing for money, or doing tricks, such a swallowing swords or walking across coals.
It was obvious that the town was poor. There were very few buildings in the town, and what few that were there, were old and broken down. There was only one road through the town, and it consisted of sharp, gray pebbles and broken sea shells.
At the end of this one street, was a long, wooden dock. A person stood at the end of it, a wide, round hat covering his or her face, and a paddle in their hand. They also had a small bag strapped to their back. There was a small boat floating in the water and tied to the end on the dock with a worn rope.
"I have a strange feeling about this," Rinoa said as they approached the mysterious person. "It's a bit odd don't you think?"
Squall shrugged. "Nah. Just a person waiting to give someone a boat ride somewhere."
When the came to stand in front of the person, they didn't lift their head to reveal their face, but simply said, in a strange, but female voice, "WHAT?"
"Can you take us someplace far from here?" Rinoa asked.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"Good. How much?"
"Rinoa, we don't have any money," Squall reminded her in a whisper.
"NO WORRY. I HELP," the girl said, having heard him.
"For free?"
"AFFIRMATIVE. EDEA SEND. GET ON."
With a slight sigh of worry, Rinoa and Squall climbed into the small boat, and helped Saiph in. Saiph cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes untrustingly at the girl. He then turned to Rinoa and emitted a loud, high-pitched sound before swinging his back around to glare at the stranger. Rinoa patted him on the head then shot Squall a look.
The girl climbed into the boat as well, and untied it from the dock. She stood on one end of the boat and began to paddle.
A few hours later, the boat landed on the shore of what appeared to be a large island. The girl stepped out of the boat and motioned for Rinoa and Squall to follow her.
They followed her into the dense tropical foliage that covered most of the island. After a small bit of walking, the came upon a large castle made of gray stone.
"WAIT HERE," said the girl before walking through the gates of the temple.
She went through the door in the front, then, once inside, up a grand set of stairs and through another door. In this room sat a throne, which was covered in gold and accented by red velvet cushions that matched the carpet. It sat with its back to the door, facing a balcony.
"RETURNED," the girl said, removing her hat to reveal short gray hair and a patch over one of her eyes. She then pulled a black leather jacket out of her bag and tossed it to the floor.
"Good," came a voice from the other side of the throne. "I assume you brought them along?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"And the girl? She is well?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
A thin, shapely woman with long black hair and a revealing black dress stood from the throne. "Good. Have them kome in. Do not tell them of my presence here. The girl knows something is wrong. Do not alarm her, at any kost. Understood?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"Good. Now be gone with you. I must determine this girl's powers before karrying out my plan. If she has the same powers her mother had....We shall no longer have to worry about hiding in this godforsaken castle. We shall finally have revenge."
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A/N: Yes, I know. I've restricted from saying it sucks, so I'll leave that for you to say. Did I rush things between Squall and Rinoa? I didn't originally intend to have it go that far, but I guess it had a will of its own. Well, please R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter 5
Squall sat in a comfortable silence as he watched the sun slowly creep up from the horizon. As was typical for him, his mind was flooded with thoughts, though he was not apt to stay on one subject for very long.
One thought that did keep coming back to him, was wondering if he'd done the right thing the day before. His military career was practically over anyway, given the charges placed upon him. But there was still a chance to build his career back up. Now, he had turned his back on all of that, just for some pushy little princess on the run.
It was never as if he enjoyed serving the Emperor. Or Seifer, for that matter. But it was all he had ever had. All that he had been raised with. And now what did he have?
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a timid hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Rinoa smiling at him. Her hair was dripping wet, as if she'd just washed it, and she was dressed in a sleeveless, light blue vest that zipped from both the top and the bottom. She also wore a black skirt that came up just above her knees and a pair of black combat boots.
"Aren't you gonna get cold in that?" Squall asked her.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "At least I'm not wearing Quistis's gypsy clothes anymore. Edea let me barrow them. And I've had a shower. Which is something you need to do, too. No offense, but you stink!"
"Very funny," Squall grumbled and stood from the fence he had been sitting on.
She grinned. "I know. What are you doing up so early, anyway?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"But I asked you first."
He shrugged. "I was just trying to catch a little peace and quiet. Trying to gather my thoughts."
She giggled and thumped him on the forehead. "And what kind of interesting thoughts were running through your head?"
"None of your business," he replied, rubbing his forehead. "That hurt."
"Oh, you wuss!" she laughed, gently rubbing her fingers over the red spot that had shown up on his forehead. Then she frowned.
"What is it?" he asked.
"How did you really get that scar?"
"The way I told you, I did."
"Squall, I know about-"
"I wasn't lying when I told you about that. Seifer and I really were rivals. But I was a poor orphan, and he was the emperor's son. I guess there really wasn't much of a contest when you think about it."
A slight smile tugged at Rinoa's lips. "You're getting better."
"What do you mean?"
"You're getting better at opening up to people. Now go take a shower. We have to get going pretty soon."
Without so much as a nod of acknowledgement, Squall turned and walked into the house again. Rinoa watched after him with a sigh. This wasn't going to be an easy journey.
Again, the thought crossed her mind that she should tell him about the previous night's discoveries. But how would he take it? He might decide to leave her to carry on by herself. She wasn't really sure she could handle that. What would life be like, running from Seifer, living in the wild, surviving on her own, and dealing with special powers? If she even had any, that is, and chances were, she didn't. No need to worry Squall over nothing.
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A few hours later, they were riding on a Chocobo toward the town on the shore. Edea had been kind enough to let them have the Chocobo, who was named Saiph. This action had puzzled Squall, but Rinoa understood. After giving Edea a tearful hug, or in Squall's case, an akward look and a handshake, they set out for their destination.
Aside from a few stops here and there in order for them to do their business and take the occasional nap, their journey went rather smoothly. They reached the town around two in the morning.
The town at this time was rather quiet, of course, but that didn't mean that it was asleep. People sat in groups around bon fires in the streets, wrapped in thin blankets. They clutched their blankets closed with one hand and and held a bottle in the other, taking an occasional sip, when they weren't busy talking in low voices to the people next to them.
After casting a worried glance at Rinoa, Squall cautiously approached one of the groups, with Saiph in tow, and asked politely, "Where is the hotel?"
The people looked at him with confusion in their eyes, and began to whisper to each other in a strange language.
"Hotel," Squall repeated, this time with more emphasis. "Where is it?"
The whispered for a few more minutes until finally an older, dark- skinned man looked up at him and said, "Killaidosceph?"
Squall sighed. "Hotel."
The man arched an eyebrow and offered him the bottle saying, "Hirokaide mihel?"
Squall shook his head. "Hotel!"
Finally, after a few more minutes of whispering, a young girl with honey blonde hair, and violet eyes stood up and pointed at the building across the road. "Hotel!"
"Alright, thank you," Squall said before walking away and across the road to what he hoped was the hotel.
The building was plain, and made of old, white-washed planks of wood. They tied Siaph up to a post outside and went in. Upon entering, they saw a woman with graying brown hair and a faded floral dress standing behind a desk, flipping through a book of records while a young girl with auburn hair swept the floor next to a stair case.
Squall approached the desk and said, "Hello?"
The old woman looked up and studied them for a moment before allowing a gentle smile to spread over her face. "Hello. I see you're not from 'round here. Ya don't speak the language, do ya? Well, what can I do for ya?"
"We need two rooms," Rinoa spoke up.
The woman flipped through her book for a moment then said, "I'm afraid there's only one available tonight."
"We'll take it," Rinoa replied with a slight sigh.
"Good! My name's Agatha. Agatha Dincht. Though my friends and family call me Ma Dincht. Now the room'll be 100 gil, please," she told them in her strange accent.
After Squall handed her what small bit of money he had left, she said, "A'right. Follow me, please, and I'll take ya to your room."
They walked past the sweeping girl, who ceased her job for a moment to gaze up a Squall with a shy, but flirtatious smile. He quickly turned away, wide-eyed and blushing, while Rinoa tried to contain her giggles.
Agatha lead the two up the old, creaking staircase and into a hall with white, chipping paint, and cracks in the ceiling.
As they passed by one of the rooms, something crashed into the wall, and a couple could be heard yelling obsceneties at one another as they argued.
"My, they're at it, again," Agatha sighed. "Their a'ways like that when they get drunk, which is ever'night, jus' about."
They passed another and could hear loud music playing inside. There was also a small stream of smoke floating out from beneath the door. As Squall was about to say something about it, he caught a whiff of it and realized it wasn't from a fire, or even a normal cigarette. After all, he'd had training in the Emperor's military on how to catch substance abusers. Just next door to that room, loud, offensive sounds could be heard that made both Rinoa and Squall blush.
Agatha smiled at them sheepishly before leading them up to another floor. This one was, fourtunately, quiet. At the end of the hall, however, a man lay sprawled out over the floor clutching an empty bottle in his hands.
"Mercy, not again!" Agatha exclaimed, stepping over him. "If you could jus' step on over 'em tonight, I'll have 'em out o' the way by mornin'."
Rinoa and Squall did as they were asked, however, uneasily. Agatha stopped in front of the door just on the other side of him and pulled out her key.
"Here ya are. Hope ya enjoy yer stay."
The two filed into the room hesitantly. As Squall closed the door behind himself, he could here Ms. Dincht out in the hall saying, "A'right now, Mr. Sanchez. This is no place for ya to be sleepin'."
Rinoa plopped down on the bed with a sigh. "This place is awful. I hope the whole town's not like this."
"How much you wanna bet it is?" Squall replied.
She rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Optimistic."
"Where am I gonna sleep?" Squall wondered aloud. There was only one bed in the room.
"Well.... the bed's big enough for two people.... so I guess we can both sleep on it."
"I'm not sure I'd feel safe with you," he replied sarcastically.
"Well then, you can always go find your little girl friend with the broom," she shot back, feeling a pang of jealousy not that she really thought about the incident.
"Oh yes, the lovely girl with the broom. I think it was love at first sight. I'm sure we can set you up with Mr. Sanchez from the hall."
She laughed. "I don't think so. Better him than Seifer, though, I suppose."
"You really don't like him, do you?"
"Of course not. If your parents forced you into marriage with some slutty, pushy, abusive bitch, would you be all that fond of her?"
Squall started to laugh, but stopped as her words sank in. "Abusive? He...hit you?"
Rinoa looked down at the ground, suddenly ashamed, though she wasn't sure why.
"Yes, of course he did," Squall said in a low voice. He now remembered seeing the whole, horrible scene unfold in front of Rinoa's tower. "I saw it all."
Rinoa's eyes quickly darted back up. "You...saw? When? How?"
"The night I kidnapped you. I was hidding, waiting for you to go to sleep. I saw you talking to him. Then he hit you. Did...he always hit you like that?"
Rinoa inhaled sharply and drew her knees up to her chest. "Yes. Regaurdless of whether or not we were alone, which was rare. He didn't care if he left marks, bruises.... my father....he never cared...." Rinoa's voice broke off as she closed her eyes in pain of the memories. "Squall?" she asked after a moment in a shaky voice. "Where do we go from here?"
Squall honestly wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't thought much about it. All he had thought about up until that moment, was whether or not he had made the right decision in helping Rinoa. Now he realized that, despite that it was his worst nightmare, she was depending on him to get her out of the hell she'd been so carelessly plunged into by her father. She needed him. She needed him to make a decision.
"I don't know," he replied. "I never really thought about. I've mostly just been worried over whether or not I made the right decision in joining you."
"You worried you might end up getting killed?"
He shrugged. "Maybe."
"Why did you do it, anyway? Why did you help me?"
He shrugged again. "I really don't know. I guess it just seemed like the right thing to do."
She carefully reached her hand to his face and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Squall? What are you hiding?"
"What do you mean, what am I hiding?"
"Squall, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise," she said in a soft voice. "You don't realize what you've done for me. If it weren't for you, I'd have to live the rest of my life with him. You saved me from that. So now I want to do something for you."
"There's nothing you can do for me," he replied.
"Maybe there is," she insisted. "Maybe... I can take away your pain."
He shook his head. "It's not that easy."
"Sometimes it helps just to talk to someone about it."
"There's nothing to talk about!" Squall growled, growing impatient wit her. "So why don't you just shut up!"
She looked uo at him with tears in her eyes, then looked quickly away.
"I'm....I'm sorry," he said. "I just don't understand why you're trying so hard for this."
"I told you before. I care about you."
"Why?!" he burst out. "I've treated you awful! I've yelled at you, insulted you. I'm no damn better than Seifer is!"
"Squall, you dumb ass," she laughed gently. "That's not the real you. I know that. But you don't. You're using that to hide your pain. Deep down, you're so much more than that. If you'd only let it shine through."
"How do you know? You say that I don't even know. So how do you know that the real me is better than that? Why would you risk it to care about something that may or may not really be there?"
She smiled gently at him. "Because you're you. That's why I care. And you've shown me, though not directly, who you really are. You can know, too. You just have to stop hiding. Let me ease your pain. If I can."
He slowly sat down next to her. "What do you want me to do?"
"Let go," she said in a near whisper. "Seifer hurt you, too, didn't he?"
He nodded, "Yeah. When I was young..... he and I had a nasty little run in at town one day. I didn't know who he was, and I was too young to care. We got into a fight, and I kicked his ass. The next day, my parents were executed, and I was drafted into the military and I was made to train with Seifer. I was forced to lose every battle I fought against him, as punishment for humiliating him in public."
"That's awful," Rinoa replied, tenderly stroking his face. "Doesn't it feel better to talk about it?"
He shrugged. "Maybe. It doesn't change what happened, though."
"Of course not. But that's not the point of talking about it. At least now, you don't have to keep holding it in. I understand, Squall."
He nodded slowly, with a deep sadness shining in his eyes. "I guess you're right."
She put her arms around his neck and gently pushed his head onto her shoulder. "If there's ever anything else you need to talk about, I'm here."
He nodded slightly, then took a deep breath, inhaling her rose-like scent. "I never told anyone anything before. I'm not sure why I told you. I think I'm...." his voice trailed off and he inhaled deeply, hoping he hadn't implyed more than he'd meant to.
Squall lifted his head from her shoulder and looked deep into her eyes. The look that he found there said it all. There was no more need for words. He lowered his head again, carefully touching his lips to hers. This wasn't the first time he'd kissed her, but there was something different, and more fragile about it this time.
She brushed her tongue over his lips, and deepened their kiss. It began slow and careful, both of them somewhat afraid of ruining the moment, but became more intense and passionate as they continued on, though it never lost its tenderness.
Rinoa eased Squall's jacket off his shoulders and tossed it to the ground before grabing the collar of his shirt and slowly pulling him down on top of her. She ran her fingers through his silky brown hair with one hand and ran the other up the back of his shirt.
"Rinoa," Squall whispered as he boldly ran his hand up her shirt and began kissing a path down her neck.
She moaned softly and pulled his shirt off over his head. She lightly ran her fingernails down his back and kissed up his cheek to his ear lobe, which she nibbled on gently before whispering, "Please, Squall?"
He pulled away from her and looked deep into her eyes. "Rinoa.... we can't.... it wouldn't.....we can't....."
She sat up slightly and slowly unzipped her top. "There's no one standing in our way, tonight."
He closed his eyes for a moment, the memory of her crosing her room in the nude flashing through his mind yet again. She had a point. No one was there to tell them they couldn't. And whether he liked it or not, he cared about her deeply. Not that he was anywhere near telling her that. But maybe this could be a way for him to express his feelings without having to say anything.
He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek then began working his way down again. She rubbed his back and bit her lip as he reached her chest before letting out a sharp cry. "Oh, Squall," she moaned.
They continued on this way until finally it was time. He took her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.
"Are you sure?" he asked again, not wanting her to do something she would regret.
She nodded and smiled sweetly at him. "Yes. Just....be careful. I've never..."
"Neither have I," he replied and lowered his head so that thier foreheads were lightly touching. He gave her a tender kiss on the lips then continued.
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The next morning, when Squall and Rinoa awoke, they found that sometime during the night, while they were sleeping, someone had broken into their room. The only thing that was missing, however, was Squall's jacket. This might not have been so bad, were it not for the fact that all their gil had been in it.
"What are we going to do?" Rinoa asked after dressing.
Squall shrugged. "I guess we could go out and see if we find someone with the same jacket I had."
She shrugged. "Not only that, but we need to get out of here. I just know that Seifer's gonna look here."
He nodded. "Let's go."
They stepped out of their and found that Mr. Sanchez had been moved from his place in the hall. The hotel room seemed quiet compared to last night. It was as if all the people had left already.
Downstairs, they found Agatha at her desk again, counting out her gil from the previous night.
"Hello, there. How'd ya sleep?"
Squall and Rinoa both blushed slightly, but said, "Fine. Just fine. Except that we were robbed."
"Really?! Tha's horrible! I'm so sorry. Is there an'thing I can do?"
"Just tell us how we can get out of this town," Squall said.
"There's usually some'ne at the docks with a boat that's givin' rides. You should check there."
"Alright, thank you," Rinoa said before she and Squall headed out the door.
Once they were outside, and had untied Saiph from his place outside, they saw why the hotel had practically been abandoned. Everyone was out on the street. The town was actually very lively now that the sun had risen. People had set up stands and were trying to sell things to Squall and Rinoa as they passed. Other people were dancing for money, or doing tricks, such a swallowing swords or walking across coals.
It was obvious that the town was poor. There were very few buildings in the town, and what few that were there, were old and broken down. There was only one road through the town, and it consisted of sharp, gray pebbles and broken sea shells.
At the end of this one street, was a long, wooden dock. A person stood at the end of it, a wide, round hat covering his or her face, and a paddle in their hand. They also had a small bag strapped to their back. There was a small boat floating in the water and tied to the end on the dock with a worn rope.
"I have a strange feeling about this," Rinoa said as they approached the mysterious person. "It's a bit odd don't you think?"
Squall shrugged. "Nah. Just a person waiting to give someone a boat ride somewhere."
When the came to stand in front of the person, they didn't lift their head to reveal their face, but simply said, in a strange, but female voice, "WHAT?"
"Can you take us someplace far from here?" Rinoa asked.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"Good. How much?"
"Rinoa, we don't have any money," Squall reminded her in a whisper.
"NO WORRY. I HELP," the girl said, having heard him.
"For free?"
"AFFIRMATIVE. EDEA SEND. GET ON."
With a slight sigh of worry, Rinoa and Squall climbed into the small boat, and helped Saiph in. Saiph cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes untrustingly at the girl. He then turned to Rinoa and emitted a loud, high-pitched sound before swinging his back around to glare at the stranger. Rinoa patted him on the head then shot Squall a look.
The girl climbed into the boat as well, and untied it from the dock. She stood on one end of the boat and began to paddle.
A few hours later, the boat landed on the shore of what appeared to be a large island. The girl stepped out of the boat and motioned for Rinoa and Squall to follow her.
They followed her into the dense tropical foliage that covered most of the island. After a small bit of walking, the came upon a large castle made of gray stone.
"WAIT HERE," said the girl before walking through the gates of the temple.
She went through the door in the front, then, once inside, up a grand set of stairs and through another door. In this room sat a throne, which was covered in gold and accented by red velvet cushions that matched the carpet. It sat with its back to the door, facing a balcony.
"RETURNED," the girl said, removing her hat to reveal short gray hair and a patch over one of her eyes. She then pulled a black leather jacket out of her bag and tossed it to the floor.
"Good," came a voice from the other side of the throne. "I assume you brought them along?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"And the girl? She is well?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
A thin, shapely woman with long black hair and a revealing black dress stood from the throne. "Good. Have them kome in. Do not tell them of my presence here. The girl knows something is wrong. Do not alarm her, at any kost. Understood?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"Good. Now be gone with you. I must determine this girl's powers before karrying out my plan. If she has the same powers her mother had....We shall no longer have to worry about hiding in this godforsaken castle. We shall finally have revenge."
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A/N: Yes, I know. I've restricted from saying it sucks, so I'll leave that for you to say. Did I rush things between Squall and Rinoa? I didn't originally intend to have it go that far, but I guess it had a will of its own. Well, please R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!