~* III – How Squall feels… *~

Squall was on his bed staring at the ceiling. He realized that things between Rinoa and him weren't working out, and that it had been so for a while now. Thinking about it he realized that he cared for her, but the passion just wasn't there. But what did he know about passion anyway? He probably wouldn't recognize passion if it hit him in the face.

He couldn't deny that Rinoa and him had a lot in common. In fact they read the same books, listened to the same music, ate the same foods, used the same banana scented shampoo & conditioner, and basically shared the same opinions when it came to important matters. They never disagreed on anything either, except shopping, so everything was perfect between them.

Too perfect…

Way too perfect…

Much too perfect…

He was bored out of his wits…

And what he had witnessed that morning made him realize that she probably felt the same way. Many things could be said about Seifer Almasy (not that anyone would be stupid or suicidal enough to do so), but the tall guy was not a boring character, quite the contrary. At least Squall was having a great brooding session, which was the highlight of the past few days.

'I need to get out more.' He thought, as he watched the erratic journey of a speck of dust above him. Squall started as someone banged on his door with insistence. He tried to ignore it, but his concentration had been broken and he lost sight of the speck of dust. Out of pure boredom, he rose and answered the door.

"HIYA SQUALL!"

"Selphie…" he remarked.

"Listen, I was going shopping and…"

"Good for you," he interrupted her and made to close the door.

If there was one thing that Squall hated above all, it was shopping. Once he had considered faking his own death to get out of it, but Rinoa had found out about his preparations and forced him to go with her. Selphie sensed that this was not the right approach (and remembered the fake-death incident), so she changed tactics.

"No wait!" she insisted, "Forget about shopping! Maybe we can get makeovers and, yah know, talk about stuff."

"I'll pass."

"Well then, we can stay here and talk," she insisted, "I just want to know what's on your mind."

"Why?"

"Because we're friends! And I don't want my friends to be sad."

"Whatever."

"Can I come in and talk?" asked the perky girl, with an endearing expression on her face.

"No."

"Awww! C'mooooooooon! I just want to help."

"Go away."

"Listen, Squall," she warned, "I will NOT move from this spot until you talk to me! In fact, I'll camp right here if I need to!"

"Suit yourself." – and with that he closed the door, and plopped himself back on his bed. He knew that Selphie would get bored after a while (he gave her about 15 seconds or so, maybe less), and leave him alone. After about 20 minutes of silence, he got back to brood-mode again but heard singing just outside.

"Kumbaya, my Hyne, kumbaya…"

"What the???" exclaimed Squall. He covered his ears with his pillow, but now Selphie was playing the guitar on top of singing – and the damn instrument was not properly tuned.

"Kumbaya *Plink* my Hyne *Ploink* Kumabayaaaaaaaaaaaaaa *Plainks*"

Trying very hard to control his murderous impulse, the dark-haired man walked out of his room and froze at the sight. In front of him was an inflatable PowerPuff Girls' tent, and Selphie was dressed in hiking shorts, shirt, and boots, sitting cross-legged and smiling angelically at him.

"Hey, Squall," She greeted him merrily, "Want a roasted marshmallow?"

Effectively, she had installed a portable grill and was roasting sausages and marshmallows on it. "You'll have to wait for hot-dogs, I can't put the heat too high or the fire alarms will go off." – She had also plugged a small fridge in one of the wall's sockets. It became painfully clear to our broody friend that she was prepared for a very long siege, and so he abdicated.

"All right, you win."

"Booyaka! I knew that you needed to talk."

"Whatever."

Selphie pondered for a moment, and then said, "Squall, I heard about this morning."

"Did you talk to Rinoa?" He asked.

"Nope, couldn't find her so I came to see you." She replied.

'Lucky me…' Thought Squall.

"So what happened?" Insisted Selphie.

"You are sure that you want to hear about it?"

"Sure, certain and positive!" She exclaimed, glad to have gotten through to him.

Squall breathed deeply before relating what he had witnessed, "This morning, before I bumped into you, I went to the Quad to hide from Cid and then…"

***** FLASHBACK *****

Cid Kramer loved filling out forms, and supposed that everybody shared his feelings on the matter. Squall Leonhart hated it with a passion, and that was why he was hiding from the Headmaster. Our dark-haired friend entered the Quad, for it would be the last place anyone would think to look for him. The Ball would take place in a week, and there was frantic activity everywhere in the large room.

Squall noticed a large background panel, representing a snow-covered landscape, in a corner of the stage. 'Nobody will notice me behind that.' He thought, but as he approached his destination he heard two familiar voices coming from behind it.

Rinoa: "Seifer, would you please keep it steady?"

Seifer: "Listen, this is not exactly the first time I do this!"

Squall: '?'

Rinoa: "You could have fooled me!"

Seifer: "Aw! You, of all people should know better!"

Squall: '??'

Rinoa: "Damn! I don't think it'll reach."

Seifer: "It did the last time I tried, just get a good grip."

Squall: '???'

Rinoa: "I'm telling you, it's way too short."

Seifer: "It's fine, you're just not handling this correctly."

Squall: '!'         O_o

Rinoa: "I've done this before, you know!"

Seifer: "Yeah, but it doesn't mean you're any good at it. Hehehe…"

Squall: '!!'

Rinoa: "You know what? Maybe you should take care of this by yourself!"

Seifer: "All right, I apologize. Just try to get it in there."

Squall: '!!!'       O.O

Rinoa: "Push a little more."

Seifer: "How's that?"

Rinoa: "It's going to be a tight fit, but I guess we can manage."

Seifer: "Told yah!"

Squall: '!!!!!'

Seifer: "He! Don't bend it like that!"

Rinoa: "Take a chill pill, it won't break."

Squall: '!!!!!!!!!!'

Rinoa: "Lets see, try to push it a little, then pull and push again."

Seifer: "Like this?"

Rinoa: "Yeah, now make it turn. Good, it's almost all in."

Squall: 'GAH!' O_O

Rinoa: "Damn! It popped out!"

Seifer: "Maybe we should get someone else to help."

Rinoa: "Nah, we can do this… Ho man! I got some of that icky stuff on my duster!"

Squall: @_@

Seifer: "Be careful, there's some on the floor too."

At that moment, Quistis spotted Squall standing in front of the backdrop with a shocked expression on his face. "Squall, what's wrong?" she inquired softly to avoid startling him.

Squall: "Er… huh… Sinoa… Reifer…"

Quistis: '?'

Rinoa: "SEIFER!"

Seifer: "I knew you couldn't resist me. Hehehe."

There are those unfortunate coincidences in life, and it was at that precise instant that one of the scaffoldings collapsed. Nobody was hurt, but it made a lot of noise and Squall & Quistis couldn't hear the whole exchange between Rinoa & Seifer. But they did hear enough…

Rinoa: "Listen, Seif***** I wou***** die***** kiss yo***** sleep with you***** only man***** in the world***** I am so over***** Squall***** want to finish what we started now?"

Squall was utterly paralyzed, but Quistis hurried behind the painting and also exclaimed: "SEIFER!!!"

The blond man was holding Rinoa in his arms (they were both dressed, so it's a PG13 rated scene – thought you'd like to know). "Quistis, wait! This is not what it looks like!"

"Well, it looks like you guys are dancing the polka!" said Quistis with obvious sarcasm.

"Huh, that's what it looks like?" replied a relieved Seifer.

"OF COURSE NOT YOU DIMWIT!" _

"Quistis, wait…" intervened Rinoa, but the blonde woman bolted for the exit with angry tears in her eyes. Squall didn't even look behind the backdrop, but also fled under the astounded glares of the people working in the Quad.

***** END FLASHBACK *****

Squall remained silent after his narration, and Selphie tentatively offered, "Maybe if you talked to Rinoa…"

He took a deep breath before answering, "I know I should, but I just want the dust to settle first."

"You two are so alike," remarked the brunette, "I just know that she's thinking the same thing right now.

"Yes," agreed the Commander, "You know, she even introduced me to poetry and I really like it. Say, want to hear a bit of my favorite piece?"

Squall Leonhart reciting poetry? This was too great an opportunity to pass, "Sure!" she replied excitedly.

The dark-haired man cleared his throat and delivered:

'We all awake on a fateful day,

 To realize we've lost our way,

 Our souls can hope for no reprieve,

 For we have lost all will to live…'

Selphie suddenly understood why the potted plant in Squall's dorm had withered, in spite of Rinoa caring for it – the poor vegetable had probably died of despair.

"Hum, that was one of the cheerful ones?" Asked the brunette.

"Well, yes," answered Squall, "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess…" She replied.

"I will talk to Rinoa, but I think that it's over," he continued, "The spark just isn't there anymore."

The brunette had not expected this turn of events, for one of the rare moments in her life she didn't know what to do. "Hot-dog?" she offered to Squall.

He accepted it and actually smiled, "Thank you."

To his surprise, Selphie had actually cheered him up. This whole set-up with the tent, the grill and the bear-trap… WAIT! BEAR-TRAP? O_O

"Selphie, why is there a bear-trap in the corridor?"

"Ho, it's just for the ambiance. The faculty guys wouldn't let me bring a few animals along, and so I had to accessorize."

He smiled again, for she was just so unpredictable and full of life. Squall then decided to do something totally out of the ordinary, and planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. She looked at him surprised but pleased, and offered, "Squall, lets just get some fresh air."

Fully aware that this was not a mere suggestion, our friend acquiesced. They rounded the corner, and heard the scream coming from the direction of Squall's room.

"MAH GAWD! MAH LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEG!!!"

Selphie and Squall managed to get to the exit in record time, looking as innocent as two guilty-looking people trying to appear blameless can.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*~ To Be Continued ~*~