The Final Fantasy: Part I

¡°You¡¯re still my number One¡± BoA, Korean pop singer

By: Walking Contradiction a.k.a AznHaNa

A fanfiction of Squaresoft¡¯s ¡°Final Fantasy VIII¡±

Chapter Three: According to Plan¡¦

She couldn¡¯t hold out any longer; there was no more time to waste. Rinoa had to carry out her plan NOW. General Caraway was now getting suspicious of the missing acceptance letters, and he declared to take action on the matter. Rinoa tried to act casual, suggesting that the universities¡¯ mail took a substantial time to sort out.

¡°It takes a while,¡± Rinoa insisted, flipping back her hair, exasperatedly.

Caraway shook his head. ¡°Not this long. Something must have went wrong. I think I¡¯ll go and contact the schools right away.¡± He stood up to walk towards his office.

Rinoa hurriedly ran over and stood in front of him. ¡°No! Oh, well, I mean¡¦that is¡¦¡± Without thinking, she threw her arms around her father and squeezed with all her might. ¡°I love you, father!¡± She blushed madly. She had to resort to this.

General Caraway raised an eyebrow and tried to free her grip of him. ¡°Uh¡¦I love you too, Rinoa. Now, can you please let me go?¡±

Rinoa burst out crying, hot tears spilling down her cheeks. She flushed the mixed feelings of frustration and agitation out of her system. ¡®This better work,¡¯ she prayed to herself.

¡°Father! I am such a horrible daughter! I just realized how much pain I¡¯ve caused you during the past few years!¡± Rinoa covered up her face with one hand, dramatically; the other hand over her heart. She almost gagged at how corny her little demonstration was.

¡°I do not deserve to be your daughter! If I don¡¯t get into these schools, then I¡¯ll be failing you once more! Oh, the utter shame! The embarrassment!¡± Rinoa put up such a passionate show that even General Caraway was shocked. He rushed over to his hysterical daughter and threw his arms around her.

¡°Oh, my poor little lamb! There, there! Don¡¯t cry, my sweet dumpling. It¡¯s alright!¡±

Rinoa forced herself to cry harder, loud hiccups coming from her throat. Caraway began to have second thoughts about calling the schools at this moment. It was much too tender of a time. If she was acting this way now, imagine how she would react when she, heaven forbid, didn¡¯t get into the schools. General Caraway had seen and heard news about teenagers being suicidal and taking drugs because they were unhappy and depressed. What if this little episode of hers grew into a greater dilemma? His pulse quickened at the thought.

¡®This cannot happen! I¡¯ll never allow it!¡¯ he thought, panicked. Worries of Rinoa getting into college suddenly switched to worries of Rinoa hanging herself.

¡°Rinoa, angel! What do you say we take a little trip down to Balamb to go fishing with your old dad! You used to love fishing when you were young. What do you say?¡±

Rinoa still had her face covered, but grinned, knowing that her plan worked.

¡°I-I-I don¡¯t know, father,¡± she stuttered, softly. ¡°¡¦if that¡¯s alright with you.¡±

¡°Of course it¡¯s alright!¡± Caraway said, a little too joyously. ¡°It¡¯s such a pleasant day to go fishing! Just let me go get my rods and bait, and we¡¯ll head off this very instant!¡±

Rinoa almost leaped. ¡®He¡¯s doing all my dirty work for me! Now, I¡¯ll just have to sneak away from him when he least expects it. Then, I¡¯ll cleverly disguise myself to get into Balamb Garden. I¡¯ll get to see Squall again!¡¯ Her heart jumped with a sudden burst of happiness and she screamed with joy on the inside. On the outside, however, Rinoa still had puffy, reddened eyes and tears drying on her cheeks, looking absolutely pitiful.

¡°Just let me see my schedule, hon, okay? You stay here and order Gretel to cook up something for you. Cookies, perhaps? I¡¯ll be right back.¡± The general hurried himself out of the room.

Rinoa began to laugh, in spite of herself. In a few hours, she would have her freedom. Her dark eyes glistened at the streaming river of thoughts in her mind. She imagined revealing herself to Squall, and he¡¯d be genuinely surprised. She¡¯d have to hide out in his dorm, but that was okay. More time to spend with him, anyway. Rinoa smiled. She wondered how much he changed during the two years time apart from each other. Then, she wondered how her other friends were doing: Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Zone, and Watts. She longed to see them. As good thoughts still ran through her head, Rinoa didn¡¯t realize her crestfallen father enter the room again.

¡°Rinoa?¡±

She jumped a little, her river of thoughts suddenly dammed. She put on her pitiful look again. ¡°Yes, father?¡±

The General shook his head. ¡°Bad news, I¡¯m afraid, dear. I need to be at Dollet today to hold a meeting with some of Galbadia¡¯s representatives. There is no way I can miss this, darling, it¡¯s too significant of a gathering. I¡¯m truly sorry.¡±

Rinoa¡¯s face fell. ¡°W-well, how about tomorrow, then?¡±

Her father shook his head once more. ¡°The meeting is going to last more than a week, I¡¯m afraid. We¡¯ll have to reschedule our jovial vacation to a different time.¡±

Rinoa wanted to throw something. ¡°More than a week?¡±

¡°Maybe even a month,¡± the general sighed. ¡°Are you disappointed, dear?¡±

¡®No, dad, I¡¯m really ecstatic about hearing this!¡¯ Rinoa wanted to say. But, she simply said, ¡°Of course not.¡±

Caraway smiled and pulled out his black, leather-bound organizer. ¡°To ensure that we are going to do this,¡± he said, filling in a page with a ball-point pen, ¡°I¡¯m taking a day off three weeks from now, on March, the third. He shut his organizer. ¡°Mark that day, sweetheart, because that¡¯s when we¡¯ll be heading off.¡±

Rinoa cringed, but managed to smile. ¡°Okay¡¦sure.¡±

There was no way she could escape now! Rinoa had tried it before. Her house was like a prison. Deling¡¯s best guards and police had her house surrounded at all hours. That¡¯s how important her father was. Security cameras and lasers surrounded the area thoroughly, inside and out. Rinoa was trapped. She had to wait three weeks before seeing her Squall again. Some plan!

Rinoa sniffed a little, real tears now pouring from her eyes. ¡°Squall¡¦I¡¯ll be there soon. I just hope you didn¡¯t listen to the rumors about me¡¦¡± She curled herself into a little ball on the expensive couch in the dining room, and softly began to cry.

**** **** **** Back at Balamb **** **** ****

Now that the Garden was mobile, missions were easier to accomplish. With several ships and the ragnarok in tow, Balamb became the number one Garden. It was not long ago that Galbadia was the number one military academy, but they were marked with a bad reputation for ¡°hush-hush¡± matters nobody spoke of. Nowadays, speculations pointed out that Galbadia had raised doomed dictators and troublesome sorceresses. The most recent tabloid was that the late President Deling graduated from the Galbadia Garden; and, almost everyone knew that Sorceress Ultimecia reigned there. It was truly an embarrassing and inauspicious time for Galbadia. They hid themselves from the spotlight ever since.

19-year old Selphie Tilmitt clumsily ran out of the Balamb elevator, pushing several students out of her way. ¡°Watch it!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Ow, that hurt!¡± were usually the daily phrases she first heard each morning. ¡°Ooh, I¡¯m really going to be late!¡± she wailed, the papers in her arms fluttering away, one by one, as she scorched through the hallway. Suddenly, she met resistance without realizing it, and she fell to the ground with an unceremonious ¡°Boom!¡±

¡°Selphie?¡±

¡°Owwiiieeee,¡± she cried, rubbing the sore spot on her forehead. She looked up and suddenly jumped. ¡°Ah, ah, Commander Leonhart! Hi!¡±

Squall rolled his eyes. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be teaching a class¡¦.twenty minutes ago?¡±

Selphie looked down at her watch. ¡°Oh, God!¡± Straightening out her wrinkled white blouse, she hurriedly zoomed off in the opposite direction. ¡°Sorry, Squall! Er¡¦I mean Commander Leonhart! It won¡¯t ever happen again—Augh!¡± There was a loud crashing sound heard from across the hallway. ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± she called.

¡°Whatever,¡± Squall muttered under his breath. He knew it would happen again. This always happened every morning. He wondered if it really was a good idea assigning her to teach Basic Weaponry 101. He sighed, and walked on. Same thing every morning: He¡¯d go to his office, go over the events of the day, assign himself to a couple of missions, get banged up, bandaged, and go to sleep. It was really getting quite boring. The one thing that got him through the day were thoughts of Rinoa. Even though he knew she was engaged and probably didn¡¯t want to see him ever again, Squall still loved her. He¡¯d never have the same feelings for anybody else. Caught up in the bittersweet memories of his former girlfriend, he didn¡¯t realize that he bumped into something. Now, it was his turn to rub his forehead. That ¡°something¡± turned out to be a ¡°someone.¡±

¡°Excuse me, oh! I¡¯m incredibly sorry,¡± a feminine voice gasped.

Squall stopped rubbing his forehead and looked up. He almost gasped himself. Looking straight into his eyes was one of the most beautiful women he¡¯d ever seen. She was almost as tall as he was, with long, dark, midnight-blue hair that fell to her waist, large sapphire eyes framed with dark eyelashes, and ivory skin that was quite striking to her dark features. Her eyes twinkled into his own.

¡°Hello, Commander Leonhart. I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t recognize me, and I¡¯m not surprised that you don¡¯t. My name¡¯s Pavlova Lock, and I¡¯m a third year SeeD. Pleased to meet you.¡± She held out her hand.

Squall didn¡¯t take it, but kept his steady gaze fixed on her. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be in class?¡±

Pavlova smiled seductively. ¡°No, sir. I am excused from classes because I¡¯ve mastered them all when I was fifteen. But, I do need to assign myself missions for today.¡±

Squall was used to being bombarded by girls, but this one seemed to be a bit more unusual than the others. He couldn¡¯t feel her aura around him, and it was fascinated him, even though it was sort of creepy.

¡°I see. Alright, Ms. Lock, come with me, and I¡¯ll assign you some missions. We have an opening in FH and Centra.¡±

Pavlova nodded. ¡°I am truly honored by your presence, commander. I¡¯ll be happy with whatever you give me.¡±

Squall kept feeling unusual around her. ¡®What is this feeling? What is wrong with me? I haven¡¯t felt this way ever since¡¦¡¯ His faced turned bright red. ¡®No, no! Rinoa is my soulmate. I can feel her aura all the way from wherever she is. I¡¯m sure she can feel mine, as well. But, then again¡¦¡¯ Squall sighed. ¡®She is taken.¡¯

Pavlova¡¯s attractive face turned to Squall as they walked through the hall together. ¡°I hope we get to know each other well,¡± she said, softly.

Squall gulped. ¡°Uh¡¦yeah, uh-huh¡¦¡±

Pavlova smiled at him sweetly before turning her face back in front. She had a wicked twinkle in her eyes.

¡®Pretty soon, Ms. Mysterious, your Squall will be my Squall¡¦.¡±

To be continued¡¦

*Will Pavlova really get with Squall?