Chapter 19
Squall was awake but refused to open his eyes for a few minutes. He was enjoying Rinoa's arms around him when he heard her voice.
"Sexy . . . oh sexy," she giggled at her half-seriousness. Rinoa wasn't sure if Squall was awake so she was whispering softly. "If you're sexy you'll open your eyes right now." She didn't expect him to hear her. Rinoa was feeling a little shy from being so straight forward, but then again he couldn't hear her . . . right?
Squall cocked an eyebrow towards her voice with his eyes still closed, and then he opened his eyes. She blushed and her cheeks turn light pink which quickly became a rosy hue. She quickly slid underneath the blankets to hide her shades-of-red face. Her mistake. She gasped and made a slight squeaking sound as she realized they were both naked . . . and she was facing towards him. (Oh Hyne, this can not get any more embarrassing . . . although he is very sexy . . . he he) Rinoa shot up from under the covers and turned her back towards Squall, trying to hide her rainbow shaded face. Squall was quite amused and chuckling at the situation.
His masculine, slightly huskier voice spoke to her: "Oh no you don't." He drew her closer, intentionally snaking a hand around her chest. Surprisingly she didn't flinch and he couldn't resist the comment on his mind, "So how was the view down there?"
If Squall could have seen Rinoa, he would have seen her eyes open wide in shock along with her mouth. (How did he know I was enjoying the view?!) She turned around and grabbed the closest weapon, the pillow. She pulled the pillow over her head to a 'defenseless' Squall and started whacking him on the head with it playfully. "You are such a dork!"
The strong cadet managed to grab her arms and force her to drop the pillow and pinned her underneath him. He grinned, "And proud of it." He let go of her hands as he leaned down to kiss her again.
Rinoa smirked at him. Revenge. She pretended she was leaning in towards the kiss to but suddenly grabbed his sides in a no-mercy tickle fight. Squall rolled off the bed, trying to escape the hands that knew exactly where he was ticklish. She batted her eyelashes at him and flashed Squall her best smile with a wink.
(Damn, women sure know how to win a guy), Squall thought. He put his hands up in the air in a surrendering gesture with a grin.
After a few more minutes, the lovers parted. Squall headed back to his dorm to shower and dress, while Rinoa showered and dressed as well. Then she looked at the letter she had received. She gently opened the letter and recognized the handwriting, one of her few friends from Timber, Zone.
Dearest Princess,
I wish I was writing to you of good news, but circumstance has not deemed it so. I hope you are doing well; Watts and I miss your sweet smile and personality. I still cannot believe you went to become SeeD, but I understand. However, you wanted me to keep you informed of Timber, and I am writing as promised. Timber is now under the occupation of the Galbadians . . . commanded by your father, General Caraway. Watts and I are going to do what you would have done – start a resistance movement. Already, there are several groups forming – The Forest Foxes are just one of them. What do you think of the name the Forest Owls? Owls watch over everything, and are considered one of the wiser birds. You know how to contact me if you need to. I hope things here will go well . . . o-u-c-h! My stomach again! I have to go.
Take care,
Zone
Rinoa gasped and fell to the floor. The war with her father had only begun.
***
Quistis had gotten drunk during the dance, after the fact she was depressed that she had left her new friend down. She let Seifer Almasy of all people distract her. She couldn't remember if he had actually apologized . . . or told her that he cared for her. She attributed those miracles to her drunken state. Unfortunately for her the Garden staff had noticed the drunken instructor and written another remark on her poor behavior. She was definitely not a role model or leader to follow; Quistis couldn't even keep herself out of trouble, even if it was just this one time getting drunk. The garden faculty had noticed her lack of judgment on hanging onto Seifer like a school girl who finally got a boyfriend after Hyne knows how many years. It wasn't the fact she had a boyfriend that bothered them. It was the fact how she displayed herself in public – in front of her students.
She sighed alone in her bed, thinking about Squall - his gregarious nature, charming smile and kind heart. Quistis could not believe she dumped him for Seifer. Then again, Seifer had his charms as well. She was confused about her feelings – she liked Squall right?
***
Squall managed to shower, shave, and dress in a short amount of time. He wanted to surprise Rinoa with a gift he wanted to give to her yesterday – on Valentine's Day. But well, he wasn't exactly going to interrupt any of the events last night to be away from her for even a few minutes. He picked up the square, small velvet box and slipped it in his pocket, heading to Rinoa's room. He grinned upon reaching it and checked that no one was in the halls. Two could play her joke, but he still had a reputation to maintain.
"Sexy . . . oh sexy, are you in there? If you're sexy you'll answer the door," he said in a teasing voice. He was reward with a sweet laugh and the knob turned. He was shocked however, when he saw she was crying.
Squall was speechless for a second, unsure of what to do, what to say to her to make her feel alright. She just reached out for him and he embraced her in a tight hug, letting her cry onto his shoulder. "Baby. . . baby, what's wrong?" Rinoa didn't stop sobbing. Squall gently guided her back into the room, and closed the door behind him. He didn't want other people to see her vulnerable – she would have hated that. Squall stroked her hair with his gloved hand, just letting her cry into him for a few more minutes. Finally she looked up.
Her voice was uneven as the tears threatened to fall from her angelic face once more. "Squall . . . I . . . love you," she choked out before crying again.
Squall tried to make her smile. "And why is this such a bad thing?"
She pulled away from him and sat on the floor, motioning for him to do the same. He complied and Rinoa gazed at him with sad eyes. "I . . . don't want to leave you Squall . . . but this is about my history, my family. I really need to do this to prove I'm not daddy's little girl, and that he can't do whatever he wants."
Squall smiled sadly but gently at the love of his life. "I understand." He wiped a remaining stray tear from her cheek with a gloved finger. "It won't be forever Rinoa. Remember the shooting star? I promised, and I'll hold to that. I know how important family must be . . ." he trailed off. (It's something I've wanted my whole life.) "I love you too much to chain you down with my feelings. If we were meant to be together, it will happen, whether it's a little bit later."
Rinoa smiled at him, feeling relief yet sadness. She knew she had to lead the resistance group. She needed to be free of her father's control, to prove her independence. Then again, she wanted to be with Squall forever. She knew it felt so right, and he had changed her into the woman she was now. No longer was she the bitter angry girl that had run away that night from her father. Now, she saw the good in other people, wanted to help them, befriend them. She had learned to trust people. Rinoa kissed her boyfriend on the lips. She loved the feeling of comfort, protection, love and devotion that only a true knight could give. Squall gave her all of those things.
"When are you leaving?" Squall asked. It took all of his courage not to cry in front of her. He knew he was letting go of his heart, but he didn't care. It belonged to Rinoa and no other woman. He was not going to let his selfish desires to keep her with him overrule the love they shared. She needed this.
"I'm leaving as soon as possible. I'm going this afternoon to Timber. It'll be too hard to say good bye to you otherwise. The shock won't have set in until later . . . I hope." Rinoa laid her head upon Squall's shoulder.
He took the box out of his pocket. "There's something I wanted to give you yesterday . . . for Valentine's Day. It's not much, but I thought it suited you . . . us." Squall open Rinoa's palm and placed the box in her hand.
"Squall . . . you didn't have to." She opened the jewelry box slowly, and gasped at the beautiful ring on the chain she saw. It was a silver delicate chain, with a platinum ring upon it. Then she saw the engraving on the inside of the ring. It read: I love you always. Rinoa looked at her knight with tears shining in her eyes. She hugged him suddenly and tightly. "No one has ever cared for me this much . . . You've changed me by opening your heart to me . . . I want you to know that my heart will always be yours . . . always be open to you." She smiled and placed a kiss upon Squall's lips. He reached over to put the chain with the ring on her – the only necklace she would ever wear.
***
It was a faint rosy hue as dusk approached, covering the world in gentle pastel colors. Squall Leonhart was saying goodbye to the woman who held his heart. They were of one soul. She hugged him tightly as her driver waited in the car to take her to the Balamb train station. "I'll always love you too," she said. With that, Rinoa Heartilly slipped away from his eyes, turning to get in the car so Squall would not see the slow tears running down her face. Angelo was in the backseat, looking sadly at Squall, as if he knew this was goodbye. She still held the rose that he had given her a few minutes earlier. This one was different though, he had placed a single note in the center of the rose for her to find when it bloomed.
He wrote: To the beloved sweet angel I always see walking down the streets, I will forever be your knight – here to hold you when you need it, here to comfort you when you're in distress, here to protect you from all arm, and here to love you for all eternity. As this rose blooms with time – I hope you will come to me when you are ready for me to be your protector once again with time.
Love,
Your Eternal Knight
As the car slowly drove off, tears fell from Squall's chiseled face. His wintry blue-gray eyes held so much emotion – love, longing, and hope. He softly breathed one word, "Shiva," and the ice goddess appeared seeing the lone tear that remained on his face. She mustered a small smile, as much as a deity born of the ice could give. "You know what I ask, except for one thing." He tossed her Amnesia Greens. "I don't want anyone to use this power again. This will be the last time. This is for her. I have to free her from this love so she can achieve her dream. I . . . don't want her to feel pain." Shiva nodded, understanding, and sympathizing, but not feeling sorry for her master. She knew in his heart he had found true love, and that would keep him alive until he saw her again.
Squall smiled with the memory of her, thinking only of his beautiful Rinoa. His heart had not broken like it had when Sis left. It felt strangely healed and complete. He knew she would come back when she finished with her dream of independence, and he would find her under that shooting star.
He spoke softly, concentrating, so that only the goddess could hear. "Amnesia."
-The End-
Author's Notes: To wrap up a few questions this might have raised, but I didn't want to include in the story (due to the fact it would leave an unhappy ..or unhappier? Ending). Why does Rinoa date Seifer if she loves Squall (even if she doesn't remember him)? – Partly because of the note Squall leaves her…she mistakes Seifer for the person who gave her the rose. Why would Squall suddenly change his personality? When he forgets Rinoa, he feels emptiness in his soul, hurt, lost, and pushes out all others, tired of putting out a façade. Any other questions, feel free to send me a message =P
I hope this story has delighted you as much as it has been my hobby for the past month or so. I want to say thanks to everyone that reviewed – it really did brighten my day and to those couple of brave souls (lol, I'm kidding, I don't bite…really!) who sent me an e-mail about the story. The purpose of this story was to get more into why Squall is a lone wolf character, the entire Irvine/Selphie relationship, where Angelo gets his name from…etc. I had fun putting my opinion of how it came to be. After all, we all change with time. . . 'Til the next fic, happy holidays.