Disclaimer: I don't own FF8...
Author's Note: Thank you VERY, VERY much for all of your reviews! I'm so happy that you guys like this! To all of my reviewers: You all don't know how happy your reviews make me! When I first started writing on FF.net, I didn't have very much self-confidence. Thanks to all of you for helping me to gain some.
Rhapsody
Chapter 3- The Article
Rinoa opened her eyes, and rolled over to her side. 6:30 am...Quistis and Selphie will be up soon... She just knew that they would be full of questions about the way Squall had reacted last night. She really didn't feel up to talking about him, and explaining his actions. How was she supposed to explain the way Squall reacted, when she couldn't even figure it out? Sighing, Rinoa stood up and got dressed. Buttoning her blue duster, she
crept quietly out of her room, and shut the door gently, so as not to wake Selphie and Quistis.
Once outside, Rinoa wasn't sure where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get away. I am just a magnet for horrible men, aren't I? She asked herself. Another part of her was saying that Squall wasn't horrible at all...that he was far from it. Something about those eyes had intrigued her. She could never forget those icy blue orbs. It doesn't matter! Even if I did feel something for him, there is no way that he returned it. She thought sadly. Then why did he save you? Another voice seemed to say. He was just looking out for a girl at a club. That's what he called you, remember? You're nothing but a girl to him.
Looking up, she realized that she was outside of the Caraway Mansion...her old home. What am I doing here? I always avoid taking this street...so how did I end up here? Brushing it off, she began to walk away, trying to forget about her mother and the memories that house brought up.
"Rinoa? Is that you?" A voice called.
Rinoa turned around, and her gaze turned cold. "What do you want, Caraway?" She snapped.
"You still can't bring yourself to call me 'dad', can you?" Caraway sighed. "I suppose that I should have given up by now..."
"Is there a reason that you called me? I was enjoying a peaceful walk, up until now." She glared at him.
"You seemed to be deep in thought. Is anything the matter?" He asked, genuine concern in his voice.
"Everything is fine, not that it's any business of yours."
Caraway winced. "Well, how about Seifer. How's he doing? Still the cocky rascal, I bet." He chuckled.
"Seifer and I are no longer together. I caught him...cheating on me." She said softly.
Caraway was furious. "Cheating on you?! That son of a bitch!"
"It makes no difference now, does it?" She snapped. Seeing the stricken look on Caraway's face, she softened her tone. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I really should be going now." She said as she turned to go.
"Rinoa, w-wait." He called.
"Yes?" She asked impatiently.
"I...I really..." He trailed off. "Forget about it, it's not important. Have fun at the club, Rinoa." He said as he walked away.
How does he know about the club? She looked up to ask him, but it was too late. He was already safely inside the mansion. Sighing, she turned around and made her way back to the Star.
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"Squall? Squall, are you in there?" Irvine called as he knocked on Squall's door.
Squall groaned. What the hell does he want at this time of the morning? Muttering curses under his breath, Squall got up and opened the door. "What?" He asked coldly.
"Cid wants to see you." Irvine told him.
"What the hell does Cid want at 7:00 in the morning?" Squall asked incredulously.
Irvine shrugged. "Beats me. All he said to me was to come and get you. I don't have any idea what it's about."
Sighing, Squall exited his dorm. "Fine. This better be good, though." He said as he tried desperately to stifle a yawn, but failed.
"Looks like somebody didn't get much sleep last night. Could it be because he was thinking about a certain singer?" Irvine teased.
"Whatever." Squall said, trying to get away from Irvine. Unfazed, Irvine began following him. "Excuse me, Irvine, but did Cid ask for you, as well?"
"Nope. Only you." Irvine said happily. He was definitely relived that Cid hadn't wanted to see him. Squall usually got dumped with all of the problems anyway.
"Then why the hell are you following me into the elevator?" He asked.
Looking around, Irvine realized that he was in the elevator. Smiling sheepishly, he said, "Oops. I didn't realize that we were here already. You can tell me all about this Heartilly chick later." He said as he winked and walked off.
Please. Squall thought to himself. Could Irvine be any more perverted? Sighing to himself, he got out of the elevator and made his way to Cid's office, knocking on the door.
"Come in." Cid called.
Squall entered the room and saluted. "You wanted to see me, Sir?"
"Yes, that's right." Cid said. "Have a seat, Squall."
Squall did as he was told. "Excuse me for asking, Sir, but what is this all about?"
Cid chuckled. "Ah, it looks to me like my message woke you up." He smiled knowingly. "Tough night?"
"Whatever. Sir, please get to the point." Squall said, clearly annoyed.
"Yes, well...the reason why I called you here is because of this." Cid picked up a newspaper from the top of his desk. "Take a look at this article." He told him.
Squall grabbed it from Cid's grip. The page was folded over to one side. On the page was an article titles "Top Ranking Seed Saves Singer." The article read as follows:
Sometimes ex-boyfriends can be very vicious. A perfect example of this was last
night at the Star Club in Deling City. New singer, Rinoa Heartilly, was singing
her newest song 'Just A Girl'. The song was apparently about her ex-boyfriend,
Seifer Almasy. Upon finishing the song, Almasy stormed the stage and shoved
Heartilly roughly to the ground. Things were really starting to heat up, when
a man came to her defense. We later found out that this man was none other
than Squall Leonhart, a top SeeD at Balamb Garden, which is currently
stationed right outside of Deling City. After exchanging words with Almasy,
Almasy fled the club in a rage. Ms. Heartilly seemed very happy with this new
stranger, however, it didn't last too long. A short while later, Leonhart left
the Star, clearly upset. There is no further information about the connection
between Almasy, Leonhart, and Heartilly at this time.
To the right of the article was a picture of Squall and Seifer exchanging words from the previous night. Also included in the picture was a very terrified looking Rinoa. "Where did this come from?" Squall asked.
"The Deling Times." Cid answered. "People are also telling me that this same article was published on the Balamb View, as well." He sighed. "Why didn't you tell me about this, Squall?"
"There wasn't anything to tell. The girl was in trouble, that's it." Squall pushed some of his bangs out of his eyes. "I'm a trained SeeD. I just thought that I would help a girl in need."
"So the fact that Seifer was involved had nothing to do with it?" Cid asked skeptically.
"Whatever. It's none of your business." Squall said coldly.
Cid chuckled to himself. "You'll never change, will you? You can't keep your feelings inside forever, Squall."
"I don't have time for this." Squall told him. "I need to warn Rinoa."
"Warn Rinoa? What are you talking about?" Cid asked.
"Nothing. May I go now, Sir?" He asked impatiently.
Cid nodded. "You may go, but don't get into any trouble."
Squall saluted and left the office. Don't get into any trouble? Who the hell does he think I am? Squall shook his head. Forget it. I have to warn Rinoa about the article. If Seifer sees it...
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"Oh my God." Rinoa said in shock.
"What is it?" Selphie asked. "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"
"Rinoa?" Quistis waved her hand in front of Rinoa, but she still didn't respond. "Rinoa!" She exclaimed.
Rinoa jumped. "Hmm?"
"What's wrong? What does that newspaper say that has gotten you so worked up?" Quistis asked.
"Here." Rinoa handed her the article. "See for yourself."
Quistis read the article and then handed it to Selphie. "This can't be good." Selphie said.
"What am I going to do?" Rinoa asked. "If Seifer has seen this, then he's on his way here right now."
"Don't worry." Quistis assured her. "He can't see you unless we let him, which we wont. I'll go tell Tim not to let him in the club." Quistis said as she left.
Rinoa nodded. "Selphie, didn't you tell me that you had to go to the music store for your drums?"
"Yeah, but I'm not just gonna leave you here alone with Seifer on the loose!" She exclaimed.
"Don't worry about it, Selphie. He probably hasn't even seen the article. Even if he has, Tim and Quistis are downstairs and they won't let Seifer up here." Rinoa smiled. "Please, go to the store."
"Oh, alright. You promise you're gonna be okay, right?"
"I promise."
"Alrighty! I'll see ya later, Rin!" Selphie waved and bounced out of the room.
The first thing Rinoa did was lock the door. She didn't want to take any chances of Seifer getting in. Sighing, she plopped down in a chair and picked up the article again. Her eyes traveled to the picture on the right side of the page. She looked as horrified as she had felt. Squall didn't look horrified at all. You could tell by the picture that Seifer was intimidated by him.
She jumped as there was a knock at the dorr. She froze in terror as the person knocked again. "Seifer..." She whispered.
"Rinoa?" The person called.
It doesn't sound like Seifer, but who...?
"Rinoa, are you okay?" Oh God, maybe Seifer has already gotten to her. "Rinoa, is Seifer in there with you?"
Squall... "Rinoa ran to the door and pulled it open. When she saw Squall standing there, with that look of concern on his face, she threw her arms around him. "Squall! I thought you were Seifer."
Squall slowly pulled away. "Has Seifer threatened you?"
"No, but when I saw that article in the newspaper..."
"That's why I came here. To warn you about the article. When you weren't answering, I thought..." He trailed off and looked away embarrassedly.
Rinoa smiled. "Thank you for coming, Squall." She paused. "Um...would you like to come to the club Friday night?" She asked shyly.
"I...well..." What do I say?
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Rinoa told him.
"I'd...I'd love to." He said finally.
Rinoa began jumping up and down. "Great!" She grinned. "I better get writing!"
"Writing?" Squall asked.
"I'm not even scheduled to perform, but I can persuade Tim to let me. The only thing is...I don't have a song."
"That could be a problem." Squall said.
"I don't think it will." Rinoa smiled. "I've just been inspired."
Author's Note: Stay tuned for a new song from Rinoa and please drop me review ^_^