Rinoa was pacing up and down the room she now shared with Squall.
"How can I stop him? Seifer will kill him." She held her head in her hands, close to tears. "I can't lose him."
"I won't lose him," she screamed at the top of her voice, thumping her fist as hard as she could into the wall, not noticing the pain, or the blood trickling between her fingers. She was glad she had pretended to be ill. She was glad to be left alone, she needed time to think. "There has to be a way out of this." She threw herself onto the bed. "I need to think." Walking over to the window, she saw her father walking through the grounds. Accompanying him was Seifer.
"I've got it."
"I'll tell them I'm here. I'll go with them. Anything to save Squall." The thought of leaving him was more terrible than anything else, more terrible than her own death, but she couldn't live with his death on her conscience.
"If it wasn't for me, Seifer wouldn't even be here. It's all my fault. The least I can do, is set this right." Tearfully, she took a pen and paper, about to write a goodbye note to the man she loved, when there was a knock at the door. Remembering she was supposed to be sick, she dived into bed, pulling the covers around her chin.
"Come in," she said weakly. Quistis entered through the door, and stood at the foot of the bed.
"I was sent to check on you, miss."
"By who?"
"Lord Leonhart. He was very concerned about your illness."
"He could have come to check on me himself."
"He felt you wouldn't want to see him." Rinoa closed her eyes and made no reply. "If I may be so bold, miss, is this about Prince Seifer?"
"What about him?"
"It's common knowledge by now, miss. The duel, tonight. Everybody's very excited about it."
"Really," replied Rinoa dryly.
"You don't approve, miss?"
"How could I possibly approve? It's suicide!" She coughed weakly, trying to keep up the pretence of being ill.
"Oh, no. That's not true miss. Lord Leonhart is a fighter of unsurpassed skill. He's never been beaten."
"He's that good?" asked Rinoa.
"Yes. He'll be fine tonight. Don't worry miss."
"I have to worry. I know how good Seifer is. I don't want him to get hurt."
"I'm sure he won't. Now, is there anything that you need?" Rinoa shook her head.
"Actually, could you tell me where Squall is?"
"He's in the armoury, miss. Would you like me to take you there?"
"No, thank you. I'll find it myself." Quistis knew that this was her invitation to leave.
"As you wish." She curtseyed before leaving the room.
Half an hour and countless wrong turns later, Rinoa had come to the door of the armoury, finding it slightly ajar. She quietly slipped through the door without making a sound. Inside was Squall, standing in the centre of the room. Looking round, she saw the walls were decorated with every kind of weapon imaginable, swords, maces, crossbows. She stayed in the doorway, not wanting to disturb Squall when he was busy exercising. She could see that Quistis had been telling the truth about his skill as a fighter. She had seen many fighters working out before in the palace, but none had ever made it seem so natural. Every movement of his gunblade seemed instinctive, almost as if he didn't have to think about what he was doing, it just happened. The muscles in his arms and chest seemed to tense without any effort on his part. Rinoa suddenly had second thoughts about leaving. Seeing him training made her realise that he could do this, he had a chance. Finishing his set of movements, Squall turned around.
"Rinoa…I didn't see you there." He grabbed his shirt from a nearby bench and put it on, leaving the buttons undone. He took Rinoa in his arms and held her tightly. "Do you feel better?"
"I guess."
"Look, if it really means that much to you, I'll tell Seifer I don't want to do this. I don't mind everybody thinking I'm a coward as long as I still have you." Rinoa began to cry. Nobody had ever spoken to her like that before, nobody had ever cared about what she thought.
"I can't let you do that. I've changed my mind. If you want to fight Seifer, then you should. I know you have your pride, so I know you won't back down."
"Thank you."
"I…I just want you to know that I'm behind you. I believe in you."
"You do?" Squall seemed genuinely surprised.
"I promise." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her, until their lips were almost touching. "I promise." Unable to resist any longer, he kissed her, knowing that no matter what would happen that evening, she would be there, waiting for him.
Big thanks to:
Renegade Seraph
Angelwhisper
Riona
Tiger Eyes
Chibi Tsuki
Exhile 87
Angelprinczess29
Quodrono
Oujirou-kinya