Not As Planned

Disclaimer:: I don't own anything..

Chapter 3:: The long trip homeward

" There is something inside me that pulls beneath the surface

Consuming, Confusing

This lack of self control, I fear it is never ending, controlling.."

Rinoa awoke the next morning feeling cold, and slightly crowded, she turned to the other side, and found out why, Squall was there, and he was taking up a good part of the bed. Rinoa sighed slightly and watched him for a few moments. He was awfully handsome, how can someone so peaceful, be such an ignorant, and be a stuck up jerk she wondered, then slowly got out of bed, careful not to wake him. She undressed in a hurry, she had no idea when he might arise and she didn't want to give him an early sight of her. As she tied the last string, Squall groaned and rubbed his eyes. Just in time, she thought sighing with relief. He opened his dazed eyes, and looked at her for a moment.

"Hello.." He grumbled, hugging his pillow slightly.

"..Hello.." She answered looking at him oddly. He yawned once more, then started smacking his lips.

"When do you think you will get off your back?" Rinoa asked, slightly annoyed with all his yawning.

"Do you wish to get on your back?" He asked rubbing his eyes. Rinoa stomped her foot, fuming now.

" I wish , good sir, to leave before day breaks, so we may get to our future home.." Rinoa said calmly, and Squall sat up.

"All right, you shall go get me some breakfast then, so I can prepare myself for departure." Squall said lying back down. Rinoa smiled slightly and left the room, instead of heading down toward the kitchens, she walked out of the inn, toward the stables.

After a good half an hour, they were saddled and ready to depart. Squall pulled himself off to his horse, looking hard at Rinoa.

"I assumed you were going to bring my breakfast." He asked her, his voice tight. Rinoa just looked at him.

"You got what you deserved." She said shortly, trotting ahead. Squall just glared after her, kicking the side of his horse, moving forward. Zell and Irivine rode on either side of the Squall, the three of them talking, while Quistis and Rinoa enjoyed each other's company.

"She's a fiery one, my lord." Zell said nodding toward Rinoa.

"If you do not mind, I would rather speak of something else." Squall muttered.

"Some one is a very unhappy Lord, might if you had breakfast, your mood would change slightly." Irivine said smirking slightly. Squall just glared at him then looked forward. The weather hadn't changed much, it was cold, and windy. But to make matters worse, it had decided to rain. Rinoa pulled her hood upward covering her head, along with everyone else. Squall was having some problems, since his hood kept falling over his eyes, and his horse was very jumpy due to the weather. Lighting flashed above them, spooking some of the horse, but Squall's horse took off. Squall pulled back onto the reigns but the horse just stood up on his hind legs, kicking outward. Squall's bags and things were falling off the horse, as did Squall after this. The horse fell to it's feet and bolted into the forest, clear out of sight. Zell and Irivine jumped down, helping their lord to his feet.

"Are you all right my lord?" Zell asked scanning him, seeing if there was any cuts or damage. Squall shook his head firmly.

"I am fine, just horseless." He added as Irivine picked up his things.

"Well we can put some of the baggage on each horse." Quistis said nodding.

"But who is the Lord going to ride with?" Irivine asked looking at Squall. They all knew it was out of the question that Squall ride with one of the other men, due to certain reasons. So it was down to Quistis and Rinoa. Squall winced slightly, thinking about riding with Rinoa.

" Well, Rinoa is the smallest out of the two of us, you would have more room." Quistis said looking from Rinoa to Squall. Rinoa glanced at Squall, then back at Quistis. She knew that Quistis was trying to do the best thing, but this wasn't what she wanted, and looking at Squall's facial expression it wasn't what he wanted either. The lighting had ceased, when Squall and Rinoa finally position themselves good enough to sit almost commutable. Rinoa was sitting in Squall's lap, while Squall reached around her and held onto the reigns.

"Wow, this is cozy." Rinoa said sarcastically. Squalls choose to ignore her and that comment. He shifted slightly, and Rinoa sighed in annoyance.

"What is the problem?" He asked quickly it was hard to ignore her, she was pressed against him, and it was all he could do, not to think about her body and other things. Squall cleared his throat trying not to focus on her body, but more on her personality.

" I wish you were sitting in my lap." She answered shortly.

"Why do you wish such an odd thing?" He asked looking confused.

'Cause I do not shift every hill top." She answered again.

"I am not at all happy about this arrangement either, but I am trying to cope with it." Squall said, getting angry.

"Which arrangement are you trying hard at? Oh, I understand, me sitting on your lap, not our soon to be marriage." Rinoa said in a normal voice, but her body was giving her away. She was tensing up, and it wasn't really hard for Squall to notice this, since she was pretty much on top of him.

" You give me to much credit, I do believe you deserve some too." Squall whispered into her ear, she shivered slightly. His voice in her ear, sent shivers all over her body, Rinoa did not understand why, but for some reason she enjoyed the brief moment. She quickly dismissed it.

" Yes, I believe I do also." She nodded. Squall smirked slightly to himself, proud of himself for beating her in a little argument.

" Well good then." He said simply, trying to get the last word.

"Fine." She answered.

"Fine." He repeated. They were acting like little kids, Squall knew this, but he enjoyed beating her at something, and even if the level was dropped to bickering he wanted to win somehow. They didn't speak for a while, Squall shifted about 6 times before Rinoa said.

"You know, if you ride my often and do not shift, your body might get use to it." Rinoa said slowly, she was trying to help, but she didn't want him to think she was doing it just for himself. He was digging into her, and it wasn't bothering her as much as she wished it would.

" I do ride." He grumbled, then sighed slightly.

" You do ride do you? Hmm, well I ride, and I do not shift." Rinoa said still looking forward. Squall glared at her hair then grumbled.

"You are a women, you do not weigh as much." He said lamely.

"Yes, Yes that must be it, thank you good sir." She said her voice dripping with sarcasm.

" You know, you do not have to be such a little wench." He growled in her ear.

" Since we are speaking freely now, you do not have to be such a giant arrogant, self centered..." Rinoa started.

"Hey! We're coming up to the home." Zell shouted, interrupting they're bickering.

" Thank the good spirit." Squall muttered loudly. Rinoa sighed quietly, she was getting sick of bickering it took a lot of her, she hated being so mean to be. Squall frowned at her slightly then sighed looking upward.

"I'm sorry for my behavior." Squall said shortly.

"As am I." Rinoa nodded once looking forward.

"Yes, you should be." He said stupidly. That was it, Rinoa was getting amazingly annoyed with him, so she decided to play a little game with him.

" I do hope the ride is very short, something of Squall is digging into me." She said rather loudly. Squall tensed up slightly, and he started coughing rapidly, while Irivine almost fell off his horse laughing. They slowed down, making a circle.

" Rinoa and I will go to the tavern, and introduce ourselves, before we retire." Squall announced for Rinoa, and turned their horse toward the town, and trotted off that way.

" I was hoping to retire to the house right away." Rinoa said softly.

"I understand, I do not want to do this either, but I have to introduce my soon to be wife, and make plans for the wedding." He nodded slightly, slowing down now. Rinoa sighed and leaned back against him now, she was growing tired and he was a perfect pillow. Squall looked down at her, completely shocked of her action; she was now leaning her full weight against his chest. Squall had a moment where he just wanted to keeping riding onward, with her leaning against him. But all thoughts come to an end, as they reached the tavern. Rinoa slid off the horse, as Squall jumped down beside her. He offered his arm to her, she looked at it, then at him. He knew what she was doing, making sure that he knew, she was only doing this for sure. He sighed slightly with impatience and nodded slightly, indicting that he understood. She took his arm slowly, and they entered the tavern. Everyone glanced their way then looked back at what they were doing beforehand. Squall scanned through the tavern, then smiled to himself.

"Come." He said shortly tugging Rinoa in the direction of a blonde hair man, his back turned to them.

"Seifer!" Squall called out, and the man turned. Rinoa stopped for a second seeing the man's face, as he looked shocked to see her. Squall looked between them, looking confused.

"Do you two know one another?" He asked looking at Seifer, who had the exact same scar as Squall, but going the opposite way. Seifer nodded dumbly, looking at Rinoa. Rinoa curtsied quickly, and Seifer bowed, both of them remembering their manners.

"Yes, Yes, we have met before." Seifer said quietly then shook his head firmly, releasing himself from his trance.

" Where, and when?" Squall pressed, he didn't like the way Rinoa was looking at Seifer. Seifer nodded slightly, still watching Rinoa.

"We use to be lovers actually, a long, long time ago." He said shortly, smiling slightly. Squall controlled himself, he didn't like this at all. He looked at Rinoa.

'Why did you not tell me this?" He asked sharply. Rinoa glanced at him then back at Seifer.

"I did not know you knew him, sorry I am not a witch and cannot see into the future." She said smugly. A few laughs were heard, Squall teeth were grinding, and she was embarrassing him, and stirring his blood.

"Yes, we were lovers at a point in time, but no longer." Rinoa said slowly, hurt in her voice. Seifer frowned slightly and turned back around. Rinoa looked at Squall and tugged gently on his arm.

"Can we please retire, we've had a long trip here." She said, pleading slightly. Squall smirked and removed her arm from him.

" No we can not, we will stay for a bit." He said smoothly. Rinoa glared at him, and shook her head slightly. Seifer turned quickly looking at Squall.

" Retire Squall, she is tired, both of you look tired. You should rest, plus half of these men, have had to many spirits to have a clear mind to met such a women." Seifer added looking at Rinoa. Squall glared at Seifer then back at Rinoa.

" Seifer, I should introduce her to you, even though you to already know one and other. Rinoa is going to be my wife." He said shortly, smirking slightly at the frown on Seifer's face. After a moment he said slowly.

"I see, I congratulate you Squall, she is quite the catch." He nodded and bowed to Rinoa, then left them.

" You did not have to do that you know." Rinoa said slowly, looking at Squall.

"Do what my lady?" Squall asked still smirking. She sighed and shook her head, looking sad and hurt.

"That, what you just did to Seifer, is he not your friend" She asked looking him in the eye.

"But did you not say he was my foe before you met him?" He asked sharply. Rinoa frowned deeper now, she didn't know how to respond to that.

" If you are curious, Seifer and I were not lovers for long, he was not faithful to me.." She said slowly, looking away. Squall saw that this fact must have hurt her deep, then she turned to him, her voice quivering slightly.

" Do not worry, I have no reason to believe you will be either." She said, her voice breaking slightly. He suddenly felt a warmth toward her, felt like he needed to protect her. He grabbed her arms and pulled her toward him sharply into a hug.

Rinoa wasn't sure how he'd take her last comment, when he grabbed her, she was thinking the worst, but she was shocked to find, his arms around her, and herself pressed against him. She blinked a few times, and just stood there letting him hug her, her defense system went down a little bit, and a thought of caring for this man entered, then it was kicked out as fast as it had come. She pushed away from Squall firmly and breathed slightly.

"Shall we retire?" She said firmly, then turning and leaving the tavern. Squall blinked a few times, slightly confused by her sudden departure from him, but he shook his head. He walked out after her, muttering to himself about his weak moment for her.