What's love got to do with it?

(a.k.a Not as Planned)

Disclaimer:: I don't own anything, blah, blah, blah, and blah

The Proposal

" I wanna feel the way you make me feel,

When I am with you

I wanna be the only hand you need to hold onto

But every time I call, you don't have time

I guess I'll never get to call you mine."

Rinoa had been sitting in a chair in the library for a good 3 hours now, waiting for Squall to come and say he was sorry for his actions and his words. Each minute that passed by, it seemed less likely that he was going to come and say sorry to her. But she almost fell out of her chair, when she heard the door open then shut, then footsteps echo from the room. She sighed and wrapped her finger around a lock of hair, then she slowly stood up and turned to face him. But it wasn't him, it was the one person she didn't feel like seeing at that moment. Seifer. He smirked slightly putting his hands on his hips, cocky as ever.

"Yes?" She asked looking annoyed now. He merely just smirked.

" I heard you were here, and I decided to have a audience with you." He stepped toward her; in return she took a step back.

" I decide who I wish to have a conference with Seifer, and at this moment in time, I rather not have one with you, pardon me, I'm going to bed." She stated and moved past him, he stuck out his arm to block her path, and stared at her.

"What is your hurry?" He asked watching her carefully.

"I have had a long day's ride, and long day in general. I do not need to explain my matters to you; you are the guest in this house. I demand some respect." She snapped, trying to move past him again, but he tightened his arm.

" You are fiery aren't you?" He laughed slightly then stared at her. Her eyes met his, and for a few moments they just stared at each other.

"I am sorry." He broke the silence frowning slightly.

"You are forgiven." She stated softly, he nodded and moved to hug her, or maybe more, but she stepped back, holding her hands up.

" It was a statement, not an invention." She said coolly watching his jaw clench slightly. He sighed slightly, taking a step back watching her carefully.

"I understand that, you are what I've always wanted you know." He growled slightly. She raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Really? Funny how time does that." She said sarcastially . She then pushed his arm and moved past him. He turned and grabbed her roughly dragging her back toward him.

" Rinoa, listen to me, I know I have been stupid, but please do give me another chance to prove my loyalty to you." He said quickly holding on to her.

'You had one chance, is that not enough?" She answered tugging, trying to free herself from his grip. Seifer squeezed her arm harder now, she whined slightly and pulled free of him.

" Once is never enough." He smirked slightly taking a step toward her.

"Once is enough for me, and if you lay a finger on me, I shall call for Squall, and I highly doubt he will be happy to see us together." She answered taking another step away from him. Seifer stopped and crossed his arms across his chest, his eyes closed, he looked like he was in deep thought.

"Yes, about that little problem, I shall have to convince Squall not to take you as his bride..." He muttered more to himself then to her.

"And why is that?" She asked looking confused now.

" I want you as my bride.." He smirked watching her.

"I do not want to be your bride, Seifer." She said quickly.

"You wish to be Lady Squall Leonhart then?" He asked, smirking again. He knew that was the last thing she wanted, and what Squall wanted. Seifer smirked slightly, this was a game for him. Rinoa and himself were lovers a long time ago, he had found her fun and tasteful for a while, then his fire burned for another. He wished to have both of them, just in case one left him, or proved worthless. So he played his little game for about a week, but Rinoa was smarter then he had guessed and figured out what was going on. She left him right after that, dismissed him from her mind. But now, he was causing her internal struggle, a battle between old fire, and new hatred. She might not hate Squall, but she wasn't enjoying his company at this moment. Quistis had told him about the fight they had endured earlier today, Quistis told him everything. She fancied him, he knew, and he took it for advanced, to be used in his favor. She was helping him steal Rinoa away from Squall. One might think that this was an act of love, but it wasn't. Seifer would care less about Rinoa at this present time, maybe beforehand his words might be true, about him actually wanting her for his wife. No, this was different. This battle he was fighting was against Squall, Rinoa was just a toy in a large plot. Seifer and Squall were rivals, they hid they're jealously for each other under the title of " friends". But every since that one spar where they had both walked away with a scar across their faces, they found themselves pinned against one another. Seifer now, was just on a battlefield, out to take everything that Squall had, or maybe even wanted from him. First Rinoa, then his household. It would all come in time. He smirked nodding slightly to himself, but Rinoa's voice brought him back from his thoughts.

" I shall ask you one last time, please to leave Seifer." Rinoa sighed, she rubbed her eyes slightly, and she looked tired, both physically and mentally. Seifer nodded once, and bowed then stood up straight.

"Do not forget I care about you Rinoa, I would support you. You do want someone you marry to care about you correct? Here is your sure chance." He added, then turned leaving her to her thoughts.

Rinoa sighed and returned to her chair, it was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open now. Seifer had brought more troubles to her thoughts and they were starting to weigh down on her. She sighed once more, and leaned against the chair, staring at the fire before her. The flames dancing brought back the day's memories across her mind. Squall and Seifer's looks at her, then at each other, Squall and her fighting, Seifer's words now. None of this made much sense, if Squall had told her the truth, if she was really plain, why did Seifer wish her to be his? Then again, Rinoa stood up and faced a mirror looking at herself. She didn't think of herself plain, but she never thought of herself an imagine. She tilted her head to the side slightly, sighing, then moved back to sit down once more. Leaning her head against the soft fabric she closed her eyes.

"I am not plain, he is just an .." Rinoa yawned slightly then fell asleep in the chair near the fire.

Squall grumbled walking toward the library, he had been dreading this moment for the last 3 hours, and a quarter. He did not want to say he was sorry for his fight with Rinoa, he rather not think about it. He had been wrong, he knew that. The things he said caused his stomach to make a weird noise. Rubbing his eyes, he took the handle of the door, and pushed it open. Removing his hand from his eyes, he scanned the area, it was large. He finally spotted a hand dangling from the chair near the fire, Squall cleared his throat and started over toward it.

"Rinoa.." He said looking at the chair. He paused waiting for an answer, but after a moment he walked around to the front of the chair, looking at the sleeping figure of Rinoa. He breathed a breath of relief, he would not have to say he was sorry tonight. He moved toward her, then stopped looking at her. How could he ever have said she was plain? It seemed just..wrong. Words didn't describe his foolishness. She was perfect, raven colored hair, with a tint of another color in it. Her face was flawless and even better she was smiling, and sleeping. Two things he had not seen her do for a long time. He slowly reached around her, picking her off the chair. Her skin was so soft, had he noticed that when they were fighting. No, he was busy, but not anymore. It seemed like everything was sticking out, like he was actually seeing her for the first time. He left the library with her in his arms, he wasn't looking ahead of him, but instead down at her. So peacefully, he thought, then wondered how she would be so different when she was awake? When they reached their quarters, Squall nudged the door open and moved toward the bed, placing her on her side. He slowly removed her shoes from her feet, making sure not to awake her. He was enjoying the quiet of her, and he didn't want her to ruin the moment by waking up and screaming at him. He pulled the covers over her fixing them unnecessarily. Then squatted down and studied her carefully.

"How can you be an angel when you are asleep, and a devil when you are awake?" He wondered out loud, as Rinoa laid there sleeping. After a few moments he stood, and undressed, then redressed getting into bed. Careful not to bother her, Squall slowly wrapped his arms around her waist. After a few moments of her not moving, he dragged her toward him. Making sure that she was still asleep he laid his head down next to hers, his warms around her waist. He didn't know what possessed him to do this, just a sudden feeling of wanting to be close to her, to actually feel his arms around her was the only thing he could think of. Squall's eyes flickered slightly, the feeling troubled him slightly, but because of it in general he enjoyed actually wanting company, instead of a one night stand. No, what bothered Squall was what she had said to him earlier. The pictures flashed before his mind eye.

"You understand I will never come close to you correct?"
 Squall shook his head firmly, hoping this was just out of anger, not a promise. But after knowing Rinoa for a day or so, he knew she would keep her promises, maybe he could convince her otherwise. Also, what was this feeling, was it lust? Or did he actually care for her? She made him crazy most of the time, then for that brief moment he was thinking otherwise she would ruin it, by some comment. His eyelids were growing heavy now, no need to think about this tomorrow, he would worry about that one tomorrow. He closed his eyes firmly, he had made a mistake tonight, that it needed to be fixed, but no sense wondering what to do now. Few moments later, Squall was asleep.

The next morning, Rinoa awoke, confused and dazed. First thing was how did she get here? Second thing was why Squall's arms were around her waist, and third thing was what Seifer had said to her last night. She quickly removed Squall's arms from her waist, but it wasn't smooth sailing. First she was close enough to him, that the back of her head was leaning on his chest, and the fact that he was so large and hard to move. Finally she just gave up, and grumbled leaning her head against the pillow. Annoyed with herself that she had fallen asleep, annoyed that Squall was and still is touching her, and annoyed that Seifer was trying to mess with her mind. She wasn't in the fairest of moods when Squall finally yawned and stirred.

" Well finally" Rinoa muttered into her pillow. Instead of actually letting go of Rinoa, Squall snuggled his face into her neck so more, making Rinoa growl now in fury.

" All right then." She muttered stifling up from his touch. He yawned again, then sighed.

" This is getting rather silly." Rinoa said quickly, she didn't like Squall's arms around her waist, or him so close to her. It was doing things to her mind and her body. She shivered slightly, then cleared her throat.

"Squall?" She asked loudly, he stirred but ignored her. Rinoa clenched her teeth slightly, then elbowed Squall hard in the stomach. That got him, Squall jerked backward, falling off the bed. Rinoa turned around quickly and looked down at him. He blinked a few times looking upward at her.

".. Are you up?" She asked, then started giggling. Squall frowned slightly, then stood up brushing himself off, and sat back down on the bed.

"That was not the least humorous.." He stated glowering at her.

" That's cause you were on the floor." She answered between her giggles. Squall smirked slightly.

"You could be on the floor you understand.." He nodded slightly. She looked at him, then rose an eyebrow.

" Uh huh.." She sighed then moved to get up, but Squall pounced her, and pinned her down onto the bed, looking at her smirking. Rinoa started kicking and jerking about, but Squall held her still.

" See?" He said finally.

"I see, can you let me up now, I do not like this game anymore." She snapped. She hated having him in control, even more so when they were lying on top of a bed. Then an imagine flashed in her mind, and words came back to her head.

"Get off of me now Squall, I have not yet forgotten what you said to me last night." She growled looking up at him. He sighed slightly, looking away then back at her.

"I give you my most..." He started but she cut him off.

"You think you saying that you are sorry is going to change my mind, and what I heard from you last night. I am not so easily swayed sir." She nodded, trying to seem like she wasn't affected at all by her position. Squall sighed and closed his eyes.

"Rinoa, I do not want to spend the rest of my life, trying to make up for what I said to you. I did not mean it, I was angry, I let my tongue slip." He said watching her carefully.

" So every time you get angry, you are going to tell me that I am plain correct?" She asked, her voice icy.

"You know, I did not mean that. You can not possibly think yourself of that." He said, getting frustrated with her.

" It does not matter what I think. You are going to be my husband, it matters what you think." She whispered looking away from him now.

"It never mattered before what I thought." He answered sitting up, letting her move to a sitting position.

"Actually it did." She whispered, fiddling with the blankets.

" Listen Rinoa, you and I are not fooling ourselves here, correct? We both doubt that this relationship will ever bring what marriage is suppose to bring correct?" He asked, she nodded. She was happy he had said this himself, instead of her.

"So, shall we just be friends? We can be that, we do not need to be anything else. And maybe in time, we might be something more. But trying to force ourselves to care about each other now, is unfair to one another." He nodded slowly. Rinoa looked up and nodded.

"But, we have to promise each other something. We might never care for one another, but we can not have another. For principle, and for the fact that it might hurt one another's feelings." He said slowly. He had lost all intention last night of having a mistress, he wanted Rinoa. The fact struck him then and there, that he wanted this annoying little brat in front of him. But he could never tell this, there were to be friends for now. He sighed slightly, frowning watching her. She would never want him, he bothered her, he noticed this from the instant he woke up.

" ..Will you give me some time to think this over?" She asked quietly, she didn't want him to think of her as being disrespectful, but she wanted to think.

"Thank you though." She added quickly, not wanting him to think her taking advanced of his kindness, not forcing himself on her, and such. He looked startled then nodded once, an unsure and confused nod. She nodded quickly, then stood up and moved past him, toward the bathing room. She closed the door behind her, and leaned against it. Thinking hard, she had to choose soon between a life where they could be love later on, very later on, judging Squall's manners. Or a love that was before, and a trust that was unbroken beforehand, and could be once again broken. She sighed rubbing her temples thinking hard. Hopefully Squall would not pressure her to make a decision, hopefully he would give her some time. She walked out of the bathing room, he was standing up now, shirtless never the less. Rinoa quickly turned around blushing hard now.

"I'm sorry, I did not know you were changing, I'll excuse myself." She muttered quickly. Squall just stared at her, then shook his head slightly.

"I have nothing to hide, the top of my body, is not like yours, it's flat." He joked moving across the room; Rinoa slowly turned around watching him. He moved quickly and with much power, grabbing and examining things as he went.

"You can also undress here." He said looking up at her, smirking so she could understand that he was joking with her.

'I have come to a decision." She said quickly and loudly a little to loud, she quickly covered her mouth. Squall rose an eyebrow.

"And that is?" He asked his face serious now.

"I can only offer you friendship at this moment, time will tell what else I might offer you." She said raising her head high. Squall's eyebrows shot up, then he quickly nodded.

" All right." He said turning around once more. Rinoa returned to the bathing room, bathed, and dressed. When she walked out, Squall was dressed now. He was in working clothes.

"I am going to go down to the stables, of course after breakfast, I shall met you for lunch?" He asked slowly, almost as if he was not trying to push their new friendship. She nodded once.

"That sounds fine, I will be in the library, adjusting and fixing the books." She said nodding.

" Unless there is something else you wish for me to do?" She asked watching him carefully. This was a test, he knew. She was making sure he didn't think of her lower then him now, friendship meant that they two people were on the same level. There is never any friendship when someone thinks he or she is higher then the other. He shook his head.

"There is nothing that I need you to do, or nothing I need of you. You are free to do what you wish, this is my household as much as it is yours." He added quickly, hoping to score some points with that last comment. She merely nodded.

"Yes, it is , is it not?" She smiled and moved past him, toward the dinning room. He sighed looking upward, relief that they were in the same room and did not start fighting. That was the first, and hopefully not the last. He hated fighting with people, he had done it his entire life with his father, and he didn't need to do it with his wife. He followed her downstairs, and walked into the room, hoping to score some more points by helping her into her chair, but she was already in it, and Seifer had beat her to it.