Kissing Cousins
By: Wolfemann and Pink Lemonade
Disclaimers: Characters and elements from Final Fantasy 8 do not belong to the authors (hah! We wish!) They belong to Squaresoft. We aren't making money from them either, so please don't sue us!
Warnings: M/F Relationships, Incest, Language, Possible Slash (m/m relationships) to develop
~~~===~~~
"Aw, man. Not again," a moping Zell Dincht, head hung, strode dejectedly out of Balamb Garden's cafeteria. "I mean, I helped save the world and I can't even get a few hot do-- The hell?!" he had been about to turn the corner when a blur of blue torpedoed into his side, only barely not sending him flying. He looked down to see Rinoa. He couldn't place her emotions at the moment, though he wasn't very good at such things. There were tears streaming down her face, but her eyes reflected too many things to count. The only completely clear one was shock.
"Hey, Rinoa, what's wrong," he asked, trying to figure out what was happening.
She said something quickly that seemed to resemble 'sorry, Zell,' before replying: "I. I was going through some stuff dad-- No, scratch that," she remarked softly, in a rush, and not taking another breath before continuing. "Some stuff Caraway wanted me to look at in case I wanted to keep it, and I found my mother's diary," Rinoa gasped, but it was evidently to feed a strangled sob rather than for air.
"Reminded you of her," he asked, trying to put together what she could be so upset about, and still sound vaguely supportive.
"No, um, well.." Rinoa took a slow breath, paling, before she seemed to choke on the words she uttered. "You. know Laguna's Squall's father.. Right?"
Zell looked at her like she was crazy - which he was beginning to seriously suspect. "It took you this long to figure that out?"
"Let me finish!" she snapped, though her anger didn't hold conviction - at least not directly at Zell. "I-In the dream world, you saw that Laguna and my mother were close for a real short time, right?"
"What? Raine's your mother? But she's Squall's mother."
"No, Zell!" that time Rinoa's glare held annoyance. "...Well, sort of."
This he knew how to respond to. "Huh?"
"You saw things through Ward in the dream world, didn't you?"
"Usually," he nodded, trying to keep his brain from tying into a knot long enough to follow her train of thought.
"The first time, on the train... Julia, the one Laguna was with most of the night... She's my mother," only the fleeting fact that she was talking to someone who had thought he'd lost his weapons and then found them securely on his hands fifteen minutes later, thanks to Quistis, kept her from screaming at him.
"Julia and Caraway? Ouch, I can see why you're upset - but it's not really that bad, is it?"
"Zell, you idiot! No! I wouldn't have been born if they hadn't-- Wait, I stand corrected," she muttered bitterly. "There was something Ellone didn't let Squall see that night in the dream world."
Hyne help me if he lives to see another day, Rinoa thought to herself.
"Zell," her voice was a deadly calm, only betrayed by the red flush rising to her cheeks. "Think about it for a minute before answering."
Because I swear to Hell your life depends on it.
"They were alone, in Julia's room," she continued, "and the next thing Squall saw was about an hour later.. I found one of Laguna's dog tags on attached to the page that was from that night.. Then, nine months later, I found something on my birth."
"Laguna's your dad," he asked incredulously.
In spite of herself, Rinoa sighed in relief.
"But he's Squall's dad," he said as soon as her sigh was out.
Dincht, are you that damned stupid? Her temper flared uncharacteristically, and right when she was about to snap, a familiar voice called out.
"Zell, Rinoa? Is something wrong?"
Zell looked towards the slender blonde approaching them, glad to see who it was. "Quistis? Maybe you can help Rinoa out more than I can."
Quistis took one look at both of her friends' expressions and instantly thought it wise for Zell to leave as quickly as possible.
"Zell, Irvine's looking for you," she said. "Um, Selphie's sick in bed with a cold and you know she hates being stuck in bed. Wants you to play a few card games with them."
"Uhm, okay," Zell said. "Hope you can sort out whatever's wrong, Rinoa," he said, backing away apologetically before starting off towards a problem he knew how to help with.
Lame, Quisty, she told herself. Irvine never mentioned that, but Selphie is sick and he did ask me to tell Zell to stop by their dorm for some reason.
"Okay, Rinoa," she said calmly once Zell was out of earshot. "What's wrong?"
The raven-haired young woman wordlessly pulled a few yellowed sheets of paper out of her pocket, separated into two very small books. "Read the top one first."
Quistis read through the papers carefully, the details falling into place with what Squall and the others had said later. A part of her mind couldn't help but think that Squall would have been traumatized if Ellone hadn't 'faded out' when she had, according to the journal.
Then she hit the second and third sheets.
"Laguna's your father, isn't he," she asked, before hitting the final sheets.
Rinoa, ashen, just nodded.
"I'm assuming you haven't told Squall yet," Quistis said quietly, handing the sheets back to Rinoa. "It could be wrong, you know."
"It. doesn't seem likely. Read the back of that dog tag attached to the paper."
Quistis read it - Laguna's tag. AB- wasn't that common.
"And it wasn't Caraway's, I take it?"
"No. It's his, and it's mine. And it's a very rare blood type, except for with the Shumi. But to them O+ is rare, and 38% of humans have that... Mom's research, if you care."
"She had to research it privately, so she wrote it in her diary."
"Well, you're definitely not half-Shumi," Quistis said with a weak chuckle. "What are you going to do?"
".Squall needs to know, Quistis."
"You're right," she nodded. "He does. But are you going to tell him?"
".I.. Don't know if I can. The problem is, I don't think he'll believe anyone else."
"I think it would be best if you told him, yes," Quistis nodded. "But maybe you should have some help with it. Elle might know something about this - she seems to know about everything else. Or maybe Laguna himself?"
"Oh, yeah, telling Laguna will be way easier. 'Hi, I'm your daughter, even though I just found out.'"
"After abandoning her after something like that?" Rinoa shot back.
"You mean like you 'abandoned' Seifer? Rinoa, people have one-night stands. They're common enough, and people don't always realize what might happen. You're saying that he doesn't know, but you're acting like he does. Which is it?"
"Fine, well.... I know Ellone wouldn't know, because she would have said something way sooner than now."
"All right," Quistis nodded, glad that Rinoa was calming down a bit. "That makes sense."
"It explains something else, too," Rinoa mused quietly. "Mom wouldn't let them put the name Rinoa Caraway on the birth certificate..."
"So she used her maiden name?"
"Yeah, she did," Rinoa seemed absent.
"I guess I can't really say I'm surprised it never occurred to Squall," Quistis admitted, a little shocked herself. Especially in light of what it meant for the two of them. "Rinoa - what are you and Squall going to do about this?"
"I really, really wish I knew...."
"He does love you, Rinoa," Quistis said, ignoring the twinge of frustration in the back of her mind at the statement. "And you love him, right?"
"If I didn't, would I be upset? Of course I do, Quistis! ...But. What am I gonna do?" Rinoa resembled a lost child with that statement.
Make sure he's not armed when you tell him, was the first thing that came to Quistis' mind, but she stuffed it back quickly.
"Rinoa, half-siblings aren't necessarily that closely related. And even with the blood types, it could be a fluke. Maybe have Dr. Kadowaki confirm it?"
"Damn convienient fluke," Rinoa murmured quietly. "But.. Yeah, I guess."
"It couldn't hurt. And you could find out about it before you tell Squall." "Well.. I guess I'm off to Dr. Kadowaki's," Rinoa turned slowly.
"Rinoa," Quistis said quickly, putting a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Whatever happens, remember that Squall's first reactions don't always last, okay?"
"Kiros... Quistis... Um, I hate to be a burden.. But could you possibly explain things to him? It's. easier than talking to Squall or Laguna," Rinoa explained awkwardly.
Quistis frowned. "You want me to try explaining this to Kiros? Isn't this bringing in more people than you have to?"
"I don't want you to do anything else, Quistis. Hell, just fax those diary pages to his office. You don't have to."
"I'm okay with it, Rinoa - I just wasn't sure if you really wanted him to know about it. When I do tell him, should I tell him he can tell Laguna? He probably won't listen to me, just do what he thinks is best, but...."
".Kiros is the best person to tell him. At least I think so," Rinoa sighed. "Besides, if this affects Laguna at all the first person he'll turn to will be Kiros."
"Rinoa, I'm sure it'll affect him. It's not like he didn't care when he found out about Squall."
"I know. Look, the most important thing you can do is find Zell and preferably zap his memory of the past hour. Tell him not to tell anyone and he'll blab it to either Irvine or Selphie, or, worse, Squall. And knowing him he'll figure it all out in time to open his big mouth. But I guess he can't help it."
"I think I better freshen up a bit before I go over there or, even if Zell doesn't, Selphie and Irvine will know something is up."
"Yeah, that probably would be a good idea. My room's near theirs, if you want to use it," Quistis smiled.
"Thanks, Quisty," Rinoa managed a weak smile. "I owe you one."
"Just don't do anything rash if Squall doesn't take the news well at first," Quistis responded with an equally weak chuckle. "I'll go try to get in touch with Kiros."
"Thanks," Rinoa replied. "Bye." She walked off towards the dorms, a little less confused but still as distressed.
Disclaimers: Characters and elements from Final Fantasy 8 do not belong to the authors (hah! We wish!) They belong to Squaresoft. We aren't making money from them either, so please don't sue us!
Warnings: M/F Relationships, Incest, Language, Possible Slash (m/m relationships) to develop
~~~===~~~
"Aw, man. Not again," a moping Zell Dincht, head hung, strode dejectedly out of Balamb Garden's cafeteria. "I mean, I helped save the world and I can't even get a few hot do-- The hell?!" he had been about to turn the corner when a blur of blue torpedoed into his side, only barely not sending him flying. He looked down to see Rinoa. He couldn't place her emotions at the moment, though he wasn't very good at such things. There were tears streaming down her face, but her eyes reflected too many things to count. The only completely clear one was shock.
"Hey, Rinoa, what's wrong," he asked, trying to figure out what was happening.
She said something quickly that seemed to resemble 'sorry, Zell,' before replying: "I. I was going through some stuff dad-- No, scratch that," she remarked softly, in a rush, and not taking another breath before continuing. "Some stuff Caraway wanted me to look at in case I wanted to keep it, and I found my mother's diary," Rinoa gasped, but it was evidently to feed a strangled sob rather than for air.
"Reminded you of her," he asked, trying to put together what she could be so upset about, and still sound vaguely supportive.
"No, um, well.." Rinoa took a slow breath, paling, before she seemed to choke on the words she uttered. "You. know Laguna's Squall's father.. Right?"
Zell looked at her like she was crazy - which he was beginning to seriously suspect. "It took you this long to figure that out?"
"Let me finish!" she snapped, though her anger didn't hold conviction - at least not directly at Zell. "I-In the dream world, you saw that Laguna and my mother were close for a real short time, right?"
"What? Raine's your mother? But she's Squall's mother."
"No, Zell!" that time Rinoa's glare held annoyance. "...Well, sort of."
This he knew how to respond to. "Huh?"
"You saw things through Ward in the dream world, didn't you?"
"Usually," he nodded, trying to keep his brain from tying into a knot long enough to follow her train of thought.
"The first time, on the train... Julia, the one Laguna was with most of the night... She's my mother," only the fleeting fact that she was talking to someone who had thought he'd lost his weapons and then found them securely on his hands fifteen minutes later, thanks to Quistis, kept her from screaming at him.
"Julia and Caraway? Ouch, I can see why you're upset - but it's not really that bad, is it?"
"Zell, you idiot! No! I wouldn't have been born if they hadn't-- Wait, I stand corrected," she muttered bitterly. "There was something Ellone didn't let Squall see that night in the dream world."
Hyne help me if he lives to see another day, Rinoa thought to herself.
"Zell," her voice was a deadly calm, only betrayed by the red flush rising to her cheeks. "Think about it for a minute before answering."
Because I swear to Hell your life depends on it.
"They were alone, in Julia's room," she continued, "and the next thing Squall saw was about an hour later.. I found one of Laguna's dog tags on attached to the page that was from that night.. Then, nine months later, I found something on my birth."
"Laguna's your dad," he asked incredulously.
In spite of herself, Rinoa sighed in relief.
"But he's Squall's dad," he said as soon as her sigh was out.
Dincht, are you that damned stupid? Her temper flared uncharacteristically, and right when she was about to snap, a familiar voice called out.
"Zell, Rinoa? Is something wrong?"
Zell looked towards the slender blonde approaching them, glad to see who it was. "Quistis? Maybe you can help Rinoa out more than I can."
Quistis took one look at both of her friends' expressions and instantly thought it wise for Zell to leave as quickly as possible.
"Zell, Irvine's looking for you," she said. "Um, Selphie's sick in bed with a cold and you know she hates being stuck in bed. Wants you to play a few card games with them."
"Uhm, okay," Zell said. "Hope you can sort out whatever's wrong, Rinoa," he said, backing away apologetically before starting off towards a problem he knew how to help with.
Lame, Quisty, she told herself. Irvine never mentioned that, but Selphie is sick and he did ask me to tell Zell to stop by their dorm for some reason.
"Okay, Rinoa," she said calmly once Zell was out of earshot. "What's wrong?"
The raven-haired young woman wordlessly pulled a few yellowed sheets of paper out of her pocket, separated into two very small books. "Read the top one first."
Quistis read through the papers carefully, the details falling into place with what Squall and the others had said later. A part of her mind couldn't help but think that Squall would have been traumatized if Ellone hadn't 'faded out' when she had, according to the journal.
Then she hit the second and third sheets.
"Laguna's your father, isn't he," she asked, before hitting the final sheets.
Rinoa, ashen, just nodded.
"I'm assuming you haven't told Squall yet," Quistis said quietly, handing the sheets back to Rinoa. "It could be wrong, you know."
"It. doesn't seem likely. Read the back of that dog tag attached to the paper."
Quistis read it - Laguna's tag. AB- wasn't that common.
"And it wasn't Caraway's, I take it?"
"No. It's his, and it's mine. And it's a very rare blood type, except for with the Shumi. But to them O+ is rare, and 38% of humans have that... Mom's research, if you care."
"She had to research it privately, so she wrote it in her diary."
"Well, you're definitely not half-Shumi," Quistis said with a weak chuckle. "What are you going to do?"
".Squall needs to know, Quistis."
"You're right," she nodded. "He does. But are you going to tell him?"
".I.. Don't know if I can. The problem is, I don't think he'll believe anyone else."
"I think it would be best if you told him, yes," Quistis nodded. "But maybe you should have some help with it. Elle might know something about this - she seems to know about everything else. Or maybe Laguna himself?"
"Oh, yeah, telling Laguna will be way easier. 'Hi, I'm your daughter, even though I just found out.'"
"After abandoning her after something like that?" Rinoa shot back.
"You mean like you 'abandoned' Seifer? Rinoa, people have one-night stands. They're common enough, and people don't always realize what might happen. You're saying that he doesn't know, but you're acting like he does. Which is it?"
"Fine, well.... I know Ellone wouldn't know, because she would have said something way sooner than now."
"All right," Quistis nodded, glad that Rinoa was calming down a bit. "That makes sense."
"It explains something else, too," Rinoa mused quietly. "Mom wouldn't let them put the name Rinoa Caraway on the birth certificate..."
"So she used her maiden name?"
"Yeah, she did," Rinoa seemed absent.
"I guess I can't really say I'm surprised it never occurred to Squall," Quistis admitted, a little shocked herself. Especially in light of what it meant for the two of them. "Rinoa - what are you and Squall going to do about this?"
"I really, really wish I knew...."
"He does love you, Rinoa," Quistis said, ignoring the twinge of frustration in the back of her mind at the statement. "And you love him, right?"
"If I didn't, would I be upset? Of course I do, Quistis! ...But. What am I gonna do?" Rinoa resembled a lost child with that statement.
Make sure he's not armed when you tell him, was the first thing that came to Quistis' mind, but she stuffed it back quickly.
"Rinoa, half-siblings aren't necessarily that closely related. And even with the blood types, it could be a fluke. Maybe have Dr. Kadowaki confirm it?"
"Damn convienient fluke," Rinoa murmured quietly. "But.. Yeah, I guess."
"It couldn't hurt. And you could find out about it before you tell Squall." "Well.. I guess I'm off to Dr. Kadowaki's," Rinoa turned slowly.
"Rinoa," Quistis said quickly, putting a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Whatever happens, remember that Squall's first reactions don't always last, okay?"
"Kiros... Quistis... Um, I hate to be a burden.. But could you possibly explain things to him? It's. easier than talking to Squall or Laguna," Rinoa explained awkwardly.
Quistis frowned. "You want me to try explaining this to Kiros? Isn't this bringing in more people than you have to?"
"I don't want you to do anything else, Quistis. Hell, just fax those diary pages to his office. You don't have to."
"I'm okay with it, Rinoa - I just wasn't sure if you really wanted him to know about it. When I do tell him, should I tell him he can tell Laguna? He probably won't listen to me, just do what he thinks is best, but...."
".Kiros is the best person to tell him. At least I think so," Rinoa sighed. "Besides, if this affects Laguna at all the first person he'll turn to will be Kiros."
"Rinoa, I'm sure it'll affect him. It's not like he didn't care when he found out about Squall."
"I know. Look, the most important thing you can do is find Zell and preferably zap his memory of the past hour. Tell him not to tell anyone and he'll blab it to either Irvine or Selphie, or, worse, Squall. And knowing him he'll figure it all out in time to open his big mouth. But I guess he can't help it."
"I think I better freshen up a bit before I go over there or, even if Zell doesn't, Selphie and Irvine will know something is up."
"Yeah, that probably would be a good idea. My room's near theirs, if you want to use it," Quistis smiled.
"Thanks, Quisty," Rinoa managed a weak smile. "I owe you one."
"Just don't do anything rash if Squall doesn't take the news well at first," Quistis responded with an equally weak chuckle. "I'll go try to get in touch with Kiros."
"Thanks," Rinoa replied. "Bye." She walked off towards the dorms, a little less confused but still as distressed.