Chapter 2

Renegade Seraph

Champagne and Strawberries?

Rinoa clutched tightly onto her bag as the train pulled into the station, lugging the heavy straps over her shoulder she took the weight of the bag onto her back and climbed aboard. This train was very different to any she had been on before and she felt out of place here. The casually dressed journalist mixed in with businessmen and women.

Rinoa looked around at the people on the train they all looked busy and probably didn't want anything to do with her. Rinoa sighed adjusting the bag on her back and setting off to find her room.

The intercom came to life over her head and she felt a slight jolt underneath her feet as the train began motion.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I wish to welcome you aboard Esthar Railroad Train Service, this journey will be approximately 5 hours long so please feel free to make use of our drinks bar and other facilities at the back train car.  This will be 'no stop' journey and will take you right into the heart of the city itself, and will arrive at around 3pm Esthar time. This has been Driver Petres, and I wish you all a pleasant journey."

Rinoa smiled, so they were going right into Esthar! No wonder this train was so flash. After walking for a while Rinoa was still unable to find her room, dropping her bag to the floor she sat down on one of the benches by the windows.

"Can I help you miss?" A uniformed man asked. Rinoa looked up into his smiling face.

"Um yes, I can't find my room." Rinoa informed him, aware that her voice sounded very childlike. His smile broadened.

"Can I see your ticket?" He asked politely. Rinoa rummaged in the pocket of her coat and handed it over. "Why you're in the presidential carriage!" He exclaimed. "That's not even in this half of the train. Allow me to show you." He said taking hold of her bag and leading the way.

Rinoa followed silently, trying to pretend that being in the presidential suite was an everyday thing. A sudden feeling of being underdressed hit her as she stepped into the beautifully decorated room.

"I hope you will have everything you need in here Miss." Said her guide from behind her. "The phone on the table over there is connected to the train staff room, if you require anything at all, please phone through. It has all been paid for in advance." He said closing the door and leaving Rinoa alone.

            Rinoa closed her eyes then opened them again to make sure everything was real.

            "Oh my god!" She whispered. Grabbing her phone she punched in a number and lay down on the bed that was in the centre of the room. "Selphie! You will never guess what!" Rinoa said excitedly down the phone.

            "Hyne…" Came a mumbled reply. "Rinoa is that you? Couldn't you have phoned later? I have Tuesday mornings off remember!" Selphie said groggily into the phone.

            "Sorry Selph, but you'll never guess so I'll tell you…(Rinoa paused)… I'm in the president's own personal suite! This train is like a mini hotel on rails I swear! There's even champagne and strawberry's in here!" Rinoa said in a rush. Her voice growing in excitement every second.

            "No way! Damn it Rinoa, why've you been getting all the good luck lately?" Selphie said enviously.

            "Well don't get too jealous, all I have to look at is the fantastic view of grass and the odd cow for about 5 hours." Rinoa complained jokingly.

            "You serious? The only thing I can see out my window is a major traffic jam. Oh and sure the odd cow, oh look there's one now Mrs Stevens and her perfect family." Selphie replied putting Rinoa into a fit of laughter.

            "Yeah, you remember when she told us that she thought Irvine had been eyeing her up? And then you said he wasn't because he had a 70 year old max limit." Rinoa said through her giggles.

            "Oh yeah! She was really moody after that. I wonder how old she is anyway?" Selphie answered thinking. "Anyway I've gotta dash, starting work in a hour and I haven't even got out of bed yet! Call me later alright?" Selphie said.

            "Yeah sure. Well I might as well just go and take a dip in my lovely jet stream bath while drinking some of the, might I add very expensive champagne." Rinoa said in the posh-est voice she could imitate.         

            "Ahhh Rin, you know I hate you right." Selphie replied.

            "Yeah I know. Speak to you soon." Rinoa said smiling, all though she knew Selphie couldn't see.

            "Yeah, see ya then."

            Rinoa replaced the phone and pulled over the champagne bottle. Pouring a glass she set it by the bed and kicked off her black boots.

            "Yes that's right President Loire, my name is Rinoa and I am very, very important and rich." Rinoa spoke out loud in the snobbiest voice she could find. "Yes I just adore caviar. I am thinking of watching the horse races sometime, oh you must join me darling it will be excellent fun!"  Rinoa continued until dissolving into a fit of giggles.

            Running the hot water tap to the bath, Rinoa poured in everything labelled 'bath'. Bathsalts, bathbubbles until the air was thick with the fragrances of flowers that she had to open the window slightly. Shedding her clothes Rinoa stepped cautiously in and slid down under the warmth of the water. After just a few minuets Rinoa had already decided that this was the kind of life for her, yep she could get used to this all right!

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            "Father I'm going out." A smartly dressed young man said, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he grabbed his coat from the back of his chair.

            "But Miss Heartilly will be arriving soon! I want her to meet us all together." The president pleaded. The young man rolled his eyes.

            "Well she's not going anywhere is she. I can meet her later, besides I've been working all morning." He replied, putting papers into his brief case. "Plus I'm too busy to be waiting for some probably middle aged boring woman, to come bursting through the doors and start writing about my life."

            "Squall now your being stubborn." The President said, sitting at his desk and watching the agitated young man.

            "Am I? Why do you want her to be here anyway? She's a journalist! She'll twist everything and send it home to her newspaper office, and then they'll print it all over the world. This is a very bad idea Sir." He said walking towards the door. 

            Laguna winced; the formalities were back in place. If only he would stay, but he knew there would be no persuading him once he'd set his mind to something.

            "When will you be back?" Laguna asked.

            "I don't know sir." Squall answered, opening the door and shutting it behind him a little too hard.

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            Finally the train rolled into the Esther station, Rinoa stepped off followed by a train guard carrying her bag. Her pale blue skirt suit felt odd on her unaccustomed frame, and she fidgeted with the sleeves. The guard directed a woman over to them with a wave of his hand. Another man picked up Rinoa's bag and she watched it be loaded into the back of a car.

            The blonde woman smiled as she neared Rinoa.

            "Hi there, you must be Rinoa. I'm Quistis, President Loire's personal assistant. How was your journey?" She asked, her white smile creasing her perfect features.

            "Oh it was fine." Rinoa replied.

            "Good. Well the car is waiting, and Mr Loire is waiting for you, he's taken the day off especially to see you." Quistis informed her, leading the way to the car. Rinoa smiled, she had never expected that he would do that. "He's very keen that you should start right away." Quistis said once they were seated in the car.

            "Do you think that I am dressed appropriately?" Rinoa asked looking down at her little blue shoes and made clipping noises whenever she took a step.

            "You look lovely, but maybe a change of shoes. In a day or two you won't be able to stand those. You see he likes to walk a lot." Quistis said smiling. Rinoa smiled in return. "Well were here!"

            The driver opened the door and Rinoa followed Quistis out of the shiny silver car. Smoothing her hair she took some confident steps up to the entrance.

            "Rinoa if you would wait here for a minuet." Quistis asked as they reached a long hallway. Rinoa sat down on a plush red chair that was set next to a potted plant. After tapping her foot a bit, she stared at her hands and decided that she had done a good job on her nails in the train. Rinoa stood up as the door opened. Another man appeared dressed a familiar uniform and signalled that Rinoa was allowed in.

            "Ah miss Heartilly, welcome to Esthar."

            "Thankyou sir" Rinoa said smiling. But he held up his hand to stop her.

            "No no, I insist that you call me Laguna. I don't like the formalities." He said. Quistis was seated on a table at the side of the room; she was already hard at work and smiled when Rinoa caught her eye.

            "It's really very nice to be here." Rinoa said politely. Laguna smiled.

            "I had hoped my children would be here to welcome you, but it seems they both have found things to do." He said in reply.  "Oh I take it back." He said suddenly. Rinoa looked around at the new person in the room. "Ellone this is Rinoa. Rinoa Ellone." He said introducing them.

            "Hi, I hope you've come here to write nice things about us." Ellone said smiling and reaching for Rinoa's hand. Rinoa shook it warmly.

            "Now Ellone, I want her to tell the truth." Laguna warned. Ellone sighed and beamed at Rinoa.

            "I'm sure that there is only nice things to tell." Rinoa replied.

            "Are we inviting Rinoa to the dance next week?" Ellone asked suddenly.

            "Of coruse! She is going to be one of the family until she goes home." Laguna replied. Ellone looked excited.

            "Please say you haven't already got a dress! I really want to go shopping." Ellone said, her voice sounding bubbly. Rinoa laughed.

            "No I don't have a dress." Rinoa replied.

            "Well we will have to sort that out before the night of the dance." Laguna said, "Now Ellone show Rinoa where her room is please, I'm sure she will want to unpack."

            Ellone nodded and opened the door for Rinoa. Once outside Ellone stared talking again.

            "So who have you met so far?" She asked suddenly. Rinoa thought for a second.

            "Only who was in that room." She answered.

            "Oh so you haven't met my brother yet then?" Ellone asked, a wicked smile forming on her lips.

            "No. I haven't." Rinoa replied. Ellone stayed silent for a while, and then finally she spoke. 

            "Well here we are. The breakfast room is that way " Ellone said, pointing down the corridor. "But if you get lost the servants will help you. Hopefully we can talk better tomorrow." Rinoa nodded, thankful to have found a friend in this strange place.

            "Yes, that would be nice. Thankyou." Rinoa replied walking to the balcony in her room. Ellone smiled and closed the door. Well she was here, and she wasn't going anywhere soon.

A/N: in the last chapter I realised I had spelt Esthar with an 'e' instead of an 'a'. Hopefully I have not made the same mistake again in this chapter. Also I think this chapter was a bit uneventful, sorry.

But Please review.

Also thanks to:

FFgal and star Slight for being my first reviewers!