1 Alternate Realm

Chapter 7

Broken Wings and Broken Hearts





Nearly another year of Rinoa's life had passed by, but it had been a year to remember forever. She felt like she was truly in love with Squall, for her heart told her so. He her too, she knew, even if he didn't always say it straight out. Life with her mother and stepfather was going. It wasn't going well, but to say the least it was going. Laguna still received the cold shoulder from her every once in a while, but not as often as before. Something about Squall still made Laguna uncomfortable, but Rinoa was happy… and that's all he cared about.

Life at Garden had been going well for her. She'd gained many friends, and was one her way to becoming a SeeD. Everything in her life seemed to be going right for once.

Until the day Squall left.

He'd become a SeeD before she had of course, and one Friday morning, he received a mission he would long recall.

"So you have to go back to your hometown?" Rinoa said as they stood at the Balamb Train Station.

"Yes, Rin. Winhill is being attacked by Galbadia. I've been assigned to go help fight."

She stuck her bottom lip out, hoping to look innocent enough for him to stay. "So you're gonna leave me all alone by myself?"

He struggled to keep a small smile from his face, and turned to look at her. Taking her hands in his, he said, "You've known about this for a week now. You'll survive for a few days without me."

She still frowned, but knew that he was right. Everything would stay the same, even if he did leave her for a couple of days, right?

Little did Rinoa know how wrong both of them would turn out to be.



The pen rattled on the desktop. It was no use. She just couldn't concentrate. All she could think of was him, where he was, what he was doing, if he was okay. It had only been a day, and already she couldn't stand the separation. He'd be back soon, her Mother had said. But she couldn't help feeling that once he came back, things would never be the same. All she could write on her homework was his name, and it was starting to fill the entire paper.

"Rinoa?" she heard her Mother's voice call from her doorway.

"Yeah?"

"It's time for dinner sweetie."

"I'm… really not hungry Mom. Thanks anyway."

"What's wrong? Are you feeling alright?"

She sighed softly as Julia stepped over to her desk. "I'm feeling fine, I'm just thinking about Squall."

"He'll be back soon. I'm sure he's going to come home and make up lost time with you."

"You think he misses me?"

Julia smiled. Young love… she remembered it well.

"Of course he does. And he knows you'll be right here waiting for him when he gets back."

Rinoa's heart lightened a bit. Maybe her Mother was right. she should just think about when he's coming back, not if he's coming back or if he misses her. She smiled a little now.

"Thanks Mom."

"You're welcome."

"Can I go eat dinner now?"

"Your appetite is back?"

"Yeah."

"Well then let's go down there. It's getting cold."



Squall slashed another Galbadian. As he fell, Squall noticed that this was also the last Galbadian. His team cheered, and he strained to catch his breath. The fight against them had been grueling and long, but Winhill suffered little in damage. Now that the battle was over, though, Squall wanted to take the time to explore the town he was born in.

What could it hurt?

He walked up the long path to the part of town where the huge mansion resided, glancing at fallen soldiers and strewn weapons. He listened to his feet shuffle beneath him, now that everything was still, and he glanced to his left to see a few houses and shops. One particular place caught his eye though…

"A bar…? Or what used to be?" he said as he entered the place. An old smell filled his senses, a musty, ancient smell. An elderly woman slowly came down the stars, staring at Squall keenly.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice a croaky whisper. He moved toward her a little, attempting to help her down the stairs.

"I'm a SeeD from Balamb Garden. I came here to help fight the Galbadians."

"Ahh, yes, the Galbadians. They would've caused much more trouble if it hadn't been for you good people."

"They were about to overrun the city."

She remained where she was on the stairs, checking Squall out before she came any further. "Not that we'd lose much. This city is so old, I don't think anyone would even notice if it disappeared. Not so many people live here anymore. I guess it never was very popular though… just a quaint little city in the middle of nowhere."

"This is the town I was born in."

"Really? What's your name?" she asked, now advancing down the steps.

"Squall Leonhart."

She stopped, her eyes widening. Her hand began to quiver; as did the rickety banister she held it with. Squall's brow furrowed in confusion. What was wrong?

"S- Squall… Leonhart?"

"That's right. Are you okay?"

She stumbled the rest of the way down the steps, and Squall caught her. She stared up into his face, and he studied wise crystal blue eyes that had seen so much. "Have you… really come back to us Squall?"

"…Come back to who?"

She began to look a little dismayed. Coming out of his gently but steady grasp, she said, "D- don't you remember your Mother?"

A pain stung his heart. If this woman apparently knew him so well, why didn't she know? "I never knew her. I was an orphan at birth."

"But," she insisted. "You mean you don't know Raine?"

Squall shook his head sadly. So that was her name. Raine…

He could tell that the old woman was trying hard to keep her composure. Disbelief was written all over her face, and she kept using her hands for motions.

"Well… well… what about Laguna? Surely he came back to take you in…"

Squall took in a sharp breath. "Laguna!?"

"Yes, Laguna! Certainly Laguna came for you… he's your Father for Hyne's sake…"

Dizziness came over him. The room began to spin in a whirl. No… it couldn't be…

"Are you alright Squall?" she asked now, in her turn. His face turned a pallid color, and he felt light-headed. He placed a hand to his forehead. Everything was happening to fast… he ran out of the bar, unable to hear the woman's pleas for him to return. He had to find Rinoa, as much as it killed him to think of the consequences.



Rinoa waited with excitement at the Balamb Train Station. Three days had felt like a three years, but it was worth it, she'd decided. A little time away from each other would allow them to realize just how much they were in love, and things would go even better from there. She held such high hopes for they two, she could only wonder if the plans would turn out.

A jitter of joy ran through her as the train pulled into the station. She couldn't wait to hold him in her arms, as she'd wanted to do for what felt like so long.

"No… no… no…" she said quietly as each person that got off the train turned out to be not the one she was looking for.

"Yes!" Finally, she could see him. He turned to look at her, and she grinned so wide she felt as if her mouth would touch her ears. But as he strode toward her, he wore no sign of a happy emotion, (not that he really ever showed that anyway) and a look of ache reflected in his eyes. Was she wrong to come and see him? Did he not want to see her again? Something wasn't right… and the look on Squall's face confirmed her suspicion.

As he reached her, despite what she was feeling, she embraced him tightly. Though he gave nothing back, he simply stood, allowing her to hug him.

"What is it?" she asked, looking up at him.

He was silent, saying nothing. Now she knew something was really wrong. "Nothing. We'll talk about it later."

"No! We'll talk about it now. What's wrong?" Rinoa demanded.

He sighed, closing his eyes. How could he tell her? Was there any way to? Taking a deep breath, he blurted, "You and I are stepsiblings."

Her jaw fell open. "W-what?"

He breathed loudly again, repeating, "Laguna is my Father Rinoa. You're my step… my stepsister."

"How could this happen?" she sounded on the verge of tears as he began to explain his encounter with the strange old woman in the bar, and what she'd told him about Laguna. She listened with wide eyes and a broken heart, at the thought of the love they'd cherished and dreamt of being perfect would come crashing down.

"It can't be true…" she said as tears fell freely down her cheeks. He brought her into an embrace, despite how awkward he felt with the new information of them being lawfully related.

"What do we do from here?" she asked in a muffled voice through his shoulder. He shook his head, truthfully replying, "I don't know Rin, I just don't know."

"Why did this happen to us? How could two people who are in love be stepbrother and sister? Why? What did we do to deserve this?"

"Those are all questions I wish I could answer Rinoa. But the same things have run through my mind more times than I can count, and I can't come up with any answers. We just have to decide what we're going to do about this."

Rinoa closed her eyes, knowing he was right. But she didn't want to decide. She didn't want to decide because anything they chose, they would end up apart. They would never be in love again. In Rinoa's eyes, it was a no win situation. She lost Squall any way you looked at it. If only they'd known before they'd fallen in love…

"So where do we go?"

"To talk to Laguna I guess. What else can we do?" Squall said as she pulled away from him.

"You're right," she answered reluctantly, "as much as I hate to admit it. Let's go."