Alternate Realm

Chapter 10

Deal With It



Rinoa slowly opened the door to her mansion, hearing the click echo throughout the front part of her home. She peeked her head in, seeing Laguna sitting on the couch, his eyes unfocused and troubled. Her brow furrowed at the sight, and she tiptoed quietly into the room, dreading the conversation that was about to go on. If they didn't like what Squall and she were doing, she'd have to leave home. No matter how much she didn't want to leave the shelter of her vast home and spacious room, she loved Squall, and would do anything for him. Our options are decided, as a team, she reminded herself. Her mother was nowhere in sight, and she slid behind the couch, hoping Laguna wouldn't notice her just yet.

Just as she was sure she'd go unobserved, Laguna snapped out of his trance and looked up at her with a happy smile and sad eyes. "Rinoa! I'm so glad you came home! Jules! Julia!! Your daughter is back!"

Rinoa winced, and her anger rose. He wasn't supposed to call her mother in here.not yet.

The sound of pattering footsteps was heard, and Rinoa knew it was too late. "Rinoa?" a feminine voice called out. "Rinoa, is that you?"

Rinoa smiled only slightly, turning to face her mother. "Yeah, Mom, it's me. I came home."

Julia stepped forward and embraced her daughter tightly. "Thank God you're safe. Please don't ever do that to us again, okay? Please at least tell us where you're going next time."

Rinoa nodded, returning the hug. She said nothing, waiting for the question she knew would arise.

"Where's Squall at?"

"Oh, he went home. We figured we needed a little time to sort things out, and then I'm seeing him again later."

Julia moved toward the couch, sitting Rinoa down as well. She ignored Laguna for the time being, though she was doing it inconspicuously to Rinoa's eyes. "That sounds like a good idea. We need to talk some of this over."

"Yeah," Rinoa agreed softly. She looked away from her mother, waiting for the next thing she was going to say.

"But before that, I want to know where you two went all that time!"

There it was.

"Well, Mom, that's kind of what we need to talk about."

Julia cocked her head to the side in curiosity, and prompted her daughter to say more. Rinoa took a deep breath, preparing to spill the explanation she'd rehearsed on the way over with Squall. "Okay, well, what we did might shock you a little, but hear me out, okay? That's all I ask."

A warning went off in Julia's mind, but she wanted to hear what Rinoa had to say, so she allowed her to continue with a nod of her head.

"Squall and I went to Kate, down at her office, to change my last name."

Holy shit, Rinoa cursed silently. That was what I rehearsed? Hyne, did that not come out right, or what?

Julia's eyes widened, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. "What? What are you talking about Rinoa?"

Rinoa closed her eyes, chiding herself mentally for the stupid way she'd said what she did. "Squall and I are no longer step-brother and sister. Both of us wanted it that way."

Laguna finally decided it was his turn to speak up. He was rubbing his temples, he too trying to understand what his child and his stepchild had just done. "I don't understand something, Rinoa," he said simply, and received a glance from her. Surprisingly enough, he didn't see a flicker of contempt in her eyes as she looked at him.

"What don't you understand?" she asked quietly.

"Being stepsiblings doesn't make you blood related to someone. Why would you want to change your last name to Heartilly to make you unrelated? Doesn't that seem like time wasted?"

Rinoa heaved another sigh, and attempted to explain something else to her mother and stepfather. "I think you don't understand, Laguna. How would you like to find out that the person you've been sharing kisses with, touching, holding turned out to be related to you? I don't care if we're not blood related; he was still my stepbrother. And I believe in my heart that I love him enough I want to share everything I have with him, and if that means changing my last name to Heartilly to make that happen, so be it." She felt a bit of déjà vu, feeling she'd said almost the exact same thing to Squall before.

Julia spoke up, irritation finally showing in her expressions. "Rinoa, you're sixteen years old, for Hyne's sake! You don't know where you'll be or who you'll be with when you get married, so why do this now? You don't know if Squall is the one you want to share yourself with!"

Rinoa jumped up from the couch, fury raging inside of her. She stared down at the two figures on the couch, her eyes ablaze and ready to fire a retort. "Don't you dare tell me what I know and don't know, Mother! I can do anything I damn well please in two years, and don't think that will stop me! Obviously, I made the wrong judgment in thinking you might actually be supportive in all of this. It looks like my hope was wasted. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a person out there who actually cares about me, and don't plan on seeing me for a while!"

With the burning words dying on her lips, Rinoa marched out the mansion doors, slamming them shut without another word. "Rinoa, no!" Julia called, along with Laguna. With a heavy outburst of breath, Julia got up from the couch, attempting to follow her. Laguna tagged along, unsure of what to do.

When she reached the front yard of their home, Rinoa looked back with a furious stare. "Why are you following me!? Leave me alone!!"

Julia moved toward her, and seized her arm in a firm hold. The look in Rinoa's eyes was indescribable, and her mother almost didn't recognize her child for a moment.

"Let me go!" she hissed, trying to rip away, but Julia held on tightly.

"No! Now listen to me, Rinoa ~Heartilly~! Get back inside, and let's please talk this over. You can't run away from every situation in your life!"

Rinoa took the opportunity of Julia's loosened grip to fidget away forcefully, rubbing the spot on her arm. She backed away, saying nothing, and sprinted down the street, and Julia gave up her futile attempts at bringing her daughter back. She turned to Laguna, unnerved.

"I'm sorry Jules," he began, but she cut him off with a hand raised in the sky.

"Just don't, okay Laguna? You've done enough already. I just need a little time alone. Alright?"

Without waiting for a response, she walked back inside, tears welling in her brown pools so closely matched to that of Rinoa's. Laguna watched her walk in, his head low, knowing things were only bound to get worse from here.

Author's Note: Omg! I can't BELIEVE how long it took me to get this up again! Writer's Block is the worst thing in the entire world, and I've been really sidetracked with other fics lately. I hope you guys are still interested in this.I've got a few things planned, so the final chapters should be coming soon, if I can help it! You might have to go back and re- read a little; lol, since it took me so long, but I really hope you like this chapter! Oh yeah, I know, seriously, I really do, I'm not stupid, I know that being step-brother and sister isn't "blood related." I've seen Clueless, I know. I just think in my mind that it would be just a tad bit weird if my boyfriend turned out to be a sibling of mine, blood related or not. Rinoa is being a rebellious brat, hehe, I know this as well. Things will get better, I promise. Don't worry; I'm not as disorganized as I seem to be!! Chapter 11 should come soon, so check back and please, please review!!!