Authors note: Exhile87, is that right? I'm so sorry I got your name wrong; I can be a bit of a ditsy at times! Too make it up to you; I dedicate this chapter to Exhile87. ^_^ Thanks for all the reviews people!
Chapter 4
Rinoa stepped out of the hotel as she felt the warm sun on her face.
"Rinoa," came a voice from behind her. She smiled as she recognised the voice. She turned around to see a handsome blond man stood leaning against the wall.
"Hi Seifer."
"Squall told me you were in town so I thought I'd visit you," Seifer said, with a smile spreading across his face.
"Do you want to go to a café or something where we can talk?"
Rinoa nodded her head. "Sure."
Two steaming cups of coffee sat on the table where Rinoa sat listening to Seifer's story of how he became a psychiatrist. "I'm sorry Rinoa, am I boring you?" Seifer said, noticing that she seemed distant.
Rinoa shook her head. "No, it's an interesting story." she placed her head in her hands. "I was just thinking you've changed so much."
Seifer shrugged his shoulders. "Well I didn't want to stay the bad guy forever, I don't like people being afraid of me all the time."
"What sort of psychiatrist would you be if people were afraid of you?" Rinoa said smiling. Seifer smiled back at her, noticing that she hadn't changed much, he didn't want her to change either, he liked her the way she was.
"How long have you been in Balamb for?" he asked.
"Since yesterday."
"I take it you have a place to stay because I doubt you would sleep on the streets?"
Rinoa let out a small laugh. "Well I had a place to stay at the hotel but I have to be out of there by the end of the day," Rinoa sighed. "I'll have to see if I can stay another night there."
"You don't have to," Seifer said, looking at her. "My girlfriend's friend is looking for a room mate, you could stay with her if you want."
Rinoa froze as she heard him say the word 'girlfriend'. She felt her heart ache deep inside her, she tried as hard as she could not to look upset and tried to take her mind off it.
"Thanks Seifer, but I don't know her she is and she might not want me to barge into her home." Rinoa said; she could hear her voice cracking as she spoke.
"It'll be fine Rinoa, she doesn't hate anyone and it doesn't have to be permanent."
It would be nice to meet someone new, Rinoa thought to herself. She nodded her head. "Alright then," Rinoa said.
"Great! I'll tell her. By the way, her name's Selphie Tilmitt, she works in a pub opposite the hospital."
"Anything else I need to know about her?" Rinoa asked.
"Well…" Seifer said thinking. "She can be a bit crazy at times but you'll like her."
~*~*~*~*~
Rinoa stood feeling a little uncomfortable outside a door. She looked down to piece of paper, checking the address that Seifer had given her. It was the right house. Rinoa raised a hand towards the door, pressing the doorbell at the side of the door. A ringing sound came from the inside of the house, a few moments later the door opened and a friendly looking young female stepped out from behind the door.
"Hi, you must be Rinoa," she said giving Rinoa a warm smile. "I'm Selphie." She put out hand out; Rinoa also put her hand out and shook Selphie's hand.
After a tour around Selphie's home, Rinoa and Selphie sat down and began to talk. Rinoa looked at the clock to find it was 7:30. After being here for more than a day Rinoa thought she should contact her father. She got permission from Selphie to use her phone before dialling her father's number. After a few rings the phone was picked up.
"Hello?" came the cold, stern female voice. Rinoa had hoped that Nina wouldn't pick up the phone. Nina hadn't even been living there for long but she already seemed to be taking over the house.
"Nina, is my father there?" Rinoa said, hoping Nina would cooperate with her today.
"He's not here."
"Do you know when he'll be back?"
"That's classified information, I can't tell you."
Her father would always let Rinoa know where he was going and when he'd be back. Rinoa tried her hardest to hold back her anger so that she wouldn't have to shout at Nina down the phone.
"Please Nina, I just want to know when he'll be back."
"I already told you. It's classified information."
Rinoa couldn't hold in her anger anymore. "Nina-"
"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number." Smiling to herself Nina put the phone down.
"Who was that?" came a voice from behind her. Nina turned to see Caraway stood behind her. She pushed her long blond hair behind her shoulder.
"It was no one, darling," a slight grin grew over Nina's face. "No one."
Rinoa slammed the phone down shaking with anger. She backed up towards the wall and started to cry. Selphie walked towards the whimpering Rinoa. "What's wrong?"
Rinoa whipped her eyes. "It's nothing," she said. "I just need to be alone."
~*~*~*~*~
Squall drove down the winding road, on both sides of him there seemed to be never-ending trees from the forest, which now seemed to be fading from the fog of the night.
The further he drove, the thicker the fog seemed to get. He turned a sharp corner, and quickly slammed his foot down on the brake as he saw his vehicle fast approaching sort kind of creature. He heard a bang as his car slowed to a stop. Squall stepped out of his car, in a state of shock, and walked to the front of his car. He looked down to see a puddle of blood streaming from an animal.
Squall kneeled down and in the light from his headlights saw that he had hit a dear. The dear let out a faint cry as it rested its head on the road. Squall looked at it in sorrow. He knew he couldn't let it die and it obviously wasn't go to survive by itself. Squall looked round, checking his surroundings. The road was dull and quiet, the only sounds being the noise of the local animals. Behind he could see the lights coming from Balamb.
He turned his attention back to the dear, which was now lying very still. The blood now matted the dear's soft fur in a sickly red. Squall gently placed a hand on the dear's body and stroked it softly. The dear closed its eyes and appeared to relax, understanding Squall was going to help.
Carefully Squall placed his hand over the dears wound. The still warm blood quickly stained his hand. Squall concentrated, as a holy light emitted from Squall's palm, the wound closing and leaving the body perfect, except for the blood that had already exited the body.
The dear began to move and slowly it stood shakily on its legs. It took a few steps forward then ran off into the forest where it must have come from. Squall watched as the dear left running free into the wild again, unharmed. Squall let out a small sigh and took a step forward to return to his car but stopped in his tracks as he heard footsteps coming from behind him. He wasn't sure if he should look behind to see what the footsteps were coming from.
"Squall?" came a voice from behind him…
A/n: Don't forget to review! ^_^
