A/N: Thanks for the reviews people! Some notes to some people:

Exhile87: My website link can be found on my bio page. Last time I checked, however, my site wasn't working properly, though I've fixed it since then. So you can try it. It's on the Game Review page.

Chapter 7

Time seemed to stop as the two lost themselves in a blissful daze, suddenly oblivious to the rest of the world. Rinoa pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, and tugging gently at his bottom lip. She could feel his body tense even more as he gasped in surprise. She took it as an invitation to deepen the kiss, slowly sliding her tongue over his own. Hesitantly, he allowed his arms to slip around her waist, pulling her even tighter against him, even while the more logical part of his mind told him to leave now, to run away and never look back at the raven-haired beauty he now held in his arms. For the moment, however, a more primal part of his brain had surfaced and taken over, thoroughly enjoying the electricity pumping in his veins and surging through every nerve in his body. Even in life he'd never felt anything quite like this.

Rinoa could feel herself getting carried away already, in public no less. No, this was not the time nor the place, she realized, using every ounce of will power in her body to pull away from him, face flushed and lips swollen. She put a hand over her mouth, realizing she was the cause in the first place, and wondered with a small amount of fear, what his reaction would be.

Squall himself had gone rather pale, his eyes still widened in surprise. He took a moment to catch his breath and regain his wits before studying Rinoa's slighty worried expression. She was waiting for him to say something, he realized.

"I... I guess we should get back to the others now," he said, avoiding the subject.

"Yeah, we should," Rinoa agreed gladly. She watched him as he reached for the door knob and start to turn it before she gripped his arm, pulling it back. "Wait!" She pulled his sun glasses from the pocket she'd shoved them in, and slid them back onto his face, taking a moment to gaze into his eyes before she replaced the dark lenses.

The corners of his lips twitched a little, in what Rinoa would've sworn was a faint smile, before he said, "Thanks. Wouldn't want my secret exposed."

She smiled back at him and winked before opening the door and starting out. "Your secrets are safe with me."

When the two reached the table, everyone else was eating all ready. As Rinoa sat down, this time next to Squall, Zell looked up at her and asked, "Geez Rinoa, what took you so long? Did you fall in and have to have Squall fish you out?"

"I certainly fell into something," she murmered, causing Squall to blush.

"What's going on with you two?" Irvine asked, disapointed now that Rinoa was no longer sitting next to him.

"None of your business!" they both replied in unison, startling everyone. Squall and Rinoa looked at each other, then quickly looked away, both blushing.

Rinoa stopped the waiter passing by and asked, "Can I get a glass of water?"

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After breakfast, it was decided that Seifer should be tracked down in some form or another. For the moment, he hadn't caused any trouble, and it was better to catch him before he did. The only problem was, Seifer somehow managed to escape everyone's radar, seeming to drop off the face of the earth itself. How do you find someone that seems to have disapeared entirely? Luckily, a message was left at their hotel room, giving them a possible lead, though perhaps it would lead straight into a trap.

"If you want to find Seifer, I can help you. I can lead you to him, and maybe help you catch him. Just come by the recently abandoned train station at four p.m. this after noon. No more than four of you. - Anonymous"

"This is certainly strange," Quistis commented, reading over the note that had been slipped beneath the door one last time. "Do you think we should trust it, Squall?"

He shrugged. "It sounds suspicious to me, but what choice do we have? How else are we going to find Almasy?"

"I vote against it," Zell said. "It sounds too dangerous."

"Then you don't have to go," Squall replied. "Only four can go, anyways."

"I should go. In case you surprised by any demons," Irvine said. "I need some action anyway, since there's none to be found around this hotel."

Quistis rolled her eyes, but said, "Perhaps I should stay. I'm not sure I'd be much help."

"Ifrit and I will certainly accompany you," Shiva spoke up. "We'll make sure things don't go wrong."

"Then it's settled. Me, Irvine, Shiva, and Ifrit," Squall said.

"Wait! I want to go, too!" Rinoa said, resolutely.

Squall shook his head. "Don't think so. It would be too much of a risk. Too many things could go wrong, and our mission is to protect you. Chances are, this is a trap. So you're staying, no arguement."

Rinoa stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "But what if that's just what they want you to do? Leave me here with fewer guards than usual... it could be the oppurtunity they're looking for. At least if I go with you, then you can gaurd me even if something does go wrong."

"She has a point," Shiva sighed. "You are her guardian, Squall. You're supposed to stay with her at all times. Ifrit can stay behind."

"I don't know..." his voice trailed off in doubt.

"Please, Squall?" Rinoa asked, sitting down next to him and pouting slightly.

Squall sighed in defeat. He couldn't stand to see her pout like that. (What's happening to me?) he wondered. (I shouldn't let this woman get over on me! Oh well... At least this way I can keep an eye on her. Nothing will happen to her so long as I'm around) he promised himself, much to his own surprise. Since when did he care? "Alright, fine. You can come. Just don't get in the way."

Rinoa smiled in happiness and threw her arms around him. "Thanks Squall!"

"Yeah, okay, get off of me!" he growled, shoving her arms away. He could feel his cheeks burning with embarresment as everyone stared at them. Rinoa soon realized her mistake, and complied with his wishes.

"So..." Zell began, breaking the ackward silence. "What do we do until then?"

"Prepare. Rest up. Whatever you want to do, I guess," Squall replied.

"Cool!" Zell exclaimed. "I'm gonna go help some old ladies cross the street or something. Earn some extra credit for those wings."

"Across the street," Quistis repeated. "Where the hotdog bar just happens to be?"

"Well, sure. Maybe I'll have an early lunch." A sly grin came over Zell's face. "Care to have brunch with me, Quistis?"

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "So long as you're buying."

"I'm gonna watch the football game," Ifrit said, grabing the remote. "How 'bout you, Shiv?"

"I'll be off somewhere training," she replied, taking hold of her weapon.

"Then it's just me, Irvine, Squall and Rinoa," Ifrit said. "We can all watch the football game."

"I don't think so," Rinoa replied. "I'm going to watch TV in my own room."

"Just us men then," Irvine said, looking from himself, to Ifrit, to Squall.

"No thanks. Football bores me," Squall replied, getting up and following Rinoa into her room, though nervously. He was uncertain what might happen between them, or what might be said, but he perferred her company over that of two overly-hormonal male perverts.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Rinoa grabbed Squall by the collar of his coat and pulled him into another heated kiss. Hard as he tried to resist it, his will failed him for once, and he found himself responding once again. This time, she was more bold, more confident of herself now that she knew of how he would respond. And he did respond, with just as much need as she did, but more shyly, still uncertain of everything he was feeling. When Rinoa broke away for a brief moment to catch her breath, Squall used the oppurtunity to back away from her, his only weakness.

"Rinoa, we have to stop this," he said, shaking his head.

"Why?" she asked, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Why? There a million reasons why. I could lose my job for this, for one thing. It's my mission to protect you, and that's it. I'm not supposed to get involved with you in any other way, physical or emotional. You're alive, you're human, and I'm... not. You belong with another human being, Rinoa. It's that simple."

She shook her head. "No, it's not. Who says anyone has to know about it, anyway? And just because you're not living now, you once were. You were once human, just like me. There's something between us, I know there is. Otherwise, I wouldn't have seen the things that I did. I saw your past. That has to mean something."

He sighed. "Rinoa, there's no covering it up. They know everything that goes on. And besides, once this is all over, I'll probably never even see you again!" he explained, suddenly stopping at his came to this realization. It wasn't an idea that he liked, never being able to see Rinoa again. He took a deep breath, swallowing his emotions, and continued. "You seeing my past was strange, I'll admit, but it could've just been a coincidence. I... you and I...." he faltered, not wanting to say what he was going to. To say that they didn't belong together would be saying too much on his part, admitting certain feelings that he wasn't ready to admit to yet. "It's just not right, Rinoa. We have to stop."

She turned away from him, arms crossed over her chest, and asked in small voice, "What happens if you lose your job?"

"Anything could happen," he replied. "Anything from a demotion, to being discharged all together. Termination..." he let his voice trail off, not wanting to think about the consequences.

She nodded. "Fine. I see. Your career means a lot to you, I know, so I won't endanger it."

He sighed again. He didn't want her to think that he was that selfish, to care about his job and nothing else. So, for once, he spoke from his heart, telling her his real reason for concern, though reluctantly. "I don't want you to get hurt," he said quietly. "And that's all this will ever amount to."

She faced him once again, removing his glasses and staring into his pain-filled eyes, hiding so much, yet revealing everything to those who could actually read it. "There's been a lot of pain in your life," she murmered. "I don't want to add to it."

"Damn it! Quit making me feel guilty!" he growled.

She laughed a little. "I'm not. You're doing that to yourself. Not all of life is pain, you know."

"I'm not living anymore," he responded softly.

"Did you ever really live, Squall?" she asked him seriously.

"I lived alone. No one wanted anything to do, in those day, with someone that was blind."

She rested her head on his shoulder, her face burried in his neck. He could feel her hot tears gliding slowly down his throat, sending chills up his spine. "Don't cry for me," he whispered.

She worked to control her tears for a moment before raising her head, so that she could look into his eyes again. "I'm not going to give up on you," she said. "I don't care if I get hurt. You need this as much as I do, even if it can never last."

"But Rinoa-" he began in protest.

Rinoa cut him off with a gentle kiss. "No buts. Now I'm going to relax some before we have to go. You're free to join me, of course," she told him before stepping away from him and laying across the bed to watch TV.

He could only stare at her for the longest time, trying to figure out why she would risk heart ache just to heal his old wounds. She certainly was an enigma... one that he found himself helplessly drawn to.

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Three fourty-five rolled around sooner than everyone had hoped. Squall, Rinoa, Shiva, and Irvine prepared for the short journey to the train station, which had been abandoned and covered in yellow police tape since the shootings. In fact, most of the surrounding area had been abandoned, as if the bad aura of the place of some many deaths had driven everyone else away.

It was easy enough to get in through the police lines, and bright orange markers, but once outside the front entrance, all four came to a stop, wondering if they should go through with it. Silence passed between them, until at last Shiva spoke up, examining her watch.

"It's three fifty-nine," she announced flatly. "Now or never."

Squall nodded and pulled open the door to the large building. "Rinoa, don't touch anything. Don't want the police linking any evidence to you."

Rinoa nodded as stepped through the door, her eyes taking in the sight of the deadly aftermath as soon as she entered. Shattered glass, torn insilation, and crumbled stone littered the floor, along with the deep red stains that marked each person's place of demise. The air inside was still, and dusty, the building having been closed off for quite a long while. Dull sunlight shown in through a set of busted windows on one side, spilling eerie illumination over the now sacred room. Rinoa stopped in her tracks, having wandered in a little ways, and began to shutter slightly, as scenes of the victims' final moments flashed through her mind, bringing with it all the pain, anger and confusion that now echoed silently off the walls. She could see Seifer, his remorseless eyes staring down each one of his victims before closing in on them. She could also see an accomplise of his, a gray-haired woman with a patch over one eye. She stood at the door, guarding the entrance.

"Rinoa... Rinoa!" Squall was shaking her again, startling her from her trance. "Rinoa, are you alright?"

She nodded shakily. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Let's just get going," she mumbled, starting to walk ahead.

"That won't be necessary," a hoarse female voice said from the shadows ahead. "Stay where you are. I'll reveal myself."

The same gray-haired woman that Rinoa had seen earlier stepped into the light, a nervous frown upon her face. Rinoa bit back a gasp, and felt the need to warn Squall about her, but kept silent for the moment. Her instincts told her to wait and hear what this woman had to say.

"My name is Fujin," she said, looking from one person to the next. "I was once Seifer's partner in crime. One of them, anyway. But now, I want to turn him in. I would like to help you catch him."

"Why should we trust you?" Squall asked. "Why would you betray your partner?"

"I have many reasons," she answered. "There is rather large bounty on his head, for one. He has disturbed the balance of life and death, and no one is happy about it. They all want him caught as much as you do. There is much to gain from disposing of him."

"You would betray your friend just for a reward?" Rinoa asked.

"There are more personal reasons," she said darkly. "My family... my living family... they were to be spared. After all, I was one of his best friends, so I believed he would stick to his promise. I was wrong. He killed them all, behind my back no less," her voice dripped with bitterness and hatred at this last sentence, and her fists clenched. "I want revenge."

"I still don't trust you," Squall said.

"I don't blame you. However, I intend prove myself in time. I will start by stepping forward now, in surrender, as I am unarmed. But first, I must warn you of something," she said, stepping closer.

"What's that?" Squall asked, fully expecting an ambush.

Instead, Fujin looked from one person to another, as if trying to recognize them, then said, "There is a traitor amoung you."

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A/N: Oooh, a cliff hanger. Wonder who the traitor is? Is it Shiva, Ifrit, Irvine, Quistis, or Zell? I'm not even gonna try to pass off Squall and Rinoa 'cause we all know it's not them. Anyway, please review!