Disclaimer: umm…Sqaresoft own not do i….yah, so go figure…
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Chapter 20-Changes
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Squall awoke at the gently pressure on his lips, instantly responding. Rinoa pulled away slowly. "Hey."
"Hey…what time is it?"
"Almost midnight."
"Why'd you wake me up then?"
"Sweetie, we've been asleep since like 5:30. We haven't eaten anything."
"Well the cafeteria is definitely closed."
"I know, that's why I'm going to go to my room and get some stuff to eat."
"Like what? Two-minute noodles?"
"I have some if you want," she smirked. "I was gonna make some sandwiches. That okay with you?"
"Sure, whatever. But its past curfew, won't you get caught?"
"Nope. I may not be a SeeD, but I know how to get around with stealth."
"Well aren't we talented."
"I learnt from the best," that said she gave him another kiss before rolling off him. "I'll be right back." Making her way to the door, she opened it, making sure the coast was clear before stepping through. Once in the corridor, she tiptoed the short distance to her room, opening the door and getting in. After preparing the sandwiches, she put them into a plastic container. Repeating the same procedure of 'open, look, go quickly', she returned to Squall's room. "Do you want a chicken and avocado sandwich or ham and cheese?"
Squall sat up, allowing Rinoa to sit next to him. "I'll have…half of each," he smiled.
"Picky person," she rolled her eyes as she gave him a sandwich half. Squall took the half and ate it slowly.
"Do you think it'll work?"
"What?"
"The surgery."
"Well, it is Esthar. I have every hope that it will work Squall," she replied before taking a bite of her sandwich. "Are you having second thoughts?"
"No, just thinking."
Rinoa continued to stare at him whilst chewing. "You know, you look kinda cute with longer hair. You look at lot like Laguna."
"Are you implying that Laguna is 'cute'?"
"That totally came out wrong," Rinoa laughed. "Well, he is your father, let's face it, you had to have inherited your looks from somebody."
"But the fact that you think my father is cute is just," he chose his words carefully, "Disturbing."
"You know what I meant and it wasn't that." She continued to laugh as she finished off half of the sandwich. Taking out another half she replied, "You know, your eyes are still blue."
"They are? Is the damage that bad?"
"No, not really. I mean," she put two fingers where some scars were around his eyes, "You can see where the damage is, but I hardly notice it." He tilted his head slightly into her head, feeling her warmth.
"Hyne, Rin, I wish I could see you, even if it was for a split second."
"Don't worry, you will," she consoled him, putting the plastic container onto the coffee table in front of the couch. "If everything goes fine, you will see again."
"If. What if it doesn't work?"
"Then we'll both learn to accept it and live our lives as normally as we can. We can't let one obstacle stop us from being happy." She held his hands, looking into his eyes, even though she knew he wasn't returning the stare.
"You're right," he softly replied as if in doubt of what she had said. Changing the subject rather abruptly he declared, "That was a really good sandwich, can I have my other half now?"
Laughter returned as she listened to his eagerness, handing him the remaining half.
"Umm, Babe, this tastes the same as the last one I had."
"That's 'cause it is," she laughed, "I had the whole chicken and avocado sandwich."
"Well that wasn't very caring and sharing of you," he smirked as he shoved the whole piece into his mouth.
"Squall, close your mouth when you chew," she said in her most instructor-like tone.
Swallowing his food he replied, "I'll chew with my mouth closed if you promise me that you'll never call Laguna cute again."
"Deal. Come on, let's get cleaned up then we can go to bed." Leading him to the bathroom, she put toothpaste on two toothbrushes. Carefully giving one to Squall, she put his other hand on where the sink was. After he had finished, she, too, brushed her teeth then went back into the bedroom. Rinoa walked with Squall to his side of the bed, pulling back the blanket for him to get under. Returning to her own side she got in as well, turning off the light she moved closer to him. Turning to face Squall, she felt his arms encircle her waist.
"Thankyou," a voice softly whispered.
"For what?" she asked in return.
"For being the one thing in my life worth being happy about."
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The sound of knocking echoed through the room, startling Rinoa from her sleep. Opening her eyes, she frowned as the knocking ceased. Returning her eyelid's to their initial position, she was disturbed once again by the beating knuckles at the door. Forcefully peeling herself from Squall's embrace she got out from under the covers and made her way to the door, furiously rubbing her eyes. Opening the door she found a lone figure.
"Hey Seifer, what's up?"
"Oh, Cid wanted me to check up on you. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Alright, well I was kinda worried last night as well, I mean, you weren't at dinner or anything."
"Oh, we had sandwiches and had an early night."
"Squall still asleep?" A nod being his response he continued, "Well, its 8:30, you might want to think about waking him up."
"Yeah, I'll see you in a bit."
"Later." Rinoa closed the door and slowly walked back to where Squall lay.
Kissing his cheek she felt him stir out of his slumber. "I'm going to go and take a shower in my room. Just letting you know so that you don't freak when you find I'm not here."
"Alright," was her only response before she retraced her steps to the door and let herself out. Back in her own room she headed straight to the bathroom to take a shower.
As she combed her hair in front of the bathroom vanity she frowned. I wonder how Brendan is. Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone rang. Quickly rushing to the kitchen, she picked it up, pressing the 'talk' button.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Rinoa, I wasn't sure whether you were there or Squall's room."
"Oh, hey Mr Loire. How's Mrs Sullivan?"
"Iona's fine. She woke up about half an hour after you all left. She had a turn at kicking Gilroy." He paused as Rinoa laughed. "I brought her back to Garden last night. Listen, I've just spoken to Doctor Flores, lead eye surgeon in Esthar. I set an appointment for tomorrow so hopefully Squall can have surgery the day after on Thursday."
Thursday, two days... "Alright, I'll tell Squall."
"I've notified the Headmaster and he's set Garden's course to Esthar. We should be there tonight. If you want to pack a bag as well Rinoa, I can have someone prepare a room at the Presidential Palace."
"Oh, gee, thanks Laguna, I think I will. Will Garden be staying around Esthar?"
"I think so, so Squall's friends can visit when they want, they can stay at the palace as well if they want to."
"Alright, I'll let them know. Thanks President Loire," she replied, remembering her manners.
"Rinoa, we're practically family-"
Hyne, please don't say it, she thought as she closed her eyes
"-call me 'dad'."
And he did. "Okay then, thanks," she hesitated, "…Dad, I'll let Squall know. Bye."
"Bye." Rinoa placed the cordless phone back in its cradle and sighed. Squall's probably asleep. Honestly, that's probably all he did for three years.
Dressed in a pair of jeans and purple tank top, Rinoa grabbed a cardigan and presently returned to Squall's room. She entered and heard the noise of water rushing down a drain. "Squall?" she warily asked as she stepped into the foggy bathroom. "Squall?!" she asked in a louder voice.
"Rin?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine," was her reply. Frowning, she made her way into the main area and sat on the couch turning the TV on. Flicking through the channels she rested her chin on her palm. Nothing but news and educational programs. Great.
Hearing the shower turn off, she, too, turned the TV off. Pushing herself off the couch she advanced to Squall's bedroom, hands on hips. "What do you think you were doing?"
"Taking a shower." He then added, with a smirk, "Alone."
"Funny. Why didn't you wait?"
"Rinoa, sweetie, I've been blind for three years. I know the difference between the feel of shampoo and conditioner, not that I used any, and soap. I also know the difference between cold and warm water, and I know how to turn knobs. I am very capable of showering by myself."
She sighed in defeat. "I know, I know. I just, I dunno, I'm not used to all this yet. What if you got hurt?" She crossed her arms taking in the image of him in front of her. Ruffled wet hair dripping water onto his torso, a towel around his waist. He lifted his arms slightly, gesturing to her.
"Come here," She obeyed, wrapping her arms around him, "If I had fallen I would've stayed in one position until you came."
"Not funny," she mumbled. "I'll go get you come clothes." She paced the small distance to his bag, pulling out a pair of cargo pants, grey polo shirt and some underwear. "Laguna called you know."
"He did?"
"Yeah, he said that he arranged an appointment for you with a Dr Flores tomorrow and that surgery could be done on Thursday."
"What day is it today?"
"Tuesday. Hey listen, he also said the weirdest thing to me," she laughed as she handed him the clothes, "Well it sounded weird coming from him anyway."
"What he say?"
"He told me to call him 'dad'."
"Okay, that is weird. What you say?" he asked as he put the shirt on.
"Well I couldn't really say anything, but yeh…I called him dad-once." She shuddered slightly at the thought. "Anyways, we're headed for Esthar now. I'm gonna be staying in the palace, you know."
"Was that his idea as well?"
"Uhuh. He was totally nice about it."
"I'm sure he was. Turn around please. I gotta put my pants on."
Rolling her eyes she changed her line of sight. "Done?" she questioned after a few seconds.
"Yeah. What exactly am I wearing?"
"Cargo pants and a grey top, where on earth did you get these clothes?"
"Dunno," he shrugged, "Mrs Sullivan bought 'em."
"Well, Seifer and the gang are expecting us at breakfast. We better go."
"Rin, hand me my cane will you?" She reached into the bag, searching through it. pulling out the folded rod, she handed it to him. He expertly straightened it.
"Alright, let's go." Rinoa took his hand and held it, neither leading, nor following, just simply walking beside him as they traversed the corridors of Balamb Garden.
"What'll happen if the surgery is successful?"
"I guess I'll be a SeeD again. Why?"
"I don't know. Just curious, I mean, Garden has been my home for five years and I'm happy to stay here if that's what you want."
"What about the job with Mrs Sullivan?"
"I was actually going to discuss it with you. It would all depend on how surgery goes, I guess."
"Well then, let's just live out each moment as it comes, okay?"
"Alright," she smiled as they came upon the cafeteria, instantly recognising three of friends. "Hey, where's Quistis and Seifer."
"Quisty had a class to teach and Seifer is doing whatever it is he does," Selphie happily informed them. "How you two been?" she asked as they took their seats.
"Not bad."
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"You didn't have any dinner, we thought maybe you two had died or started a diet together."
"Unlikely," Rinoa laughed. "We had dinner in and hit the sack early."
"I'll get you two some toast," Selphie offered as she bounded in the direction of the serving area.
"Hey Rin, your dad was looking for you," Irvine suddenly said.
"He was? What did he want?" she frowned.
"Dunno, didn't ask. He didn't look too happy."
"Gee, like that's out of the ordinary."
"So Squall, Laguna was here a couple of minutes ago, told us you were gonna get eye surgery in Esthar," Zell exclaimed, "He invited us to stay at the palace! Pretty cool, huh!"
"Yeah," he smiled weakly.
Selphie came back with four pieces of toast, "Two pieces each, did you want orange juice as well?" Without even waiting for a response she headed back to get some.
"Selphie hasn't changed a bit," Squall whispered to himself, though Rinoa heard and snickered.
Nothing has changed...except me.
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A/N-well, another chapter from yours truly, even if it did seem like a filler ^.^…I assure you there is more to come, at least 3 chapters left. I'd like to apologise to anyone who thought that last chapter was the end (if you thought that). What I meant was that I was going to be updating regularly because I had finished the actual writing, not the updating. There will be 23 chapters when this fic is finished, so there is still a bit of time left until I can say that I've finished a fic ^.^!! hehehe, yes well thankyou everyone who has read my fic up to this point and to those who reviewed last chapter:
Nuaro: hehehe, where on his arm did Mr sullivan get shot? Well if you really wanted an answer, I'd say his upper arm, a little below the shoulder…that answer your question? Oh and about Seifer and Rin not saying anything, I figured they would've understood his actions after what Mr Sullivan had done, and besides, they probably wanted to do the same. Hope you liked this chapter ^.^ thanks for the reivew.
The Ever Smiling: hahaha I know what you mean about weird, I myself acting slightly *cough*understatement*cough* weird at times. I'll sing too! Cept, my friends are used to it ^.^ hehehe. I think wrestling is really lame, I mean it looks so rehearsed! It isn't worth it, imho. Hehehe, no, my name isn't Elanor (if you've read the Lord of the Rings, then that's where I got it from, as with Tinuviel) but my real name is the same as yours: ericka (only spelt differently because my rents tried to be original). Hahaha thanks for the great review!
Angelprinczess29: hehehe plenty of Squinoa fluff to come, especially in the last chapter, and next chapter I tink…hehehe, hope you're still enjoying this fic. Thankyou for all your support.
I fawgot my name mommy: there is still more to come that wasn't the end, sorry if you thought that. As of yet, I can't ell you anything that would spoil my storyline for you and others who might glance at this particular note. Thankyou for your interest though and thanks for the review ^.^
Sammy-Chan: well, about Brendan, I was actually gonna have him severely hurt, even killed *grins evilly* but I came to the conclusion that I did feel sorry for Brendan and that I gave him a hard enough time in this fic…kinda, so no, he doesn't get hurt, sorry to disappoint you. As I said, there are still 3 chapters to be uploaded, so I am not yet finished…when I am, there will be a 'the end' at the end. Hehehe, thanks for reviewing.
JerseyGirl03: thanks for the review! Hope you liked this chapter, m'dear. ^.^
Digininga: thanks for taking the time to R&R, tis verily much appreciated ^.^…I'm happy to help anytime you need me to! Thanks again and I hope you're enjoying my fic , and the CCS fics as well ;) hehehe
Silken Rose: ahhh…so tis you, I see. Thanks for the review, quite flattering hehehe, especially from you! Sorry about the spoilers, I just assumed that everyone who read this fic had read all the other fics in this cat…really sorry bout that, I feel bad now :( hmph….anyhoo…about the conversations reflecting what I'd say, that is verily true, how else am I spose to write? Its not like everyone else knows how I am irl…you just happen to be special, ok? So yah…ttyl at school ^.^ thanks agains for the review.
Thanks everyone and please don't forget to review!