DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN FF8, BUT WOULD LIKE TO

Chapter VII

At the head table, things were a little bit less crowded. There sat at the table Zell in his SeeD uniform, Quistis in the same, Selphie in a long pink gown with black roses, and Squall was already at the podium in his SeeD uniform. Rinoa quickly took a seat next to Selphie who looked at her with a smile. There at the table were the five of six warriors that saved the world.

"Testing, 1,2,3. Testing." Squall tapped the mic as he spoke into it.

Everyone began to turn around to see what was happening.

"Welcome, SeeD members and guests, to the one year anniversary of the defeat of Ultimicia. I'm glad that you all could make it. Here we will recognize the brave people that saved this world from an eternal dictator and the people who have gone through much suffering to keep this world to what it is. So now, I turn the podium over to the former headmaster of Balamb Garden, Mr. Cid Kramer." Squall stepped away from the podium and Cid approached.

Squall sat down next to Rinoa and looked at his hands. He was fidgeting. He was nervous to death about something. That was very odd to Rinoa. Squall never gets nervous for anything he does. But she knew he was nervous about something.

Cid steadied himself at the podium and looked out into the crowd. The guests all cheered for him as he got up.

"Today we celebrate a momentous occasion. Exactly one year ago, the five people you see before you destroyed a great evil. Their courage and strength surpass all others. And that is why we are still here today. So now I will present each of the five with a pin of certification say that they have shown bravery, dignity, compassion, and have changed the future to better help mankind. This is the highest honor of a SeeD member and of any person of the world. So now, I shall call forth them."

Everyone's eyes began to light up to hear him call the names. A tingle went through Rinoa's skin as the excitement was too great to bear. For once, her powers had done some good.

"Zell Dincht, instructor of martial arts at Balamb Garden Academy, whose courage and determination kept the group going onward to victory." Zell walked up and cheers were heard in the background. Rinoa saw that Cheryl was in the front row cheering the loudest.

"Selphie Timilt, former SeeD member of Balamb Garden Academy and now presently supervisor of Trabia Garden reinstallment, whose spirit was bounded by nothing and shined brightly past the darkness." Selphie brushed her dress down as she joined Zell.

"Quistis Trepe, instructor of first year students at Balamb Garden Academy, whose intelligence solved most of all their problems and overcame the troubles that were thrown before them." Quistis also got up and Squall looked toward her as she did, but then looked straight back at his hands.

"Irvine Kenneas, former student of Galbadia Garden Academy who was unable to attend tonight. His sharp shooting abilities and memory capacity were greatly needed to obtain victory." People cheered, but Squall twitched a little at the name of Irvine.

"Rinoa Heartily, current resident of Balamb Garden Academy and inheritant of Sorceress Edea, Sorceress Adel, and Sorceress Ultimicia, her powers and will are the reason why we are here today. Without them, we would be governed by sorceresses. Let's give a special cheer to her that is the olive branch of the two people." Many cheered, but some even snickered as she walked up. She ignored them though. This was her fate, and she had to face it.

"And finally, Squall Leonheart, current headmaster of Balamb Garden Academy, the leader that put motivation into the group and led them to save the world." Squall got up and stood next to Rinoa. She looked into his eyes as he came up. Now the eyes had become a fearful storm. She quivered.

Everyone cheered the loudest for Squall. Even though most despised his leader abilities, they gave him credit for his unbelievable courage.

"Now I shall present you with the Pin of Hyne. To those who have shown remarkable courage and strength, to those who have shaped destiny, and those that are children of Hyne. Remember, follow your will and you shall receive greatness." Cid walked to each while saying this and pinning on the badge onto each of them.

"Let's have one last hand for them." Cid said as everyone cheered and clapped as hard as they all could.

Squall took a deep breath and walked towards the podium. Rinoa stiffened as he did. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she was afraid, very afraid.

"I would like to take this time to congratulate all of comrades and actually thank a very special one. Rinoa, would you please come up here." Squall looked directly at her.

Selphie smiled a huge grin towards Rinoa and nodded her to go. Rinoa now felt really scared. Her stomach felt empty and she was afraid that something really bad was about to happen. But she still walk up next to him.

"I just want to say that I thank you. I thank you very much for what you have given me. You have given me the ability to love and to trust. If I hadn't had met you , I would still be in my room tonight and still thinking about what others think about me. I was scared to let everyone know who I truly was. However, you showed me that it is okay to let people know you and I thank you for that."

Rinoa smiled, maybe it wasn't going to be that bad after all. Everyone cheered for her as Squall had finished speaking. She was relieved to know that her suspicions were wrong.

"There is one more thing though." Squall said.

Rinoa froze right there. She was right after all.

Squall took off his lion ring that he wore around his finger. The one that Zell asked to borrow to give to Rinoa. The one that she had worn since forever. She returned it though after a while. He held it and looked at her. He then got down on one knee. Rinoa began to freak out almost. Her breath began to become heavy and short and her hand quivered as he took it in his.

"I've always loved you since you laid eyes upon me. Tonight reminds me of that and I begin to love you more. I hope that as we continue our love will grow stronger. So now, I would like us to be together forever. This is why I give this to you and ask you...Will you marry me?" Squall looked her straight in the eyes now.

Everyone around them had stood silent. Few gasps were heard that silenced to hear the crickets outside in the night. All that Rinoa could hear was her heart pounding. Then she began to hear voices

"I hope she doesn't find out."

"She won't, don't worry. I won't let her. I love her too much to hurt her like this.

"I love her too, Squall, but I just don't know what to do. I love you as well, but I don't want to hurt Rinoa."

"I know. I wish that I could take it all back."

"So do I. I wouldn't have done anything if I had known how much you two were in love."

"Then we shall make a pact. We won't tell anyone except Cheryl."

"Of course, she'll make sure that nothing gets out and she'll relay that nothing happened to all the students."

"I think I'm going to propose tonight."

"Really? How?"

"I'll come up with some excuse to get us noticed by everyone. I know I never do anything like this, but I want it to be something special for her."

"I'm happy for you both."

"So am I, Quistis."

Rinoa kept hearing the voices and kept thinking about what they meant. There was no need to fool herself. She knew what they meant. She was just fooling herself, but what could she say in front of all of those people? She was afraid that if she said no, there would be nothing left for her. She began to breathe extremely hard now. She was afraid she was going to faint in front of all of these people.

"I...I...I'm very surprised at this." Rinoa looked around and saw that everyone was really leering in on her.

"My answer is...is....," more breathing she did and she couldn't help it. This was the worst predicament she had ever been in, "is...wow...I can't believe this."

She still was having a hard time saying the answer. The words kept popping back into her head. Thos dirty words about it. She couldn't get them out. "When the feather breaks, to the world she shall take."

Her eyes widened now and she gathered every bit of strength she had, "My answer is...........................yes."

Squall's eyes widened as wide as they could be as he slipped the ring onto her finger. Everyone began to cheer as loud as they could and even louder. Clapping and whistling were hear from the background. Squall got up and kissed her while holding her as tight as he could.

Rinoa kissed him back, but felt so wrong. "The time has come my daughter. The feather shall break. Make it break. MAKE IT BREAK."

Rinoa went stiff all of a sudden and Squall looked at her in his arms. Her eyes went blank with white as Squall was about to scream.

A sudden burst of energy ripped through the room and shattered the glass ceiling. Glass particle rained onto the guests as they began to scatter out of the room in panic and screams.

"RINOA! WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Squall screamed, but was soon thrown back from her body.

Quistis grabbed Cid and pushed him off the stage they were one. Selphie picked up her dress and also jumped. Zell went for Rinoa before he was struck with a sudden bolt of lightning that sent him flying across the room.

Squall got up from the recent fall he had. He looked at her as she began to float in the air with sparks of lightning forming around her.

"RINOA! STOP!" Squall screamed at her, but it was too late. There was no stopping her as she pushed her arms outward throwing energy in every direction. Everyone fell to the floor as the energy knocked them down. Rinoa soon began to float higher into the air and out the broken ceiling. Rinoa lifted her arms and green balls of energy began to form around her.

Squall eyes widened at this as his mouth dropped, "She's summoning."

And so she did as clouds began to form. From them a dark shape took form. Wings began to expand from it and the head became visible. A massive blue dragon tore the clouds apart as it descended towards Rinoa. It stopped in front of her with its snarling teeth and its wings beating wind against Rinoa. She stood steady though as her hair began to blow. Rinoa looked directly at it before she gripped her shoulders in pain. Her back began to bulge from her dress before it ripped when her white wings sprouted. Feathers began to rain down onto the marble floor and the ambiance from the wings shown into all the faces of every person still in the room. Squall stood underneath the two in awe.

Bahaumut, the dragon king, flew backwards a little before his mouth began to charge up with energy. He was going to attack and his target was Rinoa.

His mouth formed a ball of energy before he blew it towards Rinoa. She floated there with her magnificent wings glimmering. The attack hit her directly and a gigantic explosion hit. The force began to crack the pillars of the ballroom and Squall fell straight to the ground.

When the explosion had cleared, a gigantic rain of feathers began to fall down. They covered to the floor and the touched Squall gently. He still looked up while on the floor and tried to see Rinoa. She was there, but now she was starting to go unconscious. Her steady float began to crumble as she fell towards the ground. Squall jumped up in a hurry and ran towards her to catch her. He had caught her in a cradle in his arms and at that moment, Bahaumut had disappeared from the sky.

Everyone began to look up as soon as they couldn't hear anymore rumbling. Squall looked at Rinoa as she was unharmed, but there was one thing that was wrong with her. Her wings had been lost.