Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews, guys!! Yes, finally, the meeting of Squall and Rinoa. There'll be a lot of dialogue in this chapter, so those of you who enjoy them talking back and forth will definitely enjoy this chapter. I'm glad ya'll like it! Keep reading and reviewing!! Much love. Oh yeah, and I'm really sorry about the mistake with Angelo's gender! All along I've said he was a boy, but in this fic I decided to give in to every other fic I've read where he was a girl. smacks forehead I guess I should've gone with my gut.

Running Chapter 5 The Angel Meets the Lion

I don't know anything at all

And I'm somebody else

It could take years to find you

It could take years to find myself

And I don't need to hear your answer

I just need you to see

That I think it's time to break down

These walls that we throw

-Trapt, "Made of Glass"

            Both were speechless for a few moments, drinking one another's presence in. Squall stared, helpless to tear his eyes away. She was beautiful…long raven hair, chocolate eyes, and an oval porcelain face. She had a girlish aura to her, yet something in her eyes told him she was the rebellious type. The outfit she wore accentuated her curves wonderfully. Unlike any girl he'd ever seen before.

            And him…he was the most unique guy she'd ever laid eyes on. He had a rough calloused look to him, even though he was so young, and yet his face was soft, but the eyes were hard. They softened as he looked her over…she noted the stormy blue-green color…gorgeous. And the unruly mahogany hair matched the black leather fashion, which seemed slightly Gothic.

            Squall was the first to break the silence, his cold side taking over again. "Uh…can I get that bag for you?"

            She still ogled at him, but fumbled for the bag behind her and gave it to him. "Y-yeah, thanks…thank you, Squall."

            He took her bag and turned around, having to rip his gaze away from her. She wanted to tell him to turn back, to come closer so she could inspect him fully. But she merely followed behind in stunned silence, watching his backside. Cute butt, too, she thought to herself. This guy's got everything! Then a thought crossed her mind and hit her hard. But what if he's got a girlfriend, too? Man, some girls have all the luck. Either that or he's gay, one of the two. All the hot ones are gay.

            She laughed aloud at her thoughts. Squall craned his neck to look at her questioningly, but said nothing. She found this strange and intriguing.

            "Don't you want to know why I'm laughing?" she asked, jogging up next to him. He did not meet her eyes. She didn't necessarily want him to know why she was laughing, but she found it odd that he didn't ask.

            "No," he answered simply.

            "Why not?"

            "Because it's none of my business."

            "Well," she persisted. "Don't you at least wonder?"

            "Not really."

              Rinoa's brows creased in irritation. She took this as a shove-off, like the scene a few minutes before hadn't even happened. The way they'd looked at each other…she'd thought for sure he was interested. What if she had been wrong? No, she disagreed with herself. I didn't mistake that look in his eyes. I looked at him the same way, I know what it said. He must just be hard to crack, that's all. Well I can fix that.

            She ignored the last comment, and decided it would be a good idea to strike up some casual conversation. "So, Squall, you said you're a SeeD? That makes you how old?"

            "Fifteen," he said curtly, staring straight ahead. "Do you know where you're going?"

            Rinoa contemplated this for a minute. With the little information she'd read in some of her father's documents when he wasn't looking, she'd always seen the age for a SeeD a minimum of seventeen. Curiosity piqued, she asked, "Wait…doesn't that make you a little young to be a SeeD? As far as I know, you have to be seventeen, don't you?"

            He chose to ignore the question. "Do you know where we're going or don't you?"

            Rinoa wasn't one to give up easily. "I'll tell you that once you answer my question."

            Squall sighed, conceding to the girl. "Yes, you have to be seventeen. Garden made an exception and allowed me to graduate early. That's all."

            She lifted an eyebrow. "Why would they do that? Because you're so great they couldn't wait two more years for you?"

            I sense sarcasm, Squall thought, still keeping his eyes forward. Is she mocking my abilities? "I guess," he said finally in response, still wondering if what she'd said had been in malice.

            "Wow," she said genuinely, looking down at the filthy sewer floor. "That must mean you're a pretty good fighter."

            That must mean you're a pretty fast thinker, he thought with an inward smile. Man, takes a lot of thinking to figure that one out. "I guess," he said again. "Now will you answer my question?"

            Variety was obviously not this guy's best quality. Apparently he didn't have everything she thought he did. "I'm pretty sure I know where we're going," she responded, fairly sure of herself. "I went down here a lot when I was little, to escape my dad for a while." At this she trailed off, realizing she was going too far in her personal life already. Conversation wasn't Squall's high point, but Rinoa's downfall was telling people too much information too soon. A lot of the time she said things no one really needed to know when she just met them. She was outspoken, and it sometimes got her into trouble.

            However, as she thought most would, Squall asked nothing about her father. He merely stayed on the topic of the goal ahead of them. "I don't know how to track down my group…but I'm pretty sure they're looking for me by now, so we might get lucky and run into them. Where are you heading?"

            This was a touchy subject, she recognized suddenly. Either being a SeeD, he'd want to do the responsible thing and bring her back home or report her, or he might just let her go about her business without trying to interfere. Judging by his previous responses, she got the feeling he didn't care much about other's problems. So she took her chances. "I'm…running away from home. There's a resistance faction in Timber that I've been asked to join, and I had to sneak out so no one would see me."

            Squall finally turned his head to look at Rinoa for the first time since they'd met at the doorway. Her eyes looked distant, like the topic was hard to talk about. Her voice was steady, yet the look on her face read differently. It was none of his business as to why she was running away, but he needed some other facts before making a decision on what to do with her. "You're…the same age as me?" he inquired quietly. He found it easy to talk to this girl, something he didn't normally find in others. She made him feel comfortable for some unknown reason.

            "Yeah, fifteen. I'm still in school, but I guess now that I'm going to Timber I'm not a student," she said with a dry laugh. "Stay in school, kids! Unless you decide to run away to a resistance faction, like so many others have done." She took his silence as patient listening, and despite the fact that she'd told herself not to reveal too much information too soon, she went on anyway. "I'm…running away from my father, really. I've lived alone with him since my mom died ten years ago. And ever since then it's like I've been invisible. Like I did something wrong…" she stopped suddenly, looking away and putting a hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you all this. I have this flaw that I tell people my whole life story after barely meeting them. I'll…stop now."

            No, don't stop, Squall thought to himself. Tell me more about yourself. He wanted to say this aloud to her, but… "I can't," he said softly out loud, clearly by accident. Realizing he'd voiced his thoughts, he quickly wished he could take them back; for he knew Rinoa had noticed.

            "What?" she said, leaning her head around to see his face. "You can't what?"

             Think quickly, think quickly…c'mon, Squall, be a quick thinker, you're good at this kind of stuff. You're a SeeD! "I…can't decide which way we should turn. Left or right?"

            Rinoa narrowed her chocolate eyes, suspicion rising at his reply. It sounded made-up, but she didn't want to question him and then be wrong, so she might as well go along with it. "Left, I think. So…what happens if you can't find your group?"

            What happens? I get made fun of by my leader, his pals, not to mention Seifer and Traydon, who I'd be proving right with their comments. And when I got back to Garden I'd be a huge disappointment to the Headmaster who had faith in me. But we won't go into that. "I'd rather not find out, okay? Let's just focus on what will happen when I do find them."

            Rinoa thought about this for a moment, and decided he had a point. She nodded, and went on in silence. Since he never told her to go on talking, she took it as a hint that he had wanted her to shut up. He seemed like the type of guy who just wanted to cut the bullshit and get straight to what he was supposed to do, not caring how others felt or what happened to them. Maybe he wasn't so perfect after all.

            She had never been the type to enjoy silence. Always wanting to chat away with someone and be their friend, not act like she didn't know them at all and try to make as little conversation as possible, which seemed to be Squall's favorite way to go. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "So what's Garden like? I've always wondered what it's like there…sure seems like a nice place from the outside."

            Squall let out a sigh. His patience was wearing thin, and, contradictory to what he had thought earlier, he was wondering if this girl ever stopped talking. It seemed as if they were going in circles, and they could've been for all he knew, and hope was diminishing quickly for finding the group he'd lost. "It's nice. Are you sure you know where you're going? It seems to me we're not getting anywhere."

            Speaking of not getting anywhere, she thought with a roll of her eyes. This guy's shell is tougher than most. "I'm pretty sure we're going the right way. I know we'll come out to the entrance soon enough, trust me."

            "Soon enough? What do you mean soon en…" suddenly Squall's sentence was cut off by the appearance of the largest monster he'd yet seen down in the Sewers. Rinoa let out a scream as it jumped in front of her, and Squall quickly slid in between the two, brandishing his gunblade to ward off the creature. It let out a screech as the new victim came into view, and attempted the first strike. Squall fell back a little, but felt the adrenaline surge through him that had been there when he was with Nori and the others.

            "Squall! Are you okay?" Rinoa shouted, moving out of the way of the monster. She'd told Zone she could fight…and she would! She'd fight for Squall. Before she could release her Pinwheel, though, Squall raised himself from the ground with renewed vigor.

            "Stay back!" he ordered, lifting his gunblade and glaring at the black creature before them. "I'll handle this!"

            The Electrode, as Squall's scan defined it, was stronger than they thought. It let loose a fury of electrical current onto Rinoa, who was still on the sidelines. Squall cursed under his breath and tore into the monster, rage coursing through him like never before. Rinoa attempted to get up off the concrete, Angelo licking her face, but each time she got halfway up, her body forced her back down again. Damn, she thought, shaking from the electricity still running through her. Now he's going to think I can't fight or fend for myself. That was the last thing I needed.

            He continued to fight with all he had, wondering if Rinoa was okay but having no time to check. Casting a strong sleep spell on the creature to buy him some time, he quickly threw a glance at the girl. "Are you alright?" he shouted, seeing her still on the ground and beginning to worry. But just as he thought she might be unconscious, she turned her head and gave him a thumbs-up and a smile, hoping it would make him happy.

            "I'm okay! Focus on the monster, I think he's waking up!"

            Snapping his head back to look at the monster, which indeed was coming to, and took another whack at it with his gunblade. The Electrode would be tough to bring down, but he could handle it with the surge he was getting through his blood. I'm just glad Rinoa's okay, he thought, still casting magic and doing physical damage. After that electrical current I got scared for a second…

In mid-strike, Squall froze.