Thief's Treasure
Chapter Seven: Friends & Lovers
By PasifiKStaR

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Lots of hugs to everyone!! ^_^ All the encouragement really helps and is very much appreciated! More Author's Thanks Below!!

*All Standard Disclaimers Apply - I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters.

Rinoa opened her eyes slowly. The morning light was somehow seeping into her room through her thick dark red velvet curtains. Blinking slowly, she looked over at the spot next to her. Her eyes flew open as she sat up. Her brown eyes darted around the room frantically as she gripped the heavy blankets around her night gown clad body.

She was SURE he had fallen asleep next to her the night before. She crawled to the foot of her bed and looked around the rest of the room. She let out a whistle. "Angelo!" she called out. "Angelo, come to mommy!"

Behind her door, there was a scratching sound and whimpering. Rinoa let out a heavy sigh of relief as she put her feet over the bed and into fluffy light blue slippers with little angel wings embroidered on the top. She walked towards the door and reached out to open it, just as someone pushed it open.

Rinoa jumped back, covering her chest with her arms as Angelo squeezed back into the room, his tongue hanging out and looking happy. "Rinoa?" an intent voice called from behind the door. "May I come in?"

*Squall!* her senses screamed. "Uh..." she looked around the room and then dove back into bed, burying her body that had been clad merely in an off white, thigh high night gown under the covers. "Hold on!" she called out as she pulled herself back up and brought the covers over her chest. "Okay! Come in!"

The door creaked open the whole way and Squall stepped inside nervously. He ran his hand through his freshly washed hair as he slowly walked into the room. Reluctantly he looked over at Rinoa, who gave him a 'good morning' smile. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied quietly. "Um...what are you doing up this early?"

"Selphie told me to feed Angelo this morning," Squall mumbled. "I hope you don't mind. She gave me the key and Angelo dashed out the second I opened the door."

"It's okay," Rinoa assured him. "He always does that when it's time to be fed."

Squall nodded. He shifted from foot to foot nervously as he avoided eye contact. "Um...the key?" he said, lifting up Rinoa's cabin's key.

"Just give it back to Selphie," she replied cheerfully. Squall nodded and turned around. "Squall!" she called out.

"Yes?" he stopped half way to the door.

"Umm...can we talk?"

*Oh, Hyne...not 'talk'...* "I guess..." he shrugged.

"Good," Rinoa let out a deep breath. "I just...I just want to make things clear. You know...between us..."

"I see..." Squall mumbled, still keeping his back to her. He closed his eyes tightly as he silently wished for her to drop the subject.

"I'd like us to be...um..."

*Here it comes...* Squall thought to himself. *She still wants to be more than just friends...I'm kind of relieved...*

"I would still like to be your friend."

*What.*

"I mean..." Rinoa took a deep breath and looked around her room as Squall turned to look at her. He kept his shocked expression hidden as he studied her. "I know you have a fiancée...and I just can't help but be jealous of her, you know? She's never even met you..."

Squall leaned tiredly against the wall. "It's not my choice," Squall said sternly. "It's an arranged marriage."

"I know that!" Rinoa retorted proudly. "I know how it feels to be...TRAPPED in something like that!"

"I've never met her...but I still think I owe her this," Squall sighed. "I shouldn't be getting involved."

Rinoa's eyes watered slightly and she swallowed. "She's lucky," she whispered. "I'm even more envious now."

"Rinoa, how can she be lucky?" Squall asked. "You were in her shoes once. You know there isn't anything lucky about it."

"But she gets to marry you," Rinoa whispered softly. She looked down at her hands as they played with the blanket that rested on her lap. "You're not even married to her yet and you're already a good husband."

"We're not married," Squall sighed. "You KNOW that I shouldn't even be in this room with you-"

"Do you love her?" Rinoa asked quietly. Squall tilted his head to the side and Rinoa looked up. "Do you?"

"Of course not!" Squall gasped as he threw his arms in the air. He walked across the room and ran his hand down his face. "How can I possibly love her, Rinoa? I've never even MET her! I can't love someone I don't know."

"Then why are you so insistent on marrying her?" Rinoa asked. Squall stopped in his tracks and looked at her.

He narrowed his eyes, offended by her comment. "Because I HAVE to," Squall stated. "I can understand why you ran away from your husband-"

"Fiancée!" Rinoa cut in bitterly. She turned her head away. "We were never married."

"Whatever," Squall sighed. "He raped you," Rinoa closed her eyes. Squall just saying those words cut through her. "That's why you ran away. You had a reason. I'm bound to this. I can't just run away."

Rinoa turned to face him and glared. "Do you think I wanted to marry him because I loved him!?" Rinoa snapped back bitterly. "Do you think I wanted to marry a man I didn't love?"

"You had an arranged marriage, too! You should understand more than any one on this ship how important they are!" Squall gasped out. "I don't want to marry her, but if I don't, they're going to marry my SISTER off to some stranger! And I don't want the same thing that happened to you to happen to HER!"

Rinoa's eyes went wide and her hands balled into fists. Squall took a few steps back away the bed that he had begun to loom over. "So that's the reason..." Rinoa whispered. "You don't want your sister to get married to someone she doesn't love."

Squall let out a heavy breath and ran one hand through his hair. "At least I know that I can be a good husband and that I can handle this girl. My sister might not be able to handle the man they arrange for her to marry."

"I understand," Rinoa whispered. She lowered her eyes. "That's why I said I would marry Guado."

Squall looked up. "You...volunteered to marry him?" he asked quietly. He shook his head, as if betrayed. "You're scolding ME after you VOLUNTEERED to marry him!?"

Rinoa's brown eyes flashed with anger as she looked at Squall. "Don't talk down to me!" she growled. "You don't know-"

"What's there not to know!?" Squall said. "I didn't volunteer myself to be married! I had to be forced into it with the threat of my sister marrying! But you...you voluntarily went along with it from the get go! And then you yell at me for marrying someone I don't love!"

Rinoa threw her blankets off and stood up. Tears streamed down her face as she walked up to Squall and raised her hand to slap him. Squall stood there, awaiting the stinging to hit his face. She never moved.

"Guado wanted to marry my cousin Yuna. Yuna is younger than me," Rinoa stated angrily. "Guado was twice her age," she hissed. "She was in love with some athlete from her school name Tidus. I over heard some of the family elders speaking to Guado about an arranged marriage to Yuna. I couldn't let her marry someone like him. Not when she was in love with another man. So I volunteered to marry Guado when I turned eighteen. In the meantime, I encouraged Yuna to seal the deal with Tidus and they were engaged to be married shortly after they turned eighteen."

Squall stepped back as her eyes smoldered with emotion. "Why didn't you stop the engagement after they were engaged?"

"Because Guado was a fucking powerful bastard," Rinoa hissed. "Until Yuna and Tidus were married, he could easily force them apart. I figured, I could always leave him after Yuna and Tidus were married."

"How...old were you?" Squall asked quietly.

"I was fifteen," Rinoa stated bitterly. "My fucking family actually allowed a man almost twice my age to be engaged to me at fifteen. Yuna was fourteen, Tidus was my age. We were kids, Squall. Kids shouldn't be forced to marry like that."

"And...what happened?"

Rinoa took a deep breath. "I came home from boarding school one summer with Quistis and Selphie. That night, we had a big ball. I went to bed early. Two hours later, I woke up with someone touching me..." Rinoa's eyes narrowed as tears continued to slide down her cheeks. "I began to scream...he shoved something in my mouth...I could barely breath..." she sniffled as she sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "He kept...touching me in places...and I cried and cried and was begging him to stop. He removed my clothes...and placed his disgusting lips on my body...sixteen years old, Squall...I was sixteen years old..."

Squall stood there and stared at her. For a moment, she seemed to be reliving the horror as her breathing shallowed and her lips turned into a frown. "And he...?"

"He was smiling," Rinoa told him bitterly. "He had this smirk on his face...he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. I saw the look in his eyes. The last thing I remember was seeing those laughing eyes just before my magic took hold of me. There was a burst of white light."

"Guado was killed?" Squall asked. Rinoa nodded. She was staring past him, as if looking into another time all together.

"My door burst open and Selphie and Quistis rushed in," Rinoa said. "They were still in their ball gowns. They were just heading up to bed when they heard his screams. I burned him to death, you see...I sent out energy that burned him to death."

"And you ran away that night?" Squall asked.

Rinoa nodded. "Quistis called Yuna's friend Lulu and asked if she could pick us up. I cast sleep over myself and when I woke up, we were in Fisherman's Horizon."

"I'm sorry..." Squall mumbled, not knowing what else to say. "I wish...I wish I could do something."

"I feel so dirty sometimes," Rinoa whispered. "Sometimes, I can feel his hands over me again and I feel dirty. So I wash myself."

"How many times has it happened?" Squall asked.

"It never got as bad as the other day," Rinoa mumbled tonelessly. Her eyes were glazed over as she looked straight ahead. "At eighteen...I thought I was over it...pretty naive, isn't it? I got involved with another guy..." she closed her eyes and shook her head. "Half of his face was burned off... and all he did was put his hands on my waist."

Squall leaned back against the wall, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Rinoa..."

"So you'll understand why I think that she's lucky to be marrying you," Rinoa whispered tearfully. "Because she'll never have to worry about going through what I went through."

She sat there, her eyes filled with tears as Squall's blue eyes looked over her. She looked so vulnerable sitting on her bed in just a night gown. Shaking. Anger rose inside of him at the man who did this to her.

Squall wanted to hold her. To put his arms around her and tell her that it would be okay. That nothing like that would ever happen to her again. But what would he have to back it up? He would leave her soon and wouldn't be there to protect her.

If he laid so much as a hand on her, she might explode. No wonder Seifer and Quistis had been against him getting close to her. He, not to mention others close enough, could've gotten hurt if not died. Rinoa was a very dangerous young woman.

"I want to hold you," Squall admitted quietly. Rinoa's eyes turned to him. "You have no idea how much I want to right now," he shook his head and allowed their gazes to meet. "But, I can't...for more than one reason."

"I know I can't be with you," Rinoa stammered softly. "But I would at least like to try to be your friend. And help you see this all the way through."

Squall nodded, understanding. If Rinoa couldn't be with him, then she would help him try to be happy. "Thank you, Rinoa..." He straightened up and smiled weakly. "It'll be hard to just be your friend."

Rinoa nodded. "You know," she said as Squall headed towards the door. She smiled sadly as she looked at the floor where Angelo had curled up to sleep. "When you hold me...I feel clean."

Squall leaned against the door and listened to it click closed. He let out a heavy breath as he saw Zell on the deck, shadow boxing. The shirtless blond turned and smiled. "Good morning, Squall!"

Silently, Squall walked past Zell. *I'm not in the mood...* he thought to himself. Zell looked a little hurt as Squall walked past him without a word.

"Squall, what's wrong?" the blond asked.

"Nothing," Squall stated sharply. "But you'll be glad to know that we have a full round trip ship ride to the Island Closest to Heaven and then back to Esthar."

Zell's eyes went wide and he smiled. "Really!? That's great! Wait until I tell Irvine!"

"Whatever..." Squall shrugged. He was heading to the stairs that lead to the lounge on the deck above the kitchen.

Zell let out a heavy sigh and shook his head as he heard two voices coming from below deck. "And that's why Rinoa's the captain." Selphie was concluding.

Irvine was in tears. He was hugging the railing as he struggled get his breathing in check. "THAT is how you girls got to be part of the crew!?" he gasped.

Selphie nodded. "Yeah, but at least Seifer learned a valuable lesson," Selphie concluded. "That's why we occasionally spy on him when he goes to port. We're afraid he might loose the boat to some less than worthy of it."

Irvine was still snickering and Zell walked over. "Hey guys...what's so funny?"

"Oh! Selphie!" Irvine turned to the petite brunette. "You HAVE to tell him!"

"Tell me what!?" Zell asked excitedly. "I want to know."

Selphie giggled. "How we, Rin, Quisty, and I, got the Siren."

Zell squinted and tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, how did that happen anyway? Raijin was saying something about it being bought by Seifer, but I never thought Seifer would let three girls he didn't know be part of his crew."

"See..." Selphie smiled weakly. "He didn't exactly LET us..."

The music was catchy as Rinoa, Quistis, and Selphie stepped into the sea side hotel lounge. They looked around and Rinoa motioned that she was going to get a drink. Selphie nodded and said she would go with her. Quistis looked around the rest of the smoky lounge.

From what had been told, if she wanted to find a ship unaffiliated with the Heartilly family, she had to go to this particular hotel's bar. She glanced over at Selphie and Rinoa who approached the bar. They needed to get out of the area soon.

"Excuse me," Quistis asked one of the hostesses. "I need to find a...special boat?"

"You might want to try him," said the pale hostess with short, jaggedly cut blond hair. She pointed to a gambling table where four men were playing a card game. "The blond guy's winning and his ship is unaffiliated. He seems to be in a good mood...and you have a pretty face. He might hire out for cheap."

Quistis nodded. "Thank you," she said. She took a deep breath and unpinned her hair. She shook her head, allowing long blond locks to flow around her face. Her blue eyes settled on the well built blond man who had a pile of gil next to him and was smirking the most arrogant smirk she'd ever seen. *Here goes nothing...*

Selphie caught Quistis walking across the room towards the gambling table and raised an eyebrow. She tapped Rinoa on the shoulder and the brunette jumped. Rinoa turned and followed Selphie's hand to where Quistis was.

The tall, leggy blond, bent down next to the tall blond man's ear and whispered. "I heard you're unaffiliated," she whispered in her most sultry voice. "Willing to hire out?"

The blond man's green eyes turned to her and smiled appreciatively. Quistis has slid the zipper of her top down low enough to show ample cleavage as she bent down. She smirked seductively as her hand gently placed itself on his shoulder. "How much you willing to pay?"

"I don't have a lot on me-"

"No deal then," the blond man shrugged. "Sorry, honey. You may have a lot to offer, but I need money."

Quistis straightened back up and narrowed her eyes. *Did he just REJECT me? Oh, HELL NO! NO ONE REJECTS QUISTIS TREPE!*

"She doesn't look too happy..." Rinoa said quietly as she clutched her hot chocolate in one hand and tilted her head to the side. "I hope he didn't try to reject her...you know that never goes in their favor..."

"Even if he did, she'll figure out something." Selphie assured her.

Rinoa nodded and Quistis looked over the card game. "Deal me in." she stated sharply.

"What?" one of the guys looked up at her in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"I said deal me in," Quistis stated sharply. "I've never played, but it doesn't seem to hard."

The men at the table looked at each other and smirked. "How much you got on you, girl?"

"Two thousand gil." Quistis replied.

The men sneered. "Grab a chair."

Two hours later, Quistis was up three hundred forty eight thousand gil, a six hundred gil shopping spree at one of the men's stores, and had her eye on the blond man's last resort.

"These are the keys to my boat," he said. "I'm going to win my money back."

"You've already lost fifty grand, ya know," the man behind him said, worriedly. "Are you sure, ya know?"

"I'm SURE!" the blond male growled. He shot a glare at the man with the cards. "Deal the damn cards!"

Rinoa was rubbing Quistis' shoulder's. "You can do it, Quisty," she urged behind her. "We have full faith in you!"

Quistis nodded and lifted the cards that had been placed in front of her. "So... what did you say your name was?" she asked the man across from her.

"Seifer," he replied as he glared at his cards with concentration. "Seifer Almasy."

"Well, Mr. Almasy-"

"Just call me Seifer."

"Fine, SEIFER," Quistis rolled her eyes. "How do you like the port?"

"It's all right."

"I hope you learn to like it better," Quistis yawned. "You're going to spend the rest of your life here."

He merely snorted and shook his head. "I think not, Miss..."

"Quistis," she replied. Her blue eyes lifted to meet his. "But please...call me Mistress Quistis."

"Oh geez..." Rinoa rolled her eyes behind Quistis as Selphie snickered to the blonde's side.

Seifer merely snorted out a laugh and placed all his cards on the table. "Sorry, honey," he shrugged as the people who had gathered around him nodded in awe. "Looks like I won't be the one stuck here."

Chuckling and so sure of himself, Seifer reached out for the money. "That's a nice set there," Quistis said. She placed her cards on the table in one easy move. "But these are NICER."

By standers let out whistles as Seifer's face paled. "Whoo-hoo!! Booyaka!!" Selphie said as she jumped up and down with Rinoa. "We knew you could do it!"

Behind Seifer, two people looked at each other and simultaneously ran this hands down her faces. "Lost boat..." the white haired woman sighed deeply.

"Now what are we going to do, ya know?" Raijin sighed as Quistis began to count her money and take the keys to the boat. "That was the last of our money, too, ya know."

"Screwed..." Fujin sighed as she shook her head.

"Sign this," Rinoa said suddenly. She placed a piece of paper on the table. It had been a hand written agreement. "It states that the ship is now officially ours."

"I'm not signing that!" Seifer growled as he stood up, throwing his chair back as he did so. "You must be crazy if-"

Suddenly, he found a whip around his neck and Quistis zipped up her top the rest of the way up and put her glasses on the tip of her nose. "Now, now..." Quistis said. "A deal IS a deal."

"Wait a second! Where are we supposed to go, ya know!?" Raijin asked.

"Stated in the document," Rinoa said, sounding like a lawyer. "It states that we bring you board as permanent residents of OUR ship. While legally, the ship now belongs to us, we still need a crew to help us with it."

"I think you'll find that what is stated on the document is more than fair." Selphie piped.

Seifer was already signing it, as Quistis loomed behind him. "There!" he shouted. "Damn, bitches!"

"Excuse me!?" Quistis snapped. She grabbed his collar and brought him down to face her. "Say that again to my face!"

"Why?" Seifer smirked as he lowered his face voluntarily close to hers. "Does it turn you on?"

"And after he said that, Quistis beat the living crap out of him," Selphie said, imagining how Quistis' eyes turned scary and she started using two whips instead of one. "She was really really pissed...anyway, that's how we got the boat. Seifer lost it to us gambling against Quistis."

Zell was clutching his stomach as he laughed. "The great and mighty Seifer! Looses to a girl whose never played before!? That's just TOO perfect!!"

"Actually," a voice said from behind them. Quistis was coming up on deck and was adjusting her glasses. "I used to watch my grandfather play. He was a champion in his youth and when I was a child he taught me. Basically...I've been playing since I was five."

Irvine let out a whistle. "Way to con him, Quisty," he smirked. "However, he doesn't seem to mind at all now."

"I don't think he ever really did, ya know," Raijin said as he came down from the steering room. Fujin was right behind him. "It was a nice change."

"Finally...girls." Fujin sighed thoughtfully. "Men suck."

"Here's to that!" Quistis said, passing by Fujin and exchanging high fives.

Selphie giggled. "Seifer's a pretty big softie when it comes to us," Selphie admitted as she leaned back against the railing. "When Rin said that she wanted to be captain, he didn't really put up a fight."

"FUCK NO!" Seifer screamed as he ran towards the side of the boat. "I refuse to let her captain this ship!"

"Seifer, no!" Fujin yelled as she and Raijin clung on to the male. Seifer was on the edge of the ship, trying to climb over the railing.

"It's not worth it, ya know!" Raijin shouted as they tried to pry him off the railing.

"I'll DIE first!!"

Selphie bit her lower lip and winced. "Well...maybe just a little..."

Quistis shook her head. "He's such a drama king..." she sighed. She ran her hand through her long bangs as she shook her head. "It really makes me wonder why I said I'm marry him."

Immediately, Zell and Irvine began to choke as they turned to look at Quistis. "WHAT!?" they gasped. "MARRY SEIFER!?"

"Oh yeah!" Selphie said, putting her right fist on her left palm as she came to the realization. "We never told you, huh?"

"But...but...the arguing..." Zell said. "And the bitterness..."

"Showing love," Fujin shrugged. "Weird, huh?"

Zell and Irvine nodded. "When did this happen!?" Irvine gasped.

"A year after we got on the ship," Selphie said. She thought for a moment. "Actually, I don't really know how it happened..."

"What did happen, ya know?" Raijin asked. "No one ever told us how exactly he asked, ya know."

"It was kind of strange," Quistis said as she thought back to that night three years ago. "We were arguing-"

"No surprise there." Selphie giggled. Quistis rolled her eyes.

"ANYWAY, he said something like 'Hyne, you're such a bitch. I don't know why I was going to ask you in the first place'," Quistis said. A thoughtful smile crossed her lips. "I asked him what he was going to ask me and he tossed a little black box at me. I figured it out from there and said I'd marry him."

"It's like something from a romance novel," Selphie said. "The crappy ones, but a romance novel, none the less."

Quistis sighed. "Well, he IS an arrogant, self absorbed, holier than thou, jack ass," Quistis admitted. She paused for a moment. "WHY am I marrying him again?"

"Because I'm good in the sack!" Seifer's voice rang out. They looked towards the kitchen and realized for the first time that Seifer had been there cooking the whole time. He wore that arrogant smirk, even though he was wearing an apron and holding a bowl while using a whisk to mix it's contents.

Quistis couldn't help but smirk back. "No, that DEFINATELY can't be it."

Seifer frowned and mumbled something about her as he turned around and headed back into the kitchen. Selphie giggled. "I'm going up to steer!"

"I'll go with you!" Irvine shouted suddenly. Selphie turned to look at him.

"You know how to steer a ship?" she asked questioningly.

"Uh...no?" He gave her a winning smile and Selphie giggled. She grabbed his hand and dragged him.

"No problem! I'll teach you!"

"Yay."

Quistis shook her head. "Problem?" Fujin said. Quistis turned her head and saw her pointing to Squall on the other side of the boat.

"She must've talked to him," Quistis sighed. "They're 'friends'."

Fujin's eye went wide and she made a 'o' with her mouth. She nodded understandingly before she headed down to the deck to sleep. Raijin had already headed downstairs as well. Zell looked up at Squall and then back at Quistis. "Hey, Quistis," Zell asked quietly. The female blond looked over at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

Zell took a deep breath. "If you liked someone but a friend was supposed to uh...say marry that person...would you tell your friend?"

Quistis raised an eyebrow. *Not the most subtle person are we...?* She took a deep breath. "Zell, Squall went out on a limb for Rinoa. You know he's in love with her even though they can't be together. But least they know how the other feels," *At least I think they know how the other feels...* "You should ask yourself if it's worth telling him you like his fiancée. What will it change if you tell him?"

"I don't know..." Zell said. "I...I just feel I have to get it off my chest, you know?" he mumbled. He shook his head. "I really like her..." He paused and turned his head sharply to look at her. "Wait! How'd you know it was me?"

"You're not good at hiding secrets, are you?"

Zell looked down. "No..." he mumbled. He took a deep breath and exhaled. "She went to the same school with us, but Squall never noticed her. I don't think she noticed Squall."

"So Squall HAS actually met her?" Quistis asked. Zell shook his head.

"I don't think so," he said. "She worked in the library and Squall never set foot in there. I'd go sometimes to see if she was working. She's really nice and friendly...I wanted to ask her out but...I was too shy."

"Oh, Zell," Quistis smiled. "You shouldn't let that stand in your way. Everyone is shy."

Zell let out a chuckle. "Seifer isn't shy! He's always in everyone's face...even if they don't want him to be."

Quistis smiled slightly and looked over at the kitchen. "Actually...he's shy in his own way," she said quietly. "Just because he's loud and obnoxious doesn't mean he's not shy, Zell."

The blond male nodded. "I guess so...I think I'm going to tell Squall," Zell said. "I think he has to know."

Quistis nodded and watched as he headed up the stairs to the lone man standing there. Zell approached Squall. "Zell, I'm not in the mood to talk-" the brunette began, but Zell cut him off.

"I just need to get something off my chest," he said suddenly. Squall sighed and turned around, leaning back against the railing with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked foreboding and Zell swallowed. "Uh...It's about Dr. Kadowaki's daughter."

"What about her?" Squall asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Do you remember back at the Garden...?" Zell began. "That girl who worked in the library-"

"The one you were head over heels in love with?" Squall said with a slight smirk. "Yeah..."

Zell blushed and nodded. "That's Dr. Kadowaki's daughter."

Squall stared at him. His face was blank of all expression as blue eyes settled on another set of blue ones. Zell began to look around, unsure of what to do next. "Are you...serious?" Squall asked. Zell nodded. Squall's eyes narrowed and he walked towards Zell. The blond suddenly found himself stepping back as Squall grabbed his shoulder. "WHY didn't you tell me EARLIER?" he growled.

"Because..." Zell gasped out. "I...I...I didn't know what to say!"

Squall let Zell go and pushed him away slightly as he ran his hand through his hair. "Dammit, Zell," Squall hissed. "You just made this ten times worse!"

"I just...felt I had to tell you..." he whispered quietly. "I know she's your fiancée-"

"She shouldn't BE my fiancée!" Squall shouted. Zell looked up. Squall looked frustrated more than anything else. "All this time, I thought I hadn't met her when I actually HAVE!" Zell's heart dropped. "Irvine once dragged me to the library to see who you were talking about and they ended up talking until the library closed. And you know what? The girl's in love with YOU!"

"WHAT!?" Zell yelled. His eyes went wide as he looked at Squall in disbelief. "Really!? What did she say!?"

"Zell, why didn't you tell me when you heard about the supposed engagement!?" Squall growled. "We could've DONE something then! We could've made it so that instead of marrying ME, she'd be marrying YOU! The heir to a fast food chain!"

Zell looked down, unsure of what to say. "I...I didn't know what to do when you told me..." he whispered unsurely.

Squall ran his hand down his face. "Hyne, I'm so mad at you right now Zell...this could've all been avoided..." he mumbled. Zell looked down shamefully. "How am I going to go through with it when I know that you're in love with her..."

Zell stared at his friend as Squall turned his back to Zell. The more Zell thought about it, the more he realized what it all boiled down to for Squall - his sister or one of his best friends. Marry and he saved his sister. Not marry and he gave his friend the love of his life. "I'm sorry." Zell said. Tears brimming his eyes, Zell turned and dashed down the stairs.

He headed straight for the deck, not even realizing that Rinoa was sitting on the stairs and had heard their conversation. She watched with sad as eyes as he ran away. Slowly, she put her hand on the railing and pulled herself up. She headed up the stairs. Squall was leaning against the railing, his eyes closed as he was deep in thought.

Rinoa quietly walked up behind him and put her arms around his stomach as she pressed herself against him. "No matter what happens...you know Zell and your sister will still love you and will understand."

Squall put his hands over hers as he felt her head press against his back. "I don't want to have to choose."

Rinoa closed her eyes. "If I could, I would make it so you wouldn't have to."

"Remember," Selphie said sternly as she stood at the edge of the ship, by the plank as Angelo stood by her side. "You are NOT to leave the ship."

"I know, I know..." Rinoa sighed. "We've been through this a hundred times before."

"Why can't Rinoa go to port with us?" Zell asked.

All of them, save Rinoa and Squall, were on the pier waiting for Selphie. Quistis looked around. "This is a Galbadian port," she explained. "Anyone and everyone will recognize Rinoa. So whenever we stop at any of the ports in Galbadia, we make sure Rinoa stays on the ship just in case."

"We'll be back soon!" Selphie smiled and waved as she dashed down the plank and linked arms with Irvine. She took his hat and put it on her head as they walked down the rest of the pier.

Rinoa sighed and closed the side door of the ship. She watched them as she made sure they were long gone and whirled around. Squall was downstairs, meaning she was alone on the deck. She ran up to the top deck and pressed the button and pulled back the canopy over the deck.

She looked over the railing and the main deck to make sure Squall wasn't anywhere in sight. Without another thought she laid out a light blue beach towel with sea shell prints on it. Rinoa took off her duster and her dress, revealing her bikini.

Reaching into one of the cabinets underneath the seats against the ship, she pulled out some sun tan lotion and generously put it on her body before laying down. She loosened her top to assure herself no tan lines and closed her eyes.

That was how Squall found her. Her bikini was barely enough to cover anything and Squall nearly fell back down the stairs when he saw her there. She heard stumbling and opened her eyes. "Squall!" she gasped. She tightened her hold around her top as she sat up. "What are you doing here!? Weren't you downstairs!?"

Squall was diverting his eyes in vain. They always seemed to go back to her. "There...there's someone here to see you!" he gasped. *Why the hell did he tell me to get her? Did he KNOW?*

"Who?" Rinoa asked.

"Your cousin."

Rinoa's eyes went wide as stood up, still covering her chest and grabbed her clothes. Squall turned around quickly and rushed back down the stairs as she put her clothes on. When she came down, she froze. Vincent wasn't standing there waiting for her.

"Rinoa!" a female voice gasped. One blue eye and one green eye lit up as she laid them on the black haired female. Behind her, a young man waved with a smile as his bleached blond hair spiked up around his head.

"Yuna..." Rinoa gasped. "Tidus..." she mumbled as she looked at the couple. She felt her heart stop. "What are you two doing here?"

When the group arrived, Squall was sitting on the stairs to the upper deck, waiting for them. He looked solemn look on his face as the chattering group went silent. His blue eyes lifted to meet their gaze.

Immediately, Selphie and Quistis assumed the worse and chorused, "Where is Rinoa!?"

"In her room." Squall said quietly. The two girls dropped the things they were holding and ran to Rinoa's room.

"Squall, what's going on?" Irvine asked, concerned.

"Two people arrived today to see Rinoa," Squall said. "Rinoa's cousin and her...spouse."

"Vincent's married?" Fujin asked.

"It wasn't Vincent," Squall said, not reacting to the fact that Fujin knew who Vincent was. "Someone named Yuna and her husband, Tidus."

"Shit, is she okay-" Seifer began. Squall nodded.

"She's just...tired." Squall stood up without another word and walked past the group.

Inside the bedroom, Rinoa was laying on her stomach, reading a small leather bound book with intense interest. When her friends burst in, looks of worry on their face, she gave them a smile.

"You'll never believe this," Rinoa smiled weakly. "My mom's family wants me back so bad, they're willing to allow me to remain single. As long as I go home."

Quistis looked at Selphie, who closed the door. They walked over to her bed and sat down next to the brunette. "Who came?" Quistis asked.

"Yuna," Rinoa smiled, slightly sad. "She married Tidus...she's pregnant, you know..."

Selphie and Quistis looked at each other as Quistis gently stroked Rinoa's hair comfortingly. "That's good to hear..." Quistis said.

"Have they...decided on a name?" Selphie asked quietly.

"They don't know yet," Rinoa answered. She blinked as her eyes rimmed with tears. "I'm glad to see that they're happy...at least...at least that worked out." Rinoa sat up and wiped her eyes. "At least they're happy, right?"

Quistis nodded. Selphie looked at her friend sadly. Rinoa had given up her life so that Yuna and Tidus could be happy. Just like Quistis and her gave up their posh existences to accompany her. Not that they were in as much trouble as Rinoa, or that they resented her for it, but still.

"So they said you can come back?" Quistis asked. Rinoa nodded.

She reached over and picked up an elaborate envelope and handed it to them. "My father, personally, probably doesn't even care," Rinoa whispered. "But because THEY want me back, he's willing to send troops."

"Why do they want you back so bad?" Selphie asked as she read over the letter that was enclosed. "Is it because of your magic?"

"I don't want to go back," Rinoa whispered quietly. She closed her eyes and shook her head as she covered her face with her hands. "Don't make me go back there!"

"Rinoa, shh..." Quistis put her arm around Rinoa and hugged her as Selphie went to get tissues. "You don't have to go back there...Not after what they made you go through..."

"They don't want me...they just want my magic," Rinoa stammered tearfully. "I'm just going to be another tool for them in that stupid feud!"

"Rinoa, we're happy here," Selphie assured her. "As long as you want to stay on the ship, we'll stay on the ship. This place..." She looked around. "This place holds the best memories of my life."

"I don't want to ruin your lives again," Rinoa admitted. "You didn't have to come with me and you did, anyway..." she whimpered. "I'm sorry..."

"You didn't force us," Quistis reminded her. "Both you and I know that if we didn't want to come with you, we wouldn't."

"Besides," Selphie added. "If we hadn't come with you, Quistis would've never met Seifer and they wouldn't be getting married."

Quistis smiled slightly. "Which might have been a good thing," she said, making Rinoa giggle slightly. "But I wouldn't have met him if it weren't for you. We wouldn't have met Raijin and Fujin."

"Or Irvine, Zell, and Squall!" Selphie added.

"And we all know how much Selphie LOVES Irvine..." Rinoa sniffled with a slight smile.

"No matter what, we'll support your decision," Quistis said. "We're friends. That's what we do for each other."

"Thanks, guys..." Rinoa smiled. "As of right now...I don't want to go back. I want to help Squall first."

"Where did you go? We were just about to leave without you!" Irvine said as Squall got on the ship. Behind him, Zell closed the gate and helped Selphie pull up the plank.

"I just had to get something." Squall said.

"Commander Puberty's on board!" Seifer shouted as Squall shot him a glare on his way to the upper deck. "Let's get out of here, Raijin!"

The ship began to pull out of the dock and Squall reached the upper deck. Rinoa was sitting there with Angelo, reading the book that Yuna had brought her. She looked up and smiled.

"You should've gotten her faster," she said with a smirk. "Seifer kept bitching."

Squall grinned. "Mission accomplished," he took something from his pocket. "I've been meaning to give you something."

"What?" She looked up as she closed her book. Squall handed her a small paper back. She took it curiously and put her book aside as she opened it and pulled something out. Her eyes went wide at small circular silver picture frame. Inside was that picture of them from the photo booth that night at the boardwalk.

"I keep forgetting to give that picture to you," he shrugged. "That is the picture you wanted, right?"

She looked up at him with large, shimmering brown eyes and smiled. Without another word, she shot out of her chair and threw her arms around Squall's neck. He looked surprised as she hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered softly in his ear. Her heart wrenched. "My...friend."

Author's Thanks: Thanks to everyone who even took time to read this story so far! I hope it's at the very least enjoyable! Big thanks to all the reviewers - Verdanii, Fire Maiden, Rizza426, Serence Ice Mage, FF8 Zidane, Almicene, Hiasha, bembem, remote mine, SkyeLight, Humini, Jager, aleleme, canopie, kAilea, Kathy mathy! Thank you so much!
To Fire Maiden, Rizza, Serene Ice Mage, FF8 Zidane, Almicene, Hiasha, bembem - thanks for reading this story, too! I'm really happy!! ^_^ I hope you guys will enjoy "After ReCreating Hell"!