Author's Note: Hello, everyone. Fanfiction.net isn't letting me get my reviews right now, so I hope everyone still likes the story. It says I have 66 reviews, but it's only showing me 63. *growls* Anyways, Read and Review.

Disclaimer: The only characters I own are the ones I create. That does not include any Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts characters.

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Chapter Nine: Betrayal

Squall slowly awakened, savoring the feel of Rinoa's warm body pressed against his side, her arm draped across his bare chest. But his mind screamed that something was wrong. His eyes fluttered open to look at the woman beside him. He jerked awake quite suddenly when he realized it was Yuffie and not Rinoa there beside him. What have I done? he asked himself as the memory of the night of passion came flying back to his mind.

He carefully slipped out of the bed, laying Yuffie's arm down gently, hoping to not awaken her. Leaning over the edge of the bed, he found his boxers, which he pulled on before heading to the bathroom. He quietly shut the door and stared at himself with self-hatred in the mirror.

"What have I done?" he murmured. A sense of betrayal came over him. By making love with Yuffie, he felt as though he had betrayed Rinoa's memory. He splashed his face with water, hoping that maybe this was all a dream; but, no, the cold water only made him face the reality of his actions. Sighing, he went back into the bedroom to gather his clothes.

Yuffie was sitting up on the bed when he came back, blankets pulled up to cover herself. She smiled softly at Squall. "Hey, good morning," she whispered.

He looked at her blankly before replying. "Yeah. Right back at ya." Bending over to pick up the clothes that had been strewn around the room, he forced all emotions he felt toward Yuffie away and concentrated on Rinoa. He stood up again, looking directly at the young woman on his bed. "Look...I've got some things to do today, so you might want to get dressed." With that, he left the room before he could see the hurt come into her eyes.

As soon as the door closed, Yuffie let the tears that had welled up in her eyes fall. Pulling the blanket off the bed, she wrapped it around herself as she picked up her clothes to dress in the bathroom. Once dressed, she wiped away the tears, determined not to let Squall see her cry. She ran her fingers through her short black hair, trying to comb it out, before she finally decided she had to leave his apartment. Now.

In the kitchen, she found Squall sitting at the dining room table, nursing a cup of coffee and refusing to meet her gaze. She grabbed her purse from the counter, where she had left it the night before and headed for the door.

"Yuffie, wait. We need to talk," Squall called from the dining room.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to calm herself, she turned around and faced him. "About what? Like, maybe how you used me last night?" she hissed, eyes narrowing.

Squall shook his head. "You don't understand, Yuffie. I didn't use you." He looked back down at the mug of coffee in his hands. "I think last night was a mistake."

"A mistake!? A mistake!?" she screamed. "I gave myself to you, and I thought it was something beautiful...and you can sit there and call it a mistake?!"

"Look. I just think we got caught up in the moment. We never should've done that." Glancing at her, he tried to ignore the tears that were streaming freely down her face.

Yuffie stood up straighter, and took another deep breath. "You're right, Squall. It was a mistake...a mistake to think that someone like you could ever love someone besides yourself."

As she spun on her heel to leave, she heard him growl, "My name is Leon," behind her.

Completely losing control of herself, she grabbed the first thing she could find, a picture hanging on the wall, and threw it at him with all the force she could muster. The picture hit him between the eyes, the glass shattering on contact and leaving a bloody gash on his face.

"Damn it, Yuffie!" he yelled as he pressed a hand over the bleeding wound. He heard the door slam, but by then he wasn't really paying attention to it. Looking down at Rinoa's picture, he saw the blood drip from the slash between his eyes and fall where her heart would be.

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Kairi looked up as she heard the door to her dorm opening. Walking through was Yuffie, her eyes red and puffy, her clothes wrinkled, and her hair a mess. Overall, she gave off a bedraggled appearance. "Yuffie, are you okay?" she asked quietly.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just...I just ran over a dog, that's all," she lied, not wanting to tell her roommate how stupid she was. "I didn't have time to stop the car."

"Where were you last night? I was worried about you."

Yuffie looked at her blankly. "Hmm? Oh, I was at Aerith's." She pulled out her suitcase from the closet and began throwing her clothes into it, not concerned with the wrinkles sure to appear. Finishing with her clothes, she tossed her toothbrush on top of her clothes. Kairi watched all this in silence, knowing that there was something Yuffie wasn't telling her.

"Yuffie, aren't you even going to fold your clothes?"

Her roommate shook her head, "No, it doesn't matter. I'll iron them when I get home tonight."

"So, you're leaving today then?"

"Yeah, I haven't been home since I got here, so I'm taking Monday off and spending a week at home." She zipped up the suitcase and started out the door.

"Yuffie, wait!" Kairi ran over to her and hugged her, surprising Yuffie. "Have a safe trip! And," she paused, "if you need to talk about anything, give me a call."

Yuffie gave her a weak smile, "Sure. I'll keep that in mind, Kairi." With that, she slipped out the door, pulling her suitcase behind her.

The red-head watched the door shut behind Yuffie. "She's lying about something...or not telling the whole truth about something," she murmured, tempted to chase after her and wheedle it out of her. But, shaking her head, she assumed Yuffie would tell her when she was ready.

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For the next eight hours, Yuffie cried and berated herself as she drove her small car home. Taking deep breaths, she composed herself when she reached the city limits, not wanting her mother prodding her with questions. Finally turning onto the street where she had grown up, she passed all the typical suburban houses before pulling into her driveway at the end of the cul-de-sac. As she climbed out of the car, her mother came running out to her.

"Yuffie, we didn't expect you for another hour. What are you doing home so early?" she demanded. Then she let out a shriek. "What did you do to your hair?! And your ears?! And what are you wearing?!"

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "You know, mom, most mothers would hug their kids after they've been away for three months." She pointed to her ears, "By the way, these are called earrings. Most people have them."

"Yes, Yuffie, I know. But three pairs? Honestly, I don't know what's come over you." Mrs. Kisaragi shook her finger in Yuffie's face. "And don't use that tone of voice with me." She sighed. "I don't know why I allowed you to go to college. You used to be such a sweet girl, and now look at you."

Ignoring her mother, Yuffie walked to the trunk of her car to get her suitcase. When she bent over to reach in, her shirt rode up in the back. "YUFFIE! WHAT IS THAT?!" her mother screamed, pointing at the butterfly tattoo.

"Come on, mom. It's just a tattoo. It's not like I went out and slept with someone," she muttered, knowing she was lying through her teeth.

"Now you'll never marry someone nice," Mrs. Kisaragi huffed.

Yuffie slapped her forehead in disgust. "We've been over this before, mom. There's more to life than getting married and having babies." She dragged her suitcase past her mother and walked into the house.

Her father was sitting in the recliner, watching T.V., barely glancing at her as she walked past. "Hello, Yuffie. It's about time you came home," he said as she ascended the stairs to her room.

She ignored him and continued to her room, her mother following close behind. "Yuffie, I have a surprise for you tomorrow."

"What?" Yuffie winced, not really wanting to know.

Mrs. Kisaragi smiled. "You remember Richard, don't you? From down the street?" Her daughter nodded slightly. "Well, his mother says he's coming in tomorrow. He just graduated from business school in May and is really making a name for himself."

"Mother! I just got home and all you can think about is setting me up on a date?" This is going to be a long week, she silently mused. "Look, we'll talk about this tomorrow, okay? I'm really tired and all I want is to get some sleep." She ushered her mother out the door, closing it before she could say anything.

Once she was alone in the room, Yuffie pulled her pajamas out of her suitcase and changed. Pulling back the covers on the bed, she lay down and curled into a fetal position. But sleep never came, only tears as she thought back to what Squall had done to her. He lied to me, he told me he wanted me, but it was all a lie. She lay there in agony all night, finally falling asleep well after the dawn only to awaken an hour later at her mother's insistent knocking.

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"Yuffie, I need you to help me in the kitchen," her mother called on Thanksgiving day as she was preparing the big dinner.

Yuffie sighed. "Coming, mother." It had been like this all week, starting after her date with Richard. After telling him that she was only out with him because her mother forced her, he quickly brought her home, much to Mrs. Kisaragi's disappointment. Since then, Yuffie had been coerced into wearing dresses, of the Leave It to Beaver style, and cooking dinner each night, in hopes that she would become what her father called "domesticated."

Her mother glanced at her when she walked into the kitchen. "Yuffie, I don't think you should go back to school after Christmas. You don't look good. I think what you need to do is stay here until you get married."

"Mother...we've been through this a hundred times. I'm going to school, whether you like it or not." She moved to the oven to pull the bread out. "And, I may never get married."

"Yuffie! You don't mean that! Of course you'll get married. And have babies!" her mother exclaimed, shock coming into her eyes.

Yuffie turned to glare at her mother. "And if I don't? What then?"

"I don't want to hear this talk anymore. Fine, go back to school. But, you'll regret it one day."

Rolling her eyes, Yuffie replied, "There's more to life than marriage and babies. I want to live. I don't want to be like you and spend my whole life in the kitchen." And I don't want to be hurt again, she finished silently, thinking about Squall.

At the dinner table, Yuffie picked at her food, not really eating anything as her thoughts dwelled on Squall. Pushing her plate away, she stood up to head upstairs. But she was stopped by her father.

"Yuffie, you've hardly eaten anything since you've been home. Is everything okay?" he asked.

She plastered on a fake smile. "Of course. Everything's fine."

"Are you upset because you have to go back to school soon?" He continued before she had a chance to answer. "You don't have to go back, you know. You can just stay here." He paused. "In fact, I would much prefer it if you did stay."

"No, I'm not staying here. I'm going back to school."

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Once she was back at school, Yuffie knew she had to face Squall one last time. She reluctantly went to her biology lab, arriving just in time. Luckily, Squall had remembered to bring the equipment for their experiment. She sat down next to him, not speaking to him and not wanting to look at him. But she was forced to when he glanced at her when she walked in, and she noticed the stitches between his eyes, where the glass from the picture had slashed him. In silence, they conducted the experiment, only speaking when absolutely necessary. As soon as the class was over, Yuffie rushed back to her dorm.

The last two weeks of the semester passed in a blur for Yuffie. She dazedly took her finals, not really caring if she passed or not. Her nights were spent sleepless, tossing and turning and thinking about Squall as much as she tried not to. Her days consisted of avoiding Kairi's worried glances.

"Yuffie, are you okay?" Kairi had asked one day when Yuffie had appeared particularly listless. "You haven't eaten hardly anything. And you don't look good, either."

Through baggy eyes, Yuffie stared at her before answering. "Yeah...it's just been all the finals and stuff. I just need a break, that's all." That was the only answer Kairi was able to drag out of her roommate.

Christmas break came upon them and Yuffie knew she had to return home, as much as she hated it. She knew that it would be the same thing everyday: her mother making her cook, setting her up on dates, and urging her to drop out of school. And everyday, Yuffie would be thinking about Squall and about how stupid she had been.

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Author's Note: Okay, I really like the beginning of this chapter, but I don't like the rest of it. But, it will be important in the future. So, anyways, read and review.