NEWSFLASH: All FFVIII characters are property of Squaresoft! ..... Oh.... you knew that already?
I Forgot Your Name
By Kupo
Chapter Two- The Party Plans
Rinoa frowned at the canvas in front of her. Her landscape of Balamb's beach and ocean looked more like two boring rectangles of blue and peach than the image she had in her mind when she began. Half-heartedly she painted in a little stick figure on a surfboard and smiled.
There goes my career as a major artist
Rinoa had been had pressed to find legitimate ways to find her time since all of her friends had returned to their SeeD duties. Although Cid had offered her a position as a Seed with the rest of them, she knew it wasn't in her to be that type of fighter. She understood why Squall and the others fought, but some part of her still couldn't understand how they could live from order to order.
Guess I'm still that small-town girl from Timber she thought, and after a moment more to meditate on it, decided it wasn't a bad thing.
Rinoa sighed softy and brushed off the sand that had blown onto her clothes as she stood up. Placing her canvas in her large portfolio carrier. It was time to get going, Quistis and the consummate party-planner Selphie would be waiting for her in the Balamb Cafe.
There's so much to do before tonight
Despite the time crunch, Rinoa felt her worried lift away from her heart as she walked towards the cafe. Maybe it was the weather, or the prospect of a party, she thought to herself. But she knew the real reason ...because this party would celebrate the first anniversary of their triumph over Ultimecia.
--In Balamb Cafe
Quistis waved at Rinoa when she spotted the dark-haired woman walking into the cafe. Rinoa held up her hand to let them know she'd seen them, then went to the counter to order her coffee. Quistis was glad Rinoa had finally arrived, since she and Selphie had sat down the plans for tonight's party had gone from a small get-together to the social event of the season, with Selphie planning to invite just about everyone they knew, as well as all second and third-removed cousins.
"Hey Rin!!!!" Selphie greeted enthusiastically as Rinoa sat down with her mug of cafe mocha. "I'm so glad you're here! We really need your opinion on the theme of the party, should it be a more sophisticated thing, like to show how serious a time it was, or should it be a like, really happy thing to show how happy we are that things worked out?"
Rinoa raised an eyebrow at Quistis and asked "What do you think? I'm more inclined to say a happy celebration... I know I could use it..."
Quistis put a hand on Rinoa's forearm. "Are you alright, Rin? Something bothering you?" she asked in a soft, concerned voice.
Before Rinoa could answer, Selphie's eyes got big. "Something with Squall? Is he being mean to you? Is he not spending enough time with you? Is he--"
Rinoa held up her hand and cut Selphie off "Nono, it's nothing like that... I've just been feeling a little weird lately... not really myself. Just restless. I feel like I'm not doing things right..."
Selphie waved her arms in the air "Well that's just crazy, Rin! Everyone knows how perfect you are! You're the most wonderful person I know, and don't you forget it!"
Rinoa smiled, glad to have her friends reassure her. Maybe she was just going through a phase... Anyway, right now it didn't matter. She flashed a bright smile and mischievously asked the two other girls "Wanna see the painting I drew?"
Quistis and Selphie nodded, and when Rinoa brought out the painting and they caught sight of the little stick-figure surfer they burst out laughing.
"Who's that, Rin?" giggled Selphie.
Rinoa giggled back "Well, Irvine likes to surf so I guess that's him!"
Selphie took a pen out of her purse and declared, "Well Irvy's not going to the beach by himself, he'll hit on all the women in bathing suits!" and promptly drew herself into the picture, holding her nunchakus in a menacing way, and behind her, cowering in fear, a bunch of stick-figure girls in bikini's.
Quistis took the pen from Selphie and added a stick-figure Zell chasing a man with a hot dog vending cart down the beach, and then drew a picture of herself standing on the beach with her hands in the air as if exasperated.
Rinoa laughed as Quistis handed her the pen. She drew in Squall, sitting on the beach, reluctant to get into the water. Then she drew herself, pulling him toward the ocean. The three of them laughed for a minute before they noticed the rest of the cafe patrons staring at them. Selphie looked at her two friends sheepishly and whispered "at least we know how to have fun!"
Quistis nodded and decided it was time to get down to business. She pulled a pad of paper out of her purse and picked up the pen. "Now who's going to bring what for tonight?" she asked. Selphie launched into all the things that she would be willing to do, and Quistis struggled to write as fast as Selphie could talk. When Selphie paused to take a breath, Quistis glanced at Rinoa. She was staring out the window with a strange empty look in her eyes.
"Rin, what's up?" she questioned. Rinoa slowly turned her eyes towards the two women, but didn't say a word. Quistis and Selphie stared back, unsure of what to do. Rinoa's eyes drifted from Quistis down to the table, where their new "art" was still displayed. She picked it up.
"WHAT DID YOU IDIOTS DO TO MY PERFECT PAINTING?!" she screamed, her eyes on fire. Selphie jumped out of her seat and Quistis sat forward, worried. "Rinoa... don't you remember a few minutes ago... we all...?"
Rinoa clenched and unclenched her hands before standing up and slamming the painting back into her portfolio. Selphie went to walk towards her, but Rinoa hissed "Don't you dare..." causing her to stop in her tracks. Quistis and Selphie, along with everyone else in the cafe, watched as Rinoa stormed out the door.
--On The Road
Idiots... who do they think they are... morons.... trying to take charge of my life... touching my stuff... just BACK OFF...
Rinoa stormed down the road out of Balamb, not caring where she was going. She was furious. Her eyes burned with rage and her skin had become deathly white.
How DARE they... How....?
She stumbled over a rock in the road, almost falling.
How... Who....
She fell to her knees.
Help me...
Rinoa collapsed by the side of the road.
Well, that's where's I wanted this chapter to end, but I'm already working on the next one so it should be up in a day or two. I wanted to try and work some humor in before it gets dark, so there ya go... hope it was maybe a little teeny bit funny ^_^ Thanks to my reviewers, cause I love them. My very first reviews, tee hee hee. *hugs the people who reviewed* Yay! So let me know what you think of this chapter, everyone. Te amo~ Kupo
