Chapter Thirteen: Omitted Information
By PasifikStar
Author's Note: (MORE evil laughter) Well, I'm having fun. Don't worry, no more 'will Irvine kill Squall' cliff hangers. There's some more relaxed moments in here where I'm just filling space with random action. The girls have a sleep over featuring karaoke. All tension isn't always good, right?
All standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters.
Squall caught the dust from the top of the canyon falling over him and he narrowed his eyes. I've caught up... he thought to himself. His grip tightened once more as he leaned forward. His mind was empty and all his movements were controlled by pure instinct.
From what he had read from the map, there was one more mile to go. He checked his odometer quickly and smirked. Make that less than one mile.
There would be one final corridor with a reasonably wide area before the narrow exit. He kept his blue eyes focused ahead . He began to notice the path widen around him. He stayed in the center to avoid the jutting rocks and fallen stones that lined the sides of the dirt and dust filled canyon.
Suddenly, from his left side, he heard a loud roar. He glanced over his shoulder and mentally swore. Another rider was riding down a narrow, downward sloping path, against the side of the canyon wall. His black bike and black attire made his pure white hair flash like lightning in the night behind him.
Squall knew who it was. He turned back to the path ahead of him. He couldn't get distracted.
Behind him, Sephiroth eyed the young rider with predatory eyes as he steered his bike back from the top of the canyon to the bottom. He watched as Squall looked back and smirked. He wished he could've seen Squall's reaction as he seemed to appear out of thin air.
His bike landed with a thud on the pathway. He was few mere feet from Squall's back tire. What do you say to a game of cat and mouse?
Squall could almost feel Sephiroth breathing down his back as he rode. He refused to look back and look at his opponent, whom he knew was catching up. From the corner of his eye, he could see another black tire caked with dirt inching closer to him. He centered his thoughts and sight back on the race.
He had to ignore the pressure mounting behind him. Up ahead of him, the path was narrowing quickly. He swore. He knew he needed to maintain the lead in order to come out of the canyon first. As soon as they were back on the plateau, he could really get ahead. But in the cramped area filled with sharp turns and rocks jutting out at every angle, he couldn't afford to try any techniques.
Sephiroth looked to his right. He had caught up with the young SeeD. Squall was gripping the handles of his bike as he leaned forward. Through the tinted helmet, he could barely make out the look of concentration on Squall's face as he sped up and got about a foot ahead of him.
The white haired man laughed to himself. It was such a futile effort. He knew this canyon like the back of his hand where as Squall was a novice in the area. Regardless, he would let Squall take the lead.
The narrow passage came up and Squall sped up. Suddenly, it seemed that Sephiroth was far behind him and Squall narrowed his eyes. The man wouldn't have given up that easily. He frowned and kept his guard up. As he followed the path, he could see the light from Sephiroth's head light reflect against his bike with each slight turn.
Squall saw a flash of the night sky in front of him. The opening was fast approaching. Behind him, the sound of another motorcycle was growing louder. Within moments, Sephiroth was at his heels once more. Squall narrowed his eyes as his bike let out a loud growl and shot him froward.
It seemed to any observer that Squall and Sephiroth had been sling shot out of a sheer face of rock wall. Two dark figures riding metal horses sped across the plain, leaving nothing more than a cloud of dust behind them. Squall couldn't see what was behind him. He didn't care.
His eyes were focused froward as he gripped his bike. He didn't notice Sephiroth move one hand towards his back. He didn't see the sparkling blade in the moonlight as the white haired man caught up with him and lifted the katana over Squall's back tire.
Seifer narrowed his eyes looked down at the racers. "What the hell...?" he murmured. Seifer leaned over the edge of their area, a shocked look on his face. Irvine took another breath.
"I'm sorry," Irvine said out loud with his thought. Seifer was standing up, looking over the edge. I'm sorry, General. But I'm going to protect Rin the best way I can. He pulled the trigger.
Seifer jumped at the sound of the gun, having not been paying attention to Irvine. However, his green eyes never once left the scene in the valley below. The sword seemed to be knocked out of Sephiroth's hand by an unseen force before it came down over Squall's back tire, which would've ruined Squall's bike and possibly caused him to kill himself if he got into an accident that their speed.
Sephiroth's sword fell behind him as his bike wavered a bit. Squall took this chance to speed up. He got on his back tire and practically flew ahead of Sephiroth. Seifer fell back on to the patch of ground where he had been sitting. "Shit..." He gasped out. "Did you see that?"
Seifer looked over at Irvine. The cowboy had his face in his arms, as if he was completely wiped out. He was leaning against the side of a rock that was jutting out and Exeter hadn't been taken down. "Dammit..." Irvine swore. He shook his head and looked up at Seifer. "I was this close to shooting him..."
"What?" Seifer snorted with disgust. "You're going to try to say that you missed him by accident?"
Irvine scoffed. "No one is going to be believe that Irvine Kinneas MISSED. Irvine Kinneas NEVER misses."
"So..." Seifer said as he lifted his chin towards Irvine. "Why didn't you shoot him?"
"I can't do it," Irvine replied simply. He let out a slightly bitter laugh as he removed his hand and ran his hand through is suddenly damp red-brown hair. "I can't shoot him. I can't do that to Rin. To Selphie."
"I thought so."
"If you're so sure that I wouldn't go through with it, then why'd you come?" Irvine asked suspiciously.
"I was about ninety-nine percent sure," Seifer replied coolly. "But incase you would have gone through with that one percent, I would've done you a favor and killed you."
Irvine grinned. "I didn't know you cared about Squall so much."
"Shut the fuck up, Kinneas," Seifer snapped, anger flashing in his eyes. "I just don't want to see Rinoa or any of the girls cry. Especially not Quisty."
Irvine merely shook his head and looked back at the valley. The racers were almost out of sight and disappearing into the darkness. Sephiroth was a good few feet behind Squall. "I can't go back." Irvine mumbled.
Seifer rolled his eyes. "What's with the melodramatic crap?" he grumbled. "Why can't you go back? You didn't do anything wrong."
"But I was about to," Irvine said. He shrugged and ran his hand down his face. "How can I face Rinoa and the others after I was so close to killing Squall?"
"You're such an idiot, Kinneas," Seifer grumbled. He stood up and wiped his pants and jacket. "You don't get it, do you? If you hadn't taken up the mission, someone else would've. That someone else sure as hell would've pulled it off."
"But I could've killed him!" Irvine retorted as he looked up at the blond. "I was GOING to!"
"You can try to say that all you want," Seifer said. "You can even say that you had your eye piece on him and everything."
"I did!"
"But you didn't shoot him," Seifer told him. "Stop wallowing in your pity," he said proudly. "You saved Puberty Boy's life."
"What?" Irvine asked, his eyes narrowed. He looked at Seifer like the man had lost his mind.
"You really are stupid aren't you?" Seifer frowned. "That other guy was going to take Squall out of the damn race! You saw him! If you didn't shoot his sword when you had the chance, Puberty Boy would be lying, maybe dead, next to a pile of burning motorcycle. Do you GET it?"
"I doubt they'll see it that way." Irvine said as he stood up and glared at Seifer.
Seifer narrowed his green eyes seriously "That's the only way they're going to see it."
Irvine's fists clenched at his sides. "You weren't the one who almost killed him." he hissed in a low voice.
Seifer kept a cold glare on Irvine. "Damn right I wasn't," Seifer replied. "Now get your gun. Let's go."
"They're going to pick us up here." Irvine said as he returned to his gun and began to take it apart and put it back in it's case.
"We're not staying for them to pick us up." Seifer replied. Irvine narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Seifer.
"What are you talking about?" he murmured.
"We're going to the camp," Seifer said as he began to climb down the hill. "If Caraway was telling the truth and Puberty Boy did black mail him into letting him race, I want to know exactly how it went down."
"You're going to talk to Squall?"
"No, I'm going to talk to the back-in-time fairy," Seifer said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "We're going to get this thing straightened out."
Rinoa looked over some motorcycle magazines as she laid on her bed. "Ohhh...what about this one?" She looked up at Selphie pushed a magazine under her face. "That's totally you!"
"Let me see," Quistis said. Rinoa moved the magazine over to where Quistis was seated on a cushion on the floor by the foot of her bed. Quistis was having her blond hair braided by Fujin, who she had discovered, was extremely good with hair. "No it's not. It's too big."
"Suzuki," Fujin said as she straightened out Quistis' hair with her fingers. "Smaller."
"Yeah, a Suzuki would fit her better." Quistis agreed. Rinoa looked over the magazine once more. Quistis was wearing a simple pink and white striped pajama set. Fujin was wearing a big blue over sized T-shirt and black shorts. Rinoa was wearing gray sweat pants and a baby blue tank top.
"It would be fun to go across the continent with Squall on another bike..." Rinoa sighed. "But it would be better to...you know...do it on just one." The girls all exchanged knowing looks.
Selphie sighed and rolled over on her bed. "Maybe I should get one then...?" she said. She was wearing matching sun flower tank top and shorts and her hair had been split into two little pig tails.
"So you can ride one with Irvine?" Rinoa giggled. Selphie blushed and shook her head.
"Nah! You know he won't take of his hat!" she laughed.
"Top helmet." Fujin snickered with a smirk she had picked up from hanging out with Seifer too long. All the girls imagined Irvine on a motorcycle wearing a helmet and his signature cowboy hat taped on to it. They burst into laughter.
"What is WITH his hat, anyway?" Quistis asked. "Rinoa, he's your childhood friend, why does he always wear a hat? Did he have some sort of cowboy fixation or something?"
Rinoa chuckled and shook her head. "Actually..." she looked at them and hesitated. "I'm not supposed to tell."
"Oh come on, Rin!" Selphie said. "This is a slumber party! You're supposed to share secrets."
"Not secrets." Fujin sighed.
"Exactly," Rinoa nodded. "If I tell secrets, they won't be secrets any more."
"Okay, fine," Selphie sighed. "It's not a secret, it's 'gossip'. So share gossip!"
Rinoa thought for a while and nodded. "Okay, I'll work with that," she said. She sat up and motioned for the girls to lean forward. "Actually, you know how people wear hats sometimes because of a bad hair day?"
"Yeah..." Selphie said.
Quistis frowned. "Don't tell me he wears a hat every day because of that!"
"No, no," Rinoa sighed. "When we were little, his mom shaved his head. So that thick red-brown hair that Selphie loves so much was gone," Selphie grinned lopsidedly. "Anyway, Irvine has a LUMPY head. He got teased a lot by it when he was kid, so he grew it out and started wearing hats."
Fujin looked confused. "Why cowboy?"
Rinoa rolled her eyes. "You'll never believe this..." she sighed. "He says it helps with the 'ladies'."
"Oh, Hyne..." Quistis sighed.
"So Irvine..." Fujin agreed. "Done!" She removed her hands from Quistis' hair and the blond picked up the hand held mirror at her side.
"Nice, Fujin...you'd make a killing doing people's hair at the next graduation ball." Quistis said. Fujin seemed to think about it for a while and nodded with a satisfied smirk.
"Good idea."
"Okay, Fujin! Now my hair!" Rinoa said. She and Quistis traded places. As Rinoa settled on to the cushion, Selphie's phone rang.
Selphie reached over the side of the bed and picked it up. She tossed it to Rinoa. "It's your man!"
"Selphie, shh!" Rinoa said, blushing as she flipped the phone open. "My father might be home!"
Selphie smiled sheepishly. "Sorry!" As Rinoa lifted the phone to her ear, she began to wonder why General Caraway had allowed them to stay over if he was so strict. He had practically torn Rinoa from Squall's arms. Then again, perhaps the man was just an over protective father who didn't want men near his daughter.
"Hello?" Rinoa asked. She immediately blushed and the girls sat back and watched. Rinoa turned her back to them, embarrassed.
"Rin?" Squall said, surprised. A smile crossed his face. "How are you? I missed you."
Rinoa was on cloud nine. "I'm okay...I missed you, too..." she added. Behind her Selphie let out a squeal and Quistis told her to be quiet. "How about you?"
"I just reached the camp at Winhill," Squall said. He was standing in the closed of space behind a screen in their tent at the camp. "We're going to start heading back tomorrow."
"It's a big loop around the continent, right?" Rinoa asked. She turned back to the girls. "Map!" she whispered in a low voice. Selphie snatched up the motorcycle magazine with the map of the G-14 on it and handed it to Rinoa.
Squall sat on his cot as he heard Cloud yell for Zidane to fetch him some tools because something was damaged. "Yeah...hey, I saw your performance last night."
"Really?" Rinoa gasped. She had barely opened the magazine to the map to the race when she dropped it. "But...um...what about your race?"
Squall smiled to himself. "I made it back just in time to see it," he said. He felt his own cheeks get a little warm. "I heard your new song..."
Rinoa's mouth dropped. "You...you did?"
"Yeah..." Squall trailed off. "I want to be with you, too." Rinoa's heart was beating rapidly in her chest.
"Squall..." she whispered softly. She swallowed and tried not to cry. Suddenly hearing his voice made her miss him so much more.
"I'll be back in a few days," he told her intently. He had a foreign, soft look on his face as he looked down at his hands. Peeking behind the screen were Tidus, Tifa, and Zidane. "I'll see you there."
"I love you!" Rinoa announced loudly. The girls behind her jumped.
"Did she just tell our commander that she loves him?" Quistis asked. She knew she did, but to announce it so loudly like that was still a bit strange to hear.
Rinoa put the volume in Selphie's phone and held it out. There was a pause. "I love you, too, Rin." a warm voice said from the phone. Quistis and Selphie allowed their mouths' to drop as Fujin's eye went wide. The voice was definitely Squall's, yet the words seemed so...weird coming from him.
Rinoa practically swooned against the bed as she brought the phone up to her ear. "The girls say hi, by the way." Rinoa said as she saw their shocked looks.
"The girls...?" Squall said. "You're with everyone right now?"
"You called us in the middle of a sleep over," Rinoa said. Squall smiled. Rinoa was just a normal teenager. "I better let you go get some rest," she sighed. "Talk to you soon?"
"Definitely," Squall said. He heard Rinoa kiss him good bye on the phone before she hung up. Squall put his phone down and stared at it. He heard shifting and looked up. His eyes narrowed and a cold look replaced his warm one. "What are you three doing?" he growled.
"Run!" Tidus shouted. The trio who had been watching him scattered. Squall frowned.
He stood up and slipped his phone into a pair of jeans that had been provided for him to rest in. He was wearing a plain white shirt and some boots. When he came from around the screen, Tifa was pretending to go over some papers while Zidane and Tidus pretended to be watching television. Squall rolled his eyes and went over to his seat to eat his meal.
"Squall," Tifa said as she walked over to him with a clip board. "You're about twenty three seconds ahead of the guy right behind you."
Squall nodded and sliced his piece of chicken. "What did you do to your bike?" a voice said behind him. Squall paused and winced. Cloud didn't sound his usual happy self. "Why is the suspension all screwed up?"
Should I tell him that I rode over a border and landed on the ground from ten feet? Squall asked himself. No, He took a deep breath. "The canyon wasn't as even as I thought it would be."
He continued to eat and Cloud gave him a look of disbelief, but nodded his head and returned back to the bike he was tuning. "It looks like you jumped off a building with it..." the blond mumbled.
Squall paused and put his fork down. He turned to Cloud. "Something...happened in the canyon."
"What happened?" Cloud asked as he knelt down by the bike. Squall took a deep breath.
"I think Sephiroth tired to kill me."
"What?" Cloud shot up immediately, hitting his head on the handles as he did so. "AH! OWW!"
"Cloud!" Tifa gasped. "Honey, watch out!" She rushed by him and helped him up. She examined the top of his head. "Really, Cloud...are you all right?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Cloud said, trying to ignore the pain as he looked over at Squall. "What do you mean you THINK he tried to kill you?"
"All right, I'm quite positive that he tried to kill me," Squall countered. "When we were in the canyon."
"How?" Cloud asked with narrowed eyes.
"I was going through this narrow area when all of a sudden rocks started falling...there was an avalanche from the top of the canyon," Squall said. He looked as if he were concentrating. "At first, I didn't think anything of it, but I looked up and saw a cloud of dust at the top and I heard a motorcycle up there."
Cloud frowned. His blue eyes were narrowed as he turned to glare down the camp site where Sephiroth's team was pitched. "Bastard...I KNEW he'd try something like this again!"
"Again?" Squall asked. "He did something when you raced?"
Tifa put her hands on Cloud's shoulders and tried to calm him down. "It was right after they shot out of the canyon," Tifa told him as Cloud shook with fury. Squall turned to look at her. "Sephiroth is an excellent swordsman as well as a racer. He had a sword and was going to attack Cloud's rear tire. It would've been a devastating accident had he succeeded."
Squall narrowed his eyes and looked concerned. "How did you get out of it?"
"He wasn't the only one with a sword on him at the time," Cloud said. "I managed to retaliate and get far enough ahead of him. But that sort of thing, unfortunately, happens a lot in the G-14."
Squall understood. He'd read all about it and had heard some first hand stories about how people were sometimes killed in 'accidents' that weren't really accidents. But since no one could prove it, since no one watched the racers while they actually raced, nothing could be done. It was basically fend for yourself. Squall shook his head. "I don't think-"
"It's kind of stupid to pull the same stunt again," a deep voice said from the entrance of the tent. Squall turned around, his eyes wide at the visitors who literally were at his doorstep. Seifer and Irvine stood there, a few feet from each other. Seifer's green eyes landed directly on Squall. "Puberty Boy...we need to talk."
"No! Pick THAT one!" Selphie shouted as she pointed to the binder with the laminated sheets.
"I already sang that one," Quistis said as she held the remote. Her finger went down the list. "This one."
The other girls groaned. "BORING!" Fujin announced as she looked through the list past Quistis' shoulder.
"What? No!" Quistis gasped. "I want to sing this one!"
"Fine..." Rinoa and Selphie pouted as they crossed there arms.
"But don't expect us to cheer or anything." Rinoa said as she wrinkled her nose. Quistis finally sighed.
"FINE," she said exasperated. "What do YOU think I should sing?"
"203!" Selphie shouted. She snatched the remote from Quistis and before the blond could protest, Rinoa handed her the microphone and pushed her up.
"Let me introduce you!" Rinoa said. She grabbed the second microphone and lifted it up to her mouth as the disc loaded. "Ahem..." she said. Selphie snickered and Fujin shook her head. "This is Quistis Trepe singing 'My Heart Will Go One', dedicated to..." She held the microphone out.
"SEIFER!" Selphie and Fujin shouted.
Quistis' face flooded with color as her arms dropped at her sides. "NO!" she shrieked. "That's it! I'm not singing karaoke any more!"
"Oh, come on, Quisty! It's just a joke!" Selphie said as she pouted. Quistis frowned.
"Okay, okay..." Rinoa said. "You can sing the song you want..." Quistis smiled slightly as Rinoa pressed in the numbers. "Happy now?"
"I won't be happy until I get you back for that Seifer crack."
"Oh! It's starting!" Selphie said. She clapped her hands and watched as the television in Rinoa's room showed a bunch of scenery shots before going on to a woman wandering around a park and occasionally feeding ducks.
Quistis turned to face the screen so she could see the words. "You know, I never did get why karaoke laser discs show people in parks..." Rinoa whispered.
"Random." Fujin agreed.
The music stared and Quistis opened her mouth. "I know that you're hiding things, using gentle words to shelter me..."
"WHOOO!" Selphie shouted. Quistis rolled her eyes.
"Your words were like a dream..."
"Yeah! Quistis, you sexy beast!" Rinoa laughed. Quistis whirled around, ignoring the white boardered words on the screen that were filled with red as she sang.
"Do you want me to do this or not?" she snapped. "Because I'll stop!"
The girls giggled and shook their head no. "Sorry..."
Quistis sighed and tried to find her rhythm again. "What if I cried my eyes out and begged you not to part..."
"But now I'm not afraid to say what's in my heart!" a voice sang behind her. She turned around once more and saw Rinoa holding a microphone.
"'Cuz a thousand words call out through the ages...!" Rinoa, Selphie, and Fujin all grabbed the remaining microphones as began to belt out the lyrics, thereby annoying Quistis.
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at them unimpressed as they sang the chorus once more. To make things worse, they were purposely out of tune. Quistis couldn't stand it any longer and joined them. "...They'll hold you forever!"
Laughing, they fell to the ground in a puddle of giggling hysterics. "Rinoa!" a voice shouted from the door. There was a knock. "Rinoa, princess, please keep it down!"
Rinoa bit her lower lip and held her finger up to her lips. "Sorry, father!" she shouted. The girls tried to suppress their giggling.
Quistis sighed and leaned back against the bed. "Your father..." Quistis said. "He doesn't seem as stern as I thought he would be."
"He's just really over protective," Rinoa said weakly. "Sometimes to the point where it's crazy."
"Like at the Garden?" Selphie asked. Rinoa nodded slightly.
"Like at the Garden," she agreed. She looked down at her lap as she crossed her legs in front of her. "Although...Squall's the only person he's ever been like that to. He was never like that to Seifer."
"Seifer?" Selphie asked. She raised an eyebrow and Rinoa knew she said too much. "Rinoa... were you and Seifer...?" Rinoa looked away and Selphie turned to her second source, Fujin. "Fujin?"
Fujin looked around nervously, but finally nodded. "Affirmative..."
Quistis, who had been drinking from a juice bottle, nearly choked and looked at Rinoa in shock. "You're Seifer's ex-girlfriend?"
Rinoa looked up at Quistis. "Quistis, it was just one summer a long, LONG time ago! I swear! It went nothing beyond a kiss!"
"YOU KISSED HIM?" Quistis asked. Rinoa cowered against the bed as Quistis loomed over her. I haven't even gotten that far!
"I thought you said you didn't like Seifer in THAT WAY," Selphie said with a smug grin. Quistis immediately seemed to deflate as she sat back down. "You said that you wouldn't like him that way in a thousand years and that he wasn't boyfriend material."
All eyes were now on the tall blonde. Quistis swallowed and Rinoa smiled. "He likes you, too," Rinoa said. "A lot."
"I KNOW he likes me...a lot," Quistis sighed. She fell back against the bean bag behind her. "I'm sorry about that, Rinoa... There's nothing going on between Seifer and myself."
"Quistis, just admit it," Rinoa sighed. "You're jealous. But to put your mind at ease, Seifer is like a brother to me. Just like Irvine. If you marry him, you'll be like my sister."
Quistis sat up and glared at Rinoa. "I am NOT marrying Seifer!"
"Denial." Fujin piped.
Selphie and Rinoa nodded and Quistis turned red. "Will you stop it!" she exclaimed. "I don't like Seifer!"
The girls just stared at him. "Love him?" Fujin suggested.
"Yeah, that's it." Rinoa agreed. Quistis tugged at her braid, frustrated.
Selphie started laughing. Quistis had always been the most mature of them. She always acted older than everyone else. It seemed that when she was cornered in this sort of situation, she would act like a typical teenage girl. She'd blush, deny her crush, and then pelt someone with a pillow.
And pelt Selphie with a pillow she did. Within a few seconds, the girls were throwing pillows at each other and yelling. There was a another knock on the door and the girls froze.
"Rin, princess, please keep it down!"
Before Rinoa could answer, Selphie and Quistis shouted. "Sorry, Mr. Caraway!" Rinoa burst into laughter. No one had ever called her father THAT.
Outside the door, General Caraway raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. He'd never been called 'Mr. Caraway' before. It was very casual and sounded as if the girls saw him not as the General of the Galbadian army, but as Rinoa's father. He shook his head. "Good night, girls!"
Rinoa smiled softly at the sound of her father's voice. As the girls chorused goodnight, Rinoa whispered, "Goodnight...dad."
Squall closed the door to the trainer behind the tent. Irvine sat down on one of the seats by the window and Seifer stood by the kitchen. Squall narrowed his eyes. "What's going on?"
Irvine hadn't been able to look at Squall since they arrived. Seifer took a deep breath and locked eyes with Squall. "Did you threaten to turn in Rinoa to your father if Caraway didn't let you race?"
Squall's heart stopped in his chest. For the life of him, he couldn't feel his body suddenly. His mouth went dry and his breathing grew deeper. Seifer and Irvine were both looking at him now, waiting for the answer. His hands unclenched from his sides. "Yes."
Disappointment washed through Irvine's face. Seifer closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. Squall didn't even see Seifer's fist flying towards his face. By the time he realized what was happening, Seifer had already hit him in the jaw. Squall fell back against the door of the trailer as pain shot through is face.
Breathing deeply he lifted his hand to his lip and found that it was bleeding. He looked up with furious eyes as Seifer stood there and cracked his knuckles. "That's for Rinoa." Seifer spat out. Irvine nodded
"Why?" Irvine asked. "I thought you loved her."
"I do love her," Squall said. "Do you think I would seriously turn her in?"
"He said you had your father on the phone!" Irvine gasped out, frustrated.
Squall narrowed his eyes. "He told you..." Squall murmured. His hand balled into a fist. "Caraway told you!"
"Were you going to turn her in?" Irvine asked. "After everything?"
"Of course not!" Squall retorted proudly. "I was on the phone with my father, but I wasn't going to turn her in! Even if I did, the moment Laguna would meet Rinoa, he'd probably refuse to put her away!"
"What if Caraway had said no?" Seifer snapped.
"He did say no," Squall said. He wiped the corner of his lip with part of his shirt sleeve. "So I called Laguna. Caraway made his own assumptions from there."
Irvine hit the wall next to Squall's head and glared at him. "Do you know I was sent here to kill you?" he asked bitterly. An unreadable look flashed through Squall's eyes. "Because Caraway thought that you were a threat to Rinoa. That you might turn around and black mail him again?"
"Kill me...?" Squall asked. He looked over at Seifer. The blonde's head was turned away from him.
"You know how much crap I had to go through because I didn't know if I should kill you or not?" Irvine said. He turned away from Squall as well and paced in front of him.
Squall stared at Irvine. "Why didn't you kill me?" Squall said quietly. "I know you're angry about black mailing Caraway, so why didn't you?"
"Why do you think?" Irvine said, throwing his arms in the air. He stopped his pacing and looked at Squall. "Rinoa is like my sister. Do you think I want to see her cry? And Selphie...how could I face her again?"
"I'm sorry, Irvine-"
"Don't say you're sorry!" Irvine exclaimed. "We're even, all right!"
"Even?" Squall asked. "For what?"
"You mean you didn't even notice?" Seifer's annoyed voice sounded. Squall turned to look at him. "Mr. Commander of SeeDs didn't notice that the guy you were racing against was about to pull the same stunt on you that he tried to pull on the short blond guy outside!"
Squall's eyes went large. So that's why he fell behind me...! Squall's mind screamed.
"I shot his sword," Irvine explained. "I knocked it out of his hand and then he had problems getting hold of his bike again."
Squall merely nodded. "We're not even," Squall stated. "You saved my life twice, Irvine."
"I could've killed you-"
"And you didn't." Squall stated.
Irvine took a deep breath and looked at Seifer. "You want to be even?" he asked Squall. "Tell us what you said to Caraway that night. Everything. Don't change the words. Don't paraphrase. Don't omit things or add new ones. Just tell us what the hell you told him."
Squall was cornered. He narrowed his eyes. "Did Caraway tell you only that I said I'd turn in Rinoa if he didn't let me race?" Irvine nodded. Squall let out a breath. "We also made a deal. This was right before you called me that night."
Irvine nodded. "Go on."
"I told him that if I won first place, he had to allow Rinoa to return to the Garden, if she wanted, and let her be with anyone one she wanted." Squall told them.
Seifer looked somewhat confused. "And if you lost?" Irvine asked.
"Then I would leave, never see or speak to Rinoa again, and never speak of her secret to anyone," Squall said. "Even if I came in second by a nanosecond, I'd still loose."
Seifer snorted and shook his head. "Do you really think that he'd keep his side of the bargain? The man sent Irvine to kill you."
Squall looked at Seifer. "If he didn't intend on keeping his side of the bargain, WOULD he even bother sending Irvine to kill me?" The trio inside the trailer went silent.
Irvine ran his hand down his face. "If you loose, you'll never see Rinoa again."
Squall looked at Irvine. A slight smile touched the corners of his lips. "I said that if I lost, I would leave Rinoa alone..."
Irvine slowly grinned. "But if she pursued you...that's completely legal," Squall nodded. "You dawg."
"I don't want Rinoa to know about this," Squall said. "If I lost and she knew...Hyne, she'd be devastated..."
"But if you won..." Irvine trailed of. "Squall, I saw your statistics! They're the best out there. You're going to win!"
"You saw what happened out there," Seifer said. "Squall's on that one guy's hit list."
"I just have to be more careful, that's all," Squall told them. He looked at the two men. "Don't tell Rinoa about this."
"Don't worry about it," Irvine said. "But I am going to talk to General Caraway."
"I don't understand why he hates me so much," Squall mumbled. "Especially enough to send someone to kill me."
"It's not that he hates you," Irvine said as he opened the door. "He just loves his daughter."
Rinoa sat at the dinner table in silence. Her father sat across from her on the long dinner table. Selphie, Quistis, and Fujin had returned to their hotel. Rinoa felt disappointment brewing in her stomach. Without Selphie there, she couldn't talk to Squall.
The night before last had been one of the best times in her life. When she was little, she used to have sleep overs with her friends from school. Even a few times with Irvine present. They used to do his hair. Of course, as she got older, she slowly lost those friends.
People changed. Peoples' parents didn't want them to hang around with her any more. Then she was gone from school to model and perform. For a while, Fujin had been the only other girl there. And she wasn't exactly talkative. But when Quistis and especially Selphie were around, it was like a small party.
"Did you have a good time with your friends?" Caraway asked from across the table.
"Yes, father, I did."
"Good," Caraway nodded. He glanced up at his daughter, who was slowly eating her food. "You look more and more like your mother everyday."
Rinoa looked up and smiled slightly. "Thank you, father. That's quite a compliment."
"You don't have to keep calling me father," Caraway told her. "You used to call me 'dad' or 'daddy'. What happened?"
Rinoa grew silent and looked back at her food. "Mom died." she whispered quietly. General Caraway slowly stopped what he was doing.
He looked back up at Rinoa. Just as he opened his mouth, the doors to the dining room where thrown open. Both the father and his daughter jumped as Irvine stormed in with Seifer behind him. Caraway stood up and Irvine approached him.
"We need to talk." Irvine stated.
Caraway narrowed his eyes. "About what?"
"You know what," Irvine said. He looked over at Rinoa. "Hey, Rin. Stay here." Caraway tossed his napkin down on the table and walked towards the door where the two young men were standing.
"Rinoa, you stay here and finish your dinner." Caraway told her sternly. He looked at the two males and allowed his eyes to settle on Seifer, as if wondering why he was there as well.
"But, where-"
"Just stay put, Rinoa." Seifer snapped. Rinoa remained seated as she watched her father lead Irvine and Seifer out of the dining room.
She narrowed her eyes, knowing that he was taking them to his private study. She looked down at her half finished food on her plate. Narrowing her eyes, she threw down her napkin and stood up. She quickly walked down the hall, trying to be as quiet as she could.
She peeked around the corner and noticed that her father's study was open just a bit. The light was peeking from the crack in the door and she could see shadows moving around inside. She looked behind her, making sure that none of the maids could see her, then scurried down the hall way.
Rinoa pressed herself up against the side of the wall, right by the door way, and listened.
Inside the room, Caraway was standing by his desk as Irvine approached him. Seifer stood to one corner, his arms crossed. "Why didn't you tell me what else he said?" Irvine asked.
"What do you mean what else he said?" Caraway snapped. "Did you kill him or not?"
"No, of course I didn't!" Irvine replied. "And we went to see him and found out that you omitted something!"
Caraway whirled around and glared at them. "What do you mean you didn't kill him? You had an order and you accepted!"
"I said I understood what you were trying to do! I never said that I would do it!" Irvine retorted.
"Don't you care about Rinoa at all?" Caraway shouted angrily. "Don't you care about her safety? Do you want to see her locked away-"
"Will you cut the crap?" Seifer yelled from where he was standing. "You damn well we care about Rinoa! That's why we kept the secret for so long! You can go ahead and wave our records in our face all you want, but that's not why we're not telling anyone."
"You think that killing him is going to solve everything?" Irvine asked as bitterness filled his usually cool voice. "Do you know what will happen if she found out that he was killed? She'd be devastated!"
"If she stays attached to him, it'll only get worse!" Caraway replied.
"So you think that killing him when she's obiviously so in love with him is the best choice?" Seifer asked. "You don't even know what's going to happen if he does break it off with her!"
"But what kind of man would threaten to put the woman you say he loves in danger just to race?"
Rinoa's eyes went wide. She covered her mouth to keep her gasp down. Squall...? Why...?
"You also forgot to mention that bet," Irvine said. Rinoa closed her eyes. "If Squall wins, you have to let Rinoa go back to Garden if she wants and allow her to be with anyone she wants!"
"That's why you sent Irvine to kill him," Seifer spat out, disgusted. "You saw his statistics and KNEW that he'd win and that Rinoa would run to HIM!"
"Of course I know that!" Caraway shouted. "Do you think I want my daughter with him? His father is-"
"Laguna Loire, we know," Seifer sighed. "So what? Do you think Squall cares?"
"He could be the death of her!" Caraway gasped.
"No!" a voice shouted from outside. They turned to watch the heavy door open and Rinoa step inside. Tears were in her eyes as she looked past Irvine and Seifer and directly at her father. "You're going to be the death of me! How could you?" she screamed. "How could you send Irvine to kill Squall?"
Caraway stared at his daughter in shock. "He..." he gasped out. "He said he would turn you in..." he explained as his face flooded of color.
Rinoa shook her head. "He'd never hurt me..." Rinoa sobbed out. "You don't understand..." she gasped out as streams of warm liquid fell down her pale cheeks. "I love him..."
"He'll hurt you," Caraway assured her sternly. "He'll only break your heart-"
"Then LET him!" Rinoa shouted. "I'd rather HE break my heart than you never letting him near it at all!"
The brunette whirled around and ran out of the room. "Rinoa!" Caraway shouted desperately.
"I'm going after her." Seifer said. He turned and ran after Rinoa. Irvine looked back at General Caraway.
"I don't care what you do with my records," Irvine said. "You can tell the whole world, but I won't hurt Rinoa. We, me, Seifer, and the others...we're going to protect Rinoa the way we know how. Even if it's from her own father."
