Author's Note: Thank you, my reviewers! Haha! I feel happy…Tai+Lisa = Squall+Rinoa and PasifikStaR, here's Chapter Three! Have fun! By the way, not much happens at the party, sorry. I don't have enough time…
Chapter Three
"Hey! You came!" Selphie exclaimed when Squall entered the Garden. "I knew you would. And you kept saying you wouldn't." She laughed happily taking his arm and tugging on it. "Come on, let's go!"
"Go ahead," he said. "I'm waiting."
"Waiting?" she asked, letting go of his arm. "Waiting for what?"
"Oh, you waited," said someone from behind him.
Selphie turned to look and smiled brightly. "You must be Squall's girlfriend!" she said. "Hi! I'm Selphie!"
"Hi. I'm Rinoa," she replied, shaking Selphie's hand.
"Come on, let's go! I'm sure everybody would love to meet you!" Selphie said as she led the way to the quad.
"She seems pretty energetic," Rinoa muttered.
"You'll get used to it," Squall said. "And you have to. I talked with the Headmaster so that you could stay in a room in Garden. He gave in since I will be Commander soon anyway. You can stay here starting tomorrow. You'll stay at the inn tonight and tomorrow we'll transfer all the stuff I got you from there to here."
"So I will be around you more, right?" she asked.
"Right," he replied.
They went into the quad and Selphie shouted, "Hey, Squall's here!" They all turned to look and their gazes fell on Rinoa. She blushed as Squall ended up introducing her to so many people. "I'm afraid I might not remember everyone's names…" she said once she and Squall got away from everybody and found a table.
"I'll go get a drink," Rinoa said and walked off just before Irvine came.
"Didn't think you really had a girlfriend, Squall," Irvine mumbled. "You surprised me there, you know?"
Squall just stared at him. "You do know I started that rumor, don't you?" Irvine queried as he looked at Rinoa.
"Stop staring," Squall said.
"Hey, it isn't like I'm gonna pounce on her and kill her," he said. "So I wanted to say I was sorry about spreading that rumor and all. Hope you aren't mad about it. I only did that for some kicks."
"Knowing you, I couldn't care less," he said.
"You need an attitude adjustment," Irvine complained.
"Whatever," Squall muttered.
Irvine shrugged. "I wonder what Rinoa sees in you…"
He left and Rinoa got back to the table. She had gotten Squall a drink as well. She sat down and said, "Irvine is creepy."
"He is?" said Squall.
"Yes," she said, smiling. "Didn't you say Selphie was his girlfriend? Well, if she is, then why is Irvine flirting with those girls?"
"It's his nature," he replied, sipping the drink.
Irvine went to Selphie after talking to some girls but his eyes stayed on Rinoa. 'She's hot,' he thought. 'Squall doesn't deserve her. I have to find a way to separate those two.'
- : - : - : -
"Fuck off it, Dad!" Seifer yelled. "I've already recovered!"
"Just give it up, it's been two weeks and we've received no note, no call, no nothing," his Father answered. "She's probably been killed already."
"Don't you dare say that!" he shouted. "Rinoa is alive and I'm going to find her!"
"Give it up. She doesn't even deserve you, Seifer," replied his Father. "For all we know she could have been using you or something."
"Shut up!" Seifer said. "Rinoa loves me and I love her more than anything! She cannot be using me because she already has enough money to last her a lifetime! She has never gone out with any other guy but me! We've been in this relationship for three years and I'm sure as hell she will not just give it up like that!"
"I'm not going to help you find this girl," said Zeon Almasy. "She isn't worth it."
"What do I care?" Seifer answered. "I'll damned find her on my own, then! You are a bastard of a Father!" With that he left his Father's study and started to think of where to start. He wasn't sure how but he was determined to find her.
- : - : - : -
"I had fun tonight, Squall," Rinoa said. "Your friends are all nice, though Irvine still gives me the creeps. He has this weird look in his eyes…"
"You aren't like most girls," he said.
"Oh?" she said. "In what way?"
Squall shrugged slightly and answered, "Girls like that look."
She smiled, amused, and said, "Don't you like me because I'm different?"
"I do," he said.
"I love you, Squall," she murmured.
They stopped in front of the inn and he looked at her. Did she really love him or was she just saying it because he told her he was her boyfriend? "Say that again, Rinoa," he said.
"I love you," she said.
"You sure about that?" he questioned.
She nodded. "I've been thinking hard about it and I realized that I love you. I want to be with you always, Squall, and I know I won't be able to bear being away from you for a long time. I can't stop thinking about you."
'I can't stop thinking about you, too…' he thought as he took her in his arms and kissed her hair. "Good night…pleasant dreams," he whispered in her ear before leaving her and going back to Garden.
Rinoa stood there and sighed. "Don't you love me, too, Squall?" she said but only the wind heard her. She walked into the hotel and went to her room, feeling too tired.
Squall had gotten back to Garden and was lying in bed. He was taking it too far…maybe he shouldn't have told her he was her boyfriend. He should have told her the truth…and then he could have asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend as a favor since he saved her. That was a much better idea. How come better ideas only came when you already did something wrong? It annoyed him. Now how would he tell her the truth? He…he didn't want to hurt her…especially now that she loves him.
'She said that loves me,' he thought to himself. 'Could she be lying? It had only been about two weeks since we met…everything's going too fast. I'm going to get myself into trouble if I don't tell her the truth. But how will I tell her? Oh well. At least I'm not in love with her…or…I hope I'm not…'
Rinoa sat in bed, unable to sleep. She had the same strange dream she had the night before. It didn't disturb her then but it was clearer this time and she began to wonder if this dream had anything to do with a part of her past that Squall didn't know about.
Everything was a little blurry and the light was dim. She was fighting against someone but she was losing. Then there was a sharp pain in her head then another and another. Everything went black and she felt dazed and confused. Then she was shrouded in water, she was drowning. After that the entire scene changed and she found herself at the beach.
She was a little girl, pretending to drown. A boy with blond hair came to her and saved her before he realized she was only pretending. She laughed at him but embraced him tightly. Then he said, "You're so cute when you smile, Rinoa. When I grow up I'm gonna marry you." She laughed at him some more and then they were suddenly adults.
"Will you marry me, Rinoa?" he asked.
She accepted the engagement ring he handed her and said, "I love you, Seifer…" Then the dream ended.
"Seifer…" Rinoa said, hugging her knees. The name was so familiar. She turned on the lamp beside her bed and looked at the ring she wore. Squall had given it to her. Well, he said so. But in the dream it had been the man named Seifer. Rinoa lay down again. Tomorrow she would ask Squall…