Author's Note: Boring Chapter up ahead…at least, in my opinion. I'm working on Chapter Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five now. Anyways, her are the thank-you notes.
The wise – Yup, yup, it was her birthday. Too bad the events of the story weren't on her side…but anyways, thanks for the review. Here's the next chapter.
Tai-Style – Hey, thanks for the review and the compliment. I'm glad you still like the story. And about giving it to her straight…well…I guess I didn't really know a better way to tell her.
SquallsGIRL – Thank you for reviewing. I would have updated sooner, too, but I couldn't because something was wrong with the site and stuff…I couldn't upload. Anyway, it's better now. Haha!
yummychocolatexD – It's okay. At least you didn't have to wait for me to update all those other chapters. Haha! Thanks for reviewing. And, yes, poor Rinoa…
LionHeart823 – Spelling errors…? I didn't really notice…hehe…anyway, thank you for reviewing. Everybody says poor Rinoa now…it used to be poor Squall…haha! I find that strangely ironic.
flare draco – Thank you for reviewing. Don't worry…you'll see the ending soon. But a bunch of boring chapters are ahead. Haha!
PasifiKStaR – It's okay, the intervals between my updates are getting longer so it doesn't matter that it takes you long to review. Anyway, thanks for the review and so long as you guys keep reading, I'll keep writing.
lostfallenangel – Lazy, huh? Hehe! Everybody gets lazy now and then. Anyhow, I was pretty tired of writing cliché stuff because the rest of my story was already cliché so I had to think up something new! Thank you for reviewing. I hope you don't mind the dullness of this chapter because I didn't really know what else to write.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Finally, Rinoa was permitted to leave the hospital. However, this did nothing to make her happy. The only thing that put a smile on her face as she reached the manor was seeing Angelo, well and recovered. The brown dog had run up to her and circled her over and over, barking madly. Rinoa was just equally glad.
But that joy was cut short when the man Rinoa least wanted to see went down the stairs to greet her as well. She turned to Seifer, a questioning gaze in her eyes. "I'll explain later," Seifer answered as he stood closer to her. Angelo growled but made no move to get any closer to Zeon, who only smiled casually.
"I'm glad to see you are well again, Rinoa," Zeon said.
Rinoa didn't answer. This time Rinoa couldn't smile, pretend, or even move. He had molested her, wanted her dead, attacked her, tried to shoot Squall, shot her and stabbed her best friend…never again would she want to be nice and respectful to him. Without her knowledge, a scowl had formed on her lips and she just had to look away. Zeon said no more to her, but his face showed not a hint of what he felt. But Rinoa just couldn't care less.
Without speaking, she headed upstairs to her bedroom and lay down on the bed. She could hear Zeon and Seifer shouting at each other for a while, though she couldn't understand anything they said, before she heard someone storm up the stairs. The door to the room opened and Seifer stepped inside, slamming the door behind him. He groaned a little as he fell onto the bed beside her.
"Why is he here?" Rinoa questioned.
"I told you he was in a mental asylum, right?" said Seifer. "Well the stupid psychiatrists there ran a couple of tests on him and said there was nothing wrong with him. I'm sorry, Rinoa. I knew you wouldn't like him here, but I didn't have much of a choice."
Rinoa frowned. "Why didn't you make him leave and stay at his own place?"
"The psychiatrists also said that if I really do believe there's something wrong with him, he should stay near me so I could keep an eye on him," said Seifer.
"But if he's here, that means he could very well likely shoot me again," Rinoa muttered. "Do you want that to happen, Seifer?"
"Of course not," he replied.
"Then I want him out!" she screamed. "I don't want him to stay here!"
Seifer sat up and looked at her. "Rinoa, I'll take care of it, okay?" She looked at him and sighed, giving up. She wasn't in the mood to argue anyway. "Fine," she mumbled.
- : - : - : -
"Angelo!" Rinoa called. Immediately, the dog came bounding down the stairs and ran to her. "Good doggie!" she said, hugging Angelo. "Come on, we're going for a walk."
"Take someone with you," said Seifer, who had also come down the stairs. "Didn't I tell you not to go out alone?"
"Do you want to go with me?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I'm pretty busy right now," he said with a frown. "I'll ask Raijin to go with you. Is that okay, Rinoa?"
She nodded and Seifer went back up the stairs to get Raijin. A minute later, Raijin was following Rinoa out on the street while Angelo was absentmindedly sniffing everything in sight. Rinoa often went outside for walks the days after she came home because she didn't want to be anywhere near Zeon. Another reason was that she wanted so badly to see Squall again. But luck hadn't been with her lately and she has caught not one glimpse of him.
"Hey, Raijin, let's take a break for a while, okay?" she said.
"It's your walk, ya know?" answered Raijin.
They were already at the Shopping Arcade, where some coffee shops and small restaurants were open nearby. Rinoa took a seat at an outdoor table in front of one of the cafes and bought a glass of iced tea.
"Stay here," said Raijin. "So I can see you, ya know? I'll just be over there." Rinoa nodded and watched as Raijin headed off somewhere.
As she drank, Angelo was quietly lying down beside the chair she sat on. Rinoa sighed as someone put a hand on her shoulder.
She turned around and saw Ellone. Her heart sank. Even though she hadn't realized it, she had been wishing it was Squall. "Hi, Ellone," she greeted, smiling to hide her disappointment. Ellone had visited her often at the hospital after they first met and the two of them had already become friends. Rinoa had to say that she envied Squall for having such a great sister. It made her wish she wasn't an only child.
"What's wrong?" Ellone asked, in a sisterly fashion.
"I was just thinking," said Rinoa. "Why don't you sit down?"
Ellone took a seat and said, "So, how was the last few days?"
"Fine," Rinoa answered.
"Really?" Ellone asked.
"No, not fine," Rinoa mumbled, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands. "It's not been fine at all…"
Ellone smiled and she ordered a glass of iced tea. Once the waiter had gone, she faced Rinoa again. "Tell me, then," said Ellone. "It would make you feel better."
"Seifer is too busy to spend time with me," Rinoa said. "Not that I care much. He did keep a very important thing from me. And his father is at the manor so I spend my time outdoors. And lastly....no, nothing..."
Ellone just needed to give her smile and Rinoa sighed, getting her elbows off the table. "Alright, lastly, I haven't seen Squall for days…" she said.
"Does it matter?" Ellone queried.
"Yes," Rinoa replied. "I miss him already."
Angelo whined and pawed at Rinoa. "Aw…poor baby…" she cooed. "Are you bored?" Angelo rolled over and got up and started chasing his tail.
Ellone laughed. "What an amusing dog," she said.
"He's really smart," Rinoa told Ellone. "He can do a lot of tricks. But sometimes he's really naughty, especially when it comes to Squall. I think he almost bit Squall once. And he jumps and drools on Squall a lot." Rinoa laughed. "I wonder what Squall's doing. Don't you know where he is?"
"You want to see him?" asked Ellone with a smile.
"A little," Rinoa answered. "But I can't since…well, I don't really want anything more to happen especially since my wedding's fast approaching."
Ellone's smile faded and she said, "So you've decided on marrying Seifer?"
Rinoa paused and mumbled, "I guess so…"
"Why do you sound so uncertain?" Ellone questioned. "Don't you know if you really want to marry him or not?"
"I'm not sure," she replied.
"Then why are you doing this? Why do you want to marry Seifer?" Ellone queried, taking another sip or her iced tea as Angelo ran under the table barking to chase some imaginary cat or something.
"Because it's the right thing," Rinoa answered.
"Why do you say that?" Ellone said. "Why do you insist on believing that it is the right thing?" Rinoa looked away as Angelo returned to her side and pawed at her again.
Rinoa found that she couldn't answer the question and Ellone said, "Listen to me, Rinoa. If you can't decide who you love more, then choose the one who loves you more." With that she stood up and left, saying goodbye to Rinoa.
Rinoa bit her lip as she got up and said, "Come on, Angelo. Let's get Raijin and go home…before I see Squall and run away with him…"