Author's Note: Sparks. Yup, that's what I have to say for this Chapter. Hehe! I'm sorry for the late update. Anyways, the thank you notes!
KuramaHasPrettyEyes – Thanks for reviewing. And…you can suck him dry the moment the story is done, yes…that's good. And you're not a freak, in my point of view. Hehe!
SquallsGIRL – Hm…you'll see how things work out in this Chapter. Teehee! And it won't be a mystery, I was never able to write those things. Besides, the story might get longer. Anyway, thank you for the review. Hope you like this Chapter.
yummychocolatexD – Thank you for reviewing. And…well, it's okay. The bad things he has done will bounce back on him someday. I think.
PasifiKStaR – Squall is right there when he's needed, Angelo will make sure of that. *wink, wink* Anyway, thanks for the review! Now, go ahead and read the Chapter. I hope you like it…I think I screwed the ending up a bit.
FF-Tomboy – I would never permanently pair Rinoa up with Seifer. I like Seifer but I don't think that pairing suits. Anyhow, thank you for reviewing!
lostfallenangel – He's always in trouble, what's the difference? But…well, he is at the deep end, now. Haha! Sad to say, I considered that idea, but decided it would make the story even longer. Hell, it's already almost three times the length of the original plan. Thank you for reviewing, though!
The wise – I thought about making him admit, but the more bad things he does, the more reason Rinoa has to leave him! Haha! Thank you for reviewing!
flare draco – Unfortunately, he can't tell the truth. But that's okay. Rinoa will still be perfectly fine whether he does or he doesn't. Thank you for reviewing!
LionHeart823 – I'm glad you liked the Chapter. I hope you like this one, too. There aren't many chapters left, so enjoy the read while you can. Thank you for reviewing!
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was already morning and no one had any sleep. Angelo was restless as Seifer, Raijin and Fujin were all seated in the living room. None of them knew what to do now. Angelo was barking, growling and snapping endlessly at Seifer, as though blaming him for what had happened to Rinoa. Seifer knew that the dog had every right to blame him. It really was his fault. And why didn't he just admit he had done it?
Angelo suddenly ran to the door and began clawing angrily at it, insisting to be let out. Seifer sighed. "Let him out," he said. At Raijin's look, he added, "He'll be fine. He knows the whole city and he knows the way home. He can come back when he wants to. Let him out." Raijin did so and Angelo bounded off somewhere. Seifer groaned, leaning back. His helplessness made him angry. What was he to do now?
- : - : - : -
Squall was lazily walking around the city, apparently bored. But his boredom soon faded when he saw a very familiar mass of brown fur dashing towards him. Before he knew it, he had fallen on his back on the street, four paws on his torso. Barks rose from the canine as Squall carefully pushed him off.
"Yeah, nice to see you, too," he mumbled. He looked around, expecting to see the dog's owner. When he didn't, he looked back at the dog and asked, "Where's Rinoa, Angelo?"
Angelo began spinning in circles before running off in one direction, barking incessantly. Squall realized he had no choice but to follow so he chased after the dog. Fortunately, their destination wasn't very far away. However, when Squall realized what the place was, he felt his stomach churn in uneasiness.
He froze for a while until a cop came out of the door and paused to look at him. Squall stared back. He knew this policeman. The man gave Squall a small smile and said, "Aren't you…Ms. Heartilly's friend?"
"Is Rinoa here?" Squall said, straight to the point.
The man's smile faded. "Sadly, yes."
"What for?" he questioned.
"For the murder of Mr. Zeon Almasy," answered the policeman. The color faded from Squall's face. "But…to be honest," continued to policeman, "…I don't think she had anything to do with the murder."
"Take me to her," Squall commanded.
The policeman was more than happy to comply. He led Squall, and even Angelo, inside and to the room where Rinoa was still being interrogated. "How long have you been questioning her?" Squall asked.
"Overnight," replied the policeman.
Squall suddenly stormed into the room, anger evident in his eyes. "Squall!" he heard Rinoa say. He turned to her for a while and the look in her eyes only made him more furious that he already was.
"Why the hell are you keeping her here!?" he heatedly asked the interrogator and the other policemen who were also inside the room..
"Sir," began the interrogator in a calm voice. "She is a suspect for the murder of Mr. Zeon Almasy. We are questioning her about the case."
"You're suspecting her!?" he asked.
"Yes."
"What evidence do you have against her!?" he said.
The interrogator paused, then said, "Based on her answers to our questions the night before, there has been no one else who could have murdered Mr. Almasy aside from her. No one else was in or near the study during the time."
"I don't believe she could have killed anybody!" shouted Squall.
"Sir, she has enough reason to kill Mr. Almasy," the interrogator said.
"You have no right to hold her here!" said Squall. And before the interrogator, or anyone, could reply, he continued. "You don't have solid evidence that she committed that crime. You don't have a witness who saw the actual murder. A reason to kill is not enough to arrest her! That is against the law! Hell with you people, you're supposed to fucking uphold the law!"
The argument went on for hours but Squall soon found that all that time was worth it. The police gave in, after a long discussion with just about every official in the entire station and clarifying things, Rinoa was allowed to leave. After other matters were fixed, the police would try and clear things up with Seifer Almasy and decide what must be done with the case.
Squall, Rinoa and Angelo, of course, were walking down the street. Squall had offered to walk Rinoa home, not wanting those policemen to drive them. Rinoa walked behind Squall, looking at his back. She was biting her lower lip, not knowing what to tell him. She had said nothing to him the whole time. She wanted to thank him but that seemed to be only a small part of what she really wanted to tell him.
As they neared the manor, Angelo bit Squall's pants and began tugging. Squall groaned. He was, as usual, not in the mood to play with the dog. He stopped walking and tried to get Angelo's jaws to open. "Angelo, please stop pestering Squall," Rinoa said, helping Squall pry Angelo off his pants.
Angelo soon let go but suddenly sat down and refused to budge. "Come on, Angelo, we need to get home," Rinoa said, sounding exasperated, though Angelo hadn't been too much of a nuisance. "Come on, get up."
Angelo remained seated and Rinoa sighed. She faced Squall and she saw his expression as unreadable. "Let's go," he said. "He'll end up following if you leave him here."
Squall walked away and Rinoa looked back and forth between Angelo and Squall. She felt tears fill her eyes though she just couldn't find a reason why. She watched Squall slowly walking away and the tears began to fall. Angelo whimpered, tilting his head slightly. "Squall…" she mumbled to herself. Suddenly, she ran towards Squall and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his back.
"I love you," she said weakly.
Squall just stood there for a minute, before turning around and embracing her as well. At that, Rinoa began to cry almost uncontrollably. Squall leaned down. "Shush…don't cry…" he said softly in her ear. "Stop crying."
"Squall…I'm so scared…" she said.
"Why?" he asked.
She shook a little and he held her closer. "I don't know…I'm not sure…" she finally answered. "I want to be with you…but I'm afraid I'm going to regret it if I run away with you…" He kissed her hair and she continued to cry.
"I love you, Rinoa," he told her. She looked up at him and he wiped away her tears. "I'll wait…until you're ready…until you're sure you want to be with me. I'll be waiting right here for you, no matter how much time it takes."
"Why?" she asked.
He gave her a small smirk. "For the same reason I let you go." And with that he walked away. Angelo barked, getting Rinoa's attention. He wagged his tail a couple of times and Rinoa smiled, wiping what remained of the tears.
"Come on," she said, walking towards the door of the manor.
Inside one of the rooms in the manor, Seifer was looking out the window, fists clenched, teeth gritted. He had been surprised when he saw Rinoa walking towards the manor. He actually didn't notice who was accompanying her. But when he did, and when he saw what happened between them, he was furious.
The door suddenly opened. "Seifer?" he heard a voice.
He turned around and saw Rinoa. Silence ensued. To Seifer, he was standing in front of an unfaithful girl. To Rinoa, she was looking at a man who cared more about himself than the people he supposedly loved. Seifer grabbed his Gunblade, which happened to be right beside him, and threw it at the floor in front of her.
"You know, don't you?" he said. He had found the Gunblade in their room, clean of the blood it had been stained with. "I found this in our bedroom and I'm sure you were the one who put it there. You know, Rinoa. I know you do."
"Then if you know, there's no need to ask," she muttered.
Seifer inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to control himself. "Why didn't you tell them the truth? If you knew, why didn't you say it?" he questioned her.
She looked straight into his eyes. "You know what, Seifer? I guess I don't really know anymore," she said, a small hint of disappointment in her voice. Seifer could only assume what other emotions rang in the tone her voice. "I remember not wanting to believe it because I supposed that I loved you and I recall not telling the truth because I thought you loved me in return. And now…well, I just don't know. How could you do this to me?"
"You haven't been very loyal either, Rinoa," he said, unable to find any other thing to counter what she had said.
"So why don't you just dump me?" she asked.
"Can we just stop this?" he said. "No more, this is enough!"
Rinoa said nothing. The two of them only faced each other in silence until she finally breathed out an exasperated sigh, shook her head and walked off. Seifer punched the wall. Things were not going so well…and he had a terrible feeling they wouldn't get any better.