Disclaimer: The chapter 1 disclaimer still applies here.
General Caraway strode into the Briefing Room hidden in the bowels of the General's Mansion. There, he had a personal briefing for Colonel Smith, one of his most loyal officers. "I've got the orders and my notes. I rehearsed this only hours earlier, and I prepared everything I'd need. So why is this making me nervous?" he asked himself silently. The old general keyed in four numbers on an keypad next to the door, and the two halves of the door slid apart. He passed through, and began to step across to the display side. Colonel Smith would be there in about five minutes, so he had some time. Nonetheless, he had to be perfectly prepared, and give the appearance of waiting. Last-minute preparations were far from general-like.
So he waited, and worried. Exactly on time, not a second too soon or too late, the briefing room door opened. "Colonel Smith, exactly on time as always." "Yes sir. What orders do you have for me?" The colonel was a short man, with dark red hair trimmed exactly at Galbadian Army regulations. The left side of his dress uniform bore an assortment of medals, almost enough to stop a bullet, awarded for loyalty and tactical genius. In the way he walked to his position, his General saw the exact right balance of self-confidence, independance, and boot-licking. "Right to the point. Colonel, you have always been the most loyal of my officers. I had hoped that one day, when I retire, I could call upon you to replace me. Sadly, that cannot be." The old General paused here, emphasizing his point "I must call upon you to retire now, and take over the Eternal Peace. I have recieved word that they seemingly have at least eight new leaders, and nobody can decide who is highest of them. None of them have both the ability to drive a crowd and the tactical genius that Almasy had."
The old general took another breath here, and continued, his voice still forceful. "Further, I have recieved a letter from Almasy written shortly before his death. A supply requisition for a mission that, according to it, only he, his top two advisors, and I know about. Of those four, I am the only one who survived the recent SeeD sniping. This plan has a number of parts. First, we must set up a reason for SeeD to deploy their space vessel into Galbadia, or another area in reach of Galbadian forces. Second, we must deploy a team to an area on the Ragnarok's flight path, armed with heavy SAMs. Almasy did his research, and has selected the weapons needed for this mission. We will also need to have forces ready to swarm the wreckage and kill any survivors. The third stage is those teams doing their job. Above all, absolutely none of this may be tracked to the Galbadian government." Caraway took another long pause, then asked a single question, with a single word. "Understood?"
Colonel Smith began to think "Completely, Sir. I simply think that surely there are those better able to manipulate our civilians into these attacks." Caraway paused to answer Smith's question. "There are, there are. Selecting you for this mission was a hard choice, Colonel. I needed an inspiring tactical genius, and, while there are those more inspiring to the men, I also needed an officer whom I could be assured to have the absolute loyalty of, even outside the army. That is why I chose you." "Understood, Sir." Proving that there was a way to stand up straighter than Smith was, he did so. "I think I'll need to read over the orders and information before I have any more questions, Sir." Caraway handed a large stack of papers, stapled together, to the Colonel, then spoke "Good luck, Colonel. I expect to see your retirement notice within the week. Briefing adjourned." Smith left the briefing room, reading over his orders. The old General waited, as it was Galbadian military tradition that one not see their commanding officer leaving their briefing, then left back to the rest of his mansion, hoping he made the right choice.
Meanwhile...
Irvine and Rinoa sat across from eachother at the new restaurant in Balamb. The fishermen at Balamb had a good catch that day, and so Irvine half payed attention to the Balamb Fish on his plate, and half to Rinoa. She had herself similarly preoccupied. Irvine had watched her try to figure out whether or not she liked him all day. He had the same problem on his mind, althouh h had settled it. He liked Rinoa. The actual question was more of whom he liked more, Rinoa or Selphie. At the moment, the answer was Rinoa. She broke the silence of their contemplation with her conclusion. "Irvine, I think it would be best for everyone if you just went back to Selphie. It'll be a few days, sure, but then you'll be back together and we'll all be happy. You two look so happy together." Irvine thought for a second, then decided on his answer "Rinoa, I'm sure I could be at least as happy with you. Selphie's forgotten me already, I'm no great loss to her." He looked into her ever-pale face, and saw pure beauty staring back.
Rinoa responded, mock-anger filling her voice "MEANY! How can you do that to poor Selphie? How can you say that about her? You've had a crush on her since you were six!" Irvine began to laugh quietly, which caused Rinoa to start giggling. Irvine broke out of his laughter with a response "Besides, Rinoa, you know we'd not all be happy. We have feelings for eachother, like it or not, and holding them in like this will only hurt us." Rinoa answered quickly "but what about Squall and Selphie? You can't deny that you don't have feelings for her any more than I can for him." Irvine thought of that carefully. "You're right, Rinoa. I'll see what I can work out with Selphie. Maybe we'll get back together. At the same time, though... We can't just go back to your Squall and my Sefie. It would be the same kind of denial. It might be better if we just let them forget us." "Irvine, how can you suggest we do this to them?" Irvine slid his chair around the small table to put his right arm around Rinoa's shoulders, and bring his mouth an inch from her ear. "Rinoa, once they've forgotten us, they'll find other people if they're lonely. They might even go to eachother. In fact, given about a week after we leave them, we could set them up together and have them think they've always liked eachother." Rinoa was unsure as to Irvine's seriousness, and so she told him her thoughts on that in a voice that left him pulling his head back a foot, and almost falling off his chair "You're so mean. How can you think of telling such lies to Selphie?"
Irvine replaced his arm around Rinoa's shoulders, and put his other arm on her thigh. He pulled his head closer to her, and watched her turn her head. Their lips met, and Irvine began to press his tongue into her mouth. She pulled away, slowly "Irvine, as much as I'd love to, I can't. I keep thinking of Squall, and of Selphie. You two are so cute together, and I don't want to break that up." Irvine pulled his head away from her, and spoke "Rinoa, you won't be. Selphie has already forgotten me. Using GFs since she was twelve reshaped her mind, and now she can't live without them, and they continue to eat her memories, and couldn't leave them unjunctioned if she tried. She isn't the same person as the one my crush formed for." Rinoa was shocked by Irvine speaking of Selphie like this, and had to pause for a moment to think of something to say. "Irvine, you have the nicest girl in Garden to yourself. She puts up with your constant flirting with half of Garden. And THIS is what you do the moment the GFs stop her remembering you?" It was Irvine's turn to be shocked then. "Rinoa, I don't mean it like that. Its just that I have to choose, and I want you over Selphie right now. If I tried to go with both you and Selphie, I'd be lying to her." Rinoa threw his arm off of her, and began to stare intently at her feet "This is going nowhere." They finished their meal in silence, split the bill, and left.
Author's Note: Well, my younger brother's computer broke down, and so my father tried to test it by using a part from my computer... That part promptly broke. As a result, I'm writing this from my youngest brother's computer. This chapter wasn't part of my original plan, but I decided the next chapter needed something to lead into it. And to think I'm sitting inside, in a room that is almost designed to hold heat in, with a computer running, in nice, warm weather. I should be outside, rather than setting fictional characters up to die.
To my reviewers:
wonderful failure: Glad you like it. I was thinking of trying my hand at parodying the "What did she do to *you* to deserve _THAT_?! stories (aka QuistisxSeifer), as the Squinoa happily ever afters have enough parodies, but, because it isn't mentioned in the game, everyone thinks that WDSDTYTDTs are somehow original. You also forgot the AU Squinoas, which are also about as common, and get about an equal number of reviews as QuistisxSeifer (Even if they don't, its still often in excess of far too many), but I'll have to rant on that later, and leave it as the stories with the formulaic plots are popular, and the originals are not. On a different subject, did you already think Irvine and Rinoa would be cute together before reading this, or did this convince you?
fallingfarther: *mad scientist laugh* Watch as I torment you with another three paragraphs of fluff! I think now I have a full chapter worth of fluff at least! *laughs evilly*. Don't worry, I'll give you a chance to catch up with my next chapter, which will have a bit less fluff.
General Caraway strode into the Briefing Room hidden in the bowels of the General's Mansion. There, he had a personal briefing for Colonel Smith, one of his most loyal officers. "I've got the orders and my notes. I rehearsed this only hours earlier, and I prepared everything I'd need. So why is this making me nervous?" he asked himself silently. The old general keyed in four numbers on an keypad next to the door, and the two halves of the door slid apart. He passed through, and began to step across to the display side. Colonel Smith would be there in about five minutes, so he had some time. Nonetheless, he had to be perfectly prepared, and give the appearance of waiting. Last-minute preparations were far from general-like.
So he waited, and worried. Exactly on time, not a second too soon or too late, the briefing room door opened. "Colonel Smith, exactly on time as always." "Yes sir. What orders do you have for me?" The colonel was a short man, with dark red hair trimmed exactly at Galbadian Army regulations. The left side of his dress uniform bore an assortment of medals, almost enough to stop a bullet, awarded for loyalty and tactical genius. In the way he walked to his position, his General saw the exact right balance of self-confidence, independance, and boot-licking. "Right to the point. Colonel, you have always been the most loyal of my officers. I had hoped that one day, when I retire, I could call upon you to replace me. Sadly, that cannot be." The old General paused here, emphasizing his point "I must call upon you to retire now, and take over the Eternal Peace. I have recieved word that they seemingly have at least eight new leaders, and nobody can decide who is highest of them. None of them have both the ability to drive a crowd and the tactical genius that Almasy had."
The old general took another breath here, and continued, his voice still forceful. "Further, I have recieved a letter from Almasy written shortly before his death. A supply requisition for a mission that, according to it, only he, his top two advisors, and I know about. Of those four, I am the only one who survived the recent SeeD sniping. This plan has a number of parts. First, we must set up a reason for SeeD to deploy their space vessel into Galbadia, or another area in reach of Galbadian forces. Second, we must deploy a team to an area on the Ragnarok's flight path, armed with heavy SAMs. Almasy did his research, and has selected the weapons needed for this mission. We will also need to have forces ready to swarm the wreckage and kill any survivors. The third stage is those teams doing their job. Above all, absolutely none of this may be tracked to the Galbadian government." Caraway took another long pause, then asked a single question, with a single word. "Understood?"
Colonel Smith began to think "Completely, Sir. I simply think that surely there are those better able to manipulate our civilians into these attacks." Caraway paused to answer Smith's question. "There are, there are. Selecting you for this mission was a hard choice, Colonel. I needed an inspiring tactical genius, and, while there are those more inspiring to the men, I also needed an officer whom I could be assured to have the absolute loyalty of, even outside the army. That is why I chose you." "Understood, Sir." Proving that there was a way to stand up straighter than Smith was, he did so. "I think I'll need to read over the orders and information before I have any more questions, Sir." Caraway handed a large stack of papers, stapled together, to the Colonel, then spoke "Good luck, Colonel. I expect to see your retirement notice within the week. Briefing adjourned." Smith left the briefing room, reading over his orders. The old General waited, as it was Galbadian military tradition that one not see their commanding officer leaving their briefing, then left back to the rest of his mansion, hoping he made the right choice.
Meanwhile...
Irvine and Rinoa sat across from eachother at the new restaurant in Balamb. The fishermen at Balamb had a good catch that day, and so Irvine half payed attention to the Balamb Fish on his plate, and half to Rinoa. She had herself similarly preoccupied. Irvine had watched her try to figure out whether or not she liked him all day. He had the same problem on his mind, althouh h had settled it. He liked Rinoa. The actual question was more of whom he liked more, Rinoa or Selphie. At the moment, the answer was Rinoa. She broke the silence of their contemplation with her conclusion. "Irvine, I think it would be best for everyone if you just went back to Selphie. It'll be a few days, sure, but then you'll be back together and we'll all be happy. You two look so happy together." Irvine thought for a second, then decided on his answer "Rinoa, I'm sure I could be at least as happy with you. Selphie's forgotten me already, I'm no great loss to her." He looked into her ever-pale face, and saw pure beauty staring back.
Rinoa responded, mock-anger filling her voice "MEANY! How can you do that to poor Selphie? How can you say that about her? You've had a crush on her since you were six!" Irvine began to laugh quietly, which caused Rinoa to start giggling. Irvine broke out of his laughter with a response "Besides, Rinoa, you know we'd not all be happy. We have feelings for eachother, like it or not, and holding them in like this will only hurt us." Rinoa answered quickly "but what about Squall and Selphie? You can't deny that you don't have feelings for her any more than I can for him." Irvine thought of that carefully. "You're right, Rinoa. I'll see what I can work out with Selphie. Maybe we'll get back together. At the same time, though... We can't just go back to your Squall and my Sefie. It would be the same kind of denial. It might be better if we just let them forget us." "Irvine, how can you suggest we do this to them?" Irvine slid his chair around the small table to put his right arm around Rinoa's shoulders, and bring his mouth an inch from her ear. "Rinoa, once they've forgotten us, they'll find other people if they're lonely. They might even go to eachother. In fact, given about a week after we leave them, we could set them up together and have them think they've always liked eachother." Rinoa was unsure as to Irvine's seriousness, and so she told him her thoughts on that in a voice that left him pulling his head back a foot, and almost falling off his chair "You're so mean. How can you think of telling such lies to Selphie?"
Irvine replaced his arm around Rinoa's shoulders, and put his other arm on her thigh. He pulled his head closer to her, and watched her turn her head. Their lips met, and Irvine began to press his tongue into her mouth. She pulled away, slowly "Irvine, as much as I'd love to, I can't. I keep thinking of Squall, and of Selphie. You two are so cute together, and I don't want to break that up." Irvine pulled his head away from her, and spoke "Rinoa, you won't be. Selphie has already forgotten me. Using GFs since she was twelve reshaped her mind, and now she can't live without them, and they continue to eat her memories, and couldn't leave them unjunctioned if she tried. She isn't the same person as the one my crush formed for." Rinoa was shocked by Irvine speaking of Selphie like this, and had to pause for a moment to think of something to say. "Irvine, you have the nicest girl in Garden to yourself. She puts up with your constant flirting with half of Garden. And THIS is what you do the moment the GFs stop her remembering you?" It was Irvine's turn to be shocked then. "Rinoa, I don't mean it like that. Its just that I have to choose, and I want you over Selphie right now. If I tried to go with both you and Selphie, I'd be lying to her." Rinoa threw his arm off of her, and began to stare intently at her feet "This is going nowhere." They finished their meal in silence, split the bill, and left.
Author's Note: Well, my younger brother's computer broke down, and so my father tried to test it by using a part from my computer... That part promptly broke. As a result, I'm writing this from my youngest brother's computer. This chapter wasn't part of my original plan, but I decided the next chapter needed something to lead into it. And to think I'm sitting inside, in a room that is almost designed to hold heat in, with a computer running, in nice, warm weather. I should be outside, rather than setting fictional characters up to die.
To my reviewers:
wonderful failure: Glad you like it. I was thinking of trying my hand at parodying the "What did she do to *you* to deserve _THAT_?! stories (aka QuistisxSeifer), as the Squinoa happily ever afters have enough parodies, but, because it isn't mentioned in the game, everyone thinks that WDSDTYTDTs are somehow original. You also forgot the AU Squinoas, which are also about as common, and get about an equal number of reviews as QuistisxSeifer (Even if they don't, its still often in excess of far too many), but I'll have to rant on that later, and leave it as the stories with the formulaic plots are popular, and the originals are not. On a different subject, did you already think Irvine and Rinoa would be cute together before reading this, or did this convince you?
fallingfarther: *mad scientist laugh* Watch as I torment you with another three paragraphs of fluff! I think now I have a full chapter worth of fluff at least! *laughs evilly*. Don't worry, I'll give you a chance to catch up with my next chapter, which will have a bit less fluff.