It was a few days before they went back to Deling. There was a message for Rinoa. "A man came by asking for you," a guard told her. "He said to tell you it might be best to meet at night. Would you like me to report him?"

"No, no, but you could do me one favor," Rinoa said. "Don't tell Squall- don't tell anyone about the message, please."

"Yes my lady."

That night, Rinoa fake slept until midnight. Then she snuck outside. There was only a few people still wandering around, but she had no idea where to find Seifer. It would have been nice if he had said where he was going to be. She kept on walking though, until she came to the car rental. "It's about time you got here," a familiar voice said. Seifer.

"I would've been here faster if you would've given me an idea of where to look," she said.

"When's your father coming back?"

"I don't know, soon maybe. Why?"

He shrugged and said, "Just curious. Squall still trying to protect you? What does he need to protect you from?"

"I don't know. Why all the questions?"

"I can work up some conversation, can't I?"

"Well its not good conversation," she told him.

"Really? Can you do any better?"

I can."

"Let's hear it."

"Okay," she said. "I heard you left from Balamb Garden for some unknown reason. Why?"

"Because I hated it there. Would you stay in a place that you hated?"

"No. Why did you hate it there? I thought it was a beautiful place."

"So that's where you two went. Why did you go there?"

"Because I needed a break from Deling," she said. "A place gets boring when you spend your whole life there. You didn't answer my question."

"I don't have to. It's none of your business. ... You know what? I think you should come with me. You'd be a lot safer. I could protect you a lot better than Squall," he scoffed at the name. Rinoa didn't say anything. He said, "Look, I know he frustrates you. He has communication problems, and think about it: Does he really want you around? I mean, come on."

Rinoa sucked back her tears and said, "Okay, but I need to go get Angelo."

"I'll wait here."

***

In the morning, Squall went in Rinoa's room to get her up. He found a note on her bed. *Squall, I know you don't want me around so I went away. You can give this to my dad when he gets back. I wish we could've been friends. ~Rinoa* "Where did Rinoa go last night?" Squall asked the guards. "Do any of you know?"

"I do," one of them said. "She went to meet someone around midnight. He left a message for her yesterday. Didn't catch his name."

"What'd he look like? What was he dressed in? A gray coat, almost a trench coat?"

"Yeah. He was blonde too and carrying some weird sword around with him. Oh, someone is here to see you. She's waiting in General Caraway's office." Squall nodded and headed there. A woman was sitting in the chair. She had long black hair, a gray dress, and black clogs. She smiled at him. He had no idea who she was.

"Hello, Squall," She said. "I need to talk to you about Rinoa. She's in danger and so are you. This whole thing was set up."

Squall said, "Who are you? What do you mean set up?"

"Call me Matron. You are from Balamb Garden, correct?"

"Yes, but wha-"

"General Caraway called for a SeeD from your Garden for a reason. He wants to start a war."

"What?"

"Yes. You see, General Caraway is working with the Galbadian Garden, and they both have something they're holding against Balamb. That part I can't fill you in on. I don't know much about it."

Squall said, "Okay, but what does this have to do with Rinoa?"

"She's uh, ... she's the sacrifice so to speak. To start the war, something drastic has to happen. They hired a SeeD from Balamb to be totally focused on her. General Caraway leaves for a little more than a week, comes home to find his dead daughter in her room. Who would be to blame? The SeeD from Balamb. How would they prove this? The guards around the house would come up with a story about hearing thins the night before. But what's the motive? That's another thing I don't know about. It would be a good idea to get her out of here. ... Where is Rinoa anyway?"

"I don't know. I think Seifer took her somewhere. She left this note on her bed." He handed it to her.

She looked at it and said, "Seifer Almasy?" Squall nodded. "Oh no! Squall, he's with the Galbadian Garden! We have to find them now!"

***

"Where are we?" Rinoa asked Seifer.

"The Galbadian Garden," he told her. "I won't be long, you wait here."

"Okay." She sat down on a bench outside and let out a sigh. She didn't really want to go anywhere, but she knew Seifer was right; Squall didn't want her around. She hoped her dad wouldn't blame Squall when he got home. He was probably a hard time enough as it is. He didn't need that. She wondered what he was doing right now. Sleeping maybe? Planning a trip back home? Trying to contact her father? Had he even found the note yet? Maybe, maybe not. She felt bad leaving that burden on him. He could be really nice when he wanted to be. Why did he want to keep everyone away? Did something happen? Is there something he's afraid of? She sat back and tried not to think about it.

***

"Calm down," Quistis said to Squall. "Where do you think he would have taken her?"

Squall sighed, "The only place I can think of is the Galbadian Garden."

"Okay, well what if we split up? Then we can cover more places."

"Selphie, you go with Matron. Quistis, you and Zell head to Timber then separate. I'll head for Galbadia."

They all split up. Squall went as fast as he could to the Galbadian Garden, but he didn't find them. "What?" a girl with silver hair and an eye patch over her left eye said.

"I'm- I- Have you seen Seifer?"

"Orphanage."

"The old orphanage? That run down building on the Centra Continent?"

"Yes."

"Shit." The woman smiled as he took off. Selphie and Matron were still searching Balamb when he got back. "They're at the old orphanage," he told them. "But I have no way to get there. What are we going to do?"

"Take me back to Garden," Matron said. "I can get you a way there."

Squall and Selphie waited in the library for Matron. Squall was becoming impatient. He had to get Rinoa back fast. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill Seifer. Seifer was always getting in things that had nothing to do with him. This was just another example. He had no business with her and Squall was going to make sure Seifer never touched her again.

************************************************************************

I know the last part of this chapter was rushed, sorry. The next ones were more thought out.