Long Live the King

A/N: I send many, many, many thanks to angel-brokensorrow for the review. :D It motivated me to write the remaining chapters. You're very, very right. ::sends love:: I was feeling non-loved without the reviews, but I think your review just makes up for all of them. Now! On to the adorableness of it all and to the closing chapter! :3

Chapter 14: I Don't Want To Say Goodbye

Rinoa hadn't left her room since they had returned to their world. Squall emerged from the dark room to look over his friends. "I told her," he started calmly.

"And?" Selphie held her hands out, pushing for him to continue.

"She said she wanted time to think about it," he finished, gaze dropping to the marble floor beneath them.

Quistis nodded in understanding and turned away. "Then let's leave her to think. I'm sure the last thing she needs is us flocking around her, am I right?" she glanced over her shoulder to Squall, awaiting his reply.

The man simply nodded and they walked off, going their separate ways to deal with their own arising problems.

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Zell quietly entered the library, looking over the occupants until he spotted his favorite. "Paige," he half-whispered, half-shouted to her. Her first instinct was to turn and tell him to hush, but once her eyes settled on him, she let out a squeal of delight and skipped over.

She threw her arms around him, forcing him to stumble back into the counter with an 'Oof!'

Paige laughed softly and quickly took his hand, leading him out of the library so they could talk. "What happened? Did you guys find anything?" she asked him hurriedly.

He smiled sadly to her, gaze then dropping to the floor. "Well, yes, but it isn't good. You know the whole thing about Odin, right? Well, turns out his horse lived, and that stupid thing is making Rinoa the King."

Paige stood quietly, thinking about this. Then she grinned happily, oblivious to the meaning. "So what? Rinoa's going to be the King – that doesn't make sense, she's a girl," but Paige continued anyway, "and she's going to have control over the Guardian Force's! Isn't that a good thing?"

Zell shook his head, eyes leveling with hers. "He's going to take Rinoa back to his realm, and we'll never see her again! That isn't a good thing, Paige..." he grumbled, voice lowering as a trio of students wandered by.

Another silence fell, save for the random conversations that could be picked up from the students that passed by occasionally.

"What's Squall going to do?" she asked finally, gaze falling to examine her shoes. Zell shook his head.

"I'm not sure. He's been really protective of her recently. I wouldn't be surprised if he even followed her into their realm," Zell admitted, rubbing lightly at the back of his head. He watched as Paige slowly looked back up to him, fighting to smile.

"How would you feel if I were the one being taken away?" she asked out of the blue.

Zell blinked at the question, not sure how to answer it. He felt his cheeks becoming warm with a blush and he quickly looked off to the side. "Erm... I don't... know. I—"

Paige laughed nervously. "It's alright. You don't have to answer."

"I wouldn't let them touch you."

Another pause, then she smiled. "Thanks, Zell." Then she leaned forward and placed a quick, innocent kiss to his cheek.

"Way to go, Zell!" A voice cheered from down the hall. Paige blushed brightly and took a step away as Irvine and Selphie came in, each grinning like madmen. Irvine came up and patted Zell on the shoulder rather roughly. "I knew you'd get the girl eventually."

Selphie smiled over to Paige and shrugged. "Boys will be boys," she commented before grabbing Irvine's arm. "C'mon, you said you were gonna buy me a chocolate ice-cream sundae!"

The cowboy grinned and patted the top of her head before hooking their arms together. "Then let us go, m'lady." He chuckled at her blush and led her out of the hall and towards the Cafeteria.

Zell grumbled something to himself and Paige laughed quietly. "They sure went out of their way to embarrass you, didn't they?"

The young SeeD just let out a heavy sigh and nodded in response.

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Rinoa stared thoughtlessly at the fat book in her hands, watching as the picture of Odin began to fade from the grey steed he rode. Even his name began to fade from the book. Her minds eye read as her name replaced his.

There was a sudden knock at her door and the words, and picture, returned to normal. "Who is it?" she called out, glancing to the door between her and the outside world.

"Rinoa, let me in," was all Squall had to say. He never said 'it's me' or 'Squall' like normal people did. She smiled and placed the book on the desk while making her way to the door. She unlocked it and pulled it open, smile faltering at the determined look on Squall's face.

He rushed in and shut the door behind himself, hands resting on Rinoa's shoulders and pushing her back till she was against a wall. "If you're the King than you can pick another Guardian Force to take your place, can't you?"

Rinoa gasped out at the sudden movement and squirmed in his hold. "I... I guess I could. Squall let me go," she whimpered slightly and Squall immediately moved back.

"I'm sorry, Rinoa... I just," he thought about his words, choosing them carefully, "I don't want to lose you."

Rinoa nodded in understanding and stepped over to her bed, sitting down and placing her palms against the mattress behind her. "I know, Squall. It's alright. We'll find a way," it was a repeat of the night before. "Sleipner might allow me to choose a different King. Really, it depends on him."

"I don't care what Sleipner wants. If you're the King then your decision is all that matters!"

The sorceress nodded to his words and gazed down to her legs. "You're right. You always are. I would have to think of the best one to be my replacement, though. I wouldn't want the Guardian Force's to cause anymore trouble to us, and I want someone that can really take control of them. One that isn't like Diablos."

Squall stood back and watched her closely as she thought it over. He had no idea what he would do if she were gone, and if Sleipner came to take her, he would do all in his power to fight back. Anything to keep Rinoa by his side.

"Rinoa," he started slowly, turning to face her. She glanced up to him, head tilting slightly in question. Her eyes, her hair, everything about her calmed his soul and he felt wanted, needed, and loved. No one was going to take that from him.

He stepped over to her, hands resting on her shoulders. He gently pressed her down against the bed and leaned forward, his lips brushing lightly over hers. There was a knocking at the door and Rinoa shifted beneath him. "Ignore it," he murmured as his lips claimed hers in a kiss.

Selphie knocked once more, then let out a sigh. "She must be depressed about it all," she said as she turned to look at Irvine. He shrugged and the two walked off, in hopes of finding Zell and humiliating him again.

Rinoa heard Selphie's words from inside the room. Far from it, she thought as her arms slid around Squall's neck, fingers pulling at the leather jacket as his kisses trailed down along her neck, only to come up and take her lips again.

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Darkness fell over the Garden and the stars above made small talk with the moon.

Rinoa stirred from her sleep and carefully untangled herself from Squall's arms. She quietly dressed herself and slid her black boots on. "I'm so sorry, Squall... I just need time to think about this all..." she whispered as she pulled the blankets up to cover his naked chest.

Tears built at the corners of her eyes as she leaned forward, placing a featherlike kiss to his lips. He frowned in his sleep, but did nothing more. Rinoa cautiously picked up her bag of belongings and left the room, left Squall, and left the Garden entirely.

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It was later in the morning when Squall came out of the room, face structured like stone into a frown. He had searched the entire room to find that Rinoa was gone. Zell came out from the Cafeteria, making the mistake of bumping into Squall.

The taller man shoved Zell out of the way, heading towards the Front Gate. "Hey!" Zell shouted out after him, regaining his balance. "What do you think you're doing?"

Squall glared over his shoulder before replying, "I'm going to find Rinoa."

Zell blinked in confusion then shrugged. "Someone's got a stick up their ass," he grumbled before continuing towards the Library.

Squall stalked through Balamb, sifting around the entire town. When he got to the harbor, he spotted her blue clad figure, sitting by the docked ships.

"Rinoa!" he called out for her, and she turned to look at him, tears staining her cheeks. He immediately ran to her.

She staggered to her feet and met him halfway, falling into his embrace. "I tried to leave! I wanted to leave, I really did, but I couldn't! I couldn't leave you," she cried into his chest, hands grasping the shirt beneath his leather jacket. His arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her close to him.

"Why did you try to leave?" he asked softly, resting his cheek against the top of her head. Her shoulders shook with her sobs as she fought to reply so he could understand.

"I thought that if I left early," she pulled back just enough to look up at him with tear filled eyes. "It wouldn't be so hard for anyone when Sleipner came to take me away," she finished, a fresh round of tears falling.

Squall leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead, bringing her close to him again. "I won't let him take you away, how many times do I have to tell you that? I'm your Knight, remember? I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he reassured her softly, gloved hand running through her hair to calm her down.

Her sobs subsided into hiccups and she nodded slowly.

"Rinoa, I love you... I'm going to be with you forever, no matter what happens."

A/N: Don't you just love the Squinoa-ness? ::tears up:: The final chapter is coming up. Now I seriously need your help, readers! Should it be a sad ending, a semi-sad/semi-good (you Squinoa lovers would hate it) ending, or a good ending? Hell, if worse comes to worse, I might just write all three endings and you choose which one you want. XD

Let me know! Review, Review!!