Chapter Five

Quistis and Rinoa had just finished their dinner (grilled chicken with steamed white rice and veggies) when Quistis stood from her seat at the table and took her plate and glass to begin her walk towards the kitchen.
"Oh, WOW!" Rinoa yawned loudly as she stretched her arms high into the air behind her with the empty plate sitting before her, "I haven't eaten that good in the longest time!"
Quistis returned from the kitchen empty-handed with a grin across her face before taking the empty plate in front of Rinoa, "So I did well?"
"Oh wow, yeah ya' did! Squall is going to LOVE this! I can't wait to see the look on his face when he takes a bite of this!" Rinoa laughed as crossed her arms happily. The grin on Quistis' face faltered slightly before she returned to her normal smile.
"Well, I hope he likes it. If you're going to work on this as hard as you're telling me you're going to, he'd better appreciate it," she said as she turned to walk back into the kitchen to place the rest of the dishes into the crowded sink.
Rinoa looked up at a clock on the wall to notice that it was almost 10:45, and Squall would be returning from his work at any time. Instinct told her to leave and be back before he returned home, but as she looked into the kitchen (where she saw Quistis washing the dishes with her sleeves rolled up), she felt another urge to stay. In some way, a way or feeling that she couldn't explain, she didn't want to leave.
She had never really gotten to know Quistis very well. During the war, Rinoa had mostly been too busy with trying to liberate Timber, win over Squall, and stay out of bothersome comas. She had never really even thought about Quistis, to be perfectly honest. She always knew, however, about Quistis' crush on Squall, and was always sort of wary about her stealing him away from her. But now that Rinoa sat and thought about it, she thought herself ridiculous for thinking such a thing, Quistis wasn't the sort of person to do that. She wasn't the sort of person Rinoa had thought her to be in the first place, matter of fact. She always saw Quistis as a strict, mean, unfeeling or caring, and cold person. But now that she has gotten to know more about her, Rinoa had found Quistis rather likeable. Underneath the determined, driven, and demanding instructor was a very calm and friendly woman with a sweet smile.
Quistis rinsed off a dirtied pan covered in left-over chicken scraps and filled the center with soap and began to scrub around the bits of burnt- on food with a scrubby brush.
Rinoa stood from the table and walked to Quistis' side with a gentle smile.

"Don't you have to go back to your dorm? Squall's going to be home soon, isn't he?" Quistis asked curiously. Rinoa only smiled and took the scrubbed pan from Quistis' hands and began rinsing it in the sink besides hers. Quistis was stunned for a moment, not really knowing what to do. However, after a few moments Quistis closed her eyes for a short moment and tried to hold to immense feeling of gratitude and care she felt at that moment which showed through her bitten-down smile as she reached over to grab a plate to begin the scrubbing process.
"Head's up!" Rinoa laughed as she splashed some sink-water up into Quistis' face.
"Ah! What are you doing!" Quistis flailed as the soapy water dripped down her confused face and off of her chin.

Squall took hold of his dorm-room handle and twisted it to push his way into the room. Upon entering, he found the dorm dark and quiet. He paused at the drawing point between the hall and the dorm and stared in.
"Rinoa?" He called out. He waited. No reply, the dorm was completely quiet. He stepped into the dorm and flicked on the lights to see that no one was there. He stepped in deeper into the room and closed the door shut behind him.
"Rinoa, are you here?" He asked as he entered into the bedroom. As he flicked on the lights, he saw the bed empty and sheets undisturbed. He turned around to walk back into the main room and began to walk towards the door once more to go out and look for her until he found a note on the dining table. He paused and looked over, curiously, at the note, and walked over to lightly lift it from the surface of the table.
'Hey, sweetie! If I'm not home by the time you get back, then I'm still over at Quistis'! Remember our plans tomorrow night, baby! I'm going to keep nagging you about it! See you in a bit, baby! -Rinoa'