Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one except for the village in Hollow Bastion and Cain Stokes.
AN: There was some question on who some of these people were from my last chapter. So, here's a little key for you.
Vincent: character from FFVII who is a lot like Squall. He's quiet and sullen. My story portrays him differently, however. Only slightly though
Tifa: character from FFVII. She was one of the main love interests of Cloud in that story. She's caring and kind, but also has a kick-butt attitude sometimes.
Quistis: character from FFVIII. I don't know much about her, only that she's a friend of Squall's. She doesn't have much bearing in this story anyway.
Zidane: main character in FFIX. I call him monkey boy because he has a tail. He doesn't have any bearing on this story.
Garnet: Zidane's love interest in FFIX.
We all know who Rinoa is .
Now, on with the fic!
"Vincent, are you ever going to stop brooding and come to bed?" Tifa asked, her voice tinted with amusement. He glanced up from the table where he sat and sent her a small smile. Vincent sighed deeply and ran a hand through his long raven mane. Slowly, he kicked off his boots and walked over to the bed, still deep in thought.
"How badly has Squall messed up?" Tifa queried, guessing at the cause of his anxiety. He shook his head and sank onto the bed.
"He kissed Rinoa, Tifa. Squall also denied the fact that Yuffie is alive and is suffering extreme guilt because he feels he killed her." Tifa gently massaged Vincent's back to ease some of the tension. Vincent's shoulders sagged in exhaustion and Tifa gave him a comforting hug.
"But he doesn't know your connection," she added.
Vincent shook his head, his loose hair flapping around his face. "He'll never believe me, Tif. He's convinced that I'm lying to him."
"But you're not!" She replied heatedly.
"I know that. But no one can change his mind. And besides, if we try to get too close to him, his already fractured outer shell will shatter and he'll go into seclusion. That's what I would do. He needs space right now."
"But we can't have him mess things up. He's bound to ruin his relationship with Yuffie eventually. Squall is Rinoa's one and only love. She'll keep him, no matter what the cost," Tifa answered logically.
"That's exactly what I am afraid of. Before the end, she'll try to get him into bed with her. You know it, Tifa. She's going all or nothing."
The couple remained silent for a moment, thinking about the situation at hand. Tifa pondered on how to change Rinoa's mind on Squall. Vincent thought on how to help Squall out of the deep pit he had dug himself into.
Tifa smiled suddenly and kissed him softly on the cheek. "You know how lucky I am to have you? A kind, intelligent, handsome, caring young man who loves me is rare indeed," she told him, settling comfortably against his chest.
"How could I not be in love with you, Tifa?" Vincent nuzzled her neck while his hands strayed to her long, thick, chocolate braid. "You know, I've never seen you with your hair down," he mused, fingering her soft hair.
"I haven't worn it down in front of anyone for many long years. Back," she snorted disdainfully and a look of bitterness crossed her face, "back when I was competing for Cloud. I've had no reason to let it down since."
"I'd really like to see it," Vincent told her lovingly, knowing that, in its own way, letting her hair down was a release from their painful past. Tifa nodded and hesitantly reached around to pull off the rubber band holding it.
Cascades of rich, dark hair flowed down her back. Tifa clung to Vincent as she sobbed.
"A-Aerith's alive," she hiccupped out, "b-b-but Cloud..." Another torrent of tears flooded out of her eyes and onto Vincent's shirt. "Cloud is," she took a deep breath and looked straight into his garnet eyes, "gone. I'll miss him dearly, but... he would have never been the right one for me." She sighed and forced a smile onto her face. "Love you."
Vincent gave her a long, assessing inspection before his lips twitched into a smile. He kissed her gently on the lips, then moved backwards to get a look at her tresses of hair. His eyes showed his surprise when he saw how long her hair was.
"It's down to my knees. I haven't gotten it cut since I was born," she said, as if reading his mind. "My mother always had long hair, and I guess this is just in memory of her. Do you like it?" Tifa asked with apprehension. His face was expressionless.
Vincent remained still, silent, and blank for a moment. When he clicked back, his face showed worry and anger. Tifa scooted away from him, wondering what was going through his mind. Finally, he stood and stepped into his boots. Tifa scurried over to where his dark red cloak hung and handed it to him. He put it over his shoulders and clasped it on before turning back to Tifa. There was a tiny, grim grin on his lips.
"There's trouble," he told her simply, "and I want you to come too."
"Should I grab my gloves? Is it Heartless?" Tifa inquired with worry.
"Oh no, not that kind of trouble. Rinoa has made her move." While Tifa questioned how he knew what he did, she trusted his judgment. Vincent was never wrong when it came to that sixth sense of his.
Now she just hoped that Squall held on to thoughts of Yuffie rather than cling to Rinoa for comfort. That was really the only way that he would manage not to muck up his future.
Squall slept fitfully on a thin pallet in a small spare bedroom in Rinoa's house. Dreams forced him awake, as the subject was always Yuffie. Yuffie laughing at Squall. The few times that Squall had looked upon Yuffie while she slept had popped into his mind. She was so angelic... In other dreams, Yuffie was crying, or arguing with Squall or Aerith. Yuffie.
Someone knocked on the door and Squall jumped awake. He was still in a dream state, and for a moment, thought that it might be Yuffie. He opened the door. No, it wasn't Yuffie. He sighed in disappointment.
"Oh, Rinoa, what's wrong?" Squall asked tiredly.
"You called out for Yuffie in your sleep, Squall. Are you all right?" Squall noted that she definitely had an ulterior motive for coming to him, but he wasn't sure what.
"Yes, I'm fine Rinoa," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. She came closer and brought her small, soft hand up to brush hair out of Squall face.
"Good. I wouldn't want anything to be wrong," she replied in a low, quiet voice. Rinoa pressed her body up to his and gave him a long, sultry kiss. Squall half-heartedly kissed her back, and she took that as agreement. "You know what I want?" she asked, trailing her fingers suggestively down his chest and scooting even closer to him so that anyone looking would hardly know where one ended and the other began.
Squall had a good idea of what she wanted. His heart wasn't in it, but his body certainly was. And while Squall definitely did not want to have sex with Rinoa, his traitorous body did.
She stepped away and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of his room and down the hall to her room. Squall hesitated at her doorway, but ended up following her anyway. Rinoa fell over onto the bed, tugging Squall on top of her.
Squall felt almost panicky now. While he had known that this was her plan all along, he didn't want it. That was the pure and simple truth. If he would ever have sex, it'd have to be with someone he loved. And Squall did not love Rinoa.
He moved off of the bed, leaving a completely bewildered Rinoa lying there. She sat up and looked him in the eyes; hers filled with defeat. Squall ran a hand through his russet hair and sighed.
"Rinoa, this... this just isn't right. I'm still in love with Yuffie. I want to be in love with you before I even consider having sex."
"But Yuffie's dead," She spat out bitterly, tears coming to her eyes.
Squall shook his head. "No, she's alive in me. And I've got to keep her there."
Suddenly, there was a loud, pounding knock at the door. Squall and Rinoa both hurried towards the door, wondering what the problem was.
Squall opened the door and gazed out apathetically at Vincent and Tifa. Vincent had a murderous look in his eyes as he glared at Squall. Tifa only looked disappointed.
"What do you want?" Squall asked in his standard monotone. Tifa glanced up at Vincent before stepping forward and pushing Rinoa towards the kitchen area. Vincent roughly grabbed Squall and pulled him into the chill night, slamming the door behind him.
"You fool!" He exclaimed loudly. "What do you think you were doing?" Squall blinked confusedly for a moment before replacing his mask.
"Why does it matter to you?" Squall asked.
"Because, if you dared to betray Yuffie, I will flay you alive. She's like a sister to me." He glared at Squall. "Now, what did you do?" He asked, emphasizing his question.
"Nothing. She tried to seduce me. I wouldn't be seduced. Are you happy now? And what were you doing, spying on us?" Squall accused.
"It's something I didn't get a chance to tell you. Chaos somehow gives me a heightened intuition. And I am sorry for bothering you."
Squall sighed and ran his thumb over the scar on his face. "Maybe it's better that Tifa talk to her. I need to get out of here soon."
"You need to go home. Make peace with Aerith and the man you were fighting over Yuffie with. She may be dead, but her memory will never fade. You can leave now, Squall. Go back to your gummi ship in the mountains. We can explain to Rinoa.
"I will come back. Hollow Bastion will be rid of the Heartless soon, Vincent." Vincent nodded and Squall slipped into the house to grab his belongings and the Gunblade. Soon, he was back outside, no worse for wear.
"You're still my best friend, Vincent."
"No. We're more like brothers, Squall. Now go, before Rinoa comes out her and finds you."
Squall nodded and ran off towards the mountains. In minutes, he had already become part of the dark, dark night. Vincent watched from the shadows.
"Rinoa, explain to me what happened," Tifa gently prodded the older woman. They sat at a small kitchen table and Tifa was attempting not to be too accusatory.
"I don't know," Rinoa replied acrimoniously. "One moment, I though he and I could be happy together. We'd been denied that by the Heartless. The next, he confessed that he's not in love with me, oh so sorry, but still in love with Yuffie, who's dead."
Tifa nodded sympathetically, knowing that men had no tact when it came to matters of the heart. "You knew that he loved Yuffie, thought."
Rinoa sighed. "Yes, yes I did. It was so obvious. I just thought that, well, maybe..."
"If you had sex he would feel obligated to stay?" Tifa guessed, completing her hanging sentence. Rinoa nodded.
"And if I had a child, he's have to marry me. Squall would learn to love me again in time. I just would give it a head start. That's all. I still love him, you know," she told Tifa sadly.
"But you know that it was wrong."
Rinoa smiled grimly and said, "Yes. But would you like to be 27 and still be a virgin?"
"Yes," Tifa said righteously. Rinoa laughed.
"But there's still that ache for it when I see Squall. A little curiosity, a little fear, and some excitement. Have you ever felt that way?"
"Well... uhh..." Tifa replied awkwardly. She looked down at the floor and began to twiddle her thumbs nervously.
"Of course you have!" Rinoa answered her own question with a giggle. "You're not exactly innocent anymore, Tif. You and the vampire could be doing anything in that house of yours." Tifa blushed, embarrassed at the level of truth in what Rinoa was saying. Rinoa was in a good mood now, at least. That was a plus. "Ah, Tifa, I forgot how fun it is to tease you."
"Well, as long as you understand that what you did was wrong," Tifa said.
"I know, ma'am, and I'll never do it again," Rinoa replied like a repentant child.
"Great. Now, there's... something else that I have to tell you."
"What?"
"Squall's leaving."
"WHAT?!"
"What's the spell again, Aerith?" Yuffie asked hesitantly, knowing that the Flower Girl had taught the same spell to her twice before. It wasn't her fault that magic just didn't come naturally.
"Curaga. Say that, and then you have to feel pity towards that person. It wouldn't hurt to say a prayer too," the young woman replied.
"Aerith?"
"Hmm?"
"How do you wait for Cloud? How do you keep up that hope that he might still be alive?" Yuffie inquired.
"Well, I love him dearly. If I ever saw him again, I would probably go crazy. It would be very different." Aerith smiled wistfully. "It's hard to hope. But I know he's still alive. His heart is still very much a part of me. So much so that I can almost feel him here." She sighed and turned back to her magic book.
"I don't love Caine," Yuffie said suddenly.
"I know you don't, Yuf. But he's a good guy. He can help you get over Squall," she replied disinterestedly.
Yuffie cringed inwardly. Caine was not a 'good guy.' In fact, she was being pressured to do things with him. Caine always threatened to tell Aerith lies about things Yuffie had done. He had the upper hand. So, he used it to his advantage. At their last date, he had taken her behind the boxed in the alleyway and touched her. Everywhere. Afterwards, she had taken several showers, attempting to wash away his groping hands. Yuffie was sure that he would demand much more on their next date. She didn't know what to do.
"Aerith, I... I..."
"What?"
"I need to get out for a moment. Get some fresh air. I'm not feeling too great." Yuffie hustled out of the building and into the Second District.
Yuffie was feeling sick. But it was fear rather than a bug of some type. She was afraid of what Caine would want next. Now was when she wished Squall would come back and get rid of Caine for her.
So, brooding, she was hardly paying attention to where she was walking. Suddenly, Yuffie collided with a man who had seemed to pop out of nowhere. Yuffie didn't look at him, only mumbled a quick, "Sorry," before hurrying on.
"Wait! Yuffie?"
The young shinobi turned around. Her jaw dropped and she began to shake all over.
"Squall?"
AN: A cliffie! Hope you liked this story. I actually made that PG-13 rating. Used it to its fullest too. But every story needs the darker conflicts. If you feel that I went a little over the PG-13 limit, please tell me and I will edit this chapter and repost. I don't want to lose my account or anything.
Oh, and I started a community on www.livejournal.com called Squffielove. It's a Squffie community and I would really like it if some of my readers would join!
Ciao!
P.S. I am soooo PO-ed at ff.net as I had posted this earlier, much better and with all italics and stuff, and it got jumbled up. I thank Deplora who reviewed anyway