A/N: Alright... the last chapter was shorter than I thought it should be, so I might just have to have a bunch of chapters. Whatever. Now we start getting more into plot as opposed to back story and basis. Things will start happening at some point here... I hope. I'm just winging it, if you couldn't tell. Feel free to submit any ideas you may have. I may change this soon (I'm a bit of an obsessive perfectionist, and I'm never happy with my work).

Chapter Two: The Party

Rinoa stood in front of the mirror, taking a last look before she stepped out and into her first dance in two years as a single woman. Her dress was dark green, went just past the knees and draped perfectly over her curves. She smiled, remembering how skinny she was just a couple of years ago. Ever since her relationship with Squall, she'd become slightly more muscular and curvy due to the self-defense training he put her through almost every day.

Her dark hair was pinned up in a French twist, held by a pearl hair clip. She kept her makeup light; just a little mascara and some lip gloss... Squall had always appreciated her natural beauty, even though she was always humble about her appearance and never fully thought she was all that attractive. But Squall had a way of making her feel like a goddess.

Without a second glance, she grabbed her handbag and headed for the ballroom. She walked slowly, taking the long way that passed the front entrance. As she passed it, the doors swung open suddenly and a gust of wind carried in a man clad in a black suit.

"Rinoa!" he called, running to her.

"Zone?" she gasped, stopping.

Zone reached her and pulled her into a hug, swinging her around.

"How ya doin', princess?" he asked, setting her back down.

"I'm... good... what the hell are you doing here?"

"Not happy to see me?" he frowned.

"Of course I'm happy to see you, you silly bastard," she giggled. "But what brings you here? I haven't seen you in almost a year."

"Well, your friend Selphie called me and told me she was throwing you an anniversary party, so... here I am!," he beamed brightly. "Where's your man anyway? And when am I getting a wedding invitation??"

"Well, Zone..." she began, leading him to the ballroom, "Squall and I broke up yesterday. It's nothing really... we're just taking a break." She sighed. How many times am I going to say this?

Zone's eyes were wide. "You're... not together? Are you seeing someone else? What's the deal?"

"No, no... I'm not seeing anyone. Things were just getting a little hard, so we decided it would be best to be friends for the time being," she explained.

Zone smiled to himself as the neared the ballroom entrance.

"Dude, I couldn't believe it when Selphie told me," Zell Dincht said, taking a seat next to Squall in the ballroom. "I mean, I thought you guys were happy. Are you... dating someone else?"

"No! Shit, man... what do you take me for?" Squall said, taken aback. "We're just... aw, shit. How many times do I have to say this?"

"I know, I know. You're taking a break, yadda, yadda, yadda. I just thought... I mean, I thought you'd get married and have kids and... fuck, man... this just ruins my whole perception of love and happiness and... I don't think I'll ever be the same." Zell pretended to wipe tears from his eyes, sniffling.

Squall rolled his eyes, more amused by his best friend than he let on. "Go piss up a rope, Zell."

Zell let out a laugh and took a swig of his beer, then slammed the bottle back down and ran hand through his short blond hair.

"Hey, boys," said a deep, smooth and perfectly velvety female's voice.

They looked up to see Rinoa, looking sexy as ever, with her arm linked to Zone's. She had a smirk on her face, her almond-shaped brown eyes about half way open, lush dark lashes framing them perfectly. She stood with such proud posture, her head tilting slightly as she looked down at the two handsome men before her. Her translucent skin seemed to glow from the soft yellow light in the ballroom.

Squall's steely gray eyes were fixed on her, taking in her sexuality in full force. He smelled and tasted the scent of her... a mixture of her perfume with the natural scent of her body. He felt his face flush and looked to his drink on the table. He took the champagne glass in his long fingers and threw back the contents in one swallow. She'd always had that effect on him.

He took a breath and finally spoke,"Hello, Rin... hey, Zone. Good to see ya." He stole a quick glance at their linked arms, and then gestured for the passing waiter to bring him another drink.

"Woah," Zell shuddered, rising from his seat. "Awkward." He walked to Rinoa, kissing her cheek in greeting, then wandered to the bar.

"Mind if we sit?" Rinoa asked, amused at Squall's flustered disposition. She didn't wait for an answer an sat across from him, gesturing for Zone to sit down as well. He fumbled with the chair and plopped down next to her, glancing up at Squall nervously every few seconds.

Squall noticed his behavior and chuckled, "I'm not gonna hurt you, man."

Zone let out a breath and mustered a smile, embarassed at his own nervousness.

"Do you need a drink?" Squall asked, still watching him with amusement. He motioned for the waiter who had just brought his drink to wait.

"Yeah, that'd be n-nice," Zone stuttered.

"Uh... get him a whiskey." Squall said. He then mouthed to the waiter, "Double."

"Better not drink too much, Zone," Rinoa advised. "You might get a stomach cramp."

Zone shot her a look, to which she just laughed.

Squall listened to the sound, mesmerized by it. Her laughter was infectious, and he found himself smiling in spite of himself. Her laugh had developed over the years from a childish and playful giggle to a deep, throaty, genuine laugh. She had matured so much, Squall noticed, leaving no room for debate that she was truly a woman, and not an awkward and insecure teenager.

He watched intently as she reached for a glass of champagne off of a passing tray, her long and slender fingers wrapping gracefully around the stem. Her shorter nails tapped the glass slightly as she raised the glass to her mouth. As the glass made contact with her slightly parted lips, Squall quickly looked away, shaking himself out of his reverie.

I've become such sap he thought. What did you to me, Rinoa?

Rinoa watched Squall for moment, slyly stealing a glance at his uniform-clad body, and sucking in a breath. Having trouble keeping the smirk off of her face, she looked to Zone, who was nursing the whiskey he'd just received.

"Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?" she asked, sweetly.

"Uh..." Zone mumbled, taking another quick glance at Squall. "I guess... He's not gonna kill me, is he?"

Rinoa chuckled, "No, Zone he won't kill you." She stood and took Zone's hand, leading him to the floor.

Squall leaned back in his chair, watching them, trying hard to fight those residual traces of jealousy. He never had been a jealous person. When he and Rinoa were a couple, they had both agreed that jealousy was a stupid and insulting way to be. It wasn't jealousy when you didn't like the other people around your significant other. It was simply lack of trust in those people. Jealousy was the lack of trust in your lover, and insecurities in yourself. And that was not the way to be.

They had trusted each other entirely. Rinoa never got upset when other girls were drooling over her boyfriend. She found it flattering that people thought her man was such a great catch. It made her feel good about herself. Squall was exactly the same way. They were proud of each other.

But watching her now that she wasn't his... he couldn't seem to shake the lingering sting. He knew that if she chose to, she could leave with any of the men here, and it wouldn't be his concern. Or at least, it wouldn't be his place to get upset over it. This was what they agreed. Sure, he knew that Rinoa would probably never dream of doing that so soon, but that fact remained. They were no longer a couple. His gut wrenched slightly, as the thought sank in.

He downed his drink and looked away, seeing a petite, short-haired blonde walk his way. She wore a red dress... long, but with an almost inappropriately high slit on one side, revealing the top of her tanned thigh all the way to her red-painted toenails. She stopped before his table and smiled.

"You looked so lonely, so I thought I'd ask if you wanted to dance, Commander," she stated.

He recognized the girl from around the garden. One of Quistis' students. He was still for a moment, thinking. He had only ever danced with Rinoa, not counting an old dance instructor he'd had many years before. This would be new... He took one last look in Rinoa's direction. She was laughing at something Zone said, dancing slowly, with her arms on his shoulders.

Squall smiled and stood, offering his hand to the girl and proceeded to escort her to the floor.

"Irvy, do you want another drink?" Selphie asked, reaching for his empty glass.

"Sure, honey," he replied, breaking from his conversation with Quistis. He smiled at his girlfriend, then looked back to Quistis.

Selphie smiled and spun around, heading for the bar when her eyes caught sight of a few select people on the dance floor. "Holy shit!" She exclaimed, nearly dropping the glass.

Irvine and Quistis looked in the direction of Selphie's startled gaze and their jaws dropped. Squall was dancing, and dancing rather close, to a sexy blonde in a red dress. Quistis recognized her from one of her magic classes. She was dancing seductively, occasionally raising her exposed leg to wrap around him, as she rubbed herself up against him. Squall's eyes kept darting away to one direction, making Irvine and Quistis wonder why the hell he was doing that.

Then they saw.

Rinoa.

She was dancing closely with Zone, and then was trading off with another man who'd approached her moments before. It was a regular circus. She would dance with Zone for a minute, then he would trade with the other man, both dancing suggestively with her at each turn. She was laughing and dancing around happily, stealing glances at Squall and his blonde partner.

Meanwhile Squall was being just as competitive, getting more daring with his partner.

Selphie dazedly stepped backward to the table and sat, never taking her eyes off of the havoc on the dancefloor. It went on for several minutes, the dancing getting more and more intense, neither dancing party noticing the attention they were receiving from all around.

Then shit hit the fan.

At the very moment Rinoa looked over to Squall again, the blonde chose that moment to plant a hard, wet kiss square on Squall's mouth. His eyes opened wide for a moment and he froze, afraid to make any sudden moves.

Rinoa's eyes widened as well, then she took a breath and calmly left the floor. She walked steadily over to her friends' table and sat.

"Hey, guys," she said, wiping a small bead of sweat from her brow. She grabbed the glass of wine in front of Quistis and threw it back, wincing. She didn't drink very often, and alcohol wasn't a taste she had really acquired, yet.

Her friends stared at her, not sure how to react. They were half-expecting an outburst of rage, and at the the same time half-expecting her to burst into tears.

But she did neither. She sat calmly, and smiled weakly at her friends, knowing that they were concerned. She kept her eyes on them, not daring to look at the dance floor, fearful of losing her composure.

"It's ok, guys," she spoke softly, forcing her voice to be steady. "We're not together now. He can do whatever he wants. I'll be fine."

Her friends, slightly shocked by her response, all looked over to Squall.

He had watched Rinoa leave the floor right after the kiss, feeling terrible. But he was surprised to see that she didn't flip out, but walked calmly to her friends, and even smiled. He turned to his blonde dancing partner and smiled meekly, silently excusing himself off the dance floor.

He began to approach the table where she and their friends sat, hoping to explain the situation to Rinoa, but paused. Sighing, he opted instead for the exit, knowing it wasn't his place to act as a boyfriend anymore. This will be a long night.