A/N: Sorry for the delay- I know I usually update at least once a day, but I've been a bit busy. I know, I know... "excuses, excuses," you're all saying. Well, here it is... read on.

Chapter 12 - The Departure

Laguna burst through the main entrance of Garden, not quite sure who he was looking for at this late hour, but dying to tell someone his newly acquired information. He ran through the Garden until he got to the dorms' hallway.

He nearly crashed into two people as he turned a corner in the long hallway, but skidded to a stop just before impact. Panting with his hands resting on his knees, he looked up to see the quizzical expression on his son's face.

"Hi son," Laguna breathed.

"Dad, what the hell are you doing?" Squall asked.

Laguna stood up straight finally, and noticed the other person with Squall. Laguna froze for a moment, trying to size up the situation, then spoke.

"Uh... hello, Eve. Could you excuse us for a moment?" he said, grabbing Squall's elbow.

"Sure... goodnight, Squall. Goodnight, sir," she said, opening the door to her room.

"What's going on?" Squall asked, sensing the urgency in his father's actions.

"Well, I just got back from-... What's going on with you and Eve? What about Rinoa?" Laguna couldn't resist asking.

Squall rolled his eyes. "Nothing is going on. Eve and I are friends. Nothing more. This really is none of your business."

"I know, I know. But you know how much I like Rinoa. I was just... concerned."

"Well, don't be. Now, what were you going to say before you rudely pried into my private life?"

Laguna released a breath and began. "I know what the weapon is. I just got back from the Shumi Village. I had a nice talk with Artisan while I was there. It took a little while to get him to relax, but he finally confided in me."

Squall's eyes were wide and he quickly dragged Laguna into his dorm before letting him finish.

Laguna took a seat on the edge of the bed and continued. "It's not exactly a weapon, per se. It's a source of some fan-fraggin'-tastically strong magic. See, I guess at some point in history or in some alternate universe, or some shit like that, there was a different form of magic that existed. Not like ours, it wasn't junctioned, but it was something you simply equipped on your person. Like clothing or jewelry."

Squall took a seat on his floor and listened intently.

"Anyway," Laguna continued, "this magic was called Materia. Somehow the group that was led by that rebellious Shumi found a way to recreate Materia, but instead of it being magic that was equivalent in power to most other magic, they found a way to concentrate it and make it extremely potent and severely destructive. But this strong Materia only exists in one place. It's fixed on a gauntlet. And basically, whoever puts this gauntlet on their arm is given what's essentially the power of a sorcerer or sorceress. Maybe stronger."

Squall looked at his father with an intense gaze, as if he was deep in thought, then finally spoke up. "Well, we've beaten sorceresses before. This can't be that different, right?"

"Well, that's the thing. It's a lot different. The power that this gauntlet wields can't be destroyed by physical force, and our kind of magic is significantly weaker than that kind. We'll have to think of something else. But, that's only if it gets into the wrong hands. If we find it first, then we have nothing to worry about."

"Well, did Artisan tell you where this thing might be?" Squall asked.

"He doesn't know. What he does know is that Norg originally stole the gauntlet from the Tribe, for what we don't know, and that Grease Monkey stole it back and hid it, revealing its location only to the Elder. And Elder is sure as hell not gonna tell anyone else."

"Shit," Squall sighed. "I guess we just have to keep looking for it."

Rinoa sat on the floor, leaning against her door for quite a while. She didn't know how long she'd been there, but it didn't really matter.

She was still thirsty, but she wasn't about to walk back into the hallway after that scene. Not just yet. What she'd seen had disturbed her. More than it should have, given the circumstances, but it had bothered her, nonetheless.

She was still getting used to the idea of Squall not being her boyfriend, but he obviously wasn't going through the same problem. Sure he'd apologized for the incident on the dance floor the night of the party, but she had trouble believing his sincerity after what she saw tonight.

It was such a small and simple gesture, but she knew Squall. He didn't walk arm-in-arm with somebody easily. He rarely even walked someone back to their room without a fight. It had taken him a while to get that comfortable with her, his girlfriend of three months at that point, but she'd seen him do it that very night with the same girl he'd danced with.

He seemed so comfortable with that girl, just walking slowly down the hallway together, talking and laughing quietly, so not to wake anyone else up. He and Rinoa used to do that all the time. Coming in late and nearly making a game out of trying to walk to his dorm without waking anyone up. They would try to make the other laugh, just to see which one could be quieter. It had been one of those private things that they had shared. Something Rinoa had thought would remain just between them.

Sitting up a little straighter, Rinoa began to realize that it had never really occured to her that they were REALLY broken up. She didn't want to be broken up. She loved him. As tough as the relationship had been, it was worth it to her to see his face every night when he came home. Being apart wasn't what she wanted at all.

But now she knew it was too late. He was obviously interested in pursuing a relationship with that girl. And if that was the case, Rinoa had no business being here. As upset as it made her, she felt no desire to cry. Perhaps because she knew that this was, in fact, the arrangement that they had made. It wasn't her place to be upset in the ways of a jealous girlfriend.

Sighing, Rinoa stood up and began digging through her closet for her suitcases and duffel bags. It would take a while to get all of her stuff together, but she wanted to leave before anyone could try and stop her.

And so she packed though the early hours of morning, until the sun came up and illuminated the Garden.

Squall groggily walked out of Cid's office after a long meeting that had begun shortly after Laguna came back with his news. He had gotten no sleep, but it had been necessary, as far as he was concerned. This information was important, and they needed to get the next plan of action in gear as soon as possible.

Stepping out of the dark elevator, Squall squinted as the early morning sun that was flooding into the main hallway of Garden nearly blinded him. He descended the stairs in front of the elevator, but stopped at the bottom as a familiar figure caught his eye up ahead.

The figure was far away, but he could make out the long dark hair, the feminine form, a duffel bag and suitcase being carried by either arm, and a medium sized dog trailing behind. Zone was a few feet ahead of her.

"Rinoa?" he called out, but she was too far away to hear.

He began to jog in her direction, his mind producing a thousand thoughts along the way.Where the hell is she going? being the most prominent.

He saw them approach a yellow car outside the main gate.

A taxi. She has bags and she's getting into a taxi. With Zone.

"Rinoa!" he yelled, breaking into a full sprint as the thought occured to him.

She turned at the sound of her name after throwing her bags in the car, and saw him approach her. She thought about ducking into the cab and taking off before he got there, but she knew she couldn't do that.

He finally reached her and grabbed her hand. "Rin, honey, where are you going?" he asked, giving her a nervous smile.

Rinoa let out a sigh at hearing the endearment, and stepped closer to him. Before he could say another word, she took her hand from his, grabbed his face and pulled him into a hard kiss.

Zone looked away from the scene and took a seat in the back of the cab.

Rinoa broke the kiss after a few moments, keeping her eyes closed, and whispered harshly, "I love you."

She then turned and got into the car and they drove off, leaving Squall dumbfounded and staring in the direction of the rapidly vanishing taxi.

"I love you, too," he mumbled, his eyes never leaving the vehicle.

He shook himself out of his daze after the car was out of sight and ran back into Garden. He wanted to know what was going on.

He ran to her room, quickly swiping his keycard through reader and looked around. Most of her things were gone. Things she wouldn't take on a normal trip or vacation. She was leaving Garden. For good.

His gut wrenched and he quickly ran for his dorm, looking for anything she may have left for him. A note, or any of his belongings that she had been in possession of.

As he opened his door, there it was. The evidence that she was gone from his life.

A note on the floor, having been slipped under the door, and his ring.

He picked them up and swallowed hard, carefully opening the folded cerulean blue paper.

Squall,

I know this is probably the worst way to say goodbye, but it's the easiest for me. I know that we're technically broken up, but I guess I didn't really believe it until last night. It's not right for me to be mad at you for it, but I saw you with Eve last night. Maybe she's a nice girl, but I'm really quite amazed at how quickly you seem to have gotten over me, regardless. I kind of thought that we were just taking a break, I guess, but I see now that I was mistaken.
With that said, I've decided that I no longer have a place here. I was here for you, and now that I don't have you, there's no reason for me to stay. Maybe I was useful for missions and all that, but it's really not the lifestyle I had in mind. I did all of it for you. No, I'm not mad, and I don't regret any of it, but now that I'm on my own, I should be doing other things. I'm not quite sure what those things are, but I'll figure it out.
I'm going to stay with Zone for now. Contrary to what it may sound like, I'm NOT planning on severing all communication with you and all of my friends. I will call you in a few days to let you know that I'm alright. So, in case you were wondering... no, I don't hate you or think of you as a heartless bastard. I do know that you'll be concerned for me. Please take care and know that I love you very much, for this will probably be the last time I can say it to you.

Rinoa

Squall sunk down to the floor and leaned against the wall. He read the letter once more, before setting it down and leaning his head back.

She'd seen him with Eve, and she'd thought that they were dating, or maybe worse. Either way, she left without knowing the truth.

Tears pooled in his eyes as he thought about it.

Part of him was mad at her for this. Mad that she'd even think that he could move on so quickly. He loved her. He'd even told her that after they separated. He thought he'd made it clear that they would get back together at some point, but not until things could be better. He'd wanted to get to a point where he could hire someone to help him with all the tedious bullshit, like paperwork and the like. He'd wanted to stop going on missions so frequently, so he could ease her mind from the constant worrying over his safety. Why couldn't she have waited just a little longer?

Mostly, though, he was mad at himself. He knew he could have gotten help in the office long ago. He could have refrained from personally handling so many missions. But he was stubborn. He thought this Garden would fall to pieces if he gave up his control. It was a conceited and self-righteous thought, but he knew that it was true to at least a small degree. Missions wouldn't be executed as efficiently, and who knows if the paperwork would be filled out and filed properly. But still... he knew that Garden could hold its own without his every command. And he knew that Rinoa was more important to him.

Now she was gone, and possibly forever. Gone to live with Zone.

Squall swallowed hard again.

The idea of Zone touching her made him seethe with anger. He knew that Rinoa didn't have any romantic interest in him, but Zone's interest in her was as clear as fucking day, and Squall wouldn't put it past him to try something now that he wasn't there to keep an eye on her. Sure, Rinoa could fend for herself, but people have been known to do irrational and stupid things when going through emotional difficulties. And Zone may very well try and talk her into bed, knowing she was upset about this break-up.

Perhaps it was unfair to label Zone as a date-rapist, but Squall was well aware of the extent of Zone's attraction to her. And Zone was certainly an impulsive and emotionally driven person. He'd seen it first hand since the day they met over two years before.

Squall could kick himself for letting this happen. He'd had a great woman in his grasp and he'd let her slip through his fingers just because he was stubborn, and put her into the hands of potential danger. And to top it all off, she thought that he was in love with someone else.

God, Rinoa, how could you think I could ever get over you? he thought, as the unshed tears finally found their way down his face.

He hastily wiped them away, stood up, and headed out the door for his office. He was too distraught to sleep, and there was mounds of work to do on this Materia Gauntlet case that he could distract himself with.

She would call in a few days, and then he would explain everything in hopes that he could fix this colossal mistake.

A/N: So, it was a bit dramatic, but hey... I needed to prove the Squall was still all about Rinoa. Anyway, keep reading!

To DBH- Heh heh. Well, you're on the right track, but it's not what you're thinking. Aside from that, now we know what the weapon is, and you are correct, the Shumi Tribe won't really be of anymore help. We must trust our elite SeeD force to get off their lazy butts and figure the rest of it out. :-) Thanks again!

To yummychocolatexD - Just wait and see what happens... I think you will be pleased. Thanks for the comment!

To Rinoa Leonheartilly- Well, I hope I'm not being too predictable. I still may have a few more surprises up my sleeve. Thanks for the review! I hope you're still enjoying the story!

To lung- Thanks for the compliment! It's been my goal to get on someone's favorites list. I usually update pretty frequently, so keep checking for new chapters! Thanks again for the review!

To TrinForever- Well, this chapter was the beginning of the Squinoa stuff, so I hope it's satisfactory for now. Keep reading! There will be more! Thanks for the review! :-)