My Son's Wedding
Chapter Six: Chasing Rinoa's Book
By PasifikStar

Author's Note: Filler chapter! I'm aiming for 10 chapters. Seven SHOULD have a QuistisxSeifer action. Eight SHOULD be the play. Nine SHOULD be finals and pre-wedding and ten SHOULD be the wedding itself. No promises.

Note: Special Thanks to the person who told me that this chapter was cut off! I'm sorry that it took me so long to fix:(

All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters.


RING! Squall rolled over. RING! His eyebrows were furrowed as he frowned at the sound of the telephone ringing in his ear. RING! Why had he even bothered putting a phone next to his bed, on his night stand, when he didn't even plan on using it. RING!

"DAMN!" Squall let out a growl as he whirled over on his back. His arm flew out and grabbed the receiver with one hand. "WHAT?" He hissed. There was silence. He turned at glared at the phone and rolled his still sleepy eyes. RING! He had forgotten to press the 'talk' button. "Piece of..." he mumbled as he pressed the button. "HELLO."

"Squall." a voice whispered in a hushed voice. Squall narrowed his eyes.

"Whose this?" Squall asked flatly.

"It's me-"

"Zell, I swear, if this is about your midnight snacks again - I don't know where the damn mustard is!" Without another word, Squall hung up the phone with a loud slam.

"..." Laguna stared at the phone receiver in his hand, confused. Without another thought, he quickly pressed re-dial and waited patiently as he sat on his bed dressed in his plaid pajamas with his initials embroidered on the breast pocket.

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT NOW?" Squall growled viciously.

"Squall, it's me-" Laguna began, only to be cut off again.

"Listen! I don't care WHO you are! If you call me again, I'll hunt you down and rip out your throat AND break all your fingers so you'll never call me again, got it?" he hissed. The phone was slammed once again and Laguna winced.

"This isn't getting me anywhere..." he mumbled. He began to press in the next number and silently prayed that someone would pick up.


"Mmm...hello?" a tired voice asked as Laguna smiled brightly.

"Rinoa? It's Laguna."

"Oh...hey, dad..." Rinoa murmured tiredly. She was laying flat on her stomach on her bed. She turned her head to the side and looked over at the clock. It was four in the morning. Rinoa frowned. "Dad...it's four in the morning... why are you calling..." She trailed off as her eyes went wide. "Oh, Hyne..."


Squall frowned as they arrived at the Presidential Palace. Rinoa was fidgeting, feeling like a completely fool for leaving her future father in law behind while they arrived at the Garden a day in advance. They had been there for almost a month and had completely forgotten him. She was chewing on her bottom lip as she waited for the door to open.

Meanwhile, Squall was mentally frowning at the thought that his father had called in the wee hours of the morning merely to ask when he was going to be picked up. 'You would think that as the President of a country he would have a little more freedom...' he thought to himself as he stood behind Rinoa.

Suddenly, one of the double doors opened and out rushed the middle aged man. "You came!" he cried out as he practically flew out of the door and enveloped both Rinoa and Squall into a strong hug. "I thought you forgot all about me!"

"We did." Squall replied easily. Rinoa shot him a glare and hugged Laguna back.

"Sorry, dad," Rinoa sighed tiredly as she pried him off. "We've been so busy with the play...crunch time for it is approaching, you know."

"I know you've been busy," Laguna nodded as he ushered them inside. "But they made me do such horrible things..."

"They?" Rinoa asked.

"Horrible things?" Squall added.

"Rinoa! Squall!" a cheerful voice said from the hall way. They looked over the older man's shoulder and Squall smiled.

"Sis!"

"Ellone, hi!" Rinoa said as they went to greet her. "I hope we didn't drop by too unexpectedly."

"Not at all!" Ellone said. "How are you doing? Are you all right with all the projects?" she asked as she seemed to check Rinoa. Rinoa nodded.

"Yes, everything is going fine. The play will be done next month, but that means the crunch time is coming up. And then while everyone is working on their finals, I'll be focusing on the final details of my book...then the wedding and it'll be back to normal." Rinoa assured her.

"All right..." Ellone said. "Come on to the dining room. Dinner is just being served."

"Great, we're starving, thank you!" Rinoa gushed. They followed the older young woman into a large dining room with a long table. Squall sat down next to Rinoa one side while Laguna sat at the head of the table.

"Where are Kiros and Ward?" Squall asked as he took his napkin and put it on his lap.

"They went to turn in some files," Ellone replied. "Uncle's been forced to do his work while he was here."

Squall struggled to contain the smirk that would cross his lips. Rinoa sighed as she glanced over at Laguna, who had a frown on his face. "It's all just reading documents and signing papers or reading documents and rejecting them."

'Welcome to my world...' Squall thought to himself as the doors to the kitchen opened and several maids came out with the food.

"So when are you leaving?" Ellone asked.

"Tomorrow night," Rinoa explained. "We were supposed to do some cake testing while we were here."

"Oh! Let me guess? From Uncle's favorite bakery?" Ellone asked, pleased. Rinoa nodded.

"Is it as good as it sounds?" she asked.

Laguna snorted and the entire table turned to look at him. "Is it as good as it sounds..." he chuckled. "It's only the BEST BAKERY EVER!"

Squall looked around the table with wary eyes. 'You had to say yes...you had to say "Yes, Rinoa, I'll go with you to Esthar so we can do some cake testing..." Stupid. Stupid. STUPID.'


Rinoa sighed happily as she walked into the train carrying several small boxes in her hands. She couldn't decide which cake to pick, so she had her top ten samples put into boxes to be brought BACK to the Garden so she could decide with her maids and groomsmen. Squall walked behind her, holding five boxes while behind him, Laguna carried two.

The pink cake boxes all had the words 'Esthar Pastry Shoppe' written on them with embossed purple letters. "There's our seats!" Rinoa announced as she saw the two seats facing another two seats by the window. She quickly stored her things and then headed for the closest window seat.

"Here, Squall, let me help you with that." Laguna said as Squall struggled to put the cake into the storage above them.

"No, I'm fine!" Squall stated as he managed to stick them in there. Laguna leaned over to help him give the final push against the boxes when he let out a yelp.

"AH!"

"Laguna, Squall! The CAKES!" Rinoa gasped as she jumped up off her seat. Two pink boxes fell from Laguna's hands as Rinoa dove for them. She managed to grab one, while Squall swept up and grabbed the others. Laguna fell forward and grabbed on to one of the seats before he slammed flat on his face.

"LAGUNA!" Squall growled, annoyed.

The long haired brunette smiled weakly. "Sorry..." he said as Rinoa and Squall gave him a frown. Rinoa handed Squall her box and he put it with the rest.

"Just get in your seat before the train starts moving, dad." Rinoa sighed. Laguna nodded and quickly slid into his seat across from Rinoa, by the window.

Squall took his aisle seat next to Rinoa. "So..." Laguna began, unsure of what to say. "What do you think the other's will pick?"

"I don't know, but I just hope everyone agrees..." Rinoa said. "You know, I was thinking of getting one MAIN cake and then having two smaller ones that are different. Just so everyone will have a choice.

"That sounds like a good idea!" Laguna said. "I'll have the Ragnarok fly over the cakes as soon as they're made for freshness."

"Thanks, dad," Rinoa said. "But I want to check out the wedding cake designs they had," Rinoa added thoughtfully. "I always wanted a multi-layered cake...with a waterfall inside."

Squall held back his smile as he sat there stoic. Anything that made Rinoa happy with inadvertently make him happy as well. "Squall?" Laguna asked. "What do you think?"

"Three cakes if fine," Squall said. "I already gave my piece on which cake."

Rinoa sighed tiredly. "Squall, grunting 'this one is okay', is not valid in cake choosing." she scolded him, although she had asked for that cake to be added with the samples as well.

"Whatever." he mumbled. Rinoa rolled her eyes.

She sighed. "I can't wait until I get back to the Garden..." she mumbled. "I can get some rest before that meeting tomorrow."

"Meeting?" Laguna asked questioningly. "What meeting? Does it involve the wedding?"

Rinoa chuckled and shook her head. "No, dad, it's a meeting with my editor on my book. I have the draft done and I want her to look over it."

"Already?" Laguna asked. "But the other one just came out a few months ago..."

"Well, I'm a pretty fast writer when I'm into it," she assured him. "Anyway, this is going to be the 10th book of the series. I'm going to reveal some stuff."

"Stuff? What stuff?" Laguna asked eagerly with eyes as large as a child's. Squall also found himself wondering, but remained silent.

"It's going to explain why Leon is always watching out for Noa," Rinoa explained. "And who Casey's baby's father is."

Laguna was leaning forward, excitedly. "Who is it? It's Zypher isn't it? I KNEW IT!"

Rinoa laughed and shook her head. "We'll see..." she said with a shrug.

"I've come up with my own theories on why Leon is always watching out for Noa," Laguna said seriously. "I'm thinking that Noa might be the reincarnation of his past lover."

"Um...you'll see." Rinoa smiled. Laguna wrinkled his nose and lost himself in thought.

'I need to know what's in that book...' he thought to himself silently as he watched Rinoa lean against Squall's shoulder. His son put his arm around Rinoa's shoulders as they both looked out the window as the darkness rolled past them. 'But I can't do it alone...who else can help me...?'


"Booyaka! CAKE!" Selphie's voice echoed through the halls of the Garden as predatory green eyes set themselves on to the series of open pink boxes lined on the table before them. She rubbed her hands together gleefully as she took a step closer.

Quistis raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "Are you sure it's all right to be cake testing now?" she asked, looking at her watch. It was about eight at night. Selphie is going to be up all night."

"Aww...Quisty, I'm not a kid!" Selphie pouted. "It's not like it's going to keep me up all night."

Irvine, who was standing next to her, merely smirked. "If not, it's not like it's a bad thing."

Seifer's lip twitched as he moved further away from them. "Please don't give me a visual. I don't want to have nightmares tonight."

"Will you guys stop being babies?" Rinoa sighed as she began to cut small slices in each of the cake. "Just have a taste of each and tell me which are the top three. And tell me which of those are the best. Besides, I wanted you guys to test them out as soon as possible while they're still reasonably fresh."

"cool," Zell said as he was the first to line up to get cake. He had a fork in one hand and a paper plate in the other. He began with the first box and took a small piece of the cake. Without a second thought, he put it into his mouth. Immediately it was filled with tears. "Oh, Hyne...It's melting in my mouth..."

Selphie dove in after him and quickly ate another piece. Her eyes went wide as she zoned off. "It's like heaven..."

"This one..." Quistis said as she bit into a slice of the same cake. "It has to be this one." she mumbled as she pointed to the slice on her plate with her fork.

"Taste all of them first!" Laguna insisted.

"He's right, you can't just judge on one cake," Rinoa agreed. "I couldn't decide, that's why I brought them here."

"What about Squall?" Quistis said as she stepped out of line. Seifer was already on the third cake, a thoughtful look on his face as he allowed the taste of the sweet pastry to roll in his mouth.

Rinoa rolled her eyes and frowned slightly. "He wasn't of any help, trust me. But he did say he liked that one." she said, pointing to the one that Seifer was eating.

"Hey..." Seifer said as he moved on to the next cake. "What are you going to do with the left over cakes?"

"I don't know-" Rinoa began, but she was cut off.

"Can I have one?" Zell, Selphie, and Irvine all chorused as they stood by particular cakes. Rinoa raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Okay..." she said. She walked over to a chair and took out a pamphlet from her bag. "Selphie, Quistis, I got this from the bakery. It has some wedding cake designs on them."

"Oh! We can look at it later!" Selphie said as she jumped up and down.

Quistis frowned as she tasted the forth cake. 'She's getting hyper already...I knew this would happen.' she thought to herself as she pulled the fork from her mouth.

"Once you guys are done, tell me which your top three are." Rinoa said as she put the pamphlet down and took out a note book that was well worn from her bag.

"Rin! I'm done!" Selphie piped as she eagerly hopped over. "My top pick is number four! Followed by six and nine."

"Okay...thanks Selphie!" Rinoa said brightly as she wrote it down.

"Can I keep cake four?" Selphie asked. Rinoa nodded and Selphie let out a loud yell before skipping back to the table. Zell approached Rinoa with his opinions on the cake.

Laguna watched as Selphie looked over each cake, looming for a while over cake four and licking her lips, knowing it was going to be hers. "Selphie." Laguna whispered in a low voice. The petite brunette looked up and smiled at the middle aged man sitting over at another table. He waved for her to come over.

"Hiya, Sir Laguna!" Selphie piped cheerfully. "How was Esthar?"

Laguna shivered unconsciously, but smiled weakly. "It was...okay..." he mumbled. He shook his head and got right to business. "I have a proposition that might interest you."

Selphie raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"It involves Rinoa's newest book...not the one that came out already, but the one that'll be coming out next month." Laguna told her. Selphie's eyes went wide and she was about to open her mouth and yell when his hand shot out and clamped over hers. He shook his head and lifted his hand to his lips, to indicate it was a secret.

Selphie's eyes went wide and she glanced back at Rinoa. The taller brunette was sitting down as Seifer told her that he also voted for the forth cake. "Ah...gotcha," Selphie winked at the older man. "What's the plan, sir?"

"First off, are you in?" Laguna asked. Selphie nodded.

"Am I ever!" she agreed in a low voice. "I'm Julia Loire fan #8!"

Laguna smirked proudly. "I'm Julia Loire fan #5."

"Whoa!" Selphie gasped. "Are you going to be reporting our findings to the News Letter?" she asked. Laguna shook his head.

"This is purely a personal reconnaissance mission, Selphie," Laguna told her. "Besides, if the new President of the club finds out, he'll kick us out."

"Yeah...he won't think it's fair..." Selphie agreed as she rubbed her chin. "Besides, he'll probably tell Rinoa..."

"He knows Rinoa personally?" Laguna asked, surprised. Selphie nodded. "He'll actually TELL her?"

"Oh yeah, Irvine's really into it," Selphie said, glancing over at the cowboy who was currently arguing with Zell about which of them should take the ninth cake. "Okay, sir! So what's the plan?"

"This is all between you and me..." Laguna said slyly. "But according to Rinoa, she's going to reveal a few secrets in the book. Including the father of Casey's baby AND why Leon is protecting Noa."

"No way!" Selphie gasped, her eyes wide as she covered her mouth. Laguna nodded. Selphie's eyes squinted. "The father is Zypher isn't it?"

"She wouldn't say," Laguna said. "But we can find out. Tomorrow, meet me by the stage at eight in the morning."

"Why eight?" Selphie asked.

"Because at precisely eight fifteen, Rinoa takes Angelo for her morning walk around the perimeter of the Garden..."


"Okay, Angelo, let's go!" Rinoa said cheerfully as she stepped out of her dorm room with Angelo in front of her. She held a portable doggy water bottle and some dog treats in the front pouch of her Balamb G navy blue sweat shirt. Sewn over her breast was the name 'S. Leonhart'.

Angelo barked as she jumped up and trotted ahead of the young sorceress. Further up the hall, two heads peeked out from behind a column. "She's gone!" Selphie piped giddily as she watched the sweat shirt and jeans clad young woman walk away.

"Great!" Laguna said. He tapped her shoulder and pointed to an air vent. "Okay, here's the plan," he said as he lifted up a key card. "I have a copy of her key card from the time there was no room at the Garden and she stayed with Squall while I stayed in her room. She'll be gone for approximately thirty minutes," he said as he looked at his expensive watch on his wrist. "That gives us exactly enough time to get in, start up her computer, and find the file."

"How do you know where it's located on her computer?" Selphie asked.

"I don't know, but we can always run a search." Laguna asserted. Selphie nodded.

"Then what?"

"We'll email it to ourselves!" Laguna explained. Selphie nodded once more.

"Great! That's way faster than printing it out. And she won't know as long as we use our accounts." Selphie agreed. Laguna nodded and then took a deep breath.

"Let's go!" With one last look around the empty corridor, he stepped into the hall way. Selphie followed after him and they quickly made their way down to Rinoa's room. He took out the card and swiped it through the reader. The little green light went on and the door slid open.

"Part one, accomplished," Selphie said as her eyes quickly landed on the laptop resting on Rinoa's desk. "Target spotted."

She headed towards the desk as Laguna followed behind her. Rinoa's bed wasn't made and her pajamas were thrown across the covers. Selphie pulled the chair out from under the desk and lifted up the screen. As she lifted it up, she saw a silver heart shaped frame on the small shelf above Rinoa's desk. In the picture was Squall's head, smiling slightly.

She stared at it for a while, unable to comprehend Squall actually caught smiling. She shrugged it off and pressed the power button of the laptop. Meanwhile, Laguna was looking over some pictures on the shelf by Rinoa's bed. There were several framed pictures, including one solely of Angelo as puppy.

'Aww...' the Estharian President thought to himself.

"Um...sir...I've encountered a problem..." Selphie said. Laguna looked over at her with a concerned look. Selphie was staring at the black screen. "It started loading and then all of a sudden went black."

"Oh no..." Laguna mumbled. "What happened?"

"I thought it's battery died, but it's plugged into it's adapter, so it's fine and fully charged," Selphie reported. "Hmm..."

"Think it's broken?" Laguna asked.

"If so...she must have a disk around here somewhere!" Selphie said.

Laguna nodded and began to search her desk. Suddenly, the sound someone was outside the door. Selphie and Laguna froze. "She can't be back already!" Laguna gasped, looking at his watch. It had only been eight minutes.

"Hide!" Selphie gasped. She dove underneath the bed and Laguna looked around, sure of where to hide. He turned and saw Rinoa's closet partially opened. He bit his lip and quickly ran into it.

The dorm door slid open and from under the bed, Selphie could see two black boots walk in. The ends of leather pants could be seen. "Hmm...probably took Angelo for her walk..." a deep male voice said.

'SQUALL?' Laguna and Selphie's minds both screamed as they realized who the man who had walked in was. Squall held a clear folder in his arms and casually placed it on Rinoa's desk along with a little black disk.

From where he was in the closet, Laguna could see Squall moving around. His eyes zoned into the disk that was laying on top of the folder. 'There it is!' his mind screamed. 'All we have to do is wait for Squall to leave.'

The captain of Balamb Garden seemed to uncharacteristically seat himself on Rinoa's bed. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it on to Rinoa's chair before kicking off his boots and laying on her bed. Underneath the bed, Selphie mentally swore. 'I see the target! But we can't just run out if Squall's here. He'll KILL us!'

Laguna began to feel his leg cramping up. It would be at least another twenty minutes until Rinoa arrived. And then who knows how long it would take for Squall and her to leave? His heart began to pound in his chest at the prospect of being caught in his son's fiancee's closet. How in the world would he explain that?

The sound of the door opening caught his attention. From the bed, Squall looked up towards the door and smiled. "Morning, baby, what are you doing here?" Rinoa's clear voice rang out. Angelo gave a bark and trotted over to Squall to be petted. Selphie's eyes went wide as she saw the dog stop and bend her head down.

"Just dropping off the draft," Squall said as he sat up and put his legs over the edge of the bed. He leaned down and scratched the dog behind the ears. Angelo was still looking under the bed and Selphie shook her head and tried to wave her off. "And I have a back up copy of the draft on my laptop."

"Thanks, Squall, I really appreciate it." Rinoa sighed as she walked over. Selphie could make out Rinoa walking towards the bed and standing right in front of Squall. Squall placed his hands on her hips and brought her closer to him as she leaned down to kiss him.

"Not a problem," he said as she moved and sat on his lap, her bent legs on either side of him. "Did you get up early to walk Angelo?" he asked as his arms wrapped around her slim waist. He leaned up to kiss her.

Rinoa gave him a quick peck and shook her head. "Nope, she just got up, did her business and then decided to come straight back here," Rinoa shrugged. She turned to look at Angelo, who was now sniffing by the closet. "She's acting strange today..." Rinoa trailed. She slid off Squall and walked over to Angelo. "Angelo... come to mommy, sweetie..." she cooed.

Angelo tilted her head to the side and looked at the crack in the closet door. Laguna began to silently pray that he would not be discovered as leg cramps shot up his the entirety of his body. Whimpering slightly, Angelo headed back to Rinoa and the girl knelt down to pet her.

"Hmm...we'll, if she's still not better by lunch, we can take her to the vet in town." Squall assured her.

Rinoa nodded and Squall stood up. She stood up after him and Angelo walked over to the bed once more to explore the area where Selphie was. "Going to work?"

"Yeah," Squall said as he reached over and took his jacket off the chair. "Have a good meeting with your editor."

He leaned over for a kiss and Rinoa put her arms around his neck slowly and placed her lips on his for a long, drawn out kiss. "Mmm...have a good day, baby," Rinoa wistfully. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Rin," Squall said without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to say. From under the bed, Selphie raised an eyebrow. Squall expressed affection? In WORDS? That was weird... "I'll see you later. Call me if Angelo's not feeling any better."

Rinoa nodded and watched him walk out the door. She turned around and frowned. "Angelo, what are you doing?" Rinoa sighed as she saw the dog try to sniff at something under the bed. "Did you loose your toy, again, my baby?" she cooed in a baby talk voice. "Here let me help..." she said. She knelt down on her knees next to the bed and Selphie's eyes went wide.

Laguna almost let out a gasp as Rinoa stuck her hand under the bed. Selphie pasted herself to the wall that the bed leaned against. Her eyes darted around the darkened mattress under world for anything to hand to Rinoa. Up ahead of her, she saw an chew toy. Selphie's arm flew out and tried to reach it. 'WHAT?' Selphie found herself mentally yelling. 'NO! I can't REACH IT!'

Biting her lip, she stretched her arm as far as it could go. Her finger tips brushed the chew toy. "Hmm..." she heard Rinoa say. "I can't feel anything..." Selphie saw Rinoa change seating positions on to her knees.

'Crap!' Selphie forced her arm to reach up higher until she crabbed the chew toy. Her hands firmly around it, she pulled it forward and put it close to the edge, just where Rinoa could find it.

Rinoa's pale hand went under the bed once more. Almost immediately her hand touched the chew toy. "Oh, here we go..." she said. She pulled it out and gave it to Angelo. "Okay, girl...here you go. Mommy's going to be right back."

Rinoa stood up and shuffled around the room a bit. Laguna watched in horror as Rinoa went over to her desk and lifted up the folder and disk to her chest. Without a second thought, she headed out the door.

The door slid closed and Laguna stumbled from out of the closet, letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding in. Selphie crawled out from under the bed, dusty and tired looking. She stood up quickly and brushed herself off.

"Well..." she sighed. "At least we got - hey!" Her emerald eyes went wide as she looked at the desk. "Where's the draft?"

"She took it with her," Laguna frowned. "The disk, too."

"We were almost caught for nothing!" Selphie frowned.

Laguna shook his head. "Don't be so sure," he told her. "Didn't you hear what Squall said? He made a copy of the draft..."

Selphie's eyes went wide. "To Squall's Room!"


Selphie and Laguna peeked around the corner of the corridor, down towards the hall where numerous high ranking faculty had their rooms. One of which was Squall's. "I called his phone," Laguna said. "No one answered."

"I went upstairs and Xu said that Squall was going to be in the training room for an hour," Selphie said as she looked at her watch. "That was five minutes ago."

"Giving us exactly fifty-five minutes to get in, get the draft, and go," Laguna mused. He rubbed his chin. "But I don't have a key to Squall's room...do you know anyone who does?"

"Nope, the higher faculty members rooms don't even fit with the master key, you have to know their code to get in," Selphie reported. "All I know is Quisty's, but no one knows Squalls. Well, maybe Rinoa."

"But we can't ask her," Laguna sighed. "We are after HER book's draft after all."

"Well...we do have one other option..." Selphie said. Laguna looked at her, interested.


They were standing outside on a balcony about five stories below Squall's window. If they had actually gone outside they would've been a good ten stories below. Selphie lifted her hand over her eyes and pointed up five stories. "That's Squall's room," she said. "We found out one time because Irvine was trying out this new air pressure rocket launcher and decided to use a bean bag ball instead of real ammo. He aimed too low and hit Squall's window instead."

Laguna winced. He could only feel Irvine's pain as Squall's fury rained down on him hard and fast. "So how to we get up there?"

"Don't worry, I have it all covered." Selphie assured him.

"Selphie!" a voice said from inside the room that the balcony lead to. Selphie looked inside and smiled as Zell ran in, carrying a grappling hook, rope, and a launcher. "I brought the stuff you asked for! Nida said to bring it back to the equipment room when you're done."

"Cool! Thanks, Zell!" Selphie said as she took the stuff off his hands. Zell looked from Laguna to Selphie and tilted his head to the side.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked. Selphie began to prepare the rope and hook as Laguna began setting up the launcher.

"Oh nothing," Laguna assured him. "We're just going to do some repelling practice."

Zell raised an eyebrow. "Um...shouldn't you be starting at the top of the Garden then?"

"Not now, Zell," Selphie said. She looked up at him as she tugged on the rope and hook and gave him a smile. "Don't worry!"

Zell frowned. "Will this get me in trouble?"

"Not if you don't get caught!" Selphie smiled. Zell sighed.

"Forget it, I don't want to know. Later." Zell waved his hand, having a sinking feeling in his stomach as he watched the two prepare their gear. He finally turned around and headed out just as he heard the launcher shook the hook into the air.

Outside, Selphie watched with careful eyes as the gray hook shot up to the top of the garden and went over it. The bright red rope that was attached to the end of it flew upwards behind it. Laguna watched eagerly as it disappeared at the top of the building. Once the rope was still, Selphie tugged on it until it became firm.

Laguna took it out of Selphie's hands and tugged on it harder to make sure it was firmly caught on something. "Well? Looks about ready." Selphie estimated.

"Okay," Laguna said. He looked at Selphie. "I'm going to start climbing up. You wait until I'm through the window then come up and I'll open the door for you."

Selphie nodded. "All right, sir!" She handed him two metal objects meant to clamp on to the rope to secure one's hold on it while the other one moved up.

Laguna took the metal objects and clamped on the rope. He paused as he was about to start. "You know, I've never done this before..." he said sheepishly.

"Should I, sir?" Selphie asked. Laguna shook his head.

"No, no, I can still do it!" he insisted. He slowly began to make his way up. Selphie ended up having to hold on to the bottom of the rope so it didn't keep shaking. With his feet against the Garden wall, Laguna began to climb up the side of the Garden.

At one point, he was distracted by a bird and nearly lost his footing. "Sir Laguna!" Selphie shouted with large eyes. "Are you all right?"

"FINE! FINE!" Laguna shouted as he clung on to the rope for dear life. "I'm FINE!" He took a deep breath and looked up. One and a half more stories to go. 'Come on, Laguna! You can do it!' he thought to himself as he headed towards Squall's window.

By the time he got up there, he locked himself in position and looked at the window. He frowned. "Sir?" Selphie shouted from the balcony. "What's the problem?"

"I think it's locked!" Laguna shouted down. Selphie frowned.

"Just try to see if you can move it!" Selphie shouted back up. Laguna nodded and checked to make sure he was firmly attached to the rope around his waist before leaning forward.

He put his hands on the edge of the window and gave one swift tug. It didn't move. Laguna frowned and took a deep breath. He was not too old as to not be able to open ONE window. He clapped his hands together and placed them on the edge of the window once more. With one strong tug, he pulled the window aside.

"Yea-AH!" Laguna yelped as the tug caused him to loose his footing. Laguna felt himself fly in a little circle in mid air as he yelled for Selphie to grab on to the swinging rope.


"Don't forget that strategy is just as important as defense and offense," Quistis was saying as she stood in front of her class. They were outdoors, many yards away from the Garden, out in the fields. "You all have your assigned groups. I suggest you take this period to go over your plans with your group."

"Yes, Instructor Trepe." a series of voices chorused. Quistis nodded as the students began to move around to meet up with group members. She lifted her head to adjust her glasses, when something moving on the side of the Garden wall caught her eye.

'What in the world...?' She narrowed her eyes as she squinted forward. There was man with long hair that seemed to have his pants caught on to a red rope that was hanging from the top of the Garden down. He was swinging from side to side, his arms flailing around him. As Quistis' eyes lowered slightly, she could make out a figure in yellow running back and forth over the balcony, desperately trying to grab on to the red rope and steady it. 'You've got to be kidding me...isn't that Squall's room?' she recalled, remembering the Irvine and rocket launcher incident. 'Nah...must be me.'


"Ugh!" Laguna wiped the sweat off his brow as he finally managed to get into the bedroom through the window. He let out a gasping breath of air as he put one leg through the window. He tried to get a his foot through and let out a yelp as his other foot got caught in the window and he fell forward.

"Sir! Are you okay?" Selphie's voice called up.

Laguna stood up and used the window sill to help him stand. "Yes!" he called down. "Come on up! And hurry! We have..." he looked at his watch and his eyes nearly fell out. "Fifteen minutes!"

"AH!" Selphie gasped as she ran inside.

Laguna scratched his head, wondering how long exactly it had taken him to climb up. Slightly embarrassed, he began to walk through Squall's bedroom and into the main room outside. There he found another bed for Angelo, a small couch, and a kitchen complete with a mini fridge. He scanned the area and saw a sleek black lap top closed on top of his desk.

'Bingo.' Laguna thought to himself as he walked forward. He'd been in Squall's room once before, but not since he had become a Captain. At the most, Laguna stood outside the door. He took note of how insanely clean and orderly everything was. Even his desk, which had numerous drawers and shelves around it was so neatly kept, Laguna began to wonder how his son could really be HIS son. He was no where near this clean back in Esthar...or ever.

As he turned on the laptop, he noticed two connected framed photos on Squall's desk. One was a group shot from what looked like the after party of 'My Knight'. Even he was in the back smiling proudly as Kiros and Ward stood with him. Rinoa and Squall were slightly to the left of the main actor and actress and Squall had his arms around Rinoa's waist. The other picture had Squall sitting underneath a large beach umbrella and towel with Rinoa next to him, leaning against him as Angelo slept at their side. They seemed to have been in Dollet.

Soon, the main screen popped up on the computer and before Laguna could start the search, there was a knock on the door. Laguna quickly rushed over and knocked slowly. "It's ME!" a quiet female voice whispered back. Laguna nodded and the door slid open.

Selphie quickly rushed in. "Is it working? Did you find it?"

"I'm just about to search for it," Laguna explained. The two conspirators headed towards the computer and began a search. "Let's search for documents within the last two days..." he mumbled.

Selphie nodded and clicked 'search'. The computer began to go through the folders and files, pulling up a list of all the documents that had been opened within the last two days. "Hmm..." Selphie said. "Squall sure reads a lot of Gothic Crystal fanfiction..."

"Hey! I wrote that one!" Laguna said, pointing to a particular one. Selphie raised an eyebrow in question and looked at the old man.

"Um...that's a romance/drama..." Selphie said. She looked back at the title. "Before Rahtse?"

"It's about the President of Rahtse's life before he became what he is and goes into a story about his late wife, Snowe." Laguna told her.

"I thought Snowe was Leon's mom..." Selphie made a little 'o' shape. "Oh...I get it. This is one of those the President is Leon's dad stories, right?"

Laguna nodded proudly. "Oh!" he said as he saw something pop up on screen. "There it is! It was opened last night...and it was made by Rinoa H."

"I'm opening it!" she piped. She double clicked on the icon and the screen popped up. Both their eyes went wide as they read the title out loud. "Gothic Crystal - Book 10 - Crystal Clear."

"YES!" Laguna shouted. "Quick! Email it to ourselves!"

"Right!" Selphie giggled almost insanely. She quickly opened up the internet program and quickly went to her off Balamb Garden email accounting.

RING! "AH!" Laguna and Selphie jumped and turned towards the phone. RING! Laguna let out a heavy sigh. "It's just the phone."

"The machine will get it," Selphie said. "Okay...sent!"

"Great!" Laguna said. He looked at his watch. "With five minutes to spare!" he beamed.

"Zell, I'll get back to you on that later!" a voice shouted from outside the door.

Immediately, Laguna and Selphie froze in their spots. "He's here! EARLY!" Laguna gasped.

Selphie frowned as she quickly shut down the computer. "Why are they so early today? All right, it's sent! Let's go, sir!"

"To the window!" Laguna yelled gallantly. They ran into Squall's bedroom, towards the open window just as the door slid open.

Squall walked in and froze. His eyes narrowed as he put his gunblade on the wall by the door and shrugged off his jacket. 'Hmm...something's...different...' Squall looked around the living room before slowly eyeing the bedroom door. He began to walk there and paused in front of it. Swiftly, the door flew open and he looked around.

"AHHH!" he heard shouting outside his window and shrugged as he glanced outside and saw a group of cadets with their instructor.

His eyes landed on the open window latch and he frowned. He hadn't remembered opening it before he left. Squall shrugged. "Whatever..." he mumbled as he walked towards it and slid it closed before removing his shirt and heading towards the bathroom for a shower.


Quistis looked over her shoulder to shout at some of her students when she saw two objects jump out of Squall's window and grab on to the red rope. Unfortunately for whoever was climbing it, the grappling hook had been dislodged and it fell.

"AHHH!" she could hear them scream as they plummeted down several stories. Her eyes went wide as she watched them swing just a few feet from the ground beneath the balcony.

She narrowed her eyes. "I could've swore that was Laguna and Selphie..."


"Hehehe..." Selphie said almost deviously as she and Laguna sat in the computer lab as she checked her email. "Here it is, sir...it took us a few hours, but we finally got it." she said as she saw the email that had been sent in her in-box.

"We nearly got caught several times, fell ten stories, and dangled and swung under a balcony for a few minutes, but we finally got it...and you know what, Selphie?" Laguna said as he took a proud breath. "It's all worth it."

Selphie nodded and downloaded the file. She double clicked it and it popped up. "Gothic Crystal - Book 10 - Crystal Clear," Selphie read. "Chapter One - Hated Dawn...huh...isn't that the chapter where Casey has morning sickness and goes to see a doctor just before she finds out she's pregnant?"

Laguna narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah...scroll down..." Selphie scrolled down and her eyes went wide.

"This is the LAST book!" she gasped. "Oh no!"


"You have ONE new message," Squall's machine said as he walked out in boxers and unbuttoned pants. He rubbed a towel through his hair as he walked past the machine, pressed the button, and headed for his fridge. "Squall," Rinoa's voice said. "Honey...you won't believe this. You printed out the draft of my LAST book. You probably saved the draft of my last book, too. When you have the time, can you save a copy of my new one? Sorry, it's my fault. I accidentally changed the title on book nine when I opened it up on accident that one time. Sorry! I'll talk to you later, bye!"

BEEP. "End of messages."


Next Chapter: The play is in full gear and tensions run high as Quistis and Seifer find that despite their constant companionship while on the stage, they haven't had a night out alone together in weeks. Unfortunately, the others don't seem to get it.