Chapter Eight: Under The Bride's Nose
By PasifikStar
Author's Note: The last chapter refuses to upload right. At the end where there is the book dedication, it wouldn't put up the other name. Sorry about that. -.-;;
All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters.
Laguna stretched as he walked over to his bed. He smiled to himself as he sat down on it, being reminded of how hard the beds were back when he was training in the Galbadian army. He sighed and fell back against the bed dressed in his silk presidential pajamas. The play would be tomorrow, meaning it would be a chaotic day.
Which meant that Rinoa would be busier than usual. He sat in one their last rehearsal meeting as Rinoa went through the schedule for the next day. The morning would be busy with the seating arrangements as the actors got their make up and hair done. Then around five, they would start seating and at six the play would begin.
Rinoa would spend most of the time back stage, doing directorial work and over seeing everything. With her book out of the way, she'd been more relaxed. Although, she did get grilled the other day by Seifer and Quistis. They saw the dedication and kept insisting to know how she found out. After answering "It was magic. I just KNEW." they gave up.
Laguna smirked to himself. It had actually been him who had seen Seifer at Squall's jeweler that day at the mall. He had felt like getting himself some cookies at a shop there and had gone with Rinoa to the mall. She went to the photographer's to make the final arrangements and on his way to meet her there, he saw Seifer stooped over, looking at a bunch of diamond rings.
He hid outside just long enough to hear the clerk ask if it was for a special woman and Seifer had uncharacteristically blushed and said he was planning to propose to his girlfriend. Immediately, Laguna ran off to tell Rinoa, who made him swear not to tell another person.
Laguna smiled proudly, he and his future daughter-in-law made quite a team. He laid in bed and pulled the blankets up to his chin. He reached over and turned off the lights. Just as he did, his phone rang. He frowned, but reached over and answered it anyway.
"Hello?" he asked tiredly.
"Dad, it's me," Rinoa said cheerfully. "Sorry to call you so late, but I just wanted to confirm that you sent out the checks for the cake, the dresses, decorations, and stuff."
Laguna nodded. "I did!" he assured her in his half awake state.
"Great! I just wanted to make sure. Okay, sorry to bother you. Goodnight, dad! SQUALL!" Rinoa barked. "Say good night!"
There was period of silence on the other end of the phone accompanied by some grumbling. Then finally... "Night."
Laguna chuckled. "Good night, Rinoa! Good night, son!" He smiled to himself as he hung up the phone. Laguna rolled over on his side and closed his eyes. Suddenly he stiffened and his eyes flew open. In the darkness, he zoned in to the manila folder that held several envelopes that contained the checks. "Oh no!" he gasped. He stared at the folder on his desk in disbelief. He chewed on his bottom lip nervously, but quickly calmed himself. 'I can just go mail it tomorrow...no problem...' he assured himself. With that thought in mind, he curled back into a ball and went to sleep.
Rinoa sat up in bed and stretched her arms. She looked at her alarm clock and smiled as she turned off the alarm. "Today is the day!" she told herself excitedly as she stood up. The sheets fell off her pajama and tank top clad body and landed to the side of a snoring Balamb Captain.
Squall was taking up the majority of Rinoa's bed. His arms were out, folded under his head as he slept on his stomach. Rinoa looked over at him and decided to wake him up. Casually she leaned over and placed her hand on his shoulder She pushed him gently.
"What...?" he grumbled out as he buried his face deeper into her pillow.
"Squall, today's the play!" Rinoa told him in a low voice. "You have to get ready, remember? You said you'd help me." she added to make her point clear.
Squall groaned as he rubbed his face against the pillow before rolling over on his back and slowly getting up. Rinoa headed for her bathroom as Squall stood up and rubbed the back of his head. "What am I supposed to be doing today?"
"Just help with the seating," she told him. "You're not an usher, but when they start to set up, they can always use the extra hand."
Squall nodded and looked around the room. Angelo was still sleeping in her doggy bed and he found himself envying the dog. Squall heard the shower go on and a smirked to himself. He stood up, aiming to join his beloved fiancee, when her phone rang. Frowning, he shot a glare at the phone, cursing whoever it was whom was messing up his plans. He reached over and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" he asked sharply.
"Squall!" Laguna's voice gasped, immediately recognizing the voice. "Uh...um...good morning?"
Squall rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"
"Um...is Rinoa there?" Laguna asked in a nervous voice. Squall immediately began to get suspicious and sat back down on the bed.
"Why?" Squall demanded in a low voice as he looked over at the bathroom just incase Rinoa had come out to listen.
"I...um...I don't know how to say this. But...er...the um...I can't...well..." Laguna stammered nervously as he paced around in his room. Squall's grip on the phone tightened as he knew where this was leading. "There is a slight...um...how could you call it? Uh...set back?"
"WHAT IS THE SET BACK." Squall stated in a demanding voice. He looked back up at the bathroom and was glad Rinoa was still in the shower.
Laguna took a long, hesitant, deep breath. "The checks I was supposed to mail to pay for everything were going to get sent out today and I thought they were on my desk, but the folder is empty and I have no idea where they are." he rushed out.
"Wait...the CHECKS to pay for MY wedding?" Squall asked. "You LOST the CHECKS to pay for MY wedding."
"Well, um...I didn't LOOSE them per say..."
"They don't just VANISH!" Squall growled.
"Baby, is something wrong!?" Rinoa's voice called from the bathroom as she stood in the shower, lathering her hair with shampoo.
Squall nearly dropped the phone. "No, Rin, everything's fine!" he called out as casually as he could before returning back to the phone. "Listen to me," Squall said in a nearly demonic voice, causing Laguna to shrink back. "You will FIND those checks and you will MAIL them. Rinoa will NOT know about this at all. If she finds out and has to spend even a second stressed out because of it, you are off of the wedding list, understand?"
Laguna swallowed nervously. "Yes, Squall..."
"GO FIND THOSE CHECKS." Squall hissed. He slammed the phone down on the charger and leaned forward. He ran his hand through his hair as he stared at the desk.
"Squall?" Rinoa's voice perked him up and he saw her coming out of the bathroom with a blue towel around her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah..." he mumbled. He offered her a weak smile. "I'll head over to my room and get changed."
"Great!" Rinoa said with a beaming smile. "We'll meet in the cafeteria in thirty minutes and then head over to the stage after breakfast!"
The burning sun was bright and shiny as it washed over the stage. Rinoa stood in front of it, her hands firmly at her waist as she looked up at it and smiled with satisfaction. The props were complete. Behind her, crew members and Squall were setting up the rows and rows of chairs for the audience. Selphie was doing the final checks with the actors.
Behind the stage, in the dressing tents, the main actors and actresses were preparing their make up and costumes. On the stage, crew members were doing final lighting checks and sound checks. Rinoa looked down at her clip board and smiled. Everything was going according to plan.
'I love it when everything is on schedule...' she thought to herself as she stood there pleased. She glanced down at her watch. 'Three hours until show time...it's almost time to let in the people.'
Since that morning, people had been lining up at the Garden to see the show. In such a short time, the Balamb Garden plays had gained such popularity. They were making quite a bit of money now, much to Cid's joy. Noted critics had come to the last play and this play was no exception. For Rinoa, it didn't matter what they said - as long as her cast and crew and the normal people liked it.
"Rinoa!" Selphie called as she came running over from the dressing tent. Rinoa turned around and smiled. "Everything is set. I just got the word from Zell's girlfriend at the front gates that they're all ready to let people in."
"Hmmm..." Rinoa looked over her shoulder. "We're still preparing out here. We're not supposed to let them in anyway. Have her start at the usual time."
"Okay!" Selphie said. Rinoa looked down at her clothes. She had to change soon as she would be going straight to the after party after she finished her jobs there.
"All right, I'm going to head up and change. Keep everything on track, okay? I'll be back soon." Rinoa told her. Selphie nodded and watched as Rinoa headed back to the building.
"Selphie!" a low voice shouted to her left. The petite brunette turned and saw Laguna wave for her to come forward. "Selphie!"
"Sir Laguna!" Selphie beamed happily. "All ready for the play?" she asked brightly.
Laguna shook his head. "Selphie, I have a problem!"
Selphie tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong, sir?"
"You know those checks to pay for the wedding? I...uh...lost them." Laguna said sheepishly. Selphie's eyes went wide as her mouth dropped.
"Rinoa's going to KILL you!" she gasped immediately. Laguna paled and nodded.
"Rinoa can't find out!" he exclaimed. "Squall told me not to tell her and to find those checks. But I can't find them anywhere!"
"Have you checked all over your room? Or retraced your foot steps?" Selphie suggested. Laguna nodded. "Uh...then you can write the checks and send them!"
"I can't! They don't want me to pay for the wedding and Rinoa will know when she doesn't get those checks back," Laguna looked around nervously and caught Squall glaring at him from the distance as the young captain was putting chairs down. "What am I going to do!?"
"I don't know, sir," Selphie said as she scratched her head. "Are you SURE they're not in your room?"
"They were in a manila folder and when I opened the folder this morning, it was empty!" he exclaimed.
"Selphie!" another voice shouted. The two brunettes turned around and saw Quistis approaching in her costume. "Selphie, you're needed back at the tent."
"Oh yeah...Quisty, we have a problem!" Selphie said. "Sir Laguna lost the checks to pay for Rinoa's wedding."
"He WHAT?" Quistis asked, her blue eyes wide with shock. She looked over at the middle aged man who was running his hand down his face. "Sir, is that true?"
"What am I going to do?" he whimpered.
Quistis took a deep breath. "Well, you can't tell her or she might have another fainting spell...and Squall definitely won't be happy..." she trailed off. "You might need to go under the table for this one."
"How? What do I do?" Laguna gasped eagerly.
Quistis paused and looked over at the building behind him. "Rinoa keeps track of all her transactions for the wedding...go find her binder - it should all be there. Call them up and pay for them with Rinoa's account. Have them send the receipt to her."
"But what about the checks? Won't she know that they weren't sent out?" Laguna asked. Quistis nodded.
"You'll have to tell her, but at least you won't have paid for them and by the time she'll figure it out, it'll be too late." Quistis told him. Laguna chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully before nodding.
"All right...where can I find her binder?"
Rinoa rushed out of her bedroom dressed in a knee length dark blue dress with thin straps. She was holding her clip board in one hand and her cellular phone in the other. "Start letting in the VIPs. I'll be down there to greet them at the VIP seating area in just a moment..." she was saying as she rushed to the elevators.
As soon as the sliding doors closed, Laguna peeked out from around the corner and proceeded to walk to Rinoa's room. He slid in a key card and entered the room. He stopped in his tracks. Clothes were thrown around, probably from when Rinoa was trying to find something to wear. Shoes were all over the place and panty hose was dangling from the back of her chair.
He found himself hesitating to touch anything. 'Now isn't the time!' he told himself sternly. 'I have to find that binder!'
"Daddy!" Rinoa said as she hugged her father. "Thank you for coming."
"Anything for my little girl," Caraway told her as he let her go and turned to Squall to shake his hand. "I heard you're doing your favorite fairy tale."
Rinoa nodded. "Modern day, of course. But I really like how it's turned out," she said. She looked over at Squall and smiled. "Squall, can you take daddy to his seat? I have to greet the other guests," She looked over her father's shoulder and them back at her father. "Daddy, I'll talk to you after the play."
"Of course, dear." he told her as he kissed his daughter on the cheek and let her rush off.
Rinoa greeted all the other VIP guests personally and then rushed back stage. "Rinoa! We're closing in!" Zell shouted.
"Attention ladies and gentle of the audience," Irvine said in a deep voice through the PA system. "Beauty and the Beast, a play by Rinoa Heartilly will be starting in just a minute. Please take your seats."
"All right! Get the actors for the first scene ready!" Rinoa shouted. Zell nodded and Rinoa sat down in a chair in the left wing. She put on her head set and saw Quistis appear across the stage in the right wing.
She waved and Quistis waved back. She could see the blond female taking a deep breath as she was dressed in a woman's business suit. "Count down starting..." she heard Selphie say through the head set.
"Cue the music!" Rinoa ordered. Immediately the music started clapping could be heard from the crowds in the audience. The curtains rose as the a set of dancers began to tell the story of Beauty and how she grew up to be what she was.
It wasn't long before Quistis stepped out on the stage, a cell phone in her ear. "Listen," she said in a stern voice. "I don't CARE if you have to work through the weekend! Get those papers to me first thing Monday morning!" she barked.
Rinoa looked down at her clip board. Her third play had begun.
Unbeknownst to Rinoa and the rest of her cast and crew, Laguna was sitting on the floor by her bed, flipping through a photo album he had found. "Oh...this looks like it was in Dollet!" he said and pointed to the picture as he leaned over and showed Angelo.
Angelo barked slightly. "Did you have a good time there?" Laguna asked. Angelo barked again and Laguna nodded. "Yeah, it looks like good weather."
Downstairs, in the VIP section, Squall was standing by the door. He and already seen the play during their dress rehearsals and while the audience seemed captivated, to him it was old news. As he yawned and looked at his watch, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
As he turned around he saw three familiar faces and smiled. "Sis, Ward, Kiros...you guys came."
"Sorry we're late," Ellone told him. "We were already cutting it close, but the taxi we were taking here broke down..." she sighed. "How's the play?"
"It's good," he said. "I've already seen it though. Go ahead and have seats." he said, motioning his hands to the area in front of him.
Ellone nodded and she and Ward went to take a seat. Kiros opted to stand next to Squall. "Squall, have you see Laguna anywhere?"
Squall narrowed his eyes immediately at the name of the man who he feared would send his fiancee spiraling into insanity. "Not today." he replied quickly.
"Hmm..." Kiros rubbed his chin. "He sent over something the other day instead of the correct papers I wanted him to sign."
'Go figure...' Squall thought to himself.
"They were about a dozen checks."
Squall's eyes went wide and he turned to Kiros. "In envelops? To where?"
"They were already addressed and stamped so we mailed them out," Kiros said, slightly confused at Squall's sudden interest. "One was to the bakery that Laguna loves so much. I think there were some for some seamstress that Ellone knew."
Squall took a deep breath and ran his hand down his face. "I see..."
"Is something wrong?" Kiros asked. Squall shook his head.
"No...you said you mailed them already?"
"Yeah. The day we got them," Kiros said. "A few days ago."
"I see..." Squall looked up at the stage where Seifer was about to make his grand entrance. "Have a seat, Kiros. I'll go see if I can find Laguna."
Kiros nodded and headed for the last remaining seat next to Ward. Squall looked around and slipped away.
"Hey, hey...where are you going?" Seifer asked, his usual cocky attitude shining through into his acting. On stage, Quistis turned around and glared at him.
"I'm sorry, I have no time for people like you," she said as calmly as she could. "I'm waiting for someone."
"You're Miss Bella Ave, right?" Seifer asked, taking out a slip of paper from the breast pocket of his jacket and checking it.
Quistis frowned. "Oh you're kidding me...there is NO way that YOU could be..."
"Ta-da!" Seifer held his arms open wide. "Name's Lex. I'm the escort the agency sent over."
Quistis paled and took a shaky step back. "Oh, Hyne no..."
Rinoa was caught up watching the play as Selphie appeared next to her. "Rin, here's the final count." Selphie slipped her a piece of paper and Rinoa looked down at the numbers. Her eyes widened as a triumphant grin spread across her face. She had asked for more chairs and even then the audience was filled to capacity. Not only that, but the sales was amazing.
"I am a genius..." Rinoa said in a low voice. Selphie giggled and ran back to her spot.
She looked back up at the stage as Seifer ran in front of Quistis. "Hey, you just can't send me back. If you send me back without my doing my job I don't get paid."
"Well, that isn't my problem, SIR," Quistis snapped back. "Now, please get out of my way. My train is going to leave at any second."
"No, I don't think you understand the severity of the situation, Miss Ave." Seifer insisted.
"You know, no matter how many times those words come out of his mouth...they still sound way too intelligent for him." Irvine's voice echoed in their head sets. The group snickered off stage.
"Listen, Mr. Lex-"
"Just call me Lex."
"Fine, LEX, I have to get home-"
"And do what? Heat up a frozen dinner and watching re-runs?" Seifer asked. "Listen, lady, I'm just doing my job."
"Well, now you've introduced yourself for tomorrow's dinner party. Your job is done. Please leave me alone." Quistis snapped back as she tried to walk past him.
"So ARE we going out tomorrow or NOT?" he asked, grabbing her wrist before she left. "You may have all the money in the world, but us normal people have to make a living somehow."
Quistis narrowed her eyes and shot him a deadly glare. "Let go of my wrist NOW, Lex. Or I'll come down so hard on you, you'll be happy to just be living."
Seifer smirked and let go of her wrist, but not before lifting it to his lips and kissing the back of her hand. "Tomorrow then, Miss Ave." he winked at her and walked away.
Quistis took a deep breath. "Insufferable man!" With that, she left the stage, a slight blush on her face as she exited into the wings.
"Okay! Curtains! Let's get the next scene set up!" Rinoa ordered. She looked down at her watch. 'Just a few more hours...'
Squall walked through the empty dormitory halls searching for his father. In the lower levels that over looked the quad, students who couldn't get tickets were watching the play for free. Something that no one really minded as they were students and the play was being put on for their benefit anyway. Squall turned the corner and paused as he saw a familiar dog walking down the corridor.
"Angelo?" he asked, surprised to see the dog wandering around alone. She turned around and let out a pleased bark as she trotted over to him. Squall bent down and gently scratched Angelo behind the ears. "Angelo, what are you doing here?"
Just as he asked the question, a realization hit him. Rinoa would NEVER let Angelo wander around the Garden alone. Meaning someone must've broken into her room. Anger flashed through his eyes as stood up and marched straight towards Rinoa's room with Angelo behind him.
He headed down the hall, his fists clenching. He saw Rinoa's door up ahead and found it was open. Ice blue eyes turned into slits as he stomped in, ready to destroy whoever was inside. Clothes were strewn about, shoes were everywhere, and hose dangling from strange places. However, Squall's eyes immediately zoned in to the figure sitting on the floor, flipping through what looked like Rinoa's prized wedding binder.
"LAGUNA!"
"AH!" The man on the floor looked, his face loosing all color as he set his eyes on the Squall, who was dressed in his SeeD uniform.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY FIANCEE'S ROOM!?"
"Cue the music...in five..." Rinoa said paying close attention to the meticulously planned dance scene of the play. "Four...three...two...one..."
The music started and on stage, Seifer lead a hesitant Quistis on to their 'dance floor'. Rinoa felt herself sigh as she remembered when she did the same with Squall so many years ago.
This particular scene was all about body language. It was the key moment where Quistis and Seifer knew deep down how they felt about each other. It was a slow waltz and Rinoa peeked over at the audience. Everyone seemed to captivated by the dance and the sheer beauty of the lighting against Quistis' dress as she was lead around slowly.
Slowly, Rinoa's hand slipped down to her ring finger and caressed the diamond engagement ring there. She smiled silently to herself. 'I'm the luckiest woman in the world...everything is going according to plan.'
"I...I can explain!"
"Even if you DO, I don't care!" Squall growled.
"Uh...first off, I'd just like to say that I did not do this. The room was like this when I came in."
"And WHY are you IN in the first place!?"
Laguna shrank back and held his head low. He might as well tell his son. "I was looking for the records to the places where she sent out checks so I could get them paid for," he immediately lifted up his head. "But I wasn't going to pay for them! I was going to have them paid from Rinoa's account and then have the receipt sent to her! I was going to tell her about the checks after the wedding so she wouldn't be stressed out!"
Squall was still fuming with anger. 'How can one man...No...no, don't think about it...it'll only drive you nuts.' Squall thought to himself.
Laguna allowed his head fall as he stood up. "I'm sorry, Squall."
'Oh, that's right old man. You'll be sorry all right...' Squall's devious little mind thought. He looked up at his father. "Just get out of here before she finds out. And put her binder and..." Squall paused as he saw the stack of photo albums. He narrowed his eyes. "Were you looking at her photo albums?"
"Um...well..."
"Forget it!" he mumbled. "Forget it. Just put them back and get the hell out of here."
"You're not...mad?" Laguna asked as he began to put the photo albums away.
Squall's lip twitched. "I'm MAD," he stated. "Now hurry up before Rinoa finds out!"
"What about the checks?" Laguna asked worriedly. Squall's icy blue eyes shot directly at his father.
"I'll take care of it MYSELF. WITHOUT breaking into Rinoa's room," Laguna swallowed and quickly put the things away as Angelo made herself comfortable on Rinoa's bed. Squall escorted his father out and the doors slid closed. "Squall-"
"Don't TALK to me right now," Squall hissed. "I can't BELIEVE that you actually had a crack pot scheme like that! Forget it! Just...ugh!" He threw his arms in the air and stomped out. Laguna looked down at the ground.
"I'm sorry..."
Squall returned to the VIP section of the play just as they were reaching the peak of the story. He looked at his watch. He had been gone for quite some time. "Squall, where were you?" a quiet voice asked.
He saw Ellone standing in front of him with a frown. "Sorry, I was taking care of something."
"Did you find uncle?" Ellone asked curiously. He shrugged.
"What makes you think..." he trailed off when he remembered who he was talking to. "He's fine."
Ellone sighed and shook her head. "I have good new for you though. Since the majority of the wedding planning is taken care of. We're going to take uncle back to Esthar."
If he were a child on Christmas morning, Squall eyes couldn
