Mistakes

Chapter 5: Redefinition

It had been one long dream. One fantasy he had been dreaming. He dreamt of him leaning against the wall of the Garden ballroom, impatiently waiting for the party to end. He didn't care if it was for the graduating cadets; he just wanted to disappear into the solace of his empty dorm. He would just feel better that way.

The waitress had offered him a glass of wine, and he had taken it, conscious of the way she was looking at his fresh scar. What are you looking at? He had thought, but didn't want to probe further. He glanced away at the floor and she left. I won't be her friend. I don't want to be anyone's friend.

Then She had appeared. Not another one. Just go away. What do you want?

"Hey, you are the handsomest here, want to dance?" He hadn't heard her wrong. She wanted him to dance. She wanted to make friends. Friends? Just go away. Please.

He ignored her, and looked down to the floor, his hands jabbed into the pockets of his jacket, hoping that his lack of interest would drive her away.

It didn't.

"I bet you'd only dance with people you like." Wrong. I don't like anyone. She was doing a chant in front of him, making him like her. You're going to like me--- Why had she been so insistent?

He knew he was falling under her spell. She was weakening his wall he had built all his life within just that twinkling of a few seconds. She had charmed him, yet he didn't know her even. Glancing into her eyes, he found something within her that was foreign to him. Passion. Zeal. All those sparks that flew from her, the aura she gave off. He was mesmerised.

He had miraculously let the total stranger drag him onto the dance floor, fully knowing that he couldn't dance. But he could care less. Never had a person tried approaching him like she did. He was an idiot with dancing, she could tell; yet she didn't give up on him. Clumsy as he was, they fell on another dancing couple. He thought she would just walk out on him, but he was once again amazed at how she could retort back so childishly and at the same time seem so elegant. She was a godsend.

She taught him simple steps in dancing, and praised him for being such a fast learner. The truth was that she was the good teacher. He took in whatever she had taught, and learnt it perfectly.

She taught him more than that dance. She taught him to open up his world to beautiful things that he never knew existed. She taught him how to appreciate his existence, how to look at his world with enthusiasm, and to make friends. She taught him how to love, and that was the best present he'd ever received. Her.

She made him realise how important it was to have a person to rely on, to love and to hold. His instincts had made him jump out of the escape capsule into the dangerous space to save her. In timeless space, he had been frantic, but not because he was floating in nothingness, but that he knew he was losing her every minute he wasted. He cared naught for his death; it was better he died with her than to live without his bundle of joy.

In Ragnarok, he had cuddled her in his arms, safe once again. He learnt to treasure everything. He learnt to forget the past and look forward to the future. He learnt to worry less, and to live life to the fullest, just because she was there for him.

Now safe from Ultimecia and in the infirmary, he thought of his half-sister. Not only just that, half-sisters and brothers don't go through such pains to be together. They don't save each other from space only to find that they were going to be trapped too. They don't grab each other out of their miserable solitude and time compression. Hell, half-sisters and brothers don't even share the same mother.

Yet Rinoa was his half-sister, and she had saved him time and time again from self-damnation and eternal loneliness. She was the one he loved. His sorceress. Why of all the coincidence? Could they have made a mistake? Laguna… their father… He was sceptical. He had to find out more…

She had awoken to the sun casting its rays upon the blankets of the tranquil Squall. Sleeping. Careful not to wake him, she soothed her creased nightshirt and paced about the room.

Garden. Has it been that long since they first met? She knew it like it was just yesterday. The smart SeeD uniform, starch black jacket and pants, the emblem of SeeD proudly embroidered on the sleeves. Leaning dejectedly against the ballroom wall and gazing at the darkened sky, watching the shooting star emerge out of nowhere and sail past. She had noticed the falling star too, and pointed at it. He shrugged, refusing eye contact.

He's so shy. She had been attracted to him, for no particular reason, finding him isolated at the corner of the grand ballroom. He was exceptionally quiet, just like an outcast, and she wanted him in the action. Her instincts had taken over, and she walked over.

"Hey, you are the handsomest here, want to dance?" Damn, my instincts are failing me. What a corny pick-up line. He shrugged, looking away. My charms don't work on him.

She tried again. "I bet you'd only dance with people you like." Oh Hyne, where did I learn those? Hell, I'll just go along. Circling her hands in front of his eyes, she murmured, you're going to like me— "Did it work?" she teased. It finally wrought an answer from him. "I can't dance," he shrugged. Exasperated by his reluctance, she decided to just jerk him off his wall. "Come on, I can't be on the dance floor without a partner."

If there was any strength that brought Squall to the dance floor, it was her willpower. Never had anyone been able to get him off the wall, it was as if he stuck himself on that wall with superglue. Yet his superglue didn't work with Rinoa.

"You are doing fine, follow me… One, two, three… one, two, three… Oops…" Squall had lost his step and fell over to the neighbouring couple.

"Hey!! Watch it, will you?" She had stuck her tongue out in defiance, and the couple walked away in irritation.

Turning her attention back onto Squall, she saw the frustration building up, his annoyance welling up in his eyes. "I can't do it." He walked away, only to be pulled back.

"Trust yourself. And trust me." That was all she needed to say, and she saw his confidence building up as they danced. But I have to go. Someday. She didn't want to go. In him, she saw fragile heart of his, that all she wanted to do was to hug him tight. They chanced upon a meeting that Hyne decided to break up.

Their dance was perfect, the young infatuated couple, not ready to accept the fact that they were meant for each other. On the dance floor, they circled their partner, twirling around each other's arms, all in coordination. At that very moment, time was not a factor – it was just merely a passer-by, patiently watching them. At that very moment, their ambitions and aims were but a tool to making them meet. At that very moment, nothing else mattered. Just them.

She lay close to Squall's chest, hearing his quickened heartbeat. The ballroom had grown dim, and they peered up to the open sky, watching the glowing fireworks light up the evening. His face was tilted up, and she saw his lips slightly curling to a smile, as though a thousand burdens were lifted from him. Perhaps no one could ever make him that happy. She was honoured, only that she didn't know how she had a struck a fire in him. She needed to teach him to recognise himself.

Space had been a distant memory for her, but there was one thing she would never forget – he had jumped off from his safety cache to save her. She was forever indebted to him. He could have ignored her, and continued with life without her, without his sorceress. He would have been freed from the relentless gossips. But he had saved her. He had wanted to be her knight, to protect her. He had cuddled her and wiped away her tears in the Ragnarok. He had saved her from the Sorceress Memorial. He wanted her by his side.

That was all she needed. Nothing would separate a sorceress and her knight. Not even some silly theory about them been half-sister and brother. Why should they be so affected by that? She was after all a sorceress. But why of all, the coincidence? Let this not be a mistake that would tear apart two people. She had to know the truth.

He had been treading the corridor outside Laguna's room since morning, deeply in thought, trying to be rational and reasonable. It's past the stage where I should hate him. It's over. He stopped in front of the door, and hesitantly knocked. He might not even be in. The door had opened.

"Squall?" Laguna couldn't register in his mind that his son had come to see him. "Oh!! Come in!" Awkwardly, he scratched the back of his head and ushered Squall in. Watching his son stride in unspoken, he suddenly knew what this was all about. "Squall, I guess I owe you an explanation… And your wounds…" He glanced at his chest where his shirt had covered the huge scar the T-rex had tore apart a few days ago. Squall shook his head, indicating that he was better already.

"You don't owe me any explanations, I just want some facts." He paced about the room, recollecting his thoughts and settled back on the couch.

Laguna had sat down across him, on the sofa. "Just ask."

Squall watched him intently. "I need to know when Julia had given birth to Rinoa."

"That's easy, isn't Rinoa's birthday on the 3rd of March? She was born in your year, Lunar 1205."

"Wrong answer. According to what you had said, you only reach Winhill the year after you met Julia, January Lunar 1205. I would have been born in the year Lunar 1206. But as you just said, I was born Lunar 1205. There is a contradiction."

Laguna saw light in this whole conversation, but he was confused. "You mean… Rinoa isn't really my daughter?"

"Either that, or there has been some major cover-up regarding her birth date. Her birth date could have been altered." He stated.