Reno: And we're back, with another action-pakced chapter of "Fallen Knight"!
Reeve: Uh...
Reno: What is it now?
Reeve: You do know that because Tyramir's writing this, there will be little action, and it will revolve more around character development, right?
Reno: But... he... last chapter had Kiros fighting a Behemoth!
Reeve: Indeed. And I was most amazed and entertained. Even so, he rarely does action. Chances are, this chapter will contain a wussy display of emotion by Rinoa as she pours her feelings out for Squall, who will then say--
Reno: Don't blow it for me!
Reeve: Fine fine. I'll let you read it. Tyramir doesn't own the rights to anything Final Fantasy. I wish he owned the rights to me. Then he could actually kill me and put me out of my misery. I'm sick of working alongside this idiot.
Reno: Wait. Were you going to say "whatever"?
::Reeve slams his head against a wall repeatedly::
Floodgate
Rinoa entered the training grounds hesitantly, unsure of whether or not she should be there. While she was a welcomed guest of both Headmaster Cid and Commander Squall, she was still not a member of SeeD, and was unsure of the rules concerning her. Was she allowed in the training area? And if she was, was there some sort of rule about weapon procedure, or dress code, or what? Balamb Garden was beautiful, and it was filled with some of her closest friends, but she felt very insecure about the whole place. She didn't like the idea of fighting, ironic as it may be that she was a freedom fighter. And an academy dedicated to teaching people... no, children, the art of warfare seemed a little... repulsive.
But this was her future now. She was a Sorceress. No. She was the Sorceress, having taken in the power from two separate ones, one of which had taken the power from two as well. In her flowed the power of legend. Power that people would inevitably seek to use, to manipulate, to contain or destroy. Even Esthar, a country that had been a valued ally against Adel and Ultemicia, had attempted to put her into stasis so that she would never harm anyone. Without her Knight, without Squall, she would have been locked away forever. Only his love for her had saved her from eternal imprisonment among the stars.
And now she had to remind him that he did indeed love her, and that should fight him and his loner ways.
But she couldn't help remember the things he had said to her that morning. Could Quistis really be right? Could he just be pushing her away because he was afraid? Afraid of her leaving him?
Rinoa knocked on Squall's dorm room. A pleasant knock, with a beat from a song she had stuck in her head, very cheerful and bright, trying to banish away her own worry over Squall and the sickness he seemed to have picked up.
She had asked Doctor Kadowaki to stop by Squall's room since he seemed reluctant to go see her himself, and after a small chat, the doctor had agreed to make one house call, but only this once. She was probably in there now, but why was no one answering? She knocked again, a little more loudly, but still kept the cheerful beat.
Immediately the door swung open, and Doctor Kadowaki came out, an angry look on her face.
"Doctor?" Rinoa asked, watching the woman slam the door behind her.
Kadowaki looked as if she was about to rampage by, but stopped, turned to Rinoa, and managed a look of calm that almost looked convincing.
"As far as I can tell, there's nothing wrong with Squall except for an attitude problem. The symptoms you described to me could just be a result from a bad case of vertigo, due to standing in a high place and looking down. It's my professional opinion that there's nothing physically wrong with him."
"Thank you, Doctor."
"You're welcome. Be careful in there. I've seen Squall anti-social before, but this... this is different."
Rinoa thanked the Doctor again, turned, and opened the door. Walking in, she saw Squall sprawled out on his bed, dressed in his normal civilian clothes. His hair was drenched in sweat, and his eyes were closed, a thoughtful expression on his face. When she closed the door, he opened one eye, and looked at her, a small smile playing off of his lips.
"Hello, dear. Have you come to scold me?" he said as he sat up.
She frowned, then moved closer until she stood within arm's reach, just across from him. "Hi, Squall. How're you feeling?"
"Much better." That same lazy smile was on his face, almost as if he were bored, trying to force amusement on himself. Suddenly, it flickered, turning into an expression of pain. Squall groaned, and grabbed his head. "Get out."
"What?" Rinoa asked, shocked.
"Get out! Now! I want you out!"
"Squall? What's the matter?"
"GET OUT, DAMMIT!!"
Startled by the ferocity of his words, Rinoa backed away, retreating. When her back hit the door, she fumbled for the knob, opened it, and then moved out.
Looking back on events, she decided that she had probably retreated too early. She shouldn't have left at all. But for a moment there, from the intensity of his voice, she had been sure that he was going to try to hurt her. The pure... malice that had been there, genuine anger, and a touch of hatred. Did he hate her? Or was he just trying to push her away?
The hallway disappeared, turning into dense jungle. Here it was. The training area. There would be a lot of monsters in here, all trained to attack. She would have to be careful. She didn't think to Junction a GF before she had come, and had only brought her Shooting Star as a weapon. She almost audibly laughed when she remembered that if worse came to worst, she could always fall back on her Sorceress abilities. She kept forgetting about the benefits of that.
She wandered about the lush flora of the training grounds, searching, until she came upon a clearing, where Squall sat cross-legged, his gunblade in his lap. He had his eyes closed, and that same, odd smile was on his face that had been there before. He sniffed once, then opened an eye lazily. "I knew you were there."
She smiled, glad at his response. This was much different than he had been earlier. But at the same time... similar. The way that smile, almost mocking, sat on his face, the shape of it. It was completely unfamiliar to her. She had never seen him with that expression before, and now she had seen it twice in one day.
"Are you feeling better now?"
She wasn't sure what happened, but suddenly he was up, and standing directly in front of her, his face just an inch from hers. She remembered him being quick, agile, but not like that. She almost jumped back, but got a hold of herself and just smiled at him. He moved his face closer and nuzzled the side of her cheek. Giggling, she said, "Stop. I take it you're feeling a lot better?"
He pulled away, a teasing look in his eyes. "Much better. I haven't felt this alive in a long while."
"That's good to hear. About this morning..."
"I apologize. I had a headache, and I wasn't acting myself. I must have eaten some bad food at the party last night."
"So you're sure you're okay? No problems at all? No sickness, no emotional pushing away, none of that?"
"No, nothing wrong at all. I'm fine now."
She nodded, still a little worried, but put on a good face. "Okay. Well, everyone just had lunch, but do you want to catch dinner with the group later? The whole gang's a little worried--"
"And they have no right to be," he said. "I'm fine. And I'm tired of all of you people prying into my affairs. I have a right to choose when to be alone. And I'm choosing now."
His words hit her. Quistis was right. He was trying to push them away. She had to be careful about this. She wanted to let him know that she'd never leave him. Not for anything.
"If you want to be alone, that's okay. But I'll always be here. I'll never leave unless you really want me to. And I won't even go easily then."
His new expression returned, that lazy, almost condescending smile. It was a seductive look, but one that said that he really didn't care if it was or not. He moved a hand up, and lightly touched a lock of her hair, taking it between his fingers.
"How sweet," he said. "But you don't have to do that. If I don't want to be with you, then I won't be with you. Now, go away. I want to be alone right now."
"No."
The smiled widened, but it didn't touch Squall's eyes. "Do you think I'm joking? That this is a suggestion? Shoo. Go away. I don't want you near me. I'm content at this moment to be alone. Maybe we'll get together later and get physical."
"Excuse me?" His words shocked her. Was he trying to say that he only wanted her for sex? She expected this kind of attitude from Irvine, maybe Seifer, but never Squall.
"What? Did you want me to tell you that I loved you and that I wanted to be with you forever? That if you called, I'd come?" He released the lock of hair and moved his face against hers, close enough that their noses touched. "You want me. And I want you. But don't let love and promises ruin it. I'll come to claim you when I'm ready."
He planted a tender kiss on her lips. She wanted to pull away, but something inside her responded, something primal and unfamiliar. Power flowed through her veins, charging her with electricity. A hum settled through her, making her tingle.
When Squall broke off the kiss, she felt dizzy. She stepped back, determined to get away from him. He gave her that same smile again, and chuckled softly as she fled.
Author's Note:
Sorry this took so long. A lot of things kept interfering, and I kept getting distracted. Ah well.