A/N: Oh no...the end is coming. But everyone's been waiting for it huh? Well, before that though, it's time to solve a few questions. Finally, Rinoa's past is revealed. So enjoy as everything finally comes to. Ah...so sad. Anyways, thanks for the reviews again and enjoy the beginning of the end...

Part Six: The Lion

The Last Assignment

"Squall!" A cheery voice called from inside the office of the large mansion in Balamb.

"What is it, Selphie? I as just about to get into the shower!" The deep, but loving, tone called from the other room.

"There's someone who needs to talk to you. He says it's very urgent." Selphie awaited Squall's reply.

"God dammit!" Squall trotted into the office, irritated as hell, and grabbed the phone.

"Aww...did Squally not get any time to get some action with his little sex toy?" Zell made a pouty face, making fun of Squall and Rinoa.

Squall picked up a book a threw it over at Zell who was on the couch. He caught it with his hands and shut up.

"Uh-huh. Okay...fine." Squall hung up the phone.

"What is it?" Selphie looked up at him from her desk.

"Some guy. Wouldn't tell me his name. He says he has a mission for us. Says that there will be a guy who will come by later to give us the details." Squall replied.

"And you accepted it?" Selphie was surprised. Squall never was so reckless.

"Well, it doesn't matter who or what it is. We're the best assassination squad out there." Squall laughed to himself. Zell joined in.

"I can't believe you're letting arrogance get the best of you." A calm, and intellectual voice came from across the room.

"Quistis...since when did you eavesdrop?" Squall looked at the tall woman in pink.

"I just happened to walk in." She giggled.

"But she does have a point, Squall." Selphie replied.

"Well, let's at least check the mission out. If we don't want it, then we'll just not do it." Squall said.

"It's probably small time anyways." Zell sat up on the couch.

"I guess we'll just have to wait to see." Quistis said, worried that it might be something really big.

Rinoa finally turned the water off. The hot shower slowly trickled down to a drip as the steam filled the air. Rinoa closed her eyes as she felt the water slowly slide down her naked body and drip into the stream that was heading down the drain.

She pulled the shower curtain away, releasing the steam caught inside the shower. She grabbed her towel that was hanging on the rack. She began to rub her body with it to dry it as she stepped out of the shower. She wrapped the towel around her body as she reached for another one to dry her hair. She began to rub it vigorously to dry her long, black hair.

She left the bathroom that lead into her bedroom. It was fairly large, second largest in the house, with a large window to look out on the ocean. She sat on the edge of her bed to admire the view. She leaned over to her nightstand where she had put her necklace. She picked it up and put the chain around her neck that held two rings around it. She fiddled with it a little. She moved the rings around in her fingers, daydreaming.

She was suddenly broken from her trance when her door opened slightly. She let the rings drop onto her chest and hang there. She shot her head towards the door.

"Are you decent?" A southern voice asked.

"Yes." Rinoa said annoyed. She could've said "no," but she was never a good liar.

The tall cowboy pushed himself into her room. He wore his cowboy hat, slightly askew, with his jeans covered with the cowboy slops and his blue shirt. He had left his overcoat off.

"What do you want?" Rinoa asked him, standing up now.

"I just wanna talk." He tried to not get her mad.

"What is it?" She clutched her towel around her body tightly.

"Man, you are really beautiful." He looked at her.

"On with the point, Irvine." Rinoa looked at him impatiently.

"Rinoa...I love you. I want to be with you so badly. But you just slap me in the face every time I see you with Squall." Irvine looked down to the ground.

"Irvine...we've had this conversation before. I don't love you, I love Squall. That'll never change." Rinoa turned her back to him.

"I know that, but...I want something from you." He walked up to her.

"What?" Rinoa knew it would be something outrageous.

"I want you to make love to me. Just try it and see if you don't like it. Then I'll just leave you alone after that." He came so close that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"Never." Rinoa was disgusted. He had really gone crazy now. She would never betray Squall like that.

"I figured you'd say that. However, I'm gonna make you a proposition." He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" She just looked out the window. Whatever he wanted to say to her was retarded, and she was just going to stop listening.

"If you don't do it...then I'll tell Squall your dirty secret." He came up so close that Rinoa could feel his body up against hers.

Her eyes widened. Fright took into her heart, "...You wouldn't."

"Oh yes...although everyone else doesn't seem to care, I'm sure Squall might have something to say about it if he ever found out." He came close to her ear.

"You can't..." Her voice whimpered out.

"I'll tell him," He bent into her ear, "that you never got rid of your sorceress powers."

Tears began to fill Rinoa's eyes. She was caught now. She could plead all she wanted, but there was only one way to get out of this with Irvine. She had to give into his demands.

"Fine." Her voice sounded so weak.

He pulled himself away from her, "Good. Then tomorrow night we'll commence at midnight. I'll meet you in your room."

Rinoa had told Squall that she had gotten rid of her powers after the ordeal with Ultimicia. She knew he hated sorceresses. So in order to be with him, or even just to stay alive, she had to do it. But she couldn't go through with it when the time came. She just couldn't destroy that part of herself. So she confided in her friends. They supported her and helped her through the tough time. Quistis trained her to help her suppress her powers, while the others tried to conceal it from Squall. It worked and things were great. She even got the courage to tell Squall that she loved him. They were finally together, and she was happy. But now her world had come crashing down. No matter what she did, she would betray Squall. And he was someone you didn't want to betray. Rinoa just fell to her knees, crying.

The doorbell rang to the SeeD mansion at one in the afternoon. Zell answered it after having to get up from his favorite TV show. He opened the door to see no one there.

"Fucking kids! I swear I'll beat your fucking heads in!" He yelled out to the whole neighborhood. He looked down to see an envelope. It wasn't addressed to anyone, but there was something inside it. Zell thought best not to open it unless everyone was there. It was most likely about their upcoming mission.

He ran into the office, parading the envelope around like a little kid who has just gotten a new toy. He burst through the doors where everyone was lounging about. Irvine was cleaning his gun, Selphie working on the computer, Rinoa and Squall in each other's arms, and Quistis reading some document.

"What is it, Zell?" Selphie looked up from her computer screen.

"I think it's the details on the mission." Zell handed the envelope to Squall who took it from him excitedly.

He began to open it, carefully so as not to rip the letter. He took the letter out as everyone gathered in front of him. He began to read it carefully. At first he mouthed the words, but then, it turned to silence. He carefully read it...not looking up or showing any emotion. He lowered the letter and just stood there with a blank stare. Everyone was waiting in suspense.

"So..." Quistis shook her head in anticipation.

"Could you guys leave me alone for a moment. I just need to think about something." He told them, not changing his look.

Everyone knew not to ask questions. They all just nodded and filed out of the office. Rinoa took a last look at Squall who hadn't changed at all. She headed for the door, but her instinct told her to stay. She turned herself around to look at Squall who was still staring blankly. She took a few steps forward, closing the door so no one else could hear. She saw his sorrow, even though he desperately tried not to show it. She came towards him. She placed her hand on his shoulder. He twitched when she did.

"Squall? What's wrong?" She wanted to be there for him. She wanted him to open up for her.

"...Our next assignment...is..." His eyes began to water, and Rinoa could only watch as his sorrow overtook him.

Rinoa stood silent, trying to think of something.

"We're to kill the president of Esthar," He began to cry now, "...I just don't think I can kill me father!"

Rinoa took him in her arms. His quivering body in her arms, she just stroked his head, trying to comfort him. He sobbed uncontrollably on her shoulder.

"...Squall...I'll always be there for you. I'll be there no matter what you decide and support you." She tried to calm him. If one thing was sure, she knew that he would never back out of a job. But this was a touchy matter. She wanted to help him so badly.

They both stood there, in each other's arms, for an hour.

"What!?" Zell yelled aloud when Squall told him the assignment personally.

"Yes, we're to kill the president of Esthar...Use any means necessary." Squall sighed as he said this with regret.

"You can't be serious! He's your fucking birth father for Christ sakes!" Zell was appalled by this.

"Don't you think I know that!?" Squall yelled at him.

"Dude...I know you're having a hard time with this, but I just say forget it. He's your father, and you shouldn't have to feel guilty for killing him." Zell hugged Squall as he became teary.

"Zell...you're a good friend, but I've already made my decision. I do this job because it's what I do. I'm not going to back out just because my personal feelings are involved. This is a big job and I'm not going to sacrifice it for the team." Squall pulled himself away.

"I get that, but I think the team would understand if we didn't do it." He told him.

"I know, but only because of me. If he was any other guy, we'd do it because of the pay, and I'm not going to treat him any differently." Squall nodded to him.

"Whatever, but I just don't want to see you beating yourself up after this is over." Zell turned away, in tears, to go to bed.

The mission took place the following day. The day when Rinoa was supposed to fulfill her agreement with Irvine. She already had enough on her mind despite that. This mission was such a sad one. How can someone really give the order to kill his father? Not to mention that she still had this secret inside of her. She was getting closer to Squall, but also farther away. She could never forgive herself for what she was going to do with him. All these thoughts were going through her head. During her morning shower, she had fainted from the stress. Squall had rushed in when he heard the thud in the shower. He carried her out and waited for her to awake. He tried to convince her not to go on the mission, but she was a part of this team, and she wanted to be treated like it.

The mission was set up like this. Selphie was to hack into Esthar's system and crash it. But she only was to do it for the presidential palace to shut their power down. Then, Quistis and Zell would take care of the guards as a distractions. Irvine was across the street in sniper position to help them out. Meanwhile, Rinoa was to be undercover to get access to the president. She would let Squall in safely, and he would proceed to carry out the rest of the mission. It was pretty full proof. With all six of them working, there wouldn't be any problems. Except a certain variable they never accounted for.

Rinoa was dressed in the long, white robe of Esthar officials. Selphie had already printed her a pass and given her a fake name. She was all set for her undercover operation. Though she was to get Squall into the facility unnoticed, she had another important job. She had to hook Selphie up to their system. She wouldn't be able to get in a shut them down unless from inside.

Rinoa was inside the palace, walking around with a clipboard to seem important. But all she needed to do was get to a computer. Surprisingly, there were no offices that she had access to, except one. But it was owned by an Esthar official. She had to get in there somehow and upload Selphie into their database. The guard had given her a keycard when she told him that she had lost hers. He saw her id so it was no problem. So she slipped the card around her neck through the slot and accessed the office.

It was very lavished, much bigger than theirs was. She sat herself down at the computer and plugged Selphie in through a portable laptop. She whipped out her cell phone and called Selphie.

"You're good to go." Rinoa told her as she hung up the phone.

Rinoa had to get out of here now, but it would be bad if the official came into his office and saw a laptop hooked up to it. So she couldn't leave just yet. She had to wait.

The doors opened as a large man in a long purple robe walked in. He stared at Rinoa who was just standing in his office for some reason.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The man asked puzzled.

"...Waiting for you." Rinoa felt so stupid delivering that line. She unzipped the back of her robe and let it drop to the ground. The man's eyes went wide open as he saw a young girl, perfect in every way, drop down to her underwear. It was laced and black, the kind he liked. He began to drool as he walked up to her.

Rinoa felt sick for doing this with this guy who was so much older than she was. He wrapped his hands around her body and began tasting her in anyway possible. Rinoa tried not to do anything except wait for her special moment. The move Squall had taught her was about to come into effect. She inched her hand up to the back of the guy's neck. He moaned in the touch. Rinoa winced at this, but kept going. Using her index finger and thumb, she planted them softly on the two pressure points to use. Then with all her might, she squeezed them as hard as she could. He jolted up in surprise as he felt his limbs going weak. She kept a grip on him before he finally fell to the floor. She figured that was enough to keep them safe. She quickly pulled up her robe again and left the office.

Minutes later, the lights went off and the emergency lights kicked in. However, those soon flickered off as the whole system began to crash. Rinoa had to get herself to an alleyway door to the palace. She knew most would be using the teleport to leave so she could easily sneak Squall in through this manual exit. She awaited for the call when Quistis, Zell, and Irvine had successfully lured the guards away.

The phone rang. Rinoa answered, "Yes."

"I've got GPS signals on all the guards. It appears as if the majority have been called to the east side. But I still see two that are by the president's office, as planned. Go ahead and let him in." Selphie hung up the phone.

Rinoa opened the exit where Squall was waiting patiently. Rinoa looked at him as seemed to be praying. She waited for him to move so they could continue. She dared not disturb him.

He finished and saw that she was staring at him, "Sorry. Let's go."

"Okay." Rinoa smiled and they were on their way.

They ran across the skywalk that was built over the city, made of glass. It was still morning, but it felt like this had taken much more time. They came across the two guards who sprung to life when they saw the two. Squall took out his Lionheart and sliced one down the middle. Rinoa, having no weapon, hit him low and then gouged his eyes out. It was messy, but she had to stay strong in front of Squall.

The doors to the presidential office were in front of them. According to Selphie, he was in there. But the question was whether or not Squall would enter as well. She saw as he hesitated in front of that door. She wanted to help him through it. She knew they had to do this. They were in too deep to back out now.

Squall took a deep breath as he swung open the doors to the presidential office. Rinoa wait in anticipation. She was so scared for him right now. The office was only lit by the morning sunlight coming in through the glass ceiling and walls. Squall took a few steps, holding his gunblade with both hands at his side. Rinoa peered into the darkness of the room. She tried to seek out the president. As they stand there, afraid like little children, a man stepped into the light.

Laguna Loire was president of Esthar. He was in his early forties and still young looking. He had long, black hair in a pony tail. He wore brown pants, and a blue, short sleeve, buttoned shirt that he left the first couple of buttons open to show his chest. He was of a paler complexion and a soft face. His eyes were always sincere, and Rinoa had often heard stories from Squall of his kindness and humor. The man felt shocked as he saw his own son holding a gunblade, looking at him with bloodthirsty eyes.

"Squall? So it was you?" Laguna held his hands behind his back.

"I'm sorry, but I must." Squall drained all the remorse from his heart as he heaved the gunblade over his head. He darted quickly towards the stoic man. He cried out as he brought the gunblade down. But he couldn't. He stopped it. Rinoa heard as the gunblade hit the ground. Her eyes widened as she saw Squall on his knees and crying. She rushed over to him, kneeling down to him to help him in any way. Laguna stepped away from the two of them, his heart racing from the near death experience.

"Squall." Rinoa took his head in her arms.

"Rinoa...I couldn't do it." His sobs muffled his voice.

"I know...it's okay." She hugged him tightly, feeling so sorry for him. All the pain he was feeling right now. He had to kill is his own father who he barely knew. Rinoa thought of all the pain she was putting him through herself. He still didn't know about her powers. It would tear him apart if he ever found out. Plus, her meeting with Irvine tonight would really break him. She didn't want to hurt him anymore than he already was. She felt her heart ache with so much regret. She herself began to cry with him.

A tear slowly dripped from Rinoa's chin onto Squall's arm. He felt it in an instance and stopped his crying. Rinoa's tears were so different from his. They were so clear and soft. Unlike the warm irritation of someone else's, these were like raindrops from heaven. He knew after that. He knew that she was a sorceress. A sorceress' tears are an angel's gift. His angel's.

"Rinoa...are you...?" Squall brushed some of her beautiful tears from her cheeks.

"...Yes." Rinoa fell into his arms, ashamed for lying to him like that.

"Rinoa...why?" He didn't know what to feel. His own love was something he hated.

"I...knew you...hated them...but I can't get rid...of that part...of myself." Rinoa felt so distant from him now. Her sorrow raged within her. It desperately cried out through her tears.

"Rinoa..." Squall forgot about his father now. He only thought of his own love that he was losing before his eyes.

Rinoa sobbed slowly into his chest, but began to steady herself. She snuffed her nose and wiped some tears from her eyes that she had closed from the pain. She let herself out of his arms and sat up facing him. She began to open her eyes slowly. Squall backed away when he saw what was in her eyes. She opened them wide and felt an emptiness. Her eyes were no longer human. They had been turned into nothing but glowing orbs. The light radiated from the sockets in her heads as she began to slip from this world. No longer could she suppress herself.

She felt a sharp pain in her back as the robe began to tear. Something was bulging out of her back. Squall stood up to watch her. He was fixated on her torment. She got to her feet as her mind was no longer there.

"squall...i will release your sorrow." Rinoa's voice was so distant. It was as if she was calling from another world. It was calm, but so scared.

Suddenly, the back of her robe tore and an explosion of white feathers floated through the room as two great wings spread themselves from the first time. Rinoa's wings glowed with a white ambiance as they spread themselves out far and wide. Squall was amazed. She really was the angel he thought she was. Her robe disappeared from her body. Her hair floated on an imaginary gentle breeze. Her body began to float as it was engulfed in a white light.

"Rinoa! What're you doing!?" Squall called out to her, but it was too late.

Rinoa floated high into the room, feeling the full effect of her powers.

"i will save you." Her distant voice called out again. A bright flash of light filled the room for a second. Squall winced from the brightness and covered his face with his arms. The light soon ended and the room was back to normal. There, on the floor in front of him, lie Laguna Loire, dead, and Rinoa, naked and unconscious.