Chapter 5 – Good Riddance

It was the night of the play and all of Garden was alive with spirit. Many students and staff alike looked forward to seeing the fruitation of the Garden Festival, especially after winning the hard fought war. Admitingly, most were anxious to see what Squall would be doing.

Rinoa, Quistis, Zell and Irvine walked to the Quad. "I can't wait to see Squall performance."

"Yeah, it should really be something. I wonder what he's doing, anyone have a clue? I tried to ask him earlier but Seifer started harassing me and well yeah…"

"Well I for one don't know anything except he's the last act."

Quistis remained quite as they group made their way into the crowded room. A dull roar could be heard echoing off the wall as the people talked amongst themselves.

"Oh man where are we gonna seat? It's looks like all the good seats are all ready taken."

"Don't fret, Selphie roped off a section for us in the front row."

Squall paced nervously back and forth in the backstage area. What was I thinking? Putting on a play. I don't feel comfortable in front of crowds. Maybe I should just quit now. NO! I'll never be free of Rinoa and I'll never get what I want if I don't do this. It's a short play; I won't have to go out there too long, but HYNE! Why did I have to write this play…No matter, when this is all over, I'll have everything I want.

As he was coming out of his internal monologue, a stage hand ran by and told Squall he had one minute to curtain call.

Selphie appeared on the stage once again that night. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I now present you with "Griever" by Garden's very own Commander, Squall Leonhart."

She quickly dashed backstage and found her way to the front row with the rest of her friends. Squeezing in between Irvine and Quistis. She flashed them all a quick thumbs up. Rinoa could barely contain herself. She began to shake slightly in anticipation. Quistis put a calming hand on her shoulder. The anxious girl leaned in conspiratorially. "Squall said he wrote it about us."

Quistis froze momentarily and pulled her hand back as if she suffered a great shock, luckily Rinoa didn't notice. "Oh that's… nice."

As the curtain rose, all eyes turned toward the stage.

The set was like that of a forest glade. Trees decorated the stage on both sides, while grass and flowers filled in the middle. The backdrop was of a lovely flower field.

The orphanage gang quickly recognized the imagery from the field that was in the back of their home as children. Matron used to take them there daily to play.

Squall walked onto the stage wearing the now familiar black bondage pants and a white gauze poet shirt. He held a larger version of the Griever ring between his fingers and turned it over as if studying it. A spotlight shined directly on the ring making it sparkle beautifully. Turning to the crowd he began to speak.

"Hyne made a simple silver ring without any engraving. He gave his servant the ring to stow away for safekeeping. He told him that the one who holds it had the power to find one's soul mate. The servant was greedy and vengeful of his master, so he purposely lost the ring by tossing if from the Heavens."

He tossed the ring into the air and watched it land on the forest floor a few feet away from him.

"However the servant could not let his Lord know that he had betrayed him so he used his magic to try and remove the power of the ring."

A booming thunder sounded and the lights dimmed on stage. A bolt of lighting flashed and struck the ring where it lay. Scorching the grass and flowers around it. The lights came back up.

"The rings power, the ability to find one's true love, was diminished."

A few leaves on the trees began to shrivel up and fall off one by one. Grasping the ring once more, he looked through it at the audience.

"The holder of the ring could now be enraptured by one claming to love him and would be unable to distinguish the truth."

Suddenly the backdrop of the flower field disappeared and statue of a beautiful maiden appeared, behind it stood another backdrop of starry night. Squall walked forward and placed the ring on the maiden's finger right hand. The left hand came to life and caressed his cheek softly. Hearts dropped from the ceiling and hung over his head. Turning away from his love, he regarded the audience once more as she and everything in the forest froze momentarily, even the leaves stopped falling in the middle of their dissent.

"Hyne found out about the servant's tampering and tried to reverse her wayward servant's wrong doing."

A gentle breeze blew across the glade removing the fallen leaves, including the leaves that had yet to touch the ground.

"However the servant was not finished yet, using the last of his strength, he sent himself to earth and took the form of man's best friend. He would forever roam the earth and find the ring, seeking to destroy all who owned it. He would kill him before he could know happiness."

Turning back to the maiden, a drastic change overtook the glade. The trees lost all of their leaves and began to decay instantly. The trees turned black and the maiden disappeared from Squall's sight.

The ring spiraled toward the ground; Squall dropped to his knees and clutched the ring to his chest looking lost and confused at the place his love once stood.

The hearts over his head shrank in size.

"Hyne's magic was able to bestow the owner of the ring with the sight to see the evil presence that was the one claimed to be man's best friend. As a result of the constant flow and ebb of cosmic energy the ring became engraved taking the form of a winged lion. It would later be known as Griever."

Upon opening his palm Squall gazed at the ring as it shimmered in his grasp and then disappeared as well. He didn't notice the faint glow that enveloped him.

He looked around frantically, and then he locked his startled gaze on something to his left off stage. He started back up in fear when a large brown and white dog appeared on the stage. He carried a much larger version of the ring in its mouth.

The dog walked forward as Squall seemed to paralyzed with fear, it growled lowly at the man before him. Edging closer, it set the large ring over the man's head, where it quickly slid down to his neck. Turning on it's heels the dog walked back several paces and barked at the immobile figure.

Squall came to life and grasped the familiar ring around his neck and looked disbelieving at the animal before him. He started to rise but was stopped at the ring began to constrict around his neck. He tugged relentlessly at it and was shocked and disheartened when the maiden from before appeared on stage once more and scratched the evil dog behind the ears.

Looking forlornly at the maiden who seemed more content with the animal and appeared to heed no notice to him or his predicament, he dropped to the floor staring at the ceiling.

The hearts that were above his head began to spasm before bursting, raining red fluid on the fallen. Shortly there after the curtain fell.

The five friends sat staring wide eyed at the stage even after the curtain fell. Irvine turned to say something but was drowned out by the thundering applause that echoed through out the Quad. When the curtain rose again and Squall took an awkward bow, before quickly retreating off stage, another round of cheering started.

"Well I'll say it was quite interesting."

"Dude, that so sweet. Did you see his expressions? They were priceless." Zell continued to laugh softly to himself. "What did you think Selphie?"

"I loved it, it was angsty but that's to be expected." Selphie deadpanned.

Slightly concerned for Rinoa, Quistis turned the silent girl. "Rinoa, is there anything you would like to talk about?"

The raven-haired girl turned slowly in her seat. She gave a tense mirthless laugh. "My boyfriend is crazy, he thinks my dog is a demon of some sort." She grasped the ring tightly in her hand. "And on top of that, he believes I will leave him for my demon dog. Though from what I get from the play, I wasn't his true love anyway." She then stood up quickly and ran out the Quad leaving the group of friends to watch her retreating figure.

"Oh dear, this can't end well."

"Well Quistsy I think, it may be good for'em"

Zell winced softly, knowing that the Cowboy just stuck his foot in the mouth. I wonder how he's going to get out this one?

"Irvine Kinneas, give me one reason I shouldn't slap you upside that thick head of yours."

"Just listen. It don't take a fool to realize that Squall didn't love that girl, she practically attached herself to his hip and held on like her life depending on it. He lifted his hat and scratched the top of his head softly before replacing it. "Which it did. He just tolerated the extra weight and maybe, though he would never admit it, he liked being needed. On the other hand, I think he's a bit unstable, more so than before. Now I know you may kill me for his but maybe just maybe, the guy we're seeing now is the real Squall Leonhart."

"Whoa talk about food for thought."

Quistis found herself nodding empathically at Zell's statement. What if he didn't really love Rinoa and he actually liked someone else. Please, we're too old to be thinking in terms of crushes. The little voice in the back of her mind was having none of that. Since when did we become so old, we're not even 20 years old yet, live for the moment. Sighing in self-defeat, she rose from her seat. "Well I should be retiring for bed, good night everyone." She walked briskly out the Quad, quietly thinking about the enigma that was Squall Leonhart.

Squall slowly made his way back to his dorm. He half expected Rinoa to be there waiting for him. When he rounded the corner and saw her leaning against the door, he smiled a self-depreciating smile and walked over to the girl.

"Rinoa?"

"Squall how could you, is that what you really think?"

"Why don't we talk inside?"

Upon entering the room he hurriedly stripped the red soaked shirt and changed into a plain white t-shirt.

Turning back to the distraught girl he felt a pang of guilt, but he quickly pushed it aside. When this is all said and done, everyone will be happier.

"Squall, there's so many things I have to say and so many questions. I mean you said you wrote it about us, but it was hardly romantic or anything like that. Deep down I'm starting to believe that you believe a bit of your own work."

Steel yourself! Don't let her get to you. I'm sorry Rin, but this is for the best. "It was about us, and I wanted to convey that the ring is more than just a ring it's a symbol of something greater than just an intent to marry. It's supposed to represent the feeling between two people that could transcend all barriers."

Her eyes widen considerably at the news. Oh my I thought he wanted to get physical when he's talking about marriage. I'm not ready for that I still have so much to do with my life. Calm down Rinny. Maybe he's not really talking about marriage.

"Squall, you don't mean to think we're engaged do you?"

The young man schooled his features to convey the seriousness needed to finish this task.

"Of course we are, my ring is very special. I told you that before. You just have to get rid of Angelo and all will be well."

Rinoa felt extremely uneasy at this point. I can't see spending the rest of my life with him. I think it's time to end our relationship. Her hand quickly moved the clasp of the necklace that held the ring.

"What are you doing?"

She was silent as she slid Griever off the chain, causing it to clink softy. "I'm sorry Squall I misunderstood your feeling and the importance of this ring. I just don't think I can be the person that you need."

All right, time to bring it home. "Are you leaving you me?"

"Yes…" She ran forward and wrapped the distraught man in a hug.

"Angelo won…"

A few tears escaped from her eyes as she hugged him. The poor guy, he needs some serious help. "We can always be friends okay?"

"Sure…"

Grasping his hands she, placed the ring into his palm, and closed his hand around it.

"Look, I'm going to take the next train next to Timber tomorrow afternoon."

"Do you need my help?"

"No no that's okay. Me and Angelo can handle just fine by ourselves."

He pulled away form her hug. "Well I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Yeah, good bye and good night Squall."

Rinoa turned and walked out the door. Strangely she wasn't as upset as she thought she would be. Well I went from thinking my boyfriend needed a boost to his libido to finding out he wanted to marry me. I think it's time to get back to restoring Timber and patching things up with my father.

Placing the ring on his night table, Squall closed the door and sighed softly to himself before stripping and stepping into the shower. Looks like I'm going to have to use bleach on both of those shirts. His body switched over to autopilot as he washed his hair and body. Everything is going according to plan. Rinoa is out the way, now I can move on and get the rest of the gang. A small smirk appeared on his face as he lathered his hair with the conditioner. I think my next target will be Zell. His reactions will be priceless. Finishing up his shower, he quickly dried off before changing into a pair of black silk boxers.

Climbing into to bed he quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

AN: I don't know why, but I couldn't write this chapter until I completely figured out how to make ever thing physically possible in terms of real life and the FFVIII realm. If anyone cares, I explained it below.

Trees

The trees were made of foam but the limbs and several strategic points were lined with plastic tubes. After painting the foam and carving some pieces out to make it looked age. It was covered in the plastic like material. The tubes were filled with black paint, which would be pumped into the tree from compressed air. The plastic would stop the paint from hitting the audience.

Special effects

Squall cast several spells while on stage. Which ranged from Thunder, Stop to Aero and Demi.