Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8 or any of it's characters…if I did then I would be on a private island sipping an erotic drink with millions of bucks! Tee-Hee! : )
AN: I am bored so I am going to state the obvious. Amall Heartilly, Galan Prince and Framp are all my characters, so get your fucking paws off of them.
AN Continue: You will see more of Framp in the later chapters. Also, this chapter explains a LITTLE bit of information on what the hell is going on.
Little Secret: If you read between the lines, then you might be able to tell whom Amall's father is. Just a little hint for all who are stumped.
Thank you everyone for the reviews, I know that I have not thanked any of you, so I am doing it right now. THANK YOU A MILLION!!!!!!!!!!
Also, this story is dedicated to Lionhart, my dearest friend, as always, God Speed. I hope that I will be able to see you sometime in the near future.
Anyways, on with Chapter Eight. Tee-Hee!
Chapter EightRinoa could feel someone coming closer to her, but she tried hard to ignore it. Instead, she turned to Amall and started talking to her. Their conversation went on for several moments before Amall stopped in mid-sentence and stared behind her mother's head. Rinoa knew that someone was there, but she was trying so hard to ignore them as she had been learning to do since she had first started her career in singing. She stared at Amall's blank face before she spoke.
"Well, Missy, are you going to finish telling me what you did last night, or are you just going to continue staring at the wall?" She was irritated, her daughter continued to ignore her, Rinoa had never liked that, as Amall should have known by now. Before she could ask Amall again, there was a cough from behind her, causing her to tense up. Even though she never heard him cough, she could tell it was her knight by the tone of the cough, no one sounded like him.
Still, Rinoa continued to act like no one was there, but she knew that Squall could tell that she was avoiding him. He coughed once again before Amall spoke up. "Mommy, I think that the kookoo man behind you wants to talk with you." Thanks, Amall, that's all I need, to talk with the famous Commander of Balamb Garden! Rinoa bitterly thought as she turned around to face the lion.
He looked different than the night before, he still had the pain in his eyes, but he seemed sober and yet, at the same time, he seemed drunk. But his eyes were the things that caught her off guard. They just seemed so sad and lonely, causing Rinoa to regret ever leaving him. But the feeling quickly disappeared when he fixed his eyes on Amall, those cold, uncaring eyes that had followed her every move when they had first met. She could not blame him for looking at Amall with distaste, his first love showing up after eight years with a child is not what Squall would expect.
Rinoa just continued to stare in to the lion's eyes, pain swirling in her own. Why did he want to see her? She had disappeared on him, and yet she never wanted to. But there was no choice, her life had been torn apart in that single night, no one could have ever helped her. There was no reason to tell him about it, he would tense up and shut himself off from her like he did whenever her problem was to difficult to solve without the use of his gunblade. No, I will never tell him. Rinoa told herself over and over.
"Rinoa…" The word rolled off of his tongue and pierced through her broken heart once again. His voice could always capture her entire being and make her believe that she could do anything with him by her side. Not anymore, Rinoa once again told herself, I depend on no one like I used to.
"Squall," Rinoa replied curtly, trying desperately not to show her emotions to him. Outside, she look like any normal woman would, inside, however, she was dying. Her soul had been taken away and her heart was torn into millions of shards. All that remained was the pain, the pain that would forever haunt her dreams.
Squall stood in the same stance that Rinoa remembered from the first time the met, the same cold hearted, pain filled stance that she had grown accustomed to. He waited impatiently for her to say something, in other words; tell him all that had made her leave and not make any contact with anyone. Well, he was not going to get his way, he never did when it came to Rinoa Heartilly, that was one of the many reasons why he loved her.
"Rinoa…" He whispered in a hoarse voice, sending chills down the young mother's spine. Still, Rinoa just stared at him with a blank stare, her eyes bearing into his. They were both oblivious to the young girl that sat looking between the two young adults. Each second seemed to last an eternity, each breath feeling like the last one.
"What do you want, Squall?" Rinoa asked a few minutes later, turning her back to Squall and drinking her water like there was nothing wrong. Though Rinoa was trying her hardest to hide her emotions, she was failing terribly. Tears were forming in her eyes; her hands were shaking as she drank from her glass; and to top it all off, Squall was right behind her. He did not reply right away, instead he sat down in the seat next to her and just stared at her.
Amall was watching the reunion unfold, her head spinning with questions. Why was her mother acting so strange around this man? He seemed cold and uncaring, but yet Rinoa seemed like she had a past with him. Amall was confused; her mother was never like this around any other man. Rinoa, on the other hand, was not confused; she was dying of pain inside. Her heart was never fully healed from that dreadful night, but she was surviving through it. That is, until Squall came back into her life, and just by looking at her, reopened the healing wounds.
"Rinoa, can I please talk to you?" Squall quietly asked, hiding his face from Rinoa's sudden gaze. His mind raced, his heart was beginning to tear apart, and his soul had disappeared. Why had she left him? Who was Amall? And who was her father? All of these questions ran through his head has he listened to all of the conversations going on all around him. All of the young couples chatting happily while eating their breakfasts or sipping their coffee. Why can't Rinoa and I be like these people, Squall thought, why did she have to hurt me?
"What about?" Rinoa asked, her voice on the brink of breaking into a deep shriek of pain. Pain that she had felt for so long. Pain that scarred her very soul. Her heart ached to just reach out and hold onto Squall like he was a lifeline. But her mind would not let her heart take a hold of her again. It had once before and look where it got her. No, she would never let her heart take over her again.
"Well, I haven't seen you in over eight years…oh except for last night. But we didn't really talk then, did we," It was not a question. His voice was drenched with painful sarcasm. His eyes stared coldly into Rinoa's soft brown ones. Each second that passed in silence was torture for both young lovers. Everything seemed to disappear from the world as Rinoa and Squall looked into each other's pain filled eyes.
"Squall…I," Rinoa tried to speak, but anything that came from her soft, rosy lips were covered by a sharp breath to hold back her scream. Squall, on the other hand, was ready to tell her everything he felt about her. How he hated her for leaving him; how she always seemed to cheerful during a horrible situation; how she acted like she was only six; how she was always telling him what to do; how she was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. He would never say it out loud, but she was the whole reason why he started drinking, why he moved to Timber, why he was the way that he was.
They did not say anything, but there was some sort of silent argument on why they were there, sitting face to face after eight years. Everything in their eyes was full of pain and excuses of the past. Squall found that their was nothing he could say without opening his semi-healed wounds. The past years seemed like forever, and he knew that the road ahead would be even longer.
Before anyone could say anything, Rinoa's cellular phone started ringing. As she reached into her bag to get it Squall could not help but look at her matured face. She seemed so hurt, hiding behind a mask that could not hold out for much longer. Squall could tell that her heart was torn apart somehow, but she would pretend that it never had happened. That was the Rinoa Squall knew, she would never let anything show through her innocent face that she did not want to show.
"Hello?" She asked through the mouthpiece once she had the small item in her delicate hand and up to her ear. There was silence for a moment before her face brightened and her smile that Squall desperately missed appeared upon her perfect face. "Hey, Galan!" Her voice had turned enthusiastic as she listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. Squall thought about the name for a moment before he remembered that he was the man that Rinoa had been singing with last night. Anger shot through his body as he looked at his angel's now bright and excited eyes.
"Oh my God, I forgot about the photo shoot, are ya'll still waiting for me?" She asked after a few moments of listening to the bastard that was on the other line. There was another pause before the young woman sighed in relief. "Okay, I'll be there in a half hour, 'kay." There was once again another pause before she spoke again. "Love ya too, Galan. Bye." And with that she hung up the phone, told Amall to follow her and left without even turning back to say something to Squall. She just left him in that small diner with her bill and an even more hurt heart.
AN: Okay, so I lied about the information, but I have had A LOT on my mind lately. I have been helping two of my friends hook up, but my plan backfired…anyway, it is a long story. Plus, I have been too lazy to get up off of my ass and type, so don't kill me!
Jo Pina Colada Tookey Shokisa
Never Leave the windows open at night Tee-Hee! : )
