Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII....

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! If anyone wants to receive an e-mail every time I update, just let me know. Oh, and sorry for the constant POV switching in this chapter. It was really necessary to do, though. Also, I might be upping the rating to R later on. I'm not sure since I haven't written anything else, but I'm just warning you in advance that that could happen. Thanks for reading!

To Love You More

Chapter Two

"Are you sure?" Quistis asked wearily. "Yes. Yes, I understand. Okay. Thank you for letting me know. Bye." Quistis hung up the phone and sank into her desk chair. She hadn't even been back for fifteen minutes and she had already received devastating news. She rubbed her forehead, feeling the creased lines of worry. How was she supposed to react to that news? No tears came...she just felt numb.

"Ms. Trepe?" Quistis' secretary entered the office. "Commander Squall would like to see you. He wants to hear your report on your latest mission."

Quistis sighed again. She knew that facing Squall was inevitable, but she hadn't thought she'd have to do it so soon. How the hell was she supposed to tell him? He would be devastated. Everything that he had built up since the defeat of Ultimecia had been shattered.

"Ms. Trepe?" the secretary asked again.

Quistis nodded. "Thank you for telling me, Carina. I will go and see him right now."

As Quistis made her way to Squall's office, she desperately searched for a way to make the news any easier. She came up with nothing. God, how could you tell someone that the woman they loved could be dead? Quistis herself was still in shock. She couldn't possibly believe that her friend was gone. She knocked on Squall's door, dreading what was about to happen.

"Come in," Squall called.

Quistis walked in, keeping her eyes trained on the floor. She couldn't bear to look up at him. "You asked for me, Sir?"

Squall rolled his eyes. "I told you, Quistis, drop the formalities. I need to hear your report from your mission to Dollet."

Quistis nodded. "There really isn't much to report. We were able to stop the band of robbers that had infiltrated the city. They are now residing in the Desert Prison. None of our people were lost. This was hardly a job for SeeD."

"I see. The Dollet government would be wiser to enforce the help of the police next time. Nevertheless, the compensation was sorely needed."

Quistis frowned, momentarily forgetting about the news she had received earlier. "Are Garden's funds really that low?"

Squall sighed. "Not really, but with the lack of missions lately, any money we can get helps."

"Yes, you're right. Ever since the defeat of Ultimecia, business has really been lacking."

"We'll figure something out. Thanks for reporting, Quistis."

Quistis took a deep breath, knowing that now was the time to tell him. "Um, Squall? There is something that I need to tell you."

Squall looked at her questioningly. "What is it?"

"I just received a call from Trabia. They informed me that the Ragnarok had failed to arrive at Trabia Garden." Quistis paused. "They...have reason to believe that there was a crash. They're, um, investigating it as we speak."

Squall stared at her, his face a mask of indifference. "Who did you talk to?"

"It was Irvine himself. I'm so sorry, Squall."

"No." Squall glared at her. "They don't know that there was an accident. They don't know that Rinoa is dead!"

Quistis shook her head. "No, we don't know that, but we need to consider the possibility...."

"No!" Squall shouted. "I would know if she was dead. She isn't. I don't need you telling me what I need to consider. Get the hell out of my office!"

"But Squall, I was just trying to-"

"I don't care what you were trying to do! Get out, Quistis! I fucking mean it!"

Trembling, Quistis turned around and fled from the office. She hadn't wanted to anger him. She knew that he was hurting, but until he calmed down, there was nothing she could do for him. That realization hurt her...badly.

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"Irvine!" Selphie shouted. "What the hell are you keeping from me? Tell me now!"

Irvine sighed. "I don't want to upset you, Selphie. Believe me, you don't need to know."

"Yes, I do. Why hasn't Rinoa arrived yet? And why are you moping around this office?"

"Selphie, sit down," he said quietly. "If you really want to know, then I'll tell you."

Selphie obliged and took a seat. The young woman rarely got angry, but with the pressure of renovating Trabia Garden, added to Rinoa not showing up and Irvine keeping something from her, she just blew up. "Okay, I'm sitting. Tell me."

"Rinoa hasn't arrived yet, so I decided to check a few things out. There is reason to believe that the Ragnarok crashed. A search team was sent out to find them."

"W-what?" Selphie gasped. "Oh my God...."

Irvine pulled her toward him. "It's okay, Selphie. They're going to find her. Everything will be fine."

Selphie sobbed against his chest. "Does anyone else know?"

"I called Quistis a while ago. Thought it'd be better to talk to her, rather then to Squall. I don't know if she told him yet."

"Oh God, poor Squall. This is all my fault! If I hadn't invited her to come here...."

Irvine broke apart from her and looked directly into her eyes. "This is not your fault," he told her sternly. "You cannot blame yourself for this, Selphie."

"It is my fault, Irvine!" she cried. "Rinoa is dead because of me!"

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Squall paced back and forth, a myriad amount of emotions running through him. He didn't believe that Rinoa was dead, not for a second. If Rinoa was gone, he would be able to feel it. If Rinoa was gone, a piece of him would be gone, as well. No, Rinoa was most certainly not dead. Squall vowed to find her, no matter how long it took. Right now, though, all he could do was wait until the search team found something. If it were up to him, he would be out there searching, as well. However, he had Garden to think about. He was too mad at Quistis to consult her about anything.

"Hey Squall, you in there?" Zell called from outside his office door.

Squall groaned. The last thing he needed right now was to talk to Zell. Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away.

"Squall! Come on, man, open up!"

Sighing, Squall opened the door. "What?"

"Quistis told me what happened. I'm sorry, man. Is there anything I can do?"

"I suppose that Quistis told you that Rinoa was dead. Well, she's not, so I don't need anything from you or anybody else. Just let me be!"

"Squall, nobody wants Rinoa to be dead. All I'm saying is that you have got to face the facts sometime."
"I don't need to hear this, Zell. Tell Quistis to take her words of advice and shove them up her ass."

Zell sighed. "You can't hide in here forever, man. One day, you're gonna have to wake up and see the truth. As much as that truth hurts. Otherwise, it's going to kill you."

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The search team spent all day scanning the route between Balamb Garden and Trabia Garden. About half way, they discovered a red chunk of metal on a small island. Upon further inspection, the metal was confirmed to be a piece of the Ragnarok. Bit by bit, the pieces were uncovered. However, they had yet to discover any bodies.

"Pete," the captain of the search team called. "What is your group's status on locating the two bodies?"

"Nothing, yet, Sir. It's most likely that both of their bodies burned up in the explosion."

The captain nodded. "No one could have survived this crash. The impact of the crash, plus the fire from the explosion would kill you instantly."

"Captain, Captain!" another member of the search team called. "I think we've found something!"

The captain. walked over to where the scout had indicated. "What have you found?"

"Look, Sir," the scout said as he mentioned toward the charred remains at his feet. "This is definitely human."

"Well, don't just stand there! Get some samples of it! We need to bring it back to the lab for testing."

"Yes, Sir!"

The team resumed their positions and frantically searched for any other signs of remains. Hours passed, and still, there was nothing. Finally, the captain ordered everyone to gather around. "Let's move out. We've been searching all day and we still haven't found anything else. We need to run tests on what we have found. Searching will resume here tomorrow."

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"Could you put me through to Squall, please?" Irvine asked the secretary that answered at Balamb Garden.

"One moment, please."

Irvine waited as the secretary transferred him.

"Hello?"
"Squall, it's me. I, uh, just heard from the captain of the search team."

"Why the hell would they call you first? I would appreciate it if I could be informed about what the hell is going on."

Irvine sighed. "I told them to contact me first, Squall. I'm sorry if you have a problem with that, but I was only doing it out of consideration to you."

"Consideration my ass. Have all calls forwarded to me from now on."

"Fine. I just thought that since you were personally attached to one of the victims, that it would be better if I told you myself. Anyway, the search team found the remains of the Ragnarok on a small island. They also found human remains. After running tests, the DNA was found to match Nida's."

"What about Rinoa?"

"They didn't find her body, Squall. However, the search team told me that there was no way anyone could have survived the crash. I'm sorry, Squall, but Rinoa cannot possibly be alive. I'm sorry," he repeated.

"Rinoa is not dead," Squall spat. "There was no body. That proves that she is alive! We need to search for her."

"The search team will be going back to the crash site tomorrow. After that, who knows? You know that I wish as much as you do that there is some mistake, but it doesn't look good."

"I'm going with them."

"Squall...I don't think that's a very good idea. Maybe you should just accept the fact that Rinoa isn't coming back. You can't help her now," he said sadly.

"I will go with the search team tomorrow. I thought you cared about Rinoa. Obviously, her friendship meant nothing to you. How could you just give up on her without any evidence whatsoever?"

"Don't talk to me like I didn't love Rinoa. We all did, and her death is anything but easy on us. However, the Ragnarok crashed. She couldn't survive that! I know that's hard for you to accept, but you have to!"

"I don't need to accept a lie. Good bye, Irvine."

~*~