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

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I really appreciate everyone's comments. Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to be adding everyone that reviews to my e-mail update list. If you want to be removed, just let me know. Sorry that this chapter is so short. I'll try to make the next one longer.

To Love You More

Chapter Four

"Mamma, Mamma!" A small girl, about five years of age, jumped up and down excitedly. "Look!"

The child's mother hurried toward her. "What is it, Alanna?"

"Look," she repeated. "It's a girl!"

The woman followed her daughter's gaze and gasped. There, a few feet away from them, was a woman. She was cut up in many places and her clothes were completely shredded. Her face was swollen and her body was covered in bruises. "My Hyne," the woman breathed. "Quick, Alanna, go get some help from the village. Hurry!"

Nodding, the child ran off in search of help. The woman turned back to the girl worriedly. "Hyne, lend me your strength." She said a small prayer and slowly moved the girl away from the water. "Cure," she whispered. The small spell would have to do for now, until she received some help and was able to bring her back to the village.

A few minutes later, Alanna returned with three other women. "Oh my," one of the women said upon seeing the girl. "Riana, Jara, come. Let's help Marianna get the girl to the village."

"I can help," Alanna told them. "What should I do?"

"Go back to the village," Marianna ordered. "Tell the clinic that we are bringing in someone in critical need of help."

As Alanna left, the four women picked up the girl and headed toward the clinic. After several minutes, they reached their destination. The head doctor, Leanne, met them at the entrance. One look at the injured girl made her switch to professional mode immediately.

"Put her on the bed over there," she instructed. "This one is going to need a lot of work. Not exactly the best time for the men to be in the city, but we'll make do."

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Riana asked. "She doesn't look too good."

"I don't know," Leanne admitted. "But I'll do everything in my power to help her. We're going to need some strong magic, though. We might need to move her to the city once the men return."

"Hyne, lend us your strength," Marianna said for the second time that day. They were going to need all the help they could get.

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Weeks passed by and nothing else was found that pertained to Rinoa. The search team had closed their investigation, so Squall had hired his own personal search. However, nothing had turned up from that, either. As each day passed, Squall was forced to see the undeniable truth; Rinoa was gone and she wasn't coming back.

Squall felt bitter and angry with everyone and everything around him. How could he have been punished so brutally? Sure, he was no saint, but he had never imagined how cruel life would be to him. Was there no justice in the world? How could they just take away Rinoa; the woman he had given his heart to? All he had left of her was that necklace. There wasn't even a picture of her to preserve the life she had left behind.

There was a knock on Squall's door, but he chose to ignore it. He hadn't spoken to anyone in days, and he was in no mood to break the silence. However, the knocking persisted. "Let me be," he growled.

"Squall, I need to speak with you." It was Quistis. "You can either open the door yourself, or I'll just use this spare key that the Headmaster gave me."

Muttering curses under his breath, Squall got up and flung the door open. "What?"

"Can I come in? We need to discuss some things."

Squall stepped aside wordlessly. He shut the door behind him and gave Quistis and icy stare. "Make it quick."

Quistis sat down on the edge of his bed. She gestured for Squall to join her, but he chose to stand instead. "How are you doing?" she asked quietly. "Wait, that's a stupid question. Of course you're not doing okay. You've been locked in here for days."

Squall gritted his teeth. "If you came here to lecture me, then you can just leave. I don't want to hear it."

"I'm not here to lecture you, Squall. The Headmaster wanted me to tell you that arrangements for Rinoa's funeral need to be made. He thought that you might like to handle it."

Squall shook his head. "One less burden off the old man's shoulders, huh?"

Quistis frowned. "That's not true and you know it. I don't want to fight with you, Squall. He just thought that since you were the closest to her, you might want to organize things."

"I can't do that, Quistis," Squall said as he collapsed onto the bed beside her, finally giving in to his grief. "I can't plan Rinoa's funeral. Do you understand that? I just can't."

Quistis nodded. "I do understand, Squall. If you like, I can handle everything for you."

Squall agreed, too exhausted to fight any longer. "It's just that a funeral is so definite. I keep thinking, if I deny everything, then it can't be real. A funeral is what makes it real. I'm...not sure if I can handle that."

Quistis's heart ached at the emotion that he was showing. She reached out and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "It's going to be hard, but you have to hang in there. You have so much to live for, Squall. You can't just throw your life away."

Squall shook his head sadly. "I have nothing to live for, Quistis. Rinoa was my life; she gave my life meaning. How can I live without her?"

"You have friends that love you, including myself. We are all here for you. Be strong, Squall. We all believe in you."

"Why, Quistis? Why is my life so cursed?"

"It is not my place to question God. What I do know is that everything happens for a reason. Rinoa was a beautiful person, with a beautiful heart. Maybe the angels needed her."

Squall smiled faintly. "She was already an angel. My angel." Shaking his head, he stood up. "Thanks for stopping by, Quistis. I just need to be alone right now. I'm sorry I, uh, have been so cruel to you lately."

"Don't worry about it. If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me. I'll inform you when the...funeral will take place."

Squall nodded grimly and closed the door as Quistis left. Sighing, he walked over to his desk and opened up the top drawer. Lying there was Rinoa's necklace. Picking it up gently, he carried it over to his bed and sat down. Holding it to his heart, he whispered her name. "Rinoa...."

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The funeral was held a week later. Everyone in Garden had the day off to attend it and mourn the loss of Rinoa. An empty casket sat in the front of the room. Squall didn't understand why they had even bothered to put it there. It wasn't as if there was a body to bury.

Headmaster Cid started off the ceremony by saying a few words about Rinoa. He talked about the woman she was and how she had a heart of gold. "You would never find a more caring person. She loved life, and that was one of her most beautiful qualities. It is so rare these days to find someone who loves to live. Someone who takes each day and makes it the best that it can be. That's the kind of person Rinoa Heartilly was."

Squall let the Headmaster's words sink in. They couldn't be more true. Rinoa had been all of those things, yet she was so much more. His life was so much better from just knowing her the short time he had. Squall sat there, hands clenched tightly, eyes trained on a single spot on the floor. This shouldn't be happening. Rinoa had so much to live for. This wasn't her time to go.

Selphie went up to speak next. Her and Irvine had flown back from Trabia for the funeral. "I just want to say that I know Rinoa is in a beautiful place right now, smiling down on us. Rinoa, I am so sorry. If I hadn't invited you to come to Trabia, you never would have been on the Ragnarok, and you would still be here with us. I'm so sorry," she sobbed.

Irvine rushed to her side and put his arms around her protectively. "I told you, Selphie, none of this is your fault. Come, sit down."

"No, it is my fault. Everyone here needs to know that I'm the person responsible for Rinoa's death. I'm going to have to live with that burden forever now. I have nightmares of how she must have felt right before they went down. She must have been terrified! And who was the cause of that terror? Me!" Selphie began to wail uncontrollably. Irvine grabbed her, dragging her back to her seat. "I'm sorry, Rinoa! I'm sorry!" She kept repeating those words over and over again.

Squall got up abruptly and ran out of the ballroom. He couldn't bear to be in there anymore. Rinoa's presence was everywhere, suffocating him. He could still hear Selphie screaming from in the hall. Deciding that he simply needed to get away from it all, he kept on running until he was downstairs and at the Quad. Taking a seat on a vacant bench, he buried his head in his hands. He remembered all the times they had spent there. Rinoa had always loved the flowers that grew there. The memory brought tears to his eyes.

He looked up as he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Quistis. She watched as the tears poured down his face, her chest constricting painfully. "Squall...."

"I miss her, Quistis," Squall choked out. "I miss her so much."

Unable to stand it any longer, Quistis held him reassuringly. "I know, Squall," she said gently. "I know."

~*~