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

Author's Note: One advantage of being home sick from school this past week was having plenty of time to write this. Thanks for your reviews!

To Love You More

Chapter Eleven

Rinoa shielded her eyes from the bright glare surrounding the aircraft. A glowing aura seemed to emit from the shiny green structure as it landed. Stairs dropped down from its side and the outline of a lone figure was seen descending them. The figure reached the bottom, the sunlight revealing his face to the world. Tall, long auburn hair, and, of course, that trademark cowboy hat.

"Irvine!" Rinoa exclaimed, running straight into his arms. She squeezed him tightly, basking in the feeling of having her friend with her again. "I'm so glad to see you."

Irvine stroked her hair comfortingly. "Me, too," he murmured. He gently pulled away, clasping her hands. "Let me have a look at you." After studying her profile, he said, "You look the same. A little bit older, but more or less the same."

Rinoa laughed. "Look at you! I can't believe that you still have that hat!"

"Hey, are you really surprised? It's my lucky hat, after all."

"Well, I could have used one of those. Maybe then I wouldn't be in this situation," she said quietly.

An uncomfortable silence hung over them. Finally, Marianna interrupted. "So, how about you both come back to my place and we can have some refreshments? I'm sure you've had a long flight Mr...."

"Kinneas." He tipped his hat. "Pleased to meet ya. Refreshments sound great." He drew Rinoa to him again. "I still can't believe you're alive."

"We have a lot to talk about," Rinoa told him. "Come on, you can fill me in when we get back to Marianna's."

The two followed Marianna down a path through the woods until they reached her house. "Have a seat you two. I'll get us some cold beers."

"Oh, no," Rinoa protested. "I can't drink."

"Of course you can," Irvine said softly. "You're twenty-one, remember?"

"That's right," she murmured. "I'm still in the state of mind that I'm eighteen."

He patted her arm reassuringly. "It will take time, Rin. You've been unconscious for three years. Give yourself a break."

Rinoa nodded. "I want to hear about everyone. How are they? What have they been up to these past three years? Did Selphie finish rebuilding Trabia Garden? I hope she wasn't too mad that I wasn't able to make it."

Marianna walked back into the room. "Here we go," she said as she handed them their beers. "I'll leave you to catch up. If you need me, I'll be outside in the garden."
As soon as Marianna left, Rinoa turned expectantly to Irvine. "So, are you going to fill me in?"

He sighed. "Where do I begin?" Taking a deep breath, he began to speak. "Well, Zell has basically been the same. He's been dating that girl from the library, Carrie. Other than that, he's pretty much the same old Zell that you remember."

Rinoa smiled. "It's comforting to know that some things don't change. I'm so glad that he asked Carrie out. I tried to convince him to before I left."

Irvine nodded. "You encouraged him to make the move. He was crushed when he learned of your death. We all were, Rinoa. It was then that he decided to really take your words to heart."

"Well, I'm just glad he's happy. What about Selphie?"

"She...she changed a lot. When she found out that you had died, she blamed herself. Said that if she hadn't asked you to help rebuild Trabia Garden, then you never would have been in that crash."

Rinoa's eyes widened. "How could she possibly think that? The crash was not her fault. It would have happened whether I had been going to Trabia or not."

Irvine was surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Irvine, the crash was no accident. Nida took the Ragnarok down hoping he would kill me."

"What? Rinoa, what are you talking about?"

She sighed. "He told me that he wanted me dead because of what I am...a sorceress. He said that I needed to be stopped at any cost, so he took us down. Did he um...?"

"Survive?" Irvine shook his head. "His DNA was identified. It looks like Nida's plan backfired. I always knew there was something suspicious about him."

Rinoa agreed. "Please, continue. How is Selphie doing now? Surely she can't still be blaming herself."

"Unfortunately, she's doing just that. She went back to Trabia after your funeral and I haven't spoken to her since. She refuses to have any contact with me. Says she can't deal with anyone being around her."

Rinoa's eyes welled up with tears. "I'm so sorry, Irvine. This is all my fault."

Irvine gave her a stern look. "Now don't you go blaming yourself, too. It's not your fault, Rinoa. If you need to blame someone, then blame that bastard Nida."

"I know," she said quietly. "I just wish there had been something I could do." She shook her head. "How about Quistis? I'm sure she's found herself a boyfriend by now."

Irvine suddenly turned cold. Putting on a fake smile, he said, "You're right, she has. It's a lot more serious, though. She just got married."

Rinoa grinned. "Married? Wow! I wish I could have been there to see the wedding. So who did she marry? Anyone I know?"

Irvine swallowed nervously. "No, not anyone you know." Just Squall, the man you're madly in love with. "His name is Brad. Quistis met him in Dollet or something. They're actually on their honeymoon right now."

"I'm so happy for her!" she said genuinely. "I know it was hard for her when Squall and I got together, but she never let it get in the way of our friendship. I'm so glad that she finally found the right guy for her."

"Yeah, we were really happy for her," Irvine lied. He didn't have the heart to tell her that the person Quistis had actually married was Squall. There's plenty of time for that later.

"Tell me about Squall," she said softly. "Please tell me he's okay."

"He took your death pretty hard," Irvine admitted. "At first, he denied that you were really gone. Said that you couldn't be because he would know. He went with a search team to the crash site and found your necklace there. After that, he slowly began to admit to himself that you weren't coming back. To cope, he buried himself in his work in typical Squall fashion."

"When I called, you said that Squall was on a mission. Please don't tell me that he has been going on missions in hopes of..." She couldn't bring herself to finish.

"No, no," he assured her. "Well, at first, maybe. But he's healing, Rinoa. Slowly, but surely. The mission he's on is just some routine thing in Dollet."

Rinoa nodded. "I can't wait to see him again. I just want to hold him and never let go." A solitary tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hey, don't cry. Everything is going to work out fine. You'll see."

Rinoa wiped at her tear-filled eyes. "I know. I just miss him." She rolled her eyes. "You probably think I'm really pathetic, huh? You haven't told me how you've been these past three years. Not getting into too much trouble with the ladies, I hope?"

He shrugged. "Nah. To tell you the truth, I was never really able to get over Selphie. I tried, but...no one ever came close to her." He smiled wistfully. "I guess we're both depressed over the state of our love lives."

"It's worse for you, though, because Squall and I never really broke up. Listen, Irvine, maybe I can get through to Selphie once I get back. I'm sure that she still loves you."

"I don't know. She's really changed, Rin. Besides, you have enough to deal with." More than you could ever imagine.

"Still, once things settle down, I'll definitely talk to her. There is so much that I want to tell her." She sighed. "I wish I could be home now."

"You'll be there soon," he assured her. "Come here," he said as he hugged her close to him. "Just be strong."

"I will," she said sleepily. "Thank you, Irvine. You didn't have to come and get me, but you did anyway."

"My pleasure, Rin. My pleasure."

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Xu sat at the commander's desk, looking over the stacks of paperwork that rested there. She didn't know how Squall could handle the work; it was a challenge for her. I have to give him credit. No wonder he's rarely out of this room. The phone rang, making her jump.

"Hello, Balamb Garden," she greeted.

"Xu? It's Squall. Where's Irvine?"

"Irvine? He left on a mission yesterday. I'm in charge while he's gone."

From the other end of the line, Squall narrowed his eyes. "What kind of mission? I left him, not you, in charge, Xu."

Xu rolled her eyes. "He said that the matter was urgent. With all due respect, Sir, things have been running smoothly from this end. I am more than capable of handling Garden matters."

Squall sighed. "When will he be back?"

"He didn't say. Like I said, the matter was urgent and he had to leave as soon as possible."

"God damn it!" he swore. "This is unacceptable! I trusted him to be responsible for Garden, and he just leaves without a second thought?!"

"I'm sure he wouldn't have left unless it was of the utmost importance," she assured him calmly.

"Listen, Xu, I'm going to trust you for now. The second Irvine comes back, I want you to contact me. Understand?"

"Yes, Sir! Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon!" She was answered by a dial tone. Sighing, she just shook her head. That was typical Squall for you.

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"Honey, what's the matter?" Quistis asked as she heard her husband slam down the phone.

"You're never going to believe this. Irvine left Garden on some supposed mission, and there is no way to track him down. He left Xu in charge."

Quistis frowned. "Is that such a bad thing? I've known Xu for a long time, Squall. She knows what she's doing."

"My problem isn't with Xu, Quistis. The problem is that Irvine left Garden without a second thought towards his responsibilities. With the two of us gone, and now Irvine, Garden is in a vulnerable position."

"Don't you think you're being a little too hard on him? I'm sure that he had a justifiable reason for going. Besides, if I recall, you did the same thing not so long ago."

Squall narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at?"

"You neglected your duties toward Garden before, too, Squall. After the accident, you left without a second word to go search for Rinoa. You weren't even going to tell me, remember? If I hadn't found you..."

"Leave Rinoa out of this," he growled. "That situation was entirely different."

"I don't think it was," she said gently. "All I'm saying is, don't blame Irvine for something he had no control over."

Squall reached out for Quistis, turning her so that she was looking directly into his eyes. "Control?" His voice was a deadly whisper. "I hate to break it to you, but there is no such thing. Not in the sense you're talking about, anyway." That said, he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him."

******************************************************************************************

Irvine stared at the sleeping woman in his arms. He had always thought that Rinoa was beautiful, but seeing her there, sleeping peacefully, he felt his heart ache for her. "No wonder Squall was so reluctant to give up on you," he whispered. "I should have told you the truth, but...I just can't see you upset again."

At that point, Marianna walked into the room. "Ah, she's sleeping. Good. The poor girl has had a long day."

Irvine sighed. "She doesn't know the half of it."

Marianna took a seat across from him. "What do you mean?"

Irvine glanced at Rinoa, making sure she was still sleeping. "I...wasn't exactly honest with her. She's had so much heartache...I just couldn't add to that."

"This has to do with Squall, doesn't it?" Marianna asked sadly.

Irvine looked up sharply. "How do you know about Squall?"

"Rinoa told me about him. Squall...the love of her life. Just earlier, she was telling me how anxious she is to see him. I just had a bad feeling about it, though."

Irvine nodded. "Squall got married the day before Rinoa called me. To make matters worse, the person he married was one of Rinoa's best friends. How could I tell her? She would be devastated." He absently tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Squall," she murmured, still asleep.

Marianna looked at the girl sadly. "What do you plan on doing? You can't keep it from her forever."

Irvine nodded. "I know. She needs some time to adjust before I tell her. Besides, Squall will be away on his honeymoon for at least another two weeks. That gives me some time to figure things out."

"You care about her, don't you?" Marianna asked. "I mean, you really care."

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Yeah, I really do."

"Take care of her, Irvine. She's going to need someone to be there for her."

"I know," he said. "I would never hurt her. Never."

~*~