It seems I have lost all my readers for this story. Ah well. I'll keep updating incase you guys come back. This is a long chapter.

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During the weekend, Selphie took Rinoa to her friend Edea's house. Edea had long black hair, just as Selphie had said. Her face was pale, her eyes were blue and she wore an ordinary gray dress. "Come in," she said with a smile. "This must be the friend you were telling me about. Rinoa, isn't it?"

Rinoa said, "Uh, yeah."

"Well, come have a seat." They stepped inside and Edea shut the door behind them. The living room was painted a dark purple. Black couches and chairs were pushed back against the wall. A black rug was centered on the floor. Rinoa sat down by Selphie on the couch while Edea took the chair. "Selphie has mentioned you numerous times," she said. "Tell me something about yourself. What are you looking for in life?"

"Um, I really don't know what to tell you... I want to be a writer."

"A writer? Very interesting indeed. What kind of things do you write about? Do you write poems or stories?"

"I write stories mostly. I haven't written very many poems."

Snapping her fingers, Selphie said, "I got it. Edea, you should do a Tarot reading for her. Do you want to try it, Rinoa?"

"Um, okay."

"Let me go get my cards," Edea said as she stood. "Wait in the dining room for me." Selphie had Rinoa follow her into the next room. The white walls had red, silk curtains draped from them. A star inside a circle was carved in each corner of the wood table. The crystals on the chandelier overhead shimmered when touched by the light. "Don't you just love this room?" Edea asked when she came in. "My husband loves it too."

As she traced the star etched in the wood, Rinoa asked, "What are these symbols?"

"It's a pentacle. Pentacles are the symbols of protection." Edea sat in the chair in the middle of the two girls, at the head of the table. She set the cards out on the table. "Pick a significator, Rinoa."

"A significator?"

"The card you want to represent you." Rinoa's eyes scanned the drawings on the cards. Each image mentally noted in her head until one seemed to grab her eyes. The woman on the card had dark brown hair, her expression appeared to be chastened but her eyes told of great sorrow. Her right hand raised a sword, it's blade pointing toward the sky. "The Queen of Swords," Edea tells her. The significator is placed on the table while the remaining cards are shuffled. She places the deck on the table so that the pictures on the cards are hidden. Her pale fingers pluck one card from the top and place it on the significator. Four staffs are planted on the ground in the picture. A garland is hanging from the staffs. Two girls in the background hold posies up in the air. "This card, the Four of Wands, represents your environment," Edea says. "Your surroundings are peaceful."

Selphie gave her friend a confused look as she asks, "What about Quistis?"

"She apologized to me last night," Rinoa responded. "She said she was sorry for acting like that." Selphie raised her eyebrows in amazement. Edea drew up the next card and laid it horizontally on the Four of Wands.

"This one, the Two of Wands," she said, meeting Rinoa's gaze, "represents any problem you might be having. This certain obstacle, fear, appears to be within yourself." Rinoa takes a glance at the card. It shows a horseman with a laurel crown hanging from his staff and footmen with staves are at his side. The next card is put above the last three. A man and a woman are pledging to each other. Above their cups is the caduceus of Hermes and the head of a lion is in-between the wings. "This card, the Three of Cups, reveals your desire. You wish for love and friendship." As she nods in agreement, Rinoa feels her face get hot and turn a slight shade of pink.

"Don't be embarrassed," Selphie says. "That one is kind of obvious."

A fourth card finds its place below the center cards. It displays a blindfolded person holding two swords. The blades cross at the handles and rest against the opposite shoulder. A crescent moon is above the calm sea. "The Two of Swords shows me what you have to work with. You have courage, friendship, and intimacy to help you through your problems. The Knight of Wands," Edea said as she set the fifth card upside down to the left of the center cards. Pictured in the card was a man armed with a small wand, wearing armor as if he were traveling. "It tells of a problem that has recently passed or been resolved. Being upside down means the meaning is reversed. The reverse meaning for this card stands for rupture, division, and interruption."

"Probably your fight with Quistis," Selphie pointed out.

Rinoa said, "That's what I was thinking too."

A sixth card finds its place upside down on the right of the center cards. "Anything about to happen to you in the future is represented by this card, the Two of Wands," Edea says. "This one is also reversed, so it stands for surprise, wonder, trouble, and fear. Be careful, Rinoa. This could mean many things." Edea drew up a seventh card and put it by the right hand corner of the sixth card, upside down again. The woman in the card was kneeling in the card, pouring water from her right hand into a small pool and from her left hand water is poured onto the ground. A bird sits on a tree in front of a background full of eight point stars. "Your attitude about the upcoming problem is revealed by this card, The Star. Your attitude will be stubborn, pessimistic, and doubtful. The Ten of Wands," Edea said holding the eighth card up for Rinoa to see before placing it, upside down, beneath the seventh card. The image of the Ten of Wands showed a man vexed by the weight of ten staffs being carried. "Your environment in the upcoming problem will be full of contrarieties, intrigues, and difficulties. The ninth card, the Ace of Cups, represents two things: your hopes and fears. You hope to be happy and content but you fear instability." Rinoa's eyes wandered to the ninth card. A hand rises from a cloud in the picture holding a cup with four streams pouring from it. A dove holding a cross-marked host descends down to the water below. The last card finds its place beneath the ninth one. "The Lovers," Edea says, "represents what will come to you." The card shows a man and a woman standing below a cloud where a figure rises. His wings are black with a red shine, his robe is brown, and the sun is bright behind him. "A self-explanatory card but it means love, beauty, and attraction."

"That could be about you and Squall," Selphie whispers, making Rinoa blush.

Rinoa whispers back, "I doubt that."

"Oh come on. Give yourself a break for a change. He likes you as if its not obvious." Rinoa shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Would you like to see the rest of the house?" Edea asked.

"Yeah I would," Rinoa said, "if you don't mind." The two friends followed Edea up the winding staircase. Although short the hallway was wide and filled with various statues. On one side, statues resembling angels stood side-by-side. Across from the angels were demon statues, also side-by-side. At the end of the hall was a statue of a woman that caught Rinoa's attention. The statue was only slightly taller than Rinoa. Unlike the others this one was colored. The dark purple, long sleeved dress was a real dress too. The collar of the dress was made of black feathers. A metal half circle with small spikes coming out each angle was attached to the statue's back. A purple headdress containing various ornaments concealed its hair.

"This is the statue of a sorceress," Edea's voice rang. "Someone made this one special for me. The others were bought from various places."

"It's beautiful. It sort of looks like... you."

"Yes and I used to wear this dress once upon a time. But this is a nice way to show it off. Come, I'll show you my room. If you haven't been able to tell that I love purple by now, you should be able to in here." They stepped onto the purple carpet, into Edea's bedroom. With the exception of the dresser, the doors, and anything else made out of wood, everything was purple. The wall and the carpet were so well blended you could hardly see a line separating the two. Selphie flopped onto the purple bed, her figure still visible behind the light colored curtains.

"Come look at this," Selphie called. Rinoa took a seat next to her friend. They both glanced up at the ceiling.

Rinoa whispered, "Oh wow..." The ceiling was painted like the midnight sky. A crescent moon surrounded by stars and barely visible clouds hung over them. "That's beautiful."

Edea said, "It took a long time for my friend to finish painting that. She did a wonderful job. Well, other than the bathrooms and the kitchen that's all there is to see. The kitchen is nothing special, just your average, everyday kitchen."

Selphie sat up as she said, "Edea, you're a witch, right?"

"Well a Wiccan to be more specific but yes."

"Isn't that ... evil?"

"Evil? No. There's good and bad in everything. Not all magick is used for good but it's entirely up to the person using it how it is used. A gun can be used for protection or for murder, for example. But I don't think you can kill anyone with magick. If you use magick to harm anyone in any way, you get it back three times worse. But I stick to healing spells so I've never had that problem."

"So its not the magick that's evil, its the person?"

"I wouldn't even say that, really. It's just that a person's intentions may not always be good."

"Have you met anyone around here that's been using it to hurt people?" Selphie pried.

"No. Girls, I'd like to ask you a favor. Don't tell anyone else of my Wiccan religion. It is not widely accepted and I'm sure the people around here would cause a fuss."

"Okay," Selphie and Rinoa said simultaneously, "I promise."

"Thank you, girls. I'm just afraid people would get the wrong idea about me if they were to find out."

"Edea," Selphie started, "I don't mean to ask you so many questions but is it at all possible for you to do a love spell for my friend, Rinoa?"

"Selphie!" Rinoa barked. "Shh!"

"It is possible," Edea answered. "But I wouldn't do it for anyone."

"Why not?" Selphie asked.

"Because, opinion-wise, it isn't real love. Some people see it as a forced or false love. The main reason though is because the person will always love you, whether you still love them or not. Now, depending on the person, they could become dangerous. That isn't always the case but I'm sure it's possible."

"Kind of scary."

"Which is why I don't want to do it."

"Understandable." Rinoa and Selphie chatted with Edea for another hour before going home. Julia told Rinoa that a boy had called asking for her.

"Who was it?" Rinoa asked.

Julia said, "Squall, I think he said his name was."

"Well, did- did he leave a number?"

"Yeah. I wrote it down. The paper is by the phone for you." Rinoa grabbed it and ran to her room. Her heart pounded against her ribs while her fingers dialed the number on the paper.

Rinoa stuttered, "Is- is Squall there?"

"Hold on," a woman's voice said.

A few seconds later Squall's voice rang in her ear, "Hello?"

Rinoa said, "Um, hi. You called here, right?"

"Yeah I wanted to see if you were free to do anything. So, are you?"

"Mmhmm, I am. What did you want to do?"

"I don't know. Do you want to walk around town or something? I could meet you somewhere."

"Okay. Do you want to meet me here or would you rather meet me in front of school?"

Squall said, "School is fine. I can't remember where you live or that'd be fine. Plus, I'm terrible at directions."

Rinoa giggled, "That's okay, me too. Can we meet in half an hour, forty five minutes?"

"Yeah. See you soon."

"Bye Squall."

"Bye, Rinoa." They both hung up and a sudden surge of excitement made Rinoa's body tingle. She ran to her closet and tried to find the perfect outfit to wear. She knew it probably wouldn't matter what she wore but nonetheless she still wanted to look her best. After putting on her white flares and white sleeveless shirt, Rinoa fidgeted until it was time to go.

"Here's some money," Julia said, handing her daughter a ten-dollar bill. "You want to be dropped off at school you said?" Her daughter simply nodded as she climbed in the car. Squall was already waiting when they got there. Rinoa couldn't help smiling when Squall waved to her. "Give me a call once you're ready to come home or I'll call Squall's house and have you meet me there."

"Okay, mom," Rinoa said as she hugged her mother. "See you later."

Squall smirked and said, "So, where should we go?"

"Everywhere. Let's just walk around 'til we get tired." They walked down the road in the direction of the grocery store in town. "Heard from Quistis lately?" Rinoa asked with a smile.

"No. I think she's finally given up. She's nice and everything but damn, I don't like her that way, you know?" She nodded. "How long have you known Selphie and Quistis?"

"I met Selphie in third grade. She was pretty much my only friend until we met Quistis. I think we met her in fifth grade. If it weren't for them I'd probably still hate school and complain to my mom about it."

"I never really minded school that much. It was that I had to move from place to place that really bugged me. You get tired of moving around after a while."

"No kidding. I don't think I could handle moving once."

"It was harder when they decided to hide me from my parents."

"Why did they do that?" Rinoa asked then hurriedly added, "If you don't want to tell me that's okay too."

"No it's fine. Remember when I told you that my dad put me in the trunk of his car?"

"Yeah."

"Well, after the cops caught him, they home schooled me for a while. He still followed me when I was finally able to go back to public school though so they moved me. They didn't even tell my mother where I was going."

"They probably thought your dad would find out if she knew. Did your social worker ever come to see you like she was supposed to?"

Squall gave a slight nod and said; "She didn't say anything new though. Nothing about my parents either. I even asked her but she avoided the question." Both fell silent as they walked through the automatic doors of the blue grocery store. Cashiers, stock boys, and other employees wore matching maroon shirts that bore the name of the store to signify that they worked there. Squall grabbed hold of Rinoa's wrist while they made their way through a crowd of people smashed together by the small aisle. Rinoa's skin tingled with the sorrow of the absence of Squall's touch when he let go. They picked out something to drink before heading to the checkout. Squall took Rinoa's from her and put it with his.

"I can pay for it," she said.

"It's only a dollar, it's not a big deal or anything. I got it, okay?" He smiled at her and she smiled back. Outside the store, Rinoa suggested they go to the elementary school park.

"I just want to sit on the swings for a while then we can walk some more." She touched the sleeve of his jacket as she added, "There's a shortcut down the alley here. It's faster than walking all the way around." Walking past the small cafes in town they eventually made their way to the tall brick building. "The park is in the back," she said as they followed the slanted sidewalk down to the top of the tarred hill. "Race you to the swings."

"Loser buys dinner," Squall announced as he took off. Their feet pounded against the ground until they came to the rock pit. Squall lunged at Rinoa, knocking her down before she could win.

She laughed, "You cheated."

He smiled back at her. "You're just saying that because you lost."

"Guess we'll have to split the cost of dinner then, cheater."

"You're a sore loser."

"And you're a pathetic winner. Help me up, please."

"That may be so but I still won." His hand clasped hers and she was pulled to her feet. She hit his shoulder before sitting on the blue piece of rubber called a swing. Squall leaned against a nearby pole. The squeak of the chain as it whisked the swing back and forth was the only thing filling the silence between the two. Rinoa bit down on her lip, trying to think of something to say. "Your mother sounds a lot like you," he finally said. "Err, you sound a lot like her. You look like her too. Does she work at all?"

"She used to but she quit. She used to sing at the bar part of a fancy hotel at night. I think she met my dad there."

"Not that I've heard her sing but has she ever tried going professional?"

"I think she would've loved to have done that but I don't know if she's ever tried. I bet she would've gone far with that though."

"What does your dad do?"

"To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. He goes out of town and has a lot of meetings. He's in charge of some big business in the city," she said.

"Then why don't you guys live in the city?"

"Mom grew up here so I'm assuming she pressured dad into living here. Well, not pressured. Mom and dad have never fought so pressured seems like too strong of a word."

"Too bad my parents weren't like that. Then again, I might not have met you. You're probably the only one that makes me want to stay here." Rinoa tilted her head down to hide her reddened face. Everything suddenly felt like a dream to her. She found it hard to believe this was real. Squall kneeled in front of her, bringing his gaze to meet hers. Letting her instincts take control, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. They stayed like that for minutes until she pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't so anything wrong. It's okay." He pulled her back into his arms. "It's okay."

"I know, I'm fine now. I didn't mean to over react like that. Can we go eat now?"

"Sure. Come on." They walked back up the tarred hill to the cafe on the corner. A small table for two was open so they took a seat. A waitress handed them menus not more than five minutes later. It didn't take long for Rinoa to pick something out. She picked out the smallest, least expensive meal. She wasn't really all that hungry to be honest, but she ate something anyway. Squall took longer to decide and while he did, Rinoa stared at the menu. Once the waitress came back, they ordered. The chatter of others around them kept the silence out. "So," Squall said, "do you want to go to Zell's house after this?"

She nodded as she answered, "Yeah."

"It's not too long of a walk. From here it shouldn't take us long at all. Fujin always drives us home from school 'cause it's a longer walk from there." She just nodded, not knowing what else to do or say. After eating, they made their way to Zell's house. "Do you want to call your mom?" Squall asked when they arrived.

"In a little bit," she said. "I just want to rest for a while."

"Come on, we can go upstairs." She followed him up the tiny staircase to the small room Squall and Zell shared. "My bed is over here. That's Zell's. He's not here right now. They all left."

"Where did they go?"

"They took Zell to get a new skateboard. I didn't want to go. They left not long after you called me back."

"Oh." Squall sat down by her. She felt her heart begin to beat faster out of nervousness. Rinoa whispered, "Maybe I should call my mom now." They stood and he grabbed a hold of her wrist. In an instant she felt Squall's lips press against hers. His arms wrapped around her body and pulled her closer to him. When they broke off, Squall smiled at Rinoa's reddened face and kissed her again. She bit her tongue to keep from speaking the words that were haunting her brain. "I like you," she said, toning it down a bit.

He whispered back, "I like you too."

They started dating after that. The weekend always seemed to be reserved for them to be together. Selphie sometimes called to say, "It's great that you have a boyfriend but don't forget you have friends too." Rinoa apologized every time and spent a day with her friends. Julia insisted that Rinoa bring Squall over for dinner after they had been going out for a year. Squall was a little nervous around Caraway but it seemed to go well. Rinoa's father didn't speak badly of him after he had gone. It wasn't until they reached the end of their sophomore year that the troubles began.

"Mom," Rinoa said one day. "I need your help."

"When did this happen?" Julia asked.

"Remember when I went to stay with Squall and the Dinchts's a few months ago? Well Squall and I didn't stick around. His friend Fujin let us go with her to the cities and, well..."

"Your father isn't going to be very happy about this. I hope Squall is planning on taking some responsibility for this. If he abandons you, Rinoa- No, he won't do that, your father would never let him get away with it."

Rinoa started to sob, "I haven't talked to Squall about it yet. I came to you first."

"Well an abortion is out of the question."

"I know. I know."

"Talk to Squall about it, alright? I'll talk to your father." Rinoa could only nod. She called Squall the next day and went to his house. Both of them had something to tell the other. Squall went first.

"I talked to my social worker the other day," he said, "and I finally got her to set up a meeting between me and my parents. I'm not supposed to let anyone know because she isn't supposed to do that. But, anyway, would you come with me? Fujin will drive us."

Rinoa said, "I will but I've got something important to tell you. I, um, am expecting."

"Expecting what?"

"What do you think? I'm pregnant, Squall." He had no idea what to say, he was too stunned. "My dad wants to talk to you about it sometime. I don't think there's anything to worry about. Just don't argue with him and everything will be fine."

"Rinoa, I- ... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He hugged her and tears began to soak the sleeve of his white shirt. "I'll help you, Rinoa. I promise I will."

"I know, Squall."

"I'll talk to your dad when we come to pick you up tomorrow." Rinoa's stomach churned with a sickly bad feeling all day the next day. She tried as hard as she could to keep herself calm. When Squall came, he was greeted with a hug. "Where's your dad?" he asked while giving her a squeeze back.

She said, "In his office. Come on. I'll bring you up there." Taking his hand, she led him up the staircase into her father's office.

"Rinoa," her father called as she was leaving, "shut the door please." She did as she was told. "Have a seat, Mr. Leonhart. I'm assuming my daughter has already given you the news."

"Yes, sir," Squall said, "she has. She told me yesterday."

"And I'm sure you already know what I'm expecting from you but I'm going to tell you anyway. First of all you're going to need a job so you can support her. Don't even try to abandon her, you wont get away with it." Squall felt himself becoming increasingly uncomfortable. He knew he was being threatened in a lesser sense. After swallowing his fear down, he continued to listen. "This kid is also going to need a father. I'm willing to pay for the wedding and even a divorce if it doesn't work out between you two. My granddaughter will not grow up in a hostile environment."

Squall said, "Yes, sir." Caraway dismissed him without another word.