Lost Memories of My Love

Chapter 7 – Wait for Me

Rinoa's eyes fluttered open to the sound of movement in the room. She squinted her eyes, trying to see what was happening without getting up. All she was met with was the hazy ceiling of her room in bright light. She turned to the side silently and saw a figure in her room. For a second, she thought it was a dream because the person in her room was wearing her clothes. Her trademark blue princess clothes. But then she realised she wasn't dreaming, and it was in fact Ashleigh who was wearing those clothes...

Rinoa suddenly wide awake. She bolted upright and stared at her stepsister.

"What are you doing?" demanded Rinoa.

Ashleigh spun around and was surprised to see that Rinoa was awake. She looked puzzled momentarily, and didn't know what to do. Then she just grinned sheepishly and darted out the door without a word.

Rinoa got out of bed and rushed downstairs after Ashleigh, messing up the bedsheets in the process. Her temper was beginning to rise. Something weird was definitely going on, and she had a feeling it wasn't good...

"What're you doing!" called Rinoa again.

As Rinoa reached the bottom of the stairs, she was taken by surprise when somebody grabbed her from behind. She shrieked and tried to break free, but couldn't. She watched helplessly asAshleigh headed out the front door and closed it with a loud slam.

Rinoa turned around to see who was holding her. It was Sera.

"What's happening—?"

"Get in the cupboard," interrupted Sera sharply. With one hand, she unlocked the closet, but held it tightly shut.

"What...?" Rinoa blinked in confusion, but Sera thrust the door open and pushed her in.

Rinoa stumbled and was quite confused at first. She suddenly realised that she was meant to be meeting Squall soon. She began banging on the door, wondering what kind of game Sera was playing at.

"Sera! Please! Let me out!" Rinoa shouted, banging her clenched fists on the door.

"That won't work."

Rinoa jumped in shock and turned around. She found Seifer sitting way at the back, hiding behind the coats that were hanging up. He gave her an amused smirk when he saw Rinoa's desperate face.

"Seifer!" gasped Rinoa. "Why...? Why has she locked us in the cupboard?"

Seifer kept a cold gaze. "Because she's a bitch, that's why."

Rinoa tilted her head, still confused. "But ... why?"

Seifer rolled his eyes in irritation. "You can blame Ashleigh."

Rinoa groaned. He didn't have to say anymore. That explained everything. She sighed and slumped down against the door of the closet, and sat on the floor. She decided to make herself comfortable, knowing that she was going to be in there for a while.

"So, what're you in for?" asked Rinoa.

"I'm in here because they hate me. And I hate them."

"Oh c'mon, they can't be that bad," said Rinoa, weakly smiling.

"Pssh, you believe what you want to," said Seifer, rolling his eyes.

Rinoa laughed nervously. She looked down at her fingers and decided to just not say anything anymore. There was no reasoning with this guy. And I'm stuck in a closet with him ... great, she thought.


Ashleigh was at the mall by herself, waiting for Squall to arrive. She was having trouble adjusting to Rinoa's clothes, because these clothes were something she wouldn't wear in a million years.

But Squall probably likes Rinoa because of her fashion sense, thought Ashleigh. Well if I can prove to be the same as her, and much better, then Squall will definitely like me.

"Uh..."

Ashleigh whirled around at the familiar voice. Of course, Squall was standing there, looking awfully confused. She pasted on a sweet smile, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger innocently.

"Hi!" said Ashleigh happily.

Squall raised an eyebrow. "You're not ... Rinoa...? But ... uh..."

Ashleigh faked a giggle. "Of course I'm not Rinoa, silly. I'm her sister!" She flipped her amber her to the side and winked.

"Oh ... you," said Squall, sounding disappointed. "Where's Rinoa?"

"Oh, are you meeting up with her?" asked Ashleigh, pretending as if she didn't know anything.

"Yeah," answered Squall, "I'm a bit late ... don't tell me she went home because she thought I wouldn't show."

Ashleigh shrugged. "I don't know, I just came here and was going to meet my friends. But it turns out they didn't show up."

"Oh," said Squall quietly.

"Looks like we were both stood up, huh?" said Ashleigh.

Stood up? But Rinoa would wait for me, thought Squall.

Squall didn't want to think about it, so he quickly changed the subject. "How come you're wearing Rinoa's dress?"

"Oh, Rinoa's dress?" said Ashleigh nervously. "She ... got bored of it. She thinks it's ugly now and would rather wear something else. I thought it was really pretty, so I asked if I could have it instead."

But I loved this dress on Rinoa, thought Squall.

"Say, why don't we both hang out together instead?" suggested Ashleigh.

"I'd rather wait for Rin—"

Ashleigh glanced over Squall's shoulder and her smile widened. "Oh my gosh, there's an ice skating rink!" she said excitedly. "I've never been ice skating before! Have you?"

"Uh ... yeah, I have—"

"Ooh, cool!" said Ashleigh excitedly. Before Squall could say anything, Ashleigh grabbed him by the hand and ran over to the ice skating rink enthusiastically.

"Uh, if you don't mind, I'd rather wait for—"

Ashleigh stopped as they entered the rink. She grabbed some skates for herself and grabbed another pair and thrust them into Squall's stomach. He tried not to make a face.

"Just one go?" said Ashleigh, pulling an innocent face.

Squall sighed. I don't want to be rude to Rinny's sis, thought Squall, She'll hate me. "One go," he said, hesitantly taking hold of the skates in front of him.

Ashleigh squealed with delight and put her skates on. She enthusiastically walked onto the ice and tried to keep her balance. "Come on!" she called, beckoning Squall to come onto the ice with her. She grinned at him sheepishly.

Squall put his skates on quickly. He was going to make this 'one go' fairly fast so he can get back to the meeting place, just in case Rinoa was just simply late. Heheaded onto the ice and paced around slowly with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Ashleigh grinned and began to skate, but her balance wasn't so good. After two seconds, she fell flat on the ice on her butt.

"Owww!" cried Ashleigh in pain, rubbing her backside.

Squall tried to smile, skid over towards Ashleigh and held out his hand.

Ashleigh's distressed look soon turned into a cheerful one. She grabbed Squall's gloved hand and he pulled her up. She smiled and decided to heat things up a little. She wobbled a bit and pretended to slip, and landed straight on top of Squall, her arms holding him tight so she wouldn't fall.

Ashleigh looked up at him. He was so tall ... and so beautiful...

Squall didn't know what to do. He didn't feel comfortable with Ashleigh's arms around him, so he quickly helped her off. Ashleigh smiled.

Squall tried to smile ... he didn't want to ... but then again, he didn't want to make a bad impression...

"Okay, I think I should get going," said Squall quickly.

"No, not yet!" said Ashleigh innocently. "We really haven't started yet!"

Squall was about to just go, but Ashleigh grabbed his hand again.

The commander turned around, placidness in his eyes. He looked down at her, and couldn't help but notice her girlish smile as she blinked her hazel eyes.

"Please don't go," she said innocently.

Squall sighed. What was he supposed to do? As Rinoa's sister, he felt obligated to be nice to her. He just wanted to walk away ... but what if she told Rinoa? He'd be hearing from her for days... Or so he thought.

Ashleigh started trying to skate again, still holding onto Squall's hand tightly. But she only found herself falling down again, this time bringing Squall with her. The redhead fell face first, but this time she happened to land on Squall's chest.

Squall groaned, beginning to get annoyed.

Ashleigh lifted her head and stared into Squall's stormy eyes. She smiled, but it was a somewhat seductive smile that time.

Squall didn't even try to smile back that time. He just got up, helping Ashleigh up too.

"Thanks," said Ashleigh.

"I'm going back now," said Squall finally.

"Ooh, do you really have to?" said Ashleigh, a little bit of a cute whine in her voice.

Squall nodded.

Ashleigh frowned, but before she could say anything, he skated off the ice and left the rink, leaving her staring after him with disappointment.


Rinoa sat in the closet, twiddling her thumbs. She and Seifer had been sitting in the closet for more than an hour without a word. She stopped trying to make conversation hours ago when Seifer would give her a sad excuse for an answer. The silence was defeaning. Rinoa would frequently glance at Seifer to see what he was doing, but most of the time he was asleep.

I wonder what that little brat is doing now, thought Rinoa bitterly.

That thought would always strike into her mind every five minutes or so and new answers always came up every time.

Suddenly, Rinoa heard the door unlock. The closet door swung open, pushing Rinoa out of its path. She quickly sat up, rubbing her forehead. She turned around to find Sera standing in the doorway, looking somewhat pleased.

Rinoa stood up, trying to keep an emotionless face stuck on.

"Get out," said Sera.

Rinoa blinked a couple of times and walked out of the closet, without looking at Sera. She wanted to argue but couldn't think of anything to say. She had to admit, she was looking forward to breathing real oxygen again.

"What, are you going to stay in there forever?" said Sera.

Seifer still seemed to be asleep.

Sera rolled her eyes and just closed the closet door, locking it again.

"You can't make him live in there forever," said Rinoa, beginning to walk up the stairs to her room.

"You wouldn't know anything," said Sera bitterly.

Rinoa just shook her head. She really didn't care about what Sera had to say. She walked upstairs and went into her room, only to find Ashleigh already in there, reading more magazines. She was in her normal clothes then, and it looked like she was there for a while.

Rinoa glanced at the clock. It was almost two o'clock in the afternoon. Her date with Squall was supposed to start five hours ago...

"Where have you been?" asked Rinoa.

Ashleigh looked up. Then she smiled that wretched smile, the bittersweet smile that meant that she was lying and trying to cover it up with her innocence. "Nowhere, big sister. I've been here the whole morning."

"Don't lie," hissed Rinoa.

Ashleigh just continued to smile innocently. "Don't you believe me, Rinny?"

"You don't have any right to call me that," muttered Rinoa.

Ashleigh shook her head. "Tsk, tsk ... is that any way to treat family?"

Rinoa narrowed her eyes and glared at her.

Suddenly Rinoa's cell phone rang. She rushed to her dressing table and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rin, it's me," said Squall's voice.

Rinoa glanced at Ashleigh, who was tentatively listening to her conversation. She decided to counter Ashleigh's nosiness and took her cell phone into her father's office and locked the door, where she knew she would have her privacy.

"Hi Squall," said Rinoa, and before he could say anything she quickly started explaining. "Sorry I couldn't make it today. I..." She wasn't going to tell him she was thrown in a closet and locked in ... he would think she was some kind of weakling being over powered by an old woman. She was meant to be his strong girl. She didn't want him to worry or take any action against her family, as much as she disliked them...

"I ... kind of slept in," she said finally.

"But I tried calling you ... like eight times," said Squall.

Rinoa bit her bottom lip to avoid any unwanted words coming out of her mouth. She wasn't going to tell him the truth. Not yet.

"I must've not heard it then," said Rinoa hesitantly, "I'm so sorry, Squall ... I..."

Squall sighed. "It's okay. At least ... your sister was good company."

"What?" Rinoa burst out suddenly. "I mean ... you met ... her?"

Just try to be nice, thought Squall, Don't say anything that'll make her angry.

"Yeah," answered Squall, almost carelessly, "She was pretty cool. She ... uh ... wanted to keep me company until you came. Which was nice of her."

I am going to shove a knife down her throat one day, thought Rinoa angrily.

"Um ... I'm glad you think so," said Rinoa with a nervous laugh. "But ... oh I feel so guilty now for not coming. How long did you wait?"

"I'm still here," said Squall.

"What?" said Rinoa again. "Why? You've been waiting for so long and you're still waiting for me?"

"I'll wait here until you come," said Squall.

"Squall, you can't do that," said Rinoa, "From now on, if I don't show up for a long, long time, go home, okay? Don't wait around for me."

That's going to be happening a lot, Rinoa wanted to say to him.

"Rin, I'll always wait for you no matter what," said Squall, Until you come, I won't leave."

Rinoa smiled. "But what if I never come?"

"I'll still be waiting here until you come," repeated Squall, dodging the question.

"But what if I never come?" said Rinoa teasingly.

"I'll wait."

Rinoa beamed.

"I'm still waiting for you to come right now," said Squall.

"What?"

"Come right now," commanded Squall.

"No," said Rinoa playfully, "I'm not going to show up."

"Why?" asked Squall.

"Because I know you won't wait!" cried Rinoa.

"Fine, don't come," said Squall simply, "I'll be here forever if I have to."

"Fine, I won't." Rinoa hung up and grinned to herself, amused with the situation. She wondered what Squall was going to do.

Seconds later, her cell phone rang again and she picked it up on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Come here right now or I swear I'll do something really bad," said Squall threateningly.

Rinoa laughed. "Okay, okay, you win. I'll be right over."

She unlocked her door and walked out of her father's office. She went back into her bedroom, grabbed her blue princess outfit and headed for the bathroom.

On her way out, Ashleigh asked, "Where are you going?"

"Out," said Rinoa simply.