A/N: This chapter is gonna be a happy sappy one so don't worry about Ashleigh ruining it all, hehe. And, well, I really suck with descriptions ... and some of it may sound corny too (I just tried to bunch everything that happened altogether in one go so it wouldn't turn out so long) so I am so sorry if the chapter feels empty, I tried to make the happy chapter one of the best ones :)
Lost Memories of My Love
Chapter 8 – Happiness
Rinoa headed for the front door when she saw that Sera wasn't sitting on the sofa watching TV. But then she quickly rushed back into the house and headed for the closet. She felt somewhat guilty leaving with her stepbrother stuck in a closet. She unlocked it and opened it, only to find that Seifer was still asleep.
"Seifer!" called Rinoa.
Seifer opened his eyes and glanced up at Rinoa, a stony gaze in his hazel eyes.
Rinoa smiled and left the door open. She didn't want to hurt his pride by saying anything, so she left. She walked out the front door and headed to Deling mall.
When she got there, she found Squall leaning against a wall secretively. He had his arms folded and was staring off ahead, lost in thought. Rinoa smiled and headed toward him, a slight skip in her walk.
"Hey, you!" called Rinoa playfully.
Squall looked up and smiled when he saw Rinoa walking towards him. He got off the wall and walked towards her, hands in his pockets. He never failed to look mysterious.
"It's about time you came," said Squall.
Rinoa smiled. "I'm so sorry..."
Squall shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He put his arm around her. "Let's just go have some fun."
Squall led Rinoa out of the mall, in wonderous thought about what Squall was planning. It wasn't like him to have fun willingly. She knew him as the 'work-hard-play-hard' type of guy. She tried not to doubt his sense of fun and played along.
"And what exactly did you have in mind?" asked Rinoa.
"Something different to just hanging around stores all the time," said Squall.
"You're only saying that because you hate shopping," said Rinoa playfully, as Squall opened the door for her, she slid in and accomodated herself.
Squall hopped into the driver's seat and started the car. "I think you'll like it."
"I bet I will like it, mister spontaneous!" said Rinoa.
Squall laughed quietly. "You'll see."
The drive seemed short, as it was filled with conversation and laughter. Rinoa forgot about all her troubles and simply enjoyed Squall's company, as she chattered away mindlessly. She felt even more pleased when she got more than a couple of words strung together from Squall.
"We're here," said Squall at last.
"Oh, we're at Balamb," said Rinoa, smiling. She looked out of the window in wonder. Not what she had in mind, but Squall put thought into it so it was good enough for her. "Are we here to see the others in Garden?"
"You'll see," said Squall with a mysterious smile.
Rinoa tilted her head to the side and smiled too, but it was a very curious smile.
They got out of the car and Squall walked her across the field and onto the sandy shores of Balamb beach. At the sound of crashing waves and the smell of salty air, Rinoa beamed and threw her arms around Squall.
"Oh, we're going to the beach!" said Rinoa excitedly. She looked up at the sky. It was perfect beach weather; it was sunny and warm and the sky was its normal Balamb blueness. It lacked any cloudy blemishes - only seagulls were occupying it, flying around and calling out to each other merrily.
"Hey, Rinoa's here!"
Rinoa looked into the direction of the voice and found Quistis, Irvine, Zell and Selphie soaking up some rays. She couldn't help but smile, and was very impressed Squall came up with something so different and fun.
"Wow, everyone's here!" said Rinoa. She ran up to her friends, pulling Squall along with her.
"We've been waitin' all day, Rin," said Irvine in his beach chair. He looked different with his long trench coat off, showing off his bare chest. He tipped his hat at Rinoa.
"What took you so long?" asked Selphie. She was in a yellow bikini, showing off her petite figure and sunbathing on a bright red towel.
"Apparently she slept in," said Zell, sitting next to Selphie.
"Sorry guys," said Rinoa apolegitcally. She tried to drop the subject. "But this is wonderful! It's really brightened my day."
"And to think Squall planned it all," said Quistis in the beach chair next to Irvine. She was wearing a shorter skirt than usual, and instead of boots she was wearing sandals and cool-looking designer sunglasses.
"Oh, aren't you sweet, Squall," said Rinoa with a giggle.
Squall scratched the back of his head. "Well ... these guys helped..."
Rinoa smiled. She forgot all about Ashleigh and Sera and Seifer, and all the rest of it and was glad to be spending the day with her friends. Their smiling faces and the change of pace made her feel lighthearted and warm.
"Hey, enough of that! Let's go catch some waves!" said Selphie keenly. She got up and ran off towards the ocean, diving in and getting wet. Her cute head popped up from under the water and she waved to the others energetically.
Rinoa giggled. "Me too!" She ran after Selphie into the water, not caring that she was getting her clothes wet. She started splashing water at Selphie, and Selphie splashed her back. The two girls giggled continuously.
"So, when're you gonna tell her, Romeo?" asked Irvine.
Quistis looked into Squall's direction. "It had better be soon."
"I will," said Squall. He looked over at Rinoa, innocently playing in the water with Selphie. "All in good time..."
"That's what you always say," said Zell, putting on a pair of sunglasses and lying on the towel Selphie was on.
For the rest of the day, the six of them had fun together, eating picnic food and having their turn in the water. It took them an hour to get Squall to even touch the water, and eventually he did, but only for a while. They would run around and chase each other, splashing water and throwing sand. Selphie kept stealing Irvine's hat and running away with it, forcing Irvine to do more exercise than he ever would. They also worked together to build a mongy-looking sand castle that ended up being crushed by the waves.
The sun was beginning to set, making the sky a harsh orange colour. Zell, Quistis, Irvine and Selphie went back to the Garden early for some unknown reason, leaving Squall and Rinoa left at the beach alone.
The two of them walked along the sand with their shoes off, listening to the calm sound of waves crashing. Squall had her arm around Rinoa, and Rinoa was leaning on his shoulder. They had circled the beach three times already, just walking and talking and getting their feet wet.
"Today was such a wonderful day," said Rinoa quietly. She was glad to get away from Ashleigh.
"Yeah," agreed Squall.
The wind blew a soft breeze against them. Rinoa shivered, seeing as how she was just beginning to dry and the wind was cold, making it stick to her.
Squall held her tighter reassuringly.
"Rinoa ... there's something I want to tell you," he said.
Rinoa closed her eyes and felt the warmth of Squall's shoulder. "What is it...?"
"Well," said Squall, "I was gonna wait until the beginning-of-year dance to tell you ... but ... well..." He paused for a moment, trying to think of a way to say it."I'm going to be leaving Garden after this year."
Rinoa withdrew her head from Squall's shoulder and stared at him in shock. "What? Why!"
The two of them stopped walking.
"Well ... Laguna wants me back at Esthar," said Squall, "And I'd finished my Garden course long ago."
"So?" said Rinoa, a wave of panic in her voice. "You can't leave! I haven't finished my Garden course yet!"
"Hold on, hold on, let me finish," said Squall quickly.
Why do I have to be so bad with words, he thought.
"Laguna wants me back at Esthar," continued Squall, "So he can teach me something Garden can't teach. He's ... going to teach me how to be president, so when the time comes ... y'know..."
Rinoa continued to stare blankly at him, a frenzy of emotions sweeping across her mind.
"I didn't want to," said Squall quickly, "But ... it's an obligation. He's my dad and stuff ... so ... I have to. And, I'd really like to see Sis again..."
Rinoa looked down at the sand. Her wonderful day had ended in misery. She looked up at Squall, trying to hide any hurt in her eyes.
"How long are you going to be gone for?" asked Rinoa.
"Four ... years..."
"What!" Rinoa burst out. "Four years! That's ... that is a very long time!"
"I know that," said Squall, "But ... you know, it won't be such a long time. Because ... I'm asking you to come with me."
Rinoa's look of outrage disappeared, and a huge smile spread across her face. She threw her arms around Squall and squealed with delight. "Of course I'll come, Squall! How could I not?"
"Make sure you ask your dad and all," said Squall, "I don't want any disapprovals ... and I definitely do not want you running away..."
"Oh, Caraway's gonna be fine about it," said Rinoa, saying it as if it were nothing. "He'll let me out anywhere. But ... wouldn't the long absence effect my Garden record?"
"Don't worry about it," said Squall, "I've got it all covered. When you come back, you don't have to redo the course again. You're a strong girl, you don't need any Garden record to know that."
Rinoa beamed at him. "Thanks, Squall."
Squall smiled back at her. "Now, let's go home, now that I've told you."
Rinoa grinned cheekily. "You don't have to be so serious all the time." She grabbed Squall's hand and pulled his Griever ring off his finger.
"Hey, give that back," said Squall pathetically.
"I've always wanted a ring like this!" said Rinoa, looking at it in awe.
"Give it back," said Squall again with a bit of a laugh.
Rinoa looked up at him with her cheeky smile. "You've gotta catch me first!" She put his ring on her finger and ran off into the water.
"Hey!" said Squall. "You've got some nerve, Rin." He took off his jacket and ran after her, into the freezing water.
Rinoa giggled and ran further, plodding through the heavy water, waving her hand in the air. "Come and get me!" she called.
Squall shook his head with a laugh and trudged through the water slowly, trying to catch her. It sounded silly to him, but he was definitely in the mood to play along with Rinoa.
For about ten minutes, Rinoa kept running around with Squall's ring. She kept taunting him and encouraging him to come after her, but he would always be following her with an extremely low speed. When Rinoa got cold and tired, she ran onto the sandy shore and stopped. She started huffing and puffing, and when she turned around, she found that Squall was running up to her.
Rinoa screamed, and quickly found herself lying on the sand with Squall on top of her. She scrunched her nose, enjoying Squall's body warmth.
She started giggling. "So ... you've got me, huh?"
Squall stayed on top of her and grinned sheepishly, not letting her go.
She felt warmer against Squall, even if he was just as wet as she was. His calm breathing on her made her feel safe...
Squall's grin faded. He stared longingly into Rinoa's earthen eyes, and Rinoa stared back into his with an elusive smile. His face began to slowly inch closer towards Rinoa's, until their noses were touching. Rinoa closed her eyes, preparing for what was to come. She hadn't shared a kiss with Squall for so long ... her senses tingled, as Squall came closer to her. He was less than a millimetre away from her lips. He felt her warm shallow breathing on him and stared at Rinoa's pretty face with her eyes squeezed shut.
Suddenly, he laughed, withdrew his face away from Rinoa's closed eyes, and grabbed her hand. He pulled his ring off her finger and got off of her.
"Fooled you, didn't I?" said Squall with a laugh.
Rinoa opened her eyes at the sudden change of atmosphere, to see that Squall was up on his feet. She smiled, slightly embarrassed. Part of her actually wanted that kiss...
Squall put his ring back on and held his hand out to her. Rinoa grabbed his hand, and he pulled her up.
The two of them walked off the beach, Squall grabbing his jacket and putting it on. Rinoa shivered as the day wore out. The sun was almost set; it was almost dark.
Squall took off his jacket and put it on Rinoa, sensing her coldness.
"Today was definitely ... a good day," said Rinoa with a yawn. She leaned against Squall's shoulder and closed her eyes again as he put his arm around her.
They walked around the beach once more until they were dry. By then, it was dark, and Rinoa was getting tired.
"Come on," said Squall. He took his arm off from around Rinoa's shoulder and went in front of her, his hands behind him in a welcoming motion.
Rinoa looked at him curiously.
"Come on," said Squall encouragingly. "It's a long way to the car."
Rinoa laughed softly and realised that he wanted to give her a piggyback ride.
"Typical Squall, always knowing how to act in a difficult situation," said Rinoa jokingly. She climbed onto Squall's back and clung onto him tightly.
"Hold on tight," said Squall with a soft laugh.
"Huh...?" But before she knew it, Squall was sprinting across the beach.
Rinoa held on tight and screamed at the alarming speed Squall was running at. Then she started giggling madly between her yells.
"Yeah!" Rinoa yelled. "I'M RIDING ON A SQUAAAALLLL!"
Squall kept running, holding onto Rinoa tightly and smiling.
Rinoa was giggling like mad with her eyes tightly shut, holding back tears of laughter. This is so much better than a roller coaster, thought Rinoa happily.
After a while, Squall got tired and began walking instead.
Rinoa leaned her head on Squall's back and closed her eyes. All of a sudden she felt lethargical again.
"You're so light," said Squall. "And you say you couldn't eat those chocolates I gave you..."
Rinoa smiled as she felt Squall's voice vibrate in her ear.
"Squall..." she whispered.
"Hmm?"
"You're so warm..." she said tiredly.
Squall smiled and continued to walk.
I'm so glad to have you ... Rinoa, thought Squall.
I'm so glad to have you, Squall, thought Rinoa at the exact same moment.
The two of them had finally reached the car. Rinoa was half-asleep. Squall opened the door and sat her down in the passenger seat.
Rinoa opened her eyes. She rubbed them and looked around. "Oh ... we're going home now."
"Yeah," said Squall. He closed the door and went to the other side, getting in.
"It's a shame the day went by so quickly," said Squall, starting the car.
Rinoa nodded. She sighed tiredly as they got on the road.
"Home?" asked Squall.
"Yeah," said Rinoa, nodding.
The glove compartment caught her eye, as it was open. She really hadn't ever explored Squall's car, but maybe she should have started then.
She leaned over and looked into it. It was filled with papers and rubbish, and there was a tape recorder in there too.
"Wow, I love these," said Rinoa, pulling the tape recorder out of the compartment. "These are fun!"
Squall glanced at her and laughed. "Yeah, they're somethin', aren't they? I'd use them for my SeeD reports sometimes. There's a blank tape in there now. I'm just waiting for something interesting to happen."
"Oh, cool," said Rinoa. She examined the device carefully. "Hey, let's record something now! So we can listen to it one day and see how crazy I am."
Squall laughed.
Rinoa pushed the record button. "Okay ... so, umm, me and Squall are driving home right now. We just came back from the beach. Today was really fun, 'cause we got to hang out with Selphie, Irvie, Quisty and Zelly and get really wet. I stole Squall's ring and ... umm..."
"I got it back, thanks to my cunningness," said Squall with a bit of a laugh.
"Yeah, that's it!" said Rinoa cheerfully.
"Rinoa's fallen asleep," said Squall.
"No I haven't!" cried Rinoa.
Squall laughed. "Okay, but Rinoa looks really cute when she's asleep."
Rinoa giggled with a blush. "Squall is very open and cheerful and fun for some reason today."
"Aren't I always fun?" asked Squall.
Rinoa laughed. She loved him so much when he wasn't quiet and refined. She loved him so much when he was really ... him.
"It's so dark outside now!" said Rinoa.
"And little Rinny is afraid of the dark," kidded Squall.
"No!" cried Rinoa.
"Of course not. Little Rinny is my strong girl."
Rinoa giggled. "Okay, that's enough for now – I'm turning this off!" she said into the speaker. "Bye Squall!"
"Bye Rinoa," said Squall with a laugh.
Rinoa stopped the tape and re-winded it. She pressed play when it stopped, and the two of them listened to what they recorded. They kept on laughing out loud at the wild randomness that was on the tape.
The rest of the ride was indeed pretty long. Rinoa fell asleep again with the tape recorder still clasped in her hands.
The rest of the ride was in silence. Squall kept glancing over at sleeping Rinoa, and smiled every time. They finally arrived at the Caraway mansion. Most of the lights in the house were still on.
Squall stopped the car and got out. He opened Rinoa's door, but didn't want to wake her up. Instead, he just carried her to the house, arms around her tightly. Rinoa was still holding on tightly to the tape recorder.
Squall knocked on the door with one hand.
The door opened. It was Seifer whom had answered the door.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Seifer.
"I might ask the same," murmured Squall. He cleared his throat. "I've taken Rinoa home."
"Wah—?"
"Get away from the door—"
Seifer was pushed away from the door, and it was Sera who came up instead.
"Oh?" said Sera, confused. "Oh! You must be ... err ... Squall." She smiled. "Are you here to see little Ashleigh?"
"Uh ... no," said Squall. "I just came to drop Rinoa off."
"Oh," said Sera, trying to hide any disappointment, "Well ... just wake her up and we'll take her upstairs."
"Oh ... I don't want to wake her up," said Squall, "If it's okay, I'd rather take her up myself..."
Sera stared at Squall, but gave into him in the end. "Um ... yes, yes, all right..."
Squall nodded in thanks and stepped into the house.
At that moment, Ashleigh ran down the stairs and when she saw him, she beamed.
"Oh, hi!" said Ashleigh happily. "Oh, have you come to—"
"Drop Rinoa off," finished Squall. He walked on straight past Ashleigh, who was looking quizzical, but then bitter to see that Squall carrying Rinoa.
He headed up the stairs and to Rinoa's room. When he had opened the door, Rinoa had awoken.
"Hmm...?" She yawned. "Oh, I'm home."
Squall put Rinoa down. She stretched and yawned.
"Thanks, Squall," said Rinoa. "I had a great day today."
"No problem," replied Squall.
Rinoa noticed she was still carrying the tape recorder. "Oh, here you go." She handed the recorder back to Squall, but he shook his head.
"Keep it," he said, "I can always buy another one."
Rinoa smiled. "I'm just gonna freshen up. I'll only be a sec – wait here so I can say bye, okay?"
Squall nodded.
Rinoa opened the door to her room and put the tape recorder on her dressing table. She left the hallway and entered the bathroom.
When Squall heard the sound of water rushing, he decided to take a trip to Rinoa's room. He hardly came into her house, and he had never been in her room before.
Squall walked into her bedroom and flipped on the light switch. He looked around. It was neat and tidy, and the pale teal colour scheme of the room made him feel relaxed. He walked to Rinoa's dressing table. He looked at himself through her mirror. He then picked up the tape recorder Rinoa was playing with earlier.
He pushed the record button and hesitated as to whether he should say something or not. But in the end, he did.
"Hey, Rinoa," he started. "I'm in your room now. I know when you hear this and when you find out, you're gonna murder me. But you know ... I just wanted you to know something. I'm a bit of a wuss for not saying this to your face ... but you know I'll always wait for you. You're my strong girl. And I'll try to be strong for you too. But ... I don't know. By saying this ... do you think I'm weak? I'm still a teenager now, I'm not that old ... and maybe I'm not at that age to know it yet ... but I've never felt this way about anyone before. And I mean you. I don't know what it is ... is it ... love? But ... if it is ... I just want you to know ... that I love you. And ... I hope that you love me too."
Squall laughed weakly at how pathetic and corny that sounded. He pressed stop and put the tape recorder back onto the dressing table, and got out of Rinoa's room, thinking about whether or not he should've did what he just did.
