A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating. I've been busy with exams and assignments and a whole lot of other things ... so, I'm so sorry guys! Thank you for your support, I really do enjoy reading each and every one of your reviews :)
Lost Memories of My Love
Chapter 10 – The Last Dance
Rinoa stood in the middle of the ballroom, staring up at the glass ceiling. She watched the stars and listened to the beautiful music as she wondered when Squall was going to show up.
The dance had begun half an hour ago. Rinoa had arrived pretty early to help Selphie and the rest of the Committee with the setting up, hoping that she would see Squall soon. But her hopes had been crushed, because she hadn't seen Squall for the whole day.
Her neck began to ache from looking up all the time. She glanced around the hall to find couples waltzing around all over the place. She spotted Seifer in the corner, talking to his new friends Fujin and Rajin. He seemed to be enjoying himself. Rinoa glanced over near the tables, where she found Zell stuffing his face with food next to a girl with pigtails.
Rinoa sighed and headed towards the balcony, her little place where nobody ever came to at dances. She stared at the night scenery, drowning out all her surroundings.
"So there you are."
Rinoa turned around and beamed when she saw Squall looking handsome in his SeeD uniform.
"Where were you?" cried Rinoa.
"I was planning everything with Laguna for our trip to Esthar," answered Squall.
Rinoa laughed. "Well, I guess that's okay. Caraway let me go! I'm so happy."
Squall nodded, but then frowned. "Now, I thought you were going to wear that nice dress I gave you..."
Rinoa cursed in her mind. She had to wear her normal golden shimmering dress that night...
"Oh, Squall I'm sorry," said Rinoa, "It was too ... small for me. I just tried it on today and it was tiny."
Squall just laughed. "Well then. It just proves how bad at this I am."
Rinoa laughed nervously. "No, it's not your fault." Stupid Ashleigh, she thought.
"Oh well, when we go to Esthar together I'll get you a nicer one ... that fits," said Squall.
Rinoa smiled. "All right, enough of that." She grabbed Squall's hand and dragged him back into the ballroom.
Selphie, Irvine and Quistis were together, Irvine playing with Selphie's video camera and filming the two girls. Quistis spotted Rinoa and Squall coming back into the ballroom and pointed to them.
"Oh dear, here they come with the camera," said Rinoa with a laugh as Selphie and Quistis approached them, Irvine following with the camera.
"So there you two are," said Quistis. She was also in her SeeD uniform, along with Selphie.
"Yeah!" said Selphie, "Say something for the camera!"
Irvine zoomed in on Rinoa as she smiled sweetly and waved.
"Um, well, it's the Garden dance!" said Rinoa. "And, um, everyone looks pretty! See, Quisty looks pretty, Selphie looks pretty, Irvie looks pretty, Squall looks pretty ... and Zell looks uh, kinda pretty!" Rinoa laughed as she saw Zell still eating next to a dazed girl with pigtails.
"Rinny looks pretty too," said Selphie, butting in front of the camera.
The five of them mucked around for a while with the camera. Ashleigh was sitting at one of the tables with her group of friends, watching Rinoa and the others.
"This is so boring," said Ashleigh, exasperated.
"Well, maybe if we get up and do something...?"
Ashleigh shot an angry look at her friend, but then eased. "You're right. Hey, I'll go call my cool SeeD friends over here, okay?"
Her friends seemed satisfied with Ashleigh's proposal.
Ashleigh stood up and strutted over to Squall and the others. As she walked up to them, she stopped and watched the group with keen interest.
"Oh, look, it's Rin's lil sis," said Irvine, tipping his hat at Ashleigh.
Rinoa looked at Ashleigh and frowned slightly as the girl giggled.
"What's up, guys?" asked Ashleigh sweetly. "It's just so boring ... just sitting around."
"Then why don't you do something?" asked Selphie, turning the camera to Ashleigh.
Ashleigh smiled and waved at the camera as Rinoa did.
Zell came up to the group and stood in between Selphie and Quistis, putting his arms around them both.
"So, what's happening?" asked Zell, swallowing what was left in his mouth.
"Oh, hello," said Ashleigh, smiling, "I'm just bored."
"How can you be bored?" said Zell, shaking his head.
Quistis watched Rinoa's face, sensing the irritation in her calm expression. Then she looked at Squall, who somehow looked less cheerful than he was before. She looked at Ashleigh, who was struggling to make conversation with the SeeDs, while eyeing Squall every three seconds or so.
"Squall," said Quistis, "I don't believe I have seen you dance in a while."
Everyone's attention turned from Ashleigh to Squall, who was quite flustered.
"Yeah, Squall! You have to dance!" said Selphie, zooming the camera in on Squall.
"C'mon Quistis, you know I don't dance," said Squall, scratching the back of his head.
"I meant you and Rinoa," said Quistis, glancing at Rinoa's brightened face. "Go on. Waltz with the Moon is being played next."
Rinoa smiled. "Come on, Squall." She grabbed Squall's hand and dragged him onto the dance floor as her favourite song came into play.
Ashleigh stared after the couple, as Selphie filmed them dancing and everyone else's attention was away from her.
Rinoa smiled as she danced with Squall. He had improved since last time she danced with him – this time he was much more smooth.
"You've really improved," said Rinoa, smiling as the song came to a close.
"Well, you were my teacher, what else could I expect?" said Squall.
Rinoa smiled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Seifer sitting in the corner, looking bored as his friends Fujin and Rajin were conversing. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him; just standing there and watching everyone go by.
"I'll be back," said Rinoa, winking at Squall.
"Don't be too long," said Squall.
Rinoa let go of Squall and headed towards Seifer. She stood in front of him and tilted her head, smiling in a friendly way.
Seifer looked up at her, his expression staying the same.
"What?" asked Seifer.
"You looked bored," said Rinoa, "Why don't you come and dance with me?"
"No," he said flatly.
Fujin and Rajin stopped talking and looked at Rinoa.
"The pretty girl's asking you to dance, man," said Rajin. "Don't disappoint her."
"AFFIRMATIVE," said Fujin.
"It's okay," said Rinoa, "You don't have to..."
"Oh, he has to," said Rajin. He winked at Seifer and pushed him towards Rinoa.
"Shut up, man," said Seifer, glaring at Rajin.
Rinoa smiled weakly, waiting for a real answer.
"Just as I thought, you're too wuss to even dance with a girl," said Rajin provokingly.
Rinoa could tell that he had hit a nerve. Seifer looked away from Rajin and looked at Rinoa, cold in his eyes.
"Well?" said Rinoa.
This time, Fujin pushed Seifer towards Rinoa with so much force that he almost landed on top of Rinoa.
Rinoa seized the opportunity to cheer him up and grabbed him by the arm and dragged him up on to the dance floor.
"What the hell—"
It was like a whole replay of the first time Rinoa and Squall danced. Seifer was confused and kept going out of time with the music, but Rinoa just kept helping him. Every time Seifer tried to escape from the dance, Rinoa would just pull him back with enthusiasm.
"Hey, who's that guy Rin's dancing with?" asked Selphie, turning the camera towards Rinoa and Seifer.
Squall was with them now, and he watched Rinoa and Seifer dance, a slight tinge of jealously inside of him.
"That's the guy that was at her house," murmured Squall.
Ashleigh looked at Squall in interest, sensing his hint of jealously.
"A guy at her house?" exclaimed Irvine in shock.
"The guy's name is Seifer," said Zell through clenched teeth, "He's not a real pleasant guy."
"Reminds me of the time you and Rinoa first danced," said Quistis.
At those words, Squall's jealousy expanded just a little. I'm not supposed to be jealous, he thought, He's probably just a friend. Rinoa has lots of friends.
Ashleigh decided to not mention the fact that Seifer was her brother, and Rinoa was acting the way she was out of sympathy for the poor guy. She could read Squall so easily – he was obviously jealous.
"She's really teaching him, though," said Selphie in amazement.
Seifer had finally gotten the hang of the dance – but he tried to avoid Rinoa's eyes, full of cheerfulness and joy.
The song came to a finish, and Seifer let go of Rinoa's hands.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" asked Rinoa, smiling.
Seifer didn't say anything and just walked back to his two friends, wondering why he even played along with her.
---
The year was going by slowly. Rinoa couldn't wait until the year ended so she could go to Esthar with Squall. It was halfway through the year and the students of Garden were on vacation.
Rinoa stayed at Garden instead of going back to Deling. Seifer and Rinoa had slipped Squall's mind when he never saw her with him ever again, but Seifer and Squall didn't exactly get along with each other either.
Ashleigh was still trying to fit in with Squall and the others, but it never really worked. Quistis was the only one in the group who was just as annoyed with Ashleigh as Rinoa was, and she would always find a way to shoo her away from the group.
One afternoon, Rinoa and Squall were hanging out at the beach together. It was much too cold to go for a swim, so the two of them just had a long walk on the sand together.
They were both walking in an awkward silence, just thinking about ... things. Rinoa broke the silence.
"Squall?"
"Hmm?"
"What's ... what's love to you?"
Squall stopped and looked at her, surprised that she had brought up something so trivial ... well, what he thought was trivial, at the time anyway.
"Why do you ask?" asked Squall.
"Well ... I've been thinking," said Rinoa, stopping, "That I've never really thought about it."
"And you're asking me?" said Squall, raising an eyebrow.
Rinoa laughed. True, the last person anybody would ask about love would be Squall. "Well ... I just want to know. What is it to you?"
Squall paused and thought about it. He never thought about it either. And he never thought he would be telling anybody.
"Come on, Squall, you can tell me," said Rinoa encouragingly. "I won't tell anyone."
Squall thought some more. "Well..."
"Well?"
He looked at the Blaster Edge on Rinoa's arm. "Love ... it's like your Blaster Edge."
Relating everything to fighting, how typical, thought Rinoa.
"Oh?"
Squall nodded. "Shoot it for me."
"What?" said Rinoa, really confused.
"Shoot it," said Squall again, "Just shoot it into the air."
Rinoa, still not understanding what this had to with what she asked, did as she was told. She shot the pinwheel from her arm in front of her with a huge amount of force. It spun with great speed across the plains, and then returned to Rinoa's arm.
"There," said Squall. "Love is like your Blaster Edge."
"I'd hate to say it, but Squall, I don't understand," said Rinoa, shaking her head.
"Well," said Squall, "You shot it with a vast amount of force, and it took a while to come back to you."
"So?"
"So, the thing is, it still came back to you, even if it did take a while."
Rinoa blinked, still not understanding.
"The point is, love will always return." Squall smiled.
Rinoa slowly smiled, finally understanding what he meant. She was quite amazed that Squall had thought of that.
"No matter how far away you are, and no matter how much love you have ... it will always come back to you. Just like your Blaster Edge."
Rinoa grinned. "You never cease to amaze me, Squall."
Squall laughed. "Well, since I thought of this amazing philosophy, you have to remember it, okay? Remember that love will always return."
Rinoa smiled. "I will."
A/N: Okay, so I know what you're thinking, the chapters are getting really, really repetitive and really, really boring now, right? Well, worry not, my friends, for the next chapter is a very serious turn of events ... pointless chapters will end NOW ;) So, just bear with me guys, and be patient ... next chappie should be up in about two days or so :)
