Chapter Three: Personal Vendettas

As Squall slept, he was plagued by dreams of Rinoa, her face and her laughter, until the point he jolted up inside of his bed, gasping for air. It was five minutes to six in the morning; so, he figured this was as a good of time as any time get up. Dressing and washing up he exited his dorm and walked around aimlessly, until he had wound up at Rayne's Dormitory door. "What the hell am I doing here?" he asked himself heatedly. Though all thoughts vanished when Rayne opened the door, "Can I help you Sir?" Squall stood silent for a moment; did he knock on the door? He was sure he hadn't. In the state he was in, he let it slip into his subconscious. "No. I wanted to take this time to show you to the training center, not many people will be there this early." Rayne nodded and the counter "How did you know I would be awake?" Squall, feeling trapped for a minute couldn't possibly say "Because I was having a nightmare and wound up at your door." Which was the truth, so he lied quickly "A good guess. You were a Commander, you know how to keep late and early hours" Rayne chuckled softly, knowing he was lying "I suppose I do Sir. Shall we go?" Squall nodded and stepped away from the door to allow her exit. When she walked out, the cloak she had previously worn was gone, and he noticed a sword on her hip. "You're a gun blade specialist?" He asked curiously, with his eye on his own gun blade. Rayne shook her head "No Sir. I'm just a swordsman" she lied terribly. Squall kept his eye on her curiously "Uh-huh, well, let's be going then" 'A swordsman? That's the worst lie I've ever heard, but, that sword isn't a gun blade, is she really a sorceress?' If he only knew the truth.

Within a few minutes, Squall and Rayne made it to the deserted training center. Once inside they began fighting as Squall explained how to kill each monster, though he quickly found out Rayne didn't need much education on the matter. She sliced through the monsters just as fast as Squall. "What Garden were you a Commander of Miss. Langley?" Rayne paused mid-step through the training center and froze there. 'So, it's finally come out. I suppose I have no other choice but to tell him' Slowly, she turned to face him and her voice was strong, but at the same time somewhere deep down she was fearful of his reaction though it never showed. "Galbaia Garden Sir." Squall, shocked, stood back for a minute. ' no wonder! Why everyone is so wary of her, does everyone know? How could Cid recruit a Galbadian Commander? Unless he doesn't know! Oh dear god…we've recruited the enemy!' Rayne, seeing his thoughts flying like a fire's spark added, "Cid is already well aware of my former position. I wasn't born in Galbaidia, but I was sent there at a very younger age to live with a relative, a close friend of a General." Squalls mind wandered, thinking of General Caraway, then of Rinoa. "Well, you have no business here! Galbaida is our sworn enemy, why in the world would you come here!" Rayne sighed and walked from the training center, with Squall at her heels with his burning rage. "Commander, the only way to explain my reason for being here would be to tell you of my past, and that is a story neither of us are ready to handle just yet." Squall thought this just as an excuse and he taunted "I see, secrets. You're hiding them from your commander officer, are you planning to sabotage this Garden? Fess up you criminal." Rayne had hit her peak with his responses and she lashed out "You'll never know what it was like! NEVER! Don't tempt me into losing my control Commander. I told you I would tell you someday, and I don't break my promises, ever." Turning her back to him she walked away, leaving Squall alone to contemplate everything that had just taken place.

Rayne, walking so fast the people past her were nothing but a blur. Making her way to her dormitory she slammed the door behind her and threw her sword against the wall in an enraged force making a loud shattering noise. A moment later, a knock came to her door. Opening it quietly, she saw Selphie Timiltt. "Can I help you Miss Timilt?" said Rayne through clenched teeth. Selphie looked around inside the room through the open door and smiled "Nope, just making sure you were alright, I heard a loud crash!" Shortly after she said that, Quistis, Irvine, and Zell showed up. "they're inseparable" "I'm fine" said Rayne as the four looked hesitantly to one another, as if they were contemplating something to say to Rayne. "Do you have something to tell me or ask me?" Rayne continued, obvious to what they were up to. Zell decided to speak up first "We were just wondering, where are you from?" Rayne inwardly chuckled "You must have asked everyone, or looked through the computer data bases before coming to ask me myself." The group of four exchanged worried glances. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I figured it would come out sooner or later, either will have the same effect. I'm the Ex-Commander of the Galbaian Armies, I am from Galbadia Garden" The look on their faces was one of pure shock, they were rendered speechless and looked as if they had just been betrayed. Rayne sighed, somehow a bit wounded at their reaction. Having nothing to say to this 'enemy' the four turned around and left Rayne standing alone, holding onto her door for support. "Just remember why you're here. You have to continue on, for Rinoa's sake." Rayne had a job to do, and her past was only one big, nasty obstacle that she would overcome, somehow.

Squall stormed into Cid's office, without waiting for his invitation. "SIR!" Exclaimed Squall. Other students had informed Cid that Squall looked like he was prepared for war as he made his way to Cid's office in a blind fury, and he was prepared. "Squall, sit down" His voice was softened, but authoritative nonetheless. Squall, with a grunt, sat down in a rush and continued on "Sir, how could you willingly let the enemy into our Garden! As a student no less! UNDER MY SUPERVISION!" Cid let him carry on, and the he answered. "Squall. Rayne is a very good warrior, her skills match yours, and she is willing to a good cause. I'm sure she has told you she was forced into the Galbadian army? All she could do to get out was fighting well enough to be transferred someday. Her plan backfired, as she became the Commander. She tried her best to make her soldiers honest and decent people. After realizing it was hopeless, she began to search for somewhere to go. I found her by attending Garden function, where a Commander from each Garden was there. We talked, and she told me her situation, since I'm all for second chances, I gave her one, since she was never given a choice of what kind of life she wanted to lead. Can you understand that Squall? What it's like not to have a life of your own, and your every move is planned by the military?" Squall admitted bitterly he knew how that felt, because that was how Rinoa had felt. "Rinoa sir. She lived a similar life, but she broke free." Cid sighed "It's not similar Squall, Rinoa wasn't forced into the military, she was just the General's daughter, while that is hard, Rayne was constantly thrown somewhere she didn't want to be, where she had to fight for her life, a life that wasn't even under her own control. Keep asking her to tell you about her past, if you hear it from her, maybe you'll understand and you won't be so hard on her" Squall stood up and shouted "Never! She deserves nothing from me! Her 'army' killed Rinoa, and Rayne deserves nothing but death, a life for a life. That's just how it is, and I'm going to see to it that it is fulfilled." Storming off, Cid was left in his office, wondering if it was the right thing to do to accept Rayne to their Garden, Squall, he usually cool headed Commander, was nearly out of his mind. "What have I done?" he said to himself in the darkened office.

((Ooooooooo….The plot thickens! Normally Squall isn't emotional to pull out vendettas on people's lives, but hey, this is my fan fic XD. Boy, Rayne is in a pickle ain't she? Next chapter will include a big fight scene, secrets revealed, and the beginning of the end, it's going to be a really big chapter, sorry it took me so long to update. And to the comments I was left. If you're going to bother to comment, at least make it longer than one word…And if you don't like the way I write, there's no reason to waste a comment line. Mary-Sues are girls that want everyone paired up, obviously you didn't read, and you should get to the end before you start throwing out words like that, how do you know that people don't die? And that people are split apart, I said it was a sad story. I'm not sure if anyone's going to die, -shrugs-, I'll get there when I get there, so keep your snide full comments to yourself until I'm finished. ))

(I don't title the chapters until I'm finished writing them, and then I find a theme and title it later. I work a little backwards I know. So, if any chapters are called "Untitled" it means I plan on adding something to the chapter before I move on, enjoy ;) ))