Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Authors note: Just a few things. I have changed the world a bit to fit in with my story. There is now a city in Trabia instead of a garden. Also there is a train running from Balamb to Trabia. Small changes, but I thought I better give the heads up in case I am shouted at for getting stuff wrong. I am not sure how happy I am with the chapter; I don't know how clever it is to write on a Friday night, after a very long week.
Rinoa looked in the mirror, running a brush through her long dark hair. There was a small bit sticking up in the back, which was annoying her and whatever she did it wouldn't go down. *Crap. Screw this. I'll just leave it as is* she was already late for dinner. It was always served at 7 o clock on the dot and if she was supposed to be there on time, her father's rules. It was the only time in the day, which Rinoa and her father spent time together. The rest of the time, they avoided each other like the plague. At the moment it was 7:05 and seeing as she was going to approach her dad about the trip, now wasn't a good time to be late and piss him of.
Rinoa jumped the stairs two at a time and slid into the dining hall. Sitting at the end of the table was her General Caraway with his arms crossed in front of him staring at the wall opposite. He didn't even twitch when Rinoa opened the room. Rinoa headed to the seat on his right and sat down placing the napkin on her lap. She too didn't look at him once. *Fine* she thought * If he doesn't want to talk to his daughter, he doesn't have to* neither of them said anything as they ate their entire meal. It wasn't until desert that Rinoa thought she should broach the subject of the trip.
Rinoa looked up sheepishly, "Fath..." she began, but at the exact same time Caraway also started speaking.
"Rinoa, I am leaving Friday morning for Esthar. I am meeting with the president there and will probably be gone for a whole week." Caraway looked at Rinoa and had no emotion in his voice. He stated everything as fact.
Rinoa looked at her father with a shocked expression. "But...it's my graduation on Friday. You promised that you would be there." Rinoa started shaking her head furiously.
"I am sorry Rinoa, but this is very important. Now if you excuse me, I have some work to do." And he left the room without saying another word leaving Rinoa sitting at the table in disgust. She looked down at her plate and finished the cake that she had been eating. * He didn't ask me what I was going to say* she thought * He doesn't give a damn about me*. Tears started rolling down her face. Suddenly a phone ring interrupted her thinking. Rinoa grabbed the phone from her pocket and was about to ignore whomever it was, but noticed that it was Selphie and decided that a friendly voice might be some comfort right now.
"Hi Selphie." She said
"Hi Rin. So what did you father say about next week? Are you allowed to come?"
Rinoa gave of a loud sigh, "No, I haven't asked him. I was about to, but all he cared about was his trip to Esthar on Friday. He is going to be gone for a while, so I won't be able to go. There is no way that he will let me."
"Don't ask him." Said Selphie simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You said it yourself, he is not going to let you go, so there is no point in asking him. Just leave and come with us on Saturday morning after he is gone. If he is in Esthar he won't notice that you are gone until it is too late and he won't leave his trip to come and find you. Besides you are 18 Rinny, you can do what you want! You are an adult."
Rinoa sat there in silence for a moment biting her lip. "I suppose you have a point." She sat there for a little bit longer "You know, you are right. He is not going to be around here anyway. He doesn't care about me, why should he care where I am"
"Yay Rin, I am so glad that you decided to come. This is going to be so much fun. I have to go now my dad is calling me, speak to you tomorrow and we can make our plans. Oh I am so excited."
Before Rinoa knew what happened, Selphie had hung up the phone and left her. Rinoa left the table feeling much happier than she had when she had arrived in the dining room. Things were starting to look up for her.
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"This mission is going to be great. Isn't it Squall? I mean we are all going to have so much fun."
Squall was staring out of the window, lost in his own thoughts and didn't even here Zell talking. There was nothing to look at out of the window as they were traveling to Trabia on the train, which at the moment was somewhere under the ocean. During the last few days, the dreams had been more frequent so he was lost in thought trying to work them out. Normally he would put no stock in dreams, but these had felt so real. He was getting at least one dream every night now, and it was starting to creep him out. "The girl" Squall mused under his breathe. He couldn't get the girl out of his mind. He didn't know who she was or even what she looked like, but he had this weird feeling about her. He knew she was special.
Irvine had been pacing up the train carriage and gave Squall a strange look "What girl is this then Squall?" He said winking "I have never seen you take any interest in girls. We were starting to get worried about you."
Squall ran his hand through his hair, which had fallen across his face. "It's not like that."
"Well then tell us Squall what is it like?" Irvine asked, trying to change the subject away from Zell and what he thought of the mission they were on.
*Should I tell them? They are my best friends, but then this is my problem and I don't want to sound like a complete idiot* "There is nothing to tell. There was a girl in one of my dreams and I recognized her. I am just trying to work out where I know her from."
Irvine didn't bother carrying on the questions, even though he knew Squall was lying. The problem was Squall was never going to open up. Instead of trying to figure out his friends Irvine decided to try and find some food. He left Squall and Zell to themselves and headed through a few carriages. When he got to the third carriage, he noticed a food cart and headed right over. As he got closer to the cart he noticed a cute looking girl, with brown hair, flicked out of the ends shouting at the lady selling drinks.
"What do you mean you have never heard of Tonberry Juice? It is only the best drink, ever. Well, I you don't have any just give me three waters. That will have to do, I suppose." Just as the girl was paying, Irvine went up to her and whispered in her ear "You know I only drink Tonberry Juice too."
The girl jumped suddenly and turned to see the handsome man in a cowboy hat behind her. Hse had a very confused look on her face.
"Hi I'm Irvine" he said.
"Selphie" she replied holding out her hand. "I simply love it, though it is hard to find. I never knew anybody else who drank the stuff" She seemed genuinely excited.
Irvine smiled back and nodded his head. Truth be, he had no idea what she was talking about. "So you of to Trabia too? What are you doing there?"
"Oh me and two of my friends have just graduated, and so we are going to celebrate. How about you?"
Irvine grimaced. "Nothing quite so fun. All work for me."
"Oh that's poopie".
* Geez, did she just say poopie? Ah who cares, just look at her Irvine* "So where you from? Not Balamb I know. I would have noticed someone as beautiful as you around."
A small blush appeared on her cheeks. "No we are from Deling. We had to take transfer trains at Balamb so it has been a long day. Crap, which reminds me, my friends will kill me if I don't turn up with their drinks soon. They are getting kind of crabby."
Irvine felt a wave of disappointment cross him. "Well I understand. Maybe I will see you around Trabia some time, maybe this evening. We can get a Tonberry juice."
Selphie beamed. "Maybe." She said in her most flirtatious voice. And she started skipping of down the cart singing a song about trains.
Irvine shook his head and headed back to Squall and Zell completely forgetting why he had gone exploring in the first place.
He stepped into the private carriage and saw Squall with his gunblade out waving it at Zell. Zell on the other hand was backed into a corner looking terrified. "Hey, Squall. What are you doing?" Screamed Irvine, putting himself between Zell and the gunblade.
"Trying to get this little twerp to stop yammering on."
Irvine looked at Zell. "Uh, Squall, I think he gets the idea. Calm down Dude." He grabbed Zell and pulled him over to the bench as Squall sheathed his gunblade. Oh I have some good news that might cheer the two of you up. I met this girl on the train, who is going to be staying in Trabia for a while, with her two friends. Now if the two of them are as cute as her well...this mission might turn out to be pretty decent, after all."
"Ah well, you know I am involved with someone already Irvine" Zell protested.
Irvine rolled her eyes. "The library girl? Zell. You guys aren't dating, that is just you stalking her. Well more for us then Squall."
"Whatever" said Squall. "We are here to do a mission, not meet girls and have a good time."
"Come on Squall. We won't be spending our whole time working this seems like a pretty straightforward mission. We will have some time to socialize."
"You know you have doomed us right?" And Squall closed his eyes and lay down on the couch signaling an end to the conversation.
*************************************************************************** *******
Rinoa looked out of the bedroom window and admired the view. It was breathtaking. The lodge they were staying in was surrounded by a only a few other houses so was pretty secluded, and they were on the side of a mountain over looking the whole area of Trabia. The window overlooked the valley, and she could see the city of Trabia. It was getting dark and so little lights were popping up all over the place. It was beautiful.
Rinoa pulled herself away from the view and finished unpacking the rest of her clothes after finishing that she decided to explore the lodge and see what Quistis and Selphie were up to. She stepped out of her room and looked around her. The lodge was a traditional mountain lodge in the fact it was made out of logs but it was lavishly decorated with no expense spared. The whole house was deadly silent and it was puzzling Rinoa. *Where are they? *. Her footsteps echoed the hall as he made her way downstairs.
"Selphie! Quistis? Anyone here?" Yelled Rinoa running her hand through her hair nervously. She got to the kitchen and they were nowhere to be seen. *They must be outside * she tried to convince herself. Rinoa picked up her jacket, which was draped over the back of a chair. She slid open the door and took a step outside, and the cold air hit her suddenly and she shivered. *Damn them. They are going to pay for this*
"Hey, guys. You here? This isn't funny you know. It's freezing out here." She looked around and nothing made a sound. "Fine then I'm going inside. If you catch pneumonia, I will have no sympathy for you."
As Rinoa turned to head back into the warmth, she saw the shadow of a child in the corner just poking out from the shadows. "wha..who are you" stuttered Rinoa taking a step back in surprise. She stared straight at the child, a small boy wearing a few rags.
"Don't be scared" said the boy
"Who. Who are you?"
"Don't let it catch him. Keep running."
"Who?"
The boy started fading away "Keep running Rinoa." And then the figure was gone.
Rinoa just stood there in silence. Not sure what to do, wondering whether she was dreaming. Rinoa was frozen to the spot.
"Rin. What are you doing out here, you are going to catch your death of cold." Said Quistis opening the kitchen door and poking her head out of it. "Come inside quickly."
Rinoa snapped out of it. "Umm...sorry, coming" and she ran to the door as quickly as possible. After taking her coat of and placing it on the table she looked at her two friends who were giving her funny looks. *They are going to think me crazy if I tell them. I think I'm crazy*
"So what are the plans tonight? Surely we are going out to celebrate" Rinoa declared trying to take the attention of herself and onto more happier things.
"We were thinking of going downtown, Selphie wants to try and find the cowboy from the train." Quistis replied.
"Oh yes, the mysterious man." Rinoa gave a knowing wink "Still not sure if he exists or not."
"He does too" insisted Selphie "You guys can stay here if you want. Fine by mean." And Selphie walked out of the house heading to the car they had rented "See you guys later!"
"Selphie, we don't mean it, Hey wait up." Screamed Rinoa. You have to take us along with you!"
Selphie winked back in acknowledgement
All three of them jumped in the car and headed down to Trabia, hoping for a good time.
**************************************************************************** *************
"I don't know why I agreed to come with you." Squall muttered whilst taking another swig of his beer.
Irvine grinned. "Because it was either this, or staying in the hotel with Zell."
"Oh yeah." And Squall drained the rest of this drink.
"You know mate, perhaps you should slow down on those drinks" said Irvine, but all he got in reply was a deathly stare. "On second thoughts drink as much as you want. Its you decision after all."
Squall just sat at the bar staring at the counter counting down the minutes to when he could make a quick escape.
"Hey, she's here." Irvine shouted. Squall glanced up to see two really good-looking women enter the bar. He guessed the one screaming and jumping up and down at the sight of Irvine was Selphie. He already took a dislike to her. Too perky. The blonde behind her seemed to have something on her mind. He hoped he wouldn't be stuck with her all night.
"Hiya Irvine. Long time no see." Selphie grinned.
"Wow you look amazing" he said giving her an appraising look. "I thought you said you had two friends here" glancing at the blonde to her left.
"Oh yes, this is Quistis. Rinoa left something in the car, so will be catching us in a sec." Selphie glanced at the door. "Ah here she is."
Squall once again glanced up from the bar once again and saw the girl run it in the bar. Squalls breath was taken away, she was beautiful, her long dark hair was falling neatly around her face and the simple black dress with spaghetti straps, showed of her figure nicely. Their eyes met across the room, and he became lost in her warm brown eyes. He knew at once this was the girl from his dreams.
I hoped you enjoyed this. Please review!
Authors note: Just a few things. I have changed the world a bit to fit in with my story. There is now a city in Trabia instead of a garden. Also there is a train running from Balamb to Trabia. Small changes, but I thought I better give the heads up in case I am shouted at for getting stuff wrong. I am not sure how happy I am with the chapter; I don't know how clever it is to write on a Friday night, after a very long week.
Rinoa looked in the mirror, running a brush through her long dark hair. There was a small bit sticking up in the back, which was annoying her and whatever she did it wouldn't go down. *Crap. Screw this. I'll just leave it as is* she was already late for dinner. It was always served at 7 o clock on the dot and if she was supposed to be there on time, her father's rules. It was the only time in the day, which Rinoa and her father spent time together. The rest of the time, they avoided each other like the plague. At the moment it was 7:05 and seeing as she was going to approach her dad about the trip, now wasn't a good time to be late and piss him of.
Rinoa jumped the stairs two at a time and slid into the dining hall. Sitting at the end of the table was her General Caraway with his arms crossed in front of him staring at the wall opposite. He didn't even twitch when Rinoa opened the room. Rinoa headed to the seat on his right and sat down placing the napkin on her lap. She too didn't look at him once. *Fine* she thought * If he doesn't want to talk to his daughter, he doesn't have to* neither of them said anything as they ate their entire meal. It wasn't until desert that Rinoa thought she should broach the subject of the trip.
Rinoa looked up sheepishly, "Fath..." she began, but at the exact same time Caraway also started speaking.
"Rinoa, I am leaving Friday morning for Esthar. I am meeting with the president there and will probably be gone for a whole week." Caraway looked at Rinoa and had no emotion in his voice. He stated everything as fact.
Rinoa looked at her father with a shocked expression. "But...it's my graduation on Friday. You promised that you would be there." Rinoa started shaking her head furiously.
"I am sorry Rinoa, but this is very important. Now if you excuse me, I have some work to do." And he left the room without saying another word leaving Rinoa sitting at the table in disgust. She looked down at her plate and finished the cake that she had been eating. * He didn't ask me what I was going to say* she thought * He doesn't give a damn about me*. Tears started rolling down her face. Suddenly a phone ring interrupted her thinking. Rinoa grabbed the phone from her pocket and was about to ignore whomever it was, but noticed that it was Selphie and decided that a friendly voice might be some comfort right now.
"Hi Selphie." She said
"Hi Rin. So what did you father say about next week? Are you allowed to come?"
Rinoa gave of a loud sigh, "No, I haven't asked him. I was about to, but all he cared about was his trip to Esthar on Friday. He is going to be gone for a while, so I won't be able to go. There is no way that he will let me."
"Don't ask him." Said Selphie simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You said it yourself, he is not going to let you go, so there is no point in asking him. Just leave and come with us on Saturday morning after he is gone. If he is in Esthar he won't notice that you are gone until it is too late and he won't leave his trip to come and find you. Besides you are 18 Rinny, you can do what you want! You are an adult."
Rinoa sat there in silence for a moment biting her lip. "I suppose you have a point." She sat there for a little bit longer "You know, you are right. He is not going to be around here anyway. He doesn't care about me, why should he care where I am"
"Yay Rin, I am so glad that you decided to come. This is going to be so much fun. I have to go now my dad is calling me, speak to you tomorrow and we can make our plans. Oh I am so excited."
Before Rinoa knew what happened, Selphie had hung up the phone and left her. Rinoa left the table feeling much happier than she had when she had arrived in the dining room. Things were starting to look up for her.
*************************************************************************
"This mission is going to be great. Isn't it Squall? I mean we are all going to have so much fun."
Squall was staring out of the window, lost in his own thoughts and didn't even here Zell talking. There was nothing to look at out of the window as they were traveling to Trabia on the train, which at the moment was somewhere under the ocean. During the last few days, the dreams had been more frequent so he was lost in thought trying to work them out. Normally he would put no stock in dreams, but these had felt so real. He was getting at least one dream every night now, and it was starting to creep him out. "The girl" Squall mused under his breathe. He couldn't get the girl out of his mind. He didn't know who she was or even what she looked like, but he had this weird feeling about her. He knew she was special.
Irvine had been pacing up the train carriage and gave Squall a strange look "What girl is this then Squall?" He said winking "I have never seen you take any interest in girls. We were starting to get worried about you."
Squall ran his hand through his hair, which had fallen across his face. "It's not like that."
"Well then tell us Squall what is it like?" Irvine asked, trying to change the subject away from Zell and what he thought of the mission they were on.
*Should I tell them? They are my best friends, but then this is my problem and I don't want to sound like a complete idiot* "There is nothing to tell. There was a girl in one of my dreams and I recognized her. I am just trying to work out where I know her from."
Irvine didn't bother carrying on the questions, even though he knew Squall was lying. The problem was Squall was never going to open up. Instead of trying to figure out his friends Irvine decided to try and find some food. He left Squall and Zell to themselves and headed through a few carriages. When he got to the third carriage, he noticed a food cart and headed right over. As he got closer to the cart he noticed a cute looking girl, with brown hair, flicked out of the ends shouting at the lady selling drinks.
"What do you mean you have never heard of Tonberry Juice? It is only the best drink, ever. Well, I you don't have any just give me three waters. That will have to do, I suppose." Just as the girl was paying, Irvine went up to her and whispered in her ear "You know I only drink Tonberry Juice too."
The girl jumped suddenly and turned to see the handsome man in a cowboy hat behind her. Hse had a very confused look on her face.
"Hi I'm Irvine" he said.
"Selphie" she replied holding out her hand. "I simply love it, though it is hard to find. I never knew anybody else who drank the stuff" She seemed genuinely excited.
Irvine smiled back and nodded his head. Truth be, he had no idea what she was talking about. "So you of to Trabia too? What are you doing there?"
"Oh me and two of my friends have just graduated, and so we are going to celebrate. How about you?"
Irvine grimaced. "Nothing quite so fun. All work for me."
"Oh that's poopie".
* Geez, did she just say poopie? Ah who cares, just look at her Irvine* "So where you from? Not Balamb I know. I would have noticed someone as beautiful as you around."
A small blush appeared on her cheeks. "No we are from Deling. We had to take transfer trains at Balamb so it has been a long day. Crap, which reminds me, my friends will kill me if I don't turn up with their drinks soon. They are getting kind of crabby."
Irvine felt a wave of disappointment cross him. "Well I understand. Maybe I will see you around Trabia some time, maybe this evening. We can get a Tonberry juice."
Selphie beamed. "Maybe." She said in her most flirtatious voice. And she started skipping of down the cart singing a song about trains.
Irvine shook his head and headed back to Squall and Zell completely forgetting why he had gone exploring in the first place.
He stepped into the private carriage and saw Squall with his gunblade out waving it at Zell. Zell on the other hand was backed into a corner looking terrified. "Hey, Squall. What are you doing?" Screamed Irvine, putting himself between Zell and the gunblade.
"Trying to get this little twerp to stop yammering on."
Irvine looked at Zell. "Uh, Squall, I think he gets the idea. Calm down Dude." He grabbed Zell and pulled him over to the bench as Squall sheathed his gunblade. Oh I have some good news that might cheer the two of you up. I met this girl on the train, who is going to be staying in Trabia for a while, with her two friends. Now if the two of them are as cute as her well...this mission might turn out to be pretty decent, after all."
"Ah well, you know I am involved with someone already Irvine" Zell protested.
Irvine rolled her eyes. "The library girl? Zell. You guys aren't dating, that is just you stalking her. Well more for us then Squall."
"Whatever" said Squall. "We are here to do a mission, not meet girls and have a good time."
"Come on Squall. We won't be spending our whole time working this seems like a pretty straightforward mission. We will have some time to socialize."
"You know you have doomed us right?" And Squall closed his eyes and lay down on the couch signaling an end to the conversation.
*************************************************************************** *******
Rinoa looked out of the bedroom window and admired the view. It was breathtaking. The lodge they were staying in was surrounded by a only a few other houses so was pretty secluded, and they were on the side of a mountain over looking the whole area of Trabia. The window overlooked the valley, and she could see the city of Trabia. It was getting dark and so little lights were popping up all over the place. It was beautiful.
Rinoa pulled herself away from the view and finished unpacking the rest of her clothes after finishing that she decided to explore the lodge and see what Quistis and Selphie were up to. She stepped out of her room and looked around her. The lodge was a traditional mountain lodge in the fact it was made out of logs but it was lavishly decorated with no expense spared. The whole house was deadly silent and it was puzzling Rinoa. *Where are they? *. Her footsteps echoed the hall as he made her way downstairs.
"Selphie! Quistis? Anyone here?" Yelled Rinoa running her hand through her hair nervously. She got to the kitchen and they were nowhere to be seen. *They must be outside * she tried to convince herself. Rinoa picked up her jacket, which was draped over the back of a chair. She slid open the door and took a step outside, and the cold air hit her suddenly and she shivered. *Damn them. They are going to pay for this*
"Hey, guys. You here? This isn't funny you know. It's freezing out here." She looked around and nothing made a sound. "Fine then I'm going inside. If you catch pneumonia, I will have no sympathy for you."
As Rinoa turned to head back into the warmth, she saw the shadow of a child in the corner just poking out from the shadows. "wha..who are you" stuttered Rinoa taking a step back in surprise. She stared straight at the child, a small boy wearing a few rags.
"Don't be scared" said the boy
"Who. Who are you?"
"Don't let it catch him. Keep running."
"Who?"
The boy started fading away "Keep running Rinoa." And then the figure was gone.
Rinoa just stood there in silence. Not sure what to do, wondering whether she was dreaming. Rinoa was frozen to the spot.
"Rin. What are you doing out here, you are going to catch your death of cold." Said Quistis opening the kitchen door and poking her head out of it. "Come inside quickly."
Rinoa snapped out of it. "Umm...sorry, coming" and she ran to the door as quickly as possible. After taking her coat of and placing it on the table she looked at her two friends who were giving her funny looks. *They are going to think me crazy if I tell them. I think I'm crazy*
"So what are the plans tonight? Surely we are going out to celebrate" Rinoa declared trying to take the attention of herself and onto more happier things.
"We were thinking of going downtown, Selphie wants to try and find the cowboy from the train." Quistis replied.
"Oh yes, the mysterious man." Rinoa gave a knowing wink "Still not sure if he exists or not."
"He does too" insisted Selphie "You guys can stay here if you want. Fine by mean." And Selphie walked out of the house heading to the car they had rented "See you guys later!"
"Selphie, we don't mean it, Hey wait up." Screamed Rinoa. You have to take us along with you!"
Selphie winked back in acknowledgement
All three of them jumped in the car and headed down to Trabia, hoping for a good time.
**************************************************************************** *************
"I don't know why I agreed to come with you." Squall muttered whilst taking another swig of his beer.
Irvine grinned. "Because it was either this, or staying in the hotel with Zell."
"Oh yeah." And Squall drained the rest of this drink.
"You know mate, perhaps you should slow down on those drinks" said Irvine, but all he got in reply was a deathly stare. "On second thoughts drink as much as you want. Its you decision after all."
Squall just sat at the bar staring at the counter counting down the minutes to when he could make a quick escape.
"Hey, she's here." Irvine shouted. Squall glanced up to see two really good-looking women enter the bar. He guessed the one screaming and jumping up and down at the sight of Irvine was Selphie. He already took a dislike to her. Too perky. The blonde behind her seemed to have something on her mind. He hoped he wouldn't be stuck with her all night.
"Hiya Irvine. Long time no see." Selphie grinned.
"Wow you look amazing" he said giving her an appraising look. "I thought you said you had two friends here" glancing at the blonde to her left.
"Oh yes, this is Quistis. Rinoa left something in the car, so will be catching us in a sec." Selphie glanced at the door. "Ah here she is."
Squall once again glanced up from the bar once again and saw the girl run it in the bar. Squalls breath was taken away, she was beautiful, her long dark hair was falling neatly around her face and the simple black dress with spaghetti straps, showed of her figure nicely. Their eyes met across the room, and he became lost in her warm brown eyes. He knew at once this was the girl from his dreams.
I hoped you enjoyed this. Please review!