Chapter 14

The Goddess of Evil

"Do you think we should wake her up?" Selphie whispered to Quistis.

"Yeah, she wouldn't want to sleep the day away." Quistis whispered back. The two girls were standing over Rinoa's sleeping figure, watching her. "What should we do?"

"I've got an idea…" Selphie trailed off with small giggles. She ran off into the bathroom and came out with her hairbrush. "We can pull some of the hairs out of this and make her think it's a spider!"

"You've got to be kidding me, right?"

"Of course not!" Selphie gave her a stern look.

"All right, fine." Quistis finally agreed.

Selphie pulled out a couple of hairs and began to move them around lightly across Rinoa's face. Rinoa opened her eyes and jumped back, hitting her head on the headboard. "Ahhhh-Ow!" She screamed. Selphie and Quistis were on the floor in laughter, holding their stomachs. "Hey! That was awful! I can't believe you two! I thought that was a spider on my face!"

"I'm sorry!" Selphie and Quistis said between laughs. Rinoa glared down at them and then jumped down and wrapped her arms around their shoulders in a hug.

"It's okay! I forgive you! Now…" Rinoa turned toward the bed and grabbed a pillow off and threw it in Selphie's face! "Time for my revenge!" The other two grabbed pillows and the war began. It continued for about another thirty minutes until feathers were strewn across the room. They all laughed and cleaned up the mess.

Finally, after all the feathers were gone Rinoa grabbed her clothes from the party and told the girls bye. Then she ran off down the hallway toward Squall's room. She stopped in front of his door. "I'm nervous. Squall's in there. What do I say to him…He's going to look at me, but how…?" Butterflies were flying everywhere through her body. She gulped and turned the door knob.

She walked in and closed the door. Squall sat hunched over his desk, writing on paper. She watched him, not sure what to do or say. He turned his head around and looked at her. They sat there, looking at each other in awkward silence until Squall spoke up. "Hey…"

"Hey…" Rinoa said, blushing slightly. She walked over to the closet and opened the door to put her costume in. Squall looked down at the clothes in her hand and saw his jacket, shirt, and her leather mini skirt. Rinoa took her chain necklace from around her neck and took the lion charm off.

Squall stood up, and gazed at her with a soft expression in his eyes. "Rinoa…" He said, with a small sigh. Rinoa looked up from her necklace. "I…I…" Rinoa stared into his beautiful ocean blue eyes. "I want you to…to…" He seemed just as nervous as her. "I would like for you to have this." Rinoa looked down at his hand. His ring with the lion on it was lying in his palm. "Here…" He took her necklace from her hands and placed his ring on the chain.

Rinoa was speechless. Squall looked up from the necklace into her dark brown eyes. She finally was able to move her lips to form words. "Are you sure you want me to have this? It's so beautiful…"

"Yeah…I'm sure. You deserve it." He said. Rinoa smiled.

"Thank you." She turned around to face the door. Then she lifted her hair away from her neck. "Can you put it on for me?" Squall smiled a little. He threw the necklace around her head and brought the ends of the chain to the back of her neck. He clipped them together and Rinoa let her hair fall back down below her shoulders.

She turned back around to face him and looked down at her necklace. They looked at each other with curious stares in silence. Squall took a few more steps toward her. Their faces were drawing closer and closer. He leaned in towards her. His breath could now be felt on her cheek.

Within seconds, their lips touched. Rinoa closed her eyes. A surge of energy ran through her. She never thought this would happen. She could feel herself melting into his arms. A few seconds later they pulled apart. Rinoa opened her eyes in disbelief. He had done it. He had kissed her of his own free will. They smiled at each other. Then Rinoa wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him. They embraced each other for a little bit.

After they pulled apart, they stared into each others eyes once more. This time Squall was making the moves. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers again. His lips felt warm against hers. In a matter of seconds he began to deepen the kiss more. Rinoa was in disbelief, but went with it anyways. This was what she had wanted after all. Then to her surprise, he pushed her against the wall, her hands above her head. Her arms came down and wrapped tightly about his neck and pulled him in closer to her. This continued till finally Rinoa pulled away from him after one last kiss.

She walked back towards the door. "I'm hungry…I'm gonna get some breakfast…Do you wanna come?" Squall smiled and nodded his head. As they walked down the hallway, he took her hand in his.

When they reached the cafeteria and got their food, they walked over toward their friends. The group stared at them. They had still been holding hands. Squall went to sit down next to Zell, Rinoa next to him who sat beside Selphie.

Zell poked Squall in the ribs. "You're the man Squall! Nice catch!" He said, a large grin on his face. Selphie was asking Rinoa a ton of questions about them. Quistis had just winked at her.

"So, are you two like an item now?" She asked. Rinoa blushed. She hadn't really thought about having a name for the two of them.

"Well…I…ah…" She laughed, her face turning redder.

"I think we are…what about you Rinoa?" Squall said looking at her. Rinoa turned to face him with shock in her eyes.

"Really? Do you mean it?" She asked.

"Remember before…Would I lie to you?"

"Of course you wouldn't…I shouldn't ask you that after that night." Everyone looked at Rinoa at this last statement.

"Whoa! What night?" Zell asked standing up, his eyes huge. "Did something happen that you haven't told us Rinoa? Huh?"

"Don't worry…It's not like that!" Rinoa said, her cheeks bright red now. "You see, there was this girl named Crystal and she came into Squall's room one night and when I came back to his room that girl was there! I got jealous thinking that he liked her because their faces were so close, but then he came after me and told me the truth. Then I asked if he promised that he wasn't lying and he said, 'Would I lie to you?'"

Zell sat back down more relaxed now. Everyone watched Rinoa. Irvine then spoke up for the first time. "Hey, isn't that your ring, Squall?" Squall nodded his head.

"Yeah, I wanted her to have it…"

"Why? I thought you made it. Isn't it like one of your most prized possessions?"

"Yeah, that's why I gave it to her." Rinoa felt as if her heart was going to burst.

"Oh Squall!" She said. She turned in her chair and hugged him. Selphie ran over next to Irvine and hugged him. She couldn't resist the moment.

"Wait a second!" Zell said loudly. "What do you mean you went to Squall's room? Wasn't that at like one in the morning?"

"Yeah…he he! Well you see, Crystal broke into my room and everything got ruined so…you know…Squall said that I could stay in his room till mine was fixed…" Rinoa's face was brilliantly red now.

"What! You're staying in his room? So does that mean you like…"

"Oh no! Don't worry! Squall sleeps in his chair; I sleep in the bed…" She laughed inside to herself at her own lie. "I can't tell him I slept next to him! He would be on my case!" She thought.

"Right…" Zell trailed off. Rinoa wasn't sure if he believed her. She couldn't blame him though. She had slept next to him that one night. Rinoa smiled to herself at the memory of it.

Crystal sat in the corner of the cafeteria, her hand gripped tightly around her cup. "That girl! She makes me so made! Grrrrr!" She stood up from the table and walked behind a wall. "Good, no one in sight." With that, she disappeared into the air.

At last they left the cafeteria, holding hands. They were halfway down the hallway when the walls and doors began to swirl and twist. "What's happening?" Rinoa cried out. The walls around them vanished, to be replaced by infinite darkness. "Where are we?"

"I don't know!" Squall said, pulling Rinoa closer.

"You shouldn't cling so hard to people…" A voice echoed throughout the darkness. "You never know when you might loose them!" Swirls of dark energy blew towards them. They held on to each other tighter. Laughter rang out in the darkness.

A light appeared a few yards before Rinoa and Squall. In the light, a throne emerged, the laughter continuing. "Show yourself!" Squall screamed.

"Very well!" A figure dropped out of the darkness with long blonde hair.

"CRYSTAL!" Shock spread across both their faces.

"I told you, you shouldn't reject me. You will face the consequences!" She bowed her head and leaned down on one knee. "They are here your Highness!" Dark energy swirled around the throne. A dark figure began to emerge.

She had long, flowing black hair and eyes. A dress fell past her knees with a chain belt across her hips. A cloak flowed out behind her. The dress split down the middle with more chains across it and running down her arms and legs. She began laughing louder and louder.

"It's about time I get to meet you two! Face to face! I am Ruler of the Darkness and Shadows…I am Queen Morgana…the ultimate Goddess of Evil!"