Author's note – I'm so glad that everyone seemed to enjoy that last chapter. Trust me, I was trying my best to finish it in the last two days prior to its' release. Another thing was that I was surprised at how many of you guys reviewed so fast, not even after the first day on fanfiction and I already had some reviews for it! I take that as the biggest compliment of all. But I'm surprised that no one caught the certain bits of dialogue pulled from the game, though… Oh well! Thanks a million everybody!

Now I've got to answer those reviews or else I think that Adel will be after my blood...

Responses to reviews for Chapter 4

Hold on, I've got to respond to the one I missed from Chapter 3 first!

Breath of Fire – Oops, I'm so sorry that I missed your review, I just noticed it after I had uploaded the last chapter… Hope you liked it though!

Onto the Chapter 4 reviews now…

DBZ Fanfiction Queen – Thanks for the compliments and opinions too, and trust me, this fic will not go to waste.

As for your points of view regarding Seifer, I completely respect that, in fact I only had him act a bit more uncharacteristically cruel was only because he was bitter from losing to Squall earlier and I only had him gang up on him was because I needed some way for Squall to lose without using the 'random headaches' for a excuse again. That'd be too repetitive, and on top of that, I couldn't use my original plan because I'd changed a lot of things prior to that duel sequence.

And you know… Seifer fights a little dirty sometimes, right?

silver-nex – Yeah, you're right, Squall does get hurt a lot in this fic, but don't worry, what he doesn't know can't hurt him (regarding Rinoa and Seifer's past) and he be hurting so much anymore. Also I did that to add more elements from the game so I made their situation parallel, where she was only with him during the summer when she was 16.

Heartillyangel – Glad you liked (and noticed) the change of maturity in Rinoa, and don't worry, Squall will change eventually too; things like that need to be somewhat gradual and timed properly for it to seem realistic.

tidusXyuna637 – Thank you for the compliments, I personally try and keep 'em at about +5,000 words for each chapter. Hope that this update is fast enough.

…Okay this chapter should be getting good; I've added major lines from the game that I think fit pretty well in the story. Plus, you guys will finally see a different side of Squall so get ready in anticipation! (I hope that it won't stink in comparison to the rest of the story…)

On your mark, get set, READ!

Edit (08/07/06) – Just fixed some formatting errors and typos.

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Chapter V –Twin Perspectives

Waking up in the infirmary bed felt really good for both captives the next day. Not only were they fully rested from a 'fun' day yesterday, but this would be the last time they'd be doing so. Why was that, you ask? Well… today was Monday, the last day of their imprisonment; the last day of their extensive weekend sentence. Neither could wait until the next day, to be back again into the normal flow of school, going home and the other things that was included in an average teenage life as well.

Squall, being the first of the pair to awaken, got up silently and stretched his arms and legs a bit to get rid of the knots formed during his sleep. As soon as he was done and moved sleep and bangs away from his eyes, he went to look at the time from Rinoa's watch left on the small night table. Today, it read 8:27. Glancing at the watch made Squall remember about what she'd said about that the night before. He couldn't help but smirk slightly while recollecting her antics from that night.

"Squall, I'll leave my watch on the table beside me so neither of us dies from a heart attack at age 17, okay?"

Returning to the real world again, he went back to his own side, remade his bed and left the room without so much as a single noise while closing the door courteously to ensure that its' sleeping occupant did not rouse. While certain things could be said about his behavior, Squall was never one to wake other people's slumber; even if it was a person to whom he thought to be annoying, derived from a contrasting personality.

But was she really annoying anymore? He'd gotten used to the quirks considerably, therefore, should she- or that still considered a nuisance? He'd been all the more confounded on the subject as each passing day ended and as he adapted more and more. Also, new, foreign feel- occurrences came to afflict his thoughts, notions and reflections repeatedly as well thoroughly; what was this new alienation from his normal self exactly? Squall wouldn't figure that out for the life of him as he sat down near the infirmary door.

'I found her annoying from the start, but that's getting better, she's matured a bit. I've gotten used to all of her silly traits and forgive other antics; it's only normal trying to make the situation slightly easier to cope with, rather than being stuck with a brick wall…'

'-But there's so much I don't understand too… I've been experiencing different mental sensations, but what? She's seemed very suspicious at times, and I don't know why…'

'Maybe in reality this is all superficial and I should ignore it… But I can't... Is there something wrong with me? Normally, I'd brush these kinds of things off easily.'

Shuffling footsteps inside the room itself were now being heard, interrupting all thoughts, everything. Rinoa had woken up and seemed to be now approaching the door judging from the sound of her steps increasing in volume.

"Awake already?" Rinoa asked, head peeking out from the door. Squall nodded.

"That's good. At least I'm not talking to a sleepwalker in disguise." She jokingly added while fully exiting through the door, and after she continued to talk. "I fell out of bed again today… Guess I move too much in my sleep, huh?"

'No you don't, you were perfectly motionless every time I'd seen you asleep. You probably fall out on purpose for fun; I'd be ready to bet my Revolver on that.'

"Just so you know Squall, this morning I'll be in the weights room, bouncing on the trampoline. Would you like to go with me, or will you be elsewhere as always?"

'…You know, I think I'll change things up for once, let her get the shock. That way, she'll rethink about assuming to know me cover-to-cover like a book.'

"I've never been on a trampoline."

"So is that a yes?" She asked gleefully.

"I guess…"

As they started to walk down the other extremity of the corridor, Rinoa lips started to curve into a smile. Squall took note of this and sort of wondered why she was doing so for no particular reason, it wasn't a date or anything. However, he had the sneaking suspicion that she had something up her sleeve.

"You do realize that I used some reverse psychology back there, Squall?"

'…What?'

"-I already knew what you'd do if I hadn't added the 'or will you be elsewhere as always' part, and although I can't say that I know much about you or anything from your past, I used the one major thing that I did know against you."

"…What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your weird phobia of someone actually getting to 'know' you; to know about the real you. So I influenced your actions based off of that. …I guessed that you wouldn't like being stereotyped, that way I secretly made you do the opposite by figuring that you'd want to throw me off when I said that part at the end. And it worked too; worked so easily…you kinda surprised me."

Squall didn't know to think about this at all, he felt lost, angry, and violated. You name it, he probably felt it. Not because he'd been put through a ruse to do something involuntarily, it was the simple fact that she'd figured him out. Had his perfect façade finally shattered to bits after all these years? Right now, all he could do think about it.

Although Rinoa was right, she wasn't completely right.

'She's not entirely right about that one. Sure, I don't open up to other people or want them to know me either; but it's not as simple as that. I don't let people in because eventually they'll become closer, then that'll develop into friendship and then eventually they start to rely on you, but you know what? Nothing lasts in this world. It feels great to have friends who believe in you, and adults you can rely on. That's why it's so dangerous, especially if you become used to it. Someday you're bound to lose everything. Everybody around you will be gone. Then what are you left with? Nothing. Nobody... It's so miserable. And it's inevitable. It's so hard to recover from something like that. I never ever want to deal with that again. I can't, even if it means being alone...'

"Squall, are you alright? Sorry if I tricked you into coming with me, you can do something else if you want."

"No…it's fine, I'll come. I just need to take a small walk before I meet up with you again, that's all."

"That's…okay. See you later." The other teenager started to walk the other way just before she added a final bit before their temporary parting.

"Squall-" She paused as he turned around momentarily to hear the rest. "…I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way today. It's just that… sometimes I can't stand being alone all the time, I… just needed someone to get me through. I apologize again if that sounded selfish, I won't do it again, I promise."

"…It's fine Rinoa." Squall mumbled as he proceeded to turn back again, walking once more in the opposite direction.

'It's okay; I understand where you're coming from. Sometimes, I just wish that I could feel that way too…'

Walking alone to reflect on things didn't help Squall one bit. He was at a crossroads; should he admit why he was so cold towards everyone over the years to Rinoa and get this burden off of him? Or should he brush this incident off and continue like the way he'd promised himself when he was five? Neither seemed to be an adequate answer to his problem; neither resolution seemed complete somehow.

'What should I do? I'm so confused… She knows too much already… What if she tells somebody else? To tell the truth... I worry too much about what others think of me. I hate that side of me... That's another reason why I didn't want anyone to get to know me. I wanted to hide that side of myself. I hate it. Squall is an unfriendly, introverted guy. It made it easy for me when people perceived me that way. But now, I don't know if I can continue like this…'

Just then, a flashback of that dreadful summer night a year after his sister and mother's death came to mind; a younger version of himself could be seen sitting by his bedroom window, watching rain splatter against the window by himself, not wanting any company whatsoever.

"I'm...all alone. But I'm doing my best... I'll be ok without you, Sis. I'll be able to take care of myself."

"But why should I continue this? ...I didn't turn out ok at all." He said to himself truthfully, but then a slew of contradicting thoughts came in, Squall couldn't decide which ones were true to himself anymore.

'No, I'm fine by myself now. I have all the skills I need to survive. I'm not a child anymore.'

'That's a lie. I don't know anything. I'm confused.'

'I don't want to depend on anyone. How can I do that?'

'Someone tell me...'

'Someone? So I'll end up depending on others after all.'

'What is happening to me? I can't take it anymore! Nrrgh...'

He stopped walking and leaned on a corridor wall, pressing his palms against his eyelids for a moment to give his subconscious a break and started reassuring himself vocally instead mentally to avoid a brain implosion.

"…Maybe I looked too much into that, severely overreacting even… maybe she was just using my ego to be with her like she said… Perhaps I'm safe…if I can keep myself sane somehow; I didn't come through all of these years just to blow up and break a promise by one off-hand comment…I'm not ready to let your memory to be insulted Ellone. Not ever."

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"Where's Squall, it's been nearly an hour since he'd said that he was going to take a small walk, and I have something to show him!" Rinoa said to herself, bouncing impatiently on the trampoline.

"…Sorry I'm late." Squall mumbled in apology seconds later while going through the door.

"There you are! I was beginning to think that you'd forgotten how to get here! Listen I've got something to tell you!"

"What, that you can do back flips?" He replied sarcastically.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. No, I found something in Mr. Janis's office that might help us today. I was browsing his office while I was waiting for you."

'Wonder what she found, our S.D/ Weaponry marks? No… that can't be it, she wouldn't seem so excited from that…But I can never really tell with her though.'

Rinoa led Squall downstairs into the gym, backtracking to the office nearby. Once inside, she showed him one of the cupboards. It happened to be filled with various energy bars and sports drinks. Squall was hitting himself on the head; why hadn't he thought of this? He knew perfectly well that the teacher in question always had a supply of these in case if a student fainted or looked very sickly. After mentally berating himself, Rinoa started to explain how she found the aforementioned supplies.

"When I started to get bored to death waiting for you, I remembered that Janis's office was close by. Just for fun, I went in here; I wanted to see our grades in S.D class so far. While I was peeking around the drawers looking for his infamous clipboard, the search lead me to find this stuff. So lets' dig in!"

After they both finished at their respective paces, they got up energetically, full of life for the first time since the weekend. It was something the pair of them had long forgotten seeing how the prior days had passed so slowly that it felt like an eternity. Rinoa was most welcoming to the liveliness restored to their bodies as she stretched her arms.

"This feels much better! It's like I'm completely back to my old self again, what about you Squall?"

'Actually I feel better as well. Before, I was under the sneaking suspicion that my pants were starting to fall off on their own accord.'

"…Same as always."

"That's gotta suck then. Kidding! C'mon, lets' go jumping!" And with that, she smiled and then took Squall's hand and started to drag him up the stairs to go to the trampoline in the weights room.

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"…So all you do is jump?" He asked, being very unsure of himself on the flexible materiel.

"Yes Squall, you just jump. Haven't you ever done anything fun or sporadic in your life? You seem to need instructions for ever-y-thing." She drawled out playfully between bounces on the other side of the massive contraption. As Squall started to get the basics of… just bouncing, he started to make a mental note.

'Not bad. Fun, but not as fun as practicing. …I don't see why she'd find this so amusing though. At least I'm getting used to it.'

"-Hey," She paused to get on the edge, and then resumed talking, "- you want to try to flip? It's easy and the best part of using the trampoline."

"…I'll try it, but I'd need instructions."

"Sure, I can teach you." Rinoa replied aloud, and then whispered a silent, "And I'd thought you'd never ask…" to herself.

After a few trial-and-error lessons, Squall eventually achieved a flip on his own accord. The flip part was easy, the hard part was letting go of the 'This is stupid…' thoughts drifting continuously through his head. In the end, after they'd had their fill of bouncy goodness that the jumping apparatus had to offer, the pair genuinely had fun. Rinoa was the only one showing it physically, in contrast, Squall kept all signs to himself; unbeknownst to him, she could still tell he had some fun in it.

As they were descending the stairs, Rinoa suggested that they should practice offence and defense techniques for a bit, saying that she wanted to be prepared for the performance examination during the next S.D class. Since she saw through him when he was trying to conceal his true regard on the activity they'd done beforehand, Squall could see through her this time; this time, he was secretly appreciative of the gesture.

'She may be a bit odd on the outside, but she's really a good-hearted person. I guess she's really not all that bad after all, maybe… I can trust her…'

After they had started up dueling, Squall found himself working harder than he'd ever been before, even more intense than with his confrontation with Seifer Friday afternoon, fuelled on a kind of drive he'd never felt previously. It was definitely an unprecedented sensation because he didn't know what to make of it at all.

'Why am I acting this way? -dodge- It's not like I'm –side step- against Seifer and that -duck- I could lose face… It's not like me to have an underlying urge to –duck again- show her up or anything…'

'-Maybe I'm just compelled to go to the -parry- next level in training… But still, I feel like I'm lying to myself because… I know for a fact that it's -jump- something else…Maybe.'

"Hey Squall, lay off the throttle please, I can't keep on going like this…"

"…Sorry." He mumbled.

"It's-" She paused while crouching momentarily, "…okay, at least I'll be able to ace that test. On second thought- continue like this."

'What's with the change of heart so suddenly? Nevermind... Knowing her it'll have something to do with me…'

"-You still with me here?"

"…What?"

"Stop for a moment please."

As if on command, Squall stopped all actions on cue. Yet the ever-going thought button didn't seem to comply with Rinoa's order; nothing could ever stop that no matter how hard the teenager tried. That's was a given he couldn't seem to live without from living an unorthodox lifestyle for nearly twelve years. That and the ever-popular cerulean-eyed complex stare he always had on. In fact, he was giving Rinoa a five-star stare right now – along with an annoyed, 'Why-are-you-stopping' position with the rest of his body.

"Squall… Would it be okay if you focused a bit more on practicing, not thinking. It's just that… one minute you're going all out…the next, you're not. …And every time you're like that I can see it in your eyes and it's giving you away; you're out thinking about… stuff. Can you please be more consistent and concentrate more. Please?"

Automatically, by force of habit he started thinking about it instead of saying it out aloud.

'…Was it that obvious?'

"Squall… you're doing it again." She pointed out with a smile.

"…I didn't mean to. Old habits die hard."

"Before we start up again I've got to tell you something."

'You've always got to tell me something, that's the problem.'

"You know...something I've always noticed about you is that… You're always too deep in thought. Why don't you lighten up a little? It's not good to think much. What I'm trying to say is... It would be my honor... to have your company, your highness, in hope that I may get your mind off things. -How about it, your highness?" She offered half-seriously, half-jokingly, ending her speech in a little jester's bow.

'Better not, you'd make use my head tenfold with all those loopy ideas of yours instead of actually helping me think less.'

"Quit the 'your highness''s or I'll think about it." He retorted sarcastically.

"I guess that's a no then? Doesn't matter, I'll still try. You'll see!"

"…Lets' just practice, alright?" Squall tiredly demanded, drowsy from listening too much.

"Fine, but stay on track, okay?"

"Yeah...Your highness."

"What was that last part?"

"-Nothing. …Just thinking."

After they resumed training for a good period of time, Squall found himself doing the same thing again; going all out, heart racing, but this time his stomach seemed to be doing back flips mysteriously as well. He tried as hard as he could to shut out all thoughts as he'd agreed to do earlier, but one particular one kept on conveying strongly no matter what, and it was,

'-What's happening to me?'

As the feeling expanded to even greater dimensions, all of the surplus cryptic drive and its' effects internally receded, all felt normal again to the 5'8" Leonhart, but then he realized something vital; he was actually getting very tired and so was she.

In an act of new apprehension of their weariness, he asked her if she'd want to stop; Rinoa agreed completely, giving off some kind of look of inner relief present in her eyes. Soon they did the blossoming post-practice ritual of going to their own locker rooms to do whatever they needed to do, and then came out to travel the halls at the same time. Today Rinoa had mentioned that she'd needed a nap from all of this and other adolescent was just about really to do the same as well.

"Thanks for saying something. I wanted to talk about it earlier but you had this look in your eyes, not a 'thinking look', and I can't completely explain it… all I can say that it was more like you had some kind of a spark in there that was making you focus extra-hard."

'So it really wasn't just my imagination…'

As they got to the teachers' lounge, both teenagers took different couches and started to get ready for a well-needed sleep.

"…You taking a nap too?" Rinoa asked before falling asleep.

Turning around, he groggily gave her another one of his 'what's-it-look-like?' stares in return.

"Sorry… I didn't expect you to need sleep after that…That's all." She innocently explained; all questions expelled from her ceased as she soon fell dead to the world in slumber.

'Just because I seem inhuman, doesn't mean that I can't get tired like a normal person.' He thought before drifting off himself.

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As early as she was certain that her cohort was sleep, Rinoa got up and secretly escaped the teachers' lounge in complete silence. Not sure of how much time she had before Squall would wake up again, she scurried to her locker. Oh how she hated to have all of the constant air of secrecy and suspicion surround her. Rinoa was never one to keep secrets and sneak around like this.

Making sure the coast was clear, she opened her locker. Inside, she saw her backpack, blanket, gym bag and finally… cell phone. Just the thought of just looking at it seemed to invoke that particular lie she'd said recently in her head.

"Yes I do have some ideas, but that all depends."


"On…?"

"Do you have some one waiting for you at home, or at least have a cell phone?"

"No, my father's out of town, he had to go to Deling City for the weekend, but even if he were home, he wouldn't care. He'd probably think that I'm at someone's house or something. As for your other question, I left my cell at home; I thought I wouldn't need it today."

She felt horrible for lying, but at the time she knew that her phone was at too low of a power to properly work for a decently-timed call, all she'd be achieving would be giving false hope… but maybe she could try now? She wasn't going to achieve anything by staying here with Squall even if she'd tried; and if she did call now and it didn't work, he wouldn't be let down because he wouldn't know anything about it. When it was all decided unanimously, weighed by the pros and cons inside her head, Rinoa started dialing home.

Midway into making the call however, brisk and sharp footsteps could be heard coming from the adjoining corridor nearby. Fearing that it was a burglar or even Seifer again, Rinoa panicked and put her phone back and closed the locker door rapidly. Even though the steps were now echoing less and less, she didn't want to take a chance, so she ran back to the lounge in haste.

Back inside, Rinoa found Squall still resting, considering that she didn't want to come off as suspicious, she pretended to be sleeping. At least in here she'd have him to protect her if worse came to worse. She just hoped that whoever it was wasn't going to stay.

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Nearly half an hour after he fell asleep, Squall had woken up again. As he stood up, everything appeared in order - no change whatever. This was the way he preferred things to be. Surveying the surroundings, all pretty well seemed normal, even so, he found himself double-checking, nowadays he couldn't be too sure with the current situation.

After his inspection, Squall went to his locker to retrieve the homework he'd failed to accomplish yesterday. While doing so, the teen heard some weird noises, but he ignored it figuring that it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Although a part of him was nearly certain that he'd actually heard some light footsteps in the distance.

When he arrived back in the room, Rinoa was awake and rubbing her eyes. Right after, she looked upon him, analyzing what he'd had in hand, and that seemed to give her the idea of completing her own history homework as well. She zoomed out and back in the chair-strewn piece to get her own things. Soon, they inevitably started doing some homework together.

"Squall, could you help me with some of the Lunar Cry homework? I don't quite get it."

"…Turn to page 374. It's got all of the essential information you're supposed to use."

"Thanks, but I was sort of hoping that you'd explain some of it, I'm horrible for reading history textbooks. I always have trouble getting the information to stick inside my head."

"No, all you basically have to do is put the text definition and dates into your own sentences. That's it…"

"Thanks." She replied but she was actually thinking, 'I almost got him to help me that time…Darn!' inside her head.

Meanwhile, the thought of, 'Nice try Rinoa. Try harder next time with some math homework or something.' was occupying the other captive's.

However, both of their thoughts ceased when they heard heavy footsteps clunking around the perimeter, just near the exterior of the lounge's door. Both of their thoughts then turned to paranoia when they heard the footsteps accompany an eerie tone grudgingly murmur a "…They must be here…" located even closer... the threat was probably meant to be directed at them as well.

"Hyne…I'm scared.. What if he finds us?" Rinoa whispered apprehensively.

"…He won't find us. We've got to hide behind that black couch, the one on the far side. Go now while he's not looking."

At that moment, electricity and nerves were in the air; Rinoa was considerably tense and on the verge of a panic attack, Squall was trying to conceal his inner anxiety and keeping both of them hidden at the same time, it was a good thing that he was very adept at multitasking.

'She's so panicky… but I don't blame her, I even feel sorry for her… What happens if she's killed and her father doesn't even think anything of her disappearance? I won't let that ever be the case. I'll protect her to ensure that it never happen - even if I'm the one who dies in the end…'

Subconsciously, not even realizing it, Squall then secured his arms around Rinoa, protecting her from any danger they might confront. For now though, all that there was developing was the silence from the unshed cries that the embrace consoled.

A few minutes later, the same stranger seemed to be pacing back and forth between the lounge's outside door, towards the gym and back. Just when they had both thought that the outsider to be gone for good, he ultimately delivered a colossal shock down their collective spines as he actually opened the lounge door, finally realizing that the lock was open.

Not a breath was taken or expelled from Squall or Rinoa since then.

"Hmph… They said that they'd be easy to find - not in this dark they won't… Whatever happened to emergency lights in these places 'round here? It's going to take forever to find and fix up those problem-makers…"

Suddenly, a metaphoric light went off in Rinoa's head, causing her to recollect something important as she started to think about it, 'Wait.. I know that voice; it's my neighbour Mr. Polce, the electrician from the district school board, not some evil burglar… Geez, this is really awkward… He must have been talking about finding some sort of an electric panel or something… and I was all jumpy for nothing…Squall too… Maybe I should tell him so we can get out – but on the other hand.. I like Squall's arms being wrapped around me, and another night wouldn't kill us. I think I'll keep quiet. But I can't help but feel a little dishonest for this…'

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After the close call was avoided, the 'mysterious person' seemingly gave up soon as they heard a code being entered for a nearby alarm, followed by the sound of someone stepping on the outdoor gravel and a locking noise at the closest exit point; the entrance leading outside right past the gym. Now being able to breathe comfortably again, the pair got out from the tight confinements of their hiding place. Rinoa made sure to feign relief to not give away any inclination that she actually knew anything about the person who was 'trying to find them'.

"…Phew, I almost forgot how to breathe back there. Thanks for trying to calm my nerves Squall. I really appreciate it; I probably would have jumped out if not for that."

'It was nothing; I didn't just want something happen.' Instead of saying what he thought, he simply nodded.

"You know… there might be more people still in here, could we try and stick together in case if something happens – just to be safe?" She inquired convincingly, secretly trying to grasp some benefit from the false state of things they were in; he didn't catch on and fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.

"…Okay, but let me finish my homework."

"Fine by me, I'll finish mine too." She chirped.

As they resumed doing the school work, a strange pattern soon enveloped whereas they seemed to be scanning each other papers to correct each others' mistakes in the most annoying and vindictive fashion on purpose, and somehow had fun in the process (Squall supposed that he was most likely going mad from being in Rinoa's company for so long). After the rectifying frenzy had finally subsided and they'd finished the assignment, Rinoa burst out laughing.

"Ha..aha…ha… Mrs. Edea… will probably have a seizure …from the brutal exactness from our papers…That is, if she can read though all the scribbles on yours and the huge X's on mine…ha..aha…" She said through grandiose fits of laughter; even Squall himself couldn't restrain a hint of a small smirk. As soon as she caught sight of this though, Rinoa sobered up from giggling to death and turned towards him with a wide devilish grin on her face.

"So you can smile, that's a first." Squall's trace of a beam suddenly turned into a scowl as he realized exactly what he'd done, what he'd let himself do.

'How could I have let myself fall into this? I..ruined the smokescreen… I let her to get to me though the damn innocent act of doing HISTORY HOMEWORK! And on top of that, I can't figure out any of these feelings I've been having are! I'm useless.. I can't seem to find myself to think straight anymore… Why could this never started in the first place? Why couldn't I be at home instead? Why…'

As Squall turned away and quickly strode outside the staff room, Rinoa followed right behind him ready to apologize for setting him off.

"…I didn't mean it that way! Please stop!" Squall surprisingly did turn around, but not to forgive her, as he had yet another icy glare present in his eyes.

"You know what? I've had enough of this. I'm tired of deflecting all of your analyzing and anything else that you're trying to achieve. You were right earlier about me not liking people to know 'the real me', so there, you've got your proof. Now stop following me, I'd like to be alone for once today."

"…I don't know what to say.."

"Well then don't say anything and just leave." He replied acidly and began walking off in the distance. After he was out of sight, Rinoa sighed to herself.

"He must be at a crossroads or something…Every time he starts to act like a normal human being… he freezes up and reverts back into an icy shell… This has got to be much deeper than just not wanting anyone to know him, maybe I should just stay back and let him cool off before trying to talk to him again. …He might explode if I don't."

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Meanwhile, later during the day, Squall was leisurely sitting against his locker door, contemplating things over.

'I think I'll be okay if I don't mess up again… I'm feeling better now, and I'm almost certain that she doesn't know any further than that one detail anyway. Hmm.. I wonder where she is though- Wait, I've got to stop thinking about her, that's what got me in this mess in the first place…'

After that, he got up and started to amble to towards the teachers' lounge to pick up his homework and textbooks to later put them back in his locker. Halfway there, he began to perceive the sound of movement. Squall neglected to think anything of it, presuming that it was either Rinoa or another stranger. At that moment, he didn't care if it was an outsider because he was angry enough that he probably could knock him/her out if he absolutely needed to. As nothing developed as he walked on, the adolescent assumed all was safe and retrieved his homework and proceeded to return it to his locker as planned.

Post getting the task done, he seemed to go through a change of heart; something in his mind didn't seem right now.

Whether or not to follow his inclination started to now tear him up inside. Should he check on Rinoa even after he'd told her off? Or was it better to leave things be? The thing that worried Squall the most was that whenever he made predictions inside his head like this he was usually right about it - but then another notion surfaced and told him by doing this it meant that whatever those feelings he'd experienced before were actually tied to Rinoa herself somehow. Before he could make a decision, he remembered what he'd vowed when they were at risk of danger earlier today.

- I won't let that ever be the case. I'll protect her to ensure that it never happen - even if I'm the one who dies in the end…

At that moment, for once in his life, Squall Leonhart went with his heart rather than his head as he ran to where the sounds of footsteps had been heard last, hoping he wasn't too late.

Zipping past the secretaries' office, another noise was heard, not more footsteps; it sounded more like a screech more than anything. Squall's pace then doubled in fear, because it the pitch uncannily seemed to belong to Rinoa. Further down he went, he heard more indistinct talking, the closer he got to the possible origin, the more clear it became.

"-Squall!" A voice, most likely Rinoa's, called out, and possibly in desperation distinguished by the tone.

As he slid around the corner, he saw the brown-eyed girl not in terror, but in smiles along with two other men in the distance. He gave a look of confusion, trying to piece all this together.

"Squall, were free! Your father and the vice principal found me, so we can finally leave now that I've found you!" She declared with pure ecstasy in her voice, all he could do was look in disbelief and point towards his father's now approaching figure.

"I'll explain everything when we get home. Rinoa, would you like to join us for a late lunch? I'll call your father to let him know afterwards." Laguna offered.

"Sure, I'll be delighted to."

"Well, then I'm sure you two should get all of your things and go leave with Mr. Loire, I can't leave the school open forever you know." The vice principal insisted, surprisingly he had no questions to why Squall and Rinoa were in the school in the first place but Rinoa had a question when she left with him to get their stuff.

"Why is your last name Leonhart if your dad's is Loire? Did your mom remarry or something?"

"…No. It's a long story." He replied trying to avoid the subject.

"Oh, okay."

'The real story was that my father was out of town when I was born, and because my mother kept her surname, I ended up taking too because the hospital staff didn't know she was married. Before she realized that the hospital had made a mistake, it was too late and they had already recorded it officially. But you don't need to know that Rinoa.'

After all they needed was there in order, they left without as much as a hitch, and when they got to the house, Laguna dialed for some take out, and then they all sat down at the dining room table to discuss what happened while they waited for the food.

"Okay, you wanted to know why I was at the school, right Squall?" He nodded in agreement.

"It went like this… My meeting ended a lot sooner than expected, so I was home by Monday morning. When I didn't see you anywhere in the house and your room wasn't locked, I called the next door neighbour to ask if you went out. She said that you'd never came home Friday at all. After that, I phoned up your vice principal figuring that you might have pulled something odd. When I explained the situation to him and he called the bus company to check if you'd been on the bus after school and when he found out that you didn't, we went to the school."

He paused to catch his breath before continuing, "Before we got inside, we bumped into Mr. Polce, the electrician from the district, and funny to say, he'd mentioned that he thought he'd heard something in there, so I knew that you in there. And as you know, we'd found Rinoa first and…kinda startled her by accident, but after that, she explained everything about what happened, so here we are. But there is one question I'd like to ask you, Squall."

"…What?" He asked, being pretty sure of what the question was going to be already.

"Where, did you get the scar from? It looks like it'd hurt a lot."

'You have no idea...'

"In S.D class got let out early and I… ended being in a duel that went out hand. The guy facing me went berserk and sliced my face open."

"Lemme guess, was it Seifer?" Squall nodded.

"Figures… Was that how it ended?"

"Err… No. I got angry and got even by slashing his forehead in the same way…Sorry."

"Sorry? It's only natural to try to get back… and uh…I'll be back, gotta pick up the food now, it takes awhile to get there. Why don't you show Rinoa around while I'm gone Squall? Gotta go!"

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"Lively fellow, isn't he?" She said while getting off her chair.

"…Yeah."

"Come on, get up. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"Give me a tour of the house."

"...Is this another one of your orders?"

"No. Weren't you listening to your father? I just want you to show me around. You know, to get acquainted with the place. Please?"

"...Fine."

While he was half-heartedly showing her around, Rinoa stumbled upon an old photo on his father's desk in his study (if you could call it that) and picked it up. The picture depicted a happier time when Squall's mother and sister Ellone were still alive; it was a complete family portrait in the park.

"-This your family?" She asked while gazing at the old photo. After the question had been asked, Squall glanced at it too.

"Yeah."

"Is that your mother and sister too?"

"Yes."

"Where are they now?" Not realizing it, she'd hit the very nerve that she was trying to avoid. Squall left the study trying to avoid answering her question; she'd know too much if he were to respond to it.

"…Squall?" She then put back the photo back to its' original place on the desk and went to follow him. When Rinoa found him, he was above the base of the stairs.

"There you are! You never answered my question. You know."

"…What was it again? I didn't hear you." He insincerely replied; he already knew that he was trapped into answering, but at least that was buying him time. Luckily for him however, Laguna chose that opportune moment to come through the door.

"The food's here guys! Squall could you come down and lend a hand, I need some plates and forks at the table."

"-I'm coming." He quickly answered back, taking full advantage of the opportunity his father had given him. When Rinoa noticed the speed he was going to dodge the question, she knew that something was up. But she dismissed it temporarily to join Laguna and him for lunch.

"Take a seat Rinoa, would you like something to drink?" Laguna offered.

"No thanks, I'm fine." She declined.

"I've taken the liberty of calling your father already; he'll be over shortly after lunch, around 2:30."

"Oh, okay." Though the cheerful adult didn't notice, while he was bringing the dishes and forks, Squall could secretly sense that Rinoa didn't sound too pleased with the thought of returning to her father.

'She doesn't want to go back, and from what she'd said in the school, it seems like her father is very indifferent towards her. That's got to suck.'

"Squall, are you just going to stay there and think? Bring those over before the food gets cold." His father teased.

"Hee…So I'm not the only who feels that Squall thinks too much, Mr. Loire?" Rinoa added.

"Nope, you're not kiddo, and please, call me Laguna. Sorry about all of the teasing. Now, lets' eat!"

Right after finishing their meal and cleaning the dishes, Rinoa thanked Laguna for ordering the wonderful food and went straight upstairs to get her things, and as her father was bound to arrive anytime soon, she Squall-napped Squall in the process and dragged him to his room. (A/N – Get your mind out of the gutter, that's where her things are.)

"Squall, can you think of anything to stall my father from coming? I really don't want to go with him." She pleaded.

"…I can't think of anything." He replied ironically.

"It doesn't have to be legal. You can chop his legs off if you want."

"Err..no. …Slash his tires?"

"Can you think of something else, I'm sure he'd have a way around that."

"…Why don't you want to go home?" He inquired, trying to avoid finding gruesome solutions to delaying her father.

"Family issues. I don't like him and he doesn't like me-" He zoned out for a second to think, 'Bingo!' then returned to listen again. "-and with this happening, he'd probably thinks that I stayed on purpose just to get some with you."

Caught on whether to say it or think it, Squall decided to be brave and say, "…Wasn't that your intention in the first place?"

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, I outta slap you for that one but I won't because your father is such a nice host. I still can't believe that you're his son, you're too different in comparison."

'Ding-dong!'

"Damn! Do you have a shotgun here that I can use?"

"…No."

"Oh well, see you around Squall. And remember, pay attention to Mrs. Edea's reaction from our papers tomorrow! Bye!" She said while grinning as she brought her things and hopped down the stairs to leave with her father. One thing that Squall perceived was that her beautiful smile soon evaporated as soon as she'd seen Mr. Caraway in the driveway; he felt sorry for her, at least his father was clumsy.

After she'd left, his own clumsy father went upstairs to talk to him about the weekend; particularly about Rinoa.

"Nice girl, that Rinoa Heartilly. What do you think?"

Squall stayed silent as usual.

"Pity. You should have asked her out while you had the chance." That caught him off-guard.

"…What?"

"Well you had the chance all weekend to get to know her, and like I said, she seems to be a good person from what I could tell."

"…Whatever."

"You know that you're weird, right? You waste the perfect opportunity that other guys can only dream about and your only concern in life is practicing techniques and school work. You're just as bad as a workaholic SeeD. You never cease to amaze me Squall."

And with that comment, Squall went into his room, locked the door and started reading to get his mind off things. However, he couldn't seem to pry himself away from reflecting on the events that happened not too long ago.

'I can't concentrate… all I can think about is what happened. Usually I can read things no matter what time it is, but now.. Well, that's a different story; maybe I should take a nap. Yes, a nap sounds good right about now.'

And off he went to sleep. Meanwhile, at Rinoa's house, in her room, Rinoa herself was thinking aloud to herself about the same thing – the weekend she'd spent with the reclusive Squall Leonhart in full detail - colour vision even.

"Wow… I didn't think that he was all that complex, I just though he was simply anti-social… Imagine losing both your sister and mother, no wonder he's so distant and cold. I wish that I could help break out of that shell, but he'd just reject me. At least he's gotten a bit better, I think.. Who knows with him though, it's like he's under cloud of mystery or something… He's got nice blue-gray eyes though, when he's not glaring them at you that is…"

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Later, after his nap and late supper, Squall began to partake in the only thing that he could find enjoyable since reading wasn't an option anymore; practicing techniques in the basement to prepare himself for the evaluation later in S.D class.

However he wasn't doing the kind of practice he normally did, it was only as of late that caught himself doing the techniques and movement designed against projectiles instead of the usual ones for defending and countering versus other gunblades – particularly Seifer's Hyperion.

'Why is she indirectly evading my mind? Before it was me being unable to read because I couldn't stop thinking about the weekend which she was a part of, and now I'm doing the same movements we did together while practicing… Am I falling for Rinoa? No - that's nonsense; it's just a coincidence… that's all…'

"…Or is it really?" He added aloud, not sure of what to believe anymore.

Later that night, both Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly had immense difficulty in falling asleep; as the pair were being haunted by the different thoughts enveloping them during those crucial hours of darkness, when they should have been sleeping soundly.

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End of chapter comments – Wow, that's been the longest chapter to date, 7689 words to be exact. What a week!

I hope you guys liked the way I had them escape, the discovery of Squall's insecurities (very parallel to the game, don't you think?), and that this chapter in general (along with the script pulled from the game) was good, effective and well placed. I'm sorry if this chapter might have been confusing from Squall's overreactions and the like.

I've said it four times already, but… keep on reviewing with ideas, comments or anything you guys have to say! Thanks!