It was always the same. Rinoa brought home a boy and Father just turned his head. Then they'd break up and Father would tell her she shouldn't have been with him in the first place. Well then the next week she'd bring home another boy, and things would just continue in one big circle.
"I'm back!" A familiar voice snapped her out of her memories. "Where are you?" the voice called.
"In the kitchen," she answered. A minute later her sister, who'd been gone for some time, entered.
"How's dad?" Rinoa asked.
"Dead," she answered, "not that you'd care. You were off with another boy like always." Rinoa was about to slap her when another person walked in.
"Oh, let me introduce you to Squall, my boyfriend," Rinoa said triumphantly. She only sighed.
"I told you you were off with a boy, only this time you brought him home and dad's not here to yell at you for it."
"Squall, would you leave me alone with my sister for a minute," Rinoa asked sweetly. Squall seemed to roll his eyes, but he said nothing as he left them in the kitchen. "Since dad is dead, that leaves you in my charge. And my first order of business will be to tell you that Squall is mine, so don't even try to take him away. Not that he'd want you anyways."
"Oh shut up and save it for someone who cares," she said off-handedly. The next thing she knew she was knocked off her chair and thrown against the wall.
"Second order of business, you will learn to respect me. Any disrespect will be followed by a punishment, and what you just received was the lightest punishment of all. So don't annoy me."
"What makes you so important all of a sudden?" she mocked.
"I am a sorceress, so I have powers you can't even imagine. And don't think I wouldn't love to try them out on you." She just looked up at Rinoa, not sure if she was lying or not. "I'm not lying, and you can ask Squall about that. Now, I want you to clean all the bedrooms today. That will be the beginning of your daily chores."
And by daily chores she wasn't kidding. Every day she was given more chores, while Rinoa sat by and watched. She played around with Squall, and they sparred sometimes too. She watched, wishing she could learn to fight, but knowing better than to get on Rinoa's bad side. That is, until one day.
"What are you doing?" Rinoa asked.
"Just practicing in my room, is that a crime?" she asked.
"I thought I told you you weren't allowed to learn how to fight. Give me that sword."
"No."
"What did you say?"
"I said no." Rinoa reacted faster than she expected. Rinoa leaped at her, knocking her over. She was pinned to the floor, and she felt a jolt of electricity flow through her body.
"You-are-not-to-practice," Rinoa told her. With each word she sent another wave of electricity through her. "All you are good for is housework. You'll never amount to anything." Rinoa got off her and walked to the door. "Remember that Litta, you're just a worthless piece of trash." Rinoa shut the door.
Litta stayed on the floor catching her breath. When she finally got up she hid her sword in her closet. She sat on her bed until Rinoa walked back into her room.
"Don't forget to clean the kitchen tonight," Rinoa told her. Again the door shut and Litta fell back on her bed.
"My life sucks," she mumbled as she got up. She went downstairs and after dinner she cleaned the kitchen. Once she knew Rinoa was asleep, she grabbed her sword, snuck downstairs, and out the back door. She began practicing again, but stopped when she heard the door open. Squall was standing there looking at her.
"What are you doing?" he asked her.
"Just practicing. Am I bothering you?"
"No. Would you like some tips?"
"That's okay. I'm done anyways." He just shrugged and walked back inside. Litta sighed in relief and walked back to her room. She shoved her sword back into her closet and went to bed, hoping Squall wouldn't tell her sister.
He obviously didn't, for Rinoa said nothing to her for quite some time. Squall left shortly after he caught her training herself, something about a mission for Garden, whatever that meant. A few months passed before Rinoa said anything besides what chores Litta had to do. She eventually got used to the beatings, even to the point where she didn't mind them so much. But that changed eventually.
"Did you do everything already?" Rinoa asked.
"Yes, why?" Rinoa didn't respond. She just lunged at Litta. She started beating the tar out of her, and Litta had no idea why. "What's wrong with you?" she asked while trying to push Rinoa off.
"It's all your fault! Squall was hurt on his mission!" They continued to struggle until Rinoa suddenly gave up and left. Litta stayed on her bed, breathing heavily.
What was that all about? she wondered. She didn't stick around to see if Rinoa would suffer another spasm of insanity. She crawled out her window, not risking running into her sister on her way out. Once out her window, she climbed off the roof and onto the street. From there she made her way into the center of Deling City.
What am I doing? I'll have to go back. I don't know anything about this city, not really. She wasn't paying enough attention to where she was going, and ran into the back of someone in front of her.
"Watch where you're going!" the young man yelled at her.
"Oh shut up," she said without thinking.
"What did you say to me?" the man asked her with an edge to his voice now. Litta recognized that edge, and realized she was talking to the wrong person.
"Nothing," she muttered. She turned around and began walking away.
"Hey! I'm not through talking to you!" He reached out to grab her and turned her around so she was facing him. "I think I need to teach you a little respect." He dragged her into a nearby alley, and she saw that he now had three other guys with him.
"Who's this?" one of the guys asked.
"A little girl that needs to be taught a lesson," the one holding Litta answered. The other guys laughed, and Litta knew she was in trouble. The guy let go of her by throwing her into the wall. Then he came at her and punched her repeatedly in the stomach and chest. Next, after she sunk to the ground, he kicked her hard in the stomach. "This is what you get for disrespecting me," he told her.
"Maybe she's not the one that needs to be taught a lesson," said a voice from somewhere. Litta looked around but didn't see anyone else. Nor, it seemed, did the others. Then a figure dropped from the roof of the building and landed gracefully in the alley, between Litta and her tormenter.
"Never learned you lesson either, did you Teik?" the leader said.
"Personally I'd love to kill you myself, since I know it wouldn't do you any good to be in a prison, again," Teik said. "But since I prefer to not be known as a murderer in this town, I'll leave you at least a little alive."
"Bring it." The two started attacking each other so fast Litta couldn't tell who was who anymore. The three others left, and eventually the battle stopped. She saw her tormenter fall to the ground. "I'll get you one of these days," he said. Then he got up and ran out of the alleyway. Teik then turned towards Litta.
"Don't know how to pick your fights, do you?" he asked as he helped her up.
"No, I don't. Thank you for getting rid of them, but won't they come after you now?" He laughed.
"They hated me long before this. What were you doing out here? It's obvious you don't know what you're doing." She was surprised by how much he had correctly assumed about her.
"I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Nothing."
"Shouldn't you be home somewhere instead of out wandering the streets?"
"No," she said immediately. "Maybe, yes," she said finally.
"I've seen you before. You're Caraway's daughter, aren't you?"
"Yeah, so?"
"What are you doing out here at night? Won't your sister worry about you?"
"Yeah, probably, but I don't care anymore."
"You have a fight about something?"
"No," she told him. She just tried to kill me for the last time, that's all.
"Should I escort you to your house or a doctor?"
"Neither. I don't need a doctor for these injuries, I've had worse."
"Get into fights a lot?" She looked at him now, and she noticed he was staring at her intently. "Or is there another reason you've had worse injuries?" She wasn't sure why, but she felt as if she could trust this guy, so she decided to confide in his what had happened since her sister's return. "Pathetic," he said at the end.
"What's pathetic? Me?" She hadn't been expecting that statement.
"Yes you. I find it pathetic that it took you this long to run away or fight back. I would never have put up with all that for as long as you did."
"So what are you saying, that I should leave Deling City and move somewhere else?"
"If that's what you want to do." He got up to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"You think I have all night to sit and listen to your complaints? I have my own life to take care of. I don't have time to look after a naïve teenage runaway."
"I can take care of myself just fine!" she said.
"Can you?" He looked directly at her, and she wasn't so sure.
"Maybe with a few tips I can." He laughed again.
"Are you asking if you can stay with me?"
"If that's all right with you, yes."
"You can stay as long as you like, but I already told you I don't have time to take care of you."
"You won't have to. I learn quickly." He said nothing, so she got up and followed him. She never once returned to see what became of her sister, nor did she ever have the notion to. She stayed and learned a new way of life from Teik.