A/N: Happy new year, everyone! Thank you for your reviews from last chapter. Well, except for some certain 'reviewers'. I see I've been getting a bit of flame for both my fics. I must admit that I am a little saddened that people hate my work so much ... but I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, I'm not going to let these certain opinions get in the way of my writing, so sorry to disappoint you flamers but I'm still continuing my fic-writing no matter what you say :-) Anyway, as for those who actually care about what I write, I hope you enjoy this chapter...

Flying with Broken Wings

Chapter 7 – Broken Daylight

It was well into the night, and the storm outside hardly cleared at all. In the private hospital room, the lights were dim and the room was quiet. The only audible noises were the droning of medical machinery and the pattering rain outside. In the hospital bed laid Rinoa in a hospital gown, deep in a coma. Beside her sat Squall on the floor, his head resting against the soft bed sheets, his gloved hand grasping onto the unconscious girl's hand. He had fallen asleep shortly after quietly mourning for Rinoa. He was tired with fatigue and fear and sadness that he let his mind slip into a deep slumber, not caring that he was sprawled over the floor in an uncomfortable-looking position.

The air seemed dense; the atmosphere almost haunting. Nobody knew if the dark-haired teenager would make it or not … the very question of it plagued everyone's minds, especially Squall's. However, he was presently unaware of anything. Subconsciously, he knew that he was near Rinoa. That thought was comforting, at least. It felt like he was protecting her, from dangers still unknown to him. He unknowingly fell asleep, but sleep seemed to be the only calming thing he could do.

He couldn't wake Rinoa up, he couldn't reassure her, he couldn't speak to her … there was nothing he could do, besides stay by her side until the end. It was the least he could do. Even though in reality, this wasn't his fault, but somehow he felt he failed her. Perhaps he knew what Rinoa meant about friendship now…

As the two teenagers slept, both oblivious to their surroundings, Doctor Odine occasionally stepped in and out of the ward to check up on his patient. He entered and left silently, making sure that he did not disturb Squall. Somehow, the doctor felt warm inside when he saw the strange devotion and attachment that Squall had to the girl. Somehow he felt that this young man was all Rinoa had. Caraway was still not aware of his daughter's condition, and Squall seemed to be the only person in Rinoa's life who appeared to be physically there for her.

The room was still yet again. It was one o'clock in the morning, and there was no response from either of the teenagers. Somewhere, in their own little world, they were thinking about each other…

Where am I…?

All she could see was blackness, blackness, and more blackness. It felt like she was paralysed with fright, because she couldn't move a single muscle. Maybe her eyes were closed, and that's why she couldn't see anything.

Am I … alive?

She tried to move, but her body refused to obey her. She tried to open her eyes, but it was as if they were glued shut. She felt so light-headed and weak … as if half of her was on the real world, and the other half was stuck here.

Squall … did you save me?

A quick flash of Squall's face jolted into her mind and disappeared straight away. The image made her feel cold and even more scared than she already was. But it was the first thing she'd seen since … a long time. In fact, it felt like she had been blind all her life and Squall was the first thing she had seen. And she needn't be sighted to know what Squall was like … she just knew. Maybe if she kept on thinking about things, then her life would come back into perspective and she would be able to wake up from this slumber…

Mom … am I dead?

Julia's beaming face flashed into her mind and disappeared instantly, like Squall's. She was getting somewhere … all she needed to do was get her mind pumping again…

Dad … are you there?

And again, her father was in her mind. The light-headedness and weakness was slowlybeginning to disappear…

Am I at home?

What day is it, anyway?

What's my name again…?

I wonder why I'm here…

The hospital … am I at the hospital?

She suddenly remembered who she was, and she was sure that she was in this place because she passed out from a Sorceress Attack. When she thought she was at the hospital, she tried to visualise her special room in the respiratory ward and tried to keep it implanted in her mind so it wouldn't disappear so quickly like the other images…

And suddenly, she could feel her muscles again. Everything was still too dark to see, so she forced her eyes to open…

The dim light of the room fell into her eyes, and the light was almost blinding. Rinoa's eyelids slowly opened. Her vision was hazy at first, but her eyes focused and adjusted to the room. She didn't want to move too quickly, so her eyes danced around the room to take in her surroundings.

She was right. She was in the hospital. An oxygen mask was over her nose and mouth, but she didn't care. Breathing felt like a whole new sensation to her. Her upper body felt delicate and fragile. The rest of her senses slowly returned to her, and the first thing she noticed was touch. Someone was holding her hand, and the sensation made her feel very easy and light.

Her eyes darted down to her hand, and it took her a good five seconds to process that Squall was there, his gloved hand around hers, his head resting by her side. The realisation made her feel strong again…

"Squall," she murmured. She wondered if she was dreaming. It must be a dream. Squall is holding my hand and sleeping by my side. He would never do that… The thought itself was absurd.

She decided that it was a dream and tried to wake up. She closed her eyes again and left them closed for a while, and then opened them up. She found herself in the same place and in the same position, and Squall was still holding her hand.

Squall stirred a little. "Rinoa," he mumbled drowsily. He was obviously still asleep. Maybe he was having a dream about her?

The thought of Squall dreaming of her made Rinoa's heart speed up. She sat upright and felt the energy rush back into her body, fear and worry taking its toll on her again. She came to her senses and it hit her that she was in a coma because of her attack. She tried to grasp Squall's hand back tightly, and slightly shook him in attempt to wake him up.

Squall stirred again. He was indeed a heavy sleeper when he wanted to be.

Rinoa pulled off the oxygen mask with all her might, finding that her arm felt like there were no bones in it. "Squall!" she cried, though her voice was still a bit raspy.

It appeared that Squall was waking up. It looked like he forgot where he was, until he was fully awake. He bolted upright and stood up, quickly letting go of Rinoa's hand. He stared at her profoundly, his face full of surprise and relief at the same time.

"R-Rinoa, you're awake?" he stammered. Squall collected himself and sat on the bed next to Rinoa, still unable to wipe thatamazed look off his face.

Rinoa nodded, and suddenly, she let herself fall onto Squall. He caught her with both arms, and assumed that she was still very weak from her coma. Surprisingly, she began to cry softly. Squall didn't know what to do. He would have thought that Rinoa would be happy that she was alive, but why was she crying? He really hated it when she cried. At first, he wanted to pull away from her, but remembered the last time he did in which it resulted in a horrible feeling placed on his shoulders.

So instead, he awkwardly put her arms around her as an effort to reassure her. Only moments before he felt that he couldn't protect her … now was his chance to do so. Rinoa had been there for him already, now it was his turn to be the supportive one.

Rinoa continued to sob quietly, for reasons Squall still did not understand. Instead, he let her cry into his chest, if that was what would make her feel better. He wasn't good at comforting people, so he decided not to say anything. The fact that he was holding somebody and letting them cry to him was very strange and new to him. However, he did find a soft, content feeling in this gesture of his…

"Are you … okay?" asked Squall, for lack of anything else he could have said. It was a dumb question, because obviously Rinoa was not okay. But he really did not know what else to say.

Rinoa let out a muffled sob. "I … I was so scared…"

Squall said nothing at first. After all, this concept of comforting somebody was very new to him. A part of him wondered what he was doing there, another part of him very much wanted to leave, but another bigger part was telling him to stay because he couldn't deny it any longer … he did care about Rinoa.

"It's all right now," murmured Squall into her soft hair.

He had never held anybody in this waybefore. Perhaps he did, once upon a time … but he never felt this strange, warmfeeling before. His muscular arms were wrapped around the petite girl, and it was then that he noticed how delicate and fragile she really was. He felt like he was shielding her from all her fears and doubts, from all the woes and plagues of the world … it was a strange feeling, but that was truly what it was.

"I'm so sorry, Squall," she whimpered. "I'm … I'm so sorry…"

"For what?" asked Squall gently.

"I-I should've told you," said Rinoa. "I should've told you from the beginning…"

Squall didn't say anything.

Rinoa pulled away from Squall, avoiding eye contact with him. Squall sat quietly, wondering what she was going to say. He couldn't help but notice the tears clinging to her dainty eyelashes…

"Squall … the reason why I'm here is because I have a health condition," said Rinoa quietly. This is the moment of truth … let's see if he ends up leaving or getting angry, or something equally as bad…

Squall remained silent. He didn't quite understand what she meant, and wondered if she was just going to stop there. To his questionable relief, she didn't.

"I have a rare condition called the Sorceress Plague," said Rinoa, looking down at her hands. And so she began her explanation of her health. She started from the beginning on how she got it, and the money her parents were forking out to find a cure. She told him about how it affected her body, and what would happen if she didn't treat it. She told him about her inhaler, and how her friend Min used to help her. She told him about how she hadn't been getting attacks for a while now. And finally, she told him about how people thought she was different and their attitudes towards her – sympathy, fear, and aggressiveness.

By the end of her explanation, she was crying softly again. She didn't know why. Perhaps it was because she was simply afraid to lose someone like Squall, especially after she got another taste in friendship…

Squall, however, was still silent. He was definitely shocked, but somehow, he didn't feel sympathy or hatred or fear about her. Maybe he was a little sympathetic at first, but he snapped himself out of it because he knew what it was like to be sympathised for, and he knew how much he hated it.

He didn't feel scared of her either, because it wasn't as if her condition was contagious or anything. And what was there to be scared of? Squall had faced many things before that were definitely more frightening than some stupid health condition.

And he certainly didn't feel aggressive towards her either, because he really didn't see her as a 'freak' of any sort. This had to be because he saw the person Rinoa was before he saw this. And something like this didn't make him hate her, because it was stupid to hate someone for being different. He knew all about that. She just needed someone to be there for her … and knowing that gave him the strength to really protect her.

Rinoa was simply misunderstood … she was misunderstood, just like he was.He felt quite taken aback that she didn't tell him before, because it definitely would have prevented this from happening. But then again, he could understand the very reasons as to why she didn't tell him. Of course she wouldn't tell someone she just met about something as serious as a health condition. He knew that saying something that you weren't proud of was very difficult. And knowing Rinoa, she was obviously afraid of how Squall would react to it.

But how would have he reacted to it? If she told him on the day they met, or sometime around the time they met, then Squall knew he wouldn't have cared. In fact, he would have just left her alone, not wanting anything to do with her. But things were different now … things were a lot different now…

"Rinoa…" said Squall, lost for words. How was he going to express himself? He wasn't good with words. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but he just didn't know how to say them. "I'm … I'm sorry."

Rinoa looked up at him in wonder, her eyes glassy with tears. This was the first time Squall ever apologised to her for anything, because he was so proud and full of himself. But she didn't know why he was saying sorry … he just saved her life, what could he be sorry about?

"I'm sorry for everything I said," murmured Squall. "When I first met you … I said that you were an attention seeker. But … I didn't know about this … I didn't mean to say something like that…" He regretted every word he said back then. Rinoa was expressing herself and all he did was call her selfish.

He thought back to that day. '...Nobody could possibly know how it feels to be me' was what she said.And he decided to be a jerk and say that she was selfish, and he was ignorant enough to think that his life was worse than hers. Why did he think that? It was as if he was driving himself to have a bad life … it was as if he was trying to make himself look worse off than everyone else. But learning that someone he knew so well like Rinoa had to live with a life-threatening health condition really put things into perspective for him. It made him realise that he wasn't the only person with problems. It made him see that trying to make himself appear to have a bad life was an insult to those worse off than him. And he was damn well ashamed of it.

And what was even more alarming to him was that Rinoa had the heart to agree with him. She agreed with the fact that she was acting childish by complaining about her life. 'You're right. Maybe I shouldn't complain. I mean, I do have it pretty good', shesaidWhy did she say that? Was it because she wanted to win Squall's respect? To make him shut up? Did it mean she really valued his opinion? He just couldn't believe that he was such a jerk to say and think and act the way he did to her. She'd been through more than he had … and unknowingly, he must have destroyed her. He acted like those ignorant people who hated and feared Rinoa because of her condition. And somehow, he didn't want to be one of those people. He didn't want to be like 'everyone else' to her.

"I'm just … I'm just so sorry…"

Rinoa looked up at him, her eyes and nose red with tears. "No … y-you shouldn't be sorry. You d-didn't know, that's all. It's just … you're not just going to leave now and act like you don't know me, a-are you? Because … because … I don't want you to, S-Squall."

Now that he knew that she stood by him for so long, after he must have hurt her so much without knowing it, he was sure that she would never leave him. He was stupid to doubt her. Someone who could withstand his coldness and still have the power to understand him and treat him properly was somebody he shouldn't let go of. It was somebody he couldn't let go of. She'd changed him so much over such a short period of time. His life felt like it was repairing itself … he knew he had been hurt a lot in the past, and Rinoa even offered to help him. Little did she know that she was already helping him. And because of this event, he realised that there was no point in moping over how bad his life was … because his life wasn't as bad as he thought…

And now it was his turn to return the favour. He regretted everything he said before this day. He regretted pushing her away and putting her down. He regretted hurting her and rejecting her help. It was time to start anew.

"No … of course I won't leave," murmured Squall. He very much wanted to say all these things on his mind, but he was too much of a coward to do so. He wasn't ready to excrete all these feelings yet … but someday, maybe someday… "I don't feel sorry for you, nor am I afraid of you. And … I certainly don't hate you. All I can say is I am sorry for everything … I want to start again. I want to be forgiven…" He sighed. "I'll protect you, Rinoa."

Squall tried not to look directly at her. All of this was very flustering and it took up a good deal of his courage. For a long time, he always thought that he was brave and strong … but he was wrong. He was really coward. He was too afraid to look life in the eye. He was too afraid to deal with his problems. He was too afraid to look forward to the future. He was too afraid of everyone around him, always believing that they'd hurt him in some way or another. But now he knew … now he knew that there was nothing to be afraid of.

A smile slowly appeared across Rinoa's face, and those tears from her eyes were turning into tears of joy. Her heart was soaring. She never expected Squall to stick by her like this, and when he said 'I'll protect you', it simply made her spirits rise through the roof.

She let out another stifled sob entwined with a laugh. The glee in her face was strange, but beautiful. Squall turned back to look at her and as he did so, she dived right for him and threw her arms around him, crying tears of utter happiness. A true friend … someone who would protect her, someone who would let her lean on them – that was Squall. She felt so light weighted, as if jovial light was shining down on a haunting shadow of her past…

Squall, again, was very flustered with Rinoa holding onto him so tightly. She seemed so happy … and somehow, seeing Rinoa happy again made him feel happy too. A small smile formed on his lips. He felt awkward just sitting there, letting Rinoa hug him and cry to him, but he really didn't want to put his arms around her again … he just wasn't used to it.

"Ah, Miss Heartilly iz awake!"

Rinoa quickly pulled away from Squall, blushing slightly, and looked at the eccentric doctor at the door. Squall turned and watched Doctor Odine walk towards the bed, beginning to examine Rinoa carefully.

"How are you feeling, Rinoa?" asked Odine.

"Um … fine," said Rinoa softly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"You pulled off ze oxygen mask," said Odine, shaking his head disappointedly. "You should not have done zat."

Rinoa flushed. "I … well…"

"Never mind," said Odine. "Rinoa, your father iz here to see you."

"Oh," said Rinoa quietly.

"I'll, um, wait outside," mumbled Squall. He stood up and began to head out the door before anyone could say anything. He paid no attention to the sulky face Rinoa pulled at him as he walked. As he got to the door, he pushed passed Caraway without even looking at the general.

Caraway seemed not to take any notice of the teenager briskly pushing passed him and ran towards his daughter, worry in his face.

"Rinoa! I'm so sorry I couldn't get here earlier," said Caraway. He sat on the hospital bed and threw his arms around Rinoa, as if making sure that she was in one piece.

Rinoa grunted and tried to wriggle free from her father's grip. "It's okay, dad. I just woke up…"

"Are you all right?" asked Caraway, letting go of his daughter. He was very pale with anticipation, and the anxiety in his expression was very obvious.

"I'm fine," answered Rinoa. She wished that Squall hadn't left. "Doctor, when will I be able to leave the hospital?"

"I would juzt like to run a couple more tests," said Odine. "So, maybe another day or two."

Rinoa's heart dropped. Another day or two at the hospital didn't sound fun at all.

"But, while you were in a coma," said Odine, "I have managed to discover zat ze reason for your blackout was in fact emotional."

"…Emotional?"

"Yes," replied Odine, nodding. "For many years, we did not know what triggered ze attacks. However, I have a suspicion zat it is indeed your mind zat initiates zem. Ze last time you were in a coma because of an attack was twelve years ago – approximately ze time when you found out your mother had passed away. Zis was a great blow to your emotional wellbeing, so your mind triggered zis reaction into your body."

Rinoa nodded, not knowing what to make of this. Did this mean that she wasn't allowed to feel any kind of extreme sense of negative emotion anymore? If it did … then she didn't know how she would cope, because she was sure that a lot of bad things would happen to her in the future. Now that she thought of it, all those times she had attack was because she was feeling angry, or sad, or scared … when she was in primary school, she would suffer an attack when she couldn't take the teasing anymore. She would have an attack whenever her father made her angry as well … there were just so many times…

"In zis case, your male companion informed me zat you were very upset prior to your attack," continued Odine. "I suspect zat is why you are here now. And of course, you were out in ze cold storm, which only aroused your body and made it react to the mental stress you were under."

Squall said I was upset? Wow, so he does acknowledge me… Rinoa couldn't help but focus on the wrong things. Instead of being concerned about her health, she was even more concerned about what Squall thought.

Doctor Odine continued to talk about Rinoa's stability. Caraway was listening intently, however, Rinoa was slowly beginning to drift off. She couldn't stop thinking about Squall's reaction to her revelations. She wasn't expecting it, but in a way, she kind of did expect it. She was so happy and grateful … but she didn't know what was going to happen in the future. She was scared for herself, and she was scared for Squall too. Would people distance themselves away from Squall because he befriended Rinoa? If so, then she was uncertain … she didn't want Squall to give up a chance of friendship with other people just for her…

"…Rinoa, are you listening?" said Odine.

The dark-haired girl snapped out of her trail of thoughts, and found that her father and the doctor were both staring at her.

"Um, yeah," she lied, "I just … I just feel a little tired, that's all."

"Ah, zat is expected," said Odine. "We shall leave you to rest."

General Caraway and Doctor Odine left their positions and left the room, closing the door behind them. Rinoa was left alone, and all she could do was sigh. She fell back into her bed and tried to fall asleep again with the booming storm outside and the mixed thoughts and feelings of the past, present and future in her mind…

"Squall? Where have you been all night?" demanded Laguna, as Squall walked into the house, drenched with rainwater. It was six o'clock in the morning and Squall surprisingly wanted to go home for a change. At first, he was reluctant when he saw his father, but what was the point of turning back? There was nowhere else to go…

"…Sorry," murmured Squall, taking off his wet leather jacket.

Laguna tried to conceal the extremely shocked look on his face, but it was too hard. Squall actually apologised for something?

"I didn't mean to worry you," said Squall bluntly. It was a pathetic attempt, but at least it was a start. After realising so much about himself and his selfish attitude towards others, he felt that it was only right to redeem himself.

Laguna was dumbfounded. "Uh … it's all right, son. Say, why don't you get into some dry clothes and have a coffee or something?" He was expecting his son to refuse, but to his astonishment, Squall nodded in agreement.

The teenager walked upstairs to his bedroom. He had to admit, this was very awkward to him, but he had to face it – his father wasn't a bad guy. It was silly to blame his misfortunes on Laguna. Rinoa was right – he dwelled on the past way too much. Perhaps it was time to forget about the past and move on to the future. The past would only get in his way of having a happy life…

Squall changed into some clean clothes and plodded back down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found Laguna sitting at the kitchen table with two mugs of coffee on either side. Squall sighed quietly and sat down, taking small sips of the warm drink. The coffee slithered down his throat and warmed him up almost immediately, but the silence between father and son was still as awkward as ever.

"I was at the hospital," murmured Squall, seeing as how Laguna didn't appear to start conversation any time soon.

Laguna looked mildly surprised. "Really? Why?"

"A friend of mine was in trouble," answered Squall flatly.

Laguna was probably thinking 'Squall has friends now?' but he was very good at hiding it. Instead, he nodded, an amused look of interest on his face. "Oh, I see. Are they all right?"

"She's fine now."

A smile flickered across Laguna's face. "She, eh?"

Squall rolled his eyes. "Grow up."

Laguna chuckled. "Just like your old man – saving damsels in distress. You're a natural killer with the ladies, Squall."

"Ha, ha," said Squall sarcastically.

"So, what's her name?" asked Laguna.

Squall hesitated. "…Rinoa."

"Rinoa, eh?" said Laguna, stroking his chin with interest. "You should invite her over one day."

"We're just friends," said Squall shortly, knowing exactly what his father was thinking. And heck, if he ever did invite Rinoa over, he knew that Laguna would do all he could to embarrass Squall…

"I know, I know," said Laguna, "Just a suggestion."

Squall smirked. "Whatever."

Amazingly, the two of them spoke for what seemed like a very long time. Squall couldn't believe things have changed so quickly, and it was all because of one person. He had a feeling that this was the start of a beautiful tomorrow…

A/N: Hmm, short chapter, I know :( I just wanted to get this one over and done with as soon as I could so I can move onto the next chap, which is pretty interesting to me :P Anyway, hope you all have a good new year(even though it was yesterday xD) and I'll try to update soon. Sayanora:-)