Hatred to Love

A/N: I'm really, really sorry that I haven't updated in a while! I've been busy with school and now, since it's nearly the end of the year, everything's been slowing down. This chapter is quite short (compared to the other chapters…) and I'm going to keep them short, but very detailed. Sorry for taking so long to update! And please (if you have the time), check out my new ficcie 'Under the Same Moon!'

Chapter 14 – Let Go

"Are you alright Rinoa?" asked Samantha who was sitting beside the raven haired girl in her limousine. The two of them were in Samantha's chauffeured limousine and for most of the ride; Rinoa remained silent, while looking at the picturesque views Deling City had to offer.

Rinoa looked at Samantha, who had a slightly concerned look on her face. Seeing that she had caused her friend to worry, Rinoa gave her a reassuring smile and said, "How much longer until we get to the fortune teller?" Samantha smiled at her friend. "Not that much longer I hope,"

"You seemed quiet during class time…is anything wrong Rinoa?" asked Samantha, her face looking slightly concerned.

I…I really don't want to tell her…it's personal and I've only just met her today…Oh…what should I say?

Rinoa forced a little smile onto her china doll like face and said, "Don't worry about it Samantha. I just…miss my old school, that's all," The look on Samantha's young and pretty face relaxed and Rinoa let out a quiet sigh in relief.

Silence erupted and the before humid atmosphere of the backseat in Samantha's chauffeured limousine seemed to lose its warmth. On the outside, a mild breeze was blowing, making the gold coloured leaves on the trees shake and causing some to glide slowly and gracefully down to the ground. Autumn was meant to be a faintly warm and cool season, but Rinoa couldn't help but feel cold and empty inside. It wasn't like her to feel this way, but with the turn of events, everything was now possible.

After moments of silence, Samantha spoke up, trying to break up the tense atmosphere. "Did your arm hurt that much, when you caught Pamela's lethal throw?"

Rinoa moved her left arm around and felt a faint muscular pain when she did so. In PE, their teacher didn't want to start on any new sports, so the whole class decided on a free game of catches and throws over the volleyball net. Their class was divided evenly into two teams and the game began. Samantha had caught most of the difficult catches and Rinoa knew that she would, because she had heard from the other girls in the class that Samantha was the sportiest and she was real competition for their teacher.

The ball was then thrown by a curly haired brunette girl, who aimed directly for Rinoa and she caught it, but the ball was thrown with so much force, that her arms throbbed with pain after bringing the ball down from catching it over her head.

"It sort of did Samantha. But the whole class was practically laughing, when you and the teacher had the great debate on who was going to get out first," smiled Rinoa. Samantha flashed her a grin. "She practically couldn't stand it when I actually got her out," said Samantha shaking her head which caused more strands of her black hair to fall down in front of her eyes.

The two raven haired girls were then engrossed in a deep conversation about what had happened in school today. The beautiful autumn sky was changing its shades of light blue to a deeper, royal blue, making it even more dazzling to look at.

Seated comfortably on Squall's bed, with her long slim white legs crossed over each other, Mandy was busy looking through her science textbook for the index page. Who cares if cholera can be a life threatening disease? I don't!

She had been sitting on Squall's bed for some time now, with her science textbook in her lap. She had been in his room, sitting that way for a while now. Squall was sitting on his chair, in front of his study table. His laptop was turned on and he was going through sites, searching for the disease that he and Mandy had been assigned to. On his face, a look of utter boredom had taken over his handsome features. This wasn't how he had planned to spend his afternoon, but then again, he had no plans at all. But one thing was for sure, he hadn't planned on having Mandy over.

"Squall…have you found anything yet? I'm bored," whined Mandy from his bed. Squall coldly ignored the blonde as he continued to search through sites and books that his half sister Ellone owned.

Minutes passed and the honey blonde girl hadn't received any words at all from her ex-boyfriend.

If I try to break Squall and Rinoa up anymore…I could lose Squall forever…but what can I do about it? The one thing that I've really loved and cared about isn't mine anymore; he is my stepsister's boyfriend. But she was the one that lost her memory in the first place, not me and that was what gave me the chance to befriend Squall and eventually take Rinoa's place as his beloved girlfriend. No one can ever take Rinoa's place and no one can stop Squall from loving her. No one…thought Mandy. Just thinking that, made her hazel eyes want to water.

The blonde got up from Squall's bed, her science textbook dropping from her lap to Squall's tiled floor. Walking over to where Squall was sitting, Mandy had hopes that Squall would listen to what she had to say. He had coldly ignored her, whenever she had started a conversation that didn't involve their science assessment. But even when she had started friendly conversations regarding their assessment, Squall didn't really say much, he only nodded his head slightly or mumbled 'Hmph' every once in a while.

Her head above Squall's, Mandy leaned down, her lips just inches away from his ear. She could smell him too. It wasn't a sweaty smell that had been sprayed with deodorant, but a clean, fresh masculine smell that seemed to define Squall perfectly.

"Hey Squall, what would happen, if Rinoa regained her memory?" asked Mandy serenely, knowing that Squall would be speechless at what she asked. And she was right, her question had caught Squall off guard and he was now silent.

"I…I don't think that's any of your business," said Squall shortly. Mandy curved her lips into a half smirk.

Flashback

"So, exactly what are you saying Zell?" a younger Mandy asked the spiky blonde haired boy. Zell cocked an eyebrow, not believing that Mandy didn't understand what he was saying.

Both of them were in Balamb High's library, where the two had bumped into each other whilst looking up books for their assignment. Zell had taken this opportunity to tell Mandy to be careful when she was dating Squall.

"You know what I mean Mandy," said Zell, his arms folded in front of his muscular chest. Mandy looked at him, an amused look on her pretty porcelain like face.

"You're telling me not to break his heart?" asked Mandy with a small girlish giggle as she brushed strands of her blonde hair out of her face. Zell looked at her sharply, thinking that she would be taking this more seriously.

"Damn straight I am. You saw what happened to him after you know, what happened to Rinoa. It's not as if Rinoa broke his heart or anything, she just…well, forgot about him and refuses to listen to what he has to say. So don't break his heart," said Zell through clenched teeth. Mandy tilted her head to one side, a wistful look on her face.

"Shouldn't I be the one who's afraid that Squall's going to break my heart? Anyways…don't sweat Zell, I won't break his heart," said Mandy placing her hand on his arm, locking her hazel eyes with his eyes. "I love him," said Mandy in a higher, softer tone.

End Flashback

"Come on Squall. You and I both know it; even though you won't acknowledge that you know it too. Rinoa's going to regain her memories back someday and remember that you were the so called 'obnoxious, cocky, arrogant and rich' guy she always loathed. Oh and by the way, did I forget to mention, her childhood sweetheart too?"

Squall acted as if Mandy's words weren't even spoken, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew that Mandy was right. Rinoa would someday regain her memory, after telling him that she had had many flashbacks and some dizzy spells, that had worried him at first, but he hadn't shown it. After Rinoa was discharged from the hospital and was back at Balamb High, he had approached her several times, hoping that she would 'remember' him again. But she had brushed him off coldly and then, afterwards called the people that he sat with and himself included the 'arrogant, rich, player snobs who date a new girl every two weeks' and the girls that also sat with his group, 'the bitchy, skanky, sluts who have nothing better to do than to break someone's life'.

Over time, Rinoa had grown to loathe Squall, hating him and his group for mistreating people and supposedly using them. Although in his heart, Squall knew that he still loved Rinoa no matter what she called him, he couldn't bring himself to accept it. So instead, he began to act cold to everyone and his friends came up with the conclusion that Squall also secretly loathed Rinoa.

Stop that, Squall said to himself. I don't want to think about it anymore.

"I think Mandy, that this is a suitable time for you to leave," said Squall coldly, acting as if Mandy hadn't said anything. Mandy's lovely face, crinkled up and made her resemble a bulldog. "Squall, one way or another, Rinoa will remember and you can't stop that!"

Spinning on her heel, Mandy left in a huff, totally forgetting that her science textbook was still on Squall's bedroom floor.

Squall continued on typing and before long, took his hands off the keyboard and slumped back down on his seat. One way or another, Rinoa will remember and you can't stop that! Mandy's words ran through his mind, causing his icy blue eyes to look even colder and his eyebrows to furrow.

Rinoa…I don't want you to remember…thought Squall, a pained look on his handsome face as he looked outside his window, the trees blowing gently in unison with the wind and the leaves swaying before slowly making their journey down.

"You know, I think I won't ever visit a psychic, fortune teller or whatever, ever again," remarked Rinoa. Samantha just laughed and patted Rinoa on the back reassuringly. "It'll be ok Rinoa, just wait til she comes, which I hope won't be any longer,"

From the way Seifer had spoken about the fortune teller, Rinoa was expecting a creepy, haunted place with pillows and all the regular things that fortune tellers had. But so far, this place seemed pretty normal. It was just a small, Victorian style building with some old, lanky trees covering some of the windows. So far, it didn't seem peculiar at all.

Samantha sat herself down on a cushion laden couch and gestured to Rinoa to take a seat down next to her. Rinoa placed her hands to smooth her skirt, so that when she sat down, it wouldn't crease. Sitting down on the couch, Rinoa relaxed and let out a sigh.

Remembering what she intended to ask Samantha from earlier, Rinoa opened her mouth and spoke. "Um, Samantha?" Samantha looked in her direction, a calm and cool look on her face. "Are…are you dating Seifer?" Samantha blinked a couple of times, before throwing her head back and laughing. Now it was Rinoa's turn to blink in confusion. After finishing her laugh-a-thon, Samantha placed a hand in front of her mouth and coughed slightly.

"Let me ask you this Rinoa. Do Seifer and I look like your typical boyfriend and girlfriend?" asked Samantha inquiringly, causing Rinoa to stop and think.

Hmmmm…well, they argued quite a lot today and I'm pretty sure that they were like this before I came to Deling Academy…Samantha seemed pretty relaxed and casual when she kicked Seifer's…um, rude area. And Seifer seems to have a thing to debating with Samantha, and also they're not at all, in any way, like Squall and me…I should've thought about this, before asking…

"Not really Sammie," admitted Rinoa. Samantha gave the raven haired beauty sitting next to her a small smile. "Seifer and I are just too different to ever maintain a relationship other than just friends,"

Rinoa nodded, but Samantha sensed that that wasn't the answer that she was looking for. "Did you want me and Seifer to date? If I bring it up into a conversation tomorrow, won't you think that Seifer and I will get into another debate over it?" asked Samantha, making Rinoa laugh a little. But before she could say anything, a curly brown haired woman dressed in fancy robes of lilac and large golden hoops adorned her ears. Overall, she didn't seem like any of the creepy, freaky fortune tellers that she had heard about. In fact, this woman seemed normal, besides the lilac robes that she was wearing.

Rinoa looked uncertainly at Samantha, while she averted her gaze between the raven haired girl next to her and the curly brown haired woman. Samantha mouthed 'Don't worry, it'll be fine' to Rinoa. Rinoa nodded, but wasn't so sure if it would be fine.

"Hello Samantha dear. Its been quite a while since you've come for a reading," said the woman pleasantly, gesturing to the large, multi coloured pile of throw cushions on her cream coloured carpet. Samantha didn't say anything, but slid off the couch and onto the soft, patterned pillows. Rinoa followed her lead, after the woman eyed her mysteriously.

The woman then took a seat opposite from the two raven beauties, a small coffee table, divided between them. Setting her hands onto the table, Rinoa spotted many little baubles on her hand.

"Have you come to ask about what will happen in your love life, dear?" purred the woman, her misty eyes focused on Samantha. Rinoa turned her head around to look at Samantha.

"What the f-?" started Samantha, but she was cut off short by Rinoa. "Please don't swear Sams," requested Rinoa, who swore every now and then, but hated to hear people swear. Samantha shut her mouth, but soon after, opened them again.

"No Nina…I came with my friend Rinoa, just so that she can have her fortune told," said Samantha. Nina's eyes averted to Rinoa. Her pale blue eyes looked at her as if she didn't trust Rinoa at all. Rinoa managed to curve her rosy lips into a small, warm smile.

"I'll get my cards then," said Nina shortly, pulling out a deck of what looked like tarot cards out from underneath the table.

(A/N: Forgive me if all the details about the fortune telling seem weird, but I've never actually been to one before!)

"She deciphers cards and tells you what will happen in the near future and what is going on right under your nose that you don't know about," whispered Samantha.

Sliding the cards over the coffee table in Rinoa's direction, Nina's blue eyes never stopped gazing at Rinoa.

Not having much experience with fortune tellers, Rinoa simply stared at the neat pile of cards sitting in front of her. Samantha didn't do much to help either, she kept quiet.

"You're meant to shuffle the tarot cards dear, then pick one out and let me decipher it," explained Nina. Lifting a hand up, Rinoa proceeded to pick up the deck and shuffle it.

After several minutes of shuffling, Rinoa laid the cards down in its place and picked a card out and handed it over to Nina. Samantha, who had been used to this process, coughed a bit and placed a hand over her mouth. Tilting her head to one side, parts of her fringe came down and covered her eye.

Taking the card and studying it, Nina's face turned from stern to sheer shock, which she did a good job at covering up.

"Rinoa…someone close to you, but not your friend…is plotting against you. It will be a rocky road for you, but by the end of the year, everything will fall into place," said Nina unsteadily. Samantha listened, Nina's words flowing through her mind.

Great. There must be a billion people who think they're close to me, but they're not my friend. Come to think of it, that girl, Cassandra, she didn't seem to like me at all. She ignored me completely, but did manage to cheerfully greet Samantha and Seifer. Is it her Nina's talking about?

"Pick out another card Rinoa," said Samantha automatically, speaking out for the first time, since she had explained to Rinoa what Nina does. A cheerless look on Rinoa's face, she swiftly picked out a card from near the bottom of the deck and handed it over to Nina. As Nina took the card, one of her stunning baubles scratched Rinoa's hand. Ouch…

Her blue eyes studying the cards, Samantha had expected it to be something bad. And it was. Her pale blue eyes widened and she slowly set the card that was in her hand down.

"Is it something…bad?" asked Rinoa inquiringly. Nina acted as if Rinoa hadn't asked that question at all and went on to tell Rinoa what the card had meant, because they each had their own meanings.

"You're…you're…you're wasting your time on something that won't last!" cried Nina. Both Samantha and Rinoa were taken back on her outburst.

"Excuse me, what do you mean?" asked Rinoa politely. Nina looked at Rinoa helplessly. "My dear…I mean that you're wasting all of your time on a boy that won't be around for long…"

What in Hyne's name are you talking about? All the time I waste on Squall is something that will last. That's it, I want out, thought Rinoa.

"Um, ok," mumbled Rinoa. Sensing that her friend was uncomfortable and probably wanted to go home, Samantha thanked Nina and placed some Gil on the table and then politely excused the two of them so that they could go home.

Samantha's hand was holding onto Rinoa's arm, just in case that she wouldn't stumble over.

Flashback

"Did you want to get rid of her that badly Seifer?" asked Samantha as she smoothed out invisible crinkles in her light grey skirt. Seifer rolled his eyes.

"No, I didn't. It just feels weird, having to go to the same school as her and all again,"

"Right," said Samantha cheerfully.

Or maybe because I feel uncomfortable being around her, thought Seifer.

"Just look out for her, will you? When she's shocked, confused, and uncomfortable or whatever, she tends to do stupid things," drawled Seifer, a smirk on his face.

Samantha nodded and leaned her head against a tree behind her. "Are you worried about her?"

Seifer managed a small snort and looked long and hard at the raven haired girl sitting near to him. Flicking a small bug off his hand, he replied, "Why would I be?"

End Flashback

"Is she usually that…shocking?" asked Rinoa wistfully as she walked down some steps. Samantha cocked her head. "No, no. Normally, she acts quite professional. It's not like her to be so…dramatic,"

Sprinkles of rain then fell from the sky and dropped onto Samantha and Rinoa's hair.

As Rinoa opened the door to her mansion, she could already hear another argument brew between her new family. Oh joy…the downpour of rain wasn't enough to deafen me. But now, my family? Pure joy.

"Why didn't you at least call me? You should've at least given me some sort of idea that you were studying with a friend! Here I was, thinking the worst Amanda. How am I meant to know that you're off studying with a friend, when you don't even tell me?" cried Amber from the living room. Rinoa wiped her shoes on the mat, before taking them off and placing house slippers onto her feet, a faintly amused look on her face.

"Mother, I'm not going to be kidnapped or raped!" shouted Mandy in response.

"How am I meant to know that!"

"You're just keeping me from living my life. Why don't you do this, do that, why don't you be more like Rinoa. Stop comparing me to her! I'm sorry that I can't be perfect Mother, but stop making me be like her, when I'm not her at all. Stay out of my life! You've done nothing but make it miserable for me!" screamed Mandy as she hastily turned around and exited the living room. Not wanting to look like she was eavesdropping or even enjoying the little entertainment show, Rinoa pretended to act as if she was just placing away her shoes.

"Oh hello Rinoa," said Mandy monotonously and made her way up the stairs, to her bedroom Rinoa presumed.

At this moment, Rinoa didn't mind being lectured by her father and his fiancée about staying out late after school without telling them and getting her whole jumper and silky raven hair drenched.

As she entered the room, Rinoa was astounded to be met with a dog jumping into her arms. The brown and white furred dog playfully licked her wet face and was panting excitedly.

"I'm really, really sorry that I came home late Amber and Father. I can explain, but first, what's this?" asked Rinoa, referring to the dog in her arms. It wasn't a puppy, yet it wasn't quite a fully grown dog either.

"It's your dog Rinoa. Your father bought him for you, because he knew that you've wanted one ever since you were 12 years old. Consider him a birthday present for all the birthdays that your father's missed," said Amber exhaustedly as she leaned back down on the luxurious white leather couch.

"My dog?" said Rinoa to herself. I don't remember ever wanting a dog since I was 12…but, if Father went through all this trouble to buy me him…

"Aren't you going to scream at me for not calling home to tell you where I've been and also being sort of drenched?" Rinoa couldn't help but ask. Amber looked up at Rinoa and shook her head, her smooth looking brown hair shaking too and fell back down to her shoulders, in lovely long layers.

"Dinner's already been prepared and is in the kitchen, eat whenever you feel like it," said Amber as she left the living room.

"That's weird…I thought that the stepmother from hell would've wanted to tell me off, like in those old dramas, where the stepmother would've just randomly yelled at the poor daughter for something like…beating her own beloved daughter in an exam," whispered Rinoa to the dog, so that Amber wouldn't have heard her from another room.

Hugging the warm dog close to her chest, Rinoa walked out of the living room and up to her bedroom to dry off.

I can't concentrate on this piece of homework anymore…I know that I can do this, but why can't I?

A lovely light blonde haired girl with the prettiest, big blue eyes was sitting down on a seat, by her study table. Her arm was propped up against the table and all her schoolbooks, textbooks, assessment task sheets and pages of homework were scattered around her usually insanely neat table. Her glasses were askew and she simply took them off and put them on her nightstand.

She paid a lot of attention in class and always knew what to do with her homework, but this particular evening, she couldn't seem to concentrate or even get one question done.

Quistis Trepe sighed heavily as she dropped her black pen down onto the table, finding it difficult to focus on her homework. Even though before she looked like she was in deep thought to anyone who happened to see her, she wasn't. Mixed thoughts were running through her, making it tough to stay on task.

Please…oh please Hyne, tell me that I'm not in love with him, thought Quistis, a single tear dripping from her eye and staining her cheek.

For the past couple of weeks, Quistis had been doing some deep thinking and was exploring her deepest feelings, the ones that she had tried hard to avoid until now. Everyone around her seemed to have someone at the moment and she couldn't help but feel left out. Her old group of friends were all genuine, caring people that she held close to her heart and she would always keep them close, even if she wasn't hanging with their group anymore. She felt guilty for having these feelings, which were too hard to conceal for any longer.

I'm meant to be her friend, I shouldn't be feeling this way at all, Quistis silently scolded herself.

She deserves him…she really does. It was hard for the two of them to separate and I know that. They both put hard efforts in to make their relationship work, but why the heck am I feeling this way! I feel like I'm being betrayed when they're together…I know that I should smile for them both, but I can't…Not anymore…The two of them…they don't seem right together. I'm such a bad friend for thinking this! I'm so sorry!

With a small, forced smile, more tears streamed down Quistis' now blush pink cheeks. I'm in love with Squall…