Autumn's Wish
By MoonShadow Angel
Chapter Three: 'Weapon Burger' and 'Gyashi Rings'

:Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of Squaresoft/ Square-Enix's characters.

Take care of 'Angelo'…will ya?

And afterwhich, she smiled—a smile that Squall thought was the cutest in his entire life. Nobody would likely believe it…but it's true—Squall Leonhart does know the definition of the word 'cute'. There was just something about her…something…interesting enough which, at the moment, he couldn't lay a finger on…

Or is it…?

…that finally…?

Panting, Rinoa happily sauntered down the steps. Her heart was beating three times faster, but she doesn't mind. Behind her, the crisp yet poignant applause was still audible—it was all that mattered now, nothing more. All that she wished for, was to make other people happy…to experience that sort of giving…

That was happiness for her now, happiness that could live forever…

In the dimly lighted backstage, the echoes of admiration still resounded. Rinoa took her time to get out, expertly dodging small piles and boxes of supplies all along the way. She mused with a contended heart, about the outcome of her, rather, unexpected drabble on the stage. Maybe Professor Kramer would deem her act as foolish, considering that she did nothing spectacularly 'theatre-ish', which he would, most likely, expect from her. Fact is, whatever Rinoa did on stage just now was all impromptu—unplanned; unnecessary, now that she thought of it.

But what can she do? She had like, what? Five seconds to think of how to reinvent her whole audition piece? Rinoa preciously patted her sweater's pocket, encasing a music CD inside. Whatever. What's done is done; we'll just leave it on to that. Rinoa then diverted her thoughts into calming herself. Her heart was still thumping furiously…Probably she'd done too much…

The exit was still in a distance, and this, Rinoa could see from where she was. Her eyes stopping on a growing figure, she drew her eyebrows together, grinning suspiciously while thinking of a Selphie who was ready to eat. It was their custom, the three of them—Quistis, Selphie and her—to reward themselves with food after Rinoa's every performance, however and whenever it was done. Actually, that just came up, and ever since then, after liking the effect, they just continued doing it; more of like a bonding spree for themselves. With this in mind, the raven-haired girl made bigger strides excitedly. Fresh and hot calamari cooked into crisp, dipped in tartar sauce…or maybe the Buggy King's famous Weapon Burger…!

"Selphie! I'm getting a Double Weapon Burger with extra large Gyashi Rings whether you like it or not!" Rinoa yelled crossly from the inside, her arms extending out from the darkness until she'd reach Selphie's wrists, and tightly. "I don't care if you're on that stupid diet—"

"I'm not." Selphie replied blankly, giving Rinoa a startled look. "And also, would you please stop insulting me by thinking that my arms are that big?"

Rinoa frowned at Selphie. AT SELPHIE, her mind repeated. At Selphie who was standing with her arms crossed and not captured by her grip. That, and not this, was the Selphie she was talking about.

Then who…?

"Uh…" Rinoa heard a pause. A male pause; you know, that dead-pan pause that can take forever, which is truly long enough for someone to grow so red her arteries would pop? "You can have your Weapon Burger now, I don't care."

Rinoa lifted her eyes to the origin of her embarrassment. She's gonna die with blood force trauma soon. Cerulean eyes looked back with wonder, apparently waiting for her response. You can say that her silence went a little too far—too long—that every second passed added to his growing anticipation which later turned into embarrassment. Unknown to him, she was in this state of recognition, like somehow she knew him from somewhere. Rinoa was in the peak of pin-pointing their first meeting when suddenly, she was interrupted; the blue eyed boy pulled out from her grasps.

"Sorry." Rinoa apologized, seeing disappointment behind that unwavering mask. Composure, it looks like something he'd definitely mastered, although for a strange reason, Rinoa could read his mind. The good-looking guy said nothing as for her consolation, the only thing he thought about were his hands, which he placed inside the safety of his pockets. Rinoa should have been hurt by that reaction, but thankfully, she wasn't that kind of person. Still a bit of embarrassed, she politely reiterated, hoping that he would reconsider, now remembering where she'd seen him. "I'm sorry about that. I'm really terrible, bothering you all the time."

Squall did reconsider, although he refused to admit that he was extremely relieved by what she last said. The thought of approaching her in the first place was discomfiting itself, what more to be left unrecognized? It was a spur of the moment decision; in truth, all he wanted to do near the backstage was to look at her from afar, and in the confines of seclusion or darkness, if possible. His mind spoke of the best logics when he's alone; but otherwise happened along the way, breeding more loads of this strange sensation inside. Confusion; it was something Squall hated to handle…it was a drag.

"All the time…?" Selphie repeated, swiping a finger from Rinoa to Squall. She heard heavy footsteps rummaging through the vast hallway, and was about to turn when she had Squall and Rinoa's complete attention. "You two know each other?" She gasped.

"Well actually…" Rinoa began, when a sudden storm of 'gallopy-like' rampage broke out from Selphie's back. She saw a band of tall boys, all dressed in blue-green and black jerseys threatening to loom at them so fast and furious, Rinoa feared that only he, with his height and weight, would survive. Selphie screamed.

"THE ESTHAR WARLORDS!" She screeched like a twelve-year-old girl, jumping up and down while waving at the arriving group. An auburn guy, who was the only one who broke the dress code, tore out from the group, smiling at her. He was wearing a yellow shirt that said 'You might be the lucky girl!'

"Squall! What are you doing here, Bro?" Irvine stepped closer to Selphie; his smile breaking into an admiring one. "Diggin' all the chicks by yourself?"

"I'm going." He simply stated as a reply, feeling that if he stayed even longer, he'd be having a whole year's supply of humiliation. He somehow felt this horrible sense of being 'caught red-handed', which he never wanted, piling up on top of his confusion. He would have jolted out of the accumulating number of people right there and then if he hadn't seen Irvine's eyes looking at him; no, through him!

"What are you looking at?" and at that very moment, regretted his snap. Irvine smirked knowingly.

"You don't have to be so possessive, Dawg! I don't barge in restricted territories!" the left defender goaded, winking at Rinoa with interest. Selphie giggled beside him.

Squall brought a hand over his face, silently counting one to ten before saying anything. Done, he shook his head, "She's not my territory, Kinneas. And stop being foolish, I don't even know her!"

Rinoa froze, her eyes widening. What?

Selphie laughed nervously, seeing how Rinoa's face darkened with mixed betrayal and ire. She thought of letting Squall know about it, which was starting to look not pretty at all, "You know what? For your own good, maybe you should start rethinking of what you actually did these past few days—"

Too late.

Pow! A slap on Squall's shoulder. The brunette jock furiously whirled around.

"MEANIE!" She spat directly his face that Squall had to step back, gaping.

"What was that for?" He snarled, agitated. What's wrong with her? "You can't just go hitting other people on the arm!"

"But you deserved it!" Rinoa fired back, the surprise on her own actions quickly fading away. Never in her life had she hit anybody, until now. Nonetheless, the sacrifice was worth taking. "After how I saved you from your own humiliation, this is what I get? YOU embarrass me in front of these people? How can you be so inconsiderate, you selfish…" she stuttered, very inept when it comes to full blown anger, "selfish…m-meanie!"

The little group became silent, with Rinoa's harsh breathing the only thing that can be heard. She was shaking uncontrollably; this wasn't a joke, she was really hurt by what he said. She never knew that a person so rude existed!

"Rin…" Selphie whispered worriedly, feeling that Rinoa had taken too much. She placed an arm around the furious friend, apprehensive that she might go worse. You see, Rinoa was a very sensitive person, and intense emotions can bring about shock to her. This was no different; frankly speaking, this was a good example. Pulling her friend away, Selphie gave Irvine a quiet nod of goodbye, brushing pass him with much pace as viable…like running for their lives.

Fazed, Squall turned to their departing back. Great. Way to go, Leonhart. You're just the epitome of tactlessness and heartlessness. Turning away, he felt Irvine grab his shoulder.

"Yo, Man…" Silently, Irvine looked up from the floor. He knew that Squall wouldn't want anybody minding his business, but when it comes to women hurting, he just has to say something; that's what Casanovas are for! "I really think you owe that cutie an apology."

Squall just scoffed, walking away.

Well, so much for a romantic attempt…

It was passed eight o' clock when Squall finally decided to go home. By then, the University was so quiet, he would have liked it; but not today. He was wrong to put that girl in the spot, and much worse, in that manner. The guys might have thought that she was some desperate little thing if she hadn't said something to defend herself. Sighing, Squall went down for the parking lot.

She looked so angry…Probably, that was the right emotion to feel. Squall would agree with her now if she'd rather slap him on the face. He had been rude; now, he realized, AFTER more or less two hours. There was nothing he could do about it then…he was so confused with the immediate concurrence of strange feelings. New feelings. He had no problem dealing with anything before—anything he could do with the exact amount of composure and intelligence. But the tremor…that feeling when she's close by…He couldn't understand. Why do they happen? And worst of the worst, why isn't there any logical explanation to it?

Standing in the middle of an empty parking lot, Squall was in the middle of this heated mental debate when he it hit him: his car was in the body shop.

Another inexplicable event…

Squall started to walk home.

"Riiinoooa!" Quistis called from the kitchen, coming out with a towel in her hand. The blonde girl just finished washing the dishes; it was her turn tonight. After Rinoa's encounter with the snobbish 'POOL BOY', the girls ended up ordering 'Wutai' Food over the phone, instead. Rinoa must have been thoroughly pissed off, having refused Buggy King for the first time in their entire lives together.

"Just a sec!" she shouted back, muffled. Quistis saw her coming out of her room a couple of minutes later, wearing her hair up in high pigtails, almost like the Rinoa whom Quistis met, a long twelve years ago. The blonde had to blink her eyes.

"He really got into you, huh?" Quistis gave a worried beam, folding her towel neatly. Rinoa glared at her.

"Don't remind me!" she gave an exasperated breath, easing herself a whole lot of the growing irritation inside, "I'm trying to make fun of myself, alright? No matter how stupid it seems…It's just that…." She paused as if to reminisce, "He' so…MEAN."

"You can't do anything about that, Rin." Quistis turned back to the kitchen, passing Rinoa a drawstring bag of garbage when she came back. "He's a grown boy."

"That's exactly my point! If he's a GROWN BOY, he should be smart enough to know what's politefrom impolite!" Rinoa growled, like Squall could hear her. Grabbing the garbage bag, she stormed out of the room with a bang.

As if on cue, Selphie came out of her room with huge rollers on her hair. She looked at the entrance door with uncertainty, turning to Quistis afterwards, "Heeey. Did I miss something?"

Quistis gave that mature laugh of hers, as if she got everything under control, "No Sefie. Rinoa was just acting weird and testy."

"Oh you mean… like you?"

"Oh, shaddup!"

"UH…Why should I even BOTHER?" Rinoa was still grumbling, now inside the elevator. She clenched her fist close, gritting her teeth as annoyance got the best of her. THAT GUY…SQUALL, right? IF I EVER see him AGAIN…

The elevator stopped momentarily, opening with a quick 'ting'. Rinoa walked pass a couple of schoolmates, trying her best to contain her irritation from showing. Hyne, this is not good for her. Squall was now making her look like an ill-tempered she-devil!

Pushing her way out of the building, Rinoa turned to her left for the dumpster. Good thing that R.U.E. was a huge campus…there's going to be less chances of seeing him again! She thought; the tension inside finally wavering after that realization. And maybe, the next time I would see him would be…

"Gyahhhh!" Rinoa screamed, seeing the full embodiment of all that's infuriating materialize right across the street. Squall must have heard her, stopping on his tracks to take a look. That was the exact time when Rinoa pretended not to have seen him—he's not worth even a single second of my time!

"It's her…" Squall told himself wondrously, slowly breaking into an amused grin. He was walking mindlessly when a shout coming from across the street caught his attention, in where he saw a thirteen year old girl wearing high pigtails glaring at him. He would have whisked the thought away until he realized who she was…She was definitely NO THIRTEEN YEAR OLD!

"HEY!" Rinoa rolled her eyes, walking away mechanically as she ignored him. What could he want this time? She asked herself angrily, shaking with annoyance as she hurriedly went straight to the dumpster. She had to throw the bag NOW, or else, there was a veeeeery big chance that she'd throw it to someone else! Oh Hyne…just look how violent he'd turn her into! And what was that grin about? WHY was he grinning at her? Was he attempting to MOCK her?

"MISS!" Squall jogged across the street, dodging cars that angrily honked at him for stupidly crossing the street with the green light on. Miss Girl-in-high-pigtails didn't turn back, still rushing all the way and around the building, obviously wanting to evade encounter. He followed her suit anyway, really getting entertained with their little chase. She really looked cute with pigtails on!

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!" she practically shouted, throwing her bag on the open dumpster with a 'poink'. Squall saw her face him, surprised that she was so red with fury that he started to think of cowering down. Rinoa placed her hands on her hips, ready for battle. She doesn't care anymore. She won't let him get into her by just saying something mean!

"What!" Rinoa bit out, levelly eyeing him. She could see Squall doing the same; all that differed between them was that his eyes weren't speculating—they were amused! Still, Rinoa thought, she wouldn't allow this to irritate her. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction!

"I…" Squall began, choosing his words carefully. He knew that she would explode if he didn't pick well, and that was something he doesn't want to deal with now. "You okay?"

"Barely."

Squall tried again; no good.

"I guess you're still mad at me." Squall noticed her squirm, like having him guess that right was not a very good thing. He took this as an advantage for himself though. "You're right, I was a…MEANIE. I was very crude, and playing ignorant was very ungentlemanly."

Slowly, Rinoa marginally looked at him in the eye, searching hints of trickery, if there were some.

She crossed her arms, "It was very ungentlemanly, indeed."

"Yeah, I know. It's just that—" Squall tried to reason with her; BAAAD IDEA.

"PSST!" Rinoa jutted a silencing finger on his face, Squall becoming cross-eyed for a while. "I'm NOT going to listen."

"But—"

"GOOD NIGHT!" Rinoa took a step forward, planning to leave it to that. She almost brushed pass him when Squall pulled her back, bringing her to where she started.

"No, I'm not done with you." Squall answered, shrugging his bag back.

"HAHA, as if you're in the position to order me around! Don't push it!" Rinoa gave another forward thrust, but just like what happened awhile ago, she was brought back to where she was. She writhed in agony. "ARGH!"

"LOOK," Squall was losing his patience, "I didn't mean what I said! I wanted to say something else, but it went out differently! YES and NO, I don't KNOW you. Hyne, I don't even know your name! I know for sure that I'm a complete jerk now, I can even be worse than that! But listen to me for once…"

"I'm really sorry." His voice softened, gazing at Rinoa directly into the eyes, "My attitude could have been avoided…I-I just didn't have the strength to wear off my pride…"

That was it. Rinoa steadily looked at him. He was staring at her intently, so intently that for the very first time, Rinoa questioned herself about her anger. If you'd really look at it, there was nothing really grave about their situation. It was all a matter of not knowing each other, which resulted to misunderstanding their intentions. Rinoa breathed, alas, her nerves loosening up. Squall did apologize; an act that always left her helpless. It lightened the tension between them, like a rock being lifted off the opposing current.

"I'm…sorry too." Rinoa stared at her toes for a while before having the courage to look back at him again. "My anger was turning irrational. True, we don't know each other that well…apparently that's why we're not meeting halfway to comprehend each others' thoughts." Rinoa clasped her hand behind her, "Gee…You really got me worked up!"

Squall chuckled; Rinoa narrowed her eyes a bit for it sounded so full of itself, "Really?" He then scratched the back of his head, "And you, on the other hand, got me thinking…"

"Thinking?" Rinoa, curious, blinked her eyes.

"Thinking." Squall said flatly, as if correcting Rinoa off any 'inaccurate' thoughts. "I don't usually think of other people than myself."

Rinoa stuck her lower lip forward, "You're that selfish?"

"I guess." He replied nonchalantly, like that question was asked to him for a million times a day.

Rinoa bit her lower lip for a while, pondering, "You know what I think? I think you're okay. I mean, you were just used to looking out for yourself, that watching over somebody else rather than yourself would be typically something that you're not accustomed to…Probably that's why you told everybody that you didn't know me, because you thought that would settle it all, since, if it happened the other way around, you wouldn't say anything or do anything that I did."

Squall doubted it, a baffled look on his face.

"I know, I don't make sense." Rinoa giggled, relieved that her anger got drained off. Thank Heavens! She's gonna sleep well tonight! "Squall…" she paused, "that's your name, right?"

"Yeah. Squall Leonhart." Squall introduced himself, and was about to ask how she knew when Rinoa thought of extending her hand in preparation of naming herself.

"Rinoa Heartilly." She smiled, shaking hands with Squall. She turned her head aside just to see her garbage bag in the edge of falling of the dumpster; it was carelessly thrown over other bags. Squall observed her as she patted it into place.

"Your turn to take the garbage out?" he asked, Rinoa dusted her hands.

"Not really. Quistis is punishing me for making them eat Wutai Food instead of Buggy King."

Squall nodded, smiling, "Whatever happened to Double Weapon Burger and extra large Gyashi Rings?"

Rinoa flushed, the reminder of gripping him until his knuckles turned white making her do so. She laughed at it, "I was so mad at you, I couldn't eat at my favorite joint! It's against my principles…just didn't feel right."

The two began to walk back to the building's front, wordlessly.

Feels like I'm walking her home…

Feels like he's walking me home…

Nervousness; the tension was growing. Although different this time, Squall still found it hard to relate to…it was another new thing for him. Usually, anxiety happens in the Sphere alone…and he knew how to overcome that feeling; he was confident about his abilities. But this time, he had no solo practices for this one, and the worst part was, the weight was heavier than the Championship Game itself. He gave Rinoa a look; she was staring at the ground. Good. The last thing he'd want her to do was look at him with her puppy brown eyes…

"Umm…Rinoa?"

She looked alerted, and damn, why did she have to do the only thing that Squall didn't want her to do! "Yes?"

"Since…I'm practically to blame…" Squall took note of kicking himself later for putting it so lamely, "Do you want to have lunch to Buggy King tomorrow? I mean, if you have the time—"

"I can't." Rinoa made a big frown, like a frown that a little girl would do. "The audition results would be out tomorrow, I'd be on stand-by until then."

Boo-hoo, Squally-poo got a boo-boo! You just got dumped, hahahaha!

"But on Saturday I would be free!" Rinoa did the saving on time, before Squall's face fell flat on the pavement, "Would that be okay?"

"Of course! NO prob!" Squall did waving gestures, like it didn't matter. Hyne, if it was only day time, he would be so red he had to kill all of the witnesses around. "Eleven-thirty, I'll pick you up?"

"Um!" Rinoa nodded furiously—too furiously. She was having her own share of redness too!

"Alright…" Squall tried not too smile too much, but it was so hard not to! "It's settled then."

"Yep." Rinoa hopped on the step, turning around to wave goodbye, "Goodnight, Squall! I'll see you around!"

"Sure." Squall watched as she entered the building, still waving him.

"Goodnight, Rinoa…"

A/N: Oh man...What do you guys think? I'm really excited about this fic's outcome, but I hope I didn't immediately turn things around! Thank you so much to all your reviews and encouragements! I really get all giddy with those, in a positive way, of course! Please R&R!

(Next Chapter: FIRST DATE! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!)

Tootles,
Moonshadow Angel