Disclaimer: I own nothing in affiliation to Final Fantasy VIII.
To my fantastic reviewers:
Ecstatic chick-I wub cliffhangers=) Is this soon enough for you? I hope so. Thanks a lot for your consistent reviews!
Angelprinczess29-Why, thank you. ^^ Squall's gonna beat himself up when he finds out the truth behind it all, hence the chapter title. Thanks for the review!
Keiry-You're so sweet! I'm trying REALLY hard to finish this before I go on vacation, but it'll be pretty hard because I have about 2-4 chapters left. You have NO idea how happy I was when you added me on your Favorite Authors list and Favorite Stories. I seriously squealed, lol. Thanks bunches for the review!
Renegade Seraph-There's gonna be a bit of violence. Rinoa killing him with Seifer's sock? lol, that'd be...different. Thanks a lot for the review!
Heikaru-Hey, your review showed up this time! Woo hoo! I'm trying my best to update. Thanks for the review!
Carly-You see, the site isn't working all that well with me. I actually only had five chapters until ths update. It'll probably keep on saying that I have one more chapter than I actually do. No matter how hard I try, I can't fix it. Thanks a lot for your review, concern, and warning!
Anonymous-He definitely deserved it. Here's the fastest update in Blind Love history. Thanks for your ever so consistent reviews!
Silver Serpent-Another nice new reviewer. Thanks for all the compliments. Also, thanks for the review!
Hiasha-I know you didn't actually 'review' per se, but you e-mailed me, which is pretty cool, too. Yep, using Ecstatic chick's words, "Squall is so blind'! Thanks for the e-mail!
This chapter's going to be a lot more morbid in the beginning, and I've included a LOT more description than I usually do. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter; I thought that it should end there and putting any more would probably make the story itself a lot shorter and less addictive.
Also, did you guys see another story come out with the title also being called Blind Love? You probably don't need to be told, but this story has NOTHING to do with that other one. There's no yuri or O/Cs like the other one. This one is purely Squinoa ^^ Oh, and I'd BETTER not get any reviews saying that I should change the title of my story. I'm not going to go and tell her to change her title, and no one better tell me to change mine. Besides, mine was out first =P
And now, on with the story!
Remember!
/.../= Thought(s)
Chapter Six:
Truth Ultimately Revealed
Bianka-chan
Rinoa's POV
Seifer's fists collided into my already bruised jaw, making my mouth fill with blood. A second later came his other fist, crashing onto my cheek. With every attack, I felt my life slowly draining away, and my consciousness becoming harder and harder to maintain. How I wished that I could be able to see him so I could make him pay for every wrong in my life. But it would also be for Squall, Quistis, the ex-servant Selphie, and the constant pain ripping through my body.
At times I would try to kick and punch at him, but I would constantly meet only air, and when I hit him the pain would only increase threefold. There would be no end to the agony. It had all started when he separated Squall and I, and it would soon end in a puddle of scarlet blood.
I could hear Quistis screaming from outside of the bedroom, telling Seifer to leave me alone. She would attack the door fruitlessly, only causing more clamor in my final moments.
Seifer attacked me again, putting me into a world of ungodly pain. The only ache comparable to this was the one that stole my mother's life, not to mention my ability to see.
I could hardly breathe anymore, the blood flooding my mouth and nose. The crimson liquid would soon suffocate the life out of me. If only I could reach out to Squall and hold him one last time...before Seifer murders me.
Becoming vainly psychotic, I stretched out my left arm, as if I was trying to reach Squall. When I touched something, I gasped, startled. The item was cold and slick, with many sharp angles in its shape. After a moment of feeling, I realized what it was. /It's a gun...it's a gun! I'll...I'll kill Seifer with it.../
I waited until Seifer got momentarily tired before I'd attempt to shoot him. When he did stop I was impossibly dizzy, but I still seized the gun from the dresser and whisked it directly in front of me, where I supposed Seifer was. Taking no time to ponder, I pressed the trigger with my index finger.
The entire mansion silenced when the shot rang clear through. /I hope I hit him... If not, he'll shoot me full of holes.../ As if on cue, Seifer collapsed on top of me. I pried his body off of mine and dropped to the floor, drained of energy.
After a moment of silence, Quistis began pounding on the door again, this time more frantically.
/I killed her husband... Will she hate me now?/
I got back up and began fast-walking to the door. Frenziedly, I unlocked the door and bolted passed Quistis, not wanting to be there when she realized that her beloved was dead.
I tripped down the stairs, falling on my hands and knees. For a moment I stayed there, simply listening to my blood hit the ground. When I heard Quistis give a blood-curdling scream, I gained the strength to limp out of the house and begin walking to the left, in the direction of Squall's mansion.
Squall's POV
I woke up at the sound of the phone ringing right beside my untidy bed. Unconsciously, I reached out to pick it up, immediately sitting up so that I could talk. "Hello...?"
The voice on the other line was so loud and incredibly chipper that I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "Hey, Son! What're you doing asleep when it's midday?"
I slapped my hand to my forehead and shook my head slowly. /Why if it isn't the 'Best Dad in the World'.../ "...Girl problems... Now, what do you want?"
I could hear my father laughing on the other line. "You? Having girl problems? ...Well, I called to tell you that I'm coming over for this month's visit!" (A/N: He's like Squall's 'period' or something, lol. I wish mine called...)
"Oh...well, I wouldn't want to keep you from your work."
/In other words, I don't want you to come over./
"Don't be silly, Squall m'boy! You know I take time off specifically for you every month." He paused as I heard a sudden bell. "Oh, we're at Balamb! I'll see you in a few minutes, Son!"
"Well, that's just great," I murmured to myself as I hung up the phone, opened the door, and proceeded to entering my own room across the corridor. To be perfectly honest, after I discovered Seifer and Rinoa's game I went into Rinoa's old room and collapsed. I've been asleep ever since then.
A flash of raven hair blurred in the corner of my eye as I continued heading to my room, deep in contemplation. I did a double-take, making sure that I wasn't fooling myself. But my eyes didn't play tricks on me.
Rinoa was right there before me, her clothes now nothing but rags.
But that wasn't the extent of it all...
Her entire body leaked blood from nearly every place imaginable.
I froze in my tracks, shocked at my own misunderstanding. Even after all that I'd just put her through, she was willing to return to me when she needed help. "Rinoa...I...uh...I'm..."
She staggered forward and reached both hands out to me, dropping blood all over my body. "Please, Squall...don't say anything. Just hold me one last time..."
My eyes widened as she walked straight into my chest. "One last time? What're you talking about, Rinoa? You're gonna make it out alive, I'll see to that. I'm gonna kill Seifer for what he's done to you..."
Rinoa stopped me before I could say any more. "It's too late for that, Squall... Seifer's dead." Her breathing began to slow down and her voice became quieter with every passing moment.
I ran my fingers through her sweaty locks. "You killed Seifer? How--"
She pushed away from me and silenced me with a finger while placing her other hand on my cheek. "Squall...I wanted to see you so badly... But I've been robbed..."
Ever since she'd returned a few minutes before I had been fighting the tears back. But they came now, and they were nothing short of impossible to stop. They rolled down Rinoa's shaky hand and dropped to the floor in a puddle of the angel's blood.
/How could I have been so stupid...? Now she's the one to pay the price.../
I softly shook away Rinoa's finger from my mouth. "Don't say that, Rinoa... You're scaring me..."
She managed a delicate smile. "I was scared before but I'm not anymore. I'm glad that you're here...with me... I wouldn't have it any other way..."
Rinoa's hand fell from my cheek and her smile suddenly faded. She tipped over onto me--hard. I began to panic, but then I felt her heartbeat steadily against mine. "Hey, you're gonna be just fine..."
I lifted her slightly from the ground and walked into her room, promptly placing her on the bed. As I exited to go and call for an ambulance on my own personal line, the front door swung open. "Hey there, Squall! Did you miss your old man?"
I simply gawked at him. /Why the hell is he here?/ Then it hit me. /Dammit, I forgot that he was coming over!/ "Err...uh...yeah, sure." Feeling stupid, I punched myself in the chest to clear my throat, using that as an excuse to get back into my normal attitude. "Whatever, Dad..."
He waved his hand to dismiss my answer. "So, I'll just be heading to my room now."
My breath totally escaped me right then. /I gave Rinoa his room! More importantly, she's in there...on the bed, no less! I can't let him get in.../
I jumped in front of him right before he could turn the corner into Rinoa's room. "Dad! You can't go in there! I've got your...Christmas present in there!"
My dad gave me the hairy eyeball (that's what he called it, anyway) and 'hmmed'. "Squall...Christmas just passed..."
I laughed nervously and slapped myself on the forehead. "Did I say 'Christmas'? I meant your birthday! Yeah, that's right, your birthday!"
/Like hell I'd give him Rinoa.../
His face immediately brightened and he grinned widely. "Oh, really? It must be big! I've gotta take a peek!"
My dad started running stupidly to the room. "No, Dad, wait!"
But it was too late. He had already seen Rinoa lying on the bed, half-naked and bleeding all over. Being the idiot I am, I tried to lighten the situation.
I threw myself in front of him and outstretched my arms, presenting Rinoa. "Happy Birthday, Dad!"
And at that moment, my father, President Laguna Loire of Xenophobic Esthar, fainted.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Well, I think Laguna's VERY in-character in that chapter. Laguna is so fun to write. He's way cool.
That was my quickest update ever! I had a lot of spare time, and I'm ferociously trying to finish this before I leave for Mexico on July 19. As I've already said before, if there's no update by July 19, don't expect one until mid-August. Sorry about that.
Any mistakes made in this chapter are due to the immense speed of my typing when I wrote this up. Sorry if some of my careless mistakes make things hard to decipher. Had I taken my normal amount of time when I wrote this, there certainly wouldn't be any mistakes at all. Perfectionist here.
Please, please, please review! I worked really hard to get this up because people were saying that I didn't update often enough. So PLEASE review! Thanks for reading. Have a nice day!
~Bianka-chan
6/24/03