Oops. I lied. You guys won't know the truth until the next chapter. My bad! I forgot where everything was. Sorry! But I promise, you will know what happened, but just not so soon. Anyway, until then, here's chapter 7. It's one of my favorites only because of the ending. But I'm not telling you what happens! You have to find out on your own. But I will give you a hint: Song of the South. Nope! That's all you get! I'm in a playful mood. Can ya tell? He, he!
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII. All characters, places, and ideas belong to Square. I also do not own the theme(?) to Song of the South. That belongs to Disney. I think.
Life Less OrdinaryChapter Seven
"Love and Loathing"
Rinoa and Squall stood staring each other down with an overwhelming hate. Things had definitely not gone as planned. They'd been throwing hate at each other for a while now.
"You are such and asshole!" Rinoa yelled at him.
"Well, you're a stuck up army brat with a bitchy attitude!" Squall spat back bitterly.
They had been yelling insults at each other and threatening each other for quite a while now. What was supposed to be a talk to fix what went wrong ended up becoming one battle short of a war.
"Well, I guess what they say is true." Seifer had to try so hard not to laugh. Their friends so far made no attempt to stop the inevitable.
"What who says?" Selphie whispered, ready to jump out in between those two should anything happen, like the drawing of blood.
"That Esthar and Deling really do hate each other. You do realize that this could go on forever, don't you?"
"I certainly hope not. I don't think I could handle that." Quistis sat down on the couch next to Seifer, opening her soda.
"I am not an army brat! And at least I'm not some punk city boy who thinks he's hard! You are so full of yourself! You think you're so great! You're cocky and you're a smartass!" She yelled, emphasizing everything. "And why don't you tell your president to grow up and learn how to run a country." She turned her back on him and walked away, finally ending their long, brutal feud.
The look on Squall's face showed much more than anger. Pain reflected on his face and he did not say anything. He had the urge to walk over to her and knock the living crap out of her, but he wasn't brought up to do that. He wouldn't harm her physically. He now wanted to leave that alone. What she said hurt him more than she knew.
"Oh, shit! I can't believe she said that!" Seifer gasped. He looked at Squall and then at Rinoa's retreating figure as she walked out the door.
"I'm guessing she hit a real soft spot." Selphie suggested, watching Squall carefully. "He must really like his president."
"Really like him? That's his father!" Drag exclaimed. "And Squall knows that his dad is a very, uh, different ruler, but Laguna knows what he's doing. He just has a roundabout way of going there."
"President Loire is his father?" Quistis shrieked. She suddenly had a very sick feeling in her stomach and gripped the can, sensing it crush beneath her fingers.
"Ugh! How could Rinny be so cruel?" Selphie moaned.
"You know, it could be possible that she didn't know that Laguna was his father." Drag speculated. "He doesn't share Laguna's last name."
"But her father is General Caraway!" Selphie protested, in shock that Rinoa could actually have the nerve to say something like that.
"Hey, drop it! Squall's coming over here!" Seifer hissed harshly.
Squall made his way to the others with his leather jacket in one hand and his car keys in the other. He looked calm and emotionless, but the pain was on the inside, no doubt.
"Hey, Seifer? Drag? Listen, I'm going to go ahead and go. I've got some stuff at home that I've got to do. I'll see you later." He waved to them all and then headed out the door, same as Rinoa. His shoulders were slouched and his voice had been full of hurt. He usually didn't expose himself like this, but she had wounded him badly, and she probably didn't even realize that her words would have that strong of an impact.
He felt an undeniable hate for her then. But he wanted to know what had prompted her to say something like that. Did she know that the President was his father? Is that why she had said it? He felt so hurt. Yes, his father was very strange and sometimes very childish, but he was truthful and the people love him. All his life he had been ashamed of his father at one time or another, but now he knew that he couldn't be ashamed any longer. He loved his father. (A/N: I know that's different. Sorry."
"Damn you, Rinoa." He muttered as he started his car. He was filled with hate all over again and pain. And right now, nothing could help him. It was going to happen again.
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Rinoa walked back into the building. She had gone for a long walk on this very cold fall day. She'd seen the error of her ways and knew that what she said was very wrong. She shouldn't have let her father influence her like that. Hadn't she said that she wanted nothing to do with that man that she was forced to call "Father?"
Rinoa knew that she had to apologize if Squall would hear her. She hadn't meant to say those words. She regretted everything that she had said to him. It was uncalled for, and she had been acting more through anger than reason. She'd been angry with him for far too long.
She rejoined her friends at the back of the large room where they all sat lounging and laughing. She looked around and saw neither hide nor hair of Squall.
"Seifer?" She walked up to the blond a bit hesitant. "Where's Squall?"
Seifer let out a nervous chuckle. "He left shortly after you did."
"…Was he upset?" Rinoa asked.
"Yeah. He wouldn't admit it, but you hurt him pretty bad, babe." Drag answered.
"Well, I wanted to apologize." She frowned and plopped onto the couch beside Quistis.
"I think it'd be best if you left him alone for a while. You crossed a line, a line that no one ever crosses in their right minds unless they want him to knock the living crap out of them." Seifer tried to calmly explain to her, but he slipped a little.
"What? No one has ever had the guts to tell him off? Is everyone in Esthar that wimpy?" Rinoa demanded, folding her arms over her chest.
"No, it's not the telling off that upset him. It was what you said about his father." Drag answered her, ignoring her little comment about everyone in Esthar being wimpy. He'd get her back for that one later.
"I didn't say anything about his father! I wouldn't stoop that low!" She protested. "I swear I didn't!" She added, muttering.
"Ah, but you did." Drag corrected her. He had been right. She didn't know. "Remember that little comment you said about President Loire?" She nodded, regretfully. "Well, that hurt him because President Loire is his father."
Rinoa's jaw dropped completely. She felt sick, absolutely sick. She choked out the words, "Please tell me that's not true."
"It's true. Sorry. President Loire is his father. He just holds his mom's maiden name: Leonhart. He moved here because his mom wanted to get him away from the bad influences of Esthar." Seifer scooted down and put an arm around Rinoa. Tears were starting to swell up in her eyes. It seemed like crying was all she was doing anymore.
"Oh my gosh!" She just wanted to let it go and cry.
"I told you she didn't know!" Drag exclaimed.
"If I would have known that the president is his father then I wouldn't have said that! I swear!" Rinoa bawled. She pulled away from Seifer and walked out of the building. She made a straight beeline to her car. She knew what she had to do, and she had to do it now.
It took Rinoa a little bit to calm herself down, and she sat in the parking lot staring forward. She finally put her car into gear and headed to Squall's house. He lived half a block away from her on Avenue Q in a huge mansion-like house. She and Squall, along with the rest of their friends, lived in the same prestigious neighborhood on the east side of Balamb. Only if you had a lot of money did you live in that neighborhood.
As Rinoa put into the driveway, she hoped he was here because she really needed to talk to him. Actually, she wasn't going to really be talking. It was going to be more like pleading for him to forgive her.
She was starting to become extremely uneasy as she walked up the front path to the door. She rang the bell, and at first, there was silence, but then there was movement and the front door opened to reveal a woman who just had to be Squall's mother. She was a bit hesitant on how to address this woman.
"Um, Ms. Leonhart?" Her voice was uneasy and her nervousness was probably obvious.
"Ah! Rinny!" Rinoa exclaimed. She ushered the girl inside the huge house. "I haven't seen you since you were this tall!" She moved her hand to her knees, grinning profoundly. "I told your mom to send you over some time to see me, but she said that you were too shy! It's so good to see you!" She laughed and hugged Rinoa, who returned the gesture. She barely remembered this woman. Most of her time during those summer adventures she spent all of her time with Squall.
Squall…Rinoa pulled away from the older woman. "Um, is Squall here?" She felt so nervous again.
"Yeah, he came in a few minutes ago. He's downstairs." Raine looked puzzled.
"Can I see him?" Rinoa asked, her hands beginning to shake.
"Sure, honey, but be careful. He was in a sour mood when he came home." Raine pointed to a door beside the stairs. Rinoa took a deep breath and headed down. She swore she heard the woman say good luck and the door was shut. Rinoa made her way down, step-by-step, feeling like she was in a bad horror movie. As she neared the bottom, she heard the distinct sound of the strumming on a guitar and knew it just had to be Squall.
She reached the bottom and turned the corner to find herself in a den-like room. There were two couches and several chairs, arranged in a square, a large TV with about four game systems hooked up to it, a drum set in the far corner with a bass guitar leaning against it, and about a thousand boxes lying around.
Squall sat with his back to her, strumming on a guitar, head bent and shoulders slouched. She felt like her heart had been ripped out and the world was just going to let her bleed.
"Squall?" His name was the only word that managed to get out. She thought that her throat was going to close up and stop all airflow. She took a step forward but suddenly stopped.
He went on playing, completely ignoring her. He was still angry and hurt by what she had said. At the moment, he truly hated her. Yes, his father could be very immature, but the man knew what he was doing! And he certainly didn't need a Galbadian reject to tell him what his father was doing or how to do it for that matter. He'd grown up with it, and didn't need anyone to tell him what he already knew.
Rinoa knew that he had heard her, and she also knew that he was madder than Hell. She had caused it, and she deserved his anger. But she had come to apologize and that was exactly what she planned to do, whether or not he chose to hear her.
"Squall?" And yet she was still trying to make him hear her. "I know you're mad, and you have every right to be! I was out of line. I shouldn't have said any of those things, and I didn't know that he was your father. I'm sorry." She bowed her head and stared at the floor afraid to look up.
He stopped playing and placed the guitar beside him on the couch. He rested his elbows on his knees and closed his eyes.
They stayed just like that in silence for a long time, neither wanting to speak yet wishing the other would.
It was slowing killing Rinoa from the inside out. She desperately wanted him to say something, anything to ease her suffering. For too long she'd tried to protect herself, to distance herself from all the things that she knew could hurt her, but she didn't know, until now, that the things she thought would hurt her were actually the things that would heal her. She had been bruised so many times that she thought that if she stopped caring, it would go away. She had been wrong. It wouldn't go away, and it didn't matter if she cared or not.
Squall listened closely to nay sounds that she may make. He was angry, no doubt of it, but he was also human. Finally, it got to be too much for him to handle.
"Why the Hell are you here?" he demanded, turning his head to see her out the corner of his eye.
"I came to apologize to you because I was out of line! I shouldn't have said those things to you. I'm sorry." She took another tiny, baby step forward, but that was all she could manage. She felt like there was this gigantic barrier between her and Squall. The more she tried to get closer, the more the tension seemed to rise and the harder it got to breathe.
"Why the Hell are you apologizing?" he demanded, standing and finally turning to face her. He looked like a time-bomb ready to detonate.
"Because you didn't deserve that. I was out of line! I'm sorry! I don't know any other way to say it to you!" She cried out, fighting a losing battle to keep the tears away. She was nothing more than a weeping willow.
He laughed at her, a mocking laugh and looked away briefly. "You have no reason to apologize. I mean, it's not like you didn't know." He shrugged.
Rinoa opened her mouth but closed it again. She should have known. There was no reason for her not to. She practically grew up with him. She just shook her head. " I deserve whatever it is you have to throw at me. I shouldn't have been so cruel. And you're right. I should've known." She bit her lip and tried to be strong. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like she had to prove herself to him.
"That's where you're wrong." He walked around the couch to her. He wasn't going to let her leave until they figured everything out, and he meant everything. "You don't deserve to be hated over something so small. I've been hearing that all my life, and should be used to it by now, but I realize I'm not! Nobody knows my dad like I do, and nobody needs to tell me about the things he's done because I already know! Anything you want to try and tell my about my father I already know! I know he can be sometimes childish and immature, but the people love him, and so do I." Squall found himself yelling, and she just stood there, soaking up his anger like a sponge. She flinched twice but did nothing more.
"I'm sorry!" She whispered.
"Don't apologize! I don't want to hear it! It doesn't matter!" he exploded. This time, she jumped, frightened out of her own skin. "I don't blame you. I just blame myself. There's no one else to point a finger to except for maybe Hyne, but that would be silly to blame a creator, wouldn't it?" he turned away.
Rinoa watched the pain cover his face involuntarily, and she just couldn't take it anymore. She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, letting him know that she was there for him. Through everything, she was going to be there. He held her hands against his stomach as her head rested against his back. He was so tense and angry, but his anger was no longer directed at her. He hated the rest of the world for his torment.
"Don't leave me." He whispered.
"I'm not going anywhere." She muttered into his shirt.
"No." He shook his head. "Don't push me out. Whatever it was that I did to you, I'll do anything to fix it. Please, don't hate me forever." He held her to him tighter, but she pulled away and turned him to face her.
"You honestly don't know?" She searched his eyes, his vulnerable spot, but they were lost. He shook his head. She closed her own eyes and nodded once. "Then I guess it doesn't matter."
"Good. Because I need you more than you know." He touched her hand lightly and brought it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. He let her hand drop back to her side and looked into her face. She kept her eyes closed and he saw that wasn't quite what she said, or meant.
"It really does matter, doesn't it?" He asked.
"No, that's not it. I was just thinking about something else." She wouldn't look at him but occupied herself with pushing a piece of hair out of her eyes.
"No, I think it is. You don't lie very well." He touched her shoulder, gripping it tightly. "Maybe we should talk."
"Isn't that what we're doing right now?" Rinoa closed her eyes again to keep from betraying herself with a feeling she didn't want.
"No." He stopped and she opened her eyes. "I think we should talk. You and I have a lot that we need to work out. I don't want to lose your friendship. I care too much for you." He whispered.
Rinoa found the anger boiling up inside her again, and she had to look away before she lashed out at him. She didn't want to lose her temper. She didn't want to think that she had to hate him. He doesn't remember. He doesn't remember. She had to keep telling herself to calm down, but it only seemed to make things worse. "Let's just drop it. It doesn't matter." She shook her head and tried to stay calm. It wasn't working as well as she hoped.
"No, it does matter. That's why we should talk. I think it's important, so why are you holding back?" He asked.
"I'm not holding back. Just drop it. If you don't know, then we have no reason to discuss it. Okay?" She pulled away, increasing the distance between the two of them.
"No. Not okay. Don't I have a right to know what it is I've done? Every time we talk, it's fine for a few minutes and then, all of a sudden, you lash out. It's like I do something almost immediately that pisses you off. I think we need to work this out if we have any hope of saving our friendship." Squall tried to get closer to her, but she kept moving away.
"There is no friendship! How many times do I have to say it to you?" She demanded, backing up to the stairs. Right now, they were her only escape routes.
"Well, tell me again because I don't believe it!" He yelled. She glared at him and kept backing up. Squall was quite aware of her plan at this time and watched her closely. He intended on keeping her here until this whole problem was worked out.
"There is no friendship here!" She yelled back. "There is nothing here! It's gone! It's been gone for six years! It's gone like everything else!" She looked away from him, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. Here comes the weeping willow again. She sniffled, finally losing it; She couldn't pretend to be strong anymore. It just wasn't worth the wasted effort. She hugged her sides and cried, rooted to the spot. She would have fled by now, but she couldn't move.
Squall walked to her and pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he held her there, knowing now that she was damaged. He was probably the cause for most of her torment, but he was also sure that General Caraway had something to do with it as well.
"Shh. Rin, it's all right. Shh." He rubbed one of his hands up and down her back while the other held her closer. She grasped his shirt in her hands, and he could feel her nails begin to dig into his skin. But he didn't care. She could draw blood for all it mattered, and he wouldn't care. "If it means anything, I'm here." He whispered in her ear. She just nodded and held him tighter.
"It does matter." She whispered through her tears. She was broken, broken in many ways, and right now, he was all she had to put the pieces back together. True, there would still be cracks, but time would fix those the most.
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Rinoa opened her eyes and immediately cringed. There was sunlight bearing down right into her eyes. Her hands both whipped up and covered her eyes from the merciless sun. She groaned.
"Ugh! It's bright!" She moaned. It all of a sudden stopped, and everything was darkened.
"Better?" A deep voice asked her. She suddenly heard the light picking of a guitar. It was the same thing she heard when she came down to see Squall.
She immediately sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was laying on one of the couches in the basement with a pillow and a blanket. Squall sat on the couch opposite of her playing his guitar with a notebook and a pencil beside him. He gave the impression that he was writing music.
"Hey." He looked up and gave her a tiny smile.
"Hi." She ran her hands through her hair, trying to fix it. She stifled a yawn and looked around for a clock.
"It's 6:30." He said, reading her mind. He went on playing his guitar, occasionally stopping and writing some things down in the notebook.
Rinoa nodded and pulled her knees up to her chest and watched Squall for a few moments, thinking. If it was 6:30 that meant that the sun was going down and that she had been there since early afternoon. She hoped that she wasn't imposing on him. The last thing she wanted to be was a burden to him. She'd already made herself look like an idiot several times today.
"Are you all right?" Squall asked. He stopped playing and watched her. A frown had appeared on her face and her brows were furrowed in thought.
"What?" She looked up at him suddenly and shook her head." Oh, yeah. I was just thinking." She smiled weakly before looking back down to the floor. She heard the sound of his footsteps and then felt the weight on the couch drop and Squall's arm slide around her shoulders. She couldn't help but move her head onto his shoulder as his other hand ran through her hair, comforting her.
"I'm fine." She whispered. Sitting there like that with him made her wonder in this was just more than a regular friendship. They hadn't seen each other in so long, and when they finally meet again, things are just so tense. At first, they couldn't get along, couldn't be around each other without causing an uproar, but now things were totally different. She just wasn't sure what to do anymore.
"You sure?" He stroked her cheek.
"Yeah." She reassured him, nestling her head against him closer.
Rinoa knew that this wouldn't last. She was certain that something would happen to cause them both to begin to argue again. Their friendship- this newfound relationship- had no basis and couldn't last unless the truth was brought out. Rinoa, for one, couldn't just forget about what happened all that time ago. There was just no way. After all, you can't always get what you want.
Rinoa wanted to tell him that she should go, but didn't have the heart to. She wanted to stay there, with him, in his arms. For once in her life, she felt so safe. She felt as if all the demons of her past were gone, if only for a little while.
"You know, I should go. Mom will be starting supper soon." She whispered, staring down at her shaking hands. She didn't want to do that at all. She didn't want to leave.
"Right." He nodded and let go of her, standing up and extending a hand to her. She took it gratefully, but once she was up, didn't want to let go.
"Well, bye." She started to pull away, but he held her hand.
"Not yet." He pulled her back into his arms. She looked up at him with curiosity and tilted her head. He didn't say anything but cupped her cheek, staring into her beautiful brown eyes.
He leaned in and took her lips into his. Rinoa slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. He pulled her as close to him as allowed, feeling her body heat against his. Their kiss was beautiful to him. She allowed him to explore her mouth a little more intently, caressing her in no way that another could. His hands stayed at her hips and held her there against him, but he had to control his hands. They wanted to explore her body, but had to keep himself at bay. He wouldn't allow himself to scare her off.
They pulled apart, ending their beautiful kiss and stared into each other's eyes for the longest time like some cheesy romance novel, but it worked. The love was there.
Rinoa finally pulled away and headed to the stairs. "Bye." She smiled and headed up the stairs. He heard the door shut and breathed deeply. He had actually kissed her!
"Plenty of sunshine floatin' my way. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Zip-a-dee-ay." He sang softly with a big smile.
A/N: THAT is why it's my favorite part! Heh, hee! That's all from me! Later Days! R&R! Thanks!