Chapter eight

The farewell

"Gone?" Quistis screamed. "What do you mean--gone? Squall, she'll go to the police. She knows everything!"

Squall took his jacket from the chair and pushed his arms into the sleeves. Quistis was still raving about Rinoa and calming her down looked a long way off.

"Quistis," Squall said, walking away from her. "What does she actually know? She knows only our location. We'll just have to vacate the place sooner than we expected is all, and losing a day of this dump could only be a good thing."

"Where are you going?" Quistis asked, just realizing that Squall was leaving.

Opening the warehouse doors to allow him to drive out, Squall turned to face her.

"I'm going to go find her," he answered. "Phone all the others and tell them to stay where I sent them too. If I don't find her, we might have to act more quickly."

Quistis nodded.

"Squall you will look carefully won't you? I don't fancy being on the run sooner than I expected."

Rinoa stared at the town that had looked so close yet had turned out to be a three-hour-walk. There was a deceiving dip in the landscape that couldn't be seen from the warehouse window, and it was that which had added all the extra time on to the journey. When she had begun it had been the late afternoon. Now it was beginning to get dark, and she realized she had left without any money or any plan.

Having no idea where she was, Rinoa wondered where the local police station was. Now that she was back out in the real world again, Rinoa was scared. She'd never had to really think for herself before, and now all she could fathom doing was returning to her father.

Sitting down on a bench on the outskirts of the town, Rinoa looked over the buildings in front of her. The outskirts looked run-down and old, and the deserted road that she had walked down now gave way to a busy street. Sighing and holding her arm since it had begun to hurt again, Rinoa wished she'd given Squall a second chance. That way she wouldn't be sitting in the cold on a damp wooden bench.

Seeing a car's headlights on the road she had left behind her, Rinoa jumped up from her bench and stood waiting. As the car approached much too fast for such a road, Rinoa looked down at her feet for something heavy.

Dust flew up into her face as the black car stopped beside her. The dark tinted window opened with a mechanical noise as it went down, and Rinoa could see Squall was driving. As she had hoped, he was alone.

"I was coming to look for you," he said, one hand on the gears, the other on the wheel.

Rinoa scoffed.

"Really?" she asked, holding the rock she had picked up tightly in one hand. "Thought I was on my way to the police, did you? Because I can't imagine it was for any other reason."

Squall looked away from her. She was right; he'd followed her only because of that one reason. Not because he feared she might get hurt on her own.

"Yeah, I thought so," Rinoa said, taking a step towards the car. "I should bash this rock through your windscreen."

"You wouldn't dare," Squall said, turning off the engine and opening his car door.

"Don't tell me what to do," Rinoa snapped, raising the rock above her head. "Come any closer, and I will."

"Look, I'm sorry I locked you in your room. It was immature, but you weren't exactly blameless," Squall said, ignoring Rinoa's warning about coming closer. "If you want to be a whore I won't stop you any longer."

"I hate you!" Rinoa screamed, bringing the rock down on the bonnet of the car. The rock made a dent in the perfect black metal and scratched away the paint. Not satisfied with the graze she'd made, Rinoa raised the rock again.

"What do you think you're doing?" Squall shouted, grabbing her arm roughly as she brought the rock down again. "Look what you've done!"

"Look what you've done to me, Squall! Just look at what you've done!" Rinoa shouted, letting the rock drop from her hand. "My arm hurts so much," she whispered, letting tears of frustration fall down her face.

Squall released his hold on her arm. There was silence between them. The only sounds were those of the busy road in front of them and Rinoa's harsh breathing as she tired to calm herself. Not knowing what to say or do, and still angry about his car, Squall walked away to sit on the bench.

"There's no one at the warehouse, Rinoa. It doesn't matter what you tell the police. Where are you going now?"

Rinoa looked at him with her whole body shaking. Why did he always make her act like she was out of control? She hadn't done things like this when she had been living with her father, and none of the other people she had met since she'd run away had had this effect upon her.

"I don't know. I didn't think," she answered, tasting her tears that were still falling down her face. "I'm so sorry, Squall," she whispered before turning towards the town and walking away.

"Hey," Squall called, jogging a few steps to catch up with her. "This isn't a nice town to be alone in, even if you are bloody crazy. Let me buy you dinner, then come back with me. I'm not going to leave you here unless I know you're safe."

Rinoa continued to walk, her head down, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Or," Squall tried again, touching her shoulder to make her stop. "I could give you a life to the police station. You'd understand if I didn't come in, though, wouldn't you?"

Rinoa smiled and wiped the tears from her face.

"Dinner would be really nice," she replied quietly, biting her lip. "Sorry about your car," she added, looking back behind them and trying to wipe the smile off her face.

"It's stolen anyway," Squall said, shrugging. "What do I give a damn? It'll probably end up in the river at some point anyway," he added, leading the way back to his battered car. "Come on, before I change my mind."

Rinoa waited in the car as Squall parked on the side of the road and got out to use the cash point. Gazing into the mirror, Rinoa realised her eyes had gotten puffy and red from her tears, and her hair was looking very windswept. Flattening her hair with her hand, Rinoa tried to untangle the knots before Squall returned. Taking a deep breath and trying to will away the redness around her eyes, Rinoa folded her hands in her lap and waited.

"So, where do you want to go?" Squall asked as he restarted the engine. "And don't say the burger place. The music in there is annoying."

"I don't know any places here. Just nowhere expensive, please. I'm hardly dressed for anywhere like that," Rinoa answered, watching the buildings pass them by.

"Nowhere expensive, right. You know, I think I'm beginning to like you," Squall joked as they stopped for a red light.

Rinoa smiled.

"Look, how about we grab some Chinese and just head back? Then we can see if you're on the news again."

"Not to be rude, but didn't you promise to take me home if I should ask?" Rinoa asked.

"Yes…" Squall answered keeping his eyes on the road. "But I thought you didn't want to."

"I didn't, it's just…well, you're leaving soon, and at least it sounds like you are, so I just wondered whether you would take me somewhere I could stay."

"Rinoa if I take you somewhere, I will need your word you won't go to the police," Squall said slowing the car and looking at her.

"I give you my word," Rinoa replied seriously. "I could have gone to day had I wanted to. But I didn't. I'll give you time to get out of the city Squall, but beyond that I cannot promise. They will want to know where I've been, and I dare not lie."

"Alright, then I shall take you to the hostel. You don't need to pay, and it's a safe place to stay. But are you sure? Because once I take you there you cannot come back with us."

"I have to leave sometime Squall," Rinoa replied not really answering the question. "It's better if it was sooner rather than later."

Feeling his eyes on her, Rinoa tried to think of something to say, but her mind was blank. The only things she wanted answers to were things Squall probably didn't want to tell her.

Officer Almasy was speaking again on the radio, and talking to the public as if they all held vital clues that they should give up.

"If you've seen anything suspicious…" Squall mocked. "Just listen to that guy. He's almost as entertaining as your dad."

"I used to know him," Rinoa said. "He used to be in the army. Father doesn't like him much because, well, you know…" Rinoa trailed off. She didn't want to say because he had asked her to marry him; Squall would probably get weird again like the Irvine incident.

"The army? Well, that explains a lot. Wonder what he's doing out here--working for the police no less," Squall said, showing only mild interest.

Rinoa stared out of the window. It was raining now, and the rain droplets were being pushed roughly aside by the windscreen wipers. She wondered what she had even seen in the man behind the voice. He had occupied her thoughts everyday for two years. Now she barely thought of him at all. Perhaps her father had been right. She hadn't loved him at all. She'd just been seduced by the idea of being married.

"Lets listen the crime channel. That's always good for a laugh," Squall said, changing the station to that of someone speaking in a urgent voice.

"Why did you choose this life, Squall? You could have done so much more," Rinoa said, watching him watch the road.

"Not everyone has an easy start to life, Rinoa. People like myself just aren't expected to make it," Squall answered, switching the wipers on faster.

"But you could have proved them wrong!" Rinoa insisted.

"Prove to who? Who's going to care?" Squall snapped, turning to face her. Rinoa stopped watching him. "I make my money by stealing, so does the government. Let's not forget the rise in taxes this year."

"That isn't the same," Rinoa said, folding her arms.

"After this job there will be no need for me to steal anymore. Sure, I will have to lay low for a few years, but after that I'll be able to live my life the way I've always wanted to," Squall explained. "I'm not asking you to approve of the way I do things, but it's not about to change for anyone."

Rinoa nodded sadly. She couldn't judge Squall. Her life wasn't exactly a perfect one either, but she also couldn't help thinking something was about to go wrong.

Squall wished she could understand why he did what he did and understand the life of no choices but that of crime. But Rinoa was right to keep her distance from him; there was nothing he could offer her anyway except danger.

When Rinoa stepped out of the car and into the rain, Squall gave her meek smile.

"I suppose I'll be seeing you on the TV then soon. Missing Girl Found," he joked as she stood in the rain.

Rinoa shrugged and hugged her injured arm.

"It was nice meeting you Squall, and good luck," she said softly before turning her back on him and walking up the large concrete steps to the building in front of her. Hearing the car pull away behind her, Rinoa felt a tear running down her face. She now totally alone.

A/N: Apologies to everyone I have kept waiting by delaying this chapter for so long. Life just seems to get in the way of everything sometimes. Loads of hugs to Bianka-Chan for beta-ing! Any mistakes are mine because I messed this chapter about after it was edited.

Thank you to 'angelofthelions' for the prompting, an update might not have been written without your review.