A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it's take so long to update, it's been tricky writing this chapter. I'm not sure how many chapters are going to follow this one, but not too many or the story will start getting thin. Hope you like!!

Chapter Fifteen--An Offer

Once Rinoa had seen the fire blazing against the dark sky, a chill of fear had passed over her skin. She knew what it was, it was disappointment. They had not wondered where she was, they had continued with their lives as if she had never even been a part of it.

She had watched camera crews and fire engines arrive, all fighting to get near to the flames, all the while safe in the back of the police car. But the novelty soon wore off, and she found herself alone with only a dark possibility before her. She would have to go home.

Whilst the warehouse had existed, in her mind she had envisioned returning to find the gang within it, waiting for her. She had known from the moment she had walked out that she could never go back, but there had always been a dream. She might have found a clue there, as to where they had all gone. But it was all burning away now.

She had no money. No friends. Nowhere to stay. She had no choice, she had to go home.

Rinoa hung her head as Officer Almasy and his colleague got back into the car, they were going to return her to her father, and her freedom was over. She listened to Almasy talking on his radio, she didn't understand most of what he said, but a few times heard her own name mentioned.

"Miss Heartilly," Officer Almasy said, looking at her through the rear view mirror. "We're going to let you go without charge. It turns out the car was stolen when you were still living with your father."

Rinoa frowned, it took a while for her to understand what he was saying. Then she remembered they had a picture of her in Squall's stolen car. She felt her eyes sting, she felt like crying at the thought of Squall. She would never see him again.

She didn't realise how much she had changed since that day she had run away. She had been accepted, and liked, and she had thrown it all away in a moment of rage.

Rinoa's father was waiting at the police station, the same disappointed expression on his face that he usually wore when looking at her. He was standing on the station steps, a scarf wrapped around his neck, keeping out the chill.

Rinoa walked towards him meekly, she was ready for his anger, but instead all she received was indifference.

"Come back then have you?" he asked.

Rinoa nodded, she felt like crying again, and didn't really know why.

"We'll drive to Esthar, and take the train to Fisherman's Horizon."

He waited for her to protest, but she said nothing. Rinoa nodded, and followed him silently to his parked car, and climbed into the back. She didn't want to sit with him in the front, in the back she could curl up and pretend it wasn't happening.

As they pulled away, a motorbike revved it's engine and followed. Squall had headed straight to the police station once finishing the raid. He knew this was where Rinoa had gone, she had threatened as much, and if she had seen the warehouse then she would have had to turn herself in.

Squall didn't know how long he would have to wait outside, or if Rinoa was even still here, but as he stopped he saw a police car pass by. He saw a girl sitting in the back, her head bowed down. He watched closely as she got out of the car, it was Rinoa.

A man was there to meet her, an older man who Rinoa hung back from. Squall saw him try to touch her shoulder, but Rinoa moved away from him in a defeatist movement. The older man led Rinoa to a expensive car, where he opened the door for her. Shunning him, Rinoa opened the door to the backseat and climbed in. The man, who Squall now suspected was her father, slammed the car door shut, walked around to the driver's side and got in without a word. Barely a second passed and they were off.

Squall climbed back on his bike and proceeded after them. He was aware that if his bike had been seen at the crime scene, he might now be creating danger for himself. But he had no other transport, he had not planned for any of this, and being someone who usually planned for everything, he was taking a great risk.

Rinoa turned sideways in her seat, and hugged her legs close to her chest. Her father was driving with determination, overtaking anything that went too slowly for him. Rinoa looked behind her at the traffic they were leaving, and thought about how much had happened to her since they had come here. She saw a motorbike following behind them, overtaking the traffic when they did.

She rested her head against the car seat and closed her eyes.

They met the traffic jam at Esthar train station, and Rinoa opened her eyes to realise that she had fallen asleep and missed the journey. She followed her father into the station, him pushing their luggage on a trolley. He left her standing with the bags whilst he went to the customer service desk to enquire after a ticket.

Rinoa watched the people rushing by, all hurrying to get home, or on their travels. She watched until it all became a blur. She thought her father was taking a long time with the tickets. Then she saw someone unexpected.

Squall spotted Rinoa standing alone with the bags, she looked tired, her face pale and her hair hadn't been brushed, but she was still as he remembered. She turned to look his way, and her cheeks coloured a light pink. She looked away concerned, looking for her father, hoping that he was far away.

Squall walked closer, all the while knowing that he had no idea what to say to her. Her eyes were wide, alarmed and surprised. He could see he was making her nervous, because she kept scrunching the straps of her bag in her hands.

"I couldn't let you leave, not without saying sorry," Squall said.

Rinoa touched a lock of her hair nervously, and looked up at him shyly under her eyelashes.

"Why?"

"Because I had no right to say you should stay away from Irvine, and I shouldn't have grabbed you the way I did."

Rinoa looked down at the ground, before smiling.

"Well… I did damage your car then shopped you to the police, you I guess we are even… you didn't need to come all this way to say sorry."

Squall looked away, he shuffled his stance nervously.

"I didn't follow you all this way to only to say sorry, I came to offer you a job…if you want it…"

"What kind of job?" Rinoa asked intrigued.

Squall dug his hands into his pockets awkwardly. Rinoa realised she had never seen Squall acting in this way before, he had always been so in control of everything.

"I'm minus a crew, and you don't get along with your father, so I thought you might want to… join me?"

"I don't think I'd be very much help."

Squall nodded.

"So, that's a no?"

"No! I mean, it's not a no," Rinoa said.

She was about to change her life. There was no way she would ever return to her father's home, not when someone was offering her another chance at life. It might not have been ideal, she would be entering into a life that was the wrong side of the law, but it was better than no life at all.

"So, what's your latest plan?" she asked smiling.

"I don't actually have a plan… I just couldn't let you leave, knowing that I could offer you something else."

Rinoa blushed, her mind was working in a different way to what it should be.

"Something else?" she asked, hoping that maybe Squall was thinking the same as her. But she saw no flush of colour over his face.

"An alternative."

"So, you think I'll be happy with you?" she asked, again testing the waters. This time Squall looked away, catching on to what Rinoa was hinting at. She wanted to know what his intentions were towards her.

"I like you," Squall said with difficultly. Rinoa waited patiently for the rest. "And I don't want you to leave. Is that enough?"

Rinoa bit her lip. She might have wanted more, they had lived together, albeit not for very long, but the time they had spent together had been intense. They had been involved in something secret, they had been trusting each other without realising. Rinoa felt much closer to Squall than she would have thought she would.

"It's enough for now."

They stood looking at each other realising that they had just begun a new life together. It would be just them two now. No one else to depend on.

"Should I bring my bag?" Rinoa asked.

"No, I took the bike," Squall said. His eyes drifted to the place Rinoa's had been flickering to throughout their conversation. "We should go."

Rinoa abandoned her luggage for her father to find, and followed Squall to his bike. She took the crash helmet that he offered her, and climbed on behind him. She had no doubt that this bike was stolen, and that thought made it all the more exciting.

As they passed the traffic stuck in the jam, Rinoa laughed. She was free at last, but nothing in the world could have prepared her for they way things had turned out.