The Ironice Things in Life
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantay 8 or any of the characters, names or locations.
---
"Selphie? Zell?" Quistis called out, as she strolled out of the bathroom with a towel neatly wrapped around her head.
Even in her simple lace night gown and with no make up on, Quistis radiated such beauty that no one had ever come close to rivalling. At a height of 5'6 with dark blonde hair, with the slightest hint of strawberry, and bright blue eyes, she was one young woman who never needed to worry about her looks. But her looks weren't the only things that stood out about her. She was also very intelligent and accomplished and proved that beauty also came along with brains.
"Now where have those two gotten off to so early in the morning?" she wondered out loud, "You usually need a foghorn to wake up Zell…"
Quistis strolled into the lounge area and her eyes were instantly attracted by the white sheep of paper lying on the coffee table. Swiftly, she picked it up and skimmed through its contents.
Hey Quisty!
I know this is all sudden and everything but I decided on the spur of the moment that I'd head off to Trabia for a while. I'll let you know when I'm coming back. I probably won't be able to phone up 'cause the reception in Trabia's terrible with all the mountains and everything.
Selphie
Quistis stared in amazement at the letter that she was holding. Selphie had never contemplated going to Trabia at all and hadn't even mentioned anything about it last night. This was all too weird to digest so early in the morning.
Quistis sighed and plopped herself down on the sofa, only to jump up quickly as she heard a scrunching sound. Glancing down, she noticed another bit of paper lying on the sofa.
"Now what…?" she muttered, her brow creasing as she read through the letter.
Quistis,
Gone out of town on business for a couple of days. Be back soon.
Zell
Quistis' eyebrow shot up as suspicion leaked into her mind. Selphie and Zell both out of town on exactly the same day? This was too much to believe.
"Something's not right…" she mumbled, reaching for the phone.
And you know what Quistis did? She called the only person that she could trust….
-----
"What do you mean Selphie's missing?" Seifer demanded, frowning at the hint of worry he noticed in Quistis' voice.
"Well, I don't think she was planning this trip at all. It's all so sudden…" Quistis' voice trailed off leaving a chill to run down Seifer's back.
"Hmm…"
"And I don't know if Irvine knows."
"Have you talked to Irvine yet?" Seifer asked quickly.
"No, not yet but I'm going to call him right after I finish talking to you."
"No, don't do that. I'll let Irvine know and I'll get back to you, ok?"
"Ok, Seifer. I really didn't want to bother you about this but…"
"No, I'm glad you told me."
"Ok, I'll talk to you later then?"
"Yeah…hey, Quistis?"
"Yeah?"
"Did anything strange happen last night?"
"Hmm…not really. Rinoa left and…"
"Rinoa left! Where?"
"She went to her father's place for the weekend. Why?"
"Uh, nothing. Has Rinoa called you yet?"
"Not yet…"
"Hmm…anything else happen?"
"Well, Selphie wanted to talk to me about something but I had to go to the door then and Selphie headed off to bed and was gone this morning."
"Ok, thanks. I'll let you know if I find out anything from Irvine."
"Ok, bye."
Seifer didn't even respond as he hung up and quickly dialled the number to Irvine's cell phone.
"Helloooo," came the strong accented voice of the Galbadian cowboy.
"Hey, Kinneas get your ass over here," Seifer ordered.
"What? Why?"
"Something's happened and I can't make sense of it."
"What's happened?"
"I'll tell you when you get over here! Wait, where's Squall?"
"Squall's gone to Esthar. He'll be back tomorrow."
"WHAT? You nincompoop! How could you let him get away?"
"Huh? What's happening?"
Seifer slapped his head with a palm. He remembered that Irvine knew nothing about the Squall and Zell situation. Seifer had a gut feeling and his gut feeling was telling him that Squall and Zell were up to something right now.
"Kinneas?"
"Yeah?"
"Your girlfriend's missing."
-----
Rinoa Heartilly held the older man's gaze as he surveyed her. She was starting to feel even more uncomfortable by the second but she decided that the silence was better then having to talk to him.
"How are you, Rinoa?" General Caraway finally asked his stubborn daughter.
"I'm fine..." she answered shortly and god forbid if General Caraway expected her to ask him the same.
"I'm not going to make small talk here Rinoa so I'm just going to cut to the chase," General Caraway said.
"You do that," she responded flatly.
General Caraway closed his eyes at his daughter's rudeness and heaved a sigh before opening his eyes to look at Rinoa again.
"I have received word that you've landed yourself in a spot of trouble," he said as if prompting his daughter to blurt out her entire sob story.
Rinoa openly glared at him as she refused to talk to him about her issue.
"Rinoa, I hope you're aware that if you hadn't been so keen to defy my beliefs then this never would have happened…" General Caraway said coolly.
"Oh, shut up!" Rinoa cried jumping to her feet, "Don't you go blaming me. I did what I thought was right! I couldn't live under this roof and follow your stupid rules! Did you think that I would just sit by and let you prevent Timber's independence with that hopeless Vinzer Deling and Sorceress Edea? No! I could never let that happen!"
"Rinoa, you already got into so much trouble for that incident. If I hadn't talked to the authorities about it and used my connections you'd be in the Desert Prison right about now!" General Caraway contradicted, as he began to lose some of his composure.
"Oh, yeah? Well I would rather be in prison then have to listen to you remind me that you helped me!" Rinoa roared, her face beginning to turn red.
General Caraway sighed and took a deep breath.
"That Timber incident was 3 years ago. You still have 2 more years of the Galbadian Government's probation. After that you, Zone and Watts will be free to leave Galbadia. For now just keep your head down and stay out of trouble. Getting splashed across headline news with President Loire's son isn't the way to do that."
"Hey! 5 years monitored custody is bad enough without having you rub it in! God! I wish I could just escape from here! But at least I didn't turn into traitors like Zone and Watts..." Rinoa muttered darkly, her face taking on a look that could have broken glass.
"Rinoa, they chose the paths they wanted to. They decided that working for me would keep them safe and you decided that leaving home once again was the right thing for you to do," General Caraway reasoned.
Rinoa gave her father a final glare before flopping down on the sofa once again. She hated the man so much that no words could define her feelings towards him.
"May I see the letter, Rinoa?" General Caraway finally asked when he thought that she had calmed down.
Rinoa scowled but stick her hand into the pocket of her blue top and took out and envelope which she stuck out in mid air. General Caraway sighed and made his way towards his daughter to retrieve the letter that was causing his daughter so much grief. He opened it and his forehead wrinkled instantly.
Dear Miss Rinoa Julia Heartilly,
Following further investigations into the resistance riots three years ago, it has come to our attention that you were the said leader of the infamous Timber resistance group, "Forest Owls" that caused the death of many innocent residents of Timber. We are aware that you are on 5 years probation in Galbadia but following further enquiry and discussion we have come to the conclusion that this heinous act much be punished severely.
You are summoned to appear in court to be convicted and sentenced as is correct to the current laws. You will need a lawyer, and if you are unable to afford one, we will provide you with one accordingly and within notice.
The hearing commences in 2 weeks at 9:30 am on the 10th of December. Please be punctual.
Delia Maney
Office of the High Court of Justice of Galbadia
General Caraway looked up as he finished reading and saw how much pain this was causing his daughter.
"Why couldn't you be more like your sister?" he wondered in a whisper.
---2 months ago---
Squall Leonhart sat nervously at a café on the streets of Galbadia as he waited for the news that he was about to receive. Squall wasn't a person that got nervous but today he couldn't help it. The news that he was about to receive was life changing and he was anxious to hear it straight away instead of waiting around any longer.
Squall's heart leapt as he saw the well built blonde making his way towards the café. Zell Dincht had arrived…
"Yo, Squall!" Zell greeted as he plopped down opposite the handsome brunette.
"Well?" Squall enquired trying to sound as composed as he possibly could even though he wished that Zell would just blurt it out already.
"Wait, lemme order something to eat first…." Zell said picking up the menu and scratching his head.
"Aaah! Just tell me already, you moron!" Squall burst out unable to hold his anxiety in any longer.
Zell dropped the menu smack on the table, his mouth hanging slightly open as several people turned their heads in Squall's direction.
"Uhh…" Zell stuttered, "Well this is great news Squall….you know that girl you told me to find out about?"
Squall nodded feverishly as his mind floated back to the beautiful girl he had seen a week earlier.
"Well she lives in one of the Moogle complexes with two other women. One of them is Quistis Trepe who works as an instructor at Galbadia Garden and the other is Selphie Tilmitt who works at a music store in town. She herself works at the local community centre," Zell informed.
"And what was this extra special news that you had to tell me?" Squall questioned as his impatience started getting the better of him.
Zell literally beamed as he heard these words.
"It's her…"
"Huh? Who?" Squall asked, confused.
"The one we've been looking to that could possibly lead us to solving this whole mystery…Rinoa…" Zell said triumphantly.
"What?" Squall said with a jolt and stood up.
"The girl you wanted me to find out about…her name's Rinoa Heartilly. She's General Paul Caraway and Julia Caraway's daughter. She adopted her mother's maiden name," Zell explained quickly.
Squall's eyes widened as he realised the extent of what Zell had just found out. This could be it….this could be their only chance to unmask the truth.
Squall met Zell's eyes with a renewed determination.
"I don't care how you do it Zell, just get yourself into Rinoa's apartment and find out whatever you can about the Caraway family. I need everything you can get."
---End of flashback---
"Where is she?" Rinoa demanded as she saw a maid walk past her.
The maid jumped and nervously met the eyes of the younger daughter of Paul and Julia Caraway.
"Um...who?" the maid asked.
"My sister!" Rinoa exclaimed as she started to feel annoyed.
"No need to scare the employees, Rin," Zone said as he descended the staircase dressed in his bodyguard uniform.
Rinoa snorted and started to walk away as Zone followed her.
"Still the same strong headed Rin, I see?" he said with a chuckle.
"Oh, shut up already, you worthless piece of…" Rinoa started but stopped as she felt two strong arms slip around her waist.
She was turned around forcefully to face Zone and looked up to meet his amused hazel coloured eyes.
"Like I said, still the same…" he whispered as his arms moved up to grip her slim arms.
Rinoa instantly tensed as she felt his muscular arms grasp her and he pressed his body closer.
"Zone, what're you…?" she questioned, avoiding his eyes.
"Shh…" he silenced her, "I've been dying to hold you for so long."
"Zone, please…I really don't want to get into this…" Rinoa said she tried to free herself from Zone's grip.
Even though she hated to think about it now, she had once welcomed this very embrace from Zone. She had met him almost 3 years ago in Timber when she had run away from home. He had been 19 and was fighting for the same cause as she was. She was instantly attracted to him and they had started going out not long after. But things changed after the war. He just wasn't the same guy anymore. He had decided to work for her father and she hated him for it.
"Why can't we go back to the way we used to be?" he asked gently.
"Zone, you know that's never going to happen. There are so many reasons why…" she trailed off. It was hard to explain her reasons to him.
"Just because I'm working for your father now…" Zone began to say but Rinoa had tuned out because this hadn't been the first reason to pop into her head. Instead a pair of stormy blue-grey eyes accompanied with a handsome tanned face swam into her mind. She shook herself as she realised who she was thinking about.
"What is it, Rinoa?" Zone asked as he studied her closely.
"N-nothing…" she answered, a little shaken at what she had been thinking, "I just don't feel the same way about you, Zone. You have to understand that."
Zone scowled as he felt rejection hit him heavily.
"How can you do this to me? After everything we've been through!"
Rinoa pulled herself away from him angrily.
"Oh shut up, you low life! Do you even know what I've been through? So don't you DARE stand there and chide me!" she yelled, breathing heavily, "AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY SISTER?"
Zone sighed as his eyes wandered over the gorgeous woman standing in front of him.
"Your sister's in Timber. She'll be back in a week or so."
Rinoa frowned. She had been looking forward to seeing her older sister once again. It had been three years since she'd last seen her.
"I'm going out," Rinoa decided, "If the old man comes looking for me tell him that I've gone shopping."
"Well, I can't really do that seeing as how I'm supposed to be your bodyguard," Zone explained, a smirk playing around his mouth.
Rinoa's mouth dropped open.
"What are you on about? I'm 20 years old! I can take care of myself!" she argued.
Zone lazily shrugged his shoulders as he tried to contain himself from laughing at her outburst.
"The General's orders," he explained.
Rinoa narrowed her eyes but didn't argue further as she turned around and stormed towards the front door. With a smile, Zone followed her.
-----
Zell was snoring away in the car when Squall finally caught sight of Rinoa leaving the Caraway mansion.
"Zell!" he hissed, elbowing Zell in the ribs.
Zell woke up with a start and hit his head on the ceiling of the car.
"What happened? Where's mummy?" he questioned, before he realised where he was.
Squall shook his head before he pointed towards Rinoa and the bodyguard that had followed her out.
"Come on, let's see where they're going."
A/N: Omg! I'm so sorry I haven't been posting any new chapters and I know I have the typical excuse that I've been busy...but I REALLY have been. And I had major writer's block. I seriously didn't know what to write...but still you guys kept on reviewing. Thanks so much! You're all awesome, loyal readers and I love you! I hope this chapter is to your liking and I promise I'll have the next chapter up MUCH sooner. And thank you for reviewing guys!
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