The Ironic Things in Life

Disclaimer: I don't own or claim to own any Final Fantasy 8 characters, names or locations or own anything relating to any of the other Final Fantasy games.

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Rinoa feigned a yawn as she looked over in Zone's direction. Zone glanced up from his newspaper and winked at Rinoa who rolled her eyes and went back to picking through her herb salad. Rinoa was not amused, nor entertained by Zone following her around everywhere. She was 20 years of age and was perfectly capable of looking after herself in a city that she had been raised in.

With a sigh, Rinoa's eyes wandered along the busy Galbadian district as pedestrians hurried by. Her eyes lingered on the overly familiar buildings and she didn't even need to have her eyes open to know where and what each of the shops were. Her eyes glided over Missie's Patisserie which sold the best pastries in town and her mouth watered as she longed to taste a chocolate pastry.

She and Zone were sitting at the very trendy Midgar Crew Café at a table by the large window. Rinoa glanced towards the counter of the café to where the ridiculously good looking manager, Cloud was serving customers. Cloud caught her gaze and smiled warmly before turning back to the customer at the counter who was waving his arms around like an enraged penguin and stamping his foot.

Rinoa's eyes wandered back to the bustling street and that's when she saw him. A guy dressed all in black with chocolate coloured hair was now standing across the street outside Missie's Patisserie. She closed her eyes and shook her head to make sure she wasn't seeing anything and then opened them again.

He was gone!

With a start, Rinoa stood up and pushed her chair back rather loudly. Zone glanced up from his newspaper.

"What the hell's wrong with you, princess?" he enquired, folding up his newspaper as he stood up as well.

"Uhh…I've had enough of sitting. Let's go into some boutiques," she said, her face flushing as she spoke rather fast.

Zone raised an eyebrow but didn't argue as he followed her out.

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"Ugh!" Squall grunted as he quickly dove behind a pot plant that aligned the busy Galbadian sidewalk.

"Dun dun dun, dun duh nuh, dun duh nuh," Zell chose to start humming at that precise moment. He continued in the same fashion to the Star Wars song that always announced the arrival of Darth Vader.

Squall glared at him and was just about to slap him over the head when he noticed Rinoa and her bodyguard leave the café that they had been in. He quickly stood up, followed by Zell and crossed the street to hurriedly chase after them. Squall was aware that people were staring at him, if not for his odd behaviour but for his famous and familiar face.

"Squall Leonhart!" a group of girls chorused, but he didn't even turn around once. He was too used to getting this kind of attention and it was driving him insane.

Zell however liked the attention that circulated around Squall. He had never come quite so close to experiencing it and he was enjoying it greatly, especially seeing as how a good number of girls were now running after him. He knew that they weren't following him but he could always pretend…

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Rinoa pushed open the shop door to 'Ellone's Emporium' which had always been her favourite place to shop. She loved the very smell of the place. It seemed to always calm her senses. Even as a little girl, she, her sister and her mother had frequented the shop on most days; admiring the display cases, trying on the outfits and handling the exquisite jewellery.

"What a place," Zone merely said, as he watched Rinoa's entire face lighten up.

He knew her very well, having worked closely with her for a year in Timber. She was an admirable young woman and would always be. There was just something about her that stood out. She was so gentle and caring but when the situation required it, she could be so strong willed and determined. But he could tell just by looking at her that things were starting to get harder in her life and she was starting to lose her happiness.

"How I wish I could afford all this," Rinoa breathed in awe, as her eyes fell on a beautiful gold band.

"You very easily could…" Zone said as he moved beside her and carefully placed a hand on her shoulder.

Rinoa looked up at him and felt something stir in the depths of her stomach as she envisioned a pair of blue-grey eyes looking back at her. She quickly shook her head and looked out the store window only to spot a familiar face looking back in.

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Squall was crouched very awkwardly outside 'Ellone's Emporium' as he struggled to hide himself from view and yet be able to see everything that went on inside.

He should have known that Rinoa would go into that particular store seeing as how the entire situation with the both of them had started when they had collided and he had smashed her expensive 'Ellone' make up kit. He smiled wryly as he remembered the look on her face when she had blown up at him at the party being held for 'Zantetsuken'. He didn't know why he was thinking about her like this and he shook himself so that he could focus on her again.

Squall's stormy coloured eyes followed her as she stared adoringly at a beautifully crafted ring sitting in a glass display. It was a thick banded beauty of gold that glinted enough for Squall to be able to notice it from outside the shop and he could instantly see that Rinoa had become attached to it.

Squall's fists involuntarily clenched as he saw Rinoa's bodyguard move closer to her and place a hand on her shoulder. Rinoa looked up at him and then moved her head slightly to look out the window of the shop right at Squall.

Squall instantly panicked and rolled to the side, only to roll right into Zell and end up on top of him.

"Uhh…Squall, I know we've gotten close in the past few months but I don't think you're the guy for me," Zell teased.

Squall shot Zell an icy glare and quickly got to his feet and started to blend in with the crowd again. He couldn't afford to be caught…not when he was so close to uncovering everything and restoring it to the way it should be.

"I think that's enough for one day," Squall decided as he saw Rinoa and her bodyguard hurry out from the shop and go in the opposite direction to where they were now standing.

Zell yawned and stretched his arms above his head.

"Good idea, I really need to turn in," he said as he yawned once again.

Squall raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Zell after all had done a lot for him.

"Well you take the car and go back to the hotel. You might wanna pick something up to feed Selphie," Squall suggested.

"What about you?" Zell asked.

Squall ran a hand through his hand and shrugged.

"Just gonna stick around. I'll walk back to the hotel," he said, as if it didn't really bother him.

Zell knew that Squall had other intentions but decided not to question his brunette friend's plans. Instead he merely nodded and with a wave, disappeared down the street towards where they had parker their car.

Squall smiled slightly as he watched the blonde blend in with the rest of the busy street, and then turned towards 'Ellone's Emporium', pausing only for a brief second before he pushed open the door and went in.

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That night Rinoa tossed and turned in bed, wishing that sleep would finally come to her. But five minutes passed before she realised that it was a useless task. She just wasn't gonna get any sleep until she figured out what was wrong with her.

'Maybe it's just because I'm back in this god forsaken house,' she thought, and this seemed to be a good enough reason for her.

She happily closed her eyes but almost in an instant opened them again.

No, that wasn't the reason for her restlessness. It was something else. Something that was teasing her in the corner of her mind.

'Well, the General's enough to put me off for a month's worth of sleep.'

She smiled at her little joke and once again closed her eyes. But just like before, she opened them almost immediately and this time sat up in her huge canopy bed. Her large ebony eyes adjusted to the dark and she pulled her legs up and placed her head on her knees, wrapping her slim arms around the bottom half of her legs.

'I wonder how everyone else is…hmph, Quisty must be having one hell of a time keeping those two under control. Oh well, Irvine's always there to contain Selphie which is lucky for Quistis. I mean, Irvine must get good practice seeing as how he has to put up living with Squ…'

Rinoa sat up very straight, her back completely rigid. Why did thinking about Squall make her feel like this? After all, he drove her completely insane, smashed her belongings, acted like a rude and arrogant prick…

She slightly smiled as she thought about the positives of Squall Leonhart.

'But then again, he took me home that time I fainted and he looked so concerned the night I was crying at Selphie's party. And the way his slate blue eyes looked so intense when we were yelling at eachother…and the way his hair falls so perfectly into his eyes…'

Rinoa's heartbeat sped up as she remembered how Squall had fallen on top of her the day he'd taken her home. His muscular chest had pushed her down on the bed and at that moment she had been yelling, but now…what she wouldn't do to have him here with her…

"But why?" she cried out to the darkness of her room, "Why am I thinking about him in this way? I shouldn't…I mean, it's Squall!"

Her last words were meant to close the argument, as if no sane person in the world would ever fall in love with Squall Leonhart.

'Love…? Did I actually just think about not falling in love with Squall Leonhart?'

"Why is everything so confusing? The man drives me insane!" she exclaimed to no one in particular.

Then once again she envisioned his lean, muscular figure, his chocolate coloured hair and his amazing eyes that held so much behind them, and she felt her knees weaken. Her entire body relaxed and she fell back into bed, pulling then sheets up to her chin wishing that she could just hold him to see what it felt like.

'Wow, a President's son, a movie star…what would he ever see in me? He's way too good for me. I have no chance with him, no chance in the world.'

But little did Rinoa know how very untrue this was…and how very wrong she was too, because not very far away in a crummy Galbadian Hotel, Squall Leonhart lay awake in bed thinking that Rinoa Heartilly was too good for him and that she would never love someone like him.

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Birds chirped on the branches of the trees that surrounded the Caraway mansion and Rinoa woke to this with a smile gracing her beautiful face. Her reddest of rose coloured lips were shaped in the sweetest way and if any man had seen her at that moment, they would have forever given their heart to her.

"I wonder what the old man will make me go through today," she said to herself as she very slowly made her bed and then walked over to the large window in her room.

She stood there for several long minutes, just taking in the beauty of her surroundings within the Caraway compound. Outside the Caraway Mansion's tall, steel gates the world was not such a nice place but Rinoa didn't want to think about that. Instead, she let her eyes wander over the many coloured flowers neatly planted in the back garden and watched as two birds flew around, chasing eachother as they went.

It was then that Rinoa realised that it was too quiet. She couldn't believe that she hadn't known what was missing. She'd been so fired up yesterday and then after her day in this end of Galbadia she had come home and gone straight to her room and then to bed. She felt like kicking herself for her negligence.

Rinoa ran out of her room and started yelling at the top of her voice.

"ANGELO! ANGELO!"

She ran down the next case of stairs and onto the next floor.

"ANGELO! Here, boy! Mummy's home!"

Without another thought, Rinoa ran down the stairs and onto the next level where she was abruptly caused to stop in her tracks as she bumped into Watts.

"Ow!" they both said in unison.

Rinoa straightened herself up and then gave Watts a disapproving look before remembering the source of her din.

"Where's Angelo?" she demanded, barely letting Watts catch his breath.

"…gathering information is my speciality, princess!" Watts responded with a grin, "Your sister has taken Angelo with her to Esthar, princess."

Rinoa sighed in relief and realised that if Angelo had been there then he probably would have raced to her anyway. With that out of her mind, Rinoa now turned to her ex-best friend Watts and looked him up and down.

"So, how's the life of a traitor treating you?" she enquired coldly.

Watts immediately turned a dark red and opened his mouth to answer but was quickly interrupted by the arrival of another person.

"Rinoa, I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't hassle my employees while you stay here."

General Caraway walked along the corridor to where Rinoa and Watts were standing. He stopped right in front of her and gave her a look of great dislike.

"Yes, sir," she answered shortly, trying to work as much rudeness into her tone as she possibly could.

"Please come to my office as soon as you can. I need to have a meeting with you to discuss your future," the General instructed.

Rinoa glowered at him and nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Good," the General said and without another word, walked down the next flight of stairs and out of sight.

Rinoa was just about to walk past Watts when he stopped her.

"Princess, I have something to deliver to you."

Rinoa raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What is it?"

Watts stuck a hand into the pocket of his jacket and took out a small package wrapped in blue paper. Blue was Rinoa's favourite colour and Rinoa at once reached out for it, the colour attracting her attention.

"Who's it from?" she asked as she began to unwrap it.

"I don't know, princess," Watts answered obediently, "It was in the mailbox this morning and it had a tag on it with your name on it so I picked it up and brought it straight to you."

The sky blue wrapping fell to the floor and to Rinoa's surprise a black velvet jewellery box was inside. Fingers shaking, she quickly opened it and her mouth dropped open as she saw what it was.

"How…?" she wondered, as she stared at the gold ring that she had eyeing only a day before.

'It must've been Zone…no one else knew that I wanted that ring. But why would Zone go to that much trouble when he knows that he has no chance with me? I made it clear…'

The beauty of the gold ring lay on her smooth hand until she decided that accepting the ring wouldn't be a big deal seeing as how she didn't know who it was from. On closer inspection she noticed that the outside of the gold ring had very fine carvings around it which weren't very obvious on first glance. She held the ring up closer to her face and saw that the engravings were worked around the ring in a fiery pattern with a kind of animal at the very focal point of it. And at that moment an idea came to her.

'I'll go to the shop and asked who purchased this ring…they're bound to remember.'

Rinoa snapped her head around to Watts and fixed him with a steely gaze.

"Tell the old man that I've gone out. I'll be back soon."

She started to hurry down the next flight of stairs to the first level but stopped as she heard Watts call out and run after her.

"Princess! I'm supposed to come with you! I'm your escort for today, but maybe you shouldn't go out…"

"And why not?"

"Well…um…because the General told you to be in his office shortly."

Rinoa snorted back a laugh as she heard this.

"The old man can wait."

And without another word Rinoa ran down the remaining steps and out to the hallway with Watts chasing after her.

'She'll never change, our princess,' he thought, panting heavily.

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Squall sat in his car as he watched the Caraway Mansion very closely. For hours there had been no sign of life inside the Mansion except for when the cook had come out to do a very distinct fart and pick his nose, and Watts had come to collect the mail. But now his patience was rewarded as the doors of the Mansion flung open and Rinoa walked down the extremely long driveway to reach the front iron gates which she proceeded to have opened by Watts who had run out after her.

What Squall found amusing was that Rinoa was wearing a pair of blue chocobo pyjamas.

A/N: I'm so sorry! Not for the update but for my last update where I have mistakes everywhere. I'm so sorry guys I really didn't read through the chapter properly before I posted it up but I'll edit the chapter sometime soon and then re-post it. Nothing big, just little spelling mistakes and things that are getting on my nerves.

Yay! I've updated quicker than last time (feels proud) and there's much more! Right now I'm aiming at about 20 chapters for this story but it may not be enough so it may go onto 25 and 30 if I really have more to write about but for now be prepared for 20-25 chapters. My aim is to get 20 chapters done by the end of the year. Thank you so much for putting up with my slow updates and still reading. You guys are awesome! (Hugs everyone like a crazy thing)

Now a bit about this chapter. I'm sure many of you will be letting out relieved sighs as you find out that Selphie is not in fact dead as it first sounded. No, I could never kill cute, bubbly Selphie off, she's too...cute! Hehe...more mystery...(laughs evilly)

Thanks for reviewing guys! Love you all!

Cerulean Crystal: Yay! You reviewed! Thanks so much. Once again I'm sorry that you had to read the story all over again but I'm glad you didn't mind. :)

FFMuse: Thanks! I really do try to get the humour in there and many readers including yourself have enjoyed it so I'm sure there'll be many more laughs (trust me, there will be).

tidusXyuna637: Yay! I updated! And thanks for putting up with me...I really do appreciate it. Hehe, Squall and Zell seem like jerks right about now...but it's for a good cause...I think... :P

ShinigamiLenne: I just had to have a Zone and Rinoa thing. It was too tempting but I hope it made sense. I can't wait for Rinoa and her sister to meet as well...but it won't be anytime soon, unfortunately. :(

CristalBlueRose: There will be heaps more updates! Thanks for reviewing:)

Verdanii: Hehehe, yay! You're back for good!

WSecrets: Thanks so much for your lovely review. It was in fact your review that gave me the inspiration to finish this chapter off. I'm glad you're liking the story so far.

To finish off, I'll be posting the next chapter up sooner because I have my school holidays coming up so...yay! I KNOW you Squinoa fans will just love the next chapter.

Mwa xoxo