The Ironic Things in Life

Disclaimer: I've said this so many time but I'll say it again...I don't own Final Fantasy 8

Edit in Chapter 13: I just relaised that I made a mistake in Chapter 13 by saying that Ellone is in Esthar. She is in fact, like I said in Chapter 12, in Timber with Angelo. Sorry about that. I just thought I'd better clear it up.

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This early in the morning the Galbadian shopping district wasn't particularly busy. Shops were just starting to finish up their morning routines before they overturned the "closed" signs on their doors to "open". Outside his trendy café, Cloud Strife was sweeping the pavement and fixing up chairs before he walked back into his shop and waited for the usual morning customers to come in and have their wake up coffees.

However, this was not the shop that Rinoa was jogging towards in her sky blue pyjamas. Her eyes were instead focussed on a large store just on the next block that displayed it's name in large, fancy cursive. She ignored the looks that she got off the passer bys as they stared at her attire, and instead quickened her pace so that she could get to 'Ellone's Emporium' faster. Not far behind, Watts was already out of breath.

"Prin…cess…!"

Rinoa didn't turn around to acknowledge him; instead her speed increased and she left Watts far behind. Not much behind Watts was Squall who was tailing them both and keeping a reasonable distance behind them.

"Shit!" Squall Leonhart cursed as he saw Rinoa heading towards 'Ellone's Emporium' with her bodyguard trailing way behind.

'If she goes into 'Ellone's Emporium' and asks who bought the ring then they'll tell her. I can't let her find out it was from me!'

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There was always one of them. But one was enough to wreck Squall's day. He really did hate it though. Public attention drove him insane but there was always one of them.

A young girl of maybe thirteen years old was seated on a bench as Squall stalked past her. The girl's eyes grew wide and she quickly jumped to her feet and pointed at Squall openly.

"Squall Leonhart!"

A good number of people heard her and their eyes flew to the good looking guy who was covering his head as if he was being attacked by magpies.

'Shit'

Yes, Squall hated the attention…but there was always one of them.

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"May I help you?" a young woman standing behind the counter of 'Ellone's Emporium' asked as Rinoa approached her.

"Yes…" Rinoa paused and leaned forward to study the woman's name tag, "…Grace…I received this ring this morning as a present…"

At that Rinoa held her left hand forward to show her what she was talking about. Grace focussed her attention on the ring as Rinoa began to speak again.

"I was wondering if you could tell me who bought it."

The shop door of 'Ellone's Emporium' opened up and Rinoa didn't need to turn around to know who it was. She could tell by the heavy panting that it was Watts.

"Yes! We sold this ring yesterday in the afternoon! It's one of a kind…15, 000 Gil," Grace started saying excitedly.

Rinoa eagerly leaned forward.

"And who bought it?"

"It was unbelievable actually…I never thought someone like that would walk into our store…"

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Squall dared to glance inside 'Ellone's Emporium' and his gut sank as he saw the woman who he'd bought the ring from yesterday, studying Rinoa's hand.

'Shit! She's gonna tell Rinoa! I gotta do something!'

And without really thinking about what he was getting himself into, Squall pushed open the door of the store and bombarded inside.

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"STOP!"

The door of the shop crashed open and a young and very desperate man leapt inside. Rinoa, Grace and Watts both jumped in fright as Squall Leonhart appeared before them.

"It's him!" Grace exclaimed before Squall could say anything else, "He bought that ring yesterday!"

Squall literally groaned and covered his face with a hand as Rinoa's heart sped up and she slowly approached him.

"You got me this ring?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

She wasn't about to act like an idiot in front of him and held a cool exterior. Squall also composed himself as best as he could as he answered her.

"Yeah…"

"Why…?"

'What is that smell on her…? She smells like roses…and something else…'

"…"

Rinoa leaned forward as some of her eagerness began to show. She wondered if he would tell her that he loved her. Then she realised that it was too much to hope and that she was acting stupid in wanting to be with Squall.

"Why Squall? Tell me…"

Squall heaved a sigh as he dared to look down into her large, dark eyes. He hadn't prepared himself for the effect they would have on him, and his stomach leapt as she stepped a little closer.

'She looks good even in lame pyjamas…'

"…"

"Squall, will you please tell me what's going on?"

"I…I wanted to apologise…" Squall mumbled, "I'm sorry that I broke your make up kit. I got you something else from the 'Ellone' brand in return…"

He looked down at a spot on the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. He wished that she'd say something but so far Rinoa hadn't said a word. The silence grew until Squall looked up at her and saw that she was actually smiling.

'What the hell is she smiling about? Maybe I said something right…'

"And anything else…?" she asked, still smiling.

Squall stared at her in confusion and as he did so his smooth forehead wrinkled.

"..Huh…?"

"Apologise for fighting with me at the party, apologise for fighting with me at the radio station, apologise for me being splashed across the newspapers, apologise for the media calling me a prostitute…"

Squall stared at her in disbelief. Was she really serious? He was just about to launch into a series of apologies when Rinoa let out a laugh that caused his pulse to speed up.

"I'm joking, Squall," she assured with a giggle, "It's ok…and…um…I'm sorry too…you know? For yelling at you and stuff…"

She trailed off as if waiting for him to accept it with gratitude. Instead, Squall placed a hand on his hip and glared at her. She would have laughed at his girlish pose if it hadn't been for the look on his face.

"Anything else?" he demanded icily.

"W-what?" Rinoa stammered.

"Apologise for yelling at me, apologise for embarrassing me at the radio station, apologise for calling me a pervert when I was actually helping you, apologise for the way you acted at Selphie's party…"

Rinoa gaped at him like a goldfish and couldn't believe her ears until Squall's handsome face broke into an actual genuine grin. Rinoa couldn't recall ever seeing him smile.

"Gotcha," he said, still grinning at her shocked expression.

Rinoa was staring at him in awe.

'Wow, Squall Leonhart cracking a joke…what a day…'

"…Phew, I thought you were serious for a moment," she admitted as she smiled tentatively.

Rinoa couldn't believe that she was actually on speaking terms with Squall. This must've been the only time that they had communicated without yelling at eachother. She was amazed at how much she was starting to like him.

"Um…there was something else too…" Squall mumbled out.

"Yes?"

Squall heaved another sigh as if his thoughts were seriously torturing him. His intentions were good but he still felt as if Rinoa would take it the wrong way. He hoped she wouldn't….because she really was his first and last hope.

"Well, you see I have this…um…movie premiere coming up…I don't know if you've heard of it…it's called 'The Sorceress' War'…"

Rinoa's ears perked up at the mere mention of the name of that particular movie. Selphie was dying to go and see it and had been going on about it for a good number of weeks now.

"Yes, I've heard of it," she said, nodding to show that she was listening to him and for him to continue.

"…d…wa….go….it…e…" Squall mumbled, looking down at the ground in deep concentration.

"Huh?" Rinoa asked, staring at him in confusion. She hadn't understood one word of what Squall had just uttered.

Squall sighed at his inability to express his feelings and looked up to meet Rinoa's sparkling eyes.

"Do you wanna go with me?"

Rinoa's smile broke into the biggest smile and she eagerly leapt forward, almost scaring Squall. Even Watts took a step back as he saw the Rinoa, who had been cranky and upset for a while, genuinely return to her old optimistic self again.

"Yes! I mean…of course! I can't believe you wanna take me!"

Rinoa suddenly stopped shrieking and shot Squall an odd look. Her look now reflected the look Squall had on his face as soon as Rinoa had starting jumping around.

"Why do you wanna take me anyway?" she asked, her voice turning suspicious.

Squall had had a sinking feeling that Rinoa would ask him this question and he didn't want to admit his real feelings to her, but he couldn't just say that it was because he needed a date, otherwise he had no chance of taking her.

'What are my real feelings anyway?' he wondered as he looked straight into her expectant eyes.

"I wanted to make up for the way I'd treated you and you're a…nice person so why wouldn't I wanna take you?"

Rinoa's face fell just the slightest because she had gotten her hopes up for Squall declaring that he loved her or something.

'Yeah, right,' she scoffed, 'Like he would ever love me.'

"Ok, Squall," she responded with a nod, laughing a little out of embarrassment, "I'll go with you…but be warned, if you try and make any moves on me then I'll set my doggy on you!"

Squall smirked as Rinoa said this and acknowledged her remark with a slight shake of his head.

"Don't worry…I'll keep my hands to myself."

Rinoa beamed and glanced out of the store for the first time. Her eyes widened at the small crowd that had gathered there and were desperately trying to look inside at the handsome young actor who was talking to the ebony haired girl.

"Squall…? What…?"

Rinoa could only point as Squall turned around to meet the curious looks of the crowd outside. A camera flashed at that exact moment and Squall inwardly groaned.

"Don't worry…let's just try and get out of here first," Squall turned to the star struck woman at the counter, "Is there a back door outta this place?"

The woman snapped out of her reverie and mutely nodded as she pointed towards a door situated behind the counter that she was standing at.

"Come on, Rinoa," Squall said as he headed towards it.

Rinoa paused for the smallest of seconds as she glanced from Squall to Watts. Her brain was working very quickly as she wondered if she should really take Watts along.

"Watts…please do me this one favour," she pleaded as she looked desperately into his eyes.

Watts's ears perked up.

"Anything, princess."

"Let me go with Squall on my own…I mean, without you."

"But princess…!"

"Watts…please? Please, pretty please?"

Rinoa widened her eyes and gave him her puppy dog look. Watts sighed and nodded defeatedly.

"Alright, princess…but be very careful…"

Rinoa flashed him a grin and ran after Squall without another word to Watts. Squall was waiting for her on the other side of the door. They were now in a room filled with boxes and clothes racks. There was another door on the other side of the large room. Squall headed over to it and opened it up to welcome the noises of the traffic. He held out his hand to Rinoa.

"Come on."

She took his hand and they walked out into the alley behind the shop. Rinoa glanced up for a second to study the side of Squall's face. Squall turned as he felt her eyes on him. Rinoa quickly looked away, blushing as she did this.

"Rinoa…?" Squall said very seriously.

"Yes?"

"I have some very serious health issues regarding your cook…"

A/N: Hello, you gorgeous people! Yay! I have 99 reviews! On average I get about 7 or 8 reviews a chapter now so I'm very happy. If you like this story or have anything to say about it, please do review. I'd really appreciate it. Thankies!

Now this chapter is more about Rinoa and Squall resolving their differences. The next few chapters will show them becoming friends and possibly more...hehe...we'll see. The next chapter is going to go back to Seifer, Irvine and maybe Quistis to see what they're upto at the moment. And how can we forget Zell and Selphie. They shall be making their appearance in the next chapter as well. I'll do my best to get it up as soon as possible. I really do try though and I hope you guys are still reading and enjoying the story.

Thank you to these reviewers!

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