A/N: Been a little while since there was an update on this fic, so here we go!

'Misunderstanding'

SUNDAY

16:30

Rinoa knew that there was something the matter with the atmosphere in the room. She identified it as tension, which had not been present when they all been together before. Quistis and Seifer had gone from subtly flirting to standing on opposite sides of the room, Selphie was silent and unmoving on the sofa and Zell was taking a stupidly long time making coffee in the kitchen.

"So," Rinoa said looking around for something to talk about. Squall was refusing to look at her, standing at the window and staring at the passing cars. Rinoa didn't know why he had to act so oddly, his mood changing from one moment to the next.

"OK, why is everyone acting so mysterious?" Rinoa demanded after realising that no one was going to help her fill the silence. The already awkward feeling in the room continued to grow worse. "Is it me?" Rinoa asked growing self-conscience.

She wondered whether they had decided against her being a part of the gang. She wasn't adding anything, or contributing with a skill. Quistis and Seifer had already paired off. Selphie and Zell had made friends, which left her with Squall… who was clearly indifferent. She looked at him with regret, that somewhere along the line she had failed to interest him. After all he had been talking to her before, meaning she'd said something stupid or done something to make him turn away.

"No," Quistis replied, but her eyes flicked towards Squall. "Yes, actually… there is something you need to know. Isn't that right Squall?"

As if on cue, all heads in the room turned to face Squall. Rinoa waited expectantly, her heartbeat quickening in anticipation. She watched as his eyes dropped their gaze from the road, to the ground and then back up. By the time his eyes met hers they were filled with apprehension.

This was it, they were going to tell her that she had to leave, forget all about them and go back to her ordinary life. But even as she expected these words from Squall, she couldn't help the tiny glimmer of hope inside her that said she might have got it wrong.

"Is Heartilly your real name, or did you change it?" Squall asked directly, ignoring Rinoa's expression of confusion. He could see that he had made her nervous, but he had no idea what to say to put her at ease. Speaking to people wasn't his best skill, and he wasn't apt to practicing either.

"Er," Rinoa eloquently replied, "It's was my mother's name. I took it because I thought it suited me better…"

Still Rinoa was no closer to finding out what Squall needed to talk to her about, but at least now it seemed they weren't about to send her home. Or not just yet anyway.

"Did your mother ever mention anything about magic?" Squall asked.

Rinoa stared at him like he had gone mad. What had her mother got to do with any of this? What was it to him what kind of stories she was told as a child? Yet while the rational half of her brain railed against him, the other half told her to answer. Events had pretty much gone beyond the expected, it would be disappointing to expect anything else.

"Well of course she did, she told me loads of fairy stories when I was a kid. Doesn't every kid get told stories?" Rinoa replied, still wondering why she was even playing along with this. Yet despite her view that the conversation was insane, no one else seemed to share the same opinion. Everyone was taking this a little too seriously.

"Did you ever wonder…if those stories might be true?"

"Well of course not!" Rinoa said annoyed.

"What about now?" Squall asked not letting the question go without Rinoa truly considering it.

She frowned at him, and was about to repeat her previous answer, when the realisation of what Squall was really asking hit her. After what she had seen so far, and what Zell had told her, why couldn't her mother's stories be true? She had been told of magic, with such conviction, that her young mind had had no reason to doubt. It was only the 'real world' she had been forced to live in that had made her lose her childhood beliefs.

"What did she tell you?" Squall asked. There was no need to wait for Rinoa to answer the previous question, the look on her face told them all about her revelation.

"She told me that the Heartilly's knew how to use magic, that one day I would know how to as well. When she told me stories, I was always the princess… she said one day we'd go back…"

Still despite the utter insanity of the conversation, no one interrupted. Zell had returned to hear the conversation sans coffee, and Squall and Seifer just returned each other's surprised gazes. Only Quistis looked like she wouldn't mind a recap, but it didn't look like one was forthcoming.

"So you're telling me that my mother wasn't making up those stories?" Rinoa asked, wishing someone would just fill her in on the secret.

"Maybe," Squall replied.

"What do you mean, maybe? Maybe what? Yes she was making them up, or no they were true. There is only one answer!" Rinoa could feel herself growing impatient now, and Squall's calm responses only added to her annoyance.

"I'm not sure," Squall confessed. This time it looked like he was losing his cool too, doubting what he was saying, and doubting what he was hearing. Maybe they had gotten this wrong?

"Hang on," Selphie said standing and moving between Squall and Rinoa like a referee. "Let's think about this. Rinoa's name is Heartilly. The Royal family of magic's name is Heartilly. Rinoa's mother knew about magic. Rinoa is being followed by Bleaks and some how ended up in the path of a magician and two warriors from another realm. Am I the only one thinking, this isn't just coincidence?"

"It's still all sounding insane to me," Rinoa muttered.

"Yeah, but supposing your mother was related to the Royals, then we have a princess in our midst. And a powerful one at that," Zell said excitedly, as if he wanted to start conducting magical tests on her immediately.

Rinoa folded her arms.

"My mother is dead," Rinoa said as if that statement would end the speculation. They couldn't ask her about the stories, or whether they were true or not. And she was going to completely ignore the suggestion that she was a princess, since she sure as hell didn't feel like one.

"Possibly not," Squall said unexpectantly. There was pause in the conversation as his words fell through everyone like a deadweight.

"My mother is dead!" Rinoa repeated slowly and carefully. "Don't you dare make a joke out of that."

"She might have returned to the other realm…" Squall speculated not noticing the emotions that were passing across Rinoa's face.

Immediately she stood, so filled with rage that she could hardly see the room. What was wrong with these people? The loss of her mother was something she had never gotten over, and she couldn't believe they would dare make light of something still so painful. Rinoa couldn't find the words to express her outrage and pain, all she could do was leave the room, then the house and stand in the cold air of the garden.

"Nice one," Selphie muttered to Squall as she followed Rinoa.

Rinoa was breathing irregularly when Selphie found her, trying to calm herself, but not succeeding. There were tears running down her cheeks, but she made no sound. However as soon as she saw Selphie the storm of her anger broke.

"I hate him!" she yelled, pointing inside the house.

"Who?" Selphie asked immediately, and then wished she hadn't. It was pretty obvious, but just not what she had been expecting.

"Squall," Rinoa clarified as if his very name caused her grief. "Why did he say that? Why? I haven't done anything to him, why does he hate me so much? If he wanted me to leave he could have just said. He didn't need to make up all this bullshit."

"We're not making it up Rinoa, and he doesn't hate you. It's just his way. They're both insensitive, Seifer as well as Squall. But at least Seifer knows he is…" Selphie hoped she might be able to cheer Rinoa up, but it looked like she'd underestimated how callous Squall suggestion had been to Rinoa's ears. She looked back at the house to see Zell peering out the kitchen window. She waved him out.

"Do you want to talk to Zell?" Selphie asked hopefully.

"I don't want to talk to anyone," Rinoa snapped. She saw Selphie's hopeful look dashed, and regretted taking her anger out on her. "OK, fine."

Selphie pushed Zell forward and gave him a warning look to be careful. Since Zell was neutral territory when it came to the group, Selphie thought Rinoa might respond to him better, and left them to it.

"You know, I reckon you could be an awesome mage," Zell said tentatively, not knowing what kind of response he would receive. "With a little training, of course. Or… I could at least teach you how to get the Bleaks off your back…"

Rinoa sniffed and looked at him, checking his face for lies.

"Yeah?" she asked, happy to listen to some kind words. "I could learn magic?"

"Why not?"

Rinoa shrugged. Maybe because it all seemed so far away, her mother's stories nearly forgotten. How could she learn something she'd forgotten to believe in?

"Why don't you come back inside?" Zell asked. He was hoping she wouldn't refuse, since he wasn't comfortable talking to her when she was upset. Worried he'd only make a bad situation worse; he wished Selphie would come back, or better yet, Quistis.

"I don't want to see Squall," Rinoa said, looking fearfully back at the house. "I'll only go back if he leaves." Rinoa knew her demand was childish, but she couldn't face the same questions again. Now that she had had time to calm herself, she was beginning to wonder about his comment. But she wasn't ready to face the idea again, that her mother might not have died.

"OK, give me a minute," Zell said leaving her in the garden.

Squall watched Zell walk the small path back to the house and looked past him to Rinoa. He hadn't meant to upset her, and her refusal to come back in the house only confused him further. To hear that her mother might not be dead ought to be a happy thought for Rinoa, surely?

"You three need to leave," Zell announced. "Well, she only stipulated Squall, but you should all go."

Selphie nodded.

"OK, but you'll let me know if she's alright, won't you?" she stipulated to Zell as she began ushering Squall and Seifer out. She wasn't about to argue with the request of the boys leaving, even if she had to go also. But once outside she rounded on Squall.

"Well that was great, well done Squall. She could be your only chance for going home, and now she won't even talk to you!"

"Aw shut up," Seifer replied. "Seriously, since we let Squall do the explaining, who was expecting anything else?"

"What, that she'd end up crying?" Selphie asked, outraged.

"Pretty much. Least it's done now. Zell can tie up the loose ends, and before you know it we'll all be on our way home."

Squall didn't feel the need to add that this seemed like an unrealistic evaluation. But since he had caused the disruption, he was hoping that for once, Seifer might be right.