Rinoa woke up to find herself in a room in the Balamb Inn. The sea breeze kissed the azure curtains and its mist sprayed on the woman's natural face.
She sat up on the comfortable bed and held the pale yellow blankets tightly.
"Where did he go?"
There was no sign of the dream anywhere. Sunlight poured into the room and spread across the crisp blue carpet. She did not recall how she ended up here.
"Maybe I fell asleep."
Rinoa took a scrumptious breakfast downstairs in the hall. The waitress poured coffee into her porcelain cup, the smell of the liquid activated the sorceress' nerves.
"Glad to see you're awake. You're boyfriend was very worried," the red haired girl said. She glanced at Rinoa and gave a wide smile.
Her front teeth were too large for her baby-doll face. The bright room made the girl's freckles appear more obvious on her sunburnt skin.
Rinoa arched an eyebrow.
"Squall was here?" she asked, embarrassed. Her pale cheeks flushed a soft red colour.
"Squall? He told me his name was Tidus. Milk?" the waitress remarked.
Rinoa shook her head.
Tidus.
His name was Tidus.
"Where did he go? It's only eight o'clock. Surely, he couldn't have left earlier than this" the sorceress continued. She needed to know more about him.
Her heart thumped loudly against her ribcage.
"He did leave early. Went to Balamb Garden or so he said" the waitress explained. She winked at Rinoa and praised how handsome her partner was before letting out a contemptuous laugh.
Thankfully for Rinoa, the red-headed girl left after that. Rinoa sipped her coffee. The bitter taste caused her to flinch. She had forgotten to add the sugar but she was forgetting to do a lot of things.
She was preoccupied with thoughts about Tidus. The sorceress cursed herself for falling asleep. She should have watched him and memorised his youthful appearance.
"Tidus" she repeated. The name was like honey sliding down her tongue. The syllables were sweet and optimistic for her.
Rinoa returned to Balamb Garden.
It did not surprise her that Squall was avoiding a colloquial conversation. However, the other students were curious as to why the pair were not talking to each other.
"S'up between you and Squall?"
Zell approached the lithe, slim woman. Rinoa shrugged and hid her dismay.
"Just a quarrel. It happens in every relationship."
The boy nodded in response. His sun-bleached hair remained tousled. He wiped his glove against his blue shorts and gave her a quizzical look.
"If you need help –..."
"I'm fine Zell. Squall needs some time on his own."
Rinoa left for the training centre harshly. She needed to avoid company for a few days.
She never liked to fight so she sat on a bench in the green area.
A T-Rexaur roared close by. Screams filled the air for a few seconds.
Rinoa shuddered.
She never came to this place alone. Squall, her knight-in-shining-armour, would tag along to make sure no harm was done to her.
The sorceress rolled her eyes. She wanted to punch the arm rest, imagining it was Squall's head. Thinking about him made her blood boil.
"Oh Tidus...Who exactly are you?"She sighed.
"Who's Tidus?"
A girl in a bright yellow miniskirt startled Rinoa who stammered that she had no idea about what she was asked.
Selphie flung herself beside the other woman and grinned energetically.
"I heard you, Rinoa! Keeping dirty little secrets, aren't you? Just joking! So who's Tidus?"
The girl's head bounced a little with each word she spoke, her brown curls flowing smoothly with the movements. Her boots were bemired from excessive training.
Selphie's Morning Star hung loosely from a strap around her waist.
" Tidus? What are you talking about? I was saying 'Tease Us', a song I am planning for our next Garden Festival" the sorceress replied a little too quickly than she had expected.
The other did not seem to notice. Instead, she danced around the bench, her elongated arms flailed enthusiastically.
Selphie crushed Rinoa with a hug and thanked her for the participation. Rinoa ridiculed herself. Why did she mention the Garden Festival? Now she was trapped, like the fly sucking the nectar from the dangerous Venus-Fly-Trap.
She stayed with Selphie for the rest of the day and they fought a few monsters before heading to Rinoa's room where they discussed their upcoming song, 'Tease us'.
When the brunette left, Rinoa kicked her shoes off with relief and faced the mirror.
He was there.
" You're making a mockery out of my name" he chuckled, his playful blue eyes looked at her and she looked at him.
"Oh and I suppose you telling Balamb Inn that you're my boyfriend isn't mocking Squall?" Rinoa protested.
She heard his seductive laughter.
"Sorry, I wasn't the one who said that. The waitress in that place mistook me to be your boyfriend."
The dream gave another musical laugh. The sorceress dropped her gaze to the floor. The very mention of Squall forced the moon-like drops to form on the edge of her vision.
"Who are you Tidus? Stop interfering with my life" she told the man opposite her. She regretted those words instantly.
"Well that's some way to say thanks. Rinoa you're the one who's interfering with me. I'm not your dream. You have to let me go" he told her with a more solemn tone. His voice was deeper with that tone.
Rinoa covered her face. She bit her lower lip to prevent the sobs but that did not stop the tears from falling.
A strong hand held her wrist and allowed her to enter the mirror.
She wept in his arms again and he kissed her hair softly. His touch was so gentle. He made sure not to hurt her in any way.
The world seemed brighter inside a mirror. It also seemed sepulchral because the objects were in mirrored positions.
Gloomy rainbow spheres of fog surrounded them now and again.
"Pyreflies, they're fragments of souls that ceased to live" explained the dream.
He wiped her cheeks like the time he did back in the Time Compression. Rinoa was amazed by the little, sparkling sounds that were made by the pyreflies.
She turned back to Tidus.
"Tidus, take me away with you. I want to stay with you like Yuna did," she whispered. The dream's smile faded from his face. He turned to her with a stern expression.
"No, I can't do that. No one can take Yuna's place and I don't love you, Rinoa. I'm not your dream," he replied.
Rinoa whimpered and protested how much she wanted to get away from here. She knew now that she was falling in love with Tidus. She needed to be with him. She never wanted to wake up.
Acting on impulse, she planted a chaste kiss upon the dream's lips. He regarded her gravely.
A strong force pushed the Sorceress backwards and she started tumbling into empty white space.
The woman screamed for Tidus to help her but no one was there to break her fall. Rinoa snapped her eyes shut as she fell further down this vacuum and landed softly onto silk.
She sat up immediately and realised she was in bed, the duvet was covering her form. Was she truly dreaming?
Rinoa ran to the mirror immediately.
Only her reflection stared back.