Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any part of the series.

Author's Note: Did you think that there are no following events after the dinner from the previous chapter? NO WAY. Of course there's still more! This chapter fills in some (if not most) things about Squall's life. As usual, thank for for everyone who tirelessly read each chapter of my story and for those who gave me reviews. :3

And, as usual, I hope that you'll like this one. ^^

Rinoa didn't press on Squall to answer her question (or proposal), which the brunette was grateful for. After waiting for his reply, which never came, she decided to re-read her favorite parts from the book 'Purgatorio', leaving Squall with no other choice but to read the book he grabbed earlier before his confrontation with the guest's daughter.

Squall was still reflecting on what Rinoa told him, and he was sure for himself that there is no guarantee that he would be able to do such a big thing she asked from him. He would try, of course, but he knew his limits very well, and there's a big chance that he wouldn't be able to do it. Years of rivalry doesn't end so easily.

There was also that guilt in Squall when his tactless words made Rinoa cry. He didn't mean it, It wasn't logic that made him say that. And it was strange for him, because every word that comes out of his mouth has always been logical. But that one time, just thirty minutes ago with this girl, it was simply... different.

And he felt bad that it didn't turn out too well.

For half an hour, they waited together for their fathers to arrived, which will mark the conclusion of the dinner (and the drinking). But it was getting late, and Rinoa was becoming sleepy. She tried to stay up with as much effort as she could, for she knew that falling asleep as a guest at another house or place would be rude. Until her heavy eyes already gave in.

Suddenly, Squall felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned around and first saw the black locks of Rinoa's hair. Then, he looked at her face, to see if she was still awake and just messing around with him, or if she really was asleep. But it seemed to be the latter one.

He hesitated for a moment and thought about pushing her back up, away from his shoulder. But her peaceful face was too much to disturb, and so he decided to let her sleep on him. It was a foreign feeling for Squall, that someone would rest her head on him, as if depending on him or counting on him. Though he was usually reluctant, for once in his life he let someone to be that close to him. And it was strange that it had to be Rinoa, his rival's acquaintance, when he has never done the same with his other closer friends like Quistis or Selphie.

He stared at her for another moment, careful to do any sudden moves that might wake her up. Squall wished that she would stir up and turn to the other side of the couch instead, but it didn't happen, or was never going to happen. He leaned closer, to get a better look at Rinoa's face, curious of how asleep she really was. But it were those same serene features that met him, which were tempting enough for him... to sleep as well.

Squall's eyes slowly closed, as he felt his cheek rest at the side, on something warmer than the couch.

His head was leaning peacefully on Rinoa's head.

If someone, who didn't know any better, would look at them, he or she will think that they are a couple who fell into a slumber while on their date. That was what Squall saw in him short dream.

"Sir?" A female voice called.

Squall frowned and grumbled as he turned his head up in response, extremely irritated for being disturbed.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but please wake up."

The reluctant young master slowly opened his blue eyes and saw their maid Lica standing before him.

"Dinner's over, Sir, and everyone is drunk."

"Mmm..." Squall mumbled. "mmmeven General Caraway?"

"Especially General Caraway."

Of course. Everytime his father invites the General, they would always end up getting drunk.

"And as usual, so are Sir Kiros and Sir Ward. They won't be able to fly our guests to their home tonight."

Stupid old men.

Squall turned to his side. There, Rinoa was still peacefully sleeping on his shoulder, unaware that her father just forgot all about her.

So this would mean the usual sleepover again, with General Caraway and Rinoa staying at Laguna's palace for the night, since riding the Ragnarok to go back is a bad idea. Flying is never good for drunk people.

The brunette was itching to stretch his arms, but it would disturb the girl leaning on him. Then again, he would wake her up anyway, but he planned to do it properly. So instead, he inhaled deeply to take in more oxygen his body needed, which used to be the purpose of a yawn. But Squall never yawns.

"Well," He finally began as he faced the maid. "as usual, help them up to their rooms. I'll take care of Rinoa."

"Very well." Lica bowed to Squall and left the library.

Squall turned to Rinoa and thought of a good way to wake her up. She isn't like Quistis or Selphie who he can just shout at to wake up. He felt like he had to be careful with the girl resting on him, but he had no idea how. He tried to recall how people usually wake other people up in movies, but the only way he could think about was shaking, which he thought should work well, better than shouting anyway.

Slowly, he put an arm around Rinoa and shook her slightly. "Rinoa..." His deep voice whispered, as mildly as possible.

Rinoa grumbled. Squall waited a few seconds until she finally sat up and rubbed her eyes. It was an unusual sight to him, and he found it quite endearing. Then, as soon as he noticed Rinoa turn to look at his hand which was still on her arm, he pulled it away. She then turned her head to Squall and looked at him with her half closed, dark brown eyes.

"Are we going home now?" Rinoa mumbled.

Squall shook his head. "No. You're staying here for the night."

The black haired frowned. "Why?" she asked in a slightly surprised tone.

"Your dad got drunk, and things might get worse if we fly you back to Deling."

"Oh." Rinoa finally nodded. She completely understood. "But, I didn't bring any clothes for tonight."

"There are extra ones in each room for ours guests. You don't have to worry about that."

She nodded again and rubbed her eyes once more. "Okay."

Squall stood up and faced her. "I'll take you to your room."

Rinoa looked up to him and nodded. She then weakly stood up and followed Squall as they, once again, passed by the wide rooms and reached the lobby where an elevator was waiting for them. As they went inside, Rinoa instantly leant against the elevator railing while she let Squall operate the machine.

Then, she remembered something.

"What about school?" It's still Wednesday, a school night.

"I'll wake you up early tomorrow and bring you back to Deling." Squall replied without facing her.

"How?"

"Ragnarok."

"Oh. You can fly that airship?"

"Yes."

"Is that how you go to school everyday?"

"Yes."

"But I've never seen it land on school grounds."

Squall was getting tired of answering and thought about staying silent. Still, he went on anyway.

"There's a car I always bring with me. I land the Ragnarok outside Deling and then use my car to drive my way to school."

Rinoa's eyes widened in amazement. This guy could do anything, she thought. He can rule the world if he wanted to.

The elevator stopped with 'ding' and the two of them walked out. Rinoa watched in awe as they passed the widest and longest hallway she has ever seen in her life. Large sliding metal doors were lined up, which she assumed are the entrances to bedrooms.

Squall's job was to choose a guest room for Rinoa, and he found it, right beside his own private sanctuary.

He stopped in front of it and turned to Rinoa.

"This is where I'm staying?" She asked as she looked back at Squall. He nodded.

Rinoa stepped into the sliding door as Squall watched it open her bedroom for the night. Then, he saw her turn around to him and gave him a faint smile.

"Well, thank you. And goodnight." She nodded at him, then the door closed.

Squall stood still for another moment.

"I'm sorry." He finally apologized, for the hurtful things he said at the library, for he truly never meant them. But she couldn't hear him anymore.

"And goodnight."

It took Rinoa about twenty minutes to find the bathroom inside the ridiculously large bedroom, and another thirty minutes trying to figure out the buttons inside the shower room. After she freshened up a bit, she wrapped herself with a towel and searched the closet for the extra clothes Squall told her about.

But found none.

Rinoa searched all the cabinets and drawers, but found no clothing or anything like it either.

Great.

She looked for a phone, forgetting that the place she was staying at is not a hotel. She found one, but there was no operator. There was only the usual dial tone.

She walked outside, hoping to find a maid and ask for help. But the hallway was eerily empty and quiet, except for a noise which sounded like coming from the room right beside hers.

She assumed that it should be her father's room, since it was only right for her to think that this hall contains all the guest rooms in the palace. Also, it would only be appropriate that she was to be located beside her dad, in case of emergency.

Like now.

Rinoa didn't care if her father was drunk, she desperately needs help to find some clothing.

She stepped in front of the door, thinking that it's locked, and was about to knock...

When it suddenly opened...

And the occupant was definitely not her dad.

There, standing between the television and the bed, wearing only a wrapped towel to cover the lower half part of his body, exposing his other muscular upper half, was the same person who lead Rinoa to her room.

"AAAH!"

"AAAAAH!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Rinoa gave another last shriek before she ran to her side and leaned against a wall, which prompted the door to finally close. She didn't expect, not one bit, that Squall would be the owner of the room beside hers. And she went at a bad time too, bad time for both of them. He seemed to have just gone out of the shower, just like her.

She heard his door open again and ran to her room, but was halted by the call of his low voice.

"What do you want?" Squall asked demandingly.

Slowly, Rinoa turned around, holding the only piece of clothing she has tightly.

"Uhm..." She felt herself blushing to see that he has not put on any clothing yet either, other than the towel that conceals the most sensitive part of his body.

"I don't have clothes."

Wait, that didn't sound right.

"No! Uh-" Rinoa then shook her head to get her mind back straight from the distraction of his well trimmed body. "The-the-there are no clothes in my room." She manage to correct herself as she tried to avert her eyes from the godly figure before her.

"Hmm..." Squall muttered before returning to his room. Rinoa was taken aback and found it quite rude of him to suddenly leave her alone just like that. She was about to head back to her room when she heard his door open again.

"Here." Squall tossed a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt, both of which Rinoa assumed to be his.

"Thank you." The black haired smiled, trying not to look at Squall's still bare torso.

Squall waved his hands, as if telling her it was nothing before stepping back inside his room.

The shorts were a bit too big on Rinoa, and so was the shirt, nevertheless, manageable. After all, they are better than nothing.

She stared at herself in front of a mirror for a moment. It was funny, how she was wearing the clothings of Squall Leonhart; one of the most prominent figures at school (besides Cloud) and the son of Esthar's figurehead.

I wonder how this smells like.

She grabbed the collar and sniffed it. It smelled like men's perfume, which somehow reminded her of Cloud.

Rinoa giggled. "Those two smell just the same."

And yet they are rivals.

She jumped to her bed and closed her eyes, reminding herself how sleepy she was an hour ago. But she couldn't bring herself to dreamland.

Rinoa turned on the wide screen television and flicked through every channel, hoping that it will make her dizzy enough. Still, she couldn't sleep.

"Argh!"

Rinoa sighed deeply. She looked outside her long, narrow window, which showed the illuminating technological city of Esthar. It was tempting to go outside and get some fresh air, which was hardly believable from a not so environmental place.

The raven haired guest stepped outside of her room, to see that the hallway was still lit. She thought about using the elevator and give herself a tour of the palace, but there was a big risk that she might get lost. She then decided to check out each room along the hallway, starting from the one located at the other end.

She opened it, and it looked alot like her room, only empty and untouched. Rinoa inspected the cabinet and saw white human clothing, properly folded.

She grumbled. "How unlucky can I get?"

She moved on to the next room and found the exact same thing.

For the nth time, Rinoa sighed. She wasn't getting any sleepier, and she was bored.

She resolved on heading back to her room and give herself a final try to sleep.

As usual, the door automatically slid open, though it looked a bit different.

It was the usual neat room, but it was definitely not her room.

Worse, it seemed occupied.

There were more things scattered and more furnitures. For one, there was a couch, just right beside the window. Also, books, papers and a huge opened box were scattered on the floor. The bedsheets too were crumpled, and the owner's leg and arm were hanging on the edge of the bed, almost touching the floor. Rinoa froze when she saw the person's dark brown hair.

Rinoa panicked a little. For the second time that night, she invaded Squall's personal space. Though she made progress, and she wasn't as scared as she was when they first encountered each other. But then, that was different, they were at the library, a public place.

So this is where the lion sleeps. Rinoa's lips formed into a small smile. It even smells like him.

The raven haired girl turned around to leave, but felt sorry for Squall's uncomfortable sleeping position. Also, she was curious how he looks like when he sleeps, and she knew it wouldn't hurt to know. Rinoa gathered a bit more of her courage she can muster and approached the dozing brunette.

He was lying on his chest, his comforter barely covering his body (finally with clothing, thank Hyne). His right arm and leg were hanging on the side of the bed, and his face was resting against his cheek, half exposing his soothing face. Rinoa bent down to take a good look at him, and smiled at the rare sight of a relaxed Squall.

He looks like a baby when he sleeps.

The intruder of the room gently pushed the brunette's leg back to his bed, then proceeded with his arm. She pulled the comforter to Squall and tucked him in it.

There, much better.

She took her time to check on him again, thankful that he didn't wake up. She turned around to the door again and walked to her exit.

Then, something caught her eye.

There was that box she noticed earlier, one of the things lying on the floor. It was opened, completely exposing a considerably huge and long silver sword with a strange handle. It looked like a long revolver, with a handle like a gun's grip panel, complete with a hammer, the cylinder, and even the trigger! It was only different with the front side. Instead of the usual barrel where the bullet shoots out, it was a long wide blade. Rinoa also noticed an engraved lion on it, which made it look more like a legendary weapon.

I wonder what this is.

She examined the whole box and noticed a name engraved on the lid.

"Squall Leonhart: Gunblade"

Whoah... so this is a gunblade.

Rinoa has read and heard of gunblades, though it was said that it is a rare and hard to learn weapon, which made only a few people know how to use it. She never knew she would eventually see an actual one, let alone encounter someone who can really use it.

She stood by the box for another while, simply watching the gunblade, as if it would sprung out of the box and show her some action at any moment. It was enticing to glide her hand over the blade, just so she would know what it felt like, but she was worried that it might trigger some trouble, like a genie would appear or something.

Then, she remembered what Paine told her about Squall's worst fight with Cloud. They used swords and badly hurt each other. Rinoa wondered if this was the same sword Squall used in his duel with Cloud. And if it was, then Cloud should be wielding an equally good and huge sword as well.

After getting one last look at the weapon, she headed out of the door and walked into her own room. She hopped to her bed, closed her eyes and dreamt of a legendary knight in a shining armor.

"Wake up."

Rinoa groaned as she felt a hand shaking her arm. Slowly, she opened her drowsy eyes to take a look at the source of the low, commanding voice.

"Get up." He repeated.

"Squall?" Rinoa recognized his usual brown hair and blue stare.

"I'm bringing you back to Deling, so get up. Now. I don't want to be late for school."

The groggy girl remembered. She does have school that day, and she barely got some sleep from her last night's attack of insomnia. She nodded as she hesitantly rised from her bed and sat up. Squall, who was already in his school uniform plus a brown leather jacket, was leaning against a wall by her side, his hands inside his pocket. He looked impatient.

Rinoa searched the room for a clock, to at least know what time it is, but couldn't find any. Knowing how this place can be pretty unpredictable, it should be hidden somewhere, but she couldn't be bothered exploring the whole place for it. She looked out the window and saw the light purple sky, barely showing the sun.

It should still be early in the morning.

"Please hurry up." The brunnete said in a crabby voice.

Rinoa scowled at him and finally leapt out of her bed. Then, she suddenly realized that she wasn't really in her best clothing when she felt her shirt's wide collar slightly dropped, exposing most part of her small shoulder to her schoolmate's azure gaze.

Squall, who suddenly felt uneasy with the sight, took off his jacket and reached it to Rinoa as he shut his eyes and turned his head away from her.

Rinoa let out a small gasp and fixed the loose shirt on her. Then, she awkwardly took the jacket from the brunette's grasp.

"Thanks."

"Let's go." Squall tried to remain cool as he turned around and walked out the bedroom.

Rinoa watched in wonderment as Squall pressed a few a few buttons to exact the coordinates of their destination, and the Ragnarok flew by itself. There were only the two of them inside the ship. General Caraway was supposed to be with with, but Squall thought it would be best if he rests a bit more at Esthar. Rinoa asked how, to which Squall simply replied that Ragnarok will fly itself back to the palace.

Really, he can do ANYTHING.

Both of them were at the main panel room, and it was awfully quiet. Squall was sitting on the pilot's chair, while Rinoa was sitting beside him. It was making Rinoa too uncomfortable and she felt she had to say something, a 'thank you' at least.

"Uhm, Squall?"

The brunette turned to her.

"Thanks for everything." She gave him a thankful smile.

Squall just looked at her, with his usual expressionless blue stare. Rinoa turned her head away and looked through the view outside the glass windows, which they were passing by at a very fast pace.

"Hmmm..." She began again. "why didn't your dad wanted you to study in Esthar? I mean..." She didn't want to sound like she didn't want Squall in Deling High, but it made her wonder if Laguna didn't trust the education system of the land he's ruling over. "is something wrong with Esthar schools?"

By this point, Squall has returned to focus on the same view before him. "No. There's nothing wrong with them."

"Then..."

"People from Esthar wanted equally advanced technology for education, to the degre that it's pointless to go to school anymore." He paused. "My father tried to convince them that traditional schools are still best, but the people weren't willing to relegate, they wanted their schools the way they are now. So my dad, afraid that I might become as dependent on technology as those people, sent me to Deling High."

Rinoa stared at him for another moment. Schools with as much technology as the city, then they should have almost everything! Uncle Laguna must be crazy, she thought. Deling High is surely nothing compared to Esthar schools.

But, fathers know best, I guess.

"But," She carried on. "if you were to choose, between studying to Esthar and Deling High, where would you rather study?"

Squall glanced at her. Nobody ever asked him that kind of question before, not even his own dad who decided everything on his own. And not once did he ever give much thought about it. Where indeed would he choose to study?

"Deling High, I guess." After all, that's where he ended up studying in the end.

"Why?" She asked eagerly.

It was a hard question for him. "I don't know." He honestly doesn't. "I've had fun at that school. I think that's enough." He had been having even more fun lately actually. Then, he thought about Cloud. Pissing him off was what makes Squall most happy. There is no Cloud back at Esthar, only at Deling High.

Rinoa giggled. "I guess you're right."

It wasn't long before they arrived at Deling City. Squall landed the airship outside Deling, as usual, which Rinoa found strange since Kiros and Ward were able to land it at the huge lawn in front of her house. Unless Squall would be mean this time and drop her to school at such a ragged state.

"Wait, aren't we going to my house first?" She asked alarmingly.

"We are." His answer relieved Rinoa.

"Then, why didn't you park at my house?"

Squall turned his head to her. "Do you want a huge airship blocking your house the entire time you're at school?"

Rinoa was about to answer, but she knew it's pointless. She sighed. "Fine."

Squall stood up from the pilot seat and walked to the open lift. Rinoa followed.

Once they were at the lower floor, both headed to a huge room near the ship's exit ramp where Squall's car was hidden. It was the first time Rinoa got a good look at his car. It wasn't a floating one, unlike what was usually seen in Esthar. This one looks more normal, and it got wheels. It was small, with only two doors and two chairs. It looked more like a sports car, and the black finishing made it look even more sleek.

Rinoa stared at it for a moment, overly impressed. And as soon as Squall walked beside it, the car looked immensely cooler, as if it was made exclusively for Squall.

The brunette was about to open the car's door when he saw Rinoa froze on her position, jaw dropped.

"Are you coming or not?" He asked in his low, irritable voice.

It took them roughly twenty minutes to reach Rinoa's mansion, to Rinoa's relief. Finally, home.

No one greeted them, like Caraway's maids and butlers usually do. Rinoa figured that they must still be sleeping, at this early time in the morning. She turned to Squall.

"Well, everyone else is sleeping, so.." She said shyly. "just, make yourself at home, okay? I'll be back in a few." Rinoa ran upstairs to her room.

Squall, who was left alone downstairs, sat at the nearest couch. After fifteen minutes of waiting, he finally heard Rinoa's footsteps from the staircase. She was already in her uniform underneath her sky blue jacket, carrying a yellow tote bag and a Squall's leather coat. She then appraoched the couch where the brunette was waiting for her. She landed her bag on the floor and tossed the leather jacket to Squall, who instantly wore it over his uniform.

"I'll just go grab some breakfast." Rinoa said as she ran to the kitchen without looking at Squall. A few minutes later, she came back, holding two wrapped sandwiches.

She then handed one to Squall. "Here, this one's for you. It's peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Squall took it. "I'm sorry if it's not that good, it was the fastest one I can do." Rinoa timidly said. She then went to reach for her bag, but before she could, Squall grabbed it and carried it with his grip, being the gentleman he is.

"Uhm... you don't really have to-"

"It's fine." The brunette cut her. "Let's go."

They finally reached the school grounds, and Rinoa was more nervous than ever before. She was riding Squall's car, and there was no other way out of it but to get out of his car. She looked a Squall and was jealous that there was no sign of tension in him.

"I hope everyone doesn't mind." She shifted uneasily on her seat. "I hope they'll think that I just casually shared a ride with you."

"No, they will mind." He replied, and Rinoa was quite surprised that he actually gave some thought about it. "But there's no other choice. Just act as normal as you can."

And he was right, the moment they stepped out of the car, they were surrounded by the sound of murmurs and whispers. Also, Rinoa received even more dagger looks from alot of people that would've instantly killed her if only looks can kill.

Squall cooly slung his black backpack to his shoulder as he pushed the driver's door closed. Rinoa did the same with her side, and waited until Squall has walked at a considerable distance from her. She then followed and headed to her classroom, as she endured the deadly stares that will no doubt lead to even more and worse rumors.

Squall entered 3-A's classroom and quickly headed straight to his usual chair. There was an annonced quiz for that day, but he wasn't able to review as much as he should due to the dinner that was held at his home last night. He opened his bag, about to seize his notebook when he saw the sandwich Rinoa gave him, reminding Squall that he still had to eat it. But he wasn't exactly hungry, and neither was he fond of peanut butter or jam. He reached for his notebook and began reviewing.

"Yo Squall!" Zell suddenly yelled behind him and sat beside the studying brunette. "Heard about the rumors spreading. Are you finally dating Rinoa? For real? Honestly that was the only thing we're all waiting fo- YOU BROUGHT BREAKFAST!" The tatoo faced blonde had his eyes suddenly fixed on the sandwich lying inside Squall's bag. He grabbed it. "Can I have it, plea-"

"NO!" Squall growled and snatched the sandwich from his hungry friend. He opened the wrapper and furiously took a bite as he returned to his notebook.

"Whoops, sorry. Someone's REALLY grumpy today."

Rinoa was sitting on her chair when she began eating her own sandwich while waiting for the teacher to arrive. Beside her was Yuna who began telling her of the plans she and Tidus have for the weekend, which was actually a good distraction from being the hot item for the day.

"Tidus will bring me to his hometown Zanarkand and introduce me to his parents! I thought it's too soon but I'm still glad that he'll do it. It only meant that he likes me that much, right?"

The raven haired girl, who was listening intently, nodded in agreement. "I'm happy for you Yuna!" She excitedly said with a wide smile.

"Thank you!" The brown haired girl replied with an equally wide smile.

"Hey, look who's here." A cheerful voice greeted. Rinoa looked at the owner of it and saw Zack who sat in front of her. He leaned closer to the black haired girl. "I heard you came in with Leonhart." He said in a hushed voice and smirked.

"Please, don't remind her anymore." Yuna pleaded softly.

"Well, it was nothing, really. I was just a friendly drive here, since we just found out that our dad are actually good friends." Rinoa hoped she was able to defend herself well.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Zack waved his hands, as if telling Rinoa that it was nothing.

"Yeah. Cloud might get mad." The black haired girl retorted sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

Zack chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him. Besides, he won't be arriving until lunchbreak."

He's not here? Until lunchbreak? He can do that? Rinoa gave Zack a puzzled look. "Why?"

Cloud's best friend shrugged. "I dunno, he just said he had to do something or... something. So the good news is, you really have nothing to worry about until lunchbreak. You can explain and talk to him then. But I'll do what I can." He winked.

Rinoa's expression relaxed, glad that she can rely on someone who can at least handle Cloud. The only thing she had to worry about was the possibility the rumors might reach Cloud before he arrives to school.

As Rinoa entered the cafeteria with her friends, she searched the whole place for Cloud, and found him nowhere. She sighed in relief.

"Hey, we'll get our table, okay?" Tifa gestured at Yuna and Rinoa, who both nodded in response. They then walked towards the line of people buying their lunches. Yuna, who was standing before Rinoa in the line, turned to check on her friend. Then suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise and she gasped.

Rinoa shot her a confusing look, and noticed that her friend wasn't directly looking at her. She was looking at something behind her. She turned around and was shocked to see Squall standing right beside her, which almost caused her to drop her tray. He was looking at her, then his eyes shifted to her food.

"Is that what you're having?" He directly asked.

"Uhm, yeah." She replied as relaxed as she can. "Are you buying your lunch too?"

"No, I already had mine." He replied. "I just came to pay for your lunch."

"What for?" Rinoa gave him a doubtful look.

"I owe you for the breakfast you gave me this morning." Squall looked at her intently with his cerulean eyes.

Oh, that's right. Rinoa thought. I never thought he'd eat it.

"It was nothing, really." Rinoa smiled at him. Then she searched around her for any sign of Cloud. "You should go away from me now, before Cloud arrives and sees you."

"Uhm, Rinoa-" Yuna tensely called behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Rinoa suddenly heard that familiar, angry voice, that belongs to no one but the last person Rinoa wanted to see that day.

She turned to the source of the voice and saw Cloud on her other side.

"Cloud! Uhm-"

Before she could say more, she froze on her place when she saw the blonde's immesurably furious glare that was directly meant for his rival, who was standing at the other side of the poor raven head.

She wasn't metaphorically caught up in the middle anymore, she WAS literally caught in the middle, as she stood between the two rivals.

Squall gave him an equally fatal glare. "I'm here to buy her lunch, is there a problem with that?"

"That's what I do."

"Then maybe it's my turn."

"Since when?"

"Ever since you were in your mother's womb."

Crowds were gathered around them, and there were some smart enough to leave the place, in case a big commotion happens. Through the gathered people, Rinoa could see Irvine and Zell approaching and Zack squeezing his way to the scene as he called Cloud's name. But they were too late to stop whatever fight will ensue, for the two rivals have already grown beastly intentions to rip each other's throat.

And interfering is not a choice anymore.

There will be a fight, definitely. It's not like the fight Cloud almost had with Seifer a week ago. This time, it is a fight between Cloud and Squall, and there's no stopping it.

"Rinoa!" Squall's rose blonde friend Quistis appeared from the crowd, also distressed about the upcoming fight.

"Quistis, get Rinoa out of here." Squall sternly ordered, his threatening look still fixed on his blonde rival. Quistis quickly obliged and pulled Rinoa to her. She also beckoned at Yuna, who was still standing by Cloud, to step out of the scene.

"C'mon. I'll take you to your friends." Quistis gently told Rinoa.

Hyne, please. Rinoa pleaded to the entity above. Please, don't let there be a fight. I beg of you, please...

A/N: A fight? :3