I'd like to apologise for not updating last week. I hadn't had much written being too busy with my other story, so sorry.

A big shout out to effect20, Trev James and HopelessRomantic-x for the continuous reviews, they mean a lot! A a special thanks to Scribbleness who is finding time to read and review my previous chapters! AND obviously cant forget miss n9neSTAR who has helped me with the ideas for the chapters that are to come ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any illegal substances.

Chapter 15 - An Innocent Abroad

As soon as they boarded the Ferry Squall took out his phone to call Laguna and tell him of the incident back at the pier. Halfway through explaining what had happened to Rinoa, the line cut off as they drove further into the icy Trabian Sea and lost connection.

Squall had to endure the six hour ferry ride back to Balamb before he could make another call.

The entire ride there he let his friends drone on about how Rinoa would be alright and theories of how something illegal could have gotten into her bag. He let the talk fall on deaf ears as the only thing on his mind was Rinoa. She had gone through enough trials already; she didn't need any more thrown at her. It wasn't like Rinoa to carry anything illegal, he was thinking to himself, unless it was out of ignorance.

Squall couldn't help but mourn; his head in his hands as he thought about her, by her herself, no father, no family, no friends. And he couldn't do anything to protect her. After what he did to her, he had promised to protect her; he didn't want anything to harm her in any way, shape or form. It was his atonement. His duty after the harm he put on her, though she had reminded him countless times that it wasn't his fault.

Once they landed in Balamb, Squall's phone went off alerting him of the many missed calls and text messages he had received. He read everyone and listened to the voice mail. They were all from Laguna telling him that an hour after he had called, the General's secretary from Galbadia had called informing him of a call from Trabia Pier Customs Service. They called to inform that they had his daughter held in custody for possession of illegal substances. The General wasn't too pleased.

The text message he had received told him that the General and Laguna were taking Laguna's private jet - the Ragnorak to Trabia to sort out the mess.

Squall cursed to himself; he wanted to be there, he wanted to take the next flight out and see if she was alright. He hated not knowing what was going on.

Rinoa dried her eyes for the hundredth time and sniffed. She was still sitting in the cold grey room being watched by the two guards. She had been here for more than six hours and patiently waited for God knew what was to come.

She had given the guards her father's secretary's number to call and tell him of her whereabouts. They had informed her that her father her made plans to take the next flight out. This was over two hours ago.

She looked around the room for the hundredth time noticing every minute detail. How the corners of the room had gathered damp, how the tiny window on the right side of the wall had loose paint chippings, how the table she was leaning on had worn out from the chemicals they were using to clean it.

She sighed to herself bringing on more tears. She couldn't for the life of her figure out how this had happened. She had her bag with her the whole time, so it couldn't have been accidentally placed in there. Surely she would have noticed if someone had tried to plant it in there without her knowing.

One of the guards had a message put in through his headset device and so made his way out the room. She waited again patiently until the door to the room opened and standing there was her father and Laguna. She shot up from her seat drying her eyes and rushed to her father. He took her into a hug and smoothed down her hair telling her it would be alright.

She looked over at Laguna who smiled at her sympathetically. She expected Squall to walk in, but he was nowhere in sight.

The guard that brought them in, came in with another man, a taller man in Red Uniform and a fierce look of authority.

"General Caraway," The man held his hand out to him, "I'm Officer Biggs I work for the Department of Customs/Imports and Exports."

The General shook the man's hand and got straight to the point. "Now I don't see how this could have happened." The General was saying to the Pier Department Officer.

"Well your daughter was found with illegal substances in her hand bag. We found a bag of Cannabis which is a class B drug under Trabian laws." The man explained looking from the General to his daughter.

"Dad, I swear I didn't know it was in my bag, I don't even know how it got there." Rinoa cried looking up hopefully at her father.

"Regardless of whether she is using it, she could face a minimum of 5 years for possession." Biggs replied. Rinoa brimmed with tears again.

"Look Sir, is there any way this doesn't need to go to court?" Laguna spoke up.

"I'm sorry Sir, I wish I could help but laws are laws. We can't differentiate because she's the General's daughter." Biggs replied.

"But it's not mine." Rinoa cried pleading the man.

"I know ma'am, but this bag does belong to you and that's where it was found."

She didn't bother to answer; she dug her head into her father chest and let the tears continue to trail down.

"Sir, please if there is any way we can sort this out without it going to court?" Caraway pleaded.

Biggs looked around uncertain. "Maybe I can contact the Mayor to come down and speak to you." He said to which the General eagerly nodded. "I can't promise anything though."

"No, I know." Caraway replied.

"Alright, Wedge head over to the village and inform the Mayor, see if he'll see to them." Biggs spoke to the guard at the back.

"Right away Sir." The guard replied and left the room.

Rinoa sighed, she knew her trial wasn't over. She could only pray to God that the Mayor would be merciful and hear her plea.

The phone rang and Squall shot up, pushing past Quistis as she was walking into the room, and dived to pick it up.

"Hello!" He yelled into the phone expecting it to be his father, the General or Rinoa. He hoped it was the latter; he hated sitting idle not being able to help in any way unknowing to what was going on.

"Good Morning, I'm calling from Dream Land Holiday-" before the person on the other line could continue Squall cut the connection and cursed to himself.

"Wrong number?" Seifer asked though he knew the answer.

"Stupid telesales." Squall muttered walking back to his armchair with the cordless in hand.

The group had gathered back at Squall's house being given the day off from school. It was now 10:00am and they were tired from waiting around without any news or update.

"I hope she's okay." Selphie said for the fourth time.

"Hmm." Seifer replied thinking to himself.

"I still can't figure it out, how could it have gotten into her bag?" Quistis thought biting on her thumbnail.

"I know, Rinny never leaves her bag unattended; she's always scared of having her purse stolen or having spiders crawl into it." Selphie answered.

"Do you think someone could have put it in secretly?" Zell asked thinking outwardly.

"Who?" Seifer asked. He wanted to believe someone did, he wanted to believe Rinoa was innocent, but without any hard evidence it wasn't something they could prove. "Everyone on that trip pretty much likes her or doesn't even know her. The only person she's had any encounters with is Lauren and she wasn't even there."

"I know, but I mean, it did just happen after that stuff came out about her in the newspapers. Anyone could have been paid to do it?" Zell suggested considering all options.

"That's true!" Selphie cried shooting up from her seat. "Anyone could have been paid to make her look bad."

"Yeah, but who?" Seifer asked not wanting their theories to get ahead of themselves.

"I don't know." Selphie moaned sitting back down.

Squall had enough; he took the cordless phone and was about to head out of the room having heard enough of their endless theories. The phone rang again so he pressed down on the green call button and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello." He spoke in monotone.

"Squall, it's me." Laguna spoke back.

"Dad, how is she?" He asked excited.

"She's fine. We've arranged to speak with the Mayor of Shumi Village; we're to see him in 10 minutes. I just called to tell you not to worry."

"I want to come over." He demanded looking around the room for his keys.

"No don't. You're not needed here; besides, once this is over we'll back before you even get here."

"You don't know that. I want to be there with her." He explained hoping to make his father understand the need he had to make sure she was alright.

"Squall, listen to me. Let me handle this, trust me." Laguna spoke calmly to his son. The last thing he needed was for Squall to come rushing in and make things worse.

"How are you going to handle this? He won't listen to you. You're a stranger." Squall countered.

"Squall, trust me."

Rinoa, Laguna and the General walked into the meeting room of the Shumi Village Council and sat down opposite the Mayor.

"I'm pleased you could meet with us in such a short notice." The General held his hand out.

"Not a problem." The man replied.

"I am General Caraway of Galbadia; this is er, my good friend Laguna Loire." The General introduced both men.

"Nice to meet you." Both men acknowledged each other and shook hands.

"My daughter, as you know, was found with Cannabis in her bag. However, she denies it belongs to her nor did she know she was in possession of it." Caraway explained.

"I understand." The Mayor nodded and looked at Rinoa. "You don't seem like the type to take drugs." He smiled at her.

She smiled back worried and looked at her father.

"Well, what I'd like to know is if you didn't put it in your bag, how did it get there." He asked looking at her for an explanation of some sort.

"I don't know." She replied honestly.

"Well, did you leave your bag unattended?" The Mayor asked.

"No." She replied honestly.

"Could anyone have put it into your bag by mistake?"

"I had my bag with me the whole time." She confessed.

"This doesn't look good. You claim it isn't yours, that you didn't put it into your bag, yet you also say you had your bag with you the whole time." The Mayor said taking off his spectacles and wiping them with his tie before replacing them back.

"I honestly don't know how it got there." She replied unable to explain.

"Rinoa, give us a breakdown of the events during the trip." Laguna asked hoping some information could be drawn from her recollection.

"Er, well, we got to Shumi Village the day before yesterday about 13:30 and went straight to the hotel. After that we all assembled outside the main hall to meet with the Mayor." She said her eyes wandering around the room as if the answers were written above her. "Erm, after that we got into our groups and started on the field practical, then dinner and bed."

"That was the first day?" Laguna asked.

"Yeah." She replied nodding. "The second day we had breakfast and then went out to meet Skippy. We took par-"

"Who?" The Mayor asked frowning.

"Skippy, he was our instructor." She clarified.

"What was his full name?" The Mayor asked.

"Oh, I don't know, he just said his name was Skippy." She answered blinking.

The Mayor turned to one of his associates and whispered something to him. The man nodded and walked out of the room.

"Ok continue." The Mayor requested.

"Oh, er, yeah, so we went and did the practical, then I got hungry and went with Quistis to get some food."

"Did you have your bag with you?" Laguna asked.

"Yeah." She replied turning to him.

"Could anyone have put something in there while you weren't looking?" Luguna asked eagerly hoping somehow they could find a possibility and clear her of the allegations.

"No, it was always under my arm. The only time I didn't have it was on the first day during the lake practical but it was locked in the hotel room." She responded realising there was no explanation behind it.

"Did you put your bag down at any time?" Caraway asked also trying to find a way out.

"Yeah but it was right next to me."

"When." The Mayor asked looking equally as hopeful as Caraway.

"Yesterday. I was sitting on the grass and had it next to me." She answered.

"And was anyone with you?" He asked eyes wide.

"Yeah that Skippy guy."

"And did he say anything to you?" He asked again.

"Yeah, just asked me about my future plans and where I wanted to study."

The man who went out before walked back in and whispered something into the Mayor's ear. The Mayor nodded and the man walked back out only to walk in again with a petite woman wearing a knee length black skirt, black blazer and a white collar shirt.

She handed him a piece of paper which he read, his eye focused and his forehead creased.

"Sir, the receptionist at the hotel said someone handed in this ID badge." She said and handed over the badge.

"Thank you." He replied and looked over at Rinoa. "Miss Caraway, was this man your instructor?" He asked showing her the ID badge. It was Skippy alright, donned in his instructor uniform and grinning into the camera.

"Yes, that's him." She cried. She was still unsure what this meant, but she felt relief knowing her assumptions of him were right. There was something weird about him; she was hoping she'd finally find out just what.

"Gentlemen, at the moment I cannot clear Miss Caraway of the allegations," The Mayor started explaining, "that is due to this new issue that has arisen. This character 'Skippy' is actually a Shumi citizen. He left a couple of years ago to pursue a photography career with a Galbadian newspaper company. However the money wasn't good and he soon started working freelance."

Caraway looked over at Laguna puzzled by this new information and what it had to do with Rinoa.

"How he got back to Shumi and how he got away with acting as an instructor is beyond me. But I am afraid I will have to postpone all charges against Miss Caraway until I sort out this issue. I think there is a link here." The Mayor continued to explain.

"Mayor, couldn't you drop the charges? You yourself don't seem to believe Miss Caraway is guilty of the allegations." Laguna pleaded.

"I'm sorry Mr Loire, but until the matter is dealt with the allegations will have to remain."

"Well, how long will I be under this false allegations?" Rinoa asked impatiently.

"That I am not sure of, Shumi Village isn't a very developed country. Our investigation team will do it's best to look into this matter and hopefully get it sorted between 6 months to a year." He replied as if it wasn't all that long.

"A year?" Rinoa cried in shock. How was she to survive a whole year with an allegation of drug handling?

"I'm sorry, but I will do my very best." The Mayor tried to console her.

"What if you were to get help from the best investigation team in Esthar?" Laguna inquired. Rinoa and Caraway looked at him in surprise not believing he'd expose himself. It was futile really, in only a couple of hours the whole world would find out who Laguna Loire was.

The Mayor chuckled. "Well, if you think the President of Esthar is willing to hand me over his team, then by all means please ask him if he will." He replied continuing to laugh along with his associates.

"I will." Laguna responded smoothly. The Mayor stopped laughing and frowned. He looked over at Caraway who smirked and nodded.

The group were still lazing around in Squall's living room. Quistis was flipping through the channels bored, she wasn't paying attention to what was on, she was too busy thinking of Rinoa.

Selphie lay across the sofa her head resting on Irvine's lap as they both conversed quietly.

Squall was pacing the room waiting for the phone to ring again. It had been four hours since his father last called him. What could be taking so long? He thought to himself. His patience was wearing thin, he wanted to see Rinoa, he wanted to make sure she was okay.

The doorbell rang and Squall raced to the door only to open it to find Seifer and Zell back from the town.

"It's us." Zell pitifully announced. Squall walked back into the living room with the two boys following him.

"Food." Selphie stated and got up making her way over to the carrier bags the boys had just dumped on the coffee table.

"I'll get plates." Quistis offered and went to the kitchen.

"Squall, come and eat, you haven't had anything since you got back." Selphie said looking over and smiling sympathetically.

"I'm not hungry." He replied and leaned against the wall. He couldn't understand how his friends could eat at a time like this. He was too worried about Rinoa to do anything but pace around the entire house.

"Squall, eat something." Quistis urged, but the boy only shook his head.

Seifer had only put a chip into his mouth when the sound of keys jingling came from the front door. Squall rushed to the door again and opened it before the person could even turn the key to the lock.

Laguna stood in front of him surprised yet smiling, he gestured to Squall to move out of the way. Squall took a couple of steps back and allowed the man to come in followed by the General. But Rinoa was nowhere in sight.

"Where is she?" He asked in disbelief that they'd leave her behind; this was exactly the reason why he wanted to go along; so she wouldn't get left back.

Laguna smiled at his son sweetly, "Getting her things out of the car."

Squall darted past the General and ran out the door. He rushed down the drive way and went around the back of the Lexus with its open boot to find Rinoa struggling with her duffle bags.

Her head shot towards him as he stopped abruptly next to her. She couldn't hold it in any longer. All the emotions, all the trials, all the problems she had faced since she had gotten here were all down to him. Every problem had arisen from the desire she had for him, for the need to be around him, to be loved by him.

She dropped her bags to the floor and took a leap towards him throwing her arms over his shoulders and burying her head in his chest.

He held onto her tightly wrapping his arms around her and resting the side of his cheek on top of her head.

"I'm sorry I left you." He whispered to her.

"It's okay; if it wasn't for your Dad I wouldn't be here with you now." She muttered into his chest.

"Squall." Laguna called out walking up with the General close behind. "Sorry." He said modestly as he realised what the two were doing. "The General and I have to leave now, it's nearly 1 o'clock and we have that conference to attend to."

"Okay." Squall replied still holding his grip on Rinoa.

"Rinoa, will you be alright?" Caraway asked smiling at his daughter; he couldn't help but feel nostalgic at the scene remembering back to the days when he'd held her mother like that.

"I'll be fine now." She replied looking up at Squall a small thin smile playing on her lips.

"… and that's how Laguna got me out of this mess." Rinoa finished off explaining.

"I always knew there was something secretive about Laguna. Like how he could afford a place like this working for a magazine." Quistis said eyeing Squall carefully.

Squall smirked at her and looked down at Rinoa's body resting against him. He was sitting on his usual armchair along with Rinoa who happened to be taking up most of the seat. His arm draped around her, he brought her in closer feeling as if she'd disappear from right in front of him.

She had come into the house and accepted everyone's hugs and concern promising to tell them exactly what happened. Feeling the need to shower after the long ordeal she went up to the bathroom quietly. Now her body feeling rejuvenated the only aspect left of the tribulations was in her gut; without the all clear she couldn't think about anything other than clearing her name of the imposing drug charges.

Currently the group sat around the lounge talking about Rinoa's meeting with the Mayor and the assumptions on the Skippy character, though there wasn't much to discuss on either matter.

"Oh they're speaking!" Selphie cried out and turned up the TV volume.

The General sat along with other Galbadian officials to his right. Laguna sat on his left with two other men, one a tall broad man with a vivid scar running across his face and another a dark skinned skinny man with long braids falling behind him.

The General introduced himself and thanked the council for attending. From below the stage, reporters were busy with their microphones poised in midair and photographer's taking shots every second. Further beyond the Press sat citizens of Esthar, Galbadia and other nations watching and waiting intently for the arrival of the President of Esthar.

"… so I take great pleasure in introducing you to our new alliance, friend and family President Laguna Loire of Esthar." The General spoke gesturing to Laguna sitting next to him.

The photographer's snapped up pictures and a round of applause was heard amongst the crowd as well as a few whistles, most presumably from Estharians.

"I thank you for the welcome. I would firstly like to explain Esthar's history. 13 years ago when Esthar took down President Adel the country was left in fear, turmoil and despair. We were a county that was suffering from an unjust regime, an internal threat. It was for that reason why Esthar closed its doors and ceased to exist amongst the world." Laguna spoke directly to the quiet audience.

Rinoa blinked hard trying to stay focused, she felt impatient, she just wanted to rush to the part where they announced they were going to play nicely and put aside all this war business.

She rested her head against Squall's chest feeling his heartbeat. It was a steady rhythm pounding inside his solid chest. She smiled to herself at the irony of it all. The last time she had felt his heartbeat she had confessed her love to him. And only seconds later she was running out of his room in tears. She grimaced at the memory and the realisation that she still had neither guarantee nor closure.
Yes, she was in his arms, but what did it mean? He had admitted to Seifer he loved her, but he still hadn't said it to her. The only hope she had of them finally being together was the hold he had on her now. But for how much longer would he be holding her? Once the allegations are dropped, will he still hold on to me? She looked up at him as he sat focused on the TV screen. She couldn't help think to herself how he was only holding her in his arms because she was in a state of vulnerability. Deciding she'd have to approach the subject once they were alone she turned back to the screen.

"We will now take questions from the press." The announcer spoke and a rush of hands came up.

"Sam Ortell from The Daily Esthar. General what financial assistance are expected of Esthar?"

The first couple of questions were the normal business and political questions, nothing the group were interested in. The General and Laguna answered as many as they could and kept a positive posture throughout. It was a bargain they had to sell; they needed the people to know it was positive outcome for both countries.

"… we are here to help. Esthar is more than capable to accommodate and in no way would expect any country to lose out on economic gain. I promise you, this treaty is a way for peace." Laguna finished off saying and sat back.

"General, how do you explain the recent images of your daughter? How can the people of Esthar trust in your authority?"

"Those pictures are nothing but lies. Who my daughter wishes to date is her business and her privacy, just like any other seventeen year old." Caraway coolly answered.

"If those are lies what about the drug allegation she received this morning in Shumi Village?" A woman spoke out in a thick Centri accent. She was clad in a red v-neck dress that went all the way down to her feet ending in a trail. Her hair was long and silver with slight purple highlights that matched the purple make-up she was also wearing.

"Mecia, how did you hear about that?" The General asked surprised.

"So it is true?" She smirked challenging him.

The General didn't speak; he just glared at her not knowing how she had found. The Mayor said he'd keep it a secret until they sorted out the Skippy problem; it was just like Mecia to use a private affair to make the General look incompetent and unstable. She had, after all, been after his position for a while now. This was just the type of dirt she needed to squirm her way into power.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, how kan we expect a loose man, with a loose drug addictive daughter to run our kountries?" She cried out loudly staring coldly at Caraway. "How kan you trust a man who kannot even kontrol his unstable promiscuous daughter? If he is failing as a father, he will fail as a leader!"

Rinoa pushed herself away from Squall looking distressingly at the TV screen, her father was trying to calm down the situation but the people were already eager to hear about the drug allegation. Reporters kept asking questions regarding the matter and why Caraway was unfit as a parent.

Of course security came in and took Mecia out, but as she was seen being led away, quite a few reporters followed trying to get more information from the woman.

It got worse, a man got up and started shouting something, it was muffled at first but soon a microphone was thrust upon him and the viewers could finally hear what he was saying.

"Esthar does not need this country, we should rid ourselves of these common filth, you are not fit as a leader and you are brainwashing our leader! Esthar is free from your filth!" The man continued shouting getting support from those around him.

"You xenophobes! We don't want your stinking country!" A cry could be heard.

"Rot in hell Estharian dogs! Galbadia will never ally with you!"

It continued like that with the General and Laguna trying to calm the situation. The security came in and tried to separate the people taking out the loose cannons one by one.

Rinoa and Squall just looked at each other; it wasn't supposed to happen like that. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion; it was a treaty of peace, a treaty of two nations coming together. Instead the countries that were once at war seemed to be plunged further into the entangled mess that could only result in history repeating itself.

Alright so now you know what the plots about, and who Skippy has been working for all this time.

But the surprises aren't finished, this is only the first layer, the icing on the top is yet to come.

Read and Review please!