In the past hour Squall's greatest fears and insecurities were confirmed. Supposed concepts like love, and trust, were things that would always be unobtainable for him. Any attempts to acquire either had only left him hurt and broken. Hadn't he learned that lesson already after Raine? Then why had he ever been foolish enough to try again? That was a stupid question to ask himself. He knew why. It was because every moment he'd spent with her had made him feel alive again. Made him think that perhaps there was truly good people in the world who cared about more than just themselves. Contrary to before, now he felt even more dead, and even more doubtful of others. He laughed at the irony. It was an empty, heartless sound. I should have known that something was up with her. Actually a few times I had suspected her of not telling me everything, but my heart made me overlook it. My heart made me never have a clue…but someone else did. He remembered the day of his performance at the Marquee Theatre. Seifer had been acting strangely cold towards Rinoa at their house. Then at the show it seemed that Seifer was slowly but surely building up to tell him something. What was it that he had said…it was "What if there was something important about Rinoa that she'd neglected to tell you?" Squall had expected the guitarist to reveal some shocking revelation, but all he had said was " Like that she really cares for you." Why had he changed his mind? Now it was obvious to Squall. Seifer had known the whole time. The car rolled up the driveway. Squall turned it off and got out, headed to the front door. His friend had better be ready for one hell of a surprise.

Seifer was just about to light his cigarette when the unexpected slam of the front door caused it to fall from his mouth.

"Damn." He muttered.

He then noticed the clearly distressed man.

"Hyne, Squall, what the hell happened?"

Too late he realized that he shouldn't have opened his mouth. Only one thing on earth could set Squall off like this. He knew about Rinoa. Still, his friend seemed too angry for it to be just that. He must also know that…

"Shit…" Seifer whispered.

The only other thing he could think at this moment was that he sure was glad that Squall didn't have his gunblade with him. He'd say that out loud, but right now he didn't want to be giving the guy any ideas.

Squall stopped walking and stood still and few feet away from Seifer. He folded his arms and voiced all too calmly,

"You knew."

Rarely was there a time when Squall Leonhart actually scared Seifer. The times when Seifer'd upset him so much that he was livid with emotion didn't intimidate him in the slightest. But when Squall was in a deep icy rage and acted cool and collected, it was just the calm before the storm. Now was one of those rare times. Normally Seifer would say something cocky like 'I knew what?' but something in his gut told him that now was not the time to test the patience of the man standing before him.

"Yes, I did." The blonde man answered boldly.

Squall nodded. He had already been aware of that. The blood tasted coppery in his mouth from where he had been biting his lip, trying to keep himself from having an angry outburst. Right now he felt like he could take on 10 men. At the moment, anyone who'd doubt that could only be a fool. Keep your cool. Keep your cool. He wordlessly recited to himself.

"So," he began, "Why exactly didn't you feel the need to enlighten me?"

"I did at first."

"Then why didn't you?" The intensity of his voice rose.

Seifer was silent.

"Why?" Squall nearly shouted.

"Telling you conflicted with a more important interest."

" 'A more important interest?'" Squall spat mockingly. "What could be more important than telling your friend that the one person they'd come to care about with everything they had was keeping the truth from them? That she was someone completely different than I thought she was. Holy Diablos, what in Hyne could be more important than telling me that Rinoa was the general's daughter and that she has…a fiancé?"

Squall was all out shouting now. His balled up fist trembled. For a moment his anger flashed to something else…sadness. It looked as if he might drop to his knees at any moment. His heart was emotionally drained. His eyes glimmered with would-be tears. Most people thought of Seifer as an arrogant, heartless bastard. Sometimes he even thought that of himself. But right now that 'non existent' heart ached like hell's fire. Maybe if he had come forward this could've been avoided. Still, he knew, if he could somehow go back in time, he would have done the exact same thing.

Squall rose with newly kindled rage. Rage was the easier emotion to allow himself to be consumed by. It was far more favorable than the pain.

"You still haven't answered me, Seifer. What interest was more important than saving me from this?

There was a thoughtful pause from the blonde. He was about to answer, but instead just smirked.

"You'll never believe me."

"Try me, dammit." Squall all but hissed.

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes, Seifer, I really do."

"I wanted to protect you."

For a moment those words pushed Squall from the edge, he was in a place beyond anger, then suddenly the overwhelming feeling was replaced by something numb. It was a familiar feeling, or rather 'lack of'. It was the same way he felt when he was 15 after his mother, Raine died.

"Protect me?" Squall said softly. "The only thing you succeeded in was making yourself dead to me."

Ring…Ring…Ring…voicemail.

The cycle repeated itself for about the hundredth time. Rinoa angrily slammed down the phone. A defeated sigh escaped from her lips. It was impossible to fix this. How could she when Squall wouldn't even give her a short minute to explain anything? Leaving a message wasn't an option. He'd deleted it without a second thought. Besides this was the type of thing she needed to tell him directly. Maybe she should just stop by his apartment. But she was deathly afraid. It would rip her apart to have to see the hate and hurt in his eyes as he slammed the door shut in her face. No, he wouldn't listen to her then either. The situation was curiously ironic. For her whole life Rinoa had been given anything she could ever ask for. Now for once in her life she truly desired something, but no amount of begging or whining could get her this. She wanted Squall Leonhart. Unfortunately wanting her was the farthest thing from his mind. She felt petty and cheap for having kept her identity from him. So selfish an act it had been. For any other guy, they'd probably forgive her for such a thing. But never would someone like Squall. She knew that his trust was something rare that should be ardently protected and cherished. Agonizing was the thought that Squall believed the words of that miserable snake Gillespie. When he had proclaimed he was her fiancé, the look Squall gave her made her want to die. Desperately she had tried to tell him that it was all lies, but it didn't seem that Squall really heard her. Too submersed was he in his own thoughts. A sudden awareness of dampness on her hand broke her chain of thought. She had forgotten that she'd been crying.

"Rinoa." Caraway called from the other side of the bedroom door.

Quickly Rinoa dabbed a tissue to her face in an effort to wipe away the tears. What did the man want with her now? Hadn't he done enough after he'd brought that damned imp into her life?

"What?" she asked in an almost callous voice.

"I- Rinoa…It's obvious that you're not feeling well. Like a coward I've been avoiding it, but I think that we should talk."

Rinoa laughed a cold laugh.

"You want to talk Caraway? I think you're a couple years too late for that."

Caraway didn't reply. A long pause followed. Rinoa thought that maybe he had left and she hadn't heard. There was a short click as the door opened. Caraway walked inside wearing a simple white dress shirt and black dress pants. His tie was loose in a way he'd probably prefer death to than for one of his prestigious guest to see. Faint dark circles were visible beneath his eyes suggesting sleep had eluded him for most of the night, if not for all of it. A small part of her felt compassion for him, yet a bigger part felt a petty glee. He deserved to suffer a bit, for he had been the root to so much of her own suffering. In a small part of her mind though, she knew that she needed someone to be angry at. As they say 'Misery loves company'.

"Why?" he asked her.

"Why, what?"

What was he talking about?

"Why do you always call me that? Caraway." He sat down in the sitting chair beside her bed, facing her.

Rinoa frowned. Why was he asking her this now? Clearly he must know why. She'd started calling him that two years after her mom passed away. The years when he'd distanced himself from showing any love towards his daughter. The years when she'd realized that he'd buried his heart that day in her mother's grave. It was then to be shared with no one.

"It's your name." She said indifferently. "The name of the General of Galbadia. The name you cherish most."

Caraway looked down to his folded hands.

"I heard about what happened last night. After you stormed through the house screaming about how you hated Nicholas, I called Charles Gillespie and asked what the devil his son had done."

A scowl made its way across Rinoa's features.

"I bet that the boy did you proud. Not only did he chase away the love of my life, but he made sure that you'd never have to worry about anyone seeing me with…what had you called him? 'Uneducated street scum'?" She quoted from the night he had hit her. "I bet you can't wait to have Nicholas in the family."

"What did you just say?"

Rinoa frowned. Did she really have to repeat all that?

"Which part?" she asked.

"The part about that musician boy being the love of your life."

Thinking about Squall made Rinoa want to burst into tears, but she didn't want to break down in front of Caraway.

"Yeah, well you don't have to worry about that now. He hates my guts. He thinks that I'm going to marry Gillespie. Also the fact that I kept me being the General's daughter from him certainly didn't help."

At that last part Caraway seemed totally confused.

"Why would you do that?" He asked.

Rinoa laughed bitterly.

"Hello! Do you have any idea how much that freaks guys out? Not only do they think that I'm some spoiled rotten princess with impossible standards, but they freak out about the idea that you're my father. Not only do you have ridiculous standards for whom I date, but you'd probably kill them without hesitation. Then because of the social status you put me in, anyone I'd see would immediately be thrown into the public eye, and would always be judged harshly for every little thing they ever did, just because they're dating me!"

"You should have told him who you were after you were sure he had feelings for you."

Hell must have frozen over. Caraway was actually trying to give her advice.

"Well, I wanted to." She said. Then quietly added, "but because I realized I had feelings for him, I just couldn't risk losing him. I couldn't gather the courage to tell him. Guess I paid the price for being spineless."

She couldn't believe she was saying this to him. For years she had avoided him whenever she could and only spoke to him when they were screaming in some argument. And look at her now. She was actually telling him about her personal life and he was listening. It almost seemed like he cared.

"I'm sorry, Rinoa." Caraway said softly.

What? He apologized? Rinoa shook her head. She wasn't going to be tricked by this seemingly 'genuine' apology act again. Last time she believed in it she had been rewarded with having to stuff herself into a 'look at my cleavage' dress and having that perv Nicholas feel up her ass. This time she'd stick firmly to her own resolve.

"I never meant for this to happen," Caraway continued. " I admit, I've always had what you called 'ridiculous standards' for whom you were seeing. I wanted you to be with someone who possessed a good, solid reputation. I wanted you to have someone you could rely on to take care of you…especially financially. Nicholas seemed like the perfect candidate. I was close to his father, so I felt that maybe Nicholas wouldn't be such a stranger. I believed our families were similar and that everything would be perfect…that was until I realized something. I'd forgotten the most important angle. It was how you'd feel towards him. Obviously you felt nothing remotely close to love. Still, stubbornly I thought that was something changeable. I thought that you'd learn to love him and that one day you'd be grateful for what I did. Only last night, the most obvious fact made itself aware in my mind."

"And what was that?"

"That you're just like your mother."

Rinoa sat in thoughtful silence. Her fingers played with the wedding band dangling from a fine chain clasped around her neck.

" Last night I realized something. That if I forced you into any marriage, when you'd already found your love, nothing on earth could ever make you move on. I heard you crying and it tore me apart…You'd say his name, 'Squall' then return to a fit of sobbing. It was just like you're mother. She'd whisper the name of a Galbadian soldier…her first true love. She married me when she was still in love with him, and I could never make her love me the same way. Even after we'd conceived a child. A beautiful child."

His eyes were at his hands again. One hand lifted to dab at his eye, then carefully went back to his lap. When he looked up his eyes glimmered.

"I don't know what to say." Rinoa whispered. "I'm so confused...You thought by setting me up with Gillespie, that you were actually helping me?"

"It's strange but, I thought you needed someone to take care of you in every way, financially, love, protection… I felt it was my responsibility to find that someone for you. It's clear to me now that the person I wanted to find all along was really myself. I wanted to be the man I used to be… The man who cherished the name Father most."

Determined as she was not to break down in front of the general, that's exactly was happened next. She cradled her face in her hands, her tears warming her palms.

Those words… words she'd been dying to hear since she was five years old.

Two arms slowly but strongly wrapped around her. The feeling was so foreign to both father and daughter, but the awkwardness bit by bit melted to a sense of security desperately missed by both.

"…Dad?" Rinoa whispered.

"Yes?"

"I…I've missed you."

He held her tighter. Savoring everything this wondrous moment had to offer.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Rinoa asked him, not breaking the embrace. "I can't accept losing him."

Caraway chuckled lightly. The sound was rusty to own his ears.

"Of course you won't accept the loss. You come from both a Caraway and a Heartilly. You're a fighter."

"How am I supposed to get him back?"

"Rinoa, if he really loves you then he'll have to take you back. All you can do is tell him the truth and how you feel."

Rinoa smiled. Gently she pulled back from her father.

"Dad…Thank you."

"Take it easy on the booze, man!" Zell exclaimed.

Squall just downed one. Already he was reaching for the next.

"Jeez, you've been like this every since you left Rinoa! Obviously you care about her. Be a man and take her back!"

"Zell, you don't understand, she's not the person I thought she was. Who knows what else she could've lied to me about. Not to the mention that she possibly has a fiancé."

"Say whatever lame excuse you can think of Squall, but I know that she cares for you. She's not a bad person."

Zell stormed out of the band lounge. People watched him leave with puzzled looks.

"Squall, you need to liven up and have some fun." A seductive voice crooned.

"I'd like to be alone right now, Quistis." The singer said coldly.

He hated how persistent the woman was in her pursuit of him. She didn't leave him any room to breathe. What did she see in him that caused her to be so enamored?

Quistis stood behind him, tracing lightly along his shoulders with her fingertips.

"You shouldn't be alone when you're hurt. It's not good for the heart, Squall."

His silence was her only answer.

"Talk to me, Squall. I want to make you feel better. Let me help you forget all about her."

Before he hadn't noticed the light scent of the perfume she wore. It was some kind of pleasant floral fragrance. The way her fingers kneaded at his shoulders, relieving the tension in his muscles felt very pleasing. His eyes closed in pleasure.

"She never was suited to you anyways," The blonde-haired beauty continued. "Not at all the way I am. She could never handle the life of a rock start. The traveling, the many shows, late night parties, fans…," She came around so that she stood in front of him. "And one gorgeous lead singer."

Maybe she is right. Rinoa wouldn't be able to deal with my lifestyle. It's too out of control. Maybe I need someone more like…Quistis. Someone who could handle me. Someone who won't lie to me. No…what am I talking about it's not the same. She's not Rinoa.

The woman's hands traced along his shoulders then trailed along his chest. The sensation tickled slightly yet produced a nice tingle.

She leaned forward, only a few inches from his face.

"I want to take care of you Squall. Tonight, and everynight."

The floral aroma was making him dizzy. He wanted to embrace her and breathe in the sweet scent.

Soundlessly she closed the gap between them.

She may not be Rinoa, but she'd never hurt me.

(line)

"Where to, Miss Heartilly?" Caraway's personal driver inquired.

Quickly Rinoa told him the directions.

She leaned back in her seat as the car lurched out of the mansion's driveway. She was still surprised that her father had supported he decision, and also that he'd asked her to use his car. So much had changed between the two in such a short while. He wasn't Caraway to her anymore. Anxiously the young woman toyed with her fingers. Tonight she'd tell Squall everything. He'd have to listen. He may believe everything she told him in the past to be lies, but surely he couldn't doubt the sincerity of her love for him.

Hoping for some reassurance, she reached up and grasped her mother's wedding band. The comfort she found was small, but helpful.

"Please make him listen to what I have to say…," she whispered.

The car had reached the destination. Rinoa stepped out after assuring the kindly driver that he wouldn't have to wait for long. Soon she found herself at the front door. Squall's motorcycle and car were in front of the house, so she knew he was here. But what would he do when he saw her? Would he even allow her to utter a single word, or would he slam the door in her face?

I have to try.

She knocked on the door.

There was no response.

She knocked again.

Still no response.

Oh so that's the game he's playing. He must know that it's me and he's refusing to even see me. REAL mature Squall.

She tried knocking even louder. The lack of response didn't surprise her this time. Boldly, she tried the handle and to her shock the door was unlocked.

Odd… How could Squall forget to lock the door?

She stepped inside. The house was silent. Some stray clothes trailed across the floor in the living room. They led down the hall.

A female giggle sounded through the house. The sound emanated from the hall.

"No…no…" Rinoa whispered.

It couldn't be. He wouldn't do that. It must be one of the other band mates with a groupie. It has to be.

Against her better judgement Rinoa made her way down the hall. Sure enough the sound came from Squall's room. The door was slightly ajar.

"Squall! Stop!" The familiar voice squealed. More giggling followed. " I think I heard someone knocking at the door."

"You must've imagined it. Now get back over her Miss Trepe…"

More giggling followed.

I need to get out of here. I shouldn't look. I know what's happening. It doesn't matter who she is…

She knew she should take up her own advice, but she simply couldn't.

Using one hand she forcefully pushed open the door. It slammed open revealing a shirtless Squall Leonhart holding up Quistis by her lower back. His lips had been roaming the skin of Quistis's breast that wasn't covered by her lacey bra. Now they were both looking up at Rinoa in silent shock.

Naturally Rinoa's first reaction, the one common to most human beings, was to scream her head off and call both of them off with every foul word she knew. Yet the rage couldn't hold a candle to the overwhelming sadness. She'd come here to salvage anything left of their relationship, but there seemed to be nothing left to save.

"Rinoa-What are you doing here?" Squall asked in alarm.

Rinoa smiled a bitter smile.

"Well I actually came her to tell you that I kept my identity from you because I was scared you'd leave me if I told you the truth. I also wanted you to know that Gillespie is a bloody liar. He's not my fiancé." She shook her head and laughed. "I even had this stupid idea that I could convince you how much I love you, but…"

She looked up at the nearly naked form of Quistis. Now she was clinging to Squall's arm, staring Rinoa down with disgust.

Tears spilled from Rinoa's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such an idiot."

Rinoa turned away. Turned away from the image that would haunt her every dream from now on and turn them into nightmares. She ran outside. Past the car and driver. She ran as far away as she could.