Chapter Eleven: Parallax - Part II

-o-o-o-

Par-al-lax (-noun.)
An apparent change in the direction of an object,
caused by a change in observational position
that provides a new line of sight.

-o-o-o-

June 9th – 8:21 pm (Two years prior – Ballroom)

Squall Leonhart hated these events, everything about them irritated him. He wouldn't have even shown up, but those damn Garden Masters would have just tracked him down. Attendance was for strictly for appearance's sake – SeeD was never a united front, they just liked to have financial contributors believe it was. Garden wanted, no demanded, everyone's attendance, especially a cadet with such high hopes placed on him for the future… That wasn't his choice either.

Sometimes he cursed himself for taking up the gunblade.

The rare blade had an inherited stigma attached to it which eluded him as a child. When he decided to wield the gunblade, it was because of a morose fascination. It was both intricately beautiful and deathly accurate. It was an elite weapon; therefore, they expected only the best to wield it. Most who decided to take it up only managed a few months, if that. It was nearly unheard of that anyone continued training into their teens, but Squall had - Seifer had.

In some ironic twist they had always challenged one another, maybe neither would have found the drive if it had not been for the accomplishments (and failures) of the other. If Seifer trained two hours, Squall would train three. If Seifer found out, he would go back and train two more.

And so it was – always.

Theirs was a back and forth relationship, although never give and take. It was built on a deep-rooted rivalry that dated back for as long as both could recall, though neither could remember why. But the 'why' wasn't important, it hadn't been for a very long time. It was this relationship that kept either from accepting failure as an option. Each would not stop until considered a master in the field, neither would be outshone by the other.

Standing in the shadows of the ballroom, Squall swirled the contents of his glass. His resentment toward this entire evening grew with each passing second. Once in a while, he would glance up and scan the room. This was more an act of military reconnaissance than care for of any of the room's inhabitants. It was like the old adage: keep your friends close, your enemies closer. He had just left that 'friends' part out of the equation entirely. It was simpler that way.

Quistis was sitting at a table casually talking to Cid Kramer and a robed Garden Master. Her actions seemed innocent to any onlooker, just mingling, but he knew exactly what she was doing. Watching him. In the corner furthest from him, a few girls stood; they would smile and then look coyly away. Really, who were they kidding? Did short skirts and errant glances think they would somehow garner his attention? They weren't from Balamb Garden because no female here would think that tactic had the slightest chance in hell with him.

In the center of the room was Seifer with his puppy-like fan club of two - and it always had to the center for added dramatic effect. Seifer's flippant attitude carried over to his social skills. A remark here, a snide comment there, and the guy truly thought the universe revolved around him.

Still, nobody had ever been able to get under Squall's skin like Seifer. They were too much alike; they were too much different. The comparisons between the two gunbladers never ceased – instructors, students, Garden Masters, and even the fucking headmaster. Their rivalry was something that seemed to be a competition before either of them could even walk.

There was no winner or no loser…

Until today.

Oh yes, today Squall Leonhart saw his justice. Seifer did not pass the SeeD exam. His rival failed publicly and in dramatic fashion at that.

And it was beautiful.

As Squall finished his second (maybe third) glass of wine, he signaled the server for another. He was sixteen and yet nobody in this place gave a damn. They could have their vices as long as they killed efficiently. He scoffed at that thought as he downed another glass. He normally wouldn't indulge but today was his victory in a way. Seifer Almasy was no more of a SeeD than he was, the arrogant jackass finally was taken down a few notches. He still respected Seifer for his abilities, he always had. At times they had even gotten along, but right now that was not the point. It wasn't like Squall to revel in other's failures, yet this just felt so damn good.

As if knowing that he was thinking about him, Seifer sauntered over. Squall acted as if he didn't notice or particularly gave a damn.

"Leonhart, see you showed your face. Thought maybe you were too cowardly to show, seeing as you didn't have the balls to take the exam."

Squall kept his composure. Seifer was trying to turn the tables on the situation, instead of Seifer's failure it would be Squall's for not even trying. It was almost ingenious, Squall thought, but he wouldn't take the bait, not this time.

"I plan on getting it right the first time," sneered Squall and then coolly added, "Oh sorry, I forgot."

July 14th 10:40am

Rinoa watched her boyfriend as he talked about Seifer, there was always something telling about his expression. Even though he had seemed to make peace with the rival gunblader, sometimes old emotions would shine through. She remained silent as he continued telling the story.

"I think he didn't exactly appreciate my comment. From there I would say the banter went back and forth, but really it was completely one-sided, well, with the exception of a few unnecessary comments from Fujin and Raijin. I had learned to shut his crap out long ago, but something he said ate at me. I didn't understand at the time why it bothered me so much, but I do now."

When he seemed to fall silent, Rinoa didn't know if she should force the issue. That was the last thing she wanted to do. "Squall, if you're not ready, you don't have to do this."

"It's not that… It's just that by talking about it now, I'm beginning to understand my reactions a little more." He looked her directly in the eyes. "And Rinoa, that's a good thing."

At that comment, she reached her hand over to his interlocking their fingers. That was the only encouragement that he needed to continue his explanation.

"I don't remember Seifer's exact wording, but the gist was along the lines of: nobody ever would want me and how people would just end up leaving once they knew the real me. Remember, this was before I remembered anything about Ellone. My childhood was just bits and pieces – but the feelings were still buried there. The first part of the comment really didn't get to me, but the second… He had hit on a very deep nerve. Between my anger and the alcohol – I just wanted to slug him. I didn't give a damn about my future."

"You didn't, did you?" Rinoa asked, unable to hold herself back.

"Well, I did eventually and broke his nose, but not until two years later." He pushed some hair out of her face. His fingers lingered on her skin just a little too long. He offered her a wry smile. "But I think you kind of know how that part of the story went."

She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Rinoa did feel slightly responsible for the incident in Trabia. Then again, there was still that small part of her that silently celebrated his actions.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," Rinoa sheepishly answered, trying her best to look innocent.

"Uh huh, sure you are…"

Squall squeezed her hand; this time it was his turn to give her a kiss on the forehead. Resting back against the headboard, he again thought about the history between them.

"Rinoa, I think it's important that you know that's not how Seifer and I always reacted to one another. Most times we were civil. I think that night the anger and aggression just boiled to a head. He wasn't always bad, but he certainly was never a saint. Then again, neither was I - no matter how much Garden tried to look the other way. Thinking back, one of the more ironic aspects to this is – that is if I have my timing right - a few weeks after that dance is when you met Seifer.

He glanced over to her. "I never found a reason to be envious of him until now - because of that summer he got to spend with you. I, on the other hand, spent that time training my ass off. I was going to make SeeD on my first try. I was determined."

She sighed, unsure how this had come back to her relationship with Seifer, but she knew it was all relevant somehow. "Squall, I think that in our own ways we both needed Seifer - for good or bad he was a necessary part of our lives. For you, he inadvertently he helped you train to become my knight. For me, well, without him I would have never come to Garden. I wouldn't have hired SeeD and we both know how that little 'purchase' turned out."

Squall didn't like to admit that he that needed anyone in his life; it was still hard for him to accept his feelings towards Rinoa at times. But 'needing' Seifer? He had to admit that the man did help shape his past. Unfortunately, that fact could never be denied.

"I suppose you're right. Just don't tell him. It will go straight to his head."

Whether he meant it jokingly or not, she laughed. "Yeah, no…he has a big enough god-complex as it is, although I do think his time in Trabia is helping."

"I check on him periodically," he admitted softly, "there seems to be progress…slow, but progress nonetheless. Of course, if you ask me if I care I'll deny it. I'll also probably deny checking on him too."

Squall knew that although Seifer played a part in that evening two years ago, he wasn't truly to blame for his actions. Nobody ever forced his reaction to their exchange in the ballroom.

"Back to the night of the dance…" Squall tried to steer this back on track. He had enough of thinking about Seifer to last him well into the next millennia. "Honestly, who knows if I would have hit him, because at that very moment a girl walked up and asked me to dance. She was forward, I remember that, but at the time I was glad for the interruption – plus I didn't need to get suspended… I hate saying this, but there was also a small moral victory that she had asked me, not him. It kind of negated part of his earlier point. So we danced. It wasn't for the same reasons I danced with you, but I won't deny it didn't happen. When we were dancing I remember her asking if I wanted to go somewhere private."

"Oh how cliché," Rinoa blurted out sarcastically. She put her free hand to her mouth realizing just how petty she was sounding. "Sorry, I'll be quiet. Promise."

"It's okay, really." He wished he could tell her how cute she looked, but it obviously wasn't the time so he just continued, "I declined and then made an abrupt exit from the dance floor, shocking right? I just wanted to get away from everything. For some ungodly reason, Seifer followed me into the hallway. Rather loudly he made several crude comments. When I didn't react, well, somehow he threw a dare in there."

Lifting their interlocked hands together, he turned so that his 'ping-pong' scar was visible. He had told her that story in Trabia only a few months before. Sometimes it shocked him how much of his life he truly exposed to her.

"You remember me telling you about our history with dares? How I got my first scar because of the magnifying glass? Well, he knew it would most likely eventually get to me… I remember him laughing at me… I honestly still hate how I let that man influence my decisions."

He then moved the arm that had been around her just enough to point to his forehead.

"And this? You know, I didn't have to give him a scar too. I didn't have to go down to his level. That was pure retaliation on my part, consequences be damned. Then even on the SeeD exam I let him influence me. The three of us were ordered to remain at the town square, but Seifer wanted to find action. Honestly, Zell was the only one who listened and sometimes I think of our group, he should have been the only one that passed. Garden just always seemed to 'overlook' my actions, Seifer wasn't so lucky. That's how it was with us… or how it used to be."

Damn it, he was doing it again. This was either because of his need to talk about Seifer or his need to avoid what came next that night. He wasn't sure.

He was disgusted at himself; he needed to just tell her. "Basically that night Seifer turned everything into challenge, I couldn't back down. It wasn't logical. Without the alcohol, I doubt I would have fallen for it… I still don't know what the hell I was thinking, or more like, wasn't thinking."

"So the girl you danced with …" she stopped as it was rather difficult to say.

"Yeah, I went back and found her in the crowd. Just like that I asked her back to my dorm, my roommate was supposed to be gone for another week. At first, my reasons for taking her there were strictly about pride… But once we got there, I forgot all about that. I just wanted her there. For once, I didn't want to follow the rules. I didn't want to have the appearance of perfect student anymore. I wanted a physical release…or god help me, that's what I thought I wanted. It wasn't – it wasn't at all. For one time in sixteen years, I didn't want to give a fuck about consequences."

He paused, "Rinoa I'm not going to say that it didn't get far, because it started to…and honestly, I had no intention of stopping, but right then the door flew open. She and I, we never even made it as far as my bedroom. We were right there in the common area. So when Wimbly opened the door, he saw a lot…but stopped a whole lot more."

"So your roommate…" she began, but never finished the sentence.

Rinoa felt his arm tighten around her; he must have taken her comment as anger. It wasn't. It was more along the line of shock, and honestly, a whole lot of thankfulness – although she would have accepted the story either way.

"Yeah, he did. He wasn't supposed to be there but somehow that changed. I think I scared the poor guy to death, in the three years that we roomed together, I probably talked to him on maybe a half-dozen occasions. So what was my reaction? To yell at him for walking into his own room. I usually hold my anger in, but this night…I have no idea what happened, everything just manifested itself. I scared the girl off somewhere in there. Honestly, it barely registered when she left the room. I was too pissed at the wrong person. Wimbly ended up leaving Garden with his girlfriend about two weeks later. I always wondered if I had something to do with it. I said things that could never be taken back."

"Squall, I don't think it was because of you, though you can be scary when you want. I just think if someone is going to give up years of training that their decision probably isn't made overnight. I can see asking to transfer rooms, but giving up on a life's goal? I really don't think so. It's funny, I never heard you mention your roommate before."

"You never asked." He said it like it was most obvious thing in the world. "Plus, as a general rule back then, I avoided thinking about others whenever possible. Wimbly was nice enough, I suppose… That is, if you like people. He was a few years older…a little different in his own way, but honestly, I'm not the person best suited to judge someone's personality. If anything about him, I'm actually glad to see that he stayed with his girlfriend. Good for him."

"Oh, look at you… See, I knew you were a big romantic."

"You know, you shouldn't say things like that. That's how rumors get started."

"We wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Rinoa reached her finger up and playfully tapped him on the nose. He seemed slightly agitated but didn't say anything. She tried to suppress a giggle as she rolled so she could place her head on his chest.

Rinoa remained such an enigma to him sometimes. She seemed not to have commented much on the girl, which he could understand, maybe it was better that way. He shook his head as he gently pulled her closer finally admitting, "I just don't know why he would invite me to his wedding."

"Well, you did live together for three years. It could just be proper etiquette or maybe it's because you're the commander now, who knows. So…you going to go?"

"I wasn't planning on it. What exactly do I say to him: sorry I yelled at you for walking in your own door and finding me making out with some stranger?"

"You're telling me there's no greeting card for that? I'm shocked."

Rinoa tried to put the situation in perspective. It was ironic how the latter part of that night was bothering Squall more than his dancing companion. Rinoa honestly realized that once they had gotten past that aspect of the evening, Squall's bigger reason for regret was how he had treated his roommate. She doubted a year ago he would have felt bad, now it was weighing heavily on him.

It also proved just how little that girl meant to him.

Maybe he really did believe Rinoa was the first person he had ever kissed. After thinking about his earlier statement, she truly thought that could have been one of the most romantic things he had ever said – even if it was completely inadvertent at the time.

"Squall, you could just go to the wedding and wish him well. That could just be your version of a white flag. He probably still has a great respect for you and just supporting him in his future would mean something."

"I never thought you'd react this way to any of this. I guess I was afraid to bring up the past. I wasn't sure how you would take it."

She nervously bit her lip, realizing just how seriously this could have been interpreted. "Squall…I just can't believe how Ultimecia twisted it. I mean, if you hadn't told me the truth… It's scary how something like this could be taken out of context – well, was taken out of context. I was more upset with you three months ago than I am now. Things like this and my history with Seifer, these are things we have to get out in the open."

"It's not exactly that easy, Rinoa. Believe me, I'm trying, but it isn't just going to magically happen as much as either of us wants."

Rinoa realized that she had not commented about his run-in with the other woman. She also knew that she needed to, if not he may think that she was still upset. Strangely, she wasn't and she needed to clarify that.

"I want you to know that even if something had happened with her…you know," she him-hawed around before finally blurting it out, "sex, I mean if you had sex."

Rinoa immediately stopped when she realized how ridiculous she sounded; of course he would know exactly what she had meant. That was certainly one aspect that she didn't need to clarify. She nervously tried to continue, wishing that she could just hide under the covers, "I, um… well, you know what I meant, sorry. I just want you to know that it wouldn't change how I feel. It wouldn't change a thing between us."

"Thank you, that means a lot."

He had been slightly taken aback that Rinoa had been so forward in her earlier wording, although it appeared that she was equally as shocked. Both of them seemed to dance around that issue directly concerning their relationship. He knew that would have to change, but right now that wasn't the issue. "Rinoa, just know that she didn't mean anything, I promise you that. I just wish I'd been able to stop myself and not Wimbly. I do blame myself for that."

"Don't blame yourself – just think of this way, maybe you had a guardian angel watching over you, or maybe fate just had other plans for you, for us. You know, I think we were really meant to fumble through our first time together."

He raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at her. "Fumble? I'd like to thank you for the vote of confidence."

She released her grip on him, bringing both her hands to her face in utter embarrassment. If she thought it couldn't get worse after her 'sex' comment, she basically just judged him on an encounter that hadn't happened yet.

"I want to die, I want to die," she mumbled to herself, but still loud enough for him to hear her.

He pulled her hands away, urging her to look directly at him. "I'm kidding. It's all right, Rinoa. I know exactly what you meant. For the record, there's nobody else who I could talk to like this. I'm grateful everyday that we'll be 'fumbling' through this together." He lifted her chin with his thumb as he gently rubbed the side of her face with his fingers. "So now you know everything."

She knew this wasn't easy on him. "I do…and I love you even more if that's possible."

He moved closer and gently placed his lips upon hers. He couldn't help what felt natural to him anymore, but he didn't have time to ponder that. At least, they had the place right; it was just the 'time' that was way, way off. For just a moment, he was glad for the distraction that she offered from his job, so very glad. His hands moved until they guided her down on the bed and carefully propped himself up on top of her. He wanted these few stolen moments even if technically, they were still on 'Garden time.' They owed him much more than this small break, he figured.

Even though it couldn't go much further, it didn't mean they couldn't at least lose themselves for a little bit. Their kisses deepened as his hands roamed rather freely around her body. He had been getting more courageous over the last months. After a minute, or two…or five, he finally broke their connection propping himself on his elbows above her.

"Best break ever." She smiled up at him.

He let out a small laugh before giving her a few more kisses on the lips. They lingered a little bit longer before he rolled over onto his side. They were both laying on the bed, sharing his pillow, his arms still firmly holding her.

She traced his jaw line with her finger as she finally brought this encounter full circle. "So, you never answered me – do you think you're going to the wedding?"

"Perhaps… I did leave things badly. It wouldn't be the time or place to say anything, but maybe just going would be a peace offering."

He remembered Irvine's words of warning – never take a female to a wedding, but then just as quickly, he realized that he didn't care. There were worse things in the world than sitting through a small ceremony and they had already faced a plethora of them.

"So, you doing anything October? Feel like meeting my old roommate?"

"I'd be honored to. I'm pretty sure my entire month's free. Strangely, my social calendar is not abuzz like one would think…"

"Then we'll do this together. Please, just don't back out on me. Honestly, I'm not sure how well I'd do floundering on my own. It's not like I've ever been to one of these things before."

"You what? You've never been to a wedding? Are you serious?"

"Shockingly, my social calendar wasn't 'abuzz' before becoming commander either…not like my name was synonymous for being the life of the party."

He wished again that he could have returned the favor and accompanied her to Deling City. Somehow things often revolved around him taking steps forward and opening up, when honestly, she needed just as much encouragement at times.

"Rin, just think about going to the party with your father. I know it isn't what you want and I wish I could really be there, but maybe it would be the start to your own peace offering. You could take Selphie or Quistis or something, there's no rule that says it has to be me. Your friends are there for you too."

"I just can't." Rinoa looked down at his bedspread avoiding his gaze. "Squall, I wish I could find the strength to face him. Not yet...and not without you. I know the others would be there for me in an instant, but it just wouldn't be the same. As you said, some things don't magically happen. I need time."

She sat into an upright position and Squall quickly followed her lead. With a wistful smile, she reached down and grabbed a pen from her purse. Shaking her head, she hesitated. Why was marking this invitation so hard when the answer seemed so simple to her?

Pushing all doubt from her mind, Rinoa checked the box which offered her condolences. She could face her father another time, at another event, with her knight by her side. Turning to Squall, she handed him the pen. He didn't verbally acknowledge anything only accepted the object. Then he silently reached over and grabbed his own invitation from the nightstand.

As he checked the box, he thought nobody would be more surprised at his response than his former roommate. This was a step into his past – a step that he was glad he was making.

June 9th – 11:58 am (two years prior – Deling Train Station)

"Miss, I hate to bother you, but do you happen to know if there's an ATM around?"

The voice startled Rinoa out of her trance. Surprised, she looked up from the book that she had been reading. She was so lost in its pages that she hadn't noticed when the young man took the seat on the bench next to her. Closing the book, she offered a friendly smile trying to recall if she had seen a machine around in working condition. It wasn't like she spent much time in the Deling City train station. Since moving to Timber a few months ago, she actually tried to avoid this city as much as possible.

"Um, I'm not really sure, I know they have one upstairs but pretty sure it's been out of order for some time. I think that you'd have to leave the station and head a few blocks east to find one that actually works."

"Perfect," the young man said leaning back on the bench. "Do you ever have that feeling that all the laws of nature and the universe are conspiring against you?"

"Pretty much every day," Rinoa laughed.

She looked at him; he seemed to be having the kind of day that mirrored her life. Why she even came back to this damned city was beyond her. It was either stubborn pride or obstinate hope or a combination of both that brought her back. Sometimes she and Caraway were more alike than either of them care to admit.

Today's earlier round of arguing with her father proved just as futile as every other bout over the last sixteen years. Since her day was already beyond repair, maybe she could do something to help this guy. Rinoa figured at least somebody's day shouldn't suck as much as hers.

She honestly doubted that she could do much for the poor guy. The few Gil she had borrowed from Zone and Watts were almost gone. So in the money department, she was severely lacking. Maybe he just needed someone to vent his frustrations with, even talking to a stranger was better than suffering alone.

"Is there anything I can do? You really do look like you're having a bad day."

"I wish you could help, but unless you have a way of getting me to Balamb by this evening, I think I'm on my own. Apparently, it is my destiny to spend the rest of my natural life waiting at train station."

"Sorry," she apologized, feeling sincerely bad for him. "Trust me, if I had an airplane or spaceship or something it would be yours to use…this waiting around to board thing is getting old. Hopefully next year I'll be driving. Then again, getting money to buy a car is half that battle. So basically, I'll probably be destined to take these trains for eternity."

"A space ship would be nice," he agreed, "but you know how badly those depreciate in value. Once you launch it off the lot, the resale value goes down by at least fifty percent."

The young woman laughed as she extended her hand, "By the way, I'm Rinoa… figured the least I could do was introduce myself, as apparently, we're both going to grow old sitting here. Not to mention, I'm totally bored to death and for some godforsaken reason, I picked up a stupid romance novel at the gift shop… ugh, it's so cheesy. It's not like this stuff ever happens in real life."

He took her hand with a smile. Wimbledon would have given her his first name, but he had always despised it with a passion, so he opted to introduce himself by his nickname, the one that wasn't a derivative of his first name. It was something that a few of the other kids called him when he first entered Garden; somehow they had his last name of 'Donner' misspelled on the attendance form, the typo stuck.

"My friends call me Donney. And you never know, maybe you'll get your own spaceship and find your own version of a romance novel one day. It's not like we can predict the future."

She smiled. "That's true, sometimes I just need to remember that."

He sighed as he looked at the timetables posted on a nearby board. "At this rate, you'll probably have a better chance of getting those things than me getting back to Garden tonight."

"Oh, you attend Garden… guess that makes sense why you're headed to Balamb. I bet living there is… fun."

Rinoa couldn't hide the sarcasm in her voice; she didn't exactly have the highest opinion of anything related to organized military. Her father had irritated her enough today. Right now, she wanted to get as far away from this city as humanly possible or at least back to Timber, that would be close enough for now. She had people who cared for her there.

Wimbly scratched the back of his head. He didn't know if he had hit a nerve. It wasn't a secret that many people didn't like Garden. Honestly, he wasn't thrilled with with either.

"Trust me, Garden's not the nonstop barrel of monkey-fun one would think. If I wasn't in charge of planning all the parties there, I think I would have dropped out a few semesters ago...which sadly, was one of the main reasons I wanted so desperately to get back tonight. It's the yearly ball for the graduating SeeDs. My girlfriend was so disappointed when I was going to be away. It would have been an awesome surprise to walk in that ballroom tonight. The whole thing kinda means a lot to us."

"Ahh, that's so sweet. I'm so sorry I can't help. But see, at least one of us could still end up in that romance novel…maybe the fact you tried so much will mean something to her. I know how I would feel."

She paused as a thought occurred to her. "Wait, are you saying that you planned this party tonight and won't even be there? That would be absolutely horrible."

"It does suck. I'm getting so tired of the shit there, between my idiot roommate and the ridiculous course load… Trust me, I spend way too much time planning these parties and hanging out with my girlfriend. I have a hard time with pretty much everything else."

"I bet the parties there are really something to see… and I know you must do an amazing job. Are you sure there's not any chance of getting back in time?"

"No, the only train to Timber that has tickets available leaves Deling at five. The one that leaves in forty-five minutes is sold out. I tried, trust me, I tried. I need the early train to make the connecting one to Balamb. I already tried to get on the standby list, however, that also is apparently full. What is there to do in Timber anyhow? It's a nice place, but apparently everyone and their mother's-brother's-second-cousin-twice-removed wants to be there this weekend."

Rinoa giggled. That was an expression she hadn't heard before and truthfully didn't exactly understand. "I'm not sure about the mother's-cousin thing, but I do know for a fact that this is the weekend Timber Maniacs have their annual writing conference. It's a chance for those politicians to play nice with the press - things in that respect are getting kind of bad around these parts."

Rinoa glanced down on the cover of the book in her lap. It really was a tackily painted picture, but at least they looked happy... Maybe her life would never be based off a novel, but maybe she could make somebody else's fairytale ending come true – or at least give it a push in the right direction.

"Um, you said it would make a difference if you could get on the earlier train?"

"Yeah, they still have plenty of seats on the four o'clock train to Balamb. I mean that's the connecting train I need to get back to Garden. It's just getting to Timber that's impossible – getting out, not so hard. I'd get to Garden a little after nine. The party really doesn't start til then, it's when the live band shows up… before that it's all pomp, circumstance, and politics. I'd just have to run quickly to my room and change into my uniform. Luckily, I don't need much time to get ready besides the clothes."

Rinoa smiled. There was just something that felt so right about this. "You know, it's not like I have anything to do tonight… So, um, would you be interested in swapping tickets? I just so happen to be on the one o'clock train to Timber."

"Are you serious?" He had not expected this as rarely had things in his life worked out this way. Someone was literally offering him the chance to get home early, to see his girlfriend, to go to his party.

"Very serious. I wouldn't have said I if I didn't mean it. Plus, you know, gives me more time to sit here and read this book. Who knows, maybe it gets better as it goes on…right now the main hero just isn't much of a hero, he's rather annoying."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don't know how I can ever repay you for this, I've been gone nearly three weeks she'll be so surprised. Promise me if you're ever in Balamb you'll look me up. Hey, I could always set you up with my roommate. We could all go on a double date."

"Wait, I thought you said he was an idiot?"

"Well, idiot may be a little misleading…but it's pretty damn close. Don't worry, I doubt that he'd go out with you anyhow. The fact that you are both female and have the ability to speak would probably scare him."

"Ah, got it... Well, as long as he's happy."

"Him, happy? You don't realize what an oxymoron that statement is. I guess I should say the guy dislikes people in general."

"Ha, maybe he can give this guy in my book a run for his money, but either way, I think I'll pass." Rinoa laughed, his roommate certainly sounded like everything she always tried to avoid. "Just promise me you'll have fun tonight."

"I will. Promise. Again, thank you… you don't know how much this means to me. There is just something so romantic about these formal dances. You know… it's also where I met my girlfriend two years ago. No kidding, I saw her at the punch bowl and honestly thought, 'there's the girl I'm going to marry.' Suppose that sounds just as cheesy as your story."

Wimbly laughed, he honestly had no idea why he said that to her, she probably thought he was nuts and maybe he was.

"No, that's possibly the most romantic thing I've ever heard," Rinoa said as she handed this near-stranger her ticket. "Take this, get to your dance, and then at least one of us gets their happy ending."