Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Cross Sword x Lion ❯ Chapter 3
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama / Hentai / Romance / Supernatural / Suspense | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.30.2002 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 471 | Status: Completed
Rinoa shifted impatiently as the elevator came to a halt and the doors finally opened. She stepped out onto the command floor, a determined but gentle smile shaping her lips as she rehearsed what she wanted to say to her husband. She was sure that once she just sat down with him and claimed his undivided attention to discuss her fears and emotions, that he would see the pain his behavior was causing. Both to her and to their marriage. It might not completely solve their problems but it would at least be a start.
She brushed back her hair and didn't bother to wait for the electronic chime to announce her before she stepped past the sensors that would trigger the sliding door to Squall's office. "Darling? Squall why is it so dark in..." Her words fell away into a small gasping cry and her hand flew to her lips as if to silence herself even as her eyes filled with tears.
'Squall'
Time seemed to freeze and her entire world contracted to the two men locked in a passionate kiss and to the searing pain in her heart. "No."
Each beat of her heart sent ice flowing through her veins and she felt burning tears scorching her cheeks even as she paled and reached to steady herself by grasping the door frame. It hit her then, nearly like a physical blow but far more insidious since it left no physical wound that could be healed and forgotten. All of the nights alone, the distance in his eyes when they were together, the wall that had slowly been building between them, it didn't come from the stress of his position as commander as she had thought. 'I've been so stupid...why didn't I see?'
She closed her eyes briefly, trembling as her lungs screamed for air since at some point she had forgotten how to breathe. The truth was, she hadn't wanted to see. She had been content in the world her mind and heart had created for her, leaving her blissfully unaware of the warning signs that were all to clear now that the truth had been brutally flung into her face. Squall was no longer in love with her...he had found someone else and in some detached corner of her mind, she wondered which hurt her worse, that she had lost Squall or *who* she had lost him to.
" Seifer." Her heartache and grief sparkled in her tear filled eyes as they opened again and quickly filled with a wounded accusation. She had loved him once before she had met Squall and even when he had fought against them as the Sorceress's knight, she had always believed that somehow they could reach him, that behind his delusions the friend she cared for was waiting to be freed.
Her faith in him had been sorely tested but in the end had been rewarded even though she had fallen in love with another man. She remembered when he had returned to the Garden, she had been so happy for him and overjoyed that no animosity had existed between her friend and her husband. Now the cruel irony only proved what a fool she had been, of course there had been no animosity... "I was so blind...how long?"
She hardly recognized the cold, emotionless voice that passed over bloodless lips as she turned her unfocused gaze between them, shaken to her soul by the depths of their betrayal. "How long?" A pressure began to build within her as her heart began to hammer against her chest. How long had they been together? Had this began the day Seifer returned to the Garden? How many times had they met together like this? How many times had she passed Seifer in the hallways and stopped to share a friendly word...only to return to her quarters that night to sleep alone while her husband 'worked'.
"Kisama...I will never forgive you..." She fell to her knees, trembling as tears flowed from sightless eyes, "I will never forgive you....koishii..." Her eyes finally focused on Squall and she breathed his name before throwing her head back as if in pain, a soft cry tearing from her throat as her emotional distress ignited the sleeping fire of her sorceress blood. 'Squall...' Sweeping angelic wings ripped from her back and she arched her spine as an agonized scream shredded her throat, leaving the taste of her own blood in her mouth. 'Why?'
An instinctive movement and she was lifted into the air, crying out again in pain as her physical and emotional torment destroyed the last of her barriers, and flooding her mind and soul with rage. Fire sang within her blood and a crimson aura formed around her before flames began to dance upon her skin, swirling around her body to flow to her hands as she raised them above her head.
For a moment, with her body glowing with her powers and the flames of her hatred embracing her winged figure, Rinoa looked every inch an avenging angel that had arisen from hell itself to strike down those who had betrayed her. The man she hated with her entire soul and the one in his arms who she loved with an equal fervor. 'Squall' Her eyes narrowed as she brought her hands down, smiling angelically as she sent a wave of fire hurtling towards Seifer.
Lifting himself up off Squall he glanced towards the area where the fireball had hit and saw the huge window that had once graced the room had been shattered and the two pillars that stood to either side of the window were burning. He was glad that he had picked up one of his Lion's habits and had a GF already junctioned to himself. He cast a blizzara on the two pillars to put out the fire.
Turning around, he looked over at Rinoa and then glanced at Squall, where the Commander stood beside the desk, a revolver model Gunblade in one hand. His eyes seemed to hold pain and the shock of Rinoa's betrayal that she would attack him.
Walking over, he stood beside Squall and studied his face for a minute before looking back at the thing that Rinoa had become. He didn't care at all for what he had seen there. He saw that same look on Squall's features twice before when he had been the Knight.
Once at the Galbadian Garden and then again at Pandora. There was a set look to his feature's almost akin to the coldness he once had shielded himself with. He watched Rinoa and then heard Squall speak softly to the woman that was once his wife.
"Why?"
The voice carried his disbelief of her betrayal and the pain that came from it. Squall watched the winged being....He would *not* call that *thing* his ...He waited for an answer and then saw another attack begin. Quickly he cast Shell over Seifer and then brought the Gunblade up into a defensive position.
Seifer felt the spell unfold around him and then glanced over at Squall. 'Damn it, Squall. Think of yourself...' He cast Shell over Squall and then looked back at Rinoa in time to see the second fireball come flying towards them. He waited and silently cursed the fact that Hyperion was sitting in its case inside his room. 'Of course I never thought I be attacked within the Garden either'
She began to tremble again as a sickening rage swept over her. "Then after seeing *you* with *him*! My husband and someone that I held as a friend...the two of you...and you dare to ask me 'why'?!" She shook her head again, her powers raging within her, demanding to be unleashed, "how the two of you must have laughed. To know that I loved you both and then to..."
She paled again, clenching her eyes shut as a sob tore from her chest making speech impossible even though her heart screamed in pain and denial. 'I loved you both...why did you do this to me. I would rather have died...' Her eyes were lifeless and dull as they opened once again and this time there was a noticeable shift as their dark depths began to change, glowing with a soft inner light.
"Squall." Living darkness exploded from her body, sweeping over her glistening wings and turning the gleaming white feathers to a sinister ebony that seemed to absorb the dim lighting of the room. "I loved you!" She began to shape the spell with her mind, dark fire racing over her body. 'May the gods help me I love you still...' Wanting to hurt him as much as he had hurt her, she threw herself into the air again, twin spears of black fire shooting from her outstretched hands, racing towards Seifer.
Seifer also watched those twin blades of fire race towards him and was unable to look away from them in time to dodge them. They hit the Shell and unlike the fireball before part of the force behind them came through and threw him back. He hit the desk hard and then everything went dark.
Squall watched as the SeeD was thrown backwards against the desk, his head and back making solid impact with the hard wood. After watching that tall frame fall limply to the floor he turned back to the black winged thing that was still hovering inside the ruined office.
His eyes were filled with both pain and fury as he shifted his stance and then charged at her with the Revolver. He didn't exactly know what threw off his aim but he missed the first strike, spinning around he leapt at the creature that claimed to *love* him and managed to strike true this time.
A line of red appeared across one wing and he landed on his feet, now glaring at the winged figure. "You are *not* *my* *wife*." he hissed through clenched teeth.
'No...' She shook her head in denial and glanced from Squall to Seifer's limp form, an anguished cry on her lips. She began to draw on her powers to heal Seifer, willing to do anything to erase the hatred she saw in Squall's eyes but knowing it would be a futile gesture. Rinoa's eyes locked with Squall's and a part of her soul died, leaving a gaping wound within her that could never be healed. 'I will always love you' She sobbed once, a sound pure grief as all of her dreams for their future shattered like a fragile crystal, each jagged shard further injuring her heart and soul.
Ignoring the fiery pain from Squall's attack, she rose to her feet and ran towards the shattered window, hurling herself from it, not caring whether or not her wings would be able to bear her weight with the injury. She hurtled towards the ground and a cry of disappointment escaped her when instinct caused her to snap them open, the sudden movement wrenching her muscles as the wind filled them. She soared through the azure sky, an angle with midnight feathered wings, bleeding both in body and soul.
'Squall...'
Japanese glossary:
Kisama - You ( very vulgar, often taken for meaning 'bastard' )
koishii - Beloved