Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Day Will Come ❯ Life Goes On ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: Life Goes on

Rinoa ran, dragging a puzzled Squall behind her. Finally she stopped when she reached the small stretch of sandy beach not too far outside the Garden. Squall could not help smiling to himself, the both of them had so much likings in common. He loved the beach, yes, he loved to spend time alone with Rinoa. The lapping of waves and the breezes of wind were all so calming and somewhat cheery, to Squall, and with the woman he loved by his side, everything seemed all so beautiful.

Rinoa walked right in front of the waves and sighed, "What a glorious night! Right, Squall?"

Squall moved up and wrapped his arms round her from behind. He drew her closer and rested his chin on her shoulder. "It's beautiful. With you."

After all that they had been through, she had her eyes on this young man for so long and all the effort had eventually paid off. She was then embraced in the arms of Squall Leonhart, the man with a heart and passion of a lion. His looks were so cool they were deceiving. He loved her so much it scared him initially. He was thankful towards her, she effortlessly tore down walls after walls of barrier that he had built up in his mind since young. Since Ellone left me. Nobody had been able to say "It's all right" and had him believing it, only Rinoa. She could express her feeling freely, openly without fear and he envied her. Now, she was the reason he looked forward to every sunrise and she was the reason he fought to be alive.

"It feels so good, Squall, to be together with everybody once again."

"I always thought it is nice to be peaceful again. No more fighting, no more blood shed. But seemed like this world is complicated." Squall remarked, absently toying with the two rings stringed together in a silver necklace round her neck. The smaller ring was Rinoa mother's, the bigger one with the shape of a lion-like creature was Squall's favourite. He had named it Griever, which also turned out to be the name of the ultimate GF (guardian force).

Rinoa tilted her head and pointed to the sky.

"Shooting stars!" exclaimed Rinoa. She quickly clasped her hands together, closed her eyes and made a silent wish.

Squall raised his head and saw more shooting stars gliding across the galaxy. He, for the first time in his life, clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.

Strange… Something is changing in me. I never believed, but now I do.

Quistis saw her share of the shooting stars from the ballroom balcony. She merely smiled at the marvelous sight of them. She wondered why she did not make any wish like she used.

Because there's nothing more for me to wish for. The sorceress has been defeated, we have brought the world peace. Rinoa is the only sorceress in the world now… Rinoa… Squall's girl.

Quistis smiled almost bitterly. She could not bring herself to admit that she had tried and tried to catch Squall's attention. But he had always given her cold shoulders.

Does he really think that I'm concern of him because he is my student?

Rinoa had got what she could only dream almost effortlessly. She could see how Rinoa was attracted to Squall and how she tried to work her way into his heart. Squall somehow gave way to her but not Quistis. Quistis had known Squall for a good three years but had never seen him smiled. Now, she gazed upon the skyline and wondered what would be installed for her the day after. She absently dropped her gaze on the distant beach. Knowing what was good for her and everyone else, she turned and walked away.

Gwen Lovett let down her hair for that evening. Zell Dincht was close beside her wherever she went. She was the librarian with a pigtail and had been fond of Zell for a long time. Happy-go-lucky spiky blond only noticed it recently and ever since then, they had gotten along very well.

"Sefie!"

Selphie turned and arched a questioning eyebrow at the handsome young hunk.

"Have you seen Squall and Rinoa around?" Irvine asked, moving closer to the girl.

Selphie frowned, "Nope but I think they are around here. Not far away. They love peace, you know!" She grinned and linked her arm with his and started marching somewhere.

"My love, may I know where are we going?"

"Oh, my dear, it doesn't matter. I have you!"

Irvine chuckled, "Yeah, you're right. And I have you too."

Rinoa pulled Squall closer and buried half her face into the fur collar of his leather jacket, whispered, "I'm still a sorceress, you know."

"I know but it doesn't matter. I love you, no matter what." Squall smiled down at her. She giggled softly as she still loved his new-found smile. He looked even more heart-breakingly gorgeous with a smile gracing his soft lips. He lowered them onto hers and sealed it with a tender kiss.

"I love you, Rinoa. I'll be here for you forever, I promise." He whispered, caressing her silky hair.

Rinoa nodded in contentment. Thank god I've found you.

"Can we stay here a little longer?"

Squall was more than happy to agree.

"Sure, I wish we could stay here forever." He replied, guiding her towards a huge palm tree.

He flipped down on the sand first and cast a Firaga on some nearby twigs. Rinoa joined him shortly. She lay in his chest and he held her close. She sighed and closed her eyes. I love you, Squall, but I can't help feeling that something bad is going to hit us again…

"Ergh! Don't tell me you eat hotdogs for every meal." Selphie squeaked as she saw Zell's plate was once again filled with nothing but hotdogs. "Don't you get tired of them?"

Zell smirked and replied proudly, "Never! Haha! I love them. I'm alive because of them!"

Selphie stuck out her tongue at him when Irvine joined them at the huge round table in the Garden's cafeteria.

"Orange juice, my dear?" Irvine bowed and tipped his cowboy hat slightly.

Selphie giggled, "Thank you, Irvy!"

Quistis stiffened a yawn as she settled her plate of noodles on the table. She had not slept much last night. Yeah, I feel so sorry for myself that I can't even sleep. Serve me right.

A pleasant young SeeD appeared beside Zell. Quistis recognized that she was the girl from last night's party. Gwen or something…

Zell jumped out of his seat nervously and nodded towards his fellow SeeD companies.

"This is Gwen Lovett. I asked her to join us for breakfast this morning." Zell looked so nervously and went so red, Selphie was beginning to worried that he might not make it.

Quistis offered a welcoming smile and gestured for her to sit down. Selphie chirped a big welcome while Irvine bowed and even shook hands with her. Selphie rolled her eyes and decided to turn her attention to their missing friends.

"Did anybody see Squall or Rinoa?" Selphie inquired, scratching her head slightly.

"We are here," a voice boomed from behind her, startling her into a yelp. Squall raised his brows at her and walked over to the empty seats. Rinoa followed suit.

"Say Squall, stop scaring my Sefie or I'll scare your Rinoa." Irvine joked, winking at Rinoa.

Rinoa laughed and shook her head. "Like you could."

Squall slapped a gloved hand to his forehead and sighed. "Sorry, Selphie."

Selphie glared at the brown-haired cowboy beside her. "I'm fine, just ignore this lame guy of mine."

After some more greetings of good morning, everybody started tucking in. There were some casual chats here and there until the intercom throughout the Garden flickered and came to life.

"Attention, this is the headmaster. Could Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas, Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly and Quistis Trepe please proceed to my office as soon as possible. Thank you."

Zell groaned and slumped back onto the chair. "Not now, not again! I'm going to miss my hotdogs…"

Squall felt the scar between his eyes began to throb again. He somehow anticipated that it would not be any good news. Whatever it might be, he knew he would be the leader again and that thought only made the throbbing worst.

"Oh, I guess we have to come back for breakfast later." Irvine put his hat on and stood up to help Selphie out of her seat.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be here to look after them until all of you are back. But in case, you know, if you guys can't make it for them, just give my cell phone a ring. I'll settle here for you." Gwen offered.

Before Zell could respond, Irvine grinned his killer grin at the girl and bowed, "How lovely of you. We'll be back, I promise. Right, Zell?"

Zell was fighting the urge to throw a few punches and kicks on the still-smiling cowboy. "Yeah, right, Love. We'll be back." He hissed through gritted teeth.

Squall sighed and slipped Rinoa's hand into his as they made their way out of the cafeteria. Quistis following the rest out quietly. She seemed almost glad to be away from the table.

I need to stop brooding around and be useful for a change. I'm no instructor material but I'm sure I'm still a SeeD.

Squall stepped in front of his friends and did a formal salute to headmaster Cid.

"Commander Leonhart and team reporting, sir. You called for us, sir."

Cid nodded to him and gestured for all of them to take a seat.

"Good morning, fellow SeeDs and Rinoa. I'm sorry to summon you again so soon but I believe we have some new missions coming up. First, I shall start with the attack on Dollet. The Dollet Dukedom is having difficulties warding off the ever-attacking Galbadia soldiers. Head of the Dukedom, Mr. Syren, has asked for our Garden's help to recapture their lost lands and to set up an agreement with the Galbadia president. The newly appointed president is Mr. Caraway."

Rinoa gasped and her pretty black eyes widened. Squall stretched over and covered her clasped hands assuringly.

"Mr. Syren notes that there's a man called General Satoshi who is in charge of the army. He believes that he is the real man behind the warring idea." He paused and let his gaze rested on the young girl in sky blue cape. "Nothing personal but I think you can handle the situation like the SeeDs, separating personal and official affairs. I'm sending you on this mission because I want to give you a choice of whether you would like to join us as a SeeD cadet or not. This will be your test if you choose to accept that offer."

Rinoa was about to say something when Cid cut her off. "Don't. Not now. Think it over and I'll like to hear from you before you leave for Deling City."

Cid gave her an everything-will-be-fine smile before reaching for a deep blue file on his desk.

"I've rejected a couple of request because I believe all of you need to take a break from those heavy-duty fighting. But besides the Dollet request, there's still another one I can't reject." He paused and caught Squall frowning, Zell could not wait to jump out of his chair, Selphie listening anxiously, Quistis looking all composed and Rinoa staring at the ground.

Can he just spit it out?

The headmaster grinned, "Laguna is requesting for a visit to Garden."

Sis… Ellone…

"And he's bringing Ellone here too. He can't wait to thank us and he apologized for not being about to make it for the celebration party after the sorceress battle. But of course I told him the situation at Dollet and he agreed to bring Ragnorak with him tomorrow evening when he arrives. He has gotten it repaired and modified in Esthar and he is gonna give it to us as a token of appreciation. That's all for my announcement today. Any questions?" He finished and looked up from the file and scanned the group.

Zell's hand shot up.

"Yes, Zell?"

"So that means that we are setting off to Dollet once Laguna and his Ragnorak arrive?"

Instead of Cid answering, a familiar voice crossed the room.

"I was thinking of asking all of you to depart the morning after. I think Laguna and Ellone would love to spend at least a dinner with you. But it's still up to you guys, and your commander." Edea graced across the room and stop beside Cid. Smiling at her children, she let her gaze set on Squall.

Squall suddenly realized that everyone's eyes were on him. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Why is it me again? What if I say the wrong things, make the wrong choice?

"Sure, Matron. We shall set off the day after." He replied was followed by a Woo-hoo and Boo-yaa from Selphie and Zell respectively. He turned and saw Rinoa smiling at him. At least I've made her smile.

"Okay, that's all for now. If there're no further questions, you are dismissed." Cid concluded.

Squall was surprised that he was not called to stay back.

"Time to finish our breakfast!" Zell cheered, giving the air a few punches before bouncing back to the cafeteria.