Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Lost Love Returns ❯ A Lost Love Returns ( One-Shot )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The house was a lonely one, and Rinoa stared wistfully at the long-familiar walls before ringing the doorbell. She shifted the container of food along the length of her left arm before pushing the button again. Edea-san's hearing was fading, and Rinoa knew she could spend a good ten minutes standing by the old woman's gate before she was let in. time she didn't have to wait that long. Edea-san came tottering out the door, a welcome smile on her face. "Ah, Rinoa-chan. It's good to see you again. How long has it been?"
"I brought you dinner yesterday, Obaasan," she replied politely, as her neighbor ushered her in. old woman nodded. "Ah, yes, I remember. You used to stay here every afternoon, dear. Been busy with school?" bit the sides of her mouth before answering. There were other reasons, of course, but there was no need to bring them up now. This excuse was good enough for now. "Yes, Edea-san." As was her habit, she bustled around the kitchen fixing the woman's meal. This was a like a second home to her ever since she was a child, and even time could not erase the fact that she knew her way around this house. Whenever her family had any extra food or if there was a special occasion, she immediately went next door to give some to her old friend. Sometimes, it felt like old times. Others, all Rinoa felt was the gnawing emptiness of someone who had been left behind. was one of those empty times. best be going now," she told the old woman with a polite bow, after she had transferred the food in a bowl. "If you need anything, you know we're just next door." patted her cheek softly. "I know that, dear. Run along."
The living room was dimly-lit, but even in the afternoon sun, Rinoa knew very well the pictures that decorated the room. There was an old wedding picture by the trunk on the east side of the house. There was a photo of a much younger Edea-san holding her baby daughter proudly in her arms. And scattered in nearly every corner were pictures of a young boy, wild brown hair blowing in every direction, an easy grin on his hopeful face. One of those pictures contained her, his arm draped casually around her shoulders, both of them smiling proudly at the camera, displaying their eleven-year old bandages and battle scars. swallowed around the lump in her throat. Five years, and still how she hurt. "I'll be back tomorrow to cook you dinner, if you don't mind," she said. the old woman was already shaking her head. "It's all right, dear. You don't have to bother. You see, Squall is coming home tonight."
* * * night, a loud motorcycle broke the silence of the evening. Rinoa scrambled from under her futon to peer out the window, to look upon a face she hadn't seen in years. the distance, a dog howled at the full moon. had changed so much since the last time she saw him. The brown hair hung in a long, jagged mane that nearly covered half of his face. He had grown taller, filled out more, and there was a dangerous air in the way he stood by the gate. stood there for the longest time. She sat unwavering by her window. didn't ring the doorbell. He did not even make the slightest noise to announce his presence to his grandmother. And just when Rinoa thought that he was going away, she saw Edea-san walking slowly to the front gate. For a moment, grandmother and grandson just stared at each other, before the woman engulfed him in an embrace. thought she heard her say, "Okaeri." * *
Rinoa's thoughts were in turmoil as she tied her hair back into its usual ponytail. She was running late for school, owing to the fact that she barely slept the night before. As she raced down the stairs, she only had time to grab a piece of bread off the table before hastily saying goodbye to her parents. She heard her father turn to her mom and her older brother to ask, "Are we early?" knew what he was thinking. She was almost never late for school. For years, Rinoa has lived up to her reputation as the model student, the perfect daughter. Even all those years as Squall's best friend hadn't sullied her image; she was always his voice of reason. she crossed the street, Rinoa noticed him from the corner of her eye, tinkering with something in his motorcycle. A tiny silver stud gleamed defiantly on his left ear. He was wearing a black high school jacket that opened to reveal a plain white shirt underneath, and she got the impression that the uniform wasn't his, hanging loosely on his lean frame. He glanced up the same time she craned her neck for a better look, as if he knew that her eyes were on him. Momentarily flustered, she stopped. What did anyone say to someone who once meant more than life to her, to someone who changed her life then left her behind without any explanation? she managed softly, raising a hand in awkward recognition.
But he didn't respond. And this was the guy who had, a long time ago, rushed to her house every afternoon even if they had spent the entire day together at school. This was the guy who had gone looking for her the first time she had tried to walk home from school alone. This was the guy who kept his prized gunblade in her room for safekeeping. Five years was a long time, but she never understood how it could change a person so much. me, Rinoa," she added, unable to keep the hopeful note out of her quavering voice. Maybe he just didn't recognize her. Maybe she was the one who had changed. still there wasn't even the slightest flicker of recollection in those undefined. And this was the guy she had loved more than life itself. * *
It was after lunch period when he made his appearance at school, calmly walking in despite the slightly annoyed expression on the vice-principal's face as she introduced him. "Everyone, this is Squall Leonhart. Please welcome him into your class." kept that stoic expression on his face, even when he had the rest of the class greeting him politely. Mrs. Trepe instructed him to sit in the back, making Rinoa breathe a sigh of relief. At least he was in the opposite end of the room, far away, she hoped, from the vicinity of her thoughts and her eyes. Let him be someone else's seatmate, someone else's friend. After all these years, she had imagined their reunion to be different, not a meeting between strangers. She knew deep down that this was not the same person she had known, and that knowledge was a vise around her heart. Leonhart-san is new to this class, I will be needing someone responsible and dedicated to help him catch up," Hibiki-sensei said. Rinoa's heart sank as their teacher's eyes settled on her. "Heartilly-san, will you do the honors?" nodded mutely. Beside her, her best friend Selphie reached over and squeezed her hand. Selphie had been a classmate since their elementary days. She had known the younger Squall as well, known how devastated Rinoa had been to wake up one morning and find that he had left. Through junior high, the two girls had gotten closer and Rinoa knew that her friend understood what she was feeling. was right. As they filed out of class when the final bell rang,Selphie whispered to her, "You didn't tell me he was back. Did anything happen?" shook her head. "Nothing at all." studied her face carefully. "Are you okay? You look a little pale." managed a small smile. "Let's just say I can be better." She paused when she saw him walk past them, as if he couldn't wait to leave the school grounds. He cut a striking figure in that black uniform, a shadow. she heard the whispers start up from behind them. "I heard he's a member of the Yakuza. They said he's been arrested for murder but that the police couldn't hold him for lack of evidence," a girl muttered. heard he carries a gunblade," her friend supplied. no," a guy butted in. "A reliable source told me he's the lovechild of a famous rock star and if you look real closely you'll know which star it is." (hint hint for the Gackt fans)anything, the growing number of speculations about Squall -- the worse, the better-- made for good schoolyard gossip. Rinoa just rolled her eyes at Selphie until someone grabbed her arm. "You'll be his partner, Rinoa. What do you know about him?"
"I know that he used to like putting bananas in his peanut-butter sandwiches. And that when he was nine years old he promised to own the largest gunblade collection before he turned twenty," she answered softly, ignoring the looks that her classmates exchanged, as if she was out of her mind. "I used to know a lot of things about him, but I don't know if any of them are still true. * * * * minute she got home, Rinoa arranged her notes carefully. If she was going to help him, then it was better to have it over and done with as soon as possible. She snuck a peek next door. Yup, the motorcycle was still there. He had to be home. of habit, she took another one of their containers and placed a generous amount of steamed fish for Edea-san's dinner. Unlike some people she could mention, she knew better than to disappoint someone who had come to count on her. opened the door on the second ring. For the first time in five years, he spoke to her. His voice was deeper than she had imagined, deeper and colder. "What do you want?" thrust out the container of fish and the notebooks. "Dinner for you and your grandmother. And I came to help you with the lesso--" don't need your help," he said curtly, walking to the gate to take the container from her hands. "My grandmother thanks you for dinner."
She summoned up every amount of courage to speak to his retreating back. "Listen, Squall, you really need to--" He stopped, but he didn't look back in Rinoa's direction. "Don't presume to tell me what I need." then, Edea-san hobbled to the door, a wide smile on her face. "Ah, Rinoa-chan! Come on in, dear." shook her head. "No, thanks, Obaasan. I have to go home and get started on my homework." what I've been telling my grandson here to do," the woman revealed. "I told him, if you're going to work tonight--" Squall cut his grandmother off, but she just kept right on. better get those books out instead of cooking and cleaning around the house," Edea-san added. he repeated, his tone darkening as he cast an irritated glance at Rinoa for not leaving sooner.
"He's a bartender now, you know. In that new club downtown. Someday, he'll be a famous musician," Edea-san finished proudly. let out a huge sigh. "You know you shouldn't be standing in the night air," he reminded her as he ushered her inside. "Look, here's dinner." He looked back at Rinoa. "She has to leave. Now."
She could only echo his words, bowing politely even if the old woman probably couldn't see her. "I guess I'll see you around, Edea. I'll go ahead." don't need looking after," he told her before following his grandmother into the house. Thirty minutes later, when she was bent over her Geometry assignment, she heard the defiant screech of his motorcycle as it tore into the silence of the night. * * * *
He skipped classes with an audacity that amazed her, and on times that he showed up in school at all, they conveniently avoided each other. For Rinoa, that simple exchange had been enough to tell her to keep her distance; it was actually better for her heart. Only on times when conversation was necessary did she attempt it. cut through the organs," she warned him one day during Biology class, as they were attempting to dissect an earthworm. reply, but he loosened his grip on the razor just the same. She carefully pinned the loose skin. "We'll have an exam on identifying the parts after this." no reply. I don't know what I keep doing wrong," Rinoa finally told him. start on the write-up," he said. * * * *
That night, Rinoa noticed that Squall left earlier than usual, just a little before dinner. After that first night she had brought the steamed fish over, she had reluctantly refrained from visiting Edea-san. They only met now in the afternoons, when she was on her way home and he was nowhere to be seen. She would cut it short whenever she heard the roar of his motorcycle a block away, disappearing into the house when he came rushing down the street. wondered if Edea-san was all right. Then she shook her head. Squall had made it very clear that they did not need looking after, and if they did, she probably wasn't the one to do it. downstairs, she heard her mother call out, "Do you mind taking some udon next door? I made more than the usual."
"Got homework, mama!" she replied ruefully. Normally, she would have taken every moment Squall was away to visit his grandmother, but this time, she really was up to her eyebrows in homework. When she heard her mother slip out of the door, she turned back to her History notes.
She was interrupted minutes later by a frantic shrieking from next door. Rinoa flew down the stairs and out the door only to see her mother bent over Edea-san, lying facedown on the ground. * * * * had managed to bring Edea-san to the hospital, where they were keeping her for a few days after her cardiac arrest. Her mother and her brother were staying at the hospital for more news, and they had sent Rinoa to find Squall. She had protested at first, saying that they should just wait for him to come home since she wasn't really sure where he worked. But her oniisan just patted her shoulder and said, "You'll know where to find him." there she was getting off the downtown station, almost lost. All Edea-san said was that he worked as a bartender in the newest club downtown. A quick call to Selphie told her that there were only two bars that opened since August, a couple of weeks before Squall came back. Luckily, she got it right the first time. Leonhart?" the beefy bouncer at the door asked. "He's in there," he said, jerking a thumb towards the entrance. Rinoa replied politely. She had barely taken two steps towards the door when the bouncer held her back. your rush, sweetie? The place is a madhouse, ya know? Your boyfriend won't be able to talk to you," he told her. "Besides, minors not allowed, ya know."
She opened her mouth to retort that Squall was her age too and that it was strange for a club that didn't allow minors to hire them, but since she didn't know what Squall's story was, she decided to keep her mouth shut about that. But that didn't mean that she wasn't going to protest the guy's heavy hand on her arm. She shook her arm free, saying, "Then can you call him, please? It's an emergency."
"Aww, c'mon, sweetie, any emergency can wait, ya know?" the man insisted, still making a grab at her.
A small crowd had gathered around them, mostly curious barhoppers who just wanted to see what the fuss was about -- and was pointedly not interfering with their exchange.Rinoa tried one more time to reason with the guy, dancing away from his grip. "Please sir, it's really important. I need to talk to Squall. Onegai!"
But at her final words, the guy had finally grabbed her. To make matters worse, the crowd didn't help her any; instead they clapped at the bouncer's skill. So when he pulled her close, she couldn't help but let out a small shriek.
A few heartbeats later, a firm hand rested on the bouncer's hand. "I don't think she enjoys what you're doing, Raijin."
At his words, the bouncer released his hold on Rinoa. "Hey buddy, I was just having fun with your girl." ran to Squall's side. Her words came tumbling out of her mouth, her earlier incident with Raijin now forgotten. "You have to come quick, Squall. Your grandmother collapsed and we had to bring --"
He didn't wait to hear more. He grabbed her hand and broke into a run, pulling her behind him. Raijin interrupted. "You can't just leave, Leonhart-- we've got customers ya know!"
"I don't give you hell when you flirt with the customers instead of doing your job," Squall answered quietly. Raijin's face darkened. "Chikuso! You'd bet I'll tell management about this."
Rinoa could feel Squall's muscles tighten; he was still holding her close. "Do what you want." Then he turned to leave, in that coolly indifferent way of his.
"Squall? I hope I didn't make you lose your job there," Rinoa told him once they reached his motorcycle. "Hop on," was his only reply. Rinoa climbed up behind him, gingerly holding on to the end of his jacket. When he turned to hand her a helmet, she could see a faint flicker of a smile in his eyes. "You'll fall that way," he told her.
As she tightened her grip around him, he started the huge bike. They flew down the street, and she shouted out the directions to the hospital. Finally, she gathered the courage to thank him for rescuing her from Raijin. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come along," she said. "How did -- how did you know I was there?"
"You were making enough noise to raise hell," he replied over one shoulder.
Privately, Rinoa thought that she didn't call attention to herself until the very last minute, but she didn't want to contradict him. They remained silent for the rest of the ride, and she was glad that it was mercifully short. When they reached the hospital, they found out that Edea-san had been moved from the ER, and was now resting. Rinoa's mom patted Squall comfortingly on the shoulder as she broke the good news, and Rinoa was surprised that Squall didn't flinch at the display of affection.
She lingered a while inside the room even as her mom turned to leave. Squall had his back to her, his full attention on his sleeping grandmother. "Uh, so, uh... I guess I'll see you around," she told him, already halfway out the door.
"Rinoa." was the first time he had ever spoken her name since he had returned, and it sounded so different when it came from his lips, as if she had never heard it before.
"Arigatou." * * * *
"Rinoa-chan, you came!" Edea-san greeted when she visited them at the hospital the next day. Squall looked up from where he was fussing over his grandmother's meal and gave her a small nod. Rinoa couldn't help the bright smile that broke out on her face at his response.
"I brought home-cooked dinner," she told the woman. Turning to her grandson, she added, "Plus I have your homework." She knew that was the furthest thing from his mind right now, but she just wanted to do as much as she could for him. She placed the packed dinner and the notes on the nearby table.
"Isn't she a sweetheart?" Edea-san beamed while Squall just grunted. "Unpack that dinner, boy, and give Rinoa a drink," she instructed.
"Oh, no, Edea-san," Rinoa protested. "I just came to see how you were doing and to drop off these things. I really have to go home now."
Edea-san frowned. "But you just got here."
"Gomen ne, I really need to go," she insisted, backing towards the door.
The old woman finally conceded. "All right, dear. Why don't you see her to the station, Squall? It's just a few minutes from here."
"I don't want to leave you alone," Squall replied, just as Rinoa said, "It's all right, I can manage."
Edea-san clicked her tongue. "You two used to be inseparable and now you hardly spend time together. Go on. I really can manage by myself for a few minutes. Think of it as my way of saying thanks to the Heartillys for saving me yesterday."
"Thank you, Obaasan," Rinoa said, bowing deeply. "I'll go ahead."
"Take care, you two," the woman's reply floated after them as they left the room.
They walked the first few minutes in silence before Rinoa spoke. "Listen, you really don't have to do this. I can walk to the station by myself."
"My grandmother's right," Squall interjected. "Think of it as our thanks." He paused. "Besides, I don't think I can trust you to take care of yourself after all these years."
It was the first time he had acknowledged their shared history together, and her heart leaped unexpectedly, no matter how much she had tried to quell the rising emotion. "FYI, last night was an exception," she told him. "I take up karate now."
"A lot of good that did you," he replied, but his tone was light.
"I still know how to make a mean uppercut if the situation calls for it," Rinoa boasted.
"That's 'cause you learned from the best," he quipped back.
She laughed. "Three years ago, I practiced that uppercut on that bully Seifer -- remember him? -- and he cried so much that I felt so sorry for him so I did his homework for a week."
He didn't reply immediately so Rinoa thought that she might have bored him. As she opened her mouth to apologize, Squall said seriously, "You're too kind, you know."
Rinoa was suddenly on the defensive. "And what's wrong with that?"
"Kindness is weakness. You let people walk all over your heart, Rinoa," he told her. "You have to protect yourself."
"And what, build walls to keep everyone out?" she retorted, knowing the barbed implication inside her words.
"Sometimes it's better that way."
She stopped in her tracks and looked up at him, trying to remember the boy she knew in the cold hard face before her. "Sometimes it hurts more."
Squall opened his mouth to say something, but a movement caught his eye. He turned slightly, and Rinoa could see his jaw tighten visibly at the tired woman standing before them. She did not need any further introduction to this woman. It was a face that Rinoa recognized from memory, bending over them in motherly concern countless times before. But there was something different now, something that she knew had changed this woman. From the corner of her eye, she could see that Squall's expression had darkened, in a mixture of anger and frustration and maybe, sorrow.
"Okaasan," he said distantly. He didn't notice that Rinoa had discreetly slipped away. * * * *
"I looked for you," a voice whispered to her in the middle of the night, and Rinoa screamed. But before her shriek could reach its full potential, a large hand smothered it down.
"Relax, it's me," Squall said quickly, removing his hand from her mouth once her eyes registered recognition.
"Are you crazy? What the hell are you doing here? Do you know what time it is?" she rattled off in a panic, one after the other. She eyed him warily. "And how did you get here?"
"Sakura. Window," he replied. "You didn't think I've forgotten that old method, did you?"
She sat upright on her futon. "And to what do I owe this social visit? Some people sleep, you know."
He studied her face carefully, perhaps noting the irritation he saw there. He turned to leave. "You're right, I shouldn't have bothered you."
Her arm reached out and held him back. "I didn't mean that; I was just surprised, is all." She sighed. "You have to admit, we haven't been exactly the best of friends since you got back."
Squall was quiet. "Do you want me to go?"
Rinoa realized that she was trembling -- from the cold of the open window or from the nearness of his presence, she couldn't tell. "No."
"I looked for you," he said.
"I saw your mother there," she began. "I saw how you angry you looked and so I thought I should go."
"I looked for you," he repeated.
"I came straight home--"
"I thought I lost you."
The admission sounded so vulnerable in the stillness of the night. "You were worried about me?" she asked softly.
"Yes."
Rinoa looked away. "People leave all the time without saying a word. You should get used to it."
"I'd expect it from everyone else," Squall told her. "But not from you."
"What do you know about me?" she asked him. "You've changed. Maybe I've changed too. You said it yourself, I should build my walls. Maybe I have."
He sat beside her, uninvited, leaning his head against the wall. "I wanted to say goodbye to you that night. But your window was closed."
Rinoa shook her head, remembering. "We fought that day over that yellow and black striped t-shirt that some girl gave you. I thought you liked her. I was so mad, I locked my window..." her voice trailed off.
"When Okaasan broke the news and told me we had to leave the next day, I climbed the sakura to say goodbye," he said.
"Why didn't you leave a note?" she demanded, unbidden tears rising to her eyes.
"You were angry. I was angry." He sighed. "We were kids."
They spent the next few moments lost in their own thoughts, the regret of five years weighing heavily between them. "Why did you and your mother leave?"
"She wanted to marry this guy from Sapporo," Squall explained. "She thought she was in love, and she took me with them. I hated the man. He would beat me whenever I did something wrong, and my mother--" his voice broke a little but he did not cry. "My mother just watched him. She just let him beat me. Three years ago, he left her and she's been drinking ever since. I thought I could save her, Rinoa. You always did it without hesitation. I thought it would be easy, living for a cause."
"Why did you leave her then?" But there was no accusation in her voice, only a curiosity about the life he had lived without her. She didn't know when her hand found its way to his, but there it was, nestled in the comforting cradle of his strong grip.
"She wanted that man." He shrugged. "When he came back, I knew I had to leave. Tonight she told me that she was leaving him for good."
Rinoa smiled. "That's good, then. You can both start your lives over. No one here knows what happened, and you'll be close to your grandmother again, and--"
"You don't understand, Rinoa," he said. "I came...I came to say goodbye to you."
She stared at him blindly. Now that she had found him, he was going to leave her again? "What?"
Squall's cool confidence was lost in the rush of his words. "My mother and I-- I can't forgive her just yet," he confessed. "Please understand, Rinoa. I want to but it's..."
Somewhere inside of her, she understood what he was trying to say. But she couldn't just let him go. "You can't keep on running away."
"I just need to get away from her for a while. Who knows? I might be back in a month." He was quiet for a while. "Besides, you still have my gunblade collection."
His hand reached for her face, and that was when Rinoa noticed that she had been crying silently. "You shouldn't have come here, then. You should have just left." Her hand closed over his and tried to push him away. "Sometimes it's better that way."
"Sometimes it just hurts more."
The lips that touched hers were tentative, trembling, without a trace of that cool, detached gang member the rumors had made him to be. She was finally kissing the boy next door, the one she had given her heart to all those years ago. Tomorrow he was going away, perhaps for a month, perhaps forever. But tonight, tonight, they were together, and that was all that mattered.