Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Fairytale ❯ Destiny Intertwines ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Fairytale

Disclaimer: All of the characters below, except "Octavius Hunter", are owned by Squaresoft (Final Fantasy VIII). I gain nothing by writing this fic...uh, well, maybe, a little number of friends. Thanx guys!
Enjoy!
Oh and hey, I'm really having a great time writing this. Just love Squall and Rinoa. They just look cute together.

Chapter Two: Destiny Intertwines
She had deep brown eyes. Eyes that shone brightly, even amidst pain and suffering. He could feel it.

Squall couldn't help but look on...they were the windows of her soul...panes that spoke of truth...and he, he could see it clearly...through her eyes.

Rinoa straightened her back, her smile still tugging on her soft lips. She walked to close the gap between them, but not fully...maybe, a short foot or two. Squall saw her gingerly place her hands behind her back, clasping. She looked so beautiful, so fragile...so annoying...

Squall snapped back to reality. His face cold again, the pondering and marvel, gone. He also straightened his back, thinking what this girl would make him do. His left palm closed on the strap of his duffle bag, preparing for whatever she was thinking. She doesn't look readable though, and that was making him wince. She was becoming unreadable because of that enchanting smile of hers...I can't get through...

"You must be, Squall Leonhart, I pressume??" Her voice sounded so sweet, like the melody played by the angels. Squall merely nodded. Rinoa's smile widened.

"I am," she placed a palm on her chest, "Rinoa Heartilly. Nice to meet you, Mr. Leonhart."

Her flawlessness in proper decorum became so infectious that Squall couldn't believe his voice saying, "Squall."

She understood, offering her hand which he took and "discarded" lightly after sometime. Rinoa turned and introduced Quistis. He gave her an acknowledging nod. Zone was next, but wasn't personally introduced because of his stomachaches...and Watts on the other hand was discovered to have been walking Angelo somewhere in town for, as Irvine said, he didn't see him as he drove pass the town gates.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Kiros Seagull?" Squall whispered in wonder, receiving questioning stares from the other occupants of the room. He looked away, disliking the attention. Rinoa, resting her chin on slightly clenched fists, looked at him with an arched brow from the other side of the table.

"You don't know him?" Rinoa figured out, looking at Quistis and then Irvine and Selphie. "He is the one who wanted us to look for you. He said that you'd be of great help in fighting Octavius Hunter and freeing Deling City."

"Octavius Hunter?" Zell repeated, not liking the taste of it on his lips, "You mean, the scum that conquered Esthar?"

"Precisely," Quistis nodded, "Octavius Hunter was strong enough to conquer the strongest and most modern city of our time...that his conquest brought havoc on all the nations of the Earth. Now, he chose the second great city, Deling...he's witty and very, very cunning. He uses fear as a weapon, now that Esthar has been wiped out...he'll definitely intimidate whatever region he'd wish to attack."

Rinoa listened intently, although she already knew this very well, and her eyes fell on Squall. He too was listening attentively, but something in his face was wrong...something...something she couldn't exactly put her finger on. Quistis continued.

"Hunter, as I've said, chose Deling City as his next target. For all we know, he has already sent out hit men in search for Rin...to completely annihilate the monarchy, and add Deling to his domain. No one knows why, but some say that Hunter wants to unite all countries into one...much like...a cosmopolitan."

"Sounds more like a greedy moron to me." Squall grunted.

Silence. Quistis sighed.

"Now, on to your task," she faced Squall, "Sir Seagull told us to first ask you to be Rin's bodyguard. Although we are in here, he says that Octavius is very unpredictable. We'll be rummaging through narrow creeks...for until now, our surveillance of the present monarch's whereabouts still has no results. We're stuck up to this point...we can't move until he's found."

Squall understood, nodding. The door opened, Watts coming in with a tired Angelo. Rinoa walked over and patted the poor dog on its back, caressing his neck afterwards. She led him to her room to rest. Closing the door, she heard Quistis introducing Watts to Squall and Zell.

"He'll be in charge of the overall incoming and outgoing messages. Collecting information is his expertise." Quistis was saying while a proud Watts puffed his chest out. Squall just nodded in comprehension.

"Well, other tasks involved," Quistis clapped her hands for everyone's attention, "I've already charted out the possible tasks at hand while Irvine and Selphie were away. I came up breaking the group into two factions...three, if you place the Messengers with them. The first faction, comprised of Irvine and Selphie would be the group making rounds-casual looking rounds-around Winhill. To make sure peace and of course, our safety until news from our outside people arrive. You guys can now show lots of public display of affection without worry."

Irvine and Selphie looked at each other, supressing roars of laughter.

"Our second group would be the internal defense faction, comprises, me, Squall and Zell, who immediately becomes very handy-"

"Quisty? What about me?!" Rinoa interrupted, pointing at herself. Quistis tried not to giggle, for she knew this was coming, and kept a straight face. Pretending to look at the chart she made, she gazed up again and smiled innocently. "I've placed you under Squall's command."

"So like, I'll be under the internal-defense faction?" Rinoa asked, her eyes brightening.

Quistis nodded, "Just like that." turning to Squall, she gave him a silent, "I-hope-you-know-what-that-means" stare.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"This could get worse by the end of the day." Squall mumbled, his arms crossed as he followed a cheerful Rinoa to a trail he never knew existed in Winhill.

She looked so happy, carrying a leather-bounded sketchbook which she said she'd gotten from a 'nice old man' who owned the store near the southern town gates. By just walking with her for a couple of minutes, Squall was shocked by how Rinoa related to things. For example, when they were walking on a muddy ground, just near the harbor, Rinoa saw a small worm working its way out for air. Unlike most girls, she stared at it happily, squatting near the pool of mud as if it was the most interesting stuff she've seen on earth. A little while later, when she had grown tired of observing the squirming stuff, she asked Squall this stupid, albeit mind-buggling question which got stuck on his brain ever since, "I wonder why worms don't have knees. They crawl all their lives...without knees?"

Squall almost laughed, but all he could do was to twitch a corner of his lips. He doesn't know this girl and vice-versa, yet, she says things in a very comfortable way, uncaring if it would ruin her reputation or not. Was that tactlessness? Or merely curiosity?

Carefully stepping on the uneven stone steps that came after the trail, Rinoa gave a whistle; Angelo, slowing his pace before her. The dog and her perfectly understood each other without fail, Squall noticed, and all she does was wave her hands or give a whistle.

They reached the end of the steep ground, greenery greeting them. Rinoa strolled and went for a nearby clearing. Squall followed her, his ears sensing the sound of water.

"HERE WE ARE!!!!" Rinoa suddenly stopped, Squall almost bumping on her back, as she raised her hands. Afterwhich, she ran like a little girl, Angelo beside her. Squall silently watched as she stretched, letting her sketchbook fall on the grass as she breathed in the fresh air of tranquil Winhill. She looked so nice, with the sun spilling on her, casting a halo above her head while her raven-black hair rippled with the wind...dancing with its grace.

"Squall! Come here! I wanna show you something!!!" Squall was suddenly brought back to life by her call, her face now turned to him and her smile grew brighter than he last remembered. Squall felt his feet move, as if enchanted by magic, and walked closer to her.

"Look over there." Rinoa pointed somewhere on the sapphire-blue lake's direction. Squall turned at her command, slightly narrowing his eyes and scanned for something appealing to the senses. He frowned. Nothing.

Rinoa, noticing his reaction, urged, "Look again. Deeper."

Squall did as was bid. At first, he saw nothing and heard Angelo grumbling. He continued looking, for few seconds...for a few minutes...but still none. When he was about to cut off his cooperation with Rinoa's childish scheme, his eyes suddenly caught something. Something glittered. It moved in swirls...slowly...then it disappeared. Squall blinked, once. Nothing. He blinked again...still nothing. He heard Rinoa sigh.

"Let's go, I guess your trip's over now." Squall turned nonchalantly, walking back to the clearing. He thought he saw something, but evidently, it was just out of his determination to see something that he saw something. It's probably just his imagination.

"But I thought you want to have a look on the places I go?" Rinoa protested, picking up her sketchbook, "We've only been to two out of three."

Squall sighed, he did say that. "Well, I've had enough of this one," Squall raised a hand that gestured her to follow, "Let's go on so that we can finish this up already."

Rinoa twitched her lips, gaping at his back. Was he always supposed to be that cold? She'd been talking all day, receiving bored stares and sometimes even feigned grins that she wondered how this guy lasted nineteen years ( guessing his age) without having a taste of happiness. Rinoa exhaled, shaking her head. Maybe he's just tired. I mean, he'd been traveling before he got here...

"Let's go boy!" Rinoa whispered to Angelo, patting his back with a small naughty smile, "We shouldn't let him be alone looking like that. He'd be chased by those girls I saw a while ago."

Author's Notes: TWO DOWN!!!! Unknown to go!!!! (HAHAHAHA!!!!) Hey guys! Thanx for reading and reviewing! Makes me wanna write more diligently and appealingly!!!! Thankx again!!!

More R&R!!!!