Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Trust in Love ❯ Rain of Tears ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3 - Rain of Tears

Zell just finished his 12th hot dog when Rinoa arrived. She was wearing her beautiful blue dress that had spaghetti straps and came to her mid-thigh. Zell took one look at her and began to reconsider telling her about Squall, but resisted the urge.

Zell tapped Rinoa on the shoulder and said, "Getting food to go to Timber?"

"Yeah, Zell," Rinoa said sweetly, straightening out her dress.

Zell nodded and said, "You know, Squall really misses you. He really loves you. He wants you to come back to him, he can't stand being away from you. I swear, I talked to him."

Rinoa glared at him and said, "Squall doesn't love me."

"Yes he does," Zell said, as Rinoa reached the counter, and she began to order her food. "Please, Rinoa, just go to him. Talk to him. He loves you more than anything."

"Even more than his stupid reputation?" Rinoa shouted, taking her bag of food, leaving the counter, with Zell pursuing her. "I'm going to Timber now, bye Zell, I'll miss you."

Rinoa leaned forward and gave Zell a kiss on the cheek. Zell nodded and then regained his senses. He shouted, "Rinoa! Please go to him! Where are you departing to Esthar? Huh?"

Rinoa smiled sweetly and said, "Deiling City tomorrow night. Don't bother coming, I think it would be more painful if you come. It's too bad the government banned uses of air crafts or else you could've flown to Esthar in the Ragnarok."

Zell and Rinoa hugged. He nodded and said, "Goodbye! Just talk to Squall, okay?"

Rinoa waved to Zell and walked off, without a backwards glance. Zell felt tears come to his eyes. He failed…his most important job was to urge Rinoa to go to Squall, and he failed.

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

Quistis met up with Squall, who was in the library. Quistis scared Squall because popped up from behind a bookshelf. Startled, Squall shouted, "ARGH!"
"Squall!" Quistis screamed. "Why did you leave Rinoa?"

"She doesn't love me," Squall said, looking at the ground, avoiding Quistis's eyes. "She's loves Seifer. I saw them kissing in the training center. I know there is supposed to be trust in love, and she did not show it! I trusted her to not betray me for anyone."

Quistis shook her head and whispered, while lifting Squall's head up so they were eye to eye, "She did show trust. Rinoa trusted you to be a mature and tolerant man when she went off with Seifer. You did not trust her, you showed no trust. You spied on her."

Squall retorted, "She kissed him."

"Seifer forced her, did you hear the whole conversation?" Quistis asked serenely.

Squall whispered, "No. I just saw the kiss."

"Squall," Quistis said, smiling warmly. "Afterwards she pushed Seifer away and told him that she loved you and would never betray you. Filled with jealousy, Seifer ran after her to your dorm. There you shut her out, and did not protect her when she needed it most."

Squall realized what he had done and knelt down as he felt his emotions spin around in his head. He had hurt Rinoa when she needed his comfort most. Squall muttered, "What am I to do?"

"Bring her back," Quistis said, helping Squall to his feet.

Squall began to have images of Rinoa. Her smile, her warm smile. Quistis smile was warm, yet it didn't bring the affection and love that Rinoa had. He needed her back. Squall whispered, "How?"

"I'll tell you…"

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

Squall ran to the Balamb Train station, not caring about the pounding rain that caused him to slip several times. Squall ran around the streets, slipping now and then, but not caring. He had a cut on his face from fighting a monster on the way to Balamb, the blood spilt from his arm to the wet ground, washing down to the sewage.

"Ticket?" the man asked. "Ticket to Timber?"

"I don't have one, I just want to…" Squall shouted over the rain.

The man laughed, "No ticket, no passing this barrier."

Squall could see Rinoa boarding the train in her beige jacket, holding an umbrella and a suitcase. Squall shouted, "RINOA!"

But at that moment, the train made a loud noise. Squall shouted, "Please! Let me go through! Please! I want to say…"

"No! No Ticket, you can't pass! Go home!" the ticket man hollered.

Squall bellowed, "Please!"

Rinoa was seated by a window that Squall could see, and he hollered, but she did not look out for the windows were soundproof. She seemed to be quite empty and didn't look at Squall, who was waving his arms around.

The ticket man pushed Squall aside shouting, "Stop that! You are distracting me."

"Can't I buy a ticket from you?" Squall asked.

The man shook his hand and said, "I'm sold out on this train. Go ask that ticket lady for the next train to Timber. Just leave!"

"I need this one," Squall moaned.

The man ignored Squall and began to help another customer.

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

"Miss, do you have any trains going to Timber, departing Balamb today?" Squall shouted over the thunder.

The ticket lady said, "Oh yes, one in fifteen minutes. It will take you first to Dollet, then to East Academy Station, then Timber. It will be a six-hour train ride, okay?"

Squall felt anger boil in his head, because Rinoa had gotten a one-way that went from Balamb to East Academy, then Timber, which would probably be a two- hour train ride.

"How much?" Squall gritted through his clenched teeth, reaching for his wallet.

The lady replied, "3,500 gil."

"Here," Squall gave her 3,500 and she accepted it, handing Squall a blue ticket to Timber. Squall snatched it from her and sat down on a nearby bench. Unfortunately, this bench was not covered by a tree, Squall became extremely wet and his hair dropped down before his eyes and everything became foggy.

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

Finally the train came. Squall boarded it, sleeping the whole ride, dreaming of Rinoa in his arms again. He awoke when the train reached Dollet. A man entered the compartment and smiled when he saw Squall.

The man left when the train stopped at East Academy. Squall then began to think of what to say when he met Rinoa, and where he would meet Rinoa, his Rinoa. The train stopped at Timber.

"If I were Zone and Watt and I just left the White SeeD ship…where would I station myself?" Squall said to himself. The rain poured harder than ever and Squall felt his clothes grow heavier and heavier as it soaked in the rainwater. Just at that moment realized that he was completely lost and it was foolish to have gone after Rinoa.

Then, from across the Timber Bridge, Watt appeared, holding a magenta umbrella, and he seemed to be crying. He froze and stared at Squall with a look of sadness. Squall come over to him and cried out, "Have you seen Rinoa?"

"She left for Deiling a few hours ago," Watt said, covering Squall with his magenta umbrella. "This is so romantic, I think you can still catch up. Her plane leaves in two hours."

Squall said, "Thanks…but why are you crying?"

"She said all this stuff about you," Watt cried.

Squall demanded, "Like what?"

"Why don't you go ask her yourself? Take a train there, it will about one hour. Stop her, bring her back to you," Watt said, giving Squall the magenta umbrella. Watt smiled and headed towards the Timber Maniacs building.

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

On the train, Squall felt himself become more and more anxious as time flew. He wanted Rinoa with him, and he was still unsure of what to say, and he felt a tear trickle down his cheek. Because of the new Galbadian Government, SeeDs were forbidden to travel across the land.

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

"Tickets," the ticket lady asked Rinoa.

Rinoa handed her the ticket, and took off her raincoat. As Rinoa took her ticket stub, General Caraway appeared from behind her, taking her coat, and holding a cane.

Rinoa took his two suitcases and helped him walk to the plane. Caraway said, "This will be good for both of us. This will be a new start, and a new life together, and we can use the time that we lost while you were part of the anti-government."

Rinoa nodded and smiled as the ticket lady bid them farewell.

Caraway said while walking up the hallway to the plane, "You can start a life. Put everything old aside, and get new friends and new boyfriend. You can forget all this shit here in this continent. Over in Esthar you won't have to leave so much. In Deiling you've got to the leave the city so much for little things…"

"Yeah, dad," Rinoa said. Her heart began to pound as she remembered that she hadn't expressed her true feelings to Squall to his face, but now it was too late. She made the decision of going to Esthar with her father.

Caraway said, "Come on…"

Rinoa nodded and boarded.

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

Squall left the train, and took a taxicab to the Deiling Airport. He had a difficult time entering for people thought he looked kind of suspicious. He did look like a mess, and Squall didn't have any baggage.

Squall made his way to the plane leaving to Esthar, but was caught behind a huge crowd saying farewell to a grandfather and his granddaughter. He let out a frustrated growl because the crowd would not let him through to the entrance of the hall that lead to the plane.

Finally, after kicking shins and pushes, Squall came up to the ticket lady. He asked her, "Did a man by the name of Caraway and a lady by the name of Rinoa pass by here?"

"You mean Rinoa Heartilly and General Caraway?" the lady asked.

Squall nodded happily and said, "Yes, yes!"

"They left on an earlier flight an hour ago, you know, you should always call ahead to check on these sort of things," the ticket lady said, helping another customer.

Squall walked away stunned from the lady. He felt a huge anvil of misery land on his shoulder and he didn't think anything would help relieve himself of this horrible burden.

A single cold tear dripped down his already wet face. He felt quite humiliated walking through the airport, wet, dirty, and sad. Yet the feeling of humiliation wasn't as strong as the feeling of sadness. The last thing Squall had said to Rinoa was: I'm glad you're going to Esthar. Now he would never have the chance to apologize. He let out a sob and it wasn't like a mature sob, it was a long sob that was like a child's.

"Rinoa, why did you have to go? I'm sorry," he cried, trudging towards the nearby elevator. People around looked at him as if he were a maniac. He then said louder, "Rinoa, I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I'm sorry I betrayed your trust."

"I'm sorry I did, too," a voice whispered.

Squall turned around to see Rinoa, holding a suitcase and her raincoat. Squall almost fainted when he saw her beautiful face, smiling warmly at him. Squall ran to her and gave her an embrace that made her let out a sigh of happiness.

Squall whispered, as he felt tears trickle down his face and onto her shoulder, "Why didn't you leave? Why didn't you go?"

"I didn't want to leave any of this behind," Rinoa whispered back, dropping her suitcase and her coat, hugging Squall back.

Squall cried out, "I'm so sorry Rinoa. Please forgive me for being so daft. I just want to be with you. Deep in my heart, I really need you."

Rinoa hugged Squall and whispered, "I need you, too."

Squall muttered, "I was being so cruel to you that day. Why would you want to go back to someone like me? Why would you give up a new life in Esthar?"

Rinoa caressed the back of Squall's neck with her hands and whispered sweetly into his ear, "Because I love you."

Squall looked at her, staring at the diamonds that twinkled back. She gave him a warm smile, and despite the soaking jacket and freezing cold of the airport, warmth entered his body and his heart. Squall took his hand and rubbed it on Rinoa's face, and she took it and said, "Can I hear those words I've been longing to hear?"

Squall looked at Rinoa with a face of comfort and he gave her a long passionate kiss. Rinoa wrapped her arms around Squall as he kissed her and the kiss was about two minutes, but it seemed like forever.

Rinoa smiled and whispered, "Just say those words and I'll be yours, forever."

Squall nodded and knelt down on one knee. Rinoa let out a gasp of surprise, and Squall took Rinoa's hand and kissed it while taking out a small velvet ruby box. Squall opened the box to reveal a beautiful ring. Rinoa gasped when she finally realized what had happened. She began to cry.

Squall said aloud, "Rinoa Heartilly, will you marry me?"

<3 The End <3