A New Beginning - Part II

Intro

I'm back with Part II!  Hoped you enjoyed the first part.  In this segment, the tension is still building.  Rinoa 
and Squall are in Deling City visiting her father, though it looks like trouble is never far away!  Enjoy!

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Chapter 2

	"You're cheating!" Rinoa cried as Squall lay down his Odin card, taking two of hers in one quick 
swoop.  He had won yet again.  She threw her cards down on the table and glared at him.  "So much for the 
random rule.  You get all the GF cards and I'm stuck with a few lousy Geezards."  Standing, up, she leaned 
across the table and eyed Squall suspiciously.  "You're hiding them up your sleeves, aren't you?"
	Squall couldn't resist a mischevious grin.  He loved it when she was angry.  "Maybe."
	Rinoa folded her arms across her chest.  "Don't make me hurt you," she warned, barely able to 
hide the smile from her face.
	Squall stood up as well and placed his hands on his hips.  He was several inches taller than her 
now, but it didn't seem to faze her in the slightest.  "You can try."
	Squall nearly jleaped backwards in surprise as Rinoa suddenly yelled and threw herself at him, 
jumping on his back and throwing her arms around his neck.  "How's that?" she asked with a laugh.
	Squall grabbed her arms, realizing that he really COULDN'T breathe anymore.  "Okay, okay," he 
choked out.  Rinoa just laughed at him, and he reached a hand back and grabbed her beneath the arm, 
slinging her over his shoulder.  She let out a short shriek as he carried her to the couch and lightly tossed 
her down, pinning her there.  She glared at him as she struggled half-heartedly, and he leaned down and 
kissed her.
	Squall finally stood back up, helping Rinoa, and she brushed the hair back from her eyes.  "That 
really wasn't very fair," she said, her face an odd combination of a glare and a grin.
	Squall threw back his head and laughed.  "I suppose not."
	Suddenly, Rinoa threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.  "Do you know how long I've 
waited to hear you laugh?"  Squall held her tightly and stroked her hair, frowning a little.  Had he really 
been that bad?
	Suddenly, a rough voice coughed from behind and Rinoa jumped out of Squall's embrace 
sheepishly.  "Daddy!" she cried.  "Frederick said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow!"
	"There was a change of plans," General Caraway said solemnly, moving his way over to the 
window of his grand sitting room.  Rinoa sighed, urging Squall to take a seat on the couch.  She had hoped 
since Squall had agreed to take a short vacation with her to visit her father that they would have a little time 
alone, but things didn't seem to be working out that way.
	General Caraway suddenly grunted and moved over to the cabinet across the room.  "Where are 
my manners?" he asked, pulling out two glasses and a bottle of champagne.  He poured them and offered 
one to Squall as he sipped out of the other.  "Leonheart?"
	Squall noticed he hadn't offered anything to Rinoa.  Looking over at her, he saw her gaze was 
towards the floor as she nervously twirled her feet.  He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze as he turned to 
her father.  "No  thank you, Sir," he replied.
	General Caraway looked slightly confused for a moment, though he quickly covered it up with a 
smile as he set down the glass.  "Very well."  Moving into a large, comfortable chair across from the 
couple, he took another sip from his champagne.  Caraway leaned towards them.  "I'm so glad you were 
able to make it home, my dear.  I have some very exciting news for you."
	Rinoa looked up at him curiously.  "Yes?"
	"As you know, there has been general chaos in the city since President Deling...stepped aside.  As 
leader of the military, I was naturally involved in keeping the peace and restoring order, and recently was 
elected to become the next president of Galbadia!"  Smiling smugly, Caraway leaned back in his chair, 
waiting for his daughter's reaction.
	Rinoa blinked, clearly surprised.  "That's...wonderful."
	"I thought you would be excited.  I have to admit, I owe it partly to you two.  Getting all those 
horrid sorceresses out of the way."  Rinoa looked down at the ground and Squall reached out his hand to 
give her knee a slight squeeze.  Caraway continued talking, completely oblivious to her reaction.  His face 
turned dark.  "Although it is rumored there's still one lurking around.  If she's smart, she won't dare show 
her face in Galbadia."
	Rinoa looked up, startled.  "Do you know who it is?" she asked quietly.
	Caraway took another long sip from his glass and shook his head.  "No, though it's whispered she's 
the daughter of someone well known.  The people in Esthar are supposedly aware of her identity, and I 
certainly intend to find out who it is."
	Rinoa put her head in her hands and sighed heavily.  She knew it was now or never...  "Daddy, it's 
me."
	Caraway nearly choked on his champagne.  "What?"
	"I'm the sorceress," Rinoa repeated, standing up.  Squall remained sitting on the couch, unsure of 
what to do.
	Caraway scrambled to his feet and walked quickly to the window, shaking his head.  "I can't 
believe it," he mumbled.
	"Daddy...," Rinoa began.
	Caraway whirled around and pointed an angry finger at Squall.  "This is all your fault, Leonheart.  
Dragging my little girl around the world on your crazy missions.  I was afraid you were going to get her 
killed, but you managed to do something even worse to her."
	Squall stood to defend himself, but Rinoa laid a gentle hand on his chest.  "You can't blame 
anything on, Squall!" she said.  "I went with him because I wanted to."
	Caraway grunted as he looked at her, fury blazing in his eyes.  "So you like being a sorceress 
then?"
	"I never said that!" Rinoa cried. "I wish it wasn't this way, more than anything I wish that, but I 
still wouldn't trade this last year for anything in the world."  She paused.  "If none of that had ever 
happened, I would never have found Squall," she finished quietly.
	Caraway exploded, throwing his wine glass to the floor.  It shattered on the ground, spilling 
champagne across the expensive carpet.  "Leonheart," he grunted contemptuously.  "What can he possibly 
mean to you?  He's a SeeD, for goodness sake!  They KILL sorceresses!  And now that the war's over, 
when there aren't any grand adventures to be had, where do you think he's headed?  I'll tell you where!  
Nowhere, that's where he's going."
	"I love him, Daddy!" Rinoa shouted suddenly, breaking him off.  Everyone froze as the last echoes 
of her voice reverberated through the room.  Squall managed a slight smile despite it all.  He knew that she 
loved him, but still...hearing those words made it all the more special.  He wasn't sure he deserved her.  
Why she had chosen to love him after all the things he had said and done at first was still a mystery to him, 
but he knew that he couldn't live without her anymore.
	Caraway glared at his daughter, seeing in her eyes that she was serious.  With a harsh grunt he 
turned and walked briskly from the room.  Rinoa fell into Squall's arms.  "Well," she said, looking up at 
him with tear-filled eyes, "I suppose it could have been worse."  With a sigh, Squall held her close.

	'A sorceress!' General Caraway thought furiously as he paced his ornately decorated bedroom.  
'My daughter is a sorceress!  Curse that Leonheart, all this has to be his fault somehow.'  A small voice in 
the back of his head reminded him that it was mostly his fault she had run away in the first place, but he 
tried to ignore it.  His efforts were in vain, though; the last night they had spent together kept flashing 
through his mind.  He had just returned from Timber in an attempt to end the resistance movement.  Most 
of the more radical groups had been put down, but a few still remained elusive.  He had been writing up the 
report when Rinoa sauntered in the room in her lavender silk nightgown.  She yawned as she brushed her 
messy hair back from her face.  He smiled a little as he glanced up at her.  She had grown so much.  A 
lovely young lady...  "I didn't know you were awake," he told her, returning to his report.
	"I wasn't until you came banging up the stairs," she replied, leaning up against the doorframe.  "I 
didn't think you'd get back from terrorizing the villagers for another day or so."
	Caraway sighed.  They had never agreed on the matter of occupied territory.  "I prefer to call it 
keeping the peace."
	Rinoa shrugged with a quick snort and sauntered towards his desk.  "What are you doing?"
	"Writing a report," he replied impatiently as she strolled behind him and glanced over his 
shoulder.  "It is very late; you should return to bed.  I'll be finished shortly."
	"Who are the Forest Owls?" she asked, reading the paper.
	"The last active resistance group left in Timber.  Once they're out of the picture, things should 
settle down a bit."
	"So you're just going to arrest them?"
	"Execute, actually," Caraway commented casually.  "The citizens of Timber need to understand 
that rebellious activities will not be tolerated."
	Rinoa slammed her fist down on the table.  "You're killing people for doing what's right," she said 
angrily.  "Galbadia shouldn't be in there in the first place.  They're only defending their homes."
	Caraway sighed as she began stomping out of the room.  He was unsure if the girl would ever 
understand anything.  "Rinoa...," he called after her, but she was already gone.
	That was the last time he had seen her.  She had run away that night, taking a few supplies and her 
dog and not even leaving him a note.  He had known where she was going, though, and sent a few scouts to 
Timber to keep an eye on her.  Though she managed to surprise him when she showed up with the SeeDs in 
the mission to assassinate Edea.  But there had been no time to talk then; he had a major operation to 
oversee and was forced to lock the girl in her room to keep her out of trouble...  And now they had been 
through yet another fight.
	With a sigh, Caraway sat down heavily on his bed.  He glanced up at the picture of his wife on the 
dresser.  She smiled at him through the glass, her beautiful face forever frozen in time.  "I'm sorry, Julia," 
he whispered.   "I've failed you again."  As he stared at the picture, an idea suddenly began forming in his 
mind.  He couldn't make up for all the times he had failed his fair Julia, but perhaps he would not have to 
fail Rinoa.  'It's a crazy plan,' he thought, 'but it just might work."

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End of Part II!  So Rinoa has shared her secret with her father, though things didn't go quite as smoothly as 
she had hoped.  You'll never believe what General Caraway is plotting!  The rest of the gang shows up next 
time, so all of you Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, and Zell fans, don't give up on me yet!  Looks like some definite 
action is brewing on the horizon!

As always, let me know what you think!
squalls_angel@lycos.com




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Sadly, I do not own any of these characters, but the rest of the story is still mine!  MWAHAHA!  So don't 
distribute, copy, use for commercial purposes or in any other way rip me off.  ok?