I don't own Final Fantasy VIII... and I don't wish I did. I would've probably screwed up the storyline. ^_~   R/R.

--Jenn

. . .Change    Of    Fate. . .

The moon.

It looked so beautiful right now.  Why?  From all that's happened, how could it show it's pretty face and still be bright and glorious?  It is ironic how some things fall into place sometimes.

The moonlight shined down upon her like a soft blanket of tranquil ness.  The girl sat on the windowsill in her given dorm; now refusing to look up to it and its beauty.  Cid was kind enough to let her stay in the garden until things completely settled down.  Things… were they just things?  No.  This was beyond a thing.  It involved two people.  But one of them meant the world to her right now.

Sorceress Edea.  Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, and Squall had a past with her.  She was like a mother to them.  Although they all knew it, they still gave their lives and fought against her; forgetting the past and all the times that they had with her even though they couldn't remember it to easily.  That day made her feel like an outcast when Irvine reminded them that they were all from the same orphanage.  In some mysterious way, she admired the Sorceress. She was the enemy, yes, but there was something about her that made her enchanted. Maybe it was the love the group had for her? She didn't know. But they all did what they said they were going to do: fight against her.

She observed the rage, yet sadness, in Selphie's green eyes as she swung her Morning Star gracefully in the air, striking the mysterious Matron of her past. Yes, she was getting the chance to avenge the destruction of her former garden, but from the look in her eyes, she wanted to hold back.

She observed Zell's hands in powerful fists, refusing to show any looseness that could have easily happened by the look in his eyes.  If he let the thought that the person in front of him, his enemy, was his mother-like persona cross his mind again, it looked as though he would fall to his knees and give up.  And he didn't.  Perhaps he wasn't the "chicken wuss" that Seifer has called him so occasionally.

She observed as Quistis valiantly cracked her Slaying Tail upon the Galbadian floor of the auditorium, remaining calm and cool as always. But she was dying to stop inside, and she knew it, but she would not let that stop her from fighting. This had to be done; this was her mission with the others… her "brothers and sister".

She observed as Irvine, the ladies man amongst them, cocked his faithful Ulysses and shot at his former matron without hesitation. He did it once at the Sorceress parade, and found the courage to pull the trigger at her again. She remembered when he almost backed down from assassinating her at the parade. Maybe the reason why he was scared to shoot her was because he knew… he was the only one that knew at that point in time that they were about to assassinate their matron. He was the one that remembered their past childhoods together.

She observed as Squall, with the courage of a lion, ran swiftly and slashed at Edea with his gunblade without any remorse to hold back. She saw in his big grayish-blue eyes that he hated every second of it.  But this was his mission; it was what he was told to do. Defeat the Sorceress. Why? Because he was a SeeD. They are meant to do just that.

And then there was her. The girl that had nothing to do with the Sorceress, or Matron, although she stood by everyone's side and helped them fight.  Hyne, she didn't even have anything to do with SeeD besides that pitiful contract that lead her there.  There was a lump in her throat as she fought along side of them… that of guilt. She had no relation or past with this woman and of course, she didn't hold back.  She felt guilty that she didn't have a relationship with her; however, she had the urge to hold back along with them. She understood that Edea, the Sorceress, had a past with them… and she cared for her friend's feelings.  But still, Rinoa pushed away her sudden urges to stop fighting and continued to summon Leviathan, allowing the water creature to do its destructive Tsunami wave upon her.

And then it happened….

The girl in light blue couldn't remember what happened.  Rinoa squinted her dark brown eyes and brought her legs to her chest, hugging them tightly. Still, the moon was, without hesitation, brightly shining down on the girl in spite. It was a beautiful night… she hated that.  But why was she purposely sitting on the windowsill, welcoming it?  Perhaps she was looking for some comfort-or some hope that he would be ok.  Sighing deeply, trying to keep her tears at bay, Rinoa raised her head, feeling her dark layers of hair tickle her cheek as she did so, and looked to that spiteful moon for an answer.

~~~~~~~

"Hey Instructor, just came to visit…. anything yet?"

"No… their conditions are still the same. Not a twitch or stir coming from them for the past two days..."

…………

"…DAMN IT!"

"Zell… please…"

"What the hell's goin' on?! Can't we do anything?!"

"…Calm down."

"We're sitting ducks here! Why did this have to happen to them, WHY?!"

"ZELL DINCHT, calm down this instant!"

The hothead winced slightly as he was yelled at, feeling as though he was a child in this role and she was the parent.  Quistis stood her ground, next to the left side of the bed where Squall lay… in the infirmary.  His head was turned to his right, eyes closed in peaceful slumber-or was it?  Rinoa laid upon the bed in the other room as well, in a peaceful slumber, as if the two ditched the real world to escape the reality around them to meet each other in the "dream world". But Rinoa would soon leave Squall on his own in that world, since she slightly began to stir.  Maybe Zell's yelling did come to good use this time… and only this time.  During the long pause that Quistis and Zell faced with each other after she yelled at the top of her lungs for him to calm down, Rinoa released a soft groan from her lips, audible enough for them both to hear.

Their eyes widened as they stared at each other.  Quistis was the first to react with a blink.  Zell frowned in surprise and performed a 180, and without hesitation, ran over to Rinoa's room and stood at the doorway, staring down at her as she lay upon the bed.  He didn't notice, but Quistis was right behind him, peeking over his shoulder.  Slowly, Zell walked deeper into the room refusing to pull his eyes from her, to see if she would move or show any sign of life.  Quistis did the same, although she noticed something from Rinoa that Zell did not.  Her head was turned to the other side it was when they laid her down.

"Rinoa..?" She walked closer, opposite the side of the bed Zell was, and on the side Rinoa's head was facing.  A look of concern and hope crossed her features as she watched her friend in light blue as if she was fighting for her life. But in this case, it was fighting for consciousness.

Rinoa's softly shaped brow furrowed, and a small sign of a frown shown on her features.  Quistis and Zell watched in awe as her friend fought to wake up. On instinct, Zell raised his voice a little more than Quistis did-just a little.

"Rinoa!  Hey, hang in there! We're here with you… wake up!"

"Zell…" Quistis didn't know how to react or to take this in.  She wanted to quiet her loud friend down, but something stopped her. Perhaps it was the fact that Rinoa's eyes slowly began to open after Zell's attempt to wake her up.  And it did work.

Her eyes were open now, blankly staring at the woman in front of her, eye-level.  Her mind was coming back to function and she tried to remember the events that happened before she began to try to speak, but the others beat her to both of those things before she could do either.

"Welcome back." A soft smile was given to the young woman who lay in front of her.  As she smiled, she looked up at the excited martial artist who was hopping, skipping and jumping for joy, yelling at the top of his lungs before running out of the room and infirmary to get Doctor Kadawaki.  Quistis looked back down at Rinoa, watching her bring her hands to her eyes and rub them softly.  The girl sat up, bringing her left hand to her forehead and squinted her eyes, trying to get them back to focusing.  After a moment of awakening, Rinoa turned her head to look at Quistis with a look of confusion on her facial features. "Quistis… what happened?"

The former instructor stood from leaning on her knees, and took a seat upon the small stool that was beside the bed. Folding her feet together, right over left, she placed her left hand over her right on her lap, looking up at the ceiling.  It's been two days, although she remembered clearly.

"After you summoned Leviathan, Edea was wincing a lot.. groaning in pain.  We had defeated her, Rinoa… we did it.  When she fell, this white light surrounded us all… it was unbearable.  I didn't think I would hold on to consciousness that long, but I did.  After it finally went away, within those few minutes you were under the podium, face down.  I got up and ran over to you, but you were already lost in a coma.  I called out to tell Squall, but… he was knocked out as well."

Rinoa stared at Quistis, trying to take all of this information in.  "So Edea's dead?"

"No, she is back as herself again.  This whole time a Sorceress of the future, Ultimecia, was possessing her."

The girl sighed in relief.  She was glad that their Matron was all right.  But--  "You said that Squall was knocked out…?  Was he in a coma, too?"

Quistis blinked softly, watching and hearing Rinoa's concern about Squall show it's face.  She saw how the two had gotten closer in the past weeks, and she thought of a way to tell her, to her face, that he still was not back with them.  Taking in a breath of air, softly, the blonde frowned slightly, lowering her head to look at the floor.  Before she had time to respond to the question, Rinoa was already standing, reaching her left hand out to the wall that was next to the doorway to help her keep balance.  Once regaining her stance, the girl in light blue walked out of the infirmary room and made her way to the room next to hers.

He was gone.  Away from this world, just like she was for two days… but he was still going strong.  She stood there staring down at his lifeless body as her brows lifted and her mouth opened slightly in shock.  He would wake up someday like her, right?  He was in a coma, but he seemed to be sleeping as gentle as a baby as if it was a daily nap. Rinoa took a step closer into the room, hesitating a bit, and then walked in further, kneeling down at his side to look him in the face.  Breathing gently, eyes closed softly, a content look upon his sleeping facial feature… he was beautiful.

Quistis silently stood at the doorway, observing Rinoa a moment before leaving her to be with Squall.  She would surely be there for her when she was done being alone with him for a moment… or two… or three.

Rinoa stayed in that room all day long.  A one point Irvine and Selphie came to visit her and to check and see if she was all right.  Around dinnertime, Zell actually offered Rinoa a couple of his several hotdogs he bought as soon as the cafeteria restocked them.  Before midnight, Selphie checked on Rinoa one last time before she went to her dorm, and found her asleep by Squall's side. Reluctantly, the cheerful girl woke her up and encouraged Rinoa to go to bed.  That was when she was informed that Cid gave her full permission to remain at the garden for as long as she wished.

That night, Selphie walked Rinoa to her given dorm and informed her that everything would be ok.  Rinoa appreciated her friend's words, but she couldn't help but be a little pessimistic.  She didn't know how to feel or react. All she knew that he was gone and lifeless… and she didn't know what to do.  Realizing this, she suddenly began to feel emptiness in her heart, like a part of her was missing.

And that part was him…

~~~~~~~

Hopefully he would wake up tomorrow… what if he didn't?  Garden was on hold right now... their commander was in a coma.  After recollecting on that flashback, Rinoa had her chin on her knees with her eyes closed and her arms around her legs that were to her chest.  She was getting a little sleepy… but the funny thing was that she basically slept for two days straight.  Giving in to her tiredness, the girl stood, looking up at that bright moon before her one last time before she let the shades slide down to hide the unwanted beauty.  Yes, she would look at it again someday… when he returned to her.

Walking over to her given bed, she sat down, untying her boots and kicking them off recklessly.  Lifelessly, the girl released her muscles, letting her torso fall upon the bed like a rag doll, but with grace.  Once her body made contact with the bed, her eyes closed.  But an unfamiliar sound rung in her ears like a hopeful song that would help her get through all of this… and that was the sound of two rings clanking together from her necklace.  Leaving her eyes closed, Rinoa reached up and took hold of the rings in her palm as they had lain by her side on the bed when she placed herself upon it.  Squalls ring… her ring… they were together, close to her heart.