A/N: Well, the last chapter got better reception than I had anticipated which is good considering it wasn't planned out. This chapter really isn't either — these are sort of "filler" chapters, not filler as in boring but meant to sort of space it out time-wise evenly so that things don't go by too quick. This part of the story would be taking place on the first week of Rinoa's courses, for any who are a little lost. Which I'm hoping no one is, hehe. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and those who have been reviewing throughout as well as those just getting interested in the story. Hopefully, I don't disappoint. R&R!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII belongs to SquareSoft/Enix, not me.

Set Me Free

EilayAdnayVolieay

Chapter VI: An Act Of Kindness

She was wandering around in the hallways of Galbadia Garden, disoriented and confused. Why was she here? This wasn't the school she was enrolled in anymore. There were no students in the halls, which was odd — where had everyone gone?

It was then that she saw Selphie running down the halls calling after someone. "Selphie!" Rinoa called out. "Wait, please!" She started chasing after her but stopped dead in her tracks. At the end of the hall was not only Selphie, but Zell and Squall as well. Rinoa felt her stomach flip as a long elegant hand reached out towards them from around the corner, taking the lives of Selphie and Zell immediately with a wave of the woman's hand. Squall was on the ground holding his head, clearly experiencing pain, before Rinoa ran up.

"No! Stop it! Stop hurting him!" There was a bright flashing light, as Rinoa fell to the ground. She could feel the pain spreading from her head to the rest of her body. All she saw was a feminine silhouette, before everything went black.

"Go against me and you will lose." The woman's voice whispered.

Rinoa opened her eyes and was relieved to find that she was in her room at Balamb Garden again, and not anywhere near Galbadia. The alarm clock next to her bed flashed saying it was three in the morning. She was unsure that she'd be able to get back to sleep without seeing those long pointed fingers. Maybe I'll go for a... walk. It might clear my head.

The halls were dimly lit when she stepped out of her dorm. The night air from the open hall that connected the dorms to the Garden was cold, and Rinoa wrapped her arms around herself.

"Why are you wandering around in your pajamas?" A familiar voice asked from behind her. She turned crimson as she realized Squall was right — she was in her pajamas.

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me?" She pointed out, ignoring his question. He rolled his eyes.

"Fine — forget I said anything." He turned to walk away.

"Squall — wait," She asked, putting her hand on his back lightly. He flinched at her touch and she brought her hand back away from him.

"Rinoa..."

"I know — not friends, I got that. It's just... would you... walk around with me? You don't have to talk — I'm just a bit freaked out. I don't want to wander around the Garden alone." She bit her bottom lip anxiously. Would he get mad?

"Fine." He replied softly. Rinoa looked up at him, shocked. He didn't appear annoyed or angry. She began walking and he followed silently beside her. The silence felt awkward, but she had told him he wouldn't have to talk.

"Why were you... going for a walk, at three o'clock in the morning?" He asked her suddenly. He looked just as surprised as she felt for asking that.

"I... had a bad dream." She said after awhile. She saw the corners of his lips lift up as if he was fighting back a small smile, and she frowned. "What's your excuse?" She asked him. He shrugged.

"I thought I heard a T-Rexaur outside my dorm. Turned out to be you." She stared at him, shocked at first, before she started laughing.

"Oh boy... a joke from you just sounds so unnatural." She said smiling.

"Whatever." He went to leave but she grabbed his arm.

"I didn't mean to offend you. Please stay?" She could see he didn't want to — he was already glancing towards the direction of the dorms — but he shrugged.

"But only because I feel like going for a walk and I know you'll follow me if I leave." He told her firmly when she smiled gleefully. She winked at him.

"Whatever you say."

"Well, well, well. Isn't this cute." Rinoa turned around and saw Seifer smirking at them, his arms folded across his chest. "Leonhart's got himself a girlfriend." Rinoa glanced at Squall and saw how the comment made him uncomfortable.

"We aren't dating, Seifer, but I assure you that if we were, it would be none of your business." Rinoa spat. Seifer's smirk faded slightly as he moved his glance away from Squall to her.

"Letting her fight your battles again, Squall?" Seifer taunted, having decided to ignore Rinoa. His comment hit a nerve and Squall narrowed his eyes.

"I don't need anyone to fight my battles, especially not against you." Squall retorted, stepping forward. Seifer grinned, taking Squall's actions to mean the beginning of a fight. He raised his hand to punch Squall.

"Seifer, no!" Rinoa shouted. Once again she foolishly placed herself in front of Squall. He grabbed her around the waist and went to pull her aside, but Seifer's punch was too quick and landed on her face. All Squall had done was prevented Seifer from breaking her nose.

"Oh shit, Rinoa!" Seifer cursed. He went to look at her face, but she pushed him away.

"You only care about fighting now." She whispered sadly. She cringed and reached for her cheek cautiously. Seifer stared at her, hut, before he clenched his fist and began to shake.

"I'm not the only one who changed, Caraway." He said, his teeth clenched together. With that, he turned and left, heading for the training center.

Rinoa was frozen in place, shocked and worried that he had revealed her true surname. She looked at Squall and saw him frown in recognition of the name.

"Caraway?" He prodded.

"My... father. The General." She said quietly. Though she was unsure if he knew about her going as Heartilly, she knew the name itself could represent an act of betrayal to these people — these SeeDs.

Squall said nothing at first — he seemed to be processing what she had said. Finally, he sighed.

"You should get some ice on that before it swells." He told her. He reached out to touch her cheek, but stopped, appearing to have decided against it. Rinoa felt a sharp pang of longing, but forced it away.

"You won't make me go to the Infirmary, will you?" She'll ask how if happened and if I tell her I stepped between you and Seifer..." She trailed off.

"She'd call you suicidal." He finished for her, his tone turning back to anger. Rinoa glared at him as they began heading back towards the dorms.

"On second thought, I want to go to the Infirmary. I'll tell her you hit me." She muttered darkly.

"And why would I?"

"Because I asked you out." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"But... you didn't." He appeared confused, but she could tell he was trying not to be affected with how easily she had said those words.

"And you didn't really punch me." Thinking about what happened, she grimaced and pressed her hand to her cheek tenderly. Squall noticed and began walking faster, away from her.

"Squall?" She called after him. He ignored her and headed down the hall to the dorms.

Whats his problem? He has more moodswings than a pregnant woman! And he was starting to actually talk. Why is it he can almost talk to me sometimes and others... She stopped walking suddenly. The only time she couldn't somehow get Squall to talk was when they were surrounded by other people. She smiled at this new realization — it could have meant nothing, but it momentarily took her mind off the burning pain in her cheek.

When she arrived outside her dorm, she pulled out her keycard. Her entire head ached and the burning in her cheek had begun to throb.

It seemed impossible that half an hour had passed, but her clock told her it was 3:30am. Rinoa began reliving the first half of the walk, before her mind turned back to the point where Squall had almost shown a sign of caring — when he had reached out to touch her face where Seifer had hit her. She had only begun to think of what it would have been like if his leather clad fingers had touched her when a knock came at her door.

When she opened the door, she saw Squall standing there, a small bag of ice in his hands.

"Squall?" He passed the bag to her before leaving without a word or a second glance. She stepped into the hall and called after him.

"You talk an awful lot when it's just the two of us!" He stopped walking, but didn't respond or turn around. She smiled to herself, satisfied. Ow... smiling hurts. She held the ice up to her face, grateful to Squall yet again for bringing it. Squall... you're going to complicate things.

—

The next day, Rinoa woke up to realize she had slept in — and had approximately twenty minutes to get to her first class. Oh, great. She thought darkly. I'm going to be late — oh well, I guess it doesn't matter. I... won't be staying, right? R-right. She quickly scrambled around her room, throwing on whatever clothes she saw first in her drawers. She ran a brush through her hair quickly, wincing slightly as it caught occasionally in her hair. Deciding she looked good enough, she ran out the door and looked at the schedule in her hands. The first class she had was field training — which just figured. She'd get all gross and dirty just in time to have to sit next to someone in World History. Great.

She didn't know if there was a bell at this Garden, so she continued walking fast to the classroom. When she burst through the doors, ready to blurt out a quick "I'm sorry I'm late!", she saw she was one of the few students to have arrived. She saw Squall sitting down at a desk with a computer, and bit her bottom lip. Should she join him? Better not push my luck. He was nice to me last night, but... well, its always different in the public eye.

She smiled slightly at that thought and sat in an empty section. She noticed his head lift up slightly and turn in her direction, before sinking back down to staring at the blank computer screen.

Her stomach growled, announcing its presence very loudly in the classroom. She sighed and hoped no one had heard — if she had realized she would be early, she might have stopped at the cafeteria before going to her classroom.

After awhile, she saw someone's shadow stop at her table. She looked up and saw the SeeD Selphie had introduced her to the other day - Zell. He held out an apple to her and she took it gratefully.

"Thanks," She said sincerely. He sat next to her and shrugged.

"I always sneak food in this class. Plus, I heard your stomach from across the room." He added, indicating the doorway he had just walked through. Rinoa flushed and sank down in her seat. At least only Squall and a couple other students she hadn't met were the only ones there.

Several more students entered the classroom before a young woman with blonde hair tied behind her head walked in. She brushed a loose strand of hair back and Rinoa was shocked when she dropped the books in her arms on the desk at the front of the classroom. Is she our teacher? She's so young!

"Good morning class, how's everyone doing?" The young woman asked absentmindedly. The students yawned a lot, earning a chuckle from the instructor. "Well we're going for a bit of a hike today, up towards the mountains that shield us from the Trabia continent. We'll be splitting into groups of three, groups which I will be deciding when we arrive at our destination. There, we'll have a little field mission. I'll give you more details along the way. Miss Heartilly?" Rinoa's head shot up.

"Y-yes?"

"I would like you to follow me into the backroom — we need to select a weapon for you. Unless you already have one?..."

"Oh! Yes, I have my pinwheel. It's... in my dorm, though." She admitted sheepishly. Perhaps she would have remembered it, had she not stayed up late after having a nightmare.

"It's fine. Zell, please escort Rinoa to her dorm so you can bring her to our usual training spot. That's where we will meet for a mission briefing."

"Sure thing, Instructor Trepe." Zell saluted briefly, but to Rinoa it seemed more casual than anything. He tapped her on the shoulder and motioned for her to follow. Once they were out in the hallway, she felt safe to ask the question on her mind.

"That's our instructor? She's so young!" Rinoa exclaimed. Zell grinned.

"Yeah, Quistis - uhh, Instructor Trepe - she's only eighteen. She was a student like the rest of us, but she was always ahead of everyone else. Became a SeeD when she was just fifteen years old! Can you believe that? She became an instructor last year." Zell explained. Rinoa turned around and saw the class slowly leaking out into the halls. She stepped into the elevator with Zell.

"So, why are you taking classes? Aren't you a — a SeeD?" No matter how much she began to accept the fact that not all the SeeDs she had met were evil or conspiring with the Sorceress — the word was no easier to force out.

"Yeah, but we still take some classes, you know? Like field training - you can ALWAYS use more of that, SeeD or not. But we're still students — Selphie, Squall, Nida and I, anyway." Zell added as an afterthought. The elevator doors opened and they stepped out, heading down the stairs and in the direction of the dorms.

"Nida?" Rinoa asked. She hadn't recalled meeting him — or her — yet at the Garden. Zell shrugged.

"Yeah, he's the other guy who passed the SeeD exam with us this year. Not many people did. They'll have another exam for those who failed or missed out on the last one, sometime next month. Then it'll be done until next year."

"Oh."

Zell was very talkative as she entered her dorm and grabbed her pinwheel. She smiled at him briefly as he guided her outside.

"Where's the normal training spot?" Rinoa asked. Zell pointed up ahead to a forest, and when she squinted her eyes she could see the students gathered inside. "Aren't there — monsters?" She asked, worried. Zell grinned at her before walking ahead.

"That's kinda the point!"

A/N: Well, I'm... torn on this chapter. I want to stress how Squall only seems to act differently with Rinoa when they're alone. Like he feels he's able to let down his defenses. Anyway, I guess only time - and your reviews - will tell me how well this chapter was. So... leave a comment?