Chapter Six : Tests and Princesses

"Squall!" A happy Rinoa flung her self at the surprised commander and hugged him tightly. She didn't even seem to notice that Paine was even there.

Paine awkwardly looked around looking for a way to exit this situation. But that would mean a long walk back to Garden.

"Paine." Rinoa looked at her for a second and then went back to Squall. Paine only rolled her eyes.

"Hi to you too." She mumbled and crossed her arms.

"Aren't you a bit early?" Squall asked getting free from her death grip.

"I couldn't wait to see you...guys again." Rinoa smiled. Paine rolled her eyes for the second time.

"I see..." Squall sighed and turned to Paine. "I suggest we head back to Garden?"

Paine nodded and headed towards Garden with a fast pace. She really wanted to get away from Rinoa, or shall I say Princess.

She didn't see Rinoa walk into step with her, leaving Squall a few feet behind.

"Hey Paine...?"

Paine tried to be nice, "What!" Yeah that was nice enough.

"Are you and Squall...together?" Paine began choking. Rinoa gave a panicked look and began patting the girls back.

"What happened?" Squall jogged up to the two girls with a concerned look at the silver haired girl.

Paine was still coughing. Rinoa shrugged innocently. Squall sighed and began patting her back as well.

"I don't want you dying anytime soon Paine." His response was more coughing. Rinoa couldn't help but feel jealous at the attention Squall was giving Paine. Maybe they were together. Rinoa soon decided she was gonna investigate.

-.-

Aquall dodged left, then right and used a Shell spell to block Ifrit's fire attack. The GF wasn't giving him any easy fight and Katrin was in the back, resting against a rock, arms crossed in front of her chest, silently looking at him and evaluating.

I need to win this. Aquall thought. If I can't even defeat Ifrit, how on earth can I defeat him!

Ifrit launched another fire spell and Aquall dodged it, barely getting out of the way in time. The GF roared and launched at the brunet, its claws sharp and menacing, ready to strike the cadet. But Aquall dodged Ifrit again, but escaped with a wound on his arm.

He was panting, and the breathing was getting worse by the second. The hot and humid air of the Fire Cavern wasn't helping at all. From the corner of his eye, he saw Katrin getting up and approaching him.

"I told you I don't need help!" he yelled, glaring at her, but the girl ignored him.

"Bahamut."

The great dragon king appeared and it stopped Ifrit's next attack.

"What the hell? I told you I…" Aquall started to say. But Katrin punched his head, hard, and he shut up.

"I THOUGHT YOU HAD A GF, BONEHEAD!" she yelled at him and Aquall had the decency to back away. "DO YOU WANT TO GET KILLED!" she turned to the two GFs. "Bahamut, Draw Out!"

A gust of power enveloped Aquall and he almost fell on his butt with its force. He looked at Katrin, who gave him a glare.

"You can't fight a GF without another GF. Only a sorceress can defeat a GF on their own, without external help. DUH!"

Aquall just looked at her for a second and then gripped his gunblade tight, preparing for his battle.

-.-

Paine walked calmly around the plains outside of Balamb. She had managed to escape from the clutches of Rinoa, who kept pestering her in Garden. She grimaced at the questions that she remembered Rinoa asking her.

She scowled and shook her head. No way she was going to recap that. She shoved her hands in her pockets and stared up at the sky. No monsters in sight, the moon high in the sky, clear, and no loud princesses.

She continued to walk until she stopped at the beach. The waves were calm, and the smell of salt water was soothing.

She laid down on the sand and closed her eyes. But still aware of her surroundings. Somewhat. But she didn't hear the male footsteps approaching her.

"It isn't safe to do that." Her commander's words echoed in her ear. She opened her eyes and lazily looked up at Squall, who was staring down at her with a faint smile.

"Says who?" She smirked and closed her eyes again. Squall silently kicked her arm gently with his shoe.

"Says your superior."

She opened her eyes and glared at him.

"Since when have you been my superior?" She snorted. Squall took a seat next to her and rolled his eyes.

"Since the day I became Commander of Garden." He simply answered and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Since when did that ever affect me?" She shot back, putting her arms behind her head using them as a pillow.

"I guess you beat me with that one." And the conversation ended. It didn't bother Paine. This was regular. And silence was divine.

But she broke it, "How did you escape Rinoa?"

"I got Zell to distract her." He answered. The waves slowly began to rise, causing the two SeeDs to move back a bit.

"Squall... Do you like Rinoa?" Paine hesitated, but couldn't shut her mouth. Squall visibly tensed and looked at her as if she had a second head that looked like a malboro.

"What?" He blurted out, with disbelief.

"Never mind." She turned on her side, her back facing Squall. But he didn't want any of that. He grabbed Paine's arm and made her turn to him.

"Why did you ask that Paine?" His eyes narrowed.

"I don't have the right to ask my best friend a question?" She awkwardly joked and raised an eyebrow. His expression didn't change. Paine sighed, obviously defeated.

"I just wanted to know… We never keep secrets from each other." She hinted, but felt a bit guilty because of her own secret. Squall's eyes softened and he slowly let Paine go.

"Right… But since you mentioned it; No. I don't like her. But I do like someone else."

Paine slightly relaxed at his answer but also tensed up. She was eager to know who he liked. She sat up,

"Who?"

He looked into her eyes, and opened his mouth to speak,

"I like-"

"SQUALLIE!" The two SeeDs groaned.

"Oh for the love of.." Paine's eye twitched. She was this close about finding out who Squall had liked. But nooo, seemed like Hyne created Rinoa to make things a surprise. And annoy everyone's lives.

-.-

Katrin was literally dragging Aquall out of the Fire Cavern. The boy had defeated Ifrit, who was now inside his head, and Bahamut was inside hers. The boy had been wonderful in defeating the fire GF, but was tired and with a few cuts.

They were walking in the plains of Balamb when a shriek was heard in the distance.

"SQUALLIEE!"

"What the hell…?"

Aquall raised his head and looked in the direction of the shriek.

"Think the Commander is in danger?" he asked, somewhat hoping that was the case.

"No… Wait actually yes. Princesses gone wild." Aquall looked at her weirdly before shrugging.

And with that, she changed directions and moved in the beach's way. There, she found an awkward, and plainly disgusting scene.

"WHAT THE HELL?" she shouted, letting go of Aquall, who fell on the floor with a *HUFF*, and practically flied to the scene.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Katrin yelled, grabbing Rinoa's collar and pushing her off of Squall's arm. "You nuts! Get away!"

The raven haired girl just stared at the other girl and frowned.

"Well… and who do YOU think you're?"

"Well, missy, I…"

"ENOUGH!"

Squall's voice broke the discussion and implanted the silence in the beach. He looked at Aquall, who was approaching them, limping, and then to the two teenagers.

"Katrin, explain me that." He said, pointing in Aquall's direction and ignoring the glare and frown his twin gave him. Katrin immediately went in SeeDs mode and gave him the SeeD salutation.

"SeeD Katrin accompanied Cadet Aquall in the trial test of the Fire Cavern."

Squall sweat-dropped, not seeing the thumbs up that Paine gave Katrin.

"And why did you did it in the middle of the night?"

"Because it was better for us. More time and the Fire Cavern isn't that hot in the middle of the night. Besides," She added, seeing Squall opening his mouth. "I preferred the night, due the fact that I have more free time."

Squall was tired enough to not even argue with her.

"Report in the morning to the headmaster about this." He said and walked away, with Rinoa on his toes.

Paine just glared at the raven haired girl. Katrin approached her.

"Ignore her. You can tell me everything later. Now, let's just get back to Garden."

Paine just nodded and walked in front of Aquall and Katrin, who was helping the boy to walk