Rinoa Heartilly stood on the balcony overlooking the ocean as it sailed past under Balamb Garden on it's steady course through the night sky. Rinoa gazed up at the stars as the wind blew through her raven colored hair. Behind her, in the Quad, the commotion of the Garden Festival stirred. Irvine, following closely behind Selphie, was holding a video camera. Selphie walked over to the balcony. "Irvy!" Selphie exclaimed. "Get that on tape!"
Irvine spent no time in turning the camera towards Rinoa. Squall walked up next to Rinoa. Irvine noticed the low battery sign blinking on the camera.
"Dammit!" Irvine muttered as the camera shut off.
"Hold that pose!" Selphie said as she scampered off in search of new batteries. Rinoa turned and smiled at Squall. He turned to her and smiled, a very rare site, as he took her in his arms.
"I love you, Rinoa." Squall whispered in her ear.
"I love you, Squall." Rinoa whispered back.
"You know my ring," Squall said. "I want it back now."
"Why?" Rinoa asked.
"You'll see," Squall replied with a confident smirk. Rinoa fiddled with her necklace and was finally able to remove the large ring with Griever engraved on it. She handed Squall the ring and he immediately dropped to one knee.
"Rinoa, will you marry me?"
"Yes."
The scene was momentarily followed by a cacophony of giggling coming from the doorway. Squall and Rinoa turned their heads to find the source of the giggling. Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, Zell, and Lara were standing there. Selphie had the camera pointed directly at them.
"How long have you been there?" Squall inquired regaining his seriousness and pulling himself up.
"The entire time," Irvine said with a laugh.
"Turn that thing off," Rinoa said pulling the video camera away from Selphie.
"Hey, give that back!" Selphie cried in protest and everything was followed by static.
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Lara hit the power button on the remote and the television set went black. She leaned back into Zell and cuddled with him. Rinoa was sitting on Squall's lap playing with her engagement ring. Lara smiled at them. Angelo bounded into the room and jumped up into Irvine's lap while he was talking to Selphie.
"Ack!" Irvine tried pushing Angelo away but it was no use, she kept trying to lick his face. "Rinoa, get her offa me!"
Rinoa brought her fingers up to her mouth and whistled. "Come here girl."
Angelo's ears perked up and she turned to Rinoa. She looked as if she were smiling as she ran to Rinoa. She nudged Squall and put her front paws on his lap. Both Rinoa and Squall started to pet her. Quistis sat down next to Lara and Zell, holding the bowl of popcorn. She offered them some.
"No thanks." Lara and Zell both said smiling. Lara ran her fingers through Zell's hair. When he smiled up at her, she remembered the first time they actually met.
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Lara was sitting in Quistis' classroom. She sat in front of Seifer, who sat across the aisle from Squall, who sat behind Zell. Seifer leaned forward and whispered in Lara's ear.
"Hey Lara, doin anything this weekend?" Seifer whispered.
Lara smiled. "As a matter of fact, I am. This weekend I have to train for the SeeD exam. It's coming up you know."
He leaned back. "Training is so boring. I just wanna use my skills on the battle field."
"You go ahead and do that," Lara rolled her eyes. "I think I'm just going to play it safe."
During the next few days, she kept getting roses and poems on her desk. She had no clue who to suspect. One day, she really wanted to know who had been giving her the beautiful roses and lovely poems. She walked shyly over to Squall's desk.
"Squall," She asked. "Are you the one who's been sending me these lovely gifts?"
He shook his head. She walked over to Seifer. "Seifer, have you been giving me these?"
"I wish I could say yes," He said rubbing his neck. "But nope."
She sat back down, now more curious than ever. Quistis began class and Lara looked around the room. The message light started blinking on her study panel. It read: "Well, now you know it isn't Squall or Seifer that gave you the flowers. Who could it be? See if you can figure it out yourself. Secret Admirer"
Lara smiled to herself and started to type. She was great with computers and could hack her way through almost any problem. It took a little while, but she traced the origin of the message. She smiled and sent a message back to him: "Zell, what's my prize? Lara"
Zell looked over at her. She was smiling at him. They hit it off right after that.
*******************************************************
Angelo started licking Lara's leg. Lara smiled while reaching down to her. "Hey guys, you wanna go to my house?" She smiled as Angelo walked over to Quistis.
"Where do you live?" Rinoa asked.
"Angelo," Quistis said in a cute voice while smiling. "Popcorn isn't doggy food."
Lara giggled at Quistis. "Oh yeah, I never told you guys did I? My house is on Earth." Lara smiled.
"Earth?" Squall coughed. "How did you get here?"
"It's a long story," Lara sighed. "But if you go, I'll tell it."
They all agreed that it was going to be fun. They started packing their things right away. They all met at Ragnorak. After Selphie started up the large red ship, Lara pulled out a small sphere.
"Hold on tight guys," Lara said as everybody buckled up. Lara started to chant. "Praebeo sollicite iussu volo."
Ragnorak slowly started to glow as it gained speed. The ship was glowing brightly when it hit the right speed. A portal opened up in front of them and they shot through it, time around them seemed to stop.
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They reached Earth and Lara helped Selphie navigate to her house.
"Ah," Lara smiled. "Home sweet home." She helped Selphie land the large ship in a beautiful clearing to the side of the mansion. They all grabbed their bags and made their way off of Ragnorak. Lara walked up the front door and unlocked it. Pushing the door open revealed the very beautiful interior of the mansion.
"Welcome to the Croft estate," Lara acted as a tour guide. "I shall show you around, and show you to your rooms."
She walked up the large staircase to the left. She pointed to the bedroom furthest down the hall.
"Squall, Rinoa, that will be your room." She pointed to the one closest to them. "Zell, you'll be in my room with me."
They walked to the other side. Lara pointed down the hall. "Irvine and which ever girl wants to be in a room with him will be in that room."
Selphie wrapped her arms around Irvine. "I wanna be with him!"
"Very well," Lara smiled. "Quistis, your room is downstairs. I think you'll like it."
Everyone put their things in the rooms while Lara showed Quistis to her room. Lara led her down the staircase and to a door underneath the stairs. Lara opened it and let Quistis lead the way down. The room was a huge aquarium. Three walls were thick glass with water on the outside. There was a bed, small library, a television, and an assortment of tropical fish to view through the glass walls.
"Oh my," Quistis gasped. "It's beautiful."
"Thank you," Lara said. "I told you you'd like it."
Quistis put her things on the bed and walked back up with Lara to finish the tour. Lara smiled at everyone.
"Okay, now for the rest of the tour." She showed them the attic, the music room, the library, the kitchen, the dining room, the ballroom, and the swimming pool. "The inside tour is finally completed. You like so far?"
"Lovely." Quistis smiled.
"Beautiful." Rinoa added.
"I like it." Irvine smiled.
"Woohoo!" Selphie shouted.
"Very nice." Squall smiled.
"Perfect." Zell grinned.
"Well," Lara smiled. "I'm glad you guys like it. Let's save the outside tour for later. Let's swim!"
Everyone raced to their rooms in search of swim wear. Lara was the first one back, followed by Quistis. Rinoa came running in with Selphie after a few minutes.
"What's takin so long?" Rinoa peered around the corner. "All they gotta put on is a pair of shorts."
Zell came running in, followed by Squall, and finally Irvine. Lara wasted no time on jumping in. Irvine picked Selphie up and threw her in. Zell pushed Irvine in. Quistis jumped in with Rinoa. Squall sat on the edge with his legs in the water. Rinoa swam up in front of his legs.
"Why aren't you gettin in?" She smiled.
"I dunno," he shrugged.
"C'mon," Rinoa splashed him.
Squall slid in slowly. "There, is that better?"
"Yep," Rinoa smiled.
Lara pulled herself out of the water and made her way to a mirror to take her hair clips out. "Oh!" She gasped. "I gotta call Lyla!"
"Who?" Irvine said raising an eyebrow.
"Lyla," Lara repeated. "She's my twin sister. I haven't seen her in a few months. Let's see," She paused, glancing around the room. "Oh yeah, I have her phone number around here somewhere."
"Where is she?" Quistis asked.
"Oh, she's the vice president of a big company in Japan. She's almost as rich as I am." Lara smiled. "Now where did I put that number..." She trailed off as she walked out of the pool room towards her room.
"A twin sister!?" Irvine smiled. "I wonder if they're identical."
Squall rolled his eyes. "What makes you think she'd like you anyway?"
"Hey," Irvine smirked. "I happen to be very likable. With my boyish good looks, my irresistible charm, and..."
"An ego the size of this mansion." Quistis giggled.
"Hey!" Irvine smirked.
Lara walked in talking on the phone. "Moshimoshi, dearou watashi douzo shaberi tame Lyla Croft?" She paused for a moment. "Merushi." Everyone looked at her, confusion across their faces. "What? I was asking if I could talk to Lyla."
"Lara," Squall swam up to the side of the pool. "How many languages do you speak?"
"Fluently," She paused to count. "About fourteen or fifteen. Oh, hey Lyla! Yeah, I just got back. Can you come over this week? Good, I'll see you then, and I've got some friends I want you to meet. Adiosu." She hung up the phone. "Great news! Lyla should get here the day after tomorrow."
"Is she as nice as you?" Selphie asked.
"We are almost exactly alike, well, at least personality and appearance wise." Lara smiled.
"Yes," Irvine smiled. "Two Lara's in one house." He whispered quiet enough for no one to hear.
Lara walked over to the diving board and stood on the end. She did a twist flip and hit the surface of the water in a dive. They all swam around for a few hours. After that, the girls made the guys dinner. They made steak and potatoes, and for dessert, there was black forest cherry cake. The guys agreed it was nothing short of perfect. They all went to bed after dinner.
Lara took a shower while Zell sat in bed and watched the television. She stepped out and dried off. She put on her favorite robe, low cut and short, which revealed a lot. She walked out making Zell's eyes widen.
"Are you wearing anything under that?" He grinned mischievously.
"Don't get any ideas, Zell." Lara said while pulling her bra strap out. She laid down on the bed next to him. He laid down and shut off the television. He put his arms around her and kissed her neck.
"Lara," He whispered in her ear. "I had a lot of fun today."
She smiled. "All you've seen is my house. Wait till we go do things in town."
"I can't wait," He smiled. "Good night Lara."
"Good night Zell."
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"I still don't see why I gotta sleep on the floor." Irvine muttered.
"Well," Selphie smiled. "I'm the lady and you should be nice to me and give me the bed." She stuck her tongue out.
"All right, all right," Irvine said sitting up. "Can you at least toss me my pillow?"
"Yeah." She grabbed his pillow and threw it at him.
"Thank," The pillow hit him in the face. "You." He sat it down on the floor and laid his head down on it. "Good night Seph."
"G'night Irvy."
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Squall was on top of Rinoa, kissing her. He ran his hand along her side as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Rinoa," Squall stopped. "Did you have fun today?"
"Yes." She smiled.
He rolled over onto his side of the bed. "I'm getting tired."
"Yeah," She yawned scooting closer to Squall. "I think that portal thing we went through did this."
He kissed her forehead as he wrapped his arms around her. "Good night."
"Good night."
Site Links
Chocobo: Music - "Final Fantasy VIII" - "Balamb Garden"
