How to Tame Your Lion by SilentStarlightSky
Summary: Rinoa wants her relationship with Squall to improve, so she decides to take things into her own hands by doing some relationship research in the library. What is she getting herself into?
Rinoa's thoughts are placed in italics.
Patches of warm afternoon sunlight scattered across Rinoa's bare shoulders as she readjusted herself uncomfortably on one of the Quad's concrete planters. Many other students congregated throughout the area, lounging and milling around between classes. Some SeeDs could be overheard discussing battle strategies with each other as she reached up her hands and started to stretch. Her back had just started to ache as she had been sitting there for longer than intended.
They really need to get some comfortable furniture out here.
She drew her knees up under her chin and once again tried to lose herself in her book, but she only managed to flip her way through a few more pages before giving up. Ack, this stupid romantic fairytale junk is making me feel worse. The book made a thud as she irritably threw it down on the concrete next to her.
Although Rinoa had friends at Balamb Garden, she wasn't a cadet or a SeeD, and despite her cheerful smiles, sometimes she just felt alone and out of place. People in sharp uniforms were always around, either talking about missions or rushing from one task to the next. She often felt that she stood out awkwardly in a sea of uniformed precision. She often wasn't sure what she should be doing or where she belonged in the world, and becoming a sorceress had not made things easier.
Rinoa huffed and squinted her eyes against the bright sun and focused towards the stage at the end of the Quad. She recognized Selphie and Irvine's figures standing around and laughing while eating ice cream cones. Irvine seemed to be teasing Selphie by repeatedly bumping into her arm while she tried to lick her cone, which resulted in her getting it all over her face. Selphie seemed to like Irvine's teasing attention, and she playfully retaliated by energetically shoving him. The tall, lanky gunman was completely caught off guard, and in an instant, he was flat on his back with an ice cream cone smashed upside down on his coat.
After a brief pause, Selphie quickly pulled him back off the ground with much more strength than seemed possible. While Irvine was still dazed, they started to walk towards where Rinoa was seated under the tree. Rinoa self-consciously tucked her book behind her while they approached. She couldn't help but envy their casual comfortableness with each other as Irvine wrapped his arm around Selphie and started to share the remaining ice cream cone. She gave them a smile and a wave. Selphie waved back and Irvine tipped his cowboy hat as they happily continued past her and back inside of Garden.
They are actually enjoying each other's company while I'm sitting out here reading a fairytale by myself. I wish Squall was more like that with me... talking, laughing, and cuddling up with me... Wait! Ugh, did I just wish Squall was more like Irvine?
Gross! What is the matter with me? Nobody should be more like Irvine. Oops, he's okay for Selphie, I guess.
I shouldn't be jealous of their relationship! With new determination in her eyes, she jumped off the concrete planter, stretched out her stiff legs, and started to walk briskly towards Balamb Garden's Library. First thing, I'm going to return this book. The sappy romantic parts were just making me unhappy anyways.
Plus, all the sorceresses in this book are evil, and it's hurting my feelings! No wonder everybody is prejudiced against sorceresses. Well, I guess the Sorceress Wars didn't help either... She forced her teeth into a smile and swung her arms as she went inside Garden and walked down the hallway towards the library.
Rinoa had fallen in love with Balamb Garden's library from the moment she had been given the school tour; it was a small inviting and peaceful place. Light filtered down upon the massive wooden stacks from windows set high in the ceiling. The soft green carpet turned her footsteps silent as she entered. Rinoa threw her book onto the check-in counter without even breaking her stride as she continued walking towards the back. She continued to walk to the far side of the book stacks and paced a bit while collecting her thoughts. She felt alone, and wanted to talk with somebody. Her heart was suddenly cheered as she heard Zell's boisterous voice echoing through the quiet library. She spun around to go chat with him, but quickly stopped and continued to stay on the far side of the book stacks unseen. He was happily flirting with the library girl at the check-out desk, and it seemed that she should remain hidden from him.
Another pang of envy hit her, and she looked down and away from the cute little scene by the front of the library. Looking down at the green carpet beneath her feet, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath while leaning against the shelves. Her eyes slowly blinked open while settling on a section of books about psychology and interpersonal relationships. Her eyebrows rose in fascination while she started to formulate a plan.
Now these are some books I should be reading! I should grab a bunch and check them out.
Wait, it wouldn't look good if word got around that the Commander's girlfriend is reading up on relationship self-help books. Um, what should I do? Maybe I could read some of them right here?
Quickly grabbing a few of the relationship books off the shelves, she also randomly grabbed a few other books off the stacks to hide what she was reading. She went to sit down at a student study carrel and spread some of the titles all around her.
Relationships for Dummies: A Commonsense Approach to Romance. I'm not a dummy!
How to Find True Love. I think I already found it, now what do I do?
Emotions and Relationships: A Beginner's Guide. Is this going to be helpful?
Don't Settle for One-Sided Relationships. Is that what my problem is?
I'm Not a Mind Reader: How to Know What People are Thinking. Maybe I am a mind reader, I should test out my sorceress powers more...
Oh, I'll just dive right in and see if I find something useful. I hope nobody notices what I'm reading.
Rinoa shifted in her seat while flipping through the pile of books. After awhile her eyes started to glaze over as she felt that this had been a silly idea. She'd been fruitlessly reading about relationship strategies for over half an hour, and felt that she deserved a break. While looking around at her messily piled books, a cute picture of a dog and cat cuddling caught her attention. Cute, I must have grabbed a book about pets too. It wouldn't hurt to look through it for a while.
She cracked the book open and it fell to a chapter about feral cats and how to tame them.
Oh, the poor kitties! They just need somebody to love and care for them! Sweet kitties, I'll love you all! Rinoa's heart started to melt, and she continued to read:
"Feral cats are wild and have not had much direct contact with humans. They often are fearful of people, flee when approached, and attack when cornered. Those with negative human experiences will be the most difficult to tame. A traumatized cat may never want to be picked up or petted even if eventually kept as a pet. It will take some time to tame a feral cat, do not rush the process. Do not attempt to pet a fearful cat, let it gain trust and approach you first."
Wow, this is sounding really familiar. Have I read this book before?
But I'm more of a dog person.
Rinoa fumbled with her necklace while thinking. Her fingers felt the smooth metal of the rings that dangled on the end of the chain. Turning them around in her hand she noticed the shape of a lion looking back at her. Her gaze swept from the engraved lion to the pictures of cats in her pet book. She paused and blinked several times before reacting.
Wait, lions are cats! Cats! Lions! SQUALL! This pet book about feral cats is reminding me of Squall! Maybe this book about pets will help my relationship with Squall more than the self-help books will.
And I can check these out of the library guilt-free. It will just look like I'm learning about dogs and cats to be a better pet owner for Angelo! She smiled to herself and grabbed the pet book to check it out. I'm gonna make this work! Just you wait Squall, I'll tame you! Then you'll be my perfect loving cat friend... I mean boyfriend!
She abruptly stood up and pushed away from the student study carrel. Gathering all the books in her arms, she turned to leave. Before walking up to Zell and the library girl she happily tossed the relationship books on a reshelving cart before anybody saw her with them. The cart squeaked with the sudden force and slightly wheeled away from the wall as she stomped past it and towards the front desk.
"Hiya Zell!" Rinoa said cheerily as she slipped her pet book towards the library girl to be checked out. "What are you doing in the library today?"
"Um, I'm just here to... check some things out..." Zell said while turning red in the face and fiddling with the back of his blond hair and glancing between the library girl and Rinoa.
"Um, check out some BOOKs I mean. He shifted his weight from foot to foot while cracking his knuckles nervously.
"Oh, okay. I'll let you get back to... um... that... I'll see you later!" Rinoa felt like a third wheel and made a quick exit.
It's obvious he's interested in the library girl. I should really find out what her name is, then it would be less awkward. Oooh, now I'm kinda getting jealous of them too!
Considering I have a boyfriend, I'm awfully lonely most of the time. She waved goodbye while leaving them.
Rinoa continued out into Balamb Garden's main circular hallway and leaned against the banister. The tranquil sound of water flowing beneath the walkway calmed her mind. As people moved past her she continued to smile happily no matter what she felt inside. She didn't want to give people an extra reason to dislike her, it was bad enough she was a sorceress and dating their beloved Commander. Looking friendly and not like a dangerous sorceress was a personal priority for her, especially when she was amongst so many Garden people. She felt somebody approach her from behind, and she started to turn, her heart leapt hopeful that it was Squall.
"Hello Rinoa," Quistis said calmly with her palms out. "Squall had a lot of work to catch up on today, so he wanted me to tell you that he wouldn't be able to have dinner with you tonight in the cafeteria." Quistis bristled, waiting for Rinoa to blame the bearer of bad news, but Rinoa, just stood there and sighed. "Um, if you want, you can join me and Xu for dinner. It could be a girls' night," Quistis said sweetly.
Girls' Night?! What if every night for the rest of my life turns into girls' night? Ah, I don't want to end up alone like Quistis or Xu. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But at least they have serious careers. I'm a teen high school dropout runaway who got turned into a sorceress. What a mess!
Maybe I should be working on myself, and then focus on my relationship with Squall.
Oh, this is getting depressing. Thanks a lot Squall, now I'm overthinking things like you! Okay, one thing at a time!
Quistis was getting a bit flustered by Rinoa's awkward silence, but she kept waiting patiently for the other woman to collect her thoughts. Rinoa kept looking down at her feet while twisting the toe of her boot into the floor. She suddenly came to herself and looked up at Quistis.
"Um, thanks, but that's okay. I was working on something too. I had some reading and studying I wanted to get done tonight. I don't have time to hang out. Thank you for the offer though," Rinoa said while twirling her necklace with one hand. Quistis tilted her head to the side and didn't know what Rinoa would be reading up on, but she decided it would be best not to inquire. She nodded her head politely and walked away.
As afternoon tuned into evening, Rinoa slowly walked back towards the dorms to her room. Not being an official student, it had taken some effort to get a private room. Well not much of an effort on her part. No one really wanted to room with the sorceress. Selphie or Quistis would of been glad to, if she had insisted, but they were already SeeDs and had their own private suites. So Cid decided that Garden's best interests would be served by having the sorceress under their watchful eyes, and it would also keep Commander Leonhart tethered to Garden if Rinoa were kept nearby. Cid Kramer made sure that Rinoa had a private room for herself while she was at Balamb Garden, and that she was treated in a manner similar to official SeeDs.
Rinoa was very happy to stay at Garden even though her private room was kept a bit apart from the others. It was placed in the corridor usually reserved for official Garden guests and dignitaries, and therefore it was quiet and lonely most of the time. While sometimes bothered by this fact, she was okay with it tonight, as she needed to do some serious thinking.
Okay, let's get planning! She clapped her hands and rubbed them together eagerly.
Author's note: I'm pretty new to this, so please read and review. Be nice, don't make me cry. :)