Rinoa Heartilly

A beautiful and spirited young woman.
A lively, young woman with the ability to touch people's hearts. Open and honest with her feelings, Rinoa has a tendency to speak her mind without concealing anything. Driven by her ambition, she is known to be stubborn at times.

As expected, the relationship between Quistis and Rinoa didn't exactly hit off with a great start. The two prominent women of the game are complete and polar opposites: Quistis is quite reserved, and Rinoa openly speaks her mind; Quistis' personality is much more restricted that anyone else's save Squall, and Rinoa's personality is one of the more carefree in the game; Quistis has lived her live based on discipline and rules, and Rinoa is rebelling against her own father. Add a moody Squall into the mix, and what do you get? An inner jealousy is sparked within Quistis and she acts incredibly irritable, though outwardly polite, towards Rinoa.

At first, Quistis does not take Rinoa seriously - she doesn't think that Rinoa fully comprehends her situation as the leader of the Forest Owls all the while being a general's daughter. Because Rinoa also hasn't had the same military training as everyone else does, Quistis does not even listen to any suggestion that Rinoa might have. Basically, Quistis' opinion of Rinoa is that she's a pampered and spoiled little girl who is just tagging along because the SeeD contract between Garden and Rinoa hasn't been terminated yet.

Rinoa: It's supposed to suppress the sorceress' powers. But its effects are still unknown. So I don't think they're going to use it for this mission.
Zell: If it's Odine brand, it should be pretty effective! They're NO.1 when it comes to magical goods.
Rinoa: Right! Right!
Quistis: So what exactly do you want to do with it!? Are you planning to have the sorceress put it on!? Who? When? How?
Rinoa: That's what we're going to discuss!
Quistis: We don't have time for that. Squall and Irvine are already standing by. We have an operation to carry out, too. You understand, don't you? This isn't a father-daughter quarrel. This isn't a game.
Quistis' group leaves.
Rinoa: Who said this was a game...? I understand what's going on... It's not like I don't have a plan...
This scene occured when Rinoa proposed an idea involving restricting the sorceress' powers with a Odine Bangle - a brand that is obviously renowed for its work, as supported by Zell. Rinoa obviously did have a good idea - but Quistis' irritability and jealousy got in the way; she proceeded to proceed with the mission without even listening to Rinoa's pleas and obviously hurt her feelings. Quistis starts feeling guilty for it afterwards and leaves her post in order to apologize to Rinoa; without revealing much, a whole lot of chaos and confusion goes on, but Quistis and Rinoa's relationship after Deling City is much more friendly than it was before.

As their relationship elevates to one of more favorable feelings, Quistis starts to look toward Rinoa as another sibling (in addition to the Orphanage Gang) that she needs to look over. Quistis backs down from Squall and in her final relinquishment even pushes him towards Rinoa. Through Rinoa, Quistis is able to realize that her love for Squall is quite futile and to learn that first impressions aren't everything.

On the other hand, I don't believe Rinoa ever had the same initial feelings Quistis had for her; she is much more open and accepting than any other character in the game, and I think has a lot of respect for SeeD and its establishment - especially since they're able to help her in accomplishing her goal of Timber liberation. Rinoa most likely looked up to Quistis, like the rest of the group, because of her status as a superb SeeD.

Either way, by the end of the game the relationship between Quistis and Rinoa has evolved from one of annoyance on Quistis' part to one of a sort of sisterhood, albeit an awkward one.

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