A/N: I'm breaking from my normal stories. This is more of a one-shot fic. I need to write something that isn't depressing. Merry X-Mas and a happy new year.
As The Snowflakes Fall
"Hey guys, guys!" Selphie cheered as she bounced happily into the cafeteria. "I have the coolest thing to tell you!"
Zell looked up from his breakfast of hotdogs. "Wh..mmm...is…mfh, it..?"
"Eww, Zell." Rinoa said, shrinking away from him and wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Don't talk with food in your mouth."
"Well, wait a minute," Selphie stopped, "Where's Squall?"
Everyone looked at Rinoa, who furrowed her brow, "Why am I supposed to know where he is?"
"Well, you ARE his woman." Irvine chuckled.
"Guys, Squall's probably still in bed." Quistis interrupted.
Rinoa smiled, "Yeah. This is Winter Break, you know."
"It's 9:00! Why is he asleep still? That guy's usually up at the butt-crack of dawn, even when he's off!" Irvine exclaimed.
"Well, I have to wait till he's here!" Said Selphie, stamping her foot.
"Who wants to wake him up?" Asked Quistis.
"No way!" Cried Zell. "Have you ever tried that? The guy sleeps like a rock. If you DO manage to wake him up, you'll end up with some sort of physical injury, not to mention a flurry of curse words."
Quistis grinned, "Yeah. He usually speaks Centrian when he gets really pissed. It's like being cussed out in a foreign language. So few people even speak that language anymore."
"I'm not waking him up." Irvine said.
"How about Rinoa?" Suggested Selphie.
"Why me?!" Rinoa whimpered.
Zell swallowed his food, then said, "Because he won't murder you. He likes you. Come on, if we have any shot at waking him up, it's with you. Otherwise, he'll sleep until noon."
"We can't have that!" Yelled Selphie, "This has to be told now, so we can go!"
Rinoa sighed and got up, "Fine. But you guys owe me big time."
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Rinoa arrived at Squall's room relatively quickly. She knew her way around well by now, and Squall's room was usually where she was. Although Garden did not permit females in the male dorm areas, a lot of people did it anyway. Besides, she was the Commander's girlfriend, after all.
She banged on the door. "Squall?"
No response, of course.
She pulled out the key she had to his room. It was only supposed to be used in an emergency, but this was one…right?
The door opened and she closed it gently behind her, not wanting anyone in the hall to hear. She walked through his large dorm room to the bedroom area. Since Squall was commander, his dorm had been upgraded. It was almost like an apartment. He had a kitchen, living room, bedroom, the works. She loved it.
She pushed his bedroom door open. Sure enough, he was sound asleep. He didn't snore, thankfully, but he was going to be difficult to wake up. He was curled up in the bed, covered completely with a large down comforter. All she could see was his hair, sticking up out of the top.
The guy is ALWAYS cold! Rinoa thought, laughing.
She moved to his bedside and gently shook him, "Squall?"
He didn't even stir.
She shook him harder, but still got no response.
"Get up!" she yelled, hitting his shoulder.
He grumbled a little, but still did not awaken.
No matter what she did, he would not get up. So, desperate times call for desperate measures.
She pulled back the comforter to expose his head a little more. Then, she lowered her head and stuck her tongue in the inner lobe of his ear (but not IN his ear, eww).
"What the HELL?" He yelled, jumping about a mile out of bed. He brought his hands up and furiously wiped the inside of his earlobe dry.
Rinoa laughed, "I knew that would work."
He looked up at her, giving her a death-glare. But it didn't scare her. He always looked so funny in the morning. His hair was a total mess. He liked to sleep with no shirt on (which is probably why he was so cold), and with baggy black pajama pants.
He ran his fingers through his hair. "You're lucky. If it was anyone else, I'd rip their tongue right out. What do you want? Why did you wake me up?"
"Selphie needs to talk to all of us. It's urgent."
He grumbled under his breath, then looked up at her. "Fine. Give me a minute."
Rinoa stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door, allowing him some privacy to get ready.
He came out five minutes later, looking like he'd been up all along. He could make a huge transformation in just a few minutes.
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Rinoa returned to the cafeteria with Squall. He looked fine, but very angry.
"This better be global, Selphie." He growled.
"I told you he'd be pissed." Zell said.
"Shut it, Zell." Squall snapped. "Get on with it. What's going on?"
"Well, I just talked to Cid and Matron. They finally finished getting the orphanage fixed up, and they want us to come for Christmas Eve. We've gotta go catch the train in about three hours." She announced.
"You heard her, get packing!" Irvine said, "Meet at the front gate at 11:30."
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Everyone came to the gate and loaded their bags into the back of a Garden-issued vehicle.
"So, who's driving?" Asked Quistis.
Everyone looked at Squall. "Fine…"
They were soon off to the train station. They arrived in time, with Rinoa screaming at Squall to quit speeding.
They boarded the train and prepared for the three-hour trip.
"You know, you could have gotten us all killed." Rinoa lectured, "And it's not like we were going to be late."
Squall rolled his eyes, "Rinoa, I always speed."
She sighed and folded her arms.
"How many tickets have you gotten?" Asked Irvine.
"None, actually." Squall replied. "I mean, I've gotten pulled over a lot, but I can usually get out of a ticket."
"Really?" Zell asked, "How?"
"It's easy if the officer is female. If it's a guy, I just resort to bribery and excuses."
"Wait, how is it easier if it's a female cop?" Quistis questioned.
"Well, they tend to believe crazy stories, or take sympathy if I act flustered."
"You jerk." Selphie replied. "You take advantage of them! That's mean!"
Squall pulled out a book, "Well, it works. No black marks to my record, no fines, and no court date. I don't feel bad about it."
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They arrived at the orphanage a few hours later. As they unloaded their bags from the trunk of a rental car, Cid and Edea came out.
"Oh, it's so good to see all of you!" Edea exclaimed.
"Is it okay that I came?" Rinoa wondered, "I mean, I know I'm not part of the whole Orphanage gang thing…"
"It's fine, dear. You are more than welcome." Edea replied.
Squall leaned over to Rinoa, "I told you she wouldn't care."
After a warm greeting, they were all invited inside, out of the bitter cold weather that southern Centra had during winter.
"Isn't it great?" Cid asked, "We got it all fixed up. Just like old times."
Selphie smiled, "It's so nice!"
"Oh, and I have the tree set up!" Exclaimed Edea, leading them into the foyer.
Underneath the tree was an enormous amount of presents. Above the nearby fireplace, stockings were hung, each with their names on them. Rinoa had a stocking, and so did Seifer.
"Wait, Seifer's coming?" Squall asked.
"I'm already here, puberty boy." Seifer smirked, walking into the room. The two teenagers shot glares at each other.
"Now, now, you two. We've had to work hard enough to get Seifer back on his feet. I don't want any fighting." Edea commanded strictly.
"Tell that to him. He's the one who always started it." Squall grumbled, grabbing his bag and heading into the back room.
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As dinner cooked later that evening, Squall stood outside on one of the cliffs over the ocean. Despite the biting wind, he was warm in his large coat.
Rinoa came out, bundled up as well, and stood next to him.
"Are you okay?" She worried.
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you've been angry all day. Aren't you happy to be back here for Christmas?"
He folded his arms, "No. I don't like the holidays."
"Why not?"
"Just a friendly reminder that I don't have a family." He sighed.
Rinoa felt a pang of guilt, "I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"It's not a big deal."
She put a hand on his shoulder, "But, Squall, you do have a family."
He looked down, shuffling his feet a little. "Them? They're not family to me. I mean, they're nice and all, but they aren't family. Then again, I do have some family this year. I…I have you."
She smiled, "Yeah, you do."
"But how can I ever be certain that everything is going to be okay? How can people just let go of their worries on the holidays?"
"Squall, you worry a lot. But remember, I won't leave you."
He took a deep breath, "I hope not."
" I know not." Rinoa replied.
"Rinoa, I want to ask you something." He said.
"What?"
He shifted uncomfortably, "Well…what exactly is it…um… that you see in me?"
"Squall, you're a lot better of a person than you give yourself credit for. I know you feel like you don't deserve me, like you don't deserve to be happy, and that isn't true. Squall, you have more than earned me, and you've earned all of this. You are a good person, believe it or not."
"Maybe. But what makes me better than Seifer?"
She sighed, "Squall. Look, I'm not saying Seifer is a bad person, but he isn't what I want. You are. I tried to change Seifer. But he'll always be arrogant. Besides, I never really felt, I don't know, close to him."
"You feel close to me?"
"Yes, I do. You have been hurt too many times, so you just closed everything in and pushed everyone out. But you've let me see what is really in there, and who you really are. I like who you are. And I feel like I can talk to you about personal things, because I know you won't judge me. You never did. Even when I became a sorceress, you didn't judge me like everyone else."
Both were quiet for awhile, then Squall looked at her. "I got you something. But, I don't want to give it to you in front of the others."
Rinoa smiled, "I got you something too. And I feel the same way."
He pulled out a small wrapped box and gave it to her. As she opened it, he turned away nervously.
Rinoa almost gasped at the contents. Inside was a ring. It was like his Griever ring, but the lion had beautiful angel wings. The eye was a ruby, and there were diamonds scattered around throughout the ring. It was platinum, a very expensive metal.
"Squall…it's beautiful."
"You…like it?"
She put a hand on his shoulder and coaxed him to turn around, "I love it. This must have cost you so much money. I mean, I know you don't get much, even being commander."
He turned around and looked at her, "Well, I'd been saving it."
"This…wow, Squall."
"You said you had something for me?" He said, changing the subject.
She closed the box and gently put the ring in her pocket. Then, she pulled out a box. It was bigger than the one Squall had given her, but still small.
She handed it to him, and he gently took it. Slowly, he untied the ribbon and gently removed the wrapping. She watched his eyes widen as he opened the box.
"This…how…how on earth did you…?" He stuttered.
He pulled out the necklace with the golden locket on it. Inside, a faded picture of Raine sat. It was her old necklace.
"I asked around, and managed to turn it up."
He was speechless for a long time as he examined the necklace. "I can't tell you what this means to me."
She smiled, "It was nothing. The locket belonged to you anyway. She wanted you to have it, but it got mixed up."
He pocketed the necklace and looked at her. "Thank you." He whispered.
She moved forward and hugged him, "Thank you, too."
"This is the first time I've ever gotten a present from someone who meant a lot to me." He said quietly, holding her.
"So, now do you hate the holidays?"
He pulled away from her a little, smiling, "Well, it wasn't so bad this year. I had some family around to help."
Gently, but passionately, he kissed her. As they kissed, it began to snow.
Rinoa broke the kiss for a moment. Squall looked a bit worried, "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry for earlier. I acted stupid." She said meekly as she looked at the ground.
He put a hand under her chin and brought her gaze to meet his own. "I acted stupid for a long time, and I still act stupid a lot. You don't care, so why should I? Besides, you were just worrying. It wasn't a big deal."
She smiled, "So, you forgive me?"
"Of course I do."
He pulled her back into another kiss as the snow began to fall heavier. This time, the kiss did not break. Not until…
"Kids! Come on inside, dinner is ready!" Yelled Cid.
Edea looked at him, "Oh, you could have left them alone a little longer!"
"Yeah, but they'll get frostbite out there."
She shook her head, "I swear, you have no idea what romance even is, do you?"
He took her in his arms, "Oh, I think I have an idea of what it is."
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As they sat and ate the large pot of stew and the plate of homemade bread, it was relatively quiet. All that was really heard was Zell's sloppy chewing.
"Zell, could you not eat like a pig? Some people are trying to enjoy dinner." Squall said.
Zell blushed and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Sorry. I get carried away."
After dinner, Edea gathered everyone into the main room of the house. "Okay, sleeping arrangements! We have two rooms with a set of separate beds, one room with one small bed, and one room with one large bed. Sorry, but two of you will have to share a bed."
Selphie, Zell, Irvine, and Quistis immediately made a beeline for the rooms with two single beds each. All that was left was the large bed, the single bed, Seifer, Squall, and Rinoa.
"Well, who's sharing the bed?" Cid asked. "Boys?"
Seifer and Squall looked at Cid like he had three heads, "No way."
"Fine, then it's either Squall and Rinoa or Seifer and Rinoa." Edea said, chuckling.
Rinoa looked at Squall.
Seifer spoke up. "Come on, baby. It'll be like old times."
Rinoa wrinkled her nose at Seifer, "No thanks. I'll share with Squall."
As they walked to the rooms, Seifer grumbled, "What's so great about puberty boy?"
Rinoa stopped walking, "Seifer, would you just stop acting like a baby about everything? The world doesn't revolve around you. I'm with Squall, get over it."
"Jeez, sorry. Someone needs to remember the Midol on these trips." Seifer replied as he closed the door to his room.
As Squall and Rinoa entered their room, Squall looked at her, "What did he mean by 'old times'?"
She shook her head, "I have no clue. We never did anything."
They looked at the bed and looked at one another uneasily. After about a half hour, they finally laid down in the bed.
"This is a little…awkward." Squall said.
"I know. I swear, they set this up." Rinoa said.
Over in the next room, Selphie grinned at Irvine as she got into her bed, "It worked! We got them in the same bed!"
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That morning, everyone was early to rise. Though Squall and Rinoa had been a little uncomfortable with the sleeping conditions, they managed to sleep well.
The presents were all opened and shared. Even Rinoa got presents and a stocking.
After a breakfast of French toast and hot cocoa, Squall retreated outdoors. Rinoa followed after awhile, giving him some private time.
"So, how did you like it?" She asked him as she approached.
"It was alright. I still liked your present more."
"Yours was my favorite, too." She showed him her hand, "And look, it fits perfect."
"Good."
He was quiet for awhile, and she came closer to him. Just as he thought she was about to embrace him, he got a load of cold snow dumped down the back of his coat.
"You! Oh, I'm going to get you for that!" He yelled, chasing Rinoa through the deep snow.