A/N: The premise of this oneshot is as follows: Squall's finally opened up to Rinoa and they've had a long-standing relationship since the events of FFVIII- He quit his Garden job, Xu took over and Squinoa moved to a nice lakehouse near Deling, where Rinoa followed in her mother's footsteps to being a singer. She's been trying to teach Squall but she's had no effect, (OR SO SHE THINKS).

By the way, imagine where they park is about a 80-100m walk from their front door, for what I wrote to make sense... just bear with me.

She has to leave due to a singing thingy tour; I don't know much about these kinds of things but it's a tour of some sort that could last for perhaps a year, and Squall can't go with her because he does need to work at his new job to pay the bills (Just assume they've spent his saved up money from Garden and the ridiculous money from SeeD salary every 2 minutes in the game) They've talked about it for a while but tomorrow is the day she leaves:

EDIT: I truly like this storyline, so if I get enough comments/reviews for me to make a prequel series, I just might! *hint hint*

EditEDIT: Pleaase review. I would like to know if this is of good quality and/or what I can do to improve!

Without further ado,

Skij Leonhart

A New Beginning

"Oh, Squall, you didn't have to." Rinoa was smiling as he slid a CD into their car's player- he had given her a two-CD set, one with a list of radio versions of her favorite songs, and the other was a "surprise." The surprise was, much to Rinoa's delight, all of the songs on the other CD in instrumental version with Squall's deep, baritone voice singing a cover to each and every one of them. Her eyes lit up even farther as he started to sing along to the first one, an adaptation of Cups, by Anna Kendrick, lyric-tailored to reflect the other perspective. After finishing the song, Squall sighed while Rinoa gave the loudest applause one girl could give, and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. A tiny smile appeared on his lips, and her face mirrored his, but multiplied by a thousand. Still grinning, she paused the player before it moved onto its next song and looked back up at the man she had oh-so fallen in love with over the years, and found moments like these; when Squall gave her random gifts, kissed her in public (still to her prompts) and stood by her side at after-parties of her shows- something she had thought Squall to never do, as no kind of party was a good party for Squall Leonhart. Sadly, the spontaneity that she still desired from him was elusive, and she had almost conceded that he wasn't that kind of guy. Almost.

The couple got out of their car, Squall leading Rinoa up the front walk to their beach house- a lovely, 4.5 bedroom house that Rinoa, much to Squall's dismay, used for parties occasionally. However, when the house was empty it still managed to retain the quaint, lake-side feel that they initially wanted when purchasing the property. Rinoa had managed to get Squall to laugh on the walk up, albeit with the aid of a couple of glasses (ok, more than a couple) of wine from the restaurant they had visited. Squall's laugh abruptly stopped as he saw Rinoa's bags packed and sitting on the left side of the door; all four of them rather large suitcases. She was going to be gone for a while, after all.

"You... ok?" Rinoa tentatively asked.

"You leave tomorrow morning, don't you?" He asked, his voice barely breaching a whisper.

"Yeah... I do." She sighed out, and her fears of him regressing seemed to be coming true. He dropped her hand and she noticed made his way over to the right side of the house's porch, even though the more comfortable set of outdoor furniture was to the left.

She hung her head briefly, then kicked off her shoes at the doormat and turned the corner to see Squall gazing out, a storm forming not over the lake but in his eyes.

"Squall, please, please, don't erase all of our progress. What's the matter?" Rinoa walked up to him as the sun completed its descent over the lake and the night-detection porch lights flickered on, one by one.

Squall turned around: "I'm scared, alright?" Shock plastered Rinoa's face; she barely managed to squeak out a, "What about?"

"Are you going to come back?" He responded, rather quickly but clear enough for her to understand.

"What do you mean, silly, of course I'm coming ba-"

"No... not like that. I mean... are you coming back?" Rinoa paused, suddenly grasping his full meaning.

"Well, I can't say yes completely... because I'm going to change on this trip, but it might be for the better or worse. No one knows the future, Squall."

Squall stood up sharply with the addition of her last sentence, Rinoa's arms subsequently falling to her own sides instead of draped across his shoulders like they were.

"I... I don't like that. But-"

He turned to put his finger on Rinoa's mouth, effectively silencing her incoming arguement.

"I know, it's not up to me. But... it doesn't mean I have to like it."

Squall walked a distance away to look over the railing out over the lake and continued.

"I just have one simple request of you while you are gone."

Rinoa stood up and went to his side, leaning on the railing and looking up at his face, his stormy eyes clouded with a swirling mix of lightning-charged emotions.

"Sure, anything for you, babe." The word sounded a little strange on her tongue, but she liked it and after looking away for a brief moment, she stared back up into his eyes with a newfound conviction to complete his wish, no matter what it would take.

"Even... even if it meant staying, if he asked me to." The fleeting thought zipped through her mind, disappearing as fast as it had appeared. "This is about him, not me."

He looked down, seemingly conflicted. Lightning seemed to flash within his eyes, and he looked away again.

"I, uh..." Squall had resolved never to be needy again- to never require another's help to live. But this girl... no, this woman, this beautiful woman standing next to him seemed to make him want to take it all back. He wanted to throw himself upon the floor and stay on his knees, begging her not to leave. But such was not his style... Yet he still needed her help. He needed her help.

"I want you to..." He paused, still a bit unsure of himself. Rinoa was shocked; was he really going to ask her to stay with him?

"...write me a little postcard each month... Nothing big... Just something to remind me that you're coming back... that you're coming back." He finished slowly, disbelieving that those words had just come out of his own mouth. He quickly added, "Each new place you go, maybe. Or... whenever it's convenient, you know." The last sentences were rushed while at the same time articulated; something that he had mastered with his time in company of Rinoa. His hand also went up to where his hair met his shoulders where the five-fingered appendage massaged the base of his neck.

Rinoa then couldn't help herself. She didn't really think about how much it would hurt him, or what he might perceive it as... but she couldn't control the irresistible urge to laugh. Hysterically.

Squall looked at her puzzled, and when she didn't stop, he started to walk away.

"Wait! I-gasp- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- gasp laugh, I just... Hear me out!" She added as his pace quickened. Finally, he stopped, but he neglected to turn around. Walking down the front steps of the lakehouse, she regained her composure.

"I didn't mean it like that- I'm just... it was a laughter of joy. I'm... glad I've been able to change y- no, to help you grow. Grow into the person I always knew you were, deep inside."

This granted her the reward she was looking for- he turned around with a slight smile on his face. Slight, but she knew it was a lot coming from Squall. Walking back over, he decided to try something new... something...

"Spontaneous..." The unfamiliar word graced his lips for the first time without a tinge of spite or hatred, and he took off running until he nearly ran into her, slowing down enough to pick her up and swing her around; her hands instinctively clutching his neck as he spun her around. Feeling extremely dizzy, he stopped suddenly, sending her crashing into him and sending them tumbling onto the plush grass front yard. Rinoa ended up underneath Squall and without a second thought, he leaned into her and kissed her deeply. The kiss wasn't their most passionate ever, but it held a meaning that neither of them successfully put into words; it was the beginning of a new chapter in their lives, a new beginning to new experiences and a prequel to them reaching yet another level in their anything-but-simple relationship.

"Each book has conflict," Squall thought, "but at least she'll be here to help me through it."