Rinoa smiled as she embarked on one of her favorite sports since she had entered Garden.
Squall watching.
It was a difficult sport because the subject of her amusement was highly paranoid and constantly checked his surroundings. This however was what made it all the more exciting. The fear of being caught and no longer being able to enjoy this wonderful sport.
Well... at least until your stealth improved.
Early on in this sport you realize a few things about the subject.
The first thing you would realize after a mere week or so of being part of the sport is: Squall Leonhart did have a heart.
Rinoa smiled as she saw the so called 'heartless bastard' of Garden lifting a younger sleeping Garden student into his arms. Taking him back to the dormitories, though it was completely out of his way seeing as how he meant to use the elevator. He walked into the younger boy's room and placed him down on the bed taking off the boy's shoes he tucked the Seed hopeful in for the night. A small smile graced the quiet man's face as he ran a hand through the boy's hair and then left to attend to his duties.
Apparently the younger student had exhausted himself training in hopes to be as cool as Squall. It was a known fact that while most people wouldn't say it aloud everyone looked up to Squall. Everyone looked up to Squall but the younger students worshiped the gunblade wielder.
The next thing you would learn when you enter the competitive sport of Squall watching was: Squall Leonhart didn't show his emotions well.
She couldn't count the number of times during their own journey when she grew angry at the quiet man for not being able to speak his mind. Now through her many hours of experience in the sport she understood.
Squall couldn't be an emotional leader like she had wanted him to be all those months ago. Since his isolation in childhood Squall lost the ability to openly feel those emotions. Then his years of training had taught him how to think with his head not with his heart.
Still, looking back on their journey you'd have to be a total dumb ass to say that Squall had no emotions what so ever.
Squall still felt all of the emotions that they felt. He felt all of the good emotions like happiness and love and all of the ugly emotions like anger, sadness, and hate. The only difference was that Squall didn't let his frustration or sadness or anger show. Which in the end made for a much better leader.
And if you're really good at the sport of Squall watching you'll eventually realize one very important truth that most others miss.
Squall Leonhart had a thing for Zell Dincht.
When some of the other Squall watchers realized this they ceased participating in the sport. They hadn't been true fans of the sport. It was sad to see other Pro Squall watching hopefuls leave but at the same time it meant less competition.
It was easy to see how much Squall loved Zell if you just did some comparing and contrasting. Along with analyzing certain things the stoic brunette would say to or do for the energetic blonde.
We of the SWU (Squall Watchers Union) give you Example A:
Situation: Girl squeals and jumps at Squall proclaiming her everlasting love for the stoic brunette.
Result:
Squall side steps, girl misses and hits some other unfortunate soul. Assuming it is not Zell, Squall will walk away and leave the 'happy couple' alone.
Situation: Zell yells and jumps at Squall proclaiming his everlasting love for the stoic brunette.
Result: Squall will hesitate slightly on the side step giving Zell more than enough time to hug the brunette. Squall will insist at one point that Zell get off of him because people were staring. When Zell refuses to let go Squall will drop the subject all together and be in a pleasant mood for the rest of the day.
Example B provided by GYFU (Garden Yaoi Fangirls United)
Situation : Girl presents Squall with perfectly made dark chocolates (Squalls favorite. Another thing you can learn from Squall watching) on Valentines day.
Result: Squall will refuse the chocolate and walk off leaving girl heart broken and nearby men hopeful.
Situation: Zell presents Squall with sloppy burnt bad tasting white chocolate ( Squall's least favorite) on Valentines day.
Result: Squall would thank Zell and proceed to eat the chocolate hiding his disdain and in turn leaving Zell delighted.
Example C: (Provided by Quistis (a senior Squall watcher))
Situation: A student from Garden is killed during a mission.
Result: Squall would attend her funeral and he would bow hi head in silence for the lost soul.
Situation: Zell gets wounded and loses consciousness during a mission. When they return to Garden he still hasn't woken up and though they say he is going to be okay it was a bad injury.
Result: Squall sitting by his bed side apologizing to him even when he can't hear him. Holding his hand in silence and shedding tears on occasion. Then when the tattooed boy woke Squall would give him a hug happy that he was okay. Then would later pass it off as part of Zell's wild imagination.
So all in all it was obvious that Squall loved their energetic friend. At first Rinoa felt a bit disheartened with the knowledge. Hadn't she been the one that he had gone up into space to save and then broke into a high security lab to rescue her from the clutches of Esthar?
Then when she saw the smile on Squall's face as he spoke with their hot dog loving teammate Rinoa's sadness and hurt melted away into affection.
Through all her hours of watching Squall she knew that if there was anything Squall deserved it was happiness in having found the right one.