Aries

A/N: Characters belong to Square

'Squall!...Squall!'

Squall Leonhart turned his head to see a dark haired girl running towards him. An anxious expression was plastered on her beautiful face. She caught up with him and looked at his face through worried chocolate eyes.

'Hi.' she said, her voice barely a whisper.

'Hi princess. What's the matter?' he asked. It was late and he was surprised that she was still up.

'I'm...um...worried...' she stopped her sentence midway and looked down at her feet. Squall had never seen her at a loss for words before. He put his thumb on her delicate chin and lifted her face. Dark chocolate eyes met stormy blue ones. Tell me what' wrong, his beautiful eyes said. She gave a sigh,

'I took a test Squall, earlier today.'

'And you're worried about the result! Don't be ridiculous; given everything you've done, even if you were to fail, Garden has no reason to refuse you. Trust me.'

'No, it's...well….I found out that I passed.'

'Hey that's great Rin, congratulations. What's with the face? Which SeeD paper was it?'

'It was a pregnancy test Squall... and as I said earlier, I passed.'

Now it was his turn to be at a loss for words. He stood there, rooted to the spot like a statue, completely speechless; although one wouldn't need to be told that he was shocked, for the expression was clearly written on his face. Rinoa took out a white plastic tube from her pocket and held it on her palm for him to see. Squall took the test with shaking hands and stared blankly at the blue line, which confirmed that Rinoa had indeed passed and that it was positive.

This is a mistake. Our mistake. My mistake? Shit, this wasn't supposed to happen

'How? Could...could it be a false positive?' he asked more to himself than to her in a voice that sounded foreign even to him.

Rinoa shook her brunette head, tears were already forming at the corner of her eyes, 'I'm sure Squall. This is actually my third test. I can't possibly be wrong three times in a row. And as for how, I trust that your biology knowledge isn't that shallow. We spent a night together remember? Last month after Garden's annual SeeD ball.'

'Dammit Rinoa, we used protection! I don't need this right now. How could you let this happen?' he shouted.

Right after he yelled those words, he wished he could take them back. It wasn't entirely her fault; it took two people for conception to happen. And birth control methods were never a hundred percent anyway. Rinoa let out a small gasp and turned around so she didn't have to face him. Squall could see that she was crying because of the shakes of her shoulders.

'Rin I'm sorry, I'm just shocked. I didn't mean it.' He tried to comfort her by placing his hands on her shoulders, only to find that they were shaking even more violently. Hyne, what had he done?

'Rinoa I'm sorry, dammit I'm so sorry! I was being a bloody idiot. Please look at me..' he gently turned her around and what he saw shocked him even more, if that was possible.

She was crying, but streaming down her face weren't tears of sadness. They were...tears of laughter? To say the Commander was confused was an understatement. He let go of her and she collapsed to the floor, laughing in hysterics.

Crouching down to her level, Squall shook her shoulder not roughly but not gently either, 'Rinoa? Please don't tell me you've lost your sanity. Listen, I'll play my part. I'll be there. Hyne, pull yourself together!'

'Squall...no...it's...' she choked between fits of laughter.

He waited until she calmed down enough to talk properly. 'What's the matter with you? Rinoa tell me what in Diablo's name is going on?' he more or less shouted, anger evident in his voice.

'Squall, did you forget to check today's date on your calendar?'

'Course I checked. Today's April the first. So what?'

'So what! Dear Hyne, the first of April is also known as...' She never had the chance to finish her sentence as four figures jumped out from behind a tall pillar and yelled out,

'April Fool's Day!' then just as Rinoa did they all collapsed to the floor, howling in laughter.

'God, the look on your face...totally priceless!' choked a teary Irvine. They were all laughing in hysterics, faces red due to the lack of oxygen. It seemed as though all of them were in danger of suffocating. When the hell did his top ranked SeeDs turn into zoo animals? Even Quistis was in on this? The instructor had her back on the polished marble floor as she tried to control her laughter, but failing miserably.

Squall growled in annoyance, he didn't find this very amusing at all. Selphie stood up on shaking legs and grinned,

'Don't worry Squall. Rinoa's not pregnant, it's a prank.'

'I gathered that much.' he hissed through gritted teeth, 'I just don't see the reason why all of you decided to act like monkeys.'

'O Squall, the first of April is kind of a national holiday when we are allowed to...'

'I know what it is Quistis. No need to lecture! For someone who is so uptight about rules, I'm surprised that you chose to bend them. I'm sure you can recall a particular one saying, 'No childish pranks are to be pulled on Gardens' Commanders.'

'But you're not just a Commander to us Squall, you're also our friend.' Selphie pointed out.

With friends like you, who needs enemies?

Rinoa smiled apologetically at him and took hold of his hand, 'I'm sorry Squall. It was my idea, and Zell's artistic hands. But Selphie's right, you're our friend. And to me, you're even more than just a pal.'

'Hey buddy! I got the whole damn thing on tape, so if you ever want to see it, don't hesitate to give me a shout kay?' piped up Zell as he waved the video camera above his spiky blonde head.

This earned him a glare full of venom from Squall. If looks could kill, Zell would be sprawled dead on the floor. The rest of the gang immediately shut up. Sure they expected him to be mad, but not this mad. Even Rinoa was nervous.

Squall untangled his hand from Rinoa's fingers and stared coldly at the group, 'Listen carefully all of you. This is your Commander speaking, not your friend. I don't find this funny at all and I certainly as hell don't appreciate it. As of today, you're all suspended from SeeD. I don't want to have to put up with your childish behaviors. I've got enough on my plate. Stay out of Garden and my sight until further notice.'

Quistis opened her mouth to say something but closed it again when Squall's eyes shot daggers at her, 'Don't argue with me. I mean it. Goodnight.' he added before he turned his heels and started walking away.

No one dared to speak; the seriousness and harshness in his voice startled them. If they had only known the repercussions, they wouldn't have pushed him that far. The sound of the Commander's footsteps came to an abrupt stop. He gave a sigh and turned around,

'Did you forget to check today's date on your calendar?' he said echoing Rinoa's words earlier, 'April the first on...' Squall paused to check his watch, '..eleven forty five P.M is still safe to say 'April Fool's Day'.' he finished with a smirk on his just recently furious face.

Everyone stared at him open mouthed, save for Rinoa who laughed and ran to him. She hugged him tight and punched him playfully on the arm, 'You BIG meany!'

The others followed suit and the Commander received four more 'playful' punches.

'Whew! I thought you were serious! But be warned, the next time you do that I'll show no mercy and summon Cactuar!'

Zell punched his fists together, 'Hear hear! I'm with Selph, O and by the way, add Ifrit to the list.'

Squall shrugged, 'Whatever, you attacked first. It was only fair that I countered it back.'

Quistis chuckled, 'Sounding military even when we're not in the field. Yep, that's our Commander alright. Ironic how the whole thing backfired though.'

Irvine gave a loud snicker, 'Irony is a bitch. Remember that children, that is our English lesson for the day. Yo Squall, may I suggest that you ditch Garden and head straight to Hollywood? I have a hunch you can make it big, think about it buddy!'

Stretching his arms above his head, he put one around his girlfriend, 'Anyway, I'm beat. Come on sweets, I'll take you back to your room.'

The spunky brunette nodded, 'Goodnight everyone, sweet dreams! It's been one hell of a fun/freaky night.' The couple then walked away and disappeared behind a corner.

Quistis gave a small yawn. Zell took notice and the martial artist offered his arm to the blonde instructor, 'May I have the pleasure of escorting this beautiful lady to her dorm? Seems like it's way past your bedtime.'

Letting out a giggle, Qusitis took Zell's arm, 'Why yes of course dear sir. You are very kind.'

The two bid their goodnights and disappeared following the tracks of Irvine and Selphie. Rinoa shook her head. Some things just never change.

It was near midnight and Squall knew very well that he was past curfew but at that moment; he really couldn't care less about Garden's rules. Rinoa rested her head on his shoulder and buried her face in his chest.

'Meanie...' she whispered playfully as he put his arms around her delicate waist.

Holding her close, he smirked, 'Famous for it.'

'You didn't mean what you said right? About suspending us?'

'Hyne, course not! Do you have the slightest idea how much it hurt me to see your pained look? I just thought it would be fun to play you guys along. Though I have no clue of how even I, could be such a big meanie.'

Instead of replying, Rinoa wrapped her arms around his neck and started swaying slowly from side to side. Squall could sense that she was smiling.

'Dance with me my lion.' She whispered as continued to lead the steps. And don't you try using that old excuse 'I can't dance' because I won't buy it.'

'Are you aware that you can get into a detention for bullying the Commander?' He teased her.

Giggling, Rinoa brushed her lips against his, 'Whatever. I don't give a damn, give me a bloody detention, I'll happily sit through it…as long as you're my supervisor.' She said giving him a naughty smile.

Squall kissed her smooth forehead, 'It's a date Ms Heartilly.'

Holding her closer, he looked at the digital clock on one of the pillars and it read 00:15,

'Hey Rin, it's past midnight. April Fool's over, no more pranks right?'

'Positive on that Commander. Why do you ask?'

He answered her by bringing his lips down to meet hers. This time it was much more than just a slight brush, it was deep and loving.

'I love you princess, no joke, no lie.'

Smiling Rinoa reached up and closed the unbearable space as their lips once again met in a passionate kiss.

Through the glass ceiling above their heads, Aries smiled mischievously down at the dancing couple.