The OC introduced in this writing is my baby. However, I own nothing from Final Fantasy. Unfortunately.

She felt dead inside. Hollow. The heat of the sun seeped into her pores but she could feel nothing. Arising from the salty water, stumbling to shore. Naked, wet, exhausted, she collapsed in the sand..

........

Morning. Her bare back turned to him. Pushed himself up on his elbows… Shit. The recollection of the night before came back to Squall, without his permission.

Using the key he had given her as an anniversary gift, Rinoa came to his apartment at 2 am, uninvited and drunk. Squall was awoken to her straddling him and kissing his face in careless aggression,

"Fuck me" she groaned between heavy breaths and kisses. Her hands pulling at his neck. Still half-asleep, completely caught off guard, Squall didn't know what to do with the girl writhing upon him. She had never been this vigorous, this commanding. He could smell and taste the alcohol. In mumbles, he tried questioning but was interrupted by one hand covering his mouth and the other grasping his shaft. It was nowhere near arousing.

Furious with her crude actions Squall ripped her hands off of him, his jaw tight,

"Stop it, Rinoa."

"Squall, just fuck me. Stop making this so fucking difficult and just fuck me." A demand with exasperation. Sitting up his grip firm on her upper arms,

"How much did you drink?"

"What the hell's wrong with you?!" Thrashed her arms loose. "Calling me a drunk now? Oh, no wait! You don't wanna fuck me? Is that it? I don't do it for you anymore, is that it?" He searched her face for a cruel sarcastic joke, needing to know she wasn't serious. No answer. Squall pushed her off of him; he was pulsing with anger.

"I can't believe you…" he said under his breath, his back turned to her.

"Whatever…" He heard her get undressed and slip under the sheets.

He prayed she wouldn't remember the event this morning. Despite his cold persona, he couldn't stand being mad at her for long. Squall moved himself closer, fighting the distance between their bodies. Draped his arm over her waist, pressing his chest to her cold back, the light from the window told him it was about 6. His lips left light kisses from her shoulder to the back of her neck. His efforts went unacknowledged by the sleeping beauty though. Her hair smelled of perfume and sweat. Rinoa crept into his bed a stranger last night, brutal and unloving.

........

Xu answered the alert system, "Alert confirmed by Xu. What's the issue?" Through the static she could hear a masculine voice rushed in panic,

"This is Squall. Xu, I need your help fast. I'm down on the beach."

"Got it. I'll be there in 5."

........

"Is she gonna be okay?" his voice was low with unease. The Infirmary, as well as Balamb Garden, seemed practically deserted aside from Dr. Kadowaki, her assistant, Xu and himself. Students usually did not mingle about the grounds at 7 in the morning. Obvious concern in his body language as he sat next to her, Xu tried to lend him some assurance, smiling a little,

"I'm sure she will, Squall." His forearms planted on his knees, he felt so… heavy. The kind of heaviness a person has when they've let someone down or failed some sort of test in life. Ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled. They watched as the doctor and her nurse moved about the patient's room. "…Do you know her?"

A pause. "No… She was unconscious by the time I got to her.."

"So she doesn't know that you saw her…" Her voice trailed off before she could mention the girl's nude condition to her commander. His bangs fell over his eyes, hiding whatever real emotion was taking place. Squall preferred it that way.

"Yeah…" Finally he raised his vision to find her patiently awaiting it. He appreciated her attentiveness. "…When she wakes up… she doesn't need to know… about me…"

"You mean that it was you who found-?"

"Yeah…" Kadowaki emerged from the room then, appearing a bit too cheerful for Squall's taste. He and Xu stood from their seat to hear the results. Glancing at her clipboard every now and then,

"Well… everything's good. No injuries, no internal problems. We have her sedated for now just so she can get some rest… Seems she was suffering from severe exhaustion and starvation." Squall viewed the girl through the glass window, different tubes entering her nostrils and the crease of her right elbow, a blue blanket covering almost all of her reaching an inch below her defined collarbone. He envied the serenity upon her face.

"So… how long will it take for her to recover?" asked Xu. The doctor held the clipboard to her white-coated chest, not looking so sure now.

"It's hard to say exactly. It could be a day or two… it could take a week." Her persona switched almost immediately to grinning. "But we're making sure all her nutrients levels are being restored." Xu nodded in a professional manner,

"Okay, contact me when she awakens, please."

"Will do, my dear," she replied with that smile.

"Thank you, Doctor. I believe we're done here now." The SeeD Commander and his comrade began their way out of the Infirmary.

Between last night's ordeal and what he had just discovered that morning on the shore, he couldn't determine which was making him more withdrawn. He could barely carry a normal conversation, not that he ever had a talent for that in the first place. Thankfully though Xu respected his silence and didn't push to talk. Before they parted ways in the lobby, she broke the ice,

"Do you want me to contact you once I speak to her?"

The face flashed in his mind. Thought of what it would be like to know her.

"…No… just…" the words seemed conflicted coming out of his mouth, "…Just make sure she's alright."

"Yes, sir," she smiled a little.