A/N: This is my very first FFVIII fic so please be kind. Do not flame me. I tried my best writing it. :) And also a big thank you to Wayward Tempest who looked over it for me. Her stories are awesome, be sure to go check them out.


Home is where the Heart is
by Ashley125

He was quiet.

Quieter than any other SeeD around. There weren't many like him. There were only few who killed like him. Quiet, yet pleasant. He had killed more than any hand ever would. More blood was on his hands than of what ran in his body. He was a machine made to kill. And he hated himself for it. He hated the fact that he knew he was a killer, a killer who had killed more than a hundred or so people. He had taken away innocent lives, punished those who crossed his path. His hands held blood, like water when he showered. He hated himself for knowing that it was all true.

He wanted more than just his past. He wanted a life, a happy life. Evidently, he wanted to smile for someone. He didn't like that title, cold blooded killer. Though no one had ever mentioned that to his face, it didn't stop him from thinking it. He knew he was a killer. A cold blooded killer who didn't give a second thought when killing a man. He only knew one thing, and that was to protect his sorcerer. He would go at all costs to do so. Even it meant killing the assassin who was a child.

He would do anything to ensure her safety. Even if it meant giving his life in return he would do so. But one thing that always confused him was the question as to how she could love someone like him. Someone who didn't care about anyone else. Someone who spent too much of his time lost in his own memories. How could she? How could she love someone who was like him? Had she seen him for who he really was? Did she see straight through the cold blooded killer and actually seen a heart of warmth? But he had so blatantly put up that shield around him.

He couldn't get close, not to her. That would be his ultimate weakness…to fall for his sorceress. He was her protector, he had to be strong. He had to stand up for her, but he couldn't if he loved her. He wouldn't know how to protect her if he loved her. If anything ever happened to her, he couldn't live, couldn't survive alone. He couldn't do what he did everyday if she wasn't by his side. If she wasn't his responsibility, he'd have nothing to live for.

Then again, love makes us do things we don't ordinarily do. It strengthens the mind, secures the gates of evil and destruction. He knew that even though love was his weakness, it was also his source of strength, for he could fight a thousand battles just for her. He would go at each end of the world if she so calmly ordered. Simply, he would do anything for her. It didn't matter what, as long as she ordered something, he would do.

He knew that by loving her, it would give him the strength to protect her at all costs. Even if an assassin had taken her and used her as defence, he would still fight, for he would do everything in his power to get her back in his arms just on more time. It was for her that he breathed, slept, ate, loved, saw, touched. She was where his heart dwelled now. It wasn't at his chest where the warmth of his heart lay upon. For now it was with her, somewhere deep within her heart his heart lay asleep.

There were different techniques, different decisions and ways to choose. But he stuck to one. He ruled silence. Put simply, he was the silence. He was the lion as it prowled the night, eyeing its prey. He watched, and listened. His steps light and feathery like upon the hard wood like floor. For not even a step could be heard. His mastered ability to walk like that has given him the power to walk even with the hardest of all shoes. There was none like him who mastered silence. Not even any of the other SeeD's.

The stars illuminated enough light to light up the dark room of which he stood in. The only sound that could be heard was from the quiet shuffle of trees outside the window. The rain was pouring lightly, its sounds echoing as the night dwelled onward. She lay upon the bed sleeping quietly. Her angelic like face a view to him as he watched. She took his breath away, with her brown long elegant hair and brown beautiful eyes. He couldn't help but breathe those words softly, the words he thought he'd never ever hear escape his lips.

Those were the first few words that could pull him to such closeness to affection, for he wasn't the sort of man for that role in human nature. He wasn't the intimate man who showered his lover with blissful words that enchanted her heart. He could only stay limited with one to five words at a time, but that was long ago. She had taken him out of his shell and taught him the simplicity of saying a few words more. Successfully, she had taught him how to speak from the heart rather than the head.

He found it ironic how she had taught him more than he had ever learned in his entire life. Mostly, he didn't know how he let an emotion like love affect him this deeply. Then again he couldn't help but like this emotion. For it was one that kept warmth within him when he was cold, make him smile when he was sad and made him feel like he was here for a reason. Only she could pull this kind of effect from him.

'Squall?' her voice was soft, almost gentle as she whispered.

He crept closer and slid into the empty place on the bed beside her. He sighed contently as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

'Where did you go?' she asked quietly, gently burrowing her head into his chest and sighing quietly.

'I couldn't sleep, so I went to make myself a cup of warm milk.' he answered simply.

'Oh.' he could feel her small smile curling upon his bare chest, 'Did you drink it all?' she asked.

He pulled back and reached out to his side table. Finding the cup's handle he took it and brought it to her.

He smiled and handed it to her. 'I thought you'd like some.'

She smiled in return, her blush inching onto her face as she took the cup from his hand. 'You know me too well.'

'I know,' he continued smiling to her. He could smile forever for her.

She sipped the drink a few times, before handing the cup back to him. There was still little liquid at the bottom, and he drank it all before placing it at the table again. He settled down comfortably under the warm blankets and pulled her close. 'Was it warm enough?' he asked.

'Perfect,' she answered. 'Just the way I like my warm cup of milk.'

He smiled warmly and pressed a soft kiss at her forehead and whispered those words he knew he could say freely now. 'I love you Rinoa.'

He didn't really know how she could love someone like him. Then again he didn't know he'd end up falling in love either. Love never was an appeal to him in his younger days. It was a sign of weakness, something every SeeD must never have. Although here he was, fallen head over heels in love with a sorceress he forever vowed to protect.

A killer. He was a killer, but somehow, she saw pass that killer and saw his heart, embraced it and took it under her wing. She was his angel of weakness; then again she was his strength. She would be the good and bad of him, for without her, life wasn't perfect.

'I love you too,' she whispered and pressed a soft kiss at his chest.

He didn't see only his past anymore. He saw much more. For right there between them, he had more than just a memory, he had found a life and a home.

A life and home with Rinoa.

Home is where his heart was and always will be.