Disclaimer: Okay this is the ONLY time I'm putting this in my story. I don't own the characters,just the plot for this story.

Prologue

Rinoa walked through the empty hallways of Balamb Garden, going back to her room after a long day of teaching and planning out her next lessons. She had just been in the library, grading tests and papers as well as setting out her class schedules and lesson plans for the next few weeks. She taught magic theory and magic history as it was she was mostly an expert on. She sighed softly as she walked, tired, as the only sound in the hallway was the light clacking of her boot heels against the hard floor. She then reached her room and swiped her card through the lock, unlocking it and sliding open the door as she went inside.

She then turned on the lights so she could see and set her stuff down near he door, looking to her right at the mirror on the wall. Her midnight black hair hung down a little past her shoulders, almost to the middle of her back with six streaks of light blonde in it near the front. Her eyes were a dark hazel that went well with her dark hair and fair complexion. She had once been a carefree spirit, always smiling and playful with those she just met. But now her lips were set in a serious, straight line.

"What has happened to us? …To me?" she asked in a soft voice as she looked at her reflex ion in the mirror. Shad had changed, changed more then most over the years since the war and not just in appearance. She was no longer the carefree, happy, young girl she had been before the whole war had started. She was a strong and independent woman that only rarely smiled now a days. She didn't have a reason to smile now, her one reason for smiling and being happy had not stayed with her. He had left her…like everyone else she had lost him. Squall Leonhart. The one man she had truly loved with all her heart, the only one in the world she would have given her life for.

She looked away from the mirror then, tears swimming in her hazel eyes and threatening to spill over and show her sadness to whoever chose to come into her room. She held them back, taking a deep breath as she didn't want the extent of her sadness to show to any of her friends, especially Squall. She never wanted him to know how deeply and badly he had hurt her.

Squall Leonhart was headmaster, or Commander as they called him, of Balamb Garden. He had been even since the start of the war and Mr. Kramer left to be with Edea and rebuild the orphanage. But now…Rinoa had to see Squall everyday as she had been appointed as an Instructor. But was it a mistake? Was all of it a mistake? Coming back here and going through pain just to be able to see him? To watch over him? Rinoa clenched her fists tightly into fists, tears spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks unchecked. She always wondered if the pain was worth it. …Yes…Yes it was. She'd rather see him everyday and endure the pain then never being able to see him again. At least he was the only one of them that hadn't changed much at all.

He still had his longish, chocolate brown hair, storm grey eyes that weren't always cold unless they needed to be, pale skin that held lean, strong muscles beneath their thin surface. He was one of the strongest people she knew, stronger even than Seifer who had been Ultimecia's Knight during the war. She almost stumbled as she walked through her dorm as the image of the blonde haired man with jade eyes flashed through her mind.

"Idiot…" Rinoa hissed out as she made her way carefully to her bedroom, not wanting to trip yet again and fall this time. She could be quite the klutz at times. She entered her bedroom and sat down on the bed as she shivered, her room a bit cold to her. She then rested her face in her hands, breathing out a light sigh. Why? Why am I thinking of all of this stuff now? she wondered to herself as she looked up from her hands and looked around her mostly dark room, the only light coming from the window. She looked out of the glass, the full moon shining brightly among the millions of stars the twinkled faintly around it.

There was one thing, she knew, that hadn't changed about her. It was the one thing she hoped wouldn't change because if it did she would be dead. She was still a sorceress. Wouldn't it be her luck that the most dangerous thing about her stayed the same when she wanted it to change. She wanted to be normal again because as any time her powers could take over and she could become like Ultimecia. She was like a time bomb to everyone around her more or less.

"That won't happen…not to me…" she vowed to herself as she laid down on her bed. Her hazel eyes drifted shut slowly as she fell into a restless sleep where no one could reach her except for herself. Or so she thought.

A/N: Yes I'm starting another story because this idea just popped into my head and I had to write it down. It is my first straight couple story, as you've probably figured out it's a Squall and Rinoa story. I don't know if it'll turn out good as I usually hate this pairing but I now like them for some reason O.o Don't ask me why. But tell me what you think of it so far and if I should keep on going. R &R please!!