It had been the most nerve-wracking and terrifying experience in Squall's memory. Most of his life, he'd never cared much for losing people because he got used to it at a very young age. But on the spaceship when he was in charge of steering the ship to try to rescue a floating away Rinoa, his long-dead fear had been reawakened. He knew that there was no way that he could handle losing this person who he had gradually fallen in love with.
The inside of his gloved hands had been slick with sweat as he had pounded on buttons rapidly and turned wheels to try to aim the damn ship in her direction. No matter how much strength he put into moving or pressing the controls it was never fast enough. It was beyond torturous knowing that all he could do was just wait and hope. He kept trying not to think about what would happen if he failed. The thought of Rinoa simply floating away and out of his life like a balloon was just too much of a cruel joke after all he'd been through.
He was just starting to trust people again, dammit! He was starting to actually loosen up and not be such a tightwad. Yes, he was aware of the way that he seemed to other people. He knew his personality irked most people who got to know him, if they even bothered to get to that point. And he didn't want to reverse any of the progress he had made up until now.
No, there was no way that he'd accept that.
As the ship neared Rinoa's limp floating figure, Squall felt his heart spring with joy in his chest. Although it immediately dropped upon the realization that her limpness could mean that she'd run out of oxygen. Everyone around him had been silent the whole time as he'd ordered them to so that he could concentrate. Now he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder, squeezing it before letting go. They'd reached Rinoa and she was now being retrieved by some crew members. It only took around fifteen minutes yet it felt like several lifetimes before he'd finally reached her. A few crew members came up to congratulate Squall before leaving the room. Squall released the controls that he'd had a vice-like grip on and leaned back placing a trembling hand against his face as he suddenly felt faint.
"Squall, are you alright?"
He recognized Sis's voice tinged with concern and he pinched his face hard to keep himself from blacking out. He then turned around and smiled shakily at her. "Yeah...yeah, I'm fine," he said. Ellone leaned over to give him a hug and for once in his life Squall leaned into it instead of tensing up reflexively. They held onto each other for a minute or so before Squall's eyes widened upon the realization that he could most likely see Rinoa now.
Pulling away from Ellone, he placed his hands on her cheeks, completely unlike him, and said "Sis, I'm gonna go see her." Ellone simply nodded and watched as Squall stalked over towards the deck where Rinoa had been retrieved. He saw a couple of crew members who had helped remove her spacesuit sitting beside her waiting until she was revived. Squall quickly bent down by Rinoa's side and placed a hand on her left cheek. "Rinoa," he whispered. He turned to a crew member and said, "Is she okay? She's okay, right?" The man smiled at Squall and said, "Yeah, she's doing great. She's just feeling a bit weak I think because of the loss of oxygen. You got her just in time Squall."
"Oh, thank God," Squall said, his chest heaving as he felt a sob rise up his throat. He sat there for a few seconds crying and sniffling. Normally he wouldn't be caught dead expressing such raw emotion in front of near strangers. Somehow, the part of him that cared just wasn't there anymore. And it was hard not to burst into tears at the realization that the person who he'd poured his soul out to, trusted and felt truly comfortable with had almost died. He rubbed a thumb lovingly against Rinoa's cheek as he felt hot tears drip down his face, some of them falling onto her hair. Recognizing that this was probably a good time to leave, the crew members got up and left Squall alone with Rinoa.
Squall reached down and took hold of Rinoa's cold right hand and massaged her palm with his thumb. Suddenly he felt movement as Rinoa shifted slightly and he looked up to see her face beginning to twitch. Squall's breath caught in his throat as she blinked her eyes open and slowly focused on him. She mouthed something silently before she was finally able to speak.
"S-Squall..." she said, staring at him in awe as though this was the first time she'd ever seen him. Squall relaxed and actually chuckled as he nodded at her. "Yeah, it's me. I'm here now. You're okay, Rinoa."
Rinoa's eyes darted around the room before they returned to Squall. "I'm okay..." she said softly. "Yeah...we're...we're both okay," Squall said, smiling warmly at her.