As he gazed upon the star-lit sky, the gaseous light reflected off his azure blue eyes into the abyss of the ocean beneath him. The cool sea breeze ruffled his already wind-swept hair and the constant, numbing hum of the Balamb Garden's rotary blades as they pulsed below his feet had a subtle calming effect; the night was perfect.
Standing next to Squall was his friend; the carefree woman he had grown to love. Rinoa Heartily. Her locks of hair blew wildly in the breeze as she too, gazed at the stars in the ebony sky. Squall pivoted on the ball of his foot and faced Rinoa and admired her strength through the past few weeks as she flickered her delicate eyelashes in response to his stare—the moment seemed to last what seemed an eternity; an eternity of bliss. Rinoa knew Squall was looking at her but she was too enchanted by the stars to turn and greet his stare.
"...Rinoa," Squall practically mumbled the single word as it fell from his slightly pouting lips. This time, Rinoa responded and slowly turned her head towards Squall and smiled the innocent smile that she has always savoured for special occasions—the occasion was special enough, they had just defeated Ultimecia and there was glory beaming from everyone's faces—Rinoa just stood there smiling. Not knowing what to do or what to say, a smile crept across Squall's face and that was the one thing Rinoa had been longing for. A simple smile. Rinoa turned her body to face him and her delicate curves were silhouetted on her dress by the hazy moonlight. She raised a single finger, took a firm grasp of Squall's hand and pulled him closer. He took her in his arms and lowered his lips onto hers, he knew that this wasn't just a kiss; it was more than a kiss, it was the only way he could truly show her how he felt. Squall looked deep into Rinoa's soul through her eyes and embraced her paper cheeks within the palms of his hands and he knew that this was his destiny, a single tear left a hot trail down his own cheek and fell to the floor. He now knew that he was happy. Rinoa let out a sigh of happiness herself as she saw for the first time, Squall's hard exterior crumble to show the caring man inside and the genuine smile across Squall's face showed that the man that she loved was not cold-hearted, he just didn't know how to express himself. That smile; I've never seen him genuinely smile.
"...Lets go back inside..." Squall gently took Rinoa's soft hand in the crook of his elbow and escorted her back into the celebration.
Part 1 – My Knight
The night had been long and both Squall and Rinoa were weary. The halls of Balamb Garden were vacant of noise apart from those given by their own footsteps along the cold marble floor. The patterns weaving from one end of the corridor to the next. People had either gone to their dorms or left to spend the remaining nights in the harbour town of Balamb itself surrounded by the peaceful atmosphere of the people and the ocean. As they walked hand in hand, the serene light of the dorm aisles showed up the mahogany red streaks in Rinoa's hair as it rested neatly on her shoulders. The time had come to say goodnight and go their separate ways as the Garden rules stated:
Rule 187: No more than one person may share a dorm at any one time. Visitors welcome only during the day.
Although that rule was to be 'bent' in certain circumstances. Once again Squall took Rinoa into his arms and lightly stroked her right cheek with the back of his gentle, yet many hand. The embrace was full of passion and content as the heavenly gaze between the couple was broken with a kiss. They both had what they wanted now and neither of them was prepared to give it up. Squall kissed the back of Rinoa's hand like a knight and dissolved into the darkness that had enveloped his own dorm.
Like a Knight. The sorceress' Knight. No, my Knight.
Rinoa strolled along the corridors accompanied once again by her own footsteps as she continued on towards her dorm and stopped at the door. Her mind awashed with coherent thoughts, she braced the wall with her fingers and fell to her knees. Thoughts of her and Squall. Was this what she wanted? Of course it's what I want...just...just not now. Her instinct was to sleep on the idea of breaking it all off with Squall for the time being just to think things through—she had thought this through countless times before but the love and admiration that she had for him tightened the grip he had on her heart—if she slept on it for one more night, she knew she would have second thoughts about the whole ordeal and leave it be. She couldn't bear to leave it like this but now was not a good time to be doing anything. Maybe tomorrow. She rose from her knees and found the strength to pick one foot up and place in front of the other as she retired to her room and let the hum of the rotary blades gently lull her to sleep.
The next morning, Rinoa decided that she would approach Squall and tell him about what thoughts had been running wildly through her mind; and that they should call it all off until things around them had been properly sorted out. Unaware of the time she dashed over to Squall's dorm and clasped the edge of the door to catch her breath before breaking the news. He wasn't there. Furious at her flawed plan, Rinoa dashed around the dorms to see if the man who never seemed to be there when she urgently wanted him was anywhere to be seen. She stopped to look around and suddenly she went all light headed at the sound of a blood-curdling scream surrounded her and memories shot into her mind like a bullet was fired at her temple. Her head started to spin as the recollection of the voices inside her mind—the controlling voices when she was brainwashed by Ultimecia herself—time stood still and the surrounding air went icy cold.
"SQUALL!—" Her voice pierced through the vacant corridors as she rushed to get her reliable weapon; the Shooting Star—The weapon she used to save the world. Something was wrong, she didn't know what was wrong but all she knew was that the longer she spent thinking about it, the less time she had to stop it. Every thought, every experience she has been through flashed before her eyes but her concentration was set on getting to the source of the scream. Fear; it came as a wave and engulfed her entire body as her legs carried her increasingly faster towards the entrance to the dorms. She couldn't get there fast enough and as she reached the door, her heart sank and the fear was replaced with anger. The Garden was a breeding ground for monsters. Why? How? Her sub-consciousness filled with question upon question but she was only drowned in the silence of the answers. There was no one left to answer her query. The SeeD's of Balamb Garden had been diminished and all that were left were lifeless bodies slumped up against the walls and sprawled along the marble floor, which has been so beautiful before with the natural, infinite weaving patterns that were now a blood-shed mess.
Rinoa's arms drooped at her sides as the bemused woman took one step at a time to look at the devastation that evil had left in its wake. Standing stationary in front of her with it's back facing her was a T-Rexaur inflicted with blind and the wounds of a sturdy blade and a faithful revolver. Squall. Rinoa raised her arm and rapidly fired her projectile weapon bringing the beast to the floor for good. As the body hit the floor, her soul was filled with hope.
"Squall..." she repeated the name over and over, "Squall..." her words seemed like a blur as she spoke, "Squall..."
"Rinoa." Someone was calling her name; it wasn't Squall's voice.
"Squall, is that you?" there was an eerie silence until she heard the voice again.
"Rinoa. Turn around." She did as she was told and whipped her body around to face her addressee. What she saw was either a figment of her imagination or some cruel, twisted joke. Her jaw dropped open, as she was lost for words.
"S...Sei—" The figure raised his arm which wielded yet another mighty gunblade and pointed it directly at her then towards the entrance. Rinoa's legs felt heavy and her mind went blank as she aimlessly followed the direction of the cold steel. On her way to the entrance, she stepped over monster carcasses and the bodies of the fellow students that she had gotten to know in the short while she was there. She had made a connection to these people and suddenly the connection had been severed. She truly felt alone. The angst that was swimming around her body was more than enough to push back the realisation of what had happened until she finally got to the gate that was her exit out of that horrid slaughterhouse.
"Rinoa..." A cold hand was placed on her shoulder. Hot breath was felt on the back of her neck. She did not shudder nor flinch, as she knew that this was the touch of the man who had saved her life countless times as if it was his own. "...I'm sorry I didn't wake you. It just happened so sudden. The monsters came out of nowhere." The countless times she had heard a genuine apology from this man started to stack up but this time, she believed him.
"What happened?" The muteness of the figure behind her was foreboding as she demanded and answer. "Squall, answer me!" Still all was quiet. She turned around and looked Squall in the eyes. No longer was this woman looking at him in a gentle, carefree manner as her eyes drew a bead into his soul. She was scared of the answer but she had to know.
"He's here." A tear surfaced in Rinoa's eye as the patient look in her face disappeared in an instant to once more be replaced by a stronger, more demonic emotion that had won the countless battles she was fighting inside. Fear. "Seifer...he's here."
My Knight.