Three: Dark

. . . clack clack clack . . . clack . . . clack clack . . .

The eerie glow of his computer screen reflected off of his steel blue irises, turning his already pale skin into an even sicklier shade. His chestnut-brown tresses hung low over his bloodshot, tired eyes, their normally silky strands now tangled in disarray. He paused his typing to reach up and rub his hands over his face, and a sigh that sounded like it had been wrenched from the depths of his soul left him.

Two weeks had passed since they'd defeated Ultimecia. He didn't know what it was exactly that he was expecting would change—he just figured something would. But of course, nothing had.

Paperwork had covered his desk even during the war, the piles reaching ever higher with each passing day. After the war however, paperwork had become the very definition of his everyday life. It had trickled in, slowly at first, until it started coming in droves and drowned him behind towering stacks of dead trees.

These Hyne-damned reports were the very reason he was still sitting at his desk at 2:14 in the morning. The rest of Garden had long since gone to bed, likely tucked into their standard issue twin-sized beds. And here he was...staring blankly into a luminescent glass screen, surrounded by the soft hum of electronics, in the pitch-black darkness of his office.

With another sigh, he dragged the next report over to him and started to enter it into the computer, when his office door opened—softly enough that if he hadn't been trained to always be on his guard, he wouldn't have heard it.

His hand drifted down to the leather handle of Lionheart, its shimmering azure blade catching hints of illumination from the computer as it shifted under his grasp. As the figure approached his desk, he recognized the trail of knitted sky-blue fabric that undulated behind her with every step she took, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rinoa. What are you doing up so late?" he whispered.

Why he was whispering, he couldn't say. Perhaps it was the utter darkness his office was cloaked in right now, or maybe because it was so far into the night. Whatever the reason, his sorceress had apparently picked up on the same thing, for she also whispered her reply.

"I can't sleep without you Squall, you know that. You're still working?" Her soft, gentle voice drifted over him, like a much-needed cool breeze that just happened to pick up during the height of a sweltering summer day. He didn't know how she brought him so much comfort, but he wasn't going to complain either.

"Yeah. There's tons of paperwork to get through," he replied, his gaze sliding back over to concentrate on the computer screen once again.

Rinoa let out a small sigh before ambling around the desk to stand behind his chair. She placed her hands on his shoulders, her touch light as a feather. Briefly, he reached up and wrapped his callused fingers around hers, squeezing just a little bit before he let go and resumed his typing.

Her slender fingers began to move in a circular motion, kneading his tense muscles with surprising strength. Squall let out a quiet groan as he tilted his head back for a moment, feeling the stress practically ooze from his body. She giggled under her breath at him for a second, before she stopped and pulled his chair out from under the desk.

"Rin, what are you doing?" he mumbled, his gaze heavy-lidded on hers, even if he didn't fully understand why.

"Distracting you. What does it look like?" she asked coyly, her rosy lips turning up in an innocent smile.

"You do realize that the more you distract me, the longer this is going to take, right?" he rebutted.

"Yes, but...you look like you're about to collapse from both exhaustion and stress, Squall. You need to learn to take a break every now and then," she tried to convince him.

He scoffed, though it was without derision, as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist, leaning his head on her stomach. She ran her dexterous fingers through his hair, working her way through the knots and tangles he'd caused from brushing it away from his face multiple times throughout the night.

They sat there for a minute or two, just reveling in each other's presence.

Eventually, Squall lifted his head and gazed up at Rinoa—his Rinoa—as the corners of his lips curled upwards in a miniscule smile. Even though she'd seen his first smile only a couple of weeks before, on the balcony by the ballroom, the rare sight still took her breath away.

Her expression mirrored his easily and she brought her hand down from his unruly hair to cradle his cheek, tracing along his cheekbone with her thumb. He leaned his face into her palm, sighing in content.

Slowly, she sank down onto her knees so that she could stare into his mesmerizing eyes. Placing her hands on his knees, it was her turn to gaze up at him with love and adoration in her warm eyes.

Every time she looked at him that way, he found that his heart felt like it was going to stop beating in his chest because it stuttered so much. This time, he was the one to cradle her heart-shaped face in his rough hands. At an agonizingly lethargic pace, he lowered his head to hers and they both closed their eyes in anticipation of what was about to happen.

His surprisingly soft lips brushed against hers and a shock sparked through her, causing her to gasp. If she hadn't been able to feel his emotions through their bond, she might've easily mistaken it for a Thunder spell—the chemistry between them was that intense.

As their kiss deepened and his tongue stroked along the edge of hers, waves of overwhelming passion washed over her. Mere seconds later, she broke the kiss and leaned her cheek against his, her chest heaving up and down as she gasped for air.

Squall's fingers sifted through her hair, coming to a stop at the base of her skull as he cradled her head in his hand. His breaths came in quick bursts as well; he was affected just as much as she was by their connection.

Their bond was both a blessing and a curse. It allowed them to feel every emotion that coursed through each other, whether it be the intense rush of anger or the slow-burning fire of passion that had swept through her just now.

Once their breathing had returned to normal, she leaned back as he straightened in his chair, his eyes trapping hers in an intense gaze. Hesitantly she asked, "Are we going to feel that way every time we kiss?"

"I don't know," he replied, his expression thoughtful.

"I mean, I'm not complaining but...I can only take so much before I need a break," Rinoa joked.

The closest thing to a laugh that could come out of Squall Leonhart's mouth did so then, and she smiled at the sound. One of these days, she'd get him to really laugh.

Rinoa got to her feet, placing her hands in his. After pressing a chaste kiss on his lips, she traipsed over to the door and once she'd opened it, faced him again.

"Don't stay up too much longer, okay?" she pretended to reprimand him over her shoulder, her hand wrapped around the wooden door's edge.

"I'll try," he said.

The corners of her lips teased upwards in a smile before she left the room, the massive door shutting softly behind her. Squall remained behind his desk, his fingers interlaced and propped under his chin as he stared at the door that his sorceress had just walked out of.

After a few minutes, his eyes returned to the monitor for the millionth time, but he found that he could no longer concentrate. Rinoa had drifted into the room—into his life—bringing the brilliant light of her presence with her and permeating the darkness that had saturated not only his office, but his entire existence. This feeling of disorientation, of shifting his focus from the empty, barren wasteland of his prior life to the vibrancy of hers, refused to let him go.

With something akin to a chuckle at the fact that she'd succeeded in convincing him to come to bed, he shut off his computer and grabbed Lionheart, making his way to the door. If he was lucky, she'd still be awake by the time he got back to their room.

A/N: So really, you guys have AJ Maxima to thank for another update. Receiving reviews and a new fav/follow on this series kind of sparked a fire under me that resulted in the third theme being written today!

Thanks to Reibunriinta, Yadda Wadda BaddaBoom, StarryNight101, and AJ Maxima for the reviews.