Irvine approached the door in high spirits. True it had been a few weeks since he had any real quality time with Selphie, but tonight he had her all to himself and so it felt like nothing could get him down. Carefully he tucked the bouquet he held behind his back, making sure it wasn't visible, and then knocked on the door. After a few seconds of silence he knocked again more vigorously this time.

"Come in," Selphie's soprano voice responded. Irvine opened the door with his free hand and walked in. Selphie was scrambling around the room apparently searching for a shirt since she currently wasn't wearing one.

"Well Selphie this is a nice greeting. I got you something too," Irvine commented.

Selphie ignored his comment continuing her search for a top. "Don't just stand there help me find something presentable," she snapped.

Irvine frowned. "Selph you'll look beautiful in whatever you wear. Besides the whole object of this here date tonight is to eventually take off what you wear," he finished trying to lighten the mood.

Selphie stopped searching for the missing article of clothing and glared at Irvine. "Ha ha that's soo funny, Irvine. I'm not looking for a shirt for a date. I have an appointment with that man from Delings tonight. He's really interested in me for his modeling campaign, remember? Since I'm famous and good looking I'll bring in a lot of business."

Irvine felt his high spirits sink lower than his feet. They were floating around somewhere MD level. "Selph you never told me about this meeting. Can't you reschedule? We haven't gone out in ages and I haven't been seeing you much lately at all."

Selphie had resumed her hunt for a respectable shirt while Irvine had been talking. She had found a white button up and has started to put it on as she answered, "No way, Irvine this is way too big. It could boost my career, I could do something other than SeeD work."

Ever since the battle with Ultimecia, Selphie had been talking about leaving Garden. Suddenly she thought it was too dangerous and too political. After the battle had ended and Garden had resumed its normal activities she had had time to think, and to remember. The destruction of Tribia and their first mission when they had merrily been used as pawns and given a task no one had ever imagined they could live through, she realized how dispensable life was to this establishment and wanted out. Only she didn't have anything else to go to.

"Selph, you know it's going to be different. Cid is going to change the way things are done around here. He's going to make it better, make sure we are safer and we are fighting a good fight," Irvine pleaded. "You don't, you don't have to leave. We have a place here."

Selphie stared at him for a moment and a harsh silence fell over them. Finally she broke the silence, "I've got to go. I'm going to be late." Then she started for the door. Irvine removed his hand from behind his back holding the bouquet in front of the doorway. "These are for you," he said handing the flowers to her. She took them and then he turned and walked away before she had a chance to say anything. She'd already said what she wanted to say.

It had been two weeks since the night that Squall had found out about her nightmares. Each night after that she had tried to sleep on her own but soon she found that Squall was the only thing that could stop them, and so every night she would end up back in his room. He never objected but he seldom said anything at all.

The first night after Squall's discovery she tried to pretend it had been a one night occurrence and went to her room to sleep, but in the middle of the night she had woke up crying once more and then wondered across the hall to stand in his doorway tear stains shining on her cheeks. He hadn't said a word then but looked from her to the bed and so she went and laid down beside him.

And that was how it was every night after that, beginning with her trying to beat the nightmares on her own but always ending with her waking alone in his bedroom the next morning. He was never there when she woke and he never touched her when she was there. Not one caress, not one kiss since that night on the balcony.

She tried not to push him, she felt that when he was ready he would come to her and she found strength in the fact that he hadn't asked her to leave.

She felt most comfortable just lying next to him on his bed drifting off to sleep. To her it was the only safe place. In her room the nightmares would come and days at the Garden were often stressful. Though both Squall and Zell had told her often that no one was treating her any different she could feel it. Many of the other students and SeeDs were scared of her, of her power. Sometimes she felt like a tamed tiger, tame yet still mistrusted. She spent much time trying to think of ways to prove that she should not be feared.

She wanted to help and so when Cid offered her a position as a SeeD she took it. Many people had disagreed with this arrangement after all not only did she not have any formal training she was a sorceress, but Cid stood behind his decision one hundred percent stating that her hand in helping defeat Ultimecia was as good as any proof that she had what it takes to be a SeeD and that he would trust his own life to Rinoa because he knew that she would only kill to protect and to save which were the objects of Garden. To protect and save for a small fee of course. SeeDs were quickly becoming a jack of all trades, helping with the restoration of Tribia and Esthar as well as do rescue missions and the normal missions like before only now they were trained to save human lives, whenever possible to end conflicts without resorting to killing.

So Rinoa had become a SeeD using her powers for good. Healing wounded and helping in situations that called for a little something extra as well as provide support with battles. Many times her very present would make the other party leery of resorting to combat and so the situations would end without conflict. But so far none of it was enough, people still shied away and still kept their eyes glued to her as she passed fearing she may try something. She liked to think that things would get better with time that maybe three weeks simply wasn't enough. She also liked to think that one of these nights the nightmares would go away too, but thinking and believing are not always the same thing, and so each night she would always end up lying next to Squall in the dark and each morning she would wake up in the light alone.