The clouds returned during the night. Dawn broke slowly, and Rinoa was only briefly aware of Squall leaving sometime when the sky was still a dim grey. She knew he kissed her good morning, and heard him shuffling around her in the tent that was too small to realistically house two people, and then she fell back to sleep.

When she woke again, hours later and disoriented, she fought the urge to cry out. She was in a tent, but she was alone. For the briefest moments she wondered if the last week had not been a dream, and then wondered if she wasn't still in a dream, and finally sleep slid from her enough to remember—she was in Centra, in the Talle Valley, in a Garden-issue tent that Squall had called home since he left Timber over a month ago. And now that she was here, Squall was—or at least, should be—somewhere nearby.

She dressed slowly, delaying her entry into this strange world as long as she could. When they finally arrived the night before it was right at sunset. It was fall in the southern part of the world and days were increasingly shorter, but despite the early evening hour Rinoa felt like they may as well have arrived at midnight. They were greeted by Quistis and two women from Mia's tribe, and after giving her a long, measured look, Quistis smiled, and reached out to embrace her.

"I would say it's good to see you, but under the circumstances—"

"—It's good to see you, Quistis."

Quistis had smiled again, and after a hurried meal under the curious eyes of SeeD and Shalmal alike, Rinoa spent the better part of the evening huddled alone in Squall's tent with a flashlight, reading, and trying to forget about where she was. She fell asleep before Squall returned, the exhaustion from their trip across Centra catching up to her, and now she was awake again, and had no idea what the day might bring.

The valley looked exactly as she had dreamt; tents in neat little rows, a few temporary structures built from the materials on hand and what little Garden could supply. Rinoa clutched the book she had borrowed from Quistis before she turned in the night before, and looked around her. She felt Squall's hand suddenly on her shoulder before she had a chance to start walking.

"I'm sorry," he said, and led her towards the largest of the rough structures. "I didn't know it was going to take so long last night—"

"It's okay," she said. "I was tired."

He looked at her, and she smiled up at him. Really. It's okay.

And it was. She had been given relief, in her mind—relief from having to speak to anyone, from having to face the scrutiny of the SeeDs who would wonder why she was there. Of course they would make the connection, that Squall left—or rather, was taken—and when he returned it was with her, and in the intervening time would have formed their own opinions about what had happened, all of them equally creative, and all of them equally wrong. And she felt relieved from having to take in any more information than she already had. The pain she had felt when she traced the lines of source magic through the mountains and back flared up on their arrival and had yet to subside, and she was certain she had dreamed about a river of darkness that took off from the mountains and tried to wash away the sky. She was curious, oh she was curious, but she could not have handled it last night. She told Squall this, and he nodded, and ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I don't want you here," he said, and caught himself and shook his head. "That came out wrong."

"A little," Rinoa laughed. "Since if that's the case, you've really been sending me mixed messages."

An attempt at a smile. Rinoa started to lean in, but looked around them instead. "Am I even allowed to kiss you here?"

"I disappeared for over a week to bring you here. I don't think I have a lot to hide from anyone at this point."

This time Rinoa did not laugh, but she did finish leaning towards him, and kissed him lightly. "Thank you," she said. "I don't think I've actually said that yet."

"We've been busy," Squall replied, and led her the rest of the way into the structure. They were alone, and Rinoa found herself looking at what she knew was their command station. "This is…what I've been doing. I'm not going to even try to explain, and I know you aren't that interested anyway. But I want you to see it, since…"

Her chest tightened, and Rinoa looked sharply up at him. "You're sending me away?"

"Oh—no, Rin. Not…not entirely, at least."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't want you in a war. For one, we both know you don't want to be here. And you shouldn't be. But mostly… I can't have you here. I need to be able to think clearly, and we both know I can't do that if you're around. Dammit," he shook his head again. "I keep—"

"I know what you mean, Squall."

"You're just…a distraction. I know you don't need me to keep you safe, but if I'm constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure you're okay—"

"I get it. So where am I going?" She couldn't even pretend she wasn't relieved. They both knew she could hold her own, that save for Mia, Rinoa was the least vulnerable of everyone in this part of the world, but if that was the excuse he wanted to use for keeping her out of combat, she would take it and run. Sometimes, she smiled to herself, her reputation as a wilting flower worked to her advantage.

"Not far. Don't worry—it's half an hour south by chocobo, and you'll be with Mia's people. If I can, I can even still come to you some nights, and even if I can't, I can try and send someone there to let you know. No more waiting, Rin. It's…it's the best I could do."

"It's…" She thought of her days in Timber, of the month she spent waiting just to hear that he had made it down there safely, and fought against the tears welling up in her eyes. "Thank you," she said again, and leaned into him. He wrapped his arms around her and Rinoa closed her eyes.

The moment was quickly broken, and Rinoa glanced past Squall's shoulder at the sound of footsteps approaching the door. Quistis walked in, and gave them a look far friendlier than the one she had worn the night before.

"Did you finish it yet?" she asked, and took a seat on a table near where Squall and Rinoa were standing. She looked tired and not at all at ease, but Rinoa no longer got the impression it was due to her.

"I fell asleep," she laughed. "Not because the book wasn't interesting. I guess three days under the desert sun is just more than I can handle."

Quistis stared at her for a second before Squall broke his silence with a muffled laugh, and she smiled.

Once, on the way to the Tomb of the Unknown King, Rinoa had made the mistake of asking if they could stop and take a break, and Squall had lit into her, threatening, amongst other things, to send her back to Deling City alone if she wasn't able to keep up with the group. Quistis was the only person who had witnessed this exchange, who knew how cruel Rinoa had been in her response, although they had not mentioned it since. They had not mentioned Squall to each other very often in general, letting a friendship form instead based on book recommendations and independent movies. Still, nearly two years after the first time she set foot in Garden, Rinoa could not understand how in a place with a library as vast as the one in Garden, the friends she had made there made such little time to read, and she was happy to accept trade in film recommendations if it gave her a friend she could share her love of reading with. At the beginning, maybe they should have discussed Squall. But they didn't, and after this much time, there no longer seemed to be the need.

I wonder if she knows? In their time since reuniting, they had not mentioned their engagement once. Back in Timber it felt…normal. A next step. That's what you do, when you live in Timber. Even at the height of the Galbadian occupation, Rinoa could remember the joy of seeing friends fall in love and pledge their lives together.

Centra, was not Timber. She had fallen asleep in an urban townhouse, and woken up in a fairy tale.

But fairy tales do end with weddings. With happily ever afters, she thought. So a quest, then. And hadn't she read more books than she could count, where even the greatest of love had to be hidden until the world was safe again?

But Quistis answered the question for her. "Congratulations," she said, gesturing between her friends, and she looked like she meant it. "Though I wouldn't recommend trying to make any wedding plans down here."

"I'll keep that in mind," Rinoa said, and, turning to Squall, "Unless that's the real reason I'm here? To get out of a big wedding?"

"You got me," he said. They laughed, but Rinoa could tell the laugh did not reach either Squall or Quistis' eyes.

Down here may be the only chance we get.

She wondered if the others were thinking the same thing?

"You can keep the book," Quistis said. Always count on Quistis to know when to change the subject. "I have a couple of others that you've already read, but you can take those, too, if you like. I don't get much time to read these days."

"Thanks," Rinoa said. "Are you…are you okay? I know it's none of my business, that I'm not even supposed to be here, but…whatever happened recently. Are you—"

"I'm fine," Quistis cut her off, and flashed a look to Squall that Rinoa could not read. "Esthar took the bigger hit. Since we pushed them back to the other side of the mountain a couple months ago they've been hesitant to try again, and as Xu would put it, all we did was remind them of why."

"So no one on…" she looked to Squall, and faltered.

"Our side?" he said, with a tight smile. Squall hated the idea of sides. He said he was a mercenary, and couldn't afford to take sides. Rinoa said it was because he was a good person. What they didn't say, was that he had already chosen his side, and everything else was relative unless (until, she always corrected him) that became an issue.

Quistis shook her head. "Not seriously, at least. We knew they'd be making another attempt soon even before Squall and Mia left. As soon as they were gone everyone was on high alert, and it paid off. Cheatham's got his arm in a sling and Rowan will be heading back to Balamb on the next supply ship, but no casualties. Esthar can't say the same."

Rinoa felt a twinge inside of her despite the fact that Quistis delivered the information so casually. Or, she suspected, because she delivered it so casually. She was overcome again with the sensation that this was not her world, and even if it meant leaving Squall again, she was already anxious to be gone.

They stayed together in the command center for probably another half an hour, talking, not of war, but of Timber, of shallow plans for when they returned home. Quistis was as surprised that Selphie and Irvine had decided to give things another shot as she had been when Squall told her they had broken up, and they even got Squall to admit that he wished that Zell had been available to come down with them, even if they understood that his mother's illness came first, and no one was willing to pull him off of leave.

Then it was time for Quistis to lead a drill exercise, and then, it was time for Rinoa to leave.

Mia arrived to see her off, and Squall made an excuse to step away when Mia approached them to say her goodbyes.

"You are strong," Mia told her, and Rinoa cast her eyes to the ground. "It is nothing to be ashamed of. You are strong on your own, and believe you are stronger with him. But you know Ms. Edea's story, Rinoa."

"She lost herself with Cid, though," Rinoa said. "You want me to be strong on my own—"

"You misunderstand. He helps you. He heals you. That is the role of a Knight. But you need to find your magic without him. He cannot be there for you, if he is a part of it. That is…" Mia looked southward, the direction of her home, the direction Rinoa would be riding. "That is the difference, in the magic of our Creator, and in the magic that has been passed to you. Source Magic was a gift, Rinoa. In the northern parts of the world you are taught it was a trick, but my people know better. You have too many memories of destruction connected to you, and you are afraid."

"Is that…" Rinoa hesitated. She looked to Squall, who watched the valley intently, using every chance he had to fill the in the gaps of everything that happened in the time he was gone. She thought of the things they had discussed on the ride across Centra, and of the story that Edea had told. And then, she took the plunge. "Is that why you brought me down here?" she asked. "So you could… So I could learn from you?"

For the first time since their meeting, Mia looked genuinely surprised. Rinoa wanted to look away, at her feet, at the road she was about to take, anywhere but the confusion buried in Mia's knit brows, but she held her gaze. Tell me, she thought. Why am I here? Why did my fiancé have to leave the life he is trying to build? Why were we separated, if not by your design?

But Mia did not answer those questions. Instead she shook her head, the confusion now replaced with apology, and something almost like sorrow.

"I am sorry, Rinoa. I can predict many things about people. I can sense loyalty and honor, and when I should be afraid. This nonsense with Esthar has been building, ever since your Lion's father agreed to drop their walls. He is a good man, but good men cannot control the actions of bad men, and it speaks to him that the bad men of his world chose to take their hatred and violence to new soil, rather than leave their fight in the city. You know how long they have been here, and how long we have held them on the other side of the mountains, but you do not know how bad it can become, how bad it will become. My war is becoming a war of offense. Do you not think I waited, to tell them I wanted Squall? That I did not know the risk of bringing him down here? He is a Knight, Rinoa. His presence has been tied to yours since the day you became a Sorceress. I have sensed other women of the north who have inherited our succession, since my initiation as a child. I have learned of you from my own precursors. Your bond is strong, perhaps the strongest in recent history. Do you not think I asked myself, was it worth the risk? That calling him, may also mean calling you?"

Rinoa stared at her, dumbly, and grabbed at the reins of her chocobo to steady herself.

"You do not belong here, my sister. You have come of age in a time when Sorceress is something to be feared, and it should have been a long time before you learned control, if you learned it at all. I knew the risk. But I must put my people first. And if doing that, meant risking you, I made a promise that I would prepare you."

"So that… That is the training."

"It is not training, Rinoa I do not want you here. But here you are. And you are not as much a threat to me as Esthar is. So I will teach you what I can, if you are willing to learn. And part of what I must teach, is that you are the Sorceress."

Mia pulled out the same pouch she had the day before, and let three of the same small fruits fall into her palm. "These are mine, for I need them too. When you meet my sisters, they will show you how to find them. Some may be wary at first, for you are from the North. But they will welcome you, and they will keep you safe, if you let them. And I urge you to let them."

Rinoa nodded, and stood there, unsure of what else she was supposed to do. Mia looked her up and down, and then reached her hands out and took Rinoa's in her own.

"Just remember, Rinoa. You are strong."

"But he… How can I be strong, if the strong part of me goes with him?"

"You were strong before you were a Sorceress, or you wouldn't be one now. Find that, and you will find your answer."

Mia leaned forward and kissed each of Rinoa's cheeks, and then she was gone. Squall walked over slowly, concern written into his features.

"What did she say?" he asked.

"I asked her," Rinoa said. "If she wanted you here to get to me. I didn't mean to, but typical me, it just kind of came out."

"…and?"

"She says she didn't. Says that she only wants to keep her people safe, and she was willing to take the risk of me being here when she hired SeeD. More or less."

"The…risk of you? Do you believe her?"

"…I don't know."

"Hmm."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Just a sound."

"Hmm," she echoed, and he looked like he might smile. "I guess that answers the question about whether she knew you were a Knight. I wonder why she never mentioned it. You talked a lot, didn't you? In my dream, and since we've been around her, you two have just seemed to...comfortable."

"We did," Squall said. "But mostly about what was going on around us—despite what it looks like right now, there hasn't been a lot of time for personal conversation."

Rinoa felt her cheeks flush. "I didn't mean—"

"I know you didn't. It's a natural question to ask. But going into detail would have been taking us both away from the reason we are here."

Several yards away they heard someone call out Squall's name, and both turned to see Quistis. Squall nodded at her and she walked away, and he turned back to Rinoa. "I…need to go."

"Again," Rinoa said, and choked on the word. Squall cupped his hand on her chin and she looked at him, and her vision blurred as she fought back tears. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault, and I know I don't want to be here…but we just had this time, and I guess I thought…" What?

"I told you. I'll come out when I can. And try to send word when I can't."

"Squall…"

She leaned into him and buried her face in his chest. Their last parting was rushed and intense, like they were holding onto each other for life. Then, they didn't know when they would see each other again, and Rinoa felt everything she might not get to say coursing through her. Now, their parting was quiet, and instead of leaving her feeling empty, an overwhelming sadness took up space inside of her, weighing her down and making it hard to even stand beside him. He rested his arms against her back and pressed his lips against the top of her head, and after a moment of trying to fight it, Rinoa gave up and let herself cry. Let the other SeeDs see her. Most of Garden had their minds made up about her anyway, and if she ever cared before, she certainly didn't right now.

"I won't be far," he whispered, but she shook her head against him.

"But you'll still be at war," she said. She thought of the wounded she sensed the previous day, of what Quistis said about Esthar's outcome in that battle. "What if something happens to you? What will happen to me?"

"Nothing is going to happen to me, Rin."

"But what if it does?"

He held her more tightly, then, and said, "You'll be in the safest place it's possible for you to be."

For a minute she let him hold her, before she looked up, her cheeks wet with tears and her throat still thick with emotion. "I love you, Squall Leonhart. Please don't die," she said.

"I promise."

He leaned down and kissed her, and when he stepped back, Rinoa felt cold in all the places he had been pressed against her. Cold, and alone.

For the fourth day in a row she climbed onto a chocobo, only this time, she rode alone. She turned several times to look behind her to where Squall stood, until she finally turned and he was walking away, his silhouette blending in to the background.

"Please don't die," she whispered out loud, and turned back to the direction she was headed. To the safest place it was possible for her to be, should something happen to him.

She had not asked, but what if I still have to go back to Timber without you?

She had not asked, but what if something happens to me?

They were questions she didn't think needed asking. And in the coming weeks, she would desperately wish she had.