Author's Notes – Hi, everybody! It's just me again, typing up whatever, claiming it to be fanfiction. Heh, I'm just messing with you guys, I actually put some thought into this, or well… at least I hope I did. Hehe…Yeah…Right.

Anyways, I hope that you'll like this chapter and I assure you, this fic is going somewhere, it's just taking a long and s..slow ride to get to that problem mentioned in the summary, and yes, that hasn't happened…yet. Geeze, it's already chapter ten and I'm still trying to get there, man I really must be going fast- I mean… s…l…o…w.

Yeah so… off I go! Yah!

Oh before I forget, I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter, school's being a royal pain by giving me far too much Math and French work…Stupid curriculum…Grr..

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Chapter X – Eleven Fifty–Nine

Right after he'd received her call ten minutes ago, Squall decided that it would be a diligent idea to do get his school work out of the way immediately. If he was going to meet up with Rinoa late tonight at the docks, there'd be no way in hell that he'd even think about attempting it the next morning. Living zombies weren't known for their handiwork, right?

So, he reached over for the bag near the foot of the bed, pulled out the necessary books and pens needed, and then he leaned up against the bed's headboard and prepared himself to do the task assigned right there, instead of getting up and doing it at the usual spot, the room's desk. Today, the achy teenager felt like he had a free license to be a little slothful, after all, as common logic would surely dictate, if he could avoid moving around, the more he'd heal.

Although this unorthodox approach deemed a little uncomfortable at first, with the awkward angle he had to bend his torso and the lack of a hard surface to produce neat handwriting, Squall eventually adapted to the situation, but at the same time, he still wasn't able to effectively jot down whatever answer, summary, or the unfair impromptu seven paragraph essay he needed to finish. His mind was cloudier than the thickest fog.

During these periods of lack of internal focus, his mind would often drift towards the whole absurdity of this whole weekend, and more specifically, today. Actually, upon further analysis, this wasn't accurate, since his thoughts had a cruel way of edging some typical teenager anxieties, sprinkling a few visions of hypothetic plans to even get to the proposed place at the suggested time, and finally, a dash of reflection on how he'd try to come back home undetected.

He tossed away the collection of notebooks, textbooks and pencils off of the bed with a resounding clatter. The homework would have to wait. Speaking of waiting, why did he have to experience nearly every teenage problem known to man- errr… seventeen year-old adolescents all at once after such a long period of a quiet nothing? Squall's mind almost melted when he attempted to answer that thought.

'Life never plays fair; you already knew that lesson, remember?'

'-Knock. Knock.'

'-That certainly proves my theory…'

"Are you okay in there? I heard a really big 'Thunk'."His father's inane chatter resounded past the other side of the door.

This time, Squall rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm fine…" He reassured impassively.

His father's voice echoed some more. "Well, what where you doing in there? Tossing bricks?"

"No, I'm tossing school books. I'm planning to torch the house by lighting them." He replied sardonically. At the same time, Squall could imagine the vague look of horror on his father's face.

Laguna opened the door a crack, and poked his head through. Yep, his imagined look of vague horror was indeed there.

"You're not serious …right?" He asked timidly, being quite unsure of his son now-a-days.

Squall sat up on his bed and turned to face him with a trace of a devious look.

'I can't pass this up can I?'

"…Depends. If I can get a lighter…"

Finally, Laguna came to his senses and also came through the door. "-SQUALL! You're not burning the house down and that's the end of this odd… very odd discussion. Are you nuts?"

Then, the supposed-pyromaniac put his feet on the floor, and marched right up to his father. …And strangely enough, his legs didn't hurt as bad. -Hmm, maybe it was a sign.

"If it answers your question, only an idiot would think I was being serious." He asserted boldly without a trace of hesitation. "Whatever, I'm leaving."

So, for the second time this weekend, Squall left before his father had time to compute a coherent response out of his mouth since his jaw was still very agape at the moment. At least he got the intended message this time.

However, just as he took a step on the first stair seconds later, his one foot started to give him a fair deal of trouble once again. Squall stopped his descent and went back towards his room. -Scratch that, his father was still nearby. He went into his parents' old room, the guest room. The idea of resting might have been a good one after all.

After a brief interval, Squall found himself sitting on the edge of the immense king-size bed inside, fully taking in the room's atmosphere for the first time in a long while. Hyne… so much has changed in the last twelve years inside this very place… now that he gave it a good deal of thought. The only thing reminiscent of the long-forgotten period of time was the bed itself. Everything else had been replaced, given away, or put aside in storage. He weakly slumped himself onto the bed while he subconsciously mulled over a long-forgotten truth; he owned the only object that his father didn't take away - His mother's family heirloom, the Griever ring. More specifically, it was the same piece of expertly crafted metal he'd been fiddling between his fingers for the past second or two.

Squall groaned. The mixed luck he'd been having today had thoroughly amazed and annoyed him to no end. No words could ever describe how eerie the simple memory tied to the ornament itself had seemingly unearthed a whole slew of others, which he'd otherwise managed to escape from for so many years. That, and how that one action had nearly regressed him to square one mentally in an instant.

When he noticed the dull ache forming around legs, he let his arms and legs flop mercifully on the mattress. Apparently, he'd unknowingly let himself tense up. Taking in a deep breath, Squall stabilized himself once more.

'Hyne, I've got to stop that...I'm supposed to be over this. Remembering a simple memory or two doesn't mean that I've got a permit to go all screwed up.'

He immediately buried himself in one of the pillows.

'Egh…this is exactly the kind of thing I've got to avoid.'

'…So why did I even come in here? Why did I even do this to myself?'

Just then, the nasty little voice inside of his head surfaced. 'Because you thought you were over it, that's why.'

Squall grumbled and made an impromptu decision to fall asleep immediately. He deeply regretted that he hadn't taken the 'resting' part of his own idea more seriously and possibly sooner. The sleep eventually came, but it wasn't the kind he'd been hoping for.

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"Wake up, c'mon…wake up. Egh…This'll be the last time I'll put up with you sleeping here if you don't err…get up. I've caught you here four times this week alone and each time I had to force you to get up."

(…What?)

The lump underneath the pastel covers turned over. "…I don't want to go now, and it's no different then waking up elsewhere. You never complained then." Then, the owner of the boyish voice moodily rolled back.

"C'mon, get up. Now, please? Argh…" The adult demanded to no avail. "Okay… if you won't get up, then what is it about this bed that makes you want to sleep here instead of your own?"

Suddenly, this scene looked all-too familiar in Squall's head.

(If this is what I think it is, I'm going to hear a 'Wh-)

"Whatever." The boy mumbled under the materiel folds.

(-Jackpot. Now all I need is a mental rain check…)

Then, just as Squall's memory dictated, Laguna uncovered the sheets layer by layer, and had achieved to eventually expose his lanky nine year-old son who'd been hiding underneath. The boy finally conceded and sat down on the edge of the bed, yet he always looked away from his father beside him.

Laguna chuckled lightly. "You know Squall, I've tried just about everything to figure out why you keep on coming here, and I still don't know anything. So… do you know why?"

The younger Squall brought his legs up and tucked them tightly against his body with his arms. "…No."

After that comment, Laguna gave him a curious look, but a meager smile had shown through as well.

"…So it isn't because you still miss your sister?" He asked wryly. The boy's head immediately did a 180 degree turn and he gave his father a very particular look.

"That's what I… kinda suspected." He added with a thoughtful tone. "Well then…what do we suggest we do?"

His younger self shyly propped his head on top of his knees.

"I want… to change rooms."

"Hm." A moment passed in quiet contemplation. "I guess we could do that, but you know, if we do this, we'll have to change things around the house to make it work."

"…Like what?"

"Like if we move your stuff to Ellone's room- err Ellone's old room, we'll have to paint the walls and some of the furniture, maybe buy some new covers and… I'll have to move to your old room."

"Why is that?"

"-Just… because Squall. Now… what colour would you like the walls?"

(If memory serves it'll be, '-Gray. Maybe black.'.)

"…I don't care. It's all the same."

(…Well said.)

"Good. Then after school, we'll go to the supplies shop together. Sound ok?"

He nodded silently.

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Squall could hear the crickets' chirps piercing the outdoors' stillness again. The light creaks of footsteps could be now heard in the distance, and so, he rolled onto the other side. Listening to the mattress springs' creaking beneath him, he couldn't deny that he was no longer dead to the world. Following a few subtle jerks later, he'd awakened forcefully, his upper-half bolted into an upright position. Then, confusion had him in ensnared in a fierce grip. Where was he? And more importantly, why had he shot up so suddenly, lightly sweating even? Had he forgotten something? Or was there something he needed to do?

He scanned his surroundings. No shapes to be discerned, not even shadows, and everything was pitch-black. Well, except that he'd seen a compilation of red LCD numbers in a far corner. Wait, it read… 10:36 pm?

Crap. Crap. Crap!

At that moment, everything came back …and it just so happened that he was very late.

He flung the covers over to the foot of the bed and nearly killed himself in his efforts to walk over to his own room. The darkness had not been kind and it had contributed in the stubbing of many toes, several times even. Consequently, the irritated teenager took advantage of the fact that it was a mostly-soundproof room quite liberally.

After mindlessly stumbling into his room, Squall made an immediate point of checking his cell. Subsequent to his search, he found that there were no new messages. Now he was instantly caught. Was she still expecting him to show? Or more importantly, what was he to do? It was already too late to call and cancel and was even later to try to make it, since a direct trip to the harbour docks took at least forty minutes with good traffic and conditions. However, given that his body was no longer smarting as badly as before, the real question was now – Would she still be waiting for him?

He dialed her cell number in order to figure that one out.

'Beep. Beep. Beep. Be-'

"Hi, you've got Rinoa's cell, sorry, but I'm busy right now so just leave a-"

'-Click. Off.'

Squall tossed the phone aside, pocketed his keys and dashed out as fast as he could muster. Right now, he didn't care if his father caught on to what he was going to do, but dammit, he was going to try.

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After battling the impairing conditions and idiot drivers, Squall had eventually earned the right to cut the lights and shut off car motor in the marina's parking lot. Roughly after fifty-six grueling minutes of his life later, filled with dodging several drunkards, avoiding getting flattened from over-zealous employees coming home from a night shift, and swerving around five stray cats, he had finally arrived. But the almighty question remained. Was she still waiting for him?

He closed the driver's door with a veritable slam and ran as best as he could towards the docks.

Passing by a blur of inky surroundings, the bright light of a far-off lighthouse stopped him dead in his tracks. After the light had moved away and it was safe to look again, Squall realized that he was already where she'd proposed they'd meet judging by the 'klank' of the wooden dock beneath his feet. Immediately, he scanned around to see if her most-likely bored and angry figure was still around.

A look to his left showed the cobblestone pavilion with the moonlit cliff in the distance, along with the dimly lit ice cream shop's green trim and other closed shops. A glance to his right revealed an empty stretch of the docks nestled against the edge of land, reaching out as far the eye could see, and the unblemished sapphire sea glowing with pale moon overhead. After looking high and low, Squall sighed; Rinoa wasn't a part of this picturesque landscape.

A cruel wind now blew in front of him. Although physically, all it had done was whip at his face savagely and had toyed with his jacket, but mentally, the abuse was more potent; it had accentuated and embodied the growing loneliness and shame he felt at this given moment. Right now, he imagined how much she'd gone through just to arrange a meeting with him at this time of night, and there he was, ruining everything by being inexcusably late.

Another gust of wind slapped his face. Narrowing his eyes slightly, the teenager thought it would best to leave; the very sight of the docks had started to annoy him thoroughly and effectively.

Followed by an extremely slow, trudging walk back to the parking lot, and after he mindlessly fumbled for his keys in his coat pocket, Squall noticed that, from what he could discern in the extremely poor lighting, the car seemed to have an odd object placed on top of the front windshield. His pace doubled in idle curiosity.

Right before approaching the car, he heightened his guard and when he got closer… nothing happened. Then, the ironic truth came out; the odd lump on his front windshield was only a random shopping bag caught under the wipers. After he let himself exhale, Squall was instantly relieved and vaguely confused at the same time. What had he expected?

Suddenly, a loud rumble came from the back. He nearly jumped ten feet.

"…Glad you could make it."

Squall nearly keeled over; Rinoa was lying peacefully on the trunk of the car, serenely looking at the stars.

"You're…still here?" He choked out in sheer amazement. She turned her head to face him.

"Yeah, it's long story so I won't bother. Come lie down beside me Squall, the view is amazing."

Despite his usual opinion on stargazing, where he thought that it was a complete waste of time, Squall had mysteriously ignored his most of his own outlook, followed her suggestion and had walked to the other side, climbed on and simply laid down right beside her to gaze at the heavens above. For some reason, the idea had a lot more appeal tonight.

The entire night scenery over their heads seemed alive and brimming with life; thousands of stars looked like twinkling diamonds, shooting stars danced across the heavens, and even a couple constellations graced the velvet skies.

Taking a slight break from their activity, Squall looked over at his star-gazing partner. With her hands neatly tucked behind her head and a big smile present on her face, Rinoa seemed perfectly content. Then, she caught his regard.

Pointing to the scenery above her, she made a brief comment.

"Pretty isn't it?" He gave a faint nod in reply.

"You know… the stars weren't the only reason I wanted you here at this ungodly hour."

Squall's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. When she caught sight of his expression however, she lightly giggled.

"Oops, I didn't mean it that way, it's just that, when I found out that we couldn't go and do something like we'd planned, I got the idea that… if I at least spent the moment I was actually born with you, it could mean something, in a …strange and maybe validating kind of way you know? Sorry if that sounded a little weird."

"No…it's alright."

'Beep-beep-beeep!'

"Well it's official, I'm eighteen now!" The lighthearted girl declared as she turned off her watch alarm. Meanwhile, Squall glanced over at the watch's illuminated face.

"…You were born at 11:59?" He asked quizzically. Rinoa broadly smirked and immediately leaned over to hug him.

"Aww…That was the weirdest version of a 'Happy birthday' that I ever heard! Thank you Squall!" She joked affectionately.

Squall had grown quite red in the face because of this gesture. Then, after Rinoa let go of the hug and saw his priceless expression in spite of the darkness, her grin grew even broader.

"Hee…Now that's cute. But it's kind of a shame that I didn't bring my camera."

'-Thank God…'

Right after he finished that thought, Rinoa hopped off of the car.

"Well, camera or no camera, I think I …have to go back to the hotel down the street, before they start suspecting things, tonight was very… nice. I'll see you Wednesday, 'kay?-"

Before this turned into a repeat of their awkward Saturday parting, Squall interrupted. "Rinoa…wait."

"Yes,Squall?"

He hesitated too long and had messed up the plan he had in mind.

"I'd…I'd better drive you there."

"No it's okay. It's not a long walk." She clarified. "However, I wouldn't mind someone to walk with."

Squall descended from the automobile's trunk. "…Fair enough."

After the two minute walk past the remotely vacant parking lot, Squall and Rinoa eventually reached some of the street post-lighted sidewalks. The somber mood had immediately eased.

"So… aren't you going to ask me about the 'horrors' I had to endure today?" She joshed with a smile. The grin must have been infectious because a faint smirk appeared on the corners of his lips.

"…Go ahead."

"Well, first of all, my father woke me up too early, yet we miraculously missed our boat to Dollet, so we're now staying at a hotel tonight in hopes of going tomorrow. I spent the entire time looking around the marina shops and kept on buying stuff that I really didn't need …and honestly, I think that it's becoming a prob-"

In mid-sentence, Squall stopped her from walking any further. She gave him a perplexed look.

"…You almost walked onto a busy street." He explained concisely. "If I hadn't stopped you, you would have been flatter than a pancake."

Rinoa's face reddened. "Oops…I guess I got a little too caught up with that…"

After he quickly scanned both sides of the street, they crossed safely without trouble. Then, Rinoa paused to look at her watch, followed by a quick glance back to Squall. A smile crept through her previously calculating regard.

"You know… maybe I can wait a little longer before going back to the hotel." She enticed mischievously; the other teenager couldn't help but shake his head in mild disbelief.

"If you wanted to do something else, you could have just said something." He bluntly pointed out.

"Yeah, but what's the fun in that? Besides, you like it, I can tell."

When he arched an eyebrow, her whole face illuminated. "I knew it! Your face is giving you away… you looove my surprises! You can't get enough of them I'll bet."

Squall rolled his eyes. "…Now you're being ridiculous."

"Nooo… I'm on the ball. You just don't know it yet." She insisted.

His expression effectively turned into a curious look. "-What makes you say that?"

"Well…" She thoughtfully placed her index finger to the side of her cheek. "…If I know you correctly, you would have left already if you didn't like my exciting surprises."

"-I didn't even- …nevermind. So …where are going exactly?"

"Ah, Squall, always to the point… Well, follow me and you'll find out soon enough 'cause I'm not telling you where we're going. Consider it payback for when you took me to that ice cream shop without saying anything. Anyways, let's get going!"

Suddenly, Rinoa grabbed his one hand and whisked him away to Hyne-knows-where. Squall simply hoped that she had better night vision than he did.

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Following a ten minutes' worth of shortcuts, random property trespassing, and the occasional stumble or two, they'd arrived to their destination. Squall looked in pure astonishment after she'd announced that they were indeed where she had been referring to earlier.

The place she had brought him to was the very beginning of the far-off end of the beach which looked like it was…not too far from where he'd been before when he was looking around the marina. Hm. He blinked in contemplation as he eyed the lone picnic table placed starkly in the middle of the beach sands.

In fact, after he'd had some time to reflect, the alleged path that Rinoa had taken him did seem like a complete circuit back to where they'd met originally, give or take a few minutes' deal of walking.

'…Now why does that not surprise me?' He thought as they both sat on the redwood table.

"Well… what do you think?" She inquired, braking his ever-going train of thought.

"Rinoa, I honestly couldn't tell you, it's too dark to judge."

"Darn, I thought I could have topped your surprise. Oh well, there's always next time. But I suppose that we could still enjoy the stuff I left here."

Squall craned his neck towards her direction. Stuff?

Rinoa scampered back to the high grasses where they'd emerged from previously only to bring back a mid-sized, honest-to-goodness, down to the cliché red gingham cloth-cover, wicker-woven, picnic basket.

"In case if you're wondering, this basket happened to be one of the many, many odd things I bought today, but…I believe that it might prove useful tonight, don't you think?" She gingerly elaborated when she heaved the basket onto the table.

Feeling as if he might be hallucinating right now, Squall did an honest-to-goodness double-take. When he opened his eyes again, the old-fashioned basket was indeed there, and Rinoa had started to take different things out.

"Squall… Uh… excuse the bluntness, but, with that look on your face, you almost look like you're ready to chew the basket."

Just then, he remembered how empty his stomach really was…and how he hadn't gotten a chance to eat in over half a day. A notion consisting of, 'Stupid nap.' had crossed his mind. Subsequently, when he realized that he hadn't given her an answer, he passively shrugged, supposing at the same time that hunger did weird things to people.

With supernatural timing, his stomach growled.

"Hehe… I guess that my picnic idea must have been a good thing, huh?" She joked.

'Could having a picnic, in the middle of the night, with mildly-cold weather no less, ever be considered a good idea? -I'd better not answer that honestly. Good timing though.'

"…I suppose."

"Good. Well… take whatever you like, I packed tons of stuff so, dig in!"

After they'd both picked a few things here and there to put on their respective plates, a sort of unspoken, almost scenic ambiance sprouted. The feeble winds had died down to non-existence, the temperature mysteriously warmed, and the glowing stars seemed to have increased in abundance. Only a little later, Squall let his fingers aimlessly push around a remaining piece of strawberry back and forth between the other things on his plate, feeling like he was under a spell of déjà vu somehow. Just as well, his priorities inexplicably changed from eating the food in front of him to quell his empty stomach to unraveling that said mystery.

"You know, for someone who looks like he could eat a basket, you sure don't seem to have much of an appetite. Is there something on your mind or are you just tired?"

Squall sighed. 'Damn, I forgot that she's a mind reader. Or am I that obvious right now?'

"Not really." He mumbled distractedly. "Well, actually… all of this is kind of reminding me of another moment we were together."

"Oh?" Rinoa blurted out in an inquisitive tone. "What does it remind you of? Was it the time you took me to the cliff?"

"No."

"Um… the dance?"

"…Not that either."

"Then it has to be.." Then, in an instant, Rinoa's face lit up. "When we hid together, thinking that there was a burglar in the school?"

'Okay, that came out of left field… -Whatever, I might as well tell her; she could be guessing for awhile.'

"No, this is …I don't know… it's kind of reminding of the day where we spent lunch in the old school shed. Even then, I don't know why this is reminding me of that day."

"Hehe… Maybe you're simply expecting to get caught by someone since it's so late. Could that be it?"

Squall mouthed a simple 'no', got up, strode forward and edged near the beginning of ocean, where the water cascaded onto the shore. As he took a long look at the serene sparkling ocean, soft footsteps sinking in the sand soon followed him. Rinoa appeared at his side and was now sharing the same view he had without a moment to spare.

He glanced towards his right, facing her directly. "I think…that the connection was the peaceful atmosphere."

"…You think so?" She optimistically whispered back. The rolling waters calmly splashed against their feet.

After a long and thoughtful look, he continued. "Maybe…but, when we were in the shed, the peacefulness was enjoyable because we…I didn't have to deal with the others, but this time… I don't think it's the same."

Although Rinoa hadn't said anything afterwards, her brightened eyes emanated her profound level of genuine surprise from his comments. Suddenly, Squall almost wished that he would have reserved that last awkward monologue for the dark recesses of his mind. Now he had to contend with the fact that he'd have to elaborate on something he wasn't even sure of at the moment. He felt a tight constriction grip his body for a second or two.

"Actually…nevermind… I… don't think… -Ignore what I said before."

"Squall… Speaking your mind isn't such a bad thing, but if you don't let yourself, it'll always feel that way. In awkwardness, I mean…"

"…I realize that Rinoa, but I don't think I knew what the hell I was talking about regardless."

She inched closer. "No, I'm pretty sure that you did. C'mon, say it for me…pretty please?"

"If I figure it out… I'll tell you." He compromised in exasperation.

"Good enough. Sooo, are you going to finish what you put on your plate? Or am I going to have to make you eat it? Hee…hee…" She teased.

"Might as well…I'm kind of starving."

Rinoa put her hands on her hips in mock-annoyance. "No wonder you're so lanky, you get distracted by ever-y-thing! Could you tell me any other secrets you may have so that I can use them to my advantage?"

"…You don't need any secrets Rinoa."

She let out a small giggle. "Squall, that was supposed to be a joke! Ooh… I swear you're too serious for your own good sometimes…"

When he realized his mistake, he pinched the bridge of his nose from his sheer stupidity.

"…Whatever."

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Following the remnants of their midnight picnic, they started to walk back from whence they'd came from, since it was easily the quickest way back to her hotel. The path they were using currently was indeed darker and for the obvious reasons, the feeling of security had dwindled to close to nil. After Rinoa had revealed that it was past one o'clock, Squall immediately wished that he had driven her to the hotel, knowing that it was this time of night when lowlifes prowled the desolate streets looking for trouble.

As they passed the last thicket of forest trees and into the lit sidewalks, Squall kept his vision even more alert within his capabilities and held her close to ensure her safety.

The silence broke.

"…Squall, are you going to be okay to get to the car and to your home at this hour?" Rinoa asked in an overly-concerned tone. Not bothering to pause and worry her with his thoughts, he answered quickly.

"I'll be fine."

"You sure? Because I'm pretty sure that I can find a way for you to stay if you needed to."

His eyelids drooped ever so slightly. "…No, I'm positive."

"-You look kind of tired though." She pointed out.

"No, I'm sure that I can get home." He assured rather crossly. "-I'd rather worry about getting you to the-"

"-Aah! Get away! Get AWAY!"

Squall immediately jumped towards the source of Rinoa's frenzied screaming when the unthinkable happened.

…Her duster had been caught by an errant tree branch sticking out from the property alongside the sidewalks. He took in a deep sigh of relief when he had freed her from the tangling bough. She immediately collapsed into his arms.

"It was just a tree, right?" The previously-caught teenager inquired solemnly. He gave her a reassuring 'yes'.

"Good, lets' get to the hotel before something really happens…"

A few minutes later, the hotel's immense structure loomed clearly in the view. However, when they reached the same corner where she'd informed him of her surprise earlier that evening, they'd stopped walking. Actually, it was Squall who'd stopped Rinoa from walking any further. …Not because of the streets either.

"-What, what is it?"

"…I figured out what I couldn't earlier."

She effectively stayed rooted in her position, and had returned to having her usual warm grin. "Good. I knew you would."

Preparing for a somewhat long speech, Squall took in a large breath.

"When I said that the peaceful atmosphere might have been the connection…I was only half right."

"-How so?" She interjected.

"Well, before, what I said about the enjoying the silence had been true, but what I couldn't figure out was why it tied in with tonight, and then, when I had only focused on getting you to your hotel… it hit me."

He took in another breath for good measure. "Tonight… it was the opposite. I had enjoyed the peacefulness for what it was, not because it meant that there was no one else around."

"Oh…does that mean-" She mumbled in slight astonishment before stopping in mid-sentence. "Err, I mean…It's good to know that you liked tonight as much as I did."

'Hyne, this is going to be…ugh- Rinoa, I wish you would have just said it instead of making this more awkward than it already is.'

'-Regardless, here goes nothing…'

"Rinoa, I…think that I'll be…err..I can-"

He froze up. Not voluntarily though, it was because for the second time tonight, Rinoa had nearly hugged him to asphyxiation before letting him go.

"-You can handle us being together without hiding it anymore?" She finished hopefully, her hands clasped together even.

"…If you'll put up with me trying to."

"Oh Squall, that's more than enough for me! …Thank you so very much." She ecstatically exclaimed.

Finally relieved that the ordeal of telling her was over, Squall had enough nerve to finish a variation what he'd sought out to do earlier as he approached her and secured his promise, and the end of her birthday outing, with the most meaningful way he knew how – With the most long-lasting and passionate kiss he'd even given her.

Afterwards, when they'd finally parted lips, it was not long before Rinoa used hers' again.

"…Now the night's been truly spectacular, wouldn't you say?"She asked breathlessly.

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, Squall hadn't even bothered to answer her question. He was much more preoccupied to make the second embrace just as memorable as the first.

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End of Chapter Comments – God, I am so, sooo bad that it's ridiculous isn't it? Well, at least I think it was nice that Squall and Rinoa had one catastrophe-less night between themselves. Sorry if the ending was a tad mushy though, I just had to capitalize on the beginning of something new. Besides, they both deserve some happiness, don't they? Aah, enough of my excuses… it gets annoying, I know…

So until the next one (not the next excuse, the next chapter!),

-Emerald-Latias

P.S – In case if you guys were wondering, I had edited the chapter slightly. I had accidentally left in some useless words that I'd forgotten about. Hehe…Oops.