Field C was bathed in the soft glowing light of a perfect morning. The dewdrops sparkled on the fat blades of green grass like tiny gemstones. Squirrels chattered and birds sang joyously throughout the treetops. The smell of wildflowers hung heavily in the air spreading their sweet scent to all who were near. The damp and chilled air was pleasant because the growing sunlight promised to soon burn away the coldness left from the dark night.

Anybody who was lucky enough to be enveloped by this morning's beautiful embrace would certainly be filled with peace and joy. Well, most people would be.

"Stupid Seifer and his stupid liberating Timber joke," Squall said roughly while doing another round of squats.

His hand swiped across his forehead to clear away the sweat that had collected on his brow. The heat of anger and exertion made him remove his hooded sweatshirt to reveal the white t-shirt and Griever pendant underneath. He flung the sweatshirt into the grass beside him as he got down on his knees. The glistening diamonds of dewdrops were unnoticed by Squall as he lowered himself onto his stomach. He tucked his arms in tightly to his body as he began to do military push-ups.

I'm going to do push-ups until I'm not irritated anymore. So basically, infinity push-ups.

Squall lost track of how many push-ups he'd done, all he noticed was the steady rhythm of his movements and his moderated breathing. The only thing that mattered was building his strength and not thinking about his life. It felt as if time stretched out forever. Regimented military exercises were the entirety of his existence. That's all he'd done before that moment in time and that was all he'd do after. His hands were crushing the sweetly scented wildflowers in the grass, but he was unaware of it.

After what seemed like an eternity of push-ups, he noticed a pair of bare feet that had sauntered up to the grass in front of his face. He finally stopped exercising and rolled onto his back to see who it was. The brightness of the morning shone behind the person's back, making nothing but a dark silhouette. He reached up to shield his eyes and he could tell it was Rinoa peering curiously down at him and smiling. She was wearing the same cream colored mini-dress that he'd first seen her in at the SeeD graduation dance.

Why is Rinoa wearing a formal dress to train in?

His confusion quickly turned to embarrassment when he realized he could see up her short dress. His face flushed with shock and he shut his eyes after catching a glimpse of pink underpants.

Why am I the one feeling guilty? She's the one standing over my face when I'm exercising!

He immediately pulled up onto his knees in a quick jolt.

"Hello Rinoa," he said huskily while trying to catch his breath. "Why are you wearing a formal dress out here?"

Instead of answering, she just did a little spin around in the grass while smiling and giggling at him. Squall was mesmerized by her movements. She finished by facing Squall once more. She reached down with one arm and pulled him to his feet. She put her hands into his and tried to get him to dance with her on the wet grass while humming a familiar sounding waltz.

This is really strange, even for Rinoa. Is she losing her mind? Is that what happens to sorceresses?

Squall started to tense up and worry about Rinoa when he looked up and saw the yellow wings of two chocobos unfurling while racing at the far end of the grassy field. A cactaur was riding the chocobo in the lead, and a moogle was on the back of the chocobo right behind. It seemed that the cactaur was going to win the race. The moogle got angry and flew far away into the sky, leaving a trail of sparkling rainbow colored soap bubbles behind him. The cactaur hopped off of the chocobo and started to do a little victory dance before tripping and falling on its face.

Um... I think I'm dreaming. I guess that was why I was able to do so many push-ups.

He looked down and saw that he was now wearing his SeeD uniform.

Definitely dreaming.

He started to relax when he realized the entire scenario was just a dream. He could lighten up a bit. Nobody would know. It was all in his head. He might as well enjoy himself. This was a welcome relief from his nightmares of Ultimecia and time compression. His dreams weren't usually this pleasant, and they were never cute.

Since I'm dreaming, I'm going to try and relax and act like a normal human being on a date. It'll be practice.

He was still disappointed and embarrassed with himself over the goodnight back pat he'd given Rinoa the day before. The intense disappointment made his stomach sick. His carefully constructed aloof and cold demeanor hid his social awkwardness and inexperience for years, but it was starting to show now that he was spending more time with Rinoa.

A pat on the back, what was that!? he internally yelled at himself. I wish I could blame that on the GFs.

The GFs made me forget normal dating protocol Rinoa, he said while answering an imaginary conversation in his head. I got confused, but it wasn't my fault.

He decided to stop making mental excuses and lament his previously carefully hidden social clumsiness.

Things were easier when I could just hide behind my gunblade and hair!

He was so embarrassed he wanted to grow out his hair even longer and just comb it over his face to hide.

Hairstyle subterfuge, it's a common military practice, he said in another imaginary conversation with Rinoa.

He shook himself to concentrate on the dream at hand.

Okay, time for some practice dating.

When he turned back to Rinoa, she was now wearing her normal blue sweater outfit and black boots while smiling at him. She waved lightly and blushed while twirling the toe of her boot in the ground.

I like her normal clothes, except for those little black shorts under her jean skirt.

Suddenly her black shorts faded away, leaving just her jean skirt and bare legs.

Nice, but good thing this is just a dream. That jean skirt is maybe too short without them. Oh well. Nobody is here but me.

He reached out and took her hand and started walking along the field with her. She gently was being pulled along with him through the grass while listening to the birds singing. Her wide and hazy smile never faltered while looking up at him.

Rinoa is never this quiet, I guess this is why this is a dream and not reality.

They continued walking along until they came to group of trees. A big pink blanket was laying out in the shade. Squall looked around to see if there was anything else of interest, but there wasn't.

When he turned back to look at the blanket, he noticed Rinoa was already seated on it. She was beckoning to Squall to join her. She patted the spot in front of her for him to sit. Squall eagerly took a seat on the blanket in front of Rinoa and sat. Beside her on the blanket appeared a basket overflowing with muffins, pastries, and drinks. Two glasses of champagne were already filled and waiting next to them.

Everything looked wonderful, Squall didn't know where to begin. Rinoa smiled and said nothing while picking up a blueberry muffin from the top of the basket. She picked a juicy and sugar encrusted blueberry out of the top of her muffin and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes closed and her nose scrunched up in delicious bliss. Squall decided to get started by reaching out for a champagne glass. He started to raise it to his face when he was startled by something brushing his leg. His arm accidentally jerked and he splashed himself in the eyes.

My eyes!

Squall blinked the champagne out of his eyes and looked down and noticed Rinoa was rubbing her bare foot up and down slowly on his thigh. Her eyes were locked on his as he looked up. He froze and swallowed nervously.

This is a DREAM. What is WRONG with me? I can't even relax in a dream!

He put the champagne glass down and it seemed to disappear. He ran his hand through his hair, unsure of what to do next.

Rinoa sat up on her knees and moved closer to him so she could sit side-by-side. She leaned her head against his shoulder while continuing to eat happily. After taking a few more bites, she ripped off a piece of her blueberry muffin and offered it to him on the palm of her hand. He leaned in to take a bite, but she pulled it away quickly and nuzzled his nose instead. He held still like a deer in the headlights as she giggled and buried her warm face in his tense neck.

Okay. Just relax.

Rinoa had pulled back and held out her hand once more. Squall leaned in to take a bite of the blueberry muffin again. This time he was able to eat some of it out of her hand while she petted his hair. She had been giggling when he accidentally bit her thumb.

"OUCH! Squall that really HURT! Be careful!" she yelped. She pulled back her hand and sucked on her thumb with her eyes tearing up.

Squall was taken aback. She hadn't spoken at all before in this dream, and it sounded like the real Rinoa.

All the previous tension he had the in the dream came back to him. He crossed his arms over his chest defensively and sighed while looking down at the soft and fluffy pink picnic blanket dejectedly.

This blanket looks familiar for some reason.

Rinoa softened to look more dreamlike again, and she motioned sweetly for him to come closer to herself. He stubbornly resisted. She beckoned to him again, but he did nothing. She waited a moment before grabbing him roughly and forcing him to lay down on the blanket with his head pillowed in her lap. He scrambled to push against her like an angry cat, but he eventually gave up as she kept shushing him and petting his hair. Even though it was a dream, he still didn't want to hurt the dream-Rinoa again.

Squall gave in to some of her affections, although they were a little weird. She kept petting his hair like he was a cat. That didn't seem normal, but he wasn't an authority on physical interactions. While worrying about whether or not it was okay to be enjoying himself he looked up through the treetops to see the beautiful blue sky. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

So she wants to pet me like a cat. Whatever. I'm going to RELAX and try to enjoy the rest of this dream!

After a few minutes of tension his body had started to relax again as her fingers played with the longer strands of his brown hair. He enjoyed the feeling of Rinoa's warm hand on his face as it came in contact briefly with his cheek. She leaned down and he could feel her lashes slowly brushing against his skin. After a moment, she leaned in, giving him a peck on the cheek. She leisurely pulled back and looked longingly into Squall's blue-gray eyes before she leaned in again and kissed the corner of his mouth lightly. Her face blurred a moment and he could hear her thinking at him.

Is this pleasant Squall?

It's not unpleasant, he thought back at her with a small smile while licking his lips and nervously shaking his hair out of his eyes. He looked down at his hands as they fiddled with a blade of grass and he cleared his throat anxiously even though he was communicating in thoughts.

She laughed at him.

Now, why don't you try and kiss me for a change? It's okay... You don't have to worry about ME biting... You're going to like me. You're going to... He vaguely heard her thoughts but then the rest was indecipherable.

He reached up and played with the ends of her silky dark hair as she smiled encouragingly at him. He sat up and started leaning into her for a small kiss, but as soon as he moved closer to her, she started to fade away and become blurry. Her form dissolved completely, and he fell face forward onto the fluffy pink blanket alone.

That was weird... Squall started to think as the scene started to fade into nothingness.

The next thing he knew he face down on his pillow in his bedroom. Sunlight was streaming in from his window. He always before woke up when it was still dark out. The sunlight was bright and disorienting. He rubbed his hand over his eyes trying to get rid of the sleepiness before he swept his bangs up over his scarred forehead. A tiny bit of drool was on his face, and he felt like a mess. Usually he woke up much earlier. His strict military style routine was a comforting constant in his life.

He looked over at the time on his clock.

Oh no, I overslept! Why did that happen?! That never happens!

He looked down at his pajamas and started to mentally calculate how to get his day back on track.

I don't have enough time to do my own exercise routine, I'm only going to have enough time to grab breakfast and meet Rinoa out in field C for our training session.

He quickly got out of bed to get dressed, and then continued to his kitchen to scrounge up a healthy breakfast.

The real Field C was bathed in the harsh light of a typical morning. The dewdrops clung to the blades of green grass, making Squall and Rinoa's shoes wet as they tramped through the field. Squirrels chattered and birds sang off in the distance. The faint smell of wildflowers was floating in the wet and chilly morning air. The dampness was tolerable because the growing sunlight would most likely dry out the cold and wet field eventually, but it wasn't a magical morning like the dream had been. Well, technically since it was sorceress training, it would be a magical morning, just not a beautifully majestic dreamlike one.

As Rinoa exercised she thought back to the strange way that Squall had greeted her this morning. She was surprised to see Squall standing out in the corridor waiting for her when she left her room. He looked out of sorts, but she had been delighted by the gesture. She was going to ask him why he wasn't already exercising on the field, but then she decided to just enjoy the extra attention without over thinking it.

Not that I'm complaining. It was nice for him to meet me and walk me out to the field.

Although they hadn't spent much time walking together because as soon as Squall was outside he had started lightly jogging. Even though Squall had only been warming up, Rinoa had trouble keeping up with him.

Squall noticed that Rinoa was getting better at lightly jogging as he eventually passed her at a brisk run. The few times they had practiced together were helping her stamina. Her cheeks were flushed pink with exertion, but she had a small proud smile on her face. Her attitude was helped by seeing positive progress, a happy Angelo, and a good breakfast. She could almost see why Squall liked exercising so much as she lost herself in the rhythm of her pounding feet and pumping fists. She was by no means going fast, but she had vastly improved from a couple of weeks ago.

Every time Squall lapped Rinoa on the field her little smile took on a slight tinge of embarrassment. He didn't mean to show off, but he needed to work out a lot harder than she did to keep up his level of physical fitness and he'd slept in accidentally and needed to catch up.

"Good job Rinoa," he called out while passing her again.

Angelo thought the praise for was for himself, so he happily turned to follow Squall and left Rinoa behind.

"Angelo, stay with me!" Rinoa huffed.

Squall decided that they'd jogged enough, so he abruptly turned around so Angelo would come back towards Rinoa. When they met in the center of the grassy field, Angelo jumped up excitedly on her. Muddy paw prints smeared across her blue exercise shorts.

"Angelo, down! Stop it! DOWN! DOWN!" Rinoa yelled irritably.

Angelo jumped down as Squall's knees started to slightly bend.

That's strange. My legs must be fatigued. Time to stretch.

"Okay Rinoa, let's do some leg stretches."

They did stretches in silence as Angelo sat looking up at them with a big happy doggy smile.

"We still have some time before Edea arrives, so let's do some push-ups," Squall said.

Rinoa lightly groaned.

"You can do the modified push-ups. I'll do the military ones," Squall said. "Drop and give me 20!"

Rinoa looked at him with annoyance.

"I mean, let's see if you can do 20 push-ups. Please."

They both got down on the grass side-by-side. Rinoa was able to do 20 modified push-ups with ease, so she decided to try doing 30. When she was done she quickly sat up and watched Squall do his endless military push-ups. His well toned arm muscles strained under the exercise.

Wow, Squall's so strong. I don't think he's even counting them. Is he going to do them until his muscles fatigue?

She sat up on her knees and enjoyed the view for a while. Even the muscles on his back were showing through his t-shirt.

"You're really strong Squall..."

He acknowledged her comment with a breathy huff while not breaking rhythm.

She leaned closer.

"Would you have to do so many if you had more weight resistance?" Rinoa asked.

He kept going without comment.

Suddenly Squall felt something heavy falling on his back. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he was trying to come up out of a push-up. His face was smashed sideways into the damp grass.

"Urk!" Squall grunted.

"Ooomph!" Rinoa huffed while collapsing on top of Squall's back. "Wow, I didn't expect that! You looked so strong. I don't weight that much..."

Squall struggled while she continued to lay on top of his back.

"Rinoa... get... off... me..."

She quickly rolled off him while flushing red.

"I just thought I'd help you work out faster. If you had more weight on your back maybe you wouldn't have to do so many. I've seen other people do push-ups with people on their backs. Raijin's done it before."

"Raijin is the size of a truck, I'd already done over 50 push-ups, and you could have warned me!" Squall said angrily.

Rinoa was still red in the face and uncomfortable. Angelo sensed her need for comfort and nuzzled his head into her for support. She busied herself with petting Angelo's shaggy fur while avoiding Squall's stony gaze.

"Let's just stretch out until Edea arrives," Squall said while huffing and brushing blades of grass of his face.

They stretched out in silence while not looking at each other.

It wasn't long before Edea made her appearance on the field. Luckily, they both had worked through their tension over the last few minutes. By the time she walked up to them, they were ready to start afresh.

"Good morning," Edea said softly while nodding at them. "Let's get started right away. Rinoa try to do some magic. Maybe try something offensive, like fire. Squall assist her. I'll supervise."

Assist her, what does that mean? Squall thought to himself while edging closer to Rinoa.

Rinoa looked around and saw grass, flowers, and trees. She didn't want to set anything there on fire, that seemed unnecessarily destructive. Edea told her to try fire, but she didn't want to do that. She instead thought a water spell would be better. That way she'd actually be helping the plants grow. Her concentration focused on watering the plants around her. After a few moments a small sprinkling of water appeared out of thin air. The wildflowers gently bent beneath the tiny magical rain shower. She looked up and smiled widely at Squall. He walked closer to her as she worked her magic. The closer he got to Rinoa, the stronger the water spell became. Soon, it was a rushing waterfall that was soaking the field.

"Rinoa, I said to use fire, not water. Did you do that on purpose?" Edea asked. "Well, no matter. Just make it stop, you're getting the field all muddy and flooded.

"Stop it? How do I do that? I don't know how!" Rinoa yelled in a frightened voice. Her head swung around and her wide eyes caught Squall's stone faced gaze. If he was alarmed, he wasn't showing it.

The field kept flooding.

He continued to walk over to Rinoa, getting his shoes soaked along the way. The water was gushing faster now with no signs of stopping. She tried to move out of the way of the water, but the flow followed her as she moved. Rinoa started to visibly panic amongst the watery chaos.

Squall reached out and grabbed her shoulders from behind.

"Just make it stop. You can do it," he whispered into her ear.

"NO, I can't!" she said while stomping her shoe in the sloshing cold water.

She started to shake from cold and fear. In her panic, she tried to break free from Squall's grasp, but he didn't let go.

"You can make it stop. Just stop. STOP!" He said while giving her shoulders an encouraging squeeze in a calm but firm voice.

Rinoa's panic started to drain out of her system, and her outlook on life suddenly felt like it had completely changed. This wasn't so bad. She could do it. She was calm and strong. All she needed to do was be disciplined, do her best, and practice. The world was an orderly place if she just applied herself. Strength and discipline could get her far. She didn't have to be at the mercy of these powers. She'd never be at the mercy of anybody ever again if she just worked harder. She could be independent and strong. Complete protection was attainable if she just worked harder and shelled herself off from...

Suddenly the water spell stopped and it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Squall pulled back and nodded his head at her quietly.

"You made it stop. Good teamwork," Edea said.

Teamwork? Rinoa thought.

"Rinoa, your powers eventually will start to grow. It is important to work out all the kinks while your magical powers are still relatively weak. Experimenting with your limits and quirks are safer now than they will be later. You don't want any unfortunate accidents or surprises to happen," Edea explained.

Rinoa and Squall gave each other a sidelong glance. Rinoa's face was visibly worried, but Squall merely appeared attentive.

"Unfortunate accidents? Surprises?" Rinoa squeaked while rubbing her cold arms.

"Yes, we've all seen the destruction sorceress powers can cause. You need to learn how to control yourself before your powers grow to a dangerous level. This is very important. Your emotions and powers have to be controlled or they can break you down. It takes great mental prowess to be able to use power to build up and not destroy."

Squall nodded at what Edea was saying. His messy brown bangs bobbed up and down as he gave a look of approval towards Edea. Apparently he whole-heartedly agreed with what she was saying.

"Why is this happening?" Rinoa murmured while looking at her soaked shoes.

"Rinoa, for whatever reason, this is the way our world works. Some women are channels of power. Just look on the bright side, a very bad person could have inherited these powers. Aren't you glad that the powers went to you instead? The world needs building up, not tearing down. I noticed you chose a water spell instead of a fire spell. You seem to be the sort of person who would rather create than destroy. Look on the positive side of the situation," Edea tried to say comfortingly.

Rinoa sniffled a little bit. She tried not to think about the gravity of her situation because it would overwhelm her. Her life would never be the same after having these powers forced on her.

"But don't be afraid Rinoa. Squall is here to help you. We're all here to help you," Edea finished.

"Okay," Rinoa said fearfully while holding tightly to the rings around her neck.

"Well, you both should keep up your practicing, and contact me if you have any questions in between sessions," Edea said.

"Thank you," Squall and Rinoa both said.

Edea bid them farewell and started walking back to Garden. Her small feet splashed in the wet puddles left from Rinoa's out of control water spell.

Rinoa looked down at the large puddle she was standing in. A little wildflower floated past her shoe.

So much for protecting and helping the plants grow. At least I didn't drown a person...

Disappointment and sadness flowed through her.

Squall looked over at her while pushing his hair out of his face.

"Good job today. Making progress," Squall said.

"This training is hard and kinda scary," she sighed.

"Rinoa, you could practice on your own to get better. Practice is a key to success."

"I do everything on my own," Rinoa said sadly. "I'm alone ALL the time. Alone and lonely and on my own..."

Squall suddenly envisioned Rinoa practicing magic alone. Hot flames danced in his mind as he imagined Rinoa setting her clothes on fire. His back tensed up in fear.

"Actually, I think I should always be with you when you practice your magic. Always. But... if you wanted to exercise a little bit more on your own, that would be fine. But... don't practice magic on your own. Just don't."

"Okay Squall, but I don't think I need your help with my magic. You're more helpful with physical exercises because..."

"JUST. DON'T. PLEASE." Squall said while raising his hands up in the air.

"Um, okay..." Rinoa trailed off while playing with her necklace.

"I know I'm busy a lot, but if you feel that you can't help but practice your magic, contact me first. Being commander is important, but being your knight is important too. I can't promise I'll be able to stop what I'm doing for you whenever, but I'll try."

"Okay, thanks Squall." Rinoa brightened a bit at hearing his support.

"Why don't you practice starting and stopping your water spell again. But just try to do a little one. The field is wet enough now. I don't want the field to get so damaged that I have to hire a lawn crew to re-sod it. I fill out enough Garden paperwork as it is."

Squall's nose wrinkled slightly at the thought of his never ending Garden duties.

Rinoa's face blushed as she nodded. Angelo barked and splashed in the puddles beside her before deciding to chase a bushy tailed squirrel. They'd all started out looking clean that morning, but now they were wet, muddy, and grass covered. She felt defeated at her own lack of control and sloppiness, and she didn't want to disappoint everybody.

"Okay, I'm gonna try and get my magic under control. It's really important... I can do it?" she said in an unsure voice.

"You can do it," Squall said simply while crossing his arms and nodding at her.

If you can't do it, I'll figure out how to do it for you, Squall thought silently to himself. It's important another sorceress war doesn't break out. How many families have been torn apart because of all of this?

Rinoa smiled widely at his apparent faith in her. It made her feel strong and important. People didn't ever consider her the type of person who could come through on something. Her father had treated her like a dumb brat that needed to be locked up for her own protection. And her stint with the Timber Owls hadn't been very helpful for them either. She legitimately wanted to help people, she just hadn't been very successful at it. She wanted to be like Squall, strong and capable. Well, mostly like Squall, but with better social skills.

Okay Rinoa, the field will dry out eventually. Everything will turn out okay if we keep practicing... probably. Let's just discover all the surprises we can before I become dangerous. Squall believes in me, and I'm not gonna disappoint him!

The sun rose ever higher in the sky, warming them as they started to practice in earnest.

End of Chapter 10

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