Chapter 21: Castles
"You're out of your mind." The words slipped out of Zone's mouth before he could stop them. Before his mind caught up to call them back. It was one thing to sneak in to the garrison to raid it for food or ammunition, they were careful to engage as few soldiers as possible, preferring stealth and the corresponding lack of casualties that resulted. It was quite another to launch an all out attack on the fortified stronghold.
The truth was, under Zone's leadership, the Forest Owls had operated more like thieves than freedom fighters.
It wasn't that he lacked courage. Not really. Yes, the thought of having to go into an actual battle where chances were good that he'd get killed if he didn't muster up the gumption to kill first did scare him. It scared him a lot. But despite that fear, and the pain it had caused him due to his ulcer, he'd still done his best to help out his friends and the community as a whole. He'd still done his best to fight; even if that wasn't something he had a great deal of skill in doing.
But he'd known from the first that he was out of his depth, which was why Rinoa's success in hiring SeeD had been such a relief. It still was, though not in the way he had imagined.
"They outnumber and outgun us by at least two to one from a secured, fortified position. It's impossible." He added.
"Nothing's impossible." Zell said. Selphie and Rinoa nodded in agreement.
"Okay, maybe not impossible, but very, very difficult." Watts interjected. The twins were oddly silent, paying close attention to the proceedings but that was all.
"Did you really think that just because you'd managed to hire SeeDs to help you that this would be easy?" Squall asked them scornfully. "Nothing worth doing is done easily."
Zone met Squall's eyes again and tried not to let the odds discourage him. He knew that the mercenary was right; no great achievement is won easily. And what greater achievement to aspire to was there than Timber's freedom?
"I assume you have a plan for how to do this," Zone stated.
"I have the beginnings of one. I need your help to flesh it out and make it workable. I need to be able to count on every piece to do the job they're supposed to before I even start the game." Squall replied.
Zone frowned; confused for a moment, before he remembered how intently Squall had been studying his father's chessboard. Of course. Chess was a game of strategy; it wasn't so unusual that the SeeD would employ his knowledge of the game to help him to visualize what he needed to do. Using that same logic, Zone was finally able to follow Squall's thought process…somewhat.
Then he had it; snapping his eyes up to meet Squall's, Zone breathed, "Castles."
"Yes." Squall confirmed.
"But, I don't understand…there's no king to defend here. No leader to protect. The resistance has no central leadership. It's always been that way…" since Watts' and my fathers both died…Zone began, and then stopped at Squall's intent gaze.
"And it has been both a strength and a weakness for the resistance. With no central leader, there was no one to actually lead. But there was also no one person that the entire hope of the resistance rested upon, so the idea of resistance continued on, despite the loss of so many different leaders of so many different, splintered groups. That needs to change. One person has to take charge of all of the resistance groups and lead them; unite them all toward a common goal. That one person also needs to win through and continue on to rebuild the town and its identity again. Therefore, he must have the courage to fight, and the strength to lead. He must also be someone that Timber's resistance already knows and trusts." Squall told him.
Zone swallowed. Squall couldn't actually be hinting at making him the leader, was he? Then he suddenly figured out that he already was; Squall had simply recognized it sooner than he had. He hadn't realized that it wasn't just the Forest Owls that had been looking to him for leadership lately; but all of the resistance groups, even the ones that had been dormant up until now.
"My SeeDs and I, we will help you. It's what we were hired to do. I will lead the battles, but you must be the one to lead the war. You must be the one to inspire hope, inspire courage. You have far more invested in this outcome than I or my comrades ever will, and that is why you are the logical, only choice for this task. You are stronger than you realize. It's time to show some of that strength." Squall said firmly.
"And yet, I'm the king. The weakest and most limited piece on the chessboard. Isn't that what you're hinting at here?" Zone asked him.
"Yes, in the sense that you're very important to the outcome. You lose the king and you lose the game. The same theory applies here. We don't have the manpower for you to sit out the battle to come but you won't be going in undefended. Zell will be your Rook. Your defense. But that's in battle. Right now, your most important contribution is your ability to rally support for the resistance and getting the different groups to cooperate with each other." Squall answered him.
Zone took a deep breath to calm his suddenly racing heart. Racing with both fear and oddly, anticipation. This was really going to happen. For good or ill, they were about to start an all out war, and despite having Zell be his defender, Zone was under no illusions that he'd be safe. He could still be killed. But the reward, if they won, was worth that risk. And if they didn't win, then at least they wouldn't be living under Galbadia's oppressive rule any longer. They would be dead; and Zone decided that win or lose, based on that outcome, either way they would be free.
"All right. Tell me what you've got in mind." Zone ordered Squall. Then he gulped, suddenly realizing the authoritative tone he'd taken with the SeeD commander. Meeting Squall's gaze, he was on the verge of apologizing for being so presumptuous but stopped when he saw the look in the SeeD's eyes. Approval. Respect. And a hint of warning, telling him clearly, don't apologize.
"Our first move has to draw them out of the garrison. And lure them into an ambush where we can wipe them out and cut down their numbers. Our next move will be more difficult; we'll have to gain access to the garrison itself and take the fight to them." Squall told the group at large.
Zone and Watts both frowned, wondering how Squall proposed to do that. Zell, Selphie and Rinoa looked thoughtful, as though formulating ideas of their own.
Watts finally asked the questions that sat in many minds during that planning session: "What would lure them out to an ambush? And how would we set that up?"
Squall focused his attention on Zone and said succinctly, "Rowan."
"What?" Zone asked, staring.
"Seeing her this afternoon, it got me to thinking. And I realized something. I'd seen her before. Granted, the lighting in the caverns was pretty sketchy, but she looked familiar to me, and not just because she looks a lot like Rinoa." Squall said, prompting Rinoa to gasp and stare at Zone, whose cheeks bloomed crimson as he avoided her eyes.
"She was in the caverns when you first arrived here," Zone murmured.
"If she knew where we were meeting, where the cache was, why haven't we all been killed yet? The Galbadians could've had us all in one shot and that would be it. Game over." Watts wondered.
"She doesn't know where the cache is," Zone said flatly. "But she has asked about it."
"She must be waiting for somethin'" Shrike commented.
Squall glanced over at him and nodded, "That makes sense. And I think I know what she's waiting for. Another conclave. Another meeting of all the resistance groups. If she reported the time and place of that meeting, they could attack and kill us all, destroying the Timber resistance movement once and for all."
"What do we do now? We'll have to move everything out to our backup location, put the word out that the caverns have been compromised…it'll delay things while we transfer everything over and circulate the information." Zone said worriedly. "As short on time as we seem to be, this could be a major setback."
"Maybe not. This may in fact be a perfect set up." Squall said, adding, "get the cache moved, set the meeting up for the secondary location, but move the date up. Make it as soon as possible. And make it a point to let the information about our original meeting slip the next time you're with Rowan." Zone swallowed, nodding.
Turning to Selphie and Zell, Squall instructed, "I want you two to help out with moving the cache, and Selphie, I want you to distribute as many of the bombs you've made as possible throughout the cavern. Pay particular attention to the exits. I want each and every one of them rigged."
"What kind of trigger?" Selphie asked him.
"It'll have to be a manual one. We'll need to make sure that the Galbadians are committed to the attack before we trigger anything." Squall said.
"That could potentially be a suicide mission." Zell observed.
"It might be." Squall said, glancing at him. Zell shrugged, unconcerned.
"They'll never go for it, not if they get there and the place is deserted." Zone said.
"Then we'll have each group send a couple of volunteers. Enough that it looks like the meeting is still on. But we'll be armed and ready for their attack. We'll fight just hard enough to draw them in, then escape through one of the emergency exits, triggering the bombs as we go. Once everyone's out, we'll blow that exit too." Squall said.
Zone and Watts both stared at Squall as they thought about the probable results. The cave system was relatively stable but there were areas that it was inadvisable to venture too far into. Cave-ins happened. And Zone in particular suddenly felt sick as he realized that was Squall's intent. Lure the soldiers into the caves and blow all the exits, trapping them inside. The lucky ones would die in the inevitable cave in that resulted from the explosions.
And it was a classic opening move. You always had to clear the pawns from your path before you could advance.
"Okay, that takes care of the first step. How do we move on from there?" Zone asked.
"Well, after we've accomplished the ambush, we're going to want to hit the base itself. Timing will be crucial here; they change perimeter guards at regular intervals, and all entrances and exits are electronically locked via a pass code that changes every eight hours." Glancing over at Shrike and Kestrel, Squall added, "I was thinking your group might be handy here. Station yourselves around the perimeter of the garrison and when you hear our signal to start the attack, take out all perimeter guards with your arrows. Quick. Silent. No one would be alerted to an incoming attack. Now, here's where your experience with the raids will be handy Zone."
Raising his eyebrows, Zone asked him, "how so?"
"Information gathered by Zell and myself regarding the raids that you'd been involved with tells me one thing: you do your best to minimize casualties by avoiding confrontations with the garrison's soldiers whenever possible. That means you know the best routes into the garrison with the lowest possible chance of detection. Now, ideally, I would like us to take control of the garrison so that it could be converted into a base for Timber's use, but if that's not a realistic goal then I'm not opposed to destroying it. That's why I want us to come in as close as possible to the armory." Squall told him.
"Security will be higher there," Watts commented.
"You obviously have your ways around it, as do we." Squall said. Watts and Zone both nodded.
"You're going to do this in squads, right?" Zell asked.
Glancing over at him, Squall nodded. "Yeah. I still need to work out squad assignments, need to think about what job I want each squad to do and the best personnel to assign those jobs."
Zone spoke up, "Don't worry about the electronic locks. We aren't high tech here, but we've got our ways around that, ways that have worked in the past."
Squall focused his attention back onto Zone and said, "Show me."
Standing up, Zone smoothed the printed out blueprints, saying, "As you've already noticed, the local grunts here aren't the most observant lot. That coupled with the fact that, as with any other government built facility, the construction of said facility is always awarded to the lowest bidder. You'll inevitably have some design flaws as a result, which may or may not have been caught during the planning and construction process." Tapping on the papers, Zone directed Squall's attention to the schematic, adding, "and here it is. A blind corner that the external cameras can't see due to inadequate range of motion and the awkward placement of an air conditioning unit. A fairly easy to scale section of wall, and a maintenance hatch leading to the crawlspace from the roof; from the crawlspace you can gain access to a fairly innocuous storage closet, and from there into the base's administrative offices. Nothing much of importance there, so they don't pay much attention to security; nobody's gonna break into the offices there because anything classified or of a sensitive nature is housed elsewhere. So, that's our in, and fortunately, that's one piece of information that Rowan never got her hands on. She was never involved in any of our raids and we never discussed openly our means of access."
"Are you sure?" Squall asked him pointedly, and Zone frowned, thinking.
"Yes." He finally answered. "She may have told her contacts when and where we were raiding, but never how we go into the base in the first place. Only our targets. And it was only the last few raids we tried…. the others were successful. Yes, they were waiting for us, but never where we got in. They ambushed us where our targets were." Squall nodded, satisfied.
He fell silent for a moment, thinking about what they'd do once they were in the base. They'd have to have a group secure the armory and motor pool, taking their use away from the Galbadians and using their own weapons against them. Two more groups would have to take out the sentries guarding the garrison's access points: the main and the rear gates, letting the rest of the resistance into the base. Finally, a group would have to go in search of the command personnel. And here Squall was a little undecided on his next course of action: convince the base commander that the resistance had control of the garrison and give them a chance to simply leave, or kill them all and tell the rank and file in no uncertain terms to either leave or die.
Finally he said, "Zone, you're in charge of taking control of the armory. You're familiar with where it is and you've raided it before. Watts and Zell will be with you as your backup. Once you've secured the armory, take control of the motor pool as well. Selphie, I'm going to have you and the twins in charge of taking out the sentries and making sure that everyone else in the resistance knows the attack is on."
"What about you?" Zone asked.
"Rinoa and I are going to go cut the head off the snake."
Zone stared at him as silence fell at his statement, understanding slowly dawning. Finally he said, "checkmate."
"Exactly."
"Wait. What do you mean, checkmate?" Rinoa asked Squall, trying to follow his strategy and becoming hopelessly lost. She wasn't a chess player, so the way he'd been outlining his idea had confused her. But the 'cut the head off the snake' comment, that had been crystal clear.
Squall planned on killing the base commander.
After her mind's initial reflexive recoil at the thought of what amounted to cold-blooded murder, Rinoa pushed aside her emotions to think about it logically. It made sense. Without their commander to rally them, the troops would likely surrender and be easier to send packing back to Deling City. With their tails between their legs, a thought that provided Rinoa with a great deal of satisfaction.
Besides that, Rinoa had heard of and witnessed firsthand the command culture that the Colonel had fostered. Despite her estrangement from her father, Rinoa couldn't help but learn some things from him. One of those things was the fact that the lowest ranking members of a man's command took their behavior cues from him. It was a military truism going back centuries: the actions of the lowliest grunt will reflect the man who leads him.
If the man were brutal and sadistic, then that culture, that mindset, would be fostered in his troops, either consciously or subconsciously. If that was not the image that he wanted to present, then that behavior would be punished. If however it was, then he would turn a blind eye to it. Going by the behavior of the soldiers in Timber, Rinoa suspected the latter was true.
Rinoa was fairly confident in thinking that there were few in Timber that would mourn the man's demise.
"It's a chess term," Squall answered her. "It means the King is in immediate danger and cannot escape. When the King is threatened or compromised, the game is over."
"You're referring to the base commander as the king, right?" Rinoa asked him. Squall nodded.
"And your intent is to kill him?" Rinoa asked.
"Yes." Squall answered, watching Rinoa, face unreadable.
It made her nervous when he did that, because it was nearly impossible to tell what was on his mind or what he was feeling. But something in her expression compelled him to explain further.
"What I learned from Lobo influenced this decision Rinoa. The man will not hesitate to kill us and punish the entire population of Timber in retaliation. Giving him the opportunity to surrender would backfire on us and be seen as an exploitable weakness by him." Squall told her.
"And by killing him, you hope to force the surrender of the base as a whole, right? So we don't have to kill every last soldier there?" Rinoa asked.
"Not just him," Squall clarified. "But the entire command staff. Leave them completely leaderless. Galbadian soldiers aren't chosen for their ability to think independently. With no one giving them orders to follow, they won't know what to do. They will have no other choice but to surrender then."
Addressing the group as a whole, Squall added, "This will take some precise timing. We don't want to rouse everybody at the base right off the bat. Even if our ambush works and cuts down their numbers somewhat we still have the disadvantage of attacking them on their home ground. So we need to be quick, and above all, quiet. Once we're in the base itself, you'll go directly to the armory first Zone, and Zell will help you guys gain control of it, then the motor pool. Then you will hold that position. Selphie, you'll be in charge of taking out the guards at the front gate, Shrike, you'll have the rear. Once the rest of the resistance has gained entrance to the base, I want you to send some backup to Zell and Zone to help them hold their objective. Hopefully, through all of this, we'll have been quiet and precise enough that no alarm will have been raised so we won't have more to deal with than necessary."
"Quiet we can do," Shrike said, his brother nodding in agreement. "Arrows are much quieter than bullets."
"I was counting on that." Squall said, then he added. "While you guys are doing that, Rinoa and I will be heading for the barracks, searching for our targets."
"They should be here," Zone said, tapping at an area on the garrison's map near the barracks.
Squall frowned as he studied the map, then asked Zone, "All of them?"
"I believe so." Zone answered.
Squall shook his head, "It confuses me how Galbadia's military is such a power when so many idiots are involved it its operation. The entire command staff? All grouped in one place? It's like they're asking to be taken out."
"Obviously, nobody's ever attacked the base and targeted the officers specifically." Zone said.
"Well, it works for us, anyway. If this is accurate, then a few well-placed bombs will do the job quite nicely." Squall said.
"And once that's done…" Watts began.
"Once that's done, we'll make an announcement over the base's PA system, calling for the remaining soldiers to surrender and declaring Timber's independence." Squall finished.
Watts and Zone met each other's eyes, both thinking the same thing, feeling the same stirring excitement that the other felt. It wasn't just an idea anymore; it was a plan… a solid, workable plan. This was really going to happen, and Zone already knew that whatever Squall set out to do, he did.
"Then we can ring the bells," Zone said quietly.
"Yes." Watts agreed. Shrike and Kestrel both nodded silently, eyes glittering suspiciously.
Squall sensed the shift in the emotions of those gathered in this planning session and didn't quite understand it. Nor did he understand how he had sensed those emotions in the first place. Then he looked at Rinoa, and saw the same emotion shining in her eyes as she reached forward and placed her hand over his.
"Rinoa?" Squall asked, wondering if she would clarify Zone's comment.
Rinoa's breath caught in her throat as she sensed Squall's confusion and realized that the weight of her emotions had seeped out and was affecting the mood…affecting him. She kicked herself mentally for her inattention and firmed up her barriers, stopping the leak.
Clearing her throat, she assured him, "I'll explain it to you later."
Squall nodded, satisfied, and Rinoa sighed inwardly with relief.
"Anyone have any questions or comments?" He addressed the group at large. They all collectively shook their heads.
"We'll continue working out the details, and when we get together with everyone we'll present it. Zone, I don't have to remind you to make sure that Rowan is elsewhere at that time, do I?" Squall said pointedly.
Zone shook his head, "No. She knows nothing about the backup location. That contingency was put in place long before she became involved, but it's never been used. Not a lot of the newer members even know about it. It was something my father set up."
"I see. We'll end this for now. If any of you have any ideas or information that you think is relevant to our plans, either come to me, or make sure that information gets to Zell or Selphie. Until the next time we discuss this, travel safely home." Squall said.
Everyone nodded and the meeting disbanded soon after that.
They were getting ready for bed later that night when Rinoa commented softly, "I forget sometimes, exactly what you are."
Squall froze for a moment, then continued pulling his shirt off, asking coolly, "what do you think I am…exactly?"
Rinoa hesitated, seeing hurt in his cool indifference. Thinning her shields a bit confirmed it. She had seen him planning all of their engagements throughout the Ultimecia campaign. Even when the plan to defeat her was outlined by Laguna, Squall had to actually carry out its execution. Which meant that while someone else provided the framework, the actual detail of how to carry it out was Squall's responsibility.
She'd seen his mind work, she knew how he thought…but it had still chilled her to see him calmly planning to massacre the entire command staff of the base. She understood why he felt he had to do that, she even agreed, though a part of her was disturbed at its necessity.
He'd been trained to kill since childhood, trained to make strategic command decisions based on logic and expedience. Trained to be coldly ruthless in achieving a given objective. And if that were all that he was about, she'd be terrified of him. But it wasn't, and there was one fact that remained crystal clear in all of this, at least to Rinoa.
He was doing this for her.
She approached him quietly and slid her arms around his waist, pressing herself into his bare back.
"I think you're exactly what Timber needs. And I know that you're exactly what I need." Rinoa murmured softly, letting her warmth seep into him. Squall heaved a deep sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, covering her hands with his.
He turned then and caressed her cheek, saying softly, "I know that this bothers you, I saw it in your face as I was outlining my plans. To be honest, I don't much like it either. I wouldn't be human if it didn't trouble me. But we're starting out at a disadvantage, so we can't be nice about it. You understand this, right?"
"Yes, I do. Now." Looking away briefly, she added softly, "You were right, when you called me out that first day, when everything went to hell. I wasn't ready for the reality of what we'd have to do to free Timber. Not really. I wanted to believe that I was but…. Gods, I was so naïve… so easy to manipulate. And it nearly got you and your team killed."
Squall snorted softly, "I did wonder what you intended to do once we'd captured President Deling. It seemed to me that all you wanted to do was give him a good talking to. It was a little hard to take you seriously, based on that. But, it wasn't my place to question the orders of my client, merely to execute them to the best of my ability."
Rinoa looked up at him then and smiled slightly, saying, "I'm glad you've managed to grow beyond that to think for yourself."
Squall raised his eyebrows at this and said, "I've since found that I do better when I'm allowed to devise my own means to achieve a goal, rather than follow someone else's half-baked plans."
Rinoa pouted slightly, "Well, if you ask me, the plans you've cobbled up are pretty half-baked."
"That's because we don't have all the ingredients yet. And I haven't actually gotten to the baking part." Squall replied in a lightly teasing tone.
Rinoa suddenly laughed at this and said, "you sound like you're baking a cake, not planning a revolution."
"It's not much different, if you think about it. Both take a careful measure of the right ingredients brought together to cook for a specific amount of time at a specific level of heat." Squall explained.
"Your baking analogy makes even less sense than the chess one did." Rinoa snorted, then smiled and tilted her head, adding, "Perhaps when you get done with this SeeD business, you'll want to look into baking as a career option."
"Perhaps," Squall smiled back. "Though I think I might just keep that as a hobby for the time being. And let this just be between you and me. I've got a reputation to maintain, you know."
"So, I guess you won't be changing your name to Chef Squall any time soon?" she asked him.
"No." he answered, then his gaze grew thoughtful and he asked, "What was that earlier about the bells? You said you'd explain it."
Rinoa nodded and answered, "The Bells of Timber were once a part of this city's identity. It's heart. The ruined church houses the carillon there, in that large tower, and they rang out for weddings and funerals, for celebrations and to sound alarms. When Galbadia took over, they were silenced. To ring them again…. It would restore this place like nothing else will. It would give everyone back their heart."
Squall's hands lightly stroked up Rinoa's arms to her shoulders and his gaze warmed as he studied her. "It would certainly be a good way to proclaim Timber's freedom."
"It would," Rinoa agreed; suddenly breathless at his intense regard, the warmth of his hands as they rested upon her shoulders. "It would mean the world to them. To me."
I would give you the world and more, were it in my power, Squall thought. Aloud, he said, "What it means to you is the only thing that concerns me."
Tears sprang to Rinoa's eyes and she whispered, "I love you."
Squall reached up to her face and brushed a tear away with a feather-light touch. Then he bent down and kissed her. Gently, sweetly at first. Then her hands caressed his naked chest and her body warmed his as he pulled her close, awakening the passion that was always there for her.
His lips covered hers, and his tongue swept in to taste and tease, stoking the heat that rose between them. Stealing her breath, making her ache for more. She wrapped her arms around him, letting her hands roam up and down his back, and let herself be swept away again by what they were both feeling.
They finished undressing each other while kissing and caressing what was revealed, finally coming together on the small bed they now shared. Even though they were now more used to each other, more in tune with each other as they made love, it was different each time. There was always something new to discover. And there always would be.
And she was glad that she had made the decision to stay here with him, rather than with Selphie. There was no telling how things would end up between them or in the larger scale of things; how circumstances would fall for them on this mission they were involved with. It could cement their bond as nothing else could, or it could sever it completely.
But things were coming to a head far sooner than Rinoa thought was possible, and it both frightened and relieved her. For good or ill, for triumph or tragedy, it would be over within just a few days, if things went as they'd outlined them.
She needed this night with him, and every night after that until it was done. As many of them as were possible, and she knew he felt the same. She could feel his need in his kisses, his caresses. She didn't have to hear it in words or thin her shields to read his emotions, not this time.
There was no guarantee that even if they survived the coming fight, that they would be able to stay together. Even though Rinoa knew what he was not yet aware of: that their bond as sorceress to knight was not something easily put asunder. There was no way to know what the future held; Rinoa did not have the gift of foresight that Edea had once possessed. Her powers had manifested in a vastly different manner.
So she put aside those worries and concentrated upon the feel of Squall's hands caressing her skin, his lips trailing hot kisses down her neck and finally to her breasts. She lived in the here and now, and used the feel of his thick, silky hair running through her fingers, the warmth and solid weight of his body as he rested it atop hers, to anchor herself there. Rinoa focused on how he made her feel, focused on the slide of skin on skin, the heat and taste of his kisses, the passion that every movement betrayed.
And she gave herself up to him, to the bliss that came along with uniting herself with him, heart, body and soul. She wrapped her arms around him and held him to her as he allowed his passion free reign. It swept them both along, each thrust, each moaning gasp building upon itself, spiraling the tension to a near unbearable level. She allowed it to take her to a place that only lovers reach, whispering encouragement to Squall that he might join her there.
A final thrust, a long, shivering moan and the tension broke free in a flood of bliss, with Squall crushing her in a tight embrace as Rinoa trembled in its wake. They stayed like that for a long moment, wrapped up in each other, hearts still pounding, unwilling to separate yet.
Instead, Squall simply gazed down at Rinoa, the soft, serene expression in his eyes telling her far more than his words could. He reached up and stroked her cheek again, brushing an errant lock of hair away from her eyes. Then he kissed her again, so sweetly it made Rinoa's heart want to break, before finally shifting off of her and pulling her into his arms beneath their shared blankets.
Finally he whispered, "I love you too Rinoa." And I always will.
Sleep slowly began to claim them both, and Rinoa snuggled into his arms and against his body, listening to his breaths, his heartbeat, soaking up his warmth. Knowing that he was doing the same with her and deriving as much comfort from her as she was from him.
She couldn't help feeling incredibly lucky and privileged to have been the one to discover the finer aspects of Squall's personality. To see the side of him that he revealed only to her. It made her love him all the more with each layer of himself that he showed her; and made her feel honored at each level of trust that he gave to her.
As sleep finally claimed her, she had a final thought, one so true that it should be engraved somewhere: Loving a SeeD is not for the weak of heart.
Author's Note: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Here's wishing you all a prosperous, creative and wonderful 2013! I am sorry it's taking me so long to update this story, it is truly one of my favorites. I haven't abandoned it, and I will do my hardest to finish it and the other two stories I currently have in progress (and henceforth, will employ more draconian means of controlling my rampant plot bunnies...). Keep an eye on my DeviantART site also, because one of my resolutions for this year is to challenge myself as an artist as well as a writer.
The next chapters will have a great deal more action in them. There will still be Squinoa moments of course, as that is the focus of this story, but now we'll start getting to the actual battles themselves here, very soon. Meanwhile, enjoy!