He froze in the doorway, overcome by a sudden surge of emotion, his heartbeat thudding in his ears. The doors were thrown open to the balcony and the night air. The light from the ballroom spilled out across the stoned floor.
Stars filled the vast cloudless sky. It was a beautiful and wondrous sight but he paid them no mind this time. Stood against the railing, arms leant against the stone, she stared up at them twinkling above her. He wondered what she was thinking. Did she ever look up at the night sky and feel terrified?
He did.
That was for sure.
Sometimes when he looked up at the stars, he felt the fear and agonising grief crushing down on him, overwhelming and suffocating, as it had been then. Then when he'd thought that was it. The end. The first time it had happened he'd been unable to pull himself out of it. But she had been there. She had reached out and held his hand and begun talking - about the future and her new found dreams, about their friends, and about silly nonsensical wonderings that had eventually dragged a snort of laughter from him. He'd smiled then, and pulled her into a hug, murmuring assurances that he was okay.
Was she okay? Did she ever need his hand to hold, for him to take her mind from it?
He stepped forward, expecting her to turn but she didn't. Where was she in that head of hers? He felt a smile tug at his lips as he stepped up behind her. He placed both hands on the railing so as not to startle her too much and leaned into her ear. "You're the best looking girl here. Dance with me?"
She gasped audibly and spun in a whirl of hair before kissing him in delight. He pulled back and smiled wryly. "Now I didn't do that."
"Well, maaaaybe you should have." She laughed and rested her head on his shoulder, finding comfort in his embrace. "Squall?"
"Hmm?"
"You're really here." Her voice was soft, barely drifting to his ears, a stark contrast to the loud music. "They said you weren't going to make it."
"I know." He hugged her tighter. "I pulled a few strings." He'd known when he'd made the call that it would upset her, but as he had sat there after hanging up, staring at the floor, he realised how much it was upsetting him too. "I owe Xu."
"I would have been alright," she murmured. "You didn't need to on my account."
He nudged her chin to get her to lift her head, and as their eyes met, said "I missed you, Rinoa."
She smiled up at him gently. "It has been awhile."
Squall, one finger still under her chin, ran his thumb across the soft skin of her jaw. He leant down and kissed her tenderly, and, just like all that time ago when he'd first kissed her on the very same balcony, he felt like he was home. He lost himself in her, his hand slipping into her hair. God had he missed her.
He felt her push into him closer and began to pull his arms about her tighter when she gasped and pulled away abruptly. He blinked down at her in confusion as she peered around his shoulder into the ballroom. He began to look behind him too when the music caught his attention. He stopped and groaned internally before meeting Rinoa's alight-with-excitement eyes while the beginning chords of Waltz for the moon faded into the next part.
"It's our song!" Rinoa grasped his hand and tugged as she began to move back into the ballroom. She looked up over her shoulder at him, and with a wink said "Now about that dance…"
Squall followed her reluctantly, only a step behind. "I wasn't serious, Noa."
"Oh come on, I bet you haven't done anything not work related in ages. It will be fun." She pulled him into a spare spot on the dance floor and took his other hand to place it in position. Squall shook her off with a wry smile and positioned his hands confidently himself. He wouldn't need her help this time and his hands had previously been in far more inappropriate places to be anxious about touching her this time around. He'd be the one leading too!
And he did lead. Urged on with her smile, he danced flawlessly through the routine right up to the third time he spun her out and pulled her back in close. He stopped still and Rinoa followed suit, cocking her head slightly up at him. He leant down and kissed her gently.
"Now I didn't do that." Rinoa giggled.
"Well." Squall laughed. "Maybe you should have."
Rinoa threw her arms around his neck with a grin and bit her lip. "Shall we go?"
Go? Squall nodded, he wholeheartedly agreed.
"Heeeeey! Squall! You're back!"
He turned, breaking away from Rinoa to smile at Selphie charging towards him across the floor. "Hey Selphie."
"You're dad's here too!"
Squall groaned, aloud this time. Of course he was here. He looked to Rinoa who smiled in a well nevermind way and sighed. He wasn't leaving with Rinoa any time soon.