Is love the pinnacle of human emotions? I wonder…

The Day Before Departure

Once Lunafreya calmed down, they took their obligatory selfie at that wonderful site before venturing on to meet all the town folks. Everyone greeted them enthusiastically. They said their final goodbyes to them. Some people thanked them, some hugged them, and some even gave them gifts.

As a form of revenge for his earlier stunt, Lunafreya took Squall to meet one person he hated more than Dr. K, the hotel clerk. Lunafreya spends extra time there which particularly annoyed Squall. After a while he couldn't take it anymore, so he grabbed her by her hand and dragged her out of the hotel.

Once their meet-and-greet session was done, they finally went to the most famous restaurant in Lestallum. Squall had a table reserved for them. The place was dimly lit with few candles on their table providing yellow glow to the surroundings.

Once they were seated, the waiter greeted them cheerily and handed them the menu. He served them water while as they both browsed the menu. The waiter stepped away to give them some time to decide what they want.

"Shall we start it off with a soup? How about the one which I used to get for you daily?" Squall asked. He loved this soup.

"Umm Squall," she started hesitantly.

"Yes?" he said, without looking up from the menu.

"I have a confession to make," she said in a low voice.

He immediately put down the menu. One thing he knew was that nothing good ever came after, 'I have a confession to make.'

"It's about this soup. I really, really," she took extra-long pause before continuing, "hate it."

"What?" he said, slowly blinking, wanting to make sure he heard right. 'How can someone possibly hate this godly soup?'

"I really hate this soup," she said, covering her face with her hands as she rested her elbows on the table. "It's just that you brought it every day with so much care and love that I did not have the heart to say no to it."

"Idiot," he said with a facepalm. "You should have told me sooner. I would have brought something else instead."

"I didn't want to be ungrateful for what you did. I didn't want to hurt your feeling even in the slightest, so I just pretended to like it."

"You silly girl," he said, shaking his head. "On the battlefield, rather than the strength of your enemies, trust in your allies is more important. If you can't trust me even for such a simple thing, how can we trust each other with our lives?"

"No, it's not about lack of trust, it's the opposite. It's about preserving the feeling of care. If you care enough for me to go out of your way to get me something, the least I can do in response is to accept it wholeheartedly. I'd rather have a soup I don't like for the rest of my life than to make you feel bad about doing something you had no obligation to do, to begin with. The reason I am sharing my dislikes with you is that I feel comfortable sharing it with you now. I am not afraid anymore to show you who I am and how I feel."

"I am glad you trust me."

"Squall, I want you to trust me too. You often retract in your shell and don't voice your concern and feelings. I may be an Oracle, but I can't read your mind. You have to let me know your feeling else I won't understand."

"It's hard," was all he had to say in response.

"What is?" she had to probe further.

"Opening up like that is hard for me. I used to be very reserved -" before he could continue any further, she busted out in uncontrollable laughter.

"Used to? What are you talking about? You still are very reserved," she chided.

"I mean more reserve than I currently am. It took a lot of effort from lots of friends to make me this outspoken. So, this is as good as it gets," he said, setting her expectation straight.

"You really are a work in progress," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Aren't we all?" he replied quietly.

"Touché."

They finally ordered their appetizer and main course, and now their eternal wait for food to come out started. She noticed Squall's neckless, with a lion-like creature, reflected the light from the small flame. She was always curious to know more about it and she figured this was as an opportune time as any to learn more about it.

"What is that lion-like creature on your pendent and that ring you always wear?" she asked. "Now that I think about it, it is even etched on your gunblade."

"Oh, this?" he said, picking up the dangling pendent on his neckless. "This is Griever. It is the ultimate Guardian Force or Astral as you would call it. Its form is derived from the lion for its strength and pride. Its name is derived from the word grieve, which is to feel great sorrow. The more sorrow Griever feels the stronger it gets."

"An Astral who feeds on sorrow, it sounds like the god of death from legends Lady Gentiana told me about," she recalled.

"I like Griever because it teaches me that the more pain I can handle, the stronger I will become."

"You do have a very interesting take on things. I wonder what goes inside your head sometimes."

"Trust me, you don't want to find out," he said, shaking his head.

The waiter came back to deliver their drinks, which interrupted their flow of conversation.

They silently watched the flames of the candle dancing with the gentle wind. The amber glow from the flames provided ethereal glow to their faces. Their eyes spoke more to each other than their words ever could. At this moment they did not want to think about the future or the past; all they wanted was to live out this moment for as long as they could. If there were a shooting star right now, the only wish they would make would be to hold on to this moment forever.

"Squall, can I ask you a question?" she said, breaking their silence.

"Sure," he replied promptly.

"Do you like me more now or when I was in a coma?" she said, playing with a strand of her hair.

"What kind of question is that?" he said, leaning on the table.

"Just answer me, honestly," she said, leaning in as well.

"Awake," was his one-word answer.

"Then how come you used to talk to me a lot more when I was asleep, then you talk to me now," she said with a devilish smile.

His eyes widened when he heard that. It was supposed to be his eternal secret. "How? How did you know about that?"

"Squall, I have another confession to make," she said very slowly, pausing after each word.

He gulped in anticipation of what was about to come out.

"When you used to talk to me, I used to hear it, sometimes," she admitted, trying her best not to break into a smile.

It was as if someone had drained all the color from Squall's face. Squall narrowed his eyes and took a fork in his hand, "That's it. I have to kill you now. You know too much about me."

She busted out in laughter upon seeing his reaction. Squall just looked away in embarrassment as he recalled everything he had said to her while she was asleep.

Thankfully, for Squall, the appetizers came just in time to prevent any further discussion on this topic. Neither of them said anything as they ate their spring rolls. While Squall avoided any eye contact, she would frequently steal a glance at him and smile cheekily, clearly having a good time at his expense.

Once they were done with their appetizer, there was nothing to do other than wait for the main course to arrive. Lunafreya used this opportunity to snap a selfie commemorating their last dinner in Lestallum.

She looked at the photo she had taken and showed it to Squall.

"Nice photo, Lunafreya," he appreciated her photography skills, especially because it was taken in a low light setting.

"Thank you," she accepted the compliment with a small bow of the head. "By the way, you don't need to call me Lunafreya. You can just call me Luna like my friends and family does."

"Oh, so I got upgraded from a stranger to friends and family? Nice. Thanks, Luna," he said with a half-smile.

"You need to smile often. Didn't anyone teach you how to smile properly? This is how you smile," she said and proceeded to show a very photogenic smile.

Squall tried to mimic it and it just looked weird.

"No, not like that," she said with a chuckle. "Do it like this," she said, showing off her thousand waltz smile.

Squall tried again and somehow ended looking even weirder. She quickly grabbed his phone from the table and snapped his picture before releasing laughter she found so hard to hold back.

"That's not nice." He folded his hands like a child and looked away.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you but, you looked so funny making that face," she said in the middle of her laughs. Even though he wanted to stay mad at her, but he simply couldn't. Seeing her laugh always melts away his anger.

"How come you can smile so naturally," he wondered aloud.

"Your smile is a reflection of your heart. It should come from within, you cannot force it," she said sincerely.

"For me, you know what comes from within? Anger and rage," he said, admitting his flaw.

"We are so opposite," she said with a sigh while putting her head on the table in resignation.

Their much-awaited main course finally arrived. The chef certainly went above and beyond with the gourmet food.

She took one spoon of it and immediately reacted, "This is so good."

"It sure is," he agreed.

Midway through their dinner, a mischievous thought plagued her mind. She dropped her knife and fork in her plated and addressed Squall, "Can you do something for me, please?"

"Sure, what it is," he said almost absentmindedly.

She looked at her watch and continued, "The princess demands her subject to feed her right now else I will not eat." She even pushed her plate away for added dramatic effect.

He almost choked on his food when he heard that. He quickly swallowed his food and said in a low voice, "Are you out of your mind. You want me to do that in front of everyone."

"Yes!" she exclaimed, "that was two seconds. Now I am tied with Dr. K."

"Seriously?" he said, dropping his utensils in his plate. "Even on a dat—dinner you are playing this silly game?" He corrected himself as he almost used the wrong word.

She winked playfully. "You have no idea how much fun it is."

'Well, then, two can play this game. I'd better come up with something.'

Luna had barely eaten half of what was on her plate. He often wondered how this girl survived eating so little. Squall, on the other hand, had devoured it all. He was still getting used to this new vegan diet, which he had to adopt thanks to Luna.

As their dinner was nearing the end, Squall initiated a conversation. "Hey Luna, I have a confession to make."

"Oh-oh, that can't be good," she said, paying close attention to him now.

"When you were asleep, one day Dr. K told me to kiss you. She said princesses often wake up when they are kissed. So, I," he did not finish is his sentence intentionally to build up the tension.

"You did not," she said with fury in her eyes and pointing a fork at him threateningly.

Squall just calmly kept eating, ignoring her.

"Finish the sentence, Squall," she demanded, now equipped with a butter knife in the other hand.

"So, I did it," he said with a casual shrug. "And it was so much fun," he added for an extra sting.

"No way," she said, shooting lasers through her eyes. "You- you," words escaped her mind not letting her formulate anything coherent.

This time it was Squall's turn to laugh. It was a natural laughter of pure innocence, which melted her anger. Eventually, she too smiled.

Squall looked straight into her eyes and asked, "Would you have hated me had I kissed you?"

"I... I..." somehow Squall kept finding ways to make her speechless today. Just the thought of him kissing her made her instantly blush.

"1.5 seconds," he proclaimed.

"What?" she asked, still blushing.

"You went from pale to blush in 1.5 seconds. I win," he declared emphatically.

"You are so dead," she said threateningly.

She was so angry that she wanted to throw something at him, anything. He was lucky that the waiter just arrived in time to take their plates. She made a mental note to get back at Squall for this one.

"I am going to miss this place," Squall said suddenly bringing up a topic that Luna was trying to avoid throughout the day.

"Yes, I have lots of fond memories of this place. My time here is something I will always cherish. This town and its people will always be close to my heart."

Suddenly, a strong wind gushed blowing out candles in the entire restaurant. Squall had quickly reacted to cup the flame with his right hand, preventing the wind from directly reaching it. Luna placed her right hand opposite of Squall's, and cupped the flame from the other end. Their conjoined hands encased and protected the flame from all sides.

The blustery wind ran around unhinged making a whistling noise. Few strands of her hair, which were not pinned properly, decided to breakaway and dance with the wind, fluttering across her face. Squall's unruly brown hair joined in as well, as it swayed freely in the wind. Even in the midst of this strong wind, one small flame still survived, courtesy of the two hands gently protecting it.

"A candle must burn and melt so it can provide light to those around it. Such is the life of an Oracle. Like a candle, she too must sacrifice herself so the world can find a flicker of light in the ocean of darkness." She shared her innermost pain.

Even though the street was full of people, at this moment it was only them and their small flickering flame. It was easy to get drowned in the surrounding noise, but at this moment all they could hear were each other's heartbeat. The wind died down and the flame no longer needed their protection, yet they sat there without moving looking at each other, knowing fully well of what each of their fates entails. She was to be with a king and he was a traveler who would have to leave soon.

The waiter came to disrupting their blissful moment. He picked up the remaining items from the table and left, once again leaving them alone. Neither of them said much as they both struggled with their internal conflicts. They both knew that they should live in the present and not worry about the future, but that was easier said than done. How can you live in the present when you know your future is doomed? Yet they tried.

After paying their bill and giving tips, they left the restaurant only to be greeted by more people. Once in public, their masks quickly came back on. One chooses to hide behind a mask of impassiveness, while other choose to hide behind a smile.

After meeting Holly and her crew, they made one final stop. They stood outside an ice-cream shop.

"Oh no, I am so full," she said, placing her hands on her stomach.

"We can't leave without eating ice-cream," he said, examining the flavors on the menu.

"I can't eat anymore, my stomach will explode if I eat anything else," she whined, still clutching her stomach.

"Yes, you can," not sure if he encouraged her or gave an order.

"Nooooooooooo," she said, trying to be dramatic.

"Okay, fine, if you don't eat, I won't eat it either," he said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Hey, that's not fair. That's emotional blackmailing," she complained.

"Call it whatever you want. We are leaving if you don't want to eat," he said, clearly enjoying this situation.

"Okay, fine. You win. But I'll only take a kid's scoop," she resigned. She was certain that she saw a gleeful smile on Squall's face for a fraction of a second.

"Which flavor?" he asked.

"Let me see." She got closer to look at all the available options. "What are you getting?"

"Vanilla."

She responded with a facepalm, "Seriously, Squall?"

He chuckled at her reaction. "Nah, I am going to get Coconut flavor."

"Good choice. I'll get that too," she decided.

"No, get something else so we can try another flavor," he suggested.

"That is a very valid point," she said, as she continued to scan the menu. "Okay, I'll get cookies and cream."

"Do you want any topping on it? I am thinking about having a chocolate chip on mine," he said.

"No, I'll just take the regular."

Squall grabbed two cones and carefully made his way to the fountain outside of Leville hotel where Luna waited for him.

"Here is your ice-cream, princess," he said, handing over her cone. He knew she hated when he called her princess.

"Thank you, my butler," she playfully fired back. Squall just rolled his eyes in response, knowing fully well that he lost that one.

The sound of the fountain seemed to drown out all the city noise. Tiny water droplets bounced around playfully causing ripples in the water. Faint light around the fountain gave a colorful glow to the bouncing water. The mist in the air near the fountain was cool and soothing. They sat on the ledge of the fountain enjoying their ice-cream and their time together.

"You were right, this is so good," she said, savoring her ice-cream.

"Mine is good too. Here try it," he said, giving her a spoon he had gotten from the shop. She took a spoonful of ice-cream from him. "Wow, I never imagined coconut plus chocolate would taste this good."

Squall tried the cookies and cream from her and it was just as good. Just as she was about to eat her ice-cream a huge tremor shook the place. Since the awakening of Titan, the tremors had been a frequent occurrence. She leaned forward, trying to balance herself, all the while holding her ice-cream cone carefully not to drop it. She ended up with ice-cream on her nose for her troubles.

Without missing a beat, Squall grabbed his phone and took a perfect picture. He could barely contain his laughter.

"Hey, delete that picture," she urged.

"Nope," he said, as he put away his phone in his pocket.

"Not fair," she complained, stomping her legs like a child. He ignored her plea and continued to eat his ice-cream.

As retaliation of taking that picture, she dipped her hand in the water and splashed Squall with it.

He instinctively turned away to protect himself.

"How dare you?" he dipped his hand in the water for revenge. Just as he was about to splash her, she screamed, "Stop."

"I have ice-cream in my hand. Let me finish it first," she pleaded.

"Fine, I'll get back to you later," he said, narrowing his eyes threateningly.

He extended his hand towards her face and she closed her eyes tightly not sure what he was about to do. He gently wiped off the ice-cream from her nose.

They were peacefully eating ice-cream when she randomly said, "Squall." She said his name absentmindedly barely above a whisper but he still heard it.

"Yes," he responded.

"Squall," she said again, this time a bit louder than before.

"What?" he asked.

"Squall," she said again, this time stretching his name to an extent that it felt like slow motion.

"I am listening," he said, getting slightly annoyed.

"I just realized that it's not easy to say your name. It doesn't roll off the tongue easily. I don't like it," she said, shaking her head.

"But that's my name," he said with a shrug.

"Besides, Squall and Luna do not even sound right," she said, waving her hand.

Squall did not know how to respond to that. He slowly blinked, trying to wrap his head around what she was getting at.

"Hmm, I have an idea. How about I call you Leon from now on?" she suggested gleefully.

"Leon?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Yes, Leon," she said with a sweetness which would make even ice-cream feel sour. "Leon and Luna, see, it has a nice ring to it," she said with a smile.

"Leon and Luna?" he trailed off.

"Can I please call you Leon?" she said, folding her hand with her ice-cream cone in between.

"Fine, call me whatever you want," he said with a facepalm. Secretly he liked Leon too.

"Yes!" she rejoiced and happily went back to finishing her ice-cream.

Once they were done eating Leon suggested, "Shall we go back now."

"Yes, it's about time," she agreed.

"But before we go, there is just one last thing I need to do," he said.

"What is it?"

"Just close your eyes for a second," he requested.

"Why?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Just do it. Please," he urged.

"Okay, fine," she said, closing her eyes. For the next few seconds, nothing happened. Suddenly a big splash of water drenched her. She slowly opened her eyes and there was fury in it.

"Oh-oh," he realized that she was mad now.

She dipped both her hands in the water and started splashing Leon. Not the one to back down, he returned the favor. For the next few minutes, they fought like kids, until both of them were completely drenched. Their friendship had evolved into something neither of them had the courage to admit.

They eventually made their way back to their quarters. After dropping her off to their room, Squall loaded all the luggage in the car they will take tomorrow. It was very late by the time he came back.

In a world filled with war, peaceful days like this were an oddity. Little did they know that this was simply the calm before the storm.

Author's notes:

This is my favorite chapter of the story so far. I had so much fun writing it. What should we call this couple? Squnafreya? Leona? idk. What do you guys think?

Sorry, no Easter eggs in this chapter.

Things get serious now. Someone is going to die in next chapter. Any guess who?

If you enjoyed this chapter, at least say 'hi' in the comments below. Please :)