The rain was still falling outside Balamb Garden, but it was a soft, calming rain. The kind of rain that lures children out under the clouds and splashing through inviting puddles. It gave Squall comfort to watch the rain fall upon the ground as he looked out of his dorm room window, waiting for the last of his friends and loved ones to join him.

There was Seifer with his posse, Zell and his pig-tail girl, Irvine, Selphie, Rinoa, Dr. Kadowaki, Cid, Edea, and at last Quistis. It was quite a feat to fit so many in Squall's tiny room, but he wouldn't have had them meet anywhere else.

They all looked to Squall expectantly, wondering what all this chaos was about, and why he hadn't wanted them to tell anyone else of their meeting.

Squall looked to Seifer for support, the only one other than Dr. Kadowaki who knew what this fateful meeting was about. Seifer returned Squall's gaze with much sympathy, and with a deep breath Squall knew he had to begin. "I guess that's everyone," he said meekly. "So, I suppose you're wondering why I asked all of you here?"

There was a round of agreement, and pleading glances for him to continue.

"Squall, please, tell us what's going on?" Rinoa prompted fretfully.

He closed his eyes in distress, but knew he had to tell them the truth. "Dr. Kadowaki and Seifer already know what this is about," Squall admitted. "It's because of Seifer that I'm trying to tell you this at all, and I still don't know if I can..."

"Come on, Squall," Seifer said comfortingly. "You can do this. You have to tell them."

The others become more and more anxious, and Rinoa looked positively stricken. Squall couldn't keep them in suspense anymore. "I met with Dr. Kadowaki this morning to go over the results of my physical." Squall began, struggling with every syllable. "She discovered that I have...a very rare disease. One that doesn't have a cure."

"What are ya gettin' at, man?" Zell interrupted, dreading where this was leading along with everyone else.

"This disease, this syndrome..." Squall continued, struggling to hold back his tears more and more with each word. "...it interferes with the brains signals to parts of the body. It works haphazardly, so I don't even know what systems will be affected when or how, but eventually..." Squall paused. He couldn't say it. He didn't want to hurt them. He just wished that this was all going to end up being some horrible nightmare, and that he would wake up safe and sound in Rinoa's arms.

But fate isn't that kind. Sadly, the world is a cruel place, and even if hurting them was the last thing Squall wanted, he was about to break their hearts.

"Squall...?" Rinoa choked out through the tears that had begun to fill her deep, brown eyes. It killed Squall to see her cry.

"I'm so sorry...Rinoa..." Squall said through tears of his own, reaching out to her, though she pulled away, shaking her head at the truth she felt coming. "All I wanted was to be able to spend the rest of our lives together...but I...I'm..." he swallowed back his tears. "...I'm dying..."

Rinoa clutched her hands to her face, her entire body trembling. Time seemed to stop as a painstaking silence fell over the room, and everyone took in what had been said.

Squall wanted so much to take Rinoa in his arms and never let her go, but when he reached out for her again, she backed away completely. She turned, pushing her way through the others, and fled the room, with angel's tears streaming down her porcelain face.

Squall clenched his eyes shut from the pain, struggling to keep his legs from chasing after her.

"Go, Squall," he heard a voice say. "It's alright, mate. Go after her."

Squall opened his eyes, and couldn't find a dry eye in the room. It had been Irvine who told him to go, and he knew they all understood that even though he wanted to be there with all of them, he had to go after Rinoa.

He cast a heartfelt glance about the room before dashing out the door to find her.

Silence settled over those left alone. They couldn't believe that what he just said was the truth.

"Dr. Kadowaki?" Cid began, breaking that silence. "All he said...you're absolutely sure?"

"I'm sorry, Cid, everyone." she answered softly. "I went over those results again and again, but there's no denying it. The disease is real and incurable. There's nothing we can do but try our best to make what time Squall has as memorable and comfortable as we can."

"How long does he have?" Quistis asked suddenly.

Dr. Kadowaki looked over at her sorrowfully, knowing that these next words would hit them all very hard. "I really can't say for sure; the disease works differently in different people..." she replied. "...but...judging from its progress in Squall so far, I'm afraid he doesn't have much time. Maybe he'll last another year, maybe he won't live out the month. There's no way to know..."

"Then how do you know he won't live another ten years?!" Selphie cried. "What if it works really slow, and he--"

"I'm sorry," the doctor cut her off. "From what we do know about this disease, I'm sure he can't last more than that. It's possible to overestimate, but not underestimate. Not with this,"

The room grew silent again. As much as they were all wishing it all away, there really was nothing they could do. The harsh truth is, not even lions live forever, and their lion wasn't going to live much longer at all.

Time passed slowly in the little room, and none seemed able to leave it.

Selphie had collapsed into Irvine's arms, the pig-tail girl was stroking Zell's hair as she held him, Cid and Edea had their arms around each other with Dr. Kadowaki trying to offer what support she could, and the rest just stood stunned. Raijin had his arm around Fuujin, a rather brave gesture, but Seifer and Quistis stood alone. Quistis looked pale and lifeless, as if she had just been given her own death sentence. So much time seemed to have passed, but ultimately she crumbled to the floor, her hand clasped over her mouth as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Squall meant so much to her, to all of them, she just couldn't imagine life without him there...

Seifer saw her go down, and immediately went to her quivering form on the floor. He knelt down beside her and pulled her close to him. "Hey, shhhhh..." he whispered soothingly. "It's gonna be ok..."

"...how?" she asked, looking up at him.

Seifer stared back, at first at a loss for words, but eventually he turned his head out, so that everyone would hear him. "We gotta stop this," he said. "Why do you think Squall had such a hard time telling you guys? Because he didn't want this. He didn't want you all broken and shut down because he was shutting down. It'll just make this harder on all of us..."

Everyone looked up at his words, and they tried to take some solace in them, but you can't wish away pain when it is carving away at you. You can only deal with it as it comes, and pray that you will have enough strength to survive it.

"He's right," Edea stated firmly. "You children have been through so much, but you've survived everything that you have faced in the past. You cannot lose hope now,"

Seifer smiled at her, their Matron, who always had wise words for harsh times.

"...yeah!" Zell spoke up. "I mean, Squall just told us. Two words and we're fallin' apart? We can't do that!"

"Exactly." Seifer stated. "We need to take the time to absorb all this, take the time to talk it over and decide how we're gonna handle it. But what we can't do is stand around mulling over how unfair the whole thing is--"

"We gotta stay strong!" Selphie whimpered, interrupting him. "...for Squall,"

What a horrifying situation. Imagine being called into your good friends' room, scared out of your wits over what's going on, having him tell you he's dying, and then two seconds later he's out the door leaving you to deal with what he said. Only this group, this family, could put on a strong face under such circumstances. Though, not all can so easily be soothed.

"I know he's only just told us..." Quistis cut in, "...but that doesn't mean I can choke this all down and try to deal with it like it's nothing. He's dying, for crying out loud! I just can't..."

She tried to push Seifer away and stand up, but he held onto her. "No one's telling you ya gotta deal with this right now," he soothed. "We're just saying ya need to take a deep breath and hang on while we sort things out. We'll get through this, Quisty, you know we will. We have to."

Quistis and Seifer had grown rather close since he got back. Seifer and the posse had become quite apart of the group, actually, but there had always been something more between Seifer and Quistis, something more than just strict instructor and reckless student. Only recently had they tried to turn their newfound friendship into something more, and Quistis cherished so much that they could be there for one another in this. She cherished being apart of him, as she once thought she had wanted to be apart of Squall.

She looked up at Seifer again, so much grief trapped behind her sapphire eyes, but she nodded her head despite the pain. There would be more than enough time for tears. Right now, they all needed to be strong.

-----

Strength of heart is a virtue. It is seldom something a person is born with, but more often something we grow into after years of heartache. It takes practice, and even with far too much practice in experiencing horrible, painful moments in your life, that still doesn't mean you will have the strength to make it through the next horrible, painful moment.

Rinoa Heartilly lost her mother to a car accident, her father by choice, so many friends because of war, and now it seemed that she would lose the man who had stolen her heart. After hearing what Squall said, it felt more like he had ripped it out of her chest.

Rinoa had run from that room as blindly as Squall had run from the Infirmary hours before. She hadn't escaped the Garden, but her legs carried her to the one place within Garden where she felt the most connection to: inside the empty ballroom and out onto the balcony.

Deep down, she must have known Squall would find her there, for it was the first place he looked.

"Rinoa...?" Squall called softly, walking out to join her on the balcony.

She was leaning against the railing with her head bowed, but she made no sound in response, other than her soft cries.

"Rinoa?" he said again, coming close enough to place his hand on her shoulder.

In a heartbeat she turned, flung her arms around his neck, and pulled him so tightly to her chest that his heart seemed to skip a beat. "I'm so sorry I ran out of there, Squall..." she sobbed. "I just couldn't take it...I couldn't believe that you were..." She buried her face in his shoulder, both taking comfort in merely holding each other close.

"It's alright..." Squall soothed. "...it's alright, Rin. As long as we have each other, nothing can tear us apart."

"But this can." she contradicted him. "This can take you away, Squall...and I don't wanna lose you..."

When you love someone, you would give anything for them. You would cut out your own heart and sell your soul if it could in anyway save them from pain. So, when you know without a doubt that there is nothing you can do to save them...

"I wish there was something I could say, something I could do to make this go away...but I can't." Squall said hopelessly. "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna leave you..." Squall gently pushed Rinoa from his shoulder and lifted her chin, cupping her face in his hands.

(My beautiful angel...) Squall thought. (...you're suffering because of me...)

"...I love you so much..." he whispered. "...and I am so sorry..."

"No..." Rinoa whispered back, shaking her head and placing her finger over his lips to silence him. "Don't you dare say you're sorry. Don't try and make this out to be your fault, Squall." She pulled herself into him again, tightening her grip around his waste. "...I love you, Squall, and that's all that matters." she said. "I can't stand this, but I won't let you blame it on yourself."

They let themselves stand there awhile, just holding each other, and struggling to continue breathing.

"...we should go back to the others," Rinoa said after awhile. "I'm not going to lose hope, Squall. I'm not going to live each day expecting you to die the next, and I know the others won't either. Together...we can face this."

"I know..." Squall stated, pulling her out in front of him again. "With you next to me...I can face anything."

tbc...

A/N: Four parts, and more to come. I can't believe it. Well, I hope you didn't mind my shameless Queifer plug, but I just had to do it. :-) Frankly, I don't know if I like this section that much. I struggled with it, and I need some reasurance. Please Review like you've been so good at doing so far. Also, if you're curious, there should be three, maybe four parts to come, depending on how I section things off as I write. I already know how this is going to end, but you'll just have to wait and see.