The characters and the world of Final Fantasy 8 belong to Square Soft. The story is for fun, not profit. If they didn't want us to write stories about them, they shouldn't have made them so interesting. Or bishy.

This is from an A.U. developed by Race Ulfson and myself and is a part of the Fever series under Race's name, which will sooner or later all be pasted together in the right order. 

Mine.

They were mine.  The Chestnut one with the green eyes was mine, all tan and red and gold and copper.  The hot, fiery blue eyed one with the stripes and gold crest, that one was mine, too. I decided and he accepted.  We had strong, healthy females, beautiful and formidable.  I was happy. 

The lair wasn't good though… too many strangers… all of them wanted my companions.  We need a better lair… and … when… It happened… who would protect us? 

What?  What the fuck? This was like that goddamned bad dream where I had to runaround and be Laguna.  This is bullshit!

My eyes snapped open.  I was weak and shaky and I nearly fell off the bed and with a wave of dizzy nausea.  But I could think and I could see again.

Irvine!!! Where's Irvine?

 I tried to get to my feet to go and get what was mine and I almost rolled right onto the floor, weak as a kitten.  I stayed put for a moment, and forced my body to behave.  I didn't need this kind of weakness – I needed to be able to move and fight.

Gotta find Irvine.

Rinoa was there suddenly by my side, making me blink. I hadn't seen her and at first I didn't recognize her. She was dressed in hospital greens and had her hair covered. 

"Rinoa?" My voice surprised me.  It sounded so quavery.  Hyne, I hated sounding pathetic. 

"Let me get you in a chair, Squall.  You thirsty?"

"Mostly I have to pee."  That did what I intended; it made her giggle.  "Where's Irvine?"

"He's fine, Selphie's taking care of him."

Just hearing that Irvine was okay made me feel so much better I nearly pitched back over in the bed a went back to sleep. Instead, I got out my mental riding crop and smacked my brain a few times to wake up.  "Need to see him.  What happened …was I dreaming that a bunch of weirdoes showed up to take him away?"

"No…they called me in because the strangers were using no form of known magic." Rinoa smiled a little.  "And it gave me an excuse to come and see you."

I felt one of those little rushes of emotion that occasionally pieced the ice around me.  A small smile crept out to Rinoa and she brightened just at the sight of it.

 She's mine, too.

What?  Where are all these thoughts coming from?  You can't own people!  Get a grip, man! 

"Squall?  What's wrong?  You look so troubled all of a sudden."

"I… just keep feeling these weird… I'm not sure.  It's like I'm having some kind of… mental problem." I said reluctantly.  Share with the girlfriend, don't keep it bottled up.  "I was happy for a moment but it had a weird twist to it that made me uncomfortable."

"Well… go with the happy part, and we'll uncurl that twist later when you're feeling better, okay?"

 Rinoa beamed at me and I felt better immediately.  I tugged her close and hugged her as tightly as my currently weak muscles would allow. I never would have expected her to do nursemaid duty over me.  And she smelled good – a little baby powder, some soap –

Whoa.  I could smell soap?  Where was that sickly sweet perfume she liked, too?  Just a faint hint of it in her hair.  And she smelled of woman and … just a touch of that fear smell, anxiety driving her. 

"You're not wearing your perfume."

"The doctor said that strong smells were distressing Irvine and wassisname… Zell.  And Quis, she has it too and strong smells are making her batty.  They had to take all the perfume out of her room and there's some kind of liniment you seedy people use that drives super noses nuts.  It's a symptom of whatever you have."

"Do they know if it's permanent?"

"So far, it seems to be.  Quis is almost over it – she didn't' get nearly as bad off as you were."

"It's going to be embarrassing if the officers of SeeD can be defeated by too much aftershave."

Her scent had changed.  It was fascinating.  Now Rinoa smelled happy and a little sexy.  How can someone smell happy?  She smelled delicious, anyway.  I had to hug Rinoa again and in spite of being tired, I got the urge to jump her and roll her into the bed.  I wanted to smell every part of her… and taste her…

Bad, naughty Squall.  Biz first.  Rinoa later. 

But when I looked at her, and she looked so happy and so… well… lovable… it was one of the most difficult things I'd ever done to push Rinoa away a little, with a rueful smile to let her know it was not really my first thought.  "I really need a shower.  And some clothes.  Hospital gowns are not a fashion statement I care to perpetuate."

She giggled and for once, it didn't annoy me. I made a joke!  I must really be sick.  But Rinoa's giggle was an honest one, not coy and flirty.  It made me feel good. 

"Lemme help you.  You're awfully weak right now."

"I'm so hungry… is there anything to eat?"

She beamed at me and gave me the smarty-pants look. "Already thought of that.  You take a shower and I'll get your supper out.  Shoo!"

She helped me over to the shower, which was almost as big as the small room I'd left. Fortunately, as I was still dizzy and weak, the shower stall had bars to hang onto.  And oh, it felt good.  An indulgence I allowed myself – I'm usually not so much prone to sensuality, but this felt so very very good, I just … wallowed.  I found myself sliding down the side of the shower and letting it run over me, kneeling in the warm, gentle mist of the shower.  I ran my hands over myself, sluicing water down my body, and rubbed at my back, arched up and letting the water hit my back where it ached, then shook my hair out of my face and … what the fuck?

I ran my hand over my ear again.  It was too sensitive, as if I were touching a nipple, almost… and it was pointed.  Very pointed. 

"Squall?"

I almost leapt thru the wall, she startled me so.  I'd forgotten Rinoa was anywhere near, the strong soap and disinfectant smell kept me from smelling her. When did I start judging how close someone was by her scent? And I had just flat not been paying attention.

"Squall, let me help you up…"

"No… no, I'm okay, I was just tired…" I was totally waterlogged. How long had I been sitting in the shower floor playing with my ears and zoning out?  Hyne. 

I struggled to my feet before Rinoa came in after me.  The concern on her face just about made my resolve to not clutch at her like a tired, sick little boy break in half right there.  When had she become a responsible woman instead of that tiresome spoiled brat I wanted to throttle? 

I misjudged myself coming out of the shower and slipped.  Rinoa grabbed for me and I grabbed back, afraid I was going to hit the tiles on my face. I heard a horrible ripping and a scrape on the tiles, and smelled blood.  Rinoa cried out but didn't let go.  I got my footing, the adrenaline rushing in and clearing my head a little. 

Hyne, it looked like some kind of huge cat had been at Rinoa's arm.  Blood ran down and was dripping onto the white floor.  I blinked at it, uncomprehending, and looked at where she was staring – my hand. 

My claws.  They slid out from under the fingernails … I had claws, like some kind of… animal.  An animal that had hurt Rinoa.

My head was swimming.  Rinoa was bleeding, and I was going to faint.  The fucking Lion of Balamb, the Hero of the Sorceress War, was going to keel over at the sight of a little blood.  No fucking way. I grabbed Rinoa's arm and held it up over her heart. 

"Bandages."

We got her bandaged up pretty quickly.  It wasn't very deep – the claws themselves weren't very long or strong.

I looked at them but it made no sense. I did not have claws before.  Now they were reflexive, popping out when I felt unsteady to hook and grab into things. 

I looked in a sort of panicky revulsion to Rinoa as if she had some kind of answer, and she just gave me that smile again that made a lump come up in my throat against my will.  How can she care about me, I'm a freak now… what happened?  Why is this happening to me?  And why was I having such a hard time controlling every little flicker of emotion?

 Rinoa quieted my apprehension, though. She had seen, and had been hurt by the freakish things on my fingertips, and she still loved me.  The wash of relief left me even more tired, as if I'd come back from a hard battle. Rinoa got me back to a nice, fresh bed – she'd even changed the sheets.

Damn, is this what love really was?  Having her look at me like that when I thought I was horrible?

I was ravenously hungry, but I was already so tired I wasn't sure I could stay awake long enough to eat anything.  Even the claws were not enough to keep me awake.  Fortunately, once Rinoa and I had been assured she wasn't badly hurt, her 'mommy' personality surfaced again and she hand fed me some cold chicken salad sandwiches cut into bite sized pieces.

 It tasted so good I found myself licking at Rinoa's fingers when she popped one into my mouth, which made her smile and laugh that little silvery laugh that lit up her eyes. I kissed her hand the next time she popped food into my mouth.

 I was so sleepy I could hardly keep my eyes open. Oh, wait. They weren't open.  When did that happen?  All these things that kept sneaking up on me, were making my head spin.

I felt Rinoa lean over and kiss my eyelids and my forehead. I could only part my lips a little in an attempt to speak that failed utterly.  She misread the attempt to talk and covered my mouth with a sweet soft kiss.  I couldn't help it… I smiled into the kiss and made a sleepy effort to return it. I felt her smile through the kiss back at me. It was a wonderful feeling and I knew I'd pleased her, which was an even better feeling.  I failed her so often in our attempt at a relationship, I was just so empty of responses to her love….

I sank into warmth and sweetness and bugger all, I was asleep.

But she was…

Mine.