Chapter 10
Rinoa woke from a beam of sunlight in her eyes. She opened her eyes to see a sleeping form next to her. Squall looked as good as he ever did. She would have thought he would be more of an Irvine, the type to attract lots of women and enjoy it. Rinoa bathed in the thought that Squall only wanted her. He loved her. Squall still had an arm draped around Rinoa. She smiled. (He's my …knight? Where did that thought come from?) Rinoa asked herself in her mind. The term fit though, he did protect her, love her, cherish her, and it seemed he would even give his life for her. She grinned, and especially the chivalry part, he was acted very proper and never asked for anything from her, not a kiss. Most guys would have thought she meant more than literally sleeping with her from her request last night, but not Squall. With tender love, Rinoa tucked a stray strand of Squall's hair behind his ear. She caressed his now, slightly whiskered face. Squall woke from her light touch.
Rinoa blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized.
Squall's voice was gruff from just waking up, but he winked at her. "So you didn't want me to notice you feeling me up? Does this mean I get to return the favor?" He grinned.
She giggled and winked back at him. "Not if you want to get slapped." She flashed him her sweetest smile.
"I was going to ask you, would you like to train today? I know you wanted to yesterday but didn't get the chance. One of SeeD's best weapons' trainers is here."
Rinoa frowned a little sad. "You won't come with me?"
Squall kissed her on the head. "I'll join you later today. I have to visit a friend."
Rinoa gasped dramatically, and pretended to be shocked. "There's someone more important than me?"
Squall reached over and tickled her. "Ahh! Not that! Anything but that Squall!" Rinoa managed to say in between giggling and laughing. They were rolling all over the bed, until Squall pinned her with his body so he could tickle her better. "Ahhh! Mercy! Mercy! I give in! You win!" He held off his tickle torture for a minute.
"What exactly do I win my angel?" Squall was interested as he whispered huskily in her ear.
She gazed into his eyes, feigning innocence. "Um…a sticker?" Squall grinned at her and leaned in to kiss her, but she grinned very mischievously at him. Then she thrust her hands into his sides and found his tickle spots. Squall was too surprised to react, and almost fell off the bed. He laughed full-heartedly and fell halfway off the bed as Rinoa returned the favor. She placed her knee on his stomach to get a better pinning position.
"That'll teach you to mess with me Mr. Leonhart!" She grinned, knowing she had called him that name that made him feel so much older. His hair fell back as his head was also off the bed. He managed to reach up and pull Rinoa off him, but doing so caused both of them to lose their balance and fall onto the floor. They panted heavily from the tickle torture each of them had inflicted on each other. Rinoa crawled next to Squall and sat up.
"Truce?" she offered. Squall nodded as he came into a sitting position.
He eyed her and said, "You're a lot more sly than I gave you credit for."
"And you Mr. Leonhart are very cute when you aren't in control of the situation." Rinoa placed herself on Squall's lap and put a hand behind his head, playing with his hair.
He grinned at her. "Who said I wasn't in control of the situation?" Without warning, he quickly leaned down and took the breath out of Rinoa again with his amazing kisses.
(Where'd he learn to do that?) Rinoa thought, lost in Squall's kiss. (Wait…maybe I don't want to know…) Rinoa tasted Squall and enjoyed the playful actions of their tongues.
Squall was also savoring the moment. (She's such a great kisser. It's so angelic, so perfect. I just want to do this all day.) He pulled Rinoa back with his hands. "Maybe we should shower and change for today. You have some training to do."
Rinoa nodded, still incredibly amazed by the kiss. She stood up and studied him, as if she could never get tired of seeing him. (I wonder what he looks like without that shirt…)
Squall got up as well and then before Rinoa left for her room gave her another mind-blowing kiss. She smiled gently at him and then went to her room. After Squall showered, shaved and changed into a new set of clothes, he equipped himself with Lionheart. He borrowed a motorcycle from Balamb's Garden garage, and headed towards the coast. The sea breeze that Rinoa had enjoyed earlier blew through his hair. Squall admired the beautiful scenery, something he had never done before Rinoa. Battles were his life, training, studying; those were the things he thought he wanted. Now, all he could think of was when he would see Rinoa and her gorgeous smiles that she shared only with him. Squall finally got to his destination. He parked his bike by the side of the old farm that was located a few miles from Garden. He walked up to the old door that looked as if it had not been painted in years. Squall knocked loudly.
Bacone had not been expecting any visitors. He was a man well into his middle age. After his young wife, Chrisis had died he lived only with his two dogs, Cullwch and Olwen. Olwen recently gave birth to a liter of three puppies, two of which did not survive the first night. The last puppy was as strong as both of her parents. Bacone opened the door and saw a familiar face. "Squall! I haven't seen you in a long time!"
Squall nodded at the older man. "I know it's been a while Bacone. I know you're busy so I'll get to the point. The last time I was hear, Olwen was pregnant with puppies right? I was wondering if I could buy one off you." Squall had helped Bacone rid his farm of some plain monsters that had wandered. They were killing his crops slowly until Squall accidentally came upon them while going to one of the local caverns. He had killed them all, much to the amazement and gratitude of Bacone.
The old man nodded. "No, no, I insist that you take the puppy for free. It's the least I can do for you after what you've done for my farm and me." Bacone fetched the Cullwch and Olwen's puppy who looked like a sheep dog with all the hair. He placed the puppy in a box along with food. He gave the box to Squall. "I'm glad you came along. I'm not sure what I would have done with her otherwise."
Squall thanked the farmer and returned to garden, balancing the box in between the handles on his motorcycle. It would be a present for Rinoa. He took the box into his room, wanting to give it to her later. Squall fetched a bowl of water as well for the dog, as well as putting the dog food that Bacone had given him in another bowl. Squall hoped that he wouldn't have to wait too long to give it to Rinoa. He wasn't sure what to do with the dog otherwise. There was a knock on his door. (Who could have known I just got back?) thought Squall.
He opened the door and was shocked that Rinoa stood before him. "Welcome back! I just heard you got back from a few of the Squall's Fan Club members." She laughed. "I didn't know you had a fan club."
Squall groaned and put his hand up to his head. "Yeah. I forgot about that. They decided on their own to do it."
"What Squall? I thought you'd be pleased with all the attention." Rinoa was trying to pry the information from the infamous cadet.
"Attention I like, but obsession and stalking are a bit beyond my taste." Squall remembered the box and was trying to cover it up with his body. He wanted to give it to her when he was ready.
His actions didn't go unnoticed by Rinoa. "What's behind your back?" she asked suspiciously and curiously. She tried to peek through the areas where Squall's masculine form didn't cover. Then she heard a whimper. "Is that…a …" Here eyes opened wide from excitement and she clasped her hands together. "Squall you didn't?!" Rinoa smiled wider than Squall had ever seen. He knew he was going to tell her, whether he wanted to or not.
He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, you said you always wanted a puppy, so I…" Rinoa was so happy that she threw herself into Squall's arms and gave him a hug. He thoughts turned from her reaction to a more, physical nature. (Wow, she smells really nice. Look at the angle from….Wait, what am I doing! I'm not suppose to be staring at her chest!) He shook himself from his daze and stepped aside to allow Rinoa to see her puppy.
"Awww! She's so adorable! What's her name?" Rinoa asked as she picked up the dog from its box.
"She doesn't have one. I wanted to let you name her," Squall answered honestly.
"He he, I know, I'll call her Angelo! The companion of Angel! Get it? Angel and Angelo," she pointed to herself and the dog. Squall smiled at her, only thinking of how cute she was. "Thank you soooo much Squall! I'll have to let you know later of how grateful I am. That is after I shower and change, cause I'm all sweaty from training." Rinoa gave Squall a quick kiss on the lips and headed for her room with her new companion. Squall could have sworn she said: "and I'll be very very grateful tonight…" as she walked to her room.