Note: I'm really really sorry for the late update!! It's just that I've recently bought Suikoden 3 and that game really rocks!! I just couldn't tear myself away from the TV screen. Anyone out there playing it? If so, where're ya now in the game? Anyway, here's chapter 10 and I also wanna thank all of you who reviewed the last chapter.

*~*~* To Dark Raion, about the KH ending, what I meant by sickening is the disappointment! Don't you think it's rather.... incomplete? *~*~*

*~*~* This chapter is dedicated to my dear editor, Hannah W. Thanks a lot for all the 'hard' work you've done! *~*~*

"The heart may be weak, and sometimes, it might even give in. But I've learnt that deep down inside, there's a light that never goes out..."

~Sora, Kingdom Hearts~

## TEN ##

"What the hell was that yesterday?!" bellowed Squall in anger as he glared at both Irvine and Zell. They were all in the Cafeteria having breakfast the following morning, choosing a table in a lonely and quiet spot. Zell looked at Irvine nervously.

"Hey, sorry, man. Didn't mean to crash your plans or anything…" Irvine apologised humbly.

"Yeah! We just wanted to see how you were doin', that's all. We didn't mean any harm…" Zell said quickly, nodding vigorously. Irvine threw him a forwn, then said sarcastically, "That's right, until someone here sneezed and gave us away…"

"Hey!" Zell jumped to his feet and stuck his fists out. "I couldn't help it! Y'know sneezes… they just come without warning!"

"Sneezes? That's a weird thing to talk about this beauuuuuuuuutiful morning!" A cheerful voice rang in the air and Selphie bounced over to their table, Leane behind her. Zell's temper immediately disappeared.

"Leane!" he squealed and took her hand, pulling her down to the chair beside him. She giggled and gave him a playful slap on his shoulder.

" 'Morning, beautiful..." drawled Irvine as he hugged Selphie. When he tried to kiss her, she pushed him away with a laugh and said, "Uh-uh, handsome, no smoochies in the Cafeteria! Just this." She leaned forward and gave him a peck on his cheek. Squall couldn't help grinning.

"Whatcha talking about? Who sneezes the loudest?" asked Selphie, sitting down next to Irvine and stealing some of his bacon.

"Well, you see, Squall here went on a date yesterday and –" began Irvine but Squall glared daggers at him and he gulped, getting the point. "Uh… nevermind…"

"A date? With who?" Leane smiled mischievously. Zell opened his mouth automatically to answer but Squall hurriedly interrupted, "Nobody! I mean… well… someone… a girl…"

~Of course it's a girl! What am I, gay?!~ Squall screamed to himself.

"Who is it? Ya gotta tell meeeeeee!" Selphie pouted. Irvine shrugged.

"Sorriiieeeeeeeeee, Sefieeeeeeee," he answered. "Private and confidential."

"Awww," wailed Selphie, tugging at her boyfriend's sleeve. Squall huffed, gulped down his coffee and got up.

"Gotta go, guys. History class, and you know how Instructor Derek is these days. See ya later," Squall said, grabbing his bag. Before leaving he threw one last warning look at Zell and Irvine. "Hey, I'm trusting you both to keep your mouths shut."

"Balambians honour." Irvine solemnly stuck out three fingers. Zell simply nodded sheepishly. Squall sighed, then hurriedly made his way to his class. Fortunately, the instructor wasn't there yet. As he walked into the room, he could feel the other students' stares on him. Some of them had seen him during his little date with Rinoa the night before in town, and the news was spreading like wild fire among everyone, though in cautious whispers. Squall ignored them, his eyes only on the empty seat beside Rinoa, who was bending down writing something on her notepad. He sauntered towards her and sat down.

"Hey," he greeted with a charming smile. Rinoa looked up and stared at him for a moment.

"Hello," she replied and earned the amazed gazes from some male students in front. Squall glared at them and they quickly minded their own business.

"What're you writing?" he asked, turning back to Rinoa.

"Oh, that assignment we're supposed to do for Instructor Aki. I'm still working on it…"

"Need help?" Squall questioned automatically.

"Well…" she said slowly. " I am having some problems translating Galbadian to Trabian. I –" She suddenly stopped, her eyes on somebody behind him. Fear immediately replaced the calm expression on her face. She cowered down, making Squall blink in surprise. He soon knew why.

"Hey, Puberty Boy, heard ya had a little date yesterday…" Seifer's arrogant voice reached his ears. Rinoa's grip on her pen tightened tensely. She glued her eyes to her notepad as Squall scowled.

"What's that got to do with you?" he demanded coldly.

"Nothing, nothing…" Seifer shrugged annoyingly. "It's just that you've been taking a kinda long time…"

"For what?"

"Quistis told me you and her almost banged it off right after your first kiss with her. Unfortunately, the place in the Training Centre just wasn't right, huh?" Seifer sneered and began laughing uproariously, setting off some other students in front. Squall's temper scale reached its maximum point at once. How could Quistis actually tell Seifer everything both of them had done when they were together? ~Damn her, the little… little….~

"I wonder how long you'll take to get Miss Heartilly here into bed, man." Seifer bent down to the furious Squall, breaking his thoughts. "Ya just gotta tell me how she is, you know… I'm dyin' to find out…"

Squall was just about to reach out, grab Seifer's collar and give him the biggest bash-up in his life when the door slid open and Instructor Derek hurried in.

"Sorry I'm late, class. Please be seated, all of you," he ordered, setting his books on the table. Seifer grinned evilly at Squall. Rinoa, who had went rather red with his statement earlier, glared at him icily.

"See ya later, Puberty Boy," Seifer said to Squall in a low voice. He winked at Rinoa and slowly licked his lips tantalisingly. She wanted to throw up. How disgusting he was!

Squall's eyes followed Seifer until his seat and moved to Quistis beside him. They were both laughing softly as if the whole thing was a huge joke. Squall clenched his fists and held back a loud growl.

"Textbooks, please, page 58." Instructor Derek turned to the whiteboard and began writing out some questions. Squall bent down and sneaked a peek at Rinoa. Her expression was the usual unreadable one she always wore around everyone else. After a pause, he moved closer to her and asked faintly, "Lunch together?"

She raised her eyes from her opened textbook below and studied his enquiring face before giving him one of her rare smiles. "Okay," she replied.

"I'll meet you at the Cafeteria at one. Is that alright?"

"Yeah."

He flashed her a wide grin which made her heart thumped a little louder and faster. "Great," he answered, turning back to his textbook and hurriedly flipping the pages open.

"Yo, man, over here!" Zell waved his hand frantically, trying to get Squall's attention. Beside him, Irvine grinned and gulped down his soda.

"Hey," Squall said amiably. He had clearly forgotten about last night's incident. Zell and Irvine exchanged glances, intending to keep him that way.

"Where's your food?" Zell asked in surprised, munching down a hotdog.

"Oh… um, actually… I'm waiting for someone. I won't be able to join you both, you know?" Squall explained.

"Ah, lunch date, we understand…" Irvine poked his chicken sandwich with his fork. "So.. when can she be officially introduced to us as your… girlfriend?"

Squall paused. "Um, well… when the time's right, I suppose…" he replied hesitatingly.

"So tell us a 'lil about her, Squall. Come to think of it, we don't even know anything about her… except that she's awfully quiet and… well, freezing cold!" Zell said with a frown.

"She has her reasons," Squall defended her at once.

"What reasons? Do you even know?" Irvine demanded. Squall opened his mouth to answer, but remember his solemn promise to Rinoa before. He cleared his throat slightly, answering, "Yeah, I do. I just can't tell you."

"Now what can the problem be?" Irvine raised an eyebrow and tapped a finger on his chin. Zell shrugged and continued stuffing hotdogs into his mouth. With a sigh, Squall looked at his watch. 1:02 PM. Turning to the cafeteria entrance, and, as if on cue, he immediately caught sight of Rinoa walking in. A smile creeping to his face, he got up and said, "See ya later, guys."

"Later," mumbled Irvine. Zell grunted the same. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Squall jogged up to the entrance.

"Rinoa," he said. She turned to him, a slight hint of relief in her hazel eyes.

"Oh, there you are. I was thinking you lost track of the time…" she said.

~How can I forget lunch with such a gorgeous girl?~ Squall stopped himself in time from saying that out loud. He motioned towards the queue buying food at the counters.

"Lunch?"

"Right on," she replied with a tiny smile. Delighted at her full friendliness now, Squall couldn't help the idiotic grin on his face. He couldn't almost hear Irvine's sympathetic sigh in his head.

After getting some sandsiches and soda, they headed to the lawn outside the cafeteria and chose a rather quiet and secluded spot. Practically the whole cafeteria was staring at them as they walked together and for a moment, Squall hoped that Rinoa wouldn't freak out. Fortunately, she didn't say anything but just sat down on the soft, cosy grass and placed her bag beside her, unwrapping her bacon sandwiches. Squall quickly followed her.

"Mmmm… this is good… " he moaned as he munched his first bite of the sandwich, his tone sounding almost as if he was in sexual bliss. Rinoa raised her eyebrows at him, then laughed quietly. "What?" he asked, puzzled.

"You're very amusing…" she replied, tucking in on her food.

"That's weird. Girls call me cute, handsome, good-looking, sweet, drop-dead gorgeous, and you call me amusing…" he said with a chuckle. She laughed again.

"Maybe you've never been like this to any other girl before," she said.

"Yeah, maybe…" He shrugged nonchalantly, chewing on the chicken in his sandwich. "So…" His mind raced to begin another conversation after a brief pause. "Have you finished Instructor Aki's assignment yet?"

"No, I'm still stuck in some translating… I'll have to check the library out later.." Rinoa countered.

"I'll help you out. That'll save a lot of time."

"Well…okay. Are you free after this?"

"Geez, no. Gym class. How about after three?"

"Not the right time. I've got Geography."

"4:30 then?"

"…. That's good. Where do you wanna meet?"

"The library? It's quiet and –"

"How about… my room?"

Her question cause Squall to turn to her at once. His eyes popped open widely, almost bulging like a frog's.

"Your… your room?"

"Yeah." He couldn't read the expression on her face and in her eyes. She just looked at him expectantly.

"Uh… okay… 4:30, your room. Got it." Squall nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. An uncomfortable silence floated in the air, making both of them slightly uneasy. But they said nothing to each other, just continued eating their lunch.

"Um… you know… about what Seifer said just now…" Rinoa glanced at Squall enquiringly. "I…" She left the sentence hanging, her eyes fixed to her sandwich.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, don't listen to him. That was just a bunch of crap he blabbed," Squall quickly said, afraid she would take things seriously and shut him out from herself again. "Rinoa, really, I'm not thinking of getting you into –"

"No, listen," Rinoa interrupted him, placing her hand over his. A jolt of electricity ran through him at once and he simply sat numb there. "I don't really care about what he meant… it's just that… I was wondering if… I would be able to bring myself to do it, you know? I… I don't know if I can…"

He lowered his half-eaten sandwich and swallowed the munched one in his mouth with great effort. "Rinoa, I understand what happened in your past, and I... I won't do anything you don't want, okay? We won't do anything you don't want…."

She didn't meet his eyes, still staring down. "Okay…" she said softly. "But… maybe when we're ready, right? When I'm ready…"

His eyes softened with emotions. He reached out to touch her cheek lightly, once again filling her heart with the feeling of being protected… being cared… like what she used to feel with her father and mother in the past…

"Take your time, " he murmured, gently pushing away her dark fringes from her eyes. "I don't care how long you take, anyway… just as long as you know I'm always by your side… a shoulder you can lean on, okay?"

She was touched by his sinceritiy. How different he was compared to other guys… compared to Seifer… to Lac… a shiver ran up her spine even as that haunting name came into her mind. No, she musn't think about her past… she should focus on the present… on Squall…on them …

"Thank you," she mumbled shyly, then hurriedly dunked some soda down her throat to fill the gap between their conversation. Squall smiled boyishly, turning his attention back to his waiting sandwich.

"Don't mention it."

~Uh-oh, 10 minutes late!~ Squall groaned as he hurried out of the Training Centre, grabbing his bag which he left on the floor at the entrance. It was already past 4:30, thanks to Zell, who unfortunately caught the attention of a hungry T-Rexaur just as he, Squall, and Irvine were about to leave the centre. The three of them endured a long 20-minutes battle, until Squall's Renzokuken finally brought the huge monster down. After that, he quickly rushed out of the place and ran to the dormitories. As he turned round a corner, he bumped into someone.

"Whoops, sorry!" he apologised at once before realising it was the headmaster. His heart almost stopped beating as he remembered the incident two nights ago.

~Oh shit…~

"Mr. Leonhart," Cid said coolly. "You seem in a rush."

"Uh, yeah, sir. Gonna help a friend of mine in an assignment."

"A friend?" Cid frowned, then looked down the hallway Squall was running on. "But that's where the dormitories for girls are."

~Oh, sir, please don't make it anymore awkward...~ "Uh, yeah. That friend of mine is a she…" ~Anymore obvious?~

"Ms. Heartilly?"

"Um, yeah."

"Mmm," said Cid thoughtfully. "Well, carry on, Mr. Leonhart, tutoring is not against the rules but just remember that that incident during the inauguration night is."

Squall grimaced silently. The embarrassment… it was a good thing no other students were around. "Yes, sir, of course." He nodded. Cid gave him a smile and walked off with his slow, calm strides. Sighing in relief, Squall moved to Rinoa's dorm again. What number was it already? Oh yeah, 304, wasn't it? He stopped at the door and steadily knocked three times.

He could hear soft footsteps from inside the room and the door finally opened cautiously, revealing an impatient looking Rinoa. She exhaled heavily when she saw him and stated matter-as-factly, "You're late."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, I got delayed in the Training Centre."

"Right… come on in." She stepped aside and he slowly walked in, shutting the door behind him in a very gentlemanly manner. She was secretly impressed.

"Nice room," he complimented, looking around the spotless, clean surroundings. Like his own dorm, there was a bed, a wardrobe, a studying desk, and a mirror hung on the wall. The bathroom was just by the door.

"Isn't yours supposed to be like this, too?" She seemed surprised. He laughed at her question.

"Well, yeah, except that it isn't this neat." He put his bag down on the floor. "Okay, let's get started, since it's already 4:45. Is this your assignment?" He peered over the pieces of papers on the desk, lowering himself down on one of the chairs there. Rinoa moved to the one beside him.

"Yeah. I'm alright with the others, it's just this part here." She pointed at a paragraph on the question paper Instructor Aki had handed out the other day. Squall read it thoroughly in silence.

"Oh, this one's quite easy, actually. It just sounds tough. See, this means…" He began explaining the whole thing patiently, making sure she understood what he said. Eventually, a whole hour and a half passed peacefully. By about six thirty, Rinoa's assignment was almost completed.

"There. That sums up everything. Only question 6 left, but I'm sure that won't be a biggie to you," said Squall, grinning.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I finished up the work I got stuck in for 3 days in just an hour! How do you study?" She bent down to begin on the last question. Squall chuckled.

"Well, just grab a book and read it until you understand it. But for languages, I used to read books about them when I was younger. I guess that kinda helped me out when I first went for Language Class," he answered.

"Language books? What were you, a child prodigy? When I was younger, I only read romance and adventure novels."

"One point, romance isn't my forte," laughed Squall. His eyes suddenly caught sight of a photo frame slightly covered by a stack of books. He raised his eyebrows.

"Is that your parents?" he suddenly asked. She looked up at him in surprise, then at the photograph.

"Yeah." She took it and handed it to him. "We took this picture when I was about 10, in the Deling City Park."

"Oh." He studied the photograph carefully. Her mother was rather familiar to him. Then he remembered it was Julia Heartilly, the famous singer whose picture was pasted in every record shop a few years back. His eyes moved to Rinoa's father. He was a tall, sturdy-built man with the slight grim expression on his face, the perfect General specimen. All of a sudden, he wondered how his own parents looked like. Were they any different from Rinoa's?

With a short sigh, he placed the photo frame back to its original spot, his attention turning to the writing Rinoa. Silently, he took in all of her physical features…. her long, silky hair… her soft, melting dark brown eyes…her pale, smooth skin… her rosy red lips… she looked so fragile and tender… as if the slightest touch could break her entire being…

How could anyone ever hurt such a person?

He didn't know how long he stared at her like that, filled with all kinds of thoughts. She eventually noticed him and returned his gaze, puzzled. "What?" she asked, suddenly nervous.

He didn't answer, just continued observing at her. he placed his elbow on the desk and leaned his head on his hand. They stared at each other without a word for a few seconds.

"Did I ever tell you you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met?" he murmured. That question caught her off guard. She kept her gaze locked at him, unable to answer just that moment.

"Thank you…" she mumbled at last, turning away. She never could stare into his eyes for a long time. It made her blush and self-conscious. She tried to continue working on her assignment, but a movement beside her caught her attention again. When she raised her eyes again, he was closer to her than before. Her heart took a leap to her throat, almost interfering with her breathing.

"Rinoa…"

"Y-yeah?"

His eyes slowly ran down to her lips, then up to her eyes again. She felt her cheeks going hot, the familiar feeling of blushing. A small smile touched his lips and he softly said, "Et anmon beth…"

Confusion lit in her eyes. "W-what does that mean?" she asked breathlessly. Responding to this, he leaned closer to her, his arm on her chair. Her instincts told her to draw back at once, but her heart commanded her to stay. Soon, he was face to face with her, his warm breath against her skin. Once again, like the last night, the teasing scent of his cologne enchanted her.

"In Centrian…. it says I love you… Rinoa, I want you to know that… I want you to know I'll always be there for you…" he finally answered. She was overwhelmed by a flood of sudden emotions at once. The only people who had said that to her were her parents… right before they died… her stepmother and her husband never did care about her… Lac was no different… he only wanted her for his own pleasure…

But here was a guy who really loved her…

…. or was that a lie? She didn't know what to think of. For a moment, she considered running out of the room… away from him… but what did she feel about him in return? Her mother had always told her not to deny her feelings… to be honest with them…

"I…. I…." she stammered, her eyes wide in slight panic. What was she going to do? Was he waiting for her to respond? To tell him she loved him too? But…..but….

~But… I don't know… oh God, I don't know!~

"Rinoa, no, listen," Squall quickly said, facing her to him as he placed his hands on her shoulders. She looked at him, confused and a little scared. "Rinoa, I just want you to know that…. you don't have to say anything… I mean… I understand, okay? I know it's hard for you… but, like I said before…. take your time… I'm not going to rush anything, okay?"

*Breath… inhale… exhale…* Rinoa's mind screamed at her. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a long, deep breath. Raking a hand in her raven hair, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers.

"I… I'm sorry…" she said quietly.

"Hey, it's nothing. Don't let it get to you," Squall said soothingly. As his gaze fell on the two rings lying on her chest, his hand moved down to touch them… to touch his ring… Griever… to touch her heart… the heart they both shared…

"Did she ever said it to you?" Rinoa suddenly asked. Her expression was serious, surprising Squall. He looked up at her, puzzled.

"She who?"

"Quistis… did she ever say she loved you?"

"Well…" His hand slid back to his waist and he seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Come to think of it, no…. never…. I'd always say 'I love you' but she'd just reply 'Me too'… I think that was were things started getting bad… "

"How'd both of you break up? I mean… if it doesn't hurt to say…"

Squall smiled watery, running his hands in his messy hair. "It was just like any normal break-up, I guess…. I woke up one morning and she told me she didn't want an 'us' anymore and said she was going for Seifer. I tried to reconcile, of course, but she just wouldn't listen. That was when I realised she kinda hooked up with me just because of my reputation. You know, being a popular guy and all that…."

Rinoa turned back to the papers on her desk and exhaled softly. "Did you… sleep with her before?" she asked, barely audible. That question made him raise his eyebrows.

"Rinoa, don't—" he began, but she interrupted him.

"No, Squall, just answer me… please…" Her eyes were somewhat pleading, making him even more surprised and puzzled. He took a deep breath and nodded, answering, "Yeah… I did…"

"H-how many times?"

~What is she getting to?~ "Rinoa, why are you asking all this?" he almost hissed.

"I… I just wanna know…" she replied, turning away again.

"That's the past, Rinoa. I don't want you to care about it… I don't want you to care about my past or your past… I just want you think about the present… think about us… not Lac, not Quistis…"

"I know…" She lowered her eyes sadly. "I keep telling myself to do that too… but… the thing is, I don't know if I –"

"You can… I know you can…" he cut in confidently. She sighed inwardly. Did he really have that much faith in her? She wasn't even sure about herself… but did he? Did he really think she could just close the door of her past and open the one of her future?

"I…" She paused to find the right words, but only his name came out. "Squall…"

He grinned. "Hey, I told you before I don't want you nervous around me, right? Chill down," he said good-humouredly, stroking her soft hair slowly. Suddenly, she leaned in and slipped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She hugged him tightly, so tight that he himself was rather surprised. However, he just returned her embrace.

"Thank you…" she murmured, loud enough to let him know. He couldn't help the small smile on his face. Didn't he say before that every time they had a conversation, it always ended with a 'thank you' from her?

Whatever… what did that matter? As long as she continued trusting him… as long as she knew he just wanted her to be happy… nothing mattered anymore…

He loosened his hold on her and silently moved in to close the gap between them. Every breath he took had the scent of her fragrant, rose-like scent of her shampoo… the sweet smell of her perfume… God, he wouldn't mind inhaling that all his life…

Her heart made an Olympic leap to her throat, so high she almost choked. Was he going to kiss her again? Of course he was, he's just in the right angle. But then, why did he stop? Was he expecting her to… carry on?

She was just about to be overwhelmed by nervousness when he bent down and laid his lips on hers. Her gasp was drowned by the passionate kisses from him, one of his hands in her hair and the other lightly caressing her chin. She felt herself on seventh heaven and once more circled her arms around his neck, succumbing to his gentle demand and responding just as tenderly.

They broke off for a second to catch a much needed breath, but soon continued making out, their level of passion quickly rising. Time seemed to freeze… they didn't know how many decades passed them…

A sudden shrill, ringing sound made both of them jump, breaking contact immediately.

"What the heck…. oh…" Squall grimaced in regret and annoyance. It was already 7:00 PM, dinner time. Last time he checked, it was still 6:38. Had he and Rinoa been kissing for that long?

~Stupid dinner bell…~ he cursed silently.

"Dinner already?" Rinoa seemed astonished, slightly blushing. Then Squall suddenly broke out in laughter, amazing her even more.

"What's the matter with you?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Nothing… it's just that… don't you realise we're always interrupted when we make out? First it's Headmaster Cid and Commander Briggins, then Zell and Irvine, now the dinner bell!" he chuckled, scratching his head. A smile crept to Rinoa's lips as she nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we really needed someone or something to stop us… we'd probably go on forever and won't stop…" she joked shyly, turning away from him. His grin widened.

"Our poor mouth muscles, huh?" He cracked up again.