Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII and neither do you.

Squall left the infirmary in a numb shock. Moments ago he had practically been told his life was about to change. He wanted to tell Rinoa, but, for some reason, something inside him stopped him from telling her what happened. Squall felt disconnected from everybody as he walked past students lounging against the walls, talking and laughing with friends. They seemed part of another world.

Squall wandered his way over to the cafeteria where the others would now be rolling out of bed and trying to find something to eat. He found them all grouped at a table, Selphie in Irvine's lap as usual. Squall pulled up a chair next to Rinoa and let his head fall onto the table into his arms.

"Squall, are you feeling okay?" Rinoa asked as she concernedly ran her fingers through his chestnut hair. "When I woke up, you weren't there." Even Zell, who was trying to find out how many hot dogs he could fit into his mouth noticed that something was wrong.

"Yo, Squall, what's up? Are you sick?"

"Yeah...I think so," Squall replied, not yet ready to tell the others the truth. He sat up and looked around absentmindedly. "I think I'm going to go back and take a shower. Maybe the hot water will clear me up..." He stated as he stood up and pushed the chair in with a squeak. He walked off toward the dorms.

The warm, relaxing water ran across Squall's body as he reached for the shampoo. As he massaged the shampoo through his wet hair, he pondered what the doctor had told him earlier. He was rinsing his hair out when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come on in!" he yelled over the running water.

Rinoa stepped into Squall's dorm. She walked over to the bathroom door and pressed her ear against it and heard running water.

"Squall, are you almost done in there? I need to talk to you." Squall stepped out of the shower, looked around, and sighed exasperatedly.

"Rin, can you go over to my closet and grab me a towel, will you please?" He held his hand out the door as Rinoa giggled and placed a towel in it. Squall closed the door, dried off, and wrapped the soft white towel around his waist. It's worth becoming a SeeD to use these towels... Squall walked over to the foggy medicine cabinet mirror, cleaned it off, and looked at his reflection. He sighed. What's going on inside my body?

Much to Rinoa's delight, Squall opened the door and walked over to his closet and began searching for clean clothing. He turned around to look at Rinoa.

"What are you staring at?" Rinoa giggled.

"You."

"Why?"

"Um, let's see: One, you've got muscles. Two, you're all wet. And three, you're standing right in front of me in nothing but a towel. Answer your question?" Rinoa replied pertly. Squall rolled his eyes and pulled a shirt and a pair of pants out of his untidy closet.

"I hate to burst it to you, but I'm going to have to kick you out on the account of I need to get dressed." Rinoa laughed and left the room to give him privacy. Squall dressed and let her back into his room.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Rinoa glanced at him a moment then looked away.

" I wanted to talk to you about earlier. You weren't acting like your normal self."

"I told you I felt sick."

"Squall, I know you well enough to tell when you're sick and when you're healthy, and I can tell you're not ill." Squall looked at her.

"How do you know I'm not sick?"

"Squall, when you get sick you completely deny it and continue your usual business as normal. I have to force you to lay down. Please tell me what's on your mind." Squall sighed and looked away.

"I'm not ready to talk about it." Rinoa took Squall's face in her hands and looked into his eyes.

"Alright. Just remember that if anything is on your mind, you can trust me, okay?" Squall nodded, feeling slightly guilty. "I'm going to go meet Selphie and Quistis. They wanted to go to Balamb town today, so I'll be gone." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "I love you." Squall's face brightened slightly.

" I love you, too."

***

In Centra, it was still storming. It was the continent's rainy season, and water poured down from the sky in torrents. Inside and old stone orphanage by the sea, a large monster had sought shelter from the icy rain. It growled and extended large claws as it stretched its black body and silver wings. The creature's cavernous maw gaped open as a large pink tongue lolled out. It's lion-like features wrinkled into another rumbling growl. It was frustrated. It wanted to be out hunting for the prey it was sent to find. No matter, the devil-lion thought as water dripped from the leaky ceiling onto its nose. It would soon find the helpless one...

A/N: Oooo, the suspense! Anyway, guess I wrote another chapter that I thought I would. The next one should be coming up pretty soon. Thanks again to all those lovely people who review!

P.S.: I read one of your fics, Squall Leonhart!