All characters owned by Squaresoft, yada yada yada.
I Forgot Your Name
by Kupo
--In Garden--
Squall rested his elbows on his desk, tired from struggling through a day's worth of work in a few hours. If he never saw another paper needing a signature again, it would be too soon. He glanced at one of the few decorations on his desk, the clock.
Four-thirty... Guess I could leave a little early...
He held his head in his right hand, fingers pressing lightly on the spot between his eyebrows. He shouldn't leave early, it was against all the rules he stood for to shirk responsibility. He needed to be the example, the protégé. And he was. But... as good as Squall was at his job, he found himself wondering more and more often why he had volunteered to take the job as commander of Balamb Garden.
Volunteered...? Cid just threw this position at me... I know I didn't refuse... but... whatever...
The phone on his desk flashed. He picked up the receiver and his secretary informed him he had a call on line two.
Knew I should have left when I had the chance...
He thanked the woman and pressed the button corresponding to the correct line. Upon hearing the voice at the other end, his brow smoothed and his mouth formed what could be called an expression of contentment, if not fully a smile.
"Squall! I just wanna know what china pattern you liked better, the one with the small pink flowers or the one with the small pinkish-purple flowers? Or maybe the ones with the reddish-pink?" a soft voice giggled.
"I'm rather partial to the ones with the skulls and crossbones, Rin" Squall replied calmly.
He knew how much Rinoa enjoyed teasing him about their upcoming marriage, and took all the chances she got to try and work in the marriage cliches. Today was the china, while yesterday it was the color of the flowers... Yellow-pink or pinkish yellow. He had told her he preferred withered baby's breath.
Rinoa laughed a moment, happy Squall would play with her this way. So many things were going right, she felt so lucky to be blessed with his love that sometimes she really almost felt like she could fly.
"Squall... are you coming home soon? I know its a bit early, but..." she trailed off, hoping he would take the bait.
Squall paused a moment. Looked at the clock. Looked out the window. Looked at the clock.
Why not? It's not like anyone would yell at me, everyone's always hounding me to get out of this office anyway...
"Alright Rinoa... I'll leave in 5 minutes, let me just get all my affairs in order," he finally decided. In his heart he could feel Rinoa smile all the way from the house in Balamb.
"I'll see you soon then... I love you" Rinoa spoke softly, held her breath, waiting...
"Love you too, see you soon," Squall said, hanging up his phone and closing the folders in front of him. He was still sometimes surprised at how easily the words came to his lips now, they felt natural, as if they had been waiting right on the tip of his tongue for the perfect woman to say them to.
Can't wait to get back and say them in person... jeeze Leonhart, you've gone soft...
But in his heart he didn't mind going soft one bit.
--In Balamb--
Rinoa hung up the phone, still glowing from hearing Squall tell her he loved her. Would it ever get old? She seriously doubted it. Sometimes she said it just to hear him say it back... somehow the cared of the world just faded away when she was with him. What would it be like when they were married?
It doesn't matter, whatever it is will be perfect...
She still couldn't get over the fact they lived in the same house. Of course, not alone. Her father already disapproved of such close quarters, but finally agreed when Rinoa promised to bring Selphie, Quistis, Zell, and Irvine along too. They had grown so close over the course of the past year that it only seemed natural anyway. Although sometimes she wondered what she was thinking., like when Zell woke the house up at 3:30 AM because the hot-dog grill had set fire to a nearby bush in the backyard. But she loved Zell. She loved them all.
Everything is perfect
All the others were gone, Selphie and Irvine to the beach, and Zell had dragged Quistis with him to the showing of a new martial-arts themed movie.
Poor Quisty...
Rinoa had set the back porch of the house up for a dinner between herself and Squall. She admired the table she had laid out, everything looked
perfect
wonderful. She glanced out the window, and was rewarded with the sight of Squall emerging from his car parked outside the house. As he opened the door, she bombarded him with one of her trademark flying hugs. He swung he around before setting her on the ground and kissing her softly.
Over her shoulder Squall spotted the table she had set up.
"Rin, it looks great" he complimented. Rinoa smiled brightly at him as she led him to the porch and they sat down to eat.
No sooner had they taken their first bites when Rinoa felt something on the back of her neck.
Hyne!!! A bug!!! her mind screamed. Then she felt a few more and knew what it really was
Rain... dammit.
The heavens opened up within a matter of moments. She and Squall rushed everything inside, trying to save what they could before they drowned in the downpour.
Squall looked over at Rinoa once they were safely inside. She looked crushed, her hair hanging in wet damp clumps around her face. He wasn't sure what to do, and watched in dismay as her eyes began to well up.
"Rin... nono, Rin, everything's fine. Don't worry about it..." he said softly as her pulled her into his arms, brushing her hair away from her face.
"No... it was supposed to be perfect, it was supposed to go just the way I wanted it to. It was supposed to be perfect" she whispered into his damp shirt.
"You're perfect" he whispered, kissing the top of her head. "You're everything." He held her a moment more, then gently released her and went to find a towel to dry off his hair and clothes.
Rinoa stayed where she was, toying with the rings on her necklace.
I need to do better... I need to be perfect. You don't understand.
Anyway, there we go. I hope you like it and didn't find it to be too boring, I needed to build some background before I get into any good stuff. If you liked it or have suggestions, please review since this is my first story and would love any feedback. Thanks for reading! Te amo- Kupo
