Mythology
Chapter Four: Dream Man
By PasifiKStaR

Author's Note: Truth be told, this story is supposed to be dark, sad, with OOC, and really confusing while filled with personal angst, strange dreams, and sexuality. Much to my disappointment, I seem unable write things like that and it's turning into a romantic comedy. -_-;; Anyway, a few things are revealed (kind of) with the guys and I'm going to make this story a little darker.

*All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy.

"Well, well, well...putting the moves on Rinoa already, eh?" a voice said from the entrance of the tent. Rinoa's eyes went wide as she turned her head. She nearly rolled out of Squall's grasp, but he held on to her.

Within a split second, she was pulled up to her feet again and being held at arms length from the gorgeous doctor. Her head was spinning. "Don't let us stop you," Selphie's curious voice said. She stood at the door way next to Irvine and was staring at them as if she were watching a movie. "HAVE you two met before...?" she persisted.

"Oh Hyne..." Rinoa mumbled. She ran her hand through her hair and shook her head. "C'mon, I just fell-"

"And Squall played the hero and caught you before you hit the ground," Irvine said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "VERY knight in shining armor, Squall."

"What the hell do you want, Irvine?" Squall growled in a low voice was he turned away from Rinoa and headed towards the corner of the tent she had been heading to before Irvine and Selphie caught them.

"Don't know," Irvine said. Selphie stepped past him and into the tent. She winked as she passed by a blushing Rinoa. "I was just following Selphie. She wanted to get something."

"I needed my tools," Selphie said as she knelt down to one of the cabinets next to Rinoa. "Irvine's going to join me and Zell and my team down by the temple."

"The temple?" Rinoa said quickly. Her head perked up as she turned to look at her smaller friend. "Why there?"

"We're going to take the measurements of the place," Selphie said as she smiled widely. "Since a lot of sand removed during the storm, it's perfect for us to get in good measurements. Maybe Zell can make a sketch of it. He's pretty good at it."

"Oh..." Rinoa frowned. She chewed on her bottom lip slight and glanced over at Squall. His back was turned to them as he moved aside some boxes to give him a clear area.

"Ahem..." Irvine coughed. "Well...we'll leave you two love birds alone."

"We're not love birds!" Rinoa nearly shrieked. Selphie and Irvine merely exchanged knowing looks before heading out. "We're NOT!!" Rinoa shouted after them. She ran her hand down her face in humiliation.

"Yelling will only attract more attention," Squall's voice said. Rinoa felt her body shiver as his smooth voice caressed her body. She took a deep breath to get control of herself before returning to her seat. "I'm going to get a chair for any patients from the mess hall."

"Okay..." Rinoa said. She nodded and returned to her computer. *Ugh...stupid Selphie...stupid Irvine...I feel like such an idiot!* Her mind screamed. She let her head drop against her crossed arms over the table. *I can't believe I just said something so corny! Squall must think I'm such a...such a...ugh! Such a LOSER!!*

Squall walked back into the tent holding a folding chair when he saw Rinoa with her head buried in her arms. She was mumbling something incoherent as she shook her head. "Rinoa...?" he called out. "Are you all right?"

She froze. "I'm fine!" she said quickly. Her head shot up and she immediately regretted it. She didn't say a word, but Squall saw the look of pain in her eyes as she grasped her head.

"Rinoa!?" he called out. He dropped the chair where he was and rushed over across the tent. Rinoa leaned forward, her eyes clenched closed. "Rinoa!?"

She didn't answer him. Her head was being pounded by some unknown force and she winced. Squall ran back to his bag and grabbed a small plastic pill box. He opened it with easy and took out one small white pill. He snapped it closed and put it on the table.

Rinoa felt her heart racing in her chest, as if it were going to burst at any second. She felt someone take her head and tilt it back slightly. She fought whoever was holding her by moving around. Hands pried her mouth open and something fell in. Before she even realized it, she had swallowed whatever it was.

The pounding didn't stop suddenly. Squall was trying to hold Rinoa down as her breathing grew more and more shallow. Her hands gripped the edge of the table and he saw the silver band on her right ring finger. It seemed to be glowing against her pale skin and he narrowed his eyes.

Almost as if by magic, Rinoa began to stop struggling. She was shaking and her breathing was still uneven, but she was stopping. "Squ...Squall..." she gasped out in tired breaths.

Squall put his hands on her shoulders as he turned her to look at him. "Rinoa, breath...deep breath...calm down..."

Her brown eyes opened and looked right into him. Her eyes were rimmed with tears. "I...I..."

"You need to rest," Squall told her sternly. "Come, we'll get you to bed-"

"No," she gasped. She shook her head. "No...I...I saw something."

Squall stopped what he was doing and looked down at her. "What did you see?" he asked with concerned, squinted eyes.

"A black box..." she gasped out. "A black box opened..."

"Thank you for watching her, doctor..." Quistis said as she stood up. Squall entered Rinoa's tent and nodded.

"It's all right," Squall assured her. "It's my job."

Quistis let out a deep breath and ran her hand down her tired face. Squall had sent Zone and Watts down to the ruins that afternoon. She remembered taking measurements of a neighborhood and rebuking Seifer's comments about her butt when the two men ran down to met her.

They were out to breath and immediately she realized that something was wrong. It was then that Watts told her that Rinoa had an 'attack' and Squall had sent her to bed. Quistis immediately dropped what she was doing and told Watts to take over her measuring before running up to the camp.

Seifer followed behind her and on their way there, they ran across Selphie. Zone had gone to tell the perky brunette. Selphie practically sprinted up the hill, beating them all to Rinoa's tent. She had throw open the flap of Rinoa's tent and found her knocked out on her cot.

Squall had gave her a sedative and was taking her blood pressure. "Will she be all right?" Quistis asked nervously.

Squall nodded. "Yes...don't worry, professor-"

"Just Quistis, please." the blond said, a worried look on her face as she looked over the brunette.

"Yes, Quistis, Rinoa will be fine," Squall assured her. He checked Rinoa's pulse. "Everything is normal. Truth be told, I don't know what caused that attack earlier."

"Maybe I should take her off the project-"

"Don't you dare..." Rinoa's tired voice was none the less firm as she answered the blond. She kept her eyes closed as she laid there on her cot, a blanket up to her chest. "If you take me off this project, I'll never speak to you again."

"I'd rather you never speak to me again then you killing yourself over it," Quistis replied sternly. "Rinoa, if this happens again, I'm going to send you back to Deling City-"

"No!" Rinoa nearly shouted. Her eyes opened and she turned her head to Quistis. "No, I won't go!"

"Rinoa, you could be seriously sick and we don't know it-"

"I don't care!" Rinoa insisted. "This is OUR project, Quistis!" she reminded the blond. "Years of dreaming and we've all finally gotten this far! There's no way I'm going to leave!"

"I don't want you to get sick!" Quistis insisted.

"Quistis, perhaps you should just let the subject lay right now," Squall said as he looked back up at her. "It's best not to get her worked up."

Quistis let out a deep breath and nodded in agreement. "We'll discuss this some other time, Rinoa. But until further notice, you are to sit here and rest."

Before Rinoa could even utter a response, Quistis left the tent. She looked over at Squall. He was sitting on a chair by her bed, still holding her right hand. He seemed to be studying it quite intently and Rinoa followed his eyes.

*The ring?* she frowned and looked up at him. "Squall, what are you doing?"

"You're wearing Griever," Squall said in a quiet voice. His blue eyes rose and looked over at her as he gently held up her right hand. "Your ring..."

"Oh..." Rinoa whispered. She remembered the image of the winged lion on his card and nodded slightly. "Yeah...you don't really see it often."

Squall nodded and let her hand go. Rinoa felt a rush of disappointment as he parted with her. "There's a story associated with a Griever ring..." Squall said. He looked up at Rinoa as he reached over and removed the cold compress that she hadn't even realized was on her head. "You know the story of the fall of Centra right?"

Rinoa nodded slightly. "It's our favorite story," she smiled slightly. Her eyes grew distant as her memories took her back to her youth. "An evil sorceress is unleashed and possesses the body of a woman. She ends up having to be killed by her lover."

Squall reached out and Rinoa closed her eyes as he swept aside her soft bangs. "There is always more to it than that."

"I know," Rinoa said. "Those myths are the reason why Selphie, Quistis, and I are here. We love those stories...I guess...we kind of wanted to prove that they weren't just children's stories."

"What if they weren't?"

"What else could they be?" Rinoa chuckled slightly as she opened her eyes and looked back at him. Squall had a solemn expression on his face.

"You know, Rinoa...myths are often based on an unexplained truth," he told her. Rinoa once again found herself drawn into his sweet voice. "Some stories are more than that."

Rinoa slowly looked down, feeling as if she had been scolded. "So..." she whispered out. "What about the ring?"

Squall turned attention back to the silver band on her hand. "The woman who was possessed was born into a bad destiny, so her lover had a ring made for her to protect her from evil," he told her. He smiled slightly. "In the end...it didn't do her any good..."

Rinoa felt the bitterness is Squall's voice, despite the lost smile on his face. As if he himself had been burned because of it. "I'm sure she felt protected just having it with her," Rinoa replied. Squall's gaze turned upon her. "I mean..." she swallowed and looked away nervously. "Even if she was born into a bad destiny and the ring couldn't save her in the end, maybe she took comfort in it. Like it reminded her that her life wasn't all in vain. That there WERE good parts to it."

He didn't answer her and Rinoa began to feel extremely stupid. Finally, her eyes rose to meet his and found him sitting there, a slight smile on his face. "Maybe you're right."

Three words from his lips and Rinoa suddenly felt as if she had been praised by Hyne. She blushed. His eyes upon her were intense and she felt her palms grow sweaty as she laid there. "I'm sorry if I'm saying too much..."

"No," Squall said calmly. "You remind me of someone, that's all."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she chuckled slightly, trying to hide her nervousness.

Squall looked down at ground in front of him absent mindedly. "Perhaps both..."

She stepped into beautiful circular room. It's domed ceiling was opened wide, revealing the glorious shimmer of the stars within the endless expanse of darkness. Her brown eyes were wide with awe as she stepped through the column framed door way and into the room.

"You're late." a voice boomed. She looked down from the opening ceiling and smiled as her eyes settled on a young man in white robes walking towards her. A small, almost shy, smile was on his face.

"Sorry," she said with a blush as she rushed over. "Seifer came by the store and practically kidnapped Quistis, so I had to close the shop by myself."

"What about Selphie?" Squall asked as he extended his hand. Rinoa took it and felt her body tingle as their skin met.

"Went with Irvine and Zell to the midnight market in town," Rinoa sighed. She shrugged her shoulders. "They didn't even bother to invite me. They just ran off."

"You had plans anyway," Squall said as he lead her up some steps to the massive telescope that was in the center of the room. "If you ask me, this is far better than anything they're probably doing."

"You mean getting drunk and being yelled at by Quistis?" Rinoa giggled. Squall chuckled and nodded. They reached the top platform and Rinoa noticed the large metal plates that were on the table before them. They were arranged and seemed to map out the sky.

"I've been working on looking for a good day to marry Seifer and Quistis," Squall said as he motioned to the scrolls in front of them. "He merely met her a few months ago, but he's positive he wants to marry her."

"It's a shame that Quistis doesn't feel the same way," Rinoa laughed. She looked down at the charts and scrolls and then back at Squall. "So you can tell lucky days and nights?"

Squall nodded. "Based on what I can read in the stars," he said. He tilted his head to the side slightly. "Why? Do you want a reading?"

Rinoa chewed her bottom lip nervously and shyly nodded. "I don't usually believe in this...but..." She looked up at Squall, who was giving her a warm, intent look. "All right! Why not?"

"Great," Squall said. He let go of her hand and went to move the charts. "What year were you born...?"

"Seventeen years ago." Rinoa said. Squall ran his hand through the scrolls and found one. He smiled as he unraveled it across the large table. Rinoa gasped as the long and wide beige piece of paper was unrolled before her eyes. There were more stars and lines on that sheet than she would even care to count for.

"Okay...and the month?" Squall asked.

"Third solar..." Rinoa said with a giggle. He nodded and went around the table. He ran his hand along the sheet and stopped.

"Day?"

"The eighth..." Rinoa finalized. Squall slowly drew his finger along a line and stopped. Rinoa studied his face as stopped. He looked slightly confused and shook his head before going back to where he started and drawing his finger across the line once more. "What's wrong?"

"Ah..." Squall opened his mouth, but couldn't answer. His eye brows were furrowed and he shook his head. "Nothing..." he mumbled. He looked back up at her and smiled. "So did you want to look through the telescope?"

Rinoa frowned and shook her head. "Squall," she said in a quiet, but stern voice. "What does it say?"

The young temple boy and warrior hesitated. He looked back down at the scroll. "You were born..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Under a bad star," Rinoa concluded. Squall looked up at her and she nodded. "I know."

Slowly she turned her back to him and looked up at the sky. "Rinoa..."

"I've been told that before," Rinoa said softly, only a hint of sadness in her voice. "Ever since I was young actually. I'm not unlucky or anything, but I was born under a bad star...everyone says that I'm going to have a bad destiny."

"Is that why you don't believe in it?" Squall asked. He watched as she took a deep breath. She turned around, a soft breeze from the open ceiling running through her soft hair and light blue toga as she gave him a bright smile.

"Yep!" she said cheerfully. So cheerfully, it hurt. "But thank you, though. I'm glad you didn't lie to me about it."

She was still smiling. Her teeth were straight and bright, her lips soft and pink. Her brown eyes deep and hiding a sadness he couldn't imagine. To merely glance at it struck him. Before he knew it, he had his arms around her body. Her eyes were wide with shock as the man embraced her.

"A bad destiny doesn't mean a bad life..." he whispered softly in her ear.

Rinoa closed her eyes and slowly lifted her hands. Her finger tips coiled against the soft folds of his toga as she leaned tiredly against him. "My father can't even stand to look at me..." she whispered. "My mother died...I'm a burden to Selphie's family... tell me one thing that destiny has lead me to that isn't unhappy."

His answer was warm and sincerely. Squall's hands rose to her shoulders and gently pulled her away from him. A warm hand tilted her chin gently to have her eyes meet his. "Us."

His lips closed over hers and Rinoa's brown eyes drifted closed as she fell into the spell he wound around her. She could still taste him on her lips as hers parted to take a breath. She didn't want to open her eyes as they stood there, showered by the moon and star light as his lips gently assaulted hers. She didn't want to wake up from her dream.

Rinoa's eyes blinked open slowly. Her tent was still dark, meaning it was still dark outside. The lamp in her room was off. She let out a breath as she wished herself to return to her dream. Where the dream Squall was caressing her and showering her with infinite kissed under the moonlight.

"Mmm..." she moaned slightly. She closed her eyes and frowned. "Don't go..." she pleaded to her dream.

Suddenly she stiffened. A warm hand gently stroked her head. "I'll be back tomorrow." a deep voice whispered in her ear. Her body shivered as the hand gently ran down the length of her exposed arm.

Rinoa's eyes flew open and she scanned the darkness of her room for the owner of the voice. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out a figure slightly outlined by the glow of the moonlight outside her tent. It was a man's figure. Taller than her, well built, with nice, toned body.

His back was to her cot and he seemed to be putting a shirt back on. Part of her wanted to tell him not to, but the other part of her was wondering why it was off in the first place. His hands reached down to his front side and seemed to buckle the belt on his pants and Rinoa blushed.

*Oh my Hyne...did I? Did we...? WHO is this man!?* her mind screamed. It suddenly seemed as if she couldn't talk. She opened her mouth, but it felt abnormally dry and she feared that if she did ask, she would get an answer she really didn't want.

The sounds of her shifting on the bed made the man turn around and Rinoa saw the outlines of his face. Familiar hair was falling over his eyes and she felt herself relax. "Shh..." he whispered as he knelt down next to her cot. He lifted his index finger to her lips before caressing her hair back behind her ear.

"Squall...?" she whispered softly. "What are you doing here...?"

"Am I really here?" he smiled softly as his hand touched her face. She felt her skin burn underneath his searing touch. "Or are you dreaming?"

"Squall...?" her voice was almost panic filled and he chuckled.

"Sleep, Rinoa," he assured her. "Just sleep..." As if lulled to sleep by his voice, Rinoa closed her eyes and returned to her unconscious state. Squall's smile left his lips as he stood up.

He looked down at her once more before grabbing his jacket and slipping out of her tent. As soon as he stepped outside, he was faced with a tall blond man who was smoking a cigarette. Green eyes landed on him as a smirk graced the blonde's face.

"Have a nice night?"

"Can we NOT talk here?" Squall retorted. Seifer nodded and motioned for Squall follow him. In the night shrouded desert, they slipped through the camp and headed to the ruins. "What is it?" Squall hissed as they reached the bottom.

"So is it on her?"

"She's wearing it," Squall said. Seifer removed his cigarette and grind into the dirt floor as they stood before the ruins. "It's triggering something..."

"As long as it's sealing what's inside of her, it'll be fine." Seifer snorted.

"We can't just hover over for years, just WAITING for Ultimecia to come out of her," Squall said. "We have to get her out."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Seifer spat out. "You and Kinneas have been on it for a fucking decade and you still don't know what the hell is going on."

"We've been trying, but it's difficult!" Squall snapped. "Millenias DO change things, Seifer."

"Just get Chicken-wuss and Kinneas to find a way to get that thing out of Rinoa," Seifer said as he looked back up the camp. "You keep an eye on Rinoa. Fujin and Raijin will be leaving tomorrow to do some work in town."

"And what about you?" Squall asked, highly annoyed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're just going to sit back and watch?"

Seifer turned to glare at him. "I'M going to keep Quistis out of your hair. If anyone's going to be questioning anything, it's going to be her," Seifer retorted proudly. "You know how she is."

"Fine," Squall said with narrowed eyes. "Once this is over, we can finally rest." Squall turned his back on Seifer and began to climb back up the hill.

"What about Rinoa?" Seifer asked, stopping Squall half way up the hill. "Once it's over, you're just going to leave her."

"She's not MY Rinoa." Squall replied, his hands clenched at his sides.

"Oh, bull shit-"

"Don't fuck with me, Seifer," Squall hissed, turning around to face Seifer once more. "Our job is to make sure that another Fall of Centra doesn't happen again. That's why we were sealed in the first place! After this job is finished, that's it. I'm going to rest. I don't care what the hell you do afterwards, but it's OVER for me."

Squall whirled around and angrily went back up the hill. Seifer watched as the brunette left him. "Why do you have to provoke him like that?" a voice said from behind one of the walls of the ruins.

"You know that Rinoa is a touchy subject for him." another voice added. Seifer didn't turn around to know that the voices belonged to Zell and Irvine respectively.

"He doesn't believe it's her, does he?" Zell said as he walked out from behind the wall where he was leaning against.

"It's not her," Irvine stated, as if it were obvious. "That's not HIS Rinoa. His Rinoa is dead."

Zell shook his head sadly. "Do you think he hates her? You know...this Rinoa?"

Irvine was silent, not knowing what to say. Seifer crossed his arms and frowned. "I think the only person that guy hates is himself."

She couldn't look at him. Every time she had seen him that day, she had either pretended not to see him or gone out of her way to avoid him. She had woken up that morning, assuring herself it was a dream. A dream until she got up and realized she was wearing nothing but an over sized T-shirt and that her body ached.

She frowned and then began to make numerous excuses for herself. First of all, it had been hot and she probably kicked off her pajama pants. Second, she had taken a lot of pills the day before, therefore some after affects had to be her aching body. Lastly, it was only a dream. The 'dream' Squall even said so himself.

*Oh, yeah, Rinoa...listen to the 'dream' Squall...Hyne, I'm an idiot...* She took a deep breath and turned the volume up on her portable CD player. She concentrated on finishing digitally re-mastering the image of the tablet she had been working on.

Despite her devoted concentration, her mind would slip and think about the man just a few feet from her across the room. He was sitting in his designated 'medic' area, reading a book. It was a slow day. Quistis had been reluctant to even let Rinoa work, but the girl pleaded and finally the blond gave in.

It was almost time for dinner and Rinoa expected Quistis or Selphie or even both to appear any minute and drag her out for dinner. She couldn't wait for them to arrive. Usually, she would be so engrossed in her work that it bothered her when they would drag her to the cafeteria tent to eat dinner, but this time she welcomed it.

She looked at the clock on the corner of the computer screen. It was just about sunset.

"Selphie, where's Rinoa?" Quistis said as she sat down at their usual table across from her friend. She put her tray down and looked around the hall. Zell and Irvine were at the same table, also eating.

Selphie looked up at her as she munched on a carrot. "I thought YOU were getting her for dinner..."

Quistis stared at her in dismay. "I thought YOU were."

Simultaneously they frowned. "Oh, damn..."

Strange noises were coming from Rinoa's stomach as she looked down that the clock. It had been two hours and her friends still hadn't come for her. She began to wonder if they were all right, but shook her head. Selphie had Zell and Irvine with her and had anything happened to her, they would've brought her up to Squall right away.

And as far as she was aware, Seifer was still 'stalking', as Quistis called it, Quistis so if anything had happened to her, they would've at least been informed. *Seifer would have probably called a helicopter to air lift her to a hospital or something...* Rinoa thought with a frown.

Then there was the last scenario that served not to worry her, but just annoy her. They had forgotten to pick her up. It had happened before, where one girl thought the other was going to get her and the other girl thought the same, resulting in one girl being forgotten.

Of all the times that it had happened, she silently prayed that this wasn't one of those times. Her stomach grumbled once more and she finally decided to just go by herself. Before she could stand up a shadow loomed over her and she turned her head.

"Are you ready for dinner?" Squall asked casually.

*Oh, Hyne...* Rinoa nearly felt like exploding at that very moment. Her face turned red as her eyes darted back to her computer. "No, no...I'm not hungry."

"Rinoa, I heard your stomach grumbling across the room," he told her flatly. "You should eat dinner or else you might have another attack."

She knew he was right and nodded. "Just let me save this..." she said tiredly. She moved the mouse and saved her data before standing up. Squall was waiting by the door and let her step out first before closing the entrance behind them.

"How are you feeling?" Squall asked. "Any more head aches?"

"None today," Rinoa said, trying to put on a bright smile for him. "I slept in today, so maybe that's the key to not having headaches, huh?" She laughed nervously to herself.

"Then sleep in."

"I'd love to," Rinoa replied. She put her hands her pockets and looked up at the sky. "But Quistis knows that I love sleeping in a little TOO much and might be suspicious."

"How long have known Quistis and Selphie anyway?" Squall said as they walked up the path. They could see the tent ahead of them.

"For as long as I can remember," Rinoa sighed. A smile graced her face as she thought back to her childhood. "We were probably still toddlers when we first met."

"Did you meet that your baby sitters?" Squall asked, having remembered being told that.

Rinoa nodded slightly. "We called her Matron...her name was Edea Kramer. Her husband was always out on business so she baby-sat us. Matron was always so lively! She'd tell us those stories...you know, the myths I told you about?"

Squall nodded. "She was from Centra, right?"

"Right," Rinoa asserted. "Anyway, my mom was a small time singer at night and worked during the day at a restaurant, so I'd go to Matron's. My dad's a General back in Galbadia."

"I thought your last name sounded familiar," Squall said. "General Caraway?"

"That's him," Rinoa sighed. "Anyway, he was always gone. Selphie's parents passed away in a car accident when she was two and she lived with her aunt and uncle who owned a store. But they were always working, so she had to go to Matron's. Quistis' parents...well, they were rich. Her father was always away, too. Her mom didn't really pay any attention to her. Which I think was stupid, because Quistis is a genius!"

Squall glanced over at her as they reached the tent. She had lost the nervousness she had earlier and was now talking to him as if they had known each other for ages. "You're really close to them."

"Oh yeah," Rinoa said as they entered the tent. "They're like my sisters."

When they entered, Rinoa saw Quistis and Selphie at the table. They seemed to have been arguing about something when they saw Rinoa. She went over to them, scolding the whole time, as Squall headed to the line.

*Like sisters...* Squall thought to himself as he reached out and grabbed two trays. *You make it seem like you haven't changed at all...*

"Whose the other tray for, Squall?" a smirking voice said behind him. Squall rolled his eyes and looked over at Seifer with a cold glare.

"I'm just saving her spot." Squall stated. Seifer nodded and mouthed 'sure' as he headed towards the table with the others. Squall watched as Seifer turned around and put his hands over Quistis' eyes.

"Guess who!" She obviously already knew since she let out a shriek of anger and swiped her arm at him. Squall grinned as he watched Seifer jump back.

"Can you believe it?" Rinoa said. Squall turned his head and noticed that she had reappeared at his side. She was frowning as she looked over at Selphie and Quistis. "Some sisters...they completely forgot to pick me up for dinner!"

"Real sisters do that." Squall told her. He handed her a tray before she could reach for one.

"Thanks," Rinoa said. Her eyes were still on her friends as Quistis threatened Seifer with, of all things, a spoon. "Oh geez...like he's afraid of a spoon."

"If you touch me again, I'm not going to tolerate it, Mr. Almasy!" Quistis snapped. She stabbed the mashed potatoes on her plate and turned her back to him.

Rinoa shook her head. *How weird...they're like that in my dream, too...*

"Okay, just take this," Squall said as he handed Rinoa a small pill. "It should help just in case you get an attack tonight."

Rinoa nodded and took the pill from his hand. She put it into her mouth and swallowed it. "Thanks," she said. Squall handed her a bottle of water after he uncapped it for her. She chugged some down and handed it back to him. "So have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Squall said. He twisted the cap back on to Rinoa's water bottle.

"Zell and Irvine are taking us to town tomorrow," Rinoa replied excitedly. "Irvine's sick of cafeteria food, so we're going to dinner there. Are you going to come?"

"I should stay here," Squall told her coolly. "What if someone here gets hurt?"

Rinoa thought for a while and nodded. "I guess so," she sighed. "That's very admirable. Should we bring you back something to eat?"

"Anything is fine," Squall assured her. Rinoa nodded once more. There was a long pause as Squall finished packing his things away. "But I should go..." he mumbled as he stared at his back.

"Hmm?" Rinoa tilted her head to the side.

"I'm running out of general first aid equipment," Squall mumbled. "You won't believe how many people get bruises, cuts, and the like."

Rinoa struggled to keep her knowing smirk to himself. *Obviously, he's never been on a dig site before...* she thought to herself. "We can pick it up. Just write up a list."

"All right," Squall said. "You're all set. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Good night!" Rinoa said with a brilliant smile. Squall left her tent and closed the flap behind him. From her seat on her cot, Rinoa let out a heavy sigh and fell back against the cot.

One moment, the man was making her feel extremely self conscious and nervous and the next, she felt she could talk to him about anything. It was strange. Rinoa closed her eyes. She didn't want to think about him right now. It had been three nights and her 'dream' Squall hadn't appeared yet.

Every night so far, she had found herself laying in bed, wondering if it had all been a dream or not. When she woke the next morning without any feeling or sign that he had been there, a wave of disappointment would flood her. Perhaps that was the reason why seeing Squall the last few days had been more bearable.

She reached over and turned off her lamp before snuggling into her cot. Outside, the wind howled furiously and she hoped that another sand storm would not occur and bury the ruins. She found herself drifting off to sleep and glanced once more at her watch before she closed her eyes. She had been lying in bed for an hour and a half.

Squall laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The wind goddess was crying outside. She was probably scolding him for not keeping his word and not visiting Rinoa. But to him, it was for the best. She had grown more comfortable with him after he stopped appearing in her room at night and triggering her dreams.

She hadn't told him about them, but he knew. She would mumble in her sleep. When she had actually woken and caught him putting his clothes on, he had attempted to cover it up by saying it was part of her dream.

He rolled over on his cot. *She's not stupid...* he thought to himself as he closed his blue eyes. *I probably just confused her...*

He had gone in to check on her and had removed his jacket as soon as he got into the tent. He had just woken up himself and wasn't wearing two of his belts. One of them was undone. He took off his shirt and stretched out a bit. He pulled out her chair and sat by her cot. He took her pulse and made sure she was breathing normally.

It had been a hot night and as he sat there, watching her shift in her cot, she unconsciously kicked off her blanket. To his amazement, she was still wearing pajama pants and he shook his head. It was hot and yet she wore those things. Then, she somehow managed to remove them.

It took all his strength not to stare at her long, pale legs. But when she called his name, he knelt over her sleeping figure and gently caressed her face.

Squall's eyes flew open. He didn't want a repeat of that night. He also almost lost control of himself. Had he not sensed Seifer waiting outside to speak to him, he might've just joined Rinoa in her cot and held her until the dawn. He had rushed to put his shirt on when she woke.

*She's not MY Rinoa,* his mind scolded. *MY Rinoa is gone...no one can ever replace her.*

Years of research and studying had shown that Rinoa was indeed physically and spiritually Rinoa from Centra. But his heart and mind refused to accept it. How could he love another? It wasn't HER, regardless of the findings in the ancient texts and spell books.

Seifer had no problem accepting Quistis and pursued her like he had once done - carelessly. And Quistis, strangely enough, had rebuked him like she had once done - consistently. Irvine was also more than happy to flirt to Selphie. But the Rinoa he had met a week ago was different from the Rinoa he had fallen in love with.

Even as he assured and reassured himself that she was not the same person, Squall found himself tugging his pants on and walking out into the blowing wind. His hair flew over his face as he passed the tents of the others and walked towards Rinoa's.

He stopped in front of her tent. *What the hell am I doing?* he asked himself. *Checking on her. Yes. Just make sure she's not having an attack...* he reasoned. Squall frowned. *Liar.*

He reached over and unzipped her tent flap. He slipped into the small room and looked over at the cot. His eyes narrowed. She wasn't in her tent.

Clad in shorts and a tank top, Rinoa rubbed her hands against her upper arms as she quickly dashed back to her tent from the bathroom. *I shouldn't have drank all the water before bed...* she scolded herself.

She reached her tent and stopped. The zipper wasn't where she had left it. She always pulled it all the way up and now it was closed, but at the bottom. Her heart began to beat quickly as she swallowed. She couldn't stay out in the blistering night wind and she didn't want to wake up the others.

Rinoa's hand shot out and unzipped the flap.

Her room was dark, just as she had left it. Her brown eyes narrowed suspiciously as she slipped into her tent. She kept her back to the entrance as she slowly zipped it back up with fumbling fingers. Her eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness of her tent.

"Where were you?"

"AH!" Rinoa jumped nearly a foot as she turned and stumbled backwards against her cot. Her eyes focused to the far corner and saw the figure of a man standing there. Her eyes were wide open as her mouth stood agape.

"I hope you weren't wandering around this late at night." Squall's voice was deep and somewhat unhappy.

"I...I just had to go to the bathroom!" she stammered nervously.

She heard him let out a heavy sigh. "I came to check on you," he told her, knowing what she was going to ask next. "Sorry to scare you."

"It's okay..." she mumbled nervously. "Um...I'm fine."

Squall continued to stand there. "All right then," he mumbled. "Go back to sleep."

He turned and headed for the door. "Wait, Squall," Rinoa said. He paused half way there. Rinoa took a deep breath and ran her hand through her messy brown hair. "Were you in here several nights ago?"

She felt the heat rise in her face as cool blue eyes shifted over and looked at her. "Why do you ask?"

Her heart was racing for sure now. "I'm just...umm...I could've sworn that I saw you. About three nights ago."

"You were dreaming." he stated, his voice almost toneless. Rinoa looked down at her feet as he reached the flap of her tent.

"Then I want to dream again," He paused where he was and Rinoa looked up at him. He didn't move. He stood there, his hand about to unzip the tent flap. Rinoa began to feel uncomfortable with him standing there and glaring at the side of her tent. "Squall?" she finally squeaked out nervously.

His head dropped slowly and he closed his eyes. "I'm tried," he mumbled. "I've been up too long..."

Rinoa watched as he turned around and slowly walked over to her. He sat down next to and Rinoa felt her entire body tingle. His bare arm brushed hers as he turned to look into her eyes. "Squall...?" she whispered.

He leaned forward and Rinoa found herself being drawn into his blue eyed gaze. Her heart was racing as she leaned forward slightly. "Help me rest, Rinoa..." his voice was like a small plea just before his lips rested on hers.