A/N: As Cailin pointed out in the reviews, Quistis switches from a pink dress to a black dress...in the same chapter...within ten minutes of each other. HAHA...like that's possible! When it says "black dress" its supposed to say "pink dress". I'm glad that everyone liked the last chapter. I was kinda iffy about it being all fluffy and of the sort. But, I guess it worked out for the better.

I got an email yesterday from a die hard Rinoa fan. It simply states that she will never read any more of my fanfiction until I do a story where I don't bash Rinoa.

...In all honesty, am I suppose to care about one fan? Do you guys seriously want me to write nicely of Rinoa? Possibly make a Squall/Rinoa? It's up to you, the readers. The people who review my stories are my main fans, not the people who e-mail once in a blue moon. As I said, do you want me to write a ONE-SHOT (anymore and I quite possibly could kill myself) Squinoa? Or shall I stick with Qualls? Or just do a group fic where everyone has someone?

...Review.

Chapter Twelve

Irvine walked quickly ahead of the two. Behind them, two SeeDs escorted Rinoa off of the Ragnarok. It was late at night, so there was no welcome commitee, but there was Selphie. "You guys!" she cheered and raced over to them, grasping Irvine's arm and pulling them into a tight hug. For such a tiny girl, she could hug all three of them at once. "How was Esthar? And Sir Laguna! How's he? I can't believe that Rinoa would do that! Even for a little attention! Quistis, how were all the priestesses?"

Questions flew out of Selphie's mouth a mile a minute. Irvine held up his hands and shook his head, his face stern. "Can we save the questions for tomorrow, Selph?" he asked as he walked away, his bag slung over his shoulder. His tan jacket swayed with him as he faded into the darkness of Balamb Garden. Quistis frowned.

"What's up with him?" she asked, turning to face the two. Squall merely shrugged and Quistis gave Selphie a soft look. "...What happened?"

"Selph," Quistis started. "Like he said...can this wait until tomorrow? We're all a little tired and worn from this trip and my feet are killing me."

Selphie sighed and pouted. "Ok, I guess. Over breakfast, though!" she said the last line in her happy tone. Quistis smiled and nodded. Selphie turned away and skipped back to the dorms. Quistis bent down to pick up her suitcase, only to feel a hardened hand. She turned and looked at Squall, who was also aiming for her suitcase.

"Squall," she whispered. "You promised..."

"Yea, and no one's around or awake..."

Squall lifted up her suitcase, while holding his bag, and began walking towards the dorms. Quistis picked up her other bag and followed Squall, her arms crossed over her chest. "Squall, what if someone is awake?"

"You said your feet hurt. I'm just helping you to your dorm..."

Quistis sighed as they continued down the hallway. She looked down at the ground, staring at the heels of his feet. They both stopped and Quistis pulled her keycard out, swiping it. With a soft whoosh, the doors opened and Squall walked in first, followed by Quistis. The doors shut with a whoosh, leaving the two out of people's eyesight. She heard the soft noise of her suitcase hitting the carpet, followed by the thud of Squall's bag. She felt his strong arms around her, but she was still looking at the ground. "Squall..."

He kissed her cheek softly, forcing her to look up at him. "What's wrong?" he asked in his unconcerned voice.

"Irvine...he...seems really angry..."

Squall sighed and released Quistis, sitting down on her bed. "Yea, I know..."

"I mean, he is our friend..."

"A friend that likes you..." he corrected her. "More than a friend, I should add."

Quistis rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. In all reality, her feet really did hurt. "I don't want him to do something stupid."

Squall casually looped his arm in hers and leaned his head against her shoulder. She smiled and patted his face with her other hand. "He's not going to do anything stupid like go and kill himself."

There was a loud scream that echoed through the hallways. Quistis immediately stood up, knowing whose scream that was. It was Selphies. She opened the door, seeing Selphie standing right at her door. "Now you answer!" she whispered.

Quistis gave her an odd look. "What?"

"I've been buzzing you for about five minutes!"

Squall suddenly appeared from behind the wall, staring at Selphie menacingly. "So you scream? You probably woke the whole Garden!"

Selphie blinked. "Squall? What...are...you doing in Quistis' room?"

Now Squall and Quistis blinked. As soon as Selphie's mouth opened, Quistis grabbed her and pulled her into her room, the door shutting immediately as she heard more doors opening. Squall sighed and leaned back on the bed. "Selphie," Quistis started.

"What going on?" she said, seeing the three bags on the floor, knowing that one of them was definately Squall's. "Please tell me this is nothing..."

Quistis looked over at Squall who merely shrugged. "Tell her if you want. The stupidest thing Irvine's going to do is tell the whole Garden."

"Squall, if the whole Garden finds out, I get fired or you."

Selphie stared at the two. "Why would either of you get fired? What's Irvine going to tell? I NEED TO KNOW!"

Quistis turned and looked at Selphie. She sighed and scratched her head. "Umm...ok...this is hard to explain..."

"No it's not, Quisty."

Selphie eyeballed Squall. "Did you just call her...Quisty? You never call Quisty, Quisty. Ever."

Squall blinked. "Yes I have..."

"No, really...you never have. What's so hard to explain?"

Quistis was blushing. "During the mission to Esthar..."

Squall sighed, tired of running around the bush. "Quistis and I hooked up and now we're going out and Irvine is jealous cause he's been trying to get with Quistis for a long time. Now, was that so hard, Quistis?" He was angered by Selphie's rude intrusion.

"Wait, you guys are going out?"

"We're going out?" Quistis asked at the same time as Selphie.

Squall blinked. "I..."

Selphie began to giggle like a mad woman. "This is so cute! Squall and Quisty, sitting in a tree!" she began to sing.

Squall stood up and grasped her elbows, pulling her close to him as Selphie continued to dance and sing. "If you want..."

Quistis could only smile and blush. Neither of them mentioned anything about going out. She was happy, with the upmost joy that Squall suspected they were going out. He gently kissed her forehead, knowing that she wanted to say yes. Suddenly, a loud 'aw' noise interupted their happiness. "Omigosh! This is so adorable!"

Quistis walked over to Selphie, holding her arms so she would stop dancing and jumping. "Selphie...please, you have to keep this to yourself. Squall and I can both seriously get fired for this. That's why we're so concerned with Irvine. If he tells..."

Selphie smiled politely. "I know. You can trust me to keep this a secret. And trust me, Irvine wouldn't do that, no matter how much he may like you Quistis. He's just going to impress you more and more everyday. That's the way he is!"

Squall frowned. "Did you have to say that in front of my presence?"

Selphie giggled as Quistis rolled her eyes. "Is Squally jealous?" Selphie teased. Squall picked up his bag and kissed Quistis' cheek gently. He pressed the button to open the door and it shut. Selphie turned and looked at Quistis. "Oh! What I came here for! Dur, I'm retarded!" she giggled out. Quistis smiled and picked up her bag, placing it down onto the bed. She opened it up and slowly began to unpack. "We're having a concert."

"So?" Quistis said. The only person who had ever heard her sing was Squall, and she intended to keep it that way.

"So...I was hoping that you would be able to play something on the piano!"

Quistis silently cursed herself. She forgot that she had played the piano that one time at Fisherman's Horizon. She sighed and looked at Selphie. "Can we discuss this tomorrow? Please?"

Selphie nodded her head. "Yea. We should all go out for breakfast!"

"All? Who's all of us?"

"Well, you, Squall, myself, Nida..."

"Nida?" Quistis exclaimed. Selphie giggled and left the room quickly. Quistis shook her head and continued to unpack. She pulled out the dresses Masako had given her and frowned. She would certainly be upset to give them back. She was beginning to like being a priestess. There was a loud thud. She looked up and around. She walked over to the door and opened it, not seeing anyone out in the hallway. She walked back into her dorm and heard the thud again. She looked to the window and opened it up, staring outside.

"Hey!" a voice called out. She looked around, finally seeing Irvine standing outside.

"What are you doing?" she called out. It was about a two story drop. "Why don't you just come up?"

"...is Squall with you?"

'Maybe Selphie was right,' she thought to herself. She looked down at him. She smiled, knowing he couldn't see it. It was romantic, in a stupid cliche way, that he decided to contact her through her...window. "No, he's not. Will you come up?"

"Come down."

She sighed and closed the window, quickly grabbing her whip. She was in a pair of jogging pants, a tank top, and wearing flip flops and quite thankful she wasn't wearing her normal attire. When she finally reached outside her window, she looked around, not seeing Irvine anywhere. "Irvine?"

Suddenly, he popped out, giving her a soft smile. "Hey."

She sighed and walked over to him. "What?"

"I'm sorry about the mission. I wasn't helpful at all...and I'm sorry that I fought with Squall. It was stupid and immature."

Quistis blinked. He was being very mature...perhaps more so than Squall. "Oh. And you couldn't call me for this?" She didn't want to give him false hope, but she didn't want to be a cold ice queen to him, either. "I mean..."

"And let you miss out on this?"

Suddenly, fireworks went off. Quistis' eyes opened wide as she saw the flash of color in the sky. Her mouth was agape, surprised as more fireworks went off. "What's this for?" she whispered out. She felt Irvine's hand reach for hers. She didn't pull away, but she didn't grab back.

"You."

"Me?" she asked, a bit shocked. "Why me?"

"Well, I had this planned for when we came back. I...was hoping that you'd go out with me..."

"Who's lighting them?" she immediately asked.

"Zell..." Quistis turned and looked back at the fireworks going off. Different colors lighted the night sky. She could hear a few of the students opening their windows and she looked as their heads started to pop out the windows. "Ah...I forgot about the onlookers!" he said with a laugh.

She looked at Irvine. He was being so unlike him. 'Selphie WAS right...that's a first,' she thought with a smile. Irvine smiled down at her, his brown eyes sparkling like amythists. She looked back at the fireworks, avoiding his stare. She hugged herself tightly, only to fill the heavy weight of his leather coatdrop onto her shoulders. "What..."

"I'm not giving up on you. I don't think I ever will, Quistis." He slowly reached into one of the pockets in his jacket, causing Quistis to step back some. He pulled out a square shaped box, handing it to her. "Forgot I had this in there...thought I put it in my pocket," he said with a smile.

Quistis took the box and opened it up, only to see a silver locket glistening the colors of the fireworks off of it. She smiled as she saw her birth month's flower, the Calendula. "What's this for?" she asked in a hushed whisper. Irvine picked up the pendant by its chain and quickly put it on her.

"The calendula stands for true love."

"Irvine..."

"That's what you are to me." They heard footsteps echoing in the grass. Quistis looked up to see the spunky haired boy walk up. "Hi Zell," Quistis said, smiling.

"Hey! Enjoy the show?" he called out walking over to them. Quistis nodded her head. "Ya like the pendant?" he asked, smiling brightly.

"Yes, I do," she responded. It fit her perfectly.

Irvine laughed. "Zell's looking for compliments. He made that necklace."

Quistis' eyes went wide open and stared at Zell. "You're kidding me? This is amazing work!"

"Ah...it's nothing really!" he said, waving a shy hand at Quistis. "So...you two going out now?" Irvine frowned, looking dead at Quistis, who in turn looked down at the ground. "Don't tell me I put on that fireworks display for no reason..."

"No, Zell! It was very sweet of Irvine...and of you, too. I...just..."

Irvine stared deeply into her sapphire eyes. "She just needs time to think about it, is all. Right Quistis?"

She began to blush and immediately took off his jacket and handed it back to him. "I best be going to bed, you guys. Got a long day ahead of me tomorrow..." She walked off and Irvine just watched her as she walked back to the Garden entrance.

Zell smiled and elbowed Irvine in the ribs. "Way to go man! I can't believe that you bagged Quistis!"

Irvine gave him a half smile. "I didn't bag her, Zell."

Zell smiled and nodded his head. "That's right. I should think before I talk next time! But, you know what I mean. You have the chance to be Quistis' first real boyfriend." Zell paused, his smiling face turning into a slight frown. "You're not gonna mess this up are you?"

Irvine shook his head. "I'll do anything but..."