Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII....

Author's Note: Alright guys, I hope the end of this chapter satisfies you. Just please don't hurt me too badly for ending this chapter where I did. Also, for those of you who have been following my other current FF8 fic, Azure Sky, I just want to let you know that it is currently on the backburner. I have decided to dedicate all of my time to this fic for now. Once I am finished with this, I will pick up Azure Sky again. That's all. Please review!

To Love You More

Chapter Fourteen

Rinoa stood by Irvine before the people of Zuwang. She shielded her eyes from the bright glare of the sun, and took a deep breath. Irvine was all packed and everything was loaded into the airship. Rinoa had very few belongings, most of them gifts from Marianna and Leanne. She was going to miss the both of them terribly.

"Rinoa," Marianna said as she walked up to her. "I...don't know what to say."

The young woman smiled gently. "You don't need to say anything, Marianna."

Marianna's eyes filled with tears. "I'm really going to miss you, dear. You'll keep in touch, won't you? Who knows, maybe someday I will even be able to come and visit."

"That would be wonderful," Rinoa said, holding back tears of her own. "I don't know how I can ever thank you for everything you have done."

Marianna hugged her tightly. "You don't have to thank me. Be strong, Rinoa. Never lose that incredible spirit of yours. We all love you."

Nodding, Rinoa slowly pulled away. "Thank you, Marianna. I'm going to miss you so much." She turned to Alanna. "You, too, kiddo. Thanks for finding me in the first place."

Alanna smiled happily. "You're welcome! Bye Rinoa!"

"Leanne," she turned to the person whose care she had been in for the past three years. "Thank you so much for treating me these past years. I doubt that I would be alive right now if it wasn't for you."

Leanne smiled at her reassuringly. "It was my pleasure. You were one of my best patients." She gave her a quick hug. "Goodbye, Rinoa."

"Goodbye." She walked over to Irvine. "I'm ready."

He nodded. "Thank you all for taking care of my friend." He tipped his hat. "I'm sure this isn't the last time that we'll be seeing each other."

"Goodbye," Rinoa called with one final wave as she followed Irvine into the airship.

Once inside, he let out a sigh of relief. "Man, I'm glad that's over with. It looks like the whole damn city showed up to see you off."

Rinoa smiled faintly. "I barely even know them. They've known me for three years, yet I've known them for days." She shook her head. "I will miss Marianna and Leanne, though."

Irvine nodded. "We better start this baby up before these folks change their minds and decide that you can't leave after all."

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "Like that's really going to happen. Go start this up, though. I'm anxious to get home."

"Sure thing. After that, I can give you a tour of this place. It's actually pretty similar to how the Ragnarok was."

She involuntarily shuddered at the memory that the former airship brought up. "Yeah," she said absently. "I'd like that."

"The control room is just up ahead," he said, gesturing to a door down the hall. "You coming?"

Rinoa nodded and followed him down the hall. The control room was pretty similar to that of the Ragnarok's. It was a medium sized room containing four seats. The look of everything was so like the Ragnarok that a new wave of bottled up emotions hit her head on; both good and bad. "Um, Irvine? Do you think I could take a rain check on that tour? I'm actually not feeling that well."

Irvine nodded from his place in the pilot's seat. "Hold on a second, and I'll have this baby up and running."

The engine rumbled to life and, seconds later, lifted up off the ground and into the air. Rinoa watched from the window as Zuwang faded beneath them. "I wonder if I'll ever go back there..." she murmured.

Irvine came up behind her. "Well, the ship's on autopilot. We'll be back at Balamb Garden before you know it."

Rinoa swallowed nervously. "I have to admit that that thought makes me nervous."

"I don't blame you," he told her softly. "Don't think about it right now, though. You said you wanted to rest, right? I'll show you to a room." Rinoa followed him down the hall silently, until they reached a single door. "Here you are."

"Thank you," she said. She was just about to open the door when she turned around suddenly. "Irvine?"

"Yeah," he said as he faced her.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but...you're more mature than I remember."

He shrugged. "We all grew up after we found out you died. There...didn't seem to be a reason to act immature." He sighed. "We were dealt a cruel stroke of fate, and that had a strong impact on all of us."

Rinoa took a deep breath. "There's...something you're not telling me about Squall, isn't there? You weren't just talking about yourself just now."

"Rinoa..." he looked at her seriously. "Things Just don't worry about them right now."

The sorceress frowned. "What do you mean by that? Irvine, what aren't you telling me?"

By then, Irvine had already walked back down the hall. "Get your rest, Rinoa," he hollered, silently adding, You're going to need it.

Quistis hummed to herself absently as she tidied up their hotel room. They would be leaving in a few days, and their room was littered with clothes, makeup, and other various items. The blonde smiled to herself as she remembered just how most of those clothes had been discarded onto the floor. People would never know it by looking at him, but Squall was a very passionate lover. Especially when he felt like he needed to redeem himself.

From the bathroom behind her, Quistis heard the shower turn on. The thought of her naked husband was especially appealing that morning. Suddenly feeling extremely flirty, she made her way to the bathroom, shedding articles of clothing on the way. So much for cleaning up the room. She silently entered the bathroom and stopped to watch Squall's silhouette behind the shower curtain. Smirking, she pulled a corner of the curtain aside and slipped into the shower. Squall had his back to her and was completely oblivious to his wife's presence. Quistis couldn't stop herself from running her hands down his glistening back.

Squall tensed, but then turned around slowly. He smirked upon seeing his wife. "Did you plan on giving me a heart attack?"

Quistis shrugged. "Who else would be jumping into a shower with you?"

Squall raised an eyebrow. "Only you, apparently. So, was last night not enough for you?" he teased.

Quistis loved when he was like this; so open and inviting. "Have you ever been enough for me?" she whispered.

Squall cornered her so that they were mere inches apart. "You do realize that I'm never going to finish my shower if you're in here with me?"

"Yes, but technically it doesn't matter. It's not like we have anywhere to be."

"Leave it to you to throw logic out the window now." He began to trail kisses down her neck. "But you're right. We have all day." He let his hands roam down her body, making her shudder in pleasure.

"I've got a better idea," she said huskily. "Why don't we just forget about the shower all together?"

Squall captured her mouth in reply, kissing her fiercely. Then, without warning, he lifted her up into his arms and carried her out of the shower and back into the bedroom. There, they fell back onto the bed together, in a jumbled heap. Quistis took the lead, planting kisses all over his chest, stopping to nibble on his shoulder.

Just then, there was an urgent knock on the door. "Ignore it," Squall ordered as he resumed his assault on Quistis's mouth. However, the knocking persisted. Groaning, Squall rolled off the side of the bed, searching for his boxers. "Hold on," he called.

Quistis sighed as she pulled on a robe. Whoever was at the door had the absolute worst timing. She hoped that whoever it was would leave quickly so that her and Squall could finish what they had started.

Finally having put on some clothes, Squall answered the door. "What?" he demanded.

A boy, looking to be about eighteen, stood there. He shifted uncomfortably before making eye contact with the older man. "Are you Squall Leonhart?" he finally asked.

"Yes," he said impatiently.

"This is for you," he announced as he handed him a piece of paper. "It was just faxed to the front desk."

Squall took the paper from the boy's hand. "Is that all?"

"Yes, Sir."

Squall shook his head in annoyance and reentered the room. Quistis walked over to him, noticing the paper in his hand. "What's going on?" she asked.

Squall read over the paper silently and then cursed. "You're not going to like this."

"What is it?" she asked concernedly.

He sighed. "It's a fax from Garden. Xu has taken ill, so we're needed back at Garden immediately."

Quistis groaned. "Once Irvine gets back to Garden, remind me to kill him."

Irvine paced the length of the control room restlessly. Although he hadn't told her anything specific, Rinoa knew that something was up with Squall. He had intended to be honest with her from the beginning, but he saw how much Rinoa still loved Squall, and he couldn't bring himself to hurt her. Still, Rinoa wasn't stupid. She would find out the truth eventually. It would be better for everyone if they just sat down and discussed everything. Stop being such a coward.

Sighing, Irvine sat down in one of passenger seats. He rubbed his forehead wearily. Rinoa is right...I have grown up. I owe it to her to tell her the truth. I'll just wait until she wakes up. He yawned loudly, finding that he could use some rest himself. Besides, it would be easier to talk to Rinoa after he had gotten come sleep. He closed his eyes, willing sleep to claim him. Perhaps subconsciously putting the truth further off.

As Irvine was falling asleep, Rinoa was just waking up. She had drifted to sleep for awhile, but her nerves had mostly kept her awake. She didn't know why she was so nervous, really. According to Irvine, Squall would be away on his mission for at least another week, probably two. Quistis was also away on a mission, and Selphie was in Trabia. That left Zell. Somehow, the thought of facing Zell was more of a comfort than an intimidation. She would have time to settle back into life at Garden before everyone else returned. By then, she would be more than ready to face them.

Feeling slightly better, Rinoa opened the door and walked over to the control room in search of Irvine. She found him asleep in one of the seats, once again snoring. She debated on whether or not she should wake him up. Glancing at the digital map on the control panel, she saw that they were practically in Balamb. Her eyes widened and she shook Irvine urgently.

Irvine's eyes shot open and he jumped out of his chair. "What's going on?!"

Rinoa couldn't stop herself from laughing at his reaction. "Hey, calm down. I'm just waking you up because we're just about in Balamb."

The cowboy grinned sheepishly. "Well, you didn't have to shake me so damn hard."

"You're right. Sorry about that."

"Listen, Rinoa, there's something I need to tell you before we land."

Rinoa held up her hand to silence him. "I know what you're going to say, Irvine. You don't need to. I'm sorry about earlier. I overreacted and jumped to conclusions. I know you would never lie to me."

Irvine felt a sharp pain at Rinoa's words. How was he supposed to tell her the truth now? "Rinoa, listen, I-"

"No, please don't," Rinoa said, cutting him off. "You don't need to explain yourself."

Irvine opened his mouth to say something else, when the airship suddenly began to descend. "We'll talk later. It looks like we're here."

Rinoa took a deep, steadying breath as the airship landed just outside of Balamb Garden. The doors opened, and she looked to Irvine for reassurance. "This is it," she said quietly.

Irvine nodded. "Yep, this is it."

Rinoa stepped out of the airship tentatively. She looked around, taking in the sight of Balamb Garden; her home. A sudden movement from the front steps caught her eye. Black clothes, brown shaggy hair... Even after three years, and from that distance, she knew him. She would know him anywhere. Her face breaking out into a grin, she ran down the steps as fast as lightening.

"Squall," she called as she caught up to him.

He turned around, his face turning completely white. "R-Rinoa?"