Squall stared blankly out the inn window. Quistis had left to go pick up some food, and he was alone. Like he had imagined he would be. Irrational fears plagued his mind; what if she left him? No. She had promised she wouldn't leave.
He felt like a child again. A child anxiously waiting for a loved one to come home, always afraid that something would happen to the loved one along the way and they would be left alone forever. Squall shook his head, frustrated. He was being stupid and he knew it.
Instinctively, his hand went to his chest, seeking out something he didn't even know was there. He closed his eyes as his hand wrapped around a metallic surface. It brought him a small amount of comfort; although he didn't even know why.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the object in his hand. A metal lion's head. Is that what she meant by him being a lion? He let out a bitter laugh; how the hell was he supposed to be a lion when he could hardly remember his own name? He sighed, feeling sorry for himself wouldn't get him anywhere.
Soon, the pitter pattering of rain started; as first lightly and then harder in the span of a few seconds. Squall stood up and squinted out the window, hopefully she wasn't caught in the rain. It had looked nice out in the morning, but the cloud did have a tinge of grey in them; and it ended up raining.
The window was soon covered in rain drops and it was almost impossible to make out any shapes. Squall sighed, and walked over to his bed and sat down. The photo album from before sat on the table; he reached over and flipped through it absently. The same pictures he had looked at least a dozen times and yet he still couldn't identify anyone in there.
He placed it back over on the stand, and stood up again. The rain hardened even more and he was starting to get a bit concerned. His fur trimmed coat was lazily slung over the chair, he picked it up and put it on before opening the door.
Squall stared stupidly at the door, a soaked Quistis was about two inches from his face looking equally as stunned. He cleared his throat awkwardly, "You should get changed, you'll uh, catch a cold."
She nodded slowly, her shirt was literally plastered to her skin and her hair had fallen from her usual hairstyle. "Are you going to let me in?" She joked quietly.
Squall nodded stupidly, "Sorry." He stepped to the side and let her in. The brunette stared at the walls while she rooted her through her bag for another shirt. A door shutting alerted him that it was safe to turn around as she was in the bathroom.
Friends. Friends. Friends. She had told him. He had told himself. Other people had told him that's all they were. And yet, he couldn't get the concept that maybe they were more than that out of his head. Squall sighed, the way he was thinking was idiotic. That would never happen.
The soft shutting of the door drew his attention towards it. Quistis gave a small wave now dressed in an overly large white blouse. He gave a small wave back. "Sorry I took so long." She said quietly, moving over to the counter. "Hope the food isn't cold." She murmured with a frown as she opened the bag of food carefully. "Or wet."
Squall smiled, and walked over behind her. "I wasn't sure on what to get but I remember when I was talking to Rinoa before..." She paused a moment awkwardly, "this, she said you liked fish. Is there any truth to that?" The blonde teased lightly.
"Yeah." He said quietly. That Rinoa person again, why did everyone keep on mentioning that to him? Where they deliberately dropping hints or something? It was confusing him. Pushing it aside; and watched the blonde who was having a war with the annoying plastic wrap in front of him.
Squall smiled, faintly amused at her antics. He chuckled lightly before reaching over her shoulders and taking the container from her. Her back was still wet from her hair and it made him shiver, she stiffened. And he knew was in an awkward position being pressed against her back.
He pulled back quickly. "Sorry." She said quietly; Squall stared at her. What was she apologizing for? She changed the topic quickly. "So you do like fish then?"
"Why did you apologize?" He blurted out stupidly.
"I..." She trailed off.
"You don't even know why, do you?" Squall accused, dryly.
"I should have moved." The blonde said quietly.
"You should have moved?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes." She shifted uncomfortably. "Never mind, it was stupid. You're food's getting cold." She gestured to the food.
Squall sighed, obviously the topic had been changed on him. They ate in silence. The paper plates had been thrown away and the silence in the room was incredibly thick. A sound of shuffling papers broke it.
Quistis sat a small stack of papers down on the bed. "They gave you paper work?" Squall asked quietly looking over at her.
She shook her head. "These are your records. I thought that if maybe you looked though them they might jog your memory." She gestured to the small pile. Squall looked at them curiously before picking one up.
"Deling?" He asked looking at the label. The blonde nodded, sorting through the others while he read through it quietly. "So we were ordered to assassinate the Sorceress..." Another nod. He scanned the rest of page. "It says I received a large wound, was it in battle?"
Quistis shifted uncomfortably before answering. "No."
He looked up in horror. "Was it self-inflicted?"
"What? No, no." She reassured him. "The Sorceress used her limit break on one the person you were on the mission to protect; and you pushed them out of the way; you took the hit for them." She paused a moment to look him in the eye. "You took the hit for Rinoa; you risked your life so she would be safe."
It was like he had the wind knocked out of him. "You didn't have to though. You could have let her die, but you didn't." She forced a smile at him. "That's the kind of person you are. You're like a knight in shining armour." She let out a small laugh. "Technically, you almost were a knight."
He was so confused. If he risked her life for that girl, why the hell couldn't he remember her? Would he have risked his life for anyone? "Would I have risked my life for you?"
She looked up in a moment of surprise, before relaxing. "I don't know, Squall. That's for you to answer, not me."
He looked at the rest of the papers, before turning back to her. "Yes."
"Yes?" She asked, confused.
"I think I would." He said quietly.
She smiled at him somewhat bitterly. "Thank you, but if the time ever arrives please don't."
"Why not? You want to die?" He asked, staring at her intently.
She shook her head "No, but there's a lot of people that need you. I wouldn't want to take you away from them."
"What if it's my choice?"
"There's people waiting for you, Squall. Besides, I don't think we'll be getting into a life endangering activities any time soon." She smiled reassuringly at him.
"Any one that loves me?" He joked softly, looking through the reports.
"Yes. Lots." The response made him look up in surprise.
"Even you?" He asked quietly.
She didn't answer, but reached over to her bag and pulled something out and placed it in his hands. "Rinoa asked me to give this to you, she hoped it might help you remember."
Squall looked at the object. "A ring? Is it an engagement ring or something?" He asked, confused.
Quistis shook her head. Might as well be, though. "You gave it to her awhile ago, and she kept it. Do you remember it all?"
He examined it closely before shaking his head. "No, sorry." Squall sighed and handed it back to her.
"It's yours." She said, pushing it back to him.
"I know, but I might lose it."
"Squall, I can't take this." Quistis said, shaking her head.
"Hold on to it then for me." He said quietly. "Please." He added, after a moment. She said nothing but cast her eyes downward.
He reached over and put it around her neck, fumbling slightly with the clasp for a moment. He wasn't sure if he was fond of being close to other before this, but he liked it. It seemed like forever until he finally got the chain linked together, he felt her shift underneath him.
"Squall?" She asked quietly. "Squall?" He closed his eyes for a moment content to be near her. He let out sigh and opened his eyes, and froze. Flickering, again. Just a for a second, her attire was blue before back to the white blouse.
He pulled away slowly and glanced at her not quite sure of what he saw the first time. "Sorry." Squall stared at her a moment. "It looks nice on you." He said quietly.
She nodded slowly. The ring seemed to only add even more weight onto her guilt, and it was dragging her deeper and deeper into something she might not be to get her way out of.