It was dream. Just a dream. Only a dream, but it scared her. It honestly scared her. Maybe it wasn't even the thought of drying that scared her or that she had let him go only to have him not come back. Maybe it was the prospect of betraying a friend. Betraying them when the only one they can count on is you.

"Your promise replaced mine." It seemed to echo in her head. Had it really? Had it really replaced Rinoa and Squall's promise? She hadn't meant to, had she?

No. She couldn't have. She was doing them this for them. For Squall and Rinoa. So they could have their happily ever after, even if she would never get her own. Lazily, she opened her eyes and rolled over. A smile crossed her lips, Squall was curled like a cat on the bed opposite of hers.

She stretched a moment before fully getting out bed and inspecting him. He was completely and totally asleep and by the looks of it had only fallen asleep a few hours earlier. Maybe he had pulled an all-nighter looking at reports? Maybe. Slowly, she reached over and brushed the bangs out of his eyes.

Yes, she would make sure they got their happy ending. She would do that for him. For her. For them.

Even if it meant letting him go forever.

[ o [ o [ o

He hadn't slept well to put it bluntly. Something about the line "I'm sorry Rinoa." had kept him up all night. Why was she sorry? He didn't understand, but if he had a dollar for everything he didn't understand anything he'd be rich; so he put it to that back his brain for later and decided on a question he could answer. What time was it? Squall rolled over and opened his eyes for a minute trying to get a hold of the clock and see what time it was.

12:00. He groaned. Did he really sleep that long? It didn't feel like it. The brunette rolled over again in a vain attempt to get back to sleep. It failed. Utterly. He sighed, obviously going back to sleep wasn't an option. Slowly, he sat up and took a look around the room.

It was empty. Where was she? Squall got up and looked around. The bags were still there, everything was still intact. No note either. That was a good sign wasn't it? It meant that she hadn't left a suicide or left-without-you note.

He sighed, calming himself down. It was only noon, she had probably gone out for lunch or something. The photo album. Possibly the most useless and helpless item known to existence according to him; but at least it have him something to do.

He honestly hated that little black book with a passion he decided as he flipped through the pages. He had lost count of how many times he had flipped through it a while ago. Talk about frustrating.

Sounds of pages being flipped filled his ears. A blur of colours and faces he couldn't identify and it was driving him crazy. And then, pain. It wasn't excruciating pain mind you, but it wasn't fun either.

He nearly dropped the album in surprise. A folded picture had appeared out of no where along with a fresh paper cut. Squall examined the album, it must have been folded in with the rest and had just shaken loose.

The brunette frowned, grabbing a tissue from the night stand and pressing it to his finger in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He again looked to the clock as if it would solve all the problems to his amnesia. The only answer it gave was the time. 12:05.

The folded picture in his hand begged to be opened, and it almost felt like he was holding Pandora's box. He looked again to the clock; he would give her 20 minutes. If she wasn't back by then, he would start looking.

Squall turned his attention back to the picture; unfolding it carefully as to not receive another paper cut. The crinkling of the paper gave him a bit of anxiety, but finally it was opened; revealing all the secrets the picture held. As many secrets as a picture can have, anyways.

He found himself looking at a picture of Quistis and himself; at a party maybe? He could tell there were others in the background and as he squinted he could make out faint outlines of confetti. Yes. A party. It wasn't the party part that made him wonder, though.

It was why he had his arms around her.

He examined the picture closely. No, he wasn't seeing things. Squall stared at the picture; they were both smiling. Why? Why were they smiling? Why were they even hugging?

Why was he so damn confused? Was she hiding anymore things from him?

He almost wanted to rip the picture in half out of frustration, but he didn't. Maybe it was because there was some part of him that knew that that was closest he'd ever get to her. Maybe that hug was the only thing they had going for them. So why was it folded away secretly?

After all, it was just a hug. Not a not a kiss, not a lover's embrace. Was it? They were just friends weren't they? If that's all they were why he did he feel so disappointed?

He shook his head. No, thinking that was just plain stupid. She was a friend.

Acquaintance.

Friend.

Best friend.

Lover.

Sometimes; the lines between them blurred.

[ o [ o [ o

12:35. He was starting to wonder where she was and how long she had been gone. However, wondering wouldn't get him anywhere. He sighed before getting up and walking towards the door.

Somewhere, deep within; he wished she would be on the other side.

Lady luck was not fortunate to him. He was greeted with only the sight of the stairs; his heart sank a little. Slowly, he descended the stairs; anxiously looking for the innkeeper. Soon, he spotted her, tending to the tables.

"Excuse me-" The woman jumped, nearly knocking over the chair closest to her. The inn keeper looked up, obviously trying to recover after the small fright.

"Oh. I thought you left." She said, placing a hand on her chest to calm her breathing. Squall shook his head. "How can I help you, then?"

"I was looking for," He paused a moment, telling the woman her name probably wouldn't get him anywhere. "the blonde woman?"

"Her?" The woman asked, wiping the table. "She about two hours ago."

His heart literally stopped, it took him a moment to get air back in his lungs. "Do you know where she went?" Please tell me she didn't leave. Please.

The woman shrugged. "I'm sorry. She didn't say where she was going or when she'd be back. I don't think she would have gone far though; there's always monsters roaming about. She probably just went next door to get food and starting talking to somewhere there. That's where she went yesterday."

Squall nodded stupidly, and turned for the door. "Hey, be careful out there! Don't go far, there are monsters out there. If you see any just run!" The woman's voice didn't even register to him. He had a feeling she didn't go next door though.

And he knew it wasn't too smart to follow gut instincts 24/7. but he decided to do it. Just this once. He took a deep breath, and turned towards the small wooden bridge; he had magic with him. He wasn't totally suicidal, after all.

Somehow, he knew where to go. Past the flower shop, to the dirt road. He saw the battle before he actually saw her. Flames shot up in a column of red and the air around it warped slightly.

Something inside of him made his run faster. Maybe it was for the excitement of battle, maybe it was to get somewhere new. Maybe it was the thought of someone close to you being in danger. Maybe it was nothing it all.

"Quistis!" The words came out of his mouth before any thoughts of how stupid he would look, running heroically, calling out her name if it wasn't her. In the end, being there in general was stupid.

She was going perfectly fine. Until he came along, that is. It was then she had made the mistake of looking up.

And sometimes looking up could be fatal.

He cursed himself as the monster (he really couldn't tell quite exactly what it was), moved in, and cast firaga. He was an idiot; that was his new mantra in his brain as of now. Almost there. Just a bit further. He urged himself onwards. Why was he so concerned about reaching her?

Was it only because she was the only he had to help her? If there had been another person there with him, would he have been so hell bent on reaching her?

He didn't know and he didn't care.

He just wanted to get there in time.

It was probably pure luck he had managed to get there before the monster had attacked again. "Thunderaga!" He hadn't even really considered which one to use but it was the first thing that came to mind.

Thunder crackled for a moment before an immense lightening strike targeted the monster and nearly charred it to bits. He hadn't been the knight in shinning amour, and he doubted he ever would be. But by God, he would save the princess.

However, the princess, at the moment; was relaying all the ways her knight was not exactly helping her at the moment. Squall ran over and knelt next to her, "Are you alright?"

Despite being tired, burnt and emotionally exhausted; she managed to give him one hell of a withering look. "You know; I distinctly remember teaching you in class to not distract someone while they're fighting."

And even though he was getting a lecture on past lessons; Squall still managed to smile.

[ o [ o [ o

"You're back. What a relief." The voice of innkeeper made Squall jump slightly as they entered. She walked over to the pair, "I thought maybe you had gotten into a lover's quarrel or something. Oh my," The woman murmured catching sight of Quistis' arm. "that's quite the burn you've got there. Hold on a minute, I'm sure I've got some cura spells around here somewhere..."

"I'm fine, really." Quistis said with a smile. "It's just a burn." Before the woman could protest, the blonde was already half way up the stairs and out of hearing range.

Squall stared awkwardly after her. "Feisty one you've got there." The innkeeper muttered.

He nodded stupidly.

[ o [ o [ o

"Does it hurt?" Okay. Fine. It was a stupid question, even he would admit it. Of course it hurt, why wouldn't it?

She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "A bit. I've been through worse, trust me. Besides, it's feeling better now." It didn't ease his guilty conscience, but he nodded anyways.

Silence. Then a whoop of joy. Both of them stared. Then he began to hear music. "I guess she got the radio working." Quistis said quietly.

"Yeah." Squall said quietly, listening to the music. It was hard to hear as the door was muffling most of the noise. He closed his eyes; it sounded a bit familiar. "Do you know the name of this song?" Waltz… waltz for something? Waltz for the Moon.

How the hell did he know that?

"Waltz for the Moon." They said in unison.

"You remember?" Quistis asked, hopefully. He nodded slowly.

"It sounds familiar." Squall admitted quietly. "I don't know why."

"You danced to that song with Rinoa at the SeeD ball." He did? He didn't remember. "It's a pretty famous song."

"Danced?" He asked, confused.

She nodded, "You danced very well with her, I remember." Squall said nothing. He was confused. Dancing with Rinoa. Hugging Quistis. Giving a ring to Rinoa. Being deathly worried for Quistis.

Quistis. Rinoa. Did he love one? None or both? He shook his head. It was all so confusing. Being in love with Rinoa or caring for her deeply didn't sound far fetched; but at the same time not caring for Quistis seemed impossible.

"What happened after the dance?" Did he kiss Rinoa? Did he forget about her? Did he go to Quistis?

She paused, what was she suppose to tell him? Rinoa ditched him for Seifer, or that she dragged him out to tell him she got fired for him and was met with the response talk to the wall? Both could affect him greatly. Tell him Rinoa ditched him for Seifer and he might take a disliking to Rinoa; tell him she dragged him off to the training center and he might get some weird ideas. But she didn't want to lie; she had lied too many times already.

"We went to the training center." All right, fine. She left out the tiny tidbit of information that Rinoa ditched him to go do whatever she did that night with Seifer. It wasn't that important, it wasn't life altering or anything.

He didn't say anything, and she was starting to get worried he was getting more thoughts about them being in love. Again. "Sorry."

She snapped her head up so fast they both thought for a minute there that she would get whiplash. "What? Why?"

"For starters, I got you burnt." He pointed out dryly.

The blonde shook her head. "Don't worry about it; I told you before I've been through worse."

"No. Not just for that," He managed to grit that out; he didn't specialize in the apologies department. "for getting you dragging here with me." Again, it came out awkwardly.

"I don't mind being here." She gave him a reassuring smile. "It's sort of like a vacation." The way she put practically screamed end of discussion.

He glanced back at her arm. "Did you heal it?"

"Not yet."

He frowned, "It'll get worse if you don't heal it." The blonde nodded, she knew. Squall got up and moved over to her and she moved a few centimetres away from him. He said nothing but moved his hands over to her arm. "Curaga."

Blue light flared up from the spell; and for some reason he found himself staring at her. She avoided his gaze, and kept her eyes on the floor. He wanted to see her eyes. The thought suddenly just came to his mind, and he had no idea where it came from but followed it.

Slowly, he moved his free hand to her face and gently turned her head towards him.

Did he even care for her? Did he love her? Maybe he was substituting her for someone he couldn't remember. Maybe it was the way she looked at it him, confusion, fear, love and hurt all being told silently by her eyes. Maybe he just wanted to feel something more than confusion and she was his one way ticket out of it.

He never did know why he kissed her. But he did.