A Promise for Eternity

The heavens glowed with the lights of a thousand stars, giving the raven- haired girl an ethereal glow. The moon also lent its mysterious light upon her visage, giving the woman an angelic aura. Her hair flowed back gently as the wind swept through her porcelain skin, tingling her senses. She had been standing here all night, waiting for a sign.

'It's so beautiful,' she thought to herself. 'Too bad he isn't here to enjoy this,' she chuckled to herself as she thought of the events that had taken place earlier.

Only yesterday, the group had slain an evil sorceress who had planned to take over the world. While the others had jumped back into real time and space, Rinoa had searched plains, valleys, hills, and fields for her love, only to find him unconscious in a rocky cliff. Seconds after weeping and hugging the Lion of Balamb, the skies miraculously cleared to reveal the field where Squall had made that promise, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that he was alive.

"I'll be here.."

"I'll be 'waiting'...here..."

"I'll be 'waiting'...for you...so"

"...if you come here..."

"You'll find me."

"I promise."

Reminiscing those beautiful words, she fiddled with the two rings on her necklace as she thought of her love. Each one represented a half to which she had given her heart, one to her mother who deeply cared for her when she was still alive, and the other to the man whom she had fallen in love with. She sighed, tears threatening to escape her eyes. Squall was probably still at the infirmary, recovering from his trauma at the time- compressed world.

'Why isn't he awake yet? I was so hoping that he could spend this moment with me.'

Rinoa suddenly heard heavy footsteps approaching from behind. Thinking that it was just another one of her friends, she turned only to find a pair of beautiful storm-blue eyes staring back at her. Her heart skipped a beat when he joined her to watch the beautiful night sky.

A star suddenly erupted from the heavens, streaking past the others in a display of unmatched brilliance. Rinoa looked at Squall, pointed to the star, and gave him the smile that won his heart a few weeks back at his graduation ball.

'I wish I could spend this moment with you forever, my love,' she whispered to herself.

To her amazement, Squall smiled back at her.

'Oh Hyne! Is he smiling?! He looks so beautiful when he smiles!'

Squall slowly approached the petite beauty in front of him.

'I wish I could spend eternity with you, Rinoa' he wished as he advanced towards the woman who melted his frigid heart.

He gently grabbed her arms and brought her closer to him.

'Rinoa...I should let her know how I feel about her!'

Closing his eyes, he slowly brought his lips to Rinoa's as he locked her lips with his in a long, passionate kiss that threatened to bring her heartbeat to a complete halt.

'Oh Hyne! I never knew he was such a great kisser! Oh, and those lips! I think I'm gonna faint! Gosh, I do hope the Dr. Kadowaki knows how to treat seizures...'

That kiss might have lasted 10 minutes, no maybe hours, and both lovers never wanted this moment to end. Neither shooting star nor party nor a running Zell with a camera could pull them apart now. Sorceress and knight became one as each sent a flood of emotions cascading into each others' mouths, sending a wave of sensations and a most wonderful feeling that even an infinite number of words could never ever describe. After all, words are a poor substitute for emotions.

Squall reluctantly broke the kiss but still held her in a loving embrace. He whispered to her ear, "I'll be here...waiting for you, so if you come here...you'll find me...I promise, my love." He kissed her forehead and wiped the tears off her eyes.

"Oh Squall, I love you so much!" she said as more tears rained from her face.

"Rinoa, I love you too," he said as he stroked her hair from behind.

'Her hair smells so good...'

"I want to be like this with you forever, my knight," she continued as she rested her head against Squall's toned chest.

'His chest feels so warm...' Squall gently caressed Rinoa's shoulders and swept her feet off the floor in another one of his kisses.

'She is so beautiful. I wish I could do this right here right now, but how will I tell her?'

Squall broke from the kiss and said, "Me too my love, me too."

Rinoa brought her hand to Squall's cheek and began stroking it. "Squall..."

'Her hand feels so soft...'

"...please don't do this. You know that I am a sorceress. You can't bring yourself to love me...I might kill you..." she said with more tears streaming from her brown orbs.

Squall took her hand and planted soft kisses all over it. "I don't care. I love you..." He lowered his head to her neck and began nuzzling it. "I can never hate you. I will be there for you even if you turn, my love." He began kissing her neck. She moaned.

'Oh Hyne! I just love those lips! Wait...I think I've already said "Hyne' three times! Better find a new expression!'

Squall kissed her tender shoulders several times before returning an intense gaze upon her. He caressed her face and kissed her eyes, then her nose, then brought his lips back to hers as he probed the inside of Rinoa's mouth with his tongue, tasting her nectar.

'I love her so much, I can't stop kissing her! Stop it Squall! You came here to propose you idiot! But wait...what if she refuses? I can't do this just yet.'

While Rinoa was on the receiving end of Squall's orgasmic kiss, Rinoa suddenly noticed Squall's brow furrowing, a sign that he was once again absorbed into his little monotone world.

'I don't want this to end...but I have to know what's on his mind.'

"Squall?"

Squall hesistantly pulled away his lips from her luscious, ruby-red ones and replied, "Hmmm...?", still dazed from the kiss.

Rinoa giggled, surprised to see Squall puzzled over her question, as if he didn't understand. Squall usually wasn't like this.

'I guess I have an effect on him. He's just so adorable when he looks confused!'

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just that I've never seen you lose focus before...well, not until now, I guess."

"Rinoa...there is something I have to tell you."

"Yes my love, what is it?"

Squall beamed at those words ("my love"), and gathered all the courage he could muster to tell her what he had been dying to do so since he fell for her. He brought one hand down to his left pocket and began rummaging it for a box.

'I hope I can do this...'

'Is he doing what I think he's doing? Oh Squall...I do!'

Squall finally found the box, and opened it to find an intricately designed white gold ring with the griever lion on it. The beast had wings on its backside, but unlike Griever's regular wings, Squall had it custom-made to have angel wings on it. On its front paws, it held a beautiful diamond, and on the area unoccupied by the lion was engraved the phrase, "My love eternal."

"Rinoa, will you..."

Before he had a chance to continue, Rinoa pulled him into an embrace, cried on his shoulder and said, "I do Squall! I do! Oh how I've longed for you to say that!"

She continued to cry on his shoulder as he smiled and slipped the ring into her finger.

Squall placed his arms around her back and recognized a familiar tune. It was the very tune that brought the two lovers together on his graduation day. He held Rinoa's chin, kissed her lips softly and met her weeping brown eyes.

"Shhh...Don't cry Rin."

"Oh Squall, you don't know how happy I am right now! So happy that I can't help but cry..." Before she could say anything else, Squall silenced her by placing his finger on her lips.

"You're the best looking girl here. Dance with me?"

Rinoa laughed, remembering how shy and cute he was that night. She decided to play along and just kept quiet.

Squall noticed what she was doing, and decided to continue, "I'm looking for someone, I can't be on the dance floor alone."

Rinoa couldn't help but giggle, so she bit her lip and kept her silence.

Squall noticed the smirk forming on her face, and decided to use her words against her.

"Let me guess, you'll only dance with someone you like. How about this?"

Squall playfully brought his fingers up to her eye level, and began to mimic Rinoa's actions.

"You're-going-to-like-me. You're-going-to-like-me," he told her teasingly while waving a finger in front of her eyes. "Did it work?" Squall grinned.

Rinoa just burst out laughing.

"Oh Squall! I can't believe you're doing this! Weeks ago, you would have been one of the wallflowers. Now, you're acting all goofy around me! It just so cute and adorable...and might I add," she purred in a very seductive voice while fluttering her eyes, "...so sexy."

Squall blushed at her comments, and replied, "Whatever."

Rinoa let out a laugh and hugged Squall fiercely. Squall just stared at her and pulled her away from him.

"Come on, let's dance."

Rinoa's eyes widened in anticipation. "Oh! Commander Leonhart, persistent aren't you?" she said as Squall dragged her across the ballroom.

When they got to the center of the ballroom, Squall gingerly placed one arm around her waist and another in her hand as he began shuffling his feet in tune with the beat. This time, his dancing was impeccable. Gone were the bumps and the klutzy moves. He gracefully led Rinoa through the dance, and when he executed the final moves of the waltz, he brought her back into his arms, lowered his face into hers, and planted a kiss on her lips.

The entire student body and staff was just staring at them, surprised at how the icy commander who would usually sulk and back up against one corner would actually display a myriad of emotions in front of them—especially one like this. The students cheered and jeered, while the instructors and teachers just gawked at them, some smiling, some staring, and others (female ones, most likely) rubbing their hands and placing them on their cheeks.

Squall didn't even notice them. He didn't care anymore. He loved his angel, his sorceress, his Rinoa, and no force on earth or in the heavens could ever separate these two again. The sorceress and her knight in love, a fairy tale that would eventually spread across generations. Names would be forgotten, but a romance so profound such as this will be told over and over again, until it became a legend.

Squall broke from this kiss, stared lovingly at Rinoa, and declared one more promise, "I will always love you, forever..."

Rinoa gasped and cried, "I love you too Squall!"

The lovers just held each other in their arms before proceeding to the buffet table and dining alfresco in one of the for-two tables reserved especially for them. That night, they would talk about their plans for the wedding. That night, the couple would make love. That night, they would be forever bonded as one.

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Hold it! It's not done yet! I do hope that all of you liked this chapter, but I've only begun with my story. This is just a romance chapter to keep those heartbeats going, so I hope it did work for you guys. Chapter 4 is next: Lucid Dreams.