What is he doing sitting on that horse was Selphie's first coherent thought after she'd gotten over the initial shock of seeing him perched up there. His tee shirt, clean an hour ago was filthy and sweat stained, his black combats were ripped, and his hair looked worse than hers did on a Sunday morning. He looked like he'd battled ultimate evil from atop the horse, single handed, and won. Despite the dirt and sweat he looked to Selphie like a fairytale prince come to magical life.

He looked like that to Quistis too, a hero if ever there had been one. But she could also see he was frightened. Frightened of a little brunette whose head barely reached his chin and was scarcely half his weight and who held his life in her small hands. Frightened of the answer she might give to the question he would go down on bended knee to ask.

But she could also see that nothing would prevent him from asking that question. He would have ridden through the very fires of hell to kneel before Selphie because she was his lady and he would die for her and call it good.

You can do it Squall. Quistis thought. Raising him a silent cheer.

"Oh my god". Selphie gasped, suddenly understanding. Her eyes going wide, wider, widest. Her heart skipped a beat, and in that moment, all her silly fears and worries about what people might say when they found out disappeared, never to return. Squall had not only lifted Rinoa's shadow from her, he had seared it away with a blowtorch in front of everyone.

People were starting to stare at her now, whispering her name and she dragged her eyes off Squall to stare back. Quistis was closest and she saw nothing but love and goodwill there. Keely smiled at her happily too, her own eyes starting to brim over. So this is Selphie's big secret? It sure was a doozy.

"Go get him kiddo." She whispered. "Knock him stone cold dead!"

That was the last thing Selphie wanted, but she understood what her friend meant perfectly. Squall was here and he was hers to take, the only question was did she have the courage to collect that which she'd always wanted?

She saw the same question reflected in six hundred different faces, not one of whom, she finally understood, wished her the slightest ill will. Most people were standing now for a better look, guys held their girls hands tenderly, feeling the beauty of the moment even as they struggled to keep their faces impassive, others stared at their commander in awe, wondering if they would ever find the same courage in themselves.

She stood, under the gaze of hundreds, and faced Squall. Fighting a titanic battle with her tears. Tears would come, in oceans, but for now she had to see, and see everything; She noticed that the huge horse he was sitting on had neither saddle nor bridle, he was controlling it with a hand on its mane and with words alone. She resisted an urge to giggle, by the look of him the horse had thrown its rider at least once, and it obviously thought it was the one in control.

The horse's bright eyes regarded Selphie with interest, Seeming to understand she was the reason it was here. It danced back and forth and side to side, its great head bobbing, the sound of its hooves musically muted, snorting and whinnying softly. She took a step forward, then another. Silence reigned. If anyone had a pin and accidently dropped it, its sound would reverberate like thunder.

"Squall...?"

Squall's slate grey eyes gazed into hers but he didn't say a word, he brought the horse closer to her. Twelve feet, ten feet, six feet, four. The giant animal towered over her; Squall seemed to be fifteen feet high.

He jumped. Leaping off the horse as lithe and as fluid as a cat after its prey. Perhaps she was. She was defenceless against him. He landed in a crouch, ready to spring, but he didn't make a move or a sound. Slowly he went down on one knee, never taking his eyes from hers.

Selphie's heart did a crazy flip-flop in her chest because she knew what was coming. How had she gotten here? How had a day that had begun like any other been left behind? How had she ended up in wonderland?

Because Squall had brought her here. Magically. Wonderfully. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and stay there forever. She would too. But first, she had to play her part in a ritual that was as old as love itself.

"Selphie?"

His voice was low and sweet, just for her. But everyone in the cafeteria and those crowding in at the doors heard. The silence deepened. The hundreds of watching faces were painted on canvas. The horse became a frozen sculpture. Silent and still.

Time stopped.

"Yes Squall."

"Will you marry me...?"

The question hung in the air between them, lazily revolving. Selphie could see it in front of her, dripping globules of molten gold.

"Yes. Squall."

Time started up again.

The cheer that came a second later almost took the roof off.

"Then I guess you'd better put this ring on."

He tried to shout it tenderly over the whoops and whistles that reverberated all around them. It was no use and he gave up on saying anything else. He was almost speechless anyhow, she had just said yes.

He produced a small box out of his pocket and Selphie's eyes almost fell out of her head when she saw what was inside.

"Oh god Squall. It must have cost an absolute fortune." She gasped.

"Yeah". He smiled ruefully. It was a diamond baguette engagement ring on a band of 24-carat white gold and platinum and it had just cost him a whole years pay. Not that he was about to tell her that. She was worth every gill.

"Hold out your hand Selphie."

She did as he asked, grinning like a loon. They both were.

He slipped it effortlessly onto her finger and it looked beautiful there. Not that it was in any way any sort of competition for her. Nothing could be. If an angel had flown down from heaven and started singing, it would have appeared dull and drab in comparison.

"Absolutely beautiful." He told her. Meaning her and not the ring.

She couldn't stand it any longer and she launched herself into his arms, almost knocking him flying in the process, as she had done once before. She kissed him, hugged him, sobbed on him, and hit him. Using her little fist to punch him playfully and repeatedly on his immensely strong shoulders.

"Squall, don't you ever do anything like this again without giving me at least some warning okay."

This is where I came in he thought. Full circle, remembering the day, he'd been walking head down around Garden, minding his own business and she had appeared out of nowhere and charged right into him. What goes around comes around I guess.

Full circle.

"Yes ma'am." He agreed. He doubted he'd have it in him anyhow; asking her to marry him had taken more courage than he'd ever needed to face anything before, and he was almost spent. And what could possibly beat this?

"Where's your ring?" She asked once she'd stopped hitting him. "I wanna see it Squall."

He showed it to her. Not nearly as ornate as hers, or as expensive, just a plain band of 9 carat gold.

"You've spent all your money on me haven't you?" She asked, comparing his ring to hers.

"Not all of it." He insisted. It wasn't a lie, just bending the truth.

"Hmm, well, I better put it on your finger anyhow."

She slipped it on his offered finger not quite believing she was actually doing it. She didn't want to pinch herself to find out if she were dreaming or not because if she was dreaming she never wanted to wake up. She knew she wasn't though, it was just too real. In a dream, Squall wouldn't look like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards.

"I love you." She told him, because she did. Sweat, dirt, and all.

"And I love you Selphie, I always will."

"You know what I've gotta do now don't you?" He said, giving her an almost heartbreakingly shy smile.

"Yeah." He could tell by her own smile she was looking forward to it.

"Let's do it then." He stood, bringing her up gently with him. She offered no resistance, just gazed up into his eyes as he brought his head and his lips closer to hers.

They kissed.

The world dissolved away around them.

Other than Squall, Selphie had never been at the centre of anyone's attention so to find herself surrounded by literally hundreds of young women all trying to talk to her at once was something of a shock. She looked around for him but he was having similar problems with the men. He had an advantage over her in that he was the commanding officer while she was just an ensign, the lowest officer rank. And in the pandemonium that had followed his stunning entrance and actions it was clear that, temporarily at least, rank, and the etiquette surrounding it had gone out of the window.

"Hey Selphie. How long have you been seeing the commander?" One star struck young girl who Selphie didn't know at all shouted into her face from a distance of three inches.

"Go Selphie, go Selphie, sis-boom-bah! Go Selphie, go Selphie, sis-boom-bah!" Four others sang and danced in front of her. Selphie figured they had to be members of the cheerleading team.

"Wow. Amazing, did you know he was gonna do that? Have you seen that horse? Where did he find it?"

Dozens of others were bombarding her with similar questions all at once.

She had absolutely no idea where to begin.

Predictably, it was Quistis with Keely in tow that came to her rescue.

"Alright everyone back, give her some room." Quistis bellowed at the top of her lungs. "And that's an order!"

The girls immediately fell back. Selphie, in full uniform, snapped to rigid attention and immediately felt like a horse's ass.

"At ease ensign." Keely told her, trying extremely hard not to laugh.

"Well Selphie, it seems like your little secret is finally out in the open." Quistis said smiling a little and dabbing away a tear. "Trust Squall to come up with a stunt like that huh?"

"Yeah," Selphie agreed. "You could have knocked me down with a feather!"

"Gonna tell us about it then?" Asked Keely clearly dying to know. "I mean what's he like?"

Selphie blushed demurely. She knew exactly what her friend wanted to hear, but she wasn't about to divulge intimate details of her love life, not with three hundred people listening in.

"Very good thank you." She said primly, and then promptly burst out laughing.

"Well I thought it was beautiful." Keely said. "Who'd have thought he had it in him. I mean he's usually so uptight. And how could you keep it from us Selphie. Were your friends aren't we?" she scolded.

"Sorry guys." Selphie said looking at her feet. Why indeed she thought, it seemed so silly now.

"I guess I wasn't thinking."

"Well that doesn't matter now, the important thing is that you're happy, the two of you." Said Quistis, not letting on that she'd known all along.

"Thanks Quistis," Selphie said meaning it. "We are, both of us."

"Married." Keely said, clearly enchanted with the idea of a wedding. "Can I be a bridesmaid huh Selphie, huh, can I?" She said hopping from one foot to another.

"Sure Kee." Selphie said. She looks just like me when she does that she thought with a smile.

None of the girls had noticed that while they were talking Squall had climbed back onto the horse and he was approaching them slowly, so as not to spook the animal. It seemed to be enjoying itself, getting much more attention than it was used to in its field of grass and wolfing down the sugar cubes that were being thrust at it from all quarters.

Quistis and Keely took a respectful step back leaving Squall, Selphie, and the horse standing in a circle defined by expectant faces.

"Well?" Squall said after half a minute of near silence.

"Well what?" His fiancée replied.

He sighed and stared at her in a mixture of affection, amusement, and annoyance. Three very familiar feelings for him to have as far as she was concerned.

"Are you coming? Or are you gonna stand there with your mouth hanging open all day?"

"On the horse!" She'd never sat on a horse before in her life, and this one didn't even have a saddle.

"On the horse." He agreed patiently. "We can't exactly keep it can we. Besides, it's gotta go back before whoever owns it realizes it's missing."

"You stole a horse?" She sounded appalled.

"Borrowed it." He corrected with a smile. "Do you know how many shops sell horses in Balamb town?"

"Err not many I suppose."

"None."

She smiled. He reached down for her with a loving hand.

"Oh god please don't let me fall off!" She gasped as he plucked her effortlessly off the ground and onto the massive back of the horse. She leant back against him in terror and exhilaration. But he was perfectly relaxed, perfectly calm. One of his strong arms cradled her gently; he leant forward and tapped the horse on its shaggy mane.

"Cisco, it's time to go."

"Cisco, is that his name?" She asked, feeling like a million gill, feeling like a princess on her way to happily ever after.

"It is now." He told her as Cisco trotted away surrounded by an escort of hundreds.

"And where exactly are we going?"

"Anywhere you want Selphie, anywhere at all."

She snuggled in tight against him; before they went anywhere, he would have to get a bath and a change of clothes.

"I don't care where I go as long as I'm with you Squall."

"He smiled. " That sounds good to me. Now let's get out of here."

"Yeah." She agreed taking the horse by his mane and giving him a brisk kick in his sides, "let's see how fast you can move Cisco, let's see if you can fly!"