Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, locations, etc. of Final Fantasy VIII; they belong only to their rightful owner, and it is not me.

Thanks for the wait and reviews everyone, I will try to get more chapters done since I'm on a break now )

"Uncle Laguna, what on earth were you doing?" cried Ellone. The usually docile woman was shocked, and a little angry, at what had just happened.

The president of Esthar rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I was trying to talk to Squall. You know, trying to sort some things out..."

"I don't think that did anything except leave a bruise on both of your faces," she replied, gritting her teeth, "Squall doesn't like it when someone confronts him with such a sensitive issue. Hell, that's why he's been avoiding people for so long! You have to give it some time. At least wait until he approaches you. But at this rate, it will be a long time considering what you just did."

"I'm sorry, Elle. I just wanted to see how he was doing..."

She softened seeing the sincerity and truth in his eyes, "There's no need to rush, Uncle Laguna. Everything will be okay, believe me," she gave him a supportive hug.

Laguna sighed, "I hope so."

She stayed until he was able to continue with his work. Even though he had reassured her that he would be fine, she couldn't feel but a little rejected; she had wanted to comfort him some more because he still looked unhappy. But before she left, she composed her nerves and invited him for dinner.

"Squall," she began, wrapping her arms around him, "Can we go out to dinner tonight?"

He paused, "Hmm, why? Sympathy?"

"No! It's just that..." her voice trailed off, the butterflies were regrouping in her stomach.

"Hmm?"

The sorceress inhaled and sat on the edge of his desk, "Like, when two people are dating, they should have already... you know... by this time?" She wanted to kick herself for being so nervous. It was just asking her boyfriend out to dinner; why was it so hard?

"No, not really. What are you trying to say?" he questioned, "Have you been talking to Irvine again?"

She blushed at what he was implying, "No, it's not that! Squall..." she moaned.

He chuckled softly in reply, "I know, Rinoa. You want to go on a date tonight," he stood and gazed directly into her brown eyes, "I like seeing you squirm your way into asking."

"That's mean!" she cried, hitting his shoulder playfully. She stood as well and stared back at him, "But at least you're smiling again."

He kissed her forehead, "Thank you. I'll see you tonight then."

Rinoa glanced into the mirror of her bathroom for what seemed like the millionth time. She had to admit that she was really nervous about going to dinner with Squall. It was going to be their first real date. They had tried to go on 'dates' before; usually to the cafeteria for a late night snack because he had been working late again. But that was obviously nothing compared to the potential situation that was about to unfold.

She inhaled slowly in an attempt to calm her nerves, reminding herself that it was only Squall. Carefully applying the last of her makeup, she felt rather satisfied with her appearance and concluded with a final adjustment of the strap of her black dress.

A knock sounded and she knew exactly that he had arrived, "Door's open," she called, grabbing her purse and turning towards the door.

The young sorceress stopped in her tracks when the door opened and he stepped in. He had changed clothes, substituting his usual attire for a dark blue collared shirt and black trousers. His hair had been combed neatly into place and he smelt slightly of cologne.

Rinoa felt her heart stop for a few seconds as she gazed at his appearance. There was something else. It wasn't just the fact that he looked so handsome...

It was the way he was staring at her.

His eyes quickly examined her from head to toe, lingering slightly longer on her curves, accentuated by her dark dress. He seemed to be hiding his surprise as well as he swiftly snapped out his trance and spoke, "Ready to go?"

She felt her body relax and nodded, glad not to have been discovered ogling her boyfriend like a love-struck teenager. Her eyes searched for shoes and found them on the floor near the corner of the room. She strode over and bent to pick them up.

Squall clenched his fist as she retrieved her shoes and was thankful he had chosen to omit the gloves tonight. If he had, his girlfriend would have heard the scrunching of leather and realised that something was wrong.

Technically, there wasn't anything wrong. It's the dress, he tried to convince himself, as he tried to politely avert his eyes. Unfortunately, Rinoa's picking up of her shoes had caused the front of her dress to reveal a little something he hadn't quite been expecting; and causing a tiny portion of his creative imagination get slightly carried away. He sharply drew in a breath and unclenched his fist, wondering why he had never seen this side of her before.

"Squall?" he heard her call.

"...Yes?"

She giggled softly, "It's nice for us to go for dinner tonight, but I was thinking that we should have it somewhere else besides my room."

In.her.room... dinner...

He snapped out of his second trance and discovered that she was waiting at her door, curious as to why he was spacing out. In reply, he nodded and proceeded to walk out so she could lock the door.

"Where are we going?" she smiled, gazing up at him in anticipation.

"Do you feel like hotdogs?" he instantly replied.

Hotdogs...

He wanted to kick himself for saying that. First, because he didn't know why he said it and he really didn't want to know the reason why. Second, because he saw her bewildered expression and her smile had faltered.

"...Oh," was her soft answer, "Still busy with work?"

Squall stopped and turned to her, a determined look on his face, "I was kidding," he gave her a sheepish smile which became broader when her face lightened, "Irvine mentioned some new restaurant Balamb. Do you want to try it?"

"Yeah, that sounds good to me," she emphasised her excitement by linking her arm with his.

At that simple gesture, the young man felt a million sensations rush from his arm and spread to the rest of his body. He cursed inwardly because he couldn't understand why he was feeling this way.

After travelling to Balamb by car, they stepped into the restaurant, glad to get out of the hot summer night. The weather had been unseasonably warm; hence why the couple hadn't bothered to bring an extra layer of clothing.

Finding the place wasn't too hard because it was close to Balamb hotel. They entered and were amazed at the sophistication and elegance of the restaurant. The lighting was quite dim but candles were alight on every table, giving the place a warm glow. Staff greeted them at the door and led them to their seats. Their location gave the couple a wondrous view of the water and the rest of the town.

"This place is really nice..." commented Rinoa, as she turned to her boyfriend, "Squall...?"

He was in his own little world again, secretly admiring the way the candlelight danced and flickered across her face, giving her skin an ethereal radiance. He thought she looked absolutely stunning and it took a while for him to realise she was calling out to him, again.

The young woman couldn't help but feel a little hurt at his distractedness tonight. If he didn't really want to come tonight, I shouldn't have made him, she silently chastised herself.

Squall became aware of her flash of disappointment and immediately reached for her hand, "Sorry," he apologised, "I was just... admiring you."

She smiled at his honesty, which she knew was quite difficult for him to do. But, deep down, she really wondered if he really was happy being here when he probably had a pile of things to do back at Garden. Her emotions led her to feel slightly guilty and she couldn't push away the feeling that something was wrong.

The waiter came to their table to take down their orders, interrupting the moment they were having. When they were left alone, Squall resumed his 'brooding' while Rinoa nervously fiddled with the tablecloth.

The silence seemed unending; and especially disconcerting for her.

"Squall?" she said softly, unable to sit in awkward silence.

"Hm," it sounded like more of a grunt than a reply.

She played with her fingers apprehensively, "...How was work?"

He blinked, "The usual."

"Oh," she gave a small smile and thought it would be appropriate to retell the events of the day: observing classes, tidying up her dormitory, teaching Angelo a few tricks; all the mundane happenings. Midway through recalling how Zell had underestimated a young cadet's ability to punch a hole through the classroom wall, the young woman realised once more that her beloved knight had drifted off again.

She sighed inwardly, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. He was under a lot of pressure nowadays anyway, she reprimanded herself. Obviously there was something bothering him and it was making him wish he wasn't here with her, she supposed with a heavy heart.

The food arrived and silence ensued until they left the restaurant and drove back to Garden. Squall was still preoccupied and Rinoa was afraid to make him more uncomfortable and irritated as he already appeared to be.

They entered Squall's room. Rinoa entered first and headed towards the window, not uttering a single sound.

Squall sighed, frustrated that he couldn't comprehend why she was feeling low. They had just been on a date and had dinner together after all. He hesitated slightly after closing and locking the door. Slowly, he ran a hand through his hair to move it out of his face. It felt like he had done something wrong to upset her. But he still couldn't figure it out and the lack of answers was irritating him.

"Rinoa..." he began, "What's wrong?"

She paused, "...Nothing."

"Please tell me."

She raised her voice slightly higher, thinking he had not heard her the first time, "Nothing's wrong."

Approaching her carefully so as not to startle her, he stood behind her and stared at the back of her head, "Then why don't you look at me?" His hand reached out to her shoulder and tried to turn her around. At first she resisted, but gradually gave in, turning until her teary eyes were revealed.

He was alarmed at her sudden tears but hid his shock as best he could, "Rin-"

"If you didn't want to come out tonight, you should have said something," she interrupted, her voice choked with tears as her eyes looked everywhere else but at him, "If you didn't want to go, I shouldn't have wasted your time."

His instant reaction was to shake his head in confusion, "What do you mean? I said I wanted to go with you..."

"No, you didn't!" her voice louder than she intended, before quietening down again, "You probably felt like you were obligated to do so."

"That's not true. What are you-"

She attempted to turn away but Squall held her shoulders so she faced him. Her eyes remained glued to the floor, "Then why didn't you want to talk to me? Why was it such an effort to get you to answer me? You're obviously too distracted with your work that you don't have time for me..." Sobs began to break out as she struggled to maintain herself.

"No-" he tried to explain. She had it all wrong and he had to let her know his real thoughts.

"I've been waiting," she continued, not giving him a chance to speak, "But every time I want to ask, it's always after you finish work and you always look so tired! I just wanted... I just wanted... Hyne! I sound so selfish. Just forget it... forget the whole thing..."

He pulled her closer until his arms wrapped around her and her head leant against his shoulder, "Rinoa, stop..." he whispered gently, almost like a plea.

Despite all the battles he had ever been in. Despite all the times he had ever gotten knocked out, silenced, blinded, confused, poisoned and the like. Having her crying out all her bottled emotions like this in his arms made him feel so weak, so vulnerable. He worried that he wouldn't be able to console her and make her smile again. At that moment, he realised just where his true weakness lay.

And he didn't like it. Not.one.bit.

He felt her head lift from his shoulder and he turned to face her, seeing her weary eyes and the way they were devoid of the spirit she possessed earlier. It felt like his fault. He had been distracted, not because of work; but because of her.

And he had to let her know for sure she was the reason why he was acting the way he was.

Squall ran his fingers down her cheek before cupping her chin and drawing her closer, "You were too beautiful tonight, Rinoa," he told her softly.

With that said, he punctuated his explanation by placing a gentle kiss on her lips. It was soft but held all his emotions. Then, he crushed her petite body against his frame and deepened the kiss. It began to feel needy; almost desperate.

Rinoa was surprised at his sudden display of raw emotion but did not feel the need to protest. She threw her arms around him and felt the need to reciprocate all the feelings that his passionate kiss gave her. Her breath hitched upon feeling his warm hands run sensually down her back and she gripped his shirt tightly, believing her legs were about to give way.

They drew apart for a moment for some much needed air. He smiled and placed tender kisses down her neck and exposed shoulders, causing her to gasp. "Squall..." she whispered in a slightly lustful manner. The sensations were simple but made her feel something she had never felt before. She ran her fingers through his hair before meeting his lips once more.

He made her breathless. His presence and touch intoxicated her but it never stopped her from asking for more, to which he complied. For once, she understood what he felt and thought about her. It made her discover the deeper feelings he had for her; the ones he would never openly express but she could sense them as their lips repeatedly crashed against each other.

She felt movement and realised that they had both collapsed onto his small bed, lips and tongues never parting. Tenderly, her nails traced lightly over the border between his hair and the skin of his neck and he responded with gentle kisses down the side of her neck. One of his hands continuously travelled up and down one side of her body while the other grasped her hand tightly.

As he paused for a moment to catch his breath and rested above her, using his elbows as support, he unintentionally shifted, causing his hips to meet with hers. He didn't seem to notice this brief contact. On the other hand, this seemingly innocent act led the young sorceress to widen her eyes as it finally clicked in her mind what it was that pressed against her in the most sacred of areas.

He wanted her!

Even though she was aware it was a normal occurrence for anyone of the male species, she was still astonished that her own knight saw her in this way. It further confirmed the fact that the mighty Squall Leonhart was still a human after all; and of course, a man with needs.

But she always knew he was human. Yet, others would idolise him and impose a divine stature upon this hero who had prevented the death of the world. She supposed that unconsciously, she found herself doing the same too. Nonetheless, being here in his arms and having his body so close made her fully appreciate the fact that she would be the only one who would ever see this side of him; and no one else ever would.

She blushed, embarrassed that she had been so immature and naive in all these situations. Here, she had been complaining and upset about how he never cared about her. But really, she had been the one oblivious to these inner feelings he harboured towards her.

"Squall, I'm sorry I got all worked up," she apologised, "I didn't know..."

Her boyfriend silenced her by placing a finger over her lips and proving his point by giving a quick peck as well, "There's nothing to apologise for."

She nodded and reached for him to give him a tight hug. He resisted at first, worried he was about to crush her. But he thought again, and remembered she probably had been blasted with every blizzard, fire and thunder spell to boot; so he figured a bit of his weight wouldn't do much damage. He wrapped his arms around her, his head resting on the pillow space between her neck and shoulder, and inhaled the scent of the woman he had fallen in love with.

Everything was so peaceful that they didn't want this moment to end.

But sadly, it had to because the young sorceress had to go back to her own room. It was getting late and the academy had strict rules in place. The commander grunted, disappointed, and vowed that if he ever had the chance to take full control of Garden, he would make sure she would spent every night in his arms.

He found it amusing. Since when had he gotten so possessive of her?

They walked hand in hand back to her room. Before she closed the door, she called out to him one last time and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

When the door finally closed, both man and woman couldn't help but feel...

That something had been satisfied... but then, something else had been left incomplete and unfinished...