Here's the final chapter to this story and I'm so grateful to you who've read, and liked, this. It was far more than I had expected, but you've all given me a lot of fuzzy feelings and I hope I'm not leaving you wanting more.

Well, go on! Read!! =)

Three months later

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Zell opened the door to the one-story brick house, no more than ten years old and within a five-minute walking distance from his Ma's house. It had been the first one they'd looked at, and none of the others had really felt as right.

He tossed his keys on the floor (and old superstition about keys on tables still hanging on since childhood) and called out: "Squall?"

He caught his own reflection in the hall mirror and couldn't resist the urge to take a closer look. The scars were nearly gone, just thin white lines marring his right temple and cheek.

After he'd healed up properly, and he'd seen the extensive damage to the tattoo, he'd decided he'd best get rid of it. No point in having the fragments of a ruined tattoo, and he had come to a point in his life where he wasn't a SeeD anymore and where he had nothing left to prove.

Squall had told him it didn't matter, that the tattoo had nothing to do with his feelings, and that it was Zell's skin and his decision.

But a week after Zell had made the appointment to have it removed, he'd looked in the mirror and seen the face of a stranger and it had been with a reeling mind and numb fingers that he'd made an emergency phone-call.

The new tattoo was almost identical to the first, with a few minor changes to cover the more visible scars, and the skin was still a little tender from the recent marking. Squall hadn't said anything, but Zell had seen the relief in his eyes anyway and often at night, Squall would lie next to him tracing the lines carefully, memorizing the new pattern.

"Squall?"

He reminded himself to tell Squall about his encounter with Seifer and Quistis earlier that evening. They'd been coming down Balamb's main street, looking so lost in each other that they hadn't noticed him until they'd almost stepped right over him.

They'd stuttered and blushed, and Zell hadn't really helped matters any by just standing there grinning and in the end, Seifer had swatted him over the head and called him Chickie and stomped off. Quistis had looked so immensely uncomfortable, that Zell had taken pity on her. So he had grinned some more and told them to behave themselves, before he'd walked away with a wink.

He smiled at the memory and walked through the kitchen into the living room, finding the patio doors open.

Squall was standing at the edge, leaning against the rail, staring into the back yard and Zell took a minute to admire the brunet's ass, before Squall heard him hum and turned around.

"Hey."

Zell smiled and walked out to greet him, catching that hungry look in Squall's eyes before he grabbed him to pull him into a kiss.

"Hey, baby. Whatcha doing out here?"

Leather clad arms wrapped around his waist, forcing him to stay close.

"Looking at our backyard. It's huge."

Zell grinned, looking over Squall's shoulder at the patch of grass.

"Not really."

"Good, then you can mow it."

Zell slapped him on the shoulder, grinning at Squall's grin, wondering how the hell he could've gotten so lucky.

"So I got a call from Galbadia." There was always a subtle shift in Squall's posture whenever he starting talking about work. He got just a bit stiffer, just a bit more serious. "Apparently they're not shunning us anymore. The new Headmaster even suggested a new exchange of students. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how fast I agreed to the terms." He chucked, a bit too dryly to be completely sincere.

After Zell had been released and his resignation signed, Squall had gone back to work but not full time. He was still prone to massive headaches, most likely induced by stress and Kadowaki had had to forcibly assign partial sick-leave.

Despite everything, it seemed that Squall's actions during what was now referred to as the "New Deling Incident" had earned him some new respect and there had been no more resignations or transfers from B-Garden.

The situation with Deling was still unresolved, but investigations showed it was most likely an accident, due to an awful mistake as a result of spilled coffee. But Deling was still being carefully supervised and B-Garden hadn't gone anywhere nere the city since and probably wouldn't for a while.

Zell changed the subject.

"Did you hear about Irvine?"

"He's fine. Says the Galbadian students are really dull compared to ours. I'm not sure why that's a bad thing. He also found it necessary to point out that he's still single. You think that was an invitation?"

Zell barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Only if he doesn't value his balls anymore. Did you tell Selphie?"

"That he's single? No. But I did tell her he'd called and that he missed her."

"Aw, baby! You shouldn't have done that! She's gonna be all impossible now."

"Then maybe I shouldn't mention that Galbadia is considering lending him out again?"

Zell shook his head insistently. "No, not yet. But keep the option open."

"Always." Squall grinned wickedly. "So how was your day?"

Zell stretched to try and ease an insistent cramp in his left deltoid, a remnant ache from his injuries.

"It's been ok. One kid pulled a hamstring; another got kicked in the eye. But they're getting better. I keep having to remind the parents that I'm not training their little babies to be mercenaries and that a correct falling technique is the most important thing in Martial Arts. It's not a frickin' kindergarten I'm running. "

"Could have fooled me." Squall shifted again, pulling away so he could look Zell in the eyes. "Look, I know what we agreed on, but finding a sub for you turned out to be a little trickier than we thought. I've talked to Cid, he says it's not impossible to take you back as a civilian consultant."

Zell frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know…"

"I know it won't be the same as being a SeeD, and I get that you miss that, don't think I can't see it."

"No, I do. But I think half a foot through the door is worse than not having that option at all. I mean, if I knew I could have it…"

"You always tell me to keep my options open. Maybe you should take your own advice?"

Zell thought for a minute, trying to quench the burning in his stomach, recognizing it as longing. He missed being a SeeD, more than he thought he would. The first month of waking up in the morning and being reminded that all the excitement he had to look forward to was physical therapy and teaching six-year-olds how to do a childproof Drop Kick, had been almost painful. It was better now, but the distant sound of Garden's engines revving up would never fail to knot his stomach.

"Yeah, ok. I'll think about it."

Squall smiled and leaned in to kiss him, slowly and sweetly, his gloved hands finding their way under Zell's sweaty red t-shirt. "That would mean I wouldn't have to miss you so much when I'm at work."

Zell couldn't help the slight hitch in his breath at the admission, wondering when the hell Squall had gotten so romantic. "What about absence making a heart grow fonder?"

"That's bullshit. It just makes me cranky."

Zell wound his arms around Squall's neck, letting his tongue find it's way into the brunets mouth, feeling the plain silver band on his left ring finger catch in his fiancés pendant.

Yeah, life was pretty damn good.

Thank you for reading!!

Until some other time,

Hugs, Z