Disclaimer: I don't own FF8

Part III:

"Mister Laguna!"

Laguna peered down at the small figure running up to him, Timber Maniacs in hand, she must have been a few years older than Ellone, "O! What can I do for you, young lady?"

"I can't believe you're here in the Maniacs' building... I read all your stories," her green eyes stared up at him adoringly.

Laguna chuckled, "You're pretty young to be reading all that. Do your parents get the magazine?"

The girl shook her head, "No. I deliver them. This is my job," she placed her hands on her hips proudly.

Laguna grinned, "Wow! So you might be my boss!" He said playfully, "So, boss, what is your name?"

The little girl's eyes shined. Mister Laguna was talking to her! She had dreamed of this day for over a year, "Penelope. My name is Penelope..."

"That's a nice name... can I call you Penny?"

Rinoa idly forked the food on her plate, resting her chin on her fist as she stared out into the cafeteria. The mission in Dollet had left her uneasy. When fighting Ultimecia, things had been black and white. The past enemy had been obvious, and in reality most of their battles were with monsters and not people. While in Timber she always understood there were risks and knew fundamentally that people might lose their lives, but seeing it happen in front of your eyes is a very different thing. She was an idealist. Knowing about a side effect versus feeling someone else's blood on your body... it had changed. That person was someone's son, maybe father, maybe lover, he was someone to somebody, and now he was dead. He was dead and she was alive. She much preferred a world that was black and white, however naive that may seen. Then again in that world, which side did the sorceress fall on?

She somewhat sympathized with the people who were scared of her... not that it gave them any justification to SHOOT her, but she understood their fear. The second she was able to relate to them good versus bad no longer was obvious. Was she the bad guy? Was she just being selfish in wanting to live? Maybe the idea of being 'for the greater good' was true... wasn't that what she always supported in Timber? Rinoa leaned back in her chair and shoved her tray towards the center of the table.

She knew that if she was possessed again she wouldn't hesitate to be frozen in Esthar. She had a knight. For the most part she stayed in Garden, keeping her within killing range of SeeD at all time. She had helped kill the sorceress from the future, effectively minimizing the risk of possession anyway... and quite frankly, she was not the prototype of a threatening person. She was the person who caught spiders and carried them between a cup and a piece of paper, freeing them outside instead of squishing them despite the fact that she was terrified of them. She was about the least mean person on the planet. Why couldn't they just let her live in peace? She thumped her head against the table with a sigh.

"Long day?" A tray was placed on the table next to where her head was currently resting.

Rinoa wearily tilted her head to the side to identify the owner, "Hey Zell."

Zell reached over her to grab a bottle of ketchup and begin to pour it on his tray of hotdogs, "No offense Rinny, but you look terrible."

"Thanks Zell," she dragged herself off the table and leaned back, slouching in her chair, "how was your day?"

"Pretty good, Selphie had me help her put up the last of the decorations for the festival... which by the way, remind me to never be in Garden when she plans another one of these things, she made me move a 70 kilogram paper mache gourd 6 times."

Rinoa managed a smile, Zell was always able to do that to her. Selphie kept her sane, Zell kept her laughing.

"Seriously though, what's up? Or did Selphie make you listen to the CD she made of possible music choices? Seriously, did you have any idea how many songs had the word 'turkey' in them?"

"No..." Rinoa chewed on her lip thoughtfully, she knew Zell was trying to distract her and pull her out of her melancholy, but she couldn't help but ruminate on the ideas running through her brain, "Zell, do you think things will ever be normal?"

"Huh?"

"Am I ever just going to be able to live?" she continued.

"Um, Rin..."

"I just turned 18! I just fell in love, are people ever just...just going to leave me alone?" She balled her hands into fists and shoved them into her lap, tears burning behind her eyes, threatening to spill.

Zell looked over at her slightly panicked as people began to glance over at their table. The last thing Rinoa needed was to cry hysterically in the middle of the Garden Cafeteria, it was certainly not going to do her any favors in terms of trying to prove she was mentally stable, "Rin..." he scooted his chair closer to hers and placed a hand on her back, "Rinoa, don't cry."

Rinoa closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, sniffing loudly afraid to speak. Attempting to form anything audible ensured that she would make a spectacle of herself at Garden, and she had to pull herself together. A bitter thought crossed her mind. What kind of life is this anyway? Where I am too afraid to be able to express anything I feel? Showing an ounce of sadness or frustration could possibly equate to being frozen in time. This was not the life anyone would dream of. All the power in the world, but at what price? Once again she found herself empathizing with Ultimecia. Being a Sorceress of the future must have been an isolating business, and long term isolation eventually will drive you mad.

While Zell seemed clueless to most people, he actually had a fairly high emotional IQ. While he may not have been able to verbally explain what was going on, or offer the most profound words of comfort, but he was aware that Rinoa was in conflict. He began to reach for Rinoa and pull her into a hug as she collapsed into his chest, stifling sobs. Zell gently rest his hand on Rinoa's hair, "Hey, Rin. Shhh... look, it might not be perfect, but you'll always have Squall, and all of us."

She nodded mutely, taking a ragged breath.

"Life is what you make of it. Make whatever you can with what you're given. Look at all of the rest of us... none of us had remotely ideal situations but..."

"I know Zell," she mumbled into his chest, "thank you." She pulled away and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"Ewwww..." Zell stuck his tongue out as she used her sleeve as a tissue, "I love ya, Rin, but seriously? Gross."

Rinoa broke into a wide smile and laughed, "you're lucky I didn't wipe it on you!"

He smirked at stood, offering his hand to her, "come on, lets get out of here and blow off some steam in the training center."

She nodded and accepted his hand. Zell was right in a lot of ways. She was not alone, and she never would be. Even if the world was her enemy...

The grat crashed to the floor of the training center, causing dust to rise into the air clouding Rinoa's vision, "phew!" she adjusted her Shooting Star.

"Alright!" Zell punched his fist into the air triumphantly before settling back into a boxing step, bouncing on his heels, "feels good, right, Rin? Nothing like endorphins for the soul."

Rinoa tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled, eyes squinting through the dusty air to try to make out her companion, "it does, though I am really rusty with my blaster, apparently."

"Why don't you use your magic?" Unbeknownst to Zell and Rinoa, they had an audience.

"Huh?"

"Your magic," a hand gently gripped Rinoa's wrist and turned her palm up, "this is the best weapon you have." As the dust settled Mia's face came into view, "weapons are liabilities. They always have the possibility of eventually being used against you. Your hands will always belong to you." She motioned her head towards Zell, "I'm sure your grappler friend there would agree."

Rinoa blushed, feeling incredibly self-concious, "Oh... I guess it just isn't the first thing I think of and... I feel strange using it."

"You shouldn't care so much what people think, Rinoa. To the people who matter, magic or not, you're still Rinoa, you know?" Mia let go of Rinoa's wrist and adjusted the leather glovelets she donned, "May I join you? Maybe I can teach blondie over here something, or at the very least demonstrate good tattoo placement."

Zell trotted over to the two women, scanning Mia quickly, "no weapons, huh?" he smirked, "You don't have the body of a boxer, too waif-y. Krav Mgra? No, too graceful looking. Ninjutsu?" Zell winked, pointing his thumb towards his face, "Nailed it. And this tattoo? It takes balls to pull this off."

Mia smiled, "You must be Zell. You have balls, yes, but you would make a terrible spy with that thing. Not very good at staying anonymous with it." she winked, "I'm Mia and you are correct... ninjutsu taijustu, hensojutsu, shinobi-iri and intonjutsu to be exact"

Zell raised an eyebrow, a specialist in unarmed combat, impersonation, stealth and escape, "That Mia? Trabia Mia?"

Mia smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know."

Zell stretched his hands above his head, cracking his neck loudly, "Well, considering I can see the huge tattoo on your back, kind of a give away. Though, didn't picture you with sunglasses, especially inside. Too cool for school?"

Mia pulled her sunglasses down and squinted over at Zell, "yeah, well, I think I'm a celebrity... that and I have a wicked hang over but promised Xu I would teach her combat class."

Rinoa suddenly burst into laughter, "Selphie's drinking game, right?" She shook her head, "let me guess, she enforced an extra rule where you had to take shots if the Luca Goers scored in blitzball?" All of them at one point or another had fallen victim to Selphie's insanely high tolerance despite barely weighing more than most nine year olds. That and she enjoyed pranks a lot.

Mia shook her head, "Unfortunately yes, and the game was a total shut out, though my memory is kind of fuzzy."

"Oldest trick in the book..." Zell winked over at Rinoa, "you know Selphie is like, a blitzball expert, right?"

"Huh?" Mia slapped her hand against her forehead, "that little..." a sneaky play to say the least, "There are going to be pictures aren't there..."

Zell slapped a hand against her back gently eliciting a wince from Mia, "We've all been there. Selphie once drew with a sharpie all over my face to see what it would look like if my tattoo was bigger. It took a week before I could actually get it off."

Rinoa piped up, "don't forget about..."

Zell sighed, "Yes, there was also the time that she convinced me to dye my hair purple."

Rinoa grinned playfully, "annnnddd..."

"The voicemail to the library girl..." Zell admitted. As Rinoa was about to open her mouth again, he darted his eyes over to her threateningly, "And, Rinoa Hearilly let's not forget about YOUR trip to Deling and the piercing parlor at one am in combination with buying four kittens which subsequently led to Squall enacting a rule about body jewelry and Selphie having to write an essay on proper military conduct. "

Rinoa coughed, "So anyway, Mia, you're teaching for Xu, huh? Anything in particular?"

Mia shifted a bit, "Um... solo mission techniques." THAT wasn't cryptic.

"Solo... mission?" Rinoa cocked her head.

"Assassinations," Zell supplied.

"Assassin?" Rinoa hmmed thoughtfully, "I thought they were mostly snipers, right? Doesn't YOUR tattoo kind of make that moot?"

"Snipers, hmph," Mia clicked her tongue in disgust as she relaxed into a fighting stance, gracefully beginning a simple vinyasa, "Snipers, Rinoa, are only good for sniping," she did a back hand spring, landing on a rock, "good to take out a target from far away. Whereas assassins..." she jumped off the rock, tumbling onto the ground before landing at Zell's feet, her hand in the air near his chest as she continued, "assassins have to look the target in the eye. When you hire an assassin its because you want your target to know exactly who is after them," she stood up, Zell grasping the hand that was near his chest in his hand, "It is very hard to kill someone after you look them in the eye. Snipers are cowards. Grapplers are not... aren't I right, Zell?"

Zell released her hand, "nice move. Breaking my sternum would have hurt though, you know," he jabbed forward at her and Mia ducked the move easily, attempting to sweep her leg under his feet. He somersaulted over Mia and landed behind her, gripping his arm across her chest and holding her back, "got ya." Rinoa watched the two spar in fascination. It was like watching a dance.

"Zell, is that a tiger in your pocket? Or are you just happy to see me?"

"What?" Zell blushed, the distraction was enough for him to loosen his grip, however, giving Mia leverage to push her body into his, slamming them both into the ground. During their descent she twisted her body so that she was above him holding him to the ground. She smiled down at him, "oldest trick in the book." She stood up and dusted herself off, "That was fun, let's do that again sometime."

Rinoa shook her head, "Yeah, but, if people can recognize you, doesn't that make it all sort of... pointless?"

Mia smiled, cracking her knuckles, "No, Rinoa, that IS the point. People might not recognize my face, but they know my tattoo. You hear, 'he was killed by the girl with the dragon on her back.' or, 'a woman with a dragon came in', eventually the mark itself sends fear through people. Eventually I am no longer Mia but, 'the woman with the tattoo,' and eventually just, 'Dragon woman'. Reputation is a very powerful thing. Besides, no one could pick me out of a line up unless they saw me without my shirt on. They see the tattoo and they forget the face."

"Like Squall. His scar. To people who don't know him, his scar defines him," Rinoa concluded softly under her breath.

Zell hopped up from the ground, "Having your birthday tattooed to your body isn't the best idea though. April 17, September 7, March 3...which one is it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your leg. The dates. What are they?" Zell motioned to her calf and Rinoa looked down, it just looked like a tattoo of a bunch of scribbles. Though the scribbles did look somewhat organized. Wait, they looked familiar, she had seen scribbles like that before...

"You read ancient Centran, Zell?" Of course, it was the same writing that was in Odin's tower.

Zell shrugged, "took a class." Most people underestimated Zell's intelligence and it was definitely a mistake. One that he was aware of and used to his advantage.

Mia nibbled on her bottom lip and looked over at Zell, a flicker of mischief in her eyes, "You... are very interesting," she purred, "though, the date in question, is not my birthday. I'm flattered you thought I was only 23."

Rinoa felt an undeniable flicker of emotion coming from Mia. It was an emotion she had felt before, which was why she locked onto it, a combination of pain, loss, confusion, anger and fear. Something she had pushed into the far corners of her mind years ago, because feeling it meant accepting what caused it in the first place, "Your mom..." she mumbled under her breath, "It's the day your mom died."

Mia nodded, "When I was five. Dad's still alive though." she added with a touch of bitterness. "Anyway," she shook her head, no desire to relive her own memories, "come on Rinoa, let's get you ready for the Fall festival and see if we can't make the Commander speechless in public." She rubbed her hands together with a devilish look on her face, "better yet, let's see if beyond that we can get him to show an emotion other than anal retentiveness in public... how you you feel about plunging necklines and sequence?"

"Penny," Laguna knocked on the door, "Penny, you left your sweater at the Maniacs, I looked up your address to bring it." Laguna heard light footed shuffling behind the door and the creak of a peep hole, but no response, "I can hear you behind the door..."

The door opened, chain still in place as a small face peered out, "Oh... thanks, Laguna."

Laguna smiled, "No problem. Are you going to let me in?"

The door shut and the chain clinked, Penny opened it and quickly stepped into the hallway, "Um, it's really messy."

Laguna chuckled, "I'm sure its not that bad. Is your mom home?"

Penny shook her head, avoiding Laguna's eyes.

"Penny... what is going on?" he reached behind her to open the door as she stayed rooted in the hallway, eyes to the floor.

The apartment was dark, he flipped on the light switch and it remained that way. No power. Glancing around the room he noticed a blanket and pillow on the floor, some food, clothing, no furniture. "You live here alone," he turned back to her, "You live alone? You're only seven, you can't be living alone! Where are your parents?"

"Gone."

Laguna strode out of the apartment and shut the door, kneeling in front of the girl, "You're a child, you need to have a childhood. I know of a woman, she takes care of kids like you, her husband runs a school, a big Garden where you can learn and play and have a bed. Doesn't that sound good?"

Penny nodded and threw her arms around Laguna's neck, "I knew... I knew when I read your stories you would come save me...and I promise I'll get big and strong, and then I will pay you back, I'll save you, okay?"

"You don't owe me anything, Penny, promise you'll get big and strong, study hard in school, be a good girl and turn into a lovely woman."

"And then when I'm a woman we can get married!"

Laguna chuckled, "maybe." Laguna never imagined that young Penny would become one of the deadliest SeeD Garden produced, that she would change her name before entering Garden, erasing Timber from her past except for an owl tattooed to her hand, and that still to this day, twenty years later, she would still dream of Mister Laguna every night.

Selphie had outdone herself. The ballroom was breath taking, filled with orange and red lilies, pumpkin pies, winter sangria... Rinoa swore the air even smelled crisp inside, that smell of cold air and changing leaves.

Rinoa had dragged Squall to the floor for their Waltz. True to her word, Mia had ensured that Rinoa caught the eye of every person in the ballroom, and Squall's mouth went dry when he had seen her. He was so enchanted He didn't protest the dance and Rinoa could feel the devotion radiating off of him. She knew... tonight would be the night. A wicked thought crept into her brain, and to any on looker would swear a REALLY creepy smile graced her lips. She felt a flash of emotion from Squall again, apparently she wasn't the only one who knew they were going to finish what they started in Dollet. She leaned her head against his shoulder and grinned like an idiot, suppressing giggling like a lovestruck school girl, instead she whispered, "I love you so much..." against his chest.

Squall chuckled gently and she felt his hot breath on her ear, his hand on her waist rubbing along the curve of her hip, "Can we get out of here?" It was not posed as a question, almost a command. Frankly with the way Rinoa looked, and smelled, he was surprised he had even lasted this long before posing the question. Rinoa shivered and nodded, slowly disengaging herself from his grasp, smiling wickedly up at him,

"Yes, please. Let me just say bye to Selphie," she flashed him another smile, and licked her lips contemplating whether or not to kiss him. She was still mid-thought when he pulled her to him, growling into her ear, "don't take long," pulling back he kissed her gently on the cheek and strode off.

Selphie was darting her eyes around wildly, nervously fiddling with the strawberry floating in her champagne. Mia was next to her, arms folded, eyes smiling, "Selphie, I'm not going to kill you... I'll get my revenge eventually, watching you squirm in anticipation is wayyy too much fun to do it now."

Selphie gulped, and Mia reached over, snatching the strawberry from her hands and took a bite before tossing it back in Selphie's champagne, "besides, Sef, honestly, I'm kind of proud of you, so I might just let it go..."

"We're leaving." Squall's abruptness and manners were not a shock to any of the present company.

Rinoa squeezed Squall's hand reassuringly, "This was really great, thanks Selphie, and thanks for the dress, Mia."

Squall rolled his eyes, "yeah, frankly did not picture someone who wore a neon jumpsuit to own that." A backhanded compliment, but still a compliment. Sort of.

"It was the 90s, Squall, and for the record, you spent your childhood dressed like Charlie Brown. You can't remember growing up at an orphanage, but you remember that... Quistis had a perm too, you know..."

"But did she dye it red too?" Irvine smirked. The smirk quickly disappeared as he realized his mistake. Squall arched an eyebrow and looked over at him. Busted. Mia hadn't had red hair in years. No one would have known about her red hair unless... Thankfully, much to Irvine's delight and Squall's despair, Rinoa and Selphie were busy gossiping and distracted. So much for Squall's quick exit with Rinoa. Other than a curious look, he did not further address Irvine's comment.

Irvine cleared his throat loudly and grabbed Mia's hand, dragging her to the dance floor, hoping that a change of scenery would drop the topic. Mia wasn't surprised when the cowboy led her away from the rest of the group, "I was wondering when you were going to talk to me privately," she said softly.

Irvine was gripping her hand tightly, it was almost uncomfortable, "Alright, I'll just come out and say it...what do you want, Woman? That was your stage name, right? The Woman?"

Mia glanced up at him through long lashes, "I guess an apology would be pretty meaningless at this point." Irvine snorted, still gripping her hand tightly, while his other started to move up her waist, almost purposefully as Mia continued, "Look, despite what you may think, I have no desire for anyone to know about us. That knowledge would do nothing but hurt all three of us."

"Selphie might worship the ground you walk on, Quistis, Xu and you are the three damn musketeers or whatever and every guy in this damn place may think you're Hyne's gift to man, but I'm not falling for it. You forget I know how you operate, darlin. You don't do anything without a catch, so I'll ask you again, what do you want?"

Mia glanced over Irvine's shoulder and caught a glimpse of Selphie talking animately with Rinoa and Squall, Rinoa appearing delighted and Squall appearing seconds from gagging Selphie with one of the giant squashes she was motioning towards, "I've known Selphie since she entered Garden and like you, I actually have kept my memory. I don't want to hurt her. She might find out we crossed paths, but that's all she needs to know."

Irvine leaned in close to Mia and she felt his breath on her ear, "I don't trust you," he said softly as his hand squeezed hers causing her to flinch, his other hand still wandering along her, now traveling down her bare arm to the hem of her glove.

Mia twisted her hand loosening his grip and stepped closer to him, leaning against his body, pressing her lips close to his ear, her voice dropped, "I would think you were crazy if you did," she licked her lips and added, "don't do anything stupid. I'm on Selphie's side, doesn't mean I have to be on yours."

Irvine pulled back from her, his wandering hand had stopped and he looked down at her, "the same goes for you," he pulled back the hem of her glove and pressed his thumb against the thing he was looking for on the inside of her wrist as he met her eyes, "because I know your dirty little secret."

With that Irvine pulled away from her and strode off the dance floor, leaving a stunned Mia behind. She held her wrist in her hand and looked down at the place he had pressed. A vein she ruined years ago, but still a souvenir from her past. She glanced across the room and saw Irvine glaring at her from where he had joined Selphie. Once he realized he had her gaze he lifted something into the air: a silver cigarette case. Mia was almost impressed at his stealthy move, he must have gone through her things when she was passed out last night. She turned on her heel him and began to walk in the opposite direction of the room. Irvine had his insurance, and so did she. Hopefully neither of them would ever have to use it.

Irvine felt victorious as he joined Selphie in her conversation with Rinoa and Squall. He slid an arm around her waist and gave her a quick kiss before scanning the room for Mia waiting to put the nail in the coffin. Once he realized she understood his threat he lifted the silver case into the air. Not only did he have knowledge, he had collateral. Satisfied that the damage was done he turned his attention back to Selphie.

"So then Zell wanted to move the giant leaf over to the st-" Selphie was in the process of painfully reenacting the process of setting up the ballroom in excruciating detail.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Selph, but," Rinoa looked over at Irvine, "where did you get that?"

"Pardon?"

"That case? There's a seal carved on it, right? Where did you get it?"

Irvine rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he presented the case to Rinoa, thankfully he had taken the contents out earlier, "I um, found it," technically that was true... except that he had found it in Mia's stuff. Squall glanced at him quizzically.

Rinoa inspected the cover carefully, "That's what I thought... that's the Caraway crest."

"What?" Irvine's head jerked up as he scanned the room for Mia, finding her currently talking to Zell.

"That crest, this case. It's my Dad's," Rinoa grabbed the case from him and turned it around in her hand, "Ha! Not my Dad's, Angelo bit it and there was a big scratch in the silver, this one isn't damaged. Caraway was so angry... he used to have these custom made and give them as gifts to other military people." she smiled thoughtfully as she reminisced, "Where did you get it?"

"Galbadia" he blurted out the first thing that came to his head as he tried to process the information. It wasn't that he wouldn't tell them the truth, he just had to figure out what it meant first, "Um, excuse me for a sec, Squall, ladies," he tipped his hat and quickly darted towards the exit.

Irvine was pacing in the hallway when a firm hand dropped on his shoulder, "what is going on?"

"Squall..."

Squall was not an idiot. He saw through Irvine the second he saw how he acted around Mia, "I know who that belongs to and I can guess where you got it. Now what is going on?"

Irvine sighed, "Mia... I knew her, before. We, ah, we had a thing."

Squall folded his arms across his chest, "I'm aware."

Irvine stopped pacing and looked over at him, "What? How?"

Squall shrugged, "All SeeD have files." Okay so, that was true, though he had never actually looked through his friends' files, and he seriously doubted whatever had been between Mia and Irvine would even be there. He just needed a way to confirm what he had already surmised. The second he mentioned files out loud, Squall cursed himself for not combing Mia's file more carefully. There had to be something he was missing.

Irvine glared over at Squall, "What the hell, dude?! You didn't feel like telling me or warning me?"

"It's your business, not mine," he sighed. Honestly he felt extremely uncomfortable being caught between his friends. He knew Mia well enough to deduce exactly how it had happened and didn't blame Irvine per-say. Irvine's decision to not tell Selphie was his own, Squall certainly wasn't gonna be the one to do it. They probably had their reasons for keeping mum and it wasn't his place to question that.

"Squall, you know what was in here, right?" he lifted the case in the air again.

"I can guess, Irvine. It's no secret to the higher ups what Mia did, OR does behind closed doors.

"She's unstable! She's a liability... and now she's got a 5 star General's property? I know she worked in Galbadia for years, and she works with the League, so I'm sure they have crossed paths, but come ON, you don't find that weird?"

Squall frowned. Finding out that the case was General Caraway's was unexpected to say the least, especially knowing that the cigarette case was something Mia had owned as long as he could remember. While he agreed with most of what Irvine said, he also knew that Mia was still a good soldier and a loyal friend, in her own twisted way. Drug addiction or not, she was still Mia, and after living the life she had, it was amazing she was as semi-stable as she was. He narrowed his eyes and looked into the ballroom for the person in question. He spotted Mia currently dancing with Zell.

Her black hair. Her green eyes. Her anger. Caraway's cigarette case. Her obsession with Rinoa. "Oh my god..." Squall murmured.

Irvine looked over at him, "What?"

It was so obvious. How could he have not seen it before, "Of course... it all makes sense."

"Um.. care to share?"

"She was his client for ages too, she must have figured it out."

"Squall, you gotta talk me through this, I'm lost."

"Mia, I think... sorry, Irvine, I'm not quite sure, but I think Mia's relationship with Caraway is way deeper than what meets the eye." He nodded to Irvine as he made his exit, determined not to let this ruin his evening, he collected Rinoa and left the ballroom and its revelations behind.

Squall closed his eyes, inhaling sharply, trying to imprint the unique scent in the air. It was a mix of honey, jasmine, champagne and sweat. It was heavenly. His hands trailed down the ivory skin of his companion, he could see every inch of it from behind his closed eyes. He had scorched them into his memory. Please, don't let me ever forget this. Even if I forget everything else, don't let me ever forget this moment. His hands made their way up to her shoulder and through her soft hair.

Rinoa stirred slightly at the contact, sighing in her sleep before nuzzling her face deeper into the crook of his shoulder.

This is heaven. I must be dead, and this is heaven.

How someone so wonderful had ever come into his life, he would never understand. How he could ever deserve to have the woman in his arms was a mystery. Thankfully, none of us get what we deserve. He would fight to his last breath for her. Hell he would fight to his last breath to make sure she never had to fight again.

He had heard plenty about what might happen with Rinoa, but none of it could have prepared him. Sure, Irvine sometimes talked about it nonstop, but whatever this was, was not the same as Irvine's locker room stories. He reached with his free hand to grab his glass flute on the nightstand, taking a small sip and chuckling softly to himself. Squall Leonhart never ever in his wildest dreams could have even imagined this would be in his future. He wondered if before Rinoa, if he had ever really lived. He curled his fingers through Rinoa's hair again and leaned over to inhale that beautiful smell in her hair. How on earth did she make it smell so good?

After his realization at the Fall Festival, he had strode over to Rinoa and forcefully dragged her away from Selphie, mid-sentence. Neither of the women had protested, Selphie just watched them go with understanding amusement. They had made their way to his room and after shutting the door, she lifted up a pilfered bottle of champagne in the hand that wasn't intertwined with his a a coy smile gracing her perfect lips. Her ability to be innocent yet at the same time unbelievably sneaky fascinated him. She drove him completely wild and he had a funny feeling he would never tire of it.

Little minx.

Adrenaline from the battle be damned, nothing could ever EVER top this high. He kissed the messy hair tickling his chest.

"love...mmm..." Rinoa's beautiful voice murmured. That voice that less than an hour ago was praising his name, declaring love and devotion, adoration. HIM. Squall. Something absolutely perfect was singing divinely about him. It was mindblowing.

"Always..." he mumbled softly to her. The promise holding much more than just a promise of forever love.

After finishing off his glass of champagne he still couldn't sleep. Part of it was certainly the excitement of finally finalizing his relationship with Rinoa, but the other part was the events of the night that didn't involve her directly slowly replaying in his mind. Quistis obviously knew the connection between Mia, Rinoa and Caraway. This revelation could really go one of two ways: either Mia desperately wanted to protect Rinoa or she wanted to take vengeance on her to get back at Caraway. He sincerely hoped it was the former, but he was not willing to take the chance. He didn't feel ready to share this information with Rinoa, he figured he would get confirmation then confront Mia directly. They had to go into Balamb in a few days on recon, maybe he could use that to his advantage.

Squall sighed. Unfortunately, they needed Mia, she was the only one who enough connections to help with the current threat to Rinoa. Crap. Realizing he wasn't going to get any resolution at the moment, he settled down into the bed and curled up into the heat of the beautiful naked woman next to him. He would worry tomorrow. Tonight... tonight was Rinoa. All Rinoa. He hoped to Hyne that every night for the rest of his life would be the same, kissing her softly again he drifted into sleep, into a deep sleep he hadn't had since Ellone had sent him into the dream world. As long as Rinoa was in his arms, everything would be okay.

A/N: Okay, this was a lot of filler, but it was needed so I can set up where I want to go in the story... and yes, I am being purposefully cryptic...

Chel and Bebedora, thanks for reading, hope I don't disappoint ;)