Disclaimer: Don't own FF8

Part VII

"Rinny... can't you wait?"

Rinoa shook her said, looking over at Selphie with sad eyes, "Selph... if we don't do this now, I don't think we ever will. We will keep coming up with reasons to delay," Rinoa sighed, "Also, I... I'm not sure about the Headmaster." Rinoa did not wish to rehash some of the trickles of thoughts she had gathered from Cid's mind.

"Cid?" Quistis turned her head away from the train window to look at her two friends, "What happened?"

"Well, before Mia left, we spent a night talking, for hours... you know, just in case. In addition to learning a lot about her, she warned me about Cid. Anyway, I..." Rinoa suddenly found her lap extremely interesting, not wanting to admit out loud that she had "accidentally peaked" into the Headmaster's mind.

Thankfully, Selphie saved her from having to say more, "What did you see, Rinny?" She hopped off the bench she was on opposite Rinoa to kneel in front of her, whispering as softly as Selphie was capable. A Selphie whisper was a normal toned voice in anyone else.

Quistis scooted on the bench closer to them as well, grabbing Rinoa's hand and giving it a supportive squeeze, "Mia told me the same thing, and... I found some things as well."

Both Selphie and Rinoa looked over at Quistis with mouths agape. Quistis Trepe was about as zealous as Squall when it came to protocol and rules. Knowing she had spied on Cid was a shock. Then again, if Mia told her to, Quistis would probably jump from the moving train they were currently on. While Quistis questioned Mia's mental health, she did not question her ability to do her job, as strange as that may seem. Quistis gave the other girls a small smile and nodded at Rinoa, indicating for her to share first.

Rinoa squeezed Quistis' hand in return before she spoke, leaning her head down and lowering her voice, "He clearly knows how to block me out but... I was able to pick up on some emotions and images." The overall feeling radiating off Cid towards Rinoa was one of semi-hostility. While he didn't out right hate Rinoa herself, actually he quite LIKED the girl, he did NOT like what she did to his best SeeD and he certainly did not like that she was a Sorceress. In short, Cid didn't want her dead, but he certainly didn't want her in Garden or near Squall. Sorceress or not, Cid was not a fan of the distraction she caused for his precious Commander.

Of course this was completely hypocritical. Cid's wife was a Sorceress. Garden's mission in the end, was to destroy the Sorceress, and eventually Cid had been willing to go against Edea. It was much easier to go through with Garden's "True Mission", when the threat was no longer his wife, and merely the Commander's distracting girlfriend. It was like killing two birds with one stone. Cid just had to be tactful, as not to alienate Squall.

After she had explained this to her companions, Quistis sighed, "I guessed as much. I convinced Xu to leave me alone in his office. That was she could plausibly deny knowing anything." Xu wouldn't be able to outright defy Garden, but she could take a long lunch break and leave Cid's office unlocked. Like Quistis, Xu was loyal to Squall and Mia first, and Garden second, "Anyway... he's been having meetings in Esthar."

Selphie's eyes widened, "Not Sir Laguna!"

Quistis shook her head, "Dr. Odine." Quistis herself had been rather shocked upon finding this information in her quick scan of Cid's records, "It gets worse, he's also been sending Odine money."

Selphie gasped, "You think..." She jumped up from her position kneeling in front of them to sit next to Rinoa, hooking her arm around hers, "Don't accept any jewelry gifts from Cid, kay, Rinny?"

This was exactly why she and Squall had to get away. Even if there wasn't Herzog wanting her powers, there was Odine, or Cid, or some other power-thirsty maniac. Or a White Seed. Or an angry citizen who lost a family member in the Lunar Cry. She simply would never be left alone, she would always live in fear, unless she used her powers and proved them all right. Then THEY will live in fear. She shuddered, immediately regretting that thought. The longer she was a Sorceress, the more she began to understand why so many of them became violent or crazy.

It was like Hansel and Gretel. This lady wanted to build her house of candy and these dumb kids kept coming and eating it. They won't leave her alone. Of COURSE she wanted to get rid of them. Of course Ultimecia wanted to get rid of the SeeD which were constantly trying to kill her. Who knows, its possible the SeeD attacked Ultimecia unprovoked. They always just ASSUMED she had started the war.

The sound of the train car door opening snapped Rinoa out of her morbid thoughts. Irvine stepped in, tipping his hat and grinning at finding the three girls squished into one side of the car on a seat that was barely meant to fit two people. His face betrayed the stream of wicked thoughts running through his head as he plopped down across from them, draping his gun across his knees. The death glare from Quistis quickly wiped the smirk off his face.

Irvine cleared his throat, "Rin, I tried with Squall and its no use, so I best try with you." Irvine had tried to talk some sense into Squall about disappearing. Irvine actually agreed (which shocked Squall) at the two of them getting married. Rinoa and Squall being married meant that they could live in the same place without raising eyebrows. If they were in the same place, Squall could always keep an eye on her, easing some of his concern. Quite frankly, they all knew it would happen sooner or later anyway, and Irvine suspected that in their hearts, Rinoa and Squall had made that life commitment a long time ago anyway.

What Irvine, and the rest of the gang, did not agree upon, was the idea of them leaving. Okay, so part of it was selfish, quite frankly, he didn't want to lose good friends, and he didn't want to see Selphie lose one of her best friends. The other part was the naive belief that maybe if they just waited a bit longer things might change. He also questioned if it was safer in the world pretending to be anonymous versus being a Sorceress and Knight inside Garden. The biggest reason was that it would hurt. Not only because they were losing Squall and Rinoa, but because it felt like in the end they had failed. Time Compression, Ultimecia, getting through all of it just to lose Rinoa anyway.

Rinoa suspected what Irvine was going to say, as she had already had the conversation with Quistis and Selphie earlier in the train, but she waited for him to continue.

"Rin, darlin', can't you guys wait a bit? Make sure you won't regret it. Not bein' together, but, leaving. You can always leave. Who knows, maybe things will calm down in a coupla years. The war is still fresh, you know?"

Rinoa smiled sadly at the cowboy, "Irvine. I'm going to miss all of you too," She chewed on her lip, trying to prevent the tears forming in her eyes, "I can't keep living like this, thinking everyone hates me or wants to kill me. I'll go crazy and then... and then I really WILL become the Sorceress everyone is afraid of," Rinoa shook her head as the tears began to sting her eyes, "If we wait... I'm afraid we'll wait forever. Cid will find a way to..."

Irvine nodded, not wanting to cause the girl further discomfort, "Its alright, darlin', please don't cry. Squall would kill me for less." The comment brought a smile to Rinoa's lips accompanied by a combination of a laugh, sob and hiccup. Irvine smiled and reached out to place his hand on Rinoa's knee, "Hey, who knows. Maybe things WILL calm down over time. Maybe ten years from now y'all can come out of hiding... anythin' is possible, no?"

The train car door opened again and Squall took in the scene. His girlfriend, soon to be wife, crying with Quistis and Selphie squeezed in on either side, and Irvine sitting in front of her, hand on her knee. He cleared his throat, giving Irvine an icy stare. He wasn't thrilled about the circumstances either, but he had to protect Rinoa, both physically and mentally. He didn't want to make it any harder on her, and his friends trying to convince her to stay certainly wasn't helping. If he could find another way he would, but time was not on their side. Maybe after being away for a while he might think of another plan, but until then, they would be Lev and Hime, fisherman and wife.

Spending life with Rinoa was something he was looking forward to either way. Truth be told, while he would miss being a mercenary, Squall secretly enjoyed fishing. It was something Seifer and he had bonded over after Ultimecia. Okay, bonded was a strong word, maybe sitting in a somewhat close radius of each other without wanting to kill each other was a better description. And hey, for Seifer and him, that was pretty good. In the end though, though Squall would never EVER admit it out loud, he really hated the idea of losing his friends.

The three other SeeD jumped up from their seats after seeing Squall's look and quickly exited the train car, leaving Squall alone with Rinoa. He sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her towards him. Rinoa curled towards him, leaning her head against his chest, her sobs diminishing into his shirt. "I know," He said softly to her, resting his chin on top of her head, "I know, Rin..."

Quistis found Mia and Seifer sitting on the pier, looking over the ocean. Seifer was sitting over the edge, his fishing rod in hand, legs dangling over the water and Mia was leaning against him, knees bent in front of her, smoking a cigarette. They both smiled as Quistis approached. Seifer noticed it was the first time Mia had actually looked semi-pleased since they left Garden.

Quistis tried not to run towards them, even though she was very excited to see Seifer and Mia again, each of them intact, "You guys look comfy."

Seifer grunted, "She's bad luck."

Mia pulled herself up to a standing position, giving Quistis a tight hug, "I'll be glad when this is over."

Seifer patted on the wooden pier next to him, indicating Quistis to sit. She sat down and Seifer snaked his arm around her neck, pulling her face towards him for a brief, but intense kiss before turning back to his fishing pole. Mia smirked down at the couple, "Seifer missed you, Quisty. He hasn't shut up about it all day."

Quistis smiled and scooted closer to him. For a while the three of them were silent. Quistis and Seifer staring down into the ocean as Seifer recast his fishing rod, and Mia looking away from them towards the sunset, lighting another cigarette. Unfortunately, they would have to address business at some point, and Quistis had to break the reverie, "Did you see the birds?" Quistis was asking if they were being watched.

"They seem to be flying all the time," Mia responded, confirming her suspicion, "I think they sometimes get fed at the pier." Mia was trying to tell Quistis that Herzog knew Mia was meeting with the SeeD and Rinoa, and hoping that Mia was gathering information for him. Herzog assumed she was a double agent. While she definitely was a double agent, Herzog didn't know Mia wasn't on his side anymore.

"Oh." Quistis nodded, "So, are you coming to Caraway's tonight? He's having a dinner with everyone to discuss the plans for the celebration."

Mia nodded, "Of course. Herzog is invited and he's taking me. Seifer even managed to scrape in an invite, though he's going to be at the kid's table."

Seifer rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever, all the bodyguards are coming, we just don't get to be in the actual dining room. I'm sure Caraway will be thrilled to see me."

There was another moment of silence, this one being broken by Mia, "Quistis, we know."

Quistis glanced over her shoulder at Mia, curious, "Pardon?" Mia could be referring to any number of things, Quistis wasn't sure how to read the cryptic statement. She glanced at Seifer for understanding, but he continued to stare at his fishing pole.

"We KNOW." Mia said again, "I saw Laguna today." She said, as if that explained everything.

Laguna... Oh. Raine's ring. So Laguna must have told Mia about Squall and Rinoa's plans to run off. So much for keeping quiet. Then again, Rinoa was planning on telling Mia anyway. "Wait, you saw President Loire?"

Mia nodded, stomping out her cigarette, "I meet with the Chancellor every few weeks. Laguna was there."

That's right. She reports to the Chancellor about Herzog's activity. Though once again, Herzog mistakenly thought it was the other way around. "How was Laguna feeling?" Quistis was trying to get a gauge on how the President thought about how long lost son running off.

Mia shrugged, "He wasn't in a very sharing mood. I don't think he is going to attend Caraway's celebration, he isn't very, ah, supportive of him."

Mia hoped that Quistis was understanding what she was trying to say. Laguna was certainly less than thrilled about Squall's idea. While he had agreed to support his son in terms of claiming Rinoa had been frozen, he had every intention of trying to talk them out of leaving. In fact, he was planning on trying to stop them. While Mia couldn't say that, she hoped Quistis understood that Laguna was against it, and more than just in spirit.

Unfortunately that wasn't all the news she had to deliver. Thankfully Seifer delivered the rest for her, "I'm not sure we are going to the official celebration either." Seifer said softly, willing Quistis to understand.

The wheels in Quistis' head turned as she processed the information out, "You'll be... out of town already?" A nod from Seifer gave her all the confirmation she needed. The kidnapping plans had clearly changed. They weren't going to take Rinoa at the celebration, they were going to take her before. The celebration was in two days which meant... "I... I've got to go, I'm late for a meeting with Squall." She stood up abruptly, confirming to her companions that she had understood their message.

Mia nodded in her direction and gave her a wink and Seifer slowly stood up, grabbing her hand before she dashed off and squeezing it gently, flashing her a soft smile.

"Godspeed, Queen," Mia murmured after her retreating form. Quistis was going to need it, because time was not on her side. Mia turned towards Seifer, "Well, guess we should head to Caraway's for dinner tonight."

Seifer nodded, standing up and taking one last look out at the ocean before turning towards Mia, "and as for tomorrow..."

"As for tomorrow," Mia repeated after him quietly, "We'll all see if our work paid off."

To say dinner was tense would be an understatement. Caraway had invited diplomats who were in town for his celebration to the mansion, including the Chancellor of the League and the notorious Delegate Herzog. After most of the gang had found more out about the man, it took them everything they had to not kill him on the spot. Even more disturbing was the fact that Mia could stand next to him and seem unaffected. Then again, Squall suspected that her mind was somewhere else completely whenever she was around him.

Seifer had been clever to warn Quistis that the kidnapping plans had changed, as the SeeD had to rearrange their plans regarding Rinoa. It wasn't a huge rearrangement, but it gave them less time to scope out the area and identify potential threats. It also meant that the locations of the kidnapping had changed, so they had to assume that it was going to take place in Caraway's mansion. If that was the case however, it changed the suspect list completely. They still did not know who Brutus was. For all they knew it could be Caraway himself, though that seemed very unlikely.

Quistis had been able to warn them that the kidnapping plans had changed, but she did not have the heart to tell Rinoa and Squall that Laguna had informed Mia of their plans and was not as supportive as he had led Squall to believe. He couldn't be blamed, really, Squall was his son, Laguna believed that it was with in his power to fix everything. When push came to shove, however, Laguna would do what Squall asked, if there truly was no other way.

The dinner, while tense, had thankfully passed by without a hitch. Relatively speaking. The Chancellor, Caraway, Herzog and Laguna were essentially the only ones who spoke. Squall was convinced that if he opened his mouth he would either end up punching Caraway, shooting Herzog or yelling at Laguna. Rinoa was biting her lip to not yell at her father. Selphie and Irvine spent the whole evening either making ga-ga eyes at each other or getting worried about Rinoa and Squall. Quistis kept glancing at the door that Seifer was behind longingly, and Mia may as well have been on another planet. At least it was over and had gone by event free. The after dinner time in the parlor was not so lucky.

Things were fine until Caraway actually addressed Mia directly, much to the shock of everyone in the room. The butler was pouring Mia a glass of cognac when Caraway stepped closer to her, "Mia, are you sure that's a good idea?"

Mia took a deep breath, stealing her nerves, choosing to remain silent lest she say something she regretted. She simply glared at the man and took a sip of the glass in her hand.

Laguna, the ever observant one, waltzed over to the two of them and placed a hand on Mia's shoulder, rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand as he chuckled nervously, "Fury, I didn't know you knew little Penny.. err Mia, here." Leave it to Laguna to open the preverbal can of worms, and not only open them, but pour them in the center of the room and set them on fire.

Caraway narrowed his eyes at Laguna. As if he needed more reasons to hate the man. "Of course I know her. She's even harder to control than Rinoa. Penelope was my great grandmothers name."

Rinoa couldn't keep quiet, "Are you SERIOUS, Caraway?" Squall grabbed her hand and squeezed it with more force than he intended, hoping to quiet her.

Squall was surprised when Mia stopped Rinoa's anger, gently locking arms with her, "Rinoa... it's fine. Caraway thought I died with my mom. When he found out I was at Garden..."

"I asked for a SeeD that would be the right age and have the right skill set. I knew you would speak Galbadian," To Caraway this somehow equated with making up for the first 5 years where all he did was send a check in the mail. It was no wonder Mia went by her mother's name, if her birth name was the only thing ever given to her by Caraway. Her father had been absent, though he did send money. When Mia had found her mother, dead of an overdose, Mia decided to disappear as well, rather than get pulled into the foster system. Caraway had figured she died. Years later he discovered she was at Garden, he requested a SeeD that best described what he thought she would be like, hoping to have Mia sent to him to see if he could right his wrongs. Unfortunately, Mia turned out to be more of a hand full than Rinoa would ever be at her worst, and Caraway had recently lost Julia, putting his will at an all time low. Mia found long lost Dad, only to essentially be rejected by him.

Caraway looked at Rinoa sternly, "Rinoa, please don't do this right now. We have guests.

Rinoa shook her head, "No way, Caraway. We're not gonna all pretend to be a happy family. You didn't even TELL me I had a sister."

Mia began to pull Rinoa away from Caraway and towards the door as the other occupants in the room's conversations began to quiet as they tried to listen in on the mini family feud. "Rinoa. It's fine. I wasn't what he expected and wanted nothing to do with him. Turned out good for him, because I got Herzog's eyes off...off you."

Rinoa almost vomited. That was probably one of the grossest things she had ever heard in her life, especially if Caraway knowingly sent his own daughter to spy on a man who had a known thing for underage girls. She prayed to Hyne that Caraway had no idea. He couldn't.

Mia shook her head, seemingly reading Rinoa's mind as she tugged Rinoa up the stairs and away from the rest of the group, "Rinoa, I don't think he really knew. At least, I have to believe he didn't know."

Rinoa nodded, following Mia through the hallway's of the mansion towards her bedroom. She couldn't get away from the dinner fast enough.

Back in the parlor, Laguna was staring dumbfounded at Caraway. The girl he had brought to Garden years ago had a father. Dear old Dad was the same man who married Julia Heartilly. When Mia had reappeared into Laguna's life at first he didn't recognize her, especially because she went by a new name. She was around the League plenty, and he often attended the meetings she had with the Chancellor to inform him of Herzog's activities.

It wasn't until Laguna saw the tattoo of the owl on her hand and asked her about Timber than he realized. Mia stared at him with those big green eyes and asked Do you remember?. Of course he did. It wasn't like Ellone, who he thought about constantly, or trekked the globe for.

He remembered Penny, or Mia rather, but not the way she remembered him. He just felt happy that things had turned out fine, he honestly hadn't thought about it much in the past 20 years. Which turned out good for Mia, because it also meant he didn't feel guilty for being attracted to her. It was impossible not to, she was almost unbearably beautiful. Beauty aside though, she was still 20 years younger than him. To Laguna, that was just too much. That didn't mean that he would deny himself enjoying the company of an intelligent pretty woman, he just had come to see her as another long lost niece, especially as Ellone and she were the same age. Laguna, being Laguna, was utterly unaware of the fact that Mia was enamored with him. If he had been aware, he probably would have toned down his affection towards her, lest something platonic be misconstrued as romantic. That was, of course, if Laguna had a clue.

Needless to say, he certainly never expected that Caraway was the girl's father. "Fury..." Laguna began.

Caraway snorted at the rival, "Please, Loire, you're hardly the person to take parenting advice from."

It was then that all hell broke lose. Squall jumped behind Laguna, holding him from breaking Caraway's nose and Irvine darted in between the two men, "Alright now, let's just calm down, you hear? Everyone's lil on edge tonight. Take some deep breaths."

The Chancellor looked offended, "You two are gentlemen. Please!"

Caraway shrugged his shoulders, pushing Irvine off of him, "Gentlemen, my foot. That man is a President and doesn't even wear a tie!"

Laguna was about to speak again, but Squall grabbed his shirt, "Laguna. It's not worth it. Don't make Rinoa upset."

Mentioning getting Rinoa upset was enough to snap Laguna out of it, and he reluctantly followed Squall into the foyer of the mansion. Laguna was more than ready to leave Caraway's house. Seifer was sitting in the foyer, along with the other bodyguards of the Chancellor and Herzog, as was Kiros, having come with Laguna. Quistis had been sitting with Seifer as well.

"Can you believe that?" Laguna shook his head and took his coat from Kiros, who did not seem remotely surprised. "You're right though, can't upset Rinoa. Where is she anyway?"

Squall suddenly panicked. In the distraction of Caraway and Laguna almost fighting he had lost site of her. Last thing he remember was her yelling at Caraway and Mia taking her out of the room. Shit. Squall looked at Quistis, who seemed to be coming to the same conclusion.

"She just went upstairs with Mia," Seifer said softly.

"Just the two of them?" Squall asked, hoping the answer was no.

Seifer nodded. Before any of them had reached the top of the stairs, a strangled yell echoed down the hallway. Squall ran please, oh please, oh please. He burst into the door to Rinoa's room and found her on the ground. At least she's here.

Squall knelt by her side and cradled her head in his lap, she was still breathing. He looked up to find Mia leaning out the window, there were the bodies of two men with holes in their carotid arteries on the floor. Glancing quickly over his shoulder, he saw Seifer crouching down checking the pulse of another one on the ground outside the door that Squall had overlooked in his hurry. He turned back down to Rinoa, she was breathing, but she wasn't awake either.

"Sleep spell," Mia muttered, turning around with her hair pin in her hand, glancing for something to wipe the blood off on other than her evening gown, "She's okay."

Squall silently thanked whatever Deity was out there, and mentally cursed himself for not stocking Esuna spells. Thankfully, Quistis had. Rinoa's body glowed for a moment and she opened her eyes. Pale blue eyes gazed back at her. It was the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Hi."

"Hi..." Squall replied, pulling her up into a sharp hug, "I can't believe I was so..."

Rinoa shook her head, "It's fine... Mia was here and she saved me."

Mia, satisfied her inspection of the window and room were sufficient, shook her head, "Don't thank me yet. This wasn't Brutus, this was a fluke."

This wasn't even the beginning...

The night eventually died down and people made their way out. Thankfully most of the commotion hadn't made it's way downstairs and most of the guests were unaware to the dead bodies upstairs. Mia had even convinced Herzog to let her stay at Caraway's, which of course Herzog was more than happy to oblige. To Herzog, Mia being there just meant he had eyes on Sorceress Rinoa at all times.

Squall had locked himself into a room with Rinoa, which Caraway was not pleased about for a myriad of reasons. Staying with the General had its perks though, and the clean up was painless, and for once, Squall didn't have to do any of it.

"Squall, I'm okay, seriously."

Squall's face could not hide his concern as he studied Rinoa carefully for the thirtieth time, "I know... I just, I can't believe" He was furious with himself for being distracted for a moment. A moment was all it took.

Rinoa tilted her head forward, her chocolate eyes staring into his, "Hey. Mia was with me. I wasn't alone." Whatever reservations Squall had about trusting Mia had vanished that night, to say the least. Mia may be a deeply unwell woman, but she definitely loved Rinoa.

Squall lifted his hand to gently trace Rinoa's cheek before tangling it in her hair and leaning his forehead against hers, "You are never leaving my sight again."

Rinoa smiled, "How am I going to shower?"

Little minx. Squall grinned back at her, "I think we can figure something out."

Rinoa surprised Squall then, by bursting out into laughter. He gazed at her with a raised eyebrow. Either this was let-down post-adrenaline crazy laughter, or she actually found something funny. Her contagious giggling brought a smile to his face. She finally calmed herself enough to explain, "Squall.. our dad's almost got in a fist fight tonight."

Okay, so that had been pretty funny. They had all been so caught up in the emotion of the evening that the fact hadn't quite settled. Squall joined in her laughter, chuckling slightly, "I hate to say it, but my money was on Caraway."

Rinoa wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him, "No WAY. Laguna would have taken him."

Squall smiled unabashed at her, "Well, if they almost fought over that, imagine how they would be at a wedding...In fact..." Squall pulled his head back from hers and grabbed her hand, pressing his into it tightly, "Rinoa..."

He found himself unable to finish as Rinoa gazed down into her hand at Raine's simple ring. Rinoa had never expected a grand proposal, or a proposal at all for any matter. Irvine had been right when he once said that in their hearts they were married anyway. Still, the fact that Squall had gone to the trouble of convincing Laguna to give him the ring meant the world. I mean, Squall had actually voluntarily talked to Laguna about something. Rinoa peered up at him with a silly grin plastering her face.

"Marry me." It was said in a way only Squall could. Authoritative, yet compassionate. Certainly not said as a question, nor a command, but simple a statement. Like it was a fact. Unbeknownst to Rinoa, Squall's heart was pounding in his chest. Even though Squall knew Rinoa loved him, it was impossible to not feel a nagging voice in the back of his head giving him doubt. To him, he had no idea how she could stand to be around him most of the time. She was like bright sunshine and he was a huge cloud that covered it and then poured down freezing rain. If it were a cartoon she would have puppies and bunnies and a bunch of flowers blooming around her and Squall would stomp on the flowers and systematically execute the animals. Or at least, that's how he felt.

To Rinoa, he was perfect. Not just because he was unreasonably attractive... but because he LOVED. His love was thick and heavy, intense, just like him. She saw his depth, and just like she let him be himself, he always let her just be herself. He never faulted her for her silliness, or undying faith in people, or her mild clumsiness. He loved her all the more for it.

Truth be told, she wasn't entirely surprised by Squall asking her. She was surprised by Raine's ring, however. They had spoken about marriage anyway, and to Rinoa, their hearts had been married for a long time.

His next words, however, did surprise her, as Squall slid Raine's ring onto Rinoa's finger, "Tonight..."

"What?"

"Marry me, tonight."

A/N: Not much to say. PLEASE REVIEW!