"It's nice to see them all again," Rinoa said climbing into bed

"Hm," Squall murmured his head resting on the pillow

Rinoa leant down to him so they were cheek to cheek. Squall opened his eyes and looked at her from the side. Rinoa blew up her cheek then let out a huge raspberry. Squall groaned and pulled the covers higher around his face forcing Rinoa to retreat.

"Are you still mad at me for not telling you?" she asked angrily

Squall sat up and looked at her.

"I'm not mad, it's something else,"

"Cloud?"

"No, well partly but not just that either," Squall looked slightly embarrassed

"Then what is it?" Rinoa moved slightly closer

Squall turned away from her gaze and sighed. He remained quiet for a while. Rinoa knew how hard this must be for him as he still wasn't used to sharing his feelings. She waited patiently fiddling with the straps on her nighty.

"I was scared," Squall said at last, Rinoa looked at him hastily with doe-full eyes.

"…of what?" she asked shyly

"Not of, for…I was scared for you, scared of losing you," He still remained looking away from her. She smiled.

"I'm not going anywhere," She said wrapping her arms around his neck "If anything that's why I asked them to come, to make us feel a bit safer. I know you'll do anything to protect me but I also know you need help sometimes," she paused waiting for a reaction, when none came she carried on "You can't be everywhere at once, and neither can the others, they're all instructors or faculty now, so that's why I invited Yuffie and the others…so their main priority is to help me,"

Squall looked back; he lifted his arms and hugged Rinoa. He understood what she did and why but he still couldn't shake the uncertain feeling. Was it Cloud? Where did he know him from and why did his instinct tell him not to trust him?

Rinoa raised her eyebrows seeing if he'd say anything. Again silence. She sighed and released her grip. They both sat sitting up staring ahead of them.

"Everyone's allowed to be scared, even the commander of SeeD" She shook her head "Especially the commander of SeeD,"

Finally Squall nodded.

"I'll be the one to protect you,"

Rinoa laughed slightly,

"You're jealous!"

Squall looked at her with one eye,

"I just want to know your safe and who better to protect a sorceress then her knight,"

Rinoa laughed a little harder, she fell back and lied in the bed. Squall remained sitting.

"Yup, you're so jealous you're going green. You can't dare to think someone can protect me better then you can. I'm right aren't I?!"

"No, you're big-headed," He smiled tickling her.

She tried to grab his hands to stop him. She hated being tickled but loved Squall's playful side. Soon tears were streaming down her face with laughter.

"Please…stop…it's too…much," At that remark Squall leant down and kissed her passionately.

Slowly his lips moved down to her neck. His hands moved to the back of her nighty and he pulled down the zip. In no time at all the silky material was lying on the floor. Rinoa moved her hands to Squall's waste and soon his boxers joined her nighty. In just a couple of minutes they were a tangle of hot, sweaty bodies, discovering each other. Every movement sent Rinoa's heart beating wildly and for that period of time, there was no past, or future just present and the only two people in the world were her and Squall.

After what seemed like forever they fell into the bed panting. Rinoa moved over and leaned on Squall's chest. She leaned up and gave him a kiss which he happily returned. Nothing mattered in the world when they were together and all her worries would disappear. When they first shared the experience she laughed to herself, she could've never imagined Squall being so passionate and yet there he was. Reminiscing was also fun, except when the bad memories set in. She'd shake them away in an instance.

Suddenly without warning Squall had grabbed her again and climbed on top of her. She giggled slightly as his lips explored her body. Obviously to both of them, passion was something neither of them could get enough of. But just as they were about to reach their climax there was a knock at the front door,

"Rinny-nee!"

Squall dropped his head. Rinoa grew red with embarrassment. The knocks grew louder and more frequently.

"Any chance she'll go away if we ignore it?" Squall asked hopefully

"Not a chance, she's more stubborn then we are,"

Squall pulled himself off and lay on the bed catching his breath. Rinoa kissed him on the forehead and rose onto the floor. She grabbed a dressing gown and straightened her hair. She reached the bedroom doorframe and turned around.

"Might wanna cover up, she could see through the door," she laughed as she saw him grab the duvet and pretend he was asleep.

She straightened herself a bit more and opened the front door.

"Hey Yuffie-Chan, what's up?" she tried looking casual when really she wanted to get back to Squall

"Nothing, its only eleven so I thought I'd come see if you wanted to hang out for a bit," she seemed oblivious to the fact Rinoa was red and sweaty in the face

"Um…well we…I was…trying to sleep. It's been a long day and well I have to get up early in the morning to sort out my new office. Maybe you can help me, I need to re-decorate so you can help me paint. We'll hang out all day tomorrow ok?"

"But I'm bored now and the Garden 'policy' won't let me go to Vincent,"

"Since when did policy ever stop you from doing anything you wanted?"

"What, so I won't get in trouble if I go to him?" she asked cheerfully

"I doubt it, you're not a student here and its not like you can be demoted or anything, so go, go to Vincent,"

"Are you sure? I see Vincent everyday and I don't want you to feel second best and-"

"NO! Seriously Yuffie its fine, go and see him and we'll hang out tomorrow, meet me in the cafeteria at ten for brekkie then we'll go check out my office, o…k?" she felt like she was never going to get rid of her.

"Okay! As long as you're sure!" she chirped "See you tomorrow!" and with that she bounced off down the hall.

Quickly Rinoa closed the door and locked it. She ran into the bedroom, dropped the dressing gown and climbed next to Squall.

"Right, where were we?" she giggled

As she looked to Squall she heard him breathe softly but there was no answer. He had fallen asleep. Rinoa smiled and snuggled next to her knight and fell asleep with him in her arms.

x x x

Yuffie skipped down the hall and back into the dorms. She was glad she didn't need to worry about visiting Vincent but that didn't stop her from using her ninja skills. Stopping outside his dorm she pushed the door open. Luckily for her it wasn't locked.

The bed was small but luckily so was she. She climbed in and gripped Vincent tightly.

He stirred and turned his head.

"Hello," he said

Yuffie giggled.

"I can't sleep, too worried,"

"About Rinoa?" he asked turning around to hold her.

Yuffie nodded. She wasn't as worried as she made out to be but she loved forcing Vincent to show how much he cared as he'd only do it when called for.

"She'll be ok, that commander seems to know what he's doing," he assured her

"The commander? Well, if he knows what he's doing then why did Rinoa call me?" Yuffie suddenly felt antic "He doesn't know her like I do, he can't protect her like I can!"

"Didn't you listen to her story? If it wasn't for him she would've died," Vincent held Yuffie a bit tighter "It kind of reminds me of us,"

"We both saved each other," she said nuzzling her head in his chest "But you and I have a relationship, he's not even her boyfriend!"

"Are you sure about that, Yuffie? I think they are an item,"

"No, because she would've said and last time I checked she was going out with that other guy…Cider or Saffy or something,"

"But things could've changed in the last couple of years, have you seen this guy around?"

"No, but he could be away on a mission or something," Yuffie gave up "Well, I'm with her all day tomorrow so I'll find out then,"

"Just don't go prying, she must have a lot on her mind,"

"Do you think she's in much danger?"

"I don't know, you saw those messages. But please don't get carried away, I don't want you to get hurt,"

Yuffie leaned up and elbow his chest.

"I'm the great ninja Yuffie, as if I can get hurt!" She blushed slightly "And I know that if I did, you'd save me,"

Vincent couldn't hide his smile this time.

"I love your smile," Yuffie said giggling

"I love you," He mumbled almost too quietly, he started going a bit red.

Yuffie hugged him tighter then before.

"I have a present for you, I thought I'd bring it and I think it'll cheer you up," Vincent shuffled out from underneath her and grabbed his bag. Bringing out a box he handed into Yuffie.

As quick as she could she opened it. Three glowing balls of purple, yellow and blue glistened in her hand, light reflecting off her face.

"Materia!" she yelled

"I knew you'd like it," Vincent said sitting down

"Yup! It's so pretty!" She leaned up and kissed Vincent.

He cleared his throat, he wasn't used to being held or loved like this. He remembered how people thought there was too much of an age gap between them but Yuffie had threatened them so they kept quiet. Secretly they both wondered if they were still judged but chose not to care. Because as in any pure relationship it didn't matter as long as you were together.

x x x

Rinoa sat at a table in the cafeteria, Squall sat beside her. He was flicking through a few documents and sipping a coffee. He felt embarrassed about falling asleep the night before but luckily Rinoa just laughed about it. She flicked through her magazine and munched on a chocolate croissant.

"What time were you meeting Yuffie?" Squall asked

"Ten, she should be here soon," Rinoa replied not lifting her eyes from her mag.

Squall gathered his papers. He started to get up.

"Don't leave just because she's coming!" Rinoa moaned grabbing his hand, "This could be a good chance for you to meet her, after all when you go out with someone you also go out with their best friend," she laughed

"Ok I'll stay, but use your words carefully, how would Quistis and Selphie feel about you calling her your best friend. She may be but we only just found out she existed. They could get upset and feel like Yuffie's replacing them,"

Rinoa looked down, she hadn't thought of that she was just so exited about seeing her old friends.

"I'll be more careful, I'll even ask them if they wanted to help me and Yuff decorate,"

Yuffie and Vincent walked into the cafeteria.

"Told you they were more than friends," Vincent gloated

"That's no proof, loads of people eat breakfast together,"

They joined Rinoa and Squall.

"Morning!" Yuffie chirped

"Hey Yuff, you remember Squall,"

"Yup, you remember Vincent this time?"

Rinoa chuckled

"As if I could forget, take a seat guys,"

For a while they sat in silence. The only speech was Vincent asking Yuffie what she wanted to eat. When he returned there was nothing different except the sound of Yuffie eating.

"So, what colour are you painting your office?" she asked between mouthfuls

"I don't know, I want it to look cheerful yet smart. How about a nice blue or red?"

"Those colours are a bit over used aren't they?" Yuffie took a sip of her drink "You want something that stands out and could get the guys attention too!" this was her ninjary way of finding out if Squall really was Rinoa's boyfriend.

Rinoa laughed and saw Squall huff slightly.

"I wouldn't need to get boys attention I have a perfectly good one here," she said taking Squall's hand

"Who, the commander?" Yuffie wanted to pry further despite Vincent's objections "That's not your boyfriend you were going out with the other one,"

"Seifer?" Rinoa asked shyly

"Yeah, that's him you know the blonde one with ginger eyebrows, bah…he so dyed his hair,"

"Oh yeah definitely, I once walked in on him finishing the bottle. It was so funny when his roots came through he looked like a complete idiot," Rinoa reminisced

"Yeah, that's the one, and he had those two friends,"

"Fujin and Raijin. They were so funny," Rinoa smiled at the memories. Squall coughed angrily "But it was over with Seifer long ago, for the last year and a half I've been with Squall and I couldn't be happier,"

"Hm, I did wonder why you'd moved here," Yuffie suddenly laughed "I remember you had two other boyfriends whilst going out with Seifer-"
"Yuffie!" Rinoa shouted

"One in Deling and one in Timber, or was it three boyfriends, Yeah, three you had one in Wutai too! You played them all for suck-"

"Yuffie, lets go check out my office," Quickly she grabbed Yuffie's hand and rushed her out of the cafeteria "You were just as bad!" she hissed.

Back at the table Squall blinked surprised. Half of him wanted to laugh at the thought of Rinoa cheating on Seifer but the other half was scared at the fact she used to play the field. He looked over to Vincent and they both sat awkwardly.

"Hi," He said quietly

Silence

"Hi,"

A small pause

"You…alright?"

"Yeah…you?"

Another pause

"I'm good,"

Quickly Squall grabbed his papers and headed for his office leaving Vincent sitting alone. He glanced over to Rinoa's mag and flicked through it.

"Ten ways to hydrate your skin" heread

Hmmm… He thought rubbing his cheek