Rinoa tried to sleep but couldn't. Usually Squall would be in bed by now and they'd be snuggling close.

Maybe I was too harsh on him she thought regretfully.

She was so far on her side of the bed that any minute she could fall off. Usually she and Squall would be in the middle. Glancing at the clock it read 10:56pm. Exactly twenty-four hours ago her and Squall had been showing each other how much they loved each other.

A lot can happen in a day

She heard the front door go and she shut her eyes. She recognised Squall's clinking boots anywhere. She pretended to be asleep. She didn't want to talk to him, not yet. She heard him undress and felt the bed move. She tried to make it look like she was so fast asleep nothing could disturb her. She slowed her breathing and tried to stop her eyes from flickering. She felt him adjust his position and then to her surprise he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. He moved back to his side and started to sleep. Rinoa lifted her head and looked at him. It seemed he was already fast asleep. She just watched him quietly for a few minutes. She thought how amazing it was how when anyone slept even if it was the source of all evil, they would look so calm and carefree.

Her thoughts moved onto her mother and how she would hold her when she was upset. What would she say to make Rinoa feel better? What would her wise words be? How would she comfort her?

Rinoa tried to act it in her head but she couldn't remember her voice. The only way she could ever hear it was to listen to one of her songs. Apart from that Rinoa couldn't remember. She was too young to really remember her mother but she missed her so much. She thought many times about asking Ellone to send her back to the past so she could be with her mum but she thought of it unfair as Ellone didn't have any parents at all and she would be asking her to witness a mother-daughter relationship.

Thinking of Julia upset Rinoa too much sometimes. It always reminded her of something she'd lost. And now because of thinking of her mum she started thinking about Aeris.

Too many loses. Too much pain.

She felt it hard to breathe so she jumped out of bed and ran onto the balcony. Luckily she'd left the door open because of the heat. She leant on the cold metal bar and breathed deeply. Tears started streaming down her face and the thought of everything she'd lost. The fear of losing Squall made her sad as well. She wanted to run into his arms and say sorry but something stopped her. Fear. Fear of him turning her away and fear of another fight. She fell to her knees and started to hyperventilate. Her hands still on the metal bar she swung slightly. A cool breeze blew her hair to the side. She felt someone sit on the floor behind her. Squall put his arms around her wait and gently pulled her close. She released the bar and let him hold onto her. She buried her head in his neck as she cried softly. They said no words; they just sat next to each other. Rinoa leaned on Squall and faced the world outside. Their bedroom saw the ocean and cliffs. In the cliffs something caught her eye. It was a small crystal. As the beam from the lighthouse went around the crystal twinkled. She looked curiously at it as it wasn't there last time she'd looked.

Together Squall and Rinoa looked up to see a shooting star fly through the sky. They smiled and held each other closer.

x x x

"What exactly do I wear?" Rinoa asked flicking through her wardrobe

"It doesn't matter, it should be smart though, but not too smart," Squall was shaving in the bathroom "What did you wear last year?"

"Nothing…I was in Deling visiting Caraway," she still felt a bit of tension between them two. The bringing up of her dad reminded her of something important. She ran into the living room, in nothing but her underwear, and opened the coat cupboard.

"Yeah, I think you should definitely wear that," Squall joked coming out of the bathroom.

Rinoa turned and struck a pose. She flipped through the coats until she found a pale blue summer dress. She held it up next to her.

"Yup, this is the one," She ran into the bedroom and put it on.

x x x

"Attention! Quiet please!" The new cadets were paying no attention to their new headmaster; he tapped the microphone "I command you to be quiet!"

Unexpectedly a gun shot went off. Each student was immediately quiet.

"Yes, thank you Irvine,"

Irvine sat on his chair smirking to himself.

Rinoa giggled slightly. Her and Squall sat on the other side of Cid then the others. He stood on a platform ahead of the directory.

"Welcome to Balamb Garden, I am Headmaster Cid, all of you in this…err…room today are our new junior class men. Those of you who are very young will not become cadets until you pass a certain age. Of course I'm sure you're already aware of this. Although there are many different ages amongst you I do not want this to effect how much you treat other people and how much you feel you can achieve," He paused "I want you to look at the six people beside me. These are the heads of faculty and although you must show all members respect these are the six you must appreciate more then anyone. For these are the six, who saved the world from time compression and defeated the evil sorceress!"

A loud cheer filled the room. Rinoa smiled shyly. She hadn't expected that.

"From the end on my right we have Instructor Quistis Trepe, she specialises in battle strategy and monster history," Quistis gave a small wave. "Next to her Instructor Zell Dincht, he specialises in hand to hand combat," Zell jumped from his chair and waved his fists around, people cheered and hooted. "Next to him are instructors Selphie Tilmitt, who specialises in obstacle courses, and Irvine Kinneas, he specialises in target shooting," Selphie waved and Irvine stood up to take a bow.

"Yes, yes and on my left, closest to me is Commander Squall Leonhart, your superior. You must pay him the up most respect. If I am not present everything is under his control. He hands out the missions, so I'd get on the right side of him if I were you, who knows where he could send you," Cid chuckled to himself as the crowd cheered "And last but certainly not least Counsellor Rinoa Heartilly. If you have a problem and you feel like you can't talk to me or any of the others then see her in her office on the second floor and she'll do what she can. Unfortunately she's not quite ready for anyone yet as her office is being renovated. But she should be ready in a couple of days," Rinoa gave the crowd a little smile. "Ok, I've said what I need to but I'll say one thing more…the moment you all stepped in the front doors you made a promise. A promise that you will now serve those who need it. A promise to respect each other. A promise to look after each other. Balamb Garden is not just a school for mercenaries; it's a community. Maybe one day you'll have to fight together and you'll have to be strong. The life of a mercenary could be a tough one but with the right people beside you it could be as easy as you want it to be. Don't be afraid to make friends, don't be afraid to love and always remember we are one neighbourhood, one Garden and together we are one life,"

He nodded a gesture for Squall. He left the stand and headed for the elevator. Squall rose from his feet and took a space behind the mike.

"Well, Headmaster Cid has covered the basics and I would also like to say welcome on behalf of everyone. We are now going to split you into three groups. Each group will be lead around the school by two instructors and will be equipped with your dorm keys at the end of the tour. Over the next few days each group will be led to the training centre for a series of tests. These will determine your capability and strength. So in the first group being led by Instructors Trepe and Dincht…"

Rinoa waited patiently as Squall went through two groups. The ones remaining were for Squall and Rinoa to lead around. She sat holding a clip board with a list of names. Half of them she had trouble pronouncing in her head. When the third group was ready they set off on the tour. Rinoa stayed quiet and let Squall talk most. She kept going over the names in her head so she wouldn't embarrass herself. Soon they reached the dorms. The other two groups had been and gone.

"Ok, these are the dorms. Yours are located on the right hand side whereas on the left are the SeeD dorms. Although you are allowed to walk down the corridor there must be silence. Who knows what mission's they have just come back from? They could be wounded or ill. As SeeDs you'd need to have the best of sleep and health. So unless it's very important stay away from the left corridor all together. Now Counsellor Heartilly will hand out your dorm keys. But don't go anywhere as we still need to go through some things, Miss Heartilly," He gestured Rinoa forward and flicked through his to-do list.

She found it strange for him to call her by such a formal name but she knew why he did it. She started to go down her list and handed out the dorm keys.

When she reached the end everyone stood silent.

"Is there anyone I haven't called out?" She asked scanning the room

"Yes, you didn't call my name," A scruffy looking boy of 14/15 pushed his way to the front.

"Ok, what's your name?"

His voice deepened

"The Sorceress Slayer,"

Rinoa looked up from her clipboard

"Excuse me?"

Out of nowhere the boy punched her right in the stomach. She lost her breath with shock and dropped her clipboard. Squall turned from his activity when he heard the students scream. He noticed the boy retract his arm from Rinoa's stomach and coming out of his hand was a long thin spike oozing with blood. Rinoa had not just been punch, she had been stabbed.

She stood in a daze for a couple of seconds until her legs gave way. Squall caught her and looked to the strange boy.

"Someone get him!"

Coming out of nowhere Yuffie flew from the balcony above and kicked the boy in the stomach sending him through the air.

"I'm on it!"

Squall was unsure of what to do, part of him wanted to attack the boy who hurt her, where most of him wanted, nay needed to stay with Rinoa. He held the wound with his hand and she rested hers on top. She was struggling to breathe and her face was losing all colours.

"…Poison," she gasped

"What?" Squall looked confused,

"On the…blade…was poison," she struggled

Squall moved his blood soaked hand. Around the wound in her stomach was a trail of what looked like bruises but it started to spread around the rest of her body. The greens and browns were sickening to look at.

Yuffie leapt in the air and threw her shuriken at the slayer. He dodged out the way and threw some poisoned darts. She managed to grab each one and chucked them back stabbing him in the left arm. Then he ran towards her, the spike on his hand ready to stab. But Yuffie grabbed it and snapped it off. Her hand had been drenched with the poison and started to go numb. She couldn't use it as the poison was too strong.

"Do you think making me lose a hand will stop me from crushing you?!" she yelled

Grabbing her shuriken again she flung it aiming for the slayers waist. He did a somersault backward and without warning disappeared into a dark portal.

Yuffie fell to the floor. She'd let him get away and she wasn't going to forgive herself.

Squall heard a group of students cast Curagas and other spells but every single one missed. A couple of girls had run to get Dr. Kadowaki. Quistis, Selphie, Irvine and Zell had come running when they heard the commotion and on the other side Rinoa's friends from Midgar had arrived too. Squall remained holding onto Rinoa.

"I'm…sorry," Rinoa said "I didn't…want to…fight with you,"

"It was my fault and you know that," Squall tried to smile

"I…love you," Rinoa gripped his hand a bit tighter.

Squall wasn't sure how to respond. Of course he loved her but by saying it, it would seem he given up on her.

"I love you too, Rin. But you're not going anywhere,"

Rinoa shook her head. Her lips were now a pale blue and her eyes had lost all strength.

"Rinny-nee?" Yuffie tried walking toward her but Vincent held her back. Tears started streaming down her face.

Quistis and Selphie tried to hold them back but failed as the thought of reality kicked in. Irvine and Zell tried their best to comfort the girls but tears gradually started to streak down their faces too.

Rinoa gasped for air and held Squall's hand tighter. He held onto her as much as he could without knowing it would hurt her more. He kissed the top of her head. Rinoa's eyes started to feel heavy and she couldn't keep them open anymore. She only needed to rest for a little while, she told herself. But as soon as she closed her eyes Squall shook her awake.

"No, Rinoa, stay awake," She didn't like to see him look so panicky. He scanned the room for Dr. Kadowaki "Just stay awake,"

Rinoa tried her best but she felt so weak and tired. With the last of her strength she moved herself forward into Squall's embrace. He held onto her, scared of letting her go. Slowly Rinoa closed her eyes and as each second passed Squall could feel the grip on his hand become looser; until finally Rinoa had let go completely and taken one last breath.

Tifa had fallen to the floor and covered her face.

Cid, Barrett, Cait Sith and Red watched on, unsure of what to do.

Cloud looked away; this was too much of a deja vu and couldn't stand to watch.

Vincent had buried Yuffie's head inside his cape so she couldn't look. She was crying uncontrollably.

Quistis had fallen backward and leaned against the wall. She didn't want to cry but nothing could stop the bulk of sadness seeping through her eyes.

Zell stood with his mouth wide open. He punched the wall next to Quistis and cursed.

Selphie clung onto Irvine who was clinging back.

"R…Rinoa?" Squall shook her slightly "Rinoa!"

He gripped onto her lifeless body.

"Rinoa, wake up! For Hyne's sake, wake up!"

But nothing he could do would open her eyes. She lay in his arms like a rag doll, not moving unless he moved her. Not speaking and not breathing.

"Rinoa, please say something!"

And nearly everybody in that school witnessed something that day, which had never been seen before. Squall Leonhart, the commander of SeeD…was crying.