Disclaimer: Anything that is not mine, is not mine. The game, the characters, they are not mine. The concept of the story is mine, but the elements added that were not originally mine, are definitely not mine. I hope that's enough disclaimer!

Squall scrunched up his nose while shifting the gear to park in front of Rinoa's house, his windows halfway opened. Whatever it was in the flowers was slowly creeping up into his nose and bringing slight tears to his eyes. If only it wasn't for Claire who so kindly asked him to bring Aerith's flowers samples to Rinoa, he wouldn't even bother.

"You want me to bring these to Rinoa?" Squall asked with incredulity.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Weren't you listening?"

"I know Tifa wants Rinoa to see the samples." Squall snappily replied. "But why do you want me to drive there with these?" he pointed at the bundled primroses on the dining table with his eyes. Why indeed when she could just come over at Tifa's house like she always did? Of all circumstances when he could drive to Rinoa's, it had to be at the most inconvenient when he was to carry a bulky amount of flowers that gave him the runny nose.

Claire crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at Squall.

Squall responded with a frown, as if to ask her "what?"

"Give Rinoa some rest, Squall." Claire said. "It's your turn to hit the road."

Squall blinked and slid his hands into his pockets, choosing to stay silent in his protest but Claire caught on.

"Aren't male SeeDs taught how to be gentlemen from time to time?" she challenged.

Squall huffed and rolled his eyes. He swooped the flowers from the table and began to head for the door. "I'm not complaining."

"Thought so." Claire replied coldly.

And the groom didn't help either when he passed by him outside.

"Going to Rinoa's?" Cloud asked, wiping his huge motorcycle dry with a yellow absorbent cloth.

Squall pressed the unlock button to Claire's maroon sedan. "Claire made me."

Cloud grinned impishly. "Rinoa's uncle is Sephiroth, by the way."

Squall paused and gave him a questioning look. He had heard of this Sephiroth for countless of times from Cloud's stories of his perpetual frustrations in his years of work at Shinra. "General Sephiroth?"

"Yup." Cloud replied. "And her legal guardian, apparently."

"How did you know?"

"Ran to him back at work, berated me for allowing Rinoa to stay up late at the engagement party."

"What did Tifa say?"

"She didn't know that I know." Cloud replied. "Not yet anyway. I'm waiting for her to tell me."

"What do you mean?"

"Sephiroth knows her. Imagine how a parent would know their daughter's best friend."

Squall stood silently by the door to the driver's seat, waiting for his cousin to elaborate further, but he never did. Cloud had always been straightforward one way or another, and it was intriguing why he was suddenly secretive about simple and ridiculously shallow things like this. Sephiroth may be his rival, but Tifa was his fiance. Shouldn't he be telling her everything? And why would he need to wait for Tifa to tell him?

"So," Cloud shrugged. "goodluck."

Yeah, you too. Squall mentally replied.

Back at Rinoa's, Squall pressed the doorbell and heard Rinoa's hurried voice asking someone to open it for her. He straightened up as soon as he heard footsteps approaching, adjusting the flowers on his right arm. When the knob turned and the door opened, he was met by a towering muscular man with silver hair that almost touched the ground. His face was the most bloodthirsty he had seen, and his features as sharp as the edge of his gunblade. Somewhere, he could hear an intensified orchestral music that forewarned terror and danger.

This must be Sephiroth.

The man's deep voice growled against his throat as he examined Squall from head to toe. "Are you Squall?"

Squall almost gulped but he maintained his posture. "Yes, Sir."

"Strife's cousin?"

Squall thought for a second. "Yes, Sir."

The man's green orbs travelled to the primroses in his arm and Squall nearly threw them away.

Sephiroth grunted another "Hmm…" when he met Squall's vision in scrutiny. Squall could swear he spelled death in the man's eyes.

He didn't know what happened after or how he made it past through Sephiroth alive, but the next thing he knew, he was sitting on a couch in a living room, the flowers still in his hands. Sephiroth was sitting on a cushioned chair right across his, a silver sword as long as he was in one hand and a block sharpener in another. His throat felt dry as the repeated sounds of the block sliding against the metal pierced through his ears, but he tried to remain unshaken. At least until Rinoa's uncle stopped giving him that look.

Squall shifted uneasily on his chair and silently thanked Hyne for the warm weather that covered for the sweat trickling down his forehead. The heavy silence wasn't helping either, but talking was clearly neither man's favorite hobby.

Isn't Rinoa ready yet?

Sephiroth's eyes briefly tore away from him when he flipped his sword and began sliding the block along the other side of his blade. Squall couldn't understand why the man was so adamant in sharpening his sword when the metal was smooth as it could be, and the edge could slice the microparticles in the air. Sephiroth wasn't even watching what he was doing– his eyes were fixed at Squall instead, shooting meteors into his poor soul.

"Hi Squall!" Rinoa called while taking the last step down from the staircase. Squall jumped from the couch and stood up. He didn't even hear the sound of her footsteps against the wooden floors, but that wasn't even important– the air was getting a little drafty and he was just glad she finally arrived. She turned to Sephiroth. "Uncle Seph, this this Squall, the best man. Squall, my Uncle Seph."

"Pleased to meet you, Sir." Squall held out his hand.

"Pleasure." Sephiroth said gruffly as he responded to the friendly gesture.

Rinoa looked at his cargo. "Oh! You brought some flowers! Thanks!" she took the primroses from Squall's hand and laid them out on the table to observe. "You know, I've been browsing through flower arrangement ideas I found online, and I saw some that Tifa might like. I'm sure Aerith have better ideas since, you know, flowers are her specialty."

Squall didn't (read: couldn't) respond and let Rinoa ramble on her thoughts about the damned primroses. Sephiroth's jaws tightened and his eyes narrowed at the sight of his niece holding flowers that didn't come from himself.

"I took the liberty of picking this arrangement. What do you think Squall?" Rinoa asked after playing with the flowers.

Her partner for the wedding nodded at her poor attempt to create a rounded bouquet that didn't even pass as a mock-up arrangement.

"I think it's great." he replied under her uncle's scrutinizing look.

Rinoa blinked a few times in disbelief. Did he just compliment her work? She gave a cheerful "thank you" anyway before gathering the flowers in her arms. "I think Aerith will need to see this first before we show Tifa, though."

"Yes, I think so too." Squall replied hurriedly.

"Uncle Seph," Rinoa called. "we're going to Aerith's to fix Tifa's flower arrangements." she said while slipping her purse up her shoulder with her free hand.

Sephiroth's face quickly softened as he stood up. "Okay. You take care." He said while heading for the door.

"See you later!" Rinoa beamed while stepping out of the house.

"Try to be home before dark."

"Okay!"

Squall was following behind when his path was blocked by something sharp and silver. Stiffly but keeping his cool, he turned to look at Sephiroth.

"I don't know what kind of escapade you have with my niece." he said, almost growling. "But if anything unpleasant happens to her, I'll make sure you get what you deserve down there." he cocked his head towards Squall's lower regions.

Squall gulped for the first time in a long one. "Don't worry, Sir. I'll make sure that won't happen."

Sephiroth slightly nodded and lowered his sword with a shing. Squall nodded back and proceeded outside. As he opened the passenger's seat for Rinoa, he could still observe Sephiroth from his peripheral vision wiping his sword with some sort of cloth, watching them. He then entered through the driver's seat and sped away.

He almost forgot he had the runny nose.

Squall thought the bouquet in Rinoa's arms was already bad, but Aerith's flower shop was even worse.

The blossom particles hit his nose not even before they pushed the door open. Squall sneezed as soon as the pollens escaped the confinements of the shop and blew to his face. He was surprised how Rinoa was unaffected by all of these, and he wondered if all women were made to withstand the wrath of the flowers.

Rinoa on the other hand inspected the orchids that hung from the glass ceiling that allowed the sunlight through. Turning around, she spotted another group of pots of sunflowers and poppies basking in the sun by the glass windows, their colors adding a delightful accent to the white primroses that dominated the place.

"Hi! You made it!" Aerith greeted while leaving her floral counter and approached the pair. Rinoa smiled in greeting observing roses of different colors in the shelves behind their owner, not noticing Squall's sniffles behind her.

"I'm going outside." Squall said in a strained voice.

Rinoa gave him a concerned look. "You okay?"

"Yeah, no… the flowers." Squall replied unintelligibly, opening the door to freedom.

"I have some antihistamines for customers like you." Aerith said. She opened a drawer from one of her cabinets and produced a small white tablet. She handed it to Squall.

"I don't want to get dizzy."

"They won't, I promise."

Squall looked at the tablet before taking it. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Aerith replied with a smile so beautiful that all the emotions he thought he forgot came flooding back to him. Squall stared at her for a moment before forcing a nod and exiting the shop.

But that didn't escape Rinoa.

She eyed him as he walked out, wondering why he suddenly lost grip of his mask… again. She turned around and noticed that Aerith was oblivious of Squall's moment of vulnerability. Rinoa smiled back at her and handed the rounded bouquet she arranged back at her house. "I'm not really good at it, but…"

Aerith giggled clemently as she examined the drooping petals of the disheveled bundle. "No, this is fine. I kind of get what you meant."

"Oh, and I saved some pictures that could give us some inspiration." Rinoa said, pulling her phone out of her purse and opening photos that she saved from a wedding website. She swiped until she spotted the one with an arc of primroses and pillars with vines of pale pink roses wrapped around them. She handed her phone to Aerith and gave her a moment to survey it before she spoke again. "What do you think?"

"It looks a little more complicated than my usual works, but," Aerith zoomed into the photo to explore every detail of it. She finally nodded. "it's very intricate, but definitely workable."

"Instead of all white," Rinoa mused. "I was thinking we could do a combination of peach and white. I don't want to let go of the primroses."

Aerith nodded. "Those are Tifa's favorites. But I'm not sure about the peach color."

Rinoa shrugged. "I don't think Tifa would mind the peach." she said. "We can always do other colors, like purple. No, let's make it lavender. Lavender-colored roses. Do you think you can do roses and primroses at the same time?"

"Yeah, I can." Aerith handed Rinoa's phone back to her. She then turned around to her counter and took out two vases of roses from her shelf: one with light purple color and one peach. She placed them beside Rinoa's bouquet of primroses and examined the combination. "I like the purple one better."

"Yeah." Rinoa agreed. "It contrasts well with the white. It looks more wedding-like."

"I was also thinking we can use these to make floral headpieces for the bridal party."

"I think that's a great idea." Rinoa replied honestly. "Tifa would love that too."

"We should show Tifa first before I start working so we can also decide on the final arrangements of the flowers."

"And the wreaths."

Aerith nodded. "Are you guys going back to her place?"

"Probably. Are you coming?"

"I will, but I might wait for Zack first."

"Okay. Speaking of which," she tipped her head to the door. "I think I should go out and check on Squall."

"That's five gil."

Squall handed the merchant his payment for the bottled water he needed for the anti-allergy. He crossed the street back to the front lawn of Aerith's place and gulped the medicine down. The streets was still lit by the afternoon sun, and the breeze carried fallen leaves to the other side of the place. His time alone felt perfect, it was just what he needed after the shaky start of his day, and Aerith that rattled him again.

"Squall?"

He turned around at the voice and saw Rinoa standing behind him. "Hey. You done?"

Rinoa shook her head. "No. I don't think so."

Squall slid one hand in his pocket and the bottle dangled in the other. "You should probably wrap it up soon. I don't want to wait until dark to bring you home."

Rinoa opened her mouth to ask him why until she remembered. "Oh. That." she giggled. "Uncle Seph was just saying that, he always does. I can stay until we've finalized what to do with the flowers."

Squall gave her a look as if to say "are you sure?"

"Don't worry about it, Squall." she laughed. "Are you scared of my Uncle Sephy?"

Squall scoffed. "I don't want to relive it."

Rinoa laughed again.

A moment passed between them, both taking all the fresh air in before she started again. "What's up with you and Aerith?"

Squall's expression hardened. Was he really easy to read that Quistis and Rinoa correctly guessed about Aerith?

Rinoa leaned forward to take a peek of Squall's face. "I know you have a lot of secrets, Squall. But some of them don't really have to be."

"They are secrets for a good reason."

"Reason?" Rinoa asked. She then straightened up. "Hmm… I wonder what reason could that be."

"None of your business."

"I guess not." she said. "But seeing how you're just keeping them all inside made me think if you need some help pulling them out before you burst."

"I'm not going to burst." he replied sternly.

She shrugged. "Okay."

He was tempted to ask "okay what?", but he didn't intend to make the conversation any longer.

Rinoa, on the other hand, wanted to ask more questions, but she let the silence speak for Squall. He clearly didn't want to talk about it, and she didn't want to pry. She only wanted to check on him and see if he was still doing fine from his bout of allergies, which he seemed to feel better from the moment the flowers were out of the way. She was about to head back inside when a black jeep pulled over beside Claire's car and out came Zack.

"Oh, hey!" Zack waved at them, and they both gave a small wave back. "You're both here!" He jogged to them, removing his sunglasses as he did. "What are you both doing outside?"

"Squall was having the allergies from the flowers." Rinoa replied. "I just went out to check on him."

Zack pressed his mouth into a thin line. "Do you want me to get you antihistamines?"

"Thanks, Aerith already gave me one." Squall replied.

"Okay. Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Okay." Zack looked at the door briefly before turning back to them. "Well, I'll go ahead inside and see what Aerith needs. You should too, Rinoa."

Rinoa smiled and nodded. "I will in a while."

She waited until Zack disappeared through the door before turning to Squall. "Well, I wanna know what that guy did that you didn't."

Squall shot her a glare.

"I would guess he was more…" she shrugged. "Conversational?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Oh, and less grumpy." Rinoa pulled a playful smirk. "Or not grumpy at all. Or maybe he was confident."

Squall grunted and looked away.

"That's it, right? He's more confident."

Squall waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever."

Rinoa made a knowing "oh" like she discovered a new galaxy in the infinite universe. "You worry about what people think of you."

"Are you studying me like one of your students?"

"Correction!" she pointed a finger at him. "I'm not a teacher yet and I have no students. I may be getting there, but still not quite there. And don't change the subject."

"I'm not." he replied.

Rinoa placed her hands on her hips. "You act a little too cool, Squall. Holding back won't make up for your self-doubt."

"What do you know about self-doubt?" Squall challenged. "Just because you're confident, doesn't mean everyone can be. I always end up alone, and that wasn't easy. Confidence didn't help me become stronger."

That came out a little harsh for Rinoa, but she had to remind herself that it was Squall she was speaking to. She took in a deep breath. "You may be right. But it cost you the chance to be with someone who was clearly important. Now she's with someone else who is confident and, frankly, stronger. Besides, how would you know whether or not she likes you if you don't know what to like about yourself?"

She got his full attention. Now that he thought about it, aside from his learned skills as a mercenary that earned him recognitions from the Garden, he didn't know what else was there in him to see. He walked to a nearby tree and leaned his back against it. "What is there to like?"

"Well," Rinoa tilted her head thoughtfully. "I don't know, but Quistis definitely saw a lot."

He scoffed again. "And how about you?" he asked as if to dare her. "What do you see?"

"Hmm…" Rinoa placed an index finger on her lips musingly. "I see someone who is sharp, smart, and brave."

"Brave?"

"At certain situations, yes." she said. "Especially when things are needed to be done. Or you become brave for someone else."

"We were taught how to be brave in the Garden."

She shrugged. "Maybe." she said. "But I know many other brave people, like my uncle and my stepbrother. As far as I know, they would never go out of their way to get things done. Like, you know, winking at a stubborn merchant or talking to a rejected lover."

"You make it sound so poetic."

"It's true!" she asserted. "And I've only known you for less than a week and I can come up with good qualities about you. Imagine what Aerith has to say."

"Too late for that." he said. "Too late to care."

"Yeah, it's too late for that. But that's beside the point, isnt' it?"

Rinoa caught his eyes with hers, and Squall stared for a moment, seeking for answers.

"Learning to like yourself." she said. "That's what's more important."

Aerith's petite house stood behind her flower shop where they were welcomed to join her and Zack for a snack. Squall sat by Rinoa who fumbled through the herbed chicken and peas with her fork. Zack sat across him, waiting for Aerith to bring in more plates.

"You guys have this for a snack?" Rinoa asked in disbelief. "This could pass as dinner!"

"Aerith won't have anything lighter for snacks." Zack replied. "It always has to be at least 200 worth of calories."

"Why?"

Zack chuckled. "She hates not getting enough food."

Before Rinoa could say anything else, Aerith entered the room with two more plates in her hands. Zack stood up and quickly took them from her before placing them on the table.

"So how did you guys meet?" Rinoa asked once Aerith and Zack settled on their chairs.

The couple looked at each other and smiled. Squall knew the story, but he listened anyway.

"We met through Cloud at one of his small get-togethers. Aerith was Cloud's friend and I was his officemate and his usual partner in missions. He introduced us over popcorn." Zack replied.

"So what do you like about Aerith?" Rinoa asked before taking a bite of the chicken breast.

Squall did his best to conceal his eager need to know the answer while maintaining his composure.

"I'm curious though," Rinoa asked. "What do you like about Aerith?"

"Hmm…" Squall looked up to the pale blue sky and pondered on his memories of Aerith from the moment he met her until the present time. "She's attractive, admirable, smart, and nice, I guess. Seeing her makes me worry more about what I am, and I don't know why."

"Maybe because you think she's better than you."

"Maybe. Who knows?"

Zack gazed at Aerith in contemplation, her eyes met his once again. "I don't know why I love her." he replied. "I just, you know, do."

Aerith's sweet giggle made Rinoa's heart melt for Zack's answer.

Squall, on the other hand, thought it didn't make any sense. Is that even possible? he thought. Not knowing why he loves her? And Aerith likes it?

Rinoa meant to throw the question to Aerith next, but figured there was a big chance she would answer with the same perfect response. Instead, she raised her glass in cheers. "Here's to love."

"Here's to love." the couple lifted their glasses of water as well and even Squall joined them, albeit wordlessly.

"Hey, after this," Zack said after taking a sip from his glass. "we should check out the new fries stall around the corner."

"I love fries!" Aerith chirped.

"I know." Zack said softly, nuzzling his nose through her hair.

Rinoa caught Squall smiling at the sight of the couple and nudged at him. He stiffened and shot her a questioning look. She smiled knowingly instead, and he smiled back again.

After they have finished their meal, they stepped and headed for the newly-propped streetfood stall one block away. Zack and Aerith reached the place first and fell in line while Squall and Rinoa followed behind.

He now knew that there were things beyond him that he simply couldn't give Aerith. Zack was the proof of that. He loved Aerith in a way he couldn't understand, and she gave it right back to him without reservations. If he thought Aerith was brightening his day, she made Zack's perfect. They complimented each other. They were happy.

That was too deep for Squall.

The image of Aerith and Zack in the background blurred against the bluish illumination of dusk when he snapped out of his thoughts and his eyes fell on Rinoa.

"C'mon Squall," she called. "the line is getting longer!"

"Coming." he called back, taking bigger steps towards her. She pulled him by the wrist, and he began to wonder in panic if he had enough money to treat her some fries. At least to make up for tolerating his reluctance to open up.

Even then, she didn't know how much load she lifted off his shoulders from the pep talk he never knew he needed. Rinoa made him feel warm. Comfortable. Confident. Despite his day's rough start, she was able to end it like nothing else mattered. The haze that fogged the future began to slowly disappear and suddenly, he wasn't alone anymore.

He couldn't understand that either.

A/N: If you noticed on my fic, there are lots and lots of food involved. That's because all the weddings I've been to had PLENTY of food. I really earned some extra few pounds from those. Oh, and please review. I'd really like to know what you think!