Disclaimer: I do not and have not ever been the owner of such a great company like Squaresoft…okiedokie? You may proceed…

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Chapter 23-Make a Wish

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Rinoa burst into the room with a smile on her face.

"Lunch went well?"

"Hell yeah!" she nodded excitedly.

"What happened?"

She sat on the edge of the bed. "Not only did my dad apologise, but he also said that we have his blessings!"

"I thought you didn't care."

"Turns out I did. Sweet Hyne, you have no idea how…relieved I feel."

"Well isn't this good…we have both come to terms with our parental problems."

Rinoa laughed, "You know what else?"

"What?"

"He gave me my mother's earrings. The diamond ones she wore at her wedding," she took the box out of her bag and showed them to him.

"They're beautiful Rin."

"I know, I used to search the house for these. Turns out he had them with him all this time and that he promised my mom that he'd give them to me when I got married. Is it just me or is everything finally going right for us?"

Squall laughed warmly, "Yeah, everything's going right for us."

"So, what you do while I was out?"

"You know, watched TV, the gang dropped by."

"Really? What they say?"

"Nothing much, they just wanted to check up on me I guess. It was good to see them all again. I'd almost forgotten what they looked like."

She smiled, "Ahh…family reunions, how touching."

"Hey listen, I'm getting out of hospital tomorrow. Doctor said I was fine to go. So I'll be moving back to Garden."

"Oh, that's good!" she exclaimed a little half-heartedly. "Squall?"

"Yeah?"

"Now that you're…well…all better. Are you gonna be a SeeD again?"

"Well…no, not for a while anyway. I'm not encouraged to do a lot of physical work for at least a year. I don't know."

"What'll you do if you don't go back to working?"

"Well…I haven't thought about it. Oh, hey, are you gonna take that job with Iona?"

"The singing one?"

"Yep."

"Well, I haven't thought about it. I probably should, what do you think?"

"I reckon you should go for it."

"Alright, I will then. Is Iona flexible though?"

"Of course she is…she is my aunt after all," he laughed. "Brendan came to see me yesterday you know."

"He did? What he do?"

"He just wanted to apologise."

"Did you forgive him? 'cause I still haven't."

"I accepted his apology, I didn't forgive him though."

"Right, so there's a difference?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah."

"Weirdo," she shook her head slightly.

"Well if Brendan can accept it, then you can."

"But you're cousins."

Squall closed at his eyes irritably, "Hyne, don't remind me."

She laughed at his refusal of the truth, "Alright, alright. So, are we gonna do anything special tomorrow night?"

- - -

"Seifer, do you mind setting the table?."

"Sure thing…er…how many forks do these people need to eat?"

"Ugh, I'll do it then," Quistis scoffed. "You put the ribbon up."

"Cid went to visit Squall, didn't he?"

"Yeah that, and he went to have a 'chat' with Laguna."

"Hey Seifer," Selphie called. "Don't you have important 'commander' business?"

"Nah. Whatever Squall found hard about the job I have no idea about…I mean, I practically do nothing."

"Could Commander Almasy please go to the Headmaster's office, Commander Almasy," the voice over the loud speaker echoed into the ballroom.

"You were saying?" Quistis laughed.

"I'll see you," he took Quistis' hands, twirling her into a dip, "Later." Giving her a kiss he exited the ballroom.

"Bye," she called after him.

"Selphie, darlin', what time is Squall gonna get this show on the road so I can just put this system on timer."

"Umm…not sure, set it for seven just to be sure. If he doesn't come with Rin by half past seven, then I'll call him and annoy him," she chirped.

"Hey," Zell asked as he swept the floor, "Who's gonna be serving dinner?"

They all looked at him.

"What? Me?" he gestured to himself. "You're kidding right?"

"Nope," Quistis replied as she measured the distance of each fork from the table edge. "Two point five centimetres, perfect," she muttered to herself.

"But…but, aww gee, do I have to?"

"Why Zell? You got other plans?"

"Umm," he blushed, "No."

"It's settled then. By the way, you can ask Julie to help you out if you want."

"Can I?"

"I don't see why not," Quistis shrugged.

"Cool, I'll do it then. Who's cooking though?"

"I got the cafeteria ladies to cater," Selphie grinned. "I told you parties were my thing."

"No one said otherwise, Selphie," Irvine commented as he put his arm around her. "What time are Squall and Rin gonna come back to Garden?"

"Squall said around two."

"It's so cool how Squall can see again. Rin's happy again."

"Yeah, I'm really happy for them," Quistis said, inspecting the table she had set.

"I can't believe Squall will be the first one of us to get married!" Zell exclaimed.

"I know! It seems so weird." Selphie took Irvine's hat and put it on. "He was always the loner."

"Well, Rin's special. They've been through a lot."

"I wonder who'll be next," Selphie asked innocently.

Irvine instantly stiffened. "Gee, I dunno Seffie." Hyne, I hope she wasn't hinting.

"I reckon it'll be our dear Commander Almasy and Instructor Trepe," Zell laughed.

"Umm, I wouldn't say that too loudly in front of Seifer, he'll probably get all nervous just like Irvine did just then."

Selphie turned to glance at Irvine who had a guilty smile on.

"Hey there, darlin'. You want a drink?"

"Squall!!" Selphie squealed at the man at the door. "You said you were gonna be here at two."

"So I'm an hour early. Rinoa's in my room…packing away our stuff." He looked around the ballroom. "This is great you guys. Thanks so much."

"Nothing to worry about, Squall. Listen, I've got the stereo set to start playing music at seven, but if you wanna stop it for some reason, just press stop and then play when you want it to play again," Irvine pointed at the buttons.

"Alright. Hey, to get Rin here, I'm gonna say that we're all going to be here, so if Rin asks you, then you're coming okay? But you really aren't," he winked.

"No problem Squall."

"It's gonna be beautiful tonight."

"Glad we could help."

Squall smiled, a sight that was becoming more and more frequent. "I'm gonna go now, Rin might come after me, I told her I was gonna look for you guys."

"Okay, see ya Squall."

"Bye."

Squall waved and exited, heading back to his room where Rinoa was. Opening the door, he saw her standing outside on the balcony. Silently walking up behind her he placed his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"How I've longed for a moment like this," she murmured.

"Me, too."

"Did you find them?"

"Yeah, apparently they're having a welcome back party for me tonight. You wanna go?"

She laughed, "Sure, why not. Will you be going?"

"Well, probably…haven't decided yet."

"Hmm, what will I wear?"

"Selphie said it was semi-formal," he expertly lied.

"Ok, I'll leave early to go change."

"I'll pick you up at, say, seven?"

"Alright. What you wanna do now?"

"Up to you."

"Let's just watch tv or something. Anything that doesn't require effort."

"You're the boss." Inside they sat on the couch, Rinoa leaning against him, Squall's arm around her shoulder. Turning the TV on, Squall flicked the channels, letting it rest on some soapy for laughs.

"I forgot what TV was like."

"Well, you can watch it endlessly now."

"Yeah," he sighed, "Yeah, I can."

- - -

Rinoa frowned at the open cupboard. Finally she picked out a knee length, grey, printed skirt; a blue, boat neck top and a v-neck, crimson cardigan. Satisfied with her selection, she took a shower. Combing her hair, she decided that she'd have her hair out, the sides pinned up. Having put on her outfit, she sat at her laptop as she had every night since she had bought it four years before.

"Today, she wrote, I came home to Garden with Squall. The operation went well and he can see again!! Currently I'm waiting for Squall to pick me up so we can go to the party the group is throwing for him. Hyne, I feel so damn happy. If someone had told me two weeks ago that I'd be together with Squall, I probably would've hit them and said 'How dare you toy with my feelings, I've been hurt enough, you know!'

Me and my dad (it's really funny how I'm calling Caraway that again after so long) have forgiven each other and guess what! He had mom's earrings all along! He said they were to be given to me when I got married. That's right, I have my father's blessing to get married to Squall. He's the closest relative I have, so I think I should cherish our relationship.

I really feel sorry for Brendan, I mean, he's lost both of his parents, whether it be by death or insanity, he's lost them. I'm glad Iona's okay. I haven't seen her since Mr Sullivan (Brendan's dad) attacked her. I've decided to take up the job offer with her. I'll need the money and Squall won't be working as a SeeD for a while. Hopefully dad will help with the wedding costs, I sound like such a spoilt brat. I don't want a big wedding, a small one is totally sufficient, as long as my friends and family are there, I'll be the happiest person alive.

I've got Squall back-I've got my life back.

She closed the lid as Squall knocked on the door. There was no way he was going to read her journal again.

"Ready to go?" he asked as she opened the door.

"Yup, let's go."

He took her hand as they walked through the halls to where the ballroom was.

I was just here a week ago, Rinoa reflected. She frowned as she entered the empty ballroom. "We're a bit early, Squall."

"No, we're right on time." The music softly played in the background.

"Then…" she was about to query their reason for being there when she saw the set table complete with lit candles. Glancing up at dimmed lights on the ceiling, she tilted her head with a smile. "You planned this."

"With a little help from our friends."

She laughed, giving him a hug. "It's absolutely beautiful."

"Come on, let's have some dinner." Taking their seats at the table, the waiter promptly entered with two soup dishes, placing them on the table in front of the couple.

"Zell?" Rinoa questioned.

"At your service, miss," he replied, bowing.

"Thankyou."

Julie followed after they'd finished, serving their main course.

"That was delicious," Rinoa proclaimed, putting her cutlery onto the empty plate.

"Just wait til dessert."

"We get dessert?"

"Rin, why would I let you miss out on your favourite part of a meal?"

"You're so sweet," she smiled.

As if on cue, Zell came out holding one plate.

"Tiramisu!" she squealed when it had been placed in front of her.

"Your favourite."

"I can't believe you went through all this trouble for me. You aren't going to feed me now, are you?" she giggled.

"No, you can feed yourself," he smiled.

When Rinoa had finished the dessert Squall stood up, stepping next to Rinoa. "May I have this dance?" he asked as he held his hand out to her.

"I do believe you've never been the one to ask for a dance," she commented as she accepted his hold. Making their way over to the centre of the ballroom, he twirled her before putting his arm around her waist, her hand settling on his shoulder.

Squall waited for Zell to finish clearing the dishes before he coughed and mouthed 'stop the music'. When the door to the kitchen had closed behind Zell, Rinoa wondered why they were still dancing when the music had stopped. Then, unexpectedly, she heard someone start singing.

"Dreamin', I must be dreamin'

Or am I really lyin' here with you?

Baby, you take me in your arms,

And though I'm wide awake

I know my dream is comin' true.

And, oh, I just fall in love again;

Just one thought and then it happens every time.

And there I go, I just fall in love again,

And when I do can't help myself

I fall in love with you.

Magic, it must be magic,

The way I hold you and the night just seems to fly.

Easy for you to take me to a star.

Heaven is that moment when I look into your eyes.

And, oh, I just fall in love again;

just one thought and then it happens every time.

And there I go, I just fall in love again,

and when I do can't help myself

I fall in love with you."

Pulling away slightly, he looked into her eyes, tears almost flowing down her cheeks.

"Can't help myself I fall in love with you."

He brushed away the tear that had fallen. "That's how I meant to propose when I came back from the mission." He took in her beauty. Her face, noctilucent against the light of the moon.

She smiled, not knowing what to say.

"You know I never believed in making wishes, but I always seemed to see shooting stars at the most important--precious--times in my life." They had stopped dancing, but arms remained around each other. "When we first met and when we shared our first kiss. They were both wishes I made and I didn't even know it. Do you remember that night a couple days before my operation?"

Rinoa smiled, mirroring Squall's expression, nodding slightly.

"My wish came true, Rin." He raised his hand to her cheek, caressing her skin. He leaned in, kissing her softly. Pulling away, his hand remained on her face.

Rinoa tilted her head to his touch, savouring the feel of it against her skin-relishing the warmth of it. Squall's eyes had always spoken louder than his voice, telling a deeper story. Rinoa shivered as he gazed longingly into her eyes. She was complete.

"I got to see you again."

THE END

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A/N-OMG! *tear* the last chapter of return to me…this really has been a memorable six months. Now I know a lot of you were looking forward to a wedding, but let's be honest…do you really want to hear another long and monotonous retelling of the whole "in sickness and in health, for better or for worse…" or whatever? I really didn't want to write that, I mean, you all know that they *are* engaged and will be married, but I won't write the wedding…sorry to disappoint you…but I believe that I do have a valid point…or so I hope. The song in this chap is by Anne Murray called 'I Just Fall in Love Again-really pretty ^.^…anyhoo…thankyou to everyone who has given me so much encouragement and support…I'm sure this chapter will help me reach 200 reviews ^.^ hehehe…so thankyou to everyone who has been reading and reviewing especially:

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Hehehe sorry I got a little lazy. I can't express how grateful I am to you guys…seriously…I never intended to continue this fic when I posted the first chapter/prologue…then I got these reviews telling me to continue, so I got motivated, and it just kept going.

So yes…

Thankyou once again EVERYBODY! And please don't forget to keep your eye out for my next fic 'Moonlight Sonata'. There is a summary in my profile if you're interested. So until next time, take care! Luv y'all!! ^.^