Author's Notes – Well, I've taken the liberty of picking the suggestions I felt I could work with even though I didn't hit the third milestone – I tied the number of reviews instead of surpassing it. …Ugh, somehow I knew that saying something like that ahead of time would come to bite me in the ass. Go figure.

-Either way, please note that this chapter's conveniently Rinoa-centric, so I hope you don't mind a little extra craziness mixed into this one. Poor Squall won't know what hit him…figuratively that is. Hehe…

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Chapter XVII – Dizzy

Excluding the ones in her home life, surprises have always been a good thing in Rinoa's book. They offered a chance to shake things up, to have fun, but most importantly, they offered the often-sought rare instance of total calmness, where the mind momentarily forgets all that is wrong and worrisome in life and solely concentrates on the singular event unfolding.

Little did she know, after the sun's bright rays had inadvertently forced her out of her slumber, Rinoa had a surprise of her own coming her way.

Poking an arm through the thick covers, she rubbed her eyes to rid them of lingering sleep and forcefully cast the covers off to her right. A soft grumble was heard. It wasn't her.

Not expecting to hear a sound like that, Rinoa dangerously whipped her head towards the source of the noise and saw a sizeable lump underneath the sheets. No part of the said lump was visible so her curiosity urged her to figure out what in Hyne's name it was. All she knew that it wasn't Squall; he wouldn't do such a bold move after Saturday's incident and after what he admitted the other night.

But once she partially peeled back the covers on the other side, Rinoa couldn't help but gleefully smile. Her previous assumptions were proven wrong right then and there – Squall was the lifeless lump on the other side of the mattress.

She looked at the clock across the room and back at his sleeping form.

"Well Squall," she whispered with a dash of mischievousness, "-it's 1:30 in the afternoon and I think it's about time you woke up."

When there was no response after she'd shaken his shoulder lightly, Rinoa pulled most of the comforter off of him. This tactic didn't seem to work either. He remained asleep with his back facing her, his enormous scar staring her straight in the face. Unable to keep her eyes away from it, her smile soured into a sad grimace.

'I still can't believe that all of this happened because I wasn't there. And with those scars…I doubt he'll be forgetting that any time soon unless I…'

'-I guess it's worth a shot.'

Extending her palm closer to his backside, Rinoa softly murmured 'Curaga' and no sooner than the spell was spoken, a white burst of concentrated energy weaved itself around the affected area. As this was happening, the much darker scar tissue began to lighten up significantly but in the end, did not fade completely – a faint, puckered line still remained.

Rinoa's grimace reverted back to a smile once more. She knew that she'd succeeded in easing his pain, if only a little after seeing him roll from his side onto his previously-injured back. It was almost as if his body subconsciously knew that it wouldn't hurt to lie on it anymore.

Then, as luck would have it, she noticed that his other injuries and scars on his torso also appeared to have healed considerably. In spite of this good news however, she closed her eyes and sighed.

'Now why didn't I think of doing this in the first place? I would have saved us a whole lot of awkwardness last night.'

Watching him stir slightly, she changed her mind. 'Then again, maybe it was better this way. If I hadn't accidentally made it seem like we'd fooled around, I wouldn't have found out about those insecurities he had about the fast pace he was making progress at or that he's still a- Okay, maybe that's besides the point, but-'

Opening her eyes again, she couldn't help but grin unabashedly while she looked over at his toned and still de-shirted upper body before reprising a fraction of the seriousness her previous thoughts held.

'-Okay, I have to admit that it was kind of surprising. Then again, I think I was expecting a curveball from him in that department.'

Lying back down on the bed with the right side of her head on the pillow, Rinoa serenely watched the slow rise and fall of his stomach with every breath that he took. Maybe we don't have to get up just yet, she thought dreamily, an extreme contrast to her previous line of thinking.

Just as she was about to unwittingly close her eyes and fall into light slumber; they cracked open again upon hearing another soft grumble. Shortly after, she saw his eyes slowly open and his head turn towards her ever so subtly.

"…Sorry if I scared you this morning." he apologized softly, in a voice barely above a whisper.

Whether he knew it or not, Rinoa's heart melted at these words; the way he sounded right after waking up was positively endearing. Before this, she never knew that he could sound so boyish and innocent, considering how he usually carried himself most of the time. Then again, he had surprised her on more than one occasion already.

"No," she yawned, "-it was nice to wake up next to you. So… did you sleep well?"

"…To be honest with you, I did."

Rinoa smiled. "I'd make a joke and say we should sleep together more often, but I think you'd take it the wrong way."

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, his back now leaning against the headboard. "Mm… Saying something like that to me first thing in the morning's probably not a good idea."

"-It's 1:30 in the afternoon Squall."

"…Whatever." he grumbled.

She got up partially and put her back against the headboard too. "But don't you think it's odd that we both sleep better when we happen to share the same bed? I mean, if we kept this up, you wouldn't have to go to the doctor's."

"…I don't think he'd go for that. Besides, I think that the only reason we sleep better in the same bed is because we're not as stressed as we would be anywhere else."

"Hm. Makes sense."

"Rinoa," He looked at her uncertainly. "Did something else happen while I was asleep? I'm not seeing the cuts I know I had yesterday."

"Oh that. I healed them with a little bit of white magic."

The uncertain look turned into a quizzical one. "…Isn't that what you did last night?"

"No, I just cleaned them up with disinfectant and some stuff I found in the bathroom. I didn't want to risk using magic, just in case something happened like …that one time. But this morning, when I saw that big gash on your back again, I finally used a spell because, well, I couldn't take seeing you all beat-up because of what happened anymore. …You feel any better?"

Squall nodded just before he slid off the bed. "Much better."

Facing his direction, Rinoa cradled her legs together with her arms. "Better enough to…let me hug you now?"

He shrugged half-heartedly. "I suppose."

When she unclasped her arms, Rinoa used her legs to inch herself closer to the end of his side of the bed. Eventually, she made it to the point where her legs dangled off the edge and her fingers were knotted together on her lap expectantly, looking up at him.

"So…could I hold you to your word?"

Catching onto her little game, he replied accordingly, "…Hard to say."

She lowered her feet onto the floor and got off the bed, leisurely walking over to where he was. With her hands together hidden behind her back, she elevated herself to his height by standing on the balls of her feet. Now they stood face to face and she had a big grin on hers.

"-Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"I don't like cherries." he countered, making it more difficult to obtain her sought answer.

She rolled her eyes and went back down to normal height. "-Pretty please with a…um…gunblade on top?"

"You can't eat gunblades."

"What about a banana?"

"Not today."

"Would an apple pie appeal to you?"

"I don't have a fork or a plate."

"-How about a cookie?"

He finally put an end to the charade. "…A cookie's fine."

"-Perfect."

With a little more enthusiasm than necessary, Rinoa eagerly gave him a nice big hug with her arms draped around his shoulders and her head nestled at the crook of his neck, happy to know that she could do this without fear of hitting a wound or feeling him twitch in discomfort, that she could simply relish the warm feel of his bare skin underneath her fingertips and not worry. When his arms slowly found their way around her back, Rinoa closed her eyes in pure euphoria.

'…And to think such a perfect moment started from such childish banter. This has got to be a dream.'

But when she opened her eyes again, Squall was still there, still embracing her, confirming the reality of it all. She let her body move ever so slightly until she was perfectly positioned against him once more.

"I can feel your heartbeat Squall." she told him softly. "Can you feel mine?"

He tilted his head downward, looking at her. "I can. It's hard to tell sometimes but it's definitely there."

"Good." She tilted her head upward, now peering into his eyes. "…Your heart's beating faster now."

He looked slightly to the side. "…I hadn't noticed."

"So," she started demurely, "…you ready for today?"

His gaze on her returned. "Depends on what today entails. I feel better physically, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee anything."

"Oh, you're no fun Squall. I think I've got to work on broadening your mind…starting today."

He arched an eyebrow. "-Should I be worried?"

"Well I don't know." she riposted. "I was thinking about making cookies with you as my assistant, you think you can handle that?"

"In theory, I could."

"In theory?" she repeated quizzically. "-Why in theory?"

"Because I…tend to burn everything I put in the oven."

"Why couldn't you just eat by yourself instead of waiting for him?"

"He's… very quirky about things like that. That's all."

"…Or is that just code for 'Squall Leonhart can't cook food for himself at all'?"

Rinoa suppressed a giggle after remembering that somewhat-recent memory. 'So I was right about him when we were locked inside the school.'

"Okay, so how would you feel about measuring ingredients?"

"…I don't know if we have any ingredients to start with."

"It's only a basic chocolate-chip cookie recipe Squall, how hard could it be to find the ingredients in your kitchen?"

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Rinoa shook her head in disbelief as she closed the last kitchen cupboard and turned around, now looking at him.

"You guys don't have any flour, vanilla, baking soda or chocolate chips?"

He shrugged passively.

"Okay…this changes things." She put her thumb to the bottom of her lip in thought. "Hm. Would it be possible to swing by a grocery store and pick up the stuff we're missing? I know I've got some money somewhere."

He shrugged again. "It doesn't matter but I don't understand why this is so important. We could do something else."

"-Like?"

"…I hadn't thought of that yet."

Rinoa smirked. "Well if you think of something, let me know, I'll be all ears. But in the mean time, I'm going to change out of my pyjamas. I'm going to go do a little grocery shopping on my own."

Squall rolled his eyes. "I didn't need the subtle hint Rinoa. I was going to go regardless."

"Oh, you wanted to come too? I had no idea…" she added sarcastically, her ever-burgeoning smile ruining the effect somewhat. Meanwhile, he tossed her yet another annoyed look. "Okay, okay, I'll cut it out. So are we walking there or do you have the car?"

"I have the car but if you wanted to walk, the nearest store's not too far from here."

"Well…if we wanted to make the most of the day we should use the car," she mused aloud, "-but then again, I wouldn't mind walking either. Hm. …I guess going by car would be better."

He nodded in comprehension and went out of the kitchen area to presumably go upstairs. Once she exited the room as well, she raced up the steps only to find him nowhere in sight. At the second floor, she took a careful look around the area. Walking by her room's open door, she peeked inside to find it empty the way they'd left it. Poking her head back out, Rinoa noticed that the door to his room further down the hallway was wide open as well.

At the mercy of her curiosity for the second time today, Rinoa cautiously crept towards her boyfriend's room on the tips of her toes, just as ninja-like as the first night they were officially together, minus the swishing noises.

A few well-muffled strides later and she was already nearing the foot of the door, now contemplating whether or not to go in. Well, he couldn't be changing if he left his door wide open like this, she reasoned to herself. She put a foot forward only to put it back. For all you know, it could have opened by itself, another part of her brain rationalized, and besides, since when does an open door automatically mean, 'Come on in!'? Then again-

"…Hasn't anyone ever told you curiosity killed the cat?"

"Ack!" She skyrocketed ten feet before she actually knew that he was behind her. "Squall, you scared me! Don't do that!"

"I could say the same to you."

"Oh…" Her face burned a bright red. "-I'm sorry, I was wondering where you went off to and I saw the open door and well… I got as far as here. So where were you anyway? I didn't see you up here."

"About that…" He ruffled a bit of hair through his fingers. "-we have a bit of a problem."

Rinoa blinked. "-Car problem?"

"Not quite." He paused for a moment. "I went to go get my keys downstairs and I couldn't find them anywhere."

"When you said keys, did you mean both your house and car keys?"

"Yes."

"Could they be up here in your room?"

"Not likely, but I was going to check there next."

"Wait a minute." Rinoa's mind did a quick jog through the other day's events. "Did I even give your keys back to you after I drove back here yesterday?"

Without hesitation, he nodded. "I remembered getting them back while we were unpacking."

"Is it possible that they could still be in your pockets?"

"No, I checked."

"Well…if that's the case, you need any help looking for them in your room?"

"…I'd appreciate it."

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Rummaging through the last of the papers on the top of his desk, Rinoa sighed and swivelled her head towards the foot of the bed where Squall was on all fours, also looking for any sign of his elusive keys.

"I haven't found anything under the gigantic stack of homework you've got here." she declared, completely exasperated. "And now you've got me worried for History and Calculus."

He stopped his visibly-fruitless search and looked up at her. "-What was that? I didn't catch a single word."

"I said that I haven't found anything under the gigantic stack of Girl Next Door magazines you've got here and it's got me worried. Those keys are history…and kaput."

He gave her the look. "…Seriously."

"-I haven't found the keys and the amount of History and Math work you've got here is frightening."

After moving one last thing aside, he got up and dusted his pants a little. "I guess this is the end of the line. I haven't found a single thing on the floor, dressers or nightstands."

"It's okay. We could always have lunch and practice techniques for awhile until your father gets home and go out later."

"…That could work."

"Then we're set." she said while tip-toeing around the random stuff discarded on the floor. "I can't wait to have lunch; I'm starved."

Just as she went past him, he followed. "Same here."

Out of the corner of her eye, when she noticed that there wasn't even an inch distance between them after they'd gone past the door, Rinoa turned ever so subtly so that she could catch his gaze. She smiled appreciatively when his eyes met up with hers.

Bravely, she coiled her left arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. When he hadn't flinched at her touch or asked her to stop, she smiled even more, despite the fact he did not wrap his own arm around her waist. It was a start, but a good one nonetheless. Not to mention a short-lived one as well.

When the stairs came, Rinoa had to let go. A moment slipped by where she watched him descend the stairs without doing the same. That strange glint must have distracted me, she thought, hopping down a few steps a little later. Yeah right.

…Hold on a second. Strange glint?

"Squall, could you stop and stay where you are for a moment?"

Now standing still on the last step of the stairway, he had a bemused look on his face. "Why?"

"Cause–" She hopped down a few more steps to where he was. "I've figured out your key dilemma."

If at all possible, Squall looked even more bemused. "…What are you talking about?"

Rinoa cast him a knowing look before she boldly dipped a hand into his left back pocket, pulled out the previously-missing keys and handed them to him.

"For someone who said they checked their pants, I think you missed a few pockets."

Now he looked absolutely flustered. "I could have sworn I…ugh." He placed a palm across his forehead and hung his head in what must have been shame. "…Maybe I am related to him after all." he muttered under his breath. "This is ridiculous."

She wrapped a comforting arm around his waist again. "Cheer up Squall. We all have an off day or moment at some point." He shot a look at her that strongly suggested that he disagreed with the whole idea of him having an off moment. "Or…you can look on the bright side. At least we can get out now and make tasty chocolate-chip cookies later on."

"…Who said that I even had a sweet tooth?"

"Well… we could buy the ingredients for lemon drop cookies if you're so adamant about being sour."

"…That was low. I was trying to make a joke there."

Rinoa lifted the hand she had on him and covered her mouth partially. "…Oops."

He coiled an arm around her waist and added, "…I think you had an off moment."

As they went down the last step, she pretended to pout. "Whatever."

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After a quick lunch and couple minutes' worth of driving and chronic radio station changing, the pair of teenagers arrived at the left-hand extremity of a orange-brick mall with green trimming all along the outside, otherwise referred to as 'the grocery store nearby'. Stepping out of the passenger's side door, Rinoa looked towards the building and back to the driver's side. As Squall got out from the car, she couldn't help but to flock over to his side.

"Got the list?" she chirped. After digging through his pocket, he took out the small piece of paper and waved it in front of her face. She snapped it up gingerly. He shut and locked the door.

"Awesome." Rinoa abruptly changed her chipper tone after catching him roll his eyes. "And what's so wrong about saying the word awesome?"

"You missed the point altogether. You're excited for a piece of paper." he deadpanned. "Speaking of which, why did you make me write that list anyway? You already knew what you needed."

"'Cause it never hurts to have a backup." With the list now between her thumb and forefinger, Rinoa looked over it once more before she shifted her eyes onto him again. "-And I had to make you useful to this operation somehow." He arched an eyebrow. "Okay, I made you write this because your handwriting's a lot more legible than mine. Happy?"

"Very. So does that mean we can go in and get whatever it is you need now?"

"Might as well. It's what we came here to do after all."

'I'd be lying if I said that's all what I had in mind but… you don't need to know that just yet Squall.'

As they walked on, the wind started to pick up all of a sudden and a couple of rain droplets landed on their faces. Rinoa took a gander at the heavens above and a random drop landed in her eye. Looking up was a bad idea.

'Sure, ruin all of my plans why don't you… Guess I'll have to improvise.'

After passing through the automatic doors and entering the store itself, Rinoa took a small grocery basket from the stack of them past the store's initial left-side alcove used for herding all of its unused shopping carts and glanced around uncertainly. From where she was standing, the store looked enormous and it didn't make her feel any better about trying to attain her goal in a shorter span of time. One had to know the layout inside and out to be able to pull off such a feat.

A blink of an eye later and she was already scanning the surrounding area thoroughly. Soon she was doing this frantically, eventually breaking out in light sweat. Squall wasn't anywhere in immediate sight. Repetitive questions soon filled her head. The two most popular variations being, 'Where was he?' and 'Where did he go?'. She quickly ditched the stationary deer-in-the-headlights position near the entrance in favour of a speed-walk paced search starting with what looked like a baked goods section in the far left corner.

A little while later, judging by a glance of the store's mounted clock, as she meandered through what seemed to be the last of the dozen uniform shelves stacked with many types, varieties and brands of dinner rolls and crusty breads along the far wall, Rinoa's light sweat turned into slight panic. She still hadn't found him after a good deal of searching and her breath became scarce, heavy with thought. What if he left altogether, thinking that she was somewhere else? Should she stay put in hopes that he'll come here or go look in a different department of the store? What if the General found her here, all alone like this? Or what if he found her with him? Was it even a smart idea to come in the first place?

'No, no, no.' Rinoa reiterated inside her head, struggling to drown the alien negativity from her earlier thoughts. 'Coming here was and still is a good idea. I'm going to find Squall and I'm not going to see- Ooof!'

She practically collided into someone when she turned on a dime without looking. Opening her eyes again, her face reddened from the close proximity she was staring the other person in the eye. Unfortunately, it wasn't the intense steel-blue colour she'd been hoping to see, but rather a bright shade of emerald-green. Rinoa took a step back and silently withheld a gasp. Of all the people she could have bumped into, what were the odds of this encounter?

"-Long time no see Rinoa."

"Selphie," she chided light-heartedly, "-it's only been a couple of days."

"-I know but it's been soo boring at school. I could have sworn that time chose to compress itself while you were away."

"Well I doubt it could be that boring."

"Trust me Rin, it was just as boring as I'm telling you." she repeated. "Well, maybe not Monday morning, but that's just about the only thing that wasn't."

A light instantly flicked on in Rinoa's brain. 'Squall and Seifer's fight.'

"Oh, what happened?" the raven-haired teenager asked, convincingly feigning ignorance.

"Well, I wasn't there so some of the details might be off but," Selphie paused momentarily to collect her thoughts. "-apparently there was a serious fight in that advanced S.D class of yours. And from what Quisty was telling me, two guys were actually going at it with their weapons and it got really violent. She didn't tell me who the two were though. Say, do you think Squall would tell me if I asked?"

At this point, Rinoa was straining to keep her obvious act believable.

"…I don't think so Selph."

"Yeah, you're probably right but if I see him, I don't think it would hurt to ask. I wonder if the school's being hush-hush about it so they don't get in trouble. Oh well. Anyways…how was your trip? Get to do anything fun?"

The teenager refrained from acting upon her strong inclination to take the nearest loaves of bread and hurl them violently against the walls inexorably and start screaming profanity-laced tirades at each and every innocent passerby.

"…Yeah, I got to buy some neat stuff and see tons of great places."

"That's good. Well I'd better- Squall? Squall Leonhart, is that you?" Rinoa twisted her body the other way only to see her previously-lost boyfriend a stone's throw away, stopped cold in his tracks. She almost didn't notice that Selphie had continued to talk. "Wow, what are the odds?"

'Good, he's not carrying any of the ingredients. Selphie won't bug him about that.'

"Hey, we were just talking about the fight that happened Monday morning and we were wondering if you happened to know who the two in it were."

If it was physically possible, Rinoa's jaw would have dropped ten feet, but since it wasn't, she settled for shifting her eyes rather uncomfortably.

'…Oh My. God.'

Understandably so, after the question left Selphie's mouth, his posture tensed and he gained a slight glare in his eyes, his overall expression turning stern. However, in spite of this noticeable change in body language, Squall didn't quite look like his formerly-cold self in Rinoa's eyes. It was like a part of his past persona had left for good or that knowing him better as a person made it harder to think of him in that light anymore.

But whatever the case was, he still didn't look very amused with her.

"Well, that shouldn't be too much of a stretch. I happen to be one of them." he intoned dryly, crossing his arms. "And if you're still curious, the other idiot's Seifer."

The petite brunette's mouth went agape and, for the first time since Rinoa knew her, Selphie was practically rendered speechless.

"I- I- I'm sorry Squall. I didn't know. I…uh, I have to go."

And true to her word, she left like a hastened blur of yellow, bolting towards the opposite end of the store. The other shoppers left in her wake looked utterly flummoxed. Rinoa finally exhaled as she put a hand on her rapidly beating heart.

"Hyne, you took that a lot better than I thought. I was picturing Selphie's head on a pike for a moment back there."

"…What's done is done, there's nothing I can do about it." Squall uncrossed his arms and looked away for a second. "I have to learn to take the repercussions for what I did. And if that only means an awkward moment or two, count myself fortunate."

"That's a very mature approach Squall. Then again," she added with an emerging smile, "-I don't think you ever had an immature side to begin with."

"In case if you're attempting it, reverse psychology doesn't work on me."

"…I wouldn't dream of it. Now, while we're still reunited, you want to go with me to get the ingredients? I don't want to be toting this hand basket around for nothing."

After a quick nod, they were already off walking towards the aisle in question. And as luck wouldn't have it, it was the second to last aisle in the store, a lengthy walk away from the bakery section where they used to be.

Unfolding the crumpled list she had in her hand, Rinoa started reading off the things one by one.

"Flour." Before she got the chance to pick it off the shelf herself, Squall had already taken one of the smaller sizes from the bottom shelf and placed it into her basket. Rinoa arched an eyebrow. "…Feeling chivalrous today Squall?"

"Not really." he shrugged. "I'm just bored."

"Okay then. Vanilla, center left."

A second later and the tiny bottle of vanilla was conveniently nestled beside the bag of flour.

"-Check. Next thing I need is baking soda, top right."

He reached up, grabbed it and tossed the box in.

"Check." She pointed to a particular brand she wanted. "Chocolate chips, bottom right."

When it was in the basket, Rinoa looked up at him and beamed. "-Perfect. Now all I need is a Squall, do you know where I can find one of those?"

"…You might want to try outside. I think the wind and rain have gotten worse since we came inside."

She rolled her eyes at him. "…You shouldn't poke fun at your own name."

"…Well I can't help it if means 'violent storm', most of my family have water-based names. The only one who didn't was Ellone."

"Oh, what was your mother's name?"

"Raine."

"That's a nice name. As far as I know, my mother made mine up. At least I wasn't named Lenore like my father wanted. Hyne only knows I would have probably picked up the nickname Lenny at some point."

"…Lenny? That couldn't possibly be worse than Squally."

"Who calls you - Ah nevermind." They started walking down to the other end of the aisle. "So, is the theme just with you and your parents or does it extend to your other relatives too?"

"Both my parents didn't have any brothers or sisters so I don't have any aunts, uncles or cousins."

"What about your grandparents?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never met any of them."

"So is it safe to say you don't have any Storms, Tempests, Torrents, Oceans, Rivers or Clouds in your family tree?"

"As far as I know, there aren't any." Now they were the only ones in line at the first checkout. "I wouldn't say the same for out there though."

After she put the basket on the conveyor belt, Rinoa looked through the enormous windows past the cashiers' stations and saw the weather Squall had been referring to. The rain seemed to be coming down harder and the wind seemed to be blowing more aggressively, whipping errant carts in the parking lot here and there. And if she wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn that a lightning bolt or two had streaked across the sky just then.

"I see what you mean, it looks so miserable out there. If it were up to me, I'd rather stay inside the nice warm stores instead of running out to the car right now."

The cashier was now ringing the ingredients through and Rinoa was digging through her pockets for the Gil she was going to use to pay for it all, watching the total rise with each item the clerk scanned. She found the money in her back pocket.

"Was that a hint?"

"Depends on your stance in the matter." she replied wryly. "If you wanted to go as well, which I think you do, it's not a hint, it's a good idea that you'll say yes to. But if you didn't, it's still a good idea that you'll say yes to."

"You're n-"

"-That'll be sixteen Gil." the blonde cashier interjected. Rinoa handed her the exact amount and in turn, the girl gave her the filled bag along with the receipt. "Thank you and come again."

As they strolled past the checkout, Squall finished what he didn't get the chance to before. "…You're not giving me much of choice, are you?"

"I only said it that way because deep down, I know you want to go."

"Fine, I'll go on one condition."

"Name it."

"Stop using this reverse psychology crap."

"That's funny. I seem to recall you saying that you were immune to it."

"…Then I guess I'm not." he muttered underneath his breath.

Rinoa glowed with self-satisfaction. "Alright then, let's go!"

And before he had a chance to mentally prepare himself, she'd already grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the store. Her plan was back on track.

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"…So why are we in here again?"

"-To take four of the most ridiculous photos in your life. It's like a very important rite of passage in any relationship."

"Sounds more like blackmail material if you ask me."

"Oh hush." she chastised him light-heartedly and pulled him closer to her. "The photo booth will start taking the pictures a few seconds after I put the Gil in so be ready for it."

"…I can't believe you're being serious about this."

She conveniently ignored this comment.

"Okay, I'm putting the Gil in…now."

A faint metallic 'clink' was heard after Rinoa inserted the coin and just before the first flash came, she stuck out her tongue and put her hands beside her ears, wiggling them.

Flash. Click!

For the second photo, she put moved her left hand behind his head and bunny-eared him. He must have caught wind of this because he gave her a very peculiar look. She still had the bunny ears behind him though.

Flash. Click!

Right after the second flash had gone off, she stopped doing bunny ears behind him and extended her right index up in the air and put it right in front of her, making it look like she was pointing at a falling star. She smiled warmly.

Flash. Click!

When the booth had taken the third photo, Rinoa coiled both her arms around him into a hug, placing her head on his shoulder. She felt him shift a little but she wasn't quite sure where he'd shifted.

Flash. Click!

"-Now was that so bad?"

"…I guess not." he answered truthfully. "I wouldn't be surprised if the pictures didn't turn out though."

She released him from the hug. "Nonsense, I'm sure they turned out fine."

A minute or two later, the four-panel strip of photos slowly started to spit out, or in this case, drool out of another opening right beside the Gil slot. Once it was out completely, Rinoa snatched the photo before Squall even had the chance to even think of taking it. As she looked at each shot individually, her smile grew exponentially with each one.

They were perfect.

She put the strip right in front of his eyes. "Here, take a look."

Carefully taking the strip from her, they glanced over the shots together.

In the first two shots, their respective poses meshed nicely with each other, contrasting their usual personalities beautifully. When they'd taken the first photo where she'd stuck out her tongue and wiggled her hands, he had his eyes closed and his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose, conveying his mock-annoyance with a dash of secret amusement perfectly. Whether he would admit or not, she noticed that he had the tiniest of smirks in that photo.

As for the second photo, the bunny ears behind his head made him look oddly adorable in her opinion. The fact that he didn't look the least bit amused about it made him look even more so.

The third and fourth shots had a different quality to them, as they reflected the fact they were a couple more than the previous frames. Although she wasn't going to explicitly tell him this, Rinoa absolutely adored the way they turned out; they brought out and displayed the side nobody else knew about him, the side he was slowly trying to show to the world.

In the third frame, he'd actually made it look like there'd been a star in the booth with the way he tilted his head curiously and the expression on his face.

However, despite the nicely-done preceding pictures, Rinoa found that the last picture was the arguably the best. When she had hugged him during the last interval between flashes, she hadn't realized that the movement she'd felt wasn't just a simple shift in footing or something trivial like that, Squall had actually moved his head and tilted downward, making it look like he was watching over her protectively as she smiled serenely. This subtle shift made all the difference and it made her love it with all her heart. It was exactly the sort of thing that typified who he was inside, the gentle soul dwelling within the icy walls he used to hide himself in.

"…Do you like them?" she asked.

He looked at her with the identical gaze he had in the last picture and handed it back to her. "They're…nice."

She nodded. "That they are. You want to get out of this booth?"

"Sure."

'You know, for a plan that backfired horribly, you still took a really nice photo without smiling or laughing Squall.'

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After aimlessly walking past the various stores and stands for the last little while, Rinoa finally found a store with the potential of breaking his lifelong laugh-less spell. Ever since she'd read his list the other day, the only goal she'd set for herself on their day off was to hear him laugh, regardless of how ridiculous her attempts would have to be in order to break him.

And looking at the sign above her head, Rinoa felt pretty good about her odds.

"Come in with me Squall, I want to go in here."

He took a brief look inside the store. "You want to go in a pet shop?"

"Yeah, I'm going to get a collar and leash for you. Naah, I'm just kidding, I want to look at the puppies."

"…I almost thought you were being serious there."

"Nope. Now let's go inside."

She took his hand and guided him past the front shelves to the back where she saw a couple of puppies, rabbits, birds and kittens in large cages in the relatively-small shop. When they were in front of the cage full of puppies, Rinoa let go of him and crouched down to get a better look at them. Nearly all of the pups scampered to the side of the cage she was beside, yipping and yapping happily, some trying to put their paws through the spaces between the metal bars.

"Well, would you look at that? They love me." She turned her head towards him. "Isn't that cute?"

Standing upright with his hands in his pockets, Squall leaned over slightly to see better. Rinoa nearly had a heart attack when he did this sort of half-smile.

"Maybe they want the ingredients in your bag."

She shot him a rather indignant look. "And why couldn't it possible that they just so happen to like me? You like me."

"…I'm not a dog Rinoa."

"That's not what I meant." She got up from her crouching position and the puppies went back to what they were doing before. Then, with supernatural timing, a female clerk came out of nowhere.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you two with today?"

"No, not really." Rinoa answered truthfully. "We were just looking at the blackish-brown puppies."

The clerk pointed to the cage in question. "Oh, those puppies? We just got them from the breeders a few days ago, lively little things. Would you like to hold one?"

'Oh, this is perfect. Hehe…'

"Sure, I'd love to." She set down the bag she'd been holding and moved a little to give the clerk room to get one of the puppies from the cage and take it out. It wasn't long before one was in her arms. "Would you like to hold the puppy after me Squall?"

He shrugged. "…I've never held one before."

"It's not hard. I'll even help put him in your arms."

"Actually," the clerk cut in, "the puppy you're holding is female. -And I'll be back in a moment, there's something at the front I have to attend to."

"Oh, okay." When the girl had left, Rinoa corrected herself in a mocking tone. "-I'll even help put her in your arms."

"…Maybe later."

As the puppy started licking her in random places and squirming around in her arms, the teenager tried her best to stay put and not laugh. If she was less ticklish than he was and the dog was having this much of an effect on her already, his not-laughing streak was as good as broken. Attempting to divert the attention from her arms, Rinoa tried to make conversation.

"Hey, just out of curiosity, if you- if you had a dog, what would you name it?"

"Me? I'd name it No."

"No? Wouldn't that- wouldn't that be confusing to the poor- poor dog?"

"That's exactly why I'd name it No."

"You're such a meany Squall. If I had- If I had a dog, I'd name her Angelo."

"…Why Angelo?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's just the first name that came to mind-" The puppy licked the crook of her elbow and it took all the willpower she had to not drop the dog or burst out laughing. "...Did you want to hold her now?"

"…Do I have a choice?"

Rinoa walked over to where he was and more or less deposited the dog in his arms. "-Not really."

Strangely enough, the puppy curled up against his one arm and closed her eyes.

'Oh, I don't believe this.'

"Geeze Squall, do you have puppy chloroform in your pockets? That puppy wouldn't stop fidgeting in my arms no what matter what I did."

When he momentarily glanced at the sleeping dog nestled in his arms for a moment, the clerk came back. "Aw, looks like somebody's all tuckered out." she cooed. "You want me to take her back?"

Squall didn't hesitate for an instant to give the dog back to the girl. Meanwhile, Rinoa picked up the bag she'd left on the floor, trying to mask the disappointment stemming from the failure of her once-thought foolproof plan.

"You want to go now Squall?"

"Yeah."

At this point, the clerk had finished putting back the puppy in its cage. "Hm. That's weird." She turned around to face both of them, more specifically towards Squall. "The puppy you were holding woke up and started running around the very instant I placed her back in the cage."

"I know." Rinoa piped in with a smirk. "When I was holding her, she wouldn't stop squirming around and licking me but the very moment I put her in his arms, she fell asleep. Talk about an odd coincidence."

Both girls looked at him and the clerk wistfully sighed. "If only I had that kind of talent. I think it would come in handy, especially with the bunch we have here now. Oh well, I suppose it could have something to do with body chemistry."

"You hear that Squall? You're a natural at making things fall asleep."

He ignored this quip. "Rinoa, we should go now."

"Okay." She turned towards the clerk for a second. "Thank you for letting us hold the puppy."

"No problem. Have a good day now."

"We will."

After the pleasantries were exchanged, Rinoa found herself having to do a little catch up to be at his side again. Even then, he wasn't exactly making it easy for her to maintain that position.

"Slow down Squall, I can't walk that fast. I don't have your long legs."

She nearly went a mile past him after he stopped on the dime near the center court fountain, not too far from the grocery store where they'd originally entered the mall.

Rinoa sat herself down on the large fountain's edge and put down the bag. "Hyne, I'm winded." When he sat right beside her on the ledge, she looked over at him. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

"What, the part where you were calling me a meany for wanting to call a dog No or the part where you said I had a knack for making things fall asleep?"

She put the back of her free hand on her forehead and wobbled her body melodramatically.

"Oh, I feel so drowsy all of a sudden…oh…"

Squall rolled his eyes. "That's not funny Rinoa."

"I wouldn't say that Leonhart. It seemed pretty funny to me."

Straightaway, Rinoa stopped her sleepy act and both teenagers got up and whipped their heads to the source of the voice. She wished that the emerald-green eyes they were both staring at belonged to Selphie, but the wish was in vain; the speaker was a little too tall and blond for it to be possible.

"Seifer, will you please leave us alone?" she implored. "I don't want trouble."

Instead of acknowledging her request, Seifer kept his focus on Squall. "Still having her fight your battles, eh Squall?"

"She's not fighting my battles." he countered in a low tone. "She just doesn't want any trouble. And neither do I."

"Tch. What do you think I am, stupid? I wouldn't pick a fight in a public mall. Last time I checked, you're not exactly worth getting arrested over."

Squall snorted. "And yet you'll get us both kicked out of class and suspended just for the chance to provoke me? I think you've taken too many footballs to the head."

"…Squall, don't give him a reason to start anything." She near-silently mouthed to him. Unfortunately, Seifer must have heard every word that escaped from her lips because he instantly turned his attention onto what she said.

"If I was you, I'd take her advice Squall," he said mockingly, "-Hyne only knows you can't afford a second set of injuries after what happened Monday."

He glared at the taller teenager. "If you're trying to get her to ask about the fight, don't bother. She already knows about what happened and I have nothing to hide anymore ...Nor do I have anything to gain by staying here. Rinoa, lets go."

Shortly hearing those words, Rinoa picked up her grocery bag from the fountain's ledge and started to walk away from the scene with him. But apparently, their attempt at a collective departure made little difference.

"You're actually acknowledging her for a change? That's a switch. I thought you were planning on coasting on the cold and indifferent bastard route."

Instead of his desired target, Rinoa was the one who stopped dead in her tracks, abruptly turning to face him. "Cold and indifferent bastard? As far as I'm concerned, the only one who qualifies for that title is standing right in front of me."

"Rinoa," She felt Squall's protective hand gripping her shoulder, "-don't do this."

Rinoa twisted back to look him in the eye. "No, I have to say this now Squall. I hope you'll understand." She turned to face the blond again. "Seifer, I've had just about enough of your constant interfering in my and Squall's life. If there's any part of the decent person I used to know that's still in there, you'll leave us be. You're not winning points with me by doing this, nor will you ever. What used to be will never happen again."

"…What used to be?"

Rinoa's eyes widened. 'Oh dear Hyne…why did I say that?'

"-Didn't you know Leonhart?" Seifer intoned bitterly, "I guess she didn't have the nerve to tell you, judging from your clueless expression."

He turned towards her. "-Tell me what?"

Crossing his arms, Seifer regained his smug look. "Go ahead and tell him Rinoa. Tell your boyfriend the truth."

"I…I…" Rinoa shifted her eyes back and forth frantically, trying to think of some way to break this bombshell to him in the least painful way as possible. She sighed in defeat and looked at him square in the eye; there was no way to sugar-coat this truth. "…I'm sorry if this isn't something you'll want to hear Squall, but, you… this wasn't the first serious relationship I've had. Two years ago…I was with him."

Right after admitting this previously-hidden secret to him, watching his expression slip into something reminiscent of his former self was almost too painful to endure. Rinoa couldn't keep her eyes on him, wondering about what could be going through his mind right now, so instead, she channelled all of her frustrations and turmoil into one strong glare at Seifer, who looked like he was ready to leave after getting his desired reaction out of Squall.

No, it couldn't end this way, not after all they'd been through.

'I'm not going to let you win Seifer. I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of ruining what we have.'

"But…it doesn't matter." she added with newfound courage. "It's nothing more than a past chapter in my life that started and ended two years ago."

Both Squall and Seifer darted their heads in her direction, their respective attentions caught by the raven-haired girl's words. This is it; she thought to herself, I have to say what needs to be said right now. She took a deep breath and set down her bag.

"Seifer, if all you're trying to do is hurt Squall by using our past, it's not going to work. If he would have asked me if I had any previous relationships, I would have told him, and you know why?" She paused for effect. "Because I would have made it crystal clear that you're not the one I have feelings for or the one I care about, he is. I could never love the despicable monster you've become."

Rinoa solemnly lowered herself to pick up her bag before mustering the courage to look into the azure eyes of the adolescent standing beside her. "Squall…I'm sorry if I upset you." Her voice cracked under the intense weight of his gaze. "If…if you find it in your heart to forgive me, I'll be waiting for you elsewhere. If not…I'll understand."

And with that, she left without another word.

…Or she would have, if not for Squall's hand on her wrist preventing her from going any further.

After being gently pulled back by his grip, a moment ensued where he said nothing and she was trying to decipher the machinations behind his intense and complex gaze, acutely studying every facet. But before she could have possibly begun to crack the code, he shifted his line of vision away from her and eyed Seifer for a long second, his unreadable facial expression subtly lightening but his stare never wavering. Then, with an equal amount of unpredictability, he left.

-However, seeing as his hand was still latched onto hers, she did too. It wasn't long before the fountain was out of sight and she had to know what was going on.

"Squall, are you…okay?"

He stopped right then and there and faced her.

"…I'm not mad at you if that's what you're really asking."

She blinked. "You're …not?"

"No." He hesitated for a second. "…I'm mad at myself."

Rinoa tilted her head curiously. "Why?"

He looked at her through a sullen gaze. "…He got the better of me again."

"Squall, I hardly think that walking away means he got the 'better of-"

"-No," he interjected, "-I meant my reaction after he made you confess to the past you used to have with him. It wasn't even a split-second later before doubts clouded my mind. …I let him get the reaction he wanted."

"Hey…listen to me," Standing directly in front of him, she lifted his chin using her free hand, "-I know that just about any guy in your position would have had the same reaction and drawn the same conclusions, but, I also know that very few of them would have stuck around long enough to listen to me after like you did."

He moved her hand aside. "…Still, this shouldn't have bothered me like it did. Or maybe it was naïve to assume I was your first for anything."

Rinoa's ears perked up at this admission. 'Oh…So that's what this is what it's about.'

"Squall, although I can't read your mind like some kind of sorceress, I think your brain might have inferred a little more than necessary here."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "…What are you talking about?"

"Well…" she drawled playfully, "Can you keep a secret?"

After he nodded rather hesitantly, Rinoa took one step closer with a big smile on her face, tightening the distance between them.

"As far as anything physical goes, you've already one-upped Seifer."

He looked at her in disbelief. "…You're kidding."

"Nope, I swear to Hyne that I've never even kissed him. The furthest I ever went was give him a hug, not to mention an awkward one at that."

"…Then I guess I made an even better decision not to go through with what I was thinking of earlier."

She smirked at him mischievously. "…And what was that Squall?"

He grimaced. "You're not going to believe me when I tell you. Hell…I don't even believe me."

"Lemme guess, you were going to…take my grocery bag, throw flour in his face, douse him in vanilla and pelt chocolate chips in his eyes to make him sweet for a change?"

"Has anyone told you that you've got a warped sense of humour?"

"All the time Squall, all the time." she joshed. "But seriously, what was it you were thinking of? You've got me really curious now."

His grimace turned into a rarely-seen sheepish look. "-Promise not to hold this against me?"

"Yes."

"Right after I held your arm to stop you from leaving, I…for some reason, I had the strongest inclination to…I don't know, prove what he accused me of was wrong."

Subsequent to reading between the lines and navigating through the shrouds and veils of his vague wording, she giggled out loud once she figured out what he actually meant.

"In other words, you wanted to kiss me in front of him like the hormonal train wreck you are."

"-I think I prefer my way of phrasing it."

"Fair enough, but why didn't you go through with it? I think he could have used a taste of his own medicine for all he's done to you."

"It's the principle of the matter. I'd be stooping to his level and I'd be using you like some kind of peon in our demented game. You shouldn't be dragged into this any more than you already are."

Rinoa nodded. "I understand what you mean now and I appreciate the fact that you restrained your teenage urges."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "-Was that meant to be sarcastic?"

She failed at containing a couple of snickers. "Aah… it was meant to be about half-and-half. So are you ready to go home and be my baking assistant? No poofy hats, I swear."

"…Sure."

"Before we leave though, I have to tell you one more thing."

He nodded.

"You know that one Friday where I helped you with your homework?"

"Yes."

"You gave me my first kiss that day."

If Rinoa didn't know any better, she could have sworn he was embarrassed judging by his newfound inability to keep a neutral face.

'It may not be a laugh, but I'll take it all the same.'

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"Okay, I'm going to repeat myself just to make sure we got everything we needed in the mixing bowl already."

He nodded.

"Single cup margarine and white sugar?"

"Yes."

"Half a cup brown sugar and two eggs?"

"...I remember putting the sugar in there and cracking the eggs."

"One and a half teaspoon vanilla, one teaspoon baking soda and half a teaspoon salt?"

"All in."

"Two and a quarter cup flour and the whole bag of chocolate chips?" He nodded again. "Perfect. You can turn the mixer on now."

"Okay." He turned the dial, making sure to slowly augment the setting in little increments.

...zzz...zzz..zzzz...Z.z.zzZzzzZ...Zzzzzt-

"Uh, Squall, you might want to move the dial past half away so that it gets mixed faster."

"Sure."

ZzZzZZZT...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

-POOOF!

Zzzzt...

He turned to the side and wheezed and coughed out bits of wet flour, keeping one eye closed. "Faster..-cough-..huh?"

"Squall, I'm so pfft...so so sorry!" Rinoa couldn't help but burst out laughing at his demise. Well, maybe she was slowly killing herself with chronic oxygen-stealing laughter because his entire face was covered in flour and random baking ingredients rather than his demise per se. "Oh Hyne, you should...pfft haha, look at yourself...aha..."

Looking at the nearby fridge's semi-reflective metal surface, he must have finally caved in the absurdity because he did something Rinoa truthfully thought he'd never do in a thousand years.

He laughed. And it was music to her ears.

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End of Chapter Comments – Wow, isn't this cool? I'm updating on Squall's actual birthday! Isn't it creepy that judging from the game's release, he'd be about 25? Gah, I have no life. Oh well. Hope you guys enjoyed the super-long chapter and didn't mind the wait.

-Emerald-Latias