Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or Square-Enix.

Author's Note #1: See Profile.

Author's Note #2: 'Memories' is in no sense of order except that of what I feel like writing. I wrote down a list of moments, and I'm going to write whatever seems appealing. Hopefully, this won't be too confusing, and most of the moments aren't gonna be huge (say, 'I love you', or, 'Rinoa's pregnant') anyway.

–

"The hot dog line again."

Squall sighed. He had forgotten it was Wednesday, the day of the Lord Hot Dog. It had occurred to him over the last year as Commander that he could enforce laws dealing with the hot dog rush. Limiting hot dogs to one per person, simply making an over-abundance of hot dogs, striking hot dogs off the list (this he thought of seriously, but feared the uprising), or, the simplest of his ideas, to let he, the Commander, be the official line-cutter of the Garden. But anytime he thought of it, usually on Wednesdays as he was stuck behind the line, he also thought it was a horribly silly, childish idea, and dismissed it.

It really was tempting, though.

It occurred to him that he was merely standing in the middle of the doorway, and with a frown in the direction of Zell, who stood halfway in the line, decided to take his seat and wait for the line to die down, so, perhaps, he could order something simple. Like a soda. He chose the seat of the Trepe Followers, or whatever they're called, and put his feet up on the table. Trepe Followers. Heh. Perhaps he should've worried for Quistis' safety, seeing as she had, pretty much, stalkers, but he felt confident in her abilities. After all, while there was certainly something endearing about a teacher in leather wielding a whip (and he had, admittedly, thought about Quistis' peculiar dress in some not-just-friends terms), there was also something terribly frightening about it, too.

Squall allowed himself to lean back. It didn't give much of a view, but at least he was focusing on something. Like not falling over. How amazing would that be. The Commander falls off a chair in front of largest crowd possible. 'The Commander'. A hand went to his face. He didn't appreciate the title. The responsibility. The idea he was becoming Cid. Maybe he should quit. Go back to being a SeeD...or whatever SeeD was anymore. Sorceress-destroyers? Yeah, right. If they were, they were pretty bad at their job, seeing as the sorceress currently lived inside the Ga-

Squall panicked as he felt something pull his chair, hands immediately grabbing the seat and feet hitting the floor. His heart was beating out of his chest. "Fuc-!"

"Hi."

He was cut short by a brunette's confident smile. 'Cut short' as in biting his teeth together as his heart beat faster and his stomach did flip-flops. Rinoa. "...Rinoa." He tried to sound disapproving, but judging from the way she slid her hand across his shoulders before comfortably sitting down, he judged he didn't sound very disapproving at all. Perhaps it was the mini panic attack he was recovering from.

"Scared you, huh." She leaned against the table and propped her chin on her palm. Staring at him. He turned his head.

"...not really. Just reflexes." Rinoa didn't say anything to that, to which he guessed meant she was still staring at him. She liked doing that, just to make him uncomfortable. And if he tried to challenge her, she'd wave her hands in front of his eyes and metronome, 'You're going to like me, you're going to like me...'"

…

...he scooted his chair underneath the table, resting his elbows comfortably on the fake marble. He was careful to focus his attention on Zell, who was next in line, but was forced to turn his head as Rinoa shook his arm.

"I thought you said you eat lunch at 1."

"...12:55." It was 12:50. He knew that because he hadn't done much else at work ('work') but look at the digital clock sitting at his desk. "I finished early."

"What a coincidence, so did I."

"You don't do anything here."

"Nu-huh." She pulled her hand back from his arm and idly tapped on the table. "I'm talking to Cid about what I can do. E...Matron suggested teaching, but I'm not much of a teacher. Cafeteria lady was also suggested, but that doesn't sound too appealing either. And I think I'd be pretty bad at being a secretary."

Squall smiled at her. "So you just want to be spoiled."

"..." She peered at him and raised a finger. "Look, mister, if I wanted to be spoiled, I wouldn't have run away from a gigantic mansion. I'd be playing Barbie Doll for my father at cocktail parties."

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of her father. They had tried talking about it before, and the farthest he's gotten is getting her to admit he's her father, and not just 'that man'. It was obvious their relationship was more than stereotypical teenage girl angst, though admittedly that was his first thought. Usually it was his policy not to bother people about their personal life, but he wanted to know Rinoa. Wanted to help her. Unfortunately, he was too afraid to ask about her father anymore. She withdrew when the subject arose, and he was still afraid she'd leave him at a moment's notice.

She had grown more agitated at the thought of her father, obviously, as she turned her head and angrily blew a strand of hair off her face. Squall let his fingers tap on the table, along with hers. He tried to dispel the thoughts of her father, and instead thought of Rinoa. It did amuse him that Rinoa would hate jobs. He supposed it was because 'regular' jobs didn't involve rebelling against the government.

"Ever thought of being a SeeD?"

"...yeah. But I wouldn't want to be. Being told by other people what to think and do, not having any action of your own..." She shrugged. He should've expected the answer, though. Rinoa had said almost the exact same thing when he told her of their contract. That was over a year ago. He breathed in. He was about to hate himself for asking this question, but he wanted to know. Even if it meant disappointment.

"...what about going back to the Forest Owls?"

The pause after the question startled the butterflies in his stomach again. ...she's thought about it. More than that, she's just going to do it. Go back. His fingers stopped tapping, as did hers. ...why did I ask?

"...I've thought about it, ye-"

"S'up."

Both turned to their attention to Zell, both not at all surprised to see he had lost out on hot dogs yet again. The blonde grabbed a spare chair and twirled it around, sitting on it backwards, shoulders slumped. "That hot dog line is killer, man."

Squall wanted to punch him. Or maybe hug him. He wasn't sure if interrupting Rinoa was a good or bad thing. Rinoa, on the other hand, had apparently forgotten about the question, and moved in closer to the table to comfort Zell.

"Ever think about getting the library girl to secure more hot dogs?"

"Well, sure. But I don't want to take advantage of her for being nice."

Rinoa smiled, and even Squall knew what exactly she was smiling about. Both of them were there, nearly a year ago, when the library girl had nervously noticed Zell, and proceeded to blush and excuse herself awkwardly. Zell, of course, hadn't noticed, and was still oblivious to the girl's affection for him. "...honestly, Zell. Don't you recognize girls?" Though, was he really one to talk?

"...well, I mean. I recognize them...why not? Wait, is....is she not a girl?" Zell's eyebrows furrowed as he leaned closer to Squall, listening intently for what was sure to be a huge Commander-only secret. Rinoa covered a laugh with her hand, and Squall looked at Zell with obvious agitation. "...w-what." Zell grinned nervously.

"...shouldn't you be doing something right now." Yes, you should. As in, go do something. Now.

"Naw, I'm done for the day."

"...then go train." Just go.

"I can't train on an empty stomach!"

"I think, I think, you'll be just fine."

"...." Zell sat up, realizing that he had interrupted something. "...did...Uh. Oh. Sorry. I'll be...in the Training Center." He left, nearly bumping into the library girl on his way out.

Squall rested his cheek on his fist. Zell could be annoying, but should he have sent Zell away so easily? An awkward silence hung in the absence of the third party. All because he had to bring up the Timber Owls.

….it's not like the topic wouldn't have risen. She's not going to forget.

Squall cleared his throat. "...do you want lunch?" With Zell's refusal from the lunch lady, the rest of the line had gotten the idea and cleared out, too disappointed in their bad luck to eat anything else the cafeteria had to offer.

"...only if you know what I like." He heard the joking tone in her voice, but the fact he didn't know a lot of her favorites kind of bothered him, anyway. Almost in defensive of his lack of knowledge, Squall straightened up in his chair.

"I'll guess."

"You'll guess wrong. I just want something to drink."

"...right." He walked to the fountain drinks, filling two cups, cursing himself. What the hell was I trying to defend? Shit, fuck. One of the cups had tipped over, sloshing most of its contents onto the floor and onto his hand before he could pick it up. He heard Rinoa's laugh behind him, to which he flushed and tightened his jaw. Shaking off his soda-covered hand, he picked up the remainder of the cup along with the other one and walked back to their table, trying his best to keep his composure. He set the full one near her, and, with some reluctance, set the sticky, half-full one near him.

"...I hope you know I'm giving you a break on this whole boyfriend thing because you're, well, you." Squall looked at her.

After giving her the non-sticky cup, that's what he gets? "What's wrong?"

In turn, Rinoa looked at him, like he should know something, with her eyebrows raised and her lips pursed.

He felt that remarking on how spoiled she looked wasn't appropriate at the moment.

When he stared blankly at her, she showed him the contents of the cup. He looked, figured it was alright, and shrugged. With obvious dramatic effect, Rinoa rolled her eyes and replaced the cap. "It's diet. Do you think I'm fat?"

….

...n-no?

"...n-no?"

"You paused. That means you do." She sat back in her chair, and he was relieved to see she was smiling. "I'm just playing with you. I can't believe you stuttered, though. It was so cute."

"...whatever." He sipped his soda, ignoring the sticky texture of the cup. Honestly, the only reason he got Rinoa diet was because he got himself chose diet. Who wanted the extra calories?

"...you know I'm not leaving, right?"

Squall stared at his cup, eyebrows furrowed. He wanted to say 'yes', and even more so, mean it, but he was constantly afraid of her leaving him. Quite honestly, he felt like a child. He sighed. "...sure." He sipped his soda. What did she expect him to say?

"..." Rinoa stretched, obviously about to change the topic of conversation. "So, Selphie's planning another Garden Festival. You probably don't read her diary?"

"Sometimes" He continued to stare at his cup.

"Well, she wants our help, and I sort oooof...told her we'd help." She smiled innocently at him, but he was too busy counting the bubbles in his soda to notice.

"...alright."

"Great!" Squall looked up, realizing he had agreed to something. ...least it's making her happy. Rinoa clasped her hands together and smiled. "Well, we should probably help her now." She grabbed Squall's hand, and, while he was glad he was making her happy, he had to pull his hand back.

"...I'm still hungry."

"You can eat later, Commander." She tugged at his hand again, and with some reluctance, Squall stood up and walked with her. "You should watch how much you eat, anyway. Not that I think you're getting fat, or anything, with all your diet coke...."