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Rinoa awoke to Squall shifting his weight into a more comfortable position; she turned to him and smiled. Moving up close to him, her head leaning against his bare chest. She breathed in deep before falling back to sleep wrapped safely in his arms.


Married Life

Rinoa stirred, her eyes fluttering open softly. She felt a tugging at her waist and turned her head to look behind her. She smiled when she saw Squall tugging her closer to him in his sleep; she had always thought he was adorable when he was sleeping. She loved watching him, he was so peaceful and it was during these times when he was fast sleep that he showed the most open affection, well when he was asleep and when they were...She smiled to herself, placing her hand lightly on her stomach where she knew their child was growing.

She wished she could watch Squall now, it was always so relaxing, but she felt so tired. Twisting her head back round she drifted back off to sleep only to reawaken when Squall removed his arms from around her and rolled onto his back. She glanced back at him and sighed disappointedly.

After laying there for a while and when it was apparent he wasn't going to cuddle her again she made a move to get out of bed. She was barely at the edge when Squall's arm pulled her back. Turning to look at him, she allowed herself to be pulled back in.

"Squall?" she asked. He shook his head, pulling her tight against him before burying his head in the crook of her neck. His breath tickling her skin so much she couldn't suppress a giggle. Squall made no sign that he had heard.

Rinoa pulled away from him, turning around so that she could see his face she asked, "So what was all that about last night? Why did you have to see Xu? Are you going on a mission?"

Squall groaned mumbling about it being too early in the morning and that she should go back to sleep, but even as he did so he prised his eyes open to look her in the eye. He sighed, "When did I say I was going to go see Xu? I did but...no. I'm not going on a mission."

"You're not! Really?" a surprised Rinoa asked cheerfully, "So then...what was last night about?"

"Xu wanted me to go to FH for something, but in short I don't want to."

Rinoa stared at him, "You declined a mission? You? You've never done that before."

"It's because I can't take it anymore, I can't take the long weeks away...not anymore. I asked Xu if I could become an inactive commander, I will still continue working but I'd stay in Garden."

Rinoa was far happier than she could have ever expressed in words. "And when did you decide this?"

"Last night, before the phone call from Xu." she had wondered what he had been thinking about. "But just because I'm not working doesn't mean I'm not going anywhere, because I am."

"You are" there was evident disappointment in her voice.

"Yeah...but you andStorm are coming with me."

"Really? Where?"

Squall shook his head slightly she was like a kid sometimes, he found it not exactly endearing but he was sure it was something a long those lines. "Tell you at breakfast, go to sleep."

"But Squall, I should be preparing breakfast now. Let me leave." He just held her tighter it made her laugh. After a time he let her go and got up himself but only, he assured her, because he was in desperate need of the bathroom.

Rinoa laughed quietly to herself as she left her bedroom, watching Squall getting dressed as she closed the door. She smiled and shook her head as she made her way down the stairs thinking about Squall and how...content and happy he looked this morning. She couldn't place the reason, she decided it could either be the fact that he wasn't leaving for long periods of time for a few months or that he actually got his wish since he had arrived home, which was to wake in the morning next to her instead of having to glare at the alarm clock. Or, she thought, it could be both, which is why it was so easily noticeable.

Sighing she began to cook the breakfast, still finding it difficult to break her thoughts away from her husband. She found it amazing, she had known him for seven years and yet still...it was as though she had met him not all that long ago, he was still new to her and yet at the same time extremely familiar and she loved it.


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Squall stood watching Rinoa who was lost in her thoughts as she cooked. He loved watching her, he was always slightly wary of doing so though. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed, even now, if she caught him staring.

The frying pan his wife was holding began to spit and she took no notice. Smiling slightly, Squall strode forward and gently prised her hand off of the handle before placing it to one side. He turned to Rinoa who blinked coming back to reality and watched as he wiped her hand clean of the bacon's fat with a damp cloth.

She smiled at him, apologising for not paying attention. Squall shook his head, silently telling her not to be stupid before asking, "What were you thinking about that got you so distracted anyway?" with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Rinoa sighed, guessing there was nothing for it. She smiled with a reminiscent shyness of the seventeen year old who was unsure of Squall's reaction and said, "I was thinking about you actually. So I guess we only have you to blame."

Squall looked genuinely surprised at her answer, "really?.. I guess so," he said, seriously taking the blame. Rinoa smiled looking him in the eye, he was always so serious even when she was toying with him. She watched as he leant towards her, his fingertips resting lightly on her cheek and his other hand gripping her shoulder gently, before closing her eyes in anticipation of his kiss. There was a pause where she felt and heard nothing. Then she felt the barest of touches as Squall murmured, "Sorry for distracting you." against her lips before kissing her fully.

Squall broke away from her when he heard footsteps and turned his head in the direction of the door. His son appeared in the doorway, rubbing at his eyes. Squall released Rinoa's arm and knelt down on one knee. The boy sprinted towards him. Upon reaching his father he threw his arms around his neck and Squall stood up instantly. One of his arms was supporting the boy while the other was wrapped around his back.

The boy snuggled into his chest and Squall smiled down at him. Rinoa couldn't help but smile too as she watched them both before she kissed her son's cheek and turned to Squall, "What is up with you lately, your smiling so much?" she asked him warmly, hoping he wouldn't take offence. He did sometimes and it was usually to the strangest things.

Squall tore his eyes away from his son and looked at Rinoa, "...I...I didn't realise I was, not much anyway...I guess I just feel like it."

"Well it has been seven years Squall," she kissed him on the cheek before whispering, "it's about time" and moving away to lay the table.

Squall glared at her just as she knew he would but let it pass; he knew she didn't mean anything by it.

Hoisting his son back up, higher into his arms, he muttered, "Hyne, you're getting heavy" and walked over to the table placing him in a chair before taking his own seat.

"Well?" Rinoa asked, lying the breakfast upon the table.

Squall frowned slightly, thinking hard before shrugging and asking, "Well, what?"

Taking her seat next to her confused husband and opposite her son, she rolled her eyes. "Where are we going?" she asked excitedly.

The four year old looked up from his food curiously, Squall glanced at him before giving Rinoa a "Now you've done it" glance, or at least he intended to but when he turned back to Rinoa he found her smiling brightly as she watched him intently, looking far better than beautiful, which made it impossible to even pretend to be annoyed at her.

He sighed looking down at the table, "Well..." he told her his idea and assured her, the neighbour wouldn't mind looking after the house for a while.

"What about your work?"

"Er...that was another reason why I went to see Xu actually." He confessed.


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Storm jumped off his chair and ran down the hallway. Squall and Rinoa also stood from their chairs, smiling at his eagerness.

As they left the kitchen Squall grabbed hold of Rinoa's hand. She glanced at him before softly saying, "I think this is a great idea, Squall."

"..."Squall opened his mouth to reply but the words he intended to say got lost along the way, changing into a monotonous "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Look at him," just as the words left her lips the young boy tripped up the stairs. He picked himself up and carried on his climb as though nothing had happened. Rinoa shook her head, hoping he was okay. "He's really happy. He loves it there and his grandfathers going to be there-" she was interrupted by a dead weight on her shoulder and could have sworn she heard Squall mutter, "Hyne help me!"

"-He'll meet three people he is very fond of and has only met twice before one of which he was too young to remember." Rinoa continued. She remembered that time fondly, they had all came to visit her a few days after Storm was born. Laguna had been so happy that he kept knocking things flying as he jumped around excitedly.

Squall lifted his forehead up off of her shoulder, "And you? What about you, Rinoa?" He felt she was avoiding it.

Rinoa smiled shyly, trying not to let his looking at her intently bother her, "Well, with three other people to look after him, three more people for him to vie for attention from, I thought that we could spend time together...you've been so busy these past few months. So you know...just the two of us."

"The three of us," Squall corrected without thinking, his mind somewhere else.

Rinoa frowned in confusion, wondering whether he was paying attention to what she was saying, for a moment then it dawned on her. She looked down at her slightly swelling stomach and with a dazed yet happy smile said, "Right. The three of us."


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Rinoa sat gazing out the train window to the stormy weather outside. She was lost in thoughts of times that were seven years past. Her mind replaying all those light hearted moments they had shared in such dark times, all the times she had found Squall being the sweet, kind guy she had described him as.

Sighing she pulled her gaze to the inside of the carriage. Squall lay the full length of the sofa in the SeeD cabin, completely passed out. He looked very similar to how she had found him in time compression yet more comfortable as he wasn't sleeping on rocky ground.

Storm was fast asleep in the top bunk, snoring very softly from a newly developing cold.

Rinoa sighed, Squall insisted she had the other bunk but in all honesty she had trouble sleeping without him, she even told Selphie as much, albeit reluctantly, the last time she had seen her and had been paid the compliment, "Rinoa, you look terrible, have you been sleeping ok?"

It was a dependency that had grown when she had had that series of nightmares. She had enjoyed the feeling of his strong warm arms wrapped around her when she woke, the feel of laying either on or pressed up against his chest and how sometimes their legs intertwined. Of course Squall didn't know about any of that for they never fell asleep like it and Rinoa was usually already out of bed by the time he woke.

Very reluctantly she climbed into the bottom bunk, suppressing a yawn as the train smoothly followed its pre-determined path to Esthar along the newly reopened tracks from Fisherman's Horizon.


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Rinoa opened her eyes to see blue icy eyes in front of her. They blinked and pulled back. She smiled contently, "Squall" she whispered.

"Finally," he said, amusement evident in his voice and eyes, "I thought you'd never wake up. I've been shaking you for the last five minutes."

She closed her eyes gently, feeling herself falling asleep again when - "Hey! Don't go falling asleep on me again." Squall said softly. "I'm running out of ideas of how to wake you." He gripped her hand and pulled her gently from the bed, "come on, get dressed, we'll be there in a few hours."

"You couldn't have woken me when it is minutes?" she asked. At the look he gave her she began to get dressed, changing out of one of Squalls shirts and into her clothes.

After a while he said, "I wouldn't chance it. Wouldn't know if I could wake you in time." She looked over to him to see he was smiling slightly.

"What about Storm, shouldn't we wake him?" Rinoa asked looking up to the top bunk.

"No, not yet. We can wake him when it's a matter of minutes." She turned to him, a look of playful indignation on her face. He smiled at her, "I know how to wake him."