Final Fantasy VIII Fanfic

I wrote this a few years ago for Valentine's day..just randomly.. I totally forgot about it until now.

I'll be here… I will be waiting for you. I promise

A Romantic Fanfic by Scrawny Squall

Squall awoke under the brilliant sunlight that filtered into his dorm room. He stretched and gazed outside. "Wait a minute...today is a special holiday, but I can't seem to remember..what exactly." Squall scratched his head in thought.

"Why can't I remember?!!" Squall muttered something about his Guardian Forces. He turned to look at his alarm clock and saw a bright red and white card sitting on his desk. A Valentines' day card from Rinoa. Slapping his forehead, Squall groaned. He hadn't bought Rinoa a Valentine's day gift yet and to make things worse, he nearly forgot about Valentine's day. Squall scrambled out of his bed and turned on the shower.

"What should I do? What should I get her?". Chocolates and roses were so unoriginal and he wanted to do something special. He closed his eyes and relaxed as he felt the warmth of steam against his skin. He suddenly remembered how Rinoa adored his Griever ring and how she always kept it close to her on that necklace of hers. Squall suddenly had a great idea. Squall donned on his SeeD uniform and tip-toed quietly into the room next door to where Rinoa was sleeping. He opened the door a crack and saw that she was still Sleeping.

"Sleeping like a baby. Just as I thought." He whispered as he crept close to her. He gazed and was suddenly dumfounded by her loveliness. Rinoa slept like an angel upon the puffy white sheets. Her long dark lashes brushed against her delicate pearl skin And her rosy pink mouth moved as she breathed shallowly. Her hair was like a shinning curtain of night upon the white pillows. Squall breathed in deeply and fought the urge to kiss her. He silently took the ringed silver necklace that was on the nightstand.

Squall he raced out of the dormitory, Ignoring the complaints of by students and headed for the nearest jewelry shop in Balamb. Just as he was walking out, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Squall turned and saw Zell, cheerily smiling at him. "Happy Valentine's Day!" Squall looked shocked and blushed a bit.

"Hey, I'm not your girlfriend. Tell that to your girl at the library." The blonde looked startled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhh..how did you know about Her?". Zell's smile suddenly faded. "Anyway, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but… we have An assignment today. Winhill is being invaded by some fiends and they need our help." Squall shook his head and placed his hands on his hip. "Oh for crying out loud, do I ever get a break? Why did it have to be today, of all days?". Zell stared and then grinned.

"Ohhh…. A hot date with Rinoa?" Zell nudged Squall. Squall looked embarassed or a second. "Well, it IS Valentines' day and I wanted to Do something special for her." He dug his shoe into the pavement. "We don't have much time now because of the mission, but…" Squall rubbed his chin in thought. "I know! I have a special task for you. Since I'll be busy preparing, I'll need your help." The tattooed blonde scratched his head. "What Am I, Zell the cupid now?" He replied, with a lop-side smile.

***

Zell walked unsteadily through the halls of Balamb garden. The giant bouquet of pink roses was getting pretty heavy. When Zell was assigned to work under Squall's squad, he didn't expect to be doing ''top secret'' missions like this. Zell sweated and strained under the weight of the roses to knock on Rinoa's door "Rinoa~! Squall said.." He was cut off when The door flew open. Rinoa peered out into the hall and her eyes widened. "My goodness..why hello There Zell!". Zell scratched his head. "Hiya Rinoa…well Squall is on assignment And he got you these so you wouldn't be mad at him." Rinoa tipped her head to the side and frowned.

"A mission on Valentine's day..?" Zell nodded. "Yea..Sorry about that. Things happen, you know." Zell plopped the roses on the table. "He said to read the note." Zell pointed to the miniature white card attached to the roses. "I have to run now, the mission is about to start!" Zell saluted and dashed off. "Happy Valentine's day!" Rinoa couldn't help to feel a bit sad that Squall wasn't here to tell her himself. She opened the envelope and Read out loud the note.

"Dear Rinoa, I'm sorry that I can't be with you for the day. There's A problem in Winhill. They need the SeeD's to help out. It shouldn't take the whole day though. I will be back in the evening. Please wait for me at our meadow. I'll be there. I promise."

"I'll be there.. I promise…" Rinoa repeated and sighed, "Oh.. those words..". ***

Winhill became a chaotic battlefield overnight. Charred rubble and wood planks were scattered out everywhere. There were always fiends in Winhill, but somehow the problem got out of hand recently. Squall brushed his chocolate colored locks out of his eyes and dusted the dirt off his uniform. They have been fighting for half of the day already, trying to round up the fiends into one corner of the Town square. Quistis waved to Squall and ran to him. "I think we've rounded nearly all of them, but there's a few stragglers here and there." Quistis dabbed at the cut on her cheek. Her usually neat hair was in disarray from all the fighting. Squall nodded. "I'll try to round them…. WATCH OUT!" Squall pushed Quistis out of the way just as a Ruby Dragon suddenly swooped down from the sky.

"You stay here, I'll take care of this." Squall told her. It was almost dusk and Rinoa sat in the green meadow, watching the red sun sink below the mountains. Pink petals Floated about and a gentle breeze played with her hair. Where is he.. did he forget? Is he alright? She thought. Her hands involuntarily reached for the ringed necklace around her neck., but it wasn't there! She looked down and didn't' see it. "Oh no! Where is it?" she panicked. She patted the grass Around her but did not see the silver necklace anywhere. She suddenly felt very alone. Squall, where Are you?! Is my nightmare coming true?!.

He heard someone call out his name… it echoed into the darkness of his mind. He saw a vision of Rinoa running toward him. Her eyes were filled with concern, but when he touched her she vanished like a ghost. Squall shook himself out of the misty confusion of his unconsciousness. He blinked and sat up. It was almost Dark and he found himself sitting among the rubble next to the decaying body of the Ruby Dragon. Squall rubbed his forehead. "What… what happened…" He looked Over and saw Quistis stirring next to him. She rubbed her eyes and adjusted her glasses.

"Apparently, the Ruby Dragon felt like toasting us as a suicide last resort." It was very quiet and he heard some activity of the rest of the squadron nearby. Quistis put a hand on Squall's arm. "Are you alright? I know she's waiting for you. Go. I'll wrap things up here." Quistis smiled warmly. Squall nodded a thanks and slowly stood up and shakily ran into the growing darkness. Rinoa ran toward Edea's house. Where could he be? It was dark. She stopped In front of the ruined house, catching her breath. The meadow was deathly silent and a few flower petals swirled about in the tall grass. Her blue duster floated like a cape in the breeze. Rinoa shivered. Almost thinking it was her mind playing tricks, she saw a dark figure cross over the horizon of the meadow. Rinoa peered and breathed. "Squall..?"

Squall hurried and crossed the now dark meadow. He spotted Rinoa and broke into a run. Rinoa also spotted him, ran and embraced him. "Squall! I was so afraid.. that you wouldn't come!" She blurted out, breathlessly. Squall held her close and closed his eyes. Even if I was dying, it couldn't have stopped me from coming. Squall thought. "There's something I want to show you. Come with me." Squall took her hand. He led her to the edge of the meadow that overlooked the sea. "It's almost time. Look at the heavens." Squall whispered and pointed. Rinoa gazed up on the starry night and saw a shower of shooting stars that sparkled like a thousand diamonds among the endless blue. The whole spectacle was reflected in the calm ocean waves, sending out brilliant flecks of light on the horizon. Rinoa covered her mouth and looked at squall, her eyes were filled with tears.

"My dream..about the shooting stars." She stuttered. Squall nodded and smiled. "You don't have to run anymore Rinoa. I'll be here always." Rinoa wiped her tears away and returned the smile. Rinoa looked down and her smile suddenly faded. "Squall.. I have to tell you something. I lost…your.." Squall reached in his pocket. "You mean this? The necklace dangled from his hand and glimmered in the moonlight. Rinoa breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, I had to borrow it for this." He reached for her hand and slipped a shiny object on her finger. Rinoa lifted her hand and saw that it was a silver ring that looked exactly like the Squall's but made to fit her finger. "Squall.. I…I.. ". Rinoa couldn't find the words. Squall smiled at her and repeated. "I'll be here.. I'll be waiting for you." She turned the ring and saw that there was an engraving on the back. It said.... "I promise".

*The End*

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Author's note: Ok so like maybe that is a bit cheesy. but.. oh well.:) I hope you all enjoyed it -Scrawny