Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or its characters. This is just for fun.

Early afternoon light streamed through the window casting a warm shadow across the Balamb Garden dorm room. Rinoa busied herself in front of the mirror making sure that not a hair was out of place, and that she was ready. She couldn't contain her excitement. It had been too long since the last time. When was it?

She racked her brain as to when was the last time she had been able to spend more than a couple of minutes alone with Squall. She tapped her fingers to her lips and thought. It was after Squall had returned from his last mission, but before she had her last haircut. That would put it between three and four weeks ago. Garden had given him two days rest then. It was so nice. They had been able to take long walks and spend time free from Garden before the demands of commander had again caught up to him and taken him away from her.

But he needed another a break and she needed him.

Didn't these people at Garden understand the concept of a weekend? People usually got two days off EVERY week.

Poor Squall, he was always busy with something. Strategy meetings, followed by debriefings, followed by meetings with future clients, the list went on and on. She was lucky to spend a couple of minutes alone with him during each day. Sometimes it was nothing more than a hello kiss followed by a goodbye hug. And that was only when nobody was looking. Rinoa lamented his shyness. She usually thought it was sweet and cute, but it was somewhat annoying that it took a life-or-death situation for him to show her some affection in front of others.

Ah well, he can't jump into the vast vacuum of space for you every day, she thought while brushing out her hair.

But today was different. She had the whole evening alone with him. Alone. She had made sure that the rest of the gang had all his work covered in case something should happen, and Squall would be able to spend a restful evening with her. She longed just to spend some time enjoying each other's company. She had put Quistis in charge. All calls would be routed to Quistis' office for the remainder of the day. Zell would take his office hours in case any students needed guidance. Selphie was busy planning the autumn festival. Under no circumstances was anybody to contact Squall this evening.

It was going to be perfect.

Rinoa had spent the last two hours getting ready. She always had trouble finding the right dress. This one was too fancy, this one was too plain. Ah, this one was just right. Ha ha, she thought. Just like the story of Gildylocks and the Three Moogles.

She had finally settled on a baby blue empire style sleeveless dress, that ended just above the knee. She had purchased the dress just a couple of weeks ago on a shopping trip with Selphie and hadn't had a chance to wear it yet. It even had matching kitten toe shoes with a slight heel. Selphie was right, it made her look cute, as she admired herself in the mirror. It would be too cold if Squall decided to go out to eat, but she could always run back and put on a light sweater over it. She didn't wear makeup every day, but today she'd put on some pink lip gloss and lined her eyes carefully. It was still a very natural look. She liked that. It was her, but a bit more polished. He probably wouldn't even notice, but it made her feel more beautiful and confident in herself. She was excited. She felt like a little kid on her birthday.

When she finished getting ready, she left her dorm and practically sprinted down the hallway to Squall's apartment. She almost feared that he would be whisked away to another obligation if she didn't get to him first. But she had crossed all her T's and dotted all her I's hadn't she? In addition to recruiting Quistis to handle Squalls affairs, she had made sure that Selphie and Zell had any of the other administrative duties taken care of. Nothing should reach Squall unless an emergency of epic proportions occurred. The only thing that she hadn't done was to threaten everyone in Garden, although she'd considered it.

The sorceress is not happy. She needs to spend some time alone with her knight. Anyone disrupting this date will face dire consequences.

Signed Rinoa, the sorceress.

She had thought of it and even run it by Quistis, only half joking. Quistis had shot her down and said that it would be overkill. Quistis had reassured her that most students and SeeDs didn't have direct access to the commander and that putting her, Selphie and Zell in charge for the evening would allow Rinoa and Squall to have a quiet evening alone together.

Her thoughts carried her to Squall's door. She contained her excitement and knocked timidly. She waited. After a few seconds of hearing no reply, she panicked thinking that Squall was caught up in work. She knocked as hard as she could.

Ow! that hurt, she thought as she knocked her knuckles into the solid door.

She unclenched her hand and was shaking it out as the door opened and Squall stood there. His dress uniform was unbuttoned showing the white undershirt underneath. She could even see the metallic glint of a chain that she knew Griever hung on the end of. This gave Squall a more casual look than he normally possessed.

He's so cute and he's all mine tonight!

Without saying anything, she threw herself forward wrapping her arms around Squall in a bear hug. Unprepared for the onslaught, Squall stumbled backwards under Rinoa's small frame. He had to reach out his hand to grab onto the door frame so he wouldn't fall onto the floor.

He needs tonight even more so than I do, thought Rinoa, misinterpreting his unsteadiness as fatigue instead of her super powered surprise hug. She must have learned this from Selphie without realizing it.

Squall quickly recovered his poise, looked down at Rinoa and smiled lightly. Rinoa sheepishly released her hug.

"I'm glad you're here. Come in," Squall said, taking Rinoa's arm and leading her inside. He walked back into his apartment and shut the door behind them.

Rinoa stepped out of her shoes, and placed them next to her purse by the door.

"Give me 10 minutes, I just want to take a shower," Squall said while undoing the rest of his SeeD coat. He headed into the bathroom, leaving Rinoa alone to fidget.

Rinoa went to his couch to sit. She spent her time mentally planning her evening. No, THEIR evening. After dinner they could go on a walk, watch a movie, or play some games together. Squall looked beat, so maybe the movie would be more his speed. Alternatively, they could go out to dinner, and then walk around downtown Balamb. She would see what Squall would like, but she knew the answer before even asking. Squall would prefer to prepare a simple dinner and then just sit and talk or watch a film. He spent his day surrounded by people and usually wanted to detox.

By the time Rinoa finished thinking about what to do while flipping channels on the TV, Squall emerged from the bathroom with wet hair. He was wearing SeeD issued sweatpants and a sweatshirt with Balamb Garden's insignia printed on the front in black ink. She turned off the TV.

Aw, not those baggy sweats, she thought to herself with an internal whine. I guess we're going nowhere tonight. Her high hopes for the night were quickly deflating, but she tried to be look on the bright side. At least I get to spend time with Squall, and that's the most important thing. She looked down at her cute new clothes. But I guess I'm overdressed now. Does he even notice?

Squall went straight to his kitchen and started boiling water for a fabulous dinner of spaghetti and jarred pasta sauce. It paled in comparison to the fancy restaurant meal she'd envisioned in her daydreams, but she knew the odds of that happening weren't the greatest. She was just happy that they weren't in the noisy cafeteria tonight eating hot dogs, and that was on a good night. She would have Squall all to herself this way. No yelling junior cadets in here fighting over hot dogs.

Within a few minutes they were sitting at his small kitchen table eating their simple meal.

Dinnertime traditionally is a time for people to connect and talk about their days, but Squall wasn't the most talkative person and she certainly didn't want to ask about his day. She had quite enough hearing about Garden's affairs, thank you very much. Basically Rinoa kept talking about cute things Angelo had done recently and other safe topics that wouldn't lead back to Garden. Squall just looked so tired as he ate his spaghetti. Was he even listening? She trailed off in midsentence.

Rinoa's mind started to wander. There was something funny about seeing somebody as serious as Squall eating spaghetti. If there was a dignified way to eat spaghetti, she didn't know of it. And it was hard to look menacing while slurping up noodles. Flecks of tomato sauce had spattered the sides of his mouth and she suppressed a laugh. Usually red splatter on Squall indicated monster blood, but it was nice that it was just dinner this time.

Haha, if he gets any sauce on his sweats, he's going to look like a slob, she thought. Then she realized that even as a disheveled slob, he still might be classified as the better looking person in the relationship. The smile on her face faded. She looked down at her dress to make sure she hadn't tomato stained her new outfit. She looked back up to see Squall scooping up a forkful of spaghetti before shoving it in his mouth. He was chewing with his cheeks bulging and wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. Not dignified at all. And his half dried hair was messy, but it looked like it had been purposely styled like that, even though she knew it hadn't. Lucky sexy slob, she thought. Who looks that good scarfing down a plate spaghetti? It's not fair!

A fork clattering on a plate signaled that Squall was finished. Rinoa looked over to see that he'd eaten quickly without fanfare. How'd he finish so quickly?

"I'm going to sit on the couch," he said. He stood up and walked over to his living room area.

That wasn't an invitation for her to join him, but she took it as such. She hurried to finish the rest of her meal so she could join him. Now that he wasn't watching her, she forked spaghetti into her mouth as quickly as she could. By the time she got on the couch, he was just sitting there staring at the blank TV screen. She sat down next to him and over the next few minutes she had systematically inched her body against him until she could feel his hip bone through his baggy gray sweatpants.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" she asked innocently, leaning into him some more. He stared straight ahead and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm so tired," he replied. Maybe he just wanted to sit there and do nothing. He leaned backwards and closed his eyes while rubbing his hand over his face.

"Aw, why don't you just relax then?"Rinoa said sympathetically. "They work you too hard," she said while leaning over and wrapping her arms around his neck. She nuzzled her face into his chest and closed her eyes to listen to his steady breathing. A quiet evening at home wasn't so bad. She smiled to herself. She couldn't do this in a fancy restaurant with Squall. She opened her eyes and Balamb Garden's insignia was staring back at her. Her smile turned into a frown, but Squall didn't see it.

Ugh, can't we ever get away from Garden? she thought to herself. Maybe she could get Squall some different loungewear. Something that wasn't Garden related in any way. She would like that. She could just go into town and...

Suddenly the telephone started ringing. Squall startled to awakefulness and jerked upright. Rinoa fell off him.

Noooooooo! Rinoa screamed in her head.

That stupid telephone had interrupted the calm quiet evening, even with all her careful planning! Rinoa willed Squall to stay beside her cuddled on the couch. She tried to gather all her sorceress powers to make him stay. She held her breath and wished for him to stay with her, clenching her fists tight with the effort.

Stop and stay with me! Stop and stay with me!

She quickly realized she still did not have a firm grasp on her powers and she could not prevent Squall from getting up off the couch and answering the phone. It didn't even look like she had slowed him down. He moved easily across the room to the phone. She only hoped it was a wrong number. Balamb villagers periodically misdialed.

Squall picked up the phone. "Commander Leonhart," he answered officially.

Rinoa's hopes were quickly dashed when she heard the distant voice of Nida on the other end of the line. Snippets of conversation came through.

Drat, though Rinoa, I forgot to tell Nida that tonight the commander was off limits. How could I have forgotten Nida?

Garden's navigation system was acting up once more. Technical mumbo jumbo came through, but from what Rinoa could understand, the steering control was causing the garden to bank more when turning to the right than the left. In normal operations this was fine, but if there was a battle this could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Nida had a fix he believed would rectify the situation, but he needed Squall to look at it and approve it before the repairs could be started.

Some of the information Rinoa got from Squall's end of the phone call, but he also summarized the rest for her when he got off the phone.

She had imagined lots of different outcomes for this night, but not this one.

Nida! she yelled in her mind.

Squall sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair. He looked apologetic. He was sorry, but Garden needed him once again.

She smiled at Squall sympathetically. She said it was okay and they could spend time together another time, but her heart felt sick with disappointment. A lot of their relationship was comprised of frustration and disappointment, but it wouldn't be fair to take it out on him. He was caught between a lot of responsibilities.

"I know you were looking forward to a work free evening, but this really can't wait. We need the repairs to start soon," Squall said.

He kissed Rinoa lightly on the head before heading to the bedroom to change his clothes for the second time in an hour.

"You're welcome to stay," Squall said from behind the partially closed bedroom door. "It shouldn't take more than an hour." Rinoa could hear Squall quickly changing his clothes. From previous experience she knew that an hour was conservative. Squall could be gone for as short as an hour, but it would most likely be two or three before he would come back and by that time he would be exhausted.

"I'll say goodnight now," Rinoa gave Squall a hug as he exited the bedroom wearing his SeeD uniform again.

I just wish that this moment could have lasted longer. Rinoa thought as she hugged her knight tightly. A mixture of emotion welled up inside Rinoa. A cocktail of anger and hurt. Anger that everyone needed Squall when she needed him more than anyone. Hurt that Squall wouldn't cancel his obligations to spend more time with her. It welled up within her, waiting to be let out.

It's not like I don't get to see Squall every day, we have Sorceress knight training. It's just that I don't ever get to be alone with him. Why can't time just stop for us sometimes?! Why can't everyone leave us alone!

Her power burst forth in a fierce wave, but as Squall hugged her back her tempestuous anger and emotion ebbed away.

Squall said his quick goodbyes and left Rinoa standing at his door without further comment.

Rinoa was alone tonight, but not alone with Squall as planned. She wandered around his apartment and contemplated whether to say here and feel bad or go back to her dorm room and feel bad. The evening was pretty much ruined. Rinoa looked down and started to fight back big fat tears that welled in her brown eyes.

Is a single evening too much to ask? Rinoa thought with bitterness.

She decided she might as well go back to her dorm. She grabbed her purse and put on her shoes and got ready to leave. Staying in Squall's apartment without Squall just made her miss him more. The door she knew would lock behind her, so she gave the apartment one more look over before she headed out.

She reached out to open his door, but before her hand even touched it, the door burst open. She jumped back in surprise, letting out a yelp.

Squall ran back through the door and slammed it behind him as if he'd been chased. He looked left and right to check his surroundings.

"Rinoa, you're okay?" he managed to say breathily while reaching out and grabbing her upper arm to steady himself. He looked panicked.

"Squall, what's the matter?" Rinoa asked, stunned at his agitation. She rarely saw him lose his cool.

"Frozen. They're all frozen," Squall answered.

This was an idea of mine, but thanks to SilentStarlightSky who heavily edited it, as well as provided some of the fluff.