DISCLAIMER: All things Final Fantasy belong to Square Enix.

To Atman and Valkyrie Wilde: I hope you find this version more satisfying.

~ Pulse Point ~

I don't know why I came back...

But that isn't true. She knows exactly why she returned, even though she promised herself that she would not. Tears escape from her tightly-closed eyes as she silently berates herself for being so weak-willed.

She is curled up on her side with her back to him, her face pressed into the pillow as she tries to keep her misery from disturbing his slumber.

He wakes to the sound of her sobs. With no hesitation he reaches for her, wrapping his arm around her waist and nuzzling the back of her neck.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" he whispers, his sleep-roughened voice promising pleasure.

A bitter laugh escapes her.

"What, my heart?" she asks, her tone laced with equal parts sarcasm and pain.

He is disappointed that the sensuality of the moment is lost on her. He holds her more firmly against him, knowing that even though the sheet is between their bodies she can feel his heart beating strong and steady against her back.

"Does it hurt less when you pretend I'm him?"

He feels her body tense up and immediately regrets his words. Before he has a chance to apologize, her heel connects sharply with his shin and he yelps at the unexpected pain.

One last tear slides down her cheek but her sorrow has for the most part subsided. She is more angry than anything now. How dare he bring that up when she is already upset, when he knows that she is trying so hard to move on with her life...?

"Don't try to drag my feelings for Squall into this. He has nothing to do with it," she snaps.

"Oh... so it's just being with me, in general, that makes you miserable?"

"It's not that, either."

She does not elaborate and, after a few moments of tense silence, he feels her body relax against his.

He is silent after that as well - offering an apology in the form of a kiss brushed softly against her shoulder, and hoping she will take comfort in the warmth of his embrace and the gentle lullaby of his heartbeat.

Sometime after she has fallen asleep, as he lies awake going over their conversation in his mind and wondering if she has somehow gotten over her unrequited love for his rival, he finally realizes that the reason she was crying has nothing to do with how she feels about him or Squall - it has to do with how she feel about herself.

~end~

A/N: Reviews are love.