Valentines Day

Squall sighed for what seemed like the millionth time. He had just turned away another female SeeD candidate who tried to shove somewhere in the vicinity of two-dozen roses in his face, and three more before that who had tried to get him to take them to the annual Valentines Ball. He turned around and again almost had roses up his nose.

"Be mine, Squall! I mean, Commander!" She said, giggling like she was twelve.

"No. Now take the roses and go away." Squall said, his patience wearing thin. When she made no move to leave, he turned around and began to walk toward his office on the third floor…

…when yet another girl stuffed a teddy bear into his face.

"What the hell!?"

"Be mine, Commander Leonhart!" Squall groaned as he pushed the teddy bear out of his face, revealing another girl who was at least five years younger than him.

'Why won't these girls leave me alone?' Squall thought. Tossing a "No." over his shoulder, he pushed past her and continued toward the elevator. He pushed the call button and prayed to God that there was no one inside. The elevator arrived and the doors hissed open, revealing none other than his former girlfriend Rinoa Heartilly, whom was holding a giant red heart. Squall groaned.

"Jesus…not you too…" Squall moaned.

Rinoa looked at him for a second and then laughed, shaking her head. "No, not me too. These are from Zell. I think he likes me."

"Whatever. So long as you don't yell, 'Be mine, Squally!' and try to stuff that up my nose, we'll be fine." He pushed the button for the third floor and leaned against the wall. Squall had been surprised at how well Rinoa had taken their break up. Not long after the Ultimecia fiasco was over, they realized that the only reason they were dating was because everyone else seemed to expect them to. Rinoa didn't believe him at first, but she soon saw that they had nothing in common. He worked a lot and never had time to see her, which was cause for a lot of bickering. They finally decided to end it before things got violent about four months in…and that had been six months ago. "So…you and Zell, huh? Well, I guess that kind of fits. He's hyper as all hell, and you don't seem to have a problem with it. Maybe you'll get him to calm down…hell, if you could get me to start talking to everyone; you must be able to do anything." Squall chuckled.

"Hehe, yeah, I guess so. But, this is my stop. See you later, Squally!" She said as she exited the lift and threw her arms around Zell, who was on the other side.

"How many times—? Ugh. Never mind." Squall started to tell her off for calling him 'Squally', but she was preoccupied by Zell and the lift doors closed before he had a chance to. The lift continued to the top level of Garden where his office was located. He exited the lift and walked into his office, fully expecting to be alone.

But the day was just full of surprises…Quistis Trepe was sitting on his desk, reading what looked like a Valentines Day card. Squall didn't say anything right away, but Quistis looked up anyway.

"Oh, Squall. I was wondering when you were going to get here."

"You were waiting for me? Why?" Squall was surprised yet again when Quistis turned slightly pink.

"Yeah, I was waiting…to give you this." She took a couple of steps around the desk and stopped in front of him. She looked up at him for a second, and then slid the card she had been reading into his hand. "Here. I'll see you later, Squall." She stepped past him and walked out of the office. Squall was mildly surprised at her quick departure. He looked down at the card in his hand for a second before opening it. It was just an ordinary card, no glitter or sparkles or giant red hearts everywhere; just one small heart on the cover. Squall opened the card and read:

Squall,

I know how much you hate Valentines Day, but I figured

this was the best time to tell you, though it seems silly to say

it in a card. Oh well, I suppose it's now or never…and I've waited too long for

for it to be never…here goes…

Be mine, Squall.

Love, Quistis

Squall stared at the card for a moment, both confused and happy at the same time. How long had she felt this way? Squall had never thought something like this would come from Quistis, especially after what she said at Edea's Orphanage almost a year ago. He also didn't expect Quistis to echo his own feelings. Squall turned and walked out of his office, disappointed at finding the entryway empty. Where had she gone? Was she just going to give him this card and then disappear? Squall crossed the entryway to the elevator and pushed the call button. The elevator took a moment to come back up, so Squall knew that she had gotten off on the ground floor.

'C'mon…hurry up. Stupid elevator.' Squall thought as the lift descended. It finally reached the first floor and practically ran to the dormitories, dodging several more juniorclass girls and female SeeD candidates, most of which were carrying around large red hearts or balloons. The only thing that Squall was interested in was getting to Quistis as fast as possible. If she really did feel the same about him…

Squall stopped a couple doors away from her dorm room. He caught his breath and tried to think of something to say, but nothing was coming to him.

'Get a grip, Leonhart, and stop acting like a teenager...' Squall shook himself mentally and walked over to her door and knocked gently. It took a few seconds for her to answer, but Squall was kind of expecting that. She opened the door and looked up into his eyes. "Is it true, Quisty? Do you really want me to be yours?"

Quistis turned red for the second time that day and looked down at her feet. She had thought that giving Squall the card was enough; she didn't expect him to follow her. The Squall she had once known wouldn't have followed, but this new Squall—one she loved more than the old one, if that was possible—was doing just that. She looked up into his eyes again. "Squall, I—" She started, but was unable to finish. Her hesitation had given Squall the answer he had been looking for. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her in close and, before she had time to react, he pressed his lips to hers. Quistis stared wide-eyed at his face for a moment, but quickly closed her eyes and allowed herself to become lost in the moment.

They parted after a long moment and looked into each other's eyes. Squall had a small smile on his face as Quistis pulled him in closer and rested her head on his chest.

"Happy Valentines Day, Quisty. Maybe this isn't so bad after all…"