Because kidnapping princesses is out

Things were at peace that morning, until many a man’s dreaded enemy rang out, announcing its existence in the bedroom. The shrill beeps of the alarm pierced through the silence, mindless of how the sun softly dusted through the blinds, basking the room in a soft, sleepy glow, and ignoring its occupants’ slumber. The noise would have continued to scream, demanding attention, had it not been for the hand that appeared from under the duvet to try and silence the infernal contraption. After about three attempts of blindly flailing at the bedside cabinet, the rest of the man emerged from his cocoon of warmth to finally silence the obnoxious beeps, having done their job in waking him up. With a brief sigh at the silence, he contemplated just settling back down into bed and going back to sleep, when he sensed movement beside him.

Eyes still a little hazy as the last dregs of sleep clung to his mind, the man rolled over to address his bed partner, who had seemingly been awoken by the alarm as well, “You don’t have to get up yet, go back to sleep.”

Apparently, the woman had other plans apart from sleeping, as in the next few moments, she was snuggled against the man’s side, smiling playfully, “Who said you can tell me what to do, Squall?”

The man – Squall – offered a small chuckle as his lover slowly began to trace invisible patterns across his chest as they both tried to awaken fully, “When have you ever done what someone told you?” Regardless, he carefully stroked her long brown locks from her face as he gazed into her chocolate eyes, which were gradually becoming more alert as the seconds ticked by.

“I can do what I’m told; I just don’t take orders that easily.” The woman offered playfully, before moving to sit on his lap, making sure to bring the covers with her so that the early morning chill in the house did not break the quiet, easy mood the two were sharing. Without waiting a moment, she continued, “So why in Hyne’s name is your alarm set so early? Work?”

Squall sighed a little, before offering a small, apologetic smile as his hands came to rest gently on his lover’s hips. Really, if he could help it, he wouldn’t be up this early at all. He might have been a morning person, but there was a huge difference between seven in the morning and five in the morning. Regardless, he nodded, “I need to be in for seven thirty. You can go back to sleep in a minute Rinoa.”

Although she knew he meant well, Rinoa couldn’t help but roll her eyes at how her boyfriend was treating her, “Squall, do I look like I’m about to go back to sleep?”

“Clearly not.”

“How can you be sarcastic when you’ve only been awake ten minutes?”

That beckoned another chuckle from the man, shaking his head in amusement as his thumbs gently stroked over her hip bones. Finally, his steel blue eyes focused in on the axinite jewels before him, “So, what were you planning to do now?” If Squall had been paying a little more attention, he might of noticed the spark of mischief in Rinoa’s eyes.

As if pondering, the brunet woman tapped her chin as her eyes glanced to the ceiling in apparent thought, “So, you have to be at work for seven thirty, and it takes you about an hour to drive there, right?”

“Yes... you know that, why are you asking me?”

“And, it doesn’t take you that long to get ready, since your uniform is at the station, right?” The mirth in her voice was, sadly, lost on Squall.

“Yes, please tell me where you’re going with this-” If he had been planning to say anymore, Rinoa would never know, as his words were lost as she pressed her lips softly against his. The contact was brief, but the soft nip to his bottom lip spoke volumes more than her words could convey to her – admittedly sometimes dense – lover. Squall blinked for a few moments, a faint dusting of pink across his cheeks. Really, anyone who brought into his tough guy persona would probably be quite amused at how embarrassed he could become when shown affection.

Rinoa hummed playfully, a smile on her lips, “So, do you see where I’m going with this now?” How she loved to see Squall’s face when she caught him off guard, though she’d never dare call him adorable to his face. He might just die of embarrassment.

Trying his hardest to ignore the flush on his cheeks, the man sat up properly, pressing a chaste kiss to his beloved’s lips in return, before softly whispering, “If that was what you wanted, why didn’t you just say so?”

“Where’s the fun in that? And why are you whispering?”

A distinct pause, before, “Shut up and help me get your nightdress off, it’s in the way.”

With a mirth filled giggle, Rinoa complied with Squall’s request, before kissing him soundly.

With the early morning sun still sneaking into their room, the alarm’s shrill beeping after it’s snooze was dutifully ignored by the pair of lovers.

~*~

Squall didn’t really see himself as a man that was particularly important in the grand scheme of things. His hair was reasonably generic; his facial features nothing too special. The main thing he thought was potentially distinctive about him were his eyes, and that was only because when they’d first met, Rinoa had marvelled at how lovely the steel blue irises were. Meanwhile, he thought the world of Rinoa’s beauty. Her long caramel brown hair always fell so perfectly into place, her chocolate eyes always glistened with happiness, and often the promise of mischief. And that was without considering the beauty that was the rest of her body. How he had been blessed with someone so beautiful and caring to call his love, he wasn’t quite sure. Either way, Squall was happy, even if it didn’t always look like he was.

The pair of them lived in a reasonably small house in the sub-urbs of Balamb City, having only moved in about a year before despite dating since high school. Really, when Rinoa had suggested moving their relationship to that next step, he hadn’t been quite sure if it was a good idea. His lover, on the other hand, stated he was probably just having cold feet about the whole matter and arranged the showings herself. If he hadn’t spotted the small little town house and smiled when they entered, they would have probably still been crashing at each other’s flat half way across the city from each other.

With both of them in secure, well paying jobs – a fire fighter and a high school teacher respectively – it seemed as though their life was set. Hyne, Rinoa’s friend Selphie had remarked the only thing they really needed to do was get married, to which Squall had flushed a little and his beloved had smiled, remarking ‘I’m working on that, give it time’.

Their lives, as most would see it, were perfect. It is of course when things are at their best, that the worst will inevitably happen.

~*~

With a shout to Zell, Squall tried to take a breather, trying to assess the situation that he and his team were faced with. The burning building before them was an old house, by all intents and purposes. Made primarily of wood and bricks, the brunet had to marvel that the place was still standing at all, but that was probably down to the building being cared for by its occupants. Sadly though, someone had apparently fallen asleep in the study with a lit cigarette, and one thing had lead to another and they were now faced with the towering inferno.

Looking over the people who were sat outside, paramedics tending to them, Squall only counted four people. Weren’t there supposed to be five? Hurriedly, he asked one of the other members of his team – Irvine – if he’d just counted wrong. The frown the usually laid back man offered did not fill him with joy, “There’s a little girl as well but we couldn’t find her. Her room was on the first floor but there was no-one in there.”

Squall frowned, thinking. Was it worth risking his crew to look for her again if they didn’t even know where she was? What was he supposed to do? He should have been ready for this sort of thing-

He heard the mother sobbing for a ‘Monica’. His mind was made up.

“Irvine, start preparation to control the fire, and don’t let anyone follow me.”

Before his subordinate could protest, Squall’s helmet was back on as the brunet rushed into the blaze.

Apparently, the parent’s room had been on the top floor of the building: wouldn’t a child who was frightened rush to their parents? Squall hoped that that was the case, as it would make his job a bit easier. Fire extinguisher in hand and axe on his back, the brunet called out for Monica, hoping against hope that if she was still in the house, she would at least answer him. He had to find her, though as he walked through the house, he started to wonder if finding her would turn out to be the easy part of his task. The house was rapidly starting to fall apart, the damage from the flames starting to become too much for it as the floorboards beneath creaked in a worrying manner. He had to be quick.

Reaching the fifth floor, Squall called out Monica’s name again, and finally, he heard a small cry for help in return. “Monica, I’m here to help, please keep talking so I can find you!” Frantically searching the fifth floor, listening for the girl’s voice, Squall finally found her outside her parent’s room. Now he understood why she hadn’t left: her arm was trapped under a fallen beam. Really, houses this old should not be allowed to be lived in, he mused to himself.

Approaching the crying girl, Squall quickly assessed the situation before nodding, “I’m going to lift this beam and you need to pull your arm out, got it?” Receiving a soft ‘yes sir’ in response, the man carefully grasped the large beam in both hands and lifted it, uttering a small grunt in exertion. Thankfully, Monica didn’t mess around, and hurriedly pulled her arm from under the wood, despite the tears in her eyes.

Now, to get her out of the building.

“Squall!”

Zell? So much for no-one following him in.

Turning to the voice of his friend and colleague, Squall quickly picked Monica up and handed her to the blond, knowing he was much quicker on his feet, “Get her out of here now!”

“Right!”

Zell turned, heading down the stairs, and Squall made to follow, when time seemed to slow down.

A creak beneath his feet.

Not just a creak: a snap.

The floor had probably been weakened by the falling beam, Squall surmised in the briefest second. Maybe he should have been paying more attention to the house as he went to make his escape. Too late for that though.

He was falling through the fires.

It was always gone in the blink of an eye, Zack mused in puzzlement. There was never a proper chance to check just what his housemate was shoving into his back pack before he wandered out of the student house for his classes. If only Leon didn’t hide it so quickly, maybe Zack could find something new to talk to him about.

Truthfully, the ebony haired uni student had become much closer to his friend of a friend of a friend... was that enough friends? Leon had been introduced to Zack a few months ago when they had moved in with their mutual friends – Yuffie and Cloud – to share a house for the upcoming year. It was quite a shock to meet the brunet for the first time. Though really, Zack hadn’t been sure who to expect. Certainly he hadn’t expected someone quite so intense and... he tried to think of the word that best described his house mate. Probably something along the lines of ‘prickly’, but that didn’t seem quite right. Either way, Zack had soon assessed that Leon liked to keep to himself and have no-one bother him. It didn’t surprise him in the slightest when Yuffie commented she had to ‘coerce’ Leon into moving in with them: the brunet had apparently been originally set on living by himself for the rest of his years at university. Just thinking about that solitude had the puppy frowning deeply.

Zack was so very thankful that he had finally found something he and Leon could connect over when he’d – inadvertently – discovered that Leon didn’t just read and shut people out, but that he was actually interested in video games. After the first instance, it had been a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ situation with finding proof to back his observation up. But Zack was nothing if not persistent. Keeping his ears open for the familiar sounds of games – as clever as the ebony haired male believed Leon to be, he marvelled at how he hadn’t thought to use headphones just yet – and actively seeking the brunet’s company out had Zack finding out just how much Leon did actually play games. He even knew that Pyroar was his favourite Pokémon. That had to mean something right?

So why did he still not know what Leon actually studied?

The brunet kept his course of choice a very well kept secret: if it was comparable to anything, it was probably on the same scale as the location of the holy grail. ...maybe that had been an exaggeration, but even Yuffie hadn’t known. Had sworn up and down how annoyed she was that she had no clue what her long time friend studied. The fact that the self proclaimed ninja (who seemed to know everything about everyone’s secrets) had no clue just piqued Zack’s curiosity further. Too bad Leon had near perfected hiding his text books.

It had been an evening stroll home when the criminal justice student’d been musing about this, his mind so focused on the thoughts that he was back before he knew it. Back to a probably empty house. As far as he was aware, Cloud was out on a date with Tifa – finally! – and Yuffie had cheer practice until late at night. Leon had stated he was thinking about going to the library, but it depended on how he felt. Regardless, it meant that Zack could finally start Bayonetta 2. Maybe if Leon was in, he could convince him to give the game a go. Or at least to keep him company.

What he hadn’t been expecting was a slumbering brunet on the sofa, book resting on his chest from where he’d been reading it prior to his impromptu nap. An amused smile spread across Zack’s lips as he looked over the peaceful, relaxed features of Leon. He’d probably been stressing himself out again, maybe over his studies? ...speaking of...

Quietly, the taller student crept closer and peered at the title of the book. It couldn’t have been his usual romance novels: it was far too big for that. So it had to be one of Leon’s secret text books! If he could just read the title...

Achieving Excellence in Nursing Education

...nursing? Zack couldn’t help the little chuckle that emitted from him as he finally understood. Of course tough, stern Leon wouldn’t want people to know he was a nursing student, it went against his whole image. But for some reason, it fit him. Maybe because beneath all the bravado, Zack knew there was a genuinely caring person beneath.