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1. Staring at the sun by AlessiaHeartilly

   Fandoms: Final Fantasy VIII  

   • Explicit
   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • F/M
   • Work in Progress

   28 Oct 2025

   Tags

   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • Rinoa Heartilly/Squall Leonhart
   • Rinoa Heartilly
   • Squall Leonhart
   • mentioned Seifer Almasy/Quistis Trepe
   • hinted Selphie Tilmit/Irvine Kinneas
   • Slow Burn
   • Emotional Hurt/Comfort
   • Emotional Hurt
   • Artist/Muse Relationship
   • Mutual Pining
   • Non-Sexual Intimacy
   • Intimacy
   • Alternate Universe
   • Photography
   • Music
   • Forbidden Attraction
   • Creative Process as Intimacy
   • unspoken feelings
   • Yearning
   • Event: FFVIII OTP Festival
   • FFVIII OTP Fest (Final Fantasy VIII)
   • July Break Bingo
   • Character A Character B Bingo
   • Eventual Smut
   • Eventual Sex

   Summary

   At a loss for words, she simply nodded. He kept watching her, moving his fingers on her picture. “There’s nothing true in here. The light is made to flatter you. Colors are studied. There’s styling. Make-up is used to mask. This is crafted.” He followed the line of her face on her picture, lingering just above her eyes. A shudder crept along her back. “These are not.”
   [In which Squall, renowned black-and-white photographer, sees something raw and true he can't ignore in Rinoa's eyes; and Rinoa, musician turned silent, knows his gaze shifts the feel of her skin.]

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   26,370

   Chapters:

   3/8

   Collections:

   4

   Comments:

   23

   Kudos:

   28

   Bookmarks:

   10

   Hits:

   215