Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing in a very long time! The story itself takes place eleven years after the events of FFVIII, and is fairly Squall-centric! Rated M for some content throughout the later chapters.


LIKE KNIVES


Prologue. Gone

His throat became raw and his breaths laboured at the onset. Everything was so surreal and so wrong; this couldn't be the way it ended. And yet, here he was, trembling with long repressed emotion, all his worst fears coming to light. He wanted to be angry with her, to scream and tell her about how much she had damaged him, how she was destroying everything, but he knew that doing so would mean giving lease to a lie.

He hurt her. That truth stung like a wasp; sharp, malevolent.

He should have paid more attention, should have been more receptive, should have cared more than he did, should have been there when she needed him, should have shown how much he needed her... Should have, should have, should have.

Her bags were packed. This was really happening. Numb, he leaned his weight into the wall, thoughts assaulting him as he contemplated all the ways he could have prevented this. Some knight in shining armour he was; too wrapped up in his own fucking little world to realize that it was unravelling right in front of him.

When he looked up, she was at the door. The small blanketed bundle cradled in her arms moved ever so slightly, just enough to register, as she was set gently into her stroller. Despite the deep scars that ran between them, she alone remained somehow unmarred.

He knelt down to meet his daughter, ran calloused fingers across smooth cheeks, tried to memorize her—dark hair, fair skin, eyes hidden under heavy lids. He kissed her on her forehead and whispered so faintly that it might have been only breath.

"I'm sorry."

"Seven years, Squall," Rinoa spoke softly as he rose to meet her. Her tone was even and measured, void of any emotion despite her red-rimmed eyes. "Seven long fucking years of waiting for you. I can't do this anymore. I can't be the person you want me to be."

He wanted to tell her to give him one last chance, to convince her that he would change, that he could change, that he needed them, that he loved them more than he could even begin to describe, just please, please don't take Ellie away...

Instead, he did nothing. His expression went blank, listless, empty.

He didn't even flinch as the door shut behind them.