Drifting endlessly...
How big is space, Rinoa wondered. Would she really drift endlessly? Infinitely, just drifting across a desolate universe. She already felt the forlornness of being alone. Her only friends were the tiny twinkling lights. She watched the panorama of stars turned beneath her as a persuasive force spun her through space without a destination, without anyone to save her. Could this go on forever? Would she be left alone with the stars forever?
I'm helpless...
Rinoa's body was being forced to relax. Her muscles were being coerced to flaccidity. Her toes and fingertips were growing numb; it wasn't even that they had a tingly sensation, but it was if they weren't even there anymore. She was scared of giving up, but she was losing the ability to struggle. Even her thoughts were labored.
No...
She couldn't do this. She couldn't give in. Even if her body didn't have the strength to fight this fate and the life support keeping that body alive was dwindling, she had the mental and emotional vivacity to sustain her. Death was not inevitable. Her spirit was strong. She could fight, she could still fight.
I'm...
The bright stars in front of her grew fuzzy. The distant galaxies, all of the celestial bodies, were falling out of focus, falling into Rinoa's mental oblivion with the rest of her. She remembered everything, all of the life she had lived, the love and hate she had endured. How could life end? How could there be nothing?
That's it.
The sense that she had a physical being was fading along with the stars. Everything fading. Some intangible force gently tugging her into darkness, into nothing. Life support shutting down.
I'm gonna...
Her mind was becoming finite, her thoughts were sporadic. Her heart beat softly, slowly with a weak pulse full of fear and so much love left to share.
I'm gonna... die.
Oh, God. Was this what it felt like to be dying? She was so scared that she wanted to cry, but the weakness overwhelmed her ability to shed tears.
Good bye.
She wanted someone to hold her. She wanted someone to cry the tears she didn't have the strength to shed herself.
Squall...
She wanted to be with Squall...
Rinoa was suffocating. The empty universe would be her grave. She could feel herself merge with the darkness, and feel herself evolve into the past. There was nothing left for her to grapple onto. She couldn't think except for the oscillating vibration of her head pulsing with the last breath of life. She couldn't hear anything but the silence...
Rinoa! No! Don't give up!
The emptiness whispered to her.
Can you hear me? It's Squall... Rinoa! Rinoa!
The whispering emptiness.
She didn't have the strength to remember. Her memories withered, and her desperate breathing slowed. She couldn't struggle to keep her eyes open much longer. Everything was retiring to nothingness. Her eyes folded shut, and her lungs stopped forcing her to gasp for air that wasn't there.
This was what it felt like to be hollow. This was...
Rinoa, come on! Try to remember! Rinoa, I'm right here with you! Listen to me!
She listened to the mental whispers of some far-off cry reaching to her through the emptiness. Rinoa opened her eyes, and saw nothing but a blurry array of highlights and limited colors. She forced her eyes to focus. She forced herself to see.
Two rings dangled on a chain in front of her by the delicate force of gravity still left out here. She... remembered. It wasn't over yet. Squall was here with her. She reached up with a trembling hand, and felt herself holding his ring to her heart as she held her fingers pressed up against the glass of her helmet. Tears permeated with memories of unspoken words and teasing smiles slipped from her brown eyes, and floated up the inside of her helmet.
I'm... still... alive? Squall...?
His wishes had kept her alive. His cries of desperation enlivened her with just a drop of life's moisture. His... love? Her... love for him?
Rinoa hit a button on her suit, releasing her emergency oxygen supply. A large huff of breathable air shot into her helmet. She sucked it all inside her lungs, down her windpipe. Feeling returned to her numb body. Her listless fingers twitched as her nerves reawakened. She was just happy to be alive. She had something to never give up for. She had someone to never let her give up.
Squall's arms gently wrapped around her waist, and cradled her body against him. This was a safety she had never known. He had saved her. His... love had saved her. Even if they were destined to die like this, to drift through space until death, she was saved.
"Squall... thank you," she whispered tearfully. For the first time, he smiled at her. They held themselves close together, drifting past the stars, unwilling to let go of the only thing they had left out here... eachother.