Here goes my first crossover fanfic! It involves two of the best Squaresoft games: Final Fantasy 7 and 8. Hope it's good! And watch for spoilers by the way!
Disclaimer: All characters except one are copyright from Squaresoft.
Through Time And Space
A warm summer night. Not a cloud in the sky to spoil the beauty of the stars. Only some crickets were trying to disturb the peacefulness of this night. They were the only noises except for some breezes just cool enough to make people shiver a little. Near a noisy city full of lights and life, a silent couple was walking. They weren't far enough from Deling City not to hear anything but they were so concentrated on the faint noises of a normal night they were not paying attention to the city nearby. They were walking hand in hand, peaceful.
The guy was a young man all dressed in leather with a feather collar on his jacket and he had a gunblade hanging to his belt against his leg. The girl by his other side was wearing a blue sleeveless long coat with two white wings drawn on her back.
The girl was feeling uneasy but the guy wasn't apparently noticing. She hadsomething on her mind and it was really messing with her heart. She finally managed to speak.
"Why don't you say something, Squall? You're so quiet."
"I enjoy the silence only disturbed by the natural sounds of the night," he answered without looking at her.
"So you don't want to talk?"
She looked at the ground, deception in her voice. Squall turned to her and looked at the pretty face of his girlfriend.
"But I enjoy your company and I really like the sound of your voice, Rinoa. We can talk if you want to, but I really don't know what to talk about."
The girl was all happy again but she was still feeling uneasy. The burden on her heart wasn't comfortable at all. She had lots of things to say, thousands of words in her mind but htey were all mixed up. She tried to unpuzzle them and work them in sentences.
"It's been a while we're together and I... well..."
Squall guessed her feelings and he stopped to face her.
"What is it?" he inquired a bit worried.
"Nothing wrong, don't worry! I don't want to break up or anything."
Squall was reassured. He loved Rinoa a lot and didn't want to lose her.
"What is it then?"
She reached for the rings of her necklace and took a deep breath.
"I really love you Squall, more than anyone else I could have loved."
Unable to keep going, Squall thought it was all so he took her hands in his. She looked up to him and their eyes locked. Rinoa saw in her beloved's eyes he had something to say and she was wondering what could make him look so nervous. Could he be thinking the same thinkg than her?
"I love you very much too and I...I...you..."
Squall was trembling, his hands were wet and he was perspiring. Rinoa smiled.
"What are you trying to say? Calm down and speak slowly."
The young man closed hi eyes and focused on the calm night, the breeze and the crickets to calm his mind. He took few slow and deep breaths and opened his eyes.
"It's a good thing you started talking about us. It was the occasion I was waiting for."
"For what?" Rinoa asked with her eyes shining like stars.
Squall lifted her hands at chest level and he closened up on her.
"Rinoa, I... would you..."
He suddenly frowned feeling a little pain in his head. He reached for it and closed his eyes.
"Are you alright?" Rinoa asked with concern.
He waited a second for the pain to weaken and shook his head. Rinoa was still holding his hands and she searched his gaze.
"You okay?"
"I think so. Some weakness. Argh!"
He suddenly released Rinoa's hands and put them each side of his head, holding it tight. He shut his eyes and made a step backward.
"Squall?" Rinoa called growing scared.
She reached out for Squall's shoulder when he fell on his knees. She dropped on her knees by his side. His painful moans were the only sounds coming out of his mouth.
"Squall!! What's wrong? Speak to me!"
"It's...all in...my head! Hurt...Urgh..."
He threw his ehad backward and yelled when the pain spred in his whole body. It was like an explosion of pain. It wasn't comparable to anything, not even the electric shocks he received in the D-District prison. It was unbearable but it was like he couldn't faint, the pain was still not big enough.
"Squall! Squall!!"
Rinoa was crying from fear as she held him tight, feeling helpless.
"Please, tell me what's going on!!"
Between two moans, he looked at Rinoa. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and fear was in her eyes. In Squall's there was only pain. He couldn't even clearly see Rinoa or hear her.
"What's going on?" she whispered.
"Like...going...DreamWorld... more...painful..."
"What do you mean? It's the same feeling that when you were sent to the past?"
Squall nodded before another wave of pain stiffened him in Rinoa's arms, drawing his head backward with a yell loud enough to rise a corpse. Blackness finally claimed him. Sweet blackness that finally put an end to that painful moment, the most painful of his life. Being tortured, fighting eveil Sorceresses seeking to take over the world, going in space, risking his life and travel to the point of death was nothing compared to that.
A slim thought came in squall's mind before he blacked out: Ellone's powers have gone all wrong.
Rinoa caught Squall's limp body in her arms, calling his name.
"Squall! SQUALL!! What's happening? Wake up!"
The scared girl checked for any sign of life until she found out he just fainted. She was a bit reassured but not enough for comfort. There was still pain twisting his face and Rinoa wanted to know why. Even looking well in this state, it wasn't explaining what happened, what have caused this pain to Squall.
She was thinking about a way to get help without leaving him alone in the wilderness when he felt light in ehr arms. When she looked at him, her eyes widened in complete horror seeing he was transparent and about to disappear totally. She tried to hold him but he kept disappearing. She called his name helplessly when she ended up hugging herself. She started crying, cursing whoever was doing this, wondering what was going on and most of all...
"Squall! Where are you??"
She just stood there in the silence only disturbed by her sobs. She was alone, lost and confused.
Still on Earth but with different lands and towns, a couple was helping rebuilding a town. That town have been burned to the ground some years ago and has been rebuilt. The couple was well known around the world because they once saved it from total destruction. Both were over 20 and married for a while now. They have decided to live in their hometown, Nibelheim.
The man had spiky blond hair and green eyes. The woman had very long brown hair and was quite well built.
They were walking around the town, wondering how they could have been fooled by the illusion reproduction of their town when they came a year ago. It was burned 6 years ago by a man once known in the entire world for being a great soldier. He went berserk when he learned of his origins and burned the town to the ground. Five years later, the town was back but nobody there knew of the fire. The blond's mother wasn't in his house anymore and the person living there never her of her. Of course, she died in the fire but...
"What are you thinking about, Cloud?" the brown haired girl asked.
The guy shook his head, making the spikes dance. He turned to his wife and smiled comfortingly.
"It's nothing, Tifa. I was just wondering how Sephiroth managed to fool us with the illusion of our hometown, with people all not real too..."
"Can I remind you that for a while, you thought you were not real yourself?"
Cloud frowned at the memory. Some crazy scientist has tried to make him think he was a clone of his enemy, the once 'Great Sephiroth'.
"Do you regret, Cloud?" Tifa asked.
"What? That I killed Sephiroth?" he asked not sure to understand.
The girl shook her head with a light laugh.
"No, no."
She looked up to him with joyful and happy face. Her eyes were shining gently.
"I mean...do you regret you married me?"
The guy took her by the shoulders and granted her a serious look.
"Never, I never regreted it and I never will."
Tifa leant her head aside, curiously looking at Cloud. She knew there was something on his mind. He frowned.
"What?"
"Did you...love Aeris?" she asked casually.
Cloud sighed, annoyed.
"We already talked about it, Tifa."
"I know! But you always manage to avoid the answer."
He turned around and faced her his back. He knew she wanted the truth, but he wasn't sure if he knew it himself.
"I...I think I did. But my childhood friendship for you was still and I think that's why I'm not sure. I'm not even sure if it was really friendship I was feeling for you and when it turned to love."
Tifa grew a little worried. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you sure you love me then?"
He felt the fear in her voice and in her touch of his shoulder. Just feeling the same thing than her was his answer.
He turned around and took her hand, the one with her engagement ring. He rubbed it with his thumb.
"I was really confused after I fell in the Lifestream, almost lost in my mind."
Tifa nodded. She remembered only too well. She had to help Cloud find himself in his own mind.
"But after that, it became clear," Cloud continued. "I did love Aeris and her death made me sad but... soon I understood that you were the on for me Tifa."
He got closer. He was just three inches taller than her but it was no big deal.
"The promise you made..." Tifa started.
"I never entered Soldier so I couldn't keep the promise. Not totally at least. But I promise you I'll always be there to help you, Tifa, whenever you need me, whenever you're in trouble."
"I don't care if you never entered Soldier. I don't love the fighter in you but just who you are."
Cloud gave her a smile. From the ones he was only granting her. She felt lucky being the only one to see that smile and even more that he granted her of it on that moment because he was rarely smiling. Not warmly at least.
He bent over her and she closed her eyes.
"Whenever you're in trouble..." he whispered.
Their lips brushed each other's when a voice spoke.
'And who'll save YOU if you're in trouble?'
Cloud spun around and looked behind him. Tifa opened her eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked watching too.
After seeing nobody was paying attention to him and even less speaking, Cloud turned back to his wife, a frown on his face. Tifa hasn't seen that frown for year and wondered what was going on.
"Didn't you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"That voice..."
He shook his head and gave up his frown.
"I must be tired."
"You're working so hard," she said with a smile. "Let's go rest a while."
"I guess I need it."
He placed his arm around Tifa's waist and they walked to their house.
"You're not even close..." the voice spoke evily.
Cloud frowned again and quickly turned around, shielding Tifa from any threat.
"What is it?"
"I'm not dreaming, there is a voice..."
"You sure?"
Cloud was scanning the place and Tifa moved by his side to scan along. Tifa trusted Cloud and knew he wasn't insane but she wasn't seeing anything. On the other hand, Cloud wasn't feeling alright at all. He was nervous, and even afraid but he could also see there was nothing around.
"Got a bad feeling about this..."
Tifa was growing scared too from from the feelings coming from loud.
"You're wasting your time," the voice said.
Cloud finally understood the voice was in his head. He put his hands each side of his head.
"Who are you?"
"Cloud?" Tifa inquired.
"I seek power, the power of this Planet..."
"Do you know Sephiroth?"
"You can't even begin to imagine who I am..."
Tifa called for Cloud another time and seeing the voice remained silent, Cloud spoke.
"A girl. A girl spoke in my head."
"A girl? Like Sephiroth did?"
He nodded.
"Who is it?"
"I wish I'd know?"
"If you do, you'll wish you never had..."
"Ghh..."
Cloud suddenly wide opened his eyes and fell on his knees before shutting his eyes tight. He held his head in his hands and shook it.
"Cloud?"
"She's ...strong...not like Sephiroth..."
"She's stronger than Sephiroth?" Tifa exclaimed not thinking it could be possible.
"Don't know."
It was painful but Cloud knew that pain. Sephiroth once did the same to him.
"Why?" he asked simply.
"To make sure you'll never try to stop me..."
The pain exploded and without a scream, Cloud collapsed. Tifa started to panic.
"Cloud! What's wrong?"
Alerted, some townspeople came and helped her carry Cloud in their house. She thanked them and told them it was alright, that she would call them if anything would go wrong.
Cloud wasn't moving but he was alive. What did that girl do to him? Did she mess so badly with his mind he would go like when he was sick? Unable to move by himself, to speak or anything else?
"What's going on, Cloud?" she whispered taking his hand. "Who is that girl you talked about and what does she want from you?"
Even with Cloud by her side, she felt like she was alone, like he wasn't there with her. She was feeling very confused, willing just to begin to understand what happened.
It was dark, all around. Was it even somewhere? Squall even wondered if his eyes were opened. When he wanted to put his hands over them to see, he couldn't. It was as if he didn't even have a body. He was just a consciousness. A consciousness...
"Ellone?" he called.
At least he could speak...or was he just thinking.
"Sis? You used your powers while sleeping again?"
There was no answer. Squall frowned (well that's what he would have done if he could have).
"What on Earth is going on? First I was with Rinoa, then there was that familiar feeling but thousands of times more painful and I fainted. Well I think I did. Now I'm here. But where's 'here'?"
Not a sound around, total silence something usually impossible because there's always a small sound somewhere. Not even a breathing and Squall even considered being dead.
"What's going on here?" he asked himself.
"Who's there?" a voice asked.
Squall tried to scan the place until he remembered he couldn't see.
"Who are you yourself?"
"For a second I thought I was lost in my mind again."
The words weren't making any sense to Squall but he didn't really pay attention to the words more than to the voice. It sounded close and far in the same time, loud and low. There was one thing sure, it was from a man.
"I thought I was sent to the Dream World again," Squall spoke.
Then he wondered why he said that. He didn't know who was there but he was sure he never heard that voice and there was something telling him he could never have met that guy.
"I don't know about your Dream World but I guess you're not responsible for this and I suppose you don't know about the girl who did it."
"Well I know a girl who use special powers to send people's consciousness into the past but it never was so painful before."
"In the past? What are you talking about? I knew a guy who could enter my mind and control it."
"This doesn't make any sense!" Squall exclaimed.
The guys kept silent before the other spoke.
"There is no point in arguing. It seems we're trapped in the same mess but for different reasons since not the same thing happened to gat us here."
"I agree."
"I feel like I've been here for just a second and in the same time..."
"For eternity..."
Another wave of complete silence.
"We must be somewhere where time doesn't occur," Squall said.
"How do you know?"
"Trust me, I know. I experienced something like that ago."
"Not the best thing I had in my life. It's like I'm not even there! Since we don't know how much longer we'll be here, why not introduce ourselves?"
"Whatever..."
There was a silence where the other guy tried to figure out what Squall meant by that. When he decided to take it as an agreement, he spoke again.
"My name is..." he started.
"Darn!" a girl's voice interrupted him. "All that messing with you weakened me and I must have fallen asleep."
"Who are you?" the two asked in the same time.
"Neither of you ever saw me or heard about me. And you weren't supposed to meet each other either. I only wanted to take... one of you and mess with the other's mind to be sure he would never come to me."
"What do you want?" Squall asked.
"Revenge and power, like anybody. The planet shall give me what I need."
"Who are you?" the other guy asked once again.
"I am called Blaze but that's not important. I'm about to disconnect so if you guys have something to say, do it fast!"
Nothing could be said. There was nothing they could think about that would help them get out of this mess or at least understand a little better.
"Then say goodbye..."
Total darkness was replaced by the brightest light. If the strange state the guys were in was a conscious state, they fainted from the pain that bright light brought.
Cloud was frowning and clenching his fists hard. Feeling movements, Tifa opened her eyes and got off Cloud's chest. She saw his eyelids moving and she started hoping he would wake up. He moaned and bared his teeth in an effort. Groans came from his throat. Tifa put a hand over his and called his name.
"Fight, Cloud. You can do it!"
He moaned again and opened his mouth like he was about to speak.
"Come on!" she encouraged.
Cloud's eyes wide opened all of a sudden and he sat up straight on the bed. Glad to see he was alright, Tifa jumped on him and held him tight.
"Oh! I was so worried, Cloud! Are you alright? What happened?"
He turned his head to her with a serious and grave look.
"We're all in great danger..."
He told her about the guy talking about weird things he spoke to, that they were in the same situation. About the girl responsible that manifested herself. He told her what she said.
"If I'm back here, I think she wanted the other guy."
"But who is he?"
"Don't have a clue. What I wonder now is why I woke up."
"What do you mean?"
"The way she spoke, I'm a threat to her plans and she just wanted to get rid of me."
"And you weren't supposed to meet the other guy."
"Apparently not. I don't know his name or what he looks like so how can I find him? I think he's in danger."
"I don't think it concerns you."
"I disagree. If I'm strong enough to
have woken up, I must do something. And considering she came for me, I'll go
alone."
Tifa wanted to protest but she
knew she wouldn't be able to stop him.
"Where do you think she is?"
"She's looking for power and she said the planet would give it to her so I think she went..."
"To the planet's core!"
"Exactly! And I'll have to the go through the crater to find her."
"But didn't it crumbled when Holy was released?"
"Yeah but I should be able to go through somehow."
Tifa got up.
"You want me to call Cid to give you a ride?"
"No, no use telling anybody."
He got up and went to the corner of the room to take his buster sword.
"I'll just use my gold chocobo. I raised it so badly, I'd be crazy not to use it."
Tifa nodded. Cloud walked to the door and opened it after putting his sword in place on his back. He hasn't used it for a year and wondered if he'd still be able to fight if he would need to.
"Wait!"
Cloud turned around and Tifa came to him.
"Come back to me, okay?"
"I will."
He bent down and kissed her gently. Then he left for the stable behind the house and climbed on his chocobo. The big golden bird ran out the town and dashed full north. Tifa was still standing at the doorway long after Cloud was out of her sight.
"I know you will..."
Cloud left his chocobo at the Icicle Inn and asked somebody to take it back to Nibelheim if he'd never make it back. Without explaining anything or listen to the warnings. Cloud used a snowboard to reach the crater. He was a bit awkward at first but it soon became easy as before. He had a lot of practice in the Gold Saucer and became pretty good.
Once he reached the bottom of the hill, he left the snowboard against a tree and climbed the crated. He has reached the top and took a peek in the crater.
"Tifa was right, most of it crumbled. I must find a way to get there."
He carefully walked in and reached the rocks and boulders for an entrance that could have been spared. He was starting to think he would never get there when he stepped on a rock that moved under his foot. He looked at it and jumped backward when it fell in. Other rocks followed the first, showing Cloud a way to get down.
"Alright!"
He carefully stepped into the hole and started his descent. One step at a time, he finally reached some solid ground. He looked around and saw he had to jump down few times to keep going. Because of the crumbled rocks above, their wasn't much light in here. Only some light greenish coming from the Lifestream down below.
When he reached a large platform against a wall, he wasn't seeing much so he followed the wall a while. Suddenly, his foot hit something. He looked down and saw a long form there. He crouched and reached for it. Leather...
"What the..."
The ground started shaking and boulders fell from the top, allowing more light in. Cloud placed his arms over his head to protect himself but hot a single boulder came even close to him. When it stopped shaking, Cloud risked an eye around and on the form in front of him. It was a human! Trapped under some rocks but only in a way that he couldn't move, he shouldn't be hurt.
"Who's that guy and how did he get here? I'm sure there aren't any other entrance to get here."
The guy moaned when Cloud started wondering if he was still alive. He startled and tried to get the boulders off of him. It was heavy but he managed to free the guy. He turned him on his back and frowned.
"Where does he come from? Another planet?"
The guy moaned again and moved his head to his side, his eyes shut tight. Then he opened them a little, slowly. Cloud moved over the guy's face.
"Easy, man," he said.
The other kept his eyes half-opened and blinked several times to focus on the image over him. He frowned and wide opened his eyes before sitting up quickly. He turned his back against the wall and reached for his belt when he felt a wave of weakness enwrap him. He reached for his head and collapsed. Cloud reached for him.
"Hey, you okay?" he inquired helping the guy rest against the wall.
The other one kept his eyes closed a while with his head down.
"Think I'll be," he whispered. "Give me a second..."
"You... your voice!"
Cloud's hand clenched the other guy's shoulder in surprise. The brown haired boy looked up as surprised as he was.
"You...you're the one!" he exclaimed. "Then it was real..."
"Unfortunately it was. Can you stand up?" Cloud asked.
"Not yet. I still feel weak."
"We can talk then. What's your name and what's with the strange clothes you're wearing?"
"My name is Squall Leonhart. And for my clothes, speak for yourself..."
Cloud looked at himself.
"Those are pretty common around here," he said with a shrug.
"Never seen it in my life."
"Neither did I for yours..."
"I don't think we should be talking about styles here. What is YOUR name?"
"I'm Cloud Strife. I travelled a lot around the world and I must say I never saw you, Squall."
"Whatever... Where am I anyway?"
"In a crater leading to the Planet's core."
"The Planet's core?"
Cloud frowned.
"You...you don't know?"
Squall frowned himself and looked at the ground, thinking.
"There's something wrong here. You know about Garden and SeeDs?"
"What about the nature talk??"
"That's what I thought..."
He turned to Cloud.
"Tell me about this place, the citizens and about this crater."
Cloud nodded and mentionned different towns he knew and he freely talked about Sephiroth using a dark materia...then he had to explain what was materia. How Sephiroth summoned Meteor with it, the fight for the planet's sake, Lifestream and Holy. Seeing Squall was completely unaware of those things, he thought he didn't understand but he seemed to do just fine.
"You look young," Cloud commented.
"I'm 18. What about you?"
"22."
Squall was surprised. He didn't expect Cloud to be older than him.
"Um... are you from outter space?" Cloud asked.
"No, I'm from Earth."
"Impossible! You don't know any of the places here!"
"I dind't say I was from here, I said I was from Earth."
"...I don't understand..."
Squall took his head in his hands and sighed.
"I don't understand either! There's definately something wrong!"
"You don't say! I had to force my way in the place because it crumbled a year ago but you were already lying here under some boulders. By the way, are you hurt?"
Squall got up quickly and checked himself for any wounds.
"I don't think so. Thanks for helping me out."
Looking at Squall's belt, Cloud saw the shining light of a blade. He pointed his own sword on his back with his thumb.
"I use a sword myself. You're a good fighter?"
"This is no sword," Squall said taking it out. "It's called a gunblade."
Cloud stared at it.
"I never saw anything like that in my entire life!"
"Your sword is pretty impressive two. And yes, I'm pretty good to answer your question."
"Then since you're here, maybe you can help me."
Squall frowned a second before putting his gunblade on his shoulder.
"What's the mission?"
"That's why I think she must be down there," Cloud finished telling.
They were going down and down, deep into the Earth, making their way to its core.
"But why am I here? It's still Earth, but not my Earth."
"She wanted me out, but she also said she wanted one of us, right?"
"I guess it's me then."
"I think so too. That's why I came: to stop her and see if you were okay."
Cloud was preceeding Squall, jumping from a cliff to another. The SeeD was following close behind.
"But I don't know any girl called Blaze or anybody with powers so great to transport people from a place to another or control minds. Unless..."
He suddenly stoped when the horror of the reality hit him. Cloud stopped and went to him.
"What's wrong?"
"It's ...she's a Sorceress..."
"A what?"
Squall turned to Cloud with a serious face.
"You told me what you did for your world. I think I must tell you what I did in mine."
So Squall spoke about the Sorceresses passing their powers at death, able to manipulate people and achieve time compression. Cloud was astonished. He thought Jenova and Mako was something but that orceress thing was really something else.
"Pretty freaky!"
"You tell me."
"But you say we will have to fight one of those dreadfull creatures??"
"I'm afraid so."
"Just great..."
There was a silent moment in which the guys just thought. Squall wondered why that new Sorceress wanted him and who she was. He was wondering how Cloud got in this mess. On the other hand, Cloud was wondering what a creature apparently so dangerous was doing here and how she found her way in the crater. Most af all, how come Squall was from Earth but somehow, not the same Earth!? It was all so weird. Speaking of weird, there weren't any monsters around. A year ago, the place was full of them. The closest they were to the core, the more powerfull the monsters were. But now, nothing. Not the sound of the slightest monster. It was all calm...too calm...
"Got anybody in your life?" Cloud suddenly ask to start a conversation.
"Huh?"
"You're eighteen, don't you have someone you love?"
"Well, yeah. And she's a Sorceress."
"What?!" Cloud exclaimed shocked.
"I know what you're thinking but you're wrong. All Sorceresses aren't evil. I, for myself was raised by a Sorceress. They're not born evil, something makes them this way...for some," he added thinking about Adel.
He didn't know about Ultimecia despite the fact she hated SeeD, he just didn't know why. But as far as he knew, Adel was rotten to the core.
"Well, I'm married for a year," Cloud informed.
"Great," Squall said.
He never really liked to talk about that stuff. Normally, Cloud either, but he couldn't help thinking about his bad feeling if he was silent.
The light from the top of the crater have disappeared for a while due to the distance they were from it. Now it was the light of the core showing them the way. They had to be very careful because some rocks and platforms were unstable.
Squall suddenly thought about Rinoa. How scared she was, crying from fear. Did he left the place after he fainted? Rinoa must be dying from anxiety, he thought. I have to get this over with and go back...but how?
The trained SeeD suddenly stopped. The sudden silence behind him alerted Cloud who stopped as well and turned around.
"What is it?"
Squall reached for his gunblade and took it in two hands. Frowning, he looked around.
"I feel something. Power, great power. It's close."
Cloud wasn't feeling anything but he decided to trust the younger buy. He took his sword in hand and focused. He was feeling something but he wasn't sure. It wasn't like anything he knew so it was hard to tell.
Suddenly, a red light attracted both guy's attention. They looked down below and the red light appeared to be a ball coming their way. Cloud never saw anything like that but it was a bit familiar. Squall knew what it was and could see who it was aiming for from the way it was coming.
"Cloud, watch out!"
Cloud didn't notice it was coming for him until it was on him. He just made a slight move backward but the ball of fire hit the platform he was on and made it shake until it crumbled.
"Cloud!" Squall screamed.
He jumped at the edge of his platform and reached out for Cloud's hand which was outstreched to him. Squall barely caught him, but he was still pretty heavy. He was strong enough to hold him but pull him up was another story. His face was soon covered with sweat from the effort. Flat on the ground with his gunblade by his side, Squall was powerless.
Cloud looked under him then up at Squall with a serious face.
"Drop me, Squall. Maybe I'll be lucky enough not to go to the very bottom."
"No way! If we're in this together, we're in this together!"
Cloud had his sword in his other hand and was starting to think it was pretty heavy...heavy! He threw it up besides Squall. The SeeD could sense the difference of weight now. He held out his other hand and Cloud took it. Squall managed to get on his knees to pull and Cloud helped himself up with the wall. Finally, both were on the same platform, panting. Squall was seated and Cloud on his knees, his palms on the ground.
"Thanks a lot. We don't really know each other much but I feel like we're friends for a time."
"Me too."
Cloud took a peak down and frowned.
"That fireball was aiming for me, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah, it was. The question is why?"
"Because he's not supposed to be here," an evil voice answered.
Both took their respective weapons and got up at the speed of light. They stood back to back and looked around.
"Where are you?" Cloud asked.
"Show yourself, Sorceress!" Squall added.
"So you figured it out, quall. I could not have expected less from you, SeeD leader."
"You seem to know him very well," Cloud interrupted before Squall could speak. "What do you know about me?"
"A lot...that you failed becoming a Soldier, that you were exposed to Mako in a lab, that Sephiroth betrayed your trust and friendship and burned your hometown, that you killed him..."
"Alright, we got the picture!" Squall cut in. "What do you want?"
"I already told you: revenge and power. I couldn't find the power I needed in my world so I came here."
"Who do you want revenge on?" Squall asked already suspecting the answer.
"On you, Squall Leonhart!"
The SeeD shivered. There was more hatred placed in those words than there was spread in all the Sorceress' wars put together.
"Why? What have I done to you?"
"You'll find out soon enough..."
"And what about Cloud? Why you got him involved if you're after me?"
There was a silence Cloud thought she was gone but Squall knew she was still there.
"I made a mistake. It took most of my power to get myself here and a lot to take Squall and he didn't even got where I wanted him. I wanted to put Cloud out of the line because I was afraid he would hear the planet scream once I'd start to work but I was too weak so I fell asleep and you met in the couscious world. I underestimated Cloud's power. He broke out of my spell and made it here. You are a threat to my plans, Cloud and you should watch your back..."
Then Squall knew she was gone. Somehow, Cloud knew it too.
"What did she mean when she said she couldn't have the power she needed in her world so she came here?"
"Another dimension I think."
"Wild!"
"Let's get going and you keep leading the way. I'll wtch your back. I think she wants you dead so that you can't stop her."
"Lovely..."
They started going down again a little faster than before.
An hour later, Cloud warned Squall to be carefull, they were almost there. Nodding, Squall kept following. Maybe it was getting more dangerous but it was easier to progress so the guys could watch each other's step. They had to jump a few times before ending up on a pile of square blocks facing a greenish waterfall of some sort. It was bringing back lots of memories to Cloud's mind but for Squall, it was all new.
"What kind of place is that?" Squall asked in a whisper.
"I fought Jenova here for the last time..."
A shadow appeared through the waterfall. The guys took their weapons out and stood on guard.
"And she came through that waterfall!"
"What a coincidence..." Squall said sarcastically.
But the shadow was more humanoid than Jenova.
"There is no final battle without some preliminary fight, don't you agree?" the shadow spoke.
"Blaze!"
The girl started laughing evily. That kind of laughter, both Squall and Cloud heard it more than once in their life as fighters.
"What should I send you... Some really evil beast that would attack only Cloud and that Squall would manage to kill so that I can kill him myself... That should be good..."
Another shadow appeared beside the girl. It was much more bigger and the guys wondered what it was until it growled. Then Squall startled as he recognized it.
"A T-Rexaur?!"
" A what?!" Cloud exclaimed looking at his comrade.
The beast jumped through the waterfall and in front of the duo. Cloud made a step backward.
"A dinosaur?"
"It's from my world..."
"You sure?"
"Positive. I had to fight some before. But there's somthing different about this one..."
"What do you mean?"
The rex growled madly and Blaze laughed.
"Right again, Squall."
There was so much hate and disgust in that name, Squall shivered. Hyne, what did I do to her? he thought.
"I raised him in my world since I'm ten years old and when I brought him here, I gave him some of the energy I came to get. He's especially attracted to Mako so goodbye Cloud!"
The shadow vanished with a laugh echoing.
"What do you think?" Cloud asked.
"We're bad... But I'm used to it so I won't let it kill you."
"Forget about me, we have to defeat it!"
"Right!"
The beast threw its head backward and growled loudly, making the whole place tremble. Then it swung it's tail.
"Duck!" Squall exclaimed before jumping to the rex.
Cloud avoided the tail very closely and watched Squall slash the monster very smoothly.
"Man, he's good!"
Squall was on the rex's back and was slashing it non-stop. The monster growled with anger and tried to reach for the nuisance on its back but he couldn't. He moved from left to right, shaking itself and finally managed to get Squall off its back. Lying on his back, Squall was afraid the dinosaur would finish him off before he would get up but it turned to Cloud instead and dashed him.
"Watch it!" Squall warned.
Cloud was ready. At the last second, he jumped aside, hoping the rex would keep going and fall off but he wasn't so lucky. The rex stopped at the edge of the place and spun around after Cloud again. It bared its teeth and slobbered. Cloud grimaced with disgust.
Squall was back on his feet and thinking fast.
"Run over here! It'll follow you!"
Cloud obeyed blindly. Squall ran their way by the rex's side to slice his bach leg but he was kicked away. Cloud ended up in a dead-end.
"It ignores me completely! It wants Cloud at all costs! She raised it pretty well..."
"What am I supposed to do?" Cloud inquired getting nervous.
He was usually confident in fights but he never had to fight such monster before!
"Fight it! It's the only way!"
"Easier said than done..." Cloud mumbled.
He dodged the beast's teeth and slashed its head but the skin was too hard. It barely scratched it.
"Blind!" Squall cast on the rex.
Right after the spell was cast, the rex stopped moving. He made a step and nearly tripped.
"It worked! Go for it, Cloud!"
Cloud jumped and was about to strike again when the rex opened its mouth and went for Cloud. He barely dodged the deadly teeth and ended up back on the ground.
"What the...? Isn't it blind?"
"I...I don't understand..."
'He's especially attracted to Mako, so...' '...that you were exposed to Mako in a lab,' Were the thoughts spreading in Squall's mind. Mako...
"That's it! Even blind, the rex senses the Mako energy in Cloud!"
Squall turned to Cloud who was still dodging the attacks and trying to fight back.
"Cloud! Is there any Mako around here?"
"The waterfall, that's why it's greenish! Why?"
He got his answer when Squall ran to the waterfall.
"What are you doing?!"
Squall jumped in the waterfall and came back with a jump. He was soaking wet and looking in pain. He ran to Cloud and made him lay on the ground.
"What are you...?" he started.
Squall made him silent and jumped in front of the rex. It sniffed the air and growled madly before going after Squall. It swung its tail and hit Squall. Cloud looked and wondered if he was hallucinating or just mistaking: Squall was letting the rex hurt him on purpose. Squall jumped dangerously close to the monster's mouth and was bitten badly. Squall screamed with pain and fell on his knees when the rex dropped him. His left arm was bleeding, apparently broken. Cloud wanted to help but Squall did it to help him. Going back would mean Squall did that for nothing...
The SeeD had his head down, breathing hard. Suddenly, he was engulfed in a red fire. He looked up at the rex and held his gunblade in two hands.
"Renzokuken!" he shouted before dashing.
"A limit break!"
That's when Cloud noticed his own limit gauge was full. He ran to the monster as well. Squall had given his opponenet a few strikes and was delivering the final blow.
"Rough divide!"
"Cross slash!"
While Squall slashed the res from bottom to top with a jump, Cloud was slashing it three times. Unbalanced by the repeated blows, the rex moved backward and fell down with a growl. Cloud sat there and looked Squall's way only to see him collapse on the ground.
"Squall!"
Cloud hurried by his side.
"You alright? Why did you do such a stupid thing?"
"Didn't have any aura spells...allowing me to perform limit break so I had to be weaken out..."
"No... the waterfall. Why'd you jump in it? When I was exposed to it, it was step by step not all of a sudden! This is much too strong!"
Squall smiled weakly.
"You should have warn me sooner..."
Cloud took something out of his pocket. A small bottle.
"Drink this. It's a potion."
Squall swallowed it all and sat up, feeling better already.
"Taste like mine. I didn't bring any."
"Why?"
"I was on a date when I fainted. Didn't have the chance to prepare."
"I see..."
The ground started moving and the square blocks vanished one after the other until the guys fell. They vanished too and reappeared on some rocks around a blue light trapped between more rocks.
"I know that place," Cloud said. "But there was no solid ground, only rocks floating around."
It was right. Below the rocks, there was solid ground. Cloud tested it carefully and stood on it. Squall was standing by his side, staring at the blue light.
"What is that?" Squall asked. "Is this Holy?"
"Yeah, it is. I can't believe it's as big as it was before. I thought it would be smaller after it was used last year."
"It's always the same size," a voice said. "The Planet has always enough power to spare for its own good."
Cloud and Squall looked up with their weapons in hands. A figure appeared on a floating rock with hands on hips, frowning at the duo. Both guys were amazed.
"B...Blaze?!" Squall asked.
She smiled even more and jumped down from her rock. She landed twenty feet in front of the guys, her hands still in place.
"She...she's just a kid!" Cloud exclaimed.
"Don't judge her by her appearance," Squall said with his teeth bared. "Sge's incredibly strong..."
She frowned at Cloud.
"You should have stayed at your home with your wife, Cloud. Your life would have been longer."
"And let you use the very soul of this planet to destroy it? No way!"
She turned to Squall and gave up her frown for a cute face. Squall felt uneasy, confused. He was sure he never saw her before, but she still loked familiar to him.
"I'm sorry you were hurt, Squall. You shouldn't have jumped in the waterfall like you did."
Her face suddenly twisted and her voice got louder.
"The death I'm reserving you will be much more painful and slow than anything you've ever felt or imagined!"
Even though she was radiating evil, she was incredibly beautiful. She had red eyes and long crimson hair. She was wearing a black dress similar to Ultimecia's.
"What kind if demon is she?" Cloud whispered in admiration.
"Don't be fooled by her suductive look. She's dangerous."
Blaze placed her hands behind her and looked from Squall to Cloud.
"I'll kill you Squall. It's only fate that you die at my hand. I don't want to kill you, Cloud. I never wanted to but stand in my way and I'll destroy you."
"If you think I'll stand still and watch you kill this guy without explanations, keep dreaming!"
The Sorceress clapped her hands together.
"I guess you deserve some explanations, that's right. You're right, I'm from another world, or dimension as you guessed it. From the same world than Squall in fact. I was born from a Sorceress and when she died, she gave me her powers, making me even more powerful. I got this special power to travel through time and worlds and use people as well.
"Through time? Like Ellone?"
"Yes, like your dear Sis. Except that I can send people in the past, not only their counsciousness."
"So you're from the future?" Squall asked.
"Exactly..."
"What have I done to you so that you want to kill me?"
She bared her teeth and shew two fangs, like a vampire. She clenched her fists each side of her.
"My mother died because of you!"
"And she was a Sorceress? Who was she? Ultimecia?"
Blaze laughed evily.
"Hell, no! I'm from a future closer to your time than that."
"How did you learn about Holy and me?" Cloud asked.
"The first time I used my powers, it was an accident. I was ten and it was soon after my mother died. I was angry, full of hatred for Squall Leonhart and I ended up in this world, lost and confused. I walked around and asked. I soon realized what happened and I found a way back to my home. Then I used my powers to travel from a world to another, still thinking about a way to kill Squall and I learned about what Cloud did and how the planet saved itself from meteor. But for better informations, I travelled back in time and searched his mind sa I know everything about him."
"But why did you take me here?" Squall inquired still holding his gunblade.
"To kill you myself with the power fo this planet just after telling you the truth..."
Squall frowned.
"What truth?"
Blaze smirked.
"You'll have to die to know it!"
She dashed him so fast it was like she wasn't even touching the ground. Instinctively, Squall raised his gunblade and it clenched against some metal. Blaze moved backward, a hand behind her back, smiling at Squall who was still standing with his gunblade over his head in defense.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Not bad, Squall. I underestimated you. Pretty obvious: in my time, after what you did, you gave up fighting..."
Squall opened his mouth in surprise and was about to speak but Cloud cut in, attacking her. He raised his Buster Sword over his head and brought it down. Blaze lifted an arm and blocked so fast Cloud didn't see anything.
"What... what did you just do?" Cloud exclaimed.
He raised his sword again and attacked, his sword always blocked by a light too fast to see what it was. Losing his self-control, Cloud couldn't see straight. His sword suddenly flew away from his hands and he fell on his back. Cloud wide opened his eyes in horror.
"Sayonara!"
She lfted an arm at incredible speed but Cloud never received any blow. Blaze's arm was caught half way. She looked behind her, frowning as she saw Squall's face.
"You were careless," Squall said.
He looked at what she had in hand. He stared at it, unable to believe it.
"A...a gunblade?!"
She broke away from his grip and made a backflip that brought her on a floating rock twenty feet over ground. Cloud stared in complete amazement.
"How...?" Squall whispered. "Where did you get that gunblade?"
Blaze faked ignorance.
"You mean this gunblade?" she said showing a gunblade with a clear blue blade.
Squall looked at his own weapon, the revolver, then at Blaze's: the Lionheart.
"What is it?" Cloud asked.
"It's the strongest version of my gunblade."
"You said it! It IS your gunblade!"
Squall suddenly remembered what he wanted to say before Cloud attacked.
"Why did you have to come back in time to kill me?"
Cloud looked at squall, wondering what he meant before he understood.
"If I stopped fighting. It shouldn't have been too hard for you to kill me with your skills."
She smiled, reaching for her chin.
"Maybe you'll know...maybe..."
She spread her arms away from her and two bloody red wings followed her move.
"Wings?!" Squall exclaimed. "But...only Ultimecia had wings!"
"Don't forget she was in the future. There were others with wings before her. Guess I'm the first one..."
She jumped from her rock and landed softly and slowly on the ground. She pointed her blade at Squall.
"I want to fight you, Squall!"
Then she turned to Cloud.
"And don't interfere or else you'll see my blade much closer than you'd want to!"
Cloud made a step forward but Squall stopped him with a move of his arm.
"It's me she wants. Don't move and she'll spare you."
"Then kill her. But if I think you're in need, I'll interfere."
Ignoring him, Squall turned to Blaze to see her dashing him. He barely blocked her weapon and counter attacked but he couldn't get through her defenses. How can my Revolver stand a chance against the Lionheart? he thought.
Blaze crossed weapons with him and smiled.
"Give up! Maybe your death could be less painful. I just want you to apologize."
"For what? I'm begging you: tell me what I've done... or will do?"
She bared her teeth again in complete and pure hatred and attacked again. Squall smirked. Her blows were a little slower and less powerful than before.
"What's wrong? Did I offend you? Aren't you gonna tell me?"
"I'm not sure you deserve it!"
Squall managed to push her away and cast a fire spell on her. That's all he had in stock and didn't want to summon Ifrit. It could be dangerous would it touch Holy.
Then he waited, thinking she would cast a spell too but she just stood there, flapping her wings and breathing hard. He bent hid head aside and frowned.
"No magic? You're a Sorceress and you don't use magic?"
"My powers are as I told you: travel through time and worlds and screw people's mind but I don't have magic. I had when I was born but when my mother passed her powers on me at death, the mix gave the result you see now."
"What about that fireball you used earlier?"
"Asked a lot of time and concentration to cast it. Enough chatting!"
She attacked again and the blades clashed. Blaze was confident again for Squall's bad luck. She thrusted forward and Squall dodged it by jumping aside and attacked again. She swung her blade with great force. Squall wanted to block it but it was too strong. His gunblade flew out of hand and landed farther. He slowly looked at Blaze to see her put her gunblade aside. She smiled evily and her eyes met Squall's. Some pain suddenly spread in his mind and he held it with his hands.
"Aargh! My head!"
"Ha ha ha! I don't need magic to destroy you, Squall! My mind power is enough!"
"Squall!" Cloud called.
The SeeD outstreched his hand to Cloud.
"Don't! She'll kill you!"
He fell on his knees as Blaze's voice spoke with echoed in his mind.
"You can't even begin to imagine how I suffered! My mother suffered for being a Sorceress and I was born as one! Being a Sorceress wasn't enough: my mother's death killed a part of me!"
"But... why in the past? It's because...I'm already dead in your time... isn't it? Isn't it enough for you?"
"Silence!"
"Aaaaaaaaah!!!"
Squall collapsed, still yelling.
"Squall!" Cloud screamed.
He ran to Blaze and slashed but she quickly took out her weapon and blocked it.
"No use, Cloud!" she said. "I can still act in his mind!"
"It's still worth a try, no?"
"I give you credit for your bravery but your sacrifice will not save him!"
Cloud wanted to keep her busy so that she could lose her control over Squall. But poor Squall was still on the ground holding his head.
"Because of you, I lost everything," her voice kept telling. "Since ten, I trained to be strong and defeat you but you died shortly after so I had to come back in time to kill you myself!"
"Aaah...!!"
"Don't you want to know, Squall? Why I have your gunblade? What you did? Don't you want to know who I am? Blaze is not even my real name. When my mother died and gave me her powers, I was engulfed in a blue fire but it wasn't hot and nothing burned. So I decided to call myself Blaze. Some kinda circumstancial if you like."
Squall was panting in pain. Cloud could see it wasn't doing any good but he knew it was too late. Would he stop fighting, she would kill him and Squall too. I'll keep the promise I made, he thought. I'll come back, Tifa...
"I didn't always look like that Squall," Blaze's voice echoed again. Do you want to know? The real question is not if you want to know: it's will you be able to take the truth?"
"I...I..." Squall hardly articulated.
"Pay attention... it's the only time you'll see it..."
Her image appeared in Squall's mind. Her face twisted in an evil grin and her red eyes. Her crimson hair and blood coloured wings.
"Look carefully..."
The wings vanished, then the hair turned a dark brown. The face switched for a smile and the dress for pants and a shirt but the eyes were still red. Suddenly, they turned crystal blue and the pain was gone. Squall was focusing on the image. The hair, the eyes, the asian face...
"Do you see her, Squall? Can you see the resemblance with my mother?"
There was anger and sadness in the voice when the image switched for a figure awfully familiar to Squall. Dark hair and asian face. The figure flashed from one to another, making the truth find its way in Squall's mind.
"Do you see her?" she screamed with tears in her voice. "Do you see the one you love? Can you see Rinoa in me?? Can you see yourself?"
Squall got free of her control somehow, not thinking it could have been done on purpose, and sat up to see Cloud abut to give the final blow, catching Blaze off guard.
"Cloud, don't! She's my daughter!!"
Cloud turned to Squall with amazement and surprise all over his face.
"WHAT?!"
Blaze smirked. That was all she needed. She slashed Cloud sideways on the stomach with the tip of her gunblade. Not a big wound, but enough to force Cloud not to move if he didn't want to bleed to death. He dropped on his knees and put a hand on his wound. Blaze raised her gunblade over her head.
"I'm sorry, Cloud," she said almost sadly. "You really shouldn't have come..."
She brought her gunblade down and Cloud closed his eyes but the blade gave a metallic sound. Cloud opened his eyes to see Squall standing between him and Blaze with his gunblade in hand...going right through Blaze's stomach. The metallic sound was the sound of her gunblade as it fell on the ground. Squall had his eyes shut like he didn't want to see what he has done.
Blaze moved backward to free herself from the gunblade and put her hands on the bleeding wound. She wasn't frowning anymore. Squall opened his and dropped his gunblade too, unable to hold it anymore. When Blaze collapsed, Squall was there to catch her.
"I guess...it's the same thing..." she whispered.
"Tell me what happens in the future? Why did Rinoa die?"
"Taking care of me...alone weakens her...she's ill and...she dies..."
"Why alone? What am I doing in the future?"
Blaze coughed and took a painful breathe.
"Missions...damn to hell the SeeDs and their missions...!"
She was crying, cursing the SeeDs for taking her family from her and her chance for happiness.
Squall couldn't believe it... He would sacrifice Rinoa for his duty? And his daughter too?
"Impossible! I would never..."
"She didn't want you to know... she always lied..."
"Rinoa.."
He shut his eyes before looking back at Blaze. Her wings suddenly disappeared and her hair became dark brown, but her eyes were closed.
"Your death followed Rinoa's pretty.... She died in sorrow... calling your name...she didn't want to give me her powers... but she wanted to die in peace... When you learned... you threw away your duty... and your life... I wasn't there when you died and I cried...because I couldn't kill you myself... but..."
"Why so far in the past?"
"I caught you just before... before you'd propose to her... I wanted more power... so when I'd have killed you, if you're dead, you can't propose to her..."
"And you cant't be born," Squall figured out.
"And I would have been...totally consumed by my own powers...even my soul so I'd never have existed..."
She opened her crystal blue eyes and blinked, releasing some tears.
"But...maybe can change it, Squall... Don't... promise me...don't ever let your duty come first...Rinoa... mommy'll never tell she's ill... just stay close to her and... you'll know she is..."
She turned her head to Cloud.
"I'm sorry, Cloud... I really didn't want you involved in all this... forgive me..."
Cloud didn't reply, knowing it wasn't necessary.
Blaze looked back at Squall.
"Promise me...daddy..."
She lifted a bloody hand and Squall took it. He closed his eyes, unable to believe it, unable to believe he could be so cruel: choosing his duty over his family. But if Rinoa never told him, maybe he could...
"What is your real name?" he asked. "How old are you?"
"My name...you'll know it soon enough... I'm just...sixteen..."
"Oh, Hyne... Forgive me..." he whispered as he hugged her.
She cried in his neck like the little girl she truly was, a little girl that grew up alone in hatred for her father.
"I promise you...I'll never let that happen..."
She clenched his back.
"Thank you..." her voice trailed off.
Her body became limp in Squall's arms as he sensed the life leave her body. She turned into sparkles and vanished before being absorbed by the planet to become part of lifestream. Squall stood there on his knees while Cloud approached, an empty bottle in hand, his wound healed.
"She was your daughter... I can't believe it..."
Squall kept silent for a while.
"She's not at peace," he said.
"At peace? Oh, yeah, you mentionned it: a sorceress must pass her powers to die in peace."
Squall nodded.
"That means her soul will wander for eternity.. I feel guilty..."
Cloud placed a hand on Squall's shoulder but Squall broke away to go get his Revolver while he looked at at the Lionheart. It vanished. With a sigh, Squall put his gunblade back in place against his leg.
"What now? How am I supposed to go home?"
Cloud shruged cluelessly when a greenish light surrounded Squall.
"I'll take you..." Blaze's voice whispered in Squall's ear.
"She's still here..." he said.
Squall started to fade. Cloud outstretched his hand to him and Squall took it.
"Is there any chance we'll meet again?" Cloud inquired.
"Maybe. When she's born and old enough to control her powers, maybe I'll ask her to take me here."
Cloud's hand closed around thin air.
"Farewell, my friend," he said before Squall disappeared.
Squall did the SeeD salute, then vanished. Cloud was left alone in the crater.
"Well...guess I should go back as well..."
He was suddenly surrounded by a greenish light too.
"I'll give you a hand.."
He vanished from the crater and reappeared at the entrance of the Icicle Inn.
"Thanks, Blaze..."
He went to get his gold chocobo and hurried it back to Nibelheim, eager to see Tifa. It was night when he got his chocobo back in the stable befor running inside the house. Tifa was there, at the table, sleeping with her head resting on her arms. Cloud made a few steps and Tifa woke up. She looked at the door and smiled as she saw Cloud. She got up and walked to him.
"You came back..."
"I promised..." he said placing his hands around her waist.
"What happened?"
"We won."
"We? So you found the other guy? Tell me!"
"Later.."
He bent over and kissed her.
In Deling City, in the morning entrance the widow of a room from the Caraway mansion, a sunray lightened the face of a sleeping asian girl sitting on a chair. A greenish light appeared on her bed and a figure appeared in the middle. The girl awakened and stared at the phenomenon until the light disappeared, leaving only a guy. He sat up and smiled at her.
"Hi, Rinoa..."
She opened her mouth and threw herself in his arms.
"Squall! You're back!"
She cried in his arms like she haven't seen him for years.
"What happened? Where were you? I was so scared when you disappeared! Tell me!"
"Rinoa..."
He took her hands in his and took a deep breathe. He reached for his pocket and took something out that he placed in her hands but still held them so that she couldn't see.
"Would you marry me?"
Her eyes filled with joyful tears and she looked at the engagement ring in her hands. Squall placed it around her finger and she hugged him tightly.
"Oh, Squall! Of course I do!"
He hugged her back and kissed her gently, with all the love he was feeling for her. I'll never let you die, Rinoa...
Two years later, Rinoa woke up in the middle of the night when she heard cries coming from the room next to hers. She was feeling weak but she had to go. She looked at the empty place by her side. The bed was cool, telling her Squall wasn't back from his mission. She slowly got up the bed, yawning when the cries stopped. Wondering what happened, she ran to her daughter's room... and found Squall rocking her in his arms.
"Squall? What... I thought you were on a mission?!"
"I quit," he said simply.
Rinoa walked to him, in shock.
"Squall, no... Seed was everything to you! Why?"
"I promised myself I'd never choose my duty over my family. I'm gonna take care of her...of you. You are everything to me, Rinoa. Tomorrow, you'll see a doctor."
"But I'm not..."
"I noticed, Rinoa. No use lying. I saw you were always feeling a bit weak. It may not be much now but in afew years, who know what could happen..."
Squall put the little girl back in her bed and turned to Rinoa to hug her.
"Let's go sleep."
He took her out of the room and into theirs. A wandering soul was looking at them and smiling.
"I don't know if I developped the time travelling and world-crossing powers as a kid or when my mom died so if she doesn't develop it, maybe I'll come back and allow you to see him again, Daddy..."
Unable to rest in peace, she still found peace at that sight. She vanished for another world or time...who knows? She could go wherever she wanted and whenever she pleased for all eternity.
THE END
Written september 17 2000 11:40 p.m.
Typed september 2 2002 12:15 a.m.
Note: alright, I know it took me loog to type it but for anyone who read my other fanfics, you'll agree I wrote a lot so I'm having a hard time keeping the pace up. This one is not very long compared to some I wrote but it's not bad...I think... This is my first crossover so don't blam me if you don't like it...in fact, yes blame me!! This way I'll make even better next time! I wrote the last ten pages in the same day and I got very confused! All those ideas rushing in my head... I wanted to write everything down in the same time!!! Maybe it's a little confusing... Maybe I should have tried to make it longer... I'm used to writing long stories... Whatever...
I would like to dedicate it to The Edge, author of the FF7-FF8 crossover The Synergy, my favorite crossover and one of the best fanfics I've read. I'll keep writing and you keep giving me comments okay? See ya!
Oh! I would like to tell you that I've come up with a sequel to this fic. About as long as this one. It's all done, I just have to type it now (sigh). Wait for it! I'll do my best!
Don't be affraid to read my other fanfics if you liked this one.
See ya!
Born from a Squall
A Blaze grew up with burning anger
The Squall met a Cloud
And together they defeated the Blaze
As the fire never really dies
It was just another chance to start anew
(This is copyright by me. I didn't take it anywhere, I came up with it)