3AM.
Irvine Kinneas woke up trembling, drenched in sweat. Was it the liquor? He thought as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. He was lying on an unfamiliar bed and next to him, an unfamiliar companion with long dark brown wavy hair. She shifted but she was too deep in slumber to be disturbed.
The tall brunette carefully got out of the bed and sat himself on the wooden arm chair next to the glowing window. Deling, the eternal city of the night. Strange. He tried to recall the last time he has seen daylight in this lively city but he couldn't. He lit a cigarette. Smoking was a habit he had developed right after the downfall of the Sorceress Ultimecia.
It has been ten years since then, huh? He massaged his temples, an attempt to ward off an incoming headache. He recalled the recurring dream he has been disturbing his sleep for months. Tonight was the same.
A familiar barren landscape, dry, cracked earth. If the dream were a painting, the artist intentionally omitted the sky. In the months he has been having these visions in his sleep; Irvine couldn't tell if the setting was day or night. The blues and the whites were draped with gray.
In the midst of all this desolation, a slender woman with a man in her arms appeared through the gray fog. The woman was crying, screaming. Irvine couldn't hear her voice but he knew who she was. He knew who the man in her arm was.
A sharp pain shot up his chest. His feet felt heavy, he couldn't move them.
He could feel a presence behind him. He turned his head and saw Ultimecia, remnants of her final form that he thought they have already destroyed. There was gaping darkness where chest used to be. Her face, cracked, her eyes and mouth seemed to have been screaming in agony but there was no sound.
Suddenly, finally, a loud scream coming from the man and woman's direction. Irvine turns back to a blinding white light.
The dream always ended that way for him. "Squall", he sighed under his breath. He reached for his discarded leather jacket that lay on the floor. On the left chest pocket, he took out a ring, Griever. Staring at the ring, he remembered how he has come to have it in his possession.
The day Irvine left Garden for good was unceremonious. He only told his closest companion, Selphie, that his term of service was up and that he had no ambition to become a team commander. Rinoa appeared to Irvine on the day he left. It was a surprise knowing that Rinoa should've been in Trabia managing the peace talks. Without a word, Rinoa handed him the ring, gave him a peck on the cheek and left. He was puzzled at this but also didn't say a word to her.
As Irvine stared at the ring, a random thought surfaced in his head.
Ultimecia wanted so desperately to change something in the past from a future where she exists without want. Her discontentment, it seems I may be able understand .
A loud knock on the wooden door disrupted his thoughts. "Mr. Kinneas, I'm sorry for disturbing you at this hour but your guest insists that it's urgent."
Irvine sheepishly walked across the room to open the door when a familiar woman with golden hair barged in.
When Irvine's eyes adjusted to the bright hallway, "Instructor?"
Notes: I'm not quite sure what possessed me to write this. I received a very unexpected review from a story I wrote almost 10 years ago about the same pair (Dim Contemplations). I guess this serves as a sequel set 10 years after =) Enjoy! Reviews appreciated.
