A/N: FFVIII isn't mine.
Lion's Heart
He didn't survive Time Compression.
Rinoa disappeared, intent on finding him, only to reappear a moment later clutching his still-warm body.
She was crying harder than anyone I've ever seen, but she managed to explain that she'd searched for an age, only to find him at last, crumpled on the ground, not breathing.
No one is entirely sure why he died, but I have a theory: he doubted. He didn't believe, with everything he had, that we were there for him.
We buried him on a cliff, overlooking the sea. It seemed appropriate.
So passed the greatest man I have ever known.
From the diary of Irvine Kinneas"Look out! Meteor!"
The warning came a fraction of a second too late, as the flying rocks smashed Zell into the ground.
Only two remained: Irvine and Rinoa. Quistis had been downed by a trebled firaga, while Selphie, launching an attack on a Behemoth, had been swatted away like a fly.
They fought with their backs to a wall, frantically trying to see an end to the horde that attacked them. A simple search and destroy mission, in aid of the Estharian government overwhelmed by the Lunar Cry, had gone horribly wrong, as the Ragnarock had been blown out of the air with no warning whatsoever.
Irvine chanced a glance behind him, hoping to see a way out, but the wall was too high. Why did these damn ruins have to be so big?
He paid for that glance, as something big hit him. He went down, not even his GFs proving sufficient to protect him. Nearly blacking out, he managed to remain conscious through sheer desperation.
He couldn't help but think that if Squall had been there to lead them, they'd have pulled though. With that last irrelevant thought, he prepared himself to feel sharp teeth ripping into his flesh.
It had gone strangely quiet, and Irvine raised his head. He blinked as strong white light hit his eyes.
Rinoa was still standing, arms outstretched to the heavens, and her angel wings seemed to shine with a light far brighter than the sun, yet comfortable to look upon.
The monsters drew back, fearful of this new development, when Rinoa collapsed to her knees, wings fading but not disappearing.
A light, equally intense but somehow more brilliant, shone from behind the sniper, but he didn't have the strength to turn and see what it was.
His vision began to blur and everything took on a surreal quality as a figure walked past Irvine, metal clinking quietly and boots clomping in the dust.
The figure, whoever it was, stopped beside Rinoa and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and smiled. Strange how she was perfectly visible, but this stranger was not, Irvine thought, the blow to the head slowing his mind as he contemplated this. He didn't even feel any great hurry to get up anymore, like this person would take care of everything.
And then the figure was charging, rushing headlong into the multitude of creatures. They rushed to meet him, but didn't seem to stand much of a chance as he started to efficiently cut them apart.
Irvine's thoughts jerked to a halt as Rinoa healed him. How did he know the figure was male? And how had it come from behind him when all that was there was a wall?
He put those thoughts on hold as he stood and gestured toward where he could see Selphie crumpled on the ground, channelling healing magics toward her. At least they could regroup and prepare for another attack, if their mysterious ally didn't remove the threat entirely.
A boom-crack echoed across the desert. Irvine spun, seeking the source when he saw one of the monsters collapse in a spray of blood. Nothing made a sound like that, except…
A gunblade!
Had Seifer come to their aid? Irvine doubted it, and if so, why the dramatic entrance? There were other gunblade specialists out there, certainly, but none, as far as he knew, that could hold their own against such odds. Even their former enemy would be hard-pressed.
He was again forced to concentrate on the immediate situation as Zell and Quistis staggered towards the duo, while Selphie joined them from where she had lain. A quick salvo of healing magic later and everyone were again combat-ready. They'd all seen the figure, but only Rinoa seemed to know who it - he? - was, and the strange half smile on her lips and the nearly transparent wings that grew out of her back as she intently watched their saviour's progress through the horde.
The last monster, a Behemoth, crashed to the ground a minute later as it's throat was sliced open, and the dust that had built up slowly began to clear.
Rinoa walked towards the figure, simply a shadow in the cloud, and the SeeDs followed, drawn by some strange compulsion.
Their mysterious ally met them halfway.
There was a collective gasp as the figure's identity became clear: black leather, gunblade of blue crystal, dark hair…
Squall!
Rinoa, her smile becoming wider, started to run towards him and he stuck Lionheart point first into the ground and opened his arms wide. The Sorceress threw herself at him, desperate to confirm his existence.
They collided with a happy sob from Rinoa and a broad smile from Squall as they both revelled in the others touch, ignoring the fact that were both covered in grime and blood.
Squall opened his eyes and seemed to notice the others for the first time, eyes darting back and forth as he tried to express himself.
Before he could find words however, his gaze shifted beyond the group toward the light that was still shining there, and his expression turned sombre, despite the woman in his arms.
Irvine wanted to turn, to see what could cause such a change, but found that he could not. Rooted to the spot, he watched as Squall gently disengaged himself from Rinoa and took a step back, eyes fixed on her face the whole time, still wearing that grave expression.
"I'm dead, Rinoa. I can't stay." His voice sounded normal, but seemed to contain an otherworldly element that couldn't be defined.
"…but… I'm a Sorceress, I could - "
"No. The attempt would kill you." His tone turned even more serious at this, as did his expression.
Rinoa's shoulders slumped slightly as she forced herself to face the unpleasant truth, but then she lifted her head proudly, ready to face his fate.
He smiled at this, seeing her so strong, and he stepped forward, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before walking past. There, however, he stopped.
"The Lion's Heart is yours, Rinoa, and always will be. May you pass it down through the generations." His work done and her love returned, he continued on, nodding to his friends in passing as he walked past. His footsteps quickly faded, as did the light.
The stillness was broken as Rinoa moved toward the gunblade, still embedded in the earth.
"You going to learn how to use the gunblade?" Quistis asked as Rinoa drew it from the ground, "It takes years, so you'd best be ready for a commitment."
As she hefted the weapon, crystal shimmering in the sunlight, she blinked, then smiled, apparently surprised by its weight, though she didn't seem to have any trouble.
"He's not always literally minded, you know."
With a smooth, practiced motion, she brought the blade to a guard position, before swiftly and with perfect precision moving through one of the more complicated kata, without missing a step.
Their mouths dropped open.
She smiled with satisfaction in a way that was oddly similar to Squall's.
"Always."
A/N: For those of you who didn't understand the last part, the fact that she refers to Squall in the present tense is relevant.
I honestly have no idea why I wrote this or where the idea came from.