FINAL FATASY XVI (FF16)

Prologue

As old worlds connect, new worlds are made

Time is not always as it should be...

Those that face time...always face time...

Heroes create more heroes

And villains create more villains

Perhaps worlds should never collide at all

This story...

It is one that was never meant to exist

Their struggle with the currents of time, their struggle with the power of magic

And their struggle with themselves

All is to be said in time...

Chapter 1- A Timeless Visit

"Wake up sleepy head!" Rinoa shouted as she threw a pillow straight at Squall's face. This did nothing more to Squall however, than making him roll over and mumble something unintelligible. Rinoa groaned and walked over to the bed. She knelt onto it and smacked Squall on the back of the head, startling him awake. Squall sat up and looked around in a daze, finaly resting his vision onto Rinoa.

"What the hell was that for?" Squall mumbled as she rubbed his head.

"That is for sleeping in so late! We've only got twenty minutes before everyone leaves for the train!" Rinoa yelled as she continued getting ready. Squall sighed and slid himself out of bed as well.

"I don't really think this whole festival thing is neccesary..." Squall muttered in his usual uninterested tone. Rinoa quickly glanced at him with an angry look. Squall knew what this look meant...and it meant trouble for him if he didn't start getting ready right now.

"You know, for a guy that has a whole festival dedicated to him, you still somehow manage to be a sourpuss. I guess I'll just never get that." Rinoa said as she finished the last adornment on her light blue dress.

"I just don't see the point..." Squall responded. He began thinking to himself. I really can't understand why people would celebrate me. Sure I led SeeD and well...the rest of the world to victory against Ultimecia but realistically that doesn't make me all that special does it? Surely plenty of other people could've done that same thing...so why should I be celebrated just because I'm the one that actually did it.

"Squall!" Rinoa shouted, snapping Squall from his thoughts, "You're doing it again, aren't you?"

Squall crossed his arms and averted her gaze. Doing what? He thought. Suddenly he found himself hit in the head with a pillow once more.

"That! That right there!" She shouted again, "You drown out the rest of the world and think to yourself about everything!"

"I...I wouldn't say everything..." Squall responded. Seriously, I don't do it that often...

Another pillow hit him, "Squaaaallllll!" Rinoa whined.

"Uh...sorry. I guess I was just..." Squall started, but was interrupted by Rinoa leaning on him, nearly knocking him over...though that did seem her intent. Guess it's a good thing I'm bigger...

"C'mon Squall, if you can't tell me what's in that busy busy head of yours, who can you tell?" Rinoa said with a tone in her voice that sounded a bit...sad. Squall embraced her, realizing that he may have accidentally hurt her feelings.

"I guess you're right. Okay, I'll tell you whenever something is on my mind, alright?" Squall said in an attempt to comfort her. Rinoa looked up into his eyes and nodded. She then placed a small peck on his nose before bopping him on the forehead.

"Okay. Two minutes left!" She said with a giggle. Squall's eyes widened. Did THAT much time pass? Dammit! Gotta get ready I guess...

A few minutes later, Squall and Rinoa wound up outside Balamb Garden heading towards a crowd of people. Geez, I guess they're all here... Squall thought to himself. A familiar voice then interrupted Squall's thoughts.

"Heeeeeeyyy!" Selphie shouted. Sheesh, you'd think the past four years would've made her quieter. Guess not...

"Yo, Squall! Rinoa!" Zell called out to them. Seriously Zell? We can already see you...and hell even if we couldn't, Selphie definitely made sure we could hear you... Rinoa let out a very dissatisfied sounding growl. Squall knew she had noticed his overthinking to himself again.

"Sorry..." He muttered. Rinoa simply sighed and smiled at him as if telling him she knew he couldn't help it so easily and forgave him. Rinoa then broke the grip she had on Squall's arm on the way there and ran over to greet the others. Rinoa made rounds hugging them all, Selphie, Zell, Quistis, Irvine, Cid, Edea, and even Seifer, though clearly Seifer wan't expecting it as it nearly knocked him over.

"Long time no see guys!" Rinoa said happily.

"Yeah, heck it's been a year already hasn't it?" Zell answered, "Guess we were just busy."

What could you be so busy with? Maybe he ran out of kid games to play and has to spend all his time inventing some now...he probably has a lot of help from Selphie in that department.

Rinoa elbowed Squall in the ribs, causing him to grunt and hunch over in pain.

"Right! So let's get going, huh guys!" Rinoa said happily, dragging a very sore Squall with her.

An hour later, the group made their way to Deling City, where the festival was to take place. There were many festivities all over, which many members of their group enjoyed participating in. Cid excused himself from them all to make his way to a stage in the center of it all. Everything grew silent as Cid made his way to the microphone. As Irvine struggled to direct Selphie's attention to the stage and quiet her, Cid began to speak.

"Welcome one and all to the third annual Leonhart Festival! As you all are surely well aware by now, this festival is held every year in honor of the brave man who, along with his faithful companions, stopped the evil sorceress Ultimecia from destroying us all four years ago! Now let's hear a round of applause for Squall and his friends!"

Cid's speech was followed by a massive wave of applause and cheers. The group could hear people chanting each of their names. Squall was rather irritated at the loud noise, but he felt something welling up from inside, something that forced a small smile to overtake his usual scowl. Rinoa looked up at him and giggled.

"Finally starting to like this, huh?" She asked. Squall quickly caught himself and removed the smile from his face, feeling a little embarrassed.

"...Whatever." He muttered. Just then, all went silent. Squall looked around him to see that everything was frozen. No one was moving, almost as if time had stopped.

What the hell? No way...

Just as soon as quickly as that had happened, another anomly appeared. A person appeared in front of him. It was a man, but a strange looking one. He was pale with white hair and blue eyes and he wore a loose fitting white shirt and grey jeans. Squall was about to question the man when he spoke.

"So, you're Squall. It's nice to finally meet you in person." The strange pale man said.

"Who the hell are you!?" Squall asked quickly, "And what did you do!? This isn't...Time Magic?"

The man nodded, "Well, it's close enough I guess. Not exactly Time Magic, more like I just simply stopped the flow of time here altogether. Time...does not affect me." he said with an elegant voice that sounded as smooth and light as the wind.

Is this guy for real? I must be dreaming...

The man smiled, "Oh I assure you, you're very much awake." He said.

Squall's eyes widened and his jaw gaped. Did he just...read my mind!? The man simply nodded, as if he had just done it again.

"Don't worry." The man started, "I'm not here to hurt you or you're friends. In fact, I need your help, or rather...someone else does. Though he doesn't know it yet. I have a lot to explain to you."

Squall couldn't believe what was going on, nor did he want to. After all he and his friends had gone through four years ago with Ultimecia, he didn't want anything else like this to happen. He just wanted to live life quietly and peacefully now. This couldn't mean anything good.

"Well?" Squall started, "What do you want?"

The man smiled at him, "As I said, I have a lot to explain to you...first off, I'll introduce myself. It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Shinra."