Blinded by the Light
A couple of notes before I start:
1) This is a story that's been kicking around in my head for years. I've been playing some of my favourite games, unsurprisingly FF8 being one of them, and suddenly the urge to write this sprung. So here we are, I really hope you guys can enjoy this fic and lemme tell ya, this is gonna be quite the epic in terms of chapter length.
2) Pairings will be SquallxRinoa, SeiferxQuistis, IrvinexSelphie and ZellxLibraryGirl(Maia). There will be fluffy moments, but this fic is primarily plot driven.
3) Major shout out to InstigateInsanity because he's awesome.
4) Final Fantasy VIII belongs to Square Enix, blah blah blah.
Prologue
It was like waking from a dream.
A long, horrible dream that she was tempted to call a nightmare, but there were moments, beautiful moments that brought a secretive smile to her face when she thought back to them. No, not exactly a nightmare, but disturbing enough that she knew it would be months, even years, before she could sleep soundly again.
It'd been a long and exhaustive adventure that seemed surreal in hindsight as she was flung to all parts of the world, to space. All of it culminating to a final stand beyond time. Rinoa could easily say that was the point, when they stood on the precipice of the cliff face, staring up at horrid construction that was Ultimecia's castle, when the dream turned into a nightmare. The future had been a place of devastation and lost hope. It'd been so bleak that even the sky was darkened.
She'd seen friends die, nearly died herself and when she thought they'd failed, she'd seen Squall deliver the final blow. The witch's banshee scream thundered into the abyss until she was torn apart by her own unstable magic. The world started to glow as Time righted itself, intensifying until it burned away everything into an utter whiteness.
The first thing that greeted her when she stepped out of Time Compression and back into the present was the blue sky. Stretching from horizon to horizon, so deep and bright and so utterly blue that it made her heart ache. Staring up at that sky, she knew it was over.
A soft wind embraced her, filled with the scent of the sea that made her think of Balamb and inevitably, of Squall. That secretive smile of hers stretched into a grin as her hand clasped the silver rings that hung from her neck. Her other hand reached out, brushing against the colourful petals of the flowers that surrounded her.
"Rinoa!"
Ahead she spotted a spritely figure waving both arms wildly to catch her attention. Rinoa laughed as she sprang forward and caught Selphie in a fierce hug. "It's over!" she cried. "It's finally over!"
Her friends shared her sentiment as they crowded around her to exchange hugs, laughing and cheering, Zell was almost close to tears. Even Quistis, who was usually so reserved, marched straight up to Rinoa and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I can't believe it," Quistis said softly. "We actually did it."
Rinoa laughed, never having felt so overjoyed until she peered over Quistis' shoulder to look around. Her smile wavered as she registered an important fact and levelled her gaze back to Quistis.
"Where's Squall?"
The question was spoken softly, barely audible over the roar of the nearby sea and the early celebrations. Yet the words managed to create a deafening silence as smiles and laughter were exchanged for worried looks.
Rinoa watched her friends with a sinking heart as she whirled around abruptly, searching desperately for a hint of Squall's presence. Perhaps he was simply being his usual stick in the mud self and was standing apart from them or was hiding somewhere. She saw no hint of him.
When the silence became unbearable, it was Quistis who spoke up. "We haven't seen him yet."
Rinoa closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the sea wash over her. When she opened them she turned on her heel and began heading back the way she came. There was a cry behind her, it sounded like Selphie, but it did nothing to deter her until she heard running footsteps. A strong hand grabbed her by the arm and yanked her around.
"Where do you think you're going?" Quistis demanded, gripping her tightly at the elbow. Rinoa could see that the woman already knew, but the rest of her friends who had gathered behind the former instructor appeared confused.
"I'm going back," she replied.
Shaking off Quistis' grip, Rinoa began walking swiftly away from the flower field, but she could hear her friends still scrambling after her.
"Back to Time Compression? Rinoa, that's not possible." It was Irvine who spoke, but there was an uncertain quality to his tone. None of them knew the full extent of her powers.
She smiled, feeling tired. "I've got to try."
Approaching the spot where Time Compression had deposited her, Rinoa's skin began to tingle as she felt the charge in the air though it was already fading. There were only faint threads, but Rinoa managed to grasp them with her magic and began weaving a spell. She was running more on instinct than anything else, knowing that if she was ever pressured to do a spell like this again she would have been at a loss.
Briefly, Rinoa wondered how she knew how to weave this spell and could almost feel the stinging talons of Ultimecia in some part of her memory that was buried with her power. She suppressed a shudder as she let the sorceress memory guide her. The consequences of her abilities were something else she needed to deal with on her own time, but not now.
There was a sharp gasp behind her, and somehow, without her noticing her surroundings had shifted from the bright flower field to a stark and barren landscape. She turned and was unsurprised to see more of the wasteland stretching into the infinite behind her instead of the vibrant fields she'd previously been in.
She also saw that she was alone.
For a moment Rinoa thought she'd done something wrong in her spell, that some malevolent part of her power was responsible for this strange land. It was meant to bring her through time, to find Squall yet all she could see was dust and a thunderous sky. She folded her arms around her, shivering as an angry wind whipped against her, snapping at the folds of her clothes and flinging strands of hair into her eyes.
The air was thick with what she could only describe as despair. She felt it beating down on her like the heat of a desert sun. She forced herself to move, but her legs were lead and the mere effort of taking a simple step seemed tiring to her. All she wanted to do was sit and cry, she was drowning in this place. Rinoa brought a slender hand to touch the silver rings that rested against her chest and drew what comfort she could from them. The rings buzzed at her touch, she felt a spark that jolted through her, stirring her magic to life. It rose through her, bringing strength to her limbs.
Her senses came alive as her magic stretched out and touched the desolate environment. Behind all the gloom, she became aware of something that was like a hum. It was familiar to her, but so new to her power it took her a long moment to realize what she was recognizing.
Time.
Above this lonely place she could feel Time flowing, ever-changing, almost alive. Her location was an island that was floating freely through Time. Lost through Time, she amended. Without the weight of the despair pressing down on her thoughts, she could think clearly. Outside of the constraints of the stable and limited normal world her powers were flaring and with them she sensed him. Squall.
She turned around again, eyes searching desperately for a familiar figure amidst the dust. Her heart sank back into her stomach when her search came away with nothing, but she was certain now that Squall was here somewhere. He was lost and he needed her just like all those times she'd needed him for protection. And to need someone, to be dependent on someone else, would be new territory for him.
Or perhaps this was old and familiar ground for him. The recollection of that suffocating despair, the loneliness, made Rinoa tremble. She held her rings more tightly, using them as the foundation for the shield her magic was weaving around her. Up until recently, isolation and pain were old acquaintances to Squall. These were not her negative emotions, but now that she knew how to look for it, she easily recognized the aura of the place as belonging to Squall. It disappointed her to realize how easily Squall sank back into his old ways.
Be real, Rinoa. He's not going to change overnight.
Healing took time, she knew and almost laughed as she realized that she was quite literally surrounded by Time. She could feel it now, like a pulsebeat through the universe. It seemed as though it was suffering her presence not because of what she was, a sorceress, but for another reason that was beyond her.
Time, for the moment, was on her side and it was ushering her along. She gave herself to its currents, letting it guide her footsteps as she moved across the landscape still keeping her eyes peeled for a familiar shape. With the shield woven around her, the harsh wind became a gentle breeze, but there was no helping the chill.
Rinoa trudged on, her footsteps stirring up dust. It seemed as though she had walked for hours though she had no idea how to tell the passage of time. Did time really pass where she was? When she was? These were thoughts for the likes of Quistis to tangle with, not her. Time was relative; she remembered that from somewhere, maybe from a book or a from a childhood tutor.
Movement up ahead brought her to a halt. Even from this distance she could recognize its vague shape against the darkened horizon. Her grasp around the rings tightened as she forced her legs to take hurried steps towards the figure despite her growing fatigue. As she drew closer the form became more familiar with the strands of light brown hair, the black leather jacket and those stormy blue eyes that she loved so much.
"Squall!" She ran into his embrace and was pulled close against his chest as his strong arms enfolded her.
She stayed in his arms, washed in his warmth until she pulled away to stare into his eyes. That was when she knew that something was wrong. He looked like him, right down to that scar that cut cleanly from forehead to cheek-even the shade of his eyes were the same. Yet somehow she knew with the same instincts that had been guiding her all along that this person was not Squall.
Even knowing this, Rinoa couldn't bring herself to pull away. This person, this Not Squall, radiated warmth and protection that she wasn't willing to let go. Just being in his very presence seemed to banish the despair, which was why she didn't fight when he lowered his head and met her lips with his. She grew still as that warmth spread into her through that kiss.
And she saw…
A line of women, that stretched away from her to an unknown point in time all connected by a line of power. Peering closer Rinoa saw that the power seemed to grow more sinister as it passed through each woman until she realized with horror that it ended with her.
Three figures, one a woman dressed in white, one a man who was a warrior and one a man who was a sage. All bowed with the burden of choice and from the three of them the threads of fate that shaped the past and future.
A shower of stars that fell from the heavens until she looked closely and saw that these stars were in actuality gods. Fallen from grace they plummeted to the cerulean world below.
Finally she saw herself, kissing this man, who was Not Squall, but not in the desolate island drifting through time. They were surrounded in crystal and below them were the desperate cries of the dying and wounded.
And just as quickly as the visions came they were gone. Rinoa pulled away from the kiss with a gasp, her mind a whirling storm as she tried to make sense of the barrage of images. She looked up at the man who was Not Squall and he smiled gently as he brushed fingertips across her lips.
"Rinoa," he murmured, speaking with Squall's voice that nearly broke her heart with longing. She closed her eyes only briefly, but when she opened them she saw only wasteland.
He was gone.
Rinoa blinked, looking around, trying to find a trace of him. Her eyes landed on a prone figure lying on the ground before her and her heart leapt into her throat. But just as quickly her excitement died away and she saw that the figure was still. With tentative steps, she approached the motionless form, lowering herself to her knees as she pulled the heavy weight of Squall body towards her.
There was no heat from him at all and the bitter cold was already sapping all of the euphoria from the earlier kiss. Just as she'd known the man from before was Not Squall, she knew that the person in her arms was her Squall. She caressed his cheek and nearly pulled away at how cold it was.
"Squall," she whispered, feeling sting of tears in her eyes.
She struggled only momentarily against the wave of grief until it became unbearable to contain. Heaving a pained sob she buried her head into his chest and that was when she felt the burst of warmth. She looked up in time to see the light vanquish the darkness, washing a familiar flower field in its luminance. It was breath taking to behold and all around she could feel a presence that hovered in the air, seemingly protective, familiar.
"…Rinoa?"
She tore her gaze away from the miracle to witness another as she stared into the blinking eyes of Squall Leonhart who was looking up at her in confusion. Seeing him alive nearly made her break down into another round of tears. He saw the grief in her eyes and frowned as he reached up brush fingers against her cheek.
"I came back," he murmured as he cupped her cheek with his gloved hand. "There was light and I followed it."
He rose up shakily on one elbow while still holding her close. There was warmth in his touch now and Rinoa allowed herself to melt into his embrace as they both bathed in the sunlight. She knew that they still needed to return to the real flower field outside of Edea's orphanage, where their friends were waiting anxiously for them. But within Squall's arms she felt content to simply stay a moment longer, letting all thoughts of doubt fall away through Time.