Until The End: Dormant

by Sanity Demolisher

UNDERGOING RE-WRITE What creates a monster? Is every villain evil from birth? More often than not, prejudices create the very monsters they fear. What can be done in the name of love and still be morally good and how many bonds can be broken before they are irrevocably damaged? How long does it take when the world is against you before you turn their hate back on them?

2. Part 1: Chapter 1

Revised: 8/2015

Part 1:

Spring 5004

Chapter 1

-"We can't allow another Sorceress to rule over the world. We can't"-

Squall slowed his walk and breathed out into the cool morning air. It was still a little chilly at the end of Marua but no puff of air showed from his exhalation. Spring was finally showing itself.

"Daddy, come on!"

He blinked and picked up his pace so Chayla could pull him by the hand towards the open fence leading into the neighborhood playground. Apparently even that wasn't fast enough for her because she bounced up and down and tugged on his hand in agitation.

"Daddy's going to sit on the bench," he replied as they passed beyond the gate. "Go ahead and play."

The four-year old pouted at him for a minute, gripping his hand, but then she heard the squeals of the other girls there. She glanced over her shoulder at the playground before looking back up at him. "Don't go away," she said, her expression serious. Then she smiled and twirled around, dashing off towards the slides.

After watching her leap up the playground steps towards two other girls there, Squall moved to the bench on the north side that had a view of the whole playground and sat down. It had been a little under a month since they had moved here but Chayla had always made friends easily and had acquired two new ones the first day he'd brought her to the playground. Emily and Hailey came to the playground every Mondi so he'd begun to bring her once a week as well. By the time he'd sat down the three were already embroiled in a game of tag.

It wasn't long before a woman across the park stood up as if she had been waiting for him. He eyed her warily as she stepped over the wood shavings, heading for him. She was a middle aged woman with dark hair, dark eyes, civilian clothes, and a warm smile. Non-threatening, he decided as she stopped in front of him.

"Hi. I'm Emily and Hailey's mother. You must be Chayla's father; she has your face." She held out a hand and after a moment Squall realized he was supposed to shake it. He did so briefly before tugging his hand back uneasily. That smile radiated from the woman again as she took a seat on the bench, leaving a foot of space between them. "My girls have been talking about Chayla all week so I thought I'd come with them today to introduce myself. They couldn't wait to come out this morning."

He wondered what she wanted. There was a wedding band on her left ring finger and the bag she carried over a shoulder had a paperback book in it. Married, happy, and carrying a third child by the look of the subtle belly bulge. Realizing he was assessing and categorizing her, he glanced down at his hands and then put them in his jacket pockets. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something. "Chayla was excited as well."

The woman smiled. "You're new in the neighborhood right?" she asked, setting her bag down on the bench beside her. Squall nodded, watching the three children play. Chayla tripped and fell once, but in a flash she was up again and after a squealing Hailey. "Welcome then," the mother said and turned slightly to watch her daughters as well in a preoccupied manner.

After a few moments she turned back and studied him. "So young," she murmured. He didn't think he was supposed to have heard. "Well…" She paused, eyes furrowing.

He'd learned enough to know what the pause meant. "Shane."

"Well Shane, my name is Marilia." She shifted. "I was thinking the other day that the girls would love to have a play date with Chayla somewhere other than the playground. I believe we live in the same apartment complex, so it'd be really easy to set something up." Squall looked sideways at Marilia, surprised, and she went on. "I saw you unloading your car that first week." Something shifted in the woman's eyes after she said that – pity - but only for a second. "Anyways, Chayla could come over for a few hours. And my husband and I can cook a big dinner for you two." Now she was assessing him, looking him up and down, eyeing the scar down his cheek and his paleness. "I'm sure you could use a good meal."

"I'm fine," he said automatically, shifting his eyes back to the children. "What is a… play date?"

Marilia seemed startled. "Well… it's just when children get together to play. The parent's generally arrange it."

"A play-date sounds fun," a melodious voice said, coming up from behind and then a caramel haired woman collapsed down onto what little surface there was on his other side, her elbow and thigh crowding into his own. Squall glanced at her sharply, recognition and shock slamming through him. She smiled lazily at him then leaned forward to talk to Marilia over him. "You have children then?"

Marilia gestured to the only three children in the playground, and then eyed the new woman warily. "A pleasure to meet you…"

"Alina. I'm a friend of Shane's. He's not very vocal so I do most of the talking for him."

Squall made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat as he tried to decide if moving away from Alina would make them think he was moving closer to Marilia. Marilia gave a surprised laugh at Alina's comment. "Ah, I see." But he could see her subtly glancing between the two of them, questions lingering in her eyes.

Alina nudged Squall's elbow with her own while shoving her hands into her own jacket's pockets. "Chayla would love a play-date. You know she would."

"Lena!" there was a shriek and a mass of black hair and tumbling limbs launched itself at Alina. Alina had to pull her hands free quickly to catch Chayla. Then, settling the child on her lap in a familiar manner, she let the child give her a crushing hug. Hailey and Emily weren't far behind and wasted no time in trying to scramble up into laps as well. Squall leapt up before Hailey could clamber into his, then tried to disguise the reflexive motion by picking the girl up under the arms and placing her where he had been sitting. She grinned at him toothily.

"Lena's here daddy!" Chayla squeaked, craning around to find where he had gone. "Lena's come for my birfday!"

"Birthday?" Marilia exclaimed. "Chayla, is your birthday today?" At Chayla's exuberant nodding and demonstration that she was the equivalent of four fingers old, Marilia glanced up at Squall. "You should have said something." He shrugged, jammed his hands back into his pockets and looked at Alina under his lashes. What the hell was she doing here in Deling?

"Mom, Chayla needs a present." Emily's statement brought his eyes back around and he opened his mouth to forestall their mother from making any promises but Chayla beat him to it. "Daddy already got me some."

Alina was staring at him over Chayla's head, looking him up and down, assessing him like Marilia had done earlier. He glared at her, trying to convey that he wanted her to stop. When she saw she pursed her lips but dropped her eyes.

Chayla was telling Hailey, Emily and their mother that she knew her presents were hidden in the closet but that one was really huge. Talk about presents caused her to want to get onto opening them and so Marilia slipped Squall a note with her phone number and a reminder to call for the play-date before taking Hailey and Emily's hands and leading them back to the playground.

Chayla leapt off Alina's lap, took up one hand and urged the older woman up and over to Squall. Squall let Chayla take his hand too and then the determined four-year-old led them both out of the park to the sidewalk.

Once they were on the other side of the fence and away from Marilia's family, he directed his full attention to Alina. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for Chayla's birthday," Alina replied, looking at him with an innocent expression.

He frowned. "You came all the way here for her birthday?" How had she found them?

"No," she said and laughed, looking pleased with herself. "I live here now."

"What?!" He might have dragged Chayla to a stop with him if she hadn't already stopped and turned to Alina as well. But while his expression was one of incomprehension, hers was all delight.

"Are we neighbors again?" she asked, all thoughts of presents derailed.

Alina's smirk left and as smiled down at the girl. "No, sweetie. I'm living with my sister, but it's only ten minutes away from you."

Squall tried to make sense out of what she'd said. "Why are you with your sister? Did something happen?"

She glanced back up. "I don't know. Did something happen?" She was eyeing him again. "Why did you uproot and leave so suddenly?" Squall shot a quick look down at Chayla who had just opened her mouth and she closed it with a guilty look, hopefully remembering the "discussion" he had had with her. Alina didn't miss the look and she put her free hand on her hip. "Oh Hyne, you're already corrupting her with your secretiveness."

Squall gently tugged Chayla towards him and she let go of Alina's hand so that he could pick her up and settle her on his hip before continuing up the sidewalk. It was his blunt reminder to Alina that how he raised Chayla was up to him. The caramel-haired woman gave a disgruntled shake of her head but let it be. "Well, whatever happened, I couldn't just let you disappear like that. Luckily for me, I was home the day you left so I followed you. Once you'd stopped here I went home to clear some things up and now… here I am."

She had followed them? Hyne, he was slipping if he hadn't noticed her car behind him for the five hours it had taken to get to Deling. "I didn't ask you to follow us," he said instead of the curses he wanted to spit out.

"No," Alina agreed.

Alina was a non-threatening looking woman; caramel haired, green eyed, fashionably clothed, with a charismatic personality. She had no fighting or weapon experience. She was just a civilian. Nonetheless, she made him nervous. "So why did you?"

"Because I wanted to."

Squall frowned at her evasiveness. And she went on about his secrets? "You had friends in Timber. And a job."

Alina poked a finger into his shoulder. "You're my friend too."

Squall stared at the sidewalk in front of them. He couldn't afford to have friends. The thought was four years old and worn around the edges after Alina's insistent picking at it. She'd been chipping at it for years and now he wasn't sure how to classify her. He'd thought the move had solved that.

"You're my friend too, right Lena?" Chayla asked, peeking around his shoulder

"Of course! The best of friends."

Squall glanced back up. "You should go home."

"I've made my home here now."

He sighed. Hyne's blood, he didn't understand her. The apartment had come into view and he could see her red car parked on the side road they were on.

Chayla squeaked as Squall's phone started vibrating in his pocket and against her leg. Frowning, Squall moved Chayla to his other hip and pulled the device out. The number displayed made him glance at Alina and she raised an eyebrow at him. After a moment of deliberation he flipped it open and held it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"It's me," Laguna said softly. "I'm alone. Can I wish her a happy birthday?"

"Of course," Squall said. Chayla was watching him with avid eyes. "It's grandpa," he told her and watched as a smile lit up her face. She wrapped her small hands around the phone and pressed it tightly against her ear.

"Ganpa! Guess what?"

Squall put his free arm under Chayla again and continued down the sidewalk. Alina matched his pace. "He called last year too," she suddenly said. Squall kept walking. She didn't let him get away without contributing to her conversation though. "Shane," she said and Squall compliantly glanced at her. "Your father calls but he never visits."

There was a question there. "He can't," he murmured.

As Alina's overeager mind puzzled that out he shifted his shoulders, trying to loosen the muscles there. It was true that Laguna had never visited. As Esthar's president there was no way he would be able to leave without an armed escort. He'd only seen Chayla once, just after she had been born.

"So why don't you ever go visit him?" Alina questioned, asking the next logical question. He didn't answer and she frowned at him as he turned up his sidewalk and walked towards the apartment's stairs. "Don't tell me it's the classic strained relationship."

"How do you know I haven't?" he asked her as she followed him to his door. She shrugged, then hovered as he got the key out of his pocket and opened the door, and followed him in before he could shut it in her face. She immediately skipped to the kitchen and started rummaging through the cupboards.

"Daddy," Chayla said poking him in the shoulder as he locked the door. She was holding his phone out to him. Taking it he set her down and she ran over to Alina. He eyed the two for a second before moving into the bedroom.

"Still there?" he asked, sitting on the bed. It gave him a full view of Alina and Chayla in the kitchen but this far away he would have some privacy.

"Yes," Laguna replied. "I heard about the incident in Timber."

Squall grimaced. "What's in the news?"

"Not much. SeeD is trying to keep it from the general public. You're not going to tell me where you are now, are you?"

"No," he said, placing his free hand flat on his jeans and looking at the miniscule scars there. He heard Laguna sigh softly.

Laguna closed the bedroom door and sighed softly. Turning into the room he started unbuttoning his cuffs but froze as he caught sight of the huddled mass in the corner near his bed. In a second his gun was out and trained on the shadow. When it didn't move, he took a small step to the wall and flicked the lights on.

His gun dropped as Squall Leonhart was illuminated. The kid raised a hand to shield his eyes from the brightness and tightened himself around whatever he was huddled around.

"Squall?" Laguna asked incredulously then cursed softly at his lack of formality. As the shock reached its full height his eyes began to take in the blood stains and dirt. Worry combined with the shock and he hurried forward. It looked like the young man had been through a battle.

Squall watched him with hard eyes as he knelt in front of him. Laguna didn't like the look. It held hard determination that was chased around by a glazed look of pain and deep primal fear. Screw formality. "Squall?" he repeated softly.

Squall's cracked lips opened and he inhaled. "You're my father."

Laguna fell back, his eyes widening.

"I'm your son," Squall continued, "and I need your help."

Then he unfurled a little and showed Laguna what he'd been holding.

Squall blinked the vision away, his breath hitching. It was happening again. Laguna must have been thinking about it for Squall to get the memory backlash. Laguna's memory. Fuck him, it was happening again.

"Are you doing okay? Do you need any money?"

Grateful for the distraction, Squall swallowed and pushed the memory and its implications to the side for later deliberation and glanced around the sparsely furnished room. He'd only been able to bring what would fit in the car, so there wasn't much. He'd had to buy the bed when they'd gotten here. He must have hesitated too long because Laguna spoke again. "I'm going to put money in the cache for you."

"Don't," Squall argued, rubbing his head.

"How are you going to pay for rent and food Sq-" Laguna broke off before the name could get out and exhaled heavily before continuing. "How much did you spend on Chayla today? Where are you financially?"

Squall frowned and glanced back into the kitchen. Alina and Chayla had piled baking bowls on the cabinet top and were now going through the fridge. What were they looking for? "I've got enough to get us through a few months. It'll give me enough time to find something."

"Like what?" Laguna knew the constraints Squall had on being able to work a job.

"I don't know yet."

"Son, please, let me help. If this is all I can do then let me do it. Money's not a problem." Squall looked back down at his hand and traced a finger along the seam of his jeans. If he said yes he'd have some more breathing room. After a moment of silence Laguna spoke again. "I'm putting money in the cache. Which one?"

Squall sighed angrily. He didn't want Laguna to send the money but he didn't want to refuse it either. He crushed his pride down enough to say "The same one."

"Still on the same continent then. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Don't tell me you forgot the cake mix!" Alina shouted from the kitchen and a cabinet slammed. Squall looked up towards the door, startled.

"Is that a woman?" Laguna asked, startlement and humor coloring his voice.

Squall stood up and walked to the door, meeting Alina there as she made to barge in. "I'll go get some."

"The point is that you forgot it in the first place," she accused. She glanced down at Chayla who had followed her and was imitating the older woman by putting her hands on her hips. "Did he forget your cake last year too sweetheart?"

"Thas okay, we had ice cream."

Alina turned back to Squall and gave him an irate look. "I'll get some," he promised as guilt flushed through him.

"Finish your phone call then while we get ready. For Hyne's sake, Shane." She ushered Chayla away and Squall leaned against the doorframe, sighing.

"Shane is a… common name." Laguna commented hesitantly from the phone.

"That's why I picked it," he said softly. Alina watched Chayla proudly demonstrate that she knew how to tie her shoes. He indulged in a little smile at his daughter's thrill for her own accomplishment.

Laguna seemed to be on the same wavelength. "Ah Hyne. Four years old. I wish I had a picture. If I put a doll in the cache will you tell her it's from her grandfather?"

Squall quickly went through a couple scenarios. All came to the same end. If it was discovered there would be nothing to tie it to Laguna, not unless the man wrote a note or was caught which was unlikely. "Don't let it connect back to you," was all he said in the end.

Laguna laughed. "Come now, I didn't last this long as president by making mistakes like that."

Alina was looking towards him curiously. "I have to go."

Cheer fled. "Tell her I love her. Please take care of yourselves."

"I will," he replied and flipped the phone shut before anything else could be said. Shoving off the doorframe he moved towards Chayla and Alina. "Let's go."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Alina glanced sideways at Shane. The talk with his father had upset him. He would never tell her so but she could see it in the tightness of his shoulders. Maybe the relationship really was strained. He must have felt her eyes on him because he looked over at her.

"Nothing," she murmured and he turned back to listen to Chayla's story about why dogs hated cats while looking for the aisle that stocked cake mixes. But instead of looking away, Alina studied him. He looked worn down. Well, more worn down than usual.

Brown eyes were slightly red-rimmed in the fluorescent lights and there were shadows under those eyes making him look gaunter than he was. But if his face was a little thin, the muscles that his cotton shirt expanded over showed that he wasn't malnourished. She took a second to appreciate the sight of toned maleness then sighed. No, she knew it was only stress and not enough sleep that caused him to look haunted.

His black hair was in need of a cut again too. Studying his hair and face caused her eyes to alight on the scar on his cheek. It was under his right eye and traveled from there down across his cheekbone. There was still some redness to it, so it had to have happened after the scar between his eyebrows. That one was white and faded with age.

He had never told her how he had gotten his scars. She wasn't sure he ever would but she didn't think someone could get those kinds of scars unless they'd been in a lot of battles. A soldier. That was her running hypothesis, that he had been a Galbadian soldier during the sorceress war and had had a sweetheart somewhere. Whatever had happened, the mother was nowhere in the picture – Chayla didn't even remember a mother.

"Will you stop staring at me, please?" Shane said when Chayla took a break from her mile-a-minute speech.

Alina smiled at his uneasiness and looked away. He always got fidgety when she stared too long, like he thought she could figure out all his secrets if she looked long enough. If only. Seeing the mixes she pointed and he stopped his forward motion abruptly to turn down the aisle. She followed, eyeing the pastries they were bypassing hungrily.

It was a pity about the mother. She'd never found any pictures of her anywhere and Shane never answered any questions related to the woman or Chayla's birth.

So, maybe a soldier who'd left the army to raise his daughter? He was only twenty-two so that put him at eighteen when Chayla had been born. Talk about starting fast. But then maybe he didn't know the girl hadn't been on a pill? Or didn't care in the moment? There were plenty of four year olds whose parent's had consummated marriage during the war – ha! and there had been plenty of divorces too once the war had been won. Maybe Shane and his sweetheart had feared the end of the world like hundreds of others and hadn't thought they'd be around long enough for any baby conceived to make a difference.

But the world hadn't ended. It had been saved by SeeD's Commander Leonhart something.

She scrunched her nose up for a second. SeeD. They were a secretive and pompous bunch if anyone asked her. She had seen two once, in Timber on a mission for the resistance. They hadn't done anything except look important and stuck-up. There were stories that that Leonhart guy had come a few years later and helped the resistance but she wasn't sure she believed it.

They also said that he was only seventeen when he defeated the sorceress and that his father was the president of Esthar but that he had never known. Or that he'd been raised in secret in Esthar; no, he'd been raised as a boy-soldier in the military. He'd been in love with Sorceress Heartilly, General Caraway's daughter; the sorceress had him bound in a spell, he'd actually been in love with the evil knight Almasy; he'd never lost a fight; he fought with a sword seven feet long; he'd stolen the position of Commander after killing the previous headmaster; he'd killed the sorceress Heartilly; she'd killed him; he'd killed himself.

There were so many rumors out there that she made a habit of not believing any of them. He'd probably been a middle aged man in command who had taken the credit of killing the sorceress from his soldiers and lavished in an office, staring at his medals.

Whoever the man had been, he had died four years ago and SeeD had become even more stuck-up then they had been before.

Chayla picked out yellow cake to go with the vanilla frosting they had at home and let Alina hold the box while they backtracked to the checkout stations. But she wanted to be the one to scan the box over the glass scanner and put it in the grocery bag as Shane paid in cashed gil.

Alina watched Chayla as she concentrated on getting the barcode just right. Whatever had happened in the past that Shane wasn't telling her, she knew he loved Chayla with all his heart. He had braided her hair that morning and put a sparking butterfly clip in to hold her bangs up on her head. She was always clean and her clothing fit her and while she didn't attend a daycare, Shane made sure to take her out to play with other children. He took better care of her than he did himself.

Impulsively, once they had exited the store, she scooped Chayla up in an arm and linked her other through Shane's. "Now, it's time to party!" Feeling Shane's arm beginning to retract, she clamped her arm in, trapping his against her side and made for his car: a rugged, reliable truck with wheels meant to four-wheel over mountains. Which it probably had, she mused. She had seen the car in Shane's driveway in Timber more than once coated in mud or dust.

She thumped its grey surface when they reached it then grimaced and wiped her hand on her pant leg. It looked like he hadn't washed it since driving all the way to Deling either. "Wash your car," she told him as he tugged away and opened the doors.

"Yea daddy, wash our car," Chayla echoed as Alina ducked into the back to tuck her into the car-seat. Shane, who had slid into the driver's seat, looked back at them over his shoulder.

"Why? It will just get dirty again."

Chayla turned to look at Alina and shrugged as if saying 'See? Daddy has the right of it.'

Alina snorted, finished buckling all the straps and then hopped into the passenger seat. They were pulling out into the street when Chayla spoke up from the back. "Lena, do you really live here too?"

She saw Shane's gaze dart towards her before he glanced back to the road. She turned sideways in her seat so she could see Chayla easily. "Yep. That's right."

"Daddy, you said you don't tell Lena about moving," Chayla accused, moving her gaze to her father.

"Didn't, not don't," Shane corrected, changing lanes. "And no, I didn't tell Alina we were moving." He shot her an accusatory look.

"Don't worry Chayla. I won't let your daddy get rid of me," she said watching Shane.

"Were you trying to get rid of her, daddy? Thas mean."

Shane's brow furrowed and he put his left elbow up on the window so he could lean his head on his fist. "I wasn't trying to get rid of her. We just had to move… remember?"

Alina turned her head quickly and saw Chayla's expression – unhappiness – before it slipped into something neutral. "I remember" the girl said and turned to look out the window. Alina frowned. No girl of four years should ever look that sad… or have to hide her expressions seconds later. What in Hyne's name had happened? She glanced back front in time to see Shane looking at Chayla through the review mirror, his own expression taunt with distress, before he snapped his eyes back to the road and smoothed his own expression out.

Alina sat straight and crossed her arms. Obviously Shane had instructed Chayla not to tell Alina what had happened. All she knew was that four weeks ago his slamming car door had brought her to her window, next door in the two-house condo they shared, and she had watched him drag Chayla out of the car and literally bolt into his own house. She'd gone over and rung the doorbell but they hadn't answered and two days later they were pulling out of the driveway at the break of dawn with the car loaded.

Shane was a secretive and cautious man, but that had hurt. Why would he leave without even a word? And leave half of his furniture.

It looked like he was running from something, and that worried her. She didn't know who he would be running from. Some drug-lord out for revenge? An old enemy from his days as a solider? If he was running, it might explain why he so frequently looked ragged and tired.

She didn't like it one bit. Whether Shane realized it, he was her friend and friends looked out for friends. So she had followed him. She glanced over at Shane and mentally nodded to herself. She would help him out of whatever mess he'd gotten himself into.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"This is a nice restaurant," Ellone remarked as she sat down and pulled her chair in before Irvine could get it for her. He turned and pulled one out for Selphie instead. Quistis was eying Zell as he sat back and watched her pull her own in with a smile.

"Money's not an issue," Irvine replied as he took his own seat next to the two blondes.

Ellone picked up the menu and glanced down the length of it. "It's not?" She made a sound upon seeing the prices and glanced back up. "Aren't you doing less missions in leeway of… the other one?"

Irvine felt his metaphorical hackles rise at the mention and sidestepped. "Selphie and Quistis still go out."

"With what Squall left us we can indulge for special occasions," Selphie said, ignoring the atmosphere like only she could and answering bluntly. Ellone furrowed her eyebrows and looked at all of them. Irvine tugged on his black dress shirt and saw Zell doing the same next to him. Quistis was looking down at her plate. Selphie set down her own menu and huffed at them all before turning back to Ellone. "Squall left his money to us in his will."

"His will?" Ellone echoed incredulously.

Irvine had shared her incredulity when they had found the document in Squall's desk. The Commander had been eighteen years old, in the prime of his life. But there it had been, a page long and signed by an official witness.

"It was dated to Rinoa's fifth month of pregnancy," Selphie continued.

"Just before he took her to Esthar?"

Irvine nodded to Ellone's question and then took the conversation back to money in hopes of leaving the other topic alone. "Squall rarely spent the money he earned. The amount in the will was considerable."

Ellone's eyes reddened and she looked down, fidgeting with a napkin. "Do you think he knew? …That he would die?"

Irvine looked away and shuddered at the idea. But… Squall had written a will. At eighteen years old.

Only he and Ellone knew the full circumstances of Squall and Rinoa's deaths, that it had been Squall who had held Rinoa's head under the water where she'd drowned - the Commander's vision had been black around the edges and his grip wasn't very strong, but Rinoa had aided him with all her thrashing and sodden wings. And that just before Rinoa had completely drowned Squall had been hit by some magic. It hadn't been the Blue Dragon or blood loss that had eventually killed Squall. It had been whatever magic Rinoa had thrown at him before she died.

He'd never told anyone what he and Ellone had seen, only confirmed the deaths. He hadn't wanted Squall's legacy to be shadowed by the knowledge that he'd been the one to kill Rinoa. It was better if everyone thought the battle itself and the wounds received had killed the two. He'd kept the aching questions of why to himself.

Irvine looked over at Ellone, now quietly dabbing at her eyes with her napkin. He'd cornered her two years ago after the first report from Esthar came in about the child sorceress. Zell had focused solely on the child for answers but Irvine had needed to know why Rinoa had transferred her powers and to who. But Ellone had refused to take him back further into Squall's past. The only inch she'd given was when he'd asked if she could look into Rinoa's or the child's memories. The child she couldn't reach because she didn't know her, but Rinoa she had reluctantly agreed to try.

Trying was all they had accomplished. Ellone hadn't been able to find Rinoa's past after the war. After their fight with Edea in Galbadia Garden to be precise. Once Edea had transferred her powers to Rinoa, Rinoa's future had disappeared from Ellone's reach. Ellone would have said that meant she had died but both she and Irvine had seen Rinoa very much alive after that. Something about the sorceronic power blocked her gift.

That could have meant that the block in Squall's past had been put there by a Sorceress – Rinoa. But even that hadn't convinced Ellone to try and force her way past the block that was hiding parts of Squall's past. Squall had become taboo for the woman in all forms related to her gift.

So he'd given up and followed Zell's lead in focusing on the child. They'd combed Esthar, listened to the sketchy witness report, gotten an even sketchier drawing of the child, and in the end hit a wall. There had been nothing. The city was simply too large and the witness too unsure.

The whole thing was too sketchy. He'd hoped it had all just been a mistake.

But then, four weeks ago, there had been another sighting, this time in Timber. And this time there had been a man involved. Irvine and Zell were being deployed to the city the next day now that the paperwork and politics had finished. Teams had been created with strict orders to find a lead this time.

Irvine reached up and rubbed his face. They'd gotten nowhere in Esthar. The investigation had gone cold. And Irvine knew this one would too if he didn't do something fast. The something, he'd decided last night, was Ellone. If Ellone could get past the block on Squall's past, they could figure out how the child was related to the incident.

He wondered at how he might bring it up as they all ordered food and drinks. The waitress looked askance at their black mourning attire but didn't voice the question. After she left with the menus and their extravagant prices tucked under her arms, Ellone leaned forward with a false smile on her face.

"So what have you all been doing? Besides the big mission of course?"

Selphie indulged her change of topic instantly. "Have you seen the new Garden in Trabia? Once we discovered that the Garden's were actually mobile ships, they were able to dig up the base machinery and rebuild on it. Mr. Kramer had some old blueprints that helped as well. It's even bigger than before and they received their second year of new recruits in Augusua."

Ellone shook her head and smiled. "I haven't seen it. I've been working in the Pandora Lab for what seems years, overseeing Dr. Odine's work."

Zell made a disgusted sound. "I don't see how you can work with that man. He did research on you when you were a child."

"Oh, he never hurt me," Ellone responded quickly. "And he's just exuberant. He needs to be reminded of ethics once in a while but otherwise… the man is a genius."

"You haven't allowed him to work on the Time Junction machine have you?" Irvine asked. It was the machinery that Ultimecia would use to create Time Compression. After they had told President Lorie about it, it had been taken out of Dr. Odine's hands and locked up but Irvine didn't trust the doctor to not try to get at it again.

"It's still buried deep in an underground lab." Ellone reassured. "Laguna is the only one with the key and he has no intentions of letting the doctor get near it. Besides he would need more research on me and I'm hardly going to let him. No, he's been studying some captured Thrustaevis. The monsters don't breed you know, there's only those that fall each Lunar Cry and those alone, and so he artificially bred one."

Selphie looked stricken. "Artificially? Like petri-dishes and needles?"

Ellone nodded and then went on exuberantly, her smile less fake this time. "We've never been able to tame any monsters; unfortunately they're all quite mad. But by taking DNA from the creature the doctor has produced a baby Thrustaevis and it's showing none of the signs of madness that the captured ones do. It's actually quite intelligent."

Irvine realized he was staring and stopped. Hyne's blood, a baby Thrustaevis? A baby monster was what it was. But if breeding monsters kept the doctor busy Irvine would leave him to it.

He certainly had a pick of monsters to choose from. The 50 year cyclical Lunar Cry that had hit the Kashkabald Desert four years ago had been close enough to Esthar that the country had been the first on the scene to try and contain the devastation.

The thought of the lunar cry soured his mood. They'd been busy with cleaning up the mess as best they could when XU had called to tell them that Squall's monthly communication hadn't come in. Maybe if they'd responded immediately they could have reached Squall and Rinoa in time. Maybe they could have prevented it all.

"What do you mean by signs of madness?" Quistis asked and Irvine pulled himself away from his thoughts. He looked up and saw that the blonde was interested despite herself. "Are you saying there's more to the monsters than just an instinct to fight?"

Ellone leaned forward. "Yes! Instinct would have been passed through the genes. But the baby Thrustaevis shows no inclination towards aggressive behavior."

"But it was bred artificially," Zell said and frowned. "So, what makes the little Thrust different from a normal Thrust if they both have the same DNA?"

"One was born in a dish and the others fell from the sky," Selphie said with the intonation of 'duh' laced through her voice.

Zell gave her a grimace. "Well why then are all those that fall from the sky intent on killing us all?" He turned to Ellone. "And if monsters never reproduce why are there so many falling on our heads in the first place?"

Ellone shrugged eloquently. "The moon is bigger than this world, far bigger. My only guess is that there are millions more of them then there are of us."

Quistis shared Zell's frown. "But how did they get there if they can't reproduce?"

"We're not sure," Ellone answered. "We have no idea what life on the moon is like for these creatures but anatomically, reproduction does not seem possible. There are no gender differences that we can tell of in any of the captured creatures and if put together for long amounts of time they show no inclination towards mating." She unfolded and folded her napkin, not looking at it. "Perhaps there is another way reproduction works on the moon but on earth here, it does not seem possible." Ellone seemed to droop with this lack of discovery.

Irvine digested all that had been said and brought the conversation back to the question that hadn't been answered. "Why would a bred Thrustaevis show no aggressive behavior while all others do?"

Ellone perked up again. "Ah, well that is what we are trying to study now. I believe it has to do with the fact that it was bred here in this world. It is the simplest answer. Maybe there is a toxin in the air on the moon? I am not positive. But it's given the doctor direction to study the aggression in the creatures."

Irvine noted the word 'creature' Ellone kept using instead of the word 'monster'. She was too kind-hearted for her own good. A Scan titled them as monsters and that was what they were, but he held his tongue. There was no need to be rude. "Sounds interesting," he said instead as their food arrived. He leaned back as crab was placed before him. Zell made a whining sound of anticipation and then dug in as soon as the waitress had gone.

Irvine waited until Ellone excused herself for the restrooms, then after a moment did the same. Zell caught his eyes as he stood but didn't betray his thoughts on the matter. Irvine knew Zell knew what he was planning and that he didn't like it. Zell had never liked using Ellone in the first place. But if Irvine had to be the bad guy to get some answers, he would embrace the role.

He was leaning against the portioned off wall when Ellone came out, fixing the clip in her shoulder length hair. She stopped when she saw him. "Irvine?"

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked. Her eyes darted away and her lips tightened but she nodded. She knew what this was about. She leaned against the wall next to him and clasped her hands around her elbows. Irvine exhaled a long breath and then went straight to the point. There was no need to jump around it. "We need some answers."

"I won't do it," she answered, barely letting him finish. "Knowing won't change anything."

"It will," he argued and turned towards her slightly in the dim space. "We have to know who this child is."

"Even if I did try, that part of Squall's past is blocked. Or don't you remember?"

"I think if you try hard enough you could break past it."

She glared up at him. "Why would I want to?"

"Ellone," he growled. "Rinoa's body is frozen in a lab in Esthar. I know you've seen the body. Something happened that day. Maybe something happened before that. There's a four month gap of time in which we don't have any reliable information. One clue, one, could help us figure out what the hell happened and why this girl has Rinoa's powers."

"What would you do if you knew who the girl was? She's only a child, Irvine."

"She's not," Irvine corrected. "She's a sorceress."

Ellone looked away. "I've never asked because I think I know, but…" her voice lowered to a whisper. "You're going to kill that child, aren't you?"

Irvine's let his own eyes dart away this time. "It's one life against millions." He muttered. "I'll do what I can to prevent a future with Ultimecia in it." He glanced back as he heard her sharp inhalation. "I won't gun the girl down. We'll take her into custody and question her. After that…" He didn't finish his sentence.

He shifted his gaze as a woman came around the corner and moved towards the restrooms. She smiled at them as she passed. Ellone watched her too, silent. The woman must have felt their stares because she looked back once as she opened the door before hurrying in.

He shifted a little closer to Ellone. "I don't know for sure if Squall's past will solve anything, Ellone. I don't. But it's the last place to look. We need some kind of clue about how the child got the powers - if Rinoa transferred her powers or if there's something else going on."

Ellone looked back to him, holding his gaze for only a moment. "I can't, Irvine. I promised him." He could hear the sob she was keeping locked in her throat.

He reached to touch her arm briefly. "Think about it. He asked you not to look. Why would he do that? What was he trying to hide?"

Ellone jerked her gaze back to his and this time there was familiar fire in them. "Maybe he just wanted the privacy," she snapped. Irvine felt a pang in his chest at the snap. "Irvine," Ellone said, leaning towards him. "What I can do… it's inhumane. How would you like it if someone else could have access to all your memories? What if anyone could see all your mistakes and faults? I can show anyone. There is nothing you can hide. It's the worst kind of betrayal. It's a violation."

Irvine breathed in through his nose. "It doesn't change anything," he finally said through a constricted throat. "We can't allow another Sorceress to rule over the world. We can't."

Ellone turned away. "It may not even be Ultimecia."

"Even if she's not, Ultimecia won't be far behind. She wasn't that far in the future."

Ellone was still looking straight ahead. "His past is not a puzzle to be dissected."

The woman came back out of the restroom but this time she hurried by without looking at them. Irvine tried to smooth his expression out. "I just need what's behind that block. Nothing else."

"You betray Squall's trust by asking this."

"I know," he said and his voice cracked. "Hyne, Ellone, I know. But if Squall was in my position he would ask the same thing. You know he would. I have to find this child. I have to prevent what the future can become. And I have to find out who she is to do either."

They stared at one another. Ellone clasped her elbows in her hands and looked away first. Irvine stood silent for a few moments before he shifted his weight and tucked his head down. "Please, just think over it." He said to the carpet.

He glanced up and saw Ellone give a jerky nod before she pushed past him and walked away. He stayed where he was trying to convince himself he had done the right thing.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Squall pulled the second contact from his eye and blinked as he put the soft lens in its case. He shut it then looked back up into the mirror and his grey eyes. Avoiding the rest of his face he turned, setting the contact case on the cabinet, and moved back into the bedroom.

Chayla beamed at him from the bed that had been one of her birthday presents. They had set it up in the corner and her hands were smoothing back and forth across the chicobo sheets she was under. He padded over on socked feet and crouched to place a kiss on her forehead. "All set?"

"Daddy? Are you mad at Lena?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad?"

Chayla suddenly wouldn't meet his eyes. "You didn't call but she came anyways. She came to be with us. But she don't know about…" she glanced up briefly. "about what happened. You didn't tell her."

He settled down on his knees and ruffled her hair. "She doesn't need to know sweetheart. She can still be your friend without knowing about that."

"Why can't she know?"

"Because she wouldn't understand. No one would understand."

"Why?"

"Because they… don't have what you have. They would be jealous, if they saw. They'd want to take them away from you."

"Can't they get some too?"

Squall mouth twisted in a bitter smile before he could control it. "No, Chayla. They can't. So we have to keep it a secret, okay?"

Chayla's mouth turned down into a pout but she nodded. After a second her own grey eyes turned back to him. "But you're not mad at Lena? For comin'?"

"No," he said in reassurance. "I'm not mad at Alina."

"Can we go to her house?" Chayla asked.

"Maybe. But she's living with her sister now."

"Is it a wicked sister or a good sister?"

Squall shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to ask Alina about her." He tucked a strand of black hair away from her face before getting to his feet and moving to the bigger bed a few feet away. Chayla turn onto her side and closed her eyes as he sat on the edge of his bed to pull his socks and shirt off and then turn the sheet down so he could slide in.

He was reaching for the lamp when arms encircled his waist and a weight pressed against his back. He flinched before freezing. "Finally, a bed all too ourselves," Rinoa murmured. The voice was soft and sweet, the arms a solid weight.

"Daddy?" Chayla had opened her eyes again and was looking at him, waiting for him to turn the light off. She gave no indication that she could see Rinoa's arms around him or the movement of her leg twining over his. Rinoa breathed against the spot between his shoulders and made a humming sound. Then she was gone, like she had never been.

"Everything's fine," he croaked and clicked the lamp off. Darkness enveloped the room and slowly, he laid down.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Until the End Playlist, Song 2: Broods – Bridges