I feel a little bit restrained, writing a version of Confessions of the Creator focusing Squall and Lightning. However, that was my choice, so I don't really have the right to complain. I just hope you guys won't mind the fact that I'll try not to stray too much from the original plot.

-

It didn't take us much time to find the gateway we were looking for. And there was no doubt it was the one, all of us could feel some sort of powerful presence deep inside. That was one thing I learned the hard way, to always trust my instincts when they told me that something was going on.

Before we entered it, though, Kuja spoke. Not using his usual confident and annoying tone, but a rather concerned one. Perhaps he was a little more sensitive than the rest of us, because he really sounded worried.

"We would do well to find quickly whatever we're looking for in here. There is something grave happening in Onrac, and I fear the more we waste time, the worse it will become."

"According to the information we've been gathering, it was around here that the Mured Moogle went missing. Perhaps he knows how to break the seal between the continents."

Lightning answered, explaining what we were looking for the whole time. However, Kuja looked into her eyes, disbelief all over his face, and once again spoke in a concerned tone that really didn't match his character.

"Whatever lies in here, it can't be a mere moogle. It's something else entirely."

For him to be acting so strange, perhaps things were much more complicated than I first thought. However, I wasn't afraid of what I was going to face. With the combined strength of me, Lightning, Jecht and Sephiroth, it would take some really though monster to bring us down. Don't know if Kuja would make much of a difference, though.

Sure, he defeated me once in the twelfth cycle, but I had just awakened. And he wasn't really all that strong when we fought again in the thirteenth. No offense, really, but to me he was the weakest of our team.

-

As to be expected, there were a lot of manikins inside that gateway. Strong manikins, unlike even those that we found traveling errantly around this world now. Since we were in a hurry and would rather just make our way than bring down every last one, I decided to stay behind right on the second floor, in order to make sure we wouldn't be surrounded on our way back.

The others agreed and went forward. I just hoped that this place didn't have too many floors, otherwise it would be a real pain in the neck getting to the very bottom of it. Nevertheless, I kept fighting until the last one of the damn dolls was down, then went after my allies. Unless there were even more manikins in the lower floors, they should be quite ahead of me.

The third floor was empty, which was a relief. However, the next one still had manikins, but not many, since most of them were slain by the warrior who remained there. Lightning. Watching her fight was always a beautiful sight, she had a unique style, blending her skills with both gunblade and magic in a deadly combination.

I didn't just stand there in awe, of course, for there were still quite a few dolls remaining. Only when all of them were destroyed we spoke. However, this time I was the first to say something.

"You really haven't lost your touch. Still fights as fiercely as in the days when we served the goddess of harmony."

"Those were difficult times, but I've kept many good memories from them."

"What sort of memories?"

"Memories of fighting side by side with you. Of all the time we spent together."

It is surprising how many memories even I came to cherish from a time when I was doing little more than fighting in a mindless conflict. I still remember the names and faces of all the other warriors, and actually wouldn't mind going in another mission with them.

And of all those who fought alongside me, Lightning was definitely the one I cared about most. So much that I couldn't think of any other way to describe it other than love. Yeah, I loved her, and I had to deal with it.

"Are the others further down, Lightning?"

"I guess they are. I remained here to keep the path clear, just like you did."

That meant we should probably follow them and help bring down any other manikins in the place. That would be the most logical thing to do, considering all things Kuja said. However, that wasn't what I really wanted to do. So instead, I quickly pushed Lightning against the wall near her and kissed her lips.

Our kiss lasted for a long time, that's all I could tell. Maybe it didn't even last a whole minute, but it felt like an eternity.

"Quite the sneaky one, aren't you? Let me show you what happens when someone tries to pull a surprise attack on me!"

Lightning's voice sounded menacing, but there was a smile in her face. And if I recognized that smile as much as I thought I did, then certainly I wouldn't be getting away. Neither did I want to, just hoped there were enough manikins in the lower floors to keep the rest of the group busy for a long time.

-

When we finally met again, the other guys had already found the so-called Mured Moogle, which indeed had the appearance of one. However, just like Kuja said, it seemed to be much more than just that. That was no regular moogle, but I couldn't tell what was so special about him.

When we finally found out that he was none other than Cid of the Lufaine, the son of a gun who set up the whole conflict of the gods, our problems finally became alarming. It turns out Chaos isn't really dead for good in THIS particular world, and guess what? He wants us to take the freaked out god of discord down.