"Right now?"
"Yes. They should arrive in a few minutes, Squall."
"But I still don't understand how..."
"Don't try to understand. Just don't shut her out; listen to everything she tells you."
"How can you expect me to trust her?"
"Because I was there, Squall. You trust me, don't you? I witnessed what happened to her. I just......"
"...Ellone?"
"Goodbye, Squall."
"Ellone.."
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The side doors of the cerulean shuttle opened. Out stepped two men in uniforms of similar color who then stood on either side of the opened doors. Out stepped the familliar figure of Laguna. He turned his back to the assembled group positioned not too far away, and helped a small woman to the grounds of Garden. She was pale, almost colorless; her raven-colored hair providing vast contrast to the pallor of her skin. She wore a black skirt, an oversized sky blue sweater, and delicate leather sandles. She had a demure feeling about her which showed in her shy expression.
Laguna stood to the side of Raine, her hand locked onto his, and looked at Squall and the others. They seemed about as defensive as he had felt when Raine entered his office the day before. He wondered if he was doing the right thing by throwing Raine to her son after all she had been through. Was she really ready? Should he have given her more time to heal? And Squall...it was enough of a shock to introduce himself as his father, but now Raine had come into the picture as well. God, how thankful he was that his prayers were answered, but was he rushing things so soon?
Raine squeezed his hand once as her eyes fell upon her son. She noticed a young girl in blue beside him with her right hand hidden in the back of his jacket. Raine grew warm inside with love for her as well, knowing she was the one her son loved. He seemed to have turned out just fine by what Laguna told her, but now it was even more pleasant to picture her son saving the known universe from an evil centuries away.
Squall looked sternly at the woman, studying her features. It certainly looked like the Raine he remembered from his trips to the past, but... He couldn't place a name on the feeling, but something just didn't seem right about her presence. But...damn, he wanted to believe it was her. We wanted, perhaps more for Ellone than for himself, what Ellone had sent him to the past for: a happy ending.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Of course I knew that this wouldn't be easy for you to comprehend. You were only four months old when I left you back in Winhill, after all, or else you would recall that I was quite healthy when you last saw me," Raine's eyes were pleading for Squall to understand her words, but his own were vacant of emotion. "...What more can I say to convince you?"
"I want proof," Squall murmered. "You can sing and dance about how you never died, but who's to say you're not an imposter out to take advantage of the feelings of Esthar's president?"
Laguna reached into the chest pocket of his shirt and pulled out a yellowed, folded sheet of paper. He handed it to Squall.
"This...?" Squall began to ask as he unfolded it and started reading what was written upon the paper.
"It's from Odine's lab," Laguna explained. "He still had the vow of silence she signed all those years ago. How's that for proof?"
"I..." Squall whispered as he finished reading the document. He recalled Ellone's words she said to him during their conversation earlier. Ellone witnessed it, too. So that meant ...
"I...think that my head is going to explode from all that's happened in the past few weeks."
