Parallel

Illusion's End

Squall and Rinoa calmly made their way through the desolate city. They had decided to take a walk, thinking it might help Squall to reminisce a little better. However, despite the rather nice walk they were having together, a comforting taste of the past to Rinoa – nothing had really come up pertaining to any memories. Still…she was happy just to enjoy the time with him.

As they got to about halfway down the path, Rinoa stopped walking – a thought recently coming to mind that she couldn't help but wonder about.

"Squall…?" she asked, a hesitation in her voice.

Squall stopped walking and looked back to see Rinoa staring at the ground. She looked scared; worried - a clear look of concern across her face as he looked at her.

"…Do you think…we'll ever make it back home?"

"What?" he asked, surprised by such a question.

Rinoa sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment – another memory of home coming to mind as she thought about her friends back there waiting for her; waiting for them. She had promised to return with Squall. By now, they would surely be in a panic that she was taking so long. Sure, they had no clue what all had gone on since she'd gotten here – but, it wasn't like she had expected any of it either. She really hadn't been here all that long and already she could feel this world getting to her. It was rather uncomforting, at the least.

"Home – back to Balamb Garden," she said, as she held her hand to her heart, "I just want to know. I haven't been here that long, but it feels like forever."

Squall tipped his head in question before putting his hand on his side as he looked away for a moment.

"What about that thing you said…about how you wanted time to stand still?" he remarked.

Rinoa sighed at his quoting her as she looked at the ground again.

"…That's not what I meant…" she said, shaking her head, "I'm happy to be with you again, Squall – you and me, just like this. I'm glad you're starting to remember. It makes me happy just to have this moment with you right now."

She looked at him again as he stood there in silence still in the same position. He looked a bit disappointed, but she thought it was just because he might be thinking again. She didn't want to upset him with what she was saying, but even though they were getting to spend time together like old times, here – in this empty world; their own world – she couldn't help but long for home; long for how things used to be when they were together everyday.

She looked back down again, afraid that she might have said the wrong thing or chosen a bad time to bring it up. Still…it had been what was on her mind – and she couldn't help but ponder it; the fear and worry of never seeing home again suddenly seemed so real to her. After all, Squall had practically been trapped here for a whole year – who was to say she wasn't now either? She had come here to rescue him; save him from this strange otherworld and bring him home to his friends – to her. Now, however…the longer they stayed here – the least likely that reality seemed. She didn't know why that was…but, she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

"I'm fine with forever, Squall – but, not here," she admitted, a clear tone of nervousness in her voice as she spoke, "This isn't where we belong. I just want to go home. Don't you?"

She looked at him – the fear she held more than evident in her eyes as Squall thought on her words for a moment. He had never considered it, but now it made sense. All this time he was trying to remember his life with Rinoa back home, he had never come to realize the true source of his problem; the whole reason he could have possibly forgotten so much so easily: how he'd ever arrived here, where he'd come from – his whole life with Rinoa. All of it, gone – just like that. It suddenly hit him so hard that he couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before.

He turned away from her as he sighed to himself.

"…I don't know." he said, in a solemn tone.

He looked up at the sky – the dark, ominous clouds his ever-expected, familiar greeting as they loomed overhead menacingly. Just looking at them, he suddenly felt so trapped now.

"To be honest, I've been here so long…I've forgotten what home looks like."

Rinoa sighed once more at his words as she looked at the ground again. Squall may have forgotten where he'd come from – but, she hadn't…yet. As she stared at the ground, her lack of a shadow brought up every memory she could recall: her friends, her family, Balamb Garden – they were all back home waiting for her; waiting for them. They had to get back soon.

Rinoa stood straight again as she looked toward Squall once more.

"It's beautiful," she stated.

"What?" he asked, turning back toward her in confusion.

Rinoa smiled lightly at him as she stepped past a little, looking at the sky. Despite its overbearing and monotonous appearance, above many other things, she was still able to find it happiness when comforted by thoughts of life back home.

"The trees, the air – everything. It's all so beautiful; so perfect," she said, "Flowers blooming, people walking around all over – it's so full of life."

She looked back at Squall.

"Much better than this, wouldn't you say?"

Squall folded his arms as he looked away again – a serious expression coming over his face.

"…I guess so." he mumbled.

Rinoa looked at him for a moment – his cold, mundane reaction to such things as she described a great trouble to her. Had he really been gone so long that he not only forgot about home, he didn't care to think about or remember it? This world had become his reality: trapping him under this dark blanket of a sky as his memories were slowly stripped from him one by one – and yet, he didn't seem to care. She had to wonder if, even were he to suddenly remember it; remember everything…would he even want to go back in the end? She worried for him horribly. She didn't want this world to become all he'd ever know anymore. His reaction to everything now only served to fuel her thoughts on later: would such become her view towards things as well should she remain here any longer? It was a terrible thought that plagued her mind, but one she couldn't afford to ignore just the same.

"Squall, I'm scared…" she said, her voice shaking a little.

Squall looked at her upon hearing those words.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Rinoa took a step back a little as she could already see her previous fears coming true. Squall's response to her statement only revealed how right she had been. If he couldn't already detect what she had been referring to – it only proved exactly how accustomed he had grown to this world. The look on his face: that stern, distant appeal in his eyes - it filled her with a sense of unfamiliarity and uncertainty. Squall had changed, whether he knew it or not – and not in a good way this time.

As she stood there, staring at him in silence as her fears quickly became their reality before her eyes…she felt for him – felt sorry for him; sorry for what had happened to him: how he had become a prisoner of this distant world, locked away for an indefinite extension of time – this endless void of a realm binding him to it tightly as it would gradually peel away the memories he'd made over the course of his life. She felt sorrow….but, also anger; anger at allowing himself to fall victim to such a monstrosity. He hadn't noticed; hadn't seemingly cared that those memories, irreplaceable as they were, had been stricken from his mind while he continued to linger recklessly in this nightmare of a prison – sleeping away carelessly until, at last, not even the faintest glimmer of a memory could be found. For a moment, she wanted to yell; wanted to let it all out and tell him what he had let himself become: an empty shell devoid of life and hope – wandering aimlessly through this hollow and desolate world without a care.

However, despite her current state of mind, she refrained. Though it was clear to her that time was certainly not on their side, she couldn't bring herself to come down on him in such a way. Since she'd arrived here, he had tried; struggled to regain those very memories he had once held deep within his mind and heart – finally able to begin dragging them out as she would help him through the process. She couldn't blame him – as much as a part of her wanted to. It wasn't like all hope was lost. They could still get home; get out of this lonely realm and return to the world they'd always known.

Rinoa looked at him closely as she now spoke once again.

"I don't want to end up that way: forgetting who and what I am. I don't want to stay here. I just want to go home – with you.

Squall turned his head away once again upon realizing what she was saying.

Rinoa leaned forward, crossing her arms over her stomach as she felt sick with such.

"Please," she begged, quietly, shaking her head as she looked toward the ground.

Squall didn't reply for a moment – the hesitation in his mind and heart; the regret pulling at him again for the effect everything was taking on her. He had been here so long that he could no longer truly feel the weight of this dying world; the effect it took on those unfortunate enough to inhabit it. Rinoa, however – though he couldn't tell exactly how long it had been, as time was practically non-existent here, the amount she had spent here had clearly been long enough to begin to pull at her like it once had him. Her fear of forgetfulness: becoming a hollow shell as she slowly became unable to recall those memories she'd just recently relayed; of becoming like him – it quickly consuming her as she could feel the burden this world bore upon them.

Squall turned his head back toward her as she stood there, still in a folded position – like she might collapse to her knees at any moment from her state of mind. He hated seeing her like this. She looked so vulnerable; her innocence playing out again as she stood there, practically pleading for him to say something; comfort her as this fear overtook her. He could only sigh as the sight became too much to bear.

"…I don't know," he said, regrettably, "I don't know if there's a way back, Rinoa. I'm sorry."

Rinoa tried to calm down as she felt tears roll down her face once more. She then recalled another moment in their lives – perhaps the most important one of all. It had held the most promise; most comfort for her out of all of them and she had kept it at the front of her mind every moment since.

She looked at Squall closely as she stepped toward him, cupping her hand to heart once more – her voice soft and timid as she spoke.

"…Squall…"

He looked at her in question upon hearing his name.

"Whether or not you remember it yet, you made another promise to me," she explained.

"Hm?" he asked, looking at her intently.

Rinoa sighed as the memory of their day at the flower fields outside Edea's Orphanage froze in her mind: the warm sun, the flowers blooming as far as they could see – everything about that moment had been perfect. They're promise of reunion to each other had only served to make that time together even better.

She lifted her head again as she looked at Squall closely.

"…You promised that, should anything separate us or I was ever in trouble – you'd be there for me. That if I went looking for you, I'd find you – no matter what happened." she said, in a quiet voice.

Squall dropped his head as he appeared to be thinking for a moment. That moment sounded so familiar to him, but he couldn't quite recall it completely.

He looked at Rinoa again as she took a deep breath.

"…You promised to protect me." she said, softly, as she could feel the tears that memory brought to her eyes.

Squall gasped lightly to himself before looking away once more – the recollection of that moment finally coming to mind as he was filled with regret yet again. The pain Rinoa suffered from him having forgotten everything – even down to her name, pulled at him harder and harder each time he was finally able to recall anything. He hated constantly feeling the weight of such guilt – but, what else could he feel? He had let her down in a way he'd never intended; never expected to. How could he ever make up for it?

"I know what I said…Rinoa," he said, in a low voice, "I just…"

He suddenly cried out as if he was in pain as he fell on one knee.

"Squall?" Rinoa asked, in a panicked tone, as she knelt down beside him, "Squall, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Squall sat there – unable to respond as he was overcome with a strange sensation in his head: a loud ringing as he closed his eyes tight, wincing at the pain he suddenly felt as it all began to come together; every recollection of his life: his friends, Garden, his time as a SeeD – and every moment he'd spent with Rinoa, all came flooding back to him at once in an instant. All those fragments of his memory – the shattered shards rapidly piecing together from the single reminiscence of his promise with Rinoa at the flower fields: his promise to always protect her should the whole world come to hate her for being a sorceress; his promise – to be her knight.

Suddenly, it all stopped. The pain left his head as fast as it had hit him; the ringing now unheard as he sat there in silence – taking it all in: everything that had just come back to him.

He breathed heavily from the pain he'd felt as he slowly lifted his head to see Rinoa kneeling next to him – a look of sheer fright and confusion clear on her face. He shook his head lightly as he slowly stood up.

Rinoa looked at him with concern as he stood holding his hand to his forehand for a moment as he closed his eyes.

"Squall…?"

Squall took a deep breath as he finally relaxed – looking at Rinoa again as their eyes met. It reminded him of that night at the SeeD inauguration ball right before she had asked him to dance. How he had seen that star shooting in the night sky only seconds before noticing her across the room – the smile forming instantly on her mouth as she pointed towards the former, signifying she had seen it, too. It was the first memory he was truly able to recall on his own in the longest time – and he smiled as it came to mind.

"Rinoa," he said, as he embraced her tightly.

Rinoa held him close – her hope for them to regain what they'd once had together finally becoming a reality once more as she cried to herself at the whole event.

"I let you down," he said, in a shamed tone, "I'm sorry."

"I've missed you, Squall," she replied, softly, as she kept crying into his sleeve, "I've missed you so much."

She was overcome with joy – this time, a certainty in this sensation that it wasn't for nothing. He had truly, finally remembered – however it had happened. They were really together again as they had been before this whole thing started – the real feeling of his arms wrapped around her once again as he held her close, filling her with the happiness only this moment could ever provide. It was all she had ever desired; all she could ever have wanted or needed – and it had finally come. Even now, as they stood embracing each other in this otherworldly realm, the comfort and security she'd felt in the past overtook her again. Right now, she didn't care where they were. Squall was with her – the way she had remembered him; remembered them. That was all that mattered to her.

They slowly let go of each other – Rinoa wiping the tears from her eyes at the joyous moment they'd just had. It was the reunion she had envisioned – and, thought a bit late…it had still occurred.

"Thank you…Rinoa," he said.

She nodded in response – seeing it in his eyes as she looked at him closely once more: the evidence of the promise remembered; that promise to always be by her side and protect her no matter what. That promise of reunion they had made to each other in the flower fields that day four years ago. It was all there. She could see it clearly as she smiled brightly at him again.

"Let's go…Squall." she said, a hint of question in her voice.

Squall smiled back at her, unhesitating, as he nodded in compliance.

"Yeah."

As they started walking, a presence all too familiar appeared before the SeeD yet again.

"The time has come," Ultimecia said, as she folded her arms and smirked, "Are you finally ready to accept the fate that lies before you? Or do you still insist on fighting it?"

Rinoa looked at Squall in question as she saw him staring ahead - the presence of the malevolent entity unseen by the young sorceress.

"Squall? What is it?"

Squall refrained from even looking at her as he glared at the sorceress before him - Ultimecia just smirking as his silence answered her question.

"I see," she said, with a sly tone, "Unfortunate, it is. However…I suppose it must be comforting to know your nobility shall not be in vain. A lion's pride is not easily shattered, after all."

She seemingly fled, leaving them there alone once more as Rinoa glanced from the empty space before them to Squall.

"Squall?" she asked, worriedly.

The SeeD slowly turned toward her in silence, ultimately deciding against saying anything in the end. Why bother trying to explain something he himself still stood to barely comprehend?

"...It's nothing," he mumbled, "Let's go."

They started walking forward once more when they were interrupted, yet again, by a tremor that seemed to shake the whole of the desolate world.

Rinoa shrieked from the surprise of it all as she quickly grabbed onto Squall – a strong surge of fear sweeping over her as two held each other tight. Squall looked up at the sky just in time to see Ultimecia reappear in her true form - the very appearance she'd taken on during their final battle with her to prevent Time Compression four years prior. She sat there, floating high above the cold and quiet realm, as her voice echoed throughout.

"Time on the brink of collapse as fate descends upon you. This world shall know eternal despair as it shatters into oblivion – the calamity rapidly absorbing it back into the depths of nothingness."

At that moment, Squall and Rinoa witnessed the start of the world's collapse as the ground began to crack - giant crevasses forming throughout the distant world as chunks rose into the air. Squall looked up to see the clouds whirl rapidly around Ultimecia – the sorceress proudly commanding the destruction as everything appeared to be sucked into the sky - a void of sorts appearing where the gateway that had brought Rinoa to him had once been.

"SQUALL!" Rinoa screamed, as she buried her face in his shirt and closed her eyes tight.

"COME ON!" he yelled.

He grabbed her hand and tore off down the path as the destruction began to follow right behind them: buildings tumbling over, the ground rapidly cracking behind them as they moved forward - the world continuing to collapse into oblivion as they made their way through the city as fast as they could.