The ringing came suddenly, interrupting a nameless dream and catapulting him suddenly into the now-familiar temporal limbo. For a few moments, he saw nothing but blackness.
Ellone? he thought. What is it? Why now?
Then, the darkness slowly dissolved, and he was looking through another man's eyes....
Man, I never thought being president would mean all this paperwork, Laguna moaned. His desk was covered with reports, contracts, requests, receipts, and some papers he could not even recognize. Don't I get a secretary or something?
Standing on the translucent floor a few meters away, Ward snorted.
I am not being selfish! Laguna exclaimed. I just think I could get a lot more work done if I had some more help around here.
Oh, shut up!
The door at the far end of the room slid open to admit Kiros, still wearing his traveling clothes instead of the goofy-looking' Esthar garb. Laguna could not see his face from across the room, but somehow his companion gave off the impression that something had gone wrong.
Laguna did not notice at first. he exclaimed, bolting from his seat. Where's Ellone?
Kiros shook his head solemnly. I don't know.
The words stopped Laguna dead in his tracks. He forced the words past the growing lump in his throat as a million scenarios occurred to him at once. He staggered back to his desk, nearly tripping over the chair.
Kiros sighed, looking down at the floor. When I got to Winhill, Laguna...did you know that Raine was pregnant?
Laguna bolted up out of the chair once again. P-p-p...Raine? No, of course I didn't know! What —
He froze. In all the years he had known Kiros, the other man had never raised his voice. Something was very wrong.
There were...problems, Kiros continued. Laguna, she...Raine died just after the baby was born.
Laguna felt as if he had fallen off the cliff in Centra all over again. His legs gave out completely, and he missed the chair, collapsing onto the floor. His head was swimming, and his vision blurred with tears. he choked.
The people of the town sent Ellone and Raine's baby boy to an orphanage instead of keeping them in town. They wouldn't tell me where.
Laguna was doing his best to take in all the information, but it was all too much. Raine...she can't be...we had so little time together! I wanted...is Elle okay? I can't imagine what this must be doing to her. And Raine's son...my son. I have a son!
I might never see any of them again.
Kiros asked. Are you all right?
Laguna shakily raised himself to his feet, facing his two comrades. He swallowed hard. We have to find my son.
Kiros stepped forward. Laguna, I know how you feel. But where do we look? The townspeople could have sent him anywhere. And — he continued, before Laguna could argue, you've got responsibilities here. Esthar needs you.
But what about Elle and my son? Laguna demanded. Dammit, I don't even know his name! He's already lost his mother; I can't let him grow up without a father too!
I'm sorry, Laguna, but you have to, Kiros persisted. There's no other way.
Ward agreed.
Laguna looked at his two comrades. They were telling him to abandon two of the most important things in his life, one of which he had just learned he had. How could he just let the go?
But he knew that they were right. He had already lost them.
I'll find him someday, he promised, sinking back into his chair. I've got to.
- - = = = = - -
Let's talk when it's all done. I have a lot to tell you.
Now, Squall was looking at himself. He was standing in the Ragnarok's observation room with a slightly confused expression. Behind him, Kiros and Ward were looking out the windows, trying to act like they weren't listening.
Laguna made a conscious effort to keep his hands at his side. Wouldn't do to look nervous, not now. Well, if you don't want to hear it, I'll understand.
What is this? Squall demanded. I know you're trying to tell me something, but I don't understand!
As if in response, the world around him disappeared once again.
Is something the matter?
Laguna shook his head, ignoring the buzzing as best he could. No, just the faeries.
Edea looked a bit confused, but did not press the subject. I'll certainly try to help in any way I can, she said. If anyone comes here with this girl, I'll be sure to send a message to you in...Winhill?
Laguna nodded. That's right. Oh! He removed the dog tags from around his neck and, unfastening the string, removed a ring from between the two metal plates. It was a simple steel ring, except for the likeness of a roaring lion carved into it. The name GRIEVER was engraved on the band.
Take this, he said. That way, she'll know it's me.
...!
- - = = = = - -
Squall sat bolt upright. The light streaming through the window in his room nearly blinded him, but he barely noticed.
She couldn't mean...Laguna...he can't be.... Blinking furiously, Squall looked down at his hand. For an instant, he felt a wave of relief as he saw that the Griever ring he had seen was not there. It had all been a dream.
Then he remembered. Rinoa had the ring. But nonetheless, the Griever symbol was there, staring up at him from the medallion hanging from his neck. And on his gunblade case. And the weapon itself; they had been a set which he had bought from the Balamb junk shop, because they matched the ring.
But...it can't be! He can't be my — He shook his head vehemently. This is a trick. It's some kind of joke. It has to be!
But his own mind was working against him. He remembered that time in the Ragnarok, when Laguna had said those words.
Kiros had said he looked like his mother.
Then he had told him that Ward said it was a good thing he didn't look like his father.
How else could they have known?
Will Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, and Selphie Tilmitt please report to the main entrance, the intercom asked, oblivious to his plight. Squall obligingly struggled to his feet and straightened out his uniform as best he could — he had not bothered to change — and tried to put the discovery out of his mind.
He couldn't.
- - = = = = - -
The clouds rushed by the windows as the Ragnarok sliced through the upper atmosphere on its way towards Esthar. Far below, the cliffs of Nortes were rising out of the sea and poking into the clouds, looking to be little more than puffs of smoke. Above, the moon could be seen clearly though what thin air existed at this altitude. Save for the faint whining of the engines in back, the ride was completely silent.
More than once, Squall had found himself inwardly stunned by the beauty of the airship's flight. Today, however, his eyes were fixed squarely on the deck in front of him. Alone, he sat in the foremost chair of the observation room, not two meters from where Laguna....
His mind was racing. Why didn't he tell me sooner? Why didn't he ever come for me? He leaves me alone for seventeen years, and then wants to have a talk? What is he expecting? That he, Sis and I will all sit down and be a nice, happy family? I've never had a family; I don't even know what that means.
Sis...Ellone. Why did she tell me? How does she feel about all this. She's obviously not too upset about being separated from Laguna for seventeen years. Does she expect me to feel the same way? I never even met him until a couple weeks ago. I think he's a moron. How am I supposed to accept him as my....
Suddenly restless, he stood, and began pacing back and forth across the width of the room. She's expecting me to do something now. Maybe she wants me to be the one who tells Laguna that I know and I forgive him, or something like that. Maybe Laguna's in on this to, so he doesn't have to tell me face to face. Dammit! What do they expect from me? She just dumps all this on my head without a single word of explanation and expects me to take it all in step?! How can I do that? What am I —
The voice cut through Squall's thoughts like an Ultima knife. Just as before, it rang silently, seeming to resound off the inside of his head. But this time, it seemed...different. Quieter, more resigned somehow.
All that remains...is memory.
Ultimecia. The words she had spoken just prior to her defeat within the blackness of time compression. The creature she had become then could no longer be called human, and its voice was far from the harsh, hate-filled tones of her human self.
And she had never finished that sentence.
A flood of images slipped into his mind, like stray thoughts looking for a place to roost. Most of them he did not recognize, but he could see the bar in Deling City, with Julia Heartilly at the piano. Five kids clustered around a rocket, watching it shoot into the sky. A slightly younger Rinoa, feeding Angelo on a hot summer's day. Ellone, Ward, and Odine chasing each other around the doctor's office. Lapin Beach at Dollet, with the Black Widow looming over him. Raine and Ellone talking while he hid down the stairs. Quistis in the Secret Area, declaring herself no longer an Instructor. Cheering crowds as he rode down the streets of Deling City, gunblade held high. A Moomba looking curiously at him as he sounded out his name. Seifer's gunblade arcing down at his head. Balamb Garden sailing overhead as Raijin hauled himself out of the water. Himself, in the Presidential Palace, seen through another man's eyes. Rinoa, smiling at him on the balcony during the victory celebration.
The images kept flowing, and Squall did not try to stop them, nor did he pay them any heed. And for the moment, Laguna was forgotten. Was Ultimecia haunting him? Was she trying to tell him something? What was she trying to say?
I wonder how everyone else felt about her? Did they condemn her as an evil Sorceress to be destroyed like some monster? I'm pretty sure Zell thought that way. What about the others? Or the rest of the world? When this story gets out, will a single person stop to wonder why she did the things she did?
Or will I be the only one who cares?
One last memory came to his mind. A beaten and weary Ultimecia was standing in front of the orphanage, barely able to support her own weight. I can't...disappear yet, she said, her voice barely a whisper, as Edea walked over to her.
Feeling suddenly drained, Squall sat down once more, burying his head in his hands. I have to understand. I have to know why Ultimecia wanted so badly to achieve time compression. I have to know what made her our enemy.
Maybe then, I can finally move on.
Oblivious to the turmoil within its passenger's mind, the Ragnarok began to descend over the Esthar continent, preparing to rejoin the world below.
END OF PART THREE