AN: Short chapter, gomen, but it is one half of a complete epilogue, so... ;)  Anyway, I will be very very surprised if I get this ~and~ the final chapter done before tonight, but hey, managed three chapters in one day before my holiday, so miracles may happen :)

Rating: R maybe PG-13 (R in standing with ff.net's policy of picking the highest rating)

Disclaimer: SG characters are (c) MGM (thankie to Morrigan for that :p).  FF8 characters are (c) Squaresoft, original characters are mine – ask nicely and I might let you play with them, s'long's you don't break them...

Warnings: SxS Maybe angst (I do like to torture my characters sometimes :p), language (prob nothin u ain't heard b4, but still...)

~Chapter Forty-Two: Dreaming's End : FFVIII Epilogue~

"So.  Now what?"  Jack wondered aloud.  Daniel suddenly swore.

"I never got a chance to tell you!"  Shaking his head at his own thoughtlessness, he continued.  "The reason I could only bring back SG5 and SG7, was because the SGC had just received word from the Tok'ra that two G'ould motherships were on the way.  Courtesy of some G'ould called Den'Tok."  Jack and Sam looked stricken.

"If it's any help," Seifer drawled from one side. "Den'Tok was the one I just killed."

Would it help?  Daniel wasn't sure, and said as much, starting to explain the reasons it might ~not~ help, before realising no one was listening.  The situation had taken on an ethereal, almost dream-like feel.  Or nightmarish, depending on the situation back on Earth.  But this was why they had gambled, wasn't it?  To gain the allegiance, the aid of these powerful fighters and their sorceresses.  Jack seemed to have the same thought.

"We helped destroy the mothership here.  Will you help us destroy those that threaten our world?"  Hyne smiled.

"It is already done.  Maybe you should return home and see?"  Her words seemed to echo from a distance, and yet they were all SG1 could hear.  In a daze they turned towards the stargate, watching as first SG5, then SG7 stepped through.  With barely a pause, Sam, Jack and Daniel stepped into the wormhole and vanished.

***

There was silence as the stargate deactivated.  It was just the four of them now, the redundant SeeDs clearly having sent back to their various Gardens by either Hyne or Edea.  The silence, of course, didn't last long...

"Irvy!  Quisty!  ~There~ you are!"  Selphie hurtled into the room, sounding and looking relieved as she dived at Irvine, nearly knocking him over.  Zell ran into the room close behind her, but whilst he mumbled something about being glad Quistis was safe, he refrained from attacking her as Selphie had Irvine.

"Holy...!"  Zell exclaimed, jumping as the stargate turned to dust before their eyes.  All attention switched to the glowing form of Hyne.

Fear not, my children.  She breathed into their minds.  Its use is done, as is mine.

"But..."  Selphie leapt on the latter part of the statement.  "You can stop all the fighting.  You can bring peace..."  The bouncy brunette looked quite crestfallen at the thought that Hyne was not going to do just that.  Squall couldn't help but remember the girl's conviction that Vinzer Deling had also wanted peace.  She had been sadly mistaken that day in Timber too.

Peace is something that must be learned, not forced upon those who are not ready for it.  Selphie bowed her head at the finality in Hyne's tone.  But rest assured, one day peace ~will~ come.  Until then I will wait, until I am needed, where I have always waited.

With that the mist that was Hyne began to thin and spread out, sinking into the ground and the walls.  The four SeeDs  watched in awe, never noticing as Squall and Seifer, Hyne's two knights, also began to quietly make their escape...

***

Quistis watched as Hyne slowly vanished back into the planet, feeling a sense of loss as the being dissipated...  No...  The feeling of loss was too familiar...  She turned...

They were gone!  Squall and Seifer had just vanished without a word.

Hot tears in her eyes, and an ache in her heart, Quistis left Irvine, Selphie and Zell contemplating the last traces of Hyne's presence, and hurried out of the excavation site.  Surely they couldn't have gone far...

***

"Squall!!"  The cry skittered after them through the darkness, made ragged by the night wind, and the emotion choking her voice.  Quistis.  They should've known the blonde instructor would refuse to fall for the distraction trick twice.  "What if we need you?!"  Seifer snorted softly.  Oh yes.  What if they needed Squall.  They still refused to believe that they could ever need him.  Even as his expression turned bitter, he felt Squall's leather-clad hand latch onto his shoulder, squeezing softly.

"We'll likely know we're needed before you do."  There was a definite weight on the 'we', and a definite end to the subject in Squall's response. 

Quistis was left to gape after them as, like all good heroes should, they turned and faded into the night without a trace.  They knew the world was better left to go on without them.  Unless they were needed once more.  But like Squall had said, the chances were that they would know of any need long before the needy did. 

Twin smirks were spared for each other as they reached the coast, travelling with the swiftness and lightness of the wind itself.  Squall knelt and touched a finger reverently to the still ocean surface. 

"Let us pass."  He whispered.  For a moment the world stilled, considering their request, then the sea too seemed to smirk, for it split to reveal a narrow dry path away from the ruined continent. 

Side by side, Hyne's two knights walked fearlessly into their future.

AN: *sniffles* I love this ending... but then I like the ending of the next epilogue as well :)  Prepare for some last minute plot twists *smirks*

Seifer: Yay!  She didn't kill us off!

Zephyr: *frowns* I don't ~always~ kill you off

Squall: No, usually ~one~ of us cops it though

Zephyr: *sulks* can I help it if I'm jealous??  *sniffles*

Zell: And what was it with me and Quistis?  Are we?  Aren't we? What??!

Zephyr: Gah, shut up, the lot of you – at least the stargate crew don't give me this grief...

O'Neill: *mutters* depends what happens in ~our~ epilogue...

Moroboshi: *watches bouncing* *falls over dizzily* @_@  Glad you liked it, you'll be even happier to know that it's nearly finished!!

Myeerah: yeah, a conversation like that ~would~ be very interesting.  hope you like the concluding chapters as much as you seem to have enjoyed the story so far :)