[A/N YAY! I was finally able to tie everything up and come up with a simple explanation for Area. =) I hope it isn't confusing. XD *Joy, joy, joy...* I'll have the next chapter up when I'm done, which won't be for a while, I'm hoping to make it a long one. ^^]

I gave up... I failed Rinoa... No hope is left... I will just die here... But how come... I feel stronger?

Squall blinked a few times and he opened his eyes. He saw that he had collapsed and tried to remember what happened. He only vaguely remembered the pain and the stinging at his head.

Now what...? Do I continue?

He tried to stand up. He was surprised to find that he could, quite easily. When he did, he realized that he wasn't at the dark place he had been in before, instead he was at... Esthar?

'Remember Tears' Point.' Squall remembered Rinoa telling him that.

Is it possible? Is it possible that Rinoa was the one who... saved me again?

He shook his head and blinked another few times. It looked like Esthar... Only in an earlier stage, and... there was no one.

Everything was empty and there were no people. Could it have been Area's fault?

He began the long walk to Tears' Point and possibly, Area.

______________________________________________________________

"Okay, Selphie. Now where are we?" Quistis asked her friend.

"Um... I thought you knew." Selphie squeaked.

Quistis and Zell and Irvine sighed.

"Oh, really. You know I'm bad with directions and stuff." Selphie protested meekly.

"Where are we supposed to go anyway?" Zell asked them.

"I already told you! Only Squall knows!" Quistis said, exasperated.

"Why didn't we ask him?" Zell asked.
Quistis felt like strangling him. "Because we went into time compression too fast." She sighed.

"Hey, come on! We've got love, friendship and courage, right? So aren't we supposed to be able to do this?" Selphie asked.

"Yes, but we don't know where we're supposed to go." Irvine reminded her. "Those things are useless without knowing that."
"They're not useless." Selphie said. "Come on, people!"

Quistis didn't know what to say.

Maybe we should just... give up.

______________________________________________________________

This is it. Or at least I think this is it.

Squall was looking at a building that looked like Tears' Point but he wasn't sure. It wasn't as big and it was dark too.

He stepped inside, cautiously.

He walked a few more steps, and realized that it was Tears' Point but that it also looked strangely different. It almost looked like a prison.

"Finally, you arrive." Squall heard a quiet voice behind him followed by a laugh he knew all too well.

"Area..." He said and turned around.

"So you already know of me. Very good. That should save us time." Area said. "I assume, that traitor, told you about everything."

Traitor...? Who is she talking about?

His confusion must have been shown on his face, as Area frowned at him.

"I see the traitor didn't tell you." She smiled. "Who is this traitor, you ask?"
Squall remained silent, not knowing what she was getting at.

"His name is Laguna. Your father." Area's face showed true anger.

What about Laguna? Just because he turned her in?


"What did he do? All Laguna did was turn you in for what you did." He retorted.

Area laughed. "That fool did not tell you everything. I assume you did not know that when he turned me in, that just a day before I thought he loved me."

WHAT THE HELL?!?!

Squall was shocked and did not understand any of what Area had just said.

"A bit confusing is it? Well, let me put it this way: Love can kill. My love for him... It will kill him. His love for me... it has died and now he will too."

If I understood everything correctly, that means that... Laguna was having an affair with Area?!

Squall must've still looked confused for Area went on, "You are very slow..." Squall clenched his fists but allowed her to continue.

She frowned. "Pathetic SeeD. Before you die, I will explain to you." She truly looked evil as she told Squall about her past. "...That traitor, Laguna and I had met before... We were together... We were in love... or that's what he told me." She turned away from Squall. "That was how I knew about Ellone. Laguna told me about her and when she turned up at Odine's Lab, where I worked, I knew it was her."

"That brat, Ellone, had probably told Laguna or something. All I know is, he found out and he traded Ellone for me. He told on me and I was brought here, where I was kept." Squall knew then that he was right when he thought that Tears' Point looked like a prison.

"...But I still had... a little something I had made. A little magic, if you must." She smiled. "It was from Odine's results on that girl, Ellone. But it didn't work quite right. It was supposed to bring me to the past so I could get my revenge on Laguna. It didn't work." Her voice rose.

"I was confined for life in here. I was still locked up when something happened... One day, I saw monsters crashing down from the sky and a lot of lights. The Lunar Cry, I thought to myself. Then later on, something strange happened in this place and I felt well... compressed. Then suddenly, I felt pain and then I found myself, in your time. I saw Laguna, I saw his son and... I saw the sorceress."

Time compression... That's what she was talking about. But it wasn't supposed to affect her... Only me and the others. That magic she had with her must have had a strange connection to time compression and somehow it triggered it to bring her to our time... It's all beginning to make sense...

"And... for that... Laguna will die and his son..." She turned back to Squall, her eyes blazing like black fire, "will perish."

[A/N Bad BAD BAD ME! Cliffhanger! I love cliffhangers, I bet you do too. *Yeah, right* =P]