Alright, folks... this is the last chapter. It's kind of lame, because I just didn't know what to do with everyone now that there's no conflict... well, read on... complain later.
Chapter 19 - The Return
As soon as the Ragnarok's ramp lowered, everyone scurried out like there was no tomorrow, beyond eager to be enveloped in the comforts of home.
Seifer was the first to run out, determined to locate Quistis as quickly as possible. They'd talked the entire ride home over the transmitter, but he needed to see her before he determined that she wasn't having a panic attack, or anything of the sort.
Selphie and Irvine emerged next, arms around each other, looking at each other like they had just done anything but witness the death of the world's current most threatening enemy, and wanted nothing more than to reach a private room.
Laguna scampered out next, the Materia Gauntlet in hand, being overly cautious not to touch it 'the wrong way'. Zell tailed him, making sure that Laguna had help if he did touch it 'the wrong way'. He had no idea what would happen, or what he would do, but it was comforting for Laguna to have someone else there to share the potentially disastrous results.
Squall and Rinoa were the last ones out, holding each other as they walked, as though one might fall to the ground without the other. Rinoa was still a little banged up, but her sorcery had healed the majority of her injuries after Quistis had deactivated the barrier in the ruins. If they'd waited any longer, she might have lost too much blood.
After arriving, Rinoa spent about two hours in the infirmary, allowing Doctor Kadowaki to run whatever tests she wanted, knowing that the results would be perfectly normal, as they were.
Rinoa left the infirmary, Squall supporting her as she walked, though he knew she was fine and needed no support.
"Let's head to my room," Rinoa suggested quietly. "I want to change out of these bloody clothes."
Squall proceeded to walk her there without a word. There were many questions that were surfacing to his mind now that all of the madness was over, but he wasn't sure where to begin, and if it was even appropriate anymore.
"Have something you wanna ask, Squall?" Rinoa chuckled, sensing his thoughts easily.
Squall scowled for a moment. "Are you always going to be doing that?"
"Not if it bothers you," she replied simply. "I mean, I can pick up these things without effort, but I can turn it off if you want. I know it bothers you. Consider it done."
"Thanks."
"But, really, what did you want to talk to me about?" she insisted.
"Well, a few things, I guess," he began, "like... why did you come to Garden that day, when we were at the research center, demanding to know about the gauntlet?"
Rinoa sighed. "Well... it sounds kind of weird. The day I left I met this man... he said he'd been searching for me and for some reason, he had all of this information about the gaunlet. He really was quite vague... he didn't want to tell me a lot about how he knew about it, but he said something about a man he once knew a long time ago, and how he had done something horrible. My guess is that this man he was talking about was the same guy Eve was talking about.
"Anyway, he pretty much told me what to look for, like the glowing eyes, for example, and he told me that I was the only one that stood a chance against the one who sought the gauntlet. I don't really know how he came to know about all this, but he was right."
"You don't know who he was?" Squall inquired further.
"All I know is that he looks like a vampire and his name is Val. Well, that's his nickname, anyway."
An eyebrow shot up at the word 'vampire', but Squall decided not to ask.
"Anything else?" Rinoa asked.
"Did anything happen with Zone?"
Squall could have kicked himself. He hadn't meant to ask like that... in fact, he hadn't meant to ask at all, for fear of sounding petty and jealous. And he certainly didn't want to sound suspicious of her.
Rinoa smiled half-heartedly. She wasn't sure that Zone asking her out was even worth mentioning. Nothing even came of it, and mentioning it would only cause tension between Squall and Zone. Like it wasn't there already.
"Not really," she finally responded. "He cares about me, Squall, but nothing happened. We will never be more than friends."
She released a breath, satisfied with her response. She didn't lie, and hadn't needed to, for that matter.
Squall nodded. "I shouldn't have asked, but I'm glad to hear it. I'm sure you know now that I told the truth about Eve... that nothing happened."
"I know, Squall," she said, smiling. "Anything else on your mind?"
"Well..." he began, smirking. "I guess I want to know if this is official once again... us, I mean."
"That you can even ask that after what happened when we left the infirmary that day..." Rinoa trailed off, trying to sound offended.
Squall grinned. "Just fucking with ya, Rin."
"Oh, was that all it was?"
Squall laughed. "I didn't mean... nevermind."
Rinoa chuckled, opening the door to her room as they arrived. Stepping inside, her eyes fell to a small folded piece of paper on the floor, probably having been slipped under the door. She bent down and picked it up.
Unfolding it quickly, she read the contents aloud:
"To Miss Heartilly,
I heard what happened at the ruins, and I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. Maybe we will run into each other again in the future. Until then, take care.
Val."
"How the hell did he find out already?" Squall demanded. "And how the hell did he get in Garden?"
Rinoa shrugged, snatching clean clothes from her half-packed suitcase. "The guy has ways..."
"Whatever..." Squall mumbled, suddenly distracted by Rinoa beginning to change her clothes before him.
The chamber was a lot colder, it seemed, since everyone left. Or maybe it was the loss of blood that was occurring that made it so chilly.
Eve didn't know. All she knew was that she was still alive, and she shouldn't have been.
Opening her gleaming eyes, she peered up, her eyes settling on a faint and blurry glow above her.
Where was it coming from?
Slowly, her eyes began to adjust and focus, and the glow became clearer. It was a soft white glow that began at the hilt of the long katana, and went down... all the way to where it had penetrated Eve's body. The area around the wound was glowing, too.
Miraculously finding strength, she reached up, carefully grasping the blade from behind with both hands, as the hilt was too far out of her reach. Getting a hold of the sword from the blunt-edged side of the blade, she braced herself.
Slowly, she pulled the sword up, then moved her hands back down the sword, grasping a new portion, and pulled up again, and finally out of her chest.
The sword still glowed in her hands, and, astounded, Eve sat up, her eyes darting between the glowing sword and her still-glowing wound, which was rapidly closing before her eyes, to her astonishment.
When the wound was closed, the glow faded and Eve brought the hilt close to her face, inspecting it thoroughly, amazement all over her face.
There it was. Right there at the very bottom of the hilt.
How could she have not seen it before?
Probably because she hadn't known what it looked like before, and thought of it as nothing but ornamental.
But now she knew better.
It was materia. Small white-tinted translucent stones that wrapped around the very bottom of the hilt in a single line. It had healed her... the very weapon that had injured her, and fatally, she had thought.
Eve stood up, still significantly weakened from the battle, and glanced outside the chamber through the open door. The sun was rising, meaning it had taken the materia at least fourteen hours to heal her, if not longer. Maybe days. She didn't know. It was obviously not significantly strong materia, but it had done the job and she was grateful.
Slowly, she began to pace back and forth through the chamber.
The Materia Gauntlet was gone, of course. She knew better than to suspect that they might have forgotten about it.
She stopped pacing and held up the sword again, examining it once more for anything else she might have missed. She was damn amazed that the previous owner of the sword had been so thorough and prepared. Even arming his armament.
She briefly gazed at her reflection in the blade, seeing the glow of her eyes. It was weaker than it had been before, but it was there.
Sighing, Eve sat down on the floor again, her back against a wall.
As of now, she wasn't sure about anything. She didn't know what she wanted to do. She thought back to the last moments of the battle, to Rinoa looking down at her with glassy dark eyes, to the tears falling out of her own eyes.
The remorse had been genuine. There was no question. Eve hadn't meant to let things get so out of hand, to let herself be so easily manipulated.
But it had happened, and everyone paid a price for it.
She had tried to stop it, but when she began to explain things to Rinoa, her will had failed. Her mouth involuntarily fabricated a story, her apparent history, with only portions of the truth revealed.
They may never know.
Surely, she would be attacked on site if she were to approach Garden. Chances are, even if she did get through, she would lose control again. Her will would once again deteriorate. He would take over.
For now she had no choice but to lay low. To let them think she was dead.
At least for a while.
A/N: It's finished. I know it fell off toward the end there, but there's a reason for it, lame as it may be. I've been so eager to start on other stories, that I was in a bit of a hurry to end this one, so we must suffer a crappy last few chapters. So... Eve lives. You haven't heard the last from her, just so you know. Anyway, again, hold your criticism, because I'm gonna go though it and do some editing and small changes here and there... Feel free to drop lines and questions as reviews... I'll read them and may even respond on the review page. Or you may email me, I suppose, at
Now, on to the thanks and responses (I may not get to answer everyone, though)-
DBH- You get top billing, my friend. Thanks so much for your loyalty and reviews. You are my hero. But, you already knew that. Keep in touch, and keep your eyes peeled for new stories. I may not do FF8 immediately, though, so you have my permission to wait for the next FF8 story, if you wish. :)
Rinoa Leonheartilly- Thanks for stickin' with me, and for reviewing the chapters religiously! I hope you still enjoyed it up to the crappy end!
TrinForever- I love your story, by the way. Thanks for reviewing from so early on, and I hope you're still with me! Watch for more stuff! I'll be sure to keep tabs on your stuff, too!
yummychocolatexD- Well, your reviews were certainly some of the more enthusiastic, and for that you have my gratitude... that's the kind of stuff that kept me motivated to write more. Thanks a bunch!
Frederikke Neergaard- I appreciate that you gave me constructive criticism while always expressing that you were enjoying my story. Thanks for that. Hope to see your reviews on my next one!
DoubleMoon- One of my favorite authors and reviewers! It was a great pleasure to review your stories, and an honor to see you review mine. Keep up the great writing! And also, thanks for the references to my story you gave everyone! I'm so glad I impressed you that much!
DBZ Fanfiction Queen- Yet another great author that took the time to read and review my story. Thanks so much! Oh, and thanks for holding the criticism... I know it was pretty bad toward the end there, but hey... I tried. Thanks again!
Chris Ganale- Yikes... I'm sorry if I re-opened fresh wounds there. I know all about those situations. I wish you well. Hope you got some enjoyment out of the story, anyway! If you didn't, I understand. Thanks for reading!
Lung- YOU ROCK!
starquestor- YOU ROCK, TOO!
Knighted- Thanks for all the reviews! If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have come close to 100.
I'm too eager to post this, so I'm gonna name everyone else here:
THANKS SO MUCH to tainted-gump, Rikke Leonhart, shortie630, xInsanoBananax (great name!), Calicat 1, silverkitsune3 (you rock, too!), Rebekka, Angelprinczess29, Quisty878, Griever (that's still the nicest thing anyone's said!), lendmemoni, and Littletiny.
I FCKING LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
Slartibartfast- you're such a dork. love ya!