I've forgotten the disclaimer on about half these chapters, I noticed. You knew the characters weren't mine, right? And no one here is getting any money?

That out of the way, allow me to thank the lovely reviewers who warmed my heart and fed my ego: Pixie518 and Xineko for their help writing this; Darksquall for her enthusiasm; Brightspark for getting scared; KNW for not pulling punches; Hopemia who is the sweetest fangirl in the world; Chrissy Almasy who stayed with me from the beginning but who has no email so I can't thank her privately; Verdanii who made my day by calling me 'Chickie' even though I'm old enough to be her mother; Fliss, who laughs at my jokes; Mata and Harlequin1 who not only didn't mind but also seemed to like my cliffhangers; Hikari Heijin and Dead Like You for taking the time to review, and ZerdaFirestorm for agreeing to wait 3 years to read my other fics. Thank you all so much. Many smoochies to the real Acid Rain, who wrote all the really scary bits.

This is the heavily censored version. Still contains yaoi, though.


Epilogue


Seifer

Bradley Butterfield made a complete recovery. Kadowaki sent him home with his folks, anyway, and it's still up in the air if he's coming back.

Iblis won't be returning. As a personal favor to Squall, Laguna Loire tucked a certain wizened black heart into the works of a new weather satellite. Iblis is now in high orbit, well out of range of anything that could conceivably bleed for him. I would have done the victory dance, but being gut shot made it a bit rough.

Kadowaki had the four of us evaced out, since we'd made a mess of her nice Infirmary. Things are a little blurry after that, but it seems there are a lot of useless parts just taking up space in a man's gut system, like an appendix and a gall bladder, so it worked out all right.

Every time I woke up in the hospital, someone was warming the uncomfortable looking chair by my bed. Zell was there a lot, restlessly drawing, trying to capture the images of Quezacotl's realm and not go stir crazy. Irvine, too, once the greenstick breaks in both his legs set, and the girls and once even Mr. President himself. Squall when they'd let him out of bed, which wasn't often, as he was pretty messed up, too. Made a guy feel all warm and fuzzy to have so many people fretting and fussing. Ok, that was the drugs.

We all earned 30 days R & R and repaired to one of Loire's Presidential Retreats. He offered his seaside joint, but Zell pointed out that was like vacationing at Ma's without the cookies, so instead we ended up in the mountains near a river full of, you guessed it, fish. Funny how things come full circle.

Zell took Loire's advice and visited the little Artist's Village down the hill. Soon he had taken over the workshop out in back of the cabin and was creating a stained glass image of Quez. Loire took one look at the partially completed project and commissioned Zell to do 6 more.

I was supposed to stay in bed the whole month, but damned if I was serving time alone. Squall was curled beside me, naked and sulking because Irvine had caught him drooping and sent him up to me for a nap. I could hear our resident mother hen limping around the kitchen, singing and cooking up something that smelled terrific. I hoped I'd actually be allowed to eat some this time, instead of that baby food crap they'd been feeding me. You want to know why babies cry all the time? Try tasting that shit.

Squall huffed and rolled over. He'd been in a mood these last few days. I smoothed down his chocolate colored hair and said, "Talk to me."

"I hurt you," he whispered after a while. "I killed you."

"So? It wasn't you, it was Iblis. I've hurt you plenty of times."

He went silent, thinking it over. "Every time you hurt me… you were possessed by something evil: Iblis or Ultimecia."

Not sure what he was getting at, I said, "Yeah, and so were you, so if you aren't pissed at me, why wouldn't I forgive you?"

"Not every time." Squall traced the scar on my face with his fingertips.

I resisted the urge to sigh and roll my eyes. So that's what the angst was all about. I'm the first to admit I don't really have a firm grasp on the concept of guilt, but I knew it and Squall went way back. And who knows what poisoned thoughts Iblis had started in Squall's murky mind?

"One lucky shot! You got under my guard. Once."

"I'm sorry."

"Make it up to me." I smirked at Squall's startled look. "Blow job."

Squall arched an eyebrow. "Blow job?"

"Sure, you want to apologize and make me feel better, don't you? Oral sex is the perfect apology. Think about it, doesn't getting a little head always cheer you up? Have I ever complained about a blow job?"

Silver eyes glinted with amusement. "Not about receiving one, no."

"There you have it. Get to work." I grinned at him.

He settled between my legs. "Are you even cleared for sex, Seif? I don't want to hurt you." The 'again' was left unspoken.

I groaned. "I've been in bed with one or the other of you guys for over two weeks and haven't gotten laid yet. Have some pity, Leonhart."

Squall mmmmed. Then he kept humming, a nice little technique that can make a lesser man beg in seconds. I lasted about a full minute.

Squall cleaned up and snuggled under my arm, his head on my chest. I toyed with his hair and thought that life could not get better than this.

"Wake up, Boys," Irvine said cheerfully. He was standing at the foot of the bed, wearing nothing but a small gingham apron and carrying a tray of truly delicious smelling food. "Supper time!"

Zell appeared in the doorway behind Irv. He was in his naughty nursie outfit, which consisted of a nurse's cap and microscopic white shorts decorated with a red cross. Zell held up a large sponge. "And after that, bath time!"

Okay, life could get a little better. Always room for improvement, I say.

Finis