Epilogue: Waiting Until the End
Am I . . . Alive? Again?
He opened his eyes, and was filled with a sudden rush of vitality, as if everything that had hurt and injured him was suddenly wiped clean. He had been staring at the pale moon, hearing his name screamed as he felt blood run down his clothes and thousands of points of pain all across his body. Now he was looking out across a white void, empty - yet filled with possibilities.
"Irvine?" Selphie's voice echoed through the void, and the sharpshooter rose, turning, and he saw her rushing across the emptiness, her image blurred and trailing behind the tiny SeeD.
"Selphie!" Irvine responded, smiling. He moved toward her, hearing his voice echo across the emptiness all around him. She collided with him, pulling him into a hug, and he returned the favor.
"I thought you were dead!" she exclaimed.
"Me too," Irvine said. "I remembered being stabbed with all those blades, and then I was here . . . ."
"Ultimecia, she was choking me," Selphie said quietly. "She started hitting me with magic, and my skin was burning. Now . . . ."
"Are we dead?" Irvine asked.
"I don't think so," came another voice, and both SeeDs turned to see a confused Zell jogging across the void toward them. Closer, however, was Quistis, walking toward the pair as well, looking around the white expanse.
"Hey, what is this place?" Zell called, his words echoing. No one answered him as he got closer.
"We all died," Quistis added as she got closer. "I was consumed by Griever's magic."
"And that bastard threw me into the ocean," Zell added. "At that height, even water can kill. I hit, and then I woke up here."
"Me too," added another voice, and the group turned, to see Rinoa walking toward them, her eyes distant, as if looking at something far away. "Griever use that high-powered magical attack on me again, and I couldn't survive it. Everyone else, all of you died before me."
"Then, Squall was the only one left?" Selphie asked, and Rinoa nodded.
"Did he win?" Zell asked. "I mean, Ultimecia's powerful, but this is Squall we're talking about here. Nothing can stop him, right?"
"I think he did win," Rinoa answered, looking away. "I think time is restoring itself."
"Then all this is what?" Irvine asked, gesturing toward the emptiness.
"We died," Rinoa said, nodding to herself. "We were the only people left besides Ultimecia and Squall in time compression. I think our spirits weren't fully absorbed into time like everything else was."
"So we're stuck here?" Selphie asked, and Rinoa quickly shook her head.
"We're outside of time, but we can return," she answered firmly. "We have to know where we want to go."
"Back to the orphanage!" Zell declared.
"Back to our orphanage," Quistis added. "We don't want to go into the wrong time."
"But, what about Squall?" Irvine cut in.
"I . . . don't know," Rinoa relied. "He was outside of time when it was restored, I know that. He won against Ultimecia, but I don't know what happened to him afterward."
"He's probably just waiting for us at the orphanage," Selphie cut in. "We go there and he'll be waiting for us, right?"
"I don't know," Rinoa replied, shaking her head, and starting to look worried. "But he promised he'd be there, waiting for us, and for me. Let's go. I have to see if he's there . . . He has to be there."
"Then let's move," Irvine said, and Rinoa nodded. She closed her eyes, and together, they willed themselves to return home, to the place they were all connected to by their pasts and those they cared for.
The void had enveloped Squall for what felt like an eternity. Slowly, the SeeD rose, shaking his head, and looked out upon the emptiness surrounding him as he did so.
Where am I? I won, didn't I? Time has been restored?
He looked around the void, searching for his comrades, but he saw nothing. After a few moments, he closed his eyes, and began to focus, remembering what Laguna had said. They would have to return to the place that was closest to their hearts: the orphanage they had all lived in as children.
He envisioned the growing ivy, the crumbling, ancient stone, the scent of the wooden floors, the vast flower fields stretching into the horizon, the waves crashing on the beach . . . And he opened his eyes, inhaling the sweet scent from the flower fields, and the orphanage opened up before him, appearing all around him.
"Squall, wait!" came a call behind him, and he turned, eyes flashing over the white stone walls. The orphanage was restored, perfect, exactly as he knew it from when he was a child.
But something was wrong. It wasn't supposed to be this way, was it? No, he had ended up somewhere else.
A short figure dashed past Squall, with a mop of dark brown hair, an orange shirt, and bright blue eyes. Squall turned, seeing the child race by, and stop, putting his hands on his hips as he looked out across the vast flower field beyond the orphanage.
"I'm going to find Sis!" the boy proclaimed, and the memory rang out clearly in his mind. Squall's eyes widened as he realized who they little boy was.
That was me . . . . thirteen years ago. Ellone had been taken away, and I was all alone.
The young Squall dashed off into the flower field. Squall considered chasing after the boy for a moment, stopping him, but he remembered clearly what happened next. He had run out into the field, but had only searched for Ellone for a few moments, before he had come back to Matron, worried sick about his sister.
"Wait, Squall!" came the voice again, and Squall looked at the speaker, to see a slightly younger-looking Edea rushing out of the main living room of the old house. She sighed as she looked around, shaking her head. Edea looked to Squall, momentarily surprised to see him standing there, and then looked back out toward the field.
"Did you see a boy run past just now?" she asked, and Squall nodded.
"Don't worry about him," Squall replied. "He won't run very far." Yeah, definitely thirteen years ago. I picked the wrong time?
"I think so too," Edea replied, smiling slightly. "Poor child. He just lost his sister. I can understand his feelings."
There was a whisper of wind, carrying feelings of despair and sadness, and dark resignation, and Squall whirled, drawing his gunblade. Lionheart slid into his hands, the return to the real world restoring his new weapon to his grasp, and Squall stepped defensively in front of Edea. He saw what the figure was, approaching through purple mists and flames, a haggard, bleeding creature, too damaged to even be alive. He knew what it was, judging by the carmine robe and body paint.
"Still alive?" Squall hissed as he looked upon Ultimecia as she slowly strode forward.
"A Sorceress?" Edea asked, and Squall nodded.
"We had defeated her," he replied. "She must have followed me here . . . ."
"Its alright," Edea assured Squall, putting a hand on his shoulder as she stared at the ruined Ultimecia. "She is dead. That Sorceress is merely looking for someone to pass on her powers to before burning away. Human souls cannot die while possessing the powers of Hyne, and so a Sorceress must walk as an undead creature until it finds a suitable vessel."
"I understand," Squall stated. He knew what needed to be done.
"I will take her powers," Edea added. "I do not want one of my children to become one of them." She calmly strode forward, toward Ultimecia, who looked up, her eyes, now dead orbs of gray, seeming to focus on her.
"I . . ." she hissed quietly. "I cannot . . . Disappear yet. My powers . . . ."
"I will accept them," Edea replied, and Ultimecia's body smiled slightly, and raised her hands.
"Be at peace," Edea whispered, and closed her eyes. Purple light flowed from Ultimecia's body to Edea, striking her repeatedly in a series of bolts of raw power. Edea shuddered with each strike, and Ultimecia seemed more and more diminished with each jolt, until the last blast flowed between the two. At the same moment, both Sorceresses dropped to their knees, but Ultimecia dropped further, onto her face, where pink and purple flames erupted around her body, quickly consuming it an leaving not even a trace of ash behind.
Squall rushed to Edea's side, helping her to stand, and sat up, looking at Squall, her eyes glimmering for a moment with the power she had absorbed. Something passed between them at that moment, a sense of understanding. Squall understood now where much of Edea's power, and Rinoa's subsequent powers, had come from. This understanding was somehow transferred to Edea, and she caught the import of what she had done.
"Is this the end? The end of your battle?" she asked, and Squall nodded.
"Yes," he agreed. "Most likely."
"You called me Matron," she whispered as Squall helped her rise. "Who are you?"
"A SeeD," Squall replied after a moment, speaking honestly. He knew now why Cid had known, and why Cid had founded Garden at this point in time. There was a reason why Squall had come to this time. "From Balamb Garden."
"Garden?" Edea asked, and Squall nodded.
"Garden protects the world from the Sorceress," Squall explained. "It trains SeeDs to fight them when they become corrupted by their powers. It was both your idea and that of Cid's. Or at least, that's what I always was taught."
"What are you saying?" Edea asked, still confused.
"My name is Squall," he explained. "Squall Leonhart." Edea's eyes widened.
"You are that boy, from the future?" she asked, and Squall nodded.
"It's a very long story," Squall explained. "But its over now, Matron."
"You must return to where you came," Edea said after a moment. "You do not belong here, you know that?"
"Yes," Squall replied. "I was supposed to come here, but this was the wrong time. I'll leave now." Squall heard footsteps on the pavement, and turned, to see his much younger self dashing up the cobblestone path towards them.
"Matron!" the young Squall shouted. "I can't find Sis!" he stopped in front of Edea, his eyes obviously filled with worry, but trying to hide it. The adult Squall didn't miss this.
Funny. Even as a kid I tried to hide the weaknesses in me . . . .
"Who's he?" the child asked, looking up at Squall.
"No one important," Edea replied, dropping down beside the child and rubbing a hand in his hair. "You should forget about him." She turned back to Squall. "Can you make it back from here?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Time is still repairing itself," he said, mostly to himself. "And besides, I'm not alone. Not anymore."
"Is this . . . Home?" Selphie asked as they looked around. They stood in the ruined orphanage, the walls crumbling and broken all around them. Zell poked his head through a door leading out of the main living room, and saw ruined marble columns and broken flagstones scattered across the property, overgrown with grasses and weeds.
"Looks like it," he said, stepping outside. The others followed him, moving across the ruined landscape, but taking note of the dark pall over everything. Rinoa looked up, and saw the clouds overhead were thick and dark, ominous and filled with flashes of light and swirling eddies of wind.
"What's going on?" Quistis asked, and Rinoa shook her head.
"Something's wrong," she whispered. "Time hasn't fully sorted itself out yet. Its like there's something stopping it. Some kind of unfinished task."
"You think it might be Squall?" Irvine asked, and Rinoa nodded after a moment. She suddenly ran forward, around one of the ruined buildings and out into the expansive flower field beyond the houses. She looked around quickly, and couldn't see anyone standing in the field.
"Squall!" she cried, her voice reaching out across the expanse, but no response came. She called his name again, louder and more urgently, but still heard nothing. The only thing that moved was the swirling storm clouds overhead and the flashes of light.
"I don't think he made it," Quistis whispered behind Rinoa as she stepped out into the field with her. Rinoa adamantly shook her head.
"He's out there somewhere!" she responded, and suddenly took off, running across the field. "I have to find him!"
She dashed out into the center of the field, and turned, looking around.
"Squall!" she cried out. "Where are you? You told me you'd be here! I'm waiting for you! We all are!"
There was no answer, not even an echo, and Rinoa stood there silently for several long moments. There was no response at all, and Rinoa waited for what felt like an eternity, before finally nodding.
"Squall, I know you're out there, somewhere," she whispered, and closed her eyes. "And if you can't find me, I know I can still find you."
Time was still compressed, though rapidly restoring itself, and she could still step through it, she new. She turned back to her comrades as they followed her across the field, and held up a hand to them.
"Wait for me!" she called out. "I'll be back soon!"
"Where are you going?" Quistis asked, but Rinoa didn't answer, instead clenching her fists, taking a breath, and melting away into time like sand blown away by the wind.
Squall was back in the void of time, willing himself to return to that place. He knew where the others would be, and he understood that they would come to him if he called to his comrades.
He called out to them, yelling their names in the darkness, reaching for them, thinking of each of them as he tried to bring them to him. But something was wrong. It was as if they were beyond his reach, some place where Squall's voice could not touch them. He desperately cried out to his comrades, and reached out across time with his mind, seeking them. The SeeD cried out to Rinoa, calling to her as well, but heard nothing in the emptiness, nothing but silence and nonexistence.
Where are they? Am I alone again? Why can't I reach my friends? Zell? Selphie? Irvine? Quistis? Rinoa? Rinoa! Can you hear me? Is there anyone out there?
Squall grasped at the void, looking, seeking any kind of voice or presence, but he could see nothing, he could feel nothing. It was as if time had simply left him behind, in the void after it had passed, alone and forgotten. The thought of that jolted him, and he almost let loose a scream of denial when he felt something give within the void.
One second there was nothing, then there was something. His feet touched ground, solid dirt. Squall spun, looking around, and took in what was little more than a flat, barely rolling plain of stone and cracked dirt, stretching off into the distance, as far as he could see, in every direction. Squall turned around a few times, trying to get his bearings, but he could see nothing definitive about the landscape before him. The sky overhead was a dark gray-green color, and swirling with some kind of wind or weather he wasn't certain of. Squall could hear nothing in the empty, lifeless plain stretching out all around him.
After a few moments, Squall sighed, and picked a direction. This plain existed, so it had to lead somewhere. He might as well get moving. He put one foot in front of the other, and strode off across the plain.
Hours passed, and Squall continued walking nonstop. Nothing seemed to change as he strode, not the way the plains rolled away or the color of the sky. He continued walking on and on, but as each minute passed it became clearer and clearer that he wasn't going anywhere. Squall closed his eyes as he moved, not bothering looking ahead with his steps anymore, and as time began to pass, a weariness struck him.
Squall Leonhart was a resolute, determined person, but something had worked into his mind as he walked, a sense of despair and resignation. It wasn't so much that there was nothing he could do as much as there was no effect that his actions could have on his future. Every step was utterly and completely meaningless in this void.
Squall opened his eyes as his steps began to falter, and saw he was standing on the edge of a precipice overlooking a gray expanse of nothing. It took him a few seconds to really register that he had reached an edge, and Squall turned around.
He froze in place as he saw that the plain had somehow been reduced to nothing more than an island before him. The dirt was now nothing but a small island Squall stood upon, overlooking the gray stretch of emptiness.
Squall felt his legs give, and he dropped to the dirt. Somehow he remained sitting up, despite the slackness and weakness overcoming his entire body at that point. Despair and resignation swelled up inside Squall, though he fought to keep the feelings down. He knew, in his heart, that it was over for him. He was trapped, on an island in the emptiness of time itself, lost forever.
"Rinoa . . . ." he whispered after a few moments, wishing he could see her face again. It was several moments before he noticed something floating through the void, directly toward him, turning along nonexistent air currents. He reached out to the tiny object as he saw it, his eyes widening. It was a feather, a pure white angel feather.
Rinoa? Squall wondered as his hand grasped the object, and as he touched it, Squall felt a sudden surge of images and memories assault him. She was reaching out for him, he realized, trying to find him too, and in his mind's eye he could see it, see everything.
The sun was setting on the flower field, and Squall could see her just ahead, looking away, the white angel wings on the back of her coat standing out against the light blue of her outfit. He reached out to her, and called her name.
Rinoa didn't respond, and he cried out again, more desperately. She began to turn, and Squall started to take a step toward her, when the world began to blur into a gray pool of flowing darkness and emptiness around her.
He saw her in the Estharian space suit, tumbling through space, face blurred by time. He saw her at the inauguration party, flickering into and out of existence, her blurry face smiling warmly at him, like it had so long ago. She took a step toward him and vanished.
Squall caught the image of his ring flashing past, flickering with flaming lights and the clash of metal on metal, and he saw her face, suddenly replaced by the stomping, deathly specter of the Galbadian war machine he had fled from in Dollet. The machine shuddered as Quistis, the flash from her cannon's muzzle on her face, cut it down in a rain of fire. He saw Zell pumping his fist to urge Squall on, Rinoa's horror-filled expression as she saw him impaled, Selphie tumbling down a rocky slope, and Irvine smiling as he hefted his rifle to his shoulder. Ragnorok whipped past, cannons blazing as it assaulted the Lunatic Pandora, the air battle raging beyond. Rinoa smiled at him, her face blurring once more as her hair flew in the wind, and then she was being dragged by Seifer toward Adel's tomb. Squall saw his fists crashing into Seifer's face, and then his rival was replaced with an extending hand as he saw Rinoa reaching for him as he fell of the float, an icicle buried in his chest. As each image flew past, the sensations associated with them, heat, coldness, aching pain, happiness, fury, determination, burning heat, sweat running own his face, perspiration stinging his wounds, rippled through him at a thousand situations in a single second.
Then, everything suddenly stopped as Squall found himself inside the ballroom of Balamb Garden, alone with Rinoa. She walked toward him, as she had when they'd first met. But as she closed in, her face and body burned away into the gray emptiness, accompanied by the twisted strands of the ballroom music. She returned to that place, and walked forward again, before vanishing. She approached again, and again, and as she neared, the room began spinning. Rinoa stood before him, her blurred, faceless body turning in the swirling maelstrom, laughing, smiling, screaming, crying. He focused on her, trying to reach out to Rinoa, and he saw a thousand moments with her flash past, each one faster than the next, over and over and over and over again and again and again. The images blurred together until he could only see eyes, those of Rinoa, then Seifer, then Edea, then Ultimecia, then Zell, and Selphie, and Irvine, and Quistis, and then others he didn't know, flying by faster than he could comprehend them. Squall felt his mind burning, his soul compacting as he saw Rinoa's figure form within the blurring eyes, leaping toward him, arms outstretched. He reached out to catch her, and then he was in absolute cold, frozen in the void of space.
Rinoa hovered before him, her space suit's visor shattering, and exposing blue lips and cold, gray skin, that of death and nothing more, his ring floating in the void just before her face.
Squall screamed, an overwhelming, instinctive desire to deny and grieve at the sudden image that seemed so real before him. Tears exploded from his widening eyes, and Squall was suddenly free of the chaos and the confusion, dropping onto his back, whiteness overcoming his vision and consuming him within time.
His hand released the feather he had been grasping, which drifted down to the dirt beside him, silent and still in the void.
My last night here with you
Same old songs, just once more
Her footfalls sounded throughout the empty plain as she walked across the hard, cracked dirt. She drifted through the fog, brought here by his calls, following his thoughts through time. She used his memories, rapidly closing in with each thought, homing in on him from across the breadth of time. He had sought her out many times before to save her, and now it was her turn to seek him out and save him.
My last night here with you
Maybe yes, maybe no
The fog parted before her, and she saw him there, still, silent, unmoving. Slowly, Rinoa crouched next to him, lifting his head. She stared into Squall's still, peaceful face as he lay there unmoving, not even breathing. It was as if he had given up completely, dying in body as he had died in heart. Slowly, Rinoa reached forward, running her hands through his long brown hair. She whispered his name, but there was no response.
I kind of liked it your way
How you shyly placed your eyes on me
She had been too late. She had reached out to him, a tiny strand of herself touching his mind, and had ignited a firestorm of memories, using each one to close in on him across time. Rinoa had used her powers to bring her closer and closer, but as each thought flashed through his mind, the stress had grown. The memories had given way to despair. And in despair, Squall Leonhart had fallen where no mortal wound could hurt him.
Did you ever know
That I had mine on you
Rinoa knew this, and she understood what had happened. Emotions surged through her, and she pulled Squall's body close, hugging him tightly. She felt the tears start to erupt from her eyes, when a sudden surge of warmth struck her, and she felt something, a breath of warm air from his lips on her cheek.
So let me come to you
Close as I want to be
Sunlight struck the void, and grasses replaced cracked dirt. The thunderclouds above gave way, rapidly expanding outward, letting light flood through the gap and illuminate the flower field. Winds chased the clouds, and threw up thousands of loose petals from the field, filling the air with multicolored strands of light, reflecting every glorious ray from the sun.
Close enough for me
To feel your heart beating fast
Rinoa looked up in wonder, and realized that they had succeeded. Time had been saved, and with their final reunion, everything had been repaired. She turned her eyes back toward Squall, and suddenly felt a hand gripping her arm, and saw his blue eyes, open in surprise and wonder and disbelieving hope as he saw her.
And stay there as I whisper
How I love your peaceful eyes on me
"Squall . . . You're . . . ." she said, her mouth opening in a joyous smile.
"I waited for you," he whispered, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
"I came for you," she responded, pulling him tightly to her as well. "I wouldn't let you go. I'd never let you go, Squall. I never will."
"Me neither, Rinoa," he promised firmly. "Me neither."
Did you ever know
That I had mine on you?
Two weeks later . . . .
It bobbed on the clear blue waters, unmoving except with the lapping of the waves on the harbor. It sat there, still, undisturbed, peaceful and calm and unmoving.
That was the damn problem, Seifer Almasy thought as he stared at the little red and white bobber, indicating whether his fishing line was being assaulted by the ever-deadly Balamb Grouper, a fish reputed to lay low the strongest men if it wasn't cooked right.
He sat back, shaking his head as his butt rested on an overturned fish bucket, one which was being used as a seat since nothing else was ending up in it. He had been out here for three hours without a bite yet, and was getting understandably aggravated. Fishing demanded patience, and Seifer was not a patient person.
"Ooh, yeah, I got another one, ya know!" came a shout behind Seifer, and he looked back over his shoulder. Raijin stood, fishing pole in hand and with another damn fish on the hook. His bucket behind him had a half-dozen more unfortunate fish, which he'd been catching regularly all day.
Seifer stood up and growled something in anger, and threw his pole down on the deck, more out of frustration than anger at Raijin for being better at this than him. The big bear kept dancing around, waving his fish in the air, and Fujin, standing behind him, arms folded behind her back, seemed less than amused. As he turned around, toward the dock, Fujin calmly planted a boot in his back and shoved her massive brother off the edge of the dock. With a surprised cry, Raijin belly-flopped into the sea, accompanied by a mighty splash.
Seifer burst out laughing as he heard Raijin burbling in the water, moaning in unhappiness at the fact that his fish was swimming away. He was glad to be back with his friends, and actually glad that Squall had won their last encounter. The SeeD Commander had proven he was the better, and Seifer accepted that. Not that he'd leave Squall alone; they would have to meet again someday, and Seifer was going to keep the rivalry alive until they were both in their graves. He bet that Squall secretly would as well, if he knew the Commander at all.
A shadow passed over the dock at that moment, attracting the attention of the trio (even Raijin, who was pulling himself up onto the dock, without any help from Fujin) Seifer recognized the shape, and the golden ring of the mountain-like structure.
"Well, speak of the devil," he whispered as Balamb Garden flew past. Seifer knew he would likely never see its interior again; he and Garden were through. His transgressions would assure he'd never return to Garden, insanity or not. At least President Loire had been more forgiving.
He smiled to himself as Garden flew past, and then turned to help Raijin back up onto the dock.
Wondering where I am, Squall? We'll meet again, I know it.
It had been a long time since he'd been back home. While he kept his residence in Esthar's Presidential Palace, Laguna's heart remained in Winhill, despite the locals' temperaments toward him. He had dropped back by his old home every year or so, usually very quietly, and only for a short while, to do this small, important thing.
He climbed up the grassy hill, separated from many of the other hills, and covered with flowers, just like the kind she would have loved. He reached the top of the hill, and dropped down by the headstone. He ran a hand over the marble device, and smiled slightly as he read the name on the headstone:
"Raine Loire"
Laguna glanced down at the ring on his right hand, a simple silver band. It was all that they had needed; no adornments or other embellishments on the ring, just simple round silver. Looking at it brought back a rush of memories for the old soldier.
"Hey there," she had said, walking up behind him, on a bright, moonlit evening. Laguna, who had been looking down at the ring in his palm, turned, a bit startled.
"Umm, hi," he quickly responded with a nervous grin and a wave with his other hand. Sudden anxiety swept over him, and Laguna felt his leg start to cramp up as usual in this kind of situation.
"Nice night, huh?" she said, looking up at the moon, and Laguna nodded.
"Oh, yeah, it is," he said quickly, trying to cover up his nervousness.
"You said you wanted to see me?" she asked, and turned back to him. Laguna hesitated, his mouth locking up, and actually blushed.
"Umm, well, its just that, you know . . . ." the words fumbled out of his mouth, and he opened and closed his hands nervously. He was dying right there, trying to say the right thing at that ever-important moment. He spoke a few more unintelligible words and finally managed to shake his head. For an instant, he felt like bugging out, and he actually started to turn away, but then felt Raine put her hand on his shoulder.
In that instant, Laguna Loire loosed a mental "the hell with it" and spun. He grasped Raine's hand gently but suddenly in his left, and slipped the ring onto her finger before she could react. Raine looked down at the ring in surprise and confusion, and then up at Laguna, her eyes suddenly asking him if he was serious.
Laguna didn't say anything, just holding up his other hand, with a matching silver ring on it, and smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, that was it," he said quietly, and Raine, after a second of wide-eyed joy, pulled Laguna into a tight hug, laughing as she did. He pulled her in close as well, and they stayed that way for a long time in the moonlit night outside Winhill.
It was a while before Laguna even realized the cramp was gone.
Laguna smiled fondly at the memory, and all that he and Raine had shared in their life together. He had only wished it could have continued beyond that, that they could have seen their son raised together, but so much had happened, and Laguna had often wondered if it had been better that everything had happened the way it had.
"I miss you," he said softly to Raine's headstone. "I always have. The flowers are beautiful this time of year, you know that? Just like you were." He paused, almost choking, before continuing. "If you're watching, you know what's happened. You know what our son did. He saved everyone, and everything. I know you've got to be proud of him."
Laguna heard a shout from behind him, and he turned, to see a distant trio of figures standing on a hill a short distance away, waving to him. He laughed and waved back.
"Kiros! Ward! I didn't know you guys followed me here!" he called. He paused when he saw the third figure, moving down the hill, smiling and waving too. Ellone, her brown hair flying in the wind, started moving up the hill Laguna sat on, when she paused and looked up as a shadow flew past. Laguna looked up as well, and saw Balamb Garden drift by overhead in the sky, far above.
"There he is, Raine," Laguna whispered, looking back down at the headstone. "Our son is flying high." He brushed the headstone again, and smiled. "You'll be waiting for me, right? Because I'll be looking for you when I get there, too."
Ellone came up beside Laguna, putting a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to her, grinning before standing up.
"You ready to head back?" she asked, and Laguna nodded.
"Let's go, Elle," he said. "We've got a lot to do now, for the future and for everyone."
"Okay, let's see if this Galbadian hunk of junk works right," Selphie mused, and looked down into the lens of the camcorder. She pressed the power button on the front, and the little red light on the face of the camera, just above the lens, flicked on. She grinned and flipped the camera over, lifting it up to her eyes and turned around, taking in the ballroom. Music was playing, people were talking, laughing, and eating, and everyone was having a good time. And why not? It was a party, and not just any party, but a real Garden Festival, orchestrated by Selphie and Irvine as an unofficial celebration of their victory and survival.
Selphie stood on the upper floor of the ballroom, where the lighting was more muted, and turned her camera around, and very quickly caught sight of two of her friends, and the camera shook with her laughter. Irvine, n full coat, boots, and hat, was, as he put it to Selphie, "getting down with his funky bad-ass self," dancing like an idiot, and trying to get Quistis to join him. She simply watched him make a fool of himself, however, and did nothing until she saw the camera pointed in her direction. She was surprised for a moment, before smiling and waving.
Irvine had apparently noticed the camera recording them as well, and took this opportunity to duck down in front of Quistis and rise up into view, stealing the picture. She glanced at him in annoyance, and Irvine wasted no time with draping an arm over her shoulder and waving at the camera. If Quistis was annoyed before, she was doubly so now, and as Irvine continued to wave and demand attention, she roughly pushed him away. Irvine blinked as he stepped away, and Quistis strode out of view of the camera. He glanced back at Selphie, cocking his head to the side in mock indignation. Selphie shrugged and followed Quistis with the camera, to see where she was heading.
It turned out that Quistis was moving to where Cid Kramer was looking out over the party, drink in hand. They said something, which Selphie couldn't catch over the music, and Cid turned his head, calling for Edea. Their Matron stepped over, looking beautiful an elegant in a casual black dress, smiling as she said something to Quistis. Selphie began to step closer to catch what they were saying, when Irvine suddenly stepped in, taking his hat off and bowing to Matron and Cid very respectfully, something totally at odds with what he had been doing moments ago. He said something graciously to the pair, who nodded and bowed back in courtesy, and then Cid said something about catching this for the records. Irvine stood up straight, a bit surprised, and then looked in the direction Cid was gesturing at, directly toward Selphie, who couldn't contain her laughter. With an expression of mock anger, Irvine cut across the room toward Selphie.
"I'll be taking that," he commented, putting a hand on Selphie's camcorder. She pouted momentarily, before grinning and swiping his hat off his head Irvine muttered something in surprise, but Selphie had already dashed away, dropping the hat onto her head. After a moment, Irvine shrugged and raised the camcorder to his eyes as Selphie and Quistis quickly stood together. Something was wrong about the picture, though, and it took Irvine a moment - along with some emphatic gestures from Selphie and Quistis - to realize he was holding the camera on its side, and flipped it over. They nodded, and Selphie began to say something and wave, when Irvine's attention was stolen by a knot of female cadets, complete with their eye-catchingly short skirts. He turned toward them and waved, and they started to wave back, when Selphie cut in, playfully slapping Irvine on top of his head.
"Cut that out," she said, and Irvine shook with laughter as he panned the camera, following her across the hall. Selphie stopped after a moment, and quickly gestured to something out of Irvine's line of sight, laughing she did so. Irvine turned the camera and spotted Zell, seated at a table across the room, along with the girl who ran the front desk of the library. The brawler was stuffing his face rather passionately with hot dogs that were dripping with condiments. Irvine zoomed in as Selphie and Quistis stepped over to him as he began to swallow one hefty chunk of meat and sauces, and then began to look around the table for a drink. He lifted up one cup and, finding it empty, began to search for another drink on the table. He didn't immediately find one, and tried to swallow the bite prematurely. Irvine heard him begin to choke, and Selphie and Quistis wasted no time rushing over to the martial artist and began hitting him on the back in an effort to help him. Zell finally swallowed part of the hot dog after a few seconds, and then looked up at the camera, then at his friends, and realized that the entire embarrassing situation had been recorded.
Zell suddenly stood up, out of annoyance at what had just happened, and everyone backed off quickly, though laughing all the while. Zell spun on the camera and snatched up another hotdog off the table, then cocked an arm back and hurled it at Irvine, who quickly spun away, evading the meaty missile with a healthy bout of laughter. Zell wouldn't live down that incident, he was sure, and the sharpshooter made a mental note to make a few copies of this video.
He spent a few moments with a couple of napkins wiping sauce off the side of the camera, and then Irvine raised the camcorder back to his eyes as Selphie walked back into the shot. She grinned, and looked around, before her eyes widened.
"Quick, look, over there!" she said, and pointed. Irvine took his eyes away from the camera to see where she was pointing, and saw she was looking at the balcony outside the ballroom. Irvine saw who was there and quickly turned his camera, zooming in.
Standing outside, looking up at the stars, was Rinoa, leaning on the balcony railing. She turned her head, smiling at a figure blocked by the doorframe of the balcony's entrance, and raised an index finger toward the stars up above. Irvine began to zoom in, when a light flashed on his screen, indicating a low battery. The other figure outside began to move in as the light flashed more insistently.
"No, no, no," Irvine muttered, and an instant later the screen went dead. He pulled his head away. "Battery died," he reported, and Selphie quickly looked dejected and disappointed.
"Poo," she said, and looked back out toward the balcony. "We missed it."
The night was perfect. The sky was clear, the stars and moon shining with all their nightly beauty, blessing the earth with white rays of pure light. Her eyes traced across the canopy overhead, watching it with a childlike wonder. She hadn't had time to really enjoy the night sky for the last few months, and now that they had finally caught a measure of peace, she was taking that moment to look at the unparalleled beauty of the night.
What made this calm, quiet, peaceful moment even more perfect, Rinoa knew, was not that she was enjoying the sky, but that she was enjoying it with someone who also appreciated seeing this sky again, someone who had feared he'd never see the sky again.
A light cut across the sky, slashing a pure white line through the dark, back-lit canopy of space, and Rinoa watched it with wide-eyed wonder, remembering a similar shooting star on an equally memorable night. She remembered what had happened, and knew he remembered as well.
Rinoa turned to her right and pointed up at the star overhead, and he turned to her, having seen the same thing. He smiled, an honest, real smile on his face, and stepped closer.
He reached up, left hand closing around her wrist, and then moving up, threading its way into her fingers, interlocking with hers. He slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her close to him.
"There's something I haven't told you yet," Squall whispered to Rinoa as their faces drew close.
"I know," she responded, smiling as she felt his breath on her face, and inhaled his scent. "You don't need to say it. We both know."
For an instant, there was silence, a perfect moment of peace between them, and Squall pulled her closer, and slowly kissed Rinoa. She pulled him in as well, bringing both of their souls together under that starry sky as Balamb Garden flew across the sea, silent, undisturbed, and perfect.
The End
Author's Notes: No shout-outs or commentary. That's saved for my reflections on this whole story. All I have to say is...its over. Finally. Wow. What a ride, huh?
