Once in a Lifetime
see disclaimer in Part 1
Lisa Pacifist crouched in the shadows as the huge, monstrous-looking train roared into the station. She waited patiently through the agonizing minutes it took for the doors to open, then darted inside as the departure bell clanged.
Dolwa would be disappointed in her--it seemed she'd dozed off on her post, if only for a few seconds. That was bad enough, but... all the same, she'd had such a beautiful dream. She'd been enveloped in a warm white light, soaring through the ages...
There was something she was supposed to remember, but she couldn't quite get a fix on what exactly it was. She didn't worry, though... whatever it was, it was just ingrained so deeply into her heart that she had no doubt... when the time came, she would remember it completely, and do whatever she was supposed to do.
But she had a job to take care of now.
Finding the Hayakawas, Joe and Mary, was her first priority now.
Pulling out her cellphone, she hit the speed-dial and raised it to her lips.
"This is Pacifist reporting, I'm currently--"
---
Sprawled on the floor, her vision already beginning to fade, Fabula listened to her breath beginning to rasp and rattle in her chest, her lungs straining for air although she knew she wouldn't get enough.
Even so long after losing its mortality, her body was still so... foolish...
She had broken Guide law. She knew the price, and wasn't afraid.
Besides... she'd lived a long time...
And she believed in Lisa Pacifist.
She wouldn't remember any of this when she awoke, circling back to her place in the past, Guiding the "Hayakawa" children on their journey. That much she knew.
She wouldn't ever know that this had taken place... unless...
Unless she managed to glean it in the future that, hopefully, would no longer continue...
Her eyes half-closed; she sighed.
The myriad creatures in glass pearls throughout the giant shell wailed in distress and alarm when, even for hours afterwards, she did not get up.
She had made her choice. And through it, the future...
The spiraling future...
...would be saved...
-owari-
Credits: FF:U and FF:U After Spiral both belong to Square-Enix's FF:U Committee, and the various animation and production companies who worked on it. The lyrics in Chapter 7 are from the song Paradise by Vanessa Carlton. OiaL is otherwise mine. If you plagiarize, I will send my security (Envy) to get you. When he's done with you, you will then be fed to Reiko-kun, who is badly in need of new chew toys. He gets through them so quickly...
Thanx: Final Summon for reading and reviewing my every chapter, as well as all those other readers who read but don't review. (You better go back and review them now!) Thalia for letting me spoil every little story I write, and allowing me to run this plot by you before posting. Square for actually making FF:U in the first place!
Thanx also to Amy Lee and Vanessa Carlton. In all likelihood, you and I will never meet, but thank you for your music.
Super-thanx to my wonderful muses, particularly to Ghaleon and Stroud. I love you forever for inspiring me in your respective genres; big thanx to Stroud for never running out of drive. You and I are the perfect angst-writing team!
Thanx to my wonderful security, Envy-chan, for all the Ed-is-a-pipsqueak jokes, and for letting me pinch your cheeks. Next time you want to invite Lust over, make sure Sloth can babysit Gluttony because I can't afford to get all the food in the house eaten.
Thanx always to Rau-sama, for inspiring me with your wonderful speeches and being your lovely, perfect self. May your shower scene in Phase-10 of Gundam Seed always give me nosebleeds.
I love you, Shanon Weaver. Once again, we will most likely never meet, but I'm just so happy to be able to hear your voice. ADV picked the perfect voice actor for Kumo-chan. I'm so grateful to you for agreeing to give him a voice for all the nitpicky American audiences. Thank you so much.
Double-thanx to Yersi Fanel; your After Spiral information helped me in so many ways... especially in giving me fodder to write OiaL and KnH with. Hehehe.
Thanx thanx Kumo-chan. You will always be my plushy. One day we mad fangirls will stop putting you through so much misery for our angst ficcies. Someday...
Thanx Kaze and Lisa for being FF:U's flagship couple. You two will figure it out in After Spiral someday, I just know it. Heartshipping isn't nearly as popular as Skyshipping on FF-Net, but it's still got a fanbase. Hope I didn't embarrass you too badly with all those lemon-flavored scenes...
Thanx Fabula-sama for being so awesome. Even if no one else is, I'm trying to get you the credit you so deeply deserve.
Finally, thanx to whoever's reading this right now, to know who I'm grateful to! And, of course, to anybody I missed...
-Author's Commentary-
Fuuko: I actually created Fuuko with Samurai Champloo's Fuu in mind... that's where I got the name from (NOT Magic Knight Rayearth's Fuu...) They don't look very much alike, but they have somewhat similar personalities.
Colin Byrne: I never could call him by anything but his full name. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people like him around, who seem perfectly normal but actually aren't. He was basically around to help form Lisa's personal hell. Out of all my original characters, even the bad guys, I think I actually hate Colin Byrne the most.
Lisa: All that about Lisa being Chinese is true, by the way, and gleaned from obsessive watching of certain episodes. The Pillar of Darkness appeared in the sea between Japan and China; among other people, we got to see Lisa with some of her family members and neighbors watching it appear. Her mother was not present, so that was probably very shortly after she died. Also, Lisa says in episodes 10 and 16 that after her mother's death, she moved to the neighboring country. Japan is an island. There are no neighboring countries there. Lisa had to have lived in China. Besides, the cutscene that showed her in school had all the characters present dressed in heavy clothing, with scarves. So she moved somewhere cold (i.e. Russia). Yes, that is the extent to which I watch FF:U. Scary, ain't it?
The three "ghosts": I originally got the idea for OiaL by thinking one night, "Hey, somebody needs to do an FF:U Christmas Carol". I started wondering about the setup. The obvious person to guilt would be Kaze, but I like being original, so I decided on Lisa, and tried to think up a scenario. The idea just sort of evolved from there, becoming much more mature and suited to the FF:U world. However, the idea of three spirits who haunted the main character just sort of stuck...
Aura: I chose Aura as the first spirit specifically to antagonize Lisa. Although she's portrayed as a more retiring, damsel-in-distress girl in the dubbed, I tend to characterize her as the strong-willed young woman we meet in the subbed version of FF:U (who yells at Kaze when he won't accept her sacrifice). I mean, come on, she's Kaze's little sister. She lived through eighteen years of Rock-boy for a big brother... she has to have strength of personality, or she would've gone insane by the time Chaos attacked Windaria. Although she has affection towards Kaze, she tends to be pretty hostile to other people, especially those who might take him away from her (i.e. Lisa, who I think Aura thinks is a Mary-Sue or something...).
Also, at that point of Lisa's "awakening" in OiaL, nothing short of shock and a good tongue-lashing would've gotten through to her. If she'd received sympathy, she would've just closed it out and ignored the vital question posed to her. (Also, this way I could play good-cop bad-cop with Aura and Kumo. XD Messing with people's heads is fun.)
Rape: This is a question I get from a lot of people, from readers to nosy social workers to parents and friends. Why do I write about rape? Because it's pretty much the worst thing I can imagine happening to someone. When you die, it's over. Your suffering has ended, and hopefully you're in a better place. But surviving rape means that your suffering continues. Sex is a very personal, intimate experience, which makes rape an extremely intimate violation. Victims find themselves feeling impure or somehow to blame for what's happened to them, although it isn't their fault. Unless they have someone to yank them out of the hole right away, they're usually sent into a downward spiral of depression, with little chance of recovery.
In addition, what happened to Lisa was also spouse abuse, which is downright creepy. In some places, domestic violence is still only prosecutable if the aggressor is actually caught in the act, because sometimes it's so hard to tell whether or not the violence itself was consentual or simply a petty ploy to punish an errant spouse. It should drive home how nasty Colin Byrne is.
Kumo: I chose Kumo as the second spirit to be the sympathizer. At that particular point in the story, Lisa needed a little rescuing, and as a nurturing, gentle character who also happens to be close to Kaze, Kumo was the perfect choice. (He's also my favorite character in FF:U, which was a good enough reason to include him on its own!) Kumo-chan is kind enough to take Lisa through the collapsed future without letting her snap; whenever she seemed to get to a danger point, he always tried to comfort her. In addition, he could show her that it wasn't just her fault--and precious few characters could've accomplished that.
Besides, Lisa had already started to feel some friendly affection towards Kumo since about episode 24, and he already cared about her as the midgets' protector. She needed to see a familiar face... someone she could actually feel sympathy for, as well.
Incest: I know, I know, it bothers people, but Kiri and Kumo are a really cute couple, dammit! Depending on the pairing, incest can either be extremely disturbing or the sweetest thing ever. It all depends on character chemistry... and besides, who knows--as Kiri and Kumo come from their own world of Mystaria, the rules about what's acceptable may be a little different there.
Besides, there are a few vague implications in episode 18 that Kiri and Kumo were way closer than the average pair of siblings... and you may take that any way you want. (sulk) You don't see too many people calling their big brothers "Niisama"...
Kiri: Those who tried to figure out the meanings of Lisa's dreams in Chapter 8 probably looked at the Kiri segment and went "huh?". If I have to spell it out for you, I will, although you could also find the meaning behind it by uberanalyzing eppy 18 as I have done.
Unfortunately for FF:U audiences everywhere, no one but the writers know exactly what happened after Oscha rezzed Kiri through the use of necromancy. As previously stated, Kiri and Kumo have an unusually close relationship for brothers, and yet when Kiri shows up later in the episode, he's out for poor Kumo-chan's blood. There has to be some reason for this--obviously, Oscha is behind it, as a mind-controlling puppeteer. Kiri is too volatile to simply go along with something like a basic hypnosis technique (and one would think he'd have snapped out of it much sooner if that had been the case), so he was apparently forcefully coerced against his will, put under some powerful binding.
This would've worked much more effectively if Kiri had been put through something that could shatter his inner strength, leaving him vulnerable enough to succumb to Oscha's binding when it was placed on him.
You connect the dots.
Also, during his explanation of his resurrection later in the episode, Kiri claims that it was his driving need to prove his greater strength that brought him back to life, when watchers know what really happened. Why? Because it would cause Kumo more pain; also probably due to the effects of the binding. Who's interested in causing pain? Oscha (and Chaos).
Also, the sudden change in Kiri's personality at the end of the episode, while dying, indicates that Oscha's control has been removed. He once again speaks (thinks) affectionately to Kumo, placing his trust in his brother to destroy Chaos once and for all.
The whole incident makes Kumo snap a little. He's nowhere to be found during the Gaudium segments of episode 19, and his desire to protect and assist Kaze and the Comodeen becomes much more evident through his actions after that point. Although he's furious with the Earl and company (with good reason), he still has no idea that Kiri was forced to fight him against his will.
Hence Kiri's plea to Lisa in the dream.
Hopefully I haven't bored you too much here... you have your own brains, so you'll be able to figure out the rest on your own. (XD Yes, I do stuff like this for fun. I love it. Although it scares me how my analytical English classes have been invading my daily life... well, it's all in a day's work for an aspiring character designer...)
Fabula: Why choose Fabula as the third "spirit"? Because there had to be someone orchestrating the whole deal, and she's one of the few who's actually in a position to pull strings. Besides... and few enough know this, because they don't delve into her character... she is really powerful. And though we audience members have only seen her kind and patient moments, she can be truly scary when she's angry. Unlike Kumo-chan, Kiri-kun, and Rock-boy, when Fabula is truly angered, she gets cold. This was my first chance to be able to write her in that specific mood, and it was a lot of fun. Besides, Lisa needed to get yelled at.
I didn't get as much time as I would've liked to develop Fabula's character... those who want to see more of her should read Kokoro no Hanashi, one of my other (much longer) fics. She actually has a lead role there. (XD) But for OiaL, all I really needed was a powerful figure who could be both accusing and sympathizing towards Lisa... and would have enough dirt on her to feed to Kumo-chan and Aura. Heh.
Touya and Dolwa: These two are characters from After Spiral. Yes, all the information I have on them in this story is true... Dolwa (also phonetically translated as "Doruwa") Sorujatshi is the man who sent Lisa to observe the Hayakawas, as well as her personal friend and a teacher at Ai and Yu's middle school. However, he gets mixed up with Oscha and Herba in AS for some reason... which I don't know, as I haven't read the damn thing. Well, much of it. And all I have is a shitty Babblefish translation of the first chapter. Almost all this information was gotten from Yersi-chan. Touya is Yu's best friend, who has a crush on Ai. They do exist, and also star in Shadowgoddess' ficlet, FF:U Darkness Within. (Although Dolwa is the bad guy there.)
Lisa's dreams: They add a little depth to the story and provide a glimpse into Kiri, Kumo, and Kaze's lives before and during FF:U. Besides, they were an important clue to the third "ghost"'s identity... No, I will not decipher any more of them for you, as you've got your own brain. So there nyeh.
Lisa's other dreams: They added depth to Kaze and Lisa's relationship. Plus, they kept all the Heartshippers happy. (XD) Aw, come on, who doesn't get enjoyment out of lemon-limey goodness between their favorite couple? (Now, if only some other rabid Cloudshipper would start writing lemons besides me... sigh...) Seriously, though, you wouldn't have seen Lisa's dilemma unless you'd gotten that background information about how exactly they'd fallen for each other and whatnot.
Hougekiju: Aura's last name in all my fics is also the name of Kaze's final summon, the Bahamut-class gun dragon. It sort of fits, seeing as it takes her Soil-type to help summon it... Literally translated, "Hougekiju" means "Gun Dragon Summon".
Kansha shimasu! I love you all! See you next year in Jerusalem... or if not, in the next fanfic of mine you pick up... (XD)