EverShadow: Well, a very nice response from all of you I guess.

Tiger of Blackness: …huddles in corner.

EverShadow? Whatcha got there?

Tiger of Blackness: Nothing…

EverShadow: Something's in your hands…is that…a broken heart?

Tiger of Blackness: Shad up. On with the show!

EverShadow: NO WAIT! I'M SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT!

A Time to Cry, A Time to Smile

"Hurry!" Quistis urged Seifer as he carried her out of the room. Dr. Kadowaki was standing at the hall watching as the SeeD wheeled Irvine away.

"Dr. Kadowaki!" She shouted. The doctor turned around and gasped.

"You are not supposed to be out of bed!"

"Spare me!" Quistis snapped. "Where's Irvine!"

"They just took him away…but honestly, what are you…" Before she could finish, the two of them sped past her. Quistis looked on urgently, trying to spot the SeeD as they neared the door.

"Can you walk?" Seifer asked. Without thinking, she jumped out of his arms and he ran on ahead. "YO! BUZZHEADS!" The SeeD looked towards his direction, only to be promptly tackled to the ground.

"H-Hey!" The remaining one contemplated whether or not to attack. Suddenly, Zell soared out of nowhere, grabbing on and taking the other one down too.

"WOOHOO!" He whooped. Quistis limped towards them as fast as she could and unzipped the body bag.

"You're not supposed to…" The SeeD being pinned down by Seifer began but one look from Seifer shut him up. Quistis placed her head to his chest.

"I can't hear anything."

"Of course!" The other SeeD snapped. "He's dead!" Zell socked him just for good measure.

"Synk!" Seifer yelled. "What the hell are we supposed to do?" The old man approached them with a smile on his face.

"Well, you two did a nice job of stopping him from being cremated. But I can't just tell you how to revive him. You think about it."

"Uh…Ultra-mega Full life?" Seifer suggested. Zell stared at the three of them weirdly.

"It's not that I don't like tackling my fellow SeeD for no apparent reason but what exactly is going on?"

"Irvine's still alive." Zell nodded, and then the full implications hit. The poor martial artist promptly fainted. Synk looked on with a stunned expression before clearing his throat.

"Well, perhaps it's better." He sighed. Seifer couldn't hold the struggling SeeD any longer and knocked him out with one good punch to the head.

"Look, how do we revive him?" He asked, standing up.

"I dunno, oh Sorceress's knight. Maybe first you need to consider exactly who you are." Synk suggested. "I am but a lowly spirit, devoid of most of my power. After all, I had to pass some of it to someone." Quistis suddenly lost all feeling in her legs and sat down on the ground.

"You know, if I had my power, I'd gladly revive him…" Synk went on. "I mean, it's not that hard. You simply snatch his soul from the brink of death. Though one wonders how much time is left…"

"Wait…wait…" Quistis said, shaking her head. "You passed your powers on to…" She trailed off looking at Seifer.

"What? What are you looking at me for?"

"Well, I was a sorcerer too once. Then I had to forsake some of it. It happens when you get old. But I'm still Hyne, the great deity. I just lost my power to bring back trapped souls, much like Quistis was back then." Seifer still couldn't understand what Quistis was floored about.

"Hey…you're staring at me like I'm some sort of freak…" He said nervously.

"Well, maybe you are." Synk said. Quistis stood up and beckoned her to come close. He did it with a cautious and puzzled expression. She leaned up and whispered in his ear.

"You've got Hyne's powers." Seifer blinked before fainting right next to Zell. "Aw…no…no!" She grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.

"Let me sleep a little longer." He mumbled. With a sharp jerk, Quistis pulled him upright, which was no easy task considering his bulk and her current weakness. But desperation gives strength when necessary and Quistis was able to bring Seifer back. He stumbled at first, looking around. When he saw Quistis, he smiled but when he saw Synk, he frowned.

"Not a dream, eh?" He sighed. "So…what does this mean? I have your powers?"

"Well, I don't want to rush you but I can feel him slipping as we speak." Synk shrugged. Seifer cursed and walked over to the body, wondering what he was supposed to do. He placed his hand over Irvine and closed his eyes, expecting something to happen. Nothing did.

"Come on!" He hissed through gritted teeth.

"Tick tock tick tock…" Synk smiled as though it were a joke.

"Shut up! What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Well, it's customary to touch the body perhaps?" The deity suggested. Seifer took a deep breath and put his hand on Irvine's chest. He concentrated hard on life and everything that life represented. It was a hard task since Quistis often intruded into his thoughts and Quistis in the shower…

"EARGH!" He shouted. The same golden light that had surrounded him before surrounded him again and slowly seeped into Irvine. Synk looked very impressed. A moment passed before Irvine coughed and then seized up. Quistis jumped in shock and grabbed the cart, running it back over to the infirmary. Seifer dropped to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Well done." Hyne complimented.

"You…need…to…explain…" He commanded. Synk lifted Seifer up and together, they walked towards the training center.

"You see, I must thank you. You've returned the power back to me."

"What?"
"Sorcerer powers are much more different than those of the female. They are…unpredictable. So one day I woke up and found my one power to be missing. I searched high and low for it until I found that it resided in you, probably from all that contact with Ultimecia and Edea and Adel, you were just more susceptible to it. So you gained a power. But you see, when you used it often, it just kinda jumped back into me."

"Jumped? And what about Irvine…what about the rest of the SeeD!"

"Ah…why Irvine did not die? Well. That goes back to Time Compression. You see, what you were able to do was bring back Irvine's life from the depths of Time Compression. In other words, you were basically able to steal it from another life that Irvine possessed. See, he and the others were exposed to Time Compression when the entered the future to defeat Ultimecia. That opened up the door to other world and other lives. You simply took one from a place where it was unneeded." He laughed. "Actually, I didn't think it would work." Seifer closed his eyes and tried to take all the information in as best as he could.

"So…you're saying that if he hadn't been exposed to Time Compression…he wouldn't be here?"

"Then again…neither would Quistis…nor the Omega Weapon. One wonders if all this mess would have started if the six of them hadn't gone there in the first place." Synk sat down and opened his hand. As if on cue, a bird landed in his open palm and he smiled. "Life is a good thing." He threw the bird back in the air and stood up, nodding to Seifer. "It's about time for me to go. I have drinks and ladies calling my name." Seifer all but drooled.

"Take me with you…" he begged.

"What? And leave me behind." The two men winced at once. Seifer turned around slowly, laughing nervously as he saw the deadly look on Quistis's face.

"H-hey…back so…soon?" He whimpered.

"I know all about his antics." She noted, pointing to Synk. "You are not going to pick up on them. You are going to be with me when Selphie wakes up." She grabbed him by the ear and pulled him away from Synk.

"EEEYOW! QUISTY!" He screeched. Quistis paid him no mind.

"You are a bad influence. It'd be best if you leave soon. I don't want any questions or any further corruption."

"Come on, as if he isn't corrupted enough." Synk whined. "You always blame it on me!"

"Well, you are the more experienced. Who knows how many women you've been with?" Quistis snapped.

"Uh…well…that…I lost count around a thousand…" He shrugged. Seifer looked at him with longing.

"You can't take me with you why?" He whimpered. Quistis tugged on his ear a little harder.

"Well, in that case then, I suppose I'm not good enough." She let go and began walking back to the infirmary. Seifer rubbed his ear and sighed.

"She's a good woman." Synk noted, nodding in her direction as both men watched her. Seifer sighed and smiled.

"Yeah, she really is. I really can't imagine anyone else taking her place. Besides, I risked my life to get her, not going to let that go to waste." He replied.

"You take good care of her you hear? She's strong but she still needs someone from time to time to support her emotionally." Synk watched Quistis cast an disapproving glance at the two of them just as she was about to disappear down the hall. "She reminds me of Illia."

"Your wife?" Seifer asked. Synk nodded sadly.

"Where she died, I lived on. And every day I want to join her. But it is my duty to maintain balance between times."

"I'd better go." The blond swordsman said. "Good luck to you."

"As to you." Synk smiled and watched Seifer chase after Quistis. "The two of you are stronger than Illia and I were. Where Illia died, Quistis will live." He whispered before fading from view.

EverShadow: Well, the end nears. And it saddens me increasingly to say that. sob

Tiger of Blackness: Well, the end nears. And it gladdens me increasingly to say that cheers

EverShadow: …Stop mimicking me!

Tiger of Blackness: I didn't though.

EverShadow: Yuh huh.

Tiger of Blackness: You're just angry because it's ending. Well…TOO BAD! BWAHAHAHA VICTORY IS MINE!

EverShadow: Inches away EverShadow signing off…