"The Moribund People"
7
"...But A Dream (Quistis' Promise)"
November 3
"QUISTIS!"
The shout echoed on and on, endlessly and emptily. No answer came at first. However, he could feel the sting of a pair of blue eyes; watching him intently. He could almost feel fear and regret emanating from those eyes which he could not find in this darkness. He felt it through his bones as his eyes searched the dark shadows for the owner of the two eyes he knew... and craved for.
Squall remained silent, and listened alone. From beneath the shadows, a set of feet started the clicking sound of high-heeled boots. His ever-alert ears also registered another sound beneath; a couple of sounds. The faint brush of wet cloth to a marble surface. The uneasy sighs that kept on decorating her presence. The brief clicking sound of a hammer.
The cold sound of a bullet taking its place in the chamber.
Squall smiled.
Quistis stepped out from where she hid, and in between them stood the great cold distance; the distance that she had never allowed herself to cross... except for that one time when all else seemed meaningless. But now, things that held meaning seemed as if they were but a dream...
...Quistis was awake.
"Squall..." she whispered.
"So, you came..." Squall replied.
He looked at her; his eyes bathed in her presence - the shrouded reality of her underneath the rain. She was wearing a long, black trench coat. Her shirt, with the top three buttons open, was white. Black, classical-cut pants embraced her thighs like a glorious lover, and her boots, the same boots, stood their ground. Her long, blonde hair was soaking wet with the rain; her blue eyes were determined. Determined to pull the trigger of the gun that rested in her palm.
"Yes..." Quistis replied, every word a choking bit of the past she had held on to, "I came."
"But you are too late. The others are all dead." Squall replied, chuckling, "They are all gone to that place... that other place, which I have never seen. They told me it was peaceful, and quiet. Not lonely, no; not lonely as this dream. I finally came to the end of this. You are the only one that stands in my way."
"And, if I fall..?" Quistis asked.
She had never felt so final.
Squall smiled gently, "If you fall, I will reach the door. I will hesitate; just a bit, though. Then, I will open the door, and cross the threshold to the otherside. I will wake up from this dream... this, nightmare... this, hallucination; whatever you want to call it, it's just tiring me. I'm so tired from this sleep. I want to wake up."
"Then, I should help you rest."
Quistis rose the gun. Slowly, her accurate aim found Squall's heart; that heart she desired to touch... so long ago; too long, it seemed like just a memory, or a distant fantasy to her now. Squall's gun countered her move.
"You wanted me to do something..." Quistis said, swallowing her sorrow, "Remember?"
"Yes..." Squall said, his smile disappearing. Suddenly, his old voice; that voice of distance and the cold resurfaced, "I remember..."
"You told me something that day... that..." Quistis could not go on; but Squall continued.
"I want you to save the world for me... I want you to save the world from me..."
Quistis felt bitter tears sting her eyes, and choke her throat. It was as if nothing had happened, no time had passed. Quistis felt as if they were still on that soilent cliff made of stone; with weapons pointing at each other; with the warm intimacy of their mutual understanding, their friendship and love towards each other still hanging on... by a thin thread, but still, it was there.
It was still there.
Squall smiled. Quistis closed her eyes. She pulled the trigger.
A single gunshot cracked in the silence like a whip.
As the smoke from her gun rose to the air, Quistis opened her eyes. Squall wasn't standing in front of her. She panicked for a moment; fear gripped her soul tight. She ran towards where he was, just a second ago. When she reached there, she saw that, he had fallen. Lying on his back, with a bleeding wound in his chest. She knelt down besides him; her gun dropping uselessly.
She looked at Squall's face. It was the face of a man who was tired; intensely so, and only wanted some rest, some peace; to be somewhere away from his pain and sorrow. To be in a quiet place.
"I think..." Squall said, "I saw... symptoms of mercy."
"Squall..."
"No... I did see them..."
"I..."
"All alone... All along, all I wanted to find was the door... all I wanted to do was to awaken... But now I know." his voice grew a bit childish; as if he was, sadly, mocking himself, "I never was sleeping, was I..?"
"You should have known that." Quistis said, simply.
"I know now... do I know it, yes..."
Quistis was torn in her emotions; in her dilemmas, and her constant search for his love, his lips. But suddenly, all she could let out, was a part of the song; the song that Squall had sang to her once... a lifetime ago.
"Don't ask me why, I don't want to feel like forever young, anymore...
Just catch my fault, before I crawl on the floor...
Is it so radical... after all..?"
Squall's smile rested on his lips; and the signs of his tired soul, surfaced to show their faces to Quistis.
"Quistis..." he whispered; only a shallow whisper, too low, too far... fading.
"Yes..?"
"Do something for me... please..?"
"Anything! Squall, anything!"
"Just... let me sleep."
Squall Leonhart closed his eyes; and released his last breath.
Quistis watched the thin wisp of air that left his mouth and vanished, slowly into the night. The sound of the rain shrouded all else; and she couldn't tell whether it was the rain or her tears that trickled down her cheeks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Author's Notes: If you remember, the prologue was named as "Death Is..." and here, it's complete - "Death Is But A Dream". The song Quistis sings to Squall is named "Radical" and it is by The 69 Eyes. The title is not a song from anyone. And here, the promise that has been stuck in Squall's mind is revealed; Quistis' Promise.