Soundtrack: There's only one song for this chapter: "To Far Away Times" a Chrono Trigger remix by Reuben Kee and Pixietricks off OCRemix. Link in the relevant forum topic.

Epilogue: Forevermore

"And so, the repair work here in downtown Dollet has finally come to an end, nearly a year after the vicious street battle that marked the final end of Crell Varines' insurgency. At the heart of the central plaza of the city, a monument is being raised to the man who led the Dollet military in its finest hours, and sacrificed his life for his country. General Randolph Almasy's statue is being raised as we speak, and you can see the hushed anticipation, and the mix of joy and sorrow, on the faces of the thousands watching the memorial being raised . . . ."

The smooth, polished, wood of the bar was rhythmically swept by his towel as he stood behind it, watching the sun outside begin to descend in the western sky, beyond the flower-coated hills. The television resting over the bar showed live footage from the heart of Dollet as the statue of the fallen General was being raised, and the sea od onlookers crowded around it. He watched the screen intently as his grandfather's image was secured in place, and the legions of cheering Dollet citizens burst into applause and cries of happiness and celebration.

Seifer sighed quietly, and glanced around the bar, at the plush wooden chairs scattered around the establishment, around an arsenal of well-maintained and polished wooden tables. Flowers sprouted from a dozen pots and miniature gardens set around the bar's numerous windows, an array of colors and greenery that filled the bar with life. Neon lights hung over the bar itself, but were not lit yet; the Winhill Sanctuary was not open to business today, and for a very good reason.

"Okay," called a voice from the back room, and Seifer turned, to see Serra step out of the rear storage rooms, a crate of bottles in hand. "All the stock is secured. And I picked out what I think everyone likes, though I'm not sure about what Zell drinks . . . ."

"Warm milk in a dirty glass," Seifer muttered as she set the crate down, her black hair dropping down past her shoulders. She had taken to growing it out like Rinoa's, and with her hair like that, and wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, she looked remarkably like her mother.

Seifer scratched the goatee marking his chin with his right hand; they looked quite a bit different than they had a year ago, while fighting Hyne. Hell, they were a lot different now than they were a year ago, period.

Suppose that being thrown in prison, leading a rebellion, commanding an army, heading up a counter-terrorist unit, fighting Hyne herself, and then saving the entire universe with a kiss would change anybody.

Seifer glanced to Serra as she stood up, stretching, and patted her stomach, which was slightly bulging.

Changing priorities, I guess. Five years ago, I wanted to be the greatest warrior in the world. I suppose I did become that. Saved the universe, and how? Not with some awesome weapon or genetically engineered super powers, or even simple skill and determination. I saved the universe with the one weapon Hyne couldn't block, destroy, or weaken.

She looked to him as he was thinking, and cocked her head to the side. She waved a hand in front of his face, and he blinked, snapping out of his reminiscing.

"Hello? Seifer?" she called, and he chuckled.

"Sorry," he replied. "I was pulling a Squall there."

"What were you thinking about?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"Five years ago, when I was still a cadet, I wanted to be the greatest warrior the world would ever know. I thought that ambition and determination would lead me to that, but all that bought me was an assload of hurt. And after I got humbled and beaten so much, I finally realized that which drove your father o the heights he had reached and why he was able to beat me, every time. It wasn't because of Chimera genes or skill or anything physical and tangible." Seifer managed another laugh. "Love. That was it. He was fueled by love. I never knew it, but he always had it, even from the very beginning, back in Deling City. Love gave him the strength he needed to win."

He looked up to her, and managed a wistful smile.

"And it wasn't until I used love as my weapon that I was able to save you and stop Hyne."

"Hm," Serra said as he finished speaking, thinking to herself. She looked away for a moment, across their bar, and then out at the sun in the western sky.

"I think there's a lesson in all this," she mused, leaning over the counter. "Existence can't maintain itself without the forces that bind it together. Those forces are as powerful as the forces of unmaking. I read that there's an unexplained force that holds all molecules and atoms together, keeping the protons and neutrons and electrons combined, and we've never been able to figure out how that works." She looked back toward Seifer. "Maybe love is like that? Except, instead of being the strong nuclear force, it binds humans together, just as unexplainably?"

"Possibly," Seifer replied, walking up beside her and draping an arm over her shoulder. "Though I'll admit, I got a D in Basic Physics, so I don't know much of what you're talking about."

Her shoulders shook with laughter, and he managed a quiet chuckle too. He pulled her a little closer, feeling the warmth running between their bodies, and reminded himself again at how weird this relationship was.

The door leading into the bar opened, and the old-fashioned bell hanging over it dingled, and the pair looked up, to see the small, burly form of Zell Dincht enter, holding the door open for Ellone, as she cradled a sleeping baby in her arms.

"Chicken-Wuss!" Seifer called as Zell and Ellone came into the bar. Zell flashing him a thumbs-up.

"Ego-shit!" he called back. "How's it going?"

"Great!" Seifer answered, as Serra came around the bar and walked toward Ellone, an adoring expression on her face at seeing their baby girl for the first time. She happily handed the baby to Serra as she asked, and the black-haired woman cradled the child in her hands.

"So, how's the kid?" Seifer asked as Zell sat down at the bar. The former knight grabbed a carton of milk from the crate and poured Zell a glass. The brawler looked crestfallen.

"Man, never have kids," he muttered, shaking his head. "Celia's spent every night in the last week crying a three in the morning."

"Never imagined you with kids," Seifer said, passing the glass to Zell.

"Never imagined you running a respectable establishment," Zell shot back, taking a big gulp.

"We all change, I guess," came the quiet reply. "How is Garden doing?"

"Fine, s'pose," Zell answered. "We've finished mopping up the little bits and pieces of Crell's network, though we'll never catch all of them. And with the treaties between Galbadia, Timber, Dollet, and Esthar, there's pretty much nothing for Garden to do. We're still going to be around, but with Hyne gone, there's almost no Sorceress power left, and Garden's getting kind of superfluous." Zell paused as Seifer stared at him for a moment. "What?"

"You just said superfluous," Seifer said, surprised, Zell blinked, and shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm talking like a respectable guy. Scary thought."

"So, any contracts lately?"

"Nah, nothing big. We've been relegated to security and protection services, and training police and defense forces. I think Xu and Cid are planning on expanding Garden's role to training military and police forces, and step down the mercenary work. Fine by me, though, since I'm just a hand-to-hand instructor now. Having a family changes priorities, y'know."

"Yeah, I understand just fine," Seifer replied, glancing at Serra. "So, how's everyone else at Garden?" he added, changing the subject.

"Well, with all the changes that are going on, most of us have gone our separate ways, so to speak," Zell replied, and by "us" he was clearly talking about their limited circle of friends. "Haven't heard much from Irvine and Selphie in the few months, and Squall and Rinoa have been in Esthar, getting his eyes fixed again and visiting Laguna. And Quistis . . . Well, after the changes she went through, I'm not sure when we'll see her again."

"You get in contact with her?" Seifer asked, and Zell shrugged.

"Left a message on her machine in Galbadia Garden a few weeks back, but haven't heard anything from her in response. I don't know if she's even gone back to Garden since she gave the Commander's position over to Xu."

Their conversation was interrupted as the door leading into Seifer and Serra's bar dangled once more, and the quartet inside looked up, to see two people enter, one diminuative, and the other tall, lanky, and with a cowboy hat resting atop his head.

"Selphie! Irvine!" Serra called, and quickly handed Celia back to Ellone, before rushing across the room to hug both of her friends, who echoed her greeting with equal enthusiasm.

"So, how are we going to handle this?" he asked as he sat down in the booth across from the blonde woman. Quistis Trepe, the newly minted Guardian of Existence, observed him as he settled into his seat. The long, rough brown hair and braid were gone, his hair much shorter and under control. The lines and weathered creases across his face were replaced with youthful clarity, and he looked barely over the age of fifteen. Clearly, his drawing and junctioning of Hyne had dramatically changed his apparent age, but aside from that, he didn't show any of her physical features.

"It all depends," Quistis asked, glancing across the bar, the same bar that Ramuh and Alucard had frequented.

"On what?" Nash asked, eyeing her carefully. She looked back to him, and was amazed by how he looked exactly like Squall had, five years ago. But that was unsurprising, considering he was Squall.

"On how much of you is Nash, and how much of you is Hyne," she replied. Nash scowled.

"This here," he said, tapping his chest, "is entirely me. Hyne's gone; I wiped her away when I destroyed her and drew her into me. I'm Nash, nothing more."

"You know what I mean," Quistis replied, and Nash shrugged.

"I'm not filled with an overwhelming desire to wipe the universe from existence, if that's what your asking. I'm not consumed by the essence of destruction as she was."

"But who's to say we won't be consumed eventually?" Quistis asked settling back in her seat. "We're not just channeling the energies of existence and unmaking, Nash; we've become the very physical incarnations of those forces. Who's to say we're not going to be overwhelmed by those desires and those forces and be come utterly dedicated to their propagation?"

"Quistis?" Nash asked after a second.

"Hm?"

"You still know how to ruin a good day, you know that?" She managed a chuckle at his comment. Her pipe released a stream of harmless smoke as she regarded him.

"How did it feel?" she asked. "Getting your revenge?" Nash pondered that for a moment, and shrugged.

"They say that getting your revenge leaves you empty and lifeless inside, especially when your entire life is consumed with revenge," he said. Then, Nash smiled and leaned forward. "But that's because your purpose in life is gone once you carry out your revenge, I figure. That's why I'm making that satisfying moment when I destroyed, consumed, and junctioned Hyne last for all eternity."

"How so?"

"Hyne existed to wipe out existence," Nash explained. "By becoming the Guardian of The End, and then not carrying out that will, her desires will never be made manifest. Existence will remain, for all eternity, as long as I'm the guardian of The End. Hyne's will will never be made manifest. That's the sweetest and most everlasting form of revenge against her I can ever imagine."

"So, the fate of the universe's remaining existence is predicated on the fact that you're pissed at Hyne and want to stick it to her," Quistis surmised. She regarded him for a moment, and gave Nash a slight smile. "Were it anyone else, I wouldn't feel safe. But you being the one whose anger is keeping existence secure . . . I'm not worried."

"Exactly," Nash finished. "Anything else?"

"No," Quistis replied, standing up. "I just wanted to be sure of your intentions. Now I am certain."

"Good. Let's not bother each other and go our separate ways then."

"I take it this means you're going to disappear?" Quistis asked as Nash rose. The Guardian nodded.

"Yeah, I think I will," he replied. "Go somewhere far away from here, and let the world forget I ever existed. Sounds like a plan." He nodded toward Quistis, and turned around, walking out of the smoky bar. Outside, he stepped into the setting sunlight, looked up and down the streets of Dollet, picked a direction, and started walking.

Nash kept on walking in that direction, and was never seen again.

The sun had started to descend a little bit further in the sky when the door into the bar opened once more, to the scene of Irvine, Zell, Selphie, Serra, Ellone, and Seifer seated around a couple of tables that had been pulled together. Drinks were being passed around between Seifer, Irvine, and Selphie, while Ellone and Serra declined the alcohol; Ellone because she didn't drink, and Serra because she was pregnant. As soon as Selphie had seen the signs that she was expecting, She had immediately demanded to know everything - the baby's gender, name, and, to Serra's embarrassment, the details regarding the conception.

"Details your fragile ears do not need to hear," Seifer had told her, even as he watched her chug a bottle of beer he couldn't hope to down at once. Seifer hated to admit it, but he, and Irvine, were being drunk under the table by the much smaller former SeeD, who was complaining about barely feeling a buzz. Apparently she had come from a very alcohol-tolerant family.

"So, you guys have a name for the kid yet?" Irvine asked, and Seifer and Serra glanced to one another.

"Well . . . We have a good idea that it's a bay, so . . . ." he explained.

"We wanted to go for something profound and meaningful," Serra began to say. "But we couldn't think of anything, so we're still-"

"Randolph," Seifer finished. Serra glanced to him, at the spur-of-the-moment name, and nodded in agreement.

"Randolph," she finished.

"Yeah! Good name! I'll drink to that!" Selphie proclaimed, tearing the cap off another bottle with her bare fingers and raising it to the ceiling.

It was this scene that Quistis Trepe walked in on, and was greeted with cheers and joyous greetings. Selphie knocked over her chair as she rush-tackled Quistis, and then helped her get back up. Laughing to herself, Quistis sat down at the table, and reached for a bottle.

"How is everyone?' she asked, and the cheerful response that came back answered her question. She opened a bottle and took a sip.

"How is the whole custodian of the universe thing coming along?" Zell asked, and Quistis shrugged.

"Remarkably simple, now that I'm certain Hyne is out of the picture permanently," she answered.

"You certain?" Selphie asked, and Quistis thought back to Nash's words.

"Yes," she answered. "Very certain." She smiled, and looked around the table. "So, how is everyone? What have I missed out on?"

The sun was setting over Winhill as he stood over the headstone. Rinoa stood beside him as he knelt down over this mother's name, and used his fingers to sweep away the flowery growths rising up over the marker.

"I never knew you held so much in you past," Squall said to Raine's grave. He managed a smile. "I'm not angry, or bitter. I never knew you, yet I feel like I should, and do know you, somewhere deep within. I'm your son, your legacy. I only wish I did know more about you than the memories Ellone granted me through Laguna." He ran a finger over the marble, tracing Raine's name, and stared at it for a long time.

Finally, Squall rose, that final piece of business taken care of. He looked down into the smooth stone, and saw a rough reflection of his body in it; his hair was cut closer, dropping to his chin. The livid scars were still visible, but his eyes were no longer the harsh red that the cyborg implants had granted him, but a dark blue, that of his original eyes.

And most importantly, there was no second presence in his mind. The monster that had made him what he was, and had been wiped away battling Hyne, was no more.

Squall Leonhart was free.

He turned to Rinoa, and a heartfelt smile stretched across his face. He reached out and took her hand.

"Come on," she told him, looking down at the town nestled among the hills and streams below. "Everyone's waiting."

Fifteen minutes later, Squall and Rinoa entered the Winhill Sanctuary, to applause and cheers. They pulled up chairs and another table, and gathered around. Drinks were passed among them, and the eight people in that bar swapped stories and caught up with one another, each telling their stories and experiences. The conversations gradually drifted toward the future, and what everyone's plans were.

Irvine and Selphie had built a cabin out in the woods outside of Timber, at Obel Lake. The sharpshooter was considering taking up fishing, and had bought a rowboat, while Selphie had begun to work as an engineer for the train lines running out of Timber.

Zell and Ellone still lived in Galbadia Garden, and Zell was the head instructor of the unarmed combat program.

Quistis, well, Quistis was the Guardian of Existence. An unexpected change, and even Quistis was uncertain what she would do now. Possibly return to Garden? Cid was considering rebuilding Balamb Garden, after all, and it would need experienced staff.

Squall and Rinoa weren't certain what they were going to do. Squall wanted to put the past behind him, for certain.

"I've killed enough men in my time," he explained. "Its time to ignore these genes running through me and stop the bloodshed. I'm retiring."

"And I'm with you, too," Rinoa added, smiling.

"Always," he answered.

And Seifer and Serra? Running a bar and inn in a quiet, distant town?

"Laguna mentioned it in passing," Seifer explained. "I figured somewhere quiet was the best place to settle down, raise some kids, and grow old and happy."

"That's not the Seifer I knew," Zell remarked, and Squall nodded.

"I'm not the Seifer you knew," he replied. "Like you said, Squall, its time to put these genes, and the Chimera's legacy, behind us. Time to stop fighting, and start living."

"Yeah!" Selphie crowed.

"Indeed," Quistis added, nodding.

"Put the past behind us," Irvine cut in. He wrapped a hand around a bottle.

"The future," Ellone added, and Rinoa nodded. She raised a glass, and everyone picked up a glass or bottle, hefting it toward the ceiling.

"To the future," Squall said, lifting his glass. "To whatever may come."

"The future!" everyone called out, drinks held high.

Outside the bar, the sun finished its descent, and the moon cast the hills over Winhill with silvery light. Silence drifted over the town, and peace reigned across the hills, through the sky, and the entire world at that moment, silent, undisturbed, and perfect.

The End