"I won't have it! I won't have anyone speak of me in the past tense!"

-Squall

A LOVE SUPREME

Temoren and the two SeeDs move up through the rocky path. The entire area is gloomy, the sky is cloudy. Thunder can be heard in the distance every half minute or so. A perfect reflection of everyones mood. Temoren wonders if the sorceress and her knight felt similarly as he does. It doesn't matter though, because they would both be dead soon anyways. He can't seem to get many things out of his mind. His sister, this new situation he is in, Squall, many things. He begins to feel very sick to his stomach.

"I need to sit down for a minute." Temoren finally says to the other two. They nod, not objecting at all. Temoren sits down on a nearby rock, taking out a lighter and lighting a cigarette. He did not smoke often, but sometimes he needed to. To calm his nerves a little. "You guys?" He holds out the lighter, but they shake their heads.

He slowly blows out a long line of smoke. The clouds are so dark, he thinks to himself. Rain might be moving in, or perhaps it might not be. A forever looming symbol of the witches presence? It all went well, they will be going away too then. Temoren finishes his first cigarette and reaches for another, stopping for a moment when he begins to hear footsteps. They all look up quickly, startled at the new presence coming towards them.

Higher up on the path, they begin to see a figure coming down at them. Temoren stands up, putting his hand firmly on his sword hilt. They continue to watch the figure come, and then it becomes clearer to them. The person is dressed completely in black, is medium height, and has a slight limp as they walk. Temoren slowly moves his hand down back to his side as the figure stops only a few feet from them.

"Oh, hello there." The man says, a hood covering most of his head.

"What are you doing here?" Temoren asks, still uncertain of this visitor.

"Just a traveler. I could ask the same of you, sir."

"We're on a job. I'd rather not have anyone get in our way."

"Get in your away?" The man chuckles a little. "I am not in your way am I? I figure I have the right to ask, since my home is near here."

"Is it now?"

"Yup." The man nods enthusiastically.

"There's a corrupt sorceress nearby, one that needs to be removed." He answers, stiffly.

"Oh...wow." The man says, almost surprised. "Mind if I sit and join you fellows? I see you have some smokes on you."

"Mh, fine, sit down. We won't be here long though." The man sits down, while Temoren tosses a cigarette and his lighter at his lap. He quickly clutches on to them, and then lights it, letting out puffs of smoke in a similar manner.

After a minute or so of silence, Temoren tries to make conversation. "Truth is actually, I've had a bad week all around." Which is an understatement.

"Really? Well I'll be damned. I am having a bad week too." The man says, in a friendly tone despite his comments content.

"Guess we all are..." Temoren adds softly. "Hopefully today will change my bad luck." Temoren begins to look more closely at the mans strange attire. Black, he thinks to himself, the color of mourning. But for who, or what?

"You ever think about cycles?" The hooded figure asks, with genuine curiosity.

"Yes, all the time." Temoren responds. He begins thinking about the subject again as it is brought up.

"A shame."

"Why a shame?" Temoren asks, confused.

"You think about it so much, yet you don't understand it."

"Excuse me?" Temoren asks, a bit angered by this statement.

The man chuckles a little more. "Don't worry about it. I can see you are all busy men. Perhaps I should leave you. But today, I don't feel like it. Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Are you serious? This is dangerous sir, nothing for a traveler to get involved with." Temoren says, firmly. The hooded man turns a bit, revealing a scimitar at his side, and then turns back. Temoren nearly smirks at this. The man knows how to travel, he thinks to himself. Perhaps a little back up couldn't hurt. "If that is really what you wish, then fine."

"That is what I wish, and thank you." The man stands. Temoren and the others follow by standing as well. They begin to walk back up the long rocky path. The walk seems like forever, but in reality it isn't too long. They continue on until they get to the point where the castle is close. Very close. They all recognize its presence, but try not to keep looking at it. This is what the entire world has been waiting for. It is time to liberate the past, and free the future.

The hooded man continues to hobble behind the others. At a certain point he stops, and leans up against a group of large rocks. The color of his robe makes it so that he nearly blends in entirely with the rocks. Temoren and the other SeeDs continue walking forward, not noticing their last member stopped walking with them. The rain had started minutes earlier. It comes down upon them, but they don't even seem to notice.

Ultimecia materializes in front of the SeeDs. Both sides seem to be equally surprised by the others presence. Temoren stops nearly mid-stride, completely paralyzed. Ultimecia's eyes open wide, and she backs up a few steps from them, confused. It's Rinoa, Temoren thinks to himself. She looks so different now. He had seen her a few times before, but she was barely recognizable now. But wasn't she the one who helped defeat Ultimecia? How is this possible? It did not matter any longer. No more questions, no more guesses, no more chances.

Temoren noticed a certain sparkle in her eyes. The look of kindness. But sorceresses are the masters of deceit. She has to be defeated, he thinks to himself.

"Are you going to kill me?" She asks, with a worried tone.

"I do what I must." Temoren places his hand to his sword. He speaks with a tone of confidence, but with also a hint of remorse.

Before any more words can be spoken, Temoren draws his blade fully, and charges at Ultimecia with amazing speed and passion, prepared to make a direct strike at her. Just as he reaches her, he gets the feeling that he just ran into a wall, and falls back onto the ground, nearly into a puddle of water. He stopped with such force that his teeth dug into his lip and mouth, blood runs out of his mouth onto the ground, and it gets carried away by the rain, making a stream of red. He shakes his head quickly, trying to re-orient himself. He also has a small gash on his head.

He slowly looks up at the sorceress, beginning to regain his clear vision. The sparkle in her eyes goes away, as if a realization had finally been made. She sends a fireball in one direction, and a lightning strike in the other, both SeeDs fall back in a similar manner.

"Like parasites, crawling through the dirt. Waiting for the next passer by to latch on to. That is, until they happen to get in the path of someones footsteps. Those footsteps are mine. The SeeDs will fall."

Temoren winces hard, the blood still pouring out of his mouth. "Not yet." He says coldly.

"Confidence. Such a useful thing to rally those around you. Unfortunately you no longer have any, SeeD. So I think begging for your life would be a better choice here." Ultimecia looks down at him, her bright green eyes seem to pierce into his soul.

Temoren begins to crawl through the muddy ground, until he reaches some large rocks. He turns himself so his back rests against them. His trembling arm goes for his gun, and he holds it out and points it at her. He pulls the trigger with little hesitation. The bullet goes through the air, but gets absorbed by a large blue aura that surrounds the sorceress. He lowers his arm down and fires again, the gun gives off a large puff of smoke, and the bullet hits the shield, falling onto the ground also. He fires another bullet.

And another.

And another.

And another.

Click.

He stops, looking at the empty gun in a bit of disbelief.

"You kan feel them, can't you? Your victims. I won't be the one to kill you. It shall be the rage of all them. All the ones who you murdered."

Temoren finally understands it all. They had spent all this time searching and waiting for Ultimecia, but no searching was needed. The President of Galbadia is Ultimecia. The Garden is Ultimecia. He is Ultimecia. What other choice did she have? They are the monsters. They created this. There is so much he wants to say to her, but the words won't come out. He merely pulls the gun up one last time, and pulls the trigger.

Click.

Temoren begins to get lifted off the ground by some unseen force. He hovers about the ground, he is too exhausted to even try and resist. An invisible explosion goes off right next to him, and he flies through the air, hitting the rocky ground with alarming force. His clothes get torn up as he rolls through the pebbles and dirt. He rolls to the edge of a large drop off, he starts to go over, reaching his hand up to hold on, but his fingers slip through the wet, slippery rocks, and he falls.

Ultimecia's satisfied gaze turns to the figure that blends in with the rocks. He steps out from them, making himself perfectly visible. They take a solid look at eachother. Suddenly, the black robed figures dissapears. Ultimecia snarls softly, and turns around, teleporting back into her castle.

How much time passed? That is uncertain. Ultimecia herself probably doesn't even know. The present passes, slowly slipping away into history. Her castle outlines the horizon as the moon shines brightly behind it. Three figures move through the night, through the darkness. They all stop looking up at the castle, their final destination. The first one puts his hand firmly on his gunblade, looking upwards. The next holds out a pistol, adjusting his cowboy hat. The third follows behind the first two, her long raven black hair gives way to the strong wind.

In another time, another place, Rinoa and Squall will complete their loving embrace.

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NOTES:

Ok, I lied slightly, there will be one more chapter that is epilogue-ish. It might answer some things I left unanswered, or it might make them a bit more of a mystery ;) Overall I think I accomplished what I said I would in the disclaimer at the very beginning, and I hope you think I did as well. Kind of did this last minute tonight, so I hope the lack of extensive proofreading won't hurt.