Author's notes: Well, this is it. The final chapter in the long saga chronicling Zell and Quistis' journey. If you've been reading this the entire time, I wanna thank you sincerely, especially you HeartOvaLion, an avid fan of the story has often times been the only thing keeping me coming back. The only thing I ask is if you've read the entire story, please leave me a review I'd love to hear what you've thought of either the last chapter or the story as a whole or just something silly to make me smile. Whatever you chose to leave, thank you all for your support. Enjoy.

Quistis woke up when the plane was circling overhead Balamb, it wasn't an extremely long flight, but she was exhausted. Surprisingly, she wasn't feeling sad or angry but it seemed that her feelings of anger had stayed behind in Winhill. She actually feel very excited and refreshed to get back home and see all the people she loved. As she looked out the window, she noticed how dark it was outside. Although it was nighttime, an unusual darkness was clinging to Balamb.

She saw him make one pass over the plains outside of Balamb garden and then a second before beginning to descend. That was one great thing about the plains, although Balamb itself had no form of airport the plains were perfect for landing an aircraft. The only way for visitors, who were few and far between, to get to Balamb was to take a ship from Dollet.

The plains snuck up on the pilot fast and there was a sudden jolt as the plane made impact with the ground.

The pilot looked back at her and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Quistis smiled back. "No problem."

The pilot let down the ramp and Quistis walked out and breathed in the sweet air of Balamb. The ocean air here felt so different than what she smelled in Winhill. There it was heavy, salty and damp. Here it felt light, refreshing and ultimately, like home.

Quistis waved goodbye as the plane took off behind her and then turned towards Garden. She began walking towards the gates of the Garden and she was surprised. There was no reception there for her. There wasn't a large crowd of people waiting to welcome her with open arms. Not even Seifer was there to greet her with a kiss and an embrace. Not that she blamed him. After what he had heard, she didn't expect for him to take her back.

Then it hit her. They were probably all already at the ball, which she assumed had started by now. She smiled softly thinking about having Seifer wrap his arms around her and dance to the same slow, soft song when they had first kissed. She pushed through the entrance gates and began walking up the stairs towards the increasingly loud sounds of music emanating from the Quad's direction. Then Quistis heard a sound so softly that she wasn't even sure she had really heard it. She turned around smiling, waiting to see if her boyfriend had been sitting on the bench waiting to surprise her. When she turned around, her smile was instantaneously replaces with an open jaw.

There he stood.

Right there in front of her.

"But…How..you…I saw…" Quistis sputtered.

"I paid him twice what you paid your pilot." Zell spoke, a sincere smile crossing his lips. "and he got here twice as fast."

Quistis ran to him and threw her arms around him. "…It's so good to see you home." Quistis said as her tears began to fall on Zell's shoulders.

Quistis pulled away so she could see his face and as she wiped away tears she said: "So, what have you been doing since you got home then?"

Zell looked like he was going to shed some tears as the smile left his lips.

"I don't know how he knew but Squall was here waiting for me and when I made it up to the gate with all my bags, Rinoa came running out and jumped on me. Of course, when Selphie jumped on me I fell over and we just laid there a minute. It felt so amazing to be home Quistis. I can't explain it. After we got up, there was Squall extending his hand to me. He asked if we could go do something for a little while and I said 'sure, let me just be away my bags' and he told me that the time we could spend together was more important than putting away my stuff. So I dropped it all, right there out in front of garden. We went down to Balamb together and just talked and talked. By the time we got back, the ball had started and I told him I was going to wait for you to get back."

Quistis looked at him and asked softly. "Did you see…Seifer?"

Zell looked down at the ground. "No…no I didn't."

Quistis lifted his chin to match his eyes to hers. "I'm so glad you're home. Let's go to the ball."

Zell smiled and nodded. "Only if you'll save a dance for me."

When they made it to the Quad, the sky was getting darker and darker. Yet, no one seemed to even notice that the darkened clouds were hanging over Balamb.

Zell beamed seeing all the people he had missed for so long dancing.

Quistis unintentionally began to scour the crowd for Seifer. She found him dancing with another girl out in the middle of the floor. She frowned unhappily.

As Quistis walked down the steps towards the dance floor, everyone began to notice she was back. Selphie and Rinoa immediately stopped dancing with their respective partners and ran over to her and pounced on her.

The girls couldn't resist a big hug. It was at this point that Zell decided to take his leave as the three girls whispered intimately.

He walked over to his two friends and couldn't help but smile and smile. It was utterly infectious.

"It's really good to have you back." Irvine said letting out an honest laugh.

"It really isn't the same here without you." Squall agreed.

"Thank you." Zell smiled and patted Squall on the back.

Zell saw the two girls come over and he moved to the side to allow them to return to their partners.

Zell looked at Rinoa. She gave a wincing headshake over her shoulder. Zell looked over where Rinoa had nodded.

There Quistis was, cutting in so she could be Seifer's partner. The girl looked slightly taken aback as she watched how tightly Seifer and Quistis held each other.

As Zell remembered why he hadn't wanted to come back to begin with, he shook it off just as quickly. Quistis was upfront with him and he had made his decision regardless.

Zell walked over to the punch table and poured himself a drink. He lifted his glass and put his arm out in their direction in a sort of semi-toast. He took a sip and placed his glass back on the table.

As he set the glass back down, he felt it again. That tiny drop that had hit him only hours before. He looked heavenward. Zell smiled as he saw the torrent before it hit him and everyone around him.

The screeching sounds of dance partners and the quick covering of heads with jackets, shirts, anything that would stop the rain made Zell laugh.

All of a sudden, everyone was emptying the entire place to run back inside Garden.

Quistis found herself alone, as Seifer smiled, gripped her hand one last time and then proceeded to run back inside.

Quistis stood there for a moment, just letting the rain soak through her skin and inside of her. She pushed the sopping strands of hair aside. She felt a presence behind her and she turned, knowing full well who stood there.

Zell was there, a golden smile radiated from his lips. A smile that would stretch on and on for an eternity within Quistis' soul.

Seeing his smile touched her to her core and she laughed. A laugh so warming that Zell would treasure the cascading sound in his memory forever.

"Come on." Quistis nodded towards the steps back towards the warm belly of Garden. The smile left Zell's face and she stopped in her tracks.

"If there is where it begins, let's let it begin in the rain." Zell said, looking upward and holding his arms outward.

When Zell's gaze returned to Quistis, she also was no longer smiling.

"And if this is where it ends?" Quistis posed the question to him seriously.

"Then let it end in rain." Zell replied.

Quistis walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her sopping clothes clinging to him. His hands found her waist and he began to sway back and forth.

There they danced, right there in the rain. It didn't matter who or what else was in their way, they were together. Right there in that moment, they were together…

Wow, 4 years and 19 chapters later it ends. It's been an absolute pleasure writing for all of you and I hope you enjoyed it. I had planned on posting this Jan. 29, (my birthday) but I ended up getting sick. Well, I would love to hear what you thought of the story in it's entirety or whatever your thoughts are. I would really appreciate reviews on the complete work though. I pray that I will be able to write for you again soon. But…

Until next time,

GrayFox