April 4th – Early Morning

"Well, I think I'm more or less healed" Sora stretched on the spot "Thanks Aerith"

"No problem Sora, just be careful"

"Dooley noted!" He saluted

Aerith sighed with a smile on her face and started to put away some things in Merlin's house. When she was satisfied she grabbed her satchel and headed to the door.

"I need to go and sort out some things, Sora, come find me in the courtyard and I'll give you the potions you need" She headed to the door and went to the shopping district. She grabbed her silver pen and went over to the Missing and Deceased wall. She double checked she had everyone written down and then she heard a commotion at the top of the stairs.

Aerith gasped and dropped the pen for standing at the top of the stairs, were a very exhausted looking bunch of people. Leon, Irvine, Ellone, and Rinoa, whose energy had returned to her slightly, shuffled forward and down the stairs toward Aerith.

"Leon!" She ran forward and hugged him. She let go and looked at the others, when she realised who they were she screamed and held them.

"What's all this noise?" Cloud and Tifa walked down the stairs, Tifa froze when she saw them and Cloud smirked and leant against the wall.

"Well…I should of known Leonhart, only you'd cause this much fuss. Welcome back…" Cloud was happy; he just wasn't one to show it.

Tifa was still frozen on the spot. But unlike Aerith when she ran, she didn't run to Leon she ran straight to Rinoa and held her tightly, despite the groans.

"RINOA! You're all safe after all the years!"

Tifa held onto Rinoa and spun around jumping slightly. Leon tried to intervene but thought best not, as his experiences with Tifa had ever been great. He folded his arms and tried to ignore his fatigue. Rinoa seemed shocked out of her skeleton by Tifa but returned her friend's hug all the same. When Tifa let go, Rinoa timidly went over and gripped onto Leon's arm. He shifted and put his arm around her. He was about to whisper something when suddenly he felt himself being attacked from behind. He spun quickly just to see a lively ninja on his shoulder holding onto him tightly.

"Yu….Yuffie…can't….breath!"

Rinoa started giggling and then it wasn't long before Yuffie had her in a death grip.

"Hey don't I get anything?" Irvine stretched his arms slightly until he was ambushed by everyone.

Rinoa looked around with a puzzled look, she tugged Leon's sleeve "Squall…Where's Quistis and Zell?"

The others looked around and agreed with her puzzlement and Leon just sighed but then gave a small, unsure smile.

"They…they're still on their way…" Everyone knew he was lying but no one chose to deny it "Now if you all don't mind, I think we all should have some rest and-"

"You!" They all turned to see Sora bearing his keyblade and heading toward Rinoa "Just because you took off all that make up doesn't mean I wouldn't recognise you!"

Leon calmly stepped in between them and folded his arms. Sora stopped looking slightly sheepish and Leon examined the boy's dressed wound. He leant back slightly to Rinoa.

"Nice work," He smirked

"Hey!" Donald tapped his foot "What's going on?!"

"It's a very long story…" Leon shrugged "We'll tell you all about it later"

X-X-X

Rinoa was sitting on Leon's bed. She was looking around the small hotel room and twiddled her thumbs slightly. Leon had told her to rest and wait there; although he was a tad reluctant to leave her so soon, there was something he needed to take care of. She had changed into one of his shirts and found a pair of boxers she used as shorts to change into. She had currently been waiting the good part of seven hours but luckily had slept most of it off. She stiffly stood and headed for the bathroom to wash up, but she stumbled slightly as she saw smashed pieces of glass near the entrance. She crouched down and saw the bottom of a glass underneath a cabinet. She crouched to try and get it but found herself straining too much.

"I guess we should have cleared that up"

Rinoa turned quickly to see Aerith standing at the door. She stood and smiled at her old friend.

"I…um…I wanted to give this to you" Aerith was clutching a small picture frame and grinned "Just last month Leon threw it back to me…he didn't want to be reminded. But I guess you changed all that" She stretched her hand out with the picture. Rinoa took it and sat on the end off the bed. She looked at the picture and began to giggle. It was of her and Leon on their wedding day, he had decided it would be funny to give her a piggy back ride although she was wearing a puffy wedding gown. After they saw it they had declared it their all time favourite picture.

"Thanks…" She held it close to her but her smile faded "I…Can I ask you something?"

"Of course" Aerith sat on the bed next to her

"Is…Is it normal to feel…well…I guess that's just it…I don't know how to feel. It's like I've been away for so long…that, I'm not sure how to live my life now"

Aerith put an arm around her friend

"Rinoa…there are going to be parts of you that are going to miss your life there. Nothing can change how you feel…or…It's hard to explain…things will make themselves clear soon enough and you know we'll help you and Leon will and-"

"It's funny hearing him being called Leon…" She laughed

"Well, maybe he'll become Squall once again now that you're here"

"Maybe I will" They turned to see him leaning in the door frame. His wasn't wearing his jacket and his shirt was covered in filth. There was dirt on his cheeks and a stained handkerchief falling out of his pocket "Aerith…" He nudged his head to the door behind him. She nodded and cheekily left the room.

"What's going on?" Rinoa stood, still holding the picture and headed toward him. Leon peeked at the picture and smirked. "Good idea" grabbing her he managed to softly throw her onto his back.

"Squall! What're you doing?!" She clung onto him with her free hand "You're filthy!"

"Whatever" He turned his head back smirking "Just hold on…got the picture still?"

"Uh…yes…"

"Great! Let's go!" He headed out of the room and down the hotel corridor

"This is really unlike you" Rinoa let out a snorty laugh

"Eh...too tired to be anyone else right now"

"Just tell me where we're going"

"Nope…it's a surprise…"

X-X-X

Rinoa could hear people's murmurs and began to feel slightly embarrassed by her ensemble. As they reached Merlin's house he had her dismount and covered her eyes letting her walk ahead of him. Her bare feet touched the warm pavement and she had to use Leon as a guide. After walking up some steps, he told her to wait with her eyes closed. He walked away and she heard a soft click and the sound of a rusty door open. He guided her forward a few steps.

"Okay…Open your eyes, Mrs Leonhart…and welcome home"

Her eyes fluttered open and her breath was taken. She stepped forward again as she saw her old home…exactly the way she remembered. She looked at every corner and every wall. Pictures hung on hooks with glistening frames and soft curtains fluttered over sparkling windows. The rugs were soft and clean on her toes and the fresh smell of flowers and air freshener cleared her senses. The place was so refreshing and the soft wind blew her hair and finally she knew how to feel. She was free and able to do anything she wanted. She turned and hugged Leon and snuggled into his chest.

"Am I to believe you did this all by yourself?"

"You better not otherwise I'll never do him a favour again" Rinoa turned to see Cloud wiping his hands on a cloth

"Thanks, Cloud…I didn't know you were a handy man"

"There's a lot you don't know about me" He shrugged

"We all helped" Yuffie and the others were waiting outside.

"But it's not finished yet…" Leon looked at her and pointed over to a shelf where the picture in her hand used to reside "It's the last piece to be replaced"

Rinoa looked down at the picture and then with an extra wipe of the glass she placed in on the shelf. The she went outside toward her friends and saw all of Radiant Garden waiting in courtyard. They waved at her and said hellos and welcome backs to all four who returned recently.

It was strange…Rinoa felt. It was true that she tried to make as many friends as possible before she left but she didn't think her homecoming would be this important. Of course the majority of the ladies there were perhaps pleased to see Irvine. A microphone had been placed and Leon stood in front of it, clearing his throat. Rinoa began to feel somewhat trapped. She had spent the best part of three years isolated and suddenly there were a crowd of people glad to see her, and shake her hand. She became overwhelmed and began walking backwards a little...until Leon started to speak

"Restoring a whole world is probably one of the hardest things to do but there's no such thing as restoring someone you've lost…" He looked over to his friends and Rinoa "Through the years we've gone through the worst of the worst, and for some of us those, mistakes can't be fixed. But every so often, there's a burst of luck that comes rarely, but when it does, it gives us the motivation we need to carry on" The crowd nodded and agreed along side him "This last month has been…unique for me but nothing can compare to the last few years that three of my friends…sorry, five of my friends have gone through…we perhaps didn't all succeed in the things we wanted to, but now our goals have changed and we will…" his voice trailed off as he spotted a couple limping passed the ice cream shop. With Quistis' arm around his shoulder, Zell came along the path supporting her. He sent a quick smile toward Leon and everyone turned and began cheering as loudly as they could. They both sat with a shlump on the wall nearby and waved with a lack of energy. Leon shook his head "Well…uh…I can't really remember what I was going to say, but I guess those guys proved my point" The crowd laughed and cheered and soon a celebration broke out and songs played and children danced. As Leon went over to aid Zell and Quistis, Rinoa sat on the wall just outside her front door, she looked up at Irvine who was staring off into space.

"You okay, Irvy?" She asked as sympathetically as she could

"Some may look at us and say the groups back together but it-"

"It's not…" She stood and shyly patted him on the back, she had yet to get used to touch "To others it may seem we're all here, but we know that there's still one member of our group we need to get and that's all that counts. As long as we don't forget about her, one day we'll bring her home"

"Home? Huh?"

"Yeah…home"

"Where is home Rinoa?"

She paused thoughtfully, the answer she should have said was "here" but her lips decided against it.

"I don't know" She was glad the others had chosen to go about there own business and leave them to talk "Where do you want home to be, Irvine?"

"It doesn't matter…as long as Selphie's there"

Rinoa smirked and nudged him slightly.

"Nice bit of cheese there"

Irvine shook his head with the teeniest grin and then began nodding.

"Nice to be free eh?" He sighed "Nice to be free"

"Irvine," She made him face her "We'll get her back"

He patted her shoulder and then made his way over to Zell and Quistis without another word.

In his head Leon couldn't be more overjoyed but as he looked at Rinoa sitting on the wall staring toward the crumbled remains of the castle he couldn't help but still live in fear. He placed his hand on his holster and agreed that whenever he could he would train and become stronger, if there ever was a next time something bad happened, there would be no excuse.

"Squall…"

He turned to see Irvine readjusting his hat.

"How does the keybearer travel from world to world?"

Leon just smiled and pointed over to Cid.

"You'll have to talk to him on that one"

But then Leon's attention turned to his wife, he excused himself and took a place on the wall next to her.

"Part of me feels stupid" He said whilst stroking his hair awkwardly

"Now, now Squall, surely that's normal, right?"

He rolled his eyes and tapped her softly

"I just wish I was smart enough to have checked the castle, I could have saved myself a lot of solitary confinement"

She couldn't help but disagree slightly in her head as she was glad she had experienced what she'd been through but she agreed to never reveal it to him. She leant forward and stroked his cheek and the pair shared a moment's kiss. Without caring who was looking he held her tightly in her arms and he knew in that moment that that was the day Leon disappeared forever and he was once again…Squall Leonhart.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Author's Comments:

Well, there we have it, the last chapter. Wanna know a secret? I started this over a year ago, now that I think about it even two and I didn't want to upload it until I had finished. I'd got to the first paragraph of this chapter and thought "I might as well upload what I have" (bar three chapters) and I'm glad I did. Thank you to those who have reviewed currently as it really gave me the motivation to carry on.

I don't know if my not-so-subtle hint worked but I had planned on making this a trilogy and still want to do so. The next one I hope to do ASAP is based around Irvine and Selphie and then the next will be about Zell (can't wait for that one). I think it's nice to see boys being all emotional don't you? So I hope you enjoyed this. I did want this last chapter to come out a bit better but I'm glad I've finally finished what I started. Watch this space for the next two fanfics in the Series! P.S. I do apologise for the mistakes I've made in both grammar and spelling and the occasional mini plot hole. I'm gonna try and fix them as soon as I can ^w^ thanks again for reading! BabemRoze x