"I thought I lost you. I had no reason to come back," she explained.
"If you knew that I'm alive, would you have stayed?"
"Absolutely."
He held her close, pretending that he trusted her words. He knew that she only said that to make him feel good, sugar-coating reality for his own sake as always. In this moment, he didn't mind her deceptiveness.
"I don't want you to go," he finally shed tears.
"Now you know how I felt when I saw you died," she replied solemnly.
"And you have to get back to me like this?"
His composure shattered completely. He collapsed to his knees, shoulders shaking with uncontrolled sobs.
"My dear SeeD, we have a mission to complete. Tell me, what are we going to do once we get there?"
He tried to compose himself and recount the plan to her, like a SeeD candidate reporting to a mission leader.
"Good. A slight adjustment. Can you please leave right after dropping me off?" she pleaded.
"You know I can't."
"Please…"
"Why? I'm your Knight."
"You'll make a great Knight. But I'm no Sorceress. No one fights me, and I have no intention to resist Hyne. Please forget me. Find your princess."
He lightly shook his head and looked at the ground.
"That's not how it works. Have you ever forgotten him?"
His question struck her like a Thundaga spell.
"I saw his card in your gear. I can't compete with a guy who died to protect you. But he's not here. Don't push me away. Just a little longer, please."
It was her turn to burst into tears.
"I don't deserve you."
"It's my choice. And you can't take it away from me no matter how hard you try. I'd always come to you. How about in our next life?"
She shook her head. "I promised him that..."
"The one after the next, then?"
"I'd love that. I promise." She nodded repeatedly.
"Keep your promise, partner."
"Hold me," she asked. "My deposit. Two lives ahead is a long time, partner..."
He happily obliged. She touched his face gently with her hand.
The music kept playing in the spaceship.
Darling, so share with me
Your love if you have enough
Your tears if your holding back
Or pain if that's what it is
Gazing out into the dark space, they embraced each other and treasured the peaceful moment before the Ragnarok lead them to the biggest unknown of the universe.
"Pinch me."
"Yes?"
"I want to be sure I'm not dreaming," he asked.
"You are not dreaming," she said, placing her finger between his eyebrows and pressing her nail lightly to make him wince.
"We're going to see Hyne, aren't we?"
"Are you scared?"
"A little. I haven't called my mom."
"You'll come home safely. I promise."
"You can't be so sure…"
"Oh, I am very sure. Have I ever lied to you?"
"More than I can count, partner."
"Uh huh."
"I feel like dreaming…"
Slowly, his sharp eyes dulled and wrapped close under his heavy eyelids. His frown was no longer shown.
Darling, so there you are
With that look on your face
As if you're never hurt
As if you're never down
Shall I be the one for you
Who pinches you softly but sure?
If frown is shown then
I will know that you are no dreamer
"Sleep. Have a nice dream, partner. You'll be home in no time."
She gently kissed his now peaceful forehead. She retrieved her lover's card from her gear. Unlike him, she was no loner.
Floating into the vast expanse of space in her spacesuit, she looked on until the Ragnarok was no longer visible.
Goodbye. I'll wait for you in our next life. If you come there, you will find me. I promise.
One can die for love. But partners keep each other alive.
She gazed in wonder at the vast expanse of space as she propelled herself to her destination. Planets and stars felt so close, yet so far. Distance among astronomical objects is measured in lightyears. The thought of her organic body soon mingling with cosmic dust made her tremble. She would be just a drop in the ocean.
Activating the screen on her space helmet, she looked for the spots of high density magic source. Esthar researchers, along with historians and anthropologists, seemed to have figured out detailed instructions on how to reveal the hidden sanctuary.
There were eight spots to place the invented probes in order to disperse the invisible shields. Four White SeeDs were supposed to perform this task, but now she could have all the fun by herself.
Steadily, one by one, she placed the probes in position. Zero gravity meant the probes couldn't slide away. She smirked amusingly at the redundant alligator clips on each probe, guessing that the Estharian scientists might have reused some existing design due to time constraint.
Then, all she had to do was wait for the pulsar to arrive before hitting a button.
She waited, and waited.
She grew hungry. Also, the life support system showed that her oxygen tank dropped to 20%.
She didn't plan to return to Earth on this one-way trip, but dying before seeing the sanctuary would render her journey meaningless.
Taking out the instructions from the Estharian scientists, she did some mental math. Dealing with large numbers, their timing could be off by days, if not months. She began to regret sending the Ragnarok full of supplies away.
Her stomach protested once more. She retrieved her hands from the spacesuit's gloves and sleeves. Grabbing a dry bar from her inner jacket, she put it in her mouth through the narrow space between her spacesuit and helmet. Being a small girl gave her certain advantages.
One long day had passed. Oxygen level: 5%.
She changed her oxygen tank, not wanting to succumb to eternal sleep in case she dozed off and her current tank ran out of air.
The pulsar's ETA had passed for hours. What were the chances it would come in the next hour? Her sleepy mind debated, convincing her to close her eyes.
Having a partner would certainly have helped.
46 hours.
She changed her oxygen tank once more. Her hands started to tremble and could no longer feel her gloves. She began to panic, questioning whether she had dozed off unknowingly and missed the neutron star's lighthouse effect.
She needed an extra set of eyes to keep watch while she rested. Reaching for her junction, she summoned her long-time GF.
"Wake me up immediately when you see the light," she commanded, then fell into the big bird's wings for rest.
She woke up after what seemed like half an Earth-day based on her watch. The GF remained there, as watchful as ever.
"Come back, rest. Our last mission seems to be a long one."
She patted the formidable yet obedient bird before welcoming it back to her consciousness.
With four oxygen tanks left, she tried to find any distraction to wave off any worries. An idea, or rather, a potential problem came up. The shock induced by the pulsar would push away her precious oxygen tanks. She used her lasso to tightly bind them together, then quickly realized the bulk would become a hazard itself if it hit her at high speed even in zero gravity. Her final decision was to attach two oxygen tanks to her slim body, leaving the rest floating around.
72 hours.
Her partner must have returned home by now. She wondered what he had eaten first to fill his empty stomach. Garden's hot dogs, perhaps. Or his mom's Balamb fish.
75 hours.
Unable to resist sleep again, she called her GF once more. But soon, it woke up from her slumber.
A beam of bright light emerged from afar. There was no mistake. She immediately retrieved her GF, grabbed the activation device and cast Protect on her body. Light speed was no joke. The time window was very limited.
Within seconds, the light emitted from the massive neutron star thousands of lightyears away swept towards her. She pressed the button forcefully. The lighting force pushed her away and she tumbled, disoriented. She tried not to panic, holding her oxygen tanks close. Zero gravity meant even a force of mere 100 Newtons could push her far away indefinitely.
The pulsar left as fast as it had come. But it took forever for her body to come to a full stop.
Once stabilized, she quickly disregarded her fear of being lost.
The activated probes had synergistically connected with each other, forming a giant wall and revealing the floating, enormous ancient temple behind them.
Steadily, she turned on the engine on her spacesuit and flew towards the sanctuary.
Hyne... Here I come.