Edea's Orphanage, In Varying Timelines, Wednesday Afternoon Fandom Time (NFB)

[angelo_wings]

from a floating rock, outside of time, to edea's orphanage, the present
Rinoa	Suddenly, the world shifted. There was a strange twisting, in the pit of Rinoa's stomach, and the flowers began to fade out. Everything was fading out. The whole world was turning white. "Hold on," Rinoa said, reaching her arms out for whoever was nearest to her. "Everyone hold on to someone!" Something huge was happening. They needed to stay together. No matter what.
Jono	Someone, anyone, everyone, if they could manage it. Jono caught onto one of Rinoa's arms with his hand, reaching his other arm out for Raven, intending to pull her as close as possible. //Huddle together, if you can,// he added, ducking his head, keeping as firm a grasp on his flames as he intended to keep on the others in the group.
Seifer	Seifer reached out for the blonde girl and Rinoa at the same time. "What the hell is going on, Rinoa?"
Rinoa	"I don't know," she said, grateful to have Jono and Seifer both to hold on to. In fact, she might bury her face against Seifer's chest, if he didn't object. Because she was scared, and Squall was missing, and she just needed to be held right now. "I-it's her doing. It has to be." Which meant it couldn't be good. Was it over? Had he failed? Was ... he gone?
Raven	Raven clung to Jono. After seeing him vanish in front of her once, there was no way she was letting go this time. She pressed her face against his shoulder, still feeling nauseated from tapping into her powers so strongly against Ultimecia, reaching out for Sookie or Tara at the same time.
Tara	Happy to have Raven's solid presence, Tara reached out to grab her friend. "How are you?" she asked. "My belly's all jumpy, but I think ... I think I'm okay."
Edea's Orphanage	The whiteness all around was a bright light that blotted out everything else. Slowly it faded around them, bringing the flowers back into view. The last of the bright light flowed together directly overhead, coalescing into the warm sun of a beautiful spring day shining down on them from a clear blue sky. The flowers around them were still there, only solid now, and the ground they were standing on was solidly part of the world again. They were in the middle of a giant field of blooming flowers, one that Rinoa and Seifer would quickly recognize. Nearby, a stone building stood -- the same orphanage where they had first arrived after following Ultimecia, only this time weathered by age and crumbling in places.
Raven	"You feel all right to me," Raven said, doing a quick empathic check of Tara and the rest of her friends around her. "My gifts seem to be working normally again. And there is life here." She looked around at the grassy field and real flowers, and the blue skies that had replaced the swirling grey. "People are near, I can sense them. I think we are safe now." Except for Squall, wherever he was.
Seifer	Seifer looked around and stepped away from the group. "We're back at the orphanage."
Rinoa	"So we're ..." Rinoa let go of everyone, reluctantly. "We're back? We're home?" No sign of Squall yet, but the orphanage looked right for it to be the present. There wasn't any castle in the background, and the world wasn't slowly melting. "Is it over?"
Edea	Coming out of the ruins of the orphanage was a tall, striking woman. The dress she was wearing was black, with a feathery ruff around the low-cut neckline. Her hair was dark, and her skin pale. There were horns on one side of her head, curling around her ear in a shell-like pattern. Edea surveyed the crowd, only recognizing two of its number -- Rinoa, the girl who had received her powers, and Seifer, one of her many charges at the orphanage. And more recently, the boy who had served as her Knight, while she had been Ultimecia's puppet. Squall wasn't among them. She had hoped against hope that he might be. "Time compression has been ended," she called out. "You did very good, children. And now, I ... I think perhaps you should come inside." There was much she needed to tell them.

from ultimecia's castle, at the end of time, to edea's orphanage, in the past
Squall	It was all over now, wasn't it? Ultimecia was... dead? defeated? Gone, at any rate. Squall could hear his friends' voices echoing somewhere in the distance, he thought. He couldn't tell. Everything was black, was nothingness. For a half-second he thought maybe he'd failed after all, and the universe had been destroyed, but... no, that wasn't it. He was just lost, was all. He realized he could feel something firm under his feet. He was somewhere, then -- and if he was somewhere, then he could find his way to somewhere else. (Where am I?) He started walking through the blackness, looking for a light.
Edea	Somewhere in the blackness came a voice. A woman's voice, older and familiar. "Squall? Where are you going?"
Squall (and Squall)	And out of the blackness, slowly fading into view, came... Squall. His younger self. Squall watched the child stop running and put his hands on his hips proudly. "I'm going to find Sis!" And at that moment, Squall knew where he was. And when. This was the orphanage. And the woman who had just called out, who was even now appearing was the Matron, Edea. Around him the blackness vanished, and he was standing in front of the familiar stone building, years in the past, on the day when his life had changed forever. The younger Squall ran off, looking for Ellone, the only family he had in the world, the only person he really loved. He wouldn't find her, the older Squall knew. Sis was gone, was gone for good. And from this moment on, he would be on his own. All alone in the world. He'd forgotten this day, blotted it out from his mind even before the GFs started dissolving his memories... but some part of him had never left here.
Edea	Edea frowned. "Squall?" she called again. She couldn't blame him for running off. She had expected he would take this badly. It was for Ellone's safety, and the good of the world, but it was impossible to make an abandoned child understand that. Her heart ached for him. And at that moment, Edea was pulled from her reverie. There was a stranger standing in front of her orphanage. He was in his late teens, wearing a dark jacket, and there was something oddly familiar about his face. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to wrestle with that particular question. "Excuse me," she said. "Have you seen a little boy?"
Squall	...Except he hadn't been all alone, had he? He'd had Matron caring for him, and Quistis, and Cid... He'd only really been alone because he'd chosen to be. Because he closed himself off from the people who were trying to reach out to him. "Don't worry about the boy, Matron," he told her. "He'll be all right on his own." Not great, not happy, but life wasn't perfect. And his had been all right.
Edea	Edea glanced at the newcomer sharply, when he called her Matron. He must be local, then. Someone who recognized her as the woman who ran the orphanage. "I don't know that he will," she said softly. "He's just received some horrible news, I'm afraid." She straightened. This boy wasn't here to hear about the problems of her charges. "How may I be of service?"
Ultimecia	Near the entrance to the orphanage was a plume of faint purple smoke. There was a crackling noise, and then a figure staggered out. Ultimecia's legs could hardly carry her. She stumbled, not sure what force was compelling her forward. Every inch of her hurt. But she couldn't stop. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.
Squall	Why wouldn't she just die, already? "You're alive?!" Squall asked. He brandished his gunblade and moved to protect Edea. "Stand back, Matron!"
Edea	"Wait." Edea rested a hand on the boy's arm, gently pushing the gunblade down. "There's no need to fight her." The Sorceress was still staggering, lunging forward as if every step pained her. "I've seen this before," Edea said. "She's dying. But a Sorceress can't die with her powers. She will linger, between life and death, until she can find someone to receive her powers." Edea approached the Sorceress carefully. "I'm here," she said.
Ultimecia	Ultimecia had followed the SeeD here. She wouldn't give up. She was going to end time and remake the world. She was a goddess. She would destroy him, and everyone else who stood against her. The world feared Sorceresses. So she had chosen to give them reason to fear. The SeeD had destroyed her, as all the legends said. But she still breathed. She still walked. She was Ultimecia. She ... "I can't ... disappear yet."
Edea	Edea wasn't sure why these two figures had found their way to her orphanage. Questions could come later. For now, the newcomer was dying. Edea was already a Sorceress; better that she receive these powers, than that this new Sorceress stumble the other direction, into the orphanage, and bestow them on a child. She, herself, had only been five when she had become one. She would not condemn one of her charges to her own fate. "You're in agony," Edea said, softly. "You can't die with your powers. And you can no longer live. Let go, and find peace." She held a hand out, hoping the other woman would take it.
Ultimecia	Ultimecia wanted to rail against the injustices done to her. She wanted to burn the world until nothing was left. She wanted -- She wanted this torment to stop. She had nothing left. She took Edea's hand.
Edea	There was another flash of the pinkish smoke, and a blinding white light, again. Both women fell to the ground. Only one was now a Sorceress. Only one was still alive. Edea exhaled, slowly. "Is it over?"
Squall	Why was she asking him? She was the one who knew all this Sorceress stuff. "I think so?" He took a step toward Ultimecia, intending to prod her body with his foot to make sure she was dead, but she was already fading away into nothingness. He looked around at the orphanage, at Matron, and at the younger version of himself who was running towards him. Ellone had said that she couldn't change the past -- was him being here changing the past, or was this what had happened? He couldn't remember. "Or else it's just beginning."
Edea	"Squall," Edea called, crouching and offering her arms to the lost boy.
(Younger) Squall	"I couldn't find Sis," he replied. He hesitated, not ready to accept the hug.
Edea	"I know," she said. "I'm sorry. You should come inside now."
(Younger) Squall	Squall looked up at the tall grumpy guy standing nearby. "Who's he?"
Edea	That was, Edea thought, a particularly good question. She had no idea, herself.
Squall	"A friend," Squall answered. He leaned down to ruffle his younger self's hair, a gesture that surprised even him. "You have lots of friends, you know. And you'll see Sis again, one day." He looked back at Matron. "It's complicated," he told her, with an apologetic shrug.
Edea	"Go inside and play," she urged, trying to keep her tone normal but the worry now apparent on her face. Once Squall had disappeared into the building, Edea stood. "Tell me who you are," she said firmly. It wasn't just that he had called her Matron. He knew about Sis. Whoever he was would have to go through her before he could lay a finger on those children.
Squall	Squall nodded at the door that had just closed. "I'm him," he said. "You and Cid trained me all my life to defeat that Sorceress, and now she's brought me back here."
Edea	"You can't be ..." Couldn't he? Ellone could send the mind into the past. Maybe Squall could send bodies there. Edea sighed. "I think you need to start at the beginning," she said.

edea's orphanage, the present
Seifer	Seifer was going to stand here on the porch and just glare at the wall. If someone wanted to try and talk him into going inside, they were more than welcome too.
Edea	She had expected that Seifer might balk at that. It tore at her heart, to know that she had been in some way responsible for what had happened to him. It hadn't been her, but Ultimecia had used her body for it. Not that this wasn't painfully awkward, for a number of reasons that she hoped neither of them would have to mention. But she was the adult, here, and that put on her the responsibility for making sure that he was all right and hiding her own discomfort. "I meant all of you," she said softly, reaching to put a hand on Seifer's arm. "Were you afraid you would not be welcome in my home?" She gave him a smile, as if to indicate how silly an idea that was.
Seifer	Seifer just stared for a moment and then shrugged. "I wasn't the one welcomed back with open arms by everyone, so I'm not so sure anymore." He headed for the door, trying to look relaxed. "We need to find Squall." Before someone in the group went psycho. Again.
Edea	"That's going to be difficult," Edea said, handling that point first. There would be time, later, to heal the fractures left in Seifer's soul. For now, Squall was missing. "Eleven years ago ... or perhaps twelve. I received a strange visitor. Two of them. One was a Sorceress, near death. I accepted her powers to prevent any of my children from becoming new Sorceresses." Edea was ushering all of them inside, towards whatever chairs they liked. Now seemed like an excellent time to put the kettle on and make tea. "The other was a young man who had just defeated her. He told me he was from the future. He asked me to create Garden, and train SeeDs. He said he was the same boy who had been running after his missing sister all day."
Cid	A man joined her in the kitchen. He was quiet and unassuming. No one might guess that he had once led an entire military academy. "In other words," Cid said carefully, "we've known the end game from the beginning, but we haven't had any idea how to get there."
Rinoa	Rinoa forced herself to sit and watch Edea make tea. She even forced herself to try to pay attention to what she was saying. "So ... Squall's in the past?" she asked.
Jono	Jonothon glanced up as he finished re-wrapping himself. Sitting on a rock and waiting for the universe to end was one thing. He wasn't going to hang out in some perfect stranger's kitchen with fire billowing out of his face. Especially not around here. If anyone tried to put him out today, he was liable to put a fist through their teeth. //That's... inconvenient.// To say the least.
Edea	"He didn't stay in the past," Edea reassured them. "I told him that he didn't belong there, and asked if he could get home again. He reassured me that he knew the way back. And with that, he disappeared." So it was entirely possible that Squall might materialize right there in Edea's kitchen, any minute now. But the longer this conversation went on, the less likely that seemed.
Rinoa	"So then, where is he?" Rinoa asked, too impatient to phrase that nicely. "He's just ... going to show up? He got lost?"
Raven	"What can we do to find him?" Raven asked. "Is there anything we can do to help?" They couldn't just sit here and wait -- there had to be something they could do.
Cid	"It's in his hands, now," Cid answered firmly. The whole knowing-the-future-before-it-happened thing had always led him to overrate Squall's abilities more than a little. "He's a resourceful kid. He'll find a way to make it work."

a barren wasteland, outside of time
Squall	Everything faded to black, and Squall was back adrift in the nothingness outside of time again. This time, he didn't feel lost, though. (I'll be all right, Matron. Because I'm not alone.) Ultimecia really WAS gone, now. Time compression would reverse itself, and everyone and everything would end up back where it belonged. And Squall knew exactly where he belonged: with his friends. With Rinoa. That was where he'd like to belong, anyway. It was the closest thing he had to belonging somewhere. ...It was still dark and empty, and now he couldn't hear or feel anything but the beating of his own heart. He didn't like this blackness -- it felt too much like the pit in the Labyrinth. Which Rinoa had saved him from. (If I call out, they will answer.) "RINOA?!" he shouted. "Jono? Sis? Where is everyone?!?" But they didn't answer. "Rinoa?!?!" They didn't answer at all. "Please? I need you... I... Is anyone there?!?!" (Where are you? Rinoa, I can't make it back alone.) Couldn't Jono and Sookie hear his thoughts? Couldn't Tara and Raven do some sort of magic to find him? Wasn't Rinoa going to swoop in and be his knight in shining armor again, now that he needed her? (Am I... all alone again?) Well, if he was alone again for now, he could make it on his own. He'd try to find his way back, and they'd try to find him, and one way or the other he'd make it.
Squall	The world faded in around him again, melting away the blackness. He wasn't at the orphanage this time, though, but on a wide, flat plain. The ground was hard-packed dirt, dry and crusted and cracked. Nothing grew. Nothing stirred. The air felt thick in his lungs. Above him... there wasn't any sky. The air rippled high overhead, and he knew that beyond that boundary lay nothingness. (Where... am I?) Well, he was somewhere, anyway. He could give up, or he could start walking. If he picked a direction and went, he'd have to get to somewhere else eventually, right? And maybe from there he'd find his way back. At first, the journey was easy going. Sure, the air was thick and dry, but he was a trained soldier and could walk for hours and hours without stopping. Which he did. And then he walked for hours and hours longer. Actually, he had no idea how long he'd been walking. It could have been hours, or days, or maybe only a few minutes. There was no sun or moon to mark the passage of time by, and his feet make no prints on the hard crusted earth. Onward he walked, seemingly forever. The scenery didn't change -- at least, it hadn't yet. But maybe if he walked a little farther he'd get to somewhere different. (I'm all alone... But I can make it on my own.)
Squall	Squall had gotten used to the endless marching. One foot in front of the other, then the first foot again. Onward and onward. His steps became slower as he plodded along. He couldn't stop, couldn't give up. Couldn't... something. He stopped, suddenly. Just in front of him the plain ended. There was a harsh jagged edge, and beyond that, nothing. He had been about to put one foot over the edge, and fall off the world into the swirling nothingness below. Well, then. Time to pick a different direction and go that way. But when he turned around, the wide plain had gone. He was standing on a small rock, and beyond its edges the nothingness was encroaching from all around. There was nowhere TO go. He was trapped. And exhausted. And alone. He stumbled, swooned, and collapsed onto the rock underneath him. "Rinoa...!"

edea's orphanage, the present
Rinoa	Rinoa had been increasingly agitated, as Edea talked. There was something wrong here. She could feel Squall's presence, somehow tickling at the edge of her mind. Something was wrong. "Someone tell me you heard that," she said, jumping abruptly to her feet. "I can hear him. Not out loud, but -- it's not just me. Is it!?" Telepaths, empaths, and friends. She couldn't be the only one here who had felt that vague brush, could she?
Jono	//I did,// Jono intoned, wrapping his arms around himself with a shiver and not particularly caring if that was exactly what it looked like. It felt almost ghostly, like the flowers from before, as if there was only half a Squall making that reach in the first place. //Doesn't seem like he's doing all that well, Sunshine.//
Raven	Raven had felt it, weak and alone and fading. She put her hand on Jono's arm, needed to give comfort as much as receive it. "I felt something," she said. "But it is faint and growing fainter still."
Rinoa	"We have to do something," Rinoa said. She sat down again, this time in the middle of the open floor, legs crossed and hands out to either side. Squall. Are you there? I'm here. I'll find you. "I don't know how to do this," she gasped, trying to fight off her panic. "Someone -- anyone -- please."
Jono	If Jono had a lip to chew on, he would have been. As it stood, the best that he could do was glance up, reaching one hand to take Raven's as it rested on his arm, and the other hand to rest on Rinoa's shoulder. //You know what to look for,// he said, softly. //And I think... I think I can give you a bit of what you need, in order to find it.// He hadn't tried anything like this before, just straight-up giving his power to someone else. But there were so many things that he could do, that he hadn't so much as imagined yet. Things that he'd been too damned afraid to consider. He was power. It only stood to reason that if he focused enough, he could at least loan a whisper of it out.
Rinoa	Rinoa could feel a rush of Jono's powers, connecting with hers. How was he doing that? It didn't matter. She took as much as she could drink in, pushing all of that outward into the call she was issuing. Squallsquallsquallsquallsquall. Squall. Are you out there? I'm here. Help me. Tell me where you are. Tell me how to find you.

a barren wasteland, outside of time
Squall	Squall sat, exhausted, and stared up at the non-sky. Maybe in a little bit he'd get up and start walking again. Probably not. What was the point? He noticed something, then, floating into his field of view. A single white feather, slowly drifting down towards him. A feather like the ones on Rinoa's wings. He caught it and clutched it tightly, and then... He could feel her. She was right there, just out of reach. (Rinoa?) Someone who was a telepath would probably actually know what to do, now. Squall just reached a hand out as if he could physically clutch at the mental sensation. They were so close.
Rinoa	Squall Squall Squall dammitSquallwhereareyou SQUALL! Rinoa had tried to place herself in her flower field, again -- and what a relief it was, to see Ultimecia's black cloud gone from that place -- but it wasn't right. Squall wasn't here. He was just out of reach. She could almost feel him. He had better not give up on her. They would find him. He just had to believe. He just had to hold on. She would find him if it meant running across oceans, so long as he just held on. ... running? There was something familiar to that. Of course. Her dream. She had been running and he wasn't there. He promised to meet her in the flower field. The real one. One hand reached up to her rings, and she felt her essence pushing outward, towards him. She was here. He said he would be here, too. He would never break a promise, would he? Squall. Please.
Squall	He wasn't on the barren rock any more. (Or was he?) He was standing in the flower field, the one he'd promised to meet her in. She was right over there, only he couldn't see her clearly because the setting sun was right behind her. He tried calling her name, but his voice made no sound, and she didn't turn around. Finally, FINALLY, she started to turn, but he couldn't see her face. Her face. He couldn't remember her face. He could remember her smile, her laugh, the smell of her hair, the way she made him feel, but... He felt like, if he could only picture her face clearly, he'd somehow be able to find her. It was a strange thought, one that made no sense, and yet... Why couldn't he remember her face? Was it because of the GFs eating away at his memories? Was it some last curse of Ultimecia's? Was he just a terrible boyfriend? He seized on the moment he'd first met her, his most treasured memory of her. Their eyes had met across the crowded dance floor, she'd pointed up at the shooting star they'd both been watching, and then she'd smiled and sauntered towards him and forced him to dance with her. Their eyes had met... Their eyes had... She'd turned and pointed up and smiled... She'd... It was no USE! Every time he thought he had it, it turned out he didn't. He couldn't find her, couldn't make it work, couldn't... He tried again. And again. And again. If he could just hold a clear enough picture of her in his mind, he could find her, he knew he could. She was here, somewhere. She was... She was... In his mind's eye, the dance floor was empty. She hadn't been at the dance. NO! She turned, and their eyes met, and she pointed up and smiled... She turned... She... She... He was straining, using every remaining ounce of his energy, every particle of his being, to reach out for her, to find her, to see her... And it wasn't enough. The world went white around him. (OH, FUCK.) And then he passed out.

edea's orphanage, the present
Rinoa	Rinoa sat, stunned, for a few seconds. They had nearly managed it. She had felt him. "W-we lost him," she said, opening her eyes and staring at the crowd. "We're losing him. We can't just ..." Oh dear Hyne she couldn't sit here while Squall died. He was dying. He was alone. It was his worst fear. "No," she said, pulling herself up and all but running out of the orphanage. "I'm going after him myself." Never mind that she didn't know how to do that just yet. It didn't matter. Whatever Ultimecia had done, she could undo. Or redo. She didn't fucking care at this point, if it meant getting to him. First, she had to get to the flower field. That was where it started. That was where it had to start.
Seifer	Seifer didn't waste a moment chasing after Rinoa. "Dammit, girl, wait. Think about this for a damn moment. Because if something happens to you and then Squall shows up, guess who gets stabbed first!"
Tara	He got a disdainful look from Tara for that one. "Rinoa, sweetie ... we just found each other," she offered. For all the good it had done them. "Don't go. Let's, um. Do ... something else." She bit her lip. "Give us a second. We'll come up with ... anyone?"
Rinoa	"We don't have time," Rinoa said, not even looking back until she reached the flower field. Their flower field. This was where ... I'll be waiting for you. If you come here, you'll find me. I promise. "He promised," she said, her voice shaking unsteadily. "H-he promised he'd meet me here. I have to find him." She had felt the brush of his mind, and then ... and then it had stopped. She had lost the connection entirely. She could still feel him out there, but it was so faint. So weak. "I have to try," she said. "I ... I can get to him." Probably. It was getting back that was beyond her, at the moment.
Raven	"Rinoa, please, we cannot do anything rash," Raven said. "Give us some time to come up with another plan. What would Squall think if we lost you, too?" Oh yeah, she'd play that card.
Seifer	Seifer grabbed Rinoa's arm to turn her towards him. "'noa, I know you can. Just give us a few seconds to come up with something so that we don't lose you in the process."
Rinoa	Rinoa glanced at Raven, and Tara. Her friends were making so much sense, and worse, they were right, and she knew it. If she tore off like this, he might show up at any minute, and he'd be livid that she had done something so reckless. And then everyone would have to rescue her. Back to the damsel in distress again. None of which weighed in the least against the image she'd had, in her mind. Squall, a single tear running from his eyes, disintegrating into the light. She didn't know how she knew it was real. But every second that passed, he was slipping further away. She couldn't afford to wait. She slid her arms around Seifer and reached to pull him into a hug. "I know, you think I'm crazy," she said, to all of them. "I am. But I've made my mind up. I'll find him. There's nowhere she could have put him that I can't reach. I'll try to get back. I promise I'll try. But I have to do this." As for Seifer ... she didn't know how to say that she forgave him, considering that he'd never apologized. It sounded condescending, phrased like that. So instead, under her voice, she added one sentence just for him. "You were an awesome Knight."
Seifer	He was a bit shocked by the hug, but it didn't stop him from squeezing her tightly. "Thanks, Angel, but we're still not letting you run off on your own. There has to be some way we can keep track of you while you do this." Hell, he'd go with her if he had to.
Rinoa	Rinoa squeezed again before letting go. "There's no time," she said. "I'm sorry. I really am. But he's not going to hold on that long. Someone please watch over Angelo for me?" She put her arms down and focused, willing her wings to unfurl.
Tara	"Wait," Tara said impatiently, in a tone just an inch shy of a command. "I think I ... give me a second." It was hard. She hadn't done it before. But she thought she saw ... "We can link together," she suggested. "Our magic, I mean. So ... so it'll be like there's a tiny piece of me riding along and watching." With an apologetic glance to Sookie and Raven, she added, "I'm p-probably less worn out now than most of you."
Raven	"Any link I forge would only give me an emotional connection," Raven encouraged. "You can surely create one from magic that would be stronger." Especially since Rinoa's emotions were so erratic right now.
Rinoa	Rinoa hesitated. That ... might actually work. She could feel the bond between herself and Squall, Sorceress to Knight; that was how she was planning on finding him. If she linked herself to Tara, she'd have a similar connection lighting the way back home. There were a hundred little questions she wanted to ask, like are you sure and would you be okay if I got lost. But she didn't have time. She would have to trust Tara. And she did. She held her hands out with a nod. "Okay," she said. "H-how do we ..."
Tara	"Just take my hands," Tara said, clutching Rinoa's palms and taking a deep breath as she tried to block out everything except herself, Rinoa and the magic. "The rest of it is ... all me." Closing her eyes, she chanted a few words, feeling the spell forcge a link between her soul and Rinoa's. <<Can you sense me?>>
Rinoa	Rinoa had closed her eyes, as well. In other circumstances, she'd be wary about letting anyone into her head, so soon again after being possessed. But it was Tara, and there wasn't time to worry about it. Tara was safe. Tara wouldn't harm her. And she needed to find Squall. "I can," she answered, out loud, before realizing it might be best if she tested the link the other way. (I mean, I can. Is that it? Are you sure about this?) She'd endangered her friends so much already today. She was scared about placing her in further danger. But not enough to say no.
Tara	No. No, Tara wasn't sure, but this was what she needed to do. She tried not to let her uncertainty cross the bond. <<I'm fine?>> she answered, repeating it aloud so their friends would know all was well. "Don't worry about me. Just go and I'll be watching."
Rinoa	"Thank you," Rinoa said. Those words were insufficient, but it would have to do. "I love you all. Please take care." And with that, she was going to start casting.

from edea's orphanage, the present, to a barren wasteland, outside of time
Rinoa	Tara's link firmly in mind, Rinoa closed her eyes and reached out. Ultimecia had placed Squall wherever he was, now. Rinoa was a Sorceress. So she had the same powers, more or less. She could get to whatever place Squall was in. She had to believe that. There was a bond connecting her to Squall. She could find him through that. He was outside of time, and she was in it. She would remove herself from time, then, and follow the bond to him. And hopefully, the link with Tara would be a strong enough beacon that she could find her place in time and space again. Rinoa conjured up whatever strength she had left, and the whole of the world seemed to turn inward on itself. There was a small funnel of time, circling her, invisible to the naked eye except in the way that the ground was bending around her. And now, to move it sideways -- from one dimension to the next -- and tear just far enough to pull herself, and nothing else, out. The tear sealed itself shut once more. Where Rinoa had stood, there was only open air.
Rinoa	Rinoa opened her eyes again to survey the world around her. Not quite a world. More the leftover pieces of what had yet to re-assimilate into time. The ground was cracked and barren, and the hard clack of her shoes echoed through the emptiness. She wasn't alone. Tara was with her, and Squall was near. She could feel that, even if she couldn't see him yet. Time seemed to be stopped, here. She wasn't sure how long she walked. She was calm. She could feel the strange urge in the air, to give up, to lie down, to lose faith and let herself be torn apart and slipped back into time. She paid it no mind. She was anchored to the real world, through Tara. She was anchored to Squall, as his Sorceress. She only needed to cross the distance between the two. Ahead, there was something on the horizon. A rock, maybe, or a strange bit of debris. She knew it wasn't. Squall was lying on the ground, perfectly still. It was unmistakeably him, the closer she got, and he wasn't moving. She forced herself to stay calm. She was here. She had found him. That was all that mattered.
Rinoa	Rinoa knelt carefully by Squall's side. He was motionless, still, as if he was asleep. She slipped one arm under his shoulders and pulled him onto her lap. Her hand brushed the hair from his eyes. He was breathing, but only faintly. And his skin was so cold. "Hey," she said, her voice tentative. "It's me. I'm here." He didn't react. If anything, his breath seemed to be more hesitant, now.
Rinoa	She had found him. She had Squall, lifeless and still, in her arms. She hadn't thought about what would come next. She had assumed he'd be ali--- awake. That he would embrace her and she would take his hand and lead him back to the light. He looked so pale. How long had he stayed here? Waiting for someone that had never come? She cleared her throat. "We, uh, w-we need to talk about this relationship of ours," she said. "Th-the whole hard-to-get thing. You wouldn't ... dance with me, and th-then you wouldn't ... go out with me, and now you won't even ... c-come back to time. It's a little high-maintenance, you know?" No response. "I know you're there," she continued. "Because you have to be. I came all this way. You jumped into space for me. I-i-it was my turn. I found you. The least you can do is open your eyes." She was losing him. She had already lost him. She had taken too long to find him. He was gone forever, and it was her fault. Tara seemed further and further away.
Rinoa	Rinoa focused all of her energy. All she had left. "Squall," she said. It was a summons. It was a prayer. And when he didn't respond, that was when she knew it was really over. Rinoa buried her face in the ruff of Squall's jacket and sobbed.

the field of flowers, the present
Tara	The connection was fading. Tara felt Rinoa's sorrow, but couldn't sense the cause. It was like trying to listen to a radio that had been tuned slightly off the actual station. "This isn't right," she said aloud, and thought <<RINOA?>> When there was no answer, she did the only thing she could think to do. She chanted a few words that would strengthen the connection. Possibly by bringing Rinoa tumbling back to the same plane, but the important part was not losing her
Rinoa	Rinoa felt the pull and panicked. Her connections were slipping, and she had no energy left to fight. She tightened her grip on Squall just as the world went white.

the field of flowers, the present
	A column of light erupted from the ground, expanding rapidly outward in all directions. The entire sky seemed to open, rolling back the darker clouds and sending an enormous wave of petals flying like rain.
Rinoa	Rinoa stared, breathlessly, as the barren wasteland dissolved and time and space reasserted themselves. The sweep of petals (and, inexplicably, white feathers) revealed the same flower field she had left a few hours (minutes?) ago. Her friends stood nearby. Tara must have returned her, somehow. Tara had pulled her back, and she had brought ... Rinoa glanced back at the figure in her arms, her eyes widening. "... Squall?"
Squall	Squall blinked up at her and smiled. He'd thought he was alone again. He'd thought he'd failed. He'd come unstuck in time, and couldn't find his way home, and the effort of trying had exhausted him. He'd given up. But now he was here. Here. And Rinoa was here -- Rinoa, whose beautiful face he'd been trying so hard to see... "Rinoa."
Rinoa	Rinoa wasn't sure what had happened, exactly, and she didn't care, just yet. There would be time for that later. Right now? They were safe. He was back. They had made it home again. There were petals in her hair and and the sun was bright and warm. And so she was going to steal this moment, to wrap her arms around him and melt. After all that they had been through, they had earned this kiss.
Squall	They had MORE than earned it. Squall leaned up into the kiss not so much melting as desperate. "Don't ever leave me like that again!"
Rinoa	"At least I actually made it home again," she said. Oh, she was fully intending on being a brat about this, yes. "You scared the crap out of me and if you ever do something like that again I will -- I will -- I don't know what, but you won't like it." The grumpy was probably undercut by how badly she was sniffling. "I-is it really over?"
Squall	"It's really over," Squall reassured her. "Ultimecia's dead. It's all over." And they were together again, and that was what mattered. They had saved the world, and they had found each other again. And Squall was smiling.

(This is Part 7 and !!!THE END!!! of plot. Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7).)

(BEHOLD, AND IT IS FINISHED! I cannot believe we pulled this off. Preplayed with the incomparable crew known as furnaceface, trigons_child, life_inshadow, justwantsquiet, and my favorite-ever whateverknight, and once more featuring special guest star Kym as our Seifer Almasy. ♥ ♥ ♥ I cannot say enough awesome things about everyone. This completes plot, and people will be back on the island by early evening. NFB, but the post is open to anyone who is there, for liveplay aftermath, and OOC is so much love.)