Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Until the End of Eternity, and Longer ❯ Chapter Eighteen ( Chapter 18 )

Well, here we are again, kits! Ready for another chapter of "Until the End of Eternity, and Longer", an ff8 ghost story. As always, thanks so much to my reviewers.

Now, to answer Ashura's question, I can't really say how much longer this will be. I would say I'm at least of the way finished and, at current moment, cannot imagine the fic surpassing 25 chapters, but I am not, presently, in the position to make a definitive response on the matter. As far as updates, my apologies, but thanks to having too many fics going at once and wanting to focus most of my energy on an original story that will probably cap off at about 300 pages, updates on my fanfics will be sporadic, at best, though I hope to finish this soon, I have an inuyasha fic that it makes more sense to finish up first since it is much shorter and less detailed than this story, which has become a sort of ff8 epic, in a way. I am however, thrilled that you like the story, especially since it is my first serious attempt at an ff8 fic. I want to write more ff8 fics in the future as well, and have ideas for other stories that will be vaguely linked to this one, in the respect that they will occur in the same "world" as this story, going instead into the family history of other characters, though they won't all be as supernatural as this one is turning out to be. However, at the moment, the only other ff8 fics I have are both yaoi…so…what're ya gonna do. As always, if you're patient, and if people keep reviewing and inspiring me, there will be more to come. I promise to finish the story whether I get reviews or not, but, the more reviews I get, the more quickly I am likely to continue.

Irvine, thanks so much for liking my Irvine fic! Wow, that was a weird sentence, I feel like I just repeated myself! Hehe. Anyways, lil' irvy IS adorable! As far as Daddy Dearest, I really haven't decided yet. I don't really think the story can have any amount of closure without at least a small appearance from him, but that'll be towards the end I believe, probably in the last chapter or an epilogue. I haven't really decided that far in advance yet. But, no more revealing of the secrets! You'll just have to read and find out!

Wow. . . that was uncharacteristically lucid for a Banshee rant. . . I must be tired. (Dre says I get serious when I'm tired. . .think I'll go to bed now. . .blah up at 5 am for work tomorrow. . .I do it all the time, and yet, it still seems so. . .icky!)

Anyway, here's another chappy, hope you enjoy!

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"Until the End of Eternity, and Longer"

by: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Eighteen

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It was like a dream. It must have been a dream, or something very near to one. Laguna's parched throat wouldn't let him cry out, his eyes burned with tears that his body wanted to cry as he pointed, jaw gaping, at the tiny steepled rooftops in the distance. Was it really there, or just what he wanted to see. They'd fought through belhemels, blood souls, and probably one of the worst sandstorms in existence, and now, tiny steepled rooftops were becoming something larger, more distinct, something like, a small desert village in eastern Centra. No; Laguna couldn't help but hope.

`Unh,' Squall thought, blinking up out of bright green eyes. And there she was, smiling down at him with that impish manner that she had. "Morning sleepyhead!" she teased. "How're you feeling?" she sighed. "You and your friends were in pretty bad shape when they carried you in here last week. I thought you'd never wake up," she rested her chin on her palms contently and said, "just like old times, huh?"

"Jace, I finally found you," he said, his voice was very hoarse, but there was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to tell her, so much he wanted to be told.

"Hey, don't talk just yet, you're really dehydrated. I bet your throat hurts pretty badly. Anyway, there's someone who wants to meet you. Come on over and introduce yourself darlin'," she said.

Laguna rolled his head to the side, still a little fuzzy from sleeping for a week, to see who Jace was talking to, when an auburn head popped up, grinning at him. The hair was shaggy and the boy had the brightest blue eyes. He stuck a thumb at his chest and announced, "Irvine!" Then, with less pride and more curiosity, the toddler cocked his head to the side and touched Laguna's black hair before asking, "uncle guuunnnii?" The letters were elongated and careful, deliberate, and frankly, downright adorable.

It hit Laguna suddenly, this was Jace's son. . .this was his nephew (well, sorta). He smiled at the boy and nodded, flicking a thumb over Irvine's tiny button nose.

Jace handed Laguna a glass of water and said, "your friends are already up, so just come downstairs when you're ready. Rest more, if you want to first," she told him before lifting Irvine up into her arms and going for the door. The last thing he heard before dozing off again, was Jace's voice saying, "see Irvy, I told you today would be a good day."

"Chasing down sandstorms, jumping off cliffs, I'm beginning to think that you're suicidal," Squall commented wryly, looking over at Laguna, who was still blushing at having just been caught brushing the hair from Sqall's eyes when the boy, rather suddenly, awoke. Squall, still half-asleep, had crinkled his nose at the foreign feeling and absently swatted at Laguna's hand before he knew what he was doing.

"The term Jace used was reckless, as if she was one to talk," Laguna returned idly, looking over to see how Irvine was holding up. The boy looked thoughtful, tired, and he wore a bittersweet smile on his face.

"So you actually found her," Irvine said softly. "You have a lucky streak the size of a grown t-rexaur, don't you? Ever try gambling?" he tried for his lighthearted smirk, almost pulling it off, almost.

"Only with my life," Laguna returned with a smile of his own before his expression, too strained, died off, and he sighed. "Truth is, I seem to have a pretty keen survival instinct. I manage to live through everything, even the things I didn't want to live through. But, anyway, yeah, I found her. That day was the happiest day I'd had in a very long time. But, we were on a mission, of course, so we didn't get to stay long. Of course, with my equipment, I was able to get the vague coordinates of Bella Maure, and I'd have a few chances to return, although, Kiros and Ward wouldn't be back here again, not until the very last time. But. . .that's enough for today, isn't it? It's getting awfully late."

"Sure," Irvine nodded. "I think I'll take a walk, get some of this nice night air before I rest up, if it's all the same to everyone else.". .

So, he walked. Not really very far to go, in a town three blocks wide, but he had to get away, at least for a little while. Away from this story, this dream, this life. Away from his thoughts.

`My own father. . .but, can I blame him? For wanting to be loved back? How long was it that I lived my own life with that same wish in my heart. An image of Selphie in her little yellow jumper and contagious grin flashed across his vision. `Please, Hyne, I'm not like that, am I? Please don't let me ever be like that.'

Looking up at the stars, he found them blocked by a stone smile and windblown waves of hair. "Hi mom," he said softly. "I. . . I'm sorry, that you. . .hurt. . .I'm sorry that you were in pain and I. . .never noticed." He looked down at the his feet and then looked up again, chocking back a sob. "Mom, I love you. Just. . .thought you should know."

Irvine looked away from that face, clutching a hand to his heart.

"I love you too, Irvine. More than anything. Until the end of Eternity, and Longer, remember? Do you, Irvy? Do you remember. . .our promise?" Jace's spirit smiled softly through the pain in her own heart, but Irvine couldn't see her. Couldn't hear her. Only Squall could. . . huh? "Squall. You startled me a bit. It's not polite to sneak up on people, you know," she said.

"I didn't mean to," Squall said, looking from Irvine to Jace's spirit.

"Huh?! Oh, Squall. You didn't mean to what, man?" Irvine asked, voice cracking as he tried to force his usual easy manner.

Squall just frowned at him. "To. . .sneak up on you."

"Oh. S'okay. I'm used to you doing that by now," Irvine said.

Jace clutched her chest. "Squall, he. . .hurts so much. I can feel how much he hurts. Tell him. . .tell him to. . ." Jace fumbled over her words, she was overwhelmed by something - pain. "Tell him to stop hurting, Squall, please? Make him stop hurting."

"As if it's that easy," Squall mumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Irvine asked, marveling at how odd Squall was and moving, unintentionally disrupting the woman's spirit again, as she vanished into the air.

"Nothing. Are you alright?"

Irvine frowned again. "No. You?"

Squall shook his head. "No."

And they stood in companionable silence for a long while before Irvine said, "do you think there are still fish in this lake?"

Squall shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

"Let's find out."

"huh?"

"Aw come on Commander! Aren't ya up for some midnight fishing?"

"Hn. Where are we gonna get poles?"

"Ah. . . oh yeah," Irvine laughed noncomitally. "Well, we'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way. Think those leather pants o'yours can handle it?"

Squall looked down at his pants, then at Irvine's and cocked an eyebrow.

"Righty-o! Guess mine can't either huh? Guess we'll just have to take them off then!" he beamed.

Normally, Squall wouldn't humor the miscreant cowboy, but, tonight, he wanted to, needed to, really. So, in the middle of the night, the two SeeDs waded knee deep into the lake and went fishing in their boxer shorts. And, considering the very wet wrestling match that seemed to lead directly out of it, Squall couldn't help but laugh. They were soaked, sandy, lying on the bank, boxer shorts clinging indecently to their thighs, hair mussed, Irvine's hair loose as he wrung it out, sitting Indian style and appearing rather the drowned rat, Squall searching the immediate vicinity for a negligent t-shirt that some unnamed cowboy had decided to use as a sopping projectile, and neither young man with any fish to show for their efforts. Ballots counted and votes in, all in all, it was a good night. Something they needed, and both knew, secretly, that a bond had been formed that would not be easily broken, and which would lead to places unknown that time alone could predict.

And, not far off, Laguna sat in a moonlight windowsill, watching them with a bittersweet smile on his face. "Look at them," he whispered. "That's my family down there. Such strong boys. Jace would be proud of them."

"I am proud, `guni. I really am," the ghost said softly, unheard behind Laguna's shoulder. "I'd like to watch over them forever, really. But I'm just so tired of standing still like this, unable to help them, unable to do anything, really. I want something to happen, to do something, to come to life once again and protect them, or to, once and for all, die all the way. I'm sorry that I'm putting you through all this, all of you, but, I need this. To close my eyes, or to open them, but Crow and I. . .it's not in our nature to be in stasis. It never has been." She sighed, strange black feathers floating around her spiritual form. "Squall, Irvine, I'm sorry. Please just let me use you a little while longer. Please allow me to show you just a little bit more. . ."

And Laguna, hearing an odd cry on the wind, turned quickly, to find nothing but empty air behind him. He sighed, taking a deep breath. Daisies. He'd know that scent anywhere. Daisies and peaches. "This whole town - this whole town smells like her," he whispered before lying back and closing his eyes, drifting, once again, into dreams of times long past, but unable to be forgotten.

Irvine crinkled his nose and said "tofu!" with a determined stomp. Laguna looked up at Jace with a slightly perplexed, but also, amused expression.

"Ah, well, see, Irvy doesn't like animal crackers," Jace informed him, tipping her hat back slightly. Attention successfully diverted, Irvine started hopping up and down as his mother sat down, trying to grab the hat, which he couldn't quite reach. "Okay! Okay! Okay!" he protested, hopping and pouting at not being able to get his hands on the object he desired.

Laguna burst out into a fit of laughter. "I think he wants your hat, sis."

Jace scratched the back of her head, "ah, yeah, he really likes this hat. Not sure why. C'mere squirt," she says, lifting the boy into her lap. "Now, if I let ya wear my hat, you gotta eat this much of your sandwich," she told him, striking a deal as she picks up half of the boy's lunch.

"Okay!" Irvine said, reaching for the hat.

Jace adjusted him on her lap and flipped the hat over onto his head. With two small, chubby hands, he held the black rim up and opened his mouth when Jace brought the sandwich up for him to eat. "That's it. You're a good kid Irvy."

And for a moment, Laguna really wanted to stay here like this, with his sister and nephew forever, just like this. A simple, boring life of fishing and fixing shudders, cleaning drains, sweeping floors, retrieving lost kittens from trees, but damn, as long as Jace and Irvine were there, it didn't matter, as long as he had them, he could be happy.

But it wasn't meant to last. By the end of the week, they'd gotten their signal out and were being picked up, ready for a short lull before their next mission.

Laguna woke to the sun shining in his eyes through the open window. "Things would have been so much different, if I'd just stayed, but at that time, I believed, I owed it to all of us to accomplish my dream. I really was awfully naïve. What would you think of me now, sis? Laguna Loire, President of Esthar. . . it's a great joke, isn't it?"

And there she was, brushing a hand across his face, as if she could touch him, wearing that bittersweet smile again, and she said, "I'd think: `I always knew my big brother would make something of himself. I always knew my `guni would grow up to be someone important.' That's what I'd think. All the same, you're right, it IS a little funny."

She chuckled.

Laguna startled at a cool breeze on his face. It almost felt like the outline of a hand, but it was gone as quickly as it arrived, and with Laguna's movement, so was Jace.

Irvine brushed his hair and tied it back into it's ever-present thong. Not far from him, thoughtfully, Squall hung his jacket on a coat rack. It was just far too hot to wear it today, as naked as he felt without it.

"Irvine?"

"Mn."

"If I tell you something, you won't freak, right?" he asked quietly.

"Why would I freak?"

"Because I'll sound crazy."

"Just spit it out, Commander. We've been through a lot together lately, so you can just tell me whatever you want."

Squall was glad to hear that. He needed to know that Irvine felt that way too.

"I saw her," he said softly. "Jace."

"Huh?" Irvine blinked, then seeing the gravely serious expression on Squall's face, he said, "uh, let me sit down before you say anything else."

Squall nodded and waited for Irvine to sit down next to him on the edge of the bed before speaking again. "Twice. Once after we woke up one time, and once, last night, standing next to you. Her spirit, or ghost, or whatever, and I can hear her too, the things she says. She's sad, really sad, and there's blood on her jacket. Each time I see her, there's more blood than the time before."

"But. . .what do we do?" Irvine's lip quivered as he stared at Squall's profile, trying not to cry at the thought of his mother sad, or in pain.

Squall shook his head from one side to the other and said, "I don't know, Irvine. I still don't have any answers, just like those days, with Adel, and with Rinoa."

And Irvine, bit his lower lip hard, barely muffling a sob. "Mom. Momma," he whispered, wrapping his arms around himself and shivering as tears fell down his face.

`It's just, like that day, on the clock tower,' Squall remembered. `I didn't know what to do for him then either.'

"Hold him, Squall."

Squall looked up to find Jace's figure a few feet away, one arm dangling, the other wrapped around her stomach awkwardly. There WAS more blood, he was sure of it.

"Hold him, for me? Please. He needs someone to hold him," she said, as if asking a favor.

Squall gave a curt nod and, tensely, pat Irvine's back, gasping with surprise at the response, the other boy falling into his arms, burying his head against his shoulder and letting out freer, gasping sobs, whimpering, "momma!" at odd intervals.

Squall looked up at Jace, who stared at Irvine for a long few moments before turning her eyes on Squall again. "Thank you, Squall. And also. . .please, forgive me. . .for being selfish. It won't be much longer. I promise, not much longer. . . I can. . .almost feel it," she told him, the last part a whisper before her form dissipated with the dark clouds that came to hang over the view from the window.

Squall turned, rubbing small circles on Irvine's back, something he seemed to have the vaguest memory of, something that, once, had made him feel better. Something that, he realized, Laguna had done for him not long ago, probably unconsciously, but that, also, had meant so much to him at that time, and even now.

Irvine hiccupped back his last sob. "Squall?" he asked, sitting up. "Let's become even stronger, okay. Let's become at least as strong as she was. I think that's how we should honor her. I think that's a way she wouldn't mind being honored."

And after a moment's hesitation, Squall nodded. "I think, for once, you've said exactly the right thing."

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Okay, Chapter Eighteen down! Yay!!!! That didn't take too terribly long. It's not a super-long chapter, but, oh well. Hope you like it. R&R.

Until next time, Happy Haunting,

~Banshee Puppet~