Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Until the End of Eternity, and Longer ❯ Chapter Twenty ( Chapter 20 )

Aw, Irvine, I'm sowwy! You're making me feel bad now. *sniffles back* But. . .eesh. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm fairly positive that Irvine will be IN all the other stories I plan to write. And if it makes you feel even better still . . .I'll put the link of the url for the title image for this story at the bottom of this chapter so you can look at pretty collage picture. (No, I didn't draw the images. I can't draw. *frowns* But I CAN use photoshop to make pretty graphics! *beams*) Okay, not much consolation, I know, but, every lil' bit helps, right? . . .well, right?

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"Until the End of Eternity, and Longer"

by: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Twenty

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Laguna awoke with a start and a scream.

"Dad?" Squall asked as the older man looked around, trying to get his bearings. 'Oh, right, we were fishing by the lake. I must have fallen asleep.'

"I'm. . .I'm okay," Laguna squeaked out. "Just. . .a bad dream. . .memory, whatever."

"It makes you sad, remembering all this."

"It's good for me," Laguna returned. "For us. Look at us Squall. We're fishing together. Talking. Without Jace, how long would it take for this to happen. Would it ever happen? Would I have to die before you acknowledged me? In the end, I'm grateful for the opportunity."

"Don't say things like that," Squall scowled at his father.

"Even if they're true?" he asked wearily.

"Especially if they're true," Squall replied, almost a whisper. "I spent a lot of my life without a father. I don't want to think about that sort of thing now."

"Sorry. I'm just starting to feel my age Squall, that's all. I don't have the energy to be as goofy and immature as I used to be I guess. Like Zell," he chuckled at his joke. That kid really did remind him of himself, at one time, as different as they were. They both had that awkwardness, an openness that often led to mistakes. "Maybe I'll get it back once this is all over, and you can start calling me a moron again, like you used to."

"I only call 'em like I see 'em," Sqaull drolled, an odd habit he'd recently seemed to pick up from Irvine unintentionally.

Laguna smirked wearily. "And I wouldn't have you any other way. Catch anything?"

"A diary. . . . And a boot. I'm currently endeavoring to catch the other one," he said flatly, making Laguna blink at the oddly-toned joke, unsure if his son was being extremely serious, or just a smart ass, when he heard Irvine intervene from beside the other young man, commenting, "I'm going to catch it first though. Just you watch."

"Heh. You couldn't catch a cold. If you fish that boot out of the lake, I'll eat the set," Squall mocked.

"You're on flower boy!" Irvine snickered.

"I TOLD you! Rinoa bought them! I only wear them sometimes so I don't hurt her feelings," Squall grumbled. "She's so emotional."

He probably should have thought about EXACTLY what boxer shorts he was wearing before agreeing to a midnight "fishing" experience with Irvine Kinneas.

"She's a woman, what did you expect? Drag racing?" Irvine poked fun at Squall's incompetence.

"Whatever, at least I didn't sleep with a blankie until I was ten years old. . .a blankie named "Mr. Duck," no less. . ." Squall chided.

"Nope," Irvine noted. "You had a teddy bear. . . named "Fluffy.""

"W-well! I thought it was an accurate description!" Squall sputtered.

Irvine chuckled as a blush danced across Squall's cheeks. His father did NOT need to know this! "Whatever. Shut up! . . .or I'm going to start quacking at you in public, and tell embarrassing stories when people ask what I'm doing."

Fishing rod forgotten, Irvine tackled Squall suddenly in a headlock, saying, "whatever Fluffy, I can give as good as I get, and don't you forget it."

And next thing Laguna knew, he was watching an all out wrestling match between the two young men which ended up with sputtering, splashing, and soggy suede and leather. He couldn't help but grin at their antics, and the fact that they'd totally forgotten they had an audience.

Unable to contain himself any longer as the boys continued to abuse one another and bicker, Laguna burst out in a fit of hysterical laughter, at which the action stopped, Squall with his hand around Irvine's ponytail, and Irvine just about to give Squall the WORST power wedgie of all time, as they stared at Laguna, and both colored crimson, realizing what sort of antics they'd stumbled into, and in PUBLIC no less, before they climbed out of the lake and moved to return to their quiet boot fishing, when Irvine scowled.

"What?" Squall asked after a silence.

"What are the chances of you catching my fishing pole, you think?" Irvine asked, watching the little red and white bobber drifting halfway across the lake.

"How much time do you plan on sitting here?" Squall asked drolly.

"Right. Well then, I vote for dry clothes and lunch."

Squall nodded and handed his pole over to Laguna before getting up and brushing himself off a bit. "Let us know if you catch the boot," he commented before they left Laguna alone, fishing by the lake. He looked up at the statue, smelling once again the familiar scent of peaches and daisies in the air, which he only seemed to notice when he was thinking of her. He sighed. "And you still haunt my every dream," he whispered softly. "Even now."

Jace crinkled her nose as she looked at the statue. "I still hate that damn thing," she commented, sitting down carefully in the grass beside Laguna. "And I still remember this. Just like old times, 'guni. Me like this, you like that. Always fishing for some treasure, thinking, maybe one day, you'd actually catch a fish from this dead lake. I miss. . .being able to touch you, to hug you after being apart for so long, but I guess I don't mind. I have all the time in the world to wait for you to come back to us."

She looked up at a gray shadow not far behind her left shoulder. "He's changed a lot, gotten older, but he's still the same Laguna that I used to drag to the carnival. He's still the same Laguna you married too, I'll bet, right?" she asked.

Raine nodded. "He is," she said softly. "He always will be."

Jace stood up. "I hate to push the boys so hard, really, but I think it's time to show them. . .what came next."

"Ellone. . .and. . .the war," Raine reflected sadly.

Jace nodded, thumb tracing over the gun in her hand. "Yeah. . ." she replied sadly. "The war."

"Then, your story is nearly complete, isn't it?"

"It would seem that way. I only hope. . .that it's enough. You saw them today, didn't you!?!" she remembered excitedly. "Wrestling and teasing, like brothers. Like they've always been brothers."

"If nothing else, you've shown them the family they didn't know they had. Maybe that'll be enough to let you pass out of limbo."

"I don't think it is, Raine. Because, as much as I hate this stasis. The idea of being all the way dead is really scary to me, you know. Because, I still want to protect them. So much. I still have so much love in my heart. I can't feel the pain, really, but I can't let go of it either, the pain I want to have, the pain of loving someone so completely. I wonder if I'll be able to endure it. . .the pain of. . .letting go. Can my soul survive that? What happens to a soul when it dies? Will I. . .stop existing altogether. I know it's a little late to be second-guessing, when I've set this all into motion and all, but. . .that's not really what I want. I don't think that's what I want. I just want. . .to protect them."

Raine sighed. "You're just as reckless in death as you were in life."

Jace lifted her left hand and scratched the back of her head, an embarrassed smile on her face. "Haha. Yeah, guess some things never change, huh?"

And the two spirits laughed at their private joke. "How are you ever going to protect them, huh? Who's going to protect you?"

Jace bit her lower lip. "Can't say I've got an answer to that one, unlike SOME people I know, who seem to have an answer to EVERYTHING," she accused.

Raine smiled softly. "Fine. If you promise to protect them, then I guess I'll just have to promise to protect you, for their sake. You'll only get yourself into trouble if I don't, and since you're Laguna's sister, I guess it's only natural, since I wouldn't want him to be sad."

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". . .it makes the most sense that way," Jace was saying. "Take Kiros and Ward to Esthar and find Ellone. I'll take Xan and Maura with me ahead to follow the trail. You'll probably meet up with us before things come to a head anyway, but even if you don't, you shouldn't worry. We'll be fine. I know she's strong and all, but we're equally as strong, and you're underestimating how powerful a GF Crow is." She rested her hand on Laguna's shoulder. "I won't let you down, Laguna. I promise. We won't fail. There's way too much riding on this. That Dark Sorceress has to be stopped."

"Don't go rushing in like you always do, sis. Use a little caution for once. I mean, think of Irvine. He's really depending on you. . .to come home."

Jace smiled softly. "We'll go home together, Laguna. The three of us. And I'll visit your Winhill, when it's all over too, meet that wife you keep telling me so much about."

"Raine," Laguna reflected, missing her more every moment.

"I'll bet, she's really beautiful. And strong too. She'd have to be, to put up with you all the time."

Laguna nodded. "She's the best, Jace. Just like you."

"Laguna, we have to go," Kiros reminded him.

"Right. Be safe."

Jace gave a steady nod. "Be strong," she returned, their usual way of parting, before Laguna ran off with his comrades.

Maura sighed, brushing fingers through messy blond hair that fell into bright eyes. "This is gonna be a hard one, isn't it Jace?"

"Do you wanna back out?" she asked. "You must be pretty concerned about your son. I'll understand, and you can go, no questions asked, but you have to tell me now. Same goes for you, Xan," Jace said, a kind-hearted sort of weariness on her voice. "It'll be harder to do on my own, but I will if I have to."

The man scoffed slightly. He was tall with deep green eyes and seemed to have a somewhat arrogant air about him. "Don't be stupid," he said. "We knew what we were signing on for from the very beginning. If we weren't willing to go through with it, we wouldn't be here."

"Xan's right!" Maura said. "Of course I'm worried, but I'm not a chicken and I'm not running away!" Maura stomped her foot, punching metal-knuckled gloves together. "Besides, if I did go, and if you lost, it wouldn't matter. We'd all end up dying anyway, so it would be totally counter-productive. Anyway, if I die, or something, and if Samuel doesn't make it, there'll still be Lacey, to watch out for him, so I'm not really worried. She's a little frivolous, but. . .she can be responsible, if she tries hard enough."

Xan rolled his eyes at the woman. 'Guess she's braver than I thought,' he noted mentally. "I think that rant meant, basically, that we signed onto this for the same reasons that you did. It has to be done, and we're willing to sacrifice everything to see that she's stopped. . .same as you, Kinneas."

"Right. Well, since that's all clear, let's get going. It's a pretty long way, from here, but we'll make it. We've got to. There are a lot of people depending on us, so there's no way we're gonna fail. I refuse to fail." . . .

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Irvine blinked awake with a tragic little smile on his face. Squall just sat, staring at him for a long moment. From Laguna's end, he knew most of what happened next. He went to go rescue Ellone, and then things got a little crazy. He'd seen it all before. But where Irvine had just been, after they'd parted, that was something he couldn't share. It was something that he had to do alone, same as Squall had during the war. But Squall swore, he would be there for him, no matter what.

"We're really lucky, Squall," Irvine said softly. "To have parents that we can be so proud of."

Squall gave a curt nod before Laguna stormed into the tavern. "L-l-look what I caught!" he gasped ecstatically. It was rather obvious that he ran all the way from the lake.

Kennedy looked up from where he was pouring a soda for Zell. "Cripes! It's. . .a fish! And a big one too!" he gaped. "You got that out of Jace's lake?"

"Yeah, wild huh? It's like it's coming back to life, or something. So, cook it cook it!!!" Laguna beamed. "Fish for lunch!"

"Yay! Sir Laguna, you are SOOO awesome!" Selphie beamed, hopping up and down happily in her chair.

Laguna brought a hand up and scratched the back of his head, blushing slightly. "Aw, it's just a fish, Selphie."

"My Seffie really digs the seafood," Irvine chuckled, squeezing her against his side in a tender, one-armed hug.

Jace looked at Raine, her jaw a little slack and an odd expression in her eyes. Her image was fading in and out slightly. That expression. . .was it. . .

'Jace?' Raine asked.

Jace gave a weak smirk. 'Ra. . .ine. M-my arm. . .it hurts. . .so much. . .all of a sudden. I feel kinda. . .nauseous. I think I'm gonna. . .pass. . .out. . .'

And her form fell forward, fading with the grayish spirit of Raine, as the other woman called out her name and leaped forward to catch her.

Squall looked up, eyes wide, and blinked. "M-mother?!?"

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HOKAY! Sooo. . . .cliffy! Hate me now? Haha. Well, tha'z about it for this chapter, and not too many more chapters to go, I don't think. Things are starting to get interesting, tehe! Like it? Hate it? R&R.

More to come.

And as promised, the link to the title image for this story. . .

http://gundam/bansheepuppet/untiltheend.jpg

(at least, I think that's it. If it's not, then let me know and I'll look it up.)

Until next time, Happy Haunting,

~Banshee Puppet~