Final Fantasy VIII [3rd Instalment]

Grace Barton

Epilogue

"Alright! I got it!"

Selphie turned the camera towards her. She grinned and winked before turning the camera back around so that it was facing the ballroom, where the after-battle celebrations were well underway.

Following Ultimecia's defeat, the SeeDs, along with Headmaster Cid, had returned to Balamb Garden. Everyone was overjoyed when they heard that the battle was over, and further still when Headmaster Cid had announced that everyone would be given the day off and that a celebration would be held in honour of their efforts. So that night everyone—SeeDs, students and staff alike—turned out in the Garden Ballroom to celebrate their victory.

Of course, Headmaster Cid had given very special credit to Selphie and her friends. In his speech he described how each of them had gone above and beyond the call of duty to fulfil their obligations as members of SeeD. At the end of the speech, Cid and the rest of Garden had burst into such a fierce round of applause that it was almost deafening. Selphie remembered her face turning bright red, and trying to hide shyly behind Irvine.

After the headmaster's speech was the main event: the party. This was what Selphie had looked forward to the most. It turned out to be even grander than the Graduation Party. After finding her camera, Selphie spent the rest of the evening running around taking clips of everything that caught her interest. Now, though, her batteries were starting to run low, so now she was taking perhaps her final clips of the evening.

The only ones who did not attend the party were Seifer, Raijin and Fujin. The headmaster himself had sought them out at Balamb to invite them. Seifer, in unusual sombreness, had declined the offer, saying he had other things to do with his friends. Cid understood and made no objections. The two had shaken hands and then parted ways, possibly for the last time.

She panned the camera across the ballroom. Several students were dancing informally, caught up in celebration fever. Some students were fussing over Angelo, who was doing nothing to stop them and in fact was encouraging them by rolling over and letting them rub his furry stomach.

Turning around, she caught sight of Quistis and Irvine. The former instructor had a half-amused look on her face and was trying not to laugh as Irvine danced in front of her; a ridiculous sight.

"What are you doing?" Selphie heard her ask him.

Then she spotted Selphie with her camera. Quistis's cheeks flushed red as she ducked her head low, giving Selphie a shy wave. Selphie, amused at Quistis's camera-shyness, zoomed the camera in to get a closer look at her face. Then Irvine, in his usual joking way, snuck in front of Quistis and then rose up in front of the camera. Selphie giggled.

Quistis, however, was not amused. "Irvine!" she snapped.

Irvine paid no attention to her scolding tone. "Hey, Selphie!" he called. "Get a close up on the two of us together!"

He put his arm around Quistis and pulled her close. Both embarrassed and irritated, Quistis scowled and tried to pull away with him. She then lost her patience and shoved him away. Irvine gave Selphie a confused look as Quistis stalked off, leaving the two of them alone. Selphie just shrugged and moved her camera to follow Quistis as she walked over to Headmaster Cid, who stood by himself with a glass in his hand, watching the students as they enjoyed themselves.

"Headmaster Cid," said Quistis with a slight bow of her head.

Cid turned. He smiled when he saw her. "Ahh, Quistis," he greeted, returning the bow. "I take it you're enjoying the party?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. "Have you settled back into the Garden?"

"Yes, yes," said Cid. He pushed his glasses up. "Edea and I both agreed it was time to leave the orphanage, and the past, behind us. Of course," he added with a laugh, "I still miss my little office, but that can't be helped!" He laughed again.

Quistis laughed with him. She was about to ask more about Edea when Cid looked over her shoulder and raised his glass. Quistis turned and saw Selphie and Irvine nearby. Selphie still had her camera on. Quistis gave her a quick yet scolding smile but Selphie just laughed and stepped closer, trying to get a good view of the two of them together.

"May I join you?" a melodic voice cut in.

Quistis and Cid turned. Selphie also turned her camera until it fell on Edea. Selphie almost dropped her camera in surprise, for at first she did not recognise her. Even the students passing by had to stop and stare at Edea in amazement.

Edea had removed her sorceress' garb and had gone back to wearing her usual black dress. She had removed her horned headdress as well, allowing her long black hair to cascade down her back. It was amazing, for she looked just as she did when they were children. Yet there was a difference, which was in her face. The lines of trouble and worry that they had seen as children and as adults had now gone. For Edea was now at peace, freed of her responsibility as a sorceress, and could now live the rest of her life with the man she loved.

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Edea flushed and lowered her head. Cid extended his hand to her. With a smile, Edea walked over and took his hand. Cid pulled her close and then slipped his arm around her waist.

Quistis gazed at Edea in awe. "Matron…" she whispered.

Before Edea could reply, Irvine walked over. He removed his hat and bowed down low before his former matron. Quistis, after a moment, did the same.

Edea smiled as she returned the bow. "Please," she said to them, "none of you need to bow to me anymore."

Cid leaned over and whispered in Edea's ear, pointing towards Selphie and her camera. The matron saw the camera and smiled, giving Selphie a small wave.

Irvine also waved, and then had an idea. "Hey, Selphie!" he said, running over. "Give me that!"

Before Selphie could object, he took the camera from her hands. He then took off his cowboy's hat and plonked it on her head. Selphie accepted the exchange and ran over to Quistis, who had now left Cid and Edea. Selphie turned and waved, but then stopped as she saw that Irvine was holding the camera on its side.

"Irvine!" she called, gesturing at him to turn the camera. "Turn it—no, the other way!"

At last Irvine figured it out and turned the camera the right way up. Selphie nodded and then linked her arm through Quistis's, giving the camera a wave and her usual cheery smile.

Irvine filmed them for a moment, when he caught sight of a group of pretty young students standing by one of the food tables. Irvine turned the camera and zoomed in on them. He gave the girls a wave, and they smiled and waved back.

Suddenly Selphie jumped in front of the camera. "Hey!" she snapped, giving him a dark scowl. "Just what do you think you're doing!"

Irvine lowered his head, chastised. Selphie just sighed and then skulked off back towards Quistis, who was laughing at them both. This time Irvine kept the camera on the two women as they walked across the hall, talking to one another. They then stopped and began to laugh, pointing to one of the nearby tables.

Turning the camera to where they were looking, Irvine saw Zell sitting at a table with one of the girls from the Garden Library. In front of him was a large plate filled with hotdogs, which he had stolen as soon as they were brought out. He had a hotdog in each hand and was stuffing his face like a pig.

Oh, that's very attractive, Zell, the gunman thought with a chuckle. He zoomed the camera in, getting a close-up of Zell eating.

Luckily, Zell did not notice Irvine filming him, and continued to stuff his face. His cheeks were swollen, making him look like a squirrel. He said something to the librarian, but his mouth was so full that his words were inaudible. The girl did not seem to mind and continued to watch him eat with an enamoured look on her face. Irvine raised an eyebrow in surprise. Zell had kept that one quiet.

Suddenly, Zell began to cough. He dropped one of the hotdogs he was holding and patted his chest. The librarian broke out of her daze and pulled back in alarm as Zell started to choke. He grabbed his glass to help swallow the blockage down, but his glass was empty. He started to flail, his face turning red and food falling out of his mouth.

Selphie and Quistis rushed to his aid. They began to pat his back as hard as they could. Even the librarian tried to help. With their combined efforts, Zell finally gulped and swallowed. He leaned over, panting hard, trying to catch his breath. He was so quiet that Selphie leaned over, looking concerned.

"Are you all right, Zell?" she asked him.

For a moment, Zell did not answer. Then his head snapped up, and he glared at her with such ferocity that she drew back in alarm. There was another pause. Zell then leapt out of his chair, and Selphie shrieked and ran away, along with Quistis. Zell snarled as he started to give chase. He then turned to the librarian, who was still watching, and chased her off as well.

He then turned to Irvine, who had caught the whole thing on camera and was laughing. Zell scowled. Raising the hotdog he was holding, he flung it at the camera. Irvine ducked just in time, and the offensive dog splattered onto the floor behind him.

When Irvine had recovered, Zell was already gone, as was the plate of hotdogs. Selphie then walked in front of the camera, still laughing and wiping the tears from her eyes. She started to turn to Irvine when something else caught her eye. Her face lit up in excitement and she gestured for Irvine to turn the camera.

He did so. He saw the balcony doors, wide open, with Angelo now sitting in the doorway. Outside, standing underneath the night sky, was Rinoa. At first he thought she was alone, but then she turned to her right and smiled. She raised her hand, signalling to the person she was with.

The low-battery sign began to flash. Irvine cursed and zoomed the camera in closer. He patted the side, trying to keep it going and film this crucial moment. But the camera began to beep.

And then went dead.

Rinoa gave a contented sigh. She leaned her arms against the balcony, looking up at the night sky. The sky was clear and cloudless, and the moon was full. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, there were no obstructions to block their brilliant radiance. A cool breeze blew, causing her hair to rustle about her shoulders, but Rinoa did not notice. Her gaze was fixed on those beautiful stars, hoping that one of them would shoot past.

She did not have to wait long. A shooting star swept across the sky. Its bright trail flashed and then vanished, but its image was burned into her memory.

Remembering another time that she had seen a shooting star, Rinoa smiled. She turned and raised her finger: a silent signal, and a silent question.

Squall saw the gesture, and understood what it meant. For the first time he smiled—a real smile. He took Rinoa's hand, and her fingers entwined with his. He slipped one hand around her back, drawing her close.

Then, under the light of the full moon, they kissed.

A Note from the Authoress

And this concludes my novelisation of Final Fantasy 8. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I had immense fun writing this one. I am now working on Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core if anyone is interested. Be sure to check out my novelisation of Final Fantasy 7 as well. :)

To anyone who is following Crisis Core at the moment: yes, I haven't updated in a couple of weeks. During the bank holiday I got back into my reading again and went on a spree of reading as many books as I could (I think I managed about six or seven), and now have writer's block. This morning is the first time I've actually written more than 100 words in the past two weeks. LAME. Hopefully I will keep it going and you will see an update soon. I took this writer's block as a sign to actually upload Final Fantasy 8 before doing Crisis Core.

To everyone else: I really hope you enjoyed reading this novelisation as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to all those who posted comments or corrections; they are always welcome.

Once again, thanks everyone!

~Grace Barton