Came back to review this to make it 20 haha!

I don't normally like sad stories but this was really something, I wanted to cry but Alex is just so cuuute and such a sign of hope. I so want to hug him, his relationship with Squall is really sweet and very realistic I can truly imagine him grabbing his nose.

I like that small insert of the game which is believable since laguna is seen in centra... I think I remember.

I have more to say but I'm writing on a phone :( its annoying.

But both your oneshots have inspired me ;)

Oh Squall, you're thinking too much again. :) The beginning with him correcting his thoughts constantly works well with his character. Lots of self-pity though, but understandable under the circumstances.

"maybe coloured the response with a few expletives." Love it, that and the wedding descriptions! Hahah, I'm sorry Mr. Leonheart, but I'm laughing at your expense too (the broken nose incident, aw).

You know, I alsways thought he would have tried to sneak off and go after Elle again, after all, he knew where the orphanage was (there was that one flashback where he's talking to Edea, if I remember correctly.) I like the connections you made, from the game and in your story (like the eye-poking ;D).

*adds to favs*

Just a few things that may need checking...

Towards the end [ ] January

~ "of"

It goes without [say] that

~ "saying"

I retreated to [ ] chair again

~ "my/the"

I thought felt a hand on my back.

I haven't written a review in...um, years. So pardon me, here. I suck at this.

The first person thing is an interesting touch. I haven't read anything else of yours, at least not yet, so I don't know if this is common to your fanfics or not, but it was unusual, so I liked that about it. I'm very, very picky about FF8 fanfiction, and this one didn't make me want to gouge my eyes out, so that was nice for a change.

What's funny is, reading it, I have a very uncomfortable Squall squirming in his boots in the back of my head, wanting to punch the Squall of this story in the face. I think that means you did a good job of telling it. The mystery of "well what the hell happened with Laguna and Raine, anyway?" is one of my favorites, and it so very rarely gets addressed in any meaningful way. I like reading others' ideas about how or even whether Squall ever finds out.

You said your description sucks, but I didn't notice anything particularly bad in this piece. At least you didn't have any monumentally stupid similes, like "grouchy as a bear who'd just been woken up prematurely from hibernation" (no joke, this is a real one I've seen). Your writing is simple, clean, and straightforward. It's clear and linear and easy to understand. That's a good thing. As you might have noticed, I like to apply a lot of adjectives to my nouns; that's a bad habit you get into when you write as much flowy-metaphorical imagery as I do. So don't worry too much about it, 'bause your style is quite pleasant.

Just a couple other thoughts, then I'll be out of your hair: your profile indicates that Squall is your favorite character. You did a pretty good job, I think, of getting into the head of one possible post-game Squall. I can't tell if he's always been as..._forward_ with other people, or if he became more talkative gradually over eleven years. He's certainly very open in this story, and while I wouldn't say it's out of character, it is a change. I guess it makes me a little curious where that came from, because even at the end of the game, Squall was relatively curt. For someone with a textbook case of attachment disorder, your Squall seems to have adjusted quite well.

I like that you kept the canonical pairings together, where they were mentioned. Most people don't.

I think the stitches example is a very good one when it comes to Squall's tendency to revisit his own pain. But I like that for all he focuses on his own pain, he doesn't talk a whole hell of a lot about what everyone else must have been through. That's Squall for you.

No typos, no misspellings that I can see, no real grammar errors...this piece is solid. It's completely self-involved, as a piece narrated from Squall's perspective should be.

Yah, this is seriously depressing. But still good. You're an excellent writer. Keep it up!

"Jokes to which I normally replied, ‘Well, at least I didn’t name him Doomtrain,’ "

*dies* Had to keep from making bouts of noise with my laughter on that one.

Your depiction of the baby was amazing. And Squall with him. Perfect. Inspiring.

Great fic.

lol you're right. Usually Squall's kid is a girl with his eyes. I would've made the baby a boy too _

That or Laguna dies shortly before the baby is born and the writer makes it a boy named Laguna.

OR Laguna is there when the baby is born, it's a girl named Raine. XD

aww that made me cry i loved it!

Touching and sweet, and no, you shouldn't cricified. Angst is good to explore now and then, and you did it well. As for the child, I noticed most of the fiction where there's adventure involving the 'second generation' they have a son, when there's fluff of angst they have a girl. At least you pointed out daughters aren't a prime ingredient to make people say 'aww' XD.

A couple of elements, however, puzzle me.

The whole 'couldn't talk but only scribble notes' sounds a bit forced, since writing tends to require more energy than plain talking. Unless she had pneumonia or something along those lines.

Secondly (and it's a thing I noticed on the 99% deathfic involving Rinoa) why people always forget she's a sorceress? Technically, she can't really die until she passes her power onto someone else. It'd be a serious field to explore in a ff like this and you have the skills to do it, so why shove it away as unimportant?

Overall, a very well piece that you've written. The melancholy part, interspersed with the flashback, worked really well. Just the right amount of drama for the readers to share Squall's feelings, at the same time not too dramatic that it gets boring. Cheers !

p/s : I've gone through nearly all of your fics, they are superb ! I guess you get this a lot, but keep up the good work !

Love it!

I love this. Extraordinary; well written; lovely...yeah...choose your own set of words...and

0_0

This makes me think a bit about Squall being a single dad. I mean, there's no doubt that he'd love his kid with all his heart and soul, but...man, will he make an actual good father! I mean, what if his kid comes up to him and got all, "Dad, what's virginity?" or "Dad, tell me about puberty." or something really awkward. I mean, without Laguna or other people around

And I would LOVE to see Squall organize a children's party. OMFG ...I get milk running out of my nose just by IMAGINING it. Yeah, and I think that it's a good thing that in this story, he didn't end up a daughter coz' being alone, that would be awkward with...0_0 with ahem...the changes in puberty and all, and aside from that, he'd act all overprotective and in the process be like General Caraway strict. It's good that Pink December didn't have Rinoa die, coz' otherwise Squall would on his lonesome raising a girl. XD

This was well written and the transition from Squall's pondering to the actual events happening at the time was very clever...And it was soo..sad...I love this fic

There's no reason to live anymore! (Or at least to stay online)

I've been online just for the sole reason of reading your fanfictons! But now I've finished everything! Nu! I just have to wait for another update... *sob* *choke* noes!

That was great, Emerald, really great. I liked the little philosophy of raindrops. I'm not good with stuff like that. I remembered I used lint and something else...yeah...it was bad. But it was nice. Not too soap-opraey or anything. Just nice and...yeah...just nice.

Sorry, this review is bad and I usually like to leave better ones. I just hate those, "great job, keep it up!" one-crap liners. That pisses me OFF. But anyway! I just had to say...

Thank you for making Squall's kid a boy! I cannot understand why he always has a daughter...I hate when he has a daughter...(maybe because I hate Rinoa...) but yea! I had to thank you for that. HAD TO!

Okay, I've gawked enough. See ya!

First off, great quote. The way you began the fic felt quite epic, and distant, but then I felt it grew more...how to put it... intimate? towards the end, with Squall and Laguna. Nice.

I love this story; I've read it three times so far. The style you wrote it in works really well, because you make me believe that it's actually Squall who is talking, and not you trying to imitate him. I loved "Pink December" for the same reasons. Also, I like how you switched up the whole baby girl with Squall's eyes to a boy with Rinoa's eyes. It was refreshing.