Grass. When was the last time he had seen grass? He threaded a hand through the grass, unable to feel the dew-tipped strands against the gauntlets he wore, but mesmerized all the same. The wind was blowing too - he could hear its echo through his helm - but it wasn't the lonely wail he had grown accustomed to hearing within the walls of the gods' imaginary world.

Had he really done it? Had the foolhardy warrior broken the cycle? Had he stopped Chaos and freed them from the oppression they had suffered through time and time again? Was it even possible? The armored knight pushed himself upright, blue cape following the wind as he freed it from under his armored body. Was it possible for them to be freed from the endless cycle of battle? Never once had he thought Cosmos's warriors were capable of defeating Chaos, but the grass beneath his boots and wind blowing his cape aside made him question his long-standing resolve.

Garland could see the others as well. Jecht was already on his feet, looking around in confusion; the others were still unconscious, or perhaps merely asleep. It was the only time he had ever seen his fellow comrades look serene. The Emperor wasn't scheming, Kuja wasn't acting, and there was no talk of the Void. Had the situation been different, Garland would have smiled.

"I told you." The voice was calm, quiet. It belonged to the Warrior of Light, Garland knew that even before turning. The few strands of silver hair that his helm didn't hold were blowing in the breeze as well. "Your cycle is broken, Garland. You're free."

"Free?" Garland laughed, a hollow sound that turned the Warrior's carefully structured blank look into one of mild confusion. "There is no freedom, Warrior. Without the cycle, what have we to return to?"

"Life," The Warrior spoke calmly, his expression returning to its former serene look. "Each of us has a life to return to. My friends have returned to theirs, as will yours."

As he spoke Jecht began to glow. The others were roused slowly, gathering to watch their fellow warrior of Chaos vanish. Kuja followed next, then Ultimecia. Garland watched them disappear, one by one. "Life, you say?" Garland asked slowly, eyes never leaving the others as they faded, "And what if there is not one to return to?"

The Warrior of Light smiled. "Let us find one, together." He held out a hand in an offering, half-turning to the castle visible in the distance. Garland wondered when that had appeared. "You need not return to the dark, Garland."

The knight brushed by the warrior's offered hand. "Perhaps not. Yet I know no other way."

"Then let me show you." The Warrior's hand touched his arm and Garland turned, expression quizical beneath his helm. "The cycle is over. There is no reason for us to fight any more."

"No," Garland replied carefully, "I suppose there isn't." Again he brushed the warrior's hand away, this time clapping one of his own to the younger man's shoulder. "Perhaps this is the beginning of a new cycle."

"Not everything is a cycle, Garland." The Warrior replied with a small smile.