Epilogue; "Forever A Tomorrow"
Five Years Later…
Picture a house.
It sits by a field of flowers, made of both stone and wood. It looks comfortable, a cosy place, despite it's isolation, similar to the houses from Winhill. Behind the house is a small freshwater lake, filled by a waterfall. A waterwheel by the side of the house taps it's power.
And if you look inside the house, you can see the furnishings of a good life. You can almost even hear the memories in the walls as you look around the rooms. A baby's cry, and a parent's joy. A child's laughter. A mother's love, a father's teachings. Memories filling up this quiet house, preventing it from ever being empty.
And now the front door opens, letting in the light of a beautiful summer's day. Two people walk in. Irvine Kinneas, 27 years old. His ponytail is now gone, replaced by a cut not all that dissimilar to Squall's over ten years ago. He still wears his hat. Behind him enters Selphie Kinneas Tilmitt, now pregnant with their first child and only just beginning to show it. Her hair now trails past her shoulders.
"Hello, hello?" Irvine called out. "Anyone home?"
As Irvine went to look around the rooms, Selphie found her eyes wandering over the house, taking in the furniture, fireplace, the tables and chairs. On the wall was a picture, a child's drawing of her family. There were pictures on the mantelpiece. Squall, four years ago, holding his newborn daughter. Rinoa and Squall with the baby, after she had taken her first steps. A fairly recent picture of the entire Leonhart family - Squall, Rinoa, Laguna and Ellone, along with the newest addition. And there was a picture of Laguna with his grandaughter. And the most recent picture was of just Squall, Rinoa and their daughter. Squall looked a lot like Laguna these days, same hair only lighter. Rinoa never seemed to age, though there was strong becoming a resemblance between her and Edea. And their daughter looked just like her. Rinoa's dark hair and Japanese eyes, but they were Squall's blue color.
Irvine couldn't find anybody. The family of this house were long gone. But he did find a letter, just sitting there on a desk, with his and Selphie's names on it, just waiting for it. Opening it up, he saw it was in Rinoa's handwriting.
"Dear Irvine & Selphie,
If you're reading this, it means you've come to pay us another visit, and you've found us gone. Sorry for missing you guys, but Alexandra's old enough to see the world now. Squall and I wanted to show it to her. We were right, she remembers nothing of her past life. So now we have the opportunity to show it to her all over again. We're going to travel the world, and hopefully meet all the others again. But we'll come back, one day. It's a big world out there, and so may people in it. But we all live our lives, crossing each other's like a strange and wonderful cat's cradle.
So we'll meet again, someday, on down the line."
Irvine smiled and folded the letter back up and went to find Selphie.
"They're not here, are they?" she asked.
"Nope." said Irvine with a smile, taking her hand. "But they're fine. They're showing Alexandra the world. "Come on, let's go." She laughed as he led, taking her out of the house and into the flower fields that Squall and Rinoa had grown, matching the one beside Edea's orphanage. They walked through flowers, playing and chasing each other like tiger cubs.
"Where are we going?" Selphie laughed as they walked out across the flower fields.
Irvine pulled her close and hugged her. She giggled and took his hat, placing it on her head. He smiled, placed his hand in hers and they continued to walk through the flowers.
"Down the line, Selphie." he said. "Down the line."
"Blood Brothers"
by Bruce Springsteen
We played King Of The Mountain
Out on the end
The world came chargin' up the hill,
And we were women and men
Now there's so much that time,
Time and memory take away
We got our own roads to ride
And chances we gotta take
We stood side by side
Each one fightin' for the other
We said until we died
We'd always be blood brothers
Now the hardness of this world
Slowly grinds your dreams away
Making a fool's joke
Out of the promises we make
And what once seemed black and white
Turns to so many shades of gray
We lose ourselves in work to do
Work to do and bills to pay
And it's a wild, wild, ride
And there ain't much cover
With no one running by your side,
My blood brothers
On through the houses of the dead
Past those fallen in their tracks
Always moving ahead
And never looking back
Now I don't know how I feel
I don't know how I feel tonight
If I've fallen 'neath the wheel
If I've lost or I've gained sight
I don't even know why
I don't know I made this call
Or if any of this matters
Anymore after all
But the starts are burning bright
Like some mystery uncovered
And I'll keep moving through the dark
With you in my heart
My blood brothers
T h e E n d
It sits by a field of flowers, made of both stone and wood. It looks comfortable, a cosy place, despite it's isolation, similar to the houses from Winhill. Behind the house is a small freshwater lake, filled by a waterfall. A waterwheel by the side of the house taps it's power.
And if you look inside the house, you can see the furnishings of a good life. You can almost even hear the memories in the walls as you look around the rooms. A baby's cry, and a parent's joy. A child's laughter. A mother's love, a father's teachings. Memories filling up this quiet house, preventing it from ever being empty.
And now the front door opens, letting in the light of a beautiful summer's day. Two people walk in. Irvine Kinneas, 27 years old. His ponytail is now gone, replaced by a cut not all that dissimilar to Squall's over ten years ago. He still wears his hat. Behind him enters Selphie Kinneas Tilmitt, now pregnant with their first child and only just beginning to show it. Her hair now trails past her shoulders.
"Hello, hello?" Irvine called out. "Anyone home?"
As Irvine went to look around the rooms, Selphie found her eyes wandering over the house, taking in the furniture, fireplace, the tables and chairs. On the wall was a picture, a child's drawing of her family. There were pictures on the mantelpiece. Squall, four years ago, holding his newborn daughter. Rinoa and Squall with the baby, after she had taken her first steps. A fairly recent picture of the entire Leonhart family - Squall, Rinoa, Laguna and Ellone, along with the newest addition. And there was a picture of Laguna with his grandaughter. And the most recent picture was of just Squall, Rinoa and their daughter. Squall looked a lot like Laguna these days, same hair only lighter. Rinoa never seemed to age, though there was strong becoming a resemblance between her and Edea. And their daughter looked just like her. Rinoa's dark hair and Japanese eyes, but they were Squall's blue color.
Irvine couldn't find anybody. The family of this house were long gone. But he did find a letter, just sitting there on a desk, with his and Selphie's names on it, just waiting for it. Opening it up, he saw it was in Rinoa's handwriting.
"Dear Irvine & Selphie,
If you're reading this, it means you've come to pay us another visit, and you've found us gone. Sorry for missing you guys, but Alexandra's old enough to see the world now. Squall and I wanted to show it to her. We were right, she remembers nothing of her past life. So now we have the opportunity to show it to her all over again. We're going to travel the world, and hopefully meet all the others again. But we'll come back, one day. It's a big world out there, and so may people in it. But we all live our lives, crossing each other's like a strange and wonderful cat's cradle.
So we'll meet again, someday, on down the line."
Irvine smiled and folded the letter back up and went to find Selphie.
"They're not here, are they?" she asked.
"Nope." said Irvine with a smile, taking her hand. "But they're fine. They're showing Alexandra the world. "Come on, let's go." She laughed as he led, taking her out of the house and into the flower fields that Squall and Rinoa had grown, matching the one beside Edea's orphanage. They walked through flowers, playing and chasing each other like tiger cubs.
"Where are we going?" Selphie laughed as they walked out across the flower fields.
Irvine pulled her close and hugged her. She giggled and took his hat, placing it on her head. He smiled, placed his hand in hers and they continued to walk through the flowers.
"Down the line, Selphie." he said. "Down the line."
by Bruce Springsteen
We played King Of The Mountain
Out on the end
The world came chargin' up the hill,
And we were women and men
Now there's so much that time,
Time and memory take away
We got our own roads to ride
And chances we gotta take
We stood side by side
Each one fightin' for the other
We said until we died
We'd always be blood brothers
Now the hardness of this world
Slowly grinds your dreams away
Making a fool's joke
Out of the promises we make
And what once seemed black and white
Turns to so many shades of gray
We lose ourselves in work to do
Work to do and bills to pay
And it's a wild, wild, ride
And there ain't much cover
With no one running by your side,
My blood brothers
On through the houses of the dead
Past those fallen in their tracks
Always moving ahead
And never looking back
Now I don't know how I feel
I don't know how I feel tonight
If I've fallen 'neath the wheel
If I've lost or I've gained sight
I don't even know why
I don't know I made this call
Or if any of this matters
Anymore after all
But the starts are burning bright
Like some mystery uncovered
And I'll keep moving through the dark
With you in my heart
My blood brothers
T h e E n d