Parallel

Echoes of a Memory

"I haven't seen her all day. I hope she's alright." Selphie said, as she and Quistis continued their search for Rinoa.

Quistis stopped walking as she folded her arms for a moment – staring at the ground as she nearly sighed.

"Well, she hasn't been the same since…you know." she said, in a hushed tone.

Selphie dropped her head in grief as she thought of Squall for a moment.

"I can't believe it. We can save the world, but we can't get Rinoa out of despair?"

Suddenly, they heard a faint sound - kind of like someone was crying.

"Rinoa?" Selphie asked, quickly moving forward again as she followed the sound.

As they rounded the corner at the edge of The Quad, they saw Rinoa on a bench in a hunched position, twitching.

"Rinoa!" Selphie cried, rushing over to her with Quistis right behind.

Rinoa slowly sat up straight as her friends approached and Selphie knelt down in front of her, staring up at her with a look of deep concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked, putting her hand on her lap.

Rinoa nodded lightly.

"I'm fine. I wasn't crying."

Quistis stood behind Selphie, looking at Rinoa in disbelief as she folded her arms once again.

"Then what were you doing?" she asked.

Rinoa kept a straight face as she spoke. There was no hesitation in her voice. Whether she was lying or not, she gave no clear indication as to either. Her words sounded honest, but Quistis still couldn't buy it completely.

"I must have…fallen asleep. I-I didn't mean to worry anybody. I'm sorry." she said.

Selphie and Quistis looked at her closely and could see the tired look on her face. If she had been crying, all traces of tears were hidden by her fatigue. Selphie was only more concerned upon seeing this.

"Did you spend the whole night out here?" she asked, in a shocked tone.

"No!" Rinoa replied quickly, jumping in her seat a little.

Her reaction answered their question better and more honestly than her word. Seeing their faces…Rinoa knew she'd just been caught and dropped her head.

"…I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice, "I just…needed to be alone."

She tried to fight it, but tears still fell as she hid her face in her lap. Quistis knew right then what was going on and stepped toward Rinoa, taking a seat next to her as she put her hand on her back.

"Oh, Rinoa…you had the dream again, didn't you?" she asked, worriedly.

Rinoa didn't reply as she just kept crying as her friends looked at her regrettably.

Quistis took a deep breath. She knew what she was about to say may not be of any consolation, but she had to say something.

"Rinoa…it's been a year. Squall's not coming back. I'm sorry."

Rinoa slowly lifted her head as she wiped her eyes – turning her head toward Quistis.

Quistis saw her face and choked on her next words for a moment.

"I know how much he meant to you – everyone does. But, he's gone. We can't bring him back." she said, softly.

Rinoa stared at her silently with wet, puffy eyes. Her face only made it harder for Quistis to continue, but she had to get Rinoa to finally let go… whatever it took.

She sighed as she spoke again.

"…Look. We've all moved on…and it's time you did, too."

"Rinoa. We can't apologize enough for what happened to Squall, but there's no way to bring him back." Selphie said, regettably, as she lowered her head.

She glanced at the ground for a second as she choked back the tears that nearly fell. She looked back up at Rinoa, the struggle clear on her face as her voice cracked a little when she spoke again.

"You have to let him go. I'm sorry."

She dropped her head again, fighting even harder to resist the tears that threatened to fall. She was barely able to hold them back as she slowly stood up.

"You just need to take your mind off of it for a while." Quistis said.

Rinoa shook her head as she looked back toward the ground.

"Don't you think I've tried that? No matter what I do, I can't forget it. Anywhere I go, anything I do…I see him. I see what happened to him."

They could hear her voice crack and knew she was crying again. She hid her face once more, this time being a little worse than the one only moments ago.

"It hurts. It hurts so much." she said, between tears, as she buried her face in her hands.

Quistis gently put her hand on Rinoa's shoulder as she looked down at her.

"Rinoa, please...get some rest."

Rinoa emitted one last sniffle before looking up at Quistis with those tired, sorrowful eyes - finally giving in as shes lowly stood up and sighed.

"…Okay," she said, quietly, "...Thanks."

As she slowly walked away, Selphie turned to Quistis.

"Are you really sure she'll be okay?" she asked, a clear tone of worry in her voice.

Quistis smiled as a thought came to mind, staring ahead as Rinoa went out of sight.

"…Trust me." she said.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked up at the sky.

Shortly upon following a strange urge, Rinoa found herself at the flower fields a few hours later. Staring out over the endless scenery, she slowly approached Squall's grave - immediately rearranging the flowers around it a little to uncover his name. This time, however, she wasn't overcome with the sorrow from before when she'd first seen it – instead, his name there engraved on the solid, grey tombstone, filling her with a sense of peace as she smiled lightly at the sight now.

"Squall…" she said, softly, as she lowered her head, "I wish I'd been able to thank you...but, I'm just glad I got to see you one last time. That was all I really wanted."

She repositioned herself at the base of his tombstone as she gently drew her hand along his name.

"I'll never forget you, you know," she said, "Our time together; the memories we've made with each other. I can't forget them. I won't."

As she sat there, staring at his grave as she spilled out her thoughts and emotions, she felt a tear roll down her face - immediately crying at the sight before her as she remembered all of their time together to the very last second. Memories of it all rushed to the front of her mind as she felt a swell of emotion burst from within her. She recalled everything they'd shared together; everything she'd loved about him: how it felt when they embraced each other, the first time they kissed, the moment Squall had truly fallen for her – everything, down to the moment they first met to the moment they were last parted. Even though he was no longer with her, she still smiled at the memory of him as his face stuck at the front of her mind – him smiling warmly at her before he'd hold her close to let her know he was always there.

"I can't do this," she said, "You told me you'd always be there for me. What am I supposed to do now?"

She buried her face in her hands as she was overcome with grief once again: all of the emotion she'd ever felt towards the whole event flooding out as she sat there - their promise of reunion echoing in her head as she cried to herself.

"I can't let you go, Squall. I don't want to!" she sobbed, shaking her head in defiance.

Her tears dripped down between her fingers, some landing on Squall's grave as she tried to calm herself down. She slowly uncovered her face - wiping the tears from her eyes carefully, when she noticed something next to the tombstone.

"What is…" she mumbled.

She reached for the object, turning it over in her hand to discover it was his Griever ring – the very ring she'd woken up to find she had somehow obtained during her strange dream. The very same ring she thought she had lost upon wandering the rifts of time to find him. She was completely baffled at the sight as she stared at it in wonder.

She glanced back down at Squall's grave and got a strange sense as she looked into the air – a single white feather floating down gently before her eyes as the breeze then carried it off behind her. She slowly turned her head to watch as it gently floated away – only to be caught by a familiar figure as Rinoa slowly stood up in shock, speechless at the sight of the person before her.

"Make the ultimate sacrifice and rewind time," the person said.

He laughed jokingly to himself as he released the feather from his hand.

"…At least something in that world made sense, huh?"

"Squall!" Rinoa said, as a bright smile formed on her face, "You're alive?"

Squall put his hand on his side as he turned his head for a moment.

"I guess so," he said, "It's funny though. In those last moments...all I could think about was you; how I might never see you again. It's the one time I'm glad to be wrong."

He turned his head back in her direction as he lightly threw his arms out to the side in perplexity – Rinoa breathing a great sigh of relief and gratitude as she looked at him blissfully.

Squall sighed as he closed his eyes, recalling one specific thing as he looked back at Rinoa in a brief moment of shame.

"I'm sorry, Rinoa," he said, turning his head away again as he closed his eyes once more, "That's twice now, isn't it?"

He folded his arms now as he lowered his head to the ground – his eyes still closed as he spoke again. The regret of letting her down in every possible way he could; exactly every way he said he wouldn't – pulling at him as he felt overwhelmed from such a burden.

"I don't expect you to forgive me. I'm not even asking you to."

She looked at him as pity overtook her once again – Squall opening his eyes now as he lifted his head, looking at her intently as he spoke once more.

"Still…I hope you can. Our time together is important to me, too. I don't want to lose that again – and I don't want to lose you."

He took another breath as he spoke one last time – the look in Rinoa's eyes, one of joy and forgiveness as she looked at him with a smile.

"…I'm sorry." he said.

"Squall. I can't believe it!" she said, crying happily.

Without another moment going by, Rinoa rushed over to him – quickly wrapping her arms over his shoulders as Squall embraced her in return.

"Don't ever leave me again...please?" she said, between tears.

Squall gently caressed her hair as he closed his eyes - his answer forming immediately in his mind as he held Rinoa close.

"...I'm not going anywhere this time, Rinoa. Count on it."

Rinoa slowly lifted her head to look at him as they locked eyes for a moment, looking at one another closely as they finally kissed; their promise of reunion fulfilled as they stood there in the flower fields holding one another close. Rinoa was overwhelmed as she recalled it all: that last moment when they were so sure they'd never see each other again, the fear of losing him a second time quickly becoming her reality - yet, here he stood, now - both of them together once again where it all began. It was everything she had ever wanted - exactly as she had wanted it. This moment was real. Squall was real. That sense of comfort and security overtook her once more as she held him tighter and closer than ever, crying into his shoulder while he quietly consoled her - the lone, white feather drifting by one last time as the breeze carried it across the endless fields.