Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Until the End of Eternity, and Longer ❯ Chapter Twenty-Two ( Chapter 22 )

Alrighty, boys n' girls! After that really really mean cliffy in the last chapter…here I am with chapter twenty-two of "Until the End of Eternity, and Longer". After this chapter, there will be a sort of "intro to part two/interlude" sort of thing. It will probably be QUITE short, and then the story will continue.

Uh, thanks to my reviewers again, and on with the story.

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"Until the End of Eternity, and Longer"

by: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Twenty-Two

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It was like a bad dream. That was all Irvine could really think. The shattered scream echoed through his ears like a sudden crack of thunder, only it didn't end as quickly as that.

And Squall, all Squall could think, for an instant, was, am I the only one seeing this? But that thought was quickly shoved aside as his father moved.

"Jace!" Laguna gasped, quickly lifting the bloody body into his arms. Yes, he had seen her like this before. Once, a long time ago.

It had been a shock, to find her, suddenly flickering into reality on the tavern floor, covered in blood and all but completely unable to move, looking like she had that day when Laguna found her after she shot off her suicide bullet. The main difference now? She was alive. It didn't make any sense, but Laguna didn't care about that at the moment. It was enough, he decided, to just hold her in his arms, to try to save her, to do whatever was possible.

"K-Kennedy! Get some water, a first aid-kit, SOMETHING! We have to help her!" he pleaded helplessly, the blood already sticking to the khaki button down he wore.

Jace shook her head slightly. " 'Guni," she whispered. "Hey big brother, how's it goin'?" The words came out through teeth clenched in pain.

"H-hey," Laguna stuttered. "I…um…I mean…" What did you say to a woman who died over fifteen years ago? A woman who was now, alive, and lying helplessly in your arms, dying all over again. What did you say to the kid sister you'd thought you lost, the person who'd been given back to you, only to die all over again. And it was obvious that she was dying. The erratic pulse, the ragged breathing…all that blood. Dying? Yes. All the signs were there.

Irvine's lower lip quivered. "M-mother? M-mom?" he whispered, frozen, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

Tentatively, Squall's gloved hand touched Irvine's arm, concern etched in once a once stony gaze, and that was all it took, that whisper of a touch, for Irvine's initial shock to wear off.

"MOMMA!" he yelled slightly, running to her and taking a knee opposite Laguna. "Mom?" his question was pleading, desperate.

She reached one bloody hand up to brush the hair from his face, slowly, as if it took great effort to do so.

"Hey kiddo," she said softly, with a smile that was half grimace. "Look at you. All grown up. My lil' Irvy. I've missed you a lot."

Squall moved to behind Irvine's shoulder, feeling the urge to rest his hand there and comfort the other young man, but thinking better of it. Jace's eyes didn't miss him though. As a ghost, his eyes had almost called to her. He had the eyes of someone who'd come too close to death and never come all the way back, and also, his were the only eyes she'd really been able to see, the only eyes that could really see her. And suddenly, she came to a realization. "You…you're the little boy…with the toy car."

Squall gave a curt nod, and gave into the temptation to rest his hand on Irvine's shoulder. 'He needs to know, that I'm still here for him,' he told himself, mentally grunting at that logic. 'Rinoa is turning me into a girl.' "My name is Squall," he said in his usual monotone.

"Squall…" Jace said, her voice coming off as a hoarse whisper. She was so confused, not entirely sure what was going on. One minute, she was a ghost, looking down, and now, she was very much flesh and blood, in so much pain, and, she was certain, dying all over again. And still, all she could think is, 'I want to protect them, so badly, so much--'.

"Please, protect my boys for me," she said softly, before her eyes began to roll back in her head, and consciousness slipped from her grasp.

"JACE!" "MOM!" the desperation echoed through her mind as she fell, once again, into blackness…

Raine gasped. She'd been left behind, color in her cheeks, but, abandoned in the between plane…lost in limbo, forced to watch Jace's trouble, but not to help. She tried to reach out, but her hand reached through Laguna's shoulder.

"No, this canpt be happening!" she cried out. "No! Damnit! I swore I would protect her! Jace! …" but no one seemed to be able to hear her, or they were just too preoccupied at the moment. "Damnit! Crow! Do something! Anything! I promised, I would protect her!"

"Is that really, what you desire?" It was a voice coming from nowhere, and for a moment, Raine wasn't sure it was speaking to her, until it spoke again. "Do you desire, to protect that woman, lost in limbo and destined to die again, for all eternity? Raine Leonheart, would you give your very soul, for that wish, your very memory?"

Raine gasped. "I…I would," she said, sounding meaker than she meant to be.

"Then, it shall be done. You shall protect her, and she shall protect them. You and she will stand, side by side, until the end of eternity, and perhaps, longer even than that."

And suddenly, Raine felt very fuzzy, before she fell into blackness, conscious thought fading away with every instant. And she found herself, finally, in a dream, like waking, where she and Jace were holding hands…

"Jace?" Raine asked nervously. She was terribly confused. This place was black, but the blackness was different from the blackness she was familiar with. This blackness was…a little too gray. And Jace wasn't at all bloody and broken here, and her expression was so serene as well. It was as if she had been healed, body and soul. "Is this…is this limbo?" Raine asked, feeling like a stupid child when Jace turned her face toward her and smiled sweetly.

"No, Raine. This is the place between limbo and life."

"The place between…"

"You've done it, you know. I wouldn't have dreamed such a thing was possible, without your help."

"What do you mean? Jace, you're making no sense!" Raine pleaded for a straight answer.

"We're going back," Jace whispered. "You and I, Raine. We're going back together. Crow has explained it all to me. It's perfect. Oh! But you probably want to see it, don't you? Crow's true form? I would have never imagined it…or dared to…dared to dream that it was…"

"Jacine Kinneas, tripping over words, well, that'd be the day," a male voice said, and Raine's head snapped toward it. A large, thickset man in a white tank top and khaki military trousers. Beside him, was the man she had met earlier, the one that called himself Ethram Loire. And the large man was smiling so fondly at Jace…

"Raine, I would like you to meet two very important men," Jace said calmly. 'How can she be so calm when my mind is racing like this!' Raine's thoughts demanded. "My father, Irvine Donovan, and his partner from the wars, as well as Laguna's father, Ethram Loire. Also known as GF Crow."

Raine blinked. Then, she blinked again. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asked, taking a deep breath.

"Yes," Jace said easily. "You and I…are going to become a GF so that we can protect the boys. Are you having second thoughts?"

"…no?" Raine asked. It was all a little much to register, a little much to swallow. She was going to become a GF? Her and Jace? "B-but what kind of GF are we going to become?" she asked, hoping Jace knew the answer.

"That," Jace said steadily, pausing before speaking again, "is entirely in our hands. I don't really know, but whatever we become, I'm sure it will be beautiful, Raine…beautiful, and strong."

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Gyah! Another cliffy and another chapter that's too short! I'm sorry I'm sorry! But at least I update often, right? Well, right?

I know this chapter was a bit confusing, but all the time/space shifting is becoming challenging lately. Thankfully, I'm almost done with it for the most part. If I've confused you with this chapter, I hope to un-confuse you with the next chapter.

And on another note? I would like to take a vote. Aison, who really hates Irvine's dad, Max Kinneas, wants to see Laguna beat him up in this story? What does everyone else think? Do you hate him? Do you want to see him get socked? If so, by who? Laguna? Irvine? Squall? R&R and let me know. I MIGHT just make it happen.