Give a reason
By: Renoa Heartilly~
~Epilogue~
Headline: Rinoa Kinneas is alive!
It seems that the person who tried to murder
Sorceress Rinoa had failed miserably. Squall Leonhart, commander of
Headline: New book on Sorceresses!
Seifer Almasy, husband of supposedly deceased Sorceress Fujin, has published his new novel “The sorceress and I”. The book relates a one-week life with the sorceress, and offers information and viewpoints about the young woman.
Headline: Holy Knights defeated!
Investigations on the Holy Knights took nine months
to succeed in beating them and finding their base! Seifer Almasy declared that
his book, “The sorceress and I”, provided enough information for Esthar
Police to discover their hideout in the outskirts of
Headline: Seifer Almasy becomes Commander of
Seifer Almasy, whose popularity has grown since his
Novel “The sorceress and I”, is now the commander of the new
Headline: Almasy wannabe?
A strange person looking like Seifer Almasy was strolling around Balamb last week. A small child, dressed as a black mage, accompanied him. We think that it is just another one of his obsessed readers, is all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sea-green eyes passed quickly through the clippings of papers that were neatly organized in a brown album, reliving memories and remembering events that Guardian forces had tried hard to erase. Seifer sighed and brushed back a few stray hairs of gold and gray.
“
“Okay, uncle Seifer.” Brown eyes admired the fluffiness of the toy, “Where’d you get it anyway?”
Seifer chuckled and got up, placing the book aside, “It came as a gift with the television set in my living room. They are very rare.”
Seifer pulled the girl into his arms, along with the dolphin toy, and stepped out of his room, “Yeah, I know. You can’t find them anywhere anymore. Let’s go to your mom, I bet she’s worried about you.”
The child made a face and hung to her uncle’s neck for balance, “Naw, I think mommy was glad I was going away, she locked her bedroom door just after I left!” she hung tightly to the toy as well, “When I wanted to go back for my toys, I found the door locked and heard laughing… I think daddy was inside too… Hmm, grownups are weird!”
Seifer smiled, “Oh… okay then.” He changed his direction, “Why don’t we go bug uncle Laguna?”
The man smiled, “I know. Remember that time when we cut it after he fell asleep?”
“Yeah!” she pouted, “Mommy put me on her knees that night!”
Seifer stopped and gave her a surprised face, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Julie was crying her head off, and I had to stay there and play her stupid baby games.” *pout*
“Now, now,
“Naïve.”
“Naïve, but not stupid.”
“O_o?” she questioned, “What's the difference?”
Seifer chuckled and opened the door to Laguna’s office, “Why don’t you ask uncle Squall?” he put the girl down and watched as she scrambled and hugged Squall’s leg.
“Hi uncle Squaaaall!”
“Hi, kid.” Stated squall absently as he went through reports, “Seifer, what's this doing here?”
After a small peek at the paper, Seifer chuckled sheepishly, “Sorry, wrong chart.”
Laguna rubbed his forehead, “I’m too old for this.
Laguna snickered and dropped the pen he was signing with, “Yeah! Let’s go to the beach and collect some!”
The girl’s eyes shone and she placed the dolphin in the blonde’s hand, “Here! I’m goin’ wid uncle Laguna!”
Seifer smiled and held the toy safely, “Don’t forget slimy snails.”
The oldest and youngest left the office in a flurry of giggles and a smudge of brown.
Both ex-knights sat quietly, passing through reports and ignoring the frustrating tick-tock of the huge clock on the wall.
“Squall, have you ever thought… that it might be too late?” Asked the blonde before lifting his head and resting his cheek in his hand. He and Squall had grown to treat each other as brothers through the last six years. It was hard, yes, but with the help and wisdom of Laguna, they survived.
“It’s been six years, Seifer. Drop it.” Stated Squall without lifting his gaze off the report. They hadn’t changed much, however…
“Maybe we can still do something!”
“The memorial has been rebuilt, Odine is worn out from all the researches and tests. Nobody understands how it all happened, and nobody ever will.” Sighed the brunet commander before tossing a pen in Seifer’s direction, “Sign this.”
Seifer shook his head as he signed the report, “Why am I even your second-in-command?”
“Because you can’t be above me.” Grinned Squall evilly. “Besides, I’m not about to pull Elly back from her honeymoon just for another experiment.”
Seifer grinned back before getting up, “I’ll be back.”
“Going there again?”
“Yeah, I miss him…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve lived alone for six years. It seemed that I was always alone, though. Always felt that inside me was a gaping void that a mere me wasn’t enough to fill. I’ve tried searching for my other half, I’ve searched for years, and thought that I had found her when I met Ultimecia. She was beautiful, magical, and believed in me -at least she acted like that at first.
Even after my trial and my shameful return to Garden, I still couldn’t find myself a decent woman who would love me for me. I guess I got soaked in fairytales, and envied Squall so much that I thought everybody was destined to find their own fairy someday.
Guess I wasn’t that lucky…
Sure, Fujin was always there for me, but I’ve never thought she might actually… love me!
I mean, Fuu, she showed no interest in me! She never tried to hold me, or even act like a possessive girlfriend. The three of us -including Raijin- had been together for aas long as I remember, and we’ve spent so many nights out camping in Balamb forests, we had to share the same tent and all… But she never tried to come close to me.
I figured out later that she had been trying to hide the fact that she liked me, in favor of keeping a good friendship. I guess I was unconsciously doing the same thing too, but I used to talk with Raijin about it all the time. So it was never a problem with me…
Now that everything is all said and done, I guess I realized that I not only loved her, but also adored her.
I see it now that I’m alone, with not even Raijin to keep me company…
They say that every bad thing has a good side, what could be good in leaving you loved one for six years, without even a phone call?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seifer passed his fingers against the edge of the old tombstone. Imprinted on it the words:
Raijin
Hefty,
4242-4265
R.I.P.
“Hi Seifie!” chirped a happy voice.
“Hi, Selphie.” Waved the blond, “How’s pregnancy treating you?”
Selphie sighed, and eased herself on the grass next to her friend, “I’m fine, but I feel like an over-squeezed toothpaste-tube!”
Seifer chuckled before placing a rose on his friend’s grave, “It’ll be over soon.” For both of us.
“I know, that’s what scares me O_O” (an: her hair is down and longer now)
“Don’t worry, just breathe correctly when the time comes.”
“Are you kidding? Men invented that stupid method to get free of squeezing their wife’s hand!” she pouted, “Ow! Ow ow it’s kicking again! Oww!” Selphie pulled Seifer’s hand and placed it over her swollen belly, “Do you feel it?”
Seifer smiled lightly, “Yeah, nice.” Actually, he was only trying to be polite, every time he’d see a pregnant woman, his heart would rip apart. Why was he denied a family when everybody else had one? Why couldn’t he live with his golden angel?
Selphie smiled lovingly, “You still miss her?”
Seifer nodded lightly before taking his hand off her stomach, “Forever.”
A blur of purple passed by them, but it was so quick that only Selphie noticed, “Ow!”
“It’s kicking again? Maybe its time?”
“NO! That’s not till next month!! But look! Look look!” she pointed towards a huge tree, under which stood a small figure.
“What? Selphie, it’s not nice to point, I think the baby needs oxygen too, you know.” He tried to calm her down.
“NOOO!!! Looooooookieeeeeeee there!” She cupped Seifer’s face in one of her hands and directed it towards the tree, “A purple cat!”
Seifer blinked. “I think you should call Nida, he might get worried over you.” He stood up slowly, “Odine and I see a lot of Gimme-Cats, no big deal.”
“Okie-dokie! But loooooook! PLEASE!!!!” she got up with the aid of her blonde friend and placed her hands on her belly, “Calm down, sweetheart! Uncle Seife will be happy again!”
“So it’s a purple cat, who cares? Lets get you home.”
“It has your dolphin toy!” stated Selphie quietly.
T_T!!! “WHAT!”
Seifer made his way up the hill in a sprint, ignoring the giggling female behind him. “I’ll get you, you son of a-” he stopped when he watched as the cat obediently walked towards him, placed the toy on the ground and then turned back to sit under the tree. “-Fish…” Seifer blinked, picked up the toy, and gazed up towards the strange figure that had tamed the wild animal.
“He didn’t leave teeth marks, did he?” soft lips uttered, in a sweet and matured voice. The face wasn’t that bad either, pale velvet skin pulled in a smile, as her crimson and cerulean eyes shone in suppressed happiness. Silver hair brushed her cheeks as a soft breeze passed by.
A large lump formed in the knight’s throat, as he stepped forward and forgot to breathe. “F-Fu-“ even after so many years of calling her, seeing her in person froze all his senses, and his tongue couldn’t even call her name.
A single tear trickled down her cheek when she smiled and gave a weak whimper, “I missed you!”
Seifer clenched his jaws and wrapped her in his arms, unbelieving that it was really her, “Is this a dream?”
“No.”
“Pinch me!”
Fujin sniffled and pinched his arm.
“Oh God! It’s real! You’re really here!” he hugged her and couldn’t stop the tears that cascaded down his face, “I knew you’d be back! I knew it!” he planted kisses on her cheeks and face, “My baby! You’re back!”
They held on to each other for what seemed like hours, letting all their emotions run free made them understand just how much they meant to each other
Fujin sobbed and hugged her husband tightly, “I’m sorry I had to leave, Mom said I had to stay there or else everything would get screwed.”
Seifer shook his head, “It’s all because of her.”
Fujin brushed back a few strands of hair, which brushed her cheek and escaped the braid behind her back, “Mom passed away two moths ago.”
Seifer blinked, “Months? Were you in the GF world?”
At her nod, he gave a smile, “Baby, her dead body appeared in the hologram-room a few years ago!”
“Years?”
“Yeah, how long have you been in the other world?”
Fujin shrugged, “Nine months!”
Seifer chuckled bitterly, “Try six years!”
The albino’s eyes went wide as more tears trailed down, “OH! My love, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!”
Seifer hugged her tightly again, before feeling something pushing against his lower abdomen, “Huh?”
Fujin placed her palms on her swollen belly, “It’s kicking again.” At Seifer’s shocked face she laughed, “This is the reason I had to stay away for nine months!”
Seifer sat her down, and remained as close to her as he possibly could, before asking, “Is it, mine?”
“Of course!” Fujin squealed, “Why else would I go through all that, and be away from you all that time?”
Seifer kissed her passionately before resting his head in her lap, “What happened when you left?”
The sorceress smiled down at her true love and brushed back his hair, tears springing to her eyes when she noticed the gray hairs that adorned his golden head, “You’ve grown a goatee!”
He chuckled, “Yeah, thought you’d like it.”
“I love it, it makes you look older and more mature.”
“You’ve grown too.”
The sorceress smiled before stating, “I guided us both to our heaven, our baby. I had to, before you made the mistake to stop Ultimecia from taking me to the GF world, and would have thus almost dragged us both to our hell, losing our baby.”
Seifer sighed and closed his eyes, “I was a fool… thank goodness…”
She smiled and caressed his cheeks, “Well, after Ultimecia and I fought, she dragged me to the GF realm. I cried for days, begging her to take me back. But she refused to even listen to my pleas. After I calmed down, Shiva convinced me that it was for the best.” She closed her eyes to remember, “After two months of being miserable, Shiva told me that in order to keep the baby, I had to stay sane.” She giggled, “I started taking care of myself after that. I had to stay alive so you could meet your child!”
“Well, lucky you, I made a promise to myself that if you weren’t back in ten years, then I wouldn’t live to see another year after it.” He brushed her hair and admired its softness.
“Yeah, lucky me.” She smiled, “So, you haven’t hooked up with anybody?”
“I haven’t had a date in seven years.” He shrugged, and then grunted at the animal that was tugging at his shoe, “Matron babysat me for three months, I had a strong case of shock and fever. But then I snapped out of it and became bitter. She decided it was hopeless, and let me have my way *shoo!* two years after it, I read Raijin’s book, combined forces with Dr. Odine to make researches over sorceresses, and my first novel was published.” He tried to shoo off the big-eyed cat again.
“Stop it, Gimme.” Fujin instructed and the cat complied, “I’m happy for you! What's the novel about?”
“You and
Fujin smiled, “Well, I should read it sometime.”
“Why not now?” He got up, “I can show you the stuff I still keep for you!”
“No, not now- what stuff?” she got up with his help and leaned on his shoulder, “You have something other than the dolphin?”
“Are you kidding? I have everything that was ever associated with you!” he walked her down the hill, “The golden dress I bought, the golden slippers, our couch, your old eye patch, broken lights- don’t ask… The shawl that you forgot at Odine’s, your shoe that Odine got from his Gimme-Cat... I even keep your hairbrush sacred. It has your hair on it.”
Fujin blinked, “You missed me that much?”
“And much more.”
She sighed and hugged his arm, “I didn’t even have a picture of you. I barely held on to life for this little baby of ours.” She touched her stomach before looking at the tombstone, “Is that whom I think it is?”
Seifer’s expression darkened, “Yeah…”
Fujin smiled and kissed the stone, “Did you know that he became the new Thunder Guardian?”
Seifer’s eyes went wide, “Really?”
“Yeah,” she giggled, “Named himself Ramuh. Said it sounded more powerful than Raijin!”
“He recognized you?” Seifer questioned, happy for his friend.
“No, but I did. He kept saying ‘you know’ after each sentence, how many Guardian Forces do you know who say that?” she smiled and a look of shock crossed her face, “Umm, he and *gulp* Cerby are best friends.”
“Curby?” questioned the blond, “Cerberus?”
Fujin shook her head slightly, “No, Carbuncle. Raijin was always good with kids.” She paled and leaned against his shoulder again.
“What is it?” Seifer asked worriedly. “Do you need to sit down?”
“No…”
“Want me to kiss you?” he winked.
“I wouldn’t mind but…” she shifted uncomfortably.
All of a sudden, the Gimme-Cat went berserk and kept calling “ORO!” and shouting “Red Alert!” before slamming into a tombstone and fainting.
“I didn’t know Gimme-Cats could talk!”
Fujin swallowed, “Only when the sorceress’s water breaks…”
Seifer blinked, “Huh? But why are- WHAT?” he scooped
her up in his arms and sprinted to the street.
There he found Selphie, grinning from ear-to-ear near her car, “I saw
you Fuuji! Welcome back!” she greeted and made to hug the other woman.
“There’s not time!” Interjected Seifer, freaking
out, “We gotta get her to a hospital! Her water broke!” Fujin just giggled.
“HUH?” Selphie started the car and was about to
close the door, but then she finally realized Fujin’s very pregnant
condition and started having scary images of herself in the delivery room. Because
of that, she froze.
“Selphie!” Seifer screeched, ignoring the cat that jumped into the backseat with a toy-dolphin in its mouth. “What's wrong? Drive!”
Selphie breathed, “I don’t feel so good!” x_x
“ARRG!” Seifer took over the wheel and *vroomed* to Esthar hospital.
“Calm down *sniff*
“Selphie, it’s just starting!” Fujin chuckled, “It’ll take a few hours before the baby comes out!”
The other woman sniffled, “Seifer, slow down, we dun wanna kill our babies!” she shrieked, “Watch out for that-”
Bam!
“Trash can… -_-“ Selphie uttered quietly before pouting, “Oh, Seifer! This car was a wedding present from Nida!”
Fujin watched as Gimme-Cat scratched at its fur and spit a hairball on the seat, “Hmm, think he’d notice?”
Selphie cried harder, “He’ll kill me!” ;_;
Fujin gasped as another contraction occurred, “Okay, Seifer… you can hurry up now!” O_O;;
~~~~~~~~~~~
Six hours later:
“Seifer!” Selphie dabbed Seifer’s face with a wet napkin, “Wake up!”
Seifer’s eyes opened and started to focus, “Wha- Who- FUJIN!” he got up and strangled the first man he caught, Squall, “WHERE IS SHE?”
Squall’s eyes went X_X before he turned blue and fainted.
“Oops…” Seifer turned back to look at the doors of the delivery room- everything was horrifyingly quiet. “What happened?”
Selphie grinned, “You fainted when the head came out ^^.”
“She’s still alive isn’t she?” he made a face.
“Yeah, go on in and say hi” :D
Laguna, who had grown to treat Seifer as a son, smiled, “Hey, go on in and kiss her, we’ll keep blabbing here till you come back. You won’t miss anything, promise!”
Seifer took a deep breath before stepping in.
There she was, his beautiful angel all clad in white, her soft silver braid resting on her shoulder. Her eyes were sealed in a quiet slumber, her eyelashes rested lightly over her cheeks as she held a small bundle in her exhausted arms.
Seifer smiled and kissed her brow lovingly, “Baby, I’m sorry.”
A smile formed on her lips before her eyes opened, “You are forgiven.” She shifted lightly before smiling at their child and speaking quietly, “I can’t believe I’ve gone through hell and back just for this little creature!”
Seifer smiled, “I think it’s worth it.” He kissed the small albino baby’s soft forehead. “She looks like you.”
“She’s a he.”
Seifer smiled, “Give me one good reason to not love him! Loving you both is my life anyway.”
“Give me a reason to not call him Ken.” Fujin smiled up at her husband lovingly.
The knight brushed his fingertips very, very carefully over the delicate forehead of his son.
And murmured his answer.
Give a reason for
life~
The End ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jessiy: *sigh..* Kurse you, Renoa… *goes off to continue her Bahamut story* I annoy myself…
Renny: go ahead sis ^_^
Well, if you wanna see the dolphin toy go to:
http://renoa.jeeran.com/dolphin.jpg
http://renoa.jeeran.com/dolphin2.jpg
Yup! I actually have it! ^^, it’s cute XD
Well… I guess there has to be notes at the end huh? I hope I can get them over with …
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ending notes:
WOW! O_O my first Ending notes! What's the gig anyway? I’ve never felt so big… :\ well, I just feel like there has to be a few things that have to be said…
Firstly, I wrote this story to prove to myself that I can still write yummy Seifuu’s. That’s because, for a while, I’ve gotten into Squafuus ^_^;; I know it has taken a long time to finish, but hey, who’s keeping track? :)
Jess: I am T_T
Renny: whatever …
Secondly, I’d like to thank Vick330 for helping me pass this whole fanfic, without having to bang my head on the table to fix grammar ^_^ thanks a bunch man, you’ve been a great help! I’d like to thank my sister, Jessiy *I guess you’ve noticed that already -_-* she had been with me through the whole fic, reading as I wrote and pointing out strange sentences and pushing me to the keyboard to start writing off my lazy butt *^_^;;* she came up with the whole Gimme-Cat thief thingy O_O Heck, she even got me writing the Epilogue!
Jess: *Evil laughter!* Kurse you Reality!
Renny: huh? O_o? What’s with the Ultimecia accent thingy?
Jess: dunno, felt bad about killing her too *bangs Renoa on the head* that’s for killing Raijin-poo, you big meanie!
AND! *ow* I’d like to thank all of you who read/reviewed or sent me email about how you loved Give A Reason ^_^ I loved the song from Slayers, titled Give a Reason, which started this whole reason-obsession thingy ^^;; you’ll love it if you heared it!
Another note: I lost count -_-… Fujin, Seifer, and all other characters belong to SquareSoft. Roxanne, Charlie and Ken are mine *hugs* so is the dolphin! ^^, I guess I have no possession over Cellist (Laguna’s moomba who did nothing but purr in Fujin’s lap -_-;;) but I hope I can get a moomba plush toy soon ^_^ (note: anybody willing to give up their Cactuar plushie for free? Just wondering, no reason really…)
Hmm, what else… oh yeah, if you want to learn more about that strange Seifer-lookalike who was mentioned in the headlines, you can read Jessiy’s Fic: Times of Crisis, it’s a side story of Give A Reason ^^,
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1227847
I decided to not revive Ken after all, for his role in the story was long since finished. I know I gave it a crappy ending, but I’m not very good at good-byes or endings -_-
Jess: get over with the notes already..
Renny: and say good-bye? ;_; I cant!
Jess: Live with it *reaches to close Word processor*
Gimme-Cat runs in, steals the mouse, then runs off… *blink blink* “ORO!!”
End of Notes…
To send any comments, please Review or send me an Email, I’d love to hear from you :D