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Epilogue
 
Chapter Thirteen: Afterlife

Miles slowly took the next step. The journey had gotten harder. Dr. Kadowaki had said that he would have a tough time of getting back INTO time once he did this. Being lost in time was a horrid experience, but he saw it again now. The house was there, the field was there, and the people were there.
This time, he could move his feet. He slowly took the next step, then the next, slowly relishing the moment. His journey was over, finally, and now he was free to go home again. He could make out the figures now. He saw his mother and father, who died only a few years ago. He saw his younger sister, who had been tragically killed in a building collapse. And off in the distance from the house, he saw his friends and other relatives who had lost their lives.
He didn’t see Lee or Jasmine, but he knew why. He was proud of himself that he didn’t see them.
I did it.
With a wide grin, he took the next step, then the next. Each time his feet making a loud crunching noise on the dirt. Finally, he was close to the house. And as he got closer, his mother stood alone on the hill, looking at him.
He smiled and opened his arms, but she only shook her head and mouthed something, Miles couldn’t make it out, but it LOOKED like “not yet.”
Then he heard a voice, not a voice, but a sound. It was crying. Someone was crying, and as he listened intently, he heard the cries, and knew whom they were coming from. He smiled to his mother, nodded, and then waved to his family and friends. He waved to his home.
Then he promptly turned around.
I’m not done yet. Someone out there is waiting for me, and damn it, I’m coming back.
He found his gunblade in his hands, and realized he might need it.
Death is probably a tricky bitch, but I can take it. I know I can.
With that, he used his strength, and pushed himself backwards. He ran all the way. The field went off into an eternity, but he knew no fatigue, no amount of weariness. He only knew Jasmine, and he knew he would get to her.
Of course, failure meant losing it all. Failure meant instant death, and not a happy one. Failure meant the bad one, the bad place, or worse.
Bring it on damn you! I’m ready!
Suddenly, and without warning, the field ended, and there was nothing but a jagged ledge, with no surface below. He found himself looking off into infinity. He turned around, and saw the same thing. He was on a tiny little island, the grass was gone now. It was just him.
Then the shadows appeared. One by one, they came, each one bigger than the last. Finally, they disappeared, and large shadowy figure appeared.
It began to manifest. First, it appeared traditionally, a large skeleton with cloak and scythe. Then, it changed form. It became Jasmine, in her death throes, when he had failed.
The memory came back to Miles. He still remembered what could have been had he not changed the past. He fell down, dropping the gunblade on the ground next to him. Then death changed forms again; it became Squall, being stabbed by Seifer. Miles collapsed, breaking down to tears. Then it was Lee, hefting the bomb, then Selphie, bleeding terminally on a rock. Then it was Zell, becoming overpowered by hundreds of soldiers, then Irvine, being blasted by hundreds of shots from machine guns.
Miles screamed in agony, and then finally, it became nothing but a hand, pointing its finger squarely at Miles. Miles screamed again.
No! It wasn’t my fault! I fixed it! I fixed it! I did what I had to do, and I fixed it! Now I’m coming back damn it! No… I can’t go back, I’ll screw things up again, and I’ll get everyone killed.
The mind games continued, death wasn’t a physical fighter, he was one who destroyed you from the inside, and Miles was unprepared. Then he heard it again, he heard the crying, the weeping, and he heard a slow, steady series of beeps become a flat line tone.
NO! I’m coming back! Nothing stops me, not even death!
Miles leaped to his feet and grabbed his gunblade. The figure with the scythe was back, and as Miles lifted the gunblade, yelling a ferocious battle cry, it dissipated.
Then the island disappeared, and everything turned white.