first of all, I agree with this. i know how you want it all to flow together but sometimes leaving it TOO vague does make things confusing. I am glad that you've decided to add little inserts to kind of help us with where and when the story is taking place in that particular chapter/scene. Second, I apologize for not reviewing this earlier, it sometimes takes me a while to figure out what, if anything, I want to say.

Quite simply, this chapter hurt my heart. Obviously, Rinoa didn't end up dying after all but still... Squall didn't know it at the time and his thoughts were about the fact that he was helping his wife commit suicide. Wrenching when the person is already dying and in horrible pain; unthinkable when they are outwardly healthy and strong.

as always i am anxious for the next chapter, but of course, little badger takes precedence, and I know he/she will be making an appearance soon. I hope everything goes well there.

Ok, you're not really gonna like this because I will straight up admit that I'm very confused. I thought that Rinoa HAD already passed her powers onto Noelle? Or was that the point - they thought they had but they really hadn't because the lingering link told them otherwise and the dream told her that Noelle would have gotten them around this time because of the way she looked like she'd be the age she currently is in the dream?

Sorry this isn't a very good review...I just feel like I'm missing something here to get the full emotional impact of what I thought they'd done. The fact that the wine glass poison thing plan came out of nowhere, wasn't really happening matters.

You kept the outside world pushed back for this one. What I mean is: Your descriptions of the house, the rooms, the general area (wherever that area may be) are always so seamlessly woven into the more important aspects of the chapter. This time, though, the entire thing is almost entirely in Squall's head - his memories, confusion, turmoil - and it works wonderfully. Given what he and Rinoa are going to do, there's a certain... desolation, a determined lonliness... that's very apparent in this.

I feel like that's going to make zero sense to anyone other than me, but trust me, it's a good thing. This was a great chapter, and while you may think it wasn't sad enough, I'm pretty sure the only reason I didn't tear up is because I had the benefit of knowing what was coming. :)

First off you are a very talented writer! This story is very good. I am going to admit in the begging I was really lost but as I kept reading everything was coming together very nicely. I love Noelle she's just great ].

I know once you finish this I'll read it again and love this story even more than I already do.

I can't wait for the next chapter :)

Once again, a great chapter. I like the way you have dreams and flashbacks interwoven with the present to tell the story. It gets sometimes hard to follow but that in no way takes away from the breathtaking beauty of the tale itself. What i love best about this is the underlying thread through all of the trials, tribulations and upheavals they've had, they've always come back to the fact that they love each other and always will. that underlying thread, or cable, may shake, may tremble, may even fray a bit around the edges but it still remains intact and still ties them both together in this bond that we in the real world can only dream of.

well done, yet again. keep writing lady, i daresay you're much better at this than i can hope to be.

Started reading yesterday and then I fell asleep (I mean, because I was tired to start with, not because of the fic, obviously!) .

First things first, congrats on hitting the 50k mark and going outside of your comfort zone of one-shots! Not an easy thing to do in general. I've been there done that as far as doing post-game multichapter fics as opposed to AU. :)

Very interesting turn of events here. I never would have thought that Noelle dropping into that event/dream at an older age at that period of time is what prompted Rinoa to pick her as her successor. I know Squall had mentioned it himself but I love how it borrowed from Squall's own experiences with traveling to another time because...darn it, I love references to game things. Especially less obvious ones. A little confused as to the mechanics of this shared dreaming exactly work if they're just in the same dream of a past event or if they're actually changing past events but I'm sure it'll get answered.

I gotta say that I really like Ivy. Zell-incarnate, huh? Hehe. That ought to make for tons of fun scenes like the one she had with Squall (even if the subject matter was slightly less than fun) considering her bluntness - hell, I really liked the way you set the tone with that flashback with her saying that she figured that she wouldn't have Squall's approval if she liked shitty beer based on what Noelle said and plopping down a bunch of beer.

Though all that being siad, it might be tough for her considering what I remember it being mentioned about Noelle having Rinoa's exuberance though she conversely got Squall's habit of keeping thoughts tucked away. Well, like she said, at least they had the opportunities to say no to the relationship and have opportunities to learn from Squall and Rinoa about the sorcery. I felt kinda sad that Squall wants to perpetually say sorry even though he knows it doesn't help.

Anyway, looking forward to the next one. :)

PS...that previous review? Mine. Honest. For some odd reason I was logged out when I went to post it so it went through as Guest.

I wanted to cry at that last bit. Wanted to, but didn't (I'm not a cryer, if I were, my eyes would NEVER be dry...). I do like the semblance of normality that most of the chapter maintains, right up until the very end...and I love the discussion Squall has with Ellone. Great way to move the story along and give us more information about what's going on.

The situation with Rinoa's "spells" kind of put me in mind of someone in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. Put in that context, it makes everything that is happening all the more heartbreaking.

this story just keeps getting better and better.

Wow. I was ready to bludgeon Squall with a fish of some sort at the beginning. I don't think I've ever seen him so pissed/ticked off at someone like this in fic. I mean, sure there's over-the-top angry but this was downright scathing. Just wow.

Admiration for how Squall was supremely pissed off aside, I'm glad that they got all that out in the clear despite it not yielding any answers. Poor Elle got the brunt of something she wasn't to blame for. I really like how the conversation went on in such a roundabout way because it feels so genuine that way, you know?

I had to laugh at the idea of Rinoa being visited by kids in witch costumes. That was a funny 'aha' moment because I've also thought of that myself (well, assuming they had Halloween in the FF8 world). Irvine's comment about being a grandfather was funny too. It's definitely an Irvy-thing to say. But in either case, I liked how Squall thought about how much things felt so differently when they were younger and how he's all like 'but they're so young' now despite not thinking about the timeline of his own life milestones for context. Again, I felt pretty bad when Elle accidentally got him angry with the 'waiting a decade to have kids' comment because she didn't know about Rinoa's miscarriages. I guess that really ties into the whole 'keeping secrets' theme of this chapter.

Anyway, I love love loved the final scene in this. It was so cute and I like the concept of everything fitting/being made for each other and the idea that they might have given the 'bond' too much credit when it came to them and just aaahhhh. It's so cute that I can't articulate myself properly.

I hope Rinoa gets some kind of answer soon but in the meantime, I love how everything's just coming together.

You know, I want to hit myself for not catching onto the weirdness Edea exhibited before because it totally makes sense in hindsight. Then again, clues are the best when you only realize their significance after-the-fact. I'm downright curious to see what Squall pulled up from their 'vault' and I'm sure I'll find that out soon because darn it, I am catching up now!

Also, I'm glad that Rinoa realized what she had been doing all this time and how she'd been unintentionally mirroring Edea's actions post-transfer (oh god, I almost wrote transition by mistake). It's like that old adage that those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. She didn't truly remember Edea's actions and how mad they made her and she almost did the same to Noelle, even worse.

And on a completely-different note, awwww the scene with baby Noelle is so cute! The smiles and giggles make me want to d'aww so bad.

Okay, so you got most of my live text feed of my opinions on this story, so you get a flailing list-format review!

-SEIFER. QUISTIS. #SCREAMING
-Everything about Rinoa and Irvine's interactions. G.
-I love this whole world you've built out and expanded, and it's just so beautiful and perfect and fluid.
-I absolutely, 300% love the way that time slips in this fic; one second you're at one age, the next another, and it's just gorgeous, because time is such a BIG DEAL for them. The way you handle all of this is effortless and I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL YOU UPDATE.

Omg finally we may be getting somewhere! I think I've started to get the hang of the time switches and things and that being said, honestly why are Cid and Edea being such retards! I can't stand the fact that the whole turn of events were really set in motion largely by those two and their reactions to the impending sorceress threat. Granted without them we'd have no story but still!

Looking forward to some maybe explanations and some more Squinoa moments

Cheers
Keep Writing

Wow, you know, when I was clicking on this to open the last chapter, I happened to catch the word count. The chapter count wasn’t surprising, but if you’d asked me I would’ve said this was at least 75k. Please know, I mean that is a good thing. Promise. It’s just difficult for me to explain, but the fact you’ve managed to pack so much into each of your ten chapters – all which were plot-driven and emotionally-based. I don’t think I’ve ever a piece of fanfiction that comes close to the disjoined way of storytelling. “Disjointed” as in sections of time/plot, I mean that in the best-possible way, believe me. Hopefully I’m not offending you, trust me that’s the completely opposite of what I’m trying to say. *hopes*

I noticed this before, but I love how you’ve used Noelle’s age as a framing device. It’s an extremely creative way to inform the reader about the time period without being forced to liable things with dates/times/etc or something that’s more obvious like “Flashback, eighteen years ago.” Okay, that might be a little obvious, but hopefully it illustrates what I mean. I also love that there’s still so much mystery, like Edea’s actions. Also, Squall is such an amazing father, it’s the little interactions, just so precious.

Again I applaud you’re the natural talent you have. The best stories to read are the ones you don’t think about the process until after you’re finished because you’re too caught up in the plot. That’s how I see this. It’s not that it’s just under 40k, it’s also something that rarely works. However you want to define it, time-skipping , time-traveling, back or flashback it’s one of the most complicated literary devices to write, even more impossible is making it work. Actually, in some stories, it *shouldn’t* work at times, but honestly your story does.

It took me a little time to get used to it, simply because I wasn’t expecting it. For chapter one I know I had to re-read parts, but once I figured it out, it was well worth it. There was nothing wrong, just something I wasn’t expecting on my end. I know it’s odd to bring up with chapter ten, but now that you’ve gotten all your single-digit chapters under your belt (or Squall’s belts, depending XD!) and besides a line here or there, most of my reviews have focused on plot rather than the mechanics, so I wanted to applaud the style..

Okay, I’m so tired that I’ve actually drifted off a few times while writing this, so I hope it makes sense. Just whack me with an internet tuna if you had questions, unfortunately there is about an eight-nine percent chance I won’t have a clue what I was trying to say. (This is my opinion, as hazed-filled as it is…) I guess it boils down to the fact I wanted you to know that not only have you created a beautiful story content-wise, you’ve done it by pushing yourself to write what I consider an almost impossible style. I really love everything about this piece, it’s an honor that you’ve shared it with us.

Just finished this first chapter, and I have to say...a job VERY well done. :)
I love how even with the dialogue, you can see how Squall and Rinoa have matured over the years. Especially with them getting to know each other better, and having a family. It's rather sweet, to be honest.
I know this is the first chapter...although, there are some things I would recommend going over and editing, such as some of the dialogue in the beginning. It got rather confusing at one point...or maybe it was just me.
I'm sure that the writing has progressed from the first chapter, and I look forward to reading the rest of this. Keep up the good work!
- Yuna

Again, I'm so sorry for not reviewing it. I'd meant to when I first read it and it somehow slipped my mind.

God, I couldn't help but feel for Rinoa mentally here. Whether he's actually there or not, it's tough not being around someone who's mentally present and willing to open up. It would be just like Squall not to say anything and being stupid enough not to realize that she's picking up on these things still (never mind the actual sharing of the dream thing). I just wish their circumstances hadn't royally screwed them over like this, leaving them separated by war or just plain circumstances but...it's probably the most logical depiction of their post-game situation I've seen so I guess we just have to make the best of the bittersweetness much like they have to.

I'm glad that Rinoa didn't succumb to her loneliness despite how rough things were in that second part. That would have planted a permanent seed of doubt in Squall's head (even if he would have understood the reasons why) and again, I'm just glad that she didn't fall victim into thinking an ersatz replacement would have made do. I'd imagine it would have just brought on a world of emotion (mostly guilt) inside her head alone, even had Squall never suspected anything in a best-case scenario.